abardacttofollow | QUIET MOUNDS

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QUIET MOUNDS - STEF HEART

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.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Alberich raises his eyebrows, though there's a touch of dry humor there if anyone looks for it. He appreciates Stefan's evident unflappability.]

I doubt that it was your doing.

[Hmmm, he's not sure he can pick these. Certainly he'd need specialized tools he doesn't have here.]

I mean, sort of.

[he draws a deep breath]

You're inside Stefen—you're in his heart, the essence of who he is. I'm the Heart's Guard, and, as you can see, I've been put here to keep this path blocked off. I'm sorry that you're in this position, as I can't imagine it's a very comfortable one. To get out, you'll have to find your way to the Heart's Truth. That's the door behind me, and it's got a truth about me even I don't know! As you can see, to do that, you're going to need three keys.

[Wow, Alberich is...disconcerted, and a little uncomfortable. He's still ill-at-ease with how invasive mind-magic can be, even if it's practical or necessary.

But this must be something Stefan needs help with.]

I imagine it's less comfortable for you. How do I find these keys?

The keys are at the end of each of those paths: Composition, Performance, and the Gift. None of them are long. They shouldn't be dangerous to you… I hope. I'm not a dangerous person, I don't think?

[There's an actual dry smile at that, but he tries to turn it into something reassuring. If anyone knows dangerous people, it's Alberich, and Stefan is much too well-meaning, regardless of the hardship's he's faced.]

I guess I should start with Composition?

That's the earliest stuff, so it might inform later places. [nods]

[Nods himself, and steps through to Composition.]

You find yourself in a back alley in what looks like a medieval city—or rather, some sort of stage set of it, decorated cloth hung up to cover the four walls to show city streets leading off, the back of some sort of house of ill repute . The smell of it is terrible, though, and a lot of the props around seem real as well—a cracked barrel with almost all of its contents leaked out into the flagstones under your feet, sewage running past in a small channel by one wall, garbage scraps of food around, most of it too rotten to eat. There is a huge pile of garbage in your path, and on the other side, you see the other door. The cord runs through the middle of the room and under that locked door.

At the base of the door are two huddled rag figures—an old lady, and a young boy with a lock of brilliant auburn hair hanging around his face. They are both shivering, and the boy looks to be injured or deformed, his leg at an odd angle and bandaged, wounds seeping, though someone familiar with the scam can probably tell it's all false paste wounds and his limbs carefully tied into those positions. His hungry eyes and sunken cheeks are real, though. One hand loosely clasps a moldy roll with a few bites taken out of it.

"Alms," the old lady calls in a weak, shaking voice. "Alms, please. If not for me, for my poor boy, alms!"

There is a cracked wooden bowl on the ground between them—sitting on what appears to be a weighted platform, attached to the door.

A sign on the door reads: "What is the weight of security?"

[Ah. Stefan had mentioned growing up on the streets. It's something Alberich knew the meaning of, and it's something that happens every day. But his chest still tightens, and he wishes he could pick that child up right now and take him away.

He reaches for his pocket, and realizes he's in his dark Grays now, not the clothes he wears in Quiet Mounds. He finds a silver coin, and crouches down to offer it directly to the boy. He's seen too many streets to trust that they money will go to little Stefan otherwise.]

The old lady reaches for it at once. "Oh, thank you, sir! We'll be able to eat with that tonight, m'lord...!"

[He gives her a sour look and, after a moment's hesitation, just goes ahead and drops the coin in the bowl.]

You hear a click as the door unlocks. The old lady scoops it up quickly.

[He has to keep in mind that this is...symbolism. And he's here for another symbol, which will hopefully be beyond this door. He steps through.]

The next room is a very small tenement room. There's a heap of rags making up a bed. In it is the same old woman from the previous room, snoring loudly and drunkenly. There's no mistaking her condition—an empty bottle is still clutched in her hand.

The boy is huddled in the opposite corner from the bed. He is stretching out legs that are clearly sore, a shiner of a bruise on his cheek and his fingers are shaking, though whether it's hunger or pain, it's hard to tell. There are resentful tears unshed in his eyes as he silently goes about his business. He too is on a pile of rags, and he stares at you suspiciously, shoving them a little more behind himself like he thinks they're about to be taken away. A crutch leans against the wall near him. A rat scurries through the room as you take the image in.

As before, the cord runs through the room and under a locked door with some sort of weighted platform next to it. This time, there's no bowl, but it's clear something should still go there.

A sign on the door reads: "What is the weight of family? What of love?"

[The question seems rather bitter, considering the woman. Alberich eyes the platform, but turns first to the boy. He crouches down to be close to eye level with Stef, reaching into his pocket again. There is, thankfully, another silver coin. He holds it out to the boy.]

I meant the other to be for you, but this will have to do.

He reaches for it at once, then hesitates. "What do you want me to do?"

[The boy's so thin. There were difficult times in Alberich's childhood, but his mother had kept it from ever coming to this.]

Get some food for yourself.

[He shoots a dark look at the bed.] She won't be waking up soon.

"No, for... for the money."

[Oh.]

Nothing. It's a gift.

He looks a little disbelieving but he tucks the money away anyway. "All right."

[Alberich turns back to the scale. He doubts a coin is going to work again. There doesn't seem to be much in the room that's the right size.

"What is the weight of family? What of love?"

He looks at the woman. Something of hers?]

She's passed out,a bottle loosely clasped in her hand, just starting to snore.

[Hmm.
Tries sliding the bottle from her grip?]

It comes free easily.

[Puts the bottle on the scale.]

QUIET MOUNDS - STEF HEART

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