sticksandbones | [CLOSED] Zahliyaquest...2

Entry tags:

[CLOSED] Zahliyaquest...2

Who: Zahliya, Luca, Joshua, Wolfwood, Dipper, Mamika, Siffrin, Loop, & Kiera
What: A gargoyle needs task-doers for character development
When: Mid-August, yes during the rainstorms, good luck
Where: ??? :)
Warnings: Typical Sticks trigger warnings apply, suicide, time loops resulting in multiple character deaths, Wolfwood just shot someone executioner style, more to be added

OOC notes, here is a rehash of your rules:

Mod tags will come either a) after everyone involved has tagged in or b) after 24 hours have passed since the last mod tag. This means if you are absent for any reason, the thread WILL move on without you.
Interaction in this log will be redeemable for MAIN AC, not just Bonus AC like most of our NPC threads.
This questline will shape Zahliya's outcome for the rest of the game, and may or may not result in an almost-full Corruption cure and therefore gamewide impact. I will let people know midway through the quest if he's currently aimed at aggression/confidence/staying in the Grove, or if he's on passive/indecisive/leaving the Grove.
The old OOC plotting post for this is here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Luca has seen and done a lot of things over the years. He's watched a poison rot his father so slowly that mercy was the only option. He's seen mutineers flayed and laid bare on icy shoals. He's burned attackers alive and listened to their screaming.

None of it compares to this. He's watched life leave eyes, but never to fuel something else. He finds himself moving before he can process it, extending his sword as he weighs chopping at a vine. They might still have time to save the people at the end of the hall, right?

He steadies himself just for a moment, looking to Zahliya.]

Can we help them? Will destroying the vines cause more harm?

[Before he steps through the doors, he brushes Mamika and squeezes her shoulder gently. No one had better say anything if she decides to hang back a bit.]

[It's about as bad as he expected in here. When Heimr talked about it, even on that description alone, he was preparing for something pretty gnarly. Seeing it truly something else. While Dipper's seen corpses and remains on this level in the past- his first two weeks in Deerington had been sloshing through mutilated corpses flowing like rivers through the streets- what strikes him here isn't the carnage.]

[It's the cruelty.]

[The scent of blood strikes him, too, but only because it makes him realize he's been out of Trench too long for the smell to actually jump out of him for once. Crazy.]

[In order to not think too much about that, he gets to work looking through the dead. He's quiet but efficient, trying not to disrupt them too much but making sure to identify them for certain that they don't belong to his family.]

[When Luca speaks up, Dipper stands back up and looks at the two at the end of the hall.]

...They look-

[He doesn't want to say it but ...they look pretty far gone.]

Siffrin, do you think your magic can help...?

Edited 2024-08-22 18:33 (UTC)

[It's like a cruel joke from the Universe that right as they head towards the temple, he gets one more message from Loop, a cheery reassurance that they're inside and not to bother with calling while something's wrong with the line. That's comforting for all of one second before they step into the temple and see the scene inside.

It's beyond horrific. Siffrin's stomach feels like it drops clean out of his body. He feels the urge to puke rising up and stubbornly fights it back down, making himself scan all the bodies quickly before he can fall apart.

It feels awful to think it, but there's a sense of relief as he fails to spot any familiar corpses.

Distracted by his quick search, he doesn't immediately notice that the two at the back are still alive until Dipper's calling his attention to it.]

It's not magic.

[But getting into the difference between Craft and magic sounds like a waste of time, especially with the state those folks are in. Siffrin grimaces at the people on the wall, jaw tight.]

...We should get them down first. I don't think anything I can do would make a difference while they're still...like that. But we'll probably have to move quick? I can deal with the vines too if someone can be ready to catch them.

[It probably wouldn't be helpful to just let them slam into the ground in this state. Or any state, really. It also probably wouldn't be helpful to mention that he's not the best healer and this might be beyond him, so he won't. All they can do is try.

Siffrin waits until someone is in position to catch them and then forms a scissors sign with one hand before slashing out with it. There's a sparkle of something like stars, but somehow more shadow than light, and an invisible force slices through the vines neatly between the wall and their bodies. He's already working as they begin to fall, making a new sign to heal what he can.]

[Just... under his breath.]

Or we could cut first and ask questions later.

[ Mamika is right behind Siffrin when she enters. Or... sort of enters, as it's more accurate. She hardly even lets her eyes adjust to the new lighting before she's immediately backing out again silently, standing two feet away from the front door. She's not sure she's really even processing what she's seeing. She's only just barely gotten used to the sight of blood as a whole, but this? This was...

Mamika's ears are ringing and she simply turns around to have her back face the door, shuddering violently and holding her wand tightly to her. It's fine! It's okay! She'll just, you know, protect the front door, ezpz-

Please don't touch her, she may just start crying. ]

[Cutting the vines isn't exactly easy. Siffrin will have to try a couple times, while Zahliya stands back and wonders why these people who let the Creature out, the ones who weren't even part of the settlement in the first place (or else he might have a modicum more concern for them) deserve to be freed when they've essentially damned everybody else.

He doesn't voice these thoughts. The bodies fall from the walls into the arms of those waiting to catch them, far lighter than they should be for grown adults. Though their wounds can be healed, it's not like the blood and life energy can be put back into their bodies, so they might not have long either way.

The vines, of course, aren't happy to let the prey go; they regrow rapidly and attempt to lash out at those of you occupied with the injured, but Zahliya is much swifter to act this time, burning them before they even have a chance to get within range. It's a bright green flame, much stronger than what Zahliya in the present day can use. Hm!]

[Where Siffrin's magic struggles, Luca steps up to try to help. It becomes a back and forth, with their strikes being followed up by lops from Luca's blade. He lets Dipper catch the first person, then casts his blade aside in favor of letting Siffrin's magic finish the job. Luca grabs the second person, feeling his stomach bottom out as the sheer lack of weight and muscle mass processes within his head.

He shouldn't be surprised that the vines begin swinging wildly, seeking out their prey once more. He slides back a step, balancing the body in one arm as he prepares to lash out with flame of his own.

Zahliya, thankfully, beats him to it. Which leaves him to focus on the person in his hand.]

Does anyone possess healing magic?

[Luca... doesn't wait for an answer this time, since it's clear no one's keen on being patient. He... probably can't make things worse by folding his hand around the worst of the punctures.]

Forgive me. [Maybe it's soft enough that no one hears this part of him. Maybe it's not. Maybe he's torturing an innocent person in their last seconds of life. Either way, a faint burst of flame will rise from his palm as he cauterizes one wound, and then tries to move to the next. Ssssomeone might want to stop him?]

Edited 2024-08-23 17:37 (UTC)

[Unfortunately, Dipper's weapon of choice isn't helpful for getting the vines down, between it's polearm and the shotgun form. Instead he pulls his coat off to use it as a barrier between his arms and the body of the poor fool they manage to cut loose.]

[Dipper expects the weight and gravity to hit him far harder than it does, and as he braces for it, the sheer lack is what almost causes him to lose his footing. With an unsteady breath he carefully sets down the person and waits by their side for Luca to do the same]

[Thank god Zahliya is aiming that fire at something other than them. Dipper's reflexes are good, but not that good, and he's barely got his hand on his gun before the fires take care of the vines.]

...Thanks man.

[Anyway, Luca asked a question-]

Sorry, I've only been studying it a little while and Pure Vanilla's disappeared so- [Wait is he doing what Dipper thinks he's doing.]

Hey, wait, let's see if Siffrin can help with his m- abilities first before we do that.

[The vines are disturbingly hard to cut. Siffrin has to swap between Crafting techniques a few times to manage it, and it takes all his focus to stay on task and not get distracted by what vines like that could do to a body – like the ones of his still-living allies that are hovering distressingly close to said vines ready to catch the near-corpses – but they manage eventually.

Switching quickly to healing Craft, Siffrin frowns as he works. He's definitely no Mirabelle, and this task only serves to highlight just how mediocre he is at healing in comparison.]

I'm already on–

[–Then they actually see what Luca is doing.]

Woah, stop, what are you doing?!

[They could have gone their whole life without knowing what burning human flesh smells like, thanks!!]

[Well. The good news? Is that the wounds are healed and or smoked like a ham??? The bad news is... uh. Everything else.

These people are too weak to really say much. One of them tries to manage words, but all that comes out is some gurgling. Either more work needs to be done, or maybe it's too late.]

I will look for your family members. Do not waste your time on the people who let the Black Sun out; there's no point to saving betrayers.

[Luca opens his mouth to respond to Siffrin. Instead, he hears the wretched gurgling of the person within his arms and. His breath hitches. In that second, he isn't within this horrific temple, but worlds away. He holds a different man in his arms, one choking on blood and poison both. He tries so hard to speak to Luca, reaching toward his face, only to smear blood over it.

He barely has wherewithal to set his charge down gently. He backs away as fast as he can — watch out, he might ram into someone. Dimly, he manages -]

Someone else take over.

[And then he's heading out to check on Mamika for the time being.]

[ Mamika is at the bottom of the steps, twisting her wand around nervously, in her hands still and looking out at the trees of the forest surrounding the temple, rather than back at the temple itself. She's still shaken, and had she given herself time to soak in the image of the gore within this place, it might've been seared in her head, but it's all a bit fuzzy now. She shouldn't have run away when the others are clearly doing everything they can, but even if Mamika stayed, it's not as though she had anything that would help. Only things that would cause problems.

Ugh...

She turns to look at Luca when she hears the footsteps, clearly on high alert. ] Sorry. I know I shouldn't have just left like that...

[At first, Luca doesn't process what Mamika says. His skin feels like it's alive, covered in a static field that makes even the faint rustling of his clothes feel agonizing. He tries to focus on the distant trees, the sky, anything that feels unfamiliar, lest the more familiar memories within his head begin to overwhelm him.

It's only after the space of a few deep breaths that he realizes she's said something, and a few more until the words make sense. He can only let out a faint huff, probably meant to be a crude laugh, before shaking his head.]

It isn't as if I can judge. [He wrings his hands together.]

Are you okay? This is... new to you, is it not?

[ Understatement of the century. Still, she didn't linger long enough to let it bother her. She'd barely even registered what was in the room before bolting out. She feels bad - especially for Dipper, who's a few months younger than her. But no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to stay...

She stares at Luca to gauge his own mental, frowning. Oh, she's abandoned all of them to handle that awful place, huh? Hhhh... ]

…

My world… the one my god made… no one bled.

[Is it wrong to pity her? Luca isn't sure. He remembers being young and idealistic once. He remembers a time when no one around him could have fathomed bloodshed or betrayal. But even then, he'd known that outside of the idyllic life his father had carved out for him, there was cruelty. Blood could be shed.

If what Mamika said was as literal as it sounded, then hers was even more different than his own. Thus, to come across such barbery...]

No one should have to witness something like that. Especially not... [He trails off, then shakes his head.]

It explains why you wanted to avoid a fight earlier.

No especially. [ She's very quick to interject, sitting upright now. ] No one should, you're right. No one should have to go through what they did, either. I- I can't even imagine the sort of person you'd have to be to inflict anything-...

[ She shudders, twisting her hands anxiously around her wand. ]

I don't think people should ever fight. Even when I wasn't in my world anymore - and even here. If people respond to violence with more violence, when does it stop? How do we expect to end the suffering with just more suffering?

[Her vehement protest is a bit surprising. Luca leans back, studying Mamika just that little bit harder. Despite his earlier protests, though, there's no immediate need to scold her. If anything, there's a faintly sentimental look there.]

Would that it could be so. [He doesn't speak particularly loud, more musing to himself than anything. And when he opens his mouth, he sounds more unsure than anything.] I was not so different from you, some few years ago, you know.

[His eyes close.]

But before long I began to wonder if the need to hurt was only natural, when being hurt so much in kind.

It isn't natural. No matter what, people are not inclined to hurt others unless they themselves have been hurt. That isn't to say I think all should be forgiven... I think it's hard to forgive the forest for what it did, but...

The other creations often said I was too naïve and idealistic, but I never understood why that was a bad thing. What would being bitter and jaded do, when I can try to fulfill my ideals instead?

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Pseudo Gag (ignore me rubie and wolfie don't want to jump order)

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time to split the party

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