westwhere | the chainings

the chainings

THE CHAININGS

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

QUESTIONS

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[ He smiles again as the weapon is put away, tempted to teleport behind him just to prove that he's not easy to keep from somewhere. But it appears he'll have to clear things up before rumors start. He's never been famous for working for a team; they all have opinions. ]

I'm not the murderer, but that girl will think I was, won't she? Unless she saw something else while I was away. [ No need to mention that he's trying to cover up the murder. That was obvious already. ]

But fine, you have my attention. How can you help me?

[Jacob only just refrains from rolling his eyes at how can you help me?- he doesn't like it any more than anyone else, but this place is forcing them to work together, and they'll have to deal with it.]

This is what I do, back home. Investigate things. Kill people that need killing. Stop people that don't need to die from being killed.

[He looks the young man over again, the stance, the fact his head is so far up his arse he must have real difficulty sitting down, and can't help but be amused. Evie used to be like that.]

I think you probably do too, am I right?

[ He pointedly doesn't answer that question. Not everyone wants to highlight the murder on their resume, but it's interesting that he's willing to. Honestly, he sounds like Diego. Which as much as he cares for his brother, isn't a compliment.

It's probably best he's not around to get another bad influence. ]

Back home. [ He folds his arms and stares him down. ] I thought I'd seen you before. So you're what, a vigilante who can't let go of old habits?

Guilty as charged huh?

[Silence speaks volumes, and sometimes keeping mum really doesn't do you any favours. It simply makes Jacob assume his assumptions are all correct, and he continues with that assumption.]

Nope. I have a very particular skill set, not really useful for very much else. So, do you want to do something about these murders, or are you happy playing- [A glance at the strange hound again] -dogsbody?

[ He squints in response, then glances briefly at the hound. It hasn't moved from its spot, but from the quiet growls, it's eager to get moving. ]

This may surprise you, but it's not that simple. Right now, I'd rather not cause a scene. [ Which may seem counterintuitive when he's walking around with a hellhound. But it's growing on him.

In a way teamwork clearly isn't. ]

What's your official job then?

[ Now that makes Jacob raise a brow. ]

A scene? More so than there was before?

[ And here's that horrible little question that Jacob hates to answer, because in so many ways the answer is not a good one. So instead he counters:]

How about you tell me yours first. In the interest of co-operation and not being a complete pain in the arse.

Considering it was darling and there were only a couple of witnesses, I'd say it could have been worse. [ Not that he's at all happy with Alir's lack of discipline. It'd be easy to tell her exactly where he problem lies, but he doesn't know how many other shapeshifters are available to bring off the bench.

He tightens his smile. He's been called worse. ]

I'm working for Messalina's campaign. You can see why this would be a bad look for her.

[ He says nothing, just listens. Unfortunately he can't stop his expression becoming darker and darker. He doesn't like this, doesn't like it one bit.

But he at least bites down on his tongue before he says something he might regret. ]

Someone died. And if that thing is her responsibility, then I think she needs to stop letting it out in the city before more people die.

[ He doesn't care about her bloody campaign or her popularity with the senate. That doesn't fucking matter.

All control out of the window, Jacob is suddenly several steps forward, close to the younger man, glaring daggers.]

We have to find it. And we have to stop it doing this again.

[ Five stands his ground when he gets closer, at least appreciating that he doesn't have to careen his neck like he has to with some of the taller members of their party. ]

Find it, yes. Track it all you want, but we're not making a move until we have this figured out. [ He may not be the leader of the party, but he talks like he expects to be listened to. Despite what some might say about him, he'd rather not resort to violence if he can avoid it. ] There's a lot more at stake here than a few random murders. If you meddle without knowing what you're doing, we'll all suffer for it.

When that happens, I'll see that they know who to blame.

[It sounded like sense, for a very, very short time. He was prepared to find out why these killings were happening - it might not have been the work of one monster, it might have been some sort of chemical making a normally peaceful creature mad (why else bring the monstrous dog?) but then Five says that.]

A few random murders?

[Jacob's jaw tightens, and he has to fight to keep the blade at his wrist sheathed and safe.]

These people do not deserve to die. And your life, my life, is not worth any more than theirs.

[ If it wasn't already obvious he's got a hero complex, that line proves it. He has a young man's viewpoint, who hasn't quite come to terms with the fact that life isn't fair. Innocent people die. Sometimes it's for a cause greater than them, and sometimes they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. ]

I didn't say that they deserve it. I'm saying their lives aren't worth everyone's. [ It's not like he can jump back in time to save them without breaking everything. ] It was bad luck. We can try to avoid it next time, but every action has consequences.

[ Jacob lets his heckles slowly lower, because yes yes he knows that. But it shouldn't be like that. You don't just throw lives away if there is anything that can be done to prevent that loss from happening. That's the Creed. ]

Right. So how do suggest we avoid this consequence from happening? Be frank with me, because you know more than you're letting on.

[ He did say he was still figuring it out. There most certainly will be more lives lost in the meantime. He can try to minimize them, but it’s a fine line while he’s still working out the pros and cons of manipulating the undead. ]

I’m not sure you can handle the intricacies of politics. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but these things aren’t uncommon.

How about you run across an attack, you can call me before jumping in?

I'm not sure you can handle the intricacies of having a boot up your arse, but luckily enough I think you're smart enough to avoid that.

[He doesn't like politics, or politicans. He purposefully hasn't got involved (so far) with any of that. It was always Evie's job to schmooze, if necessary. Still, being called out on it by a perfect stranger makes his short fuse burn faster.

Even so... the request is... reasonable.]

Fine. But how about you tell me where you disappeared off to before?

[ His threat is more like what Five is used to, and the glint in his eye is challenging him to try it. There's something so simple in those quick to anger, himself not included, that makes them perfectly predictable.

Surprisingly he agrees to his request, for whatever words are worth. Instead wasting his time on a question he must have figured out when the body went missing the next time he went to the alley. ]

I had to run on home. We had a fire. [ Not a lie. ] Nothing you need to worry about, it's finished by now.

A fire. In the undead camp or somewhere you're staying in the city?

[Jacob says, crossing his arms over his chest. He feels like he's being lied to again, and it's getting on his nerves. They're all meant to be on the same side, aren't they? Saving the world and getting home or something and yet he gets the feeling here that they're distinctly not.

It's incredibly frustrating, because they both know the shortarse is lying. Jacob just doesn't know to what end. ]

[ There’s really only a two reasons he’d be insisting to know where he went, and it has nothing to do with teamwork. Five handled the situation just fine. ]

If you were hoping to find the body, it’s long gone. [ He’ll let him to make his own conclusions how. ] I told you, I didn’t want to make a scene.

I’ve been picking up slack. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the undead have some obvious strikes against them. Not everyone is up to the task.

[ Jacob lets out a slow, even breath, trying to release the tension and the anger along with it. The little ferret in front of him deserved a clip around the ear, there's no doubt about that. But that's hardly going to help get them any further. ]

They should probably behave better then, shouldn't they?

[He looks back at the monsterous hound, and then to the alley.]

You're hoping it can track the creature, right? We might as well get on with it.

[ Five glances to the hound, who still seems to be waiting for his command. Which is just as odd for him. Setting him up with living arrangements is one thing, but he's done nothing to inspire that kind of loyalty.

Jacob on the other hand, is simply following the only lead he has. Five could easily blink away, still take care of the girl, then resume his search. Or he could deal with this problem before it gets bigger. ]

Killing is off the table.

Why?

[ It's a term he doesn't want to agree to without good reason and he doesn't see anything wrong in asking for that good reason.

Of course, he doesn't think he's going to get it. Whether its just to be a little shit or because he thinks he genuinely needs to keep the secret, he'd eat his hat if Five told him. ]

[ Not that agreeing not to kill it means much. Five could stop him, if worse comes to worse, but that might have ramifications he'd rather not deal with.

The hound moves to his side. Five can feel its breath and the heat it radiates, though he keeps his eyes trained on Jacob. ]

Because people will notice, and then we risk losing an opportunity we can't afford to. [ If that's not good enough, he'll give him something to think about. ] It's my job to identify traitors. You can see what kind of position that puts me in.

[Jacob listens, holding Five's gaze. The dog moves, and Jacob's aware enough of the beast to move if it lunges, but he doesn't think it, nor its master, is going to. Which gives him the chance, albeit short, to mull over those words. He doesn't like the fact it makes sense, but it does make sense.]

Alright, we find it, we catch it- is that what you're proposing?

[ The logic seems to resonate with him enough that Five doesn't immediately reject his offer to help. If he's calling it that. He might be able to teleport, but he can't be everywhere at once, and Alir... needs to be watched.

He shakes his head. ]

We observe. Distract, as needed. [ The he looks to side, back where that girl ran off. Surely he gets it now. ] Keep things quiet.

Which is why I would have rather taken care of that loose end. Children tend to exaggerate.

We don't kill or hurt innocent people.

[Or rather Jacob won't. Not kids.]

I think you know as well as I do that they exaggerate, but a busy parent with other mouths to feed, who sees a child come home without a scratch? Is more likely to dismiss tall tales.

[ Five looks at least somewhat uncomfortable that he assumes he'd kill a kid. Because... well, people are people, and it was for a much bigger cause. That doesn't mean he liked it.

He hadn't intended it to get that far with the girl, but he doesn't correct him when it works in his favor. Counting on the kid to be dismissed might work this time, as long as the rumors don't start piling up. ]

Alright. You resist playing hero and slaying the beast, I leave the kid be.

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