(set: $arrived to false)(set: $driving_action_count to 0)(set: $max_driving_actions to 4)(set: $has_bible to false)(set: $bible_passages_read to 0)(set: $max_cigs to 8)(set: $cigs_smoked to 0)(set: $bloodlet_count to 0)(set: $mindwander_count to 0)The digital clock on the dashboard of the early aughts pickup you're driving blinks 12:00, it reset itself while you were messing with the ignition wiring back at the hotel parking lot. It's not your vehicle, but it was parked outside the parking lot security camera's view and you knew an older truck like this was going to be easy to hot-wire.
You wouldn't normally lower yourself to theft like this, but tonight you set out with a mission and it's best if you left as little trace as possible. Your own vehicle was parked near a U-Haul depot two blocks away from the hotel you were staying at. The U-Haul you rented with a fake ID is parked at the hotel.
But that was hours ago. Right now, you're driving to a municipal cemetery, a few kilometers outside of town.
[[Eyes on the road]] (if: $radio_fiddled is not true)[(set: $radio_fiddled to true)(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)You press in the knob to turn on the radio and are greeted by a pre-recorded sermon, broadcast from the local Christian Talk Radio station. An evangelical pastor is giving an incensed speech in a thick country accent on resisting the evils of Satan. It sounds like this is about witchcraft until he transitions smoothly into an advertisement for some kind of brain-boosting supplement.
"Holy C, that's C the letter for Cerebral." the pastor intones, his voice shifting from ecclesiastic to salesman, "It keeps your mind sharp and pure so you recognise the devil's temptations"
You give the knob a spin to peruse the waves, but aside from Pastor Salesman and another station currently emitting a single, solid tone, it's all static. It's late, and these rural stations don't run through the night.](else: )[Still just an island of zealous commerce in a sea of static.]
[[Eyes on the road]] (if: $driving_action_count > 0)[You turn your attention back to the dark, country highway.
](if: $driving_action_count < $max_driving_actions)[There's nothing to see but shadowy trees and the flashing of retro-reflectors along the side of the road as you drive through the lonely night.
[[Fiddle with the Radio|Radio]]
[[Open the centre console|Center Console]]
[[Let your mind wander]]](else: )[(set: $arrived to true)Through the darkness ahead you see a green highway sign with a casket and a cross on it, signifying a corpse road. Just beyond you see a gravel road winds off through the trees.
You slow down to take the turn (if: $cigs_smoked > 0)[and toss your cigarette out the window before rolling it back up as the gravel road starts kicking up dust.](else: )[and steady the vehicle as your back end swerves slightly on the gravel road.] The road is narrow, encroached on both sides by trees that almost entirely canopy it.
The tree cover opens up as you approach a branch in the road. You turn down it and soon find yourself at a wrought iron gate, closed to block off the road and chained shut with a heavy padlock.
[[Get out of the truck]]
[[Open the centre console|Center Console]]
(if: $dropped_bible is true)[[Grab the bible]]
](if: $driving_action_count <= $max_driving_actions or $arrived is true)[You open the centre console and rifle through the contents with one hand. You see napkins, (if: $has_pen is not True)[a [[pen]], ](if: $has_bible is not True and $dropped_bible is not true)[a [[pocket-bible|bible]], ](if: $ate_gum is not True)[a [[pack of gum]], ](if: $has_cigarettes is not True)[a lightly-crumpled [[pack of cigarettes]], ]and a handful of change.](else-if: $arrived is not true )[You see a shadow suddenly dart out of the bushes towards the road, snapping to attention, you see a deer now in the middle of the road. You slam on the brakes and skid to a stop, almost in time to miss it entirely.
You bump the deer's hind end, sending it scrabbling along the highway. It bounces and rolls, then gets up and runs off the way it came.
(set: $hit_deer to true)]
\(if: $arrived is not true)[
[[Eyes on the road]]
](else: )[
[[Get out of the truck]]
]The rhythmic hum of the truck's engines and the quiet of the night make it hard to stay alert. Your thoughts drift back to earlier in the day.
(if: $mindwander_count is 0)["I'm just passing through," You said to the bored front desk clerk when you checked in around 3:00 PM, "moving out West for work." You motioned behind you through the hotel entrance where the U-Haul was sat in the dropoff zone. Your dog Mack visible in the passenger seat.
The clerk rolled her eyes and said nothing, then handed you a form. "Just sign here," she said with a sigh. "If the dog's coming inside with you, you need to pay a deposit"
You did, and she promptly forgot you were ever there as soon as you took the keys out of sight.](else-if: $mindwander_count is 1)[You drove your U-Haul around to the back of the hotel, keeping an eye out for older vehicles. Anything that you could stick a shim into the window and jimmy the lock, preferably old enough to jump start quickly.
The best bets were a 90's Civic and an 'aughts Ranger, the one you're in now. The Civic was out, it was too central in the parking lot.
You spotted the lot's single camera, and parked your U-Haul so that the tall vehicle blocked out as much of its view of the section of lot where your target was parked as possible.
"Alright Mack, let's take a walk. You're gonna be hanging out alone for a while tonight and I don't want any trouble from the hotel" You scratched the dog behind his ears, his mouth popped open, tongue lolling.](else: )[A few minutes later you come back to the present.]
(set: $mindwander_count to it + 1)
(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)
[[Eyes on the road]]The pack of gum has had its wrapper largely ripped apart. You can't read a logo or flavor, but it's a minty-looking green. When you pick it up you notice it's almost entirely empty. A single stick of gum remains.
[[Eat the stick of gum]]
[[Put the pack of gum back|Center Console]]The pen has a logo, a brain with rays of light emanating around it and a christian cross overlayed on top. There is text reading "Holy C", on it's side. (if: $tested_pen is True)[It is out of ink.]
[[Put the pen back|Center Console]]
[[Take the pen]]
(if: $tested_pen is not True)[[Test the pen]]The road is empty, so you pick up the pocket bible and flip through it, careful to keep your vehicle in its lane. It's dog-eared and well used. Each of the marked pages has a highlighted passage on it.
[[Read one of the highlighted passages]]
[[Take the bible]]
[[Put the bible back|Center Console]](if: $bible_passages_read is 1)[Deuteronomy 18:10-12
(align:"<==")+(box:"=XXXXXXXX=")[10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord...]
Witchcraft must be important to the owner of this truck. You wonder if there's anything in here to be wary of.
](else-if: $bible_passages_read is 0)[Revelation 6:9-11
(align:"<==")+(box:"=XXXXXXXX=")[9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters were killed just as they had been.]
The Fifth... auspicous. As if fate brought you to this truck and this page. Perhaps you should keep this book.
](else-if: $bible_passages_read is 2)[Revelation 10:1-4
(align:"<==")+(box:"=XXXXXXXX=")[1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”]
You feel a grin creeping into the corners of your mouth. "Never write it down" you say aloud to the empty truck "unless you want to be crushed by the fiery pillars of earth and sea.
](else-if: $bible_passages_read is 3)[Ephesians 6:12-17
(align:"<==")+(box:"=XXXXXXXX=")[12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.]
]
(if: $arrived is not true)[(if: $bible_passages_read > 3 or $driving_action_count > $max_driving_actions)[You catch the distant glint of a headlight out of the corner of your eye. You look up, away from the bible and notice you're on the wrong side of the road. You toss the bible to the floor and grab thes steering wheel with both hands to swerve back to the right side of the road just in time to avoid a collision.
(set: $dropped_bible to true)
[[Eyes on the road]] ](else: )[(set: $bible_passages_read to it + 1)(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)
[[Read another|Read one of the highlighted passages]]
[[Stop reading|bible]]
[[Take the bible]]
]](else: )[
[[Read another|Read one of the highlighted passages]]
[[Stop reading|bible]]
[[Take the bible]]
[[Get out of the truck]]
]This book could come in handy. You slip it into your jacket's mickey pocket.
(set: $has_bible to true)(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)
[[Keep rummaging|Center Console]]
\(if: $arrived is not true)[
[[Eyes on the road]]
](else: )[
[[Get out of the truck]]
]You turn off the engine and step out of the truck's cab, then wait for your eyes to adjust to the lack of headlights. The full moon overhead gives you enough light to assess your surroundings, and now that you're near the cemetery you can //feel// a [[vibration]].
You threw your duffel in the back of the truck on the way here, and will need it. Maybe the owner left something useful back there.
(set: $vibe_check to -1)
The gate in front of you is locked, but it should be no problem for you. Just beyond it lies the cemetery's columbarium.
[[Deal with the padlock]]
[[Look around for another way in]]
[[Check the box of the truck]]
(if: $has_cigarettes is true)[[Stop for a cigarette]]You put the (if: $tested_pen is True)[dry ]pen in your coat pocket.
(set: $has_pen to true)(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)
[[Continue rummaging|Center Console]]
\(if: $arrived is not true)[
[[Eyes on the road]]
](else: )[
[[Get out of the truck]]
]You draw the pen's nib back and forth along your forearm a few times. It leaves a red scratch behind, but no ink. This pen is spent.
(set: $tested_pen to true)(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)
[[...|pen]]
Minty.
You put the empty pack in your pocket.
(set: $ate_gum to true)(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)(set: $has_gum_wrapper to true)
[[Continue rummaging|Center Console]]
\(if: $arrived is not true)[
[[Eyes on the road]]
](else: )[
[[Get out of the truck]]
]What harm could it do, really? You slip the pack of cigarettes into the breast pocket of your shirt.
(set: $has_cigarettes to true)
[[Continue rummaging|Center Console]]
\(if: $arrived is not true)[
[[Eyes on the road]]
](else: )[
[[Get out of the truck]]
](if: $cigs_smoked <= 0)[You crack the window and place the least bent cigarette in your lips, then grab the lighter out of the pack and light it.](else: )[You toss the remains of your current cigarette out the window and grab another from the pack.]
(set: $cigs_smoked to it + 1)(set: $driving_action_count to it + 1)
(if: $cigs_smoked is 1)[You take a deep drag. It's been a long time since you've let yourself have a smoke and you feel a bit light headed.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 2)[You remember when you quit. How long ago was it now? Five or six years at least. Anna always told you to stop. That look on her face when she saw you doing it was enough to make you stop... around her at least. You never really listened until she was gone.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 3)[It was never your intention to let Anna down. She was just looking out for your health like a good partner should. She was good to you. Always. Too good to you to leave like she did.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 4)[That night she left was such a disaster. How many ways did it all have to go wrong at once? The circle was broken, cloud cover came in, an owl flew through the coven, flapping its wings in your face and distracting you just as you started the final incantation. And Anna, standing in the center, the darkness came down on her like a plague of locusts.
There was nothing left where she stood but a black robe and that bone carving she carried, with it's anguished face. Only it cried tears of blood after that.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 5)[The Fifth will know how to find her. You know it will. You just need to find the right place, perform the right ritual, and ask it the right question.
And if you don't. Well. You'll find her on this side or the next.](else-if: $cigs_smoked >= 6)[These don't feel very satisfying anymore.
]
(if: $driving_action_count <= $max_driving_actions)[
(if: $max_cigs - $cigs_smoked > 0)[
[[Take the pack]]
[[Put the pack back|Center Console]]
[[Have another|Smoke a cigarette]]
](else: )[Looks like you smoked them all.
(set: $has_cigarettes to false)
[[Continue Rummaging|Center Console]]
[[Eyes on the road]]
]
](else: )[
You're almost there.
[[Eyes on the road]]
]The crumpled pack rattles slightly as you pick it up and open it. There are (print: $max_cigs - $cigs_smoked) cigarettes inside, slightly bent, and a small lighter stuffed in alongside them. This pack lived in someone's pocket for a while.
(if: $max_cigs-$cigs_smoked > 0)[
(if: $arrived is not true)[[Smoke a cigarette]]
[[Take the pack]]
][[Put the pack back|Center Console]]You look around on the floor for the bible you threw earlier and pick it up. It has a bit of mud on the worn cover now.
You wipe the bulk of it off with a napkin from the center console and slip it in your jacket's mickey pocket.
(set: $has_bible to true)
[[Get out of the truck]]A low thrum suffuses your body. You've felt this near spiritual convergences - cemeteries, muasoleums, sites of old battles and locations you can only describe as places of power - since you were a child. Your parents believed you possessed, but some saw it as a gift. You sometimes think it was a curse.
This is a small cemetery - a thousand graves alongside the ashes, perhaps - but it has a strong aura. You've seen maps that would place it at the crossroads of multiple "ley-lines" which you think explains it. If ley-lines can be believed, and you've no reason not to believe after following that map here.
[[Deal with the padlock]]
[[Look around for another way in]]
[[Check the box of the truck]] You approach the gate and examine the lock. The chain jingles lightly as you take it in your hand. It's a simple lock, bulky and heavy, but not reinforced.
You could get through this lock by force or by blood.
[[Blood]]
[[Force]]
(if: $has_boltcutters is true)[[Use the bolt cutters]](if: $has_boltcutters is not true )[[Maybe I should check the truck first|Check the box of the truck]]You don't feel like dealing with the padlock, not tonight, so you follow the wrought iron fence line. The brush becomes thick as you walk along the tall fence. You could climb it, you think(if: $has_duffel is true)[, though you would need to leave your bag behind].
[[Climb the fence]]
[[Push on through the brush]]The box of the truck (if: $pickedup_duffle is true and $pickedup_boltcutter is true and $pickedup_case is true)[nothing useful](else: )[has a cardboard box, (if: $pickedup_duffle is not true)[your [[duffel bag]], ](if: $pickedup_boltcutter is not true)[a set of [[bolt cutters]], ]and a half-empty jug of antifreeze in it.
]
(if: $gate_open is true)[[Proceed through the gate|Columbarium]]
(else: )[[Deal with the padlock]]
(if: $has_cigarettes is true)[[Stop for a cigarette]]You take the pack of smokes out of your jacket and light one up.
(set: $cigs_smoked to it + 1)
(if: $cigs_smoked is 1)[You take a deep drag. It's been a long time since you've let yourself have a smoke and you feel a bit light headed.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 2)[You remember when you quit. How long ago was it now? Five or six years at least. Anna always told you to stop. That look on her face when she saw you doing it was enough to make you stop... around her at least. You never really listened until she was gone.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 3)[It was never your intention to let Anna down. She was just looking out for your health like a good partner should. She was good to you. Always. Too good to you to leave like she did.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 4)[That night she left was such a disaster. How many ways did it all have to go wrong at once? The circle was broken, cloud cover came in, an owl flew through the coven, flapping its wings in your face and distracting you just as you started the final incantation. And Anna, standing in the center, the darkness came down on her like a plague of locusts.
There was nothing left where she stood but a black robe and that bone carving she carried, with it's anguished face. Only it cried tears of blood after that.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 5)[The Fifth will know how to find her. You know it will. You just need to find the right place, perform the right ritual, and ask it the right question.
And if you don't. Well. You'll find her on this side or the next.](else-if: $cigs_smoked >= 6)[These don't feel very satisfying anymore. You have a few puffs, before dropping the rest on the ground and grinding it out with your foot.
]
(if: 6 - $cigs_smoked > 0)[
[[Have another|Stop for a cigarette]]
](else: )[Looks like you smoked them all.
(set: $has_cigarettes to false)
]
You're still standing near the locked gate.
(if: $gate_open is true)[[Proceed through the gate|Columbarium]]
(else: )[[Deal with the padlock]]
[[Look around for another way in]]
[[Check the box of the truck]] Your black duffel bag. It's heavy and filled with various items you'll need to set up the ritual.
[[Take the bag]]
[[Leave the bag|Check the box of the truck]]You didn't bring these, they must belong to the truck's owner. They look serviceable enough to cut through the padlock at the gate, but you probably don't need them, and it will be hard to carry your duffel at the same time.
(if: $gate_open is true)[You already opened the gate, though.]
(else: )[[Take the bolt cutters]]
[[Leave them|Check the box of the truck]]You let go of the padlock and reach for the bonehandled knife on your hip. You unclip its sheathe and draw it's curved damascus blade. When you hold it in your hand you feel its thirst, it is sharp and ready.
You close your left hand over the blade and draw it slowly, just few milimeters. It cuts through your skin as easily as it would paper, and a trickle of blood immediately comes to the surface. Taking care not to drip blood on the ground, you wipe the blade on your pant leg, and return it to its sheathe. You take the lock in your bloody palm and whisper the words to join your iron and its, you feel your blood stop following gravity's pull as it is siphoned up into the rusted pits and pores of the lock.
You now feel the lock as if it were a part of you, and with less than a though, an impulse that it should be open, it is. The chain slides off the lock and away from the gate, silent as the night, and the gate opens smoothy on its own, as if blown by the wind, with nary a sound to be heard.
(set: $bloodlet_count to it + 1)(set: $gate_open to true)(set: $bleeding to true)(set: $smooth_operator to true)
The gate sits open, your way through is clear. Ahead you can see the [[Columbarium]] where ashes are stored. (if: $has_duffle is not true)[The truck sits behind you still, you could return and [[grab your duffel bag|Take the bag]], but you don't want to drive it into the cemetery.]You pick up a rock the size of a your fist off the ground and heft it, it has a ncie weight and one sharp edge to bash against the lock.
You swing it with as much force as you can muster, and the rusted lock cracks in two with a bang, then the chains slide down noisily to the ground.
You push into the gate and it lets out a long, high-pitched shriek as the hinges protest being forced to work in the middle of the night.
(set: $noisy_entrance to true)(set: $brute to true)(set: $gate_open to true)
The gate sits open, your way through is clear. Ahead you can see the [[Columbarium]] where ashes are stored. (if: $has_duffle is not true)[The truck sits behind you still, you could return and [[grab your duffel bag|Take the bag]], but you don't want to drive it into the cemetery.]You approach the gate, bolt-cutters in hand, and place its jaws against the padlock's shackle. You bring the handles together in one smooth motion and the lock falls swings freely away from the shackle.
The chain, free from its lock, slides noisily to the ground. You push into the gate and it lets out a long, high-pitched shriek as the hinges protest being made to work in the middle of the night.
You throw the bolt cutters to the ground, they've performed their duty.
(set: $noisy_entrance to true)(set: $gate_open to true)
The gate sits open, your way through is clear. Ahead you can see the [[Columbarium]] where ashes are stored. (if: $has_duffle is not true)[The truck sits behind you still, you could return and [[grab your duffel bag|Take the bag]], but you don't want to drive your truck into the cemetery.]You sling the bag over your shoulder and back away from the truck. There's no way you could carry anything else while you're carrying this.
You're standing next to the truck, near the gate.
(set: $has_duffel to true)
\(if: $gate_open is true)[
[[Proceed through the gate.|Columbarium]]
](else: )[[Deal with the padlock]]
[[Look around for another way in]]
(if: $has_cigarettes is true)[[Stop for a cigarette]]You take the rusty bolt cutters and step back from the truck to deal with the padlock.
[[Use the bolt cutters]] There are hundreds of arched alcoves within the stone Columbarium, each holding ashes that once were lives. You could walk through it. It is mazelike and could be a strong place to hold the ritual, but it would be easier to walk around otherwise
(set: $visitcolumbarium to true)
[[Assess the aura near the columbarium]]
[[Enter the columbarium]]
(if: $visitchapel is true)[
[[Go to the Chapel|The Chapel]]
](else-if: $columbarium_assessed is true)[[Walk towards the chill in your spine]]
(if: $visitwillow is true)[
[[Go to the Wailing Willow|The Wailing Tree]]
](else-if: $columbarium_assessed is true)[[Walk towards the ache in your heart]]
(set: $vibe_check to -1)You quiet your mind andfeel the vibration of this space.
The strongest feeling comes from within the columbarium, but it is resentful. You sense a darkness in the arches, not born of the dead. Something else has taken this space as its home. You feel uneasy in its presence, or it feels uneasy at your probing.
Expanding your focus you feel the pull of two more, distant spirits.
In one direction, an aching springs deep within the chest. A heart ripped in two.
The other direction is colder than the grave, colder than ice. Its chill runs down your spine, like the finger of winter beckoning.
(set: $columbarium_assessed to true)
[[Continue|Columbarium]]You follow the ache in your chest into the moonlit cemetery. It leads you off the trail and into the forest of headstones.
The ache begins to throb as you wander the woods, boughs of the trees overhead casting deep shadows in the moonlight making it nearly impossible to see, though the ache itself seems to guide you around obstacles. The pain increases with each step you take, until it suffuses you entirely. Sadness overwhelms you, and for a moment you falter, nearly falling to your knees as anguish takes hold. Tears fall freely down your face, blinding you further in the near pitch black of the woods.
\(if: $visitcolumbarium is true)[
[[Turn back|Columbarium]]
]
[[Embrace the anguish]](if: $visitwillow is not true)[The willow tree stands tall but hunched on the side of a hill near the wrought iron fence marking the edge of the cemetery. Its bows droop deep to nearly touch the soil. A warmth emanates from the tree. Did it save you from the sinking ache, or cause it?
No matter, you think, you haven't died yet. You bring yourself up to sit with your back against it's wide trunk, and for a moment take solace in its embrace.
(set: $visitwillow to true)](else: )[
You stand within the boughs of the willow.]
[[Assess the tree's aura]]
[[Examine your surroundings]]
[[Begin ritual|The Willow Ritual]]
(if: $has_cigarettes is true)[[Light up a smoke]]
(set: $vibe_check to 3 + $willowsembrace + $bloodlet_count)
(set: $ritual_location to "willow")You walk into the stacks of alcoves that make up the columbarium, you see several false candles within that, flickering LED's that cast a colder than natual light.
The stacks twist and turn, you guess there are more than hundreds of names in this place, a strange thing, considering the remoteness of this cemetery. Perhaps it's the natural aura of it, a strength is felt even by those not sensitive to it.
A few turns in and you come to an open space. Like a clearing in the heart of a forest, you have reached the center of the columbarium, it is open to the sky, the full moon feels close, here, as if being pulled down closer somehow. It illuminates all.
A shadow moves along the walls, despite the bright light.
You walk to the center of the "clearing" and sit crosslegged on the cobblestones. The moon shining down on you feel comforting, protective, but the dancing shadows along the walls seem agitated at your presence.
(set: $vibe_check to 0)
\(if: $noisy_entrance is true)[(set: $vibe_check to it -1)You have disturbed their rest, smashing and stomping around and they will disturb yours should you stay long.]
\(if: $brute is true)[(set: $vibe_check to it -1)They see that you think with your braun and not your brain. They snicker in the shadows at the brute who smashes his way through problems.]
\(if: $bloodlet_count > 0)[(set: $vibe_check to it - $bloodlet_count * 4)"BLOOOOOOOOD MAGIC" they screech at you, "REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS PLACE SORCERER". The shadows begin flying wildly about the space]
\(if: $bleeding is true)[(set: $vibe_check to it -2)The shadows taste your blood in the air, and you feel their hunger for it.]
(set: $rituallocation to "columbarium")
[[Begin Ritual| Columbarium Ritual]]
[[Leave|Columbarium]]
(if: $disrupted_ritual is true)[There is nothing left here to see.
[[Return to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]
](else-if: $frozen is true)[
You feel yourself being dragged across the hardwood floor, hear someone chattering away, you are too far gone to make heads or tails of the words, though. You hear the crackle of a fire and feel its warmth. You hear the door you barged through close, then a blanket is placed over you and a warm cup is placed in your hands.
"Please, hold this, drink it, you'll be alright. It is a bad night to be wandering this cemetery." a kindly voice whispers.(if: $bloodlet_count > 0)[ "Though with a hand cut up like that, I'm sure you already knew."] (if: $burns is true)[" And those burns... it really is wild tonight."]
The warmth of the cup suffuses into you, and you bring it up to your mouth. It smells of honey and herbs. Nothing dangerous.
You take a sip and the feeling comes back to your body immediately. You feel flush and energetic. When you finally open your eyes you see an old man sitting in a chair, wearing night clothes and holding his own cup of steaming liquid.
"Back with us?" he asks with a smirk. "The cold wasn't real, so the cure only has to snap you out of it before your mind convinces your body to freeze to death. I think, anyway. That or I've really found the good herbs."
You look at your cup, it's a brackish looking brew and bitter on the tongue despite the honey.
[["I think you have found them"]]
[["Thank you"]]
[[Say nothing]]
](else: )[
You quietly open the door to the chapel and peek in. You see a man in vestments standing at the pulpit, facing away from you. He is doing something with a bronze bowl.
You suddenly feel dizzy, and fall to the ground with a thud. Through the haze you hear footsteps, then you feel yourself being dragged across the hardwood floor, hear someone chattering away, you are too far gone to make heads or tails of the words, though. You hear the crackle of a fire and feel its warmth. You hear the door you barged through close, then a blanket is placed over you and a warm cup is placed in your hands.
"Please, hold this, drink it, you'll be alright. It is a bad night to be wandering this cemetery." a kindly voice whispers.(if: $bloodlet_count > 0)[ "Though with a hand cut up like that, I'm sure you already knew."] (if: $burns is true)[" And those burns... it really is wild tonight."]
The warmth of the cup suffuses into you, and you bring it up to your mouth. It smells of honey and herbs. Nothing dangerous.
You take a sip and the feeling comes back to your body immediately. You feel flush and energetic. When you finally open your eyes you see an old man sitting in a chair, wearing night clothes and holding his own cup of steaming liquid.
"Back with us?" he asks with a smirk. "The cold wasn't real, so the cure only has to snap you out of it before your mind convinces your body to freeze to death. I think, anyway. That or I've really found the good herbs."
You look at your cup, it's a brackish looking brew and bitter on the tongue despite the honey.
[["I think you have found them"]]
[["Thank you"]]
[[Say nothing]]
](if: $has_duffel is true)[You set your duffel on the ground and open its zipper within it is a white robe, candles, a lighter and chalk.
Before you begin, you don the white robe. Ignoring the chalk you pick up a long stick and draw a protective glyph on the ground. The glyph is a simple shape - three circles joined together with lines, a child could draw it. Then around the perimeter you place the candles. You brought dozens, and you make a solid barrier between the circle and the cemetery night. You light each candle.
When you've lit the final candle, you stand in the center of the circle and draw your bonehandled knife from its holster. You press it into your palm to draw blood, take a deep breath, and let the blood stream down to the dirt floor(set: $candles_lit to true)
](else: )[
You pick up a long stick and draw a protective glyph on the ground. The glyph is a simple shape - three circles joined together with lines, a child could draw it. You have no candles to reinforce the barrier, so you must trust the tree to reinforce your ward.
You stand in the center of the circle and draw your bonehandled knife from its holster. You press it into your palm to draw blood, take a deep breath, and let the blood stream down to the dirt floor
]
As it splashes to the ground you say the incantation etched into your mind by years as a conduit.
[[The Fifth Seal|Fifth Seal Willow]]You close your eyes and press your hands into the earth near the tree's thick roots, fingers deep in the soft moss that surrounds it. The pulsing wave of heartache is still here, but feels outside, somewhere, beyond the boughs of the tree.
(if: $willowsembrace > 7)[The tree is elated by your presence, and loves you as if you were its own child - if trees can have children. It will protect you from harm as best it can, it feels your sorrows and aches to soothe them.](else-if: $willowsembrace > 3)[The tree protects you, and wishes you well. It senses your sorrows and reciprocates. You feel kinship.](else: )[The tree is calm, but distant. It saved you once, but there is nothing to indicate if it would try to do so again.]
(if: $made_doll is true)[Gratitude comes from the boughs, for the gift you left it.](else: )[It emanates longing. You sense that it is missing something.]
(set: $treeassessed to true)
[[Open your eyes|The Wailing Tree]]A thick bed of moss surrounds the base of the tree's trunk, some crawling up onto its roots.
You scan the area around the tree for anything out of the ordinary. A smattering of headstones litter the area, most are tilted at odd angles - the trees roots pushing them off kilter.
You look towards the way you came and see a set of two shallow trenches running parallel through the earth - about as broad as your thigh and hip's width apart. They stop at the edge of the tree's weeping limbs.
You can just make out a structure through the trees, the Columbarium near the gates.
Looking up into the boughs of the tree, above the low hanging limbs are dozens of [[wooden dolls]] hanging from strings. Those were definitely not left by birds.
[[Return your attention to the tree|The Wailing Tree]]
(if: $has_cigarettes is true)[[Light up a smoke]]
[[Assess the tree's aura]]You follow the chill finger of death, pointing down cobblestone cemetery trail.
You hear the rustle of leaves as the night's breeze picks up. You zip jacket tightto ward it off, but the thick leather is as protective as a mesh tee. You can see your breath, coming out of your mouth like puffs of steam as the temperature of the air drops.
A white crystal of snow lands on your shoulder, melting against the warmth of your body. You look up and see more, dancing in the sky, shining in the moon's light like thousands of tiny diamonds. It would be beautiful, you think, if you'd dressed for the occasion.
Ahead of you, still on the trail, you see the wind whipping up snowflakes into a frenzy. You shiver and grimace as the wind hits you, whipping you with its icy tendrils.
Drifts begin to form along the edges of the trail, a foot deep, blocking you in. Ice forms on the cobbles, snow collects on your jacket and boots, ice builds up in your hair. You hardly feel your face or hands anymore, the stinging of the icy wind has made it numb.
You are chilled to your bones, but you feel warm, hot almost. This is surely hypothermia setting in. You reach out with your mind to the aura you felt, and feel close, if not already upon it. You look around, teeth clattering to find the source of this frigid air.
To the side, through a snowdrift, you see a chapel and a wide open space. A light flickers within.
(set: $frozen to true)
[[Approach the chapel]]
[[Bleed the cold from your body]]They're more like bundles of sticks than dolls, truly, but you've seen these before.
Each is four sticks of equal length, arranged in the vague figure of a man. Two crossed sticks make the legs and torso, one horizontal member to represent the arms, one vertical member to make the head. They are tied with twine in most cases, though it's hard to tell with these. They look quite rustic.
There are dozens of them hanging overhead.
[[Take a doll]]
(if: $made_doll is not true)[[Make a doll]]
[[Return your attention to the tree|The Wailing Tree]]You reach up towards the nearest doll, but it's slightly beyond your reach. You step up onto a lopsided headstone belonging to someone named "Everett Lovelace" to give yourself an extra foot of height.
You stand on the tip of your toes and grasp the doll in your hands. As you pull it free from the branches you feel a sudden lurch. The headstone sinks into the earth, taking you with it.
Anger envelops you now, not the anguish you felt before, a brutal anger cold and deep and old as this great tree. The earth swallows you whole and crushes you.You search the earth beneath the boughs for suitable sticks fallen from the tree, and collect four.
(if: $has_duffel is true)[You have twine in your duffel bag, and use it to tie the sticks together. You climb atop the tallest headstone, careful not to knock it over, and reach as high into the boughs as you can.
You hang the doll by its head, looping it around a low branch, and leave it there.
Ecstasy washes over you in a shower of love.
(set: $willowsembrace to it + 5)
[[The Wailing Tree]]
](else: )[You are at a loss for how to tie them together, though, the twine in your bag is still back at the gate.
[[Search for a suitable twine]]
]
(set: $made_doll to true)The earth falls out from under you, and you do fall now, to your knees but you still stand. You have fallen through the earth itself and now trudge along as if in deep mud. You push on, one foot after the next, sinking with each step.
You recall the love of your life, your partner Anna, her smile glows in your memories. You recall the way she left you. The shadow that took her. The shadow left behind. The shadow of yourself that you became.
\(if: $visitcolumbarium is true)[
[[Turn back]]
]
[[Succumb]]
[[Press On]]You struggle to turn around, but do so, and flee from the aching in your heart. You lift your legs higher and higher, free them from the earth and escape its grasp. A wailing erupts from the direction you were headed, deep and sorrowful and //angry//.
[[Return to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]
(set: $willowsembrace to it - 5)You stop struggling and straining, and resign yourself to your fate. You lean forward and feel something brush... no caress your face and hair.
You hear a wailing on the wind, the broken cry of a young woman. She calls to you and you feel compelled to answer in kind. You wail to the wind as the wind wails to you, as the ground sinks deeper, as the blackness takes hold. You cry for lost love, for lost life, and you lose yourself to it.
And then it stops, the anguish subsides. When your body stops wracking at the echoes of your sobbing torment, you open your eyes and find yourself lying on your back, under the boughs of a great willow tree.
(set: $willowsembrace to it + 3)
[[The Wailing Tree]]You struggle and strain against the suction of the earth, but like quicksand it pulls you deeper. Each pull of your legs sucks you further underground, until you are up to you waist, your chest, your arms flailing above the pit of earth you find yourself in.
[[Crack open the earth]]
[[Scream]]
You search the ground for something, anything that might be useable to tie the sticks together, and find some tall grass near a low headstone.
"Thank you, Mariana," you say, as you reach down next to the low stone marked with that name, "for protecting this grass from the groundskeeper".
You pluck the grass at the base and tie it around the figure you've created so that holds the whole together. You have no way to hang it from the tree, so you place it alongside the trunk near the roots.
(set: $willowsembrace to it + 2)
[[Return to the tree|The Wailing Tree]]You take the pack of smokes out of your jacket and light one up.
(set: $cigs_smoked to it + 1)
(if: $cigs_smoked is 1)[You take a deep drag. It's been a long time since you've let yourself have a smoke and you feel a bit light headed.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 2)[You remember when you quit. How long ago was it now? Five or six years at least. Anna always told you to stop. That look on her face when she saw you doing it was enough to make you stop... around her at least. You never really listened until she was gone.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 3)[It was never your intention to let Anna down. She was just looking out for your health like a good partner should. She was good to you. Always. Too good to you to leave like she did.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 4)[That night she left was such a disaster. How many ways did it all have to go wrong at once? The circle was broken, cloud cover came in, an owl flew through the coven, flapping its wings in your face and distracting you just as you started the final incantation. And Anna, standing in the center, the darkness came down on her like a plague of locusts.
There was nothing left where she stood but a black robe and that bone carving she carried, with it's anguished face. Only it cried tears of blood after that.](else-if: $cigs_smoked is 5)[The Fifth will know how to find her. You know it will. You just need to find the right place, perform the right ritual, and ask it the right question.
And if you don't. Well. You'll find her on this side or the next.](else-if: $cigs_smoked >= 6)[These don't feel very satisfying anymore. You have a few puffs, before dropping the rest on the ground and grinding it out with your foot.
]
\(if: $max_cigs - $cigs_smoked > 0)[
[[Have another|Light up a smoke]]
](else: )[
Looks like you smoked them all. (set: $has_cigarettes to false)]
You are resting beneath the boughs of the willow tree, you get the feeling that it does not enjoy the smoke.(set: $willowsembrace to it - 1)
[[Return your attention to the tree|The Wailing Tree]]
[[Assess the tree's aura]](if: $frozen is true)[You trudge through the snow drifts towards the chapel, the light inside may mean the chaplain is there, you think, but if you don't walk through that door you're sure to freeze.
You reach out to the door handle with fingers turned white from the cold. You grasp as hard as you can, barely abel to constrict the muscles of your hand and turn it. The door is unlocked, thankfully, and it swings open with a bang as a gust of wind takes it. You stumble over the threshold and collapse to the floor.
[[The Chapel]]
](else: )[You trudge through the snow drifts towards the chapel, you know the light inside may mean the chaplain is there. The aura is strong here, not coming from inside, perhaps somewhere around the building.
[[Quietly open the door|The Chapel]]
[[Search the area]]
](if: $has_duffel is true)[(set: $has_duffel to false) You throw your bag to the ground and take stock of the wrought iron fence. It's tall, but not so tall you can't manage.
]You grab two iron bars at shoulders width apart, and place one foot on a cross beam. You lift yourself up, then jump and grab the top cross beam with your hands. You pull your body up with considerable effort, enough to get a foot hold near the top. You stand briefly, precariously as the pointed tips of the fence threaten to impale you, then you turn your body around, crouch, grab hold of the fence with your hands and slowly lower yourself down on the other side.
You land with a low thud inside the cemetery, and feel a sudden chill in the air. You see nothing but headstones and trees.
(set:$smooth_operator to true)
[[Assess the area's aura]]You press onwards, searching for an easier way through.
The brambles catch at your pants and tear them, you feel a trickle of blood travelling down your leg.
(set: $dishevelled to true)(set: $bleeding to true)
A few dozen more meters through the brush you find a set of bars in the wrought iron fence have been bent wide into a man-sized portal. Plenty big enough for you to pass through(if: $has_duffel is true)[ with your bag].
[[Crouch through the hole in the fence.]]The aura here is colder than the grave, colder than ice. Its chill runs down your spine, like the finger of winter beckoning and you can feel nothing else. You've little choice but to follow it.
[[Walk towards the chill in your spine]] You duck low and pass through the hole in the fence without issue.
You stand inside the cemetery, on the far end from the gate. You can see the columbarium from here.
(set:$smooth_operator to true)
[[Walk towards the Columbarium]]
[[Assess the aura]]On your way to the columbarium, you spot a man standing near a grave with his dog. The man in intent on the headstone, the dog seems almost familiar to you.
Neither have noticed your presence yet, but they are directly in your path.
[[Approach the man]]
[[Sneak past]]You decide to approach the man and his dog. Best to deal with this head on rather than get caught sneaking around in the cemetery.
How do you approach him?
[[Open and friendly]]
[[Pretend to work here]]
[[With Blood and Thunder]]You avoid the man by walking into the wooded area, taking a wide berth to avoid notice by his dog. The grass here is thick, or must be, because you feel like you're wading through it. Suddenly you feel sadness wash over you like a wave, like an aching in your heart...
(if: $rear_entrance_assessed is true)[You are walking directly towards the aura you felt earlier.
][[Continue towards the ache|Walk towards the ache in your heart]]
[[Turn back and approach the man|Approach the man]]
You sit on the damp earth and feel the dried blood on your leg pull away as your pants shift. Closing your eyes you reach out spiritually.
The Columbarium is too distant to feel from this place, but there are two others you feel.
In one direction, an aching springs deep within the chest. A heart ripped in two.
The other direction is colder than the grave, colder than ice. Its chill runs down your spine, like the finger of winter beckoning.
(set: $rear_entrance_assessed to true)
[[Open your eyes]]You stand inside the cemetery, on the far end from the gate. You can see the columbarium from here.
[[Walk towards the Columbarium]]
[[Walk towards the ache in your heart]]
[[Walk towards the chill in your spine]] You brush yourself off and take on a casual air as you walk towards the man and his dog.
"Evening!" you shout to anounce your presence. "Sorry to bother you, just didn't want to spook you as I walked past, it's pretty dark out.."
As you near the man and dog, that familiar feeling you had strengthens. You take a look at the snarling dog and realize it's identical to your own dog, Mack, left back at the hotel earlier that day. You screw up your face a bit, and look back up to the man, who's lidded eyes shine with malice from a face that also looks identical to your own.
"Well, that complicates things." you mumble to yourself, as the man lets go of the dog's leash and it lunges directly at you.
[[Roll]]
[[Slash]]You brush yourself off and stand up straight, putting on the air of someone who is supposed to be here. You approach the man and yell out a greeting.
"Hello, sir!" you say, "Is there a reason for your visit so late at night? The gate's been locked for hours".
The man's dog snaps to attention and lets out a low growl. The man turns around from the grave to look at you with deep set eyes, but says nothing.
"Dogs are not to be off the trails, sir," you continue, "just a maintenance concern, not everyone cleans up behind them."
As you near the man and dog, that familiar feeling you had strengthens. You take a look at the snarling dog and realize it's identical to your own dog, Mack, left back at the hotel earlier that day. You screw up your face a bit, and look back up to the man, who's lidded eyes shine with malice from a face that also looks identical to your own.
"Well, that complicates things." you mumble to yourself, as the man lets go of the dog's leash and it lunges directly at you.
[[Roll]]
[[Slash]]You drop your bag to the ground temporarily and reach for the bonehandled knife on your hip. You unclip its sheathe and draw it's curved damascus blade. When you hold it in your hand you feel its thirst, it is sharp and ready.
You close your left hand over the blade and draw it slowly, just few milimeters. It cuts through your skin as easily as it would paper, and a trickle of blood immediately comes to the surface.
Still holding the knife in your right hand, you squeeze your empty left hand to drop blood on the earth at your feet. An immediate rumbling begins overhead as clouds move in, covering the moon and plunging the cemetery into darkness. A sudden flash lights the area back up, and an explosion of rock and stone erupts as a bolt of lightning strikes the earth where the man and the dog stood.
The clouds part and you feel drained. The moon again lights the cemetery, and you take stock of your surroundings.
The man and the dog stand no longer. You expected remains, but to your surprise they are nowhere to be seen at all.
(set:$bloodlet_count to it + 1)
[[Continue on to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]You fumble at the clip holding your bonehandled knife to your belt, struggling to work the snap. After several attempts you get it, and pull it from its sheathe. The curved damascus blade glints in the cold moonlight.
You close your other hand around it, and squeeze, pulling the knife past your flesh to draw blood. You go deep, to get anything, your extremeties having long since lost most circulation. You focus your mind on warmth, and your hands and face immediately begin to tingle.
(set: $bloodlet_count to it + 1)(set: $frozen to false)
You are warm again, able to think more clearly and act as you need to.
[[Approach the chapel]]A sudden flash of clarity brings you out of the torment and you know you must act quickly.
Your bonehandled knife sits on your hip still just above the earth. You unclip it from its sheathe and pull it, quickly, to your opposite hand. You grasp its blade and slash deeply, allowing blood to fall down onto the earth that swallows you.
The earth shakes and shudders, the trees about you tremble. A fissure opens where you stand submerged, it creaks and cracks and groans as the earth opens and, solid now, lifts you back to stand on the surface.
Several trees have fallen sideways, and many of the headstones now lie underground here, but you are safe.
You look around yourself, and feel the sadness still, but it has weakened. You know its source now, the willow tree that stands before you.
(set: $bloodlet_count to it + 1)(set: $visitwillow to true)
[[The Wailing Tree]]You scream with terror as the earth reaches your shoulders, you grasp futilely at the air as it reaches your neck.You are up to your mouth, silenced by the earth, breathing fast and hard through your nose.
And then you are gone. All that remains is a dent in the earth.You leap sideways as the dog lunges towards you, hear the clack of its teeth as it bites the air where you once stood. You tuck your body and roll over your shoulder.
You were quick, but the dog is quicker, and like Mack, large and dangerous if provoked. It lunges for you again, but your footing is not set. You kick out but miss and the dog grabs you by the leg.
Agony erupts from your torn limb as the dog rips into your flesh. You struggle futilely as it pulls you back towards his grim master, who pulls a bonehandled knife from his sheathe, kneels beside you, and quickly draws it across your neck.With a split second before the dog reaches you you reach down and unclip the bonehandled knife from your belt. You lash out at the dog as it lunges for your throat, knife sticking in its shoulder. It yelps, stunned, and momentum carries it into you. You pull the knife out and blood gushes from the dog's wound.
You push the stunned dog off you and hold it to the ground with both hands so its snapping jaws can't get hold of you.
The man is walking towards you, his knife drawn.
You are covered in blood, use it.
[[Fire]]
[[Shadow]]
[[Light]]As quickly as you think it, the man and the dog erupt into flames. Their bodies turn black as their hair and clothing burn away, and the stench of burns flesh fills the air.
The dog, still beneath you, burns you too before you're able to give yourself enough distance for safety.
All that remains are ashes where they once were.
(set: $burns to true)
[[Continue to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]These doppelgangers are shadows, you think to yourself, and they will return to the darkness from where they came.
And as the thought flits through your mind, shadowy hands reach out from the ground and grasp your attackers. The hands tear at them, pull them in every direction at once. Their flesh pulls away to leave muscle and fat, then the muscle and fat gives way to bone, their bones fall to the ground, and sink into the earth, dissolve into shadows and nothing remains.
[[Continue to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]These doppelgangers are shadows, you think to yourself, and I will vanquish with light. As the thought flits through your mind, the blood you are covered in glows as if radioactive, then as if it were the sun itself.
You close your eyes to shield yourself from blindness, but the two attackers have no such luck. The manshape lifts its hands to its face to shield them, but smoke billows from him all everywhere. It falls to the ground, as you sink through what was once a dog, hands now resting in sunscorched grass.
[[Continue to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]The area around the chapel is blustery and coated in snow and ice. You tread carefully to not lose your footing.
As you approach the rear of the chapel you feel a sharp revulsion.
"A mass grave" you mumble under your breath. "I didn't know this was here..."
You can see the columbarium at the gate from here, and your instincts tell you to leave the chapel area immediately.
[[Explore the mass grave|The Unmarked Mass Grave]]
[[Enter the chapel|The Chapel]]
[[Head to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]"Hah, perhaps you're right." the man replies. A glint in his eyes tells you he knows exactly what herbs he gave you. "I'm a bit of an enthusiast, you could say. It's why I like to stay out here, at this chapel, on these nights. What brings you out here on a night like this?"
(set: $talkative to true)
[[Examine the room]]
[[Answer honestly]]
[[Lie]]
"You're welcome." the man says with a smile. "If you need somewhere to sleep for the night you can stay here next to the fire with that blanket. It's better than the storm outside."
[[Examine the room]]
[[Sleep]]"You're a quiet one." the man says. "No matter. Glad to see you're feeling better. If you need somewhere to sleep for the night you can stay here next to the fire with that blanket. It's better than the storm outside."
[[Examine the room]]
[[Sleep]]You stand on the earth above the mass grave, and can't help but reach out to it. How many bodies lie here? Ten or twenty or one hundred? You can't tell, their spirits swirl in the winds that howl, innumerable in their fury.
You look up to the sky and it is dark with clouds,but the ground remains lit, snow reflecting an ambient light coming from somewhere you cannot place.
[["This feels like a dream"]]
[[Go to the columbarium|Columbarium]]"This feels like a dream" you say the words aloud. The light suffusing the night is unsettling.
As you stand in the field and wonder at the spectacle you hear a crash from behind you. Whipping around you see light erupt from the chapel, so bright you cannot see until within it a form takes shape. It is human-like, but enormous. It has four wings of shining gold and a staff of flames, The pure white light it emerges from condenses into a rod or a scroll that blinds, that it holds in its hand and it speaks. Such terrifying words it speaks, words that bring madness and rapture and death.
I cannot write down what it said, and you will never hear it.You're in a fair sized room, capable of holding a congregation, likely used for funerals.
You are off to one side, next to the rooms sole fireplace, likely the buildings sole heatsource. It feels very old.
Rows of pews line the hall, and a pulpit sits at the front. A large carved statue of Jesus on the cross is hung from the far wall, but it looks like there are banners hanging from the ceiling that can be used to cover it up, if needed. Secular friendly, you guess.
There are accoutrements for various denominations littering the hall. Candles, white robes, red sashes, a censor, you see a pastor's coat hanging in an open wardrobe and an ornate staff.
There are interior doors to either side of the pulpit that presumably lead to wherever this man was sleeping.
(if: $bloodlet_count > 3)[You don't see anything out of the ordinary here, and you're feeling quite sleepy. From blood loss perhaps.
](else: )[The man's nightclothes look bulky - as if they are worn overtop of clothes - and the pulpit has a bronze bowl on it.
[["What's the bowl for?"]]
](if: $talkative is true)[[[Tell the man why you're here|Answer honestly]]
[[Lie about why you're here|Lie]]](else: )[(if: $frozen is true)[[Sleep]]
[[Leave]]
[[Assess the chapel's aura]]
]You nod and close your eyes, never to open them again."I'm here to... summon The Fifth Seal." You say. Half expecting to be balked, half expecting a blank stare. Not at all expecting what you see.
The man cracks a smile and laughs. "Ha! I knew it. Nobody would be here tonight for any other reason." He leans forward and slaps you on the knee.
"I... you're here to summon the Fifth too?" You respond.
"No no no," he laughs, "I just mean a bit of demonology. The Fifth... worthy but to be honest you're aiming low." The man turns around and heads towards the pulpit.
"Since you're a fellow practitioner, let me show you what I have."
[[Wait for the man]]
[[Reach for your knife]]
[[Exit the chapel]] "I was visiting my mother," you lie, "she passed this time last year. I... put it off for some time and it was a long drive. I didn't expect to get here so late"
The man's face falls, he's clearly disappointed in your answer.
"That's... too bad. Well. You can sleep here next to the fire with that blanket tonight if you need to. It's better than the storm outside."
[[Leave]]
[[Sleep]](if: $talkative is true)["Thank you for the tea, I really should go," you say, then stand up.](else: )[You stand up, the warmth has returned to your bones and you feel ready to go.]
The man stands as you do. "Leaving already?" It's still quite cold are you sure you're okay? Here, let me grab you something to keep you warm.
[[Exit the chapel]]
[[Wait for the man]]
[[Reach for your knife]] The man's smile drops momentarily at the question, just long enough to notice, and you see him adjust himself on his seat.
"I'm not sure, it was there when I got here," he said, with just a bit too much hesitation. "I didn't really look at it. Let me just go over there now, actually."
The man gets up and starts walking through the pews towards the pulpit.
(set: $manbowl to true)
[[Reach for your knife]]You get up and quickly exit the chapel. You are outside, in the cold, but the brew you drank helps to protect you.
You look up to the sky and it is dark with clouds,but the ground remains lit, snow reflecting an ambient light coming from somewhere you cannot place.
[["This feels like a dream"]]You close your eyes and attune yourself to the space. It becomes immediately overwhelming, a terrifying presence is here - something powerful and ancient and dark.
The cold outside was a cover. This man is summoning great evil
\(if: $bloodlet_count < 3)[
[["What's the bowl for?"]]
](if: $talkative is true)[[[Tell the man why you're here|Answer honestly]]
[[Lie about why you're here|Lie]]](else: )[(if: $frozen is true)[[Sleep]]
[[Leave]]
]You reach to your hip and grab the knife off your belt while the man's back is turned. Holding its bone-handle tight makes you feel safe.
You stand and ready yourself, placing your hand around the blade and stuffing it in your jacket pocket to quickly draw blood with a squeeze if you need it.
(set: $knife_prepared to true)
[[Wait for the man]] The man picks up the bronze bowl from the pulpit and stands facing away from you for a moment. His head tilts backwards to look up near the ceiling and you hear him begin to chant.
(if: $knife_prepared is true)[He's not coming back, this is an incantation. You must act quickly or whatever he's doing it will be too late. You squeeze the blade of your knife and you dart your eyes around the room, you have just a moment to take advantage. You take your bloody hand out of your pocket and point your palm at the man. You will the blood into a small point on your hand, squeezing it into a smaller and smaller space until it condenses into a solid object, then ignite it to a loud bang. Like a bullet from a gun it flies through the air towards the man as he chants, it collides with the base of his neck, and he stops, then drops to his knees. Were you fast enough?
A low rumble fills the air, and a beam of light crashes through the ceiling, destroying the altar on the pulpit, incinerating the man and his ritual. The light expands blowing the roof off of the building, it blinds you with its brightness, suffuses your existence.
But then it winks out, and you are left alone in the space, with no roof over your head. You expect to hear the wind raging outside, but the ice storm has passed.
(set: $disrupted_the_ritual to true)
[[Head to the Columbarium|Columbarium]]
](else: )[The man finishes his incantation and turns to face you, his face full of fervour and his eyes glowing white.
A low rumble fills the air, and a beam of light crashes through the ceiling, destroying the altar on the pulpit, incinerating the man and his ritual. The light expands blowing the roof off of the building, it blinds you with its brightness, suffuses your existence.
The light burns your flesh to cinders, then those cinders to ash, and that ash to nothing at all.
](if: $has_duffel is true)[(set: $candles_lit to true)You set your duffel on the ground and open its zipper within it is a white robe, candles, a lighter and chalk. Before you begin, you don the white robe, then you take the chalk and draw a protective glyph on the ground. The glyph is a simple shape - three circles joined together with lines, a child could draw it. Then around the perimeter you place the candles. You brought dozens, and you make a solid barrier between the circle and the columbarium. You light each candle.
As you prepare your circle, you see the shadows of the columbarium writhe and shake. You have blocked out their screeching but you can tell they are displeased.
](else: )[You left your duffel in the truck, but you can make do here. You begin by collecting candles from the columbaria that surround you(if: $has_cigs is true)[, as many natural wax as possible, but an LED will do]. You pick as many as you can and leave them in a circle in the center of the space(if: $has_cigs is true)[. You take the lighter from you pack of cigarettes and light each of the wax candles(set: $candles_lit to true)] then you turn all the LED's on.
You return to the nearest columbaria, work it open with your knife, and take a handful of ashes from within. The shadows of the columbarium reel and writhe, but they cannot touch you yet. Using the ashes you draw a glyph in the center of the candles. The glyph is a simple shape - three circles joined together with lines, a child could draw it.
]
When you've lit the final candle, you stand in the center of the circle and draw your bonehandled knife from its holster. You press it into your palm to draw blood, take a deep breath, and let the blood stream down to the cobblestones.
As it splashes to the ground you say the incantation etched into your mind by years as a conduit.
[[The Fifth Seal|Fifth Seal Columbarium]](if: $disrupted_the_ritual is true)[
(set: $vibe_check to it + 5)
]
As you finish your incantation a wind whips through the willows.(if: $cnadles_lit is true)[ The flames of your candles dance and sway.] (if: $willowsembrace > 5)[The willow's branches seems to huddle in, shielding you from the turbulence.](else: )[The willow's branches thrash, they whip at you and a wailing rises from its roots.]
A few feet ahead of you, just on the other side of the protective circle of candles, a black hole opens up in the night. First small, then wide, then so tall it's hard to see how high it ended. Through the hole, the portal, floats a figure that looks of bone and sinew, it is covered in red skin with small spikes an coming out at angles, it has two legs and four arms. Its body hangs limp, feet pointed down as if its body is hanging. It is tall. Very tall. So tall you can't quite make out its face, it is shrouded in a veil of darkness.
(if: $vibe_check < 5)[Suddenly one of the thrashing branches knocks over a candle, breaking the protections you set. The being, The Fifth pushes forward and grabs you. It crushes you in its massive hands, and drag you to the darkness that you called it from.](else: )[(if: $has_duffel is true)[The being seems calm, as if the ritual and its placement was correct. It does not obviously look towards you, it's impossible to know with it's face shrouded in shadows, but you can sense its attention upon you.](else: )[The being looks annoyed, as if upset at your lack of decorum. It snaps its first words out.]
"Speak, summoner."
"The Fifth Seal of the Lamb I call on you to question. You must answer me plainly and truthfully", you intone, traditional words though notnecessary. You know beings such as this are incapable of lies.
]
The End.(if: $disrupted_the_ritual is true)[
(set: $vibe_check to it + 5)
]
As you finish your incantation a wind whips through the columbarium.(if: $cnadles_lit is true)[ The flames of your candles dance and sway.] The shadows on the walls also whip into a frenzy, their movements erratic. Some of them swoop towards you threateningly, but the line of candles and the protective glyph ward them off.
A few feet ahead of you, just on the other side of the protective circle of candles, a black hole opens up in the night. First small, then wide, then so tall it's hard to see how high it ended. Through the hole, the portal, floats a figure that looks of bone and sinew, it is covered in red skin with small spikes an coming out at angles, it has two legs and four arms. Its body hangs limp, feet pointed down as if its body is hanging. It is tall. Very tall. So tall you can't quite make out its face, it is shrouded in a veil of darkness.
(if: $vibe_check < 5)[Without warning one of the swooping shadows makes it through the barrier, shatters the protection you had set. You are overwhelmed by them. Pulled apart by them for intruding on their rest. For using their space as if it were yours. They drag you to the darkness that you tried to call.](else: )[(if: $has_duffel is true)[The being seems calm, as if the ritual and its placement was correct. It does not obviously look towards you, it's impossible to know with it's face shrouded in shadows, but you can sense its attention upon you.](else: )[The being looks annoyed, as if upset at your lack of decorum. It snaps its first words out.]
"Speak, summoner."
"The Fifth Seal of the Lamb I call on you to question. You must answer me plainly and truthfully", you intone, traditional words though notnecessary. You know beings such as this are incapable of lies.
]
The End.