28 - The Hungry Forest (Final Battle)

[godsoffortune]

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.

Comments

[declamando]

The only way we could guarantee it is by telling them personally, but that means we might as well just ask them for help here anyway. Calling a warning will have to do.

[Since she's still not inclined to let Elfnein try using her powers to do it with the draining magic in full force.]

[mithrarin]

Right. I'll get to work.

[He's the one with the slashing weapon, right?]

[Dust stalks over to the tree, drawing his blade back to chop at it with a grimace of effort. As it happens, doing shonen-style slashes through things without seeming to obey any laws of friction or momentum is more than a little bit grueling here in the depths of the forest, but he had to do something to help! He wouldn't kill himself, so what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.]

[alchemists]

If I use my powers to warn people we can avoid the downtime. I promise I won't go overboard.

[ She knows how worried Maria is about the draining magic but this might be the only way. ]

[declamando]

[Maria certainly doesn't look happy about it, but there's not a lot she can do in this situation.] If that's what you want to do, I can't really stop you. Just make sure you're careful.

[As it is, they've burnt enough time debating tactics already.] I'll start trying to damage the sigil. And keep an eye on Dust while I'm here.

[She doesn't really trust him to not overdo it, quite honestly.]

[mithrarin]

I heard that. [Wood chips fly out in violent sprays as Dust lays into the tree, one thick gouge already in its trunk lower to the ground. Chop a V on one side, then another V on the opposite, to control its fall -- isn't that how it works? He sure hopes so.]

[alchemists]

I'll be careful.

[ Elfnein had a good idea of what to write to warn people about the tree. Something short and would get everyone's attention. As high up as she could get it in the nearby area she wrote in bright characters WATCH OUT!! ]

That should do it... [ That took a bit more out of her then she thought, but she was still standing at least. ]

[declamando]

[Maria, on the other hand, moves out of the falling range of the tree as she pulls out her bottle of blessed water and Uta's vessel form from her belt. There must be a way to pick apart this spell, especially if it's some kind of corrupted magic...

She keeps an eye out to make sure nobody's going to wander under where Dust is dropping the tree, and that Elfnein is alright to move away from it if she needs to, but otherwise, she's focusing on her chosen task.]

[mithrarin]

[As are they all. A flurry of work quickly has the tree carved out, and Dust moves to the other side, breath coming hard in a way that is utterly atypical of him. Doesn't stop him from his duty, of course.]

[alchemists]

You should sit for a few moments.

[ Elfnein is concerned about Dust and his ragged breathing. The physical strength needed to chop the tree down must have worn him out. ]

[declamando]

She's right, Dust. [Maria calls that over her shoulder as she crouches low to the sigil, hacking at the carved lines with her blade to try and break them up a bit.] If something goes wrong you'll need the strength to react in time.

[mithrarin]

I'm not... pestering you two about your limits! [Really, Elfnein probably did a lot more than he just did with that magic! Scowling fiercely, Dust pauses for a moment just to satisfy them, one hand leaning on the tree with his head bowed.]

...I don't want to leave this undone though. If something happened... [Like another sigil being destroyed and the ground shuddering. That's a possibility he can't discount, and with the tree weak, who knows what would happen?]

[alchemists]

It won't hurt anyone to take a quick break, it's not just about pestering you or wanting to leave it undone. If you end up out of commission there are people that will be sad.

[declamando]

We're not the ones who sound like we're about to drop. [Even Elfnein is in surprisingly good shape considering what happened, though it probably helps that she was missing for only a day.

She can also understand what Dust is going for here, though, and she glances towards the tree.] Let me help you knock it down, and then you can take a break.

[mithrarin]

You're not the ones chopping down a tree. [Oh, if only Dust knew about the costs inherent in Maria's powers from home; he'd have quite a few things to say about this lecture.]

[He straightens up, spinning his sword back to a foregrip.] Right. That was the plan. We take it down.

[alchemists]

We can save the off putting talk for later, now isn't the time for it.

[ Both Dust and Maria clearly had costs to using their strengths and powers and now wasn't the time for in-fighting over it. ]

[declamando]

[He'd initially been pretty intent on taking it down by himself, but Maria elects not to point that out in the interests of keeping things focused, so she heads over to give a hand. Even without accessing her powers, gods are supposed to have considerable strength over shinki, so she should be able to render some assistance.

Looking over it, she glances over at the next tree over and quickly leaps up, starting to climb before the tree can try scraping her off with vines or branches.]

You hit it down there, and I can hit it from up here.

[mithrarin]

[It's what he can do. It's all he can do, really, and his powerlessness frustrates him.]

Right.

[Dust hits the tree with the heel of his hand, testing the remaining strength in its trunk and judges from the feel that he doesn't need to chop at it any more. Maria's strength, and his, ought to be enough to get the job done.]

[Backing up several paces, Dust judges his charge carefully, then with a slight turn of his head checks on Elfnein. Everything good over there?]

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein gives a thumbs up, the area has been cleared as far as she can tell. Everything is good to go. ]

[declamando]

[Maria likewise backs up on her branch, though when Dust turns his head to Elfnein, she waits for the all-clear to move.

As soon as they get it, she races forward in two long strides and leaps off the branch, twisting to deliver a harsh, driving kick with her heel. It's as dead-center on the trunk as she can get it, to hopefully minimise the chance of the tree tilting in an odd direction on the way down.]

[mithrarin]

[The same thing at almost the same time for both of them. As Maria hits high, Dust kicks low, putting all the force he can manage into his charging crash.]

[The tree shudders, and the first slow pops of splitting wood belie its seeming motionlessness. As Dust half-dives, half-rolls out of the way to clear the ground for Maria's landing, the tree begins to tilt, picking up speed with each moment as it hurtles towards the ground and the sigil on it.]

[alchemists]

It worked!

[ No one got hurt and the tree is down, perfect going just as planned. ]

[declamando]

[Maria lands quickly, especially considering she can feel the branch she's on giving way under her - she has a sneaking suspicion it's not due to her weight, though. The tree's heavy drop onto the sigil is a satisfying thing to feel after all the trouble they've had, though she looks pointedly towards Dust right afterwards.]

Now you can take a break.

[mithrarin]

I'm fine. [Tired, yes, more tired than normal -- but really, isn't that more a reflection on how he never really gets tired normally than anything?] Besides, there's nothing more to do at the moment.... and I'm sure that will change very soon.

[alchemists]

Then you should take this moment to take a break, there's a reason for everything and if it's calm now it's best to rest up.

[declamando]

She's right. Take the moment while it's here. The fact that it'll be gone soon is more of a reason to take it, not less.

[Maria's voice is starting to become sterner, as if she doesn't really have time for his stubborn nonsense right now.]