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Usir Mods ([personal profile] usirmods) wrote in [community profile] usir2019-01-13 08:49 pm
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Event #3 A Tale of Three Cities

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đźś™ Mini-Event #2: The North Winds, January 11th
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
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.
đźś™ A Tale of Three Cities - Krimnos: An Army Adrift, January 12-20th
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.
đźś™ A Tale of Three Cities - City of the Free Peoples: The Disappearance of Captain Lykos, January 14-22nd
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.
đźś™ A Tale of Three Cities - Didymos: Tidal Troubles, January 14-25th
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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dorzalta: (pic#11766525)

[personal profile] dorzalta 2019-02-17 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
It makes her laugh: that look, his comment. It makes her want to tug him close now, throw her arms around his shoulders, and steal those kisses from him. Why wait?

"Too late for all the elves." There's a haughtiness to her tone as she tucks the staff under her arm. It's long enough to be awkward, but she ignores that as she steps closer to the baskets nearby.

Many are in a state of disrepair, half rotten. A few look intact, and she'll nudge them with her waterlogged boot. One, in particular, has something darting out of the basket and flopping onto the ground. It does well enough to have her stumble back in surprise.
northerndragon: victim or witness we're gonna get hurt (baffled)

[personal profile] northerndragon 2019-02-17 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
He laughs when the little crab falls to the sand and scuttles away.

“Too late for the crab, too. I wonder what his treasure was.”

But he opens the basket and finds nothing.

Next to it, there's a kelp basket in surprisingly good shape, but when he tugs at it, it’s harder to lift than it looked like it would be. Something is weighing it down.

He looks back up at Dany from his half-crouching position, frowning.
dorzalta: (Default)

[personal profile] dorzalta 2019-02-17 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
For his laughter, she gives his rump a light thwack with her newfound stick.

"Less interesting than whatever you've got."

When he looks up at her, she crouches beside him, gripping part of the basket's lip. It would be smarter to rip it open and see what's inside if it's heavy enough to cause him issue.

"Maybe there's something larger than a crab in there," she oh-so-helpfully adds.
Edited 2019-02-18 22:38 (UTC)
northerndragon: (my mind is racing)

[personal profile] northerndragon 2019-02-19 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
“A basket of rocks isn’t very interesting.”

That’s what it feels like. If it’s metal and not spelled, it would be corroded, but the way the weights thud against each other as he lifts the basket makes him think it must be rocks. But there’s something more in there: the presumable rocks don’t move around freely.

What he finds when he opens the basket is mostly thick damp cloth, sailcloth, once nearly white.

Why weight sailcloth down with rocks?

Something is wrapped in it.
dorzalta: (pic#12532983)

[personal profile] dorzalta 2019-02-24 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"Unless they're not rocks."

How would she know, when she's not tried lifting the basket? She leans closer, no sense of space with him, once he begins to open the thing.
northerndragon: artsy! icy! (framed)

[personal profile] northerndragon 2019-03-05 08:58 am (UTC)(link)
What's wrapped in the cloth is a cylinder, not small or large, and of a medium weight. It’s a spyglass of some kind, a far-eye, something he had seen around Thalassa as a boy and something like what his boyhood tutor had used to look at the skies.

It looks intact, like no water has gotten into the tube of it, which is a minor miracle. There’s something on the side.

Ghost stops chasing crabs across the sand and bounds up on his small white paws, as if he wants to get a look at the spyglass, too. He nudges at Daenerys’s knees.
dorzalta: (Default)

[personal profile] dorzalta 2019-03-05 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Absently, a hand falls to the scruff of Ghost's neck, fingers threading through white fur. She watches Jon inspect the spyglass in his hands, gaze flicking over his profile.

Truthfully, she's more interested in him as opposed to what he's found. There have always been so many distractions around them. Things to keep them occupied, still aware of one another, but not the way she is now of him. So she takes this moment to watch him. Study him. Commit him to memory in this way, curious as he handles his finding.

"Do you think it still works?"