(closed) mission: waking the dead

[axefight]

who: Bellamy, Bill, Clarke, Lup, Taako, Twelve
what: well, waking the dead
when: July, tbd
where: a commune southeast of the wall
warnings: corpses, potential violence, more tba



[ there are multiple communes nestled in the forests around the city; defectors, objectors or outcasts are to be expected in a place like this, and many of them have established their own communities beyond the walls. these communes are defended and, for the most part, self-reliant - perhaps not thriving, but certainly surviving.

except for one, southeast of the city. the entire population - men, women and children - had seemingly perished at once. no signs of a struggle, the defenses left in tact. nor of disease or fire. the people, from all evidence, simply keeled over where they stood, in the middle of their day. fallen in the streets mid-step, or at their tables with forks still in hand, in baths or beds, gardens or hallways. not one witness left alive.

discovered by a sister commune, so far no one has been able to deduce a cause - so they've gone to city for help.

this is the help they were sent. ]

Comments

the commune →

[axefight]

[ past the defenses, you're met with an unnatural stillness. the only movement is stirred by the breeze, and the only sound you can hear comes from the surrounding forest. a glance tells you that this place should be alive with activity; that it had been, only days ago. there should be people here. but you can't see any -

not until you notice the bodies.

the commune's been left almost entirely untouched by the sister commune in the days since its discovery, each body left in its original state, in order to aid the investigation. so where do you start? ]

[umbrastaff]

[Lup knew it was gonna suck, and it still does when they get there and there are bodies everywhere. It wasn't something she hadn't seen before, but something that was too familiar instead.

She casts dancing lights to illuminate the area they are in a bit more, and then carefully squats down near the first body.]

[spellslots]

[When they split up to investigate the scene, Taako sticks with Lup; he's not bothered by corpses, but this situation is so strange it leaves him a little unsettled.

As Lup crouches down, Taako casts detect magic, looking around to see if anything shows up, but:]

If magic did this, it's long gone.

[axefight]

[ although he doesn't hesitate at the wall, the doctor moves slowly, deliberately into the commune. not out of fear or revulsion, but rather, for the sake of careful observation. there's a clear spark of curiosity in his wide eyes, and something... else.

his gaze sweeps over everything as he steps towards one of the bodies - for a second, he stops and tilts his head, as if he heard something. but apparently decides it was nothing after a beat, and resumes walking ahead.

he's been in this sort of situation so many times (too many times, far too many to count) for a town full of dead bodies to disturb him like it might an actual reasonable person. whatever happened here was a tragedy, but 'whatever happened here' is also a great big mystery, and he's immediately set about trying to solve it. ]

[tutee]

[ Bill knew what they were walking into, but seeing it is different from hearing about it. So much death-- she hasn't seen this since the colony world with the deadly tiny robots. And then, it was just bones. These are corpses, with flesh and clothes still on them.

She does her best to hold it together, for the mission, but she's affected by the sight, so she won't be getting up close and personal with any of the bodies. ]