Help Us Move People So They Don't Die to a Homunculus-Beholder

Hjolda, Subjects of Travance,

The homunculus beast known as Icarus is presently headed towards the Proper through Ostcliff. It has absorbed many other beings into itself, gaining their power, including a Phoenix and Beholder. We need to evacuate as many people out of its path, especially Ostvolk and denizens of the Proper, as soon as possible. The Lords of Kaladonia and Drega'mire have opened their lands to any refugees.

Icarus is gigantic, but also breaks off small pieces of itself to scout and fight. They appear as blackened homunculi. These can be fought, but the main body should not be engaged yet. They can range very far out, so they may be encountered across Pendarvin and Alisandria as well as Ostcliff and the Proper.

If you can spare time to help with either the evacuations or training your local militia in anti-homunculus tactics, do so, and coordinate with me.


(OOG notes: If you want to do land actions regarding this, post in your choice of land with Icarus as the target and matt M as the ST. The number of actions taken to starve, deny, or defend against Icarus will help Matt set how strong Icarus and its minions will be at the WitL weekend event.)

As I do not know who is fielding the scout report for this, I will just post this here to hopefully get the quickest response: Is Icarus travelling along the Eastern Traderoad into the Proper or through the mountains. The only mountain pass cuts into Vindholm and I will most likely need to evacuate my town as well (and we'll hope that Icarus doesn't sink itself into the Cracked Plains I guess) It would not need to be the whole of Pendarvin, Vindholm is far away enough from the other villages and towns. I just want to make sure.

If the answer is along the Trade Road then you may start filtering people through Vallenro as a shortcut into Vindholm if need be and I will have things prepared there to assist.

-Squire Ilana Darkwood

This Icarus sounds not nearly as nice, as those other [strike]creations[/strike], I mean, people.
Though certainly as interesting.
I have some talents that have proven useful in the past against the less kind Homunculi.
Thusly I will see what I can do about evacuating the common folk out of the possible path of Icarus as soon as I understand the path a bit better.

-Leliana Kainen

Getting people clear of the proper is a good start. That is where our stand will be made.

Icarus has not been spotted yet. We have scouts from the Ostvolk, the Travancian Guard, and flocks of birds linked to our druids watching for its approach all throughout Ostcliff.

The stewards of our cities are handling evacuations if necessary, with our clerks and guard captains assisting them.

If anyone would like to help organize the efforts in Ostcliff please contact me so I can assign you to a city and the steward you will be helping.

Stay safe everyone,

Squire Wrenton. Forgive my correction but Icarus isn't a he. Icarus is an it, or most appropriately a they. It is an agglomerated mass of so many things that calling it male or female would be rather... Odd.

Grim, no need to apologize, was simply the word I wrote - I edited "him" to "its" for acuracy's sake.

Ilana, and all other Stewards, I would suggest drawing up an evacuation plan for your cities and going over it with your clerks and guard captains. Icarus may not come near any city, or your city, but it certainly won't hurt to be prepared for the worst.

With no sightings of Icarus, can we be certain of a path at all in this moment?
My Teacher and I are coordinating efforts in handling some of the blackened Homunculi, but as our tactics are a bit more, involved, it is best if we could situate ourselves in a prime location that allows us maximum movement.
If Ostcliff is a definite destination Icarus will pass through I will make sure we position there. If Ostcliff seems like it is taken well care of we can position elsewhere.

-Leliana Kainen

To aid in this venture, once a Lord, Lady, or their city's stewards request for an evacuation to take place, I will authorize deputy pay (10 gold) to all those who wish to aid the Barony in securing that the common folk have safe passage through the Eastern Trade Road towards Kaladonia and Drega'mire.

In addition, I will work with Lt. Grimkjell to post suggested evacuation routes with an accompanying updated map of the Proper. Expect that to be posted on this topic before Monday.

~ Cpl. Arradir Go-Dringol

(( OOG: If you'd like this pay to be noted, please include [Guard Duty: Evacuation] in the Target line of your Between Game Action. If you do not notice a change in your account after the actions post, please see me at the WitL event. ))

Leliana,

We believe that Icarus is coming from the East and a few Occultists have read the stars and believe that it will pass through Ostcliff, but nothing is certain. The fact that Icarus can absorb beings and gain power from them means that we cant be certain how it will approach. That's why I urge all Stewards of all towns to make preperations, it's better to be prepared.

I appreciate your offer of aid but with your methods being complex I think they will probably be better suited for the Proper, where we know its destination is, and you will have more time/warning.

On the topic of Icarus's approach:

Father/Heimdal,

If you happen to be reading these scraps of paper, either in person, via golem, or via homonculi - I have a favor to ask of you.
If you can confirm Icarus's path, and are willing to share that information with us I emplore you to do so.

You don't know me, you don't owe me anything, and I will make no demands of you. But if anything you can tell us will help us keep those we care for safe, I do hope you will share that information.

Icarus was last spotted east before it ... Vanished I am unsure if it has gone atherial or simply burrowed. Regardless the direction it will take into the proper is which ever has the largest food source...

Let me know which cities you intend to evacuate, i will replace its populace with some of my more mindless [strike]childr[/strike] creations, leaving a trail of "bread crumbs" for Icarus to follow into the proper, is this agreeable?

Dr. Alexander Heimdell

Father,

Will these not increase Icarus' power, should she consume them? If you think what they will add is negligible, then this seems a logical step. I will leave the specifics of luring Icarus tot hose actively working on the evacuations.

Please contact me when you can - I have something else to discuss with you.

I believe I have missed the explanation in which Icarus' ability to gain power from the consumption of other things works. If I could have a missive sent to me privately describing this and what it includes or how it occurs it would be greatly appreciated in my ability to prepare my forces to counter or negate the chance of feeding Icarus anything useful.

-Leliana Kainen

P.S : The explanation could be put here if it is not secret, but I can understand that even some imperfect creations have secrets linked to them.

Icarus gains her power not precisely by consumption, but rather by attaching living beings to herself in whole or in part and adding them to her biomass. They become extensions of her body, and she can use any ability they possessed. She is also capable of detaching some pieces and using them remotely as scouts or additional attackers - they remain part of her, and do not suddenly regain their prior level of sentience.

Her bulk is made up of corrupted/flawed homunculi, but she has notably absorbed other things such as a beholder. We do not currently know if there is any kind of limit to the beings she can absorb.

Lois has explained it far better than I could. Make your preparations accordingly. Father, if you will be in the proper for feast I'll discuss evacuation plans with you then, I will be speaking with several nobles and lords to make sure everyone is pursuing the same goals.

Can poisonous things be given to her so that when she attaches them, they poison her or weaken her?

In theory, yes. Given the nature of a homunculus, a proper poison can be created to combat it as they are, but even if the alchemists do manage to create that specific of a vial, due to Icaurs's ability to absorb the lifeforms of others, (including a Phoenix. Seriously, someone explain to me that one.) I feel the effects are far too unpredictable to predict. For all we known, the poison itself could harm the lifeforms it has absorbed in addition to, or for that matter, gain an immunity to it all together. At worse, we may end up with a walking blight on our hands.

If not a conventional poison, maybe giving it indigestion would be a thought. Something designed to either disrupt it once consumed, or slow it down.

Also, negatives work well in nature - many things have colors, smells, etc. to warn away potential eaters. Heimdall, do you think we could steer Icarus away from targets, or in a general direction, using things it would find distasteful?