bygones be bygones

[groundrules]

BYGONES BE BYGONES

---

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Welcome to the finale log event, stretching until 22 February. You can find a summary of recent events here. The finale log is broken in four sections:

■ Anurr’s attempt to enter Hatthevar by corrupting party members

■ The citadel’s increasing hauntings and abductions (largely CR-building scenarios)

■ Investigating a ghost ship, for final clues

■ The fall of undead creator Matthias

Thank you for being here & enjoy!

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WALLS, WAILING

The tide of war are turning: his scorpions and sand lurkers defeated by Emilia, Wrath and Benedict, the undead Brotherhood’s foremost general, Rathakku, pulls back his armies. A handful of monstrous creatures remain and will grudgingly serve the trio as their new masters.

Wind master Anurr, foe of the Brotherhood and its maker Matthias, continues assaulting the citadel with ceaseless blizzards. Those exposed to the storms may hear dark or saccharine voices that corrupt, threaten or woo them to open one of the four (north/west/south/east) gates of the citadel and allow Anurr’s forces inside.

■ Those prone to loneliness, despair or self-doubt are the most vulnerable to Anurr’s coercion and can easily turn aggressive, if anyone attempts to prevent them from their goal. A burning need to free the winds and a hatred of Hatthevar overwhelm you, while Matthias’ very name sets you off in a rage.

■ Those coerced are invulnerable to Anurr’s blizzards and the broader cold but highly susceptible to heat and flame. Their skin turns pale, limbs stiff and nearly gelid. They are slower but much stronger, and their touch can chill. They must be warmed — either by fire-side or trapped into heated rooms — to regain control of themselves. It may take up to 48 hours before they’re fully back to normal, waking up at night with a longing to walk into the wind.

■ The gates of Hatthevar remain guarded by enormous man-eating ghosts, but these sentinels have been worn down by war and are more easily overcome. Pass them and your companions and open the gates — and you will win Anurr a healthy advantage.

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A HAUNTED PLACE

Two of Matthias’ beacons have been conquered by Vanessa, Wrathion and Five, who retain them as long as they stay along. Inevitably, they are often hunted by spirits.

Not realizing why his summons have weakened, Matthias directs more and more energy towards the three beacons under his control. The turbulence agitates the spirits of Hatthevar, who become secretive, paranoid, prickly and increasingly riotous.

■ Some scatter quickly as they see you — others gang up, mutinously targeting ghost slavers or anyone who reminds them of those who wronged them when they were alive. Hauntings multiply, while ghost slavers take advantage of the riots to conquer parts of Hatthevar.

PART & WHOLE

Combative crowds, often led by ghost slavers, are especially drawn to characters who own any of Matthias’ limbs or organs. Promised rewards, they seek to abduct such owners or anyone unlucky enough to be mistaken for them, dragging them to decrepit, barely standing and abandoned Whispering Houses while they barter payment from Matthias.

■ Ghosts are fiercely attentive but also superstitious watchmen: spook them, organise a rescue party or sneak out.

■ Watching the walls, you see ink brush paintings of the silhouettes of men, their beady eyes sometimes shifting to look at you. At other times, their limbs seem to shift minutely, as they begin to run towards you, until shadow men burst out of the wall to detain you. They pull back, if you also stop moving.

■ Those who possess Matthias’ parts may find ghosts are unusually submissive to them. Their tokens will likely get seized, if they are captured.

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TROUBLED

Hatthevar succumbs to hauntings, friendly or foul. On any given day, you might experience:

■ THE BURIALS: Come morning, your shoes might be missing, buried in the nearest dirt patch — or you yourself might be entombed in the gardens, forced to dig yourself out before you suffocate. The crystalline sound of chiming bells can lead rescuers to you. Ghostly hands might try to hold onto you, if you are dragged out.

■ THE FACELESS: Lithe faceless dancers dart through the crowds of the ghostly bazaars, carrying demonic wooden masks that they place on the faces of stunned passers-by, fleeing thereafter. The victims now look like the demonic masks, while the masks have copied their likeness. If this happens to you, run after the faceless dancers, steal the mask and put it back on your face to recover your original appearance.

■ THE WATCH: Walking through the streets of Hatthevar, you find yourself visibly, unmistakably watched by an increasing number of people. First, they only steal glances; then, one or two point you out; small groups begin to whisper about you; finally, you notice whole crowds are standing eerily still, watching you covetously and seemingly struggling to keep themselves back from assaulting you.

MASTER GAO’S HUMBLE HOUSE

Least said, soonest enjoyed of Hatthevar’s new fashion of culinary delights. Amid a pick-up in crime, the street food vendors disperse, leaving behind a smattering of secluded establishments drenched in dizzying incense and patroned by… ethereal diners.

Master Gao’s family restaurant promises a once-in-a-lifetime experience, amid ghosts, ghouls and the monstrously dead. Take a seat at a private table, where you are treated to a pleasantly sweet, liquorice brew — then informed politely that you have been lethally poisoned and will die within two hours. Already, you feel your body feverish, overly stimulated, your thoughts given to wonder.

Focus, focus: the antidote, says the listless waitress, is in one of the numerous incoming dishes. A game to focus you on enjoying your meal. Even one bite will heal you.

THE MENU

Still on the fence? Reviewers say:

★★★★☆ Came for the bao buns, stayed for the screams of endless agony.
★★★★★ most places on lotus street went to the hell dogs, master’s gao stays lit, the demon bacon’s sizzle drizzle
★★☆☆☆ Two stars for the incredible heart of virgin sacrifice, cooked al dente. But this will be our last visit, after unprofessional staff treated us as if we were at our first cannibal rites.
★★★★☆ Hand-made blood pasta, rolled like grandma used to make.

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THE HEADLESS DANCER

Five and Wen Kexing share that word on the street is Matthias has favoured two hideaways. The most widely known one, where you are headed first, is the Headless Dancer: a ghost ship that appears on nights of the full moon in the misty lagoon near Hatthevar. Half-sunken and ragged, the Headless Dancer appears like a conglomerate of titans’ bones, carved and welded together. It is a proper sea vessel, atypical to sail through a lagoon.

Your objective is to search the ship for any sign of Matthias.

■ As the vessel passes, you hear a staggered, loud rattling: the chattering teeth of the skull heads that shape the ship’s hull. These hungry mouths reach to crush and gnaw you, if you fall in the waters close to the ship.

■ A pirate crew is hard at work to keep the vessel afloat. At first, the men appear normal, but their skeletal, corpse-like appearance is revealed when they come under moonlight.

■ Many crew members ignore you, chained to each other and the deck and condemned to perform their tasks while singing their ol’ song. Only the captain speaks liberally: cursing, whipping his men and carrying a bundle of chains as he makes his rounds. Hide — at times helped or betrayed by crew members — or risk getting chained down by the captain, your powers entirely muted until you are released.

■ Midway through your visit, the ship sails back into the fog, beneath a strange wave of clouds shaped like enormous fish and sea life . Spears and chains that resemble fish spines plunge down to pin the ship in place: they fly across the deck, at times skewering and stabbing crew members. Take cover or jump overboard.

■ After a few moments, the spear-chains latch onto the vessel’s sides, turning it over and submerging into the lagoon. Instead of sinking, the Headless Dancer breaks water, once again upright… in strange new sides (the ‘Other Side’) in the middle of an intensely violent storm of blood. The previously skeletal crew and captain are now fully human and are struggling desperately to keep the ship from sinking, despite furious winds and the vessel taking substantial amounts of water. You understand quickly this is an illusion or memory of some kind: there is no saving the ship. Spend the last few minutes before the Headless Dancer sinks trying to stay afloat and search the captain and main passengers’ cabin for clues. Within 20 minutes, you hear the mast of the Headless Dancer give way, while the rapidly flooding of the hull causes the ship to break in half. You fall unconscious, waking up battered but alive in the real-world shores of Hatthevar, the splinters of the Headless Dancer’s deck stuck beneath your nails.

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HE BLEEDS

Following our latest vote, the People have overwhelmingly chosen that undead creator Matthias will die.

Carrying out the plan is open to everyone, whether you did or didn’t get involved with the voting — jump in freely!

Matthias will be discovered in the second lair location uncovered by Five and Wen Kexing — the Whispering House of Hatthevar’s foremost wish maker, the Red Lady. He dwells on the first floor, which has been turned into an immense room decked in dark mirrors, whose windows have been entirely barricaded.

There are two types of mirrors: some show you exactly what you most wish to see, progressively captivating you while rapidly depleting your stamina and vitality, until you are reduced to dried husks and bones within the hour.

Looking into the second type of mirror, your character sees a person of tar that reaches out to touch them until their hand exits the glass. Upon contact, your character is overcome by a feeling of intense, spreading coldness, as if their insides are being infested by a rapidly propagating alien creature. They may feel its highly primitive, emotion-led thoughts: a jumble of jealousy, the wish to have a shape and manifest, hatred that your body is not malleable, fear, hunger. The creature takes your body over within the hour.

You can escape both types of mirrors if you cover them, do not look into them, or if someone breaks the thrall (by taking your attention away from the mirror or by physically removing you).

Matthias is often away from his hideaway, giving you valuable time to plot and tinker.

Killing him will involve:

■ Scouting the Whispering House. The Red Lady, a powerful sorceress, is unlikely to allow intruders to go where they please inside her home. But the ‘I’m just a poor wish maker, looking for the bathroom’ excuse is a time honoured classic!

■ Using Matthias’ severed limbs and organs to reduce his power: this can be done by destroying the parts. Fire will do the trick.

■ Setting down traps (tentacly or otherwise!) in Matthias’ quarters to detain him.

■ Creating an illusion or shapeshifting someone to look like Matthias’ daughter Cosette and distract him, when he returns.

■ Feeding Matthias a memory potion that will force him to remember his part in Cosette’s demise.

■ Killing him. Per RNG gods, Emilia gets the dubious honour of delivering the killing blow (most likely, with help from a special tool obtained from the Headless Dancer). Everyone else is still free to char, sting, entrap or force feed memories to Matthias!

Since several people might get involved, it’s probably logistically easier if you play out prep work or threads in groups of no more than 2-3 and assume other party members are around.

You can either NPC Matthias yourselves in your threads or ask for mod involvement.

Note: everyone who threads out any of the events of Matthias’ capture or demise can “inherit” some of his power over undeath once he is killed. Your character will then have to choose what they do with this power (keep, transfer or disperse it).

QUESTIONS

Comments

QUESTIONS

[groundrules]

Til death did Matthias and his limbs part.

[redhourglass]

Would a ‘straight’ disguise of Cosette work (e.g. wig, makeup, no fancy magic or tech)? I’m imagining Matthias would see through it immediately but wanted to check to see if things like his limbs being destroyed, etc., would influence that outcome.

[revengeisalie]

Could Rin volunteer to help with suppressing Anurr with her newly gained Matthias powers as per Emilia's post and disperse it after?

NPCS / THREAD TURN-INS

[groundrules]

THE GATES

[groundrules]

Turn in a thread of your wind-corrupted character opening one of the gates of Hatthevar by 23:59 GMT on 18 February to influence citadel's outcome!

Note: only the gate opening part of the thread needs to have been wrapped up by the time of submission.

THE HEADLESS DANCER

[groundrules]

Link your character's exploits with the Headless Dancer on the Other Side by 23:59 GMT on 14 February and request a clue from:
— the captain's cabin
— the passengers' cabin
— the crew

Please share findings with the class by network post by 18 February!

MATTHIAS SAYS...

[groundrules]

You're welcome to NPC Matthias for your threads dealing with his capture or killing, but if you'd rather get mod feedback on what he'd say or do, holler here!

POWER OVERWHELMING

[groundrules]

Please drop a finished thread dealing with Matthias' capture or killing by 23:59 GMT on 21 February for your character to receive a part of his power over the undead when he is regrettably no more.

Note: you only need to have completed the part of the thread dealing with the capture/killing by the time of your submission!

Please specify what your character would like to do with their 'inherited' part of this power:

— keep it
— transfer it
— disperse (eliminate) it!

Benedict Fox | The Last Case of Benedict Fox

[companionsgrasp]

I. The Headless Dancer

[Getting onto the ghost ship was harrowing in itself; being on it was not much better. The skeletal crew was dreadful and hard to judge. Some of them helped hide the stowaways whenever the captain came too close while others gave hiding positions away and left people like Benedict scrambling to get away from the captain and his chains.

Then the fog rolled in and Benedict got a bad feeling. Well, his Companion got a bad feeling and Benedict heeded it.] Hurry! This way! [He called to anyone nearby, urging them to follow him. He dove down into the lower decks just in time to avoid the spears and jagged bones flying about, and hoped whoever else was nearby made it with him.

Then there was the cabins below to explore. By then the ship had passed to the 'Other Side' and there was little left to do but hurry. He knew there wasn't much time before the memory played to its completion and nothing more would there be. He set to quickly examining the rooms from the crew to the captain's quarters, searching for any and all clues.]

II. The Whispering House

It's always mirrors. Why is it always mirrors?

[Benedict sighed deeply upon first sight of the mirrored room. Indeed, every time he had ever come across mirrors in any realm they always spelled nothing but trouble. From the mirrors of Limbo that could mislead and capture a person, to the mirror within the abandoned gladiator barracks of Ephes, nothing good ever seemed to come from mirrors. To the point that Benedict definitely did not trust these here.

In fact, as his first glance into a mirror (it was curiosity!) revealed to him a hidden desire of his heart Benedict flew into a frenzy and smashed it with his fist. Anyone nearby may notice his eyes glow purple and a tentacle wrapped around the arm that broke the mirror (which then disappears from view; the tentacle, not the mirror).]

I don't want that. I don't ever want that. [He said as though reassuring someone in the room...that was not visible.

After finally making it through the house (and past the understandably angry Red Lady), it was finally time to take down Matthias. Benedict summoned his Companion's ability to lay a trap within one of the rooms and, telling his current company of said trap, prepared to lure or chase the man into it.]

It's an obvious exit, but there won't be an escape for him here.

III. Wildcard

[[Anything else is up for grabs! Benedict will be all around and willing to help anyone with any of the ghostly and paranormal troubles cropping up. Feel free to PM me or hit me up here at the plotting if you want to discuss something. But seriously, just tag in!]]

headless dancer | the fish spines

[downswing]

( At war, the sky bleeds arrows, needle-tipped, numerous and strong. A rain of steel and lesions. Here, the projectiles are in the spirit of the land, more pointlessly grand, greedy. The first chain-spear darts by, and Lan Wangji thinks it nearly animalistic, a half-blind predator twisting and winding to chase its target. It snags in the hilt of his sword, and he hisses, inevitably, when its latches in the soft flesh of his hand, a gash his internal energies toil to stitch up before his body surrenders too much of its waters.

'Here' and 'hurry' and a man's voice, and he should linger to test that he is friend sooner than foe, that Lan Wangji knows his face. Pain shames and reduces him: he flees after Benedict (friend, after all), dragging his sword in one hand, and the wounded limb like a dead, wasteful thing, cradled against his chest. They enter the decks below just as the chain-spears multiply and cross the air, skewering and stabbing —

And Lan Wangji forces the hatch shut with a thickened thud behind them, just as one of the spears darts through, only the tip penetrating the splintering wood. The hatch will not give, while Lan Wangji holds it from below — but he fears to release it, while the offensive continues above. )

Find rope and a hard weight. We will bind this shut.

( ...a sound plan, Lan Wangji, shuttering them both beneath deck with whatever else might sleep here. How can it go wrong? )

wen kexing ( word of honor )

[wifedup]

a. A Haunted Place.

( Something paranoid has settled across his shoulders since they arrived here and it heightens day by day. The city eventually turns uneasy. Wen Kexing, who has been squashing unrest since the moment he became Ghost Valley Master, feels the signs before he sees it. The whispering, the jostling, the smiles that badly hide the glint of knives. It is not his realm though, and so he mostly ignores it, sticking to the fringes of the streets and keeping himself out of sight. It is nothing to do with him, something he keeps reminding himself on the hour.

Except, there is a fight, he catches wind of it turning a corner with his wine bottle. It is still nothing to do with him, and yet maybe some conversations and actions have been weighing a little heavier on him lately. His wine he places carefully down, taking his time to make sure it won't be knocked over, before his fan is pulled free and sent in a wide arc towards a group of bullying ghosts and spectres. The fan knocks into the post of a shoddily constructed stall - which would look like an accident if only it did not then send the wobbling beam downwards, knocking into the group and trapping some of them beneath the tarp. )

Are you all right?

( He can't quite see who he's attempting to save yet, but he's cheerful enough when he calls out. )

b. Part & Whole.

( Who knew that keeping a disembodied but potentially deadly bit of a man as a backup plan would go so terribly wrong? Wen Kexing ignores the chorus of mental voices telling him they told him so in favour of picking himself back up off the floor. How the ghosts have managed to get the drop on him is not something he's going to think about, instead he starts dusting himself off with badly concealed irritation. He's not foolish enough to have the hand on him, thankfully, but they must have known enough from their attempts at tailing him to know it's still not destroyed. Troubling. He hopes Zhou Zishu is smart enough to leave it behind if they do come for him. He's going to be even angrier if they do something to him.

But there are noises in the hall just beyond the room they've been keeping him in, and Wen Kexing sidles closer, ears pricked. )

Hello?

( No answer, though the voices now are more frantic. He lets his gaze drift from the door and across the room. The light is dim, but he thinks he can make out ... something. Wen Kexing pauses again, hand inching towards his sleeve. His fan is missing, the bastards. He lets out a rude, irritable huff. )

This has all be a simple mistake, come on, let's talk about this ghost to ghost.

( Even now he still thinks he's hilarious.

But, then the door is thrown open and someone else is shoved unceremoniously inside. Wen Kexing makes to catch the person's body before they stumble into a nearby decrepit piece of furniture, losing his chance of slipping free. ) Well. The hospitality could do with some work.

c. He Bleeds

( This whole affair has given Wen Kexing one monstrous headache. He is worn out, irritated, vaguely haunted. And so armed with the information the gang had given both he and Five, here he comes. The Whispering House isn't all that difficult to break into, - if you know how to escape one you know how to get back in - and he doesn't hurry or in fact, particularly sneak. He's cautious, but that's about it.

Inside it is no grander than any of the other whispering houses, though the room of mirrors gives him pause. Wen Kexing thinks about heading in, but he's seen enough these last few months to know that no good will come from looking in them. And so he's about to make his way further into the building when he spots the figure entrapped before a black reflection. ) Hey.

( The person sways but does not answer. Wen Kexing swears viciously under his breath for a second and then, head ducked to avoid anything he might see, he storms into the centre of the room to pull the person back and away, obstructing their view. ) Don't look. It's probably magic. What are you even doing in here if you can get caught by such an obvious trap?

( Angry mother Wen, at your service! )

d. Wildcard.

( I'm at qingya or on discord under sadgaydna if you want to plot something specific. Feel free to pm me too if that's better! )

part & whole

[downswing]

( ...the hospitality. Yes. And the saddening but inevitable turn of events where it emerges that tall, dark, blood-stained and handsome characterize both Wen Kexing and the second young master of sect Lan. He does not question or fight the indignity of the error, corralled and led along a willing sacrifice: he must see, after all, where all ill-gotten captives are held, if he is to release them.

The house is ragged, stale, plaster peeling. Moist in the way of mould and decay that's too deeply entrenched to ever heal. He has solidified in himself a revulsion of all the living and dead things that patron it, unsanitary and brittle.

The addition of another body, warm, in their small enclave of a room, does not assist. That is should be Wen Kexing, tirelessly erratic, pleases even less. But he walks the room all the same under the quiet watch of spirits that come and go, careful to graze his fingertips over coarse parchments and their ink paintings, the wood-barred windows beyond. He hesitates, for a moment, weighing the dis/advantages of Wen Kexing's paranoia, before agreeing to make weapon of it, sharp. )

Master Wen brought no guest's gift. ( It isn't just the ghosts' hospitality that warrants improvement, and someone should defend their dignity, besides. ) Mind the walls.

wei wuxian | the untamed

[weifinder]

From the below list, please comment with which number scenario you want to thread, and if you leave your comment blank, I'll write us the starter to kick us off!

1. Being startled by Wei Wuxian's sudden door-slamming entry into your current warm location;


2. Your character struggling to get a gate open and having him struggle to work against that happening (let me know if you want your character to succeed);


3. Systematic hunting down of ghost slavers and redistributing their payments from Matthias if they've already been paid;


4. Work together to find a clue on the Headless Dancer in the passengers' cabin as the ship sinks;


5. Who wants to help feed Matthias a memory potion while Wei Wuxian helps hold him temporarily in place? Bonus for looking like Cosette at the time!


6. Wildcard: toss me a one sentence prompt in a comment or ask for me to spin us a prompt, and i'll pick a random interaction for us!

3, necromance some spirits, son, do it, horrify him, do iiiiiit

[downswing]

licyn mansbane | original

[bravelyrunsaway]

From the below list, please comment with which number scenario you want to thread, and if you leave your comment blank, I'll write us the starter to kick us off!

1. Join him for a meal at Master Gao's;


2. Help him with his unburying people and objects (he can unbury your character if you want!) while he's in wolf form;


3. Join him with covering mirrors, either initially escaping with his help or simply being what he calls smart and covering mirrors from go;


4. Let Licyn run distraction while you Scout the Whispering House;


5. Wildcard: toss me a one sentence prompt in a comment or ask for me to spin us a prompt, and i'll pick a random interaction for us!

I challenge you to 1

[somebadnews]

nynaeve al'meara | the wheel of time (amazon series)

[mashiara]

From the below list, please comment with which number scenario you want to thread, and if you leave your comment blank, I'll write us the starter to kick us off!

1. Explosive use of the One Power to keep your character from opening the gate;


2. Rage fueled magical healing of a character heavily injured by the cold or by another attack;


3. Eradincating a ghost slaver and their helpers.


4. Locating a person buried alive following the chimes of bells. Can be your character, can be Nynaeve, can be one of the few living in the city.


5. Wildcard: toss me a one sentence prompt in a comment or ask for me to spin us a prompt, and i'll pick a random interaction for us!

I offer up Nynaeve's favorite royal for 1.

[daughterheir]

five hargreeves | the umbrella academy

[somebadnews]

[ Prompts being added below. Plotting comment here if you want to hash anything out. Wildcards always welcome. Will match action or prose! ]

part & whole

[somebadnews]

[ Five... is distracted.

There's been a lot to process over the last several days, after one bad deal at the Whispering Houses unlocked years of memories of the sibling Mingyu tried to erase. Things that previously didn't make sense finally do. And yet he's strangely detached to someone he once had strong feelings about, before those feelings were taken from him as terms of the deal. At the moment it's better that way, since there's a lot more going on than who caused apocalypses that have already happened, but old obsessions are what they are. Regret can come later.

He walks briskly down the streets that were easier to disappear into when he first arrived. Now it seems everyone he passes looks his way, and his paranoia has him teleporting more than he should every time they get too close. Not really his best idea when he has a finite amount of energy and every jump depletes it a little more, but it's not like he can hide in a room while everything is going to shit. Matthias isn't the only problem, but he's the one that Five knew this would come down to. He keeps the piece of him close to his chest, in a twice-warded box containing his tongue, while he tries to keep his focus and consider the options. Maybe run it by the others, make sure they haven't been making the same mistakes he has.

He nearly bumps into another problem when he teleports away from someone taking a brazen swipe at him. These crowds are getting to be a hassle. A towering man turns looks down at him; an unfortunately memorable face from the gambling den, and Five realizes whose territory he crossed into. He forgot all about that gang he escaped from. Of course they'd show up now. ]

Congratulations, you found me. [ The man whistles, and he looks at several heads that shoot up from the shadows. Apparently he should have taken care of them when he had the chance. ] Do we have to do this?

[ His hands glow blue, but he takes a step back when the throngs of people suddenly gather unnaturally fast around him and his brows furrow in confusion. There weren't this many in the gang before. He's about to teleport again, when someone grabs his jacket collar from behind and the warded box jostles loose and falls to the ground.

He abandons the jump and dives for it before all hell breaks loose. ]

natasha romanova | marvel cinematic.

[redhourglass]

( prompts below! i missed the cr meme/plotting post so putting it here instead: i’m very interested in natasha being shapeshifted into / otherwise taking on the guise of cosette. def feel free to hit me up on iothe or in the discord if you want to chat about that or any other plot ideas! )

the headless dancer, on the ship. (captain’s quarters) — cw, violence.

[redhourglass]

( it’s dawned on natasha, first slowly and then with a vengeance, how easy modern technology has made infiltration. she could drop soundless from a stealth helicopter or quinjet, hide the noise of her landing in the mechanical grind of gears and engine noise, set off alarms in other parts of the ship to keep the crew busy. even the target was so often obvious: computer systems, radar, navigation, or missiles.

she has none of that to her advantage on the headless dancer. oh, sure, the boat creaks and has its own rhythm, but nothing as loud as the roar of an engine or the clank of gears shifting.

so she’s doing this old school: when a group of armed crew passes where natasha is crouched in all black, she flicks a pebble from the stash in her pocket down the dark hallway deeper into the ship; it echoes the whole way down, sending the men after it. when someone happens to take a corner with her, she punches him in the windpipe before he can let out a shout, follows it up by a rabbit punch to the diaphragm to leave him winded (did that work on skeletons?) and then chokes him until he loses consciousness.

it takes time. time she doesn’t have. but she creeps her way through the belly of the ship until she reaches the opulent door she assumes is the captain’s quarters. sliding up to it, she pulls a collection of lock picks from a pocket pressed against the small of her back. )

Are you going to help, or just here to watch? ( she hears you come up behind you before you speak, eyes narrowed in concentration on the lock. if it’d been a crew member or the captain himself, they would have raised an alarm. )

nami (one piece live action)

[cartographie]

[ prompts below, feel free to reach out via pm or plurk if you'd like to work out something else, or hit me with that good good wildcard stuff. ]

– master gao's, ota

[cartographie]

I’m sorry, I thought I heard you say this was poisoned. [ Nami says to the weary waitress, doing her best to be as dead-seeming and unbothered as she can while the grasp she has on the cup of house brew in her hand tightens. When the waitress comes back with an almost bored-sounding confirmation that yes, she and the person Nami’s sharing a table with will have to try a rotation of dishes, she looks between the server and her company with alarm, staring after the waitress in perplexed concern long after the woman retreats to get the first course.

The poison is already making her stomach churn, enough so that when a dish is finally set down in front of her, Nami scrunches her lips up in disapproval, wishing for nothing more than a glass of regular, boring water. ]

She said we only had to take one bite right? So… [ Disdainful but determined, Nami spears a mouthful of the dish in front of her with her fork. ] Bottoms up, I guess.

[ note i’ve left which dish is served first vague, please feel free to pick from the menu above, also please let me know if you’d like to avoid any of the dishes mentioned in the prompt, otherwise i’m down to roll with anything. ]

wen qing | the untamed

[silverneedles]

i. troubled — the burials.

[ Once upon a time, Wen Qing lived in a burial mound. Before that, she lived in a dungeon, and before that, she lived in the castle of a man gone insane with power. Corpse puppets surrounded her there, physician to her uncle, who required more and more tending as demonic energy coursed through his body. She learned to dance around them, stone faced; fear was a weakness that would have gotten her killed, and she had a brother to live for. A family to keep safe.

The burial mounds had been better, even if death lingered over here. Her friend managed to grow lotus flowers where none should have grown; in sentimental moments, she likes to reflect on that and puts it down to the love they had there, the freedom that came with the tragedy.

There had been jokes about planting a-Yuan like a radish, a few attempts to do so. They were kind jokes, merriment in a land of death, and other than the dirt on his clothes, she had been just as entertained. ad thought nothing of it, other than a joke.

Until she wakes up in the dirt.

Wen Qing does not panic, by nature. But the weight of the dirt pressing her down and the rich, ripe scent of the dirt in her nose, reminding her of the burial mounds and her uncle's puppet army pull any rationality from her. She scrambles, trying not to gasp for air, daring not to scream, as she claws at the layers of dirt above her. When her hand finally breaks free, she scrambles up, unconcerned about the dirt and the grime, gasping for air. ]

ii. troubled — the watch.

Does this feel eerie to you? [ She asks as nonchalantly as possible, as though not daring to attract attention. But the feeling of being watched lingers heavily on her shoulders, although she can't understand why. ]

We've been watched before, but not like this. Even back home, nothing was like this. [ She frowns, clearly troubled by the watchful eyes, and speeds up her pace, although she refrains from breaking into an outright run; that will simply attract more attention. ] Perhaps we should find a safe house— if that's even possible here.

[ Would those whispering houses be better than the still, watchful eyes of the crowds? ]

iii. master gao's humble house

[ No chef, unskilled in the arts of maintaining a house and feeding a family, Wen Qing would make a poor wife, especially since she still has something of a taste for elegance and refined meals. The promise of a once-in-a-lifetime experience draws her to the restaurant.

These ghosts and ghouls do not whisper or stare, and there are no clinging arms to attack her. So she takes a seat, ready to experience this meal.

The poisoning is no lie: she feels feverish, her senses overwhelmed. ]

What is the meaning of this? Why would they poison us just to give us the antidote in food? [ She frowns, a common enough expression on her face, and then reads the menu. Her expression flickers, changing rapidly: annoyance, depression, understanding, and acceptance.

Whoever is her dinner companion will get her turning to them, resolute and fierce. ] I am going to pick whatever dish comes out first and if I stab you, I will make it nonlethal. Please understand it is not your fault.

[ Nor hers, if everyone is honest. Blame the restaurant.

They are not getting a good review. ]

iv. wildcard

[ Either leave a starter or leave a blank comment and I will throw something at you. Wen Qing will explore the ship, and be around for the killing of Matthias, so I can work with anything. ]

iii. hugging was foretold so why not add murder to the mix

[reparo]

[Master Gao's has been reviewed rather positively by the spirits - prior to them becoming very aggressive, anyway - and it seems to be the one place in all of Hatthevar where one can sit for a meal without being attacked.

They probably have salt on their dishes and all! This looks like a place that seasons its food.

Of course, when she invites Wen Qing inside to experience something new, in a moment that feels like a reprieve, she does not expect to get poisoned.]

The thing that bothers me the most is the tone of that waitress. [She turns to Wen Qing, herself also sweating bullets now.] We are not dying poisoned here, Wen Qing - not us.

[With a grimace, she takes a look at the menu and blanches.] Heart of virgin sacrifice? Well that makes the whole difference, doesn't it!

carol danvers | ota

[captain_marvel]

Pick a scenario, I will write us a starter! Plans that have already been made will have starters below.

Carol is going to get recruited by Anhurr to let them in - Kamala's got dibs on the save but I'm up for threads before or after.

Hauntings - I'm leaning towards The Faceless and The Watch for Carol.

Wildcard - if there's something specific you have in mind, feel free to make your own starter or pm me to hash it out.

walls, wailing | kamala

[captain_marvel]

[It isn't the first time that something's slipped into the back of Carol's mind and tried to play her like a puppet, but it's been a very long time. Maybe that's why it's as easy as it is, for Anhurr to send a chill down her spine and lure her out towards the gates.

Maybe it's just the fact that she's been alone for so long. Maybe it's that the Supreme Intelligence is what she's familiar with, and Anhurr doesn't operate the same way. Neither point really matters in the end - what does is the fact that by the time Kamala tracks her down, she's within shooting range of the gates, and starting to float upwards to get a better angle.

The gates need to come down. That's the order, and she's a soldier. It's not up to her to question why.]

allison hargreeves | ota

[rumorate]

Pick a scenario, I will write a starter!

Hunting down ghost slavers and ruining their day.

Hauntings - any of the 3 work for Allison, let me know your preference or if there's any you def don't want.

Headless Dancer - Allison will be poking around looking for information, if there's a specific area you want to explore, let me know.

Wildcard - if there's something specific you have in mind, feel free to make your own starter or pm me to hash it out.

wildcard | ben

[rumorate]

[Allison's had three possessions from home on her since she arrived here, almost three years ago. One, the locket Luther gave her as children, now with her wedding rings hanging on them so she doesn't lose them. Two, a copy of From Earth to Moon by Jules Verne, the same edition that her husband had given her. And tucked within the pages for safe keeping, a picture of her and Claire, one of the last ones she got to take before the divorce.

There aren't a lot of moments of quiet in Hattevar, but Allison tries to find them when she can. She's been thinking a lot about Claire lately. It's hard not to see the parallels, to sympathize with Matthias' loss even though she can see that he had gone too far.

It's easy see, if you're on the outside of it.

She's been thinking of her own choices lately, wondering if she's made the right ones. If the life she wants is on the other side of the beacons or on this one. It's hard not to, when they're so close to the end. Eventually she's going to have to make a choice, to stay or go, and for the first time in a long time, she isn't sure what she wants the answer to be.

As she stares at her daughter's face, she catches the sight of familiar shoes on the edges of her room. Ben is one of the reasons she's thinking about staying lately - to get to make up time with the brother she lost so much time with.]

Hey.

[She glances up with a smile before pulling out the picture from between the pages of the book.]

Want to see your niece?

anduin wrynn | ota

[massrez]

[ Prompts below, pm me if you're wanting anything in particular! ]

master gao's humble house

[massrez]

[ A shame. He'd been quite looking forward to a decent meal, a moment spent not dealing with some horrific twist on the expected. More the fool, him.

As the server drifts away from the table, Anduin's eyes flicker to the other occupant of the table. He should feel horrified at the news that they've both been poisoned, but mostly? He just feels tired...which works well for his disguise as one of the deceased, he supposes. ]

That's one way of ensuring the clientele stay and order their share of food. I can't say I'm a fan, but as techniques go? It's an effective one.

[ He reaches for the plate in front of them, plucking up one of the bao with a dubious look. What he wouldn't give to be in Pandaria again, where he'd know what to expect taking a bite into one of these. ]

wrath | kingdom of the wicked | ota

[inferus]

Final top level let's goooooo! Please, comment here with a wildcard for Wrath of whatever you'd like or request a starter from me. Here's specifically what Wrath would be up to, but I'm down for starters in other areas if people have ideas/preferences. He will kill destroy Mao Gao's though if he went there and saw what they were about so probably not that one.

1) He can help save your character if they're under Annurr's control - Wrath loathes the complete control these dead take over unwilling beings.

2) Stopping Matthias: Wrath's one hundred percent gonna force feed him that potion: gotta remember your sins dude, BUT he is also there to scout the Whispering House, set traps, destroy parts, etc. Tempted to also have him use his ability to control sins in someone on Matthias to do this as well. The man is pretty liberal with controlling others so.

3) Headless Dancer exploration

[downswing]

( Scouting/infiltrating the Whispering House, two tanks on a mission? )

hermione granger (harry potter)

[reparo]

Here are some options for where to find Hermione, and what to find her doing. Leave a comment asking for which setting, and I can provide a starter - or bring your own if you've got an idea! (P.S. Fire is not optional.)

a. In Part & Whole - run into Hermione, get nearly caught by and then Apparated out of the way of the inky shadow creatures; bonus, you can hold her hand. (Hardmode: you can throw up on her shoes.)

b. In Troubled - lend her a hand, this hole is terribly moist (I am doing this on purpose) and someone buried her halfway into it before giving up. Possibly the hair was too much to try and cover with dirt.

c. On the Headless Dancer - help, or be helped by, this intrepid private investigator to find clues while wondering how much compartmentalisation can a woman possibly do, while witnessing the skeleton crew (get it) try to stay afloat.

d. For Matthiacide - please remember she can cast some pretty decent fire, if you need any limb to get incinerated. Free of charge.

[downswing]

( Mmmmmm, holes. )

kamala khan | mcu

[cosplayqueen]

Hello! Here are some prompts below. Leave a number and you'll get a custom starter. Fun, right?

1. Exploring the Headless Dancer. Kamala has decided to make finding Cossette to advocate for her in this mess her problem. She will fail, but hey it's the friends we make along the way, right?

2. Visiting Master Gao's House. :( Help her stress eat!

3. Backdated: visiting old man Thrael's for buns because Matthias told her to name-drop him to score some food.

4. Stopping anyone who listens to Anur with a hug and some giant purple lights.

5. Wildcard. Leave a suggestion in the comments below.

[reparo]

[Here to help in finding Cosette or stumbling upon clues.]

Asano Rin | Blade of the Immortal

[revengeisalie]

[ CHOOSE YOUR OWN PROMPT.

Some options:

- defending the gates of Hatthevar: Rin will be around, trying her best to be of help! She will not be enthralled by Anurr, but instead trying to stop those who were from opening the gates, to varying success.

- the case of Cosette: if you still wanna try and find out what happened to her, Rin is game \o/

- yelling at ghost slavers: And injustice is afoot and Rin must yell about it. Chaos ensues?

- getting buried: yeah I might have Rin get buried in the dirt for a lark. Come help her?

- chaos at Master Gao's: In which Rin ingests something that makes her act out.

- Killing Matthias: Rin can sleuth around... and she can set fire to things/cause explosions! ]

[matermali]

[ If not too late, Vanessa has a heart that could use some fire. ]

Eda Clawthorne | The Owl House

[traaaaaash]

[ PROMPTS GALORE, pick your poison:

- enthralled by Anurr: Yep, Eda's feeling windy. She'll harpy out and attack the gates, good luck trying to stop her!

- the watch: Upon feeling herself being watched, Eda will simply gloat about it. It could be funny. Also, time for a good old fight maybe.

- Master Gao's: be afraid. Be very afraid.

- Headless Dancer: either yelling at the captain or searching for clues!

- Killing Matthias: Eda is proficient in potions, so she could provide in that regard. ]