the clock tower

[groundrules]

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

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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

Comments

[littlemimic]

Had he told her to sit out this clearly dangerous mission, Lila would have joined simply out of spite. Even if Five knew her biggest secret, she wasn't one who would allow herself to be handled with kid gloves. While she could have added a lot of chaos to a trial, her heart had already been set on getting inside the tower.

"Why, not certain you could go toe-to-toe with whatever they've got locked up in here?" There is no denying just how amused she is that Five is still lacking so much crucial information about his future. Toying with him would never not be fun, though she knows that eventually she will tell him everything. "If you're that worried about it, just do your little time rewinding trick."

Here's another tidbit of information, she knows what Five did in the barn.

Having a whole family like all of the Hargreeves siblings is a step Lila isn't entirely ready to take. Just wanting to be one with Diego and their unborn child is already a frightening concept to admit to herself or out loud. She hadn't even wanted to tell Diego's family when things were at their worst.

"You'll have to settle your own troubles with him, I already have my own shit to handle with him." If they do find Diego and the last thing he remembers is the barn, Lila will have to tell him all about the trick she played on him and the secret she's only told two people about.

[somebadnews]

Five doesn't miss the reference. He hasn't even told his family what he did in the barn. There wasn't a need to; at some point informing them that he brought them back from their untimely deaths loses impact. But apparently he saw fit to tell Lilia all about it. It seems he's just going to have to get used to all these little tidbits he shared in a future timeline.

Which begs the question why he would bring it up to begin with.

He's still mulling that over when she mentions the bone she has to pick with his brother. There's still a lot that he's missing to her story, but he at least knows what's at the crux of their issue now. He can imagine it'll be worse if they do find him and she has to inform him that she's pregnant for a second time. If that happens to be the reason she decided to come to the tower, he'll allow her some slack that he's really not used to giving.

"...You didn't try it, did you?" It occurs to him suddenly. He's only ever seen her mimic his spatial jumps. It'll bother him if she managed to copy something that took him decades to discover he was capable of. "Rewinding time."

[littlemimic]

It's so easy to tell when Lila's words get to Five, to see them swirl around in his head as to why they're so buddy-buddy in the future that they'd be holding hands and telling secrets. Were they not in the middle of dangerous territory about to face some terrible force, she'd keep him guessing about why this particular knowledge was given to her.

She leans back against the elevator wall, tucking her knife up her sleeve.

"Couldn't. I saw it all on the Infinite Switchboard afterwards." So he wasn't there actively using his power so she could mimic it. Lila is extremely good at using their powers better than they are, so maybe she should try it some time. Plus it would irritate Five if she could do it after all the time and effort he put into it.

"Herb escorted me out of the Commission, so I went to find a briefcase mum had stashed away. Stayed in 1989 for a bit before going to find Diego." Meaning that Lila really isn't wanted at the Commission anymore, so she's honestly not working for them.

[somebadnews]

His mouth hangs open for a moment before he remembers to shut it. For a brief moment, he considers finding out if there's an emergency stop button on the elevator so he can sit her down and get her to tell him everything she's leaving off.

Of course Lila would go back to the Commission after the barn incident, and considering what happened on the farm, he can see that they'd be less than welcoming after what they no doubt saw. He's only surprised that Herb was the one to escort her out, as much as he seemed to sympathize with them.

There's still some gaps he needs filled in, but he gets stuck on what she saw on the Infinite Switchboard. The Commission have long been known to track his time traveling abilities, but it means something else. There's a record. Lila saw his family dead, and watched him undo it. Just when he thought no one would ever have to know.

"1989?" He looks up at that. Very specific year to choose. He shakes his head; it's not the thing he should focus on here. This might not be the best time for it, but he can't say he hasn't wondered about the state of the Commission, given... everything. "Sorry to hear they fired you. After the loss they took, I thought they'd be hanging onto every agent they could. Even someone with your family ties."

[littlemimic]

When they are done with this city and get a chance for a proper breather, Lila would gladly set up a game of Pictionary or Hangman, so he can learn all of the sordid details about his future. Now is certainly not the time for that hell in a handbasket to be dropped on anyone's shoulders.

Maybe one day Lila will even tell him why she went back to the Commission, since it wasn't to rejoin their ranks. She hadn't gone there to see Five and what had happened to her mum, but got to see it all - including the time he erased to give them all an actual future. Whether he tells the rest of his family is his business.

There's a shrug of her shoulders. "Mum hid her emergency briefcase in the Berlin Wall. Had to get it before they buried it, couldn't go any earlier to fetch it. Joined a band while I was there." This is all part of the conversation she had with Constantine over the network. None of it had been a lie.

As for her job at the Commission, Lila doesn't appear too upset over it. "Sort of killed a couple of people on my way in to the Switchboard. Besides, I've got to be better than my mum for my kid."

[somebadnews]

Some things Five could have predicted, but others come out of left field. How long was she in the band? He assumed she'd found out she was pregnant not long after the barn, especially factoring in the Commission, but apparently she wasn't in any hurry to get back to them. It wouldn't matter, except they've got less time than he thought.

The elevator shudders, bringing him out of his thoughts so he can properly frown when she talks about her mom. Some might see it as contradictory to say that right after admitting that she killed two people, but Five isn't one of them.

"Knowing their severance package, I'm surprised it was only a couple." Poor Herb didn't know what he was getting himself into when he took the place over. Maybe he'll have enough sense to shut it down for good. So sue him, he's curious. "The Handler had an exit strategy for you?"

[littlemimic]

Ask and she may just answer that, most people would need some time after watching the person who raised them gun them down with barely a hint of remorse. Lila had a lot to work through with everything that had been learned, or do her best to ignore it. Though, in the end, the wish will give them all the time they need. They would also have a clearer idea of what the wish did a lot sooner this way, once she's a couple more months in and still not showing.

No one knows the Commission or her mother better than Five, no one still alive. The fact of the matter was that Lila sided with the Handler at the barn up until the very last moment. Herb might have shown her the truth of her parents' death, but he probably wouldn't give her access to the Switchboard just because she wanted to hear Diego's voice.

"I know how to get around the place." Herb was a good guy, much nicer than the assassins that would sometimes walk the halls like the two of them. Lila fixes Five with a look that is clearly asking him if he wants to rewind that question. "Mum had an exit strategy for herself. I just knew about it."

[somebadnews]

It shouldn't come as a surprise to him that the Handler managed to squirrel away a briefcase if it turned out her hostile takeover backfired. The look he gets tells him it's still a sensitive issue. He doesn't press how little thought she obviously gave to her daughter's survival, but it is slightly satisfying to hear that Lila came around. They've got a lot in common really, starting with a parent that didn't love them.

And really, the less is said about the Handler, the better.

"Lucky you." There's another shudder, and Five braces his back against the wall behind him. They should have looked for the stairs. He should mention that, but first he wants to clear one thing up. "Anyway, I wouldn't count on rewinding time. It's not as easy as it looks, and there's too much that can go wrong. I don't need the rest of the family thinking they've got a get out of jail free card."