lostcompass | the lighthouse & plot rolls

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Since Cella needs to hiatus, I’m on my own for this one now! Let’s say that he wound up alone with it for the night and wishes to spare Hermione any harm.

Jon is full of misgivings about the box, but to start with, he makes a wish on it. He wishes to know who will be hurt if he opens it.

Edit: to speed this up, on the second day he will wish to know who will be helped if he opens it.

Edited 2022-02-04 05:23 (UTC)

Heya! So, just to be clear: it's not Jon who needs to make a wish. He will feel compelled to get someone else to make a wish.

His wishes don't really count for this one!

Will do, later today!

Is he allowed to try to influence them?

More than that - he's outright compelled to use whatever means necessary to make a wish. If you want Jon to bludgeon them into submission, consider him incentivised.

If you want him to influence what they wish for... yeah, let's say sure, it's a loophole, we respect the hustle.

But that's just the price for delays, though - it's not going to open the box.

Just popping in to say Jon is dragging Dany into making a wish. Her wish is going to be to ask who would be helped if he opens the box (influenced by Jon).

Sure - you guys can also make a post asking if other folks want to help, so it doesn't end up just burdening Jon and Dany. Up to you.

I'm afraid I don't 100% understand her wish — who would be helped? As in, who would benefit?

(I grabbed some people in chat! Now we have two good “””useful””” wishes and a meat bun.)

Sure — I'm giving you the result of both wishes here to keep things centralised, hope that works:

Wish I (Daenerys): Who will benefit from opening the box?
She'll go blind a day, seeing the void.

Wish II (Sizhui): Who will be harmed by opening the box?
...he will also go blind one day, seeing the void.

( To clarify, this is the box's way of saying 'no one' in both instances. )

hehehehehehehe.

For what it’s worth, the last wish is apparently gonna be Xie Lian wishing for a meat bun. But confirmation on that should be coming.

Anyway, Jon has tried what he could to get information (although that doesn’t include trying to talk to Zenobius about it!) and do the right thing (other than outing himself as a dirty thief), but ultimately he’d be disturbed by the strength of his own compulsion to make people wish. The reason he’d be disturbed by it is, well, look at the outcome of everyone’s compulsion to rebuild the mirror. It did not go well for him!

So before he can drag in a fourth person, he goes a little away from everyone else, and uses the key to open the box.

Very nice!

Upon opening the box, young master Snow will discover... papers. A great deal of them, comprising some biographies, some notices of promotions, some notes regarding projects.

The gist of them, in summary:
— this tower was once the institute of technology
— the institute board committee set pressure and repeatedly trimmed deadlines (Jon can find at least five papers noting revisions, with each deadline closer and closer) for the project
— at least eight of the mirrors originated from sea or water origins, according to sheets that detail their size, weight and tactile attributes (nothing magical described; this is literally just what they look and physically feel like)
— several papers are clear propaganda praising the magical achievements of Taravast; some printed (newspaper?) clips mention the Ellethia government setting out an ambitious target to improve economic and reputational growth by taking on Taravast's mantle as a magical hub
— at least 110 technicians, hall workers and support aides were employed at the tower in its last days of service, according to a kitchen hall headcount sheet
— a document notes 23 new experiment and study specimens conscripted into the project
— several notes on an ongoing mirror project: at least 48 mirrors accrued and under study
— Jon can find the background and work biographies of several technicians, including the 16 senior technicians responsible for the project. Zenobius was one. Based on physical descriptions, you can see the sleepers are among them.
— one name is heavily (angrily?) crossed out on a page noting this individual as lead technician and senior board member. Alongside it is a paper announcing their resignation with immediate effect on 'on grounds of ethical concern and with utmost regard for national safety'
— relevant to Kaneki and John's inquiry, you can find a CV work biography for Matthias Lemaitre, alongside a notice dated to the day of the previous resignation — in this second notice, Matthias is promoted to lead technician and board member on an emergency basis, with immediate effect

confirming Xie Lian wishing for a meat bun, feel free to roll with his usual bad luck and make it literally any meat.

As Kaneki can attest, here in eastbound, we like to reward thriving cannibalism.

You get mermaid meat and the sirens screeching and assaulting you at every opportunity for a few days, Xie Lian.

Still tastes like sushi, though.