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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

[ guess who's snooping around the forges as well, standing out like a sore thumb in the underground passages in her white dress?

to be fair, no one's seen her slip into the passages, the path barely lit by the glowing stones on her clothes, surprisingly quite adept at sneaking around as well. that, and a lot of the guards are seemingly preoccupied with something, thick tension brewing in stygia as a result. a part of her wonders what it's all about, if it's related to the events from last month, if something terrible is going to happen soon.

not that there isn't anything happening right now, suddenly struck with the reflex to cough rather harshly. one hand reaches out for the wall, her other hand pressed tightly over her mouth as her throat ejects a handful of bright red petals.

but even before she can recover, she's whipping around, a silver sword in the hand that once held windwheel aster petals. a spot of blood stains the corner of her lips as her expression tightens, her eyes narrowing in the dimness. she can sense something—no, someone. ]

Who's there?

[The flash of the sword draws him to pause, a healthy distance away from its brandished blade. He heard her coughing; it doesn't take much to piece together the rest, having witnessed several other Restless now suffering around Stygia. Himself among them.]

Relax. I mean you no harm.

[His voice calls out, echoing off the cavern walls, silhouette far more subtle than her own, dark and soundless. It's no wonder she hadn't noticed his approach until he was right there. Or perhaps she sensed him — it seems possible, even if they don't share the same abilities.]

Uchiha Sasuke. I am one of several Restless who arrived more recently. [He steps forward, doing nothing to hide the sheathed weapon at his own waist.] And you? If you're in this area, you must be aware of the Forges. What is your goal here?

[ there's a long beat, before lumine dismisses her sword, the blade disappearing into a flurry of gold despite her gaze briefly brushing over his own weapon. ever since she's somehow found herself debilitated by this strange illness, it's felt like her guard has been lowered, her attention divided between the variety of teyvat flowers that she seems to be expelling her lungs and the rest of the netherworld.

it's disconcerting and unsettling, to say the least. ]

I wanted to see what the fuss is all about it.

[ she's heard more than enough about soul-forging; the blacksmith she's delivered the star fragments, too, wasn't exactly very secretive about it. the fact that only a handful of people are knowledgeable of the art is piquing her curiosity. ]

I guess you're here for that reason, too?

[Mismatched eyes chase the movement of the vanishing blade, evidence as he predicted of an ability, although not one he recognizes. Only seals can make weapons disappear, in his experience; obviously the same does not apply to otherworldly natures. It's vague, but he senses something unusual in the young woman's presence — however that may be his instinct alone.

He chooses not to answer the question too directly.]

It's a dangerous place. Not all of the tunnels surroundings the Forges are stable, some will collapse if you aren't careful. And beneath it is darkness. [An area that even he has yet to venture, one he's heard called the Labyrinth. He has no certainty he would be able to emerge again.] ... By "fuss", you mean the soul-forging. Have you heard the screams? Those are other Restless just like us.

[ soul-forging. again, it's not surprising that he knows or has heard about it. ]

Aripi had mentioned it in passing while explaining the purpose of the star fragments she requested.

[ and that's not the first she's heard of it as well. merchants and traders, even sailors who linger around the harbor have reminded her of the impermanence of items in the netherworld. that only soul-forged items last for a long time, but that requires certain practices. a certain art.

and as if responding to his warning, lumine takes a step back in time for a section of the floor to collapse, a gaping sinkhole on one side of the tunnel becoming apparent in its wake. ]

... Is this where the Reapers bring some of the Restless who just woke up?

[He didn't seek a longer conversation with Aripi, not past the initial explanation of the star fragments, but that does make him interested to know whether this woman went further into the Hinterlands to pursue them. When he had tried, the small, fiery elementals wouldn't allow his passage, and with how his powers are unreliable it had proved too treacherous to continue.

The ground beneath them crumbles; they're separated by the gap. He steps forward and leaps across the distance so they are within proximity once again.

At her question, Sasuke raises a brow.] You haven't told me who you are yet. [Trade him for that info!!]

[ lumine turns around and takes a few steps forward, somehow anticipating his jump but still ready to drag him onto more stable foothold if he suddenly stumbles back. not that he seems like the type if he were the type to sneak up on her until the very last minute, but she can't be sure. and that hole right there sounds like a downward path to this world's abyss. ]

Lumine.

[ she offers him a smile when he's back on solid ground before she starts walking back down the path, her pace slow and careful to keep herself from opening another sinkhole into the ground. ]

I'm also a Restless who woke up a few weeks ago.

I don't recognize your name.

[Yes, he has made a point to keep track of most of the Restless currently inhabiting this place, or at least those who arrived around the same time as him, given their varying uniqueness.

Sasuke is content to continue walking their path through the tunnel in relative quiet.]

If you're out here in the wildness of Stygia often, then I suppose it was inevitable our paths would cross.

I normally don't announce it anywhere.

[ she prefers discretion, blending in and not catching the attention of the entire world; the previous one she was in knows her well enough that any problems that arise are placed on her shoulders for her to bear. not really the kind of reputation she wants to build here again.

lumine lifts an eyebrow at his remark, glancing at him over her shoulder. ]

Oh? I didn't think there was anyone else interested in wandering around here ...

[ most of the people she's met have lingered in the city, preferring the safety and comfort in numbers. out here, there was no saying what might happen to them next. ]