READY TO ROLL OUT
That awkward moment when even a brothel won’t have you.Characters will end their sojourn at the House of Dew early morning, helmed by Haltham (and his murderous goat, chomping on his prosthetic wooden hand for splinter nutrients). Courtesans and attendants will send the group away with parting gifts: a few sacs of grains, handfuls of spice, a small barrel of brew, several of water, thin blankets and four fat chickens.
 |
The decrepit farm stands an hour’s walk east of Sa-Hareth, bordering the forest at the foot of the mountain.
...and it has not wanted for company. Monstrously overgrown wolves prowl the region, with some of the pack settled inside the farm. The wolves are halfway between dead and living, instantly aggressive, sharper, faster, smarter and blue-eyed beyond natural expectation.
The wolves are drawn to heat and fire-bearers. They can be slain, or pushed back into the forest. If the brawl drags on, the wolves may receive reinforcements.
Distantly, characters can observe silhouettes of pale-eyed, humanoid creatures in the forest, covered in animal skins. They seem to speak to the wolves, though it is unclear if they soothe or set them to attack. |
 |
Once an elaborate woodsmen’s station, the 'farm' is a generous, sprawling outpost built, home to now-barren inner garden.
The farm spreads across kitchens, bathing rooms, hefty storage barns, a handful of isolated rest halls and broader communal areas. A study room has been crammed with accountancy tomes, papers and other books, many torn alongside glass shards on the floor. A shakily furnished barn was coarsely repurposed for banquets.
Set up, inspect, repurpose. There’s enough dust and mildew to go around, and several walls and roof stretches will need reinforcements.
“Ah,” characters say innocently, “Surely the cold will keep away vermin —” You have rats. Large, uncuddly, distinctly violent, prone to swarming once the sun’s downed. Enjoy that first night.
Haltham will provide some base construction supplies over a few deliveries, along with a personal gift: a herding dog, to watch over two fluffy sheep.
Flex those green thumbs: many moons ago, enchantments were set in place to warm the garden to a tolerable level that will allow the expedited harvest of an arctic patch. These spells will need to be activated and periodically recharged every few days by characters donating recoverable amounts of magic or physical stamina, by touching a nearby rune. But, hey: potatoes, turnips, kale, mmmmmmmmm, a balanced diet. |
 |
“Never open your doors at night,” Haltham says on parting. Lend him an ear — and, once the moon rises, hear the forest whispers. Some voices will beg rescue from the cold, others will tease and taunt, a few will imitate enemies or kin. Some will even disrupt dreams.
The voices will seek to lure characters out of their shelter. Those who heed will find themselves compelled to walk into the forest, entranced and ignorant of the cold that slowly envelops them. They will be vulnerable to the elements, tundra predators and the woodland creatures, growing increasingly feral.
Those who survive the night in the forest will wake to find themselves floating in a chilled, but strangely not-yet frozen lake in the morning. They can have faint recollections, as if they themselves lived any of the following events: a friend taking a dark path, the loss of a dear skill, years in a coffin, a close friend parted, a beloved reunion, a lost brother, a tender romance and rare bliss in poverty.
At the bottom of the lake, they may spot the still corpse of an undead that feels too heavy for anyone to lift. His arm has a tattooed red sleeve.
During the day, characters who visit the forest will find it eerily silent, with some trees showing signs of scratches and lingering rope. The lake can still be found, but entering it during daytime will not allow characters to experience foreign memories. |
 |
Karsa will reconfigure everyone’s quartz pieces to translate outside of the House of Dew and communicate in a private channel. Still nothing like individual inboxes at this time!
Up to player discretion if Karsa had the time and humour to change their usernames, or stranded them to their House of Dew identities a little longer.
Characters will also be able to access a secondary local fishermen’s network and listen in on their schedules, local gossip and daily weather updates.
Woodsmen, tradesmen and miners will be surprised to see anyone inhabiting the farm, with some men pulling away, calling the place cursed. |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
groundrules) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
westwhere2021-05-10 08:56 pm
no subject
Beethoven? Huh. I had no idea he did spellwork. I thought he was just into, like, music.
[ He paused at the question and looked around. ]
Oh- is that what the spell does? Or is that, like, a side effect to the magic? I didn't see anything broken when I came in, but I admit I was a little distracted.
no subject
Oh! Oh, no. No, that's, um-- [She fumbles with a way to explain, gesturing vaguely with the violin bow. She doesn't know how to really explain it right off the top of her head. Super...power?? What really separates it form magic?
She winces at the question, scratching at the back of her neck.] It...can do a lot of things. I tend to just... destroy, though. [And save people, once or twice, but the list of things broken or destroyed because of her was miles longer.]
It's not really magic though. It's just...a thing I can do. Manipulating sound. My siblings and I all do something different. [She shrugs helplessly, scuffing her foot against the ground a little.]
no subject
[ He pushed himself off the doorframe and ambled into the room looking around curiously, like he might see something shattered near by. ]
So like, an inherent trait? Huh. I've heard of lineages passing along magic that was basically - well, I mean. Look, not to blow my own horn, but I'm pretty damn good at it and even I can't figure out Jade's 'Glance' shit, so who knows.
[ Who is he talking about? What is he talking about? He doesn't seem to explain. ]
So, you manipulate the sound the violin makes? Is it enchanted? Does it have to be a violin? Does it have to be sound that you create? Are you altering the sound waves to create shock waves? Is that why it destroys things?
[ He abruptly just flopped down into an old rickety chair as if he owned the place, and kept asking questions that he didn't seem to leave any time to answer. ]
Is it multi-directional or can you aim it? Does it have to hit everything in its path or can you alter the sound wave after it's already been broadcast--
no subject
Hey hey! One-- Can you do one question at a time? I'm not really-- [Stable? That sounds terrible to say but she takes a breath and presses a hand to her head, willing the edges of a headache back to the depths where they crawled out of.
She takes a breath] It's not magic. Or, well, it's not called that where I'm from. It's... any sounds, really. But my violin can channel it pretty well? I can usually use my violin best. Um...
[What else had he asked?] I don't really know how it all works or like... the extent of things? It's just... destructive. Usually. [She considers and then provides in a hopeful, helpful manner:] I created a forcefield once, of sound? And blocked bullets. That was pretty cool.
no subject
So probably sonic pressure, then? [ He actually waits for her to finish this time, though it is obvious he is literally holding himself back from asking a mountain of questions. ] And -- okay, an ability then? That's what um - what that other guy called his magic, too, so I guess in some timelines it is intrinsically linked with an individual, which is - well, neat, and a little frustrating. Hard to duplicate something someone was just born with. But clearly you have to practice and focus, yeah?
[ He's trying. Trying. To do one question at a time. He really is. ]
I guess if it's an innate ability it makes sense that you don't know how it works. Sort of like I couldn't tell you a fucking thing about how DNA actually does its thing other than it does. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to work with, right? And control methods from one branch of magic to another might still help.
[ He starts digging in his pockets for something, and pulls out a piece of chalk, leans over onto his knees, and then starts sketching on the floor. ]
So, you use sound. Any sound. But your violin makes it easier. You can destroy stuff, as well as use it as a protective field, which is pretty awesome, by the way - way cooler than just making stuff break, I approve.
[ After a moment there is a gesture drawing of her and her violin, as well as a barrier blocking what are probably bullets, and a vase shattering.
He pauses. Looks up. ]
Oh. Right. I'm Fox, by the way. I, uh, am supposed to remember to introduce myself.
no subject
Yeah, something like that. It's... pretty tied to my emotions I think? Like, if I get really upset it tends to go out of control. [a pause and then she quickly tries to reassure him] But! But I'm pretty good? I'm fine. Just...learning to get a handle on it.
[She leans over, watching in awe as the image of herself begins to form on the floor with every pass of his hand.] Huh... [A blink and she seems to snap out of her staring] Huh? Oh. Vanya. I'm Vanya.
You'd probably know my brother, though. Five? He seems to know everyone.
no subject
[ He looked up, blinking as he thought back, then: ] Oh! Yeah! The uh - kid who's not a kid, yeah? He-- [ A pause. A slight wince. ] Seemed... nice? [ He's lying through his teeth but he's trying to be kind. ]
He and Mingyu seem to, uh, get along...? [ A lie, a lie, but maybe a hopeful one. He clears his throat and goes back to his drawing, writing 'Vanya' underneath the little drawing. ]
Vanya. There, now I won't forget. Probably.
[ He wet his lips and then started to scribble notes, but this time they were not in a language that even the translator could help with - mostly because this was a personal code rather than a language. ]
Do you have trouble with it? [ A pause, before he looks up and explains: ] The emotion part, I mean. That's gotta be rough, right? That would be like if my magic went whack every time I felt stressed, which would just be - yeah. Not good. Would not enjoy that. I can make you tea, if you like? I made some for Archie. Archeval, I mean. He seems to have some anger issues, so I was like, man, you just need some calming tea. I make a mean calming tea.
[ He looked back at his chalk marking and started drawing again. ]
So, when you used altered sound waves (probably) to stop bullets, what caused it? I mean, what was the set up that led to that specific interaction? Were you stressed? Worried about someone? Protecting yourself, or someone else? Was it a conscious or unconscious casting?
no subject
He's... A lot. It's fine, I know it.
[It's a sweet offer though and she smiles a bit.] I fee like 'mean' calming tea kind of negates the purpose? [it's a dumb joke. A very dumb joke and she closes her eyes, shaking her head at herself as she straightens again, feeling a bit restless herself.]
It, uh. Used to be pills. My dad got me on something to just... stabilize it? Or maybe just numb it. I didn't really remember I even had powers until... Maybe a few months ago? [Or something? Time travel was weird.] When I stopped taking them and all.
no subject
Well, mean as in like - really good. Not actually mean. Just like, exactly what you need when you just want to chill out, yeah?
Pills, huh?
[ That makes him pause thoughtfully. ]
Hm. My tea's not like that, not really. I mean, for one, it's a spell not a pharmacological product, so it doesn't come with the same kind of side effects. It's also a lot more, uh, subjective, I guess? It's not going to cut your seratonin intake or whatever, it basically just does what it needs to do. I don't do, um, I don't do phycological tampering magic. Yeah? That's a dangerous fucking road. This is more like if you took a hit of weed but retained all your mental faculties, didn't impair your thinking or hand-eye coordination, and didn't get munchies. Yeah?
[ He paused, and looked up. ]
It's pretty fucked up that they were drugging you into forgetting your abilities, though. Like - fuck. Yeah, that's really fucked. Unless you like, requested it, I guess. Is that what you want?
no subject
[Not!Weed tea sounds pretty nice though. She doesn't feel like going in on her sister's hand in her amnesia about this, so she just laughs a little without much mirth.]
No, I was like... I don't even know. 5? I guess my father thought my powers were too much trouble to help me learn how to control? I caused a lot of trouble. Lot of... [Dead nannies] broken glass.
My powers react a lot to my emotions and I had...a lot of them. I guess he didn't want to bother figuring out how to navigate that. Or something.
no subject
So it was a moment before he said: ]
Fucked up. Yeah, that's fucked up. You can't ignore something like that, it won't just go away. Doing that just handicapped you from figuring it the fuck out.
[ He paused, then looked up at her with a strange intensity, a tiny sizzle of green sparking in his eyes. ]
I could help you. Maybe. Obviously it's not my field, exactly, but what I am good at is directing magical energy. I think you're already doing it, a little. With your violin. Directing that energy into something more stable, yeah? I think I could help.
[ He leaned forward and drew a little crystal beside the figure he'd drawn of her.]
Back home, we sometimes use things called focuses. They're - hmm. In every spell, I need components to make it work, yeh? Can't make something out of nothing. A focus is basically, like, a component that you use to adjust the power of a spell. Usually they're used to help increase a spell's potency.
[ He drew a few arrows pointing in at the crystal. ]
It's sort of like physics, yeah? Like light. Light's just energy, in the end, after all. But you can use things to change the nature of that energy. Like how a crystal can bend or refract light. Turn white light to a rainbow, sort of thing. [ He drew another, thicker arrow leading out from the arrow on the opposite side. ]
It's like putting a dial on it. Like a magnifying glass can be used to focus sunlight into a beam to set things on fire. But it works the other way too, right? You can diffuse energy in the same way.
I could probably, um - I mean, it would take a lot of work, but I could probably build you something that you could use as a focus for your abilities. In the end, it's still energy, yeah? And you're learning to control them? I think I might be able to build you something like, ah, uhm, a breaker switch. A focus that if your abilities start using too much power or whatever, it will absorb a bunch of it rather than just exploding on you. Does that make sense?
no subject
She gets the idea of a focus though. It makes sense and does sound a bit like what she's been doing with her violin already. Having something to refocus destructive energies so it doesn't explode things around her--like, you know, the MOON--seems good too.]
I think I get it. So if it goes out of control, this thing just takes it in instead or something? If it's not going to be a bother...I mean, it sounds like a lot of work? You barely know me.
[A pause] Well, I guess it's worth it to keep everyone else safe too. I don't really know what I could do in return though... Uh, do you like-- eggs? I can get you...more eggs. From the chickens.
[She sighs at herself immediately.]
no subject
Yeah! That's the idea. I'd have to work out the details, of course, but something liket that! And it's - pshh - we're friends now, yeah? We're all stuck in this together, whether we like it or not. Helping each other is the only way we're going to make sure everyone gets out of this okay.
I love eggs! Ah - even if you could just make sure I actually eat? That would be great. [ The smile softens but the warmth doesn't leave. ]
And if you wanna hang out with me while I work and just play some music, that would be great too. I've never wished I had a smart phone in my entire life until we ended up here and suddenly eTones just doesn't exist. Music helps me focus and work. I think that's a good trade, yeah?
no subject
I'll make sure. Where can I find you around here? I don't mind playing for you either, if you don't mind mostly classical. If you've got requests I can do my best.