Ibn Khaldun 7729 Share Posted January 19 I've been writing lore for the past couple of days on the Google Drive I made for LotC and went on a bit of a nostalgia tour. I found this document for one of the events that I planned & executed in the previous Almaris map and wanted to share in hopes that, whether for official ST staff or players running player-run events, might find it an interesting template to use in the future. I had a lot of fun running this particular event with the players who happened upon the build in the South Hub region and hope those players too had fun with this event. Cheers! Hayastan The Illusory Hamlet Location: Tile_125 Neighboring Playerbases: Amaethea, Vistulia, Saqr, Hyspia, Helios, Urguan Brief Synopsis: When Marib al-Zanj seized and slew Qahtan al-Habasha, the leader of the Kharasi Farfolk who fled the Sheikhdom, multitudes of artisans & townfolk fled New Chorasmia (located in tile_121) in fear of the bellicose & wicked geoturgist. This diaspora of Farfolk came upon additional refugees still littered across Old Savoy from settlements such as Niseep & San Luciano and came to a small peninsula spreading from the southern continent and facing Elvenesse. They met an Elvish scholar who had sailed across the sea during the First Attack on Amaethea by the Dread Drake Azdromoth. The migrants and this scholar came to an accord to work together to raise the hamlet of Hayastan. The town, quaint & quiet, tends to lend itself to reclusion and the residents are reluctant to welcome large parties of people in. Melodious music fills the labyrinthine corridors, but quiet stillness welcomes night. Hayastan - Inspirations & Visual Content Build Inspiration: MC Escher #1 https://mcescher.com/gallery/impossible-constructions/# Music Inspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJ7aAzKIHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qw35UVE--U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OkxpoKvKZc Art Inspiration: https://warfare.tk/6-10/Sogdian_murals_from_Panjakent-6-8C-10.htm https://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/Pictures1/im19.jpg https://warfare.tk/Gorelik-Oriental_Armour.htm https://warfare.tk/14/Baptistere_de_Saint_Louis-a.htm https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8422967h/f359.highres https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8422965p/f127.highres https://warfare.6te.net/Turk/Varka_wa_Gulshah-03.jpg https://warfare.6te.net/Turk/Varka_wa_Gulshah-11.jpg https://warfare.6te.net/Persia/StPetersburg-Kulagysh-Dish-soldiers_in_combat-BW.jpg https://warfare.tk/Persia/14/Jami_al-Tawarikh-TSM_Haz_1653-f347a-Mohammed_b_Al-Mahdi_Crosses_the_Nile-lg.htm https://warfare.tk/14/Zoology_of_al-Jahiz-p25a-lg.htm https://warfare.6te.net/12/img/Fatimid_Lustre-ware_plate.jpg https://warfare.6te.net/12/Cappella_Palatina-ceiling-Camel_Rider.jpg https://warfare.6te.net/Ancient/img/Stroganov_plate.jpg https://warfare.6te.net/Turk/Seljuk_bowl-Bahram_Gur_and_Azade_on_a_camel.jpg https://warfare.6te.net/Turk/Seljuk_David_bowl.jpg https://warfare.x10host.com/Turk/th/Varka_wa_Gulshah-20_th.jpghttps://warfare.6te.net/14/Nihayat_al-sul-1371-f99.jpghttps://warfare.tk/index.htmhttps://artsandculture.google.com/asset/view-of-ornans-gustave-courbet/agE_sVxqgRz52whttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gond-i_Shahanshah Skin Inspiration: https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/iron-ogre---scrolls/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/ancient-magic/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/armenian-noble/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/daughter-of-armenia/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/barbarossa-oru-reis/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/lotc-the-birth-of-vasoyevi/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/tambourine-4028012/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/the-gypsy-wizard/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/mongol-lancer/ https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/cuman-kipchak/ Lore & Narrative The Farfolk of Chorasmia Jadida (trans. New Chorasmia) fled after the geoturgist Marib al-Zanj betrayed their leader Qahtan al-Habasha in the year 60 Second Age. They migrated along the coast by day and past the small towns of Daeland & Alstreim by night to evade notice. These migrants found a small peninsula on the northwestern side of the southern continent which jutted out in the direction of Elvenesse and began to settle. The next couple of years brought additional migrants both from the ominous accident that wrecked San Luciano & Niseep as well as the Azdrazi siege on Amaethea. Farfolk & Southeron humans came in droves, making amends among themselves and combining with the existing encampments on the peninsula. Additionally, an Elvish scholar named Asul ferried across the sea from Amaethea as the Azdrazi’s drake laid waste to the Elvenesse capitol. This eclectic population would reach a synthesis mixing both traditions & languages such as Qali & Hyspian and they eventually began to call their hamlet Hayastan. The hamlet of Hayastan derives its name from the Qali suffix -stan meaning ‘town’ and the first two syllables haya possibly derived from the Qali noun hayaa’ meaning ‘modest’ or from the Elvish hiuw meaning ‘to twitch, to move’. Asul Ilvilinyi (Hayastani for ‘of the Elvenkind’) worked with a few of the Farfolk artisans to create incredibly tall adobe buildings that seem to twist and confuse those approaching the settlement. The town emits a melodic tune, the sound of daf drums & female lulling, pleasant to all who are within earshot. In addition to the intriguing architecture & canorous singing, there are intriguing idiosyncrasies about the hamlet. The buildings, constructed very close together, form a labyrinth for those approaching and the residents are usually reclusive. The observant passerby or pickpocket may find certain effigies carved from malachite depicting a chimeric fusion between a serpentine body and tail and an anthropomorphic torso, arms, & head. The townspeople are blissfully unaware of much of the whimsical illusions that occur overhead and carry about their day in an idyllic calm. Key Points to Remember The sound of daf drums & Zenobia’s singing is being played by the Muse of Music. Its destruction results in the sound no longer being played throughout the hamlet. This is a tweaked form of bardmancy/illusion magic causing the townsfolk to: Mistake Asul for Farfolk, not ElvenCreate a calm across the townAllow Asul to commandeer the minds of the townsfolk towards violenceCause the townsfolk to ignore the illusion magic making the towering belvederes look like they are swaying or make the murals, reliefs, & paintings appear to be in motionIgnore the occasional presence of the Grivpanavara/Muse of War above groundLet players make the connections, do not “lead them on” through OOC-light cues. This event site is meant to make players think. The following connections must be made by the players themselves:The townsfolk not being familiar with the illusion of the buildings twisting and tilting.The townsfolk not being familiar with the naga figurines besides Seshmidze who is explicitly tasked with seeking them out.What can be led on is that Zenobia’s voice is the same female voice which is playing in the town. This will more than likely be players “hint” that something unsettling is afoot. Storyline Effects & Process [Start of Storyline] [!] Those entering the confines of the labyrinthine Hayastan will be privy to the slow rolling drumming of the daf drum and the melodious singing voices of Farfolk & Hyspian women. [OOC] Reference: Moments for Joy and Mirth (Laylahen) Georgia Ambient - Didavoi Nana (Civilization 6 OST) Kereshme [Introducing Hayastan as In-Game Knowledge] [Event] SilverTheDM, hotbox_ysl, kindEmperor aid in the coincidental prison break of geoturgists Sumfaya il’Tariq & Il’Watar from the Vistulian Isles, resulting in a chance encounter between Marib al’Zanj of the Chorasmian Temple and the trio of players. They are informed that many Farfolk fled Chorasmia when Marib usurped power from the previous leader. He suggests that he is interested to learn where they migrated. [First Year of Event Site] [Event] Players entering by day or night will witness the belvederes twisting and turning as if a crowd turning to an approaching member. Those players who enter Hayastan during the day will be able to interact with NPCs, loot items, and explore the environs. Those players who enter Hayastan at night will chance upon a silent environment with a change of music suggesting something ominous was afoot. ST will /roll 20, if higher than 10, a Dworkin’s Muse [the Warrior Muse, Grivpanavara] will begin lumbering through the maze and if the player encounters the Muse, it will become hostile - [OOC] Music: Core Drive (Westworld Season 2 Soundtrack) [Event] If one of the naga effigies are looted, more NPCs will appear and the town will become more belligerent with new or returning visitors. Seshmidze and other soldiers will patrol the narrow pathways and talk in the town will turn towards the myths surrounding nagas in the sea beyond the town and the Seshmidze NPC will offer quests to interrogate the seas for any findings of the creatures. [Event] If players enter Hayastan aggressively or with clear intent to do harm, 3 Dworkin’s Muses will be unleashed and the character Asul Ilvilinyi will use illusion magic to make the towering dwelling appear to twist and look upon said players angrily. The sensation of the walls closing in will cause confusion as various townspeople will attempt to sneakily stab and harm the aggressors until they leave the confines of Hayastan. [Second Year of Event Site] [Event] Tigranes expands the hamlet, erecting more belvederes and strangely-structured edifices including one based on Impossible Waterfall by MC Escher by which one end of the path will host a glimmer point in which eldritch creatures will be brought into this plane of existance. Characters Skins [Labelled]: https://imgur.com/a/0jyN1l5 Asul Ilvilinyi: An erudite scholar in the public eye, but secretly an illusionist who has rediscovered the manufacture of Dworkin’s Muses. He has tuned one such Muse to produce music to augment his efforts in casting a spell over the town populace to imagine him as a Farfolk or Southeron much like themselves and to obey orders when he requires the town population to follow. Makonon Ilbagran: The “town maer” of Hayastan. He is a cordial man of Farfolk descent, versed both in Hayastani & Qali, and an optimistic person. A treat me well, be treated well character in town. Tigranes Arkitekus: The architect and genius behind the labyrinthine layout of Hayastan. Tigranes is the only one to be cognizant of Asul’s identity, pursuit of control, and deception over the townspeople. Asul, as manufacturer of the Dworkin Muses, & Tigranes as architect have a pact in which Tigranes will slowly expand the labyrinth of Hayastan in return for more Muses to be constructed to both protect the town and in a pseudo-scientific ambition to help the Muses achieve sentience by way of traveling the maze and making enough decisions to gain transcendence.The premise is that the Muses will eventually be guided from end to end of the labyrinth by the guidance of the Muse of Music initially, then set off on its own. Those Muses unable to find their way without turning around will be taken apart and reassembled. This Sisyphian task, though Tigranes & Asul are unaware of it being such a task, will be repeated and become more elaborate as the town limits expand. Seshmidze Ilhethmid: This sportsman & falconer works with Tigranes to provide for the defense of Hayastan. The Hayastani typically fight as chain-maille or lamellar armored spearmen armed with shortswords or tabars (wide-head axes) preferring the use of archery, javelins, and clay grenades filled with tar and would combust on impact. Given the labyrinthine layout of their town, they also became astute trap-manufacturers. Seshmidze is tasked with investigating the appearance of cave naga in the coastal areas beyond the Hayastani peninsula. Zenobia Ilbagran: Makonon’s wife possessing an incredibly dulcet voice. Her voice is the one heard throughout the hamlet. She is incredibly reclusive, not speaking except when some situation demands it. Those players who happen upon a situation where she does speak may recognize her voice and query her about how her voice is that of the singing across the hamlet while she is not singing. Zenobia’s voice is being imitated by one the three Dworkin’s Muses - the Muse of Music, Gramophone. The Three Dworkin’s Muses: Dworkin’s Muses lore: https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/144203-dworkins-muses/ The Gramophone: This muse is built with the utilities to produce, record, and play music.The Grivpanavara: This muse is heavily armored, dressed similar to a cataphract, with a great scimitar and tower shield. The name is Hayastani for “warrior guarded like a tortoise”.The Aesthete: This muse is built with the creative “mind” of an artist and an acute steadiness allowing the automaton to create paintings, calligraphy, and other visual art forms.Jaqeli Ilhethmid: The oft-delinquent younger brother of Seshmidze, a common face in the teahouse in Hayastan. Distrustful, rude, and ready to use street smarts to doubt and chastise others.Tiribaz Shahanshah: A young scholar and expert in the languages of Hayastani, Hyspian, Mihyaari, & Qali. TiribazLita Cabellut: The wife of Tigranes, charged with watching over and protecting Zenobia. She is aware, as her father is, of the use of Zenobia’s voice recorded by the Gramophone Muse and has mixed feelings regarding the heavy responsibility fallen on her and on Zenobia to keep silent. At the start, she sees no alternative but to continue with keeping mum about what she knows and will boldly give her life if anyone attempts to harm Zenobia.Dhul’Qarnayn & Zaynabou: A couple of Southeron origins. Dhul’Qarnayn is a feisty merchant who peddles exotic animals while Zaynabou is a tailoress. The two are a jovial pair though Dhul’Qarnayn is troubled by his gibbon who is unaffected by the illusion magic cast through the music that plays across the hamlet and often reacts violently when the dirge is heard each night the Muse of War is brought out by Tigranes.Orozartes: A Farfolk cavalryman, is in a small abode on the corner of the hamlet facing the open sea. He is currently with fever and can be heard in a fever dream describing a woman dragged in the water. Forum Posts Post 1 Upon a lone cape extending out to sea, commonly battered by storms spirited across the narrow strait between Elvenesse, Old Savoy, & Urguan, towers a multitude of open and narrow windcatchers. That most strange of sights is made stranger when you approach the small hamlet of towering structures; the windcatchers and open-air galleries appear to twist as if faces looking towards or away from you. As you approach the cramped and narrow thoroughfares beneath the galleries, you hear a consoling series of voices that call out from the recesses of the hamlet. Dulcet voices of Farfolk women singing and the light rap against daf drums swell up over rooftops and verandas. The few townspeople who loiter the labyrinthine paths behave cordially, greeting passerby with Salaams, Holas, & Aapkasihay and exchanging terse prattle. Rows of carpets, rugs, and other woven tapestries wave at you from the towers above you as if aided by the illusory twisting and winding of the galleries. Figurines of malachite and other crystalline minerals manufactured in the shapes of serpents with hominid features decorate set tables, bookshelves, & other furniture visible to those wandering past doorways and portals into the buildings in the hamlet. Remarkable art, both paintings and reliefs, decorate the walls both facing out and enclosed within the hamlet’s maze. A wide bas relief depicting a chimaeric and outlandish biped monster with four arms can be found in the center of the town limits. An air of aesthetic and artistic stamina can be determined from a brief survey of the various homes and halls found here. Do you decide to wander to this placid hamlet? Post 2 A swarthy hand tipped the ornate tumbler back and the man took a swill of its contents. A wince and an exhalation full of burning breath broke the silence between him and the elf opposite him. A scene built around them casting the two in a pristine lodge with the man sitting in a bar stool and the elf wiping down another glass standing behind the bar itself. The Farfolk man set his tumbler down gently and slid it courteously towards the elf before continuing. “You ask me who I love most, do you? I would have to confess my truest love to my wife Zenobia,” the Farfolk man recounted with growing fondness. “She supported me when none of my kith or kin could bear to rest a hand on my shoulder. She trusted me when I decided to leave the old Kharasi Oasis with those who fled to Chorasmia and later still when we fled Chorasmia for this humble abode.” “Makonon, aper, this is very touching,” the elf admitted before being cut off as the man continued in a trance. “She has a most beautiful voice, like that of a songbird’s pleasantness, and not a protest can be made of its melody. She mesmerizes and she toys, how I am proud to be the hawk watching over my nightingale.” “Makonon, aper, I did not realize this and I shy from suggesting I be an audience to this. I take it this would be an offense to your sensibilities as both man and Farfolk,” the elf mused, a cocked brow surveying Makonon’s reaction. The Farfolk, leaning against an elbow resting on the bar, looked unamused. “Ilvilin, I’d caution you to be careful how you address my wife,” Makonon stated flatly. The elf held up his hands as if surrendering, lowering his head with an amused grin hidden beneath the crook of his nose. “I dare say, I might like to. . .suggest a use for that voice,” the elf parlayed in a low voice. Makonon’s face folded from displaying distaste to reluctance and he began to stand up. Both the barstool and the bar seemed to shrink away through Makonon’s eyes. He watched as the bar slid back into a dusky nothingness and his feet felt a fleeting sensation of buckling as the stool shrank to the proportions of a common crate one might find on a pier or port. He teetered as the surrounding scenery melted back into the actual environment around him; he found himself standing only a few feet away from the elf on a sparse sandspit with two crates sat upon the shore. Creak and echo suggested something screened in the darker shadows beneath a thick palm tree nearby. The elf turned, expectantly, to face the silhouette breaking its veil as a metallic head leaned out from underneath the flora as if inspecting their conversation. Post 3 A single sloop sauntered along the choppy waters off the coast of Old Savoy; fishermen begged and pleaded with tangles of nets intending to cast them off their boat. One net managed to cooperate and the sailors threw it across the water's edge and its full length stretched fully. The light rocking of the boat, par for course, took no notice for what evaded the eyes of the fishermen whose sight saw little past the surface at dusk. More and more men cajoled their nets into cooperating and casted them out on opposite sides of their small vessel. As the lattice pattern of the nets descended deeper into the waters, one such segment of the net bulged. A reptilian eye peeked from between the criss-cross stitch of the net at the fishermen, one of the anglers peering back at it and panicked. The creature disappeared back into the depths; the net followed it for a short time before idling in the waters. Each fisherman began withdrawing their nets and tossing them randomly upon deck. The panicked man tripped and fell onto his back, peering up to see a distant belvedere seemingly swivel to lock gazes with him. The entire group of fishermen erupted with anxiety as more found the belvedere spying on them. They cried out orders to take up oars and furiously rowed and watched the belvedere snap back into its constructed position as the object dwindled with distance put between them. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydegirl 1757 Share Posted January 19 2 hours ago, Ibn Khaldun said: https://www.planetminecraft.com/skin/daughter-of-armenia/ omg im like 90% sure this was one of my skins hehe. sry i deleted her </3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibn Khaldun 7729 Author Share Posted January 19 21 minutes ago, ydegirl said: omg im like 90% sure this was one of my skins hehe. sry i deleted her </3 All good! I didn't even realize it had been deleted. Not all of the skins were used, was more of a reference/inspiration if anything. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeypoacher 6993 Share Posted January 19 This is such a nice format. I don't really run events but I think it would be useful for just roleplaying your character too. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibn Khaldun 7729 Author Share Posted January 19 6 minutes ago, monkeypoacher said: This is such a nice format. I don't really run events but I think it would be useful for just roleplaying your character too. Thanks mate. The format visually is a bit askew since I pasted it in from a Google Document, but the overall schematic has been useful for me to track my events that I've planned in the past. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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