Nyctohylophobia (Perma-death Quest)
- Thread starter TheLordofAwesome
- Start date
- Original Horror
lavanderjasmine
Master of decoration
- Location
- R'lyeh
[X] Stay calm and keep moving at the pace you've been keeping.
Chapter 20: All Along The Watchtower
- Location
- Washington
You need to be calm. Whatever is lurking in the darkness, it is moving slow. No need to panic. Yet.
Mustering your courage you look away from the void and get back to walking. Your instincts scream in protest at this decision and you are doing every in your power to suppress them. Just got to keep walking, Medea. Ignore the unseen horror that's literally crawling out of an abyss to get you. If you run it'll just speed up its ascent to get you. You think. You honestly have no idea. Frankly, you didn't even want to know. Knowing what was after you was something you could do without.
You crossed the length of the bridge and entered the tunnel on the other side, you start to calm down but you never quite feel at ease. You don't know how far that thing will follow you but you are not going to stop just to find out. Once more you traverse through the twisting and turning tunnels of the cave, following the wisps that guide your way. At one point you come across three different paths through the cave, but fortunately the wisps lit the way that you assume was the correct way. You wonder if you were to run back there if you'd have taken one of the other paths? Where do they lead? Do they lead to dead ends?
Regardless, you come up on another lit chamber like the first one you encountered in this cave. And just like before another vision of the past begins to fade in to view.
"Oh, joy... Another one of these..." You said sarcastically. "I'm going to wake from this dream with clinical depression, I swear..."
You see the ghostly image of a wall with a large window and in front of it some sort of console. Two shadowed figures sit at it, one resembling the Dr. Axford figure from the last vision, the other had more feminine figure but also seemed to be wearing a lab coat. On the other side of the window was Rebecca, still in her orange jumpsuit and sitting about ten feet away from a stool and drinking from a glass of water..
"What's on the agenda for today, doctor." A deep baritone voice from behind you spoke. You turn around and see another ghostly figure walking towards the scene. What was odd was that this person you could see as an actual person and not a shadow figure. They were an older man, maybe in about his fifties or sixties. He had a grizzled sort of look to him, looking something like part-Clint Eastwood, part-Dennis Quaid, and dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and red tie.
"Just testing to see what kind of magic this brat uses. Just finished up." Dr. Axford says, sounding disturbingly detached from the proceedings. "What brings you down here, Knight?"
"I just listened to your taped interview with the girl." The "Knight" said, shrugging. "Got to say, a little unorthodox for the doctor to do most of talking."
The doctor groaned in annoyance. "Judging by the evidence presented from your reports I had already guessed we had another "Corfu Incident" on our hands. I just wanted the confirmation so I could go on with the rest of my day." Dr Axford said as he adjusted a few knobs on the console in front of him. "Fifth one this goddamn month. How many does that make so far this year? Thirty-seven?"
"Thirty-two, doctor." The female figure said.
"Thank you, Molly." Axford nodded to the woman, now identified as "Molly." He looks over his shoulder to the Colonel. "So mind explaining why you are here, or did you really just come all the way here just to tell me about how I handled that interview?"
"I'm just here to see what you've learned," He said, shrugging. "I was curious as to what her magic was. I was on site when we came to pick her up. Nasty business that was."
"Yes, yes, I read the report..." Dr. Axford waved his hand in exasperation. "Kids exploded, girl found in their blood, extraction team shows up, site burned to the ground and all occupants and witnesses purged. Yada, yada... I think I've become desensitized to shit like this." The doctor shuffles around a few papers resting on the console before pulling a single sheet from the pile and handing it to the Colonel. "Here."
The "Knight" takes the sheet of paper and looks over it. After about a few seconds his eye widen and he looks to the scientists.
"Is this accurate?" He asks.
"I'm not blind, Knight Wells. It is accurate." Dr. Axford replied annoyed. "So do we have the all clear to euthanize the girl yet?"
"No," Wells chuckles, sounding way too evil for its own good. "I think we just found the latest asset to our cause."
You hear the doctor groaned in annoyance as the scene begins to fade out. It kind of disturbed you that he would react that way to being told they weren't going to kill a child. With this vision done you continue to press on to navigate through the tunnels.
This was starting to become a pattern you realized. Go through some tunnels, enter a chamber, watch a vision, go through some more tunnels. Repeat.
Honestly you were getting pretty sick of it. It was making you regret not choosing to walk through the swamp, because at least a bog has more to offer you than a near featureless set of tunnels. Shit, and at least that thing that's lurking in the dark wouldn't be there. You still felt its presence coming for you, but you seem to be moving faster than it at the very least. A small comfort, but a comfort none the less.
However after what seems like an eternity of traversing through these god-forsaken tunnels, you spot a light in the distance. At first you thought you thought it was yet another chamber, but as you approached you realize the light was different, more natural.
It was the way out of this cave!
You began moving faster, attempting to clear the distance for you to finally leave. The light from the exit got closer, the scent of the forest reaching you. You were so glad to be almost out of here you don't even bother realizing that you are able to smell in a dream!
Soon enough you exit the cave and prompt drop to your hands and knees.
"Finally!" You cheered. "Something other than that cave!"
After enjoying your new found environment for a moment, you push yourself up from the ground, inhaling deeply the forest air into your lungs. You looked around, seeing the dirt path before you, trees lining the sides of the path with wisps bobbing to and fro between the branches, stretching out to a stone tower that looked like a rook chest piece not too far in the distance.
"Guess that's where I got to go." You said.
Despite the dark ominous woods surrounding you, you didn't feel the unease you felt when you first entered the forest. Perhaps it is because you had a clear destination ahead of you? It takes maybe fifteen minutes to walk to the tower. Fifteen uneventful minutes. Though during that time you heard some... strange noises from the woods off in the distance, but nothing close that would cause you to worry.
Now that you neared the tower, you got a better look of it: The tower was made of gleaming white stones, mostly smoothed and polished to an almost supernatural extent. But looking at it filled you with an odd sense of dread, but not without a certain thrill of an adventurer's delight. As you gazed upon the structure, the nebulae that filled the sky seemed to twist and warp around the structure, as if its presence distorted the air around it. As you continued to look upon it the surface of the tower seem to change, and you could now trace both inscriptions and crude carvings. The writing was some form of ancient Nordic script, but unlike anything you had ever seen in books. It was the pictorial carving, however, that held your attention. They were images of great mythical beast, carved in a way similar to the Nazca Lines. Pictures of dragons, giant birds, sea serpents, and more were scattered across the surface of the tower.
As you approached, ghostly images began to appear. Time for another vision, it would seem.
This time it was just of a girl, no older than sixteen. Looking at her, you reasoned this must be Rebecca, now much older. She stood at about your height now, her hair much more grown out and unkempt, and had shadows under her eyes signifying a lack of sleep. Attire-wise she seemed to favor darker, more gothic clothes; a tight black shirt that seemed to hug her body, a dark violet mid-thigh length skirt, black finger-less gloves, dark grey tights that were covered in a spider web design, and black military-style boots.
From the side that Knight Wells guy from the last vision walks up to her, now much older than before. He was dressed in a much more casual attire, blue jeans, a dark blue shirt, a thick flannel jacket, and hiking boots. Slung around his shoulder was some sort of riot shotgun.
"Ready for your first mission, Rebecca?" Wells asks, getting his weapon ready.
"I guess..." She yawns. "Can't we just stay at camp and get some sleep instead? Do this in the morning?"
"No. We do this now." He said with stern disapproval for her attitude. "Command is expecting this to get done as quickly as possible. Don't make me regret putting your name out there for recruitment."
"I'll try not to," She shrugged. "If I recall correctly you said my choices were to join, die, be a willing lab rat for the rest of my life, or go through the painful process of being stripped of my Gift. You didn't really give me many appealing options."
"Just be thankful you are with us instead of being forced into some magical union like the I.B.M." He sighed. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Now to recap the mission briefing: We are to go to this abandoned house to investigate links to supposed supernatural activity in this forest, find what is causing it, and eliminate it if at all possible."
"Weren't there a few missing persons cases link to this forest?" She asks. "Why didn't anyone step in before?"
"It was deemed a low priority level threat." He explained as he put the paper away. "Nothing too extreme that would expose the world at large to the supernatural, but small enough to garner some local folk lore around it. Hence why it is being used a your training mission."
"Whatever you say," She shrugged.
"Just remember all the good the Inquisition does, Rebecca." The man sighed again. "Now let's go."
And with that, the spectral images of the two faded away.
"So I guess that was the point she entered the forest," You mused. "I'm guessing it didn't turn out too well for her..."
Putting these thoughts out of your mind for the time being you approach the tower, towards a steel door. The door looked rather plain in comparison to the rest of the tower, but lacked any sort of handle in which to open it. On the door was an inscription that read:
To reach what you seek,
Answer this riddle truly.
Fail, and you shall surely perish.
"From home I went,
from home I made my way,
I saw a road of roads,
and a road under them,
and a road over them,
and a road on all sides."
Of what do I speak?
Answer this riddle truly.
Fail, and you shall surely perish.
"From home I went,
from home I made my way,
I saw a road of roads,
and a road under them,
and a road over them,
and a road on all sides."
Of what do I speak?
You frowned. You didn't like the sound of that. Answer this riddle correctly or you'll die? What sort of security system is this?
"I hate this stupid magic bullshit..." You muttered to yourself.
Despite that, you realize that the sooner you answer the riddle the sooner you'll be out of this situation. You began looking around, hoping to see some sort of clue when you spot an open window on the tower, just a few feet above the door. It was odd to say the least as you didn't notice it previously when you were looking at the tower. But that could be a way in and you could void the riddle. It might be difficult though, there were no obvious foot holds for you to climb up, but you used the carvings on the walls to climb. It would be incredibly difficult but you don't doubt you could do it.
Of course, this was just one side of the structure. Maybe if you look around you might find a alternative entrance.
[ ] Answer the riddle - Write in
[ ] Attempt to climb to the window.
[ ] Search for another entrance.
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- Location
- United States of America
[X] Answer the riddle- You went on a bridge across a river, and the road of the river was below you and birds flew over your head and on either side, and that was their road.
- Location
- Canadia
OK, not entirely certain. Could be a typo of perish, but it's possible that this is a clue of some sort?
- Location
- Maine
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Theirs
[X] Answer the riddle- You went on a bridge across a river, and the road of the river was below you and birds flew over your head and on either side, and that was their road.
Of course it's one of Odin's riddles. Of course. We're on the path of magic. Why wouldn't it be.
Of course it's one of Odin's riddles. Of course. We're on the path of magic. Why wouldn't it be.
- Location
- Washington
It was a typo.
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- Location
- Who Knows
Regarding the riddle, it could also be a reference to the future, as it's possible to see that there are many paths out there-
oh wait. there's google. And the first vote was right......well then!
[X] Answer the riddle- You went on a bridge across a river, and the road of the river was below you and birds flew over your head and on either side, and that was their road.
oh wait. there's google. And the first vote was right......well then!
[X] Answer the riddle- You went on a bridge across a river, and the road of the river was below you and birds flew over your head and on either side, and that was their road.
- Location
- Washington
Got to say, I'm a little disappointed y'all used Google to solve the riddle. Would have been really pleased if you figured out the answer yourselves, but not much I can do about that now! >:C
- Location
- Who Knows
I TRIED. And then realized there was a simpler solution. The age of the internet makes it sooo easy ;_;
- Location
- Washington
I understand. The internet is a useful tool, but a RUINER OF PUZZLES.
LucidProp
Pocky Eating MafiaDoka
If english is your second language, all you have to do is translate a riddle from your native language and Google won't be able to help! Take this little diddle for example.
I am naught but skin and bone yet I fly, what am I?
[X] Answer the riddle- You went on a bridge across a river, and the road of the river was below you and birds flew over your head and on either side, and that was their road.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
A question mark is missing, and it took me a bit to guess that you probably meant 'odd'.
Double negative. 'Couldn't have been older', or 'no older'.
Probably 'unkempt', i.e. not combed.
A preposition is missing.
'choices were'
'abandoned'
didn't turn out.
O-ho! Purging the witnesses, I see. But did they blame it all on volcanic gases afterwards?
The Eldritch Healthcare Assosiation does not let us watch TVisions all day without putting in a bit of exercise. They care!
It took me a moment and a quick search to get what that is, because as an IT person I was inclined to think of a differen acronym. Magical union indeed.
[X] Answer the riddle - you were asleep, and made your way through the dream; and you came upon a bridge across the chasm; and there was an abomination coming from below to consume you; and wisps flew over your head; and there were tunnels around you on all sides.
I ain't remembering no river!
Even though Google knows the answer, it is not applicable directly to our experience. WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIIIIIE!!!
unless we tweak it a bitSee, that's why you make sure your riddles are not googlable, first. A lot of the more obscure ones only exist in print.
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- Location
- Maine
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Theirs
I was like "I've heard this one before..."
I actually used my physical copy. Because I spent a couple years obsessed with the Norse. Mythology, food, technology. Those boats were awesome for the time.
I blame growing up in Northern Iowa.
I actually used my physical copy. Because I spent a couple years obsessed with the Norse. Mythology, food, technology. Those boats were awesome for the time.
I blame growing up in Northern Iowa.
- Location
- Washington
You know what's sad? I actually knew about those and somehow thought I got them before I posted. [Distressed Whining Noises]
Well someone had a print copy! (see @FourmyleOfCeres )See, that's why you make sure your riddles are not googlable, first. A lot of the more obscure ones only exist in print.
Okay, so you get a pass for having the actual source material.
- Location
- Germany
I don't know. I don't think Medea would actually know the answer to that riddle. Nevill's answer is at least a bit more in character.
[X] Answer the riddle - you were asleep, and made your way through the dream; and you came upon a bridge across the chasm; and there was an abomination coming from below to consume you; and wisps flew over your head; and there were tunnels around you on all sides.
Also, while King Heidrek managed to answer all of Odin's riddles in the saga, it didn't help him one bit because Odin is a dirty cheater, so I'm not entirely sure whether solving the riddle will help us.
[X] Answer the riddle - you were asleep, and made your way through the dream; and you came upon a bridge across the chasm; and there was an abomination coming from below to consume you; and wisps flew over your head; and there were tunnels around you on all sides.
Also, while King Heidrek managed to answer all of Odin's riddles in the saga, it didn't help him one bit because Odin is a dirty cheater, so I'm not entirely sure whether solving the riddle will help us.
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Chapter 21: The Tower
- Location
- Washington
You needed to get into this tower, and the only way that you could see was to answer this riddle. Ugh, guess you'll have to puzzle out the answer to this then. So you began thinking about the riddle, dissecting each part of it, trying to understand it. You decided to overlook the parts about home and instead focus on the roads. What could the "road of roads" be? Or the roads under and over them?
"Let's see..." You thought. "A road under and a road above... Could be an underground tunnel and a bridge over the road you're on.. No, no, wait. Maybe the road is the bridge and there's another road under the bridge, but then what is above that bridge? Another bridge? Or maybe it is about my journey here?"
You felt frustrated as you paced back and forth in front of the door, trying to wrack your brain on the answer to this riddle. You slowly pieced the answer together in your head, but you didn't feel confident. This was a pretty hard riddle... But after a few minutes you stood before the door, ready to give your answer.
"Umm... You went on a bridge," You began, lacking any sort of confidence in your voice. "and below that bridge was a river and that was the road below you, and, uh, birds flew over your head and, um, to your sides. That was their road. The open air. I think."
You stare at that door expectantly, your body tense and sweating as you wait for any sort of confirmation to your reply. Slowly the door swung open, the ancient hinges groaning loudly as it did. You breathe a sigh of relief as your body begins to relax. With this riddle solved, you move to enter the tower.
In the tower's interior were wisps, which floated lazily around and illuminated the interior, the walls were the same bright white the exterior was with various runes and carvings etched onto every inch, the floors were covered in what appeared to be the shattered remains of an untold number of statutes, save for three that stood in the middle of the room in front of what appears to be some sort of elevator. But outside of those the tower seemed to be completely hollow, with a chain reaching down from the very top to the elevator.
You were curious as to where the artifact was supposed to be, but your thoughts were cut off by the sounds of loud metallic groaning. Turning around you catch sight of the door closing. In a panic you rushed the door but were too late to stop it from shutting completely, the sound of its slamming resonating off the walls.
"Hey, open up!" You yell as you pound on the metal door. "I don't want to be locked in here!"
You pounded on the door for a moment or two, but once it became apparent that the door wasn't going to budge you stepped away.
"Guess there is only one way to go..." You sighed, turning back around.
You start to move towards the elevator, approaching the three intact statutes. The three statues appeared as robed men, each carrying a large sword, and were indistinguishable except for a single word chiseled into their foreheads. One read Einz, one read Zwei, and the final one read Drei. As you moved to touch the nearest statue, you felt the air vibrate around you and you hear:
"Only one will assist you in reaching the top. The others will slay you.
The assistant will always speak the truth.
The slayers will only speak lies."
The assistant will always speak the truth.
The slayers will only speak lies."
With that, as if on cue, the three statues shuddered to life, acquiring color and form as they began to breathe.
"They're alive?!" You exclaimed in surprise.
The three living statutes bowed low before you.
"Greetings, traveler!" said Einz. "I implore you to choose me! I will assist you in reaching what you seek!"
"Stop lying!" snapped Zwei. He turned to you and threw his hands in the air. "Einz will kill you, you know. You can only reach the top with my help!"
"What nonsense this is," snorted Drei. "Zwei will slay you where you stand! All know I'm the only one around here that is willing to help travelers such as yourself."
Their respective pleas given, the three statues returned to their frozen state as silence once again enveloped the tower interior.
"So I have to pick one to move on, huh?" You thought aloud before sighing. "Stupid magic security systems..."
You furrow your eyebrows and consider your answer.
"One will help me and the other two will kill me." You thought as you scan around the room. "The one that will help me tells the truth and the other two are lying. But which is which?"
You eyes eventually settle on the elevator chain that reaches up towards the tower ceiling. Alternatively you could try to climb up and avoid this altogether, but that begs the question whether or not whoever made this damn security system thought of that particular scenario or if they just assumed everyone who comes here would act on the honor system and play by the rules.
Then again, here you are thinking of logic in a dream...
[ ] "Einz Is the one that will help me reach the top."
[ ] "Zwei is the one that will help me reach the top."
[ ] "Drei is the one that will help me reach the top."
[ ] "I don't know..."
[ ] Attempt to shimmy up the elevator chain to reach the top.
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- Location
- Voidbetweenstars
It's Einz.
The other two talk about how people who know this and that even though we couldn't possibly know.
Higure
Witch of Faith
- Location
- The Golden Land
Except that, if Einz is telling the truth, then Zwei really will kill us. Which means Drei would also be the telling the truth in the first half of his statement, which is a rules violation.
Although...he could be lying if Zwei would only kill us after we moved. So...yeah, Einz might be the one. Zwei seems to be correct, but technicalities seem to invalidate that...
Although...he could be lying if Zwei would only kill us after we moved. So...yeah, Einz might be the one. Zwei seems to be correct, but technicalities seem to invalidate that...
I'm thinking that if only one tells the truth, then what the honest one says must be consistent with the opposite of what the other two say. So,
Eins: T "I will help you reach what you seek" / F "I will not bring you to what you want"
Zwei: T "Eins will kill you, I can bring you to the top" / F "Eins will not kill you, I cannot help you to the summit"
Drei: T "Zwei will kill you here, I am the only one willing to help" / F "Zwei will not kill you here, I am not willing to help you"
Zwei telling the truth is the only one that seems to work to me, so I'll go with
[X] "Zwei is the one that will help me reach the top."
Eins: T "I will help you reach what you seek" / F "I will not bring you to what you want"
Zwei: T "Eins will kill you, I can bring you to the top" / F "Eins will not kill you, I cannot help you to the summit"
Drei: T "Zwei will kill you here, I am the only one willing to help" / F "Zwei will not kill you here, I am not willing to help you"
Zwei telling the truth is the only one that seems to work to me, so I'll go with
[X] "Zwei is the one that will help me reach the top."
- Location
- Voidbetweenstars
?
This statement is false.
This statement is false.
They are both false because we are around here and we don't know that Einz will kill us.
Higure
Witch of Faith
- Location
- The Golden Land
If taken literally, yes, but it's not clear if idioms and such are considered "lies" or just quirks of speech used to convey "the truth."
As for why I'm not comfortable assuming Einz immediately (besides that seeming too easy):
If Einz is telling the truth, then Drei MUST be a liar. Yet, if Einz is telling the truth, Zwei must also intend to slay us. Now, it's possible Zwei will only kill us when we're not standing/standing somewhere else, but Drei probably has no way to be certain of this, which means he's either lying when he calls Zwei a killer (Zwei will not kill us, which means Einz will) or making the statement without actually knowing whether it's true or not...and I don't know if that's enough to qualify as a "lie" or not.
That's the other issue: Ignorance. It's possible they don't all know everything, meaning the "Truthteller" could be saying false things without knowing..."lie" implies knowing deceit, not error.
Right now, I do favor Einz, yes, but I think we need to consider things further.
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- Location
- Washington
I am very happy I'm getting a discussion out of this. Makes up for the riddle puzzle's lack of one. :3
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