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

[catholica]

Well, I don't know if I'd put it like that —

( but close enough, he guesses? he stretches his back and blows out a breath, still seeing flecks of blood on his hand even if he knows they aren't there.

he rubs his eyes again. )

I did go to many years of school so I could say I was a lawyer, yeah.

[carmesi]

[it isn't said unkindly, and she also doesn't take it as being unkindly. there has definitely been some strange happenings among the summoned, especially where touch is concerned. the last thing she wants to do is to add more to whatever it is they are experiencing right now.

and so, it is an easy enough favor to do.]

What happens when someone touches you?

[for her, she shares visions of the dead. however, she knows it's not just those things people have been seeing. perhaps she will not get an answer, though, not yet, anyway, for as they continue onward, there's a rather loud thud somewhere behind them.

wanda turns around, but does not falter, keeping herself standing where she is. there's something in the darkness that the red glow of her magic doesn't quite reach; there's movement there, a slow crawl, sniffing.

suppose she wasn't entirely imagining things.]

[godshattering]

The mention of jealousy is unexpected after he goes back to focusing on a shot, and Claude's laughter is (unfortunately for him) timed with the exact moment he lets another arrow fly. That sends the arrow wide though he can't be too upset about it now that they have the situation rather firmly under control. "I'm not sure I actually want whatever the Singularity's gifting us, between this and the nightmares a while back. I would've settled for a better bow instead, or a sweater. Maybe a bottle of wine if it was feeling really fancy that day."

He's assuming the Singularity's behind all of this; it has to be, right? There's enough strange magic he's heard of from others that it makes sense. Well, as much as anything about these last few days makes any sense whatsoever.

Easier to grin at Garrus being in for the plan for a tie where everyone gets to win regardless in that case, and with a nod he gets back to their task at hand. Mostly; one part of that's sticking in his mind. Even though they're wrapping things up it still might not be the best time to chatter away, and yet -

"Only a couple left now. Wanna race to the end?"

[gynvael]

Last thing he expects is Jo flying at him. He hasn't got a chance to react; she slams into him, and he goes sprawling, rolling into Ciri. He reaches for Jo without thinking—instincts telling him there's every chance she's a hair too close to that spiked trap, that it might catch her, whether true or not.

The earth shudders with the impact. He snaps his head up, shoving to his feet. Between Jo and Dean and Ciri, he doesn't know who's where, who's still breathing. It's Ciri he grabs first, then Jo he glances at, and finally Dean he catches sight of.

A pause, as though he's a little behind, not quite there yet with the fact that Jo didn't just save his life; she stepped in the path of danger for him. But there's no time to linger. All she gets is a look, a flicker across his face. Maybe it's an unspoken thank you, maybe it's something else. He doesn't really know himself.

Then he snatches his dagger off the ground. He limps forward to join Dean, away from the hole in the ground. What he wouldn't give for a nap.

"Let's go."

[righteously]

It happens so god damn fast it makes his head spin. One second the scream is rolling through his uncovered ears, consuming every thought and every sense in its intensity, the next Jo is moving. He hasn't even recovered enough to see it, to see the start of that trap triggering.

But she does.

She tears away from him harder than she'd done after seeing her own death, she bolts, the gears in his mind finally start turning again just in time to send his heart rate spiking through the roof.

What the hell is she-

Wait.

What?

Did she just-

What?

Geralt limps forward, but for a long moment all Dean can do is look back and forth between the two of them utterly bewildered.

"How long were you two in here?!"

More importantly, what the hell did he miss? It's gotta be something big, because last he checked the two of them hated each other. Now, all of a sudden— whatever that was?

Whether they answer or not, he'll start dimly walking forward, still processing.

Two and a half seconds later, his foot falls through the floor.

Nope, no, wait, the floor falls through the floor, the whole damn thing's gone and they're plummeting.

[assembles]

[ It's not like Wanda needed to come over and use her magic to get rid of the tacky ooze that he'd gotten onto himself, and yet she does. She'd noticed, and she does what she can to help. It might seem like nothing, but Steve still appreciates it, looking from his now clean hand to Wanda's face with gratitude shining in his eyes.

But he's still distracted by this talk of sacrificing someone's limb. Apparently it's a limb that could grow back, which really just begs further questions, but he's going to assume the people involved all knew this at the time. ]

... So you're saying that the people native to Solvunn might be sacrificing each other to these gods? [ It's a grisly concept, but not outside the realm of reason. Human sacrifice is something that existed in Earth's history, too. ] And tossing an arm in was, what, a test?

[ A way to check just what exactly might happen. If other people were already being sacrificed before that point, then a single arm probably isn't to blame for whatever's going on now.

Steve isn't really giving her a chance to respond, his brain moving too quickly with all of this worrisome information. ]

You said it achieved what you wanted. What was that?

[funbreaker]

[ That's a fair point, and yet as far as Thancred has heard, all of the factions have been affected in much the same way. It makes him wonder if the effects are simply what happen when the gods are roused, rather than something purposefully enacted by them.

They simply don't have enough information to draw any reasonable conclusions. ]

I would guess that Thorne is also rather narrow-minded in what type of magic they want to endorse, and the actions of these gods don't fall under that umbrella.

[ It's only a guess, however. ]

You're right, though. This is a question that deserves a definitive answer.

[ He stands then, more to stretch his legs than anything. And because having some manner of plan makes him feel energized. Not that he can do anything with that feeling at the moment. ]

[godshattering]

[ When it sounds like, at first, that Wilhelm's going to deny there being a link between everything, Claude raises an eyebrow slightly. Not for long, though; the backtracking makes it clear enough his guess (probably) wasn't wrong.

He doesn't answer right away, however. It feels right to take a little bit again to consider what to say so as to not rush into too many assumptions despite it feeling like he's on the right path. They may not know each other all too well - or have had more than one conversation - but his intent to help is real enough. So after a couple seconds' pause, Claude tilts his head slightly to one side. ]

I grew up with everyone talking as well. Probably not quite to the exact same lengths given what you've told me in how easy it is for everyone to talk to each other where you're from, but some of the sentiments might've been similar enough.

[ But - some of that skirts too close to things Claude isn't willing to share, not even in the name of wanting to reassure someone else. What's a way around it so he can avoid specifics? Hm. ]

It gets old, feeling like everything you do is wrong just because others say it is. Or I guess - I should say it got very old for me.

[magicalarchaeologist]

"Interesting. Mine isn't related to a religion but ...." He gives it some thought, not jumping right to a conclusion because at this point it's conjecture. It's doubtful they'll get an answer. "It's based on a relic from back home, a giant structure not unlike the Singularity itself. I suppose some people did look at the monoliths as holy in a way."

Not in the strict sense of a religion based around it, but they were thought to be scars or connections to a time long since past. They'd been there as long as humans did, when the Conjunction happened, so they were of great historical significance.

"I suppose I haven't noticed anyone else having domains that are symbolic structures the same way."

[godshattering]

[ This is the part where Claude's reminded there's some level of preciseness with which he'll have to choose what to say yet again. There's multiple ways his ideas can be taken, but still worth it in the end. He hopes. Another few beats go by in which Claude takes another drink, considers his answer to make sure it's all in order, and then glances at Sylvain once more. ]

Influence through goodwill. Get involved with other causes and issues, and ones that will actually help the people here in the process which is just as important.

Before you and Petra arrived, a couple other Summoned put on an art walk with Libertas. We were able to go there whenever we wanted for about a week to see galleries, performances, just about anything to do with the arts. And some of those acts came here to Cadens, too, and it dialed back a lot of the pro-war with Thorne feelings I'd noticed citizens had before it. It almost certainly helped create more of a connection to help with Libertas after it was attacked, not that anyone was predicting that happening at the time.

Obviously, that kind of thing isn't in our reach now since I don't even know what kind of connections they had or have. But there are other smaller ways: help in Libertas when they start rebuilding, volunteer at the different organizations both here and there, and use that to build upon because that need for support isn't going away.

[ Now he'll flash a wry smile Sylvain's direction, because if it wasn't apparent before: ] I had more than one reason in mind for going on that supply run.

[monomachy]

[To that, Diana has no answer. Nothing else she's tried to create here has seemed to work; perhaps it's because she had the weapon before she arrived in this maze. Or perhaps it was just a fluke. Either way, she's incredibly grateful she has something to brace for the impact with.

Despite her strength, both in the waking world and here in the Horizon, she's shoved back into the stone wall and grunts at the strain of keeping herself from being totally crushed. This does not seem like it's going to end well. Voice strained, she calls out:]

Try summoning something else!

[monomachy]

She sighs quietly, in complete agreement with him. Even in her own domain, sometimes things aren't as they should be; but that's been a more recent development, truth be told. She looks back down to him, and offers a wan smile. "Moving is our best option." She lifts one hand to point up the slope.

[tobeclosetohim]

If Geralt had initially been slowed by everything that happened from them, all of that hadn't registered for Jo— until she was back in free fall and landing half on Geralt, half tumbling into the hard pack, deep cracked ground, and the bloody, rent body of one of the slain wolves, the trap slamming hard so close she feels the friction ride her boot heel hot. It's too much all at once, and it reminds her there were deep claw gashes down one of her legs and so much else.

Everything is a jarring grumble of remembered pain falling off Geralt while Ciri screams his name, making Jo look up at her first. Jo finds where she's pressed herself back and already being grabbed up by Geralt again. Ebbing panic and relief are colors she recognizes on Ciri's face, better than the viciousness, shame, or grief from earlier. That's a balm against ... other things.

Fittingly, Dean suddenly shouts that question, but Jo is looking down at the top of whatever it was that was too close, and she still has the irrational urge to kick the metal thing, even though its top sank even with the floor. A reverse of the floating box from earlier. One down, one up. Dean's question echoes, but the answer is too long.

(And. The answer is ... it can't have been an eon of hours either.)

Geralt's just saying they go, without saying anything else, and fucking thanks for that, while Jo went to push up stand again, and she'd been certain she'd picked a solid chunk of floor and not the crack beside it. Still, by the time Jo'd thrown her weight on the flat of her hand and started to push up, it was falling, and then so was she. Again.

[monomachy]

Diana spends the briefest moment considering, and then nods. It's probably better not to go alone, not even with her abilities; she doesn't know what these creatures are capable of, and she well knows that immortal does not mean invulnerable. Unsettling as it is to consider, she'd very quickly learned that this place is much more different from her own world than she originally thought.

Checking her weapon once more, she starts towards the cemetery. "Is there anything else you can tell me about these zombies?" Like the best way to defeat them, if it comes to it.

[nadine_he_loves]

"Oh I don't think it's anything new to either of us. Just...nothing we've done together."

Considering Jaskier's appetite and thirst for new experiences. Nadine would be shocked if he'd never indulged in some darker bedroom games. And it's all perfectly safe, because with him it would be just a game. Something to have fun with, that could be stopped if either of them decided it wasn't actually that fun.

But she thinks it would be.

"I just thought maybe we could broaden our shared horizons a little bit." She takes another drag once Jaskier's helped himself, and steps in close to exhale against his lips. "You're so good to me...you're so careful and gentle and chivalrous in bed..."

As she speaks she reaches up to slip her fingers into his hair, stroking along his scalp.

"Maybe for a change..." Her fingers tighten in his hair, gripping him firmly. "Don't be."

[gynvael]

Too long is right. Geralt has no desire to revisit the past however many hours, soundly ignores Dean's question in favour of moving on. They get out of this place first. Then they can talk.

If there's anything to talk about.

Or. That's the plan. The world gives out in a rush instead. One second he's stepping on solid ground, the next it's empty, and Ciri's simply gone from his grasp.

He tumbles through the air, no time to twist for a better landing before he slams heavily into the ground. He manages to roll with it, winding up on his hands and knees. Blood stains the suddenly green grass, dripping from his side where Ciri's knife pierced him, from the claws raked across his chest. Fuck.

Where in the hell—

[righteously]

There are few things in the world Dean hates more than the feeling of falling. The empty air rushing by his ears, the terminal velocity of gravity, the sheer animal terror that comes with knowing the ground is below you and there's no way to stop it, nothing to fight, nothing to solve, not a single good god damn thing he can do aside from hit the earth.

The wings pop out on instinct. He hasn't the first god damn clue how to use them, but by god they're out, catching air, sending him spiraling hard left as he tumbles and drops, flapping uselessly-

-into a tangle of branches, scratching at his cheeks and arms, leaves ripped from their stems and caught in feathers. He hits the first solid limb with a grunt, then falls off of it onto the second with a hnngh, then finally drops the last ten feet — wing-first directly on top of Geralt.

He sucks in lungful of air, and wheezes a pained and reedy, "Son of a bitch."

[aquilus]

[It sounds like a scholar to him. Men of great learning, who interpret scriptures and contracts and proclaim how things should be. None of it has anything to do with him, of course.]

Did you also learn to fight in school?

[Few scholar he's met have been able to fight so well.]

[aquilus]

[Altaïr assumed as much, but had to ask just in case. Ah, well.]

Is there anything to consider, when our situation hasn't truly changed?

[He approaches the closest wall and runs a hand along it. It doesn't seem any different than those they've walked between up to now.]

Though if you've gained any new insights, I'd be glad to hear them.

[cryptsleeper]

Hm. [While they're throwing guesses at the wall, he may as well point out the obvious.] They must have at one time, and there was probably an era of transition. Perhaps that is the area to focus on for now. If there's a time period, then we can calibrate it against the Free Cities and their founding and declarations of freedom to see how firmly entrenched any sort of belief would have been.

[It stands to reason that if Thorne was far from the gods when they began the Free Cities, then there's no reason that belief would have carried over at all.

Alucard breathes out, then tilts his head slightly.]

Would you like to come inside? I can at least make coffee.

[cryptsleeper]

[That there's no follow ups is one of the reasons Alucard appreciates Altaïr, much in the same way he appreciates Geralt. Sleeping dogs are left to lie until someone truly wants to talk about it. A good trait, in Alucard's experience.]

I suppose not. What I am starting to worry about is how time must be passing outside of us.

[Which begs an important question:] Where is your physical body at the moment?

[ordinar]

[In the chaos of the moment, his every nerve on fire with anxiety, Wilhelm almost forgets that none of this is strictly real. But whatever this place is, it must be real to Sylvain. Somewhere pulled from his memories, somewhere shaped like home. He wonders if the fire is pulled from his memories too, history looping itself like in nightmares, or if it's just his fears refracted. Regardless, the man's solemnity sinks into him as they push past the heaps of rubble and tongues of flame.

When they spill out into the meadow, he doubles over with his hands on his knees, gulping in the fresh air. Well, fresher air. Around the burning monastery, haze smudges the sky a strange shade of orange. Wilhelm watches it in silence for a moment, before looking back to Sylvain.]

What, uh...was that?

[Or is using the past tense insensitive at a time like this?]

[nadine_he_loves]

"I do like to think my taste has improved."

At least as far as men go. If nothing else, at least she's seeking out men who are, more or less, good people. Though she can't deny that knowing Dean has a dangerous side is part of the appeal. Isn't that the best of both worlds? A sense of goodness and decency and boyish charm, but with a hard edge.

And she takes that touch as a signal of agreement, stepping closer until she's standing between Dean's knees.

There's something uniquely exciting about being the pursuer. It's not a role Nadine's played much - not of her own volition, anyway. Not for her own pleasure. She's always been dimly aware of the power she could have, if she exerted it. There's power in seduction and in being wanted. So much of her adult life she's shied away from it, hiding herself in bulky clothes and adopting a façade of shyness and invisibility.

It seems like madness now. How different she lives now, compared to just a few years ago. Had that even been living? It doesn't matter. Those days are gone and Nadine has finally begun living her life for herself.

"And if there's one thing this weird new life has taught me, it's that I wasted way too much of my life sitting around waiting." She reaches out to run her fingertips along the side of Dean's face, tracing the line of his jaw.

[tobeclosetohim]

Jo is just so goddamn tired of falling. Inside her skin, outside of it, into whatever the fuck, and as she's weightless, hurtling through the dark, managing to bash a few of those floor pieces falling with her, them because she happens to have more weight and thus more gravity and speed than those pieces. She wants this whole fucking ride to fucking stop.










Jo cracked an eye when the ground impact didn't come as soon as it should, and she's —

Fucking fuck. Is she stuck in midair???????

(It's not dark down there, and very much unlike the maze, and she's got that. Color is back.
But being suddenly stuck in the sky is so much more important than rapid-fire detail.)

Like a cartoon expecting to fall when realizing the ground is way too far down there beneath you, Jo is just as suddenly freaked out not to be falling as she was in being pissed and preparing for the bone-rattling crunching of slamming the ground a third time. But nothing happens. Like. Nothing. Nothing at all. And Jo tentatively moves. The air continues to feel solid.

Under her hand. Under her knees. She pushes to her feet on the nothing, looking down, and reaches out a foot to attempt a step on what should all be falling, and somehow is not. And it's flat, too, but ends with a lip. That seems to have a step about three inches under it. This is not the kind of game she wants to play. Trusting in the invisible nothing is a shit show of just getting down enough steps, and then one is gone, and she'll fall again.

Except it doesn't happen.

She keeps walking down the invisible stairs in the sky,
like that's a thing people fucking do here.

[gynvael]

It would, Geralt thinks, be only fitting that he manages to get up onto his knees simply to have Dean flatten him with the force of a horse tied to a rock. A thick blanket of feathery wings envelopes him.

He groans. Pushes Dean off unceremoniously—no regard for gentleness, just shoves the man right off with one hand and rolls out from underneath. Where the fuck is Ciri? Why the fuck is Jo walking on air? Are they—?

He squints up at Jo (still floating), then the thick green branches of Bleobheris. Glittering jewel wisps dance in the ethereally peaceful air, filled with fresh flowers. It's all so far from the blood and shadows of the maze that it's almost a mockery.

When he finally sits, it's with his head in his hands. He just. Needs a moment. And then he has to find Ciri. Again. Though he's assuming she did the intelligent thing and withdrew from the Horizon as they fell. Unlike, say. Her father.