Esther was inside the Hole, every time they left they came back. It was... a strange cycle that didn't seem to end. There were strange sounds inside. Whispers of things that they didn't understand, and they wanted to. Esther was curious, and curiosity meant that they wanted to know what it was. What the things were saying. And yet. The maned wolf couldn't understand.
The mane on the back of their neck was raised, in an attempt to make the already large creature to look larger. Scarier, though it mostly was a form of expression. It showed that the maned wolf was alert, ready to attack if something strange came out of the shadows.
"I don't understand what that means!" They shouted at the whispers.
It didn't make sense.
Day 2
Corruption: +3
Total: 6
The day before, the whispering had overwhelmed the maned wolf. They'd ended up leaving the hole after that, but the whispers persisted. Esther couldn't understand what they were saying, chanting for them to go away. Obviously they didn't, making Esther come back to the hole the next day, curious about everything inside still, despite not wanting to hear those sounds anymore.
compressing their large ears close to their head didn't work, either. Everything persisted and it wasn't good. It wasn't at all. They wondered if burning things inside would cause something to happen. Or if it wouldn't do anything.
Day 3
Corruption: +3
Total: 9
The whispers were still in their ears- saying words the maned wolf didn't understand. It gave them a headache, so much of a headache that they wanted to make it stop. The only way they knew how to stop dangerous things was with fire- fire fire and more fire. Even if it burned their own fur, they would be fine. Esther had never had any dangerous injuries from fire before.
The fear of the whispers was the actuating factor in them trying to activate that spell.
So they tried to bring in fire to ruin the goop.
The spell didn't work, and it only caused their paws to heat up and burn. Esther didn't care about that feeling. They wanted this place to stop making things go into their mind, wanted the voices to stop- they didn't seem to even end when Esther wasn't in the strange dark place.
Even if their toes felt like they were searing from the heat, they weren't done trying yet. They would go on a rampage if they had to - maybe those whispers would shut up if they burned things. But what if they didn't? Esther would think about that if it happened later. For now, they would work on what their mind was set to.
No one could change their mind.
Willing the power of fire to come back, Esther's paws bursted and engulfed in flames. They moved to set goop in the hole aflame. Maybe the whispers would shut up. Maybe not.
It was worth a shot.
Madness leads to violence; violence leads to further violence.
As smolder-hot paws touched oil-glimmer stone, as magic reached forth, magic lashed back. The whispers coalesced into a roar, and surging chaos hurled Esther back against the far wall with a powerful lash of corruptive magic.
It was not strong enough, in this case, to kill; but it spoke volumes, even as the roar receded back into whispers: This altar can defend itself.
______
This will count as Esther's +3 Corruption for the day.
note: checked with Esther's player and Esther will attempt to burn the altar instead, as there's no residual Oil in the Hole
@Esther
When Esther's paws touched the altar, they were immediately shot back into the wall behind them. It wasn't a strong hit, and they didn't hit the wall hard, but it was surprising to say the least. The fire on their paws stopped burning, smoke coming off of the singed fur there. It hurt, but they were more confused.
Those whispers didn't stop.
Trying to burn things did not help.
Still day 3
Eventually the maned wolf left after that. Their back kind of hurt and their paws were singed, but it would be fine. They would be fine. The altar could attack back, which meant it had to have like.... opinions right? Did that mean Esther had a bat rapport with the thing? Did that even make any sense?
Either way they were kind of hungry so getting something to eat while they were out was a good idea. Even if they still had to hear those whispers that they somehow couldn't get rid of.
[Will still be continuing this thread]
Esther came back some days later. It had been a bit of time and the whispers didn't stop. After the maned wolf had first come to that place, they wouldn't Ineligible speakings by some strange thing that wouldn't leave them alone. The fur on their paws was still blackened and singed from the fire before. It kind of hurt, but it wasn't something that they couldn't deal with.
Now, they were back inside the darkened area. Nothing of importance was interesting to mess with or look at. Except for the dark altar that was inside. The thing could attack. Esther now knew better than to try to catch it aflame. For now, anyway.
Day 4
Corruption: +3
Total: 12
The place didn't even have anything interesting to look at. Just the altar and the ground that was as solid as the walls of the caves. The whispers had given Esther a permanent headache. It wouldn't go away and it never would go away unless the creature somehow found a way to get rid of it.
If there even were a way to get rid of the whispers, Esther wished they could find out.
Maybe there would be if they stayed long enough. That cat before had talked about some kind of power, and wanting to figure it out. That had to be the case. The power within the altar had to be the key to stopping the whispers.
And, so they would come back later. They would keep coming back to figure out why the whispers were there and what was going on. They would continue to linger in the place so they could see what would happen. If what happened to Max was any indication, something was going on.
Either way, they needed to go again. If they were to keep going back and forth, Esther didn't want to stick there very long for one time. Especially knowing that the altar could attack back - that was pretty intimidating.