descent

[cancrymods]

growing heavy for the vintage

Like flakes of snow, the days spent in the Sloth Layer slowly but surely begin piling up. Life here is quiet and easy, even with the anxiety that comes with needing to move onto the next layer. But as the days drag out, so do the mysteries at play here – with the gradual uncovering of the odd doppelgangers and the seeming lack of any way to proceed to the next layer, it leaves the Executors at a loss for what to do. Until one day, everything changes. It comes entirely without warning – the ground lurches under everyone's feet in a sickeningly familiar way as a brief but violent earthquake rattles through the town. Then all of you feel it; a snapping sensation deep from the very foundations of Purgatory followed by the most cataclysmic impact any of you have experienced in your lives – or unlives. Snow explodes up from the ground, houses creak and lurch and the whole layer seems as though it might shatter apart under your feet. It seems like it's going to last forever. Then, finally, it stops. The silence that follows is even more pronounced in comparison to the hell-rattling noise from before, but as some semblance of calm starts to return, you realize several things. First is how eerily quiet the town is. Surely after all that, you'd hear a Specter or two... but there's nothing. Secondly – a splash of something wet strikes your cheek. Then again. Until it becomes clear that the weather has taken a sudden drastic turn and in place of the gentle snowfall from before, the heavens have opened with a torrential rainfall. Why? Possibly because of the steadily growing heat you suddenly feel burning up through the foundation of the layer and radiating out through the town. Will you investigate?

Comments

[mementomoritz]

[So normally, you'd expect someone to move away from the source of extreme heat and sudden terrifying noises.]

[But you guys have met Medic literally ever, so the fact that she comes sprinting out while hastily tugging on a lab coat probably isn't a surprise.]

[She's trying to find the source of the event, and for lack of any other available clues she's going by the sudden sense of heat- where does it seem strongest? Is it stronger anywhere in particular?]

[emberserker]

[Wolfsbane is, for some reason, wearing a thick cloak over her Executor outfit. She follows after the others at a run.]

Water above, heat below. Something must have happened in the Underside!

[cancrymods]

[ It's not hard to find the source of the disturbance – the temperature ratchets up as you follow a particular direction, the dry sort of heat that comes with fire and sunlight. Eventually you find your way to the center of town and see exactly what is causing the disruption.

A massive chasm has torn open in the very foundations of the layer. Before you even get close you can tell this is the source of the temperature change – you can hear, feel and see the waves of heat pouring out of it, along with an ominous violet glow that does not look like what you'd come to expect of a layer's underside.

Will you approach? ]

[daughterofthemark]

[They've clearly found something important. Why wouldn't Veil jump right in?

Er, metaphorically. There are multiple very obvious reasons not to literally jump right in. She is instead planning to go over by the edge and look inside.]

[mementomoritz]

[Not only is Medic physically approaching, she's reaching out with her sensory powers as well.]

[emberserker]

[Wolfsbane is right there as well; perhaps for obvious reasons, she doesn't seem to mind the heat.]

I don't suppose the Authority's down there!

[Calling down into the creepy purple glowing abyss. She'll follow it up by firing an ice shard into the glow to see what it does.]

[syrinfacet]

[ well. sloth layer had been nice, getting to spend time with her notwife and kids. but what's all this then? massive fucking chasm? galea follows the others, sees how they peek at the edges...

...and shifts, turning into a motherfucking dragon. wings of amethyst and stained glass stretch out as she readies herself.

beep beep, your uber's here. ]

I can carry you. Once we're ready to descend.

[ her voice echoes mentally, towards everyone around. ]

[crypddyd]

[Lion eyes her new form, a sense of familiarity there. But that's all.]

We should expect battle, if nothing else.

[He looks ready to just fucking jump down there though, if no one stops him

[schardynfreude]

My, it seems there's a party.

[That includes a fucking dragon, okay, so that's interesting. Ardyn strolls up and, like the others, takes a peek over the edge into the abyss before stepping back again.] How ominous. But at least we're getting closer to the source of that dreadful heat.

Someone ought to drop in and take a look.

[He presses the heel of his boot to Lion's backside and gives a shove.] Off you go!

[crypddyd]

[Oh well, this is happening. Lion tumbles in, and after a dumb look of surprise manages to transform to his Executor form and twist around, slamming his lance into the chasm side.

He dangles there, glaring at Chiron... then plants his boots against the wall and starts sliding down like a cliff climber. Maintaining eye contact with his betrayer the whole way]

[emberserker]

Chiron.

[Said even if the only reason she isn't going down there herself is she's seeing what her test does first.]

[schardynfreude]

Oh, we all know you'll be fine!

[Back him up on this, Wolfsbane! Also there's a dragon to catch him/bring him back up if need be. SEE WE'RE ALL FINE]

[daughterofthemark]

[Veil looks at the guys (well, Chiron and the space where Lion was a few seconds ago), then at Galea, then back at Chiron.]

--I would prefer the dragon option.

[mementomoritz]

Whoops! [Medic is just going to helpfully send down a tendril from her Mantle- thank you, Mantle- for Lion to hold onto. So he can at least brace himself and hang there like a mountain climber instead of sliding all the way down.] Here, hold on!

...Do you see anything interesting down there? [She's concerned about your physical safety, sure. But also like. You're already dead and she could be doing science to this stuff right now.]

1/2

[cancrymods]

[ The heat blasting up from the chasm is strong enough that even the rain pattering down into it is being reduced to steam – the same unfortunately goes for Wolfsbane's ice as well.

More worryingly, though, is what happens when Lion begins his own (unwitting) entrance. While the Executors see him start to slide down, after a few moments the dude just vanishes – too quickly for Mantle to secure him there. Maybe he was lost in all the billowing steam coming up from the chasm but perhaps not.

After all, Medic – and the others as well, at this point – will be able to sense that the heat pouring out from the chasm originates not from the layer's underside but the Wrath Layer of Purgatory. Hm. ]

[cancrymods]

[ From Lion's POV, what he sees is much the same. Not long after making his way into the chasm, he loses sight of the others and finds himself swallowed by an almost unbearable steam-filled heat. Eerie purple light pulses like a heartbeat all around but aside from the steady hiss of steam, there's not a sound to be heard.

Proceed? ]

[emberserker]

Oh, no, you don't!

[Wolfsbane leaps down after, her cloak billowing out and a flash of blue briefly visible when it flies up.]

If there's anyone built to handle the heat, it's me!

[mementomoritz]

[...Welp.]

[Medic tilts her head, peers curiously down, and then shrugs.]

Bye-bye, see you at the bottom!

[And then, with a cheery wave, she flips herself over the edge and begins slithering down on Mantle's tentacles.]

[As it turns out, if all her friends jumped off a cliff, she would jump off, too.]

[daughterofthemark]

[Okay she kind of expected this from you two BUT STILL]

[crypddyd]

[Oh. That's bad probably. The smart thing would be to wait, but he's gonna keep sliding down, his ghosts achingly loud in the silence.]

[daughterofthemark]

[...

Veil silently walks over to Galea. When and how did she become one of the more sane Executors?]

[syrinfacet]

[ guys. guys please. ]

I'd rather the rest of us stick together, please!

[ once everyone's boarded, she's taking off down below, and trying...not...to think about the weird pull she feels, wrath was her sin as well... ]

[daughterofthemark]

Thank you.

[AGAIN: WHEN AND HOW]

1/2

[cancrymods]

[ Separated as they are, it's hard to keep track of the group. Wolfsbane is the first to vanish into the steam, then Medic and Mantle. And with a powerful beat of her wings, Galea ferries the rest of the Executors into the unknown as well. With no way of knowing what they're about to face, the Executors descend...






into the mouth of madness. ]

[cancrymods]

[ Not too far down, the steam dissipates, clearing your lungs but leaving your vision empty of anything save strange, cavernous shapes cast in shadows by the light bleeding up from the Layer below. The heat is close to unbearable, even for the Executors with an affinity for this sort of environment, wringing sweat out of your pores and drying your voice to a croak. But still, you proceed.

You smell the smoke first.

It rushes up like a wall of cloud cover and with no way to slow yourself, you barrel through it. It smells rotten and sweet, like singed hair and summer roses and you cough and choke on it as you continue your seemingly endless descent. No buildings or structures swim into your vision as you come closer to the Wrath Layer of Purgatory and it becomes clear why when you finally make landfall and feel the crunch of hard, barren earth under your feet.

Whatever might have made up this layer before... nothing is left.

Welcome to Ira, the Wrath Layer of Purgatory. ]