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?

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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.

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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

[philancer]

Have your powers of creation been working? Because mine sure haven't. [ He nods at the cloak now wrapped around Thancred's shoulders. Something he's now missing a lot but he's more accustomed to the cold than most. Even so, he's not going to be able to stay out here exposed like this for much longer. ] You don't want to know how many tries it took for me to get that. And it wasn't even what I was aiming for.

[ Dimitri's cloak dropping around his shoulders had been surprising, to say the least, and he's still not sure if it had been a good or bad one. ]

But it's worth a try. Although I hate to consider how we could actually make this situation worse. [ Pessimist? Him? Nah. ]

[cryptsleeper]

--That is the best idea I've heard in days. I'll follow you.

[Fuck it. Alucard doesn't make a show of transforming. He's just a wolf now, and he flops down besides Jaskier to admit how tired he really feels. He hates this, it is exhausting, leave him here and just give him belly rubs.]

[hairington]

[ it doesn't appear that geralt needs the help, as he's shot through the opening and lands on his feet on the other side. which is probably for the best, because steve doesn't really know if he could do much if geralt couldn't make that flip. catch him? pull him through?

he follows geralt's eyes back up through the portal before he shudders, shakes his head. he is never going to get used to the weird way that looks, no matter how many times he's gone through it. ]

It isn't usually. Or...I guess maybe it always is? I don't know, I just...actually, I don't think it matters. Let's keep moving before that goo catches up to us. [ steve doesn't really want to think about if his world has always had the upside down, if it's always been sitting right under their feet, if they've just been separated by a lack of gate and nothing else, or if he just doesn't actually know enough about it to answer geralt.

either way, he wants to keep moving, and maybe get themselves out of this place. he's had enough of this deep dive into his weird memory storage and maybe, just maybe, seeing those ghost images of the kids back home has his stomach turning uncomfortably. he wants to move, and that means wherever the gate popped them out into.

they walk, and the first thing steve notices is the cold. something sharp and crisp, instead of the damp of the tunnels. steve's eyes scan the room around them and he realizes, with no small amount of relief, he doesn't recognize any of this. which means they're either back in that weird storage container mountain, or somewhere else. the sinking feeling that it is the latter creeps up a little more with each passing breath as steve watches it cloud in front of him, as his eyes move over the rickety beds, small and barely together. it's disgusting in here, grime and who knows what coating the floor, and steve's stomach all but drops out from under him when he realizes why the beds are so small. why they have to be this small.

they're for kids.

steve nearly collides with geralt where he's bent over to pick up something from the ground. it's instinct more than anything that has steve stopping just a few inches from him, his attention turning to the circular medallion in his palm and then to the one around his neck. ]

Wait. [ steve says, quiet, his eyes moving to geralt's face. ] You know this place?

[hairington]

[ steve's not entirely sure what she sees when they meet eyes, but he hopes it's something good. encouraging, maybe. something possibly supportive. he is terrified, and that's not a fact that is going to go away, but he's also able to at least keep moving, and as they speed around the next bend, he puts his car into the next gear forward, gaining a bit more speed as they go. usually, it shouldn't be much further until he can get them both out, but that is also up to how much the horizon wants to fold in on itself.

right now, steve doesn't want to think about that. he just puts his eyes back on the road in front of them and drives. ]

It's- it's a Mind Flayer. [ truthfully, he doesn't know what the hell it is. but that's the name that comes up, that Henderson always used, so that's what he's got going for them now. ] And there's no stopping it- not us. We have to outrun it. It won't follow us to the next domain.

[ the creature is still behind them, gaining on them ever so slightly. it does have a bit of an advantage, considering it just plows through the trees and power lines, instead of keeping to the road. steve grins down on his molars a bit. ]

Unless you have other ideas.

[aquilus]

[Altaïr takes a long look around them rather than trust his first glance, but there are no shambling shapes swathed in red to his second sight.]

None for now. We may have cut them all down.

[He suspects that will depend on how old the graveyard is.]

[gynvael]

[ Geralt can agree with that. They can discuss the mystery of Steve's world when they aren't. Here.

Here, inside another growing memory. Not the worst of them; not the best, either. He glances up from the medallion, snapped out of his thoughts when Steve speaks.

He can see it. The understanding that dawns on Steve's face. Something about it makes him close up on instinct—not because he gives a shit if Steve knows, but because right now, it is not his choice to tell. And he hates that the Horizon keeps doing this to him. Wrenching his past out of his hands.

He drops the medallion, straightening up. ]

Mm. [ Yeah. He knows it. ] It's home. A part of it.

[ He didn't grow up here, entirely, but it's as much a piece of his childhood as the warm halls Vesemir later took them to.

He wanders to the door, where the bolted lock is waiting. Same as ever. Rusted. A shitty lock that'd barely keep out a grown man, but plenty good enough for a handful of starving boys. Last time, it wouldn't break. When he was trapped with Kyle. Perhaps now—

He gives it a jerk, once, twice. It holds fast. Of course. He sighs. There's a sense he expected this. ]

You do it.

[aquaveiled]

[ There is something nostalgic seeing Moglad as he once was, excitable with a lute in hand. (Himeka makes a mental note to teach Moglad about gearsets under less dire circumstances.)

She hadn't realized it back when she created him, but he's a good fit for Jaskier, isn't he? That similar eager energy, but mayhaps rather than the man leading the moogle, it's time for the moogle to help the man. She places a hand over her heart and nods. The Horizon is a magical place, susceptible to whims of others. If anywhere can be changed by song, it's here, isn't it? ]

I think it would help us all. Music that comes from the heart is the sort you can feel. I'm sure he knows that better than anyone.

[bealufull]

She hadn't mentioned it before and now that it's coming up here and now makes him frown heavily. He doesn't think to stop the way his hand tightens on Inej's, holding her snugly as he fights not to speak words that could likely start a fight.

But you're mine and she can't have you.

Because as much as he sees Inej as his, he's also smart enough not to tell a woman she's his. Especially not this one.

"How has she come to you before now? Is it in ways that she hadn't back home?"

He would wonder what games they're playing and then find a way to fight them for her. For them.

He expects that look and returns it with a calm, steady look of his own.

"I believe it for you," he points out. "Conditional belief."

[philancer]

Pity.

[ That's probably sarcasm. ]

Well. If this one's quiet for now, it probably means one of the other ones are getting restless. [ Is that how it works? He doesn't know, he hasn't actually given it that much thought. He shows up to stab dead things and then moves on to the next place, honestly.

But he does cast Altaïr a crooked smile, leaning on his spear for a moment. ] Thanks for the help, though. I appreciate it.

[gynvael]

[ Geralt raises an eyebrow, though his remark is mild. ]

In my line of work, we call those folk good for business.

[ Nothing more dangerous to people than the humans themselves. Anyhow. It's fine. He's no longer a frog. They can move on, and he will never speak of this again. Good to know Thancred is unbothered by the amphibious life. He's beginning to see why the man is friends with Himeka.

Geralt steps carefully into the next winding hall. Displeasure aside, it. Could've been worse. Might still be worse. There's no rhyme or reason as to when the Horizon draws them in or spits them out. Frankly, he isn't sure there's meant to be one.

But there is an odd gap in the walls that lie ahead. Geralt reaches into it with his hand, hesitant. Exchanges a glance with Thancred. Either it's a way out or it'll send them into another part of the labyrinth. Perhaps they ought to do this together? He's not so cold as to leave Thancred behind if he doesn't have to. ]

[ordinar]

[Tense is an apt description. He pulls up another blade of grass, idly twisting and twirling it.]

We're fine, I guess. Soldiers are everywhere, and everyone seems to be on edge. But... [He shrugs.] Nothing, like...drastic has happened.

[Although, this feels like the calm before the storm.]

[techmaturgy]

He doesn't know her very well, so it doesn't feel quite right of him to ask what, exactly, is going on, but the least he can do is be hospitable. The first thing he does is put the mirror away, somewhere in the back storage room--out of sight, and hopefully out of mind. Viktor lets Jo settle in while he spends a few more moments doing...something, out of sight. When he emerges, he has a mug in his free hand.

"Here." He has no idea if she's the kind of person who might be helped by a cup of tea, but, well. It can't hurt.

[techmaturgy]

The commotion has him hesitating, but after a moment of listening he thinks he can tell that it's not a fight--just movement ahead. That could be good or bad, depending, though the fact that he doesn't hear a fight means they're either going to walk into a room of the living, or the dead.

He has a feeling it's not going to be any surgeons or physicians, but he can definitely pretend like he's supposed to be here. It wouldn't be the first time.

Still, despite his earlier bravado, he seems slightly wary of the noises ahead. "It's probably best if you go first."

[cointosser]

If there was ever a woman who Jaskier could fall (in a word they do not speak) with, it is a woman who will wax on about mythology while his fingers work her, while she's tied up in vines that are now beginning to slowly, if not loosely, wind up his arms, buds growing and unraveling into flowers.

(He does not look to see what they are. Or if there is nightshade caught between them, growing up the sides of the room.)

Truly, he may be later thinking of how this scene, as imprinted in his memory, should be painted. For private viewing only, of course.

Jaskier isn't totally unaffected by the words. The heat in the room is already growing, and now he flushes, letting out a breath. He is rather sure this must be the first time he's been compared to... a god.

You know what? He deserves to hear that. He smiles, pressing closer as he moves his hand away, sliding up her bent leg instead.

"Then let me prove it to be so. With both pleasure and performance."

Hers, and his. He bends down to kiss her belly, and this his head falls between her legs, tongue deftly teasing. The heat in his face only grows, but he settles into it, as glutted as a cat with cream.

[shadowthief]

The squeeze of her hand does the same around her heart inside her chest. The warm, pleasant feeling that comes with being comforted seems to be doubled- because she needs it so badly, because it’s coming from him.

“Nightmares, but more… tangible ones. Specters that followed us for a week or so a few months back. Or memories unwittingly shared with others, in such raw detail,” all very much due to the magic of the place. “It’s… nothing any of us could stop- same as everything happening right now.”

At least he learned from his mistake of calling her an investment?

“Stupid boy,” she says in a laugh, too full of something fond to be meant any other way.

[thedevilwhorose]

"It's fine," he argues, smashing his foot through the skull of something like it was nothing more than a pumpkin during Halloween. It would feel more pleasant if it wasn't full of rot.

Lucifer has, unfortunately, seen his death played out a lot over the course of the gods surfacing. It's part of the reason he's out here with Kyle. It gives him a distraction from all of that.

He has yet to see his death at the hands of the walking dead, but he doesn't need an affliction rattling through him to think that, and he's learned the benefit of tactical retreats ever since Nocwich. He pushed too far in those cases.

So he keeps fighting and keeps an eye on Kyle but while most people assume he's a creature that will never learn a single lesson--he has--and he staggers more than flies to Kyle's side, just out of reach in case the man tries to stab him for suddenly being in his space. Just the barest blip where Lucifer had vanished and reappeared. "Okay, fine, there's too many. But we thinned out a significant number." In case Kyle makes some pitiful sound about feeling like they haven't done enough; Lucifer isn't really sure what to expect from him.

[thedevilwhorose]

She doesn't know that for a fact. Maybe complaining in the Horizon would be enough weird mental energy to get them a way out! Emotional creation energy--

No, wait, that sounds like a disgusting concept. That's the last thing humans need.

(The last thing Lucifer needs, with all his constant rage, but like he's ever going to consider himself the problem.)

His shock shows on his face when she pops back into view. Shows how much faith he has in anyone, especially tense allies. But it's only a second of surprise before he's accepting her help and clambering up after her, their Tetrised structure making a displeased sound before collapsing. Swept up into the goo.

"Well. At least there goes the substance's immediate path to us." He's already looking for the next way up, and walks across the ugly animal print rug--though the pattern not of any creature he's ever seen before--and over to a window and hauls it open, peering out.

They've made good progress, even through all their fighting at the lower points, but much of the cobbled structure had been swept up by the ooze, stringy tethers nestled together into ropes and coiling around to containers much higher above them. He can see creatures scuttling across the lines.

"Way I see it we go up the outside, unless you saw another door in here."

[wiedzminka]

Mm. Something like that. [ She doesn't really laugh, but just shrugs it off, without elaborating.

Still, when he asks about Geralt, Ciri smiles slightly. She nods. ]

He does all right. [ Gives a shit, for sure. That's one way to phrase it.

Ciri leans back in her seat, staring straight out the window ahead as they move. It's a bit of a strange sensation, weirdly smooth, but despite Nero's grumpiness over it, she doesn't feel sick. It's not bad. Just... odd. The unusual movement, nothing like an animal or a carriage. ]

It's fine.

I know the feeling. My... biological father. 'Complete dick' barely covers it.

Family is more than blood. Geralt took me in.

I chose to stay.

[philancer]

So probably not all that different to how things are in Cadens, then. [ He makes a face at that, tipping his head back to stare up at the sky. Still trying to ignore the fire still eating its way through his memory of the Monastery behind them. ]

Let's hope it stays that way. I don't know of anyone - especially among us - who want to have to go to war against one another.

[ He's really hoping they find another way before that becomes the inevitable option. ]

[lightkeeping]

[Aloy, for her part, seems to know exactly what to do when they reach shelter, the Clawstrider standing guard as she helps with branches. The snow is going to make dry tinder for a fire somewhat difficult to come across, but maybe she can do her best to conjure one, if the Horizon cooperates.

Or...maybe that's a bad idea. Geralt gives her a moment of pause before she answers.]

Doing my best.

[Said with a raised eyebrow.]

I won't summon anything if you don't.

[nadine_he_loves]

"Probably. Just stay close."

Following her own advice, Nadine squares her shoulders and lifts her chin and adopts a purposeful stride. She belongs here. She's a well respected student at this academy, and she has every right to be here.

And while there does seem to be a small flurry of staff and professors hurrying this way and that, no one gives them more than a glance. Assumedly, they have more important things to deal with. How many cadavers were stored in the academy in general? The impression she'd gotten was a lot.

"Down here." She leads the way through the corridors and up a flight of stairs, heading towards the cluster of lab rooms that most people are getting away from.

It doesn't sound as though the problem is contained. Quite the opposite, if Nadine's ears are working right. It sounds as though some of the restless dead have gotten out of the labs.

[ushiri]

Kahlil doesn't attempt to stab Lucifer, though the angel-demon's speed is still surprising. He's confident in his own abilities and speed of movement, but that is compared to other ushiri'im like Fikiri. He doesn't mean to try to test himself against Lucifer.

There's no arguing, either.

"Less work for the city guard." As he kicks back another corpse he begins backing away, then running. There's no one living in this building, and he's not willing to die protecting stone and rotten wood.

They can alert the guards to this place, at least.

[funbreaker]

And here I thought you just didn't get enough sun.

[ However, Alucard is right. One question has already been answered, so perhaps Thancred shouldn't get too greedy with it. He lifts his hands, holding them in front of him in a surrendering gesture. ]

You're right. I don't mean to pry.

[ Well, he does, but he's not going to push past what Alucard is comfortable with, especially not right now. ]

[wiedzminka]

"Unfortunately not. We keep going up," she agrees.

If she notices his surprise that she actually kept to her agreement to cooperate and helped him up, she doesn't show it. Right now, Ciri's goal is simply trying to get out -- our at least holding out long enough that she doesn't have to find out what happens in this odd pocket of the Horizon that shouldn't exist if that ominous pink substance catches up to them.

The monsters will be an annoyance, but not necessarily a problem. Even though she's having trouble manifesting proper weapons, most of them coming out warped or broken, Ciri finds ways to improvise. Half a sword that ends in a jagged sense is better than nothing; it will take out beasts nearly as well as a whole one. As long as they continue to work together and he doesn't show signs of second thoughts or trying to turn on her, Ciri will keep her word as well, and they can fight side by side instead of one another, for just as long as it takes to free themselves from here.

do you want to wrap here and focus on current event?

[cryptsleeper]

Oh, well, that too.

[Alucard hopes that it alleviates the mood at least a hair. But he'll take the surrender, and offer at least a small portion:]

For whatever it is worth - they're their own species here. That's new to my ears. Anything else I think is better left to discussion under more normal circumstances. [He sighs, softly.] And perhaps when I can add another chair or two outside to appreciate the weather.