Our story picks up as Brune, Alex, and Darrion are sitting on the shore of an underground lake in the Unwaking, as Jack trudges along a tunnel to come find them. Brune has just revealed his deep, dark, secrets.
The candles, the only source of light at the moment, flicker and dance, their light rippling across the tunnel walls and rough ceiling, reflecting the ripples making their way across the surface of the water.
"In my dream, the spiders came when the candles went out," Darri says, visibly more put-together when relating facts/memories, evidence, as opposed to dealing with emotions
"If the spiders do come, I can shoot them." He strikes an absurd pose, trying to raise Doc's spirits. "For they all shall flee the wrath of the one, the only, Darrion Jenny, dress-wearing gunslinger PhD extraordinaire!" twirls
(he's not even wearing a dress right now, if I remember correctly)
He pulls his stiff legs in a bit closer, thinking mournfully about the dreadful state his body is going to be in when they wake up and resenting the Rivaille for denying him the one thing his dreams used to grant him.
@Ginger Sharp rocks lie all around, mixed with rough gravel and wet sand. The water remains black as night, ripples continuing across its surface. A glint of something bluish-green appears briefly beneath the surface and then vanishes from sight.
"Well, I certainly can't go anywhere, so I could stay here and wait for Jack." Brune gestures to the candles. "You could take a candle, go with Alex and do some exploring, should you be feeling so bold. Until we wake up, that is."
Around five, three of which are lit. They're large, white candles that look to be able to burn quite a while. There do appear to be more at various intervals down the tunnels.
"We're already split, and quite frankly I'm a sitting duck at the moment. I don't see any other option." Brune adjusts his position against the wall uncomfortably; sitting unsupported isn't very fun for long periods of time. "Unless you have other ideas."
Brune goes quiet at once, eyes wide, and shrinks back. It never occurred to him to wonder if others - not just their friends - could impose on their dreamscape.
Around ten feet down the tunnel, you come to an intersection of paths. You can turn either right or left; to the right, the ground slightly inclines, while to the left it slightly declines.
Brune waits until their footsteps recede, and then, decisively, picks up his discarded tie and loops his legs together again - feeling rather brave after seeing Jack effectively tell the Elder Ones to come and get him. He shifts closer to the water and peers in, trying to see if he can see the bottom.
Turning to the right, you make your way up the tunnel. Every few steps you come across more candles; some mere stubs, others unlit, full-size ones. Enough are lit so that you can just get to where the next one is burning before the light entirely fades from the previous one. The ground remains rocky and uneven. And now, along the walls, details become visible; carved into the walls of this tunnel is a repeated spiral pattern.
You continue along the tunnel until you come to another intersection. You once again can continue upward, or you can continue down one of three other paths: One with an eye carved into its walls, one with a symbol with eight lines protruding from a circle, and one unmarked but for red spots on the walls.
(@AncientSwordRage lemme know when you're available for a few minutes of dialog)
Brune pales, thinking back to some horror game Emily used to play with a water monster and a lantern, and scoots a bit further back onto shore. Maybe it is best if he waits here.
@Mithical "Hope? You think I have hope left? I'm just an old man on borrowed time—" he puts a finger in his left ear, to wiggle water free"—I just gotta keep on, keeping on. From now on, if you want to take me or do anything with me you'll have to work for it."
Brune recognizes the color suddenly, and the smell. He closes his eyes firmly, remembering the last time he risked something to try and get at that seaweed - it gave Jack a mangled arm and they never got to learn anything. Is it worth it this time?
You walk through my Halls. The tunnel walls shake for a moment. I offer you nothing but options. You stole one of my gifts, and yet I do nothing. You conspire with those who would destroy what they do not understand, and yet I do not interfere. All I have done, Jack Rivers, is to offer you information. I do not deserve your animosity, and yet I shall look past it. Your choices are your own.
@Ginger Sure, make an Occult check.
@bobble You set off down the tunnel, the ground sloping gently downwards again. The metallic scent of blood fills the tunnel, as your own footsteps join the sound of the footsteps further down the tunnel. As you continue, the walls now scraped a blank white, the scent continues to intensify, and is joined by the putrid odor of rotting meat.
Brune opens his eyes again, stares quietly at his reflection in the water, as if trying to search his own face for something. He looks down at his hands - the ones that Alex washed - and clenches them, fingers digging into the palms. He looks back at his reflection. It wasn't your fault, he tells his reflection, trying to make himself believe it. It wasn't your fault.
The slope of the tunnel becomes sharper. You now have to step carefully to avoid slipping. The odor is now almost overpowering. Ahead of you, the footsteps have stopped; whoever is ahead seems to have reached their destination. A faint, unrecognizable noise comes from up ahead.
@Mithical "Oh I am so gracious that you're overlooking the fact I resent being dragged about this town, from pillar to post. That I'm tired of being a pawn in your games."
"It wasn't your fault," Brune murmurs, out loud. He digs his fingers hard into his palms. "It wasn't your fault." This time stronger, more convinced. "By God, it wasn't your fault."
"Hey Darrion, how much effect do you reckon we've got on this place? Like... if I imagine that it doesn't smell like blood and death here, will it not? I don't think I had my phone before I checked for it"
The echoing of his own voice fades. Brune looks down at his hands, trembling, heart in his throat. He turns them over, slowly, as if unable to process what his eyes are seeing. They're clean.
@AncientSwordRage I play no games, Jack Rivers. I open the eyes of your kind, bringing them out of ignorance into understanding. I offer gifts to those with special promise. My influence is limited, yet I do what I can out of kindness. I regret your misunderstanding, but your choice is your own. Both your ears clog with water again as the voice ripples across your brain.
Brune's hands fall back down, his body shaking. He looks up at the water, decisive, burning with conviction. "I'm a good doctor," he says, fiercely - possibly to himself, the gods, or nobody in particular.
@Mithical Jack stops and makes a concerted effort to clear his ears. "I have no promises left in me. Didn't you hear I'm on borrowed time? I should have died back then. Instead that mad, blasted priest took our only hope. And for what. FOR WHAT? For Brune to nearly die? No. I'm not ignorant to what's happening here. You can argue all you want but we've just been pawns in whoever is playing us, human or whatever the hell you are!"
@AncientSwordRage Behind you, water roars, and a wave catches you as the river blasts down the tunnel once again, driving you and the chair along with the force of the water.
Brune shivers at the chill of the lake air, losing some of the bravado but nonetheless feeling oddly like something poisonous has been extracted from him and that a heavy weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He shifts back away from the water.
@Ginger A normal human person, jeans and a black leather jacket visible. They seem to be fiddling with some sort of bag, muttering to themselves and not paying attention to you.
Brune sits up sharply, wincing at the soreness of his muscles - it's been a long time sitting without support and his body is entirely displeased about it - and cranes his neck, trying to see what's coming. "Jack?" he shouts.
Jack, you are swept along into a dark, lightness lake, the water deep and freezing around you. The current buffets you around as the water deposits you in the lake. Far away, you can just hear Brune's voice.
Without a second thought, Brune shifts himself urgently down to the shore - it's better than trying to sit any longer anyway - and plunges into the water, front-stroking frantically to try and reach Jack.
@bobble No notice is taken. One of her eyes is twitching, and she's shaking, as if she can't believe she's actually doing this. Slowly, hesitatingly, she removes the smaller bag from the backpack.
Alex ineffectually waves their hands through Krath and her backpack. Realizing the futility of trying to stop her, they step back warily and watch her actions.
@Ginger Jagged, rocky, and dark, the candles are more sparse here, leaving patches of darkness around the walls before it drops off into pitch black. On the ground and walls are bloodstains, some older and some newer. The walls are scraped clean, leaving a pale, whitish layer of stone - all the more to contrast with the spatters of blood. From the darkness below comes a snuffling, snorting sound, interspersed with the occasional screech.
Krath, meanwhile, reaches into the bag and removes a bloody object. The "pound of flesh" taken as payment in her hand, she weights it, shifting her stance.
Brune is still valiantly attempting to push through the current towards Jack's voice, even though his body long ago started screaming that diving into icy water in pure darkness was probably not one of his better ideas.
"I'm sorry, Max," she says. Then, decisively, with a pitch any pitcher would be proud of, the bloody piece of revenge is launched out over the pit, the sound from below increasing and intensifying as the treat is delivered. It hits the ground and the grisly sounds only get worse.
@Sciborg Jack is still frantically making his way towards Brune, when he realises that the good doctor is swimming towards him. "Go back!" Jack tries to shout while swimming to shore
Darri and Alex, as you continue back along the path you came down, you hear the sound of crying behind you, joined by the grisly, screeching sounds coming from the pit.
The comedic value of two people trying to rescue each other simultaneously is not lost on Brune, who grins for the first time in a while as he grabs his chair to help pull it along with them.
Struggling, you do eventually reach the shore, although you have the distinct impression that it was more difficult this time, Brune. Around your feet, the current ripples and swirls. In one of the wheels of the chair, a greenish-blue strip of seaweed is wrapped around the spokes.
@Sciborg "Look. I was. I had questions. But, I don't think whatever happened in Scotland changes who you are now. I need no answers. I just need to know it's behind you and we can move on to the next life threatening situation."
"Something was in my ear, whispering about promises and hope. I don't know what it wanted... But it wasn't good."
"I have somehow..." Brune wheezes as he slowly pushes himself back to a sitting position against the wall of the cave. "...somehow managed to finally convince myself there is a shred of goodness left in me, I think. You heard something?"
He wipes water off his face and brushes wet hair out of his eyes, looking very wet and very cold.
The sight you saw is definitely related to whatever influence has caused your hunger in the past and now. Somehow, that precipice is inextricably linked to whatever force you're personally dealing with.
Brune pauses, apparently trying to decide what to say for a moment. Then, as if finally mustering the courage, he bursts out, "I shouldn't have -" He winces, as if regretting having started that way, and tries again. "You are a good friend, Mr. Rivers. And a good man. If what I've done dooms us, there is no one to blame but myself. But I was selfish, and I couldn't contemplate losing you. My emotions blinded me to the consequences of letting such a dangerous man have more tools at his disposal."
@Sciborg wheezing with exhaustion Jack says calmly, "I've made peace with what happened. If anything, the experience has given me a new perspective. I'm not relying on hope anymore. No more blame. We can only look forward and forge our own path now. Nobody... And nothing is going to save us but ourselves."
