28 - The Hungry Forest

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Will the mysterious forest give up its secrets -- and its captives?
When: Nov 14
Where: Within the forest
Summary: For a while now, the mysterious forest that makes unpredictable moves around the Far Shore has seemed to be getting deeper and darker. Gods and shinki are missing, taken in by the forest's traps. Now, it's time to uncover what has taken them, and find a way to return their freedom....






Step into the forest, and fall under the strangely disconnected feeling within its borders. Your physical abilities will remain as sharp as ever, but accessing any supernatural ability, including a god's powers or a shinki's abilities, is much more of a struggle within this place, and incredibly draining as well.


Forest Dangers

The forest is no less closed-in when people actually get into it, and the sky is almost impossible to keep track of, replaced by looming boughs and twisting, knotted tree limbs. Those branches and vines almost seem a little too purposefully placed to block people in... although it might not be so obvious until you turn around and notice the path grown over with plants behind you.

It’s not just paranoia. The forest itself is acting to stop those here for rescue, and the trees will readily attack or attempt to capture any god or shinki making their way through. Paths knot up with brambles before them, trees drop branches to block the way, vines lock up the gaps between trees before trying to drag anyone who comes too near away. It’s going to be a struggle to get through, but together, it can be done.

Also hovering among the trees are the firefly spirits that have been a worry for some time. They venture alone at a distance, but once someone comes near, they’ll cluster and attack – if they touch your skin they'll burn like real fire, so be careful how you deal with them!

Soulless Shinki

A little deeper into the forest, searchers will begin to find some of the soulless shinki that wandered into the forest. Unfortunately, they’re beyond reason, and their numbers aren't just made up of soulless shinki with gods (Shizuo's, Add's, Hakkai's and Yuna's). Many of the nameless ones who have been living at the soulless shinki temple are here, too. These shinki, armed with whatever weapons they had when they vanished along with powerful wooden spears and maces grown by the cursed trees, are defending the inner areas of the forest alongside the plants with a vicious and mindless enthusiasm. Their focus is purely to stop those who might be getting close to the other prisoners.

Are those spell papers and straw dolls pinned to the trees that they’re clustering to defend? Maybe it would be worth it to get a closer look....

Creepy Cultists

In the deepest parts of the forest, where the weight of the magic working here becomes much heavier, and the forest almost vibrates with power, there are... humans. Normal, living humans, by all standards, except for the fact that they’re swathed in dark, hooded robes, and many of them are carrying the same spell tags and dolls visible on the trees the soulless shinki are so fervently defending. While they can’t see the gods and shinki at work in the forest, the humans are continuing to put up spell markers, and whenever a fresh one goes up, the magic in the air grows just a little more suffocating. They need to be stopped – but the question of how humans are in the Heavens’ forest in the first place still needs answering.

Those nearest to the forest’s center, in the heart of the magic, are maintaining the lines of massive sigils on the forest floor, the edges of which are only just visible beneath a tangling wall of brambles, vines and branches. The plants give way for the cultists, allowing them to continue maintaining the shapes, but nobody else. It’s safe to say that the snarled mess of plant life protects where the trapped gods and shinki are hidden, but can a way through be found with the magic’s effects so strong? Maybe the cultists will come in handy. They're intensely focused on the spell papers and sigils, and no matter what the gods and shinki do, they won't be able to keep their attention for long enough to convince them to answer more than a question or two -- but with some convincing, they might be able to point the way.

To Be Continued...

Be prepared! On May 3 (OOC), the final battle to save the kidnapped characters will be posted as a separate log. Soulless shinki can be NPCed in this first log, but missing PC characters (gods and shinki) will not be found until that second log goes up.



In Summary:

• Investigate the mysterious forest
• Battle burning fireflies and soulless shinki
• Deal with the human cultists
• Have fun~

Comments

[chibisu]

[Aomi shrugs sheepishly. YEAH, THAT... WOULD HAVE HELPED.... In the meanwhile, Ebisu looks down at the knife.]

It's not that funny... [Apparently the knife has opinions on this. Either way, Ebisu starts to reach forward again.] Alright, first we do this...

[A faint blue glow starts to line the edge of the knife before he presses it into his shinki's skin. No blood wells up as the knife presses in. There's only a similar blue line marking through the skin as Ebisu carefully cuts around the burn.]

[redotiertwo]

It is a sitcom-tier misunderstanding, though. [So someone somewhere other than the shinki in question probably finds it funny.

It's a little bit of a weird sight to see a knife used like that, but Davesprite figures it's still not best to interrupt and increase the chances Ebisu's going to slip with the knife. So for now, he watches in silence, seeing how this actually goes down and whether they're all as screwed as each other here.]

[chibisu]

[The shinki in question agrees, but alas! Knives have no words.]

[Knives are very good at cutting, however, and Ebisu manages to connect the line around the entirety of the burn wound. As the line connects to itself, a strange sort of haze seems to flicker over the injury, like heat over asphalt, and the skin seems to knit itself back into perfectly fine condition. The line starts to dim into nothingness.... but now Ebisu is just frowning down at the knife.]

...He says it definitely takes too much energy to work right. So it's not just borderlines... but anything to do with Far Shore magic.

[redotiertwo]

[Well, that's...something to know, and exactly what it is to know is something Davesprite is going to decide later. Mostly when thinking about how much they could be colossally screwed if this magic is hitting even the old gods and shinki isn't going to do nasty things to his nerve.]

I don't think it's even just that, I haven't been able to float properly since I got in here. [Which is pretty obviously a species trait of some sort and not a shinki one, not like that takes a great deal of figuring out when he's got no legs and wings.] So basically any power we might be able to access is just straight getting fucked over.

[chibisu]

Really? [Ebisu's eyebrows rise.] That's strange. If that's how you are normally, and you're one of the new shinki, then I don't...

[Takami, aka the guy who just knifed, tentatively speaks up. "If it's affecting any power, then... Maybe it has something to do with energy in general?"]

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite makes a slight finger-gun gesture towards the shinki.] I'm gonna put my money on this guy over here. There're are people that forest has grabbed who should be prime contenders even without their Heavens-granted powers, but if there's some weirdo energy shit going on for them too, maybe that's why they're still gone.

[Can't exactly fight your way out of murderish forest without the ability to do much actual fighting.]

[chibisu]

[He's... going to take those finger guns as a compliment, thanks, Davesprite. That only makes Ebisu all the more concerned, however.]

Do you think it's someone trying to purposefully go against Heaven?

[redotiertwo]

I mean, probably, this seems like a real lucky fucking coincidence if it's anything other than an intentional sabotage deal.

[Even if the forest had already been a bit weird, this shoots way past "a bit weird" and off into the stratosphere somewhere.]

[chibisu]

...They're going to regret it. [Ebisu's fingers wind nervously around the handle of the knife.] Things don't go well for anyone who goes against Heaven.

[A bad air is definitely falling around the small group, before Unmi reaches down to help both his companion and god up. "Well, we simply have to keep pressing forward until something is revealed."]

[redotiertwo]

[Yeah, that's got "don't ask" written right the fuck all over it, and Davesprite, in a moment of possibly surprising restraint, keeps quiet until Ebisu is standing again.]

I'll take your word for it, but right now I'm pretty sure everyone in here is already planning to make them regret it considering how many people are missing their god or their shinki or whatever.

[chibisu]

Clearly they're adapting to life as gods and shinki very well.

[...A compliment?]

What is your god's name? We'll keep an eye out for them.

[redotiertwo]

I'm not sure what to think about that. [Either the idea of adapting or whether that was supposed to be a compliment or not.

Davesprite raises his hands at the question, though.] My god isn't missing, I'm here for other people. I don't even know if she's in here, actually, but her fancy god name is Neith.

[chibisu]

But still, if you're a shinki, then it's better if you're with your god, right..?

[Ayakashi, or just using shinki abilities...]

[redotiertwo]

I came in myself because there's a couple of people I was worried about, but let's be real, do you think the group would've stayed together long with this tree shit going on anyway.

[Davesprite gestures to the various waving bits of foliage and branches that seem to be waiting for someone to get close enough to fall on.]

[chibisu]

[Pausing, Ebisu looks around at his shinki before blinking up at Davesprite again.]

...Yes?

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite has to resist the urge not to raise a hand to his face at that.]

Do you think they would've done it if they, say, didn't have probably literal hundreds of years of experience doing this sort of shit.

[chibisu]

[One of the shinki coughs into his hand in a way that's almost definitely laughter, if fairly hidden.]

Oh. I guess not. [A pause as Ebisu looks down a the knife.] Oh, Kimi says he likes you.

[redotiertwo]

Thanks knife guy, you're cool too, real sharp dude. [Davesprite gives the knife a thumbs-up before turning his attention back to Ebisu.]

So how are you and your dudes planning to handle this now that you've figured out the whole powers problem is a thing.

[chibisu]

Well... [Ebisu glances up to the oldest shinki of the group.] Unmi says that it's best to conserve our energy, since fireflies and plants are the least of our problems... So we're just going to avoid fighting when we can.

It's another reason why it's good to have Kimi in his vessel form, just in case. [Better to have a knife to cut through things, after all.]

[redotiertwo]

Hey, nothing wrong with avoiding fighting, I'd say that's probably how a lot of people here are doing it. Or trying to do it. [The trees have so far had a nasty habit of gunning for people who are just trying to live their lives untouched by angry trees.]

I've just been hitting shit with a sword mostly, it's been going okay so I'm gonna stick to that plan until it stops going okay.

[chibisu]

It sounds as if you're very skilled! Once we make our way out of this forest, please let me know if you ever need a part time job.

[Perfect time to start networking... right...]

[redotiertwo]

[Well, Davesprite wasn't exactly planning to field any job offers when he got into this forest, but he takes it in stride, giving Ebisu a finger-gun motion.]

I'll keep that in mind, but for now, I'm gonna away and see if I can find anyone else I know among this spectacular shitshow.

[chibisu]

Please be careful, alright?

[You're brightly colored and appeal to the part of him that is kind of a child and not an immortal god, please don't die bird friend]

[redotiertwo]

Careful is my middle name, my dude, save your worries for the final boss. [Davesprite does not actually have a last name (technically) so he can't really have a middle one, but who needs to know that anyway.

In any case, with that final regale, he starts to drift back the way he came.]