Mokley

Whistlehowl Star {always open!}

The old man spun around immediately at the echo of another voice at the edge of the lantern-light -- and he held up the flame to get a better, squinting look at the big-hatted man and his strange birdlike companion. Instinctively he stepped to the side, shielding the young and timid Laphi from anything this new potential threat could conjure.

"An exit!" he huffed, his long beard waggling. His wild dark eyes gleamed in the light. "The very worst error you could make in these caves is to search for what you want -- because when you find it, you'll never know if it's real." He peered into Edric's eyes, and saw there a telltale gleam. "So you already know."

He looked up, above Edric's head, at a glinting in the distant darkness. Sunny's voice echoed on the walls, but her words were impossible to make out -- if it was her speaking at all.

The air was beginning to thicken with the faint musky smell of woodsmoke and copper. Somewhere, chains clinked. A woman sobbed. A metal door slammed shut with the click of a lock. The griffin screeched.

"I hate you," a faint, child's voice whispered all around.

The darkness thickened, encroached upon the edges of the light, pressed closer and darker as if it intended to swallow them all whole.

"Blast your nightmares," the old man breathed, watching around him carefully. The fears and horrors of those gathered were slowly manifesting, reverberating in the rough stone walls, trembling in the haunting mosaics of civilizations swallowed by dreams.

The cavern, long deprived, was hungry.

"Come, keep moving. The only way out is --" The old man strode forward, resolute on his bony legs, but skidded to a halt as his light revealed the iron gleam of a cage wall. He lifted the lantern, explored to each side -- but in the darkness they had been quietly imprisoned, a cage that had materialized around them while they had discussed the nature of nightmares.

The old man growled. "Which of you is responsible for this?" he demanded, accusing.

The cage walls slowly, silently moved inward -- trapped them, forced them to move closer together, threatened to eventually crush them between the bars. The darkness loomed just behind it, to snuff out their light and to suffocate them in its black nothingness.

"Destroy it, damn you!" the old man hollered, stumbling backward into Edric to avoid the encroaching iron bars.

The Helium Frightful

@Girlie1Bomba Yep yup this is the plan! :D

Mote

@Loki Odinson PM's cool! We'll discuss superspecial secrets. >:3

Mote

@Loki Odinson@Tenma Tendo@TMS Prime@Juicy@Tojin

I've rolled a d20 and it came up ....

12!

Which means @Loki Odinson is up! :D If you're ready, let me know how you'd like to proceed! I can take a lot of control or just play background, your call.

Mote

@TMS Prime If you'd prefer to pass, you may certainly do so! :3

@Tojin Woohoo thanks!

(Also, if anyone wants to post reactions in the meantime, definitely feel free!)

Mote

@Loki Odinson@Tenma Tendo@TMS Prime@Juicy@Tojin

We need a volunteer to go first! Who wants to go first with your adventure, pick a number between 1 and 20! I will roll a d20, the closest person wins!

Mote

In the same quiet moment -- while the dark sea breathed and the distant light flickered -- what follows happened all at once:

Evelio Laughier laughed at the pitiful distress of a puppy trapped in the swirling refuse.

Madame Grouse snapped for her cane to be fetched, so the same pup could therewith be rescued.

Capella Seis toppled, rolling and tumbling, from her perch atop a dune that overlooked the mote.

Demorra rushed across the sand, arms outstretched, in order to prevent Capella's injury.

Griff Sylvestro gave an echoing shout and, with a flash of a blade, struck the face of the mote.

A sudden blue light seared their eyes and engulfed them all. The hollow toll of a bell reverberated in their skulls, as loud and ominous as if they stood in a belltower at the turn of the hour. The shock of light and sound would send the weakest of them to their knees -- and when their hands hit the ground, they would feel thick grass where there had been sand a moment before.

When the bright blindness faded from their eyes, they would find bright daylight sifting down through the soft branches above.

When the ringing faded from their ears, they would hear the cheerful warble and chirp of songbirds all around.

The sand, the water, the distant light, the night ... were all gone.

The birch trees here were pencil-straight, and the ground clear of all but a soft carpet of bright grass -- above, the high canopies shifted the dapples of sunlight. The result was a forest that seemed hollow and empty, full of thin white columns and quiet mysteries.

The reluctant travelers were not alone.

A mote sat in the small clearing in which they found themselves -- but it was not the same mote they had found at the seaside. This was perfectly round, made of a dark reddish stone that towered a few feet higher than the tallest of the travelers. It was etched with carvings that were very different from those of the first mote, but somehow the strokes resembled a similar style. These were dim, but a faint red light glowed deep within.

As they watched, the grass directly surrounding this mote began to grow and change color -- violet grasses thickened, jointed, curled and waved their new fronds in an unsettling manner ... as if they were fingers seeking something to grasp.

The Helium Frightful

Ok! Sound off if you're planning a post! xD

The Helium Frightful

@Eventua Sure, Dozing seems like the kinda place that'd be crawling with Bobblings. xD

The Helium Frightful

@Eventua Haha all of it is brilliant! As is Krita's commentary. <3

'Waddling Thing' is of course its official name and we must bring it onboard.

It's occurred to me that I have no idea how we're going to prevent Stone from eating your community.