hatthevar | blood rains

[groundrules]

Drawn to undead creator Matthias, the party heads into Hatthevar — former wasteland of myth and superstitions, now city of ghosts.

The first log of Hatthevar spans until 31 January.

A small part of the event is open to players both in and out of the game, who can bring dead characters in the bazaar!

HATTHEVAR

---

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The party enters blood-rained Hatthevar during a daily one-hour truce between the citadel and the undead forces that assail it. At the gates is undead Lord Rathakku of the Brotherhood, keen to usurp his distracted maker Matthias; in the skies dart the forces of dead wind lord Anurr, who has no love for the Brotherhood.

Hatthevar’s ghostly champions — including enormous ghosts that consume men and floating spirits that strangle with chains — defend the grounds. Matthias neglects the war, persistently summoning spirits from various worlds and points in time to revive them.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Wispy, shadowy silhouettes closely watch the lone gate of Hatthevar. The party infiltrates at sunrise.

Characters who have died, practise necromancy or are death-touched enter freely. The living must consume Karsa’s foul potions that absorb their shadows and partly mute their powers to pass for dead. Holders of Matthias’ severed limbs or organs, or of dark mirror shards or dark water, are closely watched by the dead and perhaps pursued.

Everyone must create new names and stories covering their identity and circumstances of death. Crafty ghost sellers will try to learn your true name to capture you in slavery.

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Spend a few days acquainting Hatthevar, its constant rains, vicious gambling dens, bazaars, oracle halls, wish shops and nests of memory thieves.

Show kindness to the newly revived spirits who struggle to remember themselves and roam in the citadel’s bazaars of curiosities.

Optionally, some characters are struck by misfortune. Capture a crafty, palm-sized spirit rabbit to improve your luck… or stumble upon a larger, dark hopper to ruin it.

Most sleeping quarters are available at downtrodden inns or in lavish gambling dens, for exorbitant prices. You can’t shake the feeling of someone watching through holes in your walls.

MATTHIAS

Three days after arriving, the party receives a note from Matthias that reveals the origins of his pact with the dark water to propagate the dead in Akhuras. Matthias says he has been working to bring the spirit of his dead daughter Cosette through the beacon for revival. She materializes briefly in Hatthevar but disappears before he can find her. Retrieve Cosette, and he will surrender the party his power over the undead.

Full note

” Well, hello! Is it nippy beyond the walls? Not cold here, just… the rain. Tried wishing it away, but… waste of money, those wish shops. Not like, what is it you call it? The dark water? It’s ancient. Back in Ellethia, we thought it came from the sea. All began with a mirror shard. That, and constant pressure to race against decades of Taravast research into curing death. We got there first! That’s… my claim to fame: I wished death gone. It was work. Work ate me. Then, the dead woke up, killed everyone, and there wasn’t much of a profession left. Or of Ellethia. The dark water wants flesh, so… I’ve made it death lords and armies, and I’ve left parts of me to anchor it. In return… it gives me revival. But, look. I had a… daughter. Cosette? Blonde and eyes green and blue and like her mother’s, and only five summers old, but she thought she was so clever, kept telling her doll so. That’s all you’re left with. Memories. She died, of course. I’ve been working to resurrect her, and her spirit shows up every few days in Hatthevar. She disappears before I can find her. I’m not… good at bargaining. I’m a magical engineer, really. Tinkerer! But my time’s running short, isn’t it? Just look outside. And all I want is Cosette. You want the beacons? Have them. You can have my power whole. I’ll give it. Some of you will need to help hold the walls up, and others might want to look into the funny business in the lagoon, if it’s linked at all to Cosette, though I doubt it. But, truly. Bring me Cosette, and the deed’s done. You can have everything.”

The Merchant distrusts Matthias’ proposal, but sees potential leverage and urges the party to investigate the girl and the lagoon. From here onward, everyone heads to their assignment:

COMBAT

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Assigned: Bucky Barnes, Carol Danvers, Deimos, Emilia, Jiang Cheng, Luffy, Natasha Romanoff, Nynaeve, Stephen Strange, Wrath, Wrathion, Zoro

The first line of defence against the swarming undead, you must hold off swathes of enemies across three territories:

THE WALLS

Despairingly tall and uncomfortably narrow, overseen by Matthias’ ghostly cannibal titans, who neglect to discern between friend or foe in their broad, relentless strikes. Blood rains pour down thick and nearly blinding. From the skies, you face the frost-breathing 10-15 meter-tall wyrms of undead blizzard lord Anurr, unaffiliated with the Brotherhood. Stick together: when alone, Anurr’s winds speak to you of your deepest doubts and fears, compelling you to surrender — or to let go of restraint, briefly berserk, and attack your own.

■ Serthica survivors may call their dragons to assist. Through Jon Snow, the party can also summon the giant, but slow and poor-sighted frost dragon Irenia to help on three occasions.

THE COLD PLAINS

Just outside of Hatthevar sprawls a desert-like cold plateau, where treacherous dunes shift to swallow you whole and the bestial forces of the Brotherhood’s most capable undead general, Rathakku, hide in wait. Hard-shelled, slippery and sleek his creatures lie buried and thrust up their arm-rows of hundreds of blades that cut into the legs of passers-by, drawing them into sand.

THE UNDERPASS

A series of subterranean tunnels connects Hatthevar with the cold sand outposts. Scour the myriad of dusty, tunnels and purge it of large scorpion-human hybrids that carry multiple weapons and whose sting leave men hallucinating. Oversized serpents abound, their venom prone to paralyzing their prey. You can make or procure antidote potions from Hathevar. Matthias’ ghostly titans are closing off all tunnel entrances to Hatthevar — don’t end up sealed in on the wrong side.

! Collectively, the party must kill at least one frost wyrm, one scorpion/serpent and one sand lurker to keep all three levels safe. Turn in your threads before 28 January… or let the citadel suffer in part II.

EXECUTION

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Assigned: Five, Lockwood, Mo Ran, Vanessa, Yelena, Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu

Your objective is to locate Matthias and secure the beacons that are currently in heavy use. Securing one or more beacons will help you get home.

■ Your best bet for intelligence are the treacherous networks of underground memory thieves and slavers, who attempt to steal your freedom or your recollections.

■ Your next option is the gang of Erkul, who ruled over local oracles and Hatthevar whole before Matthias’ arrival. Coarse, slippery but cunning, Erkul sullenly nurses his weight in wine at the gilded Sanctuary, Hatthevar’s foremost gambling den. Street sources say the establishment’s passcode each day this month is a fruit name. Erkul’s crew sell highly potent opiates.

■ Ransack some Whispering houses for information, equipment, poison or arsenal. Small, dusty, cluttered and often creaking, Whispering houses hold a wealth of dangerous artefacts, from haunting poltergeists you might accidentally release by reading out their names from tomes to flying rope that throttles you. Large dread hounds instil blood-curdling fear in anyone who looks into their eyes.

■ The five beacons of Hatthevar are only briefly active each day as Matthias makes his summons. They are guarded by swarms of colossal leonine-shadow creatures that only attack if they feel any fear in your soul (of it, or anything else), pouncing to claw and shred you apart. To claim a beacon, Karsa may provide a cold, coal-like token that must be placed in the middle of the transport dais, within inevitable sight of the shadow lions. You must wait 15 minutes in place for the token to take root. Report your conquest before 28 January!

■ Every six hours, Matthias sends ravens to check on the shadow-lions. You must either trick them, leave the lions alive or capture the ravens.

CARE

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Assigned: Allison, Eda, Hermione, Kamala, Lan Sizhui, Sanji, Winnie

Carer’s have the lion’s share of all duties — and the party’s few lingering resources. You must look after the group and the ghosts of Hatthevar: meandering, disoriented and fragile, the spirits who were freshly wrenched from death’s snare become easy prey for the Undead Brotherhood, the elements and the ghost slavers. Rescuing or attending vulnerable spirits can gain you allies.

■ comfort ghosts who recover from revival or struggle with their memories. Many are stranded in the Whispering houses or chained into servitude in the gambling dens.

■ rescue spirits from the immense slaver clan of Ras’Kalur, which tricks newly summoned, dazed spirits in the bazaars to sign away their freedom, promising someone to look after them. Ras’Kalur’s people often raid streets and shelters, forcibly dragging spirits back into their camps at the outskirts of Hatthevar.

■ barter to rent or buy abandoned taverns to give the party a resting space during their stay in Hatthevar. You may need to pay locals in favours, from helping them carry out petty acts of revenge to making up with a grudge-bearing wife or paying penance to their ancestors.

■ heal, cook and provide for combatants on the walls, taking care not to fall in the crossfire or frost wyrms or of allied but negligent 12-feet ghostly titans.

■ as the least suspicious party members, negotiate for information or supplies on behalf of the group: make friends with gambling den owners and the two-bit shady crooks who know their daily passcodes to enter, or with the regulars of the Whispering houses.

INVESTIGATION

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Assigned: Ben Hargreeves, Benedict, Caitlyn, Cal Kestis, Jon Snow, Merrin, Nami, Rin, River Song, Wei Wuxian, Wen Qing

■ You know from Matthias that, as a result of his beacon summons, the spirit of his daughter Cosette appears every fifth day in Hatthevar for a few hours at midday. Despite this, a young girl matching Matthias’ description (5-6 years of age, green-blue eyes, blonde, prone to laughter) is never seen. Matthias alerts you whenever Cosette appears.

■ Day of first appearance: Matthias feels her presence in the bazaar, where the day’s main attraction is a puppet show that draws a heavy crowd. At midday, a chime sounds, and the puppet show performs the sad story of a daughter quarrelling with her father over his absences. The daughter-puppet flees into the woods, while the puppet-father refuses to reconcile and follow her. The girl is killed by animals, and the puppet-father grieves, heartbroken. All the women or girls in the crowd, including you, find they burst into tears.

■ Day of the second appearance: Matthias senses Cosette is in the alley of Whispering Houses. You notice the typical bustle of the alley and shady movements, as discreet, embarrassed, or desperate patrons scuttle. You see no small girls but hear of three trades that took place at the Whispering Houses, carried out by different women: one bought a memory, one sold one, one had a memory replaced. Pay for a memory trade to learn more.

■ Day of the third appearance: Matthias feels Cosette near the Oracle Hall. The hour passes by the time you climb the stairs and are received. The Oracle confirms only one person has visited — a blonde woman — and says to “tell your master that an hourglass keeps track of new time, but can’t give the old one back.”

You get three clue questions/character and should communicate with fellow investigators. Please share key findings by network before 25 January!

EXPLORATION

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Assigned: America Chavez, Buggy, Connor, Elayne Trakand, Lan Wangji, Licyn, Red, Wen Ning

The river Liu neatly divides Hatthevar, its clean waters progressively darkening towards the edges of the citadel, where they pour into a vast, serene and heavily misted lagoon. Veterans sense an eerie chill from the familiar dark waters that so often accompany the undead.

Like Matthias, Karsa says a strange power sleeps at the heart of the lagoon.

■ travel by raft with a companion through the lethargy-inducing fog, as tar-like people peer up from the waters or swim below, never quite attacking you unless you fall into water. They (and the currents) try to upturn your boat.

■ Scattered lit candles drift on water as you advance. Pick one up, and you find one of the floating creatures of Hatthevar has joined your raft, carrying a rope-chain. It says it and its kind are former oracles and truth-speakers of the citadel — and urges you to speak, pledging to kill the first person who lies before you leave water.

■ Farther out, you discover four half-sunken ships that have crashed into each other over time, their decks now forming a rocky square-like structure. You can carefully navigate your raft to reach this construct, or make your way by hopping onto floating deck parts and the debris of other rafts.

■ Once aboard the square structure, you find all the decks are heavily rotten, creaking and prone to collapse. You hear a maddening, shrill scream that steals control of your now convulsing body, until you find yourself driven closer and closer to the end of a plank or a deck hole against your wishes — unless you are physically detained until the shrieking ends.Sharp-toothed mermaids swim below.

■ Reach and explore the curious ships’ graveyard, to peer into the black well in the middle of the square infrastructure.

QUESTIONS

NPC INBOX

Comments

THE BAZAAR | VISITING DEAD CHARACTERS AHOY

[groundrules]

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Sprawling, savagely cluttered and the frequent site of artistic performances and scams, the bazaars of Hatthevar bring together a kaleidoscope of magical artefacts, legendary creatures, curses, magic and necromancy — and droves of the recently revived dead.

Perhaps you are one of them: drifting until mere moments ago, when you stirred into awareness in an unfathomable crowd. You recall dying, or the memory comes in tender, violent increments. Your obliviousness betrays you: other onlookers realise your... condition and carefully pass you a mirror pendant with translation and communication features, along with confirmation that, Yes. You are a spirit — and you are in Hatthevar, home to luck, oracles and wishes, now cradle of the dead.

The patron of Hatthevar, master Matthias, has been drawing in and reviving ghosts from other worlds: it must be fate that brought you here, giving you a second chance. You should find your own purpose now — with apologies that your fellow ghosts can spare no more than this pendant and a cloak.

You’re on your own.

Tread with care, as vendors swarm to sell you… questionably luck-bearing tokens. Have you tried the latest laughter potions? Delightful. Your teeth will shine from all the grinning. Or is that poison? Children ask you to write their wishes on wish-making lanterns and release them in the night. Pick-pockets attempt to relieve you of the burden of your coin, and shady, handsy individuals seek to convince you to surrender yourself in their care… while they aim to collar you into ghostly servitude.

The incessant tepid rains of Hatthevar turn briefly bloody every few hours and slowly drain those stranded without cover of their appetite and stamina. Find shelter and remember the rule of the land: you cannot buy an umbrella. You must always receive it from a local, in exchange for a boon — a bow, a boon, a kiss, a tale — and return it by nightfall.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

■ Both current players or players outside of the game can bring in dead characters to thread around with.

■ Dead but revived or undead characters count. If they were previously in Eastbound, it’s down to player’s choice whether you want the character to remember those events.

■ Visiting characters are either fully or greatly depowered.

■ No doubles of characters already in game, please!

■ Visiting dead characters are confined to this thread: if you’re playing one, please either top level in a response to this comment, or tag around the top levels of other visiting dead characters posted here.

■ Visiting dead characters can’t leave the bazaar. Alas! ~ Magic ~

■ Characters currently in Eastbound can only tag around the top levels of visiting dead characters!

■ Dead characters can have top levels featuring log prompts inside the bazaar or network prompts.

■ Have fun!

ming yi/he xuan | tgcf

[lostfate]

i. the bazaar.

[ He Xuan looks far from his usual appearances as the Earth Master. Tall and thin, with pale skin and a sharp forehead, he's a sullen, withdrawn figure who seems to be a fixture of the Bazaar. He chews on some dumplings as he walks around the Bazaar, easily moving between crowds, until a child bumps into him.

It rattles him enough that he drops his dumplings, making him sigh. The child apologizes but hastily and scampers off, and He Xuan sets off in hopes of finding something else— he's always hungry, you see. He's likely to be found in line for more food, wherever he's seen, or eating.

Stop him, and he'll offer a suggestion: ]

Avoid that vendor. [ He points off toward one cart in the distance. ] They'll cheat you, never give you the right amount of food.

ii. blood rains.

[ Of course, the blood rains aren't entirely new, but he isn't always paying attention to them. So the first time they hit, he's surprised, the hunger evident on his face, and he hurries off to find shelter, or someone with an umbrella.

He's polite enough when he stops people, and he does take no, if someone doesn't want to share their umbrella, but he glares at anyone who refuses, and hurries off to find someone else. If accepted, he'll talk, if necessary. Otherwise, he'll stand there, like a lump. ]

iii. wildcard.

[ Please throw anything you feel like at me, and I will roll with it. Or let me know if you'd like a custom starter! ]

i.

[downswing]

( Avoid the vendor, whose mouth widens slack and disbelieving, who watches his customer's audacity bloom like a comet before it rains debris down on cold earth, scattering. Blood will be shed here.

...it comes, first, from above. And Lan Wangji, who has learned the tells of a foregone conclusion, who would wage war with anyone and win, except perhaps the elements — draws himself closer to the fine stretch of eaves of the nearby bazaar stall, and decides it is practical, diplomatic and wise to interject in this retail crisis before it progresses further, and his shelter is compromised.

Naturally, because he loathes injustice. Not getting soaked. )

Yet consumed, despite misgivings.

( The gentleman, he protests too much. )

[lostfate]

[ It is much to He Xuan's dismay when he skirts under the eaves of the stall that someone takes up residence next to him. Although, with the vendor tur a watchful, annoyed eye at him, perhaps the better option is to converse than to stand there, brooding. ]

It is food. Simply scant on the spices and portions. [ Maybe that's a style of food somewhere: small portions of bland vegetables and meat. ] But it serves, if you are hungry.

ii

[scrapgege]

[This person holding an unbrella is happy enough to oblige... but as they look up at the 'stranger', a smile blooms on his face.]

... It has been a while. I did not expect to see you here, but maybe I should have.

[Given how familiar the whole city feels...]

[lostfate]

[ He hadn't realized it was Xie Lian at first, although once he speaks, there's no denying who it is. He looks over, recognition dawning, and then he nods. ]

Your Highness. [ He looks around. ] I haven't seen Hua Cheng around, though I imagine he'll show up now.

i.

[chengji]

They can try. ( The voice that comes in response is flat and unimpressed, even if He Xuan's comment was directed elsewhere. Whoever the other calamity had been speaking to immediately scurries away, Hua Cheng watches the figure go without care, stepping round neatly into Blackwater's line of sight. Here, a (not-so) friendly, familiar face, furrowed brow and a scimitar silent and sleeping at his side. Don't you feel better already?. )

You're here.

( As ever unimpressed, Hua Cheng won't allow He Xuan the honour of his presence being a relief. It could be something though, the two of them brought together. He won't write that off immediately. Better to figure that out quickly. )

Is there a right amount of food with you?

[lostfate]

[ Ah, a familiar face. How relaxing.

Unsurprising, though. It is a ghost city, and they are ghosts. Fitting for them, isn't it? Some of the places are even in Hua Cheng's colors. ] Crimson Rain. [ He can be polite, sometimes. ]

Yes, there is a right amount. The plate should be full, and these are not. A scant pile of noodles, a few dumplings. Poor behavior.

Ban Yue | Heavenly Official's Blessing

[banyue]

i. the bazaar

She is small, like she is barely more than a child, but she carries herself with the certainty of someone used to wielding power. She also doesn't seem to have died recently or to be confused in any way. More... sad.

Her large eyes stare at merchants who try to be too loud, and after a moment, they quiet down, apologize, and give her a wide berth, though not as though they are frightened. Merely... embarrassed and uncomfortable.

ii. the rains

"Something is not right about this rain." Specifically. And she does not mean that it is bloody - that is not unheard of. But the effect it has...

She sighs quietly when told that she cannot buy an umbrella.

"I hardly have anything to buy or barter with. Perhaps I can learn to make one."

So she will wander about some more, trying to find suitable pieces of wood and sheets of paper. It has been a long time since she died and she has learned plenty, but it does not rain much, across Half Moon Pass. Making an umbrella would be new.

iii. wildcard

ooc: Or pick your own adventure.

iii

[scrapgege]

[Xie Lian feels strangely in his element here... or maybe it's not that strange. The city feels, and looks, so familiar, in spite of a few obvious differences, it almost feels like a homecoming. And maybe that is why feeling another familiar strands of a soul may not come as a surprise, and merely makes him smile as he starts making his way in that direction.

She looks just the way he expects her to, from what he last remembers.]

Ban Yue. You're a long way from home.

[banyue]

General Hua!

[ Ban Yue's air of cool composedness shatters, and, for a moment, she looks young, and surprised, and... suddenly far happier than she seemed to have been capable of a moment ago.

She bows politely, and then lowers her head in confirmation. ]

Yes. It seems almost familiar, but it is different at the same time. You have come here also?

xiao xingchen | mo dao zu shi

[binghua]

CW: implications of suicide


1. the bazaar

[The last thing Xiao Xingchen expects to feel is anything. The last thing Xiao Xingchen wants to feel is anything. And yet he's here, wherever here actually is, and newly in possession of a communication device. That triggers something in the back of his mind, like it's familiar, but does nothing to allay his feelings of hopelessness.

So there, in the middle of the street, a man with a cloth covering his eyes lifts a hand to the left side of his neck, as if remembering something.

But it's at this moment that someone bumps into him, sneaky hands deftly plucking Xingchen's coin purse from his robes under guise of an apology and concern for the man's well-being. Once upon a time, Xingchen would be able to reach out and grab the culprit in the act, but now he doesn't even react. The thief slips away and Xingchen lets him.]

Just take it. Take it all.


2. blood rain

[Xingchen knows he should get out of the rain for his health, but he wonders if that really matters if he's dead. A ghost? Can ghosts fall ill? He's never really considered that angle.

But when the rain turns...different, a sickly scent of blood accompanying it, he decides to make an effort to get out of it. He listens as well as he can for where others are gathering to get out of the rain, but reaches out with a hand to make sure he doesn't run into anything else.]

Forgive me, I cannot see.

[As evidenced by his covered eyes, of course, but he explains regardless.]

Is there anywhere one can shelter until the weather clears up?


3. wildcard

[sup fellas hit a sad dead boy up]

blood rain...!

[downswing]

( This, he knew. Should have anticipated. If the beacons pull those whom the world is closest to, dead or living, then — daozhang. There is reason in the choice, in his presence. In how he wanders, adrift but seeking purpose, entirely at a loss when Lan Wangji encounters him, umbrella unexpectedly at the ready.

Earlier, he humbled himself enough to beg the boon of an umbrella from a stranger who took rare charity upon him. It's the look of him, he supposes, mouth soft and gaze dark and alone in a world where the cold reaches deep in their bones, grazes their marrow.

He holds out the umbrella over Xiao Xingchen now. )

Daozhang, come. You stain. ( He would not know. Perhaps, as is among men of the sword, he will scent it. ) The rains come red.

[binghua]

[The rain is blocked a moment before Xingchen's seeking hand brushes against a sleeve, bumps against the arm holding the umbrella toward him. It's a kindness he doesn't deserve, despite looking for it, and given freely for now.

He jerks his hand back, not wishing to be any more of a burden than he already has been in life, but he remains under the protection.]

Thank you.

[Even though he doesn't deserve any such kindness. But as he stands there, the other man's words sink in more and more.]

Your...voice is familiar to me.

the bazaar

[paperbutterflies]

Daozhang!

[ There is surprise and even a bit of anger - on Xiao Xingchen's behalf - in Sizhui's voice, but it was still soft. He steps next to the unseeing man, reaching to hold his arm gently, carefully. The words... the way he moves. They speak of exhaustion, and worse. ]

Are you hurting? Come, let me take you somewhere you can rest.

hua cheng ( tgcf )

[chengji]

a. Arrival

( A single silver butterfly flits low through the busy market stall, it's wings fluttering fast and frantic. Light glints off of it's body as it swings to narrowly avoid being crushed underfoot, skating around the legs of tables and over abandoned sacks before it loops back the way it came. Eventually, exhausted the butterfly drops itself on an open palm, the tall figure staring down at it with an unreadable expression the most still thing in the busy street.

He is clearly not having a very good day.

Power is a complicated thing to a man like Hua Cheng and to not have his own answer his call is enough to make him want to do something drastic. Instead of setting this whole place on fire like he wants to though, he merely closes his fist, the spiritual butterfly disappearing within his palm just in time for a tentative vendor to come Hua Cheng's way, swinging a piece of jade from skeletal fingertips. )

Mister, Mister, a luck token for your name.

( Hua Cheng only smiles at that, the glint of a fanged tooth in the low light. )

I don't need that.

( He'll make his own. )

But I'll trade you something else if you tell me where we are.

b. Blood rain.

( He is stood underneath the gaudy awning of the gambler's den, arms crossed across his chest as he peers out into the dark. The rain has been coming for some time now, but none of it appears to have touched Hua Cheng's red robes. That is not the reason for his obvious displeasure, the way his lip has curled and the flash of his one visible eye shows a man who is barely keeping his simmering anger in check.

Who could blame him for it? The city, the halls, the rain. They're all very familiar, and Hua Cheng has no answers for them. He has no power either. At his hip, E-Ming is unresponsive, his butterflies sluggish, he has tried to change his form to no avail, and all the while his thoughts have circled on one thing.

His god. His beloved. Xie Lian.

The rain deepens, and a ghost comes splashing through the streets with an umbrella held aloft. Hua Cheng thinks it is a girl, it looks young enough, though he can't quite make out the face when it stops in front of him, grin full of too many teeth. )

I'll give you this if you tell me a tale.

( He doesn't answer straight away, thoughtful. But then Hua Cheng crouches, folding his arms over a knee. )

All right. How about the story of a boy and a wall, and the one who saved him?

( Forgive him, he's nostalgic. )

c. Gambling

( From somewhere Hua Cheng has found a set of dice and a cup. He's also found himself a wide empty table upon which to shake the dice out. The rolls are not important in themselves, but still his mood shifts as they land. A set of fours, fives, sixes.

Maybe his luck is unaffected. That could mean a great many of things.

Without looking up, he calls to the figure he can sense beside him. ) Would you like to play a game? You'll find it better here than in there.

( Could it be that the great Hua Chengzhu despairs of the discount Ghost City? Absolutely. )

d. Wildcard

( Hit me with anything, and I'm at discord: sadgaydna or qingya if you want to plot. )

c. !

[downswing]

( There is no justice in this world, no kindness: even death is not the end. He walks the grounds measured, contained, the world gasping around him as rains drum down like the long-clawed fingertips of settling sickness.

Do they count days here? Track time? Spirits wander to their chains, gamblers trade all that is left to them: coin, clothes, souls. Where do they procure further currency? It is far too often not asked for.

In the blinding, dappled light of distant gambling dens, he feels already worn, before even setting step inside. Droves of young, pretty things — it is seldom the ugly, the battered, the uncommon who are taken — are dragged along by chain into fresh servitude. He has stopped enough of the flows that he hesitates now, turns his head — and is met, off the ground, with the day's worst invitation.

Is this, then, how the cheating is done? How clever, bestial men wretchedly coax their gains from the unsuspecting? )

You trade for lives or fortune?

( If this be another slaver gracing the grounds, by all means, Bichen is hungry. )

[chengji]

( The rattling dice still in the cup between his hands, Hua Cheng finally glancing upwards. The man in white is interesting at least, and he lets his gaze drift over him from head to toe, curious and assessing. Whoever he is, he seems angry, the tightness of his shoulders giving him away. He is not the first furious soul he has seen since his arrival, but there is something different at the source of it. Not someone to be trifled with. Still, one shoulder shrugs, Hua Cheng returning to rolling his prize. )

I have no need for either.

( What is life to a ghost? What is fortune to a King? )

But there's nothing better to do. ( The dice fall, twos. At least the keep coming in pairs, but Hua Cheng does not know what that means, nor how to return himself to his power. Concerning. ) I won't ask you for something you'll miss, anyway, which is more than can be said about the rabble here. How many have tried ensnaring you into servitude?

d

[scrapgege]

[In that city that is so much like Ghost City and yet not, there are many illusions around.

But that slender silhouette clad in white, with the bamboo hat attached around his neck, a simple wooden pin holding his topknot, the easy smile on his face as he weaves through the crowd effortlessly, used to bein around ghosts and spirits... is that real, or not?

Said silhouette keeps walking for a while, but then slows down, a frown coming to his face. Something feels... even more familiar than the city. As if it was missing from it before but now... he looks around.]

... San Lang?

[chengji]

( Hours have passed since he found himself here, a place that is both familiar and not. Hua Cheng, powerless, has been able to think of nothing but the thought of fortune since he came to, his power absent and his thoughts turning and tangling. But between one moment and the next that worry dissipates, a tugging beneath his ribs as he turns the right corner at the right time and catches the sight of a hat walking away. If his heart beat it would have caught in his chest then and there, momentary panic and then relief.

Lucky, Hua Cheng thinks, I am still so lucky. )

Gege.

( The distance between them is easily shortened in long, hurried strides, a hand reaching out to catch Xie Lian's own, fingers curling easily. )

You're here. ( The other hand lifts to his beloved's face, curving around his cheek. A dark eye roves, fretting. ) Are you all right? Are you hurt?

lily evans (hp, arc i-iii vet)

[lancifolium]

– arrival

[ There isn’t much beyond Surrey these days, but that’s alright - there isn’t much left of Lily Evans either. A lingering protective haze remains, a patina of love that sticks close to the baby now in her sister’s care, the invisible remnants of her last stand.

Her return to (semi) solidity is as sudden as dying itself had been. One minute, she wasn’t, isn’t, could not be again, and in the time it takes for a wish-seller to wheel their ramshackle cart by, she is again.

It takes a few rounds of the bazaar to collect herself after returning to existence, and when she’s handed a pendant and a cloak, the familiarity of the first object is so keen she starts laughing. After asking the kind soul who handed the object off to her if they’re having a laugh, Lily grins down at the thing, continuing to get her bearings as she drifts through the bazaar, cradling the precious pendant as memories come flooding back. The farm, the fish, Taravast and all the time she spent digging graves there.

Some might cross paths with the willowy spirit lingering by the beggar children, accommodating their asks for help with their lanterns, or perhaps she’s spotted evading capture, or ducking out of the bloody rain. ]

– network, any fin is possible (voice)

Hello? [ There’s an echo beyond the din of the bazaar she drifts through, something that imbues what might be an otherwise familiar voice with a disjointed, almost eerie dissonance, but then - that’s being dead for you. ] Am I in Akhuras again?

[ There are names she remembers, names she desperately wants to call for, Wangji and Hermione, Emilia, Wei Wuxian, but she doesn’t test her luck. Just an answer to the first question would be enough to satisfy. ]

– wildcard

[ if you build it, they will come, i guess? lily is a few years older than she was when she disappeared somewhere around ke-waihu, and indeed very dead, however, like taylor swift she remembers this all too well. very here for sad/happy reunions with old cr. ]

let's do network first for SHOCK VALUE | un: absterge (audio)

[downswing]

( Allow him a moment, to recognise the voice. A second, to question it. Fifteen more to question himself. Three to catch his bearings.

And eighty more to rescue his words. )

...Lily?

i deserve a medal for remembering her og network un

[lancifolium]

Lan Wangji? [ She isn't sure if she should be happy or sad. Time is a fickle thing, and she isn't sure just how long it's been, but she knows it's far too long for anyone to be stuck in this place. ]

So, I am back?

arrival.

[valeas]

[ The shock of red hair brings Emilia to a full stop, where she had otherwise been restless and moving. There is no room to be tired, to be uncertain, much less scared. There is only the next step forward, the next swarm to fend off.

Except there she is, an ache remembered, and it steals her breath to face it.

To see her.

Her grip on the handle of an umbrella tightens, as surely as her throat tightens. Emilia steps forward, before a couple of shady individuals can approach the redhead first, a familiar protectiveness swelling to the surface. ] Lily — ?

arrival oh my god

[reparo]

[ It always feels wrong to be going shopping when the world appears to be ending, but in their defense the world is constantly on the verge of ending in Akhuras, and people have to eat.

She's looking for beans in particular today. Beans are easy. They can feed a whole army, surely. Maybe beans and rice, too - and maybe with some luck she'll find a merchant who will sell them to her for pennies or an easily endurable favour.

She is so very hyperfocused on her task that she completely misses the person turning a corner and running straight into her; it's strange, and just a little more solid than your run of the Hatthevar mill ghosts.]

Oh, I'm so s - [ It is, also, Lily Evans. Hermione goes pale white for a moment, her gaze sweeping over that familiar face. ] ...are you real?