Welcome to Gaia! ::

Where is it?
This was the first portal to appear and as such, everyone wants inside! It is located just outside the cave that leads into the hot springs, and it's very crowded. Several gnomes have been stationed here to keep students, horsemen, and citizens in line, but they have to be swapped out regularly in the face all of the pure, unadulterated love pouring out of the portal. It makes their skin melt off a little bit.


What's Inside?
You emerge from this portal in a hedge maze, its walls so high that even the strongest fliers, climbers, and teleporters doubt they can scale them. The sky far above is a pale pink and every so often a wispy heart-shaped cloud drifts into view between the branches and leaves. Despite the height of the walls, the maze's interior is lit with a pinkish glow.


What Do I Do?
Try to fly/climb/teleport out:

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You can't. The hedges go on for, like, ever.

Attempt to find your way out of the maze some other way:

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Whether you're having a leisurely stroll or a shaky, claustrophobia-induced jog through the maze, eventually you notice the stone kushi-kushis. They peek out of the foliage at random intervals, mostly when you're not looking for them, their vacant little faces staring up at the sky.

People are talking. They say the only way to get out is to kiss the kushis.

Quote:

Roll 2d12 per post and match your results with the image/numbers below. Each dot or pair of numbers is a kushi-kushi that you may kiss if you roll its location.

Kushi-kushis:



1,2; 1,4; 1,9
2,3; 2,6; 2,7; 2,10; 2,12
3,2; 3,5; 3,11
4,8; 4,9
5,1; 5,4; 5,6; 5,11
6,2; 6,7; 6,9
7,2; 7,3; 7,5; 7,11; 7,12
8,6; 8,7; 8,8; 8,10; 8,12
9,3; 9,7; 9,9
10,1; 10,4; 10,11
11,3; 11,6; 11,7; 11,10
12,1; 12,5; 12,8; 12,11; 12,12

How Do I Leave?
Each person must locate and kiss five kushi-kushis in order for the portal to appear at the end of the maze. It will take you back to the hot springs.


What Do I Get?

+2 RP points
x2 Heart Boxes
an IC 5 pound bag of red hots

There was no mistaking the voice on the other side of his door. It was the tone he was unsure of.

"What?" he asked, opening the door. "Is everything ok?"

Draven had time to realize that he understood NOTHING of what had been said to him. He'd caught 'we' and maybe 'treasure' and had been trying to puzzle it all out when he was dragged through his door.

He hoped it had closed. He'd tried to close it.

"Mayaa, this is good and all," he started, following along as best he could, "but I have no idea what is going on. Where are we going?"

He understood her words this time. Those were all words in his vocabulary. But he still had no idea about what was going on.

He was very surprised to see her drag them to a very crowded hotsprings. Ok. She wasn't crazy. There really was something going on.

"Ok." Draven sighed. He had to admit, he liked adventure. And he liked the idea of treasure. It might be fun. "We can try to get in." He settled himself in to wait in line. This was a line, right?

Draven gave her his very best smile. He had yet to regret spending time with Mayaa, well. He did kind of regret that time her pet had tried to kill him. So there was that.

But this had to be awesome. There were other people thinking this was great. So, he just followed Mayaa as she pulled him through the portal.

The portal was a lovely pink color. "Mayaa, where does this go?" Draven wasnt' sure he liked the look of this anymore.

But it was too late. They went through.

And sure enough, the other side was pink. And green. Hedges rose on either side of them, high into the sky. They were in the middle of a path...and the whole seemed lined with hedges.

Draven turned to look at the harpy. "Well?" He really didn't know what to expect now. She knew, though, right?

Draven nodded at her, letting her be the one to take to the air. From here...well. The walls looked pretty high.

"Well?"

Her shrug told him what he'd figured. Up and over was not an option. "Okaaaay," he said, "Let's go...this way." He pointed down the path that was more or less to his right. He nodded at her, then started down that way.

He thought, maybe, that he had heard a voice or two coming from this direction. He could not hear them right at that moment... So he decided to fill the silence. "I am reminded of a maze. One of those garden mazes. Like from a storybook. What do you think?"

Draven laughed. "Yes. Exactly like those." Her excitement was encouraging and possibly contagious. "What kind of treasure do you think we might find? And...where?"

Draven gave a wary glance at the hedges. They...had to end sometime, right? Maybe lead to some central location?

He had no idea where he was going, Mayaa was the one in charge. Clearly.

Draven was paying attention to the sky. The pink sky. He wondered just how high up the hedges went. How bit was the maze? How long would they be there?

And then Mayaa had a hold of him and the pink sky was going back and forth as the Fear was shaken out of him.

"What? What? Whaaa~at?" There was only so much talking he could do.