westwhere | the sunken

the sunken | part i

THE SUNKEN

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Welcome to the first log of Arc VI: the Sunken, which covers 15 May – 2 June and doubles as a test drive meme.

Back/forward date as needed! The calendar date suggestions are indicative.

The TDM is open to everyone! If you decide to apply to the game, you can get an invite from current players or the upcoming enabling meme — or participate in the test drive meme and get in touch @

groundrules to chat things over. We currently have 13 slots available for new players.

Test drivers can use this post for logs and network posts — old timers, please make your network posts at

eastbound.

LOST AT SEA | TEST DRIVE TOURISTS

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You wake, gasping, in a stormy sea, your thoughts slowed to a confused trickle. Skill, floating wood or a kindly stranger — who you can’t understand — help you to reach shore.

Villagers discover you collapsed on sand and provide critical (if rickety) communication and translation devices. They say you are in Sunken Yancai, a fishing village progressively overtaken by waters and cursed by the secretive ‘ladies of the lake’ to transit through time.

■ Rescuers group newcomers and supply questionable village couture, warm meals and accommodations in abandoned, half-flooded homes or spare small boats anchored in Yancai’s waterways. Huddle up, recover your strength and don’t think too hard on why your memories are hazy over the next three days.

■ Come morning, you visit village leader Quanze Tsaymien, then the sorceress Karsa — who explains you are otherworlders summoned into Akhuras by undead lords who wish to weaponise you in their battle against humans and one another. Karsa is an associate of the Merchant, who leads otherworlders towards ancient transport beacons east.

■ One such beacon rests dormant in Yancai. The group must infiltrate the village and wait a few weeks until it shifts to a point back in time when the beacon was active.

■ Newcomers are handed passport papers with their new identities in Yancai, where they may be known as a bankrupt merchant, perpetually drunk sailor, whale hunter, raft surveyor, mermaid who has just gained their legs, crab collector... feel free to invent a dutifully ~~hilarious~~ apt role for their seaside sojourn.

OLD TIMERS | THE DRIFTING

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You dragged yourself here in a haze. You arrived long ago, as if in a dream. You were born and bred in this village. In truth, your memories of reaching lively Yancai feel nebulous and alarmingly inconsequential.

Characters are facilitated new identities and dwellings by the Merchant, or believe they have had them all along.

■ A weary Karsa warns to say nothing to party members with altered memories, until the sorcery that affects them runs its course.

■ Memory-altered characters progressively regain their memories within three to five days (by 20 May). They have their memories partially or fully back at night ( midnight to 5 a.m.). Throughout the day, memory regains can trigger migraines, eerie confusion and paranoia.

■ Hauntings begin once characters have fully regained their memories.

■ Once everyone is ‘back to normal,’ Karsa explains that Yancai periodically transits through time. The memory alterations are a magical solution endorsed by the village council, which ensures locals mentally weather these shifts. Villagers continue to blithely accept you as part of the community.

(DON'T) HOLD YOUR BREATH

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Karsa reunites the existing party and newcomers, issuing first assignments. The Merchants’s information suggests the beacon of Yancai will be online once the village travels in time within weeks. A dubious Karsa asks the party to check on the beacon, located in the former House of Commerce of the largely inundated merchants’ district. Reach it by rowing boat.

■ Villagers say the Master of Commerce, a famous musician, took precautions against intruders.

■ All ground and lower floor entryways of the palatial House were boarded to restrict flooding. To enter, pick locks or climb the putrid stairwell towards upper balconies.

■ Inside, the hissing of running water — and, in the lower levels, of thin, slippery leeches whose bite numbs your limbs, while they attempt to feed. You seem to experience pronounced vertigo when entering any decaying rooms covered in black mould.

■ The beacon is located on a dais in the basement vault room, where water rises near 1 meter. Only a few scattered scrolls and golden decorations remain among decorations, while a large ceiling carving writes, greed deafens man to the cries of his conscience; music sets him free.

■ Some tiles of the marbled floor stand out as you wade — step on one, and all doors abruptly slam shut, while dozens of obscured holes in the wall start to rapidly spill water, threatening to fill the room to the ceiling within the hour. You hear the tinny, waning sound of a village song played from a hidden source.

■ To stop the pouring water and open the doors, sing the song you hear, or find the music box that produces it amid debris on the water-covered floors. Wind it, and it plays its song in reverse, revealing the voice of a laughing elderly man who says, Depressingly, Anurr was right to worry.

■ Don’t forget to check the beacon — and report back to Karsa that it looks structurally untarnished.

THEY SLEEP

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After surprising revelations at previous citadels, Karsa tasks you to investigate just how… permanent death is in Yancai. Villagers share that their dead are buried in a strange rite at sea — part of which will take place within days.

■ The dead are ‘entombed’ in one-man sarcophagi ships with carved and chained lids that depict their likeness. These burial boats are set at sea on the first day of each season and return three months later.

■ Join the harbours around 22 May, when mourners gather to receive the burial boats. Characters must pretend to be greatly anguished relatives, acquaintances or debt collectors to join the grieving.

■ The boats float towards you, seemingly of their own volition. Gaze afar and spot a boat carrying a man in black — the same who haunts some characters — who observes until the last burial ship has reached the piers, before he disappears.

■ Sailors draw up the boats and unpeel the untouched chains and lids, to reveal… no corpses. Peer closer and find neither biological signs (stench, liquids) of discomposure, nor the magical chillness of spaces where cadavers have lingered long. Scratch marks litter the inside of some boat lids.

■ Mourners seem grateful that the waters have ‘accepted’ the bodies. Some say that their relatives whose boats have yet to return must have been stolen by the ‘ladies of the lake,’ a villainous witch coven. Speak to mourners or sailors for clues.

■ Linger long near opened burial boats, and you feel tempted to throw yourself into the sea, slowly losing consciousness — until someone rescues you.

AMONG US

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On 25 May, village leader Quanze Tsaymien drags the chained and half feral mistress Miang-si to households and Yancai’s largest market square.

The young woman, he says, was seduced by the ladies of the lake — the furtive witch coven that condemned Yancai to time travel. Luckily, the village elders have… coaxed Miang-si back onto the righteous path.

■ Miang-si is brought door-to-door to point out her 'accomplices.' Ill at ease, villagers whisper of similar witch hunts leading to false accusations and blood-curdling repercussions.

■ Both men and women are suspected and brought before Miang-si. Perhaps she takes an eerie interest in you, getting especially close to catch your scent, touch or remark on (in)visible hurts, or even dotingly kiss you. If you whisper quickly while she’s near, you might be able to ask one question.

■ If you are patient and kind to Miang-si, she briefly squeezes your hand as she withdraws. Within the hour, you find blood writ on your palm that warns, Our fat moon rises red.

■ If you are agitated, or if Quanze rushes her during your visit, Miang-si erupts into sudden, side-splitting cackling — while you find yourself croaking like a toad, or transforming into one and retaining human speech. The spell dissolves after eight hours.

■ Quanze’s long-suffering men say this sorcery breaks faster if you kiss one of the curmudgeonly emerald toads that hide in some of Yancai’s lakes. Catch one such delightful, slime-spitting creature or barter it from merchants at a costly premium.

ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT

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A full moon is set to rise within days of Miang-si’s visit, on 27 May — just as Yancai shows signs of time shifting. Villagers are prone to stilling and staring askance, seeming lost or adrift.

The village itself evolves: one moment, the same house appears freshly new, then drowned, while waterways overfill with water, then seem barren. Overall, the village deteriorates.

■ That day, the sun suffers a midday eclipse, while droves of black birds circle the woods and village outskirts, attacking those who come close.

■ The waters increasingly thicken and darken, preventing boats from entering certain waterways.

■ An exceedingly bright moon and a diffuse lunar replica rise with nightfall. Come midnight, the village is alive with the sounds of ripping, structural collapse and shrieks. Tar-covered corpses emerge from the waters, clawing on and climbing up piers. They swarm, drawing passers-by into waters to drown them. Help them — and foremost, yourself.

■ Light and fire keep the dead at bay. On some waterways, wildfire now spells, WHAT IS WET WAS WRONGED

■ Weaker alone, fresh corpses climb into your rowing boat, pretending they are innocents who seek shelter. They betray themselves by speaking very slowly, struggling to keep track of the conversation or obliviously peppering it with details of their death. They stubbornly ask questions about you, repeating your answers, and become violent if you say they are dead. Push them into the water at first opportunity.

■ Quanze Tsaymien and other men of the village take arms, urging villagers to barricade in the nearest home, harbour or warehouse and weather the night. They advise to be silent and beware the dead who imitate living voices, warning not to touch any black mould or water that suddenly appear in your home — which alert the dead of your presence within.

■ Some dead try to tear you apart, while others seek to feed you a disgusting, tar-like black mould. A small taste of it makes you sluggish and feeble for two-three hours, while an entire fistful can kill.

■ If the undead infiltrate your house, hold your breath, do not move and keep from screaming. The dead have weak sight and olfactory senses and might pass you by, as long as you stay silent. It can be more efficient to fool than kill the dead.

■ By 5 a.m., houses start to replenish themselves, gaining a new appearance, while water and mould retreat. The dead withdraw into waterways. Outside doors have been marked with blood: vertical lines tell how many living people remain inside; horizontal ones count how many within died overnight.

■ You step to seize a brave new day — while Yancai enters a new time period (further details due in the next plot update).

NOTES

■ The game enabling meme goes up on 25 May.

■ Hit up available NPCs here or in their new inbox!

■ QUESTIONS.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Hauling herself up, she thanks the Doctor silently for all the running she has to do to keep up with him. Without it, she thinks every muscle in her legs would be on fire. ]

Al...most...

[ Clara tries to swing a little to grab onto the least broken-looking step even though every option looks equally awful. As soon as she wraps her fingers around the step closest to her, there's a loud crack and the wood seems to crumble to dust beneath her hand. Slipping down the rope, she shouts in alarm, but thanks to the handholds Caitlyn suggested, Clara manages to save herself. ]

I'm okay. I'm okay!

[ Her heart might explode, but she begins climbing again, this time all the way until she can reach one hand up so Caitlyn can see wiggling fingertips. ]

Can you grab me?

[It only takes a moment for Caitlyn to tie the length of rope she's holding around the banister and rush to grab Clara's hand.]

I've got you.

[She wraps both hands around Clara's wrist and pulls as hard as she can, just hoping the mouldering wood will support them both long enough that she can haul Clara up and get them both safely inside the building.]

[ As soon as Clara is up and over that step, she feels like she's going to pass out in Caitlyn's arms, breathing hard and trying to stop shaking. ]

Holy shit. Seriously, that was life-flashing-before-your-eyes terrifying. And we've only just started. Good omen, that.

[ Brushing herself off, she takes a deep breath tries to will her stomach back into the right place. ]

We can't stop now, and I'm not going back over that hole anytime soon, so we'll have to keep going to find another way out, anyway.

[Caitlyn wraps Clara tightly in her arms, hugging her for dear life for a long moment before finally letting her go.]

You're alright.

[Clara's alright. They're both alright. She grabs Clara's shoulders, just looking at her for a moment to make sure that she is, in fact, alright, before finally brushing herself off, straightening her clothes, and letting her expression relax into a frown.

She nods to the rifle case that Clara still has.]

I can take that back now.

[ Once her heart is no longer pounding, Clara focuses on Caitlyn and then nods. ]

Totally alright, everything's good.

[ At the mention of the case, her eyes widen in realization before handing it over. ]

Right! Yes, sorry. Completely left my brain for a second. To be fair, everything left my brain for a second. I feel better now, and you have arm muscles of steel. For the record, you give great hugs.

[ Letting out one last saky breath, Clara manages to smile and then makes her way to the actual solid ground. ]

Oh. Thank you.

[Caitlyn takes the case and slips it onto her back before following Clara inside. A faint, awkward blush colours her cheeks at the compliment. Years of rifle training have made her strong, but people don't typically compliment her on it.

The blush only becomes more pronounced and more awkward as the thought that she's nowhere near as strong as Vi springs unbidden into her mind, along with a memory of Vi's arms, glistening with sweat in the winter sun as she chopped wood.]

I. Uhm. [What had Clara been talking about?

Oh. Right.]

I learned it from my dad, really. He gives excellent hugs. [She'd give just about anything for a hug from her dad right now.]

[ It's an understandable distraction. The smell as soon as they're in a dank hallway is overwhelmingly moldy, and Clara steels herself for a second with a hand under her nose. No need to call it out; unless Caitlyn doesn't have a sense of smell, it's pretty obvious. ]

Dad hugs are the best. Even when the dad in question is being really annoying.

[ Because that's what dad's do best; they annoying jokes, something sometimes with their over-protectiveness, but when her dad used to hug her, she felt safe and loved. When's the last time she hugged her dad? When's the last time he hugged her? She's still thinking about that as her feet slosh through water about ankle-deep, squinting into the inky darkness. ]

It sounds like there's water all around us, which would explain the moldy, musty smell. You don't happen to have anything that'll give us some light do you?

[Caitlyn reaches back into her rifle case and pulls out a torch, shining it around in a sharp, efficient survey of the interior. Mould, growing along the edge of the ceiling and along the wall where water's dripped down. Murky water, ankle-deep on the floor. A couple of closed doors, which pique Caitlyn's interest. And distressingly little else.

The air in here can't be very healthy to be breathing. It certainly doesn't smell good for one's health.

Clara's comments about her dad only make Caitlyn miss her own dad that much more. Yes, hers could be annoying, especially when he was being overprotective. But that really doesn't matter when it's been so long...

She's been here the better part of nine months. And all she left behind was a bloodstain on the bathroom floor. What would Jayce do, if he thought someone from the undercity killed her? He'd already gone off with Vi and started a fight. If he thought she was dead, would he start a war? Would her mother...?

A frown settles across her features.

She has to focus on the goal, not worry about all the terrifying thoughts of civil war that are suddenly tumbling end over end through her head. Or she'll drive herself mad.]

Let's find the beacon. So we can get back to our dads.

[ Clara honestly wonders if her dad even knows how long she's been gone. Not that he doesn't care, but what once was, isn't necessarily the way it is now. He over-worries but stays distant, and her own theory is that if anything ever happens to her, he thinks he's doing enough to protect his heart. He's wrong, but she'd definitely do just about anything to throw her arms around him anyway.

On the other hand, once she goes back, the Doctor—her Doctor—is dead, and she isn't sure what there is to even go back to on that front. It's so conflicting, but this isn't the best planet for anyone to be on, so she'll keep going no matter what. ]

Is this the same gross black stuff from Serthica?

[ Because if so, yikes. ]

[Caitlyn snaps the torch beam to the mould that Clara's looking at, peering up at it curiously. Yes, it does bear a more than a passing resemblance to the awful black sludge that had infested Serthica.

She moves towards it, trying to get a closer look, but only a few steps and she suddenly feels dizzy.]

I think it is.

[She stumbles a few steps backwards, shaking her head in an effort to clear it.]

[ Reaching out, Clara grabs Caitlyn's arm to help her keep her balance. ]

We'll stay right in the middle then, no touching the walls. Let's pick a door and see if we're lucky or not. If the person who built this was as eccentric as we've been told, we should be careful where we step. Could be traps.

[ Which isn't a comforting thought in any way. Picking a door she tugs as hard as she can, until there's a great groaning sound and water begin to seep out from between minute cracks in the door, and from beneath. ]

Do we take our chances here, or go with door number two?

[That's not a comforting thought at all, especially since Caitlyn can barely see where she's stepping, even with the torch. The water here may be shallow, but it's not clear.

The water seeping out from behind the door is all too ominous.]

Let's try the other.

[Careful not to step too close to the walls, she makes her way to the other door and pulls, but this one's stuck.]

Here, take this. [She holds the torch out to Clara. For the second time, she wishes Vi and her particular skillset and her muscles were here. For about the ten thousandth time since departing Alem, she just wishes she could see Vi again.

And if she wants to see Vi again, someone will have to break down one of these doors, and she's not going to ask Clara to do something potentially dangerous when Caitlyn can do it herself.]

[ Holding the torch, Clara makes sure it's positioned where Caitlyn can see, and with her other hand, reaches into her pocket. Pulling out the pocket knife, she holds it out so that it extends into the sword it actually is. ]

Do you think you can pry it open with this? The metal's pretty strong, I think it'd take a lot to break. Maybe we can jimmy it open, somehow?

[ Times like this, she wishes she were something other than the size of a fifth grader. She has plenty of endurance, but not a lot of strength, and she hates feeling useless. Looking around, she spies a grate on the wall to the left of the door. ]

Or maybe we can get through that.

[ She doesn't want to think about whether or not the walls are covered with mold in there, especially if it's the only option other than doubling back. Which would mean going back over the hole. ]

[The pocket knife turning into a sword catches Caitlyn off guard, but she accepts it, albeit a little gingerly, before wedging the tip between the door and the doorframe.

She's attempting to pry open the door with the sword when Clara spots the grate. It looks like it'll be a tight fit even for Clara, and trying to manoeuvre all six feet of herself through that...

But if it's their only option, then she'll do whatever's necessary.

It's easy enough to use the sword to pry the grate off the wall, leaving an ominous black hole.]

Would you like to go first, or shall I?

[ Staring at the hole, Clara looks at Caitlyn, then back into the well of darkness. ]

I'll go. You saved my life earlier, so if there's a chance to return the favor...just make sure you back out as soon as you can.

[ Once the sword is in her hand again, it shrinks back down so that she can easily fit it back into her pocket. It was a gift (?) from the pit of weapons what feels like years ago now, and it's come in handy more than once.

Squaring her shoulders, Clara looks up and hoists herself into the hole, feeling exactly as claustrophobic as she always thought she would while watching cave diving videos. The sides of the wall are sludgy, but she doesn't feel any effects from it, so she calls out behind her the best she can. ]

No mold so far, just don't think about the texture.

[Caitlyn watches nervously as Clara climbs in, before squaring her shoulders and following. It's exactly as cramped as she was afraid it would be, and the slimy feeling of the walls is even worse than she imagined. All she can see is the faint light of the torch ahead, mostly blocked by Clara's body, illuminating more slime.

The rifle case on her back scrapes against the ceiling, showering the top of her head with cold, wet, evil-smelling sludge.

For a moment, she pauses, gritting her teeth as she feels slime run down the back of her neck and seep into her hair. But she thinks of Vi, and her mum and dad, and Jayce, and the situation that could be waiting for her back home and how much worse it could get the longer she's away, and about Clara's dad and how much Clara want to get home to him - even if she does complain about him being overprotective - and forces herself to keep going.]

Can you see anything?

Edited 2023-07-06 22:13 (UTC)

[ Going home is a double-edged sword for Clara; she doesn't know what to expect, she isn't ready to live with knowing she's never going to see stupid floppy hair and ridiculous bowties ever again. She wants to see her dad, her nan especially, but saying goodbye?

Pulled out of her thoughts by Caitlyn's voice, Clara stares ahead and can, just barely, see something flickering. ]

I think my light is bouncing off of something. That, or we have mood lighting ahead, can't tell yet.

[ Feeling something that feels incredibly like snot land on her arm, she tries to hold back the urge to gag. But finally, her hand reaches a ledge and clumsily, she pulls herself out, just as something seems to clamp onto the skin just above her collarbone. Dropping the torch in surprise, there's a shout from Clara as she stumbles, trying to see what the hell it is. ]

Caitlyn!

[Caitlyn is miserably pulling herself along when Clara's shout sends her into action. She contorts herself into a few awkward shapes to get out as hurriedly as she does, and it takes longer than she'd like, but as soon as she's able, she rushes to Clara's side.

A quick yank and the thing attached to Clara's neck comes free comes free. Caitlyn tosses it into the vent they've just crawled out of, because if she just drops it, it will instantly be lost in the water they're both at least knee deep in.]

Are you alright?

[ Clara's hand goes to cover the spot, feeling her heart race with adreneline. ]

What the hell was that!?

[ Which doesn't answer the question, so she swallows and wets her lips, moving her hand and trying to see if there's any damage. There's blood, but that isn't what makes her frown. ]

It's numb. This spot, my whole shoulder. I can't feel anything.

[ She yanks down the sleeve of her shirt and pinches the skin on her shoulder until there are half-moon marks embedded in her skin. ]

Nothing.

I'm not sure. [The priority had been to get it off of Clara. She hadn't thought to hang on to the thing - she certainly hadn't wanted to risk it biting her. But tossing it in the vent means no way of knowing what it was, unless Caitlyn wants to go searching for it. Which she very much does not.

The priority now is to get Clara out. Get her to a doctor, an apothecary, anyone who might be able to figure out what's wrong and treat it. They can come back for the beacon another time.

There's a door in the room, but a quick tug on the knob doesn't budge it.]

Stand back. I'm going to get you out of here.

[She pulls out her rifle and, in one clean shot, obliterates the door lock. Which will hopefully be enough to get the door open.]

[ Clara does stand back, still holding her shoulder, but then she shakes her head. ]

We came this far, we can't go back now. I'm numb, not dead. If I start going downhill, then okay, but a way home might not be that far away. And let's face it, it isn't like I was going to be using this arm to fight.

[ Maybe they should go back and she's just being unnecessarily reckless, but she nearly fell and quite possibly could have died then. She can't let a weird bite from an unknown creature stop her. ]

Please, Caitlyn.

[Caitlyn shoves the door again, and this time it creaks loudly, giving a little as the area around the lock splinters. Another good shove with her shoulder, and it gives a little more.

At Clara's plea, she looks back at her, worry for her friend warring with sympathy. If she were in Clara's position, she'd be making the exact same plea. She had made such a plea to Vi, and if Vi had listened to her... they might not be separated now.

She nods.]

Alright. We'll keep going.

[Once more, she turns her attention to the door.]

Help me with this? [Maybe if they both ram it at the same time, it'll give.]

I can't feel anything on this shoulder anyway, might as well come in useful, right?

[ She's being cheeky in light of recent events, but if she isn't, she'll panic or otherwise not be able to keep going. If only to get Caitlyn back to her dad and Vi, she wants to get to the beacon. ]

Okay, on three? Also, I'm flattered you think I weigh enough to be effective.

[The levity that Clara's aiming for is lost on Caitlyn, who merely frowns miserably at the door. They're stuck in this house that may as well be collapsing around them, trudging through mould and sludge - which is still seeping into her hair - with no apparent exit other than the highly dangerous way they came in. And she's not sure she can think her way out of this predicament.]

You should be more careful with it, since you can't feel it.

[She doesn't mean to be patronizing; if anything, it comes across as a gloomy, dire warning as her frown deepens.

She nods.]

One. Two. Three. [On three, she slams her shoulder into the door.]

[ Clara follows suit and even though she heeded Caitlyn's advice, feels the jolt even through the numbness. But the door breaks inward, the sound echoing around them. ]

I think I'll let you lead this time, if you don't mind swapping leadership duties back and forth. Honestly, I'm more than willing to share.

the sunken | part i

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