EVENT #10: AFFLICTION - IC POST

[abraxasmods]

Event #10 - Affliction

go to the OOC event info & plotting post

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

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

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

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

Emergence

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

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

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

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

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

Affliction

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

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

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

Corruption

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

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

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

Blight

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

Omens

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

Solvunn

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

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

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

Free Cities

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

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

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

Thorne

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

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

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

Apprehensions

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

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

Displacement

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

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

Visitation

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

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

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

Ensnared

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

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

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

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

Scenes to Explore

JUSTICE ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

---

THE CHARIOT ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

---

THE WORLD ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

---

THE FOOL ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments

[gynvael]

[ The atmosphere has grown disconcerting. More so than usual, and perhaps it's the Horizon or his own head spinning, but it takes him a good few minutes to grasp it: that the ceiling is indeed beneath their feet, and the ground above them. Between the children, the barking hounds, it sets his teeth on edge. More than usual.

The ghosts fly past, footsteps and voices echoing. Running. He thinks of their conversation, when Steve first showed up outside the gates of Kaer Morhen, and he wonders which one of these children Steve had been referring to when he told his story.

His attention snaps back to Steve. He squints. There's a split second where he nearly agrees, his mind correcting the absurd statement into something which makes sense, replacing the word down with up. Because yes. Obviously. They must go up to go up. Why has that got to be said?

Then he realizes. ]

That sounds like nonsense. [ He sighs. They haven't got time to fuss over details. Steve's clearly familiar with this place, whatever it may be, and he sounds sure. So. Geralt trusts him. He gestures for the boy to go on. ] Lead us out, then.

[lackingtalent]

[Indeed, the comfort of having similar features to someone- be it eyes, ears, a nose or even a mouth provides can never truly be understated. It was hardly as if he did not feel welcome before. Yet now he feels the scenario has changed. He feels that Claude is far less wary. Relaxed enough to take his joke as one...

...And to give his answer. An answer that sounds rather harrowing, truth be told, and rather candid.]

Even if you were, thankfully, not within her sights, and even if what happened was of direct benefit to you- It still sounds like quite the terrible affair. And dare I say, rather fitting to most accounts of dragonkind in the literature I've glanced upon. Most accounts I've read revere them for the destruction they wreak more than aught else.

[It certainly makes him wonder, actually, of why indeed any written account should be so very impressed by something that could bring about quite so much harm. A quirk of mankind's nature, perhaps? A regrettable branch of evolution that coveted the most extreme form of violence? However. That is unvoiced. It is rather heavy. Instead...]

A few are, yes. Some are very dear to me. [Emet-Selch. Elidibus. Himeka.] Some, regrettably, are not. [Thancred, after all, had his trust for the sake of the fact he cared about the latter of those dear to him. Yet his affection? Not quite. And although he had not sensed him for a while...

Fandaniel, or what had called itself by that name, was anything but dear.]

...Saying that, I've grown rather fond of quite a few people from other worlds as well. All perversions of the natural order our summonings have caused aside, I cannot help but confess that I feel somewhat fortunate to have shared the company of a few men and women I'd have never imagined possible, were all to be well.

[Special men and women, he is most certain- even without the fanfare that was part and parcel of being Summoned- they seem to have something about them.

Perhaps Claude would prove himself the same. Not least possessive of a special form of perception- proved by the fact he seemed to simply know that Hythlodaeus' presence was courtesy of Solvunn's mages in particular. That or the smell of farmland likely clung to him as a dead giveaway, even here within this Horizon.

...And what a lovely Horizon it is.
He leans back in the chair that holds him, just enough to feel the sunlight upon his face as his eyes close, ever so briefly. It is pleasant- he thinks. Highly so. Reminiscent of a memory of the time of the year when the sun lingered for far longer in the sky than it really had any right to- illuminating all with burnished gold, and a warmth mingled with a light, so gentle breeze. It is warm, but not too warm. Perfect, actually.

Well. Perfect until the tea is poured. Hythlodaeus' eyes open sharply. ...The smell emanating from the pot and the cup is simply repulsive. It conjures the smell of damp rot, and earth, and...]

...!

[A glance to Claude's eyes, and then the teapot. And as he does his utmost to cover his nose without seeming overly rude...]

...Do forgive me for asking, but has the water turned?

[funbreaker]

[ Thancred takes a moment to consider that question, turning his face away from the cutting wind. He could attempt to give a long-winded explanation, but that is far more suited to his colleagues than him.

When it comes down to it, the answer is rather simple. ]

Magick, of course. Bismarck ensured we were protected.

[ It's not as if all of them in their party had been blessed by the kojin, after all.

They turn around another bend in their climb, allowing them to see the hand more clearly. It doesn't seem to have moved, thankfully, though it does look like they're losing daylight at a worrying pace. ]

... We may have to see if we can create some manner of shelter before it becomes too dark.

[hairington]

[ as the images fade, so does its hold on steve, watching as the last bits of these ghosts of himself and dustin pull through the opening. steve knows that isn't the end of it, it wasn't for him back then and it won't be for him now, but as things settle and that urgent, anxious feeling in the air fades, steve and geralt are still left with the hole in the ground.

he glances over to the other man just in time to watch him squint, confused as anyone would be at a comment like that. and it is absurd, steve knows that much at least, but the truth of it is that if this place is going to continue to pull memories from him, then they're going to be as weird and impossible as his actual life has been. ]

Yeah, well. [ steve doesn't really have an answer to that, because yes, it does sound like nonsense. so instead he just sort of moves up to the edge of the opening and squats down, eyeing inside for a moment before he makes eye contact with geralt, looking serious again. ] When you get through, it'll all flip back over, so just...keep that in mind when you climb through.

[ though whether or not geralt says he gets it, seeing as it makes no more sense than anything else steve has said, it doesn't really matter. because steve is tucking and rolling through the gate so that when he comes out on the other side, its on his feet. on the ground.

he'll help geralt through if he needs it, at least. ]

[hairington]

[ the tone she takes when she says his name reminds him, shockingly so, of nancy. a firm, brave, surety that has whatever panic and worry and fear that had been building in his chest settle in place. it calms him down in a way he hadn't realized had such control over him, but that he's suddenly, very glad for.

and it all makes sense - wanda had been the one to initially explain to him what the horizon even was. the one who'd brought him in, showed him the ropes. what she's saying would of course be true, even if it accompanies a small amount of...what? shame? embarrassment?

he's the reason his horizon is this terrible. that the people who have showed up here have been so terrified. but wanda isn't - if anything, she is more sure and solid than anything else in this place, even as the ground shakes under them again. im the scarlet witch she says, and the title doesn't mean anything at all, but just like when eddie compares steve to his metal musicians, he doesn't need to know the details to know there is weight to the phrase itself.

the mention of demons does worry him, but not enough to draw him away from what she says next. the firm, confident words of their next plan. all steve can say is- ] Okay. [ because she's right. they will fight whatever it is that's out there.

and - even if steve doesn't really know why he knows this - she will protect him, and that feeling alone (no matter how foreign, how strange, how different it feels) is enough for him to believe it. ] Okay. [ he says again with a nod, letting go of the wall and grabbing for his bat. ] Just tell me when.

[techmaturgy]

The mirror is unwieldy, and it takes some finagling, given the fact that Viktor does most things with one hand while he’s standing, but eventually he’s tucking it under his free arm, ready to make good on the promise to get it out of sight. He’s sure he has some spare dropcloth in the workshop, so he’ll take care of that first thing, heading back towards the door.

“Do you want to come inside and sit down?”

He can’t pretend to know what’s going on in her head, but she looks rattled. The least he can do is offer some respite.

[gynvael]

[ Geralt peers dubiously through the opening in the ground. Best not to overthink it. He grasps the ledge, swings himself through, and then the entire world flips. It's startling, unsettling. He manages to flip with it, landing on his feet, but it feels less like falling through a hole than it does being thrown into the air.

He blinks up at the hole that's now above them, cautious. As though he's waiting for the world to right itself once more. It doesn't.

Mm. All right, then. ]

You failed to mention your world is constructed like an hourglass.

[ Does it constantly flip like that? He shakes his head, moving forward. Where have they wound up? The chill has not lessened; if anything, it's only grown. His breath frosts in the air, and the further he walks, the more his boots begin to echo on cold stone floors: uneven, ill-kept, stained with spilt food and blood. He's been so caught up in Steve's memories and shadows that it isn't until he steps on something hard, metal, that it strikes him where they are.

Home. But not the home he lived in for most of his life. Not that section of it. It's older, filled with small rickety beds lined against the walls. The wooden door looms large, almost foreboding where it's bolted shut from the inside. Beyond the beds, there's no furniture, no possessions of any kind. Just a rack of old swords.

Distracted away from Steve, he bends to pick up the silver medallion beneath his foot. It dangles from his fingers on its chain. The pendant shouldn't match the one he wears, but here in this strange landscape, it does: the same identical snarling wolf. He half-expects to see a shadow of himself as a boy spawn. Nothing quite. Perhaps it's because he does not, in truth, hold any clear memory of how he looked when he was a child. It's been too long. ]

[aquilus]

It speaks well of you.

[The bodies around them and the survivors who still draw breath in this city are evidence of that, in a grotesque way.]

That it was your choice — not an obligation of your vocation.

[Not that he's entirely clear yet on what a lawyer does in his time.]

[aquilus]

[How wonderful for him.]

It could be worse than hours. I've known men who spent months and years on foolishness.

[Not this kind of foolishness, exactly, to be fair.]

[aquilus]

Fair enough.

[Oh, he doesn't believe there's true remorse there at all. Which is also fair enough.]

What did it have to do with, if you don't mind sharing?

[funbreaker]

[ Thankfully no one will have to be carried in pockets, as Thancred reverts back at around the same time as Geralt — no Witcher physiology mucking things up to worry about, here. He also stumbles, though only a half-step or so, with the advantage of having experienced this before working in his favor.

He stares down at the now very shallow pond, giving it a small kick with his boot before he looks over to Geralt, who appears to be a bit disoriented.

Fair. ]

Never turned into a frog before? No, I suppose that wouldn't be a common occurrence. And yet...

[ He's gone through it a few times by now. Is this solely an Etheirys thing? Interesting.

Thancred can't help but smile at the disdain on Geralt's face, especially when he can so easily recall seeing the same look on a frog's face from just moments before. ]

You must admit, it could have been worse.

[godshattering]

[ There's a deliberate pause on Claude's end as he considers that question. What comes to mind first is the answer he wishes he could give, and maybe in some ways it would be kinder to deliver that one. But it would be untrue, and for all his creative bending of the truth when it suits him this strikes Claude as one topic he's not willing to do that on. What follows is the realistic one. ]

I wish I could say it did but I think it's more accurate to say I got better at ignoring much of it. [ That's paired with a slow shrug in something like apology because if the situations were reversed? It's not what he'd want to hear. ] That's not to say some of it didn't still hurt now and then, but it also made me more determined to not give people reasons to believe what was said was right.

That's not to say any of it was easy either since it can sound that way when condensed into... well, this. Nothing about it was particularly easy, and I still say it shouldn't change who you are.

[funbreaker]

[ Perhaps Alucard is right, and Thancred should simply trust his hunch. With something as personal as this, though, in relation to someone as private as Alucard, he would rather not assume.

Hopeful that the distance between them means the truth-telling effect won't trigger, he intertwines his fingers before him on the tabletop, and comes out with it. ]

Are you as vampire as well? Like our hosts in Ikorr?

[cryptsleeper]

Only on one side of my family.

[So, yes. But also no, very much no.

A year ago, Alucard would not have offered any information like this, never mind to someone vaguely associated with Thorne. Now, well, he has no reason to trust Thorne, but Thancred himself just placed information of far greater importance and value into Alucard's hands blindly. It feels incorrect not to return that trust.]

The technical term is dhampir. I don't need blood and I can walk in the sun with no ill effects.

[cryptsleeper]

That sounds more like the perils of simply being human. [People pursue the wrong things, some nights.

There's a small shrug from the dhampir, and he evaluates the Horizons beyond them both.]

Are you inclined to return to the waking world, or explore further at this point?

[assembles]

[ For someone who had likely been more like a stranger to find Wanda when she was at that low point and treat her without judgment — that must have been a big deal. Steve can only imagine. Murdock has his own kind of crazy, huh? When Wanda specifies that he can't be compared to the Avengers, Steve nods with a quick understanding.

It's not a job that's for everyone, that's for sure. Murdock hasn't often treated him like the enormous figure that he is back home, and he isn't quite able to tell if that's because he doesn't think much of him, or if he'd rather not measure people by their reputations. Either way, they've managed to get along well enough so far. He thinks. ]

I figured as much. I'm not gonna ask him to join or anything.

[ But then he notes the change in Wanda's posture, how she grips nervously at one of her rings. Like what she wants to say next is going to be the hardest part. Once the words come out they're surprisingly simple, but they also confirm Steve's hunch.

He smiles in spite of himself. ] Don't worry, I'll be nice. [ He could give Matt some sort of speech about not hurting her, but it's not really his place and Wanda can take care of herself, so what is there to say? He steps over to her, one hand reaching out to grip her shoulder — calm and warm. ] I'm glad, Wanda. Really.

[ The grief that she'd suffered from what happened to Vision, the hole that it left inside of her — Steve hadn't known if she'd ever be able to move on. If she could ever give her heart to someone else. Maybe it isn't that serious, he doesn't know, but the fact that she's trying at all is a good sign. ] It makes me want to get to know him better.

[assembles]

They won, but not before they lost. Still, explaining the years that came before, the time spent processing that loss without ever being able to really move past it, feels like a lot to get into right now.

Either way, Garrus gets it. He knows the things you sign up for when you decide to join an army and fight a war. It allows for a shorthand that Steve doesn't always get, and he appreciates it.

"You brace for it, but there's no breaking your fall when it comes." Steve heaves out a breath and shrugs, aware that he's preaching to the choir. "I hope you can get back to this," he adds with a sweep of his arm toward the galaxy's map. "And I hope you win."

Not that it counts for much, but he still feels the need to say it. From one soldier to another.

[londonbound]

[ Rhy finds somewhere to sit in the lee of a large rock, curling his knees up to burrow into the sweater. He still half expects it to vanish, but it's staying surprisingly in one piece and consistently warm. However Julie did that, he's not going to question it. ]

It was really difficult to make out. I only noticed it because it's a familiar sign.

[ He tries to be reassuring, though what difference it makes is inconsequential probably. What does the sign in the sky matter? What does Julie's theory even point to? They have no answers.

But at least they have each other to talk to, for now. He's grateful for that. Better than shouting at the ceaseless sea. ]

[carmesi]

[the breath she lets out— it's relief flooding her veins, her insides turned to knots now loosened at how easy steve's reaction is about all this. she's never said it, but wanda's always liked when he would put a hand on her shoulder or pat her back. steve is not one that expresses himself with physical contact, but when he does? it's so warm—it's so comforting.

wanda nods several times, aware that he is being sincere. that he hasn't hesitated nor brought forth questions to himself about her and vision. she's had this conversation play in her head a hundred different ways—what she'd say, how she would say it, when she would bring up what—but his gestures and words show her that she really didn't have to make a case for herself at all.

this is probably why she allows herself to reach forward, wrap her arms around him for a moment. she's sorry for the trouble she's put him through lately, for not being so forthcoming; all this time, he's never treated her nor seen her as any less. it's an apology that she can't voice, in the form of an embrace.

pulling back, she sets sentimentality to the side for now. steve and her are similar in this regard — they'd rather turn inward and keep to themselves. this? it's a big step for wanda.]

He makes blind jokes on purpose. He [is an idiot] thinks he's being funny.

[thank you.]

Should— we start heading up? I can use my magic to make a path through the ceiling.

[catholica]

No, it's never been about obligation. And this isn't what a lawyer typically does where I come from anyway.

( he laughs at the thought. )

There are other vocations that do that. I just don't like sitting around when I can help.

[philancer]

[ Magic was really weird in other worlds. He wished they had something that did that back home. Not sure what they'd use it for, but he's pretty sure they would have thought of something interesting for it.

But at Thancred's concerned observation, Sylvain casts a glance skyward as well, still eyeing that giant hand uneasily. ]

Probably wouldn't hurt. At least until the Horizon lets us go where we were actually trying to go. But I don't think there's any way we're gonna reach the peak at this rate before nightfall. Unless that giant hand is there to lift us there. But somehow I doubt that.

[ His voice is dry with that observation, but that sure would be a much more desirable outcome than, oh, smooshing them flat against the mountainside. Which seemed far more likely, considering the mood of the Horizon this week.

He lets his gaze search up the mountainside ahead of them and the lifts a hand, pointing off to their left, a little further up. ] See that copse of trees? Looks like there's a rocky outcrop up there. I think? It's worth a look, it might be enough shelter from the wind that we could make it work.

[philancer]

[ Sylvain actually makes a face at that and for a moment, he looks as if he's not sure how he wants to answer it. Or if he does.

He delays by stepping forward and dropping the last of the lingering undead with a rather emphatic slash of his lance.

And then he just turns to cast Altaïr a crooked grin and another shrug. ]

Let's just say I'm usually more of a lover than a fighter.

[ Which... probably implies a lot, since his fighting skills in themselves aren't so shabby. ]

[ushiri]

The sons of the Lisam, Bousim, and Anyyd had all hoped to do the same: open the gates to paradise and take what they believed to be promised to them. They would've been unprepared for the truth of Nayeshi, though, a world with technology far more advanced than anything Basawar could imagine. If Fikiri could've even managed to open the gates for them, it would've been a slaughter one way or another.

Kahlil gives little away when Istredd admits to believing in the connection, but he might read something in his lack of surprise. His expression remains as perturbed as it had been a moment ago.

"Do you think your monolith could be resonating with it here?" He frowns. "But that still doesn't explain why mine is being affected."

[ushiri]

"-- great."

Bodies creak and moan around them. If he weren't so distracted he might notice that one or two seem to not even notice the pair of trespassers: two corpses in a state of deep decay shamble toward the docks.

More hands burst from the ground and grab at Kahlil, finger bones sharpened from clawing at stone tear through the bottom of his cloak and slash at his boots. He kicks them back, but just like with Lucifer their grip remains even when severed from the wrist.

He tries to retreat but something from behind grabs him around the shoulders as a headless torso starts crawling up his cloak. He manages to break its grip, at the cost of dropping his cudgel.

"This is too many..." he calls out as he slips out of his cloak, letting the crawling torso fall to the ground tangled up in it. He retrieves his cudgel from the ground and starts smashing it.

He liked that cloak too.

We can start to wrap on this one i think!

[magicalarchaeologist]

"Honestly I've been so focused on the Singularity and its connections to other worlds, and doing whatever it takes in Thorne to get me closer to study it. For those answers, if we ever can get them."

Istredd is a singularly (haha) focused type of person, while he is very smart and knows a great deal about many topics, he can get caught up in one idea or subject for years. It means he sometimes misses big gaps of things or doesn't consider big picture problems when fixated. Normally he would say this still doesn't really matter to him, except his domain is being singled out. And the gods have to be connected to the Singularity for that to matter.

"But the war may really not be what matters in the grand scheme of things. This is what matters. The gods may be what matter."

It actually wouldn't be a huge surprise if the stupid wars between stupid mortals are hugely insignificant. Istredd always believes that. But being able to get other people to shift around their priorities is going to be a tall order, even amongst the Summoned. The ground shakes beneath them again, harder this time, and he frowns, focusing on Lucifer this time instead.

"Thank you. For getting me."

For worrying enough about his lack of presence and then carrying his body back to the room, apparently. It's very unusual for someone to put that much effort into noticing him.