tdm 03

[thestewards]

Oh we were comin' around You threw me back down
You had my trust in your hands You gave it up again

► All TDM threads may be considered canon provided both parties agree and are accepted into the game.

► Canon threads may be redeemed for influence and reputation depending on how you solve the issue at hand or how you engage with the prompt. They also count toward AC.

► Feel free to switch up your character's Jewel from thread to thread. Get a feel for how a Birthright Jewel may limit or enhance your character's abilities.

VIGILANDEN JUSTICE
Newcomers may have heard: just two weeks ago, the Blood attempted to sabotage the power plant just outside the city. For a brief time, the city plunged into darkness and during that time, Councilwoman Vera was shot and killed in the Old Town Bazaar by a young landen man. A small flower now grows where she died. No matter how many times it’s torn up, it grows back.

Following these events, the Strangers overwhelmingly chose to aid the power plant that keeps the lights on. With the perception that the Strangers are on their side, young landen men and women have grown bold. In the night, they creep into River East, where the Blood live.

Some of these gangs of landens do little more than paint Guild symbols on the walls of Blood homes: a hexagon with circles at each joint for the Guilds as a whole, the Tinker's hammer, the needle and jewel of the Crafters, the double-arrow of the Hunter Guild. They cover walls with incendiary words—words like bleeder and bastard.

Others are not so kind. They bring portable muters with them and break into homes. They steal both precious and mundane possessions, frighten children, and terrify parents. They go to the single altar in Draega and smash the treasures of the Blood’s faith, knocking over candles and lighting tapestries that honor the Darkness on fire.

Have you friends in Draega already? Perhaps you met someone at breakfast at the Queen’s Residence, and now as you walk the streets together, you come across one of these landen gangs. The news is full of reports about what they’re doing. Now, it seems, the choice is yours. Do you stop them or join them? The Queen has asked you to help broker peace between the landens and the Blood, but she’s also given you the worst freedom of all: that of choice. Perhaps you think it best to support these gangs in their desire to even the odds against the Blood.


WARM FRONT
The explosion at the power plant caused a surge of power that damaged elektriline heaters in homes across Draega, leaving many in the cold. The Queen, seeing her people in need, immediately dispatched her court to provide heating spells for these homes. She also asked the Strangers, both those still living at her residence and those living throughout the city, to lend their aid, too.

Members of the First Circle provide a quick lesson on how to cast warming spells. These can be wrapped around people or attached to items, such as small stones or large ovens. Depending on how much power is infused into the spell, it can last for an hour or two or upwards of a few days (especially when cast by a darker Jewel).

Many in the First Circle insist on going to the homes in River East—the Blood homes, places where they are more likely to be welcomed. Some certainly choose this because being around the landens makes them nervous and uneasy, but some outright refuse to help the landens, especially those who live in River North where the Guilds do their business. Prince Barret and Lords Jared and Yarl in particular won’t go to the landen parts of town, leaving you and your partner to canvas Old Town, River North, and perhaps even the slums to see if anyone would like your help.

Certainly, this will not be easy, and the Queen has promised a silver mark for each household you and your partner help.


POISONED GNATURE
Warmer weather claws its way across the land, lifting the temperatures above freezing for the first time in months. While much of the city reacts with relief, and the air in the Bazaar improves in spite of the violence and tension that hovers over the city like a black cloud, the farmers outside the city walls are dealing with their own troubles: cold-resistant mosquitoes carrying disease from the frigid mountains of Askavi.

Stagnant water fills troughs and furrows in the earth, becoming a toxic breeding ground for more of these awful pests. The mosquitoes have little interest in humans, but they’re hungry for animal blood. Most animals bitten by the mosquitoes die within a day, their meat rendered inedible.

Food is already scarce and stores run thin. If more animals die, people won’t just be a little hungry or disappointed in the tasteless porridge many are serving as a hold over until summer, they will starve.

The landen Guilds provide a thick, smelly paste that can be spread over the animals, and the Queen requests the Strangers aide the farmers. She, too, can be found working among the stables with Prince Verim or Prince Allairavar at her side, doing her part to ensure the city remains fed.


AIR TIME
Whether you catch the news on a Far-caster in the city or you're spinning the dial on your own device, you'll hear…

etiquette with evandra and aren
[Evandra's voice is a little bit rough and a little bit husky, the kind of voice that gives bad ideas to young men and headaches to fathers.] …understanding that some people— [She’s being polite about it, but she definitely means the Strangers.] —don’t know how to address a Queen!

[Aren’s voice is chipper and bright. He sounds more like an eager boy than the full-grown man he is.] Quite right, Evandra. For Blood females, remembering titles is easy. Every witch you meet should be addressed as Lady.

[Evandra sounds a little surprised.] Even though male castes have different titles of address, a witch is always called Lady?

[Aren:] That she is! A working Healer or Priestess should be addressed by their caste, but if you’re just being polite in casual conversation, calling her “Lady” is enough!

[Evandra:] As they say: whether warm or rainy, when you meet on the street, you address her as Lady.

the weather
[A soft-spoken man’s voice rumbles out of the Far-caster. He’s pleasant to listen to, with a soothing cadence to his voice.] …rains coming out of Askavi over the next week. Farmers are advised to cover their plants. When outside in the rain, Blood should shield and landens should wear heavy cloaks to protect their skin. Worried about lesions from the rains? The Medicos have a new salve that…

the news
[The man speaks at a brisk pace, hurried and harried as though he has too much to say and not enough time to say it.] …appointing someone new to the Ebon Council?

[Another man, nasally in tone. He doesn’t sound rushed so much as put upon.] It’s hard to say, Garret. With the Strangers in the city, it’s likely that Lord Grejor is waiting to see if any are willing to bring the young assassin to justice.

[Garret:] The landen who killed Councilwoman Vera is a member of the Crafter Guild and is currently being held by the Queen. There have been reports that the Queen means to implement some new process for judging offenses by the end of the week…

Comments

[haveyouseenmyhat]

That’s what I thought you meant, but then you said you think the locals would get upset if people were killed, so I—

[ rather than finishing the sentence, he just kind of frowns. maybe he misunderstood. maybe French people were all really weird. ]

[sournois]

[ Definitely they're weird. It's ok, Arno doesn't expect much from an American either (rude.) ]

Ah, I see then. Well, I would gladly kill the men causing the ruckus here, but given that we are brokering peace, it would send a very poor message.

[garmr]

The corner of his mouth quirks through the whole speech, but he doesn't object. He knew better than to tell her that getting all angry about it wasn't going to fix the cold. Especially to someone who seemed like they had the impenetrable trifecta of stubborn, naive, and personally invested.

"Nah. Not by herself."

Kids will do plenty of stupid things for approval, but he doubts the little girl would try anything on her own unless she was put up to it out of desperation. She couldn't be blamed for that. What concerned him more were some of the looks they were getting from one or two individuals he'd spotted in the crowd. Whether they were connected was something he was still trying to assess.

Evie gets a nudge from his iron hand, attempting to get her to glance in the same direction he did. Maybe she could spot the one or two suspicious characters that had been studying them.

"- Bloodthirsty eyes," he says, offering that as his only hint before he keeps moving forward.

[haveyouseenmyhat]

You're probably right.

[ it's a shame, but they'll just have to knock them out, HE GUESSES. ]

[garmr]

“We’re just lucky these bugs stick to animals,” he adds, sounding a bit more relaxed once she had moved the focus of conversation off him. As long as too many personal questions weren’t thrown his way, he didn’t seem to raise his hackles much.

Guts was the type to return the courtesy, at least. He’s happy to sit in silence over probing into her past, even if she was a noble. Old habit, mostly. Mercenaries almost never brought up each other’s history - made it easier to avoid drudging up old feelings on the job.

[theladyofwinterfell]

"Yes, yes we are. I've never liked outdoor work. My sister, Arya? She's happiest wielding a sword or riding a horse or mucking around in mud. I've always been too prim for those sorts of things."

Perhaps she should have done a little more of it, seeing as how her life's led her to need to fight a little, but those things are in the past.

katniss everdeen | the hunger games | summer sky

[burn_with_us]

i. vigilanden justice

( In spite of wearing one of their Jewels, Katniss feels very little sympathy for the Blood. They seem too much like the Capitol to her, sneering down their noses at the landens who don't have magic. When she hears about landens vandalizing the city and joining up in gangs to terrorize the Blood by night, it reminds her of how the rebellion started in 8 and how everyone fought to keep it going. She's in favor of it.

Still, she's living in the Queen's residence right now and she wears one of their Jewels, so she's not really sure how to indicate to the landen guilds that she's on their side and not on the side of the Blood. Katniss sneaks out at night and manages to catch the landens vandalizing a Blood-owned shop, writing "bleeder" along the storefront. They panic when she shows up but she holds up a hand. )

I'm with you. I'm a Stranger, not Blood. I wouldn't even wear this thing if it didn't make my aim better and my reflexes faster. I'm not doing any Craft or magic with it, that's for sure.

( Someone approaches from behind her and Katniss whips around. She could really get used to the fact that her hearing is a little advanced by this Jewel. She wears it in a little pin. It's not her Mockingjay pin but it serves well enough for now. )

Are you with us or against us?

ii. poisoned gnature

( Katniss is more comfortable with animals than people sometimes. She's a hunter, yes, but part of being a hunter is understanding your prey and what spooks them. She doesn't have any experience with horses other than the ones that pull the chariots at the opening ceremonies but these horses are a lot more skittish than those; she guesses the Capitol's horses have to be immune to pyrotechnics and dramatics. She has a partner with her, someone she recognizes vaguely from breakfast, and she starts slathering the paste on the foreleg of the horse closest to them. )

Mosquitoes that cause poison? Sounds like what we call mutts back home. Nice little tricks from our government. I was hoping we wouldn't have stuff like that here.

air time: etiquette

( Katniss scoffs a little at the idea of protocol and using titles. She didn't want to do it back in Panem and it really chafes here. She didn't like the idea of calling her peers "Soldier" in 13 and it rankled every single time she had to address Snow by his title of President. She's heard people call her Lady, taking her for Blood, and she's corrected them every single time. She's not here for that. Calling people Healer and Priestess is a little different. There's no religion in Panem but she thinks Prim might have liked to be called Healer. )

What about people who have these titles and don't earn them? I'm not calling anyone Lady or Lord or Prince if they're not worthy of it, no matter who they are or what family they were born to. There's a lot of crooked people who demand respect and there's a lot of good people who don't get the respect they deserve. It's like that where I come from and I have a hard time believing it doesn't happen here, too.

[thequitecontrary]

Mary's still trying to learn such nuances herself. Deciding not to kill anyone was a good idea on Bucky's part though. In general, Mary would like to hope that the Strangers are not adding to the violence that is plaguing this land.

"So I see," she replies. Her eyes linger on the metal arm for a second longer before looking away, because it's not polite to stare, even if she's never seen any prosthetic function in the way that this one does. "Are you human?" Mary shakes her head. "Forgive me. That is a rude question. It's only that some people here are not human."

And he displays extra-human abilities.

[thequitecontrary]

[ She is indeed the type of soft-handed lady that he's thinking of. If he is more rough and tumble, she's not going to look down on him for it. All of them here are Strangers and she's already learned that they have to work together. ]

Of course. I quite like horses and I haven't had a chance to spend any quality time with any of them here yet.

[ The mare is a pretty chestnut brown and Mary pats her nose before running her fingers through her mane. ]

[sinistral]

To say that this magic, this Craft, is strange certainly is an understatement more than anything else. It's weird to feel the pull against that well of power, to feel the way Sansa shapes the spell with both of their energies. And how he can feel how deep that well goes; it's vaguely uncomfortable, the thought of it, the sheer potential of it.

At least the spell catches. Of course it would, he had no reason to doubt; he can feel that too, how it hooks into the furniture. The landen couple should be in no danger of freezing now, and they should be able to help more people today as well.

"We can make note and check back at the end of the day. That will give us plenty of time to see if the spell is still holding."

[sinistral]

Bucky starts walking again, but with a slower pace and shorter stride than his usual, out of deference for the differences in their height.

"I'm human." He glances at her again, out of the corner of his eye. Not many people would have apologized for such a question; at least, not many that he's met. It's curious. "Mostly human. I think you can guess which part of me isn't."

It's a poor attempt at a joke maybe, but there's no hiding his arm, at least not until (and unless) he chooses to look into new clothing. But that's certainly not an immediate concern and as such he's put it aside.

[4hearts]

This part of town reminded her more and more of the Isle the further they ventured inside. Childhood memories swam close to the surface, but she pushed them away, focusing more on her current situation. The skills she'd developed growing up more or less on the streets were going to serve her better here than the skills she'd learned since going to Auradon. Her eyes darted back and forth, even as she kept her stride casual.

Chillin' like a villain, as she'd told Ben.

Evie felt the nudge, and lifted her hand. Flipping one's hair made it so much easier to look in a certain direction without it being noticeable. Guts' words sit cold in her stomach. She parted her lips as she tossed her head back, pushing blue hair away from her temple and tucking it behind her ear. Through her lashes, she saw a person who fit Guts' description.

"Man with the dark hair and coarse brown shirt," she said, pitching her voice low so it wouldn't carry. "Looks like he's trying to pace us, but not quite."

She scanned the area around them. The crowd was thinner up ahead, though based on their posture, that wasn't a good thing. More space to fight, if it came to that. She straightened her posture and put a hand on her hip, lifting her chin as they continued down the road. This situation wouldn't be solved doing things the AK way.

"How do you feel about walking into an ambush?" she asked, light tone at odds with her nerves.

[theladyofwinterfell]

"Yes, I think that's a good idea. It might be dark by then but with you as an escort, I think I'll be safe enough."

Sansa feels like very few people would dare to attack her with Bucky at her side. She's grateful he offered to come with her to this side of Draega, because she'd wanted to help these people as best she could.

"Perhaps we could go have a bit of tea before going to the next house?"

same, I'm really glad I can throw her at your Bucky again!

[arrogator]

Training? Yeah, okay. That's an answer, she guesses. But not one she's willing to accept. After all, everybody she's met usually has some sort of training, by some legendary so and so or there's some sort of epic story involved. Kind of annoying actually, everybody's a big deal and she or her Master (usually her Master) has to keep track of exactly how much of a big deal or why or fighting them turns into a complete shitshow (okay, it might even with keeping track of it, but trying to remember things is at least an attempt at mitigating that).

“Yeah, but what kind?”

She's nosy about this. Never mind that she was super secretive before becoming a Servant. That's not important when she sees some sort of cool way of fighting somebody. Or stopping a fight, that's cool too.

[sinistral]

It's a strange notion, that. The idea of keeping someone safe. It's almost never been his primary objective. Certainly it's something he can do though, and looking at Sansa he believes that she could be considered attractive. That, unfortunately, also makes her a target, jewel or no jewel. "I won't allow any harm to come to you."

Hopefully just his physical presence will be enough to dissuade any hopefuls, but he's not afraid of having to knock a few heads together either.

Still, checking back does extend their day and not everyone has the stamina and endurance of a super soldier, so a break can certainly happen. He nods as they start to move toward the door, where the couple thanks them for their help. "In a local establishment, perhaps. If we can find one serving." It has a double meaning of course: an establishment that's open, and an establishment that will serve them. But such a place might also offer opportunity to listen to local chatter, and that is most certainly to their advantage.

it might not be too healthy for the town given their tendency for property damage... #sorrynotsorry

[sinistral]

Just his luck to attract the attention of a persistent person, isn't it? Then again given the circumstances, he'd rather that the persistence come from a questioning onlooker than from the group of attackers. They haven't bothered trying to slink back since they'd run off, and if the price is having to deal with some questions, well, there are certainly worse things.

Right?

"Why do you want to know?" He knows it's not natural, what he can do. He knows that there are very few people who could come close — though he's not sure that still applies in this place. Even so, she seems very eager to know, and he's not sure that he's entirely comfortable with it.

[garmr]

[Guts was never really much of a socialite, but he happened to remember this voice enough to make eye contact when he sees her pass by. This whole thought-sharing/technology thing was gonna take some real brainpower to get used to all at once.]

You in my head or is this part of the box?

[garmr]

-and you got the element of surprise.

[not that he was talking from experience, or anything.]

[sournois]

[ Just two dudes chatting about murder. Arno smiles. This guy gets it. ]

Let's take care of these then, shall we?

[theladyofwinterfell]

What they find is a landen public house, not a Blood one, and it has a much different crowd than the ones back in River East that Sansa has been to before. This one seems to serve men and women who have gotten back from work in the fields (or those who used to work in the power plant) and it reminds her, in some ways, of the smallfolk in Wintertown.

Sansa isn't shy about ordering a pot of tea for herself and biscuits to go with but she hasn't any idea what Bucky might want. She tips her head back toward him to ask. "Bucky? What would you want? To share my tea or to have something with a bit more bite to it?"

[garmr]

"Total opposites, huh? Don’t imagine you two got along much."

That managed to get a quirk of amusement out of the corners of his mouth. Not quite a smile, but it was a little break from his long-suffering frown. He's surprised to hear any Lord or Count allowing that kind of thing from their daughter. Then again, a girl with a rebellious streak probably didn’t care much about what her parents thought.

"If you don't like to get dirty, you may want to step back some. Don't think the horse is gonna like gettin' this stuff on her face."

Guts gives a brief glance to the rope on the wall and iron arm hooked next to it. Stubborn as he was, this kind of work had definitely been easier back when he had two hands. He may have to get the prosthetic mucked up a bit in the end.

[theladyofwinterfell]

Sansa steps back a bit, as he instructs, but not so far that they cannot continue their conversation. She does like him for all that he's gruff with her and if it takes a bit more from her to get him to like her, so be it.

"My sister isn't a typical lady, no. She's...well, my father doted upon her and entertained her differences. He loved me just as much, I think, but he certainly catered to Arya's desire to be anything but a proper young girl."

[shiftinglikeclay]

Alex rolled her eyes and gave a derisive snort. "Where I'm from did away with the idea of hereditary rule ages ago. Someone getting to be in charge just because of who their parents were is really stupid." She paused and her expression grew thoughtful. "Then again, if I'm honest it's not like our current systems are all that much better. I think hierachies are built into human nature or something. Always people thinking they get to tell others what to do and how to be." There is obvious bitterness in her tone, but it fades as she gives an almost malicious smile. "That's why there's people like me. To challenge all of it." Her mother was one of mythology's greatest tricksters after all, and while Alex might not be as mean-spirited as her parent, she wasn't shy about adopting those aspects of her mother that could be turned to better ends.

"Name's Alex. Current pronouns are she and her until I tell you different."

[nomoresparkle]

Well, yes I suppose. [There's a long pause in the audio]

But what if there is someone who'd take offense? It seems like things here are so regulated that that would be a common occurrence.

[butforafew]

Learn how to read the signs, and don't call them anything vulgar within that person's earshot.

[There's a rustle of cloth, as though she shrugs before remembering that she can only be heard, not seen.]

I get the impression that there isn't a formal guide to what to call non-Blood. My old etiquette tutor would turn over in her grave to hear me suggest it, but why not ask a non-Blood woman how she prefers to be addressed?