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| 🜙 Mini-Event #2: The North Winds, January 11th |
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The Long Night has ended and the sun once more rises and sets with the short winter cycle. Although the cold remains, it has lessened considerably following the harsh freeze of the darkness. Krimnos, no longer having to put all their resources into defending the city from the terrors to come, has been able to clear the heavy snowpack on the cliffs above the city enough to safely begin running two of their three remaining airships.
The Skywhale has been making its regular routes since its repairs the previous month, but the two airships from Krimnos to Didymos and the City of the Free Peoples have been grounded in the cliff city for safety since the start of winter. Now two of Krimnos' airships join their sister ship in the skies over Idan.
The following routes are traveled once a day by each airship:
The Skywhale travels from the City of the Free Peoples to Didymos and then back once a day, docking nightly in the City of the Free Peoples.
The Horizon travels from Didymos to Krimnos and then back once a day, docking nightly in Didymos.
The Valiant travels from Krimnos to the City of the Free Peoples and then back once a day, docking nightly in Krimnos.
The Zenith normally travels from Krimnos to the mountain outpost of Preciposte and then on to Einjar. Unfortunately, it is still grounded due to inclement weather and winter threats in the northern mountains beyond Krimnos. The Zenith will not be able to travel until the thaw has begun.
A one-way trip takes 4-6 hours depending on weather and wind to go from/to Didymos to either city and 6-9 hours to travel between Krimnos and the City of the Free Peoples. Anyone can take a trip on an airship for a purse of silver coins, or try their luck and stow away. Mounts can get a lift as well, but they require an additional fare.
Not bad for a chance to see Idan from a bird's eye view for the first time for most people. |
| 🜙 Thlipa's Tribute, January 11th |
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As January progresses, pods of fin whales spend their nights in the safety of Fisher's Bay during their migration. At this time Thlipa is believed to be watching over Idan and many of Idan's people show their respect for the deity. Unlike the Day of Lefkokó, Thlipa's Tribute is a far more somber affair. Though she is the goddess of the seas, storms, and power, she is also the goddess of mourning and it is this realm she is believed to preside over most during the cold winter months.
People from all across Idan who are able to travel will make a journey to Didymos to be closer to the ocean, while others observe the fin whale goddess' day in their own homes and cities. Ancestors, lost relatives, and friends are remembered with offerings of handmade gifts and small collections of nuts and sweet-dried fish. Small, enchanted candles are set out on boats down the river and shore to be carried out to the ocean.
It is believed by some of the more power-hungry supporters of Thlipa that by calling on and revering the spirits of the departed Thlipa might gift her followers with the magic of the fallen. Gatherings of Thlipa's most devout followers can be seen on the shores or on small skimmer boats in the bay, and vandalism of fishing boats and nets that might endanger the fin whales runs rampant during this time. |
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| 🜙 A Tale of Three Cities - Krimnos: An Army Adrift, January 12-20th |
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It appears that a large company of former Atrómitos knights has awoken in an isolated and forgotten battlefield below Krimnos' twin mountains. The army has journeyed together through the blinding blizzard to complete their original objective: a full-scale attack on Krimnos. There's something off about the tattered army decked in the green and gold of Atrómitos that shows up at Krimnos' gates. They don't seem to feel the cold, and their eyes, if anyone is unfortunate enough to get that close, are a colorless and glossy grey. They continue fighting through weather and injury, undeterred as they focus their attacks on Krimnos' main gate, setting magical fire to the gate, the wall, and their perceived enemies.
The army can be seen using weapons, battering rams, and elemental magic to attack the city's gates. Though their eyes are a blank and glossy grey and they do not seem to be speaking or reacting with pain to counter-attack elements, it is clear there is a hierarchy and the commanding officers seem to still be silently directing their forces. They do not speak, and if captured it quickly becomes clear why. Though they appear whole externally, the soldiers of this army lack functional internal organs. No blood runs through their frozen veins and no oxygen is being pulled into their lungs. There also appear to be no thoughts in their minds, only the howling sound of the wind through the mountains around Krimnos.
At this time of year, Krimnos can not afford to loose their main line of defense, nor can they risk the very real dangers of battle sounds and blood drawing out the hungry mountain hunters or causing an avalanche that could bury the city in snow. No one knows why this army is here, but with the familiar colors adorning the fighters, there are whispers in the air of an attempt to start a war. Already tense relations between Krimnos and the City of the Free Peoples could stand to suffer from this and the citizens of Krimnos seem horrified by the prospect.
King Sitka's first concern is the safety of his people, and as such he is driving his army hard into the attacking forces and even beyond its gates if necessary, anything to push the battle farther from his people and the dangerous cliffs stacked with snow that tower over Krimnos. |
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| 🜙 A Tale of Three Cities - City of the Free Peoples: The Disappearance of Captain Lykos, January 14-22nd |
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No one has seen Captain Lykos since the Long Night but rumors and knowledge of his disappearance have been kept quiet by the city's Defenders, fearful the city would spiral into a panic at the loss of its de facto leader. As word comes from traveling Krimnos merchants that the city is under siege from an army dressed in green and gold, the city turns to its Defenders for answers and finds more than they bargained for.
The Defenders attempt to calm the rising panic in the city by deflecting, stating that the Captain is out on a peace mission on his way to Krimnos but this backfires as the city erupts into conspiracy theories that he is actually leading the attack and trying to start a war, with reasons such as anger over a lack of support from Krimnos during the city's time of need being used to feed the growing fear.
As outrage and panic spread across the city, the Defenders declare martial law and put the city back on lockdown until answers can be found. The stability of the city quickly begins to fray. Chaos, disorder, and dissent spread and talk of overthrowing the Defenders and putting someone else in charge begins to spread.
The city needs answers for themselves and for Krimnos and the Defenders begin an even more desperate search for their missing leader. Meanwhile, the citizens of the city begin preparing for a revolt, with whispers of an organized attack on the warcamp of the Defenders quickly gaining traction. The more time passes the less reasonably either side appears to be thinking, and the longer anyone lingers in the city the more infectious this frantic and paranoid energy becomes.
Amidst it all, a Siamese with a familiar glowing adornment can be seen surveying the chaos from the safety of rooftops or tree branches, its eyes occasionally glowing blue while its tail flicks in what seems to be either irritation or frustration. |
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| 🜙 A Tale of Three Cities - Didymos: Tidal Troubles, January 14-25th |
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Starting the morning of the 14th, trouble comes to Didymos on the tides or the lack thereof. The tide goes out during the night and, to the dismay and concern of Didymos' citizens, it never comes back. In fact, it seems as if the ocean waters are only continuing to recede, leaving Didymos' fleet and her fishing ships awash in the shallows or fully grounded. Each day the waters recede further, leaving sealife beached or trapped in tide pools and larger dips in the seafloor. A pod of fin whales finds themselves stranded in the deepest section of the bay just within the Sunset Gate.
As the waters continue to recede, shipwrecks, sunken cargo, and unusual skeletons dot the rock and shell covered shores, turning the edges of the bay into an unending expanse of tide pools and dotting the horizon with pieces of warped and barnacle-covered ships usually only visible beneath the clear waters.
Within days it's possible for a fully grown human to wade out to the Sunset Gate without ever getting their neck wet. The confusion and complications caused by this unexplainable dearth of water starts a panic in Didymos that the dual rulers have to fight to control. The widespread fear is joined by whispers of a war brought along from people traveling to Didymos from the other cities, and Didymos finds itself caught in a tense place with the prospect of having to outline allegiances if war breaks out.
Everyone knows Queen Adira would put her forces behind Krimnos in an instant, but King Ardis seems reluctant, questioning the legitimacy of Krimnos' claims to a possible war and seeking information. |
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no subject
Teddy isn't comfortable in this city. He hasn't been since the Long Night. The time away in Didymos had helped to calm his nerves some, but it seems as though his return to the city is ill-timed. Everywhere the feeling of unrest surrounds him and the strangers walking the city streets. There's an uneasiness in the air, a building tension that makes the small hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
On several occasions he has felt eyes on him, and looked to see the same cat staring at him when his eyes locked with it. There's something off about the animal. It feels weird to be so far from his animas, the small primate left in the safety of his room in Didymos while Teddy returned to the city for a day. He can feel the distance between them but being able to feel the connection is still reassuring in its own way.
He draws the hood down over his head and listens to the chatter of the city, avoiding his canine form for now despite the compulsion to return to it. Catching the tail end of a conversation about seeking out the missing captain he speaks up, his voice quiet and rarely used.
"Tracking won't work if he's been gone this long. Any foot or scent trails are long gone. If he is alive, we'll need some other way to find him." He's fidgety, rubbing one scarred hand with the other, but his eyes are intense, locked only on the person he is speaking to. "Magic. Luck, maybe. If there was some idea of where to start, I could find him."
Tidal Troubles
Teddy doesn't trust the water. Even with the tide out, especially with the tide out, he finds the ocean threatening. The smell that comes from the bay is nauseating, a mix of drying kelp and rotting fish that has replaced the more pleasant sea breeze air.
The sensation is odd. With mouse hiding in his hair he finds himself stepping onto the shore against his better judgement. His gut twists and his instincts tell him to turn back but he keeps going forward even as mouse tightens her tiny hands in his hair. Amid all the discomfort and distrust of his canine instincts that he has so heavily come to rely on is that flicker of human curiosity, the desire and need to understand the unknown. It pushes him forward until his shoes are filling with water from the weak waves attempting to take back losing ground.
He crouches down, lifting up a hopelessly flopping fish stranded in a too-shallow tide pool and releases it back into the deeper water where it darts off with a splash.
He stays close to the ground, one hand in the wet sand to balance as he looks out at the shallow bay.
"This is awful."
no subject
"Chance to reunite people with their long lost items washing up or exposed by the waves and tide." For a small finders fee. And whatever he couldn't find someone to sell to, he could just keep until some sucker that could be coerced into buying soggy forgotten treasures off of him could be found.
"You don't look like you're down here to go for a swim. Treasure hunting or just felt like glooming it up with that sunny face of yours?"
no subject
"I wanted a closer look." The view from his current housing was dismal, but nothing compared to seeing the effects in person. "If the water doesn't come back, the city as a whole will suffer. The bay holds the livelihood of many here." As usual, Teddy is lacking in soft edges or much in the way of humor over the situation, his expression one of grim concern.
no subject
"So what're you gonna do about the missing water? Fetch it?" It's a low dig, but Rocket doesn't for a moment understand everyone's fascination with being a big damn hero. Maybe Strange was right. Maybe everyone but him was brought back for a reason and Rocket just accidentally got mixed in with the bunch of them.
The Disappearance of Captain Lykos
The last of those is what has grabbed him, today.
The fellow, a rotund chap with a bone to pick about someone who had gone missing, had been ranting on a street corner at several men in fine uniforms. They, in turn, had told him a lot of things about the Captain visiting somewhere, had assured him that the captain was not missing or attacking, and had said several things Groot didn't understand.
Ultimately, the man was unconvinced and Groot was left standing awkwardly privy to this bit of street theater. Someone to his side comments and offers to help and Groot regards him curiously.
"I am Groot," he says, rather unhelpfully as everyone stares and then continues their conversation.
no subject
"If you have ideas, I might be able to help. Just lead the way and I will follow you." There's something about the arboreon's stiff expressions, something in his eyes, that convinces Teddy that he's better off putting his focus into Groot than the bickering masses of the city. They concern him, their tension rubbing off on him and making him jumpy, nervous about what is happening or might happen.
Any lead, even a bad one, would be better than waiting around.
no subject
"I am Groot," he says and stands up. He looks at the buildings, down the street and the way behind them, and his expression churns a bit, becomes just a touch frustrated. Buildings, like people, all look the same. "I am Groot."