No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering.

[reddosmod]

NOVEMBER 2021 EVENT

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Red mushrooms with white spots growing rapidly.]
[Image Two: Mushrooms on log with morning mist. ] Within Prompt: Orange mushrooms walking on small, greenfeet. Jellyfish-like mushroom with mini-mushrooms growing on top. Vine-like mushrooms with clear heads. Blue mushrooms.

Prompt Two
[Image One: Corpse pinned to chainlink fence with man standing in front.]
[Image Two: Limbless, headless, semi-naked bloody bodies wiggling in walls.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Disfigured humanoid with skin stretched over eyes and chattering, exposed teeth.]
[Image Two: Large organ-like structure pulsating with a human head attached on top via metal contraption.]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

MUSHABOOMING

WHEN: Month of November
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Poisonous mushrooms that induce paralysis and suffocation and violent hallucinations.

---

Come November, Trench is flourishing with a wide variety of mushrooms. Mushrooms can be found growing in the woods, around your house, and maybe even on your house if you're especially lucky...Or unlucky, depending on the type of mushroom.

The mushroom is considered to be arguably the most important food source in Trench. It's the easiest to find and grow, and one of the easiest to harvest. It's a dependable source of protein and can fill people up. They are filled with vitamins that directly help your blood and heart health and can help keep your digestive system on track. But not everyone is a mushroom farmer and most Trenchies wind up foraging for their own mushrooms. Woven baskets are sold just about everywhere to help forage. Omens are extremely good at scenting out edible mushrooms.

The following edible mushrooms can be found/grown throughout Trench: button, portobello, cremini, oyster, chanterelle, porcini, black trumpets, morels, enoki, shimeji, shiitake, and giant puffballs. If you are extremely lucky, you might even find rare truffles. Truffles can be exchanged for highly valuable goods such as magnificent jewels and specialized weapons. Or you can keep the truffles to yourself and use them in a nice dish.

It is said there are hundreds of unique species of mushrooms to Trench. The following mushrooms are permanent features in Trench and can be found most commonly during Bone Season:

WALKING TERRORS

These parasitic mushrooms seem to "walk" around the forest floor. Arcane scholars have determined that their motion is actually just a natural response to stimuli in the environment and helps the fungi to spread its spores onto living hosts. Once you have been exposed to a cloud of these spores, you will immediately begin to hallucinate the world around you warping into a terrifying hellscape. Some say that Walking Terrors have driven people to beasthood in a matter of minutes. But there is a huge benefit to finding Walking Terrors: their caps, once dried and crushed down, are an ample treatment option for corruption. The tricky part is actually getting them. Covering your entire body, head to toe, completely is one way of avoiding the spores and probably the easiest way. Does anyone have a hazmat suit? Another option is knowing a darkblood or someone with similar abilities who can manipulate the direction of the spores in the air by pushing them away. Once the caps have been removed from the rest of the mushroom, the spores seem to lose their nightmarish quality and, at most, will just make you sneeze.


FLOATERS

These mushrooms come out exclusively at night and float lazily through the air. They bob and bump around, their tentacles searching for something to cling to and settle on. They mostly search for tree branches but have been known to accidentally cling to animals and people. The tentacles paralyze any sentient being it lands on. The good thing is that the cap and the little mushrooms on top are completely harmless to touch so if you have a buddy around, they can pull them off with no problem. You'll regain the ability to move your body a few seconds after the tentacles have been removed. The paralytic quality of these tentacles do not impact vilebloods. These mushrooms dried out and cooked are said to amplify electric abilities in coldbloods for a short moment of time. They can also be used to enchant an item with paralytic properties.


WEEPERS

These rare mushrooms can pop up just about anywhere. Only one grows every hundred feet or so and they don't get any bigger than a penny. Weepers are highly sought after since they have been known to greatly reduce corruption. Consuming a Weeper raw will immediately calm someone down, get rid of any current anxiety, wash away depression and paranoia, and clear the mind of hallucinations. Weepers can sharpen the mind and help increase focus. The effect lasts for days and sometimes even weeks. It isn't a permanent cure but it sure beats having a panic attack. Weepers can be collected and saved indefinitely. There are no other uses for them than mental relief, and they must be consumed raw. Cooking a Weeper will get rid of its healing properties - but it does add great flavor to a dish! If a mentally stable person eats them, there will be no effect.


BLUE CHEEKS

These radiant mushrooms grow in clusters on healthy trees and seem to thrive among vegetation. You might find Blue Cheeks in your own garden. They are certainly pretty, but you don't want to eat these. They will cause you to slowly suffocate - even if you don't typically need to "breathe" in the traditional way. It's an agonizing way to go. Your body will start to experience micro-seizures as it locks up, your throat slowly closing up, lungs squeezing inward. It will begin to feel like someone is sitting on your chest and there will be no relief. Your cheeks start to turn blue. Most who eat Blue Cheeks wind up dead, but if someone forcibly makes you vomit shortly after consuming a Blue Cheek, you may be able to survive. Some harvest Blue Cheeks and smash them up to coat their weapons in the jelly-like substance. This substance causes the same effect but must be used while the Blue Cheek jam is still wet. It will stay wet for an hour.

THE SLEEPER FARM

WHEN: Month of November
WHERE: Everywhere + The Sleeper Farm
CONTENT WARNINGS: Kidnapping, claustrophobia, harvesting blood/organs, imprisonment, temporary nerf of powers, blood sacrifice, brief amnesia, confusion, loss of time, breathing in blood, treatment of humanoids(?) like livestock, themes of meat markets, themes of torture, mutilated corpses, mutilating injuries.

---

The blood pollution is thick this month and the more a Sleeper is exposed, the more a Sleeper will find themselves falling into a strange stupor. You seem to forget what you were doing, where you are, what time it is. You will find it increasingly difficult to use your blood powers. Some may lose their new abilities entirely. It's like trying to wake up from a deep dream, everything's sluggish and hazy.

Then you blink. That's all. Maybe you went to sleep or wash your face. When you open your eyes again, you're somewhere else entirely and have no recollection of how you got there. Your body has a deep ache, you're filthy, hungry, and feel like it's somehow been days. You have nothing on you except a drab red jumpsuit. No shoes. No Omni. No weapons.

THE STALLS: 1st FLOOR

If you're lucky, you wake up in a stall with another Sleeper (or more). You can hear and feel the dull vibration of heavy machinery chugging around you; you can smell oil and something thick and musty fermenting.

You are in some way restrained upon waking, whether through shackles to the wall, one another, or some other means. Whatever put you here doesn't want you to escape. You can barely access your powers (for now), but maybe you can find help in nearby Sleepers.

Once you escape, you almost wish you had stayed in your stall. The stalls are the only thing that's farmlike about the Sleeper Farm. It's an architectural masterpiece of steel pistons gyrating, metal staircases heading in every direction, steam-powered doors that exhale open upon an approach. Oil drips continually from above, like filthy rainfall, but every now and then, so does blood of all kind. Never enough to detect the source immediately though.

Your only real option left is to...explore. And this metal palace is huge. You will find various tools for construction around: wrenches, hammers, saws, nails, anything you'd find at a hardware store. You could come across workboots, protective gloves, helmets with lights. The metal around you is boiling hot, and if you're not careful, getting burns is all too easy. You can hear something banging around above. You may even see movement through metal slots of humanoids rushing away. Then you start to find the source of the blood...

STORAGE: 2-9th Floors

Sleepers have been strung up in various locations. Maybe they are ones you recognize, maybe they are you (if you're unlucky enough to wake up like that), or maybe they are completely foreign to you, maimed beyond recognition. Many have been pinned up and mutilated in some way, whether fully skinned and bled dry, or body parts removed, skin carved into. Some have buckets beneath them to collect blood while others seem to have been decoratively destroyed. There is no saving some, but there is saving many. Some might have only just been strung up, still alive, still fully intact, and without any harm done just yet...But no matter what, most won't remember how they got there.

The further you go, the more bodies you come across. Some bodies have been rolled up into bags and tossed into empty rooms in piles. The floor is slick with blood, and the metal maze becomes increasingly complex with tighter turns and thicker blood pollution. It becomes difficult to breathe without ingesting in some kind of blood - but on the other hand...Your powers begin to work because of it. You can start to feel it coming back to you. You can feel yourself slowly start to regain your strength. Which is probably for the best, since you're not out of this hell just yet.

BLOOD HARVEST: 10th Floor

You enter a perfect, circular room built out of pure bloodstone from the different blood types, neatly flushed together in a mesmerizing display of artistry and architecture. At the center of a room is an enormous golden statue of The Tower, hands held out with palms open.

Filling the palms of the statue and surrounding the base of the Tower are hundreds of organs, perfectly intact, given to the statue in sacrifice. The miraculous thing, however, is the fact that most of the organs still seem to be functioning - or at the very least, they aren't rotting the way they should be. It isn't something one wishes to look at for too long.

More importantly, are the five doors that represent the five different blood types. Each door is made from the same gray wood, but with a single bloodstone in the center. Beyond the door is where you come to discover the true horror of where you are.

You're in a Sleeper Farm. Sleepers have been organized by blood types into a vast room. Some cannot be saved, opened up on tables, their organs already carved out and given over to the sacrifice. Others are still alive, but hooked up to tubes, their blood being pumped into vats kept in the ceiling. More disturbingly are the bodies of Sleepers that barely look like Sleepers at all anymore - they have been stripped so thoroughly of everything, left like hunks of meat on hooks. There are fires stoked towards the back, with shelves of jars with blood vials and bloodstones.

It's probably time to wonder who did this to you. Who brought you to this place?

And probably how the hell you get out.

QUICK FACTS

1. To avoid this prompt, you can simply handwave your character getting lucky or Wearing a gas mask and full facial/bodily coverage to help keep the likelihood of blood pollution impact lower.

2. If characters don't have eyes, any variation of vulnerability will count (ie; turning away from something, putting on headphones, etc).

3. Characters cannot have their Omni or any other item in this prompt except items they find along the way. They can still summon their Omens. Omens can help guide Sleepers, and provide communication. One can use Omens to transmit messages to the Network. However, characters cannot find their way to this location from outside. This is a by-chance location.

4. You can choose your character's level of restraint (muzzles/handcuffs/etc) and how easily they can escape them (maybe the shackles can be broken apart with enough strength or you need a nearby key).

5. Those whose Patron is the Tower will be able to more easily navigate the Sleeper Farm and figure out its continually moving parts. They may get a "telepathic" swaying by the Tower to go in the right direction. They will also instinctively know that they are inside the Tower's body in some way.

6. Characters can wake up in any part of the Tower and experience this prompt multiple times.

7. To get out, one must sacrifice some sort of blood or an organ directly to the Tower whether their own or someone else's. This will transport a Sleeper back into town in a random location. Alternatively: Moon Presence will be saving Sleepers by "pulling" them out of this place at random. It will feel a lot like traveling through the lamps, but Sleepers will realize it's the Moon Presence instead. She will place them back in their homes. This can be done at any time.

8. This prompt is meant to go hand-in-hand with the third prompt, but it is not required to engage with both.

BLOOD CRAZED ZEALOTS

WHEN: Month of November
WHERE: ???? Everywhere and the Sleeper Farm
CONTENT WARNINGS: Severe disorientation, psychological horror, paradoxical horror, feelings of being trapped/lost, Cenobites/beings with extreme bodily modifications, themes of mental and physical torture.

---

You are not alone in the Sleeper Farm, and someone powerful has brought you here. It wasn't the Tower though. It was someone obsessed with the Tower. Or...obsessed with blood.

They lurk throughout Trench, never letting themselves be known until they want to be known. They abduct Sleepers in the blink of an eye, masters of reality-bending and experts of blood abilities.

Meet the Blood-Crazed Zealots.

Or, as you will come to learn through various interactions, ancient Sleepers who have been exposed to blood pollution for far too long and who have been completely corrupt by it. These are masters of their blood magic, darkblood magicians who can snap their fingers and rip a Sleeper off the streets. Palebloods who can make you forget who you are, where you are. Vilebloods who have mastered the exact skill of extracting blood and harvesting it for bloodstones and sacrifices. Warmbloods who have gladly given their bodies up to power the Tower. Coldbloods who keep the metal machinery of the Sleeper Farm running perfectly.

These are the Sleepers who learned to survive in a different way, Sleepers who learned to cohesively blend their skills together to not only survive but excel. Most have completely disfigured themselves, claiming it to be an act of religious commitment to the "Patron Pthumerians that guide us."

The Blood Crazed Zealots believe that they must continually sacrifice Sleepers to the Tower primarily in order to keep the city of Trench strong against corruption. And the thing is...They technically aren't wrong. The Bone Season is when Trench becomes the weakest, so the Blood Crazed Zealots work overtime to get the blood pumping into the streets.

These beings are naturally sadistic, uninterested in compassion. Yet they show the potential for what Sleepers could learn, and if you're clever enough, you may even be able to get a Blood Crazed Zealot to pause and teach you a thing about your own blood type. They are ruthless and powerful, but far from irrational or stupid. Corrupt they may be, senseless they are not.

Some of you may wake up to one of these creatures torturing you or torturing a friend. You may catch them in the streets of Trench, turning a corner, and that may be your chance to follow them into the Sleeper Farm by stepping into the black holes they leave in their wake when teleporting.

The Blood Crazed Zealots can summon hooks from nowhere and snare you in their traps. They can get extremely creative and oftentimes will enjoy dragging out the agony. They know how to drain Sleepers of their blood and their powers...So how is one to even combat one of these?

Use their own game against them, of course. Blood is power and you might as well use yours. Blood Crazed Zealots are tied to their word and obey the law of the blood. If you create a blood oath with one of these Blood Crazed Zealots that's just clever enough, you may be able to protect yourself and a few others. But be careful. Blood oaths with Blood Crazed Zealots can have loopholes. Ask to be set free and they might let your body go, but keep your mind to drive you insane.

Despite their power, they are still limited in what they can do. They can't be everywhere at once, and one can hide from them. They can even be killed if a Sleeper properly regains their strength.

QUICK FACTS

1. You can create your own variation of a Blood Crazed Zealot. Their general concept is inspired by cenobites, but the general concept is a humanoid-being who looks like they have sacrificed a good deal of their body.

2. They will communicate this information openly to Sleepers who ask about it as well as tell Sleepers about other lore and facts about blood types/the Pthumerians.

3. Their powers are based on regular blood type powers (ie; a coldblood BCZ could torture people with electricity.) Some are much weaker than others.

4. They would not accept a new Sleeper who wanted to become "one of them" since they are created after decades of exposure to blood pollution.

5. People can run into these both in the Sleeper Farm and in Trench. One could convince a Blood Crazed Zealot to bring them to the Sleeper Farm in order to save others.

CODING

Comments

Diluc Ragnvindr | Genshin Impact (Deerington crau) | Coldblood

[searingwing]

Here we go a Mushharvesting

[Mushrooms of all shapes and sizes have bloomed all over Trench. They gather in little rings and clumps. People are out and about, working together in groups to harvest what they can. But they give a horse-sized dragon of red and gold scales a wide berth. Except for one man, calmly securing a basket to the back between the wide wings.

He glances over his shoulder and offers a basket to anyone that doesn't have one.] It's a good idea to harvest some of your own. If you don't want to hold onto them you can barter and trade for goods you need at a decent price.

[He gestures to the mushrooms all around. Something further down the street plods towards them. He turns slightly to see and frowns. People are getting out of their way. It looks like a large ball of moss with legs and mushroom caps spread out over it.] What in the name of the Seven?

No time to Stall (Sleeper Farm F1)

[Metal rattles. Something cold and hard drags over the skin of his wrist. Awareness slowly comes back to him. His head feels foggy. The lighting is dim, but he gets the impression of a narrow stall. He takes a breath. The scent of blood slaps his senses. Some of the fog clears from his mind.

That's when he realizes he isn't alone. Another Sleeper is across from him. He studies them then stretches his leg out, prodding at them with his bare toes. He grimaces. This again. His voice - raspy from disuse - comes out sharp and cold.] Wake up, we're in a dire situation. I will annoy you until you wake up and answer me.

[Then he prods again.]

Store your fears (Sleeper Farm, escape)

[The low hum of machinery has become background noise as he makes his way past tables and forces himself not to look. The people here are too far gone. The rage rattles around inside him as he adjusts the thick metal chain he's carrying.

Behind him, thick sheets of ice have spread like doors. He has to move fast. He can feel the power of whatever is coming behind him. He picks up speed, ducking around tables and spins, slapping a hand to the doorway and letting the magic pour out of him.

Adrenaline is keeping him from dropping even if his body is howling at magic spent too quickly. He looks at you.] Run with me or get down another hallway. They're coming. We can get out if we work together. But I won't fault you if you decide to take your chances alone.

Hush now. Give us your blood, now. (Zealots) Content Warnings: Stalking, body horror

[It's late at night when there's the sense of something watching. A shadow might darken the path. The presence grows stronger but then ebbs. Just before something lashes out, lightning splitting the night.

Only to be repelled by a wall of ice slamming up. The clash of magicks lights up the street. It also reveals the thing crouched on the edge of a building. Once it had been human, but the blood magic it had used had twisted its body until the knees bent back. The skin is alarmingly pale like the glow of the moon overhead. There are too many teeth and they're too sharp in its eyeless face.

On the other roof, a red-haired man with a vast red and black claymore gathers magic to him. It spirals up his shoulders and around him like a storm about to break. The air turns hot like summer is here. He pulls his sword back as the creature jerks its hands up.]

We can take it if we hit it together. Fight or go!

Wildcard

[Got another idea? Hit me up in pms and we can plot out a closed prompt together.]

Sleeper Farm, escape

[notimeforfailure]

But --

[Lysithea is glancing behind them, at the rows of bodies, some still conscious. At the closed doors to either side, which surely house more victims. At those who are beyond salvation and those who might have a glimmer of hope still, alike.

Her voice, when she speaks is uncharacteristically timid and forceless.]

We can't just...

We can't leave them...

I...

[searingwing]

[The timid tone of her voice cuts through his plans like a blade. He stops moving, pulling the chain from his shoulder. The red jumpsuit is ripped in places, exposing a forest of scars. But his voice is flat, stripped of emotion as he continues to unwind the chain.]

Then move with me. I am being hunted right now. If we linger they will be in more danger. I will outline my plan while we circle back around.

Can you use your magic yet? [Its simple to adjust the chain so it settles on both his shoulders. And it reveals the Vision nestled against his side through the loops.] Lets go.

There’s a path to circle back around. They’ll think, again, I went another way.

[How long has he been doing this? Best not to ask. He motions her and heads for a doorway left open on the left. A long hallway stretches out with the hum of machines growing louder.]

[notimeforfailure]

[Lysithea is accustomed to being the one in control. At home, she has carefully cultivated a reputation for her strength of will and her quick, incisive judgments. But there's something about this situation - something that seems to leave her dazed and muddled, unable to think. From the glazed expression on her face, she can hardly focus.]

I...

[The matter-of-fact practicality of Diluc's words provides her some grounding.]

Yes. My magic is... weakened, but... adequate.

[She follows behind him without resisting his plan.]

sleeper farm F1

[zoomzoomzip]

[ Pietro does not take kindly to being prodded at, and his intention to swipe away the finger accosting him is sedated to say the least. he feels as though watching, instead of through sensation, his arm inching along through the air in a painfully slow arc, only to completely miss the affronting assault.

not for the first time, it occurs to him that things are not the way they ought to be.

his mind is as slow as his body, and he squints up at his companion, his face twisted into a grimace to demonstrate just how undesirable the condition of his being is. ]

--wah?

[searingwing]

Wake up. [His reflexes are still solid. He dodged the swipe and stretches his whole body out again, prodding Pietro again with his toes.

He dodges then waits. His hands are locked to the wall up above his head. His legs are free but there are shackles on his ankles leading to a chain set in the floor. He studies his companion. He recognizes him.

Better someone he has talked to before than a stranger, he supposes.]

Wake up. Take stock of your surroundings quickly, we need to leave.

zealots weeee

[monoceroscaeli]

[He had a feeling he was being followed, but it was hard to tell. If he was, whoever was doing it was masking themselves well. Like they'd had plenty of years of experience doing it. His body is poised as he walks, ready for the first sign of trouble, if not welcoming it.

He gets his wish not but a few seconds later. Diluc's ice protects him from the lunge of a creature that he couldn't quite decide what it was, sliding back with blades drawn now.]

Don't think I'd back down from something like this!

[He grins wickedly- a good fight is on their hands and Diluc is just the man he'd love to share it with. His movement is swift, coming in with a fast slash just to test the thing's reaction time. He hopes it will be fun.]

Zealotttsss

[searingwing]

[The creature twists, barely moving out of the way. It throws up a splash of ice in the air to block the torrent of fire Diluc throws at it.

It sends another whip of lightning in return, but Diluc is already moving. It misses just barely. Diluc wraps ice around his claymore as he reaches into his coat and pulls a throwing knife out. He palms it, moving slower to make himself a more tempting target.

Focus on him. Let the Harbinger have his shot.]

wildcard/we fightin'

[torpour]

[nehan had alluded to this earlier, and there had been no way for diluc to get out of this, because the erune forgets nothing. it's finally happened, and the erune refuses to let this slip through his fingers again, especially when the stakes are higher now than before.

despite being a man who rarely feels any emotion in his adult life, rage is the one thing he feels in full. and he's inching towards it, now.]

Remember, no fire. [he holds out a vial full of bright purple potion, less kind-looking than the healing potion he'd given the human before. in his other hand, his right hand, he has the same tonic, and is thumbing the cork off.]

[searingwing]

[He takes off his Vision and lays it on the ground next to his claymore and the belts of throwing knives. He has his hair pulled back away from his face.

Even without his vision he is a man of fire. In battle is in when Diluc is all that he really is. It’s like he discards a mask he has to wear. He nods once,] You have my word, no fire.

[He takes the vial and pops the cork with his thumb.] My sincere apologies for the wait.

[The tone of it suggests more than the present. Dying had not been in his plans. He waits for Nehan to drink then does the same without a shred of hesitation.]

no time to stall

[fullmast]

[Flynn's temples are throbbing dully, his hands are fastened behind his back, and there is an odd, metallic and frankly all-too-familiar meaty smell in the air that he frankly is not too keen on waking up to. It would seem, however, that there is someone else who has other plans in mind, if the raspy voice and the prodding is anything to go by.

He cracks open one eye to regard his... cellmate?]

Sorry -- was that your toe?

[#priorities]

[searingwing]

[His hands are locked up over his head by cuffs fastened to the wall. Between the cuffs is a long metal chain that is clearly adjustable.

His ankles are shackled with another chain between them but that clearly hasn’t stopped him. Diluc snorts, but his face is flat, the calm of a soldier in enemy territory.]

If you’re going to take offense, you can do it when we’ve escaped. Tell me how you’re bound. I can’t fully see from my vantage point.

Closed to Kaeya

[searingwing]

[Pain wakes him. He tries to jerk himself up but something prevents him from moving. Metal rattles. His awareness comes back in degrees, far too slow for his liking. The voice of his father pours in, cutting through any panic. Patience. See what you can figure out and plan accordingly.

His breath comes out slow as he forces himself to pretend to be asleep. Someone might know otherwise but he would play along until then. Sound flows now he has calmed down. Machinery chugs and hums. As he shifts, metal rattles again. He has to be chained down.

That doesn’t matter the moment he hears the sound that cuts through all of it. A noise of pain. He turns his head as if trying to be more comfortable in his sleep. His long hair serves as a screen as he opens his eyes enough to see. He is on a stone table, in reach of another one. There are grooves in it, his blood sluggish spills out of a cut on his own leg into the groove.

That doesn’t matter either. Chained to a table beside his is another person. Dark blue hair frames a familiar handsome face. His shoulders are broad and the hard lines of his chest are marred by the jumpsuit that doesn’t do him any justice.

Kaeya.

He glances around. There is no one around. The scent in the air reminds him of Docttore’s testing facility. He tests his chains. Just enough give. It takes him minutes of slow work to get one arm free. Kaeya is in reaching distance.

He stretches his hand out and touches his shoulder. He holds on for a moment then drops it. Then he does it again. He can’t risk words. Someone could hear. But a touch is something silent.]

[unmelting]

[Something in Kaeya doesn't want to wake up. Pain is waiting for him, and somehow his subconscious is aware of it and is trying to keep him away from the realization of it all. But that can't last, and that light touch is enough to draw him back into the waking world.

There's a moment where he goes to move and faces resistance. Bound. A breath and he stills. He doesn't need to draw attention to himself. He remembers the touch though and turns his head enough to look in that direction.

Diluc.

His eye widens and he mouths the other man's name silently, expression serious. He follows with a silently mouthed. 'Are we alone?']

Closed to Yuri

[searingwing]

[Diluc secures his dreamer basket back between Dellingr’s wings. The dragon - currently the size of a horse - lifts his head and breathes in. Diluc waits until he starts walking and out of ear shot to say,]

I‘ve heard there mushrooms that can help with corruption. I want to get enough to tide us over and hand over some to an alchemist I know. He creates incredible potions for healing.

I want to see what he can do with them.

[He scans around. He had been given the description. But he can’t see any that match it so far. But far in the distance guarded by wandering mushrooms there is a little clump of Weepers.]

[vibing]

[ Foraging isn't really a hobby Yuri's ever gotten into. Estelle did it a bit on their journey, talking excitedly about the edible plants that she read about, and asking Yuri to cook with them. So, when Diluc asked him to come out here, he was a little skeptical, but he sort of owes Diluc, now. He wasn't going to say no. ​]

The kid alchemist?

[ Yuri's met him a few times. Not that he's a kid really matters, but he doesn't know how else to identify Varian.

He trails after Diluc, vaguely scanning the ground for mushrooms (there are a lot of mushrooms), also not totally sure what he's looking for ]

Curing corruption is good, yeah. Flynn's trying to figure out how to stop people from becoming beasts.

store your fears

[peripheries]

[At first, Kaworu balks at the encounter. He seems unharmed but at the same time, deeply haunted. His eyes are wide and the jump-suit, too large for his petitie form, hangs awkwardly off his shoulder.

He glances down the hallway and then back at Diluc. He'd promised to help him find a purpose, even let him play the piano... These memories draw him, keep him near the other man, instead of simply fleeing when it would be easier to be on his own. It's a funny pull and he can't explain it.

Kaworu nods.]

I'll protect us.

[searingwing]

We'll protect each other. [Diluc says as he walks away from the iced-over doorway.] There's a fork ahead of us. I haven't been down the right side yet. The left leads to a staircase. I doubt it has a way out.

And I am being pursued. They're tearing holes between like...

[He searches for words that will make sense as he motions for Kaworu to pick up speed.] ...how fast can you run? We need to move quickly.

Sleeper Farm Escape

[azurestar]

[Lance ended up here of his own free will this time. The first time, he'd merely blinked and found himself in a cell. And in the streets of Trench he's crossed paths with the Zealots, but still recovering from injuries after his fight with Maul has meant he avoided them. But since he saw the Sleeper Farm first hand, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it, about going back and helping people like Luz who are trapped there and hurt. What if his friends end up there?

So he'd followed the Zealots, against all good judgement considering the state of his body, and leaped through the black hole they teleported through behind them. His paleblood powers don't work here and his star powers have been iffy ever since he fought Maul, so he's done his best to keep a low profile and find people who need help.

When Diluc comes across him, he'll likely notice he's not in the red jumpsuit, but still in regular clothing appropriate for Trench, though now stained with blood. He's also on the pale side, battling corruption and favoring one side due to his injuries. Lance wipes away red blood that leaks from one eye and raises his eyebrows at Diluc as he reaches for the chain he's carrying to help him shoulder it.]

Damn, is this thing attached to you? Show me where.

[searingwing]

[Diluc adjusts the way the chain settles over his shoulders and shakes his head.] No, I took it from a table. I'm familiar with chains. They're a good weapon.

[He can put a real hurt on someone with a chain and a spark of magic. But thoughts of the zealots pursuing him is secondary to Lance dressed like he just came off the street. Diluc tosses his dirty hair - that has seen better days - out of his eyes.]

I've been giving them the run around for...I'm not sure how long. This place doesn't give a great sense of time.

Hush Now

[getsmy]

Fight.

[said simply and confidently, Ives seven feet of (very internalized) anger. These zealots are something that need to be eliminated wherever they can be. Ives isn't going back to that Tower again.

He has bothered to get a physical weapon by now. Hunter needs something beyond magic, especially against creatures like this that are not so easily compelled by his forced sleep. They're generally plenty compelled by the blade of an axe, something he now has to brandish. Ives is nimble on his hooves so long as he's not slipping across ice, so he'll flank to one side, hoping to split the creatures focus between him and Diluc. He'll even whistle to try and get the attention pulled to him, because lighting isn't something he's particularly fearful of, he has extremely magic horns that would certainly act as rods to draw that into. Consider him the tank, if so.]

[searingwing]

[The wall of ice shatters into dust and the zealot takes the opportunity presented to it. It leaps down from the roof and cuts across its arm with sharp claws. It throws its blood out like a blade and lightning flashes across the liquid as it cuts through the air towards Ives.

Diluc leaps from the roof like an owl dropping from the sky after prey but he does it from the side, flanking their target but not in the direct path of either its attack or Ives. His claymore vanishes in golden sparks as he reaches into his coat and palms a throwing knife.

He's a tall man, but he's just slightly above six feet. Ives is definitely the taller one.]

Closed to Ei

[searingwing]

[The kitchen is well lit by the morning light as Diluc surveys the list of things he has intended to get his hands on today. One of his hands rests on his slumbering omen curled up in his lap. He has been pulling late nights but he looks none the worse for wear. Still as prim and proper as ever, red hair pulled back in a high ponytail as if he were behind the bar.

Naps during the day when he can afford it do as much good as uninterrupted sleep. He glances up to his companion as he says,]

This is a unique opportunity. [He slides a closed booklet towards her as he continues to run a hand over the dragon's scales.] We can get supplies for the coming winter. Mushrooms dry easy and with preventative cures for beasthood and corruption may save us in the future. I've learned it is safer to go with a partner.

Our omens can help us if we run into trouble we've never seen before.

Closed to Aether

[searingwing]

[It feels like being at home in Mondstadt to reach out to Aether with a request. He needs a partner for this next hunt through the dark. He'd had a few close calls too many and he'd promised a fair number of people to try to let the world back in.

Who better than someone he wants to know technically again. He'd laid it out in the message. He wants to get information out of the zealots and thin their numbers a bit. Fewer zealots are slightly safer streets. So he waits for Aether to come to the chosen location, his tavern The Roost. He stands behind the bar while cleaning and sharpening his knives.

The black-painted throwing knives have been upgraded to ones forged by the blacksmiths of Willful Machine. He looks up when the door opens and sets them down on the bar top. Then he slips from behind the bar to greet Aether personally. His struggle with dealing with people from a different track of time compels him to do a little more than he normally would. And he nods once,] Thank you for coming. Lock the door and follow me back to the kitchen.

We can talk in there and have something before we go.

[skyshard]

[ Aether will always help any of his friends, timeline differences or not, but he greatly values Diluc's mannerisms and efforts. It's why there's no hesitation to come when contacted, and he doesn't mentally fret on the way over, either. He's pretty sure Diluc wouldn't be able to hide the knowledge of knowing Aether as the Abyss Leader, so it's a little bit easier to settle into reacquainting Diluc with himself, too.

Giving a small wave to Diluc in greeting, Aether turns to close and lock the door as told before turning to follow the other back to the kitchen. It's only once there that Aether's voice perks up curiously. ]

I'm always glad to come help you any way I can! But, Master Diluc, have you seen these zealots ever before? You've been here a long time, yes?

[ even as he asks he's walking over peek at the ingredients and will pause in his questions to ask an off topic one. ] —oh, so, what would you like to have? [ he'll make the dinner, it's the least he can do! ]

I encountered them some, but I can't say I figured out an efficient way to deal with them beyond blood magic...?