Kon-El / Superboy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
konman) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
wilderlands2018-04-14 03:53 pm
konman) wrote in wilderlands2018-04-14 03:53 pm
CROSSROADS ※ 1: DISCUSSION POST [mod event] [video] [open]
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.]
[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.]
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[Kon's already visibly heading back to act as backup when he speaks again. Everyone got a good look at the crossroads, so no need for him to stick around.]
I'm on my way back.
[A pause.]
Wait. There's an easier way to do this.
[Instead of walking back through the woods, he walks further down one of the paths -- towards the candyland road -- and then vorp the teleportation kicks in, and just like that he's back in the temple courtyard.]
Shortcut.
--> Action/Mirror
I'll meet you out there in a mo'.
[With that she checks her baton, double checks to make sure the mirror follows, and goes out to the courtyard.]
Clever trick.
Shame we can't rely on it to save our butts.
Any ideas for how to ask this question without leaving it too open ended?
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[Kon shrugs.]
Whatever you need to do for it, I'm here to help. I'll hang out nearby if you're worried about needing to fight an evil spirit or two. I ain't afraid of no ghosts.
action CW: animal death, blood
[One unspecified length of time including but not limited to a chase to get a live bird, setting up in aforementioned clearing with bird, wood for a small fire, and then getting undressed...
Anita performs the ritual.
The bird's neck is slit and the body is carefully set into the fire before Anita lowers herself into sitting cross legged in front of the fire, not allowing herself to get distracted by her surroundings or doubt, mirror in one hand, blade in another, before cutting her thumb down the center, letting the blood drip down onto the mirror and into the fire.
Her mind, focus, and magic are all on the question of the threats on each different path ahead of them.]
cw: creepy insects
[The spirit that is coming, that she's invited into the material world can provide her the information, but what he can take is much greater:]
[Her face.]
[Koh the facestealer erupts free of one of the spirit realms underlying the Wilderlands, granted a brief time in the material world by her magical sacrifice. He looks like a giant centipede but at one end is a face that looks like it belong on some kind of Noh mask. The being lunges towards her, stopping just in front of her, clearly hoping to startle her into changing expressions.]
[He speaks to her in a deep and rasping voice, one ringing with menace.]
It's unwise to call on unknown spirits in a unfamiliar world, child.
Mirror, wow, we went places with this imagery huh.
She stands up, still undressed, not flinching before the masked centipede shaped spirit.]
It is unwise to venture onto unknown paths in an unfamiliar world, facestealer. I paid my respects to who would be willing to answer, with my sacrifice.
[The outside of the dead pheasant among the burning wood is almost fully charred now, and her thumb is still slowly dripping blood. ]
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[But he knows he absolutely sucks at not being reactive to things. Heart on his sleeve and all. So he just straight up covers his face with both hands.]
[Haha, suck on that, spirit!]
As you know I'm terrible at this kind of thing? Not showing emotion, I mean. So yell if I need to make with the fighting, 'Nita.
[He has to trust her to warn him in time if he or she are about to be attacked - and also to judge the situation and not jump the gun so that he uncovers his face and reacts at the wrong time.]
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Perhaps not as unwise as I thought.
[He winds his way around the little clearing, passing dangerously close to Kon in a way where he looks like he might wrap around him for a second, but he passes on without touching him, like a river around stone.]
You wish to know what threats you'll face on the upcoming paths, yes? One bright, and one dark, and one in misty half-light. Each has its own face, but you know something more lies underneath.
[Koh's face changes to another he's stolen, that of some kind of blue spirit-creature.]
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[Anita watches Koh carefully as he winds around the small space they're sharing, with only the slightest of movements. She's not used to having this kind of outright face-to-face interaction with spirits- the closest case probably being Greta, if she counted. But there are still rules to follow, even if they obviously have to be modified for here, and ones she's going to obviously have to relearn on her own. Like dealing with foreign spirits like Koh the Facestealer here.]
For me and my fellow companions, I wish to learn what threats are on these paths and what hide beneath the apparent masks.
[She dove into a portal that lead to a passageway for dead souls departing the living world; Anita refuses to be afraid here.]
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[So he is bound by the constraints of the summoning. He took her up on the deal and he must pay the price.]
[His face changes to that of an angry man.]
The dark wooded path has many threats. Beasts and beings that would do you harm. There is a man among you that spoke of these threats and he spoke true.
But the spiders of these woods now have one they fear more than they themselves are feared and this fact should give you pause. A great and ancient evil has found a home in these woods that did not live there before. That is all I'm bound to say.
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The hilly path would grant you the cover you know you might need if you must face battle -- and if you take that path you will face it. The hills are watched by the unseen eyes of unliving beings, and they will call upon their masters if you dare try to pass.
These masters have moved beyond the mortal coil and will not suffer those who live. They will try to capture you, take you to their own master, and if you enter his dark embrace you will never again know anything besides suffering. They can only be fought with fire and holy light and memory.
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The light path, filled with its color and temptation, would be peaceful at times and you would know no hunger but the subjects of that great kingdom will dog your every step. You will be monsters in that land of sun and sweetness.
The king with a sweet smile and heart that does not beat will use the danger around you to try to strike at the heart of you.
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Thank you for this knowledge, spirit. It will come in use for our decision as to what path we should take.
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Glad to be of service. Perhaps we'll face one another again sometime.
[The exchange is complete. She's won. For now.]
[Fading from the material world, he scurries off and disappears as he fades into the spirit realm once more.]
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[Kon's still standing there with his hands on his face.]
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[Once, and only once the facestealer has fully faded from view, does she relax, looking somewhat tired from steeling herself for an admittedly short but intense time, picking up the cloak on the ground nearby to drape over her shoulders and cover herself before looking over to Kon, and the mirror.]
Yeah, mon, you're good.
I guess that answers some questions we had, huh?
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Honestly, he's just really pulling for Candyland at this point so he can feel like he had some input of value to the group.]
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No, he does not, he sounds creepy as hell.
This situation isn't lose-lose. It's lose-lose-lose.
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The forest sounds like it's probably the worst idea of the three, though. I don't like the idea of a place filled with spiders and something even the spiders are afraid of.
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...Also, I vote we not summon that spirit again if we can avoid it. That was at least three flavors of unnecessary creepy, one for each path.
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It's lose-lose-lose, but at least the information given about one of the routes includes how to handle the threat there.