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The Labyrinth [16+ Rating; full]



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Sun Nov 02, 2014 11:02 am
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Rydia says...



The Plot

Normally with a labyrinth, the people start on the outside and have to find the centre, but there's nothing normal about waking up in the middle of a hedge square with a group of strangers.

In this labyrinth, the people start in the centre and they have to get out. Before they starve. Before or after they kill each other. But most definitely before bedtime because strange things happen at night...

The Facts

The maze is 6 metres high and it's a spiky hedge. This might be the group's first clue that the maze is in some form magical as I don't think there are any spiky breeds of hedge which grow that high.

There are food packages dotted about the maze and the group will definitely have to spend several nights within it because it's a 40 hour walk from centre to exit and that's if you don't make any wrong turns.

There are also fountains and every member of the group will have woken up with a pack next to them. Some of these packs contain water bottles. Some don't.

Some of the packs also contain weapons and at night, strange things happen. This is dependent on which part of the hedge you are in. Some parts, sections of the hedge move around so you lose your way. In others, swarms of mosquitoes come out of the hedge, enough to suck a man dry if he doesn't get out of there. In some parts there may be elves or tricky pixies who like to tie strangers together with heavy ropes.

But these are only the dangers from outside the group and there are plenty from within as well. Afterall, not all of the strangers are human...

The Characters

Choose from the list below. If they're all taken, ask nicely on the DT thread and I may add some more.

1. The Werewolf. **TAKEN** @LittleSister Can you get out before the next full moon? No because that would be boring. Do you warn the group or try to stay away from them or do you not care who you might eat at night? Pack contains: One gun and a box of ammo. Both werewolf friendly (i.e. no silver). One bedroll (attached at the bottom of the pack like this.) Two rations of meat.

2. The Elf. **TAKEN** @MarbleToast Let's all blame the elf. They're magical and this is clearly a magical maze. Said magic includes being able to part the hedge long enough for a small group of people to walk through. Say 4/5. This could only be done every couple of hours. The ability to make things grow (feel free to make the hedge taller. Why not.) Keen eyesight and good reflexes. Fast mover but generally weaker and quicker to tire, more prone to injury. Has some small healing ability and herb knowledge. Will not be harmed by the elves in the labyrinth. Pack contains: herbs to aid in healing, herbs to put people to sleep and herbs to cause internal bleeding (a small dose incapacitates, a large dose kills). These are all known to the elf but none labelled. A bottle of water. A warm cloak. A silver knife (including the hilt so no touchy werewolf!)

3. The Vampire. **TAKEN** @thelostone You're going to need a daily supply of blood so you don't want to be splitting off from the rest of the group. The good news is you don't need food or water so maybe you can trade yours for theirs, if you get my drift. Or you can try and lead one off with you and keep it on tap. You're a traditional vampire though, none of this sparkling in the sun business so you'd better stay covered. Immune to mosquitoes. Pack contains: big black cloak to hide under during day. One ration of meat, one bread roll, one chunk of cheese. One two man pop up tent for anyone who wants to cosy up with the vamp. One bottle of water. One bedroll (attached at the bottom of the pack like this.

4. The Centaur. **TAKEN** @Rydia Half man (Or woman though that would be awkward with the boobs and things...) and half horse, look it up if you don't know. You're a vegetarian so you'd better make sure the group understand that when they're dishing out any supplies they find. You can carry an injured person on your back if you're feeling nice and you're used to sleeping outside so that won't bother you. You know the stars so you can find your way on a clear night. Not so handy for daytime travel. Pack contains: One roll of bread, three carrots, one tub of raspberries (if you find a bush, feel free to re-fill). Two silver bullets and a small gun.

5. The Navigator. **TAKEN** @Elinor Brynn You're a human and you're probably not too happy that half the group aren't. You're used to helping parties find their way, both at sea and on land but normally you're well paid and well fed so this isn't your dream task. Pack contains: one bedroll (attached at the bottom of the pack like this. One compass, one small bag of kindling, a knife (better for cutting thorny branches than stabbing people), a magnifying glass and a lighter for good measure, though you're a smoker so you may not want to waste that starting fires. It's low on gas. You've also got a pack of cigarettes, a water bottle and enough food for a day, aren't you lucky? Some paper and a pen (if you'd rather write sonnets than make a map, be my guest...)

6. The Hunter. **TAKEN** @jackm1999 You're a human and normally you spend your time hunting stuff, whether that be wolves or werewolves. You're not too bothered as long as you can make some money out of it or eat it or turn it into a nice fur hat. Pack contains: one wooden stake. That's it for weapons, if you want some others you're gonna have to go and beg. You probably know how to use them better than anyone else in the group, but let's not make this too easy. You can have a bedroll (attached at the bottom of the pack like this. You can have one uncooked rabbit and two bread rolls. You can also have a cooking pot and a bottle of water because I'm feeling generous.

7. The Shapeshifter. **TAKEN** @Aurora99 You're able to shift into a small selection of forms. I'll let you choose three but no birds and nothing too big it can tear down the hedge. I'm gonna deny you if you put something like an elephant down. Feel free to shapeshift into people though, i.e. change your appearance to look like someone else. Or you can shapeshift an elf if you're that way inclined. Pack contains: No bedroll so you better be able to turn into something furry if you don't wanna be cold at night. Or go snuggle up with the vamp. One bottle of water. One ration of meat. Three apples. If you shapeshift into something that can eat grass then go nuts. You can also have a machete because I'm feeling bad about the whole no bedroll thing. It will take you approximately 2 hours to hack your way through a patch of the hedge and it constantly grows back as you're doing it so you won't get the whole group through.

8. The Stranger. **TAKEN** @AriaAdams You wake up in a different place to the rest of the group and they stumble across you on day 2. Should they trust you? How long have you been in the labyrinth? Do you know some of its ways or have you just got there too? You're a human so no fancy powers I'm afraid. Pack contains: one bedroll (attached at the bottom of the pack like this. You've got a crossbow and some bolts, though you're not a great shot. You've got enough food to feed one person for three days or three people for one day. How generous do you feel? A bottle of water that you filled up a few hours before meeting the group. A staff that looks like a walking aid. Okay so I lied you get one fancy power - the staff creates a safe zone that wards off evil. It stretches about the size of two people so it can't protect many, but it will keep Mr. vamp at bay and the werewolf (though only in his werewolf form). You're also protected from the pixies and the mosquitoes and anything else nasty which pops up. The elves can get around it with their magic though. Sorry!

The Rules

1. It's a 16+ rating. You don't have to be that old to join, just fair warning that swearing is allowed but keep it under control. I don't want to see more than 3/4 big swears in a post (though you can use crap/ bloody as much as you like) and no c word please.

2. Don't kill off another character without the owner's consent but feel free to rough them up a little. If you've got a weapon and they don't then they're fair game. Especially if you're the vamp and they're the elf. I'm not sure if elf blood tastes all that good though, you'd have to let me know.

3. Try and keep everyone's characters acting in character so read their profiles before you make a post about them.

4. Have fun. Don't take anything too seriously. If someone has your character get injured, don't whine about it. Get even. Or you can talk it out like adults. Either is fine!

I'm not going to take a character just yet as I don't really have a preference. But I'll grab one before they're all gone so that leaves seven spaces. Ready... set... go! Claim in the DT and then submit a character profile when you're ready please.
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~Previously KittyKatSparklesExplosion15~

The light shines brightest in the darkest places.





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Sat Nov 08, 2014 7:36 am
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Rydia says...



Atlas Orion Skyrider

It was a dry, crunchy kind of day as we trotted our way back through the woods which bordered our meadow home. I was only just beginning to think of it as home as I was an out born soul and the way that we traveled from place to place, for years at a time, meant I hadn't come upon our 'home' until I was in my twelth year. Then we spent some years at home, the same we had any place and only now were we returning and I was excited; it would be the first time I had ever lived anywhere twice.

I tried to conjure up the memory of home and wondered what might have changed. When the out born souls even younger than myself, who had never seen home before, asked what it was like, I told them it was a dark and enclosed space. The elders flashed their disapproval at me and soon corrected my statement. It is a peaceful and spiritual grove they said. A place where the stars can be seen clearly throughout the year.

That didn't interest me. I moved into a run and then a gallop and pulled ahead of the herd, excited to cross the stream and to see the meadow again.

Then I woke up. I experienced a strange combination of grogginess and alertness, the kind of feeling you get when you nod off and then something pulls you to yourself. But the difference was that when I lifted my head from my flank and focused my eyes, there were no trees or meadow in sight. Only a brown, thorny hedge row several feet away and as I looked down, a scattering of shapes on the ground. Humanoid shapes with two legs.

Had the stars predicted this? If they had, I had not listened to them and I knew nothing of what my future was to be.

One of the shapes stirred and slowly sat up, but not without letting out a yelp of surprise. It shuffled away from the biped next to it and bumped into a pack positioned just behind. As I looked more closely, I saw that each biped had a pack and sure enough, I had one too. It was not the satchel I had been carrying earlier but instead a large rucksack and it contained little of interest. I took out a carrot and began munching on that as I wondered if any of the packs contained better items. Something interesting. Something fun.

As I looked around our surroundings, I started to doubt it though. The hedge edged us in on all sides with only three small openings to choose from, but beyond each of those was more hedge. It didn't take a genius to realise we were in a maze - even these bipeds could work it out. Someone was testing us. Someone with enough skill or magic to knock me out and bring me away from my herd. Interesting.

"Are you seriously eating a carrot?" one of the bipeds asked.

I thought for a moment as I worked the meaning from these words. "Would you prefer if I ate it in a silly manner?" I asked, my confusion colouring my tone.
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~Previously KittyKatSparklesExplosion15~

The light shines brightest in the darkest places.





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Sun Nov 09, 2014 12:48 pm
TheCrimsonLady says...



-Tish-

My eyes flutter open and I study my surroundings, confused. How had I gotten here? My memories seemed to be fine, so this wasn’t like the first time. The last thing I remember was stalking a rabbit in panther form with Aaron- so how was I here, and human? And where did the clothes come from?

Putting it out of my mind, I concentrate on the present. Spiky green walls of plants surround me and I cringe away from them. I jump away as the bodies around me start to move. My leg catches on a cloth bag, and I yelp. A centaur looks at me oddly, but I simply clutch the bag to my chest and back away, stifling a growl. Human form, I remind myself. You’re in human form. The hedge seemed to form a maze, and unfortunately, I seemed to be inside of it, not outside. Looking around, I observe that everyone else has a bag, too. This must be mine. I mentally roll my eyes. How was I supposed to carry a pack when I shifted? I certainly wasn’t walking around like a human, not in a maze. Calming myself, I change my eyes to a panther’s so that I can see better in the dark. The rest of my companions wake with moans. I scent the air, and receive similar messages from each. Fear. Confusion. Anxiety.

So none of them did this… at least not on purpose. I count how many there are- seven. Sniffing the air again, I scent for seven different people, but only receive six. Taking a step closer to the rest of them, I weed out which one isn’t… feeling. My eyes settle on a young man at the end of the group, and my confusion clears. He was a vampire- vampires wouldn’t be emitting any pheromones for me to smell and understand. My stomach growls, and I paw through my pack. Finding some meat, I bring it to my mouth and chew rapidly. I look inside my pack again and bring out three apples. Setting them on the ground with some distaste, I draw the long knife inside, setting that down too.

Well, great.

There was nothing else I could use inside of my pack. A knife- why would I want a knife when I had teeth, and claws, and venom? Perhaps two years ago….

The centaur looks at me. “Do you not want those?” He nods to the apples.

I clear my throat, desperately hoping I remembered how to talk. I’d spent what, six, seven months as an animal? “I- I’m not going to eat them. I don’t eat fruit.” I enunciate each word clearly, and to my relief, I don’t seem to have mispronounced anything too badly.

“Well, can I have one, then?”

I try to flick my tail in annoyance- and then realize I have no tail. I lift my shoulders and drop them down again, imitating a shrug. I bend down and roll the apple to him with my nose- and feel idiotic almost immediately. I had hands. Arms.

Other than a weird look, he doesn’t seem to care, and he picks it up and dusts it off, biting into it. “What’s your name?”

“Tish.” I turn away, hoping he’ll get the hint, and sigh in relief when I hear him start talking to someone else. I was out of practice to pass for human.

So I decide not to be, anymore. I shift into a viper, the change almost instinct. Slithering out of my clothes, I stifle the responses of a snake and shift again, to a panther this time.

I push my clothes into a ball and pick them up in my jaws, careful to be gentle. Pawing open my pack, I drop the clothes into it and close it well enough. Retracting my claws, I sit and begin to wash my paw, keeping an eye on everyone else. My dark fur blends into the night, and since they were all so caught up in themselves, no one had noticed me. Yet.
Let the blood pour down in rivers as the world burns.





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Wed Dec 10, 2014 3:09 am
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crossroads says...



Bryony

I woke up to voices. Or rather, if I had slept, I would've woken up to voices - but whoever truly sleeps in the Labyrinth, shouldn't expect to keep the benefit of ever waking up again for very long.

The grip of my fingers tightened around the staff next to me, as I carefully - making sure not to make any noise, as it would take me ages to count all the things attracted by noise - slid out of my hideout. There was nothing to be seen, not yet. Focusing, I could hear voices, although still rather silent. During the years, I had learned to estimate the distance of sounds and, judging from the fact that I saw nothing, there was no strong wind and the Labyrinth didn't seem upset, the Voices couldn't be further than two turns away, almost right behind me and on the other side of the hedge.

I tugged at my backpack and completely walked out of my hideout, spending a few minutes on masking its existence. It was just one of many I had built to spend nights in across the Labyrinth - some were now gone or too dangerous to come close to, though - and there was only a small chance I would use the same one again, but I liked keeping each and every one of them safe and hidden anyway.

Just in case.

I tiptoed closer to the point where I could hear Voices from the loudest, and got as close to the spiked hedge as I possibly could. The spikes weren't my only problem - they were troublesome, but avoidable. My biggest problem were bugs. Not that I hadn't gotten used to them as well, but I remembered having to get one out of my ear before. It wasn't something I ever wanted to repeat.

“Well, can I have one, then?” One Voice asked. I frowned. It sounded human, as much as I remembered. It sounded like my sister, only older, or like the Colonel or the Flower Lady.

You forgot their names again.

I chuckled at my twin. She was so silly, acting as if she hadn't forgotten them too.

Of course, she died. I'm not crazy... Not sure if that means she remembers things now, though.

“What’s your name?”

I suppressed a flinch and focused on the voices again. Bryony. But that wasn't my name before, I think.

“Tish," the first Voice said, and after that, there was silence. I closed my eyes for a moment, listening to the movement on the other side. For a while, all I could hear were muffled noises of things bumping against each other and footsteps moving back and forth. Then the other voices came, and it didn't take me long to be sure that there's more than two of them.

"Where are we?" Third voice, now. I waited for the one called Tish to answer, but she didn't say anything.
Someone else - fourth, now - did instead.

"It's some kind of labyrinth."

I pulled away from the wall. They were new here, that much was obvious - new enough not to show any kind of respect and to be completely oblivious. Almost automatically, I took a few more steps back and raised the barrier around me. I wasn't sure if it would protect me from them, but it felt somewhat comfortable. They were a group of newcomers - and I remembered how that looked the last time.

They will all end up dead, or insane. I thought for a moment. Or like me.
I smirked, carefully taking a few steps down the path now, keeping track of where I was in relation to the Voices. Even though they were new and I didn't want anything to do with them, I was interested. They spoke in the language I could understand, and still seemed peaceful enough to be harmless, so I made up my mind quite quickly. I would observe, and follow them if they choose to move - but I won't show myself.
Not yet. And if I see a sign of Tish and First Voice being anything alike the Flower Lady and the Colonel, not ever.
*
• previously ChildOfNowhere
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literary fantasy with a fairytale flavour





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Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:59 pm
Rydia says...



Atlas Orion Skyrider

When the biped rolled the apple toward him with her nose, Atlas wondered if she was trying to be polite. He doubted any of the bipeds knew much of his race and yes, he was half animal, but there was really no sense in a biped trying to act like they belonged in the forest. It would be like a cow trying to plow their own field.

He did appreciate the apple though and he didn't much care how it got to him. Then there were other bipeds waking up and Atlas switched between bites of the carrot and apple as they started to work out what he'd known since he opened his mouth. Yes, they were in a labyrinth. They would also need to move soon since they had limited supplies and that was clearly what their puppet master had in mind.

"How long do you think-" Atlas turned his head to address Tish, but he couldn't see her. He looked over to her pack and raised a bemused brow at the clothing half hanging out. "Well, either there's a naked girl around here or-"

"What are you going on about?" One of the other bipeds rounded on him and Atlas realised he was all out of carrot so he took another bite of the apple.

"Tish's clothes. They're in her pack, but unless she shrank a whole lot since I saw her, then-"

"Who on Earth is 'Tish?"

"Just leave him alone, he's probably mad. I've heard the centaurs spend so long looking at the stars that they can't even make sense of what's down here."

Normally Atlas might have agreed with the biped, but on this occasion he gave a loud sniff and turned away. He trotted toward the exit of their maze prison, the first of many he would wager. Then he saw her. The panther. Ah, so Tish wasn't so much a biped trying to act like an animal, but an animal trying to act like a biped. Atlas winked at her and then gestured to the opening in the hedge wall.

"Shall we? Any moment now one of you is going to remark on how few supplies we have and then another might realise that whoever has brought us here clearly intends we explore this labyrinth. Our puppet master didn't see fit to give me any water though so I'm sure they didn't intend for us to tally here very long."

Atlas wasn't sure he liked to feel manipulated but he liked going thirsty even less so he set off into the labyrinth and didn't wait to see which of the bipeds would follow him. He could faintly hear running water so that was the way he was going.
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~Previously KittyKatSparklesExplosion15~

The light shines brightest in the darkest places.








"Cowards die many times before their deaths; but the valiant will never taste of death but once."
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