nysalogs | ❪ event ❫ spirited away

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❪ event ❫ spirited away

PRELUDE

I'll get straight to the point, Thesaens. Dranbu is in dire need of assistance. I have received confirmation that the disappearances we were investigating last month have... escalated. Be cautious as you make your way through Josa Forest. Ideally we could go straight through, but it seems the main entrance to Dranbu is overgrown with thorns and vines, and there's a bit of a glitch with the rail system - the train is having trouble recognizing the Dranbu station as a destination.

I've uploaded a homing beacon to your devices with this message. Once enough of you have arrived in Dranbu proper, it should communicate with the train and register it as a stop. With any luck, that will make getting back and forth much easier for you all from now on. Best of luck.

Entry to the forest is not only overgrown with vegetation, but seems to be growing at an increasingly alarming rate. Any attempts to clear the vines will be met with even larger ones growing in its place, and it only confirms Nurray's findings as true.

The only way in is across the sound from Nadril, entering the forest from its snowy back yard. It doesn't stay cold for long; as one ventures further into the forest, the snow will disappear, as though it was completely out of place in the first place. The red sun's warmth will take its place soon after— and before long, you'll feel too warm for the clothes you came with. That's when you know you've entered the heart of Josa Forest.

WITHIN THE FOREST

The forest seems to be thick with a profound presence that can’t be ascertained. While venturing through it, one will feel like there are being watched or followed. This feeling will only intensify as metallic-scented drops of rain begin to fall between the clearings in the trees. Unfortunately, what many don’t realize at this point is that this is how the forest itself eats. How it subsists and lives through the minds of those who eventually get lost in it. Wandering this far in is akin to walking into a lion’s jaw, or rather… straight to its stomach.

But, the forest has a way of making one stay. While it swallows someone up, it shows them sinfully beautiful and picturesque sights. Even showing them people or things that are familiar to the lost. All of which will urge them to go in deeper and deeper. But, while the forest begins to prey on the mind of their victim— they will suddenly hear an elegant and alluring voice urging them back.

This voice promises them comfort and safety. Promises to be kind and open. Promises she has a place for them where they will never feel displaced or unwanted, or lost. Before they can fully accept, they will find that they are whisked away in Barthala’s embrace.

Some will be taken, wiped of all their previous memories and inserted new ones. Others will find they have no prior memories at all of themselves, only urged to go on with regular life. What is prevalent is the forest's desire to turn you. Metamorphosis is a phenomenon that occurs only to certain individuals, and there is no rhyme or reason to them. Some adventurers would find themselves changing by the minute, the hour, or the process may even take days and weeks. The forest toys with you, but it only wants to draw you closer to its core — as though there's a story there it wants you to see and understand. Will you go on anyway, knowing the forest has already has its claws on you?

I. ALL ROADS LEAD TO —
Exploring the forest is not a perilous experience - Barthala's blessing ensures that paths remain clear of any dangerous obstacles, and keeps anyone who enters the woods from losing their way. However, it will not always lead adventurers where they want to go. Stressed? Your path leads to a meadow, grass drifting gently in the breeze. Tired? You'll find your way to a tree with roots perfectly curved for a nap, the shade a peaceful retreat from the sunlight. The hungry will find streams full of fish or bushes laden with berries, and the curious will come upon elder trees, unique and beautiful. Only those who are truly satisfied with their circumstances, with themselves, can forge their own path, and venture to Barthala's Grotto.

II. BARTHALA'S GROTTO —
The deity's home is host to an abundance of life. Butterflies drift through the air, brilliantly colored and unbothered by any intruders. Foliage blooms in a rainbow of colors, many plants unique to this area alone. With trees arranged to provide a canopy over the path and small clearing, the scene is something out of a fantasy. Any plant life taken from this area will not survive long, though even in its dead, dried state, it retains a curious beauty. Explorers and creatures finding themselves in this area will suddenly find their clothing to be an unnecessary burden - what could be better than feeling the wonders of nature against bare skin? There is nothing unbecoming about such a natural state, any perverse inclinations are an aspect of personal preference. While the presence of Barthala can be felt here - a warm, comfortable sensation emanating from your core - she is nowhere to be found. Only one will have the opportunity to pass under a veil of willow branches and emerge to the cool air of a clear-as-glass spring.

Another nearby grotto is home to a plant with intoxicating effects. Just smelling the leaves is enough to entice most animals, and consuming them has effects on both mind and body. More easily amused, with thoughts that weave deep and distant, along with increased sensory perception can bring the user on a pleasant trip lasting up to five hours.

III. INFLUENCES — (18+)
Every five days, a weed scattered in patches among the forest underbrush blooms. The flowers are small and white, unremarkable except for how clustered they grow. When their petals fall, after only hours of blossoming, pollen drifts through the air. It clings to clothing, to hair, in the throats of the sensitive animals dwelling in the forest. Even those unaltered by Barthala's magic can be affected. The locals of Dranbu claim the pollen enhances fertility, but in practice, it simply serves as a poignant aphrodisiac. Those affected won't differentiate between the warmth of another or their own, a simple need to experience sexual ecstasy overwhelmingly pervaded. The pollen loses its potency after about three hours, leaving behind only a sweet smell.

YOUR NEW (NEW) LIFE

Adapting to an entirely new setting isn’t always so simple. People often say that assimilating oneself to the environment happens fluidly, and before you know it, you’re a part of it. In Dranbu, these words hold an uncanny sense of truth.

When you awake, your day begins like it always has. Your daily routine meets largely unchanged, except a few tinier details. Perhaps, you’ve realized your true calling is an occupation within the villages itself. Maybe in farming up strange medical herbs, maybe in acting as a witch doctor for the people, or maybe you find yourself drawn to the arts and you really enjoy sculpting fellow villagers in the nude. Once you commit these tasks, you realize, it feels like what you’ve always done. As if it were natural, as if you’ve done them for years, and maybe you have? At least that’s what your gut is telling you, and slowly your memories will too.

At the end of the day, when you return home, you realize you’re not alone. You have a partner who shares the same values and whom you love deeply. Or maybe a spouse whom you’re always arguing with. But, even that will feel as commonplace as the rest of your day. All you know is that the day that might have started off not being yours is entirely yours and yours alone.

IV. THE HUNT —
Those taken by the forest, animal features adorning their bodies, will find that their palates have changed as well. Carnivores crave raw meat, while herbivores don't mind snacking on a patch of grass or pulling leaves from branches. For most, there's no reason to cook a meal; once prey is captured, instinct says dig right in! It can be a gruesome sight, mangled bodies gorged upon leaving bloodstained faces, but it's natural. As is the hunt itself - any size of game can be found in the forest, and no one will go hungry for long. The magic that dwells here ensures a catch even for the clumsiest predator. Just take care not to stalk one of your own. For a hungry predator, there's no difference between a deer and a deer-like human.

THE BOUNDARIES BEYOND

For some, placated is synonymous with bored. While there is a sense of wonder in the beauties of nature that adorn the woods, serene forest life isn't for everyone. Those seeking more adventure can explore the challenging slopes of Waco Mountain. Barthala's influence is weaker on those bluffs than in Josa Forest itself, so thrill chasers won't be disappointed. Lose the path, slip on loose rocks, fall into a stream and spend a night wet and cold, there are many perils that come with traveling a mountain-side. Scattered ruins offer some shelter, their walls carved with images resembling Barthala, a dragon, and three other stranger creatures. While the deity's pacification does not flow as deeply through this region, all are still save from mortal wounds, and the veil cast over their memories will not lessen.

If you have made it this far, however, there is no reason to try to return to the main city of Dranbu. Accommodations are always available in the neighboring villages: Phares in the north, and Stroln in the south. These villages are in friendly competition with one another, and will tempt travelers with women and men of their kind in order to draw in business to their hotels.

FINAL OOC NOTES

No REP is available for this log. REP will now be primarily available through achieving NPC quests, which will be available on the 19th! Please keep an eye out for that!

Dranbu is entirely available for exploration! You may find that most of Wyver and Olympia Flora/Fauna may be found in the forest as well. For more information on your characters' (opt-in) Metamorphosis, please refer to the November Outline!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Ah ... ]

They can't be mine. I've never even seen them before.

[ Except you have and they're super important to you and memory loss sucks. ]

You think someone would do that? I guess I have fallen asleep out here a few times. But why would anyone want to?

[ It's so strange to just. Put your seashells in someone's bag. That makes no sense. She's just a lonely lil bunny girl!! ]

Then I'm not really sure why you have them. [ Man, this is kinda difficult. Granted, Duo is a terrorist and all, but he doesn't like having these hard person to person exchanges. It's awkward and he has zero answers for her, which is even worse so far as he's concerned. ]

Maybe they're just trying to... I don't know. Prank you or something? Prank someone else by giving you their shells?

[ He doesn't know what people do outside of his shrinking group of friends.. yikes. ]

Thankfully they're just shells instead of something dangerous, I guess..

Yeah, I guess ...

[ That doesn't help her much. Playing a prank on someone with shells? Who even does that? And if she's got someone else's shells, then that's even worse — she doesn't want to be labelled as a thief! She's not a thief! Just an innocent victim!!

She goes ahead and looks at the shell she's got in her hand for a moment. Curiously. ]

They make my chest feel ... kind of weird.

[ Yep, that's normal. ]

[ He doesn't know why someone might do that.. but then again, he's a kid that hasn't had much in the way of childhood and pranking his fellow gundam pilots would probably turn out... really badly. You know. As you do with fellow deadly terrorists, right?

Duo reaches back to scratch at the thick top of his braid in a nervous motion, unsure how to explain anything to her in a way that might be soothing if he's honest. ]

In what way? [ Is it possible to be allergic to shells? He isn't sure. ]

[ Having an allergy to shells would make her feel way better than all this mysterious stuff going on.

And she takes on a bit of a thinking pose as she tries to explain it, moving a hand to her chest halfway through, because how does she even explain this?? ]

Sort of like they feel ... warm. Like home would. But when I try to think about it, it only feels tight.

[ Like that feeling is out of reach, or something ..... Hmmmmnn. She hates this. ]

Hmm.. [ Duo pauses for a moment, trying to think of how to explain this or move forward. It seems to him like she's missing memories she maybe should have, or that someone was making an attempt to leave her something nice and she doesn't quite get it... Either way, he wants to read carefully here. ]

Then I would guess they're good things, whatever the reason you have them is.

Maybe eventually you'll know why you have 'em, if you keep them on you.

Good things ...

[ She goes ahead and looks at them again. His carefulness is appreciated and honestly pretty helpful for her. He didn't insist anything about her or tell her 'who knows, good luck' or anything ... unhelpful.

Finally, she gives a smile and a nod. ]

Yeah. You must be right. Thanks, ... um.

[ What's ... his name ... ]

Duo. [ He gives a little smile and a nod, glad to have been of at least some help to someone. Sure, Duo can be a little shit at times but there's nothing to be gained tormenting some girl who seems confused enough as it is. That's just beyond his level of cruel, he thinks. ]

And your name?

[ He's the first person she hasn't had a terrible time with here.

And she smiles in kind. ] I'm Kairi. [ The ... only actual thing she can remember. ]

Thanks, Duo.

[ And then suddenly she has some sort of idea, before she's reaching in her pouch and pulling out one of the flower bracelets she'd made earlier. There's not a whole lot to do in the forest, so she's made quite a few of them and kept them with her. It seems even when she loses her memory, she still gravitates to activities she enjoys.

And she holds it out for him. ]

Here. It's for you.

No problem.. though I didn't really do all that much.. [ He gives a little shrug, ever the guy to call it like it is on that front. Never let it be said he took too much credit for anything other than to be funny or dramatic.

The flower bracelet is unexpected, and even if it doesn't really fit his usual 'aesthetic' of all black and leather jackets.. it would be rude to say no. And she'd been so good to him so far that...

He sticks his hand out in kind, not wanting to break it by being a little too brash about it. ]

Thanks... you makin' these while you're out here or something?

[ Then she'll gently place it in his hand, giving him a warm smile. She may not remember anything about her real life, but it's as though her hearts been trying to hint at things for her. She used to make crafts out of seashells, but now ... it's flowers.

So she gives a nod. ]

Yeah. I've made a bunch of them. I just really like to, I guess.

Well to have so many of them made I bet you do. [ After all, if she hated doing it why would sh bother with them? Other than to maybe pass the time out here, but on the same hand, she probably likes to do it. Looking around this place is pretty thick with vegetation, but not that many people, and it suddenly occurs to him to ask . ]

Are you with anyone else, out here? Do you wanna stick with me?

[ Oh! Good question.

She shakes her head. ]

Nope, no one. But I'd like that. I haven't really had anyone to talk to.

[ Maybe there's a liiittle loneliness in that tone. Her heart remembers what it was like to be without her friends, even if vaguely. She doesn't like the feeling. ]

Alright. Then let's get to walking. [ Though, now that he thinks about it - Duo tugs a little on his back pack, beginning to let it slide down his arms as he makes his next offer. ]

I have water and snacks in here.. you hungry or anything?

[ Oh. That gets her interest and curiosity. It's not like they have a lot of man-made foods and packaged things out here in the woods.

So she curiously looks at his bag as he does that. ]

Snacks? What sort of snacks?

[ Duo can't help but to smile a little - everyone loves snacks and drinks, that much he's learned over time. Hardly anyone will turn down a chance at a bit of food when they've been wandering and are probably hungry to begin with. ]

I've got some fruit, a little bit of jerky and stuff that I get in Wyver just in case I don't feel like walking to the market or something when I'm feeling a little lazy..

If you want anything go ahead and take it.

[ Well, she knows she likes fruit. What forest-dweller doesn't? And while she'd be more than happy to take the fruit, she can't help but continue on with her curiosity.

So she pauses for a moment, before deciding to just go for it, adventurous as she tends to be. ]

What's jerky? I've never heard of that before.

Jerky is dried and spiced meat. [ Duo pulls out a stick of it to show her, just in case it might help somehow with her decision process. Maybe if she could see or smell it, it might make her decision easier? ]

I like it. Kinda spicy like the people from Wyver like, but, hey. Might as well right?

[ ..... WHAT.

She looks shocked. Probably more shocked than he'd bargained. It's just jerky ....... to him. ]

M-Meat?! What kind of meat?! It's not ...

[ RABBITS? ]

[ Duo kind of.. raises an eye brow, assuming that maybe she's just a vegetarian or something and that's why she's reacting this way. Either way, to a kid who's literally eaten trash before, worrying about what a food is if it tastes good is actually totally out of the question.

So he just shrugs, still offering it. ]

Honestly? I don't know. I didn't ask. Tastes good though.

[ Well she is a vegetarian right now, mostly due to the fact that she's half rabbit and lives in a forest. ]

T-Tastes good? [ Peering at it like it's some sort of foreign object. ] You're sure?

Positive. [ Again, he isn't a good gauge as a human who's literally eaten things people have thrown away, but if he doesn't have to it's a general rule to only eat things he'll enjoy.

So he pushes it toward her again. ]

I wouldn't poison you, y'know.

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