Alice In A New Wonderland

[Dark Ness]

It was just an ordinary day, going to your ordinary job. You are just an ordinary secretary, taking calls, writing notes, and making itineraries. You certainly don't have strange dreams every single night, you certainly don't wake up to find yourself doing strange things that you can't remember, and even if you did, it doesn't stop you from acting ordinary. Your time in the mental institute certainly helped you get over all your issues, and you don't believe in silly things anymore. You are just a ordinary, productive member of society, and you (want people to) believe it with all your heart. But you know that you aren't.

As you are walking along the sidewalk (you are lucky that your job is so close that you can walk to it) you see a flash of purple in the edge of your peripheral vision. Curious, you turn towards the alleyway on your left that you think that the purple came from. You don't see anything, however, it looks like an empty alley with random litter in it and a few puddles. You take a step forward, almost unconsciously, to peer closer and step in a puddle. Except, instead of just making a splash, you fall through the puddle.

You are falling through a long vertical tunnel. You expect to hit the bottom within a few seconds, but then thirty seconds pass, then a minute, and then two minutes. You look at rough limestone walls of the tunnel, and realize that the reason you haven't hit the bottom yet is because you are falling slowly, slowly enough that you could break a piece off the wall and put it back. This seems familiar, but it couldn't be, could it? You made it up, none of it was real, just like the doctors said.

Soon enough, you hit the ground, yet, it is a soft landing, and there is no sign of the tunnel you fell through. You look around you, and there is no denying where you are. Welcome back to Wonderland, Alice. Next to you, is an item, something both familiar and important. An item of power.

[] The Sword
[] The Crown

 

[Dark Ness]

You feel different, like something is up against your skin, and you soon realize why. You are no longer wearing your previous outfit, you are instead wearing a red dress with several pockets. You do feel like it suits you better then your normal cloths, however, for whatever strange reason. You also notice something lying near you, while you are examining yourself.

It is a sliver crown. A large, red, heart-shaped gem is set in the front, while two smaller ones are set on both the left and right sides. The crown is dainty, more like a circlet, really, and has two intercrossering sliver wires that form the base of the crown and the clasp of the jewels. You pick up the crown of the ground and set it on your head. It feels right to wear it. Of course it does, you are the Queen, after all.

There is something familiar about this crown, however. You got it from killing the Queen of Hearts, right? You aren't sure, you can't remember if you killed the Queen or not. Even after you were realised from the Institute, there was always something missing. You always had this feeling inside you, waiting.

[] Anger. There was always this desire to get back at others when they insulted you or were mean to you. You would often imagine beating those who annoyed you.

[] Control. You knew that you could do things better then your superiors and coworkers, and you deserved to be in charge. You always wanted to be the leader of whatever group you found yourself in.

[] Amusement. Something inside you would laugh at all the silly rules people followed. Regular people were like robots, dull and predictable, even if pushing their buttons was fun.

 

[Dark Ness]

People are so funny, aren't they? They are kind of like toys, they make certain noises and do certain things if you just poke them in the right place. And poking them was so easy. Of course, you always made sure that you wouldn't get in any trouble for it. You don't exactly understand why that they got so worked up about things, even when it was to their detriment, but that doesn't mean it wasn't amusing to watch. Regardless, you should probably take stock of where you are and figure out where to go.

You are in a giant field of golden wheat. The wheat is huge, larger then most trees. Each stalk looks to be over a hundred feet high. The stalks are also so crowded together that you can't see more then a few feet in front of you and you have to bend them to get anywhere. The wheat stalks are so simular that it is difficult to tell them apart, and they block out everything but the sky above. The only thing you can use for direction is the sun.

Now, it was morning when you left, so assuming it is the same time, heading towards the sun should be going east and heading away should be west. Of course, that assumes that the sun sets in the west and rises in the east like it does on Earth. Well, even if you did know which direction was which, it wouldn't matter, because you don't know where you are, besides that it is Wonderland. After all, where else can you get to in an impossible way and has plants bigger then skyscrapers?

[] Head towards the sun
[] Head away from the sun

 

[Dark Ness]

You start heading towards the sun. It isn't like one direction makes much more of a difference to you then the other, right? You start pushing through the wheat, make sure to keep going directly towards the sun. You don't want to get mixed about. Eventually, it starts opening up and you leave the giant wheatfield.

You find yourself in some kind of forest made of fungi. Mushrooms are everywhere, all over the ground, and further in there are bigger and bigger ones, with a few the size of trees. You start heading inside the fungal "forest" still following the sun. You walk between mushrooms as tall as you, and you eventually see a bunch of smoke off to the distance.

You start heading towards the smoke, and as you start getting close, you start seeing a blue shape in the smoke. It resolves itself into a giant blue catapiller about your size, sitting on mushroom a few heads taller then you. The smoke is coming for a giant hookah that the catapulted is smoking. You vaguely remember this catapiller and you say "Hello, how are you doing?"

The catapiller, Absolum or something, you think, responses with a contempish "Fine. But the real question is, who are YOU?" and he blows a bunch of smoke in your face, causing you to cough. But, you don't let it bother you too much and answer with...

[] Alice
[] Queen Alice
[] Umm from Umbridge.
[] Write in

 

[Dark Ness]

You have a crown, after all, why not call yourself queen? You also remember a chess game where you got a promotion to one, so their is that as well. "I am Queen Alice."

Absolum starts to peer closer at you, and answers in a sarcastic tone. "You, Queen? Hardly."

"Well, I do have this crown." You answer, with a semi-questioning tone.

"Wearing a crown does not make one a queen." He then blows smoke in your face again, and you start talking. "But" and here he gets even closer to you, "Perhaps, I could tell you about something a queen could use."

"I will tell you about one thing out of three. CHOOSE, a dress, a pendent, or a sword." It isn't the vorpal one

[] Dress
[] Pendant
[] Sword

 

[Dark Ness]

You blurt out "The sword. Please."

Absolum responds with "Ah, yes, the Queen's Sword. A cruel blade, any wound that it makes bleeds profusely, and is almost impossible to stop." He then blows out a cloud of smoke. At least, it isn't at you this time, but that is starting to get really annoying.

"You will find it at the Hatter's house, across the river. Just follow the path and take a left." And then he points to the north, presumably where the river and the path are.

"The former queen's mother lost it in a card game to the Hatter while very drunk. The Queen quite lost her head when she found out, and her mother did too." He then starts to chuckle at his own joke.

[] Well, I will head there now, then.
[] What is the catch?
[] Former Queen? Who is the new one?
[] Write in

 

[Dark Ness]

This is a bit suspicious, why would he just offer this information? There has to be more to it. He practically led you into this, and why would he offer three different things, likely magical ones too, if you go by the sword. He must want something, and this seems too easy. So, you ask "What is the catch?"

"There is nothing to catch, stupid girl." He sneers at you. "But, the Hatter has a blue hat with gold, sliver, and herican trim. I need you to bring it to me." He then blows smoke in your face again, but this time you are careful not to breathe in and wave it away. "There is the risk of the fighting spilling out somewhere along the path, of course, but there are few places in Leftern Wonderland, except the Far Uporth, where that isn't the case."

You are curious about this fighting. You need to know more, especially now that you might get caught up in it. "Fighting? Who is fighting?"

"All sorts of things fight, but the Black King, the White Queen, and the Marquess of Diamonds are those with armies. The Chess Pieces and Card Soldiers don't hold back, so getting mixed up with them is dangerous. It might have something to do with how they aren't made of flesh or blood. Now, are you going to go to the Hatters, or are you going to keep bothering me with these stupid questions?" Absolum says in an annoyed tone, like you are an ignorant child that it is his displeasure to inform of something that everyone knows.

[] Fine, I will go.
[] I do have more questions.
-[] Write in
[] Write In

OOC: I finally got the chance to get on a computer, and I realized how short my recent updates have been. Hopefully, this is better.

 

[Dark Ness]

You tell the catapiller, in a resigned tone "Fine, I will go. Goodbye." The catapiller just makes a hurmp noise as you walk off. As you go through the mushroom forest, you see a few more giant fungi, over a hundred feet tall, bigger then the giant wheet. Soon enough, though, you see less and less super large fungi, and instead their are lots and lots of little ones. Eventually, the mushrooms form some kind of fungal undergrowth and you have to move them out of your way to keep going. When you manage to break through a particularly thick area, you finally see the river. It looks shallow enough to wade through.

Spoiler: Dice

1d10-2=7
A minor skirmish

Across the river is a battle, along with a path through what looks like an ordinary forest, a little ways away. On the other bank there are what looks like armoured cards with limbs fighting. They have flat, rectangler bodies that flex when they move, along with legs attached to the to the bottom and arms attached to each topmost corner, connected by a shaped pauldrons. Their whole bodies seems to be covered in a series of overlapping plates, including their limbs. Their heads are set in to the top of their bodies with slits for eyes.

Their seem to be three types, and the shape of their head and pauldrons, along with a number of markings of that shape, are determined by it. There are the spades and clubs, both of which are black, along with the diamonds, who are red. They are carrying a mixture of spears, halbeards, and longswords. There are three spades and three clubs fightning against four diamonds, and the diamonds seem to be losing.

You could get involved, although, getting caught up in the battle would be bad, especially since you have no weapons. You could go left or right, following the river, and try to cross a different area, hopefully eventually making your way back to the path, although, you could get lost and it will delay you for sure. You could also make a break for the path, and hope they are too caught up in the battle to chase you or notice you.

[] Get involved
-[] Plan?
[] Go along the river
-[] To the right
-[] To the left
[] Dash towards the path


OCC: Well, I just hand counted

 

[Dark Ness]

You ignore the battle and start heading along the river, towards the left. The card soldiers don't seem to notice you, which isn't surprising since you are partially hidden in the fungal growth. As you keep following the river, however, the growth thins, and you have to push the fungi out of your way less and less.

The fungal forest eventually makes way for the outskirts of a regular one. At the beginning of the forest "proper" there is the start of a gravel path along the river, and the trees and undergrowth fron the forrest stops at the path, like it is a barrier preventing the forrest from crossing. It is curious, however, that someone made a path that started in the area between the fungal forest and regular one, especially since their isn't any buildings or other signs of civilization out here.

Although, you have come upon an issue. The river down here is flowing much faster then it was back where you started. You can't tell how deep it is either, so it could be risky to cross. You could continue along the path and and see if you can find a bridge, or you could go back and hope that the card soldiers battle is over and they left. Or, maybe you could do something else?

[] Cross the river
[] Follow the path
[] Go back and cross there
[] Write in

 

[Dark Ness]

You just follow the gravel path. There should be a bridge somewhere along it, right? As you walk, the river seems to flow faster and faster until all you can see is frothing white foam. It does start to slow down, though, at the same place where the forest starts to thin. You have been walking for what feels like several hours by now, but the sun seems to be in the same position it was when you started walking. It is strange, but, well, this is wonderland. Soon, you happen apon a spilt in the road. One way leads left, away from the river and into the forest, which thickens until you can no longer see the path. The other way leads straight ahead, past an abandoned farm, to a stone bridge.

The farm contains a waterwheel, which is attached to a farm house and is still moving, a grain silo, and a barn. All of the structures are made of wood and in various states of disrepair. Alongside the buildings is the remnants of a field. It obvouisly hasn't been tended to in a long time, judging by all the weeds and how there are patches of wheat instead of it growing in neat rows. There is a sign in front of the farmhouse that says Farmer's Farm in faded lettering. On the other side of the river, across from the farm and past the roughhewn stone bridge, is manor house. It is made of brick and has a small white tower attached to the right side, with a tiled roof. The oaken front door, which has a swirling design on it, has a large jagged hole where the doorknob would be on most doors. For some reason, the manor seems quite familiar, it reminds you of something, but you can't remember what.

Leading away from the manor is another gravel path. It starts at the stone bridge and heads off to the right into a forest on the other side of the river. The road seems to lead in the same direction as a huge tree that towers above all the others that you can see in the distance. It is so big that the tops of the other trees barely reach halfway up it's trunk.

[] Investigate the manor
[] Investigate the farm
[] Take the path away from the manor
[] Write in