let's set d o w n some (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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westwhere2023-01-27 08:34 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2023-01-27 08:34 pm
Entry tags:
- 2ha: chu wanning,
- all souls trilogy: sarah bishop,
- arc v,
- arcane: caitlyn,
- arcane: jinx,
- arcane: viktor,
- better call saul: jimmy mcgill,
- better call saul: nacho varga,
- btvs: spike,
- doctor who: clara oswald,
- doctor who: river song,
- doctor who: the doctor,
- final fantasy xiv: stephanivien,
- final fantasy xiv: vrtra,
- harry potter: hermione granger,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- kingdom of the wicked: wrath,
- mcu: bucky barnes,
- mcu: kamala khan,
- mcu: pietro maximoff,
- mcu: stephen strange,
- mcu: wanda maximoff,
- mcu: yelena,
- mo dao zu shi: xiao xingchen,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- oh! my emperor: su xunxian,
- original: red,
- penny dreadful: vanessa ives,
- star trek: una,
- star wars: merrin,
- star wars: merrin. 2ha: chu wanning,
- umbrella academy: five,
- untamed: lan sizhui,
- warcraft: anduin wrynn,
- warcraft: wrathion,
- x-men: charles xavier,
- zettai karen children: kumoi yuuri
the scattering
And now, hard siege during Alem’s first log event, covering 27 January to 12 February.
This Arc relies on information sharing and troubleshooting solutions, whether to keep the watch towers standing, find the Reaper, hold back Rathakku or evacuate civilians. Don’t be shy!
As a refresher, character have individual assignment & notes — but rest easily, they can largely go anywhere in Alem and play out any prompt below.
Click each header for scenarios!
Alem’s chilly welcome includes a gift of weapons, clothes and meagre food provisions. You are quickly given your posts and grudgingly tolerated by fortress natives, many of whom accuse you of collusion with Rathakku or the merchant guilds. Expect unkind tests or teasing from soldiers who want you to prove your worth.
■ SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS: rare beds and hard pallets in the Keep barracks, sharing broad rooms infantrymen. Alternatively, sleep in the Wards, with refugees or the sick.
■ ARSENAL: you receive serviceable weapons or inherited clothes — ragged, over/undersized and perhaps livened by fleas.
■ FOOD: scant, dry, hard and prioritised for the weak, young, sickly or actively fighting. Scarce additional resources, such as berries and deer meat, can be procured from the nearby forests on the lower half of the mountain.
■ ACCESS: characters can go to anywhere, except the Room of Seals. Entering the Watch Towers will be discouraged during attacks, unless you were assigned these posts.
■ Between 7-10 February, Rathakku will Claw — meaning necromancers, the dead and those who are incredibly sensitive to life and death are vulnerable to his thrall. They could be conscripted into his armies, if they exit the fortress or linger long outside. Ghosts might woo them to enter the mountain forests, and they will itch with wanderlust and a sense of incompletion. Comment here with an idea of what you'd like you character to do/a> if they are lured to Rathakku’s side.
■ NPCs: each fortress level has a designated NPC you can reach out to. Deimar will additionally be visiting the Watch Tower, following Stephen Strange’s taunts.
THE WATCH TOWERS
The first and most war-torn line of defence. The watch towers keep Alem standing — fend off their attackers.
EASTERN TOWER
- ■ Assigned to the Eastern Tower: Jinx, Vi, Hermione and Chu Wanning. Medic: Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy.
■ Harpies frequently charge here, using their blade-sharp claws and deep fangs. They are humanoid but carnivorous and expressly prey on tower watchers. The scent of blood lures them — so Bones should quickly bandage wounds.
■ Bad weather hides their attacks. Beware the mists of 29 January and the blizzards of 3-6 February.
■ Cut the harpies’ legs if they fly away with you — better to risk a hard fall into the mountain’s snowy than being dragged into their nests.
■ They are vulnerable to loud sounds and vibrations. Set off the great, rusted tower bells to sound the alarm and repel them.
WESTERN TOWER
- ■ Assigned to the Western Tower: Eleven, Xie Yun, Kahl and Eda. Medic: Sarah Bishop.
■ Flurries of arrows frequently rain down, plain, fire or poison-tipped. They are shot in two broad attacks (morning and evening) by orc archers.
■ Sarah receives a kit of local ointment antidotes, but must make haste — the sickness spreads quickly and paralyses limbs. (Effects disappear over 1-6 hours, once the antidote is applied).
■ A rare few arrows are tipped with hallucinogen substances that trigger paranoid visions.
■ Orcs may try to scale this tower, using climbing hooks. Push them down.
SOUTHERN TOWER
- ■ Assigned to the Southern Tower: Jon Snow, Stephen Strange, Red and Finn. Medic: Wen Qing.
■ Irenia, Frost’s Scourge, an ancient, extremely large but slow dragon stops first at the Southern Tower before proceeding to other watch posts. She will turn back, if she is stopped here.
■ The dragon breathes down frost that can paralyse you in place, or freeze limbs. Wen Qing must prioritise warming the affected.
■ A few anti-frost shields have been supplied, but their magic wanes after a few hours. Use them as a last resort.
■ Irenia’s hide is tough and leathery, but she can be deflected by continuous attack. She no longer seems to hear or see as sharply.
■ She largely flies by, breathes ice and tries to pick up watchers in her great maws, then crack their bones or throw them down on hard stone.
■ Repel her for three consecutive days and she will not return for a week.
NORTHERN TOWER
- ■ Assigned to the Northern Tower: Kamala Khan, Wanda Maximoff, Merrin and Jiang Cheng. Medic: Anduin.
■ Demons draw large catapults near the fortress walls and throw strong projectiles at this tower — stone, large steel balls or even human or demonic.
■ The worst missiles comprise stones alight with ‘living fire’ — an extraordinarily hot blaze that can quickly incinerate tissue. Anduin should immediately attend to burns.
■ The tower is exceptionally weathered and structurally unsound, marked by large, destabilising holes. Kerasstone asks you to fix the infrastructure or guard his repairmen.
■ The ongoing damage sometimes triggers quakes in the fragile tower — hold on and don’t fall crumbling to your deaths.
■ Use the one-man crossbows and range weapons available, or the fixed large tower crossbows to shoot back and destroy the catapults.
THE KEEP
Life at court, when the knives come out: barracks, royal halls and Crown Prince Haiva’s medical quarters await.
KINGDOM COME
The court of Alem bustles with rival proposals: the supporters of Crown Prince Haiva want to surrender the citadel, while proponents of former Regent Thyvault seek to raise the remaining armed forces in a desperate last stand against Rathakku. King Deimar, mere months in his rule, has opted to evacuate convoys and resettle them, after sealing away any last chance of Rathakku accessing hell’s gates.
- ■ The supporters of Haiva, Thyvault and Deimar wage frequent wars of words that accuse Thyvault of Deimar of usurpring rule, and Haiva of being too weak to lead.
■ Thyvault’s men slyly wonder if Deimar killed the beautiful woman he was seen wooing mere months ago in the fortress grounds. Proof of her death or continued survival would benefit the three causes.
■ The woman was last seen chased by a fair-haired rider into the frosted forests that Rathakku has peopled with monstrous wolves and undead Alem huntsmen. Interrogate hunters & commoners or track her down.
■ Tempers boil over Jan. 29-Feb. 5, with arguments frequently devolving into fights and shallow stabbing. As ‘supporters’ of the three gentlemen, you should defend their cause — but do pull back blows before you kill each other.
■ Deimar punished brawlers with a few days of penitent confinement in the barracks, where you are expected to reflect on your sins and attitude, and certainly not join the cliques of heavily drinking men playing dares and cards. Hold your liquor, survive the exceptionally spicy Alem meals and take advantage of the general inebriation to ask your questions of the brass — without showing your horror when you hear them boast that Thyvault’s men drove the local ice mermaid population extinct.
IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?
The Haiva’s medics ( Bones, Sarah Bishop, Anduin and Wen Qing) are repeatedly called in to inspect his fits of sudden and elusive sickness. He exhibits a varied multitude of bizarre symptoms when his healers visit him:
- ■ Bones finds Haiva is a haemophiliac, his skin brittle like paper.
■ For Sarah Bishop, Haiva is overwhelmingly feverish, battling an unseen infection.
■ Wen Qing sees patches on Haiva’s skin that resemble decaying, moulding or gangrene.
■ Anduin notices Haiva’s skin feels clammy, his breathing stalled, as if his body were entering rigor mortis. He is very much alive.
Haiva is always weak, but gratefully and mysteriously cured of his symptoms within hours of his consultation. You can start a thread with him!
Info sharing with the medics’ club is caring!
THE CROSSING
The bustling, stifling and overheated Crossing reunites the main ground-level gates and corridors of Alem’s castle. Merchants traverse the halls, volunteering their wares at exorbitant prices, while former Regent Thyvault leads the departing troops.
HAGGLE GAGGLE
- ■ Colluding merchants offer their less-than-stellar goods at heinous rates. You get 100 coins to haggle long, hard and to the bone for food, cloth and maps, amid war inflation. Offer your hair, your virtue, the ugly side of your fist as needed. No one will mind if you liberate a few wares.
■ Two of the most prominent merchants — boastful Batthour of the grains and stern Eles, vendor of maps, silks and steel — openly despise each other. Their apprentices frequently start brawling — stay out of their way or stoke the clashes…
■ Batthour and Eles are both open to trade, but seem distinctly disdainful of Alem, expressing pleasure from profiteering in its downfall. Group up to raise coin or other goods to trade, then put in your best offer. The next few Alem convoys require 500kg of wheat and at least three maps of eastward provinces to resettle.
THE WAR IN WORDS
- ■ WHEN IT GRAINS, RED POURS: Under Thyvault’s leadership, Alem’s scouts and infantry gather in the Crossing for final instructions then advance into Rathakku’s territory. You can join them on a mission to the Ivory plains at the bottom of the mountain, where a few frozen storage houses still have summer grains. Steal back the supplies, bypassing snow-buried traps and Rathakku’s lingering feral creatures.
■ King Deimar has prepared new missives for Rathakku. Multiple envoys can group up to ensure delivery down the mountain and into the warlord’s encampment in the Tattered Highlands. Your white flag buys limited patience from Rathakku’s demonic armies. Only two characters can directly interact with the warlord — Sign up for one of two spots by 23:55 GMT on 30 January. Note: Rathakku should be approached lightly.
THE WARDS
The ill-lit Wards house the wounded, young, crippled or vulnerable of Alem, alongside those preparing to evacuate the fortress in upcoming convoys. Where there is sickness and overcrowding, expect poor provisions, the astringent scent of antiseptic, and a sense of residual decay. The lucky few sleep on pallets — while most dwellers take the hard ground and share dry bread. Soft-spoken Crown Prince Haiva visits regularly.
THINK OF THE CHILDREN
- ■ Weak civilians are often targeted by soldiers, who are frustrated by sharing their resources with ‘leeches’ who do not defend the citadel. Intervene to protect the vulnerable and redistribute any food that is unfairly confiscated. Prince Haiva will lend his scarce authority to correct any reported wrongdoings.
■ Learn to supply first aid, console orphaned children or widow(er)s and ease the spirits of those petrified by the recent murders.
■ A convoy prepares to leave on 9 Feb, with another due on 15 Feb. Pack the scant effects of the weak and plead for the gold or charity of the Keep’s gentry. Whatever resources you gain will greatly help the survival odds of those who resettle.
■ Inevitably, death visits some of the wounded. Professional grievers and coarse embalmers perform cleansing and mourning rites for survivors. Help them, or participate in the local habit of sharing tales of your most tragic sorrows, to distract them from their own.
WATSON ON DUTY
- ■ The investigative summary, as civilians can share them: five unrelated deaths took place over the past 11 weeks. Some speak superstitiously of a Reaper, who punishes the people of Alem for abandoning their fortress and sacred duty to protect the gate to hell.
■ The victims were all men aged 22-35 of diverse appearances and backgrounds. Some had minor injuries. They were all found without marks of wounding or sickness, bearing a white string bound to their wrists. One of the men was a foreign merchant.
■ Senior sorceress Althea searched the site and cleansed bodies, finding no evidence of magical interference.
■ Haiva has reinforced guards, but Deimar seems indifferent. Thyvault believes this is only an inevitably level of mundane crime.
■ Some nights, you might wake to the haunting song of a plangent woman. You enter a state of dreamy, confused hypnosis, drawn to a narrow, steep staircase you had not glimpsed before. You fumble towards the lake caves of the Gut’s Bind. Even the intrusive voices of Alem tell you to snap out of it and awaken — but your best bet is a companion’s help.
■ The staircase cannot be found again, come morning. The call is fainter for women, and does not affect the same person more than one-two nights.
■ Guards, sorcerers and civilians can answer your questions — but prepare your bribes and wooing.
THE GUT’S BIND
It’s nice, dark and quiet in here, barring the comforting thrum of the forges. Paladins and sorcerers are hard at their elusive work, reinforcing the Room of Seals. Access to the Forges, mines and glacier lake caves remains liberal.
LAKES, MINES, MAYHEM
- ■ THE MINES: Characters deployed to find new escape routes find a series of corridors leading into the previously bustling gold mines, where ore resources remain well supplied. The territory is overwhelmingly shaky, with mine shafts and structures prone to collapse. They appear dusty, brittle, husked and far older than their actual age. Go deep enough and you can find sheets haphazardly strewn about and the remains of partly devoured demons.
■ THE LAKES: Saunter into a series of four interconnected ice lake caves, where the brutal cold is viciously wounding and pervasive. The first three caves give you no trouble, beyond ridiculously sharp icicles waiting to drop down. As you enter the fourth cave, you find gleaming stretches of golden, gleaming… scales that float on the lake waters. Grab one to study — but beware the starved creature that guards them.
■ THE FORGES: some entirely abandoned, some functional, all well-equipped at this time. Settle down alone, or in the company of Kerasstone’s people — the old blood that preceded even Alem’s settlement and holy seal in the mountains.
■ Keep an ear out for sudden sounds or unexpected steps behind you, as you travel the tighter and tighter passageways to find or shovel new exit routes through the mountain: some of Rathakku’s creatures appear to have… wandered in. They camouflage as stone and lay perfectly still in wait of their prey, before descending. They’re vulnerable to strong light and a jolly smiting.
LOCK YOUR DOORS
- ■ Paladins and sorcerers enter the heavily warded and barricaded Room of Seals every few hours. They emerge exhausted, their resources drained. Some also bear heavy gashes.
■ Characters are barred from entering and incarcerated for a day in one of the Keep’s jails or brought before Galatea’s judgement, if they attempt to sneak in.
■ Groans and screams can be occasionally heard from within, followed by spikes in the sense of deathliness of the place. Some paladins are never seen exiting.
■ You have one chance to enter, at midnight on 1 February, when the Gut’s Bind erupts into calls for healers to attend an emergency. Collapsed paladins are urgently pulled out, while sorcerers attempt to ward the room before ultimately fleeing to help their brethren. You can infiltrate and stay inside for 20 minutes before the stoked anger of the room completely overwhelms you, and you begin to bodily attack everyone and everything around you. This is a dangerous route: check in for one of three findings scenarios.
no subject
"Of course," he answers smoothly, "perhaps a walk will do us both good?"
Since he cannot promise clean, clear air after all -- but he can get them both out of the more claustrophobic ward at least.
no subject
Once he is up, he cannot help but turn to glance back toward the way he had come, before shaking his head. He sucks in a deep breath, letting it out long and slow before he turns to Wrathion. He wants to wipe his eyes, he probably looks a mess, but in hindsight he probably should not be touching his face any more until he does at least some measure of washing up.
"There was nothing I could do," he says at last. Although Wrathion probably guessed as much.
no subject
If Anduin wears himself down and out, he can help no-one. A brutal truth, you must care for yourself first sometimes before you can lift up others. It may not be what Anduin wants to hear, may not be comfortable, but it is simply the way of things.
no subject
Anduin takes in another breath at Wrathion's words, letting it out in a heavy sigh.
"I apologize," he says at last. "You should not have to keep reminding me of such things."
no subject
"You stay true to yourself," he allows.
If Anduin had reached a point where he had given up on helping people, it would be a bad sign. A sign that the pressure of their situation had begun to do irreparable damage. Wrathion would, of course, prefer that the priest allowed more space for himself to recover rather than driving himself this hard -- but he's under no delusion that there's any world where he stops trying for healthy reasons.
no subject
He lets Wrathion keep walking him on, until the crowds around them thin out further, enough for him to feel comfortable enough turning to Wrathion to speak at least a little more freely.
"I have not been able to do anything for Haiva either," he says, keeping his voice soft just in case there may be ears listening in even so. "Whatever it is that's affecting his health, it's unlike anything I've ever seen."
no subject
"No signs of magical interference?"
He hadn't immediately sensed anything malign in the room himself, but he hadn't been examining Haiva as a patient. His role had been that of a guard, and he has been trying to... keep to that, as much as he can.
no subject
"I -- can't say for certain," he explains. "He has been visited by so many healers, spent time around them in the Wards... There are so many magical signatures on him it's difficult to get a read on any individual one. I don't think I could feel anything negative in the mix. But it's worse than searching for a needle in a haystack. At least a needle is not identical to the hay it is hiding in. And his symptoms..."
He frowns, a deep line forming between his brows.
"You have spent time with him. How was he then?"
no subject
Wrathion frowns in thought, thinking.
"He mentioned he'd been sick since he was four or five years old, that it comes and goes."
Some sicknesses do wax and wane, of course. Wrathion wants to be suspicious of it, but if Anduin detects no magical foul play and it will not respond to healing... what does that leave?
"I tried to inquire if anything notably made it better or worse, but he didn't appear to have an answer for that."
no subject
He shakes his head. "He said that the symptoms have never truly waned, this whole time. That he knows some of them better than his friends at this point."
Anduin glances aside at his companion. "None of his healers have been able to do a thing for him, after all this time. I suppose I should not be surprised that I have not made any difference myself. And yet..."
no subject
He slows, turning his gaze sideways to Anduin as they shuffle out of the wards and turn into the main area of the keep.
"... I'd wondered at sabotage, but Haiva claimed he supported his brother. That he begged him to take the position."
Not that it couldn't be despite that. Someone else could have been acting on another's behalf. Strange to start so young, however, and to persist in this way for so long. If it is not a curse, not a magical affliction, strange that it does not respond even a little to healing.
no subject
"He is very protective of Deimar," he agrees. "Of the fact that the succession was broken, when his younger brother stepped up to take the throne for him. He made it a point to tell me that as well. That he was the one to insist Deimar step up in his place, when it became clear he could not adequately fulfill his duties. That his younger brother has always been kind and caring towards him. That he worries after his health."
Anduin frowns at Wrathion.
"That is not to say that it might not be sabotage of a different source."
no subject
"Perhaps even Haiva himself, if he truly had no desire for the throne. If he never wanted it, being unable to take it is to his benefit."
Sabotage is all very well and good, but if they are to believe Haiva that it began so young and equally to believe it isn't a usual sickness... Well, that's considerable planning ahead for anything nefarious. If Haiva is making himself ill, however, that might make more sense.
no subject
"I do not doubt that Haiva had no qualms about passing the throne to his younger brother," Anduin agrees. "While I have not spent enough time with him to get to know him well, he does not strike me as a man particularly driven toward the position." He gives Wrathion a knowing look. "His passions seem driven more toward his people. Caring for the vulnerable in the wards…" Anduin is not blind to their similarities.
"He had said it was some time before anyone believed him to be ill at all, though. That he was not simply faking his symptoms, that it wasn’t some sort of cold. I suppose because he was so young at the time, but. He is certainly not feigning any of what I have seen now."
no subject
With or without help, he could still be deliberately causing them. Still, that aside...
"Have you spoken to his other healers? Presumably some have known him a considerable amount of time, perhaps some even survive from his youth."
It would useful to know from them the history of this. If they recall any times he was better, or if he's always been as ill as he is currently. Anything to help form something of a pattern, if one can indeed be formed.
no subject
He makes a soft, thoughtful noise, shaking his head as he does.
“I have not,” he replies. “Although. I could try?” He glances aside at Wrathion, considering his words before he offers, “Do you suppose Deimar would take offense if I were to approach him on the subject of his brother’s health as well? Strictly in the capacity of his healer, that is.”
no subject
Asking for additional information, in the hope of finding a way to help, is one thing. Leading questions that suggest anything awry are another entirely. Wrathion frowns in thought, tilts his head.
"It would be useful to see if his recollection of events matches up, broadly."
If he tells a different version of things, that would be interesting in and of itself. Not necessarily damning to either of them, but interesting and worth considering.
no subject
"Deimar is the younger brother of the two. If Haiva does not remember much of falling ill himself, Deimar likely will not remember much at all. But Haiva has implied his brother is concerned for him. It would suggest that his brother has paid attention recently, at least. Perhaps if nothing else, Deimar will more readily share details of the illness in the hopes of a cure, whereas Haiva seems to have almost accepted the sickness as his lot in life."
Anduin knows, of course, what it is like to live with a chronic condition. Chronic pain that even the best of healers could not resolve completely. But if there is a chance that they might be able to help the man... Their situation here in Alem is dire enough, without such an illness on top of it.
He breathes out a sigh, running a hand through his hair -- regretting it once it's done, he really needs to wash up, but the frustration is building. "The least I can do is try."
no subject
"Of course, do what you must."
He hesitates, brow furrowing as he considers something.
"... Guard yourself. I know you have sympathy for Haiva, I do too, but... something is not right here."
He's not quite sure what it is, but nothing truly adds up and that means he doesn't trust it. Wrathion cannot be certain if there's anything malicious, but given the situation it doesn't hurt to be careful just in case. Anduin is never one to assume the worst in people, but for now it would be better if he didn't begin by assuming the best.
no subject
He raises a hand to gesture around them.
"A hazard of whatever magic there is, in this place. That is native to it. From what I understand, the mountain is very big, very old, and very deep. You and I both know the hazards of digging tunnels within such places."
As the people of Alem are doing, by means to escape Rathakku.
no subject
"We do," he agrees, "but -- these questions do not all have to be answered now. Perhaps... some rest would help."
As much as Anduin has moved on, has allowed his mind to latch onto the puzzle once more, Wrathion hasn't forgotten where he found him. Crumbling, surrounding by the sick and dying.
no subject
He lets out a long, slow breath, reaching a hand up to run over his face before halting the gesture at the sight of the grime covering it.
"I should... Probably clean up a little first," he allows.
no subject
"If you can find some clean water, I can warm it for you."
For what little that is worth. Better than nothing, he thinks. Wrathion tilts his head deeper into the keep, takes a slow step forward.
"Come, let us see what can be done."