Forsyth Byleth (F) Andrei Lachesis
Naesala Selena (FE8) Chrom Yarne Hilda
Katarina Ephidel Saizo Isadora Eir
TEAM TAG: #AOtheta2024
CORPSE COUNT: 7 (+5)
PUBLIC OPINION: DIVIDED
Things are unfair, aren't they?
The seventh day ends and the moon rises, but it is not the only thing that does. As the village of Rusalka descends into despair, the nightmares come out in full force. Some of you have encountered them outside of the walls, some of you remember them from a year ago. But despite some level of anticipation, the scuffle over the corpses and the deterioration of Rusalka leaves the village unprepared for the onslaught.
Miasmic slimes, corpse trees, and other nightmares flood the village on all sides, and though the walls, fortified by Lachesis and Andrei, help prevent any casualties, the village of Rusalka sees this as the final straw.
"Everything started going bad once those people came in…!" one villager asserts.
Another cries out, "They're the reason! If they hadn't come, we… we would've still been whole!"
Perth — or was it Celephais, your brain thinks intrusively — the town leader is called to action. He decrees that those that have done nothing good, those of the highest suspicion, are to be cast out for the sake of Rusalka's defense. They see you as the enemy, and the villagers evaluate everything your group has done this past week— who deserves to stay and who cannot.
For Naesala, Yarne, Ephidel, Forsyth, Saizo, Lachesis, and Chrom, people are more reluctant to vouch for them. They are kicked out of Rusalka and now deemed the 'Outsiders.' As for the rest, Eir, Katarina, Andrei, Isadora, Selena, Hilda, and Byleth find that they still have supporters and are allowed to remain within the family that Rusalka has cultivated, and they are dubbed the 'Insiders.'
But your circumstances are not the only ones who have changed. The people of Rusalka are not the same since your arrival. Their village, just as Keranes has sought to do, is beginning to dismantle…
The group is no longer treated as one big unit and is physically apart. All Public Opinion can no longer be changed, your individual actions from last week having been accounted into deciding where you have been separated for this week. You are unable to interact with muses of the other grouping category for the duration of this week, though you are allowed to continue and close off threads with those muses started during Week 1.
For the Outsiders, you find that once the sun rises, Saizo disappears into the light. You must wait until night falls, but when you do, he returns and so does Keranes, though the former isn't quite what he used to be…
Keranes explains that due to the group's efforts, Celephais's power has grown weaker, causing Rusalka's false paradise to become unstable. Additionally, all the corpses that made it outside of the walls are now returned, no longer sedated by Celephais's magic. You find Python, Brigid, Emmeryn, Panne, Kris, Ryoma, and Hel as floating spectral figures.
They have returned as Vengeful Spirits, and Keranes states that they have bonded themselves to their most important person here. Forsyth and Python, Chrom and Emmeryn, Yarne and Panne, and Saizo and Ryoma are now companions in the night. Since Lachesis was able to bring Diarmuid's corpse with her, this is also true of the two of them as well. However, due to the deceased being vengeful spirits, this classifies them as nightmares, and they are unable to be present in the daylight, however they make strong allies for the big fight on the horizon.
Saizo appears to operate similarly to the Vengeful Spirits. He shall find that he feels himself changed, consumed by the darkness and the ruin that stains his hands after the events of the previous week. He too is also only able to exist in the night time, but he has gained new, eldritch power for the cost of being weak to the light.
Keranes states that everybody can be returned to as they are meant to be, that they can return to reality, once she finishes dismantling Rusalka and the false promise of happiness and co-dependence that Celephais has inflicted upon them all here. She will need time to amass her army of nightmares, but she plans to strike once she is ready. She states it shall likely be in three days (every two IRL days equal one in-universe day for this week) from now. She recommends you ready yourselves too.
But as the dawn rises, you realize that without being allowed into Rusalka anymore, you shall have to find shelter and fend for yourself for the next three days… however difficult that may be.
Unable to leave this tear, unable to enter the safety of Rusalka, it is you against the world… literally.
For the Insiders, you are granted the safety of being within the walls of Rusalka. Being on edge due to the recent deaths as well as the attack from the nightmares, the once peaceful villagers are beginning to arm themselves and train, and they are taking to fortifying their walls too. However, though you no longer need to worry about food or shelter or overt distrust, the protectiveness of Rusalka's people begins to come out in full force.
Now, every day, the villagers come to check in on you and the buddy system is fully enforced. You are unable to act without being in at least a group of three. You feel that the village never truly sleeps, it only being a matter of time before you run into someone else or someone bursts into your shared sleeping accomodations just to make sure you are still alive. Your clothes have been replaced with their own hemp tunics, and at every corner, you hear a villager encourage you to assimilate.
You are no longer allowed to leave the walls for any reason whatsoever. You are not permitted your freedom and the things the villagers say begin to feel more and more unnatural, their smiles more and more menacing and forced. Even looking at any of them sends a chill down your spine.
The people begin to speak ill of the Outsiders, preparing for the day they are to defeat them and restore peace to this happy home… But your allies are on the other side of the wall. Will you be forced to cross blades against them one day?
If you must live, will you live in the safety of Celephais' arms, or shall you return to the life you once knew, even if it means embracing danger?
Though the objectives and circumstances for each group are now different, the one thing both groups have in common is the Ruin mechanic.
On the team document, you shall find that every single player character now has a Ruin counter in addition to their HP counter at the top. This is specific to each player character. Anytime they perform a risky action of some kind (as outlined in GM-given prompts), they will roll a d6.
Roll Results (Generally):
1-3 : You fail, and things get worse.
4-5 : You succeed, but there's some kind of complication.
If you are unhappy with your roll, you may add a dark die. Reroll with ul2d6 now. (If you are rolling with Avrae instead of Dice Maiden, then roll the two dice separately.) The first die is your light die and the second die is your dark die. If the dark die is a higher number than your light die, add 1 Ruin to your character tracker. Your new result for the task will be the higher number, whichever color it is. If you are still unsatisfied, you are free to keep adding as many dark die as you want, one new dark die per attempt, (e.g. your third attempt would be one light die and two dark dice, so ul 3d6) and you will keep potentially stacking Ruin as the cost. In a tie between a light die and a dark die, the dark die is automatically considered the higher number.
Other characters may choose to help any action (to mitigate its effects) so long as a dark die is involved with the original party. The supporting character will roll a 1d6, but if their number matches any number on a dark die, then they will be spent as collateral damage in some way. Be careful.
If you at any point in time reach 7 Ruin, your character disintegrates in the sunlight and is reborn again as a nightmare come nightfall.
Your group is primarily focused on survival.
You will need some kind of shelter to live through the next few days. Once shelter is built, it is permanent and will cover the needs of all muses in this group. Roll 1D6 per post to cut down trees to help build it.
ㅤㅤ- 1-3 : Your muse ends up injuring themselves and collect no wood. They take -1HP worth of damage.
ㅤㅤ- 4-5 : Your muse successfully collects +1 Wood, but they still lightly injure themselves. They take -0.5HP worth of damage.
ㅤㅤ- 6 : Your muse successfully collects +2 Wood with no complications.
ㅤㅤ- Axe rank of C or higher grants a +1 modifier to all rolls for this prompt.
Once your group has some wood, you can start actually building the house. To finish building the shelter, the group will need to expend 10 wood. Roll a 1D6 per post to help build it.
ㅤ- 1-3 : Your muse injures themselves in the process of trying to get things built. They take -0.5HP worth of damage.
ㅤ- 4-5 : Your muse expends -1 Wood but tires themselves out. They are unable to roll to make progress in their next post.
ㅤ- 6 : Your muse expends -2 Wood and makes good progress on building the shelter.
ㅤ- Heavy Armor rank of C or higher grants a +1 modifier to all rolls for this prompt.
You will also need some food. Fortunately, all the extra food above your goal last week was brought with your group and not remaining with the Insiders. This means you start off with 12 lbs of vegetables, 5lbs of mushrooms/nuts/berries, five eggs, and three bottles of milk. Together, this will be treated as 25lbs of food for the sake of our mechanics. You require 2lbs of food per muse each day to not starve/take damage.
If you choose to hunt or fish, you will find it easier to get enough sustenance per catch. Roll a 1D6 per post.
ㅤ- Lance rank and/or Bow rank of C or higher grants a +1 modifier to all rolls for this prompt.
ㅤ- 1-3 : Your muse is unable to catch anything and instead injures themselves. They take -1HP worth of damage.
ㅤ- 4-5 : Your muse catches what is equivalent to +2lbs of food but struggled to do so, injuring themselves lightly in the process. They take -0.5HP worth of damage.
ㅤㅤ- 6 : Your muse successfully catches what is equivalent to +4lbs of food!
If you choose to forage for berries and mushrooms, roll a 1D6 per post to try and find them.
ㅤ- Those that did the Forage prompt during Week 1 are granted a +1 modifier to all rolls for this prompt.
ㅤ- 1-3 : Your muse finds only poison.
ㅤ- 4-5 : Your muse struggles but manages to find +1lb of edible food.
ㅤ- 6 : Your muse successfully finds +2lbs of edible food.
Battle will be coming, and you might need some healing. Your group was able to steal all the healing items you made last week, resulting in a total of 2 Vulneraries and 2 Concoctions to your name, but if you want more, then you'll need to find more herbs and flowers with which to make them. Currently, your group has no herbs and flowers to work with. Roll a 1D6 per post to try and find them.
ㅤ- Those that did the Forage prompt during Week 1 are granted a +1 modifier to all rolls for this prompt.
ㅤ- 1-3 : Your muse finds nothing and just wastes time.
ㅤ- 4-5 : Your muse finds +2 workable herb/flower but come into contact with something poisonous. Roll 1d6. If 1, you are inflicted with the Minor Poison status at the start of Week 3. If your muse gets this result again, your Minor Poison stacks into Toxic Poison status.
ㅤ- 6 : Your muse finds +2 workable herbs/flowers with no negative consequences.
Once your group has some herbs/flowers, you can begin to make healing items.
ㅤ- A single healing item requires you to expend 2 Herbs/Flowers.
ㅤ- Faith rank of C or higher increases effectiveness; creates Concoctions instead of Vulneraries
ㅤ- Apothecary Class Mastery increases speed to one creation every 3 posts instead of 5.
Any day your muse is lacking either food or shelter, you will take -1HP. If your muse has been turned into a Nightmare, they no longer have these needs and will not take damage from failing to meet them.
The Search (The Insiders)
Your group is primarily focused on making a choice. You do not have to worry about needs. Any and all actions your muses take in paralogues are up to you as long as they fit the narrative lack of freedom up above, but you all shall also be given an optional IC minigame. Results of this minigame directly affect mechanics of Week 3.
For everyone, regardless of participation in the minigame or not, consider your muse's answer to the question: "Do you wish to return to the Outside or do you wish to protect Rusalka?" Your muse must have an answer to this question by the end of the IRL / OOC week. Ping Mod N with your muse's answer.
For those who choose to participate in the minigame, your muses shall be investigating the alleys of Rusalka. You have the freedom to split into teams or do it all together; a minigame team can be anywhere from 2-7 members. A segment of the team document will be dedicated to logging all rolls and occurrences of this minigame.
You all shall be placed on the map at the same starting point: the blue tile. All muses in a thread will move together as a party, but you all take turns (based on whoever is posting next in the thread) rolling for movement.
ㅤ- Armored units roll a 1D4.
ㅤ- Infantry units roll a 1D5.
ㅤ- Cavalry and Flying units roll a 1D6.
ㅤ- If a unit has Movement+, they gain a +1 modifier to all movement rolls.
ㅤ- If a unit has a Knight Ring in their inventory, they can roll the remaining amount of movement after their first roll. E.G., a paladin muse rolls a 4 on a 1D6. They can perform their action for that turn, and then afterwards, they can roll a 1D2. If they had rolled a 3, they would have been able to roll an additional 1D3.
Every time you land on a tile with a number on it for the first time, roll a 1D6 to search.
ㅤ- 1-2 : Your muse is discovered by a villager of Rusalka and must find a way to escape. If you forfeit your chance to escape and choose to instead wait them out, roll a 1D6. If a 1 or 2, the villager eventually leaves and you can try to search again next turn in this room. Otherwise, your party must roll another 1D6 for the next post. This continues for an infinite amount of posts until your party rolls a 1.
ㅤ- 3-4 : Your muse successfully chooses a time where a villager is not in sight, but you find nothing.
ㅤ- 5-6 : Your muse finds the remains of a dead Newcomer. Roll between all remaining deceased Newcomers to determine which one it is: the stowed away ashes of Reyson, the corpse of Holst, the corpse of Nergal, or the corpse of Harken.
ㅤ- If the unit has a bonus to perception rolls, they gain a +1 modifier to all search rolls.
If your muse ever comes across a tile with this type of symbol on it, a square with a horizontal or vertical line going across its center, it is a locked door/gate (your choice for narrative flavor). You must spend a turn attempting to pick/break the lock. Roll a 1D6 to attempt this.
ㅤㅤ- 1-3: Your muse is unable to pick/break the lock. Roll a 1D6. If a 1 or 2, your muse is discovered by a villager of Rusalka and must find a way to escape. If you forfeit your chance to escape and choose to instead wait them out, roll another 1D6. If a 1 or 2, the villager eventually leaves and you can try to search again next turn in this room. Otherwise, your party must roll another 1D6 for the next post. This continues for an infinite amount of posts until your party rolls a 1.
ㅤㅤ- 4-5: Your muse successfully breaks the lock, but it is loud. Roll a 1D6. If a 1 or 2, your muse goes through the 'Discovered by a villager of Rusalka' scenario above.
ㅤㅤ- 6: Your muse successfully picks the lock without being noticed. Your party may progress without problems on the next post.
ㅤㅤ- If a unit with Lockpick, they gain a +3 to all lockpicking rolls.
If your muse wishes to escape when discovered, you must make a risk roll.
ㅤㅤ- 1-3 : You fail and the villager attacks you. You lose -0.5HP and the party must attempt an escape roll again for the next post.
ㅤㅤ- 4-5: You fail to get away at first but when the villager attacks you, you avoid taking damage and instead successfully knock them out in retaliation, but you accumulate +1 Ruin for doing this.
ㅤㅤ- 6 : You succeed and get away from them.
ㅤㅤ- For every point of speed a unit has, they gain a +1 modifier to this roll, caps at +6.
When you find a corpse, the corpse is added to your party's inventory.
Muses are unable to take two or more consecutive turns. They must have another party member go directly after them before they can act again. Each post on the dashboard should be equivalent to one turn in the minigame.
When all corpses have been found, ping Mod N. Another event shall occur when this condition is satisfied.
This event is mostly meant to be driven by the players rather than being ushered by your GM at every turn. Please take note that while the tasks above will contribute to the narrative of the campaign, you are not limited to only threading about the tasks above. You are free to write threads unrelated to the tasks if you so wish, so long as they take place within the setting of the event.
In addition to the above, if writing a task thread, please indicate it either in the title post of your thread or in your starter so that it is clear from the start.
Also, task threads are not limited to only featuring writing directly about the task at hand. You are encouraged to write character exploration and conversations outside of the scope of just the task as your characters carry them out. Please feel free to have your muses discuss the plot or anything else currently on their mind. See these tasks as a way to get characters together physically in one space, but the narrative freedom you are allowed is still just the same as most other threads too.
There is currently no time limit rule for when posts need to be written, but please remain in open communication with your thread partners/teammates. Shorter posts are encouraged to help keep things moving and for relationships to progress along with the narrative.
“Good” or “Bad” outcomes will still progress the campaign, so don’t feel too stressed about needing to “win” this event. The primary focus on this event should be character development and building relationships with your teammates. Actions have consequences, but all consequences can have narrative potential for exploration.
Here is the link to Team Theta’s team document if you require it. This is already pinned in your team channel. Whilst it will be updated in certain areas by your GM, players should do their best to update the thread tracker on it with link to thread replies and any notes they might wish to jot down whether for their own sake or for helping their teammates stay in the loop.
If you have any questions at any time or require additional information, ping Mod N.
