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This is our Open Log for players to have an easy opportunity to tag others and have fun with prompts that deal with current happenings that are not covered by our MANTA Board quests. Sometimes we provide extra quests at the bottom, but oftentimes we just let the MANTA Board cover it. Players are free to include MANTA Board quests in their toplevels!

For your toplevel, please include the following: Character Name | Canon | Armada.

TOPLEVEL DIRECTORY (Updated November 25)

ELTRUT

With the Ghoul's Moon festivities over, it's time for everyone to clean up and prepare for the coming winter season. Of course, with the leviathans capable of moving and keeping to warmer waters, it's usually not much of an issue. But it never hurts to be prepared, and the crops and products are always great for export.

One of the biggest products that will be sent off this season will be everything pumpkin. The giant pumpkin shell Eltrut created for Ghoul's Moon will start to shed and the leviathan will need some help in gathering the large chunks before it falls completely into the ocean. Harvesting the pumpkin shell off of Eltrut is no easy feat, but not only is it edible, the rind is also tough and durable.

🔪 Harvest. Using carving knives and pickaxes, everyone must head out of town and into the forests to remove the pumpkin and clean off the shell beneath. Large tubs and wagons will be provided to help haul off the goods.
🐢 Pumpkin Spice Turtles. Drawn by all the pumpkins are small little pumpkin turtles. They are forbidden from being harmed or caught, however, they produce a special "pumpkin spice" and "pumpkin cinnamon" dust that can be carefully collected. While most will respect the law, others will be greedy and try to capture these turtles. Help protect and catch any who try—or perhaps get some extra cash by successfully catching and selling them off.
🔨 Build-A-Pumpkin. To help spur motivation and creativity, there are numerous competitions centered on building the most interesting and durable creation using only the pumpkin rinds. Some small things like nails and bits of wood can be used to help, but it must otherwise be made out of the rinds. From unique artwork to small buildings to carriages to boats and ships—the possibilities are endless. Just don't mind the mess.

Of more concern, both Eltrut and the Naughtilust were weakened from the attack from the Ghost Ship and are dozing a bit for the first week or so. Those in charge are requesting help in preparing special food that will help with their recovery. But to help keep spirits up and to hopefully provide some positive energy to the leviathans, a special hotpot gathering will be hosted for anyone to come and help cook, either for the leviathans or for others. A perfect chance to socialize and catch up with others. Just keep an eye out—someone may try to spoil the food.

To aid the two weakened leviathans, a list of key ingredients is provided for volunteers to head into the forests and out to sea to gather. Large tables and several grills, pots, and other cooking equipment will be provided for anyone to use.

🔥 Fire Sprites. Instead of normal flames, the food for the leviathans needs to be cooked over a special fire created by special fire sprite. They will only appear around campfires or bonfires where stories are told, so time to create a suitable fire pit and get to storytelling! Any kind will work.
🌰 Chest of Chestnuts. One of the most prized ingredients is a special type of chestnut that can only be found in special acorn chests buried underground by squirrel scavengers. These squirrels specifically gather these chestnuts because they are so rare, delicious, and known to have medicinal properties. Said squirrels will also gladly relinquish their store…if they can remember where those chests are. Time to go on a wild treasure hunt!
🐡 Fish Puffing. There is a special type of pufferfish that will be carefully collected and brought to the pier where volunteers must wear special gloves and carefully squeeze the fish to force it to secrete a special fluid that has potent healing properties. Soothe the fish and make them more willing to be handled by singing a cheerful tune. Whistling and other music can help. Feeding them special kelp and gently petting them will also keep them calm and less agitated.
🍲 Cookoff! Whether it's for the leviathans or just cooking a meal to be shared with others, the cooking stations are constantly in use. Who can prepare the most delicious meal?

ELAH

Things are a bit hectic within Baleen, the capital city of Elah. A wild flock of singing turkeys have been set loose and they are running amok, causing a disturbance to everyone. They are getting stuck in chimneys, popping into bathrooms, and swimming in the many fountain pools found all over town. What makes them more disruptive is their singing, which, unfortunately, sound more like nails dragging down chalkboard. While some may be ready to roast them to send to Eltrut for a feast, perhaps some may try to catch them.

And send them to Nogard. (They likely came from there, anyway—)

Researchers would especially appreciate it if these turkeys could be caught and removed as they are busy studying the tombstone relic brought back from the ghost ship. What secrets could it hold…?

At the Archives, researchers are hard at work studying the broken pieces of the black tombstone that was brought back from the ghost ship. They believe it's the reason the ship and its undead crew appeared, but how?

💤 Energy Drain. Although precautions are set, those who are exposed to the relics start feeling a bit drained, as if their energy is being sucked away. Quickly remove any affected and find a way to seal or contain the relics without being affected as well.
🪦 Undeadly Experiments. Although now in pieces, the tombstone relic still holds some power. Thus researchers decide to perform direct tests and experiments to see how it affects the undead. There are requests made to those who have previously died either in their world or this one, and some venture to graveyards where dead and ghosts are sometimes active. When in close contact with the relic, all who have experienced death in some way will become more hostile and aggressive, some even outright attacking any nearby. Help protect those performing the experiment and subdue the affected until they calm down.
🏃‍♂️ Thief! Those damn Corsair, they can never respect important research! A few bad eggs are breaking the agreement and are trying to steal the fragments, perhaps to sell them off to someone else or for some other purpose.

NOGARD

In Nogard, the island the leviathan has settled in is teeming with wild beasts, and perhaps due to being in a warmer climate, they are appearing more and more often, as if coming out of hibernation. It makes for a perfect opportunity for hunters to head out in hopes of collecting rare meat, materials, and hides that can be used and sold. To prevent overhunting, a competition is hosted with rules and regulations that all participants must abide by.

As such, there will be a group to help ensure security and they will even request assistance from Paladins, who are also allowed to participate in the hunt if they wish. Thus those who prefer to go after people will be quite useful to keep track and go after anyone who is poaching, hunting creatures under the "protected" list, or wasting the kills. To any who are caught…well, the Paladins may fare nicer compared to a Corsair.

While most predators and creatures of large populations are eligible for the competition, there are a few notable hunts that will reap great rewards for those who dare. Those who turn in their kills will receive a decent portion of the profits and first choice in what to keep for their own. The rest will be turned in to be sold, with the Elphantin tusks going straight to Eltrut to be used for the recovery efforts.

🦈 Goblin Shark. This deep-sea shark has a distinctive long, flattened snout and protrusible jaws, making it look quite unusual compared to other shark species. All parts of its body can be used so it makes for a profitable hunt—if one can brace the cold depths to take it down.
🐍 Coibara. Head of a cobra, body of a bear, and tail and coloring of a koi fish, this snake chimera can be found in dark coves and anywhere near deeper bodies of water. Capable of sprinting over the ground and swimming, beware of its poisonous fangs, which can also fetch a pretty penny along with its hide. The venom can also be collected for both poison and anti-venom purposes.
🦚 Pexeo. An equine beast with the body and markings of a zebra and plumage and head of a peacock that roams the greener valleys. Although not hostile, it can be dangerous if attacked, its beak revealing sharp rows of teeth that can tear up anything that gets caught in it and its hooves sharp as blades. Rather than killed, the feathers are the real prize and can be carefully plucked instead. But its meat can be considered a delicacy in some areas.
🐘 Elphantin. This giant elephant like creature is considered as the top hunt of the list. They can only be found deep within the forests and only appear at dawn when the foggy mist is thickest. While every part can be used, what makes this the top prize is the medicinal properties of its tusks. But it is very difficult to track and hunt and will take a group of skilled hunters to take down.

Afterwards, a large feast to celebrate is thrown, though of course it can get rowdy and with the alcohol fountain brought in, fights and brawls are bound to happen.

But there will also be a "special guest" rushing into town: wild boars. Perhaps agitated by the hunts or out for revenge against those who targeted them (which was allowed), the boars are crashing and charging into everything they see. While this may look like a good opportunity to prepare some BBQ Boar, the conservationists of the Corsairs would like to drive most of them back into the wilds.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And that entails?

[He lifts an eyebrow curiously.]

It is my role to ensure the health of the Forest and all things within it. In simpler terms...to make sure what should live stays living, and what should die stays dead.

[She considers this for a while, head tilted.]

The Black Forest houses a great many rare kinds of plants and beasts within it. Some of it may be safely collected, but much cannot. Part of my work is to facilitate that safe collection that the borders of the forest remain protected by the people who live along them. It's in everyone's best interests the Forest never feels the need to defend itself. Trees don't have much of a sense of proportion.

Sounds almost Dalish to me.

[Them and their being protectors of certain areas they travel around in, collecting and securing lost Elven knowledge. She also sounds... perhaps like a--]

Are you a witch? [His eyes narrow a little, it's not as accusatory or icy as it would be if he was back in Thedas, he knows magic here and in other worlds is different, but it still makes him feel prickly and on edge.]

Dalish?

[She tilts her head a bit one way. Then the other.]

Well, in the sense that most witches are just apothecaries with a bad public image, I suppose. But you seem to mean something else, sir?

Ah, then the terminology is different between our worlds.

[Maybe insult of it is not different, he might have defaulted to the insulting word, but she has an air about her that reminds him of what he's heard about the witch of the wilds and of Merrill.. so it came out without much thought.]

I suppose a better terminology would be mage - a user of magics. You claimed to have spoken with the cat earlier, is that not magic?

Edited 2023-11-09 02:29 (UTC)

I was born with that ability, along with a few others. I suppose the case could be made they're magical, but they've been a part of my existence since I opened my eyes, so I can't say I think of them that way.

[She pauses, looking him up and down. He seems tense on the topic but--well. it would be much worse to lie to him. So be it. At least she got him to take the cat first.]

Much of my own magic was based in my connection to the Forest's magic. Living places that have lived a long time tend to...accumulate power. Here...well, they said something about tattoos when they pulled me ashore, but I won't lie to you, I wasn't paying much attention.

[He was tense, enough to that Pumpkin had even moved to curl against his neck to try and calm him, purring heavily that one ear was practically useless. Yet, it did keep him from immediately becoming unfriendly.

Sure, it wasn't his favorite subject, but Hawke had been a mage and someone he valued and trusted with his entire being, he knows that not all mages are Danarius, even if Anders and Merrell did much to try and prove that wrong.. He knows that Xenk uses magic and that others here do too and that magic isn't the corrupting power that it is in Thedas that few are strong willed enough to resist.

He knows this. Yet the topic of magic always sets him on edge, as if he will find yet another person who is like Anders.

Yet this woman.. she speaks to animals because she was born with it, her magic is connected to the forest not blood or demons.. she wasn't even sure about the tattoos...

He relaxes visibly, though his expression is as broody and calm as he has been.]

I see. Well, if you have magical abilities, they are inert here without the tattoo. How, I do not know or understand, but that is the way of it. [His own Lyrium is inert, though... he is considering a tattoo to reactivate it. After struggling when fighting at half his capabilities before, he finds he is reluctant to go without again.]

Ah, well.

[She watches himm tense up, then relax. She's not a telepath, she's not privy to what's gone through his head, but it is clearly related to magic. Naeva is curious, of course--it's hard to ignore what's clearly a source of pain--but she doesn't know this man well enough to pry.

Reflexively, she pats at her pockets. Discovers....a chestnut a squirrel stuffed in one? No, not useful. She needs to find a candy shop.]

I suppose the magic must be realigned to the sacred beasts, if I had to guess. It would be nice to be able to heal again, certainly.

[She pauses, and then extends a hand out, open palmed. Pay no attention to how long her nails are.]

...My name is Naeva.

Perhaps, though I think it works differently in every world.

[There was no sacred beasts for magic where he is from, but to hear something like that, well, it makes his lip curl in the smallest of smiles, something subtle and easy to miss.]

And I am Fenris.

[Taking hers in his own marked up on.]

I apologize if I gave any offense, the subject of magic is.. oft a sore one due to how dangerous and corrupting it is in my world. [He did call her a witch and get kind of accusatory, he wasn't above apologizing when necessary.] Healing is an honorable magic.

[Hawke was a spirit healer, he admired that about the man.]

[Her handshake is very...cautious. Like she's being careful of her own gripping strength.]

I can hardly fault you for being wary. It is far from the first time I have made others uneasy...and your reasons are better than most.

[She smirks a bit.] Honorable, yes, and likely quite useful here. Easier praise to swallow if I hadn't learned it specifically because I was told I'd never be able to.

[He notices her handshake is careful, but he withdraws his hand after they are finished. Touch was not something he was overly fond of, so he doesn't touch for longer than necessary.

Though he does wonder why or how she has made others uneasy... was it because of her wearing a mask? That was something curious to him, but not off-putting. ]

Is it because magic was not something inherent to you or for other reasons people told you such a falsehood?

I have a...nature some believe to be incompatible with most benevolent forms of existing.

[Her tone has grown very dry all of a sudden, weird.] I admit to no small delight in proving them wrong in every small thing I do contrary to these assumptions. Petty of me, but...

[Naeva shrugs.] I haven't claimed to be a saint.

[Interesting, it seems he's stumbled on her own prickly subject. It was interesting how that works, though he finds that he does not in the least regret asking about it. She brought it up in the first place afterall.]

Perhaps it can be considered petty, but where you take your motivations to do better than people think of you is not something to be treated lightly. Saint or not, it's admirable.

[A pause.]

Just because someone believes a slave can never be free does not mean he should not try until he is.

[That gives her pause. Maybe it's just a metaphor, but as one to jump to...

Hmm. There's a picture being painted here and she's not sure she likes it.]

I'd live a much more comfortable life, if more people thought so. As it is, I am largely the crazy masked woman what lives in the woods.

[SHrug.] But the Forest loves with loyalty, and the beasts within it are kind. I can't complain too much. In this, you could say I have been free long before I realized I was.

[He can understand that, understand that people see what they want and not what someone is, he's suffered that much of his life... It was not as if he wasn't guilty of that very thing himself when he met her, in her mask as she was.

Pumpkin kneads the air quietly, head resting against his neck as she somehow balances her body (rather small compared to the monster Naeva holds), on his shoulder. ]

It would seem you are. [It was then probably unfortunate for her to be here, conscripted to a faction and forced to participate for funds. It could be worse at least.]

You must miss your home?

Deeply. But this place...surely our stay here is not forever. I will see my home again.

[She shrugs a little, and smiles, a little wistfully.]

I have had a great deal of practice being patient, until then.

It is not, I have already been sent home once, though for a short time before I was brought back here.

[He looks at her wistful smile, before nodding.]

I have also decided to be patient, though I do hope to learn of a method of returning home so that those who wish to remain can and those who desire to return may as well.

[The being held here against his will and at the whims of the rifts was far from appealing.]

It would be convenient...I am sure these leviathans have that power, to an extent, if they can bring us and return us.

[She sighs deeply.]

Unfortunately, godlike turtles are not stunning conversationalists.

Perhaps, though it is hard to tell. I imagine if they wanted us to freely travel between worlds, they would have given us the ability from the start.

[He goes to shrug, but chooses to do it with only his free shoulder so he doesn't jostle the cat. His leather armour will protect him from the claws, but may as well not risk it further.]

Either way, it isn't as though they're likely to answer, if we ask.

[Naeva pauses, and tries not to smile. Oh he is already doting on this cat.]

...If you wish to try, I've seen some cats tolerate being held in a sling against the chest. Leaves both arms free.

True.

[His eyes narrow at how the woman is trying not to smile. Was something amusing that he didn't catch on to? He chooses not to ask when she speaks further because that sounded ridiculous.]

I do not intend to take this creature into battle, why would I need to sling her across my chest?

...Did I say anything about battle? There's plenty of activities that are made easier with two hands and the ability to reach above one's head, Sir Fenris.

[Okay, she audibly snorted that time.]

[True, he was making an assumption, but still...]

She can merely jump down if she does not want to be jostled around. I have no intention of coddling the cat.

[He says pretty much already coddling her by shrugging one shoulder instead of both. By letting her be curled up on his shoulders like so. His already bad posture gave way to her being able to lounge easier...

Don't look at him. He's not coddling!]

[SNRRRRRK--cough. Ahem. You heard nothing.]

Oh, no. Of course not. Never mind the suggestion, then.

[He absolutely heard that and frowns (pouts.. he's pouting) a little. ]

I've already disregarded it. [And he has, though now it's in his head, but it didn't matter. Pumpkinpatch was happy as can be.] Regardless, I do thank you for your information. It's been... enlightening.

i am so late i'm sorry

desirestruth - 2023-11-25 21:11 (UTC) - Expand

you good!

unshod - 2023-11-26 23:30 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

« november: open log »

ELTRUT

ELAH

NOGARD

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i am so late i'm sorry

you good!