Coming soon...
dotted
and dotted
dotted by Campus
character finalised; just the write-up of his background remaining
You awaken as if from a deep sleep; your body moving slowly to act upon the impulses coming from your mind. A dull ache pounds in your head, as if your revelry the day before had gone a bit too long. You remember nothing of the day before, or days beyond that, in fact. You are only aware of the here and now, and your pulls pounds as you find yourself in a completely foreign environment that seems to be outside of your control.
A city that seems familiar, but twisted and made new surrounds you. You’re in an alley, and all around you is a wall of sickly yellow fog. It tumbles through the alley’s canyon of crumbling, gray brick walls like some jaundiced flash flood. Ahead, the unfamiliar alley splits, curving to the left and right. Behind, from the silent swell of mist, emanates the sound of footsteps – slow, but somehow keeping pace with the careening, hungry wave.
You have no recollection of what got you here, but a sense of dread strikes you, and a sudden, palpable fear of the roiling fog stabs at your awareness. There are other…people…here in the alley with you. A quick look shows them to be in a similar state – lost, confused, and afraid.
What… what happened? What is this fog? And why does this place seem so familiar?
Ramul looks to his left and right, noticing other figures nearby.
“Who is there? Show yourself if you are friends!"
Even as he says the words, a distinct feeling of guilt overcomes his emotions. Milani forgive me. What have I done to arrive in this horrible place?
Ramul pauses for but a moment before clenching his fists and setting his jaw. I must not falter now. Not while I still live.
It's in the eyes, he - but who? - said. Always in the eyes...Talented little one, but cruel...they said that too. Were they speaking of me? In the eyes...stop dreaming, always in the...stop putting it off, what are you afraid of? Open them open them!
Varinder's eyes flick open, as if he had never been sleeping, as if he thoroughly expected to see the mad tableau before him. With practiced skill, he tunes every sense to the dreamspun whirl. What in the world? A nightmare if ever I've seen one. Almost like the...like the time I...How did I get here?
There are others in this...dream? They don't look like the company I'd have chosen for myself. And who approaches?
Varinder squints at the moiling fog and draws a dagger with deceptive ease, twirling it idly in his left hand.
I should know of this place. And who are these others... There is naught to do but continue on in the name of my Lady!
Ulfric will stand, lifting his bulky frame from the ground, accustomed to the weight of his armor and weapons. Outwardly appearing unfazed about the circumstances, he has some misgivings in his mind about what is to come.
"I may well be your friend, but I am not sure at the moment."
Hearing the sound of footsteps in the fog Ulfric speaks to the others and draws his sword and shield.
"I suggest we move away from the creature creating those footsteps. Little good can come of a creature in tune with this fog."
Ulfric will move away from the foot steps as fast as possible when able to.
Campus's ocean green eyes open a slit. She is bound by the star.
Black. A black that binds. A black that encompasses.
I must reach the Black Star.
Campus's ocean green eyes open a slit. She is blinded by the door.
White. A white that blinds. A white that scours.
I must close the White Door.
Campus's ocean green eyes open a slit. Her mouth moves.
Reach the Black star.
Close the White door.
Campus's ocean green eyes open a slit. All is yellow. All is sick.
I must get out of here.
Get out of here.
Out of here.
Campus rolls to her feet. Her forehead burns with dark light, casting shadows. She hears footsteps.
Campus blinks, She is still prone. Campus rolls to her feet. Her forehead burns with a bright light, casting blessings.
Reach the Black star.
Close the White door.
Get out of here.
A prayer of Enlargement reaches Campus's red lips, and the divine symbol of Cayden etched upon on her forehead Blesses her...Gripping the cold iron of her longspear, she feels the world become smaller.
None of us are safe.
The Black Star
The memory of those words from moments ago reverberates through her head....a fugue? a prophesy?
Campus looks around. Where am I?
Cayden stops cold. A bead of sweat begins to troll down Campus's pale face.
Who am I? The bead of sweat reaches her enlarged lips, and the taste of it is foul with the displeasure of here god. --Cayden is displeased with me.....I must...get out.
Desperately, Campus casts her eyes around. The yellow sickly fog obscuring similarly desperate. A merfolk woman, wriggling her powerful body to upright herself. Are we near the sea?. She spies a short grayskinned gnome who with a glint in his eyes whips out a wicked looking dagger...but the dread gnome seemed intent on self preservation more than anything else. Then she catches sight of a young half-orc nearby, a black iron pendant hanging from his muscular neck...An ally..
Paladin of Sarenra. Blessings of Cayden, but her words ring false, though she had meant them earnestly. Had I though? Campus positions herself behind him, trusting that he will note the symbol of her faith marked on her brow, and hefts her longspear above his shoulder. We are with you
Klassalka looks left and right, trying to take things in, and puts her hands firmly on her sword.
"What magery is this? What trickery??"
Planting her position, looks firmly in the direction of the footsteps, not backing off like some of the others seem inclined to- their fear telling her they aren't the potential threats here.
"How did I get here," Artemis mutters to himself. And then the realization. I have truly no idea where I am. How terrifying! Think, think...No use. Have to solve that problem later. One thing at a time.
Artemis instinctively clutches the talisman around his neck as he rises to his feet, brushing himself off to try and maintain some level of dignity.
"I certainly mean you no harm," Artemis says. Then he readies himself in case the others have other intentions.
As the majority of the group - one created out of necessity and a shared threat - turns to the fog and readies itself for conflict, the thick yellow mist rolls on.
A scent is the precursor to its touch - a bit like rotten fruit wrapped in the earthy scent of an ancient dusty catacomb. The fog moves with purpose, as if driven by need, by hunger.
Suddenly, the roiling yellow mass lurches forward, enveloping poor little Varinder Chesk. The gnome's small body is lost in the noxious depths.
A quiet whistle of movement comes from the area where Varinder last was seen, the sounds of ripping and slashing mixed with wet sounds and choked cries of pain. A new color, so vivid and bright against the sickly yellow fog, arcs out to spray the brick alley wall in a glistening wet crimson. The splatter oddly forms two letters..."Me."
I know not how to fight a yellow cloud. We are going to die. I got to get out of here. Reach the Black Star. Close the White Door.
Knowing not else to do Campus calls on Cayden to grant her protection from Evil.
Perhaps I deserve this. Perhaps this is my punishment for what I've done... though I know not what that is. I wonder what the others did to deserve this fate?
Through the ever-shifting fog, Ramul sees a half-orc running away. He also sees the half-orc's mark, showing him to be a paladin of Sarenrae.
Even the holiest of warriors wishes to flee from this forsaken place.
As the fog coalesces, Ramul watches in horror as the yellow monstrosity tears apart the gnome with the dagger. The gnome's struggles against the fog seem pointless. The fog's tendrils offer no escape.
I'm next, Ramul thinks. Despair overtakes him for a moment as he sees the blood splatter against the wall.
"Me..." Ramul mutters. A final message from the poor gnome or the yellow fog's revolting way of communicating?
"Milani would not have me grovel in fear..." Ramul says as he continues to mutter.
If I am to die, I should do it as myself, not as a scarred husk of who I once was... whoever that might be.
Ramul rushes to where the gnome was slain and summons his kinetic blade to strike at the yellow fog.
Shadows beyond! That yellow - whatever it is - just ate the little man. I mean it just bloody swallowed him WHOLE!
Panic rises in Artemis, swelling in his chest he reflexively reaches for his amulet clutching it in fear.
Artemis mutters in panic-filled whispers, casting Mage Armor on himself, staring at the enveloping fog.
Then he does what any sane man would when facing an unknown horror.
Artemis turns and runs out of the alley.
"Will blade be any use....?" Klassalka looks around frantically, sweating at facing a foe that can't just be chopped up.
Maybe the mages can stop it...
Klassalka moves in front of Ramul, and takes a defensive position.
Readied action, attack the fog if it gets within reach.
Seeing the other decide to mount a defense instead of retreat, Ulfric turns back to aid them.
Ulfric will move to stand beside Klassalka and take a defensive stance.
The impromptu group stands, defiant and resolute, a rock against the crashing surf. But the sickly yellow fog rolls on, gaining more density and more mass as it fills the alley with its wretched presence.
Klassalka slips in front of Ramul, and the pair hold fast against the coming storm, their eyes burning and stomachs churning in the horrible, rotten cloud. It reaches for them with tendrils long and pale, and then lurches forward in one great mass.
The sounds of battle follow, swords clanging, chests heaving with great gulps of air, the swift swipe of a sharp blade. A ripping sound, then wet cracks. The thud of a ruined body, and then silence. Suddenly, Ramul's body falls out of the fog to lie on its back, eyes staring. The dead man's lips still move, and a single word comes out in a rasp. Save
Klassalka falls alongside on her chest, her bare back a ruin of angry red cuts and blood. On her back, two letters are carved in jagged lines of puckered flesh..."me."
I am guilty, and this is the punishment. Campus's eyes flick back and forth, as she feels her training, her faith, her being, dissolve into the animal she always knew she was inside.
Well I'll play the part and try to survive. Cayden channel your holy spirit and blast that abomination!
it is not undead silly cleric
Is there no way out of this hell that we're stuck in
An idea - a last, ditch effort more like - comes to Artemis. Moving past the hulking, green-skinned warrior, pulls a hand from his pouch and wipes a buttery substance on his armor, shouting to him and the woman behind, "The only way to survive this thing is to run! How can you fight a FOG?!?!"
Artemis runs away from the fog, attempting to escape the alley.
Save me... This thing... is it trying to deliver a message?
Noting at least one other is running, Ulfric determines that he should hold now so that they might at least get away.
They all should've ran when I said to...
Ulfric will stand his ground, and ready to attack the creature if it approaches. While he does so he calls out, "Is this the only way you can communicate? Through the deaths of others? How might we save you?"
Campus's enchantment seems to do nothing to slow the onrushing wall of fog, and thick tendrils wrap around the cleric and the mighty Ulfric, who stands by her side. Creeping up like some furiously growing vine intent on strangulation, the fog envelops the pair from the ground up.
The sounds of a battle come from the fog, shifting bodies, grunts of effort, cries of pain. A whistling and an arterial spray of blood. Thd clang of Ulfric's weapon hitting the stone alley. A body falling with a wet thud.
The ripping sound of cloth follows, then the the meaty sound of a butcher's shop. A mass is hurled from the sickly yellow cloud, landing in a horrific pile. The ropy lengths of intestines glisten with wet blood and fluids, as they form two words. "ME" and "UP."
The poor souls who ventured into the cloud seem to float, detached, their bodies free of form and direction. The scene before them bears promises of an eternity of pain and madness.
Artemis, the last of the people standing, takes flight as the alley walls sag, battered brick slumping over the path, nearly blotting out the bruised twilight sky. Again the grimy cobblestone path splits. This time one route curves uphill, while the other recklessly descends. Behind, the yellow fog and the relentless sound of pursuit follow.
Artemis runs away from the terrifying carnage choosing the uphill path, looking over his shoulder in horror as the yellow fog behind him envelops the two remaining in the alleyway.
Shadows! But why didn't they run? It didn't have to end like this. Guess I'll have to make their sacrifice count. If I make it out of this, that is...
Artemis continues to run hard uphill, chest heaving in and out forcing every struggling gasp of oxygen as he desperately tries to cling life. Even the cobblestones seem to be against him, making him earn every stride, exerting so much effort, exhausted. Panic begins to set it.
I'm not going to make it. I'm not- No! I have to! Have to make their cost worth...something
The mist parts, now mere steps behind. A mask of gray rags emerges, strips of something fleshier than fabric worming and constricting across a body that's almost human-like - but too lean, and far too flexible. Gauzy gray ribbons reach out like tendrils, each grasping for less doubtful flesh to claim.
As the frightening countenance descends upon Artemis, the mist coalesces around him, and instantly his flesh begins to open, long ragged cuts appearing seemingly on their own. The hideous face comes closer, its expression too alien for the real world. As Artemis falls, his jacket opens to reveal the bleeding carvings crossing his chest underneath. The bloody letters spell out one word....Wake!
The word rings, distorts, changes….becomes an anguished cry.
Wake up, damn it!
You regain consciousness in a grimy cell, the surroundings shadowed, damp, and smelling of mildew and the coppery scent of blood. Blood trickles from your nose, perhaps a remnant of the dream or some unremembered damage you had sustained prior...and you find that you remember nothing of who you are or were, how you came to be here, where here is….or who your fellow prisoners are. You also feel as if you should have some sort of gear, or equipment…but you only have the clothing on your backs.
Bars separate each of your cells from the man who had cried out – presumably for you. A struggling human with split lips and skin covered in a mapwork of fresh bloody red lines pulls against heavy ropes that lash him to a splintery worktable.
Another figure, unsettlingly thin and wearing a blood-smeared doctor’s coat, circles the table casually – stopping every so often to scrutinize one of the man’s wounds or select a different object from a sideboard of shiny blades. Currently, she spins one blade of a broken pair of pruning shears, which glints in the dull light of the lamp suspended overhead. With careless cruelty, the doctor draws the blade across the bound man’s bare thigh, releasing a tortured wail. The woman’s cruel eyes blaze with excitement at the sound.
The dream... the nightmare... it was so real. Ramul thinks as he looks at his surroundings. His eyes widen. I've woken up from one nightmare into yet another.
A man's voice from outside the cell cries out urgently. Ramul stands to his feet and walks to the bars of his cell. He notices the gnome for the first time. The gnome has the same trickle of blood from his nose as Ramul.
What in Milani's name happened to us. Or better yet, what is happening to us.
Ramul turns back to the man on the worktable. Ramul didn't realize it was possible, but the poor man was in a worse position than Ramul and the gnome were in the cell. Across the way, Ramul also spots two of the others from their shared dream. A human woman and a merfolk woman. They seem to be missing their weapons and armor as well.
My armor, Ramul realizes. His shield and studded leather were nowhere to be seen. He grits his teeth. It wasn't enough for me to lose all knowledge of who I am. Whoever or whatever is responsible for this also felt the need to rob me. What they don't realize is that I am never truly unarmed.
"Stop butchering that man!" Ramul yells at the woman with the shears.
His hands form into fists and his brow furrows as elemental energy begins to swirl around him. In Milani's name, I will end this carnage.
Artemis instinctively reaches for the Talisman around his neck, to clutch it's familiar metal and utter a...
It's gone. He inspects himself quickly realizing that not just his Talisman is gone, but so are the rest of his things. Then his eyes looked through dirtied spectacles and locked onto the bloodied doctor's coat.
I'm next. How did I get here? How...Must look strong in front of...
Artemis looks to his left to see the other cell mate and sees it's one of the men from his dream.
The Green One. But that means my dream...
The mermaid sits up, looks next to her- sees Campus around her, and tries to gather herself....
My body! I was killed... sliced into... no, it was a dream, it couldn't happen! I don't die now, not when...
She goes up to the cell doors, and bangs on them, "Hey! Hey! Pay attention to me!"
My things are all gone... Ulfri thinks while standing up.
"Looks like we shared a dream", Ulfric will say to the man in the cell with him when he notices him.
Walking to the cell door, Ulfric will try to wrench it open.
This is.. I am.. We are This is.. White. Black Star Door.
Her mouth moves. Her tongue is thick. Parched on ethereal dust. She hears a silent scream. She rolls up. Her forehead burns. She is without memory, and without understanding.
I am?
Cayden's Chosen
She is
A grounded merfolk
We are?
In hell.
Her forehead burns, and Campus reaches out to feel the raised edges of the holy focus of Cayden with which she was born.
I was born of Cayden.
Campus rolls to her feet to observe——hell.
I have got to get out of here. Campus pleads to no one.
By acts of mercy you shall be freed to enjoy the drink of your lord. The thought came from not her head.
The flesh of what could be called a man commands her focus. The holy focus of Cayden burns with anticipatory command.
Cayden bless this man with your healing.
"So it does," Artemis responds to the Half-Orc. "So it does. And, if I'm not mistaken, the one over there shouting and reeking havoc did as well."
He brushes himself off again trying so desperately to maintain some dignity, however impossible that may truly be.
I seem to have soiled my cuffs.
He extends a hand to the back of his cell mate while he shakes vigorously on the cell door.
"My name is Artemis, by the way."
Alas, Ramul's push is not enough to break through the heavy iron door. Though it rattles, particularly where the heavy lock is, the door does not bend or break.
At his shout, though, the crazed woman turns as if surprised to see Ramul awake. She scans the other cells to see everyone awake, then puts a bloody finger to her lips. Shhhhhhh...don't worry, you'll get your turn soon enough. Behind her back, the man thrashes against his bonds, until she turns back and slices him again.
Cayden's call to her god sets upon the man an instant later, resealing some of the wounds. The woman giggles with glee, the claps like a child. You'll last much longer like this!
Without looking at whether the channeling helped the poor bloodied man, Campus turns inward, crosses her legs and begins to pray to Cayden, asking for guidance, and preparing her body to be the cup for Cayden's blessed power.
Ramul is fully aware of every feature of the mad woman. He grunts in frustration as the door refuses to budge from his attack.
Across the way, he sees the human woman cast a holy spell, the light seeming to heal some of the poor man's wounds. In disbelief, he watches as she promptly looks away from the poor man.
A moment later, though, he notices that her eyes are closed and her lips are moving. A bit of divine intervention would certainly prove helpful in this situation, Ramul thinks.
To his right, Ramul hears voices from another nearby cell. Perhaps others from the nightmare? he wonders.
Still determined, Ramul summons his kinetic blade again. This door will break. It is but iron.
"If you wish to live, stop torturing that man. No one has to die here today!"
Varinder wakes from his own death with a brief start, then stiffens. Oh, that was too much. Really, too, too much. Now what is happening?
A moment, please, to clear my head. Do I dream still? I see the elf - no, not a full-blooded elf, a half-caste - is still here.
Varinder looks at Ramul and observes him smashing at the lock with a frightening manifestation of force. Oh my. He fliocks a disinterested glance at the torture tableau beyond the cell door.
If you'd wanted the door open, you had but to ask Varinder murmurs mildly. I am a hobbyist in such matters.
Klassalka glances back to see Campus sitting, and judging her to be of no immediate help, bangs harder.
Alas, both Ulfric's brawn and Ramul's blast fail to open the doors. They are of sturdy iron bars, and the locks are meant to keep the hardiest of criminals (you assume) within the cell.
The woman continues her work, the words of the prisoners behind her seemingly of no consequence.
The door opening attempt being futile, Ulfric backs away from the bars and clasps the hand that was placed on his back.
"I am Ulfric. Under other circumstances I am sure I would be glad to meet you." Ulfric says.
"Hideous wretch, allow me to take the mans place. Surely you would prefer a less easy target to wrench screams from!" Ulfric shouts at the woman.
Cayden grants Campus with keen vision between prayers. She files away her knowledge for later and returns to prayer.
At the gnome's words, Ramul turns from his fruitless efforts on the door and its lock. As Ramul glances up and down at the gnome, an idea pops into his head.
Ramul whispers to the gnome.
I'm going to try to convince her to walk over to our cell. Do you think you might could use some... sleight of hand... to unburden her of her keys?"
Ramul leaves the gnome to ponder his words and walks back to the cell door and speaks again to the mad woman, "Hello again. Let's talk about this. There really is no need for violence. Why are you doing what you're doing anyway?"
"Come over here and let's talk about this. You said he'll last much longer now, so perhaps he can wait a bit for you to resume your work. What do you say?"
Campus opens her eyes after meditating, and looks around her cell for stones or pebbles.
She turns and looks silently at the merwoman sharing her cell, and whispers Do you see any stones, or pebbles?
Klassalka's eyes open wider, hearing her roommate for the first time, and recognizing someone looking for something useful when she hears it.
She looks for anything small and usable- either on the ground or some loose part of wall she can break out- while trying to not be too obvious about that being what she's doing.
While not a new structure, the building containing the cells is nonetheless quite sturdy and built to age. There is some masonry work around the bars that shows cracks, but nothing substantial enough to offer a viable escape route without a battering ram.
You do find some loose chunks of masonry from the walls within the cell, though nothing larger than a gnome's small fist.
The woman takes another swipe at the man, then turns her gaze to Ramul and cocks her head to the side. The movement is jerky and strange, as if she's unused to her own body. Why...I'm doing research of course...can't you see that? She takes a step forward, turning her back to the table. You may provide a good specimen...do you know how you work? She grins as she looks Ramul and and down like a slab of meat.
Campus sits down in her cell and bows her head. She stealthily pockets bits of rubble as she makes motions of prayer, six pieces in all. Then she beings to pray in truth.
Varinder sucks in his cheeks thoughtfully, then divests himself of his belt, pausing only to favour Ramul with a mordant grin. He then uses the buckle to work carefully on the lock.
Having managed to open the lock, Varinder flashes a triumphant, toothy smile at the half-elf, re-secures his pants.
A sadly necessary improvisation, friend. What now?
Though Artemis knows of some creatures that can mimic the appearance of humans, or perhaps inhabit their bodies, there's not enough evidence in this case to point him in a direction.
Ramul considers how to respond to the woman's question when he looks behind him to see the gnome removing his belt and shooting a grin Ramul's way.
I don't know even know his name, Ramul realizes. That will have to wait till later. It looks like he has an idea and seeing as how all of mine have failed thus far, I should give him a chance.
"I'm sorry, I was mistaken. I'm not sure how I work, so perhaps it's best you just get back to your work," Ramul says to the woman. He grimaces inside, knowing he's resigned the man on the worktable to more pain. Still, Ramul hopes his actions will ultimately save the man's life.
As the gnome approaches, Ramul sees that the curious individual's attention is focused on the cell door's lock. Ah, perhaps brute force wasn't the answer after all.
Stepping between the mad woman and the door, Ramul does his best to block the gnome from view. After what seems like forever, Ramul glances behind him to see the gnome smiling and the lock open.
You were truly sent by the gods themselves, Ramul wants to say, but doesn't think he can risk the mad woman hearing him. The praise would have to wait for later. For now, Ramul smiles back at the gnome and nods at him.
For but a moment longer, Ramul wavers as to what to do. He had tried to talk to the woman, but it was unclear if his words had affected her at all.
The holy woman across the way can try to heal her afterwards. For now, this carnage must end, Ramul resolves.