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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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"They're old. Some of them are nothing but jars of food."
He pitches his voice to sound friendly, because he is, but part of him wonders what she's up to. You couldn't be out here hoping to find anything specific. Still, he understands the temptation to try her luck.
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"Food is worth taking. There are always people starving."
It's enough for her to begin to lift the lid on one of the crates, to lean down and start to see if she can open it to look inside.
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He frowns, then concedes, "Or it might not. I'll help you look -- "
It's an offer, nearly a question.
He's not sure where Daenerys has run off to, but a glance to the side shows that she's far down the shore. Closer by, a small white wolf darts around on the beach and near the boxes and baskets that the receded tide has revealed, and as Jon finishes speaking, it pads up near them, taking up a position about ten feet behind him, nowhere close to Lauralae.
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The offer doesn't seem to offend her and she leans back, making space, letting her fingers slip away from the crate. Lauralae is under no illusions about her own physical prowess; she is small and fragile, build with elven heritage rather than tiefling or orcish. She is small and slight and will struggle alone.
She might as well take advantage when she can.
Before she can slip her hands into the box, though, her eyes are taught on the wolf coming closer. There are so many wolves, she thinks, so many people with them, and her heart rushes a little as she perks up, fingers pressed into the wood of the crate.
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He glances behind him. Ghost sits on the wet sand, thumping his white tail in wary enthusiasm, watching the two of them with his garnet eyes.
"My wolf. His name is Ghost. -- My name is Jon."
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Leaning forward, she hesitates, holding out a gloved hand before she pauses.
"Is Ghost friendly?" A good name, she thinks. "I am Lauralae."
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"Friendly enough, to friends."
Ghost trots forward to examine the gloved hand, and seems to find it acceptable, for the moment -- though only after a few deep, puzzled sniffs. He is a small wolf, but Lauralae is a small woman; he could defend himself if he needed to, but he doesn't seem to feel a need to.
He doesn't press his head up to the palm of her hand, only stands in a way that indicates that he's willing to have his head petted or his ears scratched.
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He is beautiful. Ellis was very handsome, there's no denying that, and Ghost will not replace the other wolf in her affections, but she moves closer, slowly, almost crawling towards the wolf. She's hardly a threat, not when she is hiding herself and her nature, but she smiles.
"I will be your friend, Ghost."
Reaching out, she begins to stroke over his head, scratching behind his ears, gentle and soft. The smile that appears on her face makes her seem younger, childlike somehow.
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For his part, Ghost seems to appreciate the gentle scratching behind his ears, and Jon chuckles. Lauralae may be little and elfin, but just now, just in this small way, she's hooked a memory in him and pulled it to the surface, a memory of his wild little sister Arya. The hook is in his heart, but it's not a bad memory or a sad one. Arya would have liked Ghost just the same, and might have approached him like this.
So long gone, though.
"You've made a friend, Ghost. Irriella will be jealous." After a beat, he adds, "My betrothed has a little red panda, a little -- " These aren't pets. "It's like a child to her."
no subject
Her fingers are gentle and soft as she strokes through Ghost's fur, pressing into his ears with gentle scratches. If she can befriend every wolf like this then she thinks she would be happy - a pack, friends that she recognises as her own, a family that she had lost. It weighs on her, such silly sentimental things, but...
She doesn't quite bury her head in the fur, but she comes close, delighted and softened by the closeness.
"I have a bird." Lauralae lifts her head and whistles, high and sharp. It's likely not necessary - Rav'ahm knows her - but it helps, the raven coming over and cawwing as he flutters to rest by her shoulder. "Rav'ahm."
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When the bird comes, Jon suspects it's like Ghost. It's too big to be a crow -- he thinks it must be a raven. One of his companies all those years ago was popularly called The Crows for their black attire, and in some ways, he still has an affinity for black birds.
"He's very handsome. When I was a boy, a long time ago, my first commander had a raven. He had trained him to take corn from your hand, and to ask for it, but the raven... well, he'd take blood too, now and then. But I liked to feed him.
"Rav'ahm... did you find him out on the marsh flats?"
What he means is: You're like me, aren't you?
no subject
Rav'ahm is content with nuzzling and grooming at Lauralae's hair, at least for a little while, until Jon begins to speak again. Her attention is not on her bird, a familiar companion now, but on Jon and Ghost, two people that hold her curiosity a little more than her familiar friend naturally does.
"Rav'ahm can do such things. He is very clever." He caws in response, preening, as if he knows exactly what his mistress is saying. "He likes nuts and he enjoys building a nest in hair."
Lifting her head, though, as Jon continues, she hesitates for a moment before she breathes out. Slowly, eyes not leaving Jon's, she nods.