[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
Partly 'cause I'm a contrarian, partly 'cause I like the idea of running around in the background of the main Disney plot while somewhere Some Asshole Who Needs To Learn A Lesson On Heroism kinda just fucks around in the opening twenty minutes. And it's pretty probable that the witches know who we are and why we're here because, well, powerful enchantresses and seers. So they're good to speak to 'cause they actually get the context. Also Aevum can probably make an educated guess that there's some, like, thematically appropriate mid-plot exposition and guidance-type character hanging out there just based on the way these worlds work. Magical swamps kinda just have cackling-but-wise witches and weird sisters and witches usually know what's up. It's just a weird threeway coinflip as to whether they'll be helpful, hostile, or kinda just dick us around.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
Partly 'cause I'm a contrarian, partly 'cause I like the idea of running around in the background of the main Disney plot while somewhere Some Asshole Who Needs To Learn A Lesson On Heroism kinda just fucks around in the opening twenty minutes. And it's pretty probable that the witches know who we are and why we're here because, well, powerful enchantresses and seers. So they're good to speak to 'cause they actually get the context. Also Aevum can probably make an educated guess that there's some, like, thematically appropriate mid-plot exposition and guidance-type character hanging out there just based on the way these worlds work. Magical swamps kinda just have cackling-but-wise witches and weird sisters and witches usually know what's up. It's just a weird threeway coinflip as to whether they'll be helpful, hostile, or kinda just dick us around.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
God no, no farms, no idyllic countrysides. Let's go fight some gosh darn witches.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
God no, no farms, no idyllic countrysides. Let's go fight some gosh darn witches.
You can't beat those three, they're the strongest creature in the setting.
It's telling that even the Dark Lord Arawn, at the height of his power, didn't dare go anywhere near those three. Especially since at one point they just waltz into his fortress to take back a thing that belonged to them once, and he doesn't do a darn thing to stop them.
They're... Very big on the whole equivilant exchange thing--they'll give you what you ask for at a hefty price--and then you'll find out what you asked for isn't actually what you wanted or needed. You being someone they like will just mean they'll actually warn you first that 'No, you don't actually want this and you'll regret it if you ask us again for it'
Of course, if we're talking the pure Disney canon version of them, then yeah, they're just three creepy witches rather than Literally an Incarnation of the Triple Goddess who are slumming it in Prydain.
(Can you tell I fucking loved the Chronicles of Prydain while I was young?)
I was gonna pick marsh as well just to be a contrarian, but now that someone else has done and bandwagoned it
[X] The farm. It's pretty out of the way, but it looks relatively normal and peaceful - perfect place to find some people to question. And who knows, maybe whoever lives there is having trouble with the Heartless? You'll feel a lot better about asking questions if it comes after fending off creatures of darkness.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[X] The marshes. It'll be quite a trek and getting lost is a distinct possibility, but you can't shake the feeling something worth looking at lurks in that mist. Although equally you get the feeling whatever's in that mist isn't for the faint of heart. You might need to steel yourself for this.
[x] The farm. It's pretty out of the way, but it looks relatively normal and peaceful - perfect place to find some people to question. And who knows, maybe whoever lives there is having trouble with the Heartless? You'll feel a lot better about asking questions if it comes after fending off creatures of darkness.
I'm a basic bitch and want to do ic info gathering, so lets go key their car...t?
[X] The farm. It's pretty out of the way, but it looks relatively normal and peaceful - perfect place to find some people to question. And who knows, maybe whoever lives there is having trouble with the Heartless? You'll feel a lot better about asking questions if it comes after fending off creatures of darkness.
[x] The farm. It's pretty out of the way, but it looks relatively normal and peaceful - perfect place to find some people to question. And who knows, maybe whoever lives there is having trouble with the Heartless? You'll feel a lot better about asking questions if it comes after fending off creatures of darkness.
"The farm, I think," you say at last, lowering your hand and turning from the misty marsh. "I'd like to ask around and get the lay of the land before potentially getting into any fights, and a farm seems as good a place as any to start."
"I agree! Good thinking!"
Chirithy waddles to the southeast cliff-edge, but you take only one step to follow before you pause. Something compels you to look back, try one last time to peer through that impenetrable fog bank. You feel... something. Not foreboding, or even a particular pull, but something familiar. As if the sight sets another memory aflutter in your head, a feather tickling at a spot inside your skull you can't reach. You shake your head and the feeling passes. You jog to catch up with Chirithy and start the precarious descent back the way you came.
Thankfully the forest around here grows tall and strong. You've almost half a mind to simply leap off and take a chance with the canopy, but even with all mastery of the Keyblade has done for your constituion that seems... dumb. Instead you leap off at a lower point, letting Starlight unspool like a glittering silver thread and lash out, wrapping around a strong branch that bends rather than breaks beneath your weight. You swing low, hiking up your feet to skim the grass, and command the Keyblade to revert just as you begin to rise again. You go up and right back down again like a short hop, righting yourself and skidding a few feet more. You break into a jog as your momentum starts to bleed off, and can't help but let out a little self-impressed laugh.
"Wow, nice going!" Chirithy poofs into being on your shoulder as you slow to a walk. "Decided you'd stick with your first for a while after all then?"
"I dunno," you reply, shrugging (carefully, don't want to dislodge your best friend). "I've had it for this long, and it hasn't let me down yet. It just seemed right."
You glance down at the holy weapon in your hand, taking a moment to admire the light gleaming off the silver blade and blue handguard eaten away by rust and decay and red-brown dust even the keychain tarnished and scarred-
You dismiss it in a flash of light. "Besides, dunno when I'll even find another keychain," you say quickly. "It's not like they hand them out at every corner."
"Fair enough." Chirithy braces themself against your temple and peers in all directions. "Well, I'll leave ya to it then. I might be a lil' much to explain to any natives if one jumps out of nowhere, but I'll be around if you need me!" And with that your companion vanishes in a puff of smoke and warm air, leaving you alone.
You stroll southeast, picking your way through the untamed wilds and undergrowth that lies between you and your goal. You pass the ruined castle you noticed in short order, naught but a jumbled pile of rubble lying in a field and a single stone arch, like a forlorn doorway lost its door and everything else besides. You can't imagine what kind of strange disaster must've befallen the place, but you've no time to linger and examine the scene. You press on, and despite your natural wariness and awareness you find yourself gradually relaxing. No matter how far you walk no Heartless leap from the shadows to attack, warm sunlight and pleasant birdsong a constant companion. Somewhere a squirrel chitters as it scampers up or down a tree, what you assume to be a fox rummaging around in the leaf litter not far from it. While you find no paved roads or any other overt sign of civilisation in your journey you do find some kind of track or trail - maybe frequented by animals more than people - and gladly follow it. You keep your bearings by the glittering translucent shafts of light peeking through the canopy, and by your judgement you're making relatively good time. Well-trained you may be, you still don't fancy the idea of getting caught out here in the woods after dark. Who knows what'd happen to you then?
Which is when a pig barrels out of the bushes, squealing at the top of its lungs, and runs straight into your shin.
"Ow!" You hike up your leg and rub the pig-bruise. "Watch out! You nearly took my leg off!"
The temporarily-stunned pig is in no mood to make apologies. It's small, definitely a lost farm animal rather than wild, once well-cared-for before whatever left it lost in the woods, and seems to think there's something absolutely vital about leading you off the trail and further south. At first it sets its brow against your ankle and attempts to butt you onward - failing that, it circles around and bites into your legging, tugging at the sheer fabric in a vain attempt to get you moving.
"H-hey, hey alright, alright!" you protest, stumbling ahead rather than lose a chunk of legging. The pig lets go immediately, seemingly satisfied you got the message, and chooses to focus on squealing and running for its life instead. Your brow furrows. What was once a confused wander turns into a jog, turns into a run. You chase the pale pink pig through the forest, leaping gnarled old tree roots that thrust up from the soil to trip you up and ducking branches hung low to catch you in the face or neck. For a moment the pig being pursued just seems to vanish into thin air - then you put your foot through a small bush and find the steep bank of an escarpment and let out a cry of surprise. Your arms windmill windly, body swaying dangerously, but you find your balance and skate down into the well-wooded hollow. The pig is waiting for you by a small pond, leaping back and forth and stomping its little trotters in a fashion that might come off spoilt and needy if its eyes weren't so wide and terrified.
"Hey, hey it's okay!" You hurry to the pig's side and sink into a crouch. "It's alright! I'm here! What's wrong, what did you need me for?"
The pig throws its head back and forth with a few more anxious stomps, as if desperately pondering how to make you understand its intention. A quick squeal -aha! it seems to say- and pivots hurriedly to the edge of the pond. And then... dips its snout into the water? You wind up for an aggreived sigh, wondering why this strangely intelligent pig seems to be craving a drink so desperately.
Shows what you know. The pig slowly opens its eyes, snout still immersed in the water, but its gaze is... glazed over somehow. Distant, its irises and sclera turning shades of pink and purple and indigo as colour, too, spreads from its snout. Flowing across the water like spilled ink, simple abstract shapes at first but growing more complex, more defined. You see the same pig fleeing in terror from great shadows in the sky, desperately juking and dodging back and forth to evade sets of scaly razor-talons descending to snatch it up. You see humanoid figures crouching in the undergrowth, carefully inspecting a set of preserved trotter-prints.
"It's you," you breathe, tearing your eyes away from the vision on the pond for only long enough to shoot the pig an astonished look. "The future-scrying thing isn't a book, it's... a pig!"
You look back at the water to see a pig dipping its nose in a pond, a scout in blue and black crouched beside it, when a man creeps from the shadows and raises a long knife-
You whirl with a shout, your body moving before your mind can catch up, Starlight flashing into your hand as if eager to return. The descending knife skates down the length of the Keyblade, your backhand strike diverting it far off-course and leaving your assailant wide-open. Your wide eyes soak in the details - tall, broad, dressed all in animal skins and earthen tones, a long shock of red hair tied back in braids - in the split-second that there's time. Your attacker lets the knife pass smoothly from right to left, renewing his assault with a lightning-fast lunge. You bat it aside quickly, the angle awkward to retaliate but you attempt to anyway, swinging Starlight around for a descending two-handed slash. The man in animal-skins brings his long knife up again, right hand pressed against the blade's spine for support, and takes your blow full-force. Bright sparks rise from the point of contact, the wind of your halted strike carrying on to blow the man's wolfskin hood back.
His brow carries a scarlet mark, distinct from yet all-too-similar to those heart-shaped marks the corpulent Heartless in your exam bore. And his eyes burn with the lambent, sickly yellow-gold light of darkness. The shock steals the strength from you. You gasp softly. The man disengages the lock to press forward when a squeal from the pig, startled by the fighting and making a run for the trees, breaks his concentration. Instead he ducks low and breaks past you, gritting his teeth and growling like an animal as he lunges for the pig's corkscrew tail. His hand closes around the intended target. The pig squeals louder in pain and desperation as it's dragged back into danger.
"Oh no you don't!" you snarl, swinging your Keyblade like a bat, and every drop of water in the pond slams into his back like a sledghammer. His hand springs open and he goes flying, borne forward by the water jet until he slams face-first into an ancient tree. Loose leaves fall around him like snowflakes as he staggers away, clutching his face with his free hand and growling in anger. The pig scampers back to you, sheltering, shivering, at your heels. You take your stance properly, glaring at your foe as he turns in slow, lumbering strides to face you again.
His hand drops to his belt like lightning, and scoops up a bone-white hunting horn.
"None of that either!" you exclaim, and Starlight unspools. Silver links rattle and steel segments sing as the extended length undulates forth like the head of a striking cobra, landing with an earsplitting crack and burst of violet force. The hunting horn shatters into a hundred pieces, the man recoiling with a snarl of pain to nurse his injured hand. You don't give him time to pull out any more surprises. You complete a full revolution of your wrist, bringing Starlight's chain looping back around with a flash of caught sunlight, wrap it around the sodden man three times and yank it taut. He lurches forward a step, yanking right back against you, and you feel Starlight threaten to leap out of your hands.
"Freeze," you hiss, and he does. Hoarfrost flows down the chain like a virus, little crystals of cold filling in the gaps and chill mist spilling to the ground as the spell loops three times around the man and reaches the tip. The burst of ice completely envelops him in one explosive motion, feeding off the water drenching him to encase him completely in a frigid stalagmite.
There's a pregnant pause. Your shoulders are shaking. Your breathing went ragged and you didn't realise it. Were you holding your breath the whole fight or did you just use more than you meant to? You release the iceblock with a ginger flick of your wrist, Starlight spooling back up and returning to its base form. Is... was that just a person? It couldn't be, but... the way he looked...
The ice-block cracks down the middle, a single jagged scar slowly stretching and zigzagging down from the tip to the very base, before it all just shatters impressively as if struck with a hammer. No trace of the man you fought remains when the chilled air and debris clears. Just a spray of Lux crystals falling and mingling with the ice, and a swirling orb of oily black darkness floating in the air. You watch, heart in your throat, as the pitch-black thing flows and swirls, as if waiting for something. For just the briefest moment it seems to form the shape of a heart - and then it shatters. Dividing itself into black shards and rocketing away, most simply vanishing off into the far distance so quickly you can't even tell where they've gone. Only four linger long enough, fly slow enough, for you to witness their passage. They fly directly north, and not that far at all.
"Chirithy? What was that?" you ask, eyes peeled for movement off wherever the dark shards went even as you raise your Power Bangle and absorb the Lux. Chirithy materialises next to the pig.
"That was a powerful darkness bound to that man," they reply, their voice quavering slightly. "He didn't look like any Heartless I've ever heard about, but that darkness fleeing the body to go join his friends doesn't sound like a good time no matter which way you slice it."
"Agreed." You lower Starlight and turn, crouching by the pig's side again. "I can protect you, but we need to get you somewhere safe. Do you know or... 'see' any place where we could hide from those p- things?"
The pig turns and wades down into the still-moist mud where the pond once was, nosing and digging and searching all around until it manages to squeeze out a tiny little puddle from what remains. You hunch over and lean in close, squinting at the image - it looks like the farm you saw!
"Well that's convenient, I was headed there anyway," you pant. The pig oinks hopefully. You step away from the muddy hollow and shoulder your Keyblade, peering into the sun-dappled shadows between the trees for some sign of the rest of the pig-pursuers.
The way that first one could sneak up on you, and the way he was dressed... you sharpen your ears again, not even daring to breathe. Listening out. The forest's whole soundscape seems to change, grow colder, more artificial. Now the gentle rustle of movement across the leaf litter sounds far to calculated, the call of birds too regular. Is it just paranoia? Or is it really men out to get you, using the forest as cover? They must be experienced huntsmen, and they've forged some sort of bond with the Heartless or darkness itself for greater power. You can't take them lightly, no matter what. You look to your companions - Chirithy is patting the pig in an attempt to calm it, but both soon look to you for guidance. The oracle-pig says the farm will be safe, but... how can it? It's just a farm! And can you even make it, burdened by escorting a pig?
[ ] Turn and attack. Take the fight to the Huntsmen, while they're still unsure what defeated their companion. Whatever covenant they forged with the darkness, you wield a weapon forged in turn to destroy it, you wield powerful magic, and you know their tricks now besides. The odds are in your favour.
[ ] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
[ ] Lay a trap and bait it with the pig. Conceptually you're a little... iffy on it, but logically speaking the idea is sound. The Huntsman you fought was clearly more concerned with the pig than with you, and you can't think of any situation in which a seer-pig is worth more gone than captured. Finding their quarry will make them drop their guard, and that's when you strike. Take them out once they've all shown themselves.
Adhoc vote count started by ZerbanDaGreat on Feb 27, 2019 at 11:53 AM, finished with 23 posts and 20 votes.
[X] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
[X] Turn and attack. Take the fight to the Huntsmen, while they're still unsure what defeated their companion. Whatever covenant they forged with the darkness, you wield a weapon forged in turn to destroy it, you wield powerful magic, and you know their tricks now besides. The odds are in your favour.
[X] Lay a trap and bait it with the pig. Conceptually you're a little... iffy on it, but logically speaking the idea is sound. The Huntsman you fought was clearly more concerned with the pig than with you, and you can't think of any situation in which a seer-pig is worth more gone than captured. Finding their quarry will make them drop their guard, and that's when you strike. Take them out once they've all shown themselves.
Adhoc vote count started by ZerbanDaGreat on Feb 28, 2019 at 7:33 AM, finished with 33 posts and 25 votes.
[X] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
[X] Turn and attack. Take the fight to the Huntsmen, while they're still unsure what defeated their companion. Whatever covenant they forged with the darkness, you wield a weapon forged in turn to destroy it, you wield powerful magic, and you know their tricks now besides. The odds are in your favour.
[X] Lay a trap and bait it with the pig. Conceptually you're a little... iffy on it, but logically speaking the idea is sound. The Huntsman you fought was clearly more concerned with the pig than with you, and you can't think of any situation in which a seer-pig is worth more gone than captured. Finding their quarry will make them drop their guard, and that's when you strike. Take them out once they've all shown themselves.
Adhoc vote count started by ZerbanDaGreat on Feb 28, 2019 at 8:45 AM, finished with 33 posts and 25 votes.
[X] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
[X] Turn and attack. Take the fight to the Huntsmen, while they're still unsure what defeated their companion. Whatever covenant they forged with the darkness, you wield a weapon forged in turn to destroy it, you wield powerful magic, and you know their tricks now besides. The odds are in your favour.
[X] Lay a trap and bait it with the pig. Conceptually you're a little... iffy on it, but logically speaking the idea is sound. The Huntsman you fought was clearly more concerned with the pig than with you, and you can't think of any situation in which a seer-pig is worth more gone than captured. Finding their quarry will make them drop their guard, and that's when you strike. Take them out once they've all shown themselves.
Adhoc vote count started by ZerbanDaGreat on Feb 28, 2019 at 5:38 PM, finished with 35 posts and 27 votes.
[X] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
[X] Turn and attack. Take the fight to the Huntsmen, while they're still unsure what defeated their companion. Whatever covenant they forged with the darkness, you wield a weapon forged in turn to destroy it, you wield powerful magic, and you know their tricks now besides. The odds are in your favour.
[X] Lay a trap and bait it with the pig. Conceptually you're a little... iffy on it, but logically speaking the idea is sound. The Huntsman you fought was clearly more concerned with the pig than with you, and you can't think of any situation in which a seer-pig is worth more gone than captured. Finding their quarry will make them drop their guard, and that's when you strike. Take them out once they've all shown themselves.
Shows what you know. The pig slowly opens its eyes, snout still immersed in the water, but its gaze is... glazed over somehow. Distant, its irises and sclera turning shades of pink and purple and indigo as colour, too, spreads from its snout. Flowing across the water like spilled ink, simple abstract shapes at first but growing more complex, more defined.
His brow carries a scarlet mark, distinct from yet all-too-similar to those heart-shaped marks the corpulent Heartless in your exam bore. And his eyes burn with the lambent, sickly yellow-gold light of darkness.
... but it looks like we're getting elements from the books as well. That was definately a Huntsman of Annuvin. And you never want to stand and fight against the Huntsmen.
[X] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
[X] Lay a trap and bait it with the pig. Conceptually you're a little... iffy on it, but logically speaking the idea is sound. The Huntsman you fought was clearly more concerned with the pig than with you, and you can't think of any situation in which a seer-pig is worth more gone than captured. Finding their quarry will make them drop their guard, and that's when you strike. Take them out once they've all shown themselves.
[X] Lay a trap and bait it with the pig. Conceptually you're a little... iffy on it, but logically speaking the idea is sound. The Huntsman you fought was clearly more concerned with the pig than with you, and you can't think of any situation in which a seer-pig is worth more gone than captured. Finding their quarry will make them drop their guard, and that's when you strike. Take them out once they've all shown themselves.
[X] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
[X] Make a break for it. Drive the pig ahead of you, pick it up if you have to, and just run for the farm. The Huntsmen will be forced to break cover to keep up with you, and a river the size of the one you saw from the peak would be a much greater barrier to them than you. You can defend yourself and the pig for that long.
