Sofia 2023/09/27(Wed)23:57 No. 1073434 ID: 0ba437
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You awaken some time later to an enormous clap of thunder that shakes the whole inn. Or, is it an earthquake? You're not sure. It's still dark out, but the rain has stopped. Maybe you woke up early? Or is it just this dark in the dense forest?
Something feels very very off...

>>1073434
Is your clothing ready? Get dressed and check if anyone else is awake. Use a blanket if you have to.

Run.

>>1073428
The Goddess lives on inside all of us.

>>1073434
Prepare for a fight, and step outside.

>>1073434
BELIEVE IN THE YOU THAT BELIEVES IN YOURSELF! POINT TO THE HEAVENS AND SAY "I CAN DO IT!"
then get dressed and see what's happening, that felt too earthy to be just a thunderclap.

God isn't real, you can blearily peek out your window and curse the sky for being too loud this late at night and nobody can smite you for it!

An adorable maniac has decided to unleash the beast!

Hope you're good at weeding.

>>1073433
god why'd you have to make him so HOT!

Sofia 2023/10/05(Thu)16:38 No. 1074026 ID: 0ba437
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You peer out the window, but can't seem to see anything for the darkness. There seems to be a lot of thorny vines covering the window. You definitely don't remember seeing that before.

Sofia 2023/10/05(Thu)16:38 No. 1074027 ID: 0ba437
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You crack the door open and see your clothing folded neatly in front of it, nice and dry. You quickly get dressed and pocket all your items.

Sofia 2023/10/05(Thu)16:38 No. 1074028 ID: 0ba437
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You cautiously descend the stairs and step out into the main room of the inn. The travelers you saw earlier are no longer present, and the innkeeper-

"Miss Sam!" you hear a hiss from behind the counter, and spy the innkeeper hiding behind the counter, "Don't go out there!"

Sofia 2023/10/05(Thu)16:38 No. 1074029 ID: 0ba437
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You dart behind the counter. The lady is shaking badly, a large kitchen knife clutched tightly in her hands. "What's going on? Was that thunder just now?"
"I don't know!" she squeaks, "The others went out to investigate, and -and... something took them! It just grabbed them and dragged them away and - and -and," she chokes back a sob, "This is too much for me!! I can handle regular monsters, but now the damn forest is attacking?? How the hell do you fight a forest??"

>How the hell do you fight a forest?
Arson? :V

Worst case you could loot the inn for potential anti-thorn stuff gear, and wait til morning (or when you NEED to/are forced to leave) and see if things become easier?

Unless it's still getting worse, whatever it is...

>>1074029
HM. Yeah. This is bad.
Uhhh... you got any teleportation spells or magic that can let you see what's going on outside?

You don't, you adapt to it. Flourish in it. Become an invasive species in it and crowd out the native plant life.

>>1074029
Arson is a viable alternative to strategy.
Either that or get a plant cleaving weapon like a machete or cleaver

>>1074029
You burn it.

>>1074029
Construct a makeshift weed-wacker or find another cutting implement to take care of the plants, you know how to do that right? As much as Arson (fire) is a viable idea, it could set the Inn ablaze as well, and presumably we don't want that to happen to these nice folks.

Herbicide?

>>1074029
With fire.

>>1074029
Axes, fire, poison, stripmining

>Herbicide?

Herbicide.

You find whatever is wrong with the forest and you fix it. Hard to do when it's surrounded by thorny brambles. If you could get a sample of those thorny vines you might be able to figure out what they are.

Unfortunately you're not a botanist, and they'll just drag you away soon as you try. Their roots might be less threatening, if this place has a cellar? Plants make thorns to defend against things above the ground, not under it so much.

What you need is a giant trained and very hungry gopher...

HERBICIIIIIDE! KILL PLANTS! UPROOT PLANTS! SPRAY PLANTS WITH CHEMICALS! MALNOURISH PLANTS! PUT PLANTS IN POTS TOO SMALL FOR THEIR ROOTS! CHOP PLANTS! FORGET TO WATER PLANTS FOR ALMOST A MONTH AND THEN WHEN YOU REALIZE YOU HADN'T WATERED IT IN WEEKS DUMP IT IN THE TRASH!

Sofia 2023/10/19(Thu)18:47 No. 1075091 ID: 0ba437
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You recall the stories He told you about Froasting. None of them included thorny vines, but He made sure to impress upon you the importance of Fire when facing anything in the trees. "Um... well, fire comes to mind. Plants usually don't like being burned."
She stares at you as you unravel a spool of thread from your kit and wrap several lines of it carefully around your fingers. "How are you going to fight an entire forest with a tiny fire?"

Sofia 2023/10/19(Thu)18:47 No. 1075092 ID: 0ba437
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"Well, hopefully I don't have to do any fighting," you say as you work. You lace your fingers through the loops you've created on your other hand, and with a sharp pull you snap several of them. Instantly your hand ignites in flame, crackling brightly in the dark inn. "Lots of creatures are afraid of fire, so hopefully I won't actually need to burn anything."
The lady yelps as you set your hand on fire. You're unharmed as the fires dance around it, but you can still feel a great deal of heat radiating off of your fist.

Sofia 2023/10/19(Thu)18:47 No. 1075093 ID: 0ba437
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"I'm gonna go out there and find them," you say as you rise, "you're welcome to come along if you want, or just stay here and hide."
She grabs your arm to stop you as you leave. "W-wait, please don't leave me here alone!" she squeaks.
You try to give her a comforting smile. "Alright, alright. What's your name?"
"I'm Chester," the lady says shakily, her kitchen knife shaking in her hand.
"Alright Chester, just stay close and we'll be fine." She squeezes your arm so hard it hurts.

Sofia 2023/10/19(Thu)18:47 No. 1075094 ID: 0ba437
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You cross the room and press ear against the door, listening for anything on the other side of it. Not even the wind can be heard.
You carefully open the door and peek outside. "Oh."
The entire doorway is blocked with a thick wall of those thorny vines.

Sofia 2023/10/19(Thu)18:47 No. 1075095 ID: 0ba437
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You raise your burning hand and press it against the plant flesh. A bright wave of fire ripples across the thick vines from your touch, and they shudder and hiss, unraveling and pulling away from the door.

A path begins to form through the vines as they pull and shift away from the fire.

>>1075095
NOW WE'RE COOKING! Remember the basics of CQC and PUNCH! THOSE! PLANTS!

> Flirt

progres with care! the vines had to get there somehow, after all

>>1075095
Careful now. Don't let them cut off the path behind you. If they don't regrow at all then focus on making paths to the other buildings. You're probably going to want to see if anyone can help you in this task.

> how are you going to fight an entire forest with a tiny fire

That is literally how you fight an entire forest. Tiny fires don't stay tiny.

Sofia 2023/11/29(Wed)21:06 No. 1078305 ID: 0ba437
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You lay your hand on more of the barbed vines as you push out into the darkness. Chester follows close behind.

"You didn't happen to see or hear what direction they were taken?" you ask her as you disintegrate another thick vine with your burning hand.

She shakes her head, nervously eyeing the creeping and writhing tendrils around the two of you. "Just, farther from the inn. I hope they're alright.."

"I'm sure they're fine," you say encouragingly, "folks know better than to wander through the woods unarmed, right? I'm sure they can take care of themselves, at least long enough for us to find them."

You hope that they can, anyway.

Sofia 2023/11/29(Wed)21:06 No. 1078306 ID: 0ba437
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The light from the inn shines brightly through the tunnel you've burned. At the moment it doesn't seem like they're keen on growing back behind you, so you press on. You decide to strike up a conversation to keep the mood light.

"So, uh, how long have you been out here for anyway?"
"Oh, a-a few years," she says, "I took over when my grampa passed."

"Family business, that's cool. Giant thorny vines aside, how's it going for you?"

She chuckles. "It's fine I suppose. It's a lot quieter than I'm used to out here. But the guests keep it exciting."

"You work all by yourself?"

"Mostly, yeah. Sometimes I'll hire some help when I can get it, but it's usually temporary. A lot of people are grateful for the inn, but most folks aren't willing to live out here in the woods," her expression sours a little, "I know I wouldn't have chosen this as my new home. Still, I'm happy I'm able to provide travelers a place of safety."

You continue on, pushing vines aside, burning them where you can, all the while keeping a firm grip on Chester's hand. Or maybe she's the one holding you tight.

Sofia 2023/11/29(Wed)21:06 No. 1078307 ID: 0ba437
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"What about you, miss Sam? You said you were doing some spiritual reflection?"

"I uh.. Yeah. I got a bit lost, but I think I've found my way again. Nothing like a long walk in the woods to clear your head, ya know?"

"Or a long walk up a mountain," she says with a soft laugh, "Well I'm glad you found some kind of comfort out here. In spite of the-" she waves her hand at the vines, "-all of this right now."

"It's not all bad," you say slyly, "I could be fighting these things all by myself. It's a lot less scary with you here."

Chester blushes. "O-oh. Wh-well.. I'm really glad you're here too."

Sofia 2023/11/29(Wed)21:06 No. 1078308 ID: 0ba437
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Your foot splashes in a puddle suddenly, snapping your attention back to the world around you. The fluid is a bit thicker than water, and dark, barely reflecting the blazing fire in your hand. In fact now that you notice it there's a lot of it all around you, oozing out of the vines and pooling on the forest floor.

"Ugh, gross, wh-what is this stuff?" Chester asks, trying to shake it off her feet. It seems reluctant to let go.

"It's void matter," you say as you examine it, "Why would it be leaking out of the vines tho? Wild void doesn't saturate plants..."

"H-how do you know that? Have you dealt with this sort of thing before?"

"I've heard a lot of stories about the wild void, but I've never heard or seen anything like this." You reach out to burn more vines. The flames eat away at the dry parts of the plant flesh, but seem to sputter and fizzle over the void matter. You're able to burn enough to squeeze through a bit further, but the dark liquid seems to quickly coat the singed parts of the vine and stop it from creeping further up the length of the plant.

Sofia 2023/11/29(Wed)21:06 No. 1078309 ID: 0ba437
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You look back and can see the space you cleared beginning to lace back together, slowly covering your path. If you turned back now you might be able to make it back safely. You've made it this far now tho, and if you don't keep pressing forward the travelers will certainly be lost for good.

A) Keep Going
B) Turn Back

How long can we keep that fire burning? It's thread magic so does it come off our clothes?

Should we feel confident about the spells length, I say press on.

Regardless, if we do go back, we're back at square 1.

(P.s. Ask Chester to donate her clothes to the keep fire hand burning fund. P.p.s. Flirt)

They're regrowing AND adapting? That's bad news. Unless you're very close to another building, turn back.

A. The only way forward is through.

Well, you started this for a reason, and going back would not make you not stuck in the middle of the void bramble, continue
Wild void does not saturate plants yet here it is, probably safe to assume there is a reason

You live in a world where the truth is known; the things in the void are just seeds waiting to be people.
There's much to fear, but not from them. (A).

A, obviously. Going back just means being stuck in the inn until the weight of vines crushes it. This is the only way forward.

((The next update will be in a new thread, since this one has started to take a while to load. A link will be posted here leading to the new thread when it goes live. Please continue to leave suggestions here until then!))

Keep going. You've come so far. You have people to save.

A)Keep Going
I'm excited for the clean new thread!

Sofia 2023/12/08(Fri)15:01 No. 1078969 ID: 0ba437
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NEW THREAD NEW THREAD NEW THREAD
https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/1078964.html
https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/1078964.html
https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/1078964.html