faderift | OPEN: Kirkwail

WHO: Anyone
WHAT: Ghosts
WHEN: Wintermarch 20
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: OOC post. More content warnings than you can shake a stick at, probably, including allusions to slavery and violence in the body of the log post. Please use appropriate warnings in the subject lines for your own threads.

The storm sweeps in like an assassin: unexpected, in the dark, and throwing sharp pricks of sleet at exposed eyes and noses with expert aim and enough force to almost draw blood if the angle is right. Half an hour after the clouds crest the cliffs is all it takes for the city to retract indoors and huddle around fireplaces, settling in for a long night that will, unforeseen, turn into a long two days.

The Gallows, too, is pelted with ice; the walls of the cliffs and the fortress protect much of it from the worst of the wind, but when it can find a path over or through the walls, it slams through windows or doors to scatter papers and snuff out fires.

In the dark, in the rain, hurrying between towers or already accustomed to jumping firelight casting strange shadows and the wind howling like a wounded animal, people might be forgiven if they don't notice at first. But there's a hanging in the courtyard, a dozen translucent wisps of bodies dangling from the idea of nooses, and there's a girl's voice in the basement of the templar tower screaming for her mother, and there's a ghostly man in the library holding the blade of a knife to his palm and whispering this is it, this is it—or maybe there isn't, actually, when you lift your head to pay closer attention.

But as the night wears on they multiply, and they brighten, and even if you haven't noticed them, they begin to notice you.

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Kain is recoiling, shaking as his wide eyes scan the room with considerable fear. He's completely petrified, frozen up with the absolute terror that the sight presents. He hears Inessa's words, but it's as if they're coming from afar. That eerie red glow is all too bright, too real.

"But- but look at it! There were infected people, just now, and- and we have no choice but to destroy this before it destroys us! Isn't that so, Garahel?" Kain puts a hand on his sword, ready to draw it out and commence with smashing it all to bits. But he does pause, just for a moment, with one more glance toward Inessa. What's real right now? What if she's the illusion?

Inessa knows that look, rather certain it's been on her own face more than once throughout this ordeal. As Garahel growls and stands before them protectively, she approaches Kain's sword-side and pinches his hand, hard. "Yes, I'm real. So is Garahel. Ignore the rest and listen to me, please."

She certainly feels real, doesn't she? Kain's eyes widen as he looks around, then toward her. It can't be a trick of the senses, right? He hopes not, because he needs to believe she's real right now. The vision he's experiencing is too horrifying otherwise.

He squeezes her hand. He still looks a little pale and unsettled, though. "I'm... I'm trying. It's just that it all... it seems so real..."

"I know, I know. The spirits are trying to get a reaction, so don't let them have it. The more you give them, the more they will hound you." A person who gives in to fear or any other sought emotion will be nothing but a buffet...and she can't let that happen to Kain of all people.

Do they see a weakness in him, he wonders. Could they sense how easily manipulated he could be, how he'd been controlled by blood magic before? It's probably not a major step to go on to become some spirit's plaything... Kain shudders, making a repulsed expression as he looks away for a moment. But then he slowly nods.

"You're right. But it's all... it's right here in front of me, taunting me. It's that future that I... I thought we'd avoid, but now I don't know..." He grimaces. "How can I possibly fight something like this?"

"Against a constant assault...I can only think to say that we need to remind ourselves of what is real and what isn't. If this is happening all over the Gallows, anything out of place is likely the spirits trying to get a reaction out of us. That doesn't make it any easier to bear, I know, but...."

"But we must fight it anyway." He puts a hand to his head, grimacing again. "Why are they doing this? Why now? Has... has something unsettled them? I don't like this, at all..." Worse yet, will they have to put up with this indefinitely? Or might there be some way to calm them? He isn't exactly an expert on these matters, though.

Inessa may know more about the Veil, but she seems just as lost and distraught over this set of circumstances. Glancing back nervously, she sighs. "I would think so, but just what's happened to set them off, I don't know. We'll need to find out sooner than later, though. This kind of assault doesn't just go away...."

"So you're saying... we have no choice but to do something about this? It won't just run its course?" That's just as troubling as anything else about this whole matter. This sort of thing is so outside of his own expertise that he feels a bit lost for what to do. He just wants it all to stop... It seems he'll have to rely on Inessa's knowledge for this, alongside that of any other mages. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes, then. Even if I'm not too sure what that entails."

"Nor am I." Inessa shakes her head, pale and drawn. All her arcane training has not prepared her for this moment, and she's at a a loss. It's an unfamiliar, unpleasant feeling, being completely adrift. But she's not alone, and that gives her enough strength to keep the fog of panic at bay for now. "We'll ask around, look around...as long as there's any place unexplored, we're not done."

Kain nods slowly, taking a deep, calming breath. At least they're in this together at the moment. It's not so easy to deal with it alone. He'd almost thought he was going crazy at first, but... there's a lot more to it than that. Ugh, how he hates dealing with this sort of thing, something that's so far beyond him...

"Then let's see what we can find out. Anything has to be better than just waiting around." He's never one to stay idle anyway, preferring to take some kind of action whenever he possibly can.

OPEN: Kirkwail

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