❧ Ruby (Game 23)

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourselves in an ornate garden maze, hedges towering high above your head. If you continue to look up, you’ll see a dark sky, glittering with bright stars in unrecognizable constellations. The moon is full and bright. The leaves of the hedges are dense and dark green, riddled with bunches of tiny white flowers and the occasional cluster of red berries.

There are four exits around in the hedge around you, and a gazebo hung heavily with blossoming vines in the center of the small clearing. The air is hushed and quiet; your voices are clear, but other sounds are muffled, as if unwilling to break the silence.

Comments

❧ start

[dramatispersonae]

If you move closer to the gazebo, you will find an intricate compass pattern set into the aging stones. There are a set of six chests here. Each has a word emblazoned on it in ornate gold lettering. The six words are:

strength ❧ foresight ❧ ingenuity ❧ caution ❧ ruthlessness ❧ reasonThey are all locked. You do, however, have two keys.

Re: ❧ start

[unfortunateson]

. . . Hmm.

Re: ❧ start

[forcryingoutloud]

... D-do we unlock two of them?

Re: ❧ start

[unfortunateson]

It seems we must choose.

Re: ❧ start

[forcryingoutloud]

I-I like "strength" and "reason"...

Re: ❧ start

[adharma]

It seems like it. Unless there are other locks somewhere.

Re: ❧ start

[righthandsmoke]

Strength is definitely important. We should get that one.

Re: ❧ start

[forcryingoutloud]

Do you think there'd be more...?

❧ which two chests do you open?

[dramatispersonae]

Re: ❧ which two chests do you open?

[unfortunateson]

[going to open Reason and Ingenuity!]

❧ reason

[dramatispersonae]

You have received: a heavy, leather-bound book. It has a cover emblazoned with a four-point compass again, decorated with ornate drawings. There is a dragon curling around the top of the compass, a sun to the East, a tower to the West, and an unreadable title to the South.

The book, when opened, has many pictures, and a lot of words in a language you can’t focus on or understand. You get a headache after looking at it too long.

❧ ingenuity

[dramatispersonae]

You have received: a roll of duct tape, a magnifying glass, and a loaf of bread.

Re: ❧ ingenuity

[adharma]

. . .

[ book :|aaa. ]

Re: ❧ ingenuity

[righthandsmoke]

. . . What the fuck.

Re: ❧ ingenuity

[unfortunateson]

. . .

[YES LET'S LOOKING AT THE BOOK]

Re: ❧ ingenuity

[forcryingoutloud]

. . .

Re: ❧ ingenuity

[ganbareist]

[AM HERE NOW]

Ah.

❧ which direction do you move in?

[dramatispersonae]

[All exits appear the same, unless you have Reason or Foresight.]

Re: ❧ which direction do you move in?

[righthandsmoke]

[TO THE DRAGON NORTH!!!]

❧ NORTH

[dramatispersonae]

You head into the maze to the North. Immediately after entering the hedged path, there is a click; a black iron gate shoots up behind you, blocking the way back into the clearing.

❧ onwards, Ruby!

[dramatispersonae]

[You cross from FEAR into an extremely mountainous path, going almost straight upwards. It looks like you'll have to climb.]

Re: ❧ onwards, Ruby!

[forcryingoutloud]

[so high...]

Re: ❧ onwards, Ruby!

[adharma]

. . .

I guess we're going up.

Re: ❧ onwards, Ruby!

[ganbareist]

... [hmh]

Wrath, can you climb?

Re: ❧ onwards, Ruby!

[righthandsmoke]

. . . If I keep weight off this foot . . . I just have to be more careful.