pc: Laurence

[sacredpath]

Comments

week 0; monday

[sacredpath]

[she's wearing a beach outfit! because that's where we are, the beach. she's walking along the shore, staying along the edge of the tide so just her feet get wet.]

...It really is beautiful, isn't it?

[outdistanced]

[ it takes a second for him to respond, busy watching the ebb and flow of waves with fascination. ]

Yeah. I never thought something like this could be so... nice.

week 1, monday

[outdistanced]

[ peering suspiciously at a jack-o-lantern. ]

They couldn't just use normal lights? Why do they have faces?

[sacredpath]

I think they're somewhat charming, actually.

[she's wearing this what a day it has been.]

week 1, saturday

[outdistanced]

[ voids us he's just out there absently tugging at the vines around his neck. an arm is trying to help. ]

This is going to keep happening, isn't it? Someone - getting sick, or whatever it is, and killing.

[sacredpath]

[she looks worn out herself, but she frowns seeing him.]

Is there anything that helps with those? The vines?

week 2; monday

[sacredpath]

[please feel free to give me whatever you would like - an au, baby, whatever.

shadowheart is on the outskirts on the darkwoods, sitting at the base of a tree, looking up at the sky. she seems to be lost in thought, not noticing anyone approaching her. but her fingers are drumming against the base of the tree, nervous, active.]

[outdistanced]

...Miss Shadowheart?

[ as long as he's been wandering around here, he kind of wasn't expecting to run into anyone else. ]

Did you get lost, too?

week 2; thursday

[sacredpath]

[what a week! there's bloody people to chase, unless you're on cyoa 2 and this is before that, but afterwards, she's just sitting somewhere near the mansion, taking a moment to herself to catch her breath. come join?]

[outdistanced]

[ what! a week! seeing people come back injured and having to just stand by and be horrified is exhausting. ]

There's always something going on with this place...

week 2, saturday

[outdistanced]

[ he's always restless after trials, so he's going for a while. something to work that energy out of his system. ]

I think you were right about Ms. Neverah holding back. We can't expect anyone to keep admitting to it if they've killed someone else. It's odd that the others did at all.

[sacredpath]

[yeah. she's more than happy to be just thrown into a conversation - easier, than just asking people if they're alright.]

She's that sort of person. [she bites her lip.] Especially - if you'd just watched the way Yves denied it was him, and everyone who had been so certain a moment lost their certainty because they wanted to trust him.

She saw it and tried the same.

week 3; monday

[sacredpath]

[i'm throwing us right into it, we're opening a door and are yeeted into the funhouse.

The mirrors lead you and Shadowheart down a path that shows a similar descent into a dark underground temple. The twisting path heads further into the dark, until the reflections that show back to you are only lit by the dim glow of purple lamps.

Shadowheart and three of her traveling companions - Gale, Karlach, Astarion - stand before an altar made of stone, glowing purple. On the altar, an inscription reads, “Brave the Gauntlet of Lady Shar, Surmount Her Trials and Rise a Dark Justiciar.”

The mirrors on the opposite sides of the room reflect other memories, other moments. They’re hazy and dark, you can’t even quite make out what’s down that way, as though parts of the mirrors are hidden from view. But you see reflected in them the story of the Gauntlet of Shar, a legendary place - a secret temple to the goddess buried deep underground in a massive cavern. There, her truest servants will prove their devotion to her by undergoing trials and will be rewarded. You see reflections of Shadowheart asking a woman, whose face is wreathed in shadow, for permission to prove herself, to show that she’s worthy of being made a Dark Justiciar, and being rejected again and again. But the rest of the memories you find that way are dark, and hidden, and there’s a feeling of dread if you even think to approach that particular hallway. There is something quite bad down there.

The better lit path ahead shows the four adventurers still at the ledge overlooking the temple, discussing their options. Shadowheart tries to explain to them what you just saw reflected on other mirrors.

“In order to join Lady Shar’s elite, you had to pass her trials, and then make a sacrifice in her innermost sanctum when you’ve proven yourself. Very few make it that far.”

But all of them are clearly uneasy, not knowing what the sacrifice will be or what it would even mean for Shadowheart to be a Dark Justiciar, other than that she professes it is her innermost desire to do so.

“I’ve dreamed of this place,” she insists, harsh. “This is my destiny.” And then she softens slightly, looking all of them over. Karlach worried, Gale suspicious, Astarion interested in something else that can be found here and skeptical of whatever it is she’s asking. “You know me better than most,” she admits to them, more vulnerably. “But I need to find out whether I’m worthy.”

The skepticism is still there, so she adds - “If I prove myself to Lady Shar, she’ll bless me with power we can use to fight the Absolute, and rid ourselves of these parasites once and for all. Please.”

Other flashes on the walls of other mirrors. A relic buried at the bottom of the temple. The Nightsong, the key to Ketheric Thorne’s immortality. A directive, from a stern, no-nonsense woman with two swords. Find it and destroy it, so Ketheric can be stopped. An image of a fortress, Moonrise Towers, ruled over by a cruel man who cannot die and an army he has absolute control over. Whatever Shadowheart is after, it’s not the only reason to continue. There’s something else important here.

You follow more twisting paths. Despite the reluctance, Shadowheart’s friends help her pass the trials. Puzzles, tests of wit and skill. And at the end of the gauntlet, there is another altar, made a stone, where Shadowheart insists she be the one to cut her hand with a knife and let blood drip down. The altar reveals the prize inside.

From the altar, Shadowheart collects a spear. She’s distracted, and the other side of the mirror reflects back the feelings. Lady Shar herself, encircling, embracing, a presence felt only by Shadowheart, which she does not mention to the others, even as her obvious awe and fear both grow. “I just feel we’re on the right track,” she says, her voice shaky. “I’m right where I need to be, under Lady Shar’s gaze.”

(Video of this part until 2:45)

And despite her misgivings, she goes deeper into the temple. Once they reach the bottom of the temple, arriving at a statue of Lady Shar and a deep pool of water with stairs descending down below, words suddenly are spoken, ones that only Shadowheart can hear. One more test before you. Descend to the Nightsong. Make a sacrifice. Rise a Dark Justiciar..

She kneels before the statue and begins to pray.

The final threshold. You made it, Shadowheart, just as I knew you would. Despite these words also echoing all around, once again only Shadowheart appears to hear this.. Now all you must do is step forwards, and the rest will prove simple.

What do you need of me? Shadowheart’s prayer.

Nothing you are not capable of. The punishing of a wicked Selûnite. All you must do is use my spear to end her light. And then you will become a Dark Justiciar, blessed with my power. You will become my voice to those embrace me, and my sword arm against those who would do me harm.

I will. I will not fail you.

The others ask if she heard something, but she lies, says she was just communing with her goddess, paying respect.

The four descend into the pool and arrive iin another realm entirely, a void of dark shadows, clouds, rocks from some ruin in swirling nothingness, dark purple lightning occasionally lighting up the otherwise murky sky. The Shadowfell, the realm of Lady Shar.

“See my actions, Lady Shar,” Shadowheart prays, speaking out loud now. It seems almost like something she’s doing to calm her nerves, focus her thoughts. “Hear my words of faith. Blessed Nightsinger, witness my adoration. I have emptied my heart of falsehoods. I have vanquished your foes. Lady Shar’s will shall be done, as sure as night shall fall.”

In the platform down below, in the center of it, is a woman. A circle of light surrounds her, and you know that is her prison as much as the chains she is held by. She is a beautiful woman, tall and strong, with pale skin with cracks of gold flecked through it and white hair. But captivity has not been kind to her. She is in rags, dirty, wounded and broken.

More images again on other walls. This woman, called the “Nightsong,” has been kept prisoner here for a century by a necromancer who has sapped the strength and power she was born with for that long to transfer it to the man who rules Moonrise Towers, Ketheric Thorne. But the necromancer is dead now. No one is holding her anymore, except for the spell he cast which has not dissipated.

(Video of this part is here to 2:44, though some stuff is different with dialogue choices and this being an origin playthrough)

“I have felt you come, Sharran” she says, her voice hoarse. “The first in a century.” She looks at Shadowheart directly, expression on her face defiant despite how weak she is. “You, who have come to seek the praise of your wicked goddess. You, who have come to drive a dagger through my heart. Go on, show it to me. Your sword, your knife.” She lunges at you, and she’s held back by her prison.

My spear, child. Shar’s voice also echoes, something only Shadowheart can hear. Pierce her heart with it and become my sword hand, my Dark Justiciar.

“Not a dagger,” Shadowheart spits back, defiant. “A spear. My Lady Shar’s spear.”

“Well, well, well,” she says. “A spear empowered by your goddess to kill the child of a God?” Her voice is furious, dripping with contempt. “But there is much your mistress does not tell you. My death will come at a terrible price, one you will not grasp until it is too late.”

Shadowheart is not alone in this memory. Her companions have stayed silent, maybe surprised by what Shadowheart is doing, but they are looking as though they’re planning to interfere. At least Gale and Karlach are probably not willing to see her murder a woman in cold blood who is currently in chains.

“Her fate is mine to seal alone,” Shadowheart snaps at them.

“The fate you seal is your own,” the woman says. Her voice has lost some of its temper, trying to persuade now. “To be a Dark Justiciar is to turn your heart from everything but loss. You will know no love, no joy, only servitude. Until, of course, your mistress inevitably discards you.”

Shadowheart is still fierce, looking at the woman like she plans to kill her, but if you know her well, if you’re familiar enough to pick up on smaller changes, there’s hesitation, too. What she’s being told is breaking through to her in some way, she’s just resisting it.

“Do you know what I am, little assassin?” the woman, anger back in her voice. “I am Dame Aylin. Out of this hellish realm, I carry my sword for my mother, Selûne. The very sight of me would disgust you if you were a true Sharran. But perhaps you are something more.”

And then Shar’s voice. Shadowheart, do not listen. She seeks to distract, to confuse, to prolong her unholy existence and deny you your destiny. Shut out her words.

There’s another hallway through the house of mirrors that opens at these two conflicting messages. A path through the mirrors, dark, but lit by moonlight; Shadowheart looks down that way, but does not move to travel there. The mirrors in that direction reflect something much older than she is, an ancient war between the goddess of darkness and her sister, the moon goddess. The battles fought in that war, the pieces used, the way one goddess might seek to gain the upper hand against another.

But Shadowheart is focused on Dame Aylin, who is watching her as though she suddenly recognizes her. “Yes, I know you,” she says, as though she’s seen something suddenly. “A lost child, frightened by wolves in the dark.”

Another hallway through the house of mirrors opens in the other direction. And there’s a sense of terror about what lies down that direction. It’s too dark to see that way, but there’s a sound of snarling, howling. There’s pain in that direction. There might be more that way than only pain, but the way is too dark and there’s no way to tell.

Aylin is still speaking. “Much has been promised to you, hasn’t it?” she asks. “But what has been taken from you? What do you know of your own heart, your own life?”

Shadowheart looks down that direction, almost as though she intends to travel that way. There’s a part of her that wants to, wants to see it, and there’s a part of her that’s very, very afraid. She changes her mind, turns away from it. Gathers her resolve.

“Whatever you think you know of me won’t matter,” she says, but she’s faltering a little. “Once I become who I’m meant to be.”

“If you lay your hand on me in friendship, free me,” Aylin says, “I will lay another path before you. But you must decide whether to walk it.”

Enough. Close your heart to her craven words. Strike! Shar’s voice, brokering no more argument, no more hesitation.

“There she is again, isn’t she?” she says, looking directly back at Shadowheart. “Why does she fear truth more than I fear death?”

Reflections on the other mirrors - memories, only half formed, of fear, of duty, of the need to obey. Of kneeling on a stone floor, body growing weak, reciting prayers until they’re right. Of pain. Of growing strong enough to endure it, and the pride in that. Of being told lies and learning to always believe them anyway.

Shadowheart calls the spear to her hands.

There are two directions to take out of the memory, one where Shadowheart plunges the spear into the woman's heart and another where she takes the spear and tosses it off the side of the platform, lets it fall into the abyss. You can decide which one seems like the right path, or else you can explore somewhere else, one of the other avenues that opened up while exploring the memory.

[outdistanced]

[ well. given their last conversation, he has doubts that shadowheart would actually go through with this, so - down the route where she tosses it to the side it is. ]

That's the Nightsong...?

[ A PERSON??? ]

week 3, friday

[outdistanced]

[ he'll be at the flower garden, watching the koi in the pond. his eyes are a little red, but he looks thoughtful. he looks up briefly when shadowheart approaches. ]

I really hate how routine this is now. [ someone dies. trial hell. someone else dies in front of everyone. awful. ] I don't know if we're any closer to finding a way to stop it, either.

[sacredpath]

[don't be cry... she looks worried at him, though her mood is pretty bad, too.]

I hate it, too. It doesn't feel real. And this time, it must be one of those damned apples, too.

week 3; sunday

[sacredpath]

[shadowheart can be found after trial, sitting near the beach.]

Another week done with.

[outdistanced]

[ he'll go sit next to her with a sigh. ]

Too bad we can't leave it in the dust with another killer just walking around. But at least we get a few days to think about things.

week 4, monday

[outdistanced]

[ he's in the armory picking up a lollipop mace with a frown. ]

These things look like they'd just break if you tried to use them in a real fight.

[sacredpath]

[having fought skeletons with these - ]

Indeed. They last longer than you would think, but not enough to be dangerous. If someone gets murdered by one of these, I will judge them.

week 4, thursday

[outdistanced]

[ our shadowheart ):

where is she he's coming to find her. does she at least look better now? ]

What happened to you guys?

[sacredpath]

[she is in hopital and has been physically tended to, though she's still pretty hurt. emotionally, she's still confused and miserable, and there's also a sense of some self-protective guardedness that hasn't been there this week slamming back into place.]

It was confusing. Hard to say. [ok.] Have you seen Anders?

week 4; saturday

[sacredpath]

[looking for him after trial! she's not that mobile so hopefully he didn't go too far.]

[outdistanced]

[ he often goes to sit in the gazebo after trial so it's not too far. the vibes are just horrible, though - he's overwhelmingly angry, above all else. but underneath that, he's just sad, for so many reasons. what a day.

...when he sees shadowheart, though, there's a little concern creeping in. ]

You did a lot today, Shadowheart, shouldn't you be resting?

week 4; sunday

[sacredpath]

[coming to check in :( where is the boy.]

[outdistanced]

[ he's been forced into the hospital so he's being a good boy... his injuries are all taken care of, he's bandaged and dosed with painkillers. emotions are still kind of bad but more numb than anything else at the moment.

right now he's just squinting at his phone as the chipper notifs go off. ]

Who the hell is this Harold dude, anyway...?

week 5; thursday

[sacredpath]

[makes u a pc... where is laurence is he in the hospital. will he allow her to tend his wounds.]

[outdistanced]

[ he's been bullied so he'll be a good boy. she can help with his wounds! it's pretty light overall but: there are bullet wounds on his left shoulder and stomach, several scratches and grazes all over, and what looks to be a bigger cut on his right leg, just above the knee.

he doesn't really react to being handled at all, which is nice he supposes. loss of pain has it perks. ]

Sorry if I worried you, Shadowheart.

w5 friday

[outdistanced]

[ who allowed this wtf. he's just exiting his and yves's room at the mansion with a sigh; penny is on his shoulder, his eyes are red, but he is not an absolute mess, for now. ]

I really hope this wasn't because of Firefly or something stupid like that...

[sacredpath]

I hope so, too.

[she's very upset, but holding it together for now.]

But I think it will be easier if we assume it wasn't. Some of us were angry at him, but expressing anger at a very sudden and difficult decision doesn't mean anyone wanted to hurt him.

w6 monday

[outdistanced]

[ we have been so spoiled with animals lately and laurence has learned that he is in fact a cat person so he's already sitting in the cafe with a cat in his lap. he looks up at shadowheart helplessly. ]

I think I'm trapped.

[sacredpath]

[oh, nodding.]

Yes, absolutely. You cannot get up from there. If you grow hungry, I can bring you something to eat.

w6 thursday

[outdistanced]

[ if no one else carried her to the hospital laurence would have. how is she....... ]

[sacredpath]

[she probably had to be stabilized a bit but is now bandaged up and sitting up in bed somewhere.]

Hi, Laurence. [she'll smile at him.] Thank you for helping me. [I wish you hadn't had to.]

week 6; sunday

[sacredpath]

[after that trial, she will be back at the cat cafe, having a coffee while petting cats. ok.]

...Hey. That was horrible, wasn't it? How are you feeling?

[outdistanced]

[ so extremely valid of her ]

We always go in expecting something horrible to happen. But it reversing like that was... different. Worse than usual, somehow.

[ he will sit with her to pet the cats. ]

...I'm just tired, I think. Glad it's over, I guess? As long as we really do get everyone back tomorrow, anyway.

w7 monday

[outdistanced]

Well, you were right about us not being out of the woods yet, I guess.

[ THEY RUINED OUR BEACH. ]

[sacredpath]

[our beach!]

It's dangerous to leave the neighborhood, but at least we have our magic returned?

week 7; saturday

[sacredpath]

[our beach is back! our beautiful beach. she has showered and changed out of whatever hideous outfit i forced her to be in and is instead wearing something simple and comfortable and sitting out on the beach.]

[outdistanced]

[ our beach! likewise, he's thankfully changed into something clean and comfortable, and comes to sit in the sand next to her. ]

Do you really think your friend can find a way to reconnect everyone...?

[ today has been so strange and disappointing that he's a little afraid to hope. but it'd be nice to believe something could work out. ]