Compiling everyone's input, the plan to tackle Arha works out as follows — feel free to play with it starting today, until around 6 August. Forward/backdate as much as needed, and anyone who hasn't responded yet is still very, very welcome to participate. This is just the (rattling) skeleton!
CATFISHING: THE GHOST EDITION
Lily will transfigure a garment inspired by the one worn by the statue of the Lady Hatisse uncovered by Archeval earlier in the month. It will be worn by Mingyu — who will get his face (literally) done by Zhou Zishu and can pick up further subtleties on the appropriate feminine walk and bows from Wen Qing — on his crossplaying venture to... seduce a ghost.
Peering what he assumes to be his forlorn bride from a distance, the highly agitated Arha will approach Mingyu and grow.. increasingly more volatile, straddling the line between physicality and the spiritual plane, clutching his maiden's arms with hands turned tar and harpy claws. First, he will ask if she is truly Hatisse, adding he never questioned she would come to him — but why here? Why now? Were they not meant to meet in Taravast, why does she come to him, how did the Attaryl allow her, were they not hunted down by the Bessis? Foolish woman, what if she had lost herself on her path, always doing only as she wishes, from the day she threw herself in his path when they assigned her to his court for learning, to here, now, telling him to give up his hunt, but how did she come? Why does he smell of blood and burning, whenever he think of her, why do his dreams always show carnage, why is she here?
He will ramble extensively and seem to struggle with glimpses of understanding, scratching at Mingyu's arms, begging for answers, until the exact moment when the team of raiders in the temple open up his tomb. (Only) then, Mingyu may feel abruptly paralysed in his own body, unable to speak or truly control his limbs, while the residual presence of Hatisse's curse — different from the full strength of her spirit, which passed outside of the Stairs of Sighs — inhabits him. Under the control of Hatisse, Mingyu will feel burning within him, hands suddenly dripping in red, when he will draw Arha down by the sides of his face, dragging blood over cheeks, his temples. For once, the foolish witch's song revealed by Wen Kexing will play during the course of day, and Arha will listen.
By the end, he will only say, "I pity you, Hatisse. I pity your love."
...before disappearing, leaving behind only Mingyu to recover gradually from his brief possession. The scratch marks on his arms will heal themselves within a day's time, if no one gets around to assisting them.
TEMPLE TROUBLE
While Arha's catfished, everyone heading into the tomb can leisurely enjoy narrowly avoiding the lingering harpies — who will deploy the full scale of their claws and bone-piercing beaks — and the loitering energy of the innocent travellers of a previous caravan, slaughtered by Arha. Some of these dead will urge the raiders not to open the warlord's tomb, because forcing Arha to confront his demise led to their own deaths. Others will simply argue that Arha doesn't deserve peace, after what he's done to them. Navigating the temple corridors will take up at least half an hour — but you're here on a mission...
Opening Arha's tomb sarcophagus will require the strength of at least three-four people, but to those who've inhaled their spinach go the spoils —
...and what merry bones they are! Heavily warded, carrying the stench of burning, guarded by a tangle of electric webs. The wards will deactivate quickly if the hand of a living person touches them — but they'll still incur some heavy damage on the offending limb.
Once the wards are removed, either destroying, cleansing with a bounty of water or performing purifying rites should easily set Arha to rest — coinciding with his... ghostingMingyu in the outside world. He will leave behind a full set of beautiful armour, linens, a sword and a bow. Yes, hooligans can steal these. If searched, the inside of his soft inner clothes will reveal a breast pocket holding a bundle of letters — both his and Hatisse's. Characters who collected any of the stray parchment pieces in the previous event will be able to recognise the letters as the untattered originals.
The moment Arha is put to rest, the harpies will disintegrate, revealing the remains of other bones and parts of the armour or private clothing of the other members of the ghost army. Some of the remaining spirits of the murdered travellers will ask the raiders to remove Arha's bones and those of his men and deliver them to Taravast, so that they need not share burial grounds with their killers.
They will also dictate a list of names and where to find their closest of kin, asking the raiders to write to their families and let them know to collect their bones from Stairs of Sighs. If they actually go ahead with this, characters will discover some of these individuals cannot be found, or they will reach their descendants.
THE GOOD PEOPLE
Those not participating in Arha's exorcism will find themselves inevitably drawn into the skirmish, when the harpy-led tumult in the temple — just what are those people doing in there, exactly? — are rounded up by Arha's men. Some seem content to simply keep watch over the prisoners. Others will mutter darkly of the culling once more, as people never learn their place. A handful will pretend to collect caravan travellers and take them for safe-guarding within tents — only to release them once they've gotten some way away from their superiors, urging them to run.
The blood rains will begin to pour down, violently, while harpies cross the air, assaulting the ghostly army and seemingly assisting caravan passengers. Arha's men will be nearly corporeal by now, capable of putting up quite a bit of a fight, and seemingly frightened by fire.
It all ends as abruptly as it started, within hours, when Arha comes to peace with Hatisse through Mingyu, after his tomb is opened. The ghosts will all gradually dissolve, leaving behind a scent of burning and discarded tar and bones. The rains will come to bitter end. The canyon walls return to base stone, losing their sculpts. The witch's song stops, and tonight, would you look at that — the first night without a full moon.
The disarray within the camp will require a bit of mending, and someone should really look after Mingyu and the raiders. More importantly, set up the caravan for a swift exit: Mazyar is willing to expend every last inch of his resources to push the caravan out of the Stairs of Sighs as quickly as possible. This may call on some of the travellers to donate their time and energy to pack up tents, do a last raid of the collided horsecar, carry supplies, cook (except Xie Lian, by name) and look after animals or any of the young who are briefly without minders in the wake of the earlier clashes.
Over the course of the day, characters may notice Mazyar in thought, receiving a flurry of exchanges via his quartz stone. At long last, he will say he has received word from Taravast to declare the Stairs of Sighs open — and that some people have been asked to stay behind a few weeks to assist with purifying the area and removing any lingering debris, so that the corridor may become usable. Feel free to assume characters swept by AC or dropped may have volunteered for this.
no subject
Compiling everyone's input, the plan to tackle Arha works out as follows — feel free to play with it starting today, until around 6 August. Forward/backdate as much as needed, and anyone who hasn't responded yet is still very, very welcome to participate. This is just the (rattling) skeleton!
CATFISHING: THE GHOST EDITION
Lily will transfigure a garment inspired by the one worn by the statue of the Lady Hatisse uncovered by Archeval earlier in the month. It will be worn by Mingyu — who will get his face (literally) done by Zhou Zishu and can pick up further subtleties on the appropriate feminine walk and bows from Wen Qing — on his crossplaying venture to... seduce a ghost.
Peering what he assumes to be his forlorn bride from a distance, the highly agitated Arha will approach Mingyu and grow.. increasingly more volatile, straddling the line between physicality and the spiritual plane, clutching his maiden's arms with hands turned tar and harpy claws. First, he will ask if she is truly Hatisse, adding he never questioned she would come to him — but why here? Why now? Were they not meant to meet in Taravast, why does she come to him, how did the Attaryl allow her, were they not hunted down by the Bessis? Foolish woman, what if she had lost herself on her path, always doing only as she wishes, from the day she threw herself in his path when they assigned her to his court for learning, to here, now, telling him to give up his hunt, but how did she come? Why does he smell of blood and burning, whenever he think of her, why do his dreams always show carnage, why is she here?
He will ramble extensively and seem to struggle with glimpses of understanding, scratching at Mingyu's arms, begging for answers, until the exact moment when the team of raiders in the temple open up his tomb. (Only) then, Mingyu may feel abruptly paralysed in his own body, unable to speak or truly control his limbs, while the residual presence of Hatisse's curse — different from the full strength of her spirit, which passed outside of the Stairs of Sighs — inhabits him. Under the control of Hatisse, Mingyu will feel burning within him, hands suddenly dripping in red, when he will draw Arha down by the sides of his face, dragging blood over cheeks, his temples. For once, the foolish witch's song revealed by Wen Kexing will play during the course of day, and Arha will listen.
By the end, he will only say, "I pity you, Hatisse. I pity your love."
...before disappearing, leaving behind only Mingyu to recover gradually from his brief possession. The scratch marks on his arms will heal themselves within a day's time, if no one gets around to assisting them.
TEMPLE TROUBLE
While Arha's catfished, everyone heading into the tomb can leisurely enjoy narrowly avoiding the lingering harpies — who will deploy the full scale of their claws and bone-piercing beaks — and the loitering energy of the innocent travellers of a previous caravan, slaughtered by Arha. Some of these dead will urge the raiders not to open the warlord's tomb, because forcing Arha to confront his demise led to their own deaths. Others will simply argue that Arha doesn't deserve peace, after what he's done to them. Navigating the temple corridors will take up at least half an hour — but you're here on a mission...
Opening Arha's tomb sarcophagus will require the strength of at least three-four people, but to those who've inhaled their spinach go the spoils —
...and what merry bones they are! Heavily warded, carrying the stench of burning, guarded by a tangle of electric webs. The wards will deactivate quickly if the hand of a living person touches them — but they'll still incur some heavy damage on the offending limb.
Once the wards are removed, either destroying, cleansing with a bounty of water or performing purifying rites should easily set Arha to rest — coinciding with his... ghosting Mingyu in the outside world. He will leave behind a full set of beautiful armour, linens, a sword and a bow. Yes, hooligans can steal these. If searched, the inside of his soft inner clothes will reveal a breast pocket holding a bundle of letters — both his and Hatisse's. Characters who collected any of the stray parchment pieces in the previous event will be able to recognise the letters as the untattered originals.
The moment Arha is put to rest, the harpies will disintegrate, revealing the remains of other bones and parts of the armour or private clothing of the other members of the ghost army. Some of the remaining spirits of the murdered travellers will ask the raiders to remove Arha's bones and those of his men and deliver them to Taravast, so that they need not share burial grounds with their killers.
They will also dictate a list of names and where to find their closest of kin, asking the raiders to write to their families and let them know to collect their bones from Stairs of Sighs. If they actually go ahead with this, characters will discover some of these individuals cannot be found, or they will reach their descendants.
THE GOOD PEOPLE
Those not participating in Arha's exorcism will find themselves inevitably drawn into the skirmish, when the harpy-led tumult in the temple — just what are those people doing in there, exactly? — are rounded up by Arha's men. Some seem content to simply keep watch over the prisoners. Others will mutter darkly of the culling once more, as people never learn their place. A handful will pretend to collect caravan travellers and take them for safe-guarding within tents — only to release them once they've gotten some way away from their superiors, urging them to run.
The blood rains will begin to pour down, violently, while harpies cross the air, assaulting the ghostly army and seemingly assisting caravan passengers. Arha's men will be nearly corporeal by now, capable of putting up quite a bit of a fight, and seemingly frightened by fire.
It all ends as abruptly as it started, within hours, when Arha comes to peace with Hatisse through Mingyu, after his tomb is opened. The ghosts will all gradually dissolve, leaving behind a scent of burning and discarded tar and bones. The rains will come to bitter end. The canyon walls return to base stone, losing their sculpts. The witch's song stops, and tonight, would you look at that — the first night without a full moon.
The disarray within the camp will require a bit of mending, and someone should really look after Mingyu and the raiders. More importantly, set up the caravan for a swift exit: Mazyar is willing to expend every last inch of his resources to push the caravan out of the Stairs of Sighs as quickly as possible. This may call on some of the travellers to donate their time and energy to pack up tents, do a last raid of the collided horsecar, carry supplies, cook (except Xie Lian, by name) and look after animals or any of the young who are briefly without minders in the wake of the earlier clashes.
Over the course of the day, characters may notice Mazyar in thought, receiving a flurry of exchanges via his quartz stone. At long last, he will say he has received word from Taravast to declare the Stairs of Sighs open — and that some people have been asked to stay behind a few weeks to assist with purifying the area and removing any lingering debris, so that the corridor may become usable. Feel free to assume characters swept by AC or dropped may have volunteered for this.