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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
[She quirks a small smile.]
Well, you're pretty good at teaching considering you're not a teacher. I think I should be able to remember all this... I'll just have to come ask you for more later.
no subject
Exactly. Like, man. If you actually want that, and it's something that you actually stand a chance at getting, then you gotta work for it. Can't just stand around saying "I feel so super bad about it, guys" and then not change at all.
[she tries to turn her attention back to the tiles, putting the thoughts of her family out of her head.]
If you ever wanna track me down once we get out of here, just ask for Anna. Some people might think they're being smartasses and call me Captain Anna, but that ain't a thing. [she gives a long-suffering sigh as she tries to work some of these tiles into place.] You sail one ship into one leviathan with your one eye and everyone thinks you're a sea captain.
no subject
Yeah. Plus, I don't know, I don't think there's ever really a fixed destination for... redemption. We're all learning and getting better or worse as time goes, I think. Some of us just take a nose dive.
[She smirks at that.]
Well, that's a relief. I'm just about sick of pirates and pirate captains. Though, that story does sound super badass. I'm Adaine.
no subject
what's the matter, is bill seacaster not as fun a dude as he seems?she looks at adaine, knowing that they'll have some stories to share once they get out of here, and that's all the reason she needs to actually get out of here safely.][aside from, like, all the other reasons. like not dying in the catacombs. she's getting these tiles figured out pretty easily now that they've figured out the mother mercy thing.]
Rough seas back home? You don't look like much of a ship girl. [a shipper, as they're called.] Guess that'd be the problem, right?
no subject
You'd think so, but no. Our van is a boat and I'm fine in there. It's uh... long story. It's powered by an angel.
I stayed at a pirate city for a few days. My friend had a deeply traumatic experience after he lead a... cult... dedicated to him into a massacre? And I got kidnapped, then the next thing I know he's given up trying to be a pirate and now he's a dancer and a bard. [Objectively a giant improvement, but it was very confusing.] Also his pirate dad made us stay up for over 24 hours and tried to make us do snuff powder for training.
no subject
Christ, dude. Crypt-diving in the blood town is usually either a step up or a step down for most people around here, but for you it just sounds like it's on the same level as everything else. Oh, bad news. [she doesn't seem to be having problems assembling things while she talks, at least, and so casually about honestly pretty weird stuff.] We do have a cult here. They're not doing anything right now, but they did a lot of stuff during winter before they retreated into the night. Lots of... ritualistic, uh, blood stuff.
no subject
...Winding up here alone kind of sucks though.
[Anyway!]
Well, the cult wasn't actually the problem in that story, but that's good to know. What do they worship, exactly?
no subject
[it's. slightly easier to consider the idea of showing up alone in the wake of that miserable memory. she'll do anything to get out of that mindset.]
But, you know. I showed up here alone, too, and now I've got a nice little life carved out for myself. It's not impossible, you know? And you've at least got a chance of people you know washing up on the shore out there. Or getting captured by pirates and being rescued by another, vigilante pirate captain or something. [she mutters that last part.]
no subject
[Yes, the anxious bookish nerd is extremely down with murder.
She considers Anna's next statement, frowning and looking at the ground. It's... hard for her to really believe in fully. She keeps seeing that version of herself, broken up and sad and alone. Older by millenia, wiser by longer than that, but still so alone.
She can't shape the feeling that there's something in her that's so hard to love. After-all, going fifteen years without it tends to give that impression.]
...Yeah. I just... It's not that I'm worried about being alone exactly. More that I just miss my friends. I know they might show up but... [She shrugs. Then she blinks at Anna's last muttered example.]
...What?
no subject
One of the rumors I've heard going around town. There's a rogue pirate captain that people are calling the Amaranth. Goes around finding other squids like us who ended up captured by pirates. Rescues them from those guys and brings them safely back to shore so they can start their lives here. [if she had a drink, she'd be drinking from it right now. instead, she organizes some more tiles.] Load of bullshit, if you ask me.
no subject
[If she had to guess, she'd be talking to Amaranth right now.]
...Is that technically piracy, though? Don't you have to steal and pillage to be a pirate? [She is... such a pedant.] It at least has to be illegal, I'm pretty sure. And there's not exactly any laws here...
no subject
Matter of opinion, maybe. Maybe there's just no such thing as an honest seafarer around here. [she shrugs and leans back against the wall, turning to face adaine.] I don't spend a lot of time with all that stuff. More the kind of person to stay on land and deal with the beasts and the blood and all that. Trench's friendly neighborhood combat cyborg.
[she jerks her head towards the last tile.]
That's eleven out of twelve. Left the last one for you for whenever you get tired of hearing me talk about the stuff happening above ground.
no subject
I figure we can put it in now. Sooner we get out of here, sooner we can compare notes, right?
[She picks up the last tile, depicting Dorothea. She slots it in, watching the way out open.]
Thank you for indulging me. You're, um, really good at this.
no subject
Plus the blood is a bitch to get out of your clothes, so anything that leaves us all less drenched is definitely a good thing where I'm concerned. No guarantee MK is gonna let us stick together once we walk out there [and she nods her head towards the doorway] so if this is the last time I see you until we both get out, feel free to look me up once we're topside. Oh, uh, and don't fuck with the house on fire. The smoke will choke you out and nobody's actually in there.