4/27/09

Choose your own adventure: 21

The story so far:

You awoke on an island full of anthropomorphic animals not remembering how you got there. Among the many adventures you have had, you met a crazy old English blackbird, found an otter village destroyed by an evil Bulldog and his lizard henchmen, rescued the only survivor of the otter decimation as well as your new friend, the Penguin Pirate Captain Pierre. You were almost killed by a scary fairy and a black lake monster, and recently have been traveling with some friends, Ox, Rand and Mina to Edgeton, to find Pierre's ship.
Currently, you have all been hiding from a group of Jackals in a ghost town, when Mina goes missing. You find a secret lair underground and everyone equips themselves with some weapons in preparation for the upcoming fight!

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 21

While you know that the bo staff is the coolest weapon avaliable, you pick up the short sword because you are a pussy. You consider picking up the dagger as well, but you can't carry more than one weapon at a time. Sorry.
"We should definitely check out that whip noise," says Pierre.
"They could be hurting Mina!" cries out Ox.

The group heads off north-west towards the noise. They come to a closed door, and behind it you can hear grunting, whip noises, and most especially, screaming.
"Okay, what is the plan?"
"Let's smash down the door and take 'em out, and save my sister!"
"On the count of three!" says Pierre.
"One"
"Two"

Smash! Rand knocks down the door.
"Three?"

You look around the room. Its a large room, with torture devices all along the west side of it. On one of the chambers lies one of the horses you saw earlier. A rather large, demented looking Jackal is whipping it, and laughing manically. In 4 other chambers lie horses tied up, and jackals torturing them in all kinds of gruesome ways. Other animals seem to be tied and caged up in the far east corner.
"Mina!" yells Rand, as he charges the closest Jackal.
Ox goes running at another one, leaving Pierre, the otter child and you to take on the last three.
You and Pierre take the offensive and the child readies its sling. Pierre is able to keep his foe at bay with his rapier. Rand is pummeling his Jackal, whose whip doesn't seem to do much against his tough hide. Ox is going wild, swinging his axe wildly. You keep to the other side of the room from him, who knows what he will hit, swinging the axe like that.
Two Jackals come running at you, one with a spear and one with a sword. You prepare for the attack by readying your shortsword to swing. If only you had chosen the bo staff you could combat two at once! One Jackal, the one with the sword, swings at you and you jump to the right. You just barely manage to dodge the attack. The spear comes swinging at you then.
The jackal rolls low, luckily, and only hurts you for 3 HP. (He stabs you in the left leg). You swing at him with your shortsword, but don't manage to reach him, as the sword is too short. Foiled again!
Just then the Jackal with the sword turns to swing at you! Raising his sword he prepares to cleave you in half. But bam! A stone hits him between the eyes! Go Otter Child!
You stand back up to face the other Jackal. He stabs his spear at you but this time you were ready. You dodge the spear tip and grab it with your unarmed hand, pulling it away from the Jackal. He looks shocked, but not for long as you whack him over the head with the flat of your blade, knocking him unconcious. You look around, everyone else seems to have finished with their enemies too.
Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun-Dun--DunDunDun!
You gain 82 EXP, 2 AP, 50 GP.
You gained a Level!
LVL: 2
HP: 36
MP: 0
ATK: 6
DEF: 3
MGC: 2
MDF: 0
AGL: 5
LCK: 3

Rand comes up to you. "Why didn't you kill your enemy?" He asks. "You could have gotten more experience for killing him."
"Its probably a good thing," says Pierre, "We need someone to question."
"Pierre has a point," says Ox. "I don't think Mina is here."
You look around, there seems to be horses, some cats, a dog and some mice tied up in the corner. They all look just as wornout as the horses tied up on the torture devices. Speaking of, the Otter child and Pierre have been untying the horses from their torture devices and helping them up. One horse, with a white mane, approaches your group. "What have you done?" he says.
"What do you mean? We freed you!" says Rand.
"You doomed us is what you did."
"You were being tortured! Now you are free!"
"Yes, you defeated a few of them, but they are numerous. We will never escape here alive. And now they will kill us for trying to escape. We were better off being tortured."
"That's a terrible way to think!" says Pierre. "Listen, you can all escape easily. Go back this way and you will find a large barracks. You can escape through there, and find a path to the surface."
"Yes, and head south to Ladon Fields. There is a small village there, our parents live there. They can help you. I promise!" says Ox.
"We won't be able to make it."
"Stop it! Stop being so negative, father Ben! We can do it! These people saved our lives, we should be grateful!" says a younger horse. "And anything is better than this life we have. I say we take this chance they gave us!"
"Don't worry sir, you can do it. And we can send one of us with you to protect you," says Ox.
The older horse looks at the rest of the captives. They all nod. "I guess you all have given us the spark we need. Fine, we will try to escape. But who will lead us there?"

You think about it, probably the best options would be Rand or Ox. Rand is a little crazy, annoying and overall a risk. He could snap at any moment, and doesn't seem to get along with Pierre. Ox is calmer, but not the best fighter. Pierre or the otter child could lead them back in theory, but neither really knows how to get back. Plus, who knows when you will see that party member again.
You chose:
A: Rand
B: Ox
C: Other
to go.

They prepare to lead the captives out, and you ask the captives if they have seen Mina. "No, we haven't seen anyone of that description, but we know they keep the "better" slaves in the back."
"Better slaves? What do you mean?"
"We are slaves. We are bought and sold for profit, and forced to work our lives. The prettier or healthier ones are sold off, but the weaker ones are put to work down here in the caves. Or tortured to keep in line, or killed when too weak. We are the only ones here currently, except for the leader's favorites. He keeps them in the back."
"Okay, so we need to find his personal stash. That may be where Mina is." says Pierre.
"Who is the leader?" asks Ox.
"I've never seen him, but the Jackals seem to be afraid of him." says the older horse. "Anyways, I wish you well. I know there are two paths in the cavern, one goes through the mines below to the boss' chambers, and the other through the main fortress. Obviously, the main fortress path is going to be more heavily guarded. I wish you well on whichever path you take, but I hope it goes well. We should be off."

Whomever leaves with the captives heads off, and the rest of you decide where to go next. Should it be:
1: The path through the mines, which should be less guarded.
2: The path through the fortress, which should be faster but more heavily guarded.

(Choose both by thursday.)

4/23/09

Choose your own adventure: 20

The story so far:
You awoke on an island after a night of binge drinking with friends because of a shitty day. You don't know how you got there, so you go off to find how to get home. After a few adventures you find a village where the natives, a bunch of otters, have all been slain. You follow the trail of whoever killed them and find a secret lair in a cave in the cliff wall. There you sneak around until you find a secret passage, and overhear some leader and his underlings discussing the deaths of the otters, and that there is some spy (aka you) in the cave. You find a passage to a prison where there are three captives, a huddled furry thing, a penguin with a cool hat and a scary sounding thing in a corner. You talk to the penguin, who encourages you to escape with him down a secret escape passage that another prisoner made in the cell next to his. You free a young otter who is too afraid to speak, and a scary jaguar, who guards the exit while you escape. After escaping, the penguin, Pierre, volunteers to bring you and the otter child to Ellestria if you go with him to his ship, last seen due west in Edgeton. While walking west through the forest of fortune, you stumble into some lizardmen on patrol and get into a fight. You manage to disarm one of them, but reinforcements arrive and chase you all to a marsh, which the lizards are afraid to approach. You and Pierre row a canoe you find out towards the island in the middle of the lake, but while doing so a gigantic black lake monster attacks your boat and sends you all flying. You and Pierre manage to swim to the island, but the otter child is nowhere to be found.
You search a small cave you find and inside is the otter child with a mysterious winged creature. The creature seems to know you both and offers you food and answers tomorrow after allowing you to rest underground. But things are not all they seem, as both the otter child and Pierre are a bit creeped out by the winged one. You, though, slowly succumb to her, seeing your friends as horrible creatures as she sucks the life out of you. Luckily for you, Pierre saves you and you all make your escape. As you see sunlight again, you pass out, only to wake up weeks later in a small village in Ladon Fields, south of Edgeton. Pierre and the child apparently carried your body there and nursed you back to health. Now you decide to renew your journey to Edgeton. You decide to travel with two young men, Ox and Rand, on their way to sell wheat to a caravan in Edgeton. While going there, you pass through an old ghost town called Newburry. There you find out that Mina, Rand's sister, had hidden herself in the cart, against her father's wishes. While heading out of Newburry Pierre spies something coming towards your group in the distance. Your group goes and hides in a barn, but watches and sees a couple of groups of Jackals riding horses who all meet up in the town square near your barn. A ghost appears to the Jackals, who seem to be expecting it. Since the Jackals don't seem to be leaving any time soon, you all take turns sleeping the night, but when morning comes, Mina is missing!

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 20

You suggest searching the barn for clues as to where Mina disappeared off to.
"That sounds reasonable enough," says Pierre. "Afterall, I never saw here leave the barn."
"That's because you were sleeping on watch!" yells Rand.
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"

As the two yell at each other, you, Ox and the otter child begin searching the barn. You start by checking the cart. You can tell that Mina must have slept in the wheat for a while last night, as it has been arranged into a bed-like shape. You can't find any clues as to what happened next though.
Just then the otter child cries out in the corner of the barn, and the group goes to check out what it found. It seems that there is a trap door underneath the hay in the corner of the barn.
"Perhaps she went down there..." Pierre states.
"Well, we won't know unless we look," says Ox.

You climb down the hole in the ground first. It goes down about 15 feet into a small, dimly lit tunnel. You follow the tunnel for a bit, and it seems to lead to a larger room, with smaller tunnels leading out in different directions.
"I would guess that those smaller tunnels lead to other trap doors in other buildings in Newburry," says Pierre.
"Why would you think that?" asks Ox.
"Because that is how I would set up my base of operations."
You look around the larger room and realize he is right. This seems to be a base for some criminal group. There are small cots by the walls, as well as dressers and a weapons cashe. You would guess that you stumbled into the barracks of some group. Luckily there is noone there except your group currently.
"Maybe we should get some weapons, just in case there are still some enemies around," says Rand.

You all walk over to the weapons cashe. Ox picks up what looks to you like a great-axe, but seems small when he holds it. Pierre still has his rapier from before, so he holds onto it. Rand finds some brass knuckles which fit his hands, and the otter child picks up a sling and some rocks. The other weapons look too large for his small otter hands. You look at your options:

You could pick up:
1: A dagger, which would allow you to move quicker but not hurt as much, you feel.
2: A shortsword, which seems nicely balanced.
3: A longsword, which is kinda heavy in your hands, but intimidating.
4: An axe, which has a good swing, but can sometimes be awkward to use.
5: A mace, which is heavy, but would leave a good "impression" on people.
6: A spear, which is awkward in small spaces, but keeps the enemies away.
7: A bow and arrows, which also would be awkward in small or upclose areas, but handy in larger ones.
8: A bo staff, which also subs as a nice balancing stick when tightrope walking.
(Choose wisely. Or choose your favorite.)

You select your weapon and look around. It seems there are three larger areas to go to out of the barracks you are in, that don't seem to lead to one of the houses in Newburry. One path leads North-East, and seems more lit, another leads North, and from it you think you can hear voices discussing something. The other leads North-West and is darker. You think you hear something like the crack of a whip from there.

Where will you go?
A: North-East towards the light
B: North towards the discussion
C: North-West towards the whip-noise

(Don't forget to vote for direction AND weapon, and vote by monday. Also, if you have any other suggestions as to what to do, or ideas as to where you are and what is going on, feel free to discuss them.)

4/20/09

Choose your own adventure: 19

The story so far:
You awoke on an island after a night of binge drinking with friends because of a shitty day. You don't know how you got there, so you go off to find how to get home. After a few adventures you find a village where the natives, a bunch of otters, have all been slain. You follow the trail of whoever killed them and find a secret lair in a cave in the cliff wall. There you sneak around until you find a secret passage, and overhear some leader and his underlings discussing the deaths of the otters, and that there is some spy (aka you) in the cave. You find a passage to a prison where there are three captives, a huddled furry thing, a penguin with a cool hat and a scary sounding thing in a corner. You talk to the penguin, who encourages you to escape with him down a secret escape passage that another prisoner made in the cell next to his. You free a young otter who is too afraid to speak, and a scary jaguar, who guards the exit while you escape. After escaping, the penguin, Pierre, volunteers to bring you and the otter child to Ellestria if you go with him to his ship, last seen due west in Edgeton. While walking west through the forest of fortune, you stumble into some lizardmen on patrol and get into a fight. You manage to disarm one of them, but reinforcements arrive and chase you all to a marsh, which the lizards are afraid to approach. You and Pierre row a canoe you find out towards the island in the middle of the lake, but while doing so a gigantic black lake monster attacks your boat and sends you all flying. You and Pierre manage to swim to the island, but the otter child is nowhere to be found.
You search a small cave you find and inside is the otter child with a mysterious winged creature. The creature seems to know you both and offers you food and answers tomorrow after allowing you to rest underground. But things are not all they seem, as both the otter child and Pierre are a bit creeped out by the winged one. You, though, slowly succumb to her, seeing your friends as horrible creatures as she sucks the life out of you. Luckily for you, Pierre saves you and you all make your escape. As you see sunlight again, you pass out, only to wake up weeks later in a small village in Ladon Fields, south of Edgeton. Pierre and the child apparently carried your body there and nursed you back to health. Now you decide to renew your journey to Edgeton. You decide to travel with two young men, Ox and Rand, on their way to sell wheat to a caravan in Edgeton. While going there, you pass through an old ghost town called Newburry. There you find out that Mina, Rand's sister, had hidden herself in the cart, against her father's wishes. While heading out of Newburry Pierre spies something coming towards your group in the distance.

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 19

You tell your new friends that they should turn around and head back to Newburry and hide in one of the abandoned buildings. Luckily there is one nearby with a large enough barn to hide the wheat cart in. Rand and Ox push the cart into the barn and close the doors as Mina, Pierre, the otter child and yourself follow behind.
"We should be safe here," Ox says, looking over at Mina.
"But shouldn't someone watch the travelers to see who they are and where they are going?" Rand asks.
You look up and spy that the barn has an opening near the roof by one of the rafters. You volunteer to watch through the opening to see what happens. Ox and Rand help you up to the rafter.

From the hole you can see the path going east and Newburry to the west. Clouds seem to be rising from the past east, and you watch as some strange-looking creatures come riding in towards town. They seem to be... a group of jackals riding upon horses. Yet the horses are not saddled like you are normally used to, instead they are wearing sack-cloth clothes.
The jackals, (there are about 5 of them) come riding into the town square, which is close to the barn you are hiding in, but not close enough to hear what they are saying. They stop at the square by the empty fountain and dismount their horses. You see the jackals do... something... by the fountain and then momentarily you watch as a creature comes out of the fountain!
You are sure that the fountain was solid stone, and empty of water before, but now you watch as a pale figure rises out of the stone, almost like a... ghost? The Jackals seem to interact with the ghost figure. You watch as soon from the other direction of Newburry as another group of Jackals on horses come riding up. Soon after that come another group from another direction. It seems this is a meeting ground for a large group, and they are... trading or something with the ghost that lives there. You climb down and report your findings.

"So if we wanted to leave, we would be seen by a very large group jackals?" Pierre says.
"Looks that way," Rand replies.
"And the town is haunted afterall!" Ox says.
"Yeah, but why are the Jackals interacting with the ghost? Aren't people usually afraid of ghosts?" says Mina.
"Who knows. But I would prefer not not interact with anything out there. The way they are riding those poor horses like they are... animals or something! Its just too cruel!" says Rand.
You agree, and mention that while the Jackals seem to be hanging out by the town square for a while, it doesn't seem like they are wandering the town itself. We should be safe in here until they leave.
"I agree," says Pierre. "But we should have someone on watch, to make sure."
You all decide who gets what shift watching, and the rest of you decide to try to get some rest. By now it is about night and you have been traveling all day. Mina takes the first shift, and then Pierre, followed by the otter child and then you. Ox and Rand are too big for the beams to hold them.


Mina's shift goes well enough, and you watch as Pierre heads up to take her place. Then you drift back to sleep along with everyone else. Time passes...

You wake up to sunlight. The otter child is pulling at your arm in desperation. You look around. Everyone else is waking up too, and noticing that something is missing.
"Mina! Ox cries.
"Where is Mina!" says Rand. Everyone looks around but noone sees her. Pierre comes down from the rafters.
"What time is it?" he says.
"It looks like morning. Why were you still up in the rafters?" says Rand.
"Its morning? But I just climbed up into the rafters less than an hour ago. It can't be morning yet, we still have two shifts to cover."
"Well it is. You must have fallen asleep on the job. And now Mina is gone. Missing or... worse." cries Rand.
"Don't say that!" says Ox.
"Well I am sorry, but I swear I didn't fall asleep, and I didn't notice Mina missing."
"You WILL be sorry. After I..." Rand gets ready to punch Pierre as Ox jumps between them. "This is no time for that Rand. We need to find Mina first."
You peek out the door, but the Jackals are gone.
"When did they leave?" Pierre says.
"See, you fell asleep and now my sister is lost!"
"I swear I didn't fall asleep!"
"Enough you two, lets just look for Mina." says Ox.
"Ok, but where could she be?"

You think about it and decide to check out:
A: the barn, there may be a clue as to Mina's disappearance.
B: the fountain, she may have been wondering about the ghost.
C: the town, there may be some trail as to what happened to the Jackals.
D: the woods. Maybe she went out to go to the bathroom?

(Vote by thursday. Hopefully this time I won't forget to update on Thursday;)

4/13/09

Choose your own adventure: 18

The story so far:
You awoke on an island after a night of binge drinking with friends because of a shitty day. You don't know how you got there, so you go off to find how to get home. After a few adventures you find a village where the natives, a bunch of otters, have all been slain. You follow the trail of whoever killed them and find a secret lair in a cave in the cliff wall. There you sneak around until you find a secret passage, and overhear some leader and his underlings discussing the deaths of the otters, and that there is some spy (aka you) in the cave. You find a passage to a prison where there are three captives, a huddled furry thing, a penguin with a cool hat and a scary sounding thing in a corner. You talk to the penguin, who encourages you to escape with him down a secret escape passage that another prisoner made in the cell next to his. You free a young otter who is too afraid to speak, and a scary jaguar, who guards the exit while you escape. After escaping, the penguin, Pierre, volunteers to bring you and the otter child to Ellestria if you go with him to his ship, last seen due west in Edgeton. While walking west through the forest of fortune, you stumble into some lizardmen on patrol and get into a fight. You manage to disarm one of them, but reinforcements arrive and chase you all to a marsh, which the lizards are afraid to approach. You and Pierre row a canoe you find out towards the island in the middle of the lake, but while doing so a gigantic black lake monster attacks your boat and sends you all flying. You and Pierre manage to swim to the island, but the otter child is nowhere to be found.
You search a small cave you find and inside is the otter child with a mysterious winged creature. The creature seems to know you both and offers you food and answers tomorrow after allowing you to rest underground. But things are not all they seem, as both the otter child and Pierre are a bit creeped out by the winged one. You, though, slowly succumb to her, seeing your friends as horrible creatures as she sucks the life out of you. Luckily for you, Pierre saves you and you all make your escape. As you see sunlight again, you pass out, only to wake up weeks later in a small village in Ladon Fields, south of Edgeton. Pierre and the child apparently carried your body there and nursed you back to health. Now you decide to renew your journey to Edgeton.

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 18

You decide that waiting until Friesday to trave to Edgeton is probably for the best, and allows you some days to recouperate fully. You spend the days out in the field working with the villagers, repaying them for their kindness of taking you and your friends in. The sun and the work restore your body and make you feel healthier. What luck, the work gives you a +2 to endurance!
The village you are in is very small, but also idyllic. It really is only a couple of houses and two families that live in them, the Smith family, who are Oxen, and the Marks, a family of armadillos. They grow wheat and corn in their fields and trade the food for supplies and such in Edgeton in the north. This Friesday there is a big caravan coming through Edgeton which the Smiths and Marks can make a good profit off of. You and your friends volunteer to help lug the wheat.
The families decide to send their eldest sons, Ox and Rand, respectively, to travel to Edgeton. Ox is a large young man who is a hard worker but has never left the village yet, and is very excited. Rand has made the travel a few times before with his father.
"Now you know how to get there?" Rand's father asks.
"Of course Pap. We have done this many times now. You travel north along the road until you hit Newburry and then go east until you reach Edgeton. It isn't that hard."
"Good. Just remember, don't leave the road for any reason, and don't camp out near Newburry."
"Got it."
"And look after Ox." Mr. Smith says.
"Dad, I can look after myself now. I am an adult."
"You aren't an adult yet, you still have one more Solstace before you come of age."
"That's in like 2 weeks!"
"Still."
Ox walks off to start packing the carts, looking dejected.

You and Pierre begin to help him load the wheat when over walks Mina Marks, Rand's sister. "Father, may I go with them to Edgeton? I have always wanted to see a caravan..."
"Daughter, the trip is too dangerous for you to go. I know visiting the big city sounds exciting, but the travels are packed with dangers. I am sorry, but the answer is NO."
"But father..."
"No buts, Mina. The answer is No."
"I am sure that between Ox, our friends and I, we can take care of her. And a visit to the big city could do her some good," Rand says.
"Now son, I know..." Mr. Marks starts to argue with him, and you stop listening. You remember you forgot your badass gloves in the house, and instead of listening to what you are sure is not a plot point at all, you decide to go inside and get them. Afterall, they do add a +2 to badassness. You find your gloves on the dresser of the Mark's house, apparently recently cleaned. You still hear the families discussing outside and decide to poke through their dressers before rejoining them.
What luck, you find a bag of "healing herbs" shoved underneath some clothes, and you pocket them.
In the other room you search the dresser but all you find is some panties. You pocket it anyways. You never know when they could come in handy. Perv. As you put them in your pocket, the door flies open and Mina comes running in, crying hysterically, and flings herself on her bed.
Whew, she didn't notice you going through her underwear. You assume this means she isn't going on the trip with you, and you head back out to leave.
Pierre is finishing loading the cart with the wheat and Rand and Ox are saying goodbye to their parents. You help the otter child into the cart and thank the Smiths and Marks for their generocity, then the caravan heads off on its way.

The trip begins uneventfully. Rand and Ox take turns pulling the cart. You and Pierre walk beside them and discuss life on the farm, shooting the bull. The otter child rides on the cart, napping. The day passes and finally you approach what looks like from far away a small town.
"Up ahead is Newburry," Rand says.
"Should we be getting this close to it?" Ox asks.
You ask why they should stay away from Newburry.
"Its haunted!" Ox says.
"It isn't haunted," Rand says. "That is just legend."
"Really, then why did your father say to stay away from it?"
"Well, because he likes to spook you, maybe?"
"I've never heard of Newburry, but I have also heard of haunted towns before..." Pierre says.
"You aren't helping, Pierre," Rand says. "Here, I will show you it isn't haunted." Rand leads the cart towards the town square.
"Rand, don't!" Ox yells, but Rand doesn't stop until he reaches the town square. You all follow behind him.
"ANY GHOSTS OUT THERE? COME AND GET US!" Rand yells.
"Shh!"
Everyone freezes and looks around at the ghost town, with its abandoned buildings and dustballs blown by the wind, but when after a few minutes when there is no answer but Rand's echo, you breath a sigh of relief.
"See, what did I tell you?"
"Fine. But I still wouldn't want to stay here the night," Ox says. "Let's keep moving."

"ACHOO!"

"What was that?" Ox says.
"It wasn't me," says Pierre, and you, Rand and the otter child nod. Everyone looks around again, scared, when out of the wheat pops Mina's head.
"Sorry guys, when I get scared I start sneezing," Mina states.
"Mina! What in the name of baby Poseidon are you doing here? You were told to stay home!" her brother yells.
"Mina!" Ox says.
"I know I was TOLD to stay home, but I WANTED to come, so I hid myself in the wheat."
"That is no excuse! Father said it was too dangerous!"
"That's silly. There are no ghosts here, you showed us that."
"Still, there are other dangers besides ghosts!"
"Rand, its too late, the deeds been done," Pierre says.
"I guess she will have to come with us," Rand says.
"Oh Mina," says Ox.
"But stay in the cart, no more sneaking off," Rand says, as he begins to roll the cart again, East towards Edgeton.

The party continues on a bit, and just as you begin to leave Newburry you notice something in the distance. It looks like a group of somethings approaching your group, and fast!
"What is that?" Pierre asks.
"I can't tell from this distance. It could be travelers, or it could be bandits," says Rand.
"It could be ghosts!" Mina says.
"Ghosts?" Ox says.
"What should we do?" Pierre asks.

Your group weighs their options. They could:
A: Stay on the road, but get ready in case they are bandits, or worse.
B: Head back to Newburry and hide in one of the abandoned buildings.
C: Head South off the road into the heavy brush and hope the somethings coming towards you don't see you in the heavy brush.
D: Head North into the edge of the Forest of Fortune and hope the somethings coming towards you don't see you in the woods.

(Vote by Thursday.)

4/9/09

Choose your own adventure: 17

The story so far:
You awoke on an island after a night of binge drinking with friends because of a shitty day. You don't know how you got there, so you go off to find how to get home. After a few adventures you find a village where the natives, a bunch of otters, have all been slain. You follow the trail of whoever killed them and find a secret lair in a cave in the cliff wall. There you sneak around until you find a secret passage, and overhear some leader and his underlings discussing the deaths of the otters, and that there is some spy (aka you) in the cave. You find a passage to a prison where there are three captives, a huddled furry thing, a penguin with a cool hat and a scary sounding thing in a corner. You talk to the penguin, who encourages you to escape with him down a secret escape passage that another prisoner made in the cell next to his. You free a young otter who is too afraid to speak, and a scary jaguar, who guards the exit while you escape. After escaping, the penguin, Pierre, volunteers to bring you and the otter child to Ellestria if you go with him to his ship, last seen due west in Edgeton. While walking west through the forest of fortune, you stumble into some lizardmen on patrol and get into a fight. You manage to disarm one of them, but reinforcements arrive and chase you all to a marsh, which the lizards are afraid to approach. You and Pierre row a canoe you find out towards the island in the middle of the lake, but while doing so a gigantic black lake monster attacks your boat and sends you all flying. You and Pierre manage to swim to the island, but the otter child is nowhere to be found.
You search a small cave you find and inside is the otter child with a mysterious winged creature. The creature seems to know you both and offers you food and answers tomorrow after allowing you to rest underground. But things are not all they seem, as both the otter child and Pierre are a bit creeped out by the winged one.

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 17

You try your best to reassure Pierre and the child that the winged one is not going to harm them. You worry your explanations ring hollow in their ears, because you yourself are not sure you believe yourself. But you feel this may be a way to get home and out of this nightmare, or at least to find out more of your situation. So you tell them both to calm down, and that they are making a big to do over nothing.

But you notice that neither of them fall back asleep.
And neither do you for that matter.


Morning comes, and with it a knock on the door. In shuffles a strange, grotesque small creature carrying a large silver plate filled with all sorts of beautiful fruits. The fruits look to be the most exquisite food you have ever seen, but this may be because you are comparing them against the strange creature carrying them. The creature seems to mumble out: "For the honored guests of her lordship," leaving the food by the door and scurrying off.
You look at the food and realize that it has been even longer since you have eaten anything. Pierre and the child stare at the food like it has grown wings and is threatening to eat them, but to you it looks like the most generous present from the lady of the house. You reach down to pick up one of the pears, and as you take a nice juicy bite the otter child jumps at you, whacking the pear from your hand. What the fuck was that for? you ask.
The otter child remains silent, but looks at you frantically.
Pierre also looks at your face, puzzled. "You look different from yesterday," he says. "Thinner, almost like a ghost."
You look at your hands. They actually seem more colored to you, and your nails cleaner than they have been in years.
"I worry about you, sir. I would recommend we try to escape this place. It is doing horrible things to you."
You reply that you do not know what Pierre is talking about, and you go to open the door.
As you open it, you see floating there the winged lady. She seems to smile at you, despite not having a mouth, and beckons for you all to follow her. You walk behind her, and Pierre and the child follow behind. You return to the grove from last night, and take a seat right next to the lady. Pierre and the child remain standing.

"Why do you not sit down? Have some food too," the lady says to you all. Fruits of all shapes and sizes appear around you, and goblets of sweet smelling liquids. You pluck a nice, juicy grape from a vine that grew beside you and pop it into your mouth. You have never tasted anything so sweet. Yet for some reason, you feel more hungry than you did before.
"We prefer to stand, ma'am. In fact, we would prefer to be on our way," Pierre replies.
"No, stay. Keep me company. Tell me of your travels and I will reward you..."
"Another time, perhaps. Come Mike, we need to be on our way."
You argue against Pierre's decision, but your argument comes out all strange and confusing. "Perhaps you shouldn't try to talk with your mouth full, dear," the lady says to you. You realize that your mouth is full of grapes.
You turn to the lady to ask her a question. You know that there is something you need desperately to ask her, but for the life of you, you cannot remember what it is.
"Ma'am, we appreciate your hospitality, but we do need to be going, and we would like to take our friend with us."
"Why such a hurry? Surely I can be of some benefit to your travels..." the lady politely replies.
Just then you remember your question. You stumble out the words: How... how doo eye... more drink plees!
The lady turns to you, her magnificent eyes stare down at you. You feel like you can see the world in her eyes, and never want to stop staring into them, but just as that they turn away.
"Get ahold of yourself Mike! Look at you! Look what she is doing to you!" Pierre yells. You look down at yourself. Your skin is glowing, almost golden, your cudicles, which were once scratchy and bloody from being constantly picked at, now look pristine. You look back up at Pierre. You think that he is the one that looks different. Ugly and covered in feathers and... nothing like the beautiful lady. You pick up another grape. You notice that the two ugly creatures are muttering to themselves, but you really don't care anymore about the conversation. You much rather care about the grapes.

Just then the larger creature jumps forward and throws a spear he was using as a walking stick at the beautiful lady. You cry out in shock as the lady cries out in pain. All around you the fruits and mushroom chairs disappear as the grove turns from a beautiful place to a dark, dank brown hole. The lady screams out and grows... larger. You turn and look as the lovely lady's wings grow sharper and less colorful, and her eyes, which you had thought reflected the seven suns, now look terrifying to you. Pierre yells "run Mike, run!" and for once today you decide to listen to him. You try to stand up, but your legs refuse to support your weight.
"No! He is mine! He has drank of my cup, he has promised his life to me! You cannot take him away, you cannot break the rules!" the winged creature yells.
"I care not for your damn rules," Pierre yells back. He and the otter child grab your arms, help you to your feet and run for the cave entrance. Behind you you hear the creature yelling and screaming about the rules, and the rumbling seems to make the rock walls crumble. As you all run out of the cave, Pierre and the otter carrying you, the cave collapses behind you. Pierre lays you down on the sand, and the sun envelops you.
You look about you and notice your hands. Your healthy fingers now look like a 95 year old's wihtered hands, and your nails are all covered in gangreen. You worry what the rest of you looks like, as you close your eyes and...



...The next thing you remember is waking up in a small hut. The otter child has a bowl of dark, dank broth which it is pouring down your throat. You jerk up, and spew the contents from your mouth.
"Ah, you had us worried there, friend." Pierre says, sitting to your left. "You almost gave in to that witch's spell."
You sit up and look around. You are in a small hut. You feel frail, but alive. You look at your hands. They no longer look aged, but still don't look healthy.
"It will take longer to heal fully. but these past weeks have been good for you. We worried you wouldn't make it at all. You have the child to thank for your recovery. It seems to know a thing or two about medicines."
The child nods.
You ask where we are.
Pierre replies: "After you collapsed, we carried you off and found an abandoned shed further down the island. We styed there for a while, the child tended to you and I built a small raft. We found a small river that looked too small for that black monster to follow us down and we took the raft down it to Ladon Fields. We are currently in a small farming village south-east of Edgeton. The villagers have been kind to us and let us stay here while you healed. We need to be on our way soon though. If you want to wait, one of the villagers is going to Edgeton to sell wheat on Friesday, or we can hike it out ourselves. The road path will take us around the farm, but should be safer. Or we can walk the beach to Edgeton. Opinions? I know you just woke up, but we need to make a plan."

What will you do?
A: Stay til Friesday and travel with the villager to Edgeton along the road.
B: Travel the road with your companions today.
C: Travel the beach to Edgeton.
D: Know better than to stay the night in an evil underground Fairies' lair next time!


(Vote by monday.)

4/8/09

I can feel it in my bones



Metric has a new album (Fantasies) coming out in a couple of weeks, and this is their second single off of it. It is called Gimme Sympathy, and it has been playing in my head for the past couple of weeks.
I can say the new album is rockin', I have had it for half a month now and haven't been able to stop listening to it. A review will be up soon on our sister site: Music is a Loop, which is just starting out but you should check it out anyways.

4/6/09

Choose your own adventure: 17

The story so far:
You awoke on an island after a night of binge drinking with friends because of a shitty day. You don't know how you got there, so you go off to find how to get home. After a few adventures you find a village where the natives, a bunch of otters, have all been slain. You follow the trail of whoever killed them and find a secret lair in a cave in the cliff wall. There you sneak around until you find a secret passage, and overhear some leader and his underlings discussing the deaths of the otters, and that there is some spy (aka you) in the cave. You find a passage to a prison where there are three captives, a huddled furry thing, a penguin with a cool hat and a scary sounding thing in a corner. You talk to the penguin, who encourages you to escape with him down a secret escape passage that another prisoner made in the cell next to his. You free a young otter who is too afraid to speak, and a scary jaguar, who guards the exit while you escape. After escaping, the penguin, Pierre, volunteers to bring you and the otter child to Ellestria if you go with him to his ship, last seen due west in Edgeton. While walking west through the forest of fortune, you stumble into some lizardmen on patrol and get into a fight. You manage to disarm one of them, but reinforcements arrive and chase you all to a marsh, which the lizards are afraid to approach. You and Pierre row a canoe you find out towards the island in the middle of the lake, but while doing so a gigantic black lake monster attacks your boat and sends you all flying. You and Pierre manage to swim to the island, but the otter child is nowhere to be found.

Now begins Time is a Loop: Episode 16

You and Pierre decide to head towards the small cave you see in the distance, thinking the otter child may have swam into it to get away from that lake monster.
"Well, it is definitely too small for that monster to fit into, so we should be safe there. Or at least safer," Pierre says.

You look into the cave and see the water continuing into it is knee deep, and farther down into the cave you think you see a soft glow, and noise that possibly could be singing. You look at Pierre.
"Let's go check it out," he says. "Just be careful."
You continue on slowly rolling a 12 for walking quietly (along with your natural +6, you think that should be enough to not be seen), and a nice 17 for hide. You approach a turn in the cave path, and peek around the corner.
You see an open area in the cave, with a pool of water surrounding a slightly raised earthen mound. All around the mound grow large mushrooms, some taller than you. Upon the mound also grows an ardent green row of moss. Sitting upon one of the taller mushrooms in the center of the grove is one small, winged creature holding a lute. On an adjacent mushroom sits the otter child. They appear to be singing together. As you peek around the corner, the music comes to a sudden stop, and the winged creature looks directly at you. You hear in your head a voice that says: "Come in, Mike and Pierre. Come join us." You look at Pierre, and he nods as you both approach the mound.

"Welcome to my abode." the voice says in your head. As you near the creature you notice that it doesn't seem to be saying the words itself as it has no mouth. Every time it "talks" to you, it does seem to strum the lute it holds with one of its small thin twig arms, of which it appears to have 4 of.
The otter child looks over at you both and squeals in delight.
"We were just talking about you and your journeys," the voice quietly says. "Won't you join us? Take a seat where you like."
You sit down on one of the mushrooms. They are soft and very relaxing to sit in.
"Have some food," the voice says. Some grape vines grow out of the ground next to you and Pierre. You look at the food and realize it has been quite a while since you have eaten anything. Pierre is also looking at the food with great hunger. You look at the juiciest grape on the vine, and are about to pick it when you see that the otter child has not eaten any of his grapes.
"What is wrong, sir Mike? do the grapes not suit you? Would you rather something else?" the voice asks as its face turns towards you, one hundred beady eyes stare at you without blinking. "Or perhaps you have questions first. How you arrived from the world of men here, what happened to you that night in THE CITY, and how you can return? I am sure you have questions too, Pierre DeLaCroix," it, she?, says, turning to Pierre. "Such as, what happened to your boat and your crew, how they are faring without you? And of course, your beloved Marlene, what has become of her in your absence?"
"How do you know all of this?" Pierre asks, just before you, yourself ask these questions.
"Oh I know much more than that. I am one of the Children, guardians of the Winding Way. We see all and know all. It is our job to guide travelers from one side to the... other."
You wonder to yourself, the other side of what?
"I am... glad you survived the Leviathan that guards my sanctuary, and it is fortune indeed that the Messiah Child found its way to my den, and you, its disciples, come after it, but it is getting late and I am sure you are tired." At that moment you realize that you have been running and rowing all day, and almost fall asleep on the spot. "Perhaps we should let you rest, and can discuss your... futures... in the coming day?"
You and Pierre both yawn at the same time and realize this is probably a good idea.
"Come then, follow me," the winged one says in your head. Her? wings slowly spread apart and she rises off the mushroom. At the same time the mushrooms you all are sitting on lower to the ground, allowing you to stand. The moat surrounding the grove starts to dissipate, and you see a path leading further into the ground. Following the winged one down the path you are led to a small room with three soft mounds of moss.
"You may rest here the night," the winged one says, and then floats off back up the way it came. The door closes behind you. You lay down on the moss and fall straight to sleep.

You are awoken later by the otter child pawing at you. You look up and see it and Pierre standing above you. You ask what is up?
"We are both worried about this place," Pierre says. "I don't feel safe, and the child apparently doesn't either. It all seems too... good to be true? Maybe it is the pirate in me, but I cannae trust anyone this much."
The otter child nods.
You do want to know what the winged one has to tell you about returning home, but you also see your friends' points. You look out the door of the room you are in and see that another path has appeared to your right, which leads down a while, with what looks like a light at the end. The path up to the room you were in is also there. You think about what to do:

You could:
A: Wait the night out, telling your friends everything is going to be okay, and hopefully find out more about how to return home.
B: Take the right path towards the light and hope it leads out of where you are.
C: Try to return up to the grove you were in, and exit the cave, and find another way off the island.
D: Other ideas?

(Vote by Thursday. I think I am going to do a Monday and Thursday update from now on, 3x a week is too much, sorry.)

4/1/09

Our April Fools joke is...

There is no April Fools joke! Everyone enjoy the Talent Show!