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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[He nodded, glad for her unquestioning support.]

Yes, let's. This library isn't arranged in quite the same way as I remember.

[It must have been a fantasy libraryscape from somewhere in his subconscious. He had often dreamed of becoming blissfully lost in a library such as this.]

[He hasn't given her a reason not to support him yet.]

Did someone come through and change all of the books around?

What? No! This just-- it's...

[He trailed off, brows furrowed in confusion as he tried to define exactly what he was trying to say. The library was familiar and yet somehow foreign, inhabiting a space that existed on the edge of dream and memory. It--]

"Tempting to stay, isn't it?"

[A new voice, low and even like that of a firmly disciplined academic, spoke up to finish Waver's sentence. The young man stopped, looking around in alarm-- that wasn't a voice he recognized at all.]

Yeah, [he agreed,], it really is. If it's safe to stay.

Stay? You mean down here?

[Merrill blinks, looking over to Waver.]

Won't it be awfully lonely?

Lonely?

[He looked at Merrill in surprise.]

Why would it be lonely?

Well... because you'd be alone.

[That's obvious, isn't it?]

Well....

[Shifting his gaze to the dusty shelves around them, he seemed uncomfortable.]

I've been alone for a while anyway. It's no big deal.

No one can live alone. Not entirely.

...eh?

[Waver doesn't get it, Merrill.]

People need people.

But, I--

[He was at a loss for words at the simplicity of her truth and her sincerity. Fortunately, another voice-- strong, pedantic, and tired-- spoke up in his stead.]

"It's hard knowing what to do with people when you are most familiar with being alone; only an idiot would bicker and fight this."

[Seemingly out of nowhere another man appeared-- tall, with the slender but solid build of a cypress tree reaching upwards into the sky. His black hair was worn long and loose, and there was a certain rigidity in his stance that was almost reminiscent of another...if that young man were to ever find the strength of will to speak up and step forward for what he believed. He reached into his pocket to retrieve a slim, metal case and withdrew a cigar almost idly, though the irritated flicker in his gaze while he delicately snipped off the tip was telling enough.]

"Show me, boy. How much of an idiot are you?"

[Merrill's good at that. Literalism may be a downfall of hers when interpreting other people, but it's one of her great strengths as well. She smiles at Waver briefly before turning to regard their new guest with curiosity.]

He looks like you. Is this your father, Waver?

[Waver shook his head rapidly. There was no denying the resemblence, but....]

No, he's not. My dad passed away a few years ago.

[The elegant gentleman (tm) didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation unfolding before him. Instead he pulled up a tiny flame out of seemingly nothing and lit the cigar. The deep, not unpleasant scent of it's smoke started to waft upwards, into the cavernous ceilings above them.]

"Make up your mind, quickly," [the man chided, taking a pull from his cigar.] "None of us have the time for dawdling."

Oh... ir abelas.

[Or 'I'm sorry' in the tongue of most men. It's a phrase Waver probably knows by now, as Merrill's official historian. She's been slowly introducing him to what remains of the Dalish language.]

Make up his mind? About what? Staying here?

--you don't need to apologize for anything, [Waver muttered, ignoring the man's painfully pointed words.] It's just a fact of life. Something that was gonna happen anyway.

[At this, the gentleman sighed in apparent irritation.]

"About being proactive. His hopeless acceptance here is a perfect example of it."

[Merrill seems confused by that description of her companion, shaking her head.]

Waver's been very proactive! He studies even more than I do.

"Study has nothing to do with this," [The gentleman intoned, looking directly at Waver,] "and he knows precisely what I'm speaking of."

[Although Waver seemed confused by those words-- not that he was going to just let this man make vague demands without trying to make sense of them. Brows furrowed, Waver made a soft, thoughtful sound while he mulled over this particular problem...]

...It's my habit of running, isn't it?

[Teleport was his first, and most reliable, skill even now. He could do it without thinking, and it was infinitely easier to do when he was afraid.]

Running?

[More curious blinking as Merrill looks between the two.]

From what?

[The gentleman stood silent, dark eyes boring into the young academic while he puffed on his cigar. Waver, unnerved by the intensity of the man's gaze, averted his eyes.]

....Fighting a system like that is frustrating. There's nothing that they're willing to teach me anyway.

I don't know what you're talking about, but... aren't there other ways to learn? Other places to learn? Other people to teach you?

[Merrill never really got the full story of Waver's history.]

[However, those were already valid points.]

"You've already abandoned the towers of Sanctuary-- unless you were just acting on impulse and didn't put your heart in it."

[The man squeezed the bridge of his nose, as if he were trying to fend off a headache.]

"There's nothing I hate more than spineless fools."

[Waver wheeled back onto the stranger, eyes flashing in fury.]

I didn't just leave because I wanted to! [He protested,] I mean, who really wants to leave a place like that when all you want to do is learn about things? But, I....I--!

[Change was hard, man! Of course a first time adventurer would second guess every step of the journey. Even if home was uncomfortable, it was still something he knew.

It was human instinct to fear the unknown, and embrace discomfort if they had never known anything else.]

If he wanted to learn and no one would teach him, it's only natural to go somewhere else to seek knowledge. I did something very similar myself. It doesn't mean he's abandoned anything - he's simply walking a different path to enlightenment.

[Merrill, in contrast is very matter of fact about all of this. To her, it's an obvious way of looking at the world.]

[The gentleman waved a hand, almost dismissively.]

"That isn't the problem. The problem is that he still thinks it's possible to go back. We both know for a fact that it isn't."

[Waver didn't argue-- instead, he was searching his own mind. Sure, he always spoke in the negative, but...]

One way or the other, that's still the place I grew up. Even if they can't teach me anything, I can still learn-- and-- and maybe one day I can show them what it means to be a Magus in today's society!

[Merrill shakes her head.]

Nothing is impossible. Not if you try. Not if you believe.

[Idealistic, yes, but it's the way she's lived her life so far, and she's been doing just fine.]

Waver's stronger than that.

[The gentleman regarded the two of them for a tense beat that seemed to last for an eternity, dark eyes searching for something amidst the smoke and dust of that old library. Inevitably he sighed, and stepped aside.]

"Very well. It's a fool's errand, but you might just be the fool to do it."

[And with that he was gone within a blink, seeming to teleport away.

It was as if he had never been there. Instead, a door stood just beyond where the man had been, beckoning for them to step forth.]

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