TRAVEL LOG #3: KIDNAPPED CHARACTERS ONLY

[synfluxmods]

THE CHOSEN

CONTENT WARNINGS: cult-like symbols and implications, abduction, cult-like brainwashing.

▶ CASTLE BRAN

The last thing you remember might be speaking to a friend, making merry with a stranger, or enjoying a quiet night against the backlight of the bonfire. Your memories between then and now are a blur—one moment you were in the village, and the next you are here, arising from your slumber and finding yourself in a lavish room with gothic and archaic decor. The windows of the castle are bolted shut so no light goes in and no soul escapes, but candles have been so kindly lit for the captured to find their way. If you can manage to unbolt a window and peek outside, all you will see is a dark fog, obscuring all light and thrusting the castle into an eternal night. The room is old, dark, and eerie, but clean, looking very much lived in and cared for. Within every room, the skull of a wolf has been carefully placed, almost like it oversees the inhabitants.

Welcome to the Castle Bran.

Outsiders, whom attendants within the castle will so reverently refer to as the ‘Chosen’, will find themselves waking up spread across the many rooms of the castle. All their belongings were left behind at the village, and they’ll find that they’ve been cleaned up and dressed carefully in fresh, white linen. Another thing they might notice immediately is that they have been completely stripped of all their powers and weapons, rendering them as strong as any other human.

They are free to roam the many rooms and hallways of the castle but they cannot go any deeper than the ground floor. The attendants of the castle, who appear to be villagers from the town, will follow them and try their best to tend to their every need, be it food, water or a fresh bath. Attempting to question the attendants is a fruitless endeavor: they sing praises of the Lord of the Forest but provide no other useful answers, always diverting the topic back to how wonderful their protector is and how blessed the Outsiders must be to have been chosen by him.

▶ HOSPITALITY TREATMENT

Chosen who try to break their way out of the castle will be hit with a psionic wave, forcing them into a state of calmness, placidity and contentment. They might even be treated to pleasant hallucinations or relive happy memories. There’s no reason to be afraid, after all. The Lord of the Forest will take care of you. Any attempt to hurt or kill the attendants will be met with no resistance from them, almost like they are content to accept their fate. They will then be replaced with another attendant right away, rendering the effort meaningless. The bodies of any dead attendants will be left there to rot until someone complains about it enough, at which point the corpse will be carted off to the dungeons.

At this point, escape seems futile. The dark fog surrounding the castle renders it virtually invisible to the outside world and communications between the Chosen and the Outsiders in the town have been cut off. It may feel like there's nothing you can do but sit pretty and await your fate ...

▶ WE SAVE OURSELVES

After days of strange dreams and curious findings, it seems that help will take some time to arrive. The Chosen will have to save themselves even without their powers. Based on some observations, they may infer that something is cloaking the castle and making it difficult for others to locate it. They have to find a way to disrupt whatever is keeping them hidden.

With each day, they may notice something about the wolf skulls that hang in each room. Every time they look at one, it will trigger their flight response as if they are prey facing off with a predator. Some may feel frightened, anxious, hopeless, or submissive until the skull is out of their sight.

If they can push through those feelings and draw out their fight instinct, they can take the skulls and destroy them. After destroying a skull, a wave of energy will come from it. The energy will give them brief headaches, vertigo, and a short bout of irritability and impulsiveness. Some characters may recognize the feeling as Rift poisoning.

Each time they destroy a skull, the character will receive a microdose of Rift poisoning. Without their LILITH suits to protect them, they can experience extreme poisoning which results in flu like symptoms, mental and physical fatigue, and hallucinations which will make them more vulnerable to the psionic waves. However, with each skull destroyed, the fog around the castle begins to lift ever so slightly. After the air has cleared, the rooms feel safer and less oppressive, making them the perfect place to rest and recover. Unfortunately, if the servants notice, they may replace the destroyed skull with a new one.

▶ AFTERWORD.

Chosen characters may use this log to interact with each other and investigate the situation. It is HIGHLY encouraged to collaborate with other characters and share the clues you have been given.

Everyone who is kidnapped will have their ocular implants turned off, thus rendering communications between Chosen characters and characters who were not captured impossible, and any sort of location tracking will not function. However, certain characters will be given the opportunity to send a short message to the rest of the Outsiders. Players may use this post to have IC discussions about what information they want to provide to the rest of the team. If sending out a message, please submit your message by 11:59 PM GMT on the 10th of October so that mods may post it on the network.

Furthermore, characters can destroy skulls to slowly lift the fog around the castle. The number of skulls they will need to destroy is not specified, but it will lift during the next log.

The purpose of this log is for investigation and collaboration. We understand that players are excited to have terrible things happen to their characters. You can expect that information to be given on the 15th. Timeline-wise, characters will be kidnapped late at night on the 7th and then be freed around the 15th.

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. CASTLE BRAN: Some Outsiders will awaken to find themselves in a mysterious castle and referred to as 'Chosen' by the castle servants. They are stripped of their belongings and powers, and have been freshly bathed and dressed. They are allowed to wander the castle but cannot leave or go further than the ground floor.

2. HOSPITALITY TREATMENT: Outsiders who try to leave will be hit by a psionic wave that leaves them feeling placid and happy, and may even cause them to hallucinate pleasant events or relive happy memories. Since there is a heavy fog around the castle and communications are cut off, there appears to be no method of escape.

3. WE SAVE OURSELVES: After several days, Outsiders may begin to infer that there is something cloaking the castle and preventing it from being discovered. The source is a multitude of wolf skulls hung up around the castle. Though the skulls induce fear and hopelessness in anyone who looks at it, destroying the skull will cause the fog around the castle to slowly lift. Outsiders who destroy skulls will suffer the effects of Rift poisoning.

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Comments

QUESTIONS

[synfluxmods]

[coordination]

Hi! Can characters move/share rooms for this? Mister 'safety in numbers' here would try to opt for/suggest to the team that grouping up is a smart option in DANGERZONE CASTLE.

(and if not, would something happen if they tried anyway, etc)

[lunarchivist]

Question! Are the cloaking devices separate from the malfunctioning ocular implants? So Dan Heng doesn't suddenly have dragon horns and scales to scare the attendants on accident with, right?

[gimu]

hello! regarding the punishments:

for certain injuries (spears, chainsaw BRRRs), would the cultists have dressed the wounds or will victims be left to bleed out at their convenience?

[stonehearts]

hello mods! we've been running with the idea that characters are leaving a bunch of unsent messages when they've been kidnapped for fun and profit, so i'm wondering if, during their punishment, there's anything stopping them from doing similarly on their end? like when you're trying to send a text message to someone who's phone is off, basically.

thank you, this event is SO exciting!!

More questions! (Sorry)

[lunarchivist]

More questions! 1. If an Outsider wanted to bury a killed attendant, could they? Is there somewhere outside they can reach without getting hit with the brainwash wave tm? Is there a shovel? Or is this all a bad idea because other attendants have somewhere else they put the bodies....

2. In the torture dungeon, are these punishments all taking place in other rooms unless otherwise specified (like poor Malkuth...)? I was wondering because like, for example, Dan Heng and Aventurine had similar punishments, can they share a look across the room that's definitely not them disassociating? Or is this going to be more specified upon the update?

Very excited for everything going on, thanks yall so much for your hard work!! 💕

CLUES

[synfluxmods]

Comment here to receive a clue to be shared with your fellow kidnappees. Please keep in mind these punishments are for the IC dates of October 7-10. Characters are free to assume exactly which date it falls on within that range.

[lovebombing]

Clown reporting for duty!

[likemybooks]

Signing up for a clue!

[grade4]

Clue me up mods

[emancipating]

🫡

MESSAGE SUBMISSIONS

[synfluxmods]

Instead of clues, four characters have randomly been selected to send short messages to the outside. Reply to this comment by 11:59 PM on 10 October. Bear in mind the game runs on GMT.

– Messages can be no longer than 50 characters. Anything longer than that will be cut off.
– They will only be able to send one message. After this, they will not be able to get a connection anymore.
– If we get all of the messages before the deadline, we may be able to post the messages earlier. However, this will depend on the personal schedules of the mod team.

Lucy/Kaede

[saudadist]

castle in the fog
skulls
watching us
sacrifice
help us

PUNISHMENT

[synfluxmods]

Comment here to receive your character-specific punishment. Please keep in mind these punishments are for the IC dates of October 11th-15th. Characters are free to assume exactly which date it falls on within that range.

Keep in mind that all punishments, especially those that interconnect with other characters, have all been cleared and consented to happen by each player on the screened sign up post.

All responses will have a content warning in the heading. Please curate and navigate at your own comfort. Be mindful of other player's comfort when sharing any details or screencaps that involve your character, with a warning or behind a spoiler.

Thank you all for all of your cooperation for letting this happen.

aventurine

[stonehearts]

lay it on me, mods

Lucy/Nyuu | Revelation

[saudadist]

001. But You Can Never Leave

a. did you try the front door?

[ As soon as she's awake and has taken stock of her state, Lucy wastes no time in making for the door. She pushes past the attendants in the hall and makes for the front door. A handful of attendants try to stop her, but she shoves them aside and slams the door open.

The pain that rears through her head might as well be a hot lance straight through her skull. She doubles back and hits the floor, clutching her head. Her teeth grit together tightly at the onslaught of memories that bubble up fast to the surface. Pleasant times, times long past, but all of them are tainted. She knows better. She knows these memories. She knows how ugly they are, marred by her own sins. ]

Get out...get out.

[ Despite her best efforts, she sags against the floor, head throbbing, and gasps for air. She has to escape. She has to escape these memories. The only way to do that is to let herself fade, to "sleep," to let the other one wake up.

She lay on the floor for several seconds, oblivious to anyone coming by or trying to rouse her. That is, until her head pops up, and Nyuu looks around, puzzled. ]

Where...where are we?

b. late night grousing

[ Much later, after she's gotten her bearings back and Nyuu's gone to sleep, Lucy traverses the castle to the best of her ability. The entire time, she tries to use her implant to get some sense of where they are. No dice. It's like the implant is just shut off entirely. She sighs and sinks into the nearest chair when she comes into view of another Outsider. ]

Your implant isn't working either?

002. Save Me, Save You (cw: emetophobia warning)

[ The door to Nyuu's room bursts open after a scream of primal fear echoes down the hall. ]

No more!! Don't show me their faces anymore! STOP LYING TO ME!!

[ Needless to say, the sight the other Chosen will come across as they turn the corner is Nyuu running from room to room. She pauses only long enough to slam the closes canine skull she can find into the floor, and if it doesn't shatter on impact, she finishes it off with a fire poker she grabbed from a fireplace. ]

Either give them back to me or let me go!!

[ Hit with another wave of nausea, Nyuu stumbles out into the hallway and gags. As this isn't the first time she's destroyed a skull, she merely dry heaves on the floor and wobbles. It doesn't stop her from clambering up on unsteady feet, eyes wild, hair askew. Her eyes scan from left to right to left, searching. Another room. Where's another room? Where's another skull? Surely if they...if they're broken...they'll be kicked out of the castle, right? They won't be Chosen anymore if they destroy the symbols of a god!!

Unless chased after, Nyuu continues her siege on the rooms and shoves aside any attendants that wander over to see what the fuss is about. ]

003. Wildcard!

[ Got an idea for a thread that isn't covered here? Throw it at me! ]

1a (He doesn't know about Nyuu...)

[lunarchivist]

[Dan Heng had been exploring, trying to be unobtrusive about it. But some Outsiders had more direct approaches to their problem solving it seemed...

He tenses, watching Miss Lucy's run for the door with sharp eyes, ready to leap to her defense if anyone tried to harm her. None did. At least, not visibly...

She collapses, and he runs to her side without a second thought.] Miss Lucy? Miss Lucy!! [Dan Heng kneels by her, distantly noticing the nervous attendants bustling about, but not approaching...he glares at any who get too close. Clearly someone did something to knock down someone so capable. Even if their powers are repressed...he puts a steadying hand on Miss Lucy's shoulder as she thrashes and mumbles something.] Miss Lucy. Can you hear me? Can y- oh-

[She sits up, eyes wide, and asks where they are. He blinks at the sudden tonal shift.] We're. In a castle. Bran, I think is the name. I'm sorry, but did you hit your head on the way down, Miss Lucy?

Ereshkigal || Fate/Grand Order || Redemption

[queenofkur]

I/ Meeting

[ When the outsiders gather (discreetly) to talk, share their findings and scheme, Ereshkigal brings with her what she's found: the broken pieces of a radio, by the looks of it. She's never seen a radio with her own eyes before so she's not sure what it is... If someone else picks it up, they may be able to use it together with other clues to make a makeshift emergency contact device, perhaps.

What she focuses on though is her experience with those skulls. Upon staring at them, she felt a sense of dread and wanted nothing more than to run away. Which means, of course: ]

I broke one of those skulls and it feels as though it lessened the oppressive aura around us. [A pause.] But it also made me feel sick and dizzy...

[ Alas, the Lord of the Forest hadn't counted on an anxiety-riddled goddess deciding to smash the skull the very moment it started making her feel weird!

Ereshkigal is calm as she speaks, though noticeably her hair is down - which makes this the first time anyone in this world has seen her without her twintails. Can you believe they even took her hair ribbons? That Lord of the Forest is truly horrible! ]

I think we need to get rid of them. But it'll weaken us in the process... [She sighs.] That's why I'm going to try and break as many as possible on my own. That way, I'll carry most of the side-effect and you'll remain alright.

[ Surely this cannot go wrong. ]

II/ Bashing the Skulls

[ And lo! Ereshkigal starts breaking as many skulls as she can on her lonesome. But it proves to quickly become much much more difficult than she'd expected. She has never looked so sickly, she's coughing and sneezing and she looks so tired, it's like she could collapse any second.

Even then? The skull she has in hand gets smashed to pieces on the ground. ]

Goodness...

[ She stumbles onto a nearby chair and puts her head in her hands. O-Okay, a five minute break. If she breaks another skull right now, her head might just explode. ]

III/ Can Love Bloom In A Haunted Castle?

[ What happens when you broke as many skulls as possible, making you really super sick and very susceptible to the psionic wave? Well you very stupidly try leaving the castle and get hit by a psionic wave, of course.

So when you pass by Ereshkigal, she's smiling absently and contentedly, staring into nothing. Until she notices your presence, that is. She slowly turns to look at you and her smile grows all the happier.

Unfortunately, she's not really seeing you, no. She's hallucinating you as her sweet and beloved Master, Ritsuka Fujimaru. How did she end up in the castle? She doesn't know, it doesn't matter. She feels so at peace and wonderful right now, it's the time to speak up. To say aloud her feelings, what she has always wanted to say from the bottom of the underworld but never could until now: ]

I-I love you...!

[ Her eyes widen... Are they spirally? She slowly starts walking towards you, extending an arm out. With her hair down, the white clothes and how pale she's gotten from the Rift poisoning, she kind of looks like a ghost. It doesn't help she speaks in broken sentences and slowly. ]

I did it... I confessed my feelings...

[ I-It was so easy! Maybe that Lord of the Forest isn't so bad! Noticeably for those who know Ereshkigal, even though she looks and sounds so happy, she is not sparkling. In fact, she looks more lifeless than ever with the way there is no light in her red eyes. ]

My sweet... My sweet little grape... Will you accept an old goddess like me..?

I

[likemybooks]

[Taryon's hair has gone somewhat uncombed the past few days due to his panic over his imprisonment, but he's happy that he still has his mind, even if on the outside he's looking like a mess. Not feeling like he must meet a certain appearance is one freedom he has here.

The radio gets a long look, even as Ereshkigal's suggestion of breaking skulls attempts to stir hope in him.] May I? [He reaches one hand towards the pile of radio parts, uncertain if he'll be allowed to touch them without Ereshkigal's permission.] I think I can figure out how to assemble it, and we can use it to send messages. That must be why it was destroyed.

[It probably would explain the blood, too.]

CLUE SHARING MEETING

[peoplewatch]

[ Whoever you might be, Kabru will approach you at your room or in the hallways. In the earlier parts of the day, he will slip you a note that reads '3PM in the dining room'. In the later parts of the morning, he starts just telling people outright he is organising a meeting between everyone at that time. The attendants following him seem so placid, they really don't care what the captives might be doing as long as they don't try to escape.

True enough, he'll be there waiting for everyone in the dining room at the scheduled time. Once enough people join him, he turns to the attendants following them all and speaks to them as sweetly as possible ... Or as sweet as someone can sound, when their voice is hoarse from coughing.

To the attendants: ] It's been a long day, and we're starving. Could you prepare us a feast?

[ They look placid and agreeable enough to actually do it. Anything to keep the chosen in good shape, right? The attendants scurry away, and this should give them privacy for maybe an hour.

To everyone else -- well, first, Kabru is going to break out into a coughing fit.

Okay, okay, he's good now! But his voice is weak and hoarse. ]

Ah, sorry. My voice hasn't been good. I thought I'd gather everyone here to have a meeting and share any information we've found. That way it'll be easier to make a plan.

[ This is a general top level for everyone to share their clues in and threadjacking is highly encouraged! Kabru will share his own later when i wake up properly cries ]

[lovebombing]

Information...information. Ah! Yes.

[Speaks up Sampo - despite the circumstance, he seems surprisingly casual, like this is an everyday sort of situation. Might as well smile while they're in the middle of a castle and its cult, huh?]

There was a dark stain I found on the floor, hidden under a carpet...and I'm pretty sure it was blood! Brrr. Scary! I also found some strands of hair and..this!

[Like the magpie he is, he's pulling out a little silver ring that he's squirreled away into a pocket.]

It says "Andreea". A previous resident, perhaps?

Yzak Jule | Gundam SEED | Revelation

[coordination]

#001: CAUGHT

[ Yzak, used to the sort of bougie life being offered to he and the rest of these "Chosen," absolutely hates this. Perhaps that'd be different under circumstances where he was not whisked away ... in his sleep? He doesn't remember falling asleep, though. Shit, did they slip something into his meal or his drink, then...? He hates not remembering, it hits him right where it hurts, makes him feel weak and out of control. In either case, he is one of those who is all over the castle the moment he awakens. Because he's somewhere brand new, Dearka isn't there with him, and upon further inspection, neither is about two-thirds of the team...

As for the attendants, Yzak won't kill any of them. But he will threaten and rough them up a little, grabbing them by the collar and demanding to know just what the fuck is going on here! Ultimately, useless. And he hates that he can't tell if these people are just that deluded and devoted to this cause or if they're dealing with some sort of mind-manipulative kaiju again.

It's a theory Yzak hangs onto, for sure. Especially because trying to leave the castle multiple times ends up in him simply ... not doing so. And he feels himself snap out of that trance and tries his best not to fall back into it time and time again, all attempts in vain. And with the lack of knowledge about the state of the team who weren't taken here with them...

Yzak goes around on the first day to everybody he finds from the team to suggest the following: ]

We should gather in groups of two or three into the rooms to sleep while we figure out what the hell's going on. The same would be wise if we're going to go searching for answers and ways out of here. Safety in numbers.

[ He will also, daily, and multiple times each day (even when feverish later), knock on room doors and check in with teammates to make sure they're still ... you know, THERE. ]

---

#002: Fever? I Hardly Know'er!

[ Fun fact: illnesses, diseases (of his home world) and even fevers are an extreme rarity for a Coordinator to catch. So the morning after Yzak has a strange and extremely fucked up dream that feels ... off ... he soon finds himself feeling off in a whole new way.

Sweating, red-faced and kind of miserable-looking to be honest, he still doesn't let that stop him from wandering the castle because information and ultimately, freedom are the utmost priority here, his body be damned.

Still, he'll stop somewhere briefly and sit, moving his hand up to his head as if that's going to help. ]

What the hell is wrong with me?

[ Please someone inform Yzak that it is merely a fever before he starts thinking he's going to die. ]

*leans into the mic* sir. You are ill.

[lunarchivist]

[Dan Heng had been amenable to sharing rooms in this place. He's used to sleeping on the floor anyway, and there's wisdom in numbers.

....based on how Lieutenant Colonel Yzak is struggling and. Oblivious to the cause...he might be getting a new roommate.

Dan Heng walks up to the man's side, and unceremoniously lays the back of his hand on Yzak's forehead......yeah. Way too warm. Even for a warm blooded person. (Dan Heng's hand might feel bizarrely cold to Yzak.)]

Sir...I believe you're running a fever. [He pauses to give the man some space. But...] Forgive me for overstepping but. I think you should lay down.

Makima | Chainsaw Man | Brimstone

[kubricks]

[Castle Bran]

[Makima is not exactly a fan of the whole kidnapping thing. Or the further power loss. Any of this really. But there’s not a lot to do about it at the moment. So she’s mostly just taken to exploring what’s available. The attendants aren’t the best conversational partners, so she isn’t really interested in talking with them much. ]

It’s a bit much, isn’t it?

[The comment comes while she looks at one of the bolted windows. Her usual calmness is present despite the situation, but it’s not entirely right. There’s something else there, something even she can’t quite put her finger on. She feels ill at ease with this, which isn’t normal for her. The feeling comes and goes, so it’s not something inescapable, but the fact that it’s happening at all is adding to her discomfort.]

Transylvania, abducted and put in a castle like this, the windows barred...I think I’d rather watch this movie than be in it.

[A little humor, making light of a not so great situation. And she doesn’t expect a guest appearance from Dracula, no.]

[Nightmare? cw: violence and murder in link]

[That uncharacteristic sense of unease only grows as their time here continues. Makima doesn’t like it. Her typical demeanor wearing thing, she’s a little more irritable now, a little on edge. This isn’t like her at all, she knows it’s not.

And the dream happens. She wakes with a start after. That’s a first for her. First nightmare in...forever, maybe. She’ll make some apologies if anyone else is sharing the room, and after excuse herself to go walk the hall a little. The content of the dream itself, being attacked like that, being stabbed wouldn’t normally bother her, but there’s just something about this situation that’s taking its toll on her.

Getting out and moving around, that seems to help at least with the unpleasant feelings, if doing little to alleviate the physical issues, her neck stiff and sore. She hasn’t seen the red marks yet, though that’s likely to be soon, especially after touching it and almost recoiling from the sting.]

[We Save Ourselves]

[At some point while they’re dealing with the skulls, Makima regarding one curiously. It’s not the first one she’s dealt with and despite knowing what they do, she can’t help herself as her eyes flit from the skull towards the door. She wants to bolt, which is such a foreign feeling for her.

And not one she cares for, but it’s interesting to her. Sorry to whoever’s on skull duty right now, she’s kind of having a staring contest with this one. Trying to get a hold of her emotions, to control that panic, that fear. So far there’s been mixed results, but that’s to be expected. She hasn’t had to manage feeling these feelings before. The whole castle’s been a unique opportunity for that, and while she’d like to get out of here as much as anyone else, she does want to better prepare herself should a situation like this come up again in the future.]

[Wildcard]

[Open to any other captive shenanigans here! If you’ve got an idea, go for it!]

We save ourselves (sorry about your training)

[lunarchivist]

[Dan Heng doesn't know this Outsider much at all. He does know she's one of their own, and she's standing frozen in front of a skull...horrid things.

It's exactly situations like these that make him move without thinking, running in to grab the menacing skull by the empty eye socket so he can shatter it against the floor.

He stiles a groan when the backlash hits, looking to the woman.] Are you alright?

Dan Heng || Honkai Star Rail || Revelation

[lunarchivist]

1. Surprise stay at Castle Bran

[He wakes up, memories blurred and muddled. Did he…actually drink?? Why?? He never drinks, especially on a mission…except trying to piece that together just makes things more confusing (a roaring fire, worried friends, dancing, a sense of calm like a stifling blanket smothering him as a predator watches-), so he gives up. He gets out of bed, feeling surprisingly rested and ready to thank whoever was kind enough to take him back to the inn…

Except he’s not at the inn. Bolted windows. Old decor, not rustic like what was in that town. Stone walls and ceiling, a chill as the shadows dance around the candles. He looks down, and finds his clothes have been changed.

Dan Heng, as a guard, is generally a light sleeper. How did he miss all of that??

A cold feeling grows in the pit of his stomach. After some attempts, he realizes his ocular implant is off. No way to contact anyone…

He can’t reach Cloud Piercer either. His weapon. It’s always been with him. He can’t- it’s not- he can’t hear any cloudsongs either. It’s all just. Silent.

Powerless.

Dan Heng’s shaking. He needs to get out of here, now.

If he runs across any other kidnapped Outsiders on his way out, he will stop to talk, but it’s clear he’s not handling this well. Who would?]

2. Time to go! (And then it's not.)

[It’s somehow worse that he mainly thinks about how this is what Bailu must have felt all the time, trapped inside in a role she never wished for. Doted on endlessly by people, seeking to preserve what you can do for them, and not a care for who you actually are. He’s tried to kindly dismiss the attendants, but they always show up moments later. It’s grating…he ends up growling at them at some point so they keep a distance, but they’re still there. Watching. Waiting. (For what? What do they want? What are they chosen for? I’m not what you want. I’m not-)

It’s no wonder Lady Bailu runs away so often from the Preceptors. Maybe he should take a page out of her book.

Dan Heng claims he’s going for a walk, and despite the attendant’s protests, he strides out the door, intending to get a look at their surroundings at least. There’s a thick fog, and an endless darkness. Maybe if he listened more, he could part the mists with some…some…

His head hurts-

Why would he do that, though? They’re being taken care of, here. His friends (which ones?) are back inside (March? Orion? Mr. Yang? Himeko? Y̵͍͆î̴̬n̴̠͘g̴̣̓x̶̤́i̵̥͆n̶̩̔g̷͔͂? B̸͔͠a̶̢̅i̵̧̎h̵̰͑e̵̜̋n̴̙̅g̶͕̎??. He has no reason to leave them…not again…)

And like a person who’d forgotten what they went into a room for, he finds himself back in the commons room, thoroughly confused. He holds a hand to his head, feeling complicated emotions about what happy memories were just forced into his head. Stars…] If we could just fight our way out of here, that would be easier than…that. I was wondering if mind manipulation was involved, and I think that confirms it. [He looks to whoever may be listening, looking still a bit dazed and plenty upset.] How do you fight an enemy you cannot see??

3. Fight back

[Dan Heng does tend to freeze under the watch of the skulls around the place. He’s able to move out of the room if needed; he’s used to being hunted. At least the eyes are black holes instead of blood red...

However, if the skull seems to be menacing a fellow prisoner, his protective instincts will take over, leading him to smash the skull against a wall with a bestial snarl of his own. The corrupt power hits him, and he hisses through his teeth, leaning against the wall to ride it out. He looks at you.]

Are you alright? I don’t…know about you, but I’m tired of being watched by those things.

4. Wildcard!
[((HMU on Discord or medli45 to plot something different if you wish! Dan Heng can be generally found around the castle, aimlessly exploring, or looking for anyone who may need help. Give him something to do. He'll also be reading from an old journal he found, if you want to ask more about that...any skulls in the room will have blankets or rugs thrown over them. Seems to tip the attendants off less.))]

3

[likemybooks]

[Taryon's stiff shoulders don't relax immediately. The wolf's killer gaze has triggered a freeze response: go still, pretend you aren't there, and maybe the bad thing will go away. It helps with humans, but with monsters, all it does is turn him into a target.

From which he is saved by Dan Heng, who has reacted with more appropriate violence. If only Taryon was able to tap into that, he wouldn't be in such a predicament.]

...Sorry. [He folds his arms over himself as if he were shivering.] I thought I could manage this one.

Taryon Darrington | Critical Role | Redemption

[likemybooks]

Downtime

[With little to do, Taryon spends his breaks wandering around the castle in search for something to do. With an attendant trailing his every move, it's difficult to find the solitude necessary to search for clues, much less have a moment to himself. At least back home, his father didn't have servants spying on his children at all possible times - it was enough to keep them busy and shame them if they did something he didn't approve of.

He's also spending a lot of time alone in his room and with other attendants. Whenever he leaves, he's exhausted and drops himself onto a nearby couch with his head resting in his hands. Where can he even start with finding a way out? Walking out the front door won't work, asking questions won't work, and he's too polite to try threatening everyone. All the while, the skull watches over him, waiting for him to make the wrong move. Taryon can feel this truth in his bones.]

The Skulls

[But there is hope. He simply must do his part and destroy these terrifying skulls - as many as possible, before whatever ceremony will take place.

He gathers his courage outside the door to a nearby room. The wolf skull is waiting there. It is ready to kill him, and he knows this is nonsense, but Taryon gets a strange feeling every time he looks at it.]

Okay. Wish me luck.

[After a deep breathe, he turns around the door frame, shuts his eyes, and walks in a straight line towards the target. Picking it up and smashing it onto the ground is easy enough when he's in self-imposed darkness, but he peeks at the last moment. Through the crack of vision, a sudden sense of fear overwhelms him, and he wants to crawl into a corner and cover his head. He throws the skulls in a panic, where it strikes the carpet and breaks into three pieces. The fabric softens the sound of the impact, but anyone standing directly outside in the hallway will hear it.

Taryon falls onto the couch and grips his head.]

Wildcard
((Feel free to write your own starter! PM me if you want to plot something out))

skulltime

[coordination]

[ Silver lining of a Coordinator having a fever for the first time ever in his life and thus Going Through It, is that it doesn't affect his good hearing. So Yzak hears the crash, crash of something being shattered nearby. And he's on high alert already and making it a point to continuously check in with the others even despite the fever, so Yzak swiftly steps in the direction the noise comes from and through the door. ]

What's going on in here!?

[ He easily peeps the shattered remains of the skulls on the floor. Notes the familiar lump curled up on the couch, and figures it out easily enough. ]

Taryon!

[ He's over to him in an instant, a careful hand on his shoulder. At least the number of skulls here don't seem too alarming, but... ]

Jeez ... what are you thinking?

maki zen'in | jjk | brimstone

[grade4]

hospitality (cw: murder attempt)

[ maki isn't a bloodthirsty person. she isn't, she really isn't, but they've taken away her body. they took away her strength, the sacrifice mai made for her. these fuckers are going to pay.

but... why won't they run? she grabs one, throws them down, threatens to beat them if they don't give her information, and they don't do anything to save themselves. her hands are hot with pain, fingers bruising and blood seeping into the bottom of her nails.

she breathes harshly over an attendant, seated over them as they struggle to get air from a broken windpipe. maki doesn't understand. ]

You don't care if you die? How can you not value your own life? If you don't tell me how we can escape... I'll kill you. I don't care how many of you die.

save ourselves (pvp potential, also just actual attendant murder now)

[ when they began to notice destroying one or two skulls would disrupt the fog, maki decided there would be no truce with the bastards that took them. whatever it takes to get out, she would do it. no matter how much her head hurt, her eyes glazed, her body shuddered, each skull broken felt like a victory. they've taken away her body - her heavenly restriction - and she wanted it back. mai gave up everything for her to have it, so maki will give up everything to regain it.

but how many skulls are there? it feels endless. she doesn't know how many she's broken now. her mind is no longer able to keep track of a count, or even distinguish friend from foe. she sees the halls of the zenin compound, a historic estate built up in the heian era, and not the castle they're trapped in.

she sees the attendants and only sees the people that abused her. she sees them and without warning she begins bashing their head into the wall over and over and over, until a red spot colors the wall and they slump over dead. sorry if you find corpses around.

she can no longer distinguish friend from foe. all she cares for now is destroying any skull she can see, sometimes breaking things that she doesn't realize aren't skulls until after they crash into dozens of pieces. her hands are bruised and bloodied, her eyes empty and filled with hate. ]

[ ooc: as said in the header, if you want some pvp maki isn't in her right mind and may lash out at anyone who tries to stop her. no killing obviously. ]

save ourselves (thank you for the tag annnd you got me with pvp hi lol)

[lunarchivist]

[A trail of blood and corpses. The stench of death in the air.

Dan Heng had never...followed it before. Only run from it, from the one creating it to reach him. But now he needs to follow it, because these attendants...who knows how complicit they are in all this? Taking it out on them won't do anything, and if one of the Outsiders is...he needs to stop them. He has to stop this meaningless bloodshed. And make sure, for his paranoid mind, that it's not the shell of an old friend somehow prowling these halls...

He itches for the weight of Cloud Piercer, but reminds himself that his weapon is beyond his reach, here.

Eventually, he finds someone stumbling along- ah. Miss Maki. She'd...checked on him upon first being here. He doesn't know her well, but...even he can feel something is Off.]

Miss Maki? Are you alri-

[SLAM. BAM. BAM. His breath hitches when she grabs a nearby attendant and smashes their head into the wall over and over and over-

They don't even resist. They've died right before his eyes. He feels sick. Dan Heng lurches forward, grabbing at her arm, the one holding the attendant's limp-dead- form.] Miss Maki, please. Stop. This helps nothing. [The smell of blood fills his nose, and he grits his teeth, pushing back unwelcome memories. Miss Maki's dazed, almost maddened expression--so familiar--does not help this.

He musters his nerve, steadying his voice.] Let them go. Stop this, now.

choso | jjk | revelation

[gimu]

001. Good Morning, Castle Bran

[ when the day dawns on the 8th, choso wakes up cold, and to a silence so profound that for five fraught minutes he wonders if he’s died in the night. gone is the comforting warmth of company at his side, the smell of burning wood and village green replaced with an unpleasant mustiness that leaves a cold scratch in his throat. he does not recognize this room. these are not his clothes.

he cannot help but wonder if this is his skin, too. for the first time since time immemorial, choso cannot command the blood in his body, cannot hear its rush, cannot feel the surge of it in his veins when anxiety peaks to its zenith and leaves him pale with nausea and a sudden, bone-deep fear. his heart pounding in his chest comes so muffled and distant behind his ribs that it may as well be another’s organ entirely. despite mounting efforts, blood manipulation proves to be so unreachable that it may as well have never existed; where once his blood connection with yuji pulsed bright and strong now yawns an absence most horrible.

they have taken everything that choso is.


he spends that first morning tearing apart his room with a wild fervour. the crash of furniture and glass echoes down hollow corridors like a beckoning. ]

002. Tourism.

[ the evening after the outsiders’ meet-up and information exchange finds choso storming the castle corridors. sort of.

there is a goal now, see, something achievable and immediate enough to cut through the haze of misery to allow him this manic crusade. so he’s off, pushing into every room he can find on an entirely unplanned route, breaking each wolf skull he can find and making a mess of the furniture in the rooms without a target. it’s hard work, leaving a trail of manual destruction like this.

by the fourth skull cracked, choso must stop to rest, fetching up against a wall in a hall with his forehead against the nearest tapestry, riding out this newest wave of hideous nausea.

maybe he could use a hand. maybe you better watch where you put those nice, clean shoes of yours. ]

Good morning!! Are You Okay (no)

[lunarchivist]

[As a guard, Dan Heng is one who comes running at the sound of destruction. Are they under attack?! What-

Except when he gets to the room, he just finds one man tearing his surroundings apart. Flustered, somewhat dazed attendants linger around the perimiter, and Dan Heng makes them a priority.] You! All of you! Out!

[They look at him, confused, some going to say they need to see to what is needed...and don't know what that is. They're here to serve. Dan Heng sighs in exasperation, then musters a draconic snarl.] LEAVE!

[The attendants scatter out the door without further protest, finally out of potential danger of becoming collateral damage in this man's rampage. Dan Heng sucks in a breath, remaining at a distance and turning his attention to...well he knows this person is an Outsider. He's seen him recently actually...curled up with Yuji at the bonfire. Right. Right. His name-]

Choso? You are Choso, yes? What's wrong? [Aside from the obvious being kidnapped to an unknown location situation...]

Kaga | Azur Lane | Brimstone

[harboredfeelings]

Cracking Skulls cw; murder, blood, whoops:
[ Like everyone else after they've figured out what to do Kaga is more than happy to smash a few totems of the local kaiju-posing-as-a-god to make their situation a little better. And like everyone else she's vastly over estimated her ability to handle the rift poisoning.

She's not about to fall over or start hallucinating people who aren't there, Kaga has far more control over herself than that! But she is a little on the agitated side. So when she catches one of the attendants slipping into a room she just cleared an hour ago to replace the skull she finds herself a bit on the angry side. ]

You bitch!

[ And the attendant finds herself a bit on the jumped from behind and throat slashed with a utensil knife side. Kaga stands over the choking, twitching form for a minute before sighing. ]

Shit. Look what you made me do. Better hide you before one of the others sees.

[ The entirely last thing Kaga needs is for one of the other Outsiders to get jumpy around her because of a little accidental, casual killing. So with a grumble of annoyance she grabs the mostly dead attendant's legs and starts to drag it into an unused room before she gets caught.

So maybe catch her in the act, that would just make her day. ]

Closed to Aventurine: I don't have a clever title for this.

[ Given the antagonism that she visited upon Ratio and his boyfriend, being kidnapped and in imminent danger together is a little weird. She's mostly been avoiding him till now but with things going the way they are Kaga decides it's probably a good idea to extend an olive branch and make sure they can cooperate together.

She probably should've cleaned the blood stains off her sleeves from where she offed an attendant earlier but the rift poisoning doesn't exactly make her the most observant of her own state. She's trying to focus on a task to not go crazy like how half of the other seem to have.

Which is how Aventurine ends up with possibly the last person he ever wanted to see knocking on his door. ]

You in there, Pretty Boy? Your boyfriend will come after one of my tails if you managed to get yourself killed.

Accidental.....casual killing huh.........

[lunarchivist]

[There is something so extremely surreal about walking back from the library, mulling over the clues on their capture, only to pass one of your teammates in the same hallway who is apparently in the process of. Hiding. A body.

This is. Very different from asking about the kind of cute way Kaga carried around the Imugi egg in her tails. Very different indeed.

There's probably about a second of staring at each other in the hall in surprise before Dan Heng's instincts kick in. That's alot of blood-] Miss Kaga?! what- [He rushes over, kneeling next to the attendant. A slit throat...they're alive, though. Barely. But- if he just-

Without thinking, Dan Heng tears off his sleeve, pressing it against the gash on the dying woman's throat. Maybe it's not too late. Surely Bailu told him of some emergency medicine for something like this? Or Jiaoqiu?? His eyes flick up to Kaga, who is likely still just. Holding the attendant's ankles. All the pieces point to something obvious, but he's desperately holding judgement back to hear her piece first.] What happened??

Sampo Koski | Redemption

[lovebombing]

[closed starters here!! DM IF YOU WANT ONE]

CLOSED TO LOOP (cw: violence, gore, drugging, brainwashing, etc. It's Bad)

[lovebombing]

[What great fun!]

[His head swims, like a fish in a wide wide ocean. Sampo Koski, or at least, the man who calls himself that (he knows that's not his name, but that's what he goes by!) is having a great time. A wonderful time. The people here are so so nice. His ears sort of hurt. His fingertips hurt, too. But the food is nice. The people are nice.]

[He's halfway through some grapes when they call him over. He feels a bit unsteady on his feet, but that's okay! He'll grab his knife and go, the ever faithful servant.]

[(Somewhere, a god laughed at a baby falling to the ground. He doesn't know why he thinks about that. What god?)]

[A person must be punished. But! He can have some fun first.]

[He enters the room, casual, relaxed, though...poor, poor thing. He's coming right over, even bending down all concerned.]

Hey. You alright?

closed to denji, cw: amputation, violence, cannibalism

[peoplewatch]

[ Kabru knew there was absolutely no way they would leave the castle unscathed. The cultists had brought them here for a reason, and from the stories he's heard involving dark magic, he had a feeling it would be for ritual sacrifice. His fears were confirmed when the attendants finally shed their placid front and started mobilising, forcefully transporting the captives into the deeper levels of the castle.

Armed with some broken glass, Kabru certainly put up a fight, killing two attendants in the process. There's nothing he can really do when overpowered by numbers however. He's eventually brought down with everyone else, and kicking and struggling they take him to his cell, binding him by his wrists and ankles against the wall.

After that, there's nothing he can do but wait and struggle against the chains. In fact, he struggles until he's tired and his wrists are chafed.

When the door finally swings open, his eyes grow wide at the familiar sight, and he doesn't know if he should feel relieved or alarmed. He knows that monster. It's Denji's other form. But why were the cultists leading him in here? ]

Denji ...? Is that you?