October Intro Event: When It Rains, It Pours

[solravehmods]

The day when an influx of new soldiers appear in the castle never quite goes the way it should, does it? In a twist that many of the older occupants have feared the return of, with uneasy thoughts directed towards March, newcomers and various castle occupants alike just seem to...disappear.

It’s a turn of events that gives everyone a bit of a sinking feeling- which, as it turns out, is more significant in some cases than others.



For our Volunteers:

Beneath the various walkways and bridges that make up an area known only as the Drawbridges, little pieces of history hang forlornly over the side of the castle. Seven cages hang from chains that disappear into the stone above, circular in appearance with thick metal bars surrounding the sides, and wooden planks making up the roof and floor. Neither is doing much to stop the wind and rain from rushing through, and if things aren’t uncomfortable already, they will be very soon.

Because that sinking feeling from earlier appears to be rather literal. Although slowly, each cage is lowering- straight towards the unsettled sea below. If left unhindered, it’s quite possible those cages are all going for a little dip- which, for all intents and purposes, includes those lucky enough to occupy them.

So that’s the good news!

In worse news, those who attempt to get themselves out of the cages through force, technology, or magical means will find that it’s not going to be quite that simple. Any attacks or escape attempts, be they physical or magical in nature, will rebound against the insides of the cage; characters will have far more luck hurting themselves or others than they will getting out on their own.

Alongside the difficulty of being in the cages themselves, characters will find that they aren’t quite alone. The Queen is happy to ensure that no one feels even the slightest bit lonely, and ambushes from the shadows can happen at irregular intervals.

Characters’ only hopes, in this case, are to communicate, take note of the area around them, take note of the inside of their cage, and set the groundwork on the outside, before they’re left hanging just a little too long.

Details of who will be in which cage, and what information may be available to them, will be in the intro log.






For everyone else:

Locating those missing is only going to be the first part of your troubles. For the ones left behind, there’s plenty to do, in a very small time frame.

The Cages is an area that can be seen from the Drawbridges, with access given through the Sluices, recently cleared by a small party of characters in September. Navigating down to the location of the cages will lead characters into areas where the castle meets natural rock formations, and the area will be rife with shadow activity.

Upon arriving to the scene, characters will need to work together to stop the cages. By the beginning of the 2nd, all cages will be touching the water below-- and by midday, it will be far too late. Discussing this issue with those in the cages may help identify both the best way to stop them, as well as the best way to draw them all back up.

Each cage has an individual lock, which requires a key to open it. Details of the key’s locations will be within the cages themselves, and more information on how volunteered characters can decipher that information will be available in the intro log itself; once deciphered, however, it will be up to you to collect the keys in time--

After all, with the beginning of october 3rd; the nearby Eastern Reflector will be infested with Dementors and the Main Gate overrun with exasperating Derge.

Time is absolutely of the essence, as any characters still in the cages at this time may as well just be sitting ducks.

 

Comments

Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[solravehmods]

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[justribbing]

I suspect all teleportation-like abilities are nullified in the cages (Sans's shortcuts, Wade's bodysliding, etc.), but reaffirming here for posterity! But this probably goes for movement-related powers that might try to have an effect on the cages themselves, like flying or matter manipulation (or gravity manipulation) attempting to float the cages above the water or swing the cages into a wall or other cages, etc.?

Basically, anything that would trivialize/bypass the need to decrypt the messages leading to the keys won't work, right?

OH ONE MORE: Can Sans summon Gaster Blasters to shoot bright energy beams at Shadows attacking other cages?

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[solravehmods]

Get dunked on Snas (and Wade too) but yes, you're assuming correct. All teleportation abilities, magical or otherwise, will be disabled for this event; other abilities such as flying or matter manipulation would also count.

Essentially, yes. Anything that detriments the need for the keys won't work in opening them.

MEGALOVANIA INTENSIFIES: bada ba ba, ba ba buh bababa

(that's a yes.)

[egotrigger]

Will the characters in the cages have their weapons taken from them automatically?

[solravehmods]

They will not, unless you feel that you'd prefer them not to have them. Keep in mind that any weapons will not be capable of affecting the cages themselves.

[daughterofursa]

Will attacks/magic not used to try escaping still work? As in, can they fight the shadows with it or roast marshmallows or whatever?

[solravehmods]

Magic will still work in regards to attacking the shadows!

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[shirtlesspersona]

So what happens if someone outsidethe cage tries using magic on it? Like if Zaveid uses a pull spell to try keeping the cages up.

[solravehmods]

He'll find his strength sapping exceptionally quickly; there's other forces at work dragging those cages down outside of simple chains and gravity. In other cases, his attempts may have the opposite affect, and the cage will start dropping faster.

[egotrigger]

Relatedly, what if someone tries to freeze the water under the cages so they don't get in the water?

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[seaduke]

do the protections against tampering continue once the cage is in the water.

curious seaserpents wish to know. Also if the chain is climbable from the outside.

[solravehmods]

Unfortunately for curious sea serpents, the protections do stay in place when in water.

The cages themselves, as per the photo, do have about six feet worth of spiked metal surrounding the base of the cage. The rest of the chain is climbable, but people may have much greater difficulty when it comes to climbing back up.

[confligo]

So the people inside can't use teleportation but what about those outside? Would they be able to teleport to the narrow ring/ledge around the outside of the cages to speak with the people that are stuck?

YOU SAW NOTHING

[solravehmods]

They would have the ability to do so, yes!

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[incendiarize]

So weapons are up to us, more or less, does the same go for Pokemon?

...Also, on a less dumb-question note, if a cage gets low enough to be partially submerged, would Shadows attack from underwater?

[solravehmods]

That's correct. If it's a weapon or pokemon a character was likely to have on them at the time of being taken, then it may still be on them in the cages.

Shadows will also attack from underwater, should the cages become partially submerged.

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[freedom_engineer]

I'm going to assume that picking the locks won't work, but I'm questioning it anyway, just in case. :D

For another question though. Colin's planning a system of pulleys and grapnels to get supplies to people in the cages, among other things. Will anything, other than the storm, interfere with those reaching their intended recipients?

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[freedom_engineer]

And a subsequent question!

Will the gears lowering the cages into the water have the same defenses as the cages themselves? Can said gears be jammed, if they're located?

[solravehmods]

Sorry for missing both of these, J!

For the first questions; no, lock picking won't work. It does need to be the key obtained through the location specified upon each puzzle's completion.

Other than the storm, so long as none of the pulleys could be used in a manner that causes damage to the cages, there will be no problems setting them up, outside of the weather permitting it. Zaveid and Dove are also moving about the cages to disperse the supplies, as flying peeps do.

The gears do not have the same defenses, and can be jammed and even rewound, with force.

[freedom_engineer]

I figured the lockpicking wouldn't work, but it's always worth checking. (Colin also probably wouldn't even try. Too difficult of conditions to do it safely.)

The pulley system is probably the big thing Colin's working on to hoist people out of the cages, assuming nobody comes up with better plans. Between flyers and ropes, that should be doable.

And yay for the gears! (Though hopefully if they figure that out, it will be at a time where there's peril in place for everyone who wanted a near-drowning experience.)

[blackblooded]

Just to give a heads up, Crona is jamming the gears with black blood here.

Re: Questions, Queries and Concerns!

[blackblooded]

I... should have checked this before writing a tag but I am assuming physical attacks on cages from the outside would be rebounded on the attacker. Is that accurate?