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

[gynvael]

Ah— [ He grunts, debating an answer. How many has he got? How many had he once had? A number is not really one he wants to say out loud. It is far too few. ] It isn't how you imagine. We're all of us raised at Kaer Morhen.

[ He did, indeed, say a bear, though that story will need to wait as the tunnel's low ceiling clears. Geralt straightens up. It's dark, musty, and there's an odd ash-like substance drifting in the air. He peers up, around. What...?

It's not anything he recognizes, but it isn't Steve's cozy attic, either. ]

This isn't my doing.

[ In case Steve was wondering. He glances over his shoulder. Does Steve know where this is? He can admit, there's something familiar in the air. Something he might've scented back in the Horizon, before they collapsed into this place. ]

[hairington]

[ as much as geralt may have planned that answer to clear some things up, steve just ends up pausing, frowning, and then turning to look directly at geralt rather than at the hole. ]

What do you mean? Like a home? [ he means foster home, but ya know, slang and all that business. still, steve follows in behind geralt easily, keeping his head low and the knife in hand as they keep walking, and walking, and walking until the they come out in a larger space.

once steve's able to straight, he moves to crack his back, glancing around to see where they've ended up. it's not until he's able to focus on the falling ash that steve's stomach drops, whipping his head around in both directions down the tunnel. ] Shit- [ he curses, panic fairly clear in his voice. ] Yeah- I mean, this. This is back home again, sort of like up before the goo? But it's- [ it's not that it's wrong, because it isn't. it's almost exactly how he remembers, with the vines breaking through the dirt all around them, the dust in the air, the dark, damp smell of it. but it's...quiet.

maybe geralt can hear it - the sound of creatures, a whole swarm of them, off in the distance. they might even sound a lot like hounds, without any of the usual barking. but then somewhere in it is also the sound of footsteps, of people. steve, meanwhile, starts off in one direction before coming to a stop not five steps later, trying to right himself in the space. ]

We need to go up, right? There's going to be an opening down one of these tunnels, in the roof. It's how we got in in the first place.

[gynvael]

[ Now it's Geralt's turn to pause, unclear of the term. It is home, but he senses that isn't how Steve is using the word. He doesn't reply just yet, choosing to focus instead on the more pressing situation: the odd space they've stepped into, that Steve says he knows.

When they've escaped, he needs to ask Steve about what in the hell exists in his world.

He can hear it, scuttling and claws and strange squelching. Footsteps and heartbeats. His brows furrow. Up it is. If Steve knows an opening, that's the most ideal path. After a second, he shuffles to the side to let Steve take the lead. It's between that or leaving the boy to bring up the rear. Point seems to be the safer position, where Steve can see what's ahead.

Besides, if he's right, there's no turning back. The attic will be filled with the same substance outside by now. ]

The keep. In the Horizon, where we train. We call it Kaer Morhen.

[hairington]

[ it is complicated, and steve's not entirely sure he's the best person to try to explain it, either. but this is somewhere he knows, something he knows how to traverse, even if he was dealing with a concussion the entire time he was last down here.

and it's odd thing, to see it in this light. with what they know of the upside down, with what this place really was. geralt steps aside for steve to go on ahead, and that is what steve does; taking off in one of the two directions not quite at a sprint, but a more direct walk. he wishes he had a flashlight, kind of wishes he had his bandana, even when he knows it doesn't really matter that much. ]

Kaer Morhen? Oh- you mean that's not a castle? Huh. [ no, steve had no idea there was a difference. oh well. he guesses he told eddie wrong then, too. whatever - steve moves on ahead without much worry about where he's going, but what geralt can probably hear is the sounds of all of that getting louder. possibly some distant yelling, too, something about hurry, hurry, faster.

steve doesn't notice it until it's much closer, a distant roaring, movement, something that almost sounds like... ] Dustin? [ it's whispered, confused, and steve comes to a stop around the next bend of the tunnel. this part he does recognize completely, the exact length of the tunnel. this is it he thinks, but then stops, because something is wrong. off.

the tunnel is flipped.

there are more voices now, yelling and cheering, moving them all as they run faster off in the distance. meanwhile, steve is a bit frozen to the spot, confused. because as he looks around, the opening that is supposed to be on the top of the cave isn't where it's supposed to be. he looks around for a few moments, trying to place it, before he notices it on...the ground? he frowns. ]

The hell?

[gynvael]

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

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

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

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

Of course. Nothing's ever simple.

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

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

[hairington]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[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.

[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. ]

[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. ]

[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?

[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.

[hairington]

[ or they can not discuss it at all. that is also an option. because steve fits a little too heavily into that category of people who are pretty okay with not talking about this at all. which is to say: geralt will get to bring it up, and give steve the option to talk about geralt's stuff too. like now, how steve does notice something about geralt shifting. or perhaps not shifting, but tensing, growing tighter, right as steve puts the pieces together.

he doesn't blame him - steve's not exactly been happy that all his secrets have sort of just been laid out for everyone to see. doesn't love the fact that eddie just showed up down in whatever russian basement apparently created itself down there. that's probably the same tension geralt is feeling now, right? like a part of him is just on display for whatever shmuck shows up. ]

Is the other part your keep thing? [ at least he didn't call it a castle.

still, he watches as geralt moves to a door with a rusted lock and tug, watches as the door does not budge, and feels himself sigh. of course it won't open. why would anything be easy?

except that geralt tells him to do it, and steve kind of freezes. ] What? Me? [ and okay, maybe he already knows the answer he's going to get here, because steve is walking closer to the door. hesitates only a second before he puts his hands on it and thinks what the hell before giving it a jerk himself, expecting it not to budge in the slightest. ]

[gynvael]

[ His answer comes after a delay. There isn't much to explain. Something tells him the cellar says plenty, between the sparse rickety beds, the rack of swords, the lock on the door.

In the quietest moments, a faint ghost of sobbing can be heard. Or perhaps that's only the wind. Geralt ignores it all the same. ]

This is Kaer Morhen. Another section. Where we were kept.

[ The Horizon's space isn't endless. The keep is smaller there. Doesn't sprawl across the mountain, hasn't got the treacherous trail that winds around it nor the full grounds of the fortress.

In either case. What difference does it make? (More than he wants it to.) He watches Steve tug the lock to no avail, then grabs one of the worn training swords from the rack. Blunt, but sturdy. Heavy, to a young boy. Makes for a good blunt instrument.

He holds it out. He gives no reason as to why it must be Steve. More specifically, why it can't be Geralt. ]

Try this.