westwhere | sand in your eyes

sand in your eyes

And onwards, through the cursed desert. The mini-journey Arc covers 6-21 January and doubles as a test drive meme. Participants do not need an invite to apply this round. Have fun!

SAND IN YOUR EYES

TEST DRIVE TOURISTS | ONE SAND WASHES THE OTHER
A HOUSE UNITED WILL SAND | SOILMATES | A PYRAMID SCHEME

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A SANDING OVATION

Sand in your eyes, down your throat, stifling. You wake half-buried in high dunes, crawling towards helping hands. Thirst vanquishes you.

You are quickly offered a translation and communication pendant and introduced to the leader of the caravan that saved you — good Mazyar, who thanks the stars for your most incredible luck to be rescued by his generous and humble self. For he is not a man for idle praise, but he has sold salt to salt makers, he was courted by seven of the five great trade guilds and brought peace to the Stairs of Sighs…

Mazyar reveals you are in Akhuras, where undead lieges seek to weaponise you in their war for dominion. Mazyar’s good but less successful friend, the elusive Merchant ferries otherworlders east, where ancient beacons can transport them home.

Retire for now and regain your strength. Come morning, further otherworlders will arrive from Serthica — and your journey may begin.

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ONE SAND WASHES THE OTHER

The veteran party reunites with newcomers in the desert, and with the merchant Mazyar — who once guided them through the Stairs of Sighs. His caravan is protected by the Scavengers —deathly a tribe of hardened desert raiders. They bring water flasks, supplies, cooling suits and tents to share. Their snail-like carriage mounts can transport the weak.

You are bound for the seized citadel of Alem, swarmed on each side by undead battalions. To access it, you must obtain one of the enormous sand worms that trawl the deserts, which can be deployed to create underground passageways.

The Scavengers will lead the caravan through haunted dunes, the worms’ traditional hunting grounds and temple-fortress Uruksithar.

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A HOUSE UNITED WILL SAND

The group first reaches the Valley of Unchaining, bordered by high cliffs and fang-like stones. Here and there, discover bloodied footprints, half-buried shackles and red chains. You might even stumble upon an eroded tombstone inscribed, H R SL EP THE UNCH IN D. At its feet are dulled dagger blades and rough calcar stone.

COULD DIE FROM LAUGHTER

You fool, never eat alone. Happen by the camp’s outskirts with your dinner, and you might glimpse the silhouettes of starved desert hyenas, their eyes glistening green. They will come close if you bear raw meat or bleeding wounds.

■ Scavengers say, if you see the hyenas, throw them food or a cloth drenched in fresh blood, then run without looking back until you no longer hear their cruel cries.

■ Some hyenas mimic rasped human voices, begging help or calling your name. One feeble hyena wears a chain of red shackles around its neck.

■ If you look back while chased, you find the green stare of the hyenas fixed upon you. You are gradually overcome by starvation, violence and the urge to dismember prey and feast on raw flesh. Player’s choice on whether characters can resist this compulsion, which disappears at dawns, or if they taste blood.

■ Scavengers will deny you entrance into the camp if you appear possessed in this way.

SANDIMENTAL VALUE

You walk the Valley, Scavengers say, and Mother Death walks with you. A once handsome crone might appear beside you, bare-footed and dressed in clean linens. She remains silent unless spoken to and flinches if you move suddenly, as if she fears being struck.

■ Treat the Crone kindly, and she entrusts you with a small pouch holding a fraction of her ashes, which she wants scattered from the hills.

■ Use rope and climbing hooks and take cover behind stone formations. Beware the violent sand whirlwinds that batter the cliffs, threatening to plunge you down or choke you with sand.

■ If you succeed, the Crone appears to watch her scattering ashes and bless you with good luck for the rest of your journey. Your kindness, she says, reminds her of her daughter.

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SOILMATES

The three-day walk to Uruksithar traverses the sand worms’ hunting grounds, where dunes shift periodically in sharp, tectonic waves. Watch your step and don’t be surprised if your tent sinks at night.

■ The Scavengers organise daily reconnaissance parties in the desert hills. Stay with them to unbury dune treasures.

■ The brave & brazen can try to catch sand worms. The massive creatures erupt overground periodically, catching prey in their large mouths, or crushing it beneath their heft as they plunge in the depths — creating large sinkholes in the process.

■ On its back, each sand worm has a few darker scales that draw the shape of a rune. To tame a sand worm, you must find its rune, then write the symbol on the worm’s back using blood from your hands. Report your catch by 23:59 on 17 January!

■ The sand worm bonds with you for three weeks until the next full moonrise, or until you draw the same rune on your cut hand.

■ Those who secure a sand worm find it grudgingly follows them underground for the rest of the journey. The creature can only be steered or ridden.

■ Some sand worms are vicious, old and sufficiently magical to retaliate by taking the link over and forcing their bonded humans to experience their lives — briefly sensitive to light and strong sounds, or unable to speak. Some might experience mild fevers. All symptoms disappear when the bond breaks.

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A PYRAMID SCHEME

At last, welcome to Uruksithar, former jewel of the desert — now reduced to rusted gates and tattered walls of wind-lashed stone.

The abandoned palace-fortress features a row of minor temples and barren gardens that surround a great, ruinous pit. The state of residential furnishings suggests the grounds were lived mere years prior. Walk north to find a a large pool of thickened black water that exudes a cold, unsettling presence. Veteran party members know what to expect.

Nail scratches on some temple walls read, we, who did not sleep or i ask the wind to grieve our chains. By the pit, a stone plate helpfully says, drop by drop, even base water turns to poison.

The Scavengers disperse to raid the temples, advising you to carry water everywhere. One raider mentions that the local Temple of Ra’esh stores silver waters that can woo sand worms.

OCTOPUS PRIME

Uruksithar’s great gong strikes every two hours, to groans and shudders from the abyssal pit. Scavengers immediately take cover behind walls, bind themselves to columns or rush into crumbling residences.

■ For five minutes, as the gong sounds a pathetic dirge, a bouquet of tentacles erupts from the pit, sweeping nearby streets to capture living things.

■ Throwing water on the tentacles forces them to retreat, while black liquid from the northern pool burns them down. Further tendrils emerge until the gong quiets.

■ Should you fall into the pit, use your climbing hooks to latch onto the walls and don’t look down. A grotesque, sharp-toothed mouth awaits below to devour you, amid the squelching sounds of the tissue and material it has been masticating for decades. It won’t give up its lunch easily.

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TOMB AND GLOOM

Ra’esh the Bright-maker, he who saw but peace beneath the skies. His humble temple is anonymous among numerous worship grounds. Scavengers say, four years ago, a wanderer sculpted an eye with a sun for a pupil on the entrance door. Take a torch and head in.

■ Long-stripped of its glory, the maze-like Temple of Ra’esh is now cold stone, stale window-less corridors and heavy doors that snap down from the ceiling.

■ Distant susurrations of water point you towards your destination.

■ As you walk in, pay attention to the engravings near the entryway of each temple room. Some depict arrows, forecasting spikes will burst up from floors tiles. Sculpted drops hint pouring water in this spot will open a door. Open a door with an engraving of large serpents, and… well. The engravings can help characters navigate the maze and completely avoid its traps. Feel free to make up your own engravings & traps, if you want!

■ The altar room contains a pool with pearlescent waters that surround a woman fully bandaged in gauze, her sight obscured. She is bound to a column with chains and shackles akin to those found in the desert. Rare peeks of her skin show it rotting or sickly pale.

■ She asks either if you are her mother, come for her at last. Do you engage?

■ Take water from the pool, and you can lure a sand worm to you once you have exited Uruksithar. Hazed, but sweet-tempered, it will follow you underground and allow you to ride it for the three weeks until the next full moonrise. These sand worms won’t give you a hard time during the bond period. Report your worm too by 23:59 on 17 January!

NOTES

■ Test driving & in-game characters can top level logs here — test driving characters can also put up network posts in this space c:

■ Feel free to investigate the mystery of the chains and shackles, but no pressure — it’s not critical to Arc V.

■ Hit up NPCs!

■ Navigation top.

QUESTIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[What's a bro gotta do around here to get some of that sword oil huh]

( He's consistent about this, night after night. Wrapped as his blade is in scabbard, wrapped as its sheath is, sand still infiltrates, and he refuses to allow it to mar the steel, to weaken the strength of its sharp edge. When he catches Izumi's eye, having been in process of pouring oil onto his oil rag, enough to leave it lightly beading, not enough to oversaturate. )

You keep staring like that, a person might get ideas.

( Concerning his cleaning supplies, at present, but Licyn sends Izumi a lifted brow and a half smile before his gaze drops down, attention on how he slides the rag over the surface of his blade. There's a calming methodicalness to his actions, and he finds a peace in them that's otherwise eluded with the desert, the hyenas, the disquiet rumbles about where they head now. )

What's your regular maintenance like, love?

[Kanesada may be getting used to Licyn insinuating things, but it still amazes him nonetheless. It shouldn't, considering some of the other swords he lives with, but...]

Tch. Maybe I'm just unlucky and mad about it. Did you find that oil back in Serthica?

[They certainly found all kinds of things in that double city, but Kanesada never managed to get his hands on the specific oil he needs. And now Licyn is here practically flaunting it. But Kanesada might be biased.]

Irregular, here. Ideally, I need a certain kind of paper and cloth and oil and stone powder. I've been making do with what I can find, but it's nothing like what I've got back home.

I was a very successful evaluator of metals and jewels, love, don't you know?

( so yes, his connections had been a means to get what he wanted, too, in his flirtations and moving between all aspects of the city. his drone had done the heavy lifting to start, for him to figure out the details of the city's machinations around the specifics of his role, but he'd embraced it for the love of detail it involved.

he likes things with firm, quantifiable boundaries. he adores them, even.

it's why he doesn't like emotions with strong attachments. they're messy, not fun, and to be avoided at most costs. )

I've extra kit, between oil and proper rags and a series of sharpening stones. Is the powder to polish or absorb the oil?

I guess I don't.

[There's a lot he doesn't know about Licyn, but then he also hasn't asked much. He probably should, just as he should get to know the rest of their group to some extent considering they're all stuck in this hellhole together, but at the bare minimum he feels like Licyn is someone he can trust. At least a little bit.

At the mention of having extra materials, Kanesada can't help but fidget somewhat. He really needs some, but he's not to the point yet where he'll beg for it.]

Ah, right. It's for polishing. The cloth absorbs any excess oil.

( He nods, settling back into caring for his blade. )

But you don't sheath it wrapped. What's your scabbard made from, love?

Wood. Hard enough so the blade doesn't damage it from the inside and nothing damages the blade from the outside.

[He reaches for his sword to lightly run his fingers along the saya.]

I hope no sand has gotten in, but that stuff gets everywhere, doesn't it?

Your body should be testimony to that fact!

( he grins, eyes having tracked how izumi traced his scabbard. there's an Awareness in the watching, but nothing else; perhaps the fondness of a sigh after. )

I wake up shaking new sand out of places old sand shouldn't have even found. A reminder why sex on sandy shores is best performed with ample blanket coverage.

( that is a truly fond sigh and shake of his head after. memories. his gaze comes up, sharp and wry, studying izumi's face. )

So. What supplies do you need?

My body...?

[He's missing something here, but with the way Licyn is, that's nothing new. Maybe it's for the best he doesn't understand every single thing. Except then he imagines sex around sand and getting said sand in very private places of his still pretty new body and...shudders.]

People really do that? How desperate do you have to be?

[Kanesada thinks on how Hijikata, despite having had quite a number of dalliances, at least kept them to the red light districts and the comfort of a bed. Probably. There is also that story, true or not, of how he messed around with a girl when he was younger in a shop and then got fired for it. But at least he didn't go traipsing around a sand dune or a beach in that instance! Then again, he was fond of women, they say, so maybe it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility -

He pulls his sword closer to himself and shakes his head. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter! Kanesada isn't here to ponder the mysteries of his former master's love life, or anyone else's, for that matter. He needs supplies, that's all.]

Just some oil and a clean cloth, at the least. Until we get to civilization again.

[He lifts his gaze up to Licyn again.]

I'll pay you back. Somehow.

Where the sand's gone, love, don't tell me you haven't felt it.

( a beat of a moment later, he laughs, a deep throated chuckle paired with a shake of his head. )

Passions run freely, and there's an appetite that wets as much as the waves do. Either way, little of sex outdoors comes free of hazards, I prefer sheets and mattresses myself, or at least sturdy walls for certain activities.

( said casually, no point to it beyond the conversational flow. he's well resigned to traveling with a group of people who are, by and large, very attractive, and about as available as a mountain eagle's nest. )

Hah! You think we're heading toward civilization anytime soon? Months, love. It'll be months yet. You're not used to that, are you?

( still, blatantly ignoring the 'i'll pay you back, somehow,' he sets his supplies firmly in his lap, bending over to the side to reach his pack. a bundle fishes out, and he tosses it izumi's way with a: )

I've been expecting you to ask for weeks!

I try not to.

[What he wants almost more than anything right now is a bath. Just a nice soak in a hot spring - hell, even a cold spring would do the trick. Kanesada heaves out a sigh and props his chin up on his arm.]

I should have taken advantage of everything back at that inn way more than I did. Their proper beds, too. And, like, that's a way better idea for...for passions. You have the right idea, not the ground or whatever.

[He speaks with honesty, but some of his dreary mood is undoubtedly brought on by his discomfort. A little bit of whining for the sake of whining. Not too much, though! He's not going to have people think he's utterly incapable of taking care of himself. Of course, he can!]

Hey, I'm fine with roughing it. Just...not in a desert. I know there's a desert back in Japan, but I've never been to it. I don't think it's all that big, anyway, so it's easy enough to stay away.

[Licyn gives no preamble before he tosses a bit of kit to Kanesada. He sits up in time to catch it, thankfully, and feels a wave of relief wash over him. Finally, he can take care of himself, at least a little. His pride be damned, that's the important part.

Except, well, he does still have his pride.]

Eh?! Weeks? You never offered!

I've avoided deserts. Not finding myself inclined to seek out any more, between here and the mess outside Serthica I avoided.

( this is a land to cling to survival in, but he was born in the mountains, he knew them first, and lands dried to sands and dust remain the strangeness to him that even a frozen highlands cannot contest.

izumi's apparent outrage, such as it is, has him grin. the laughter that follows has his eyes lighting up, his canines too clearly exposed. )

You never asked.

If we never see another desert again, it'll still be too soon.

[The laughter at his expense nearly makes Kanesada get up and leave. He wants to go into one of the tents and get working on his sword sooner rather than later, but he shakes his head instead.]

Yeah, yeah, hilarious.

[He picks up his sheathed sword and gently pokes Licyn in the side with it, regardless.]

...Thanks, though.

( he grunts, as if the gentle poke (or even a hard one) would be enough to elicit the respone, lifting his eyebrows and making the thinnest pretense of looking offended. )

What thanks? Here you are, prodding me for gifts? What an appetite you have, love!

( said as he casually bats at the sword sheath, more or less to 'shove' it back izumi's way. )

There's gratitude for you, and you're welcome.

Hm.

[Despite taking his sword back, Kanesada scoots a little closer to Licyn.]

And here I was hoping you'd be a bottomless pit.

[He's not being serious, of course, even if it would be nice for Licyn to turn into a depository of cleaning kits whenever he was needed.]

...You sure there's nothing I can do? If not now, then find me later or something. I'm serious.

( he hums, a sound that rumbles low in his throat as he considers. there are bottomless pits to him, he knows it, but endless giving of gifts that aren't pleasures delivered by hand and mouth and various parts of his anatomy is not among them. or endless sword maintenance supplies; those he's simply well stocked in out of long years trained necessity. )

Brush me.

( he says instead, lips pulled up into that suggestive little smile. it doesn't matter if he suggests anything or not. he intends to be what the suggestion delivers: nothing worth thinking hard on. a harmless flirt, when not employed to be otherwise. )

Nose to tail. A hundred strokes, isn't that the usual number?

Oh.

[He's not sure what he was expecting, good or bad. Brushing Licyn? That seems so simple. Maybe a little weird because...wolf, but also he's a tsukumogami so it's not that weird. And dogs like to be brushed, right? So it's not even all that surprising, either.

...Kanesada hasn't ever brushed a dog before, though, let alone a wolf. Surely it can't be that hard?]

Get the sand out, huh? Sure. If it takes a hundred strokes, then fine. If it takes more, that's fine, too, I guess.

[Kanesada exhales and stands up, gathering his sword and new bit of supplies.]

I've just got the one brush, though. Your nose or tail better not take it out of commission, yeah?

( licyn stays seated, blade across his lap. he laughs, another low, rumbling sort of chuckle that seems almost like it should be an invitation itself, and arches both eyebrows again, tongue briefly running over his lower lip. )

Now love, what are you imagining me doing, with a warning like that?

( the sincerity of the question exists alongside his certainty that it's simply saying don't break it, but at that point, what is he? a pup to gnaw on the brush, or a dog true to wag his tail so hard to break it? mildly amusing, certainly insulting if he were any other wolfen, but he's himself, and so he stays amused. )

I only bite when asked, and you'd have to do a fair bit more than that to get me wagging my tail for you.

I'm saying I have the one brush and if it gets busted, I'll be pissed. You've seen what I have to deal with.

[He gestures to his hair, though it's been braided and put up out of the way. And maybe it's a little worse for wear after their traipsing across the desert, but that's not the point. A lot of hair. He has a lot of hair.]

I'll give you a really good belly rub.

[What does that even mean? It doesn't matter. Kanesada reaches out to ruffle the top of Licyn's head real quick before pointing across the way.]

My tent's over there, whenever you're ready. It's time to clean my sword now.

[And then he's off to do just that.]

( Mark both brows raised high, Licyn not batting at the hand that ruffles his hair because for the life of him he wished these inexperienced flirts were not. He snorts out a laugh as Izumi leaves, muttering to himself: )

Maybe I should make an exception.

( A little nipping only hurt people with paper thin skin and no sense of humour, after all.

Be that it is, eventually, he shows up, human, at the tent in question. Even knocks on the fabric by the entrance, which is politeness rather than necessity. )

Here I come calling, you haven't fallen asleep on me, have you?

[As much as Kanesada likes talking to Licyn, as soon as he gets to the tent, he buckles down and focuses on sword maintenance. Sure, being in said tent keeps most of the elements away, but as they discussed, sand still manages to get everywhere somehow. So he works quickly, but still diligently.

He doesn't have all the tools he needs, but he makes do. It's been too long since he's done this so all that matters is that he gets something accomplished. Still, when it's finally time to oil the blade, he can't help the sigh of relief that passes through his lips as he spreads it across the steel and wipes the excess away. Things feel right again. He feels so much better physically. Finally. Finally.

When Licyn comes to his tent, he just shakes his head.]

Of course not. Come in.

[He sits cross-legged on the floor of the tent with his blade across his lap, though he's currently sliding the hilt back onto the tang. Taking a small peg resting on a cloth beside him, he slips it into the corresponding hole to hold the whole thing together. In lieu of a hammer, he takes his pendant and gently taps the peg in more firmly. Then, he does it again with the second peg before he's totally satisfied and sheathes the blade entirely.]

You gonna fall asleep on me?

( He stops and balances, pulling his boots off to avoid tracking in their extraneous dust. Once barefoot, he catches the process of the blade being reassembled; it's an interesting process, so different from the blades more popular in the regions he's worked in. )

Generally considered poor behaviour for a night visitor, isn't it?

( His tone amused, as he works at starting to shed the loaned robes piece by piece. He can shift in clothing, but it damages or traps him, and nothing about that is beneficial to himself. Delays can be life or death.

He folds his layers and sets them to the side as he goes. )

[Kanesada sees Licyn take his boots off at the "door" and can't help but smile a little. The act is probably done out of practical care than anything, but it's familiar enough to what he's used to culturally that it feels really nice to see.

Yeah. Licyn's all right.]

Guess it depends on the night.

[Sword sheathed, he gently sets it to the side before cleaning up everything else. All the while, the rustle of shed clothing is heard and he can't help but glance over to see Licyn's progress. Right. Seems like he's just getting down to it. Which is...fine? It's not as if Kanesada hasn't seen other men naked before; he lives in a whole citadel with, like, at least thirty other swords. They're bound to see each other in states of undress in one way or another.

So why does he feel kind of...fluttery? Nervous? Human bodies really are so weird sometimes. Inconvenient, too.

He clears his throat and moves to his belongings to find his brush.]

Have you always been able to change into a wolf or did something happen? Just curious.

( Licyn continues his unhurried undressing, unselfconscious as he strips down to skin. Unless Izumi looks away, he's about to get a full frontal eyeful, along with the merry evidence of the happy trail of hair leading from Licyn's navel down to his pubis. )

Why would something need to happen? Unless you mean am I cursed, love, like O heard some were in whatever island the company was on before the pirate ship adventure.

( Wry toned, at that. He works at untying the queue in his hair. )

I'm wolfen. I was born this way. As natural as breathing for the likes of you and me.

[Brush acquired, he turns back just in time to get an eyeful of Licyn. Really, he should have known better or been better prepared. He averts his eyes as quickly as they landed on the sight, first off to the side at nothing, but then up to Licyn's face. It's fine!]

Yeah, like...like a curse or something. I think there are stories from other places where it involves getting bitten, too.

[He taps the handle of the brush against his lips.]

Glad you're not cursed. That would suck.

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