In the Midst of Madness

A completely cheery and ordinary tale of happy reunions, with absolutely no ghosts at all.

Home to the wildest breeds of flora, Ninraih's entangled jungles cover southeastern Khy'eras. Ajteire, city of the Fae, is situated in the middle. Here, an overwhelming amount of magic and unexplained phenomenon has materialized. Read more...
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Simon Kinsley
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*scowls in Draconic*
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01
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Race: Ue'drahc
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In the Midst of Madness

Post by Simon Kinsley »

(( OoC Notes: I'm a big supporter of collaborative storytelling - while I have a direction in mind, if anyone is inspired and wants to change it up with their own, please do! Every idea I don't use is a premise for a future thread.

Scene Notes: It's the temperate time of year in the jungles of Ninraih as hired hands Simon, @Leiven Loramrai, and @Roan Mohan back-trace a route of travellers who have mysteriously disappeared. They've faced little trouble up to this point, finding nothing amiss; they're now outside Lament of the Willow, where rumours abound of superstition and ghosts not unlike @Druilin. ))

"... This makes less sense than an elven shaving kit," Simon deadpanned into the grove's end. The trip from the waterside had been easy, as had the trip down the river from the last village checkpoint. These were known roads they were following, a carved path that cut through Ninraih's dense jungle with sheer repetition and perseverance. The convoy they were tracking had been one of many regular supply trips - no famed offspring of powerful politicians, no religious savants announcing births of new deities, not even an adventurer with a mildly interesting observation to share. The village of Asran had sent its usual restock caravan, and the bird arrived in Ajteire; the people never did.

Light filtered through the dense canopy above them, sunshine speckling the ground in incandescent sunbeams. Vines and foliage had been cleared from their current path, but they were barred now by enormous trees that loomed much larger than their surroundings, all neatly arranged in a perfect line, the ue'drahc still glaring at the page in his hands with the audacity to lie to him. People, he could understand; they were duplicitous bastards from the very beginning. But books? It was a special kind of evil one must have to put lies on archival paper.

"I'm positive the path continues," Simon asserted once again, glowering at the floral blockade as if ire alone could persuade the world to rearrange to his whim. "We turned west at the lookout post five leagues back, which was two leagues southwest from the riverbank. According to their map, there should be a crossroads just ahead, and then we follow it south-by-southwest until the campsite..." They hadn't found any signs of the lost convoy yet, only the maps normally used for Asran travel. Such a regular outting for the village had a defined route by now, and testimonies from others intersecting had narrowed it down to this particular stretch.

Groaning, the peeved navigator pulled himself aside from the suspicious obstruction, muttering under his breath as he muddled with the map for any sign of personal error: "Eugh, if we took a wrong turn at the Tree of Deceitful Moss, I swear I'm going to fly back to Ajteire and drag their sparkly asses out here to help...." Never mind that there was one such sparkly ass there with them in the group. The fae wasn't supposed to hear it, and so it obviously didn't apply to him.

Had Simon been paying attention to the trees, however, he may have noticed all the intricacies that made them not match the others, such as the way the oft-tread path marched right into their gnarled roots and a bit beyond, could any see into the dense shadows. Or perhaps how the scars and scrapes of other bark, having been caught up in a scuffle here and there from local fauna, were completely missing, the trees before them absolutely pristine. Most of all, had he not been rummaging in his rucksack for a follow-up book to cross-reference the contours of the river and placement of landmarks, mayhaps he would have noticed the most important details of all:
1) That the sun beams for what should be mid-day were fading much faster than latitudinally possible, and
2) They hadn't heard any animals for at least the past hour.
Word count: 653
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Tika
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Re: In the Midst of Madness

Post by Tika »

"You wouldn't know it but this particular mushroom is actually quite volatile," Tika said, speaking quickly. Tok didn't respond. He never did, but that was ok. Tika was used to the lack of feedback from the squirrel unless it involved food.

Tika had been wandering in the jungle for several hours that day, looking for reagents or anything else interesting. She never strayed far from the path. She had a good natural sense of direction, but she wasn't stupid. Just enthusiastic.

She was continuing to chatter to Tok about the mushrooms she had found when she literally ran into the back of someone. She bounced off the taller person and fell to the ground. It took her a second to register before she was back on her feet.

"Oh hello! I'm sorry i didn't see you there. Are you looking for mushrooms too? Only this area is full of really good ones and i have a lot of them in my sack already."

The tiny half fae brandished a net sack containing many varieties of mushrooms. She was very proud of them. She was also excited to meet new people and was talking very quickly. Her voice had a high lilt to it that might get irritating over time. She took in the group before her and her brows knit together. She saw the map.

"You're not here for mushrooms. Are you lost? Can i help?"
Word count: 236
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Leiven Loramrai
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Doom of the Mountain
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Re: In the Midst of Madness

Post by Leiven Loramrai »

Leiven hated the jungle so far. Everything was damp, and sticky, and hotter than a forgewife giving her drunken husband the business. He’d worn banded leathers, instead of his usual heavier mail, in a vain attempt to ward off the oppressive heat. He still felt like there was plant life growing in the swampy crack between his cheeks. “Aye, can you read a map Lassie, cause this arsehole apparently can’t make tits or tail of his,” he said with a mocking wink for Simon.

“He says there ain’t suppose't’be trees here, which there clearly are, and I don’t recall hearing too much about those things dancing about’n their roots like those elven lasses do,” he added slightly less jovially. They’d been standing there looking at the thrice-damned trunks for far longer than necessary. He was starting to suspect that maybe they actually did move.

Leiven tightened his grip on his axe handle and puffed air from his lips to knock another trickle of sweat from his bushy brows. He’d want to take a good bath after all this, the kind with a maiden scrubbing him away, so at least the water coming off him in sheets would smell pleasant. “So if you can read, or can at least tell the trees t’fuck off, that’d do us right pretty I think,” he finished with a grumping huff.
Last edited by Leiven Loramrai on November 6th, 2019, 5:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Word count: 236
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Tika
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Re: In the Midst of Madness

Post by Tika »

Tika peeked over the edge at the map, reorienting it in her head. She looked and scratched her dark hair. It certainly seemed as though the path should continue.

"Hmm," she muttered. "Path goes, but doesn't go. Very strange. Have you noticed that the trees are not the same? Almost as if they are newly grown. Strange."

Tika looked around suddenly, noticing the change in light around them. Her eyes went wide, the expression taking up most of her bright pink face. She pulled out a small lantern and lit it, trying to ward off the gloom, but the darkness seemed to press in unnaturally.

"Something is very not right here..." The already tiny fae seemed to shrink in on herself. For one had very little experience with fear she was suddenly quite uneasy.

"You have weapons, yes? Can defend? Many terrible things in the jungle. Darkness so early is not right. I have a feeling we are not alone."
Word count: 160
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Simon Kinsley
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Re: In the Midst of Madness

Post by Simon Kinsley »

Simon was accustomed to haunching himself for the smaller races. He had a merry little humpback growing, from all the teeny accoutrements in Ajteire that had clearly never dreamt of a person his height, and the idea of ever standing with anything less than an egregious slouch hadn't crossed his mind save the one time a pickpocket came sniffing around. Sitting was a personal favourite, and he had long since grown used to glancing a good foot lower just for the dwarf that formed his colleague this outing. And yet even then, with all of that conditioning and knelt down, rummaging in his bag, he was still bamboozled by what creature had walked into him and bounded back.

He looked around, and saw nothing.

He looked lower, and saw nothing.

He had to look not just human-low, dwarf-low, nor even fae-low - he had to stare into the ground itself for the source of the chirping accident, fallen over as she was. "Sweet Slyscera, they're multiplying," he blurted out in hushed horror, before the dwarf had ever so kindly greeted the pink thing he had sworn could only be a mirage. Somewhere in his lower spine, he had already done the math on how much it would ache to cavort with these two.

"Yes, please tell the trees to kindly fuck off," Simon repeated in agreement after he had collected himself back upright. Leiven's idea may have sounded preposterous, but he appreciated the simplicity of it, and was partially curious if the tiny fleck of garish sunset and the blob of fur actually could. The dwarf's previous remarks hadn't really bothered him; his language was overly colourful, but there was a pragmatic directness to him that left Simon never wondering about hidden barbs left to seethe.

When she peered at the map - Simon making no effort to lower it to a readable height - and actually agreed with him, he couldn't hide the cracking grin. Kept it mostly contained to one side, at least, pretending an ounce of professionalism as he explained, "It's the map used in Asran village; we're the search and rescue for a lost party, somewhere between us and... here," gesturing to a village on the far side of Lament of the Willow. It was the last place the missing caravan had been spotted. "I'm the one who can read maps, and he's the one who-"

Whatever creative description he had planned for Leiven, now didn't seem the time for it, their newcomer taken aback at their surroundings. It wasn't until she pulled out the lantern that Simon realized how suddenly the darkness had overtaken them. "What-" It had dimmed, sure, but the map had still been legible mere moments before when they had been looking at it. Next to her light source, however, it was all just dancing shadows and swallowed sunbeams; one would sooner think it midnight than midday.

"-'fraid he's the walking armoury," Simon finished in answer to her question. "You don't want to see me using swords - the only thing more frightening would be my magic trying to help." Leiven was the fighter, for sure, but that merely meant he was the thinker, and while the stranger and the dwarf had their reactions to the creeping eeriness, he kept on speaking in a flat, even tone, modulating his emotions just in case, and even offering a deprecating joke for their benefit. It was his experience that not all threats were physical.

And judging by the way the jungle had grown silent, all the sky and surroundings blotted out, it seemed prudent to keep their wits about them. Particularly because they really were in the dark: the trees around them, just barely illuminated by the edge of the fae's lamplight, were all much closer than they had been before. And then there was the path - not just the one Simon had been bitching about liar maps guiding them astray, but the one they had taken thus far. It was also swallowed by the trees. The jungle edged in on all sides, a cage of wood and leaves, but only when the lantern wasn't looking.

"Leiven, it seems our guest can't persuade the trees to move after all," he asserted once again, temper still even and unfazed as a suggestion to the others. "I think we should all go together, and ask them very politely to please reconsider. But mostly you. With the axe." At the very least, he had shouldered his travel bag and retrieved his own lamp to double up on the girl's good idea. Her back was casting shadows that threatened to close them in more. The gentle blue glow from his rune-lamp could at least keep their flank covered.
Word count: 791
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Leiven Loramrai
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Doom of the Mountain
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Re: In the Midst of Madness

Post by Leiven Loramrai »

Simon’s job had been made very clear over their short time together. The massive dragon-man was the eyes and level head. Lieven's job was also clear. He was the axe blade, the armored chest, and the forgefire fury. When the darkness started to creep in, the dwarf felt a rush of giddy excitement to his veins. It was time to do what he was really getting paid for, have some fun.

“Aye, stick behind me an’ keep those lights high,” he said before reaching to his back and extracting a folded metal box from the ties there. He flicked some latches and the box fell open in his hands, unfolding to reveal a collapsible steel shield with small heavy loops running it’s length. Leiven yanked the plates of the shield straight and slid long metal rods from his backpack into the loops. In several moments he had a tower shield constructed and held before him.

He turned the front of the shield around and revealed a cross of polished and curved metal tubing set into the heavier steel. The cross met just above where the dwarf’s hand holds sat and there was what looked like a rune lamp nestled where the polished metals joined. On the backside there was a small trigger and some sort of tiny contraption. Leiven moved his fingers and the lamp sprang to life after several soft clicks. Light flowed outward, bouncing along the inlays of polished materials.

The brilliant flood of light coming off his shield seemed to travel as far as his companions lights should be going, but clearly faded out much faster than expected. Grunting in annoyance the dwarf gripped his axe below the haft and rapped it on the steel body of his shield. “Time to see if they’ll play nice,” he grumbled to his companions before lifting his shield and orienting forward. As the light swept across the trunks they seemed to almost shiver but Lieven was well past trusting his eyes in this magic soup.

“I ain’t much fer kindness on a good day. Given the you’ve used up all my patience, I’m thinking you ain’t much fer brains,” he shouted into the woods before taking a slow step forward. “So we can do this the right way, wherein you go back to whatever swampy crack of ass you came from. Or, we can do this my way, where’n I show you why they call dwarves the scourge of the wood.” Lieven continued to take slow steps forward, glaring at the trees ahead of him.

He managed several steps before he reached the unmoving trees blocking their path. He was certain they were being boxed in, the only real question was why. “Here’s a hint, it’s ‘cause we can swing an axe faster than you can,” he said before reaching over his shield and poking the nearest trunk with the flat head of his axe. The tree didn’t move, but there was a rustle from their sides and back. Lieven was uncertain if he should be more surprised or angry by this turn of events. He decided cold annoyance would do and slid his shoulder along the tree to step around the trunk.

When he’d managed to get halfway around the trunk, making sure to keep the other two in sight still, he peeked to the side to disappointingly reveal a thick collection of even more trees. “Fuckin’ trees. They ain’t rabbits, but they sure seem to be makin’ a lot a friends,” he said over his shoulder. “Let’s keep forward. There’s some sort of light up ahead. Maybe I can chop the bastard ta bits and we can get this done with.”
Word count: 629
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Tika
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The Tinker
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Re: In the Midst of Madness

Post by Tika »

Tika was not a fighter, but she did have offensive capabilities. Part of the advantage of being an alchemist was a wonderful thing called "alchemists fire". She didn't carry a lot of it, as it was dangerous, but she did have some. She just hoped she didn't have to use it. Setting fire in the woods was never the best idea.

Following the instructions of the dwarf she held her little lamp as high as she could. With her height it didn't seem to do much, but she trusted the person with weapons knew what he was about.

His shield had a light on it! Oh she wanted to look at that and see how it worked! But even her impetuous nature was cowed by this situation. Still, once the danger was past she made a mental note to ask about it.

She kept between the very tall man and the dwarf as the dwarf advanced on the trees. When he threatened one with his axe she heard the rustling and her eyes went wide. Was she the only one who felt like the trees had spoken in response?

"Trees don't like axes," she said quietly. "I bet they don't like fire much either. I have fire if we need it. Might get us in trouble though."

She began to follow the dwarf, weaving her way amongst the trees. It was easier for her than it was for him, but even so it was clear that the trees had surrounded them very thickly. It was more than unnatural. Tika wondered how the trees had moved themselves with seemingly no sound.

She reached up and petted Tok to reassure herself. She'd never come to trouble in the woods, though she knew dangers existed there. As much as this situation unnerved her, she was also confident that they'd find the cause and everything would be all right. Why she possessed this confidence around perfect strangers was anyone's guess. But Tika tended to trust people on instinct. These fellows seemed good to her. They were trying to help people, so she would help them.

"Can you see an end to the trees yet?" She asked the dwarf, as he was leading.
Word count: 368
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