Insanity Clinic For The Moderately Brandofandonitis Afflicted

[Telrao she/her]

The Islands: The Secret Room

"An... old friend." The Second narrows his eyes at the ring. He glances towards the door, then back at Emma. The fire in the room suddenly puffs out, leaving only an eerie glow from the dying embers.

The Fourth leaps forward with a yelp, scurrying to the hearth and blowing on the flames, stoking them to their full warmth.

"What in kirst was that, Second?" she asked, nervous.

The Second merely padded over to Emma and stared at the Ring, then into Emma's eyes. Telrao watched nervously from Calano's lap, the power of Therapy re-stoking within her. Her mind began to mend, her sanity restoring.

Her gaze snapped to where the Third stood, holding her bracelets. The one containing Kaos' power glimmered brightly. Those are connected. Somehow.

The Second touched the ring, then pulled his paw back, gasping in sudden pain. "What evil is this, Child?"

@Ookla the Myopic @Ookla the Crow

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

The Islands: The Secret Room

"It's a bit of my Kaos, tucked away in this ring by the soul of a friend.

Tears begin rolling down Emma's face

"A friend I sacrificed to make the ring. It damaged my connection to the Kaos, but they didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know either."

@Ookla the Floofy @Ookla the Crow

Edited December 1, 2022 by Ookla the Myopic

[Medium he/they]

The Islands: The Secret Room

Calano had no words. He simply stared at the ring, and at Emma.

He began to silently cry, as well. He stroked Telrao's fur, trying to glean some form of comfort from the small feline form, but struggling.

@Ookla the Floofy @Ookla the Myopic

[EmulatonStromenkiin he/him]

Random Fellow's fire machine continued to spread the flames beyond the reality of the clinic

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

The Island: The Secret Room

"If I can just remember how."

Emma slips the ring on her finger and it begins pulsing a warm red light.

"Ah, that's how. Now to contact them."

Emma concentrates and a link forms between her mind and the mind that was once in the room.

"Hello, who are you?"

@Ookla the Crow

Quote

Now this is where she connects with Layra.

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ookla the Myopic

[Medium he/they]

The Islands: The Secret Room

Emma got in return a feeling of confusion, from a source deep inside, but also outside, the ring.

Calano frowned, getting the same feeling. "What-" He said.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

The Islands: The Secret Room

"This presence feels familiar Calano."

Emma's forhead scrunches, "almost like you Calano. I'll try mentally."

You feel familiar, rather similar to Calano.

@Ookla the Crow

[Medium he/they]

The Islands: The Secret Room

The feeling became a sense of realization, and it strengthened until words began to filter through.

-am his sister. My name is Layra. I'm Calano's older sister. Who are you? How are you doing this?

Calano gets the same words, because of his connection to Layra as siblings. He remembers the moments in the dream world, with Jason and Layra and Wizard.

"Layra," He whispers.

Calano? You're there too?

@Ookla the Myopic

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ookla the Crow

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Thaidakar's mind

Thaidakar drifted, where was he?

No...

that was the wrong question.

Why was he?

He was a living contradiction. A soulless who was not soulless? Who was he? But, he already knew the answer to that. Someone who was now dead had told him the answer. Was the answer still true? Thaidakar didn't know, he didn't exactly care. Something moved inside his mind, something malevolent. Something evil... A dark, hideous face appeared in his vision. It was a twisted version of himself. The face had fairer skin than he actually had, higher cheekbones. The hideous part... the eyes, they revealed the darkness. The way his mouth twitched. It was what he could be if he accepted the power offered to him.

Why was it so appealing?

Thaidakar couldn't accept that. No, it would mean surrendering what she had given him. It would mean abandoning that idea which he'd clung to. He just couldn't bring himself to do that. He couldn't abandon all he held dear. Why couldn't he wake up? He struggled against the chains which didn't seem to exist. He had to wake up, see what was happening. 

He had to fight. He had to live. He had to find out the truth. Why was he the way he was? Perhaps... perhaps the answer was that he wasn't a soulless nor a souled one.

no, Thaidakar was a lie given life.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

The Islands: The Secret Room

The contact with Layra's mind brings back overwhelming memories.

Memories of that day.

Memories of the cave.

"Layra please don't do this!"

The power lacing her body begins to seep out and the bones in the cave glow with a blackish light. Strings of darkness hold them together and each forms a pulsing black heart. 

"You know that we have to go through with the plan. No one else is more connected to you. Your mom can't do it, even though she was going to. That was why we snuck out."

"Your words make sense sister of my heart." Emma hugs Layra for what they both know will be the last time.

"Start the ritual"

Emma opens her eyes and notices a concerned Calano standing over her.

@Ookla the Crow @Ookla the Floofy

 

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Thaidakar's mind

For a long time, Thaidakar just drifted.

Perhaps it was better to remain in bliss, at least for the time being.

He was too dangerous for the outside world. It was better to not be there to trouble them.

No, you can't think like that.

Odd, what was that voice? Why did it sound so familiar...?

He felt like he was floating. Maybe he could just drift, let everyone forget about the soulless who could be the greatest threat yet. And yet... he knew he couldn't do that. Thaidakar had to continue clinging to life, to his sanity; or, to what he had left of his sanity anyway. He had to wake up. He started to fight again.

Something akin to laughter filled his mind, eerie and undoubtedly evil. Thaidakar pushed against it, trying to break out of the odd mind prison. It pushed back against him, with a little less than equal strength. So, it wasn't a perfect trap. Excellent. He just had to overwhelm it. The question was, how to do so? He pondered for what seemed like eternity. Resolve filled him as he realized what he needed to do. Truth was the enemy of lies. Perhaps it was time to give truth to the lie that was himself. 

He felt the thing inside him jeering at him, what was this? what was its prisoner doing this time? Thaidakar whispered something unintelligible. He seemed scared to say it. It didn't work. He sighed, he had to say it out loud. He said louder, but still partially a whisper, "I am a hero."

Thaidakar almost laughed at himself, why was it hard for him to admit that? But... it made sense all the same. Thaidakar hated himself for all he'd done. He'd seen himself as a villain for longer than he could remember. That was what gave the thing inside him the most power. The prison exploded in a burst of light.

Unknown

Thaidakar groaned, all his muscles ached. He licked his dry lips and stood up slowly and painfully. Thaidakar picked up his glasses -thank goodness they weren't shattered- and put them on.  He looked around, where... It was a large field with dark, glassy black outcroppings all around. Something shadowy moved in the grasses nearby. He sighed, this was just great.

[Medium he/they]

The Islands: The Secret Room

"You knew Layra.." Calano said, "You knew her."

He puts a hand to his forehead. "And.. it's because of her that you're still here. But she's also gone. But not gone." His voice breaks, and he crumples to the floor, full of emotions from the past several hours and just now.

Confusion, grief, relief, terror, worry, and so much more. He cries.

He cries for a long time.

@Ookla the Myopic @Ookla the Floofy

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Quote

time for another Thaidakar insanity moment. HUZZAH!

Unknown

Thaidakar scratched his head, trying to teleport. He started to teleport, his hopes high, but something dark moved in his mind, preventing him from continuing. He cursed loudly, yelling and kicking a rock several feet away. Resolve filled him and he decided to start walking. He stood up and did so, going for hours upon hours on end in a random direction. It seemed to be moderate temperature, perfect for walking. The land was all the same, he found out, just a giant field with big, black rocks and the occasional, scraggly tree or bush. He finally stopped as night started to settle in, hopefully he survived. He made a fire using the sticks he found and sat down, humming grumpily. A voice seemed to whisper in his mind, "I could save you... I could get you out of here. All you have to do is surrender..."

"No." Thaidakar said flatly, "I'm not letting you corrupt me." Except... it was tempting. Perhaps he'd find a way to trick it... but no, he couldn't. He heard a long, horrifying howl in the distant. He cringed, goosebumps running up his arms. Hopefully whatever had made the howl wasn't hungry for soulless flesh. 

Thaidakar couldn't bring himself to sleep, the howls were becoming more frequent. And, unfortunately, more excited. He had a bigger branch laying partly in the fire, so he could use it as a torch if the need would arise. He also had a sword he could summon at will, hopefully that still worked. He didn't know if the thing inside him blocked his soulless powers either, hopefully not. 

As it turned out, the howls weren't nearly as terrible as the creatures themselves.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

The Islands: The Secret Room

Emma crawls up and she sits by Calano, tears dripping down her face.

"I never realized the holes in my memory before. What if each one holds a secret as terrible as this one?"

@Ookla the Crow @Ookla the Floofy

[Medium he/they]

The Islands: The Secret Room

"I'm not gonna be able to deal with that," Calano mutters. "This is bad enough. We'll cross that bridge if we come to it."

He throws his arms around Emma, and holds her and cries.

@Ookla the Myopic @Ookla the Floofy

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Unknown

The creatures could fly. They could fly! 

Of all the monsters Thaidakar hated, the ones that could fly were the worse. 

The wolflike creatures were about five feet tall with giant claws and big, leathery wings. Their snarls filled Thaidakar's ears as at least fifteen of them swarmed the area. They appeared to be scared of fire, thankfully. He raised the torch, waving them off. He muttered a few curses under his breath as he tried summoning his sword again for the tenth time yet. One of the creatures grew daring and flapped towards Thaidakar. He slammed his torch into its gray, matted fur. It went alight with flaming, making the creature yelp. It flew back a few paces and fell. The others swarmed it and trampled it, stamping out the flames. Two more came at Thaidakar and he pulled out a small dagger from his pockets. He slammed it into the neck of one, keeping it away from him, and slammed his torch into the other. He kicked the aflame one in the snout and rammed his torch at the other's eyes. They both jumped back, yapping loudly as the others put the flames out. 

Thaidakar cursed, realizing his torch was out. He dipped it in the campfire again swiftly and jumped back up just in time. Five of the wolf-bats (as he was now calling them) flew at him, this time a foot apart from each other. Thaidakar fought as best he could, gaining a few small wounds as he did, but he realized that he couldn't hold up for long. He gritted his teeth as one tried to bit him. He kicked it in the neck, jumping to the side. The fire was starting to die down, causing Thaidakar to curse loudly. He stabbed another of the wolf-bats in the eye.

He cursed as a smaller one charged at him. An odd idea sparked in his mind. He grinned and jumped. He landed on the small one's back. It half snarled, probably confused at the insane soulless trying to ride it. Thaidakar summoned as much strength as he could muster and something dark and black appeared. It went around the mouth of the wolf-bat, making it so that he could guide it and make it fly for him. He grinned and made it fly away as the confused wolf-bats tried to figure out what happened. It wouldn't last long though, so hopefully he could get a good head start.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

The Islands: The Secret Room

Emma sits with Calano for a long time, tears still flowing down her face.

A buzzing fills her head and the ring begins to glow. "It's Layra, she's trying to contact me again, since I fainted."

Sorry, I lost focus when a memory returned to me. I'm Emma.

@Ookla the Crow

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Unknown

Thaidakar lay on the back of the wolf-bat, his hands on the reigns. He hadn't slept at all, but that was fine. For now that is. Sleep might be risky for him, might make him want to go for the power. The sun rose in the distance, it was redder and bigger than most suns he'd seen. Why hadn't he seen it yesterday? He shrugged to himself as the wolf-bat squealed softly. They'd lost the other wolf-bats a few hours ago. Perhaps he should set them down soon. Thaidakar adjusted his glasses with one hand. He'd noticed an hour ago that he could feel something emanating from a certain direction. Luckily, it wasn't back towards the wolf-bats. He wondered what it was...

For the first time in this little adventure, Thaidakar wondered how he'd gotten here. He'd been preoccupied earlier, thinking about how to resist the power and escaping the wolf-bats. Perhaps there was something important about this place. He wondered about the large black rocks, maybe they interfered with teleportation. It seemed like a solid guess. Perhaps even correct. He'd have to touch down and check sometime. 

He started humming to an old tune, perhaps- he stopped abruptly, noticing a large, curved stone spike approaching swiftly. He swerved the wolf-bat to the side, circling it. This was where the sense was coming from. He could tell, somehow, that this was ancient. Something from long ago. He touched down at the side and tied the wolf bat to another bit of stone. Thaidakar rubbed his hands over carvings in the rock. He raised an eyebrow when he found one carving, he hadn't recognized the other ones, but this... this was the sign of the World Seers. He pushed his glasses closer to his face and continued inspecting the base. One rune in particular caught his attention, it was surrounded by some sort of white stone that pulsed softly. The rune was unrecognizable to him, but many were. He walked closer to it and put a hand on it. He titled his head, the way to say it appearing in his head. Perhaps that was just a side effect of being a soulless. or, perhaps, the thing inside him was trying to earn points for itself. Either way, it was correct. He said it aloud, "evearilian movari." 

He heard something like pistons moving in the stone. A rectangular bit of stone sank into the rest of the curved pillar and moved aside, revealing a dark stairway. Thaidakar shrugged and said to himself, "well... looks like it's time to walk down the mysterious stair. A normal Saturday." he shrugged and then began walking down the stairs.

[Shining Silhouette he/him]

On 11/29/2022 at 5:25 PM, Ookla the Perpetual said:

 

@Ookla the Pencil Taxi @Ookla the Debonair @InfiniteInsanity

Ruins of Tal'rin

As he climbed up the stairs, Silhouette was stunned by the despair on their faces.

"What evil could have caused this?" He wondered aloud.

 

[The Bookwyrm he/him]

9 hours ago, Ookla the Debonair said:

Ruins of Tal'rin

As he climbed up the stairs, Silhouette was stunned by the despair on their faces.

"What evil could have caused this?" He wondered aloud.

Quote

Technically, we already defeated the monster that burnt their village down...but Kaos, the one who sent it, is a far more mysterious and powerful foe.

Ruins of Tal'rin: The Central Cellar

Bookwyrm watched the rest of his team lead the villagers up out of the cellar.

How long were they down here? he thought. Hours? Days? They were only coming out because the Ember had been defeated. And this was only half of their population; the other half had fled.

They would need somewhere to stay.

Bookwyrm tried to open a mental communication with Calano [@Ookla the Crow], but felt a turmoil of emotion in the beginnings of the connection. He severed it.

Maybe now's not the best time...

Regardless, he pushed on into the depths of the cellar, and sent a mental message to Insa [@InfiniteInsanity].

"Lead the villagers away from the village, towards the ocean," he said to her. "I'll met up with you once I'm done."

[Telrao she/her]

On 03/12/2022 at 0:26 PM, Ookla the Myopic said:

The Islands: The Secret Room

Emma sits with Calano for a long time, tears still flowing down her face.

A buzzing fills her head and the ring begins to glow. "It's Layra, she's trying to contact me again, since I fainted."

Sorry, I lost focus when a memory returned to me. I'm Emma.

Telrao watches in curiosity. Who is this Layra? she wonders as she pads over to the humans and rubs against them. Warmth runs through her. Hmmm. What am I doing here, anyway?

The Second stands to the side, not interfering. He carefully takes notes of the conversation, brown nose wrinkling in concentration. He can feel... a power from that ring. It bears a strong connection to Calano and Emma... and Kaos. He shivers, a cold sensation creeping up his back and tickling his spine. Not good.

 The Third and Fourth stand in the corner, watching, waiting. "Something stirs, Second." The Fourth whispers. "A Power. We need to get to a safer place."

"I know, Fourth." The Second replies. "But there is something interesting about the Connection here. Be prepared to take us to the First's Haven." The Fourth nods and begins to chant softly beneath her breath. The Third, in his human form, stands ready to snatch up Telrao at any second.

@Ookla the Myopic @Ookla the Crow

[InfiniteInsanity she/her]

5 hours ago, Ookla the Perpetual said:

Ruins of Tal'rin: The Central Cellar

Bookwyrm watched the rest of his team lead the villagers up out of the cellar.

How long were they down here? he thought. Hours? Days? They were only coming out because the Ember had been defeated. And this was only half of their population; the other half had fled.

They would need somewhere to stay.

Bookwyrm tried to open a mental communication with Calano [@Ookla the Crow], but felt a turmoil of emotion in the beginnings of the connection. He severed it.

Maybe now's not the best time...

Regardless, he pushed on into the depths of the cellar, and sent a mental message to Insa [@InfiniteInsanity].

"Lead the villagers away from the village, towards the ocean," he said to her. "I'll met up with you once I'm done."

Ruins of Tal'rin

Insa had just gotten up the stairs when Bookwyrm sent the message. She walked a little faster weaving through the group looking for the woman who had talked to them when they were down in the cellar. When Insa found her she tapped her shoulder, "Excuse me, my friend, the guy who stayed behind, says that we should head towards the ocean."

Edited December 5, 2022 by InfiniteInsanity

[Medium he/they]

The Islands: The Secret Room

Emma, Emma, Emma... Nope, doesn't ring a bell. But you're with Calano.. OH! Are you his wife?? Hi!!!

Calano can't help but grin as Layra begins gushing the fact that she's talking to her sister-in-law.

I finally have a sister, that's crazy! I never had a sister.. Or technically a brother, since I didn't actually exist very long... Anyways, what's up? Whaddaya need?

@Ookla the Myopic @Ookla the Floofy

Edited December 5, 2022 by Ookla the Crow

[Shadowed they/them]

Ruins of Tal’rin

Matra and the band of survivors that she had gathered caught up with Insa. “To the ocean? Is there a boat waiting for us, or something?”

More importantly, what has Bookwyrm found that he is so desperate to get the villagers away from?

[InfiniteInsanity she/her]

48 minutes ago, Ookla the Shadowed said:

Ruins of Tal’rin

Matra and the band of survivors that she had gathered caught up with Insa. “To the ocean? Is there a boat waiting for us, or something?”

More importantly, what has Bookwyrm found that he is so desperate to get the villagers away from?

Ruins of Tal'rin

Insa panicked a bit in her head. She had a lot of questions about why Bookwyrm was sending them to the ocean. "To the ocean. I don't think there are any boats waiting. I'm not sure of the reasons for going to the ocean. But I trust Bookwyrm a lot. He told me to take y'all to the ocean and so that's where I'm going to take you." Hopefully that sounded calm and sure. Insa turned to Matra. "Do you know where Silhouette is?"

@Ookla the Debonair @Ookla the Shadowed

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by InfiniteInsanity