[CLOSED] PLAYER PLOT: The Ashes Underneath His Nails

[amygdalae]

WHO: Jim Kirk, Hermione Granger, Adelaide Leblanc, Herian Amsel, Anders, Inessa Serra, Raylan Gibbs, Ciri
WHAT: The Inquisition sends a group of agents to uncover the truth behind a string of mysterious disappearances.
WHEN: Kingsway 1st - 8th
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: Plotting post is here - feel free to post in there still for queries and concerns and further stuff where needed. Warnings for blood, violence, talks about death, experimentation horror, abomination-related stuff etc and eventual on-screen child death. ALSO no tag order - just respond when you feel like you should and I'll try to hit it back if it feels appropriate!!

QUICK JUMP LINKS TRAVELLING TO FROMAGE & FROMAGE GENERAL THREAD ROUTE INVESTIGATION SEEKRIT CAVE ENTRANCE INTO THE SEEKRIT CAVE CAVE INVESTIGATION - LEFT TEAM CAVE INVESTIGATION - RIGHT TEAM KID ABOMINATION THREAD BACK TO SKYHOLD

(—he remembers the chill of the frost and snow biting at bare skin, its usual pure white now tinged a horrid pink from the blood on his hands. He's far away from them now, the danger and the pain and everything else, but the blood will forever be on his hands no matter how much he tries to wash it away. His father had been right all along. He truly was a monster of the greatest kind.)

QUEST: THE ASHES UNDERNEATH HIS NAILS (PART I) The message had come swiftly, the letter itself hastily written with a shaky hand. The request itself was simple; a plea for help from a village at the outskirts of Emprise du Lion, whose people have been mysteriously disappearing over the last few weeks. Considering the ongoing civil unrest that's still transpiring in Orlais the Inquisition made its decision to send out a team of agents to look into this message and see exactly what was going on. The eight agents tasked with the mission were given enough time to prepare for the trip ahead. They would all meet up first at the Inquisition camp set within the Emprise and from there travel for about a day until they reached where their destination was - Fromage, a quaint little village that rested at the outskirts of the area. From that point on, it was up to the agents of the Inquisition to solve this ongoing mystery. The mission: to discover the truth behind these disappearances - and to stop it, if possible.

Comments

[ichaer]

The repetition of markings is noted but tucked away to the back of her mind for now. There is a million and one things they could have been counting and until Ciri finds some serious evidence then she's just randomly guessing, hoping something sticks.

Though she does make a note to get the rest of these doors open. Perhaps some keys had been left and if not? Well there was more physical ways of getting in.

Nevertheless, she glances around the well-furnished cell before stepping in. She can't help looking at the walls, trying to see if there too like in the other cells.

[amygdalae]

Unfortunately there are no keys - and a search will ultimately prove futile, too. Attempting brute force yields no results too, since the doors are apparently rather heavily reinforced - the Red Templars seemed to want to make sure that absolutely nobody would be able to get out of this place.

The well-furnished cell isn't going to win any awards for being comfortable any time soon, but it definitely looks a lot better than any of the other cells Ciri passed by and had been in, in one case. There's an actual bed set up at the end as well as a table at the corner, right next to the entrance of the cell itself. Near the ceiling is a tiny window that's somehow carved out, with bars across it. All in all its a nice cell - but still very much a cell all the same.

[ichaer]

She takes in the sight of the whole cell and tries to imagine who or what might have been in here before. Why make this so much nicer compared to the other cells? There's a lot to consider but she figures that she must start somewhere.

Stepping into the cell, she approaches the table for any clues.

[amygdalae]

The table for the most part is pretty barren - it's also a very simple four-legged table, so there's no fancy drawers or anything like that. All it really has is one book that's left open partway and then a couple of empty vials set at the corner.

[ichaer]

Although the book has her attention, she picks up one of the empty vials to check for anything that might have been left at the bottom of the vial and if there was nothing to see then she'll give it a quick sniff. Might as well see if she can figure out anything, right?

In the meantime, she'll also be glancing at the book's cover.

[amygdalae]

The book's cover is pretty plain and simple, just a standard cover that most other books have - though it is very worn out, the title printed it so faded that its unreadable.

However, the book may be the last thing on Ciri's mind right now the moment she sniffs at the vials, because it does contain a smell she may be familiar with.

Specifically, lyrium.

[dashing]

"How goes your search, Warden?"

Herian holds the carefully rolled up pieces of parchment that were once a letter in one hand, a staff that she did not have when they got here in the other, the head of the staff a gnarled twist of wood that burns constantly.

[ichaer]

The smell is unmistakable. She has been around mage's long enough to be familiar with it but what she remembers most comes from her Joining. The taste of lyrium stood out even with the overpowering taste of blood that accompanied it. She sets the vial back in place for Herian's voice to reach her, keeping a hold on the book for now as she idly flips through the pages looking for marked pages, written notes or just trying to figure out what the book was about.

"It seems I found the Royal suite of this dungeon." Which was putting it lightly. "I haven't had a chance to go through it completely but there's a lot of empty vials in here that used to be filled with lyrium."

[amygdalae]

The book doesn't have any marked pages or notes or anything like that at all - in fact its nothing like the journals or Circle tombs that others have found.

Because the book that Ciri is looking at right now is actually a storybook. A storybook meant for children, to be specific.

[dashing]

"And I had been so hoping for a hot spring." In this, this so called royal suite. Shameful.

So very flatly said, and yet maybe, just perhaps, there is a note of something lighter in there. (Or perhaps not. Probably not. This is not entirely a time for jokes, even if they might need them in the face of such grim realities.)

"Lyrium? For the templars to augment their strength, do you think?"

[ichaer]

A storybook for children? It's enough to get her mind spinning, questioning every little detail and always coming back to one conclusion. The one thing she didn't want to think about currently.

"That's a possibility. The red stuff makes you crazy, right? Wouldn't surprise me if they had to lock up some of their fellows that were getting out of hand."

There's a part of her that doesn't believe it so simple. "But they could have also been giving it to the people they kidnapped."

[dashing]

"It former seems less likely," she agrees, quietly, gaze falling on the book, expression flicking just slightly. She almost holds her hand out, but stops herself, looking to Ciri. "May I?"

Regardless of the outcome, Herian's jaw flexes a little. "If you are right," and she dreads that it is more likely than not, "then the people here were all but tortured to their deaths."

And there were children here, either as witnesses or victims. She feels sick.