Event Log: Assassin

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The Assassin event
Where: Throughout the city
When: April 15th-23rd
Warnings: Inevitable character death, potential horror and gore and unpleasantness. Please remember to tag for warnings in the header if it things get too bad!

The morning of April 15th in Hadriel is cheerful, with artificial light streaming through your window. Your blankets are warm, jabberjays are shrieking, and you're probably going to experience a murder attempt today.

Maybe it'll be from a stranger, maybe it'll be from a friend, but the bottom line is that everybody is after somebody and nobody is safe (...okay, twelve people are safe, but that's beside the point). Time will only tell when you'll be overcome by that murderous rage and try to kill someone else. The best thing you can probably do at this point is stay calm, keep your head high, and try not to die for the next eight days.

Helpfully, Rage will have restocked her armory for the event, for those of you have yet to arm themselves. Additionally, for a limited time only, the armory will be stocked with bear traps, tripwire (in both 'general wire' and 'barbed wire' flavor), and voice recorders. Use all of them, use none of them, just get on out there and kill each other!

Oh, and one last thing...

► This log covers April 15th-23rd.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► Did your assassin catch up to you? Please remember to hit up our death post!

Comments

Glacius | Park, 20th | Closed

[glacius]

Another month, another reason for Glacius to be just as wary about humankind and the gods that oversaw this city. Just a few days ago, a man named Dorian had seemed hell-bent on harming another; after an intervention by the peaceful ice alien and a few others, the two had disengaged, but it hadn't taken very long for reports of similar wide-spread conflict to begin circulating through the city. Glacius had no taste for such thing and did not want to get caught up in the middle of it; though he would keep an eye out for anyone who needed his help, he often retreated to secluded areas to take time to calm his mind when his frustrations with the other inhabitants of the city began to simmer.

He still had no idea that he was subject to Rage's game as well.

He'd retreated to the park for now; it was quiet and it was large enough where it wasn't hard to find some space to himself, both things that he needed right now. What he really didn't need was to come across the target that Rage had assigned him to--unbeknownst to the ice alien. When Glacius saw Cecliy treading down the grassy path towards the bench he was currently occupying, he meant to simply vacate the area and find somewhere else to seclude himself. Instead he felt an extremely uncharacteristic swell of ire deep within his chest that had him rising to his feet and glaring standoffishly at the woman. The ice alien's normally imposing appearance--around seven feet tall, powerfully built, with spikes protruding from multiple points of his body--was normally somewhat offset by his gentle demeanor, but right now he looked a bristling mass of a threat as he warred with the anger that was trying to seize control of his mind and body.

[closerift]

She hadn't attacked Johanna Mason. Though she'd been, and she is, filled with an unquenchable rage that called for the stranger's death, the Inquisitor has thus managed to resist doing so. The feeling hasn't dwindled, unfortunately, leaving Cecily stalking the grounds of Hadriel without her weapons for fear of what she might do if she encountered Johanna again, though unable to stay cooped up in the house. The restless energy sent her out, wandering aimlessly, until she encountered an enormous creature, seemingly made of ice, standing in the distance.

Cecily stops, a good distance away, but wariness budding in her chest. She'd been approaching him, but there is something distinctly wrong about the way he's turned to look at her, and she swallows, hovering, unsure. He'd risen upon seeing her, which meant that he'd reacted to her presence specifically, most likely, and... if the gods are toying with them again, Johanna Mason may not be the only one in danger.

"Keep your distance," Cecily says evenly, though her heart begins the race. Maker, but whatever the creature is, he's huge and threatening. Instinctively, she takes a step backward, wishing for all the world that she hadn't left her bow in the house to try and stop herself from hurting one of the other residents for seemingly no reason.

[glacius]

Her voice and her words cause a stab of anger like a hot spike in the alien's mind. How typical of a human to be afraid of him, to act like he's some mindless monster--when they are the ones busy harming each other, no less! He's tired of their hypocrisy, their cruelty. Caught up in Rage's manipulations, the alien's usual perspective has been displaced--if the only language that these beings seem to understand is conflict, then maybe he's been conversing them in the wrong manner with all of his attempts to be peaceful.

The moment Cecily takes that step back the alien's eyes narrow, and he tenses the fingers of one hand and lifts his arm. The ground behind her rumbles, and then a large wall of ice erupts from the dirt and grass just behind her to block her escape. That accomplished, the alien begins moving towards her--but something about his movement is wrong. Rather than taking measured, graceful steps as usual, the massive otherworldly being is trudging heavily, head dipped slightly and limbs dangling limply at his sides--as if some outside is pushing him forward like a vessel.

"I've heard what's going on. If I let you leave this place... you may go on to hurt others," his voice is a dangerous rumble as he approaches. "I cannot let that happen."

[closerift]

She whips around at the sound, eyes widening when the icy barrier rises up to prevent her escape. Its chill creeps quickly through her clothes, into her skin, but she doesn't dare step away, which will bring her closer to the alien. She'd thought him to be some kind of golem, but-- could they use magic? Does it matter, as he's likely from another world and is another kind of creature, anyway?

"What?" Panic sets in as she realizes what he's saying and she presses her back to the wall. There's no pressure of a bow and quiver there, of course, and Glacius gets closer after he speaks, clearly intent on... stopping her, somehow. She can guess without too much difficulty how he intends to do that. This is Rage's game, and they are both pawns, but she is the target.

"I won't hurt anyone, I'm not even armed!" The Inquisitor holds up her hands to demonstrate, meanwhile, she glances past him for an escape. Better sooner than later; if they're under the god's influence, he's not likely to see reason.

Cecily bolts, taking what is about her only chance.

[glacius]

For a moment, clear indecision flickers in the alien's glowing green eyes. He considers her hands, empty as they are, and the fear clean in her face... and a part of them realizes that neither of these things are right. He doesn't want anyone to be afraid of him... but just as it seems as though a part of him is coming around, that blinding anger rolls through him again. This human could be lying to him. Her words could be simple misdirection, could be a selfish bid to attempt a chance to escape--

--And then she actually attempts to make a run for it, confirming his suspicions. The alien's head shoots up and he lets out an angry shriek, and all thought is lost in his desperation to not let his target slip away from him. The alien waves an arm over his head, generating a jagged chunk of hail that rotates in the air above him, shedding icy fragments with an ominous hum. Then, with a gesture, he launches the projectile it at Cecily's back, aiming to plaster her across the shoulders and force her to the ground, which will give him the chance to catch up to her once more.

[closerift]

His aim is true and the ice slams into the back of her shoulders, sending her crashing to the ground. The Inquisitor works to scramble back to her feet, but the pain courses through her and she stumbles a bit, wincing, legs unsteady for a moment. By the time she rises and is fit to take off again, he's upon her, hulking and sharp and very clearly able to kill her.

"You don't have to do this," she says, again raising her hands, backing away slowly. Words are just about all she has now, along with fresh injuries and bruising at her back which, unfortunately, is only the beginning. "The gods are manipulating you; they're doing it to all of us! I am not your enemy!"

Maker, she doesn't want to die again. And at the hands of another of the captives? Every time she thinks that things can't get much worse, their hosts change the rules of the game.

[glacius]

The alien glares down at the human, and her words elicit a violent twitch and a snarl from him. A part of him knows that this is all wrong, but Rage's hold is strong, and the conflict of wills burns like a hot fire in his mind. That combined with the swells of rage implanted in him by the aptly-named goddess herself make his head feel ripe to split right open, and Glacius, in his desperation to free himself from this confusion and agony, plays right into her hands.

Flaring all of the gills in both sides of his neck wide open to emit a roar, the ice alien draws his arm back and swings at Cecily. It's a blind strike; he's lashing out in aimless fury, not aiming at anything specific--just attempting to remove the source of all this anger and conflict.

[closerift]

He clinches her upper arm with a crack and she cries out, drawing it close to her chest with the other, still backing away. She can run, but he'll just stop her. He's stronger and with magical abilities, and she... won't give up either way. Things have been worse, have been more dire. Usually, she's managed her way out of them.

"My name is Cecily Trevelyan," she begins, almost wildly. "I came from Ostwick in the Free Marches of a place called Thedas. I had-- have three brothers, and I miss them, but more than anything I miss the other members of the Inquisition. They've become my family and most of them aren't here, but I need to get back to them, I have to be able to get back--"

She's rambling, her arm flaring up with pain, but she doesn't stop talking. Not if there's any chance that what she says might get him to stop, to at least bring him pause so she can escape. Maybe someone will hear and come to help (though she isn't about to scream out, not if it might bring others to potential harm).

[glacius]

At first he seems like he might not--her voice grates like nails on chalkboard in his ears, and the alien hisses and glares. As she continues he actually goes as far as to rear his arm back, and he seems a second away from striking her again, this time with more intent--but then as she mentions her family, and how much she misses them, and about how much she wishes to return to her own universe... something finally seems to slip through in Glacius' mind. Because he knows that plight--it's his own, isn't it? Not a moment has gone by since he's been there that he hasn't missed his own people, his own homeworld, and wanted desperately to be reunited with them...

Glacius looks at Cecily again, seeing her for who she actually is now, not just a target assigned to him by a cruel god. He sees the injury he's dealt, and the pain and fright it has caused... and he hates himself for it. With awareness of what he's done slipping back into place, the alien immediately reverts his weaponized limb back to its normal form, and both arms dangle limply at his sides. Then the otherworldly being collapses, falling heavily to his knees in the grass before his upper body pitches forward, and he has to support himself with his hands as well. He bows his head and tightens his hands, fingers raking furrows through the grass and dirt as he tries to keep himself from shaking.

"I--I'm sorry," Glacius chokes out, not daring to lift his head for fear that looking at her might cause him to feel that ugly, terrifying rage all over again. He doesn't want to be the monster that everyone assumes him at first glance to be; he doesn't want to hurt anyone. He doesn't yet realize that he was being manipulated--he's not savvy enough yet to the level of control that the gods can directly effect in their prisoners--though when that clicks, it will be its own can of worms.

[closerift]

He changes and she sighs audibly, catching her breath, relief flooding her like a drug. He may not be finished with her, but it looks more and more that way every second, and she's never been so grateful for running her mouth than in this moment. Usually, it doesn't exactly help, but she's gotten lucky between distracting Corypheus at Haven and now offering bits of her life's story to the alien.

"It's all right," she says quickly, in a low voice, because though he'd been trying to kill her for virtually no reason, it hadn't been him. Not really. "I've been manipulated by them before. I became a weapon. It wasn't my fault then and it isn't yours now."

How could she possibly blame him? She feels nothing but gratefulness that he seems to have regained his wits... and also her own rage, though it's directed, still, toward another person. To a woman she hadn't killed and still has to distance herself from.

Cecily steps away slowly, still grasping her arm, which sings with pain.

"I think I should go: it'll likely be easier on the both of us." She takes one step away, and then another. "Is that all right?"

Better to ask, considering his reaction when she'd last tried to leave.

"We can speak when we've all got our wits back," the Inquisitor adds firmly. "I'm sure it won't be much longer now."

Or, she hopes so.

[glacius]

It's alright? Glacius doesn't understand how it can possibly be alright--and he's about to retort, but Cecily carries on, leaving him only with more questions. Them? Who is them--the gods? He thought that they manipulated the world around their prisoners to make them feel things, not that they could manipulate their feelings directly. The knowledge that he's been played like this, that his will has been subverted to force him into harming an innocent--an atrocity in the alien's eyes--has a quiet rage begin to bubble in his hearts...

... And, unfortunately, that's the worst thing he could be feeling right now with Rage's game still in play. It compounds on what had made him lose control before; the alien had lifted his head in surprise at Cecily's revelations, and just looking at her again is enough to make his anger flare once more. Thankfully this time he realizes what's happening, and the alien drops his upper body to the ground, curling his arms up over his head with a guttural snarl. Tiny ice spears begin to rise from the ground around his body, growing tall and sharp...

He'd pierce himself through before he let the gods use him as one of their tools again.

"Go," the alien chokes out, beaten to into this pathetic, curled kneeling position by the weight of his own resolve. Anything else he might say--any other apologies that he might offer--are trapped inside his gills underneath quavering operculum. He's not going to move or even let himself look up until long after the Inquisitor has left him.