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Nyctohylophobia (Perma-death Quest)

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Nevill said:
In fact, if we go by the update...

Suddenly I feel an urge to go hiking, away from pretty bears. :o
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Thank you for pointing that out for me. I try to catch any spelling errors or grammar mistakes before I post, but some clearly still fly right past me. Justifying my own self-loathing. So if in the future anyone finds these mistakes, please point them out to me. :3

edit: I caught several in this post. Goddamn it.

With that said, bishie bears are the most deadly of bears.
 
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Chapter 4: A Walk Through the Woods
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    • [X] Hike with Sierra
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    "Sierra, wait up!" You call as you jog over to her.

    "You're coming along?" She says as she looks over her shoulder at you.

    "A hike sounded nice." You say as you take your place at her side as the two of you walked into the woods. "Besides, someone's got to keep you out of trouble."

    "Please," Sierra rolled her eyes as she pushed a stray tree branch out of her way. "If anything I'll be keeping you out of trouble."

    "When have you ever bailed me out of trouble?" You remarked sarcastically.

    "Remember the Party Incident?"

    "In my defense it was Lucas' fault. Mostly." You muttered out, your body having gone stiff at the those set of words.

    "Uh-huh. Sure." Sierra said as she gave you a look that told you she wasn't buying it. "And Danielle's boyfriend just happen to-"

    "Oh hey, look a path! Let's walk along it in silence and talk about this again never!" You sped up your walking pace, taking long strides as you began to whistle innocently.

    Sierra merely laughed at your reluctance to talk about the incident, quickening her own pace to keep up with you. The two of you walked through the woods in relative quiet, just enjoying the nature surrounding you. The rustling of tree leaves in the breeze, the chirping of birds, the crisp fresh air that filled your lungs. It was all just so relaxing. One look to Sierra and you could tell she felt the same way.

    "It's really beautiful out here," She says, stretching her arms above her head. Faintly you can her the popping of bones from her shoulders and back.

    "Yeah, Eli really picked a nice place to camp," You nod in agreement. "Though apparently there is some scary history to this forest according to Eli."

    "Can't imagine how," Sierra said as she traced the tips of her fingers against the bark of a tree she walked by. "It's so peaceful out here."

    "Well, I guess that makes it all the more scary if you think about it." You shrug as the two of you pushed through the brush.

    The moment you passed through the undergrowth you and Sierra found yourselves in a small clearing. It couldn't have been more than twenty feet in diameter, with trees and bushes completely encircling it. Covering every inch of the clearing was a mass of flowers, white flowers made up the majority but with red dotted through, looking like tiny red islands in a sea of white. Sierra walked into the middle of the clearing and sat herself down the ground. She looked to you expectantly and patted at the ground next to her. Taking the invitation you walked into the middle of the clearing yourself, taking a seat on the sea of flowers with her.

    "Shame the others didn't follow after us," Sierra says, taking a deep breath and exhaling it out.

    "I'm sure they're keeping themselves busy without us." You say as you fall backwards, landing your back to the ground with a thud.

    You stared up at the sky that revealed itself from the large opening the surrounding trees made, watching clouds lazily drift across the sapphire sky. Soon enough Sierra would join you, laying down herself and watching the clouds.

    "I'm sure Danielle is keeping the boys busy while we're away," She says with a laugh.

    "Oh come on," You say as you give her a scolding look. "You know she isn't like that."

    "Hmm, true. But sometimes... Well, sometimes she makes me wonder." She shrugs.

    You shrug as well, focusing her gaze back the sky. Honestly, watching the clouds drift by was pretty relaxing, all things considered. You remember that you would get vertigo from looking up at the sky when you were a kid; like at any moment you would drift off the ground and fall into the sky. Not so much any more. Still, it was nice just laying here with Sierra, in silence as the two of you looked upward. ...Come to think of it, you don't think you've heard a single bird since the moment you entered the-

    "Hey, Medea."

    "Yes?" You turned your head to Sierra.

    "Can I ask you something?" She looks a little... apprehensive. Like she is unsure of herself.

    "Of course! You can always talk to me." You give her a smile to help reassure her, which seems to work as she gives you a small smile in return.

    "Well I just-"

    The sudden sound of a rustling bush at the edge of the clearing to the left of you stopped her mid sentence. The suddenness of it caused the two of you to bolt upright, facing in the direction of the sound. The bush rustled again, this time louder. You and Sierra stood up, keeping your eyes on the undergrowth, ready to book it at the first sign of trouble.

    Slowly a figure emerged from the treeline like a specter, coming into view. What stood on the edge of the clearing was a hunched over old man, dress in a closed olive drab military jacket and camo pants, with a metal walking stick in his right hand. Slowly you relaxed, but as he slowly made his way over to you, you couldn't help but feel unease. As the old man got closer you could make out more details about his appearance: he was a dark, goatish-looking man, with a firm and hooked shaped nose, yellowish skin, unkempt scraggly white hair with a matching beard, and oddly elongated and point ears. His eyes you couldn't see as they were hidden by a pair of sunglasses.

    "Medea," Sierra said, her tone low to the point of being a whisper, placing her hand on your shoulder. "I don't like this."

    You had to agree. As the old man got closer your sense of unease was quickly turning into panic, something deep and primordial was screaming at you to run and get as much distance between you and this man as possible. And you weren't sure why.

    After a bit, the old man was only a few feet away from you before he stopped, staring at you and Sierra.

    "What do you think you are doing here?" He said, his voice deep, gravelly, and lacking any sort of emotion. "A death rattle," was how your mind described the old man's voice. The sheer lack of emotion was what really unsettled you, because it wasn't a normal human lack of emotion like disinterest; it was more mechanical. Like a person was there originally but had been stripped away and what stood before them was nothing but a blank canvas. "What do you think you are doing here?" The old man repeated in the exact same away.

    "Who are you?" Sierra said, taking a step forward to put herself between you and him.

    "I'm just an old man who lives in these woods," He says in the same emotionless manner. The old man's body moved upward, straightening, but the movement was too fluid. As if he wasn't exerting any sort of effort or energy, despite the several pounds of bear traps that he wore. Slowly he removed his glasses, revealing his pale amber eyes, which were glassy and, much like his voice, lacking in emotion. "Now, what are you doing here?"

    "We were just taking a walk through the woods." You spoke up. The old man's eyes shot in your direction, causing your body to lock up.

    His eyes slowly drifted up and down your body, taking in your form, not in an "eye fucking" sort of way (though the thought of this old man checking you out caused you to feel a sense of revulsion), but rather in indifferent inspection. The same way one would look at a slab of meat dangling from a hook in a slaughter house.

    "You should leave this place," He said, looking you dead in the eyes. Your heart was pounding so fast and you weren't really sure why. This guy was old, you and Sierra were younger than him by maybe 50 years, so why are you so scared?

    "Where not going anywhere!" Sierra yelled angrily as she took another step forward. "Why should we l-"

    Before she could finish the old man lifted his walking stick and quickly slammed it into the ground a few inches away from Sierra's foot, a previously unseen bear trap violently clamping shut on the metal poll. The suddenness of the act and the bear trap causes Sierra to jump and let out a small scream in surprise.

    "You should leave," He once more repeated, bending over and effortless pried the bear trap open with his bare hands. "It is not safe out here."

    Okay, that was it. You give in to your instincts. You grab Sierra's hand and began tugging her away quickly just as she was about to say something again.

    "Okay, we're going!" You say as run back into the woods from with Sierra being dragged along, passing through the undergrowth and back to your path in the woods. Quickly you looked behind you, and immediately you wish you hadn't. There standing at the edge of the clearing was the old man, stone face as he watched the two of you flee into the woods, bear trap in hand. Slowly the old man sank back into the undergrowth, eyes still on you, as he disappeared.

    You ripped your gaze from the direction of the clearing, forcing yourself to keep running as heart pounded like crazy, adrenaline coursing through you. About ten minutes of running later, you and Sierra leaned against trees, breathing heavily. You looked at her, and she looked at you. Neither of you needed to saw a word. Both of you were freaked out by that old man. Something was seriously off. On the plus side, the moment you exited the clearing the sound of bird songs returned, which now that you stopped running you can focus on and relax to.

    After a bit of catching your breath, the two of you set off back to camp.

    "Don't tell the other about what happened," Sierra says suddenly.

    "What?" You look at her like she was crazy. "Why not?"

    "Something was... wrong back there." She said, her eyes scanning her surroundings. "I don't think anything will happen, but I don't want the others to worry."

    "Sierra..."

    "Medea, please. Don't tell anyone about what happened back there." And that was that. Her tone of voice told you she wasn't going to argue with you over it.

    It took a few more minutes before the two of you arrived at the camp, with the sky beginning to turn color as the sun started to set. From the looks of it, in the time you were gone Eli had managed to set up the camp. A huge tent was set up on the side with everyone's bags sitting outside of it, chairs lined the fire pit, and a fire was going with food being cooked. Eli was sitting down on Danielle's lawn chair, an arm around his girlfriend's waist, pulling her close as they talked to Lucas who was still in his original position at the fire pit, with what looks to be four empty beer bottles around him, with another in his hand.

    Lucas' eyes fluttered to your general direction, after he spotted you he raised his hand and waved to the two of you as you reentered the camp. Danielle and Eli looked to your direction as well, happy to see your return.

    "YOOOOOOOOOOO!" Danielle cheered.

    "Hey, c'mon! Dinner is almost ready!" Eli called as he began waving you over.

    Thoughts of doubt entered your mind again. Maybe you should tell them about the old guy in the woods. You looked to Sierra again, being met with a "You better not tell them" look. You sigh, but you trusted her judgement. If Sierra said not to worry, then don't worry. She hasn't steered you wrong before. You looked back to the main group, Danielle giving the two of you a cheeky grin. You get the feeling she saw the look you and Sierra gave each other and probably interpreted it in the wrong way.


    Time passed, the sun by this point had disappeared from they sky, the darkness of the night had completely blanketed the campsite. Food and booze flowed around the fire pit. Having freshly cooked burgers and a couple beers in you erased your previous unease from the incident in the clearing. The group happily chatted among itself, with Sierra regaling everyone with a story. By this everyone had some booze in their system, especially Lucas. Seriously, Lucas could drink everyone here under the table and you wouldn't know he was drunk. Except that one time at the Party Incident, but no one outside of you, Sierra, Danielle's ex, and your neighbor's parrot (it knew too much) can prove it.

    "Alright!" Eli said, clanging his beer bottle together with an empty he picked off the ground to get everyone's attention. "Everyone, it's dark, we're in a forest, and we're all quite possibly drunk!"

    "Lightweights..." Lucas muttered under his breath. Everyone shot him a look, which he seemed to ignore as he took another swig of his drink.

    "As I was saying," Eli cleared his throat as he put down his drink. "It's dark, we're in a forest, who wants to hear something scary about this place?"

    "Oh! Oh! Me, me, me!" Danielle said excitedly, waving her hand in the air rapidly.

    "Ah! Well I can't disappoint you, now can I?" Eli said with a chuckle before leaning into Danielle and giving her a peck on the lips and then nuzzling their noses together.

    "Guys, please — I'm diabetic." Sierra says in a deadpan manner.

    "Trust me it was a lot worse when they were sober." Lucas replied in a similar sarcastic manner, which was met with Danielle sticking her tongue out at him.

    Eli laughs at Danielle's silliness. "Anyway... This is a story my older brother told me about this place." Eli said, trying to get these back on subject while suppressing a laugh. "Somewhere deep in these woods there's this old creepy house, and back a long time ago it belonged to this guy named Maxwell. He was this Turkish, maybe Italian, immigrant who set up shop deep in the forest. This guy was a recluse who rarely left the forest, and when he did come out something bad always happened."

    "Like?" Danielle chimed in.

    "People would go missing." He said as he placed his beer bottle on the ground. "The story goes that after he shows up during the day, someone goes missing at night without a trace. This went on for a while, by the time people decided to do something more than 20 people had disappeared."

    "So what happened?" You asked.

    "Well, the people of the near by town grouped up and formed a mob, storming into the woods armed with guns and whatever weapons they could get their hands on." Eli leans forward a bit, the light from the fire casting a shifting shadow on his face. "But this Maxwell guy... he was prepared. He had booby-trapped the entire forest up to his house. Bear traps, snare traps, logs rigged to fall on people; it was nuts, it was like he had known this would happen one day. I'm told a few people even died trying to get to his house. When the mob finally did make it to his house and kicked down the door..." He paused for seemingly dramatic effect. "He wasn't there."

    "He wasn't there?" Sierra repeated.

    "Nope," Eli straighten himself. "The searched his entire place and they couldn't find a single clue about where he went off to."

    "What about the people who went missing?" Lucas asked, taking another sip of his drink.

    "Well, they did find them... in a manner of speaking..." Eli shifted in his seat a bit, looking a bit uncomfortable at what he was about to say. "They were found in the basement... or at least what was left of them." He picked up his drink and took a swig of it. "All the bodies of the were horribly mutilated. The corpses were either dismembered, flayed open, or looked like they were eaten. Most of them hardly looked human any more." He looked to everyone gathered around the fire before continuing. "I am told it is believed the guy was some sort of cultist who kidnapped this people for preforming rituals."

    "Did they ever catch him?" Danielle asks.

    "No," He says. "No they did not. Like I said, it was like he just vanished. And after that day the kidnappings stopped. Now there are legends that say the vengeful spirits of those he killed dragged him to Hell, or he either turned himself into a demon and now stalks the woods or summoned one. Of course I doubt those are true."

    "Does the house still exist?" You asked, as you shifted in your seat. For some reason, your thoughts drift back to the old man from the clearing, sending a chill up your spine.

    "Yep! In fact, I know where it is!" He reached behind himself and pulled out a map. "I think we should check it out!"

    "I'm on board!" Danielle says with glee. She was always the sort of person who liked scary things, and no way was she going to pass up a chance on going to a spooky old house.

    "I'm drunk enough to think that's a good idea," Lucas chimed in, downing his beer. "Let's do it."

    They looked to Sierra, who looks each of them in the eyes before shrugging. "Okay. Sure. I'm up for this."

    Now they all look at you, expectantly. Oh boy...

    "Medea, are you in or are you out?"

    [ ] "Sure! Sounds like fun!"

    [ ] "I think I'll stay behind and watch the camp."

    [ ] Convince them to go in the morning. (Write-in response) (4d100) (Warning: Failure results in going)
     
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    • TheLordofAwesome said:
    "I'm sure Danielle is keeping the boys busy while we're away," She says with a laugh.

    "Oh come on," You say as you give her a scolding look. "You know she isn't like that."

    "Hmm, true. But sometimes... Well, sometimes she makes me wonder." She shrugs.
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    Ugh. My horror story sense is telling me Sierra is going to be one of the first to die, perhaps only after one of the couple. I'm leaning for us to stick with Lucas as the night goes on.

    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.
     
    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.
     
    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.

    Makes sense. We need to warn the others about the traps anyway. I would like to tell them about the old guy, too, but after the horror story everyone will just assume that we are making stuff up to scare them.

    Does anyone have an idea why Sierra wants us to keep silent? "I don't want them to worry" doesn't really sound like a sensible reason.
     
    TheLordofAwesome said:
    Before she could finish the old man lifted his walking stick and quickly slammed it into the ground a few inches away from Sierra's foot, a previously unseen bear trap violently clamping shut on the metal poll. The suddenness of the act and the bear trap causes Sierra to jump and let out a small scream in surprise.

    "You should leave," He once more repeated, bending over and effortless pried the bear trap open with his bare hands. "It is not safe out here."
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    What a nice man, so obviously concerned with the safety of these two young girls.

    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.
     
    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.

    Gingganz said:
    Does anyone have an idea why Sierra wants us to keep silent? "I don't want them to worry" doesn't really sound like a sensible reason.
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    The better question is, why, as unnerved as she is, she still wants to go who knows where at night?

    Hm, do we have a blonde in the group? Wouldn't want to go to a spooky place without a monster snack. Lucas, take one for the team, will you?
     
    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.

    Hope Sierra will back us on this. She's already ringing a lot of my 'horror movie victim' alarms, it would suck if she took the chance to tease us and we got peer pressured into going into a bobby trapped forest at night. If this happens I vote we stick to the middle of the group.
     
    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.
     
    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.
     
    [X] Tell them you and Sierra came across a bear trap during your hike; there's probably still some active traps in the woods and we would be better off finding the house in the morning, when we have better chances of spotting them.
     
    Calling the vote, the write in option wins. Having doing a bit of calculations (see below), you guys need to roll these numbers or higher to succeed:

    Eli = 65, Danielle = 65, Sierra = 30, Lucas = 75

    Now you don't have to successfully roll for all four, you just need to succeed in only two of the rolls. So if someone would kindly roll 1d100 for each of them, we can see how well you guys did!

    Default Difficulty

    Eli     = 90, Danielle = 90, Sierra = 90, Lucas = 90

    Difficulty Reduction

    "Hike with Sierra" = -30 Difficulty for Sierra

    Eli = 90, Danielle = 90, Sierra = 60, Lucas = 90

    Good argument for staying = -30 difficulty for All

    Argument backed by another member of the group = -10 difficulty for All

    Eli = 50, Danielle = 50, Sierra = 20, Lucas = 50


    Difficulty Boosters

    You are slightly intoxicated = +5 Difficulty for All

    Eli = 55, Danielle = 55, Sierra = 25, Lucas = 55

    Sierra is slightly intoxicated = +5 Difficulty for Sierra

    Eli and Danielle are moderately intoxicated = +10 Difficulty for Eli and Danielle

    Lucas is heavily intoxicated = +20 Difficulty for Lucas

    Eli = 65, Danielle = 65, Sierra = 30, Lucas = 75
     
    Rolling for Danielle. I hope we fail to persuade her and she runs off all alone...

    Edit: one down, three to go. I never liked her anyway~!
    Nevill threw 1 100-faced dice. Reason: Danielle Total: 5
    5 5
     
    Alright rolling dice for the first time so here's Eli roll

    EDIT: SORRY GUESS WE ARE GOING IN THE WOODS
    Gamefreak1ed threw 1 100-faced dice. Reason: Eli Total: 45
    45 45
     
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    I'm assuming this means Only Sierra and us didn't want to go, and then we were peer-pressured into going by the rest?

    Well, better than only having us and Sierra at the camp.
     
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