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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
brushes with death / near the bazaars
He's not prepared to lose anything else.
Unfortunately, his powers have been acting off since he took Karsa's potion, so he's walking far more and traveling far slower than usual. He's near the bazaar when he spots a familiar mass of hair poking out from the shadows, and it takes only a moment of observation to figure out what got her attention. The spirit-slavers make even him uncomfortable, but Hermione has a history of springing to causes that are outside of their interests. The moment she starts to approach, he blinks over to block her path.
Of course, teleporting lands him in the middle of another puddle that he's really sure wasn't there before. It splashes loud enough to draw her attention, if she hadn't already seen the flash of light, and he quickly interrupts before she can make a comment about it. ]
You really want to make more problems for us?
no subject
There's more to caretaking than making food. There's making sure the food exists, there's making sure they have a house to sleep in, there's compromising your moral code for the sake of efficiency.
One last hurrah, carry on and keep calm.
Except she knows the spirit in chains, it's the former performer who sold them the first home in exchange for a dance, and Hermione cannot abide by this.
There's crack-thwip of teleportation, water splashing over her shoes, and the expected dry remark. Fuming, she snaps at him:]
Don't be so self-centred - there's more than one way to secure support here and besides that - this is unacceptable.
[She looks at Five for one beat, then squares her shoulders.]
So - [And she marches on, wand drawn, aimed at the wicked looking thug holding that chain.]
I'll say this once only - let them go.
no subject
Hermione — [ She doesn't even listen before she's pushing past him to confront the hefty looking man dragging the spirit along. He teleports again.
Another annoying splash of a puddle, but he's between them. The thug isn't alone, and this is a stupid plan. She's not nearly as threatening as she thinks she is with her little wand, and nobody seems intimidated. The most she's gotten is their attention, which only barely wavers to him when he blinked. If anything the slaver who looks between them shifts from confused to amused, as some of them men behind him chuckle. ]
Don't do that. [ He's talking to the thug who is now tugging on the chain to yank the spirit back. Five knows Hermione is one taunt away from using her wand and she's a lot more capable than she looks. Then to Hermione: ] I thought you were smarter than this. Come on, we don't have the time.
CW: death
Five, the day I don't fight this kind of injustice is the day you can assume I'm dead.
[A solid declaration, and while riding on the adrenaline of it she decides she's also done being underestimated. She aims at the thug and pulls one out of Harry's book.]
Ex-pile-armoosh - wait what?
[Spoilers: this is the first time she's tried to use a spell since arriving in Hatthevar and this is how she learns of her curse.
First try is a miss, but she's persistent - ]
Experlliarmus!
[The chain holding the performer ghost flies out of the thug's hand, and the rest happens in quick succession:
Hermione calls out Run to the prisoner, the thug decides it's fighting time, and a knife sails through the air.
Hermione fires a Diffindo, only it sounds like a 'tiffin-toe', and the knife hits - deep, sharp, and on target.
Hermione's chest is the target, and it's funny but - ah - it stings a li ]
no subject
He doesn't see the knife. Not until it sails past him and buries itself in Hermione's chest.
It's a shock he hasn't felt in a long while. His mouth falls open at the sight of her crumpling to the ground like they'd just cut her strings. Dead. It was such a stupid chance encounter. Five hadn't been looking for her, maybe he wouldn't have distracted her and she'd be alive. None of this should have happened. None of this can happen, after all this time. ]
No.... no you're not.... shit.
[ Seconds slip by as they turn their heads to him, stepping closer one minute, and then suddenly stopping. Going backwards. His hands glow blue as he takes hold of time and pulls. 'Come on'.
It's a muscle he hasn't flexed in years, but he never forgot how to. Blue encircles him as he keeps rewinding and watches the knife sail backwards, and Hermione gets to her feet.
When he releases his grip on time, he's next to Hermione again on the outskirts of the bazaar, her face still full of indignant anger and ready to charge. That's until he grabs her wrist and blinks both of them out of sight. Once they come out the other side, he slams against a wall, he doesn't know where, breathing heavy and staring wide-eyed at her. His heart jackhammers in his chest, and he waves to try to keep her from sprinting off again. ]
That... was what I wanted to avoid.
no subject
There's more to caretaking than making food. There's making sure the food exists, there's making sure they have a house to sleep in, there's compromising your moral code for the sake of efficiency.
One last hurrah, carry on and keep calm.
Except she knows the spirit in chains, it's the former performer who sold them the first home in exchange for a dance, and Hermione cannot abide by this.
There's crack-thwip of teleportation, water splashing over her shoes, and suddenly she's pulled along through time and a small amount of space too - and lands in a puddle. ]
Five - what the bloody hell?
[ She whirls around, trying to find the exact spot where he's apparated them (time-travelled-them? nevermind that it's fascinating), but she notes the waxy look on Five's face and it kills (ha) her anger. ]
What's wrong - why are you being more cryptic than usual?
no subject
It’s fine. [ He shakes his head and pulls himself up from the puddle he landed in, only just becoming aware of it. He attempts to find his words as he brushes water from his sleeves. ] I undid it. You’re fine.
no subject
[The confussion is replaced by dread, but she tries to not connect dots too fast. Besides which, they're now in some other location, and wet -
She scoffs and impatiently draws her wand, aiming a drying spell at his shoes (it works) and then at hers (it doesn't work).]
What the devil?
no subject
He still has the image in his mind when he looks at her; the knife sticking out of her chest, her falling like a rag doll. ]
Be a shame if that happened at an inopportune moment. [ Let him at least wait until his internal vibrations stop to answer the first question, or better yet, have her come to the right conclusion. She always did like figuring things out. ]
It's not like you to be tongue-tied.
no subject
She would shake her wand angrily if not aware that Five is dropping hints.
Her eyebrows shoot up.] This has happened before - wait, Five, did you travel backwards?
[The dotted line is becoming more well defined now, her expression turning to dread
] What's going to happen to me? What did you avoid?
no subject
Of course she wants details, but she gets one thing wrong. ]
Nothing is going to happen. [ Her death couldn't happen the same way, but because he knows about her, he elaborates enough to discourage any repeat attempts. ] Now that you know. If you try to charge headfirst at someone, make sure they don't have better aim.
no subject
[She keeps being stunned by every word from him, her brain practically on fire from trying to catch up.]
What - what - what did you see, Five? What did you stop?
no subject
His reluctance to make it real results in his response coming out harsher than necessary. Like he's taking this for an argument or a teachable moment, instead of horror over what almost occurred. ]
You died, alright? They threw a knife when you tried casting a spell, and it hit you square in the chest. [ Which he'll point at, for emphasis, in a jabbing motion he instantly regrets and his hand drops away. ] I was there, so I... made it so it didn't matter. And it doesn't. I told you, you're fine.
no subject
She's going to put two and two together some more: she went in guns blazing, her magic misfiring, and got a knife to the - judging by where Five keeps glancing - chest. Years of running and looking after Harry, surviving the battle at Hogwarts, making it through Taravast and Ke-Waicai and Serthica and Alem (oh gods, Alem) and a ghost-slaver got the upper hand -
It's hilarious! It's infuriating!
And it didn't happen, because Five turned time backwards and avoided it. She can't even remember how many lectures about time travel she got from him, and now look at the little hypocrite.
The laugh turns into a nervous sob, and then she springs forward and hugs him as hard as she can.]
You utter, utter - you brilliant - caffeine crazy - arrogant, pretentious, absolutely wonderful man.
[Hysterics becomes a tight hug, and a very grateful kiss right on Five's forehead. She even goes as far as squishing his face in both her hands.]
no subject
The rest of her reaction goes beyond what his limited emotional intelligence knows how to respond to. He might have handled her sobbing, that at least could be appropriate to learning of your own near-demise, but by the time she embraces him and kisses his forehead he has no idea what to do. She can probably feel the hammering of his heart that had only started to resume a normal rhythm, only to ratchet back up when he's hit with this... what is this? He's less prepared for gratitude than he was witnessing her murder, and his smile is incredulous.
He holds his hands up to wave her back once he comes to his senses. Five isn't the right person for this. Sure he saved her life, but he also didn't. The first time around, she died because he was there and didn't do more to stop her. That's important to remember. ]
It's... it's okay. [ He's not uncomfortable with affection, he's only trying to calm her down. ] You should just forget it ever happened, because it didn't, right? Nothing to lose sleep over.
no subject
God, that'd be a stupid way to die on the last stretch, wouldn't it?
no subject
Always is. [ It's hard not to think of he and his siblings getting gunned down in the barn the one and only other instance he manipulated time without horrific consequences. They didn't have to know. ] I don't recommend relying on a failsafe. I'm only accurate up to a minute or two.
no subject
[Bloody Gryffindors - Five doesn't need to know that. She has been impressed enough by the reminder of her own mortality to not go out of her way and get herself killed, this time. If her magic isn't working, she must figure out why. Maybe there's a curse going around, or maybe she's tampered down by whatever made her blend in with the city life.
Either way, she won't run charging.]
...do stop staring at my chest, Five. You're being intense and it's getting creep - oh. [She reaches up and scratches the centre of her chest, suddenly aware that this is where the knife would've hit her. A quick and anti-climactic death.]
no subject
Then she calls him out and makes it real again. He's not doing a good job of letting her move past something that only happened for him. ]
I'm sorry. [ His eyes immediately fall again when she scratches over her heart, before he forces them back up. ] I wouldn't have told you if I could be sure...
[ He frowns. It's not the time to drive that point into the ground just because he can still see the knife sticking out of her chest. But he's still thinking through his logic, clearly bothered and still getting back in his own rhythm. Then he says something that can't possibly be motivated by emotions he has about someone so ordinary being the one to kill her. ]
I can take care of him, if you want.
no subject
Well. Realistically, she's almost always reckless.
But now she knows, and she's pale with dread, and he's offering to take care of him. She knows with what. She knows how. It's on the tip of her tongue to say yes, make it hurt.
But instead, she deflates a little.]
I just wanted to...save that man. He was - he's the one who offered up his old house to us for a pittance, I couldn't abide...
[She shakes her head, grim.] Don't, for my sake - I'm not sending you out there to be my hired assassin. I know when I'm under prepared, Five, don't worry - I won't rush back headfirst.
no subject
There's a small part of him that is grateful that she refused his offer. She'd be the first to turn down a legendary ex-assassin like him. It isn't enough to shake how it felt to resort to reseting the timeline to save her, all because of one little slip. ]
I believed my siblings wouldn't either. [ That comes out more forceful than he intends, and he grimaces at what he didn't mean to admit. It's a miracle he hasn't had to pull that trick more often with how many times his family died in front of him. ]
...All of you idiots don't realize how fragile you are. Life doesn't play fair just because you do.
no subject
You think we don't know that? Look where we are. [Here she gestures around them, at the awful town of Hatthevar.] We've been faced with nothing but reminders of how fragile life is for months now, everywhere we go.
[There's a point to this lecture.] But if I start thinking like that, I'm going to just give up doing anything out of pure fear. We press on, despite how fragile we are, because that makes us feel stronger.
no subject
It doesn't seem right that he's always the one to live. He has to carry on, and stay on his toes every day, to make sure he's there to undo their worst mistakes. ]
You're right. [ His tone is less angry and considerably more tired. Time travel is a very specific type of exhausting, and he doesn't have it in him to yell at her just because he never wanted to see her as a corpse. ] Not your fault that the odds were stacked against you, and you can't resist putting yourself in danger. It's just something I have to accept.