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

[scrapgege]

It could be.

[It would be nice if it was. Xie Lian doesn't want to get his hopes up, though. he waited for a year once, and Hua Cheng waited for him so much longer. Plus, he still has the crystal made of Hua Cheng's ashes with him and it's safe, so...]

Or maybe not. Most ghosts like to be a little dramatic about things, and I'm sure these are the same.

[somebadnews]

Well, I'm no expert.

[ He looks up up and down again. He doesn't get it, but he doesn't get most people. ]

How familiar are you with them?

[scrapgege]

Well, these particular ghosts are scared of me, but, in general I have met a lot of ghosts and spirits in my life. Most of them are pretty nice as long as you don't bother them.

[Which is obviously not the same as what's happening here.]

These ghosts are on a mission. On a loop, almost. They're stuck. They need a way out.

[somebadnews]

[ That's not really what his brother told him, but maybe he just attracts the more traumatized. ]

Maybe you were onto something when you tried to feed them.

[scrapgege]

I don't think they'll let me do it again, hahaha.

[Not that he's tried either. He feels pretty bad about what happened.]

It would be best if they could move on to their next life. Instead, something is making them redo this trip over and over again.

[somebadnews]

[ Five wouldn't mind it so much if the ghosts were scared of him. If it was actually intentional, it wasn't a bad plan. ]

Something like what?

[ Because it's getting to be a problem. ]

[scrapgege]

Ghosts tend to be get... obsessive about things.

[To say the least.]

They'll repeat a situation again, and again, hoping to hang the outcome they got when they were still alive. But you can't change the past. This man, Ahra... he will never be able to change the fact that he went to find his lover and he and his army died.

But he can't get over it, so he's trying to do it again and make something different happen.

[somebadnews]

[ He wonders where the blood rain factors in. And the harpies, for that matter, if it's all tied together. ]

You've seen it before? Any idea on how to break the cycle?

[scrapgege]

Well, it kind of depends on each individual ghosts and what their obsession is. Some of them will never be truble and just lingers for a while. For some others... either you find a way for them to move on on their own, or you make them.

[He stops for a second, his hand closing on the ring hanging from a chain around his neck.]

And if neither works, sometimes you have to kill them.

[somebadnews]

[ Five turns towards him, suddenly very focused. Every now and then something relevant comes out of nowhere. ]

How do you kill a ghost?

[scrapgege]

It depends how powerful they are.

Most small spirits don't need much, just a bit of spiritual energy. As logn as you have more than they do, it's easy to take care of them with that, or talismans and spells.

But when they are Wraths, or Calamities, they'e very powerful. So the only way is to destroy their ashes if you want to make them disappear completely.

[He gives a look around at th spectral shapes.]

Those aren't very powerful ghosts, but their general, he could very well be a Wrath, with his level of obsession and resentment.

[somebadnews]

[ He files that information away, nodding like he understands. Whatever he's thinking, he doesn't voice it until he comes up with his next question. ]

And the blood rain and the harpies. Would they disappear with them?

[scrapgege]

If it's them doing it, yes. If it comes from something different, we might need to find the cause for that...

[But it would be weird for there to be another ghosts or spirit capable of such high level illusions around.]

[somebadnews]

[ The rain will probably start soon, so he tries to make good use of the time. ]

Is anyone looking?

[scrapgege]

I think Maste Wei is looking into it, yes. A few people have been reading the letters to try and understand things, and some people have managed to talk to the ghosts.

[somebadnews]

[ He doesn't see the connections between all of these pieces, but it's been so hard to think with the effort it takes to ignore whatever else is going on with him. Frowning, he gives him a sidelong glance. ]

And what are you doing?

[scrapgege]

... Trying not to be a bother?

[Really, he's just staying out of everyone's way and helping with all the housekeeping tasks that are not cooking, since he's been banned from that.]

[somebadnews]

[ He narrows his eyes, obviously restraining himself. ]

It sounded like you had experience dealing with this.

[scrapgege]

It's not a good idea for someone like me to meddle in these things unless something gets really dangerous.

[He's... very overpowered, even with the limitations he has. And also he knows, only too well, the consequences of meddling too much when unasked.]

If they get really aggressive, I'll protect people. They're scared of me, so it will help. For now, as long as they don't actually hurt anyone, it's best I don't touch them.

[somebadnews]

[ He should have known that would just lead to more questions. ]

Best for who?

[scrapgege]

For everyone.

I have... really bad luck. If I decide to intervene, it's probably not going to end well for anyone involved.

[If he ends up being forced to, that's different, but putting his nose in first is something he knows he shouldn't do.]

I won't let anyone get hurt, though.

[somebadnews]

[ Extremely vague... The hell is that supposed to mean. ]

Bad luck. Like with your cooking?

[scrapgege]

... My cooking is fine.

[No it's not, but shhhh.]

It's a curse.

... I'm not being metaphorical here. It's an actual curse, that someone put on me a very long time ago. I only learned about it pretty recently, and it has explained a lot of what has happened to me over the years. It was supposed to be lifted, but when I arrived here, the curse shackle was back on my body, and it's not something I can remove on my own.

So, I have to be careful about meddling in things I should not. There's a good chance it could end up making things worse.

[somebadnews]

[ At that, he actually turns towards him, like he can just see a curse by looking at him. In any case, he doesn't immediately disbelieve him and it takes his hostility down a peg. ]

How did you find out?

[scrapgege]

Well, I knew I had a curse shackle on me and what it was for. I just didn't quite realize how badly it could affect all areas of my life for a long time, I suppose. And then, the shackles were broken and they were supposed to be gone, but when I arrived here, I found them back on my body.

[Both of them, too. The one limiting his power and the one limiting his luck. So that's why he's trying not to do too much.]

I don't how or why that's happened, but it's there, so I'd rather be careful, just in case.