let's set d o w n some (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
groundrules) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
westwhere2023-08-17 06:16 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2023-08-17 06:16 pm
Entry tags:
- arcane: caitlyn,
- assassin's creed: jacob frye,
- assassin's creed: ratonhnhake:ton,
- doctor who: clara oswald,
- harry potter: hermione granger,
- horizon: aloy,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- kingdom of the wicked: wrath,
- last case of benedict fox: benedict fox,
- legend of fei: xie yun,
- lockwood & co: anthony lockwood,
- lockwood & co: lucy carlyle,
- mcu: america chavez,
- mcu: bucky barnes,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- oh! my emperor: su xunxian,
- owl house: eda clawthorne,
- penny dreadful: vanessa ives,
- star wars: cal kestis,
- star wars: merrin,
- tian guan ci fu: xie lian,
- umbrella academy: allison,
- umbrella academy: five,
- untamed: wen ning,
- warcraft: anduin wrynn,
- warcraft: wrathion,
- warframe: kahl 175,
- wheel of time: lan mandragoran,
- word of honor: wen kexing
unkharil | event
Leaving the House of Manouk through waypoints, the party arrives back to the present time of Akhuras, in the jungle swathes of Unkharil. Those undergoing a canon update fleetingly detour into their home worlds. Old or new, you wake with a start, on high alert — body ablaze with static electricity. Some characters might struggle with vertigo, misted memories and dimmed powers for up to 48 hours, while their bodies readjust to no longer being lost in time.
You are in the care of a highly disciplined, if largely nomadic caravan — the refugees of most holy Alem, the kingdom built upon hell that succumbed to the undead. Karsa informs new recruits that the party assisted Alem’s king Deimar with evacuation efforts and with sealing the gates of hell, months prior. Their kingdom lost, Deimar has now taken his people to his mother’s ancestral grounds of Unkharil — a temple-fortress in a valley bordered by four tall mountains that serve as its protective walls.
Legend says the four mountains pillared the heavens, while snake god Kharil-asuk nested in the valley below to recover after birthing the world. So long was his sleep that cloud gods sent down the first bursts of lightning and thunder — frightening awake Kharil-asuk, who slithered into the jungle, never to be seen again. Since, sacred Unkharil has served as site of worship and coronations.
King Deimar — whimsical, breezy, but cuttingly sharp — welcomes you in Unkharil, until the Merchant finalises your travel arrangements east. His people are weary, battle-worn and starved for kindness. Where applicable, some might optionally remember you under the false identity you wore in Arc V.
Seek out accommodations in the stone huts of the temple-fortress or the humble, often single-person cells that were dug bluntly into the mountain walls for hermit monks. Unkharil was deserted over the years as Kharil-asuk’s cult lost worship — but superstitious bandits have kept their looting away from temple grounds. You may still find furniture, pieces of clothing and worship, while refugees can spare clothes and food supplies.
TASKS
- ■ Assist with cleaning and reconstructing the destitute grounds of Unkharil, raising new stone columns and cleansing altars. Those with a connection to nature or the animals sense this is a quiet, revered territory.
■ Many survivors of Alem’s siege suffer from burns, cuts or trauma you can allay. The orphaned, widowed and wounded appreciate a kind word, company or help settling in.
■ Find a thin golden stream in the jungle, whose tepid waters may accelerate healing, improve your spirits or give you a day of staggering good luck. Bring back waters for recovering refugees.
■ Learn to use mountain scaling gear (rope-bound pairs encouraged) — or tame a 3-meter Kalioperus flier (useful for scouting and the Wailing below). Refugees and the few remaining temple monks may assist, but it’s learning by doing on the slippery mountain sides and with the thin-tempered fliers.
■ Largely warriors, Deimar’s people lost numerous troops defending Alem and now replenish their forces by teaching their youth weapons combat and light magic. Come dawns, join them in the courtyard to learn a skill or offer your own lessons. Alem instructors are strict, disciplined and martial — but fair. Characters who lack natural magic can learn to operate gem-triggered spheres that generate shields or a burst of fire/lightning. You may keep the gems after, but your character will need a few weeks of study to achieve mastery.
■ (Learn to) fish, hunt and forage to renew supplies. Beware flesh-eating fish in some jungle rivers. Ride an okapi?
■ Yet wary of traders, Deimar (grudgingly) invites merchants to revive their routes to Unkharil, with many caravans, errant scholars, priests, necromancers and sorcerers arriving to study his proposition. Some arrive all the way from magical jewel city Taravast — including an exuberant acolyte of old master Wrath! — and may offer exotic food and drink, or unique items. You may trade or earn coin by selling services or performances. Musical, art and thespian instruments can be found on the grounds.
QUESTS
THE HEART(H) OF IT
”Rise and shine, lads! Heat of a jungle’s sun won’t be waning, no use waiting it out. The iron here’s rung cold too long. What little’s left of it. Shows the place was run by monks. They abandoned the smithy, once the fires guttered, and the mines, soon as the mouths collapsed only a little! Ha. Spoiled devils. Even left behind the ore already dug out. You go right in and fetch some iron… some copper, some silver… whatever yo find. We’ll get the blaze going. Time to forge. Don’t worry. We’ll make it worth your while.”
— Eitam, master forger
Deimar’s ironmongers revive the smithy of Unkharil but require precious ore and materials for manufacturing. Scale the steep mountain of Masida that walls in Unkharil to the east and infiltrate its abandoned mine to recover some previously discovered, but abandoned goods. Beware crumbling paths, rotten wood stairs and moulding ropes, as parts of the mines threaten collapse. Refugees supply golden fireworks that can shoot out to alert anyone within the mine you are in danger. Blacksmith rewards await.
PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS
Visiting merchants are willing to resume trade, but have ongoing safety concerns.
- ■ Meet a first set of incoming grain-bearing caravans in the jungle and escort them on the last six-hour leg of their voyage to Unkharil. These are hefty and slow wagons, frequently targeted by bandits who dam their paths or pretend they are wounded, while their brothers attack from tree outposts.
■ Destroy the encampments of the vicious jungle-based Red Claws bandits. These outlaws typically attack in groups, share nightly meals and drink to strengthen their ties, providing excellent ambush opportunities. They cover their faces with a cinnabar or blood print of their leader’s palm.
■ Hold talks to appease the merchants Balthazar (easily impressed by shows and the arts) and Anathula (who wants a clear business pitch). Give diplomacy your best!
THE WAILING
”… they were so happy, so holy, then why do they shame themselves with tears now? You must be wondering. The truth does not honour us: first, Unkharil’s priesthood only accepted brothers from among those who survived snake’s poison. But the chosen were few, and the lands needed tending. Then, Unkharil accepted brothers from men of great skill, literacy and wisdom. But the learned were few, and the lands needed tending. Then, Unkharil accepted orphans, survivors of the jungle, men of the snake’s vision. But wanderers were few, and the lands needed tending. And soon, what recruits Kharil-asuk did not provide, in his mercy — his priesthood took… from the breasts of widows, from pillaged homes, from bandits. They kept even the most unwilling.”
— groundsmaster Kayik
Unkharil’s new residents soon find their beauty sleep disrupted by nightly wails, projected from several of the monk cells dug into Mount Nathadi, which walls in Unkharil from the south. These are the ghosts of former monks, whom you can appease by scaling the mountain and cleaning their cell, recovering their bones for burial (where applicable) or providing a minor service for the ghost (your choice of what the monk might desire: perhaps the recitation of a poem, an update on the weather outside, a good deed, etc.) Many of the monks were especially devoted to Kharil-asuk and to theories of reincarnation — for the lives of men are to the soul like a snake shedding its skin — and may impart you their wisdom.
WATER MY CROPS
Help Deimar’s people to revitalise local soil, seed gardens and crops, build dams and redirect jungle rivers. Water or lunar tide sorcery also work. Alem refugees were primarily warriors and will need you to illustrate the basics of gardening and land care.
TO DAYS GONE BY
To welcome the start of their new lives, the refugees hold two nights of celebrations. During the day, you prepare tall bonfires or purify the lands with incense and sage-infused water, finding you are readily welcome in every home.
- ■ The first banquet night (OOCly on 25 August) pays homage to the lost: the survivors of Alem remember the siege and encourage you to speak of your own dead. Letters of penance, love or remembrance are written to the dead, read by the witness of your choosing and burned in bonfires. Heavy, syrupy and thick drink abounds.
■ The second banquet night (OOCly on 5 September) honours the living: everyone must show and express gratitude to someone alive, for any reason. Grit your teeth and offer thanks.
SERVANTS OF AFIRU (warning: snakes)
”There was no strength left in the bones of Kharil-asuk, after birthing the ground and the sky and the moon, and man and his mountains. And the first son of his likeness paid the price: brave white Afiru, small and feeble, but how proud he was! And the dozen men who caught him, not knowing his right divine, thought they did him a kindness to cull his pain young: to set him on a slate of stone and cut him in small parts, and eat of him for their dinner. Fools! Each bite of Afiru took root within them! Come morning, a dozen men woke in the image of Afiru: half snake, half human, beastly and cunning, their roiling bellies only quenched when they ate of their brothers. So, Afiru seeded his curse, and that same stone plate is now his altar: and just as he washed it with his life’s blood for men, so too must men now pay the price of bleeding.”
— old village tale
Within the jungle depths sleeps the minor, ruined temple of serpent god Afiru — malicious son of Kharil-asuk — whose mind-thralled servants abduct hapless innocents as sacrifices to the deity’s naga emissaries. Infiltrate the decayed temple to ruin Afiru’s altar — releasing his servants from their thrall and ending his worship. The naga priests are half beasts, half men, but deathly silent and possessed of fiercely sharp and venomous claws and fangs. If poisoned, your wounded limb swells, then numbs, then darkens as the toxin spreads through your body. You have 12 hours to get back to Unkharil, increasingly groggy and stiff, and drink a cure — or may pre-emptively carry a few doses, going in.
A HUNDRED MOUTHS (newcomers only)
Large stone gates carved into the northern mountain that walls in Unkharil hide an ancient granary whose wares could allay starvation… and interest visiting merchants. To open the doors, you must fit missing ruby beads back into the gate’s carvings. The gems, you learn, were picked out and dragged away by feral Kalioperus fliers — larger and more vicious than the ones you ride — and taken back to their nests at the very tip of Unkharil’s walling mountains. Report your ruby finds — rewards await.
ANOINTED (warning: snake)
”I saw him! With my mind clear, and my eyes shut, and my heart open. And he was beautiful! I ran in high grass, and my feet tore, and my dress ragged, and do not listen! I was not as the others are, greedy. I wanted nothing, nothing! He asked, ‘Daughter, what do you wish of me?’ And I said to him, ‘Only to see you.’ And he said, ‘So be it.’ And after mother Moon rose, and the good rain downed, and it was silence in this world he gave us, but for this breath, that was the murmur of the skies! No vastness greater than the drums of his heartbeat, and his sundered gaze: one eye, it was blood, and the other gold. And together, they saw me. He saw me. And he loved me! So he gave me the silk of his shed skin, to remember him by. In the morning, old women say, hunters found me in the jungle, stroking a piece of old, mouldy rope. But I know, it was him, it was the Father. And he saw me, as they do not see him”
— Laila, weaver
Deimar inherited his mother’s lands, but his uncles are likely to contest the claim of a pauper king with a feeble army. To legitimise his rule, Deimar wants the blessing of snake deity Kharil-asuk. The few remaining locals of Unkharil say the great serpent may be seen on stormy nights with lightning and thunder by those who wait at night in the jungle, after purifying themselves with meditation or partaking of ‘mind-cleansing’ asuk — a strong drug that triggers hallucinations and prophecy. The enormously large serpent body of Kharil-asuk — two-kilometres long, 100 meters wide — slithers before his chosen and must be chased into the depths of the jungles, no matter the animal and bandit dangers, before it disappears.
Inquisitive and untamed, but not necessarily malicious, Kharil-asuk often seeks to shrug off his pursuers, camouflaging in the landscape. He speaks as a voice in the heads of his pursuers, assessing them with questions about true worth and what entitles men to land, wisdom and nobility. He may attempt to drive those he deems unworthy for their past sins (betrayal, murder) in the path of mortal danger (cliffs, bandits, traps). Anyone can chase Kharil-asuk and speak with him. You can still sign up for a RNG to receive his blessing.
NOTES
- ■ Newcomers may be introduced to the large undead dragon, now bound to the party since Arc V. Formerly a tormentor of Alem, she keeps her distance and flies outside of Unkharil for now.
■ This downtime event lasts until 15 September and is followed by Arc VII. Pace yourselves and engage in as much or as little as you want, quests-wise!
QUESTIONS
NPC INBOX
no subject
"No, it was a guess." He admits, "Based on experience."
If it was family, the door is open. Jacob's lost family, everyone but his sister, and in their line of work, the likelihood is one or either of them, or both, will die before the night is out. But he doesn't have to mourn Evie yet, and for that he finds himself very glad, even if she is a bossy know-it-all.
no subject
He studies Jacob quietly in the firelight, for a moment. "...my father," he finally offers, before his gaze drifts away once more. "Over a year ago now, but at times it feels like no time at all has passed."
This time, the sip he takes is much, much longer. Something to steady himself with, hopefully.
no subject
"My father died about that time ago," He offers, "Sometimes it is easy, and sometimes it's very difficult. We weren't close, so I have an easier time of it than my sister."
He pauses, because he doesn't want this to be about him. "Would you like to talk about him?"
no subject
Anduin eyes lift again, considering. On most occasions, he'd shut the idea away, politely decline, and push through until something else could command his attention. The business of the living had to come first, after all. But in a moment like this, it's harder to deny.
His grip on the cup tightens, ever so slightly.
"We weren't always close. We drifted some ways apart, in fact. I can't say that helped, in the end..." Brow furrowing deeply, he takes another sip, perhaps to quiet that lump in his throat.
"Perhaps it still feels as if I've disappointed him, somehow."
no subject
As the scarred hand tightens his grip on the cup, Jacob wonders if he should have invited the man to speak at all, but he reaches up to squeeze his shoulder, a silent show of support and offer of strength.
He listens to what the other man says, although without knowing the situation he can't comment on if Anduin might have disappointed him or not. Jacob's sure every child has disappointed its parents, including his own father. And Anduin's too.
But instead of saying that, he squeezes again, and offers his thoughts:
"Would you have acted differently? To avoid his disappointment?"
no subject
He takes a deep breath.
"No. I did all that I could to protect our people. To preserve peace. Even if we chose different paths, we both wanted that for them. If we'd had more time, he might have seen--"
But the words die on his lips, the air stolen from his lungs. His hand around the cup trembles, ever so slightly. That's what hurts the most, isn't it? Never knowing what could have been. A wound only just starting to heal that would now never have the chance.
no subject
He squeezes the other's shoulder once more and then lets his hand drop.
"The fact you think he would have realised that? Makes me believe he would have done." He says, although he has no really grounds to base that on, just a feeling.
no subject
His lips tug wryly once more, as he swallows down against that lump in his throat once more, before shifting a little more towards Jacob. "But it's too easy to imagine all the old arguments. The ways you feel like you failed one another. I don't know how common a feeling that is, but..."
There's a small, cautious look towards his new friend.
no subject
"They tend to go around and around in your head like a good musical hall tune, don't they?" He agrees, avoiding his own experience, which really would sink the conversation still further. "But the bad things are always easier to remember than the good. Put your effort into that instead, if you can. It'll serve you better."
He pauses, then carefully, almost uncertainly, he asks, "Did he ever tell you that he was proud of you?"
no subject
"...he did. In his way." He lets out a soft breath, this time looking to the star-filled sky, the arrangement of heavenly bodies foreign to his eyes. "I remember feeling relief. Like there was a gap between us finally closing. Then, inevitably, something else would happen and that hope would flicker."
no subject
That's the good thing, about events for the dead. There's always enough to drink. He leaves for a moment, returning with two more cups of whatever the local beer is. It isn't half bad, that's for sure.
"Here. It makes remembering less painful."
no subject
Whatever it is, it's a long way from Stormwind Ale, but he swigs it down all the same. It feeds a gentle growing warmth in his stomach, something to help battle the occasional twist of guilt and remorse.
"And I think you might have a point. We're all...trying to be our fathers. Or be anything but our fathers. Usually one extreme or the other, from what I can tell. And when your father was a very public figure, people expect certain things."
no subject
"Is he why you became a knight? Would you have been something else, if you could?"
It seems a logical jump. Anduin's father must have been some heroic figure, maybe even some fancy Lord, and there was no choice but to follow in his footsteps. It's a circumstance that Jacob can sincerely sympathise with, even if he and his family were never about to be public figures.
no subject
He blinks in puzzlement, but the inquiry seems sincere. Jacob's got an honest face, for all his mischevious laugh lines and roguish ruggedness. Right. What was the topic, again?
And then it clicks, as the blond's brows raise.
"Oh. The armor. I suppose it does look knightly in a way, doesn't it?"
no subject
Anduin's made no assumptions about him, or at least he's smart enough to keep them to himself, watching any waiting for more evidence perhaps, before he makes a judgement or asks for confirmation. After all, woth the apparition in the bathtub, he was held back, making assessments and judging the situation, wasn't he?
Christ, Jacob privately curses himself, he should know better. He should know how to do this by now and not lose his head when someone pretty turns up.
"Fancier than most I've seen," Jacob says, trying to regain ease, some control of himself. "The lions? That's a nice touch."
no subject
Oh look at him stumble. Anduin's lips quirk up at the corners just a bit, before he clears his throat and takes another drink.
"Lions have been the heraldic animal of Stormwind for a long time. A symbol for the whole Alliance, really. And...as king, you're expected to be a symbol. So wearing symbols is very much a part of that."
no subject
But then Anduin continues and says "as king" and Jacob stops nodding. King.
He feels all the more stupid for the assumption now. But those clear blue eyes make no obvious judgement, the perfect lips don't form a derisive smirk. In fact, woth the clearing of his throat and the way he takes his drink, Jacob might believe the man was worried about the reaction he'd get.
"That's a few rungs higher on the ladder than knight." He says, letting the tension out of his shoulders and a breath fill his lungs easily, naturally. "Really didn't get a say in that, did you?"
no subject
"I suppose that answers the question, though, doesn't it? I became what I am because of my father, yes. If not for that...I think I'd have liked to travel the world. Help people, heal people, wherever I was able to. Seeing a difference being made in front of your very eyes."
He gestures around them. "This? This actually suits me just fine."
no subject
There is the possibility of being something else, something Anduin would rather be. And as he already seems pretty content with the shape of things as they are, it might turn out well.
"I won't mention the whole royalty thing to anyone." He suggests. "Not really my business to tell."
no subject
Not that it would make a difference either way. But it was the sentiment that mattered.
"And...thank you. For letting me go on like that. I'm hardly the only person to have lost someone, after all."
no subject
"No, but that doesn't mean you aren't hurting." He manages, and then quickly lifts his drink once more to his mouth, to save having to work out what else to say.