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westwhere2022-08-01 07:33 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2022-08-01 07:33 pm
the mouse house
Welcome to Serthica’s Mouse House — a mini plot roll for recent newcomers, lasting until 11 August. Characters who opted in are in a different physical location but can contact the group at sea through their communicators. You can use the log post below to top level and mingle, or you can make your own logs and posts.
Characters awaken in the dessert, unburied from high sands, recovering in medical tents or drifting towards a caravan. After a day to mend, they are presented to the caravan leader — the Merchant, who provides them translation and communication devices.
He explains they are outsiders who have reached the world of Akhuras, where undead factions wage war with each other and the living. The undead summon otherworldly conscripts, to enslave or weaponise them in the conflict. The Merchant finds and transports such newcomers east, where beacons might return the visitors back to their home worlds. Other otherworldly guests are currently travelling the haunted Crossing Seas — the Merchant offers their names.
The group at sea will reach the beacon-bearing clockwork citadel of Serthica within days. Caravan newcomers are supplied 10,000 coins each, blade weapons and ship passage to the impoverished Mouse House — the underground outskirts of Serthica and home to beggars, smugglers, contrived thief networks and mercenaries. Here, they must complete a set of tasks to wrangle, muscle, thieve or bribe coveted Serthica passport papers for themselves and their incoming comrades. Good luck!
CHEESE FOR THE WHINE
- ■ The Mouse House is the literal industrialised underworld that surrounds Serthica. Coarse and labyrinthine, it has the gargantuan width of a very large vessel (50m). Here and there, crumbled makeshift stone roads show defunct rail tracks underneath. One train still runs in the outmost pathway of the Mouse House, taking daily imported coal shipments from the port to Serthica.
■ Often filthy, dangerous and entirely cavernous, the Mouse House comprises several crammed community homes — ‘rat mounds’ — some small illicit trade and forgery shops, and hideouts for opiate suppliers, slavers and thieves. Sleep lightly and watch your backs.
■ A pathway leads out to the ports. There are no windows, and the stuffy air is unhelped by limited ventilation. A strong scent of sedative incense blooms in the air to keep the criminal population tame(r).
■ Characters are taken in by Ma’am Mariol, the benevolent matronly leader of a ring of orphans who provide courier and espionage services for the various overlords of the Mouse House. Enjoy her hospitality: dried bread, questionable soup and a resting place in her breezy enclosures.
■ Ma’am Mariol looks after 12 valiant urchins. You can enlist their services but expect they’ll want pay.
■ Twice a day, at 6:00 and 18:00, the Mouse House suffers a dull shudder for a few minutes, as if suffering the echoes of a distant, rippling earthquake. Ma’am Mariol shares this is because the two city halves of Serthica are starting to swap places: Eidris comes up in the morning, while Minaras is overground at night. They only meet for one hour during the swap.
✘ PRIME OPPORTUNITY
Win passage into Serthica by completing quests from the list below. Multiple people can tackle the same assignment. Report in by 23:59 GMT on 10 August for your gains.
PLOY & PLUNDER
Highly superstitious gang leader Artemius Bale is holding a festivity to celebrate conquering the territory of former rival Edward Three-Hands . The crème de la crème of the Mouse House’s underworl attends in a bustling, tight space. Despite his recent victory, Artemius remains heavily paranoid and keeps his cronies on guard.
- ■ Steal decent garments and function invitations from attendees to join the party.
■ Ease the pockets of the many criminal merrymakers, while they’re enjoying their fine wine. The more coin you can collect for later bribes, the better.
■ Pass for one of the many séance holders and ‘necromancers’ Artemius Bale has commissioned to entertain his guests. Coax attendees that the dead want them to patron incoming travellers — You may need to pair up and simulate a few ‘haunting’ tricks to persuade them of your great necromantic talent.
■ Why not pull a fast one on old fox Artemius? You could even persuade him he has been cursed by Edward Three-Hands and will fall deathly ill or unable to enjoy his gains if he does not make amends for his wrongdoings… to your benefit.
ALL ABOARD
A time-honoured fixture of Serthica, the single coal train typically enters the Mouse House each day at 11:00 without threat or trouble. Loaded to brim, it brings in fuel and smuggled goods.
Come early morning, Ma’am Mariol’s orphan scouts mention the latest 6:00 shake has toppled large pieces of stone and metallic debris over a segment of the railway. As the train approaches, Serthica officials send word that anyone who
- ■ Grab a shovel. Use it wisely.
■ Careful with the various oversized rats that haunt the filthier depths of the Mouse House — they typically avoid groups of humans, but will jump you if you’re alone.
THE SCRIBE
Serthica’s most skilled forger, Rayssa is returning to the Mouse House after months of imprisonment in the citadel. She brings along decades of experience crafting passport papers — and a wealth of debt collectors who want the coin she owed before her disappearance.
It is widely known she will visit One-Eye Calliope’s tavern as her first point of call, to enjoy a first drink in freedom. Her pursuers will be waiting for her, armed, prickly and ready.
- ■ Win Rayssa’s good will and services by rescuing her from the inevitable bar brawl.
■ Head into her heavily watched quarters in the Mouse House to collect her tools of trade — inks, parchments, pens and stencils.
■ Hold her watch or her hair while a heavily inebriated Rayssa writes up your forged passport papers.
LADY LUCK LOVES YOU
If you’re no fan of honest looting, leave your fate to chance: the Mouse House’s various taverns and gathering places host nightly gambling games, from cards to bone dice, arm wrestling and a local favourite, mouse races.
Pair up to rig the games in your favour, and win coin, passport forgeries, clandestine passage or a crime lord’s patronage. You never know what favour the right name can earn you later!
NPC CONTACT
GAINS
GRAB A FRIEND
no subject
It could be anything, but Yuki would not be surprised to find someone who drinks that heavily in a room of people to have some deficiencies or compromised systems in stark need of intervention.
"Or you could use it to your advantage in some other way. I doubt he understands the full intricacies of alcohol damage on the body."
no subject
"Holy shit, am I gonna kill him if I hand him another drink?"
No clue about how alcoholism works at all. She moves her gaze from the man to the newbie beside her, blinking a bit again at the brightness.
"...wait, are you a doctor or someone with a lot of experience with alcoholics?" Either way, she could definitely use some information about the full intricacies of alcohol damage on someone's body.
no subject
Not the most compassionate view of the situation, but the man has more than made his choice based on the numerous empty glasses around him. Yuki won't feel guilt for using it to their advantage in some way. Or at least tell himself that he shouldn't feel guilt.
"He's also drunk enough that you could offer the drink and he may not get the chance to finish it."
no subject
She bites down on her lip, picking up a glass full of whiskey as it comes by from a waiter on their way.
"...so you said something about using the effects of alcohol damage on his body against him? I'm guessing say something like the ghosts have decided to curse him unless he cleans up his act and the curse will manifest in those effects." Even if they don't convince him tonight, he should think about it later and decide to try to help some refugees. "But what effects are those?"
no subject
"Muscle spasms, involuntary twitching of the limbs, stomach pains, yellowing of the whites of the eyes, fatigue, nausea, nosebleeds and bleeding of the gums, tooth decay, excessive urination, the swollen nature of his stomach could also be due to his liver failing."
no subject
Because? She doesn't really want to answer that question. Because Cerberus follows orders, instructions. The Merchant has given them, and she obeys. Like she did with Hades. Nothing ever changes.
"Those are good points to bring up. He might not cave tonight, but soon."
no subject
Yes, he has been watching her movement throughout the night and how she's managed to get people to listen to her.
"He is already wanting to believe. Good luck."
no subject
Regardless, she sends him the thumbs up before she goes to talk to the man, pretending at first to be faint and explaining she senses a curse on him. She goes into detail about the curse, covering all the symptoms Yuki pointed out.
The man begins to look frightened, drunk but frightened and yelling a little. The symptoms had been around, and he had no answer to it before. She gives them the answer she's been handing out to anyone who will listen: the ghosts are loss, they would be appeased by those willing to take in refugees- take in people from their group or fund their travel to a safer area.
He seems to seriously be considering it, and she doesn't want to push too hard, but the information is useful. And she's hoping between the two of them they were able to catch this big metaphorical fish- hook, line, and sinker.
no subject
If she were to look in his direction, he would give her a brief nod of acknowledgment but continue to mingle until she may need his observations again. There are others they could hopefully sway with some persuasive obfuscating.
no subject
Or something.
One is a woman who must be a couple years older than Red, and the other is an old man, gripping a cane, asking what the afterlife is like (which is awkward since she used to only exist there). She waits until her partner-in-crime isn't engaged in conversation with anyone else, and sidles up to him.
"Mission accomplished. You're damn good with your observations, Doc, so I'm guessing you've seen the two talking to me recently? Any thoughts?"
no subject
"Give me a moment..." For a moment he focuses more on the old man, rather than the woman, because his issues are obvious, but a blink and suddenly the world is hazy. The lights and gold décor are nothing in comparison to the sheer amount of shape and color that surrounds everything.
He turns his eyes back toward his accomplice and it's like staring into the face of a ferocious beast--except the beast is the shadow that envelopes her. A three-headed dog, misty yet thick like blue smoke, breathing down on them, alert and ready and protective. To serve, to guard, to do its duty to the best of its ability. Her ability. And something else there, too, at the heart of the beast. Something less animal and far more human.
The strength of it is somewhat overwhelming, but that works in his favor. It allows him to push out all the other stimulation, the input of everyone else in the room. He closes his eyes, rubbing at them, and then takes a breath. He centers his shield, shoring up the weak spots again. It's weak and worn, after nearly a year, but not completely broken. Not yet.
Yuki opens his eyes again. The world is mostly normal again. Colors faded to wisps of like translucent ribbons in the wind. Ignorable.
"Sorry," he says, but doesn't bother to explain. If he lies now, he'll likely ruin it with the truth later. No point for it. Just bulldoze the silence and not allow her to comment. "The young lady there is here for someone else, I believe. She has the ear of another who could not attend, or is not near her. She is not as pleased about being here, which could be used in our favor if she wants to get back and whoever required her presence. The elderly man is dying and knows it. That cough shows damage to his lungs. Also his leg is a prosthetic and ill-fitting. He's lost weight or couldn't afford a most custom fit. I am not sure if he lost it due to illness such as diabetes, or through an accident. This is a hazardous place."
no subject
And then like that, he blinks, the aura fades though still brighter than anything she's seen before, and the conversation shifts back as if nothing on Earth has happened. Of course, he's right. She's blunt as hell, and she's tempted to ask what exactly happened just there?
What is it she's reading from him? But she doesn't. This isn't the time. They're in the middle of the party, but that doesn't mean she'll forget it happened or forget what she's sensing from him. She can't really let this one sit. Something happened. Something changed. She feels weirdly vulnerable.
"Later." Her voice is blunt but insistent. But manages to gather herself up again: "Okay, okay, Sherlock. Shit. Might have to change your nickname to Sherlock. That's good. The old guy seems kind of like an obvious route. He'll want the ghosts on the other side to welcome him to it as gently as possible, which means taking care of the lost souls here on the living side of things, but-" She wrinkles her nose. "The woman's harder. How can we use this as a way to get back? Like a guilt trip? I did this for you now do this for me?"
no subject
Later. Meaning not right now when he very much has no intention of explaining anything about what just happened. Later meant he had plenty of time to keep pushing it back into "never." And she wasn't wrong, about the way that the elderly man could be persuaded. He was clearly reaching out toward someone or something long gone. A spouse, a child, some other loved one. But the woman,
"Don't teenagers like using their parents money as a way to get back at them? She is angry at being here. Allow her to get revenge on whoever put her here by using their wealth. She certainly has money to spare on her."
no subject
"Okay. I'll do that."
...and not likely come back after that weirdness beyond to share whatever the results of duping all the three of their marks was.
She goes to the old man first, talking about the fragility of life, how important it is to have a smooth transition to the other side, those that may be waiting for him there. It's not hard to convince a dying man to secure his way over. It's the woman that's a little bit more difficult. Red pushes at the anger part of it - use all that money for what she wants especially if it'll piss off the one who brought her here.
There's less ghosts this time, but she understands anger and she gets the point across at least. Hard to say if the woman will follow through, she looked eager at the idea of spending that money somewhere. ...then she gives up for the remainder of the night, finding a drink and a dark corner to be quiet in. It's been a long night, but she will be seeking out Sherlock later. No doubt about that.
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