exclaim Please make sure you have read the Journey Intro first and then continue on.
The first thing you notice when you step inside are three thick doors facing you. Each of them has a sigil on it and a word.
The first is shaped like a pumpkin. It seems rather pleasant and the hollow, carved faced of the pumpkin is smiling, etched right onto the door. It gives off a simple, ambient vibe.
The second is shaped like a reverse hooked spiral. It's been crossed out multiple times no, scratched out, until the spiral is all but covered in thick, unsteady gouges. It gives a strange, unnerving vibe.
The third is a shape of a tree, branching downwards. The tree splits into several uneven branches at the base. It gives a vibe filled entirely with malice and terror.
OOC: Choosing a Door
[ Starting your personal descent ]: With the prompt and this existing one, create a [JOURNEY] CHARACTER NAME HERE thread in this subforum with your character. - In the first post, write your character's reaction to the events that just followed leading up to this. Then have your character in their first post choose a door. - When you have finished this, with that thread still open, move onto the next post in this thread. - In the post below in this thread, select the spoiler tag corresponding to the door you chose. Then, follow the OOC below.
[ WARNING ]:
- The doors are based on levels of tolerance. If you are not good with potential violence and gore please do not choose the third door. The first door is best for those who want to be spared certain potentially gruesome details. The second door is a combination of the two, for the "mid-core" level that explains the events without going into too much detail.
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:30 pm
[ You chose the First Door ]
You hear just as you walk into the hallway a sound, a light humming, a strange nostalgia in you stirs. For a moment you imagine pumpkins, smiling glowing ones, before all is quiet. You hear voices, lingering in the distance. They sound familiar and provide a sense of warmth. The corners of your mouth turn into a smile, without you even knowing why. It feels like someone you've been waiting for for a long time is here.
The door shuts behind you, firmly, the second you enter. It is bright. You walk through a field of brightly glowing pumpkins. They seem to be leading a path for you, with flickering yellow lights and orange carved faces. At the very end there is a very large open field. It is covered in small glowing orange flowers, that seem to illuminate the ground. It feels peaceful here.
There is a tombstone sticking out in the center. It reads "HERE LIES -". You do not recognize this name. Someone has placed dried yellow flowers against the tombstone. As you lean closer, you realize that there is a sound coming from underneath the grave.
Thump-thump.
A heart.
Thump-thump.
There is no fear or pain. You know what you have to do as you reach and push away the flowers. It calls to you. The Heart, marked by the tombstone, glowing a bright orange.
Extracting the Heart is a simple, really. You take the scissors and continue to keep on pushing the pliant ground around it away until at last, in your hands, you uncover the heart. As you clasp it in your hands, it glows a steady yellow.
Thump-thump.
You remove it. It stops pulsing
Slowly, you place it into your bag.
OOC: EXTRACTING THE HEART
[ Extracting the Heart ]: In your JOURNEY thread, in a SECOND post, write a reaction to this prompt with the following: - The name on the grave/ crate glows in bright orange. It reads a name **of a character from YOUR CHARACTER's memories/ past**. It can be any character, as long as they are not in this meta, and they MUST have ties to your character. If you don't have one, make one up. Family members and relatives. Mentors and old childhood friends. Give them a name, and then describe them a bit as you reach towards them and finally....
As you extract their heart a memory plays. It is a memory of your first encounter with them.
- When you are satisfied with what you have written, move on to the next post in this thread, which is the same for all doors, and follow the Post and then OOC below.
[ You chose the Second Door ]
You hear people calling for you, cheering, for a second it seems nostalgic. For a second images of photos, faces, overlap with your vision. They seem to be saying a single word over and over again as they call for you, the word, the name is unfamiliar. As you walk through, these images disappear, the only thing burned into your eyes the afterimage of shadowed, still bodies staring at you.
The door shuts behind you, firmly, the second you enter. It is dark. You have to fumble your way through the abyss. All sound is locked and trapped. The hallway seems to be moving as you move, shaping itself towards the direction of your footsteps. You reach your first obstacle at the end, hitting it accidentally. It echos a hollow thump and then a thud.
It is a large crate.
Thud.
You move around to feel around it. It is blocking your pathway.
Thud.
The top of the crate is opened, and there is an unusual shape sticking out. The shape simply does not fit into the crate.
Thud.
Without knowing why, you grab onto it. You feel only ragged, empty fabric, as it slides between your fingers and falls back into the crate with a final thud.
Something is wedged almost perfectly into the box. It feels like hollow whispers and tattered edges. As you reach a little closer you hear something else. Through the folds of the fabric you can barely see the edges of a glowing steady yellow.
Thump-thump.
A heart.
Thump-thump.
Extracting the Heart is a tedious, but not difficult. You use your scissors and snip away at the first layers of ragged fabric covering the heart, and then the second. There are a bunch of strings, tied in complicated patterns around it. You cut through those too, one by one, piece by piece, making sure not to cut into the heart. At least it is ready to be taken.
Thump-thump.
You remove the Heart. It stops pulsing
Slowly, you place it into your bag.
OOC: EXTRACTING THE HEART
[ Extracting the Heart ]: In your JOURNEY thread, in a SECOND post, write a reaction to this prompt with the following: - As you cut through the fabric into the Heart you hear a voice whisper the name. It is the name **of a character from YOUR CHARACTER's memories/ past**. It can be any character, as long as they are not in this meta, and they MUST have ties to your character. If you don't have one, make one up. Family members and relatives. Mentors and old childhood friends. Give them a name, and then describe them a bit as you reach towards them and finally....
As you extra their heart a memory plays. It is a memory of your first encounter with them.
- When you are satisfied with what you have written, move on to the next post in this thread, which is the same for all doors, and follow the Post and then OOC below.
[ You chose the Third Door ]
It is dead silent. All you hear is a series of steady thuds, far in the distance and what sounds almost like someone whispering a single word over and over again. A name. But not yours. It sounds familiar though.
The door shuts behind you, firmly, the second you enter. It is dark. You have to fumble your way through the abyss. The hallway seems to be moving as you move, shaping itself towards the direction of your footsteps. You reach your first obstacle at the end, hitting it accidentally. It echos a hollow thump and then another thud.
It is a large crate.
Thud.
You move around to feel around it. It is blocking your pathway.
Thud.
The top of the crate is opened, and there is an unusual shape sticking out to one side, bare outlines bathed in a sickly red. The shape simply does not fit into the crate.
Thud.
You move closer. The strange unusual shape sticking out resembles an arm, swaying slowly back and forth. Instinctively, without knowing why, you grab onto the arm.
The sound stops.
You feel around the arm. Something is wedged almost perfectly into the box, taking up most of the space, something soft and pliant. You push against it as it meets resistance. It's an unusual texture, soft, but firm underneath. As you reach a little closer you hear something else.
Thump-thump.
A heart.
Thump-thump.
Through the firm flesh the Heart continues to beat a steady red.
Thump-thump.
Your bag is still empty.
It doesn't matter how long you wait. The obstacle will not move. It doesn't matter if you wait forever, or a single second, or any time in between. Time seems to be infinite. The darkness makes it terrifying. You can barely see anything. You cannot hear anything else.
The Heart is still beating and there is a pair of scissors in your free hand.
Extracting the Heart is a little difficult. It is hard to explain without fully seeing. You think at some point you moved, digging your scissors into the obstacle inside the crate. You think at some point the rubbery, unusual feeling finally peeled and ripped, slowly but steadily compliant, creating a small opening, a hole towards the Heart. You think at some point your hand reached into the opening your scissors made and felt something warmer within. As you pull your hand out, you hear and feeling a gushing noise pour from the opening, and you push your scissors deeper. Something thinner is in the way, long and elastic, pulsating with life on their own, sharply inflating and deflating in a pair. You quickly snip those parts away. The Heart is still snagged and you have to work fiercely, grabbing both your hands now, to push both sides of the cavity open. It is indeed a cavity, and you can feel it, as the sealed contents from within slide out with a heavy slosh and a thunk into the bottom of the crate. Nothing else remains, only the Heart.
Thump-thump.
You remove it. It stops beating.
Slowly, you place it into your bag.
OOC: EXTRACTING THE HEART
[ Extracting the Heart ]: In your JOURNEY thread, in a SECOND post, write a reaction to this prompt with the following: - As you cut through into Heart, the figure in the crate's arm claws into you and screams a name, chilling, cold, terrifying, before falling silent and inanimate again. A memory plays. It is **a character from YOUR CHARACTER's memories/ past** calling you by this name. It can be any character, as long as they are not in this meta, and they MUST have ties to your character. If you don't have one, make one up. Family members and relatives. Mentors and old childhood friends. Give them a name, and then describe them a bit as you reach towards them and finally....
As you extra their heart a memory plays. It is a memory of your first encounter with them.
- When you are satisfied with what you have written, move on to the next post in this thread, which is the same for all doors, and follow the Post and then OOC below.
Zoobey Artist
Magical Incubator
Offline
Zoobey Artist
Magical Incubator
Offline
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:31 pm
You continue to walk. You realize the floor has become less solid and more pliant until it feels almost slippery and sticky until you reach a dead end again. Behind you, you hear a sloshing noise, and then footsteps. You turn around.
Nothing.
You continue to walk and the water around you gets deeper, colder. You hear the sloshing noise and it is louder this time.
"Please give it back."
You turn around, but nothing.
You continue to walk and the water around you gets deeper still until it is around your neck. You cannot reach any further. You have to move back.
"Please give me back my-"
Two hands grab a hold of you, pushing you down. You can't breathe. You struggle, but you can't resist. You feel a sharp pain, and realize they are pushing you deep, further down, until you, the feeling of your being has almost stopped existing until they look at you with deep, grey eyes, glassy, baring their sunken teeth-
"Give me back my heart."
OOC
[ The Encounter ]: - In the third post of your Journey thread, you encounter a struggle as a figure seizes you with blank eyes. - You remember WHAT this person is to you and your relationship. It could be any memory. It could be a happy memory, or a conflict. A snippet of your relationship plays as they stare into you and try to drown you. - When you are satisfied with what you have written, move on to the next post in this thread, which is the same for all doors, and follow the Post and then OOC below.
Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:31 pm
You have no choice. It is either you or them. You must exist for the Blessings and the goddesses. Yes, when you are a goddess, perhaps, one day, you can return for them. You use your only weapon, the scissors against them, plunging it deep into an opening.
They shriek-
- And then disappear
There is no more water, and you cough the rest up, the dark and wretched substance. Light begins to pour in again, this time from a door. You have made it to the exit.
Just as you turn to leave, you could have sworn you saw for a second that same figure staring at you balefully in the distance with hollow eyes. They are holding your scissors tightly clenched in one hand.
OOC
[ The Escape ]: - In the final post of your Journey thread, you escape the terrible encounter. - Simply write your struggle as you finally escape from their grasp, with the knowledge of the two memories you have just gained. - When you are satisfied with what you have written, move BACK to the main Task 1 Intro HERE and read the SACRIFICE POST.
