westwhere | 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

Image source.

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.

Image source.

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.

Image source.

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.

Image source.

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.

Image source.

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.

Image source.

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

ONE SAND WASHES THE OTHER
Anduin is doing his best not to let the heat get to him, but it's a losing battle. Even with the cooling suits that they have been provided, he can feel himself beginning to wilt the further they travel.

As the caravan makes its first stop of the day, he finds himself collapsing into the shade of one of the snail carriages. He tugs his collar open, fanning himself with a hand before struggling his flask open and splashing water on his face. He has done his best to keep himself mostly covered from the sun but even still he can feel his face beginning to turn an angry red.

Frankly, he looks miserable. Mostly because he is, between the sunburn on his face, the sweat plastering his hair to the back of his neck and his forehead, and the heat. How can anyone stand it. Out of sheer stubbornness, he has yet to allow himself to join the group riding inside of the snails, but he knows within his heart of hearts that this is a losing battle...

COULD DIE FROM LAUGHTER
At least when the sun sets there is some relief. All Anduin really wants is some respite. He has found himself seated on the edge of the camp, on a cushion he has managed to conjure up from who knows where so that he can give his leg a rest. It is unlikely that he's been alone for the entirety of the evening, but he is at present. Picking at the food on his plate and rubbing a hand absently on his knee.

Perhaps it is simply because he is alone that they choose to target him. Perhaps it is because of his knee, making him appear an easy target. Regardless, they do narrow in on Anduin.

"Please, help us," they call out, and Anduin's gaze whips up, instantly alert. Catching the sight of green eyes glistening in the darkness beyond, Anduin is instantly on his feet and sprinting back in the direction of camp.

"Run!!"

WILDCARD
((i didn't want to write TOO many prompts for anduin but feel free to let me know if there's something else in particular that you're interested in writing out with him! he's a healer and generally plays support in most conflict, so if you're injured and need patching up or need someone to watch your back while you're in danger, he's your guy!))

You look like Hell.

( Georgia's all humid heat, the kind that made him sweat buckets as a young boy, running or riding around the his nana's farm until sundown, but it's still serving him well here, where the dry air's quick to wick away any hint of moisture. Spock would have felt right at home, he's sure, and feels sorry for himself for all of the few moment it takes for him to reach the other healer. )

Here, eat this. ( McCoy drops to a knee, thrusting a couple thin wafers at Anduin. ) They don't taste great, but they'll help you stay hydrated.

[That is unsurprising, because he feels like hell as well.

Stormwind gets hot during the summer, but it's a humid heat, up from the jungles below. But there is an ocean breeze to cut into the worst of it, being on the coastline. And the water is right there, if he were to truly get desperate. That, and with his aunt being Azeroth's most powerful mage... And being the crown prince himself for that matter. He's never really had to concern himself about these things before now.]

Thanks. [Anduin takes the wafers from him without argument. He's a healer himself, he knows better than to put up a fight. He'd have tried to heal himself already if that weren't a terrible idea, depleting what little energy he has left.] What are they?

[Meanwhile, Moran has had no such qualms about riding in the snails. As long as he wasn't taking the space of someone who needed it more for whatever reason, he sees no point in subjecting himself to this kind of hiking. And as a result - and that of Xunxian's careful grooming - he looks fine, not a hair out of a place and only a fine sheet of sweat on his brow as he holds out a cup of steaming tea to Anduin.]

I know it might feel counterproductive, but it will help you cool down better than cold water right now.

[Anduin takes the steaming cup from the other man as he offers it, raising an eyebrow. He's too worn out to really make an argument that it sounds a bit ridiculous, he supposes if Moran is offering it as a suggestion then he knows it to be true?

Raising the tea to his lips, he takes a careful sip. The heat of the beverage is equally as warm as the oppressive heat of the mid-day air.]

You're right. It does feel rather counterproductive...

Edited (how did that spacing happen a mystery) 2023-01-16 20:06 (UTC)

It helps you sweat out, which will help you cooling down.

[He's been on desert battles before, so he knows what he's doing in this case.]

Once the temperature goes down a bit, you can have cooler drinks if you wish. Although couldn't you cool yourself down with your powers?

[Or is that no a thing they can do?]

[Varshahn is in the enviable position of not being able to feel much of the heat. His vessel isn't really made to sense temperature, though he has stuffed his locket under his shirt in hopes of keeping his real body shielded. Too, he's pretty familiar with hot weather; Thavnair is a tropical island, after all. He's seen his people develop many different strategies for keeping cool over the centuries, so when he spots someone struggling - like, say, Anduin - he's been trying to help out.

So he'll come and sit next to Anduin, pulling out a colorful handkerchief and wetting it with his own flask (which thankfully no one has noticed he isn't actually drinking from...). He twists it into a long, thin configuration, and offers it to him.]

Here. You place it on the back of your neck.

[He does notice the developing sunburn, but he's not sure if he has anything that can help with that. He just looks sympathetic instead.]

sand in your eyes

Anduin Wrynn | Warcraft | Oldtimer

one sand

no subject

One sand

no subject

no subject

wow, many sand