EVENT #10: AFFLICTION - IC POST

[abraxasmods]

Event #10 - Affliction

go to the OOC event info & plotting post

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With tensions heavy across Abraxas and all the destruction that's happened, it's no surprise that the dark shadows which sweep over the land go unnoticed...at first.

Winds initially stir in Solvunn, where the influence of the Old Gods remains the strongest. Slowly each Herald infects Thorne and the Free Cities, as well. The Summoned are the first to feel its effects and are the most heavily impacted.

Though no one will realize it until well afterwards, Nocwich remains unaffected. After all, the Summoned don't reside there.

NOTE: This event will deal with themes of death (people and animal) and horror imagery.

Emergence

It begins sometime in mid-October, around the 18th. Not everyone will experience it at the same time. You might even believe you're spared until days afterwards when you're visited by an unusually vivid dream.

The dream starts the same for everyone: you are going somewhere, anywhere, walking to your bedroom or enjoying a stroll on the beach. You might be driving down a familiar neighborhood. Wherever you're headed, you eventually come upon a stone tablet engraved with your Arcana. Laid on the tablet are three objects:

◎ A dead moth trapped inside a wilted rose, symbolizing Koth of Festering Lands
◎ A teacup inside which sits a single nightshade berry, symbolizing Adlewyrd of Poisoned Tongues
◎ An ornate cracked hand mirror that contains no reflection, symbolizing Sannleikr of Many Faces

Make a choice. Something inside your soul will be drawn towards one of the objects. Maybe you spend hours in the dream deliberating, but sooner or later, you'll pick one of the items up. The moment you do, the other objects vanish and the chosen Herald appears before you. Where one might expect a god to seek subservience, the strange figure instead extends a friendly hand towards you - as though it's greeting you as an equal.

Whispered around you, you hear its name. Then it fades and with it the dream. You awaken.

Affliction

You go about your day as usual. That's when you realize something isn't right. Creatures and people around you behave strangely. You begin to sense that you are the cause.

Depending on your chosen Herald, you'll experience at least one of its afflictions. The effects might start small, then grow. They might rush you all at once. You can't shake what haunts you, though you can try. Spells, potions, and willpower can help keep the afflictions at bay but you won't ever be completely free.

As the afflictions seep into your mind, you start to find shadows of it following you: a dead moth here, a nightshade bloom there, a cracked mirror elsewhere. You may even wonder if it's following you in the first place. What if instead, you are the one leaving these signs behind?

Corruption

The first time you inflict your ability on someone else, you don't mean to. It might be a stranger, some unsuspecting soul, or it might be another Summoned. Regardless, the afflictions that ail you seem to spread through you into another. Someone falls down as if in the throes of an invisible death or secrets spill. You brush by someone and they're suddenly upset and confused.

The more this happens, intentionally or not, the better you feel. You may grow full of life and energy, gain a renewed strength of heart, or radiate a charm that turns heads and garners compliments. The afflictions haunting you could even start to fade or completely vanish. And if you use your newfound power deliberately? You'll feel better even faster for longer. Of course, these boons are temporary, lasting at most an hour or so. When the feeling wanes, you might miss having it.

You are not possessed. You can't control this power that spreads through you, but how you respond or behave is up to you. You could be attracted to the allure of power, enjoy the boons you are granted, or realize you can gain relief from your afflictions if you choose a victim. Not everyone will fall headfirst into the pull. Some are not easily swayed by power, some struggle to overcome their dark impulses, and others would rather endure their suffering than inflict it on someone else. But others still might succumb to temptation and turn on those around them with purpose: once, twice, multiple times. The choice you make is yours alone.

Blight

With the call of the Herald at your fingertips, the world around you twists. No one knows whether this stems from you and your newly imbued afflictions, or if the Heralds are exerting power on their own. It's for sure easier to think of what occurs as the influence of something monstrous beyond your control. No matter the cause, the earth is changed all the same.

Omens

The omens arrive shortly after the initial Summoned receive their dreams, but they don't come to every faction at once. SOLVUNN is first, being home to the Old Gods' shrines, before THORNE and the FREE CITIES follow only days afterwards. Depending on where you are, the omens will affect things a bit differently.

Solvunn

In Solvunn, the ground stirs. A desiccated hand breaks through the grass, a cloven hoof. Human or animal, they crawl forth, animated against their will. Some might attack, but most do not. At the same time, crops around the settlements begin to fail. Some chickens lay rotten eggs while cows produce spoiled milk. Any livestock that perishes overnight will surface in the mornings with empty eye sockets - pecked out by crows or gnawed on by rats. From a distance, the ocean can be seen bubbling as leviathans beneath thrash.

Worth noting is that many of the dead are concentrated around the shrines, especially the ones deep in the woods. They're too decayed to recognize, and some might not even move from the site, as though they are waiting for the earth to take them again...or as though they once chose to give up their life at this very spot.

Summoned can assist by helping to cast spells or place warding charms around shrines, farms, and gardens to protect crops and livestock. As a commune, the Solvunnites will share their resources as much as possible and would appreciate those who might lend a hand bringing supplies, herbs, and offerings to neighbors who are lacking. The Summoned can also brew a common herbal remedy to aid any animals who have fallen ill or to help purify the well water.

Free Cities

In Libertas, the dead buried under the rubble dig themselves out. More crawl forth from graves in Cadens' cemeteries. Beasts and bandits slain in the desert wilds rise, hungry or searching for the ones who killed them. At the same time, dead fish wash up onto the shores of Aquila while birds fall dead from their perch, dropping like flies from an unknown illness. Vultures and other scavengers begin to prey upon the eyes of the dead, leaving behind hollowed-out corpses.

Worth noting is that in the Badlands, a few very old and skeletal corpses rise with a metal plate or two screwed onto their bones, which are also oddly elongated. Only one or two make their way near the city. The army is quick to dispose of them before many can notice. They will not disclose any information about this and will claim these are just monsters like anything else.

Summoned can assist by going on patrol with the soldiers to put down any risen dead. Merchant caravans are also hiring escorts for their journeys. Additionally, they can help look through any received supplies and packages to make sure the food isn't rotting or worse, use a special dissolving compound to purify the waters, and donate staple food items to refugees and the less fortunate who can't afford the rising prices.

Thorne

In Thorne, the dead emerge only from the outskirts of the castle city. Thanks to information from one of their Summoned and their recent monitoring of the Singularity, Thorne was able to act swiftly and was able to ward any royal or otherwise significant burial sites. Graves and tombs of less importance, though, will not be protected in the same way. There are fewer encounters with eyeless corpses, though some animals might appear outside the castle in such a state. Normally extravagant dishes from the Castle's kitchens use simpler ingredients as they struggle to ration their food stores.

Worth noting is that a few unexpected corpses make their way up from deep under the castle in places beyond the dungeons. These are twisted and mangled, missing limbs, heads, fingers. The castle guards are quick to dispose of them before they get too far into the rest of the castle, but one or two may be spotted.

Summoned can assist by contributing to the wards around Castle Thorne and the city, using spells to put down the dead without mangling the corpse, and taking inventory of food stores. Further, in Nott the situation is more dire for anyone who is traveling there to continue assisting with repairs following the attack. Nott will welcome help with any problems caused by the omens. It'll be clear the kingdom has neglected the city somewhat. Thorne will claim the Castle takes priority, of course, due to King and Queen residing there along with the entire royal court.

Apprehensions

Across the factions, locals are beginning to catch on that something isn't right with you, the Summoned. No one will say it outright, but there's an air of caution and wariness around you where you go. Merchants might be quick to hand you your wares so you'll leave or locals give you a bit of space when they walk by. Chatty innkeepers are more reluctant to hold lengthy conversations.

Much of the time, it may not be conscious. The natives might simply sense something off that instinctually makes them want to put some distance between them and you. The only exception? If you've chosen Sannleikr of Many Faces, you'll continue to exude your charm towards people you encounter. At least for as long as you continue to inflict that ability you've been gifted.

Displacement

Everyone responds differently while in the Horizon. You might exert better willpower over your afflictions or you might feel its effects more strongly. It all depends on the individual and their mindset. Regardless, the Heralds are only one part of the equation. There's a much bigger disturbance going on.

It could happen as soon as you enter or it might be as you're stepping over the threshold into another's domain. Whatever the case, you are suddenly not where you're supposed to be. Instead, you're in one of two places depending: transported into a domain you never meant to go into or in a foreign setting altogether.

Visitation

Whether you're the one transported or someone teleports unexpectedly into your space, the Horizon becomes unpredictable for the next little while. Rooms normally locked to strangers, areas you yourself may not even realize exists - you and your fellow Summoned continue to pop in and out despite your intentions.

The effect isn't painful, just disorienting, like missing a step you didn't see or stumbling through a door into a too-bright room. The person whose domain you've inadvertently visited might sense an unwanted presence, whether they're inside the Horizon or not, or they may be completely oblivious. This will depend on the strength of their connection to the Singularity and the Horizon.

Not to worry. You won't be trapped or anything in these cases...unless the domain you land in happens to seal from the inside. You might stumble on secrets you weren't meant to find, though, locked away in someone else's mind.

Ensnared

The less fortunate will be pulled into a space that they've never encountered before. The bizarreness of it resembles the glitchy visions that flashed through a few months ago, but rather than an image flickering by, you are now inside the space itself.

Trapped between minutes to hours, you can't use the Horizon's creation magic as normal. Attempts will falter or go sideways: trying to fly out might cause you to tumble, tools and objects are broken or not quite right, wounds don't vanish or heal completely, etc. More significantly, you can't seem to send or receive messages through your connection. Anything that manages to come through will be garbled and distorted. It's as though the place you are in is just out of the reach of your control.

Luckily, you may not be alone. Someone else may have gotten lost alongside you. They might already be there when you stumble through or they might arrive after you do. They might even fade out sooner than you, unintentionally leaving you behind.

Eventually, you'll be released back into the Horizon proper, spat out in a random place in the Horizon. While you're stuck, though, you can try to survive, explore, sit and wait it out, or make friends with your fellow trapped partner. Each area has its challenges and quirks that you'll need to deal with.

Scenes to Explore

JUSTICE ◎
FULL IMAGE

High in the clouds, these snowy peaks are as cold as they look. Giant marble hands reach out, though their sheer scale means you might not recognize them as hands from up close. You can scale the mountain, but if you try to go down, the hands will flip the mountain, which sends you tumbling to the top again.

It's up to you whether you can be injured when you fall. Maybe the snow will feel like marshmallows, or you'll break a bone on the jagged rocks. No two experiences are the same. If you have a partner, they could end up faring better than you despite being in the same place.

Conjure some warm clothes or a log cabin even if you wish - they might not manifest perfectly, but it'll be better than nothing. At least the view's fairly nice...while the sun is up. A blizzard will come through by nightfall. With it arrives a strange hovering light that entices you or your friend to follow it into the frozen darkness. What draws you out depends on you. It could be a familiar voice, an image, or a simple compulsion. If you're lucky, the person with you is unaffected and can try to stop you. Or maybe you're the one desperately chasing after the other person?

---

THE CHARIOT ◎
FULL IMAGE

From a distance, it's hard to tell if they're shipping containers or houses stacked atop each other. A gooey mess covers the ground below. Oddly, the smell isn't as unpleasant as the goo looks. It smells like bubblegum or cotton candy, artificial and sweet. When you first fall in, you might land inside one of the homes, on top of the stacked structure, or the ground. You can try to reach anyone else who's there with you, but be careful: the ooze is spreading. Climb if you must or move from room to room. If you don't keep moving, you risk getting sucked into its sticky mass.

Each block of a home is different. Some are furnished, whereas others are empty or filled with strange knickknacks. Some might even have subconscious creations spawned by you. Keep ahead of the gloopy substance, and you'll be fine, probably. Or you can try to fight it back or block its path by sealing yourself in a room or otherwise, which can slow it down significantly. Mostly, you'll have to hope you fade out before the pink mass completely consumes the landscape.

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THE WORLD ◎
FULL IMAGE

The hazy neon glow obscures a nothingness that seems to extend forever. In the middle of the wet ground are several stacked television sets with wires plugged into nothing. Inexplicably, there's also a cat. At first, it appears perfectly normal, but keen observers will notice that its behavior is on a loop where it will walk a certain path, pause at specific intervals to lick its paws, and meow at set points. It does not acknowledge any of its intruders. You can break its loop by picking it up, at which point it'll go limp as a ragdoll. As soon as you set it down, it'll resume its actions as before.

While you can see the same images as someone else on the screens, it's also possible you'll each see something different despite being in the room together. What you see is up to you. It could be an old fuzzy movie, home videos of your childhood, trivia questions you have to answer correctly, or even a memory or vision you wouldn't want to share. Words or faces taunting you could appear between staticky flickers, or maybe your very thoughts are projected onto the screens for anyone with you to read.

Break the televisions if you want, but given a few short minutes, they'll reform between one blink and the next. Looks like you'll have to keep watching until you're released.

---

THE FOOL ◎
FULL IMAGE

Sprawling and massive, you're unlikely to recognize at first that you're trapped in a labyrinth. Stone walls rise around you, and your surroundings are pitchblack. Manifest a torch or a flashlight if you can, though these will be prone to going out at inopportune times. Escaping over the walls will only send you into another section in the maze.

As you navigate the twisting corridors, you'll encounter any variety of trials and troubles: gaps in the ground, spiked traps, haunting whispers, monsters, decaying corpses. Some of these might've formed from your mind, others might've spawned from anyone else who's trapped with you.

If you aren't alone, do your best to locate your fellow Summoned. Voices do carry and echo over the walls, and there could be landmarks that help you find each other. Finding the exit, however, is another matter. Walk and climb all you want. A way out is impossible until the Horizon chooses to set you free.

Players can pick any scenario that interests them from the four choices above. Unlike the visions from before, characters can accidentally be trapped in as many of the scenes as you want, as many times as you want. Another option is that they can stay trapped in only one scene while a variety of characters fade in and out to join them, or some combination of the two. Choose what works best for your plans.

Each scene will once again carry an associated Arcana etched somewhere inside it, which can change from person to person or instance to instance. It might be on a wall, a table, or on the ground. Characters with a stronger connection to the Horizon are likely to be trapped for longer but the extent of this is your choice and it won't ever exceed a few hours. It's also your choice whether the afflictions continue to haunt them or not. If you want characters to deal with both problems while stuck together, you're welcome to!

Generally speaking, there are no restrictions other than that they won't be able to communicate with anyone outside the area, they can't escape it until the Horizon chooses to release them, and their creation magic will go wrong just enough that it'll make things tricky.

Comments

[familysucks]

Michael follows the look and sees nothing. Just diner wall. He looks back to Lucifer, questioning, but if his brother's week has borne any resemblance to his, he can guess what kind of visions are haunting him. Perhaps the Singularity has saddled him with something even worse.

Lucifer'll bring it up himself if he cares to talk about it. He's never been shy about speaking up.

"Your prison, not mine." Which is. Not an answer. But since when does the archangel Michael answer to anyone but God? And these days, even that...

The truth is that the Cage, the diner, the church—they're all places where the memory of Adam lingers, and in the company of his vessel is the last time Michael can recall feeling at peace. He'll be damned (again) if he gives up a thought that vulnerable to someone like Lucifer, though. His history with Lucifer is already an open wound. He isn't going to offer him salt on top of it.

"The recent disruptions to the Horizon have put it front and centre, though I did find it was effective at warding off unwanted guests." He gives Lucifer a slight, disapproving frown. Except you. "You'd recognize the rest. Scenes from home."

[gynvael]

There's a blink—almost as though he's been caught off-guard. Out of all the things he imagined Lucifer would want, what he is and his relationship to Dean hadn't factored in. Perhaps that's on him for not giving it enough thought one way or another; he's presumed his presence has gone mostly unheeded since. Lucifer had soundly ignored him in those woods beyond when they fought—which had suited him fine.

Does the answer matter? Not really. Lucifer need only throw a rock in the Horizon to strike someone who can tell him all about the Witcher. But that's not the point.

He releases his grip on the handle. An audible lock clicks back into place. His gaze flicks to the door, like he hadn't done it consciously. It is possible, maybe, to gather that Geralt's problem with this room is not necessarily what it reveals and more that what lies within is something he doesn't want to—almost can't—physically acknowledge.

"You need to leave."

[thedevilwhorose]

Lucifer flashes a grin in response; breaking rules and breaking and entering and just breaking is his jam. Sorry/not sorry, bro.

But the 'your prison, not mine' sticks weirdly to Lucifer's mind. He doesn't know what to do with the words, but he'll hold onto them until he knows. Days, months, years down the road.

"Boring," he chimes, petulant, and hops down from his perch with a loud thump. "Come on, we have a power here that he--that he robbed from us, Michael!" He spreads his arms. "Creation. A-And this is how you use it?"

[cointosser]

Oh. Once the door opens, it's quite clear that she's already been spending the night doing more than studying. The almost sour smell of the herb, and the sweeter of wine -- or that might just be rum still on his tongue, which he can't say is a terrible mix quite yet.

"You know, I find it rather encouraging for both of us that we are able to relax, in some form, with the walking dead stumbling around town," he comments, following her inside. He makes a movement as if he's going to take off his coat and hang it, merely muscle memory, and ends up only patting over his shirt with one hand, still bejeweled with rings (new, slightly garish ones, if Nadine would notice.) "Last time I was an utter wreck, and almost died, but -- oh, I did save a man's life. That was encouraging."

It is very much not out of the ordinary for Jaskier to begin pattering about anything that comes to mind, and as the week upon which the anniversary of their meeting falls, it is even easier for his mind to linger on last year's Eiftide.

He leans in to give her an embrace, nudging a horn gently with his nose. "It sounds like you simply do not want to work; a feeling which I fully endorse. Then, perhaps, we should do something fun instead."

[thedevilwhorose]

"Loyalty," he says--surprisingly not in mockery. There's an air of awe to the single word. Loyalty is something that Lucifer, who practices it extremely loosely, can appreciate in others.

He pulls away from the door, his arms dropping to hang at his sides. He looks bored, dangerously so.

"Do I?" he asks, his voice cold, empty, inhuman.

[cointosser]

[Though it would be a garish display and he knows Alucard absolutely means it, he can not find it in him to be disgusted. Because he imprisoned Alucard, and Geralt.... Yennefer and Ciri. Himeka. All of these people who have come to mean so much to him, and now they are in danger, once again, from Thorne's movements. Jaskier does not fully comprehend Alucard's anger, burning wild as a forest fire, for he's never had a hate so murderous before -- and even his rivalry with Valdo Marx feels another lifetime ago. But regardless, Alucard is justified to have it. To hold these grudges.

Isn't he? Because Jaskier, without much hesitance, agrees.] And you should. The least he deserves.

[He takes a deep breath. Lets his body realign itself, standing straighter. A second glance at the bushes makes them feel less like a complete failure and closer to an annoyance.

Of course, that feeling lasts only a moment. Hector's name in the air takes the breath out of him, punching him in the gut. And, for a moment, Jaskier remembers Hector asking if he wanted the necromancer to raise those bandits. To turn them into servants. Would Hector have done that? Sent the dead in a move against Thorne? If he asked?

(He is glad Hector is not here, for the first time.)]

Everyone but Hector. He was trying to be... better. In his own way. [Someone who was not merely a tool of others. Jaskier had been privileged to get to know him, but even more so to fall in love with him.

And now that emptiness returns. The nightshades at his feet begin to flail, crawling, digging their roots down like spreading fingers.] In a literal sense? Is your hold on who you are without them so tenuous? [Jaskier blinks, turning to Alucard sharply, surprise across his face, and then, marked confusion.] I'm sorry. I didn't mean that.

[gynvael]

"Didn't need a maze for that." The reply comes wryly. The Horizon has twisted his thoughts long before they fell into this place.

Thus. That room.

He grows quiet. No. She would not have. He's aware of that much, from his brief conversation with Dean. That Jo arrived before she experienced her death. There's a moment where he almost apologizes—for losing his temper, for causing a vision he had not intended—but the sentiment feels trite, or just not quite right, and it dies on his tongue.

Still. For all that she'd been out of line—and make no mistake, for him she had—he's aware he was, too. Perhaps a little of that shows in his demeanour, if not his words.

"I'd say you get used to it." How the Horizon can fuck with you. "But you don't."

Ronan Lynch | Thorne | Sannleikr | Emergence (OTA)

[nightwash]

Ronan has always had a complicated relationship with mirrors.

When he wakes from the dream, he assumes he's brought it back with him. The mirror. It doesn't appear right beside him upon waking, but it wouldn't be the first time a dream object manifested a short distance away from his body.

He knows this much: He doesn't want to look at it.

The dream itself isn't so strange. It's not unusual to be greeted as an equal by some entity or another when he's in the world of dreams. After all, in that world, he's a king. No — it's the rest of the day that's strange, beginning with the mirror. Because, unlike every other time he manifests something from a dream, he's not paralyzed upon waking.

The mirror. The mirror. It's on the floor beside the bed, propped at such an angle that he'll catch his reflection in it when he sits up, and he refuses to. He kicks the blanket over it before launching himself off the bed to get dressed and start the day. He'll get rid of the mirror later.

The mirror — the same mirror — is waiting for him in the stairwell. It's hanging on the wall, this time at the perfect height to force Ronan to catch sight of his face upon its cracked surface.

It should be his face.

It isn't.

The Lace is staring back at him. It doesn't have eyes, of course, but Ronan nevertheless understands that it's staring at him. The shock of it sends ice down his spine and nearly trips him up. He stumbles backwards, barely catching himself before he can go tumbling down the stairs.

"Shit," he hisses under his breath. "Shit, shit."

The Lace is Hennessy's baggage, not Ronan's. If she's gone and dreamt up some Lace bullshit around the castle, it's going to be his responsibility to fix it.

He yanks the mirror off the wall, avoiding the Lace's gaze as he marches the rest of the way down the stairs and out to the courtyard. Because it's a dream object (it must be) he's not sure whether breaking the mirror will release the malevolent nightmare entity that's trapped inside it.

So he finds the most remote shrub and starts digging into the soft dirt just beneath it. A strange sight, to be spontaneously gardening while dressed in fine garb for court business.

As it turns out, he'll be doing this often over the course of the next week.

[godshattering]

Whatever 'worse' is relative to the dead coming back to life to roam: Claude's pretty sure he doesn't want to know what it is. Easier then to give a short laugh over the face commentary since, well, he's not wrong about that. But the weaponry is something Claude finds more interesting for now, and at the mention of rifle it takes him a second to place it in his recently learned firearms terms. The one he knows doesn't particularly match what he was shown. Or so he thinks; there had been a lot of guns.

"I take it the ones you know might be more like the ones Shepard has, if you've been to her shooting range?" In his limited timeline built of where worlds fall based on what he's heard from Summoned, Shepard seems to win the first place prize for being farthest in the future. "Mostly because the only guns I'd ever seen before heading there were Jesper's revolvers, and they're not--"

No time to finish that thought since a sizeable group of shuffling corpses come around the nearest corner. Because of course they do - they're supposed to be on a mission here and not hang around talking. Fortunately none of them are particularly fast moving so there's not too much of being caught off-guard. As he lifts his bow and tests the string's tension while nocking an arrow, Claude shoots a glance Garrus's direction. "Any chance you want to make this interesting and see who can take out more of them first?"

Sure, he's going up against a crossbow here, but Claude's confident in his own bow skills from having to launch many a rapid-fire attack himself. And he could use the slight distraction from what they're actually doing by making it a competition... sort of.

[godshattering]

[ It's a valid question, Kyle asking what, and it doesn't even register with Claude he should've stopped to explain. Or provide context for anything, what with that noise pulling on a corner of his mind he would've preferred to leave sealed away, and the noises now of the Titanus rolling forward on whatever mechanisms power it.

Then there's a blow which sounds too familiar and the rush of someone - something? - going by and the torch goes out and it's abruptly, eerily, silent. ]

Kyle! [ He calls out, alarmed. At the same time he casts the spell for Recover, hoping the white magic lands wherever the other man fell to heal him. Does it matter that he can't see where either of them are? Claude hopes not; perhaps the Horizon will cooperate for this alone. The whirring resumes. The echoing on the stones makes it impossible to place where the Titanus is which is all the more menacing.

It's now that with mild embarrassment Claude realizes their lack of weapons in a place where they could create anything didn't have to be a problem. As tempting as it is to call Failnaught forth, his bow doesn't feel like it'd be effective here. Instead it's Freikugel he calls forth, the hero's relic axe several feet in length and with a formidably large blade made of what was once bone. Now it glows red as if he holds the matching crest of Goneril and not one of Riegan, and the finger-like protrusions twitch in anticipation of battle.

That shouldn't be happening, but Claude's not going to think about what this means. It's not real, this isn't his axe; it's Hilda's. What matters is that the relic provides enough light to discard the torch, and he sets off with it held at the ready so the floor's at least visible. ]

Kyle, if you can hear me, say something, alright?

[ The Titanus can hear him too, he's sure. But hopefully they haven't started at square one with needing to locate each other all over again, and Claude sets a quick pace to try finding Kyle before anything else does. ]

[princessvegas]

[ The longer the presence in her mind stays, the closer she moves to the blob. It's the only other living thing here, and she finds herself drawn to it, like maybe it's the intruder, or maybe it can tell her who is, if only she can get to it. The humming always increases when she gets too close, makes the ground so unstable that she has to stop.

The buzz grows and grows, but this time she doesn't bother running away, back to safety. Julie is someone who loses all fear when she hits a breaking point, and the continued feeling of someone else in her head turns out to be that breaking point now. She's drunk, discombobulated by the unclear passage of time, and fully submerged in her deepest fear. If the ground breaks under her, then so fucking be it. The darkness can't be worse than an eternity here.

As the cracks deepen, open wider, she stubbornly keeps going. This is the Julie who would rather have shot a man in the back than let him leave her behind, who had a dream and forced herself to walk over a thousand miles to see if it was real. She can get close to a goddamn blob in the sky. ]

No. Just the once. [ Steven, who may actually be unaware that his face is currently a gaping maw in space, shakes his head slightly. He seems to be somewhat disheartened to have to say it, that he has been unable to feel Julie's presence since that time. That feeling may not come across, due to the whole eldritch-horror-face thing, but there is a real sense that he is not satisfied without her being here. He watches Geralt abruptly walk away, but doesn't stop him.

Nor will the loft doors, although there is a very palpable lack of energy there. It's not the doors allowing Geralt through so much as not offering any of the security they ordinarily might. In fact, Geralt will find that there is only one locked door in the entire place, set to keep its secrets weeks ago. The rest of the flat feels only like an empty house, the sole exception being Julie's tiny pets -- all three meet Geralt at the main sitting room with their various noises. While Duke is, as always, more aggressive than the other two, Geralt will find that he isn't attacked by a tiny horn or blast of flame. They just appear forlorn, trailing after him like he'll lead them to her. ]


[ By the time she manages to reach the exact spot under the blob, Julie is crawling as the ground quakes. Even so, she gets there, and unsteadily rises to her feet, staring straight up. Some kind of... tendril hangs down from the blob, like an appendage, and that's what's closest to her reach, the very tip of it. She stretches one arm up as the earth under her feet continues to tremble. It's just above her fingertips, only a few inches out of her grasp.

She slowly rises on her toes, as far as she can. Her shoes were discarded ages ago, next to the chair, as they were entirely unsuitable for this environment. But even on her very tiptoes, it's a hair too high.

Stretching so hard that she thinks she might dislocate her shoulder, she waves her hand, trying to touch it. The dirt under her feet shudders so hard that she fears falling over. As a last ditch effort, she gives a little hop.

Her fingers just brush the end of the strand of the blob. Her vision goes completely white. Without her weight on it, the ground where she stood disintegrates.

She doesn't manage to close her hand around the tendril. She falls into the abyss, arms still extended up. ]

[cryptsleeper]

Staking the ground. [Alucard's stomach churns. Killing his father's people in a fight under particular circumstances had proven to be one thing. Relying on old wives tales was another entirely.] Long poles into the ground. Pin them in place so that if they rise, they are forced upwards and then can't put their feet on solid earth to move.

[There's no hiding the self disgust in Alucard's words. The only good thing is that he has managed to keep the dead in place now. That makes the lives of others a little easier.]

I want to pack less and less when I come out here. The cistern is the obvious first step towards that.

[cryptsleeper]

[It is garish. It is also mild compared to what Dracula might do in the same circumstance. How long he might pull that death out, make it last for days or weeks depending. Dracula's knowledge of science and magic has enabled terrible things. There's no reason that it would not come into play in such a situation.]

I hope he experiences a deep and humilating downfall in the near future. So too the rest of his allies.

[The way Alucard intones it, deep and angry intent, it may be a curse. Or at least an attempt at one, to force the universe to bend to his will.

There's enough of Alucard's sense to avoid discussing Hector further. He doesn't want to deal with the necromancer, and that outweighs the desire to shit talk. To get wrapped up in the fury and the faint hope he had that maybe the forgemasters could have talked his father out of genocide, rather than enabling every step of the way as to meet with their own desires. It is a thought that still rattles in his head, even if Alucard knows that it was never a possibility. What if, what if.]

You did. [A blunt observation.] And over the past two years? Yes. Apparently it is so.

[harmonian]

"Burying a body?"

It's a joke but as usual Sasarai's flat delivery might suggest otherwise.

He's wandering the courtyard, trying to clear his head and avoid anything that might cause his strange visions.

Gardeners are not a surprising sight. Ronan, however, gardening in his court clothes is. He has to assume something is wrong.

[funbreaker]

[ He's still firmly in his dad phase, so can't relate. (Yet?)

Alucard describes what's happening as the worlds, both physical and not, being at odds with their desires. Thancred knows there's more to it than that, a corruption of sorts that's spread out from newly awakened gods. Is that common knowledge at this point? Perhaps not.

At the offer, he's quick to shake his head, more or less comfortable on the steps. Though he does shift so that he's facing Alucard more directly, not wanting to be rude. ]

I suspect I'll simply need to wait here until the Horizon decides to spit me out. Or send me to another part of it. [ He shrugs in defeat. ] I take it you've also been feeling a bit... off, then?

[ The Summoned tend to always be affected by these things as a whole. ]

[warfed]

[Naturally, the first thing Petra had wanted to do upon awakening from her own unsettling dream was to talk to her friends, to ask what they might have experienced during their own slumber, if anything at all, but it’s taken some time for her to sort through the details of it, to play it back in her mind and see if she can’t remember anything else that might seem significant.

Claude seems like he might know something about signs, about omens; that sort of thing seems to be in his wheelhouse, on top of the fact that he’s been here the longest and knows the most about the local culture. When she hears him approach from behind, she’s quick to turn and address him— but the name he calls her by stops her short for just a moment.]

Edelgard?

[She furrows her brow; the careful tone of his voice belies what she already knows. They have very different opinions concerning Edelgard herself, but that’s no surprise.]

What are you talking about, Claude?

[righteously]

Wish he could say it's a relief when Cas responds, when he confirms Dean's eyes aren't just screwing with him, but —

"Why do you look like microwaved death?"

Cas is an angel, shouldn't he be above whatever's doing this? What the hell are they gonna do if Jimmy starts falling apart on them? It's not like there's an abundance of Novak running around as an alternative, and even if there were, signing up some other poor bastard to house an angel is just... No. It's a huge nope.

An undead lurches forward. A hand shoots out on instinct, and Dean blasts it (along with two or three more from behind it) back a dozen yards in a pulse of white light.

[bealufull]

A dream about a moth trapped within a rose is nothing Kaz has known but he dismisses it as nothing more than the oddities of this place. They're little more than common items in an odd way, and why he felt the need to carry it with him in the dream is beyond him.

It's forgotten in truth. Hard to focus on powdering dead moths and the crunch of dried rose petals when the past is doing a much better job of haunting him. He's never truly left the scent of rot and disease behind in his brush with death at barely ten, but now it's fresher, stronger.

It clings to him, thick and sickly to the point his hand shakes as he grips his cane. Had talking about it with Inej and Jesper brought back the nightmares to the point they haunt him in the daytime hours as well?

Then that first taste of just vegetables. Nothing that should not taste like things smell, that gag inducing taste of rotten meat, sour and strong enough to invade his senses. Choking as he spat it into a napkin, moving to rush upstairs before he's sick from it all, and then something is splashing against his coat, onto his gloved hand and he skitters back like a startled fawn, all long legs and desperation to get away.

Nearly falling over a chair, righting himself only enough to drop onto the chair as his cane clatters to the floor. "What is wrong with you?"

He snaps out the words before he can stop himself, anger a heated, dangerous things within him. The sort of anger that earned him names that he wore like badges of honor. Along with the scars that came with it.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard takes his time in filling water into one of the copper pots (it has a small spout) and getting it set on the burner. Tea here is more to compliment atmosphere than it is something to actually drink, as well as a ritual for Alucard to indulge in. He appreciates walking himself through the process, going through cabinets, pulling out cups and tea leaves and everything else.]

At least you weren't thrown into a dungeon upon arrival. [The statement is a dry observation of fact, not a joke.] Not that skirting the edge of conflict is much better.

[It'll explode soon. That much is certain. Maybe the only certain thing out there right now. Alucard measures out the leaves into two large mugs (one has little bats painted on it, the other is a simple black). With the water yet to boil, he can only lean against the counter as the conversation continues.]

That set up from home sounds...different, to say the least. [Wallachia still has the serf thing going on at Alucard's current time and place back home.] So long as the people make it worth while. I considered the place, for a time. The idea of open farmland is appealing in it's way.

reference to gambling addiction

[itookashot]

Jesper was trying to get a distraction from the real world, hoping that gambling in his Horizon would fix the hunger for it on the outside that is making his edges frayed. He already relapsed once, twice. The feel of adrenaline and winning is the most delicious taste he has ever experienced, he forgot what it was like. Unfortunately, the Horizon isn't cutting it anymore. He tries and tries and goes to shoot things in the range, hoping that it'll distract him, but he can't get out of it.

Maybe he wishes for this. Maybe a part of him is begging in the Horizon for a way out of his thoughts, of his addiction. He can only go downhill and he can't stay here forever, although he wants to. He is startled when one moment he's faceplanted on the back booth's table, trying to calm his breathing, and then the next he finds himself in a bizarre place. He doesn't recognize it as a domain.

He doesn't awaken on the top of it but inside, which is surreal, stepping over to a window so he can glance up and down, see what's going on. The goo though, that is definitely startling. Is it rising? Jesper hears someone swear up above and turns his head that way.

"Hello?"

[cryptsleeper]

That's...yes. A very polite way of putting it.

[He almost bit Ciri, he had to impale corpses to prevent them from rising up from the grave, nothing is holding back all of his petty thoughts, and frankly it is a relief to be in his cave in the waking world.

There's a tired sigh, hands digging deeper into the blankets.]

I've decided to remove myself from the immediate area of the Free Cities, if only to lessen the chaos. I don't know if it will be effective.

[magicalarchaeologist]

Istredd greets this strange situation with his characteristic curiosity. He hates when it affects other people, so he has been avoiding contact as much as possible. He has his notebook spread in front of him with a lot of details of what he's felt and seen so far, although only what he himself knows. He'll have to ask others once their minds settle a bit. It has been harder in the castle. There's a lot of noise and his mental shields are strong, but not so strong when the angst is everywhere.

He did try to go to the Horizon but he couldn't get to his own domain. He kept jumping to others, most he's never seen before, and whenever he tried to get to his, he'd end up somewhere else. He can see the monolith always, it's very distinct, but something is always in the way. He can't get to the Singularity either, and he ends up stuck somewhere else. An endless labyrinth. Everywhere he turns it changes until he is right back where he started. He doesn't think it is a nightmare and no matter how he searches, he remains lost. He doesn't know if it's been hours or minutes (the former) as time doesn't make sense, and he tries to use his psychic abilities to push against what is happening.

It probably isn't the mention of Yennefer that finally snaps him out of it, he doesn't know what did. Istredd snaps out of it and he really reacts, sitting up abruptly, gasping for air. He literally falls off the bed, having no idea where he is at first, a very inelegant crash to the floor.

"What the fuck?" He rarely swears but this is one of those times it seems very, very necessary.

[funbreaker]

[ As soon as Thancred registers that someone else has jumped onto the vehicle, he jerks up into a sitting position with his legs still spread out in front of him. And who is there but Nero, who he hasn't seen since the Summoned town hall all those moons ago.

Well, the Horizon doesn't seem to care where it sends him, but at least he hasn't been made to fall in on a complete stranger. He nods at that first remark, as the feeling is mutual. The more friends that Himeka physically has at her side, the better, so it's good to see that Nero is still here.

When that hand's extended to him, he allows himself a little sigh before gripping it, and also shifts his own weight to get back to his feet. On top of the van, which is a bit like an enclosed skyslipper. Or any of the many sorts of vehicles they have in Garlemald.

He glances back at the imprint he left into the van's roof, then turns back to Nero with a sheepish smile before he hops down onto the hard ground below. ]

I'll live. I came from up there. [ He points vaguely to the sky above. ] The Horizon seems to be having a grand old time sending us wherever it wishes.

Billy Kaplan |Solvunn | Adlewyrd

[actualwizard]

(open starters for Billy. Plotting comment here. PM or grab me at courtings if you want to discuss anything.)

OTA

[actualwizard]

Solvunn

When you possess some of the most powerful magic in your universe weird dreams are par for the course. Usually, that's all they are, dreams, weird reactions your subconscious is having to your everyday life. When you are a superhero those dreams can be, well, even more odd. But every so often a dream is more than a dream, it's the presence of another being, someone drawn in by the power that is inside you. For Billy when the dream comes to him he doesn't really think anything of it. He knows it's not normal, he feels the presence of something else, something old, but this is normal for him and when he wakes up he does some mental exercises to fortify his own mental barriers. No one wants his power to fall into the wrong hands.

He goes about his day, as usual, helping out with odd jobs around the settlement, though something feels off, and the children he usually reads stories to in the afternoon don't show up, as if their parents are keeping them away from him. He's noticed the whispers licking the back of his thoughts, things he tries not to think about and he forcefully pushes them away as he tries to keep himself busy so he doesn't have to think. The first time he uses his affliction ability on someone he doesn't really notice, but he does start to notice people seem to be telling him the strangest things, secrets they seem to not want anyone to know. He will probably start putting two and two together at some point.

When the omens start he sets out to help the farmers and people of the community. Casting warding spells and charms around shrines, while trying very hard not to look at the dead that seem to just be hanging out around them. He definitely doesn't want to think about why there are so many dead humans around the shrines. He casts spells to help purify water, at least in small batches, so that the people and livestock can have something to drink without getting sick. He wouldn't say no to a helping hand and doesn't mind teaching how to casts spells if someone needs assistance. Just beware, if there is a secret no one is supposed to know, you might just find yourself telling Billy all about it.

Horizon

i Billy's Domain

You might accidentally end up here or you might be trying to get here but what you will find for the moment is only access to the loft apartment. And even then, sometimes the doors work and sometimes they don't. It might look like a nice escape from anywhere else you could end up, but turning on the tv might show you scenes from horror movies, or even horror scenes from your life? Maybe you've replaced a character on screen and you are watching yourself do something dark and twisted, maybe you are horrified, or maybe you secretly like it? If you turn the tv off you might be able to still hear it, echoing around you like you can't escape it and you can't escape this apartment. If you are lucky enough not to turn the tv on the more you explore the more it feels like something is watching you, following you through the rooms, until you hear whispering and then voices, familiar voices maybe, spilling your secrets and your darkest desires to you. You can try to run but you can't escape them.
Or maybe the loft is just a loft apartment and you can relax there for a little while until it lets you out.

ii. The Fool

This is not where Billy intended to end up. It's dark and cold and does not feel like his domain. A quick cast of magic has a glowing orb floating in front of him and it tells him what he already knows, this is not his loft. A long dark corridor stretches before him and behind him, large stone walls rise up on either side. He wants to call out but he's not sure what he could be calling out to. He's read Greek mythology, for all he knows there would be a half bull man waiting to eat him alive. If only he had some string...

With a shrug, he starts forward slowly and quietly, no reason to stand in one place, that's no way to find the exit. He reaches the end of the corridor and it turns sharply right, so he follows it and almost stumbles on something on the ground, his orb of light shines down and yes, those are bones, human bones from the looks of it. He muffles a startled curse and quickly backs away from the skeleton. Someone who couldn't find their way out maybe? He doesn't stay long enough to think about it, hurrying away and around another corner and smacking right into someone else.

"Sorry,' he says immediately, stumbling back as his light hovers up to let him see who he ran into.

iii. Wildcard

Want Billy in your domain? Want him in another scenario? I'm game the choice is yours!