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| đźś™ 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. |
| đźś™ 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 LefkokĂł, 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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| đźś™ A Tale of Three Cities - Krimnos: An Army Adrift, January 12-20th |
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It appears that a large company of former AtrĂłmitos 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 AtrĂłmitos 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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| đźś™ 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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| đźś™ 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
After a pause, their sides pressing together, he says, “Why me and not them? Couldn’t do anything for them then, can’t now.”
no subject
His question's an inevitable one. With him, so quick to assume blame and shoulder guilt, she's surprised he hasn't brought this up sooner. She wants to tell him it's because he even questions why him and not the others. Because he's a good person. Because no one could ever be quite as inspiring, unique, brave, and willing to bleed for those he doesn't know.
But she doesn't know if that's the truth, or how any of them live. It could be her truth, it is what she'll believe, because if any of them deserve a second chance, it's him.
"We're no longer in positions of power," she slowly says, considering her words, "But that means little. This is a chance for us to help people again."
Maybe. Were there even people out there in need of help in this world?
but jon, on balance, are you SURE it's a good thing?
He can tell what she's trying to do, and he does chuckle softly, even if there's more fondness in it than mirth.
He ponders her next words for a moment before answering them.
"All I can do is help people. Before you came, I thought it was the only reason I might be alive again. I thought -- I don't know why I'm here again. I wanted to do something to earn it, or repay it." A grim shake of his head, and he adds, "It's foolish to think you can ever repay something like this."
no subject
What he says has her fingers curling into a loose fist, knuckles brushing the corner of his jaw before she settles both hands on her lap with a quiet sigh. It's complicated, to be sure. Both their lives seemed to revolve around helping others; part of that was because she'd been helpless for so long. His reasons were his own.
Still, even whilst she said they were back to help others...
"What do you want to do?" She looks up at him. It is foolish to think either of them could repay a second chance at life, unless payment by living that life. "Not what you think you should do, but what is something you've always wished to do and couldn't before?"
no subject
“Take back the family home. Restore it to my father's line. But if it exists now... either it’s a ruin, or it’s someone else's home. There's no fault in them owning it, no betrayal.”
He liked the feeling of her fingers in his beard a moment earlier, but now her hand is back in his lap. He reaches for it.
“All there is to do that’s right is make a home of our own.” It’s selfish in a way, but it’s not something he can begrudge either of them.
no subject
It's like her wanting to avenge her own family. Vengeance. Fire and blood. Who was there to fight, now? No Baratheons, no Lannisters.
She catches his hand between both of hers, light she might've caught a fly buzzing about her head. Lightly, she gives him a tug, her smile up at him encouraging.
"Be selfish. Not for me, not for your family." Seems a reach, if she's to be honest; he's the least selfish person she knows. "Something you could never have done before, either because you couldn't, or you wouldn't."
Because of duty.
no subject
He wouldn’t say he doesn’t care about the Stark lands anymore, only that doing so seems futile.
“You think I never do anything selfish?”
To him, his love for her has always and ever only been about the two of them. It was a selfish decision to lie with her; it was a selfish decision to offer marriage when he hand no real lands of his own.
The little candle is floating lazily down the river, still just in sight.
no subject
There's a lot of things to consider now. To reassess, now that there's no war to be had, or feuds to be fought. And yet, despite that, she'd rather be outside with him, like this, enjoying the fresh air without the threat of the Long Night.
"No, I don't." Reaching for the water, she flicks droplets at him. "And I think out of the two of us, I'm the selfish one."
She doesn't look sheepish about it, either.
no subject
“When I was a boy, everything I did was because I wanted to prove my worth to people who doubted it because of what I am.” A bastard, a shiftling: she knows these things. “I thought of myself. Oh, I know others would have done the same, and still others would have done worse, but...” A shrug. It doesn’t change that he'd left home with the idea of making a glorious name for himself.
“What would you have me do that’s so unselfish? I don’t want much, Dany."
no subject
"Things are different, now." Her tone and words are soft as she says it, gaze drifting off after the candle. Still in view, but not for much longer. "Targaryen, Stark, Lannister, Baratheon... those names don't matter, now."
And with it: proving themselves, their worth. It's a difficult thing to wrap her mind around, having spent so much of her life dedicated to her family and its name.
She settles a hand on his thigh--warm beneath her palm. It's a comfortable, familiar heat. One she'd curled against night after night. One she'd kissed and licked and touched.
"You don't have to do anything, or want anything." Which, she knows, goes against what she'd pushed for moments ago; it's clear he's being stubborn about it, whether he realizes it or not. "I just want you to be happy."
no subject
And what he wants right now is her, and to make the best he can out of this second chance at life. It’s true that he hasn’t found much of a purpose beyond that: helping people is all he’s been able to think of to do. But it might be that there’s nothing better that he could do than putting his skin and bones between the helpless and those who would harm them.
These thoughts, and her hand on his thigh, makes him lean to kiss her gently.
“The names don’t matter, but the people do. I’m not a Stark. It might be that Targaryen is a name people will remember. Who else would you speak of, on Thlipa's Day?”
no subject
Less or more, it doesn't matter. What she wants is him, as well, and she's content with sitting like this, sharing the space with him, gazing upon the small stream and watching the water trickle by.
So his kiss, gentle as it may be, comes as a surprise. Thus he earns a disarmed smile, girlish.
"There's plenty to speak of. All the other Targaryens have been dead long before--" She huffs. Long before I died she's about to say, then thinks better of it. Why remind either of them of that? "There's the people we chose as family."
no subject
"There is. Has there been any word of them -- any of them? I don't know what became of Sam -- or Edd, or Tormund." Word dead or alive, he means.
no subject
It's not like there would be death records updated to reflect a change.
no subject
He begins to say that anyone who found themselves alive again, with an animas and a courier, would try to find out whether or not they had any friends present, but that isn't true. He hadn't. Dany hadn't. If they hadn't happened on each other, they might have missed each other completely.
"Whoever did this, they can't be meaning to raise all the dead from our time. Just making an animas... you know it was said to be hard, and rare. You know that we're living because of necromancy, but it's a better kind of necromancy than I've heard of before -- we have our lives, our freedom. We're not in thrall.
"I want to know why they wanted us here. I want to know the truth."
no subject
Upon the talk of necromancy, she sighs. Leaning forward, she tries to pinpoint the little flicker of light from their candle. Can't. So she pulls away from him and presses to her knees, up into a crouch. And then she's standing. Stalking back and forth.
Necromancy isn't the problem in her mind; it's the implications behind it. The question of why and for what purpose. Was blood magic involved?
"We don't even know who 'they' are. How are we expected to find any answers if we haven't the faintest idea of where to start?" She's not practiced blood magic, and he's a shifter. Neither of them are equipped to explore how necromancy's worked in their cases. "And what happens when we do find something?"
Do, not if. Given enough time, she's sure they would find a lead.
no subject
“What happens? We know more. Past that... it depends on what we learn, maybe when and how, too. I don’t think we're here for a bad purpose. I think we're here to help, or to live, or both. But that’s my conclusion, my thought. Not an answer.”
He pushes to his feet to join her.
“Maybe there won’t be any other answers."
He doubts that even before the words are out of his mouth. If there won’t be, why would anyone have urged them to seek them?
no subject
What if this was an invitation for trouble? She's not spoken to a dragon via her courier like some of the other claim. She doesn't know nearly enough about how the world functions these days, seeing as she'd lost a week in an inn. (Which, save for the obvious problems and the creatures lurking outside, had been pleasant with him.)
"You know that's not true," she says, stopping to look at him. Her hands fall to her hips. "And your conclusion--that's what I hope. That we're here to live, but why go through all the effort to bring us back and not all the others?"
No, there's something they want... whoever 'they' may be.
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He reaches out to take her hands.
"If it was something we weren't meant to know, I wouldn't have received that message about looking for answers."
no subject
For now.
"Anyone could have told you that." A frown. It's not that she doesn't believe him and what he believes, it's just that all of this is confusing. Being lost is unsettling. She'd always had a purpose, always something to direct her gaze and energies toward. "I don't like this day."
Looking back on all the things--all the people--they've lost.
no subject
His weight shifts and he rubs the pad of his thumb along the side of her finger when she says she doesn't like the day.
"I don't need a day to remember them all -- I'll never forget them, never forget friends who died fighting at my side, either. I thought of you every day before I found you, and if I hadn't, I'd be thinking of you still, wishing I could see you. But Thlipa's Day... it's only one day."
With a shrug, he adds, "We can go have supper. We can go to bed." What he means is, the day will be over sooner if they do those things, but it won't bring anyone or anything back. And neither will keeping themselves from doing those things.
no subject
"So we find those answers." Not so simple. Not simple at all. "Can't be terribly hard."
What he says--that he thought of her daily--makes her features twist. It would be the same for her, if their positions switched. She would think of him to a painful degree, heart aching until she likely went mad from it. But that's because he's different from all the others. He's long since made her face her feelings, despite the fact that he hadn't actively sought to force her to.
...Even that simple graze of his thumb against her finger has an effect. Thoughtfulness she's never really received from anyone, save him. With a quiet huff, she tugs on his hands. Takes a step closer to loop her arms around his middle and buries her face against the crook of his neck.
no subject
When the embrace breaks, he says, "All right. Answers tomorrow. Tonight, a good meal and a soft bed."
[END.]