I came into a place void of all light,
which bellows like the sea in tempest,
when it is combated by warring winds.
The setting is, basically, a dark and mysterious forest. There’s a wide path through it. Straying off that path at night is dangerous, as there are various scary-ass monsters in the woods. While normally, characters would be travelling down the path, certain events have found the Horned God's group stationary in a town situated on a river crossing. During the day it is possible to explore, but by nightfall those not in the town will regret it. Characters who go out far enough at night will get fucked up and dumped back on the path into the town by morning...or not.
If explored during the morning, the path will lead through some varied settings — sometimes it leads through marshland or to a cave or through a village or whatever. There will be some variety is the main point. Each character will get a pack with which to carry supplies. They can opt for a large pack with lots of stuff or a smaller lightweight pack. Exploration can yield helpful items for carrying things, as well.
Throughout their journeys (when there are journeys, anyway) they follow (or, perhaps, are followed by) a river. It is too wide and deep to swim and although it looks calm on the surface it has a terrible undercurrent. There is also Something in the water which can be seen at times. Attempting to cross the river will not yield desirable results. This is the river that the characters need to cross in order to return to the world of the living — the ferry to cross it is the place they are traveling to. The place they've reached, in fact! Well, it would be, if there were a ferry.
The ‘boundaries’ of the setting are essentially ‘as far as you can stray from the town during the daytime’ and ‘as much of the path as is currently available.’ However, characters cannot go back — the path behind them is being consumed by a phenomenon referred to as 'the Spill'. This is why they originally had to continue moving forward -- to avoid being consumed as well. But now...for some reason, the Spill seems to have stopped, aside from regular incursions into the town.
The Forest
Below is some setting flavor which is basically the 'default' setting for the forest. It can be changed temporarily by the influence of the shades (see gameplay) and will also change permanently over time. When these changes occur they'll be noted in posts. If there aren't any such changes noted, feel free to assume that the forest is like this:
The town the party is currently in is in ruins and has become wet marshlands. A description of points of interest is here.
The animal life is basically standard Eurasian fare -- everything from birds and squirrels to deer and boar to wolves and bears. All animals, like the characters, are either shades or revenants. Shades will act like normal animals, but like players cannot die. (Their flesh can still be eaten if desired, since individual parts of their body can be rendered "dead" or nonfunctioning, but you know, you'll be butchering a live animal, just saying.) Revenants are corrupted and can be highly dangerous. Eating them is an extremely bad idea.
The stars are standard earth stars. There's one moon, and it's the usual earth moon. If you happen to be able to navigate using stars, you'll note that the road they're following always leads (more or less, with plenty of winding) due West.
It's often possible to find the sort of food in the forest that you'd expect to find -- berries, mushrooms, various wild edible plants. Generally speaking they'll be normal and quite delicious, but they don't sate your hunger in the least.
There are fish in the river around the boathouse. During the day the fish you catch are quite delicious, although like other animals, they are shades who cannot die even when they are butchered. Any fish caught at night will be revenant fish. Once again, attempting to eat them is an extremely bad idea.
The team flowers are a regular feature along the path. In particular, when a team wins a game or challenge, the edges of the path will be thick with their team flowers.
Finally, the town is almost completely surrounded by the Spill. The Spill looks like an expanding oil slick and is extremely corrosive to everything — except kudzu, which grows rapidly in its presence. Trying to go through either the Spill or the kudzu is yet another incredibly bad idea. It doesn't cover the path out of town, and it doesn't expand across the river though it seems to be trying to do just that, which leads it to sometimes enter the ruined town -- though without consuming it. |
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aforestdark) wrote2015-01-25 09:44 pm
