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westwhere2022-06-03 07:06 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2022-06-03 07:06 pm
Entry tags:
- 2ha: chu wanning,
- arcane: viktor,
- asoiaf: daenerys targaryen,
- game of thrones: jon snow,
- idolish7: tenn kujo,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- kingdom of the wicked: wrath,
- mo dao zu shi: xue yang,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- star trek: jim kirk (aos),
- storm at sea,
- test drive,
- tian guan ci fu: xie lian,
- travel arc,
- umbrella academy: diego,
- umbrella academy: five,
- vampire diaries: damon salvatore,
- warcraft: anduin wrynn,
- warcraft: wrathion
no man's sea
Avast ye — sprawling til 18 June is part I of the Storm at Sea travel arc, which doubles as a test drive. Participants don’t need an invite to reserve or apply over 10-17 June.
Try to label if you’re a test drive tourist or an old timer — and don’t hesitate to leave an OOC note to opt out of random NPC piraaaaaaaargh interaction. Test drivers can post both log and network prompts. Have fun!
AHOY! SCALLYWAGS
Departing Ke-Waihu, the existing party joins paranoid pirate king, turned stalwart saint Samuel Vane — the feared Quicksilver Sam — aboard the Pariah.
Test drivers awaken anguishing at sea, floating on rafts, or on minuscule patches of deserted land. They are collected by two pirates and the recalcitrant sorceress Karsa — who supplies translation and communication devices. She explains the newcomers were summoned into the land of Akhuras by warring undead factions. Karsa’s master, the elusive Merchant, ferries newcomers east to beacons hoped to return them home. He has secured them passage on the pirate vessel Queen Zanyra of ’Wet Rope’ Caladan Kreil, an associate of Quicksilver Sam.
The Pariah and Zanyra meet at sea, a day’s travel away from Ke-Waihu:
- ■ Characters overhear that Quicksilver Sam seeks to reach the haunted Crossing Seas and ‘settle an old score.’ Long-term ally Caladan Kreil supports his cause.
■ The two vessels make daily supply and crew exchanges by rowboat. The Pariah’s passengers must give the passcode: flaunted like gold to board the Queen Zanyra. Staff of the Queen Zanyra must speak the words before the blind man to access the Pariah. Forget your passcode and fall at the mercy of whoever patrols the decks!
■ Tasks await all passengers: diligently clean and polish decks, climb tall masts to sew torn sails, banish a preposterous number of seagulls, fish, read post or… dubious novels to sailors, count loot, guard the decks, clean cannons or serve as boat lure for shark fishing. Medics and cooks can practise their natural trades, while musicians and entertainers should amuse the crew.
■ By all means, grab thematic garments from crew coffers. Also available: daggers, swords and rare pistols.
■ Characters may notice both ship crews are spirited, but grow weary when Quicksilver Sam fitfully orders his five on-call priests to carry out protection rites, or to ‘exorcise’ evil from random staff — through ineffective bitter potions, shrill chants and requests to sit in unusual luck-incurring poses, or to commit some mundane, repetitive task. Let’s bore the devil away.
■ Treat senior crew with respect: some pirates are equally drunk on rum and fleetingly authority and reward perceived slights with a 24h-stay in the brig. These fine accommodations fit two and annul powers while there. No dinner.
■ Sleep where you can: hammocks and rotting mattresses can be found in great common halls beneath decks. The sick and women (naturally, ill omens at sea) can share the four private cabins of each ship. Sumeragi Subaru has his own cabin aboard the Pariah.
■ Each night, expect drinking beneath the halls and a pirate’s greatest hobby: gambling. Conmen might lure you into an ‘innocent game’ that sinks you deep into debt, winning your valuables, favours, or kidney!
■ Ladies are afforded a wide, begrudging berth and some authority over the crew.
■ Accommodations: fresh potions are readily available to ward off sea sickness, and magically resilient oranges are on hand to counter scurvy. As woe would have it, the long-serving Mr. Ishmael has passed, and his earthly remains have been retained aboard the Pariah for Kaneki Ken. Viktor receives a leashed emotional support albatross — a large, loud but docile bird that flies above him counter-current to balance him, whenever the ship’s sway threatens his footing.
OBJECTIVES
- ■ Discover why good Quicksilver Sam is intent on his haunted travels. The captain declines audiences, but try to get information from the two crews.
■ Please share the information gained via network…!
THAT SON OF A BISCUIT EATER
Trouble starts to brew, within days at sea:
- ■ Be on the lookout while on watch duty: on a handful of occasions, new faces appear aboard. They fail to offer the passcode — and attempt to injure characters, throw them overboard, or to enter the captains’ lodgings. Sound the alarm or seize intruders!
■ After interrogating an infiltrator, Caladan Kreil sends word that the assailants hail from the Concord, a war vessel of the Dawns’ Reach Trade Company that is pursuing the pirate ships at distance under the command of Maximilian Hawk. A credit to his name, Wet Rope Caladan has the spy hanged.
■ Prepare to get drafted for double watch duty, as both Caladan Kreil and Quicksilver Sam bolster defences. Tensions escalate, with pirate crew questioning the loyalties of newer recruits.
■ A few days later, at dawns, the silent, swift and massive Concord approaches close enough to fire its cannons at both ships and send vicious militia to climb aboard. Defend your ship!
■ The Concord withdraws by midday, after lightly damaging its opponents. Help with repairs and enjoy some rum — you’ve survived your first sea scuffle!
MOLLYWICK
Just short of entering the Crossing, where the seas are dark and highly opaque, the Queen Zanyra and Pariah encounter a stretch of vibrant, lushly forested land.
- ■ Both vessels send crew over for a few hours, with captains urging quick incursions. Pair up to collect berries, scant mushrooms and sweet water. Curiously, no animals are found.
■ Veteran sailors say this is the Neverflight isle of myth, where sea kings have buried their treasures. Pirates share legendary coordinates of long lost loot, archived as riddles or poems. Grab a shovel and a-digging you go!
■ …ah, but don’t linger too long. What pranksters your sailor friends are. Within hours of the island’s appearance, the earth beneath your feet crumbles and quakes, and the land starts to sink. Evacuate or call for help to get out of here — as the great white whale Mollywick submerges in the waters with the Neverflight island it carries on its back. Hopefully, you don’t go under with them.
■ If you’ve threaded out a treasure dig, drop a line to receive some especially deplorable loot. You deserve it.
THE CROSSING
The Pariah and Queen Zanyra — frequently chained together to avoid separation — creep into the Crossing : a stretch of eerily silent waters, dark and volatile.
■
- ■ Slowly, a thick, nearly impregnable fog dawns during the day, covering the sun and leaving the skies a desolate slate. Dreadful storms spark at night.
■ Strange, talking carps jump on board, offering to tell you your future. Caution: they only make bad luck readings (request yours) that turn true. They appear wherever their target flees and are exceptionally annoying, until either the moon rises, or you apply the superstitious cure of throwing salt on them.
■ Nightmares haunt you — your own, or glimpsed memories of ships crashing, sinking, falling to storm. Note: only your character suffers these memories/nightmares, but everyone else can experience their exhausted grumpiness, come morning.
■ Be wary, when pairing to cross over to the other pirate ship: you may find another rowboat beside yours, its sailor begging for an oar or ladle. If you give him one, he shovels water into your boat with inhuman speed — desert your vessel and swim quickly to a pirate ship, before undead hands pull you into the sea.
■ While alone on deck, characters might hear sweet, coaxing voices that urge them to walk the plank into the water. Break your brethren from this spell, or watch them fall into the arms of man-eating mermaids.
■ Now and then, the ships are shaken by long, whips of something lashing from the depths.
■ Pirates become increasingly skittish and on edge. Priests perform countless protection rites and exorcisms on both ships.
■ At night, a handful of undead men climb aboard. They lack awareness and are in a clear state of discomposure, looking to catch the living and drown them. With toothless, rotting mouths, some rasp, This is kinder.
■ As you officially enter the Crossing, beams of light erupt in the horizon, showing the distant silhouettes of several ghost ships.
NOTES
no subject
Could this really be Mo Ran? But then why was he so much taller? (Why was he happy to see Chu Wanning?) But if this were some trick why make all these obvious mistakes?
Immediately, he wants to be on guard.
But he's so weak to that grin and a part of him wanted that childlike affection he'd received in the past that a stupid, selfish part of him wanted to indulge in it.
The majority of him though, was still wary. Dreams that are too good are rarely ever real.]
...Mo Ran isn't this old.
[He says it still with the same frown. He does not say, 'Mo Ran would never be so happy to see me in a place he thought I wasn't' because it sounded too pathetic. He is also a little uncertain but that just translates into a deeper frown.]
no subject
[ Is it possible that Chu Wanning doesn't remember that? He can't think of why, but it's not the first time Mo Ran has been aware of events that no one else knows. That's a very distinct situation, and he can't think of why it would translate here.
If Chu Wanning were anyone else, he'd think they were lying. But this is Chu Wanning. ] How old do you remember this one?
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He scoffs.]
Peach Blossom Springs is hardly small enough to be called a village.
[Still, all this is a little...it's strange. It's very, very strange. Because any illusions of Mo Ran can only come from Chu Wanning's memories and his memories would hardly be this inaccurate. Then somehow...this is Mo Ran? But how...?]
...you are supposed to be sixteen.
[His answer comes stiffly because he's uncertain.]
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Shizun. I'm nearly twenty-two.[ He flounders a little, rubbing the back of his neck again, and almost wishing he was in robes so he could fiddle with his sleeves. ] Peach Blossom Springs was over five years ago.
[ So Chu Wanning didn't come with him from the village. That's fine. It's still his shizun and he's still determined to respect him and cherish him and be the best disciple he can possibly be. In fact, it might be for the best.
He finally drops his gaze, looking at the hem of Chu Wanning's robes. At least he's managed to keep them from getting soaked for the moment, although Mo Ran still doesn't understand how. ]
no subject
[It was Chu Wanning's turn to sound like an echo. It would explain everything, really, except...
Except how? If he were calm and thinking logically, he'd realize that if so many can come from different worlds that different times shouldn't be so strange. And yet...and yet his heart squeezed painfully. His eyes widened minutely, in realization, in mild panic and then in worry.
Before he scowls.]
Ridiculous! I've only been here for three months! I can't have been gone for so many years!
[They were in the middle of such a mess...his disciples still needed so much guidance, so many things he meant to try to do for them. Even if no one would care, how could he just leave for five years?
He had yet to realize the 'we' Mo Ran mentioned earlier included himself. Because, of course, he has jumped to the worst possible conclusion.]
no subject
That settled, he dated to look at Chu Wanning again, wondering what he should say. ]
Shizun was with us for a while, but then had to enter seclusion. [ That should be safe enough to mention. ] When I left, you had just returned from seclusion and we were helping a village.
[ Few details. Let Chu Wanning assume what he wanted from it, but Mo Ran had no desire to talk to him about the events that happened.
His face falls slightly and he covered it with another laugh, looking up just as a large wave rocks the ship, sending him slightly off balance and stumbling. ]
no subject
The revelation that he wasn't missing for five years is a relief (confusing but a relief even so). Enough so that he relaxes a little.
But, the way Mo Ran's face falls makes him tense again. Did something more happen? Should he...say something?]
You...
[Comes out a little stiffly but not as sharply as before. But it's left unfinished because.......what should he say? He doesn't have a lot of time to think about it before a wave comes at the ship. He wasn't a clumsy man by any means but he is unused to being on a ship and the strange way it can move so he stumbles as well...right into Mo Ran.
To his shame, he notices that Mo Ran's chest is very firm.]
no subject
[ This younger version of Chu Wanning might not have his letters or know anything about what's gone on, but that's fine. He's lived with worse, and any version of Chu Wanning is better than not seeing him. And even better: Mo Ran doesn't have to live with the knowledge of his death, every day.
He leaves an arm around his shizun
Just in case another wave hits. ] You've been here three months?
no subject
It was a vaguely irritating thought that was overshadowed by the smile directed at him. It had been devastating when he'd seen it earlier when he still had suspicions about whether this person was Mo Ran. But now...now it made his heart skip a beat.
And that wasn't even the least of his embarrassment. The arms around him, being held like...like, some kind of maiden! His thin face couldn't take it. So he scowled and pushed against Mo Ran's chest.]
You can let go now.
[He says it like he's annoyed but the tips of his ears are pink.]
Yes. [But more importantly,] How long have you been here?
[Did he miss you by accident? Were you hurt? Were you wrapped up in that whole volcano business? He can't bring himself to ask those questions outright.]
no subject
It's something he shouldn't think about. Shouldn't do. He lets go of Chu Wanning, putting a little space between them, just in case he needs to catch his shizun again. His tongue feels thick in his mouth, his entire body too tense. ]
Only a few days, Shizun. I woke up on some rafts and a lady sorceress gave us these communication devices and helped us on the ship. [ He glances around at the ship, thinking about everything he's encountered so far, and it makes him worried. ] Shizun. Have you been okay?
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[The words are dismissive not because he's dismissive of Mo Ran but because he was clearly alive and so is obviously fine.]
You woke up on a raft? [He is far more concerned about that...] Were you on it very long?
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[ He'd discarded his robe and shirt before he arrived here and that had been unpleasant— while he'd been content to strip down while working, it had been cold stuck on the raft, with nothing to do. ]
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His frown turns into a scowl.] What are you laughing about? Being stuck for half a day? In the cold? On a raft? Mo Weiyu, what part of that is funny to you?
[He sounds angry but that's because he's concerned. What if you had gotten sick? What if you had gotten hurt?]
This old and you still can't take these things seriously?
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It's also soothing, to be nagged at like this, familiar and comforting despite the environment. ] It really wasn't bad. I'm a healthy young man, half a day at sea isn't going to hurt.
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[He had never quite known what to do with Mo Ran most of the time, whether he was kind or not to Chu Wanning, he never knew what to do about it. But it was true now, more than ever. He's grown so accustomed to Mo Ran's attitude of barely tolerating Chu Wanning's presence that this deference is leaving him off-balance.
But most importantly...]
I will keep an eye on you from now on.
[And maybe that may come across as untrusting, as looking down on Mo Ran's capabilities...but the truth is, he's just worried. And really, what sort of shizun would he be if he didn't look out for his disciples?
...even if this particular disciple is no longer a teenager.]
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Of course, Shizun. I'm in your capable hands. [ He might not be a teenager, and no longer a student, but he'll always be one of Chu Wanning's disciples. Besides, it means he can keep an eye on Chu Wanning— he has a lot to make up for, after all. ] Shizun, what's the last thing you remember from home?
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But because he's unpersonable and too cold he doesn't know how to address it without losing face. So his words are a little stilted as he says,]
...of course. [Pause. And then, the tiniest bit more softly,] You are an adult now. In the future, I can only trust you won't be too reckless with your health.
[As always, when one argues with him he doubles down, but when the other person agrees he softens his stance...especially when it comes to Mo Ran.]
We were at Peach Blossom Springs. You were accused of something you didn't do so I took you and left.
[So I took you and left as if it were as simple as walking out, as if anyone could have done Mo Ran this favour so easily.]
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Shizun need not worry. [ Though of course he will, and Mo Ran is aware of that, but he will do his best to make sure he doesn't need to worry.
And all of it falls to the wayside when he thinks about that. It's impossible for him to forget, the accusations, the days with Xia Sini, and everything they found out after Chu Wanning showed up and rescued him.
It doubles his resolve to never mention the events after. ] We figured out what happened there, Shizun, and no one tried to accuse me of anything after that.