interlude: ellethia

[groundrules]

ELLETHIA

---

En route to their next destination, the Merchant detours the party through his home citadel of Ellethia — the first, haunted casualty of the undead, now divided into Ellethia-Allayar and Ellethia-Hamsour.

Feel free to tag into this log or make your own posts!

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ONE FOR THE ROAD

Macaluso Spina’s plans to escort the group out of Taravast are overturned by the Merchant’s transmission:

”It appears many of you remain indifferent to the stakes of our endeavour. So, you will see them. You go to Ellethia, jewel of innovation, the first cradle of the dead. My home.”

With the sorceress Karsa now gone, the party is entrusted to journey master and kindly-mannered biologist Enam.

Characters retain their bare essentials and what little can be carried on their backs. Magical storage is minimal. Everyone receives bags containing: three raw candles, a bundle of red clothes, a light blanket, two flasks of fresh water, a dagger, two bandage strips, two needles, strong thread, four textile patches, dried food, a pouch with two fistfuls of kiln-dried broken firewood and some flint. Supplies are replenished periodically.

Enam and his six assistants carry larger loads — with two aides transporting heavily bound humanoid forms. They’ve got you, Kaneki.

Ellethia requires delicate travel. The group first travels communally by ship, reaching the East Arakuthia Seas at sunset, meeting 25 small boats that can home between one and three passengers.

The group only travels at sea by night, when the depths are safest. The 3-17 January period covers two nights of seaborne travel, broken by journey on land across the two segments of Ellethia. Sea shipment will take characters from East Arakuthia to Ellethia-Allayar. A second voyage will later deliver them from Ellethia-Allayar to Ellethia-Hamsour. They spend roughly seven days at each land location.

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TROUBLE AT SEA

The small boats have been thralled to slowly progress through mist and water to their destination. Enam quickly discloses the rules of seaborne engagement:

■ Keep the light. Enam offers each traveller a lit candle brazier to wave periodically around the boat and “ward away evil.”

■ If your candle blows out, rush to it light back with help from your boat-mate or other vessels.

■ If all of a boat’s candle lights have been died, travellers have three minutes to light fresh candle flames. The vessel begins to sink, seized by hands of rotting flesh and shadow. Undead mermaids attempt to drown those who fall in.

■ Sunken characters can be rescued by other vessels but remain “marked,” experiencing a bitter, unrelenting cold that no fire can tame. The saviours’ ship are intensely targeted by mermaids that seek to capsize it and collect their lost prize. You are rattled but safe as long as your lights hold.

■ Perhaps you dozed off, or briefly looked away — no matter your distraction, a newcomer (?) has now climbed into your boat, teeth chattering and terrified. These undead visitors are unaware of their condition and beg to be delivered to shore. They are not violent, unless ignored and often spark conversations. Over time, they become paranoid that they will not be rescued.

■ Those who share their names with these creatures feel compelled to take them to ground, where they trigger immediate medium-scale explosions. Other boat-mates or vessels can stop this.

■ Forcibly push your stowaway into water, trick them in, or pose a riddle they cannot solve.

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AHOY, LAND

Ellethia has been cleaved into two — Allayar and Hamsour — by the Huntress, whose extended presence crumbled stone, decayed organic matter and eventually sunk districts and passageways. Crude bridges connect sectors of the citadel that have been partly submerged.

Although the tragedy of Ellethia occurred within the last decade, its ruins have been completely overrun by lush vegetation.

The following applies to both Ellethia-Allayar and Ellethia-Hamsour:

■ Characters must don their fashionable red gear once they reach land. Over 15 minutes of direct exposure to the crisp Ellethia air leads unprotected skin to erupt in a rash, then into gashes and tissue-deep decay. The wound fully regenerates within the hour.

■ Patch your party suit immediately, if it is torn.

■ Science-prone characters can notice no sign of radiation. Sorcerers feel no magic. Necromancers sense a complete absence of death.

■ There is no other human presence on land. Plants develop abundantly. Animals live an entire cycle of birth, growth, maturity and decay in the period between sunrise and sundown, reaching their prime around midday. Corpse remains patch back together into the creature’s new-born form at sunrise.

■ There are no human corpses anywhere.

TASKS

■ Forage or hunt. Replenish resources. Water from Ellethia’s canals is potable.

■ Help Enam find samples of the Widow’s Yearning. The plants grow in small fields whose scent woos travellers into a restful sleep they struggle to wake back from on their own. Widow’s Yearning can be ground into a potent hallucinogen.

■ Explore the pastoral surroundings.

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ELLETHIA-ALLAYAR

The party first reaches Ellethia-Allayar, which hosts the ruins of the citadel’s seats of banking, commerce and governance. Ellethia-Allayar has been deeply flooded, with many streets partly overcome by water.

■ Amid torn-down halls of rhetoric and administration, characters can find bright flags on public office buildings, and glitter debris and street cups on the ground.

■ Several decaying pamphlets remain in the main piazza, whose halls have been submerged 1 meter underwater. If recovered, the pamphlets bemoan: Toss a Bone to Your Taxman: He’s Already Got the Meat, Gristle and Fat, Dowries: Sense or Sentiment? Join Tonight’s March for Free Wedlock, Who Watches through Your Mirrors?, Selling: Minor Palace with Main Street View and Cat, 90 Days Since Conscription: Where Are Your Sons?, Taravast Was Our Fathers’ Question, We Are the Answer.

■ Fresher pamphlets littered on public streets announce extended burial grounds in the botanical garden.

■ Roads and buildings show signs of clawing and trampling, along with spattering of long-dried blood.

■ The carriages, streetlights and infrastructure of Ellethia suggest a technology level near the 1800s.

THE SILENCE GAME

Ellethia-Allayar’s impromptu “canals” have made it a prime target for mermaids, who only infiltrate at midday — the peak of the accelerated animal life cycle.

■ Enam urges retreating to the high ground of the peripheral residential areas, as midday draws near.

■ Between noon and 13:00 each day, swathes of vicious mermaids storm the Allayar canals, working in packs to draw unsuspecting animals or humans into water. Some mermaids are dead, some living. While they always circle Ellethia during the day, they only proactively hunt in this period.

■ The thick fogs of Ellethia throw a boon: if they are very silent and very still, characters can hide even on low ground. Beware: the mermaids’ hearing has evolved to compensate their weaker sight, helping them locate close-by characters who speak or heave.

■ Mermaids imitate the animal calls and human voices they have heard to lure out prey.

■ Most central and public buildings are on low land.

Enam directs characters to their boats again to head to Ellethia-Hamsour within the week.

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ELLETHIA-HAMSOUR

Unlike Allayar, Ellethia-Hamsour is a completely demolished territory, bordering a wasteland. Water infiltrations have been minimal.

The fog runs thicker than in Allayar, compounding the dangers of the collapsing, decayed roads and bridges.

The strong, vibrant greenery only breaks in coastal regions. Beneath the plant beds, you can find signs of the academic, science or technological districts. In some manicured gardens, flowers have overtaken hundreds of newer stone plates bearing local names and the marker, Truth Bows Only to the Sun.

Any remaining stone edifices display intense clawing and blood residue.

Characters are tasked to head to a distant lighthouse, lone in the horizon.

■ Characters become increasingly obsessed with reaching the lighthouse, often neglecting food, safety and sleep.

■ The single-minded focus leaves some vulnerable to being lured into steep pits or down cliff edges, into the sea.

■ Some characters become possessive of the lighthouse and plot to prevent their fellow travellers from reaching it. The lighthouse is not safe, if others get near it. It does not want them. Only you.

PLOTTING POST

QUESTIONS

Comments

[scrapgege]

A - TROUBLE AT SEA

[Night travel, boats and underwater creatures... This actually brings back some memories for Xie Lian, and not entirely unpleasant ones. So he's not looking overly anxious at all, quite the opposite, and he did listen to the instructions about the candles and everything!

So, of course, the universe has to go and do something about it. Just as Xie Lian is holding his brasier over the water, as they have been instructed to do periodically, there is a small lurch in the boat, not much, a small wave, but hard enough that he loses his grip, and then he tries to fumble for it, and it slips out of his grasp completely and falls into the water with a definitive ploof and the sizzle of the candles dying.

This is so absurd that for a moment, he just... stares at his extended - and now empty - hands before sheepishly bring them back towards his chest.]

.... Ooops.

B - ELLETHIA-ALLAYAR

[Foraging for plants also brings back memories, although the last time he did that he was just wearing his robes and not this weird suit contraption, but their guy was adamant it was needed or else they would be in trouble. So he is doing his best to not sweat too much in here as he tries to spot the plant they are looking for.

Except, once again, his cosmic bad luck cannot leave well enough alone. Unbeknownst to him, a sharp branch sliced through the underside of his suit sleeve, exposing some part of his arm to whatever is causing the rapid cycle. Anyone who sees it might see that his arm now has a gash and that the edges are seemingly rotting and decaying slowly.

... They might also see that Xie Lian seems absolutely unaware of this. He stops to crouch and inspect a plant, and he doesn't seem to have noticed anything amiss at all, even though his arm seems to be decomposing pretty rapidly.]

B - ELLETHIA-ALLAYAR

[thesuspense]

[His eyes are drawn to the wound, eager and clever, his fascination with the dead not ending just because he can't feel dead here. If anything, it has him more interested.

Which, in this case, leads to Xue Yang stepping closer, until he finally crouches next to Xie Lian, looking at him with that same eagerness.]

Pervert-ge, can I kill you for a bit?

[scrapgege]

[Xie Lian doesn't jump or give a start - he could feel someone there after all, but the words do surprise him a little.]

... Why are you calling me that?

[Apparently, he's not concerned with the rest of the question, but that bit is... weird?]

[thesuspense]

[Xue Yang opens his mouth, then wisely closes it. Honestly, he called him that because he figured a show of respect would maybe be more likely to get him to agree, however he does realise addressing a young-looking guy as older, while also calling him a pervert? Not actually all that respectful.

So instead of defending his initial choice, he changes tactics, while also amending his request.]

I'll call you whatever you want if you let me cut into you a bit more.

[scrapgege]

[... And now Xie Lian looks even more puzzled.]

You can call me by my name, to start with ... And what do you mean, 'cut into me a bit more'?

[Because, first of all, no? but also what is this 'more' business you're talking about here?]

[thesuspense]

Aish, young master, who can remember your name? Who ca--

[Ah. Right. He's supposed to care. It may have worked better without the eyeroll, but whatever. He's said 'young master', surely that's good enough.

He may have made another bad attempt at faking manners, but the question seems more important, so he leans forward, gesturing toward the decaying arm.]

Here. Can I? You don't seem to mind and I'd be interested, so is it not selfish to say no?

[scrapgege]

[He's been called worse things in his life, honestly, he doesn't care all that much, but you seem to have grudge against him and he can't understand why.

But now that he has some direction, he looks down and ....]

.... Oh.

[That's it, that's the reaction.]

Ah, that's not good, I need to patch this up...

And of course I can't let you cut into me! Why would you even want to?

[thesuspense]

[He is silent again, as he bites his tongue so he doesn't tell him that he feels there is more need to have an argument for why he wouldn't want to cut into a person, rather than why he would want to cut into one.

But here he is, wisely thinking before speaking. It's all worth it, if he gets to satisfy his curiosity.

And cut into him.]

Because it is strange, don't you think? The way it works here. This [He moves his finger, almost touching the decaying flesh.] is dead, but it doesn't feel dead. I want to see how that happens. What's the harm, if you are already cut?

[scrapgege]

There's no harm in trying to find out more.

I just don't want you to do it.

[And yes, he's moving his arm away, thank you very much.]

You kept threatening me for no reason before and now you want me to let you come close with a blade? No one in their right mind would let you do that.

[It doesn't really matter that he can probably flatten Xue Yang with his pinky, it just doesn't seem prudent to give him an inch because he's the type to take the whole mile if you do.]

If you're that curious, experiment on the animals. There's enough of them.

[thesuspense]

[He makes a face, rolling his eyes again.]

Animals are boring. Anyway, they work differently from us. It's not the same, to try it with them.

[Spoken like a man who has done experiments of all sorts before.]

Just tell me then, young master. Does it never hurt you, to be hurt? Or only this time?

[scrapgege]

Well if that's the case, it would be useless with me too. I'm not mortal, so I also work differently.

[So you see, it's no use trying to use him in your experiments either.]

Things... just don't really hurt in general. I'm used to it so it doesn't bother me.

[violetchaos]

trouble at sea

[ The transition had been almost seamless despite all that was happening. In what felt like a blink, Yennefer went from tumbling off the tower she had been standing on in Sodden Hill to being stabbed with an arrow; to being blown out of the tower and jolting awake in a body of really warm water in the dead of night, holding a rock in her hand.

This is a dream. It has to be is all she can think of. Or that she died in the fall from the tower. Though Yennefer has no more time to think about it before shadow hands and mermaids swarm her and try to pull her under. And as she thrashes around, trying desperately to keep her head above, someone grabs a flailing arm and yanks her up into a vessel.

Even the spiel given to her about where she ended up was hard to believe. Everything was ridiculous, right down to the possibility that the rock she was holding healed her injuries. But somehow that was the only part in all this that she could actually believe.

Still, Yennefer pestered Enam and the other men for answers, but her temper got the best of her and in a rash move she stood with her hand out, pulling the water off the left side into a circle where a portal is conjured and the sorceress disappears through it.

Not long after, another similar portal opens and Yennefer tumbles from it onto another boat where she proceeds to get violently sick all over some poor sod's boots. ]


Ahoy Land/Allayar

[ As awful and unstylish as the red suits were, it only takes Yennefer fifteen minutes to realize how important wearing them was. But she was still irritated by it and the fact that they were all doomed to spend their time on whatever land this was bumbling around awkwardly doing what?

She was not pleased.

Eventually, she finds things to do and learns how long she has to wear it to reset the time and goes without the helmet more than she should. The bulkiness of it made it hard to move and reluctantly look for the blossoms and pester Enam with more questions than simply falls on deaf ears. So, Yennefer goes off on her own to explore, hoping to find an intersection or some small reserve that she can draw from. She wasn't too keen to go through what she did after conjuring the portals.

Those nearby will hear a frustrated holler and a long, drawn-out -- ]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck... goddamnit. OUCH.

[ While trying to free herself from the helmet and the hair that was caught on the edges. ]

Ahoy!

[sergeant_slick]

[Fuck but Slick wishes he still had his helmet.

The rest of his armor still works just fine. The armored fabric beneath it is sealed tight. The stuff's rated for hard vacuum. And even without special gear, a complete set of trooper gear filtered out everything short of armor-melting corrosives.

But he just had to leave his helmet back on Christophsis, didn't he?

And he's not taking off his armor, so instead the whole damn thing has to fit under this stupid red suit.

It makes him look like a Corrie got stuck in a sleeping bag.

So when he hears profanity just around the corner, he's got only one response:]

Copy that.

[He sighs heavily. ...And the lenses immediately fog up. Fuck this, he's taking the helmet off for a minute.

Unless somebody's getting eaten by the scenery or something. He should probably check on that first.]

You in need of any assistance, or was that just a general sentiment?

[violetchaos]

[ With her hair caught in several rivets and edges, Yennefer is damn near ready to just rip the helmet from her head when she hears the voice speaking words to her that she takes quite literally. ]

If you want to copy this you're an idiot.

[ Her face is hidden behind a mass of black wavy hair and when the stranger finds her she's struggling. ]

Oh, I'd much rather be doing that kind of fucking than this.. [ She pauses, the fight momentarily leaving her as she shifts the helmet from one hand to the other. ] Yes, a little help would be fantastic.

[ It was put as sarcastically as she could manage. ]

[sergeant_slick]

[Fucking translators never seemed to work right.] It's military jargon for "I agree, this sucks Hutt shit."

[He rounds the corner, fumbling his way out of his helmet. Having double-gloved hands is not helping things.]

Well good, a little help's all I can give. [And much as he's got some envy towards the long-haired people here, whoever this is demonstrates pretty well why Army regs didn't allow that.

Come to think of it, who is this?]

You're new, right? [His condolences.] Don't worry--it gets slightly better than this, sometimes.

Akira "Joker" Kurusu | Persona 5 Royal

[joker_wild]

I. Trouble At Sea

Akira doesn't have a lot of experience with boats, but he would really like to not end up falling overboard. He keeps to the middle of the boat, keeping careful watch over his candle - and the candles of the others around him.

If anyone's candle goes out, he'll be quick to swing his light out over the water while they get the light going again, warding off the mermaids. Otherwise, he's just keeping an eye out in case anything strange gets too close for comfort.

II. Ellethia-Allayar
A. Sightseeing

Once Akira knows why they have the red suits, he doesn't mind pulling it on over his uniform. There is a moment where he struggles to get the helmet on while also keeping his glasses on, and he pauses long enough to take them off and tuck them into his jacket before pulling the helmet on properly.

He sticks close to others as they work their way to the city, though he will step away if anything interesting catches his eye. He picks up a few dropped pamphlets here and there, looking up at someone nearby after he reads over the title.

"So this was all zombies?"

He's new enough that he's still putting together information about the undead threat.

B. Mermaid Off the Port Bow

When they're warned to get to higher ground, he starts that way - at least until he hears voices in the fog and sees someone turning back. "Wait!" he calls after them - but they don't seem to be paying any attention to him, and he follows back toward the water.

If he finds someone surrounded by mermaids, he doesn't hesitate. He yanks his helmet off, not caring about being exposed to the air - and then there's a flash of blue light, a mask appearing over his eyes. The rest of his clothing has changed, too, but it's harder to tell with the red suit over it all.

Fire seems like a good idea against something from the water, and, at first, there's a fairy-like being that seems to hover behind him. When facing swarms of the more obviously undead ones, he changes tacts and reaches for Anubis, the jackal-headed god floating in the air at his back as it strikes out at the mermaids with bright flashes of holy light.

He also has at his disposal a dagger and a pistol, though he keeps the latter tucked away, wary of drawing more mermaids to its sound.

Calling on his personas requires pulling the mask from his face, which explains why he needed to lose his helmet - and he'll put it right back on once things calm down again.

"Are you okay?"

III. Ellethia-Hamsour

Akira feels the pull of the lighthouse as much as the others - though he never seems to struggle with the urge that some of the others do, the feeling that only they should be the ones to reach it.

"Watch out!" he calls to anyone who seems to drift to the edges of the path, pulling people back if they start to stumble.

"Hey. We all have to get up there," he chastises those getting pushy about the others hanging back. He doesn't really know anyone well enough to be certain that they're being influenced - but considering how many of them seem to be feeling it, he has to assume it's something this very spooky place is doing.

IV. Wildcard
[Something else in mind? Ping me on cotume27 or on Discord at cotume27#5389.]

iv. wildcard for the wildcard

[in_theworks]

While Akira is trying to get his helmet on, Wrench is nearby, struggling with the same. He swears as he tries to jam it on without taking off the mask, a steady string of fuck fuck FUCKING pouring out of him, offending mask mirroring the sentiment with a (>_<) Despite the fact that it seems like it would go on easily enough if he'd take the mask off, however, he seems to have no intention of doing so, content to struggle endlessly.

And at some point during his struggle, he can't help but stumble into Akira. "Shit!"

[joker_wild]

Akira hasn't been paying too much attention to the others around, just working on getting changed and adjusted to this new environment - though when the string of vulgarity starts up, he does look in Wrench's direction - just in time to almost get knocked over.

He steadies Wrench, getting his own feet back under him. "Um... need some help?"

He's not sure how he can help, considering there's nothing he knows to do to make the helmet any bigger.

[violetchaos]

Then why not just say, "I agree, this is horse shit"?

[ She asks, still under a thick veil of hair. Soon enough, she can feel his fingers unhooking and unravelling hair. Sweet freedom was near. ]

Only slightly? You mean there's a place I can look forward to where I don't have to wear this... thing?

[ When the last hew strands are freed, she stands up straight and pushes it all back again. She's going to need to find something to use as a hair tie or suffer going through this every time she takes the helmet off. ]

But yes, it seems your leader has the useful talent of spotting people drowning in the pitch black of night. Almost as if he were waiting for me.

[ She shows off the gold pocket watch given to her as a communication device, which has yet to prove that function. ]

[sergeant_slick]

Because I'm feeling lazy.

[And he only just learned what a horse was a few months ago.]

Yeah, that part's not typical. Otherwise I'd've started more riots by now. [As it was, he'd only provided people some professional advice and tactics on riot-starting, which was completely different.]

You landed in the water? [His expression darkens as suspicions start to sink in. He'd been told that getting dragged into this shit was something to do with the undead lords. It'd certainly seemed that way back in Sa Hareth, when he'd woken up in that prison. Maybe the creepy things in the water had something to do with it, but they didn't even seem sapient.

He was going to have to figure out how to pass this along to the others he trusted, without the comms devices around.

But that'd happen later. Right now he was dealing with a shiny new offworlder, probably with no supplies. With a sigh, he turns away to rummage in a satchel he's carrying, pulling out a knife at his belt to cut something loose.]

Here-- [He holds out a couple handspans of leather cord.] That's enough for the hair situation, right? My name's Slick, by the way.

[in_theworks]

"God, yes," he answers, practically deflating once he's steady on his feet again. He lets go of the helmet, where it catches on the spikes on the lower half of the mask, so he can gesture to it. "I think I need, like, someone to push the helmet on, while I push the bottom half of the mask in."

Getting it back off again, later, is going to be a little more complicated, for all that he's not sure he'll be able to slip his fingers up under the seal once it's on, but one thing at a time. Like hell he's taking off the mask.

Daenerys Targaryen | A Song of Ice and Fire

[song_of_fire]

Trouble at Sea

[None of this travel is pleasant and is more akin to the House of the Undying in Daenerys's mind. The eerie way the water reflected the candles, the sense of something lurking beneath, the sense of being watched, none of it made this journey easy or palatable. If it wasn't for Drogon swooping overhead in sharp circles, she might get that sense of fear at the base of her neck. A crawling, cold hand that froze every inch of her spine and skin.

Every now and then, Drogon dove to catch a fish, but made a point to never dive beneath the waters. He didn't seem to want to touch it, nor did she blame him. It looked otherworldly, especially with the fog.

Her boat seemed to do well with keeping the candles lit, quickly relighting any that was extinguished. A dragon might have helped, but he was busy and Daenerys wasn't about to call his flame in so small a vessel. There were no barrels of water here to deploy should something catch.

Somewhere at the halfway point of the journey, something happened, all of it too quick to explain or understand. Dany only knew that at one moment she was in the boat, struggling with her candle and the next, she was in the waters, clawing her way back up to the surface. Something had grabbed her ankle and was pulling her down, something cold and slimey, like the feel of a corpse.

A figure jumped in after her, she'd later realize it was Zuko and helped her back into the boat. With the rush of adrenaline, it was all a blur in her mind. When finally she was sitting in the vessel, shivering and clutching her newly lit candle, it seemed more like a nightmare than reality.

And gods, that cold was too much.]

Do we have any blankets? Something?

Ahoy Land

[Drogon had flown off the moment they reached land, soaring higher into the clouds until Dany couldn't see him anymore. There was likely a place he would nest and, it seemed, that he was happier with the freedom to roam. No more citadel, no more people crowding around him. He could be a dragon again.

Dany, meanwhile, had to endure the ugliest suit imaginable. Red should be easier to stomach, but there was no beauty to what they were given. It looked like something a shadow binder might imagine...if they had a fever. She at least wasn't the only one displeased with the new wardrobe. There were others giving dirty looks as well, which was strangely a comfort for her.

Dressed in whatever it was, there were tasks to do and land to explore. Gathering food, firewood offered the chance to stretch her legs, find some means to get warm again (that cold still hadn't passed) and see exactly what sort of place this was. Others seemed to have a similar idea and a few took to the same direction she did.]

What do you make of this place? There doesn't seem to be anything alive here.

II

[song_of_fire]

"So we're told." It looked like the sort of place where something happened. More than anything, it reminded her of Vaes Tolorro, her city of bones. This was more lush and green, but it still had a feeling of death in the air. Nothing seemed to live here beyond nature...and even that might be corrupted. She shivered, both from the after effects of being in the water and the sense that there might be more lurking out there.

Death always seemed to linger in a city that was overrun with it.

"It may be wise to approach this place as though there are still invading forces here." She slipped her knife into her belt, along with her whip. She might not be the most skilled with hand to hand, but she would fight if it came down to it. "We should move slowly and quietly."

Ahoy

[song_of_fire]

[The cry of pain and frustration is enough to have Dany running, throwing aside her earlier caution in fear that there was an attack. The scene she was met with was not...so dire. Gods though, what she wouldn't give for hair to actually get caught in the helmet. At the very least, it wouldn't be unsightly when she could finally take off this horror again.

She regarded Yen, unsure where to start to help her. Finally, she quickly worked the straps to the helmet, doing her best to dislodge the woman's hair.]

You should think about braids. I could help you?

[It was surreal to be suggesting it, given where they were, what they were wearing and what they were facing. A moment to be a girl again. It would never not make her head spin.]

[bearshermark]

I. In a Boat

Eleven was happy to take charge of the lantern, to wave it about and keep the candle going with a snap of fire magic. He peered out at the other boats, eyes on their flickering lights, watchful for any of those that might go out. The water, he could sense with a shiver, was home to undead creatures.

"You can rest," he offered his boatmates. "I can manage this much."


II. Ellethia-Allayar

He hadn't expected to find the ruins beautiful. They were vastly overgrown, with moss carpeting stone, ivy overlaying every cracked wall or broken archway, and entire swaths of trees grown in open spaces. Eleven wandered the ruins with a quiet sense of awe; the tragedy of the city's fall only a quiet accompaniment. He occasionally stopped to remove a glove and touch a particularly vibrant leaf or flower- and rarely, in a patch of sunlight, kneel or sit to pray or meditate for a short while.

But it was the effect on the animals that most drew his attention. He'd watched the animal die the night before and the corpse was still there the next morning. Only now it began to shrink and take on a new form, birthing a tiny, shivering and furless creature with weak limbs.

Eleven stopped, heart in his throat, then sank to his knees. His arms braced against the ground, quaking.

"There is a cycle," he said, muted in his helmet. He reached up and removed it, tossing it to the ground to take in a wet inhale. His eyes misted.

"Merciful Goddess above, there is a cycle."


III. Night Watch

Hands clasped in prayer, holy light stretched in a band of bright runes to encompass their chosen campsite. The light couldn't reach the outer edges of it with how many they numbered, but Eleven hoped it would be enough to provide warning at least. Eyes closed, he remained in a state of meditative prayer until pull of magic began to threaten exhaustion.

Eleven opened his eyes and loosed the spell with a drop of his hands. The band of runic light faded and fell away. He stifled a yawn and blinked around the campsite to reorient himself, then met the eyes of another with a tired smile.

"How much longer until the shift change?"


IV. Lighthouse

It called to him, crooning his unspoken title in the way of omniscient forces.

Luminary. A light in the dark.

His heart at once understood the intrinsic promise of it, and Eleven moved for it without further thought. Moved faster once it became clear that he had to reach it first. It was dangerous to others; it was his sole duty to restore Light and Life to the world. He'd already done it once before, and could do so again, he was sure- if only he reached it in time.

No matter, his entire existence was meant for this. It would happen, and nothing else mattered so much.

The crash of waves against rock echoed a warning that was drowned out by the urgency to reach the place he was meant to be.


V. Wildcard

[As always, anything adjacent to these prompts, other, pre-arranged things we might have discussed, or feel free to hit this up for smaller details like fishing/hunting/foraging business if you like!]