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

[somebadnews]

[ Five tries to be patient while he continues to walk ahead and Allison studies their surroundings, if only because the option waiting for them isn't much better. He can admit that whatever is weighing on his mind might not be strictly rational. Just another bad feeling based on a very specific experience.

The moment she reacts to something he didn't notice, he freezes, already tense as he prepares to fight off whatever is there. He follows her gaze down the corridor, then looks at her with concern. ]

What is it?

[rumorate]

[For a minute, she waits. She wants to see if she'll speak again, or make herself visible.

Nothing comes.]

I thought I heard Claire.

[It's likely the cavern playing tricks on her, she knows that, but she still moves to follow it, just in case. Just to be safe.]

[somebadnews]

[ Claire. All at once, he regrets encouraging Allison to come down here again. He's aware of how long it's been since she's seen her daughter, largely because of him, and it quiets him as he thinks of the repercussions.

Trailing slightly behind, he lets her guide them to where she thought she heard her. He's not the right person to offer comfort, but he can give her the time she needs to check. ]

Be careful.

[rumorate]

[It's not all Five's fault. If it weren't for Five, Claire would have been dead in the Apocalypse anyway. Then again, if it weren't for Five, we wouldn't be sitting in a existential crisis over whether or not Claire still exists.

It's fine. It's fine.

That being said, Allison nods at Five's warning, but who knows the level at which she'll adhere to it. As she rounds the corner to the next corridor, her face softens a bright smile, and she darts forward towards the fully formed Claire that was clearly calling to her.]

Baby, what are you doing here?

[It's been so long since she's seen her, but at the same time, this is the last place she wants to see her. And she doesn't notice the drips of tar that pool at their feet.]

[somebadnews]

[ If where they're standing isn't proof enough that they've completely screwed up the timeline, he's not sure what is. He intends to keep his promise to get them all back home, and while he hasn't said it, returning Allison to her daughter was one of his chief concerns. There's nothing he wouldn't do to see that happen.

When she calls out to her, his heart sinks, and he really expects nothing to be there when he rounds the next corner.

So to see the little girl standing in front of them is a shock to his system. His mouth hangs open, and he does nothing to stop Allison as she rushes to her. It doesn't make sense that she'd be here. It's not safe. But...

If she is...

He takes a few cautious steps forward, looking down at the niece he never got to meet. This feels wrong. Like he's intruding, but he can't look away from them. All the time he had to think about it, he never came up with what he'd say to her. ]

That's Claire?

[rumorate]

Yeah.

[Allison swipes at her face before she turns to face her brother, moving to stand behind her daughter and put her hands on Claire's shoulders. Claire glances back to Five, confused, and Allison squeezes her shoulders reassuringly.]

Claire, this is your Uncle Five.

[The girl's eyes brighten and she looks over at him, with the beaming smile that only a child can give, and she waves brightly.

"Hi, Uncle Five!"]

[somebadnews]

[ He hates how hard it is to accept what he's seeing with his own eyes, no matter what his instincts tell him. Allison seems so convinced that he can't bring himself to warn her against getting close.

When Claire greets him at her mother's prompting, without questioning a word, his mouth goes dry. It takes him more time to get up his nerve, then he manages a small smile and breaks the awkward silence he created. ]

Hello, Claire.

[ Somehow it seems important to repeat her name, as if that can cement her where they are, and he finds that he wants to memorize her face that isn't obscured in some burned up tabloid. ]

She looks like you. [ His voice cracks in the middle, and he curses himself for saying something so obvious. Another moment and he abruptly steps back to give them the space they deserve. ]

[rumorate]

Yeah, she does.

[Which isn't something that ever really mattered before, because for her, family was a bond more than it was blood. But the fact that people can see that she and Claire were family, were made for each other in a way that the rest of the Hargreeves siblings may not have been, it was a piece that always felt like it was missing.

Maybe especially because none of her siblings ever looked like her.

"Mom used to tell me about all your adventures before I went to bed," Claire grins, leaning back into her mother. "You guys were so cool."]

[somebadnews]

[ He looks up at Allison then, surprised that she even talked about him after he disappeared, let alone tell the stories that included him. She seems so genuinely happy about him being there, of trying to keep him from feeling excluded. It's a strange sort of acceptance that he didn't count on. ]

Did she?

[ That was so long ago and he's so far away from that boy he used to be, no matter what he looks like now. Which leaves him all the more unsure of how to act around someone so innocent.

It hasn't occurred to him what they'll do now. How they'll keep her safe. His gaze falls to the ground, and the tar that's trailing around them that he's only now noticing. That feels like a warning sign, but he's not sure why exactly. ]

Listen, we shouldn't stay here too long. [ He tries not to make that sound scary, though he's more outwardly concerned than usual. ] I can take us back out.

[rumorate]

["Yeah! My favorite was the one where you stopped the bank robbers." And the Effiel Tower. And the robbery at the museum. But Five wasn't in all of those, so it's best to keep to the relevant ones.

Allison doesn't disagree with that. Claire shouldn't be in this temple - it could be dangerous, but before she can say so, Claire interrupts.

"Wait! There's something I have to show you!" And before Allison can stop her, she takes off further into the cavern.]

Claire, wait!

[somebadnews]

[ He looks back up and smiles very briefly when she mentions the bank robbers. Ironic that she would bring that up, so soon after he cleaned out a bank. Those early years feel like another life, and it's almost hard to remember it actually happened.

But then she runs off and Five watches her go, only jolted to alarm when Allison shouts. He looks at his sister, slightly perplexed, then takes off after her a moment later. He refrains from jumping until he has to, but he's prepared in case Allison isn't able to calm her down.

That bad feeling persists. Where could she possibly be going? ]

Hey, stay with us.

[rumorate]

[Claire doesn't slow down. She keeps leading them further into the tunnels, and Allison tries to keep close on her heels, needing to know where her daughter is taking them. She tries to ignore the drops of tar, but eventually it reaches a point where her feet start to get stuck. Her steps stumble as she has to fight to get her foot free from one of the drops, and her mind starts to put the clues together.

She sees the black tinge on the edges of Claire's fingers. The tar footprints she's leaving behind.

Something isn't right, and she starts to slow.]

[somebadnews]

[ The pools of tar they pass burn like a phantom memory. Paranoia sets in as Claire moves further down the tunnels, and it starts to feel more and more like the obvious trap it is. A betrayal waiting to happen.

When Allison stumbles he jolts to attention, eyes snapping away from Claire for a threat, but she yanks herself free from the tar before he can help. He's close enough to be struck by the look on her face, and he follows her gaze to the source of the tar that he now notices dripping off of the little girl ahead of them.

It takes a few seconds more for him to understand before waves of dread halt him in his steps, and he wildly searches for an enemy that isn't there. Nobody outside of the three of them, isolated from anyone else who could interfere. ]

Allison. [ He says her name like a warning, shifting focus between the two of them, tense but dangerously uncertain how she'll react. His fists glow blue at his side. ]

[rumorate]

I know.

[Part of it does feel like a betrayal. The one face she wants to see more than any other, appearing in a place like this. She had hoped more than anything that she would find a way to get all of them home together. But now, it's a all a ruse, a temptation designed to draw her to where she's not supposed to be.

Claire stops when she realizes she isn't being followed, before turning back to her mother. "Mom? Are you coming?"

Allison wants to say yes. But she knows she can't. She also knows she can't be given the choice. She reaches out to take Five's arm.]

Go.

[somebadnews]

[ He feels a rush of relief that he doesn't have to do more to convince her. If she hadn't agreed, he would have taken no pleasure in forcing her to leave. He glances at Claire as she continues to speak, and the darkness ahead where they were being lead to, but any lingering questions are brushed aside with an understanding nod when Allison grabs his arm.

He doesn't give her a chance to change her mind, and quickly pulls at the fabric of space to rip a hole for them to go through.

They jump out near the entrance of the temple, as far away as he can manage. Once he confirms there aren't any enemies waiting nearby, or tar gathering around them, he turns all of his attention to his sister.

He tells himself it was the right thing to do. But even if there are forces beyond him here, he shouldn't have let that happen, and he has a couple of false starts before he says the only thing that seems appropriate. ]

... I'm sorry.

[rumorate]

Not your fault.

[Allison moves to sit on the stairs of the temple, not feeling all that steady on her feet. Whether it be the teleportation or the feeling of hope being ripped out from under her, she can't say. All she knows is that she already feels the loss, even though she knows it wasn't real.]

I should have known better.

[She's her mother. She should have known. Seen the differences between the imposter and the little girl she misses so much. But with the time that she's been away, would she even know? The creature was built out of the haze of her memories - all of the good things, none of the bad.]

[somebadnews]

[ Five means to be attentive, but his expression twists into a grimace as she moves past him and the loss she must feel radiates off of her. Because, as he remembers, he's going insane. As she moves to sit, he pulls at his hair and tries to smother the feeling back down.

His eyes are glassy when he sits beside her on the steps and he has to concentrate on what she said. The insight he may have gotten into how she feels only makes it worse. He has an urge to put a hand on her shoulder, but it seems awkward coming from him, and he only ends up staring ahead. ]

It's not... [ He frowns. ] You couldn't have known. She showed up the same way you did.

[rumorate]

[Even with everything that's going on, Allison's still the insightful sister for a reason. Her eyes track him as he moves around her, notes the grimace on his face and while it could just be simple empathy, something about this is off.

It's a note for later, a concern for when she's finished dealing with her own shit and can handle his.]

But she was exactly what I wanted her to be. All the upsides and none of the problems.

[She shakes her head, brushing the back of her hand against her cheek to swipe one of the tears away.]

I wanted a chance to make things better than where I left them.

[somebadnews]

[ He takes some long breaths and listens intently, staying present no matter how painful it is. Objectively, he's furious that they would cross that line. Whatever is at work here, they pulled from her memories for the sole purpose exploiting a vulnerability. And there's nothing he can do about it.

Yet Allison seems to want to take the blame instead, and that puzzles him the most. It makes him want to know more about her daughter, about her life that he missed out on, beyond the excerpts in Vanya's book and the little scraps of information he could find in the wasteland. He knew why they were separated, but so many of the details were lost.

He chooses the wrong time to look back at her, seeing the tears in her eyes, and he tries to push down the anguish it stirs in him. After a long silence he asks, more tentatively than he's used to being: ]

Did you really tell her stories about us?

[rumorate]

They were her favorite.

[She smiles softly, but her eyes stay focused on the cavern ahead of them. She misses her daughter so much.]

She wanted to hear them over and over again. She knew all our code names, and she knew the stories better than I did. She wouldn't go to sleep until she heard at least one.

[somebadnews]

[ He follows her gaze with a slight hum. It means something to him, that her daughter knew who he was, as something other than a cautionary tale he suspected Reginald meant him to be when he hung his portrait over the mantle.

God, that was so long ago. The loss she feels is fresh, and he doesn't know what to do with it. He crosses his arms and works on some more productive thinking. It's a while before he comes to any conclusion. ]

... I wasn't supposed to meet her yet. [ He at least sounds sure when he says it, like he's thought about this. ] Not until we got back and I'd fixed everything. It wasn't the right time.

[rumorate]

[The confidence makes her smile, because maybe he's right. Maybe it wasn't the right time.]

One day it will be.

[She reaches over and takes his hand.]

We just have to get home first.

[somebadnews]

[ He's nearly startled when she takes his hand, then confused, but he manages not to pull back and gets himself to relax after a moment.

He looks back at her, watching her expression carefully until he's sure she's alright. ]

We will. You have my word.

[rumorate]

[She's not. Not really. But she'll survive. As far as she knows, Claire is still out there to go home too, and it's just solidifying her resolve to do just that.

As soon as they find Diego, Luther and Klaus.

She swipes at her cheek before nodding.]

We should go back and find the others.

[somebadnews]

[ Five can tell she doesn't want to talk about it any more, and there's a small amount of relief in that. He isn't great at doing this. If they keep talking and he made her cry more, he's not sure how he'd handle it.

He's still reluctant to move, needing just a moment more to sit with the emotion he is almost positive is coming from her. Which is, again, crazy. But then he blinks a few times and starts to get up. ]

If that's what you want to do. [ He hesitates where he stands, glancing to the dark entrance behind them. ] ... We don't have to go back in there, if you'd rather not take a chance. They can find their own way.