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lostcompass2021-08-07 08:03 pm
groundrules) wrote in lostcompass2021-08-07 08:03 pm
arc ii: taravast | arrival
Welcome to Taravast! Spend some quality time with the the brief of the citadel locations & team assignments. The below events should keep characters busy until around 31 August. Feel free to make your own posts and logs, though some mod-led log posts will be put on for certain events. Don't forget to share your character plans here!
The Story So Far page has been updated with a summary of the Stairs of Sighs interlude happenings, and a new NPC inbox featuring Taravast's who's who is now up. You can find a link to the old inbox and all your threads there.
Lastly: questions.
Mazyar leads the caravan into Taravast in the footsteps of a grandiose convoy of large animals, carts of gold, artefacts and spices — the retinue of the foreign princess Odile, come to persuade young Macaluso to pick her among the dozens vying to become his consort.
- ■ Yes, characters are effectively Odile’s back-up dancers when Macaluso receives her in the main piazza of Taravast. Characters will receive local garments, their upgraded communicators and masks, as per Taravast custom. Anurr and his undead go mysteriously missing.
■ Earn an ally by supporting Odile's marital cause. Macaluso enjoys gifts and exotic act performances, and he might think better of Odile for an exceptional offering. Alternatively, there’s good old-fashioned wingmanery. Let Odile be your muse.
OBJECTIVE: Figure out three gifts or hustles to raise Odile in Macaluso's graces. Or she can go back to swiping right. Masks will keep Macaluso from recognising you later...!
Pride once tattered, the party falls in the sticky hands of eccentric and influential Lady Rigarda, a friend of the Merchant who reveals the game:
- ■ Macaluso and his cousin Vannozza will soon begin their electoral campaign to win the Conclave's support to succeed their grandfather Bonaccorso as Doxe.
■ Bonaccorso cautiously refuses to restart the ancient beacon of Taravast, but gratitude could compel his heir. To cover all bases, characters have been divided to support both contenders, but those assigned to Macaluso have been told to discreetly sabotage him so Vannozza triumphs.
■ Rigarda allocates characters their Taravast identities, introducing them to key noblemen and their benefactors. For good or ill, many in Taravast have already heard of their reputations. Characters will be put in Macaluso or Vannozza’s wing of the Palace of the Doxe. Rigarda will warn them against public contact that betrays their collaboration. The communicator channel is private to the party.
■ Bonaccorso’s kin will prove scarce: Macaluso busily receives his suitors, flaunting his marriage as a recourse to strengthen Taravast's foreign ties. Vannozza hunts or visits the healing and necromantic districts. Gossips say she is often indisposed.
■ Attaryl witches will be apprehensive distant from fire magic practitioners, while Bessis adepts will lure them into their fold, or begrudge them the liberal use of 'their' arts.
■ Over three-four days, characters can roam Taravast, explore court, start befriending the districts or poke and prod at various magical and art institutions. 'Borrow' local garments and guard uniforms to infiltrate the academies, the inner areas of the healers' district, or the reception rooms of Macaluso and Vannozza. Careful of curious glances: you may find yourselves followed by invisible eyes, amid a fleeting sinking feeling.
■ On day three, demonstrators will invade the gardens of the Palace of the Doxe, objecting to Macaluso for 'selling out' Taravast with his marriage plans. Macaluso sends guards out, escalating the largely peaceful demonstration to violent clashes. Help the poorly armed protestors escape — discreetly, if you work for Macaluso — seize them, or watch on. The floor is yours.
■ Some protestors (...or even characters) will end up imprisoned with shackles and magical wards in the jailhouse of the Rooms of Justice. You could break these folks out.
OBJECTIVE: figure out your stance on the protesters, set up base and explore. You'll need it.
Macaluso will welcome his visiting royal suitors at a masquerade ball, with beloved cousin Vannozza and her allies also in attendance.
- ■ The pair's electoral champions — that's you! — will receive top seats at two separate tables, with Macaluso even bringing a delicate celebratory confection to his guests.
■ Enjoy that sweet tooth while you have it. Those who consume the confection will find their senses and their strength gradually sapped, threatening to kill them within three days. The poisoning, which will not affect characters assigned to Vannoza, will be blamed on a protestor found dead in the kitchens.
■ Macaluso will bring in healers to address the sickness. Stumped, one of them will suggest a superstitious all-cure: the feathers of a magical owl, whose kind was last seen in the Spina hunting grounds. Alas, only the lady Vannozza enters the site freely, keeping the ground keys in her quarters. Another healer will recommend the necromantic district and its underground 'potions' brewers.
OBJECTIVE: ...stay alive?
NOTE: Sign up your character to get poisoned here, with caution: unless characters work to find an antidote, one might not be discovered.
Any member of either team can look for the cure, though Vannozza’s people should be discreet in their pursuit or package their attempts to save the enemy as somehow benefitting the lady.
Some pre-discussed quests or custom plot opportunities emerging from previous involvement:
Five
If he does go the extreme necromancer surgery route, he'll have to deal with those consequences. (I'm still in debate about this, because if he loses one of his senses, not knowing it's temporary... he might have a violent reaction to said necromancers/try to take the mirror back/generally cause a scene, unsure how that would go. The manchild can be dramatic when he feels attacked.)
Regardless of what he plans on doing with the mirror, he'll be snooping around the necromancers, trying to see if any of them are familiar with his brother. He's forever looking for the rest of his family and also keeping an eye on anyone who gets involved with his sisters. Assume if you talk to one of them he wants to know about it and might approach you. (He's also expecting regular check-ins from said family if you don't want him popping in your rooms at the worst times!)
He'll take advantage of his reputation ('wandering artist') by taking notes around Taravast, pretending to be sketching or whatever, particularly when he discovers where the ancient beacon is located. He may teleport into the academies, trying to find more information on it, and if he's caught try to play up a lost kid routine. If he finds out he knows someone taking classes there, he might recruit them to dig up related reading material or snoop around regarding it.
He might also use his artist cover to get alone in a room with whoever, say he's painting their portrait, etc... (He's about as convincing as an artist as he is a teenager, but.......) He'll also be in need of a drink (coffee or alcohol) for his general survival and could be found raiding local establishments. If any of them happen to care about him appearing underage, he'll have something to say, but so far that hasn't come up!
Plans are up in the air and very fluid but generally in the best case scenario: Five is well suited to spying, and his teleporting can come in handy. (Stealing things, getting you out of jail free, visiting your neighbor without getting caught, etc.) He's also very good at faking manners when he wants to. He has enough going on that he won't be one of the poisoned, but he's able to blink in and out of places to contribute to finding a cure when that comes up. (Thank Allison for insisting.)
Sadly he may soon be out of all that coin he stole from the bank that has kept him afloat all this time. Que sera sera...
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