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 Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 3:53 pm
Quote: Prompt 11: Strange talismans are hanging, hidden, in the tree branches in the forest. They are easy to miss, but there's something ominous about them; they are small strips of leather and wood and are marked with carvings, ink, and a strange brown stain. It is impossible to read anything on these talismans, but there is something obviously old and unnerving about them. Sometimes, when you pull one from the tree, a strange gust of wind reaches you despite none of the branches in the forest moving. In the distance, sometimes it feels like cold eyes on you. Oddly, the more talismans you recover, the more light seems to filter through the trees--at least, for a moment. There's no indication who put these talismans up, or what their purpose is. Pulling them may do as much harm as good, but there's only one way to find out what they're capable of and what their purpose is.
There was too much about this place that Arnica didn't understand. He'd only been here for a short while, but it already felt like he'd seen everything that there was to see. The forest stretched on endlessly, but nothing changed. It looked like it was open ended, but that only served to make him feel even more trapped.
If this whole thing was an illusion, where were they really? How could he see beyond the wall of trees, but always be trapped in a ring of them?
It was frustrating. On one hand, it was the perfect mystery, and he loved those--and all the conspiracy theories, and all the wonder that came from the supernatural.
On the other hand, really uncool to just be dropped in here like this without any pre-planning.
He sighed and planted his hands on his hips; there were plenty of energy signatures around but for once, he didn't necessarily see anyone. He was out in the forest, looking for something, anything.
And then, he'd found the strange Talisman, just hanging from the tree. At first, it had blended in and he hadn't noticed it at all--and then, all of a sudden, once he knew what he was looking for, it seemed like more and more kept popping up.
None of it made any sense, but he figured that if he was going to waste time between now and whenever the sun went down, he might as well spend it doing something interesting.
So far, he had collected six pieces, all with varying runes and symbols carved into them. There didn't seem to be any similarity to them except he didn't understand any of them.
He doubted even Remarque would know, but that didn't stop him from meandering through the forest, staring up in the branches and circling trees as he looked for anything else secret, hidden away in them.
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 4:11 pm
The forest seemed never ending, he'd been in the woods twice now, but it had to...right? There had to be some end or something. The village couldn't just be here with nothing around it, it made no sense, he was sure there was some sort of magic afoot which was the cause for the woods to seem to never end...to close in around people and lead right back to the village every time. The only thing he could blame for this, for everything here, was magic.
As he came to the forest, again, he hoped to find something this time. Any sort of clue would be nice, at least it would prove there was more out here.
As he came into the forest he heard the sounds of someone else, someone near enough to be heard, and so called out in the hopes of meeting someone friendly and helpful. "Who's here?!" He and Clue needed friends out in this mess, they would if they wanted to survive anyway. It was time to try and find allies.
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:12 pm
Arnica paused when he heard the voice and turned just slightly. "I'm here?" he called back, a bit surprised by the voice. He couldn't quite place the tone so didn't know if someone was afraid, or if they were just trying to make conversation.
He drew away from the tree he'd just pulled a talisman from and held it loosely in his fingertips as he looked towards the source of the voice--and then, he saw a few dark colors and seemed to piece together that it must have been the Dark Mirror Senshi on his radar. "--Are you looking specifically for someone, or something...?" he asked, taking in the man's appearance. "Or just looking for company?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:24 pm
"Company and anything which may help in getting out of here." Anything to help them all escape this place so they could get home before any more time was spent here and any more people went missing. Looking the other over he did spot them holding onto something.
"What's that?" Approaching cautiously, as he didn't know the person. "Is that something from here?" He'd not thought anything would be found in these woods -a side from trees...lots of trees. This place seemed to be nothing but trees and a village...separate from civilization and not in spade either he assumed. So where it was he didn't know...like a pocket dimension or something separate from everything...existing on it's own.[/color
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:12 pm
Arnica tilted his head just slightly. "I don't know. I've found a few, though. They were just hanging on the trees. It's...kind of a weird sensation, when you remove them? ...But...this place feels a little less stuffy since I started pulling them off."
Ideally, he wasn't making things worse.
"I'm Arnica," he introduced. "I feel like we should know each other. The whole 'Dark Mirror' thing, and all." He held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:28 am
"That seems like a good thing - less stuffy. Maybe more need to come down." And then the place would feel less foreboding and it might help them in some bigger way, some way they didn't know yet.
"I'll help take some down." He just needed to get them from the tree branches were they were hanging, he as sure some of them he couldn't reach. "Some people hug some f these with ladders." He was sure of that.
"Yes, we should. We are a small group. Itokawa - senshi of fairy rings." Though he didn't think fairy rings was all that great of a sphere he knew it gave him some useful magic, though he'd never really had to use it.
As he approached a tree he had to do some climbing, after he got up on tip toes so he could grasp a branch and haul himself up. As he did that he was able to reach for a hanging talisman. "Catch." Dropping it down he took his time in getting down from the tree, he didn't want to get hurt. It would not be easy to get any treatment or help if he were to get hurt here in this little village.
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:38 am
Arnica nodded, supposing that either they were hung with some tools to assist--or the trees must have been much smaller when these talismans were attached. Some of them looked just downright old, and given the difficulties he'd had in pulling them free, it made sense that they might have been there for a while.
He reached out his hand to catch the talisman as it fell, flipping it over as he examined it. "It's nice to meet you, Itokawa. Fairy Rings sound interesting. I've got Mandragora, but." He waited for Itokawa to make his way back down to the ground, but held out a hand as he was descending to help. "Have you been a Senshi for long?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:09 pm
"Mandragora?" It wasn't the easiest word to say but he did manage it as he gave the other a puzzled look, not sure what that word was exactly. It certainly wasn't anything he'd ever heard of, he was sure he'd have remembered hearing that word before.
"Some time...over a year. Not so active but I'm improving....I want to improve now and know others. It was harder when I joined and didn't speak much English." That would make things difficult and he had to focus on school and getting to know his way around and learn English. It had been a lot back then.
"Lets get more and see what they do - if anything." Maybe form some sort of picture?
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Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2020 5:25 pm
Arnica nodded; he didn't attempt to explain Mandragora because he knew the bare minimum about it, himself, and it seemed a bit silly to pretend like he had any mastery over his sphere. "I understand that. We should keep in contact," he said. "I mean, once we get out of here. I'm looking to know more people, and to have an excuse to get out more. And for now, I'd be happy to stick around and keep looking for more of these talismans, though, if you like? It's probably safer to go with two of us."
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Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2020 7:19 pm
"I think once we get out of here I'll do more." Which he'd been doing anyway, but he knew he'd pick up i senshi activities further after this. He also knew he'd be working more on things at home, for himself and Clue, he needed to make their apartment more like a home for them and not just a place to live and stay. It needed to be warmer and safer feeling.
"Yes, let's find more of these before we have to return home." For the night...because the night wasn't safe. "We should leave time for dinner also." Because when night fell they couldn't make noise, he didn't even like risking dinner at night. He wanted to be in bed once the beast arrived. He needed that long anyway to get a goodnights sleep - it took forever to get to sleep and staying asleep was impossible. A lot of hours in bed were needed in order to get a decent amount of sleep - it was sad.
"Come." Moti0oning to another tree for the other. They could continue this for a while longer before returning home. And they would - they might need these.
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