[Zekarion's initial investigation of the Garden doesn't quite go as planned. The fact of the matter is that neither he nor his creations can climb the walls nor leap over them from the forest's trees, and an attempt to use his destructive abilities to break through only ends up with a sharp bite at his ankle.
Fine, he thinks. He'll find another way to investigate—without trusting anything to these aggressive, suspicious creatures. Turning them against each other is exactly what their enemies would try to do.]
⬬ just a puppet on a lonely string | fatigue
[For a day or two Altius returns to his typical schedule—moving around town and working but keeping an eye out for those snakes to warn anyone away from their temptations. A few times he finds himself strangely winded or his eyelids particularly heavy, but surely it's nothing he can't overcome, even if he has to take a moment with his hand over his face.
At one point, he finds a specific item waiting for him on his usual table at a local cafe: a watch, silver with a red face and gold accents. A distant look on his face, he sits and turns it over in his hands, reading the inscription:
Every moment counts. Whenever you need a reminder, I'll be here. Rion]
⬬ shattered windows and the sound of drums | overload
[The exhaustion begins to show through constantly, after that. Dark circles remain under his eyes and he limits his physical efforts to maintain his energy, but he's still determined to be aware of what's going on with his projects and around town given the... concerning circumstances, rather than lying in bed doing nothing to keep other Chosen from proving themselves gullible fools.
Then Altius finds himself hit by what he now is forced to acknowledge as a supernatural illness. His vision blurs; his ears ring and he sways as his balance tilts. He staggers a step, barely managing to stay upright, hands over his face as he sucks in a breath through his teeth.
It keeps coming back in waves after every time he magically cleanses it from himself, each episode a little worse than the last. Even though he's still confident in his ability to outlast it, the effects are debilitating whenever they show up, sending him reeling all over again.]
⬬ next the walls were closed on me | delirium
[If there is an answer to be found, it is with the snakes and their Garden. Besides that, the things are practically kidnapping the idiots among them, trapping them inside and keeping the others out—for what purpose? It can't be anything good.
Overestimating his ability to keep up with his deteriorating health, Altius returns to the forest.
He can be found on the way to the gates, lying on the forest floor, unconscious. Even a brief examination can spot his shallow breaths and the sweat that sticks his bangs to his face. For those looking closer, it's obvious his skin is clammy and his pulse is weak. Strangely, a handful of snakes lie dead, scattered not far around and behind him, despite having no obvious wounds to explain what happened...]
[ It was really only a matter of time before he stumbled onto a corpse in the forest, especially this close to that damnable garden. He bends to give the unfortunate fool a better look, only to discover he's not a corpse at all.
Altius. As invisible to his sight as ever. Perhaps one day he'll ask about that.
For now, it seems pertinent to get the man out of here. Emet-Selch would so hate to lose such a valuable source of information about the goings on in this place, and frankly he'd rather not leave anyone lying around where more of these snakes can find them. So, the Ancient simply slings the man over his shoulder with surprising ease, considering how noodly he looks, and begins the trek back to civilization.
[On one hand, Scott was fully expecting for one of his asshole friends to get in trouble with all this. Whether it's because they decided to commit a crime or something else, he knew that this was not the time to be slacking off. It really wasn't a question for the mutant to be out here with his visor across his face, because being prepared is half the battle around here sometimes.
However, even with all that, he still was not expecting Altius to be the one on the ground. Unconscious. Possibly hurt??
Worry shoots up in his chest, the teen hurrying over to the prone man on the ground. He can still see his chest moving, which alleviates some of that worry, but not by much. What the hell happened to him? He looks sweaty, ill, and very much not like the man he normally sees. Kneeling down by him, Scott reaches over to feel for a pulse, and just like that, all that worry returns because it's weak.
There's also a lot of dead snakes around. But. Focusing on Altius first.]
Altius! Can you hear me? I'm going to get you help.
[Aloy was bound to actually find her way toward a cafe one of these days. Trouble with growing up an outcast is she's got the impression she should turn up when and where she wants. Including moments of contemplation.
He's got something there. At a glance it looks like the sort of thing she'd be taking to a trader of ancient trinkets.
[ The golden gate Arlecchino is suddenly confronted with is quite decidedly suspect. She's always been skeptical of things too beautiful, and given the snakes' obsession with crime, she doubts what lies beyond will be pure and innocent. Regardless, she's already made up her mind. Not all hearts are made for unsavory deeds, so those that are must do their part.
She makes no effort to cover the snake tattoo on the back of her hand as she strolls up to the gate, its pattern at home among the black lines running along her darkened skin. As she approaches someone else loitering by the gate, she speaks up with even cordiality. ]
Heading in? Don't let me stop you.
B. The Garden
[ The garden beyond the gate is deceptively peaceful. Even the snakes are less unsettling, seeming more like simple creatures and less like the vehicles of temptation that have been permeating Aldrip. Arlecchino is happy to fill in the gaps. ]
Shh... Quiet, now.
[ Her voice, hushed and lilting as if addressing a naughty child, comes suddenly from over the shoulder. If all remains still, then Arlecchino's hand will come into view from behind and reach up slowly, black and red nails coming to beckon a matching black and red spotted snake that's been hanging peacefully overhead. Don't mind as she waits patiently for the snake to make its way down, the little thing winding around her hand... and by your Chosen's head. ]
C. Wildcard
(( Anything you like! If you'd like to chat things out, I have a plotting comment. ))
[Kurt had been exploring the garden with the help of his handy little glass and trying to figure out exactly what's going on here.
But instead of any answers, he finds - this. This situation. The blue teen looks very unnerved as the stranger speaks behind him, and the snake winds down to her hand. His eyes widen with concern, and while he knows better to make any sudden moves, he does slowly start to shift away from the snake, while speaking with a frantic whisper.]
F-friend of yours...? [Who is this snake charming stranger??]
[ "Something about snakes" he’d thought when he was told that those strange questions on the network usually had something to do with whatever strange thing was coming. He figured that perhaps the new-old arrivals from Rumpitur were it, but no. There was more to it.
There is always more to it.
He is skeptical at best regarding the whispers of these snakes, telling him things to do in vague or, in at least one case, oddly specific. He does not care for it. He watches, as well, as these snakes approach other Chosen, and is not shy about making his disdain clear with a scoff. ]
You are not seriously going to listen to that thing, are you?
II. 🌙 CRIME TIME
[ Emet-Selch is dubious at best regarding what these snakes want them to do, and perhaps that makes him an appealing target. He can be found all around, in the city, in the forest, investigating this, that or the other. It’s like he’s just begging for someone to try and pick his pockets (do Ancient robes have pockets) or perhaps something worse??
A harmless prank won't do more than get his hackles up, but any attempts at violence will be met with the same. Dare you try your luck against this sorcerer of eld? ]
III. 🌙 WILDCARD
[ I am down for pretty much anything! You can hit me up via PM, ping in the game discord, or drop a comment to my PWM. ]
[ Snakes. Gilgamesh has a lot of history with them. He was often associated with it. People even call him a snake, but he disagrees. He wasn't fond of them; if anything, he would rather destroy them. ]
Hah? I would rather break a treasure than listen to a snake.
[ After all, what kind of king would listen to a snake of all creatures? ]
[Shaw, despite being a crimefighter, is not at all opposed to committing certain crimes in certain circumstances - but as someone who has developed a rather rigid, extremely black-and-white moral code, this ain't it, fam.
To the snake, she adds:]
Find me someone who actually deserves it, and then we'll talk.
[Maybe. The snake bit is a little on the nose, as far as temptation metaphors go.]
[ On the outskirts of Aldrip lie the training grounds. Except for the snakes that now whisper through the grass, the grounds appear the same as ever: a modest but proud symbol of collective Chosen effort. As dawn breaks, a warm orange glow suffuses the tops of the structures huddled there.
It may not seem like much at first. Perhaps even normal. A thin trail of smoke might be the first indicator that something could be amiss. To anyone optimistic enough to think it might just be a stray campfire or training quirk from an early morning participant, the second fire may be more telling.
Tents are on fire, soon to be ablaze. The damage can be minimzed if Chosen are quick enough to respond; fortunately, the fires don't seem to start where they might have spread most voraciously. But there's always a risk that a stiff errant wind might bear sparks to new fuel...
The culprit? Nowhere to be seen, though forensic investigation may find traces of a scheme. Glass lanterns shattered, old wood as good as tinder strewn about. Considerations to be had later, once the danger has passed. ]
[It's not like this is the first fire Fauna's seen. When she sees the smoke, she's suspicious, and by the time the second starts, she's already moving.
She's already transformed by the time she arrives. And she's immediately doing her best to fight the fires- Pillars of earth to stop the spread, and spraying as much water from her talismans as she can. Still, there's a lot of fire, and only one of her....]
[The glow of the fire was unmistakable, as was the smell of it. He still doesn't know half these people, or why he was brought here, but nothing about this place so far wasn't malignant, so he figured this was also malign.
Gadriel raced toward the flames.]
"Is there anyone trapped?" [ Because if anyone was stupid enough to walk through flames to rescue someone, it was a Space Marine. ]
Edited (jfc don't tag on allergy meds x_x) 2025-05-18 18:17 (UTC)
A shadow flickers through the treetops from the direction of the gang's home tucked in the woods, equal parts curious as he is there to prevent their home from setting ablaze. One of the many perks of being a fire demon is that he does not have to worry about his own safety in the flames. Instead, he is only mildly interested in the welfare of others, but mostly in the welfare of the house his teammates and family live in and the tree he likes best inside of it.
He drops down from a tree almost soundlessly, leaving his cape in the house so as not to singe it if he needs to get involved, arms crossed over his chest.
Hiei isn't exactly the type to fuss about this kind of thing, of course, watching those already at work with keen red eyes, though he is mostly... amused.
"Who decided to try and light the entire forest on fire?"
[This was a waste of time, but it was still the place where people gathered to waste time on skills that they either had or didn't. Still, it was a place that Richard had set up and thus could be a basis of searching out like-minded individuals. That's why he stayed to the shadows of the trees and looked within the ground.
The beginnings of smoke drew his attention, and he moved in that direction. Small blaze, possibly someone playing. The second blaze was far more intentional, larger and meant to spread.
As for the wind? Silco twitched his fingers at his side and the air around him stirred, nudging the flames to greater life, pushing them around to spread across grass and up trees, to other ignition points. Nurture the flames with air movements to push them along even as he stepped aside and disappeared back into the foliage and away.
A spark then a flame then an inferno. The start of every good rebellion.]
["Ssssteeaaaal hisss chickensss," the snake had said. A strange request, but Fandaniel decided it would be unwise for him, of all people, to ignore a talking snake telling him to commit mischief.
The chicken theft was simple, even if a few of the feathered fiends chased him out of Kurama's farm. Too simple. If he is going to break the system, a more dramatic crime is in order.
He twirls around a lamp post in the heart of Aldrip, pauses, and bends backward like a dancer to smile at the nearest passing Chosen.]
A moment, pray!
[His free hand reaches into his robe and pulls out a small pistol.]
I'm going to shoot you in the face. Nothing personal, of course!
[A pause.]
This is your chance to speak your last words. I highly recommend making them as dramatic as possible.
IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA
[The garden stretches around him in an emerald sprawl. Trees hang overhead, alive with birdsong. The herbal smell of flowers and pine needles tickles his senses. Through it all, he sees no beauty.
Fandaniel sees trees that will one day wilt, flowers that will soon wither, and birds that will soon feed the worms they currently feast on. Hideous, all of it.
Still, he keeps a breezy smile on his face as he pads barefoot along the loamy paths. Birds, he realizes, start following him. Before long, he's standing in a clearing with a colorful rainbow of feathers encircling him along the branches. He feels like they are peering into his soul. Hermes's soul.
Do they see the Father of Birds in him somewhere?
He laughs as others wander into the clearing.]
Believe it or not, they did this on their own!
HALLUCINATE (cw: suicidal ideation)
[The garden warps around him. Colors turn gray, the earth rots, the wind stills, the bird song ceases. The landscape around him shifts into an endless expanse of cracked, barren earth. In the distance rises a crystal tower that had once sparkled in the light of the sun but now sits like a spear of clouded glass beneath a dark sky that hangs too low.
It's a dead world, but not one blighted by his apocalypse. This world died slowly as the stars drifted apart. It was a brutal, agonizing death.
He turns and sees a figure wrapped in a familiar dark robe lying beneath a rock. The realization that he's staring at his own corpse makes him dizzy. His corpse is skeletal, but not yet dust. After countless centuries, he, an eternal Ascian, remained as the only living thing until the world itself finally ceased to be.
Passersby in the garden will see Fandaniel flinch.]
[ Having complied with the snakes' request already, Arlecchino can't exactly complain about others doing the same. And having done a bit of browsing on her tablet, she's aware that the man now pointing a gun at her is — charitably — a bit of an odd bird.
She looks at him evenly, scrutinizing him with crimson eyes. If there's any truth to the snakes' claims, it will benefit them all to let Fandaniel commit some form of crime against her. Not the crime of getting shot in the face, because she is rather attached to having a face. But something.
After a moment, she brings a plaintive hand to her chest, her posture melting into that of a feeble gentlewoman. ]
Oh, I beg of you. Anything but that.
[ The dramatic lilt to her voice is overly sweet. He did ask for drama. ]
Please, you can have my valuables, but do spare me my life.
"I will not be tempted by your petty promises!" Gadriel is not going to commit any crimes especially not at the behest of the snake daemons. Because they are whispering to him, too, suggesting an ever more outrageous list of crimes at every turn.
"Do not heed these daemons. Any system that is corrupt will not announce the route to its own destruction." Did you need to hear this? Are you going to ignore him, because after all, he's just a big weirdo with strange religious beliefs? Or are you going to argue with him?
*Outside the dramaz*
"They want to separate us." He was stalking the outskirts of the garden, looking for an entrance, getting more and more frustrated at every turn. The snake daemons were gone. He could not help but notice that. Which was unfortunate because his fists would have liked the chance to ask a few questions. "Where can we find who has caused this?" No reason. Just...you know. Curious.
[Silco had been mostly hidden and staying to the shadows since the black beast attack on Aldrip. He had been gathering supplies, resources and hunting down those that other Chosen may have hidden away to varying success. The dwindling resources were something he knew well, and he had bought up entire shipments coming off the docks (small though they were).
While his businesses appear to be "suffering" on the outside like everyone else, they did not actually ever run out of resources, just pared back what was available. He was a distinct absence from each one though, and if anyone inquired, it would simply be to a reply of, "boss is working elsewhere".]
i. Brazen crime? Yeah, sure but only because you asked nicely.
[Silco had been writing more elaborate plans for a city-wide take over now that they were back and examining maps on what would be necessary when a snake managed to slither its way into his underground bunker. At first, the whispers were ignored until it seemed that breaking the system was in order to escape. Breaking meant picking up the pieces. Picking up the pieces meant control.
So he emerged from his hidey hole, snake following along like a faithful companion. After being infected by a wish seed during the black beast event, his appearance had changed: his mutilated eye was glowing blue like a hexgem instead of red, he had put on inches of height and his body filled out with muscle. After months of enduring the infection, other effects were now becoming obvious. The fetid twisted discoloured scar around his left eye now twisted the left half of his face from hairline to the corner of his chin and now disappeared under the collar of his shirt. He hardly seemed to notice and it certainly didn't bother him as much as it probably should.
He strode around the city streets with his little serpent following behind whispering now and again. He discounted some people being natives and began to follow other Chosen examining them.
He moved to lift items off of their persons. A bump as he passed them, and his hand skillfully took coins, trinkets from pockets or items from bags.
In other places, he found a Chosen's abode and picked the lock to enter and case the interior. He may take something that caught his eye but mostly, it was the effect of breaking and entering that was his objective. He was rather brazen about it as well, seeing no issue with the fact that he was doing it in the first place.
Rather out of his normal careful character.]
ii. Over the Golden Garden Wall
[A garden, hmm? That was rather on point, especially when he considered the beginning of Man from the stupid religious book that Richard had not wanted him to read. It was such a contrary piece of literature. Weren't they supposed to be ejected from the garden for their hubris? It didn't matter.
Silco began to maneuver his way around the place, noting the snakes and the little game trails. Truth by told, he didn't navigate forests all that well. He was an underground folk, and he could tell tunnels and dark spaces without light, but a forest? Trees all the looked the same to him regardless of their differences in their size and foliage.
He soon found himself well and truly lost. That might have been the point, but he knew it would be impossible to navigate as he currently was.
So he began to wander in search of another person, preferably one that wasn't useless in a forest. As soon as he found anyone, he smiled in a way that twisted the scarring marring the left side of his face in an unsettling manner.]
Finally, I thought I might be lost wandering this place for hours or days.
iii. Wildcard
[OOC: Silco has grown unpredictable and violent. The wish seed infection had granted him powers, and he's more willing to actually fight and kill than he ever has been before. Happy for him to annoy someone into fighting him. Happy to discuss, plot and even write closed starters. Contact: apomorphine or Discord: apomorphine]
[Here he is, the blue boy bearing the magical glass. Thanks to that, he's been doubtful of the snakes and hasn't let them dissuade him into any wrongdoing. In fact, he's trying to keep others from falling for them. If he sees someone else talking to one of the snakes, Kurt will try to discreetly confront the person afterwards.]
Hey... I wouldn't listen to those guys if I were you. Something's up with them.
[Alternately, if he spots someone already in the process of carrying out a crime or about to do something, he'll confront them in an attempt to deter them!]
B. The Secret Garden
i.
[Kurt spends some time searching before he finds the Garden. And another bonus of the glass, is he gets to enter this garden without issue! For the most part.
If someone came with him, he starts examining the garden as soon as they enter, frowning as he takes it in.]
Man, this 'garden' isn't exactly worth bragging about... I guess snakes don't really have green thumbs. [Or any thumbs for that matter! In any case, this garden does seem fairly unimpressive considering the big deal that seemed to be made about getting into this place.]
It all just feels so out of place!
ii.
[Or he may be on his own at the moment - and he's spotted someone in trouble. Whether from the hallucinations, or just lost in the garden, Kurt moves to help the other person.]
Hang in there! I'm here to help! [Although he blinks, trying to banish bits of a hallucination he can see. Visions of mobs armed with torches and pitchforks... He shakes his head and tries to focus on the person who needs help!]
C. Wildcard
[Feel free to come up with an alternate prompt or hit me up for plotting!]
[Altius certainly didn't look at his best when Kurt came across him; the dark circles under his eyes and weary posture undoubtedly paint a picture of his poor health, though he's done his best to keep himself maintained otherwise, and he's insisted he'll make it through. But he needs to know what's inside those gates—if there might be some kind of cure for this affliction that's resisted his attempts to heal it.
Kurt and his glass were the key inside he didn't have before. He couldn't let the opportunity pass.
He scrutinizes the surroundings, arms folded as he suppresses a shudder at the chill coming over him.]
Which begs the question of why it's here at all...
[It's a more typical day when you may overhear an odd exchange taking place. It won't take too much searching to see what's going on.
Echo is clearly just trying to go about her life, walking through town. However, each time she passes some parrot grass, it calls out to her. The voice of a boy, teenaged but still prepubescent, comes out of each of them, and sounds quite cheerful.]
Eko-chan!
[Almost immediately, Echo spins and snaps back at it, like a conditioned response she has little control over.]
IT IS ECHO!
[She's progressively getting more and more angry the longer this goes on. Luckily she started at a very low level, but even she's capable of some pretty intense emotions under the right circumstances. And there's a lot more parrot grass lining the path ahead. She might need a little help...]
[II. They had a garden once]
[The former Nagas/former Chosen left a very strong impression on Echo. "Who were we again...?" It was exactly the sort of thing she was literally born to prevent, what she was born to heal. Even without checking if they're still around, she's trying to figure out what she can do to help them. The snakes seem like they might be a good place to start right now.
Unfortunately, directly listening to one isn't going to work out so well, so after that, Echo finds herself wondering how else she can enter the garden.]
[A. Crimes]
[Despite the initial setback, Echo is actually fairly good at doing shady deeds. She'd entirely done them under orders, though. She doesn't really want to commit a crime, but she wants to get into that garden just in case there's something to learn in there. Her current idea is to try to pull something off that she won't feel too guilty about.
Therefore, if you're holding something really nondescript and/or easily replaceable like common groceries or sticks or what have you, you may suddenly find Echo in front of you. Both of her short swords are extended from under her sleeves, and she's got one pointed directly at your face.]
I'm afraid I am going to need that.
[Does this even count as a crime...?]
[B. Gardening]
[She may or may not manage to make it in from those crimes. If she does, Echo will do some exploring!
Thanks to her rather gymnastic skills, there's a good chance you find Echo hopping around between trees, trying to get a better look at the area. And not from trunk to trunk—she's literally up in the branches and handling it all quite agilely. It's even more impressive when you consider that she doesn't even have her boots on (boy does it make her outfit look weird , though...).
Explore? Try to get out? Hallucinate? They're all options now.]
[closed to Gilgamesh]
[You tried.][It had been over a year since Echo had to do any sort of undercover work, and the task the snake gave her almost made the jobs she got from Vincent seem sane. She'd never tried to pose as a middle-aged man before. But she can't shake the possibility that this might help the former Chosen remember who they are, and that's what's important to her right now.
Her resources aren't what they used to be, but somehow she's managed to get a decent-ish disguise together. A suit, a believable wig, that sort of thing. Jerry's mysterious reputation hasn't helped much and Echo isn't exactly a master impersonator, so her build and face are going to be giveaways, and she knows it. If she can keep this person from really noticing either of those, she thinks she may have a chance. She also hasn't learned much about Gilgamesh if only to not look suspicious.
Echo lurks in the shadows until she finally locates him. She's as careful as she can be to not get spotted, but that's not always entirely under her control. Regardless, when the moment is right, she gets close enough to the edge of the shadows for the average person to be able to tell someone is there. She speaks very quietly and as deeply as she can manage, in hopes that her obviously feminine voice isn't another problem.]
Come with me.
[Wildcard]
[You know the drill! Contact me at kaitodoushi or on Discord @ belinsk if you'd like to chat!]
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expiationlogs2025-05-13 12:07 pm
QUESTIONS / COMMENTS / CONCERNS
no subject
Fine, he thinks. He'll find another way to investigate—without trusting anything to these aggressive, suspicious creatures. Turning them against each other is exactly what their enemies would try to do.]
⬬ just a puppet on a lonely string | fatigue
[For a day or two Altius returns to his typical schedule—moving around town and working but keeping an eye out for those snakes to warn anyone away from their temptations. A few times he finds himself strangely winded or his eyelids particularly heavy, but surely it's nothing he can't overcome, even if he has to take a moment with his hand over his face.
At one point, he finds a specific item waiting for him on his usual table at a local cafe: a watch, silver with a red face and gold accents. A distant look on his face, he sits and turns it over in his hands, reading the inscription:
Every moment counts. Whenever you need a reminder, I'll be here.
Rion]
⬬ shattered windows and the sound of drums | overload
[The exhaustion begins to show through constantly, after that. Dark circles remain under his eyes and he limits his physical efforts to maintain his energy, but he's still determined to be aware of what's going on with his projects and around town given the... concerning circumstances, rather than lying in bed doing nothing to keep other Chosen from proving themselves gullible fools.
Then Altius finds himself hit by what he now is forced to acknowledge as a supernatural illness. His vision blurs; his ears ring and he sways as his balance tilts. He staggers a step, barely managing to stay upright, hands over his face as he sucks in a breath through his teeth.
It keeps coming back in waves after every time he magically cleanses it from himself, each episode a little worse than the last. Even though he's still confident in his ability to outlast it, the effects are debilitating whenever they show up, sending him reeling all over again.]
⬬ next the walls were closed on me | delirium
[If there is an answer to be found, it is with the snakes and their Garden. Besides that, the things are practically kidnapping the idiots among them, trapping them inside and keeping the others out—for what purpose? It can't be anything good.
Overestimating his ability to keep up with his deteriorating health, Altius returns to the forest.
He can be found on the way to the gates, lying on the forest floor, unconscious. Even a brief examination can spot his shallow breaths and the sweat that sticks his bangs to his face. For those looking closer, it's obvious his skin is clammy and his pulse is weak. Strangely, a handful of snakes lie dead, scattered not far around and behind him, despite having no obvious wounds to explain what happened...]
⬬ who would ever want to be king | wildcard
[OOC: Other ideas? Hit me up at
delirium
Altius. As invisible to his sight as ever. Perhaps one day he'll ask about that.
For now, it seems pertinent to get the man out of here. Emet-Selch would so hate to lose such a valuable source of information about the goings on in this place, and frankly he'd rather not leave anyone lying around where more of these snakes can find them. So, the Ancient simply slings the man over his shoulder with surprising ease, considering how noodly he looks, and begins the trek back to civilization.
This is fine! ]
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delirium;
However, even with all that, he still was not expecting Altius to be the one on the ground. Unconscious. Possibly hurt??
Worry shoots up in his chest, the teen hurrying over to the prone man on the ground. He can still see his chest moving, which alleviates some of that worry, but not by much. What the hell happened to him? He looks sweaty, ill, and very much not like the man he normally sees. Kneeling down by him, Scott reaches over to feel for a pulse, and just like that, all that worry returns because it's weak.
There's also a lot of dead snakes around. But. Focusing on Altius first.]
Altius! Can you hear me? I'm going to get you help.
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Fatigue
He's got something there. At a glance it looks like the sort of thing she'd be taking to a trader of ancient trinkets.
So she intrudes without thinking twice about it.]
Find something unusual?
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Overload
[They fold their arms as they look him over, and despite their lack of face, there's the clear impression that they're frowning at him.]
< You should sit down. This weird situation's probably still going to be going on tomorrow anyway. >
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B. The Garden
C. Wildcard
A.
How easy it is to please this King. ]
Hmm? I suppose I can head in.
[ Gilgamesh gestured at the woman. ]
What about yourself? Are you going to enter these jaws?
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B!
But instead of any answers, he finds - this. This situation. The blue teen looks very unnerved as the stranger speaks behind him, and the snake winds down to her hand. His eyes widen with concern, and while he knows better to make any sudden moves, he does slowly start to shift away from the snake, while speaking with a frantic whisper.]
F-friend of yours...? [Who is this snake charming stranger??]
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II. 🌙 CRIME TIME
III. 🌙 WILDCARD
I.
Hah? I would rather break a treasure than listen to a snake.
[ After all, what kind of king would listen to a snake of all creatures? ]
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I
[Not to mention the fact that they're not too keen on the idea of doing anything to other Chosen with any of this.]
< Besides, since when do snakes talk? >
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I
[Shaw, despite being a crimefighter, is not at all opposed to committing certain crimes in certain circumstances - but as someone who has developed a rather rigid, extremely black-and-white moral code, this ain't it, fam.
To the snake, she adds:]
Find me someone who actually deserves it, and then we'll talk.
[Maybe. The snake bit is a little on the nose, as far as temptation metaphors go.]
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I/bit of II
The question strikes him as funny. The Unsundered surely knows his answer.]
Do I...really strike you as the sort of man who would disobey a talking snake, milord?
[He chimes.]
Would you like to be made victim to a crime? Ah, wait, is it still a crime if you consent?
[A thoughtful pause as he stares into the middle distance, then looks back with a wide grin.]
Guess what I'm about to make you an accessory to!
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training grounds | OTA
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She's already transformed by the time she arrives. And she's immediately doing her best to fight the fires- Pillars of earth to stop the spread, and spraying as much water from her talismans as she can. Still, there's a lot of fire, and only one of her....]
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Gadriel raced toward the flames.]
"Is there anyone trapped?" [ Because if anyone was stupid enough to walk through flames to rescue someone, it was a Space Marine. ]
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A shadow flickers through the treetops from the direction of the gang's home tucked in the woods, equal parts curious as he is there to prevent their home from setting ablaze. One of the many perks of being a fire demon is that he does not have to worry about his own safety in the flames. Instead, he is only mildly interested in the welfare of others, but mostly in the welfare of the house his teammates and family live in and the tree he likes best inside of it.
He drops down from a tree almost soundlessly, leaving his cape in the house so as not to singe it if he needs to get involved, arms crossed over his chest.
Hiei isn't exactly the type to fuss about this kind of thing, of course, watching those already at work with keen red eyes, though he is mostly... amused.
"Who decided to try and light the entire forest on fire?"
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The beginnings of smoke drew his attention, and he moved in that direction. Small blaze, possibly someone playing. The second blaze was far more intentional, larger and meant to spread.
As for the wind? Silco twitched his fingers at his side and the air around him stirred, nudging the flames to greater life, pushing them around to spread across grass and up trees, to other ignition points. Nurture the flames with air movements to push them along even as he stepped aside and disappeared back into the foliage and away.
A spark then a flame then an inferno. The start of every good rebellion.]
Fandaniel | ota
IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA
HALLUCINATE (cw: suicidal ideation)
crimes!
She looks at him evenly, scrutinizing him with crimson eyes. If there's any truth to the snakes' claims, it will benefit them all to let Fandaniel commit some form of crime against her. Not the crime of getting shot in the face, because she is rather attached to having a face. But something.
After a moment, she brings a plaintive hand to her chest, her posture melting into that of a feeble gentlewoman. ]
Oh, I beg of you. Anything but that.
[ The dramatic lilt to her voice is overly sweet. He did ask for drama. ]
Please, you can have my valuables, but do spare me my life.
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Gadriel: OTA
"I will not be tempted by your petty promises!" Gadriel is not going to commit any crimes especially not at the behest of the snake daemons. Because they are whispering to him, too, suggesting an ever more outrageous list of crimes at every turn.
"Do not heed these daemons. Any system that is corrupt will not announce the route to its own destruction." Did you need to hear this? Are you going to ignore him, because after all, he's just a big weirdo with strange religious beliefs? Or are you going to argue with him?
*Outside the dramaz*
"They want to separate us." He was stalking the outskirts of the garden, looking for an entrance, getting more and more frustrated at every turn. The snake daemons were gone. He could not help but notice that. Which was unfortunate because his fists would have liked the chance to ask a few questions. "Where can we find who has caused this?" No reason. Just...you know. Curious.
Silco | Arcane
While his businesses appear to be "suffering" on the outside like everyone else, they did not actually ever run out of resources, just pared back what was available. He was a distinct absence from each one though, and if anyone inquired, it would simply be to a reply of, "boss is working elsewhere".]
i. Brazen crime? Yeah, sure but only because you asked nicely.
[Silco had been writing more elaborate plans for a city-wide take over now that they were back and examining maps on what would be necessary when a snake managed to slither its way into his underground bunker. At first, the whispers were ignored until it seemed that breaking the system was in order to escape. Breaking meant picking up the pieces. Picking up the pieces meant control.
So he emerged from his hidey hole, snake following along like a faithful companion. After being infected by a wish seed during the black beast event, his appearance had changed: his mutilated eye was glowing blue like a hexgem instead of red, he had put on inches of height and his body filled out with muscle. After months of enduring the infection, other effects were now becoming obvious. The fetid twisted discoloured scar around his left eye now twisted the left half of his face from hairline to the corner of his chin and now disappeared under the collar of his shirt. He hardly seemed to notice and it certainly didn't bother him as much as it probably should.
He strode around the city streets with his little serpent following behind whispering now and again. He discounted some people being natives and began to follow other Chosen examining them.
He moved to lift items off of their persons. A bump as he passed them, and his hand skillfully took coins, trinkets from pockets or items from bags.
In other places, he found a Chosen's abode and picked the lock to enter and case the interior. He may take something that caught his eye but mostly, it was the effect of breaking and entering that was his objective. He was rather brazen about it as well, seeing no issue with the fact that he was doing it in the first place.
Rather out of his normal careful character.]
ii. Over the Golden Garden Wall
[A garden, hmm? That was rather on point, especially when he considered the beginning of Man from the stupid religious book that Richard had not wanted him to read. It was such a contrary piece of literature. Weren't they supposed to be ejected from the garden for their hubris? It didn't matter.
Silco began to maneuver his way around the place, noting the snakes and the little game trails. Truth by told, he didn't navigate forests all that well. He was an underground folk, and he could tell tunnels and dark spaces without light, but a forest? Trees all the looked the same to him regardless of their differences in their size and foliage.
He soon found himself well and truly lost. That might have been the point, but he knew it would be impossible to navigate as he currently was.
So he began to wander in search of another person, preferably one that wasn't useless in a forest. As soon as he found anyone, he smiled in a way that twisted the scarring marring the left side of his face in an unsettling manner.]
Finally, I thought I might be lost wandering this place for hours or days.
iii. Wildcard
[OOC: Silco has grown unpredictable and violent. The wish seed infection had granted him powers, and he's more willing to actually fight and kill than he ever has been before. Happy for him to annoy someone into fighting him. Happy to discuss, plot and even write closed starters. Contact:
Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler | OTA
[Here he is, the blue boy bearing the magical glass. Thanks to that, he's been doubtful of the snakes and hasn't let them dissuade him into any wrongdoing. In fact, he's trying to keep others from falling for them. If he sees someone else talking to one of the snakes, Kurt will try to discreetly confront the person afterwards.]
Hey... I wouldn't listen to those guys if I were you. Something's up with them.
[He holds up the glass to offer some proof.]
[Alternately, if he spots someone already in the process of carrying out a crime or about to do something, he'll confront them in an attempt to deter them!]
B. The Secret Garden
i.
[Kurt spends some time searching before he finds the Garden. And another bonus of the glass, is he gets to enter this garden without issue! For the most part.
If someone came with him, he starts examining the garden as soon as they enter, frowning as he takes it in.]
Man, this 'garden' isn't exactly worth bragging about... I guess snakes don't really have green thumbs. [Or any thumbs for that matter! In any case, this garden does seem fairly unimpressive considering the big deal that seemed to be made about getting into this place.]
It all just feels so out of place!
ii.
[Or he may be on his own at the moment - and he's spotted someone in trouble. Whether from the hallucinations, or just lost in the garden, Kurt moves to help the other person.]
Hang in there! I'm here to help! [Although he blinks, trying to banish bits of a hallucination he can see. Visions of mobs armed with torches and pitchforks... He shakes his head and tries to focus on the person who needs help!]
C. Wildcard
[Feel free to come up with an alternate prompt or hit me up for plotting!]
B-i
Kurt and his glass were the key inside he didn't have before. He couldn't let the opportunity pass.
He scrutinizes the surroundings, arms folded as he suppresses a shudder at the chill coming over him.]
Which begs the question of why it's here at all...
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[It's a more typical day when you may overhear an odd exchange taking place. It won't take too much searching to see what's going on.
Echo is clearly just trying to go about her life, walking through town. However, each time she passes some parrot grass, it calls out to her. The voice of a boy, teenaged but still prepubescent, comes out of each of them, and sounds quite cheerful.]
Eko-chan!
[Almost immediately, Echo spins and snaps back at it, like a conditioned response she has little control over.]
IT IS ECHO!
[She's progressively getting more and more angry the longer this goes on. Luckily she started at a very low level, but even she's capable of some pretty intense emotions under the right circumstances. And there's a lot more parrot grass lining the path ahead. She might need a little help...]
[II. They had a garden once]
[The former Nagas/former Chosen left a very strong impression on Echo. "Who were we again...?" It was exactly the sort of thing she was literally born to prevent, what she was born to heal. Even without checking if they're still around, she's trying to figure out what she can do to help them. The snakes seem like they might be a good place to start right now.
Unfortunately, directly listening to one isn't going to work out so well, so after that, Echo finds herself wondering how else she can enter the garden.]
[A. Crimes]
[Despite the initial setback, Echo is actually fairly good at doing shady deeds. She'd entirely done them under orders, though. She doesn't really want to commit a crime, but she wants to get into that garden just in case there's something to learn in there. Her current idea is to try to pull something off that she won't feel too guilty about.
Therefore, if you're holding something really nondescript and/or easily replaceable like common groceries or sticks or what have you, you may suddenly find Echo in front of you. Both of her short swords are extended from under her sleeves, and she's got one pointed directly at your face.]
I'm afraid I am going to need that.
[Does this even count as a crime...?]
[B. Gardening]
[She may or may not manage to make it in from those crimes. If she does, Echo will do some exploring!
Thanks to her rather gymnastic skills, there's a good chance you find Echo hopping around between trees, trying to get a better look at the area. And not from trunk to trunk—she's literally up in the branches and handling it all quite agilely. It's even more impressive when you consider that she doesn't even have her boots on (boy does it make her outfit look weird , though...).
Explore? Try to get out? Hallucinate? They're all options now.]
[closed to Gilgamesh]
[You tried.]
[It had been over a year since Echo had to do any sort of undercover work, and the task the snake gave her almost made the jobs she got from Vincent seem sane. She'd never tried to pose as a middle-aged man before. But she can't shake the possibility that this might help the former Chosen remember who they are, and that's what's important to her right now.Her resources aren't what they used to be, but somehow she's managed to get a decent-ish disguise together. A suit, a believable wig, that sort of thing. Jerry's mysterious reputation hasn't helped much and Echo isn't exactly a master impersonator, so her build and face are going to be giveaways, and she knows it. If she can keep this person from really noticing either of those, she thinks she may have a chance. She also hasn't learned much about Gilgamesh if only to not look suspicious.
Echo lurks in the shadows until she finally locates him. She's as careful as she can be to not get spotted, but that's not always entirely under her control. Regardless, when the moment is right, she gets close enough to the edge of the shadows for the average person to be able to tell someone is there. She speaks very quietly and as deeply as she can manage, in hopes that her obviously feminine voice isn't another problem.]
Come with me.
[Wildcard]
[You know the drill! Contact me at