She seems busy, a glowing instrument in her hands. Wires emerge, created from the fog itself around her, snapping and hissing to life before fading back into greys.
You are handed a bag. It's a simple bag, tied with loose string, locked in the center. At one end of the string is a key.
"Go on," urges the Goddess, her smile crooked but hopeful, "open it up. I have a gift for you."
There is nothing inside.
"Oh." the Goddess is suddenly clenching and unclenching one hand. "A small error. It's okay, I can fix this." Her gaze intensifies, "With your help, I can fix this. Could you fetch me more parts? I stored them in my special labs but it's getting a little cluttered down there. Just look for the chests, they should be inside. I don't need everything it holds, just the heart." They pause, before giving you a pair of scissors. "That should do the trick. Just the heart. They don't need theirs after all," their expression turns turns wry, gentled at the corners with remorse, "...they didn't quite make it."
You turn to leave as the Goddess beams at you and gives you one last smile before you walk towards the thin opening. It's just a small box, a very tiny opening. It is dark inside. You think you hear something, steady thunks.
You step inside.
Quote:
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.
H-how strange.. Lacie thought as she listened to the goddess's words. She didn't quite understand what she was talking about. Hearts? Who didn't make it? She couldn't remember, or make sense of anything. Yet it seemed perfectly natural to follow her instructions, heading towards where she had dictated.
It was there she came upon three doors. The goddess must have known.. so that meant the goddess was leaving it up to her?
Attracted to the simple smile of the halloween pumpkin, she pushed open that door.
Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 1:51 am
[ You chose the First Door ]
Quote:
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.
"It's such a pretty place!" Lacie had to resist the urge to wander the meadow, the glowing pumpkins. Inside, a sense of purpose propelled her towards her destination.
"What a nice plac-" Her words were cut off when she caught sight of the tombstone. This place was actually.. a grave? Who was it? Why was it here of all places? She let her fingers trail over the unfamiliar name.
She should have been scared. But her fingers pushed away at the dirt, finally uncovering the beating entity. "The goddess needs it." Lacie looked over her shoulders to where she had come from. Why didn't she care?
She held it gently in her hands, the gold color similar to her own golden pupils.
None of it mattered. The Goddess ordered so, and Lacie would follow.
Xaki
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Xaki
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Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 6:58 pm
Zoobey
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."
A sense of uncertainly filled her as she walked along the path to return to the Goddess. Several times, Lacie looked back- feeling that somebody was following her ever since she had left the gravestone.
The water reached her ankles, then her knees, and then her dress -- until it almost completely submerged the young girl. A hand gripped tightly onto her shoulder, causing her to wince in pain.
Before she realized it, she was being pushed down to the bottom with a complete stranger. She flailed, pushed, struggled but all of to no avail. "S-stop!" She choked out, struggling to open her golden eyes to stare at her attacker.
They widened in shock. "No.." She spoke to herself.
"Mama, please don't!" Her identity, her relationship to the reaper -- everything rushed into her previously unfulfilled head. Was that heart hers? Was that why she was demanding it's return? Why did the goddess want her heart? "I-I didn't mean to-" But even that sentence remained unfinished as Lacie felt herself losing to the pain.
Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:13 pm
Zoobey
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.
Her hands gripped for something- anything- and then Lacie realized that the scissors was still in her hold. She couldn't die, not here or now. Summoning all of her courage, she stabbed it into her mother's arm, causing the attacker to wail in pain and momentarily release her hold. She took advantage of it to run.
As she ran, she couldn't help but look over her shoulder. "I'm so sorry." Lacie weeped, remembering how she had said those words over and over in the past. "I'm sorry!" She couldn't stop the tears from dripping down her face.
Xaki
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Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:38 pm
TASK 2
Zoobey
"You cannot escape forever."
The Goddess looks down at you, one hand gently running over the curved blade of the scythe as if it was a favored pet. "You must face your Fears. Eat or be eaten. That is the way of it here. Were it another time... I wonder which one you would be?"
She drops down from her perch and approaches you, circling you and looking you up and down. "I wonder indeed. Perhaps we shall solve this little mystery? Take this." She hands you a small jeweled dagger. It is a simple blade set with a stone, and from it dangles what looks to be a small claw of some sort.
"That should be more than enough," the Goddess continues. "You will need to learn to fend for yourself, to take on your challenges and judge for yourself what it means to sacrifice. That is the only way you will become stronger, else you'll fall prey to someone greater still." As she speaks the blade of the knife begins to rust, stained with a dark color reminiscent of Ruin.
"You are ready." She announces, gesturing with her scythe. "Go." Her bright glowing eyes are on you until you finally move towards a thin opening. You can still feel her gaze on you even after you leave her presence.
Lacie was scared by the goddess's words.
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:39 pm
TASK 2
Zoobey
You wake up feeling cold. That's strange, you don't ever remember falling asleep. There is something firm underneath you. A table, made of solid metal. It is very bright in the room, painfully so, the stark white lights in the ceiling a contrast to the greys you have been used to.
The lights hum. It feels slightly painful to your ears, ringing in dissonance. The room itself is empty. There are only four white walls surrounding you and the white ceiling with the white lights.
You take a few unsteady steps. In front of you is a door. It is unlocked.
Unfortunately the hallway outside is equally bright. As you take a few steps outside, you hear something slam shut. You turn around. The door that you walked through is still open however.
Examine the door again:
It is still open. There is nothing inside.
You continue onwards, taking slow, steady steps. The halls stem to stretch into infinity, but, at the very furthest distance you can see it. An exit. A way out. You don't need a reason to leave. This place is hollow, this place is empty, it's stifling, the lights are too bright, and it feels too clean, too sterilized. You start walking.
Thud.
You turn around again. The door that you left is still open. There is noone behind you, just white lights. You turn back around.
Thud.
You look behind you again.
They are watching you.
The first thing you hear is the steady thudding of footsteps against the perfectly polished floor. You can hear a strange noise, a sharp scraping noise. In one of their blackened hands they carry a pair of rusted scissors.
Thud. Screech. Thud. Screech.
They approach closer.
You are too scared too move.
They approach closer until you can feel chill claws grab at your neck. In a burst of terror, you move again, as their footsteps get more distant.
You start running.
You move as fast as your legs allow you to. The world is spinning. All you can hear outside of your panicked breath, and your Heart that will not stop beating furiously is the steady thud of a figure, cast in shadows, walking behind you. You reach the door.
It is locked.
There are bright red letters written onto the handlebar of the door. Passcode required. A 9 digit number pad is stuck right onto the door at face level.
OOC: ESCAPING THE HALLWAY
[ The Escape ]: It is time to start your escape. If you have not already done one for Task 1, create a [JOURNEY] CHARACTER NAME HERE thread in this subforum with your character. If you already have a [JOURNEY] thread up, simply go to your character's thread and continue posting from where you left off in Task 1. Read the above prompt and respond accordingly in a post as your character wakes up and acknowledges their surrounds. Next, you will be rolling to escape the area.
[ YOU ARE BEING FOLLOWED ]: You are being pursued by an unknown shadowed figure that will instantly kill you if they reach you. The figure will occasionally taunt you with words, sometimes familiar ones or ones that are simply twisted in a familiar tone. They CAN be the same figure that you stole the Heart from in Task 1 (though your character does not remember this anymore), OR another figure entirely, one that in your character's original (pre meta) life, they considered a threat or danger. if you have not participated in Task 1, they are a figure from your character's past (pre meta) memory, now twisted beyond comprehension. Please do not use existing characters in this meta, if you are using someone else's character that is not an NPC, please contact that rper for permission. - The distance between you and the follower is currently 50 feet. If the distance between you and the follow hits 0 feet at any point in this story, it is game over. - Your goal is to escape out of this area.
[ Escaping Mechanics ]:
- You will now need to roll to escape. Each escape roll costs time and has a prompt. Write a response to the prompt accordingly. Subtract the correct time as listed in your dice roll. If your distance hits 0 at any point, you default to Game Over prompt (below). Keep a tally of your current distance in OOC quotes at the bottom of your post. You start at 40 feet apart from the figure.
- Roll 1d4 (one four-sided dice). Keep on rolling and responding to these prompts until you get the passcode successfully and escape. Make a new post in your Journey thread for each roll until you escape. Write reactions as necessary.
gaia_starIf you roll a 1: You panic as you look around. For a second everything blurs and all you see is a memory of you and that figure. (OOC: This is a memory triggered, any memory, of you and that figure. That figure is the same figure that you stole the Heart from in Task 1. IF you were not here in Task 1, this figure is the someone from your character's past that was important to you. ) - Subtract 5 feet from the distance between you and the follower. The follower begins to taunt you, using strange, distorted words in some semblance of the same figure from your memories.
gaia_starIf you roll a 2: You see a piece of paper to your left. It is stained in red. You read it.
A C E G.
-If you have NOT examined the code by rolling a 4 before this roll, you panic when you see this slip as you do not know what it means. Subtract 5 feet from the distance between you and the follower. You must now roll a 4 to escape.
gaia_star If you roll a 3: You stumble again. In a fit of desperation you push at the doors. They do not open. - Subtract 5 feet from the distance between you and the follower. The follower begins to taunt you, talking about all your past failures. You don't remember any of those so you don't know what they mean.
gaia_star If you roll a 4: You see a second piece of paper to your left. It reads A=0, B=1, C=2.
-If you have NOT examined the letters by rolling a 2 before this roll, you panic when you see this slip as you do not know what it means. Subtract 5 feet from the distance between you and the follower. You must now roll a 2 to escape.
gaia_star[ If you roll a 2 AND A 4: (Any order) - You put together the sequence. You enter 0, 2, 4, 5 into the number pad. The door slides open. With a final burst of energy, you escape. Proceed to the next post below for the second set of prompts.
[ GAME OVER ]:
The last thing you see is a blackened, disfigured body near and a face stare at you, empty and silent. A pair of hands reach towards you, one of them holding onto your head. You can't move. You are paralyzed. You hear a strange thudding sound that increases and realizes it is your Heart.
"Don't worry," coos the voice, "It only hurts once."
There is a loud snip and then a second. You feel the sharp pain only once before that disappears too. The figure walks away, one hand holding your Heart, still beating, the other hand holding a pair of rusted scissors.
- If the distance between the follower and you hits 0 that is the end of this journey for you. Write your death solo reaction to the GAME OVER prompt in italics (a post where your character reacts to the given death prompt) as your last JOURNEY post for this prompt. Then go back to the Task 2 opening thread HERE and respond to the RESULT PROMPT post in that thread (the last post).
[ Success ]:
If you succeeded in opening the door, proceed to the post below.
(( Click carefully, the image above within the spoiler is not for the faint of heart or those with heart conditions~ ))
Why was Lacie in this room..? Why didn't she remember..? Smoothing down her hair in a sign of nervousness, she wondered what she should do? For a few minutes, she explored; but the only option left to her was the door. She half-expected it to be locked. But it was open. Lacie pushed it open cautiously, wondering if she would meet anybody else? But it seemed that she was all by herself.
SLAM!
T-that wasn't her door, right?
Thud!
She looked nervously over her shoulder but saw nobody.
Thud!
Run as fast as your feet will take you, Liace! ;_;
Xaki
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Xaki
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Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:40 pm
aa
Xaki rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-4)
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:41 pm
Quote:
If you roll a 2: You see a piece of paper to your left. It is stained in red. You read it.
A C E G.
-If you have NOT examined the code by rolling a 4 before this roll, you panic when you see this slip as you do not know what it means. Subtract 5 feet from the distance between you and the follower. You must now roll a 4 to escape.
Distance: 50 - 5 = 45 feet
She desperately looked around for the passcode; finding a small piece of paper. What did it mean?!
Xaki
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Xaki rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-4)
Xaki
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Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:07 pm
Quote:
If you roll a 2 AND A 4: (Any order)
- You put together the sequence. You enter 0, 2, 4, 5 into the number pad. The door slides open. With a final burst of energy, you escape. Proceed to the next post below for the second set of prompts.
She finally understood the code. Her fingers were trembling so badly that it took Lacie several attempts before she punched in the code properly. When she finally did so, she wasted no time in escaping.
Xaki rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-4)
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:10 pm
Zoobey
You are outside. There are grey trees staring that greet you, hiding you from the figure.
You look behind you:
They are still steadily following you.
Without looking back and further, you continue to run. The figure following you taunts at you. Occasionally through the loud crunching of their footsteps you can hear steady snipping. They taunt you about returning their Heart. They taunt you about taking your Heart in return.
You reach the end of the trees to a long bridge. It looks rickety and unsure, swaying uneasily. You will need to cross it.
OOC: ESCAPING THE FOREST
[ YOU ARE STILL BEING FOLLOWED ]: You are being pursued by this same shadowed figure as the post above that will instantly kill you if they reach you. The figure will occasionally taunt you with words, sometimes familiar ones or ones that are simply twisted in a familiar tone.
gaia_starIf you roll a 2: The bridge is rickety and old. As you step on one of the boards, it breaks under your feet. You hastily try to tug your foot out. It is stuck. The figure closes in on you, they are almost behind you. You must make a choice (simply icly choose one of these two options)
1) Stay and try to get your foot out: . The next thing you know you hear steady thumps on the bridge followed by loud snipping noises. You turn around, and they are right behind you. GAME OVER (move to the game over prompt above).
Quote:
[ GAME OVER ]:
The last thing you see is a blackened, disfigured body near and a face stare at you, empty and silent. A pair of hands reach towards you, one of them holding onto your head. You can't move. You are paralyzed. You hear a strange thudding sound that increases and realizes it is your Heart.
"Don't worry," coos the voice, "It only hurts once."
There is a loud snip and then a second. You feel the sharp pain only once before that disappears too. The figure walks away, one hand holding your Heart, still beating, the other hand holding a pair of rusted scissors.
- If the your rolled prompt leads to a GAME OVER that is the end of this journey for you. Write your death solo reaction to the GAME OVER prompt in italics (a post where your character reacts to the given death prompt) as your last JOURNEY post for this prompt. Then go back to the Task 2 opening thread HERE and respond to the Result Prompt post in that thread.
She ran and ran, never sure when the figure would catch up to her. She desperately panted for breath.
She arrived at a bridge. One boot slipped through the crack, easily becoming stuck. She pulled at her foot- but it was too late. The figure descended upon her, pushing her down. They didn't even seem to care for their own safety on the bridge. Instead, they pinned her body down.
There was the flash of pain.. and then when Lacie could finally open her eyes, she could only see the figure's receding form.
