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Post by Lepking13 on Jun 19, 2016 18:55:05 GMT -6
Another gust of wind blew past them, a number of sconces flickering before going out. The darkness grew quickly, like a solid wall at the very edge of the lights remaining. The rose called again, the only thing moving as it swayed in a breeze they could not feel. Go on, to the heart of The Barren. Before he finds you, and takes you. There you will find your voices, and with them perhaps some of who you were.
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Post by Paladin on Jun 19, 2016 18:56:25 GMT -6
The young man listened, following the instructions and moving forward. His throat still felt scratchy, but now the feeling started to die down.
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Post by xinrick on Jun 19, 2016 19:39:50 GMT -6
The man started to move along, already knowing the fear inducing darkness just by looking at it for a bit.
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Post by Lepking13 on Jun 19, 2016 20:06:04 GMT -6
The rose wilted as the two walked past, the petals falling to the ground as it was quickly devoured by the darkness that followed close behind them. As they walked, the green grew progressively more prominent. Before long they noticed large trees, growing upwards into the darkness above draped with vines that hung all the way to the ground. The barren stone they walked upon turned first into gravel, and then dirt as they neared the jungle. The darkness followed behind the two, always a few sconces of light away before it consumed the fires. The darkness stopped a few hundred yards away from the jungle, as did the sconces despite the appearance the jungle was lit. Speak, of what you seek in The Heart. And why you bring the darkness on your heels.
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Post by xinrick on Jun 19, 2016 20:13:17 GMT -6
The man takes a breath. "We're looking for answers." He says, hoping it was heard by whoever is suddenly here.
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Post by Paladin on Jun 19, 2016 20:20:49 GMT -6
The young man spoke in a raspy voice, saying, "I must find who I am; what darkness we bring, I don't know of." He coughed several times during his answer, grabbing at his throat and rubbing it.
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Post by Lepking13 on Jun 19, 2016 20:24:57 GMT -6
The world was quiet, not even a rustle of leaves from the immense jungle. There are many answers, some to questions you don't wish to ask. Maybe the questions you carry do not have answers here. Enter my respite, but leave the darkness behind. I do not show mercy to those that would taint my garden.A light flashed, blinding them for a few seconds. Once they regained their vision they saw a path extending from where they were into the jungle. Seek as you wish the answers you want. All comes from, and returns to my garden. But I cannot promise they are what you wish.
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Post by xinrick on Jun 19, 2016 20:44:09 GMT -6
The man nods, starting to take steps towards the path and hoping to leave the darkness away.
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Post by Paladin on Jun 19, 2016 20:46:11 GMT -6
"My throat scratches when I talk, life fire scorched it..." He coughed out, walking through the garden. "But all I remember is a sword and my blood coming from it. This scar is all I have left for proof... how come this is the case?" He coughed for a minute, his eyes tearing up.
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Post by Lepking13 on Jun 19, 2016 21:04:26 GMT -6
A memory surfaced to the man, his wife being dragged away from him. Screaming at him, at the people taking them. A boot blocked his vision, before the memory shifted. He was looking down at a group of people, each one wearing a blank white mask and holding a torch. One had their back to the man, the view twisting to his right to see his wife up there strapped like he was to a pyre. "The gods have come to me, spoken to me in a dream. They have cursed us, our children, our farms because of these outsiders. These betrayers have brought darkness into our community, with their words of 'change' and 'science'. They have wrought a curse from above, for those that listened to them. We have purged the heretics, and now we will burn the source of the corruption. Praise be to the Light!" The crowd echoed back "Praise be to the Light!" before throwing their torches onto the pyres. The fires started small, mostly smoke before truly catching and roaring to life. The crowd stared onwards, unflinching as they watched the two burn alive. Not all memories are yours. Some simply exist in The Barren, seeking someone to latch on to. To believe in them, to become true. In order to leave. Or maybe they are your memories, and the one you just re-lived is another thought stuck here.The path twisted and turned, the only sound in the jungle the rustling of the leaves as the two walked on. No birds or wildlife called, as the path wound on and on through the trees and plants.
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Post by xinrick on Jun 19, 2016 21:26:27 GMT -6
He was looking around, but finally noticing that he was limping. "Huh? Why am I limping?" He frowns, wondering why his leg doesn't feel entirely right now and knowing he didn't hurt his leg too much from walking through that cave.
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Post by Paladin on Jun 20, 2016 11:55:17 GMT -6
"The scar across my throat, then..." The young man said, rubbing his head. "Is this merely an illusion as well?"
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Post by Lepking13 on Jun 30, 2016 19:54:25 GMT -6
His mind moved, his vision blurred before it was replaced by a cage. The sounds of chains filled his ears, before he felt a hand grab his head and turn him around. "This one. Break his leg, and bring him to my tent. Young succulence." A voice spoke, throwing him against the side of his cage. He didn't have much time to do anything or even recover, as the door opened and two men entered. Both had malicious smiles on their faces, one of them grabbing him as the other raised a large hammer. The hammer was brought down swiftly, a sickening crack as pain become everything. The second man covered his mouth, muffling the scream before unconsciousness took him. Dozens of ifs and was-es. As you see and believe more, you will quickly find it impossible to leave. To be so broken that you cannot take a further step.There is no such thing as illusion here. Everything is true, and false. It is The Barren, what the mind and soul make of it. How you interpret and see it. That is only you.The trees thinned out ahead of them, the sounds of instruments playing from within the grove.
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Post by Paladin on Jun 30, 2016 20:04:05 GMT -6
The young man moved closer to the music, focusing on what was ahead. "Maybe I didn't die immediately..." He muttered to himself. "Maybe cutting my throat was the next best solution...?"
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Post by xinrick on Jul 2, 2016 7:42:44 GMT -6
The man took a second after seeing the memory and taking a shaky breath at remembering such a thing. "That's...horrid." He says while continuing down the path, his limp being noticeable for him after seeing his leg was broken.
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Post by Lepking13 on Jul 2, 2016 18:35:15 GMT -6
Maybe. Maybe not. There's no guarantee that was how you died, or any other that you will remember. This is The Barren. All is true and false.The trees thinned and opened into a grove, a woman dressed in a flowing green gown dancing in the center of a circle of sprites. The sounds of the music seemed to be coming from the sprites, as there was nothing else in the clearing. The woman continued to dance, as the sprites moved over to the two men. They circled the two, pushing them towards the woman. "It is odd to see Travelers here in my grove. They rarely leave the Stone Desert, by choice or not. So tell me what brings you." The woman's voice was lilting, speaking of better times and happy memories, but she continued to dance as the sprites sang in their instrumental voices.
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Post by Paladin on Jul 2, 2016 18:41:21 GMT -6
"What could I possibly know?" The young man chuckled a bit. "Everything is true and false, is controlled by some entity, and my memories are gone. I am uncertain as to what brings me here, but my first instinct is that it was the music."
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Post by xinrick on Jul 2, 2016 21:24:19 GMT -6
"I..." He says before thinking for a moment. "I don't know, there's probably too many reasons but I heard the music and followed."
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Post by Lepking13 on Jul 2, 2016 23:57:03 GMT -6
"Controlled? No." The woman said, her dance slowing down as the music changed to a slower melody. "The Barren simply is. What that is, even I don't have the answer. I am here just as you are, but I have settled down. The last time it spoke, it called me The Muse. And it gave me these trees, the sprites and their wondrous voices, and only asked that I dance for it. And so I dance." She said. The answers you seek are beyond the Grove. Although if those answers are to the questions you ask, you will have to see for yourself.
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Post by Paladin on Jul 3, 2016 9:41:33 GMT -6
The young man started walking beyond the grove, looking back once to say, "Thank you" to the Muse. He wanted to search for his identity, he wanted to know who he was, or what he'll be.
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Post by xinrick on Jul 3, 2016 13:46:09 GMT -6
The man continues forward even with his limp. "Thank you." He says kindly, nodding to the Muse in a kind gesture before he continued with the young man.
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Post by Lepking13 on Jul 6, 2016 21:50:25 GMT -6
"How far do you think you will walk? How far will you go, for answers that may not even be real?" The Muse asked. "Stay, live here in my Garden. You need not worry of The Darkness that exists Without Light. Out there, beyond these trees, it sits. As unliving as The Barren, but Hungry all the same." Yes. Choose to stay, and The Barren will leave you be here. In turn it may even grant you a Garden of your own. Or march onward, to answers you may not want for questions you didn't ask.
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Post by xinrick on Jul 6, 2016 22:01:56 GMT -6
The man sighed out. "The unknown is scary and treacherous..." He thinks to himself. "I will keep moving forward." He says while continuing to march onward.
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Post by Paladin on Jul 9, 2016 15:39:30 GMT -6
The young man turned around, staring towards the woman. "So, you're saying that we should stay here, away from fear? That's what it seems like. You stay here to keep away from The Barren, since it, supposedly, cannot reach you here in this garden that it gave you; don't you see how foolish that sounds? If that memory was truth, then I shall search for my life even further. If it wasn't, then I will have learned a new lesson."
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Post by Lepking13 on Jul 28, 2016 1:44:57 GMT -6
"The Barren is what gave me this Garden. I stay here, away from The Darkness." She said, raising her hands upwards towards the light. "You choose your own path, but know that marching onward guarantees you no answers you would like. Nor even answers in the first place." She went back to dancing, the sprites beginning their music again. March on then. Back to The Barren, away from this Garden.
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Post by xinrick on Jul 28, 2016 9:19:37 GMT -6
The man continued forward, feeling like there's a giant blank missing that wasn't revolving himself in any way shape or form.
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