westwhere | 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It should seem more suspicious that he happened to stumble onto someone with experience keeping dimensions from spilling into each other. The idea could easily send him into a spiral of how that could be theoretically possible, but only in ways that are surely not how Magnus did it, because nobody follows any sensible logic around here.

"Oh, I have a few." In over a year he has more than that, but all of them are constantly evolving from what appeared to be a much more straightforward problem when he first arrived.

"This isn't the first time me or my siblings were thrown off course." As he's mentioned. At least it wasn't his powers at fault, but he's still the one that picked up the briefcase that brought them here. "I could get into quantum physics if you're curious how that could happen. Or you could assume there's something more powerful than you pulling the strings."

"I assumed the second already. The more concerning part is whether or not it's a hostile entity or does really only intend to borrow us for a little while to solve some problems."

Hopefully, the latter because Magnus really does want to go home and actually get married. The universe seems to be constantly conspiring against his happiness, so it would be nice to have one thing go well in his life, and he doubts he's the only one. He also probably would have been more than happy to help (for a fee), if he had been given an actual choice in the matter.

"Of course, you could also talk quantum physics at me if that would soothe your nerves and distress. I'll just be here getting drunk and nodding until I figure out how to use the beacon."

Even just plugging into it and using it as a magical battery would go a long way in being able to transport himself and everyone back home, but he also needs to figure out a way to do it safely. While he has centuries ahead of him to work out that problem, everyone else is more beholden to the sands of time, so the sooner they get started investigating, the better.

Five's expression sours at the very suggestion that he needs to spout logical theories to feel better about himself. Or that he's distressed at all. More than anything he's frustrated that they don't speak a common language when it comes to jumping. He's yet to find anyone who could decipher his math, and trying to interpret magic into something he can actually use has been an endless headache.

He's still scowling when he takes another drink, bothered the more he sits with it. The bottle is nearly empty now and he regrets not taking more on his way over.

"Is your plan to stare at it until you have an epiphany?" Five squints at him for a while, but doesn't leave just yet. "There's only one person who seems to know how to use it. She was resurrected recently, so she might have been around when they were built. Of course, if she's sabotaging them, we have no way to tell."

An empty bottle is an easier problem to solve. Magnus snaps his fingers to refill it for Five –to refill his own, too, though he's lost count on how many refills he's already had. The more the merrier?

"You're telling me this now? You could have led with that."

Otherwise, his plan was indeed probably to stare at it until a light bulb goes off... which also might take centuries.

"Who is she? And is she a native of this world? Where can I find her? Feel free to jump in at any point with all the answers."

Even just a name would be a start, as Magnus would probably have better luck getting a full explanation from the source.

The snap gets Five's attention immediately. Then he almost drops the bottle in his hand when it refills itself and he nearly misses everything Magnus says. His mouth parts in question, looking unfortunately like a dumbstruck kid who can manipulate time and space but apparently marvels at party tricks. When Magnus zeroes in on what he probably should have asked first, Five is still distracted, and he takes a tentative drink before he answers.

It doesn't taste any different.

"...Hatisse." Did he not hear this already? She's been following their group for so long that he assumed everyone knew her. "She's a witch we picked up in the last city, after they resurrected her to help with the beacon and she swore herself to one of us. One of us who was pulled back here shortly after he used the beacon she was controlling, so I don't know that I'd trust her motives to get us home."

That doesn't sum up all of his thoughts about Hatisse, but he largely doesn't believe the beacons are failing as much as she wants to keep them here. Or a certain demon in particular.

He frowns and lifts the bottle, because it's going to bother him if he doesn't ask. "How did you do that?"

Magnus is also a little dumbfounded that Five, who's traveled through time before, is baffled by simple conjury. It's not even one of his more sophisticated spells, as evidenced by the fact that he was able to perform it while still feeling largely drained, drunk, and sleepy.

"Alcohol is simple to create. I imagine it was the first trick the oldest warlocks learned."

How else does one deal with existing for centuries without a little help? And one never knows when they'll need an emergency refill to their cup.

"Consider it my thanks for the information, although I'm starting to think I'm not in the best state to play around with the beacon any further."

Meaning he should really lie down and actually get some proper rest rather than searching for a witch at the moment. His curiosity can wait a bit longer, he supposes.

The answer he gets isn't at all satisfying. His expression says as much, but that was to be expected. If drinking hadn't made him overly talkative, he would have saved his breath. There's a difference between conjuring something from nothing, and only making it appear that way. But as usual, magic works because it's magic. If he wants to know how he's going to have to figure it out himself.

"Yeah. You're welcome." He raises the bottle again before taking another large swig. Granted, the ability to make alcohol appear isn't the most practical one he would have picked, but it really would have cut down on how many times he's had to swipe some while no one is looking.

Something he wouldn't have to do if he hadn't screwed himself so badly. After admitting that, he won't be surprised if he doesn't take his warning about Hatisse.

He sniffs and gets to his feet, slightly off-kilter, but he finds his balance after a step. Looking back at the beacon, he gives it one more frown. All this just for the privilege of using something he never trusted to begin with. The alternative might mean listening more to people like Magnus and see if they can't find some common language. He's doubtful, but anything's possible.

"If I don't see you again, I'll assume you figured it out."

"Trust me, if I figure it out, you'll be the first to know."

And even if Magnus is eager to get out of this world, he wouldn't escape and leave all these poor people behind. Even if he only opens a channel to 2019 New York City rather than to everyone's individual worlds, that's got to be better than rotting in a place without internet and cell phones. They can think of it as an impromptu vacation.

...Okay, he's getting ahead of himself. He really needs to nap before he starts plotting for a future that may never ever happen.

With a quick wave to Five, he finally staggers off to get some rest.

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