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deercountry2022-03-11 04:19 pm
adaine) wrote in deercountry2022-03-11 04:19 pm
I AM NOTHING WITHOUT YOU | March Catch-All
Who: Adaine and you!
What: General march catch-all with event prompts.
When: March.
Where: All over Trench, Jumanji, the catacombs.
Content Warnings: references to past abuse, overworking, anxiety, slight eye gore (spectral third eye), murder, imposter syndrome, burning.
GENERAL
(Testing)
[Adaine has been working pretty much nonstop since she arrived. She has one way to cope with all the new stress that’s been piled on top of her, and that’s through research, and through willingly throwing herself at new stress inducing tasks. She can be spotted wandering around the School of Mutter, writing in her notebook. She’s sitting at a table in a far-off corner, and despite her best efforts of putting forward a friendly impression, she seems to be avoiding talking to people as much as possible now.
At one point, she seems to be focusing on some runes written on a large sheet of paper, dipped in her own paleblood. In the centre of the runes is a glass eye, it looks expensive. She murmurs an incantation under her breath, and after a moment, a blue eye appears over her forehead, and her eyes open to reveal a milky white mist come pouring out of them…
Before the glass eye shatters and Adaine starts screaming in pain.]
(Orphaned)
[Alternatively, you might spot her around Koz’s orphanage. It feels weird staying in a place for children, but he made the offer pretty clear. She’s not sure she can bear living here for too long, but it is some relief to know she’s been acknowledged as an orphan.
Hopefully that means her mother is dead too.
Still, it’s not like she’s not suspicious of any shady eldritch entity that offers shelter to children. She knows exactly how that tends to go where she comes from. She pokes around, looking for hidden passages, secret devices, spell ingredients. She’s not confident she can avoid Koz’s attention, but she’s certainly trying to be sneaky, at least until a large book falls over causing a sudden thud and she startles and lets out a yelp.]
(Seeking)
[She wanders, too, all over town. Exploring new locations, making notes. She seems to be filling out a map in the back of her journal, you can probably find her in any of the districts, shopping for something or other, or exploring a location. She’ll be walking along a street, nose buried in her book, and she might bump into you on the streets of Cassandra, going down like a sack of potatoes.]
Shit. I’m sorry. [She fumbles for her journal and her glasses, and in doing so, her hand traces over an old blood rune etched into the pavement of Cassandra, and she stops and wipes away the dust, and her eyes widen in surprise as she wordlessly puts her glasses back on and takes a more focused look.]
(Hunted)
[Or alternatively, you might find her in the Trenchwood, a sword in her hand loosely slung over her shoulder. It’s certainly a lot cooler than her fucking orb. There’s a monster nearby, with too long legs skittering around with bloodless eyes.
Adaine’s noticed. She’s pretending not to. She’s on her way to Ache, and stops at a local cluster of mushrooms. She checks her notes, pushing up her glasses. Yes, it would seem those are some of the ones she’s looking for. She kneels down to pick them, and suddenly the monster decides it’s time to strike. She looks like she might need some help.]
JUMANJI
(Games)
[Adaine is sat in an empty room of the School of Mutter, the boardgame in her hands. There’s obviously some kind of charm effect at play, making her think this is a good idea. She knows herself and she knows magic well enough to be able to tell that much. This is textbook enchantment.
She examines the board, holding the dice in the palm of her hand. Maybe you’re someone she’s asked to help her look into this, maybe you’re just in the same room for whatever reason. Reasonably she knows that this will probably start the game.] Identify hasn’t worked. It’s just more drumming. I think whatever’s happening we have to roll the dice to see.
I’m ready when you are
(Frogs)
[Adaine’s been walking for a hot minute, tired and weary. She hates this game. She hates the jungle. It’s too hot and she’s too much of a nerd for this place. The newest challenge seems to be… giant frogs. On the one hand, Adaine is a fan of frog. Truly one of the roundest animals.
On the other, she is so sick of this shit. She lets out a sigh and looks to whoever’s accompanying her.]
I think they’re going to try to kill us. Do you think they’re going to try to kill us?
(Hunter)
[Or the other hunter arrives, about a day and a half into Adaine’s jungle adventure, and Adaine narrowly avoids getting shot by diving down into the bushes. She is practically growling with rage when she grips her sword.]
Fine! Alright, enough of this shit. He can’t hunt us if I pulverize his corpse into dust. [So what if all their previous attempts to take him down have failed? So what? Adaine is going to punch him so hard in the face that his spine will break. As indicated by the blue ethereal power rising from her fist, she is about to do something very stupid.]
(Camping)
[Or maybe you catch her at a more peaceful moment, camped out in the jungle, a lightless fire kept up with magic to keep her warm, and a tent behind her. Whether you’ve been with her this whole time or you’ve just arrived, her reaction is the same.]
I can get you a tent or a bedrool, it’ll just take me a while since I have to get everything individually. [She rubs her eyes with a sigh.] I hate this game, I think.
CATACOMBS
(Arrival)
[She falls into the catacombs, letting out an angry growl and raising her middle fingers to the air.] Fuck you! Actually, fuck you! Fuck you, Moss King, you arbitrary piece of fucking shit, I will punch you so hard in the fucking face when I find you.
[And then she hits the ground with as little pain as possible, instead replaced by screams repeating in her head. She clutches her head with a hiss of pain, only with one hand. The other is reserved for throwing up a middle finger at the sky.] I see you’ve been thrown into this as well. Ugh. First dungeon crawl?
(Catching Fire.)
[Adaine steps into the large and empty space, sees people screaming out in the depths of the caves, in the smoking ruin that used to be a home. Pale smokey ghosts appear in the corner of Adaine’s vision, and she feels a draw to run towards it. Of course. People are in trouble. She’ll run without thinking, sprinting for the flaming house. She gets about sixty feet away before she slows to a walk.
Something is wrong here.
Adaine sees mannequins wreathed in flame, sees empty ghosts that scream for her to run, to leave the fire, she sees the fire sucking the life out of her like a vampire. She sees nobody but herself, nobody but the flames that hunger for her like a starved beast.] Wait!
(Ghosting)
[The dead walk. There’s monsters in these halls, and Adaine is swift in putting them down. A reanimated skeleton here, a zombie there, a ghoul feasting on the dead and driven mad with corruption over there. It’s as she enters a large auditorium that she feels the least at ease, though.
The outer chambers are filled with seats, the inner sanctum filled with coffins. Ceremonies were held here. Necromantic, perhaps? Did they raise the dead? Did they hold seances to contact the long deceased? She raises her hands, a firebolt sparking at her fingertips as she walks slowly through the chamber, giving a glance to whoever’s following her.] I don’t like this. So far it’s just been trap after trap after trap. I don’t know if I want to see what ancient Trench considered a good show.
[And then, from one of the corners out of view for Adaine, a pale presence rises, a blur of green cloaks and blonde hair. The resemblance is uncanny. It’s clearly someone related to her. And perhaps, alongside her, another presence floats out from one of the coffins in Adaine’s line of sight, and a chill runs down her spine.]
(Seasons)
[The puzzle before her is difficult to suss out, especially considering how little she knows about this place. But she’s been doing her best. There’s drawings of Madame Generosity, and after Madame Generosity is the Doorway and after the Doorway it’s the Moss King.
What was it that Ford mentioned…? October belonged to… who?] I… don’t suppose you’ve done any research on this subject?
(As Above, So Below)
[There is a tremble in Adaine’s step as they near the end of this hell, as they reach the gaping void that stares back at her and perceives her for all her faults and imperfections. In a rare moment of companionship, her omen hangs on her shoulder. She stares up at it, unable to stop perceiving even as it’s hurting her. Even as the fear begins to build. Maybe after this she can go home, but there’s no home left for her, maybe after this she can work on nothing and fill the void left in her by finally reaching a resolution and having it snatched away at the last moments.
But it’s bullshit. She was never meant to be happy. Her parents were right about her. She killed her father, she only wishes she could kill her mother. And her sister too, she’d wanted to kill her so much. She was so jealous, and spiteful, and cruel. She looked upon someone suffering and wanted to slit her throat for not suffering as much as she was.
She sees visions of a future in which she’s alone, she sees visions of a future under the dominion of the Nightmare King, where their fears are feasted upon forever, she sees the cat that ruined her sister that she never even saw, she sees her friends, she misses her friends, she is nothing without her friends.
‘These aren’t visions,’ The Oracle tells her. ‘Merely fears. You do not need your friends. You were always going to end up alone.’]
I-I don’t know if I can… I don’t think I can do this. [Tears streak down her cheeks, and her hands quiver with fear. She doesn’t have to roll to have a panic attack this time.]
What: General march catch-all with event prompts.
When: March.
Where: All over Trench, Jumanji, the catacombs.
Content Warnings: references to past abuse, overworking, anxiety, slight eye gore (spectral third eye), murder, imposter syndrome, burning.
(Testing)
[Adaine has been working pretty much nonstop since she arrived. She has one way to cope with all the new stress that’s been piled on top of her, and that’s through research, and through willingly throwing herself at new stress inducing tasks. She can be spotted wandering around the School of Mutter, writing in her notebook. She’s sitting at a table in a far-off corner, and despite her best efforts of putting forward a friendly impression, she seems to be avoiding talking to people as much as possible now.
At one point, she seems to be focusing on some runes written on a large sheet of paper, dipped in her own paleblood. In the centre of the runes is a glass eye, it looks expensive. She murmurs an incantation under her breath, and after a moment, a blue eye appears over her forehead, and her eyes open to reveal a milky white mist come pouring out of them…
Before the glass eye shatters and Adaine starts screaming in pain.]
(Orphaned)
[Alternatively, you might spot her around Koz’s orphanage. It feels weird staying in a place for children, but he made the offer pretty clear. She’s not sure she can bear living here for too long, but it is some relief to know she’s been acknowledged as an orphan.
Hopefully that means her mother is dead too.
Still, it’s not like she’s not suspicious of any shady eldritch entity that offers shelter to children. She knows exactly how that tends to go where she comes from. She pokes around, looking for hidden passages, secret devices, spell ingredients. She’s not confident she can avoid Koz’s attention, but she’s certainly trying to be sneaky, at least until a large book falls over causing a sudden thud and she startles and lets out a yelp.]
(Seeking)
[She wanders, too, all over town. Exploring new locations, making notes. She seems to be filling out a map in the back of her journal, you can probably find her in any of the districts, shopping for something or other, or exploring a location. She’ll be walking along a street, nose buried in her book, and she might bump into you on the streets of Cassandra, going down like a sack of potatoes.]
Shit. I’m sorry. [She fumbles for her journal and her glasses, and in doing so, her hand traces over an old blood rune etched into the pavement of Cassandra, and she stops and wipes away the dust, and her eyes widen in surprise as she wordlessly puts her glasses back on and takes a more focused look.]
(Hunted)
[Or alternatively, you might find her in the Trenchwood, a sword in her hand loosely slung over her shoulder. It’s certainly a lot cooler than her fucking orb. There’s a monster nearby, with too long legs skittering around with bloodless eyes.
Adaine’s noticed. She’s pretending not to. She’s on her way to Ache, and stops at a local cluster of mushrooms. She checks her notes, pushing up her glasses. Yes, it would seem those are some of the ones she’s looking for. She kneels down to pick them, and suddenly the monster decides it’s time to strike. She looks like she might need some help.]
(Games)
[Adaine is sat in an empty room of the School of Mutter, the boardgame in her hands. There’s obviously some kind of charm effect at play, making her think this is a good idea. She knows herself and she knows magic well enough to be able to tell that much. This is textbook enchantment.
She examines the board, holding the dice in the palm of her hand. Maybe you’re someone she’s asked to help her look into this, maybe you’re just in the same room for whatever reason. Reasonably she knows that this will probably start the game.] Identify hasn’t worked. It’s just more drumming. I think whatever’s happening we have to roll the dice to see.
I’m ready when you are
(Frogs)
[Adaine’s been walking for a hot minute, tired and weary. She hates this game. She hates the jungle. It’s too hot and she’s too much of a nerd for this place. The newest challenge seems to be… giant frogs. On the one hand, Adaine is a fan of frog. Truly one of the roundest animals.
On the other, she is so sick of this shit. She lets out a sigh and looks to whoever’s accompanying her.]
I think they’re going to try to kill us. Do you think they’re going to try to kill us?
(Hunter)
[Or the other hunter arrives, about a day and a half into Adaine’s jungle adventure, and Adaine narrowly avoids getting shot by diving down into the bushes. She is practically growling with rage when she grips her sword.]
Fine! Alright, enough of this shit. He can’t hunt us if I pulverize his corpse into dust. [So what if all their previous attempts to take him down have failed? So what? Adaine is going to punch him so hard in the face that his spine will break. As indicated by the blue ethereal power rising from her fist, she is about to do something very stupid.]
(Camping)
[Or maybe you catch her at a more peaceful moment, camped out in the jungle, a lightless fire kept up with magic to keep her warm, and a tent behind her. Whether you’ve been with her this whole time or you’ve just arrived, her reaction is the same.]
I can get you a tent or a bedrool, it’ll just take me a while since I have to get everything individually. [She rubs her eyes with a sigh.] I hate this game, I think.
(Arrival)
[She falls into the catacombs, letting out an angry growl and raising her middle fingers to the air.] Fuck you! Actually, fuck you! Fuck you, Moss King, you arbitrary piece of fucking shit, I will punch you so hard in the fucking face when I find you.
[And then she hits the ground with as little pain as possible, instead replaced by screams repeating in her head. She clutches her head with a hiss of pain, only with one hand. The other is reserved for throwing up a middle finger at the sky.] I see you’ve been thrown into this as well. Ugh. First dungeon crawl?
(Catching Fire.)
[Adaine steps into the large and empty space, sees people screaming out in the depths of the caves, in the smoking ruin that used to be a home. Pale smokey ghosts appear in the corner of Adaine’s vision, and she feels a draw to run towards it. Of course. People are in trouble. She’ll run without thinking, sprinting for the flaming house. She gets about sixty feet away before she slows to a walk.
Something is wrong here.
Adaine sees mannequins wreathed in flame, sees empty ghosts that scream for her to run, to leave the fire, she sees the fire sucking the life out of her like a vampire. She sees nobody but herself, nobody but the flames that hunger for her like a starved beast.] Wait!
(Ghosting)
[The dead walk. There’s monsters in these halls, and Adaine is swift in putting them down. A reanimated skeleton here, a zombie there, a ghoul feasting on the dead and driven mad with corruption over there. It’s as she enters a large auditorium that she feels the least at ease, though.
The outer chambers are filled with seats, the inner sanctum filled with coffins. Ceremonies were held here. Necromantic, perhaps? Did they raise the dead? Did they hold seances to contact the long deceased? She raises her hands, a firebolt sparking at her fingertips as she walks slowly through the chamber, giving a glance to whoever’s following her.] I don’t like this. So far it’s just been trap after trap after trap. I don’t know if I want to see what ancient Trench considered a good show.
[And then, from one of the corners out of view for Adaine, a pale presence rises, a blur of green cloaks and blonde hair. The resemblance is uncanny. It’s clearly someone related to her. And perhaps, alongside her, another presence floats out from one of the coffins in Adaine’s line of sight, and a chill runs down her spine.]
(Seasons)
[The puzzle before her is difficult to suss out, especially considering how little she knows about this place. But she’s been doing her best. There’s drawings of Madame Generosity, and after Madame Generosity is the Doorway and after the Doorway it’s the Moss King.
What was it that Ford mentioned…? October belonged to… who?] I… don’t suppose you’ve done any research on this subject?
(As Above, So Below)
[There is a tremble in Adaine’s step as they near the end of this hell, as they reach the gaping void that stares back at her and perceives her for all her faults and imperfections. In a rare moment of companionship, her omen hangs on her shoulder. She stares up at it, unable to stop perceiving even as it’s hurting her. Even as the fear begins to build. Maybe after this she can go home, but there’s no home left for her, maybe after this she can work on nothing and fill the void left in her by finally reaching a resolution and having it snatched away at the last moments.
But it’s bullshit. She was never meant to be happy. Her parents were right about her. She killed her father, she only wishes she could kill her mother. And her sister too, she’d wanted to kill her so much. She was so jealous, and spiteful, and cruel. She looked upon someone suffering and wanted to slit her throat for not suffering as much as she was.
She sees visions of a future in which she’s alone, she sees visions of a future under the dominion of the Nightmare King, where their fears are feasted upon forever, she sees the cat that ruined her sister that she never even saw, she sees her friends, she misses her friends, she is nothing without her friends.
‘These aren’t visions,’ The Oracle tells her. ‘Merely fears. You do not need your friends. You were always going to end up alone.’]
I-I don’t know if I can… I don’t think I can do this. [Tears streak down her cheeks, and her hands quiver with fear. She doesn’t have to roll to have a panic attack this time.]
no subject
[even with the mud being gone, she'd be surprised if she didn't look really dirty. that was the part fantasy epics left out, that the lack of a shower would be a thing. Frodo didn't carry Febreze with him to Mount Mordor]
Yeah? This is my first real life crypt, it's easy to get lost. [so thank whatever higher power might or might not exist for the backpacks] I'm pretty sure I saw the same rock formation that looked like Donald Trump ten times. Ew.
no subject
That's fine, I don't... really know what my thing is? If I even have one? I don't know, sexuality's weird. It's not something I've really considered for most of my life. [All her friends, except Riz and Gorgug, have at one point had a thing for her. Several of them still do. She has just been completely clueless about it.
She quirks a smile that's an attempt at reassuring.]
Well, I don't know who that is, but I'll take your word for it. I should be able to at least find the correct path to get us out of here the quickest.
no subject
Yeah, it really is. It's like this---this huge spectrum that someone has to find their place in. Assuming that there's a place at all. It's hard.
[so far as she knew, no one had ever had a crush on her. she was talking with Fez on a regular basis, but he was a drug dealer. it was impossible to know if he was truly interested or if she was just someone to talk to.
Lexi tried to smile back in return]
So If we're both on the lookout, we'll find the right path together. No more Trump rock formations, thank fuck.
[and she sets out in hopes of a way out of the maze]
no subject
There's Zayn and there's Fig. She's maybe thought about them in those... ways? Maybe? She thinks? But it's... complicated. It's all very complicated.]
With our powers combined we'll get out of her in no time. Let me just cast the spell. It'll take a few minutes. You think you can watch my back, make sure nothing sneaks up behind me?
(CW: drug dealers)
[Fez and her were friends. she suspected it would take very little to push things into a more than friendly direction, but what future did an honor student with her eyes set on NYU and a drug dealer have? and Rue...was Rue]
And I can do that. [Lexi pulled the flashlight out of the backpack, planning to club anything in the head which came too close]
cw for mentions of underage relationships
She sits down, preparing the ritual with a piece of chalk and the sword on her back, her eyes glow a faint blue as she gossips.]
And then he just wouldn't shut up about it. Which is... insane, considering for all of the hour that he knew her, she was actively working for the bad guys and kidnapped a girl right in front of me.
[And that's not even getting started on Fig's thing with the fucking... 40 year old doctor, or police commissioner. That was nasty on so many levels, not least of which was the fact that she disguised herself as a middle aged police officer and doctor to pursue it.]
cw for mentions of underage relationships, underage revenge porn
[and Lexi winces at the rest] It's rough when your sister, well. Has drama. [she could tell horror stories about Cassie's dating escapades and how people would never trash talk her sister to her face, but the guys would do it behind her back, where Lexi could hear, or show Lexi naked pictures of her sister after they dumped her]
...okay. You win. Your sister is even worse than mine. Cassie is nuts, but she never worked for bad guys or kidnapped anyone.
[eeeeek. 40 year olds with teenagers should result in jail time, unless consent laws were different?]
cw for mentions of torture
[She draws a circle in chalk, and for a moment, a voice comes out of her mouth in hushed whispers, even as she keeps talking.]
My sister is a war criminal, technically. [Then again, so is she? She's at the very least a fugitive, and she and her friends did gather around Biz Glitterdew and torture him. But like, he sucked.] Honestly, I hated her for my entire life. Way before I knew she'd done anything awful enough to deserve it, but...
We made peace. Just before I ended up here. It's uh, a whole story. So even despite how awful any story I could tell about her is, I'd still say I love her.
What's yours like?
cw for mentions of torture
[Lexi watches curiously, having read about such things in books, but never actually seeing it]
Oh. Geez. That's got to be rough. [she wouldn't be one to judge. she generally isn't, anyway, since otherwise she'd have no friends at all instead of Rue kind of being there and all of Cassie's friends] Did you two not grow up together originally?
[and Lexi smiles, nodding] Yeah. That's sisters for you.
And, wow. How to describe Cassie. She's my older sister and she's gorgeous. Like, ridiculously good-looking, everyone turns to look at her kind of good-looking. Blonde, blue-eyed, and, uh. [she gestures with both hands to indicate large breasts]
She's...always been the favorite, both at home and school. But despite all that, despite the fact that guys would stand in line for her to smile at them, she's really...insecure. I guess that's the right word for it? She kind of bases herself on whatever guy she's seeing. And she's been acting really weird lately.
no subject
But she does let out a little huff.]
No, that's... not them at all. They're both really shy and introverted. And they were both pretty badly bullied at first too, so... not exactly teen royalty.
But... there is a couple that does sound a lot like that, just... more literal. This... girl. Penelope Everpetal. She was extremely popular, bubbly, friendly, hot, would sort of insult you to your face but do it in a way where she gaslights you into thinking you're imagining it. And she was pushing hard to be prom queen. So... definitely the queen of the school, and her boyfriend was the captain of the Bloodrush team. Which makes him the king, I guess.
But uh... well. Becoming a prom queen turned out to be part of a long extended plot that would have ended with her literally ruling the country and blowing up the school. And he was in on all that too and a member of an apocalyptic cult. [There was also a whole infidelity thing with Penelope and Adaine's sister Aelwyn that she doesn't know about, or an extensive relationship web between Aelwyn, Penelope who was pining after her best friend, Penelope's best friend who was pining after her, Dayne, and Dayne's best friend who was pining after her. But Adaine... just knows those two sucked. And she's content to leave it at that.]
No, honestly I think we'd have gotten along a lot better if we had been raised that way. Maybe. Our parents... suck. They sort of intentionally divided us, I guess.
She was definitely the favourite, though. Universally. So I do get what that's like. [She pauses.] I don't actually know if my sister's ever had a boyfriend. I think she just sort of... used boys? I don't know, I thought she was too good for that kind of thing for the longest time but apparently not. I try not to think about it.
What do you mean by weird, though?
(CW: abuse, closeted behavior, drug addiction)
but the rest sound accurate enough, right down to Maddy insulting you and act like she was just joking around. the rest...] Holy shit. That's just insane. What the fuck, I mean, I can totally get Nate Jacobs as being a part of something really shady, even if it wasn't cult membership. He's pretty much just plain evil.
And he treated Maddy like shit. She'd constantly call my sister and complain about the, uh. The way he treated her. [and that worried Lexi, too. that eventually he'd cross a line which couldn't be uncrossed and she wondered if Maddy would even say something if he did. and there was the fact that Cassie had told her that Maddy had told her that Nate had something like fifty dick pics on his phone. something clearly wasn't right in his mind]
That really sucks. Parents should be doing what they can to make sure that their children love and care for each other. [but she knew that wasn't always true, given that Cassie had been the obvious favorite and stood by their dad even after he became an apparent junkie]
Yeah. It's not fun. It's like you're an unwanted guest in your own home. [and she thought for a moment] I'm not sure which is better, using guys or being used by guys. Both are awful things, but deliberately using guys is probably worse. And...that's understandable.
Cassie has always based herself on whatever guy she was dating. Some of them could be real assholes, but she still put up with it until they dumped her.
She says she's single now, but she keeps going into the backyard and having long conversations on her phone, usually crying when she comes in. So it seems sensible to assume there's a guy she's into, but probably not one she should be into. If that makes sense?