entrancelogs | [OPEN/EVENT] There was a face on a hoarding that someone had drawn on;

Who: Angel & you!
Where: Quor'toth.
When: 12/02 - 12/05
Rating: PG for now.
Summary: Until now, all Angel has known about Quor'toth has been secondhand. He had no idea that something could be even worse than what he'd imagined.
The Story:
a. settlement

[It doesn't take him long to find the first drawing after he wakes up. It had been on the wall nearest the front door of the hut he'd found himself in, the image itself presented like a crudely pieced-together shrine.

He doesn't have to go any further to know where he is, where they've all wound up. He doesn't have to seek out any locals and ask. The picture is enough to say it all, his stomach knotting as he finds himself unable to tear himself away from his son's image. It's been too long since he's seen Connor in person, years, and even then, their last meeting had been brief-- but he still saw his son's face almost every night, silently mourning all the ways he had failed him.

He'd let Connor be taken to this place. In the moment, it had seemed like the only way to save him. He hadn't had any other options, not if he wanted his son to live, but what Connor had suffered here-- it had broken him beyond repair. The life he'd led after Quor'toth could barely be be called living at all, until Angel had made a deal with the devil to fix it.

When he finally pulls himself away, Angel starts investigating the settlement as a whole, looking into hut after hut, feeling his chest grow tighter as he finds image after image of his son, some drawings more elaborate than others, but all of them unmistakably Connor. He knows he can't stay in the settlement for long, knows that he's going to have to explore beyond it, and he can't help but wonder if hoping to find Connor himself in this place is entirely in vain. This isn't the real Quor'toth, it's Wonderland toying with them, but Wonderland had done him small kindnesses before. Maybe it would do the same now.

He exhales, emerging from the sixth or seventh hut he'd chosen to rummage through. Before he goes anywhere, he needs to make sure that everyone else who'd woken up here was safe, and knew better than to wander beyond the settlement unprotected. After that, he needs to find Faith-- to hear what this place has to offer, because this has to be her memory. Given what he knows of Quor'toth, he'll want to be as prepared as possible before setting out.]

b. wilderness

[Nothing about Quor'toth's landscape is at all comforting. There are no portals to Quor'toth is the phrase that keeps echoing in his head, over and over as he presses onward. He's unarmed, but that doesn't matter. Angel himself is a weapon, and learning the truth of this place, of what his son had been forced to suffer, was far more important than the feeling of security a broadsword or an axe would have offered him.

There are no portals to Quor'toth, and for a very good reason. It's probably the most hellish of all the demon dimensions in this known plane of existence. The only way to Quor'toth is to rip right through the fabric of reality.

Connor had been strong enough to punch his way through, desperate enough to claw his way back to their world, and now Angel was beginning to fully understand why. He's prepared to fight and claw his own way through whatever demons he counters, prepared to do whatever it takes to understand this place-- and to take his anger out on it, that anger that he's been carrying for years, ever since he'd let his own son slip away from him.]

c. wildcard

[Whatever you like! Angel will mostly be outside of the settlement after the first day, though he may stop by occasionally just to make sure that people are staying safe. He's mostly likely to be found out hunting demons or scouring the landscape for any further trace of his son. If you want to plot something specific, feel free to PM me or PP necrofancy, otherwise leave a starter and I will match your format and play along!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ That brings it all together neatly, then. The name Steve recognizes more readily than the face, if only because it's one that stands out as being out of the ordinary. Even now, this guy doesn't really look like an "Angel" to him, although he refrains from making any lame jokes. ]

That's me. [ He's a little taken aback by the use of the title, but apparently it works its way around even in Wonderland. He could explain he's not really a captain of anything these days, but that's too much to be shoving onto someone he's just met. ]

You're from the same place as Faith... she's mentioned you before.

[ She'd seemed to think that Angel and Steve would benefit from talking to each other, so now it's time to put that to the test. ]

[He nods. Faith's been making a name for herself around Wonderland-- he's proud of her for that, for reaching out and making connections. It what she needs.]

I am. We're family. Work together sometimes.

[Faith didn't like to be tied down. It was more like she was on retainer, in some ways, except without the whole getting paid part.]

Not sure I want to ask about what she's said. Could be good or bad.

[Most of the bad would be teasing, but still. She probably made fun of his hair.]

[ Family, huh? Steve doesn't remember Faith using that exact word, but he knows that it doesn't have to be literal either. They have each other's backs, always. That's probably how Angel means it.

Especially with that second comment. The people closest to each other will also give each other the most crap, right? He actually manages a smile. ]

She said you'd been here for a while, but that you were behind her as far as events back home went... but that she'd filled you in on some of it.

[ He starts to walk, not in any particular direction but just so that he can give them the illusion of making progress. ]

So not really good or bad, just the facts.

[Angel nods, confirming, and easily falls into step beside Steve with his coat trailing behind him.]

Sounds about right. Been a little more than three years now. She's been here for one, but back home-- she's got a few years on me there.

[He still didn't have the whole picture of what his future held for him, but he knew enough to know that Faith would be an integral part of his hanging onto whatever was left of his humanity.]

You know Faith well?

[ It's odd to realize that despite both of them being here for a good chunk of time, they're only speaking now. Steve knows that everyone tends to run within their own circles, though, and not everyone is the social butterfly type.

That includes him, in fact.

He shakes his head at the question as he matches pace with Angel. ] We've only spoken a few times. They were pretty long talks, but I couldn't say I know her well. [ Especially since she seems the type to play things close to the chest. ]

How'd you two meet? Was it the whole demon-fighting thing?

[He's not wrong there. Faith wasn't really the 'sharing' type. Even Angel only knew as much as he did because he and Faith shared a very particular bond.]

Yeah-- we worked in the same circles.

[Almost makes it sound like they met by the water cooler.]

She's a Slayer. I was-- close, with the Slayer who came before her. It was a complicated situation.

[ Working in the same circles is an overly casual way of putting it, but Steve has an idea of what that's like. There comes a time when your life, crazy as it might seem to others, becomes normal for you.

He glances over at the mention of the word "slayer," remembering now that Faith had used that term before. She hadn't admitted to being one herself, but Angel doesn't seem to mind giving out that information. ]

A... vampire slayer? She said something about it. Are there a lot of vampires where you're from?

[ Looks, it's not like there's anything about Angel that gives him away. ]

[He laughs, even though it comes out somewhat humorlessly.]

Yeah. They're everywhere. Kill one vampires, five more pop up-- at least that's how it feels in our neighborhood. The place where Faith and I met was a hot spot for that kind of thing, but vampires can be found the world over. Some are smart and keep themselves hidden. Some, not so much.

[Those are the ones that tend to end up on the pointy end of a stake.]

Huh. Didn't realize it was that bad.

[ Steve wouldn't have ever imagined Faith had been downplaying her situation, but apparently that's exactly what she did. Zombies in one world, vampires in the next -- maybe aliens are really the least of Steve's problems. At least they haven't managed to successfully invade the Earth so far. ]

Is there a reason there's so many of them? Is it like the stories? If one bites you, then you turn into one too?

[ He realizes how ignorant he must sound, but so far Angel's doing a good job of tolerating him, even with the effect this place seems to have on everyone. ]

Consider them the rats of the supernatural world, in some ways.

[Hell, most other demons seem to think that. Vampires are pretty low on the demon totem pole, but they make up for it by having sheer numbers.]

But-- not quite that simple. They have to drink your blood, then you have to drink theirs.

[It's complicated, and, you know, gross.]

The body dies, and a demon takes up residence inside of it. What's left-- well. The person you used to be? That's gone.

[ The rats of the supernatural world. It's not a very kind description, but Steve shouldn't be surprised seeing how Angel has tasked himself with hunting them down. If it's true that someone completely loses who they are after being turned, then there's probably no other way around it. It doesn't sound like the kind of situation where reformation is even an option.

Steve picks his way up a rocky slope, hoping that the high ground will give them a better sense of what's waiting for them out there. He wrinkles his nose when Angel describes the turning process. ]

So vampires and demons are the same thing? I thought they were different...

[ It's nearly impossible to keep all of this straight. ]

[OPEN/EVENT] There was a face on a hoarding that someone had drawn on;

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