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lostcompass2024-01-10 05:11 pm
groundrules) wrote in lostcompass2024-01-10 05:11 pm
welcome, welcome | hatthevar
Welcome to the game’s final Arc: Hatthevar, kicking off with a first event on 13 January. Check out:
But first:
BEAUTY & THE BURNED: INTERLUDE CONCLUSION
The party’s suspicions prove correct: the beauty Julien is also the witch who came to punish the clan of castle Netvor for its senseless cruelty towards woodland animals during its Red Hunt. Julien cursed the tacitly complicit prince and servants into beasts and objects until the forest is revitalised. Some of the wicked members of Netvor were transformed into demonic wolves. Remaining at the palace, the witch fell in love with the prince and has been encouraging him to restore the forests to Julien’s nebulous, seemingly never-arriving satisfaction.
After an exchange with Nami and Nynaeve, Julien concedes to lift the curse off the innocent castle servants, who gratefully return to their human appearance with immediate effect. The princely beast must serve the forest another one hundred days to regain his true form — while his family, turned wolfish, will only become human once more when the prince sees fit.
Below is a loose summary of what to expect from the arrival log of Hatthevar on Saturday, when you will receive further cosmetic details.
With the blizzard and tragedy of castle Netvor behind them, the party journeys on to Hatthevar, former cradle of superstition now fallen in the hands of undead maker Matthias. Using local beacons, he summons spirits from different worlds and points in time, giving them flesh in the citadel. Unlike the undead encountered elsewhere, these dead retain their awareness and personality.
Sensing Matthias’ distraction, undead Lords have been slowly encircling Hatthevar with vicious forces to usurp him — so far, to no avail. The citadel’s only entryway is heavily guarded by enormous ghosts that consume men and floating spirits strangle them with chains.
THE GATES
Characters who have died, practise necromancy or are otherwise death-touched may enter Hatthevar freely. The living must consume foul potions prepared by Karsa that absorb their shadows and partly mute their powers to pass for dead. Everyone must create new names and stories covering their identity and circumstances of death.
Those who possess one of Matthias’ severed limbs or organs, or who carry any dark mirror shards or vials of dark water, have free passage into Hatthevar… but find they are often closely watched, pursued by the dead and perhaps… soon hunted.
Spend a few days acquainting Hatthevar, its constant rains, vicious gambling dens, oracle halls, nests of memory thieves and wish shops — and its bustling bazaars of curiosities and visiting dead. Players currently in or out of
eastbound can bring characters for one-off encounters in the bazaar. To qualify, the dead characters must either have previously been in Eastbound, or must belong to a canon currently represented in game. Opt-in: the twisting streets of Hatthevar abound with heralds of mis/fortune. Cross a their large dark rabbit, and your luck DWINDLES until you use your wit and will to capture a crafty, palm-sized hopper. Please release it after!
Within days, Matthias sends the party a note: he has heard of their arrival in Hatthevar and, as a sign of good will, he has not given chase. Once upon a time, he says, he struck a deal with the semi-divine ‘dark water,’ accepting powers of death and revival in exchange for giving the water much-yearned-for flesh by allowing it to enter the bodies of the dead. For the past year, Matthias has been perfecting resurrection in Hatthevar to revive his own long-dead daughter, Cosette. He occasionally briefly feels her presence in the citadel after summons — but she mysteriously disappears.
Matthias now offers a new agreement: bring him Cosette, and he will willingly surrender the party all of his power. The Merchant distrusts Matthias’ proposal, but sees value in potential leverage and urges the party to investigate the matter, along with a curious fount of nearby power.
Characters are divided between: combating the assailing Brotherhood forces so party members can finish their work in Hatthevar, executing certain factions and tracking down Matthias, caring after the lost and confused spirits of the citadel in the chaos, investigating the case of Cosette and exploring a supernatural site.
Characters whose players answered the quest call have been given a mission. You can attach your character to a quest even if you ignored the call, or have them support additional assignments.
COMBAT
Defend Hatthevar against the undead frost wyrms of undead wintry wind Lord Anurr and the ground offensive of Brotherhood member Rathakku.
As
The underpass: tunnels leading to the cold sand outposts, peopled by large scorpions and serpents.
The cold plains: a desert-like frigid plateau with treacherous dunes and buried forces.
The walls: …what it says on the tin!
Opt-in: extensive exposure to the undead may lead some characters to fall under the thrall of undead lords for up to six-eight hours. Dead or necromancer characters are especially susceptible.
Assigned: Bucky Barnes, Carol Danvers, Deimos, Emilia, Jiang Cheng, Luffy, Natasha Romanoff, Nynaeve, Stephen Strange, Wrath, Wrathion, Zoro
EXECUTION
Your primary objective is to locate Matthias, should you later have to terminate him. You must also try to secure the beacons that are currently in heavy use.
- ■ The underground networks of the memory thieves, the Erkul gang at selling opiates in the gambling dends and the Whispering Houses are your best bet for intelligence.
■ Ransack some Wish houses for information and equipment or poison/arsenal Beware dread hounds.
■ Defeat a colossal 12-feet ghostly titan to take over a beacon. Find a way to answer the ravens that Matthias sends every six hours to avoid that he learns you conquered a beacon.
Assigned: Five, Lockwood, Mo Ran, Vanessa, Yelena, Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu
CARE
Meandering, disoriented and fragile, the spirits freshly wrenched from death’s snare are easy prey for the Undead Brotherhood, the elements and the ghost slavers.
Characters who offer care may:
- ■ comfort ghosts who recover from the trauma of revival or who struggle with their memories
■ rescue spirits collared by the slaver clan of Ras’Kalur
■ scout, barter to rent or abandoned buy taverns or wish shops or create new habitable places for the whole party to alight during their stay in Hatthevar
■ heal, cook and provide for combatants
■ liaise with Matthias
■ as the (allegedly) least suspicious party members, negotiate for information or supplies on behalf of the group
On top of being the right thing to do, rescuing or attending vulnerable spirits can gain you powerful allies in the second half of the event.
Assigned: Allison, Eda, Hermione, Kamala, Lan Sizhui, Sanji, Winnie
INVESTIGATION
- ■ You know from Matthias that, as a result of his beacon summons, the spirit of his daughter Cosette briefly appears every fifth day, but is never seen.
Mod advice would be to focus your character on examining one or at most two appearances, then pooling your clues.
■ Day of first appearance: Matthias feels Cosette’s presence in the bazaar, where a sinister puppet show draws a heavy crowd. At midday, a chime sounds, and the puppet show performs the sad story of a father and daughter quarrelling.
■ Day of the second appearance: Cosette is felt present in the alley of Whispering Houses. You hear three trades took place at the Whispering Houses, carried out by three different women. You must pay to buy one.
■ Day of the third appearance: Matthias feels Cosette near the Oracle Hall. You must climb the steps to earn your audience, but will experience no discomfort when kneeling for this particular audience. The Oracle confirms only one person has visited — a blonde woman — with a small message.
You’ll get three clue questions/character to focus on!
Assigned: Ben Hargreeves, Benedict, Caitlyn, Cal Kestis, Jon Snow, Merrin, Nami, Rin, River Song, Wei Wuxian, Wen Qing
EXPLORATION
The river Liu divides the citadel pouring into a seemingly… endless, heavily misted lagoon of dark water. Karsa says a strange power sleeps here, and you should attempt to retrieve it from a square-like infrastructure whose each side comprises the rotting deck of a half-sunken ship.
To reach this area, you must cross a bridge made of the deck parts of other collided rafts and boats.
- ■ travel by raft into through the lethargy-inducing fog, as tar-like people rise up from the waters to lure you in.
■ beware strings of passing candles that invite you to pick one up — to deadly consequences.
■ reach and explore the curious ships’ graveyard, to peer into the black well at the middle of the square Infrastructure.
Assigned: America Chavez, Buggy, Connor, Elayne Trakand, Lan Wangji, Licyn, Red, Wen Ning
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