A troubled Dantalian slipped into the ravine and stopped immediately. The walls of the cavernous space, usually crowded with vines and shrouded in darkness, was suffering from the same infection that seemed to have taken over Boreas. Its walls glowed with crystals and mushroom alike, and the air was heavy with a threatening, nearly tangible force. Any second now she expected a shadow to peel itself from a wall and come howling towards her. This was not good. She turned back the way she'd come with a paw curled to her chest in uncertainty. Honestly she wasn't sure what she needed more; answers or to minimize her chances of catching the illness by staying away from the infected.

Even though she'd moved to leave, something stopped Dantalian from fleeing the Ravine. There were some in her pack who were sick. If she could help them was she not obligated to try? Decisions, decisions! She didn't know what to do. Dantalian wasn't a healer like her mother; she had neither the knack nor the inclination. What she did have was a desire to help her kin. If there were answers among the crystals and mushrooms... Fuck, she was going in.

Pyrrhic too was alarmed by all that was happening. Like his daughter he was also at a loss at how to help his sick family. When he's crossed Dantalian's path as she headed beyond packlands his concern for her safety had been too great, and he'd opted to follow her. His children were grown and capable of taking care of themselves, but he worried. In all honesty he had half a mind to round Asmodeus up too. Grab him, Riva, and head somewhere safe.

He found his daughter just in time to see her disappear into the mouth of the ravine that marked the entrance of The Deluge. "Dantalian?" he called as he followed after. Pyrrhic stepped up to the entrance and then recoiled as he caught sight of all the crystals. How like one of his children to run directly into danger. Naturally he followed in after her.

They whispered to her, sharp little voices scurrying about her brain. This is your fault! they hissed, like poison through her thoughts. You didn’t believe! the accusation filled her with dread, with fear, and horror. You brought this curse upon them all! She woke suddenly, gasping and panting in her little den. With a shaking paw she wiped the sleep from her eyes, and found them wet. She wiped again, and again. The feeling of liquid, and ooze, persisted. She shuddered, and pulled herself to her paws. It was dark, so dark? Where was the light? She whimpered at the darkness, at the voices she could almost see, hovering in the corners. You did this! a voice screamed, right beside the poor healer girl. She shrieked, and ran from her den, and into the perpetual night. She could not remember the last time she had been so frightened. All knowledge of healing, of calm, and duty fled her thoughts. She needed only to flee the voices that haunted her. She ran until she caught the scent of Dante on the wind, and her motherly instincts finally over powered the fear crawling through her veins. She must find Dante! Protect her from what Riva had done! So she raced along the trail towards the Deluge, shivering and whimpering at the darkness all around her. It was not however her daughter that she stumbled upon, it was the towering, protective form of her husband. “Py!” she cried, her voice so rich with fear that surely he would not even recognise it as she pressed herself against her coat, shuddering. Her tiny form borrowing beneath him as much as she could get herself. "Riva" & "Pyrrhic"

Deus did not have long to enjoy his blessing from Abraxas before the oozing set in. His eyes and nose continually leaked off-blue fluid, not unlike the color of his crystal quills that had grown in after his meeting with the firefly figure. Though the sickness worried him heavily - mostly for his mother's sake - he had some comfort in knowing he had irrefutable proof that he was doing right by his God. Abraxas had not abandoned him, and with that knowledge Deus knew he'd survive this too. Riva, on the other hand.. He'd caught sight of her fleeing her den when he was coming back from feeding his puppy companions. The majority of his life now revolved around obsessively protecting his mother above all, especially now that the God's warning had been made so clear. He ran after her frantically into the ravine, slowing only when he noticed his father and sister there with her. It was the ultimate relief, between the three Abraxas believers surely they could protect her. "Mom you can't run off like that!" He scolded her with a frown. "Dad, Danta, tell her. She needs to stay safe, at home." The paranoia within him grew and he began to pace back and forth. "Speech"

She hadn't take more than a step or two inside when her father's voice echoed across the stone. Dantalian turned half expecting to see signs of the illness on his face and was relieved when she was able to trace his features and find no sign of it. She breathed a soft sigh of relief and stepped towards her father. "Dad..." Her mother was there suddenly burrowing under Danta's father with fear coloring her actions. Torn between worry for her mother and now her possibly infected father, Dantalian stiffened and bit her lip. Saying something would only upset them both and besides, it was too late now. "Mom? What is it?"

Dantalian did a double take when she saw her brother and her heart sank. Him too? This was bad, this was really, really bad. Dantalian's mouth settled in a grim line as she glanced around at her family. Her sick family. What were they going to do now?

Heedless of the risk Pyrrhic threw his arm across Riva's shoulders and pulled her in close. She was shaking like a leaf and it was all he could do to hang onto her. "It's alright," he said calmly; his attempt at reassurance even though he himself struggled to believe it. Pyrrhic leaned down and sought to press a kiss onto the top of her head. The ooze now stained his chest; he could feel it seeping into his fur. "Are you okay?" he asked gently.

His eyes flicked to their son who suffered the same as his mother. "He's right," he said to Riva, "we need to take you home." There he and Dantalian could keep an eye on them both for while Asmodeus was offering a sound plan his pacing had caught his father's eye. Maybe it was nothing; the product of legitimate concern...or maybe it was illness rearing its paranoid head. He'd seen what it was doing to the infected.

"Come," he motioned to Asmodeus while gently using his position over Riva to nudge her towards the entrance. Pyrrhic threw a glance to Dantalian and jerked his head towards home. She would understand. "We'll all go back, hm?"

Riva quivered with the need to run, to flee, to race across the plans and never stop. The urge inside of her swelled in her breast until she could barely breathe. ‘Your fault, your fault!’ the voices hissed, clear as crystal in her ears despite the coat of her mate she sought to muffle them with. Other voices, muffled and less rich and clear as the ones in her head spoke around her. She recognised the voice of her son, and then her daughter. Her motherly instinct warred with the primal fear to run until she felt she must surely be torn in two. After a moment, she lifted her head, seeking to find the familiar forms of her children. Her eyes were wide, showing the whites, rich with fear. Her paws shoke, and she knew reason wasn’t as clear inside of her as it had been all her life. Eventually, slowly, the voices and will of her family penetrated her thoughts, and she glanced from one face to another as she realised they didn’t understand. ‘We need to flee, they are coming! My fault, my fault” She muttered the last under her breath. Riva had always been a wolf of logic and reason and endless patience, but that wasn’t the wolf before them today. Not when they must flee! They must escape what was coming. Didn’t they understand? "Riva" & "Pyrrhic"

Deus looked upon his frantic mother and so far, healthy appearing sister and father. Pyrrhic would know what to do, of that much Deus could always trust. When his father motioned for them to head home he gave a rapid nod in agreement, though his pacing did not slow. "I'm sorry father, this is all my fault. I asked mom to help me speak to Abraxas - we did some ritual and.. and.. he gave us a warning. She didn't listen, I couldn't protect her and now he's cursed her!" He blew out an anxious breath before stopping his pacing and turning toward where she buried herself in Pyrrhic's chest. "Why couldn't you just believe in him!" Deus cried out tearfully. "This wouldn't have happened if you just believed in the first place!" He wanted desperately to go run to his little-big sister and find comfort with her, but Danta was not yet infected and Deus knew it was best to keep his distance. He planted his rear end in the dirt and lifted a paw, swiping away the ooze collecting in his nostrils. "Speech"

Dantalian's gaze darted in the direction of the entrance at her father's instruction. She nodded in agreement. "Yes, I think home is a good idea. Come on, mom, Deus." She got no more than two steps in that direction before her mother threw a wrench in their plan. Flee? Heaven's no! The one thing they were certain of was the safety of their home.

She swallowed hard as her brother explained what had happened. Abraxas? This was all Abraxas' doing? But why? Her gaze darted to her father again. He'd been god's mouthpiece once so if anyone would know anything about that claim it would be him. Would god do this? Riva was a mortal, sure, but she was Pyrrhic's mortal. And what about Asmodeus? He was just as oozy even though he was faithful. "...dad?"

Pyrrhic frowned as things didn't play out as he had expected and Asmodeus gave him insight on what had happened to him and Riva. His mate's panicked actions kept him from sinking into himself to sort it out. He shushed her gently and tried to pull her close again. "There's no need to run, my dear, we will figure this out at home where it is safe." If she was amenable he'd kiss the top of her head again. All of his actions, while genuine, served another purpose: fearing she might make a break for it, Pyrrhic's grip on Riva was tight.

To his son, who he expected a high degree of fortitude, Pyrrhic said, "Stand strong, Asmodeus, and save your apologies for when I am convinced they are owed." He was hoping to shake some sense back into his son with his gentle admonishment. "Now," he sought the eye of each wolf in turn, before saying in a firm voice, "we are going to go home and sort all of this out there." He was only just beginning to consider Abraxas as the source so Pyrrhic wouldn't make any proclamations either way. Instead he would focus on corralling his sick family and save the attempts to reason for once they were sequestered out of harm's way. "If this is the work of Abraxas we will bring the matter to him and do what we must."

Riva shivered with the effort of containing her need to flee, and managed to listen this time as the members of her family spoke. Her eyes glanced from Deus, to Danta, to Pyr. Her son explained what had happened and how they had turned the eyes of God upon them. The origin of this strange curse. “I didn’t know, I didn’t know” she whispered to Deus, but fell silent as Pyr gently hushed her, pulling her in close. She let him fold her into his warm coat, letting out a shuddering breath. She needed to… to think. To reason this out past her desperate need to flee. Pyr held her close, and she felt him kiss the top of her head, and knew he would feel the way her entire little body trembled. [i] “Flee, Flee, Flee!” [/b] the voices cried in her ear, growing and shrinking in volume as though ghosts fluttered by her ear. The sound was followed by a terrible, cackling laugh. If Pyr hadn’t been holding her tightly she may well have done just that. She pulled against him one, following the compulsion of the voices, and found no give in his arms. She collapsed against him then, shuddering softly. “Home.” She agreed, trying to differentiate madness and reason in her brain, and knew her own judgment to be unsound. She would believe in Pyr, and trust him, when she could not trust herself. "Riva" & "Pyrrhic"

His father gave him a gentle rebuke and Deus merely sighed, frustrated that his family weren't understanding the full weight of the issue. "No, you don't understand!" He yelled. "Abraxas showed us a nightingale - a nightingale!" It didn't quite occur to the panicked, paranoid boy that those words alone didn't fully explain the situation, but when you'd lived it the birds' appearance had hit much harder. "We have to ask forgiveness for mother - he blessed me with these quills, but then made her sick! She yelled at him, Dad." The ghostly figure had frightened both wolves, but Riva had lectured it for daring to scare her son. Deus was convinced that was the moment she'd been infected, as punishment for raising her voice to a messenger of the God. "Speech"

Riva

The sickness deepens... You feel an uncontrollable hunger...

Asmodeus

The sickness deepens... Your health isn't the only thing diminishing. You feel poorer... 200 Gemstones poorer, to be exact.


You lose:

• 120x Gems- You're lucky you didn't have more to lose!
  

Firefly Shoppe- Dantalian

It comes for us all... but you are safe... for now.

Your attention blurs and refocuses. It feels as if you are in a dream as you find yourself alone in the mist. Fireflies gather and light the way to a table with a figure waiting behind it. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose w̶̢̧͉̥̻̟͈͙̽̉̆̿̈͒͋̓̇̍͌̇̎͠͝ì̵̢̝̄͐́͆̓̚ṣ̶̛͙̟͎̤̞̤͎̹̙̭̪͔̓̐̾̂͆̄͆͌̈̈́̏̚͜͝͠ȩ̴͔̱̗̜̾̉̀̓̀͆͛̊̂̍̕̚̚̚ͅl̵̢̦̲̼̠̖̜̺̮̜̺͋̈́y̴̧̨̧̪̗̥̘͇̾͑͗͜͠, and only choose o̷͕̭̊̃̌̊̏̀ņ̸̼͚͉͔̒͐̊e̵̮̯͛̔̀̑͜," the figure says, looming over the table as his eyes seem to peer into your soul. Are they... moving? "If you can afford it, but.. it seems you can't. Better luck next time, young wolf."

Firefly Shoppe- Pyrrhic

It comes for us all... but you are safe... for now.

Your attention blurs and refocuses. It feels as if you are in a dream as you find yourself alone in the mist. Fireflies gather and light the way to a table with a figure waiting behind it. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose w̶̢̧͉̥̻̟͈͙̽̉̆̿̈͒͋̓̇̍͌̇̎͠͝ì̵̢̝̄͐́͆̓̚ṣ̶̛͙̟͎̤̞̤͎̹̙̭̪͔̓̐̾̂͆̄͆͌̈̈́̏̚͜͝͠ȩ̴͔̱̗̜̾̉̀̓̀͆͛̊̂̍̕̚̚̚ͅl̵̢̦̲̼̠̖̜̺̮̜̺͋̈́y̴̧̨̧̪̗̥̘͇̾͑͗͜͠, and only choose o̷͕̭̊̃̌̊̏̀ņ̸̼͚͉͔̒͐̊e̵̮̯͛̔̀̑͜," the figure says, looming over the table as his eyes seem to peer into your soul. Are they... moving? "If you can afford it, but.. it seems you can't. Better luck next time, young wolf."

Dantalian was startled to find herself in a fog suddenly. She looked around and saw none of her family, only fireflies. They led her to a table behind which a tall, hooded figure stood. Abraxas? Surely not, that couldn't be him. The figure explained the situation and Dantalian had just enough time to look at the wares before he figuratively slammed the door in her face. Her expression, once interested, fell. She frowned, equal parts insulted and disappointed. "How do you know I can't afford it? Maybe I have something of value you can't see. Something I'm only willing to bargain away for the good stuff."

Pyrrhic spun a slow circle to take everything in. He felt strange, almost as though he'd just woken up from a long nap and lost all track of time. The fireflies led him to a table. He stood at a distance while the cloaked figure spoke and regarded the scene skeptically. When the "man" was done speaking Pyrrhic stepped closer and looked at the items he was supposedly too poor to buy. "No? These are valuable, I'll give you that. But if you'd reconsider I would be willing to part with all of the contents of my workshop," his paw hovered over the item marked 'fun shroom', "for this item here." Pyrrhic fancied himself an inventor and his workshop was full of various projects meant to make the lives of the Aerie wolves easier. He had a little bit of everything squirreled away and he was willing to trade it all.