player plot: catharsis makes me free

[aberratic]

WHO: Everyone
WHAT: Making Heroes of the Veilguard Riftwatch
WHEN: Mid-Cloudreach (April)
WHERE: Riftwatch's dwarven outpost beneath the southeastern reaches of Ferelden
NOTES: OOC post here. TW for spiders and various forms of backstory drama, I'll add anything warned for in top levels!

catharsis makes me free, for i do not prefer to be a prisoner.

For the past few weeks, Riftwatch's dwarven outpost on the outskirts of Fereldan has been experiencing an influx of creepy-crawlies. It started in Guardian with a higher-than-usual number of spiders scuttling about—not entirely unexpected in an underground living area, but notable for sheer volume. Then, in Wintermarch, a deepstalker was caught trying to make off with a nug, and it was only after it was dealt with that anyone noticed—there used to be more nugs down here, didn't there? Investigating some of the unused homes revealed holes dug up from the floors, the presumptive source of the intruder... and perhaps others. Deepstalkers are pack animals, after all.

To deal with these infestations, a greater number of Riftwatch agents than usual have been assigned to man the outpost. For the past few days, members of Riftwatch have been filling in holes in the floor, killing spiders (those are too big to be normal spiders, aren't they? Have they always been that big??), and searching for any other cracks in the walls a deepstalker might wiggle its way through. It's tedious, somewhat heebie-jeebie-fying work, and everyone will need a long bath after to make sure there are no spiders on them, no really, I swear I felt something crawling on my neck—but it's been more or less uneventful.

Which makes it a surprise when, the morning of their last day in the outpost, a number of agents can't be roused from sleep.

I. WAKING UP IN THE MORNING

For the agents who do wake up, they'd be forgiven for being a bit freaked out. Any reaction is understandable when your friends and coworkers can't be roused from sleep by any means you can conjure—not touch, not loud noises, not magic, not pain—and figuring out what to do about it may not come quickly. Someone's gotta tell the Division Heads, probably—hope none of them have fallen asleep too—and maybe somebody should stand watch over the sleeping agents... But no one in Riftwatch would steal from their unconscious coworkers, right?

II. DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

For those asleep, this might be a good chance to describe the memory they're facing without any observers or outside interference to alter it in any way—or you could start it in media res, I'm not your boss.


III. SPIDERS AND DEEPSTALKERS OH MY

The spiders and deepstalkers show up at the same time, and immediately start trying to stake their claims to the outpost. On the spider side, they range in size from a large cat to a particularly well-fed druffalo, with mom being biggest—she's young, and on the smaller side for a breeding female of her species, but she's got a lot of ambition. Ways to deal with the spiders aside from actively fighting them include burning and tearing down webs and destroying egg sacs—though doing either may turn into a fight if the agents doing so are caught. The deepstalkers are the size they should be, but there are approximately a million of them, and the matriarch is crafty: she rarely shows herself and seems almost to have a grasp of strategy in this war. Non-violent ways to deal with the deepstalkers include filling in holes and destroying egg nests, though the matriarch dislikes that as much as the spiders do. The two groups do not get along and will fight each other as eagerly as they'll fight Riftwatch—maybe that could be turned to the organization's advantage?

IV. CONFRONTING CATHARSIS

When the "delegation" to confront the spirit keeping the agents asleep find it, they will find that it...isn't a very scary spirit at all. Catharsis looks and sounds for all the world like a friendly old man, and it's as stubborn as one to boot. It has places to be, you know! There's not very many spirits of Catharsis around, and it's one of the oldest—it's needed in so many places, but it decided to help here because boy, do you all need it. It's happy to let the sleeping agents wake up... once they've untangled the knot it's helping them work on, and not a moment before! That would mean it hadn't helped, and it's here to help! What do you mean this isn't helping, of course it is.

© tessisamess

Comments

[armd]

"Shit."

Guys. Abby drops her voice even lower which is hardly possible, she's barely moving her lips. "What guys?"

Probably some local faction who don't play nice with strangers, it's not like Abby has never encounter that kind of thing before. Some people never learned how to share. The WLF are testimony of that—

But they can take on three, if they have to. She looks at Lev and he looks at her, and then they both look at Clarisse.

"Why?" Lev says again. He's drifted an arm up over his shoulder and Abby sees his fingertips brush the fletchings of each arrow in turn, counting. "Do you know them?"

[laruetheday]

"I don't know them," Clarisse says, instantly transported back to being an asshole when confronted with a sassy twelve year old. She's not whispering anymore, because the guys waiting outside already know they're here—but she's not talking loudly enough for anyone upstairs to hear, either. "If I knew them, why would I be warning you?"

Whatever, it doesn't matter. They need to plan their next move.

"We could go out the back way and loop around, catch them by surprise, if there aren't more covering the back exit." Which there probably are, if these people have any brains, but maybe not as many. One guy instead of three? Clarisse likes those odds a lot better.

Who are these guys, anyway? Raiders? Just some gang pissed off that there are people trespassing in their territory?

Doesn't matter, she decides. They made their choice.

[armd]

There's a pause.

"... You don't have to be on their side to know them," Lev points out, even though the moment he starts replying Abby starts shushing them both.

"Focus."

Lev rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything more. He's looking at Clarisse with a blank expression, barely giving anything away.

"We flank them," Abby agrees. Her heart is beating quick but she feels good about it, all jumpy with adrenaline. This is going to work. She gestures with her chin at Clarisse, "You and me. He stays at the back."

One could assume she means to keep Lev out of harm's way — but Lev is clearly drawing an arrow, fitting it loosely into place. He nods once and starts off, crouched down as he walks, hurrying quickly toward the glass door to draw it open as smoothly as he can for them.

[laruetheday]

"Yeah, yeah, got it."

This is a formation Clarisse has used plenty of times at Camp, where archers from the Apollo cabin were often paired with melee fighters from Ares. She makes a quick exit through the glass door, then gestures to the left and heads in that direction, assuming Abby will take the right.

The grass here is dead and knee-high, swishing softly as she makes her way to the front. She peeks around the side and is surprised to see that there really are only the three guys waiting. They must be confident enough not to need backup. They've done this or something similar many times by now.

Abby's told her before how great Lev is with a bow. Clarisse waits for him to prove her right.