Timeslot #2

[dramatispersonae]

[You fall through the dark for what seems like a long time. Are you rising, or diving? It’s hard to say. . . and then ahead of you, there is light, faint and grey. You break the surface and find yourself standing in a dingy puddle of water, the grey skeleton of a burnt and weathered tree rising out of it. If you look into the pool, you can still see the black willows and the hedges of the maze, upside down and far away . . .

The puddle rests in a little clearing. Nothing grows in the scorched ground around it, but tufts of bleached, lifeless grass still cling to the earth. Blackened trees surround you, as far as the eye can see. There are no leaves, just charred, tangled branches, and a heavy layer of mist.

It is so still here—no breath of wind stirs the clammy air. The sky is stormy grey, despite having no visible cloud cover, and is scarred with a number of rifts much like the one that briefly opened above Wonderland . . . but these, rather than being filled with shimmering colour, are stark, dead black. You cannot pinpoint the source of the light in this place. There is enough to see by, a dim and gloomy twilight, but there are no stars, and neither is there a sun, nor moon.

You feel strangely heavy, cold and lethargic. The further you stray from the rest of your group, the worse the feeling grows. You’ll also find that any magic or powers you have are even further dampened than usual . . . they barely work.

The soft ticking continues without an apparent source.]

[Zazzle is running this! Join #hiraeth on IRC! ♥]

Comments

[The Forest]

[dramatispersonae]

[Aside from the barely-perceptible ticking, the air around you is . . . completely silent. No animals, no birds, no rustling of wind in the leaves. Your own breathing, the shifting of clothing, or the clink of jewellery is painfully loud. Your footsteps crunch loudly enough to make ashes shift on the tree branches, leaving trails of soot.

There is a narrow, beaten-down path through the trees, barely visible through the thorny underbrush. Behind you, the water that let you through is still, without the barest hint of ripples.]

Re: [The Forest]

[exchanged]

[um.]

This... looks bad.

Re: [The Forest]

[orange_sun]

*ugh power lockdown :/ looking around, taking stock of who's with him and where he is*

Re: [The Forest]

[antreegonist]

*quiet*

Well, this is gross and not good.

Re: [The Forest]

[appleofhiseye]

[looking down the path... :|a]

Re: [The Forest]

[telepathetically]

[on one hand, SUPER QUIET YES GOOD. on the other... everything else]




Um?

Re: [The Forest]

[brotagonist]

What the hell...

We should stick together, guys.

Re: [The Forest]

[twilight_boy]

Nnngh, where are we?

Re: [The Forest]

[edgeofjustice]

Well, this is going to be fun.

Re: [The Forest]

[oneknightstands]

[looks around, tensed]

We should be cautious.

Re: [The Forest]

[heroic_homemaker]

Um....

[crusthatecean]

[Tensing]

Is this normal?

[The Path]

[dramatispersonae]

The pathway through the trees is narrow, but clear—after all, nothing has had the chance to grow over it.

Re: [The Path]

[antreegonist]

*walking through, then, eyes peeled . . .*

Re: [The Path]

[appleofhiseye]

[HEADING DOWN THE PATH WITH YUKI ok ok]

Re: [The Path]

[heroic_homemaker]

Here goes nothing.

[On down the path]

Re: [The Path]

[twilight_boy]

[shifting some of the ashes with one foot, to see if there's anything but more ash under there]

Re: [The Path]

[oneknightstands]

[heading down the path! moving slowly enough that he can watch the forest around them as they move forward]

Re: [The Path]

[exchanged]

[listening and generally paying very close attention to his surroundings as he walks.]

[Left]

[dramatispersonae]

You head down the path. Crunch, crunch, crunch . . . your footsteps echo loudly. You feel a little sick to your stomach, disoriented . . . like a heavy weight is crawling up from your gut into your throat.

[Right]

[dramatispersonae]

You head down the path. Crunch, crunch, crunch . . . your footsteps echo loudly. You feel a little sick to your stomach, disoriented . . . like a heavy weight is crawling up from your gut into your throat.

Re: [Right]

[brotagonist]

[this... is gross. swallows heavily, forging onwards.]

[The Path of Seeds]

[dramatispersonae]

This time, the path leads slowly and gradually downhill. You find yourself twisting and turning, but that stomach-wrenching feeling is gone.

The path goes for . . . quite some time. At the very least, it feels like an eternity . . . or maybe no time at all. You don't feel hungry, or tired. But maybe it's a little brighter . . .?

Re: [The Path of Seeds]

[antreegonist]

*IS THERE ANYTHING OF INTEREST TO SEE like where the light is coming from*

[The Path of Zipline]

[dramatispersonae]

The path leads sharply uphill. There's very little movement to either side to make it easy, and you may start to feel the strain. Every time you think you might be getting to the top of a rise, it just seems that much further away again. It is a very straight path.

The path goes for . . . quite some time. At the very least, it feels like an eternity . . . or maybe no time at all. You don't feel hungry, or tired. Maybe after a while, you just . . . don't feel . . . But you do seem to be moving rather swiftly.

Re: [The Path of Zipline]

[brociopath]

[fine I will take the zipline this is my responsibility. Keeping an eye out...]

[The Cottage]

[dramatispersonae]

Eventually you come across a wrought-iron gate, rusted and bent from the elements. There is a cracked padlock still hanging from the gate: on either side of it, a thick mass of long-dead hedge, now a mess of blackened sticks.

Through the bars, you can see the path curl down into a low, rounded valley, where you can make out the rubble of what clearly used to be a cottage.

Re: [The Cottage]

[brotagonist]

...hey! I just got back lock picking! Or, uh, sort of picking...

When The Clock Chimes

[dramatispersonae]

[Wherever you are, when the clock chimes—if you haven't already been dragged back—you feel a tug in your chest. Your vision goes grey . . . there's a sensation of being rushed along . . . and without knowing quite how you got there, although a few scratches along your face and arms, you find yourself back in the forest, in front of the puddle through which the maze can be seen.

The clock still rings insistently, loudly.]

Re: When The Clock Chimes

[appleofhiseye]

[adsgjgh faceplant?!]