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Hexxus chooses the strange ferry because he doesnt trust the under current of the river, no matter how narrow the passage would be, if the river was safer where it was narrow then where was the one that got swept away?

Seems majority of the group decided that the ferry was the safest bet. The ferry-doggo took them across the river and dropped them off at the other side. Not a word was said from this doggo which was kind of creepy and you swear you caught a flash of purple markings on one of their legs but it was so quick you couldn't really be sure. But hey! You made it over safely.

Now there were some others in the group who felt that the ferry-doggo was too creepy and the river wasn't really that wide downriver in that narrow. They chanced it and swam across.... and made it. Well what do you know. The river really wasn't going fast and the doggo who disappeared must have just swam right out of here.

Looking around trying to figure out where to go you see two options. One is to go upriver, the other is to go downriver. Upriver looks pretty tame for the most part. There's grass, a few bushes, the river. But further up it looks like it gets somewhat foggy or maybe it's misting up there. It's pretty far away and kinda blurry due to the fog or mist so you can't be sure. Now downriver also looks pretty tame but there's hardly any grass. It's mostly dirt and rocks with the river running through the landscape. It doesn't look very hospitable but it does have a clear view.


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Round 3! Do you go upriver or downriver to continue your journey? Please make sure to bold your answer in your reply so I can easily catch it.

This round will go for two hours from this post, unless all participants reply then I'll move on to the next round.

Wintermint gave Hexxus a little smile then headed on downriver. He wanted to see if the others had made it across.

What would have happened:

Meeting the ghosts you could stay and listen to the ghosts to find out more about this strange realm and really anything as they are huge gossips. Or you could choose to leave and continue on. You would have before moving on caught a couple of them whispering to themselves about not seeing any of the normal residents of this realm in a few days.
- Staying you would have lost track of time listening to the ghosts recount their encounters with strange beings who had spines all along their backs. Or beings with 6 eyes!
- Leaving would have allowed you to continue on.

As you continue on you eventually encounter another river (geez how many rivers are in this realm you say.). You approach it somewhat cautiously and soon discover a clear, inviting river. You become so thirsty looking at the river. A drink surely wouldn't hurt since it looks so clear and delicious. Or you can continue on by crossing the little stepping stone path.
-Drinking the river water would have made you forget everything! Why you were here, where you were, everything! It would eventually fade so long as you didn't keep drinking the water. Someone would lead you out... hopefully.
-Crossing the stepping stone path would allow you to go on.

On the other side of the river you decide to follow it to see where it goes. A nearby ghost points you in the right direction saying that you should go that way to find your way out. As you follow the river you don't spot much in the way of life. Just more grass and some ghosts. Eventually you reach a huge lake that the river runs into that has an island in the middle of it. You can try to swim to the island from here or try to find another way.
-Swimming to the island only tires you out and you don't make it by a long shot. You have to give up.
-You decide to turn around in a sense to find another way. This choice allows you to pass.

You end up finding a ghost who tells you that to get to the island you have to cross a bridge but you need to be worthy to reach this island. They show you where the bridge is and wishes you good luck. You hear them mutter about 1 headed doggos being so silly.
-This one requires you to roll a dice to see if you pass or fail. A low number (1-49 was a fail) and a high number (50-100) was a pass.

As you cross the bridge you see various ghosts and you overhear some talking about how lucky they are to enter paradise. You finally reach the island and have to decide where to look now. You can go to the North, East, or West as you are in the South.
-Going North would have had you encounter some angry ghosts. You would have to roll an even number to escape them and end up in the West section.
-Going East you wouldn't have found anything but discovered that you were super tired, exhausted really. A ghost would have explained that this is a high magic realm and most Dwellers aren't used to that. Meaning that it's exhausting for those not used to high magic realms to be in them. You end up falling asleep before they explain what a high magic realm is.
-Going West you would have discovered a pomegranate tree and the mysterious cloaked lady. However she's not cloaked now and you see she had three heads and spines on her back. Not to mention she's really not all that as she's a ghost!

She explains that she's part of the Hound species of Dwellers and this realm, The Underworld, was cut of from the rest of Labyrinth for the longest time. Hounds require high magic to be present in the realms they visit or live in and until recently none of the other realms were that way. She says a long time ago some gates were destroyed that ended up dropping the ambient levels magic to where they couldn't leave the realm. She also explains that this realm is strange as mainly ghosts live here along with the Hounds but the fact that the gates are one way only is what is really odd. You have to travel pretty much the entire realm, the route the group took, just to reach the exit gate. But now that the levels of magic are rising again she says that they're bound to find more Hounds. She also wanted to make sure that Dwellers didn't forget about Hounds or think that they were just myths or rumors like before. She also explains that Hounds have at least two heads but majority have three heads. They also have the spines/spikes along their back and some even have strange glowing/fiery ribs. And no not all are ghosty like she is. That's just a unique gift/trait of hers.

This was a lot of fun, and I think next time will be even better. Thanks for hosting it! I would like to keep this hound. She's just so beautiful in a savage, eerie way! heart