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.

---

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

[carmesi]

I haven't used it to its very limits in a long time, so— [she shrugs; her magic use does get tiring, but she's grown stronger in doing so. some things are automatic, while others require more focus. regardless,] Small spells aren't tiring.

[plus, magic on autopilot.

when he offers a more thoughtful reasoning as to why he wants to do this, wanda falls in step with him and gently curves her hand around his arm. she gives him a hard time a lot, but she cares for him a great deal—and wanting to beat solitude and the pain of being forgotten? she understands that.]

You would be remembered.

[by her, by himeka, by the other natives of solvunn who have come to know him.]

And missed, too.

[perhaps this whole trip to creating a shrine is about being sentimental. it's probably better not too think too hard on these things. she lets go of his arm just so it's easier to walk at a steady pace.

in any case—]

You do remember seeing that thing at the shrine, though, right? Nothing much may have happened, but I think we haven't delved deep enough into what it is.

[carmesi]

[steve lifts her up with ease, just as wanda expects. it's easy to forget how physically strong steve actually is, at times, and to be in the same balcony as him and away from the path of the currently-distracted pink sludge lets her breathe easy, if just for a moment.

a glance down, then back at him, she nods. they probably shouldn't linger for long.]

Yeah. Just confused.

[this place is unfamiliar, and this pink entity going after them doesn't feel too encouraging. her magic not functioning as it should would be concerning, but for the understanding that perhaps the singularity's fluctuating has something to do with it.

she glances at the glass door open behind them, and makes her way through inside to the apartment that greets them. it's empty, furnished in something that feels familiar but like too much of an echo of memories past.]

Have you seen anyone else here? I don't — feel anything. Just us.

[eerie.]

wrong domain

[bealufull]

It isn't that Kaz considers himself much of a coward, but what started as an off smell has turned into days with little food because even crackers taste like rotten meat and an ever increasing darkness of anger rising up within him has turned into shambling dead.

It is, in truth, his most literal worst nightmare coming true.

Decaying and rotting corpses moving through the city. Bits and pieces of them lying about in the streets, flakes of skin wafting on the breeze, and if the oddity with the food had been enough to darken his countenance to the point of obliterating all about him that wasn't Dirtyhands as others knew him, then this left him stripped bare to the boy he had once been.

It's as if the barge is welling up around him once more. The bloated weight against his skin though no one is touching him. The sharp, wet scent of pus and decay like an oily sheen coating the inside of his lungs. There's no where safe from it, and he desperately needs to be rid of it all.

Locking himself in his room, Kaz shoves cloth beneath the door, around the edges of the windows and then secures a strip of cloth over his nose and mouth after dabbing it with a scent that reminds him of safety. One he'd picked up in the market, a scent of frankincense and myrrh, oil and leather. He hadn't known them on their own, or why it brought him peace at the time. Yet it's scents of religious reverence, of guns well kept. Of Inej and Jesper.

It's with that scent filling his senses that he settles on the bed in a desperate attempt to get away from it all. He hasn't used the horizon often, but enough to know it will provide him with the distance he needs from what is going on around them. Maybe it's the cowards way out but with the dizziness that seems to overwhelm him, he knows he isn't long for the conscious world if he doesn't get away from it all.

So he closes his eyes and he centers himself. Thinking about the Crow Club. Thinking about the sound of coin and laughter and cards. A music all its own that is the music of his soul.

And he opens his eyes with a sigh of relief, shoulders slumping... until he realizes he is not standing before the Crow Club but rather along side a Suli camp. Something he's familiar with though not entirely knowledgeable. Not up-close and personal like this. Something he can only imagine belonging to one person.

"Inej?"

He isn't even sure she's there, and there's the unmistakable feeling of invading. This is her escape from the world, a place that gives her all she had taken from her, and yet in that it seems to offer him a peace from what he's running from. Not only the rot moving through the city he's come to call a new home, but the memories of death that have haunted him his entire life.

[godshattering]

Same ship and same war. That certainly gets Claude's attention so while he'd been readying his bow, a glance communicating that interest is sent Garrus's direction before he turns it back to which shot to take first. He'll have to place a bookmark in that for later since it falls under his curiosity about other worlds but now's no time for a proper discussion about it.

Especially not when Garrus suggests making it a proper competition with a round at the end - Claude immediately grins both at his suggestion being taken up and turned into something better. "Count me in. You'll have to let me know what your favorite drink is so I can buy it then." Cheekily and more out of confidence than anything intended to be arrogance even after seeing that skill with the crossbow only a few moments ago. A good opponent just makes testing each other's skills that much better in his opinion.

All the more reason to let an arrow loose into the knee of one corpse on the fringe of the group followed by another quick shot into where an eye might've once been when whoever it was wasn't, well, dead, and down they go. That's one out of many, and to make sure there's plenty of space for them both when it comes to aiming, Claude takes a few steps to the side while taking his next shot. No need to accidentally interfere with each other when they really do have an important task outside of keeping count for those drinks.

[warfed]

[‘Everyone else.’ He meant Sylvain and herself, didn’t he? Claude’s own confusion is the most perplexing thing of all; Petra has always known him to be sharped, keen-eyed. Nobody had a chance of pulling the wool over his eyes; that was something they took into consideration upon approaching Derdriu.

Clearly, something is very wrong, but she hasn’t the slightest idea of how to approach it. For now, she stands her ground- advancing or making any sudden movements seems like a very bad idea.]

I have been living here for months, Claude- we have been working and fighting together. You are not recognizing me?

[Her pattern of speech will surely identify her, but if he’s truly seeing something else…

That may not do her much good.]

Kaz Brekker | Free Cities | Koth

[bealufull]

(open and closed starters. no plotting comment because we die like menthis month has killed me but fairly open throughout the event. ping me here or at mythotica to plot details)

[shadowthief]

At first, Kaz won't see her at all. He might notice the crow perched on the roof of the caravan. The bird trills a sound before flying down to perch on his shoulder, another soft noise just at Kaz's ear- this human is safe, allowed. Satisfied with whatever he seemed to be inspecting of Kaz, the crow disappears into the skies.

In the same moment, Inej peeks out from inside the caravan, pausing to linger on the steps, a soft smile on her features. "He likes you," she says, speaking of the bird who she has not named, but has been a part of her domain from the very beginning.

She can see the tension on him, spread across every inch of him in thick layers. Unsurprising, given... the state of things, back in the city. She'd sought something familiar and comfortable in her efforts to escape her own personal nightmares. She doesn't know what else to say. He hasn't actually come to her Horizon yet. It feels... intimate, exposed in a way she isn't used to feeling with him.

"Come on," she waves a hand for him to follow her, "come inside." She disappears again, in that expectation that he would follow. It's small, but in a cozy way and still somehow roomy in a way it doesn't look like it could be from the outside. Inej perches on the bed in the back of the caravan, legs drawn up toward her chest, crossed at the ankle with her arms looped around her knees. Watching him curiously, intrigued as he interacts with a part of herself, her past, her people, that she has never seen him with.

I.1

[warfed]

[An attempt to visit her own domain had brought her someplace that was almost the complete opposite- while her own was full of lush, tropical greenery and looked out upon the bluest ocean, she now found herself in a storm so bitter it rivaled some of the harsh winter weather she had experienced traveling through Faerghus. The cold bites sharply, cutting right to the bone, and as she recovers from the odd disorientation that comes with being displaced, she puts both arms around herself to try and ward off some of the chill- a futile effort, even if she had been dressed for the weather, which she certainly was not.

Her aim had been to see if the plants in her domain would wither in her presence like those without had; here, there is no way to tell, not immediately, but as she turns to survey her surroundings, she spies blood on the snow— fresh blood, with the scattered remains of what might have been a deer just beyond it.

She’s not alone.

Steadying herself, she reaches for her bow, just in case, but lets it hang at her side as she advances, kneeling down in the snow when she reaches what little remains there are to investigate. There’s evidence of teeth having been used, the shape and size of which are familiar enough, thanks to all her years of hunting and tracking.]

A wolf, perhaps…? I hope he is being sated, if so.

[Though even if it has had enough to eat, that doesn’t necessarily mean the danger is passed— and if nothing else, she is a trespasser here.]

Emergence and Affliction- open - tw for death, disease, corpses, rot, bloat, things with dead bodies

[bealufull]

The dream had been little more than an afterthought for Kaz. An oddity until most of those things that haunted his dreams that he barely gave it any thought. It wasn't about his brother, about those dead, about those they had lost and who were supposed to return with them. No mourners, no funerals never held much weight in his dreams, no matter how much he tried.

So something about moths and flowers and feeling drawn to a symbol of such mourning and ceremony meant little to him.

Even as he finds a powdery dead moth on his windsill, then one in the library between pages of a book. It's dismissed for bigger troubles.

At first it's the taste of food on his tongue. Maybe he isn't quick enough to hide the way he gags, spitting into a napkin to try and quell the sickness. Quickly though the scent is around him, heavy and putrid. Nothing seems to cover it, though he takes to carrying a scented cloth pressed to his nose.

The lack of appetite is what he blames for how quick to anger he is, blaming the growing hunger in his stomach that is at both demanding for food and quick to turn at the thought of it. He's not kind on the street, using his cane to sweep people out of his path, given to sharp words in retort to any protests.

The first time he sees someone with a dark markings echoing the Queen's Lady plague he stumbles, losing his gait and unbalancing himself and perhaps others.

(open to anything around the city in the early days of the affliction. his own fear, cruelty towards another, issues around food and the scent of rot.)

[funbreaker]

[ While Thancred would have been willing to hop down into the mess in order to collect Himeka if she hadn't been able to stand from the pool of pink sludge on her own, she does manage. He crouches down as she approaches, making it easier for her to take his hand. As soon as they make contact, he grips hard and pulls her up.

Thankfully, she's rather light, even with that tail of hers.

Once Himeka's up on slightly higher ground with him, Thancred watches her carefully for a few seconds. He knows that physical contact right now can cause strange effects, and is half-expecting her to blurt out a secret.

Instead, she asks a question and he scoffs and shakes his head, looking mildly offended. ]

Please. This isn't mine. Honestly, I'm not certain it's anyone's. I've seen a lot of strange things in the Horizon as of late. I've been thrown a lot of strange places, as well.

[ He casts a glance down to the ooze down below, how it bubbles and slowly seems to be gaining height. ]

We can't stay here. [ He nods to the imposing tower some fifty yalms away from them. If they don't want to be swallowed up, they'll need to make for it, and soon. ]

Horizon I

[warfed]

[The loft is unlike any place she’s ever seen- even when she considers the apartment she shares with Claude and Sylvain, this place is home to countless devices and objects that are completely foreign to her. She does curiously examine the television for a few moments, but refrains from turning it on after doing so, thinking something so foreign is best left un-prodded.

Still, curiosity is not easily sated, and so she begins to explore the main area with a furrowed brow. It feels strange, to suddenly appear in someone else’s home, more or less, and so she makes an effort to keep her hands to herself, but as she goes, she cannot shake the feeling that she isn’t quite alone.

Frowning, she looks over her shoulder.]

Hello? Is someone else being here?

Horizon glitches

[bealufull]

The dead have risen. If there was anything in the world worse to Kaz Brekker than the scent and taste of rot it's actual dead, rotting, diseased bodies moving in the world.

This is literally his worst nightmare come to life. Literally. The only difference is this is an entire city and his nightmares are of bodies on a barge destined to burn. Perhaps it is cowardice, but he can't cope with it all in those moments.

It takes him a time or two but he finds his escape in the Horizon. Trying to calm his breathing, to think about what is to come and put himself into the Crow Club that Jesper had so painstakingly recreated.

It's not where he ends up though. Nothing is familiar, and everything seems wrong as he turns about, trying to figure out just where he's found himself.

(ooc: perhaps he's in someone else's domain, or in those spaces between here and there, nothing and everything. most open to the chariot and the fool, but all for any of the options, or a new scenario all together.)

[bealufull]

In truth, Kaz has no desire to leave the boarding house. He's never been one to hole up in his room, moreso when it's important that he not show fear, but there's nothing in Kaz in those days that can handle straying far from the sanctuary of scented oil and quiet and peace. Even as the hunger begins to gnaw at him and his bitterness feels like something tangible clinging to him like a shroud.

Normally he would not hide from these things but now, he can't stand the way the entire city smells after if a plague has descended on them already. He sees shadows on people, hints of pox marks that he's seen before. The kind that haunt his dreams.

It's the time he would gather his forces and, as it were, rally the troops. Except one of his own is missing.

Dabbing a cloth with the oil he'd purchased before, one he doesn't think about reminding him of Jesper with it's oil and leather and Inej with it's reverent incenses, he presses it to his nose and heads out.

It's hours before he finally pauses in his search. His leg aches like it has pins driving into his skin. Dark circles haunt his eyes and he's certain he's worn away part of his teeth from the angry grind of them as he hunts for Jesper. Standing there, leaning heavily on his cane, and realizing there's one place he hasn't searched. One place that, had this been the Barrel, he would have gone to instantly but even in his short time in this place, he's come to separate that from Jesper.

Maybe he's been wrong all along.

It's the second establishment that he spies a familiar brilliant green jacket through the dimness around him. Pale eyes narrow as he stalks through the room, a deepness to his limp that he can't hide in the pain he's bearing.

There's no thought as he hefts the cane, the gilded crow's head seemingly glowing in the low light as he brings it down with a crack against the table just before Jesper. Not a word. Nothing but a dark glower and the silence that comes in the wake of that hard slam of metal on wood.

[gynvael]

[ The mountain rumbles as if it means to flip itself again. He could manifest another weapon, call upon his wolf. But Geralt's mind simply doesn't work that way in combat. His fingers close around a rock instead. Not ideal. Better than nothing.

Until Nero calls his name.

The sword flies in his direction, that ridiculous roar of an engine attached to it. He catches it—rolling out from under the creature as he does. He waits, baits it forward. Then he plunges the blade into its frozen chest with a sharp crack. Blood pours from the wound, but it lurches forward despite that. Thick shards fly forth.

He ducks under them. Swings the revving sword at one of the creature's legs, taking it off at the knee. The entire weight of it—a full block of fucking ice—collapses atop him before he can dodge its path. It knocks his breath from his lungs. He curses. Gives the thing a shove, too distracted with getting it off of him to notice the icicle that flies in his direction until it's far too late.

He throws his shield up on instinct, certain it will not stop it in time even as he does. ]

[assembles]

Steve doesn't blink at the data-pad, finding that sort of thing almost commonplace by now. Back home, anyway. He's not entirely sure when it happened, but being an Avenger, he got used to being surrounded by technology.

It's not his surroundings he's thrown by so much as the stranger and his alien features. Steve isn't one to ever judge others by their appearance, well aware of how hypocritical that would be when he's lived that life in two different ways. But he's fought a lot of Thanos' cronies who'd looked similar to this guy and had been—

Well, not the conversational types.

In this case, he's greeted politely and offered an explanation. Steve doesn't see any reason to be hesitant, especially when he gets a name and everything slots into place. When he reaches out to take Garrus' hand, it's with a confident and firm grip.

"We've met," he responds with a flicker of a smile. "In a sense, anyway. I'm Steve Rogers, we spoke over..." He lifts his free hand to make a circular motion with his finger near his temple, to indicate the mental communication network that all the Summoned could use.

[gynvael]

Geralt glances back at her. Maybe, maybe not. He's not sure it makes a difference; Geralt tends to err on the side of caution. On the side of shit will get ugly because it often does.

In the end, it doesn't matter when the horses pull up quickly: two men on horseback, a woman leading aground. It is only then that he realizes they may not be bandits exactly. Something about their look, their horses, the fact that only two of them are armed. What are they then? Desperate common folk resorting to robbery?

(That changes things, a little.)

He takes a step or two forward. His sword is in his hand, but it remains at his side.

"Nadine." She should really move—only there isn't much time for that when there's a faint click of a crossbow lifting. He dives for the woman without hesitation; the bolt buries itself in a trunk. Nadine falls out of his sight as they roll on the ground. He hopes she's jumped on her horse, but there're still two others moving to intercept her while he's occupied.

[godshattering]

[ The question being reversed onto him without any kind of proper answer first isn't terribly surprising, though he focuses on refilling his own glass and then sitting back first. Claude, on the other hand, has zero qualms about bending the truth when it involves concealing something he doesn't want to talk about. ]

As I said, Gronder.

[ It's not what he said and it doesn't entirely apply, but it's also technically not a lie and therefore circles right back into being the truth. The subject's been hanging around his mind long before chatting about nightmares now, what with how they'd stumbled across and around that very topic during that supply run check-in. So he meets Sylvain's gaze evenly, holds it for a second, and raises an eyebrow right back. ]

Facing off across people we were once friends with on the same field we had that mock battle years ago was awful. The aftermath was horrible. Everything about it was every description you can think of meaning 'terrible' and because of that I still think about it now like it was just yesterday.

[ His only plan in going ever so slightly on the offensive here doesn't involve any aggravation but rather a hope to push back only enough to change the subject if he's successful. It's much easier to talk about Gronder vaguely than about seeing the faces from it it here where they don't belong. It's lost on Claude by not talking about it he's only giving into that feeling of being isolated and adrift that's been haunting him since the strange dream. And that despite his stubborn efforts to keep it tucked away, maybe some of it shows as an occasional flicker across his face. ]

[aquaveiled]

Is he, now?

[ Stronger indeed! And really she only wishes she'd seen some of those training sessions herself. She can imagine the way Geralt's face would pinch together through Moogle antics, even if Moglad were trying his absolute best. ]

Well, then he's lucky to have you both.

[ Though there's only so much that can be done when the world around you changes outside of your control. The Horizon has ever been something of an escape, allowing it's denizens to create small sanctuaries of their own. It's not quite home, not quite the places they left behind, but it can fill the gap for now.

But not this...not a place like this. Fitting for some, mayhaps, but not Jaskier. Though it seems that Moglad has been doing his best to protect both Jaskier and his domain in his own way. The way he puts it is concerning. Himeka's brows furrow. ]

Wrong? What do you mean?

[ Wrong in what way?

The question in turn makes her blink as she looks down at herself. Nothing stands out immediately until she notices that her scales are missing their usual luster and pearlescence. ]

...Yes, I guess I'm just a little out of sorts about all this too.

[ Her limbs don't feel any different. Why do they look almost bark-like? Has all the time she's spent out in the hills and wilds trying to reverse the decay been affecting her in other ways? ]

[gynvael]

[ He reaches up to light one of the torches lining the walls. There's a sense Geralt's been here before, or at least isn't surprised to find himself in such a state. ]

I wasn't aware you were getting on in age. [ He takes said torch off the wall and hands it to Thancred. The flame may not hold, the torch might spontaneously transform into a nightmare snake, but for now it is merely a torch. Ideally, it will remain so.

He tilts his head. Starts to walk, stepping over a uneven gap in the ground. ] A lit room. We can cast wagers on what dangers lie in wait.

[ He's got two imaginary pebbles and a copper to his name, currently. Who the fuck knows? Perhaps they'll be pleasantly surprised by finding something nice once there. He'd rather have a direction, though, than to wander aimlessly and fall into some sort of trap at the end of it anyhow. ]

[shadowthief]

She spins toward the source of the voice, not used to being on this side of this particular equation— she is usually the one stepping from shadows, startling people to their sudden awareness of her (and all of the immediately relevant worries like where had she come from and how had she been so silent?).

“Jo,” she breathes out and steps toward her, hesitating to a stop only a couple of steps later because she suddenly isn’t sure she is Jo. This isn’t the RoadHouse, not the way she knows it, twisted, a dark mockery of what it’s meant to be, so close… but just uncanny enough to be uncertain. What’s stopping Jo from being much the same?

She glances down at her blood-slicked fingers for a brief second before snapping her attention back to the older woman. “Is anyone else here?” Like Dean. He always felt… safe to her.

[funbreaker]

[ Thancred gives a quick shake of his head. ]

I was trying to leave the Horizon entirely. It had sent me elsewhere before this. [ To the top of a mountain, at that. At least Nero's domain is a bit more seasonable in comparison. Thancred hasn't seen enough of it to say much more about the place, although he can't help but notice a worrying spread of shadows over the stone ground. It's quite unnatural, not that the Horizon has to follow any natural laws.

He could ask under what circumstances someone else had landed on Nero's van, or deliver his theories for why he believes the Horizon might be doing this. Yet it's hard to take his eyes off of the inky blackness spreading beneath their feet like a blight. ]

Firstly— [ He nods down, wondering if his eyes are playing tricks on him. It's been his mind that's been the traitor the past few days. His ears, perhaps, when the thoughts feel that much more real. ] Is this normal?

[gynvael]

[ Good question. Geralt lifts his free hand in a gesture that suggests any answer he gives will not be sufficient. ]

We call it a leshy. It infested the walls of Kaer Morhen back home. [ His fingers tighten around his sword. There are aspects of that incident he does not wish to think on on in this moment. Or ever. ] The Horizon must be reflecting a corruption of our memories. You know how it is.

[ Or perhaps she doesn't. He's aware not everyone struggles with keeping the Horizon in check as he does. It's been all right as of late—he's started to spend more time here, found ways to keep intrusions from taking over his domain—but...well. That could only last for so long.

He pushes open the doors that must be familiar to her by now. ] Your pet crystal is absent.

[aquaveiled]

[ Wanda is right--as much as Himeka wants to show care for the land and community they've found themselves in, she knows that things haven't been easy for Wanda for a while now. The loss of Thor hasn't helped much in healing those wounds either. Their little group is small, but quickly close. He hadn't been with them for long but he made it seem like he'd been there since the start somehow all the same.

So she nods. The same isn't always great, but it isn't worse.

Having practical matters to attend to is something of a boon for the both of them, she thinks. Hurts that are not their own. Not that they want to see the people or the land suffer so, of course.

If anything, this feels fitting for the calling she took upon herself years ago in the Black Shroud. The Art of Succor couldn't be more apt.

She shakes her head. ]

Not much. It's one thing to treat the symptoms, but until we can find the source of the corruption...

[ The cycle will continue. ]

But two mages are better than one, right? Mayhaps if we work together we'll see a more lasting result.

[godshattering]

[ The cadence is familiar. It's not how Edelgard speaks to match the lack of retorts he's already noticed but it is how someone else he knows does. But - that someone isn't standing in front of him in a dress of Adrestian red and her hair wound into a horned headpiece he can't look away from even if he wants to. Someone else is.

The largely rational part of his mind is putting something else together now: it makes no sense that Edelgard would somehow have a key to their apartment to be here without anyone else around. If the emperor were in Cadens, they would know this as he'd said. She wouldn't be here dressed how he'd last seen her. The more he thinks about it, the more her visage blurs but it still comes right back into focus each time he blinks and keeps him locked into the tense stance he's kept the whole time. ]

Why do you sound like--

[ It's Petra's speech pattern, but still Edelgard's voice. Again Claude catches himself before completing that thought though this time not before most of it's out of his mouth. If there's clues to be given away here, he's not going to be responsible for it. At least, not past the uncertainty lacing through that half-formed question. ]

I don't- I don't understand.

[ An understatement. But maybe if whoever it is he's talking to keeps talking, it might be a start. ]

[aquaveiled]

[ Do they say that? She's actually completely unfamiliar with the saying, but it's one she'll agree to heartily. Speaking from her own biased experience, of course. ]

Oh yes, I'm sure there's some fun to be had when stuck in someone's cryptic and crumbling mind maze.

[ She actually does sound a little excited, to her credit. Adventuring is more enjoyable with company, after all!

Oh, so he's a little on the formal side? At least the sort of like Northwestern Eorzean formal side. A name like that really does sound Ishgardian too. ]

Well, Sylvain Gautier, I hope they won't mind if I borrow you for a bit. Though I take it you weren't exactly planning on visiting the Horizon just now, were you?