the clock tower

[groundrules]

Happy Hallow-elevator! The clock tower event lasts between 22 October and 8 November. ICly, the tower incursion stretches around a week, and you’re welcome to have your character investigate something else, if they finish early!

THE CLOCK TOWER

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ALL IS AS ALL WAS| TRIAL & NO ERRORS | THE TOWER

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ALL IS AS ALL WAS

Play it cool, as Serthica’s customs officers pore over your passport papers, before grudgingly allowing you overground. Minaras, you hear, is hunting a delinquent.

Both it and Eidris fare well, with no sign of the damage that preceded the Unwinding. Locals no longer behave eerily, dragons and clockwork droids roam freely, and everyone hates taxes.

Yet perfect strangers insist they know you. Your assigned address leads to a different house. The roads, buildings and architecture look ‘lived in,’ but changed.

No one remembers the Unwinding.

■ Burlap mannequins sometimes watch from mirrors, windows and reflecting surfaces.

■ You might hear shifting and scratching in Eidris walls.

■ Minaras has doubled its bounty for a man not unlike Leonard McCoy.

■ Black fungal spores are found on the increasingly voluminous experiment vials, specimens and supplies thrown out by Minaras medical facilities.

■ Frail and confused, Ellethia survivor Zenobius finally awakens. A short thread is up for RNG grabs.

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TRIALS & NO ERRORS

The guard troops that Eidris and Minaras assign to the Neutral Zone now protect King Thivar and High Councillor Arabella during the annual Sanctuary Reckoning trials. Both adjudicate cases that violate the ceasefire.

Prolonging the trials buys time for your companions in the clock tower.

■ Create a distraction — flood the judgement hall rooms? Fire? Illusions?

■ Pose as trial participants: perhaps you are of Eidris, and you caught this wicked Minaraian raiding your home? Mayhap this wretched man of Eidris stole your girlfriend? Wait, you’re a Minaraian who wants to kill King Thivar?

■ …organise breakouts, if Thivar or Arabella have your jailed. You are first imprisoned in makeshift Sanctuary cells — all but poorly locked, glorified closets. Get a trial sentence!

■ Thivar and Arabella treat the trials as a box-ticking exercise.

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THE TOWER

As Eidris and Minaras play court, you can infiltrate the Neutral Zone clock tower of Vassarizhia.

■ Only token security remains. The door is unlocked.

■ Karsa supplies paper talismans that must be burned in the watch fire at the tower’s top level.

■ Each burned talisman amplifies the reveal spell that Karsa activates. Link a finished burning thread by 8 November to help the cause.

■ A November mod post will describe how much of Serthica’s ‘undeath’ characters can see.

■ Placing Magnus’ dragon eye before the tower’s telescope will allow characters to always see Serthica’s undeath, moving forward.

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✘ ELEVATOR ETIQUETTE

Imperfect stillness dominates Vassarizhia: your footsteps do not click, words die in your mouth. The tower’s rickety gear slither silently. Your heartbeat aligns with the clock’s tick… tock.
You have the growing, gnarly certainty that you have invaded something ancient and alive.

The tower’s entryway level is large, deserted, stacked with gears. At its core is a dilapidated open elevator shaft.

A large sign says to find and pull the floor lever, if elevators stop.

■ There are two elevators. Each narrow lift can hold up to four people, crammed. The upper half of the carriage is chain-link fence, while the floors contain hatches that sometimes open mid-travel for 30 seconds. Hold on to ceiling-bound leather straps.

■ The ropes holding the elevators are thick, but tattered.

■ The elevator’s creaking squeals can awaken swarms of 1m-tall bats and bat wyverns. They rattle the lift, but ultimately withdraw.

■ The elevator can stop at as many levels as you want (or none!).

■ Beyond the second level, you feel intensely paranoid and see your companions as the persons you most hate/fear for five to 10 minutes. Reaching the top, you are tempted to cut the lift ropes of those who follow. (The ropes and elevators recover, after crashing to the bottom. )

■ On each floor, as you exit the elevator, a nearby wall shows a different scratched instruction, signed by DAVID.

LEVEL I: THE LABYRINTH| LEVEL II: THE ANCESTOR | LEVEL III: TAG! YOU’RE IT
LEVEL IV: THE ROOM WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS | LEVEL V: IT’S RAINING (AGAIN)

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LEVEL I: THE LABYRINTH
CONTENT WARNING: MINOTAUR, BODY HORROR

Step into a jail maze, flooded to knee level. Confusing corridors narrow, widen and contort, while wall torches dim.

Intermittent howling reveals you’re not alone. Hiding, you see child-like chalk drawings of forest animals on walls — and a great minotaur. Keep silent.

■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY.

■ Collect some of the many discarded daggers or axes. Rope bundles float in water — use them to paralyse your captive or briefly force them under your control.

■ Don’t linger in one place: rotting, bodiless hands surface to restrain you.

■ Bad news, if you swallow water when the minotaur or dead hands try to drown you: your skin stretches and bursts, while your bones pop and extend. You mutate into a half human, half woodland creature, all bloodlust. ( Inspiration, anyone? ) Your companions should still recognise you; between hazy memories and constant pain, you might struggle to remember them and even attack.

■ Morphed characters can (painfully) return to normal within minutes of re-entering the elevator.

■ A smaller and distressed three-headed minotaur also roams the labyrinth. Two of its heads sob, while the third urges you to hide with it when brother approaches. It tries to throttle you with a noose to make brother happy, if you follow. David did say.

■ The minotaur and its sibling have poor sight. They cannot enter a corridor where you’ve drawn or laid down a line.

■ Pull the lever, and a straight corridor leads you to the elevator.

TOP | LEVEL II | LEVEL III | LEVEL IV | LEVEL V

LEVEL II: THE ANCESTOR
CONTENT WARNING: GIANT SKELETON, BLOOD DRINKING

Here, only barren stone and thin rivulets of fresh water pouring from wall fountains with sharp-tipped ornaments — your spilled blood quickly infects the basins. Knives, pins and bowls have been abandoned nearby.

High pressure and vertigo overwhelm you. Follow a rhythmic heaving to where the upper half of an enormous skeleton — the Ancestor — has broken through a wall. White, silk thread fetters it. Dried blood rims its cracked mouth. Before it, the stone floor has been tarnished, up to a 5m radius.

The Ancestor appears dormant, a crown of iron thorns on its head. It clutches the lever tightly in its right hand. Above it, an engraving urges, SPILL WINE FOR YOUR ANCESTOR.

■ David S P’s elevator scrawl says, WATER TO WINE.

■ Dally staring and you feel dizzy, nauseous, depressed and compelled to share your close-death encounters. Before you know it, you are stepping into the Ancestor’s radius…

■ …where it plunges for you, if you don’t bear a filled cup. The silk ropes keep the Ancestor from reaching beyond 5m.

■ Two carvings under his fists read HONOUR THY FATHER and DISHONOUR THY MOTHER.

■ Quickly distract the Ancestor from crumbling his captives, tearing their arms or attempting to eat them.

■ The Ancestor is instinct-driven, consumed by thirst. It cannot see or smell, and only remembers taste. Sounds divert it.

■ Improvise: there is no actual wine here. Infuse water, spill blood, or vocally pretend you are delivering wine, and the Ancestor might spare you.

■ If sated, the Ancestor releases the lever.

TOP | LEVEL I | LEVEL III | LEVEL IV | LEVEL V

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LEVEL III: TAG! YOU’RE IT
CONTENT WARNING: SCARECROW, SKINNED CREATURES

Enjoy pitch dark, dread and bile spreading in your gut. Take a candle from near the elevator and roam through small, unlocked rooms that feature tattered beds, strips of tanning leather and blood or wax spilled on the floor.

■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, O CATCHES IT.

■ Ahead, you see candle-bearing mannequins that dance a hora to the same song played by Jim Kirk’s music box: “Up the mountain, in the grove, hand in hand to Ke-Waihu, fresh harvest’s a treasure trove, each fall we feast anew.”

■ The creatures are patched abominations of wax, skinned flesh and burlap. In the middle of the hora is a wiry scarecrow, eyes blazing with candle fire as it points a large cleaver. In certain lights, the scarecrow’s face briefly contorts into that of your mother. It wears priestly robes that Arc III survivors may recognise from the House of Ravens.

■ As the dance finishes, you notice the lever in the middle of the circle, where flame spells out TAKE THEM, NOT ME. The game begins.

■ The abominations run, gleefully manic and screaming TAAAA~AAAAAG. YOU’RE IT! The scarecrow unflinchingly cuts them down while pursuing you. Hide in the abandoned rooms, or risk snuffing your candle to avoid detection.

■ Some abominations slap you, hold you, or alert the scarecrow. Others offer shelter. A few peel off wax skins from their limbs — showing black fungi beneath. They murmur, IT NEVER GOES AWAY.

■ Parchment strips fall from the scarecrow’s sleeves, reading, HAPPY NAME DAY, MOTHER KNOWS BEST, THE SIN RAN DEEPER THAN SKIN, IF YOU CAN BEAR IT, IT’S A GAME.

■ Bless David: draw the scarecrow into a drawn or makeshift circle to trap it.

■ Intense, paralysing fear arrests you, if the scarecrow catches you. The wax abominations chant, TAKE THEM, NOT ME. One might even take pity and move your numbed mouth to utter the words. Say them — and the scarecrow lands deep cuts on your arms, then pursues your companion.

■ If you betray someone, the abominations take the appearance of your worst version: whether physically mutated, with a temper that amplifies your worst features, or both.

TOP | LEVEL I | LEVEL II | LEVEL IV | LEVEL V

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LEVEL IV: THE ROOM WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS
CONTENT WARNING: MANIPULATION, MENTAL COERCION

You enter a quiet room. The lever sits on a table, beside rope and a dagger. As you approach, your surroundings transform: perhaps your dearest dead appear to warmly welcome you. Crowds of your doubters celebrate your success. Or you are in a calm oasis, where nothing hurts.

■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, THIS DREAM IS A NIGHTMARE.

■ Whatever your deepest wishes, the room’s vivid illusions provide. With time, your beautiful dreams deteriorate into horror. Sometimes, you hear whispers of, Make a wish.

■ The room increasingly drains your life force. Within half an hour, you have gaunt flesh, brittle bones and a hunched back. Or you might feel compelled to harm yourself, clawing your arms and face, or pulling your hair out.

■ The damage comes undone minutes after reaching the elevator.

■ The room focuses on one person: if someone joins you, they see fainter echoes of what the room shows you, but they are not enthralled. They must coax or drag you away.

■ If you are under the room’s influence, it forces you to make any later intruders stay.

TOP | LEVEL I | LEVEL II | LEVEL III | LEVEL V

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LEVEL V: IT’S RAINING (AGAIN)
CONTENT WARNING: PLAGUE, THE CHILD

At the tower’s open-sky top, fire crackles from a small stone pit, shielded by a familiar, immovable blood-spattered white umbrella. Nearby, discover an immense rusted telescope and other discarded astronomy tools.

You trip on rain-battered yellowed bones at every step. One skeletal hand holds a watch piece, engraved for Mr. David Sebastian Pumpkins.

■ David S P’s has only scrawled his signature.

■ You might reach the flame easily, or be overwhelmed by sickness, black fungal spores blooming on your fingers, while you cough blood and experience intense fever. The symptoms wane once you reach the fire.

■ Burn paper talismans and link finished threads to help Karsa’s spell.

■ The child with a fox mask from the Unwinding could appear. Sign up for one of three short threads, which must finalise by 3 November.

NOTES

■ Some of the bigger plot clues have been emphasised, to help navigate through the horror details.

■ You can hit up some NPCs during the trials.

■ Check out plotting posts for last-minute team-ups.

■ Back to the top.

QUESTIONS

Comments

The Doctor | Doctor Who

[thedreamer]

closed to Vanessa & Red;

[thedreamer]

[ Never one to turn down a new adventure, the Doctor predictably makes his way to the tower, quickly catching the open lift. He shouldn't be surprised to find Vanessa and Red here, but he does worry, nearly telling both of them to go back, though he's finally begun to (sometimes) recognize the futility in such protests; the moment the lift begins to move, he has a sense of eerie foreboding, the presumption that whatever awaits them on the other side, it won't be a welcoming party with balloons and cake. Though, he doubts between the three of them, any of them expected this to be a peaceful and easy journey. To offset the groaning, wheezing, unsettling sounds around them, he opts for a joke to lighten the mood.

Love a good lift, me. They've really nailed the atmosphere, though I'd go with brighter colors, maybe a nice tapestry next time, liven up the place. Not to worry, though, at least we're going up. These sorts of machines, well, you never know - tricky and unpredictable, one minute you're in the right direction, suddenly you're - never mind. Not to worry! I'm sure we won't be here long.

When they stop on the first level, the Doctor moves to position himself in front of both of them, not even consciously on his part, just instinct. He may be a bit more worried now and he'd rather be ahead of both of them when the doors open. And when they do open and the sight greeting them is admittedly a bit more grim than he'd expected, he's quick to reassure- ]

Okay, who predicted a flooded labyrinth? They didn't have this option in the brochure and I was really hoping for a corn maze!

[growlies]

( This is ordinarily not Red's scene. She would avoid this shit aggressively, but she's trying to be a team player (and this is like important for them to survive in this place). More than that, she has been hit with the reminder that all of the friends she's been making, all the people she cares about are very capable of dying, and that actually means something when she doesn't just guard the afterlife as she once did. It means she'd never see them again.

Speaking of people she cares about who she doesn't want to die, two of those individuals are her with her now in the elevator. This is fine. This is why she's here. She can do shit - she has super strength, super speed, ancient-psychic-intimidation. She can watch their backs.

Her eyebrows lift at the Doctor making a joke. It's the first time she's been with him during a particularly dangerous situation, and it's just not surprising he treats this like a regular Tuesday. The elevator doors swing open, and she takes up the rear behind Vanessa, releasing a whistle at the sight before them. Straight out of legend. )

Where's Thesius when you need him... or hell, I'd take his long ass ball of string. ( So they don't get lost )

[matermali]

[ A flooded prison shouldn't be of such surprise to Vanessa, but expecting the worst doesn't leave one any more pleased to find water that soaks over halfway up her skirt once they leave the elevator. Her boots are sturdy enough to manage, but her expression is already dour as she struggles to rein the relentless fabrics above water level. The intermittent rubble to hobble onto will be a relief, despite the weight of wet skirts.

Something in the water creeps, and she has a difficult time looking away from it. The lit torches are a small comfort. For every other torch passed, Vanessa stops with her knife to lean against the damp stone and carve out a jagged notch.

Her companions' attempts at humor will still gain a quick smile much dryer than the environment. ]

We must dare to succeed despite these disappointments, and the risk of more. The climate is sinister since reaching this tower.

[thedreamer]

Even I have to admit, this does rather kill the mood. Here I was, hoping we'd have a nice day out, the gang back together.

[ He tempers his voice, feeling it echo off the walls, not wanting to call too much attention to their presence until they have a full awareness of what they're facing in here. He glances back over his shoulder just to assure himself they're both safe, before his eyes narrow on a few objects floating in the water up ahead. ]

Stay back a bit - [ He paces up ahead just a few steps, moving slowly in the water, and then he reaches for something knotted up in a bundle and floating on the surface, tucking it under his arm. Before he can make his way back to them, he's distracted by the words on the stone wall - IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY - so he stops to study them, touching the index finger of his free hand to his tongue before touching it to the letters, then touching his finger back to his tongue; he doesn't explain any of this, he's simply trying to discern...any information from it at all. Nothing useful. Moving closer to Vanessa and Red, he holds out the bundle of rope. ]

What do we think - Professor Plum in the library with the rope - [ His no-context jest is suddenly disrupted by a very loud, unsettling howl reverberating from just around the corner. He haphazardly stuffs the rope into a coat pocket, then instantly gathers closer to both of them, trying to herd them back against the wall with a protectively outstretched arm. ]

closed to River;

[thedreamer]

[ By even the Doctor's standards, this has been...well, not the worst thing he's ever seen, not even the most unsettling, but unique, certainly, and all in one day. So far. There seems to be no end to the mysteries unraveling and revealing themselves here, and though the Doctor keeps hoping that no one he knows will actually be in this tower with him, that's proving to be the opposite.

He should have known River would be here. Of course she would be. ]

Just another day at the office. Bit of a thing, this tower, eh?

[spoilers]

[ Oh, where else would she be, Doctor? Besides, as if there were ever any doubt where he would be, and she isn't about to let him wander off to face...whatever it is they're facing without her.

And with the death trap of a lift seeming to have a mind of its own, she isn't regretting her choice. ]

At least we survived the trip up.

[ Her delivery is casual, despite the truth in the words, and exercising the same distinct lack of caution as she moves further away from the lift to get a clearer picture of where they've stopped. A few steps in, she pauses, pressing one hand to the wall. ]

Doctor, do you feel that?

[thedreamer]

[ He moves to the opposite wall, pressing up close to it, studying it, his fingers moving down and across the stone. He does indeed; a pulsing movement, vibrations, clearly building to a crescendo and leading them towards...something. ]

Regrettably, I don't think we're on the other side of a club. Pity, really, could do with a bit of dancing.

[ He turns to look at River over his shoulder, a look in his eyes that's decidedly gleeful, which - may or may not be appropriate, though he hardly notices. ]

What do you suppose we'll find...

[ He says it with curiosity in his voice, wondering out loud - moreso to himself - at what awaits them as he trails his fingers down the wall, following the path forward. It's in turning the corner that things get interesting- ]

Oh, yes, that was going to be my next guess! Okay, what are we calling you - your royal, esteemed majesty? Quite the crown, bit ostentatious if I'm being honest. Do you care what we call you? Do you have anything to say?

[spoilers]

[ She actually laughs. ]

Surely they'd be kind enough to spare us that.

[ She can't resist, really. Trading light insult is what they do best. It probably says something about them both that they've always had an easier time exchanging 'I hate yous' than 'I love yous.' Still, she's right behind him, ignoring the near overwhelming dizziness as she faces the enormous being before them.

Swallowing against an unexpected spell of nausea, she points toward the engraved words. ]

Can't you read, Sweetie? I believe he's called the Ancestor. [ And then because she suddenly feels quite inclined to say something else (and because they really are quite alike sometimes) she keeps talking. ] The crown really is a bit much, isn't it? What's he trying to prove, anyway? And who's he trying to prove it to? I can't imagine he often gets visitors.

closed to Clara;

[thedreamer]

[ He should have known better than to expect a quick and easy go of this. No, it couldn't be simple, could it? Admittedly, if it were simple, it'd be dreadfully boring and he does so love the thrill of the unknown and mystery. He'd much prefer if this particular mystery wasn't so deadly to the people around him and he's not particularly fond of some of the things he's already seen. He keeps hoping he won't see anyone else he knows and cares about when he steps off on a new level because it's been testing him in ways beyond anything else in recent memory, just to keep them all safe.

The Doctor doesn't need the candle to light his path in the absolute darkness, being able to see well enough, even at a distance far ahead of him. As he moves through the rooms and halls, it would be difficult to deny the Scarecrow moving about almost unnaturally isn't similar to something seen in nightmares of old - becoming ever more horrific when he's presented with an image of someone long gone now. It's the mental manipulation that upsets him most, the way memories are twisted and unearthed here for some dark and terrible purpose. He doesn't waste time moving swiftly away from the creatures chasing him, but even as he moves, he's cataloging everything around him, taking note of what he sees; every noise, every bit of movement, everything that might be a clue.

Turning a corner, he happens to project a tall, wiry shadow on the wall as he approaches a room with its door cracked open, and what appears to be a candle flickering in the dark. He's drawn to it because it means someone is in there, and his heightened senses mean he can hear the pounding of a heart wracked with terror. Drawing nearer but not speaking out loud lest he draw the ghoulish creatures closer, the Doctor hopes he can at least be of some assistance. ]

[makemeasong]

[ To be fair to Clara, she hadn't really understood the assignment. She wanted to help, that much was true, and she'd know there was potential for it to be dangerous. But after the Unwinding, she thought she'd gotten a good taste of what this place had to offer in terms of danger. She'd been very, very wrong.

It'd worked out that others filled one small lift so she'd stepped into the other, expecting to go up one floor. Instead, she'd continued to rise, and she could feel the sinking dread building, making her want to get out. There was the odd sensation of being watched, could hear a soft rustling, and all she'd wanted to do was stop, assuming it would be better once she was on an actual level.

Wrong again. She's stuck on a floor that doesn't make her feel any better about things, three levels up if there's nothing below the entrance. Grabbing a candle, she'd thought, for a brief moment, that perhaps things wouldn't be any worse than in the odd house from days ago. Then, the scarecrow. As it danced, Clara couldn't help but watch in fascinated fear until seeing the face of her mother. Only glimpses, never lingering, but enough to make her whisper her mother's name, trying to see more of her. She'd been peering into the dark when everything stopped as suddenly as it began. Then, the true terror.

She's hiding in a room now with a candle, shaking, bleeding. She has no idea how long she's been running, how many times she's been cut. She's been held by walls (again), taunted, sometimes guided. Every now and then she catches sight of the lever for the lift, but then the scarecrow is right there, and she can never get to it. All she can do is hide and wait for it to be distracted. With the door open just a crack, she peers out and sees a large shadow on the wall, lanky and long.

When the figure turns to her, she quickly realizes her mistake with the candle and blows it out, scrambling so that her back is to the wall. Closing her eyes tightly, she feels like her heart might explode out of her chest; she can hear footsteps coming closer, and she has no way to fight back. The very least she can do is open her eyes, but everything is in shadow, making it impossible to see any features. The door pushes open all the way and she tries to be as quiet as possible in the dark, willing herself to not breathe too loudly. ]

[thedreamer]

[ He shuts the door behind him, just to let it do its job and provide a barrier - however temporary - between the forces of madness amassing around them, and their briefly peaceful interlude in this room. Dark though it may be, the Doctor recognizes her features immediately, and his voice is gentle as he calls to her. ]

Clara, it's me. It's okay.

[ Having said that, he moves closer still, reaching out to very gently and carefully pull her into his arms, to hug her protectively. ]

[makemeasong]

[ Clara's first instinct is to launch herself into his arms. But what if he's the scarecrow? She doesn't say anything at all, she can't see where he is, but she can hear him, coming closer. It isn't until no attack comes that she fully believes he's really him, and her legs very nearly give out the minute he pulls her close.

She doesn't consider herself easily frightened or prone to tears (the last emotional few days notwithstanding), but she's terrified now and clings to him. Her arms are slick with blood and feel like they're on fire from the cuts; she sags against him, a few tears falling in sheer relief, voice shaking. ]

I can't get out, I can't get to the lever. Every time I try it's there.

closed to Una;

[thedreamer]

[ The Doctor is, by his estimation, probably not looking his best at the moment. He's haggard, more than a little wearied, though his elation at reaching the top of the clocktower after relentless tribulation does boost his mood. Of course, being at the peak, circumstances would remain just as challenging as they'd been in getting here. Harder still, perhaps, given what lies ahead and how very important it is to their overall mission. He is undeterred and determined; none of this will have been for naught.

Walking through the rain soaking him, it appears he can't take a single step without stumbling over bones. He takes the time to kneel and examine them, smelling them, touching a few of them with the scrutiny of a scientist, trying to discern something about them. It seems they have no secrets to share, though, and the Doctor focuses his attention on the fire pit up ahead, the telescope, so many details which may or may not be important. The closer he gets to the telescope, he notices a familiar face, and despite the circumstances, he smiles. ]

Number One! Oh, everything's sorted now, you're here! You okay?

[unas]

( she'd fought to keep herself upright, it taking every ounce of her strength, feeling the fever ripping through her as it had on the pirate ships. it's an uncomfortable feeling, feeling weakned, almost overwhelmed by the senses around her as the fever shakes her a little, enough that she hasn't yet noticed the spores blooming over her fingers )

Doctor--

( she doesn't smile, taking a second longer than she should to realise that it's him, and though she reaches out it's not to him but to try and keep him away )

I don't think you should be here.

( if something again is messing with her physiology she doesn't want it to mess with his either )

[thedreamer]

[ Quite far from okay, it seems. His momentary relief at seeing her here, safely atop the tower, quickly fades when he has a good long look at her. Despite her reaching out to try and hold him back, the Doctor moves closer to her side. ]

This is exactly where I should be.

[ As he tries to carefully take hold of her hand, he notices the spores now, and his tone is more decisive. ]

Look at your hands. Don't be stubborn about this, you know I'm right. Let me help you.

[ He has no idea how his physiology will react to this sickness, but he usually believes he'll make it through fine, until proven otherwise. Besides, she's more important at the moment, and he's worried, desperately worried. ]

[unas]

( her skin is warmer to touch as he grasps her hand, the fever pushing through her and his movement surprises her, horrifies her a little that he'd risk getting infected from her.

she does look at her hands though, wanting to move further from him but finding that she doesn't move at all )

This is the same sickness. ( the one she'd offered to expose herself to in order to help mccoy. chris had been right, it was a bad idea. if she didn't burn it out ) I shouldn't be sick.

( she doesn't really know how long it takes for her immune system to fight something off but she's already had it tampered with her, was that happening again, was something delayed? she couldn't imagine the infection being this quick acting for how many spores there were over her )

open;

[thedreamer]

► Elevator Etiquette

[ It is a fact of this Time Lord's very existence that where even the hint of trouble might loom, he will be there. It's in his nature, the thrill of the adventure, the desire to help. And certainly, help is more than needed now. He's under no delusions that this trip will be easy or not entirely fraught with difficulties along the way, but he's rather come to expect this as the course of his life. He's not entirely sure what he'd do otherwise. The peaceful, uncomplicated, simple life - well, it eludes him. He's not sure he could even manage it, really.

So here he is, biding his time on the lift creaking slowly upwards, hoping to ease any worries his companion might have, by engaging in small talk, or big talk, as it were. ]

I rode a lift like this once, rickety old thing, all the way to the top of a giant observatory on a planet called Eldax Five. Not the most technologically advanced species, but oh, that beauty of a planet - when you reached the top, stretched out as far as your eyes could see, was a never-ending field of crystallized flowers that changed color when the wind blew, approximately every five seconds.

[ A brief pause. ]

What was my point? I do get carried away - oh, right. Rickety old lift. I rode that thing about fifty times, at least, and always wondered how it would manage to actually reach the top. Bit like this one. But we got there, in the end.

► Level IV

[ Make a wish, they say; the haunting, disembodied voices surrounding him in this almost impossibly quiet room. Make a wish, and he does, though not consciously, not at first. The problem is, the wish is always there with him, moment by moment, even when it lives in the quiet parts of him that he buries down deep to be able to survive. Make a wish, and he already has, long before he entered this room.

The one wish, the biggest of all, that he'd been a Doctor, a healer, a wise man, that horrible day, when it mattered most. He had no choice then, so he says, but is that true? Is it just a clever little lie he tells himself?

Make a wish.

His surroundings morph now in an instant, a swelling vista stretched out in front of him, the sky a deep, burnt orange. The Doctor turns in a slow circle, not trusting what he sees, yet desperate to believe. The second sun is rising in the southern sky, and with its light, it shines against the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Silver-leafed trees sway with the wind, which catches his hair and blows it about, its radiant warmth filling him with a sense of tranquility down to his soul as his eyes close for a brief moment. Everything feels so tangible, so real, the trees singing their song of old to him.

Up ahead, he sees his TARDIS, along with Gallifrey's second city, Arcadia, and he remembers that he'd once planned to settle there with his granddaughter, so long ago now. Maybe-

Before he can even question it, he sees her, too, calling out to him in the distance. Grandfather! ]

Susan...it can't be -

[ He moves forward, though, desperate to touch her. Some part of him is still resistant, his mind working with all its might to resist the pull of this room, playing him. He knows, on some level, that he's being toyed with, but he can't escape the want for just a moment to believe that Gallifrey is safe, that everyone lived, that he isn't alone. ]

[ ooc: if you'd like to meet the Doctor on a different level, I'm totally open, just choose your own adventure or feel free to PM me or find me on plurk: geekorthodox ]

level iv

[inferus]

( Wrath has begun to wonder if this level of the tower specifically has it out for him. He has been through it enough times as it is despite multiple attempts to transvenio away, to go up in the elevator and not return. Primarily it has been with this tower's version of temptation for him. It should not be effective on him at all, and yet this world continues to surprise with how it can pluck his deepest secrets from his mind and put them on display for all to see. Perhaps it is what many would feel he deserves for being the Great Tempter in the Garden of Eden.

There is power in truth, in choice, in knowledge.

He is relieved when it is not his wish on display this time that he finds himself in the very same level. In Hell, one learns to hide any vulnerability, any desire, because it will be used like a weapon might be to hurt, to manipulate, and he hates there are a couple now who now know what he would have preferred remain hidden.

The lever is out in the open. Wrath does not recognize the sight that plays out around him. It isn't of any Earth he knows nor is it of Heaven or Hell. Then he recognizes the voice of the individual from the network - the Time Lord who had discussed with him the reality of good and evil, the Doctor exiled from his own planet and determined to save Earth. They had spoken about meeting in person another time, and this is unlikely to be what either of them had in mind.

His gaze lingers, wondering how lost in this vision he is. How much mental fortitude can remain even for beings older than most when faced with what they would want more than anything else? They all have their weaknesses, their vulnerabilities. )

...your home planet?

[thedreamer]

[ That faint voice - familiar and strange all at once - tethers the Doctor to the last shred of reality left. He has a tenuous hold on the truth, he can feel it, like trying to hold open a door with a single finger while a giant thrusts its weight against the other side. He feels exhausted and elated at the same time. It would be so easy to give in, to live here with Susan; not just Susan now, it's so many old friends. People who died because of him, for him, or just eventually, in their own twilight, so long removed from him.

He'd seen the lever when he'd first entered the room, he should have pulled it then, but everything had shifted so quickly; how, he wonders. How was that possible? It shouldn't have been. He's stronger than this.

But then, a soft touch wraps around his wrist. Susan, looking up at him, teasing him about his bowtie. He closes his eyes for a moment, trying to focus on the man speaking to him. ]

-Gallifrey. [ He offers. Because they might be here a moment, maybe longer, if he loses his grip. No, he can't. ]

Located in the constellation of Kasterborous at galactic coordinates 10-0-11-0-0/0-2 from Galactic Zero Centre, roughly 250 million light-years away from Earth. [ He rattles that off from instinct, needing to say it, to anchor himself. ] It was - it is. It's beautiful, isn't it? The Shining World of the Seven Systems.

[ Already, he's losing a bit more grip. Speaking of Gallifrey in the present. ]

[inferus]

( Wrath hears the shift in the words: was to is. This city, this planet no longer exists. He had said he was exiled from it, but the was is so telling. He doesn't know what happens to destroy so much: war, most likely, but on a scale greater than any his own world has ever seen given it remains. He watches the Doctor's face, senses what he is feeling: hope, desire for this all to be his. It is the fantasy seeping in, taking hold. It does that right before the dream twists into a horrid nightmare instead.

Wrath had seen what he wishes for with the curse ending, sitting on his throne beside his wife, watching the First Witch suffer for all her crimes, and then it shifted into his wings leaving him again, the First Witch breaking free, telling him he had run out of time, watching his wife disappear. It is inevitable this one will do the same, and either way, he'll be trapped.

He lingers on the way the city looks, and then clarifies: )

It was beautiful.

None of this is real. This room tempts you with what you most desire, and then it twists it into a nightmare. You'll want to escape before that happens. You said you were exiled, but I imagine there is more to that story and that more may be put on display here.

Elevator ettiquite!

[kahl_175]

Eldax very pretty. Kahl would like to see. [He'd started looking at more things once he was out of the army. He'd seen a lot, and Grineer always liked something interesting to look at when you were stuck on watch. But the army made you hungry and tired and kept a rifle in your hands. Kahl still had his with him--he wouldn't go on a mission like this without one. But if he didn't have to use it, he'd be happy.

Until then, stories were good. Kahl had lots.]

Kahl been on worse. Corpus ship crash, Kahl and brothers search. Whole squad get on platform, Tuska press button. [What happened next had been startling and painful, but Kahl laughs about it now.]

It work. But it bounce squad. And wobble, and screech bad. [Kolor had broke her nose, and somebody elbowed Kahl hard in the stomach. He'd been wheezing by the time they piled out on the top floor. After that, they'd refused to touch any buttons they found.]

This one better. Kahl's feet stay on floor.

[thedreamer]

You will, promise. When we're away from here, we'll stop off and see it together, before I take you home.

[ It's easy to say it, it always comes so easy to him, those little white lies meant to be comforting and friendly. ]

Now that does sound a bit more precarious. Staying on our feet is half the battle, isn't it? Where do you suppose we'll end up next? At the very top of the tower is probably hoping for too much, though I won't give up wanting. If there's a ball pit up there, at least, I'll be happy.

[ He's probably not making much sense, though - somewhat standard for being around him. ]

You must miss your brothers here, Kahl. You'll get back to them soon enough.

iv

[somebadnews]

[ Five has experienced this floor before, thanks to an unfortunate incident in the elevators, and he recognizes what's happening the moment the walls shift around him. The sunset colors and alien landscape make it immediately apparent that it isn't his vision this time. When he passes an oddly out of place police box, he doesn't have to guess where they are.

The Doctor hadn't described his home world in any great detail, but he makes the connection. Of course that's what he'd want to see. He finds him not long after, and watches as he stares into the distance at a girl calling after him.

He knows to intercept before they reach each other. ]

You're right, it can't be. [ No beating around the bush. It gets worse. ] There's no going back.

[thedreamer]

[ A familiar voice - the fellow time traveller with secrets - and it's enough to briefly pull the Doctor back from the edge. Five wouldn't be able to see any of this, to be on Gallifrey with him, yet all of it feels and looks so real. The most elaborate of delusions, so carefully constructed from his memories without his consent.

Neither of them should be here, and yet there's a pull he's finding gradually more difficult to resist. It's not just Susan, not just Gallifrey, but his TARDIS is here. His oldest friend, his beacon of hope, and their best chance out of here, all of them.

Ignoring what Five has said, the Doctor takes hold of a hand that isn't there, clinging to Susan, then pointing up ahead with his other hand, to where his magic blue box stands firm and stalwart. ]

I told you she'd find me, my old girl. Beautiful, isn't she? I'll take us all away from this, like I promised.