groundrules: (Default)
let's set d o w n some ([personal profile] groundrules) wrote in [community profile] lostcompass2022-05-12 07:35 pm
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THE TITHE | ARC III FINALE


Hello, good people! It’s all about to go down with a Boom on 18 May during the log finale of Arc III.

■ After wrapping up Arc III, the party will enjoy a plot-light(er) ‘journey’ segment totalling four-six weeks, then head into Arc IV.

■ An out-of-character vote will go up over the next few days, so you can choose between two destination options for Arc IV.

■ Our next test drive meme takes place in early June.



For now, a brief idea of what to expect in the Arc III finale log below, so you can plot & plan your moves ahead.


THE TITHE


Catch-up: desperate villagers are revisiting human sacrifices in hopes of swaying the Ke-Sanwon volcano’s eruption. The rites were stalled for a few years, during which a traveller’s cure for droughts was purchased with tributes collected by the undead Beastmaster. The witches of the Fetters gained their power and animal hybrids began to roam around this time. Wrath and Emilia discovered the volcano contains magical energy and tormented spirits that have been capped by a fracturing dark mirror. The group stole keys to enter the House of Ravens sacrificial temple — which now opens for the eruption.

In family drama, it emerges the Beastmaster was once married to the Huntress (formerly Anui), who offered their son to Ke-Sanwon without his father’s say. The child disappeared. Both parents hope to find him in the House. Wrathion, Daenerys and Viktor have all will be sharing juicy details by 18 May, once NPC threads wrap up.

Upcoming:


THIS HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE

The party must infiltrate the House of Ravens overnight and wait until dawns, when the temple dais slowly opens to reveal the mouth of the volcano.

■ Those who enter the House are fully or partially depowered and have their ancestral curse immediately lifted.

■ In the midnight to dawns period, characters are supernaturally tempted to act on their greatest individual sin.

■ They are chased by the temple’s… unusually large defenders, if they succumb to these instincts. Good luck til dawns, folks.


LET THERE BE BLOOD

The cultists of Ke-Waicai greet dawns by exposing their first chosen sacrifice to Ke-Sanwon, showcasing exactly what happens to their ‘Chosen.’ Roughly two hundred villagers attend the rites, along with eight powerful priests who use elemental magic.

In good (?) news: seeking his missing son, the Beastmaster bring his xenomorphic creatures to attack the House of Ravens.

Characters should:

■ Dress up, join the crowd and free the remaining tributes during the beastly skirmish.

■ Take control of the House’s dais by defeating or killing the priests.

! Characters can remain partially or fully depowered throughout, if you prefer.



FIRE AND BRIMSTONE?

The dais remains under the party’s control as long as a character (literally) shoulders the head priest’s ancient white raven and holds its leash.

■ Whoever carries the raven becomes the target of the village mob and of the Beastmaster’s creatures.

■ The raven should be passed around. Defend the bird’s current holder and throw off their pursuers.

■ If the bird dies, the dais closes, and the volcano erupts. No pressure.



For those looking to stop the eruption, options include but are not limited to:

■ Throwing more dark water into the volcano to fix the mirror crack.

■ Using ice / cold magic and scientific processes to cool down the volcano’s warmth and help the mirror regenerate itself.

■ Exorcising some of the spirits within the volcano.

■ Absorbing some of the magical power contained by the volcano. IMPORTANTLY, this can lead to substantial or permanent effects for your character, detailed here.

■ Persuading and guiding sane villagers to bring sea water. Helpful tips: remember those cool phoenix rides and the very fast Ke-Waiar werewolves.

PLOT HOW TO TACKLE THE VOLCANO. You can come up with your own solution. Calming Ke-Sanwon is a huge enterprise, so the more help, the better.



THE BEASTMASTER

Group up and pitch a plan, if you want to slay the Beastmaster.

He will drive his animal to raid the House of Ravens and devolve into a fury when he does not locate his son. Grief renders him vulnerable and unpredictably violent. He is also significantly less powerful in the House of Ravens.


WILL SOMEONE THINK OF THE CIVILIANS?

Beyond the House of Ravens, villagers need help safeguarding their possessions or preparing to evacuate aboard incoming ships. The gradual spread of Ke-Sanwon’s seeping magic will infect some villagers, leading to animal hybridization in the farmers’ ranks — stay safe.

Whoever stays in the villages can also coordinate water and supply deliveries with those at the House of Ravens.


UPDATES & DROPS


The Arc III beacon will briefly open, allowing characters to head home before sadly faltering. All characters dropped or AC swept in May will be said to have safely gone home through the beacon.

COMMENT HERE if you want a canon update for your character. They will briefly go to their home world, then return when the beacon fails. Characters do not retain memories, items or powers gained in game while they are in their home worlds, but they recover them on return.

QUESTIONS

It’s an Arc finale: go BIG, and you might go home. Respond with your very own shiny plotting comment, featuring:


incantates: (078。)

ice, ice baby

[personal profile] incantates 2022-05-12 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Anyone want to try and freeze the inside of a volcano for as long as possible with magic? It's a rudimentary plan at best, and it's probably not going to hold it at bay for very long, but someone's got to do it.
inferus: (🗡️ 0 1 6)

easing spirit pressure

[personal profile] inferus 2022-05-12 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Wei Wuxian and Wrath were already discussing this in the post about the volcano bursting, but easing the spirits themselves is something that they can do and were already planning. Wrath can also like transvenio at least himself and has p good fire resistance/immunity so he can get close.
valeas: (☾ l u n a r e)

+1

[personal profile] valeas 2022-05-13 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Emilia discussed this with Wei Wuxian, as well.

Some other stuff of note:
○ Wrath can teleport with her if need be
○ She has her own fire thing going on and can get close enough
○ She and Hermione discussed mending spells and wards for the fractures (once the pressure of the spirits has been eased, maybe?)
○ She also knows spells that could help with cooling.
Edited 2022-05-13 02:38 (UTC)
reparo: (Default)

+1

[personal profile] reparo 2022-05-14 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep, this - trying to mend the mirror inside the volcano sounds like a great thing for her to do after absorbing some spirits pressure
valeas: (Default)

[personal profile] valeas 2022-05-14 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
H E R M I O N E. 😩

(but also like yes. i love mess.)
reparo: (Default)

[personal profile] reparo 2022-05-14 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
i've been too nice to her, the girl should have a bad time with something plot-related.
weifinder: (headache | won't you come in)

what about a cap with

[personal profile] weifinder 2022-05-15 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
Confirming that Wei Wuxian is on hand to direct energies and/or calm them down/control flow: he's not looking to absorb them, which hopefully keeps him out of the magical absorption category up above, largely because he doesn't trust these energies and has no storage device.

His is musical and from a distance, and while he won't be trying to do anything with the mirror, he can try to funnel out as much of the spirit buildup as he can get through the cracked mirror while others are trying to resolve its issue.

He will however probably recommend they don't make a cap, but a slow release, because otherwise this will happen again in the future. Eventually the pressure gets too high. (So yeah his focus is on the spirits and getting them out and HUSBAE WHERE ARE YOU TO HELP CLEANSE THEM AND SEND THEM ON HUH) ahem but yes!
valeas: (☾ 2 6 3)

[personal profile] valeas 2022-05-15 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
... y'know, in the first book of Emilia's canon, they mention spells that help to slow the flow of blood. The magic system in general is so dang vague that I think it allows me the wriggle room to say she knows of a spell that might help with this slow release?

And also, I just like them working together.
Edited 2022-05-15 20:31 (UTC)
blackscales: Made this for myself, Do Not Take! (22)

Wet and Wild

[personal profile] blackscales 2022-05-13 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Wrathion will fly dark water and/or its colder variation to the mountain, and when no more of that is needed help lug seawater to help with cooling.
chosenbylight: do not take (schematise-003)

+1

[personal profile] chosenbylight 2022-05-13 12:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Anduin can pull his village wise-man strings to get as many villagers as he can to help them out with this. It's THEIR VILLAGE: if they want to keep it standing, they should pitch in!!!
techmaturgy: (pic#15348837)

+1

[personal profile] techmaturgy 2022-05-13 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Viktor is enlisting his werewolf friends for water transport/slash rapid construction of some kind of jerry-rigged irrigation system to cycle dark water thru the volcano, this probably dovetails in here somewhere right
traaaaaash: (Default)

+1

[personal profile] traaaaaash 2022-05-15 11:48 am (UTC)(link)
Harpy Eda can carry some stuff as well!
scrapgege: (Default)

..... Ice lord joker

[personal profile] scrapgege 2022-05-13 03:53 pm (UTC)(link)
So guess what.

Xie Lian has a braid of Anurr's. That Anurr gave to him a while back. A long while back. That he's never really used for anything, but that could potentially be used to call Anurr, aka, the Ice Lord that iced over half of Taravast.

Also the guy who would not be too pressed if the Beastmaster got dead, too.
scrapgege: (Default)

[personal profile] scrapgege 2022-05-13 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Sure thing!
cairhien: (Default)

[personal profile] cairhien 2022-05-13 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
moiraine is very good at weather-related channelling and very bad at asking for help but would accept help from other magic users to strengthen the efforts.

my initial thoughts were something storm related but working with what a volcano is, massive rain to keep things cool/dampen it all. there's a weave to do with controlling magma if she could get close enough but an active volcano might take more strength than just moiraine (let her channel your magic to do her magic???)
blackscales: Commission, Do Not Take! (8)

[personal profile] blackscales 2022-05-14 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Magma type control is within Wrathion's fire-type range. He's going to focus on trying to get the mirror fixed/cooling first, since holding back a volcano a long time is not practical, but if you want a little drama if it gets close at one point and moiraine switches to magma control Wrathion can run in to check on things feeling the Bad Volcano vibes and help her out.
Edited (I missed an i from her name, i repent by correcting) 2022-05-14 22:55 (UTC)
cairhien: (Default)

[personal profile] cairhien 2022-05-16 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
sure. moiraine would absolutely do the foolish and try and hold the volcano back from the start. after a while it'd end up too much for her alone probably so if he was okay with it she could try and channel from him
blackscales: Commission, Do Not Take! (13)

[personal profile] blackscales 2022-05-17 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think he'd let someone he doesn't know channel directly from him, he's too slow to trust for that, but he'd assist by taking some of the pressure off via controlling some of the flow himself!