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

[impressionism]

Whether or not he should, Hennessy rather expected to be accused of something by now. The fact that she hasn't run into anyone she knows in... however long...is serving in her favor. Maybe her luck really is on the upswing.

At the idea that the crown can handle whatever weirdness is happening here, Hennessy snorts.

"Because they're doing such a bang-up job already. Is it just me, or does something go wrong with the magic around here too often for anyone to be chill about it?"

[cryptsleeper]

[Yeah, it's hot. He knows, when he's in a better frame of mind.

Alucard manages a good dozen yards or so, compelled by sheer annoyance than anything else. The thing is still much too close to home, but the wind won't blow the stench of death inside. He feels that's reasonable, and besides. Their corpse friend (and Ciri's new and exciting mode of transportation!) has begun to wriggle about under Alucard's grasp, the sheer surprise of someone dragging it about having worn off.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the tail smacks against the dhampir and temporarily sends him spinning.]

[cryptsleeper]

So far as we've known.

[Alucard's own voice is graver. He's always taken the situation of being the only one of his kind as neither a mark of pride or thing to despair over. A simple fact, nothing more, but one twinged with sadness with so many departures lately.

He at least has dwelt in negativity before.]

I'm not sure if I need any further knowledge. It is more likely that I will need a long break, once this matter is figured out in a satisfactory manner. I'm becoming a large fan of having my blood inside of me at all times. There are...strange resonances when I don't.

[techmaturgy]

Viktor seems a little surprised when Jayce tries to rip the tendrils away and does it easily, but of course they continue inching upward with little interruption. His eyes flick down to them as they snake back around his waist, but he doesn't seem to be alarmed, not in the way Jayce is.

"It's okay," he says, but instead of leaning into the hand on his shoulder in preparation to stand, he rests his palm against Jayce's cheek. Viktor knows he can't tell Jayce to go on without him, because he'll refuse. It leaves them at something of an impasse, but sooner or later the choice will be made for them, either way. "You can't protect me from everything."

Not the least of which is his current desire to simply let this happen. He's been fighting for so long, and they've bought him time, yes, but only with stop-gap methods that wear off. The rest of his work, a more permanent solution, stymied by bureaucracy, the same as it was back home. Why even make an effort to leave the Horizon? He only wishes Jayce would save himself, and the frustration makes its way onto his face.

"I'm usually much better at changing things, in here." Changing himself. "I don't know why it's not working."

[earthborn]

Of course she can't. Shepard can only hear her own too-rapid breathing, gasping for oxygen in the rapidly-thinning cold, ice forming in her eyelashes as the pressure hits a critical tipping point. The Normandy blooms with fire, hit astride and split open, the orange flash-ignition of the sub-light fuel felt as much as seen. On the floor in front of Garrus, he's spared none of it, seeing in bright daylight what only the inside of her helmet had borne witness to in life; the death of Commander Shepard.

And then, mercifully, as it had done in the past, it all faded away and Shepard came back to herself in a hideous rush. She sucks air like a drowning victim, the gasp rattles down into he chest and comes back in a cough, her eyes gone wild, hands grasping for anything to steady her.

But she doesn't need steadied, she's flat on her back, and Garrus is right there. She grips him back, like a lifeline.

"What the fuck?" Shepard is appalled at her own voice; a panicked, hollow croak. She swallows, gets a bit more oxygen down her, and tries to find some semblance of sense in the world. Alright. Alright, so it had been... some kind of flashback, then. Worse than usual, possibly worse than she'd ever had, outside the Prothean Beacon itself. What the hell had set it off?

"I'm okay," She tells him, more in the hope of forcing it to be true, than any real spirit of honesty, "...Hell of a flashback. But I'm fine."

[harmonian]

"Oh, that's a long story."

And one Sasarai still doesn't have all the details of. He gently crosses his arms over his chest as he thinks of a better answer.

"I suppose the short version is that we grew up apart and when we finally met he resented me."

He snorts.

"And by that I mean he stole my Rune so he could complete a ritual to destroy the Rune entwined in his soul. Thank the Circle we stopped him before that could happen. If he'd succeeded the death of the Rune would have destroyed an entire country."

Slowly, Sasarai looks towards Ronan's face.

"So, I guess that would be why this Lace is showing me Luc. How can we stop it?"

[thearchangel]

He beckons her on in the rest of the way. Aside from the giant guns, it's not a large room, overall. They're standing on a slightly raised platform, with all the screens and panels to run his precious calibrations. A walkway runs on either side of the guns, with access ports. Still, there's plenty of room for two people to stand. Even if one of them is a stupidly tall turian.

He props an elbow on the main control panel. "Well, that's not alarming at all. This whole brain world acting up..."

Absently, for lack of anything else to do with his free hand, he picks at the scarred side of his face. "No one. Shepard drops by, from time to time, but - hers is connected." A nod toward the door, with a splay of mandibles in a grin. "Her ship, I just rent a room."

[thearchangel]

Wait it out - that's what you're supposed to do. Wait, watch, call emergency services. If they have meds, use the meds. But none of those things, save waiting, are going to happen here. All he can do is wait. All he can do is watch and listen to her gasping, listen to his own humming, vibrating fear. Any other turian would have spotted it miles away, if there were any.

And it is no small relief when she gasps. Coughs. When life switches back on in her expression and grips his hand. She could crush all his bones and he'd thank her, in this moment.

"Easy."

She won't, he's sure, but he's got to say it anyway. Got to at least try and get her to relax a bit. The last thing he wants is some kind of relapse. When he doesn't even know what happened. He's sure the fear is still buzzing in his words. Not that there's anything he can do about that.

"Breathe... just. Stay there a second, all right?" While he collects his own wits. "It looked like a seizure." But she's talking, she's aware. Those are good signs, right? "You... you're sure it was a flashback?"

Nothing more?

[wiedzminka]

To her great annoyance, his words give her pause. He isn't wrong, after all; Ciri's felt it too, the wrongness of this place on top of its weirdness and unfamiliarity. They are trapped here, wherever here is, entangled in the Horizon. The Singularity.

Always the fucking Singularity.

The rules are different now. It's too great a risk to bet on how different.

Tight-lipped and glaring, Ciri slowly lowers her sword.

"So what's your brilliant plan, then?"

[wiedzminka]

[ These stupid things are already hard enough to take down when they're alive. Ciri doesn't usually bother with the effort of it unless they're getting aggressive near the roads. Now, undead, it's way more annoying than usual. The corpse-beast doesn't react to stabbing and pain the way they normally do. It doesn't seen to care she's taken huge chunks out of its decomposing neck by now.

It keeps going, thrashing about, and when Ciri sees its tail -- more bone than meat at this point -- whip across Alucard, she swears under her breath and yanks her sword free with a wet noise.

A moment later, she's appeared beside Alucard, the green-blue afterglow she leaves gone in a blink. It's just in time to intercept the next lash of that bony tail, which finds itself slamming into the business end of her blade. It goes flying. ]

[wiedzminka]

I'm not! Stop yelling!

[ Ciri yells back, slamming the door shut behind her. The thing is so loud. ]

What? [ Nero gets a confused scowl for his efforts. ] No. I just got here. Not that I was trying to come here here.

cw: fighting zombies is gross

[ushiri]

Somehow with the head gone the body continues to move, and so Kahlil is too distracted this time to observe Lucifer. He gives a sharp kick to the kneecap to the sound of a sickening crunch as the leg bends the wrong direction. Another kick sends it back into the water on its back.

He watches for a moment as it struggles there, headless, his own stomach churning acid. Quickly, he smashes the other kneecap, then the joints at the shoulders, hoping at least that if it continues moving it won't actually be able to get anywhere. He's quick and efficient, and in the setting sun it might be more difficult to tell how he's gone a little pale.

He turns to see Lucifer carelessly handling a severed limb, then suddenly remembers the other body -

The man gives a wretched cough, putrid lake water spilling from his lungs. Alive, then. Kahlil ducks to the man's side, but before he can get in a are you alright? he's already babbling.

"Gods, oh gods - what was that? Are they dead? Thank you, thank you -"

The stranger is on his knees, grabbing and shaking Kahlil by the shoulders first before crawling over to Lucifer, either not having noticed the limb in his hand or not caring, it's difficult to tell - either way he grips Lucifer's leg tightly, sobbing.

The stench of liquor is barely noticeable with all the other smells going on...

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard pauses, considering the best way to answer the question. This is a stranger, so there's no way he's going to cheerfully inform him that he just lives here, and sleeps in a cactus as a wolf, thank you.]

Something like the latter. Usually it's peaceful. Easier to get away from the claustrophobia the city can have.

[bealufull]

It feel easy compared to what was going on beyond the Horizon but that doesn't make things any easier for him. So he paces the small confines, such as it were when it comes to pacing. Often he pauses to peer at things, considering the most minute thing because he knows it was put here by her mind for a reasons and perhaps there's a way to open himself up to more if he learns about all of this that means so much to her.

"A mirror that reflects nothing and a moth dead in a flower. I'm not sure what omens that might be, or that it is like many where you can make them mean anything based on what you're going through. I would be curious though to know if there are any having the same dream. Others with empty mirrors or..." Or more. He knows its more.

"Or who may have kept seeing such moths around the boarding house." He hadn't seen broken mirrors, but that he had noticed.

"Three old gods who want to bring destruction. Lovely. I wonder then if there's some who had images of something else entirely. A third image." He pauses, only because it makes sense to him. "We should speak with Jesper about it. Or some of your other friends. If anyone has seen the same images or something else."

He doesn't want to believe in Old Gods. He does though believe in people playing on superstitions and if this is a tale that Inej has heard, it means likely others have as well. Especially the locals whose war they are now involved in.

"We should look into it, see what we might find about these Gods. Not that I believe in them," he's quick to point out. "But because those behind all of this might be using them to their own ends."

He avoids talking directly about the dead beyond the Horizon. He can't handle it right now.

"Is this what you remember of home?" It's an abrupt question, one he hasn't been able to help but ask. At least it wasn't the first things out of his mouth.

[bealufull]

Watching that change come over Jesper is both satisfying and painful. He's called his bluff and that, in and of itself, is a win in Kaz's book. He feels vindicated then, and there's a smugness in the lines of his face.

And yet it utterly and wholly hurts as well.

It hurts the boy that cares about Jesper more than he cares for himself, who wants to keep him safe and protected and knows that here, even more than in the Barrel, it can't be done.

The world around him is full of rot and anger and pain, and he wants to shake Jesper like a ragdoll. Just to be certain this isn't another of his games. Those words though, they ring true and it makes him hurt again... even if he's sure his answer could prove if he's wrong and it is all another painful game.

"You can't hurt me with words, Jesper," he lies, as smoothly as any lie he's ever told. Not giving Jesper the satisfaction, not putting that on him as well. Hedging his bets on what is really going on here and uncertain how to play it. He just knows one thing.

"That's not going to happen," he says, drawing a sharp breath and huffing it out. He moves to step in closer to Jesper, bracing himself on his cane. "Arm around my shoulders, Jesper. We're going back to the boarding house. You're ours and if I have to tie you down and gag you, then I will."

He pauses and then adds. "If you make some kind of overt comment about that, I will gag you now and you won't enjoy it, I'll be certain of that."

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard does not appreciate getting tail smacked. The only reason it takes him a moment to pick himself up and out of the sand is the sheer bafflement that it happened in the first place. Embarrassing - and worse! In front of a stranger. One who is just--

--glowing?

He's seeing things, clearly. The more important thing at hand is the way the boney tail slams into Ciri's blade and the fact it's gone.

This is hardly ideal. Alucard snarls, electing to float himself upward, blade in hand. The thing's chest is mostly bone with rotting viscera inside, all powered by a decayed heart that now that the dhampir can see it, appears beating in some way. There's too many parallels to old legends right now, and it takes real and true effort to dismiss them. He grips his blade, and drives both it and himself into the thing's heart.

The squelching is especially loud.]

[funbreaker]

[ As soon as Thancred realizes that the shadows are forming into something a bit more corporeal, he backs up a few steps, watching with guarded interest. He's aware that people's domains can behave in ways they don't expect, but this is taking that to an extreme, isn't it?

Yet Nero is correct that the Horizon has been acting even stranger than usual ever since the changes in the real world began. And both of them have a good idea of what caused that, as well. ]

Is there no way for you to—

[ Then the creature, some massive conglomeration of teeth, makes a noise and aims its ire toward him. Thancred tenses up, readying himself for something to lash out at him, but he isn't quite prepared for the needles to go flying at him like arrowheads. ]

Seven hells! [ He dives out of the way before his brain can think of another plan, landing hard on his side on the ground. He scrabbles into a sitting position and glares at both the van and the shadow creature that it's spawned. ] I hardly meant to fall on top of you, you know!

[ His wide eyes flick over to Nero. ] Surely you can stop it? This is your domain, after all!

[gynvael]

[ Jaskier's hesitation shouldn't sting. Somehow, it does. The idea that even his closest friend is afraid of him. There's reason. Of course there is, and normally he would not think twice, would understand it fully, but right now—

Jaskier climbs on. His arms wrap securely around the Witcher's waist. Geralt revs the engine, then takes off. Fast, though not as fast as the machine can travel. He isn't trying to scare the shit out of Jaskier nor make him pass out again. The Horizon blurs by, domains crumbling and in ruins alike rushing past. They reach the crater before long.

There it stands. The fucking rock that's been the bane of their existence.

He slows to a stop, then kills the engine. Swings off before he wanders into the crater. He's not ever been to the Singularity in the physical world. That one chance they'd had during the Dimming, he'd been far too wounded to go. Far too unwilling to involve himself in that squabble, as well.

He glances over his shoulder at Jaskier. Here we are. All that's left is to touch it. ]

[gynvael]

[ No. They would not. That is not what he means, though. ]

I don't care about their agreement. Nothing's ever benefited from men receiving what they feel they're owed.

[ And in truth, he is not certain how he feels about those arriving as of late placing a stake in what the Free Cities may want of them. He can't blame them, exactly. It just doesn't bode well for what lies ahead.

Maybe he's simply been in this place for too fucking long. ]

[gynvael]

[ Those must be important matters indeed for the device to slip Alucard's mind. Geralt turns to look at the vampire before he glances away again. Funny. He knows Alucard can feel the cold, but it's always struck him as a bit, hm.

Unexpected. Makes him wonder if that's the vampire side of him or the human side letting him feel fluxes in temperature as any other. ]

Other than the usual unknowns? [ He shakes his head. No. ] Portents of doom tend to be myth. But I've learned there's some truth to it on occasion.

[ The Wild Hunt, for example. ]

[aquilus]

[Altaïr knows that white. He's been the cause of it more than once. Surely he isn't this time, though, not when he's done nothing but be present. He frowns]

A disturbing one, I take it. What did it show you?

['A way out' would be much too easy and far less discomfiting

[assembles]

[ It sounds like both of them had been thrown in here with no warning or explanation, and with no one to greet them either. They're thinking along the same lines, which is that this part of the Horizon wasn't made by any of them.

As they climb, Steve's gaze flicks to Wanda. ] The Singularity? [ What else could it be? Why it would make something like this he can't say. What does the ooze symbolize, for instance? Is it just plucking random thoughts out of their heads and building whatever it wants? And how long will they be trapped in here before it lets them out?

It's important to remember what's happening outside of this place too, and Steve is quick to nod at Wanda's question. He's doing his best not to climb so quickly that she won't be able to keep up with him, but they're staying well ahead of the ooze either way. ]

Yeah, it's the same in the Cities. If bodies aren't reanimating, they're getting picked over by birds and vermin. Some animals are dying to illness, like you said, and food is spoiling quicker than it should.

[ If this continues, things are going to get outright dire. If the illness spreads, if food spoils no matter what's done, even more lives will be lost. ]

[gynvael]

[ He files Solvunn away as to where Eddie is from: information he did not ask after, but which he finds worth noting. Not too many from Solvunn. That they are still performing the spell despite their insistence on remaining out of the conflict tells much. ]

I've been alive a long time. Wars have come and gone, cities have fallen and reformed, but... [ Hm. ] This feels different.

[ It'd felt different back home on the Continent. An irrevocable change. Something that cannot be undone. Now that he's in this sphere, he senses the same. It isn't about the war. Or the destruction or the attacks. It's deeper. Like he's a part of it in a way he cannot describe, in a way he does not wish to be but can't seem to stop. He'd bound his Destiny to Ciri; he can accept that. He can embrace it. But he doesn't know if this world has bound itself to her. That worries him.

Even so: ]

The world goes on. [ Until it does no longer. He holds up the pitcher with the intent to refill Eddie's cup. As he does, the wood beneath his other hand begins to grow soft, rotting, unnoticed. A single moth falls to the ground; its wings flap weakly before it stills and shrivels. Magic stirs in the air, a curl of the dead and dying that flows between them. ] We go on with it.

[assembles]

[ Steve takes out the final one, tackling it to the ground and maneuvering around flailing limbs to sever its head at the neck with pressure applied from his shield. By this point both of them are covered in gore, and yet the scene around them isn't as quiet as it should be.

They've maimed or knocked down all of the undead in this area, yes. They've even removed limbs or heads in some cases. And yet as Steve takes stock, he can see that the bodies are still twitching, that even the headless ones are struggling to get back to their feet on broken legs.

It doesn't seem to matter what they do. Nothing is stopping these things. And while they may not be able to walk well enough to be a threat, they can't be left like this.

No doubt Matt can hear the shuffling of the various zombies futilely attempting to move around. Steve lets out a sigh and steps over to him. ]

Brute force isn't going to be enough here. I think we're probably going to have to burn them.

[ Reducing their bodies to ash seemed to be the only thing that would halt them in their tracks. Steve doesn't like it, not when these creatures used to be people at one point, and there might be family or friends out there mourning them. But wouldn't some decomposed husk showing up at their door unexpectedly be even worse? ]

[cryptsleeper]

[He's having a time of it, Gerry.]

I think we're looking at bared truths now, not myth. [There's a weary sigh, and the dhampir brings his fingers up to pinch at the bridge of his nose.] Somehow my father's quiet let him fade into myth among Wallachia's people, until it all went to shit.

[Which is to say that he doesn't believe any of this is to be taken lightly.] What I don't like is that we had a rash of serious violence and then this. The order feels reversed.