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ABRAXAS MODS ([personal profile] abraxasmods) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2021-06-12 12:13 pm
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EVENT #1

EVENT #1
Welcome to our very first event! This event will be divided into two parts: one for honored guests, and one for prisoners. There are some opportunities for characters to go to the opposite group's event, so read on below and make sure to check out the accompanying OOC plotting post for extra details!

This event takes place ICly from June 14th to June 19th.

The Summer Festival (Honored Guests)

It's June, and that means the annual Summer Festival in Castle Thorne. The newcomers are causing quite a buzz and, for the first time in ten years, a representative from the increasingly independent city of Nott has agreed to attend. The representative, Lyle Vela, has a lot of political sway in Nott and the impression he takes back with him will affect whether Nott begins to repair relations with the rest of Thorne or moves even further towards independence.

But that's not all there is to do here! The residents of the city surrounding Castle Thorne are intensely curious about the newcomers and several of the events at the Summer Festival have been designed by the mages to show them off. At some point you may begin to feel more like a prized pony than an honored guest, but there are rewards and gifts and good food to be had for all, so what's the harm in showing off a little?

The festival runs all week (June 14th-19th) and the list of events are as follows:
Sparring Contest: Honored guests will be asked to spar in front of an audience. Depending on the time of the week the fight takes place in, some guests may have some or most of their powers back, but the audience is here to see a show and just trampling your opponent in seconds won't do much for them. Try to add some spice to it: a good narrative and a close fight are much more enthralling. You may decide the winner of the fight between yourselves or ask the mods to roll for an outcome below. Prisoners who stay behind can sneak into this event but will not have their powers.

Magic Demonstration: Show everyone what you can do and demonstrate a Thornean magic spell in front of an audience. This should be a simple beginner spell such as a smaller elemental magic spell, some minor healing, a small illusion, and so on. Feel free to decide what spell you'd like your character to perform and post to the header below so the mods can roll for your character's success when performing it in front of the audience! Regardless of success, your character can learn the chosen spell by the end of the event. Unfortunately, prisoners cannot access this event.

The Black Market: Castle Thorne is much less secure during open festivals than it is during the rest of the year, so it's no surprise that some shady characters have managed to sneak in. They're trading potions and magical items, and luckily enough for the penniless newcomers, they're interested in things other than money. They may ask for some blood, saliva, or the chance to perform a spell on the hapless newcomer. Prisoners are welcome in the black market. Please post to the header below to see what item your character gets from the event (and what spell they'll be subjected to if you choose that option).

Visit with the Representative: Near the end of the Festival, three honored guests will be chosen to have one-on-one audiences with Lyle Vela in the hopes of impressing him. Ambrose hasn't had the time to get to know each guest individually yet, so he's asked that they choose the three candidates among themselves. If you wish you have your character volunteer for this position, please make a case for their suitability under the header below! If your character is not running for this position, have them vote for another character. Prisoners who stay behind may vote as well.
At the end of the festival on June 19th, there will be a huge feast available with all manner of fancy food and some alcohol if you wish to get a little drunk. Beware, Thornean alcohol is strong! Prisoners who stayed behind to help out with the festival can easily slip in and take some food and drink for themselves.

If your character has been imprisoned but you want them to attend the Festival, an honored guest may lobby for them to stay behind and help set up. It'll be work, but they can sneak off to have a bit of fun and it won't be as difficult as what's in store for the rest of them. If you wish to have your character stay behind, please post to the OOC plotting post. Because we know that claustrophobic tunnel horror isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, there is no limit to the amount of prisoners who can stay behind.

In the Tunnels (Prisoners)

Good news, prisoners! You get some time away from your cells in the beautiful snow-covered mountains of northern Thorne. A volunteer work opportunity has arisen, and you are all volunteers. If you do well enough at your assigned task, perhaps your prisoner status will be re-evaluated. Or perhaps your supervisor will take all the credit for themselves and throw you right back where you came from. Life's unfair sometimes! You'll at least be given a nice set of boots and heavier clothes to keep you warm.

Your task: to harvest as much crystal as you can from the burrow of a Giant Frostwurm. From June to September, the Frostwurm hibernates and is generally non-aggressive. Huge and territorial, Giant Frostwurms are only rarely encountered and are considered endangered by Thornean biologists. All known Frostwurm habitats are marked and harvested once every few years as the crystals that grow on its body are highly valuable for use in medicine and, erm, recreation although the latter is frowned upon by Thornean authorities. Don't worry, you don't have to touch the Frostwurm itself, it sheds every now and then and leaves a healthy supply of crystals in the tunnels of it burrow.

That's not to say it will be an easy task. There's a reason they're using "volunteer" prison labor, after all. The tunnels are deep and labyrinthine, and it's easy enough to get lost down there and wander in circles until you die of thirst or starvation. The crystals themselves also have a certain disorienting effect that turns hallucinogenic after prolonged exposure and, because of the Frostwurm's unique psychic properties, hallucinations can be shared between individuals. Like a contagion, spending time around someone who is hallucinating can cause it to 'catch'. These hallucinations may be pleasant or frightening, but the only cure is to get out of the tunnels and away from the crystals for a while.

Tunnel cave-ins are also a possibility, in which case you best start digging and hope you choose up. Getting too lost can result in an encounter with the Frostwurm, and while it needs to conserve energy and won't give chase, it'll bite or whip at you with its tail if you get too close. Both prisoners and supervisors are instructed not to kill the Frostwurm under any circumstances, even if it means sacrificing someone in their party. They're endangered, after all!

If your character has been welcomed to Thorne but you still wish to go on the Frostwurm excursion, they can volunteer to be a supervisor. There are currently 24 prisoners and they will be divided into groups of 3, so we will accept a maximum of 8 supervisors (potentially less depending on how many prisoners stay behind to help with the festival). Be aware that supervisors will be in danger as well, and they will be punished if they try to help the prisoners escape, but unlike the prisoners they will be paid for their efforts and seen as having initiative by the Thornean authorities. If you wish to be a supervisor, volunteer on our OOC plotting post.

The timeline for this part of the event is as follows:
June 14th: Prisoners will be led from their cells in chains to a Thornean fast-travel portal (a glowing circle of neon light) that will take them about a mile away from the Frostwurm's burrow. It's cold and the air is thin, so they'll be given the rest of the day to rest and acclimate before being sent inside.

June 15th-18th: Down in the tunnels with you! Characters are sent into the tunnels and can experience any of the effects listed above. If your party makes it out after sunset they'll be permitted to sleep in a tent, if they're lost then they will sleep in the tunnels. On the 18th, anyone who comes out alive will not have to go back in and the supply of crystals will be counted.

June 19th: Today would be the day of the Summer Festival, if they were back at Castle Thorne, but their captors aren't completely merciless. The prisoners and supervisors will be marched back to the fast-travel portal, where a small feast has been set up for them. It isn't as glamorous as what's back in Thorne, but it's the best meal the prisoners have been served since they arrived. And, as a bonus, the guards might slip you some alcohol if you did a good job in collecting the crystals.
Please visit the accompanying OOC plotting post to choose your team of three, and a supervisor if your group has one (groups without PC supervisors will be sent off on their own with no NPC supervisor). This event is designed to have some element of risk to it (but no one will die, don't worry!) so while you can plan what happens to your characters out with your group if you like, we also encourage you to post an action or two to our IC Consequences header below and leave it up to chance. Who knows, something awesome might happen.




Questions


Will there be any mod NPCing during this event?
The three visits with Lyle will be NPCed but other than that, no. Feel free to play random townies, guards, or black market sellers on your own!

Can I try to free the prisoners/can my imprisoned character break out?
Ambrose will be willing to hear cases for prisoner freedom after the event has concluded. You can try to smuggle the prisoners out of town during the festival or escape from the mountain, and prisoners can try to escape, but they will be caught and punished at this stage. Please post to the appropriate header below if you wish to have your character try!

Are the prisoners still powerless?
Yep! Don't worry, inmates, there'll be opportunities to be released for good behavior OR do a prison break soon. More details about the status of the prisoners will be released after this event.

Can my prisoner or supervisor character break away from their assigned group?
Yes, the tunnels are disorienting so individuals may wander off, especially if they are hallucinating. Feel free to interact with anyone and everyone.

What can the hallucinations entail?
Anything! They can think they're being chased, imagine a portal to a green oasis or even scenery from their own homeworld, and anything else you can come up with. They won't be real or tangible so nothing will remain of them once the affected characters are recovered (unless a special mod consequence is given...) but as stated above they can be shared between characters so everyone can see the same thing.

Can my character attend both the Summer Festival and the mission in the tunnels?
Alas, no. Both events will take the whole week, so it's one or the other!



cointosser: ([021])

[personal profile] cointosser 2021-07-06 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
[While Jaskier assumed that would be the end of their conversation, he's not against the girl lingering, apparently seeking even more of his important wisdom. Who could blame her? He clearly knows what's going on. And definitely what he's planning to do here.

He takes a seat next to her, the lute cradled in his lap. He's done enough performing for now, anyway. It's clearly not as lucrative as it was in a taverno n the Continent.

Yet.]


Hmm. I know well what it means to be stuck with someone who hardly talks. And the effort it takes to drag even a simple story from him! [He hums for a moment, thinking it over.] Well, I don't think it should stop you. Even better, they're harder targets.

[Is this helpful? Probably. Definitely.] Speaking of. If you're one of the prisoners, how the fuck are you wandering about up here?
not_caroline: PB: Selena Gomez (markoS fam)

[personal profile] not_caroline 2021-07-06 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Coraline merely shimmies her shoulders with a pleased little smirk.] I got a patron. One of the other 'honoured guests' -[complete with airquotes, for emphasis on how stupid the title is]- vouched for me so I could come work at the festival instead of going to the mountain to dig up rocks or something.

[She lowers her leg and draws the other up so she can fold them under all the spare fabric.] So I'll just have to see if I can't pester Geralt and Majima to tell me about it when they get back.

[She knows what hard labour does to people, and she feels like those two would do best with it. Alucard seems a little too prissy to come back mostly unscathed.]
cointosser: ([054])

[personal profile] cointosser 2021-07-08 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
[He purses his lips. It's not at her, or her position (he thinks good for her, honestly, if she can sucker someone to help her escape). It simply means that Geralt could have been up here, with some semblance of freedom, instead of in whatever shit mountain he was stuck in.

Well. Fuck --

He nearly yells.]
Geralt? Geralt? You were stuck in a cell with him? [So much for acting as if they didn't know each other. Not that he cared much about it; any other prisoner was nearly in the same position as the wolf.] I should've known. [The description had fit him so perfectly.] Definitely talk at him. He absolutely loves it.

[At least he can find some strange comfort in how she said it. When they get back. Of course they'd be dragged back. It was better than nothing. Better than silence.]
not_caroline: (smile for the cams)

[personal profile] not_caroline 2021-07-08 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
[She pulls back a little on instinct, from the sudden switch to yelling; but then she beams openly. Well, this was certainly one way to get information on her cellmate.]

Does that mean you were writing songs about him? [She leans in again eagerly.] He hasn't mentioned you at all, what should I tell him about you to make him talk the most?
cointosser: (Default)

[personal profile] cointosser 2021-07-11 08:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Oops.

Ah, well. Fuck it. He nods.]


Oh, don't worry. I'm more than used to it. [At least he has the decency not to huff. In other circumstances, certainly. Here, discretion is the name of the game. It means either the poor louts in that cell don't talk about their connections, or Geralt doesn't trust any of them. Now which of those is most likely?

Still, he sings about the fool. It's how he's going to scrape together coin in this place.]
Unfortunately for the both of us, you'll find getting him to talk about anything in particular, especially things you're interested in, is on the same level of difficulty as pulling teeth from a dragon's mouth.
not_caroline: (MarkoS fam)

[personal profile] not_caroline 2021-07-11 12:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I know he's like, a hunter. [That didn't take a great deal of investigation to know about him, having spent ten years surrounded by them; plus she's not missed the way Geralt sometimes eyes off Alucard.] So I take it that means you guys fight monsters together?

[She smirks suddenly, hazel eyes pointedly eyeing off his instrument.] Or, he does all the hard work and you get all the coin from singing about it.
cointosser: ([048])

[personal profile] cointosser 2021-07-13 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
[He gives her a considering look.] I'm guessing you picked that up on your own.

[It's not how Geralt would describe himself, if ever did at all. How interesting. He can't help but think Geralt must either hate having this pestering little thing in the same cage as him, or he's probably thinking he needs to protect her.

Ah, Geralt. So.... Geralt.]


Oh, please. He was as poor as the owner of a titless goat when I met him. The poor bastard owes me plenty. I have absolutely no reason to go around fighting monsters.

[Only fools did that, and Jaskier was not a fool (in that regard). Geralt was trained and literally molded to fight the bloody things. And in his profession, and in his sphere, there was no shame in knowing one's place.] You're very astute -- and nosy -- for one your age. At this rate you'll be owning a brothel or a bandit guild, given a few more years.
not_caroline: (you don't know me)

[personal profile] not_caroline 2021-07-13 06:32 am (UTC)(link)
I've lived with hunters before, it's not like it was hard. [She'd have been more surprised if he wasn't one, really.

But the comment of owning a brothel, of all things, makes her go very, very still for a moment. When she speaks again, there's a certain kind of acid in her tone.
]

I've seen how people treat the women who work in places like that. Not really sure I'm fond of the idea of being in charge of letting that happen.
cointosser: ([059])

[personal profile] cointosser 2021-07-17 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
Hunting is nothing like monster slaying.

[It may not be his trade, but he feels a bit like he must defend it. The idea that this girl could do what Geralt does, after he's suffered the things he has simply to be able to do it, is absolutely laughable.

There's a reason Witchers exist and kings aren't hiring the locals.

Ah! So she does have a bitter side. It's not a comment about a brothel that he really expects it, but it's lovely to see what, he imagines, might be the real side of her.]
Well, it's not happening under the eye of a succubus. Plenty of them in brothels. Men have learned from less.
not_caroline: (I Do Not See It)

[personal profile] not_caroline 2021-07-17 08:47 am (UTC)(link)
[She untucks her legs and swings them off the edge of the wagon, tucking one foot behind the other ankle as she leans forward on both hands.]

Depends on what you're hunting. Monsters aren't that scary, after a while. [Then she leans back with a shrug.] Succubus don't sound that bad, but I think I'd rather go with the bandits anyway. At least you know where you stand when people open carry like that.
cointosser: (Default)

[personal profile] cointosser 2021-07-18 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
[He merely snorts. No offense -- or full offense -- but he thinks she's an utter fool for thinking so, whether she's sly or crafty or whatever trickery she might have under her sleeves. It's the same small touch of contempt he's had for the villagers who think they don't need a witcher around when they can take care of things themselves.

But what can one do past a warning? Perhaps this world has no monsters at all beyond men.

That'd be something, wouldn't it? With a strum of his lute, he brings the lute off around his shoulders, setting it in its case. It's far time he goes takes a break himself from all this... rebuilding of his reputation, apparently.]
Banditry suits you.
not_caroline: (MarkoS fam)

[personal profile] not_caroline 2021-07-18 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
[She shrugs at the man's snort. She doesn't particularly care if he believes her or not, she knows what a fictional troll or dragon or whatever might be like, she's read Harry Potter. But real monsters are far worse.]

Right? I could totally be the leader of my own gang. Robbing the nobles and giving it back to the people who they taxed it from in the first place.
cointosser: (Default)

[personal profile] cointosser 2021-07-18 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[He gives another laugh.] My, you haven't met many bandits, have you? [He buckles the case, the leather straining a bit.] Far be it from me to crush a girl's dreams. I'm sure the poor will love you for it.

[And, hopefully, she doesn't get caught.]