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.)

1 comment:

  1. I say wait the night out...see what the faerie has to say, and hope that she doesn't eat us!

    <3, Jacki

    ReplyDelete