Zahliya (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
purifier) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sticksandbones2024-08-12 10:02 am
purifier) wrote in sticksandbones2024-08-12 10:02 am
[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:
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!
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( josh may get passive flickers- the men in the caravan, following her not for coin or any emotional bond but they're useful and think she's attractive, and they've deluded themselves into some sort of loyalty out of it. it's not her favored method, but it works. and if something happens, they make good shields. )
No one knows what's behind the doors. That's what I want.
( answers. the unknown, pried open from even the most hidden relics of the path. )
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Sounds to me like they wanna steal everythin' that ain't nailed down. There's no other reason t'break into a dusty old shrine like this.
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Well, they certainly don't sound like they're doing it for scholarly reasons. What a shame.
Did you ever stop to think that this place might be... haunted?
[ Just as he's saying that final word, there's a loud bang, as if someone just threw something heavy at the doors. Joshua isn't that stupid, though - it's simply an Imprint of an auditory hallucination. Thankfully, his companions are spared the startle. Isn't he just so kind? ]
no subject
one of the younger ones, the one taking log of their supplies, pauses warily.
"Boss, this place isn't like the others... I swear, stuff's been movin' too. The trees ain't right. ...And thats not including the weird size. I swear those moose are bigger than boats."
and the thing is, even if she doesn't care about the voices in her head, callisto does listen to her people. )
I know, I know. Take five, we'll see what's happening.
1/2
Hmm. They've only done this once before, and it wasn't exactly them doing it, but... they think they remember how it goes. Something ominous, something commanding, something like...]
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[unlike Josh, Loop doesn't really know how to control their inside voice, so they're just going to blast everyone in the group call with the loud, ringing tones of the infinite Universe. whoopsies!!! sowwy!!! it's for the bit, please understand!!!]
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callisto just wants to do violence, though- its worth noting that to those who can tell, she does have an arm spread protectively across the younger lackey's chest, baring her teeth like a mother wolf who is very displeased. )
Φάε σκατά!
no subject
And yes, he does recognize that voice. It makes his hackles raise, angry heat rushing up into his cheeks as he grinds his teeth so hard it makes his head ache. Though this isn't the time to unpack it, if it's possible for the telepaths to get it from him at all, Wolfwood is fucking pissed and it's not just from getting his brain blowed up.]
Jesus-!!
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And there goes our respite.
[ Because he can feel that rage. It's not just from Wolfwood, it's also from their friend outside the door. And with their metaphorical timer still actively counting down... ]
no subject
...
why does everyone else look like they got punched in the head— oh]
A-aha, whoops, guess I don't know my own strength! My bad! [they, uh, do mean it? kind of?? they'll feel bad about this later when they're done feeling accomplished about it, scaring rude people might be kind of fun actually] Look, it's fine, her little party will be running off with their tails between their legs for sure! What's she going to do, kick the door down all by herself?
no subject
yeah, kiera can see why this pisses off callisto. it pisses them off, too. enjoy the daggers glared at you, loop.]
cw: gore, this is the death tag, torture/life-sucking things
Tragically... yes, she will kick the door down. Those doors are inlaid with further blood-filled runes, defying all manner of physics. They connect to the tracks in the floor, travelling up the walls, and they are the one ward keeping him in here. Even the strongest magic can be broken by the most determined of humans. After millennia, these things wear down. Nothing lasts forever.
The group is afforded maybe two more minutes before the doors start to really give. The blood in the tracks on the doors starts to splash out of the runes, and anyone with any sort of magical aptitude will feel how the wards begin to break. The vines holding the Black Sun down begin to fall away and rot; the feathers lying around the altar fade in their lustre, and the watery bonds break apart and splash down to the stone, useless. With a sudden sharp whack to the heavy stone doors, they swing open as though they're light as paper. Outside, briefly seen, is a caravan of merchants, and a small green flame beginning to come to life, and if anyone blinks they'll miss it.
The Black Sun has already moved from the altar, free of his hold after millennia. Black vines of his own creation drag the merchants inside, Callisto included. Some merely get their heads whipped off. Some get gored by them. Some get gored by the fallen god's claws instead, as he drags them in and uppercuts across their stomachs, throwing the corpses to the side to bleed out. Callisto herself earns special treatment for pissing the Black Sun off the most, tied to the ceiling with vines and killed slowly via one piercing the back of her skull and dangling from her mouth.
Then, there's you. You, too, get the fallen god's special treatment, lashed to the walls with vines that twist through your skin, pierce your throats and rip open your stomachs. Even if you wish your death would be faster, you aren't among the lucky ones who merely got their heads chopped off; the vines feed on your blood and life energy itself, magical energy if you're one of the ones who has it. Your skin grows dry and taut, and gradually, you lose feeling in your fingers, then your hands, then your arms...
The first of you hits the ground only when the vines are done feeding, a dry, chalky sound as a corpse slumps to the floor. And once the last of you is gone, time loops back on itself, and you're standing back in that sun room again, with that same banging on the outer doors occurring, that same sobbing and wailing from the Black Sun.
...
After a few minutes to recover, you'll all hear Beiwe speaking in a far more sympathetic tone than she spoke with earlier.]
It seems I was a bit too slow. Apologies.
I'd love to offer you more time to recover, but I've found where the rest of your group is, and I'll be reuniting you in the current day soon. This might make you a bit motion sick.
[It might've been a nicer awakening if the warm hands of God lovingly scooped you and placed you gently at the correct timeline, but sadly, it's more akin to being jolted on a bumpy roller coaster ride. One second you're here, and the next...]