westwhere | the unwinding

the unwinding

Heya! Let loose for Serthica’s Unwinding — our event spanning 24 September-15 October that doubles as a test drive.

This round’s test drive participants do not require an invite to apply. Applications open over 8-14 October. Enjoy!

THE UNWINDING

TEST DRIVE TOURISTS | OLD TIMERS | DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
SPILL THE TEA | DRIP BY DRIP | ALL A DREA —

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✘ NEWCOMERS | BARRELING IN

Soaring seagulls and splintered silence. You awaken on the shoreline of steampunk citadel Clockwork Serthica, recovered by the irritable witch Karsa.

She shares translation and communication devices, scarce healing and a rapid briefing: you have reached a world where undead forces seek to weaponise you in their battle for dominion. Karsa’s employer, the Merchant leads travel to beacons meant to return you home.

Other otherworlders have already infiltrated Serthica. Karsa steers newcomers into the impoverished underworld of the Mouse House, to board a rickety coal train serving the citadel.

■ Silver tongues can win you passage.

■ ...alternatively, hide in the obscenely large whiskey barrels the train also smuggles in.

■ Mid-voyage, the train quakes, slamming you into walls and windows. Around you, the stench of bleach, the warm crackle of embers and static magic that builds thick, nearly electric.

You feel faint and fainter, when you overhear Karsa’s murmured, “It’s too early” — “find” — “find” — “it’s like a drea” — “don’t unwind” — “all child’s play.”

And then you’re U n w i n d i n g.

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✘ OLD TIMERS | INHALE-EXHALE

Eidris, Minaras, the Neutral Zone: all abuzz with residential whispers of imminent Unwinding — an annual fixture natives dread without fully remembering.

■ In the two days leading to the Unwinding, characters struggle to tell apart or remember the physical features of natives.

■ Some locals steal you into dark alleys, where they become suddenly stiff, emitting a rusty, guttural Ke-ke-ke sound. They do not recall this after.

The Unwinding kicks off at 6am, when both Eidris and Minaras are overground. Jim Kirk’s fixed music box begins to play, its chipper rural tune overtaking your thoughts: “Up the mountain, in the grove, hand in hand to Ke-ke-ke — Ke-Waihu, fresh harvest’s a treasure trove, each fall we feast anew.”

Earth shatters seismically underfoot, magic depletes, the citadel’s clock tower strikes 6:00 — and an urgent communication from the Merchant is interrupted by static, “You can we-we-we-…-stand it, the white man come — remembrrrrrrrrrrrr live, you are alive, do not be convinsssss —ssss — ssssd otherwisssssss —”

But you’re already U n w i n d i n g.

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✘ DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Down and down, you tumble, Alice — through a cavernous tunnel that widens and chokes arbitrarily. Sometimes you float and fly, sometimes you’re thrust sideways. Mostly, you keep falling.

■ Beware objects falling into you: from grand pianos to mystical balls of fire, stray beds, love letters and sharp-pointed weapons. Even a blood-spattered umbrella that shields against anything.

■ You’re dropped unceremoniously into an underground lair, as items keep falling down. Unclaimed, they disappear within minutes. Three jackalopes smoking opiate pipes point you indifferently towards a locked door. On its handle sit a bone dice and a note instructing, ROLL FOUR TO OPEN.

■ The dice can only be thrown every 10 minutes and feels too monstrously heavy to lift otherwise. Each roll makes the effect of the previous throw disappear. If you get:

one: gravity fades, the dice floats out of reach. ( The jackalopes enjoy the breeze. )

two: the floor, barring a few narrow steps at great jumping distance, is lava. ( The jackalopes check ‘hell’ off their vacation list.)

three: an irked dragon coils beside you. (The jackalopes prepare to tan.)

five: the thrower grows and grows and grows, until they must contort creatively to fit inside. ( The jackalopes charge rent. )

six: the room fills with water that nearly reaches the ceiling. (The jackalopes are competitive swimmers.)

seven: everything about your companion irritates you. They even breathe wrong. ( The jackalopes find this awkward. )

eight: The floor slowly expands into quicksand. ( The jackalopes hoverboard. )

■ Roll four and the door creaks merrily open. A second note slips loose, I’m sorry. Head in, your newfound possessions abandoned — and keep U n w i n d i n g.

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✘ SPILL THE TEA

You wake, dressed to the steampunk nines, at a tea party, alongside a companion and a slew of eerie guests: cog droids, faceless people and animated human-sized burlap mannequins. You only hear static and white noise when they speak.

When you leave the table, a fox butler passes you the empty kettle, asking you to, ”Make tea and finish here”.

■ You’re inevitably stuck in a decrepit dollhouse. Heavily boarded doors and windows ultimately open to show plague sickness in the streets. The fox butler closes them, reminding, ”He’ll make it go away.”

■ Travel a corridor of repeating rooms to reach the kitchens, and don’t dally. Every time the clock strikes a new hour, the partygoers grab their sharpest knife and stalk down the house to pursue you. The frenzy lasts 10 minutes before they return to their seats — barricade in deserted rooms, hide behind curtains or climb up the chimney…

■ For tea, the mannequin cook directs you to retrieve juniper and rosemary leaves from the greenhouse, where plant tendrils try to trap you, leaving marks of mould; rescue the milk container from a cat that’s running on the crumbling staircase, and sugar from a dish in the lavish nursery room, where ghostly hands might seek to drag you into walls and send you back down the rabbit hole.

■ Supplied, the huffing burlap cook prepares tea. Just as you’re about to taste the black brew at the party table, a man in white takes and spills your tea out in a plant pot. You only hear, ”You don’t need this yet” — before you’re U n w i n d i ng.

■ On exiting the Unwinding, your pockets burst with plants or leaves of juniper and rosemary. They can alleviate McCoy’s sickness.

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✘ DRIP BY DRIP

You wake up in bloodied clothes in a filled bathtub. You are hounded by urgency, as if you’re hunted. The unease never wanes, as you gather your bearings and join the bustling city streets, armed with a blood-spattered white umbrella. In your pocket, two paper notes: CHILDREN LIE and WHAT IS HIS NAME?(

Your memories are confused: half of you is certain you are a content citizen of Serthica. The other riots that you don’t belong. An excruciating migraine strikes when you try to remember how you arrived here.

Gravity’s a loose concept: you walk, or you float. The city is either perfectly still, or inundated with the screeching of hearses and criers. Locals — all faceless, or man-sized burlap mannequins — mill busily, despite the forlorn rain.

■ Hold on to your umbrella: linger uncovered in the rain, and your facial features slowly fade, while you desperately try to convince your teammate that you should stay here forever. You recover once dry.

■ The inhuman locals grow increasingly more hostile with time: carriages want to run you over, friendly burlap shopkeepers push you into a ditch. They chase if you ask their name.

■ Happily, this world is vulnerable to your desires: wish gravity undone, and you can walk on walls. Think a river into being, and it bursts ahead. Imagine buildings, and they pop up. Playing God comes at a price of bad luck: the staircase you envisage thins and breaks just as you cross it, your knife rusts after the first swing.

■ Your pursuers abandon you, when you reach a deserted marketplace and encounter a drenched, battered boy wearing a fox mask. He is playing with paper boats in the middle of a large black puddle. You feel deep and building hatred for him.

■ Seeing you, the child mentions one of you previously tried to kill him. He offers his name, in exchange for your umbrella:

a. Refuse or dally, and dark hands rise out of the puddle to pull you and your partner in, scratching you bloody. The last thing you see, before you wake up in the bathtub again (or out of the Unwinding), is a man in white who collects your umbrella. He holds it over the child, scolding, ”Did you forget again? This one never hurt you.”

b. To surrender the umbrella, step on the paper boats as you cross the puddle to the boy. Walking straight on water feels like stepping on knives. The child accepts your umbrella, whispering his name is ”Hyang-Won”, before you start to fade out of the Unwinding.

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✘ IT WAS ALL A DREA —

New or old, as the Unwinding ends, you wake up in Ma’am Mariol’s modest orphanage in the Mouse House. Mariol, the orphans and Serthica at large recall nothing about the Unwinding. Karsa, who dragged you in, is pale and exhausted, her memory patchy. She urges everyone to recuperate before heading back overground.

■ Your body shows only a fraction of any damage sustained in the Unwinding.

■ Ma’am Mariol’s labyrinthine home offers limited accommodations: share beds, floors, and household chores, while the orphans led by curious Gavroche, peer in.

NOTES

■ You can make network posts outside of the Unwinding.

■ Feel free to mark if you're a test drive tourist or an old timer in your top level!

■ The Unwinding is a shifting of realities not a dreamscape.

■ You can opt out of the Unwinding by keeping characters in the Mouse House. Here, nothing seems amiss.

■ QUESTIONS!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Brushing off an injury to keep going, Lila's impressed so far. She likes to run with a tougher crowd than most. ]

Glad to hear it. Could be meeting in worse situations, and I like someone quick on their feet. Not afraid of a little danger.

[ Lila will scan the items for anything useful, picking up a machete on the way to the door. Better safe than sorry, in her book. ]

Can't say I have. Think I'd remember a place like this. Hole or not.

[ She scans the instructions, and looks at the dice. ]

How's your luck? Any good at gambling?

[ Clara looks over at Lila as she reaches for the blade, and realizes it's not a half-bad idea even if Clara doesn't necessarily want to use a weapon. Just before it fades from sight, she grabs a scythe which she figures is better than nothing. ]

I think I'm supposed to say something like 'danger is my middle name,' but it was already a long day before this so please imagine I made an adorably stupid joke.

[ Testing the weight of the scythe in her hand, she considers the question. ]

The odds aren't the worst I've ever had, but I'll be shocked if I roll a four on the first go. You?

[ All they're really doing is stalling because there isn't any other way to get out, at least that Clara can see. ]

[ She nods as Clara moves to grab a weapon from the pile of disappearing objects, not certain if they'll need it or be allowed to keep it, but a comforting weight in her hand. ]

Understand that a little too well, I think. I will absolutely imagine you've made that joke and give you an amused laugh in return.

[ Lila's gaze flicks over to the jackalopes as she considers the odds. Then shrugs. ]

Usually make my own luck, not sure that'd be allowed. One of us should give it a go. It's not as if there's a sign telling us not to roll the dice.

[ There is a story behind her words. Not that now is the time to have that chat. ]

[ Clara takes the dice in her hand and inhales deeply. She's getting deep Jumanji vibes right now. ] Experience tells me that whatever happens if we don't roll fours, we'll be stuck with it until we do.

[ Exhaling, she rolls and lands on six. At first, there's nothing, until Clara there's a drip on her forehead, then another, another, and soon it's pouring. ]

Everything else is falling, why not water? [ It's pouring, and Clara hates the stupid dress even more because it's getting heavier as it gets soaked. Her curls - what was left of them - are plastered to her forehead already. ]

Alright. Four. Please.

[ Except that she can't pick up the dice anymore, it feels like it weighs a literal ton, and she stares at it. ]

...Can't throw it if I can't lift it. Maybe 'cause it's your turn?

[ Lila watches Clara pick up the dice, tightening her grip on the machete just in case something comes at them. ] C'mon, we enjoy the danger, Clara. Let's see how fast we can knock this out so we can have a proper rest.

[ Her gaze is on the dice until the final number shows, then it slides around the space waiting for a monster or enemy to show up. Rain plinks against the metal of her weapon, dripping down her hair until she realizes this is it. Clara rolled for rain. ]

I won't even say anything to curse the moment. [ No "it could be worse" statements. ] Though, for the sake of curiosity, how attached are you to this dress?

[ It looks heavy and she sees that this water isn't running off anywhere, puddles are forming at their feet. ]

Sure, I'll give it a go. [ With her free hand, she reaches out to try to pick it up. Her face contorting with effort. ] Nope. Any ideas what we should do next?

[ Considering Lila's question, it takes only a few seconds for Clara to agree. ]

Not mine, so I'm not worried. There's more where this one came from anyway. [ Before that though, she watches Lila try and fail to lift the dice, and realizes the water is up to her ankles now. ]

I think you might as well say it because either way, this water isn't going anywhere. As for what next, I dunno. Maybe we have to interact with something else we aren't seeing. [ Clara turns, looking over her shoulder. ]

Unzip me? Then we can look for something else, fuck knows what. [ She's not usually one to swear, too used to being in front of kids, but there aren't any other satisfying words she can think of right now. At least she didn't go full 19th century with her wardrobe, wearing a tank top and thin jogging shorts under the dress, but the Victorian-era boots will have to stay. ]

[ It certainly looks fancy and authentic, she'd almost wonder if Clara is actually from Victorian London. Some instinct tells her "not", though. ]

Good to know. [ She wouldn't have hesitated to cut some of that length off if it came to that. Her own clothing is more modern - and lighter compared to that dress. ]

We don't know when it'll stop, either. Let's not jinx that. [ Lila looks up at the walls, searching for some kind drainage should things get that bad or a pocket where they attempt to ride it out. ] Has to be some way to drain this water, or it'd have been full from other people's efforts.

[ At the question, she turns back to Clara and shifts closer. ] Yeah, can do.

[ It's easy to reach for the zipper and undo it, freeing the other woman to wiggle out of it. ] There you are.

[ Clara flashes a smile of thanks at Lila before she begins sloshing through the rapidly rising water. Dropping down to feel, she searches for a plug that might be blending in with the stone. ]

Maybe the people before us got the door open and that triggers a reset? [ It's her only guess, but after searching only a few minutes, the water is up her knees. ]

Okay, so this isn't going the way I thought I would.

[ There might be an edge of panic in her voice but she's trying to keep pushing it back. She refuses to drown because of a twisted dice game. ]

Wall mechanism?

[ Lila starts moving along the walls, one hand pressed against it in search of something off. ]

Could be. Which would mean we're allowed to try again with the dice. [ She stops looking at the walls, and shifts over to the dice. ]

No wall mechanism. [ Here's hoping Clara can actually swim or at least keep herself above the water. ]

We could try to roll again, the water may help with how heavy the dice are.

[ It doesn't seem like the dice are specific to a person, and as her toes begin to just barely touch the floor, she watches the dice start to float as well. ]

I have no idea if you were right or if that was coincidence, but either way, I'm checking the door while we still can. It's the only thing I didn't look over and if there are screws at the top, maybe we could try to unhinge it.

[ By the time she gets to the door she's swimming, and she hopes Lila can, too. Her hands begin running over the top of the door thanks to the water giving her height, looking for any sort of screws they can have a go at. ]

[ Lila puts the machete through her belt as she makes her way over to the dice, she's not much taller than Clara and doesn't bother trying to walk along the bottom. ]

Let's take what we can get at this point. [ Better not to turn down a good thing. ] If it's got screws, you can use the scythe as a screwdriver.

[ She scoops up the dice, gives a good shake and tosses them back into the water. Though as soon as the dice settles, all the water vanishes, and instead they get a: ] Bloody dragon.

[ Time to move back away from it. ]

[ The abrupt but short fall back to the ground startles her, but her head whips around at Lila's words and she holds the scythe firmly in one hand. If she's in the process of dying back home, then her brain is giving her one hell of a last hurrah. ]

Your luck is as good as mine then, good to know. [ Swallowing hard, Clara wets her lips and pushes wet hair away from her face. Where's the person who could talk to the dinosaur with wings and fire when you need him? Probably still stuck in a whisky barrel somewhere. ]

Okay, so, not immediately attacking, that's good. That is hopeful. Now we have to attempt not to piss it off while trying to get the dice at the same time. Which is also assuming we can lift them.

[ All of this is said as Clara edges along the wall with the dragon staring at them both, tracking them with its eyes and making her feel very much like its assessing a dinner menu. ]

[ Better to go out with a bang than a whimper, sometimes. She makes a side motion with her head in a sort of "eh, maybe?" sort of way. ]

Pretty sure a dragon is worse luck than heavy rain. Hell, heavy rain is just life in England. [ Lila is getting the thought that Clara has no superpowers that she can mimic, so guess she may have to fight the dragon the old-fashioned way. ]

If it starts attacking, I'll catch its attention, and you go for the dice. Surely, whatever else we roll has got to be better than a dragon.

[ Oh, she sees how the dragon locks on to Clara. Let's not have that. The blond crouches down and draws her machete with the other hand slowly. With it free, she lowers it to the ground and scrapes the metal against the floor, drawing those slitted eyes towards her. ]

[ Clara only wishes she had super powers. ]

One in four chance now. Please don't get eaten by this dragon. [ Is she talking to herself? To Lila? Why not both!

As she picks up her pace edging around the room, the scrape does indeed catch the dragon's attention and it responds with a loud, cringe-inducing screech right at Lila, wings unfolding as much as they can in the space. The distraction was perfect and Clara runs for it, ducking a falling ceiling fan and jumping over the dragon's tail.

The dragon itself moves in closer to Lila, snarling and clearly assessing its plan of attack. When Clara gets to the dice she can't lift it again but keeps trying. ]

Come on! It won't move again, it's like it's glued to the ground!

[ Clara keeps at it, trying to hit it with her scythe like a golf club. The dragon rears back, taking a step that she has to dodge. When she looks for the dice again, she sees that it's moved and she dives for it. Just as she grabs it, the orange glow of fire burns in the back of the creature's throat as it inhales deeply. Clara throws the dice, it exhales and -

The dragon is gone, and as gravity exits the building, Clara bounces off of a wall again. ]

Alright, I was annoyed, then terrified, now I'm angry.

[ They'll just have to make do with their normal tiny badass selves. ]

That'd be a terrible way to die! Swallowed by dragon only sounds good from the one who doesn't get chomped. [ Witty banter is always the best way to deal with a threat.

Lila moves across the room with her machete dragging on the ground, keeping the dragon's attention away from Clara's path to the dice. She keeps her distance, not wanting to appear as more of a threat to speed up its attack. Let it keep analyzing the next move.

Her eyes don't stray from the overgrown reptile, but she can kind of see Clara struggling with the dice. ]

Guess it'd be too easy if we could just roll right away.

[ It's clear that Lila is about to dodge out of the way at what is clearly a move to breathe fire at them, but then there's the clattering of dice along the floor, and they lose more than the dragon. ]

This wasn't what I meant when I said I wanted another go at diving down the hole.

[ Even as she says it and floats upward, she goes for her belt and wraps it around the handle of her weapon. Lila throws it at the wall, so it sticks, and uses it to pull herself in. ]

Right, coming your way. [ She pushes off and floats towards Clara with her free hand outstretched. ]

[ At the very least, neither of them are roasted meat as gravity completely betrays them. When Lila reaches out for Clara, she tries to use a swimming motion to meet her halfway. ]

Never get used to gravity deciding to take a sudden vacation.

[ When she snags the other woman's hand, Clara grins in success but then looks at the ground getting a little higher. ] We should try to stay close to the bottom. Otherwise, when gravity inevitably returns we don't break anything. [ Her own words make her think of something, though, and she looks around. ]

The die, where the hell did it go?

[ Right now, Lila is grateful that everything isn't adding up. Though, maybe all that water would have done something about the dragon. ]

You in a lot of situations where gravity decides to go on holiday?

[ Contact! It's an interesting combination, Clara wearing Victorian clothing but not being surprised at any of this. Then again, she used to work for a time agency and fitting in was pretty important when going out into the field. ] Good idea, we've survived everything else so far that it'd be a shame to get hurt now.

[ At the realization and question, Lila looks around for it. ]

How do you roll a die without gravity? [ Okay, it isn't the rolling that's the hard part - it's getting it to stop and land on something else. She spots a speck of white floating through the air and points at it with the hand not grasping at Clara. ]

I'll tell you stories when we get outta here.

[ Clara likes Lila and she's not above admitting that in another life there'd be some attempted flirting. But there's no time to think about it, grasping onto Lila's hand and seeing the most frustrating object she's ever encountered in her life. Looking for something to push off of, she makes sure Lila's ready and then follows her pointing. Reaching, she manages to wrap her fingers around the die. ]

I have no idea how we make this work, but whatever. Here we go.

[ She's able to sort of toss it, and it spins a bit. The die pings off of an object and lands on a floating table. Finally, a four. But it's not as easy as the gravity simply coming back, of course. The door opens, but they don't stop floating. ]

Think this is a final 'screw you.'

Definitely holding you to that. We can talk about it over tea.

[ She may not have been back to London in a while, but Lila still likes tea. Also, Lila is also not above flirting with Clara - though there would have to be some disclosures on that. Fingers curl around the other woman's hand in return, holding with a firm, but comforting grip.

The die flies, bounces, and lands to show four black dots facing upward. ]

Bloody beautiful. I'm bringing you to all my antigravity die games.

[ Those are words she genuinely means. Unlike the other times, the effects don't just vanish with the new roll, but that's all a matter of getting to the door. ]

Or maybe giving us a bit of fun before we go. [ Lila tightens her grip on her makeshift grappling hook. ] Here we go!

[ A hard tug on the belt sends them sailing across the room towards the door, a nice leisurely trip with nothing trying to kill them. She stops them with a foot bumping gently on the wall. ] Your lift has arrived at its destination, Lady Clara.

Oh, I'd love a good cuppa right now.

[ Holding onto Lila gives Clara a renewed sense of maybe it'll be okay that she was beginning to lose. So, even though gravity doesn't make another appearance, they got through it. All she wants now is that tea. ]

Twister in space. The game, not the movie. Try holding that awkward position with no gravity. [ She says this just as Lila shoves off and it's actually not bad. Certainly not the worst time she's spent flying through the air today. ]

That was super Mary Poppins of you. [ She does her best curtsey without being able to actually do it properly. ] Lady Lila— which sounds better than Lady Clara by the way —thank you for your service and your company. Shall we get the hell out of here?

Some biscuits to go with it. And jam.

[ If only they knew the tea party that awaits them on the other side of this door. Why are they the help rather than the guests? ]

Twister, now there would be a very exciting game done without gravity. How do we make this happen? [ Lila is trained to deal with all sorts of situations, this might be relatively new, but flying-floating was something she could do and adapt to. ]

I do look good with an Umbrella. [ A hidden meaning in her words, but also just the truth. She bows in return for the curtsey. ] You're welcome to both any time you'd like, mi'lady. Fuck yes. Let's see what trouble's in store for us next.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

the unwinding

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i'm good with any number tbh if you want lila to have a go!

excellent

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