Thadeus steps toward the woman under the cedars. The mist parts around his boots, and the white blaze on the split trunk flashes in the moonlight like a marker on a map.
Thadeus Jovanović
If this place is real, it should have edges.
The woman does not retreat. She stands half in shadow, half in silver light, watching him with a stillness that feels deliberate, not lost.
Thadeus Jovanović
Is this forest a real place, or something the Peacebringer is putting in my head?
The Woman
Your question matters. So does the answer. Look at the cedar, then look back at me.
The trees whisper overhead, but the cedar stays fixed. Thadeus sees the forest bend in the distance, not like a hallucination fading, but like terrain repeating itself. The woman lifts one hand toward the blaze, giving him the clearest lead yet, if he trusts what he is seeing.
“Thadeus looks at the cedar, and thinks he sees light shimmer in the center. Thadeus asks the woman her name, and she responds, "My name is Elizabeth Bathory, but I'm not the one you know on the other side." Thadeus asks Elizabeth, "What is this 'side' called?"”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled -1)
Thadeus studies the cedar, and the light in its split center catches again, not as moon glare but as a thin seam, steady and deliberate.
Thadeus Jovanović
There is a gap in the wood.
He shifts closer, keeping the Peacebringer low. The blaze on the trunk frames the seam like a marker someone intended him to notice.
Thadeus Jovanović
What is your name?
The Woman
My name is Elizabeth Bathory, but I am not the one you know on the other side.
Thadeus Jovanović
What is this side called?
The Woman
The name changes by who survives it. For you, it is the place between a wound and a memory.
Cold air moves through the trunks, and the seam in the cedar holds steady, real enough to touch, while the repeating treeline beyond it bends like a copied page.
“Is this place purgatory?”
YES (Even, rolled 25)
Thadeus Jovanović
This is not a forest. It is a waiting room for the end of everything.
The Woman
You feel the weight of it now, do you not. The air here does not move because there is nowhere left for it to go.
The blue light of the Peacebringer pulses against the bark, and for a heartbeat, the forest shadows align to reveal the faint, ghostly outlines of a hospital ward, flickering like a dying bulb before snapping back to the silent, repeating trees.
“Thadeus starts pacing, muttering to himself, "No, this can't be right. I escaped the tunnel through the sewer. Peacebringer protected me from those women at the pulpit. I'm missing something." Elizabeth walks over to Thadeus, embracing him. Thadeus stops and stares off in the distance.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +2)
Thadeus Jovanović
No, this cannot be right. He escaped the tunnel through the sewer. The Peacebringer protected him from those women at the pulpit. Something is missing.
Thadeus paces beneath the black branches, the Peacebringer low at his side, his breath steadying even as the trees seem to copy one another.
The Woman
You are not missing a place, you are missing the seam. This forest holds its shape by repeating what you can bear.
She closes the distance and wraps him in a brief, grounding embrace, her hands firm at his back.
Thadeus stops moving. His gaze drifts past her shoulder, out toward the split cedar and the white blaze painted like a wound on the bark.
The Woman
Look there. The trees change, but the mark does not. That is how you know this place is remembering itself.
The blue light from the Peacebringer catches his scorched palm, and the hospital ward flickers again between the trunks, sharper this time, as if waiting for him to notice one more detail.
“As Thadeus looks off in the distance, he sees another tree with a similar shimmer, but it looks familiar. He sees another figure working on a computer, looking at an image of Trevor. Thadeus thinks, "It's Elias!" Without wasting any time, he rushes towards the tree, but is stopped by two skeletal figures stepping in front of it, each wield clubs, ready to strike Thadeus.”
SUCCESS (Fair Athletics, rolled +2)
Thadeus spots the shimmer again, farther off, and the shape behind it clicks into place. He lunges before the image can fade.
Thadeus Jovanović
It's Elias!
Two skeletal figures step into the path with clubs raised, but Thadeus drives through the gap between them, his coat snapping in the cold air.
The Peacebringer stays low as he clears them, and the familiar glow ahead sharpens into a tree like the others, yet wrong in a different way.
He reaches the trunk and the shimmer resolves into a seated man at a computer, face lit by the screen. On the monitor, Trevor's image is open.
The figure does not look up. The skeletal guards halt behind Thadeus, clubs hovering in the air, while the cold forest hums around the screen's pale light.
The Woman
That is not a stranger. It is a trace. Follow what it is doing, not what it resembles.
✓ Quest Accepted
Pass through the tree to the hideout
“Summoning his strength, Thadeus cracks the Peacebringer from side to side, causing it to glow with the bright blue flame he saw at the cathedral. Seeing he can control this new power, he whips it towards the skeletal guards, causing both to burst into flames and turn to ash. The false Elizabeth Bathory jumps back, with what Thadeus hears as a hiss. He thinks, "More Illusions, I have to escape this place."”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled +2)
Thadeus snaps the Peacebringer hard from side to side, and blue fire blooms along its length.
He whips the flare into the skeletal guards. Both bodies catch at once, flaring white-blue before they crumble into ash.
Elizabeth Bathory
No...
The false Elizabeth jerks back from the heat, her outline tearing for a heartbeat like smoke in wind.
Thadeus Jovanović
More illusions, I have to escape this place.
The seated man at the computer does not turn, but Trevor's image on the monitor flickers brighter, and the forest hushes around the screen.
“Just as Thadeus steps back from his attack, he realizes he feels a warm sensation coming from his hip. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the necklace he found, and sees it's glowing with a warm hue. On instinct, he puts it on over his neck, and jumps towards the shimmer of Elias. He prays the necklace will somehow allow him to pass through into the shimmer and out the other side. Incredibly, Thadeus flies through the opening, while the false Elizabeth is screaming in the background. As he passes through, the opening closes and Thadeus crashes into a table in front of Elias, breaking the table in two, and causing Elias to yelp.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -2)
The warmth at his hip turns solid in Thadeus's hand, a necklace pulled free with the Peacebringer's blue afterglow still bleeding across his palm.
The pendant gives off a soft, warm light, and Thadeus snaps it over his neck in one motion.
He lunges toward the shimmer, and the false Elizabeth screams somewhere behind him as the forest folds inward.
Thadeus passes through the opening in a burst of cold air and warm light, the seam sealing shut behind his shoulders.
He crashes hard into a table in front of Elias, and the wood splits cleanly in two.
Elias the Shopkeeper
Whoa! Thadeus!
The room is real, cramped, and close, and Elias stares at the shattered table while the necklace glows at Thadeus's throat.
− Scene Quest Removed
Pass through the tree to the hideout