MATTERS OF THE HEART

[sticksandbonesmods]

Who: Livio, Wolfwood, Elsword, Mizuki, Add, Heimr
What: heimrquest
When: several days after the bar is built, late in the evening
Where: ???????
Warnings: mentioned child death, mentions of plague, paranoia, supernatural-driven insanity, survivor's guilt, death, possession, impersonation, body horror. more will be added as needed.

The General Store isn't always the most bustling place, least of all in a small make-shift town of only a handful of people, each one more troubled than the last. But at some point, each and every one of you has needed something from Heimr today. Maybe it was just a bag of candy. Maybe it was something more pressing, or some groceries. Regardless, one by one he's tended to your needs, and you leave the store with little fanfare save for the fact that it's unusually foggy out this evening- not enough that you can't see other buildings...

Until you can't.

All around you is a heavy mist, and the scent of a wood fire and warm spices floats through the air. There's no turning back, so all you can do is move forward.

On an OOC note, the Choose Your Own Adventure threads will eventually merge into one group thread. Once this occurs, mod tags will occur after each involved character has tagged, or after 24 hours have passed. That said, if it looks like good banter or development is happening, the Mod will hold off a bit or until dramatic irony strikes.

LIVIO | WOLFWOOD | ELSWORD | MIZUKI | ADD
LAYER ONE
LAYER TWO
LAYER THREE
LAYER FOUR
LAYER FIVE

FIN?

Comments

[simplicitas]

[ELSWORD'S TEMPLE RUN ARC LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He looks very excited* as they appear in front of it, recognizing Elesis immediately and pointing at her like willsmithpose.png.

*(The excitement is Elsword-typical which means he doesn't look all that excited.)]

That's my sister! [Now you know!! She looks just like him but redder.] I'm going in.

[please calm down about adventures, anyway RIP the Zahliya statue no longer here because he's probably committing murders somewhere.

Anyway, Elsword is going to run off into one of the hallways? another room? idk he's breaking off from the main party to stalk Elesis look for more people.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

Elesis is keeping to the group for right now, barely avoiding making a face at the awful stench. Slowly the group is fanning out of the main room, though. She stops to observe the walls, showing a dark sun and a lighter sun. Carvings of hands reach up to the dark sun, fingers curled in something like terror, or suffering, while those reaching to the light sun seem to be accepting something.

There's pillars all throughout the main hall, and the floor is wet. It's so muddy though that she's not sure if it's the fresh rain water or more bloodshed.

Something crunches beneath her feet, and the light of her lantern shows it's the glass of a different lantern, as if it'd been dropped. Nearby is a box of supplies, like what the merchants had been loading onto the wagon.

[simplicitas]

Uh-oh.

[He's gonna have to remember what those carvings look like later, huh... dark sun bad light sun good. Got it. These people are super dead, he thinks. Logically he knows this is a memory but he's following after her anyyyywayyyy like *_* miss you everyday queen.

He digs briefly in the box of supplies to see if there's anything notable/significant that wouldn't be in a box of supplies, otherwise he's going to keep following after her.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

He and his sister are of the same mind, because she's searching, too. Occasionally it seems like their hands might touch, but Elsword seems to phase right through her. Even then, there are bursts of love and pride emanating from her whenever they do 'touch'.

The box itself seems to be practical gear- more lanterns, matches, oil, tarp and rope. There's checklists and records of what's been used when, and by whom. It's all very precise. Most of it seems to be written in a very neat pen, but a few entries are messy and scrawled. From the record, it looks like they had planned on setting up camp outside of the temple, but something... happened.

"It wasn't like there were any storms that week..." Elesis muses. ... Still, this is actually pretty high quality stuff. Maybe they should take it with them.

[simplicitas]

[ ಥ_ಥ seestor...]

Hey, sis. [Sorry y'all he's lost it.] Maybe... they were forced to come in by something? That guy on the altar doesn't look like he laid there willingly...

[sticksandbonesmods]

Elesis can't hear him. Heimr wishes she could. Wishes he could give them a reunion of sorts even if it would muddle things in his mind more. But she stares ahead, focused and deep in thought, before she looks back to the altar and then to the doors.

"It looked like the doors were broken inward... so they were trying to get in, instead of something getting out. But what...? ... Alrdic! I'm going to investigate outside for a moment."

Aldric nods, because Elesis is a capable young woman, and she stands up to head back out. She'll come back for this stuff later.

[simplicitas]

[That's okay, he knows (???) this is a memory, he might be a little lost in the sauce. This isn't the Elesis he knows — his has white streaks in her hair and is generally pretty forgetful — but he figures it's close enough. After all, he had red hair like hers in the past.

He just. Follows after her like a duckling. Isn't that how it always went with them?]

Maybe they triggered some sort of trap. Or maybe they were being hunted by something in the forest. If the doors are broken in, that says they were panicking, right? Otherwise they'd just be opened.

[sticksandbonesmods]

Elesis is light on her feet as he muses about the possibilities. The dirt is upturned, though it's been days since whatever happened, happened. Claw marks dig into the earth, huge ones. A tracker would be good here, but she'll have to do for now.

Maybe... something appeared? And it had driven them into the temple in a panic. But there's no sign outside of this as to what it could have been.

[simplicitas]

Elesis... where's the Gargoyle statue?

[sticksandbonesmods]

"... What."

WHERE IS THE GARGOYLE. WHERE IS THEIR SPECIAL GUY-

[simplicitas]

Man! I really wanted to see what he meant when he said he "woke up"! I bet he's in the woods killing whatever left these claw marks!

[Elsword this is not the time]

I bet it was cool, like awakening a slumbering monster or something. [please be concerned about the cLAW MARKS ELSWORD]

[sticksandbonesmods]

Elesis runs over to where Zahliya used to be, examining it- its like he just got up and left.

"Where is he?"

[purifier]

[simplicitas]

Sis, I'm pretty sure he said that when something bad happened at the temple, he came to life. Uh... more life. [She can't hear you bestie.] Don't freak out. He's actually fine. He likes cheese and Luca—

...

You can't hear me. Right. [sigh.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

She sure can't- even then she'd be wary though. Statues don't just get up, after all. But there's no sign of him breaking or anything- it doesn't make sense.

...

As she looks around rapidly, Elesis pauses. There's a broken shrubbery- like something was pushed into it. Is that... scorch marks?

"... What happened?"

[simplicitas]

A fire?

[He's going to go look at that shrubbery. Was something big pushed into it? Any tracks? Is the shrubbery burnt?]

[sticksandbonesmods]

It sure does look like something was forced through the bush, and it sure is singed! One can imagine a very forceful attack.

[simplicitas]

[Me, a mod: Oh yeah this exists

Sorry I'm on an Elsword break—

No tracks, though? Elsword is expecting hoofprints somewhere, but maybe it was like, a fireball. Or some other magic. Something was clearly pushed into it somewhere.

Looks at Elesis. Seestor what do you think.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

There's marks that... might be hooves? But dragged, like a skid mark or something. Sometimes you yeet yourself off the pedestal, slide a bit through the mud and immediately drag a monster into the woods to murder.

Elesis is torn between going in further or going back into the temple. While she's capable, something is off and Aldric's been acting strange as well... And then there's the monster he and Livio talked about.

...

"I should circle back. It's not like the evidence is going anywhere..."