adaine: (he would've killed you instead)
adaine ([personal profile] adaine) wrote in [community profile] 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.]
fogsong: (63)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-03-28 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
What, this? [ She tilts the thin device, showing off the crack that cuts the lit screen in half; it doesn't obscure the text, just displaces it slightly. She's always meant to get it fixed. It's one of the very few expensive things she's owned.

She shakes her head, returning the book she'd scooped up to Adaine. ]
You don't have to, it's been like this for a while, but... I wouldn't turn you down if it's something you can do.
fogsong: (24)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-04-07 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ One day, the ease magic brings to people's lives will no longer blow her mind but that day is not today. She takes a seat, leaning back. ]

Back home, this would have taken a week and cost me at least a hundred dollars. [ She's lucky Adaine had her nose stuck in that book. ]
fogsong: (52)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-04-10 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it might as well have been a thousand dollars for Sharon given how little money she had back then, both prices equally unaffordable. ]

People don't have magic where I'm from so everything takes time and effort. And most people aren't inclined to do any work for free, especially not for a stranger.

[ But, here she is with a stranger who was fixing her silly little music device. Adaine didn't have to offer, even if she'd been the reason it was broken. The Sleepers of Trench were a special breed of people beyond what made them special here. ]
fogsong: (32)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-04-14 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sharon snorts at the idea of Adaine collecting a rock for her debt. It'd have to be a particularly nice rock to really pay for the service the other girl has provided.

The question catches her off-guard. It's not something she's had to describe before. ]
Oh, uh... It's a portable music player but it can do more than just play music. It's a lot like the Omni in some ways. Can take pictures, videos. It's even got a few games on it.
fogsong: (57)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-04-18 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
It could but there were requirements for it, like internet access, so it was just easier to have a cellphone for calls. [ She still had her cellphone here. It was a cheap, pre-paid thing but it did the job. Sometimes, she tries to call her dad on it but nothing ever comes from it. ]

Lemme guess: overprotective, controlling parents or they thought it'd be a distraction? [ Those were always the biggest reasons she'd heard from kids when she was in school. [
fogsong: (Default)

[personal profile] fogsong 2022-04-26 12:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Shit. [ Her expression is immediately apologetic. She'd had no idea but it still feels like she'd stuck her foot in her mouth. ]

There's this saying where I'm from: "the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." [ It was so often misquoted but the moment Sharon had learned the original, it stuck with her, largely in part due to the fact that she's an adoptee. ] It's the family we choose that matters.