westwhere | the tithe

the tithe

The Arc III finale stretches until 2 June — and it’s erupt to no good.

THE TITHE

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THIS HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE

The Ke-Waicai believers prepare for human sacrifice rites to prevent the eruption of the Ke-Sanwon volcano. They will lead tributes to the volcanic crater, which is lidded by the grounds of a decrepit haunted temple — known as the House of Ravens.

At the heart of the temple is a trodden dais that comprises four slowly receding plates. Numerous temple columns and deteriorating walls offer overnight hiding places, but beware the flinching statues and irritable large ravens. Meat, blood or shiny offerings can distract the birds.

■ Use the three previously gained keys to infiltrate the House of Ravens at night through forest pathways revealed by the Huntress.

■ Entrants to the House of Ravens are fully or partially depowered. Their ancestral curse is immediately lifted. Their strength is pulled into the Ke-Sanwon crater, which brims with raw magical power.

■ Hide on temple grounds until dawns, when the dais plates fully open to reveal a 10-metre entryway into the volcanic crater.

■ Overnight, characters are relentlessly tempted by mirages that only they witness: the eerie voice of a loved one might coax them to commit their greatest sin, or they could repeatedly relive memories that led them to such follies.

■ Characters guilty of drunkenness and gluttony feel deathly parched, starved and drawn to a lavish spread that is constantly far out — and ends up comprising raw corn and stale water, when they finally reach it. The lustful find their companions irresistible, or trail after a delectable beauty, who dissolves when touched. The wrathful mull violence, while the envious suspect their companions possess what they most desire. The proud are contemptuously incited to prove their superiority or independence, while the slothful give in to callous indifference towards their peers.

■ The stone statues that decorate the House of Ravens retaliate once visitors succumb to their sins: smaller sculptures throw stones or throttle nearby sinners, but only move when you do not look into their eyes. Larger 4m-tall statues exit the walls and give (slow) chase, retreating after 10-15 minutes. The statues stop attacking at dawns.

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LET THERE BE BLOOD

CONTENT WARNING: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF NPC PAIN, TRANSFORMATION

By dawns, the believers of Ke-Waicai have rallied their tributes — each crowned with wreaths of branches and crops — before the open dais. Roughly two hundred villagers attend the rites, along with eight powerful priests who use elemental magic.

■ A first sacrifice walks a long narrow plank that starts from the dais and goes a few metres into the mouth of the volcano. The plank shivers under from heat, but withstands weight.

■ During 15 minutes of exposure, the volcanic magic enshrouds the sacrifice, who painfully transforms into one of the animalistic tar creatures housed in the labyrinths of Ke-Sanwon.

■ Magically sensitive characters can feel this tribute now hosts volcanic magic, and that Ke-Sanwon’s power has slightly diminished.

■ The rites are interrupted by the significantly weaker, but wrathful Beastmaster, whose xenomorphic creatures attack the temple and seek his missing son

■ Characters should free the remaining tributes during the skirmish. They can be as nerfed as you need (if at all) during the rest of their stay in the House of Ravens.

■ The dais must stay open to access the volcano. You can take control of it and of the House by defeating the magically endowed priests, (literally) shouldering the head priest’s ancient white raven and holding its leash.

■ Pass the raven around and defend the bird’s current holder! Whoever carries the raven is often targeted by the village mob and the Beastmaster’s creatures.

■ The clashes last a few hours, until the Beastmaster and villagers exhaust their forces.

■ Diego Hargreeves, Xie Lian, Wrathion, Daenerys and Jon Snow apprehend the Beastmaster, slaying him, when he refuses to relinquish the Brotherhood. Decide who lands the killing blow. His last words: ”You’ve… seen this place. My animals… our dead… have more compassion than these living.”

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FIRE AND BRIMSTONE?

The volume of magical energy and tormented spirits inside the volcano weighs heavily on the fracturing dark water mirror that has prevented Ke-Sanwon’s eruption so far. It’s going to blow, unless you:

■ Throw more dark water in to fix the mirror fissure. You can get dark water from volcanic cracks, dried wells and creepy crop fields.

■ Use ice / cold magic and ol’ science to cool down the volcano and help the mirror heal. Or lend Moiraine and Magnus a hand as they work with cold magic, and protect them while they cast.

■ Help Wrath and Wei Wuxian exorcise the volcano’s ancient spirits. Many have lost consciousness, reduced to memory fragments and feelings of wrath, pain and resent.

■ Guide villagers to bring sea water. Anduin (on top of the dragon Wrathion) and the harpy Eda are flying in supplies. Viktor is coaxing shipments from his werewolf friends of Ke-Waiar. Large phoenixes are also up for grabs for deliveries. Ensure couriers can safely arrive and quickly discharge their water.

■ Several characters are set to each absorb some of the magical power contained within the volcano, developing aftereffects. They must walk the wobbly plank and stay exposed to the volcano magic for under 15 minutes to avoid transformation: the longer they linger, the more power they take in, feeling as if they are burning from within. Exit quickly and rest copiously after. Those who spend over 10 minutes exposed suffer intense fevers and require immediate medical assistance to cool down.

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WILL SOMEONE THINK OF THE CIVILIANS?

Beyond the House of Ravens, assist villagers who want to safeguard their possessions or evacuate by sea.

■ The gradual spread of Ke-Sanwon’s magic infects some villagers with temporary animal traits. These effects dissipate within three-four hours.

■ Characters who remain in the villages may feel more irritable and resentful, overcome by the feelings of the volcanic spirits.

■ Coordinate water and supply deliveries with those at the House of Ravens.

■ The Hok-Shinn are divided in their response: some resort to daylight robbery to secure the funds for their own safe departure; citing security, the men of Sairen unsympathetically rally commoners into designated parts of the village, often splitting apart families that then need help finding relatives; alone, Weisi’s followers keep the peace, but are frequently overwhelmed by waves of panicked villagers, thugs and animal hybrids.

■ The magical spillage overwhelms the forest fox spirits, leaving some enraged and prone to attack. Others assume the shape of beautiful wo/men and ask escort into Ke-Waihu for shelter, without disclosing their fox natures. These ethereal strangers betray their origins with cold smiles, glimpses of fleetingly sharp teeth, a fondness for chicken, and… is that an extra set of ears? No harm befalls those who bring a fox into the village, though s/he may insist on now being your lawful spouse.

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THE AFTERMATH

With the clashes and Ke-Sanwon subdued, the villagers of Ke-Waicai request back their temple keys and white raven. They lead the party to the beacon of the House of Ravens — the beautifully carved and now-closed dais above the volcano.

■ Party companion Hatisse confirms the beacon can be revived within days.

■ She warns that an eruption was prevented by depleting the volcanic magic now, but that the threat could recur within five to 10 years.

■ All character curses (ancestral or individual) are lifted, and powers return completely.

■ Spend some downtime in the villages. Ke-Waicai offers the most luxurious, but frosty accommodations, while the werewolves of Ke-Waiar are tired, but thrilled hosts. Those who suffer from lycanthropy are now experiencing fewer and fewer ‘nocturnal episodes.’

■ In Ke-Waihu, villagers have now calmed and are grateful for help with reaping the fresh harvest and watering their crops, as well flows revive. Every other night, Hok-Shinn Weisi organises a bonfire with village musicians, hearty dances, fresh bread and ale. Villagers seek to marry off their… alluring spawn to their saviours.

■ Within days, Hatisse summons the party to the activated beacon: a pool of white energy, in which one must slowly descend. Characters who were dropped or AC swept in May enter the beacon first and are presumed returned to their home worlds. Characters set for a canon update follow in — but are spat back by the portal and return within minutes.

■ Inevitably, the remaining volatile magic of the volcano disrupts the beacon and ruins the dais. Happily for you, the Merchant will soon get in touch with your next ticket east.

QUESTIONS

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[ honestly, Wangji, perhaps you are the problem here, because no ghoul in their right mind would look at those tendrils and assume eroticism from it. It's the same as a knife and would cause as much - if not more - damage if used in any "sexy" way. naturally those unfamiliar with them might think otherwise but that's because they have not felt the pain they can cause.

These tendrils - the kagune - are weapons and they can be deadly if approached without awareness of it. While Kaneki is not using them in a lethal manner, the red tendrils are covered in shar scales, all of which work like small blades if that's what kaneki desires - but because he doesn't want to actually kill the human priests, that is only reserved to the beasts that attack them. ]

That is the least of my worries. [ kaneki does not care for the raven's mood, only to keep it alive.

And that small distraction earns a blast of magic right at kaneki's face who grunts in pain and whose tendrils quickly react in order to wrap around their own, as if wanting to protect him - to give him time to heal. because kaneki does heal, inhumanly fast as well.

he is glad he ate bodies in the forest like a pig, otherwise this would be difficult. It already is slightly difficult, considering his powers are not at their full strength ] It's a distraction- [ that raven will end up killing them ]

( The raven, hereby the infinitely smarter occupant of every temple it walks into, seems to grasp that roiling tentacles in the midst of chaos and an oversized man in mourning whites doing an exceedingly poor job of calming it, do not, in fact, a reassuring rescue make. It croaks, baths its wings, snaps at nearby tendrils when they wave within what the bird seems to characterise as threatening distance —

And grows instantly, blissfully silent when Lan Wangji — who nominally raised a son, but never pacified a toddler — decides the solution to all of his life's problems is the burlap sack shed by a temple wanderer, spattered in blood he does not investigate and boasting only six to eighteen thumb-sized holes. This sartorial miracle, spun over his hand, is dutifully deposited over the raven's head to cover the bird in its protesting whole —

And does, apparently, a remarkable job of. Putting the raven. To... bed?

If not for the magic that cascades down on them, Lan Wangji might take a moment to celebrate his ingenuity — instead, there's the blast bound for Kaneki, the electric pulse of magic that shivers their surroundings, and it's what little Lan Wangji can do to summon the shrapnel of a circular ward through a half-powered array and bide them a few heartbeats of protection. )

Injured? ( Retreat is a tenuous prospect, with a bird ferried between them, but if Kaneki is to be Lan Wangji's shield and sword, the boy (and his tentacles) must be allowed to dictate their pace. )

[ at least Wangji knows what to do with it, and as long he keeps it away from Kaneki, the ghoul will make sure the Raven - and the person currently holding it - won't be harmed.

Even if that means he will get magic to his face. The quick protection will give Kaneki the moments he needs to try regaining clarity from the pain; he responds little to it, but his body still complains and refuses to work properly for a moment. Kaneki's face burns and the blood drips from the wound, but he shakes his head ]

It's fine! [ it doesn't matter, he will heal in a moment. The red tendrils move and their scales flare up, sharp and deadly, if only Kaneki used them for such. The kagune rushes forward to hit the Priest currently attacking the duo, but instead of maiming or killing, they hit the man's legs; that will break bone, but not stop the man from eventually throw magic at the red tendrils until one eventually disappears from being unable to fight back the magic properly. ]

Fuck-- go! I will hold them off. [ Wangji needs to continue moving that Raven around. Staying in the same place is dangerous and more Priests will come to them until they are surrounded, and that can't happen ]

( Scattered without strategy, they would waste what little advantage Kaneki's — convoluted shielding affords them. Think, then. Think.

The lay of the land unknown, uncertain. Shifting, when volcanic tremors breathe new shivers, when earth cracks, when soot and boiled waters heat and slip their feet. The roiling anger of spirits, baying like hunting hounds, deafens them in the horizon.

And the bird. The bird, who, somehow, despite its cover, still succeeds to repeatedly wing-slap Wangji. Sacrificing Kaneki as the line of defence a moment longer, he spares a few moments to scrutinise the territory, deciding, with a hastened nod — )

The downed columns.

( And unspoken, meet him there, mind his back.

The hard run, after — what little remains of Lan Wangji's qi delegated less to amplify his speed than, simply, to sharpen him. To keep him wide-eyed despite the rubble and smoke, astute enough to side-step the next overgrown lion-snake hybrid, to break through a vicious crowd thereafter, and keep the faith throughout that Kaneki will follow and fend his back.

He is breathless by the time he reaches the point of rendez-vous, burn lining his lungs. Silent, and somehow unfollowed, only the peace of the downed columns to keep him company, and he turns to await Kaneki in relative safety, bereft of searching eyes —

Until the raven croaks as if it were stabbed a thousand times in the same dark heart, and Lan Wangji stares on, wishing he'd at least bloodied the bird, for his trouble. )

[ It's a whole confusing mess; with the volcano about to erupt, cultists trying to kill their sacrifices, angry magical priests trying to stop the group from doing a good deed, eventually joined by Beastmaker... this all just got much worse and confusing. The Raven is, at best, just another thing to make this whole situation much more chaotic. Thus thinking is difficult, making a plan is too.

(Cursing is easier).

Kaneki did not plan on following Wangji. While the man would not be aware of such, Kaneki is not sound of mind and many of the mental issues that plague him involve self-sacrifice and heroic suicide; neither of them are good in a situation where Kaneki can actually die because it means the boy is ready to go too far. The only thing that keeps him from doing so is the fear that his body will be used to raise an army - which is possible, given what is happening in his own world - or raise him from the dead while his body becomes a slave to some undead master. And that is the only reason why kaneki eventually accepts that he must fall back and not die there.

After far longer than it should be, Kaneki eventually appears near the columns as agreed, bleeding more than the last time Wangji met him and no tendrils following him. He is too tired and drained to keep them out and does need a breather. The damp on his abilities is certainly annoying.

When he arrives, his attention is on the bird, though ]

is it still struggling?

Bereft freedom. ( He murmurs, and lets the pale truth of the bird's sullen indignation sleep long between them. The raven convulses in sharp, gutting screeches, as if Lan Wangji has forged the key to unwind its intestines and splay them before a vicious sun for a witch's reading.

No such incentive, now. Only the callous, migraine-stoked hunger to satisfy the bird's aches and see its wailing done. First, with a tentative hand, Lan Wangji peels free the burlap sack, already heavily injured by the bird's beak — stark day's light seems to briefly lull the creature. It blinks, beady and mean and foul, and forgives Lan Wangji his brief distraction, when drip and drip and drip, Kaneki materialises as a noteworthy presence beside him.

Oh. Oh, but Kaneki is a red-doused thing, reduced within himself. Young, for the first time Lan Wangji cares to remember. Younger than monsters show their faces. )

You have wounded. ( Himself, another. There is enough of a father's warmth left to cradle Lan Wangji's black heart that the whisper comes soft. )

[ that bird that does not shut up. kaneki ought to find a gag for it so it will finally quiet down. But currently the younger boy needs to rest and thus ignoring the bird for now is the best thing he ought to do.

With a tired sigh, Kaneki leans against the fallen column and allows his body to fall down towards the ground for now. He will rise up again soon, he simply needs a moment to rest and lick his wounds. ]

They live. [ he explains while eyes close. Kaneki does not feel the softness since he does not believe he'd deserve any (yet again, it's indeed related to his complicated traumatized mind); he assumes the other whispers so they are not heard, thus Kaneki whispers in return ] I do not kill humans. [ if Wangji believes him or not, it won't matter in the end. Their past encounters were strained due to Kaneki eating an undead in front of the man - which he still does not regret all things considered - and thus he doesn't expect that to change any time soon. ]

Do you have water? [ eyes open again. Stupidly, kaneki dropped his own during the commotion, and the heat from the volcano only makes everything worse ]

( He does not kill humans.

And what is humanity? That which breathes, whose heart yet pulses? He suspects the circumstances of his grotesque hunger may have pushed Kaneki to confuse the limits of that definition, countless times before.

Can Lan Wangji blame him? Can he fault the bird, who screeches for want of understanding, whose leash he tugs, absently, in hopes that the motion will distract
it? It settles, quietly, when he offers a finger — when the raven nips with curious, unexpected kindness, as if there is enough care in it to sate its instincts, and spare Wangji hurt. As if it knows the measure of its strength. )

I... ( Earlier, he remembers: Wei Ying, thirsting, mouth feverish, aggrieved of yearning that would not cave. How it ached him, and yet he carried on, consumed to bone. ) Apologies.

( It strikes him, all at once, that he is to blame, between the three of them. Before him is only a child. As a father — and his son so very near, and dear, and whole — he should provide to children. Faintly, dragging his thumb from the raven's keep, he offers: )

Only blood. ( ...for a child who eats bodies, shouldn't that do? )

[ kaneki has a very easy and simple definition of human: human born, alive. He can not afford to see anything else as such, otherwise it won't be possible for him to live with himself.

When Wangji apologizes, Kaneki looks back at the man, a bit confused. He isn't sure why his atitude has changed, considering all other meetings between them have been terrible at best, and now he is strangely... apologetic. It's strange.

Kaneki would overthink it if he weren't too tired.

Instead he just looks extremely confused back at Wangji when he offers... blood??? ] What? [ what. ] No. No, no- [ kaneki shakes his head ] I'm not going to drink your blood. [ or eat him in any way, shape of form ] Blood wouldn't hydrate me. [ actual water does ]

... Thank you, though. It's strange you are offering such a thing. [ seeing how mad he was about Kaneki eating an undead human ]

You partook of —

( But indignation has seldom solved ignorance, and there is much of Kaneki's... affliction that Lan Wangji admires with distant, tenacious horror. To shriek at a boy for declining Wangji's blood is no more reasonable than the blood-curdling wails of the raven, when it wakes itself. )

Apologies. ( Once more — empty, frail courtesy like first snow's fall. Then, carefully: ) For deficits.

( ...and whatever personal failings have conspired to ensure that Lan Wangji does not even suffice to give his blood as sustenance. Truly, a sign when a cannibal refuses your life's fuel as currency. When he seems... ill at ease to consider the proposal.

Flesh of the dead suits him handsomely, but a cultivator's blood does not meet mark. Ah, but the strange sting of it. )

Your... shape, restored. Before... an armour? ( A hidden mutation, revealing itself when Kaneki enters combat? Only, it never materialised when he previously hunted down the dead who shared their boat. Perhaps, then, an accidental, instinctive and grotesque... growth summoned when Kaneki's life force is depleted? )

[ he apologizes again. Kaneki watches the man with some confusion still, but too much tiredness to make a deal out of it.

He understands Wangji does not understand a ghoul's nature - but Kaneki himself draws strange lines that he does not cross, while clearly stomping on others that should be at the same level. His own sense of morality is skewed even if the ghoul himself sees it all very clear and without blurring any of it.

His eyes turn to the raven when the man asks about the red tendrils he saw ] "Kagune". It means Red Child. [ it is red, but naturally not a child in any sense ] It's a predatory organ, it remains within the body until it's needed. [ it's hard to explain and Kaneki wouldn't be able to lay out the science behind it ] Kagunes work like an armour I suppose, but mostly are used as a hidden claw and sword. [ full of violence, but incredibly sturdy ]

... I didn't mean that your blood is bad. But I don't think I'd be able to control myself if I tasted it. [ he would want more, that's what kaneki means ]

Unnecessary.

( So spoken, so waved, crisp like morning air. Bright. No need to burden a child with the task of salvaging Lan Wangji's wounded pride from bleed-out to coaxed scab. The boy battles... the grievances of his biology, however unnatural, however — contorted.

To look at him now, the signs of his monstrosity have deftly orphaned him, and he looks, to Lan Wangji's trained eye — insufficient. As a warrior, build such as it is, he would be entrusted perhaps a bow, a dagger, an anaemic sword. Nothing to cleave or pummel down, no instrument born of heft, blade or stone.

And yet — he is strangely, eerily, grotesquely capable. )

You were made to kill. ( He tries the words with a clean tongue, the bitter-most speculation. It suits him. Every circumstance Lan Wangji has known Kaneki to occupy. The hour. A nimble correction after, like sand poured between fingertips: ) To consume. Correct?

[ Kaneki's wounds have finally begun to close. He is inhuman, and even his healing speed is so as well - any normal day he'd have healed faster, but with magic and dampened powers, he still needs to wait until his body fully recovers.

He glances back at Wangji, pondering how much he should share. But since the man is actually speaking to him instead of spitting flourished accusations, he decides to concede ]

Ghouls predate on humans. Their bodies are meant to do exactly that. [ the Red Child, the inhuman strength, the speeded healing, everything is exactly for that. ] But they can also consume each other.

Before I arrived here, that is what I did: I ate others ghouls. [ there is a lot of reasons why. But the ultimate reason is that kaneki decided to become judge, jury and executioner towards ghouls he deemed "bad" and thus he ate them all. ] In this place, there are none like me. Thus I have to rely on humans, so I eat the dead. [ not the living, as he said before. ]

I understand to some that is still sinful, but I can not afford to see the dead and undead as creatures to care for. [ otherwise, kaneki will not be able to live with himself. he already doesn't live with himself for all the things he has done, but he can't add more to it or he will break. ] I do apologize for what you had to see, though.

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the tithe

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in which wangji completely misunderstands how zombae eaters work

he is trying his best!

tmw you're not even good enough to be a snacc

it's kind of the opposite!!

sounds suspish

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