lostcompass | make way for the lion

Have a look & plot for what to expect in the mod log of 6-7 April! There will be some additional exploration/adventure opportunities, but this covers items that could benefit from plotting, planning and sign-ups.

Uncovered so far:

■ The Beastmaster was formerly Hyang-Won, relative of blind prophet Hyang-Tai. The ~~village bullies~~ Hok-Shinn clan give him regular tribute.

■ Ke-Waihu locals fear serpents and the blind witches, whose gifts emerged after the last volcano eruption.

■ Villagers have struggled with drought and famine. Young, beautiful or skilled young villagers have been mysteriously disappearing.

■ Some plants, crops and animals have been corrupted by dark water, which once also dried up local up well waters. The long-disappeared Anui may be connected to this.

■ The volcano hosts an underground labyrinth, occupied by strange tar-like, feral creatures.

■ The Huntress wishes to witness the volcano’s eruption. She is at odds with the Beastmaster.

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

This mission takes place before the Huntress' arrival: pursuing a lead, Wen Qing is captured by a feral half human, half serpent creature. Wen Qing, her taskmate Hermione or a well-meaning peasant can sound the alarm about the abduction.

The group can find Wen Qing in a large and deeply-dug pit, filled with dormant nagas and serpents. Retrieving her will require either fast brute force or very delicate infiltration into the depths.

After, help her get forest opiates to combat her new... serpentine affliction.

→ Get involved with Wen Qing’s rescue & cure.

THE MAIDEN’S WATCH

The Huntress arrives, deprived of her powers. The group will be taking her in.

They will need to figure out where to shelter her (the woods? The fetters? A cave? Get some local inspo) and defend her against wild beasts, which besiege her. We'll go with the shelter location that gets the most support by 23:59 GMT on 5 April.

The Huntress largely prays and weeps, but stops long enough to pay up in knowledge:

■ The Beastmaster becomes more human as the volcano nears eruption.

■ Local animals obey the Beastmaster and spy for him. This excludes ravens.

■ To avoid the pull of the Beastmaster and his Hunt: locate a forest temple raised by the white wanderer, and wear wood or stone from it. These pieces will have to be replaced.

■ Alternatively: cross a fragile and narrow bridge high above a misted abyss, to reach the second village Ke-Waiar and steal some well water. Drop a line if you want to go to Ke-Waiar.

THE HUNT

The Beastmaster, his xenomorphic creatures and mutated animals arrive in Ke-Waihu, awaiting the volcanic eruption. He takes residence in the village, guarded by his beasts.

The Hok-Shinn and an envoy of Ke-Waiar each present 10 distinguished but eerily listless youths of their village to the Beastmaster. These tributes are afterwards closely watched by the Hok-Shinn and held in an abandoned home. Get in and rescue some tributes.

The Beastmaster’s arrival triggers the start of the Hunting season.

■ For five nights, come moonrise, characters feel compelled to flee into the forests and run, hide or avoid detection — alternatively, they join the Beastmaster’s creatures as hunters, chasing this quarry.

■ Anyone can ‘hunt’ or ‘be hunted.' Roles can swap across the five nights. Characters can develop overnight instincts akin to a specific animal of hunt or prey, and they will be helped by these animals for the night.

■ Hunting can be vicious (seeking to injure, kill or consume prey) or symbolic (just violently giving chase).

■ Certain characters will feel especially compelled to join the hunt and to protect the Beastmaster outside of it. These include characters who are given to war, hunting, violence, wrath, gluttony or feral/animal characteristics. It also applies to those who previously turned xenomorphic during the Beastmaster's trip in Taravast, or whom he marked (sup, Jon, Wrathion?).

■ To avoid the hunt, stay out of the forest, apply the Huntress’ cures or lock yourself very tightly indoors.

OLD MAN MOUNTAIN

The dormant volcano shows subtle signs of upcoming eruption: soil swells, increases in local temperature and small, low-grade earthquakes.

One night, characters wake to screams, as a handsome young jeweller is dragged by a group of Ke-Waihu's ~~cultists~~ concerned citizens — seemingly bound for the volcano. Show of hands, if you want to rescue him during the trek.

SIGN-UPS

We'll choose the 'lucky' winner by RNG draw, but comment by 23:59 GMT on 9 April for a chance to chat with:

■ The Beastmaster

■ The envoy of Ke-Waiar

■ The jeweller

Small request to please be consistently available to tag this. Your mission is to have your character to get as much information about Ke-Waihu, the volcano or the Brotherhood.

QUESTIONS

Otherwise, to plot and plan, fill out:

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Where are we putting this girl?

Comment here with a suggestion for a good hide-out, or reply to +1 existing suggestions.

The idea with the most support by 23:59 GMT on 5 April gets to be it.

Wifi's recommendation would be away from the village, in a location with more than a singular entrance/exit, that forces people into a narrow entrance at some section for ease of defense. Could be a cave, a ravine, a valley, but that's his thought he'd communicate around!

your brother has your back for once wifi. he'll walk around and carry a big whip while you make your pitch

thanks bro I'm glad we can agree on basic sound strategy together--

he's working on it, it's a step up from arguing with you on principal

have you ever reflected how our principles are a little cocked up?

good now let's ignore it again

no we're going to become better brothers.... 🥺

... o-oh, okay, he's, he's going to press his hand to his heart when you're not looking and stare at you jiang cheng it's all good

family

+1 for a forest cave or enclosure — too close to the volcano seems dicey.

yeah, that's part of his thinking--they also don't understand enough of what's going to be safe for her to be close to (motivations???) but also, if a cave, reinforce the ceiling, and in either case, make sure there's a covering not easy for birds to see through.

can the ravens be bribed to help

Though we really should at least sanitize it. Shouldn’t we?

Does sanitization matter to the undead

Moran is absolutely for away from the village and in place she can be easily defended... or trapped into if necessary.

So is Xie Lian, and caves are.... mostly okay.

Thank you for seeing both purposes of it--

It's okay Xie Lian, she's they only questionable one in the cave, probably

Well, he gets you, twin. He approves.

and listen, a lot of things have happened to xie lian in caves, he judges no one.

Anduin agrees that outside of the village is probably wise, but he also thinks that they need to be mindful of the fact that the Beastmaster can control the forest animals/use them as spies/to his advantage. Is there perhaps somewhere they might be able to... Hide somewhere more in plain sight, as it were?

Yeah, this tends to be where Wuxian thinks a cave might be easier to control, as far as what creatures have access to it... but to some degree it's like, well, what doesn't he have access to, and what if it's easier to run decoys of the Huntress in different areas to keep him guessing/roaming around?

in other words: why aren't we having people carry some of her scent around and possibly some illusions of crying naked ladies to ... keep... things... interesting!?

Well I mean. Technically Wrathion might be an unwilling but active distraction, so just make sure the cave is nowhere near him....

He can also set illusions but they'll vanish as soon as they take damage!

Hey illusions that then leave no trace on touch are excellent in his opinion, right, right?

make way for the lion

THE HUNTRESS' SHIELDING

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