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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 5, 2022 0:59:15 GMT -5
Ever since finding the cipher, they had been attempting to decode it. That is, Tatalia has been trying to decode it; he's pretty sure he's mostly here for moral support on nights when the candle burns low, and maybe occasionally chiming in with suggestions that could not be further from correct. It's been weeks since then; their first few nights since agreeing to remain on this particular venture together having been spent collectively racking their brains over the cipher. A few times, Tatalia thought she'd come close to cracking it— only to be dashed by a single inaccuracy or oversight.
He had to give her credit, though; this was far more complicated than he would ever imagine something could be, and so incredibly out of his league. He didn't even know where to start with it, but, Tatalia seemed at home with what she was doing. He did his best not to get in her way, but, it seemed she didn't really need him to because the cipher was proving to be a pain. Eventually, even she had to relinquish— but! She had a new plan! Someone in Eclipse City, who she seemed to think might be of assistance to solving the cipher! He's not terribly sure where she picked up the idea— if she heard something while they were drifting from inn to inn— or if it was somebody that she knew on a personal level. In his naivety, he had agreed— it wouldn't hurt to travel to the Moonglades. But... Along the way, maybe because of how long they had lingered in Zeinav Desert in hopes of cracking the cipher, they... Started to run short on coin; it wasn't really that they didn't budget (although, it could have been), but the cost of living takes a toll on everyone— and although his offers to put on a performance at the inns they dropped by certainly helped, it didn't quite cushion the fall. Not to mention to do that, he'd had to buy a new violin; and, maybe, a more impulsive purchase.
But that is neither here nor there.
The original idea had been to take a small ferry, or a boat, to Eclipse City; but the boat fare turned out to be far too pricey due to some shortage on available ferries; and after laying it all out— they just wouldn't have enough to take them the whole way.
And so, again, Tatalia came up with a new plan: Take a shortcut through the Shadewood Forest. — and he shot it down almost immediately. Now, he has never been to the Shadewood Forest, but he has heard plenty about the Shadewood Forest— enough to know that he doesn't want any of what the place is known for putting out. Except, Tatalia made some good points about the shortcut through Shadewood Forest; or at least, they had sounded like good points at the time, but now that they're in the forest, he wonders if he was even sane while Tatalia pitched this to him.
The Shadewood is as disorienting of a labyrinth as he has heard people claim it to be; rolling fog rises from the thick undergrowth, the groan of trees rustles overhead, and the scuttles of something unseen hiss in the shadows every now-and-then. Their fool-proof plan had been to stick to the edges of the forest— keep the tree-line in sight— the basics. Except, as they walked, the fog and mist had thickened; he didn't think twice about it, because they never changed direction. Straight ahead through the forest, after all! The quicker they go, the faster they'll get out of it. That was the idea. But the tree-line has long since dissipated from view, and Cantio swears that the shadow beyond the extent of his light continues to grow darker with each step. Still, neither of them have changed direction, so by all means, they should be on track to get through the forest without delving too deep into the midst of it. Yes, the fog is unsettling and he can't see more than ten feet in front of him at any time; yes, the gnarled trees look like writhing wraiths; and yes, he has seen one too many spiderwebs for his comfort, but it's fine. Spiders live here. They haven't seen giant spider webs, so it's fine.
Probably. Still, he's trying to keep himself busy; keep his nerves at bay while he rambles tales of old to Tatalia to curb the eerie hush of the Shadewood. "Hmm...Oh, have I told you the folktale about the Shadewood Unicorn?" he remarks, exchanging the bird from one hand, to the other as he steps over a particularly gnarled root; and manages to do so without tripping over his own two feet. "I met a man in the Moonglade, oh... a year ago? Who told me the tale." He curls his palm out, waving a hand over the bird in his hand, and watching as the light shifts into the shape of a tiny, pocket-sized unicorn. "A man of medicine had lost his son to the woods. He was grieving the loss of his child, when a Unicorn stepped out from the forest and asked why he was crying so; and he told the Unicorn, 'I've lost my son to the Shadewood— surely, the beasts will have gobbled him up by now.'" The light flickers into the shape of a spider, and clicks its way along Cantio's fingertips.
He knows this is a story about where they currently are, but the shifting of light is keeping his mind occupied at least; he's getting better at it. "The Unicorn was troubled, and being of a celestial nature, could tell this man was of a good heart. So, it deigned to help him find his son; the man gathered his friends and family, and into the Shadewood they searched for him. But, they did not find him at first— first, they found a merchant and his donkey; then, a soldier; a scholar of nature; and finally, the boy, stuck in a spider's web. Prepared to be eaten."
The light shifts into the shape of a child, before swirling back into that tiny unicorn once again.
"Everyone rejoiced, but the Unicorn was troubled, thinking, 'This place truly is a labyrinth with many horrid monsters.' But, he could not think long, as they were eager to get out of the Shadewood. So the Unicorn escorted them out, keeping the monsters at bay with his light. The man who had cried for his son noticed, as they left, that the Unicorn lingered in the shadows of the woods, and asked, 'Are you coming?' and the Unicorn shook its head, telling him. 'I cannot; many souls are lost to this place, and I feel there is something I must do before I can leave.'"
He looks to Tatalia, tail swaying leisurely. "Rumour has it the Unicorn is still roaming the Shadewood; many people claiming to have been lost to the Shadewood say they have been led out by the visage of a glowing white horse."
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Post by Tatalia on Aug 5, 2022 10:05:09 GMT -5
For her part, Tatalia was enjoying the trip through the Shadewood. Or, at least, she was enjoying the idea of traveling through the Shadewood, and the shadows didn't seem nearly so long to her as they did to the tiefling.
Goblins have a natural capacity for seeing in the dark, though it's very much a muscle that has to be trained. After her troubles at the hidden shrine and a few long nights in the desert, Tatalia began to see in the dark. It was strange for her: she'd been raised to always bring a candle to dark places, and so had never given her natural darkvision a chance to develop. She'd been as blind as a human baby in the night. But since she'd been thrust into total darkness enough times, the goblin's eyes were adapting to the night once more. In truth, a very small part of why she wanted to go into the Shadewood was to test the limits of her newfound abilities, though she didn't actually tell Cantio that.
Everything the goblin did tell Cantio was honest, however. She could still remember one of her speeches:
"Firstly, it will be just as dangerous on the road as it would be off it! You know bandits like to prey on lonesome travelers along the wayside, for one; and for two, half the strangers we meet will probably assume the worst about me. Robbers and the like won't be looking for us in the Shadewood, and neither will those cultists! Besides, all we really have to do is skirt around the edges of the woods and we won't end up anywhere near the worst parts. Just a straight shot from one edge to the other, simple as stone soup! What could go wrong?"
Tatalia smiled to herself. Maybe she should have taken up a career as an orator instead!
Still, the young explorer had to admit that her traveling companion seemed more than a little unnerved by the shadowy woods around them. He was doing his best to fill the time by telling stories, and he'd actually told a few of them multiple times. The goblin did not correct him. Tatalia assumed he needed to talk about something to keep himself distracted from all the horrible things that could be lurking among the trees, and she was happy to play the attentive listener.
The latest story, however, was actually a new one. It was about the Shadewood, and the goblin wondered if he'd waited so long to tell it because he really didn't want to think about the Shadewood at the moment. Still, he seemed to be running out of things to talk about.
The story was fun enough, Tatalia supposed. A sorrowful doctor; a kindly unicorn; a brave hunt for the lost son... It was all very engaging stuff. Tatalia would've liked a story with more fighting and maybe a beautiful goblin princess or something (she definitely wished she'd been born a princess), but Tatalia decided the story was good enough so far as stories go.
"Rumour has it the Unicorn is still roaming the Shadewood," said Cantio in his storyteller's voice. "Many people claiming to have been lost to the Shadewood say they have been led out by the visage of a glowing white horse."
Tatalia couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh, come on! You don't really believe that," she said teasingly, nudging the bard's knee with her elbow. "I mean, disregarding the fact that we don't have any definitive proof that unicorns can talk, there's a certain dearth of consideration in this story for the logistical problems of a unicorn living inside the forest.
"For one, a unicorn is pretty much just a magical horse with a horn," Tatalia explained, gesticulating energetically as she spoke, fingers a-wagging and head a-bobbing as she chattered. "And while it's entirely seemly for deer to prance about the woods, horses are much more suited for life on the plains. The unicorn's size alone would make it difficult to move between the trees! Look at those trees!"
Tatalia waved over to a particularly knotted, twisted, frightening looking bunch of trees. There was barely space for a goblin to walk through, let alone for Cantio to crawl between.
"The unicorn's size would be a definite impediment," Tatalia continued with a firm nod. "And I sincerely doubt the creature would fare well alone in the forest. There's multitudes of things that would make prey of it! Take the giant spiders, for instance! If they laid out a trap of webs for the unicorn, the unicorn can't exactly force its way out easily. And it would only take one or two bites from a big spider to weaken it enough to be wrapped up for dinner later, and you know there's more spiders in the Shadewood than unicorns!
"No, no. I think the whole unicorn story is hogwash," Tatalia declared matter-of-factly. "I'd daresay that if anyone is wishing for some sparkly horse with a bony protrusion sticking out if its forehead to save them from spiders, they might as well wish for a million gold and a kingdom while they're at it! Anyone that gets caught by those spiders is as good as dead!"
Tatalia finished her story with a firm nod. It only dawned on her after the fact that maybe, just maybe those weren't the words her companion in the possibly spider-infested forest needed to hear. The goblin cleared her throat and tried to remedy the situation. "Of course, scholars agree the giant spider stories are probably blown a little out of proportion as well," she added cheerily. "And we're not really treading near that territory ourselves! So long as we keep on the straight and narrow just as we have, we'll get to the other side of the forest without any trouble!"
Tatalia smiled encouragingly at her masked companion.
"Besides," she added seriously, "I've got your back and you've got mine. It'll all work out!"
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 5, 2022 12:46:44 GMT -5
Tatalia laughs as he finishes off his tale with a flourish, and Cantio offers her a mock-offended look as she nudges his knee and calls him out. "Whether I do or don't believe is totally unimportant." he uses a tone that sounds playfully aghast by the sheer idea she would assume he didn't; but she's right, actually. He does not believe a Unicorn roams these woods— but he still feels some misplaced need to defend his tale and preserve its mysterious sanctity— because it's his. Regardless of the fact that it originally came from a middle-aged man four drinks down in a tavern; and, maybe, had a bit of fluff and flare added to elevate it up to 'proper story-telling' levels of interest. Tatalia starts laying it all out, though; all the logical inconsistencies of a unicorn living in the forest— the possibilities of it talking— and the fact that there's no way a horse is fitting through these trees. "Listen," he interrupts while Tatalia gestures at the gnarled and bunched up trees. "Have you ever met a Unicorn? There may be no logical way for it to exist or speak, but is magic ever logical, really? It's a celestial! We cannot possibly prove there's not a Unicorn in the forest, so therefore, we cannot dismiss the fact that against all odds, a Unicorn could live here, and none of us would ever know."Yeah, his logic is all kinds of backwards and lacks the level of rock-solid detail and logical fact and example that Tatalia puts forth (she is, decisively winning this argument regardless of his flimsy attempts to backpedal her), but Cantio will remain steadfast in his pretending to believe in the Unicorn for the sanctity and mystery of the story. The back-and-forth and listening to Tatalia's jeering was fun— at first, but then the goblin starts to trail off into a decisively darker ramble about the story— one focused on the creatures and the giant spiders, and how the Unicorn would simply stand no chance against them because there are so many of them. He can feel the gooseflesh crawling up his arms as she goes on, considering the possibility that if the Unicorn story had been true (at some point), could it just... be dead? Every folktale had its origins.
The thought sends a shiver up his spine, and he throws Tatalia an uneasy look as she continues— making sure to exclaim that anyone caught by those spiders is surely dead. Oh, boy. He closes his eyes and takes a breath while he walks, one to steal his nerves, when he hears Tatalia clear her throat and continue with something more encouraging. The light on his hand shifts— from the small unicorn, back to a plump sparrow, which fidgets and flutters its wings as though it were natural. "I don't know— do you know how many people I've traveled with who claimed to come here? The Unicorn story isn't the only one from here, but the rest—" he searches the fog with a mildly uneasy look. "Well, the rest don't end nearly as nicely. I listened to an adventurer once tell the tale of a hellish spider the size of a galleon, which none of his companions survived. When he was caught in the web, his only way out was to take his own trapped arm and flee before the blood loss set in..." he trails off, tail flicking in that erratic manner it does when he gets anxious.
He's not sure he believes that story either, but it's the idea of it which spooks him.The thought of a galleon-sized spider is enough to steer most people clear of the Shadewood, surely; it's the feel of stories that makes them efficient. The horror, and the celebration, and the adventure; but horror is certainly not what he needs right now.
Still, Tatalia's voice is cheery when, and she smiles up at him with an encouraging remark that does succeed in easing his nerves somewhat. He feels a little embarrassed; she's going into this place without a doubt they'll make it out alive, so why can't he? She may not be the hardened adventurer she had once made herself out to be, but she handles the stress of these situations expertly. Or hides it expertly.
He sighs dramatically, offering her a smile in return. "Well, I suppose you're right; so long as we keep going, we'll get out of this place eventually. Ugh... I can't wait to see daylight again." He stretches his arms leisurely over his head, definitely trying to tell himself he will see daylight again. "I'm getting sick of this dreary place." He looks up, crossing his arms behind his head and horns, and notes...
Something.
Something not-quite visible until the light of the sparrow hits it at a certain angle. It's a gleam— a thick shimmer of light that sputters through the foggy branches far above them— and vanishes as though it were never there. He blinks, and it's gone; and anxiously, he chalks it up to his mind drifting back to his nerves. He clears his throat, "Alright, so, the unicorn wasn't a hit. But, I think I know a story you might like," and he's absolutely back on it; this time, telling a story of an ancient kingdom said to have once been located in King's Valley— the namesake of fallen kings.
To be honest, he's not sure which stories he has, and has not, told her at this point. Generally, he doesn't have to worry about running out; he only ever tells a few from his repertoire per travel, and he's never traveled for this level of consistency with another individual, so they're all blending together a bit.
Still, he walks and talks; running over the origins of the Braddock's Castle— of grand buildings and royalties— and war and adventure— of the giant, revered tree that now overtakes the ruins of the castle. Every now and then, he sees that similar shimmer— but he truly cannot tell if it's a trick of the light— for when he glances that way, it's gone.
So he just, tries not to think about it.
He's in the middle of describing the monstrosity which is the hydra-goose— some massive, five-headed goose that he has personally encountered, by the way— and a creature he's curious how Tatalia views, when his foot catches beneath him—
— and he tumbles over, his words catching into a brief yelp. The sparrow blinks out of existence as he hits the ground flat-out in front of him.
Dazed, he coughs, trying to regain the breath that the fall had forced out of him. "These damn roots!" he spats, shifting to try and stand, but, when he moves his knees to push himself up— one is unceremoniously snapped back with a considerable tension.
... But he can't see— without the sparrow, it's darker than night. It sends goosebumps along his arms.
He tugs his leg again, tail flicking erratically as clear tension once again pulls it back; he rolls into a sitting position, awkwardly on one side, but is unable to rotate his leg without the feeling of something trying to pull it back.
Vine? He lifts a hand, uttering a half-hearted summon, but the light in his hand flickers dimly and dies. He's still trying to catch his breath, perhaps not in the mind to recall it. Grumbling, he tugs his leg again, feeling the clear resistance; it takes him a moment, but he's able to twist, until the thing pulling back on him cannot hold the tension any further— and he hears i start to snap. He pulls it back sharply; and the sound of sticky tendrils snap, one after the other. He furrows his brows, reaching down to touch his leg— and feeling something... gummed to his pant leg in thin, wisping strands. He pulls back, brows furrowed.
"What in the world... Tatalia?" He turns to look towards the goblin, but he can hardly see— he only knows the direction in which she had been. "Are you okay?"
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Post by Tatalia on Aug 5, 2022 18:46:12 GMT -5
Perhaps she should have been more scared of the stories of giant spiders than she was, but Tatalia was a skeptic at her heart. She surely believed they had to exist, but she rolled her eyes at the mention of one 'the size of a galleon.'
"That can't be real! It'd break the treetops!" the goblin protested.
But at least both she and the bard agreed on something: they'd get out of the woods eventually. Dreary though it was, the pair was well on their way to sunny days and ancient knowledge revealed!
Time went on for a while yet, and more stories were shared. The bard was starting to tell a particularly curious one about a five-headed goose - something that sounded so outlandish that she wanted to know what drunkard he'd picked it up from and how many hallucinogenic mushrooms he'd consumed beforehand - when suddenly the bard tripped on something the goblin hadn't noticed, having been staring up at him for the longest time, and not down toward the ground. But when his light winked out, Tatalia's darkvision lit her world up.
Cantio had tripped over a thick knot of webs, and they were keeping him pinned to the ground.
Tatalia's dagger slid into her hand. She knew trouble was coming. And she also got the feeling that the tingling she felt on the back of her neck, the silence that had fallen around the pair, those were signs of an ambush. So, as much as she wanted to help the bard right away, Tatalia knew it was better to wait. She ducked into a hiding place beneath a fallen log and waited.
As the bard struggled with the webs holding him captive, something large and many-legged crawled down from the nearby tree. It was bigger than Tatalia, about the size of a very large dog, so still smaller than Cantio himself. It didn't make a sound as it crept down the side of the tree, maneuvering toward the hapless tiefling trapped in its web.
Terror rose up in Tatalia, but she knew better than to scream. She'd learned a long time ago that it was okay to be afraid so long as she didn't let fear turn into panic. The goblin kept her breath steady, and she carefully moved to the edge of the log nearest Cantio. She had to wait. A few more seconds passed. The spider drew closer to its prey, mandibles clicking softly. Just a second more...
"What in the world... Tatalia? Are you okay?" The man's voice was shaky, filled with concern for his absent friend. Right as he spoke, the spider started moving quickly toward him.
Tatalia leapt into action. She dashed across the ground, dagger glinting off the sole strand of visible moonlight in the copse of trees. She was right on the spider's tail; it reached out toward Cantio; then Tatalia buried her dagger into its behind. Letting out an unearthly, chittering shriek, the spider reared up in shock, and Tatalia leapt up and grabbed a hold of its furry back. She buried her dagger again, and the creature shook her off violently. As she crashed into the dirt, it darted off into the treeline, vanishing.
The goblin panted for breath. She gathered her thoughts, then cleaned her dagger on a patch of soft moss and stood up. She looked up to her companion with a serious expression.
"Light, please," Tatalia muttered. Then she added in a grave tone, "It got away, and if these spiders can be as large as galleons... I'd say that one was a baby."
Tatalia was certain she saw multitudes of eyes staring at her from the darkness before vanishing out of her line of sight.
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 5, 2022 21:44:11 GMT -5
He does not hear a reply from Tatalia. He does not see her. What he does hear is the light and hurried footsteps and the scream of something absolutely ungodly that follows. There's a rush of wind as something moves rapidly within his space, and Cantio is far too quick to get to his feet; making him stumble, but ultimately land a few feet away from whatever is going on beside him. He whips around, swiftly removing an iron handle from his belt during the motion. His heart's in his throat, but he tries to call the light immediately to see what's happening; instead, he chokes on his words and it flickers out again. But he sees a shimmer of light from a blade in the weak moonlight, the near-invisible silhouette of something large scrambling in the night. There's a thud from somewhere in front of him and the rapid skittering of what sounds like far too many legs for his comfort. "Tatalia—?" Her voice rings out from the dark before he can finish, and as relieved as he is to hear her, it still makes him jump. He can still feel his hands shaking; the racing of his heart; and he takes a breath to steady himself as she asks him to bring back the light. The light flickers back this time— a little unsteady— trembling like candlelight in the dark of the forest. But it's enough to see the serious expression on Tatalia's face; there's urgency in her voice when she tells him it got away. "It..." He wants to ask if she's kidding, but she doesn't look like she is. "A spider? Just now?" He sounds winded by the realization. As his light steadies — it chases away the shadows at the edges of the underbrush... and a few of them look like slender, stark legs creeping back into the darkness. Cantio is speechless for a moment, tail flicking erratically as he processes everything; a bladed fan is wielded readily in his free hand, but... nothing else shows itself. The woods are silent. He still looks about warily, creeping a step closer to Tatalia with an anxious wave of his tail. "It ran off?" There's the signs of a struggle in the dirt, close to where he had been sitting, which... There are broken threads lying on the ground— glinting in the light of the sparrow— and threads wound around his leg, fraying from where they had broken. He takes a breath, trying desperately to steady himself, lest he lose himself to a panic; as he does, the sparrow in his brightens, illuminating farther out, past the underbrush. There is a slight scuttle from somewhere, making Cantio snap to attention towards it, but... then its quiet again.
Waiting. Tense silence.
He looks around once more, cautiously, before looking back at Tatalia. He looks over her for a brief moment, surveying whether she was hurt in the scuffle. "Thank you for that— you're okay, right?" His voice is a hush, but he waits for an answer, tail flicking back and forth before he continues. "We should probably keep going. Quickly and, carefully, I think; I don't want to be a sitting duck here if it comes back, or... has friends."
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Post by Tatalia on Aug 5, 2022 22:52:53 GMT -5
"I'm not hurt," Tatalia said quickly, trying to keep moving. She'd gotten a couple scrapes and bruises from the brief fight, but those weren't even really wounds. It wasn't important.
Cantio was right: the best thing to do was to leave immediately. Tatalia didn't argue or even speak; she just nodded and started moving at a brisk pace, staying alert and focusing on the path ahead, dagger in her hand. There would be no more storytelling. It was time to focus.
Inwardly, Tatalia began to wonder if her 'shortcut' was such a good idea after all.
Minutes passed without event. There were always shapes moving around just out of Tatalia's line of sight, but nothing ever actually came out into the open. The spiders were watching the light, Tatalia realized. Perhaps they couldn't see in the dark like she could? That would explain why the spider didn't notice her. Did they depend more on sound and touch...? That was information to keep in mind for later, Tatalia decided.
Our light draws them like moths to flame, Tatalia thought to herself. But there was no remedying the situation. Cantio needed light even if she did not.
Tatalia's bravado was, perhaps, a little more muted than it had been before. Swaggering confidence wouldn't do much good in the face of giant spiders, and Tatalia's dagger wasn't exactly the most impressive weapon in the world. No, the only hope for survival was haste, and to try to keep the spiders at bay long enough to break out of the forest entirely. Fighting their way out wouldn't work. There were too many eyes in the trees for fighting to be an option.
A warm wind began to pick up, snaking its way through the trees like some sort of infernal serpent. Tatalia shivered. She thought that, perhaps, it was a good sign; that perhaps it meant the two adventurers were getting further from the center of the woods and closer to the outskirts. But then she realized something else: the wind she felt was a little... wet.
That's when Tatalia realized that wasn't the wind. That was breathing. Something bulky shifted in the woods ahead, somewhere deep in the darkness.
"Not that way," Tatalia said quickly, grabbing Cantio by the hand and steering him toward a different path. Her pace picked up. So did her heartrate. The woods seemed to be closing in around them, growing tighter. The branches clawed at them both, though more at the tiefling than at her; her height was to thank for that. The roots, though, became more gnarled and tangled.
Another couple minutes passed. That's when Tatalia started to see the webs. They were thicker in this part of the woods than elsewhere; placed more boldly, more openly. For all her courage, Tatalia swallowed. There was no doubt about it: they were walking through spider territory.
Things were moving just out of sight. They skittered up and down the trees. Most weren't too large, just the size of a human's hand. But there were larger shapes moving behind the trees. Mandibles clicked audibly. Using her darkvision, Tatalia scanned their surroundings.
The trees opened up to a small clearing within the woods, though the branches overhead were knotted and tangled, grappling with each other in an eternal struggle for sunlight. Their war prevent any of the sky from being seen. There were giant webs criss-crossing the whole area, most thick, but some thinner, less durable but more liable to catch someone unawares. Several paths seemed to lead away from the clearing... which meant several paths led to it as well. It was the perfect spot for a large group of predators to lure their victims to.
"It's an ambush. Big spiders nearby," Tatalia whispered to Cantio. "At least seven, maybe a dozen. We need to take the next left. Follow me lead and move fast. Watch for webs."
Tatalia let that information sink in for a few moments. Then she took a deep breath... and the goblin started charging forward.
The route she took wasn't the straightest, and it was definitely harrowing. Spiders began to skitter and chitter as soon as she darted forward. Her glinting dagger sliced through offensive strands of webs that could pose a threat to Cantio; her feet took paths that her shining eyes picked up beyond the light. But horrible arachnids began to descend from those tangled branches above, began to crawl out of the many paths leading into the clearing, and converged on the adventurers' position with hunger-driven haste. Tatalia just kept her eyes forward and ran. She moved as fast as she could, trusting Cantio's longer legs to help him keep up. There wasn't time to look back and check on him. She had to go forward!
Over root, rock, and bush Tatalia went, scampering like a rat in the sewer. She was making good time - and that's when she realized the light around her was fading. She was getting too far ahead of the bard! And so she turned back.
Something had been waiting for just such a moment. Something sticky struck her in the back with surprising force, like it had been thrown out to her. Tatalia let out a shriek, and she grabbed on to a nearby thorny bush for dear life. Her hand began to bleed, so tightly was she holding on, but it was too late. The bush snapped, and Tatalia's bloody hand fell upon the dirt as she was dragged off into the darkness, her screams for help fading into the night.
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 6, 2022 9:30:04 GMT -5
With only an affirmation, Tatalia moves on; and Cantio is quick to follow without a complaint. He wants to be as composed as she is; is trying to be as composed as she is; but he is thinking of a thousand things and yet nothing all at once. They go by so swiftly in the moment, it's as if they were never there to begin with. Every now and then, as terror flickers deep in his chest, the light in his hand flickers unsteadily. All he can do is keep going. So, he does: and time feels too slow but too fast all at once. The sound of the creeping Shadewood is amplified in his fear; the skittering, the clacking, the snapping, the scuttling; every mismatched noise is so loud it's as if it originates from within him. He swears he sees the glinting of many eyes as they hurry past a huge, gnarled log, and it takes all of his willpower to ignore it. Although their first venture to the shrine had been weeks ago, its conclusion still weighed heavy on him: the way he had froze in the face of danger and allowed Tatalia to take it head-first and head-on with all of her might. Here she is, again, pulling him suddenly by the hand to change his direction away from what he thought might be the warm breeze that signaled the thinning of trees, because he is into far too much of a fear-stricken haze to notice that the jaws of a beast lies in wait in front of them. He sees it when he looks back, its black-striped carapace glinting in the light, before it is plunged into darkness. The fear and terror turns to numbness. The branches start to thicken, but Cantio charges through them; they snag, rip, and scratch everything they can touch. His skin, his hair, his cloak; but he has little time to pay attention to tiny stings or snags; he just lifts his arm and plows through, refusing to slow their pace in this moment. The webs start to grow thicker; shimmers of light bounce from them more consistently, and are placed more openly, to the point that Cantio needs to duck and dodge around them as they go. There is an intensity in the skittering and clacking beyond the shadows; an excitement for the hunt; as the shadows writhe with beings well beyond his vision. Watching them. Biding their time. He cannot see well in the dark; and so, he misses many things; the clearing up ahead being one of the many. Tatalia's voice comes so suddenly that his heart skips, and he chokes on an, "Okay." as she directs him to move fast, and she'll take the lead. He does not want to be a burden, but he knows that he is. When Tatalia charges forwards, and the forest around them comes alive, he is hot on her heels— but her path is jagged, and when she dashes from the edges of his light into paths he couldn't even see before— Cantio finds himself in a struggle to keep up and in sight of her. She is small and swift, and he is decisively not that; she takes corners on a dime, but his weight and momentum skids him to a stumbling drift after she changes direction. She bounds over rocks and logs and roots as if they're not even there, but the branches here are thick and gnarled, and even though he has not willingly slowed himself, they are hindering his progress in the way he has to duck and avoid the thickest ones he cannot just break. Tatalia starts to advance farther, and he feels a flutter of panic, but can't find his voice to call out to her. Because maybe, just maybe, it's for the best that she keeps going and leaves him behind. She's quick-witted and fast and between the both of them might stand a chance to run her way out; but he underestimates her. He's not sure how he missed Tatalia turning to face him; her silhouette briefly illuminates at the corner of the light; and then she shrieks, pulled into the darkness so swiftly that he cannot even react. "Tatalia!"The moment her name leaves him, the shadows come to life; he has no time to consider anything else.[/div] His leg is pulled from beneath him unceremoniously, trapped between the mandibles of a creature that lunges with horrifying accuracy on his rapidly fleeing form. He falls, crashing into the earth with a shriek; his fan skitters across the dirt. The blunt impact that takes his breath, and the searing pain of a bite in his leg, meet at the same time. He can't breathe. The light eviscerates, leaving him in darkness. There's a thousand needles in his leg where the crushing pressure starts to tighten. He feebly scrambles in the dust to pull himself; he tries to kick out, but he can't move his leg. Its dead in the water, paralyzed, and he feels the needles creeping up past his knee. Even if he gets out of the clutches of its mandibles, he can't run; and he can hear the skittering, the creatures advancing on him, chattering excitedly. This is it. Tatalia is long gone, dragged off into the forest, by something horrible and unseen. This is how they die.
Shadewood Unicorn
It happens so fast that he doesn't even have time to process it; hissing, snapping mandibles rip his mask from his face in a thrust for his head and he hears the sound of it cracking in its jaws. Something pierces his shoulder, breathing against the side of his face with hissing chitters. His coat rips as mandibles snag in it; the paralyzation has spread to his thigh. He's thrashing, trying not to go down without a faight— landing at least one good punch on something by the way it screeches— and then starts to chitter faster, more frustrated. But there is so much; the pain, the dread, the guilt, the regret, the anger; that he doesn't process the way the forest lights up around him. He does not find it odd that he can see the spiders, nor notice the change in their behaviour when it comes; so he makes a furious thrust for another with his fist, but it skitters out of the way with ease and remains at that distance, looking at something beyond him. The spiders chitter faster, and faster; and then there's a horrible, guttural scream; and the mandibles tightly clutching his leg loosen. Hell breaks loose. Cantio scrambles to get out of its way as dog-sized terrors launch themselves past him in a rush of legs and fangs, screeching and hissing, as though it were a war cry. Everything hurts, but he drags himself, using a root as leverage, to the nearest trunk. He wraps his arms around it, pushing his trembling form up, and looking over his shoulder. Carapace cracks beneath hooves of a creature far taller than he; stone-like in its color— emitting a silver glow that penetrates the inky black of the darkness. Spider ichor splatters across its hooves, down its horn, as it charges into the crowd of spiders surging around it. It pierces one, tossing it over its back; it slips off, crashing into a mound of trees, and crumbling to a heap. There is a thrashing between the many, and the one; all eyes are on it, no longer on him; and in his addled state, he takes the chance to retrieve his fan awkwardly propped underneath a lifted root nearby — as clumsy as it might be. It turns out to be the correct choice. A spider furthest to the edge of the surging creatures seems to notice, and changes its direction; charging him. He panics when he sees the movement from the corner of his eyes; snapping up the fan, and swinging his only good arm towards it; he feels a rush of something warm, and hears the screech as the spider staggers back. A great cut from its eyes bleeds, and it shakes itself as it moves. Then, it cracks, legs curling up around itself; caving to a pair of silver hooves. He had not noticed the silence; the way the rest of the creatures skittered away with clacking mandibles and shrieks of caution and defeat. Shuddering in his breaths, Cantio looks up. The creature before him looks like a creature of misery; not the celestial thing his fear-addled mind begins to realize that it is. Its deer-like, slender body is cracked like stone, one eye clouded by multiple veins of an inky darkness as it turns to look at him. It leads back to a swath of inky darkness around the impressions of two perfect, parallel bite wounds in its neck— something which it seems to have many of. It is scarred, and marred; its grey fur matted by spider ichor and moss alike. A pearlescent, bony protusion juts from its head, slick with an inky ichor. He just stares. "A lightweaving demon?"He startles; the voice does not seem to visibly come from the creature, but originates from the confines of his mind. It sounds like many; voices both feminine and masculine; conjoined into one. He can't even speak. "How have you come to find this place?"No response. "You have entered the Mother's Den; do you have a death wish?"Nothing. "..."The unicorn stops looking at him and lifts its head, ears twisting towards the distant sound of skittering. For now, they have retreated; but they're still nearby. "Regardless, you must go. The Mother awakens soon. She will hunger."
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Post by Tatalia on Aug 6, 2022 13:56:40 GMT -5
Tatalia wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it felt at once like it was happening all too quickly and over the span of eons. The goblin was bound tightly inside of a web, wrapped up like a Zeinavi burrito. She'd managed to keep her dagger in the palm of her hand and was silently working at the webs, but Tatalia knew she couldn't work too rapidly or suddenly, nor could she attempt her escape immediately. The spiders were all around in, rushing along winding paths, climbing along the sides of trees, skimming the branches with incomparable alacrity. They were swift. It wouldn't be long before Tatalia was in their nest. The situation was dire. If Tatalia was able to break free, she'd only have a short time to make her move. She had to make it count; that much the goblin knew. And it wouldn't count for anything if she sprung herself free too early. Screaming had proven ineffectual, and Tatalia had long since stopped. Her throat was hoarse, and in the silence she was able to make a few observations. First, the spiders weren't eating her immediately. That wasn't what she had expected, but she supposed they were going to hang her up and poison her so she'd 'marinate' properly or something. Second, they varied in size from the size of her fist to the size of a horse, but most were about the size of a large dog as she'd seen before. Thirdly, and most interestingly, the spiders seemed to be... well, they chittered at each other a lot, and sometimes postured and made strange hissing noises. It was almost like they were... They're communicating, Tatalia realized. That was horrifying but perhaps useful information. She was used to casting what little magic she knew with her hands free, but inside the webbing she managed to move one of her hands about in the appropriate gestures and whispered some arcane words. The magic flowed from her hand up her arm and to her mind. Tatalia closed her eyes, and she began to hear... singing? Spider found this greenling thing, Ugly shriekling that cannot sing! Wriggles and writhes about the web, Spider wonders when will it be dead?
Tasty treat greenling could be, Tasty sweet to hang from tree! Spider will let it beg and whine, And then will eat it! Mine! Mine! MINE! Strange, high-pitched laughter that Tatalia hadn't heard before rose in the trees, echoed by several spiders nearby. But when the words "Mine! Mine! MINE!" rose up, other voices shouted "Share! Share! SHARE!" Then the spiders began to thrust their limbs at each other and make furious sounds, scuffling briefly as a couple of the smaller ones tried to steal Tatalia from her captor outright. Ultimately, though, her original captor kept the goblin bound to a trail of web behind it, and chased the other spiders away with hissing and clicking. Tatalia was starting to wonder if, perhaps, the dried mushrooms she'd been using as rations were actually some powerful form of hallucinogen. However, the very real sensations of being dragged across the forest floor made her shake her head and believe that, yes, she was in fact wide awake and cognizant. The spiders continued to trill in shrill tones, swaying now and then as they bounded and scurried through the forest. Tatalia was beginning to make sense of their odd mannerisms. They were almost child-like in their own way, but it wasn't endearing. Rather, it was just horrifying because of how those behaviors seemed intertwined with malice and sadism, as evidenced by the fact that all the spiders wanted to eat her.The spiders continued to sing as they began crawling up a tall, massive tree, and Tatalia began to dangle upside-down as her captor took her up its thick branches, branches so wide one could fit a house atop them... Now is time to have our feast! Here away from Brighthorn beast, Here where nothing will stamp nor pierce, Here where spiders are most fierce!
Now we'll have a little taste, Just a bit so it doesn't waste! Mother won't mind just a bite, Just one or two for Spider's delight! Tatalia was unceremoniously dropped onto her back into a webbed piled of leaves. She was thoroughly stuck, and the goblin knew it was time to act. The spider that had taken her captive started moving towards her, stepping over its fallen prey so it could have its "taste." Tatalia waited for just a second... then swiftly cut her weakened bonds and slashed out as the creature dove for her. Her blade cut deep. The spider shrieked, and it retreated back, much to the surprise of the other spiders nearby. The whole nest began to swarm with activity, and Tatalia stood up, ready to fight for her life. "Get back!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "GET BACK! Or I'll stab you, too!"The sound around her reached a cacophony as the spiders seemed thoroughly surprised by the voice. There were sounds of alarm, cheers from spiders who wanted to steal the uppity goblin for themselves, jeers from spiders who mocked the one who let its captive get loose. They were closing in all around Tatalia... Then the whole tree shook. The spiders in their webbed nests began to scamper away, including the one that took Tatalia captive. But a giant leg appeared from overhead, blocking its exit, and pushed it back toward Tatalia. The creature, easily three times the goblin's size, was shaking and quivering in terror. Tatalia wasn't faring much better. She looked up. What she had thought was another part of the tree overhead was, in fact, a massive spider. It wasn't galleon-sized, at least... but it WAS the size of a small house. The horrible creature had long limbs with little ridges and spikes poking up from them, as well as long, bristly hairs that were purplish-black. Its eight eyes glowed with a pale cyan light, almost sickly in its shade, that seemed to draw Tatalia in and swallow her whole. She felt very, very afraid, and also very, very sweaty beneath that gaze. The giant spider began to speak, and the whole forest hushed in answer. Sorrow now does fill my heart, That you would my food take part, And would dare deceive Mother so, Even when the punishment you know!
Is your Mother so old and weak? Is it my throne that you seek? Do you think yourself the best, Of the young spiders in the nest? The massive arachnid lowered itself on down so that its eight eyes were mere feet away from its young spawn. The little creature withered before her, crawling backward, covering its face with its front legs. Mother O Mother, mercy please! I fall to my spindly knees! This is all that Spiders could find; The other meat we left behind!
Bright-horn, bright-horn chased us away! Strong and mean with light of day! How could we the bright-horn fight? Spiders just want eat tonight! The smaller spider wailed piteously on the tree, and the giant spider stared at it for some time. Then she shifted its attention to Tatalia and to the bloody dagger in the goblin's hand. Mother spoke to Tatalia slowly. Curious, this one you have brought, Who even captive still has fought. Mother witnessed you down below, And what wicked cunning you show!
What a web Mother saw you weave, As my daughter you did deceive. I wonder if you're a spider too, Or if I could make one out of you? Tatalia was not sure what the right response to any of that was. She paced beneath the great Spider Mother, nerves twitchy, a knot building up in her throat. But something told her she had to speak. The silence that had fallen bade her to speak. So, swallowing her fear, she stared into those huge, bright eyes and rhymed in turn. Tatalia is my given name; Not a spider, but woman of fame! I've traveled to the deserts far away, To the muddy shores of the Marshy Bay.
I know not what you mean to do, But there is one thing I shall tell you: I shall leave your nest tonight, O Spider-Mother of wisdom and might! Perhaps the spiders had not expected singing in turn, but a wild chittering rose up among the arachnids. Cries of "Fool! Fool!" and "Eat her! Eat her!" rang out in the shadows, along with mocking laughter and cackling. The sweat continued to pour from the poor thief's head as the gargantuan spider twisted its face to regard Tatalia more intently. She leaned on in toward the goblin, and let out a long, loud humming sound. It seemed... pensive. Then it spoke. Bold you are, or foolish could be, You two-legged thing whom I do see. Yet in you I see a spider clear. Mother will bring her out, my dear! Without warning, the giant spider lunged forward. Tatalia didn't even have time to react. The creature's venomous fangs sank down into Tatalia's shoulders, and she let out a gasp, hanging limply in the air as the giant creature lifted her up. The goblin's whole body felt like it was on fire. Those eyes continued to stare into hers. The goblin could not look away. My kiss I give you, that you may thrive, But only if you can survive. Mother will see you another day, If from your sisters you can get away! Then 'Mother' dropped the goblin like a sack of potatoes off the edge of the giant tree, sending her careening down to the forest floor, bouncing off branch after branch. She was scraped, scarred, even pierced by the offending pieces of wood as she went down, twisting and twirling against her will as she tumbled toward the ground. It was by seeming happenstance that Tatalia fell upon a bed of leaves at the bottom, gasping for breath, poison running thick through her veins. The spiders were following. The Mother was not, but all her daughters were, racing somewhere beyond the edge of Tatalia's darkvision toward the fallen goblin. Some climbed, some lowered themselves down by their silk like mountaineers, and others still leapt from branch. Others still were pouncing on their siblings, trying to take the prized meal for themselves. Tatalia forced herself to sit up. She groggily searched for an exit... and in the distance saw a light. If ever there was a sign, the light was probably it. So, delirious from pain, poisoned, and bleeding, Tatalia stumbled toward it, the spiders racing ever closer behind her.
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 7, 2022 11:21:03 GMT -5
”I can’t.”It blinks its doe-like eyes at him. "So you do have a deathwish?" the unicorn wonders in his mind, and Cantio breathes a shuddering breath as he lifts a hand and grasps onto the trunk of the tree he's leaning against. "No," he answers; the needles in his leg flare to life as he struggles to get up. "No, I just..."It's hard to think when the pain is this intense; he feels now the groaning pain of bites, scrapes, and punctures that had all melded together in the terror of the moment. Now, in the relative safety with this creature, it rings fast and true, searing like fire. His boot skirts from underneath him and he collapses against the trunk with a miserable grunt. "Do not move."Hooves crunch in the dirt following the strange cacophony that is the unicorn's voice, and— suddenly there's a strange calm that washes over him. It's a sort of drowsy feeling; a safe feeling; one which he feels begins to subside the greatest of the pains he feels. Not completely, because he still aches— because his leg is still numb— but it's enough to set his mind straight enough that he looks over his shoulder with furrowed brows. The unicorn looms over him, horn resting against the crown of his head, pulsating a light energy; it lifts its head, blinking long lashes almost curiously at him. The expression is gone quickly. "The hellspawn's venom can induce a strong paralysis." It takes a step back, hooves crunching carelessly on one of the dead spider's legs. "It will wear off in a few hours. I am afraid that my powers have grown weaker still in this place, and can no longer remedy it."Cantio drags himself up using the trunk to stabilize himself on one leg; his wounds ache and hurt but he is able to tolerate the pain better. This is a lot; looking directly at a fairytale when he turns to face the creature, his expression grave. There's a thousand things on his mind, many things he wants to ask it, but he only has one thing on the forefront of his mind; swirling gravely among too-fresh memories of cackling in the dark. "She got dragged away." His voice is shaking. "You came with a companion." It sounds matter-of-fact, rather than a question. "She tried to come back for me and she got dragged away." It's then that the guilt sinks in over the terror. The unicorn's tail swishes, its ears twitching as it takes in the sounds of the forest, but its eyes are on him; Cantio doesn't notice in his stress, but the sound of skittering legs and clicking mandibles begins to fade, as if the creatures have taken their leave all at once. Called somewhere. "She is most likely with the Mother now. Assuming you survive the trip, you would not find her how you’d like."The cool, factual sound of its voice paired with such a grave prediction turns his veins to ice. "It would be best to leave now while you have your life."They look at each other, silence falling between them. Cantio's gaze drifts, brows furrowing in a deject horror as he considers the possibility that the creature might be right. His gaze falls upon the path in front of him; of crushed underbrush, spider ichor, and his own blood. His mask lies discarded to the side, in multiple large pieces; crushed by mandibles. He sees it and yet he still reaches up to touch his face; a sudden wave of vulnerability and regret rolls over him. Damn it. He takes an unsteady breath. "No, I need to find her."
Perhaps it was the absolutely pathetic display of him trying to go anywhere at all, and the promptly landing flat on his face, that prompted the unicorn to show some sympathy. With much effort, Cantio had managed to pick up the pieces of something so sentimental to him that it may as well have been his own heart, and tucked them away. The unicorn, albeit consistently insisting that Tatalia had already met her certain demise, eventually relinquished to assist him when he went determinedly toppling into the undergrowth to follow the trail of scratch marks and bloodstains left behind. So, now, he leans against the unicorn’s neck, listening to the eerie rustle of the trees up above as it strides calmly through the forest. If it were not for the gravity of the situation, riding a unicorn would be thrilling, but as it is, he is trying his best not to entertain thoughts of what they might find— or what they might find left. The adrenaline of nearly being torn to shreds by hound-sized arachnids has somewhat subsided, leaving room for the wash of emotion that gradually turns him numb by the sheer complexity of it. So, he just hangs loosely on the back of the unicorn, armed with a bladed fan, peering warily between its ears. ”Are they still out there?” he murmurs; the sounds of skittering and clacking, he realizes, had long vanished. ”The Mother has called them home after a successful hunt.”It sends a chill up his spine. A successful hunt.“I did tell you the odds of finding her alive are next to zero. If the Mother has taken her, there will be nothing left.”He had no idea that a unicorn could be such a pessimist. Silence falls between them, hooves print and crack along the underbrush, before the voice in his head speaks again. “How long have you weaved the light?”“Hm?” His hum sounds as blunt and depressing as the forest. “The light in you.”“What?”The horse gives him a look then that might scream, ‘Are you daft?’, if it weren’t coming directly from an expressionless horse face. “Despite your demonic nature, you hold a control over the light. You and I could not look farther apart, but we are one in the same inside. I was surprised to sense it in you.”He feels like he should be flattered, but he also feels somehow insulted. “I don’t know if I’d go that far— it’s just a stage trick— y'know, for performances or songs, or—”“What use is that?”“I—”The unicorn stops suddenly before he can continue, and Cantio flinches as he collides into the back of its neck unceremoniously. “Hush.”Good gods, this unicorn. He rubs his chin, watching the way the unicorn stands rigid and alert; he feels a wave of unease in the terse silence that follows. Overhead, the trees groan; branches creak against one another; the underbrush rustles. "They're moving." Another moment of silence; and he feels the muscles of the creature beneath him tense. "They're hunting." Horror floods him, and he holds onto the mane of the creature with a stumbling, “What?”"Your companion may be alive yet. Hold tight."
It wastes no more breath, launching without warning forward into the darkness at a full gallop towards the sounds of the hunt.
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Post by Tatalia on Aug 8, 2022 11:50:41 GMT -5
The spiders were gaining on Tatalia quickly, far away though they still were. Wounded and weary though she was, her whole body feeling like it was on fire, the goblin pushed herself to move as quickly as she could. Half-running, half-ploughing through the sticky trees, Tatalia could barely trust her vision. It would be clear one moment, then become blurry the next, such was the pain caused by the venom in her veins. The Mother's "kiss" was making her escape very difficult. Suddenly, Tatalia's foot snagged on an unseen root. She tumbled forward onto the ground, and could hear the joyous chittering behind her hit a fever pitch. Grimacing, Tatalia started tugging her foot free and glanced back at the root. But it wasn't a root at all. It was a dwarven skeleton. The skeleton was clearly old, discarded as waste by the spiders. Most of what was left on the poor victim was either torn apart, rotted, or useless. But Tatalia, even in his delirious state, noticed the gloves the skeleton wore were, in fact, in good condition. Moreover, they had some sort of arcane runes on them. Without pausing to think on the matter further, Tatalia snagged the gloves from the dead man's corpse, pulled herself back to her feet, and started running away again, eager to get away from the vile forest and all the horrors inside. The light was getting ever closer, but so too were the creatures behind her. One in particular was chasing Tatalia with a vengeance, skittering across the forest floor and the trees at full speed, nimbly evading all obstacles as it leapt and darted and climbed. It got close enough that Tatalia could hear it singing again, voice shrill with anticipation: Greenling thinks she'll get away, Live to see another day; But Spider wants something to eat: Tasty, juicy goblin meat! Screeching, the giant spider leapt at Tatalia! But the goblin had readied herself, and as the spider flew at her, a taut tree branch snapped right back into its face, sending the creature tumbling away with shrieks of anger and disdain. In front of her, the light began to take form, and Tatalia could see that it was vaguely... vaguely... horse-shaped? This must be a dream, Tatalia thought to herself. There is no way that's real!But there it was, real as real could be, riding toward her at full speed: a unicorn with a horn glowing brightly, and riding upon its back was a certain red-skinned tiefling with a worried face. It took a moment for Tatalia to recognize the tiefling as Cantio because she'd never seen him without his mask. It took a moment longer to register anything else, because she hadn't even been sure he had a face before! It was a silly thought, but even in her dazed state, running for her life, Tatalia found herself wondering: If he's hidden it all this time, would he REALLY want me looking at his face?The goblin decided that if she could have secrets, so could Cantio, and she looked to the unicorn. In her state, she didn't even recognize it looked unusual for a unicorn, didn't notice its almost gaunt appearance or its many scars and blemishes. She just saw a glowing beast and hoped it could save her. "HELP!" the goblin shouted at the top of her lungs, running and waving at the same time. Behind her, the spiders were closing in. "HELP!" she shouted again, throat sore as she forced the word out. She began to worry the unicorn was going to ride right past her, leave her on the ground to die, even if it reached her in time. The very thought inflamed her and made her run all the harder, difficult as it was to stand up. Tatalia was not going to get eaten by a bunch of angry spiders, not after having survived an encounter with their oversized Mother!
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 8, 2022 19:11:45 GMT -5
"HELP!"
A familiar tone shrieks over the intensifying sounds of the forest coming to life with something unholy; it sends shivers down Cantio's spine, but he's still seeking Tatalia's smaller form in the darkness. The unicorn hasn't slowed down; the dreadful noise get louder as it thunders on in a full gallop, and— holy hell, she's alive!
"Tatalia!"
He sees her, finally; at the edge of the unicorn's light, Tatalia is running towards them, waving frantically as she sprints into his field of vision. She's actually alive! He feels a buzz; a worrying relief that she's okay for now, but that he does not know anything else. Everything is moving too fast, and he simply can't gauge the state of Tatalia's well-being any farther than her ability to move, to wave, or to run. She's conscious, and in one piece, and at this moment it's all that matters.
The unicorn, however, is looking beyond Tatalia into the shadows, where its light does not reach.
Cantio should be glad he cannot see what it does; and between the unicorn's full-blown momentum and Tatalia's, they're able to meet before the tidal-wave of spiders enters Cantio's peripheral vision. He feels his heart skip and flutter; the unicorn does not stop, and he makes a desperate bid— holding onto the unicorn for dear life— and grabs Tatalia's arm with his other.
The unicorn changes direction and Cantio uses that momentum to hurl Tatalia onto the unicorn in front of him— other arm boxing her in, so she's not just flung off onto the other side. "I can't believe you're not dead!" His voice is trembling, hardly audible over the screams of imminent death following close behind, but he holds her steady until she is able to right herself enough to hold onto the unicorn or not.
"Oh, dear gods," He looks over his shoulder, clasping tightly to the closed fan in his left hand as clacking mandibles, glinting eyes, and thin furry appendages creep closer, and closer, into the celestial's light. The forest is alive again— furious — that the little goblin has been stolen away, and Cantio has no idea how they're supposed to lose them. This is their forest, but likewise, it is also the unicorn's forest. He is not sure, in this battle of speed and wits, who's more determined to win out. There's a sting across his face, and he ducks his head with a hiss; the unicorn is taking a complicated path, charging between low-hanging branches, debris; it turns on a dime to avoid thick weaves of web, having seen them far in advance.
Traveling with the ease of a beast who has wandered these woods for too long, and who has met these obstacles too many times to be fooled.
Crystal clear and not muffled by the raucous around them, a voice of many others rings within the heads of the two adventurers. "She has been marked by the Mother for a new hunt." Cantio watches as smaller shadows begin to creep up into the gnarled trees, branches moaning and creaking as they skitter and hop between them, trying to catch up from above. He looks back between the unicorn's ears, unfolding his fan at enough of an angle that he won't risk the drag ripping it out of his hands.
Cantio doesn't know what that means, but it's not good; he flashes the goblin a worried look, before looking back at the horde behind them; a few creatures have begun to creep into the light, slowly gaining ground. Cantio has almost no doubt that it's them weighing the creature down. At the very least, he is. "What do we do, then?"
"We run, until they become discouraged. Fight off the fastest. They are many, but they are still only children."
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Post by Tatalia on Aug 8, 2022 22:07:06 GMT -5
There were three two that Tatalia had to come to grips with:
First, she had to accept the unicorn could talk. It could talk, and it was talking. Its voice was in her head, not her ears, and despite her awful state she was hearing it loud and clear. That was a strange sensation, and the goblin was too tired to figure out how to parse that information.
Second, Tatalia had to accept the escape was not over yet. It was a hunt. The spiders were in full pursuit. The unicorn was not fast enough to get her and Cantio away, not from all the spiders. They would have to fight. Even with her burning, the aching bite wounds in her shoulders, and everything else, Tatalia and Cantio were going to have to fight.
Gritting her teeth, the goblin prepared herself. All she had was a dagger, but she was going to use it as best she could.
The fastest spiders were not particularly large. One lowered itself by its silvery web from a tree in front of the trio; the unicorn struck at that one with its horn, throwing it against the bark of an ancient oak with a sickening crunch. Another leapt at Cantio from the side, but Tatalia couldn't pay attention to that, because a third came from behind the unicorn, nipping at the goblin's feet as it tried to catch hold of her and drag her off the magical beast. Tatalia wasn't very strong, but she was able to kick back at it in between its bites with enough force to send it tumbling away, slowing it down and putting it behind its less hindered kin. When Tatalia turned to help Cantio, his spider was gone. She had no idea what he had done to dispatch it.
The unicorn took a sharp turn. The branches and leaves of wizened trees whizzed past the heads of the heroes, and Tatalia at one point had to reach behind herself to grab Cantio by the shirt and yank him down to avoid an oncoming branch. The bounce that followed as the unicorn leapt over a log nearly sent her off the creature, but she caught a hold of its mane just in the nick of time. That didn't stop her heart from practically leaping up into her throat, however.
Longer and longer did the path twist; further and further did the heroes ride. But the spiders were closing in again, and Tatalia knew some last ditch effort was needed. So, she shrugged her backpack off her shoulders, opened the main section quickly, and looked inside.
Therein was almost everything she owned, everything besides the truly precious stuff like her books, the old map, her journal, her lockpicks... It was her collection of rocks, her whetstone, her spare rations, the dress she'd stolen from the Baron's daughter, her bedroll and blanket and everything else. Tatalia grimaced, then looked up behind her at Cantio's frightened face.
"Throw it at them!" she shouted, passing him the bedroll first. "I'll pass, you throw!"
And with that, Tatalia prepared to lose all the traveling gear she had on her in order to stymie the spiders chasing them.
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 8, 2022 23:42:05 GMT -5
He just barely ducks when a spider carapace goes flying overhead; it all happens so fast that he hardly has the time to register exactly what happened, because suddenly there's two more hot on their heels. One launches itself from his side; the other gains ground on the heels of the unicorn; but naturally, the one on his side is the more immediate threat to his attention. He hears the scream before he sees it; the tell-tale sign of one of these things attacking; and as it launches, becoming a blur in the air, Cantio chokes on a yelp. He closes his eyes, swinging blindly with his fan, and turning his face down. It doesn't stop the momentum of its jump, but he swings at the right time to rip the blades through the soft underside of the creature; and even though it still collides into his shoulder, jolting him; it doesn't bite. It scrapes at the unicorn with a few thin legs as it falls, but not enough to get hold of it— instead, tumbling away into a heap on the ground. He opens his eyes, sucking in a breath, and looking over his shoulder to witness the rest of the horde stampeding over their fallen sibling like its not even there. He feels his shoulders shake, but he still turns to look for the other spider— the one nipping at their heels earlier— but it's gone. He hardly has time to look away when Tatalia reaches back, and pulls him down by the collar. He grumbles a muffled objection that is most definitely lost to the noise of the hunt— but it turns out to be well timed, as a branch scrapes over the back of his neck. One that definitely held the potential to knock him off.
When she lets go, he pops back up— but does try to keep his head lower to avoid running into any other branch-related issues. He still gets slapped around a little by thinner branches, but it's to be expected given their speed, and the state of the forest in general; and that much he can handle. The unicorn keeps going; twisting, turning, leaping over fallen logs and stones, and weaving through the forest expertly without slowing or stopping. The forest blurs by; time is too fast, and too slow simultaneously.
He doesn't know whether to feel dread or hope at their situation. He feels nothing right now. When Cantio looks over his shoulder again, the horde is catching up on them; its decisively smaller, he thinks— he hopes— but the forest is still abuzz and the spiders are still determined. One smaller, particularly eager spider clamors over one of its siblings; using it like a launch-pad to spring itself forwards, and gain a significant ground on them. He pales; and then Tatalia is shouting.
"Throw it at them!" "What?" he shouts back; but the goblin is already shoving her bedroll into his arms, and he doesn't even know how to feel about that. She's got her backpack open, digging around in it. "Tatalia, I can't just—"He doesn't want to— really, he doesn't— but when a shriek cuts him off, instinct pulls him into some kind of autopilot. He twists around, able to time slamming the bedroll directly into the creature's face as it tries to leap onto the haunches of the unicorn. Its fangs snap around the bedroll, but it doesn't make contact with the unicorn, so it goes tumbling to the ground— stampeded by its siblings. Tatalia keeps passing him things to throw; and the spiders are getting restless, making a final push. He hits a few in the eyes with rocks that Tatalia passes over; not enough to kill them, but enough to stop their pursuit with a stumble and a screech. He knocks another with a comically hard piece of bread, one with— a can?— enough to make it stumble. He tosses a blanket, which unravels mid-throw and tangles up a few smaller spiders, forcing them to try and wrestle their way from its confines. Tatalia hands him something else— is that a dress?— when he hears a voice. "Hold tight."He's been looking over his shoulder for the past who knows how long, so Cantio throws a glance between the unicorn's ears, and— there's a ridge. An abyss, might be a more appropriate term; something that looks deep and foreboding, coming into full sight as they break through a tree-line. In a panic, he ducks forwards, hooking an arm around Tatalia to ensure she doesn't go toppling over, as the unicorn tramples from the undergrowth, into a tiny stretch of clearing, and makes the leap. The hang-time of the creature is certainly a few seconds too long for his taste, but it clears the jump, slamming into the earth on the other side of the ravine, and tearing into the underbrush into the tree-line on the other side. Cantio chokes on his heart, now located in his throat he thinks, and looks over his shoulder. He's still got the dress in one hand; and watches as a horde of spiders swarms from the trees on the other side, but— stops at the ravine. A few skitter anxiously, and a few seem to try to climb down the wall, into whatever might lie below, to clear it. But the majority have stopped. The unicorn disappears with both of them, deep into the other side of the forest, until the sounds of chattering, legs, and clacking mandibles are no more.
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Post by Tatalia on Aug 9, 2022 13:07:14 GMT -5
On the opposite side of the ravine, a few spiders lingered, chittering and screaming and smacking their many legs in frustration against the forest floor. Those trying to climb down the ravine to cross move at high speeds, but one didn't need goblin vision to know they wouldn't be able to make it to the unicorn and his passengers in time, so deeply does the darkness go. The heroes were safe.
Tatalia stared out at the distant spiders, then slowly shifted her attention to the unicorn. His movement had slowed to a trot, and in time he got far enough away from the creatures behind them that the sound of their pursuit faded entirely.
The goblin finally had a moment to soak in everything that had happened. The ambush, the kidnapping, the bite, the fall, the escape, the... loss of so many personal belongings... Tatalia sucked in a long, harsh breath, eyes closed tightly as she absorbed the information that had been lingering at the edges of her consciousness, and let out a frustrated, incomprehensible shout up into the air, arms flung up in confusion. Then it broke into a laugh, and Tatalia collapsed forward onto the unicorn's mane, heaving out a tired sigh.
"Don't do that," came a mental command, gentle but firm. Then the unicorn came to a full stop, looking back at the two adventurers with wise eyes that somehow seemed warm and cold at once.
"This is where we part ways," the unicorn told the heroes, its words echoing in their thoughts. "Continue north and west from here, and within a few hours you shall reach the end of the Shadewood. Do not return this way again unless it is death you seek, for next time I may not be able to help you."
"Hold on-" Tatalia scrambled off the unicorn as requested, not wishing to anger the unicorn. She also made sure to grab her stolen dress from Cantio's hands and stuff it away into her backpack before she started speaking again, looking confused. "You're real? You're not imaginary? You-"
The unicorn just gave Tatalia a look. It was one that spoke volumes without any words. It was clearly impatient with that line of inquiry, perhaps because it had heard such questions before.
"I just- how long have you been here, exactly? What are you doing here, really? And why-?"
"Every second you spend in these woods endangers you, little goblin," came a harsher voice in the heroes' heads. "I suggest you leave this place while you still can. There is a chance that others in the Shadewood need my help, and you are keeping me from my duties."
The goblin stared irritably at the unicorn. She was starting to prefer the Mother's company. At least she showed her anger with a cute song.
"Come on, von Lumen," Tatalia muttered, latching her backpack shut and throwing it over her shoulders. It was considerably lighter than before, even with the gloves from the dead dwarf inside, so at least the journey would go more quickly than before. "I think the unicorn has made it clear he's too busy for us. Let's thank him and be on our way."
Perhaps it wasn't the most polite way to treat someone who'd just saved her life, but Tatalia was still in some pain and really just was not in the mood.
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Aug 9, 2022 18:10:26 GMT -5
The goblin's frustrated shout makes him jump; and then she bubbles into a harder-to-read laugh afterwards. Still, he looks worriedly at her; his own mind is coming back in slow waves as the unicorn slows to a trot, and then a full stop. He perks up as the unicorn's voice fills his mind, and the creature looks back to them. It declares it's time for them to split up, which, fills him with some disappointment given... how often do you meet a fairytale, honestly? His tail flicks, swaying as Tatalia moves to scramble quickly from its back; he offers out his hand, and she snaps up her dress as she's doing so, stuffing it into her bag. Cantio is slower to hop off, careful of his weight as he slips from the gaunt unicorn's back and lands on both feet. Immediately, his leg buckles from under him; he sees the unicorn's ears flick back when he uses the creature as a stabilizer to keep from collapsing in a heap. At least he can feel his leg now, kind of, but it has that pins-and-needles feeling, as though he's been sleeping on it all night. He moves to limp around the unicorn's back, listening to Tatalia asking it questions— which it is quick to shoot down any possibility of answering in favour of them moving their separate ways. Cantio looks visibly disappointed as he stumbles away from the unicorn's side, back to Tatalia's, with a knee that desperately wishes to give out under his weight. He frowns, looking to Tatalia, then to the unicorn; his tail curls, and he breathes a sigh. "Um, thank you for your help." he remarks after Tatalia has regarded him. "I'm sure you're busy, given the... state of the woods, but it means a lot that you still helped us."He purposefully does not mention how hard the creature tried to talk him out of even looking for Tatalia. The unicorn looks to him from Tatalia, its long tail flicking; it seems like it can read the room somewhat, but it's still inelegant in its delivery. "As long as the mother's venom lingers, she will be a beacon of interest to the children. I have been here many years, and have never seen them hunt with such vigor. The sooner you are out of the forest, the safer you will be; to chit-chat idly is to waste all of our time and risk your lives."That does not ease his disappointment in the slightest. He has so much he wants to ask this creature. "Right— yeah, of course." he agrees, laughing in a way that sounds nervous— but uncertain. "I suppose we should go quickly, then—""Lightweaver,""Hm?"Cantio perks up, most of his weight designated to his good leg, as the unicorn moves forwards a step towards him, lowering its head enough to touch the crown of his head with its horn— similar to how it had healed him earlier. He feels a wave of calm; a strange jolt in the core of his chest. "Utilize the light to its fullest extent; you have yet to even begin exploring the depth of its wake. It may harm, and it may heal," the unicorn looks to Tatalia then from the corner of its eye, "But to use it only for entertainment would be a waste of something so unique for your kind."Again, he thinks he should be flattered, but he still feels somewhat insulted. Not another word is said by the creature as it turns away from them; but in the minds’ eye of both adventurers, something occurs which cannot be said. Like a vision, the images roll far behind their eyes; happening in but an instant, yet feeling as though they might live through its entirety. No words are spoken, but the images relay a disjointed story: A dwarven man weeps at a small shrine on the outskirts of the Moonveil Forest, an offering on the shrine’s plate; a day passes, and the dwarven man returns. For two more days after he returns, and on the fourth day, from the gentle shade of the Moonveil Forest, the unicorn steps out to meet him.
The images are blown away like dust, and the unicorn and dwarf stand at the edge of the Shadeswood, alone. The shadows of the forest engulfs them with a swirl of light and darkness, revealing the unicorn cautiously stepping through the underbrush, its rider swinging a blue-tinted lantern and calling soundlessly into the forest.
The images collapse again, and the unicorn looks over a cracked and broken wagon; its rider torn apart, the ox which carried the cart half-eaten and splayed across the yoke, merchandise crushed and crumpled. The body is not old; maybe four days. The unicorn looks worried. Fading in, the unicorn steps past the drained body of an elven man, dressed in uniform. Three days old; the unicorn turns its head away, wistful. The duo come across yet another body; the curled body of a traveler, killed the day before by the creatures of the forest. They meet more; bodies old and new; but all claimed by the Shadeswood.
The unicorn looks forlornly upon them, before the visions drift away.
The Mother’s Den, a familiar sight, stands before the two; large and foreboding, and swallows them whole. As the images return, a young dwarven boy sleeping from fever in a web has been discovered, and the dwarven man cries— overjoyed— but the moment he touches the web, eyes flicker to life from beyond the shadows.
The Den shudders and shakes, long legs of the mother cracking stone as her children swarm from beneath her; the dwarven man scoops stone like clay from the wall, clapping it between his hands as if creating a thin knife, and easily snaps the web. The images darken with the visage of the children, and lighten as the unicorn, the boy on its back, rush through the tunnels of the den with the dwarven man on its heels. From the entrance, the children swarm— from behind, the children swarm— and they are pinned between.
The unicorn hurriedly looks for somewhere to go; the dwarven man points out a small tunnel behind, leading somewhere out. The unicorn is quick to run the child to safety, but the dwarven man lingers behind; and as the creature looks over its shoulder, it meets the dwarven man’s regretful gaze. The entrance to the tunnel is blocked with a swath of stone-like clay, trapping the man with the hunting children, and allowing the unicorn time to escape with the boy.
The den rumbles as the unicorn bursts from the tunnels, caked in clay; it looks back, stopping once. It closes its eyes, bows its head, then turns and runs. Images of bodies flash by as the unicorn escapes the Shadeswood; new and old; decayed and fresh; the Shadeswood is a hellscape. The celestial being is bereaved.
Eventually, the rush dissipates, and the unicorn lays at the sunny outskirts by the road leading past the Shadeswood, the child curled next to it. It sits, troubled, ears perked towards the road; and as the image of a small caravan of merchants rises over the slope, the unicorn stands and looks back into the forest. A heartbeat passes, and it looks back to the caravan once, then to the moonveil far beyond, before disappearing inside the Shadeswood one last time, and leaving the boy to be discovered. Cantio blinks as the images fade away, and when he looks up, the unicorn has vanished; its light hidden by the shadow of the woods. Gone. "..."Dumbfounded, he calls forth the light to keep them from the dark of the forest; the sparrow springs forth, settling on the palm of his hand with seemingly no issue. He offers Tatalia a glance. He doesn't even know what to say while processing the new and the old. What exactly that means. "I... guess we should go; maybe find a place to rest, at the very least."
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