#intoxication-wra

She has a goal. Hope, a light at the end of the tunnel. She won't... She won't give up. The lines of people, devoid of will, movement, just standing there, waiting their turn for their doom. She won't be like them, she will keep going, keep fighting. There are things, and she is starting to feel them. They chase her, she can almost feel them nip at her sometimes. But they couldn't be as bad as just stopping. Falling in line, looking towards doom as hope.

So, she follows her little light. It is elusive, always on the move. But if she listens closely, she can hear the song, hear Alwrenn, remember the comfort he would bring, taught her to bring. He keeps her going, keeps her trying.

The first time she lost the song, she held back her despair, instead humming back. And the song... it was faint, but it came back, she could find it again. It stayed where it was for a moment, let her catch up a bit, before going forwards again.

The second time she lost the song, one of the creatures decided to push her. Creatures lurked around her, and some liked to see just how close they could get before the Light around Schara would just be a bit too bright. But just that hiccup of despair, that tiny moment of doubt when she lost the song, started humming back... The creature had looked like a large slug, just on the edge of what she could sense. At that hiccup, it exploded into a wave of darkness and doubt over her. She wrestled with it, her light dimmed like a blanket had been thrown over it, and all the lurking creatures started swarming, nipping, tugging.

What if she lost the song, lost that bit of hope? Is she strong enough to keep going on her own?

She doesn't know, she doesn't... No.

Alwrenn is her brother in the Light. And he didn't want her to rely on him, he wanted her to know that the Light loves her. And that she is strong. They can guide, help, and lift each other, he had guided her here, given her more hope, but she is a priest in her own right. She can do this.

Pulling in that Light, praying and concentrating, she then straightens and screams at the creatures, to "Get away from me!"

Monstrous shadows turn to rats, bats, and various other scurrying things, fleeing back into the shadows as fast as they can, the blanket shriveling back into a slug and squirming away best it can. Schara ignores it, deciding now is a decent time for a rest. The creatures won't bother her for a bit, she knows.

After that, Schara did hear the song again. And figured that if she needs rest, maybe the times she loses the songs are when Alwrenn is resting. So she clears her area the best she can, and rests too until she can hear the song again, where she sings along to tell him that she's with him again. He waits for her, letting her get a bit caught up, before he gets going again.

She can't always rest the whole time that the song is gone. The creatures are always there, and when she's moving, it's easier to ignore the feeling that something's coming for her. Just resting is more difficult, she has to check the area more, stop her rest and start going again. It feels like something is chasing her, most of the time. So it's easier when she's also moving, but she does need rest, to be able to know she's safe a moment, and on very rare occasions, meditate.

Some of the creatures get braver, the more she tries to take a rest. She has to show a force of the Light to chase them away, if she wants to snag those moments of peace. She knows they are lurking, but she can... she can keep going. She keeps going, and she keeps following Alwrenn, singing to him when she's done with her rest. Because he might need to know she's alright just as much as she needs him, right?

Some things start to become familiar, some places and things she knows she's seen before. And she long ago put aside the idea that Alwrenn was trying to bring her to a physical exit. As things start to become more familiar, she can make things out besides just the deafening roar, shadows and creatures... Maybe he's helping to show her things. Things to pay attention to.

There are plenty of formless shapes that just move around, in and out of the shadows. But one, as she passes... A glint of the eyes here, a smirk of a smile there. One time Schara could almost make out the edges of a face. This shape moves around as much as anything else, but is more distinct than any of the other blobs, she knows... all the glimpses she caught were somehow from the same thing, same person.

And another, she thought it was a creature at first. One of the creatures that poke at her, nip at her heels, keep her going if she stops, try to drag her down. But this one... didn't chase her. She encountered it again, a fearsome, angry beast, snapping, raging, roaring... She avoided it again, but it looked... familiar. That roar, that rage. She'd heard it before.

The third time, she saw the ropes. The snapping beast was tied down, chained, roared with all its fury, but didn't have much space to be snapping at things. And... it -was- a familiar anger. It had yelled at her before. But it's an anger not directed at -her-, it's directed at getting things done, at finding whatever is needed to break chains. Before it had been her own chains, now it had its own chains.

Schara now regularly visited this beast as she continued following Alwrenn's song. Tried to figure what was keeping it down. After a few times, she placed the anger, this was Twitch. He was fighting with everything he had, she could see it. She went as close as she could without the snapping being able to get her, trying to figure out just what was keeping him down. She feels a constant sapping, she knows. Is something like that happening to Twitch too? The chains and bindings, as well as how she saw the beast, changed in form each time she visited, but their existence stayed. And something did seem to be pulling at Twitch. She didn't know what, or how to break the chains, but this was important.

Maybe this was a rescue mission. She doesn't know how she got here, and Alwrenn had been on his own mission before. She's here and Twitch is captured still. This is... a horrible state of being to be in, but... she would be the one better to do it, right? Easier for a Forsaken to be in a strange, weird body world. And then Alwrenn is helping her through it, with the kind of place it is. He probably remembers better than her. That's probably it! Why else would she and Alwrenn be here, right where Twitch is?

She's sorry, Twitch, Alwrenn, that she forgot. She will figure out these chains. And she'll still follow you, Alwrenn, it does keep her going, give the strength to fend off the creatures. But Twitch. Rescue mission. Alright, let's do this.

@intoxication-wra, @mercutiomalache, @liliesandlight, @qualmemalache

Last night, there was a tent on the outskirts of the camp that hadn't been there before, and it was letting out large amounts of heat and cold in spurts. Looking at it, there was an enormous amount of energy in the space, far too much to be stable.

I entered the tent and contained as much of the energy as I could, as Ryleyth was chanting and dropped an amulet into a bowl, holding another amulet. I tackled him, which interrupted him for a moment, but he blinked and continued. I stunned him with fel and tackled him again, this time taking the second amulet and grabbing him to keep him still.

He insisted that I let him finish the ritual, take it all away, his heart and soul, that "he's gone, he's gone and it's all for naught". As he seemed very intent on ending himself, I tried to get more information from him while keeping the explosive amount of energy in check as much as possible, but it was getting to be too much and Ryleyth was too concerned with frantically trying to end himself to give any more of use.

The Caliph warlock and you then entered, the Caliph following your orders to pull from me and make a barrier while I got out of the tent. I know Ryleyth got the amulet back for a moment. From the outside, it was difficult to tell what was happening inside the tent, but the barrier did keep the energies contained, with Shira also helping to prevent additional energies from entering the area. I, Ryleyth, and you, were the only injured.

You were taken back to your tent by your Haemonculi, while Ryleyth was shackled and brought to the med tent. I rested in my own bed.

My injuries are not life threatening, and just need time or some extra energy before I'll be ready to be back in the field. Ryleyth is alive and in a separated part of the med tent. His injuries are more severe, but he will survive.

Questioning Ryleth about what he meant by "he's gone", he led with a lot of self blame, but gave that Flaxin is gone: "don't know where, shadow, darkness, nightmare, just... gone"

It took a lot more to get more information as he is full of self loathing and is convinced that cutting out his emotions would solve problems as it would make him more logical. He felt that the camp was not in any danger until the tent flaps were opened as the tent was designed to contain the energy that was needed for his ritual, even though it was leaking the energy everywhere even before the tent was opened. And it was followed by more self loathing.

Demanding further information from him, I got that he and Flaxin fought verbally. Ryleyth had tried to apologize and explain, but there was something around Flaxin, "shadow, agony". He said that Flaxin "shimmered like ther surface of the lake blown by the wind, and the image distorted." That "it wasn't him, then he was gone"

Ryleyth attempted to summon Flaxin back, forcing whatever took him back, but "there was nothing", and then pain "broke upon him" and he could not focus.

He advises that someone who knows the void and can see into it might be able to find him, that shadows have taken him.