There were days when cold air would rush down from the mountains, bringing with it a slew of frosty, frigid white snow, and the sky would mist over in a haze of pale blues and soft grays. It blanketed everything. A blank canvas as far as the eye could see, and silence to accompany it. Other days were just 'normal' Sauti days. Not particularly hot, but neither ripe with winter's chill. The town still ambled at its own pace, animals still cawed and bayed in the background. It was as boring as one would expect.
Xilarn preferred the days with the snow. The whole world looked clean, new, and untouched, and he could imagine that near anything might spring up to replace it in the morning. An ocean, a field of flowers, a canopy of trees, maybe rainbows. He neither wanted nor cared for what it became. Because the clean slate of it was far more appealing.
He looked out over the snowy scene from his porch, and today, he might as well have been able to see into the horizon. That was fairly unusual. There were usually mountains. Perhaps it didn't matter. So Xilarn stepped out from beneath the overhang of his property and down into the perfectly flat, clean blanket with the first welcoming crunch of-
The world fractured.
Clean and perfect and new was apparently also very delicate. It took but one step to shatter the illusion. Everything twisted from there. The light, airy sheet spread before him warped into dark, mossy terrain. The piles of snow shifted and shrugged, revealing black talons, a forearm, a head of something he hadn't ever actually seen before. And there were more, all popping from the snow and leaving melted puddles in their wake. Dark sky. Dark monsters. Dark scenery. Everything was ruined. Xilarn huffed and glowered his discontent at the nearest beast.
Zandala had settled for the night with Kanika tucked against her, that was usually how she fell asleep now a days. She felt secure knowing both of her daughters were secure. The dream was usually the same that she had every night, she was out hunting with her daughter and Lumikani. Except this time the dream takes a darker turn, one without her daughters and Zandala immediately panics before relaxing and controlling her fear. The Akidike inspects her new surroundings, moving around it to see what has happened to her usual dream. But the question on her mind is, was she really dreaming?
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 5:17 pm
Alassiel HP: 25 hp
Alassiel dreamed of watching her daughter playing in the water while she fished. She dipped into the water and when she resurfaced her daughter was no more. The shifter ran towards the beach only to find that the closer she got the more distorted the world became. Then the sand melted away and she was falling only to land in some sort of clearing. Alassiel had traveled before but she didn’t recognize the setting. She eyed the area but knew she was alone; there was no one else here with her and certainly no weapon to be found. Ally began roaming the area, perhaps there was a way out.
Kanika dreamed of playing with her sister, of hunting with her mothers, of running through the forests of Yael at high speeds. She laughed and giggled and was having a fun time. At first the youngling thought she was going too fast to see the world began to change and it was already too late before she noticed she was falling. Where she landed she did not know, had Elzira brought her here? Would her mother tree appear to her? The Elaria did not know; she decided to stay put and took a seat. It was better not to wander too far.
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 5:17 pm
Ziel HP: 15 hp
Ziel was under the sea, swimming with the fishes and generally enjoying herself. She always dreamed of going deep into the waters and tonight was no different. The deeper she went however the more it felt like everything was changing around her, she couldn’t swim back to the surface either and then it felt like she was falling underwater. Next thing Ziel knew was that she was in some sort of clearing, one she’d never dreamed about before. The half shifter looked around and began making her way to the edge of the clearing. This was very strange, this couldn’t be normal.
She had managed to fall asleep after an exhausting trip to Oba. Now her mind was taking over and letting her slip into a restful sleep. Phaedra knew right away that she was going to wake up refreshed. When she finally reached the deepest level of sleep that she could her mind started to have a lucid dream. One that had her at her childhood home with a family that was whole. Un-ruined by secrets.
Phae loved it here. She didn't want to leave. So when the dream changed and warped around her she became confused rather quickly. Why was her mind pulling her away from such a lovely place? Then the sensation of falling came as the floor beneath her gave way and she was spinning along with the rush of colors. When she started to feel sick her hands came up to cover her face. "Ugh..."
Then, boom. Just like that it all ended. Her sickness subsided and she lowered her hands away from her face. Now she was in a clearing of some kind and it looked a bit off. Trees were not trees but shadows of monsters. Colors were dull and lack luster. The sky looked evil as though something were happening in the distance and coming for her. Phaedra gave a shiver and inwardly wished for her friend, Mano, to be there with her and offer comfort. Not wanting to go near the trees she stayed in the middle of the clearing and watched the sky.
Aylin was playing in the canopy with the other younglings of her village, they swung easily between branches and leaped confidently amongst the limbs of their home- filled with the carefree confidence unique to youth. She laughed as she chased a friend, her feet leaving the bough beneath her and hands outstretched towards the next branch when suddenly it was gone.
Her familiar canopy around her seemed to shiver, where steady footholds should be there were none, and she found herself falling. She didn’t feel fear as she drifted through the darkness of empty space below- colors mixing into black. It was a curious sensation- oddly returning to her current age as colors returned to the world when her feet touched on soft ground.
When she looked around herself she couldn’t recognize this part of the forest- the trees misshapen into unfamiliar shapes with no easily recognized breaks in the foliage. She turned a quizzical eye to the sky and through the leaves could see only the strangest mix of colors in the sky- not belonging to night, dawn, day, or dusk. She took a hesitant step forward to investigate the clearing tentatively.
[Words: 193]
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 6:38 pm
Sins and Virtues CYOA Sloth
|| IC ||
After what feels like hours of being confined to the clearing, a thick mist rolls in from the trees. It fills the air like smoke, muting the light and covering your skin like a blanket. With the mist a heat fills you, sinking deep into your bones and drawing you into a relaxed state that is hard to resist. As you close your eyes to take it all in, the world around you shifts and changes into something new.
You can feel the air getting thicker, the smoke churning and changing and you find yourself in a calm, serene hot spring, the heavy air now water all around you, the floor no longer under your feet, and you feel... relaxed.
|| OOC || ||. Pick one of the options below and respond to the prompt reflecting your character's decision. ||. Remember, your actions could result in success, or damage to your character's health! ||. This round closes March 26th! ||. If you have any questions, please post them in the Events FAQ Thread.
|| Choice A ||
The water feels good against your skin, and it has become easy to just settle in and forget the world around you. It doesn't matter that you have places to be, those things can wait. Right now, all you want to be is here and finally get the rest you deserve. You lie languidly in the hot water and let your worries fade away with the time.
Post the following form in the thread to show you have selected this choice, and feel free to roleplay a response as well.
No matter how much you want to stay in the water, your sense of duty forces you to face the reality of the world around you. There's no time to rest, so you best get out of the hot spring. You look around for an exit and without hesitation pull yourself out of the water.
Post the following form in the thread to show you have selected this choice, and feel free to roleplay a response as well.
You know you have things to do and responsibilities to take care of, but your body just feels so tense. Staying in for just a little while can’t hurt, right? After all, you’ve worked hard to get to where you are, you need the break, even if it is only temporary.
Post the following form in the thread to show you have selected this choice, and feel free to roleplay a response as well.
No matter how long she progressed towards the treeline, it seemed to eternally escape her, ever in the distance, the edge of the clearing behind her similarly creeping up on her at an equal pace so that no matter how she walked, she always seemed to be near the center of the clearing. Just as she was about to grit her teeth and break into a run—this could not go on forever—the atmosphere changed. Naqenni stilled.
Her buggish, round teal eyes twitched as she skimmed the surrounding scene and her antennae coiled as her toes crimped at the earth. A fog rolled in, thick, like a blanket. So dense, she thought she could almost taste the water in it, warm and dizzyingly calming.
As soon as she sensed it affecting her senses, she fought the transition. She took a step back. She would not be drugged by poison mist fog—but already, it was sinking into her faster than she could resist it, and despite the continued lurching objections of her mind, her body was falling fast. Her eyelids drooped against her will. Her thoughts began to slow. She had shut her eyes before she realized it, and when she opened them again, the world had already changed.
She was suspended.
All around her, warm, tranquil water. Above, below, and in every surrounding direction, it hammocked her weight and caressed her skin, cradling her in its embrace. Soothing. She pursed her lips, brow furrowing and antennae flicking in the warm water. Tempting though it may be in certain respects, and groggy as she still felt thanks to it, this was not where she was meant to be. This obscure, strange world, despite its lulling pleasantness, felt like a trap. A test, barring her from a greater purpose.
She had began this on top of the world.
She intended to get back there.
With an adamant kick, she propelled herself through the water, towards the edge of the spring, and pulled herself out wetly onto the embankment. She had better things to do than laze about in hot water until it cooked her. First on that list was to find her way out of this maze of a place.
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 9:00 pm
I CHOOSE CHOICE A
|| Lenila ▼ || Post: 2 || HP: 15
If the clearing never ended, Lenila didn’t pay it much mind. If she thought about it, the mushy ground beneath her feet could roll, undulating like a tarp strapped over water, and if she hop-hop-skipped this way and then that, it could project up and suddenly she was darting from one rocky outcropping to the next. So the trees never drew closer? So the sky was a mass of strange swirling colors? It mattered little.
This was her world here.
Thus, when the fog rolled in, unfurling over the ground, Lenila stretched her hands out, palms up and grinning, and she spun in it. She blew, and away it roiled like a wave of dust dispersed from a tabeltop but in a grand scale over the grass around her. Then she let it back in, and it poured forward onto her, filling the space and swallowing her up. She shut her eyes. Warm. Content.
Suspended…
When she opened them again, the water ought to have surprised her, perhaps. Of course in waking circumstances it would have. But here it felt natural, even given that her conscious self could not swim. In this sphere, she didn’t need to. In fact, as she let the warmth of it permeate her skin and the atmosphere become her, the more it seemed that she didn’t truly need much of anything at all. Responsibility seemed a far off, distant concept. Concerns were a thing of the past. It was so very easy to lay here, enveloped, safe in a suspended state of listless bliss.
She let her eyes drift shut again, legs barely pedaling in the tepid water.
Really, she could stay here forever if she wanted.
Surely, no one would notice or miss her.
And it was so—very—pleasant.
Miss Chief aka Uke
Rainbow Fairy
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Miss Chief aka Uke
Rainbow Fairy
Offline
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 9:18 pm
I CHOOSE CHOICE C
|| Damissan ❂ || Post: 2 || HP: 20
Eternity.
That was what it felt like, waiting. Hours might have gone by, or days, Damissan couldn’t be sure in the strange light, and all the while, he felt restless anxiety at the beasts, the forest, the unfamiliarity—nothing seemed right, and as time crept by, if it were passing at all, that anxiety only amplified. Finally, worn to the limit of his patience, he determined that he might at least scope out the edge of the clearing. Sitting idle was getting him nothing, and at this point even death by disembowelment via one of the surrounding native beasts seemed preferable to further wait.
Except just as he made that decision, something changed.
An eerie, ethereal whiteness spilled in from the edges of the clearing like smoke. It was nothing like anything he’d ever experienced before and at first, he thought it was smoke. Was the woods on fire? Would he suffocate? He nearly took a step back, away from it, but it was rolling in at all angles and then upon him before he could contemplate any further options. His pulse sped and he tensed, the sense of immediate warmth only adding to his initial concern of fire—but this, he realized almost instantly after, was not smoke, but something else.
Thicker.
Damper.
Druglike.
He felt the lethargia slip in like the early onset effect of a hallucinogen or other intoxicant, enveloping his skin and seeming to sink deeper from there. Perhaps he ought to have, but he didn’t fight it. The relaxation felt welcome. Wanted. Missed, even, and it consumed him easily, swallowing him into a transient state of lethargy.
When he stirred back towards consciousness, the clearing had vanished. In its place—?
Water. Everywhere.
In the first instant that this occurred to him, there was an instinctive stutter of panic wherein his rational mind objected. He could not swim. The calming effects of the drugged smoke—water?—mist?—however, soothed over the edges of that panic, attempting, and largely succeeding at ushering away his concerns. Still, though, Damissan frowned. He had things to do, didn’t he? A message to spread. People to reach out to. Lands to travel. Things to learn, see, discover. Changes to bring about in the world that wouldn’t come if he didn’t participate.
The warm numbness in his limbs made it all hard to combat, and it felt so good exactly where he was, that it seemed a waste to rush out. Certainly, he had tasks yet ahead of him, but he had worked hard, as of late. He was doing his best and this—this perhaps could be considered his reward. A temporary lull in the great trial. Soon, he would make his way out. Not yet.
