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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
"Wouldn't be amiss thinkin it might be connected. Strange stuff all around and we seem to keep finding ourselves in the middle of it." It was normal for him to find himself in the middle of trouble but the kinds of trouble he has been falling into haven't been his usual sort. This was almost cataclysmic style happenings, not mischief or misdeeds.
"But at least this time there's a chance to profit off it before the inevitable further disaster lurking around. Next thing you know we'll be chest high in seagoblins." Lylla comes scampering up with a pretty purple clam shell pair in her jaws, offering the now empty clam shells up to Christine, who after saving Rocket's life and Rocket's own feelings has firmly affixed herself in the otter's mind as someone to be trusted and fussed over.
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"Don't jinx it," she replies, even though there is a very real worry that this will get worse and not better. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about this than she has some ideas on how to reverse this and bring the water back. The bay looks so dismal in its current state, even though it's led to some fascinating discoveries so far.
Any further thoughts on the matter are interrupted by Lylla, and Christine smiles fondly, taking the offered shell.
"For me? It's very pretty, isn't it?" Maybe she can use it to set loose items on so they don't roll off a table or dresser. But to Rocket she asks, "And what have you been finding out here?" She's been focusing on skeletons, not the cargo, though she does want to have a look at that as well.
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"Haven't cracked into any crates yet, but I think even just the value of the metal will fetch a pretty price in the market. What about you, scratching away in your book." As he asks he squints, looking toward the skeletons she had been focused on.
"Think any of those old bones are gonna give answers?" It's not a taunt, for once, but a genuine question. Rocket's expertise in magic begins and ends in alchemy mixes for explosives and poisons, but if she thinks there's something to be learned he'll try to help. He does owe her, after all.
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"And they were right here in the bay the whole time. Think of how close they've come to our settlements and we never knew!"
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Rocket remembers gremlin stories about the merfolk watching or sinking their ships. Tall tales, all of them. None of them had actually seen a mermaid. He crouches down to brush some kelp away from a crate that fits between his hands and looks out at the shells of sunken boats sticking up out of the shallow waters.
"Maybe they were coming to trade. That's the great unifier, isn't it? Wanting what other people have." He says trade rather than scouting. He doesn't want to think about war or bring it up around her. There's been enough of that and he's still adjusting to coming back again. A part of him wants to bring it up, see what she thinks about the fact that he came back a second time, but he doesn't know where to begin or what to say so he focuses on the box instead, holding it up to his ear and giving it a little shake.
"I bet a lot of things come in and out of the bay that we never see. The ocean's a big place. Just look at all this shit still here. Even in clear waters we miss things." He thinks about Lylla, the one who isn't with him anymore. She had loved the water, but even she had had a healthy respect for how dangerous it could be.
"I'm more worried about what's going to happen when all the water comes back." Because it has to, doesn't it?
no subject
"Well, this situation is a good opportunity to see what we'd otherwise miss. But yes, I agree that there is a worry that the water will return all at once. I hope it doesn't. I hope the tide just rolls in gently, bit by bit."
no subject
"I've heard most of these shipwrecks don't ever get salvaged because things from the reef have a habit of meandering into the bay waters. I would guess some of those things are the other skeletons out here. That or those are the things that didn't survive the sea predators."
He offers out the crate to her to look at.
"Things like this, though? I don't think much of Thalassa's cargo ever bothered with gold crates. Even if the gold isn't real and is just decorative, that's just asking for it to get stolen."
no subject
"How bizarre. Could it be this was a personal storage crate and not meant for trade? There must be something important inside to warrant such a box for it."
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The crate snaps open with unexpected force, sending a hinged pearl clamshell flying out to land with a plop in the water near Christine's feet. Rocket lets out a hissed curse, shaking out his hand and pulling a splinter from his palm.
"Did you see where it went?"
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"Yes, it's here. Are you all right?" Straightening up, she gives the clam shell a once over before offering it back and focusing more on his hand than the item.
no subject
He isn't really sure what, actually. It looks like a compass of some kind but it has three arms and none of them are pointing the same direction.
"I think it's broken."
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"The arms that end in the sun and moon suggest to me that it was meant to tell time." But the last arm? She points. "I can't begin to guess what the tail's about, though."
no subject
"Some kind of compass, but it's not pointing North." It's pointing out toward the deeper waters of the bay where, beyond the scope of their awareness, the food chain continues as normal for the most part.
"Maybe it points to the sea?" That would make sense, fishy tail and all. He closes the clamshell and pockets it. If he doesn't decide to keep it he's sure it will be valuable for the pearl it is made of alone.
"Do you think whales used to have fur and it all fell off because they spent too much time in the salt water?" Rocket knows that isn't the case but he also knows he isn't built for aquatic life. He can feel the wet wrinkling his skin. "Makes me wonder if merfolk actually have human hair and skin or if they have some weird shiny whale blubber going on." Sure, fishermen claim they're half-fish, half-human, but gremlins say they're monsters that sink ships and drown sailors and who is to say who is right and who is wrong?
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As he speaks, she starts to poke around at the debris near them. If he's found such a fancy item in this cargo, maybe she will too.
"If whales started out living on shore and then moved to the water, then perhaps, but I think likely not. And don't crush my dreams of mermaids looking just like humans with long, flowing hair beneath the waves." She's smirking as she says it because she's not serious.
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He chuckles though and starts searching for more crates as well. Maybe they can find some gold, or a priceless artifact Rocket can put a price on.
"It might be useful someday. We'll see, I guess." If it does point to water it would be useful up in the mountains or out on the plains.
no subject
She hums thoughtfully as she picks through the debris. "I do hope so. I'm as curious as a mermaid to see what it does."
[ ooc: good spot to handwave an ending? ]