EVENT #10: AFFLICTION - IC POST

[abraxasmods]

Event #10 - Affliction

go to the OOC event info & plotting post

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

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

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

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

Emergence

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

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

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

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

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

Affliction

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

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

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

Corruption

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

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

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

Blight

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

Omens

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

Solvunn

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

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

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

Free Cities

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

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

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

Thorne

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

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

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

Apprehensions

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

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

Displacement

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

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

Visitation

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

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

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

Ensnared

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

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

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

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

Scenes to Explore

JUSTICE ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

---

THE CHARIOT ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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THE WORLD ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

---

THE FOOL ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments

[catholica]

Ninja Boy?

( that's a new one. he'd heard a lot of other things but ninja boy?

he laughs a bit as he starts walking, hands loose and body ready in case something comes at them from from somewhere unseen. )

Let's hope that name doesn't stick. I don't really think I fit the ninja mold.

[princessvegas]

Oh, good! [ She really is a bit stunned, but apparently whatever power wants to keep her here doesn't care if she helps other people, just herself. Or maybe she just came up with a loophole -- at this point, she doesn't care very much. She's just happy she was able to do it at all.

Her brow knits, and she squints into the sky, looking for a symbol, any symbol. It's not like there's much of a place to hide, with the light turning the sky soft pink, the few clouds frozen in place. She wants there to be something, anything that could show a pattern. Maybe whatever arcana Rhy saw all those months ago.

But there's nothing to see. Only the blob.

She sighs and furious tears prickle at the corners of her eyes where she's screwed them shut. When she answers, she tries to steel her voice, but a hint of the brokenness shades her tone anyway. ]

There's nothing here. Just the sky. I... Maybe it wasn't important after all. It's just the only thing I could think of. The red strings, they were in my nightmares too.

[vixening]

He does sit, and that's all that really matters to her. He can be as angry or frightened or fidgety as he wants, as long as there is enough of him present to listen.

Yennefer sets the bottle she'd found in his palm, the tell-tale sign for him to hold it, as she starts looking him over more closely. She places her hands on each side of his face, tilting him up to look at her as she checks his eyes, presses the pads of her fingers to the skin of his face.

He keeps talking, going on about the taint, about his power, and Yennefer is only really half-listening as she continues through what appears to be a kind of mental checklist. When she finishes up with it, her attention comes back to Mat's eyes, where she seems to check once more before letting go of him - despite the way she feels a kind of draw to keep contact, how something in her chest pulls for his attention on her and only her.

"What you're seeing is not the taint- it is not you going mad. If it were, I wouldn't be feeling it. I will ease the effects, what you're feeling and seeing, until whatever is happening eases." She points to the potion bottle in his hand. "Drink that."

[hextechhead]

Jayce meanwhile is caught up in the power of the hammer like before and it feels good to have it in his hands, to feel the physical force breaking through barriers. If he could smash everything in his way he would, and this isn't a new problem of his, that surge of feeling needing to be handled. Jayce would have never considered himself an angry person before, but he was also fairly ignorant too. The realities of their world and the damage he'd done intentionally or unintentionally woke that injustice and frustration in him.

He feels like he has a hand in what they're doing, in how he can save Viktor. Nothing can stop him now. There is a surge of arrogance and he fully intends on sweeping Viktor up and just slamming their way out of the situation.

Until he looks over at Viktor and sees something he's never witnessed. Fear. And not just fear in general, but fear because of Jayce. The confidence seeps away from him and he pales, dropping the hammer (but not disappearing it) immediately.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have. I'm so sorry." He knows that Viktor is sensitive to destruction and they are in such a messed up situation. Jayce tentatively reaches out to touch Viktor's elbow.

[stations]

( That comeback is like fourth grader energy — something he fully intends to say out loud, except he's immediately distracted by flickering screens. The first real change to them that he's seen in actual hours at this point, save their initial pivot to accommodate Lucifer's dramatic entrance.

He peels his eyes away from the track, his kart slowing nearly to a stop as he squints toward one television in particular. )

Wait- what was that?

( Was that a cage? )

That wasn't mine, right? Was that you?

[gynvael]

[ It's. Is that what Steve takes away from his explanation? Geralt looks up at him, a little amused despite their current...shit predicament. Supposes it could be worse.

He reaches out to stop Steve from moving too quickly as the footsteps and voices grow nearer. They sound like...a child. Multiple children. Not dangerous, in theory, but it's impossible to tell in a place of this sort. He squints into the vast depths of the tunnel, stepping over a squelch of vines. What is this? More memories?

Must be, when Steve says Dustin, as though he recognizes the voice.

Geralt, too, is peering upwards for the opening Steve claims would be there. At least, until he hears the hollowness that indicates the ground is changing structure. And sure enough, when he glances down, the opening is...beneath them. The one that Steve had said would be above.

Of course. Nothing's ever simple.

He moves around to crouch over the hole. Tries to ignore the ghosts of children running through. He's not sure, in this moment, he wants to know what they mean to Steve or what happened to them down here. The worst feels too possible. ]

You're certain it's here? [ Has something shifted, perhaps? ]

[gynvael]

[ A fair distinction. Giant tree, pretty fucking different from a flowering plant figure. Point in case, he supposes, as he tugs another burnt vine loose and drops it to the ground.

He turns to Himeka. That's a unique perspective. His instinct is to dismiss it, but he knows better than to disparage what he may not fully understand. Which, at the moment, is a hell of a fucking lot. ]

That could prove dangerous. [ Is the warning he gives instead. ] If it isn't what you think it is.

[ Provoking unknown entities is how curses are unleashed. Though, he'll grant that things already seem to have been. Unleashed. ]

[funbreaker]

[ Thancred is hearing Himeka slurp behind him as he moves, hopping from one platform that's still above the line of rising ooze to another. In some cases they'll have to make longer jumps, or even ready with running starts, but the two of them are used to navigating dungeons in various forms of disrepair. This might not even be the strangest place they've explored.

As for the slurping, he's just going to do his best to ignore it. He can't stop her from consuming the pink sludge unless he watches her like an ahriman, and he doesn't have the luxury of doing so right now. This is the Horizon, so it likely won't do her any harm.

Probably.

It's not Eisftide, then. As he'd guessed. Thancred already has a fairly solid theory, and he finds it hard to believe that Himeka wouldn't have drawn the same conclusions. At her pointed question, he pauses on the top of a van, turning back to her for a moment as he draws a hand back through his hair. ]

Well, I had a strangely vivid dream wherein I saw a figure. A being of some kind. Adelwyrd, I knew its name to be. After that, it felt as if every invasive thought about my own shortcomings was assaulting me at every turn. Not as they usually would, mind you. [ He says this in a lighthearted tone, not wanting to worry her. ] On top of that, it seems like I'm having an effect on people around me, at least in the real world. Wherein they feel a need to reveal a secret to me.

[ Which checks out for him, but this isn't the same. He knows it isn't. Especially with the way those secrets seem to oddly invigorate him. It's uncomfortable more than anything else. ]

[ordinar]

[An invisible cage — that describes perfectly the intertwined feelings of being trapped by his title and watched by an entire country. Hearing fragments of his own experiences reflected back at him in another's words softens the tension in his body. Softens the insistent whispers, too, which finally fade.]

Did it ever get...easier to deal with?

[Wilhelm looks up from his knotted hands. Easier to handle the scrutiny, he means. Easier to be himself.

Maybe the answer doesn't matter. The more time passes, the dimmer becomes the possibility of ever going back. Sometimes people disappear from the castle, but who knows where they've gone? Nevertheless, he's curious. Even here, even now, he can feel the ghost of that weight he should have shed from his shoulders with this fresh start.]

[ordinar]

[Oh. Though he'd guessed that they were friends — given Claude's gregarious nature, he probably knows just about everybody — he hadn't assumed they knew each other from home. From childhood. Wilhelm considers the burning, crumbling structure anew. It must hold so many memories. Briefly, he thinks of his own school, which became a home to him in such a short time.

That was lost too now.

He shoots Sylvain a look.]

So...which one of you got in trouble more?

[Don't ask him where that came from. He's just reaching for a topic that isn't depressing as hell.]

[tobeclosetohim]

[ Jo's smirk is her only announcement she won't recant in the slightest. The curve of it widens, tucking in more at the sound of the laugh he gives at it. It's the only kind of laughter you get out on blood-soaked streets unless you're mental. And Jo chooses her partners, even the momentary ones, with more care than that.

She'd rather not need to worry about taking someone else down as well as the monster.
Jo followed beside him, switching sword hands and circling her wrist to stretch it briefly. ]

I'm pretty sure if there's a mold for anything of this, yours is already broken.

[thedevilwhorose]

The first split from the ground is further away, out of sight. Clawing, having been clawing, for days, maybe hours. That slow churn of dirt, the need to break free and nothing else there for thought.

He hears a crumbled bit of stone dislodge and hit the ground.

Closer, grass ripping.

The wet drag of mud.

So many sounds surrounding the once-slumbering building.

He cracks his neck back to stare sullenly at Kyle. "Maybe if we play whack-a-mole they'll stay underground." And then in the epitome of B-movies, a repulsive hand breaks the surface and claps around Lucifer's ankle and he pulls away, reminiscent to the drunkard earlier, except this time the hand breaks off with the motion and keeps hold of Lucifer as he backs up into Kyle. "Well that's just--"

[ushiri]

[ He lets his back press against the stone wall of the labyrinth. It's quiet around them again, and though he doesn't have much hope for respite, this seems important enough to speak of right now. ]

The same. I chose the mirror and was given a name. [ He won't saw it aloud. There's power to naming something, and he's not sure what that effect that might have here. But something else strange - it didn't feel like a threatening presence. The opposite, in fact. He's not sure what that means. ]

[thedevilwhorose]

['No' is the answer he'd like to say.

But it's not what comes out.] Yes. [A small pause. Shit. He'd really like to get out of this Horizon sandbar now, thanks.

He tries, and fails, to solely focus on the game.

Maybe it is the game, actually. This likely isn't what humanity means when they say video games are bad for you.] Regular ol' torture device courtesy of my phony brother.

i need to know what his SB macro would be

[aquaveiled]

[ Himeka gives a little salute. ]

You've got it.

[ She knows that it is a sign of trust, willing or otherwise on his part, and she'll make sure that it isn't misplaced. As soon as it looks like he's summoning his own magic to his sword, Himeka begins her next cast so that when his blade falls, their attacks land in sync.

A wave of flames strewn about, somehow missing where he stands. What follows is a short storm of lightning, causing the horde to writhe at the sudden shock. It may not do as much damage as a direct hit, but it plumps them for slaughter.

So to speak.

And when Sylvain inevitably takes a hit, the bubble will absorb the blow and burst. ]

[hairington]

[ as the ground shakes, steve’s hands shoot out - one to steady wanda, and the other to steady himself. there is no small amount of fear that shoots through him in the immediate aftermath of that shuddering, knowing that this bus turned bunker is in no way a safe haven if the mind flayer is out there.

he never gives it a name, but wanda knows, and while part of steve feels like that doesn’t make sense, the larger, louder part just nods. he’s more used to being in company that knows, more used to catching up and holding ground than being the source of information. which is why when wanda mentions communication, steve frowns. ]

What? No- no, it doesn’t- [ except that’s not right - billy, will, the hoard of bodies. it does communicate, it wants to make sure it’s purpose is know, that it is unstoppable, and always will be. steve shakes his head. ] You don’t want to communicate with it. It gets in your brain, possesses you, it kills most people it uses like that- no. We need to leave.

[thedevilwhorose]

'Or the gods are reacting to protect them in advance.'

Hell.

He's considered, as always, Solvunn. It will always be in the back of his mind. Solvunn as the cause, whether or not on purpose. Solvunn and its open connection to the gods.

But the thought that the gods may be moving in order to protect would make a terrible amount of sense. Thinly veiled and a lack of understanding in what and how Solvunn would need that protection.

Because why would they ever take time to learn about the little people?

"It's... a solid theory," he says. "Frighteningly so, as most things are." And all continued speculation. "But hopefully if things manage to calm down, so will your domain. I imagine after the gods have surfaced they'll go kick back in a hot spring." That's a joke, obviously, but he does think they'll take a moment to step back and assess the world.

It's what Lucifer did, after all.

[catholica]

( she doesn't know how true that is and the statement makes him laugh a bit. it feels strange to laugh when they're out here taking out corpses but still —

probably needed. )

Ninja Man, then. Ninja Boy makes me feel like I should be about three feet tall with pimples on my face. Grew out that at least a year ago.

[godshattering]

[ The reassurance that any dragon form Hythlodaeus takes on would be a humorous one gets a half-smile from Claude since, well. It truly is reassuring to know he's not likely to witness what he had some years before and then in more recent times but also that if he had? At least this time he would've had some advanced knowledge of the transformation, and that certainly helps.

Still, he watches in fascination when the towering figure is swapped for someone who isn't quite familiar, given they've never met before now, but more so than moments ago. There's still a sense that perhaps - if he's not mistaken - there's something ethereal about the other man, but not in a way he can exactly quantify. Not the first he's come across and thought that, though that seems more like a 'not on the first meeting' type of thing to ask.

Then there's the slight almost frown as Hythlodaeus sits. That certainly piques his curiosity; given the strange glitches the Horizon experienced before and that he'd been part of then just like now, perhaps it's that and nothing more. Perhaps it's nothing to focus on at all. ]

I wouldn't say they're problematic, exactly. It's... [ Claude trails off momentarily, less out of hesitation than searching for an explanation. Or just an explanation which won't dive too far into the many topics tangled up in it. ] Truthfully, I thought dragons themselves only existed on the pages of storybooks until I saw one for myself. Wyverns are common where I'm from but they don't reach the magnitude of the one I saw. She was able to wreak destruction like I've never seen in mere seconds.

It wasn't all bad, though. Thanks to her we also survived something we almost certainly shouldn't have and definitely wouldn't without her intervention.

[ Credit where credit is due: for what he still sees as her many faults, Rhea had protected them and there is truth in his not being here otherwise. Or, more accurately not being here from time as he knows it, which leads him towards another question as he reaches to pour the tea for Hythlodaeus he'd promised. ]

Are you the only one from your world here, Solvunn or otherwise?

[hairington]

[ steve doesn't know a single other person who would make this comparison, genuine or otherwise, but there is a feeling to the fact eddie is bringing it up again. a kind of importance that steve might not fully understand, but he can at least recognize. it does feel a little weighted, he thinks. a little like respect.

probably the best teacher you'll ever have. that pulls a kind of tired, darker chuckle from steve, thinking back to school. to classes. to that feeling it always brought with him. there's enough of him that remembers the feeling to want to be pushed back against anything like it, but at the same time, another part of steve thinks that eddie might actually not be too bad at that - the teaching thing, he means. ]

Honestly? You probably would be.

[ steve spends the next few moments just sort of looking around the room. it's interesting that whatever weird shit his brain is doing has protected this space, that the dust and the grime and the vines haven't actually made it inside. he wonders what it is about scoops ahoy that apparently protects it from the rest of this hellscape, especially considering all they have to do is look out the windows to see that it's still all there.

but he'll take it for now, letting out a breath and turning back to eddie just in time to see him glance back to the elevator door. and yes, okay, steve can acknowledge the fact the elevator isn't supposed to be right there - that's the door that is supposed to lead to the labyrinth behind the stores, where mike and the others used to get him to let them sneak back into the movies. the elevator should be-

he's getting too technical. steve lets out a sigh, deciding not to mention how he has no idea what the cask of amonta-whatever is, and instead step around the counter of the shop. ] Yeah- let's board it up. I don't know if it'll do anything with how fucked up this place has been, but. [ a shrug, which is meant to say it would make me feel better, as he starts looking for just about anything he can find that would work to board the door closed. ]

[hairington]

[ steve doesn't notice the vague amusement in geralt, unfortunately, because as soon as geralt is reaching out to stop him, the sounds of everything become that much more clear. it comes from the other side of the tunnel, the screaming, the shadows, the...ghosts, he guesses? bodies that are moving towards them, but not them, necessarily.

it's possible that if he wasn't completely distracted, he might have noticed the hole in the ground in front of them a few moments earlier. but it's hard to take his eyes away from whatever this place is doing to his memories - because he can't see them, lucas and max and mike and dustin, but he can hear them. can hear himself, and then above it all, the loud barking cries of the hoard of demodogs that were chasing after them.

they are quick glimpses, barely a flash of an image of children running along what is now, apparently, their ceiling - flipped upside down just like the gate. steve walks on ahead, stopping right atop the hole, feeling like he has to be missing something. that there's going to be something here that he's not putting together.

the flashes come more quickly, then, as steve watches an inverted shadow of himself lift the kids up into the opening, even if the actual image he watches is those same figures coming from the ceiling, and being pushed down into the opening at his feet. the truth of the matter is that steve only really remembers this night in flashes, anyway - moments, conversations, fire. but the anxious feeling is still there, like they need to hurry, like there is something coming for them. ]

Yeah. [ he says, a bit distractedly, in answer to geralt's question. ] It's- [ it's the upside down. it's hard to tell if the voice in the back of his head is dustin's or nancy's, but it certainly isn't his own, providing the answer to what he's been trying to figure out this entire time.

( above them, the barking cries of ghosts of the demodogs go rushing past, and the image of steve holds dustin close to him. protects him, as best he can, though looking back it seems a bit stupid. what would he have done? what could he have done? all steve remembers thinking is dustin- and pulling the kid behind him, and then...

the wave of the creatures rushes by the ghosts of steve's memory, uninterested in them. )

upside down. how did he not put it together before now? ] Yeah. [ he repeats, a little more definitively, glancing through the opening before turning to geralt. ] We have to go down to go up.

[philancer]

[ Sylvain blinks at the unexpected question and then bursts into laughter. ]

Wow, I've never been called out quite so swiftly. But that's difficult to answer. I think we both got into equal amounts of trouble, just entirely different sorts. [ He grins, amused as he recalls their time together back at school. They'd had some classes together, but Claude's schedule had been considerably more packed with lessons than Sylvain's own, considering who he was. That and Sylvain was pretty bad at applying himself in general. ]

Claude was always right in the middle of everything. Shocking, I know. You'd never guess it, knowing him now, right? [ His smirk definitely gives that away as sarcasm. ] I swear he knew every secret there was to know in the school. Or if he didn't, he'd focus on puzzling it out until he did. I'm pretty sure he was always up to some sort of mischief or other. I'm not sure his brain ever stops working, but that's true now, too.

[ Sylvain still has no idea how he does it. Sounds exhausting, if you ask him. ]

that would require him figuring out what the hell a macro is

[philancer]

[ Sylvain is no stranger to weaving his attacks between magic flying around him. He's very accustomed to knowing he's got Annette or Ashe or both on his flank, so he doesn't even flinch at projectiles whizzing past him anymore. Even if it's a strange magic that is vastly different than what he's accustomed to.

A storm of lightning rains down on the mass of creatures before he even reaches him. and he'd marvel at that if he weren't suddenly occupied with several of them up close and personal. His lance is wielded with deadly accuracy, both at range and closer than that. Whenever he positions himself well enough to be able to hit several with one slash, he calls on his magic and infuses the relic with it, the crest gleaming with crimson menace among the jagged bone. Flames streak as he delivers a powerful blow, calling on ruined sky as his enemies are set alight and then dissolve into ash - which is far more effective here in the horizon than it had ever been back home.

His shield definitely pops in there somewhere and he absently makes note of it, but he's also used to being surrounded and taking the hits so others won't, and it barely gives him pause. Even if he's not wearing plate mail or mounted at the moment. There's still a caster vulnerable behind him and he doesn't even question his role in his fight.

Although he does hiss out in pained annoyance when one of the creatures gets a lucky strike in and somehow he feels a hand full of claws rake down his side. He hadn't even realized they had those. Pissed, he stabs the thing with extra prejudice, before flinging it into the closest approaching mass of bodies to knock them all prone. ]

Okay, they're starting to get annoying.

[hairington]

[ distantly, a part of steve recognizes that she is still struggling with the door. that he took off before even waiting to make sure it was closed. he should have been paying more attention, and he has the thought to reach over and grab for her to make sure she doesn't fall right out again, when she wrestles it closed.

once glance in the rear view mirror tells him that it's gotten out of the trees, and for a brief moment steve feels like he's back in the car with jonathan driving, just trying to get as far away from the mall, from that thing, and now...

steve blinks and swerves to stay on the road around a bend, hearing the tires squeak on the asphalt under him. he can feel the monster gaining on them, and he presses the accelerator down just a bit further. tries to get moving just a bit faster. the question catches him, and steve chances a glance over to her before turning his eyes back to the road. ]

It's not real- this is all Horizon stuff, so- [ she probably knows this already. steve cuts himself off ] I don't know- I think something's wrong with this place. I didn't- [ he glances to his side again as if to try and catch her eyes so she can understand how he's being honest, desperately so. ] I didn't make that.

[carmesi]

Steve.

[this connection between them—the hand that shoots out to steady her as the ground shakes—lets wanda know exactly how he is feeling right now. it's erratic, this cacophony of panic, a multilayer of moments in time and events which would give anyone a clear understanding that the stakes are far too high, that the correct response is to run.

but they're in the horizon, messy as it is, and wanda's a powerful being herself.]

This Horizon is based on your thoughts, on your imagination. It is real — frighteningly so — but you're the one giving it the power to grow. [if he is aware of that, perhaps he will stop augmenting the powers of these creatures with his enlarged imaginings fueled by his fear for them. as if making a point, the ground shakes again.] And I know you may have known this without my telling you, but I'm a powerful witch. The Scarlet Witch.

[the title will mean nothing to him, but just as the mind flayer has a name, as the other creatures do, the sole mention of her title makes it real within his domain.]

I have had worse demons in me. [the darkhold, chthon—] We leave now, and you will hold your fear to the side, and we fight whatever is out there.

[boy, would steve and sam be proud.]

I will protect you.