steps of sighs

[groundrules]

JOURNEY TO TARAVAST

And ‘lo, the people have spoken! To ancient magical city Taravast we go. Come 26 June, at dawns, the party will be gently herded under the care of Mazyar, a former smuggler respectable merchant who collaborates with our very own Merchant.

The party will have one day’s notice and will receive fresh quartz translation and communication pieces that Karsa — who will join the group alongside Five’s woodland friend — will thrall to now also allow personal character inboxes. You can grab a quick OOC code, if you need one. Haltham-Anurr remains in Sa-Hareth, which is open for characters to return to, given their... inadvertent support in deposing Unhalad.

Yennefer, Five and the Harry Potter crew can blitz back to Sa-Hareth easily; more travel challenged characters may have to procure some of Taravast’s renown teleportation trinkets.

ADMININ’ WE GO

The journey arc is intended as a make-your-own-adventure month-long endeavour to give characters the chance to know each other or take things at their own pace.

The mystery of the ghost army is entirely optional to resolve, though world lore and some opportunities become available, if characters run their own investigation. A second plot/event write-up will be up mid-July.

A Test Drive Meme might be injected in mid/second-half July — drop your thoughts here on whether you’d like one!

The NPC inbox now reflects the new characters available for outreach. The Locations page will be updated once characters reach Taravast.

Plot & plan to your black hearts' content!

If your character struggle to participate in the mystery investigation and you cruelly really want them to, drop a line here, and we can maverick a plot nugget their way.

STAIRS OF SIGHS

Characters join Mazyar’s caravan on 26 June, come dawns — a well-equipped convoy featuring horses, carts, oxen, silks, agricultural goods, jewellery and furniture. Mazyar’s group includes another thirty-so people, half of whom escape east because their previous involvement with Unhalad disqualifies them from staying in Sa-Hareth under Anurr. The party will have access to food & water provisions, two carts for their wares and players’ pick of a horse, large elk or sullen donkey for a ride. Mazyar leads the caravan through the elusive Cat’s Gate — steering away from the longer main road, down the typically barred but currently accessible Stairs of Sighs passage. Mazyar gives fair warning: stay with the caravan at all times and sign up for night watches. Keep fire beside you, speak as little as you can, and trust no one — least of all your eyes. Ominously, he adds the caravan will likely be escorted shortly, as the Stairs of Sighs only open once a year for their visitors. The caravan is merely taking advantage.

The Stairs of Sighs are a steep and perpetually mist-drenched pathway, traversing barren mountain stone roads or stretches of eerily silent, lifeless forests. Characters should beware treacherous cliff slopes, fragile bridges and trees whose roots reach to entangle with their legs and immobilise them. The caravan alights each night of travel in more secure plains or mountain territory, setting up camp beneath an unyielding full Hunter’s moon. As they progress, characters can sometimes hear the indistinguishable, haunting whispers or song of a woman in the night. One of the caravan refugees notes these are the chants of Taravast witches. Karsa seems ill impressed. As of 3 July, the caravan goes up on a canyon road, bracketed by high mountain walls that are sometimes decorated with panels featuring sculptures of warriors and gods. Now and then, these panels move, with some sculptures attempting to pull caravan members into stone. Drop a line here if you want your character drawn in! ETA, 26 June: because of higher-than-expected interest in this option, let's aim for only two more sign-ups for this, please! For the rest of the journey, droves of harpies will sometimes fly by, sinking down to steal animals, or sometimes throwing down stones or time-yellowed bone.

After the first night of travel, the caravan camp is joined by an army of nearly 150-200 horsemen, primarily armed with swords and bows, barring the rare elemental sorcerer. They are led by the young Lord Arha, who offers escort on the road to Taravast. He travels there with his men to rescue his lover, the oracle Hatisse, who has been imprisoned and weaponised in the disputes of regional sorcery clans. Over the next few days, characters may notice Arha and his men are sometimes listless, never taking food or drink, and struggling to retain memories of the present. They (dis)appear often, and sometimes manifest in different states of clean or bloodied dress, never recalling the reason. Arha and his men are fierce and generous warriors, able to lend a hand against the harpies and to assist in case of emergencies. Characters sensitive to spirits may realise instantly that this is an army of ghosts, while others are welcome to deduce it over time. Despite their revelation, characters will find they cannot speak, write or otherwise directly inform Arha or his men that they are dead. Those who attempt this repeatedly will find themselves mute for the entirety of the next day. As the journey advances (after 10 July), Arha will become increasingly more fixated with reaching Taravast and freeing his lover. At night, for long hours, the roads will be washed by rains of blood. The blood disappears, come morning.

Ever in the distance, one of Anurr’s arctic bears starts to gallop after the caravan.

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NUDGITY-NUDGE

[groundrules]

If you want to propel your character into participating in the mystery investigation, when they wouldn't really otherwise, drop a line here — we can throw a bone their way. It won't be as juicy as what might come out of proactively poking and prodding at the mystery, but could kickstart them in that direction.