godsoffortune: (Default)
The Far Shore Mods ([personal profile] godsoffortune) wrote in [community profile] thenearshore2018-05-03 07:07 pm

28 - The Hungry Forest (Final Battle)

Who: Everyone!
What: At the heart of the mysterious forest lies a magical trap.
When: Nov 14, evening
Where: Within the forest
Summary: Working together, and with the (reluctant) help of some menaced cultists, the rescuers have pierced the wooden wall into the heart of the forest.






The sky is clearly visible here, but it’s an evening one – it’s taken the day to work their way through this far. Those with some astronomy knowledge will also be able to tell it’s a sky on Earth, and anyone who can climb up above the treeline will see a vast, mountainous and wooded area, with the lights of roads, train tracks and small towns glittering here and there. They're clearly not in the Heavens anymore. Somehow, in their journey through the forest, the rescuers have emerged onto the Near Shore.

An icy breeze is blowing, and although the vegetation is unseasonably green and lush in this clearing, there are patches of snow visible at the foot of some of the trees, hinting that they're fairly far up the mountain.

Rescues

The clearing here at the heart of the forest is vast, and five colossal sigils are etched into the earth, each one holding an incredible amount of power. It’s on these sigils, North, South, East, West, and Center, that the trapped gods and shinki can be found. Those unlucky enough to be at the Center sigil are bound by hypnosis, each staring at a firefly spirit that hovers before their unblinking eyes. These victims are still and unresponsive, and the spirits will need to be destroyed to free them. The firefly spirits can be harmed by both physical and magical attack, though they likely won’t stay still to let themselves be easily extinguished.

The captives trapped on each of the other sigils are around the edges of the clearing, entangled in vines, brambles or whatever other limbs the trees could provide to bind them to this place. Some may also be under the effects of the hypnotic fireflies if they’ve been particularly troublesome, while others who have fought less might have only those bindings needed to prevent them fleeing. Regardless of how tightly they're restrained, all of the kidnapped gods and shinki on all of the sigils look drained, the severity depending on how long they’ve been there. Some are merely tired-looking, whereas others are barely clinging to consciousness. Whether their power is being used to feed the spell or being stored for something else to come, one thing is clear – those trapped need to be freed before anything more can be done.

Sigils

Those sigils beneath each group of trapped gods and shinki are powerful constructs, brimming with energy and meticulously maintained by the cultists up to now. It’s the same power as what blankets the entire forest, but it's focused on each of those five points. They must be the source of the spell that's caused all of this.

If the spell is to be broken, the sigils need to be broken as well, but it’s going to take more than just scuffing out the etched lines to break the magic. Attacking with shinki in their vessel forms or using blessed water to wash away the magic will be most effective, but for those who didn't bring blessed water or don't have the energy left to transform, there's one other option. The clearing is lit by traditional paper lanterns hanging from the trees all around, and any object set aflame with these lanterns can be used to burn the spell out of the ground bit by bit.

The trees and any remaining soulless shinki are still furiously opposing the rescue efforts, the surviving cultists are continuing to work on maintaining the spell, and it will take time to fully destroy the sigils. However, as the sigils deteriorate, the effects of the spell will begin to fade, and characters will find it easier to access their supernatural powers to speed the process along. Gods' and shinki's powers (that is to say, the special power they gained as a god or shinki, rather than canon powers) will be as effective as a shinki or blessed water against the sigils.

But be careful. As each sigil breaks, some of the magic escapes, but some is captured by the remaining sigils. For the spell to fully disappear, all five must be destroyed – and quickly, because there’s only a matter of time before this power becomes unstable.

onedrinkwithme: (cocky lil shit)

rude namekian, meet stubborn ishgardian. i love them already

[personal profile] onedrinkwithme 2018-05-15 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
Once we get out of this forest, I will be more than glad to do so.

[He's used to trouble. He could count a few times that he got into it and it ended up not looking good, usually for him. But again, stubborn.]
shutupnail: (more grumpy than evil.)

yes good.

[personal profile] shutupnail 2018-05-15 06:03 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, but not a moment before then.

[If that was the best he was going to get out of the stubborn man then Piccolo wasn't going to waste his time arguing anymore. He would keep his promise if the man didn't make it and passed out early. First, Piccolo would berate his sorry unconscious behind, then he would get him out of the way (none too gently in the process), and finally kick his butt once he was conscious again. A promise was a promise after all.

That all aside, he began helping the man spread the cleansing fire to break the sigil. He was quite strong and, while growing tired from all the surrounding magic, less winded than Aymeric overall. He moved quickly and accurately, keeping an eye on the stubborn man all the while.]
onedrinkwithme: (Determined)

d^-^b

[personal profile] onedrinkwithme 2018-05-15 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Understood.

[He can handle an ass kicking if it came down to it, he wouldn't be a good soldier if he couldn't take the hits and keep on running. But that little promise is just more motivation for wanting to succeed as he keeps on moving. From time to time, he stops, looks down on one particular part of his body, breathes, and presses on. But it is during one of these times that he hears something rustling...]

Hmm?