Thadeus pushes up through the hatch and hauls himself into open air. The sewer stink falls away, replaced by cold that bites through his clothes and fogs his breath.
He stands in a forest so dense and tall it swallows the sky. Trunks rise like pillars in the dark, their bark wet and black, while leaves whisper overhead with no visible wind.
Thadeus Jovanović
This is not Detroit.
Behind him, the hatch sits low in the roots and stone, half-hidden by moss. The red glow from below is gone, cut off by a wall of cold shadow and hanging branches.
Thadeus takes a careful step forward. The ground is springy with dead needles and damp earth, and the silence feels too complete, as if the woods are listening.
Ahead, between the trunks, a pale strip of light appears for a second and vanishes. Something out there changes position, or the trees do, and the forest seems to wait for Thadeus to choose his next move.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find a landmark that anchors this forest
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn where he is
“To avoid any threats following him, Thadeus closes and seals the hatch leading from the sewers. He walks over to a nearby tree stump to sit and patch up his back injury. As he does, he realizes the wound where Elizabeth pierced him disappeared, with holes in the shirt being the only evidence of the attack.”
SUCCESS (Superb Health, rolled -3)
Thadeus swings the hatch shut and pulls the cover down until the roots swallow it. He braces his weight on the mossy rim, then tests the seal with both hands. The underground sound thins to nothing.
He crosses to a flat stump beneath a black trunk and lowers himself onto it. Cold needles stick to his coat as he bends forward to work on the torn fabric along his back.
Thadeus Jovanović
The blood is gone.
Thadeus draws his hand over the wound, finding only bare skin and a tight ache where the blade had gone in. The shirt is split in two narrow holes, but the flesh underneath is unbroken.
He pauses, then turns his shoulder to the dim forest glow, checking again. Nothing remains but the scorch on his palm, the torn cloth, and the chill on his skin.
The stump creaks under his weight as he sits straighter. Somewhere beyond the trunks, a pale streak of light slips between branches and disappears, leaving only the same impossible dark.
Thadeus stays still for a beat, sealed above the tunnels and unable to place the forest at all. The woods do not answer, they just wait.
“Thadeus starts walking through the forest. In the distance, he begins to see a figure. He sees it's a woman, scantily clad in a tank top and red mini-skirt. She looks like Elizabeth Bathory, but something is off. Her face is softer, and Peacebringer isn't glowing as Thadeus gets closer. He thinks, "At least this creature isn't a threat." He continues to walk towards the woman.”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +1)
Thadeus rises from the stump and starts forward between the black trunks. The cold air bites at his wet shirt, and the forest swallows his footsteps almost at once.
Ahead, a pale shape separates from the dark, half-hidden by fern and root. It looks human, still, waiting.
As he closes the distance, the figure resolves into a woman in a tank top and red mini-skirt. Her face is softer than the one in the tunnel, less carved by hunger, less wrong.
Thadeus Jovanović
At least this creature isn't a threat.
Thadeus keeps walking. The Peacebringer stays dark, and the glow he expects never comes.
The woman remains where she is, framed by wet roots and a pale seam of moonlight, while the forest presses in around both of them.
Then a landmark breaks the pattern, a split cedar with an old white blaze on its bark, standing stark against the gloom. Beyond it, the same red-brown trail bends out of sight.
Quest Complete
Find a landmark that anchors this forest
Attribute Upgrade: Health Superb→Legendary