QUIET MOUNDS - STEF HEART

[abardacttofollow]

You find yourself in a stone room that looks like some sort of medieval dungeon. There are (thankfully), no torture instruments, but there is a man strung up here. One large manacle is around his neck, chaining him stiffly to the door. His hands are free, but each foot is manacled to the matching bottom corner of the doorframe. There is a visible lock on each of the three manacles.

It's Stefen, and there's a knife in his chest. Despite that, he's alive, apparently alert, and doesn't look to be in pain, perhaps due to the lulling, sense-dulling music that seems to be coming from nowhere at all—in fact, if you were in pain before you entered, it's gone here. His wound is bleeding, but only a little, and he smiles his usual bright smile at you.

Behind him, but in front of the closed door he's bound to, you can see three double sets of strings running vertically. Where they meet the floor, they are fastened, and then each runs across the floor to the three doors on the opposite wall, then under them.

There is nothing else in this room.

((OOC: Here's how this will work! Since we're doing individual runs, rather than me putting up individual top levels for areas, just jump the post itself, and I'll run everything for you within your one thread. If you're wanting to do a run with someone else, just stay in the same thread together.))

Comments

[abardacttofollow]

I don't think it would. I'm really sorry if I'm wrong, but I can't see why there'd be an area that would hurt you specifically...

[originsong]

Okay. Since you're the guardian, I trust you.

[ GOING THROUGH THE DOOR ]

The Truth 1

[abardacttofollow]

When you step through the door, you fall abruptly. You rapidly see yourself approaching the… ground? The ice? But just before you hit it, it shatters, and you find yourself in another room with a path leading forward. There's no going back.

You find yourself in a fenced in field, funnelling you forward to the next door. In the distance, you see white horses grazing. It is calm and peaceful; a large tree grows here, shading the area so it feels calm, quiet. It genuinely seems as though you're outdoors, though you get the impression you won't be able to leave the fenced in area except through the gate at the end.

By the gate at the end is an old, moss-covered statue of a horse. Well, most of a horse. It has been weathered, and it looks like something has destroyed its head.

The gate at the end is open onto darkness.

[originsong]

[ oh :( horse statue :( goes up to pet it ]

[abardacttofollow]

A bit of moss crumbles off it.

[originsong]

Do your best, horse.

[ headin' thru the gate ]

The Truth 2

[abardacttofollow]

You enter into a fancy bedroom in a manor house, with two bunks, both sticking out into the room. As well as the door you came in through, there is a door to the left and right, and an open doorframe ahead. You wouldn't be able to exit through the left or right closed doors if you wanted to, though. There's a statue in front of each of them. One is a tall, stern-looking woman with a hooked nose and a reluctant smile. The other is a strapping, broad-shouldered young man with curly hair and a confident grin.

[originsong]

Hello?

[abardacttofollow]

The statues don't respond.

[originsong]

... Do your best.

[ PROCEEDS THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR ]

The Truth 3

[abardacttofollow]

Whatever this room was can't be made out. It has been totally destroyed, torn to shreds. There was white cloth on the walls, but it's splashed with blood. Whatever was once in here is long gone, shards of wood and stone everywhere. In terms of statues, all you make out in the center is a pair of smallish feet. The rest has been utterly destroyed, apparently exploded from the inside out.

There is a door at the end, shut and locked, with a keyhole. You can hear, somewhat muffled by the length of the room and the shut door, someone singing on the other side.

[originsong]

Oh...

Hello?

[abardacttofollow]

The voice pauses. "Hello," it calls back. It's not Stefen's voice. "Sorry, are you lost?"

[originsong]

Yes. I was told that the way to get out is in this direction?

[abardacttofollow]

"Oh! I'm so sorry about all this. Shall I get you out of here now? I can make you wake up, if you'd like."

[originsong]

I think that might be the best plan! I really have no business being here.

[abardacttofollow]

"That's... entirely fair, to be honest. I'm sorry if anything that happened here was troubling. A deep breath, all right? Waking up abruptly is likely to be disorienting."

[originsong]

I don't mind. It's not your fault.

[conflictoftwinterest]

[You wake up.... You don't have to jump stef if you don't want, of course, but it's there!]