event: a gentle arrival

[thestewards]

I won't give up so don't give in
You've fallen down but you can rise again

► The OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.

► Direct all questions to the mods at this link.

SWEET DREAMS AREN'T MADE OF THIS
The dream isn't unpleasant, just strange. Mist curls around you long after the woman fades. You hold a Jewel in your hand, marveling at its multifaceted surface and feeling the thrill of new, untapped power. Anticipation surges in you: that feeling of wrongness that so often accompanies a nightmare you can't wake from. Anticipation becomes fear. You look up, certain that at any moment the mist will pull back and reveal something gruesome and terrible.

A scream. A piercing wail, that sound that accompanies a violent death. The sound doesn't come from your dream, and it jolts you awake. You…

i. Are alone in your room, and have a moment to gather yourself. Wherever you laid down to rest, you've woken up somewhere different. Somewhere strange. There's a comforting weight in the air—a feeling of welcome, of belonging. Then another scream pierces the night. In your dream, the woman asked for a hero. Maybe you already consider yourself a hero or maybe you don't, but now seems as good a time as any to either be one or start pretending.

ii. See a dark shape looming over you. You have no time to assess the place you've woken up, though you have a quick flash of insight that your dream must have been more than a dream and the woman to whom you spoke has brought you to her world and her home. There's no time to marvel at this. The shadow above you draws back, a pistol Breaker in their hand. Even if you've never seen a gun before, you can somehow taste their malice and hatred. They're pointing a weapon at you, and your scream might be the next to tear through the midnight darkness.

Landen Hunters have infiltrated the Queen's Residence. How stalwartly you choose to fight them off is up to you, but you'll quickly encounter members of Fayura's First Circle defending against the attackers. Allairavar rallies the people of the court, ensuring the most vulnerable are well guarded in the massive dining hall. Loren maintains a Green shield around the room, and only those of the court or the Strangers can enter. There, Healers tend to the wounded, and the children who live at the residence are kept safe.

Amidst the turmoil, you overhear snippets of conversation:

A Healer, quietly, to her patient: If the Lady isn't here, she and Prince Verim must be working some spell to protect us. Rest easy, Prince.

Lord August, speaking quickly to Prince Lachlan as they rush by: —monsters find out the Queen would be bringing help to us tonight? Who told the Hunters—

An injured footman, worried: —see the flames through the window. Landens live in Old Town. How unsurprising that the Guilds would come up with a distraction that hurts their own, too.

FLAME AND FURY
Beyond the Queen's Residence, the Old Town Bazaar burns. Horrified faces gather at the east-facing dining hall windows, and distraught whispers fill the air. Someone cries out that their sister lives in Old Town.

Loren reacts first. He calls for volunteers from the Strangers, and you have the distinct impression that he measures you by your response. "The Hunters—" He grimaces, realizing the Strangers probably don't know what he means. "—landen assassins came in the night to kill you. They've lit part of our city on fire to prevent us from following them. We don't know who, specifically, came for you, but we know where they've gone to ground, so we don't need to chase them down. What we do need to do is stop the fire from spreading. The First Circle will stay here and defend the residence. Who among you Strangers, those of you who came here tonight, will help with the fires?"

Those who agree to help are sent with Allairavar to put out the flames. As you travel with him, Allairavar provides a crash-course in creative application of Craft.

*You wear the Jewels, so you can shield. You should know how, if the Lady's spell worked. Shield yourselves to protect from the flames. Use Craft to shield the buildings and starve out the fires,* he says on a psychic thread so that everyone can hear him and he doesn't need to waste his breath by shouting. *Rescue anyone trapped in the buildings regardless of who they are. Be on the look out for Hunters—the assassins Loren mentioned. They're sneaky bastards, and they'll use our focus on helping the people to put knives in our backs if they can.*

Put out fires, use your powers or Craft to support buildings before they collapse, and rescue landens and Blood alike from the damage done by the Hunter Guild. Be wary and alert, and try not to damage the city more than the fires already have should you encounter Hunters. Blood families will go with the Strangers more easily than landen families, but Allairavar makes it clear that if you have to physically remove someone from a burning home or one that is about to collapse then that is exactly what you should do.


REST FOR THE WEARY
Dawn breaks on the horizon, painting the city of Draega a hazy red. With little wind, the smoke hovers around the city. In Old Town, even buildings that didn't burn begin to smell like the fire.

A somber weight falls on the Queen's Residence. In the aftermath of the night's events, Loren introduces himself to each of the Strangers individually if possible but to groups if he must: He is the Queen's Steward, and his Queen was the one who worked the spell to bring them to Draega. He apologizes for the circumstance of their arrival and that the Queen is currently indisposed. Everyone, he explains, can stay in the residence for as long as they would like, and he makes it clear that by no means are the Strangers required to remain in the residence nor will they be viewed with suspicion or distrust by the court if they decide to find their own homes.

Those with medical skills or healing powers are brought to the dining hall to help the Healers. The Healer in charge is a young, Yellow Jeweled woman who has exhausted her Craft and desperately needs assistance. Anyone who inquires about her position within the court, either to her or others, learns that she is highly skilled and spent her childhood in the landen Medico Guild before taking a chance on her half-Blood heritage and making an Offering. While she wears one of the lightest Jewels in the residence, even Allairavar submits silently to her attentions and he offers no excuse when she chastises him for getting injured.

Midway through the day, Allairavar and Loren make the mistake of having an unshielded conversation near the dining hall. Anyone nearby can overhear…

"I spoke briefly to Verim," Loren says, voice low and urgent. "They weren't caught in the fire, but Allairavar…"

A muscle in Allairavar's jaw ticks. His massive, membranous wings fan out to fill the hall before he pulls them tight to his back. "She's injured."

Loren nods. "Badly. The backlash of power struck her hard, and Verim couldn't help her absorb it." Tension lines Allairavar's body, and Loren quickly adds, "You can't kill them. She brought them here to help us—"

"Our Queen is vulnerable," Allairavar hisses. "There are strangers in our home." A dangerous, wild look fills his eyes. "Does she plan on doing this again? We're not letting her." He rocks back and forth on his feet with the nervous energy of a man contained and about to explode.

"So we'll strand these people here?" Gentle concern fills Loren's eyes. "She'll need to do this once more to send them home."

All that nervous energy abruptly vanishes, and Allairavar bends a sleepy-eyed, malevolent look on Loren. "Would you ask our Queen to destroy herself for these people?"

Violence cloaks both men, but the threat of action rests solely on Allairavar. Loren keeps his voice gentle. Soothing. "Do you really think she would have made the offer if she couldn't send them home? Do you think she would truly be so cruel as to demand they come here with no chance of ever returning home?"

Allairavar is quiet for a long moment. The tension slowly flows out of him, leaving him looking weary and exhausted. "Yes," he finally says, tone grim. "Because to her, the price is worth it to save the world. And she would accept it for any of them if they asked." He runs a hand over his head and sighs heavily. Without another word, he turns and walks away. Loren does not call after him.

AIR TIME
Whether you catch the news on a Far-caster in the city or you're spinning the dial on your own device, you'll hear…

etiquette with evandra and aren
[Evandra's voice is a little bit rough and a little bit husky, the kind of voice that gives bad ideas to young men and headaches to fathers.] Just because the Blood have no law against murder doesn't mean you can kill anyone on the street—or in their homes, isn't that right, Lord Aren?

[Aren's voice is chipper and bright. He sounds more like an eager boy than the full-grown man he is.] Quite true, Evandra! Unless someone has done something to merit execution, wanton murder is generally frowned upon. A Queen can demand a price for the death of someone in her Territory or court.

[A thoughtful hum from Evandra.] So, the Hunter Guild's attack on the Queen's Residence last night isn't illegal, but it was incredibly gauche. And now they face possible retaliation from her and her court. How ghastly!

[Aren agrees.] A dreadful affair. Remember: just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[Evandra:] Quite so. Something for us all to consider. As always, I'm Evandra.

[With solemn dignity, Lord Aren says:] I'm Aren, and you've been listening to…

[Together:] Etiquette with Evandra and Aren. [Jaunty outro music plays. Perhaps they should reconsider this particular tune on dark occassions.]

the weather
[A soft-spoken man's voice rumbles out of the Far-caster. He's pleasant to listen to, with a soothing cadence to his voice.] …overcast and snowy days with temperatures hovering around freezing during the day and dropping at night. Need to tune up your e-line heaters? The Elektriline Guild is offering a limited-time discount this week to ensure you stay warm around the clock.

the news
…distressed to hear of the incident at the Queen's Residence. [The man speaks in a slow, smooth voice. His words ring with heartfelt sincerity.] Though Lady Fayura and I don't often see eye-to-eye— [He chuckles at this, as though he's made a joke. Another man, presumably an interviewer, chuckles along with the air of someone who isn't sure this is a joke they should be laughing at.] —I condemn the actions taken by the Hunter Guild. Destroying people's homes is simply unacceptable.

But one wonders what that surge of power was just prior to midnight. Craft, surely, but to what end? Was that the spell the Queen used to summon these… Strangers from other Realms? Surely we can agree that such action, taken independently of the Guilds and the Ebon Council, much as we don't get along, is cause for concern. I believe the Lady has overstepped, and it is my firm hope that Lord Grejor issues an injunction against her for such flagrant disregard for the law.

[The interviewer speaks, and his voice is faintly strained.] Thank you, Grand Master Niall, for talking to us on this issue.

Comments

[portable]

Thanks. I like all yours, as well.

[ but the fact that molly doesn't recognise the pixelly mess does not go unnoticed. parado had already suspected he'd not be a creature of modern times, but it was nice to have that sort of confirmed.

as the card disappears, parado tracks it with his eyes and his grin turns impressed when he can't see how the trick works. he rests his hands on his knees, propping his chin atop them, and nods. he's clearly fascinated. ]

Yeah. You seem like you're really good at it, and I've never had it done before. [ not with cards, anyway. ] I want to learn what it's like.

[mollymocked]

[His deck is well worn and rough around the edges- old before it was purchased for him at a thrift shop in some town along the way with the first coppers he had to his name- but he thinks that adds to the mystical part of it. People think old things have more magic in them, and maybe that's true. Molly gets vibes off these cards either way. Sometimes he cheats- here and now, it doesn't behoove him to do so. He likes learning about people, and when people are reactionary to something, you learn the most.]

I'm very good at it. [He shuffles the cards dramatically, letting him see each cut and shuffle to show it's clean.] But I'll have to warn you- not every fortune is flattering. Many, many people have come to me and learned things they didn't even know about themselves and not all of those things were good.

[portable]

[ parado keeps a watchful eye on the deck, taking in the movements and flourishes. despite the level of attention he's paying, there doesn't seem to be any indication of skepticism about him. that's not to say that he seems gullible, either, but more that authenticity isn't necessarily what he wants to see.

when molly speaks, his gaze shifts briefly to the teifling. his ostentatious presentation and words of caution are an interesting combination to absorb at once. parado shakes his head, smile still in place. ]

That's alright. There's not a lot that could take me by surprise. [ he shifts, settling into a mirror of molly's cross-legged position. ] So if you can manage it, consider it a win.

[ it's not phrased as a challenge, just an option. there were no winners and losers in this kind of game, after all, only things to learn. a different kind of victory. ]

[mollymocked]

That's what I like to hear. [Molly clicks his tongue and places three cards facedown on the grass.] Now let's see what the cards have to say.

[He is a showman in all things, including doing cold reads on people via his cards, which is the best time to be a showman, really. Gotta blind them with that razzle dazzle.

He flips over the first card with the tip of one of his long nails. Justice.] In the recent past, you've learned that even the most insignificant of actions can cause long game ramifications. You have realized that you do not get what you want or what you expect, but what you deserve.

[The second card- the Eight of Swords.] You've been powerless, restricted, likely as a result of your choices, but you can escape. You just have to free yourself.

[Final card- Two of Cups.] And there is a person in your life, perhaps, that can help. A harmonious union is in your future, one that will keep you from from falling into old traps.

[Molly lifts his head, his jewelry jingling a bit and waits for a reaction.]

[portable]

[ the amusement in his expression lingers as molly goes to present the cards, and parado leans forward to get a good look at each one. the delicacy with which each card is handled is interesting, too, given the wear on the deck - showmanship, then, down to the last detail.

or so he thinks. parado's smile falters for a moment at the reading of justice. his own words echo in his mind - the loser gets the ending they deserve - the harsh reality that he'd never expected to be turned around on him. he catches himself, though, plastering his intrigue back on as the other cards are turned.

they settle him, a bit. again, the accuracy surprises him, but they're not quite as on-point as the first. restricted, yes, but powerless, not exactly - and that union had already come. he glances up to meet the fortune reader's eyes. ]

That's very impressive. [ he's smiling the smile of a satisfied customer, but one taken slightly off-guard. to distract, he reaches out with a fingertip to lightly tap a shiny thing hanging from one of molly's horns. ting. ] A lot of that was really close. It's all stuff I knew, but... you can still say you surprised me, if you want to take that win.

[ the hand that had reached out seems to hesitate in the air for a moment, unsure, before parado lowers it to offer a handshake. ] I'm Parado. It's nice to meet you.

[mollymocked]

Well, I only did three cards. I'd need a better location and some preparation for something fancier. [He'll take his victory, however, and that handshake. Despite how foppish he dresses and the jewelry adorning his horns, his hands are calloused and there's a tattoo of two snakes with blood-red eyes on his palm and above it, twirling around his arm up into his robes.]

Mollymauk Tealeaf. You're welcome to call me Molly. And I don't need cards to tell me you're not a local. You don't have the look- I always know the locals from the tourists in any town I visit.

[portable]

Molly. Okay.

[ rough hands were slightly unexpected, noted along with the tattoo as a curiosity. parado's own are completely soft where they can be felt, but his palm is mostly hidden by the fabric of his sleeves. his grip, however, is strong, and his temperature very high. he looks awfully pleased with himself over this successful introduction.

with a flash of a grin and tilt to his head, he raises his hands in a very false 'who, me?' kind of manner. ]

I'm not local, you're right. It wasn't exactly a normal wake-up call this morning, was it? [ he says this casually, but clearly molly doesn't look like a local to him either, given what he'd seen of the queen's court. ] And there's all kinds of people here. That part's exciting.

[mollymocked]

[Molly briefly looks surprised by the heat- though his own natural body temperature is just a bit higher than normal to accommodate his fire resistance, that's something else entirely and not normal for a human. Not that he knows much about these things or even cares. It's just noteworthy.

He's back to grinning before long, anyway, like he has no care in the world.]

Honestly, I've been woken up like that before, but never when I was in a proper bed. And usually there's more warning. [He already misses Caleb's alarm spell. He never knew how good he had it until he lost it.] But I am excited about meeting all the weird folks that decided to take up an offer from a noblewoman they don't even know.

[portable]

Guess you know more than a few tricks, then.

[ it's not meant to sound accusatory, simply said with an interested smile as he rests his face back in his palms. he laughs at molly's comment, leaning forward conspiratorially. ]

Right? Even though we're both that kind of weird as well. [ he leans back, stretching his arms behind him. ] I just figured that if a stranger is coming right to me for help, they must really need it. And I like being able to help. Wasn't expecting to be alone, though.

[mollymocked]

You have no idea.

[So many tricks. Tricks for days. Some of them not appropriate for children, the elderly, or the sick. And Molly is happy to be called weird. It just brightens his toothy grin even more.] Did you think she'd get your whole group involved in this?

[Molly assumes everyone with any kind of clout has a group. Lone wolves weird him out. How Keg survived so long on her own is a testament to her skill and her abrasiveness. He knows why he came alone, but he's not stupid enough to assume everyone who answered the call was a dead person.]

[portable]

[ parado thinks for a moment. the whole group? it was pretty unclear whether the cr riders would really be considered a "group", and even if they were, would he technically fit in? snipe (that's taiga, parado, you should use people's names, echoes a familiar voice in his mind) would definitely object to being lumped together with them all, no matter how often they fought together.

eventually he shrugs and shakes his head. that wasn't really the kind of alone he had meant, and describing it would be difficult. ]

No, not a group. There's someone I fight with. We aren't apart very often, so it's kind of lonely without him.

[ absently, he places a hand over his chest. it wasn't the first time they'd been separated, but that didn't mean he was used to it. snapping out of his thoughtfulness, parado sits up and looks down at the cards again. ]

Would you be able to teach me something? A trick, or a game. And tell me a bit about you.

[mollymocked]

[So the other half of the Two of Cups, then. When you're on, Mollymauk, you're on. But cheekily declaring his victories is beyond even him, especially when the topic turns to loneliness. My, but does that have a familiar vibration. At least he knows why he's going to be lonely here.]

Well, when in a situation like this, you take what fate grants you and what fate has granted you is a bunch of people in the same situation. The loneliness can sort itself out from there.

[He lifts the cards and shuffles them again.] You know... I think I can I can do both at the same time, actually. [And don't think about Beau as you explain it, Molly. Don't think about this being the last game you played with her. Just keep smiling.] These cards have numbers on them, and the idea is you put a question on the deck, and whoever draws the lowest card has to answer it truthfully.

[portable]

Fate, huh.

[ as a being of design, parado's faith in fate is limited, intrinsically linked with his concept of “purpose”. he had spent so much time fighting the hand that he'd been dealt, trying to separate himself and his kind from their programmed fates. ]

I don't know about that, but you're right about sorting it out. That's why I'm talking to you. Interesting people are a good place to start.

[ his smile is small, and mostly to himself. parado watches molly shuffle - games of chance weren't his favourite, but good places to start when learning anything. ]

A question, like… [ he looks molly over again quickly, noting the edges of visible scars. ] ‘What’s the best fight you've ever been in?’

i just roll a d20 online or... for real to get these numbers.

[mollymocked]

[Molly whistles.] That's a bold start. We're going with that. [His number is an 18, which is impressive. He might actually win this round, but he'll probably pull a Beau and answer anyway, because it's fun and not awful.] I've got a pretty high number here. You might be describing a fight to me right here, right now.

despite being a tcg player i dont own a d20 so. slaps googles rng

[portable]

It's best to make an impression with something fun, right? The normal, boring stuff can come whenever.

[ he's fine with it, drawing his card and showing the 13 pulled. he runs his finger over the edge of the card, not worried about papercuts. they're old cards, and he's hardy. ]

'Kay, so this might not be the biggest fight I was in, but it was the most fun one. [ he squints down at the card before returning it to the top of the deck and looking up at molly. ] When I first decided to play co-op with Emu, we went to fight this really annoying guy who had been causing us all problems. We hadn't fought on the same side for a long time, but we got it together really easily because we're one and the same.

[ yeah, this part's intentionally confusing. there's a glint in parado's eyes that seems to be baiting more questions. ]

So the guy we fought, Cronus. He could pause everything - control time, basically. Emu had ways to avoid it, though. Even when Cronus froze me, Emu set things up so that when I could move again, I'd be in just the right spot to attack. [ he's trying to draw out vague positioning in the air with his hands. ] I've got an axe as a weapon, so landing a hit with that was fun. And I got to confuse him, had him running around in circles. Together, it was almost too easy.

[ for a moment, parado looks so pleased to be reminiscing about all this, but his face drops into a scowl. ]

But after we won, he pulled some dev kit cheaty crap and reset everything. Some people are really bad losers.

[mollymocked]

[Molly recognizes about... half of those words. He lost him at co-op, and then he sort of figured it out through context, and he doesn't know controlling time from any other spell he's never seen before (there's many of them), so he sort of has to pick and choose what bits of that make sense until he gets to the end, and it basically makes everything nonsensical again.

He scratches behind one pointy ear.] He pulled some what cheaty crap? [This poor Ren Faire scoundrel.] No... Never mind. This... May all be out of my depth a bit, but it sounds impressive. We tended to... Not leave any losers behind, sore or otherwise. [He shuffles his card back into the deck.]

[portable]

Oh, sorry.

[ parado seems to startle for a second, catching himself far too late on all the jargon that had slipped into his explanation. someday he'd love to try and introduce the concept of video games to someone from a world lacking in technology, but now was not the time. plus molly's comment gives him pause, brow furrowing as he processes the meaning. ]

...I used to be the same, a while ago. [ losers get the ending they deserve. ] Didn't really understand it, back then. Now I don't like the idea of taking the lives of humans, or anyone with only one life. [ a vague gesture at his clearly not human (but of unconfirmed mortality, ha) conversation partner. ] But there's some exceptions.

[ like, they definitely killed that mogami guy, but he was absolutely going to murder two whole planets so. no real question there. he clears his throat. ]

I'm extra sad I don't get your fight story, now, though.

[mollymocked]

Some people deserve killin'. [And travelers trying to survive often run into those types on a daily basis. He's a bit curious about the fact that he's not human, and tries not to snort at the idea of him having only one life- pull the other one. He's on life number three.

But all in due time.]

Well. The way this usually goes is someone tells their story and then they get so excited, they tell their own, anyway. I can't say it's as... intriguing? As all that. [Intriguing here being Molly for "confusing as fuck, but still fun."] But it's still a good story. We actually just recently went down into a prison where they'd been keeping this automaton that went crazy, and we decided, as an act of more kindness than anything, to eliminate the problem. That thing could shoot shrapnel and was basically a spinny ball of death, and gods was that a brutal fight, but I ripped the fucking thing's heart out in the end. [He grins. Pauses.] Well. The... closest approximation to a heart it had.

[portable]

[ parado nods kind of solemnly in agreement. it still made something in him twinge uncomfortably, but he could admit that killing was the only option in some cases.

and as for the fight story... his expression brightens with interest, pleased that molly was still willing to divulge. ]

An automaton... so like a robot? [ more to himself than to molly; he isn't sure whether the word would be familiar to him. ] Poor thing. I guess it wasn't made to be a death machine. You must've had a good time, even if it was a really tough battle, huh? I can see it on your face.

[mollymocked]

Oh no, it was definitely made to be a death machine. That was abundantly clear from the way its maker described it. It was just supposed to be a controlled instrument of death that got out of hand.

[He breathes a tiny, nostalgic sigh. That was a good time, weirdly. He has a hard time wanting to fight unless he's well and truly pissed and needs to work out his anger, but once he's in the fight....] Yeah. Well- I like fighting sometimes. I like finishing fights, anyway. Not always invested in starting them.