QUIET MOUNDS - STEF HEART

[abardacttofollow]

You find yourself in a stone room that looks like some sort of medieval dungeon. There are (thankfully), no torture instruments, but there is a man strung up here. One large manacle is around his neck, chaining him stiffly to the door. His hands are free, but each foot is manacled to the matching bottom corner of the doorframe. There is a visible lock on each of the three manacles.

It's Stefen, and there's a knife in his chest. Despite that, he's alive, apparently alert, and doesn't look to be in pain, perhaps due to the lulling, sense-dulling music that seems to be coming from nowhere at all—in fact, if you were in pain before you entered, it's gone here. His wound is bleeding, but only a little, and he smiles his usual bright smile at you.

Behind him, but in front of the closed door he's bound to, you can see three double sets of strings running vertically. Where they meet the floor, they are fastened, and then each runs across the floor to the three doors on the opposite wall, then under them.

There is nothing else in this room.

((OOC: Here's how this will work! Since we're doing individual runs, rather than me putting up individual top levels for areas, just jump the post itself, and I'll run everything for you within your one thread. If you're wanting to do a run with someone else, just stay in the same thread together.))

Comments

[twicebonded]

[gives him an awfully rude, unfair smile]

[heading towards the door]

[abardacttofollow]

[calls after] There's a drop, you might want to close your eyes when you step through!

[twicebonded]

[all Stef hears is a little yelp as Van, uh, drops]

The Truth 1

[abardacttofollow]

When you step through the door, you fall abruptly. You rapidly see yourself approaching the… ground? The ice? But just before you hit it, it shatters, and you find yourself in another room with a path leading forward. There's no going back.

You find yourself in a fenced in field, funneling you forward to the next door. In the distance, you see white horses grazing. It's absolutely recognizable as the Companions field, and is calm and peaceful; a large tree grows here, shading the area so it feels calm, quiet. It genuinely seems as though you're outdoors, though you get the impression you won't be able to leave the fenced in area except through the gate at the end.

By the gate at the end is an old, moss-covered statue of a horse. Well, most of a horse. It has been weathered, and it looks like something has destroyed its head.

The gate at the end is open onto darkness.

[twicebonded]

. . .

[feels a deep, foreboding, full-body chill, so overpowering that he's just Frozen for a long moment]

[. . . slowly, he starts to move forward to that darkness, though his gaze lingers on that tree]

The Truth 2

[abardacttofollow]

You enter into a fancy bedroom in a manor house, with two beds. As well as the door you came in through, there is a door to the left and right, and an open doorframe ahead. You wouldn't be able to exit through the left or right doors if you wanted to, though. There's a statue in front of each of them. One is a tall, stern-looking woman. The other is a strapping, broad-shouldered young man with curly hair and a confident grin. Both of their features are too weathered to get more detail from without getting closer.

Re: The Truth 2

[twicebonded]

. . .

[slowly approaches the statue of the woman]

[abardacttofollow]

She's got a hooked nose and, on closer inspection, a reluctant smile. The stone is weathered so you can't be completely sure, but she certainly looks familiar to you.

From behind the door she's blocking, you hear distant shouting, a boy: "He seduced me! He's not fit for this, he's a pervert!"

[twicebonded]

. . .

Aunt . . .?

[listens, frozen]

[abardacttofollow]

The statue doesn't respond. The boy's voice grows too distant to hear after a moment, as though he's being rushed away.

[twicebonded]

[. . . goes to inspect the other statue]

[abardacttofollow]

Again, the features are a little too weathered to make out details.

From behind his door, you hear distant shouting: "He's a demon, he's a monster, he can't stay here, I'm going to throw him out!"

[twicebonded]

. . .

[lets out a soft, confused noise. just a strangled whimper. he takes a halting step back, uncomprehending]

'Lendel?

[abardacttofollow]

No answer.

[twicebonded]

[hurries through the open door I'm the center, anxiety high, heart racing]

Truth 3

[abardacttofollow]

Whatever this room was can't be made out. It has been totally destroyed, torn to shreds. There was white cloth on the walls, but it's splashed with blood. Whatever was once in here is long gone, shards of wood and stone everywhere. In terms of statues, all you make out in the center is a pair of smallish feet. The rest has been utterly destroyed, apparently exploded from the inside out.

There is a door at the end, shut and locked, with a keyhole. You can hear, somewhat muffled by the length of the room and the shut door, someone singing on the other side.

Re: Truth 3

[twicebonded]

. . .

[rubs one forearm over his stinging eyes, drawing in a shaking breath. he . . . recognizes this, but doesn't understand why he's seeing it. was this all his own dream after all and not Stef's? what does it mean?]

[he approaches the door and listens]

[abardacttofollow]

It's Lendel's voice, but singing one of Stef's fun lovesong ditties.

[twicebonded]

. . .

[sinks down in front of the door and just has a full-on silent meltdown panic attack]

[abardacttofollow]

He gets to the end, then pauses.

[twicebonded]

[I mean, he can probably sense the hemorrhaging emotions]

[abardacttofollow]

"Ashke?"

[twicebonded]

[abruptly fumbles for the key, filled with sudden terror and need, flinging the door open and stumbling inside]

[abardacttofollow]

The door unlocks and you see him there. For a moment, it's a featureless gray fog— and then it's the companion's field again, but this time without the fence, without the statue, without any companions.

Just Tylendel, standing there. Younger than you now, staring at you with his brown eyes wide. "Oh, Vanyel...!"

[twicebonded]

[. . . . . . bursts into tears]