❧ Coral (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

[hello_hunnies]

Foresight would probably be best.

Re: ❧ start

[scalesfromeyes]

Mm, and reason or caution, maybe…

Re: ❧ start

[neversaydie]

I like reason.

Re: ❧ start

[knockingdowndeathsdoor]

Definitely reason.

❧ which two chests do you open?

[dramatispersonae]

Re: ❧ which two chests do you open?

[hello_hunnies]

[OPENS FORESIGHT AND REASON]

❧ foresight

[dramatispersonae]

You have received: a map! It is . . . stunningly vague, because really, you’re in a maze, but it’s better than no map at all! The ink on it also seems to be moving, shifting, always changing, filling in new little details and erasing others. It shows:

The North has a lot of trees, and a picture of a dragon.
The South seems to be the least complex path, but there are a lot of ominous swirlies.
The West has a drawing of a tower, and squiggles that might be water.
The East has a bright sun that moves around in circles.

Re: ❧ foresight

[hello_hunnies]

Well, we're skipping the dragon.

Re: ❧ foresight

[scalesfromeyes]

Haha, but it could be cute!

Re: ❧ foresight

[neversaydie]

What about the tower?

Re: ❧ foresight

[knockingdowndeathsdoor]

I'm not too sure about the whirls.

Re: ❧ foresight

[myeyeonyou]

I don't think it matters what we choose. All directions are likely to be equally dangerous.

❧ 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.

Re: ❧ reason

[hello_hunnies]

Ow.

Re: ❧ reason

[scalesfromeyes]

Hmm… that's not really that helpful.

Re: ❧ reason

[neversaydie]

. . .

Re: ❧ reason

[knockingdowndeathsdoor]

[stupidly still attempting to read it]

Re: ❧ reason

[myeyeonyou]

[ . . . ignores it, after it's clear it can't be read ]

❧ 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?

[hello_hunnies]

[o look we have both

Lets head to the WEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...to the tower]

❧ WEST

[dramatispersonae]

You head into the maze to the West. 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.

Re: ❧ WEST

[hello_hunnies]

Exit only.

Re: ❧ WEST

[scalesfromeyes]

Ah… Well, that's that, I suppose.

Re: ❧ WEST

[neversaydie]

Not ominous at all.