CROSSROADS ※ 1: DISCUSSION POST [mod event] [video] [open]

[konman]

Okay, so those bird dudes weren't lying about the different paths. I found the crossroads they're talking about.

[Kon really shouldn't be tromping around alone like this so much but he's used to being nigh on invincible. It's going to take a while for him to get used to the idea that he's not.]

[The road was all overgrown but there is a road through the woods - and it leads here, to a place where the line of the forest breaks into wide fields of golden grasses. Kon sets up his mirror to expand to its largest side and leaves it to float. There's a crossroads here with a battered wooden sign. The wood is so faded and weathered that words can no longer be read on it.]

[The path splits off into three paths. Down the left-most path, the unlabeled path leads down a dark and dreary road towards some hills. One hill can be seen all the way in the distance, standing out above the others. Rising a thousand feet above the rest of the land around it, it's covered in battered ruins that offer at least some shelter from the elements and cover from potential enemies.]

[Down the center path, the path clearly leads to a sinister-looking wild forest, a dark and dreary wood that seems filled with endless shadows. The path disappears into the woods and the tangled branches make it impossible to see into the forest's depths, especially at this distance.]

[Down the right-most path, there's candy. No joke. Dirt and normal plants start to give way to cobblestones made of hard candy and sugar-spun delicate trees. Gummdrops line the side of the road. The other two paths are grim, with even the hilly path dim from cloudy skies, but this path seems to have clear skies and constant sun.]

[Kon stands in front of the mirror, so that the paths are behind him.]

So our choices are: the Land of the Hill Trolls, Mirkwood, and Candyland.

[He narrows his eyes.]

I don't trust Candyland. [He gestures vaguely at it.] The other two roads have the good graces to be creepy from the get-go, but that looks deceptively nice. It's trying way too hard to be cheerful and sunshine-ey.

[ooc: See the OOC Post here.]

Comments

[mirror]

[awfulcer]

[None of the options look particularly inviting, so Dixon actually has to think on it before throwing his two cents in.]

Okay, but if we go to Candyland we won't have to worry about starving. [He ain't no fucking nutritionist.]

[konman]

Yes, but it's also too inviting.

Think about it, we've been dumped into Fantasyland, right? The Emerald City was real here, so who the hell -- heck. [Kal is here, ergo he tries to cut down on the cursing.] Who the heck knows what else is real here?

Candyland could mean gingerbread houses, and gingerbread houses could mean evil witches that want to fatten us up and eat us.

[Kon taps his temple.]

Gotta start thinking with some genre-savvy.

[astrarche]

The forest contains the highest quantity of resources.

[She doesn't offer the opinion up helpfully. She offers it like it's the only possible logical choice, clearly, and surely no one else will disagree with her on account of her being Right.]

[konman]

But it's also got the highest quantity of creepy.

I think we should go to the hills. We'd have the high ground against any enemies and there still might be stuff to hunt in all those grasslands.

mirror

[googledox]

Untrue. The... [Brainy has to take a moment to breathe in and out through his nose, as if steeling himself up to say the following very stupid words] candy path would have the most favorable ratio of energy exertion to caloric intake. We had no idea whether that forested area has the same proliferation of sources of nutrition that this area does.

Provided we carefully supplement said caloric intake with protein from - [Another sigh] - meat and bring along more nutrient-rich foods from the Melai Temple area, the path made of candy is unarguably the most calorie-dense.

[suckitblue]

It could be cursed. Cursed forests would be really, really in line with everything else we're looking at here.

[prisonerofsasskaban]

[Sirius's eyes are fixed on one path in particular. He curses being stuck in the Brugh even more. Because if that's what he thinks it is, he knows just how to handle it]

That's not Mirkwood. That looks like the Forbidden Forest.

[outofresets]

How can you tell?

[greyerrant]

Land of the hill trolls looks like it has the best chance of being a defensible position and some protection from ambush.

That's my vote, if we're doing this by vote.

[suckitblue]

I'm with you on this one. At least we can kind of see what's up there.

...Mostly I just really don't want to go in that forest.

[shyhara]

Did the person scouting out the paths test any of that candy? It could be fake and completely inedible, or poisonous. It's a waste of time to argue for it as a route with easy access to food if we aren't actually certain we could eat it.

[At least he seems a bit more assertive right now. Detective mode fuckin' on.]

[konman]

I can eat some of it.

[A shrug.]

I mean somebody needs to try it, right?

Mirror, floating [Let's Try Animal Sacrifice Option]

[fiteclub]

Mon, you better not go any further than that.

[Anita does not look all that impressed at the fact that Kon wandered all that way on his lonesome without backup, but she's also carefully whittling a length of wood into a comb with a small knife she found in the temple's kitchens.]

I don't think any of them are going to be good choices, but it still leaves which one is going to be the least worst. [she sets knife and proto-comb down, and rubs the back of her neck.]

I haven't tried it yet, but I could give it a shot asking the loa, or the spirits here, I guess. See if that gets an answer. I might need some help finding a big enough bird, though.

[suckitblue]

Why would you need a bird?

[ He just blurts it out in genuine surprise, he has no idea how that fits together. ]

[the_hit_list]

I know almost everyone's picked up on how suspicious the candy path is -

[ And Tim is pleased as punch about it. Even Bart pointed out that you can't live off candy. ]

And I'm inclined to agree, but I can't help thinking that suspicious is what we should be chasing. Nothing that's happened to us so far has been subtle.

[konman]

[Kon rubs his chin.]

Are you thinking that it being all sunshine-ey and appealing is some kind of gold-embossed 'Hey, Chosen Ones, check this out!' invitation to something we're meant to see?

[mothermouse]

I would like to point out that I would never allow my children to run off on a path made of candy. That way always leads to mouse traps. Always.

[konman]

It just has "trap" written all over it.

[astrarche]

Hmph. I like to believe my son would be too smart to run off on a path of candy.

[She . . . she knows he's probably not. Given the degree to which Kubo was recently fooled, following a path of candy is not at all out of line in his decision making.

He didn't get his sense of trust from her, that's for certain.

But all she talks about here is horrible, sad things, and the brightest, best thing that is ever in her mind is the thought of her son, and if she's desperate to talk even a little about the best thing she's left behind, then maybe this other mother who brought her children up feels the same.]

[wherenoonegoes]

According to Huginn and Muginn, all three paths are equally terrible in some unknown way. There's no right choice here.

Personally, the only thing I'm voting against is the forest. Too much opportunity for an ambush. Plus, Toothless and I wouldn't be able to help as much when everything goes sideways. There's not enough clearance for aerial support.

[fiteclub]

Things can be equally terrible but dangerous in different ways. There's probably no right choice, but there's still probably one that's the best for us to make for what resources we have.

[coiledscales]

I'm in favor of the high hill, myself. Candyland sounds... strange. And the height advantage does give us a chance of seeing anything that comes in our direction.

[konman]

With height advantage, there's also flight advantage, like Hiccup pointed out. Can you fly like the other dragon-guy?

[Toothless is a dragon-guy instead of just a dragon, because clearly he's intelligent.]

Because then we'd have some air support if things went south.

[balladin]

Uh, I realize that I'm not there, so my vote prob-ab-ly counts less, but I have to tell you guys that Candyland does not sound like a place you want to go. There's this guy where I'm from - he calls himself Arcade - every so often he sets up a new themepark. It's always called something stupid like FUNLAND, until he has the hostages or whoever he's been hired to assassinate.

Then it turns out to be Murderworld... again. I don't think it ever gets old for him. [ There's so much wordplay and puns that he doesn't make - doesn't even think of making, really. Robbie has heard about what Arcade did to his former students. Despite the jovial villain theme, Murderworld is no joke. ] Candyland sounds right up his alley.

[wherenoonegoes]

None of these places are anywhere we want to go. Unless we're very lucky, which we aren't, something terrible is going happen no matter which direction we choose. We're just trying to figure out which path we're best equipped to handle.

[ofnovalue]

Twould seem this most strange land has no lack of its own wonders. I fear I know too little to truly make an informed decision, for which I can only apologize.

-She sighs, shaking her head.- I shall defer to the wisdom of Ser Agrias on this matter. I offer her the authority to speak for us both. I know that with her might, we are safe, regardless of which road we choose.

[cleansingstrike]

As you command, My Lady.

Were we not lacking in knowledge, I would feel more at ease with the choice we must needs make.

[Candy Mountain is out of the question.

Just look at it.]

Our ranks would be more easily defended from the ruins. 'Tis a valuable advantage, and we should wholly presume that our numbers would be set upon, regardless of route.

[loadme]

Isn't it weird how nobody's even thinking of going through Candyland? The ruins and the forest are all obviously dangerous, but Candyland doesn't follow their pattern at all.

So we automatically think it's the worst option.

What if it isn't?

[wherenoonegoes]

Because things are never that easy. That and Huginn and Muginn did say there was something wrong with all three options.

IC POLL

[konman]

Alright, we've had our chance to argue, and Anita's even gotten some info from a creepy spirit. Sounds like we're pretty hosed and have to figure out exactly how we want to be hosed.

The best way to deal with this is a vote. We're going to have to move as a group so that means we should decide as a group.

The people stuck in that weird pocket dimensions should get a say, too, because they might pop back at any time into whatever situation we wind up in next.

So, what's it going to be, everyone? We've got creepy hills with undead eyes watching us, a creepy forest with an ancient evil, and a magical candyland where we'll be monsters and the candy king's going to be a jerk about it.

[ooc: This is where people can vote on where the squad will go next. They can choose between the hill path, the forest path, and the candy path. Please have all your characters comment and vote and have them only choose one. Characters in the Brugh are allowed to vote, too. The path they choose will be where the gang goes next and affect what plot they face. Players can have their characters vote until 4/22/18 @ 11:59 PM EST]

[konman]

With Anita talking to that spirit, I've changed my mind about heading for the hills. I don't like the idea of going somewhere where people see us as monsters, but...at least in candyland it sounds like we're dealing with alien-ish people, not undead monsters and ancient evils. Candy people, probably.

So I think we should go there instead of one of the other two paths.