Welcome to Gaia! ::

You turn a corner to find a man standing with his back to you on the path you're walking or riding. He's wearing an expensive-looking dark blue jacket, his hair is auburn and a touch curly, and when he turns around there's a single spot of blood on his spotless but slightly rumpled cravat. His eyes are an unnatural shade of purple. If you have ever met him before you will recognize him as the spirit named Llyr.

"Good evening," he says to you politely, and then points toward a copse of yellow ashes in the distance. "You may find that direction somewhat more fruitful."

When you look back, he is gone.

You win two points this turn.

Total points: 10

You pause for a moment to get your bearings and cannot resist taking in the breathtaking beauty of the autumnal wood. Even with the weather overcast the vivid scarlets and yellows of the foliage are as rich as dyed velvet against the gray sky and the black trunks of the trees. Gazing into the infinite reaches of the forest is like looking into stained glass…

When you turn back around an enormous fox with a luxurious pelt is standing directly in your path, watching you. Its eyes seem amused, somehow. It quickly dashes off into the undergrowth before you can react — but at least now you have a pretty good idea of where you should be heading.

You win four points this turn.

Total points: 14

You happen upon a clearing. At the very center lies a fairy circle of mushrooms, unusually large, and though the clearing is abandoned you experience an eerie sensation of being of watched.

You win two points this turn.

Total points: 9

They came quickly to an abandoned clearing.

Well, Gareth came; Lucterius by now was walking in a far more leisurely manner. It contained, strangely, a circle of mushrooms, and many small prints. How very unusual...

Did it matter, though? Lucterius glanced over them. They seemed to all be headed to the south, which meant, of course - well, a fox was not an unlikely predator for a small mammal. To the north he would go. He gestured, and Gareth led the way again. He found his shoulders sloping as they left. But what reason had Lucterius to be nervous? No one had watched him, in the circle...

A subtle irregularity on the ground catches your eye. You take a closer look: there's a muddy rabbit print embossed on one half of a fallen leaf. It may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it could lead to bigger and better things.

You win one point this turn.

Total points: 8

The forest is quiet; by now most of the birds have migrated south, and the only sounds you've heard for the past several minutes are the rustling of the breeze in the trees, the plop of acorns falling, the quiet scraping rustle as a leaf descends to the forest floor, and the occasional rasp of a squirrel gnawing on a nut's shell in the distance. It is peaceful — or, depending on your character's preferences, a little eerie.

The shrill, almost-human scream of a rabbit's death cry shatters the silence. Once you've taken a moment to recover (or, if you're a badass mofo, coolly evaluate the situation) you head in the scream's direction. It could be the work of a hawk, but there's still a good chance a fox is nearby.

You win three points this turn.

Total points: 5

You spy a splash of blood on a single yellow leaf on the ground. When you examine it, the blood looks fresh. Strangely there are no trees in the area with such distinctly golden foliage, but this is still excellent evidence of an animal's trail… isn't it?

After some time of continued searching, however, you are forced to come to the conclusion that you've been waylaid by a prankster — or an unnaturally clever fox.

You lose two points this turn.

Total points: 7

Jack whistled. "Well would you look at that," he told the rabbit. "Looks like the spirit was being honest, after all." What the rabbit thought of all this, it was impossible to say, but Jack was certainly pleased. He stood and ventured on.