132 lines
No EOL
13 KiB
Text
132 lines
No EOL
13 KiB
Text
This warbling gate is a golden ring with a black magic wall, looking eerily like an ever-falling veil of black paint or ink.
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In the forest:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y6n-1XQSfE
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In the clearing:
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https://youtu.be/7UMNHyM5PgQ?si=2G-DWkBGxEo8FYtC
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## As you exit the BLACK gate,
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your eyes cannot seem to focus on the colorless world around you. You are surrounded by trees, but they are all a strange grayscale and borderline lifeless. The branches are barren of leaves, instead covered in hanging black objects. And the only light in the sky overhead is a very large and VERY red full moon.
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Welcome to the **Forest** demense!
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Your visuals are disrupted by a distinctly golden glow of magic appearing in front of you, in the shape of a golden ring about 50 feet wide. It completely surrounds your group AND the entrance to the gate. The circle appears to be warbling in an odd pattern and drifting back and forth between black and gold.
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*IF THEY WALK AROUND*
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Your shoes make an odd SQUELCHING noise, and you realize the bottoms of them are coated in what looks like black ink. Not only that, ALL of your shoes are dipped in it, and that ink expands well beyond the range of the circle.
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*BEHIND*
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The gate itself is bound to a massive dead tree, and around the backside of that gate looks to be an abandoned lumber yard filled with incomplete pallets of different types, shapes, and sizes of wood. It's difficult to see, but there seems to be no signs of life.
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(NOTICE/INVESTIGATE ROLL)
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You spot a sloppy wooden sign on a nearby tree hastily drawn with what looks like fingerpaint lettering stating "ONE WAY TRIP."
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*TOUCH THE MAGIC WALL*
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Anything you touch it with has no effect, but when you push THROUGH it, you slowly sink right into it and past it. But, whatever you put through it cannot be brought back in and is stuck partway through the wall.
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*IF THEY PASS THROUGH*
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The magic wall lets you pass through with enough effort, but once you're on the other side, it will NOT let you go back in.
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*INTO THE LUMBERYARD*
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The yard itself is full of incomplete pallets of wood, mostly oak and birch with a couple spruce and mahogany (as the sign racks indicate), but most of the wood looks old, warped, and cracked, most of it borderline unusable. And inside the building doesn't look much better, the walls covered with uniforms of varying shapes & sizes. The tables are covered with axes, ropes, chainsaws, solar panels, battery packs, and a couple rings in a black hue, but no people at all. Just more of that black ink all over the floor, and a little smeared on the walls.
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*INTO THE FOREST*
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While the forest is borderline devoid of any signs of life, you spot more wooden signs deeper in with arrows pointing in a specific direction, some with messages like WELCOME TO DAMNATION and INK STAINS THE SKIN and NEVER TOUCH THE INK and THE INK ALWAYS WINS. The signs look like they were hastily drawn WITH the very ink off the ground the signs warned you about.
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(NOTICE ROLL) Around the backsides of some of the trees, you spot the most gorgeously woven spiderwebs you ever saw, but the beauty quickly wears off when you notice the webbing is about half an inch thick and the webs themselves stretch across multiple trees.
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It takes a few minutes, but eventually you see the trees begin to open and form a clearing, and you finally spot bodies strewn about in various forms of prone positions, most of them atop rocks or fallen trees.
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*IF THEY APPROACH*
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You see they are all pale, groaning, and weak, but definitely alive. Some of them are wearing uniforms matching the layout of the abandoned lumber yard, others are Thunder Force, and a few are wearing prison outfits.
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Behind them all is what was once a wooden cottage, now completely destroyed and the remains coated in the same thick black ink you see all around you. However, there are no large objects nearby that would signify they were used to destroy it, so whatever did the deed is not here.
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*IF THEY ASK*
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One person weakly raises an arm, a male Boa constrictor wearing Thunder Force garb. "We can't escape.. the BATTLEZONE spell has us trapped.. and the ink sapped our strength when we touched it.."
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*HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN HERE*
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They all begin by stating a few weeks, quickly escalating to months. One guy says he's been there three days and he ALREADY wants to kill himself, and everyone collectively shouts at him WE KNOW.
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(NOTICE ROLL) You recognize that voice as the Marauder LUCKY.
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*ASK ABOUT DM/REGALIA*
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The one that had been here for months starts laughing maniacally and says "OH you wanna see inmate number one?! Cassius has been trapped here longer than anyone else!" And shakily points an arm in the direction of the largest dead tree by the house.
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*IF THEY LOOK*
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Against the back side of the tree, you see a frail looking black fox man, slumped back against the tree with bandages wrapped around his eyes, chest, and right shoulder. His right arm is physically missing, and the bandages around his chest are loose enough to where you can see the gaping hole leading clear through his body. He is breathing, but otherwise makes no movement.
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*IF THEY GET HIS ATTENTION*
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His head will slowly raise a few inches, and his ears flick once. You hear him mutter something, and upon closing in, you make out the word "RUN."
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And that is when you hear the breath of a very large animal directly behind you.
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Turning around, you spot what appears to be a colossal black fox made entirely of black ink. You cannot make out a face, but its obvious head will suddenly split open in six different directions, peeling back to reveal rows of teeth across each one as three tongues flick at you, screeching in three different voices at once. And it lurches forward.
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*ATHLETICS ROLL*
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(Lowest Roll) is suddenly grabbed in its teeth, becoming swallowed whole. And the creature looks at the rest of your group with an identical hunger.
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-----
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AFTER THE FIGHT
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Once the creature has fallen, you see its stomach start to warble and bounce around, before (eaten player's weapon) suddenly pushes through it, the body opening up and revealing an ink-coated (eaten player) standing in the mess. Their clothes are stained black in various spots, and what ISN'T stained is going grayscale very quickly.
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(THAT PLAYER IS AT 0HP AND CANNOT MOVE BEYOND BARE MINIMUM ARM MOVEMENTS AND WEAK SPEAKING)
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(NOTICE ROLL) You hear a soft groaning in the distance coming from the nearby tree. The fox man from before is visibly reaching for the creature with its one arm, but is VERY visibly unable to reach it.
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*IF SOMEONE HELPS*
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He places a hand upon the creature's body, slowly sinking his hand into it. You watch the creature slowly deflate like a balloon, and you see the man's arm pulse visibly as it... drinks the creature, would be the best description. It takes a few moments, but eventually its body is completely gone, and you see the man's body physically pulse hard, like a heartbeat going off for the first time.
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He bellows out in agony and uses his one arm to yank off his bandages, fully revealing the massive hole in his chest. The hole is slowly filled with the same inky darkness as the creature he absorbed, strand by strand reforming into an odd ball that could easily resemble a heart, followed by the rest of his chest until it is completely sealed and looks good as new. He yanks the bandages off his eyes next, opening them and revealing pale yellow spheres, seeming to glow against the midnight black of his fur.
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He sighs after a moment, before turning to your group. "I despise the concept of owing anyone anything, but... you have made my sentence in this demense much shorter than the eternity I was promised. You have my gratitude, and my aid in solving our... shared dilemma."
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*ASK ABOUT THE INK*
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He will shakily walk to the tree you found him at, leaning against it with a sigh. "That is my... essence. My corrupted summon drained it from me the longer it existed, and spilled it freely across the demense." He will pull out a small sphere of gold, roughly the size of a marble, sizzling in the palm of his hand. "This bullet was the culprit."
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*WHAT HAPPENED*
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He turns away and replies, "A man in black and gold challenged me, called himself the Crooked King. He used these... strange golden weapons. He ate through my strongest spells, corrupted my own magic creatures."
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He will toss the bullet to your group. If anyone catches it bare handed, it will sizzle against their skin if it is bare, or will singe their fur or scales. "He was too dangerous to have my Regalia, so I animated a piece of myself to hold it and cast it out. He became enraged, corrupted the battlezone magic, pushed me through its walls. None of which should be possible for a mortal to do."
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"The creature ran rampant through the demense, spilling my essence as its continued existence demanded it from me. The CHALLENGE circle prevented escape for us, my strength refused to recover, and I was alone."
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"But when these... mortals entered and touched the ink, they became infected with my immortality. Unable to escape, unable to die."
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"In defeating my Kurogitsune, you have returned what is mine, and assured the freedom of everyone here. I only need to reclaim my Regalia to break the seal, and reclaim my essence to sever the connection."
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(EMPATHY ROLL) Something about what he said is bugging you. If they are all at no vitality, and likely haven't eaten or drank anything, then losing their connection to the immortality would possibly be fatal.
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*IF THEY ASK TO CONFIRM*
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"Correct. Once I sever the connection, they will likely have minutes to live. If you care for these mortals, you will need to find a solution. They are of no consequence to me."
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He raises his hand, sending out a dark wave of magical energy. You hear a familiar chittering and see a creature appear from the shadows. Striker snickers as he steps forward, and waltzes over beside Cassius' stumped arm. "Hello my friends, did you miss me?"
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Cassius remarks, "Oh.. I see now... I have heard your exploits from my animated extension."
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*IF THEY ASK ABOUT THEIR CONNECTION*
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"Striker hid my Regalia. He traveled by the Crooked King's shadow." Striker snickers a bit and returns the wavy vantablack dagger to his Master. "And as a piece of me, he knows he barely qualified AS me, and has used it to further his own ambitions."
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Striker turns to Cassius. "It was all part of my plan. Once I found some capable warriors, I just needed to point them in the right direction as Regalia Hunters! They would eventually find their way to your demense and discover you, thereby aiding your recovery on their journey to free the people of Diadem and claim their wish!"
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Cassius stares Striker down. "Is that the rumor you've been spreading?" Striker winces with a grumble, before Cassius continues, "I do not care. Your plan succeeded. I will be whole again soon. Once you all find a solution. And soon." He will leer at your group as he leans against the tree, waiting for you to decide the next step.
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-----
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*ONCE A SOLUTION HAS BEEN REACHED*
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Cassius will stop leaning against a nearby dead tree. "The Challenge was corrupted, but the circle was mine. Therefore..." He extends his arm straight into the air, aiming the blade at the sky, before pointing it in the direction of the gate. "I DECLARE THIS CHALLENGE NULL AND VOID." In the distance you hear a strange high pitched noise before what sounds like glass shattering, sending out a pulse of energy through the entire forest. "The magic is gone. You may now leave."
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*IF THEY ASK HOW*
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"It is a rule. A demense master with their Regalia in hand may change or cancel any Challenge they are in. It is not a rule we use lightly." You see his tail flick in irritation for a moment. "And HE made a mockery of our rules. I will make him pay."
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-----
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He will place his hand into the ink, his eyes glowing with an ethereal light. The ink suddenly pulses outward from his hand, across the entire body of it, before slowly draining into his hand, much like the creature from earlier. It takes a minute, but you do see the ink levels slowly lower all around you. Even the ink on the various bodies around you seeps off their skin and into his hand.
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Once all the black stains and ink have been recovered, the stub of where his missing arm is will suddenly vibrate a bit, before the bandages suddenly burst off and erupts with a series of nightmarish black tentacles, slowly wrapping themselves together into a spiral and morphing into a new arm. He will test and flex the fingers of for a moment, before turning to your group.
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"This ends my compensation. I advise you leave. The demense will soon return to its normal state, and I am hungry." He will pause to turn to your group, his eyes suddenly turning as red as the moon in the sky, and he gains what can only be described as 'resting murder face.' "For your own sake, take my advice."
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(NOTICE ROLL) You feel a sudden shadow cast over your heads in the clear night sky. When you look up to see what is causing it, a thought crosses your mind. "I could swear there was not a black circle on the surface of the blood red moon a moment ago, making it look like a giant red eye." |