chainlightning | it's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark

WHO: Merrill, Morrigan, Thranduil, Ellana, Inessa, Zevran, Bruce, Maxwell, Bethany, Beleth, Leliana, Amelie
WHAT: A trip to fetch an eluvian goes wrong and everyone gets a taste of Kirkwall hospitality.
WHEN: Harvestmere 7-11
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Plotting post one and two! Warnings for Creepy Stuff, monsters, violence, gore, etc.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ everyone is gathered and told what they need to know: what an eluvian is, that merrill has one her clan found several years ago stashed in the hawke family manor in kirkwall, that they are to fetch it with the assistance of a second team coming by boat, and that corypheus wants it and therefore everyone absolutely must keep their mouths shut about what they're doing and what they've just learned.

morrigan has readied her eluvian for use. they all go through, with merrill leading the way to her own eluvian. it isn't much of a walk, but the sights are certainly distracting; there are dozens of dark eluvians all around them. this eluvian is opened and the party goes forward once more-

-but it does not smell of basement, of slight mildew and damp. it smells old, ancient, of rotting wood and blood. and right in front of them is a group of venatori. one of them, palm obviously bleeding, quickly raises it and casts something. runes drawn in blood around the eluvian glow and it makes a sound like shattering glass, though it remains intact.

there is no way back. based on the massive firestorm that one of the mages casts toward the party, it doesn't necessarily look like there's an easy way forward, either. ]

Edited 2016-10-06 01:13 (UTC)

[ having been picked by the inquisition to go to kirkwall in order to assist "with a mission of important", the second group is slightly more in the dark. they have been told they will receive details upon arrival from the first team, whose names are provided but whose method of travel (how can they get there first? maybe they took an earlier ship? but didn't we see them when we left...?) is unknown to all save leliana.

they are met by a forward agent and directed immediately to high-town and to the hawke manor. the agent advises that no one has been seen going in or out, but admits that there is a blind section near a window thanks to a neighbor that refuses to have inquisition agents on his property. she also admits that no agents have attempted the door due to the stories of boobytraps that run rampant regarding the manor in kirkwall's underworld; no doubt, she tells them, the result of varric and his many connections. how much truth is in those rumors remains to be seen. ]

Edited 2016-10-06 01:22 (UTC)

[ it is dark. it is quiet. you do not know how long you have been in the darkness, only that it is long enough that you are hungry and thirsty. your limbs may feel weak and heavy. the walls may feel like they are closing in, if you're aware of any walls at all. maybe everything is just darkness, darkness forever, as far as the eye can see. maybe that's all that is left. maybe everything else was just a dream.

you make camp when you all agree that it is best to go no further without some rest. sleeping in shifts seems best, but it's hard to sleep. it is too quiet in the dark. it is simultaneously too loud, as though something is breathing in your ear. you can hear something moving in the dark.

is it a friendly member of your group, or is it something else?

do you dare take a look?

oh. there it is again. ]

Edited 2016-10-06 00:12 (UTC)

[ the others have to be down here somewhere. it's dark, though, even with torches; a deep, penetrating darkness that light can't seem to dispel. it swallows it up like tar past a few feet, leaving your sight far less useful than it otherwise would be.

you come to a crossroads: three paths branching off from the one you've been on, the intersection only barely lit even when you're standing in the center of it. one of these paths must be the way the venatori took, but right now it's impossible to tell which one. perhaps if you went down one a bit...?

the tunnel to the far left has some cobwebs, broken away in places, hanging above it. the tunnel to the far right has shattered glass in the center of the passage, glinting softly in the firelight. the tunnel in the center is bare, save for the elaborate, geometric carving around the entrance.

in the meantime, it's time for a break from walking. there is no break from the darkness, but the intersection seems like a good place to sit and take a breath for now. ]

[ you don't know where you're going. you have to be going somewhere, trudging along in the dark with this artifact. there has to be a way out somewhere. the venatori got in, and so the inquisition can get out, right? but there is nothing but darkness and what rests within it.

the eluvian, from behind, makes a horrid creaking sound. something beneath your foot cracks, snaps. and something in the darkness moves close enough that you feel a brush of cold air over your skin. ]

note to self: suddenly demons

Edited 2016-10-06 17:56 (UTC)

[ you're walking in the darkness. you're beginning to realize that you aren't entirely certain if you know the way back, if you know the way you came. you feel like you've been walking forever; you feel like you will be walking forever.

it is truly quiet now, you realize. nothing but your steps sounds in the darkness and the person in front stops suddenly. there's light ahead, light that doesn't belong to any mage's staff or any found torch. the light is faint, and there isn't much of it, but it's close. it looks to be- covered in something...? ]

note to self: dusty golem activates upon inspection, cue smash

[ with great foes slain, some of the darkness seems to have lifted. it's still horribly hard to see but it's less smothering. now fire springs to life on the ceiling above, lighting their paths until they meet in the center -- a circular room with multiple passageways going off to all sides. the way Team B took is fully lit, now; everyone can safely follow it back to what remains of the Gallows and back out into the fresh air above ground.

for now, it might be best to take stock of everyone and everything while everyone's together. time to hug. ]

Edited 2016-10-06 00:59 (UTC)

[ let's try that again.

WELCOME TO KIRKWALL! the city of chains is known for its dark history, more recent upheavals, and being the setting for "Hard in Hightown". the city and surrounding areas are open to exploration as members of the parties are looked over by healers. supplies are purchased, and help is offered to the guard. go for a shopping trip in hightown, or check out the wounded coast! just don't think about how thin the veil is here, or any of the horrors lurking just out of sight.

:D ]

it's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark

TEAM A VS VENATORI

TEAM B DOES DETECTIVE WORK

TEAM A IN THE DARK

TEAM B IN THE DARK

TEAM A VS THE DARKNESS

TEAM B VS THE DARKNESS

A REUNION

EXPLORING KIRKWALL