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

[cryptsleeper]

I like quiet! I like having space to myself where I'm not crowded in by humanity on every side, overwhelming my senses. Have you ever had a too sensitive nose and then had every scent imaginable invade it on a daily basis? Because that's what it is for me, and I need to not deal with that every minute of every day.

[But then Jaskier says bullied by the dead and there's something in that that resonates with the dhampir. It is bone deep, and it has an awful revelation in it. It shows as tension overtakes the dhampir, as long nails grow and dig into his palms.] Of course I am, Jaskier. When I arrived I was bullied by the legacies of the dead and the deep contradictions between them. What my mother would want, and how my father would have brought that fucking castle in Thorne down to the ground for merely attempting to imprison him, and what he might've brought down on the whole country just to make a point. This place was a better legacy. It was constructive, it meant something to provide respite and respect, being indifferent to the dead while not ignoring their needs.

[His eyes flash red and furious, but in recognition that the bard? The bard has let out a very, very good idea. His tone is far too serious as he adds:]

A few dozen corpses left alone with that woman would not be the worst thing to happen. I would almost call it just.

i-1

[aquaveiled]

[ Wandering the Horizon is something of a past-time, scouting out other's domains whether she's welcome in them or not. She recognizes Geralt's as soon as she arrives, though it wasn't her intention to end up here in the first place. Her crystal is...suspiciously absent. That is the first sign that something is amiss, snowy rampage aside.

A moth flutters into her view, directing her vision up towards the familiar keep. It looks as if the wilds have begun to reclaim stone as vines and roots take hold. She pauses to crouch next to one of the long, thick tendrils, gently placing her hand on it.

He wouldn't invite this change. His home is far from homey but this is clearly an invasion.

But from who? Or rather, what? ]

Geralt? Scruffy?

[ The second one is the Wolf, not Geralt. ]

[carmesi]

[if someone would have told wanda that she would be on friendly terms with someone like michael, she would have been skeptical. they are both too similar—and vastly different. and yet, here she stands, holding conversation with him that borders on something easygoing and less stiff than some weeks ago.

and here he is, too, saying he trusts her skills.

at his question, wanda shakes her head and a small shrug.]

It's difficult to tell. The magic in this world fluctuates too much. [she pushes one hand forward; should he had the charms with him, she'd like to have a look at them.] They may lessen what's making the land and animals sick, but it's not a permanent solution.

[tobeclosetohim]

The whole of it feels weirdly alienly (or ... weirdly human?). Geralt doesn't get up, doesn't take all of this, and shoves back into the broad, solid set of those shoulders and unimpressed towering height. Instead, he takes the wall as if he needs it to hold him up. The wrecked hell that is vomiting aside, he looks as shaken as he sounded in the pitch black of the box.

Which, with a look up, is gone as though it was never there, to begin with.

Then, back. Maybe not as bad as up there. Wrung out by both things, though. Jo pushes up from her crouch, and it's hard not to be struck by the weirdness of looking down at him. It's for granted how tall he is, and it's not fitting to say it makes him look small. He's just as broad, and there's still just as much body akimbo vertical on the ground rather than upward. But.

But smaller, maybe. Something-er. Somehow.

It's not a great question because it shouldn't matter. Jo shouldn't be making any space at all for it to matter. What that answer is. What that past might be. What that room might represent. But she's not as heartless as she'd ever wish, no matter how she might be able to carry that mask, marry herself blood and breath to that task without a flick of hesitation, and use it as needed in certain circumstances.

"Maybe because you look like someone drug you straight through hell in less than two minutes--" A feat in itself. "And it might give me something more than those wrong assumptions of mine, that you're so fond of pointing out, to go on?"

[carmesi]

[the dead have spoken to her before; they've whispered her name to her, pleas for redemption, cries about their eternal damnation. all this has come to her through her studying the darkhold, and wanda knows it's an experience that treads through the darkness.

but she can overcome it, as she's done before, and it helps that claude speaks; it helps that he makes something of a joke about the situation, seeming to know exactly what it is that troubles her. up on her feet again, her expression solidifies into a frown, wary and cautious, but at least she isn't looking at her with too much misplaced fright.

because of course this is the horizon. what is here can't really touch them in reality—right?]

I've been seeing death in those around me for some days now.

[wanda walks the rest of the way down to meet him, swallowing hard as she reaches for his hands. except, she stops herself from touching him, fingers curling inwards as she brings her hands back unto herself. the chilly air whips around them, the snow flurries sticking to their hair and clothes.

she doesn't quite meet his eyes.]

You're alright?

[princessvegas]

[ The eeriness is compounded by the fact that, despite their calm, the clubgoers are still awake, still cognizant. With their missing (or too many, or otherwise altered) eyes, they still watch him, follow him across the room. Like he's intruding on them, despite the fact that they aren't doing anything.

At the bar, Steven appears to be the single even semi-normal looking one left. He has his back turned to the room as he busies himself with cleaning glasses and sorting garnishes. No one seems to be drinking anything, but still, his shoulders move with the vigorous motions of a very, very busy barkeep. ]

Hello, Ravishan. Julie isn't here right now. I'm sorry. [ He turns, and though his voice is completely ordinary, his tone and posture suggesting nothing is different, it very obviously is. Where there should be a blandly handsome face, there is a black void, with tendrils unfurling around it like tentacles, curling and swaying. Dozens of yellow eyes, varying in size, dot the void and the vinelike appendages -- they stare unblinkingly. Despite his regular voice, he has no mouth; the sound seems to come from the abyss of his face as if through a black hole. A single large eye sits in the center of the space, clearly the analogue to his regular eyes. ] I can tell her you stopped by. Would you like a drink? Something to eat?

[ The blob hums again. The ground shudders as the hairs on the back of Julie's neck prickle, stand on end. She turns suspiciously, looks behind herself. Begins to run toward the nearest rocks, where she crouches down and covers her ears, squeezes her eyes tightly closed. There's no one else here, she reminds herself. You already done looked everywhere you can get to. Where would they be?

The goosebumps spread down her arms, her legs. The feeling stays. The thing in the sky drones once more, softer. There's a buzz in her ears. ]

[carmesi]

[it seems like nero's put a lot of thought into this. wanda would hate to further embarrass him, so she keeps it to herself, starting to make her way down the path so that nero can come along and lead the way once they're outside of the farm's perimeter.

herbs will be helpful, either way.]

I can put up a spell to make others ignore it entirely if that'll help.

[she isn't sure he wants it to be some private thing, outside of definitely not wanting any weird praying and sacrifice taking place in thor's name. wanda turns her head to him.]

Why a shrine, by the way? Is it just because Thor's a god?

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil, by contrast, has been doing better than his roommate - at least in the real world. Horizon has been a collection of little nightmares by contrast, slowing bleeding into his domain day by day. There are bones haunting him there.

Sometimes Dayyid's face, too.

Dayyid is not someone that would provoke immediate violence in him, though.

Not like the way Fikiri walking into his room does.

He'd been sitting on his bed cross-legged, having just exited Horizon when he opens his eyes and sees the other ushiri standing on the other side of Jack's bed, inexplicably invading his private domain. It happens very fast - the tear in reality that he darts through, navigating the narrow, spiked pathway in a blink before reappearing right in front of Fikiri again, the Unseen Edge humming between his fingers as his arm is raised to attempt to slash his throat open -

And then he freezes, eyes wide, as its not Fikiri that appears in front of him anymore, instead of the graying blonde hair and aged features is the bloodshot eyes of Jack staring back at him. ]

patrol!

[godshattering]

Claude's first thought of seeing dead rising is not again, even if what he experienced was arguably less rattling than... this. Whatever this is. His second thought is: better get things under control. Not that he has any experience with corralling corpses; there's probably an area of dark magic in Fodlan related to it, possibly something now lost to time, but it's worth helping how he can.

It turns out that despite all the alarming events going on, the soldiers aren't too occupied to direct Summoned where to go when he shows up with both a bow and a sword, ready to take on whatever may come. Now's one of the few times he wishes he'd taken his friends up on their offer of training with a lance since that added distance would be helpful. For peace of mind, if nothing else, but he's here and ready to be assigned for another shift if it means thinking about anything but all the other strange events as of late.

Having a (somewhat) proven track record of being able to handle himself means Claude sets off by himself at first, truly more of a patrol than any active containment, but when he turns down one street suddenly a corpse appears. And, like all the others, as soon as it spots him it begins its shuffle towards him. He's in the process of reaching for an arrow to subdue it, but as he's taking a second to line up - someone else shoots, and down it goes.

For a second Claude just blinks at the body now on the ground before lowering his bow then glances back over his shoulder. One more blink for who he sees there, but that's not as important as a genuine compliment, because - "That was an impressive shot. I was still trying to figure out mine."

[gynvael]

[ He gets it. He waits it out patiently because he's tried, multiple times, and the result is the same.

Nothing. Locked in place.

As for what good, it's better than sitting down, unmoving, until they're buried by the blizzard. The sun is about to set. The sky is darkening. Horizon or not, he needs to do something and instinct says to find shelter, fire, walls. A cavern, an overhang. Anything.

He glances at Nero. Starts to open his mouth.

Then he closes it, listening. His head cocks to the side. Crackling. Ice frosting over. He turns, too. Snaps his eyes to the left. Maybe Nero senses it already, maybe he doesn't, but: ]

Behind you.

lmk if this is okay

[ushiri]

[ Geralt will be greeted by a face he might've seen most recently loitering around the Roadhouse now and again, Kahlil's wide, dark eyes staring back at him with a mix of concern and amusement.

Oddly, Geralt will also hear the giggle of a young girl, coming somewhere from below the line of view of the window. If he looks down he'll notice a dog at Kahlil's side, black mouth open and pink tongue hanging out, its pelt a light blonde and its eyes unnaturally golden bright. It's tail wags excitedly. ]

Quicksy, quicksy! Open the window!

[ The child-like voice originates from the dog, and a moment later Kahlil is wrenching the window open from the base as the dog circles excitedly behind him.

Kahlil gives Geralt an odd look. His dark trousers have a sheen on them up to the knees, and upon second glance the dog is also covered in the gooey muck up to its chest. ]

Hello again.

b.

[ordinar]

Wilhelm doesn't know that anything is wrong at first. He had actually intended to come to Wanda's domain, anxious to tell her about the strange dream he had the other night — and to calculate if he's losing his mind or if some kind of wrench has just been thrown in the works of the world again. She's a reliable source for that kind of thing.

Then the darkness creeps in, casting everything in grey. The weight of the forest's silence presses down on him. That's enough to put him on edge, but what sharpens his anxiety into alarm is the blood-colored mist that comes surging through the trees. He's seen this before — when it was billowing out from Wanda, she the epicenter and it the tidal wave.

"Wanda?" he calls out, darting his eyes around. But he finds nobody in the thick shadows between trees. All that answers him is the loudening undercurrent of chanting whispered in a language he doesn't recognize.

Standing still for too long was a mistake. Wilhelm realizes this as the mist starts to curl around his feet, and jumping aside he tries to kick it off. Although he doesn't know what will happen if the mist ensnares him, he doesn't intend to stick around to find out. And although he has forgiven Wanda, he hasn't forgotten how she shaped this red smoke into scenes pulled from his own head. How she tried to trap him with the promise of things too good to be true.

So he's running like hell. Betting on the mist rolling straight ahead, he cuts a manic path through the trees. No matter how many twists and turns he adds to his escape route, though, the mist seems to find him.

a.

[ordinar]

[The fire is familiar by now. It haunts Wilhelm in his dreams, when he can find sleep. It follows him to his domain, where the scenery has been reduced to cinders for weeks now. In the real, waking world, parts of Thorne are still on fire.

Familiar, but by no means a friend.

What's unfamiliar is this burning place — some kind of castle or cathedral? Below his feet lies a brick walkway, and overhead stretches a series of arches forming a corridor. Solid wall on one side, garden on the other. Except where open sky should hang, dark clouds of smoke suffocate everything. Wilhelm doesn't know which way the fire is coming from, but he picks a direction and starts stepping. Cupping a hand to his mouth, he calls out:]

Hello? Is anyone here?

i.

[ordinar]

[This time, Wilhelm doesn't arrive by boat. Though he does arrive by water, spit up suddenly in the pond of Claude's inner courtyard. The initial seconds of his visit are filled with a great deal of flailing and splashing, until he realizes that he's not at risk for drowning if he just stands up.

So now there's a soggy teenager climbing out of the pond, dripping all over the decorative tiles. Preoccupied with shaking the water from his limbs and shoving his hair out of his face, he doesn't notice that Claude's demeanor is a little dimmer than the last time they met. Wilhelm rolls his eyes.]

Yeah, I just thought it would be super fun to surprise you like this.

[The sarcasm is more biting than he intends.]

[stations]

( Casper Van Dien.

That's the trigger word Jerry came up with for them back home to act as a shit's about to hit the fan warning. He spent a week shouting Casper Van Dien and pelting tennis balls at Jack, until he started ducking by sheer reflex before the ball even left his hand. It grew and evolved to incorporate anything immediately threatening and dangerous, ducking not necessarily required. Eventually, Jack started going into a mode when threatened — he calls it hyper-defense mode.

The place he goes now is beyond hyper-defense mode. At least he stays aware when that hits, it's just that his reflex is to grab a weapon and prepare to swing immediately. Here, now, with his paranoia at peak and the manifestation of his trauma whispering in him, he goes someplace more rare.

It happens in a blink — one moment his eyes go wide, wild, alarmed, threatened — in the next, they glaze over. His expression goes blank, detached, vacant.

From nowhere, from nothing, there's a boxcutter in his hand.

Unlike Kyle, Jack doesn't stop himself in the nick of time. He doesn't hesitate, question, or second-guess. He's cold and emotionless as he thrusts a hand out and plunges the blade into the first open space on Kyle's body that he can manage. )

[ushiri]

You feel it too?

[ The voice comes from inside the bare space of the temple within, where Kahlil stands at the base of the iron tree. There's a brief flicker of recognition as he makes out her features, or maybe its the scarlet glow of magic.

He's frowning, not at her but the ground between them as it shakes once again. A tea set at the base of the tree rattles on its simple metal tray. One of the fruits from the iron branches falls to the ground, its overripe flesh exploding on impact and glistening on the ground. ]

I wasn't sure if it was only me.

[ He doesn't know what's happening here. ]

[gynvael]

[ The fuck.

He gives the dog that is not a dog a look. Then back to—Kyle, was it? Should he ask? He glances at the animal again and decides: no.

Geralt climbs through the window with a sight more grace than he had falling. Despite the crack he made on landing, it doesn't appear to have injured him beyond a bruise or two. The entire place smells sickly sweet. Remind him of spun sugar, but heavier. More cloying. The sound of goop pulsing is...

Not a good sound. ]

What's all this?

Inej Ghafa | Grishaverse

[shadowthief]

OOC

Note

[HMU @ Inej's plotting comment / HMD / loyalwolf[#3540] on plurk[/discord] for something specific!]

[catholica]

Didn't you tell me that's what you did? On that roof? That you killed people?

( because she'd been trying to make a point, equate herself to frank and maybe...maybe she's right. maybe she was more like frank than he thought. )

You were very insistent about that, Wanda. So, changing your mind now?

B

[aquaveiled]

[ Life is a cycle, that much they all know. Not everything last forever and for a community as in tune with nature as they are in comparison to some of their counterparts, the loss of some crops and animals isn't too surprising. What is is the rate that it's happening. This isn't normal, that much is clear.

Having an affinity for whatever as she does, the source of water is one of the first places that Himeka decided to venture. Helping place runes and protective spells across the township and farms is one thing, but they have to address the source of the problem. She kneels along the banks of the stream, a small white moth fluttering above her head as if it's a companion. She doesn't take notice of it.

No, her focus is solely on her own reflecting in the water. She reaches in, sinking her hand into the mud as she pulls out a hefty chunk, rubbing it through her fingers. A light glow comes from her palm as she does so, letting pieces plop back into the gently flowing stream.

A presence--she feels something behind her and looks over her shoulder, on guard--

--only to relax when she realizes it's Wanda. She offers her friend a quiet smile. She's been working tirelessly, but it is good to see her active. ]

How goes it?

[ushiri]

[ He's lost track of how long they've been stuck in these endless corridors. The sky above them is an endless black, and his connection to the Gray Space has been warped. Instead of the familiar edge of currents, his fingers slide against the invisible spaces like they're made of thick glass. His earliest attempt to climb a wall had left him with a sense of almost claustrophobic panic: the labyrinth seemed to sprawl on endlessly in the thick dark.

So, it's no surprise that his own patience is wearing thin, eroded by the creeping anxiety of being trapped, cut off from the ability that he's bound his sense of self to, and their only light source flickering in and out.

He nods to Claude's instruction, letting the other man lead without argument, until he feels a hand firmly wrap around his arm as his next step hovers over a void. He stops, carefully setting both feet on solid ground. ]

- thanks. [ Murmured. Not ungrateful, but clearly an edge of frustration to his tone.

Maybe plunging into a pit might be preferable to this endless wandering.

He crouches low, waving his hand over the empty chasm, feeling for a second for any shifts in the currents of reality and coming up empty. Again. ]

This is getting us nowhere...

[ There has to be a trick. Something they're not seeing.

Because the alternative is that this is a prison, and he'd rather not let his mind stumble down that route. ]

[carmesi]

[he's bringing this up to her now? after all assurances?]

—that was different. They were in my way. [she can't run away from it, she can't deny that she killed people for this fantastical reasoning that they were in the way of her getting 'her' kids.] The people in Westview, I didn't... I wasn't hurting them, not like that. I didn't — know.

[why is she trying to make a case here? she shouldn't have to.

the cat meows between them, following its regular path.]

I just — I just wanted my kids.

[kids that were not real; kids that were not her own.]

[nadine_he_loves]

Considering all that's going on in Cadens, Nadine honestly thinks it's likely safer in the desert anyhow. Not as many concentrated areas of corpses. Besides, it's harder to find ingredients in the shops right now. If she wants to restock what she can, she has to collect it herself. And Geralt is with her, they aren't going far, it's fine.

It'll probably do her good to be away from people for a bit, anyhow. Clear her mind some.

Looking up from her collecting at Geralt's touch, she glances in the direction he seems to be looking.

"Not exactly a big traffic area here...."

[gynvael]

Silence falls. Geralt lets his attention turn to his surroundings for a moment. Same stone walls, same narrow corridors. Hard ground. Filthy, dusted with dirt and rats and age. He's starting to catch on, as he sees the long paths, the even steady walls lined around them. The sharp turns.

A maze. Great.

He rests his arms on his knees. Right. Assumptions. He can acknowledge he's been stubborn about it. Born of too many decades learning not to yield, that it is not worth it to lay himself out for the approval of those who will only find reasons anew to hate and fear his kind. Deep down, he's aware they do not come from the same world. That this does change things, even if it's simpler to pretend it does not, that people are the same everywhere.

(And they are. But sometimes— )

He does not wish to mire himself in bitterness, either.

"It's alchemy," he replies at last. He shifts, feeling raw, exposed. "The smell. They force mutations in the body. If you survive, you become a Witcher. Most do not."

[ushiri]

[ Hello, Ravishan, and his blood runs cold to hear that name spoken aloud by... whatever this entity is, its casual speech at odds with its alarming, inhuman features. Those many eyes seem to lock him in place as they observe him, see through him to know that name. His legs are locked for that split second, the numbness spreading through his body.

He almost doesn't register the questions, his mouth opening and closing a few times before words finally come sputtering out as he shakes his head. ]

Ah - no, thank you. I'm... alright... [ He doesn't want to stick around to find out what offerings of food and drink might be given if he were to accept... ]

Please - yeah, let her know I stopped by... [ There's an uncertain edge to his tone as some semblance of control comes back to him and he's able to make his legs take a step back, then another, the pressure of eyes seeming to close in all around him as he tries to head backwards toward the door.

Julie isn't here right now, and he hopes to god that's for the best. ]