the sunken | part i

[groundrules]

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.

Comments

[pathologise]

( it's the avoidant look that might be more telling, the little slip in her expression that might tell clara that she knows something about losing people too, that she may also have few people left. though that knowledge haunts at adrienne, physically and mentally.

so she covers it (or attempt to) by eating her brownie, refusing to hold the woman's gaze for a moment. and when she brings it back it's to her best friend )

She's good. I've known her... nearly twenty years. And she's one of the few people who didn't let me burn her bridge.

( because that's what adrienne had done after her last loss: pushed everyone away. burned a lot of it down. brutally honest even if it sounds a little exaggerated in her tone )

[makemeasong]

[ There's a distinct lack of past tense in Adrienne's voice, and that's good, she hopes. ]

So you're still bezzie mates, then?

[ Clara's glad the Doctor is actually here with her, but when he leaves here, he'll be gone and she'll be left with a stranger. Taking a big bite of her brownie to push away the sadness, she wipes crumbs into her hand neatly, brushing her hands off over the sink. ]

Two decades is longer than some people stay married.

[pathologise]

( adrienne nods, a confirmation. they were ride or die, there through anything and a lot had been tested over the years. nothing had shaken it. and adrienne is very glad, she doesn't think she'd cope if she did lose her )

It's probably a good job I'm not married, then.

( or ever wants to be. she'll just proclaim that's never for her if asked )

Life's complicated enough.

[makemeasong]

Good, falling in love is messy and it hurts. Or it sucks and then it hurts.

[ At least, in her experience. ]

If you go and fall in love with your best friend, it's a whole new level. Grand time that was. Ask me how I know.

[ There's a hint of a deprecating smile at her rhetorical request before she turns to check Adrienne's tea. Adding about as much honey as she used (which was a lot, she slides the mug, spoon, and honey over. ]

Just in case you need it a little sweeter.

[pathologise]

Yeah, I don't do love.

( or feelings of any kind. adrienne did once but it hurt, losing people hurt and it closed her off. so she thinks, instead too oblivious to her own feelings )

And here there is... ( she shakes her head, trying some of the tea and she honestly doesn't know if more honey would help or her not liking tea just doesn't make a difference )

Good sex. When everything isn't bullshit.

( she'd covered happiness earlier but it spread more )

I don't know what here is real.

[makemeasong]

You've had good sex here? Damn.

[ It's the first follow up statement that pops into her head. She's been lacking in that department, but to be fair, she's been too busy not dying to really think about it. Only now she's thinking about it. At least she can distract herself with their conversation. ]

I dunno either, except for what I feel right now. I liked hanging out with you here, we had fun. I think that was real, because it's hard to fake kindness, even if the memories were fake.

[ Clara's voice is quiet, almost like she isn't sure if she believes herself. She wants to, though. ]

[pathologise]

( it'd be so easy to keep talking about how good her sex was but her heart's not in it (shocking) and clara says enough that pulls her from the topic )

It... felt nice. I don't remember all of it, my head's... fucked.

( fuzzy from the drinking, uncertain from the nightmares and slipping of those fake memories )

But... I wouldn't mind that. With the real you.

[makemeasong]

[ Clara doesn't ask for details, it isn't any of her business anyway. She's also been there with the nebulous night of a one-night stand fueled by alcohol. The aftermath of her mum's death was a shit show.

Instead, after Adrienne's statement, Clara takes a breath and decides to finally apologize. ]

So would I. [ Exhaling, she leans against the counter facing the other woman. ] And I wanted to say sorry about everything on the train. I came on strong, on the network too. I think—

[ Clara bites at her lip, pausing for a second before continuing. ]

This isn't an excuse, there really isn't a good enough one when it comes to treating someone badly, and I really am sorry for that. You didn't deserve it. I wanted you to know that before I tried to explain. Right before the train, I drowned, sort of. I mean, I came back. Someone brought me back.

[ Chewing on the inside of her bottom lip now instead, she continues, loosely folding her arms across her chest. ]

I didn't know what to do with someone brushing it all off so casually after I went through that. But it wasn't your fault, and I should've listened better. If we're gonna be friends going forward, that needed to be said. I'm not always a complete and utter arse.

[pathologise]

( there's a lengthy pause, adrienne frowning and she really is trying to remember that. between her current hangover and fuzzy head, her memories being messed with and how drunk she'd gotten on a few days on the train... she hadn't remembered it when she first spoke to clara )

You could have gotten away staying quiet.

( she might have remembered later but there was also a very good chance that she wouldn't. and even if she doesn't say it she does appreciate the honesty and the apology. and this time the brownie she eats is almost like an apology accepted brownie. and she's now starting to actually feel hungry )

Almost dying messes with your head. Trauma messes with your head. So... I get it.

( she'd been a trainwreck to her life and friends during hers. and she hadn't quite made it round to apologising to all of them since )

Are you okay?

( she'd understand no, wouldn't press unless clara wanted to talk about it )

[makemeasong]

[ Clara shrugs a little. Staying quiet would have sat like a rock in her stomach because she knows what's right. ]

Now I've technically died twice I guess, so I feel like I should be fine? And for the most part I am, it's just the sleeping part. My brain loves piling on the nightmares, mixing up events and trauma from home with here. As if this place doesn't do enough to us.

[ Scrubbing at her face with her hands, she takes a deep breath and lets it out in enough of a huff to blow up her bangs. ]

It was nice not remembering that, even if I know I should be grateful I'm me again.

[pathologise]

I... hate that I felt happy, that I didn't remember it.

( adrienne pushes the brownie plate away slightly, shifting how she's sat on the stool, not that she can really get comfortable in it but she feels less like she's going to slide off )

It made the nightmare feel worse when it came.

( she meets her gaze just for a moment, a brief look of understanding that she passes quickly )

I don't sleep much. If you need someone to not be asleep around.

( she can't promise her own state, whether she'll be drunk, sober, functional or in her head, she can't promise that she'd want company... but she understands. and not being alone can pass the time when you don't want to sleep. and when being alone is worse )

[makemeasong]

[ It's a good point. Clara's entire memory bank wasn't erased, but this felt like something she'd finally chosen, a place she felt happy to be because she was helping, because she had friends. Now they're all starting from scratch and some things, some people's cases, might've felt better being forgotten. But then it's losing a part of yourself, so the feelings are mixed at best. Awful feeling at worst, she gets that. ]

I'll be sure to message first if I take you up on that.

[ Clara manages a small smile, then turns to start making actual food and not just sugar. Adrienne needs protein, although her brownies are damn good if she says so herself. ]

Mostly if I'm not sleeping I write or cry, or drink. Sometimes all three? But I sometimes try to do something productive, if wherever we are isn't too dangerous. Or if there are books, anyone else's fantasy world is my favorite way to get outta my head.

[ Clara looks over her shoulder with a small shurg, then back at the counter. ]

This is the first time there's been a school that has them, though. At least since I've been here.

[pathologise]

I... drink.

( which was obvious given her state but adrienne wasn't going to admit that she also cried, especially on the worst of her nights. though they tended to come with slightly self-destructive days and she wasn't going to inflict those on clara )

I... feel like I should ask what some of the other places were like but I don't know if I can.

( given adrienne's original reaction to things and being hungover-- she didn't know how much she'd process it. so she starts with a gentler in )

If there were cities I assume they're nothing like I know?

[makemeasong]

[ This time, Clara actually thinks about her words through the lens of someone completely new and unsure of everything in sight. She nods at Adrienne's assessment. ]

On the nose. The city before last was probably most like a city, except maybe an older time period. It was industrial and poor, with a lot of orphaned kids. I came through a broken beacon when the group had already been there a little while; Serthica, it was called.

[ For now, she'll only go into detail about the things Adrienne specifically asks after, wanting to take this at her pace so she knows as much or as little as she wants. ]

[pathologise]

( she groans slightly, resting her forehead against the heels of her palms, though it's not a refusal or a rejection. well, the noise might be an unhappy noise and she might instinctively be trying to pull away from it even though she'd asked but she uses it-- she closes her eyes, blocking out one sense to try and let the words actually sit in her. the best her current thinking could do, anyway )

How long were you there before they told you to take the train?

( she's assuming that's what it was, that it wasn't a choice since they didn't know where they were supposed to be, that no one had known where the train was going )

[makemeasong]

[ Clara backtracks a little as she's putting the finishing touches on their sandwiches. She went with club sandwiches, and then, just in case, made a few tomato sandwiches that she'll eat if no one else wants. It paid to trade gossip for groceries down at the docks. ]

So, I woke up and it was pretty much directly onto the train, there wasn't anything else. Except there was a point I think I blacked out again, everyone did, and then we were falling down a literal rabbit hole, Alice in Wonderland style. At the time, it was the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me. Just...falling, and trying to dodge objects and other people.

[ She stops there and doesn't go into anymore detail. Now that she's got more perspective from Adrienne's point of view, yeah. That's a fucking lot right there. ]

[pathologise]

( there's a small thanks when she hears the plate settle down, slowly lifting her head back up to pull it closer before taking them apart to fish out the tomatoes. hungover was not a time she wanted to test whether they agreed with her, leaving them in a little pile on the side of the plate before putting it back together to eat it.

and there are a few small bites taken before she does reply, uncertain about everything )

I know what you said but I don't think I understood it. Because that sounds like it should be a dream and... I hate that it feels like it wasn't.

( the falling )

[makemeasong]

[ Clara can absolutely, without a doubt, a hundred percent agree. The first time she fell, she fell forever and split herself up into pieces. She was supposed to die, but she should've known better than that. The Doctor can't let anyone do that for him, couldn't let her. But that's a whole other topic she won't even try to bring up, because space and time travel might be the unintentional straw on the camel's back. ]

Felt like a dream. Felt like the kind where you can't wake up, even when you know you have to. Honestly, a lot of days it still feels like that to me. I'm really lucky that I have someone from home with me. Helps keep me feeling a little saner, honestly.

[pathologise]

( she gives clara a look that means to say well, i'm fucked before finishing her sandwich. even if she knows that everyone here will fiercely try to tell her that she isn't alone. but how much does that mean when you don't know anyone, really? )

I would like to wake up... except being in this village feels real. It feels like I'm here even if the past-- I don't actually know how long I've been here, but... even if that was fake.

( the train actually felt more like a dream but she did both sleep a lot and drink a lot )

This might not be the right place or where I should be but... I feel here. Annoyingly.