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Post by EloHim on May 26, 2019 10:34:14 GMT -8
The Old Road.
A name for all the ever-twisting ways through the forest expanse, leading to and from the accursed Hamlet. The way was pointed by an old scout, leading to an especially secluded portion of those forgotten roads. Roads that did not see any travelers,until recently.
What was there to look at? Some rumors told of some sort of activity on that pathway, but no one was brave enough to check it out...without getting paid for it at least.
That’s why the group of scouts was gathered with promise of trade when they return - knowledge for gold. Simple as that.
Only two torches were given, a small bundle of bandages and a bottle of alcohol for whatever cuts and bruises the scouts manage to accidentally get. It was early morning when group headed out, so there obviously was no need for more, and they were supposed to return by evening.
Upon arrival it was obvious - the roads were neither forgotten nor secluded. The prints of horse-shoes,human naked feet and wheels were as obvious as stormy clouds on rainy day. Some stopped right here. Others - seemingly turned around and went backwards. The questions remained...
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Post by Spookery 💉 on May 26, 2019 11:08:54 GMT -8
Ven had been eager to explore the surrounding area since she'd arrived--but also considerably wary. At least the little bit of morning light was somewhat encouraging. Chain mail clinked softly under her armor with each step as she followed the beaten path, and she found herself frowning at all the markings of travelers. It was certainly far from an abandoned road, or, at least, it looked like it wasn't abandoned in the usual way...Seeing a few trails of boot prints stop cold sent an uneasy chill up her arms. She cleared her throat and shrugged off the dismal thoughts; there would be no letting the devil get the best of her here.
"It's best we get to it, then." Ven turned to face the others that had agreed to scout the road as well. "I will admit I don't have much knowledge in the way of tracking, but I have faith we'll manage any problems." She rested the butt of the halberd in the dirt and continued, voice unwavering. "If we run into anything dangerous, we assess the threat together. It is imperative we work as a team. To that extent, it might be best we get to know each other as colleagues." She pressed an armored hand to her chest. "Temples in the countryside know me as Vengeance"--which sounded much less powerful and much more vain than she'd expected it to--"...though it's preferable to most to simply use 'Ven,'" she added with a slight grimace.
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Post by Kidney on May 26, 2019 17:54:28 GMT -8
Behind the tint of goggles, the lanky blonde approached the hodgepodge of tracks and evidence of purposeful travel. He held tightly to his knapsack straps, his elbow-high gloves creaking as he tightened his grip. This was bad. This was going to be harder than he had expected. A rasping sigh escaped him, and the sickly man rubbed his reddened throat. "Well."
The man turned towards the knightly woman, and aimed his form at her. He listened, and he waited, and he understood. Teamwork, he agreed, was good. "Alright. I second that." He added, shrugging, "My name is Leoman. Leo, for short. I set things on fire." He cracked his neck strangely far, his insect-like motif lending itself to an image of a fly or mantis shedding it's exoskeleton from the neck outward.
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Post by EtherealNoire on May 27, 2019 12:37:51 GMT -8
Betwixt the veins of fading light lingered another woman, pale against the outskirts where none had dared trespass. She spoke not to those who shared their name, but gazed on at the hollows, their darkness housed within the shadows at her face, shrouding all but her lips beneath a russet veil. And the wind too seemed to share in her silence. It coiled about her fey soma, racking eager claws through tresses tangled as if by shade itself.
With mortal words hanging amidst the dawn, she drifted forward to at last embrace the path looming ever nigh, claiming virgin soil beneath ivory steps.
“I am the voice of Night: Talea.”
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Post by EloHim on May 27, 2019 13:25:59 GMT -8
The traces, at the closer look, were hefty, unconcealed by anything. Bootprints, seemingly of leather boots and prints of naked feet of different sizes and forms - children and adults, male, female - led away from the road, into the woods. The trail which they took was as obvious as on could be, due to the amounts of people that seemingly walked through at least ten times over in a somewhat condensed line...
The path was dimly lit by few drops of light seeping through the branches of everpresent trees, allowing the group to walk without the need of lighting a torch.
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Post by Kidney on May 28, 2019 13:46:41 GMT -8
Leoman searched the ground with hungry eyes, turning away from his interesting companions, companions, perhaps, he could befriend. Though, thoughts of fear swamped him, and he feared that they would murder him. Though, it was clearly irrational, and with an open maw, Leoman dropped to his knees and sniffed the earth.
"Looks like they went that way." he said, looking back to his party, and then back on the well-ground path. The blonde stood, and began to slowly walk down the road, "Come. We have work to do."
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Post by Spookery 💉 on May 28, 2019 16:46:03 GMT -8
Ven couldn’t help but raise a brow at the man who’d dropped to the ground. People here were strange, but... She shook her head before moving to follow him. Dwelling on the quirks of others wouldn’t help her complete her job. She looked back long enough to motion for Talea to join them.
“I have to wonder,” she mused as they began down the path, “what made all these travelers turn around. This place doesn’t quite fit the description of the monster infested areas, but I suppose that doesn’t mean it couldn’t have any...”
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Post by EtherealNoire on May 29, 2019 8:55:26 GMT -8
"Fear compels many to forego judgement," Talea replied whilst the earth swallowed the tracks they bestowed upon its mottled visage.
"Tis pray thy venture shall not end the same."
Still the woods hungered and groaned beneath the soil, alive with silence that seemed to breathe. Even the trees loomed heavy o'er their crowns, creaking only into tranquility at Talea's touch. Appeased for but a moment.
She followed in their shade, each step placed in their embrace, but the light too appeared to join in her dance for it skirted around them between boughs and foliage, ne'er adhering to the same rhythm twice.
A spirit in the forest, oscillating amidst daybreak and darkness, she alone found peace within the realm of fear.
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Post by EloHim on May 29, 2019 16:07:16 GMT -8
The first judgement might've been wrong as upon closer look only those in the boots went both ways, whilst naked feet went towards... the structure of stone. Closed by an iron gate bearing the sigil of the Estate.
If it were to be opened, there would be a stone ladder leading down into the darkness. Into the Ruins.
The ladder evetually ends, transforming into a corridor leading to a T-section, to the left and right. There was some blood markings on the walls leading to the left ending up on a wooden door...to the right there was nothing but a long corridor.
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Post by Spookery 💉 on May 29, 2019 18:15:20 GMT -8
They followed the trail for a short bit before noticing the stone structure, and Ven wondered how they hadn’t seen it sooner. The thick foliage along the iron gate must have hidden it from further up the road. The place emanated an ominous aura, but it was clear it was where they would have to go. The footsteps led here. Ven exhaled slowly and pushed open the heavy gate; it squealed on its hinges as she did so.
“Well then. If it belongs to the estate, I’m sure the heir will want to know what’s going on in it,” she said, and continued into the building without a second thought.
The ladder was a bit of a surprise—“Watch your step”—but at least there were no ungodly monsters waiting just behind the door for them. Ven sheathed the halberd on her back and moved to shuffle down the ladder rungs, looking over her shoulder at the dark corridor below...just in case. Once she reached the bottom, she lifted her head to call up to her colleagues.
“There’s a hall and a door down here,” she shouted upward. “We might as well investigate the door now—if there’s something there we won’t be low on supplies, and we have a quick exit.” Her voice was steady, but she felt leery on the inside. After all, she’d heard plenty about the estate. She wasn’t keen on opening random doors here, but it was her job to do so. She glanced up toward the light of the open door one last time, then headed for the doorway in the hall.
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Post by Kidney on May 30, 2019 21:15:34 GMT -8
The blonde pyromaniac contemplated the path ahead as he traveled it, cocking his head to the side at Ven's urgency, surpassing even his. Leoman shrugged, letting her go ahead as he followed behind, pulling his heavy hunting knife from his pants as he entered the building after the crusader.
Listening to Ven's words, Leoman quickly scrabbled down the ladder to accompany her, sticking close and following her to the doorway, debating soaking his knife in fireliquids and setting it ablaze, for comfort.
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Post by EtherealNoire on May 31, 2019 10:45:52 GMT -8
None beheld Talea's descent from the ladder, for she longed to embrace what shadows swept through corridors of yore, and her touch glided over stone as if ushered onward by air. Where the dwellers of Light lingered in the gloom, hunting that which sheltered behind battered oak, Talea's sight rested on what had been left behind. Sorrow, Greed, Anger, all painted in crimson slashes upon the wall. Her fingers drifted over each line, ne'er caressing more than open space, but within the depths of her eyes, eclipsed from even time, their memories remained. Turning away from their haunted verses, she joined the others at the hollow, where a thousand elds waited to be reborn.
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Post by EloHim on May 31, 2019 18:46:52 GMT -8
The darkness of the tunnel became thicker with each step. By the time they descended they could not see beyond what little light offered them.
As the door is opened, the smell of burned flesh fills the air.
The room was in form of a square, small in size and littered with burned bones. Blood mixed with ash was painted on the black walls in runes with meaning unknown for a mortal mind. On the opposite end - another door made of metal, locked on the latch with a small opening to look inside the room beyond that door.
Talea could see souls of people who died there. Their mouths and eyelids stitched. Their arms and legs - chained to the walls. Two of them - near the left wall, two - near the right. As the group moved inside the room, they turned their heads...watching them.
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Post by Spookery 💉 on May 31, 2019 18:59:11 GMT -8
The room was lukewarm, just enough to feel uncomfortable after the usual chill of the hamlet. Ven stood in the doorway and grimaced at the sight before her. If this was where the travelers were headed...well. It was easy to determine what their fate had been. Or at least at the very end. She took a few wary steps into the foul room and gritted her teeth as a tiny, spare bone crunched under her booth.
“...Vile,” she breathed. She lifted one of their torches then, striking a match and setting it ablaze to get a better view of what foreign text was smeared on the walls, but instead the glint of metal caught her eye. Once she had seen the door, she felt she couldn’t look away. There was something so deeply sinister here. She could feel it. She was standing in the middle of the room, rooted to the ground as she stared. What were some burnt bones in the scheme of things? She had seen worse. So why did something feel so innately wrong about this place? She shook her head roughly and reached for her halberd.
“If one of you will go look,” Ven began, “I’ll stand at the ready in case someone comes out.” Or something. “Unless you would prefer me to look myself.”
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Post by Kidney on Jun 1, 2019 9:54:53 GMT -8
Eyes, eyes locked upon the door. From beyond it, Leoman imagined horrific things. Muffled screams, he wondered, had they ever reached beyond it? The man took a deep breath, coughing as the scent of charred flesh stung his very senses. He sneered, and looked towards Ven. "Ah...fuck."
Leoman lightly tapped the crusader on the shoulder, and slipped underneath her arm, and into the room. Walking across the room, "Shit...fuck. Fuck me. Goddammit."
He approached the door, and opened the slot to look to the other side.
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