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westwhere2023-07-02 05:47 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2023-07-02 05:47 pm
Entry tags:
- 911: evan 'buck' buckley,
- arcane: caitlyn,
- doctor who: clara oswald,
- doctor who: the doctor,
- game of thrones: jon snow,
- harry potter: hermione granger,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- kingdom of the wicked: wrath,
- legend of fei: xie yun,
- lockwood & co: anthony lockwood,
- mcu: america chavez,
- mcu: kamala khan,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- owl house: eda clawthorne,
- penny dreadful: vanessa ives,
- star wars: cal kestis,
- tian guan ci fu: xie lian,
- umbrella academy: five,
- untamed: wen ning,
- untamed: wen qing,
- warcraft: wrathion
the sunken | moonrise
The final Arc VI event lasts three days ICly and until 23 July OOCly. Yancai goes back another two years in time to the Huntress’ visit, Miang-Si’s corruption and the memory-meddling rite of the ladies of the lake.
The party can choose to stay neutral, only heading to the House of Commerce to access its now-active beacon — or they can inevitably get mixed up in the affairs of Yancai and endanger the village’s time loop.
For a quick catch-up: the latest clues | everything about Arc VI.
BOAR’S HEART
Rattled, on high alert, feeling watched and skin prickling from static electricity, characters wake to find Yancai has gone back another two years in time. It is now nearly dry, barring rare waterways. Mould is absent. The village bustles with activity: a heavy influx of new arrivals comes by sea, and frequent fishermen’s and merchants’ markets set up in the open road — enjoy fresh fish delicacies, discounted pearls, rare cloth textiles and dyes that include the unique Yancai green!
- ■ No more hauntings take place, and only one moon loiters above the village. Villagers still remember the party under their false identities.
■ Word has spread of the conflict between elder Quanze Tsaymien’s council and a beautiful woman who has taken up in the forests at the village’s outskirts. Gossipmongers say she wastes away in the woods weeping — while ground cracks beneath her feet, grass wilts, waters poison and animals drop dead nearby. Young men are drawn to her and are later forcibly recovered in a state of rambling, feverish exhaustion. Village healers gladly accept your nursing help.
■ Village elders have given the woman — correctly identified by the party as the Huntress — until the following sunrise to leave Yancai on pain of death. You have 24h to encounter her.
■ The forests are livelier than in previous iterations of Yancai, but you feel perpetually… watched, as if sharp eyes follow your progress. These heavy gazes may belong to the young men bewitched to protect the Huntress, or to razor-clawed venom-spitting creatures that hunt her.
■ You may find some of the aforementioned creatures bleeding on the forest path. They possess slightly above canine intelligence, cannot communicate in human tongues, and hesitate to let you approach — but nursing one might reward you.
■ The death-touched (necromancers, those who died or revived, or otherwise marked) may optionally feel compelled to join the Huntress. Physical distance dwindles her pull, as can your own magic or solutions.
■ Luck (?) leads you to a silent and bloodied forest clearing, come sunset. Here, two dozens of Yancai’s recent dead have risen alive and surround the Huntress, some battling the creatures that assail her, while she speaks to 16-year-old village beauty Miang-Si. There is a gaping, if regenerating hole in the Huntress’ chest; in one hand, she holds her yet-beating heart she cuts in several parts she wraps in parchment. She asks Miang-Si to bury these pouches near Yancai to ‘hold her power close,’ in exchange for permanent and ever-blossoming beauty.
■ Wait as the Huntress and her forces retreat — then catch up to Miang-Si, capture her, or find the pouches. The ground where they are buried is desaturated, brittle, nearly pulverised. Hawks and ravens circle above and plunge down to claw at intruders, or attempt to pick up children or feebler adults. To the magically or death-sensitive, the pouches emanate a revolting aura of withering death.
■ Beware if heart pouches were buried beneath aged, thick trees — their roots burst out like nooses and writhing spiders’ legs, looking to either slam you against the tree trunks or entrap you within.
■ Finding at least two heart pouches prevents the dead from rising in Yancai in the years to come! Keep the heart cuts fettered — touching these parts directly can overwhelm you with the need to consume this or other hearts, to compensate for the sudden and unfeeling… coldness in your chest.
WAKE, UNWAKEFULLY
Sunrise finds the Huntress gone from Yancai — while waves of the dead rise from the sea to attack the village. Some come chained, or dragging pieces from the casket-ships in which they were set for water burial.
This is the first undead attack witnessed by Yancai villagers, who are largely clumsy, slow and petrified. Some sentimentally believe their revived relatives never died and plead not to kill them. Many are caught in undefended areas, such as open port harbours, fishing boats, markets — and need help to travel to their families. The Huntress’ spell starts dissolving by midday, with the dead largely pulling back into sea and lake waters
- ■ Beware the village waterways: touching the water replenishes the strength of the dead and saps yours. Look closely at the bottom of the waterways, and you find them lined with dozens of resting corpses. Some wake slowly, as they clutch shards of glistening black mirror — best to… use a very long oar… or plunge very quickly to recover shards.
■ Carrying a mirror shard puts the dead around you to blissful sleep. Those who possess a cut of the Huntress’ heart can take control of up to 20 of the risen dead. Necromancers can control up to 10, even without such a token.
MOTHER MOON
Come midday of Day II, Yancai villagers start to move freely and reunite with loved ones. Waters begin to gently rise and flood the grounds, while the first spores of black mould appear on walls.
The first to help the injured are the washerwomen of Yancai, who favour the young and magically sensitive. You notice they work in perfect synchrony and have developed a hand sign language they can teach you. Keep an ear out, and one might entrust they are hedge witches, the so-called ‘ladies’ of the lake.
■ Join them, either invited or unseen, when they gather at one of Yancai’s three great lakes. Each lady picks up one of the silver coins tossed in the water for luck-bearing. Take one yourself, and you will be able to breathe and speak underwater, following as the ladies dive and swim through thin underwater passageways. Beware countless skeletal remains that line the lakes and sinister fish — both burst out to shackle your limbs, or sound the alarm about intruders.
■ You find the ladies have begun to shelter and ward the dead in lake caves, to avoid their rising up again. The ladies re-emerge in the forest, speaking of a protection rite they agreed with the elders’ council. They are not strong enough to break the Huntress’ lingering spell, but hope to later recruit nascent witch Miang-Si, who teases she has power from the Huntress. For now, the ladies have decided to create a five-year time loop, moving Yancai back and forth in time whenever the dead attack.
■ To achieve their rite, the ladies use large pieces of black mirror confiscated from the Huntress’ dead and the energy of the hunter’s moon that shines down a bloody red tonight. Those with a lunar connection feel the moon aches, disgusted by this violation. Even those unaffiliated with the moon feel irascible and prone to violence while under its gaze.
■ Interrupting the rite rescues the moon, earning you a reward, and breaks villagers from the five-year loop, allowing them to live their true lives. It also exposes Yancai to the dead, unless you remove the heart cuts. Co-ordinate and choose wisely.
■ The ladies conduct their chanting, rune-painting and summons throughout the night of Day III in the forest. You have a wealth of options to break their spell: interfere with the magic flows, disrupt the guarded ash circle of convened witches, summon irate villagers to raid, persuade Miang-Si to intervene, break or steal the rite’s black mirror pieces… You can also reach out to the coven’s strongest witches, who agreed to sacrifice themselves to become overseers in the time flux — the Lumberjack, Red Lady, White Woman, Man in Black and the Milk-Toothed Babes. You can still sign up for a RNG draw to chat.
BAIT & BEACON
To take attention off the ladies of the lake, Yancai’s council organises a sumptuous masked banquet and charity auction for the victims of the undead attack at the lavish House of Commerce. The House has been thoroughly cleansed by the time of your arrival, with only faint, clumsy traces of blood, decay and debris lingering from the previous offensive.
On site, servants are still jittery from the undead assault, while openly armed guards walk the grounds and answer any small provocation. Be kind to the staff or offer sympathy for their likely recent losses, and they might let you in unnoticed, or offer a hand.
- ■ Anyone who brings an item for the auction or who
can pretend s/hepossesses massive wealth can join the banquet. Show up with anything you can brazenly talk up as elite, exquisite or one-of-a-kind — or perhaps auction your services?
■ The House of Commerce contains a locked room with the village’s now fully active beacon. The Master of Commerce has the only key-tokens to access this quarter, somewhere in his study room — pick a lock, sweettalk the staff, or work your magic to get inside the study and grab one of the rune-inscribed tokens. The study room brims with scrolls, globes, letters to and from the Dawn’s Reach Trade Company and maps of… Arc I’s Sa-Hareth in the west, where hand-written news reports say the dead are rising.
■ Back at the banquet, the richest wine and… relaxing herbs and powders are offered freely or sometimes slipped into food to ease spirits. Aiming for levity, participants don comical animal masks or play a local game of ‘bait or hook,’ whereby they approach you with the aforementioned fishing bait or fish hook in closed fists, asking you to pick one. Depending on your choice, you must ‘bait’ the audience with a song or dance, or ‘hook’ them in with a joke or anecdote.
■ Around midnight, attendants are invited to an increasingly competitive auction, punctuated by elbowing, loud voices, crowding and the occasional threat. Beautiful concubines might stick to your arms, asking to be purchased this or that (exorbitant) small nothing as a gift. Participate to keep up your cover, but beware landing in hard debt!
■ Most banquet goers pretend they are indifferent to the undead attack, but some question whether the woman of the forest was to blame — while others mention that the mysterious, far too independent coven of the ladies of the lake is meeting even now, and might be cursing Yancai.
■ However you spend your night, the witch Karsa asks you to infiltrate the House of Commerce by dawns and attempt to leave through the beacon. This will only be possible if at least one person has picked up a key-token…!
cal kestis | star wars | ota
[Cal doesn't sleep well, or much. He knows this isn't ideal and if Greez or Merrin were here, they would definitely try to convince him to make a better effort of it. But at the same time, sometimes it works in his favor. Like today, when he rises early when things just feel...wrong.
And when he rushes to a dock, he finds a pair of men standing together in shock, watching as many, too many undead pull themselves from the water. That's understandable; this isn't - or shouldn't be - a normal sight for most people. Luckily (?), Cal has dealt with walking corpses before.
Just once, mind, but he has the experience.
He unhooks his lightsaber hilt from his belt and walks toward the oncoming hoard, but before he can ignite his weapon, the men grasp onto the back of his clothes.]
Please, don't hurt them. Our mother is here.
[Cal pauses and studies the undead, seeing a few decaying women among them. He supposes the love a child has for its mother can forgive a lot of things, but even the fact that they're all obviously dead? Or, well, dead at one point. But the men keep repeating their words and Cal hooks the lightsaber hilt back on his belt. He's seen too much death recently, been the cause of it. Best not to add more misery if he doesn't have to.]
All right. Stay behind me.
[He raises his hands toward the shambling and dripping group, then throws his arms wide, an invisible force stopping the undead in their tracks, keeping them in stasis.]
We gotta go. That's not gonna keep 'em for long.
wake, unwakefully, part 2
[Despite not getting much sleep, Cal runs around Yancai to stave off the undead attacks wherever he can and without complaint. Sometimes, he'll dispatch them with the cool blue blade of his lightsaber. Others, he'll push with what could be mistaken for a small gust of wind back into the water. And when the attack tapers off, he makes for the waterways, just to make sure there aren't any stragglers.
That's when he sees the bodies lying dormant just below the surface. Which is pretty disconcerting. Are they waiting? Will they attack again?
He glances closer at one that holds something black in its hands, squinting to try and get a better look past the moving water.]
What is that...?
bait and beacon
[This Karsa woman wants them to infiltrate the House of Commerce in order to give them a chance to get off this planet and Cal finds the prospect very agreeable. Though it does leave him feeling a little guilty, too. As a Jedi, he is expected to use his skills to help those in need, no matter who or where they are and this place is clearly in need of help. But then again, the ragtag group in which he finds himself also needs to get to their respective homes. He has to get back to his family, too.
His work is never done, it seems.
For now, he just has to get inside. It would be easy enough to do on his own - fewer people means fewer variables to juggle when things inevitably don't go to plan - but this is a social event, right? It would make sense to have a friend.
Spying someone he recognizes as being part of their group, he casually walks up to them and keeps his voice low.]
You thinkin' of joining the fun? I can get us inside, unless you have a plan.
wildcard!
[Hit me up if you don't see something here you like!]
no subject
[Moran is not dressed in a way that one would call inconspicuous. Quite the opposite. He's pulled out the royal blue and silver embroidered robes, the silver pin with its huge pearl glints in his top knot, and he looks every bit the prince he actually is. There is little chance that anyone will actually stop him at the door, given that he looks like he drips money.]
no subject
But this isn't Coruscant and he can't judge this man on appearances alone. Besides, he does look like hrs be able to get inside with little or no problem and isn't that Cal's goal, too? Less problem plus less attention equals higher chance of success.]
Yeah...yeah, that works. You're here for the auction and I'm here to carry anything you might buy.
[And considering he's dressed like an average townsperson, he probably wouldn't really pass as anything more.]
no subject
Yes, I think that should work just find indeed. I didn't catch your name?
[After all, if that young man is supposed to be a servant of sorts, at least long enough for the charade to hold...]
no subject
[With the ruse in play, Cal shifts his clothing so as to hide his blaster and lightsaber hilt. Gotta try being inconspicuous for first impressions.]
And yourself, Master...?
[It's still weird to call anyone who isn't a Jedi by the title, but the word carries more meaning outside of the Order so he might as well get used to it.]
no subject
... Alright, Cal. Walk just one step behind me, and don't talk to anyone until we're inside.
[He takes out his fan with a flourish, and starts making his way towards the entrance, head held high, and clearly with no intention of stopping for any kind of identification inspection.
And he actually looks vaguely startled and half-offended when he is stopped. He raises an eyebrow and shakes one of his sleeves, the silver embroidery glinting in the lantern light.]
... Do you know who I am?
no subject
He falls into step as instructed and keeps his head down, adopting the demeanor of a servant or hired help or whatever this Moran is used to having. The man certainly has the air of someone who regularly gets what he wants and probably doesn't need Cal's help in this situation, but he keeps a hand free, anyway, ready to gather up any of the Force he can just in case.
The silver embroidery catches his eye, however, as well as the guards'. Cal watches and waits as the two guards look at each other, suddenly a little off-kilter. This wasn't going according to their plan, it seems.
They quickly cone to some sort of consensus, though, and one clears his throat.]
Our apologies. You and your man must be here for the banquet. Please, come in.
no subject
[There's a tinkling sound as something that looks suspiciously like a coin purse is dropped in said good man's hands, and then Moran sweeps on majestically to enter the House of Commerce.
It certainly looks a lot less dilapidated than it used to, and Moran ignored the small stab of pain from the sudden headache. His power really doesn't enjoy this sauntering back in time.]
From what others have reported before, the beacon is downstairs. Karsa said a token is needed and it is unlikely to be in this public area.
no subject
But he still retains his distance until they're safely inside and out of sight of the guards. The atmosphere here is strange, though nothing he can't handle as long as he keeps his hands to himself, but there is a quick spike in Moran's presence that grabs his attention. Cal watches him, concerned, even as he seems to press onward without any problem.]
If I were the Master of Commerce, I'd keep this token on me, especially if it's as important as it seems.
[Which would make this mission more complicated, but not impossible. Cal just really wants to get in and out without anyone getting hurt, or worse.]
If there are copies, though...I'd keep them locked up in an office or a safe separate from the beacon itself. So. Up for some exploration?
no subject
I can approach the Master, but I like the requisite skills for pickpocketing. If you do need to distraction to explore, though, I can probably think of something.
[There's already a lot of eyes on him, so it won't be that difficult.]
no subject
[And even if Moran had the right skills, he stands out in his fancy clothes. It's not worth it.
Cal also hesitates to include him in more than he already has. Any distractions would be beneficial to him sneaking around for these tokens, but the last thing he wants to do is put someone else in danger. He's gotten so many people killed recently...
He takes a breath and tries to push those thoughts away. He can't fall into that kind of despair or else it will consume him and he doesn't have Merrin or Greez here to pull him out of it.
Cal exhales and turns toward Moran.]
Thanks. For getting me inside without any trouble.
[He then reaches out toward the nearest wall, though he doesn't touch it. Just being in this space is enough for him to feel the darkness of recent events; if he were to touch anything he's certain he would get locked into the horrors of the undead attacks. They don't have time for that and he needs to save his strength, but he needs to try and isolate any thread of the Master's presence.]
I won't make you do anything you don't want to. If you want to head off, that's fine. I'm not worried about getting in when I find the right place. But if you want to stay...I would appreciate the help.
I'm gonna start down this hall, though. Unless you have better intel.
no subject
And being able to provide a distraction is exactly why I came in. I can command attention precisely when I want or need to. That is a talent I possess in spades.
[He looks at the gesture towards the wall with some curiosity. The young man seems... almost like he is touching something Moran can't see, which wouldn't surprise him given how many people with different abilities he's crossed paths with now.]
Just tell me when.
no subject
But that's what the Force is for, he tells himself. Trust in it.]
Okay. Great. So when we find this office or storage room, I'm sure it'll be guarded, too. But probably not as heavily since the banquet should be the top priority. My guess would be no more than two guards, but it's just a guess. At that point you could command attention however you want and I can get in.
[He pauses to let it sink in, see how it all feels.]
But my plans tend to get hiccups, so I'm flexible either way.
no subject
[In which case...]
I am not inconspicuous in those clothes. It's best for me to go mingle, and you can contact me with the crystal if anything happens. Remember other people might be listening on it.