westwhere | the tithe

the tithe

The Arc III finale stretches until 2 June — and it’s erupt to no good.

THE TITHE

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THIS HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE

The Ke-Waicai believers prepare for human sacrifice rites to prevent the eruption of the Ke-Sanwon volcano. They will lead tributes to the volcanic crater, which is lidded by the grounds of a decrepit haunted temple — known as the House of Ravens.

At the heart of the temple is a trodden dais that comprises four slowly receding plates. Numerous temple columns and deteriorating walls offer overnight hiding places, but beware the flinching statues and irritable large ravens. Meat, blood or shiny offerings can distract the birds.

■ Use the three previously gained keys to infiltrate the House of Ravens at night through forest pathways revealed by the Huntress.

■ Entrants to the House of Ravens are fully or partially depowered. Their ancestral curse is immediately lifted. Their strength is pulled into the Ke-Sanwon crater, which brims with raw magical power.

■ Hide on temple grounds until dawns, when the dais plates fully open to reveal a 10-metre entryway into the volcanic crater.

■ Overnight, characters are relentlessly tempted by mirages that only they witness: the eerie voice of a loved one might coax them to commit their greatest sin, or they could repeatedly relive memories that led them to such follies.

■ Characters guilty of drunkenness and gluttony feel deathly parched, starved and drawn to a lavish spread that is constantly far out — and ends up comprising raw corn and stale water, when they finally reach it. The lustful find their companions irresistible, or trail after a delectable beauty, who dissolves when touched. The wrathful mull violence, while the envious suspect their companions possess what they most desire. The proud are contemptuously incited to prove their superiority or independence, while the slothful give in to callous indifference towards their peers.

■ The stone statues that decorate the House of Ravens retaliate once visitors succumb to their sins: smaller sculptures throw stones or throttle nearby sinners, but only move when you do not look into their eyes. Larger 4m-tall statues exit the walls and give (slow) chase, retreating after 10-15 minutes. The statues stop attacking at dawns.

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LET THERE BE BLOOD

CONTENT WARNING: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF NPC PAIN, TRANSFORMATION

By dawns, the believers of Ke-Waicai have rallied their tributes — each crowned with wreaths of branches and crops — before the open dais. Roughly two hundred villagers attend the rites, along with eight powerful priests who use elemental magic.

■ A first sacrifice walks a long narrow plank that starts from the dais and goes a few metres into the mouth of the volcano. The plank shivers under from heat, but withstands weight.

■ During 15 minutes of exposure, the volcanic magic enshrouds the sacrifice, who painfully transforms into one of the animalistic tar creatures housed in the labyrinths of Ke-Sanwon.

■ Magically sensitive characters can feel this tribute now hosts volcanic magic, and that Ke-Sanwon’s power has slightly diminished.

■ The rites are interrupted by the significantly weaker, but wrathful Beastmaster, whose xenomorphic creatures attack the temple and seek his missing son

■ Characters should free the remaining tributes during the skirmish. They can be as nerfed as you need (if at all) during the rest of their stay in the House of Ravens.

■ The dais must stay open to access the volcano. You can take control of it and of the House by defeating the magically endowed priests, (literally) shouldering the head priest’s ancient white raven and holding its leash.

■ Pass the raven around and defend the bird’s current holder! Whoever carries the raven is often targeted by the village mob and the Beastmaster’s creatures.

■ The clashes last a few hours, until the Beastmaster and villagers exhaust their forces.

■ Diego Hargreeves, Xie Lian, Wrathion, Daenerys and Jon Snow apprehend the Beastmaster, slaying him, when he refuses to relinquish the Brotherhood. Decide who lands the killing blow. His last words: ”You’ve… seen this place. My animals… our dead… have more compassion than these living.”

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FIRE AND BRIMSTONE?

The volume of magical energy and tormented spirits inside the volcano weighs heavily on the fracturing dark water mirror that has prevented Ke-Sanwon’s eruption so far. It’s going to blow, unless you:

■ Throw more dark water in to fix the mirror fissure. You can get dark water from volcanic cracks, dried wells and creepy crop fields.

■ Use ice / cold magic and ol’ science to cool down the volcano and help the mirror heal. Or lend Moiraine and Magnus a hand as they work with cold magic, and protect them while they cast.

■ Help Wrath and Wei Wuxian exorcise the volcano’s ancient spirits. Many have lost consciousness, reduced to memory fragments and feelings of wrath, pain and resent.

■ Guide villagers to bring sea water. Anduin (on top of the dragon Wrathion) and the harpy Eda are flying in supplies. Viktor is coaxing shipments from his werewolf friends of Ke-Waiar. Large phoenixes are also up for grabs for deliveries. Ensure couriers can safely arrive and quickly discharge their water.

■ Several characters are set to each absorb some of the magical power contained within the volcano, developing aftereffects. They must walk the wobbly plank and stay exposed to the volcano magic for under 15 minutes to avoid transformation: the longer they linger, the more power they take in, feeling as if they are burning from within. Exit quickly and rest copiously after. Those who spend over 10 minutes exposed suffer intense fevers and require immediate medical assistance to cool down.

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WILL SOMEONE THINK OF THE CIVILIANS?

Beyond the House of Ravens, assist villagers who want to safeguard their possessions or evacuate by sea.

■ The gradual spread of Ke-Sanwon’s magic infects some villagers with temporary animal traits. These effects dissipate within three-four hours.

■ Characters who remain in the villages may feel more irritable and resentful, overcome by the feelings of the volcanic spirits.

■ Coordinate water and supply deliveries with those at the House of Ravens.

■ The Hok-Shinn are divided in their response: some resort to daylight robbery to secure the funds for their own safe departure; citing security, the men of Sairen unsympathetically rally commoners into designated parts of the village, often splitting apart families that then need help finding relatives; alone, Weisi’s followers keep the peace, but are frequently overwhelmed by waves of panicked villagers, thugs and animal hybrids.

■ The magical spillage overwhelms the forest fox spirits, leaving some enraged and prone to attack. Others assume the shape of beautiful wo/men and ask escort into Ke-Waihu for shelter, without disclosing their fox natures. These ethereal strangers betray their origins with cold smiles, glimpses of fleetingly sharp teeth, a fondness for chicken, and… is that an extra set of ears? No harm befalls those who bring a fox into the village, though s/he may insist on now being your lawful spouse.

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THE AFTERMATH

With the clashes and Ke-Sanwon subdued, the villagers of Ke-Waicai request back their temple keys and white raven. They lead the party to the beacon of the House of Ravens — the beautifully carved and now-closed dais above the volcano.

■ Party companion Hatisse confirms the beacon can be revived within days.

■ She warns that an eruption was prevented by depleting the volcanic magic now, but that the threat could recur within five to 10 years.

■ All character curses (ancestral or individual) are lifted, and powers return completely.

■ Spend some downtime in the villages. Ke-Waicai offers the most luxurious, but frosty accommodations, while the werewolves of Ke-Waiar are tired, but thrilled hosts. Those who suffer from lycanthropy are now experiencing fewer and fewer ‘nocturnal episodes.’

■ In Ke-Waihu, villagers have now calmed and are grateful for help with reaping the fresh harvest and watering their crops, as well flows revive. Every other night, Hok-Shinn Weisi organises a bonfire with village musicians, hearty dances, fresh bread and ale. Villagers seek to marry off their… alluring spawn to their saviours.

■ Within days, Hatisse summons the party to the activated beacon: a pool of white energy, in which one must slowly descend. Characters who were dropped or AC swept in May enter the beacon first and are presumed returned to their home worlds. Characters set for a canon update follow in — but are spat back by the portal and return within minutes.

■ Inevitably, the remaining volatile magic of the volcano disrupts the beacon and ruins the dais. Happily for you, the Merchant will soon get in touch with your next ticket east.

QUESTIONS

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The place I saw…

[He hesitates.]

Stannis held it for many years. Like as not, your place in Meereen has more comforts. One day you’ll have more tapestries for the place.

The audience chamber is great and imposing, and when I first saw you, you were sitting on a throne that looked like it had been chipped from the rock. It made you look like — like a pearl set in stone. [He looks a little apologetic as he says this; he is not usually so inclined to poetry.] There is a dragon carved on the floor, more on the walls.

To me, it is… Dragonstone, it’s you. [It’s where I fell in love with you. How can he miss her, being away from her, when she’s right here?] You like to sit by the fire with a cup of wine.

[And you held me there for bloody weeks on end, he doesn’t say. It doesn’t matter, now that he loves her and he loves her.]

Meereen was made more comfortable, once I removed the garish harpies, starting with the throne. I prefer flowers, fruits and calming pools of water. There isn't much I need beyond that.

[After so long with very little, opulence was a bit much for her. She could remember the home that Xaro Xhoan Daxos had invited her to, as well as the pleasure barge, but compared to Vaes Tolorro, it didn't hold much real comfort.

She hadn't deluded herself that the Baratheons had done with her family's home what they wanted. It was galling, but it was no different than what might have been done to King's Landing. She would have her way with it when she returned.]

I was on a throne? [That didn't sound right.] No, I dislike thrones. I had an ebony bench placed in my throne room in Meereen, allowing me to be eye level with the petitioners.

[Practical as well, as she wouldn't have heard anyone so well if she had been high above them.

But the compliment is touching, given how he claimed he was bad with words.]

Then at least there is a home waiting. [For both of them.]

And…

[He hesitates again. What had troubled him before? He had waited a long time to tell her what was in his heart, it was — ]

You have no husband. I never heard anyone speak of one.

The sort of throne that is at Dragonstone… it’s only a lord’s seat. Not much more than a chair, but carved from the rock.

[Something seemed off about it all and it wasn't the first time she felt that way. She had to question what Jon said were her important decisions. Tyrion Lannister as her Hand, being able to have an alliance with Dorne despite her declining the marriage offer.

The lack of a mention of Hizdarr shouldn't warrant much thought, but still, it was strange.]

He must be dead.

[She did her best to try and reassure him, and perhaps, reassure herself.]

This means that we weren't apart for long.

He is still, frozen, and after a long moment, he shakes his head.

“Half a year. It was half a year, Dany. When you saw me there, you did not love me. You didn’t know me. You were willing to let me mine and unwilling to let me leave. So I came to know you better, as the weeks passed.”

"We might not have the same memories, but it was meant to happen." It is a bit disturbing to hear she wouldn't let him leave. When had she ever kept a man her prisoner? Even Quentyn Martell was encouraged to return home. More often, she sent men away rather than force them to remain at her side.

"It is strange," she said more to herself. "You were there to negotiate an alliance, but I didn't treat you as a diplomat?"

“I was not an envoy, I was a king. You wanted my people to follow you, and I could not swear that they would. Never mind that, though.” He shakes his head again, this time more contemplatively. “For the time being, we have an alliance with Cersei. A cessation of hostilities, and her aid against the Dead.”

No. She knows nothing of the Lannisters, only that they cannot be trusted. From what Ser Barristan had said, the boy king had dismissed him from the kingsguard with his mother's blessing. It didn't speak well of her sense or ability to set aside her own desires for others.

There was little she could do about it now, but she had to wonder how she'd so readily accept a supposed cease-fire with a woman as untrustworthy as her brother.

"Then you found yourself back here?"

Yet more brief hesitation. He wants to tell her these things, but in good time, not all at once. Some seem delicate, though he does not know why he thinks them so.

“We have sailed for the North together, you and I. We go to defend Winterfell. And — well, I came to you on the ship. I mean to — “

He means to suggest a marriage, eventually, when they are well sure that the world won’t end. He has changed his mind once or twice: the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms should not, perhaps, wed a bastard, no matter if someone had tried to stick a crown on him once. The thought of it all makes his heart rise in his chest.

He reaches for her hand.

“I love you,” he says, helpless. “In any place, any time, I love you.”

She was grinning, a bit shyly, but still wide enough for him to see. Discussing this was far more cheering than thinking of the Lannisters and all the ways his story sounded strange to her. This was at least something she could believe without question. Him coming to her room or vice versa, that seemed inevitable.

It would be worth thinking of in the future, whether or not a marriage could be possible between them. If there was no mention of Hizdarr, then perhaps that allowed her to wed again? A king was a better choice and a man of the North would be easier for the Westerosi to accept than a Meereenese noble. It would solve a number of matters that troubled her, including showing respect to the North's autonomy but also bringing the kingdoms together again.

What he confessed to her, that spoke to the girl she had always been, eager for love and hoping to find someone to share her life with.

"I know," she couldn't help the response. "It is inevitable for us, I think I have known that since the lighthouse."

“It’s better to know. Even if we forget…” (he swivels his head about, indicating everything around them) “all of this, we will not lose each other.”

He likes the way she’s smiling; it makes him lean in to kiss her.

"No, never." She didn't want to imagine a time where she did not remember him, but there was at least reassurance their paths would eventually lead back to each other. As the beacon didn't seem inclined to send them back, they could bask in their time together. It simply wasn't enough.

As his kiss proved to her. She forgot about the others, losing herself completely in Jon. When the kiss broke, she was grinning all the more. "You still owe me several more kisses."

He tries to smile, though it is a little sad. He is happy to be with her. He misses her other self.

They’re the same, aren’t they?

Aren’t they?

He releases her hand so that his arms can go around her, and the next kiss is a proper kiss, all tongues and teeth and a warm embrace.

You can’t miss a woman who’s right in front of you. Like as not, it would have been the other way around if he had remembered her when he was meeting her again: he would have missed his love. He would have ached that she did not remember him. Might be that it was a mercy for them both.

There are aspects of his story that don't sit right with her. Things that sound out of character or strange, at least from what she has heard or learned in Essos. It doesn't cross her mind to think on it now. With Jon holding her and kissing her as intensely as this, there are no real questions or worries.

He is here, he knows her and love her still.

After everything in the village, the House of Ravens and a near separation from Jon, she felt overwhelmed, drowning in tension, anxiety and hurt. He was a salve to that, slowly warming her until she felt herself again.

There is a hint of something in him that's different. Sadness? Longing? Even with his kisses, something seems strange. But with his tongue, teeth and lips, she is too preoccupied to fully realize it.

Several long kisses pass, but when it comes down to it, they are still surrounded by people in the middle of the day. He breaks away, reluctantly, arms still around her.

“There’s something I’ve learned,” he says, after a long moment, meaning to pick up some of where he left off. “My sister, the one who left here — she is well. But our brother Bran, and our sister Arya… they live. They were children when our father was killed. They are grown now, and they have survived almost on their own and returned to Winterfell. It’s been several years since I’ve had any news of either of them. I’d thought the worst.” He pauses, then adds, “And your Jorah Mormont, too. I’ve made his acquaintance.”

She was genuinely happy to hear that his siblings lived, listening attentively until he mentioned Jorah. She pulled out of his arms, feeling bolts of pain and anger. For a moment, she felt vulnerable again, as she had when Ser Jorah came into her chamber and kissed her. True, that night she had imagined a lover that she now could see what Jon, but it didn't remove the feeling of violation when Ser Jorah pushed his affections on her.

It was made worse knowing that Ser Jorah had betrayed her and informed the Usurper of her movements and whereabouts. Tears stung her eyes, but she forced them back, biting her lower lip.

"It is better that he stay away. I warned him I would execute him if he returned." She clearly was agitated, feeling safe enough to reveal her feelings with Jon, despite who might be around. She adjusted the flower crown that she had been given by the village, trying to draw strength from that. She was a queen, not a lost child.

"He was given free leave to return to Westeros. Better that he return to Bear Island and live his life. I cannot take him back in my service. Never."

“Bear Island,” he says, watching her agitation, “is under the rule of a girl of twelve. His cousin — Lady Lyanna. I don’t know that she will have him, but if she will….”

A shrug. Daenerys had seemed happy to see Mormont, though it had also been clear, through and through, that the man was in love with her, and that she did not return his feelings. Something had happened to change her feelings towards Mormont, from this kind of loathing to the warm acceptance he had witnessed, but Jon couldn’t say what. She hadn’t told him. So if Daenerys has questions about it now, he cannot answer them.

“I don’t know all that has passed for you between your time in Meereen and your arrival on Dragonstone.”

Edited 2022-06-03 08:14 (UTC)

"How can I forgive a man that informed on me to the Usurper's council? It lead to an attempt on my life while I was pregnant. He did it all for a pardon so he might return home. All the while he lied to me and swore to follow me."

She couldn't imagine forgiving him. "When I was finally told, I gave him time to explain, as I gave Ser Barristan time to explain why he lied about his identity. Ser Barristan asked for forgiveness and showed true remorse. Ser Jorah seemed to think he did nothing wrong and that I owed him forgiveness." She would have given it, had he asked.

For the first time, she felt herself pouring out her thoughts to someone other than Ser Jorah regarding his behavior. "He despised any man close to me and did all he could to isolate me from them. All of it because he wished me to marry him. He-" she swallowed, summoning anger rather than sickness. "He kissed me on my ship one night, something he should not have done. I was his queen and he took such liberties. Tell me, is that a man I should trust?"

His jaw sets and hardens while she speaks. The idea of Mormont kissing her — whether with her permission or against her will — makes fury rise in him, but it is worse that it was against her will. He clenches his fist, then releases it, then clenches it again.

And there’s something else.

“I can’t say that he didn’t try to put himself between us. He did. But he was not unkind to me, either, and he did not behave without honor. Still, there was no question that he would have preferred that you and I are not — as we are.” A pause, then, “You don’t owe him anything. I don’t know why he was there. He was cured of greyscale at the Citadel, I know that much — nothing more.”

It does hurt to know that he might have had greyscale, but as she heard, he was cured before true damage was done. That he had tried to come between them was no surprise and frustrated her. It seemed he had not learned his lesson. He may not have been rude and aggressive as he had been, but still, he seemed to think her happiness should not be respected.

She closed her eyes, looking over at Jon, openly hurt and exhausted. It aged her for a moment. She couldn't deny she missed her great bear. Had she been right to banish him? Others thought she should kill him, but...had she been too harsh?

No, she couldn't think this way. If I look back, I am lost.

"Will you simply hold me and tell me something good?"

He pulls her back against him. It banishes a little of his anger; the fury subsides into annoyance, and since the man he’s annoyed with isn’t here, it becomes a small knot of agitation, mostly tucked away.

“Aye, I’ll hold you.”

He could tell her many things, not all of them good. But now that it’s clear that they’ll both be here until they find another beacon, at the least… perhaps much longer… there is time for that. Not today, not for a while. It would not be right to lie to her about it, but she has heard enough. It would not be right to be cruel to her, either, and just now, honesty would be cruel.

“I think you’re all that is good. What would make you happy now?”

Edited 2022-06-03 09:17 (UTC)

It was hard to say what would make her happy at the moment beyond what he offered her. His arms, his return, his kisses, all of it had left her swelling with numerous emotions, but the most prevailing being happiness and delight. It was hard to say what else she might want, it felt she would be toeing her luck far too much.

"I think once we move from this place to wherever we are too go next, I will feel a bit more at ease." Was it the simple traveling or seeing something new? Perhaps. She had wanted to be a sailor, after all. But after the death in this place, the sacrifices and blood, she wants to be away from the shadows.

"I am happy you are here."

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