EVENT | LANDFALL | VALISHAERA | JULY 13-26

[ironwood]

A bit of hopeful light arrives to break up the gloom of Malicant's ever-present threat from inside the Palace: once again, Tu Vishan has made his way to the mainland!

Weather & City Report
The days have been steadily getting warmer as they approach the height of summer and as Tu Vishan swims parallel to Konryu's equator and heading west. It's now not unusual for daytime temperatures to be above 30ºC/85ºF with higher spikes, though there has been a consistent and brisk wind from the north that helps keep it bearable. In fact the wind has been stronger than usual lately, causing some damages to property and even taking down a few of the weaker trees in the Wood Sector.

The Palace of the Landed Sky is quiet, with no further altercations between the remaining possessed kedan inside and the rest of the city; some speculate that they've possibly all died, but it's hard to say without getting anyone inside. For the moment it remains something of an elephant in the room amongst the kedan and Evandau, when he's infrequently glimpsed amid the strict security of the police station, looks as though he is bearing that entire elephant on his shoulders.

It's some of the fisherkedan that actually bring the news of land being sighted, rather than the typical announcement of it from the Emperor (and he looks just as surprised by it as anyone; someone didn't get the memo like Eshai normally had) but perhaps some time physically off Tu Vishan will give them all a bit better perspective.

Landfall | Valishaera | JULY 13-26, 2014

As Tu Vishan draws near, the heavy jungle visible even from miles out quickly identifies the landmass as Siaxhi, one of the westernmost continents in Konryu and one that has been largely untouched insofar as the kedan themselves have gone. There has been a previous mission to Siaxhi, to the Duchy of Castis located on the western side of the continent but the eastern side is mostly uncharted. There is a natural inlet along the southeast shore on the continent and Tu Vishan makes for that, though he fills nearly all of it. The waters are relatively shallow here and turquoise, and abundant in fish and other sea life. While the kedan in general seem unenthusiastic about venturing into the dense jungle, they're already making plans to deploy an entire fleet of fishing vessels along the coast and bringing in what will be a record haul.

The Watch City of Valishaera

( An excerpt from the scroll, The Watchers of the Realms: ) We are now aware of three Watch Cities, which I will do my best to summarize below. To our knowledge, there is one City to each of the three Realms of Life, Death, and Dreaming. Each continues to balance the others, both in darkness in light, and bring about a prosperity that could not be possible were any Realm without. ( ... ) The Dan'effrei of the city of Valishaera serve as the watchers of Dreaming. Their temples, as the monks themselves, shift and move with the creation of new possibilities. I and the others have never seen a monk appear in the same form from one visit to the next, making them difficult to find. The buildings themselves, unlike the white marble of the Dan'kirani's temples, vary in color and size despite being formed of a crystalline structure of some kind, molding themselves to the landscape. Each draws upon life and death in equal measure to create their fluidity.

The Arybar

One of the three original Watch Cities designed to oversee protection of the various planes, Valishaera was tasked with presiding over the Dreaming Realm, the city as described should by rights be opulent. However when the Foreigners locate it set less than a mile inland from the eastern bay, they may be surprised to find the great city in nearly ruins, heavily overgrown.

There is a small settlement of folk living there who, other than they are quite a bit taller than humans (heights of 7'+ are not uncommon) and have peculiar patterning on their skin vaguely reminiscent of jungle cats, seem very friendly, albeit surprised by the appearance of strangers. But they've heard of Tu Vishan, the last living Great Turtle, so they'll be welcoming and not hostile. These are the Arybar, the native people of Siaxhi. They're a mix of agricultural and foraging culture, hunting only sporadically rather than relying on it for their primary food source. They have little to no contact with the Duchy of Castis beyond they know it's there and they're mutually not interested in crossing into each other's territory.

The Arybar will tell the Foreigners that the Dan'effrei came to build the city of Valishaera eons ago and that they were a race the Arybar did not recognize at the time, but they obtained permission for the land and remained on excellent terms with the Dan'effrei for many centuries. The city itself is made up of multi-leveled temples, bridges and arches, all designed to embrace the surrounding jungle rather than push it back. (An image! Yes, Valishaera is loosely based on El Dorado.) When asked what happened to the monks and the city however, the Arybar become evasive and change the subject. They like it as it is, having converted many of the large courtyards into perfect fields for their crops rather than having to hew good growing spaces out of the jungle floor.

The Foreigners will be invited to stay and explore to their heart's content, and small huts made for them to stay in. However...

Through The Gate

At some point while the Foreigners are investigating the overgrown ruins, they'll either catch sight of or be approached by someone they recognize (or someone they don't but who gives them a very strong sense of deja vu), offering to show them a way to see the "real Valishaera". They'll be led to one of the old temples and shown inside, revealing a portal similar in construction to the Dreaming arches, though not identical. Passing through the arch will leave them in the same room though their surroundings have vastly changed.

Welcome to Valishaera in the Dreaming Realm, a vibrant and thriving city still in its prime. Characters will be able to explore the Temple, speak with the monks and interact with the population in the rest of the city, all safely enclosed inside the Dreaming. Two monks will be controlled by mods, which will be noted on the IC log for interaction.

Pocketful of Dreams

In a separate temple, characters will also discover a chamber which has several doors (about a dozen, though if anyone tries to count them specifically, they will always end up with a different number than the previous count). Some of them are sealed with no evident way of opening them, but three are available to enter and show signs of repeated use. These are "pockets" in the Dreaming Realm, or technically subpockets since Valishaera itself exists on the plane already. Within the chamber, each portal seems identical to the others, giving no real clue as to its contents but each one is vastly different.

The three which are open lead to the following "places":

FAE: In one such portal is a mystical sort of land, think World Of Warcraft, and that one place with the GIANT FREAKING MUSHROOMS. Twenty stories tall if they're an inch, vaguely luminescent and carrying on for miles in a vast forest. The ground is soft and forgiving, and animals of all kinds wander there. The Realm of Fae will give the character pleasant visions of possible magical potential. If a character has magic, there might be a way to increase its power. If a character is baseline, they can leave having memorized one very simple spell. (Light projection, heal small wounds, that sort of thing.)

JUNGLE: The jungle portal is overrun with flora and fauna that you'd expect in that environment. It's a test of survival. Characters who enter this realm will find themselves learning how to fight, if necessary. Weapons will appear and disappear as thought of, real only in the Dreaming. If a character enters as a fighter, they will be given a trial of combat with success granting them a temporary boost of physical strength and an added or enhanced combat skill. If not a trained fighter, they will be given training in basics which they'll remember as a vague, blurry memory but clear muscle memories. (I.E. they won't consciously remember how to fight, but if pressed they'll discover that they're surprisingly good at it for a newbie.)

LIBRARY: Just what it says on the tin. A huge, echoing library filled with even more books than the temple in Valishaera. As always in dreams, it's impossible to read any of the books consciously. But certain facts will remain with a character, should they attempt to do so. Characters can leave the Library knowing one fact about the world of the turtle Tu Vishan OR they can leave with a fact from their homes, of their future or past that they did not already know. (Characters are limited to one only.)

Characters can enter all three portals if they choose. There is a sign-up comment HERE to note what characters will be taking out of each one as applicable.

Item Requests

A final list of approved item requests is found HERE. Characters may find the items on either the abandoned Life side of Valishaera or in the Dreaming side. They can also be discovered inside the "pocket" Dreaming portals.

Landfall Missions

This month we have some missions based in Valishaera, though the signup format will be the same. Missions will be assigned at the end of day on the 11th to give time allowance for plotting before they go live as part of the event on the 13th. Like regular missions, remember that you can only sign up one character from your roster.

→ DREAMSCAPE (INFORMATION)
→ NIGHT'S WOOD (EXPLORATION)
→ INAN (RETRIEVAL)

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character Name & Journal:</b> Name (journalname) <- not coded! <b>Mission Choice #1:</b> <b>Mission Choice #2:</b> <b>Mission Choice #3:</b>

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Questions | Pocket Dreaming Sign-Ups | Item Requests | Missions | Plotting

Comments

MISSIONS

[ironwood]

DREAMSCAPE (INFORMATION)

[ironwood]

Characters: 3-4 needed.
Mission Duration: 2-3 days.
Mission Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
Mission Type: Gathering the ability to detect corruption, and information on the imprisoned souls.
Projected Plot Impact: Some characters will get the ability to detect corruption from the death realm and Malicant in others.
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: The characters chosen by the monks will have gained the ability to detect corruption- to an extent! As such, it’ll be easier to tell if someone who’s being manipulated by Malicant is near them.

DOSSIER

After a day or two of staying in the city, some of the monks will actually reach to the foreigners and offer them to take part of a learning ritual. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of rules in the way the monks approach certain people, and those they approach might not even have anything in common. They don’t have to have any kind of power whatsoever, or any connection to the dreaming realm itself- it’s an alignment of the spirits, they will say. Training your body to react to certain spiritual influences in a way that they can recognize. The energy the monks are talking about seems to be really similar to the one Evandau mentioned was trapped in the lamps… and if the characters ask, the monks will explain they have no problem accessing it from the dreaming realm even through a distance.

If the characters insist, the monks will even be willing to teach them the spells and such required to free the souls but as much as they try it’s a level of magic far too complicated for someone who isn’t a powerful sorcerer. They will also warn them that freeing them in the turtle would be really, really dangerous as there’s dangers looming all around it. They will look very uncomfortable, and they will try to change the subject once they have warned the character because it’s dangerous to get the energy’s attention and knowing more could get them in danger.

The ritual (actually more like classes, really) will not take more than two or three days, depending on the natural ability the characters have and their willingness to learn. A big part of the training will be spent traveling between the two worlds, as the monks say it’s a way to notice the differences in the way the corruption spreads through the realms. In both life and death, pure energy beings like Malicant stand out and people can be trained to detect the kinds of energy that does not “belong”.

OUTCOME:

The players will be free to decide to what level, if any, the character will develop. They will keep the ability, but the monks will suggest they keep on training once they get back to the turtle. If the characters try this ability once they are back in the turtle they should contact Al to know what they will find.

Re: DREAMSCAPE (INFORMATION)

[alphatar]

Alignment of spirits, spiritual influences, soul energy... Yep, Korra's going be a natural at this since she's spiritually sensitive; so she'll be taking these lessons rather diligently and insisting on learning everything they can teach her.

Her gift from Asti is the ability to see everything as it truly is, so I'll poke the mods on if that works for this mission or not since it might be kind of related. And if she becomes capable enough to futz around with the lanterns later, that can lead to some shenanigans.

As for the mission, I'll have Korra put in either world for fun times. Because when isn't Death fun, amirite?

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon has already kind of half-killed himself trying to free his soul from the lantern, so he will definitely be someone who is going to push hard to learn as much as he can about that.

He's also a Necromancer so uh he might need to be watched when/if he goes to death-plane cos the last time he was there it was sort-of an accident. That being said, thanks to Asti he can't actually lose control and go nuts due to his magic anymore. He'll just not be very happy.

[trainwrecked]

Bucky is... as magically gifted as a raddish, by default, so this will be something new and interesting. And he thinks important.

He will learn the freeing spells, even if he knows he couldn't perform it - just in case, at a later time, somebody must perform the ritual and Bucky can teach him, or some such contingency.

[hisbabygirl]

Sarah might be just a kid, and she might not be spiritual at all, BUT she's determined to be of use in this war and this seems like the kind of thing she could do. So she's gonna be giving it her all and be determined to make it work.

She's dead in canon, and that's always at the back of her mind. At the same time though, it'll prob make her a little less freaked out by the whole death plane thing. She'll be creeped out, but not about to lose on this challenge.

Also having people she knows around will def help. c:

Re: DREAMSCAPE (INFORMATION)

[duelkatana]

Leo here is fairly experienced in matters of spiritualism, so this is right up his alley. He's also been to Dreaming before... but Death, that would be a refreshing new experience.

He has all the magical prowess of a rock, so while he'll probably learn the spell, there's no way he's gonna be able to do anything with it. But he's always invested in giving one hundred percent to anything he learns, and knowing there's so few of them who can do this means he's more than willing to be a team player for this one.

[peacefullywreathed]

What are we doing for the Karanea thread? Just a straight one-after-another thread, or a mingle?

Re: DREAMSCAPE (INFORMATION)

[duelkatana]

Belated, but... is anyone interested in doing kind of "nightmare mash-up" for Death? If we're still up for threading it, I think it could be fun to split into small 2-3 person groups and have them face their nightmares together to get to the items. Interesting for both new and established CR, maybe?

NIGHT'S WOOD (EXPLORATION)

[ironwood]

Character(s): 2-3 needed
Mission Duration: 2-7 days
Mission Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Mission Type: Exploration
Projected Plot Impact: The Dan’effrei will gain a great deal of knowledge about the Night’s Wood and Death magic in general based on what the characters find. It may also affect what kind of magic travels back to the Life Realm with the characters..
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: Nothing noticeable at this time, though the type of magic they bring back may influence future changes.
Mission Restrictions: None.

DOSSIER

Wlodzislaw asks a few characters completely at random to go investigate a particular patch of forest known as Night’s Wood which seems to come with some superstitions. He will guide them along the path into the healthy and normal forestry before directing them to a strange circle of pine trees. Right before they enter, he will give them an old map that he says has never worked for him, but which they may find some luck with - their goal is to explore and they are under no obligation to follow the path on the map.

Once the characters step inside the circle of trees, the sky will darken above them and it will become night. While nighttime, the forest is seemingly endless and characters will be unable to leave it. That said, they can leave and return to this pine circle to switch between day and night as often as needed without consequence.

While in the Night’s Wood, characters may explore to their heart’s content. The place seems to be a normal forest with a light fog covering the ground and an eerie sense of quiet emanating from the stillness. Characters may also encounter (at player discretion) any/all of the three following strange creatures:

Puffs: These little floating clouds, about the size of a watermelon (they, too, vary in size), represent different magics based on their color - which are hard to differentiate in the dark. Though not aggressive, the Lightning Puff will shock characters who might prod it while the Life Puff may soothe troubled wounds. Players are welcome to imagine their own Puffs, within reason (no one should be seriously wounded or die from a Puff and likewise will not suddenly gain powers).

Grymms: These guys, which look a bit like anorexic and misshapen naked mole rats with fly’s wings, also have four long, spindly arms stretching out of their back with sharp stingers. Their legs and main arms have barbs along the sides and equally sharp claws on the ends. Fortunately, they’re no larger than a cat. Unfortunately, they fly.

Lumps: Imagine a tribble/ball of fur with roughly a dozen tentacle-like legs that it uses to barrel at impressive speeds across the forest floor, beady black eyes, and a mouth which takes up a third of its body. When it opens its mouth, the rows of teeth become visible, as do its three monstrous tongues, which can extend up to ten feet and whose saliva causes burning and stinging. Did I mention they’re the size of a warthog? It’s best to avoid them. They’re fast, they use their tongues to wrap their prey, and they bite hard and fast with no desire to let go.

If characters choose to follow the map, they will find the Elder Tree. This tree is an enormous yet thin and spindly aspen tree, nearly glowing with how starkly white it looks in the moonlight. A black, humanoid heart floats, suspended, in golden sap in the center of the tree at roughly eye level; a hole from front to back, now filled with the same sap, makes the heart plain to see. Any character attempting to retrieve or study the heart will find the golden substance easy to pass through and the heart easily removed.

If they disregard the map and decide to explore instead, they may run across the legendary Rhefti. The Rhefti is said to be an old monk who tired of Watching and instead moved to the forest to be alone. What characters find is a small, fairy-like creature who rudely shoves pixie dust at them and then disappears.

Characters may find the Rhefti or the Elder Tree, but not both.

OUTCOME

Wlodzislaw will insist that any exploration the characters do is most welcome, as the Night’s Wood is constantly changing as a result of who explores it. He will tell them that what they found tells a great deal about them.

If characters find the Elder Tree and do not remove the heart, any character who touches the golden sap will be asked why they are glowing and Wloszislaw will explain to them that they can channel the Life magic that they have received to heal themselves one time from anything non life-threatening (the character will have to be conscious and able to concentrate for roughly 20min in order to use the magic); he will teach them how to do so.

If a character or characters retrieve the heart, the tree will immediately drain of color and become essentially an ice sculpture, the golden sap also turning to ice. If they offer the heart to Wlodzislaw, he will excitedly take it and talk of its vast Death Magic and the many good things the Dan’effrei can use that kind of magic for, congratulating them on their service. As a reward for their amazing find, he will offer them each one small/minor token of magic (to be determined individually for each character with the player and Kate talking it over).

If characters instead chose to explore and found the Rhefti, they, too, will receive something in exchange for their encounter - but this will be random. It may be a new power for a week, or it may be a curse. Perhaps a tail. Whatever the case, it will only develop when they return to the circle of pines and to the daylight. (These effects will be randomly assigned by Kate with limited player feedback).

Re: NIGHT'S WOOD (EXPLORATION)

[raavashing]

Wan likes to explore and he'd be fascinated by checking out the woods, but he'd also try to stick to the task given them before he did so. So it's map-focused for him first.

At the tree, he'd be reluctant to take the heart because they haven't been asked to retrieve anything, just really see where the map goes. Someone else will have to insist on bringing the heart back if that's going to happen.

Re: NIGHT'S WOOD (EXPLORATION)

[histruename]

Hellboy will also be sticking to the map for the most part. When they reach the freaky tree with the big freakin' evil-looking heart, though? He'll be tempted to just shoot at it and see what happens. In his world, things like that tend to cause more trouble than they're worth. So he might attempt to destroy it unless convinced otherwise. He definitely wouldn't recommend touching it or taking it anywhere.

Re: NIGHT'S WOOD (EXPLORATION)

[iwannabeadragon]

Hawke likes to explore. It's kind of his thing. If something catches his interest that's not on the map Hawke will definitely want to check it out. Honestly he would mostly just ignore the map and encourage the group to explore as well.

If they still end up at the tree, Hawke's first instinct would be to stab the heart. A black, human heart sitting in the center of an old tree just screams bad news to him. He wouldn't trust anything about that tree at all.

Re: NIGHT'S WOOD (EXPLORATION)

[skeletonenigma]

Sorry for the late reply, you guys! Pretty busy over the weekend, but that should be clearing up now.

Skulduggery would be pretty neutral about the choice between exploring or sticking to the map. In his experience, there's pros and cons for both. If the characters are all pretty evenly divided on that front, is there any chance for splitting up?

Definitely not taking that big black heart. For all they know, it's the tree's heart, and taking it would kill the forest, and people tend to frown on that sort of thing. So... well, he'd be against stabbing it too. Probably pretty firmly.

INAN (RETRIEVAL)

[ironwood]

Character(s): 3-4 needed
Mission Duration: 5-6 days, pretty open though
Mission Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Mission Type: Retrieval
Projected Plot Impact: The characters will be asked to help retrieve two creatures that have disappeared from the temple, a pair of ‘Inan’. They are rare and very valuable… and given their unusual diet, also very dangerous.
Proposed Worldbuilding Changes: If the characters find information, the whereabouts or the animals themselves they will be rewarded.

DOSSIER
It’s pretty easy to tell the few citizens left in the living realm are pretty upset and unnerved about the disappearance of the two Inan. It happened right as the foreigners came to visit-- but ah, they will say and repeat that they would never dream of blaming the foreigners for their disappearance. It was just a sad coincidence and their visit was probably merely a distraction. Still the animals have to be retrieved, at all costs: the monks had entrusted the Arybar with their care because keeping them in Dreaming had proven far too dangerous.

The characters will get drawings of two maned creatures. They're about the size of regular Earth housecats, though in the picture they have been painted with rich colors, reds and blues and golds that appear to be natural. Those familiar with Chinese mythology might liken them very much to Pixiu (or Pi Yao), though on a much smaller scale. It's also possible that images of these creatures might have been seen around Keeliai, normally in picture books, or decorative building facades or occasionally tattoos, similarly to mythical creatures on Earth. Whatever these beings are, it's clear that the Kedan didn’t think of them as something to be regularly seen, and the will confirm they are extremely rare.

Their diet: pure energy. The monks themselves came to feed them every fortnight, and everyone is worried that, if they simply escaped, they will have ran to the portals to the dreaming realm and feed on the energy… which would prove dangerous in the end. Though, at the moment the Inan had just been fed, so they couldn’t be hungry.

There’s little clues around: the cages were not forced, they were simply open. One of the Arybar farmers named Veldyzh (the characters will be welcomed to talk to and question her as she is also one of the Inan's caretakers - played by Li) saw someone who looked like a monk run away from the area soon before they found out the animals disappearance. And a literal trail: one of the animals must have been hurt, and there’s a trail of blood to one of the portals to Dreaming. However, the trail doesn’t continue on the other side.

Re: INAN (RETRIEVAL)

[ajrimmerssc]

So seeing as Rimmer isn't exactly one to sign himself up for dangerous missions in ANY capacity, I'd like to work this in such a way that he gets caught up in it all. Wrong place, wrong time, and oh dear, he's literally an energy being. A delicious snack for our kitties.

Re: INAN (RETRIEVAL)

[fearlessherosheart]

Tazendra will happily chase after false leads if no one helps her focus. She's not bad at investigating, she's just not inclined to focus on clues when she can seek action.

Re: INAN (RETRIEVAL)

[burnseternal]

Saint Walker here will doubtlessly get along very well with the monks (I would assume that they have pretty similar sensibilities) and will focus most of his attentions on talking to anyone who might know something! It would be the first plan of attack he'd suggest rather than, say, hunting down the cats straightaway.

Re: INAN (RETRIEVAL)

[jinzhong]

Jackie steals stuff, so I am absolutely volunteering him for any and all Inan-catching duties. Perhaps with Rimmer as bait.

Mission Signups

[ironwood]

Please use the text box provided in the post to indicate which missions you're interested in.

Mission Signups

[raavashing]

Player:
Character Name & Journal: Wan(raavashing)

Mission Choice #1: Dreamscape
Mission Choice #2: Night Wood
Mission Choice #3: Inan

(the choices are in order of most preferred to least preferred, right?)

Mission Signups

[ajrimmerssc]

Player: Lis
Character Name & Journal: Arnold Rimmer || ajrimmerssc

Mission Choice #1: Dreamscape
Mission Choice #2: Inan
Mission Choice #3: Night's Wood

Mission Signups

[trainwrecked]

Player: Kiki
Character Name & Journal: Bucky Barnes (trainwrecked)

Mission Choice #1: Dreamscape

[peacefullywreathed]

Player: Pur
Character Name & Journal: Solomon Wreath (peacefullywreathed)

Mission Choice #1: Dreamscape
Mission Choice #2: Inan
Mission Choice #3: Night's Wood

[akito]

Player: Neth
Character Name & Journal: Akito (akito)

Mission Choice #1: Dreamscape
Mission Choice #2: Night's Wood
Mission Choice #3: Inan