Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Right..." Aandes mumbled. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed behind Eostre, quick to join her. With her wit, her judgment seemed sound. There wasn't much point in doing anything else - running away would reflect badly, of course, and engaging the origin of the noise might cause issue for both of them.

Results:
a. You sneak into the forest in time to see two figures cut through the underbrush. A greenblood and a yellowblood emerge from the woods and begin to scout the area, and soon the yellowblood procures something and tinkers with the well. You're not able to get close enough to hear what they're saying, but when a strong scent emerges from the well you're glad you're far enough away not to be in the crossfire. Their bizarre ritual comes to an end and they begin to depart.


b. As you stay put, the sounds get louder and louder... Until there's a shout from the bushes. "s**t!" There's a rustling of bushes as a quick angry conversation takes place - and suddenly silence. A glass jar is launched from the bushes and shatters in mid-air, casting out shards of glass and a liquid that immediately vaporizes and turns into a blooming cloud of gas. Before you know it, you wake up at the edge of the forest with a nasty headache and the overwhelming scent of vanilla stuck in your sniffnode. (OUT - if you chose this option, the CYOA concludes here.)

c. You scale the tree just soon enough to see two trolls emerge from the forest.

A greenblood holding a glowing, high-tech lightsource in one hand and a rifle in the other shifts out of the woods and sniffs around. He's a weaselly little thing, unkempt and oil-slicked. A dirty rag is wrapped around his upper arm, and he wipes his greasy forehead on it before refocusing his vision on the well in front of him. "Oi, Zeamae! Someone done tampered with the damn formula again!"

The greenblood whirls around, looking in the nearby bushes. Finding nothing, he stomps towards the well and looks wryly at the bubbling froth of the well. The other figure soon steps out of the darkness: a willowy yellowblood covered in pouches and carrying a weighty mechanical satchel. There is a thin mask over her nose and mouth. "Hmm! Coulda been a stray leaf or twig fallin' in. Just gotta add some extra juice here..."

She whips out a pair of rubber gloves from her belt and slaps them on, soon procuring a small vial of clear liquid quickly from one of the many pockets on her person. With a slight dip of her hand, drops of the liquid spill into the well and immediately the froth recedes. In its place, a cloyingly sweet smell takes hold of the surrounding area. The greenblood lets out an excited whoop. "Now THAT'S the good stuff!" He hollers.

The scent is overwhelming and even somewhat dizzying - your head begins to ache and you certainly won't be able to stay in the tree for much longer. Fortunately, the trolls appear to be finishing up their tasks. The yellowblood presses a button on her mask. "Well's stabilized. We're headin' back now." She drops some kind of device into the well, which (as you can see from your spot in the tree) floats on the surface of the water. The two pack up and head out.


d. You leap into the bushes and no soon after a greenblood hops out of the woods. He looks around for a bit, and unfortunately makes his way right to your hiding spot. You shuffle backwards as fast as possible, and find yourself soon out of sight but in a thick tangle of thorns. Ouch! You can't see or hear anything from this spot, and it's by sheer luck that when you untangle yourself the two are just starting to pack up and leave. The well appears to have subsided and is emitting a sweet smell. (STRIKE - one more and the CYOA will come to an end.)


Next Prompt:
The two trolls are cutting back through the woods now... Will you pursue them?

a. This is just getting good! You follow close behind the two; maybe you can get ahead and beat them to their next location.
b. Keep a safe distance while you follow them so as to avoid suspicion and maintain an escape route.
c. No way. There's something fishy here, so it's best to wrap up this adventure and call the authorities.
d. Check the well again for any clues!

“Okay,” Aandes nodded. His blood pusher was quick under his hoodie. He made sure Koalapops was primed and at the ready (he wasn’t) and continued after her. He mused about the curious nature of this troll. She was always cool and ready to spring into action. Even with the nerves that came with the territory, he felt a sense of safety and more than enough of an adrenaline rush to put a small and sure smirk on his face.

Results:
A: You follow close to the two, and soon see ahead of you to where their destination is. Deep in the woods, a path is cut out. No use wasting time! You rush ahead out of sight until their voices disappear and find yourself in quite the interesting encampment… (Quote the mule!)

B: You keep a safe distance. For a while, you can still hear the two talking very clearly. Then, they start to hurry down the path. In a panic, you pick up your pace, but they’re already out of your view. When you reach their destination, you find a strange, flat patch of land in the middle of the woods. There are a few tents, some temperature gauges and other small mechanical equipment and shattered bottles here and there, but they’ve all been trashed by whoever left in a hurry. Huge tire tracks from an all-terrain scuttlebuggy denote the quick exit of the trolls. You are OUT! Your CYOA adventure ends here. At any point, however, you can choose to return to this area of the woods if there is another opportunity to catch these mysterious trolls in the act.

C: You promptly leave and call the authorities. When they arrive, they are unable to track down the culprits, but they do confiscate their equipment from the well. You receive headpats. You are OUT! Your CYOA adventure ends here.

D: Finding there to be no great use following the two scoundrels into the woods, you check the well. There is a dial on top of the water with a floatation device that gives a great deal of number read-outs, including what you figure is temperature and various chemical levels. You pluck it out of the water and suddenly it begins to beep, and loud. It’s an alarm! Shouts roll back through the thick of the woods and you don’t have time to escape. (Quote the mule!)