player plot: the horror of sarrux's pass

[aberratic]

WHO: Caius, Gwen, Hermione, Jayce, Ness, Siorus, Stephen, Vanya (sumptus, elegiaque, reparo, pathlit, aberratic, wildered, portalling, wearyallalone)
WHAT: The Horrors Cometh
WHEN: Beginning of Harvestmere (October)
WHERE: Sarrux's Pass, outside Wycome
NOTES: OOC post here. TWs for body horror, NPC death, ghost town/apocalypse vibes, children in upsetting situations, and general horror stuff.

Characters

CAIUS

GWENAËLLE

HERMIONE

JAYCE

NESS

SIORUS

STEPHEN

VANYA

The residents of Sarrux's Pass, a small village tucked into the mountains of the Free Marches, have long held that their settlement used to be a bustling trade city where dwarves were as plentiful as humans and they had constant contact between the surface and the Deep Roads. These were assumed by the surrounding cities to be nothing more than fanciful legends for decades, but any long-time resident swore it was the truth, lost to time and "monsters in the deep."

Residents were finally vindicated a few months ago when an earthquake caused a landslide in the surrounding mountains, revealing a long-lost outlet from the Deep Roads. At first, residents of the pass were apprehensive, all too aware of the dangers posed by such an opening, but the longer they went without Darkspawn spilling from the entrance, the more eager they became to investigate.

Eventually, the bravest among them began to enter the Roads, in search of ore and artifacts. They were vindicated again, finding both, and Sarrux's Pass quickly became a magnet for treasure hunters, Lords of Fortune, historians, archaeologists, and anyone in search of a quick buck. Even in the face of the Venatori invasion of the Marches, the promise of fame and riches drew handfuls of people seeking their fortunes to the Pass. News from the area was steady, and filled with discoveries and success stories—as well as the brawls, backstabbing, and even the occasional murder that comes with any good gold rush town.

It's been a few months since the reveal of the Deep Roads entrance. News from Sarrux's Pass has slowed to a trickle, then a drip, and now, in the past weeks, nothing. The last message to make it out of the village three weeks ago said simply: "We weren't just right about the dwarves." The parchment was stained with an unidentifiable liquid—not water, not blood—which smelled of the sea.

Riftwatch has been tasked with investigating the village, with three goals: find out what happened to the residents, recover whatever valuables they can from the Deep Roads, and, if necessary, close the entrance again. There may be Venatori in the area, or Darkspawn, or territorial prospectors—without contact with the village, there's no way of knowing what Riftwatch may discover. © tessisamess

Comments

[portalling]

In the background, Jayce’s voice remains a low comforting murmur toward the children, each sentence or question meeting another brick wall.

“It looks like it was burrowing in here when it died,” Strange says. “They might’ve been defending the basement from incursion; maybe that’s what happened to the rest of the town. It’s weird that they stayed, though.”

He presses the growths harder. Lifts a heavy dead arm, and finds… another arm growing out of the creature’s side, bent at unnatural angles, and his mouth thins. “I’m admittedly not very familiar with darkspawn; I haven’t encountered them before, and most of my readings on non-human biology has focused on the races I might need to treat in Riftwatch. But ogres are supposed to have the usual number of limbs, don’t they?”

Perhaps he shouldn’t discuss these details so openly, so matter-of-factly, but he needs to pass this information to his colleague. And the children are—

Almost certainly horrifically traumatised, from whatever they’d seen here. Whatever happened. So that ship’s already sailed. The damage has already been done.

[pathlit]

He frowns, further unnerved. What kind of question is that?

After a beat of indecision, Jayce rises to take a step back from the children. He reaches into the pack at his hip, procuring jerky wrapped in waxed cloth, and pulls out a piece. Intentionally, he bites it in front of them, chews, and swallows. Then, he carefully sets the rest of the bundle down onto the floor in front of them.

Still watching the pair, he takes another step back, then turns and approaches Strange's space -- and the corpse.

"The usual, yeah," he says, glancing over his shoulder at the kids before looking at the orge's body. Disgust crosses his expression. "Limited personal experience, but I haven't seen one like this before."

When he turns away, it's both to look at the children and to breathe. They haven't moved, nor have they accepted the offering of food.

[portalling]

“Okay. Yep. Just checking.” Strange lets the arm drop; that mass of limbs flops, the odd horned protrusions more visible now. Cells dividing too quickly, he thinks. Tumorous.

Standing side-by-side with Jayce as they both glance back at the children, he adds, more quietly now, “I wish they’d say something.” Both for the children’s own sake, and more selfishly because he wants information and answers, and they’re not being very forthcoming this way — also, well, it’s a little freaky. The two of them sitting silent and watchful, clinging to each other, mute. Uncharitably: he’s seen the horror movies. It’s always two fucked-up kids luring you to places you shouldn’t be.

“Trauma can make people go non-verbal, though, and…” A helpless gesture of a hand at that tunnel yawning underground, the monster dead in it. Trauma.

[pathlit]

At least one of them wields the knowledge of pop culture.

His attention follows the direction of Strange's gesture. "It could be us," he says, matching the good doctor's volume. "What about... Tavane or Granger?"

A quick mental survey of their little party yields the following conclusion: Ness and Hermione are the only two members who, on first impressions, appear soft and kind and small. Maybe the children might instinctively trust one of them than the rest.

[portalling]

It could be them. He’d been starting to consider the same; he feels helplessly out of his depth with the children, and there’s the needling urge to pass on this particular responsibility and find someone perhaps better-suited to wrangling them.

Is Gwenaëlle good with kids or impatient with them like he is? (Something to ask, later, maybe.) Jayce is already one of the kinder members of their group, but he’s just so goddamned big. And Ennaris has a particular advantage here —

“Tavane,” Strange says, decisive. “Keep an eye on them, I’ll go grab her and let them know we’ve found something.”

Volunteering is to a purpose: a few minutes later, he’s found Ennaris out in the square and led her back to the root cellar with an explanation, quietly bending his head to her ear for the last detail. “They’re both non-verbal. We’ve introduced ourselves, Talis has tried speaking to them, offering them food, I’ve asked them questions. They just won’t speak at all. We were thinking,” he adds with a significant look, “that perhaps you might have better luck.”

[aberratic]

Ness heard frightened kids and didn't need further convincing, following after Stephen at a brisk clip—even walking fast, though, the tall bastard's long legs mean that she has to skip a little every third step just to keep up, but that's being 5'2" for you. The first she pauses, in fact, is as she realizes Stephen's implication, glancing quickly at Jayce, then to the children, then the dead ogre in the corner.

After a moment, she looks back to Stephen, apprehensive but trusting.

Are you sure that's wise? comes the question in his mind. For all we know blood magic may have been at work here. I don't want to scare them even more.

speedtag

[portalling]

I kind of think we can’t do any worse than it is already. And we need some answers, he says back. It’s a risky move, and perhaps someone a bit more cautious or sympathetic might have made a different choice, but he thinks it’s worth it.

To cover his tracks with Jayce and disguise that odd beat of silence in his telepathic response, Strange moves back to the ogre corpse. Horrible growths, yep, very interesting, what’s that over here—

gotta go fast!!

[aberratic]

It's the first time Ness has had occasion to lament her inability to hold multiple mental links at the same time, but something tells her it won't be the last. Retreating from Stephen's mind, she comes the rest of the way into the cellar, taking everything in. The children track her with their eyes, steady, but they don't move. They don't say anything. Jayce stands nearby, unsure, watching her. A corpse rots in the corner—the corner directly opposite the children.

Alright. Things to set right, first.

"Messere Tallis," she says, quiet, "Would you please stand—" Rather than estimate and point she takes him gently by the shoulders and begins moving him into position to block the ogre from the children's view.

[pathlit]

When Strange and Ness return, relief floods through Jayce's shoulders. Remaining in this awful cellar with two traumatized kids and a mutated corpse all by himself was, shall we say, suboptimal.

They don't have worry about covering their telepathic tracks because he doesn't notice any significance to the beat of silence between them.

He's quick to follow Ness' lead, mildly surprised by her assertive guidance. A quick glance around and her goal clicks into place; Jayce moves intentionally the rest of the way.

"Thanks," he says, not quite a whisper, but almost. Not for the steering, but her willingness to step in.

[aberratic]

Ness smiles tightly up at Jayce, but doesn't say anything—it seems wrong to accept his thanks when she may end up doing more harm than good in the long run.

Back to the children. She pulls a kerchief out of the pocket of her Riftwatch-issue breeches, and prestidigitates it with a perfume—it won't last long, but in the depths of this stench it's still a mercy. As she approaches the children, she gives the kerchief a conspicuous sniff herself: not drugged, not dangerous.

Begin with introductions. Begin on their level. Ness kneels in the packed-earth floor, and offers the children a sad smile and the kerchief both.

"Hello. I'm Ennaris. These two are Messere Tallis and Doctor Strange," pointing to each man in turn. The children's eyes track her finger, then return to her. "We're here to help."

There's not even a blink of reaction. No wonder Stephen and Jayce were so unsettled. Undeterred, she presses on, tone still soft and gentle.

"It smells bad down here, doesn't it? You can take my kerchief, if you like. It has a perfume, it'll help mask the smell."

Slowly, ever so slowly, the elder child reaches for the kerchief. Ness is careful not to react with too much excitement, giving only an encouraging smile as the boy takes the fabric. He presses it to his sibling's nose first, gentle, and the younger child takes a deep breath.

Ness looks back at Jayce and Stephen and smiles. Progress!!

[portalling]

Strange doesn’t mirror that smile; instead, his expression remains thoughtful and somber, calculating the angles, already considering the next steps beyond this moment. He’s always too impatient, looking onward to what comes next.

They need information, and hopefully the children can provide something (what happened here, and where has everyone gone? what came from beneath? where are the rest of the tunnels?). But after that, he’s uncertain what to do with them. Do they force them out of the cellar and have someone stay at camp with them? Make Kitt and Holden babysit, maybe.

Quietly, to Jayce: “I don’t particularly like the idea of splitting our party and leaving someone behind to look after these two.”

Is it still child abandonment if they’re already abandoned and their group will hopefully be back for them later? Much to ponder.

[pathlit]

Arm bent against his chest, Jayce worries the stone set in the leather cuff around his wrist. “I agree,” he replies, watching Ness and the children closely. “What about the other two villagers? Nowhere’s safe, but at least they’ll have shelter here.”

His eyes skew toward the corpse. The look says, We should get probably get rid of it, but his body language is lacking enthusiasm. Maybe the kids can be convinced to remain on the ground floor.

[aberratic]

While Stephen and Jayce whisper between themselves, Ness returns her focus to the children. She murmurs her questions to the eldest and slips into their mind, careful and discrete. As far as Jayce and Stephen can tell, there are no responses, but after a few minutes Ness stands, re-perfumes the handkerchief, and comes back to stand next to Stephen.

"They're young to know too much," she says softly, "but from what they saw—their parents stopped drinking out of the well in Solace. It was boarded up then, but re-opened again later, I don't think the village could find an alternate source of water. Whatever was in the well was... foul," she shudders at the memory of it, "but they didn't have a choice.

"A body, or a few bodies, showed up shortly after the well was unboarded, but after that their mother forbade them to leave the house. There was panic, they think, but they were kept inside and couldn't get a sense of any specifics. Just... strange noises, or eerie silences, and the smell of smoke, and charred meat.

"Some time ago, their mother woke them in the middle of the night. They heard screaming, they think, but she wouldn't explain it. She just locked them down here, said they could eat anything they wanted, but not to open the door for anyone but her, not even their father. They haven't seen her since. They don't know how long it's been, they couldn't tell time down here."

[portalling]

“Well. That’s bad. But at least we know a little more than we did before.”

Where are the kids’ parents now? The prospect doesn’t seem good. Strange crosses his arms, closing ranks to huddle together with Jayce and Ness to discuss.

“We can bring them with us when we leave, but in the meantime, we should investigate the well and get those villagers to tend to these two. Whether they stay down here, or upstairs. Maybe they can be convinced to move if it’s getting away from that thing.”

His medical verdict on the ogre soon follows, an easier thing to think on than those traumatised orphans: “It’s corrupted, mutated more than usual. Because it’s darkspawn, yes, but something else on top of that; those growths and extra limbs aren’t in any of the illustrations and reports I’ve seen before. Maybe another form of the taint? I’d recommend continuing to be careful touching anything in this village. No bare skin. Wear gloves.”