The Second Victim

[strangerpeople]

THE SECOND VICTIM

[It was getting unbearable. The illness, the stress, the threat of death, either by oneself or by another. The worry about finding a cure for a disease that, in this comparatively primitive world, might not even exist outside of the Depths.

However, on Friday morning - or what the Titled could at least conceive as Friday - all the Titled will wake up with the remnants of a very soothing sensation in their throats. Cool and at the same time almost burning, like someone had dropped liquid menthol down their throat while they were sleeping.

They will also find something else, especially if they had been infected: their perception of time is back to normal. Which means one of two things. One of the Titled actually managed to create the potion needed to cure the disease, or...the Titled might have an Inquisition looming on the horizon.

There is only one way to find out.



((OOC: Just a reminder that, due to the nature of the motive this week, there may be references to self-harm and suicide, along with other possible triggers, during this Inquisition, including during the Investigation, and that potentially triggering comments should (and comments by the mods will) be given a trigger heading on those comments.))]]

Comments

[strangerpeople]

[He might notice something up with the tree and the ground beneath it as he does so.]

[poorlovefool]

[Well, let's look up into the tree then. Is there a murderer up there waiting to pounce?]

[strangerpeople]

[Well, geez, Eric, spoil the surprise!



Actually, the lowest stable branch on the tree looks damaged.]

[poorlovefool]

[Iiinteresting. Did it crack?

He'll look on the ground, too.]

[strangerpeople]

[The main branch is slightly bent. However, it's in the smaller branches where the damage is - most of them are cracked or missing, with moths converging on the exposed bark.

Some of those branches are on the ground, where, again, moths have converged on the exposed bark of those branches.]

[poorlovefool]

This is kind of creepy...

[What's the deal with you, moths? Why do you like this tree so much now that it's broken?

He's an impulsive guy, so he's gonna pick up the branch on the ground and see if the moths fly away.]

[strangerpeople]

[Nope. In fact this just seems to attract more moths to the branch, and thus to Eric. Good job.

...

He might not notice anything, but Rubedo might notice that he's actually starting to glow a little.]

[poorlovefool]

[Boy it sure is convenient that the lighting got brighter in here?? So he can see if there's anything weird about the exposed bark and the branch itself to be attracting all of these moths?? Wait they keep landing on it.]

Jeez, these guys are making it hard to see.

[Can he poke a few off?]

[carries_war]

[He sure does notice that! Especially since glowing is kind of...a thing for URTVs.]

That's not the way you normally glow.

[strangerpeople]

[He can try, but every time he does, other moths seem to take the place of those that have been shooshed away.

And yeah, Eric's right - for him, everything is getting blurry and the lights brighter as the moments go by...]

[poorlovefool]

Glow...?

[He tries looking at his hands, but he can't really tell. It all seems to blur in with the lights from above, which look more clear than it. Even though his hands are gripping a warhammer and a branch respectively, that's pretty goddamn weird.]

I don't... see anything...

[carries_war]

Really? But you're glowing pretty bright. Maybe it's something to do with the tree, or the moths...

[poorlovefool]

The moths... shit! I-I can't see straight... they're in the way!

[It's like the moths are the only thing he can focus on while the rest of the world gets more and more blurry. This property of the moths strikes him as really dangerous, so he's tempted to whack the branch against the tree until they die. But... that would mean holding onto it for a longer period of time, which could be even more dangerous. So for now, he drops the branch like it's hot.

Hopefully that will make the moths stop bugging him.]