earth_367 | THE SAVAGE LAND, Part II (Reply)

ON THE CLIFFSIDE

On Sunday afternoon, the team reaches the western edge of the jungle and finds a sheer cliff overgrown with greenery. Nearing the top of the cliff, patches of black stone and what appears to be opaque glass emerge from the natural rock. These patches form dense clusters higher up the cliff and, at the top, become something that resembles a small tower. Even from the ground, they can feel it thrumming with magical energy and Illyana Rasputin observes that the magic is potent but unstable, like a spell that's been partially unraveled. Regardless, a faint pulsing through each of their marks tells them that they're in the right place.

So they begin climbing.

As they approach, Emma Frost searches for the minds of the unknown mutant and Charles Xavier. While the magic of the tower provides some interference, filling her mind with mental static as she presses through, she is able to find the familiar, fractured mind of the unknown mutant. There's no sign of Charles, though. Manuel de la Rocha experiences a similar mental static from being near the tower but is also able to detect a number of emotionally repressed minds inside.

Eventually, the team finds themselves on a wide ledge some thirty feet below the top of the cliff and Kurt Wagner instructs the others to stay put while he and Kitty Pryde go ahead to scout out the surrounding area above. While the rest of the team waits, the two of them move ahead.

Circling the tower from a distance and staying hidden in the surrounding trees, the pair observes no movement, no way to look inside, and no entrance. Leaving the cover of the trees and getting closer, they circle again...only to find that the structure has reshaped itself and created an obvious doorway. It seems like someone is expecting them and is inviting them inside. They send a message back to the others. While they wait, a man appears in the doorway.

Young and unexceptional in appearance -- pale skin and dark hair and garments reminiscent of those they'd seen in the Beast-Man village -- apart from eyes that shine like silvered glass. The man offers them a half-hearted wave, but doesn't approach them or retreat into the tower until the rest of the team appears at the edge of the cliff. Then he turns and walks back inside, seeming to expect them to follow.

With some hesitance, they do.

INTO THE TOWER

The tower is cool and dim inside, a jarring change after so many days spent in the sweltering heat and bright sun. As the team steps inside, their marks begin to glow faintly and the pulsing continues like a second heartbeat. They find themselves in a corridor lined with doors that splits into three paths, one to the right, one to the left, and one straight ahead. The man proceeds forward and they follow, soon finding themselves in one large room with a high ceiling, black stone steps spiraling along the walls and leading to a higher level, and an enormous mirror standing in its center. The mirror's frame is made of gold and features an ornate design, but its glass is shattered, its countless shards suspended in the air by some unseen force. Around the room, the missing Beast-Men stand like stoic sentries and give the new arrivals no acknowledgment.

The man waves his hand, conjuring a psionic construct in the shape of a long table with many chairs and taking a seat. He invites them to join him. Whether they do or not, the man admits that he hadn't expected them to track him down but since they have...he will admit the loss and give them the explanation that they seek. But then he expects them to leave this place and leave him and Charles to their dire work.

AN EXCHANGE

From there, the man explains the following...

There is a magical artifact from the Otherworld known as the Siege Perilous. It is unique in that there is only one across all realities. When people pass through the Siege Perilous, they are judged and given a new life based on that judgement. The shattered mirror is one part of what remains of this artifact.

Those that are granted a new life by the Siege Perilous experience that new life within their own reality. They are changed and the world around them is changed. However, something has interfered with its magic and it began sending the souls of those that passed through it to a different reality to be reborn and live entirely separate lives. Those souls have all been ending up in this reality.

This anomaly was noticed by the mind within the Siege Perilous, the one that passes judgment, and the artifact eventually came to this reality, only to be broken apart. Its physical form was shattered. Its mind was forced into mortal flesh for the first time in its long existence. Born and raised human, only to manifest mutant abilities, and eventually remember enough of itself to seek the mirror and this place. That is, of course, the man before them now. Speaking of his current, human state seems to cause the man no small amount of displeasure.

Since that time, he has been trying to piece together what happened, but the vast experiences and powers of the Siege Perilous are overwhelming to his mortal form. His memory is fragmented. His powers are not fully within his control. His magic is faltering. Regardless, he now suspects that some external force was using his powers for their own ends, sending entities to this isolated reality (cut off from the Otherworld and other realities) for some grander purpose. Though, he doesn't have any idea what that purpose might be.

Until recently, he was trying to make sense of this and resolve the anomaly alone. But then Charles Xavier found him through Cerebro and made telepathic contact to offer him guidance and a place at the Xavier Institute.

To his surprise, he immediately recognized Xavier as one of the anomalies: someone that was sent through the Siege Perilous from another reality. This prompted him to trap and hold Xavier's psyche, intending to keep him here until he could determine which reality he actually belongs to and send him back. Marking him was part of the ritual that would eventually allow him to do that.

But Xavier was more powerful and knowledgeable than he'd expected, convincing him to put this aim aside for now with the promise to help him make sense of his fractured mind. Since then, the Professor has been helping him, but he doesn't trust their partnership enough yet to release him.

Frequent contact with Xavier's mind inadvertently brought him into contact with all of them, the man's most precious students and yet more anomalies. He marked them for the same reason that he marked Xavier, preparing them to be sent back and changing the marks once he was able to locate the reality they actually belong on. But he reassures them that the Professor has stayed his hand and he will not send them anywhere just yet.

He also admits, somewhere sheepishly, that he hadn't anticipated that his preparations would have such a significant impact on them. That his attempts to assess them from a distance might pull them temporarily out of their bodies and cause them to faint. That his identifications of their realities would strengthen their bonds with their other selves and impact them so dramatically. His mistake.

With all this said, he's certain that they must understand his position. Right?

RESPONSES

Obviously, this is a lot to take in! And your character may have feelings about it. Use the form below to respond in whatever way your character would, whether to ask questions or propose deals or start a fight. Post the form in one of the available sections below: During the Exchange (for reactions taken mid-conversation), After the Exchange (for reactions taken immediately after or shortly after the conversation), or Later On (for reactions taken after some time as passed).

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Reactions will be considered to occur in the order they come in within their respective section. If the situation escalates drastically at any point, the mod will create a space for others to respond and may potentially cut off other reactions as appropriate. It's up to ya'll how this one plays out!

Responses from the mod will be more informational responses than narrative tags to keep things moving along in a timely manner for players.

THAT NIGHT & THE NEXT DAY

After much discussion between the team, the astral projection of Charles Xavier, and his abductor, a decision is made. They will all return to New York together and continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the manipulation of the Siege Perilous and their connections to other realities. Ambrose has agreed (reluctantly) to release the Professor, but only once he and the shattered remnants of the Siege Perilous have arrived at the Institute without incident. Because it will be a long day for everyone, they agree to depart the following morning.

Whether they accept it or not, Ambrose offers to let the team rest and recover in the tower. Objectively more comfortable than the wilderness beyond, the tower is cool and quiet and has dozens of empty rooms scattered around the lower floor. There are also spaces that've been turned into a rudimentary bath (with barrels of stored water, a basin, and a tub for washing up) and kitchen (with more barrels of stored water and preserved food) and he tells them that the Beast-Men can help them with anything else they might require. There's little in the way of actual furniture anywhere, though. This isn't a hotel.

Regardless of where they opt to stay, the night passes without incident and the team sets off the following morning. Illyana Rasputin teleports most of the team back to the Blackbird while she, Kitty Pryde, and Ambrose remain behind to teleport directly back to New York with the Siege Perilous. She can only move so much at once, after all, and they can't just leave the Blackbird behind. The flight back is long and feels longer still when they realize that Illyana and Kitty haven't made contact with them. What could be holding them up?

The Blackbird arrives by late afternoon and there's still been no word from the others. Inside, Charles Xavier remains comatose. Time passes. Just as the team's worry is starting to ramp up, however, there's a familiar swirling of energy on the lawn: a stepping disk. Illyana, Kitty, Ambrose, and the immense mirror appear, seemingly just as confused as anyone by the fact that the sun is already setting. They each claim that it seems like only moments have passed and Ambrose speculates that there must've been some interaction between the broken magic of the Siege Perilous and Illyana's mutant powers. Time passes differently between different realities, so it's possible that they made an unintentional extraplanar jump without realizing it. But that's another mystery for another day.

Finally, Ambrose fulfills his end of the bargain, releasing Charles Xavier back to his physical form, and the team can take a breath. That's one problem solved...

VOLUNTEERS

While climbing up the cliffside, Kurt Wagner spots a loose shard of that shiny, opaque glass and picks it up. Looking into it, they can see their reflection...but it looks off somehow. Each time they look at it, their reflection is off in a slightly different way. Weird. They pocket the shard.

As the team enters the tower's main room and takes in the strange scene of the shattered mirror, Emma Frost spots the reflection of Charles Xavier in one of the larger shards. Their mentor is silent and unmoving, his eyes closed. If they attempt to speak with the man in the shard, they will find him unresponsive.

While talking to the man, Illyana Rasputin realizes that they've actually met before! What a small, strange world. They remember his name -- Ambrose -- and how they used to play cards in a mutant dive bar in Novosibirsk.

ON THE CLIFFSIDE ⮾ INTO THE TOWER ⮾ AN EXCHANGE ⮾ RESPONSES ⮾ THAT NIGHT & THE NEXT DAY ⮾ OOC

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