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westwhere2024-01-13 06:35 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2024-01-13 06:35 pm
Entry tags:
- arcane: caitlyn,
- assassin's creed: ratonhnhake:ton,
- baldur's gate 3: the dark urge,
- blade of the immortal: asano rin,
- doctor who: river song,
- harry potter: hermione granger,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- kingdom of the wicked: wrath,
- last case of benedict fox: benedict fox,
- mcu: america chavez,
- mcu: carol danvers,
- mcu: kamala khan,
- mcu: natasha romanova,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- original: red,
- owl house: eda clawthorne,
- penny dreadful: vanessa ives,
- star wars: merrin,
- tian guan ci fu: xie lian,
- umbrella academy: ben,
- umbrella academy: five,
- untamed: lan sizhui,
- warcraft: wrathion,
- wheel of time: elayne trakand
hatthevar | blood rains
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!
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
NPC INBOX
no subject
She didn't mean to enlist Lan Wangji into fixing this curse, but maybe she remembered in passing that the man was fond of rabbits and figured, well, maybe he can help her catch one.
She would absolutely not want to resort to magic and accidentally summon just the skeleton, you know.
What she doesn't expect is exactly how much Wangji likes rabbits. She's standing there a bit dumbfounded, because - that was a laugh? A chuckle? Emotion?
It's still with some dumbfoundedness that she walks closer and holds her hand out, letting the rabbit sniff her fingers.]
Now that's just adorable.
no subject
It is courtesy. ( He corrects, because far from him to strip away the dignity of the rabbit that noses and peers, fractionally curious over Hermione's natural scent and infinitely more invested in the possibility that she might be carrying treats —
Before it pulls back, wrinkling its nose and clearly denying her the joys of its splendour, or at the very least an immediate opportunity to cuddle and bask in the rabbit's brilliance.
It must be a wretched thing, to be so transparently rejected by a bunny friend. Lan Wangji cannot possibly sympathise. )
You exude tension. ( Somehow. The rabbit tenses. ) Be at ease.
( It is a well-known fact that individuals told to not stress out will immediately shed all their stress. )
no subject
Deflating.] Why is it always the dangerous ones that like me? Why can't I be favoured by rabbits for a change?
no subject
Because — ( The most patient of all teachers, loosing his hold to form a wider circle in which the rabbit might retreat as it pulls back. ) — you exude tension.
( Has he not said so before? Does no one listen? No matter. Softer, tenderer, again: )
Think of previous, beautiful things. Of tranquility. Family.
no subject
If she untenses enough for the rabbit to accept a cuddle, maybe - well, if it doesn't work, she'll have cuddled a rabbit.
Maybe she should call it a bunny. A cute, adorable bunny.
Her shoulders drop. If tension were a balloon, Hermione would be deflating it.]
no subject
( ...there. Better. Much better. Soft and pliant and silent, enough so that the rabbit dares to squirm up through the tunnel of Lan Wangji's hands and nose at the horizon.
At Hermione, waiting.
Lan Wangji, hereby the patron deity of bunnies old and new and shy, nods towards her hand for her to extend it. )
Only one finger. ( Do not presume against the god. )
no subject
Practically loosey goosey.
She holds out one finger for the surprisingly cold nose to sniff it. And in her heart, as she holds her breath, the mantra is repeated: Like me, like me, please like me.]
no subject
( One finger, lo.
Behold.
And the rabbit most certainly does, sniffing, drawing closer, rubbing its cheek against the digit, all but purring contently —
...before summarily biting down, soft, slow and mostly just slobbery. )
no subject
I'm not a carrot, I'll have you know.
no subject
( ...ah. He understands the trouble here. Only nods along, pleased like a mother hen - a mother rabbit, while his son chomps down. )
He knows.
no subject
[A pause. Dread sinks into the pit of her stomach. She feels it, as the bunny's teeth retract a bit and then something else... happens.]
I think it thinks my finger is a... [Of all the words to say to Lan Wangji.] Rabbit nipple.
no subject
( A... rabbit. Appendage. No. No.
But he watches the bunny and how it gnaws and teethes and latches with lucid and transparent horror, mouth generously agape as a shiver consumes him. It is inevitable — the due of any righteous father — when he begins to pull the creature back.
Now, young man. )
You have had enough. ( Which of the two he is referring to remains entirely up for debate. )
no subject
No, please. I - I need this. I need my stupid spells to be good again.
[And she will let a rabbit nibble on her finger as if it's dinner time, if necessary!]
no subject
( He thinks, at first, to surrender the rabbit. Then, in a fit of quiet obstinacy before her unscrupulous, uncharitable description of the poor creature's wants, to deny her once more.
Then, she speaks her wants — and his eyes dance up, dark as the charcoal burners beside him. As graves. )
Your sorcery is not foolish. ( Nor stupid, in lesser tongues, of which the clan Gusu Lan possesses precisely none. Let them not be misunderstood, even with a small rabbit between them. The animal peers up again. ) Nor incomplete without it.
( But here: he is permitting the rabbit to nose up once more. Bask in his bunny brilliance. Take him. )
no subject
Also a relief is that the bunny is given to her, or rather presented to her.
She holds out her hand, palm facing up, and waits patiently.
The bunny has had enough of this indecision bullshit and wants a snack already, so it toddles over onto Hermione's palm in search of it. Maybe up her sleeve, if she knows what's good for her.]
no subject
( The bunny, who is hereby treacherous and wayward and wrong may be excused his lack of dignity as he gallops onto Hermione's hands, her wrists. With a sigh that bleeds into grateful silence, she appears to balance him, either through natural skill or borrowed inclination.
Tenderly, Lan Wangji nods along, sparing a finger to steer the fluffy swell of the rabbit's hide when it peers from the sleeve's nook. )
He accepts you. ( A blessing. ) You have done well.
( By... breathing. )
no subject
I don't suppose you have a carrot on you, do you? I fear he will begin nibbling on my clothes soon.
no subject
( A very brave girl. Truly, the best little witch. )
They prefer hay. ( This, patiently, as he exorcises his qiankun purse from his own sleeve — an interminable trove of treasures that reveals, on deep and committed search... a small bundle of well-dried hay, reserved for Lan Wangji's own rabbits, who must regrettably be satisfied with their choice of cabbage on this night. An unfortunate fate.
He offers the bound bunch over. ) This is correct. Always fear those weaker than you, sooner than the stronger.
no subject
By that logic, I must be terrifying to you then.
no subject
( He should question it. Should perhaps flatter her combat ability, her sorcery or her wit. There is much in the sly, affected way in which she confesses her alleged weakness that reminds him of a cat toying with a mouse, or the numerous wives he has seen while attending exorcisms, wooing their husbands in a false sentiment of security, before reminding them of their true place.
No, no. He was not born with this day's sunrise. Please and thank you, he is content to live a long, peaceful life. )
You roar majestically.