westwhere | the clock tower

Happy Hallow-elevator! The clock tower event lasts between 22 October and 8 November. ICly, the tower incursion stretches around a week, and you’re welcome to have your character investigate something else, if they finish early!

THE CLOCK TOWER

ALL IS AS ALL WAS| TRIAL & NO ERRORS | THE TOWER

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ALL IS AS ALL WAS

Play it cool, as Serthica’s customs officers pore over your passport papers, before grudgingly allowing you overground. Minaras, you hear, is hunting a delinquent.

Both it and Eidris fare well, with no sign of the damage that preceded the Unwinding. Locals no longer behave eerily, dragons and clockwork droids roam freely, and everyone hates taxes.

Yet perfect strangers insist they know you. Your assigned address leads to a different house. The roads, buildings and architecture look ‘lived in,’ but changed.

No one remembers the Unwinding.

■ Burlap mannequins sometimes watch from mirrors, windows and reflecting surfaces.

■ You might hear shifting and scratching in Eidris walls.

■ Minaras has doubled its bounty for a man not unlike Leonard McCoy.

■ Black fungal spores are found on the increasingly voluminous experiment vials, specimens and supplies thrown out by Minaras medical facilities.

■ Frail and confused, Ellethia survivor Zenobius finally awakens. A short thread is up for RNG grabs.

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TRIALS & NO ERRORS

The guard troops that Eidris and Minaras assign to the Neutral Zone now protect King Thivar and High Councillor Arabella during the annual Sanctuary Reckoning trials. Both adjudicate cases that violate the ceasefire.

Prolonging the trials buys time for your companions in the clock tower.

■ Create a distraction — flood the judgement hall rooms? Fire? Illusions?

■ Pose as trial participants: perhaps you are of Eidris, and you caught this wicked Minaraian raiding your home? Mayhap this wretched man of Eidris stole your girlfriend? Wait, you’re a Minaraian who wants to kill King Thivar?

■ …organise breakouts, if Thivar or Arabella have your jailed. You are first imprisoned in makeshift Sanctuary cells — all but poorly locked, glorified closets. Get a trial sentence!

■ Thivar and Arabella treat the trials as a box-ticking exercise.

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THE TOWER

As Eidris and Minaras play court, you can infiltrate the Neutral Zone clock tower of Vassarizhia.

■ Only token security remains. The door is unlocked.

■ Karsa supplies paper talismans that must be burned in the watch fire at the tower’s top level.

■ Each burned talisman amplifies the reveal spell that Karsa activates. Link a finished burning thread by 8 November to help the cause.

■ A November mod post will describe how much of Serthica’s ‘undeath’ characters can see.

■ Placing Magnus’ dragon eye before the tower’s telescope will allow characters to always see Serthica’s undeath, moving forward.

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✘ ELEVATOR ETIQUETTE

Imperfect stillness dominates Vassarizhia: your footsteps do not click, words die in your mouth. The tower’s rickety gear slither silently. Your heartbeat aligns with the clock’s tick… tock.
You have the growing, gnarly certainty that you have invaded something ancient and alive.

The tower’s entryway level is large, deserted, stacked with gears. At its core is a dilapidated open elevator shaft.

A large sign says to find and pull the floor lever, if elevators stop.

■ There are two elevators. Each narrow lift can hold up to four people, crammed. The upper half of the carriage is chain-link fence, while the floors contain hatches that sometimes open mid-travel for 30 seconds. Hold on to ceiling-bound leather straps.

■ The ropes holding the elevators are thick, but tattered.

■ The elevator’s creaking squeals can awaken swarms of 1m-tall bats and bat wyverns. They rattle the lift, but ultimately withdraw.

■ The elevator can stop at as many levels as you want (or none!).

■ Beyond the second level, you feel intensely paranoid and see your companions as the persons you most hate/fear for five to 10 minutes. Reaching the top, you are tempted to cut the lift ropes of those who follow. (The ropes and elevators recover, after crashing to the bottom. )

■ On each floor, as you exit the elevator, a nearby wall shows a different scratched instruction, signed by DAVID.

LEVEL I: THE LABYRINTH| LEVEL II: THE ANCESTOR | LEVEL III: TAG! YOU’RE IT
LEVEL IV: THE ROOM WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS | LEVEL V: IT’S RAINING (AGAIN)

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LEVEL I: THE LABYRINTH
CONTENT WARNING: MINOTAUR, BODY HORROR

Step into a jail maze, flooded to knee level. Confusing corridors narrow, widen and contort, while wall torches dim.

Intermittent howling reveals you’re not alone. Hiding, you see child-like chalk drawings of forest animals on walls — and a great minotaur. Keep silent.

■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY.

■ Collect some of the many discarded daggers or axes. Rope bundles float in water — use them to paralyse your captive or briefly force them under your control.

■ Don’t linger in one place: rotting, bodiless hands surface to restrain you.

■ Bad news, if you swallow water when the minotaur or dead hands try to drown you: your skin stretches and bursts, while your bones pop and extend. You mutate into a half human, half woodland creature, all bloodlust. ( Inspiration, anyone? ) Your companions should still recognise you; between hazy memories and constant pain, you might struggle to remember them and even attack.

■ Morphed characters can (painfully) return to normal within minutes of re-entering the elevator.

■ A smaller and distressed three-headed minotaur also roams the labyrinth. Two of its heads sob, while the third urges you to hide with it when brother approaches. It tries to throttle you with a noose to make brother happy, if you follow. David did say.

■ The minotaur and its sibling have poor sight. They cannot enter a corridor where you’ve drawn or laid down a line.

■ Pull the lever, and a straight corridor leads you to the elevator.

TOP | LEVEL II | LEVEL III | LEVEL IV | LEVEL V

LEVEL II: THE ANCESTOR
CONTENT WARNING: GIANT SKELETON, BLOOD DRINKING

Here, only barren stone and thin rivulets of fresh water pouring from wall fountains with sharp-tipped ornaments — your spilled blood quickly infects the basins. Knives, pins and bowls have been abandoned nearby.

High pressure and vertigo overwhelm you. Follow a rhythmic heaving to where the upper half of an enormous skeleton — the Ancestor — has broken through a wall. White, silk thread fetters it. Dried blood rims its cracked mouth. Before it, the stone floor has been tarnished, up to a 5m radius.

The Ancestor appears dormant, a crown of iron thorns on its head. It clutches the lever tightly in its right hand. Above it, an engraving urges, SPILL WINE FOR YOUR ANCESTOR.

■ David S P’s elevator scrawl says, WATER TO WINE.

■ Dally staring and you feel dizzy, nauseous, depressed and compelled to share your close-death encounters. Before you know it, you are stepping into the Ancestor’s radius…

■ …where it plunges for you, if you don’t bear a filled cup. The silk ropes keep the Ancestor from reaching beyond 5m.

■ Two carvings under his fists read HONOUR THY FATHER and DISHONOUR THY MOTHER.

■ Quickly distract the Ancestor from crumbling his captives, tearing their arms or attempting to eat them.

■ The Ancestor is instinct-driven, consumed by thirst. It cannot see or smell, and only remembers taste. Sounds divert it.

■ Improvise: there is no actual wine here. Infuse water, spill blood, or vocally pretend you are delivering wine, and the Ancestor might spare you.

■ If sated, the Ancestor releases the lever.

TOP | LEVEL I | LEVEL III | LEVEL IV | LEVEL V

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LEVEL III: TAG! YOU’RE IT
CONTENT WARNING: SCARECROW, SKINNED CREATURES

Enjoy pitch dark, dread and bile spreading in your gut. Take a candle from near the elevator and roam through small, unlocked rooms that feature tattered beds, strips of tanning leather and blood or wax spilled on the floor.

■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, O CATCHES IT.

■ Ahead, you see candle-bearing mannequins that dance a hora to the same song played by Jim Kirk’s music box: “Up the mountain, in the grove, hand in hand to Ke-Waihu, fresh harvest’s a treasure trove, each fall we feast anew.”

■ The creatures are patched abominations of wax, skinned flesh and burlap. In the middle of the hora is a wiry scarecrow, eyes blazing with candle fire as it points a large cleaver. In certain lights, the scarecrow’s face briefly contorts into that of your mother. It wears priestly robes that Arc III survivors may recognise from the House of Ravens.

■ As the dance finishes, you notice the lever in the middle of the circle, where flame spells out TAKE THEM, NOT ME. The game begins.

■ The abominations run, gleefully manic and screaming TAAAA~AAAAAG. YOU’RE IT! The scarecrow unflinchingly cuts them down while pursuing you. Hide in the abandoned rooms, or risk snuffing your candle to avoid detection.

■ Some abominations slap you, hold you, or alert the scarecrow. Others offer shelter. A few peel off wax skins from their limbs — showing black fungi beneath. They murmur, IT NEVER GOES AWAY.

■ Parchment strips fall from the scarecrow’s sleeves, reading, HAPPY NAME DAY, MOTHER KNOWS BEST, THE SIN RAN DEEPER THAN SKIN, IF YOU CAN BEAR IT, IT’S A GAME.

■ Bless David: draw the scarecrow into a drawn or makeshift circle to trap it.

■ Intense, paralysing fear arrests you, if the scarecrow catches you. The wax abominations chant, TAKE THEM, NOT ME. One might even take pity and move your numbed mouth to utter the words. Say them — and the scarecrow lands deep cuts on your arms, then pursues your companion.

■ If you betray someone, the abominations take the appearance of your worst version: whether physically mutated, with a temper that amplifies your worst features, or both.

TOP | LEVEL I | LEVEL II | LEVEL IV | LEVEL V

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LEVEL IV: THE ROOM WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS
CONTENT WARNING: MANIPULATION, MENTAL COERCION

You enter a quiet room. The lever sits on a table, beside rope and a dagger. As you approach, your surroundings transform: perhaps your dearest dead appear to warmly welcome you. Crowds of your doubters celebrate your success. Or you are in a calm oasis, where nothing hurts.

■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, THIS DREAM IS A NIGHTMARE.

■ Whatever your deepest wishes, the room’s vivid illusions provide. With time, your beautiful dreams deteriorate into horror. Sometimes, you hear whispers of, Make a wish.

■ The room increasingly drains your life force. Within half an hour, you have gaunt flesh, brittle bones and a hunched back. Or you might feel compelled to harm yourself, clawing your arms and face, or pulling your hair out.

■ The damage comes undone minutes after reaching the elevator.

■ The room focuses on one person: if someone joins you, they see fainter echoes of what the room shows you, but they are not enthralled. They must coax or drag you away.

■ If you are under the room’s influence, it forces you to make any later intruders stay.

TOP | LEVEL I | LEVEL II | LEVEL III | LEVEL V

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LEVEL V: IT’S RAINING (AGAIN)
CONTENT WARNING: PLAGUE, THE CHILD

At the tower’s open-sky top, fire crackles from a small stone pit, shielded by a familiar, immovable blood-spattered white umbrella. Nearby, discover an immense rusted telescope and other discarded astronomy tools.

You trip on rain-battered yellowed bones at every step. One skeletal hand holds a watch piece, engraved for Mr. David Sebastian Pumpkins.

■ David S P’s has only scrawled his signature.

■ You might reach the flame easily, or be overwhelmed by sickness, black fungal spores blooming on your fingers, while you cough blood and experience intense fever. The symptoms wane once you reach the fire.

■ Burn paper talismans and link finished threads to help Karsa’s spell.

■ The child with a fox mask from the Unwinding could appear. Sign up for one of three short threads, which must finalise by 3 November.

NOTES

■ Some of the bigger plot clues have been emphasised, to help navigate through the horror details.

■ You can hit up some NPCs during the trials.

■ Check out plotting posts for last-minute team-ups.

■ Back to the top.

QUESTIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Minaras has yet to be introduced to the marvel that is the plastic bag—let alone the styrofoam clamshell—so when Jimmy turns up it's with an armload of food, a brown paper sack crammed with a pail of oysters, a loaf of bread, a twist of newspaper containing some kind of fried specialty, and a couple jars and bottles clinking around. He looks relieved to see Yelena, but not totally surprised—he's been following the glow of Kim's cigarette since he spotted it.

“Trade you,” he says, setting the bag next to Kim. It gives off an oceanic waft; grease has already started to blotch the paper. Jimmy waits for the cigarette to leave her mouth, the smoke to leave her lips, before he plucks the cigarette from her fingers. He takes a long drag, studying her face for news before turning his attention to Yelena.

“I got soup too. And beer. The full”—he spreads his arms wide, hands pointed like two ends of a timeline—“beverage spectrum. How'd it go?”

Asked with just a hint of eagerness. The tower expedition, while dangerous, practically guaranteed to give him secondhand nightmares, and, uh, all over Yelena's shoes, is still the payoff to a con.

Kim’s relief comes in pairs: a roommate that is still alive and seems to not need a trip to some quasi-Victorian ER, and a husband just put together enough to still be determined to sample every cuisine possible. Her sigh of relief is inaudible now, but the ease to her shoulders is obvious. Everyone in one piece for another night, thank god.

She’s still trying to fish out her pack of cigarettes when Jimmy descends on her to take hers, but she lets him have it. She throws a lingering glance his way, something that goes with the lipstick stains on the cigarette now in his mouth, but Yelena still needs a fix. She pulls one out and passes it to her wordlessly, ready with the lighter.

Her expression is expectant. Same question.

"Thank you," Yelena says around her cigarette as she leans in to the flame. She takes a quick, shallow drag, easing her lungs into it lest she bring on a coughing fit. The mix of cigarette smoke and seafood should be a nauseating aroma, but she breathes it in eagerly, exactly the combination of creature comforts one needs after the night she's had.

"Soup is not a beverage," she wags a finger at Jimmy. "If you can drink it, it's just broth."

She takes another, deeper drag of the cigarette as she contemplates where to begin. "I made it to the top and burned my talisman, so mission accomplished. That part was easy, actually. The hard part was getting up the tower. It was like a haunted house inside. Those Halloween ones with a new scare around every corner, except for real monsters instead of actors in costume. Oh, I fought a minotaur with three heads! That was crazy."

Jimmy only grins at the retort, grins and pulls on Kim's cigarette before offering it back—an easy motion, though his hand lingers. He figures Yelena must be pretty okay if she's up to being pedantic. It's basically a clean bill of health.

“Hey, fantastic!” he says to the news about the talisman, jumping the gun a little. The congratulations are heartfelt but on the perplexed side, and his confusion mounts—gives way to restless disbelief—as she goes on. It's not that it's hard to picture; it's just hard to picture without imagining a theatrical bolt of lightning striking the tower, or long corridors populated with jangling-limbed skeletons and black cats.

Sure, he remembers the Unwinding—those cold hands reaching out of the wall—but never if he can help it.

He forces a laugh. “How'd you beat it? Did you ask 'em if Van Halen was better with Roth or Hagar?” Surely a source of contentious debate.

There's a flicker of a smile on her face as Yelena and Jimmy go back and forth, the cigarette back in her hand, then back between her lips and out again. Flippant is better than catatonic, for sure. She studies Yelena's face as she talks, as she listens to Jimmy.

"It's a good start," she says, less enthused. She can't pretend to understand how little bits of paper add up to something magic, but more is better, right? She exhales, long and slow. "You make it sound more fun than terrifying."

"You know, it didn't occur to make the heads argue with one other, but that's clever," Yelena points her cigarette at Jimmy. "You might have enjoyed it. There were riddles."

(She leaves out the part about finding the skeleton of the man who left said riddles.)

At Kim's remark, Yelena gives a little shrug and a smaller smile. "Well, if you let it be terrifying, then it can control you," she says simply. Thinking too much about anything can paralyze a person, but if you take nothing seriously, those fears have a harder time sinking in.

Glancing between Jimmy and Kim, she sits up slightly to ask, "So how was court?"

“She's the brains of the outfit,” he says, cocking his head and smiling with open admiration at Kim. His voice threaded with affection. It takes him a moment to come back to the conversation. “I'm what they call a lateral thinker.” When they're feeling polite.

And neither he nor Kim were ever going near that tower—an objection Jimmy carefully neglects to voice.

He goes quiet as she answers Kim's question, as it occurs to him that Yelena's as unused to spooky bullshit as they are. His head turns toward the tower—not that he can see it from here—and for a second he tries to grapple with what it was really like, avoiding being gored by some myth.

Court, on the other hand. “Oh, a disgrace,” he says, brightening immediately. Another glance in Kim's direction, conspiratorial. “Missing documents, enough scandals for a month's worth of Enquirers, a very vulgar bird...I think the king even woke up for some of it.”

Kim's smile broadens, emboldened in how disgrace feels like being praised for getting away with something.

"He's selling himself short," she says, and her tone is calm but fond. "No one plans like him."

She taps ash off the end of her cigarette.

"And it's probably for the best we were at court instead," she agrees. The idea of being in the tower feels as absurd as stepping into a fantasy movie, right from the fantasy movie she's been living in. "We take things there very, very seriously."

Okay, Jimmy and Kim going back and forth complimenting each other is kind of cute, but Yelena would be remiss if she didn't at least pretend to gag. She can't be giving them the impression that it's appropriate behavior. That kind of encouragement could lead to escalation and then she'd have no one to blame but herself. Best to nip it in the bud.

"Aw, the vulgar bird sounds very funny. I'm sorry I missed that." She takes another drag from her cigarette now that she has finished fake gagging. As she exhales, she points between Jimmy and Kim. "Was it your craziest day in court?"

the clock tower

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