#summary tag

Thanks for the tag @writingonesdreams

Tagging back: @strosmkai-rum @spacetimewraithwrites @wildswrites @tetrodotoxincs @odysseywritings @ayzrules @morganwriteblr @my-writblr @bexminx @writingingraves @dreamwishing @aalinaaaaaa @wardenoftheabyss @pleaseloathemyveryexistence @jaguarthecat @catharticallysarcastic @bread-of-death @bluegreystarstuff

Rules: Use the template below to create a logline of your WIP

Template: While struggling with their everyday life, Character finds the catalyst; BUT when the stakes rise they must learn the theme before the consequences ruin their life. How does your story fit?

WIP The Skinwalker

While on holiday in Florida, British cop Kathy Scott is witness to an unusual murder by a serial killer named the Skinwalker. But when the Skinwalker takes a personal interest in her, Kathy must overcome her fear of the supernatural and work with both the local PD and a rag-tag bunch of cryptid hunters before the Skinwalker can kill her too.

WIP Iganzinyoka

While learning about Hedge-Witchery in the New Forest, UK, Kathy Scott receives a panicked call from American Cryptid-hunter Luke Granger: his partner, Alex Moore has gone missing in Chicago. But when it looks like all of Chicago could be at risk from the Iganzinyoka, can Kathy use her new-found powers to save the city?

WIP Tales of the Starbound: The Merchant's Tale

ALEXANDER LIGHTWOOD (  by inthequiver! )

JACE HERONDALE (  by inthequiver! ) 

SEBASTIAN SMYTHE (  by inthequiver! )

From @elsie-writes over a-here

Rules: Answer the questions, one word for each!

I be tagging @rowanmgrey-author @aziz-reads and @starbuds-and-rosedust (mostly because I think you'll all get a kick out of it =P) also leaving it OPEN

We're using Mar, the world of Weald and Wen, for this because I think it'll be funnier.

Does this world resemble earth?

Nope

What is a defining characteristic of this world?

Fuchsia

What creatures roam this world?

Monsters

Is there a magic that is used?

Yes

What languages are spoken?

Many

What is special to this world?

Breath

What makes it fantastical?

Egg

Is Earth mentioned in this world?

Nope

What clothing do creatures here wear?

Varies

Describe the aesthetic

Colorful

Is it similar to another fantasy world?

Unknown

Give us a brief description of the history

Depressing

What is the government system? Is there one?

Kleptocracy

How about describing some of the diversity?

Critters

What is (the) ideal of this world? (this one is confusing)

Survival

What is a distinct inequality in this world?

Magic

Is the world a background or woven into the plot?

Woven

What is the coolest thing about this world?

Monsters

What inspired this world?

Dreams

What would you give to go there?

Nothing

Why would you want to go there?

Wouldn't

->blank and taglist under cut<-

Visiting an old friend

The party strikes out in the direction of the Rift, heading toward our old stomping ground of Gorun’s Well. While Malcador stays outside and powerhoses Jeremy down to keep him cool (“I am not waterboarding the elk!”), we pay our pal Ingrid a visit at the Iron Woman. Ingrid says she hasn’t seen the King or heard of anything out of the ordinary since we left, but suggests we might have better luck if we were to head to the watchtower closer to the Rift.

Since it’s a day’s ride away, we contract a man called Ashby (Tove: “Ashbae!”) to guide us to the watchtower. However, several party members have a bit of a tiff over their respective haggling styles (“I don’t think we should not pay this man for his services, I think we should intimidate him with religion!”). We wind up haggling him down to 8gp for the day’s trip, and set off.

Into the desert

Quillius spins Ashby a lie that we are going to the Rift to find good sand for glass. Ashby enthuses about glass, and wishes he could afford some. Tove takes pity on him and gives him an extra 2gp to buy himself some glass when he gets back.

But alas, it is not to be. Ashby fails a crucial Perception check and is swallowed up by dust-diggers churning up through the sand. He is Glitterdusted by Quillius in the pit, before being chewed up on the next turn (Finn: “Ashbye!”). To make up for it, Quillius then sets the digger on fire with a red-hot blistering analysis of its deepest, darkest fears; Gallais Webs it into a sticky mess and Octavia runs her lance through it.

Not a moment later, the other dust-digger explodes out of the sand under Quillius, Gallais, and JB. Although JB and Gazza manage to crawl out, Quillius is grabbed, and no amount of Grease can get the digger’s tentacles off him (Jenny: “Greased halfling! / Ooh, greased halfling!”).

Gallais disrupts Octavia’s rescue charge by turning the digger cute (for an ostensible penalty to hit dice and most stats), but does too good a job and prevents us from damaging it long enough that Quillius is swallowed (and takes 12 damage from vore). He very emphatically does not enjoy it.

After un-cute-ing the digger, Octavia explodes it as well and we keep going.

The Rift watch

The guards in the watchtower tell us that the cavern containing the Rift has disappeared, and is now surrounded by a group of human-looking footprints that appear irregularly.

As we investigate the rock face where the Rift cavern mouth used to be, a behir appears, hiding ineffectually behind some rocks. Quillius sweet-talks it into showing us where the cavern is concealed; although Malcador sees the boulder in the way, the rest of us don’t.

An Infernal Dragon screeching overhead frightens us into shoving the boulder aside and going farther into the cavern. Inside, we see a Rift of pure black splayed across the far wall, surrounded by a dozen+ surly humanoids including bearded devils, harpies, and hellfire knights.

Escape!

Rather than push our luck, we backtrack out of the cavern and try to high-tail it out of there before the Infernal Dragon gets us. Gallais summons the perfect number of horses for our horseless companions, but it isn’t long before the dragon pulls up alongside us and demands we account for ourselves.

New kids on the block

Octavia blubbers and embraces Lady. The monkey-woman does a backflip off of Lady, and Octavia, torn between admiration and indignation, punches her while also yelling “THAT WAS A SICK FLIP!”

Introductions are made. The monkey-woman, Tove, finds Octavia deeply attractive (and Gallais deeply not). JB and the halfling bard Quillius bond over writing; Gallais doubts the human Abigail’s ‘dragon’-fang walking stick, and the tiefling inquisitor Malcador (AKA the Iomedae man from the trial) grumbles at Gallais because he had the Bad Decisions Book. The kitsune gunslinger watches everything with interest.

Trial by fire

Behind us, the palace is still on fire, surrounded by casualties with burns and slashing wounds. We try to put out the blaze, but its hellfire nature defies normal water, so we are forced to wait until it starts to peter out. A man limps conveniently out of the inferno and mutters that King Percival has been kidnapped by something with black wings – which we quickly conclude to be Azura.

Thúndur detects that there is still life on the other side of the palace, so we rush around in a frenzy of first aid and information-gathering. Everyone confirms that something with black wings took the king, and that it said something about taking him to Nalgoz (the continent to the west) or to the Rift.

Tove’s mount Jeremy, a majestic elk, appears. Octavia is appropriately astounded, and Lady cavorts around him like a puppy trying to convince an older dog to play.

Emergency meeting

Pyria, an elf enforcer from the Harpy’s Tit guild, also appears and asks the two parties if they are adventurers. Pyria has been sent for by Lord Branson (of Richard) to join an emergency meeting of adventurers to try and retrieve the king, so they invite us along as well.

Alex: [something about “the cock in the machine”]

At the meeting, Lord Branson lays out what is known: King Percival has been taken somewhere inaccessible to magical scrying, and he must be rescued as soon as possible. There is an 80,000 gold reward per rescuer for his safe return. To sweeten the deal, there are writs on offer which declare the holders to be on official crown business, and request any assistance that might be needed.

Preliminary evidence

Thúndur and Octavia awaken in a dark room. Octavia overhears someone saying, “The temple of Iomedae has been attacked. A note implies we are to blame: must’ve been a setup by our primary target, the figure responsible for injustice in this city.”

Octavia and Thúndur are quickly captured. The guards taking them to court gossip amongst themselves about the burns in Casian’s wounds, and a black feather found on the ground near his body.

The note near Casian read “Justice Comes To All”, a phrase associated with the Hands of Justice – a criminal organisation who were responsible for killing the rich merchant Thúndur couldn’t save.

Order! Order!

In the courthouse, Octavia and Thúndur are put on the stand alongside a blood-encrusted and very shaken-looking JB. Gallais is in the audience, but he Messages the others not to draw attention to him. Octavia is dismayed to see no sign of Lady.

None other than Zane is also in attendance, sitting pretty in a box reserved for the highest lords of the city. Octavia elbows Thúndur and says, “Look, it’s your boyfriend!” Thúndur tries to deny it, but Octavia scoffs that she has seven older sisters, so she knows boyfriends.

When questioned, Octavia and Thúndur argue that (a) they were not part of the Hands of Justice, and (b) the Hands of Justice were set up (based on the conversation that Octavia overheard). A guard confirms in the logbook that the party attempted to foil the assassination, and so are unlikely to be pro-Hands of Justice.

The evil among us

The feather from the crime scene is brought out, and Gallais Messages those on the stand to say that it is a feather from a corrupted angel.

A man in the audience who obviously worships Iomedae casts Detect Evil and is immediately knocked out. Gallais rolls his eyes. Thúndur remarks on what this might mean, and Octavia yells that a great evil must be in the room; the crowd panics, but Zane, the guards, and the lords don’t look at all surprised.

Gallais tries to cough-cast Message and must confront the logistics of it (“What if you accidentally cast Massage instead?”)

Licky Steve, the forensics technician, confirms that JB is covered mostly in his own blood, but also in some other unidentifiable blood that wasn’t Casian’s.

The Iomedae man has woken up by now and offers to clear things up by communing with Iomedae. He reports back that JB did not kill Casian, and that the killer is in fact in the nobles’ box.

This sends the crowd spiralling into an even deeper panic, so the party suggests that all the rubberneckers be ushered out of the room. Gallais and Thúndur detect powerful magical items on the two nobles, Zane, and Gallais himself, but questioning them leads nowhere.

The hour of judgement

Gallais finally decides to pull out all the stops. He summons an azata to ferret out the untruthful, but it is promptly killed by a metamagically silenced Phantasmal Killer. Never one to be out-spelled by another magic-user, Gallais defiantly summons another one, but it too fares poorly.

Someone suggests consulting the Bad Decisions Book for advice, since it contains all knowledge. To the visible horror of the Iomedae man, Gallais pulls it out and begins to read it. The book reveals that the real Zane never left the Rift; he is imprisoned in hell, and what we have here is an imposter of terrifying power.

‘Zane’ reveals his true form as Azura, the black-winged fallen angel, and strikes paralysing fear into the hearts of the party and everyone else in the room. Before disappearing, Azura leaves us this warning: “Another threat is coming from the West. I will restore order once I return.”