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Event #2: The Long Night
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| Nervous, frightened whispers spread across Idan. By word of mouth and courier, warnings that the Long Night has nearly arrived are sent out. Anasta's Shadow, the planet whose orbit lies between this one and its sun, will share a path with this planet for one week before they go their separate ways once more. During that time the far larger planet obscures the light and warmth the sun provides this world. This is nothing new to you. It has happened every year at this time since your birth and although the cold is treacherous and the dark inconvenient, in your time those were likely the only major threats you faced during the Long Night. The great dragon bonfires had always been kept lit by the trio of dragon guardians, their light and warmth keeping away the deadly freeze and the other horrors rumored to come with the darkness.
Perhaps you remember the tales from your childhood, stories meant to scare children away from venturing too far on their own in the treacherous heart of winter. The long, cold week of darkness was likely filled with stories of people whisked away in the black cold, either never to be seen again or to be found mangled and frozen with looks of terror and agony forever etched on their lifeless faces. With the dragons ever present in your lifetime, you had never experienced the true horrors of the Long Night for yourself, even if you had witnessed a taste out in the world beyond the safety of the kingdom cities and villages. The true terror of the Long Night had not been experienced in full since the formation of the Elf-Dragon Alliance, many generations before your birth. The massive bonfires kept ever burning by the guardian dragons kept the towns and cities across all three kingdoms protected from the sheer dark and the deadly deep freeze of the week-long total eclipse. Now that the dragons are gone there is simply not enough magic to create the powerful, lasting bonfires that once sheltered the three kingdoms and kept out the dark and the worst of the cold. From the warmth and safety of a hearth, it is easy to dismiss the frightened whispers of Idan's current population as superstition, at least until the sun 'sets' on the night of the 27th, swallowed behind the looming shadow of the larger planet. As night approaches on the 27th, the world goes red. Only slivers of sunlight escape around the far edge of Anasta's Shadow, bathing the world in an eerie crimson until the planet's massive shape in the sky blocks out the sun entirely, plunging Idan into near complete shadow. With the light consumed, the shrieks and howls begin. Starting up like the roar of an angry wind, they grow louder and more twisted the closer they come. Within hours the howls and shrieks are mixed with a sound like metal grinding across glass. Windows are covered in sheets of cracked and spidered ice. Chimneys without lit fires begin to fill with screeching, clawing noises and an unsettling and unfamiliar clicking noise that rises and falls like an unknown language. The sounds outside begin to shift and change, as more human shrieks join the unsettlingly monstrous ones, and the crying sob of a young child, hiccuping in fear, breaks up the brief moments of silence. It's just beyond the door, or just out of sight beside the window, then silence, and the howling and scraping start anew. Now and then an eerie red glow shines through ever more solid ice caking the windows, and they briefly steam up as something living exhales a heated breath against the pane. Citizens within earshot or courier distance warn those who seek answers to stay away and avoid seeking out the source of the sounds. They caution that the answers are not worth the risks and warn that anyone outside cannot be saved. If they're out there, they're already dead. If you insist on going, they'll tell you not to leave the safety of hearth and fire without a torch in hand or your chances of surviving will drop from slim to none. Pay heed to the cautions of those more experienced than you in this new horror or you will not survive the long, harsh night and the ever more unsettling noises it brings. | |
| đźś™ Weather | |
| The cold fluctuates between -18 to -32C (0 to -25F) during the Long Night. At these temperatures, the risk of frostbite and hypothermia are greatly increased and without proper precautions, a person could experience frostbite in 10-30 minutes when exposed to the elements. In addition to this, wind, sleet, and snow periodically drop the temperatures further. The weather may be the least of your worries, however, as the cold is far from the most dangerous threat the Long Night brings with it. | |
| đźś™ Creatures | |
 Tundra Manticore: They share little in common with their lower mountain counterparts beyond their violent disposition. Their bodies glow from within due to the venom stored in their abdomen. They can secrete this deadly venom from their mouths or their barbed tails. The venom is said to burn like liquid fire and causes severe burns on contact. They live only in the coldest parts of Idan due to the significant heat generated by their venom that would cook them from the inside out in warmer climates. They consume ice and snow to maintain an internal temperature balance and if that balance is thrown off the combustible venom within them causes them to burst into flames. As a result, they are terrified of fire. They are silent stalkers and lone hunters. Greater Bearbat: Greater Bearbats are sound-based hunters that descend from their mountain homes, attracted by the shrieks of the shade imps. They are indiscriminate hunters, content to eat wayward travelers or other monsters without concern for what prey they catch in their long claws. They run on four limbs while hunting and will rarely take to the skies unless in pursuit of flying prey. Sound and heat deter them and light will blind them. Shade Imps: Seekers and servants of the Darkener, these monstrous shade imps can take a multitude of forms (Crawlers, Scouts, & Hounds) and shift between them at will. They are completely blind and travel as silent as the shadows they melt in and out of. They hunt through scent, sound, and taste, searching for traces of blood and fear on the air. When they aren't hunting, they communicate with other imps via ear-piercing shrieks or gut-churning howls, going silent only when they locate their prey. Their silence is more dangerous than the sounds they make. They recoil from fire but grow increasingly more determined the longer they are kept at bay, eventually overcoming their fear and attacking the source of the fire to attempt to extinguish it at the cost of their own lives. When fire touches them they go up in a puff of black smoke and a scream. Darkling: No one knows what darklings look like. They are the lost spirits of elementals consumed and controlled by the Darkener. They have no physical form and can control and manipulate shadows and sound. They mimic sounds to trick people into opening their homes or venturing out of safety and can perfectly replicate any sound they have heard, even capturing the voices of people speaking on the other side of walls. Their goal is to lure or force people out into the darkness where the Darkener can find them. They can be disrupted with light. Bayobat: Swarms of flying bat-like insects summoned by the Darkener. They have sharp, metal proboscises they use to pierce victims before consuming their blood. They are blind and seek out warm-blooded bodies to launch themselves at. Their screeches are metallic and mixed with insectoid clicking. Their bodies are sharp and metallic but their mouths are vulnerable. Their tails are lined with tiny, sharp spikes similar to barbed wire. They fear fire. The Darkener: An ancient being that is thought to come from the Outer Realm. The Darkener consumes flames with a touch, transforming them into shadow flames that burn black, giving off no heat or warmth. It possesses long-forgotten magic. Few have seen more than a glimpse. It causes temporary blindness in all who witness it, their eyes turning black with trapped shadows. Its image lingers in the mind, causing hallucinations. Those who witness it are often driven mad, growing increasingly certain the Darkener is watching them from the corner of their vision. It can be struck but doing so only causes darkness to erupt from the wound, consuming the Darkener and everything around it. There is only one Darkener. | |
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no subject
He holds her tightly, warmly, as they each try to catch their breath. It rattles him. It’s only been a few weeks since they saw each other, and decades.
"We'll be here for days, they say. Though I’ve a mind to — “
He tugs her towards the bed to sit. Just then, there's a sharp rap at the door, and with an apologetic look, he answers it. Ghost raises his head to see what Jon is doing. It's one of the innkeeps, with a tray with some bread and cheese and cups and a bottle. Jon takes the tray, sets it on the little table, shuts the door behind him.
“Where was I? The Long Night.”
cw: mentions of violence/gore
Missandei, Grey Worm, Jorah, Barristan...
Irriella whines, a low, pitiful sound. No longer relaxed against Ghost, she looks uncomfortable and upset. In pain, even.
Dany's on her hands and knees an instant later, crawling over to the two animals just as Jon is setting the tray down. The red panda tries to claw her way against Dany's chest, where she seems to prefer to rest. By the time Jon's back in the room, she's one arm around Irriella, and one hand buried in Ghost's scruff. Her expression is pleasant, even if her eyes are a little sad.
"Days, you said. It was never bad before, we had the bonfires."
no subject
"Before. But the dragons gave us those. My old nurse used to talk about a time before the dragons. She was old enough that you’d think she remembered them herself, but it wasn’t that, it was that she liked to tell stories to frighten us, and sometimes, we liked to be frightened. The stories she told... well, the ones I’m hearing now are a lot like them. Only these people seem to speak from experience, and their fear seems real.”
As he speaks, he opens the bottle of wine, which has been started for him, and pours some out into each cup.
no subject
He'd been the stupid one, hadn't he? Arrogance and a bark worse than any bite he could proffer. No, there must be truth to those tales, for why would they exist in the first place? And enough to spook so many people?
"All this warranted a warning on my arrival." So was it one of the dragons speaking to her, as Jon said some supposedly did to him and the others? "How many of us are there? And where are they now?"
no subject
With a shake of his head, he adds, "Everyone thought any old stories were stupid. Things have changed." And then, "I thought we all knew what we had, but I was wrong.”
He means: with the dragons keeping the cities relatively stable, until they couldn’t anymore.
no subject
That's a great many, regardless. Yet again, the question of what their purpose returning to these lands truly means crosses her mind. He draws her away with those questions with a cup, one she takes once she untangles her fingers from Ghost's scruff.
The floor's not entirely comfortable, but the heat from the fire is a familiar presence and prompts her to remain seated.
"So what do you remember of them? How do we defend ourselves against them, save for building our own bonfire?"
Which, she highly doubts would be as effective as a dragon's, but that's not something that needs saying, judging by the tone of her voice.
no subject
He sits down next to Daenerys on the floor.
“Nothing more than we've already been told. Stay inside, or take a torch. These people know more than she did. They learned the hard way, or they know of someone who did." Another sip of wine, then, “... I’m glad you’re here. It didn’t seem to mean much without you.”
no subject
Her smile returns when he sits beside her, and it takes far too much to resist the urge to reach for him. To toy with his dark curls.
"I hardly see how a building is meant to keep us safe."
She wiggles closer, switches the glass from one hand to the other, and snakes her newly freed hand around his middle. Makes it easier to press her cheek to his shoulder as she looks up at him.
"I know," is her soft answer. There was nothing tethering her to this world, now, save him. "Tell me what you've kept busy with here."
no subject
He speaks of people who had aligned themselves with the aggression of Atromitos, of course.
“I’ve been doing what I can to help people. Messages from dead dragons aside, I can’t think of anything else to do. That, and seeking answers, but...
If he’s not helping people, why else is he there? Why is he alive at all? Now, maybe a bit for her, but their goals have been in alignment for most of the time they’ve known each other, even if they haven’t always taken the same route in pursuit of them.
no subject
Her voice is calm, but a note of dubiousness enters for the latter half of her thoughts. If they'd been brought back for that, why not at a point in time they still recognized?
She takes a sip of her wine, looking into the fire. At least that was something still familiar.
"I suppose all we can do right now is wait." Or help anyone caught outside when the Long Night comes. "Atromitos is strange now. I can't imagine the other two cities are anything we'll recognize either. Perhaps we start there."
no subject
“Maybe whoever did it couldn’t do it until now. Maybe someone has worked towards it, these years. It could be one person, or a group working in secret... that kind of power isn’t easy to muster. It might be that they serve the dragons and want them to return in truth. Wouldn’t that put them against the leaders of these cities, such as they are? Or it might be that they don’t want them to return.”
Another baffled gesture, and he sips at his wine.
"We don’t know enough. But I know where I want to start: just here, with you."
He turns his head to kiss her.
no subject
And all that speculating, that's familiar too, tugging a faint smile to her lips. This was one thing she'd missed prior to their falls: moments of privacy, of sharing space with one another, speaking their minds. "Mn, are the leaders against dragons?"
She's not seen or heard enough to learn of the current attitude toward dragons. Not yet. Before she can mention that they've time to learn what they need to, she's opening her eyes and looking back at him. A faint glimmer of surprise shines in her eyes right before he leans closer to kiss her.
It's not like one of their desperate kisses from earlier. Not a goodbye, no, more like a hello. Soft and sweet, with lingering lips and shared breaths.
All the other details don't matter near as much, not yet, not tonight.
no subject
But enough about the dragons, and the cities’ current leaders, who never lived with the dragons, and about their worries, all of which seem like thoughts for another day. The two of them aren’t going anywhere for tonight; it remains to be seen how long it will be before they go anywhere else.
[Except over here for the rest of this thread, which is probably going to get NSFW.]