he rode in, a king

[groundrules]

HONEY, WE’VE GOT VISITORS

Sa-Hareth-brand Cassandra tries to flag the future, gets left on read. True story — and then, the dead come. His offer neglected, a desperate Unhalad resorts to sieging the farmhouse in search for the mirror that was previously on the Imperious.

He’s in for disappointment, while the party prepare for... house guests over the early-morning 16 June to 17 June period.

Around 3:30am (16 June) of a storming night, those who are awake or sensitive to the supernatural may hear the winds and fleeing rats whisper that something comes. At 3:45am, Karsa’s wards around the farmhouse set off, briefly shrieking. Within minutes, Unhalad’s undead infiltrate the farmhouse, with one slight creature first entering down the kitchen chimney. A small faction of undead remain on the roof, while a swarming majority circle the farmhouse. Throughout the night, they attempt to break in through doors and windows, making slow progress. They are warier of the forest-facing back entrances. The attackers comprise droves of undead, some clearly only recently converted in haste. They are weaker for it.

Over time, the undead drip into the farmhouse. They lack the coordination for a concerted effort. Attempting to exit within the first three hours of the siege will prove disastrous, as too many undead wait outside. The undead will seek a mirror, being first and foremost drawn to Winnie, who carries a similar item on her person. Fox and Five will also be of interest. Fox can escape attention by discarding the shards. Any character that was bound to Anurr’s tree still bears the lingering marks of Anurr’s undeath is especially perceived as an enemy. Regulus enjoys the same treatment, given his extensive recent stay with the free people. The undead will savagely wreck the house in their hunt, striving to kill those in their path. They can be slain regularly. The older, "properly" summoned undead (identifiable because of their clear state of rotting) should be incinerated or severely amputated to avoid further resurrection. Because of the overwhelming number of undead, it is best to keep lean, mean and mobile within the house. Karsa joins the farmhouse around 6am. She’ll teleport in, but the density of undead outside will prevent her from teleporting out safely. Alongside three party volunteers, she reinforces some of the wards, decelerating the advance of the undead. Her group will also throw away any of Unhalad’s markings (salt and ash) out of the house and into the inner garden pond.

Come sunset (16 June) Unhalad himself will ride outside of the farmhouse, holding distant vigil over the hostilities with his retinue. On his arrival, unbound farmhouse animals will flee into the forest. Unhalad will be recognisable because of the immensity of raw power he emanates — a feeling of great and overwhelming despair and hunger. Options to evacuate the chaos include sneaking out, fighting the undead, calling on reinforcements from any local allies, or holding position until around 8am of 17 June, when Unhalad’s last-minute forces start to disintegrate because of the haste in which they were summoned. The minority of Unhalad’s forces that were summoned back alive with the appropriate diligence will not break down and will need to be banished. The free people will not intervene, unless they are called in.

If you’ve made it this far into Sa-Hareth’s worst hazing ritual, congratulations. A few more days of crud to go. Over the next few days before the 21-22 June departure, characters will have to make do with their shattered lodgings and dearth of supplies, or can seek sanctuary back in Sa-Hareth. Any money spent on accommodations will have to come out of the travel fund. You're on your own, kids. The animals can return from the forest, and the free people might spare some food and water, gifted to those who stood out during Anurr’s trials. The Anurr cultists of Sa-Hareth could also part with a few provisions for their good friends, Xie Lian and Xiao Xingchen. To opt out of the event, have characters out of the house on the night of the siege. It will be difficult to re-enter. The OOC plotting floor is yours!

FARMHOUSE LAYOUT

Comments

[royal_venant]

Regulus landed that first jump and stared in surprise and fascination - but not horror at the undulating mob of undead swarming the farmhouse. But just as he raised his wand to start casting the nastiest spells with the widest radius of destruction, Five grabbed him again and they teleported to the shed.

"That is an army of undead, alright," Regulus said, rather calmly for someone now processing the breadth of their troubles.

"What are our options?" he asked. "How often- and how far can you teleport people?"

Regulus' first inclination is to just get out. Though he figured he shouldn't just leave everyone. He'd made a promise to Lily to have her back, and she being a Gryffindor would make it very difficult to convince to just cut and run. So, that meant if they left, it would be everyone or no one.

[somebadnews]

He kept pacing and raked a hand through his hair. While he was confident he could take down a fair amount of undead, and he would concede that he wasn't alone in that, that wasn't his major concern. Vanya was still inside. If she lost control, it wasn't just the undead they had to worry about. And he was the one who hid her quartz for the sole purpose of keeping upsetting news from reaching her. Those carefully laid plans sure went to hell fast.

Regulus' questions got him to stop for a moment. It reminded him briefly of his Umbrella Academy days, when Luther was trying to assert his authority as Number One to get the team working together, and he shook off the memory.

"Not a great option. It's harder with more people, and I'd run out of energy before I got them all out." He was already running low, and he didn't expect everyone to be as cooperative as his new buddy there. Not to mention whatever else was going on when he was around the undead. He looked at Regulus like he'd really like to ask him if he felt it too, but he held back just in case he was imagining the whole thing.

Other options.

In the worst case scenario, he was going to have to time travel back to before it happened, and that... was something he really didn't want to have to do unless the world was ending. More than a few seconds and the odds of him screwing it up were too high.

"They warned us this would happen," he pointed out with a scoff and a bitter smile. Even if stating that wouldn't help, he was allowed to vent his frustration. This entire thing could have been avoided if they hadn't been so stubborn. The farmhouse was as good as lost. All he'd bought them was a few moments of respite before the undead found where they disappeared to.

"You wouldn't happen to know who got those pieces of mirror they're looking for, would you?"

[royal_venant]

"And the chance of splinching people who resist would be too great if I tried disaparating with them," Regulus added. Had he failed to mention before that he could pop from location to location also? Oh, now was a good time to bring it up.

They had indeed been warned. And Regulus had liked Winnie's plan. But in the end, neutrality won out. Another great lesson in the perils of inaction.

"I've only heard about the pieces of the mirrors. I don't know who has them."

Regulus fell into silence as he listened to the horde outside. He considered his options and reconsidered them. And he found he really only had two choices, and one could only really be considered when all was absolutely lost. So he would continue to fight.

"It's moments like this that central leadership would be helpful," he said, which was not at all helpful to say.

"What other powerful individuals do we have here?" Look, Regulus was still new. He hadn't had a chance to meet everyone. "If we cannot get everyone out, who, with destructive powers, can we get into locations that are the most helpful?"

[somebadnews]

Five listened to what Regulus had to say, which was a sign that he was already desperate.

He raised an eyebrow at his first statement, but he didn't have a follow up question. Regulus wasn't the only one he'd heard about having some form of teleporting, and it wasn't the time to delve into the particulars. The options available to them weren't much improved by that revelation. If they could both teleport, and they knew where the pieces of the mirror were, they might have had something. It was more likely that it was too late for that.

The pacing resumed. Individually, the undead were barely a threat. Mindless and easy to eradicate one by one. Some so weak they collapsed when they got near him. But that was before he saw the insane number of them, and it was harder to think clearly enough to come up with a plan. Something kept distracting him from focusing like he should. An internal pressure that made all of his thoughts and movements just a little more erratic.

Then Regulus went and mentioned destructive powers and Five looked up sharply. Yes, his sister could take them all out at once, but she wasn't some weapon to turn on and expect there to not be any consequences. If he hadn't found Vanya when he did on that ship, she would have blotted it out of existence, and that was just a fraction of what they were facing.

"Some of them are too destructive. We're waiting for a bomb to go off." He rubbed at his neck and muttered a curse when he could hear the undead already rattling outside the walls. Hurry up and think.

"Do you have anything else? Magic barrier?"