Event - The Ballad of Thomazine Younger

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The Ballad of Thomazine Younger

➥ Ghosts of Yesteryear

(cw: references to blackmail, plague, fire, being buried alive, altered mental states, spying, and cannibalism; implied eye injury)

The local legend of Thomazine "Tammy" Younger, Witch Queen of Dogtown, has been regaining traction in local gossip of late. The stories all revolve around the same nuggets of probable historic fact: there definitely was a Thomazine Younger who lived in Dogtown at the time it was abandoned by most of its population in the 1800s, and she definitely had a reputation for witchcraft she used to extract tolls from any merchant or freighter passing by Fox Hill. Beyond that, the stories are varied and contradictory–some say she was the ringleader of a coven who would turn themselves into rats to thieve from neighboring Gloucester and spread pestilence; others that she could turn solid earth into mud to swallow up the wagons of those who refused to pay her off. Depending on whom you believe, Tammy engaged in such varied hobbies as sending unholy fire to burn entire fields of crops, spying on her neighbors with her magic eye, twisting the minds of brothers and sisters so they no longer knew one another, or luring travelers without goods for her to steal into her home to slaughter and eat them. Some even say she was the cause of Dogtown's mass exodus, blighting the land so that none but witches could survive there.

The resurgence of her urban rural legend coincides with something a bit more troubling: sightings of an old woman in a ragged dress on the outskirts of Dogtown. She's been seen just inside the fence line on the northern edge of the park, prowling around the general area of Fox Hill, staring and making arcane gestures at anyone who sees her before disappearing into the undergrowth. Eyewitness accounts from locals and ADI employees patrolling the area differ in terms of the specifics: in some accounts the specter of the Witch Queen is a tall, emaciated creature practically in rags; in others she's a stout, moon-faced matron with tears of blood dripping from her eyes, or a bent old crone with fingers too long and too many. Always, though, she disappears before anyone can come near enough to see her up close or confront her.

How she disappears, though, is less consistent. Sometimes her exit is precisely what one would expect of a ghost, when she disappears in the blink of an eye or her form twists before your eyes until you aren't certain whether she was there at all or if you mistook the gnarled trees for a vision of something more sinister. Other times, her exit is more…human. That is, she might simply turn and walk away deeper into the undergrowth until she's lost from sight, or slip behind a tree. One confused ADI patroller even claims he saw the ghost of Tammy Younger trip over a root before scrambling back to her feet and limping away at speed.

There's something pervasive and potentially dangerous going on here…but something about it doesn't quite line up.

➥ Outfoxed at Foxhill

(cw: alcohol, dolls, potential for injury)

ADI is keen to end things quickly with potential ghosts running amok, particularly one with a known history in Dogtown. There's a serious concern that regular residents of Gloucester are going to start taking matters into their own hands and trying to start exploring the park when they ought not to be.

The decision is made quickly to send ADI personnel into the park more actively to search out Fox Hill, one of the purported locations of Tammy Younger's hauntings. Volunteers will find themselves paired up and sent off. Curiously, the locations that were previously mapped by others aren't appearing properly. Like Dogtown is warping and twisting around at will for the moment. It's unclear why this is, but it seems… safer than it should? The obstacles and strangeness seem to have faded away for the time being, replaced by a quiet and picturesque woodland. It doesn't take long to find Fox Hill. It takes far less time than it reasonably should, in fact, but getting to the top of the hill is… a challenge.

There are hidden dangers on Fox Hill. Pit traps that seem to go down very deep, indeed, nets that spring up when you step in the wrong spot and leave their quarry trapped in some tree or other. Maybe you're one of the lucky ones that somehow triggers an avalanche of small boulders and… are those marbles? Every conceivable way that one could lay a trap to prevent someone from mounting the hill has been employed. Clearly, someone or something doesn't want you getting up.

Along the way, volunteers will spy evidence of the ghost. There are discarded liquor bottles everywhere–the legend does say she'll take her payments in drink or blood–phosphorescent trails, and small, sinister-looking stick dolls. Those trying to analyze these things will find that the liquor bottles are from the present day, the phosphorescent trails are a sort of paint, and the stick dolls… well, those look like what you would see in a horror movie that involves witches.

➥ Those Meddling Kids

(cw: stalking, potential child endangerment)

The nights in Gloucester seem to be returning to a state of restlessness as rumors of ghosts quickly turn to rumors of ghost sightings. Pale and spectral figures lurk at the edges of people’s sight, follow victims, and seem to come out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly without a word. Between the recent evidence and a known slew of sightings a couple months ago, ADI is keen to put more than a few people on this to get out ahead of it. People are encouraged to search in groups no smaller than two, but won’t stop anyone who decides they hunt alone. After all, it’s a well-known fact ghosts rarely like to be seen by more than one set of eyes. Especially these ones.

People out investigating may find their paths fairly quiet most nights. However, separate from your partner for a bit, fall behind, or go it alone, and you might just notice a pale figure vanishing around a corner or standing eerily at the end of an alley. Sometimes things you follow even seem to vanish into walls or thin air. They very rarely say anything, but they can be heard. Boxes and small items knocked over, trash cans rattled, fire escapes landing just ahead of you to get in your path, it seems the ghosts are mostly interested in being seen, not interacted with. Too bad they got you on the case.

Those dedicated, skilled, or perhaps powerful enough to exert a little fear of the law or simply fear of things that actually go bump in the night may swiftly discover a few key things: Ghosts caught up to quickly enough can be seen slipping behind doors, scaling buildings, or using creative escape routes to get away. Clumsy ghosts seem prone to bumping into things as sure as the next person…and those fast enough to catch up to some gangly, terrified, legs are quick to learn the legs, torso, and the whole rest of the ‘ghost’ is very real. Very real, rather young, and often quite terrified of the adult now catching them. Hopefully no one used actual powers on these miscreant teens.

➥ And You Must Ask Yourself

(cw: spiders, allusion to swarms, sleepwalking, compulsion)

'How did I get here?'

It might be one of the first thoughts to occur to you as you wake with a sudden start. But lucky you, you have a friend! Or… an enemy? You have another (apparently) human being nearby who's probably looking just as confused as you are. The spider web tattoo you earned after your ride with Gus the Bus tingles uncomfortably, like many delicate little feet are swarming across it before dissipating.

It may take a few moments, or possibly more, for you to realize you're somewhere you may not wish to be. These trees, the thick and eerie forest around you… this is Dogtown. Somehow, you've walked yourself into a veritable minefield of danger, avoiding everything that might kill you (or worse). Until now. You're conscious, stuck with someone you may or may not know well, wearing… well, if you're lucky, you're wearing your regular clothes and didn't walk in here in your pajamas.

Good luck finding your way out.

➥ Mod Notes

• GENERAL - Players are welcome to play background NPCs for themselves when they are needed in a thread. If you need more information on general behavior for these types of NPCs, please feel free to ask! In general, the information provided in the prompts should be sufficient and ordinary people will act like… ordinary people! You're welcome to make up any details for your specific scene. Also, please remember that character deaths are permanent and plan accordingly! For this event, in particular, the Meddling Kids™ are very dedicated to their efforts to remind the world about Thomazine Younger and bring her story to the world, so they're not going to break their ghoulish character until something truly frightening happens to them… or characters try to hurt them. Or… succeed in hurting them. Please don't murder too many young people now.
  
  
• GHOSTS OF YESTERYEAR (16-20 April) - While the ghost of Tammy Younger's appearance may vary, she usually appears as one of the three specters described in the prompt. Notably, when her ghost does not align with one of those three descriptions or when her proportions are twisted beyond what's humanly possible is when she's most likely to disappear in an obviously supernatural fashion rather than walk away like a real, solid person. Regardless, even at her most corporeal Tammy seems to be quite good at evading capture, as though very familiar with the current layout of Dogtown.
  
  
• OUTFOXED AT FOX HILL (19-20 April) - The path into Dogtown seems to have been chosen for the characters to lead them to Fox Hill. It's the only path that appears to exist during this period. Trying to leave Fox Hill will take you swiftly out of the park. It doesn't matter where you start from, what direction you're going. You end up coming to the fence or leaving the park. This effect will only be in place until the THOSE MEDDLING KIDS prompt concludes. The traps on Fox Hill are all designed to be nonlethal, but they can certainly hurt you, and players are welcome to come up with whatever traps they might like their characters to encounter. There's nothing particularly supernatural in any of the things found up there, and atop Fox Hill is only a stash of spray paint and half-drunk bottles of liquor.
  
  
• THOSE MEDDLING KIDS (20-24 April) - The pale figures reported are quickly found to be teenagers in bodysuits or paint (at least they didn’t use sheets) and very much still alive while the ghosts seen going through walls can be quickly explained through pretty decent mobile projectors. A couple of the teens will be caught wearing costumes that match the appearances of "Tammy" in Dogtown. Teens will flee and resist capture from most normal means, but won’t fight too much if caught other than to get away. They really do seem to be kids that went a little too far with a prank. Those who might end up on the wrong side of a stray power or two will be downright terrified of their pursuer and likely to either turn to another adult in the group for safety or shut down entirely. Maybe you should be more careful next time. Either way, the local authorities will take it from here.
  
  
• AND YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF (16 April - Ongoing) - Characters will only be affected by the compulsion to walk into Dogtown if they rode in and were marked by Gus the Bus. Gus continues to be available and around in Gloucester should you wish to have your character captured and marked by him. Details about Gus are included in the March 2023 TDM. Gus has also been added as a feature to the Dogtown Searches page and description in the Locations page.
  
  Players can have their characters turn up in any explored square in Dogtown or one of the unexplored squares adjacent to them. Please just submit a search request for the unexplored square that you'd like your character (and a friend) to discover!

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QUESTIONS

[apocalypsehowmods]

Please post any questions here.

Cornelius Hickey | The Terror (AMC) | ota!

[friendsfordinner]

[those meddling kids, closed to eda]
"Y'know, nobody really knew where Fox Hill even was?" Hickey points out, to Eda, as the two of them patrol near the edge of Dogtown, both of them stuck on Ghost Watch. "I looked for it myself—did some research," he scoffs. For all the good that did. Sitting around, flipping through those books, trying to find something on the internet? Nah. Wasn't worth it. He should have gotten out there, poked around Dogtown instead. The only real way to get what you want is boots on the ground, taking the actions yourselves.

"It was going in to Dogtown that led us finding it, yeah? Should have just ignored all that and—"

But then Hickey stops and looks out in the distance. There's someone there, just outside of the corner of his vision. Tall, skinny, covered in rags. It's that bloody witch, isn't it? He can feel his senses shift, as every thought in his mind points directly to that person. They're a lead. A trail. He wants to see where it ends.

"Come on!" Hickey laughs, wide grin on his face as he starts to bound down the sidewalk, absolutely about to leave Eda in the dust as he attempts to chase down what he thinks is the witch but what is actually a teenager who's very quickly deciding to get the hell out of here. "I'm not letting her get away!"

[those meddling kids - ota, post avataring]
Hickey is very spry for someone who got hit by a car a day or so ago while attempting to chase down a teenager Thomazine Younger, Witch Queen of Dogtown. He's worryingly spry. Seriously, this dude should at least be limping by now but nope, he's walking through the city, keeping an eye out, very obviously looking for something.

He left a loose end open. He wants to close it.

If he spots any fellow ADI investigators, he gives them a little nod before asking, "Wouldn't mind company if you're up for it."

Some teenagers are absolutely going to get traumatized tonight.

[and you must ask yourself - ota]
You've woken up in Dogtown. You didn't plan to, of course—thanks for that, Gus. But you've woken up all the same.

And you can feel that you're being watched. There's something there, in the trees, watching you. If you remain quiet enough, you can hear it's breath. Slow, raspy, animalistic but with something human beneath it, like a SFX filter slapped on a voice except the SFX filter is just 'animal.' There's something here. Something more beast than human. And it's watching you.

Or perhaps you wake up and you discover you're not alone. Hickey's there, which is a bit weird as he's been very open about how he's not one of those idiots who went on the spider bus. But he's there, he's looking over at whoever he's with, and there's something different in his expression. It's wild, wide-eyed, and also the happiest that he's ever been. "If I were you?" Hickey chides, grinning all the while, "I'd probably start running."

Or maybe you aren't in Dogtown at all. Maybe you're at the edges, on patrol, making sure that more stupid kids don't cause stupid problems. Those eyes are still there, focused on the back of your neck. You can still hear the breathing. There's something in there and considering the circumstances? It's being very brash.

And You Must Ask Yourself, how did I end up here?

[gammasystem]

Bruce's direct involvement with the ADI has been slim to none. While he's thought to help with scrutiny he's still largely avoided them. Since his vanishing some time ago and his apparent return he's been more.. open to it. He wants answers, suffice to say, and the ADI seems to know more than anyone else, even if he doesn't wholly trust their angle.

All this to say he was patrolling. He may not have been the best pick for it but his quiet footing, limber escape knowledge and few reservations in a possible scrape made him more willing. Not to mention the comfort of a taser on his hip.

The sun was setting over Dogtown and Bruce was nearing the end of his rounds. Call it old habit but he wasn't keen on being out when the sun goes down. It's on his last circle of his perimeter that he feels a crawling up his back. Eyes raking across his spine in shivers. Bruce's own breath falls silent in his chest as he picks up on the breathing of something else.

His head spun but he stood still, trying to place if it was real not in his head, a proper thing watching, waiting. His hand slowly shifts to the pocket of his jacket and fishes out a pocket flashlight. He took a deep breath, and then another. Before turning to the trees and flicking on the light, trying to find the source without moving from his place just yet. Maybe its a wild dog, or a sick deer or.. something manageable. Maybe it won't be real to begin with as he hoped.

and you must ask yourself cw: PTSD, possible injury, blood, body horror

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

John groans, rubbing his face, realizing he very much wasn’t in his nice warm bed, but instead flat on his back in the dirt, the smell of the forest around him.

That…wakes him up rather quickly.

He’s here. Again. That damn spider tattoo was really starting to piss him off and there’s a flare of abject fear when the mere sight of Dogtown brings back…ugly memories. Stars, chattering in words that render his mind inoperable. A whistle that leads to pain and death. He quickly buries them, as he always does, because in Dogtown, he knows all too well that a moment’s distraction could mean your end.

And then there’s Hickey. Odd, because he doesn’t have a spider tattoo, does he? And that look on his face is kinda weird for him.

“Let me guess. There’s something after us?”

Why he’d be so delighted about that, John has no idea.

[friendsfordinner]

There's a brief flash as the light reflects off of a pair of eyes. (Someone isn't as stealthy as he thought.) There's the sound of breaking underbrush as Hickey, who's mental monologue is nothing but a repeated chorus of swearing right now, ducks away from Bruce's flashlight.

The silence returns...but not for long. Try though he may to be quiet, Hickey's footsteps are audible as he walks towards Bruce, trying to keep behind trees and trying to keep unseen as he does so.

The key word here is try. Because he's occasionally visible. And the glimpses that Bruce gets are of a large, white bear, almost like a polar bear but bigger. Bigger and with something more human in the eyes.

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey laughs at that. It's a bright, happy little laugh, completely inappropriate for the situation. It's more like the laugh of a man drunk or high on life as he stands up to look at John.

"There's something after you," he points out, absolutely drunk on this power. He reaches into his coat pocket to pull out a knife: his knife, the boat knife, the one he had on him when he first arrived. And he lunges at John, intent on trying to stab him, to run him through with it.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

He wasn’t expecting that, at all. Still bleary from sleep, John is just a little bit too slow, but luckily fast enough that he doesn’t get stabbed in the heart. He tries to twist away at the same time, bringing his good arm up in shock and surprise, which only accomplishes it getting slashed.

“What the hell?! What’s gotten into you?!”

Obviously something has, what with the way he’s acting.

John looks down at his arm, a bright red line seeping blood. He gestures at it angrily. Idiot, he chastises himself, he could have easily blocked with his currently glamoured crab claw arm, which would have shrugged off the knife attack easily.

“You know, I kinda thought we had a rapport for a minute but then you do this—“

[friendsfordinner]

That blood is enticing. It hits his nose and it takes all of Hickey's strength not to immediately go and try to charge John again. But he's certainly looking at the man in a new light, much like a cat looks at a mouse.

"It's nothing personal," he grins, giving John an idle shrug. "You're just an easy target. Prey." That grin widens as he continues. "Besides, I've got all these lovely new perks. Might as well test them out."

He lunges towards John again, attempting to go for another slash at his other, unwounded arm, absolutely forgetting the fact that it's a giant glamoured crab claw.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

“Oh, okay. I feel much better, knowing it’s not personal.”

Except what he says next chills him to the bone.

Prey.

Lovely new perks.

“You mind elaborating on that last bit? Because sometimes that’s not really a good thing in these parts—hey!”

Thankfully, carapace is a lot stronger than human skin and there’s an awkward thunk when the knife hits it. It’ll probably leave a scratch, maybe even a dent, which would suck.

“You’re starting to be just this side of annoying, Hickey!”

John tries to use said glamoured crab claw arm to attempt to hit Hickey’s hand, attempting to knock the knife away from him.

And you must ask yourself (time to punch a bear)

[failedpromise]

Cortana wakes up in Dogtown ...and honestly has no idea where she is. A panic inducing realization in and of itself -- how did she even get here she was plugged into a wall -- but then she hears the breathing and her whole body just stiffens, head turning to survey her surroundings as her hands ball into fists. A fairly ordinary slip of a woman in appearance, there is absolutely nothing about her that is in any way intimidating whatsoever, but she tries her best to hide any fear or weakness as she gets to her feet. She even manages to keep her voice steady as she shouts:

"Who's there?"

Meddling kids!

[edalyn]

“Yeah, so did I,” Eda says, glancing over at him before doing her best to stay focused on the trees nearby. She’s done some research on the location, and a lot on the person. While she wishes there were anything more conclusive about Tammy, at least as far as Entities are concerned, she does find a lot of what she’s read about the woman endearing.

As for just going to Dogtown–well, she’ll admit she prefers action herself, but this is something where knowing everything they can can’t hurt.

She’s starting to say something else when Hickey pauses. It takes Eda second to spot what he noticed, following his gaze at first, but she looks much more alert when she does. Whoever that is fits the description–well, one of the descriptions. There do seem to be several.

While she doesn’t want to miss this chance either, Eda’s not sure if she’s more concerned about catching the ‘witch’ or making sure Hickey doesn’t do that alone. She supposes it doesn’t really matter yet, because either way she takes off after him. She may not be as fast as when she’s been feeding regularly, but if nothing else the way her legs are longer than they look certainly helps.

cw: body horror

[friendsfordinner]

The crab claw arm hits, knocking the knife away from Hickey's hands. It scatters to the ground as he looks over at John.

That's not the end of this, though. He's just getting started. He's got this power now, he's going to bloody well use it.

Hickey stands upright, takes a deep breath, then starts to change. There's the disgusting sound of cracking bone and rendering flesh as his body shifts, growing in mass and bulk. His hair grows, moving from his head to the rest of his body as the color shifts to white. It only takes a few disgusting seconds but where Cornelius Hickey once stood now stands a large bear-like creature. It's larger than a normal bear, with a flat face, and eyes that are unmistakably Hickey's.

And it only waits a second or so before going to try and fuckin' tackle John, attempting to knock him to the ground.

bear fight, bear fight!

[friendsfordinner]

Who's there is Hickey, enjoying the hell out of his new Hunt given murderbeast form. Look at him! Look at all this power behind him! Finally, he's getting what he bloody well deserves! Finally someone's seen him for all he's capable of!

The breathing continues for a moment...before a large, bear-like thing bursts from the woods. It's a sort of animal that you would describe as a bear, mostly because you're not sure what else to call it. The face is too flat and the neck is too long but everything else is somewhat bear-shaped? And Hickey, drunk off his power, charges right towards Cortana and attempts to outright tackle her to the ground.

Re: Meddling kids!

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey continues to run, chasing after this absolutely terrified teenager, having the time of his life as he does so. This is what he wants. A goal. The chase. Something to put his mind towards and to accomplish.

"Come on!" he laughs, grin on his face, as he stumbles through a turn, still hot on the trail. "Don't make me leave you behind!"

The kid manages to dash across a crosswalk right as the light turns from red to green. Hickey, in all his single-minded focus, has absolutely not clocked that he's going to run straight into oncoming traffic.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

For a second he thinks maybe it's over.

But it's not over.

He suspected something was up but the last thing he expected was to be confronted with Hickey mutating into some kind of...giant, bear-like creature.

"Oh, crap."

That's...well. That's happening.

John's mind is racing but also mildly malfunctioning at the same time. Because that means that Hickey is an Avatar, and not just an Avatar, but this coupled with what he just said, means that he's an Avatar of the Hunt and he's feeling like maybe the Hunt cheaped out on giving him like, at least some kind of Spidey-sense about this kind of thing? Like, not even a disturbance in the Force?

"You're--oof!"

The air is knocked out of John when he gets tackled and slammed into the ground, and he can't breathe for a second, and realizes the danger he's in--if that beast so much as flicks his paw he's dead (again) and Hickey doesn't seem to be in a merciful mood.

Welp. He doesn't have a choice and he's not going to be able to fight his way out unless he gets a level up.

"You know, you're really starting to piss me off here!"

John's eyes change first, his pupils turning cat-like and glowing yellow, the familiar sound of cracking bone, warping muscle, and a low growl under it all. Pointed feline ears, fur patterning, and a lengthened snout make him look like a large lynx or bobcat except with a long tail, but he's nowhere near the size of the bear-like creature, even though he's taller than he was minutes before.

...that could be a problem. Funnily enough, the crab claw--now visible, doesn't change too much, except it's proportional in size to the cat-creature that he now is, and a bit spikier in the carapace than before.

He tries to bite at the nearest bear paw he can find.

[failedpromise]

"Shit!"

Cortana's eyes go wide with shock and fear, but if he expected her to run, well tough luck. Cortana knows immediately that she's not fast enough to outrun that thing and she's got a better chance standing her ground. The small woman grits her teeth and swings her fist: Hickey is about to find out firsthand what it feels like to run face first into a swinging ball of silicone coated high grade steel.

[friendsfordinner]

Oh. Oh that's perfect.

The bear laughs in Hickey's voice—though it's changed. The voice is Hickey's but there's also something bestial in it. He doesn't notice that John's going for a bite until it happens. The laughter turns into a yelp of pain as Hickey attempts to just swat John, trying to knock him away.

[friendsfordinner]

Hickey doesn't expect that to happen. As Cortana punches him, he lets out a yelp before grumbling, "Holy shit!"

That is absolutely Hickey's voice coming out of that bear. It's changed slightly: there's a layer that's feral, animalistic over his normal voice. But it is absolutely recognizably Hickey's.

He steps back, putting a paw up to his face. Ouch, that hurt. "You've got fight."

[failedpromise]

"Hickey?" There is genuine shock in her voice. Someone hasn't been keeping tabs on how much of a creep her neighbor has been, clearly.

Still, she can't help but grin a little at the fight comment. "I do." She lets Hickey back up and doesn't try to take another swing at him but she does move into a ready to fight sort of stance, just in case he tries again. "And unless you want to find out just how much fight, mind telling me what the fuck is going on?"

Honestly, she's 5'6" and weighs just over 200lbs. He could totally fuck her up in his bear monster form, possibly even kill her. But she'd make certain he paid the price for it in teeth, and that's all that really matters.

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

John yowls when the bear-thing swats him, sending him flying though the air and slamming his back against a tree. He goes down with a pained oof, his fur and tail splayed out.

Ow.

He's not actually injured, just dazed, and he twists over and tries to recover, shaking his head, trying to clear it.

...of all the situations he's been through in Dogtown, it's like they're all trying to battle each other for the competing titles of worst and/or most absurd.

"Are we really doing this?" John's voice is lower, growly, but he can still speak.

[friendsfordinner]

And doesn't take a swing at Cortana either. They can talk for a bit. He knows how this will go in the end. So he watches her warily, body language tense and ready to pounce. The question, however, gets a short little laugh when he answers,

"What's going on is that I've finally been recognized. D'you know why ADI says things like 'you shouldn't serve an entity?' Cause they're scared of what we'd become if we do."

[friendsfordinner]

"What's the matter?" Hickey barks, absolutely drunk on power at the moment. He can't really grin, not now, not like he could when he's a person. But the savage grin that would be on his face is evident in his tone.

"You've got power. It looks like the Hunt's favored you as much as it has me! So why not indulge in it?"

[ferriswheelsandfootball]

"Because it's a slippery slope! I've been barely able to hold back this thing, you know how easy it is to get lost in it?"

He's starting to get the sinking feeling that Hickey's already lost in it. And admittedly, a part of him wants to fight him, to get into a proper battle.

"Now I do indulge, a little. When it's appropriate."

Mercy Graves | OC | OTA

[graveyounglady]

I. Ghosts of Yesteryear
"Well, that definitely ain't Ms. Eda," Mercy mutters to her companion. She's watching as a spectral figure with hair trailing to the ground seems to float at the edge of Dogtown. "Ghosts isn't a thing where I'm from. You got anything like them?" And how one... deals with them? Ordinarily, she might suggest bidding them return to the god they're meant to be with and the long sleep they've earned beneath the soil. These particular spirits don't seem so inclined toward being restful, though.

II. Outfoxed at Fox Hill
"Watch out!" Mercy sees the trap just a moment too late. She shoves hard at her companion and then gasps as she's very suddenly hoisted into the air and dragged backward. The netting she's trapped in swings wildly back and forth. With any luck, she's managed to stop her partner from being ensnared, but if not... well. It seems they might be hanging around for just a little bit.

So much for making it 'safely' through Dogtown.

[failedpromise]

Her face darkens. "Really? And the whole turning into a giant monster thing doesn't put you off?"

Clearly, the answer is no, but she had to ask. "Do you even have any plans for what you'll do with this? Or are you just gonna live alone in the woods and chase people?"