Mini-Event: Skywhale + Day of Lefkokó

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The Skywhale & Day of Lefkokó
🜙 The Skywhale
	After fierce retaliation and an increase in city-wide defensive power and measures, it seems as if the orc attacks have, at least for the moment, begun to subside. Along with the lessened threat of orc ambushes, the first storms of winter have died down to a gentle and occasional snow flurry, leaving the world peacefully blanketed in powder snow and a calm stillness. The City of the Free Peoples take this time to celebrate the final repairs of the airship, the Skywhale. With sail balloon once more filled and the engines working hard to keep the air within it warm, easier and safer travel is once more available. The Skywhale leaves once a day in the early morning to head for Didymos, and today is its maiden voyage since the repairs. Thalassa has changed greatly in the last century, blossoming into a massive port and military city, with resources and opportunities unavailable in the more eclectic Cty of the Free Peoples. Restless legs may find their chance to stretch to a new experience. Sail the skies aboard the Skywhale and see Thalassa's grand transformation to Didymos for yourself. Catch the voyage back before nightfall, or remain in Didymos until the ship's return the following day. There is plenty to see and do in the city by the sea. You can even see Logistykon's reef from aboard the Skywhale's deck as it swings around to dock. It is a grim but beautiful sight in the clear blue waters. While the threat of fire and orc ambush has diminished greatly, the City of the Free Peoples is filled with a sense of unease and discomfort as repairs on the city and attempts to put lives back together continue. Murmurs of discontent slip through the city streets, along with rumors that this is all Lykos' fault or accusations that the Captain might be hiding something. For every murmur of distrust, however, there are counters of the heroics and quick action that helped keep the city strong and beat the orcs back. There has still been no word from Krimnos or the airship, Valiant, that usually hails from the cliff city daily. Messengers have not made their wing from the city and those sent to the cliffs have not returned. It's not unusual for this time of year, but the absence is felt keenly by traveling merchants who need to get their wares to or from the city. A journey by horse or on foot would be risky, but the potential rewards for escorting a company up to the cliffs could prove significant.
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🜙 Day of Lefkokó
	No matter what city you find yourself in, the dawn of the 17th sees a change in mood and atmosphere across Idan. Snow has stopped falling and the sky is a bright, clear blue. The weather warms enough to cause water to drip softly from the icicles hanging off every awning and outcrop. Decorations of magical or crafted snowflake art and blue ice flames line city streets and building windows, and jovial merriment spills out into the streets. A sweet wine made from frostberries, warm honey-mead, and spiced apple drinks are offered in taverns, inns, and small shops or homes, a free offering to be had with sweet or spiced cheeses and spiced or candied nuts and fruits. It's a celebration that is far from unfamiliar, one that has been celebrated for centuries across Idan's towns and cities, though the methods and particulars of the celebration have always varied from place to place and people to people. December is the month of the White Raven, and in particular, this day is a day to honor him. Lefkokó, the deity of dance, freedom, madness, and cunning sits at the head of the cause of these festivities and his domains are the focus of the celebrations. Today is a day of dance, drinking, and games of skill and chance. A day to test your bluffing skills, show off, and take deep joy and pride in the liberties and opportunities available to all. Few work on this day, beyond the essentials, and everyone who is able to takes part in this moment of freedom and relaxed expectations or responsibilities. The cities are alive with music and dancing, and the taverns are a swirl of chaos amidst high stake games of cunning and chance. Clever minds clash over riddles, old and new, and as the day progresses a lack of sobriety becomes increasingly evident in the streets and establishments alike. As the sun reaches the highest point in the sky and the shadows dwindle to near nothingness, the aviaries of all three cities release the newest flock of rare juvenile snow ravens to their freedom, letting them take wing to the skies for their first ever flights. The flocks of snow ravens, the most coveted of magic familiars, fly off to the wildlands after practicing their acrobatic feats and visiting various areas of the city in search of food to give them energy for the journey ahead. Once they take their leave of the city, many begin to seek out hidden trinkets, magical herbs, and small, rare items across Idan with a precise and dedicated focus. Those who honor Lefkokó by celebrating in his name may be visited by his rare and clever emissaries later in the month with an offering of thanks from Lefkokó himself.
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🜙 A Warning.
	By the 18th the orc camp has been abandoned, the animals freed and the orcs, whatever was left of them, appear to have fled. Retreat is unusual, even more so for them to cut their creatures loose and flee without triumph or trophy, but this is something different. Many of the weapons, trinkets, and armors coveted by the warring orcs have been left behind, and the fires trampled and stamped out with apparent urgency. Tracks lead to the south a few miles and then vanish into snow in the direction of Lake Atéleio. It and the land south and west of it are consumed in a blizzard blown over from the sea, and tracking beyond that point becomes nearly impossible, though by this point it is assumed the Orcs have retreated to Spear Valley. Whether or not they will return is unclear. Those in the City of the Free Peoples on the 18th will receive another message, this one from a less mysterious source, addressing the coming dangers. Though the attacks have set preparations back a few weeks I would like to quell any worries. The Long Night approaches, but you are a city of strong, brave folk. The threats on the horizon will not be the end of this city any more than these raucous attacks have been. Supplies can be claimed from the defender's camp for any struggling to make the necessary preparations. Those who have lost their homes will be provided shelter and supplies. When the Long Night comes, keep your children indoors, your fires stoked, and your buildings shuttered. There is nothing to fear. Your defenders will keep you safe. -Captain Lykos Several hours later a second and then a third message is received across all kingdoms. It comes only to the couriers of the awakened. The first comes as an audio message: A dull scraping sound followed by the click and whine of metal dragging across stone and the dripping of thick, viscous liquid somewhere distant. It ends abruptly and a simple thought message, short and uncomfortable, follows it. silarclupes irom otnemem The message has no signature.

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Comments

lefkoko; i guess this technically takes place before their network thread so let’s play it by ear!

[forswore]

As the last wingbeats fade away, the sound is replaced by someone’s slow clapping behind Victor’s back.

“Quite the performance,” the scarred tiefling who’s the source of unasked for applause says, plainly, without inflection or mocking. It’s just a statement of fact, so far as he’s concerned.

“Those birds will remember a send-off like that. They’re clever beasts.”

hahaha, sounds like a plan!

[genice]

Victor looked over his shoulder before he turned, executing a purposefully dramatic flourish of a bow for the sake of the applause. When he stood, he raked his fingers through his bangs, flashing a crowd-ready smile at his tiefling observer. Not because there was a crowd, as there decidedly wasn't, but because it was the same easy expression he'd started wearing when the magic stopped feeling as beautiful and warm as it once was.

He felt warmer than he had for a long time, cavorting with ravens who were untouched by the particular magics that were part of his life. That was one gift he could give them.

"Clever and playful. You can't convince most creatures to engage in anything like that for the sheer fun of it, especially after they've been fed." Makka shook herself off, dipping down into a stretch before wandering closer to Victor. Victor offered her a hand without looking; she pressed her head into his palm, walking forward so that he was made to stroke down her neck. "People included."

[forswore]

Daud shrugged. “Putting some drink in them seems to change their minds. Although it would probably be considered sacrilege or something of the sort to get one of those birds drunk.”

He looked out over in the direction the ravens had flown into, head cocked... and his lips curled in sudden amusement, sharp eyes picking out white forms winging their way back — more of them.

“Though you might want to be ready for an encore. They’ve got brought back some friends.”

[genice]

"Might make it hard to fly drunk," he said, considering the possibility, the tip of his first finger resting against his chin. His finger fell away when Daud mentioned the encore, Victor blinking and quirking an eyebrow before looking in the same direction. The sight of a number of ravens flying toward them startled him into laughing, shaking his head.

"Think it's too late to make a run for it?" He didn't sound serious, and his relaxed posture paired with the relaxed posture of his wolf companion, was unconcerned. The ravens called out, a series of caws as they darted around each other, the lead few angling right for their small courtyard. He supposed the broken fountain would provide plenty of roosting space, if nothing else. "To think, the last time anyone wanted an encore, it was after a good wining and dining."

In that particular case, the innkeeper providing everyone in the company of the bard responsible for music that night a meal and a tankard of ale, wanting to keep them happy, and keep the business they'd attracted for as long as the sun hid away below the horizon. One of the last performances he'd given, with people he never saw again. Back before the war had felt as real as it did shortly after.

[forswore]

“In this case, I believe they’re also interested in the dining,” Daud observes. “But I can take care of that part.”

After a moment of rummaging, he produces a slightly squashed bit of bread out of a coat pocket and breaks it up for the birds, scattering it in turn. A burst of music and clapping a few streets over catches the tiefling’s ear briefly, and he tilts his head in its direction.

“Hm. That’s what was missing last time. Accompaniment.”

[genice]

It's been so long since he's done anything to accompaniment. For a moment, Victor is as still as the broken fountain, head canted to the side, listening with all of his focused intent. Beyond the caws and jostling of feathers and the clack of beaks and swallowing of bread, there's the music, and the applause. Or perhaps just the clapping accompaniment.

He moves again, a hand resting on his hip and a relaxed grin curving one corner of his mouth upward. "It is a celebration for the ravens. Think it's worth accompanying them to the music? It looks like they've already accepted your tribute to their cause."

Victor gestures toward the empty landscape of where Daud's bread once lay scattered. Several very content ravens were preening the feathers of their wings, watching both of them with keen, intelligent interest. Time to play?

[forswore]

“Hm,” Daud grunts noncommittally, moving over to sit on the edge of the fountain that seems able to support his weight. “If they expect me to dance, they’re out of luck. I already did my rounds in there.”

He nods in the direction of the celebration, then pauses consideringly ... and lifts a hoof to tap it against the stone base of the fountain, light but swift enough to deliver a sharp, staccato clack.

“But I can provide a beat.” Slowly and without much fanfare, he taps a pattern out against the stone with his hooves, interspersed with the occasional clap. It’s hardly what one would call inspiring overall, given how stony faced he looks throughout, but hey, at least an effort’s being made?