[PALACE GAME - LAN WANGJI RUN]

[laughitoff]

Everything is red. You are dying, somewhere far beyond pain, the very essence of yourself going to pieces. You’re shattering so badly you don’t know if you’ll ever find all of yourself again, if you’ll ever put yourself back together. There are teeth on you, ripping, tearing, devouring. There are teeth inside you, carving their way out, and those are worse.

This is a memory, happening at a remove. It is not yours. This is not happening now.

Everything is grey. You wake up in a prison cell, eyes wide, the ceiling flat and blank and unfamiliar above you. For a moment you simply think, no. You think, Please, wasn’t it over? Wasn’t it enough? You consider closing your eyes again and refusing to get up, until oblivion reclaims you. Even if you’re no longer dying, everything hurts.

This is a memory, happening at a remove. It is not yours. This is not happening now.

What is happening, then?

You–

–sit up.

Comments

[THE ESSENTIALS]

[laughitoff]

On entry to the Palace, this is IC knowledge for your character.

✧ Characters are here to retrieve Wei Wuxian’s fading Shadow from where it’s trapped and heal it. If they don’t, he will disappear completely.

✧ To unlock the door to the Shadow, they need to regain the Palace’s two Treasures.

✧ This Palace is dangerous in myriad ways, and Wei Wuxian’s Shadow is too weak to help them if they get into trouble. It is possible to die, get possessed, or fall victim to curses and status effects here.

✧ Canon and Reverie-earned powers are on, and characters have any items they were carrying on their person when they entered.

✧ Every person who enters the Palace also gains two key abilities automatically, ORTHODOXY and HERESY. These take the form of two magical arrays branded into your characters' palms (Orthodoxy on the left, Heresy on the right). They are meant to be used on objects and memories of your choice in the Palace, and can be used anywhere here while you have them. Use them by touching what you want to affect and projecting intent – whether it’s specific or general, you have to be willing something to happen when you use one of these abilities, or it won’t work.

Both key abilities are unlimited but must be used with care, and the changes they create are not always predictable. You also cannot clear the Palace without using them.

[START: THE DEMON-SLAUGHTERING CAVE]

[laughitoff]

[You sit up. Your hands ache dully. When you look at them, you find BRANDS scarred into each of your palms, and you know their PURPOSE. The pain fades after a moment.

When you look around, you’re in the middle of…a cave full of rocks. It’s big and high-roofed, smelling of ash and unwashed human and neglect, with a thick and vibrant undernote of blood. It’s hard to see well in the reddish, gloomy light. Still, when you look around, there are several things of immediate note besides the other people you landed here with:

-

☠ Everything feels stagnant, unstable and Not Right. The cave floor near the entrance is riddled with deep CRACKS. There’s some kind of giant MAGIC CIRCLE drawn in blood over the rest, but the cracks are beginning to damage the edges.

​​☠ There are three vaguely glowing HUMANOID FIGURES in the corners of the cave outside the circle, but they don’t make sense – one is floating around aimlessly, one’s standing upside down on the high, jagged ceiling, and one's pacing in jittery, limping circles. None of them have exactly the right number or length of body parts for a purely human configuration. Spooky.

✧ There’s a LIVING AREA among the rocks, where you can vaguely make out some kind of bed and desk configuration. There’s a bright, lit lantern on the desk.

✧ Next to the living area, there’s a huge POOL OF BLOOD – I mean like a pool you can swim in, not a big puddle from a wound or something. Gross.

-

← There is a HALLWAY TO THE LEFT, through a stone archway hewn roughly out of the wall.
→ There is a HALLWAY TO THE RIGHT, through a stone archway hewn roughly out of the wall.
↑ There is a CLOSED DOOR at the back of the cave. It’s made of blackened, pitted wood, but it seems oddly illuminated nonetheless – the most easily visible thing in the cave.
↓ There is an OPEN CAVE MOUTH behind you, but frankly, the outdoors looks like absolute shit.

What do you do?]

[strikingchords]

[THIS IS ALL FAMILIAR! HE HATES THAT!


takes a deep, shuddering breath: first things first, does he recognize the circle's purpose at all, and are any of the humanoid figures recognizable past "probably human but spooky"?]

[laughitoff]

[The circle has some kind of strong protective effect, but it’s operating at much lower power than it should. The corrosion to its outer edges is very noticeable.

The humanoid figures, on closer observation, don't look human at all aside from the general configuration of shape. They're all misshapen in some way, and...they're made of fragments? They're made of fragments.]

[strikingchords]

[hm. still processing.

...

he's going to hop over the circle and look through the cave entrance to see if the terrain looks familiar in shape, too. once again, he's trying to guess at whether the lightning-split tree is out there.]

[strikingchords]

[having just come from this fun fox experience he now has a devil sword, two shattered memories, and a fucked up little bell. his right hand is hurting and he'll be able to use three Orthodoxies before he needs to switch it up again, so I don't forget. (NOTE: his last Heresy use here was actually Bichen because I can't count)


however there's a more important thing he has to do here before he deals with those

he's going to put the sword down in a circle, then go back to the bed, kneel down next to it, and take the bunny out, trying not to frighten it more. assuming it's at a similar level of alertness-but-not-panic as before, he'll speak to it quietly.]



I need your help.

Sorry.



[given no refusal he's going to put his face on the bunny and just shake for a while. thanks.]

[laughitoff]

[The bunny shakes along with him a little, but also noses at him a little in anxious animal bewilderment, and is soft the whole time.]

[strikingchords]

[his own shakes pass eventually, and he returns to equilibrium, enough to start sending it calm in return after a while. they can calm down a little together. he still hurts so much.

eventually, he takes the bell out again to hold between his hands and study, rabbit still in his lap]

[LEFT HALL: THE PATH OF PEACE]

[laughitoff]

[There’s some dim light coming through this stone archway, and a vague hint of fresher air and breeze.]

Re: [LEFT HALL: THE PATH OF PEACE]

[laughitoff]

[When you pass through, you hear the carefree laughter of children, the thwack of practice weapons and the distant bark of dogs. You smell flower-heavy night air, sweet lotus and watermelon, and you taste the rich burn of spices and alcohol upon your tongue.

You emerge on the other side, and find yourself standing on a dock in the middle of a lovely, prosperous lakeside town. It’s warm, bright, humid midday – you’d expect it to be bustling, considering the number of food stalls and prosperous-looking businesses here.

You’re all alone, though. The town’s wholly unpopulated, as though everyone dropped everything all at once and simply vanished into thin air. You don’t even hear birdsong. A sense of deep nostalgia’s hit you, looking at these sights, but the rich scents you experienced coming through the tunnel have been replaced with the smell of ash on the constant breeze.

The breeze also makes a banner flap, where it’s tied to one of the railings of a pagoda further down the dock. The bright purple color and movement catch your eye, and the brands on your hands warm at the sight of it. THE FIRST RULE, it reads.

You could investigate the pagoda, or check the rest of this place out – up to you.]

[strikingchords]

[unlike the other area, this is a place he doesn't feel comfortable exploring without Wei Wuxian. it's strange to visit someone else's hometown without them.

he'll go to the pagoda.]

[laughitoff]

[Stepping inside the pagoda feels peaceful, and the view is very lovely indeed, despite the disconcerting quiet and the ashen smell. He feels like he could sit and look at the lake for hours, here in the shade.

It is actually mostly empty, though! There's only one thing of note here: a small stuffed donkey in the middle of the floor.]

[RIGHT HALL: THE PATH OF WAR]

[laughitoff]

[There’s utter darkness through this stone archway. Leaning into it, you smell sour, stale wine, musty earth, and blood.]

[strikingchords]

[does Bichen light it up?]

[laughitoff]

[Not at all, sadly.]

[THE CLOSED DOOR]

[laughitoff]

[The ILLUMINATED DOOR at the back of the cave doesn’t lose that strange lit quality when you approach it. It’s a humble wooden thing, the planks oddly warped in a way that sets it tighter in its frame instead of leaving gaps and weaknesses. For now, it’s shut tight, but you can sense that what you truly seek is behind it…

There are two rough stone PEDESTALS on either side of it which are each clearly meant to hold an object. The bloody lines of the floor array continue up and around them in strange patterns, as though they’re part of it or powering it in some way.]

[OUTSIDE: THE BURIAL MOUNDS]

[laughitoff]

[As you peer outside the cave mouth, you’re met with a blast of arid wind that sends the smell of rot up your nose. Everything about the landscape is forbidding, inimical to life; even the sky is no relief, choked with thunderclouds, the moon hanging like a bloated red eye beyond them. Your skin prickles with gooseflesh. Something – many somethings – are looking back at you, unseen.

The distant scream of a fox reaches your ears, like a warning. You can tell that there’s nothing good for you out there…]

[???]

[laughitoff]

[Inside the fox is a large, fleshy cave. The narrow strip of light from the outdoors lights a rock platform in the center, surrounded by a shallow layer of some liquid that smells foul and acid. His boots sink into muck under the liquid. He's able to see hair and bone fragments in what little of it is visible.

It is very hot here. His abdomen aches like someone's hollowed it out.]

[strikingchords]

[ugh. he'll try to call on Bichen for light, first thing...]

[BEYOND THE DOOR: THE NARROW PATH]

[laughitoff]

[The door swings open with a low creak. The landscape beyond is deeply peaceful: a dark lake at night, the waters lapping quietly against some unseen shore, the stars shining above. There’s still a hint of red glow on the horizon, the vague suggestion of the same rock spires you saw outside the cave, but they’re distant enough to not worry about, here.

A narrow bridge made of a single plank of wood leads out into the dark. You can only step onto it by yourself; another might walk behind you, but there is no room for you to go side by side.

There’s a single point of light in the distance to guide you.]

[strikingchords]

[walks out to the middle of the bridge and tries to light up the space with Bichen, looking around...]

[laughitoff]

[The bridge is steady, and holds his weight.

Shining a light yields a better view of his surroundings – the lake seems quiet and endless, and the bridge is a long one, but it’s also full of life. The murky shadows of fish teem under the water, attracted to the brightness. Huge stands of lotus break the water here and there – the flowers are closed and quiescent, but as Bichen's light hits the edge of one, the petals tentatively start to bloom open.]

[THE REST]

[laughitoff]

✧ Three pieces of the Blade of Orthodoxy (Path of Peace) and Seal of Heresy (Path of War) were required to open the closed door! These were obtained by viewing memories and using the key abilities on the ghosts that were summoned thereafter. Here's where we can sort out what else happened in the process of gathering those -- please look through the MEMORIES setion here and let me know what else your character would have looked at and done in order to get the remaining pieces they needed, and I'll give you a writeup. Please note that 'prewar' areas/locations were in the Hall of Peace, and 'postwar' areas/locations were in the Hall of War.

✧ If they would have done other things (messing around with other hall areas even after obtaining all Treasure pieces, messing around further in the starting cave, engaging the huli jing, etc.) let me know here as well. I'll give you a writeup!

✧ Once they placed the Treasures on the pedestals and opened the door, they would have lost Orthodoxy and Heresy abilities, and gained access to the final area and Wei Wuxian's Shadow (which was just his fading humanity which needed to be healed, this could be regular physical healing or emotional healing through a convo or something.) If you would like to thread that out, please go here! If you would like to handwave it, tell me and I'll just make it part of your writeup.

✧ Whatever option you choose for the Shadow area, after you're done there, you return to endgame, with a present in your pocket. Physical injuries stay. Curses, status effects, and power loss are either negated upon leaving the Palace, or last an IC day or two after -- your choice.

Thank you very much for playing! ♥

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji's other actions, in this order, would be:

- Inter the memory of creating the Tiger Seal with the other fox belly memories in the place labeled "Pain"
- Use Heresy to carve 3 stone dragon forms out of random boulders from the cavern
- Carry them to the temple with his strong arms
- Animate them using his own spiritual energy and the array Jin Zixuan made for him
- Use his own spiritual energy and the array Jin Zixuan made for him to create a ward around the blood pool in the Hall of War
- Leave a stone dragon there
- Use Orthodoxy to "heal" the Wens in the same way as he did for the ghosts in the Hall of Peace
- Take the other stone dragons and memory-zombies to the blood pools in the main cavern and Hall of Peace, leading Jiang Yanli's memory there and telling her where her parents are/that he'll rely on her and Wen Qing to direct the other memories and make sure the living space doesn't become so stupid again
- Create a quick, final warding circle around the Hall of Peace blood pool too to accompany the stone dragon, for symmetry
- Return to the main cavern and use his last two Orthodoxies to restore the two objects
- Try to use Heresy and Orthodoxy together on the door to repair it/make it an archway instead of a blocked off path, as best he can
- Put the objects on the pedestals to open the door if that didn't work

then he would finally go through the door and talk to the Shadow :X]

[laughitoff]

- The warding and stone beast stuff can be done successfully! The huli jing is extremely mad about it but can't do much about it except prowl threateningly around the outside of the circle for a while. Once the final stone beast it placed it fucks off entirely to the outdoors to sulk.

- The Wens are easy enough to turn back into live healed ghosts, and most of them vanish into the wooden tablets in the ancestral hall Lan Wangji made. Granny remains in the hall as herself, and hands Lan Wangji a zongzi to eat if he wants.

- Jiang Yanli and Wen Qing sigh, but in general having a memory zombie crew in the main cave does seem like a good idea to get some good housekeeping in there.

- Orthodoxy and Heresy can't be used to remodel the door or turn it into an open path; he gets the sense that this is because Wei Wuxian sometimes needs a place to retreat to, a refuge within himself.

- The two objects restore as soon as soon as the pieces are brought together, no Heresy/Orthodoxy needed; they are the sword Suibian (no sheath) and one half of the Tiger Seal respectively. Placing them on the pedestals both fixes the warping and opens the door so he can go talk to the Shadow! It also strengthens the protective circle on the cave floor further.