the lighthouse & plot rolls

[groundrules]

Did someone say to… turn off the lights? Brace to explore Ellethia’s ghostly lighthouse — and help with a freshly baked plot roll. The below should tide us until 6 February.

If you’ve received a plot roll and want to rally the troops for assistance, feel free to top level for your search here, or do your own lostcompass post, hunt down a carrier pigeon…

Note: Ellethia is surprisingly fertile ground for plot opportunities, and there is "spare plot" for about four more character. If you missed the 'deadline' to ask for a roll but still want one, drop a line in one of the subsections! But don't feel pressured: the people who have received a plot roll will need a lot of support, and there're plenty of ways to get involved with their roll. Allocated, thank you!

THE LIGHTHOUSE

---

Crawling, clandestine or crumbling, you’ve made your way to the mist-drenched lighthouse of Ellethia-Hamsour — a gargantuan, converted tower that regularly flashes an eerie green light signal. Those who know MORSE code can recognise a strange mix of BEWARE, STAY AWAY, DANGER — and COME THIS WAY.

The compulsion to possess the lighthouse disappears when characters come in a 3km radius of it. In the tower surroundings, they can find sweet water wells, vegetable gardens, chicken coops and sheep, all seemingly well looked after and self-replenishing overnight. These plants and creatures are not subject to Ellethia’s life-death-rebirth cycles. Characters who stay within the aforementioned 3km range of the lighthouse can now safely remove their haute couture red gear, Enam reveals. He urges the party to reside at the lighthouse for the next three weeks, at the end of which one of the Merchant’s ships will collect them to travel east.

Characters can journey back and forth to Ellethia-Allayar over this period.

The tower spreads over 12 floors, featuring exceptionally high and vast rooms with emptied bookcases, sturdy tables, and scatterings of technological tools on the ground. On the walls, mindful visitors can spot discreet engravings of an eye with a sun instead of a pupil. A room on the ground and first floor each have cracked signs, spelling out IN TI T OF TE N LO and IBRAR O AR S, respectively. The 8th and 9th floor house well-used sleeping quarters, with bathing rooms located on the 6th floor. The 10th floor is all one large room, barren except for the wealth of very thin, crushed shards of various mirror types. The 5th floor hosts several long, ornate discussion tables — at night, those who travel it can hear ghostly whispers of vitriolic conversation, with speakers insulting each other and their impudence.

Those who spend time in the 1st to 4th floor past midnight will sometimes hear screams urging everyone to retreat, as “they come from above.” Sometimes, the long staircases will grow wet overnight with blood and decay, which disappear come morning. Across the various floors, the nightly ‘soundtrack’ includes panicked shouts, glass smashing, feral screams similar to those of the undead and running steps.

Image source.

The lighthouse keeper Zenobius takes little notice of his visitors, allowing them to make their quarters where they please and partake of his resources. Enam’s helpers supply Kaneki some lugged-around stale dead meat, or he can fish undead mermaids. Using a fluffy sheep as bait is always recommended.

Zenobius is often found on the 12th level, absentmindedly using mirrors, lantern lights and glass panes to flash MORSE indications. He is often rushed, distracted and unwilling to converse. Sometimes, he appears to forget the people he has already encountered; on other occasions, his own name eludes him.

Swarms of mermaids encircle the coastal area close to the lighthouse, furious, feral and trashing to crawl onto shore. Every few days, Zenobius brings broken glass pieces from the 12th floor and throws them in the water, briefly appeasing the creatures before their fury stokes once more.

Every day, Zenobius spends several hours on the 11th floor, whose main entrance is sternly locked and enchanted. Characters can still climb to the 12th floor — where Zenobius sleeps — without entering the 11th floor hallways. To the right of the 11th floor main hallway door is a mechanical device that requires a palm print, which Zenobius seems uses for entry. On the door, a sign asks, WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR? Scratched beneath it, possibly by human nails, TURN BACK. For each time they want to enter the 11th floor halls, characters must speak a different wish and face the consequences.

Inside the room sleep 10 men and women of various ages, seemingly comatose on stone slates. Some show signs of scratches or healed bite injury. Depending on the hour of entry, you might find Zenobius sponge washing their bodies, combing their hair, mending their clothes or massaging their limbs.

The Sleepers live.


PLOT ROLLS

■ Lily, Joker and Anduin

■ Five and Daenerys

■ Yennefer, Eleven and Moiraine

■ Lorna, Wrench and Marcos

■ Zuko and Slick

■ John Connor and Kaneki

■ Hermione and Jon Snow

Comments

QUESTIONS

[groundrules]

Let's try to keep questions for anything exploration-linked until 25 January, if possible - thank you!

Re: QUESTIONS

[binghua]

Can any of the ghostly voices/screams/commotion be conversed with or are they more like permanent echoes?

[groundrules]

If he attempts to engage with the screams, Xingchen will find they are neither 'ghosts' nor 'echoes' — there is no sign of anything human, past or present, about them.

[binghua]

Well

This is a lovely place

[groundrules]

There are, however, traces of otherness to them. Something unlike magic, unlike ghostliness, unlike living things.

Other.

[blackscales]

Wrathion is interested in exploring how the Lighthouse vs the rest of Ellethia works a little, if it's holding back whatever is causing the life-death-rebirth cycle or healing people of it as they enter and... the source of the compulsion that dragged them here. He'll sort of play around on the limits initially, bring in a creature that's been impacted by the cycle and see if it change once within them, explore exactly where they are and what he can sense from things around the tower. I know the compulsion is gone within the limits, but I wasn't sure if there are any other magical signatures around the tower that might feel interesting to him -- beyond the enchantment on the 11th floor!

[groundrules]

— So, there're no magical presences here. There is definitely a sense of Otherness that typically appears with the screams and signs of bloodshed. But they are not ghosts, nor regular hauntings.

— what sort of creature is Wrathion bringing to the tower for his 'experiment,' animal or mermaid?

[blackscales]

Animal! He's avoiding the mermaids.

[groundrules]

All right! With animals, you'll notice:

— once the creature is brought within the 3km radius, it is no longer subject to the death-rebirth cycle
— technically the death-rebirth cycle effect starts to gradually ease from around the 3.5km mark, it's progressive
— the creature will stay at whatever point in its life cycle it was brought in (ex: a bunny brought in at 6am with the physical shape of a three-months-old would stay like that )
— it'd be hard to capture unless he brings in insects of some kind and has the experience to tell the difference, but once in the 3km radius, animals no longer age
— animals in the 3km radius also appear more docile and compliant with men, as if they're effectively there for their human masters

I think that's about it!

[blackscales]

One other question set of questions:

before Wrathion has an hour long breakdown exiting the sleepers hall he'd be nosing around it a little.

- At a glance, do the bite injuries on the sleepers look animal-caused or... you know, person (or potentially siren) caused?
- Just to potentially add to the long string of mistakes this floor is causing him to make, I think on realising they're solidly asleep and unwakeable he might try to get a quick empathic read on one to judge its mental state. You know, are they peacefully asleep or Suffering! I guess -- would this work is my question? And if so, would the answer (based on a quick skim of the people more involved in this) basically be 'a preview of the agony he is about to get for a solid hour on leaving this room'. I figured I'd just check in case it would do anything else fucky, before I Assumed. (No particular target he's trying on, just any of them)

Thanks!

[groundrules]

Heya:

— bites coincide with human teeth size and patterns

— the Sleepers aren't resting peacefully and are severely distraught by whatever it is they're dreaming or experiencing.

[blackscales]

Thanks, this is what I thought! 1 star only to this place on tripadvisor.

[groundrules]

You literally get free board and breakfast.

[enucleation]

I forgot to ask about this but MIGHT AS WELL since it came up

but does the beating heart kaneki carry ever does anything weird/different than just beat nonstop?

[groundrules]

Not for now, no!

[chosenbylight]

SO I have a question/several questions, with regards to Zenobius.

As Lan Wangji has so astutely observed, Anduin is a Good Boy. He also Really wants to know what's up with this lighthouse. He has some ideas, based on the broken tools, the cracked signs, and the fact that Zenobius is the only person they've found (other than the sleepers) in the whole of Ellethia. But he'd probably do what he could to gain Zenobius' trust so that he might get another hint and Better Understand. Tactics would include hanging around in his general vicinity and Observing him, using his Healing Light to ease the old man's arthritis, when he sees that he's looking stiff, and generally being gentle and understanding with him when he seems less than with it.

Would Anduin be able to pick anything else up from Zenobius from spending this time with him and being a Good Boy, or would it just be a big ol' waste of time?

[groundrules]

If all Anduin is doing it observing, I don't think he'd get much out of Zenobius, beyond a great deal of gratitude for the help with his arthritis!

[chosenbylight]

WELL he would be talking to him too, trying to get through to him.

But if all he's doing is offering free healing, that's fair haha -- he's CURIOUS but he's no professional investigator by any stretch of the word...

[groundrules]

What would he be asking? Please be very specific and try to avoid broad questions, if possible.

[weifinder]

Following up on the Merchant's post -- can Zenobius be pulled up out of the dried well and at least brought back into the tower? AND FOR FOLLY'S SAKE










can i finally use empathy--

[groundrules]

Yes, he can be pulled out, please keep this man in some kind of decent condition.

He's asleep, not dead, fyi!

[weifinder]

LMF yeah he's gonna help this guy out

And yes, I figured he was just enduringly sleepy! Empathy here is more because he's not awake, since it's not restricted to being used on the dead (bless you Drama for that)

Mostly relevant because if so, he's askign Lan Wangji to be his anchor, which is. You know, something I'm sure Wangji's happy about

[downswing]

[groundrules]

Okay.

But in the spirit of not making things too easy, you can have either:

— a short, continuous and cohesive sequence

— multiple small stitches of memory you'll have to piece together, from glimpses to sound, etc

Pick one!

[silverneedles]

How injured is Zenobius once he's pulled out of the well (assuming they are careful with pulling him out)?