bravenewworld | Descent into Darkness

Descent into Darkness

As the characters arrive, they will find what appears to be a rather deep cavern. Upon entering, the caverns are quite narrow, with twists and turns everywhere and different tunnels that all seem to be interconnected. As characters travel deeper within the caverns, reality around them will start to warp, they will start to see and hear things that aren’t necessarily there - images of old enemies, past failures, voices of condemnation, visions that strike at the soul and core of the characters. Once this begins, it will only increase in power and volume, demanding it be confronted, lest they be trapped within these caves forever.

[OOC: This event will run for a week. All characters who enter the caves will be subject to some of their deepest fears, darkest demons, and most abject failures. To overcome them, characters must help each other out, finding their purpose through strength of character and resolve to move forward. In general, these visions should require characters to come to grips with themselves. Illusory images and voices can and will appear and can take any number of forms, depending on what is most appropriate to a character. Additionally, characters may thread with each other and are encouraged to help each other out to overcome these personal demons. For those who wish to take part, they are able and encouraged to narrate their own personal demons, which will be on display for everyone who enters their thread. IC threads may be made in this post.]

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[She doesn't look much older than Banzu does, which leads to some implications about how old she likely was when she had him.]

Every mother normally wants to give her child the best life possible. The only reason she wouldn't is if there's something wrong with the child. Varun was a very bad child, but him behaving properly now will still never bring me back, only stop this from happening again. So long as he doesn't put a burden on anyone else again, everything will be fine.

So ...don't let him take you back. He can't make you go anywhere you don't want to go. He's your dad but he's not the boss of your life. You are.

[He smiles a bit.]

Lemme tell you a story I learned from my Dad about my Nanna. I don't think I ever told you about her except for how cool she was.

But... but he is my father, John.

[ As if "dad" and "father" meant two entirely different things to her, which they very much did.

Lux blinks a few times, shaking her head a bit. ]

You have not.

Wh-what???

[That was not something he expected to hear at all-- and it was enough fuel to give him enough courage to look up at the shadowy spectre, eyes glittering in all of his pent up frustration--

Only to see that, in his befuddled distraction over Right and his insufferable ways, the apparition had vanished into the shadows once again.]

--that.....what?

Well- and you can't laugh- but my family used to be noble, too! It was a really long time ago. Nanna and her brother were adopted by these old nobles. From what I remember her dad was pretty nice, but her mother was this really mean lady. When her dad died, the mean old lady put Nanna through all this crazy training to be a perfect noble. It was terrible from what Dad tells me.

Anyway, she did it. She beat the lady at everything she threw at her. When she finally kicked it, Nanna got the inheritance and...

[And he raises his hands for dramatic effect.]

Threw it all to charity! She moved to the Vale and said bye.

[He pauses.]

I mean- I definitely don't want you to put up with this until you can take over your family or anything but. Being a noble doesn't mean you have to do what they tell you.

He's one of the senior lecturers from the academy, [Waver intoned, his words ringing with more certainty than they had previously.] An Archmagus too, of the classical traditions.

....I slipped into the libraries at the academy a lot in the last couple of years, and he was one of the people I least wanted to meet. They say he's an impressive duelist.

[ She doesn't laugh at all, but instead leans toward him a bit, a look of wonder on her face. ]

They were?

[ She hangs on his every word--as she tended to anyway, when it came to this sort of thing. She was a sucker for the dramatic. ]

That... I wish I could meet her. She sounds like an amazing lady. She sounds very brave. I know where you must get it from now.

"Oh, it's not me. It's my life. He's after my life." He stopped. The figures had crept nearer like an encroaching darkness on a dying light. Slowly, drearily he continued. "Yours too. It's only a matter of time."

Like a noose, the note of fatalism hanged in the air.

Of all the things Rincewind feared, it was Death he feared the most. He could survive anything if he ran fast enough, but he can't outrun Death. And really, when he smoothed the rough parts of life out, whatever hadn't killed him, usually hurt a lot anyway. Life, he quietly mused, was like sentence. Rincewind's just happened to be a run-on. Death, he thought, was that final period that put a stop to the whole mess.

Speaking of Death, the skeletal figure grinned. He couldn't help it. It pointed its scythe directly at Waver. NEITHER OF YOU CAN ESCAPE ME. IT'S JUST LIKE HE SAID. I WILL BE THERE. WAITING.

Huh? What's going-- [Right stops, though, as he turns around to see that the figure was...gone.]

Eh? Where'd he go??

The words were disturbing to hear, even for the ears of a fellow outsider who wasn't involved in these types of political affairs. Waver, following close behind Sinbad along his passage into the caves, made a small nervous sound when the images faded in the space of a heartbeat.

"...Don't trust everything you see and hear right now," Waver intoned with the odd clarity of someone who had experienced. "It's not all real."

....I think you broke it.

[There was a strange clarity in his tone as he looked around. Panicking, as he was doing when he first heard that voice, makes it impossible to think about the reality of things. And, he had known the truth even before he officially left Sanctuary; his fate didn't lie inside of those walls. There was nothing they could offer-- even if they had everyhing he had needed.]

Broke it? You mean...he was just an illusion? I just thought he was one of those Magi that liked to have underground libraries.

[But Right is also looking around. Is the library, at least, real? Or is this another illusion as well?]

"You did. Some times were hard, I'm sure. They always are. But I only came to Union a little after I met you," Mami says. Her smile doesn't falter now. "But the things I've seen, that you helped discover, were amazing. And worth any trials you had to put yourself through."

Heh. Yeah, me too.

[And then he blusters a little at being called brave.]

I don't think I'm brave I just get mad when people do dumb things. Like with your dad. Anyway, if Nanna could leave I think you can to. I don't think you're any less brave than she was.

The thought of the twisted, winding sentence that was Waver's life ending so abruptly didn't strike fear in the young man's heart at first; it was annoyance. Even if he wasn't a terribly powerful individual, he wanted to at least have a semi-colon before meeting that ultimate period.

"Like the winter always comes at the end of the year, right?" Waver blustered, for he was small and filled with determination to be a little more than just an easily trampled sapling in the wilderness of the world. "Like how a clock always strikes midnight at the end of each day."

He shook his head. While he didn't harbor a fear of death, he didn't seek it-- nor did he appreciate it seeking the two of them out.

"Why do you even want us anyway? We haven't done anything of interest to anyone, especially you."

Huh.

[He frowns.]

Did he ever do something like what he was going to do to you just now?

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult.

[She hesitates, then:]

How do you intend to be different?

You're not exactly wrong on that.

[Waver sighed, and shook his head.]

He's one of the senior faculty at the academy, and a powerful Magus of the traditional schools. He's not someone you want to anger-- and I may have done a few things that had the potential to.

[There was no shame in his tone or demeanor. He was merely stating the facts, as if they were written out in a textbook for anyone to study.]

Focalor perched himself on Sinbad's shoulders, the Rufflet letting out a squawk of annoyance as Badr slithers alongside the two teenagers.

White halls, dragon slash marks - is this where you found my egg, Sin?

"Yeah..." He breathes out slowly. "I know. It can't be real, but the fact it can yank that from my head." The youth shook his head, tail thrashing.

"Better to keep it locked away, layer upon layer, never letting them see the light of day. Pretty little lies are much better, don't you think?" a voice purrs against their ears, if someone's standing behind them - it takes a few moments to register, but it almost sounded like Sinbad... if his voice dropped a pitch.

So...an illusion, huh? I wonder...if we can just Imagine a different place instead. [Right closes his eyes, and attempts to use his Imagination to form a different image in his head. Instead of silent ruins, he Imagines a city full of life; Pokemon roaring, people chatting, and magnificent towers piercing the heavens while being covered with blooming plants. A place out of a fantasy book, alive and thriving.

And it's a very loud, mental image, should Haruka chose to pick up on it.]

I don't know what it might be. But... wondering might be harder to do in the long term.

No-- I've never seen him fight, either.

[He shook his head.]

Maybe that's part of why too. I don't like fighting.

Waver froze, and spun around on his heel wildly searching for the source of the voice that had come echoing through the darkness.

"Who's there?" he called, although he suspected that his question wouldn't come with a satisfactory answer.

So why would some high ranking Magus want to mess with an Earthkin like you?

[Because he remembered how disappointed he personally felt to be told that Waver wasn't a Magus himself.]

[Waver glanced away, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.]

Because I can pick up skills the same way a Magus can. But my family has only had any kind of power for a few generations, and not even selling everything we had after my parents passed away was enough to get me into the academy.

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Descent into Darkness

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Apologies for typos, I'm RPing from a pre-reg line like a pro!!

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