Welcome to Gaia! ::

For as unwelcoming as the Hall of the Ancients was inside, outside was worse. Made of sleek black stones, the fortress was an ominous figure. It was tall and imposing, and each spire and sharp curve looked like it was ready to slice through the sky. It could have been considered beautiful, once you got past how intimidating it was. From the outside, it was difficult to make out the stained glass. Once, gold and gemstones decorated it. Now, what the lightning hadn’t charred, the storm had battered and chipped away.

The clouds were knit tightly across the sky, and while the lightning occasionally flashed in the distance, the thunder was only a quiet mumble. When it echoed, it sounded like whispers. Scheming. Preparing.

The ground was saturated with water and every step felt like standing on a sponge. The grass was brittle, but it wasn’t slippery. A great stone wall encircled the Hall, with plenty of room to spare. Watchtowers lined the wall at regular intervals, and though they didn’t offer much defense, their primary purpose was to protect the lights he’d installed. Fire burned brightly behind thick glass to protect against wind and rain and shadow, but spotlights had been installed. They looked out of place, but they were practical.

Outside, the clouds hung low; they were dark and it was difficult to make out what time of day it was on Alastor.

Within the walls, towards the North, was a grassy field. In the center of it, a massive oak tree with black bark, and specks of gold inlaid. It had no leaves, but that wasn’t surprising given the weather. To the East, a waterlogged, withered garden, and a wall that looked like it had been recently damaged. The sound of the rushing river was loudest there. To the South, an underground storage chamber. To the West, the front of the Hall, and the path to the gates that led outside. The forest, distant and dark and the greatest source of Chaos, was just past here.

But, there were other locations, radiating chaotic waves.

A grove of trees to the southwest seemed to be a stronghold for it, something underground near the southern storage chamber in the Hall, to the East, directly across the river, and another to the SouthEast, where there seemed to be some obstruction to the flowing river. Further up the river, lurking in some ruins, another one.

Hawara, Transcended Knight of Uranus, Super Sailor Iduna, Senshi of Apples, Eternal Sailor Puck, Senshi of Woods, and Drombeg, Knight of Earth have been tasked with traveling to the grove of trees Southwest of the Hall, where a strange Chaos fluctuation was detected. The Grove is about five minutes from the Hall at a leisurely pace and the West Gate and the South Wall are still visible as they head towards it. The grass is slippery and the ground is soaked and muddy, but once they get closer to the trees, the deep roots have stabilized the ground.

But, the grove of trees is tall, and dark.

The group has been given powerful floodlights to help weaken–and hopefully destroy–the Chaos; the shadows seem sensitive to the light, and the Chaos over the Grove is suffocating even before going inside. There is no visible path, but the group will need to stick together and will need to be on high alert. Somewhere in the dense grove is a Chaos anomaly, and they need to destroy it before it launches an attack on the Hall.

The storm is going to restart any minute now; electricity is thick in the air.

And, something is already shifting in the shadows of the Grove.

They’ll need to strike hard, and fast.

It’s waiting for them.

Super Sailor Iduna, Senshi of Apples

Oh outside was so much worse than the inside of the Hall. The gothic architecture of the Hall was off-putting enough. The grove of trees almost seemed to ripple among the shadows, and that was ignoring the shifting behind the trunks. It reminded her of the orchards on Iduna, but far more wild and threatening.

At least none of them seemed to have faces... so far.

Iduna was with two knights and an eternal senshi. If she'd seen these guys before, she couldn't place them - though in Hawara's case it appeared it was because he'd been a Negaverse agent. Huh. Gave her a little more hope that maybe, just maybe, her brother wasn't dead at all and just. Changed sides in the war.

If he'd been in the war at all.

"Super Sailor Iduna, of Apples," she said, returning the friendly gesture that Hawara gave her. Might as well know who would be watching each other's back, right? She passed her flood light over the outskirts of the Grove, nerves already on end.

Wow, she really didn't like this place did she?

OP-Yuna

tatterpixie

SSBrosB

Eternal Sailor Puck of the Woods

Puck didn't like this, not one little bit. The inside of the place had been bad enough -- but outside? The looming storm hung in the air ominously, menacingly, casting the group in a sort of dread anticipation of what they were going to face. He had no idea why he was here; his magic wasn't attack-oriented, it was defensive (though he had used it offensively before, against the likes of General Faustite). At least some of his companions had weapons.

He listened as they introduced themselves, slightly surprised and impressed that the two knights were both purified former Negaverse agents. "Eternal Puck of the Woods," he finally said, nodding in greeting at the others, even if he didn't smile. "What the bloody hell is up with this place? Is this how Chaos looks when it's taken over a world?"

Shuddering inwardly, he eyed the grove in front of them. Woods and forests were his demense, but not like this.

"I think it depends on the chaos. This isn't like what we're facing on Earth. Though maybe it would be easier if it had a more corporeal army...." Hawara answered Puck.

"Apples," He then confirmed with Iduna, "offensive, defensive, other?" All good information for them all to know. "what about your magic?" He then asked Drombeg and Puck.

He kinda thought going in to the woods, a grove, would maybe be right up the Senshi of Woods, alley, but.... yeah, it was unsettling. Especially as the shadows played around them.

Only he knew it wasn't just shadows.

"I have wind magic - I can send out a gust. Stagger opponents. Send them flying. Not sure how useful that would be but...."

The loud rumble of thunder that struck reminded him that it probably wasn't the best to be be amongst such tall lightening rods of trees in such weather, but they didn't really have much choice. Their floodlights kept catching the skittering of shadows, and Hawara was somewhat comforted by the lights that played upon his own skin - even if something were to happen to their floodlights, he still had that, and he could only hope that it would deter the shadows from reaching out at him. He tried to keep an eye on his companions as much as he did the slinking shadows, concerned that maybe they would reach out and grab one of them. However, he knew from what he'd been told and heard, they liked to play a more psychological game. And he could feel them watching.

as the underbrush grew thicker, he summoned his Haladie. Although it may have looked sharp and dangerous, it was more blunt than it appeared - a weapon more suited for parrying than slicing. In fact, if he were to strike with it hard enough, the wound would be more of a busting open of a 'cut' than a slice. Which was arguable more nasty to deal with, but that was neither here nor there. At the moment, he was going to use it to cut through the brush. He didn't like how they tried to cling, like little fingers. At least, he wanted to believe it was the brush...

Doing all this though, meant being at the front of the group, and no longer being able to keep an eye on them, nor hear the rustling of bushed and trees behind them. But he could feel the energy. It was gross, threatening, and provoking them to come find it.... That was what they were out here to do, right? Hawara didn't like that it seemed to want them to find it too. He didn't notice how clenched his jaw had become the further they got....

The deeper they got into the grove, the darker it got. From the outside it seemed like a moderately sized patch of trees–not big enough to be a forest, and if they’d had enough time they could have walked around the whole cluster of them.

But this was different.

Once they stepped in, once they were in the trees, they swallowed them up.

From the outside, it looked as if it might have been easy enough to walk through–albeit dark.

Now, they were trapped. The underbrush was strangely dark and dense, and while hacking away at them eased their traveling a bit, they were still going deeper into the trees.

The sound of rain pattering on the leaves above them indicated that the storm must have started, but the sound of thunder and battle had been muffled by the tense canopy above them.

The shadows only made it darker.

Now, some of the trees didn’t even look like they were alive; it looked like a sickening black rot had taken them, and they were black and shadowy all the way up.

The group was closing in on the chaotic energy pulsing from what must have been the center of the grove, but more trees popped up. Suddenly. Rapidly.

One second, they were all standing next to each other. The next, a wall of trees separated them. And, it all seemed so natural–hadn’t they always been there? Maybe they’d come in alone? Or–no, hadn’t they agreed to separate? They were going in small groups, right? This was fine, this was normal.

A haze tickled at the corner of their minds, like it was trying to convince them that this was fine. It felt a bit like stepping from one dream into the next, and if the Chaos hadn’t been humming somewhere nearby, maybe it would have been more believable.

The wall of trees kept them separated, and muffled outside sounds and voices.

But the Chaos did not keep them alone.

From the wall of shadowy trees that guided them separately, company emerged.

Iduna found an easy path; the underbrush was slight, but unlike the other trees of the grove, before her was a great tree–a familiar tree.

The Eldermaus of her homeworld stood at the end of her path. It seemed a bit more compact, but it didn’t even seem strange. It just fit here, on this world.

And, it was calling for her.

A whisper, at first, a haunting voice on the wind. It sounded like branches snapping and wood creaking. “Iduna,” it hummed, like it was lulling her closer. Crystals lined the trunk, reflecting the light from her floodlight. There were no shadows to scatter, only trees.

The face on the Eldermaus didn’t move, but it looked like it was watching her. It beckoned her by name again.

Puck’s path was long and winding, weaving between the trees. They looked more wood like now that he was alone. Or–not alone. Eros was walking next to him, floodlight shining around as she squinted into the darkness.

Her brows were furrowed in an uncharacteristic frown, and a shiver ran down her spine. She audibly groaned and moved a little closer to Puck, wrapping her arm around him and pressing into his shoulder.

“This is not my idea of a good time.” Shadows trailed after her, after Puck, nipping at their heels. “I’m getting so tired of all of this. How are we supposed to have any fun if it’s ‘chaos, chaos, chaos’. If you ask me, it seems like they’ve got the right idea. I doubt you ever hear any of them spending their Saturday night fighting some shadow trees.” Her fingers dug into his arm like she needed his strength. “I can think of a million other things I’d rather be doing right now.”

Drombeg’s travel partner was not so friendly, though; the shadows along the treeline moved, and then, like looking in an outdated mirror, he was met with the judgmental gaze of Captain Geocronite.

Hawara was alone for longer than the rest, in that he could feel someone weaving between the trees, but no one was ever there. It was like someone was trying to sneak up on him, trying to spook him, and then–

A burst of cool air, right into his ear.

Simionce was laughing even before he’d pulled away, and he gave Hawara a slight, playful shove. “Got you. You’re really slipping, aren’t you? Imagine if I’d been an enemy.”

He walked in pace next to him, keeping a bit of distance to make sure he wasn’t on the receiving end of Hawara’s weapons. “I wasn’t even going to drop in, but I can’t help but notice you’re pretty invested in helping this world. Which is interesting, because if you’d even been to Hawara recently, you’d have realized it needs your help. It’s been calling for a week now, where have you been? You can’t tell me some nature hike on a stranger’s world is more important than your own Wonder.”

He paused for a moment, and looked at him. Looked through him.

“Can you?”

Quote:

The shadows have arrived in the form of a Chaos Manifestation; Another prompt will be posted in ~48 hours; if players post before then I’ll try to write more interaction with the Chaos Manifestation trying to manipulate them; if players are interested in this, please feel free to DM me! If you have any questions or requests, please let me know! Otherwise there will be two more prompts featuring the Chaos Manifestation; the manifestation should be weakening or nearly defeated as of the prompt on the 14th; there will be one prompt after that on the 16th and the 18th is the estimated close date and lead into the closing ORP!

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OP-Yuna

a-disgruntled-dragon

tatterpixie

SSBrosB

One moment he'd been hacking away at the undergrowth,and the next thing he knew....the woods seemed more dense, and the others weren't there. Of course the weren't - they had agreed to separate! Or..had they...? Hawara...would never suggest something like that.... So.... When he felt like someone was there, he initially thought it was maybe one of the others, but if it was, why weren't they saying anything? Why did they just seem to...lurk there, as if they were waiting for him...

There there was the cool air on his ear that had Hawara turning quickly in its direction, Haladie in hand, throat level with whoever, whatever had gotten close enough to do such a thing, and if it were one of his allies, they'd quickly learn not to play such games. But the sight that greeted him wasn't one of the others he'd entered the grove with.

Simionce was not an unfamiliar sight, but not one that he expected to see here. because they shouldn't have been here. Shouldn't have been interacting with him. For a moment that rational thought and the thought that this was normal ran parallel in the Knight's mind. Simionce - his past incarnation. The late Knight of Hawara. The Human Ferret of Uranus. Seen in visions of the past on his wonder.

For some reason, although on one level Hawara knew this was wrong, on another, it felt normal enough too. He lowered his weapon, continuing his trek, pointedly ignoring the goading words. ...Until Simionce said something that rang with tonal dissonance between what he knew to be true, and what the Chaos was trying to make him believe.

"No, I was...just there two days ago..." He said, sounding a little unsure now that he said it.

He...had though. He remembered doing...something... What..what had he done? But he was sure it had been a couple days ago! But...that was in normal time. What if time passed differently here? It wouldn't surprise him... It wasn't an irrational probability, given everything....and that made a little bit of panic send a shiver though his body. Hawara stopped and shook his head, and seemed to be trying to parse together his thoughts, his memories. memories of reality collided and warped with false once, and Hawara had to think hard but all he could depend on was his faith....that if his wonder was truly in danger then he would feel it. It would call to him. Right?

There was also the thought that....what if that cry for help came in the form of his past self?

The Wonder of Hawara was not a subtle one. It had no problem smacking you in the face with what it needed you to see. It would just drag him there.

...Right?

Doubt.... Doubt was dangerous. Doubt made him pause.

Simionce looked at Hawara as though he’d lost his mind. “Days ago? Earth days or Uranus days? Because I wouldn’t be here if we didn’t need you.”

The playfulness melted into something else–confusion, frustration. Maybe desperation.

“Do you know how much energy it cost to find you? We don’t have long, there’s still time.”

He held out his hand for Hawara. “Something’s in the Labyrinth. I don’t know what it’s looking for. I don’t know if it came out of one of the boxes or if it came there to find something, but that’s it. It’s already torn up so much, I don’t know if you’ll be able to fix it all in this lifetime. Can you–” He looked around. “Can you get some of the others? No, there’s no time.”

Now, his expression was stern. “You’ve screwed around for too long, you can’t mess up this time. No excuses. Hawara needs you.”

Eternal Sailor Puck, Senshi of the Woods

Puck found his way easily through the trees, guided by his instincts and general forest knowledge. He didn't notice that they were looking more like a normal forest at night than the dark shadow-woods he had been walking through with the others, Hawara and Iduna and Dromberg. A familiar voice groaned next to him, only it wasn't one of his companions on this mission. Turning to look, he was surprised and not surprised at the same time to see his friend and housemate Eros walking next to him, clinging to him as she typically did when she was frightened.

"Not my idea of a good time either, but it needs doing," the Eternal said, focusing on where the floodlight shone to guide their way. He half-listened as Eros prattled on about how Chaos seemed to have the right idea about things. "Yeah, I'd rath- wait, hold up, what are you talking about?"

Puck stopped in his tracks, Eros stopping as he did. The shadows that had been trailing them eddied around their ankles. "Are you seriously saying Chaos is better? Come the ******** on, Eros. You've seen what they do, what they're capable of. They don't give a crap about what they're doing Saturday night, 'cause they're out draining innocent people!" He sighed deeply. "Look, I know you hate this senshi crap, but this is going too far. Now come on, let's get this done and over with so we can go home and enjoy Saturday night."