the harp(y) was a big winged lyre | event + test drive meme

[groundrules]

Hello, hello! Fresh out of the box is the action spanning 14-31 July, also serving as our second test drive meme (TDM). The event is broken in three parts: one exclusive to TDM participants, one that's for the existing crew, and a communal section, as... sparks literally fly, when characters cross paths.

OOC planning & questions are HERE. Existing players can use this log to party, or you can alternatively make your own logs & network posts. Our TDMers are stuck in this playground only, but — to replicate the game experience more faithfully, they can ask questions and briefly interact with NPCS HERE.

Tiny reminder: eastbound is an invite-only game for size control, but if you found yourself here, love the setting or the playerbase but don't know anyone — PM @ groundrules, we'll figure something out. You're welcome to make a note in your top-level comment title, if you're a TDMing newb, shiny and chrome!

TDM TOURISTS | OLD TIMERS | COMMON TIMELINE | NOTES

TDM TOURISTS

A great day to be alive, chipping manicures and clawing out of a salt mine just in time for a befuddled undead cavalry to whisk their visitors away, one by one as they're recovered.

TDM characters receive quartz stones that function as translation and (network) communication devices, before they are presented to Haltham.

Cursing his luck, Haltham informs newcomers they are in the frozen citadel of Sa-Hareth, controlled by undead warlord Anurr. Characters were wrenched free from the mines of deposed death king Unhalad and... two weeks behind the eastbound caravan that is the Merchant's troupe — their one ticket home.

IS THERE AN ACCOMPLICE IN THE HOUSE?

As Haltham brokers their getaway, newcomers are foisted on Caspar and the Lucky Hands, a gang of thieves set to hijack a port delivery of silvered powder. The Hands handle the theft on D-day, but pairs of newcomers are each saddled with a stolen pouch to transport furtively across Sa-Hareth.

They must escape frequent sentinel searches and other petty thieves to rendez-vous within a day at the dark, dusty and overpriced Hog & Mead tavern in the Merchants' Arena.

Anyone caught by local enforcement can spend a few hours imprisoned in a converted fishermen's warehouse, guarded by three underpaid officers, before breaking or talking themselves out. Thank your predecessors, who ruined the only decent jailhouse.

ALL ABOARD

The travel hell punishment fits the larceny crime: after rendez-vous, Caspar, Haltham, two undead and the TDM tourists join some noble passengers, who seek refuge in Taravast after vocally supporting Unhalad.

They board a seven-wagon streetcar pulled by twelve mechanical horses, heading out of Sa-Hareth down the haunted Stairs of Sighs passageway.

To keep the peace, newcomers must pretend to also be disgruntled Unhalad supporters — and to know nothing about the many bags of exotic opiates that Caspar has dragged aboard.

As they advance down the Stairs canyon, characters may observe each night brings a full moon and blood rains that disappear without trace, come morning. They can also hear the melancholic, indecipherable song of a woman — and find themselves dreaming nightly of burning alive, or being buried under hot tar. They will wake alert and increasingly distrustful of their companions.

At one point, the express train horsecar will pass by a galloping arctic bear, which will stop to salute. Do not feed it.

Characters receive a red helleborus brand on their left wrist to identify each other. It disappears within a week's time.

Test drive questions HERE.

» THE NEXT STOP

EXISTING PARTY

THE WAR IN WORDS

The recent emergence of the dark tar-like creatures gradually unsettles Lord Arha and his ghostly armies into violent outbursts. Throughout the day, the legions become progressively corporeal, no longer flickering out of existence and retaining their memories. They remain dead.

The following morning, the harpies throw down their usual homages of splintered aged bone, now alongside withered parchment. The strips feature excerpts from the letters of Arha and the Lady Hatisse — which Mazyar and his people can translate.

After reading one such parchment, a soured Arha takes unasked command of Mazyar's caravan, imposing benevolent but firmly enforced curfews. Grim-faced ghost soldiers start to keep watch of characters at all times. Some will accuse caravan travellers of being witches or spies of Taravast's Attaryl school.

Those crafty enough to pick up Arha's discarded letter can see his hands have smeared it bloodied. Translated, the missive encourages Arha to turn back with his armies from Taravast.

DON'T HARP ON ABOUT IT

All hell breaks loose as Allison, Lily, Wei Wuxian and Five follow tar harpies inside their makeshift "nest" — going down a steep pit into one of the canyon mountains, and reaching the cavernous and shifting corridors of a stone temple. The passageways lead to small chambers that host stone tombs, many opened and still holding the remains of bones and drips of tar.

Angered by the intrusion, the laired harpies turn aggressive and exit into the canyon, starting an attack spree. They throw rocks, claw or fly down and pick up stray animals and humans. Arha and his army can help you defend against the creatures.

With their main entryway compromised, some harpies will leave the lair through the fissured canyon wall, creating a crude and claustrophobic opening. The sorcery contained within the temple will seep out, with magically sensitive characters finding they can no longer quite tell the difference between the living and the dead. (All) characters can now sometimes briefly see the flickered figures of people they deeply miss around them.

Existing character questions HERE.

» AND THEN YOU GET VISITORS.

OLD TIMERS & TDM TROOPS

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BU—

Gone rogue, some harpies will target a rapidly incoming seven-wagon streetcar, destroying or flying away with eight of its 12 mechanical horses, and the sad coachmen. The remaining steeds are completely unmanned.

The existing crew can wave their handkerchiefs as the train horsecar speeds by the caravan, set to crash into a canyon wall — or lend a hand to evacuate our TDMers, more Sa-Hareth refugees, and... our good friend Haltham and two of his creatures. Also, opium.

TDMers can meanwhile (haphazardly) board off or try to take control of the mechanical horses.

Write your starters as you will, or plan out the fate of the train horsecar HERE.

FRIENDS & FAMILY PROGRAMME

Following their unlikely survival, newcomers can join the existing party as part of smuggler merchant Mazyar's prosperous caravan. They will receive food, decent clothes and a donkey, horse or elk mount — a rare upside from the ongoing blood rain weather forecast, and the tar-drenched harpies that throw down aged bone.

They will also notice that Mazyar's caravan has been escorted by a ghost army led by the Lord Arha. He travels to free his lover, the oracle Hatisse from her alleged imprisonment by the witches of Taravast. All characters will experience a blood-curdling dread whenever they think to tell Arha or his men that they are dead — but speaking the words is now possible. Report HERE, if you'd like to break the bad news.

As the caravan stops for a few days, the existing party and newcomers can make merry, recover or raid the open haunted temple — where they may find several untouched stone tombs, including one engraved with a sculpture of Lord Arha. It will prove highly difficult to remove that lid without a group effort... but for that, or any other tomb questions, GO HERE.

NOTES

FRESH MEAT GONNA EAT

TDM events count as game canon, if you app in.

You can do network-style posts & log starters. Invent a username for communicators — but you're stuck with it after!

You can use the two allied NPC undead during the train horsecar disaster portion. Deploy them as you see fit to keep your character alive. The undead come with higher strength, speed, hunting instincts and a... disturbingly cold presence.

Haltham can make last-stand miracles happen for you, but at a heavy price. Inquire here.

OLD TIMERS, THINE WRINKLES SWEET

Existing characters won't be able to tell whether the newcomers or each other are living, dead, memories or ghosts, as a result of the (temporary) temple magic.

...yes, any leftover opiates are up for grabs. Hooligans.

You're welcome to respond to network posts from TDMers — but please keep your network posts in eastbound, think of Ye Olde AC.

Comments

[valeas]

[ the dream shifts with a suddenness that would dizzy her if she were standing. flames lick higher around her, suffocating and all-consuming. she will die, is dying, in the very way she's feared all of her life. there is no pyre, but she burns. screams peel from her throat and no one can hear, can do anything. and somewhere in the distance is a song, is a memory, is antonio. antonio and his certainty that this is what she deserves and this is where she belongs.

all witches are born evil.

she can't break free of this dream right away, despite some lucidness returning to her. she chokes at the attempt to scream outside of this mental prison, but a hand tightening at her arm, her arm with a tattoo that also tries jarring her awake, finally does the trick.

emilia's eyes peel open, stunned to find herself so still and quiet otherwise. her skin intact, her lungs unharmed — only the wetness of her cheeks evidence of a greater turmoil, and her clenched fist at wrath's chest as she struggles in vain to safely draw in breath. ]

[inferus]

[ his expression has shifted into one of concern as it seems he is unable to wake her from the dream even when he says her name, even when he tightens his hold on her. it reminds him too much of the time following lust when he couldn't reach her at all then either even holding her hand. she couldn't feel it. he couldn't reach it.

a spike of anxiety in his chest until she finally does wake up. and distantly he is aware the rest of the train is filled with the same- anguish, fear, torment. is everyone having nightmares at once?

his mouth parts. there is the briefest brush of his thumb against the wetness on her cheek to wipe it away before she can even realize what is happening. his hand tightens on her arm over the tattoo as if in reassurance- that is what he attempts to send through even as he struggles to grip hold of the icy exterior once more. he can't in this moment when her expression is in such pain, such horror, when there are tears in her eyes. ]

...are you okay?

[valeas]

[ a silence lingers. emilia doesn't know how to answer, and she's all too aware of the intimate position she landed them in while trapped in her nightmare. she'd almost prefer the icy indifference — her heart would bear it much better than this gentle concern she can't logic away.

in the end, she takes a page out of his favored book and foregoes addressing the question altogether. she swallows, fingers loosening their vise-like grip on his shirt. carefully, she extricates herself from his arms and unfurls to her proper height. she ignores the fact her legs don't feel quite so steady. ]

We should wake the others.

[ if their dreams are anything like hers, they're in pain. they believe they're dying. ]

[inferus]

[ wrath follows her up, standing on his own feet in a mere moment after she has brought herself to her own feet. he can sense her unsteadiness. his hand rests against her arm briefly if only to help her find her balance even if she wouldn't want him to. he looks away from her down the line of cars- wagons and the people, the turmoil that he can still feel them having.

he is a breath away from her - the question clear in the intensity of his dark and gold eyes. ]

...what was it of?

[ he releases a breath, knowing she is unlikely to answer despite his concern. still he asks. ]

[valeas]

( emilia knows one word from her would stay his hand.

whatever she may think of him now, think of what the two of them shared, she knows this to be true. it's always been so, even at their most volatile and angry. call it a wrath thing, call it damned demon etiquette — if she wants him to stay back, he'll stay back. and she hates that she fails to want it. )

Nothing that will serve you. And why do you care?

( he's made his own stance all too clear. )

[inferus]

[ wrath straightens as he stares at her. why do you care? as if he hasn't shown time and time again that he does despite his better judgement, despite him knowing exactly how dangerous emotional entanglements are.

does she think even when he held her hand after she had been so deeply carved out by lust was part of some plan? does she think she would urge her to eat and play games with her because he did not care?

he is crossed between offended and hurt, angry and insistent.

he opens his mouth to reply, but that is when the harpies choose to attack, and they have more pressing matters to attend to. ]