[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]

In the quiet of their travels from Fromage there is little to tell if one looks toward the ashen-haired Warden. Her eyes remain focused forward on the path, leading the group and keeping attention outwards on their surroundings if there happened to be any lingering Red Templars. To her disappointment there is nothing so she continues to walk and listen.

Once they reach the comforts of an inn she immediately heads to the fireplace. Sitting before it, her sword has been removed and she carefully begins to work a whetstone down the blade. It does not seem to have taken any lasting damage which is enough for her in this aftermath. It is not hard to tell how well she treats the blade, easily better than herself as she sits there with blood under her nails and irritating patches of red standing out on the pale skin.

As the night goes on then she might again near the fire, staring forward with narrowed eyes and a tired expression. As a Warden, she has an excuse in the form of their nightmares to keep her from drifting off again. It is a state she is used to being in since her conscription almost four years ago. And as dawn begins to appear over the horizon does she move outside, beginning her training as she twist, turns and flips in the snow. Her sword feels heavier in her hands today but in the end, it is no matter. She'll simply push herself harder.

[circleprodigy]

After her meltdown in the cave, Inessa lets Ciri lead her wherever without protest. She says nothing at all for some time, that thousand-yard stare not even cured by Garahel's presence, though the mabari himself is very subdued. There's no begging of any kind from him, or the energy to do more than be a silent figure at their side.

At the inn, she slowly comes out of her trance-like state, though is still visibly exhausted on all fronts. And yet, she won't sleep. It's not the Grey Warden nightmares keeping her up, but the thought of what she knows she'll see if she dares close her eyes. So she'll sit quietly by the fire cradling a cup of tea that she only sporadically remembers to sip, staring at the flames but not really seeing them.

[ichaer]

Although there is not a lot that does not show on her face there is an unmistakable worry (or perhaps anger?) that has stuck with her since they have left those caves. It was hard to offer her support and even harder to find the words to say that could help Inessa out of her mental lock down following everything that had happened.

She is still watching the fire when she finally glances to her friend, blinking once before raising and move to sit down beside her. Once more there is nothing that comes to mind so she simply bumps there shoulders together and sighs.

[circleprodigy]

That gentle bumping is enough to rouse Inessa out of her staring, and she leans in a little, rubbing at her eyes. Those eyelids are getting heavier, but she'll fight the urge as long as she can, just watch. Garahel wags his tail a little at Ciri but otherwise doesn't move from his spot.

"...I'm sorry." Her voice is a little rough from disuse, so she clears her throat. "I shouldn't have clung to the idea of a cure as long as I did. He...it...was past saving."

[ichaer]

"You don't have to apologize to me."

She hates it. Ciri remembers everything at Weisshaupt and she has heard of the horrors that happened in the Circle during the Blight when her friend would have only been a child. Seeing something like that happen as it did would not be easy on anyone even someone like herself that wished to cut down the boy.

All she can do is sigh. "I should be apologizing. I shouldn't have stopped my attack or I should have gotten you out of there... you shouldn't have had to watch that."

[circleprodigy]

Inessa sighs and looks as though she's about to protest; she wouldn't have wanted others to focus on her needs at the expense of what needed to be done. But the words stick in her throat, and she swallows hard, wishing that the image of the boy could fade from her mind, knowing it won't. Sharp memory isn't always a blessing.

"...I've never seen a child abomination in the tower before. I don't think. Those in the tower were all the same size, much larger. If they were, they were warped beyond recognition. It...it wasn't like this, where you could still see the child that was." Which is significantly worse, in her mind. That voice speaking out of a child's mouth will forever haunt her.

[ichaer]

There is a moment of silence that follows as Inessa speaks to her. It is one where she simply stares off into the distance without much of an expression, her fingers drumming out an unknown tune and helping to calm her nerves.

"The red lyrium... it must have done something to change the entire process. The mages we lost in Weisshaupt did not look like that either when they became abominations." It is the only thing she can imagine as to why everything went so, so wrong.

Quietly, she stops drumming her fingers and offers one hand to Inessa to take if she wants. She cannot think of the words to help but perhaps this gesture would help to let her friend know that she'll be here. She'll help in whatever way she can.

[circleprodigy]

That offered hand is taken, Inessa's smaller fingers wrapping around it and giving a gentle squeeze. She doesn't expect Ciri to lift the weight in their hearts; that's too much for any one person, but having her near keeps her calmer, more focused. That's something, isn't it?

"We need to learn more about what they're doing...and stop them. Corypheus is still our main target, but I want every Red Templar dead. If they're doing this elsewhere...." The thought sticks in her throat and she can't continue.

[ichaer]

Although Ciri still feels like shit this is enough for now, she thinks. It helps to soothe her nerves and keep that fire of anger running through her veins from overtaking everything again. Idly, she raises a hand to her face and touches the scar there. It has been months since the events that ended with Weisshaupt burning to the ground but sometimes she finds pain lingering where the staff blade cut her face open.

"We'll stop them. We have to stop them. I can't..." She stiffens, chewing on her lip briefly. "We can't let this happen to someone else."

[circleprodigy]

Inessa's eyes stray to that scar, deeper and more extensive than her own. It's bothered her that she couldn't do more to lessen it or the pain, her meager healing not being enough on that end. She nods and stares downward again, swallowing hard. "No, we can't. If we can't save those they take, what's the point? No one deserves that fate...."

[justice_is_blond]

He sits down next to her at the fire, watching her take care of her blade for a while as he slowly sips an ale for the sole reason that it seems cleaner than the water here. It takes that time for him to find words.

"I'm sorry," Anders finally opens with. "I made a bad call." It had been based on desperate hope and not logistics, and that's not how a call should be made. There's a reason he's glad he's fourth in line for leading the Wardens and not further up.

[ichaer]

There is no strength in Ciri to reach out, to talk or ask how the others are faring. Her mind has solely spun around Nessa and her well-being in this aftermath. Even now there is worry that is surging through her body and it sets her on edge but she does not let it show on her face.

That isn't to say she does not appreciate the broken silence despite not looking up from her work. For a long moment, she is quiet but finally there is a pause in her work and she speaks:

"... It is not wrong to believe your actions possible. Especially when you have lived it and achieved the impossible." She says setting the whetstone aside to grab the small bottle of oil from her pack. "I take no pride in having been right in that Maker forsaken place."

[justice_is_blond]

While she's quiet and working, he pulls out his own staff and looks it over. It's singed. There's damage there that he can't repair, and it's been looking a bit ragged for some time now. He'll need to replace it. Somehow. At least for now he can put a sealing oil on the wood and let it protect the thing until it falls apart.

Her words bring him some relief, and he looks up from his poor staff. She's not upset. She's not holding a grudge. That's always a pleasant surprise. Of course, now he's left not sure of what to say. Few of his apologies have gone that easily in the past.

"...Is your blade all right?" Maybe he should have just tried flirtation. That, he's at least good at.

[ichaer]

"If I have one regret it is that Nessa has suffered yet again. First Weisshaupt and now here, I should have not stopped my attack but..."

But what? For a brief moment she might have believed it possible to save the kid? It seems such a tiring thought now and she simply returns her focus to applying oil to her blade. In the end, she can only shake her head. She will not make the same mistake again.

The question earns him a thoughtful sound as Ciri holds the blade up allowing the lights of the fire to dance around the polished surface. "Thankfully not anything I cannot repair despite the grip he held on it. My hands and clothes suffered worse."

[justice_is_blond]

"You said yourself it's not wrong to believe things possible. Hope is hard. Rare, anymore. But isn't it preferable to give hope a chance rather than move to eliminate chances before you know for sure?"

It's obvious what he thinks, even though he's sorry he made the wrong call.

"I don't want Inessa hurt, and I'm sorry that she's hurt again. If you'd struck right away, though, you and Herian, how would you know you'd done the right thing?"

Not to mention it would have taken him much longer to tell them how to kill the child, because he wouldn't have been sure it was needed. The group would have been divided at best.

"On the other topic, if your hands are still injured, I could help with that." Or the clothes, but hands are most important.

[ichaer]

Tilting the blade, she watches the light of the flames dance around it.

"It is also not wrong to believe you are in the right even when everyone stands against you. Hope is hard in any situation but you have to know when it is too late. You have to know when to react so more do not suffer. I learned that the hard way in Weisshaupt."

She frowns, raising her free hand to touch the scar on her face. "I will be fine for now. They will simply serve as another reminder for the time being."

[justice_is_blond]

For several moments, again, he's very quiet. Then, voice low, offered with a tilt of his head:

"Or, sometimes, you learn that sometimes staying your hand even though everything looked hopeless would have been the best path. That sometimes hope deserves its day, needs its day."

Rushing to kill a possessed boy isn't on the same tier as what he did, but no one had known whether there was hope or not until the boy had clearly been lost. Who knows what would have happened if everyone had stayed calm?

"What happened here you'll remember, either way. Can I at least ease some of the physical pain?"

[ichaer]

"I did not draw my blade out of hopelessness. I drew my blade out of hope for those innocent ones that might suffer should we fall."

She takes no pride in having killed a boy but she considers them lucky it was only a small boy. If it had been an actual mage who knew how to control their powers, eaten by red lyrium and possessed then some of them might not even be here now.

"Of course... but this is ultimately my decision. I do not require your healing."

[justice_is_blond]

He could reframe what he'd done as well, hope for those he might save, but he knows what was at the root of his actions. Maybe she's right, or maybe she's in denial. He can't say; he doesn't know her well enough.

"All right." There's really nothing else to say to any of that. Instead, he returns to seeing what he can do for his blade and staff. Replacing it will take time so it needs to last a bit longer.

It'll be nice enough to work on his weapon in civil company. He doesn't need agreement here.