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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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fudging some facts here. let me know if anything doesn't work.
I guess they don't.
[For a moment he seems to have lost track of the rest of the conversation but then he looks back down over the wall and gives her a nod.]
If it's something that will help. All right. We'll go down there, then. We can't take the main gate, though, and my original plans don't work great for other people. [As far as he knew she couldn't turn into a bird and fly down there with him. He looks around at the knights fighting to keep the wall defended. The gate had to stay closed to keep the army out, but he did remember an old exit from his time as a knight, one that required them taking a dangerous path out onto the cliff edge and around to the front wall.]
I can think of two options. One, we take the South access door, [A riskier alternative, especially if any of the army happened to notice and take pot shots at them.] Or you cover me from here and I grab it.
[He would have to give away his secret, but Poe had never been ashamed of his shiftling heritage and if it meant not putting others in undue danger he would take the risk of seeing what Shura made of his eagle-hawk form, and his not so carefully kept secret.]
this is good!
Shura considers his plans as Poe lays them out. The first was the most straightforward and the easiest to imagine. She knew the door he was talking about, and she was confident that the terrain hadn't changed that much over the years. But it wasn't that safe of an option. Her need to snag one of the vials wasn't desperate enough to put them in potentially dire straights.
Oh the other hand, he could grab it? Shura raises a brow, trying to parse out just what he meant by that. To hop down off of the wall while she covered him? No, there was something more to that. But she didn't recall him being much of a mage, so just what was he planning?]
Hm~? You must have something up your sleeve. If that's your plan, then I'll go along with it.
[Of course, it would help if he gave her a bit more information before he jumped, but whatever, Shura can work with it. She's already folding her hands together to start up a spell. Since already cold, some ice would probably work just fine to block anything that came his way.]
no subject
A rustle of feathers and a flap of wings and the larger than average ornate hawk-eagle is perched on the wall, scanning the attacking army then turning his head to look at Shura, waiting for her to point out one among them and tell him what she needs.]
no subject
That guy in the middle of a spell--see him? I know what spell he's tryin' to use, and I can mess with it and distract him while you snatch it. He should have a vial of his own. If you can snag it, I can try to see if I can figure out where they came from.
no subject
It is an awkward and vulnerable moment but he manages to take back to the skies, cord in his mouth, attempting to gain height and speed as quickly as he can while trying to make sure the vial doesn't slip back to the ground below.
When he makes it back to the wall he lands roughly, folding his wings and dropping onto the stones on his back, the vial cushioned on his feathers. He doesn't linger in his more vulnerable form or take the caution he should of not being seen by the knights. Most of them should be too preoccupied to notice. He carefully sets the vial on the stones and rolls away, shifting back into his primary form, his back pressed to the opposite side of the wall from Shura. His eyes still glowing faintly, he picks up the vial and offers it to her with a breathless laugh.]
That might be the dumbest stunt I've pulled since coming back from the dead. [But it had been successful, at least he thinks so. He looks cheerful enough about his near death adventure.]
no subject
Still, it's a relief to see Poe return to the safety of the wall in one piece, no matter how rough his landing may be. Mission accomplished. Shura drops the spells, feeling a slight bit of exhaustion creeping into her body. It's not an easy spell and this isn't the first time she's used her magic today. As soon as Poe changes back, she'll slump down to the floor next to him, taking the vial and cradling it in her palm.]
Mm, it took you this long to pull something like this off? You must be gettin' old.
[She teases, though the playful note drops as she turns her hand to show Poe the vial, delicate and eerily familiar.]
Would you believe me if I told you there was no dark magic involved with this thing?
no subject
I would, if only because I don't believe we were raised with dark magic. But if they can raise us as we are, what went wrong with these poor bastards?
no subject
[She'll hand the vial back to Poe, reaching into the pouch on her hip to retrieve a piece of cloth. She can analyze it once she recovers a bit, but she wants to keep it as safe as possible in the meanwhile.]
Think of the difference between a pair of boots that cost a silver and a pair of boots that cost a couple gold coins. They're both boots, but one was made with cheaper and shoddier materials and won't last for long. [Shura pauses for a moment, her gaze drifting away for a moment.]
Disposable. That's what those guys are.