Estylwen

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@NoriWasHere

Thank you! :> I was going to say the same for you - Lila and her crows are a satisfying read.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Location: Somewhere in the Void
@Punished GN

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Weeping and wailing in the depths of the darkness. It was always like this in the depths on the void dimension. His home. But like any home, any place, any world - there were shallow waters and dark depths. He crossed the dark depths, dropping the man responsible for Alizée's death in the deeper waters of the void, where he knew monsters were waiting, hungry. He, however, moved on, and moved to the shallow waters of the void, to a nearby familiar dwelling.

Void hovered in the ruins of his home, stone and darkness shattered and broken from the passage of time. He hovered there for a long time, memories flooding his mind. He hadn't been here since he had become adjoined to Alizée.... To Alizée....

Fiery tears seeped from his eyes. He drew in a hissing breath, pain crushing him. He had been here only once before, weeping like this. The night they took his wife.

The void was a cruel place, even for its own denizens.

Now he was alone in the ruins of his crushed dreams once again. He could still see it plain as day behind his eyes. How Alizée fell. She really was such a frail thing, after all. He should have been there to catch her, so as to not let her precious head touch the ground.

Dark fists manifested at his sides, clenched. He got one of them. One of the Wolfpack. He could hear the man’s distant screams as entities and monsters played with their food. It would be slow… deliciously slow. He listened carefully, counting the seconds as the screams of agony slowly, slowly stopped.

But there was another who held the blame. Two others, actually. But he would focus on one for now. The woman with a venom tongue and spiky blonde hair. She brought his dear Alizée into such a sorry, helpless state. Suffocated and crushed as she was, she still fought… She still fought to protect him.

If anyone deserved to die, to suffer, it was the venomous one of the Wolfpack.

But in order to exact his vengeance, he needed to be tethered once again. He wasn’t strong enough to move across the line between dimensions freely. He needed a new host, a haunted, a toy. But… who?

Well, there was really only one option, wasn’t there? Only one other that reminded him of his wife. The masquerading princess, the one of sweet blood. Her angelic features and soft mannerisms to move even the hardest of hearts.

With a swipe of his hand, he tore through reality and entered the dreamland of his chosen one.

---

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Eurielle - City of The Dead

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Location: Downtown
@Punished GN

---

All was quiet in the small apartment of the young girl. The lights were out, a small form curled under a moonlit window.

It was the picture of peace, except for a growing sense of trepidation. Tossing and turning. Murmured whimpers. Bite-riddled arms flailing, hands clenching. Like a violin growing in pitch and fervor, the girl continued to toss and turn, before her eyes shot open.

In front of her, breath heavy and harsh, was a ghostly orb, eyes shining in the gleam of the moon. His phantom hand was tightly woven around hers. In between them, rings of light - chains - emanating from the chest. The girl, almost in a trace, stared up at the orb, feeling a numbness take over her body at his debilitating touch.

"Sken, sken, sken..." The jagged jaws of the orb broke open, a low, metallic voice rumbling with power. The blinding chains surrounding them sped up, causing the girl's white hair to fly in the wind.

"Sil gro, sil gro, sil gro..."

The chains grew white hot, and the girl whimpered, feeling a weight burn at her heart.

"Erei oblaan!"

At once, the chains froze, then shattered into white sparks, fading into the darkness. Void let go of the girl, and she fell back into her bed, heaving dryly and shaking. Void stared for a moment. Her mannerisms at the tether, and being adjoined, were not unlike... Alizée.

Void's eyes tightened.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Layla." A pause. "Your last name, what is it?"

Her brilliant blue eyes widened as he spoke directly at her, and her lips parted in surprise.

"...Hyacinthus."

"Right. I'm Void, in case you forgot."

She tried to crawl back, her shoulders running into the wall. "A-are... you going to eat me?"

Void smirked, his purple and red eyes glancing up and down at the bite marks on her arms. "Eat you? No."

He moved forward, tongue flicking out to lick his teeth. Phantom hands about human in size snaked around Layla's throat, squeezing.

"But you're going to help me." His voice was a tight growl.

Layla whimpered, struggling weakly, coughing at the choke hold. "L-let go..."

Void's eyes glinted maliciously, squeezing a little tighter. "You didn't go to the meeting. Foolish girl. But I have you here now, and you're going to do exactly what I say. Got it?"

She tried to nod, feeling dizzy, her lungs beginning to burn. Void stared at her hard for a long moment, before he sighed, and gruffly let her go.

"You're nothing like her. She had fire. Always mad. You? ...Such a push-over."

Layla rubbed her throat, coughing weakly. "Who?"

"Alizée."

Layla's lips pursed. "I... remember her. You're right... she is a hot head."

"Was. Was a hot head."

In that moment, everything clicked. Layla gasped. "So that's.. why you're here."

"Yes," Void clapped his dark hands together. "But that's enough. You need to get Auri on the horn. Now. I have a few choice words for her. There's... been an accident."

Layla was already grabbing her phone on the nightstand. She started typing before Void yanked it out of her hand and began furiously tapping at the screen. He sent it and tossed the phone back at Layla. She took one look and balked. "You said what?! That's rude."

"I don't care right now."

Layla's teeth clenched, before she added one more text, and sent it off.

Layla's Phone

"Now call her. And go get changed. We're going out."

Layla blinked a couple times, before she bit her lip, and did as she was told. Wherever Auri was, her phone began to ring after the texts pinged her. Layla didn't mean to skip the meeting and ghost Auri's invite. But it was getting to be about that time, when denizens would come and visit. She didn't want to put old friends at risk. Or maybe she had other priorities. She did have to deal with the entities now, after all.

Out of habit, she tried to make a rose to put in her hair. When it didn't come, Void simply looked at her.

"You're not an adept anymore, sweetheart. Don't worry, I'm not entirely cruel. I'll teach you about being adjoined. Now go get changed."

Layla swallowed, her mind racing, before she quietly got up, grabbed some clothes, and excused herself.

Void hovered around Layla's phone, listening to the dial tone, his eyes far away.

The Dark Beyond: Adventures in Candyland (Prequel)

@Lexisheeps

It was Nick?! Ahhhhhh!!!! The origin story sounds good, and I have an idea for a 4th group. :>

Looks like it's my turn, eh? >w> I'll aim to have something up tomorrow!

The Dark Beyond: Adventures in Candyland (Prequel)

Absolutely epic... o-o

The TWG is a unique bit, I quite liked that. Will we have a 4th party messing about the tombs to worry about? Or wait, that was a seperate section. So, better question, with the 4th group be messing about with the de Villers? :>

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

I... I can't risk her getting hurt any further.

//Cries a bit

The Dark Beyond

Ayyy, rest assured collabs are being worked on fervently behind the scenes. When I have a better idea of timeliness I will let you know, but we will aim to have these tied up soon. It's just a skip of a week after all, and the story can continue from there.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@Blizz Bahahaha, was it that obvious? xD

wrath lit his bones ablaze

Absolutely beautiful, chef's kiss.

Also, Cyril is no more, he's getting torn apart in the Void dimension as we speak. Elodie, on the other hand............ :eyes:

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Poor Sloane.

---

Introducing a new plaything. Bit dark with this one, my apologies in advanced.

Layla Hyacinthus

"Always a pleasure to meet you."

_______________________________________________ Layla Veronica Hyacinthus She/her | 20 | Caucasian | 63 in. | 50 lbs. _______________________________________________ Haunted _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "Strange what you’ll do to survive." ___________________________________ [+] Hyper-vigilant ⫻ Due to always having to be on guard from void entities, Layla is hyper-aware of her surroundings. She will notice subtle footsteps or a glint in the darkness. Fast reflexes ⫻ Dealing with the hungry mouths of the void entities, Layla is used to dodging attacks, finding an escape, and running out of harm’s way fast. Survivor instincts ⫻ Layla can identify, more often than not, the solution necessary to survive in a given situation. This causes her to be unreliable in team fights, as she will turn and run to save herself if the fight goes south. Tormented Soul ⫻ With her history, her world is very black and white. It’s either ‘you suffer’, or ‘others suffer’. She knows how to exact her will to appease the void.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "I like to look clean. It’s about all I got." Layla has soft features, like a porcelain doll. Ivory skin that nearly matches her white hair. She’s very thin, leaning on malnutritioned. You can count her rib bones. She eats, of course. However, the stress causes her to be unable to gain any weight for her small height. Her body is marred with strange bite marks of varying sizes along her arms and legs. Her hair is wispy, a bit curly, with the color of the full moon. She often likes to braid parts of it with flower accessories. Often, a blue fabric rose will be woven in her hair. She likes to wear summer dresses.

_{Psychology
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"I’ve cried so many tears. I fear one day I’ll run out."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Since meeting the Void Heart, her goal has become to absorb as much energy as possible so Void has the strength to open the gates of heaven, so she can see her loved ones.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Loneliness will kill me before the entities do. Is it so bad to still want a friend, even if they might die? I’ll burn the entire world to feel a little comfort, a little warmth.

SECRETS ⫻ She continues to give ‘sacrifices’ to the void to save her own skin.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Too innocent.

FEARS ⫻ She fears the events of her childhood happening again, living every day on a fine wire, fearing the entities that play on her with puppet strings. She fears attracting the wrong attention due to her ‘sweet blood’ and causing a friend, if she had a friend, to perish.

REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻ Mainly unnoticed. She was known to be sweet, kind, and not speaking much. When there was violence or a disagreement, she usually kept quiet, fearing anyone’s anger on her. She was one of the last members to leave.

ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻ She tried throwing white crystal roses at the snake in an attempt to get entities from the void to attack it. However, not many dared to attack such a fearsome foe, and she hid behind Stormy most of the time.

FLAWS ⫻ The belief that she’s right to be vindictive and heartless to her ‘sacrifices’ since the world was heartless to her. The stubbornness and refusal to drop her guard and let someone in, which would resolve a lot of her internal conflicts.

_{Backstory
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"Can we maybe change the subject?"

She figured a long while back, at least a few generations, she had some Greek in her lineage. Hence the poignant name. Always got teased for it. However, she’d take the teasing over what… happened. What… she did, any day.

The Hyacinthus family was known to be a family of brooders. Dark colors, dark home, dark expressions. This was many due to one thing, and one thing only. A secret the family kept hidden.

Other families would talk about ‘boogeymen’ and ‘monsters under the bed’. In the Hyacinthus home, these fantasies came to life. Every night, when the lights went out, in the wee hours, the quietus would be disturbed by bloodcurdling screams. Often, the lights would flicker on to expose Layla or her sister half dragged out of bed, a dark creature chewing on their arm.

‘Sweet blood’, it was called. That’s what her father said, anyway. It was a curse of the family, to have blood so sweet so as to attract the denizens of the night.

Layla was given an antique pendant containing a family portrait for her 12th birthday, had a frightening nightmare of being consumed by flowers, and ever since, she discovered she could manifest crystal flowers at will.

They had a unique quality to them, white in color, softly glowing, fragile, and easy to break. What was more interesting was how they changed the behavior of the denizens that would come to visit them - the entities she would one day discover came from the void.

Her sister had been balling from the pain of the bite a monster had given her the night before. Thinking it might help, Layla laid a crystal flower at her sister’s bedside that night. In the morning, her sister… was gone. In her place, a bloody mess, ripped flesh, a near-unrecognisable body.

The mourning in the home continued for days.

Layla blamed herself, and a few nights later, she thought she would join her sister. She created a crystal flower, and laid it at her own beside that night. After a few hours of blissful sleep, she awoke to smoke, fire, and the sound of ripping flesh.

She escaped her burning house. The report from the fire department and police later that night explained how two bodies were discovered, marred beyond being identified, before being set on fire, the fire spreading to the rest of the house.

The entities didn’t touch Layla for an entire month. That’s when she discovered, in a horrifying way, how the roses worked. Every time the denizens started to get antsy, she only had to give someone a rose, and she would be left alone. Little ‘sacrifices’ to appease the entities that haunted her.

When she was a few years older, she was walking the streets alone at night, before she heard screaming and fighting. She came across two girls fighting in the streets, whom she would later learn to be Alizée and Ashley. This was her introduction into the coven, after she tried to offer Alizée a rose, judging her to be the source of the conflict. The voidly being with Alizée immediately bit down on the rose and shattered it, spitting it out and telling Layla to ‘get lost’. Ashley was intrigued, however, and offered to meet with Layla again.

In the battle against the snake, Layla mainly hid behind Stomy and his shields, throwing white crystal roses at the snake to get as many entities to attack it as possible. Only a few showed up who were brave enough to risk it all against such a foe, and unfortunately didn’t do as much damage as Layla would have hoped.

After the fight, there were more and more arguments. Layla was never the source of any. She kept herself very private, you see. She was one of the last members to leave, and did so with a heavy heart.

After the dissolution of the coven, she began experimenting with the white roses. She started kidnapping people no one would miss, and watched the entities tear them apart. If she did this, the length of time the entities would leave her alone lengthened.

Preferring to be awake at night instead of the day, she took a nighttime job at a local gas station to pay for her studio apartment. With the Hyacinthus assets all liquified and life insurance wired to her bank, she essentially took a dead-end job to cover rent and her expenses as she continued her experiments with the white roses and what the entities wanted.

When she heard Auri wanted to bring the coven back together, she told herself she had a night shift to get ready for, and couldn’t possible attend. She didn’t want to get discovered, after all these years. Prolonged contact with people who once knew her could very well put the puzzle pieces together.

However, in her nap before her shift, a certain someone or something came to her in a dream. A flowering white field stained with darkness. A crooked grin, albeit sad, on an orb she recognized from long ago. And a dark hand, outstretched, waiting.

Of course, she took it.

What happened afterward was interesting, to say the least. She lost the ability to make crystal roses. In its place, she gained the powers of the Void Heart.

_{Abstraction
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"I don’t know… I don’t really like talking about it."

TYPE ⫻ Aberration (Adjoined)

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Void Light: The seams of the Void that yearn for entropy, sapping strength away.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ A purple and dark, smoky light that appears around her being whenever she uses her abilities. Also the main color of the Void Hands. If phantom hands are summoned, there is enough strength in the Void Light to bend steel rebar, which she uses to suppress the struggles of her victims. Both she and the apparition can use Void Light.

Subcategories:
- Void Eyes: Appears as purple irises with a red ring around the pupil, black sclera. Cosmetic when she uses her Void Hands.

- Void Heart: Her apparition from the Void, usually floating a couple of inches above her shoulder. A ball of void light with Void Eyes. Has a thirst for entropy. Is able to use the Void Hands on a whim. Being chained to her soul, the Void Heart can immediately take in and absorb any energy she siphons off using Void Entropy. This is how it eats, and it’s always hungry. Being connected to the Void, it has a special affinity for being in the in-between places of things, like dreams. The last time it dream-walked was when it was haunting her before their souls became adjoined.

- Void Hands: Claw-like phantom hands, made entirely of Void Light. Can change in size from regular human-sized hands, to as large as a refrigerator, allowing her to grip humans and smaller apparitions with ease. To be touched by physical Void causes an immediate weakness in the body. Prolonged exposure saps all the energy of the target. Eventually, this is enough to slow and stop the heart, however, due to Emotional-Fields, it does not allow her to stop the heart outright, only bring it near.

- Void Entropy: Any strength that is sapped away by being in contact with her void light causes her to instantly absorb said energy, which can be used to sate the desires of the Void Heart. She must be in physical contact with her victim to sap its strength and energy. White light in the form of energy is siphoned from their being, drawn past the hands, and coalesces through her before being sucked into the cragged jaws of the Void Heart. Due to the nature of their entwined souls, the apparition’s sated thirst translates to her own phantom thirst’s satisfaction.

- Void Thirst: A burn in her throat, gnawing emptiness in her stomach. She is continuously hungry and thirsty for the energy, the life essence, of another person. The only way this pain is sated is by draining a person of their energy until they are near death.

LIMITS ⫻ Void Light: Being able to sap a person or thing of its energy does not mean she can outright kill them. The Emotional-Fields prevent her from doing so.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ Accessing the Void Light opens her eyes to the Void itself... and over time, by utilizing the Void Light, she will begin to see hallucinations of the horrors of the Void. Eldritch abominations and people lost to the Void will appear alongside the mundane universe that she is used to, attacking her mental state and making her doubt what is real and what is fake. The more she (or the Apparition she's adjoined to) uses her abstraction, the worse this effect gets so that she will be functionally blind if she goes all out (as she'll see into the Void). This effect wears off over time, but its effects on her mentally will not. However, sapping away someone else strength and energy also begins to drain away at her - it won't be as dramatic as on the victim, but if she does this a lot, she can stop her own heart. An Abstraction like this will unnerve others and make it difficult for people to trust her.

^{Other
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"I’ve always liked music boxes."

Theme: Mephisto's Lullaby

The Void Heart

"You a meal, or a toy?"

_______________________________________________ Vul Bahlok Grah-Zeymahzin (aka: ‘The Void Heart,’ or ‘Void’) He/him | ??? | Apparition | 7 inches | 3 lbs. _______________________________________________ Haunter _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "I can see right through you." ___________________________________ [+] Predator Gaze ⫻ He’s always watching, sizing up the next potential victim, trying to guess how tasty a person is based on their look and manners. Battle Strategy ⫻ He is the reliable number two to his haunted in a fight. He can identify and seize opportunities, or fill the gap. Voidly Knowledge⫻ He has knowledge of the Void, its legends, and its denizens.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Don’t stare too much - you might get nightmares." He’s a dark, purple-tinged orb surrounded in a voidly purple aura. His mouth is massive, able to crack open to the sides of his eyes to reveal sharp, jagged teeth. He’s often seen smiling in a predatorial manner. His eyes are cold, always displaying the power of the void in them - black sclera, purple irises with a ring of deep red around the pupil. Touching him is similar to touching his void hands - cold, with an immediate weakening in the body.

_{Psychology
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"I'd do anything to see her again."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ There’s a legend that says, “Enough souls will unlock the gates of paradise.” Void has interpreted this to mean that there’s a path from the void to wherever souls go, and aims to devour as much energy as possible to become strong enough to open the gates.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Cut and dry. You are either food, or a passing whim - a toy.

SECRETS ⫻ He covers the pain of losing his wife with his predatorial nature and bloodlust.

SEXUALITY ⫻ N/A, tends to fall in love with his playthings. They remind him of his wife.

FEARS ⫻ Fears the deeper, darker parts of the void. Fears anything happening to his playthings.

REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻ Was disliked, along with the late Alizée.

ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻ Aided the late Alizée in grabbing ahold of the snake and absorbing some of its energy.

FLAWS ⫻ Can become so focused on his own goals that he puts others at risk. The late Alizée is an example of this.

_{Backstory
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"I see her all the time, in my mind. The day it happened."

Void lived peacefully in the darkness of the void dimension with his wife. Or at least, as peacefully as one can in the land of nightmares. One day, a war broke out, and his wife got caught by the enemy. He had to watch as the void denizens larger and more fearsome in power as compared to him tore, ripped, and shredded apart his wife.

He was never the same after that.

He sought power, and he sought solace. He knew of a legend passed down by past generations within the void realm revolving around the gates of paradise. Anyone with enough power, and enough energy from souls could open the gates and see those who had passed on. Moved by bitter grief, he began seeking a conduit, a hauntee to tether him to the Shimmer so he could enact his will.

That’s when he found her… the late Alizée. He chose her almost immediately simply because she reminded him of his late wife.

He was the whispering voice in her mind, pushing her to fulfill his agenda. Sometimes strangling her when she was fussy. He tolerated the coven when they showed up and, out of necessity, helped with the battle against the snake. He refuses to admit it to himself, but the camaraderie was… nice. However, that quickly vanished when they interfered with the late Alizée’s night-stalking. It made him furious, and he was happy when Alizée blew up at Ashley and was banished. Less interference with his plans.

The reunion was… surprising, to say the least. He kept an eye on the late Alizée, but it clearly wasn’t enough. His heart was broken a second time when Alizée fell at the battle against the Wolfpack. Losing his tether to the Shimmer, he was left alone in the void to weep, and to wander.

He remembered, a distant memory, of the girl who stumbled across the late Alizée while she was fighting the late Ashley. He peered into the Shimmer, and found her… Layla.

She would do… Yes, she would do splendidly.

_{Abstraction
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"These hands have thrown down a lot."

TYPE ⫻ Apparition

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Void Light: The thirst for entropy.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Void’s abstraction covers his entire person, but he affects the world with the hands he summons. Similar to the late Alizée’s, his hands can change in size, can bend rebar, and absorb energy, or life force.

LIMITS ⫻ He is unable to kill a person outright by siphoning off their energy due to the emotional-fields.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ Accessing the Void Light opens his eyes to the Void itself... and over time, by utilizing the Void Light, he will begin to see hallucinations of the horrors of the Void. Eldritch abominations and people lost to the Void will appear alongside the mundane universe that he is used to, attacking his mental state and making him doubt what is real and what is fake. The more he uses his abstraction, the worse this effect gets so that he will be functionally blind if she goes all out (as he'll see into the Void). This effect wears off over time, but its effects on him mentally will not. An Abstraction like this will unnerve others and make it difficult for people to trust him.

^{Other
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"When does the reason become the blame?"

Insight: Just a Man

Void’s song to Layla as he struggles to come to terms with Alizée’s death. Alizée is the ‘son’, and Layla is the one Void is referring to when he says ‘I look into your eyes’.

Theme before Alizée

Theme after Alizée

[

The Dark Beyond: Adventures in Candyland (Prequel)

"No, I am just overthinking things..."

Hider

"Bonjour mi petit, did you sleep well?"

Hider

Amazing post, Angel. That was a wonderful read. :>

I like how we react to each other's posts. It's awesome. xD

I’m browsing a nice dress for Auri 🫡

@Days

Oooooh. :D

The Dark Beyond

Ooooh yaaaay! Still have at least 10 or so hours on the clock here, but happy early new years to you!