usir | The Calm Before the Storm Mini-Event

Entry tags:


🜙 By the Sea

	With the return of life to the bay the waters are once more shimmering, flashing, rippling and splashing with all manner of sea life. Dolphins perform acrobatic leaps and dances out in the deeper waters, fish dart in and out of the waves, following them to the shore and retreating with them. Near the Sunset Gate leading out into the Glass Sea the waving sail fins of small sea serpents or hunting flying fish can be seen breaking the surface before disappearing into or out of the bay. The docks of Didymos are loud with cheerful songs and shouts as fishermen and merchants work together to load or unload the Didymos fleet of fishing ships, and the sudden influx of fish causes the previously quiet, hungry city to erupt back into vibrant life practically overnight. As Didymos dives back into renewed daily life, spectators observe the city from the edges of the bay, sneaking closer to shore in the hours of dusk and dawn, studying the people and the boats but not interfering unless specifically engaged. If those who encounter them react with hostility, the merfolk respond in kind, attacking with water magic, spears, or weighted nets and throwing weapons made of lashed-together shark teeth. If they do not sense hostility, however, they quietly and curiously mimic the actions, facial expressions, and rough sounds of those who make eye contact or try to speak to them.

🜙 Return to Einjar Preparations

	After the volunteers have taken the oath, King Sitka introduces a tall, dark-haired elf to the group as Ser Medraut, Expedition Leader and Lead Commander of the Krimnos Knights. Medraut and Sitka explain what happened on the last trip to Einjar and caution that they do not know what to expect with this excursion, only that things have gotten more dangerous in the mountains since the last trip and they need to get to the root of the problem before whatever happened to Einjar happens to Preciposte or Krimnos. Following the briefing, the volunteers are given rooms in a currently unused inner wall barracks, should they wish to take them. They can temporarily live together in this space and be provided with food, armor, weaponry, clothing, small personal rooms, warm showers, and anything they might request to bring along on the mission, as well as the opportunity to get to know the others who will be with them. The knights do not remain in the same area, returning to their own barracks on the other side of the gate. Those under oath are able to discuss the mission or anything else freely with each other and can find maps and the plans to the new airships at their disposal.


🜙 The Travelers

	On the night of the full moon the moon rises an unsettling pinkish-red in the sky. Normally this offset hue isn't paid much heed but with the call of more werewolves in the air, the color only adds to the general air of unsettled discomfort permeating every corner and cabin in and around the city. Once again Koroc is no where to be seen, and once again the defenders keep the unified pack of attacking werewolves at bay. In the days following the full moon, the surrounding wildlands and the city streets are disturbingly quiet. Many residents of the city forego their day to day activities in favor of hiding in their homes and the Defenders seem to be the only ones patrolling the streets. Until a few days after the full moon when a large caravan of boats arrives from the North floating down the river into the canal streets. The boats are covered in colorful canopies and the people who emerge from them are a mixture mainly of humans, beastfolk, arboreons, satyrs, and tieflings with a few dwarves and kobolds tagging along. They wouldn't normally be an unusual sight, their garb giving off the familiar impression of the traveling merchants, except that the city is meant to be closed off to anyone entering during this crisis and the traveling merchants don't usually arrive for spring trading until May. The Defenders seem confused by their sudden appearance. Their attempts to bar the strangers from entering the city are met with passive responses as towering arboreons lift them up to set them aside or dwarves duck under their arms and weapons to continue on without breaking step or their current conversations. They speak with thick mountain accents and wear brightly colored clothing. The unusual group makes their way toward the still standing fixture of the Immortal Duke carrying large barrels and casks they proudly proclaim to be wines or ale. Gifts from the North. As they pass through the streets windows and doors open and the eyes of the city follow their paths. The boats in the canals are left tied and unguarded and curious winged cats quickly overtake the colorful playgrounds. They are soon joined by inquisitive children and brave city dwellers wanting to learn more about the guests who seem so unperturbed by the city's unwelcoming display. During the night a large, central section of the warcamp is set on fire by a volley of arrows from outside the city and the resultant spread and destruction of fire through the warcamp absorbs much of the Defenders' forces and attention. During the resulting chaos the Duke's front doors are flung open and the sound of raucous laughter and merriment spill out of the old building's creaking doors and windows, drawing in even more spectators and curious folk. A smaller group of Defenders rally to seemingly storm the Duke armed with torches and weapons, but despite shouted demands for them to set the building alight for harboring the rebellion they make no move to attack it, enchanted by magic older than the rebuilt city that prevents those with intent to kill the patrons or destroy the Duke from lifting a hand or claw against the once favored drinking grounds of King Ioanrí. Eventually, Dervish arrives and orders the Defenders back to the warcamp to help with the fires Inside the Immortal Duke the casks and barrels are nowhere to be seen but it seems Lorna is footing the bill for any and all drinks, food, or beds claimed by any patrons of the old tavernkeep for the evening. She can be seen having a cheerful conversation with a dwarf woman at one of the upper-level tables, but neither move to join the festivities below. An unusual satyr with striped legs carrying an unfamiliar instrument and an avian beastfolk with very colorful plumage sing unfamiliar songs by the fire. The strangers seem eager to talk to anyone willing to listen. If asked where they come from their response is vague but forthcoming: Either Over the mountains. or Far, Far Away

🜙 Top

⤛ Navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Returning to Einjar feels...right, for the lack of any better word. Walking through a city that had been swept away overnight had been upsetting on so many levels, and the fear that this might roll forth from Einjar, towards Krimnos, towards his own reclaimed home, that demanded action. If only for the sake of two other people, it demanded action.]

I. By the Book
[It is a natural thing for Alucarde to sit and re-read his own notes brought back from the first excursion. They're all in a small, black leather bound journal, plain and unadorned. He sits with it open, pale fingers leafing through the pages as his eyes focus not on what he's looking at there, but on three of the maps that have been made available to the group for the time being. Over one such map, there is a thin, translucent piece of paper that has his writing atop it, seemingly tracing paths over the mountains.

On that map he has marked the supposed routes of the dwarves who left Einjar over the last century. No numbers, but their paths all the same.]

Hm. [His pale fingers are still against the table.] I wonder if these groups had any oral histories that might contain information about what was happening within the city when they left.

II. Around the airship
[The airships are still Alucard's favorite thing about the future. He hates being back from the dead, he hates the current circumstances, but gods the airships give him a warmth that makes him seem to glow with wonder.

So maybe it's childish of him to explore the one that is set to ferry them all back to Einjar. To be examining the mechanics of the ship, all with a childish wonder. But that would be to deny himself one of the few real pleasures of being alive at the moment, and he won't dent himself that.]

The component parts are probably all modified in some way to allow for a lighter and more nimble ship, but was that through craftsmen or through changing existing parts with magic?

[He isn't expecting an answer. Just marveling at the wonder of the age.]

III. Wild card
You know the deal.

[Flying has always been a favorite pastime of Poe's, even before the airships and their resurrections, when it was only on the wings of his other form. These new airships, though, are even more impressive than the others. It's almost like experiencing them for the first time, a second time, and the half-elf can't wait for departure to see how different they feel in flight.]

A mix of both, [Poe responds in a pondering tone, his fingers tracing over the varnished wood of the ship. They're sleeker and narrower than the larger ferrying airships, but with the extra armor on them, they must be heavier in some regards than the other models.]

They craftsmanship, though. How quickly they must have built these and they still took the time to put a polish on them. [He cranes his head back, trying to get a better look at the propellors, lazily spinning above them.]

Just thinking about how many trial builds they must have had to go through just to get the other ones right. [He peers down toward the cliffs below, thinking of the air docks and what must be a dizzying height for some.] Can you imagine being one of the first to step onto them leaving from Krimnos?

Something tells me that they must have already been in the works, but current circumstances expedited the production.

[At least, that feels the most clear and obvious solution. Finding a way to Einjar over air must have always been a matter to attend to, but the importance of it? Hardly a priority until now, when it absolutely was.

Poe's eyes may be heading skyward, but Alucard's focus is on the deck of the ship. Looking it over and over and over again, no longer gobsmacked entirely but still in a deep, quiet awe. There will be a day where he asks if he can look in the engine room of such a ship, but it is not this adventure.]

There must be a record of the experiments and prototypes somewhere. Something like this is too much of an achievement for there not to be. [Because this is an absolute achievement. A height reached that feels like justification for so many things.]

Mmm, I can. What I can't imagine is them being something so utterly normal that I do not think twice of them.

I'd be interested in tracking those down when this is over. Flight without having to rely on the training of an animal or your own magical talents is something I never even dreamed of. I don't think most people did.

[Being able to fly on his own had always made Poe reluctant to try and ride the hippogriffs in Krimnos. He couldn't control them as well as he could control his own wings.]

I'm just glad to see they aren't being used for war. [Poe doesn't say yet because he doesn't want to think about yet. There has been too much war and death.]

I see they couldn't resist putting some flair on the designs, though. [Not all of that metal was there to protect the ship. Still, it's less than what he imagines would be there if Didymos' engineers had had a hand in it. There was a city that was all about flashy touches.]

They built three of these without telling anyone they were working on them, almost doubling the number of airships in one go. Makes me wonder if they were intended to replace the old ones or if they had something else in mind when they started designing them.

Krimnos//Return to Einjar

II

no subject

no subject

for sansa; black market/pre-Einjar prep

Robb Stark | OTA

II.

no subject

no subject

i.

no subject

no subject

by the sea

no subject

no subject

Didymos & Freeps

by the sea

no subject

no subject

near amy's place

no subject

no subject

babysitters anonymous

no subject

no subject