It had been a while since Hylltywyll had last visited this place, the Giant Mushroom Fields. He found all of his old hoard right where he left it, hidden beneath the cap of a giant mushroom that was low to the ground. His little burrowed out den filled him with a sense of nostalgia. He remembered when he actually needed somewhere to call home before he became able to call the shadows themselves his home. The entire mushroom field was just as he remembered. Almost.

Something odd was going on here. He had a strange sense of something being off that made him instinctively don his little wooden mask. He didn't often feel such a need, even in dangerous situations, so this stood out to him. The mask was finished with a dark oil that made it as black as the night sky and etched with stars all over it and a crescent moon in the middle of the forehead, all gilded in silver. It was an exquisite mask, and it was specifically enchanted to protect his memory from being altered.

While he was in the area, he decided to check out another familiar place. He dropped down into the shadows silently. Soon, his head popped out from the darkness, but now beneath a park bench in Moonveil Village, his old haunt. Something felt off here too, but not in the same way. Just looking around, there were a lot less people out and about. The village was always full of old farts that had nothing better to do than stroll through the park. Where was everybody? Who was he supposed to prank to let them know he was here?

He disappeared again, climbing out of the shadows back in the Giant Mushroom Fields. Obviously, whatever was wrong here, it was probably related. How could they not be, when they were so close together? This feeling here and the missing people in the village.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Lost in the Woods
Participants: Two or more
Location: Anywhere
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown
Description: Travelers along the main roads have reported losing their memories while traveling: forgetting where they are going, where they have come from or in extreme cases, who they even are. There is not enough data to explain why their memories have faded, with it eventually returning after a few days, but there are dozens of lost citizens out there that need to find their way. Assist someone struggling by helping them remember any details that they may have forgotten, ultimately getting them to their destination safely.

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Mask of Memories
Hylltywyll's Shady Shelter

Rena tilts her head, silver eyes shining in the dark as she watches the mushroom field from her perch atop one of those very same ‘shrooms, idly sharpening her sword and savoring the sweet scent of the chameleon roses decorating its hilt. They were some of her favorites, and her husband had made a point of getting her a bouquet or two whenever they were in season, back when the Valley still had seasons. Those silver eyes of hers, so well matched by the roses of her sword, track over the field below, zeroing in on the peculiar creature wearing the dark lacquered mask, ”...well now, that stranger could be the cause of the missing travelers…certainly looks dangerous enough for it, though appearances are often deceiving…”

Bell tilts his own head, letting out a soft trill as his amber eyes trace over the rest of their surroundings, not really focusing on any one thing as he scans for movement and danger, ”...mmm, best not t’make assumptions, ka’to’bi. We wouldn’t want them to make assumptions about us, would we?”

Loci and Whistle are down below, Whistle having no way to get down from the cap of the mushroom in a quick and safe manner should a threat come by, and Loci being assigned to take hits for his sister, as per usual. The twins watch Hylltywyll from their spot beneath the mushroom, ruby eyes and emerald eyelights shining from the shadows.

Scurrying between the tall stalks of the massive mushrooms, Hylltywyll felt like he was being watched. That wasn't right. He was the one that liked to snoop on people from the shadows, not the other way around! Who would have the gall to be creeping on him? Was it the cause of this off feeling he was having? He didn't feel like he was being watched before, when he was collecting his hoard.

He stopped and looked around for a moment, trying to spot whoever was spying on him. His bright cyan pupils almost glowed, a small bit of magic in them making him able to see through the dark easily. Nothing could hide from him in darkness, his close companion.

Hylltywyll turned his head and spotted not just one pair of eyes watching him, but four, his eyes flicking from one to the other. A flock of birds? Two were unmistakably undead. He wasn't a big fan of undead. Rotting meat and dusty bones smelled horrible. Two of them still looked alive, but one of them caught Hylltywyll's attention more than the others, his eyes settling on that one. This one had magic. He could sea the ocean blue of the sea domain and a hint of starry space. Not as powerful as his own magics, but a fair enough amount to be a threat to the average person.

He turned his body to face the group, staring directly at the magic wielding one, his own spells at the ready to protect himself in case any of them tried anything.

---

Shadow Sight
Chaos Touched

Rena tilts her head, feathers ruffling in silent amusement as she glances down at her children below before she just…vanishes¹, the taste of stardust briefly puffing over Hylltywyll’s senses as she reappears standing just behind Loci and Whistle, her husband following close behind as she trills. The crow steps forward, flanked by her family as she approaches the stranger. The instincts granted by her deal the Hag scream at her, demand that she run, flee, escape the threat that she cannot hope to take down, but she’s rather talented when it comes to compartmentalizing that sort of thing. She comes to a stop mere meters from the stranger, head cocked like a curious crow, silver eyes taking in every little detail.

Distant Whistle blinks slowly at Hylltywyll, ruby eyes examining his mask, his cloak, the way he carries himself, taking in every little detail that she can spot as she keeps to her mother’s side. She doesn’t know what to make of the stranger, but she’s wary nonetheless, some instinct deep within her psyche cluing her in to her mother’s carefully ignored panic.

Bell tilts his head first one way, then the other, the ghost’s amber eyes first examining Hylltywyll before moving to track over their surroundings, ever cautious and wary of an ambush, the embers speckling his feathers pulsing gently in time with his spectral heartbeat. The phantasm doesn’t trust the stranger, but that’s fairly standard for him at this point. After all, it was a stranger that brought eternal winter upon the Valley of Crows…

Loci’s emerald eye lights seem to bore into Hylltywyll’s own orbs, the skeleton tucking his hands into the small of his back, content to wait by his mother’s side for something interesting to happen. He’d rather be back home reading, of course, but that’s standard fare at this point.

---

1 - Blink

Hylltywyll's eyes narrowed behind his mask as he sensed the spell being cast, but he saw no harm in letting her finish. He knew her teleport destination wasn't close enough to him for a sneak attack or behind him. It wasn't a threat to him, but he still felt a tinge of annoyance that she so brazenly cast a spell in front of him. If he didn't already know what her spell it was going to do, he might have retaliated preemptively.

It was a silent standoff for a few moments, neither side trusting the other, but also not willing to suddenly attack a stranger they had no reason to believe was the cause of the odd feeling in the area. He gauged their strength, even all four of them together, as firmly below his. He doubted they had the power to be the ones behind this.

Hylltywyll pointed a finger at the one that seemed like their leader.

"You're not the reason this place feels off, are you?" He asked, feeling like he already knew the answer. If they were the reason for the sinister air of this place, they would also likely be the reason for the old villagers being missing, and he didn't see any of those fossils on them or nearby.

Rena tilts her head as the chains of her curse slithering through the air to follow her from her previous spot atop the mushroom, the long lengths of ice-coated iron curling and coiling through the air around the crow as she considers for a moment before speaking, ”...if we are, then something’s messed with our heads…and we would notice a gap in memory like that, unless the perpetrator was very talented at manufacturing new memories…” icy fog pours from her beak as she speaks, reminiscent of the exhalations of an ice drake…

Bell continues scanning the group’s surroundings, his bright amber eyes scanning for any hint of movement or threat, ephemeral smoke wafting from his ragged, ghostly feathers as he turns in a slow circle. He doesn’t particularly mind the stranger, most of his wariness due to the way his wife tenses in Hylltywyll’s presence. Once he completes a full turn, he places a hand on Rena’s shoulder, gently squeezing to try and help ground and calm her…

Whistle remains silent, flipping a coin over her knuckles as a way to focus her nervous energy…it feels wrong to be anxious like this, wrong for her mother to be nervous like this, for either of them to feel this nervous, anxious jittering usually reserved for Loci…

…Loci, on the other hand, feels calm, his emerald eyelights sharp, his bones still, his mind silent for the first time since his mother woke him up from that frozen hell of his egg. This is what he’s meant for, what he’s supposed to do. He’s unsure if he’ll be able to keep up the way he might need to, but if this devolves into violence…this stranger that stands before the family of crows might be something he actually needs to protect his mother and sister from…

"Hmph. A gap in memory..." Hylltywyll repeated sarcastically. He held a hand up to the bottom of his mask, unconsciously making sure it was still secured to his face.

If they knew they weren't the ones behind this, he didn't need ridiculous hypotheticals. But there was a strange thought. He put his mask on because of the feeling, but all the mask can protect is his memories. If he felt the instinctive need to wear it, then maybe whatever was wrong here was affecting people's memories. It also might actually explain the missing villagers. Were they missing because their memories were missing? Did they not remember where they lived?

Hylltywyll looked at the crow turning around to keep an eye out on the group's surroundings. He guessed they might think he wasn't the only threat nearby. Fair enough, in this place, with this feeling in the air. They all seemed really nervous about something. Probably about whatever was possibly stealing people's memories and causing this eerie sensation. He got an idea.

"Did you know, there's a village near here? It's a lot more empty than usual for some reason." He said, his tone suggesting these people could do something about that.

Rena tilts her head like the curious crow she is, silver eyes shining in the dark as she considers, the chains of her curse coiling around her, draping over her wings as frozen mist puffs from her beak with every breath, “...we were actually intending to visit. people going missing…this could be most unfortunate…” the crow lets out a soft trill, wings flaring a little before tucking against her back once more. She glances around, silver eyes flitting from her anxious daughter to her unnervingly still son before settling back upon on the stranger before her, ”...in any case, I do believe it would be for the best if we investigated…separately”

Whistle tenses a little, ruby eyes flitting anxiously from one spot to another, never settling for more than a moment. This is wrong, wrong wrong wrong. Mom’s supposed to be strong, supposed to be able to protect them. but she hadn’t been able to protect half of her own clutch from the ice.

Loci slowly tilts his head, bones softly clicking and grinding against each other with the motion. He wouldn’t be able to take the stranger. He doubts that even Mom would be able to. But, well, if there’s anything he’s good at, it’s being a distraction. Between him and Dad? Well, he’s confident they’ll at least be able to slow the stranger down enough for Mom and sis to escape. Loci and Bell are expendable. Mom can bring them back again and again and again, so unless there’s something out there that can destroy a soul, the worst that can happen to them is a nap.

Bell trills softly, amber eyes burning dangerously, the embers scattered amongst his feathers shining like dying stars as his ragged feathers ruffle in discontent. Something’s wrong. Something’s watching them, and he can’t for the unlife of him figure out where that feeling is coming from. Then those amber eyes settle on the stranger’s mask… ”...the mask isnae for decoration, is it”

Searching separately was fine by him. He didn't work well with others. He started to back up into the gloom beneath a large mushroom behind him. He would be on his way, but he wouldn't expose his back to anyone that could still possibly be his enemy. However, he stopped and turned to the smoldering spectral bird at his words.

His hand went up to his mask again, but this time protectively, and he let out a growl. It was just a question, but Hylltywyll wasn't a nice, reasonable person. Even an innocent question about his mask, he took as a possible threat. If they wanted his mask, he would fight them, like he would fight to protect any of his possessions. Everything in his hoard belonged to him, and everything not in his hoard just didn't belong to him yet.

"It's my mask! You can't have it!" He shouted angrily. He dropped to all fours, taking a feral cat-like stance, his back arched and his fur raised.

He wasn't very reasonable, but he still had enough thought to not attack immediately. If they came at him to try and steal his magical mask, he'd fight back, but in the meantime their conversation had been tense but nonconfrontational. He used a bit of magic to be sure of their intentions. He would know if they meant to harm him or if they were lying.

"Are you going to try to take my mask?" He asked, threateningly.

---

Detect Lies
Naughty or Nice

Rena blinks, silver eyes flashing with bone white light for a moment as she tilts her head, feathers unruffled by the stranger’s vitriol as she considers. ”...nothing shall be taken that is not paid for or freely given” the crow trills, the chains of her curse slowly drifting around her as she watches Hylltywyll. As the spells catch on her soul, there comes no bitter taste of deceit mixed into her frosty breath, no scent of coal or peppermint wafting from her soul, no impression of malice or kindness to be found in the ruffling of her feathers. The crow, the necromancer is…decidedly neutral with regards to the stranger before her family. There’s a flare of malice that coincides with the flashing of her eyes, yes, but…beyond that it’s as though she has no intentions whatsoever.

Bell tilts his head, unruffled and unfazed by the stranger’s malice, simply raising his hands in a gesture of peace, ”I’m curious as to its purpose, nothing more,” the smoldering specter also fails to register as anything more than a neutral, honest party. The glowing embers of his eyes as he examines the stranger.

Whistle tilts her head, ruby eyes glinting in the dark as she continues to spin the coin along her knuckles in an attempt to maintain some level of calm, intensely aware of the weight of the twin bayonets resting against either forearm…

Loci remains unruffled, his emerald eye lights focused impassively on Hylltywyll as the little skeletal crow steps up to place himself between his family and the stranger. There’s no malice in his bones, simply a resolute determination to safeguard his family.

Hylltywyll calmed down, his standoffish demeanor lessening quite a bit as his magic revealed no hostility or lies from either bird's words. He trusted his magic, but that didn't mean he immediately trusted these strangers. Maybe they meant him no harm now, but would that change if they found out what the mask actually did? They were decidedly neutral toward him, not friendly. A stance that could sway easily.

"Hmph. I'm not telling." Hylltywyll sneered. He would have stuck his tongue out at them if that didn't mean he'd be licking the inside of his mask. He was ready to take his leave, to start investigating the missing villagers on his own, but a noise from behind him caught his attention.

He moved to the side, turning to look in the direction of the noise without putting his back directly toward the feathered family he still didn't fully trust.

From behind a giant mushroom, an old man with a long grey beard and a confused expression came walking along, stopping with a startled step back as he spotted the group in front of him.

Hylltywyll recognized him. It was one of the old herbalists from the village whose garden he had stolen from on multiple occasions. He grew the best tasting strawberries in the village. He also grew the most pest deterrent plants, like mint and citronella, in a vain attempt at repelling the Fairy from his garden. Heh, how foolish. Even the hedge of thorny brambles that made his pretty garden look more like some witch's cursed yard hadn't helped at all. Those were some good strawberries.

"Excuse me, would you mind telling me where we are? I seem to have gotten quite lost." The man asked shyly, obviously frightened. More interestignly, he didn't recognize Hylltywyll at all. He would usually scream in anger the moment he spotted the fuzzy Fairy, and Hyll doubted the mask and cloak would be enough for him not to recognize him.

Rena tilts her head, silver eyes zeroing in on the newcomer as she tilts her head, the chains of her curse twisting and curling in their mirrored orbits around her frame as her feathers ruffle and smooth out. “...we’re currently in the giant mushroom fields, though that much should be obvious. Is there somewhere you need to be? Something you’ve forgotten?” The lead crow’s voice is soft and soothing, like heavy snowfall through a gentle breeze. There’s no compulsion attached, no magic, nothing more than soothing tones and gently probing words.

Bell trills softly, leaning back just enough that he wouldn’t be able to stay upright without his ghostly levitation, his amber eyes searching out and zeroing in on the old man’s face as he considers, “...amnesia? It’s rather difficult to get out here on foot unless you’re from the nearby village, in which case the ‘shrooms would be a rather known landmark…”

Whistle tilts her head, ruby eyes flicking over the elderly herbalist’s clothes, settling briefly upon the man’s rather shiny necklace before flitting over the rest of him…worn buttons, torn and dirty clothes, a smattering of scratches on his hands and face…and barefoot to boot. The little crow lets out a soft, sad chirp, “...ye’ve been wandering for a while now, ‘aven’t ye…”

Loci chirps softly, his spectral, half visible feathers ruffling a little as he glances around before settling back into his relaxed guard stance. Whatever’s going on, it’s not his problem until it becomes a threat…

"The Giant Mushroom Fields?" The old man repeated, looking around. For someone who lived practically next door to the place, there was no indication that he recognized the name. "Well, there are a lot of giant mushrooms here, aren't there?" He muttered.

He looked at the strange group as he hobbled closer through the grass. He strained his eyes and then stepped back, startled. He hadn't gotten the best look at them earlier, but it was surprising to see the moving bird skeleton and the ghostly avian. He also looked at Hylltywyll with fear, but there was still no sign of recognizing the Fairy that had repeatedly ravaged his produce. Just fear of the small, masked creature before him.

"I don't think there's somewhere I need to be. I can't remember." He went on, his speaking slightly faster, less dazed. "Is there a village nearby? Would you mind pointing me in the direction of it? I have a bit of coin..." He said as he reached a hand into his pocket. "I think I have some coin... It should be here... Right?"

He looked confused again. He felt like he should know whether or not he had coins in his pocket, but for some reason, it was impossible to recall whether or not he did. Where was his coin purse? For that matter, what was he even doing in these mushroom fields and how long had he been here? He looked up again.

"Do any of you know how I got here? I can't remember." He asked slowly, running his fingers through his beard as he puzzled over his predicament.

Rena tilts her head, silver eyes shining gently in the darkness as she considers, “...my family and I can guide you to the nearby village, if you’d like. Perhaps something there might spark your memory…” the crow cracks her neck as the chains of her curse continue to curl and twist in their irregular, mirrored paths around her. If the other citizens of the nearby village are having the same problem as this…herbalist, by the look of him…then that could be problematic for her murder’s task. Someone paid a tidy sum to see a specific fellow taught a lesson, so if something’s interfering with the memories of the people in this area…well, they’ll just have to fix that problem first…

Bell lets out a soothing trill, his amber eyes soft as he takes a careful step toward the old man, “...but if’n ye’re not comf’trable with our…everything, then p’raps our…acquaintance here might be more suitable. And if’n that isnae t’ y’re likin’, then we can simply point ye in the direction o’ town and give ye a list o’ directions an’ landmarks t’work with”

Whistle chirps softly, stepping up to the old man without so much as a hint of fear, her ruby eyes seemingly searching for something as she watches him, “...how long ‘ve ye been wandering like this? Have ye seen any others?”

Loci…does not like his sister putting herself in what might be harm’s way, but…it’s more important to keep himself between his family and the strange, cryptic creature than the doddering old man…

Hylltywyll side-eyed the bird as she volunteered him to guide the old man back to the village. He didn't like being told what to do by some strangers he'd just met and still didn't even know the names of.

"Hmph. You deal with him." He scoffed before he walked off, back into the shadows.

These people wanted to search for any other separately anyways, so he'd leave it to them to bring the geezer back home while he looked around. He didn't care much about helping others, but with all the old people of the village gone, who was he supposed to steal food from and annoy for his entertainment? He wasn't busy with anything in particular today, so he might as well take a stroll through the mushroom fields and see if he could spot any more wandering old timers.

The old herbalist didn't seem too perturbed by the small robed creature's exit. In fact, he was rather relieved. Compared to the flock of mostly undead bird people, and the Fairy, he, for some reason, felt more fear of the tiny fairy. He didn't know how to explain why. He was sure he had no memories of the creature, but he felt a growing sense of familiarity.

He looked at the others abashedly.

"I'd appreciate being guided there, but I think I can work with landmarks if you can describe them. I can't remember any around here. I feel like... I should? I can't remember how long it's been. It's blurry. I don't think I saw anyone else."