groundrules: (Default)
let's set d o w n some ([personal profile] groundrules) wrote in [community profile] lostcompass2024-01-30 06:25 pm

hatthevar: part ii


Hello, everyone! Heading into Part II of Hatthevar, a summary of events:

The party is entrenched in Hatthevar — former seat of mysticism, wish houses and Oracles, now transformed into a citadel of ghosts.

Matthias, creator of the undead, has been working local beacons to summon dead spirits from various places in time and space and revive them, in hopes of resurrecting his daughter Cosette. He has offered the party his entire power over the undead, if they recover Cosette, whom he senses appearing intermittently within Hatthevar.

Taking advantage of Matthias’ distraction, his creation, the dead lord Rathakku and old foe Anurr of the winds have been assailing the walls of Hatthevar with their forces, hoping to breach in.

FOLLOWING PART I:

Benedict, Emilia and Wrath defeated some of Anurr’s frost wyrms and Rathakku’s demonic scorpions and sand lurkers, preventing them from entering Hatthevar. Rathakku withdraws his forces, with any remnants (up to a handful) prepared to obey the trio in battle. Anurr remains, and his blizzards continue their attacks.

Vanessa controls one of the beacons. The party is guaranteed an exit point unless the beacon is lost.

Red recovered a substance from a cauldron typically used to eliminate memories. Along with supplying access to some of Matthias’ recollections, the liquid also enables the party to retain their memories of Akhuras upon departure.

Five and Wen Kexing learned two possible locations suspected as Matthias’ hideouts.


The case of Matthias’ daughter, Cosette…

FINDINGS SO FAR
■ Matthias describes his daughter as a young blonde child. No such girl is ever seen wherever he sends the party, claiming he senses his daughter’s presence in Hatthevar.

■ Matthias does not seem to remember or wish to share how Cosette died.

■ A puppet master, who worked at the bazaar when Matthias sensed Cosette was present there, says he was possessed to put on a play of a father-daughter quarrel, at the end of which the daughter ran off and was killed.

■ Matthias, formerly a technological and magical scientist of Ellethia, extracted two presumably shameful or painful memories: one was of him giving permission for his team to create a fierce magical storm and recover a power source, endangering nearby ships. The second memory was of running into a young blonde woman who disdainfully said she had not admired him since she was a child.

■ At one point, a woman seen where Matthias felt his daughter present traded a memory in which she was on a ship in the middle of a large storm, arguing with Matthias. River suspects Cosette may not have been a child at the time of her death.

■ If the woman is Cosette, she does not wish to return to her father.


Plenty of action to go in Part II of the event, due up over the weekend. Here are a few things to consider/sign up for:

Betrayal: Undead wind master Anurr no longer attacks Hatthevar’s walls with frost wyrms, but batters them with blizzards. More deviously, those exposed to his storms might hear… dark or saccharine voices corrupting, threatening or wooing them to open one of the gates of Hatthevar and allow Anurr’s forces in. Those prone to loneliness, despair or self-doubt are the most vulnerable and can turn aggressive, if anyone attempts to prevent them from their goal. They will have to be immobilized and warmed to return to normal.

Part and whole: Characters who own any of Matthias’ limbs or organs find these parts are attracting delirious, vicious and combative crowds led by ghost slavers who have received word (and promises of rewards) to recover these tokens. They may seek to abduct the actual owners of these parts or anyone unlucky enough to be mistaken for them. Get your character abducted or organize a rescue party! Note: if characters who do have Matthias' limbs/organs are captured, these tokens will be claimed by the abductors.

The streets: As the beacon held by Vanessa no longer answers him, Matthias assumes it’s depowering naturally and directs his energy to the remaining four gateways. The excess energy and turbulence agitate the ghosts and spirits of Hatthevar, many of which riot, mutinously, and take their anger out on ghost slavers or on anyone who reminds them of their plights while alive. Take care as hauntings multiply, and the citadel turns bloody. Yes, you can try to assemble and lead your own gang of hooligan ghosts.

■ Five and Wen Kexing have learned Matthias has two possible lairs: one is the Whispering House of the Red Lady, in Hatthevar’s wish district; the other is the half-sunken ghost ship, the Headless Dancer, which appears infrequently in Hatthevar’s lagoon. Both must be explored for any signs of Matthias, starting with the Headless Dancer. OOCly, please note that Matthias won’t be on the ship, but you can sign up for a RNG draw to either discover a critical token or encounter Cosette.


The final event write-up will include a lot of haunting options for ghost city :') The NPC inbox remains open throughout, particularly for any deals with the wish houses.

Lastly: please vote on Matthias’ fate.


PLOTTING

Fill out the form below and comment around mightily to plot!




blackscales: Commission, Do Not Take! (13)

[personal profile] blackscales 2024-01-30 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
This is maybe a stretch, but if I don't ask I won't know.

Way back in Ellethia, a lot of documents were found on the research there. Among them, was information about a lead technician and senior board member, and information about their resignation with immediate effect on 'on grounds of ethical concern and with utmost regard for national safety' etc etc. Matthias then took over, iirc.

... Was any gender mentioned, for the previous lead technician? Would be, for example, juicy family drama if Cosette worked there then resigned because she disagreed with stuff her dad is now into on an even bigger scale.

Edit: Noting I'm asking because at the time, Wrathion spoke to Jon about it, and I recall he had the documents there for anyone who wanted to read. So Wrathion would have been nosy enough to go through them!
Edited 2024-01-30 19:28 (UTC)
blackscales: Commission, Do Not Take! (8)

[personal profile] blackscales 2024-01-30 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Tsk! I'll go back to my conspiracy theory board and return later.
companionsgrasp: (Default)

[personal profile] companionsgrasp 2024-01-30 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Can I sign up for both RNGs with a preference of one over the other?
Or only sign up for one?
companionsgrasp: (Default)

[personal profile] companionsgrasp 2024-01-31 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
\o/
matermali: (097)

[personal profile] matermali 2024-01-30 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I figure the answer is yes, but just in case, does Vanessa need to remain by the beacon to keep it safe?
matermali: (100)

[personal profile] matermali 2024-01-30 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh sweet, ty!
matermali: (195)

[personal profile] matermali 2024-01-30 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
The connection with the raven should be good! so long as she doesn't die /sweats
blackscales: Commission, Do Not Take! (8)

[personal profile] blackscales 2024-01-30 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
On a different note: Irenia! Wrathion has long wanted to see if he can help her survive (or... you know, undeadly continue on in freedom) once people start to go home through the beacon.

I guess.

i) If he asks her, does she... actually want that? If she's like nah dude I wanna die in peace at this point he'd let her.
ii) Are there any leads in Hatthevar? I know there's a bunch of undead bits of Matthias and mirror and dark water the party possess, but Wrathion doesn't have any of those personally (beyond... the bit of the Huntress he ate I guess, inside himself, unhelpfully). He suspects one of those might help (mirrors especially seem potent power sources) but I figure I'd shake down other sources before he tries to meddle with the more dangerous things while they're... busily already meddling in dangerous things.
blackscales: Commission, Do Not Take! (13)

[personal profile] blackscales 2024-01-31 12:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes! Anything he could glean when looking into the prospect of 'safe' undead power sources, or you know... Risky To Use But Worth It. He feels very strongly about dragon friends! Doesn't have to be Complex, and I'm happy for him to fail too, but he wouldn't want to abandon her to her fate so he would try.
blackscales: Commission, Do Not Take! (8)

[personal profile] blackscales 2024-01-31 12:37 pm (UTC)(link)
No rush! I got plenty of time and can wait!

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somebadnews: (193)

[personal profile] somebadnews 2024-01-31 11:57 am (UTC)(link)
Now you have me thinking! Way back when Five first got Anurr’s finger, he could control wind to a degree if he was in Sa-Hareth. Say Five does have his villain moment with Anurr nearby, could it do anything like it could then for an extra little surprise?
somebadnews: (1)

[personal profile] somebadnews 2024-01-31 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent. Held onto it for something. :’>
inferus: (Default)

[personal profile] inferus 2024-02-17 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi,

I know there is a conclusion post scheduled for the 23rd. I was just wondering if that post would have a space for characters to say goodbye in it, or is it more meant to like summarize everything that happened and put a bow on it?

Thanks. :)
inferus: (Default)

[personal profile] inferus 2024-02-17 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Cool, that's exactly why I wanted to ask. Thank you!