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INHUMAN COURTESY

I. PUSHING UP DAISIES

cw: depiction of hanahaki, mention of blood, mild body horror

The Frightful Harvest ended on a bloody, eerie note, but the Respite's most welcome interlude has proven exceptionally fruitful. The sky's darkened again, moons struggling to glow through turbulent clouds, but crops all over Stygia have grown dense and healthy, herbs and plants and flowers aplenty. Normally, it'd be a time to rejoice, even as sleet pours and winds grow bitterly cold -- and it might have been, had greens and stems and petals NOT elected to blossom inside you. Your lungs, specifically.

It's an uncommon side effect of the Harvest, affecting those who foster affection or attraction towards another, triggered only by a stray thought. Almost as if punished by Oblivium for harboring any kind of positive feelings. The worst part is that the object of your desire doesn't even have to be in the Netherworld for you to be afflicted. Over the span of three months, you'll gradually experience various degrees of the "harvest's curse", depending on the source of your feelings:

► PHYSICAL/EMOTIONAL ATTRACTION & REQUITED LOVE
It starts with an itch. Your throat tickles, an odd sensation in your lungs, slightly constricted. Allergies? Not quite. It worsens overtime, and days pass by, perhaps weeks. You cough, a little more every day, a little deeper, and then it happens: petals, stuck to your lips as you wheeze and try to empty your chest. Marigold, carnations, daisies, peonies... Thankfully, for you, it's more of an annoyance, sporadic at best and leaving you exhausted at times, but you're in no immediate danger. Unfortunately, not all Restless share the same luck.

► UNREQUITED LOVE
It doesn't matter whether it is truly unrequited; as long as you think it is, whether you're fully convinced or distantly resigned, you get the whole package. It starts the same way the lesser variation does, gradual, and with unsavory (!) additions: lilies and dark red roses. The first slowly spreads its poison in your body, inducing fevers, skin rashes, blistering in your mouth and stomach aches. The second pricks your throat bloody, making speech difficult and breathing even more so. It spreads throughout Stygia, and if most wound up meeting their end in the past, some speak of a highly hypothetical cure. It's believed that if the object of your affection confesses equally strong feelings for you, the curse should rapidly subside. If this option isn't viable, Doran promises that all Healers in Hale are working extremely hard to find a solution. In the meantime, symptoms can be partially soothed with poultices and spells that you can find in the Marketplace or in Serene. Some merchants might even take pity on you and offer them for free.

if your character has heard of similar diseases in their home world, they're absolutely welcome to share their insight on the netherwork or anywhere else
the evolution of the disease can be as gradual, as fast or as severe as you wish it to be
a mini quest to retrieve ingredients for a cure will be available in december or january
by february, all characters should be cured

II. DO NOT PASS GO

cw: mention of blood, torture, branding, violence, forced captivity

Full-swing investigations concerning the Harvest's murders have begun, though the mysterious rider has yet to resurface. The day is young still, but no matter; the Hierarchy firmly believes that the creature was summoned by a group of renegades, fully intent on finding and dismembering the organization. Perhaps even literally.

If you've spilled blood not your own in the previous event, the Hierarchy finds you. Do they know? It doesn't really matter; they've targeted you for reasons they won't divulge, persuaded of your involvement -- and off to the Gallows you go. Each of you receives the same greeting when you arrive, held down by rough hands and branded upon the arm with the letter F. The mark signifies ‘forsaken’, and the painful scar is indelible proof that each of you has betrayed the Hierarchy's hospitality. Writhe and scream and glower as much as you want; next thing you know, something heavy hits you across the head, and you collapse.

When your vision slowly creeps back, your eyes adjust to a dimly lit stone cell. Your feet are secured by iron cuffs tethered by one long chain, and you lie in nothing but filthy, tattered rags. It's dark; the air is bloated and filled with agonizing shrieks. Dead vines scrap the walls of half-crumbled buildings, weather-worn stone pillars surrounded by withered clumps of grass. You may converse with your cellmates: the guards patrolling the Gallows couldn't care less, convinced that no one could possibly escape anyway.

► Ironically, a magical barrier around the Gallows prevents magical/spiritual abilities from functioning. However, characters who roam free still can absolutely sneak in! Be careful not to get caught, though!
► Loud disagreements might attract unwanted attention. A single guard will come, and if he finds nothing else amiss, will threaten them to be quiet. A second violation earns the offender a rap on their bare feet with a club. A third violation will cause the offender to be gagged. Note that in order to beat or gag the offender, the guard must first open the cell.
► If you share affinities with Gargoyles, incapacitating a guard in any way will draw the attention of one. It'll show you to the gates where you'll be able to escape, taking care of sentries on your way. You should probably keep a low-profile from then on, and avoid showing-off your brand.
► A secret passage may be found through a mausoleum nearby; an arrow of flaking red paint marks the entrance. Or is it blood? Inside, it's nearly pitch-black. Perhaps, if you're lucky, your vision extends as far as 30 feet in front of you, but occasionally, the darkness is broken by clinging phosphorescent fungi or crawling luminescent creatures, and from out of the silence echo sounds of dripping water. You're underground, and Abysmals can be encountered here if you're too loud. You should also watch out for cave-ins, but as you get farther away from the general region of the Gallows, your magical abilities gradually come back.
► Eventually, a long, broken staircase will lead you to Hale. If you're injured, you'll be sent to the main infirmary; characters with healing abilities or knowledge are super welcome to help!

Luckily for you, there are so many prisoners it's a difficult task for the Hierarchy to always keep track of all of them. Your brand, however, is a dead giveaway, so you might as well try and find a way to get rid of it; you might hear through the grapevines that the dead skin of Badaliscus can be used as bandages, and overtime, the brand will fully heal and disappear.

III. TO THE RESCUE

As you attempt to escape, or perhaps once you’ve successfully snuck in, you come across a terrifying spectacle: in front of you, impaled through the shoulder by a spear, a weary humanoid figure covered in blood. The body is being restrained by additional shackles on each arm and leg, which are linked to chains anchored within the walls. There's a guard nearby, armed to the teeth… and still you decide to free them.

The guard’s magic is just as useless as yours, and while impressive in size, dexterity definitely isn’t his main strength. He hits hard — with brass knuckles, a chain mace, and a sturdy shield — and his stamina almost seems endless, but it’s not. Keep evading, and he’ll eventually tire enough to topple over. It’s also possible to have him chase you around if you don’t go too far, which would allow someone else to grab the spear. Once he’s too exhausted to go on, you can either kill him or chain him to the wall. The keys are in his boots, and you’ll find a bottle of water as well as a small vial of ointment in a satchel on the ground, where he previously stood.

The prisoner is a young man, perhaps in his mid-20s. Once freed from his shackles, he immediately keels over, though he’s not unconscious. He thanks you with a deep and raw voice, begging for water. You can tend to his wounds if you’re able—the ointment quickly soothes—and when he finally stands again, he asks you a question: “I’m a stranger to you, and you could have died. Yet, you chose to free me, unaware of my past. Of my crimes. Of my virtues. Why?”

Regardless of your answer, he smiles, a private understanding that turns the stretch of his lips enigmatic. There’s a bubbling chuckle in his throat, very hoarse, and then he hisses, touching where you’ve helped him apply the ointment on his body. “You know what they say. If it stings...” He looks at you, deliberately pausing there and staring bold into your eyes. “... then it must be working.”

It might feel like there’s more to what he’s trying to say, though it’s pointless to ask: he bows, and then he slowly inches away from you. “Until we meet again.” White and thick tendrils of smoke envelop him, seemingly coming out of nowhere, and then just like that, he’s gone.

so you’ve chosen to free him, which in turn has generated a future plot point that’ll occur some time in february. some of you WILL see him again.
what he says to you is a clue.
you can answer his question OOCly right here. it’ll have some bearing on the way your character will be approached re: future plot point.
if you've voted no and would still like to participate, you could always allow your character to be convinced or reluctantly dragged by another!

ooc note

► As always, check out the Notice Board if you'd like additional prompts! Older quests from previous months are always available as well. You'll also find the Calendar right here.
► You'll find already answered questions just here, and if you'd like to ask new ones, ask them here!
► For fun's sake and similarly to the puck adventure, you may play it out in different groups or on your own, and still obtain the same results as everyone else whether your characters threaded together!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He has a sword. That in itself is something that calls to Zagreus and he looks at, curiously. It's thinner and smaller than the Stygian blade in any of its aspects, but it looks good in its simplicity. He should probably get one of his own soon.

Still wiping his face with the back of his wrist, he peers at the ad in question. He squints, and then brightens up.] A… 'movie'… Oh! I've been there before! [It had been an experience.] Sure. Would be a shame if those got lost.

[ Yes, get a sword, since it seems most people are getting armed for whatever reason. For Joonghyuk, the blade is just a comfort... Tilting his head, he is surprised Zagreus has heard of it. The constellations are privy to modern times in his world, but this man is different. ]

You've seen a movie here?

[ With confident steps, he leads them to Mirth. ]

[Zagreus hums an affirmative, he falls into step and follows Joonghyuk's steps easily (he's used to following people who are a lot taller than him, after all).

And yes, you can imagine him looking up at the screen, popcorn falling off his slack mouth in wonder at a mundane scene because he's used to the spectacular. ] I did. But it's been interesting.

[Is it interesting because he's learning something new, or are the movies fun? Porque no los dos. Zagreus loved learning that Mortals used their short time alive enjoying themselves in so many ways that it made him a bit envious. He's spent eternity idling about and being bored out of his mind; not even the books that he'd exchanged with Achilles helped.] I don't think I have gotten used to it yet. It can be very overwhelming.

[Says the guy who actually slays the Lernian Hydra over and over like it's nothing?]

[ Zagreus, just enjoy reading. Books are good? Granted, movies are a lot livelier. It doesn't take them long until they reach Mirth and their destination. The task bearer waves them over to give them a list of the missing movies...

Joonghyuk looks and squints. Really. ]

What did you usually do in the Underworld, then? Since it sounds like you can't watch people.

[ He passes the list to Zagreus to get a look at. ]

[He does! He does love a good book! Even though they're very purple prose-ish as it was customary where he was from, with callouts towards his extended family and the muses that seemingly had to be constantly on call with those authors, sheesh.

He reads through the list and he… recognizes one title. And only because he did hear people screaming inside the theater as he passed by it and barged into the middle of the session to make sure everyone was alright.]

Are these… well, a lot of these sound ominous, or is it just me?

They're horror classics.

[ He isn't surprised to see them here in the Netherworld. There are many afterlives and which one you're sent to is a flip of a coin. Their media may come with them as they become Restless.

Overall, he doesn't seem enthused about the genre and starts his search. It's a big mundane... But he prefers it over something more exciting or dangerous. ]

Still, just fiction.

[ In case Zagreus was scared. ]

Is it really fiction, considering someone like me is around? [Zag isn't exactly the type of person to get scared, and he somewhat understands why some of the Shades in the House would gather to tell tall tales of how they died and how many would gather to listen. Sometimes Zag would join them, even if he didn't feel as strongly about these spooky stories as many others. Sometimes they felt spooky just for the sake of being such.

Following him around, he does peer into an empty theater.] Should we look in here?

Reality can be fiction to someone else, but for this case it is fiction until proven otherwise.

[ Joonghyuk thinks he himself has enough experience in this, but he doesn't elaborate on his oddly poignant opinion. It shouldn't be too odd... Considering Zagreus is a god, written myth "living" and "breathing."

An existence is enough to be a counterpoint. Anyway, movies. ]

We should.

[ Has Zag invested in shoes...? ]

I see. [He has not, and the ember-like glow to them seems to grow steadier by the day if only he hadn't been suddenly struck with a disease that snuffed it out if only a little. His feet are still bare, however, the heat of them is still there at times when he dashes.

Zagreus pushes the heavily-insulated door and walks through with a nod. The room seems a lot colder when it's empty.] What exactly are we looking for, then? I wonder if it's something I can recognize.

... You should consider having a pair of shoes. People can be messy and the floors of a theater can be a battlefield.

[ Trauma of sticky floors. He isn't sure if he misses the floors clinging to the soles of his shoes like adhesive, but hopefully this place is cleaner? Maybe they do maintenance often? ]

That man didn't specify, but the modes of movies are a small circle disc, a large circular reel, a small rectangle, or even a small rectangle device that fits in your palm.

[ Following in, they see that a foreign film is playing on the screen. ]

[Said and done. Zag does raise a foot to peek at the sole of it, the stickiness of spilled soda on carpet lingering for a moment until it melts.

When Zag gives his next step, it's not without a 'squelch'.] Yuck. I guess you're right.

[Excuse him while he still looks at the screen with wide eyes, somewhat surprised that mortals have managed to create things like this. Would Hephaestus, perhaps Prometheus, be proud of their achievements over the years?]

So that means we must keep an eye on several things simultaneously. Alright. [Sounds easy. Right? Right.

He points at the large screen.] Do you know this one?

[ Usually, he never pities people... He seldom ever looks apologetic, but in this case Zagreus can have the rare case where he pities him. Sticky residue against the soles of your feet is AWFUL. UNACCEPTABLE. He would rather die (not really). ]

Possibly. Technology has gone through many advancements, but it doesn't make the past obsolete.

[ He wanders, checking the corners and any hidden areas, but when Zagreus points out the movie, he looks to it.

What plays is a series of replaying the same series of events, each slightly different than the last, with every end leaving the main character the last one standing. Quiet, he simmers at the possibility that this is a pointed assault or coincidence. ]

No.

[It's gross and ew. He agrees though he does frown.] Why is the floor like this, anyway?

[Excuse him while the godling looks up at the screen, and… that. He recognizes that tone. The unimpressed and peeved (unimpressed because he's peeved) lilt in another person's voice. He's heard so much of it before he ended up in this place.]

I see. [He tilts his head, his laurels flaring just a little as he peeks under the seats.] Would hate for it to be some sort of attack or something.