faderift | EVENT ↠ THE DRIFTING ROADS

Entry tags:

EVENT ↠ THE DRIFTING ROADS

WHO: Everyone
WHAT: A Crossroads Adventure
WHEN: Most of Cloudreach 9:46
WHERE: The Crossroads
NOTES: OOC post!

A team recently discovered a cluster of eluvians, one of which leads into the attic of an occupied home in Minrathous. This could be an extremely useful route if it can be made safely accessible, but that will require careful planning. In the meantime, Riftwatch needs to urgently explore the other eluvians in the cluster to ensure that none of them make the Minrathous route too dangerous to keep open (for instance, if another leads into the center of Val Royeaux or the royal palace in Cumberland, or anywhere else that a party of enemy combatants could quickly cause terrible trouble).

To that end, teams are assigned to explore and (as much as is possible in the Crossroads) map where the others lead and what the paths between them are like so that the danger/usefulness of each can be assessed. Because there are dozens and this needs to be done as quickly as possible, anyone with any time may be ordered to take on an exploration shift. Assignments will be given to small teams or pairs, but never to just one person alone. Some people may be assigned multiple shifts. (These assignments will be made IC, but OOC you're free to choose your own teams.)

The aim of this event is to focus on the Crossroads themselves, so the eluvians investigated will almost all lead to other eluvians and to islands of disconnected pieces of the Crossroads. It may be necessary to travel between and through several successive eluvians to different portions of the Crossroads to ensure there's no access to a vulnerable location.

The portions of the Crossroads teams will be exploring now will come with a variety of frustrating geographical hazards, any number of which your characters may encounter during their travels:

RECONCILIATION ROAD: One eluvian will be positioned in the distance on a narrow island of the Crossroads and reachable only by two paths that unfurl ahead of people as they walk and finally converge to reach the island. The paths will slowly angle toward one another if the people walking on each of them discuss a topic of disagreement, coming together to meet at the eluvian if the parties are reasonable and calm during the discussion and make some earnest effort to find common ground along the way. They won't have to wind up in perfect agreement to reach the end, but breaking into fighting or being stubborn or petty will result in the paths diverging instead of coming together. People who already agree about something won't be able to make it work—they'll have to find something to disagree about, even if it's just the best color of flower. A monument at the beginning will explain its purpose (using Veilfire writing that gives mental impressions, rather than requiring knowledge of ancient elven languages): the paths were designed to require people to calmly discuss their differences on their way to reach someone appointed to mediate disputes at the end, rather than allowing them to barge in shouting.
IMPULSE AVENUE: An area will be populated by spirits who will act out a form of people's repressed feelings/impulses on their behalf. That might mean a nonverbal wisp or a more distinct verbal spirit. So a wisp who is acting on behalf of Person A might shoot little icicles at Person B because Person A is annoyed with them, or a more substantial spirit might hit on Person B because Person A thinks they're cute, et cetera. The spirits won't volunteer to explain why they're doing this, but the verbal ones could identify Person A as the source of the desire if pressed on the subject, especially if Person A secretly wants it known.
INNER CHILD BOULEVARD: Teams may need to pass through a particularly twisty, shifting maze that's only passable with the guidance of spirits—specifically, spirits who, for some unknown reason connected to their original purpose when the Crossroads were a thoroughfare, present as ghostly forms of the people they're guiding as they were when they were children. They'll know that they're spirits and that their purpose is to guide people through the maze, not mistake themselves for "real" people, but they'll behave and speak in the manner of the child they're imitating while doing so. (Like all spirits, they rely on the information available to them from people, so if there's some significant difference between the way a person recalls themselves as a child vs. how they really were, the spirit will only be able to imitate what the person recalls.)
SUSPICION CIRCLE: A pack of fear spirits (specific breed: suspicion) has control of a dark, tunnel-y portion of the Crossroads. They're able to rearrange the paths to lead people in circles rather than allowing them to escape, all the while trying to stoke fear and drive wedges between people by whispering to them about any fears they may harbor (or that just seem reasonable) about their companions' motives, loyalty, etc. Resisting the fear will prevent the spirits from feeding and eventually make them unable to keep up with rearranging the paths, allowing people to escape. Otherwise, if people do give into fearing one another and thus feed them, they'll have to be fought or outsmarted some other way.

They may also encounter other minor hazards and irritations, such as:

SPIRITS OF VALOR: Bridges or paths may occasionally be occupied by these fierce spirits who will demand that any who wish to pass first best them in single combat. They can also sometimes be passed without a fight, if you manage to out-swagger them.
WILD GOOSE SPIRITS: Spirits that will lead anyone who follows them in pointless circles for as long as possible. They may appear offering assistance, claiming they know the way to the party's destination and can lead them to it, or claiming to have been sent by another group that needs their help urgently. On rare occasions the aid they seek will be real, just far too late--they may lead people to scenes of spirits falling to their deaths as paths crumble, crying out for help but unable to be saved.
MOOD WISPS: Characters may encounter clusters of small wisps that will follow them about and change color depending on the mood of the person they're hovering near. If that person's emotions are particularly extreme they may also hum a little, annoyingly, in a way that vaguely indicates the relevant feeling.
TRUTH PATHS: Paths that will fall away if you tell a lie. It doesn't require active truth-telling to cross, so you can be silent the whole time if you like, but if you lie about something while wandering the path will vanish ahead of you and will not reappear until you correct the lie. They aren't clearly marked.
PUZZLES EVERYWHERE: There are puzzles. They're everywhere, and they're frequently required to unlock an eluvian or make a pathway appear. Some of them might require people to play Ancient Elven Symbol Twister. Or Ancient Elven Symbol Hopscotch, if that's more your thing.

This project will be ongoing, in addition to characters' normal duties, until events TBA.

Threaded | Flat

[anywhere, verging onto any of the other options at our leisure: take 1]
one character/small group only, please

Laura comes into the Crossroads and feels her entire sense of balance lurch. She staggers, squinting at the mess of stone and dying scrub and empty air. It doesn't feel right, or look right--and that makes her feel wrong, too, like she isn't attached properly to her body.

"I dislike this place," she mutters, steadying herself against a rock and trying very hard to look like she doesn't need to be steadied.

[at a mirror's face]
one character/small group only, please

Laura stares at the first mirror she meets up close--besides the one she went through, at least--and, when she thinks no one else is paying attention, sniffs at it. The surface is the most interesting thing, though, not the smell of it: it shimmers, begging to be touched.

"If we are mapping the eluvians," she says, eyes still on the not-quite-glass, "why do we stop before going through?"

[reconciliation]

She stares at the Veilfire, its flickering one more eerie fact about an already eerie place, and frowns. What it says isn't clear to her, but somehow the meaning is.

One more thing to dislike about the place, but given than she can't read ancient elven scripts, Laura can't deny it's helpful this time. She glances over at her companion. "What do you wish to argue about?"

[mood wisps]

It keeps getting close to her, and she keeps trying to edge away from it: one of the wisps that Kostos refused to explain. Laura's read a little about them since, that they're essentially harmless if nothing else, but she still finds herself made uneasy by the spirits' presence. And the way this one, the deep red of an uncooked liver, greenish at the edges, keeps trying to float nearer, raises little bumps on her skin.

Is there a growling sound? Is something growling? It isn't the wisp. But something's definitely growling, and that something is probably a girl on the verge of bumping into you.

[anywhere, verging onto any of the other options at our leisure: take 2]

Once she's gotten a sense of the Crossroads, with their bleached-out scenery and steep drops, she can manage the place. Walking through the mirrors always leaves her disoriented for an unpleasant moment--I dislike this, she always thinks, her claws always ready in case she's ambushed in those first dizzying moments--but then she's fine.

Quiet, watchful, and ready to follow others, though she does speak when it seems necessary. Pick your poison:

"Stay away from the edge."

"Did you hear that?"

"Which way do we go this time?"

"What is that?"

"Wait."

"I do not trust it."

"Is something on that bridge?"

[ooc: Because some of the effects, especially Impulse Avenue, are really character-dependent, and Laura's reactions might be pretty CR-dependent as well, I'd prefer that we got into them through slightly more general means! That said, if you'd like to do something, and you're not sure how to start it, please contact me! I can write a more specific beginning to work with. PM me, PP

prettydoes or contact me on Disco if we communicate there.]

Edited 2020-04-15 00:49 (UTC)

[ ooc ; below are closed starters but please hit me up on plurk or elsewhere if you'd like to do something, and i'd be happy to hit one of yours, respond to a wildcard comment, or write something for us! i just struggle to do open-open type posts anymore. ]

[ this is my collection of closed starters. if you wanna do a thing hit me up for some plotting on plurk/dms/send a raven, whatever. i'm extremely down to write up a starter for you or to tag in elsewhere; alternately just hit this comment with your wildcard and i'll roll with it. ]

[ closed stuff, but starter requests & wildcards welcome. ]

a. wild goose spirits

Being someone who has no contact with the Fade on a regular basis makes this whole endeavor both unsettling and fascinating. Currently the fascination is outweighing everything else, particularly since the Crossroads seem to lack the impulse drive of dreams (where one is subject to the wills of the supposed narrative, such as they are). Sawbones has one of her journals out, furiously scribbling all that, while a flurry of glowing spirits zip around her.

This way! This way!

Don't listen to him, he's lying.

What are you looking for? I can help!

"One at a time, please," Sawbones says firmly, "I've a few questions for the lot of you."

b. inner child boulevard

The girl looks younger than she is, smaller than even a dwarven child should be. Painfully thin, signs of malnutrition and slow starvation in the large eyes and bloated stomach. Filthy and dressed in scraps that can hardly be called clothes. The brand on her cheek stands out, inflamed and livid against pale skin.

Sawbones sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose, saying to the spirit, "It's not helpful if you turn into someone who doesn't speak."

c. truth paths

Now this is fascinating.

"Moss is purple," Sawbones says. The path disappears. "Moss is a variety greens." The path appears. "Every individual is born with thirteen fingers." The path disappears. "Some individuals are born with thirteen fingers." The path reappears.

This isn't going to stop any time soon.

d. spirit of valor

The spirit is by all accounts very threatening, largely someone Sawbones would spend a great deal of time with her head down and speaking as little as necessary to. However the Crossroads have her bursting at the seams with curiosity and this is easily the most specific and fully formed spirit they've run into so far.

So Sawbones heads towards him with a keen look and entierly unarmed, "Hello. No, I won't be battling you today, put that sword down. I've a few questions for you."

wildcard

[ same thing, closed starters under this header, feel free to hit me up on plurk if you want one or just drop a wildcard here. ]

[specific starters in comments if necessary]

anywhere

It seemed like a simple enough mission, one with which even a person verging on elderly (say that to her face) who's recovering from a variety of health issues can assist, as long as she has a walking stick. Why Teren would consider any of Riftwatch's missions simple is a question she didn't think to ask herself until deep into the process, and she's several eluvians through when she has to pause to rest, scowling over the expansive walkway and steeling herself for whatever bullshit is to come.
She takes a long swig of whiskey from a flask and pockets it again, glancing at her companion as if daring them to tell her to hurry.

inner child

The skinny, sullen creature is identifiable as a girl only by the long Nevarran plait that falls past her hips, and even as a glowing ethereal being it's clear by the bruises on her face and arms she's been in a fight recently.
She says something in a dialect even most Nevarrans would find difficult to parse, and jerks her head to one side, indicating that she should be followed.
"Lead on then, you homely thing," sighs Teren, looking even more tired than she was before.

spirit of valor

"YOU MEAN TO SAY YOU ARE NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE?" barks the spirit, a lazily-thrown knife cleaving through its middle as the assailant sits several feet away, taking care to aim such that the knives will land on the path behind the spirit and not be lost to the void forever.
"Turn around," Teren blandly insists, chucking another blade.
"NEVER HAVE I SEEN ONE SO DEVOID OF VALOR!"

This could go on for a while.

[ see the open prompts, or hit me up at

runawayballista for a starter! or give me a wildcard. all elements of this event are fair game, i'm here for all of it ]

i. spirits of valor.
Bridges or paths may occasionally be occupied by these fierce spirits who will demand that any who wish to pass first best them in single combat. They can also sometimes be passed without a fight, if you manage to out-swagger them.

"And it is precisely because these pathways are so unknown, that we must walk them and learn all that we can of them." Val, mid-monologue, pauses only to gesture expansively around them. "Think of it. We are explorers, yes? We have embarked upon this for Riftwatch. And for Riftwatch, we will learn all that there is to know, and see all that there is to see, and we--"

Wait. Their way has narrowed down into a door shaped like an overlarge keyhole. It is large enough that the path that continues can still be seen, and Val's gesture has encompassed this way--and the figure that stands ahead of them. Imposing, swathed in darkness, his large hands laid at rest on the pommel of a broadsword, the tip of which is buried in the grit of the bridge that he guards.

Val switches his hand so that it is pointing at the figure. The spirit. "And who invited him?"

ii. puzzles.
The path before them leads down a tunnel, narrow walls and a high ceiling, and a floor marked in an irregular grid. It begins broadly, four boxes across--and then narrows to three--and then one, and then two, and then another four, all the way to a final single box at the end of the path, before the great stone door that at present stands closed.

Elven symbols are carved in each box, faintly glowing, as if only just kissed by veilfire. Val cocks his head, studying the way, and then crouches down to take the black ball in hand.

"Sheep's bladder," he says, thoughtfully, and holds it up for inspection. "We must throw it and leap to where it lands. I did not know that elves invented this game!"

iii. wildcard!
Why don't YOU write ME something. I'll do whatever!

i- impulse avenue.
The spirit hovering at Nikos' shoulder is insubstantial, almost formless, and glows with a kind of buttery light. Its quality of warmth is striking, especially on the path that he's walking. He is committed to ignoring it, slumping along with his usual sullen impatience, but the spirit doesn't seem to mind. It bobs along with cheer and goodwill. After a few moments of this, it takes the opportunity to zip over to whoever is unfortunate enough to have been paired with Nikos, ready to act as his ambassador.

When Nikos shoots it a glare, the spirits light dims. In its core there is still a glow to it that cannot be ignored, something that lives beyond even his influence.

"Ignore it," he suggests, grimly. "Maybe it will go away."

ii- wild goose spirits.
The way is quiet, only the crunching of footsteps on rock--then a distant rumble, and the sound of earth shifting, and a chorus of screams bursts from down a side path. Nikos' head whips around, alert prickling at his skin. Fear and desperation, a gibbering chorus that echoes from the depths of the darkness.

Footsteps come next, pounding up the path. An elven girl comes dashing out of the darkness, her face streaked with dirt and blood. There's a wound at her hairline, rock dust in her hair.

"Please," she gasps, and points back the way that she came with a trembling hand. "Please--the passage, it-- it collapsed--"

iii - wildcard.
Write me anything about anything and I'll tag it, thanks.

a. Mood Wisps

She's managed to attract several of these little dudes. They're all a bouncy, glowing yellow and humming bright and tuneless.

"Dude, you guys should totally be in a band," she tells them, delightedly nudging her companion, "Right? They sound crazy good. Like no melody, but that pitch though."

b. Reconciliation Road

The tablet to brain transmission is weird. Like everything here is weird, but this is the weirdness frosting on the weird cake. "So, we just gotta like argue about something? That's so fucking weird, what if you don't have anything to argue about when you get here? Like back when they used these things on the reg."

c. Suspicion Circle

Every rock looks the fucking same and Jenny Lou is pretty sure they're going in fucking circles. And on top of that there's these stupid naggy fucking whispers about how they're gonna leave her behind and she'll be stuck here forever and blah blah blah blah.

"Honestly, fuck this spirit bullshit up the ass," she says, fidgeting restlessly with her bracelet.

WILDCARD

[ closed starters, hmu at

awarewolf or wildcard if you want to do something! ]

[ ooc ; you know the drill! ]

[ closed stuff, but starter requests & wildcards welcome. ]

i. reconciliation road
Deimos can quite happily, fight with anyone about the colour of the sky if he wanted to. In fact, he does so often.

But what is impossible - is apologising, and finding common ground. He is right, they are wrong, and that's it.

"Fuck that stupid riddle. Why would it want us to agree about shoes anyway?"

ii. inner child avenue
The boy that was Deimos - has no name, his horns are just little stubs, his clothes are ratty, the scars are raw on his knuckles, black and blue, and he sniffles whilst wiping his nose with the back of his hand - he's taken a beating. He's taken several, from the look of him. His grey-silver skin mottled with the markings of it, faded and new.

His hand is clutched around a short sword he curls to his chest. Prized, or perhaps, simply, he knows the price of losing it to anyone.

Deimos - makes a disgusted noise.

"Get out of here! Get!"

But the boy doesn't, he just flinches but hovers on the back step. "Please, I'm hungry, I'm hungry and Tama said I haven't earned food today - "

The boy couldn't be older than seven. His voice soft, well-spoken, his eyes trying so desperately looking for kindness, even a scrap of it. Anything at all that would ease the pain he is so clearly in.

But Deimos shows him no more mercy than he was shown then. The order booming. "Go!"

"It's too easy for you," Darras calls to Yseult, as he stands balanced on one foot not even halfway down the hall.

Underfoot, the grid is carved into the stone floor, a series of boxes that are stacked in alternating patterns. Two across at the broad bottom where they had entered the room, the next row then narrows down to one--and then one, again--and then two again--and so on, all the way down the hall. The grid ends just before a great stone door. The margin on either side of the grid is very narrow. Veilfire symbols glow in the middle of each box, providing a very particular sort of underlight to the scene.

The instructions at the start had been clear. The only way that the door will open is if they complete this path, hopping from square to square and remaining balanced on the foot they landed on--unless they're lucky enough to come to a row with two squares, and can stand with a foot in either one. Weighted bags of sand determine their next move. Throw it too far and you've got to hop all that way. Throw it too close, and your distance is less, at least for that round--but the game takes longer.

Darras casts a glance to Athessa for support. "She'll have to have a handicap. Walk it on her hands instead of hopping. Dunno why I'm appealing to you, actually, I can only imagine you're nimbler'n me as well."

i. inner child

The younger elf is very much Thranduil's mirror, down to the shape of his nose and the set of his mouth, but Thranduil is modest and even austere by comparison, in that the child has jewelled flowers placed artfully in his hair and is wearing a robe with embroidery that quite likely took decades.

He blinks big pretty grey eyes, and holds out a pale uncalloused hand. The nails shine with clear varnish. He is the picture of cherubic health.

"I will take you," he says, and the accent is more pronounced, the lilt turning the words sing-song.

Thranduil gestures impatiently.

"Do it," he says.

ii. wildcard
( PP me at

pr0ph3t for a custom starter or toss whatever at me )

Threaded | Flat

laura kint

marcus rowntree.

athessa sulahnan