EVENT #10: AFFLICTION - IC POST

[abraxasmods]

Event #10 - Affliction

go to the OOC event info & plotting post

---

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

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

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

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

Emergence

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

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

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

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

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

Affliction

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

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

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

Corruption

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

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

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

Blight

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

Omens

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

Solvunn

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

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

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

Free Cities

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

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

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

Thorne

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

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

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

Apprehensions

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

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

Displacement

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

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

Visitation

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

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

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

Ensnared

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

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

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

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

Scenes to Explore

JUSTICE ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

---

THE CHARIOT ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

---

THE WORLD ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

---

THE FOOL ◎
FULL IMAGE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments

Ciri | The Witcher

[wiedzminka]

Aʀᴄᴀɴᴜᴍ: Tʜᴇ Dᴇᴠɪʟ 💀 Hᴇʀᴀʟᴅ: Kᴏᴛʜ 💀 Lᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: Cᴀᴅᴇɴs, Lɪʙᴇʀᴛᴀs, Tʜᴇ Hᴏʀɪᴢᴏɴ

(( Plot with me @ belleteyn on plurk, or shoot me a PM! Let's hash it out, and I'll write you a starter. ))

libertas; for steve.

[wiedzminka]

(( cw: zombie gore & violence ))

[ Most of the wandering dead that have unburied themselves from the rubble of Libertas are aimless, mindless creatures. They amble about, frightening to look at and more than a little gross, but generally not presenting any danger beyond perhaps a rank odor and being unhygienic.

That is to say: most of the cleanup Ciri's helped with, after it became clear the city of Libertas (what remains of it) is in need of assistance, has been uneventful. The dead do not attack or defend themselves in most cases. Unfortunately, they also do not stop trying to wander around even when they've been de-limbed, so Ciri has begun taking more drastic measures.

Igni isn't one of the signs she's most in control of yet, but it doesn't stop her right now. She sets a corpse on fire, and when she hears footsteps behind her, turns quickly with her hand still raised. ]

Oh, shit. I almost set you on fire.

[ Turns out, it wasn't a walking corpse stalking her from behind. Whoops. ]

[assembles]

[ When Steve looks at the recently raised dead wandering around the bombed-out parts of the city, he can't find it in him to find it gross or even disturbing. It's sad more than anything else, that these people had been killed on nothing more than the whim of some distant queen, are now they're being forced from their makeshift graves by some so-called old gods.

Still, something needs to be done about them. It's rare for them to even be aggressive, given that most of them were civilians, but there are a few here and there that do lash out. Even those that don't, though, can't be left to simply shamble around like this. With their rotten skin, who knows what kind of infection they could spread?

So Steve's been on patrol, doing what needs to be done and putting them to rest once more. It's not hard to track them, and he's been walking a methodical route through the most damaged parts of the city.

Up ahead, he hears the telltale sounds: dragging gaits, unintelligible noises. A few bodies hitting the ground. And... something going up in flames?

He rounds the corner just in time to get a lit-up hand pointed right at his face like it's a smoking gun. Steve's arms shoot up to show he means no harm — not to the living, anyway — and then he realizes it's Ciri. It's a relief that he recognizes her, that he isn't mistakenly seeing some other face. ]

Well, I appreciate you not. [ He smiles wryly, then looks to the group of undead stumbling around further down the street, along with the one flaming corpse. ] Want a hand? [ She may not need it, but it will make the work go faster. ]

[wiedzminka]

[ Lucky for him, the bit of fire fizzles out quickly. Ciri frowns. There's a flash of brief annoyance, but she seems to consider. (She's not even sure why she's annoyed; he's not telling her she can't do it alone, just offering to help.)

Ciri shrugs. ]

If you want.

There are enough of them.

[assembles]

[ Ciri doesn't seem particularly thrilled to see him, but Steve doesn't blame her, given the situation they're in. As if Libertas hasn't been through enough, now there's this. ]

That's why I'm here. [ It's definitely not for sightseeing, but he isn't much in the mood for jokes himself. Instead, he pulls a large disc of metal from where it had been strapped to his back and sets his sights on the group of walking corpses.

There isn't much need to say more when they both know what they're doing, and so Steve jogs past Ciri and then breaks out into a full run toward the closest of the undead, shoulder-tackling it to knock it to the ground. This startles some of the others, and while a few back away out of latent fear, others turn toward them with aggression, their moans turning into sharp, guttural hisses.

If nothing else, he's gotten their attention. ]

libertas, for sephiroth.

[wiedzminka]

(( cw: violence, blood & gore, nsfw ))


[ It's been weeks since the attack on Libertas. Search and rescue groups have long recovered anyone with any chance of clinging to life, and unearthed hundreds of those already become corpses. Eventually, the rest of the languishing, abandoned dead buried too far beneath the rubble begin to unearth themselves.

Most wander around, aimless and lost, eyes picked out by the crows and vultures that circle relentlessly overhead. Some -- violent in death as they were in life -- go after those who wronged them.

Ciri realized it first when she was helping push back the hordes of undead terrifying the already traumatized citizens trying to repair some of their homes. She recognized two of them by their clothes and the vague smudges of tattoos on what was left of their limbs -- and her suspicions were confirmed when they attacked her, with a sort of single-minded brutality she hadn't noticed any of the other walking corpses displaying. They never went after anyone around her as she led them away toward the abandoned wealthy district where she'd first found them when they were alive, looking for things to steal from the manor houses of long-fled owners.

It seems some of the would-be looters she interfered with a few weeks ago are out of their shallow graves and looking for revenge. An annoyance, at worst; Ciri isn't afraid of them so much as disgusted, and peeved that she has to waste her time killing them a second time, which also proves to be a task far more frustrating than the first. Her sword lops off limbs with sickening ease, cleaves a torso in two, trusts neatly through the empty-eyed skull. And the fucking things keep going, wriggling forward on fingers and knees and little bits of bone and gristle, a pile of rotting flesh hellbent on revenge against her, in particular.

Eventually, the pieces are too small to pose a threat to anyone. They lie in the street, twitching on occasion, a spatter of bits and pieces that were once men reduced to fetid meat and old, dark blood. Ciri grips her sword in both hands, stance wide and defensive, waiting, breathing hard. When nothing happens, when they don't attempt to scrounge themselves back together and reform, she straightens up. Looks down at the disgusting filth clinging to her sword, her sleeves, crushed up beneath her boots.

Then, she turns and keeps walking -- until, after a few minutes, she finds one of the manor homes that's been left mostly-standing, and lets herself inside. ]

[supersoldier]

[The undead are dangerous only in that they are numerous, but their rotting flesh and ambling gait make them easier to cut down than living, breathing men. Sephiroth learns this early in his encounters against them, when they lurch towards him and he shears one in half with his sword, the blade not even hitching against its decrepit spine. The next one loses its head with similar ease, leaving the rest of the body to writhe on the ground, twitching and crawling. Many citizens—wide-eyed and horrified—are understandably panicked to see such an effective, almost merciless culling of this rotted threat, but Sephiroth does what he must, as quickly as he must, without a flicker of hesitation.

He cannot spend too long on one straggler, else that straggler turn into a small group, and that small group turn into a larger one which would have no issue overtaking a house filled with scared, anxious residents. So Sephiroth leaves all he finds in pieces; quartered cleanly in the streets, or alleyways, writhing on the ground. At least rotted flesh does not bleed profusely, even if it does stink. They can worry about clean-up later.

However, nothing is quite as merciless as the mess he finds later, just a weakly moving mass of scattered flesh, sinew and bone and dark blood. Someone’s dealt with this group in a way that feels keenly personal, and though it’s of some interest, he cannot hope to know the context behind it. Perhaps he shouldn’t really care.

But then he lifts his green gaze upwards, and far, far down the street, he spots— Ciri? She slips past the front door of what must be an abandoned manor, and pinning pieces of context together, Sephiroth decides to hurry his own step and follow. A minute later, and he’s crossing the threshold of that home, peering inside with a slanted brow, calling out:]

Ciri?

[wiedzminka]

[ Part of this district was spared, and with its residents wealthy enough to go elsewhere, it's entirely abandoned even if some of the houses remain standing. Ciri knows it's unlikely the water she finds will be fresh, or that the pipes have not been broken, but she's hoping that she'll at least find some towels or cloths to wipe down with, or a shirt to change into.

She's already begun peeling off her blouse, nose scrunched up at the mess of it. She's usually not so messy, but the fight earlier (if it could be called a fight) had been-- it hadn't been a usual thing, in her defense, and none of the last few days have been usual either.

That feeling clings to her like the disgusting old blood on her hands. The wrongness. It isn't even the dead in the street that bother her, but something she can't place. The thing that's been in her head since that dream, the visions out of the corner of her eye, the way she blinks sometimes and sees someone on the street with their bones exposed or guts falling out, and she blinks again and it's gone.

Ciri knows by know she's not the only one. She knows the Singularity (what else could it be?) has fucked them all once again. There's nothing to be done but wait it out. Same as the last nightmare.

Then she hears the creak of the door. Footsteps.

She pulls away from the closet and makes for the bed in the room she's looking through, where she's left her sword. ]

[supersoldier]

[Sephiroth feels it, too, like the rest of the Summoned. A wrongness, manifesting in ways that seem different for everyone, but persistent — whispers, in his case. Darkly pervasive things, needling into his mind, asking him if that’s how he’ll leave Nibelheim in a future that has not come to pass: its villagers cut to pieces, writhing and slowly bleeding into the ground, like the undead he leaves coldly behind him.

He hears them now, even as he steps into the abandoned manor, coiling around his thoughts like a serpent. Yet he ignores it, tells himself they will pass like all things wrought by the Singularity, and tries to drag his focus to the forefront. There are footsteps echoing distantly against the dull wood of the floor, hurried and almost-scrambling. This needs his attention, first and foremost — especially if Ciri’s in here. He’s almost certain his eyes weren’t fooling him.]

Ciri? [He calls out again, a little louder, trailing towards the sound. His own footsteps are even, heavy thuds on the floor. He has no reason to hide his presence here.]

labyrinth; for dean.

[wiedzminka]

[ Sometimes, when she's feeling out of sorts, Ciri has taken to using the Horizon as a place of meditation, almost; she brushes Kelpie, rides her through the mountains (even if the scenery is imagined, and the Horizon itself isn't all that large), remembers how the air feels in her lungs when it's startlingly cold and carrying the scent of evergreens and firewood smoke in the distance.

And lately, all the sorts she's been feeling have been on the out. Everything rankles her nerves. Strange visions fill her dreams. Portends of -- doom? death? nothing good. You'd think she was used to this shit, and in a way, she is, but she still can't shake the feeling festering inside her. Wrong, it whispers in the back of her head, and her skin crawls. It's gotten worse since the dream.

Perhaps she should have talked to someone, Geralt or Jaskier. She didn't. The gates and roads are still heavily patrolled, and she's only just come back from a long trip; she doesn't feel like a ride in the desert. Instead, she decides to attempt clearing her mind in the Horizon like she's done so many times before, in the familiar courtyard of Kaer Morhen, in the stables with Kelpie and Roach.

One moment she's stepping out to grab a brush (should've just manifested one, probably); the next, a thick stone wall appears before her, with a sudden, sickening feeling dropping in her stomach like she's just stepped off a cliff, except the walkway has only ever been flat.

Ciri spins around, adrenaline instantly up. On instinct, she attempts to grab her sword, expecting it to be there, appearing in the Horizon when she needs it as it always does with barely a thought.

It's not. She reaches over her shoulder, and what meets her grip is thick, scaly and cool beneath her fingers.

Ciri yelps, thoroughly bewildered, and instantly chucks the unexpected viper against the wall. ]

[righteously]

( She isn't the only one that's been having a bad time lately. His mood on a day-to-day basis is already starting to get precarious; that dream, that omen, has done nothing but exacerbate the symptoms he doesn't realize he's getting from the mark on his arm.

He came to the Horizon to do something meditative, too — in a manner of speaking. Bloodier, arguably less healthy, in a little secret section of woods far behind the roadhouse. What he stepped into here is decidedly not his recreation of purgatory.

It's walls. Stone. Corridors. The groaning of rock on rock. Screams he can distantly hear, or maybe it's the wind, or maybe it's an owl, or maybe it's something else. Who the hell knows.

The only reason he knows he's in the horizon is because of the blade in his hand. It's not the one he meant to summon, it's not possible for it to be here, but he can't bring himself to ditch it.

Probably a good thing, considering he rounds a corner and gets snaked in the face. Instinct brings him to swinging the blade up swiftly, neatly slicing off the head before teeth get too close to his face. It hits the stone floor and rolls a few feet. The body lands with a thump in front of him.

He looks from it to Ciri. )

Really?

( Bro. Come on. )

[wiedzminka]

[ Ciri looks just as startled as he is. ]

Dean? What are you doing here?

[ A beat. She looks from him to the dead snake to the walls rising up all around. ]

...where is here?

[righteously]

I don't know.

( He sighs, an answer to both questions in one. Gestures absently around with his blade, and tosses out his best guess: )

A crappier, somehow freakier Pan's Labyrinth? If your old man jumps out wearing a codpiece I'm gonna throw elbows.

( Gotta hit her with a double feature set of references she won't get back to back, obviously.

But anyway. )

How long you been in here?

labyrinth; for diana.

[wiedzminka]

[ Nothing is working. Every time she tries to make an exit, a door, a window, fucking anything at all-- it either fails completely, or it comes out so warped and wrong and useless, it feels like this whole place is mocking her.

At first, she'd just been trapped, stone walls around her no matter where she turned or how long she walked. Now and again, there are traps, dodged or avoided. The first time a huge, horned monster -- like a fucked-up bull with eight legs -- comes barreling at her out of nowhere, Ciri tries to manifest her sword, and manages only an empty hilt. Which she chucks at the monster's head.

Right before she books it out of there.

She's been alone so long, the last thing Ciri expects is to round a corner and see another woman up ahead. ]

Do you have a weapon? [ she shouts, without slowing down. ]

[monomachy]

[Diana had come to the Horizon as an escape, but it turns out that right now, it's just as much of a mess as the waking world. Nothing in her own Domain is quite right, and it doesn't just stop there. Between one blink and the next, she's no longer in her own domain, instead in the midst of some kind of maze. And whenever she tries to will herself back to a familiar place, she instead finds herself in another part of the maze.

Her lips pull down into a frown, and she clenches her jaw. Alright, then. On foot it is.

She feels as if she's been wandering for eons by the time she hears something up ahead. Diana picks up her pace, and rounds a corner to see a young woman running at her full-tilt. But that isn't the only set of footsteps she hears--it sounds like a veritable stampede is coming around the corner behind her. Diana's eyes go wide with alarm, and she's already reaching for the sword at her back. It's a good thing she always appears in the Horizon armed. She calls down the corridor, continuing to move forward.]

What's coming?

sorry for the wait!

[wiedzminka]

[ It seems her impromptu companion might be having better luck with weapons than Ciri is, at least. That's her only takeaway when she sees the woman reach for a sword. ]

Very big ugly cow!

[ They don't have a lot of time. Ciri reaches her first but the bull is close behind. If the stranger means to stand and fight, Ciri doesn't intended to just keep running past her.

She spins to a stop beside the other woman, scrambling to pull anything useful out of the Horizon, a bow or a crossbow or even a fucking knife.

A fork appears. Ciri swears. ]

no worries!

[monomachy]

[As soon as Ciri says it, Diana catches the distinct sound of hooves pounding against the earth. Her blood runs cold, and between the maze and the bull, she can't help but think of the stories she heard growing up of Theseus and the Minotaur. But while the creature that rounds the corner a heartbeat later doesn't have any of the features of a man, it does have far too many legs.

She hears the other woman swear, and from the corner of her eye sees her with a fork in her hand. The Horizon is not being kind today, it seems.

So Diana takes another large step forward, putting herself firmly between the creature and Ciri, blade out horizontally in front of her and braced for impact. She wishes she had her shield, but the sword will have to do; she just prays to Hephaestus that it won't break.]

goo homes; for wanda.

[wiedzminka]

[ As luck would have it, they burst into the same room at nearly the same time, from opposite ends of what appears to be a sparsely furnished home in the style that Ciri only knows as "like Sam's place."

Unable to form any sort of weapon that counts in any way as functional, Ciri's immediate, instinctive reaction to reach for her sword ends up only a tension in her shoulders, fingers flexing, before she realizes there's nothing there. It's enough time for her to parse what she's seeing. Or rather, whom.

Some of the ready-to-fight tension eases from Ciri's posture. She straightens, glances over her shoulder at the tightly-shut door (blocking the unnerving pink substance, if only for now), and she greets her new companion flatly. ]

Wanda.

[carmesi]

[it takes no time at all for realization to dawn that she's not alone in this room, and wanda isn't too sure if this is reason for comfort or not—regardless of the person she finds herself with. fortune or not, the fact of the matter is that they're both stuck in this endless kaleidoscope of homes and doors that lead everywhere but the exit.

it doesn't help matters much knowing that there's pink goop rushing at them from the bottom of the building and upwards. from the way the door was shut behind the other woman, wanda can only assume that they've reached a dead end.]

Ciri.

[whatever differences they may have, however, is no reason to put it over what's infinitely more urgent. soon after speaking ciri's name, wanda walks in a circle around the room, searching for a way to keep moving; the doors, as it were, wince under the push and weight of the goop trying to push through.

through the ceiling?

wanda packs a ball of scarlet magic under the palm of her hand and sends the flare of it upward, the magic dissolving at the material until there is a hole for them to get up through. she turns to ciri.]

Go.

[wiedzminka]

[ They may not have left their little rendezvous on the best terms in the Horizon last time they spoke in any meaningful way, but Ciri's not about to hold a grudge in a circumstance like this. Wanda is closer to an ally than an enemy; she doesn't stop to second-guess.

When the other woman blasts a hole through the ceiling, Ciri jumps for it. She catches the side, hauls herself up with a grunt and scrambles over.

A moment later, she turns with the intent of reaching back down the hole to pull Wanda up, if she needs it. ]

[carmesi]

[generally, wanda wouldn't need the help, but it's almost reactionary to reach out for the offered hand to help herself upward. her legs swing in the air as her other arm holds onto the floor to push herself upward with ciri's help, all in time for one of the doors below to give way to the pink glob's re-emergence into the room.

hauling herself all the rest of the way, her hands glow red again as she has them pulse over the hole. the ooze extends itself, trying to follow after them, but not fast enough—the solid brick and stone and mortar of the floor appears again, as if growing an extension from what is already there, bringing it back to how it was before.

that done, she's back on her feet, offering a—]

Thanks.

[—for the boost, moving past the furniture to reach the front door of this apartment. it's just like all the other apartments, furbished with touches of people having lived here, but absolutely empty; there are photo frames and bookshelves covered in dust, cobwebs adorning corners, and any plant life wilting in its pots.

wanda's been here before, with steve, and, just as before, there is no sign of any other living person here, just the two of them.]

Last time I was here, the way out was to go up. To the roof.

[she turns to ciri. this should be simple enough—just avoid the pink blob, head up to the roof by whatever means possible, stairs or blasting through roofs or otherwise. it should be simple, but for something completely different. the floor shakes, a roar in the distance—but close enough to them—and something heavy crashing down on what sounds like across the hallway from them.

—that's different.]

horizon; for istredd.

[wiedzminka]

To say that the Horizon has been unstable lately is something of an understatement. The first time she accidentally wound up somewhere unfamiliar, she'd gotten trapped in a place that was definitely no one's domain, nor any part of the Horizon as they can usually access it. After that, one would assume she'd try to stay away, out of this realm while it's so unpredictable.

But Julie is missing. Not out in the real world, where her body is safe in bed, but here. Probably trapped in one of these unfamiliar new pockets that keep opening up. Despite her more logical judgement, Ciri can't bring herself to simply give up and stay away. She keeps thinking that maybe, if they keep trying, one of them will be able to reach Julie.

How long can her body last with her consciousness trapped somewhere in here?

And so, worried, Ciri makes her rounds. She hasn't actually explored much of the Horizon beyond the places she's already familiar with -- Kaer Morhen, the Roadhouse, Bleobheris, Julie's club -- so she has decided to explore to the areas she's hasn't bothered to look in for quite some time, if ever. The Horizon isn't endless, even if it looks that way. She wanders in and out of unfamiliar domains, even hesitantly goes near the crater housing the Singularity, though she pushes down the vague idea that she might try asking it about Julie. It's not like she can hear it. The idea unnerves her.

So she keeps going. At some point, she notices it: the black stone rising in the distance. And the distance itself, as always, is deceptive. Here, the span of apparent miles can be crossed in minutes.

As she approaches, the monolith fills her vision, taller the closer she gets, somehow catching the light so it appears smooth and shiny and yet giving the sense also of absorbing it, the sort of true black that drinks in everything.

"...what the fuck?" Ciri mutters to herself. When the ground begins to shake and Kelpie whinnies loudly, shaking her head, Ciri dismounts, letting her mare run away while she chooses to approach, cautious and uncertain. A low hum fills her ears, resonates in the space inside her chest, uncomfortably.

After a few moments' hesitation, Ciri reaches out to touch the stone.

[magicalarchaeologist]

Istredd came here to actually visit the Singularity, as he does every time he goes into the Horizon, but something is playing games with him. Maybe it? Who knows. Every time he tries to go there, he ends up somewhere else. He tries to visit exact people, and ends up at a stranger's domain instead. It's frustrating so he decides to simply stay in his own for now, writing notes about the vision he had before all of this started.

The thing about his domain in particular is that Istredd is a telepath, so there is an underlining vibe there sometimes, a way that he's connected to all of it at the same time. He can't read people unless they want him to, and he wouldn't try regardless, but he senses a presence. The ground shakes again and he sighs as books fall off their shelves. The one thing that's been true is that everywhere he goes, no one else is doing this. What it means, he has no idea.

If it was Wanda, he would reach out and invite her in, but they share that bond willingly. So Istredd chooses to go outside and see if whoever visiting is okay. He doesn't know if the thing messing with his domain is trouble, and people have been struggling, he knows that much. He looks very tired as he steps out of the doorway that appears, spotting the woman he met in Nocwich.

"Ciri," he says, nodding his head at her. It was a brief meeting, but Istredd doesn't talk to many people, so he remembers. "I'd say sorry about the shaking, but I'm not doing it."

[wiedzminka]

Perhaps the last thing, of many unlikely things, that Ciri expected the mysterious and uncomfortably familiar monolith to do upon being touched is... open.

Two parts at a seemingly arbitrary point in the monolith slide apart into a doorway; the suddenness of the unexpected movement makes Ciri jump back like a startled cat, reaching for her dagger.

Only to see that it does not reveal some sort of untold horror or monster from realms beyond, but rather just the awkward mage with social anxiety she'd met in Nocwich.

Ciri stares at him. Then, she repeats, very eloquently and also very loudly:

"What the fuck?"

[magicalarchaeologist]

Istredd probably should just make a normal door, it has crossed his mind. Sometimes it is normal and sometimes it seems pretty closed like now until someone steps closer. His domain usually reacts to whoever is there, opening naturally when a person is seeking to come in.

He looks genuinely confused. Is she swearing because it's a bizarre giant rock? Is she swearing because it's basically in the midst of an earthquake off and on? There is a long list of possibilities!

"What?" He replies very, very eloquently! (Not.)