EVENT #10: AFFLICTION - IC POST

[abraxasmods]

Event #10 - Affliction

go to the OOC event info & plotting post

---

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

[wiedzminka]

It's a trick, her mind whispers. A trap. None of this makes sense.

Jo and Dean move away, but she is aware of them only out of the corner of her eye; the majority of her attention is on the unknown factor, the man who looks like he shouldn't be able to stand, shouldn't be able to speak her name. She'd think it was an illusion, but Dean was looking at him too. Jo could see him.

(Jo had said a name a moment ago, a name that rolled off the edges of her mind like rain on wax.)

His dagger slides with a scrape across the stone ground. Ciri's suspicion grows, stoked rather than eased, her conviction that there's something worse about to happen rising.

She doesn't wait. Doesn't let herself be lulled into believing there is a peaceful way out of this. Too many experiences otherwise have taught her better.

Without warning, Ciri lunges at him, thrusting her makeshift dagger forward swiftly and precisely, aiming for the throat.

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri only nods once, tight and impatient. She doesn't wait for more.

His choice of weapon is an odd one, though if he's any good with it, Ciri's not about to ask or complain. She joins him, sword drawn. ]

They keep going unless you render them mincemeat. Or ashes.

[ She warns, in case Steve hadn't realized this yet. It's gruesome business, even for someone used to it. Worse than Eifstide. ]

Unless you've learned something I haven't?

[londonbound]

[ It's the voice that finally makes Rhy look up, blinking in shocked disbelief, afraid he's suffering only a momentary illusion. The little creature rushes to him, and it is warm and solid, while Rhy is freezing cold and shaking uncontrollably.

He recognizes this place. Recognizes the furry white friend who takes care of Jaskier's domain.

Rhy reaches up to cup the small body against his face. ]

Moglad... [ His teeth are still chattering. The words come out cracked and raw, from his throat sore with screaming. ] Wh-where's... Jask- kier?

[gynvael]

He sees it, in the shift of her eyes before she strikes. Ciri is quick, but he's the one who taught her. He sidesteps out of her path, catching her wrist in one hand.

Were it anyone else, he knows exactly the right way to twist that hand and plunge the dagger through them. Or crush the bone until they drop it. But it's Ciri. He lets her go instead. Puts distance between them again while he tries to sort out what the fuck is even wrong.

What it is that's made her view him as a threat.

"You know me."

That's what's tugging at him. Jo said Geralt, but Ciri did not ask where he was. He can grasp that perhaps this place has made her see him as something strange, unknown. But she'd not even blinked at his name or questioned his whereabouts—as if it didn't register at all.

[londonbound]

Not in the slightest!

[ Rhy responds mock-cheerfully. He sinks lower into the water, lazily moving one arm just beneath the surface back and forth to watch the ripples form. If Kahlil were to observe him, he might notice a few scars on Rhy as well, which usually remain beneath his clothes: a small but noticeably raised scar on the right side of his ribs; a mark made up of two concentric circles over his heart, something between a scar and a tattoo; and much less noticeably by now after months of healing, a series of lines down the inside of his left forearm that look like something written there. (The word is sorry, if one were to look closely enough.)

He sinks back on the bench, looking over at Kyle with a shrug. ]

Haven't you noticed? Everything is fucked up. Even the dead don't want to stay dead anymore.

[ He laughs, a short bark of a thing. Not that it's clear, but he's laughing at himself. ]

Not that I can blame them. I certainly have no room to talk.

[ When he looks up, assuming Kyle is handing the bottle back to him soon, Rhy realizes it's been placed aside. He stares at it for a beat too long, as though it might suddenly decide to close the distance. ]

I'm here for a distraction. [ He says finally, and when he closes the distance between them to reach for the bottle, Rhy slides his arm behind Kyle's shoulders almost in an embrace. ]

Care to be one?

[wiedzminka]

She snarls, the moment her wrist is caught reacting not to yank free like one might expect but using the closed distance between them to make a grab for his neck or shoulder. She intends to leverage the position to get a kick in and dislodge him, but it isn't necessary. He lets her go.

Ciri jumps back, tightening her grip on her knife.

This time, she waits a moment without attacking again. She can't understand what he's doing, and that only makes her more wary.

"No," she bites back. No hesitation at all, no moment to even think. All of this uncertainty only makes her want to put a stop to it sooner rather than later. She isn't falling for its tricks.

"Why would I know something like you?"

[ofthesword]

[Nero grits his teeth. With a pull, he jerks out of Geralt's grip, taking a step or two and then stopping. When he looks at it, it's like the light glows dimmer, and he gives it a second -- just one -- for the thought that Geralt might be keeping him from her to linger, but --

What'd be the point? Geralt doesn't know her.

He turns back to him. I'll come with you. Yeah. Yeah, all right. It's that offer that settles it.] Yeah, well, I'm not exactly a cabin expert.

[He's not back to himself; his tone's too quiet for it, but he is fucking cold whether or not he can freeze to death out here.] We can make a cave or something. Gotta be a big enough outcropping on this rock, right?

[gynvael]

Something. Perhaps the problem is that can apply to so many circumstances. (He's never been a monster in her eyes before. Not even the first time they met, before she ever knew him.)

He studies her. Waits, too, for her to strike once more. She doesn't.

Slowly, he circles around towards one of the exits. In case she decides to flee. She can attack him; he doesn't care about that. But he does not want her running through this fucking labyrinth alone. The last thing he needs is to watch her stumble into a trap.

There's a pause. Then: "It's Geralt." He already knows what she will say. "You don't remember me."

[gynvael]

[ A tense moment passes where he thinks Nero will take off. He's well aware he's no match to stop the boy if he does. Then Nero stops, and Geralt relaxes.

One problem resolved. For now.

He nods towards the eastern side. Up there. They'll find a cliff or an overhang that direction. True, he can try to manifest a cabin, a tent, but. So far, the Horizon has not been yielding to his will. He'd rather duck behind a wall of rocks. Not as though he's with a human. They're both sturdy enough in a storm, he and Nero.

He begins to trek up the snowy hill. It's rough, slow, but soon—Geralt leads them towards a pocket between the cliffs. Shielded on three sides. It'll do. They can block up the entrance with rocks, build a fire within. ]

[wiedzminka]

Nothing. No reaction in her face, no glimmer of recognition in her eyes. She doesn't even seem to connect this with what Jo had said a few minutes ago, the name sliding off her consciousness, unable to find purchase even for a moment.

She turns to keep him in her line of sight when he moves, never relaxing her stance, ready to lunge or dodge at a moment's notice.

"I think I'd remember someone who looked like you."

Her heart is beating too fast, the visceral disgust and discomfort of that thing in front of her making it difficult to stay her hand long enough to listen. Ciri's seen plenty of unpleasant things; usually, she can simply push down the fear and horror, prioritize logic and getting herself out of disadvantageous situations. Now, for some reason, it's getting more and more difficult to focus on staying calm.

She doesn't like this. She doesn't want to talk. Her blade wants blood; her fingers itch to use it. To shut this monster up while she still has the chance.

The hesitation doesn't last much longer. When she realizes he's blocking her path, Ciri moves on the offensive once again, rushing him to see if he'll dodge or try to block, or make a grab for her again. This time, she'll be ready.

[hairington]

[ geralt takes off the second steve is on the back of the bike, and it takes all of steve's strength to keep his hold on geralt's shoulder and his other hand around his bat. it's a good thing he does, as one of the dogs pounces towards them just as they're racing off, and steve's able to make contact with it to keep it off them as the bike picks up speed. as geralt hits the highway and keeps going, steve settles back in behind him, letting the wind roar passed, wondering where it is they're going and hoping it's fast enough before-

the bike hits something (it has to, right?) and steve feels himself being tossed through the air, rocketed into dark, empty nothing. it feels like the fall takes forever, but also no time at all, and steve barely has the forethought to cover his head with his hands before he hits the ground (hard), and skids across the ground a few feet, less rolling and more like still moving with the force of it.

whether it's the ringing in his ears or the roaring of pain through his limbs, but steve doesn't hear the bike land somewhere else, doesn't hear geralt get to his feet. instead, steve groans, using what feels like the last of his energy to push himself onto his back to breathe, taking one long breath, and then another, groaning again as he forces himself to blink and sit up, still dizzy from the impact of it. ]

What-? [ and then, upon realizing he is somewhere distinctly different than his own domain, starts to scramble to his feet. ] Geralt? Geralt!

[nightwash]

This shouldn't be a complicated question. The Greywaren has an answer ready, a timeless name to give her because she is a thing that cares very much about naming other things so that the words can be spoken aloud.

But it feels insufficient.

Greywaren.

Syllables for a human mouth, meant to describe the creature before her. But there's another name, isn't there? There was another name for it. Him. Was it a long time ago? Or maybe it hasn't happened yet?

Body. There is a body that isn't here. It's somewhere outside of the shared dream, outside of the Horizon. The Greywaren isn't sure how it lost him. The boy.

Ronan Lynch.

Almost as soon as the creature remembers the name, the boy is here instead. The shadows vanish like the flick of a light switch, and there's Ronan, staring at Wanda with his vivid blue eyes.

[nightwash]

"The Lace."

It doesn't surprise him that Sasarai isn't sharing the experience. Ronan is so often the only one with the fucked-up situation.

With a sigh, he does his best to explain it, "I've seen it in my dreams before. It's not a demon, exactly. More complicated than a demon. You can get rid of demons, but this thing... It's always been there and it always will be. All you can do is push it back, keep it in and don't let it get out."

[godshattering]

[ The first part of what she says mostly goes over his head, though Claude thinks he grasps the general idea of it all enough to not ask too many details. To him, it won't change that they're stuck wherever they are with apparently no way out thanks to the mountain's rather unkind method of resetting itself. It helps to be inside, with someone he knows, so he's about to say something roughly equating to that much when what Wanda says next startles him. ]

Crops are failing, huh. There's been some food shortages in Cadens lately, but I thought that might be due to everything that's going on with Thorne. It'd make sense if something was happening to harvests or even what they trade with Solvunn for.

[ No stranger to wartime shortages meant that was the first place Claude's mind went, all too familiar with needing to find what they could to feed an army. But an army's much smaller than the whole of Cadens, and that food insecurity worries him for the citizens and what it'll mean in the long run while Libertas also recovers.

He takes a deep breath then and lets it out slowly, the poorest disguise of all time for a heavy sigh. ]

We do. They've been crawling out of the graveyards in Cadens and... unburying themselves in Libertas. We've had to prevent them from roaming both cities. [ He's silent again as she reaches forward and watches out of curiosity as her magic works. It's not the same as Faith, Claude can tell that much - knows that much from seeing her magic in action other ways - but the relief it brings is still quite real. He tests it again and there's marked improvement and he smiles. ] Thanks for that.

I only know a couple people in Thorne and I haven't asked them what might be going on there. But it stands to reason that if you're seeing some of the same things in Solvunn that we're seeing in the Free Cities since I'm assuming Aquila also has this going on, then Thorne must have something.

[ His words are punctuated by the wind abruptly picking upside to a near howl, to the point where the door rattles as if something wants in - or to let them out. Claude just grimaces instead of commenting on it since no need to point out the obvious: whatever's controlling the mountain seems to not like the idea of them taking shelter. ]

[catholica]

Let me just —

( reaching around, he pats himself on the back and then laughs shortly before shrugging. )

There've been some close calls but I've come out all right.

( he tended to be like a cockroach, really. people get close to killing him but can't finish the job. )

[tobeclosetohim]

Try not to have too many more. I'm getting fond of your--

[ But that's when the screaming starts from another few streets over, probably near that other cemetery, Jo thinks, losing the laughing girl for the one she looks more. More than not covered in blood and whatever else the zombie bodies spew as they go down, both her and her sword.

There's a little too much relish in the steel of her business. ]

That sounds like us.

[ Jo doesn't need any help falling in with group charging that way. ]

[gynvael]

[ He swallows. ] A few days.

[ At least. Longer? He recalls speaking to her shortly before he left—he often does—so it can't have been more than a week, but that's still far too many days for her to have vanished into nothingness.

He curls his fingers gently around her arm. ]

We looked everywhere. Where were you?

[ Trapped in another's domain, one of those places? He's been locked in them, too. They all have. Only a handful of hours at most. Was that it? She was trapped somewhere for longer than most? He's hoping, in truth, because otherwise it would mean she had actually...disappeared. Genuinely. For a brief period. And he's not so certain he can deal with that information right now. ]

[harmonian]

Sasarai thinks he he understands, though only on an abstract level. The way Ronan describes the entity is not too unlike the way scholars describe the Sword and Shield.

Individual monsters can be killed but the chaotic energy of the Shield has existed since a time before even the True Runes. Chaos could not be killed, merely contained.

Could such power cause him to see Luc? He's not sure how it would, but he also doesn't see any reason it wouldn't.

Talking about Luc is still painful, it still opens raw memories. He doesn't want to talk about Luc, but keeping Luc a secret won't do him any good either. If anything, perhaps it would be best for at least a few people to know about his brother in case the Singularity brought Luc to Abraxas.

"I wasn't lying when I said I saw my own face but, well... Sometimes I think am seeing my brother," he speaks slowly. "He has my face. I mean... We're twins."

Or, more accurately, they are both clones of the same person.

He taps his chin.

"Would this Lace cause something like that? When I see Luc in my reflection it's more than just a trick of the light."

[princessvegas]

[ A few days. It could be worse. She had been afraid she'd been stuck for weeks or longer, unable to gauge the passage of time in any way. The unmoving sky behind the blob, the darkness suspended between... worlds? She doesn't understand where she's been, and she shakes her head. ]

I -- I don't know. It was a desert. The sky was pink like sunrise, but it never changed. The clouds never moved, there wasn't no wind, nothin'. The only thing was... I don't know what it was. A blob thing, in the sky. It kept hummin'. So loud it made the ground shake.

[ Her eyebrows furrow, trying to recall every detail she can give. There's not much; it wasn't exactly a complicated space. ] I couldn't leave. I couldn't... everythin' I tried was just fucked up. I couldn't walk away from it. The things I made were mostly broken, in some way. All I could make was a chair, a little table. Vodka. A lot of vodka. Even when I tried to make shoes, to walk, there were holes in the bottom. [ And even now, her feet are bare. Her high heels did not come through the void with her. The bottoms of her feet are dirty, have scratches where she stood on rocks.

There is so much more that she can barely put words to, and it shows on her face, that she's still wrestling with her thoughts. ] And then I was... nowhere.

[catholica]

( the vision of death doesn't stop and he doesn't know how it's possible for someone to die this much, this long. it's like he can feel the breath choking out of him even if he knows his lungs are still working.

there's blood on his hands and when he opens his eyes, he stares at them, seeing the red stains that aren't there.

someone comes closer, boots scuffing in the dirt and reaches for him and he yanks himself away, rolling onto his back and trying to get himself back together. )

What's happening to me?

[hairington]

[ steve is speeding down the highway, uncertain of exactly where this new person is in his horizon domain, but knowing this place well enough to work his way through it. it's not someone he recognizes, that much he's certain, but at the same time that doesn't narrow things down. steve's more aware than anyone how small his circle is while he's here, and if it's not eddie, geralt, or wanda, steve isn't sure he'd actually be able to recognize them.

( well, maybe nero, but he hasn't actually hung out with nero here in the horizon, so he's not 100% sure. )

still, for now, he knows the direction. he knows the approximate area. so steve sets his bab into gear and speeds further a little faster, feeling the machine creak under him.

as the last moment, he swerves off the road, taking a side road further into the trees. it's not his normal route, not anythig he'd do if he was just driving through, but there is very little about all this that is normal at this point. for now, steve drives as far as he thinks he needs to go, pushing closer and closer to whatever it is he's feeling, until the very last minute.

jo, just ahead of her, will see an old (by her standards) bmw come into view, slamming on its breaks and drifting through the underbrush and dust. it doesn't seem all that worried about the vines as it drives over them, coming to a stop just ahead of her, as steve leans over and throws open the passenger door. ]

Get in! Let's go!

[ she doesn't know that this whole entrance is a lot cooler than anything steve would be willing to do in the real world, but hey. until he figures a way back home, there really isn't a real world, is there?

it does appear that steve picked the right time to do this, as moments after he calls out to her, there is a kind of roar from behind her. it seems the creature has picked up on her scent, and it's not slowing down. ]

[hairington]

[ it's not the first time the creature has seen someone of wanda's calibur, though its experience is with a younger version, a child in comparison, but it knows to be wary. it knows to wait it out. it is part of the reason that it stalks in the back, why it bides its time and follows her, why it hunts, rather than attacks. it is used to working through veils, through dimensions, which already makes this easier. but still it is wary.

on the other hand, steve has been at the drive in the whole time - knowing, in a way he can't really explain, that this is where he needs to be. where it will all happen. he gets there and feels like he's early, so among his fear and worry is the need to do something about it - a kind of hurried, frantic preparing for the worst. he knows anyone could show up any moment, knows that whoever does won't be safe, so he has to do what he can.

or at least - that's until he sees wanda kind of. floating. down to the ground. it doesn't surprise him as much as it should, perhaps, but it does have him pausing, wondering what she's here for. why?

steve shakes himself out of the thought before it can settle. ]

Wanda? [ he calls, stepping out from his makeshift bunker, a kind of combination of the bus he and henderson, mayfield, and sinclair all hid in. did it have any reason to be at the drive in? no. but for as long as the dust particles and vines of the upside down live in his horizon domain, steve's not really going to question it. ] Over here!

[subhuman]

[ That's one way to deal with it. Dante doesn't flinch, used to even minute acts of violence as he is, but more than that he's understanding. Who wouldn't want to punch a messed up past?

That's what this is, isn't it? That's the impression he's getting, not even knowing this guy. ]

Wouldn't be the first time this place has tried to air dirty laundry, isn't it?

[ The words may seem flippant, but his tone is anything but. He gets it. ]

But, hey. I'm great at keeping secrets.

[satanicpanics]

[ That seems to lift his mood a bit, and he snorts, unable to keep the ghost of a smirk from appearing on his face. ]

Good point.

[ He tilts his head thoughtfully, contemplating his abilities for a moment. It’s not a difficult job, and it would give him something of use to do. He nods. ]

Yeah, alright. I think I could do that.

[gynvael]

[ He spins around as soon as he hears Steve call for him. Doesn't see him at first. Then he steps forward, crouches over the edge of one of the roofs to look down at...another roof. A sticky mass pulses and throbs on the ground below. The whole place smells sickly sweet, overpowering.

Geralt thrusts his hand down to help Steve up. ] You okay?

[ Once Steve has joined him, he stands again to survey the landscape. It's. Yes. He's been here before. Briefly. Not long enough to have received much more than a glimpse and a short foray into the stacked homes. Definitely not long enough to know how the hell to get out, though he's gathered by now there is no out no matter where they are. Only waiting.

He shatters one of the windows, then reaches in to unlatch it and push it open. Leaves behind smears of blood on the white-painted ledge. The window leads into what appears to be a quaint little kitchen. One that looks like it might belong in Sam's home. Geralt climbs through first—less graceful than he'd prefer, squeezing past the tight frame before he sort of just. Pops through with a grunt. A pan clatters to the ground, and a tiny hanging plant knocks him on the head. He curses. ]