lostcompass | the sunken

THE SUNKEN | PART III

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Hi guys, July’s nearly upon us! Given responses to the latest check-in following the Titan tragedy we will go ahead with finishing Arc VI as originally scheduled. Scenario options with heavier water or underwater exposure are disclosed below.

The final event of Arc VI goes up on 2 July, spanning a handful of days ICly and roughly three weeks OOCly. At the start of the event, the party wakes to find Yancai has gone another two years back in time, to around when Huntress’ visit, Miang-Si’s corruption and the rite of the ladies of the lake all took place. Hauntings no longer happen, and only one moon loiters over Yancai.

The party can stay neutral and infiltrate the House of Commerce to access the now-active beacon — or they can meddle in the affairs of Yancai and risk breaking its time loop.

The final Arc outcome and the next destination will be tailored based on what quests you complete, and in what way.

ARC VI CLUES SO FAR

Allegedly cursed by the furtive coven of the ladies of the lake, the sunken village of Yancai is overrun by mould, the dead and the hauntings of several ghostly tormentors (the Lumberjack, Red Lady, White Woman, Milk-Toothed Babes and Man in Black) who demand atonement. Villagers’ memories are jumbled and constantly changing. Yancai elders hunt down the ladies, and, in the future, apprehend the vicious Miang-Si as their accomplice. Separately, Yancai practises a strange burial rite of setting its dead at sea in chained casket ships that later return empty — barring a handful of ships that do not come back at all, stolen away.

After Yancai went back three years in time, the party learned:

■ The Huntress — herald of the undead, who leaves barren lands and terrible creatures in her wake — visited Yancai another two years prior. Villagers drove her away.

■ Vain village beauty Miang-Si encountered the Huntress and was enthralled. The ladies of the lake want Miang-Si for ‘something,’ while she chases eternal beauty.

■ The ladies of the lake take corpses from casket-ships and keep them underwater to prevent ‘her kind’ (the Huntress') from summoning them as undead soldiers.

■ …the ladies of the lake are affiliated with the village washerwomen.

■ A moon of future Yancai feels ‘false’ to those with a lunar connection. The moon was once involved in a ritual of the ladies of the lake.

■ The ghosts haunting Yancai (the Lumberjack, Red Lady, White Woman, Milk-Toothed Babes and Man in Black) were cultivated by the ladies of the lake

■ The Lumberjack was a guileless, magically gifted man of Yancai, who fell in with the ladies of the lake and now haunts village residents so that, in atoning, they can travel through time unburdened.

BOAR’S HEART | DAY I

Come morning wake-up, the party realises Yancai has gone another three years back in time — it is now largely dry, vibrant and abuzz with chatter of a strange, beautiful woman who arrived in the forest in recent days. Young men are drawn to her, while her mere presence decays the land, poisons waters and raises the dead. Village elders have told her to leave Yancai by the following sunrise, on pain of death.

■ Venture into the forest, facing creatures, eerie magic, and the enthralled young men of Yancai.

■ Optionally, the death-touched (necromancers, those who died or revived, or otherwise marked) may optionally feel compelled to betray their comrades and join her cause. Distance, chaining and your own precautions can help diminish her pull.

■ Find the Huntress that evening as she gives an admiring Miang-Si several boxes with cuts of her heart. Miang-Si agrees to bury them in the forest — you must find and unearth them before they can take root and anchor the Huntress’ spell (quest warnings for violent ravens, tree roots…)

■ Finding at least two heart boxes will prevent the dead from rising in Yancai after the Huntress departs. It can also break the time loop.

■ Sadly, the Huntress cannot be killed at this time ☹ But you can pitch a plan to incapacitate her, dwindle her power, track her or talk to her.

WAKE, UNWAKEFULLY | DAY II

As the Huntress departs Yancai around 3 a.m., she unleashes a first wave of undead, who rise mostly from sea and pier waters.

Hold your ground and help villagers quietly traverse dead-conquered territory. The undead largely retreat with sunrise, but many float underwater, prepared to return any day now.

There will be an opportunity to collect black mirror shards belonging to the Huntress from dead-infested waters — historically they are connected to the evils that assail Akhuras. Doing so can break the time loop.

MOTHER MOON | DAY III

Wait by the rivers after the attack and infiltrate the group of washerwomen of Yancai, who comfort the weak, the abandoned, the abused and the magically sensitive. They take men and women alike.

■ Although guarded, they speak more freely around you, if you persuade them of your dire straits.

■ They are self-taught hedge witches who meet in secret caves beneath lakes, travelling through underwater passageways. Follow. (quest warnings: underwater journey, currents and creatures beneath the lakes, skeletons).

■ These ‘ladies of the lake’ plan a rite in the woods to protect Yancai. Though they are not strong enough to fully dispel the dead, their magic pushes the village back in time, forever outrunning the Huntress’ undead — and forcing villagers to relive the same period of roughly five years.

■ To cast their spell, the ladies of the lake steal power from the hunter’s (red) moon, visible on this night, and from a piece of black mirror taken from the Huntress. They create a reflected pocket of time and reality where Yancai can be fitted, and where the hunter's moon appears as the village's second, diffuse red moon that characters saw in the future.

■ Whether you want to free villagers from the time loop, rescue the stolen moon power or just meddle, you disrupt the sorcery by interfering with the ritual, convincing some witches not to participate or perhaps appealing to young Miang-Si.
(More details on the rite and obstacles to follow). Choose wisely, as this can inevitably break the time loop.

■ The village elders publicly condemn the witches, but privately accept the rite as a last resort. Several of the coven’s strongest witches sacrifice themselves to become overseers in the time flux — the Lumberjack, Red Lady, White Woman, Man in Black and the Milk-Toothed Babes. You can sign up for a RNG draw to speak to one of them.

BAIT & BEACON | NIGHT III

To distract villagers while the ladies of the lake carry out their spell, Yancai’s elders organise a charitable auction for those affected by the undead attack. It is held at the House of Commerce, which hosts the village’s now fully active beacon.

The Master of Commerce has the only token-key for the beacon room in his private and locked study. Infiltrate the fete as a guest or auction participant (just what are you offering?), sneak into the study room, and grab one of dozens of key artefacts that line the desk — hopefully, you choose wisely.

Party witch Karsa asks everyone to be prepared to infiltrate the House of Commerce by the dawns of the fourth day, to attempt to leave through the beacon.

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE BREAK THE TIME LOOP?

*please don't worry, it just influences the Arc VI outcome / travel Arc destination!

To plot & plan your next steps, fill out the below and comment around majestically!

QUESTIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Please mind the sign-up deadlines — thank you!

She can't be killed this round (her day will come!) as she's needed to bother the party in the future, but you're welcome to pitch plans that might greatly inconvenience her!

Please submit your proposal by 5 July and keep an eye out if you can pair up with someone with a similar idea! You'll have to thread out whatever nefarious deed you plan against the poor Huntress and submit the thread by 20 July for it to count.

Okay so tossing in an idea for slowing her down in general, warding a line at the forest against dead creatures so if nothing else, there's some form of resistance when they're leaving/some sort of alarm announcing them parting Loudly.

Also using talismans to pin down the bewitched young men if they're still alive, and otherwise remove them from the forest in the day she's still there - Wei Wuxian can provide those to party members, even as simple as the Gravity ones that pin people to the dirt while the talisman is on their person. If she calls out to people in death touched ways, he can provide talismans to be worn as a sort of resistance (to players to decide how effective, or if they have one at all), if part of her pull is aural, he may look at the Lans and ask they see about using silencing talismans creatively and/or seeing if she can be you know. Silenced. For a period of time. Because why not. SOMEONE ELSE SHOULD SUFFER.

He'd be more interested in having people go after the heart pieces buried around, but as a stall for the Huntress herself, slowing down what they can seems like a step to take that first day when she's actually around.

I know it's not the same as Lan Silence, but after all that possession-and-attacking-your-husband-sorry-wifi stuff, Hermione's down for lending aid to silencing the sorceress.

Really that can only help, right? Just some nice, peaceful quiet. Totally peaceful!

Sign up by 23:59 GMT on 2 July if you'd like to participate in a RNG draw to thread out a conversation with the Huntress.

Please note: the winner (?) will get a starter on 3 July, and you're expected to be available to tag the thread until 12 July. You should aim to communicate findings by 18 July.

The Huntress is a manipulative, dangerous woman — bear in mind while considering your character's approach!

They're basically buddies, right? They hung out before!

Some Huntress for you!

Hmm, on reflection, hmm. Jon has a general interest in this family, but if he winds up winning the RNG, I might have to clarify what he knows about The Child back in Serthica. (More than I do, which is the problem!) But he's not all that easily manipulated if you're not Sansa or Tyrion, and there are some parallels here with Selyse/Stannis/Melisandre.

And some Huntress for you too!

You can sign up by 23:59 GMT on 2 July to participate in a RNG draw to thread out a conversation with one of the witches who become the hauntings of Yancai. Please state the witch you want in the comment title of your sign-up comment.

You will receive a starter on 3 July and should be available to finalise the thread by 15 July, then communicate findings after.

Your option:

The Lumberjack: guileless, abused, kind
The Red Lady: impassionate, given to anger, scorned
The White Woman: mournful, depressive, a widow
Man in Black: sinister, abstract, dark humour
The Milk-Toothed Babes: loud, needy, playful, actual children... of the river!