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)
westwhere2023-09-15 07:10 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2023-09-15 07:10 pm
Entry tags:
- arc vii,
- asoiaf: daenerys targaryen,
- assassin's creed: jacob frye,
- ephes,
- game of thrones: jon snow,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- last case of benedict fox: benedict fox,
- legend of fei: xie yun,
- lockwood & co: anthony lockwood,
- mcu: america chavez,
- mcu: kamala khan,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- penny dreadful: vanessa ives,
- star wars: cal kestis,
- star wars: merrin,
- tian guan ci fu: xie lian,
- umbrella academy: five,
- untamed: lan sizhui,
- untamed: wen ning,
- warcraft: anduin wrynn,
- warcraft: wrathion,
- warframe: kahl 175,
- wheel of time: lan mandragoran,
- word of honor: wen kexing
the chainings
Escorted by shepherds, the party reaches most decadent Ephes — a citadel with a newly-raised, lethal army and ambitions of imperial expansion. The undead lady Messalina has approached the Senate of Ephes, asking for the citadel’s forces to liberate the unliving from the undead Brotherhood that “enslaves them.” In exchange, she pledges Ephes any territories she frees.
Ephes hides a beacon within the main temple of the world-making and world-ending chaotic Chained God, currently closed off while Senate leader Caius Justus considers Messalina’s proposal.
OBJECTIVE: Survive Ephes until the temple opens.
This first event of Arc VII lasts until 3 October. Use your character roles, pursue leads or nudge NPCs for clues!
POLITICS
Politically-minded characters take residence with their benefactors and receive two iron chain bracelets, which represent the Chained God. These bracelets and the red-purplish trim of your white cloth identify your political standing and attract the nagging, desperate or aggressive public pleas of your petitioners.
You hear, hastening to attend Senate sessions, that long-serving leader Caius Justus is unlikely to earn a new mandate. His peaceful, sedentary governance is unsuited to Ephes’ military ambitions.
Pair up with party members and submit threads by 23:59 GMT on 27 September of bribing, cheating or outright fulfilling the needs of one of the politicians below, to secure their vote for or against Messalina.
- ■ War veteran-turned-politician Sextus Longinus wants to leave his mark permanently on Ephes.
■ Senator Publia Secunda has been struck with court summons on charges of tax evasion. The court claims it has proof she has been passing the precious wares on her ships as geese.
■ Senator Ovidius Petronius’s wife fled home, ruining his image as a family man, after he was caught in compromising circumstances with another woman.
■ Severus Silvanus was overcome by sickness and wishes to throw a party worth remembering as he lives out his final year.
■ Once a formidable soldier, Senator Cassia Floriana has been for years denied an audience by the priests of the temple of the Chained God because of the blood on her hands.
■ Maximilianus Tacitus wishes to eliminate his reputation for stinginess — while spending not one coin.
Note: if multiple players go for the same Senator, we’ll assume they had more than one vote to cast!
GLADIATORS | non-gladiators can spectate or patron
Those assigned as gladiators are received by arena leader Laetio and housed in single or shared barracks cells in grounds near the largest stadiums.
Accommodations are scarce — pallets, hard stone ground — but food, healing and care are generously provided. Veteran gladiators are frequently measured and assessed. Strife is contained, and brawls are forbidden, while priestess of the Chained God visit periodically to bless warriors as ‘his children of chaos.’
At times, as you train or sleep, you sense you are watched. On other days, you wake from violent nightmares to see your wounds and bruises have vanished.
- ■ Newcomers are paired and taught how to throw fights, exaggerate their reactions and create slogans and outrageous personas. They are offered tattoos, haircuts and makeup.
■ You experience the first day in the arena around the OOC date of 18 September, when gladiators re-enact the Chained God’s first defeat and Chaining.
■ Characters can fight NPCs, each other, or demonic large beasts. These hefty creatures attack head first and thrash the arena, often striking spectators.
■ Injuries can happen when fighting beasts, but unlikely from other gladiators. The highest official attending a fight may choose the loser’s punishment, but must pay exorbitant fees for losses to the arena. After a noble boy orders a veteran gladiator severely beaten, you hear Laetio threatening the child’s anguished father with repercussions from Narula, leader of the Hand.
■ Submit a fight thread by 23:59 GMT on 27 September for the winner/s to address the stadium.
■ Other party members can pay or coax Laetio to receive their ‘favourite’ gladiator(s) overnight at their villas. Return by dawns.
WHITE NIGHT
One night (OOCly: 24 September), after gladiator games on the sixth of twelve Chainings, you wake up in a bleary haze, your thoughts and movements slow. Stifled screams and heavy footsteps erupt distantly. In pitch dark, you spot the slithering, deep silhouettes that are checking cells — progressing towards you.
- ■ If you glimpse their coarsely carved masks depicting wolves, you are overcome with a sudden, insurmountable terror and the certainty that your visitors are inhuman.
■ Stumbling, you flee your surprisingly open cell, overcome by dread that won’t abate until you find living company. Some of the emptied cells you pass by have been clearly ravaged. On the walls of three untouched cells of veteran gladiators, you see a wolf’s head coarsely painted in fresh blood. Hide with your companions, until sleep suddenly claims you.
■ The next day, you wake back in your sleeping quarters. Laetio accuses some gladiators of going mad from last night’s celebratory drink and destroying the cells. Servants have been cleaning attentively, with all blood paintings gone.
■ Your memories of the night are increasingly diffuse: at times you describe the intruders. At others, you speak of creatures or people from your own past that terrify you.
■ A veteran gladiator, the Beast of Brenne, is absent from the morning call. Laetio regretfully informs he perished from wounds incurred in yesterday’s games. He calls a toast to the Beast of Brenne and bans drink for the rest of the Chainings.
THE HAND
Characters reach the barracks as part of a set of 100 new recruits. They are subjected to three days of intense training, ranging from running and parkour basics to weights and strength building, basic dagger combat and surviving hard (magically induced) weather conditions. The recruit batch is overseen by Hand leader Narula and members depend on each other for food or care.
Throughout this, recruits are made to heavily depend on Brother Narula, who negotiates and awards privileges and regularly visits for interviews not unlike interrogations. Recruits are largely orphans, convicts or disinherited — lone wolves, says Narula, who only find their pack in the Hand.
Every ten days of the 100 after recruitment, the worst performing five conscripts are removed from the ranks, stoking vicious competition and internal sabotage that Narula allows on the premise of soldiers needing both brawns and cunning.
Permanent injuries are banned. Beware blades left in your shoes and itchy, ground nettles powder on your uniforms.
HONEYED
Within days of receiving your assignments, you must shadow a group of Hand veterans and guard a Hive — an agricultural cluster outside of Ephes — during a grains transfer.
- ■ New recruits follow veteran soldiers into the eerily silent, vast farmland dominated by high rows of wheat and corn. You feel watched and something touches your legs and thighs. Within farmers’ hearing, veteran soldiers laugh it off as rabbits, snakes — but privately tell you to walk outside the line of vision of scarecrows littered in the fields.
■ The transfer proceeds peacefully until midday, when alarms blare, and a brawl starts near a defunct watering well: a dozen Hand veterans have gone berserk and attack indiscriminately. They are dark-eyed, heaving and struggle with speech and coordination. They seem less wrathful than anguished, desperately calling to ‘Make homes’ as they slaughter and sever limbs.
■ Immobilise the attackers, or take civilians to safety in warehouses.
■ The berserk soldiers are removed — allegedly taken for healing and discipline, but never seen again. At the barracks, Narula says the incident was the result of heatstroke.
MESSALINA’S INFILTRATORS
Some party members join Messalina’s group as paid campaign aides. Stationed in the Senate’s summer villas outside of Ephes, the lady’s eclectic group comprises volatile magic users and necromancers, the undead and demonic creatures — who coexist in tenuous peace. It’s every wo/man to themselves after dark, when the villa walls and defences are drawn up and gates lock to prevent the indiscreet exit of a blood-thirsting demon.
Mid-summer
It becomes rapidly clear that Messalina does not trust the good will of Ephes and wants to cut a deal quickly by bribing, blackmailing, or interceding with Senate leader Caius Justus. She also seems unsettled by the Chained God, who she fears is a hidden undead liege controlling Ephes.
”Not every Sleeper sleeps deep.”
Messalina assigns party members to bolster the campaign of Maximus Faustus — previously a young, promising and popular politician with hopes of becoming Senate leader… who has been replaced by demonic shapeshifter Alir.
- ■ Infiltrate noble functions and learn what would steer patricians towards Faustus’ cause.
■ Patricians widely feel that Caius has been too sympathetic towards plebeians and neglectful of his own people. They want to see more grand gestures celebrating Ephes’ noblest class. See to it.
■ Some superstitiously associate Caius with the cult of the Chained God, whom the Senate leader brought back to forefront.
■ Alir is fiercely intelligent, quick-witted, dry — with little regard for humans, beyond their delicious hearts. Watch him while in public, as he succumbs to his hunger and lures innocents in dark corners to rip out their innards and feast on their flesh. Pay off or exterminate witnesses.
■ A derisive Alir questions Messalina’s plans for peaceful coexistence and the innocence of Ephes. He urges his caretakers to inspect Caius’s private home on the night of the full moon (OOCly: 20 September). You may take along other party members.
■ That night, Caius’ villa is well lit, bursting with song and closed from the inside. Scale the walls to enter and find a feast held by shadowy silhouettes of Caius’ ancestors. First they interact with you, then ignore you, then, increasingly inconvenienced, seem to recognise there is something wrong about you, before giving chase, daggers in hand.
■ On a high table in the great reception halls, you can find the entombment masks and personal effects of all of Caius’ ancestors who are present at the feast. Caius’ personal study contains nearly year-old letters of trade, reports on the fragility of the then-6,000-strong Hand and a broken worship tablet depicting the Chained God’s fourth Chaining.
■ In the kitchens, you find well-secured barrels of fish and wine — jump in together, or hear movement from the servants hidden within. You have time for one question.
CIVILIANS
Characters assigned civilian roles may safely assume their Ephes posts for a handful of days, before the religious celebrations of the Chained God’s twelve Chainings start. The all-Father of the universe, the Chained God is set to birth, consume and rebirth the world, and was chained twelve times by the first heroes of humanity to contain his destruction.
- ■ The numerous priests of the Chained God wander the roads and mark the foreheads of civilians with salted ash — which briefly brings out your anger, greed or selfishness.
■ Priests say you feel the frustration of the bound Chained God. Some of those ash-touched experience visions of a heavily fettered, amorphous creature, struggling in agony in a cavernous room. Those with supernatural powers find their abilities are volatile for a day.
■ Those who ‘see’ the Chained God are brought and tested for holiness by Priestess Valeria, for it is known the Chained God chooses brief emissaries during the days of Chaining.
■ Newer acolytes greatly defend the religious cult: a great earthquake rattled the main temple of the Chained God last year during the Chainings, and falling debris only spared the faithful who prayed within.
Off with his —
On the sixth day of Chaining (OOCly: 23 September), the news shouter of Ephes’ main marketplace receives a pouch containing the decapitated head of Tavernus, brother of Ephes army leader Narula.
The shocked newscaster drops the head, shakily reading out the message stitched on the pouch: Animals die for men to live. Men die for gods to prosper. — a quote attributed to the Chained Gods and carved on his main temple’s outer walls.
Locals may share Tavernus was a taciturn man who previously served as Narula’s lieutenant in the Hand, before retiring five months prior and taking up agricultural trade.
Group up to investigate — and throw your hat in for a RNG pick to win the head.
NIGHT OF KNIVES | EVERYONE WELCOME
The twelfth day of Chaining (OOCly: 29 September) ends the yearly religious festivities of the Chained God with multiple street celebrations and private dinners.
Popular political upstart Maximus Faustus holds his own night-long banquet, opening his doors to all.
The affair sprawls over multiple floors of Faustus’ enormous villa, with entertainment ranging from poetry, theatre, artistic and magical recitals on the lower floors to a gladiator performance and heavy opioids upstairs. Conveniently, the guest list includes every figurehead of Ephes and their main political and financial backers. Patricians seem amused but flattered by Faustus, who was ‘no one’ before Messalina’s support, but who has been generous in his appreciation of the city’s elite.
- ■ Sign up for a RNG draw for a conversation with Faustus by 23:59 GMT on 18 September.
■ No better time to publicise your feats or generosity. Why not have your character (including gladiators) perform or bring an offering?
■ Servants apologise as you smell an excess of musk and oud, hiding, they say, spillage from an accident caused by a fired manservant. You can still glimpse glinting trails of cleansed lamp oil.
■ Messalina attends the banquet for two hours, but hastily withdraws at midnight, after receiving a letter.
■ Towards the middle of the night, priestess Valeria asks to conduct a religious séance, allowing one person to channel the Chained God and speak to Ephes.
■ After 2 a.m., torch lights dim down, as twenty masked pantomimes enter the main banquet halls, shushing the rooms silent. In good spirit, they ridicule the partygoers, even poking fun at you with inside jokes they should not know about…
■ …before slashing the throats or stabbing some of the high-profile Senators present, sparking a chaotic stampede.
■ The main villa doors have been closed from the outside. Fire broke out within and spreads rapidly, after the rims of main halls curtains were drenched in lamp oil. Rescue some of the Senators, or help the crowds escape Faustus’ burning villa.
■ The assassins are exceptionally strong fighters whose combat style some might recognise from the Hand’s drills. They fluctuate between having physical bodies and merging with shadows.
■ Come morning, a list is found on the main hall floor of Faustus’ villa with an assassination contract for the murdered and targeted Senators. All had intended to support Messalina. The contract is signed with the seal of a ring showing a wolf in profile.
no subject
When they put him out in the field, on evenings that are deemed worth of him, they always have him out in furs. He is, however, grateful that there are no games at the moment.
When he does come out of his 'cage', as it were it's to get a bit of sun and he takes note of Jacob there. ]
Who're you here for?
[ This? It's someone who he doesn't recognize but he also might as well see what the other came for, or to do. ]
no subject
Well, tear someone. Not Jacob. Jacob's pretty sure he could hold his own against any wolf, lone or not.
He knows who the figure is instantly of course. He might not recognise the face- hes never had seats that close to the carnage- but the build anf the furs? Thats him. Thats the Wolf.
He can't stop the grin that spreads across his face.]
You're the Wolf, aren't you? I've seen you fight. You're bloody good.
[ He should have answered the question but the words burst out of him, refusing to be held back. ]
no subject
He does not, however, expect for someone (especially one who seemed to be a fan of 'The Lone Wolf') to show up and have that reaction. Though he should've expected it. After all, most of the spectators that watched the arena fights tended to cheer (far too loudly for his liking sometimes) whenever he was out on the field. ]
I am the Wolf.
[ Simple and to the point. Though, a part of him wanted to laugh. This man before him had never seen him truly fight. With blade or his martial arts. With his internal energy. Even though that last one he tended to add a little into his fights but not enough to be too revealing.
Those eyes look toward Jacob and if the man has ever seen Lan Wangji in person then he might note features that almost mirror the man's. Xie Yun considered the man family and his not-brother. ]
You'll have to come another day if you wish to see me in the arena again.
no subject
But he tries to compose himself, rather than act like an idiot. That would be embarrassing. Instead, he tries to relax, not to let the excitement take control. ]
Yeah, yeah. Of course. I'm actually here to escort someone who wants a night out. My contact told me to wait here for them, make sure they stay safe, and get them home before dawn.
[ He pauses, looking at the Wolf, at the door to the Fields, and then back again. ]
I guess that might be you?
no subject
That would be me. Not that I need anyone to keep me safe.
[ The idea that someone needed to keep himself made him laugh. ]
Have you done this for the others?
[ He wouldn't be surprised if he had. ]
no subject
[ It's clear Jacob doesn't think that the Wolf is abour to rampage through the city, but there have been some... unpleasant deaths. Bodies found mutilated come morning. The night isn't safe.
... perhaps he should ask the Wolf some questions.]
I'm trusted by a lot of people. I'm a bodyguard, a watchman. A representative in conflict. A jack of many trades.
[ He gestures for the Wolf to continue on his way, and Jacob falls into step alongside him.]
None of that is as exciting as what you do. There's a lot of people who wish they could fight like you do.
no subject
There are many out there that are jack of all trades.
[ The young emperor was someone like that too. ]
Do you wish to fight like I do?
[ Xie Yun was very proficient in the sword but he preferred his martial arts over any weapon. ]
no subject
[ He pauses, literally stopping in place at the offer, eyes widening.
He had intended to ask yes, but not until they had found a rapport. But how can he turn down the Wolf?]
Of course! That would be incredible! I saw you the other day, you did this incredible thing with your hands, sent that guy in black flying across the Arena! Can you teach me that?
no subject
When Jacob stops so does he. It doesn't surprise him that the other had enjoyed Cloud Repelling Palm either. ]
Unfortunately, that isn't something I can teach anyone.
[ It would depend on a person's internal energy. ]
That was something I was taught at a young age.
no subject
Well, maybe you can show me the basics of it? I'm a quick learner. I might surprise you. And I could teach you something, in return?
[He doesn't know if the sort of fighting techniques he does will translate to something the Wolf could use in his Arena fights, but... well, it's only fair. You offer something in exchange, it's politeness.]
no subject
Even though Jacob probably didn't have internal energy like him... he could teach the man the basics. ]
I can show you the basics of it and I would like to learn anything you wish to teach.
[ He doubts he'll be able to use it in his fights but he'd still like to learn. The young emperor was proficient in martial arts and the sword, as well as wire walking. So he's curious on what Jacob could teach him. Then he could see if he could shift it a bit to add into his fights. ]
no subject
Here? I mean, if you wanted to now. You were on your way somewhere, I don't want to make you late.
[That probably won't go down well, if the Wolf has some appointment to keep. He shouldn't have assumed the man meant here and now, he just got very caught up in the idea of learning something from the famed skillset of the fearsome Wolf.]
no subject
[ Not where everyone can learn what he teaches, at any rate. He was doing this for Jacob and not the whole town. ]
What is it you'd want to teach me?
[ Curiosity is a pain sometimes. ]
no subject
Of course the Wolf wants to know what Jacob can teach him, and that puts Jacob on the spot to some degree. What can he teach the Wolf?]
Well. I can show you... some of the moves we use back home in fighting. Or a Leap. I don't think you can use that in your fights but... well. Its fun. Jumping off a point taller than anyone else can, landing safely instead of breaking your neck. Its a good party trick.
no subject
Those eyes watch Jacob and he listens to him as he mentions something called a 'Leap', whatever that was. ]
Is that something you do back home?
[ It sounds interesting to him. Though probably because the young emperor tends to do a lot of parkour and has a strong qinggong skill. ]
no subject
Yeah, it's a pretty useful skill in my line of work. And fun, too. If we find some likely building or something, I'll show you.
[There are plenty of tall buildings around, but whether they have suitable landing spots... then again, there are places near the river. A water landing isn't hard, as long as you don't hit the water like a brick.]
no subject
What is your line of work?
[ Those eyes look around them for a moment and he takes note of the tall buildings. ]
What type of building would you need? Or a type of building, if there's one specific type.
no subject
This and that. Fighting people who need fighting, following people that need to be followed.
[
Killing people that need to be killed.]The building doesn't have to be anything special. Just tall. You want something that's at least four men tall. It's the landing that'd more important. You can't land back on the street, you'll break every bone in your body.
[ A little further down the street though, he sees something - there's a cart that's been filled with loose hay, probably refilling animal feeders around town. No one is currently woth it, and the building its parked outside is four floors tall. Perfect!
Jacob points it out. ] That's what we're looking for.
no subject
A fighter who happens to be a spy too, then?
[ He listens at the explanation of the building and how tall it needed to be. That the landing was important. He, himself, knew how important landings were. Especially when he tended to use his qinggong skills and parkoured quite a bit too.
Taking note of the building that Jacob points out he gives a nod, looking at the building to see if it had any foot holds to it or something that would work for them, in climbing it. ]
How would you usually get to the top?
no subject
[There's a difference between what Jacob does and giving people a merciful death. He's never let someone linger on death's door, never drawn out the pain and the suffering, not purposefully. But the people he kills aren't good people who got caught up in a bad word, they're evil bastards.
It takes too long to explain, anyway. Most people think they know what "assassin" means, thanks to the Templars.
Anyway, talking about the leap is much more fun. A quick glance up the stone walls of the building shows that while an ordinary person might consider it hard to climb, someone used to parkour wouldn't struggle too much. Rain and wind have weathered the surface, and there's narrow decorative stonework at intervals up the sides of the building. ]
Shall I show you? Or do you think you can manage the climb?