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.

reformedsinner: (closer look)

[personal profile] reformedsinner 2018-05-16 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm. [Hakkai's tone is a little concerned, despite his exhaustion. It might not become a problem, but on the other hand... it might.

Fire has a way of getting out of hand.]


I'm not sure I can teleport us out safely.

[It doesn't take that much effort, but it takes visualization and focus, and both, he fears, are lacking when he's in this state.]
erogappa: (look -- hella shade)

[personal profile] erogappa 2018-05-16 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)

Oi.

[ Gojyo does turn at that, halfway anyway, so he's regarding Hakkai out of the corner of his eye. The look is pure disdain. ]

Who's rescuin' who here? If we need to get out of here I'll get you out, don't worry about that. [ Besides, the fires aren't spreading, see? Some are pretty big, but there's no trees immediately nearby and the grass is dead and autumn-damp. They'll be fine. It's fine. ] You just worry about gettin' your strength back. Drink more water.

reformedsinner: (front man)

[personal profile] reformedsinner 2018-05-16 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not allowed to do even a little rescuing?

[He affects a disappointed tone. It would be more disappointed if he hadn't already admitted that he can't do any rescuing; he's not entirely convinced he'll be able to walk all the way out of the forest, even with time to rest.

He's willing to try, but he may land on his face halfway, and he's certain Chikusa would yell at him if he did.]


Well, in that case, I'll have to rely on you.

[And there is a half-full bottle of water next to his knee. He reaches for it obediently. His throat is still dry.]
erogappa: (look -- serious profile)

[personal profile] erogappa 2018-05-16 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)

[ He knows that Hakkai's just joking with him. He knows this. But he's also the guy who got left behind while the actual teenagers headed off to do the important work, so he can't help but be aware of his own limits right now.

As soon as he sees Hakkai pick up the water bottle, he turns back to the distant view. ]

Chikusa and Ken will be back soon too.

reformedsinner: (foundling)

[personal profile] reformedsinner 2018-05-17 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Hakkai snorts, sputtering briefly as a little of his water winds up in his nose, and glances up from the bottle at the blur that is Gojyo, shadows and a brush of hair that flashes arterial red in the uneven light.]

But if I rely on Chikusa, he'll never let me forget about it.

[This isn't true, and he does rely on Chikusa.

But Hakkai can feel spikes of annoyance and discontent in his usual deadened affect; they're probably going to have to talk, later.]
erogappa: (smirk -- flirting? Kinda?)

[personal profile] erogappa 2018-05-17 03:16 pm (UTC)(link)

Why do you think I'm any better?

[ His scanning is a little more focused now, as he checks the edges of the clearing for signs of familiar white hair and pointed ears. If Banri is part of this, surely somebody's untied him by now, right? ]

You got kidnapped by a forest. I'm never gonna let you forget this.

reformedsinner: (foundling)

[personal profile] reformedsinner 2018-05-18 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hakkai laughs, ducking his head.]

Oh, well, I suppose there's no helping it, then.

Trees are quite strong, it turns out....