december activity + arc iv: conclusion

[groundrules]

Hey everyone! The November activity results and the aftermath summary of Arc IV: Serthica doze merrily below — along with a special visit from a beloved friend. Arc badges to follow in a few days!

To sum up the updated calendar, the year’s last invite-only application cycle ends on 23:59 on 4 December, and you’ll get full details about our five-week eerie? cooldown setup event on 5 December.

As a reminder, there are no activity requirements in December, unless you’re clearing a strike from November.

Folks with insufficient activity last month:

Su Xunxian | topoiran — RECLAIMED

Please shout by 5 December to reclaim, or to link any November AC threads that may have been missed!

Image source.

PLACES, PLACES

In wake of the party’s efforts, Wrathion secures the Child’s cooperation to raise and preserve the dead of Serthica until the month’s end. On borrowed time, the group successfully disperses local magical corruption and creates a cure to the curse-sickness of Serthica. As of 1 December, every human, animal or plant being in Eidris or Minaras now feels alive to necromancers and life-sensitive characters.

Modern miracles come with a price tag: to achieve this resurrection, the Child has also used the energy and cells of the mannequins that Yelena learned have been used to substitute the dead of Eidris and Minaras over the year. The mannequin under Finn’s protection is the last of her kind to survive untouched.

The newly resurrected people and entities have an imperfect memory of the past five years and do not recall they ever perished — but have an innate sense that life is special and should be protected, not wasted on conflict. Eidris and Minaras steer towards reconciliation, both remaining overground. Free passage is now restored to and from the Mouse House. Ma’am Mariol can get the handsomest overground potatoes.

As the eggs Daenerys and Jon Snow rescued from the Sibilant Sands hatch beautiful dragons, young warlord Cain d’Ubiq reaches out to the group with the following voice message:

”…dragons. You even – you even brought back dragons, after everything… you’ve seen – now you believe me. You’ve seen everything, you… you’ve… you made it right again. I don’t know how. I don’t care to ask how.

Five years ago. Us — the few of us. A handful. Just a… a handful. We flew the dragons and colours of Eidris into the Sibilant Sands and met Minaras, and we’d said, we’d all said, one last encounter — and whoever wins can decide how we handle the sickness that spread… spread everywhere and… it was everywhere. We had fire. And Minaras… had learned cannons and — the Sands were all ablaze. Just me and some of the aerial units patrolling for sickness returned. Chrichter’s people. And what we found — you saw. You imagine. Everything… sick. And dead. What was that war for? What is any war for, what — …there was nothing to do. Nothing to hope for.

The boy, the burned boy, he came and… he offered. More than half of Serthica perished. But he said – and he was a child, who believes a child? But… he made it happen. Made the doll who were men, him and his… friend. That man. That man, one day, I’ll kill him. I didn’t want — …but the dolls played pretend so well. They couldn’t operate the city, we kept having to – to procure lubricants, the facilities rusted, the boy kept having to rebuild the buildings that fell, and the… the… there are so many parts to a city, and to people and… and the dolls kept breaking. Kept… having to be restored, and — people aren’t… they’re not… fools. Not. Really. They can… suspect, after a time, no matter how good the dolls were, they just – they know it’s not right. It doesn’t feel right.

So that boy’s little orphans started writing letters to the people below. Those poor fools. Pretending they were from… they…

Then Chrichter said… said, give them something to worry about. You know what keeps people distracted? Conflict. Explosions. Boom. He said — I tried warning Arabella, I tried – but no one believed me. So Remembrance was born. And I said, I… I don’t want to know. What he does. I don’t – just don’t tell me.

And I’m saying, what you did. To make this happen, to make this all go away, I… I don’t want – I’m not. I’m asking. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I’m… I’m just. Grateful. For this. For you. For the dragons. Thank you.”

Image source.

PUT YOUR TOYS AWAY

A great, groaning tremor shatters the streets of the Neutral Zone on 4 December, toppling the clock tower of Vassarizhia into quickly scattering, mould-consumed debris. Within heartbeats, little remains: only the cracked plaque of the clock, and a scattering of parchment papers previously found within the Tower: I’M SORRY.

Hunt long and far, the Child has fled Serthica. On one side of his white umbrella, stolen retained by Clara, dark water writes, Stay warm, stay dry, stay breathing — Matthias. If wound again, the b>music box previously rescued by Jim Kirk no longer plays the song of Ke-Waihu but the short recording of a warm, mature male voice saying, Good day. I think we’ve come far enough that we should start with, ‘good day.’.

But never mind that. The tower’s destruction reveals a lower-ground level, where sleeps Serthica’s ancient but functional beacon. The party’s second witch, Hatisse completes the summons to awaken it on 5 December, but the turmoiled magic of Serthica leaves the connection fragile. Characters are called to return to their homes, starting with those who were dropped or activity-swept in recent weeks.

Inevitably, the beacon’s strength wanes, and the last characters who passed through it are expelled back from fresh timelines. Note: if you’re updating the canon timepoint of your character, please know they would have no memories, scars, powers or items gained in Akhuras while they are briefly in their home worlds. They may regain their memories upon return.

The beacon will also bring in any newly arrived characters, wrenched from their home worlds — but that’s a problem for 5 December.

In the meantime:

✘ Drop two-three lines summarising what your character’s Arc IV activity to get a reward — while characters who submitted task threads in the log finale can already find their loot here.

✘ enjoy Santa Claws!

Comments

[groundrules]

Below are the rewards awarded if you’ve submitted Arc finale activity with your character’s participation in NPC threads, the cure making & distribution or the anchor breaking. Give a shout if you can’t really work with the reward, or if it’s too close to an item your character already possesses — we’ll try to figure out something different.

As a perk for their curse-cure work, all of the characters below can:

✘ mentally connect to their dragons (if they rode one) once they have left Serthica; this connection will wane but never fully dissolve with distance; your dragon remains based in Serthica but can come help in an emergency (but please ask, we’ll need to calculate flight distance).

✘ those who owned, befriended or fell in love with a droid can fully take it with them on departure.

✘ each character gets exactly one bottle of cheap Mouse House lubricant. It is good for nearly nothing. It reeks.

Anduin — three small glass baubles that allow him to leave behind some of his Light/purification energy at a location and get reconnaissance intel on how the area has been or is corrupted by dark energies over time.

Clara — the Child’s umbrella and a red rose with 25 gold-tipped petals. Pluck one, and Clara becomes invisible and undetectable for 30 minutes.

Doctor — a pocket watch that tells the distance (in walking time) from the person you are actively missing or thinking of. The clock hands keep spinning if he is thinking of someone dead or unborn.

Emilia — a wreath of ten flowers — pluck one and lay it down, and it will absorb noxious and corrupted energies (including something as strong as dark water) for up to a 1 km radius. She can root one of the flowers and enjoy up to three new blossoms/month, if she wants!

Hermione — A book on Serthica’s tax legislation, where someone seems to have highlit what exactly constitutes ftaud and the punishments for false fraud allegations. A mirror that lets her see any living person she wishes to, once, for one hour. They cannot see her in return.

Lan Wangji — just the perks above.

Kamala — a small pendant of your choice that lets her teleport in/out of an area, within a 2-km radius. Can only be used once a day. A collection of haunted staring, beady-eyed Victorian dolls.

Red — a collar that lets her borrow the image of someone near her when worn, irrespective of what her form is when wearing it. Can copy the likeness of NPCs freely, but PC ones with player permission, please. Can be used once a day, for up to 15 minutes at a time.

Wei Wuxian — from Minaras’ finest chemists, a potion/herbal recipe for dreamless sleep. Your choice how often Wei Wuxian can access the ingredients/make it.

Wrath — permanent access to Serthica’s legal and police files, for his detective work. A summon ward to bring in one of his dogs. You have to feed it. It can intermittently sleep/disappear in the ward’s territory when Wrath wants to hide or travel light.

Wrathion — dragon catnip; a ‘snow globe’ of miniature Serthica, showing exactly where the dragons of Serthica are in real time and what they’re doing.

Yelena — Chrichter’s mask, which renders the user invulnerable to toxins and illusions.

[vdovy]

How would they receive these rewards ICly? Yelena was asked and I don't want to give a wrong answer.

[groundrules]

Heya! Whatever gives you more hilarity. Chrichter sent it to her himself, in light of their beautiful conversation. Or maybe one of his goons? She's of course thrilled.