❪ event ❫ spirited away

[natha]

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! QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs ● bestiary taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp ● quest bulletin calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[beatupgrass]

Weird. This planet does things to your head sometimes, but... It hasn't been on this level. It's usually in the food or in the plants. This is everything.

[Which... by all logic means that it's probably okay. How can everything be a problem? An entire forest just fucking with you? How would anyone even get across it? Nurray seemed confident that they could.]

Maybe I'm just being paranoid... [He reaches up and scratches the back of an ear and paces the length of the clearing to make sure the trees aren't producing some kind of rap or pollen that promotes deep relaxation or opens doors to other parts of your head.]

[darraig]

Does things to your head? How....do you mean by that?

[She's not sure she likes the sound of that. She had already had to change, to adapt, back home in order to survive. Out of necessity more than anything else. But still, that didn't mean she wants anyone or any....place? messing with her head. Psychologically. She's already been through enough as it is.

At the same time, this does make her reconsider eating.]

You couldn't have told me that before I snacked earlier?

[beatupgrass]

You eat a bad bit of fruit and suddenly you're spilling secrets or you sniff a plant and you can't stop trying to... [He rolls his eyes and knocks two fists together in what he hopes is the universal symbol for knocking boots.] That kind of thing. Just don't eat anything they're givin' out at parties and it's fine.

[Well, that might not entirely be true. There are some weird plants in the forest that you probably shouldn't ingest for fear of weird side effects.]

I didn't eat anything, and I still feel off, so it's probably not that here.

[darraig]

Spilling secrets? Things are usually secret for a reason. But in this case, it's not the food. At least, I don't think so. So it has to be something else.

[Clementine can't help but be possibly more concerned at this. Well, she would be all the more freaked out by this is this place somehow weren't making her so relaxed. So content, almost. The best she has felt in years, at this point, back home, before everything changed. Or at least more immediately after, when she still had Lee and the others with her.]

Question is, what?

[beatupgrass]

Maybe it's the air. [The thought crosses his mind and he immediately covers his nose, but breathing is not an optional thing, like eating. Eventually, he has to drop his hands and suck in an irritated breath. That done, he crosses his arms over his chest and mutters.]

Go into the woods for Nurray, I said. It'll be easy, I said. It'll give you a good reputation with her, and she'll help you get the crap you need to keep up your shop, I said. Why can't anything on this frickin' planet ever be straightforward.

[darraig]

If it's the air? Then....yeah, we're kinda screwed in that case. In avoiding the affects.

[She can't help but point out, almost maybe teasing when he covers his nose like that on instinct. Clementine gives a shrug then, continuing with her work as she listens.]

Nurray? A friend of yours? What sort of shop do you have, anyway?

[beatupgrass]

She's the broad who runs Nadril, and one of the few locals on this planet with any d'ast sense.

[He flops down onto his knees (which raccoons should not have- thanks horrible genetic experimentation), figuring whatever protests he's gonna make about this, he can make on the ground. The grass is pretty soft actually.] It's kind of a mix of different things. Tech repair, weapons, and so on and so forth and whatever. I call it The Killbox.

[darraig]

Oh, right. [She's still figuring this. This place, the people. But she does make a mental note on the name. Since she sounds important and all, from what Rocket says.

Though she does seem curious when he talks about the Killbox. That could be useful too. In knowing he could possibly fix her pistol if something happened to it. Which hopefully she wouldn't need to, but. In the event it did happen.]

So I guess if something happens with my pistol, I'll know who to go to then. That's good.

[beatupgrass]

That's exactly what I'm here for. You ain't gonna find anybody local who knows as much about guns as I do.

[Guns aren't exactly common on El Nysa. Not so rare that people question them, but rare enough that they're not readily available.

The sad thing here is that bragging has put him in a good mood, and good moods mean a lowered guard. He stops pacing around the clearing hunting for traps and flops down on his side like a lazy cat. There's a nice patch of sun here. He's deeply curious about it. Don't make a thing of it.]

[darraig]

Then it's a good thing I met you. You'll be the first one I go to. Not that I want anything to happen to my pistol, but. If it does.

[She's also used to improvising if necessary. But still likes the reassurance of having the pistol on her. Where possible, if it isn't temporarily confiscated when she is being searched when meeting new people or something for example, back home.

Part of her might instinctively want to pet him or rub at his tummy but that is probably not a good idea. Not when he seems more intelligent and capable than any other animal she has come across. He's no normal raccoon.]

Comfy?

[beatupgrass]

Nadril's too frickin' cold and this is a really good patch of sun right here.

[He's aware that it hasn't been cold since they crossed the sound, but given how much time he spends going between the humidity of Wyver and the oppressive cold of Nadril, something in the middle is damn peachy.

His eyes droop closed for a second and then flutter open like he's having a hard time deciding how much to relax.]

Don't let me fall asleep, though. I still think this frickin' forest is gonna try and eat us.

[darraig]

No sleep? We can take it in shifts. Eventually, we're going to need to get some rest. Not that I'm sure how long this will take, but....

[Still. Eventually they would have to sleep. Assuming this journey lasted at least a day or two or longer. Which is exactly why she is trying to be prepared in regards to supplies, food and such. Not to mention now considering shelter next.]

We should at least check around. See if there's any shelter.

[beatupgrass]

Or houses to rob?

[He snickers a bit, indulgently. That whole simulation had been kinda hilarious in retrospect, and you know what? He'd feel better if he had something to do that wasn't wandering.

He stretches. Losing this patch of sunlight's gonna be hard, but it's for the best. He won't be tempted.] Okay. Let's keep movin'.

[darraig]

Not sure how many houses are around. But yeah, let's keep moving. Best to find somewhere to crash before dark.

[If they can manage it. The sooner the better to get prepared. Or at least as prepared as they can be, considering the situation and all. At least, in theory, the basics were simple. Find shelter, ensure enough supplies, and keep on the direction they were headed. More or less. Or something like that.]