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

[growlies]

( Red is currently tracking the Doctor. This place messes with her abilities, her senses, which she's sure is on fucking purpose, but she is confident in her ability to follow his scent if she's not too far behind. She knew Vanessa would go with her even if Red's wincing because she can tell the other woman is in pain. There's just nothing they can do about it until they get out of here.

And they're going to get the fuck out of here - all three of them.

The statement though makes her blink in surprise. It's a whisper, but she hears it as clear as if she had spoken it loudly, but it's the nature of the words and the thank you that surprises her more than anything.

She looks over her shoulder at her, keeping her voice quiet too. )

You didn't. ( Sound ungrateful. Red hadn't even been thinking about gratefulness or anything like that. Then she clears her throat, ducking her head. Her one free, bloodied hand slips back behind her neck. ) I couldn't... do anything else. When I saw it hit you, I reacted. But it's not like I've got endless super strength when I'm like this so hopefully we don't run into the big guy. ( She's not sure how many more bursts of strength or speed are left in her. )

[matermali]

[ She has given up marking the way forward. Any pitiful scratches her little knife may have made in the wall were likely impossible to see, especially in such a damp climate, and as it is she doesn't want to slow down their progress any further.

It's frustrating that she's unable to sense exactly where it is they need to go, or where they need to avoid. In the past, her clairvoyance had been able to guide her and her party to success, but everything is muddled here and it only seems to worsen. All she ever seems to feel is looming dread. A promise of despair.

There's further gratitude for Red's tracking abilities, then. And should they need further violence? Vanessa is beginning to feel the pressure of it, more-so on hearing that Red's strength may be limited. "Like this." ]

The Doctor is also formidable. Perhaps he can outwit the threat.

[growlies]

Yeah, he is. ( She trusts in his skills and abilities. She knows he's incredibly smart and knows way more than she could ever hope to know. There's everything Clara told her about him being a hero, about how if he dies now then a lot of galaxies die too even if that's not why she's so focused on saving him. Red's not a hero, but he is, and if anyone could outwit a minotaur and its labyrinth it would be the Doctor. God knows how many more monsters he has faced up against, and how many of them has he also given a chance to first? She wonders.

Is that why he has so many lives, so many regenerations? Tension still radiates through her. )

And I hope he does outwit the big dude, or better yet I hope we just find the fucking exit to this shithole. ( She winces and then looks back at Vanessa. Red knows she has magic of her own, but she doesn't know how- this place has affected it. She doesn't know if there's anything Vanessa will be able to do, and Red knows her magic uses her blood too, which is a shitty thing when she's already limping and nearly drowned. ) But we've had bad luck so far so I won't hold my breath, y'know?

[matermali]

[ Vanessa knows the importance of hope, even through the fears that seem to never end. Hope for survival is not the same as hope for an end, though. Such danger will always lure, and she doubts Red can say no to the call any more than Vanessa can. Yet, why must it always endanger those who deserve a better end? ]

We are alive. I would consider that good luck.

[ Though the optimism is forced, it's sincere, and Vanessa almost smiles through the flicker of fire and shadow. The girl cares so much, and while Vanessa understands the need for violence, it's always a shame when it must be called upon for the sake of something so pure as affection. It twists devotion into vengeance, and Vanessa knows how ugly that can be. ]

[growlies]

( Red does look over her shoulder at Vanessa to smirk lightly at that. Vanessa does not strike her as a particularly optimistic person so she realizes that she is saying this for Red's benefit, but she's genuine about it, and so it affects her nonetheless.

And granted, it's a good reminder. Red's not really used to being alive so this has all been an experience in the true fragility of life and how important it is: something as simple as breathing still. )

True. Alive, and we've all still got all of our limbs so far so, y'know, from that perspective, we're not doing half bad.

( There is a pause then because she senses the Doctor's headed back this way. She can hear his movement, which means he is closer. )

He's almost here so maybe we've even hit the jackpot. ( aka they're lucky enough to find a way out. )

[matermali]

[ If not for the occasional optimism, that stretch for hope always just in the distance, Vanessa wouldn't be alive to be walking into this new danger with new friends, she's certain enough. And if this is how it will be, endlessly, then better to survive it. May it only end when satisfaction is found.

That's enough to hope for.

Staying quiet so that they aren't easily detected should they actually be nearing the Doctor, the mention of a jackpot unsettles her steps, caution slowing her down more than any grasping hands from beneath. Do they have the right cards to bid on the jackpot?

Wary that such optimism might be taken too far, but hoping her rising unease is mere paranoia, Vanessa stays silent and nearby. ]

[thedreamer]

[ As he promised, the Doctor is making his way back down the winding corridor to Vanessa and Red, smiling when he sees them. It's a shift from when he left them because he's feeling far more optimistic now himself, more in control. He can see the way out (it must be the way out). The only challenge that remains is crossing over from one passageway to the next. They'll be exposed, and the threat of monsters remains.

He's still holding an axe and he has three long threads of rope draped around the back of his neck now, hanging over his shoulders. He reasons that, should something happen as they make their way to the exit, the more rope the better. If either minotaur can be captured somehow, it's preferable, but he has the axe in his hand still for a reason.

When he gets up close to Vanessa and Red, his eyes light up and he grins far more brightly than anyone in their current circumstances really should, but then he immediately presses a finger to his lips, silently conveying that they all need to remain as quiet as possible.

The minotaur - the big one - isn't far from them, so it's even more critical than ever to not alert it to their presence. So, he'll attempt to communicate with gestures; it's a difficult thing for someone as loquacious as the Doctor. But he claps his hands together softly, just once - giddy and excited - and then he points down the corridor over his shoulder before looking back at them, rewarding them with an enthusiastic thumbs up by way of silent explanation.

Just down that way, just a little further to go, and they'll be on their way out. ]

[growlies]

( Well, Red may have offered some optimism of her own, but that doesn't mean she actually expected the Doctor to show up, looking both giddy and exciting and giving them the happiest thumbs up. Then he does some form of charades that she manages to translate well enough. He found the way out, and he managed to do so without alerting the minotaurs any further than they already have been so that's... actually really good news. Other than the one minotaur being near, but if they're quiet and fast, they should be good, right?

She smirks fondly at him, but she will lift her hands up to finger-gun back, signaling she gets it and will do.

Quiet, got it. Just a little further away, can do. Stay close, check.

She'll look to Vanessa though and gesture for her to go first - between her and the Doctor if only because she's limping and also has all those skirts of her dress to worry about (gonna remind her to wear pants next time). Red wants to make sure she'll be able to make it okay, not fall too far behind or anything. )

[matermali]

[ The silent exchange between Red and the Doctor is as bewildering as it is heartwarming, but their emphasis on the positive leaves her unwilling to sour any hope that may be provided by possible escape (if she understood the Doctor's motioning correctly).

Curious about the rope he's gathered, Vanessa will lift one of the pieces from over his shoulders when moving to walk behind him. He must be thinking something similar to what Vanessa considered earlier, then. Perhaps the rope is sturdier than it seems and could well hold a minotaur in place, if they could manage it without being gutted in the process.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that. It would be nice for that ever present dread to be false for once. ]

[thedreamer]

[ He does spare them both one more cheerful, reassuring smile before walking up ahead again, leading them down the winding corridor that begins to narrow as it empties out towards the end. The Doctor pauses there, holding up his hand to signal both Vanessa and Red to stop just a moment as well. The howling of the minotaurs continues, echoing all around them, though for the moment, they appear to be safe.

He waits a few more seconds and then steps out further. It's a bit disquieting, how easy it is to step forward, even while they continue to hear distant howls of the ever present minotaurs. They could come from any direction, and the Doctor keeps vigilant watch all around them as they walk. Ten steps ahead, just ten steps. Then nine, then eight...he treads as lightly as possible, grateful that as they move more rapidly, the undead hands seem to ease their assault. When they come upon the corridor that will lead to their exit, the Doctor smiles at them both again for a moment, briefly over his shoulder, before focusing again on the path ahead.

As they pass the threshold, despite it being a long walk towards the exit, the Doctor is far more hopeful now, until he hears a sloshing sound descend on them rapidly. The smaller minotaur has returned, it seems, and they have precious few seconds to react. Recalling quickly its previous moments, the way it hesitated over a boundary of rubble, and the poor eyesight he presumes it has, he quickly darts in front of Red and throws down a line of rope in a desperate - and possibly foolish - hope that the corridor will appear to be impassable to the creature. Like closing off part of the maze itself. Will it work? ]

[growlies]

( Red is not someone who can put pieces together like that. She did not notice the small minotaur hesitating earlier over the rubble, and so she has no idea what he's doing when he places the rope off in front of the corridor and places himself in front of her.

The small minotaur is coming though. It rushes forward with a new weapon in hand. The axe is out of its back. It appears healed as if she never hurt it to begin with, and Red reaches up to clutch at his arm, swallowing up the noises that want to leave her like, Fuck. Get out of the way. Run! Don't fucking die.

The smaller minotaur rushes forward and then stops abruptly in front of the rope, sniffing. Its hot breath is so close that she can feel it, the strands of her hair moving in and out as it snuffs in breaths like it's trying to smell them. Red remains as still as can be, but clearly its senses are not so good, because it appears to believe it cannot cross, and then turns the other direction and walks down the pathway in the opposite direction. )

Holy shit. ( She breathes out in a whisper when that works - her heart is hammering in her chest. )

[matermali]

[ Absolutely stunned by what just occurred (or didn't occur, thankfully), Vanessa is left to look back and forth between the retreating minotaur and the Doctor, unable to understand exactly what happened. As if he cast a spell. A clever sort. The fact that the three-headed beast already healed from its wounds doesn't bode well at all for their chances in future battle.

In the dim flicker of the torchlights, Vanessa will cast a glance of admiration the Doctor's way. Everyone else has been doing well to prove their value so far. Now she needs only to not slow them down more than she already has.

It's a wish quickly granted when she turns to realize that the distant howls have gone silent from the large one as well. The earlier rush of the smaller brother seems to have distracted her senses, because when she turns, Vanessa could swear she sees a goliath of a beast standing at the other end of the corridor. If so, it hulks near to the very top of the massive tunnels, at least until it hunches over.

A shaky gasp when she realizes that it means to charge. The horns could gore them all in one or two goes. Would the Doctor's method work on it, too? ]

[thedreamer]

[ The Doctor hadn't been entirely sure that would work at all, or do exactly what it happened to do. Then again, it's often been true, in his many adventures through the years, that things work out entirely by...sort of stumbling into the answer without any clear plan. Silently, he spares a moment of gratitude, though it's not for himself so much as gratitude for the turn of good fortune. He's had very little to do with it, though if he felt comfortable speaking out loud, he'd do his usual cheeky boasting that belies his deeper self-loathing - Oh, that was some of my best work yet!

As he resumes his position to lead them on their trek back to the exit that taunts them with its promise of escape and yet remains ever distant, it's Vanessa's gasp that draws his attention down the long corridor. The shape of the hulking creature is unmistakable, and though the Doctor stiffens with momentary worry, he feels confident now that he can prevent a further attack. It means boxing them in for the moment, but that's their best option for now, and so he wordlessly moves a few paces ahead, laying down another line of rope. He walks back towards Vanessa and Red, slowly, not wanting to alert the creature to his presence even if they know now how to stop it. Best not to borrow trouble, he already seems to find it easily enough by his nature alone.

The creature, sensing them by smell and, likely, the slight sloshing of the water - no matter how lightly the Doctor treads - does begin to charge. Unfortunately, as the Doctor nearly closes the gap between him and his companions, the undead hands reach up and tug the rope into the water, swiftly removing the barrier between them. He acts on instinct, his reflexes swift as he moves to lunge forward again in an attempt to lay down his last line of rope. Only a matter of seconds separates him from an unfortunate turn of events. He's quick, but not quick enough, and before he can accomplish what's needed, the beast slams its body into his, narrowly missing actually goring him, though the impact is enough to briefly knock him unconscious as he slides down the wall limply, and the minotaur now sets its sights on Vanessa and Red. ]

[growlies]

( When the Doctor slams into the wall with an ugly crunch, the strangled sob of a sound that leaves her is too human for this moment of monsters and labyrinths and darkness. It was supposed to be no. It was supposed to be stop, Doctor. It was supposed to be the ancient growl of what she really is. It was supposed to be a lot of things, but instead it's some incomprehensible rage, fear, and premature grief.

He's dead, she's sure. Her heart is lodged in her throat. Everything feels sharp and wrong. He's dead. She's sure of it. No, no, no. She can't. Her body is shaking all over. Tears prick her eyes, and there isn't enough time to do anything except remember, hear, listen, act.

Vanessa is behind her, limping still. She can't outrun this (and she won't. Red knows she's not going anywhere with them still here - please go check on him, please be okay). If only Red could figure out how to flip the fucking switch to Cerberus, she could save at least- she could save them (he's alive, Vanessa will stay alive like a godsdamn chant in her head) even if she never figures out how to shift back, even if she stays here in this labyrinth forever. It would be worth it to fight these creatures for eternity for the blood they've spilled from them today.

Her hand curves over the handle of the blade in her hand. The minotaur starts toward them, and Red gathers what little she has left and tries to lash out but cannot - cannot reach that psychic intimidation like she did before. Fuck, fuck, fuck. So she just yells at it instead (Hey! Big fuck face!), throwing her knife at it and then the rock next to draw its attention to her specifically. It seems confused, but it's attention is now on her, huffing and aiming to attack.

Good, she thinks. Her jaw locks, and something like fire flashes in her eyes. She moves toward the wall, away from Vanessa, away from the Doctor. )

[matermali]

[ Her anguish is silent at first, a void that disappears all of the sounds that assault from every angle─the minotaur's roar, Red's cry, the crack of the Doctor's impact─all feels muted, and so does she. It's a strange moment, just a second of silence, and then Red's shouting and throwing things, and all the sounds crash about in her ears again as she splashes over to where the Doctor's body lay collapsed against a pile of slick rubble; the wall had crumbled long ago. One of the disembodied hands managed to catch her by the ankle, sending her stumbling just before she reaches him. A bit of water manages to catch her tongue, but she spits it out and stabs at the reaching hand with her rusted knife, leaving them both to float away so that she can scramble onto the risen stretch of debris.

Could he be dead? She knows that this realm seems to limit the powers of great beings, and the tower only makes it worse. He could be dead. Vanessa's throat constricts, her gasps barely having the room to stutter when she collapses and pulls him onto her lap. She tries to be gentle, but there's urgency in her fear. ]

Doctor...?

[ The slightest hint of movement promises life, but hope is short-lived. His eyes flutter and his head rolls to the side, and when he does, a dark stain smears her hand. His pulse feels faint. He must have broken bones elsewhere, she can't tell. What if a rib had pierced something? If the cut to his head is too deep? What if the minotaur finishes them both off once it's through with Red? They've all had limitations forced upon them.

Some of her own limitations have been self-inflicted, though, and Vanessa can see a future where she persists with such false purity; a future where the three of them are left in pieces to rot in a stinking prison. For herself there may be little to mourn, but she walks with great beings who have so much more magic that they can contribute to this world. Her own magic will always be waiting for her to forsake such a world. She still has a choice.

Cradling his head against her lap, Vanessa's pale eyes turn from him to the minotaur about to lunge for the girl taunting it just across the water. ]

Etsi nüllaan an oge en Kailfernum troovea eksdamnaskek. [ The incantation is snapped out in the direction of the minotaur like a command. It's hissed at first, her words coarse and gutteral. They scratch their way out of her. ] Etsi nüllaan an oge eksdamnaskek.

[ Such a spell ought to send it fleeing, but at most it pauses, shaking its head in confusion and starting to turn back to Vanessa, where she hunches with her teeth bared like a cornered animal. They can be the most dangerous.

She shouldn't have tried banishment. Too kind. ]

[growlies]

( Red stares at the minotaur with her jaw locked, with her muscles tense, ready to launch herself at the beast with nothing but this more fragile body she finds herself in now. Her hackles are up, and she is still shaking - she doesn't know if he is alive, if she'll die when this thing hits her, if Vanessa will survive either. She's with the Doctor, but she hasn't said, and-

Her gaze snaps down to Vanessa at the sound, the hissing full of magic and command and words that Red has never heard before. She does recognize the power of it though. The dark, ancient, powerful aura within Vanessa flashes darker - the scent of that venom and blood stronger as she taps into this part of herself that she hasn't before while Red has been present.

The minotaur stops and then it turns toward them instead, toward the two people in this Labyrinth she cares so much about. )

No. No, no, you piece of shit. ( She yells this at the Minotaur, tossing more rocks, but she's ignored now, and so her voice comes out small and breathless: )

Vanessa? ( She swallows and then shakes her head, because this looks- it looks bad. Vanessa has something planned, doesn't she? Her own panic means she isn't even thinking straight about what she can do. It starts to move, and Red reacts, jumping at it wildly as some means of distraction, but she's tossed aside with ease, landing roughly on a boulder against her rib cage. It hurts like fuck. She groans, and she's already trying to push herself up again, trying to get to her feet, to chase, but she's not able to even stand fast enough.

The minotaur, however, has no issues moving forward. The hot breath leaves its nostrils, threatening an end. Its horns lowered, prepared to sink directly into the small woman ahead and the half conscious man in her lap, happy for their deaths, for their blood to be spilled. )

[matermali]

[ Even Red seems to be in no shape to hold off the beast, and Vanessa is nothing but a ragdoll in strength when compared to her or the Doctor. When the girl is viciously thrown, Vanessa jerks forward in further alarm. No. She's quick to settle the Doctor down beside her (she can swear she hears him murmur from the jostling) before lurching onto her hands and knees as if ready to run and check on Red as well. Unfortunately, the girl's sacrifice is a short-lived distraction, and there's a sickly pity for something so sad, so stupid as the minotaur to match its family against hers. Were this place not cursed, were the Doctor and Red allowed to be who they truly were, then this would have been over long ago.

There's no plan; there's no fear of consequence, no sweep for hope when Vanessa's foul chanting starts back up and the minotaur once more turns. Her need is the same as the adder that hisses when she breathes, the same as the scorpions that creep through her shadow. A simple need: violence. The Master may not be here to call upon, but there's another. His Master. She's always had herself, it's just so hard to keep that...balance. Even now, her old soul reaches ever outward as each word carries Vanessa further inward. ]

Itsi yenvagreni wesrat hor fensteru em tekhes euk-tene'aku. [ Give me the power over the beasts of the field and the dark. The words, as they rake and trill, are spat out with a speed that leaves her breathless, and yet still they come forth as the minotaur stamps forward once with a splash, another huff suggesting it will soon charge. ] Amaunet. Etsoo lipieem adzigrosen. [ Amunet. Unleash their anger. ]

[ Beneath the rippling water, the curse growls. It creeps through the cracks in the walls, carried by dust away from the flickering light of the torches. Deep from the recesses of where the outsiders came from and where they need to go, there's a flutter of activity, silent in its bloodthirsty haste. Then, just as the minotaur starts to move forward, it jerks back when a shadow suddenly darts in front of it. There's chittering, in the corners where the light can't reach, and the minotaur spins in confusion at the new sounds, and one of the flying beasts darts into the light to slash at the minotaur with its claws before the larger monster's horns rip into it and fling it at its angrily screeching kin before they again go silent. ]

Etsi hunak non innisumi kareenkhe diinasse. [ You cannot resist my summons.

Her fingers curl, nails dragging and chipping against the debris, then scratching into her skirt as she slowly pulls herself back to crouch on her knees.

Beyond the corridors, there's yet more of a flutter in the damp air. They continue to gather. ]

[growlies]

( Red has pulled herself to her feet again, trying to right herself, trying to stumble forward. All feels lost, because she is nowhere near, because the Doctor still lies unconscious (dead), because Vanessa is facing down a beast intent on killing her.

Then Vanessa draws on the power inside of her that Red sensed the very day they met: dark, black smoke and venom and blood. It's all stronger than it ever has been before. There are even more more powerful dark words from the mouth of a goddess. She stares, transfixed, watching with growing concern at the sight of Vanessa's soul - how much louder, stronger the goddess' grows like Vanessa could be drowned in it or swallowed whole. Red has never seen anything like it before, and it terrifies her for Vanessa. And then a moment later as the words continue, as the spell grows, the fear is lost in recognition, in an awakening of what had already been there but has been seeking an outlet: the need for violence, the need to kill, to tear apart. She wants it. She wants to be wielded for it.

She cannot even focus on the words enough to recognize the Greek buried within all the rest. Red doesn't know what Vanessa is saying exactly, but- but Cerberus responds to it, wakes up to it, claws at her insides to get out, to obey (its her but it isn't. its her). The strength of that need draws her to her knees, her hands press against the floor underneath her, her head low.

Like the bats who gather, she hears them too in droves, in groups, in a frenzy that is rattling around inside of her too. Yes. All dark creatures should respond to her, bow to her, obey her. The minotaur has no idea who he threatens and what they will do to it because it dared. )

[matermali]

[ The movement from Red draws the Minotaur's attention back, but another dash of wings and claws impedes it's progress. The giant's booming cry momentarily deafens as it flails to keep the massive bats and wyverns at bay, but they grow in number and they are ceaseless. They bite, they claw, they shriek in its ears, leaving the half-blind monster to spin almost endlessly before it finally grabs one its attackers to rip it in half. It's chaos after that. They swarm. For their kin? For Mother?

Flecks of the bat's blood are caught in dark beads of water as they trickle from her hair─part of which is unbound and tangled by now─but she doesn't blink as the cloudy water drips into her eyes. They stare wide, but unseeing of anything happening before her. ]

Etsoo lipieem adzigrosen. [ Unleash their anger. ] Itsi yenvagreni wesrat an sha’ami entsai khedekareb. [ Give me the power to make them kill. ]

[ As the words are flung out, an ugly snarl with every curse, her nails still drag, up and up as she rises to her knees. She can see the miasma, she can feel it like a soft cloud. The kind that little girls would laugh about dancing on as they waltzed in their rooms with their favorite doll. Vanessa was never like that. This cloud, this deadly smoke would swallow that girl, all while pricking at Vanessa's feet to lift her higher. ]

Etsoon kaamplen sha’am tweraam. [ Fill them with hate.

The Minotaur roars from its wounds as the bats fight and die for their mistress, and her chants rise in pitch until the spell is shouted, screamed, insisted upon. ] Itsi yenvagreni wesrat an sha’ami entsai khedekareb! Khedekareb.

[ Kill. She writhes. ]

Khedekareb!

[thedreamer]

[ The Doctor has danced with death so often that he recognizes its whispered embrace, the chill that roots beneath his soul. They're old friends by now, and so the courtship is a known one, complicated and ancient. As he tries desperately to cling to consciousness, the pain an entity unto itself, his thoughts turn towards the promise of warmth soon to be unraveling the threads of his long (too long) life. No. Not today, not now, not before he knows they're safe. They're not safe.

Something lurks, something dark and almost familiar. He can't open his eyes, can't focus enough to hear every sound, but it comes to him brokenly, pieces of words he should know.

Beasts - field - dark

He's still cold - good. The cold, the pain, he wants more of it, wants it to consume him, wants it to hurt like it never has before, needs to be so alive with it that it drives him forward, beyond every compunction that yet remains for mercy, to do what must be done for their sake alone.

Vanessa - Red - he hears them faintly, growing louder. He's being held, then shifted, as the darkness encroaches.

Anger - hate - kill (...Vanessa's voice?)

Up, up, up, he has to get up! Now. His body is stunned, bruised, but intact, and his strength grows rapidly as consciousness prevails. It will always be the threat of harm to those he loves most that pulls him back, and he trusts his biology to do what it must, to heal him, because he's getting up regardless. For them, anything for them.

As his eyes flutter open, he rolls to the side slowly, fighting for and finding purchase against a slick rock jutting from the water. Bringing himself to his knees now slowly, he rapidly takes note of their changed and charged surroundings, and for a moment, he almost can't comprehend what he's seeing, doesn't know where to focus first. ]

[growlies]

( There had been a switch inside of her that Red could not figure out how to turn, how to press, how to become. She was too human for it, too afraid of what would happen in this mortal realm, too uncertain even when she wanted to become violence made flesh, even when she wanted to so she could save them. As the spell continues, she does not have to figure it out any longer - Cerberus is louder than her, stronger than her, feral, and the mother of darkness is calling.

It (she) obeys.

There is no need for a switch any longer. There is Cerberus breaking free.

The transformation is swift, powered and urged forward by the dark power of the spell echoing in this small space. Her body shifts and changes and breaks and elongates and becomes in a flash of dark magic, Underworld magic - light blue and dark shadow.

And Cerberus stands in the place where Red had kneeled - three heads, open and poised to bite, a long sharp tail out from behind it. Cerberus is larger than what Red would be able to manage on her own - roughly the size of the minotaur, matching it. Fire roars from parted mouths and heat from every cracked part of the monster.

Its own sounds fill the Labyrinth in place of the minotaur's as it lunges forward to tear at the minotaur, obeying the call.

Kill. )

[matermali]

[ Something in her senses the Doctor's subtle movements, but it's too late to stop now. Vengeance has been enacted and they must ensure the way forward; always over bodies, when it's something that matters. This matters to Vanessa, to every bit of her, including the dark Thing that lifts her up from unsteady ground and guides her tongue over jagged, broken words. The Verbis Diablo uses words that have been stolen, twisted, and put back together all wrong. The language of night creatures, the savage and the forsaken.

And so the appearance of Cerberus is welcomed, but the pulse of a blue glow pulsing through the miasma in her eyes still draws a gasp of awe, and Vanessa's hands fly up, nails biting into the lace of her collar. Through the bats, the wyverns, the great three-headed hound, Vanessa tastes blood. Her teeth gnash and she gasps for more, tears brimming. The chanting continues, though it becomes more broken and rabid while she repeats pieces of the curse, shoulders jerking from her light convulsions. The halls of the labyrinth are filled with the howls of two great beasts, the flapping of bats, and the incessant undercurrent of Vanessa's wailing mantra.

The minotaur is sent crashing into a wall from the attack, but is quick to tank the hit and try to swing the other beast around to gore the hound's belly. Instead, it's knocked back against the wall when a giant, shrieking bat, having caught fire from the great Cerberus' initial transformation, flies directly into the Minotaur's face to completely blind it for a moment. No matter the torment they suffer, no matter the threat of death, they will not stop while she commands. ]

[thedreamer]

[ Awakening fully now, even with his mind a bit more sluggish than usual, it doesn't take the Doctor long to piece together what's happened. He'd heard and felt it growing, building to a terrible crescendo while he lay there prone, desperate to move. Still, nothing quite prepares him for the chaos that has dominion around them, the deafening roar of swarming bats and wounded beasts, the madness given power and life, like nothing at all that he's ever set eyes upon in a thousand years. It leaves the Doctor bewildered and uncertain of himself, of what he doesn't know and can't control. If he trusted that he could speak with full authority now, he wouldn't even be heard and he can barely comprehend his own thoughts enough to gather them.

Red - Cerberus has been summoned by Vanessa's own tongue. He may not recognize each word, but he knows enough to understand, and the context of the moment fills in the rest. When Red had allowed him into her mind, he'd seen Cerberus, of course, just a glimpse, but it couldn't have prepared him for what stands before them now. Magnificent, he thinks, because it's Red, it's part of her. They need her now, but at what cost? The toll it takes on her, the fear he knows she felt at having Cerberus unleashed, he worries at the same time he pities the minotaur for its own hubris.

Look what you've done, he thinks of the minotaur, you deserve this; the dark and terrible part of him, the monster inside his own soul, the moment his sense of mercy quiets. The monsters are scared of me, he'd told someone once, long ago. It feels truer now in this moment than it has in a long time. This flicker of a moment, where the dark doesn't unsettle him as absolutely as it should, perhaps because it's so familiar and because he knows it must live for them to survive.

He watches from his kneeling position, fear mounting every time the minotaur lunges at Cerberus. Can he stop this? Should he? To interfere now, to miscalculate and disrupt, could risk them all even further.

Vanessa - He turns his attentions to her, so near to him. Minutes ago (was it longer?), her hands had lifted, cradled his head, moved him with a tenderness that contrasts sharply with the taut and convulsing visage now promising, welcoming, bringing violence. He fears for her, too, his hearts constricting and slamming discordantly in his chest as he watches helplessly, questioning himself second by second. She's fully in her power, the beast at her back has her, and this is everything she'd tried to explain, but that he couldn't understand.

Vanessa and Red - his beautiful monsters. His. He will see them through this, one way or another.

Lacking complete awareness of what will happen if he interrupts, the Doctor hesitates, urgency growing. This will build and build and break, this could destroy them both, take them from him. Yet, if he's not careful, his own desire to help may be their doom.

It's taking from Vanessa, though, taking everything she has, and he can't let it consume her. He has to trust and hope that Red will come back to them, that she'll be safe, if he can disrupt the signal that's beckoned Cerberus. He has to believe that the message he left for her in her mind will anchor her in some way.

Carefully and slowly, the Doctor reaches out, trying to wrap his hand around Vanessa's wrist. ]

Vanessa, please-

[growlies]

( Unaware of the Doctor's dilemma, unaware of the state Vanessa is in, the monster battle in the rest of the room continues on, heedless to anything but obeying the magical command of the mother of darkness.

The minotaur pushes itself away from the wall but with difficulty. Air leaves its nostrils in huffs. If it feels fear, it does not yet show it - this Labyrinth is the minotaurs' and no one else's. The horns prepare to dive in again as it rushes forward, but Cerberus is there to meet it.

The middle head bites down on the minotaur's between the horns, the right clamps down on the minotaur's arm, and the left breathes fire. There's the smell of burnt minotaur flesh in the air.

Bats fly in from either end, tackling the minotaur from either side as they screech and flap wildly, clawing at the minotaur who lets out sounds of pain now to echo along with the noises of the bats and the growls of an ancient three-headed beast. )

[matermali]

[ She can't even hear him, too willingly swallowed by the resounding howls of old monsters. Her own cries for blood are only momentarily disturbed by the touch (restraint), and her gaze snaps down to finally make sense of what's through the dark wisps overtaking her sight. He's alive. But it's too late. He'll be dead if this isn't finished her way.

Beyond the Doctor, she can behold the glory of Cerberus, and Vanessa's gasps stutter for the purity of such murderous intent. Her hand twists to grasp at the Doctor's for a moment, but she only uses him for balance so that she can stagger to her feet. To step closer to the phenomenal sight. To reach for it. The silhouettes of bats scream in pain through the barrage of flames, straight into the minotaur. Vanessa's tears are free-flowing, now, though they dissolve in the dirty water still staining her skin.

The Doctor's grip tightens on her wrist and jerks her back to her knees (restraint), and it's purely reactive then. Friend or not, she whips around to snarl out a command. They aren't about to die for soft hearts. ]

Itsi sist. Eksleebire. [ Stop. Go away. ]