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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
If she was forced to bear the title, the duty expected of her, it would be easier with a man she loved supporting her.
"Kiss me again."
no subject
He is dubious about this. There are times when he must be stern, but it isn’t his natural state, only what he has chosen when the other option is to play the boy. If he does that, he isn’t the only one who may suffer.
A string of kisses follow the question, and his mouth eventually makes its way to her neck.
no subject
Which she's delighted that she succeeded. Now it seemed that he preferred to smile around her. His arms naturally wrapped around her. Pulled close to them, Dany briefly reflected at how much had changed between them. Now, they were linked, bound by fate. It was a surreal thought.
His kisses distract her, the kisses to her neck made her shiver and gasp. She held him tighter, gripping his tunic.
no subject
As she trembles and clutches at his shirt, he kisses her harder, then rests his head against her shoulder and holds her tightly.
“I miss every part of you. I miss holding you all night.”
no subject
"I miss your kisses on me. I miss feeling all of you."
She grinned, giving his hair a little tug, encouraging him to continue kissing her there.
⚠️cw: sexual content for the remainder of this thread.⚠️
“Hard to not be with you every day.” A few more kisses, his body pressed and swaying against hers, and then, “How much longer do you think they’ll let us alone?”
no subject
They were off the ship, they break a few rules without eyes on them.
"I think they'll assume I couldn't follow directions. We can be alone."
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He pulls away from her long enough to kneel in the sand, then holds out a hand to help her sink to the ground with him. After a moment’s thought, he reaches for the velvet mantle, too: something to put between them and the grit.
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Dany pressed close to him. It wasn't the same as the first time, when she had her Dothraki leathers. Now she had adopted the garb of the sailors, happily becoming one of them. It simply made it inconvenient for roaming hands and attentions.
She drew him into another kiss, stoking their desire and drawing out the frustration that had bothered them both for so long.
no subject
He sits back on his heels, encouraging her to straddle his legs and sit in his lap as he kisses her.
The closer they come to each other, the more he aches for her.
[But I’m not really sure whether she’s in a skirt or pants!]
no subject
Dany was wearing a similar shirt and could easily shrug it off. The thin material had been good in the hot weather and fair enough protection from the sun, but she had no desire for it now. It wasn't as convenient as her leathers, but this would have to do.
So long as he kept touching her and kissing her, she would make do with inconvenience.
cw super vague implied reference to risk of sexual assault
But her breasts are bare and they are sweet, and so close to him, and he misses the feeling of her warm, soft skin against his. So he pulls back and pulls the shirt over his head, and then pulls her into his arms again.
“Breeches won’t be so easy, love.” He breathes the words against her cheek between kisses. It’s better for her not to wear skirts on the ship, but the reasons why are the same reasons her breeches are troublesome now.
no subject
They were so close to each other. She could feel his heart beating against her own. It took a moment to register, but she grinned, laughing a bit breathlessly. "I will have to move then. Do you think you can bear it for a moment?"
That question could be asked of her as well. His lips were sweet and she wanted more kisses. After so long being deprived, she was parched.
no subject
His own breeches feel tighter now. He loosens them at the waist, so she can pull them down when she wishes it. After a moment’s further thought, he rocks backwards, so that he isn’t on his knees anymore: instead, his feet are flat on the sand, and his knees are raised, and his arse is on the velvet mantle.
This will do about as well as anything, out here. There is no chance that they will have days to themselves on this island, but they can steal these last few moments.
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It was almost like flying in a sense, when they were together like this. He pushed her higher and higher, as though she were soaring through the sky. It was an addicting feeling, making her realize that Targaryen love was similar to the bonds of their dragons. Magic, deep and powerful.
She rocked her hips against him, gauging his level of excitement. "Has it been lonely in your hammock?"
I wonder how the whale feels about the fact that it’s now a sex whale.
“I think it must be lonely in any hammock. These men, though, I don’t think most of them have anybody.”
He suspects that a few of the pirates might be like a few men in the Watch: they seem to have each other. But he doesn’t wish to be sure of it.
After a long look, he kisses her again, a kiss like a starving man, then adds, “I love the sight of you.”
no subject
Very few would be able to assume what she was doing, but here she was, rolling in the sand with Jon Snow.
She was smiling against his lips, chasing his kisses with all the eagerness of someone so long deprived of attention. She was more than happy to pounce him. "And I love the sight and feel of you."