CLOSED | treehaus.

[poleaxed]

WHO: Jone, James Holden, Beth Greene, Gabranth, Margaery Tyrell, Adrasteia, Edgard
WHAT: Haunted hedge maze.
WHEN: Mid-Ferventis
WHERE: Orlais!
NOTES: A way less sexy Labyrinth.

WHAT'S GOING ON: To review, Jone has been asked to sort out a hedge maze on the Gaume estate. It seems to be haunted-- spirits have taken the form of various plants and trees within the huge hedge maze out back. While traveling through the maze, the walls will shift; your characters will be split up into groups, re-split, etc.

While it's possible to beat the shit out of some enchanted plantlife, for whatever reason, you can't hack your way through the walls of the maze. More shrubbery grows in its place no matter what you do. Otherwise, this would be over very quickly. Don't question it. This is a video game, and we should probably just all relax.

HOW DO THE MECHANICS WORK: This is a plot with rolling!

The main focus of the plot will be overcoming riddles and puzzles to reach the end, but you can get clues with rolls. Unlike in Murderhaus, rolls function to investigate the situation, not determine the outcome of actions (IE, I'll give you clues). When you want to roll, put ROLL in the subject of your comment, and bold what your character is investigating. I will reply with a clue, the helpfulness of which will be determined by behind-the-scenes rolls. Likewise, since there is a plant NPC for each scenario, do the same to ask them a question; their helpfulness will be determined by rolls as well.

For example: Bob studies at the strange pattern of pebbles on the ground, etc. Alice asks the enchanted tree, "what the fuck?" and so on.

If you think you've come up with the answer to the riddle, put ANSWER in the subject line, so I know to pop in and NPC spirits' reactions, etc.

(I've purposefully given you guys puzzles and riddles that have multiple potential answers! Likewise, if you come up with something I wasn't expecting but still works, I'll count it as a success. I'm not here to make anyone squirm. Have fun, and if you get bored of a puzzle, do the following...)

If your characters are out of ideas and just want to move on to the next action, put NO ANSWER in your subject line, and feel free to wreck the shit out of some enchanted shrubbery. While your characters can't beat up the walls, decimating any spirit-enchanted topiary NPCs will get them through the conundrum. I won't need to NPC this, because the spirits won't put up much of a fight. Please imagine some sad little Henson-esque 'wahh oh noooo' noises, though.

If you have any questions, hit me up!

After characters have solved a certain amount of puzzles / riddles, I'll open up a new toplevel and link you to it for endgame. Instructions on how that will work will be revealed there.

WHAT DOES MY CHARACTER SEE:

Upon coming up to the maze, the entrance is blocked by a network of vines, all entangled in one central knot. A spectral voice emanates from the maze:

O! Challenger, come forward now,
to give us peace in your solemn vow:
untie this knot and enter as our true friend.

Jone studies the knot before rolling her eyes and slicing it through with her poleaxe. There is a screeching scream from somewhere far off, twisted and inhuman. The cut vines turn vengeful, and quickly pull Jone inside the maze before here is time to react.

Entering the maze, there is no sign of Jone or where she may be. The hedge walls quickly begin to shift, separating the group.

Comments

HOLDEN, GABRANTH & ADTRASTEIA.

[poleaxed]

Inside the maze, there is a sudden incline: the maze once went over a hill. However, this hill has been made into a dirt wall by the spirits, impossible to climb. Further, the wall is covered in rose-vines, thick with thorns.

Luckily, there is a seesaw-like device at the bottom of the wall, and four metal weights. Each are very heavy on their own, and for the sake of measurement, all four weigh roughly as much as Gabranth in all his armor.

One wall's leaves and branches begin to shift into a face, its eyes shifting back and forth, watching, but it doesn't speak. Yet.

[kantikoy]

Adrasteia looks at the face, and then back at Holden and Gabranth.

"Do we ask the spirit about how to continue or do we simply load this thing up and hope for the best, here?"

[archademode]

He is furious to the marrow. Impatient. Already he's done his damndest to cut through brush, and already he has learned the futility of it: what then remains is to play whatever wretched game bars them from their path forward— and he has little patience to spare for the task.

If she is in danger—

"Ask of it what you will, lest I test its ability to bleed."

ROLL

[acreage]

He understands Gabranth's impatience, to some measure; he's worried too, though picking fights with trees doesn't seem like a way to find her.

"How can we get through here? And how do we find our friend?"

Here goes nothing.

[poleaxed]

The green man in the wall looks from the seesaw to Holden, eyes twitching back and forth. He says:

Teamwork tests you back and forth.
One up, one down, so on, henceforth,
what happens when only one is left defenseless?

[kantikoy]

"Depends on who it is," Adrasteia murmurs, because if the one 'left defenseless' is Gabranth, there likely won't be a plant left in the maze.

"We might as well start with the seesaw, and get as many of us over the wall as possible." Too bad they don't have any rope.

[archademode]

Speak for yourself, Holden, as Gabranth does indeed seem convinced it is the best way to mount a necessary rescue.

But he forestalls that instinct for now, the urge to burn something still coiling white-hot in his chest. His focus shifts with renewed (attempted) clarity as he stalks nearer to the weights, horned helmet twisting sidelong as he studies them. He can manage it, lifting them, he thinks.

"You wish to use that to climb?"

Far be it from him to judge...despite the title. He'll defer to sharper minds, as always.

[acreage]

"It'd make sense," he says aloud, following the other two to the seesaw.

At least, there's some kind of logic to the idea of the thing and the weights, especially considering the cryptic clue they were given.

"Adrasteia, you should try going over the wall first."

Is it because she's the smallest one here? Yes.

ROLL

[kantikoy]

"Okay. I'll try to stay in one place so we don't get too easily separated."

Though who knows if that'll work. Hasn't worked thus far, that's for sure.

She nods and moves to stand (or sit, if that's more stable) at one end of the seesaw; it'll take a few at least to get her over the wall but she's sure that with all of them working on it they'll manage.

[poleaxed]

It will take about two stone weights to catapult her over the wall. Have fun, guys.

[archademode]

Is it ill advised, to play into the whims and wants of spirits? Most likely, yes. And yet they've little choice or agency to spare without mooring themselves to a deadened clearing and one shifting, useless face tucked away within vivid foliage.

So be it.

He remains strong enough to manage lifting the weights— a matter of trial and error— one seems far too little, and so in doubling the amount he expects something similar to occur, having not truly gauged her stature in any critical way. Maybe it's fortunate, then, that he simply drops the second weight into place, rather than easing it down.

[acreage]

He moves to help, as much as Gabranth allows it, as far as moving the weights goes. It isn't until Gabranth's about to drop the second weight, that he thinks to say,

"Wait — "

But uh, too late.

ROLL

[kantikoy]

One presumes that Adrasteia just kind of sails above the wall, since Gabranth gave very little warning for that last stone.

If she cackles a bit, don't mind her. It's just a lot like flying, is all.

[poleaxed]

Adrasteia lands on the top of the wall, though how gracefully depends on her.

She'll find the path unblocked by more shrubbery; getting everyone over the earthen wall is the main challenge.

drops Adra with one character throws her with the other, this is good

[archademode]

'Wait', Holden protests, but the weight is already free of his fingertips— just as Adrasteia is thereafter free of where she once was perched— sailing high through the air.

Gabranth only watches, his outstretched, plated fingertips still splayed in a vague thought that should she fall, or worse, fail, he would catch her.

it's fantastic and I love it

[kantikoy]

It's not a super-graceful landing, all things told, but Adrasteia does manage to get a grip (and her footing) before she manages to go tumbling off too far, so that's good.

She grins, and flashes a thumbs-up to the two men below her. "I think if we can get the stones up here with Holden, then we can drop them down and get Gabranth up. Something to try, anyway."

[acreage]

The logic is sound, but he shakes his head, turning to look from the seesaw to Gabranth critically.

"You should go next," is what he tells the other man. "It's going to be easier to get me up later. I'm not weighted down by armor," not unkindly, "and I'm taller."

How long has he waited to point this out about himself to Gabranth, one wonders.

[archademode]

“I’ve no desire to be flung, Captain.”

Not that it would be a first, in truth. Still, his posture remains grounded, unyielding— at odds with his desire to leave, to chase, to draw blood from whoever or whatever is responsible for this. A war in his mind.

“And I’ve the use of magic, which may yet grant more advantage than...height.” said equally not unkindly, that.

—no, actually it does sound surprisingly petty, if dwelled upon.

[kantikoy]

The elf on the wall frowns down at Gabranth and Holden. Is he really going to avoid climbing the wall? Using magic, apparently, which fosters the commentary: "I didn't know you were a mage."

Just. Putting that out there.

(She's definitely noting how petty he sounds on second thought, and will be seeing how he responds to finding Jone, whenever that happens.)

[acreage]

Matching Adrasteia's tone,

"I didn't know you could fly."

Otherwise what exactly are you planning on doing here, dude.

[archademode]

“It was Jone who bid me keep silent, and to use my magic sparingly at best. However, there are no witnesses here save for ourselves. And wind, Captain Holden, stands as a powerful asset. Its force even more so.”

Normally strict adherence to given rules are everything to Gabranth; today, he does not consider a vague riddle to be law.

“A better solution may instead be to use my own weight to offset yours, and pass spare weights as best we can to the Lady Adrasteia. You, as you have so duly noted, are both taller and less heavy than myself: therefore you are the better candidate to be raised and ferry the stones, and it is possible momentum from on high combined with magic would be enough to easily see me to your side.”

A pause, his broad posture shifting where he stands.

“Yet if it is a fear of heights or some other trepidation that holds you fast to the earth, then you need only confess it, and I shall concede my argument. As a mercy.”

ROLL

[kantikoy]

She bites her lower lip and glances between Gabranth and Holden, feeling too physically far away to be able to properly play intermediary if this conversation goes further off into the weeds. "I imagine it would be difficult to captain amongst the stars if one were afraid of heights," she offers, "but perhaps that is different?"

Adrasteia won't correct Gabranth on calling her 'Lady' at this particular juncture. Best not to poke.

To keep his magic to himself, up until this point? That's not bad advice on Jone's part, actually; even Adrasteia would admit that.

"Either way, Captain, the way beyond here is clear, for now." Maybe they should get closer to the center if they can. Adrasteia looks out to see if she can spot any particular features towards the center of the maze, and gather a general directional sense of which way to go forward once they are on the ground again.

[poleaxed]

Adrasteia isn't high enough to jump over the maze walls or anything like that, but she's at a vantage where she can see a huge fucking tree at the heart of the maze.

[acreage]

The thing is,

it's not a bad strategy that Gabranth proposes. And it's good to know, from Adrasteia, that there isn't any immediate danger waiting for them once they clear the wall. And normally, if he hadn't been beaten to the punch by Adra's attempt to defuse the conversation, he might've quipped something like, you do know I work in space, right?

The thing is,

normally, such a stupid little barb wouldn't even land. Especially when he knows where it's coming from — hard not to guess, with the scream before the maze took Jone still ringing in his ears. But there's a kind of sense memory of Gwenaëlle in the dark so recently; and the exhaustion of taking fucking everyone's pain when they don't know where else to put it. If it bothered him less, he'd snap back.

Instead, he looks up.

"You should probably get clear," to Adrasteia, with a hand gesture towards one side or the other of where she's standing, "the last thing we need is for me — or anything else — to hurt you."

And with that said, he'll cross to the seesaw. We're doing this, we guess.

[archademode]

He places one weight tentatively in place on one edge before he moves to stand beside it, balancing by broadening his stance and lifting yet another stone into his arms, the scale-like device pitched already at an angle for it. Blind to Holden's discomfort (and eased by the idea of having his way), his voice resumes its calmer cast. His posture more passive, patient.

“By your leave.”

Both of them, in fact.