Within These Walls ((Open 9/28/12))

[Silas Parrish]

The Shadow found its quarry easily, and overtook him. Galiel was not even granted the opportunity to scream as the Shadow consumed him. It turned its sight again upon the group, divided by the rift the Shadow had cut into the ground. Its otherworldly senses told it that Tobias had fallen into the maw of the asylum's foundation, and it dove in after him, bending light and warping time around it as it passed by the others. They could not physically see the Shadow, when it was so close, but they could perceive a darkening of the senses, as light and sound became... wrong. Shadows fell where they ought not, light bounced in ways that seemed fundamentally incorrect and inconsistent, and sounds echoed from infinite depths, reverberating and gaining intensity with every bounce against unholy surfaces, until the simplest sound became a hellish, cacophonous screech in mere seconds.
Then it was gone, quickly as it came, leaving a feeling of wakening from a terrible nightmare as the Shadow sank below the earth in pursuit of Tobias. It would never reach him, as he lay in a pool of water that had been collecting drops at a time for centuries. The earth resealed itself in the Shadow's wake, leaving a jagged scar in the cobblestones and a taste of something dead in the mouths of those that stood nearby.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

"Ah!" Daniel fell back from the rift as a queer feeling washed over him, a terrible dreadful one that brought confusion and horror the forefront of his mind. Then he cried out again and pressed his hands tightly against both of his ears, thanks to the sudden burst of pain from screeching sounds. When it had passed, having only been brief, the ground beneath his feet rumbled as it seemed to close up the gash Tobias had fallen through. He fell to his knees and touched the now thinner crack as if he could open it back up. He felt as if he'd seen the lost stranger down below, far down, but barely. "A thousand curses upon this hellish place!" The knight yelled as he pounded a fist against the sealed stones. "A thousand and more!"

Shania and Ruskie felt the same as Daniel although not as strongly seeing as they stood farther back by Eve. Nonetheless both the dryad and halfling also covered their ears and cowered.

"Miss Tesra!" Tarnbel'en tried to call out to the running woman again in an effort to get her attention. They were leaving behind what safety they could have had with the others in favor for the dark unknown. He didn't like it.  

[Silas Parrish]

Eve struggled to stave off a bout of sobbing in the wake of the group's dividing, and glanced about to do a quick headcount of who was still close by. ((Can everyone tell me who's still here, of their characters, and who ran off on the other side of the rift?))
She eyed the bolt-shaped mark in the earth at her feet, and immediately began glancing about, anticipating some new horror. Just then, as if in answer to her hopeless wondering, a soft white glow drifted into the immediate area, illuminating the door to the asylum proper for the briefest of instants.
"Did anyone else see that?" she asked quietly. Members of her own traveling party nodded nervously. She gave a violent start as an ear-splitting scream of terror filled the air. It sounded human in nature, but Eve was loathe to find out what elicited such noise. "That light... it was almost friendly. I think we need to go in there!" she said with a weak voice.
"Before something worse than that worm comes out to catch us," added one of her companions.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

((With my characters, only Tarnbel'en is on the opposite side of the rift and is chasing after Tesra right now. Daniel, Shania, and Ruskie are by Eve on the other side of it, right next to the greenhouse, I thought. I don't know where Daemon is right now, though, you'd need to ask Orcus.))

"I vote..." Ruskie coughed as his voice failed him. "I vote we go check out whatever that light was, too...It's not like we have anywhere else to go..." This last part came as a whisper, as if he'd given up all hope in finding even a safe corner in the entire compound-like place.

Daniel only stared angrily at the ground. Perhaps if he stared long enough he'd be afforded a glance into the damnable place to find Tobias.

Shania nodded, clutching her stave close to her body and going over to place a hand on the knight's shoulder. He stood up immediately. "Let's go...I do not want to be out here anymore. Bad things seem to happen."  

[Silas Parrish]

((Should we wait for Orcus in this one? And what to do with Troy's characters?))  

[Ty Gwynnia]

((For Orcus, I don't know. He might still be interested in this and if so, then we can just have his guy wander around with the group in the background. And for Blue's...we could always divide them and kill them off as dummy guys unless he has signs of coming back.))  

[Silas Parrish]

Eve stepped gingerly toward the black gate, feeling her entire body rebel against her as fear did its work to keep her feet rooted firmly. She ignored the shaking and the cold, and focused intently on the door. She willed herself to have tunnel vision, staring straight. After an eternity in the silent courtyard, she reached the door. A thick, oily substance coated the great handle.
Eve was loathe to touch it, but the ominous quiet behind her was disconcerting. She gave a quick, silent prayer for Tobias, and grabbed the knob.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

Shania lead Daniel over to Eve as the woman reached for the doorknob. What were the chances that there was a benevolent force in the asylum? Only she had seen it, not the others of the group. Perhaps it was formed in her minds-eye and some sort of delirium wanted to make it seem real, if only for the fact that somewhere a dark force wanted them dead? She shook her head. No, maybe there had been a light. Thinking optimistically was the better choice here.

When it became apparent that Tesra would not stop running, Tarnbel'en decided on an action that would probably save both of them from dashing headlong into danger. His long legs sped him up back to the fleeing woman and he leaped in a tackle at her. Once he felt her body, he jammed a heel down, pivoted his body weight with his other leg, and landed hard on his back. Luckily, she was unhurt, his body had absorbed most of the damaging impact. But unfortunately, he'd heard the suppressed cracking of many of his arrows through his quiver and, in the worst case, his bow.  

[Silas Parrish]

Eve pushed hard on the heavy door, expecting great resistance. To her shock the door gave way as easily as one made of toothpicks, and she tumbled into the floor facefirst. She collected herself, feeling her face become flushed.
((How about a vestibule that looks different to every observer?))
She rose awkwardly and gazed about an eerily immaculate hospital lobby. Shining black stone and fine gold decorative bits adorned every corner and light fixture. Something like happiness began to well up within her, as she became convinced that the white ghost had been friendly.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

((Sounds awesome.))

Following after her, Daniel, Shania, and Ruskie were similarly looking around in a mix of confusion and amazement. For the dryad, she saw what a tunnel through a forest would look like. Dark, marble pillars lined the walls and arched above, splaying carved branches across the ceiling just as the roots criss-crossed the floor. What looked like so many pieces of stained glass hung from the individual twigs and sticks giving the appearance of leaves, and from somewhere above the cold branches a light cast a warm glow down. She felt a smile lift the corners of her lips.
For the halfling, he beheld a luxurious hallway with plush rugs and oil paintings of people he did not recognize. Despite the artistry, he felt a chill run down his spine at the look in each of the figures' eyes.
For the knight, the corridor reminded him of the asylum outside in that the floor and walls were the same gray, flagged stones with lit torches in their brackets. Crossed weapons hung on the walls in intervals, no spot of rust on them in the least, and faded banners displayed colored fields with no visible emblems. Even with the familiar surroundings much like a castle, the sights from before still invaded his thoughts.

Tarnbel'en called the woman's name a few times to gain her attention when she calmed down, but it looked like she had gone silent, retreating deep into herself at that moment. He couldn't blame her, many of her friends had probably been killed as well as her father, and perhaps her life would be extinguished as well. The elf sat up, stood, and helped Tesra to her feet before slinging his quiver off his back. Thankfully, only a few arrows had been snapped in half or cracked, and his bow was made sturdily enough.  

[Silas Parrish]

Eve was only vaguely aware of her companions beside her as she explored the interior of the asylum. These pristine rooms were so warm, so inviting. She felt a single tear slide down her cheek.
"What's this?" she asked aloud, genuinely confused. She felt this strange nagging feeling like a child who has forgotten an important chore. She wiped the tear away hastily, and approached a shining marble desk. Seated there was a portly nurse, dressed in clean healer's robes. "Excuse me!" Eve heard herself ask, questioning the trustworthiness of her own eyes. "Excuse me!" Still no answer. "Do any of the rest of you see this?"

Tesra shook herself, and seemed to have returned to the real world.
"What happened?" she asked, blinking at the sight of the elf.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

The dryad, halfling, and knight had followed after Eve silently as she wandered around, each in their own thoughts. It was Daniel who answered the question she posed, after seeing Shania at a loss of words and Ruskie nervously toying with his cap and feather. "I see a suit of armor," he said, eyeing the clean and undented steel of the plates and the straw-stuffed canvas face of the dummy it was on curiously, the face that had been drawn on in charcoal grinning goofily. "I do not think it's going to answer you, though."

Tarnbel'en slung the quiver back over his shoulder but kept his bow out this time, even nocking an arrow in preparation. "The darkness that the giant thought was slime made another appearance." He paused, trying to gauge her inevitable reaction. "It separated us from the others, and I followed after you when you fled."  

[Silas Parrish]

Tobias woke suddenly, remembering where he was, and thankful that the nightmares seemed to have been only that--nightmares. Cold water on his face returned his senses to him, and he glanced around, freezing when he saw two shapes in the darkness with him.

Tesra nodded hopelessly.
"Now what do we do? I just want to go home!"

"Hello?" Eve called, hearing no reply from her companions. She turned away from the nurse for a moment, looking for the others. They had vanished, in all likelihood going out to explore the surprising interior of the asylum proper.
"Can you help me? What is this place?" she asked the nurse. With a sigh, the middle-aged woman set down her pen, and slowly raised her head to face Eve. The girl gave a screech as she saw that the nurse's comely features had vanished to be replaced by the face of some tortured monster. A lipless mouth opened and closed rapidly, creating a clicking sound, and the eyes had been gouged out--very recently, by the outpouring of blood from the sockets. Great iron fasteners held the nurse's skull closed after some terrible surgery gone wrong. Eve began to back away. The nurse did not move, but sat in place, screaming.  

[Ty Gwynnia]

((Wait, I though they were all still walking together, not that they were in a different phase. I'm confused.))  

[Ty Gwynnia]

((I'm still confused. D= ))