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

[cryptsleeper]

Where would you have liked to have gone before?

[That's probably a question with a broad answer. Better that than Alucard trying to actually make a suggestion. He knows absolutely nothing else about the fellow dhampir beside him, save for what has already been revealed. To recommend x, z, or z is impossible.]

[fuga]

Somewhere to learn. To grow things.

[ It is a nameless place, something that doesn't mean anything to her at all in the long run. Somewhere where she might be able to live in peace - but what place could that be? She cannot picture it or pick a name in her mind. ]

[cryptsleeper]

That is....very broad.

[Expected. But it is a place to start.]

[fuga]

No one has asked me such a thing before.

[ And she seems rather petulant about the idea. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[That in and of itself is both upsetting and unsurprising. However, there is something that sticks in Alucard's mind as he considers this information. To grow things.]

I recall, some time ago, I encountered a temple complex with a series of greenhouses, which enabled the growth of plants that need constant warmth regardless of season.

[fuga]

A temple...

[ That makes her pause. She had a home there once, but trying to remember it fondly comes with some difficulty. ]

An owned temple? To who?

[cryptsleeper]

Mm, I'm trying to recall. It was an early trip, and I didn't keep my notes as well as I did later in life.

[And all of those notes are still at home, if they survive at all.]

But you'd be interested?

[fuga]

I would not loathe it.

[ There is no denying the comfort she finds in religion, so to be tied to a temple once more... It would not be the worst future for her. Her eyes dart down to Ellis, uncertain. ]

You could find it again?

[cryptsleeper]

Mm, so long as my memory cooperates and the building still stands.

[Or else he'll simply locate a similar enough place. The temple is hardly the point anyway. A greenhouse seems the best way to wed wild untamed nature and civilization. A quiet place to begin anew. Something poetic about greenery.

Ellis, at this point, is snoring. Softly, barely noticeable over conversation.]

[fuga]

I grew plants and poisons in the wilderness. They were... It kept me occupied. I was happy, sometimes, when I had them. That is how I earned what little money I had, with trade.

[ It seems difficult for her to admit even that, as if confessing the simplest of things was a burden to her. The weight of Ellis is a comfort and she breathes out, eyes closed. ]

I could live there. Alone again.

[cryptsleeper]

That returns us to what I asked before: is that what you want?

[To simply return to before, and take no part of the world?

He remembers the temple now. It was to the speckled doe, to Seyra, her domain that of growth and healing and order and earth. A thing at the forest foothills before the mountains that lead to Krimnos truly took hold.

Easy enough to confirm that it remains.]

[fuga]

I would not be opposed. Is that not the same?

[ The idea of want is something that is a foreign concept to her. She has lived a life where it has been need rather than want - she made and purchased whatever she needed to survive, learned a craft, taught herself magics, and she flourished. When had want ever come into that?

She shakes her head. ]

What do you want, kinsman?

[cryptsleeper]

Opposed sounds like settling and falling into patterns because that what makes sense at the time.

[There's a greater point here, but the question gets nothing more than a speedy response that speaks to a much older kind of rapport.]

Of you, or in general?

[fuga]

Are there issues with settling into comfort?

[ Is this what it is like to have parents to raise you? This kind of determination about the world? Her nose wrinkles. ]

Both, perhaps.

[cryptsleeper]

It can become a trap of it's own.

[Well, maybe his parents. They were stubborn, overdramatic people.]

From you? To consider that there is a world that would be better for your involvement in it, rather than retreating into the familiar. Things have changed, and what worked a century ago may do more harm than good now.

For myself? To assess what of my family's castle remains. To rebuild the legacy they intended to leave behind rather than the ones they did, and to continue to determine what force has dragged us all kicking and screeching into the future without our consent.

And from there, I shall see how the earth has shifted beneath my feet.

[fuga]

A trap.

[ She frowns, considering, watching as he speaks.

It makes sense. Fading into the familiar would make her life the same endless circle it had been before, and even if she had been content she wants more now. There is magic for her to learn, things for her to do, and she cherishes the chance for her to have that gift even if she is not sure how to ask for it.

Quietly, she huffs a noise, low and animalistic. ]

It may be the Gods. It may be more. [ Her voice is soft, quiet, as she continues. ] I would help you find that answer. I will discover the force in return for a place to live.

[cryptsleeper]

I expect it to be men, not gods.

[Stupid mages. Stupid men with stupider plans, and Alucard will be very happy to rend all those plans in two.]

If the castle remains and is safe to occupy. None of us are done any good if masonry falls on us in our sleep.

[fuga]

Perhaps it is both. This world is inhabited by fools who would do anything in the name of their own thoughts, or because of a demand they think came from someone with more strength than theirs.

[ Her scoff shows just how she feels about that. She would do anything her god would ask of her, but he has never asked. She is not fool enough to think otherwise. ]

Then you will leave, soon, to investigate.

[cryptsleeper]

Mm, now there's a likely explanation.

[His lips twitch into a thin smile at that. It would be a very good explanation indeed, and it would allow for a very good catharsis of anger if proven true.]

When the airships to Krimnos resume. I am not so selfish as to drag an entire group through unsafe territory for want of homecoming.

[fuga]

It is as likely as anything.

[ Her head tilts, eyes boring into him again now, as if she has somehow regained some confidence. Her hands do not stray from Ellis, however. ]

And she will go with you. [ It seems to make her sad. ]

[cryptsleeper]

Naturally.

[There's something else to note though, if this is going to be the new truth of who lives at that castle. Returning to it, Alucard knows, will be a thing of too many emotions all struggling for control. An ugly thing, something to strike at much baser instincts.]

I...would ask for privacy while I make an initial assessment of the castle. It is extremely likely that it will not be habitable even if most of the building stands, and it is two days outside of Krimnos itself.

[fuga]

[ Lauralae shakes her head, turning away. ]

It is your home. I will not seek to invade it as it is not my place. [ She breathes out, stroking over Ellis, gentle and soft. ] I will miss her. That is the only concern I have.

[cryptsleeper]

[The word invade is so telling, isn't it? Alucard doesn't make the comment, but he notes it softly.]

She'll return to you within the time period it will take to get there and back. I can promise that much.

[fuga]

[ She hums, expression softening gently as she stares at the wolf. ]

But she will stay with you. Do not doubt her loyalty, even if she has affection for me.

[cryptsleeper]

That much I have never done. Certain personality quirks, yes, those are questioned, but the rest...

[He gestures briefly. Water under the bridge. The wolf's like this because the other two are not here. He's figured that out now.]