Event | Landfall | Death

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and every!
Date: August 10th - 31, 2013
Location: The realm of Death as accessed via Sinbrilee
Situation: Death is the third of the realms; characters that wander here are subject to their worst fears and nightmares.
Warnings/Rating: Please place content warnings in subject headers!

Sinbrilee | Dreaming | Death

Life. Dreaming. Death. Three realms overlaid upon one another and yet each distinctly their own. They dwell in Life and do so live upon the back of the great turtle as those of Sinbrilee did upon the shell of his sister. However, there stand numerous arches of marble throughout the ruined city that are inlaid with runes beyond understanding. Those that live and breathe which step through those whose runes have crumbled round the etchings slowly ooze a black goo find themselves entering into the realm of Death.

Those expecting the malleable invitation of Dreaming are met by disappointment and decay. Death is final and unforgiving, having no mind or function to share its control or plan. Unpredictable to when it strikes, this realm is in a persistent state of flux of decay and regrowth. The is but one constant here: Fear.

Fear permeates the air and the mind, carrying with it misery and extreme temperatures that may shift from frigid to desert-hot in seconds. It is everywhere in the ruins that represent Sinbrilee here and it is everywhere in the city that rises at random, enjoying the height of its glory before crumbling with the eerie screams of thousands dying. Graves emerge here and there, frosted by the cold -- then suddenly, the tombstones are cracked from the wear of time.

Malicant's taint seeps into all things here and Death flourishes for it, stirring up visions and stags of one's deepest fears and the darkest parts of their lives. It holds its own parody of life, sensing intruders and acting to inspire the most terrifying heights of fear that it may. Sometimes it ebbs for a few minutes, only to renews its assault of nightmares with redoubled effort.

Fear and misery; the landscape and events play out without mind to the peace of these visitors. And yet, for every terrifyingly real detail, nothing here exists beyond this realm; 'constructs' simply fade if taken through the archways and even the greatest scientific minds or tools will reveal nothing of its source. This is an ancient magic of an ancient realm, too malicious to allow any to walk away with some trophy of it.

Note: Due to the fluid and highly individual nature of Death, no official subheaders will be provided in the comments of this post. Feel free to post and thread however you like, so long as the rules of Death are adhered to.

Comments

[purpledaggers]

T'Challa was watching the scene from the shadows and at first he was going to assist her, but her skills as a martial artist was quite formidable. Even from a glance she was leagues better than even highly experienced fighters, and at first he was in the middle of walking away, figuring she could handle things just fine on her own. But when she gets taken down. Somehow.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, to him, but this wasn't exactly a normal realm. He doesn't strike just yet. He decides to wait for a moment, trying to get a feel for his opponents and see if any powers are involved before he strikes.

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah's despair lasts just a few seconds, before she's fighting again, straining against the bonds, trying to pull herself up against them. There are three men there with her now, two of them almost featureless, memory unable to construct them beyond threats and laughter. The third, the one pulling her back by her hair (which is shorter than is was before she entered this place, and black, not blonde), his features are picked out in sharp detail. Short, aging and bald, he's dressed in a plaid shirt, brown slacks, with a white apron tied around his waist: a sick reference to butchery.

The other two men are sporting semiautomatics each, and after taking Dinah down they step back to keep guard while their friend raises a vicious looking knife up to Dinah's face.

[purpledaggers]

Since his Vibranium does not seem to be functioning, he has to be a lot more careful in a situation like this. A direct shot from one of those would be enough to either horribly wound or kill him. So when he does attack, he does it through stealth, sneaking up on one of the men and taking his feet out from under him in a sweep kick.

By the time the other one catches on, he is already hitting on multiple pressure points, rendering the guy helpless as he falls to the ground in pain. The first guy is knocked out with a swift fist as he tries to get up again. Even without his enhanced powers, he was still amazing at combat so all of this happens in only a few moments.

[raptorcanaria]

Even beaten, broken, tied up and completely incapacitated, Dinah is still aware of this situation before the man in front of her. One of her eyes is swollen and bruised, but the other snaps open, flicking to the shape bringing down the gunmen.

She can only cough out one word. "Batman."

He's here. He's come for her.

In a few seconds the third man is behind her, holding a vicious knife up to her throat. It's a poor attempt at hostage taking - he's shaking in fear already.

[purpledaggers]

A hostage situation. As a super hero this isn't the first one he has had to deal with. But that still doesn't make them any easier to deal with.

As he walks forward it becomes more and more apparent that he is not Batman even if they do share similar outfits. And when he speaks, his African accent will also make that fact apparent. "It would be in your best interest to let her go..." The only long distance weapon he had was his Vibranium dagger, which was pretty much just a hunk of rock in this place.

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah can hear the scowl in the man's face from behind her, as he pulls her back against him, pulling her arms tighter against the ropes around her wrists. She can hear the desperation in his ragged breaths that come hot and irregular against her neck.

She looks at the man in front of her - not Bruce, someone else, and who knows if he can be trusted - and realizes she's had enough of being helpless.

It happens in three seconds. One to flex her arms and put her balance back into her control. A second to drive her head back away from the knife into the man's nose, and a third to drive her good leg right back into his crotch.

"Untie me right now."

[purpledaggers]

"As you wish."

With how quick she was able to get out of the strange man's grasp, he can guess that it was only because of this strange world that she was even able to be subdued by these men in the first place. He doesn't waste time actually untying the rope. Instead, sharp claws extend from his gloves and he cuts the ropes off with a few quick slashes. They might not be able to cut through metal in this place anymore, but they were still pretty sharp.

[raptorcanaria]

He'd be only partly right with that assumption. Maybe the world made it inevitable, but it's happened before. As the whole experience seems to be designed to remind her: all it takes is one bad day.

At the last second, she remembers to lift her hurt leg and land softly on the one when her weight is taken off the ropes in her wrists. Putting one hand out, she touches his shoulder lightly as she finds her balance, and looks over her shoulder at the man she just pushed away.

Dinah's eyes narrow, and for a second her fingers tense, her first and second knuckle extending and hooking. It would take just one strike from her right now, and she could end it forever. He's already dead out of this realm, it wouldn't mean anything to make it by her hand.

The next second, her hand relaxes and she turns away, offering a weak smile of gratitude to her rescuer.

"Thank you."

[purpledaggers]

"You are welcome. Though I am sure if the circumstances were slightly different, you would not have needed my help." He still has confidence in that fact. He actually wondered exactly what she did in her world to have needed such combat mastery. It seemed to be quite out of reach from what any normal person could do. Perhaps she taught it?

He pauses for a moment, and considering exactly where they were he figured trust should play a huge factor in any sort of ally he made. A random person lurking in a mask was hardly a sign of someone you should trust, so he reaches under it and pulls it off. "I am T'Challa. One of the newer residents of Keeliai."

[raptorcanaria]

"True as that is, that doesn't make the need today any greater."

She smiles when he takes the mask off. It was unnecessary, but she greatly appreciates it. "Dinah Lance. I've been here a couple of months now."

It feels longer.

[purpledaggers]

"I can see how. Even though I have only been here for a short time things seem... far from pleasant." If this whole weird realm they are trapped in is any indication. He might have helped her, but they were far from being out of their predicament.

"How is your leg?"

[raptorcanaria]

Experimentally, Dinah straightens her leg and discovers that it really doesn't want to have any weight put on it.

"Looks like I'm only at seventy five percent, here."

Useless bravado in the face of her worst nightmare? Definitely. That's just how she rolls.

"How are you at acting like a human crutch?"

[purpledaggers]

That gets a small chuckle out of him. He knows what she is doing and he appreciates it. It at least lightened the mood a little.

"I would say the inability to lose a leg properly would count for at least a 30% disadvantage. But I will take your word for it."

He gives her a nod and slips his mask back on. He still needed it. Since it also happened to give him infrared and X-Ray vision.

"I do alright. Come on, we will find the exit together. Admittedly, at a rather slow pace, but we will find it nonetheless."

[raptorcanaria]

"I still got three quarters of my limbs," Dinah counters, with an overly confident smirk. She wraps one of her arms under his arm and uses his shoulder to take the weight off that limb so she can approximate a walk.

"What do I call you with your face on?"

[purpledaggers]

"True. Though I give an extra %5 for lack of mobility." He replies with the same confidence, giving a smirk of his own under his mask. He tries to help her keep her balance as best as he can.

"The Black Panther." Because animal hero names are awesome like that.

[raptorcanaria]

Dinah leans on him without any fear of showing weakness - she needs the support so she takes it, limping slowly but surely through the strange world.

"Black Canary," she offers, codename for codename. "Nice to meet you."