the unwinding

[groundrules]

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

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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.

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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!

Comments

[thedreamer]

[ It certainly wouldn't have been the most dignified way to die, though what a story. For the Doctor, at least. He would do everything in his power, of course, to keep his new companion from meeting with his end anytime soon. That being said, the Doctor is quite happy to be alive and not alone for whatever lies ahead.

Despite what's just happened to them, the Doctor is immediately focused on trying to figure out their surroundings now. He seems barely shaken or out of breath, himself, his mind already moving ahead, eyes darting around and taking in everything around them. Suddenly, there are more falling objects, though nothing of really any note, completely random. Nothing that would solve a veritable puzzle. And yet, before he can try to work out even the most mundane of details, his attention is also drawn to the jackalopes and the door. He's never met a path ahead that he won't follow, though, ever the adventurous and curious sort. ]

Charles Xavier, brilliant! Very good to meet you. And I'm the Doctor. [ No further explanation is given. ] You might say I have some experience - well, quite a lot in fact - with the extraordinary. Now, this is entirely new for me, to be fair, and one of the stranger things I've ever encountered, but not to worry. We'll get through it.

Onward, then. To whatever that is. [ And follow close to Charles, he does. ]

[perceptive]

( he's had some experience with the extraordinary too lately, but mostly it has to do with the people's he's met, other mutants such as himself. he's never before experienced being tossed into a strange world like this one. )

A pleasure to meet you, Doctor. ( that's a rather odd way of introducing oneself, but then again, he likely would've been referred to as professor x back home if things had ended peacefully in cuba and they'd been able to work more openly with various government organizations around the world. not that he's entirely certain that's the codename he wants to use despite having turned his entire life around in the span of a couple of months. but who knows? still, he has to ask. )

What sort of a doctor are you exactly? ( the man seems unshaken and unperturbed by what just happened which is good, he supposes. no need for them both to be in a panicked sort of state. charles is fairly sure now that he was likely the only one doing all the screaming earlier as they were falling down this tunnel. he examines the door as they get closer to it and he can't help but think of the words curiouser and curiouser. he's familiar with the tale of alice in wonderland. he's sure this door will lead them out of here, but who knows where to because the dice is a weird addition. )

[thedreamer]

[ He gets that sort of question a lot, of course, but he never tires of hearing the different reactions to his name. Doctor who? Doctor what? Doctor of...? It's all good fun for him. He loves it when people are curious.

While the question is asked, it may appear that the Doctor's not paying attention to Charles, but he is, even though his answer is delayed. He's just studying the jackalopes, the locked door, the way the floor feels beneath his feet, even the composition of the air in the room. ]

Yes, exactly. [ He gets closer to the dice now, examining them and the note, then looks at Charles. Oh, right, that wasn't much of an answer, was it? ]

A doctor of everything, really. Time and space travel, physics, cheese making. But my name is - well, more of a promise. [ A promise to the universe. To be a healer, someone who brings hope. But he probably hasn't made that much clearer than his other answers.

He tests the door handle one more time, just wanting to be sure they haven't missed the most obvious. But no, it seems their only option really is to play through. ]

You saved my life, that's a sign of good fortune, I'd say. I'm sure we'll land that number four we need if you roll.

[perceptive]

( at this point, charles is thinking he must be one of those doctor of philosophy, research degree types, which he thinks is great. whatever it is, he likes the man's attitude. he seems a bit carefree, fun, and oddly enough, he's making charles feel safe. like he shouldn't be too worried about their current circumstance because he's almost positive that together they'll be able to figure this whole thing out, somehow. )

Alright. I'll be happy to give it a try. ( he takes the bone dice and looks it over briefly before giving it a toss, hopeful that luck might actually be on his side, even though he's terrible at gambling and always loses. he probably should have mentioned that. )

Uh... ( the dice lands on a two and he makes a face. he's about to go pick it up when the floor beneath him starts to crack and heat evaporates from the surface of it. ) Watch out! ( charles stumbles forward, manages to swipe the dice off the ground, and thankfully, or rather, quite miraculously, he finds a narrow spot to step on. when he glances back around he's shocked to find that the entire floor is now lava. )

Are you all right, Doctor? ( he's really hoping the man's managed to make it to somewhere safe. ) I am so sorry about this! ( he's not exactly sure if he'd been the one to cause this by rolling a two, but it does seem like it. carefully, he turns around so he can get a better view of his surroundings. )

[thedreamer]

[ Though he doesn't think of it consciously in every bad situation, by his very nature, the Doctor wants to always convey an air of reassurance, calm, certainty. All things considered, he'd say his companion is doing quite well himself. He's known others to panic for far less, and he's grateful for the company right now, and the new friend. Everyone he has a positive interaction with, generally, is a friend. ]

That's the spirit! [ Gentle encouragement, until - oh, lovely, malleable, heated flooring. And then, it escalates quickly from there. Well, things have certainly taken an interesting and unexpected turn! He moves carefully and quickly, finding his own blessed little refuge, the tiniest of anchors. He has to contort just a bit, standing with one foot behind the other to be able to stand anywhere at all. But it's manageable, and certainly better than the alternative. ]

Being completely honest, Charles, I've had better moments, but we'll get through it, eh? We're both still standing, that's something. I like something, it's always better than nothing. For what it's worth, it's those dice, not you. It's this whole place right now. Someone's idea of a fun game...

[ The Doctor, being a bit...well, unique, very carefully leans in closer to the lava, almost sniffing the air, as if to check. The heat radiates quite quickly, though, and he pulls back. Just checking. ]

I've a feeling I know the answer, but if you still have those dice - [ He'd missed seeing if Charles even managed to grab them in the chaos ] - can you roll them again?

[ He imagines, unfortunately, it may not be that simple. ]

[perceptive]

( he's trying to stay very still and not accidentally loose his footing because the 'floor is lava' is no joke. charles can't believe this is happening, but he's glad the man he's with is perfectly safe. at least, for now. he stares at the dice in his hands. there's really no room to roll the dice, but he can probably can drop it between his feet, except... )

I don't know if I should. ( should he? roll again? he'd rolled a two and that seems to be all that's left for them to stand on right now. just the two spots and nowhere else to go. ) What if something even worse happens? ( look, he's all about being hopeful, but this is just too much of a risk. it's dangerous and he's concerned for their safety. he starts looking around for a way to get to the door. maybe they should've tried to break it open instead. )

I don't suppose you've got your time travel machine or ship with you right now? ( how does the doctor travel through space and time? if only he's a mutant with the ability to teleport. that would come in handy. )

[thedreamer]

Well, you've got the dice, mate. It's all in your hands, and very capable hands, they are. Despite the circumstances, we are, in fact, stable for the moment. I don't know how long that will last, but we're having a pleasant conversation, no need to rush anything!

[ Again, he's not overly panicked. He'd be an idiot not to be concerned about the lava - he is concerned - and their respective landing points are precarious at best, but things could be more dire. They have been, for him. ]

My old girl is indisposed at the moment, quite unfortunately. I've been cross about that for months now. No, my friend, it's just you and I, the jackalopes, and those dice. If you roll again, things might be worse, but they might be better. That's life, isn't it? The good and the bad. How do you make the choice? Well, it seems to me you decide that even if the very worst, I mean the absolute most terrible thing ever to happen, happens, what then? And to that I say, you've still got me! Good or bad, we're not alone, and there's always a chance to make it better.

[perceptive]

Good speech. ( and he means it too. the doctor's right. they really can't stay here forever. there's hardly any room for him to move. trying for a four again to unlock that door sounds like a good idea. plus, any other number could mean a change of environment and surely anything would be better than this. ) Let's do it then. Well, brace yourself. ( the moment charles starts thinking he's ready to roll the dice though it just falls to the ground between his feet because he wasn't even supposed to be able to even pick it up earlier, but /cough!!! -- still at two. he leans down to pick it up only to find that it won't budge. )

Uh. I can't seem to... lift it. ( he tries again, with both hands this time. ) It feels like it's stuck. ( he straightens up and attempts to move the dice with his foot, but that doesn't seems to work either. )

I don't suppose you three are going to give us some tips and tricks on how to get this game going again? ( he's looking at the three jackalopes now. they seems to be completely unconcerned that they're surrounded by steaming hot lava. charles keeps pushing at the dice with his foot, hoping to dislodge it from the ground, not wanting to give up. he tries to kick at it as a last resort and thankfully that seems to work. except it sends the dice flying in the direction of the doctor. ) Heads-up! ( oh my god. catch it, catch it, catch it. )

[thedreamer]

[ Oh no, Charles has inflated his ego just a bit. Just a little boost to make him feel more confident, which, given the circumstances, is helpful more than anything else. He may project a lot of calm and confidence outwardly, but internally, he's more concerned than he lets on. Not fearful, not in this instance, just concerned and cautious, though he doesn't betray that on his face. It's not even concern for himself, just his companion; he needs to make sure he gets him out of here safely. ]

Well, you're being perfectly reasonable, I don't know why the jackalopes- [ And suddenly, the dice are flying at his head. Luckily for both of them, the Doctor's quick reflexes kick in right away. Lucky that he even has lightning-quick reflexes. The dice are caught, relatively easily, and with a slightly breathless, very much triumphant smile from the Doctor. ]

Oh, that was good, wasn't it? Some of my best work lately. No need for applause, there's the matter of not falling into lava to worry about.

[ Just a bit of cheeky teasing, as he's so fond of. ]

Okay, Charles, what do we think? We've both touched the dice now, that must give us an extra boost of some sort. Bit of good fortune coming our way, any moment now. We're either getting this door opened or we're winning a yacht and a trip to - oh, what's a place humans are fond of on Earth - Tahiti?

[ He does debate for a moment; roll the dice or try something else? But what else? Might as well keep playing the game, for now. See what happens. Unfortunately for them, luck isn't on their side, and he rolls a six. The room rapidly fills with water and he keeps holding the dice as long as he can until they're too heavy. ]

Could've been better, admittedly. Charles! Alright over there?

[perceptive]

( charles had let out a triumphant 'yes!' when the doctor managed to catch hold of the dice and he can't help but chuckle, mostly because he's feeling so relieved that they hadn't lost their only way out of here. supposing they haven't been tricked and that rolling a four would allow them to unlock the door. but even if they manage to do so, who knows what lies ahead. for all they know, it could just be some sort of a closet and not at all a means of escape. well, he's going to keep hoping for the best anyhow. he's stubborn like that. )

Fingers crossed. ( he says as the doctor rolls the dice and he can't see the results from where he's standing, but the floor vibrating slightly beneath their feet and the entire place filling up with water is a clear sign that they hadn't gotten lucky. charles backs away and tries to clamber onto the cave wall, but it's no use. there's no way for him to avoid getting wet. )

I'm good. I think. You can swim, yes? ( because it would be a bit of a problem if the doctor can't, judging by how quickly the water level is rising. ) Bright side? The water's warm at least. ( how quickly they went from being completely bone dry to being soaked wet. he swims over to where the doctor's at in case the man needs help with staying afloat. ) This game ought to come with some written rules. But I think I'm starting to get the gist of it. Anything that isn't a four is likely some sort of punishment and we'll have to wait it out before we get to roll again. ( he's about to say something else when the jackalopes dive in for a swim and he accidentally swallows a mouthful of water, choking slightly. goodness. it's almost like they're taking the mickey out of them. )

[thedreamer]

We'll eventually run out of numbers, might take a bit getting there.

[ And still, he remains the optimist. They have every reason to hope and believe that it will all turn out perfectly fine. There's a way out of this, clearly, and they'll get there. There's no telling what's on the other side of that door, of course, but they'll face it together, whatever it is, and the Doctor has the utmost confidence in their ability to prevail. ]

I do swim, though I haven't much lately. Still, it's muscle memory, isn't it? Of a sort.

[ He probably doesn't need it, but on instinct, the Doctor just lightly taps Charles on the shoulder when he begins to cough. As if that's helpful at all. ]

Careful, there, my friend. Don't worry, though. If this water rises much further - well, we might have to get creative, but I can hold my breath for a very long time. I have a respiratory bypass system.