[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

[circleprodigy]

Garahel whines softly at Ciri, obviously not happy with this plan. Whatever was in there, it was enough to turn away even a war hound. Inessa tries to soothe him, stroking his head. She nods with a defeated sigh, wishing she had taken a little more time so that Ciri wouldn't have to see it for herself. But she can't bring herself to move one more step forward, so there's little option.

"...alright. I hope you find a pattern, something to make this viewing worthwhile."

[ichaer]

She offers her friend a quick smile, reaching down to pet Garahel atop the head before returning to where she had left her torch in her hurry. Only a moment passes before she comes up, pulling on the hood of her armor forward to cover her mouth with cloth and stepping inside.

Yeah, it wasn't a pretty sight at all but she has to do this.

Setting her sword against the wall, she kneels and tries to better study the areas where has been gouged out. She's looking for anything to tell her what might have been the reason for these areas to be gouged out, hoping they missed something but knowing that was a shot in the dark.

ciri is the hero we deserve

[amygdalae]

Ciri wasn't there to see it but the injuries on this body are very similar to the ones that Herian found. From the gouged out bits, to where they seem to be centered at--it almost feels like its a process by now, really.

From the fact that the blood is still pretty red and the general smell of everything its clear enough that this had been recent enough. Though the body is long since cold, rigor mortis hasn't yet set in.

As for looking in the places... most of them don't have much, but there's a glint of something small at the chest area, where the heart should've been.

blessed are those that put their hands in some dead dude's body cavity

[ichaer]

With the state of the other dead bodies unknown to her, Ciri notes where the gouges are and just how deep they go. Anatomy is and has never been something that even mildly interested her. Yet she has seen enough dead people in her life to take notice of the missing organs even if their importance (beyond the heart) is beyond her.

But she shines her torch, moving bloody flesh in order to get a better look until the glint of something caught in the light stands out. Despite what she has done so far, she does not immediately reach for the glint with her hand given the continued appearance of lyrium.

Instead, she removes a knife from her boot and she leans in for a better look. Using the blade she digs around, trying to dislodge the glint for a better look.

bruce probably did it before, unfortunately for him

[amygdalae]

That's probably a good choice, considering what Ciri gets out from the body reveals the glint to be a small shard of red lyrium once she can get the blood off. Nowhere big enough to really affect anyone at all, but its clearly there. And clearly had been in somebody's dead body.

[circleprodigy]

"...Ciri?" She hasn't staggered back out, so that's...good? At least, Inessa hopes so. But if she's lingering, she might have seen something that the elven Warden didn't, and Inessa already starts blaming herself. If she'd forced down that revulsion, there might not have been need for a second trip.

Garahel lets out a worried, inquiring noise, a 'do you need me to help you out' sound.

[ichaer]

Bingo.

Gently, she balances the small shard on the blade of her knife and breathes out an unsteady breath of air. She's seen the Red Templars with engorged veins burning red against their pale faces and she's seen others with large pieces growing from their bodies. Obviously it could grow inside people but why someone like this? They didn't look like a Templar that was overcome by the red lyrium infection inside them and needing a place like this...?

"Maker's fucking breath." She didn't want to believe but what else could they be down here for? A fucking cave with cells filled with mundane trinkets and children's books. The Red Templars likely couldn't harvest the red lyrium from their own until death and when you need so much that having it literally breaking through the earth isn't enough... then what else could you do besides make yourself a farm?

Thankfully, Inessa's voice is enough to break her away from her building anger and she hurriedly moves to stand.

"I... I'm fine! Do you have an empty vial that I can use, I found something." She doesn't think to wipe her hands off before leaving the cell but she's more concerned in making sure they don't lose the shard balanced on the blade of her knife.

[circleprodigy]

Reaching into her travel bag, Inessa searches until she find an empty vial. She always keeps a few on hand, just in case they collect herbs on the way or somesuch. Forcing herself to focus and not retreat from the cell despite every instinct in her wanting to do just that, she pauses at the entrance and holds the vial out.

"Here." She offers it, eyes widening when she catches sight of the red lyrium shard. "...Maker, please tell me it's not what I think it is." Of course it is, because it's that sort of day.

[ichaer]

Silently, she curses before moving so they were a bit further from the cell. Setting the torch down, she takes the offered vial and carefully uses her knife to ease the shard in before capping it. Ciri wants to go back in and get her sword but she forces herself to stand there, taking a few deep breaths before nodding.

"Red lyrium, a leftover shard from where their heart had been. It's why people have gone missing, why a place like this even exists." Why she feels nothing for the Red Templars they killed on the way in here. "They're farming red lyrium from the kidnapped victims, forcing them to ingest and grow it inside them."

[circleprodigy]

That typical stoicism having fallen for the time being, Inessa can't hold back a shudder. Her eyes harden and her lips form a thin line, anger serving as a saving grace against all the horror that statement provides. "...a red lyrium farm. Those bastards. Every one of them needs to pay for this."

Every single one, not just the Red Templars they've seen so far. If they're all complicit, then they have to die. Garahel steps over and growls, in full agreement.

[ichaer]

"We won't let them get away with this."

There is a moment when she has to hold herself back from crushing the vial in her hands. A moment where her anger almost goes unchecked as she tries to ignore the sticky blood on her hands.

"We fight the Blight, right? They're turning this into a Blight and won't be happy until the whole world is infected with red lyrium with more doing shit like this. I won't allow it."

[circleprodigy]

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Inessa nods firmly as her gaze remains fixated on that vial. "I would say this counts as Grey Warden business, as much as Adamant. We know what even a small portion of this is capable of doing. If this spreads unchecked...we can't allow it, whatever it takes."

Her mabari steps over and bumps them both gently, then steps away and stares. Please don't be in that awful place anymore.

[ichaer]

Glancing downwards, Ciri smiles at the mabari before looking to Inessa. Right, they could do this. This is why they were here. There didn't have to be a Blight for them to try and save the world.

Carefully, she sets the vial in her belt pouch and returns to the cell to grab her sword. She holds it tightly in her hand to help control any shaking that might come out in her anger.

"Right, come on. Let's go meet up with the others and tell them what we've found." There's a pause as she flexes her fingers, frowning. "And maybe somewhere for me to wash my hands."

[circleprodigy]

Without hesitation, Inessa withdraws her waterskin. "This can do, for the mean time. I'm not thirsty at all. Take it." Honestly, it's as much for her benefit as it is Ciri's. Blood alone doesn't make her squeamish, but knowing where it came from and how...well, she'd rather not be starkly reminded of that every time she happens to glance at her companion.

[ichaer]

Her walking stops before it even starts, glancing back at Inessa and then to the waterskin. "Thanks, Nessa. You're a dream."

She gratefully accepts it, pouring water over her hands and rubbing them together. Most of the blood comes off easily enough but she can still see it under her nails but she can't think about that now. No, right now there was something at the forefront of her mind.

"What if I told you I wanted to take one of the Red Templars back with us?" It comes out slightly mumbled and half unsure of why she was even asking this. "One of the corpses to study the effects of red lyrium. Not back to Skyhold, of course but Valeska's Watch is nearby."

[circleprodigy]

Inessa's about to recommend gloves, noting the blood underneath her nails as well, but Ciri definitely gets her attention with that question. She automatically goes tense at first, though because it's Ciri she gives the issue genuine thought rather than dismissing it outright due to fear and revulsion. "That's true, it's not far. I...if you believe some good can come of it, I would help you. But we would still have to take care to limit our exposure. Even now, I can hear that hum."