el_desheredado: (Hoods and bandanas)
Tristero ([personal profile] el_desheredado) wrote in [community profile] tampered2013-10-27 09:28 am

Must Be the Season of the Witch

When; October 27th - October 30th
Rating; PG and up--please be careful and tag your character's nightmare visions if necessary!
Characters; Members of the Anonymous Movement, volunteer residents of the City, and YOU!
Summary;
The Anonymous Movement has identified the source of the extra trouble in the City this month--as if the curses weren't enough, right? Beings that they're calling "witches" have torn a portal into the City and are using magic to stir up the fear, anxiety, and negative emotions on which they feed.

Concerned for the well-being of the Cityzens and knowing that they'll all likely end up either mad or dead if this isn't stopped, the Anonymous Movement has decided to take the witches head on. They're marching up the mountain, armed with salt, blue beads, witch hazel, and other traditional witch-repellents, along with more conventional weapons.

But the witches aren't going to go without a fight. And they have their magic on their side...

Notes; Want to join in? If your character joined in the ad hoc volunteer witch-hunting army, feel free to start a thread for your character's nightmare vision or toss your character. Mingle threads are also welcomed!

Please see this post for more information but know that making a final sacrifice is optional.

We'll be making another post on the 30th to wrap up the plot and tie up some loose ends, but backdating is always awesome.

Log; It's a foggy morning when everyone assembles in Misery Square. It was short notice, perhaps. But there seems to be a decent number assembled for it.

A girl with curly black hair passes through the crowd. She's carrying a basket and she passes small objects to those assembled: a sprig of witch hazel, a packet of salt, a string of blue beads, a sprig of rowan, iron nails... There are other weapons to be had too, if they're needed.

There's little to be said because so little is known. But members of the Anonymous Movement speak, briefly and perhaps a little quietly under that strange weather, about how little is known but now necessary it is to make a way--by foot or by force--up to that cottage. They admit that it will be difficult and that much is unknown, but that they will do all they can to be sure everyone makes it. It's an explanation less than a rallying of the troops.

The battered trucks are there again, for those who wish to ride in them. This is hardly a splendid morning out. Trees, some bearing colorful autumn leaves and some nearly stripped bare, loom out of the fog as they proceed up the mountain. Boulders hunch and branches reach--like witches themselves, perhaps.

They drive as far as they can. After that, it must be by foot.

It's a rough path--tumbled boulders, gnarled trees, and the undergrowth has yet to die back completely, to say nothing of the fog. But there are hands enough to catch someone who stumbles or to pull someone over a fallen stone.

They pass into a clearing. The fog is thicker here, though the sun makes an effort to burn through the clouds.

It isn't long thereafter that the first screams start...
just_displaced: (listening in undershirt)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm not sure you should... that seems a little..."

Well, yes, it does seem a little... rash is probably the word he was going to use, followed shortly by stupid, but how else are they supposed to get out of the labyrinth? Clearly, taking chances has been working out so far.

"It's different every time. I can't predict what'll be out there."
deadmanbusiness: (Arm crossed tired)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-10-31 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
"How else can we get out?" Theo says echoing his thoughts.

"As long as it's not fan girls, we'll be fine."
just_displaced: (what)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Why would there be fan girls?"

Certainly not for him. For Theo, maybe, although that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, either, at least in his mind. On the other hand, these dreams don't make a whole lot of sense, so maybe there's something he's missed.
deadmanbusiness: (I'm Listening)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-10-31 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
"That's what my nightmares involve."

He starts to walk carefully in the direction of the woods, taking the lead now that Ginsberg has made the decision.
just_displaced: (vroom vroom)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
He's plenty happy for Theo to take the lead. Theo seems to know what he's doing, or at least be good at pretending that he knows what he's doing, and that's good enough for him. He's still looking around himself nervously, like something could jump out at any moment -- and, to be fair, it likely could.

"I've never gotten out of this dream alive. But it kinda feels like if we die in this dream, we die in real life, so I'm really hoping to change my luck on that one."
deadmanbusiness: (Oh Really?)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-10-31 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
"You've never gotten out of the labyrinth you've said, so we're one step ahead. And it's possible. But I'm damn near a god and right now I'm damn near at the peak of my powers so killing me is going to be difficult. I won't let anything happen to you."

He's being reassuring. Hopefully this works.
just_displaced: (doing my work)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't know if it matters whether you're a god or not, because you're in my head, I'm not in yours. Your powers might work differently here. It probably depends on whether I believe you're powerful or not. Which I do, I mean, I have no reason to distrust you, but..."

He thinks that's how dreams work. And maybe he's just babbling to keep himself distracted as they walk further into the woods, and it slowly starts to grow darker around them.
deadmanbusiness: (Well)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-10-31 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
"This is starting to sound like the whole black unicorn problem."

He looks around and despite his bad ass boast, the woods do make him a little bit nervous. The Clutching Grove really is just hovering in his mind and that's not nice business.
just_displaced: (intent)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
"The what?"

At least Theo's saying things that're keeping him distracted, which means he manages to keep himself walking forward somehow, even though things are growing darker and gloomier by the second, and the air feels almost heavy with the presence of... something. He can't quite tell what it is, what could be out there, but whatever it is is unpleasant, he knows that much. It always has been.
deadmanbusiness: (I'm Listening)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-10-31 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
"You know. When someone says to you "whatever you do, don't think about black unicorns" and so now you're just sort of stuck trying not to think of black unicorns which means your thinking about them."

Theo notices it too, and puts his hands in his pockets as he walks.
just_displaced: (emphatic gesturing)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Right, it's kind of like that, except in this case, I'm trying not to think about how we could die at any minute. Which is unfortunate, because I definitely just thought of that. Okay, thinking about something else. Is it getting really dark in here?"

Not only is it getting dark, but a bit of a wind seems to be picking up, which makes the already chilly air that much chillier.
deadmanbusiness: (I'm Listening)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-10-31 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
There's a frown on Theo's end. He sees in the dark a lot better than normal humans can as in he can see in the dark just fine.

"Maybe," he says. For a moment he thinks about offering Ginsberg his gun, but the other man seems to nervous to handle one. "Definitely colder."
just_displaced: (ugly sweater)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
Just as well he doesn't hand Ginsberg his gun, because Ginsberg's never even held one, much less fired one. He'd be too nervous to use it, too nervous to even touch it, and, even in his dreams, he doesn't dream about having weapons. This dream may have been dreamt a thousand times before, but in all of the variations of it, he'd been unarmed.

Suddenly, he stops dead in his tracks, holding his breath, then very quietly whispering, "Did you hear that?"

What he'd heard might not be immediately obvious, but after a short time, it should be. Footsteps, right behind them. Or are they off to the right or left? Or in front of them? Whichever way they turn, the footsteps will sound like they're coming from somewhere else.
Edited 2013-10-31 04:35 (UTC)
deadmanbusiness: (Well)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-10-31 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. It's a good thing then. Is Theo going to be the guy not in distress this time around?! Awesome.

What?

"Yeah, I heard that." Which is why Theo pulls out his gun. He holds it in a ready position, but not threatening. It'll come up and point as soon as he has a target.
just_displaced: (bad plaid jacket)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-10-31 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, there may not be any target readily visible, or visible at all, even for someone who can see in the dark as well as Theo. In fact, they might just start to believe that the sound of the footsteps are just that: sounds, created by Ginsberg's troubled mind, nothing that can actually harm them.

And they can continue believing that right up until the second that it gets considerably colder, colder enough that they might both start shivering immediately. It doesn't grow any darker, although it would be difficult for it to, since it's almost pitch black as it is.
deadmanbusiness: (Head Scratching)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-11-01 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Soo... what usually happens next?" He slows down when Ginsberg does.

Cold is annoying. Yes.
just_displaced: (dark and sad)

[personal profile] just_displaced 2013-11-01 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
"Usually I die."

Well, that's probably not particularly reassuring. It's true, though, and Theo had likely wanted honesty.

"On the other hand, you aren't usually in my dreams. Or, I mean, you're never in my dreams. So maybe it'll be different."
deadmanbusiness: (thumb in mouth thinking)

[personal profile] deadmanbusiness 2013-11-01 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
"How do you die? What attacks you?"

Honesty is good. Dying means something attacks.