august activity + taravast, quests, game chat, admin... and BADGES

[groundrules]

AUGUST AC & UPDATES

ACTIVITY CHECK | ARHA | TARAVAST, QUESTS & EVENTS | GAME CHAT? | BADGES


AUGUST ACTIVITY

Hi guys! The activity check (AC) is handled by Ye Olde Modde, and you do not need to do anything unless I couldn’t find activity proof for your character and they’re on the below list. Please don’t forget to use character tags for posts and logs you tag into — it helps fish out your activity.

Regular activity requirements are one of the following during the AC month:

a network post

OR 10 text/network-style comments across at most two threads

OR five log comments across at most two threads

Activity counts whether conducted on either the game communities or character inboxes.

In July, I couldn’t find sufficient activity for...

Lee Chang | jeoha | RECLAIMED for regular August activity
Yennefer | conjurechaos
Alina Starkov | sankta | RECLAIMED for two network posts or 15 text/network comments across 2-4 threads or 7 log comments across 2-3 threads in August
Gilbert Nightray | corvis | RECLAIMED for regular August activity

Comment below or PM @ groundrules until 5 August if you’d like to reclaim your character, or if they have July activity I missed!

ARHA

Quite a lot has been unearthed on the past of Lady Hatisse, Lord Arha and his ghostly battalion — leaving their fate uncertain.

What we learned in recent days:

Arha’s stone tomb is among those revealed for exploration following the Allison-led incursion into the harpies’ nest. It remains unopened and can be accessed by everyone.

Opening the temples released ghostly figures of a previous merchant caravan, slaughtered by Arha.

Attempts to reveal his demise have driven Arha unhinged, pushing him to float the prospect of carnage. As one does.

At the core of the harpies are bone pieces collected from the tombs of the buried ghost army.

Lady Hatisse attempted to dissuade Arha’s rescue efforts, then led her lover into the murderous hands of her sisters and their former enemies, when he continued his military advance.

Folks who want to get involved, please comment here to brainstorm any potential character actions, or if you’d like to leave Arha and his folks alone. An outcome can be rolled for you tomorrow, ideally leaving until 5 August to finish out playing with Arha and the aftermath. We can, but ideally won't need to adjust the timeline!

Arha plot wrap...!

OTHER ADMIN

Most of the August calendar remains subject to update once Arc II has been set up, but you can find loose indications here. The calendar will be updated, likely next week.

The location setup for Arc II, “team” and identity assignments and a small event will go up 6-8 August. Thank you for everyone's help with assignments — now no longer taking input.

Some characters will receive individual quests/aftermath instructions, following on mod talks or events in Arc I and the Stairs of Sighs. At this time, they are Five, Archeval and Eleven. Two other characters are slated for optional quests based on Taravast’s setup — Zhou Zishu and Wen Qing. Their agendas haven’t been forgotten, and all that info will be laid out when we hit Taravast. Bear with me!

If there is a longer-term character arc that you want to work on and need some environmental or mod help with, hit up the player suggestions area!

Moving forward, the Story So Far page will (hopefully) be updated with summaries on a monthly basis, to help our newcomers.

Lastly, given the clue and plot-oriented nature of Eastbound, some folks have asked about a potential game Discord chat. While I’d be happy to set one up, I’m not currently in a place where I could actively moderate a chatroom — if you have thoughts on how we could go about making a non-mod-led one happen (or if you feel one is needed to begin with), happy to hear them!

CHARACTER BADGES

We now have a slew of new Interlude Arc: Stairs of Sighs badges that can be added to your collection. Check’em out below!

To the newbies among us: character budges are optional OOC fun times markers for what you feel represents your character’s activity or milestones in an Arc. They are purely for laughs. You can pick, choose and display them as you see fit — here is the archive of general badges and the Arc I: Sa-Hareth set. We also have code for a badge wallet to showcase them.

STAIRS OF SIGHS BADGES

                

                

             

And a new general badge, beloved by all:

Comments

[groundrules]

Hi, folks,

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.

[weifinder]

... Dibs on the sword and bow--

More seriously, Wei Wuxian will do what he can in tombs to uh. Cripes. So with what the harpies are, will the merchant party ghosts be willing to work with him to fight the harpies off/fend them off or no?

Either way, Wei Wuxian will provide support, like a necromantic bard doing little more than debuffing the ghosts, okay, that's his life right now. Also: he can be the living touch to the wards once the tomb's opened, specifically because he deserves suffering, and also if he saw anyone else trying he'd be like "NO DO NOT" and then there, he's the touch!

He will help with injuries after, as much as he can, after properly being talked to and under Wen Qing's guidance (most likely, though he'll listen to anyone who knows decent amounts about caring for injuries) and quite probably won't have too much energy past that. Let him stir something as food. Do not let him add any spices to said food.

[scrapgege]

let Xie Lian do the live wire touching Wei Wuxian at least he won't die

[groundrules]

Re: harpies and merchant ghosts — depends. Yes, if the merchant ghosts believe the raiders are here to purify their bones and rid them the Arha's evil.

No, if they hear anything about the raiders wanting to free Arha.

[scrapgege]

Xie Lian can volunteer to put his hands in the live wire surrounding the bones, given that he is indeed alive, albeit for a long time, and also this will no kill him and he will laugh off the damage outwardly (but probably still go to wen Qing for the ouchies because she told him to.)

For the rest, he's here to punch ghosts if needed and also protect unsuspecting people from them with his handy-dandy silk ribbon

[silverneedles]

If he doesn't find Wen Qing, she'll find him and yell at him.

[paperbutterflies]

Temple raiding for Sizhui it is. He'll definitely be helping remove the sarcophagus lid, and also keep away the stray harpies and soothing any lingering energy as much as he can.

(He'll also be writing to the relatives/descendants and trying to track down those who are altogether missing because he is conscientious like that.)

I'm down for Sizhui either helping put the bones to rest or transferring spiritual energy for healing to Wei Wuxian, Xie Lian, Shen Qingqiu those who touch the live wire. Since he's on the spot, etc.

[topoiran]

Fine, fine, Su Xunxian will cook, gosh.

Also since there are at the very least snakes, if intelligence is needed from around the camp, he can give warning about stuff, etc.

[wenderer]

Wen Kexing will be stuck to Zhou Zishu’s side for the most part. For now, he’s going to actually take some advice and sit out the temple raiding part of this (unless Zishu goes), as he knows nothing about pacifying spirits, and instead guard the camp.

He can provide first aid and rudimentary healing to the raiding party, and he cooks.

[thesuspense]

In case you wanna be around actively, here's the super fun filled log place.

[thesuspense]

Since Xue Yang thought that dressing someone up as Hatisse is a grand idea and since he, too, has experience in changing someone's face entirely, he'll be an amazing beauty guru together with Zhou Zishu, probably getting slightly competitive in the process and definitely telling Mingyu that, yes, he is pretty.

As for the actual catfishing, he'll be hanging around, both because Arha tolerates him pretty well and because he is a currently undead demonic cultivator who could potentially help out. During the possession he'll mostly just watch with excitement, but I could see him afterwards rushing to Mingyu to check on him and make sure it really is all over, we could play that out perhaps?

Also, he'll want to make sure Xiao Xingchen is not alone and also nowhere near him, so he can demonically cultivate in peace.

[descendency]

You're very pretty too, Yangyang. Feel free to dump Xingchen on Jiang Cheng if you don't have other childcare arrangements.

I'm game for Mingyu and Xue Yang times post-possession, they can mutually stare inward at their own doomed romances.

[weifinder]

Related to mercantile dead: do they have any last effects they wish likewise properly arranged with their bones/anything else communicated to the departed? iirc Lily's going to be taking down their words, Wei Wuxian would want to see to their wishes being listened to as they're the most innocent of the dead in all this, and they're not getting their direct Arha revenge.

Likewise, recalling Izahad and his request for his effects, spirit by spirit he'd exhaust himself asking what the soliders want done with any effects that still exist. Would this lead to much of anything?

[groundrules]

In both cases, prepare for a multitude of harrowing, emotional requests. These spirits haven't been released or heard in years, and they'll jump at the opportunity to finally make their peace.

There might be some destroyed clothes, instruments or travel items that Wei Wuxian and Lily can find, but be emotionally prepared that most of the ones belonging to the previous caravan passengers (and merchants) will be thickly bloodied.

There might also be children's toys.

You're welcome.

[somebadnews]

Mingyu buddy... good job??? He's just full of surprises holy shit. If you need a man-child to teleport you tf somewhere, or you know... someone to stand by looking 100% surprised at this turn of events at any point, just give this guy a ring okay okay.

Otherwise, once Five sees that they're going through with an actual plan, he'll be in standby mode in case they screw it up. He'll theoretically have those explosive talismans Mingyu gave him, so he can help on the fire front. Maybe pass a couple to his sisters when shit goes down?? Explode some ghosts???? Whatever you want to work with there is fine by me.

Anyway this seems fine.

[groundrules]

Exploding ghosts is fine, but prepare for a chase/hunt during those... two-three hours of showdown, if you take that route, Five. Explosives are fire, and fire sends Arha's people on a trauma-drenched rampage.

[descendency]

In true divorced old couple vibes, Mingyu wants to know of these two plans, whose is going worse? Hm, Five? He's keeping Arha occupied and giving the ancient ghost couple closure, and you are??? Traumatizing the ghosts?? Sending them on yet another murderous rampage??

You're buying the booze in Taravast.

[lancifolium]

Once she's done doing her part to get Mingyu ready for the runway and confirming that he's got a support squad looking out for him, Lily will be throwing herself in on caravan defense because those ghosts have gotten really rude and she has had it, plus the more solid they become the more she can actually do something about them. Repelling ghosts and conjuring fire is definitely in her set of skills and in a pinch, she can also apparate herself along with one or two other people to escape danger if anyone needs to get whisked out of some peril. She's also going to keep an eye out for that bear because being surprised by it right now would be a real pain.

After the skirmish, she will be found either trying to put the caravan back to rights by lending a hand cleaning and repairing things or putting her very limited healing spell knowledge to use on less severe injures (a broken nose is probably the maximum she'd be able to fix anything more severe would just get slightly mended). She can also conjure up hot water and transfigure things into bandages.

Like the big softy she is Lily will help Wei Wuxian collect information from the passing spirits, and will lend a hand with fulfilling their requests. She's also going to pour over those love letters if she can (someone grab those for her please).

[groundrules]

Some detail regarding last wishes, if you can use it...!

[thesuspense]

In case you want to play out getting Mingyu ready.

[silverneedles]

Wen Qing won't be of much use in the skirmish, since she's without a sword and her skills are better suited to healing, but she can help Mingyu and the raiders (and the two electrocuted idiots) after the battle is over.

She can take down tents, mend anything ripped, and gather supplies as needed if more hands are necessary.

[downswing]

Wen Qing's turn or Wangji's?

[descendency]

Thanks for helping him keep his injuries from his spouses, Wen Qing. You're a pal. Let him know if you have money problems or need supplies okay, he'll get you taken care of.

[fated_dance]

After fixing Mingyu up all pretty, Zishu will stick with most of the travelers and guard the camp with Wen Kexing. This means they'll probably be caught, but he'll use every bit of influence and lean on every sympathy he has to talk the ghosties into hurting as few people as possible.

After that he'll join in helping tend to injuries as best he can, mostly cleaning and binding injuries. But if someone somehow gets poisoned...he could help with that.

Catfishing Log

[thesuspense]

It's up.