lostcompass | feast & famine

FEAST & FAMINE

Trouble stirs in the ‘idyllic’ village of Ke-Waihu, as locals face dark waters and prospective famine ahead of the looming arrival of the lord of the beasts.

■ Covering 17 March — 3 April, the event includes shared goings-on and assigned plot rolls. Characters signed up for plot rolls should please share relevant discovered information with the group via network posts/carrier pigeon.

■ You can help with a plot roll even if you didn’t volunteer for it — just talk to the players who did!

■There is currently no plan for a mod-posted log, but one can be put up on 18 March if at least 10 people say they want it.

■ Lastly, apps close for 4-6 weeks at 23:59 GMT on 15 March — so spread the word / get yours in by then. Thank you!

Feel free to use this post to plot away!

Image source.

THE BIRDS

Starting with 17 March, flocks of vicious birds — comprising anything from common gulls to sweet singers and feathered woodland predators — assail both Ke-Waihu and the village crops. Many of the winged fiends grow quiet and perch overnight. No ravens participate.

■ The maddened birds assault villagers and their lavish fields of grain and wheat, pecking eyes and flesh and stealing or tattering crops.

■ Rune-saddled poles and talisman fences previously warded away the birds. Anguished villages discover these defences have mysteriously rotted down recently, or been demolished. Dark slick can be found at the root of some poles.

■ Local carpenters and priests will need until 25 March to restore the poles and fences, which will once more banish the birds. Help them repair, protect them while they work, or deliver their supplies.

■ Get other locals to safety, within or outside of Ke-Waihu. Beware the birds that attempt to peck their way into walled areas and buildings, often through open or fragile windows and down chimneys.

■ Rush to collect the ripe crops and wheat from fields — Ke-Waihu cannot survive next winter without grains. The Hok-Shinn clan send men to help the work along.

■ Protect the three village granaries from bird devastation.

■ Drop a line by 23:59 GMT on 17 March, if you want your character to be the first one to spot the incoming bird offensive and their mayhem in the fields, and make the group announcement on 18-19 March. This will be a RNG draw, if multiple people sign up.

■ Villagers warn newcomers against killing the birds, which ”remember”. Those who can’t help their bird-murderous ways will find that, after this event, they are often stared at by any raven they encounter, and sometimes dream of a large, black bird spreading its wings.

Image source.

THE FAITHFUL

Between 25 March – 3 April, the village begins to rebuild in wake of the bird onslaught, with locals attributing the latest spell of misfortune to the weight of their communal wrongdoings.

■ Packs of true believers walk the village, hailing the merits of atonement and enthusiastically attempting to convert onlookers.

■ Some of the madmen, homeless people and the unfortunate souls suffering from ‘frowned upon’ poxes and sicknesses appear terrified by the resurgence of the faithful.

■ The Hok-Shinn clan walk the streets in clear formations, appearing more sullen and aggressive than before, and taking liberties and brutalising the villagers — who obsequiously claim no injury or even thank them for the attention. You can infiltrate the Hok-Shinn by pretending to join them — but beware that this may occasionally require characters to commit dubious acts to prove their fealty.

■ Merchants murmur goods have been stolen from their warehouses, while some well-off villagers offer employment to those who would watch their homes for short periods, amid increasing spates of theft. Pair up & volunteer your characters for the work and snooping opportunities!

■ Three young men and a woman go mysteriously missing. Villagers appear unwilling to cause a stir. A bit of sleuthing reveals the departed were exceptionally beautiful, intelligent or skilled at farming chores.

Image source.

THE FEEDING

Over 31 March-3 April, characters may notice strange creatures of tar follow them, come dark. Those who traversed the Stairs of Sighs will notice they have previously encountered such apparitions — though the tar of these creatures is smoother, more liquid, reflective.

■ The creatures start amorphous, but gradually take on the physical appearance of friends or family. Their presence confuses and distracts characters, who are more easily given to think these things are their acquaintances.

■ The creatures follow their targets, often attempting to draw them into the woods and kill them.

■ If you find yourself meeting the eyes of such a creature in a reflective surface (a mirror, well water, polished metal), it will possess you for a day, during which you remain conscious but unable to prevent it from seeking to lure and injure others while in your body. It will slowly sap the energy who sit in your proximity, while it possesses your body.

■ The tar creatures’ hold on their possessed targets sometimes slips, and you can try to signal (through small gestures or messages, texts) that something is afoot. You do not have control of your voice while possessed — the creature does, and can also draw from your memories to credibly build its identity.

■ The creatures can be killed through conventional means, when they are not possessing a body. They take twice as long to revive each time they are murdered. They are not active during the day and cannot enter barred houses. They cannot be killed when they possess a body and must be waited out until they naturally exit their host.

Image source.

THE PLOT ROLLS

Sign-ups for the below mod-led plot rolls have now closed, but characters can still help those who have volunteered to get the job done!

THE FIELDS
XIE LIAN, MARCOS, KANEKI

Plot roll timing: after 23 March.

Strange animal sounds, the disappearance of some of their tools and rivulets of dark water have made villagers fearful of reaping grains from some of their tall and lavish corn fields, at a time when the bird assault has already deprived the village of resources. Villagers ask the trio to investigate the area and retrieve corn.

■ Traveling through the fields, the three find they are frequently tripped, snagged, snared or even entrapped by roots and corn stalks.

■ Sometimes, dormant thorned vines rise unexpectedly from the ground and attempt to choke them. If the trio are “fortunate” enough, they might experience the tickle of surging skeletal hands, fettering their ankles.

■ As they advance through the fields, they are easily lost, able to hear each other’s voices but only find one another again with difficulty.

■ The laughter of children blossoms deep in the fields, while thin streams of dark water trickle at their feet. The coursing water leads to a large ghost tree, whose roots squirm riotously, wet with dark slick and looking to coil around the trio. It seeks to crush them, slam them into the tree’s husk, or bring them inside it, where they can briefly experience the horror of hundreds of souls, before they are spat out.

■ Come close enough to the tree, and you can see the very crude carving of the Ellethian mark: an eye with the sun for a pupil.

■ Kill this tree. No one likes nature. Abolishing the ghost tree will see the dark water rivulets recede and dry out from the fields within hours. They remain anywhere else they’ve invaded.

■ Minimise any damage to the corn fields, or risk leaving locals without winter supplies.

THE VOLCANO
ALLISON, EMILIA, WRATH, LORNA, WRATHION

Plot roll timing: any time before 3 April.

Superstitious villagers who cross the forests to mine or cut wood whisper of noise from big brother Sanwon, the ancient dormant volcano on close proximity. Local scholars fear the possibility of a looming eruption and beg help to voyage through the woods and study the volcano.

■ Reaching Ke-Sanwon, characters encounter the mouths of hell — a line-up of deep, humanoid-shaped cracks into the volcano, serving as entrances into an underground labyrinth. Groans, crackling and sighs can be heard within.

■ The underground passageways are easily confusing, filled with mists of survivable but unpleasant sulphur and swelter. Ideally, bring along a medic, water and torches.

■ As characters progress in their journey within Ke-Sanwon, they are overcome by a sense of itchiness, of heat, and the urge to run deeper within the labyrinth, or to remove their clothes and claw off their skins to abate the heat. They become highly alert and paranoid that their fellow travellers — NPCs or otherwise — are secretly trying to burn them.

■ Characters can sometimes glimpse shadows of humanoid creatures with large, antler-like horns, carrying what appear to be crude weapons. The creatures never truly reveal themselves, but chase after their prey, if their travel torches dim or go off. Take cover, outrun your pursuers or do your best to fight them off — they have not fed in some time.

■ As they head deeper into Ke-Sanwon, the group finds their minds can intermittently synchronise with fellow travellers, able to catch fleeting glimpses of their thoughts or emotions. This ability disappears upon exiting the volcano.

■ They also intermittently experience the fractured memories and petrifying fear of those who entered Ke-Sanwon many years ago: the aforementioned screams and pleas for mercy, voices shrieking of pain, burning and suffering, some crying out they did not willingly come to feed brother Sanwon, while others curse Ke-Waihu and Ke-Waicai, along with their families who deserted them, wishing them no joy of the time that their deaths have bought.

■ if they make it far enough in without losing their lives, characters can discover a large underground hall, bare but seemingly lived, with rags, remains of hunting and burned-out fires scattered around. In the midst of the hall is a small pile of skulls, which telepathically scream out to be taken away and buried.

■ Taking the skulls back to Ke-Waihu will “quiet the volcano” — and win you a reward from Weisi.

THE FORESTS
MOIRAINE, JON SNOW, ANDUIN

Plot roll timing: any time before 3 April.

With the village children and youth now disappearing, locals ask newcomers assistance with perusing the haunted woods and identifying the predators within. The Hok-Shinn clan insist that the problem has been dealt with. The trio are drafted to help and promised a boon for their help from villagers.

■ The forests continue to deploy their magical illusions, which seek to snare characters towards danger and feral animals, with visions of home. Now, the woods creatures appear much more aggressive — a feeling that has even spread to small cute creatures, such as rabbits and squirrels. This excludes foxes.

■ The three and their NPC escort are frequently and increasingly more viciously attacked by an unreasonable number of grotesquely large and fast wolves. Blows that should kill the creatures often seem to miss or spare them.

■ As they advance within, they begin to see (or be assaulted by) animal hybrids: some crosses between different animals (bears with antlers, bats with insect-like legs, boars to the size of horses, etc), and some that seem to have human likenesses.

■ These hybrids can still be killed, but with very high difficulty — you’re better off running or waiting out while they pass. Beware: most creatures seem weirdly capable of catching your scent and finding your position. Do not linger in the same place long.

■ Here and there, you can find remains of cattle meat — the Hok-Shinn have been 'dealing' with the problem by feeding it to keep away from the village.

■ Exploring the forest will take characters to a small submerged creek, from where a large group of hybrids appear to be drinking. The waters have been infested by a thin dark rivulet that pours in.

■ Animals who drink from the dark stream directly, or from waters deeply infected by it, start to painfully mutate on the spot. Close to the rivulet is a large bolder, which hosts a crude carving:

did you know
Anui
happiness sleeps at the bottom of each cup?
Anui
have you drunk your fill?
Anui
let me pour for you
the next cup, we drink at your grave’s side

■ Find a way to close off the stream — which is no wider than 30cm — entirely, or where to at least block where it falls into the bigger watering pool. Avoid getting killed by the nearby animals.

■ Once the stream has been cordoned off, the hybrid animals will revert to their original forms within a day’s time.