Violet (finally) yawns and sits up. She stretches and blinks a few times, trying to figure out where everyone is. Her gaze eventually falls on Lady Kaede...
"Someone should check on who?" she asks the samurai groggily.
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Lady Kaede, maintaining the facade of Sister Marion, approached Violet with a gentle smile. "Sister Violet, my dear," she said, her voice laced with a touch of concern. "You seem a bit disoriented. Have you had a vision, perhaps? The divine sometimes speaks to us in strange ways, but prayer can help us interpret their messages. Would you care to join us in a short devotional?" Her eyes held a watchful glint, searching for any flicker of recognition or a hint of confusion in Violet's response.
A faded yellowed forest begins to form around them, seeming to materialize in block patterns around all of them. Trees emerge in the distance. Sickly shrubbery is on the ground. The grass is brittle and discolored beneath their feet, and then a village begins to form around them. A creek divides it, a bridge crossing over. Things look....boarded up. Smoke escapes some chimneys, and you can hear the general chatter of the folk as they go about their lives, but its a strange, restrained feeling. Perhaps it is because of the darkened twilight overhead, the somewhat visible stars, the marble of the lone sun rolling around the edge of the world like a ball-bearing in a bowl...
There is a sign swinging on the side of the road, dilapidated and covered in a weird, red moss. It says 'Welcome to Mistytomb Hamlet'.
And Judal shivers as it does, a chill racing down his back.
And JHound shivers as it does, a wriggle running down his back right down to the tip of his tail.
He looks around curiously, slowly climbing to his feet, his hands finding their way to his weapons. Things have changed and it takes him more than a moment to take in what has changed. The faded yellow forest fades in similar but opposite to the memory of a dream fading away. First the trees seem to take shape and then there comes the shrubby... Details become clearer in the distance first and slowly come into focus in the foreground.
He raises his head, sniffs the air and scrambles upright. even as he bares his teeth and a low growl rumbles inside him. Things are different and keep being differenter, more and more coming to his senses in a quick short while. The smell of trees, the smaller shrubbery, the manmade structure... The form in his senses and fill his world once more. It is both good and bad, comforting yet unsettling. He lets out a quick warning bark to assert his distaste of the strangeness.
He is drawn to the creek and slowly gives in to it's pull. Step after step, slowly, cautiously. He looks around as he goes and he sees the others. First Rum and then Thea and then Greko until he spots them all. He almost waves. He almost calls out. He doesn't. Both because of the pull but also because... Are they real? He can see them but there is something off. It takes a bit before he can put a finger on it but they are... silent. Like ghosts or illusions...
Jhound starts moving. Slowly but gaining speed, nose up to catch any scents and ears at attention for any sound of trouble. The hound moves like a shadow in that circuitous but direct route to the creek that animals seem to have. Straight lines are for hunting prey... But this pull isn't to prey, exactly. He does pause for a moment, a scent and then scents in his nose. He sniffs and sniffs again tracing the odors in the air before his eyes make out the others. They are here too. All of them. That is good, he suppose, but he is still drawn to the creek. Silently, as silent as the others are.. Which is odd, they are usually such noisy creatures...
They meet at the creek, more of less. Hound of Hell and Human of Galladoorn, Knight of Guilder. They stare across the creek, eyes locked upon one another, suspicious and untrusting. They stand guarded and ready while they take in the sight of the other, each ready to attack or defend as may be needed. This isn't right. They should not see each other. This isn't how it works. They steal that from each other, the senses and the being and the living. While one enjoys the living and being and all that goes with it the other ceases... The other is lost except for that tickle behind it. As a hushed memory.As a dulled sense. They do not share existence. They do not both exist at once. This is wrong and they both know it. But does it have to be? Everything here is wrong, the scents and the sights and the dulled subtlety of everything. The TWO of them Both being. But... what if not? What if they both could be?
The hound takes a tentative step forward, one paw entering the creek and snout stretching forward towards the man...
Judal steps forward slowly and reaches out a hand tentatively, stretching out towards the hound...
OOC: Sorry, have to retcon my previous post with the following.
The world shimmered into existence, but unlike anything Lady Kaede could have imagined. Disorientation slammed into her like a physical blow. Trees writhed in impossible contortions, their roots grasping for the sky while wispy tendrils of fog cascaded down their inverted trunks. Houses, devoid of exterior walls, revealed the unsettling domestic lives of their occupants within – lives stripped bare, both literally and figuratively.
A wave of nausea washed over her as she realized she could see through flesh itself. Gone was the comforting facade of skin, replaced by a grotesque display of exposed musculature, pulsating veins, and stark white bone. Yet, the villagers moved with an unsettling normalcy...
Panic clawed at her throat as the first words she attempted to speak tumbled out in a nonsensical, reversed order. Her legs, once instruments of swift movement, now refused to propel her forward, only allowing a clumsy, backward retreat. This wasn't just a strange village; it was a warped reflection of reality, a nightmare given grotesque form.
With a steely resolve honed by years of hardship, Lady Kaede forced down the rising bile. She wouldn't succumb to this madness. This was a test, a perverse challenge, and she would overcome it. But how? Her gaze darted across the inverted landscape, searching for a foothold in this topsy-turvy world, a way to navigate backwards, speak in reverse, and perhaps, just perhaps, find a way to unpeel the horrifying layers of this bizarre reality.
Rum reaches out a paw to his friends from the monastery as they fade away, only to be replaced by a slowly appearing village. His eyes crease as memory of what what and is starts to blend and merge, and he looks at the people around him with a gaze devoid of recognition.
That is until he spots the hound that is making its slow way to the river. Recognition crosses his features at last, and he watches his old friend approach the creek, then tentatively step in.
"Scruffy!", he calls out towards JHound, "Where are you going?".
He suddenly looks around self consciously to those other strange folk present. The horned girl, the old lizard and the others. Who were they?
Greko notices there are now bushes and some water but how much does he notice of everything else? Who knows its Greko. "Ah Lady Kaede do you still have your wits about you? I can't be the only sane one in this place." Greko calls out to the others "RUM! JUDAL! THEA! WAKE UP FROM YOUR LOONINESS!"
Lady Kaede's mind reeled, a tangled mess of disorientation and revulsion. The world, a grotesque parody of reality, mocked her with its inverted logic. Her vision swam with the exposed viscera of the villagers, their movements a chilling display of normalcy amidst the madness. Then, amidst the cacophony of reversed speech that echoed in her ears, a voice cut through the noise.
".place this in one sane only the be can't I ?you about wits your have still you do Kaede Lady Ah" The sounds, warped and mangled by the bizarre effect, reached Lady Kaede in a jumbled mess. Her brow furrowed in frustration. The words seemed… familiar, yet utterly nonsensical. Was this another trick of this twisted reality?
A primal instinct to respond surged through her. But how? The reversed flow of time rendered normal speech impossible. She gritted her teeth, forcing her thoughts to slow, to find a way to communicate in this maddening world. Perhaps gestures? A single, sharp nod might convey her confusion, a silent plea for understanding.
Desperation gnawed at the edges of her stoicism. Was this a test of her will? A cruel joke played by some unseen entity? A flicker of defiance ignited within her. She wouldn't be broken. She would unravel this twisted reality, one agonizing step backward at a time.
Raising a hand, she pointed at Greko, the source of the nonsensical sounds. Then, with a deliberate slowness born of necessity, she shook her head, hoping the gesture would convey her utter bewilderment. The weight of the situation pressed down on her. Was she the only one experiencing this madness? Or were the others trapped in the same bizarre reversal, unable to communicate their plight?
A cold sweat prickled her skin. The answer, she realized with a jolt of dread, might be far more terrifying than the grotesque world around her.
Violet's confusion and unsettling familiarity with the place deepen Lady Kaede's disorientation. A jumbled memory of Violet's earlier question about prayer surfaces. With frustration and purpose, Lady Kaede raises a finger to the sky, then points at both of them – a clumsy attempt at communication in this maddening world.
Greko understanding Kaede is not herself seeing the horror and confusion on her face, starts to think this is a nightmare of his own. "Alright everyone...Listen here! Gather around. Gather around....Follow me, we are going to cross that bridge and go to the town that looks like death" Greko holds up his old withered staff that he's had since....well as long as he can remember, and casts light on it. "Here come and gather!"Greko waits for the others to hopefully walk to his lighted staff
Greko watches Rum move towards Judal and decides to take some of the water from where Judal is standing near shape it into the form of Greko and splash it at Rum (Shape Water)
Jhound and Judal parlay, perhaps. Communicate? Stare one another down? Whatever goes on between them it is silent but intense... And then, as if by some cue unnoticed by any but them, they turn and walk towards the others, in the general direction of Rum but about two feet to their left as they head towards the main group.. As they walk they draw closer and closer together... Steps in unison, then sides pressed against one another, and then there is just one. They don't meld into one another or anything, it happens during an eyeblink, there is just one moment two (blink!) and then one.
Judal nods at Rum as they come close to one another. "Some weird shit going on here, eh?" Judal asks convivially but keeps stride heading for the others - Greko, Violet, Thea, Kaede. He's not ignoring Rum but assumes the cat will follow and join the group as well.
"Anyone have an explanation for what is going on?" he asks when he is close enough to be heard by all. Or at least most. "More importantly, any clue where we go next? And how?"
Judal smiles and nods absently to Greko but looks at him quizzically. "This is no time for pranks," Judal finally chimes in. "We have serious concerns here..."
Greko looks at him quizzically "No pranks....you don't remember right before we came to this land? You were wandering around in dog form frantically searching but unable to see or hear me. It seems you are better now so please help me corral the others...Rum thinks he is at his monestary, Thea only wheeps, Kaede can't seem to talk now, and Violet....I don't understand but wants to pray"
Judal watches Greko for a few moments but quickly rolls his eyes and waves a hand at him dismissively. "Whatever, there's no time for that," Judal says even as he walks away and heads towards whoever is next closest.
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Violet (finally) yawns and sits up. She stretches and blinks a few times, trying to figure out where everyone is. Her gaze eventually falls on Lady Kaede...
"Someone should check on who?" she asks the samurai groggily.
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Lady Kaede, maintaining the facade of Sister Marion, approached Violet with a gentle smile. "Sister Violet, my dear," she said, her voice laced with a touch of concern. "You seem a bit disoriented. Have you had a vision, perhaps? The divine sometimes speaks to us in strange ways, but prayer can help us interpret their messages. Would you care to join us in a short devotional?" Her eyes held a watchful glint, searching for any flicker of recognition or a hint of confusion in Violet's response.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
The world shimmers.
A faded yellowed forest begins to form around them, seeming to materialize in block patterns around all of them. Trees emerge in the distance. Sickly shrubbery is on the ground. The grass is brittle and discolored beneath their feet, and then a village begins to form around them. A creek divides it, a bridge crossing over. Things look....boarded up. Smoke escapes some chimneys, and you can hear the general chatter of the folk as they go about their lives, but its a strange, restrained feeling. Perhaps it is because of the darkened twilight overhead, the somewhat visible stars, the marble of the lone sun rolling around the edge of the world like a ball-bearing in a bowl...
There is a sign swinging on the side of the road, dilapidated and covered in a weird, red moss. It says 'Welcome to Mistytomb Hamlet'.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
And Judal shivers as it does, a chill racing down his back.
And JHound shivers as it does, a wriggle running down his back right down to the tip of his tail.
He looks around curiously, slowly climbing to his feet, his hands finding their way to his weapons. Things have changed and it takes him more than a moment to take in what has changed. The faded yellow forest fades in similar but opposite to the memory of a dream fading away. First the trees seem to take shape and then there comes the shrubby... Details become clearer in the distance first and slowly come into focus in the foreground.
He raises his head, sniffs the air and scrambles upright. even as he bares his teeth and a low growl rumbles inside him. Things are different and keep being differenter, more and more coming to his senses in a quick short while. The smell of trees, the smaller shrubbery, the manmade structure... The form in his senses and fill his world once more. It is both good and bad, comforting yet unsettling. He lets out a quick warning bark to assert his distaste of the strangeness.
He is drawn to the creek and slowly gives in to it's pull. Step after step, slowly, cautiously. He looks around as he goes and he sees the others. First Rum and then Thea and then Greko until he spots them all. He almost waves. He almost calls out. He doesn't. Both because of the pull but also because... Are they real? He can see them but there is something off. It takes a bit before he can put a finger on it but they are... silent. Like ghosts or illusions...
Jhound starts moving. Slowly but gaining speed, nose up to catch any scents and ears at attention for any sound of trouble. The hound moves like a shadow in that circuitous but direct route to the creek that animals seem to have. Straight lines are for hunting prey... But this pull isn't to prey, exactly. He does pause for a moment, a scent and then scents in his nose. He sniffs and sniffs again tracing the odors in the air before his eyes make out the others. They are here too. All of them. That is good, he suppose, but he is still drawn to the creek. Silently, as silent as the others are.. Which is odd, they are usually such noisy creatures...
They meet at the creek, more of less. Hound of Hell and Human of Galladoorn, Knight of Guilder. They stare across the creek, eyes locked upon one another, suspicious and untrusting. They stand guarded and ready while they take in the sight of the other, each ready to attack or defend as may be needed. This isn't right. They should not see each other. This isn't how it works. They steal that from each other, the senses and the being and the living. While one enjoys the living and being and all that goes with it the other ceases... The other is lost except for that tickle behind it. As a hushed memory. As a dulled sense. They do not share existence. They do not both exist at once. This is wrong and they both know it. But does it have to be? Everything here is wrong, the scents and the sights and the dulled subtlety of everything. The TWO of them Both being. But... what if not? What if they both could be?
The hound takes a tentative step forward, one paw entering the creek and snout stretching forward towards the man...
Judal steps forward slowly and reaches out a hand tentatively, stretching out towards the hound...
What could go wrong, right?
OOC: Holy @#$%&, @Kaemgen, that is creatively COOL! WELL DONE!
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
OOC: Sorry, have to retcon my previous post with the following.
The world shimmered into existence, but unlike anything Lady Kaede could have imagined. Disorientation slammed into her like a physical blow. Trees writhed in impossible contortions, their roots grasping for the sky while wispy tendrils of fog cascaded down their inverted trunks. Houses, devoid of exterior walls, revealed the unsettling domestic lives of their occupants within – lives stripped bare, both literally and figuratively.
A wave of nausea washed over her as she realized she could see through flesh itself. Gone was the comforting facade of skin, replaced by a grotesque display of exposed musculature, pulsating veins, and stark white bone. Yet, the villagers moved with an unsettling normalcy...
Panic clawed at her throat as the first words she attempted to speak tumbled out in a nonsensical, reversed order. Her legs, once instruments of swift movement, now refused to propel her forward, only allowing a clumsy, backward retreat. This wasn't just a strange village; it was a warped reflection of reality, a nightmare given grotesque form.
With a steely resolve honed by years of hardship, Lady Kaede forced down the rising bile. She wouldn't succumb to this madness. This was a test, a perverse challenge, and she would overcome it. But how? Her gaze darted across the inverted landscape, searching for a foothold in this topsy-turvy world, a way to navigate backwards, speak in reverse, and perhaps, just perhaps, find a way to unpeel the horrifying layers of this bizarre reality.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Rum reaches out a paw to his friends from the monastery as they fade away, only to be replaced by a slowly appearing village. His eyes crease as memory of what what and is starts to blend and merge, and he looks at the people around him with a gaze devoid of recognition.
That is until he spots the hound that is making its slow way to the river. Recognition crosses his features at last, and he watches his old friend approach the creek, then tentatively step in.
"Scruffy!", he calls out towards JHound, "Where are you going?".
He suddenly looks around self consciously to those other strange folk present. The horned girl, the old lizard and the others. Who were they?
And what is this place, this Mistytomb Hamlet?
Greko notices there are now bushes and some water but how much does he notice of everything else? Who knows its Greko. "Ah Lady Kaede do you still have your wits about you? I can't be the only sane one in this place." Greko calls out to the others "RUM! JUDAL! THEA! WAKE UP FROM YOUR LOONINESS!"
((blushes))
Lady Kaede's mind reeled, a tangled mess of disorientation and revulsion. The world, a grotesque parody of reality, mocked her with its inverted logic. Her vision swam with the exposed viscera of the villagers, their movements a chilling display of normalcy amidst the madness. Then, amidst the cacophony of reversed speech that echoed in her ears, a voice cut through the noise.
".place this in one sane only the be can't I ?you about wits your have still you do Kaede Lady Ah" The sounds, warped and mangled by the bizarre effect, reached Lady Kaede in a jumbled mess. Her brow furrowed in frustration. The words seemed… familiar, yet utterly nonsensical. Was this another trick of this twisted reality?
A primal instinct to respond surged through her. But how? The reversed flow of time rendered normal speech impossible. She gritted her teeth, forcing her thoughts to slow, to find a way to communicate in this maddening world. Perhaps gestures? A single, sharp nod might convey her confusion, a silent plea for understanding.
Desperation gnawed at the edges of her stoicism. Was this a test of her will? A cruel joke played by some unseen entity? A flicker of defiance ignited within her. She wouldn't be broken. She would unravel this twisted reality, one agonizing step backward at a time.
Raising a hand, she pointed at Greko, the source of the nonsensical sounds. Then, with a deliberate slowness born of necessity, she shook her head, hoping the gesture would convey her utter bewilderment. The weight of the situation pressed down on her. Was she the only one experiencing this madness? Or were the others trapped in the same bizarre reversal, unable to communicate their plight?
A cold sweat prickled her skin. The answer, she realized with a jolt of dread, might be far more terrifying than the grotesque world around her.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Violet shakes her head, still extremely confused. But... this place looks strangely familiar...
She glances at Lady Kaede, and can't help but smile.
"So... do you still want me to come pray with you?" the beholderkin asks. "I'd be happy to... just as long as you know a god who will listen to me."
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Violet's confusion and unsettling familiarity with the place deepen Lady Kaede's disorientation. A jumbled memory of Violet's earlier question about prayer surfaces. With frustration and purpose, Lady Kaede raises a finger to the sky, then points at both of them – a clumsy attempt at communication in this maddening world.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Greko understanding Kaede is not herself seeing the horror and confusion on her face, starts to think this is a nightmare of his own. "Alright everyone...Listen here! Gather around. Gather around....Follow me, we are going to cross that bridge and go to the town that looks like death" Greko holds up his old withered staff that he's had since....well as long as he can remember, and casts light on it. "Here come and gather!" Greko waits for the others to hopefully walk to his lighted staff
Rum ignores the strange old lizard, who is obviously talking to those other strangers, and wanders towards Scruffy at the rivers edge.
"Here, boy. Here, Scruffy", he calls.
Greko watches Rum move towards Judal and decides to take some of the water from where Judal is standing near shape it into the form of Greko and splash it at Rum (Shape Water)
Jhound and Judal parlay, perhaps. Communicate? Stare one another down? Whatever goes on between them it is silent but intense... And then, as if by some cue unnoticed by any but them, they turn and walk towards the others, in the general direction of Rum but about two feet to their left as they head towards the main group.. As they walk they draw closer and closer together... Steps in unison, then sides pressed against one another, and then there is just one. They don't meld into one another or anything, it happens during an eyeblink, there is just one moment two (blink!) and then one.
Judal nods at Rum as they come close to one another. "Some weird shit going on here, eh?" Judal asks convivially but keeps stride heading for the others - Greko, Violet, Thea, Kaede. He's not ignoring Rum but assumes the cat will follow and join the group as well.
"Anyone have an explanation for what is going on?" he asks when he is close enough to be heard by all. Or at least most. "More importantly, any clue where we go next? And how?"
Greko nods to Judal "You are back to yourself...mostly? You understand who you are and who I am? You can understand me and see me as Greko?"
Judal smiles and nods absently to Greko but looks at him quizzically. "This is no time for pranks," Judal finally chimes in. "We have serious concerns here..."
Greko looks at him quizzically "No pranks....you don't remember right before we came to this land? You were wandering around in dog form frantically searching but unable to see or hear me. It seems you are better now so please help me corral the others...Rum thinks he is at his monestary, Thea only wheeps, Kaede can't seem to talk now, and Violet....I don't understand but wants to pray"
Judal watches Greko for a few moments but quickly rolls his eyes and waves a hand at him dismissively. "Whatever, there's no time for that," Judal says even as he walks away and heads towards whoever is next closest.