EVENT #12: INVOCATION - IC EVENT LOG (PART 2)

[abraxasmods]

Event #12 - Invocation ( 2 )

Go to the:
OOC plotting post | Event coordination post

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As Week 3 approaches around March 6th, faction officials will begin to reach out to characters for information they've uncovered that hasn't been reported. Although Thorne, the Free Cities, and Solvunn have traditionally been at odds, the three nations have come together under these unique circumstances,, and will continue to cooperate until the Lost have been recovered. With Nocwich open as a base of operations, the Spared will have a neutral location to meet in person without border restrictions.

How events proceed will depend in part on your actions. If you're one of the Spared, you can join a team or stay back to prepare and coordinate. If you're one of the Lost, you can escape or remain behind to help others break free.

NOTES

1. For a rough TIMELINE, the Lost's breaking free and the Spared's coordination efforts will take place 2-3 days into Week 3. Leading into Week 4, the Spared will send out their teams to retrieve the Escape and Holdout Groups. Though there's some narrative wiggle room for who returns and when, characters should only participate in one team or group to keep things organized.
   
   
2. A Coordination Post will be used for communications between mods and players both. You can request dice rolls, start investigations, submit or review notable incidents, and begin in-person network-style threads with each other to quickly play out IC interactions. Review the post for forms and other details to fully participate in this event.


3. The Network will function properly again for the Lost who have escaped. The ones who remain captured will continue to experience disruptions similar to Part 1.

Please don't hesitate to ask us questions or clarification, even if you feel it might be a minor detail. This event contains a lot of information to go over, so we're happy to guide you through anything that requires further explanation. We'd much prefer you ask to avoid any misunderstandings or confusion!

Week 3

By now, several discoveries have been made. You've explored nearly every angle you can. It's time to take what you've learned and do something about the situation, whether you're trapped inside the dark cave or trying to bring your friends home.

Escape | The Lost

CW: Disturbing imagery (text and visual), death, dark and horror-based themes.

The past two weeks have been a harrowing experience, but you're still alive. Though the situation's worsened in some aspects, you've gained advantages in others. You might've formed unexpected allies from the other side, discovered hidden clues, or retrieved weapons and tools.

Moreover, the Acolytes don't seem quite so sure of themselves anymore, do they? Ever since the ritual, they've been watching nervously, as though they aren't confident in what's coming next. Some of you even managed to reveal one of their faces, exposing a weakness.

As you listen to the rattle of chains and scraping of metal on stone, you fear something much worse awaits you. Is it time to strike? Do you work on your own or rally the others? That's up to you, but one thing's evident: you can't sit around much longer.

Players can narrate the commotion and escape how they like, using the details described below. The Acolytes will retaliate and try to stop escape attempts. Killing and attacking them is possible with no need to request a roll, but enough will survive to subdue anyone left behind.

Characters don't need to willingly sacrifice themselves to remain captured. They can also be too injured to leave or fail to make it in time.

The First Domino (Breaking Out)

When the final shrine was unlocked late in Week 2, fleshy pillars rooted themselves into the cavern floor. As your third week in the cave crawls along, the trunk-like pillars begin to move.

A low groan shakes the ceiling above. Rocks fall along with bits and pieces of the bulbous organic prisons attached to the high walls. Chunks of melted flesh from decomposing bodies within the plantlike traps splatter below. Were it not obvious before, it is now: the pillars are legs belonging to a creature. A very large creature.

◎ Unleashed

The creature is not interested in fighting. Instead, it begins to leave. As it does, it takes portions of the ceiling with it, tearing holes above and below. People scurry beneath its feet and are crushed like ants. It does not discriminate between the Acolytes and the natives who are captured.

But it does avoid you and the other Summoned. Either it can't see anyone except you, or it recognizes you and associates you with those who freed it. Regardless, you are spared its destructive path. It lumbers off, dragging thorny vines that whip behind it. Crumpled pieces of the shrines and mangled bodies stick to its massive feet. You can't see where the creature is going, but later you might realize it has vanished into the ocean.

The brief chaos has left you with several openings:

• Seawater spills from unseen crevices above, flowing down the walls. Several Acolytes are dead, reducing their numbers.


• The already weakened cracked wall crumbles further, granting you an easier path to the webbing behind it.


• Equally weakened is the sealed opening where a smaller but deadly creature was previously trapped. A couple of determined hands could free it for a distraction. Beware - it's hungry.


• If the boulder hasn't already been pushed out of the way, the rumbling ground and smashed walls might help you finish the job.

Do you grab a weapon and attack the Acolytes while they're disoriented? Do you help save the injured natives? Are you focused on what lies behind the boulder and cracked wall? Do you free the trapped beast? Decide quickly - this could be your only chance.

◎ Opening the Door

Although the ceiling's been torn open, no open sky is revealed. Climbing up is difficult. You'll have to look elsewhere to escape. Once the boulder is removed and the cracked wall is torn down, you'll notice orange sparks that run between the strange bulb behind the boulder and the dense webbing across the cave.

Are you brave enough to reach into the pulsing bulb? If you do, you'll find thick vines connected to its beating heart. Each time a vine is forcibly pulled away and disconnected, the webbing begins to loosen, forming a small opening - but letting go will close the webbing right up again.

The more vines are disconnected, the larger the opening. It'll take 2-3 of you to make an opening large enough for people to go through... and from how quickly it closes, anyone who volunteers understands that they won't be escaping with the rest.

◎ Escape Routes

Do you trust what lies beyond the webbing? Looking through reveals only the dark abyss. You have no idea what's out there, but it can't be worse than what's in here. Can it?

If you don't trust the webbing and have the strength, you can swim down through an opening in the floor, left behind by the giant earlier. It's filled with cold ocean water. If you make it, you'll see a standard portal hidden in the depths.

Choose your path. Each one will spit you out somewhere a little different, but you'll have the chance to look for and meet up with others who took the other route.

If you're one of the Lost keeping the webbing open, you could try to dive for the underwater portal, but you won't make it. The portal will shatter quickly once the vines are released.

◎ Josselyn Creed | Interact

Josselyn Creed is difficult to spot in the commotion but not impossible. A few of her most faithful protect her. She wears a unique robe compared to the others. Her hood is lowered, revealing her brown hair tied in a bun that may be recognizable to some. Her mask is in place.

While she'll escape in the end, she isn't immune to harm. You can try to stop her and, in the process, perhaps contribute to what happens to her as she flees or afterwards.

◎ The Mysterious Acolyte | Interact

Along with the natives who might need your assistance escaping, there's also the strange pair whom a few interacted with. The Mysterious Acolyte and the Unknown Stranger will appear lost and uncertain in the pandemonium.

Some of you promised to help them escape, but saving them comes with a cost: at least one of you must exchange your place in the Escape Group for both of them. She will not leave without her brother, the Unknown Stranger. Her refusal will cost one of the Summoned their place.

Players can decide how the scenario plays out. At least one character must their place in the Escape Group so that the Unknown Stranger makes it through first. Only then will the Mysterious Acolyte follow.

Characters holding open the webbing and vines are not eligible. A sacrifice can only count for one outcome.

Into the Cold (Escape Group)

The first thing you notice is the biting cold. The sky is beginning to lighten. For once, you can breathe in the fresh air. But where are you, really?

◎ Gathering Your Bearings

Though spring is on its way, the mountains are a tundra. Temperatures are cold, though not as terrible as they'd have been in the dead of winter. Maybe you've stolen some warm clothes off the dead before the escape? Or, if you've been kind to the Abraxan natives who shared the ordeal with you, they'll offer supplies and equipment in return. It isn't much, but it could make all the difference if you're in dire straits.

• If you swam through the WATER PORTAL, it'll spit you up in an open cave. Wet and cold as you are, at least you've found shelter. Keen eyes might spot an unusual trail of glitter. Follow it to a tiny hidden hot spring. Soaking in the shimmering water are a few mischievous but harmless creatures. One was accidentally set loose at the Peace Summit many months ago, showering multiple attendants in a shimmery sheen. Large beast-like prints are nearby, though, so best not to stay long. Still, it's a nice reprieve while you can get it...as long as you don't mind being coated in glitter.


• If you went through the DENSE WEBBING, it'll spit you up on a frozen lake. Cracks will begin to form as more and more land on the surface. You'll need to find solid ground quickly. Take care - a large shadow lurks beneath the thinning ice. If there's too much commotion or excessive movement, it'll realize there's prey above and begin to thrash, disturbing the delicate ice further.

◎ Temporary Relief

Though some healing abilities and magic have returned, the wounds caused by the ritual don't seem to recover properly. They aren't getting worse, but it's troubling. Your mind could remain confused or disturbed. Even those who were successfully cured will discover the lesions heal much slower than other injuries.

As the days wear on, you might feel a strong pull from the Singularity that leads you into the Horizon. This is especially so if you remain under the ritual's influence. If you give in to the urge and find a safe moment to enter, you can go in without as much difficulty as before.

You won't land where you intend, but you might find one of the Spared within. Somehow, the Singularity has brought you together. Something compels you to reach out and make contact. When you do, you'll feel a gentle warmth. You might not know what's happening, but it feels right.

When you depart from the Horizon, effects from the ritual have lessened by a noticeable degree. They'll stay that way for the next day or so, giving you the strength to keep going.

◎ Preparing for the Night

What you do next is entirely up to you. You can organize with your fellow escapees, go off on your own, or try to bring the two groups together. Boars, rabbits, and foxes can be hunted. The surrounding snow can be boiled for safe drinking water.

Even more fortunate, your powers will return - to a degree. Stronger abilities might take longer to return fully, but elemental spells, modest healing, and enhanced senses or traits can be accessed. And you might find that messages on the Network are no longer distorted.

Not all is safe and well: though the first few days are quiet, the mountains aren't without the usual predators. Wolves howl, and large gryphons soar the sky. They're wary of people and are unlikely to attack, but that doesn't mean you should let your guard down. In the wild, you never know. As you enter Week 4, more formidable threats could arise.

Sacrifice (Holdout Group)

Maybe you're one of the unlucky souls, or maybe you chose to sacrifice your place for others. However it came about, both escape paths close, and the Acolytes inside the cavern overwhelm you and the rest once more. Those left behind are a mixture of native Abraxans and the Summoned. The ground is sticky with blood and viscera.

Forcibly, violently, you're led or dragged deeper and deeper down the stone paths to the altar room where the rituals took place. The Acolytes push as many of you in there as they can and seal the door - and if a few limbs are caught in the way, that's just too bad. Someone with you, perhaps one of the natives, ends up with a crushed finger or hand as the doors slam shut.

Not everyone is pushed inside in the end. In the Acolytes' rush to contain the Summoned, a few Abraxan natives are left outside the doors with the remaining Acolytes. When you hear their cries through the sealed barrier, you have to ask yourself if you're truly the lucky ones.

◎ The Altar Room

The altar is built of bone. The husks of now-empty bodies are piled into a macabre amalgamation. It's not meant to house anyone for long. Supplies are limited. Water trickles into a small pond used for the Acolytes' rituals. There are bowls of hardened bread. Sealed crates contain more mushrooms. They're edible, but some might carry psychedelic side effects. If you've succumbed to the ritual, though, you might not consider that a downside.

While not as open or large as the cavern you came from, you can explore the altar room for any potential answers to where you are and how to escape. The entrance is sealed tight. Outside, you can hear the Acolytes - and that might be important for later.

Since the door is magically sealed, nothing can come in or out...except the Bone Serpent, whose legs continue to slink down from above to snatch unsuspecting victims. Blood drips from above, possibly from one of its missing legs.

Now and then, something bangs on the door. Is it the creatures you unleashed before? The beasts that were never contained? You can try to follow the Bone Serpent to see where it leads or maybe even glimpse the creature beyond its thorny limbs, but that's a high risk. The consequences could be dire.

◎ Slow Flood

The destruction seems to have broken what prevented you from using the Network. You can now communicate with the Spared and the Escape Group uninterruped.

Unfortunately, the chaos has also dislodged the structure of the entire cavern. Husks of limbs crumble to the floor. The ground grows moist. Bit by bit, water begins to collect in small puddles. More drips through cracks in the walls and ceilings. The rocky floors offer higher ground, but that'll only last for so long.

As slow as it is, there's no denying the dread that washes over you: the cavern is flooding, and it's seeping through into the altar room. Some of the captured natives look uneasy. Others are too injured to help themselves. You can try to plug the leaks. Though the idea might strike you as morbid, the bodies of the dead can be used to keep some of the water at bay.

◎ Temporary Relief

Wounds caused by the ritual don't seem to recover properly. Your mind could remain confused or disturbed. Even those who were successfully cured will discover the lesions heal much slower than other injuries.

As the days wear on, you might feel a strong pull from the Singularity that leads you into the Horizon. This is especially so if you remain under the ritual's influence. If you give in to the urge and manage to find a safe moment to enter, you can go inside without as much difficulty as before.

You won't land where you intend, but you might find one of the Spared within nonetheless if you wander through. Somehow, the Singularity has brought you together. Something compels you to reach out and make contact. When you do, you'll feel a gentle warmth. You might not know what's happening, exactly, but it feels right.

When you depart from the Horizon, effects from the ritual have lessened by a noticeable degree. They'll stay that way for the next day or so, giving you the strength to keep going.

Coordination | The Spared

You might have compromised a few morals to get what you want - if you had any in the first place - but regardless of how you got here, you and the other Summoned have gathered enough information to proceed. Of course, there are still a few details to iron out. How will you approach the island without compromising the Lost? What spells and resources are required? What needs to be done so that survivors have a safe place to rest and recover once they're home? And what about the ritual inflicted upon them?

Players are encouraged to organize teams, rescue efforts, and tactics with each other. The details outlined below are to provide a starting point and some guidance but are by no means the only options available.

Nocwich

Thanks to a request by one of the Summoned in the Free Cities, Nocwich's doors are opened as a neutral meeting ground for the Spared from all three major nations. Some officials will also be arriving to monitor the situation.

◎ Ritual Details (Sten) | Interact

Sten, one of the Nocwich ambassadors for the Lunae, received a request to help find a cure for the ritual. To do so, he wants to first learn as much about the ritual as he can. Anyone with information can come forward either in person or with a note - anonymous or not. While he'd prefer to put a name to the face, Nocwich won't interfere with the Summoned's desire to protect themselves and their secrets.

Sten will be available in Oleuni Square, in one of the many tents. Pale-haired and scarred, he's warm and friendly to everyone. Due to Luna's connection to Solvunn, he has some knowledge of High Magic, although the traditions of the werewolves are different. While he can't hold long meetings, he'll make time to see everyone who has something important to tell him about the ritual - and if you need a little extra reassurance, he'll offer that, too.

◎ Oleuni Square

Normally a thriving marketplace, Oleuni Square has been repurposed. In the northeastern corner, a collection of tents have been set up. Most are utilitarian but others are covered with homemade blankets to help cover imperfections. The Lunae have come to lend their aid. Volunteers help set up tables and supplies. Others guard the area and the portals. A communal cooking area is available to provide hot meals.

You can make use of the tents for talking strategy, organizing supplies, and other meetings. Nearby inns are available for sleeping free of charge, although one of the inns is closed so that it can be converted into a temporary infirmary. Faction officials and employees are available, as well. You can consult them on tactical advice, resources, and the lay of the land.

Early in Week 3, a few representatives from Ikorr arrive with a supply of their sacred sap. With the sap and the metal ore from the Lunae, you can fashion supplies and potions from raw materials.

The mood around the makeshift camp is somber but hopeful. As one of the Summoned, you'll have control of the situation and can work with a variety of officials and locals to arrange what you need.

Reevaluating Plans

Shortly into Week 3, you'll receive word that some of the Lost have escaped. As details come in bits and pieces, you realize the situation's taken a dramatic turn. More than that, messages from the Lost are no longer disrupted as before. You can read the words clearly again.

Who makes contact first and how the news spreads depends on you. Regardless of how it comes about, your focus can't be solely on breaching the discovered island. Now you also have another group to retrieve - and you don't know where they are, though they at least have some helpful information: the Singularity, the snowy mountains, and a view of the ocean.

Take advantage of the Network's return to reevaluate your plans. You'll need to determine the situation in the island cave as well as the mountains, split into teams, and bring everyone home.

Assigning Roles

Under the circumstances, officials will recommend the Summoned divide into at least two groups: one to search the mountains and one to retrieve the Lost remaining on the island. If you're not the type to rush to the front lines, you can also stay back and help out at home. There's plenty to do here between finding a cure, delegating tasks, and preparing for survivors to return.

◎ Search Team

Reports from the Escape Group tell of snow-capped mountains, Acolytes in pursuit, and other creatures that lurk. Many are injured, though fortunately, abilities have started to return. The area isn't guarded, but the terrain is difficult and temperatures are harsh. Officials will suggest using portals to arrive at the nearest safe point on the mountains before traveling on foot to find the Lost. Others can choose to hunt down the Acolytes who are chasing their friends. Anyone with strong tracking skills would be key, but the team could also use medical assistance in case anyone needs treatment on the spot.

◎ Retrieval Team

Word has it that some of the Acolytes remain on the island along with the trapped captives. The area is tightly guarded and possibly infested with some unknown creatures or those not in their right minds. Officials will suggest negotiating to prevent unwanted casualties but will caution that having a team for infiltration and force is necessary, too. Some distraction could also be helpful, and it would be wise to have some medical assistance in case anyone needs treatment on the spot.

◎ Home Team

Having hands on deck at base is equally vital. Officials will recommend a cure for the ritual be found while the teams are out searching, and standard healing supplies will need preparation, too. Outbound teams could use someone to help bring together lines of communication, updating officials and the Summoned alike about what's going on. And of course, with the Horizon as a place of respite, anyone who can go in to help the Lost seeking healing would be of value.

Week 4

The days have been taxing, but you're beginning to feel a change in the air. Now that resources and information have been pooled, things are moving quickly. Soon, you'll be reunited.

Once you find one another, you'll still need to return home safely - but at least you'll have each other now.

Although players have been divided up until now between Lost and Spared, Week 4 will bring the Spared in contact with the Lost's environments. We'll provide relevant information or redirect each group accordingly so that you don't need to review the entire post for the correct details. If there's anything you're uncertain about from the other group, please ask!

Survival | The Lost

CW: Disturbing imagery (text and imagery), mild gore, body horror, dark and horror-based themes

By now, you've undoubtedly heard from the Spared back home. You're relieved to know rescue is coming, but you probably don't want to sit and wait. With threats to contend with and a dangerous environment, you can take steps to be sure the Spared have help from the other side.

Escape Group

Surviving the elements is only half of it. As the days turn to nights, you realize you're not alone. More than wolves and bears prowl. Something sinister comes...as well as the Acolytes who want their captives back at all cost.

◎ Pursuing Acolytes | Interact

Loyal to the cause, some Acolytes chase the fleeing Lost into the mountains. You might be lulled into safety the first few days, but by Week 4, you sense their presence. The evergreen trees wither, winter shrubs rot, and unexplained husks of wildlife are found. The winds carry a stench in the air that you now identify with the fungal cavern you were held in.

They hunt in pairs or small groups. Their powers seem weaker for reasons unknown, but they remain formidable opponents. You can run, protect others, or go on the offensive.

◎ Hydnellia & Esmond | Interact

If they successfully escape in Week 3, the Mysterious Acolyte and the Unknown Stranger will travel with their rescuers. They'll introduce themselves as Hydnellia & Esmond. Though nervous, Hydnellia is more trusting of anyone who helped them. She's skilled in healing and foraging, while Esmond carries a draught for warmth that could prove useful. Depending on where you stand, you could find their addition helpful or contentious.

◎ Revenant | Interact

Something else stalks the night, scaring even the Acolytes. A hoarfrost revenant has lived on these peaks for centuries. With the sudden arrival of the Lost and Acolytes, he prowls the snow, searching for who's disturbed his sleep.

He cannot be killed. You can only run or chase him away, but he'll soon return. Take care not to stay in one place too long. A rattling chain and blue-flamed lantern announces his coming. His touch brings instant death, made clear by the frozen carcasses of animals left in his path. Best not to fight him.

◎ Rescue

Landmarks such as lakes, cliffs, the Singularity, and more can be used to direct the Search Team to your location.

You might want to warn the Spared about the dangers they'll face when they reach the mountains. Unable to portal to you directly, they'll reach you on foot. You'll need to brave the dangers together one last time to reach the waiting portals below. The trek isn't far, but making that final stretch might feel like an eternity. In the distance, the ground trembles, and the snow begins to form an avalanche.

Players can arrange how the Search Team and the Escape Group meet and decide what threats they'll encounter as they return to the portal.

Details on the avalanche and what characters will face when traveling to the portal will be provided under the Search & Rescue - Search Team section.

Holdout Group

As you huddle in the altar room, you can only hope your sacrifice, intentional or not, was worth it. At least you've been able to communicate with the outside world. The Acolytes are beginning to show signs of unease and budding dissent. At some point, you have to ask, why haven't the unhappy ones left or fled themselves?

Maybe you aren't the only ones trapped anymore. Maybe you're all trapped together now.

◎ The Altar | Interact

Now that you can approach the altar and examine it closely, you see the terrible remnants of twisted figures sunken into the ground beneath it, as though they've fused with the altar itself.

If prodding at the shrines worked, perhaps doing the same with the altar will reveal some answers. A strange energy emanates from its open maw when those afflicted by the ritual come near.

◎ A Promise | Interact

In the final hour, some Acolytes desperately try to resume the rituals on the few remaining Abraxan natives left outside the altar room - many in poor condition. You hear it, though you can only glimpse it through a gap in the sealed doors. Their bodies quickly succumb and sprout more fungal growths while long, spine-like tendrils protrude from their orifices.

You can plead with them to stop, or you can join them in hopes that you will find your divine emancipation. The Acolytes will release anyone who wants to join the ritual from the altar room...but what you step into could carry horrific consequences.

◎ Dissenting Acolytes | Interact

More arguments beyond the sealed doors erupt as water fills the cave and altar room. They accuse each other of being faithless or too blindly loyal. Some say Hydnellia betrayed them. Others say the High Priestess did, perhaps referring to Josselyn.

Toward the middle of Week 4, it grows quiet outside. The arguments stop. One Acolyte approaches the door. She promises to free you and the others and help you find a way out of the cavern together, including overwhelming Josselyn's faithful.

This could be what turns the tide, but things might also go very wrong. You and the others trapped with you must decide if you'll accept the olive branch. Of course, agreeing to trust them doesn't mean you have to follow through. The Acolytes sound desperate and might be a bit too trusting themselves.

◎ Rescue

Unlike the Escape Group, the Spared know where the Holdout Group is. Getting to them will take effort, but you can help by providing information from the inside. After all, the Acolytes won't know when you're using the network. You can even coordinate with each other in secret despite being in the same room.

You might want to warn the Spared about the dangers they face when they reach the cavern areas. The Bone Serpent could pose a problem, along with any crumbling walls and obstacles. A creature might still be trapped in one of the tunnels if no one freed it. As the team approaches, severe quakes shake the entire place. Water flows in faster. It appears ready to collapse at any moment.

You'll need to get off the island to reach the portal on the Thornean peninsula. That'll pose a problem when the boats break from the collapsing island, but an unexpected friend might arrive.

Details on the quake and what characters face when getting off the island will be provided under the Search & Rescue - Retrieval Team section.

Search & Rescue | The Spared

CW: Disturbing imagery (text and visual), dark themes.

After an exhausting month, it finally seems as though things are coming together. By now, you've made decided on your plans, gathered your resources, and chosen the role that suits you best. Not everyone may agree with what you're doing, or maybe there's someone you don't agree with. Nevertheless, your friends are waiting, and you'll push forward with or without support.

Search Team

As part of the Search Team, your goal is to portal from Nocwich to the mountains and locate members of the Escape Group.

You'll need to determine the best place to portal in - close enough to the Lost that the trek is reasonable but safe enough that the portals won't be at risk. Considering the terrain and the condition of many of the Lost, it's likely the distance will be about one day's travel on foot.

◎ Resources & Support

Thorne will send their military for support since their soldiers are used to winter conditions, unlike the Free Cities. The Free Cities will provide portal stones so that mages won't be required to maintain an open portal. The Lunae will offer guides to help navigate the wilderness.

Solvunn's aid is limited to healing supplies, as their efforts are focused on the island due to the heavy use of High Magic there.

You are not limited to only what the factions offer upfront. If there's more you think they can do, you can make a request.

◎ The Acolytes (Escape) | Interact

Though rescuing the Lost is the top priority, you might feel justice or vengeance is long overdue. Some Acolytes are pursuing the captives while others might try to pass as one of the survivors. Those most faithful to the cause will attack you, but not all of them are that steadfast. Some prefer to flee. Others still may surrender, under the right circumstances.

Officials have requested that the Acolytes be brought in alive if possible, but no one will be counting the bodies if you decide to take out a few on your own.

Players can write out attacking, capturing, or killing the Acolytes without using the interaction. However, if you want to take a more specific action in terms of identifying any Acolytes pretending to pass as one of the captured Abraxan natives, negotiating a surrender, or interrogating them on the spot, you can submit an interaction.

◎ Getting to Safety

During the search, you'll encounter the same dangers the Escape Group has faced over the past week. Common predators include wolves, gryphons, and wild boars. Most significantly, a revenant must be avoided or else death is certain. Detailed under the Survival - Escape Group section, the revenant can be interacted with by the Spared once on the mountains.

Keep your friends safe after you meet up with them. You'll have to guide them back to the portals and make sure they can keep up with their injuries. Though you hope the journey is smooth, you know better.

And sure enough, a rumble draws your attention. When you look up, you see it coming down: an avalanche pouring down one of the mountain slopes. Get out of the way quickly or risk being swept up in the landslide. If you're lucky enough to dodge the avalanche, you can help anyone caught in its path.

Retrieval Team

As part of the Retrieval Team, your goal is to infiltrate the island and safely retrieve the members of the Holdout Group. A portal from Nocwich can only take you as far as the peninsula on Thorne's coast, near the island. The rest is on you.

Your team's likely already decided the best method to breach the island and you may have done your best to account for every last detail, but that doesn't mean everything will go as planned. The flooding hasn't stopped. Frequent, violent quakes are now shaking the island, and the structure beneath is rapidly crumbling. Time is of the essence.

◎ Resources & Support

Thorne mages and Solvunn Elders will accompany your team to focus on dispelling the enchantments, while the Free Cities will send some of its soldiers. They'll also provide boats powered with New Magic. Though normally quite noisy, Thorne has stepped in to enchant them to be much more discreet.

You are not limited to only what the factions offer upfront. If there's more you think they can do, you can make a request.

◎ Dispelling Protections | Interact

The illusions that once held the island together are corrupted from the escape. Navigating the constantly shifting landscape is dizzying and confusing. You might experience strange visions brought on by your imagination - terrifying images from home you know shouldn't be there.

Fight through it to find a warded tunnel. You'll need to find a way to break the wards to enter. Should you feel the urge to rush in heedlessly, you might want to observe the pile of dead bats and birds all around you. Their bodies are mangled and crushed. You can only imagine what might happen to you.

◎ The Collapse

Whether you make contact with the Acolytes or the Holdout Group first depends on your approach. You can apprehend what Acolytes you can, negotiate their surrender, or kill them. Whichever tactics you use, once the Holdout Group is released from the altar room, you'll end up in the same situation: the way out is blocked from falling debris. Seawater rapidly fills the cavern.

Your best bet is to follow the water flow into the open ocean. As you do, the cavern begins to collapse in on itself in a swirling whirlpool as the magic which kept the water at bay falters. You'll have to struggle to swim against the current, and a few Acolytes are sucked into the vortex. The boats splinter and break apart, leaving you and many wounded stranded in the ocean.

◎ An Old Friend

Deep waters aren't safe. When a deep rumbling sounds and a massive shadow looms below, you might wonder if this is the end. Instead, the shadow takes on a warm moon-like glow. A familiar figure to some of you from Thorne surfaces. The giant sea turtle waits calmly for you to climb on its shell. You can save any captured Acolytes, or you can let the sea swallow them.

How did the turtle find you? If you have strong psychic abilities or an affinity for communicating with animals, you might sense a connection to a much smaller turtle: Admiral Chuck from The Arcanis. Perhaps a friend is looking out for you from afar after you were kind enough to spend time with him.

The moonlit turtle will carry everyone to shore, where the portal to Nocwich awaits. Then it vanishes into the depths once more.

Home Team

As part of the Home Team, your goal is to support the others and prepare for the return of many survivors.

Two important tasks are healing in the Horizon to aid any of the Lost who are struggling, and finding a cure for the effects of the ritual. You can also assign tasks, transform the inn into an infirmary, and make sure supplies are available.

◎ Ritual Cure | Interact

The answer to a cure is likely found in the contents of Josselyn's house, the mushroom rings, and the odd black substance painted around the abduction sites. Solvunn's Elders and the Lunae, including Sten, will be there to help and provide any information they can.

If you're not the experimental type, you can still help in one of two ways: you can go to Ikorr to retrieve a bloom from their sacred flower located in the Nightbloom or you can go to Luna to collect moon-blessed water from the Lunar Pond. You'll be accompanied through a direct portal by the vampires to Ikorr or the werewolves to Luna.

Researchers and mages from the major nations will also work on the task using the information they've learned - but they'd be grateful for any assistance.

◎ Horizon Healing

As discovered in Week 3, you can continue to use the Horizon to offer to heal those who need it. In moments of calm, anyone connected to the Singularity will feel a familiar pull. The urge to enter the Horizon itches at the back of your mind as the hours go by, even if you're not usually inclined to do so.

If you give in, you could find one of the Lost there. You sense they need your help, or you feel compelled to reach out and touch. A warmth flows between you. Though you may not realize what you've done until afterwards, you'll know it's something unique and powerful.

Forging a stronger link to the Horizon can subtly strengthen the gifts and magic you receive from the Singularity - and a deep healing connection with another Summoned is a part of that.

Return

For the next week or so, Nocwich is the place of refuge. Concerned that the ritual and other unknown effects may have a widespread impact, everyone must remain in Nocwich. This includes the abducted Abraxan natives, the soldiers, mages, and Elders who arrived to help.

Captured Acolytes will be held in the prisons in Nocwich. Their fate is yet to be determined.

Should the Mysterious Acolyte and her brother make it to safety, they'll also be held in Nocwich for now. Nocwich will recognize that they were rescued by some of you, however, and will make sure they're placed in a comfortable - but still guarded - home.

Recovery & Cures

The Square's largest inn serves as a temporary infirmary. The Lost will be brought here to recover and receive the cure for the ritual. Any of the Spared who were injured during the rescue will also be treated.

Healing & Care

Although a few healers and doctors from the factions are in Nocwich, most have stayed home to prepare for when the Summoned and their citizens return. Instead, healers from Luna and Ikorr will look after you with a combination of salves, healing magic, and potions. Ikorr's powerful sap is used in healing concoctions, reserved for the most severe injuries. Overdoing it can cause unwanted side effects, so healers are careful.

If you're lucky, you can get a room to yourself. If not, you might have a roommate. The infirmary is hectic, though you'll receive the best care possible. Visitors are allowed. Nurses caution against overtaxing yourself, but you can finally reunite with everyone you've been separated from over the past four weeks.

Receiving the Cure

After such a harrowing ordeal, you'll be relieved to learn that the cure is effective and painless. It consists of a spoonful of a thick mixture. The aftertaste is bitter and a little sour but not terrible. After a day or two, the psychological effects will fade completely. Physical afflictions will begin to heal again.

If any growths remain, they must be removed. Thankfully, potent sleeping draughts means you won't feel a thing - a blessing that those who sought a cure in the caverns didn't have.

Returning Home

After a week, officials determine that the ritual effects are cured and request that you return home. Their doctors and healers will look after you once you're back. Eventually, they'd like to know the details, but you won't need to talk about it just yet.

◎ Thorne

Your return to Thorne is greeted with a show of fanfare. For many, the castle staff has grown familiar with your presence. They're heartened to see you return. A few may have get-well gifts if they've come to know you.

If you still require significant healing, you'll be taken care of in the Castle's infirmary. Otherwise, you'll be assigned a healer who'll check in on you in your room.

◎ Free Cities

Your return to Cadens is greeted with a buzz in the air. With a city so populated, reactions vary from relief to curiosity to a much less welcome invasion of privacy from local writers. City guards will do their best to make sure you return home or arrive at the hospital with minimal fuss.

If you were injured, doctors will insist you remain overnight at the hospital. If you were severely wounded and remain so, they won't clear you for release until you're fully recovered. Of course, no one can stop you from leaving, but you may want to listen to the doctors.

◎ Solvunn

Your return to Solvunn is greeted with a somber air. Many in the settlement are in the midst of prayer, having devoted themselves to seeking your safe return. Your friends and neighbors are relieved to see you, but they're troubled by the perversion of their traditions, the close involvement of one of their Council members, and the terrible suffering you endured.

Healers and Elders will see you in your home as needed. Offerings will be made to shrines on your behalf, and you won't run out of home-cooked meals for a while. Many will lend a sympathetic ear if you want someone to talk to.

Comments

Dean Winchester | Supernatural

[righteously]

( Spared; Recovery Group; Free Cities; The Lovers.

warning: implied character death scene. ping me at paingravy or ⲉⲙ#5555 for anything. )

ғ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴛ

[righteously]

It happens fast, it happens slow.

The pit is found. Reunions are had. The cavern collapses. All of them swim, and those who can't are pulled along by groups of hands that reach for one another unceasingly, until every last Summoned breaches the surface and breathes in salty sea air. They tread water, hardly safer now than they were ten minutes ago — but with fewer falling rocks, so that's a perk.

For a moment, he considers trying the wings. Seeing if he can't fully break the surface, get to airborn, start flying people back to the island — but he can't. He knows it. He barely had a grasp on flight in the first place, he couldn't do it water logged. Not that it matters. He knows now there aren't enough feathers left, they're bare and nearly skeletal. The last of them fell the moment his fist connected with Jo. They won't carry him, let alone a passenger with him.

And then comes- a giant fucking turtle, because apparently that's just the kind of reality they're working with these days. Breaching the surface to the sound of gasps beneath the feet of exhausted people who barely have the strength to tread water anymore. They're lifted, and those that aren't begin to swim forward, clambering onto the shell. He helps them, salt water in his eyes and matting his clothes. He shakes his hair from his face and hoists folks one after another.

He's one of the last to pull himself out of the sea. Maybe that's why he sees it.

Disturbed by the cataclysm, annoyed by the commotion. Tempted by the snack-sized abundance of floundering legs in the water, like a scene straight out of god damn Jaws. It's a juvenile. Barely the size of a whale, but still plenty large enough to swallow a man — or two — whole. It is a blurry but rapidly crystallizing shape beneath the waves. It is teeth and eyes reflecting sunlight through surface tension, aiming straight up, intent to quickly snatch what it can reach. The least-clustered food-shapes on a turtle that it may or may not confuse with a ship.

He moves faster than a human should, these days. To Jo or to Sam, it may seem like a repeat of the horrific incident from a week ago, the way he springs forward, the way he launches himself at them, the way he knocks them backward onto their asses on the shell's surface. It'll quickly become apparent that isn't the case when the first tooth pierces cleanly through his chest and spears out the other side.

This part seems slow. He has enough time to glance down, to feel the impact. To glance back up again, wide-eyed and stunned, to make eye contact with them as he's impaled.

And then time speeds up again, and the leviathan rips its meal off the back of the turtle, descending swiftly into the dark depths, gone in the blink of an eye. Dean is gone with it. They can dive after, or they can wait, but it won't matter. He doesn't resurface.

ғ

[unwings]

Since reuniting with Dean in the pit, crashing into the wave of relief finding his friend still himself, Castiel's hardly taken his hand completely off him. Partly needing the support just to walk (or swim) after the punishment he'd taken in the pit, and partly something deeper that passes through locked eyes, slow blinks, and minute nods, something familiar that gets lodged in his throat, too immense to swallow or voice. Nothing they need, or want, to discuss now, if ever.

Hobbled out of the pit, pulled along through the water by Dean's stronger kicking, they reach the surface and Cas finally parts with him to help others onto the turtle's back. Injured and struggling as he is, Cas will be the last one to admit it. If he has the strength to tug a panicking native onto stable land(ish), even if it's done from the ground, he'll do it. Finally seeing all of them safe on the turtle's back, he sighs out, letting everything of the past several weeks bleed out, about to drop to his back and finally let down his guard.

He almost misses it. On his inhale - the scramble, shoving Sam and Jo back, the deep shadow rapidly growing, and the explosion from the water that ends with Dean run through on the enormous tooth of a prehistoric monstrosity. Then both gone, before the exhale leaves him.

"No! Dean!" Cas shouts, voice with a pitiful break, and his body moves without needing command. Adrenaline spikes, launches Cas to his feet, and immediately after, he's diving into the choppy waves that swallowed Dean into the depths.

The rational part of Castiel's mind knows there's no way, even if his body and mind weren't mangled from weeks in the pit, that he'd reach the sea serpent now.

The last order from Heaven Cas accepted proudly and without question was this: save Dean Winchester. Somewhere along their long road, it morphed from a single mission to a lifelong duty. Watch over him, protect him, support him, be a friend when he needs it, a hand to pull him back, family to make a rural motel feel like a home, and provide whatever enigmatic deeper bond they share when all the rest wasn't enough. Above all else - keep him alive. In a split, horrify second, Cas fails. Whatever rationality has to say, he isn't listening.

He's scraping the bottom of the depleted grace barrel and putting every last ounce he has in him towards following the monster that snatched Dean away. If anyone could perceive his wings the way only other angels can, they'd see them flailing helplessly, trying to teleport despite their bone bare state, scant feathers clinging but useless. He's exhausting himself with his determination to crawl-swim his way to wherever Dean's gone, and with his grace a bare whisper, he'll be quickly running out of actually needed oxygen. Not that any of it's stopping him.

ғ

[tobeclosetohim]

Everyone's soaked in seawater, and it's hard enough going helping the newly freed captives get to the surface, keep their heads over, keep them pushing (or being dragged) toward the weirdest of returning creatures. That turtle from out on the boat all those months and months ago. With their ship crashed, capsized, splintered apart, she'll take fucking weird as a goddamn godsend at the moment.

Jo keeps moving—at the edge of the shell, pulling the people Dean hoists to them up with Sam by force of will and determination—because it is the only way at this point. Nothing is over until they've got all these people back to Nowhich and the hands of those who can help them far more than anything here could. (Until all the heads that are missing are accounted for, in whichever way that goes in the ledger that's never been kind here or at home.)

Once everyone's on board, Dean's last up, because there isn't anyone left to leverage. She's just starting to let herself take a breath when Dean whips in their direction and is suddenly lunging, and Jo only has the time to think not again before hands, along with a body, barrel into her, and then it's the ground. But she slams the deck, without a second impact coming, and the first thing she sees when her eyes squint open is Sam down with her, and a panicked look up catches it too close.

Too fucking close.

Now you see it --

Dean; Dean's back;

standing above them; at the edge;

then the shattering, ripping suddenness;

the blood-covered tooth stabbing out his back, above her;

(and only then; the massive behemoth blocking out everything else)

-- now you don't.

The space is empty before she's gotten to one breath, and there's screaming. Cas screaming Dean's name. A flailing, breaking, bottom of the barrel was broken further than the ground, scrapped thing, worse than anything he's tried to cover in his messages, in his words since they found him. Her entire body feels like it's a deafening frequency she knows better than her heartbeat, and she's trying to scramble up as Cas throws himself into the water.

(Now you see it --)

She's at the edge before she remembers getting her feet under her, shouting Cas' name first.

She can't process the first (it's a triptych alarm screaming through every cell; denial, horror, refusal, and something so much bigger it kept slamming her harder than that fist ever could, than bleeding out on a floor ever had, she's choking on her self-immolated bone-deep training not to scream), and so she can't reach the second (not again, not again; not both; not now that they'd finally found). Jo looks back to Sam, and there's the first full-blown panic Jo's face has allowed to break free since the moment he skittered up to her, beaten and broken and bleeding on the sand after he pulled Dean off.

It's all there is. Desperation. Not a question. Not a flicker of apology.
Jo turns, diving after the blur of Cas already bleeding into that dark sea.

(-- now you don't.)

ғ

[outwear]

There's hardly time to register the escape, with people being pulled out of the choppy waves and scrambling against the slick shell of their savior. Sam helps where he can, tired and waterlogged like the rest, but far better off in many ways than most. It gives him strength and power to have them whole again, a bold renewal to fight against the desperation of those around him.

He's just finishing settling a native Abraxan with a group of other survivors when Dean comes barreling into him and Sam feels gravity fall away. Beside him Jo's body bumps against him, too, arm-to-arm, and the next thing he knows he's laying prone over the grooves of the giant shell. Stunned. Confused.

Dean's there looming, and for a moment Sam expects another show of his aggression, waits for fists landing with brutal certainty. Instead, he watches as his brother stands against a cresting creature, jolting quickly thereafter—

No!

Sam, eyes wide and heart wrenching, gapes in utter and complete surprise as Dean's impaled and dragged away. The spray of water draws red lines down Sam's face where Dean's blood's splattered and for a whole eternity of a second he's locked in place by another swipe of tragedy.

He scrambles to get his footing but Castiel's seconds behind Dean, and Jo stares into his eyes before taking to the water, each showing more desperation than the last.

One, two, three, all gone to the depths of the sea.

"Dean!" He yells, too, and this time it's bubbling with anger, tears immediately salting the sea. "Jo, Cas!" Gone, too, dipped below into the dark depths one after another, three fools with more feelings than words. He would accuse them of having no sense, but Sam almost dives in after them like some idiotic suicide chain. It's the thought of leaving Jack alone with only the explanations from mostly strangers that halts him from making that decision.

Behind him someone's calling out for help in retrieving them, but the world is quickly fading away to a static haze, a background to the mire of complicated emotions bubbling through Sam at the risk of losing so many so quickly and so soon after finally coming back together.

[familysucks]

Morons, Michael thinks, when he turns at the sound of yelling and splashing in time to watch as first Castiel then Jo launch themselves back into the dark waters they've all just saved themselves from.

As a rule, he keeps his distance from Winchesters and company. Dean, Sam and especially his little brother Castiel are magnets for disaster, and though their family business is saving people, at the end of the day they'd sacrifice anyone and everyone around them if it meant preserving one another's lives. Adam would agree with him on that one, he's sure.

Their misfortune is firmly not his problem.

There's Jack, though, who isn't quite his concern either and may wind up the same terror his real father is some billion or so years down the line, but who's young enough to get the attention of his latent protective instincts. Michael believes the nephilim is doomed to misery by mere association to his chosen parents, but to lose all but one of them at once? It doesn't have to be so soon. There's another, distant part of him that still rankles at the thought of anything taking a bite out of a fellow angel, too—though he can and will deny it when it comes to Castiel.

The facts are that neither Jo nor Sam are cut out to drag even a weakened Castiel away from whatever's left of Dean, and Michael has never been good at shirking responsibility. This is going to be an IOU from at least one of them, though.

Michael's wings are useless to him outside of Solvunn. There's a flutter of unseen feathers all the same as he rushes to the edge of the turtle's shell, where Sam is staring into the depths. It's a strong tug of grace that drags Castiel to the surface before he can swim out of reach, and Jo along with him. Maybe she at least succeeded in slowing him down.

He hauls Jo up by the arm once she's close enough, then shoves her in Sam's direction with an unspoken hold this just in case she's afflicted by the same kind of ocean leviathan-chasing madness for Dean that Castiel is. He expects he'll need two hands for Castiel anyway. Castiel's long since stopped following orders when it comes to Dean Winchester. There's going to be kicking and screaming. No one throws a tantrum quite like baby siblings do.

[unwings]

Castiel’s so used to Terminator walking his way through most obstacles. The last time he tried to blast through Big Brother Michael, however, he ended up a nasty splatter of red and regret. Even on his best day, a struggle against Michael would be futile.

As expected, Cas is a squirming, kicking handful of weakened, fungi-covered angel, shouting protests and attempting to wriggle from his brother’s grip like a pissed off eel.

“Let me go, Michael,” Cas growls out through gritted teeth, ignorant or belligerent of his currently limitations. “Or go after him yourself.”

Michael could catch it, he tells himself (forgetting Abraxas rules on angel flight already), Michael could teleport after Dean, or swim miles and miles and never tire or run out of air (there’s no way of knowing which direction it went, in endless possibilities). But what does Dean matter to Michael? Hell, what does Cas matter to Michael? Maybe later he’ll brew deeper on that, but as it stands, the chance of retrieving Dean is rapidly plummeting, as the monster dives deeper and deeper into a wide swath of untraceable ocean.

If he stops fighting, he admits Dean’s gone, and that’s not something he can do. Not after surviving the last month, finally getting back to him just moments ago. Dragging himself tooth and nail through madness and torture to get back to him. It simply is not an acceptable option.

“It doesn’t concern you, brother, I know what I’m doing.” Knowing and recognizing what you’re doing is stupid are two different things, not mutually exclusive.

[tobeclosetohim]

No matter how the deck is shuffled, cut, and dealt, and how card hands might be ignored once handed out, Jo Harvelle is still just one very small human girl. Even flagging, nearly failed Angel grace is more than she has to throw at the ocean depths and Cas' fleeing shape beneath her. A blur she's barely keeping in sight, and whatever there'd once been of a monster big enough to take up more than half the sky is nowhere to be seen at all.

Everything burns. Her eyes, cuts, and bruises sustained getting through to the pit and then out of it, muscles that have been helping people walk, swim, and get out of the water again. But she refuses even realizing the pointlessness — because Castiel isn't . She can't. She can't. A new level of panic slams into her chest when suddenly she can't move, and she's being pulled back upward by a weird bungee cord, fast and hard. Desperation against being pulled from Cas, Dean, the ocean, a piercing scream of no!!! her body has if not her mouth.

Disorienting and nausea-inducing, and it's a blur of salt-water in stinging eyes and barely registering Michael's face before she's being shoved into Sam, her body colliding with him too hard, too fast even if not brutally, locking her up for too long seconds. Everything from her bones to her teeth sieze, and she can't move, and maybe it's a second, but it's still too long. Not now, not now, not now.

Jo manages to get through it, jerking toward the struggling Cas, still babbling. His voice still here, but his motions were jerky. Babbling desperately while scrabbling at ... Michael. Tall. Still, more stone-faced than not. Who barely looks affected by Cas' fighting back, and something jots a little too deep in, confused at how, but then——

"It doesn't concern you, brother, I know what I'm doing."
That one word—one—is all it takes. Because. That name. That word. Cas' familiarity. The line it bashes through her head. Facts she knows. But never would have. It was just. He. Locks down breathing—realization like being stabbed between the ribs. Naseua isn't a big enough word for it. It's blood covered, and her—she—they—could he have saved—did he just stand by—too many of her own words past—amused—secrets—that weren't but were too close to being them, too—laughter. It all collides and comes out the only way it ever could.

"You absolute mother fucker!" All of that pain rolls so fast into a clear, blinding rage, red as Dean's blood still on Sam's face and clothes, and unless Sam still has his hands on Jo in some fashion, she's already lunging toward both of the other two, obviously about to become another albiet small problem for the too tall dickbag angel from Solvunn holding Cas. "Get your hands off of him!"

[outwear]

Water crashes, wind whips, and the commotion still generated from the rescue and subsequent attack feels like a thousand voices screaming in Sam's head all at once. He wants to scream, too. To yell his lungs out at the edge of that turtle's shell, demand his brother back, or offer himself instead.

(Same shit, different day.)

The whole world is moving too much under Sam, a veritable crashing of continental divides. Sickeningly slow and somehow still too fast to stop. He's sputtering and panicked when suddenly faced with a(nother) familiar face. Adam. The surge of confusion and fear sprints through him and the sharp kick in the gut is not unlike that sharp tooth that's brought them all to this point.

He hardly has a second to consider the last time he saw his other brother when Jo's in his arms and Castiel is shedding more light on the situation. Like someone pulling the ballchain on a bright lamp, Sam can't believe how blinding it feels after so much time in the dark.

Michael.

If anyone could bring him back— he thinks, but it's gone as quickly as Dean, blown away instantly by a glance at Castiel struggling in his grief and anger, in feeling Jo reeling against his grip.

"No!" Sam's saying it before it registers that he's telling Jo no. He's holding her back from her pitbull-like charge and it takes a surprising amount of strength to hold back someone who was just struggling in the seawater moments before. He understands, he does, but—

Michael didn't do this. Dean didn't do this. The creature that did hadn't picked Dean for any other reason than he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's no one to blame.

"That's enough," he announces, voice cracking. If Michael hadn't been here then three of them would be dead. Sam's not about to produce any form of supplication in this situation, but like Hell is he going to let this grief spread like wildfire. "He's gone."

[familysucks]

Michael shifts his grip on Castiel before he gets the idea in his head to shimmy out of his clothes, an arm slung beneath Castiel's and over his chest. He looks like a parent with a squirming toddler crying to be let back down because he doesn't want to leave the playground, even though it's clearly time for a nap. He feels like one, too.

"You haven't known what you were doing since the day you stepped out of line," he spits back. His voice carries all the authority of a military leader dressing down a subordinate, for whatever little that probably means to Castiel anymore. "I hear you're a father, now. You have responsibilities. You don't get to keep making stupid, rash decisions like throwing your life away for Dean Winchester."

Castiel probably isn't in a state of mind to be reasoned with, and if anything he's liable to fight harder at the suggestion that he has more important things to worry about than Dean. But Michael is what he is, which is neither human nor particularly empathetic, and speaking to whatever's left of Castiel's sense of hierarchy is what he knows. If he's lucky, there's enough angel left in him to listen.

(Though it is, demonstrably, not much of a lucky day for him.)

He turns on Jo next, annoyed. Her anger is understandable, but Michael has never been much for putting himself in other's shoes except in the most literal sense. He steps in to help, and this is the thanks he gets?

"Get my hands off of him so he can what? Swim to the bottom of the sea? You were doing so well preventing that."

Honestly, putting him back in isn't the worst idea he's heard. Michael got over most of the 'ick' associated with the human form when he first shoved himself into one, but it's hard not to notice that Castiel could use another hour or so in the water. And a bar of soap.

There's a hard look in Sam's direction, too. Between the Winchester who refused him and the Winchester who doomed him to ten years in Hell, it's stiff competition for the title of human Michael most dislikes. Sam is actually helping, though, keeping their angry chihuahua back while he deals with Castiel, so for the moment they're allies. Michael says nothing to him, opting to turn his attention back to Castiel and wrap another arm around his brother, then haul him another few feet from the edge of the turtle's shell.

[unwings]

Sam's voice is what breaks through to Cas, twisting the ache in him. He'd been determined not to return to Sam until he had his brother back in hand, back to safety, the way he'd always done in the past, for either of them. He's gone, and Sam's right. Rarely do physical, or psychosomatic, feelings in his vessel come starkly to Castiel's attention, but with his grace drained, his body aches, and it feels like his bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons are ready to simple fall apart, give up holding it all together.

Michael's hiss at his ear snaps against the other aspect of his being - the angel, the little brother, the subordinate soldier. His body tenses, whether with instinctual obedience or defiance is anyone's guess, but it's enough he hears and processes every word that comes next. He's a father. He has Jack back home. Dean has been the center of his mission, his entire purpose, for years, but now, how can he be? It's a new soul deep ache, pulled between the fierce, feral loyalty to let the world burn for the sake of saving this one man, and the new life he's directly responsible for that morality demands he protect.

He's ashamed at the part of him that's still eager to dive back in, sign Jack off to Sam and Jo to look after. He knows better, knows the right course of action here, but the urge is so strong it chokes through him, pushing at everything in him to go after Dean and damn the consequences.

Gradually, the fight leaves him, he strains less against Michael's arms, becomes more supported than restrained by them. the argument between Michael and Jo goes unheard, Castiel lost in thought and despair, overwhelmed by this too, too human grief burning through him like wildfire. Still broken from the pit, grace chipped away to a dull drip, the emotion consumes him.

"I'm sorry, Sam." He murmurs, eventually, eyes still lost and unfocused on the water below. "I'm so sorry."

What else is there to say? To do?

[tobeclosetohim]

Sam is shouting, and from somewhere right above her head, too-long arms and too-long legs, doing their best to make it a further inability to fight out of his tentacle-like grip on her sodden clothes and shudder-shivering body (but yelling is the time-tested communication of Harvelle's in a lot of ways, and there's nothing about being yelled at that stops Jo; it's acceleration more the containtment). A thing that almost doesn't matter in comparison to the way Michael snaps right back at her at the same time, and if she could light his goddamned fucking face on fire out of nothing less than pure fury, it would be enough.

(And it wouldn't. Not nearly.

The willing-want to take this hurt and hurl it deep and wide...)

There are only two paths, and one of them stays right here with righteous, reckless, rabid outrage—

"Yeah!?" She screams right back at his too familiar face choosing scalding searing fire, and anyone who knows Jo well enough would know that if it was a first choice, there were no other choices. "Fuck all you did to prevent anything! What? You couldn't spare the extra inch of effort to actually get Dean, too? Or was that just too good to pass up on letting happen? Just fully fuck over everyone here while you're at it?"

—because the other option?
The non-option?

That's the one happening in the same scope of her vision, of shouting at Michael, is what's happening inside Michael's arms. It's watching Cas' face and body slacken. It's watching desolation and despair and grief, surrender stealing every bone, roll-off in greater waves than the water still pouring down off every part of him.

And every bone and breath in Jo's body

refuses to let the threatening storm of it crash in.

F

[hextechhead]

It seems almost impossible in the end that they managed to do this. It was natural for Jayce to continue onto the Retrieval team considering he was one of the people to find the island. He knows that healing back up is his most natural help, but he does what he can to get their end result too. There is a moment there when it seems like he is going to have to apologize profusely to Viktor, as a last minute farewell, they end up a giant turtle. It seems absolutely insane and impossible at the time, and in that, kind of beautiful.

Jayce is ridiculously strong so he is quickly on the turtle and reaching out to help drag people up onto it. At one point he can almost do two at a time, depending on who it is, steadying them afterward. He is looking at Dean when he starts to pull himself out because he won't relax until every single person seems up and out of danger, and he's not surprised to see his friend is lagging after having the same determination.

He doesn't know why Dean pushes Jo and Sam like that and makes his way over as quick as he can, assuming he needs some help. He starts to say Dean's name but by the time it formulates he is speared. Jayce is shocked at how fast it is, or rather how slow everything feels for that split second, and then he's gone.

"Hold the turtle! Man overboard!" He says sharply but it's not as if he can do more than that right then. Jayce watches the water seeing if he'll resurface, if this is one more thing his friend will find a way to survive. And it won't be him who tells them it's okay to leave. He won't be able to say it.