Let the Storm Descend Upon You

[TJMike]

"Well, that's not exactly..." Dylan said, before being interrupted by the presence of the newcomer. After he gave his indications to the others -something about a boar -he turned back to Melisandre, his head low in defeat and a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

"Crap." he thought. "Literal. Crap. This is totally not what I was expecting. Ok, it's ok. I'm afraid I might be jinx it for me but, this can't be that bad... right?"

"Where did you said I'm starting?" he asked, more out of acceptance than anything else.

[AquilaTempestas]

@TJMike

Melisandre smiles at you.

"Immediately. Come. I will take you to the janitor room so you can grab your equipment. The locals will love you for this sacrifice."

She heads towards the door and gestures for you to follow her.

She leads you to an olive coloured tool shed and pushes open the door. There's an elderly woman inside in a white dress. Her back is hunched. The woman has one eye. Her right. The other eye appears to have been surgically removed from an accident. She looks at you now with her single eye.

"This is the Crow. She will give you the required tools. I must see to the other members of the community."

Before you can even respond, she abandons you. The old Crow looks at you again. There are patches of dried paint on her clothing. At least you hope it's paint.

"You are not safe here," the woman whispers. "You'll meet your end."

 

@Stubborn Saber @Flowered Panda @onewiththewheels

Whilst Dylan was busy with his newfound role in life, Sebastian looks pleased.

"Knives and hammers you say?" he says turning to Florence. "Do you enjoy bashing skulls in your victims? Is that what you did to that child you murdered? They didn't tell me the details, but I do love a good murder."

While he waits for an answer, he shifts his attention to the other two.

"Not used to guns, eh? You'll pick it up quickly here. Sometimes you just have to bring a gun to a knife fight. Heh. There's always some... danger lurking around that needs to be shot."

Finally, he looks at Ayla.

"And look. She's willing to teach you. Excellent. Come on now."

He exits the building and heads across the camp in the opposite direction of Melisandre and Dylan.

You also notice that Sebastian wears the same ring as Melisandre.

Engage in some conversation. You can ask him about the ring, the danger he speaks of, or chat to each other. In Stubborn's case, he can choose to answer the question truthfully or be evasive about it.

[TJMike]

Dylan did his best not to look upset. He failed. However, he was pulled out of his rage fit when the lady known as Crow spoke.

With a half-smile, he addressed her. "Yeah, I'm quite aware of that, Lady Crow." he said, his sight torn between her good eye and the removed one. "Damn, I'll have a bad time getting used to her."

Finally opting to look towards her good eye, Dylan continued. "I'm curious as to how you have managed to stay alive yourself if it's so dangerous here as you claim it is?"

[onewiththewheels]

Catherine nodded politely. At least this man was friendly. She could at least be friendly back.

And yet, questions burned in her mind.

it wasn’t long before they left her lips.

”Excuse me, sir. What is that ring on your finger, and what is the danger you’re referring to?”

[Stubborn Saber]

'A warden that encourages murder, that's not suspect at all.' Florence thought to himself.

Still, it's not like he went out of his way to hide his crime either. Why start now? 

"I enjoy the process; the chase, the terror in their eyes, inflicting pain, prolonging their torment and the finishing blow. As for the kid..... In the reports I heard he was described as unrecognisable, but he was smiling ear to ear after our little game."

His answer kept honest and brief.

[Hera]

Ayla shuddered as Florence spoke and stepped away from him.. 

She stood near Catherine and tried to ignore what she heard 

[AquilaTempestas]

@TJMike

"I'm not important to them. I'm just the person who organizes the equipment here."

She gestures to the items around her. There's a rack of towels. Another one with various cleaning liquids. There's also a broom and a toilet plunger.

"My blood isn't what they need. No. Mine is tainted. Diseased." She walks towards you and reaches a hand out, her fingers pressing up against your face.

Slap her. Hit her. Recoil. Let her continue touching you. Whatever else you can think of.

@Stubborn Saber @Flowered Panda @onewiththewheels

Sebastian glances down at his ring then grins.

"Ah yes. I found it on the island when I arrived. The natives kept their treasures hidden, but not well enough. They practiced magic, and believed their god had the body of a serpent. The serpent represents sin in some cultures. But not to these natives. In their eyes, the snake was a symbol of rebirth and transformation hence why they valued snakeskin so much. You might even find snakeskin yourself. Consider it a lucky charm. Perhaps you will be reborn. Isn't that why you are here? To be reborn?"

Ayla doesn't seem to want to speak. Sebastian turns to Florence.

He chuckles at the response. "Perhaps you were a hunter in the past life. It;'s the thrill of the hunt. The adrenaline rush. There's something satisfying about watching the life drain from the eyes of your prey." He chuckles again. "I was a trophy hunter before I moved to this island. I used to hunt all sorts of wild beasts. Now I run a prison and am in charge of looking after a different sort of wild beast."

The humour fades from his face and he furrows his brows.

"Danger is all around us. The natives might've lost the battle here, but their magic lives on. The pilot may have told you about this island's history. The Urai-Kahtai and the governor, El Paso Francesco. He might've told you the government had slain them all. Some were burned at stake. Others were drowned in the Lake of Silence. The remaining few were gunned down like wild animals. You can find their skeletal remains in the Catacombs should you ever fancy a visit in your time off. The governor's forces stayed on the island for another week to ensure all the natives had died. But a sickness swept through the island and all the governor's men succumbed to it. Some locals even say you can hear their cries of agony if you listen carefully at night."

Stay silent. Ask more questions. Once the questioning is done, we'll move onto the actual hunt.

[onewiththewheels]

Catherine nodded, thanking the man for his information. She tried not to shudder.

Clearly this island had a darker history and was more dangerous than she had ever imagined.

Regardless, she had to face the danger if she wanted to survive here and get back home.

Or she would become a footnote in the Island’s history.

[TJMike]

"A good way to stay off their radar, I guess." Dylan replied, taking note of the most relevant items in the room, not expecting to turn and finding himself being subject to the 'face-touching-for-no-apparent-reason' treatment. At the touch of the older woman, Dylan recoiled, taking a hold of her arm to keep it from touching. "Whoa, whoa. I don't think we've become that close just yet, Lady Crow." he joked. As he set her hand down, he continued. "In whatever way did you say your blood is tainted exactly?

"What is up with everyone here!" he thought. "It's like there is a requirement of creepiness to belong here, in addition to whatever crimes they committed."

That line of though prompted him to wonder about the other three individuals he arrived with.

[Stubborn Saber]

As they walked and the warden responded to them Florence thought to himself 'You may be in charge for now, but wild beasts have a tendency to bite back, let your guard down for a moment and that comes at a price.' 

"I'll be sure to listen out for those cries of agony, what better way to fall asleep then with the sound torment?" He rhetorically questioned.

[Hera]

Ayla remained silent, absorbing the information 

[AquilaTempestas]

@TJMike

The Crow doesn't seem offended you recoiled from her. It's almost as if she's accustomed to such an action.

"Impure. I'm sick. Dying." She gives you a wry grin. "I've angered the Serpent God. Now I pay for it with my life. Poison runs through my veins. In time I'll go mad. Lose my mind. My ears will bleed. Then my nostrils, eyes and mouth will follow all at once. The natives might be gone, but their magic has tainted this land. To protect the spirits."

She giggles.

"You can't catch it. No. You face judgement. The viper will be brought to you. If it bites you, it's because you've angered the Serpent God."

She shows her wrists to you. There are two sets of bite marks on both arms.

"This will be your fate if you are not careful."

@Flowered Panda @onewiththewheels @Stubborn Saber

Sebastian grins at Florence's words.

He's about to answer when you hear a bloodcurdling scream coming from the woods.

"... I hope you're fit enough to last the distance. Can't have you running out of breath.'

Online die roll. Just so we're not all doing the exact same thing, you'll have a random chance.

LINK > https://www.random.org/dice/?num=1

1/2- You will fall behind Sebastian. If this happens, you'll head into the forest on your own and a different event will happen.

3/4 - You keep up with Sebastian. If this happens, you'll get to encounter the wild beasts and you'll have a chance to save  or doom a life.

5/6 - You fall over before you even head into the forest and sprain your ankle. A wild beast will come to you.

 

[Hera]

3.

Ayla followed after Sebastian, keeping up with the man. 

She followed his lead 

[onewiththewheels]

(Rolled a one)

Catherine noticed Sebastian taking off in a full sprint, Ayla at his heels.

She tried to keep up, but cursed herself as she realized she couldn’t. The two simply became specks  in the distance no matter how hard Catherine tried to keep track of them. Before long, she couldn’t even keep track of where she was going.

The only thing that she knew was that she was going into a forest, to a place where she had no idea what things would happen.

[TJMike]

Dylan looked over the bite marks in the woman's arm. He let out a sigh as he considered his next words.

"Lady, I have done plenty of things in my life. Some of them, or rather, a great deal of them, being quite... unsavory. If this 'Serpent God' decides that I'm guilty, how can I know which one exactly I am being punished for?" He asked. "Or, more importantly, how can I 'un-anger' him?"

He eyed Lady Crow's arms once again. "Really looking forward not ending like her. Bad for business and, well, my personal health." He thought.

[Stubborn Saber]

(..............6, ah shitte.)

Florence tactically waited for the others to set off first, so they'd be the ones taking the shots for him if things got messy. However, as he took his first sprinting step forward he somehow twisted his legs up and fell over. Trying to get back up only resulted in him face planting the floor. He clutched his ankle and winced as it complained at him in pain.

"How the fuck did I even do that? Damn it all!"

[AquilaTempestas]

I was pretty close to abandoning this the other day. Fortunately, it's still here.

Coin flip generator link can be found below.

@TJMike

She just grins at you again. Perhaps the disease has infected her mind as well.

"We've all done unsavoury things from time to time to survive. To get ahead. Survival of the fittest, yes? We kill. We rape. We pillage. We plunder. Yet not all of us are damned. I can't speak for the Serpent God. If you become struck down with an illness you can't explain then you have earned the wrath of the Serpent God. Criminals we might be, but not all of us are born with evil in our hearts."

She passes you a shovel and a bucket then gestures to some pink gloves with long sleeves.

"You'll want to wear those. I'll take you to the toilets." She hobbles out of the building and waits for you to follow her. 

You can ask her another question or just do the walk of the shame and keep silent.

@ElectrifyingRoses

Fortunately, you've managed to keep yourself in top shape over the years and you are able to keep up with Sebastian.

You run towards the source of the noise and find a man hanging upside down from a tree. There's blood seeping through the back of his shirt, and you can see he has an arrow sticking out of his back. Fortunately, it hasn't struck any vital organ.

"What on earth are you doing up there?" Sebastian demands, gazing upwards.

"Just get me down, please!" he pleads. "They'll be back!"

You can save the man by doing various things. Try to shoot the rope down with your gun (will require a die roll) or you can climb up the tree yourself and loosen it. You can't do both as you'll get locked out of the other option. Flip a coin if you choose to shoot the rope down. Heads will succeed. Tails the man remains up there. Climbing the tree will take longer and leaves you more vulnerable to being attacked. Of course, using the gun does alert the enemy, but this will still allow you time to strategically find a position, but the risk is greater.

@onewiththewheels

You lose sight of your companions and find yourself wandering around in the forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of them.

You have no idea where you are going but you find a path. There are a pair of human footprints in the dirt. Perhaps they belong to your companions?

The path leads deeper into the forest. It isn't long until you hear the soft sounds of a child crying.

Follow the source of the crying or ignore it and hope to find your companions.

@Stubborn Saber

A black raven flies past and makes a cawing nose, as if it is laughing at you.

You sit on the ground in pain. To make matters even worse, your nose begins to bleed as a result of the face plant on the ground.

Drawn by the scent of blood, a black canine emerges emerges from the forest. The dog turns to you and snarls. It charges.

You have no choice but to shoot the dog dead. Flip a coin. Heads is a miss. Tails is a hit. If you miss, you'll get bitten. 

 

COIN FLIP GENERATOR

[onewiththewheels]

Catherine glanced around wildly?

where was she? Who else could be here? How could she find her companions?

something, the sound of someone crying pierced her ears.

A child, it sounded like.

Catherine’s eyes widened.

someone could be in trouble! She had to help!

of course, knowing that she was an island full of possibly crazy people, it could also be something more sinister.

but it was also just as likely that the person was in the same situation she was.

and a person like that would need help.

besides, she had a feeling this footsteps couldn’t have just come from her companions.

with that, Catherine wasted no time racing towards the sound.

[TJMike]

Dylan took the gloves and put them on. All this talk about this Serpent God doesn't make much sense. "With all due respect, I think it's less about the will of a cosmic snake and more about the hygienic conditions we have here, but to each their own I guess." he said.

As he got the bucket and seeing his attempts to will himself out of the island were met with little success, Dylan tried to focus on more useful topics. "So, Lady Crow. How many people would you say there is on the island? I'm more interested in the number of guards, you see. I'm quite concerned about my personal safety."

[Hera]

Ayla's eyes tracked a path up the tree and she swung herself up. 

She reached out for the rope and began to loosen it

[Stubborn Saber]

"Bloody birds."

Florence spat as the raven flew over head, picking himself back up on unsteady legs. Then the snarling alerted him to the dogs presence.

"I'm seriously not in the mood for this bull shit."

Wiping the blood from under his nose, he reached for for his gun. Taking aim he fired without a second thought.....

(Got a tails, noice!)

[AquilaTempestas]

Yeah. I almost kinda forgot about this. Blame Christmas.

@onewiththewheels

You decide to follow the child and your path takes you deeper into the forest.

You bypass some fallen logs covered in fungi. There's also a clump of blue mushrooms at the base of many of the trees. The trees are close together allowing very little sunlight to shine through the canopy. You also notice some bones in the area, but you can't tell what they belong to.

Eventually, you come across the child. It's a young girl probably around the age of three. She's sitting at the base of a tree, her back turned to you. Her hair is red and tied up in pigtails. She wears a white dress, but it's turned brown because of the environment she's in. There's also a big tear on the dress right down to the spine.

You decide how to best get the girl's attention. Approach calmly. Demand attention. Throw something near her to draw her attention. Up to you.

@ElectrifyingRoses

You decide to risk making yourself more vulnerable to attack and climb up to free the man.

You free him. He falls but Sebastian manages to catch him. The man cries out in pain as Sebastian lays him down on the ground to yank out the arrow.

Not surprisingly, the man screams again. The scream draws attention. You spot movement in the bushes. And a dart flies out.

Coin flip. Heads = Hit. Tails = Miss.

@TJMike

She hobbles along the ground. 

"About thirty people live within this encampment, but there are others out there. Hostiles."

She then chuckles.

"Oh the guards. We have few guards. But escape is not possible. Numbers might be low but Melisandre and Sebastian always know where to find you. "People have tried to escape before. They were shot and their parts fed to the dogs."

You reach the toilets. Unsurprisingly, it smells. 

"Well, here we are. In you go." She opens the door for you and you're overwhelmed by the stench. She hobbles away chuckling to herself.

There are four cubicles in total. Two on the left, and two on the right. They are all unisex toilets. Three doors are in tact, but the one on the farthest door on the left is cracked and is worth investigating. You notice someone somehow managed to miss the toilet bowl because there's piss all over the floor. Better get mopping before commencing the investigation. 

See this as more of a filler post for now since you're just being a good janitor. Clean up the mess then check out the cracked door toilet.

@Stubborn Saber

It's as if your shot is guided by the Serpent God himself. Your bullet hits its target square between the eyes.

The canine gives a yelp and flops down on the ground. The raven watches you and then drops down by the dog.

It caws for a few moments then flies off into the woods, almost as if the raven expects you to follow it.

You can examine the dog close up, or just walk on by and see where it had come from. Or you can just try and hobble back to base.

[Stubborn Saber]

Throwing the gun on his shoulder Florence walked past the dog, there wasn't anything he could get out of the dead mutt, but he wasn't about to waddle on back to base either.  Maybe he could find something interesting out here.

[Hera]

Ayla flattened herself to the branch to avoid the dart before jumping down, landing with a roll. 

She looked at Sebastian "Did you see something move in the bushes. I did" 

 

(I got tails) 

[onewiththewheels]

Catherine tried not to let her eyes go wide. 
 

Who knew what kind of people lived here? She could not let her guard down!

and yet...

she couldn’t leave someone who needed help! especially if it was a child!

so she approached slowly, calmly calling out.

” hey, are you all right?”