[EVENT] FOLLOW ME TO PARADISE - Printable Version

Surrounded by the increasingly numerous sounds of the well-intentioned and what turned out be a scant few with the presence of mind to question the motives of the imprisoned being, it should come as no surprise that Fahl ended up no calmer than before. Assurances of strength found in numbers or in the size of some of the absolute behemoths among their present ranks accomplished little to assuage the fluctuation of alarmed reds and yellows shifting across his pale hide. If anything, they worsened preexisting distress even further at the ghastly amount of naivety and faith placed in a stranger's words.

No reason to distrust? Did they not hear the lack of proper answer to legitimate questions, the loud demands to be set free? Desperation could do a number on one's ability to reason, but surely even the littlest response could be afforded to dispel a concerned lizard's misgivings.

"Small does not mean... no power," he insisted. "And many... cannot always conquer one with great power."

Personal experience informed both statements. He doubted a giant had any chance of taking out Nemean, and it had been the work of two Masters to trap her within the Eyes. As for a ragtag congregation of Gembound versus a being of unknown capabilities, he needed only to refer to the Kraken of the Black City for their chances there. Most of their army, himself included, had been wiped out in the ensuing battle before Farina's eventual arrival. And yes, his ultimately ineffective participation in the attack then continued to steam him upon reminder.

"Think!" A final plea to reconsider fell on ears that didn't hear it, the decision of the group made.

And so the wagon opened and released whomever was held within.

It should have been a relief that no immediate harm befell them as the tale proceeded on. As life bled back into the Palewoods, Fahl was given no reason to maintain the stock-still posture he had taken to brace against incoming retribution for the poor choices of the collective. Scales turned darker and limbs loosened up, yet a few doubts continued to prickle. All were related to the nature of the spirit and what had contained it. The voice and symbols etched revealed it had been purposefully kept there, but the reason why remained absent.

Had releasing it been the primary cause of the forest's recovery, the work of its magic? Or rather had it leaving allowed eternal cold to no longer be contained to one area, the force given free reign to spread such eerie silence elsewhere?

The ruins next approached he did not possess nearly as strong an opinion on, mostly a mixture of confusion and vague unease at the image presented, a place like this incomparable to any memories that could be brought forth. The figurine was eyed at a wary distance before he strode forward a couple paces and cast a glance behind him.

"Might as well go," he offered with a sigh and a shrug. If the crowd was so curious, moving on together and satisfying interest seemed less hassle than putting up a fight.

Besides, it couldn't be any worse than the Tunnel of Frightmares. At least he didn't think any demise met down here would include the same amount of mockery or resulting shame.

As the narrator pulled it forward, Wilder braced for whatever was going to happen, ears twisted back, but as the breath of relief echoed through the Palewoods, Wilder also relaxed. This place was strange and she felt like there was more here, more that she wished dearly to discover and learn about, but the scene was changing and the narration moving on.

Swept along with the story, she gazed forward to the ruin yawning before them. She glanced at the lamb figure and the words scratched into stone and her tail twitched with a sudden excitement. There were others going in already and she padded forward to join them.

"You have chosen to enter the ruins," the narrator continues, and the opening of the stairwell engulfs the party, surrounding them briefly with darkness. "Slowly, your eyes adjust to the dim glow of—"

"RED FLOOR LIGHTS." A new voice. This is not the narrator. As you look around, you notice several of you are missing: Juggernaut, Faceless, Nico, and Yellow have disintegrated into glowing particles, vanishing.

"—cold, but you continue down the stairs carefully—"

"YOU CONTINUE DOWN THE STAIRS WITH AN EAGER STRIDE."

The voices are clashing, but the new voice is louder and more feminine, though it is cut with the sharp, synthetic scratch of something unnatural.

As you descend the endless stone stairs into darkness, the air grows stale and metallic; the lingering light of outside fades and slowly your eyes adjust to the eerie, warm glow of red emergency lights. They create a path down the stairs, illuminating your feet, and casting dramatic light upward. Spell-like, the illusion of never-ending stairs shatters as black metal expands into a large, forgotten room. There are egg-shaped capsules that you can only make out by the way the dim, floor-lit red glow curves across their surfaces. In a hiss of air, the capsules unfurl like blooming flowers, and the humid mist that escapes them creates a blanket of red that wisps slowly around the room. You are compelled to enter one.

The interior is soft and cozy, and as the pod closes, the chamber is filled with a gas that makes you sleep, but it does not feel this way. Instead, it is as if your eyes grow naturally heavy, and the sound of a breeze through trees wraps around you; it is methodical, like waves against the shore, the wind is alive and breathing...

< . . . INITIALIZING >

Your eyes do not read this message. Your skin does not feel the chill of cold as the pod prepares to preserve your body indefinitely. Medically-induced slumber has already won and even your subconscious falls victim to its sleep.

< PARADISE PACKAGE: PLATINUM >
< SPONSOR: THE APO— >
a glitch in the text, like the tearing of an old video tape

You awake at first in a green meadow. You are alone.

A voice surrounds you, mechanical and sharp.

YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO SLEEP FOR [nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand years].
PARADISE IS FOREVER. THERE IS NO eND—

"Where have you gone?" the voice of the narrator sounds almost frantic, distant, and then it is gone.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY WHAT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR YOU

A logo flashes in the sky: a diamond...

And the scene changes again, and you forget what has happened thus far; re-united with those you wish to see again, or the party, or whichever scenario best suits your needs, endless supplies of all the things you could ever want... you've found PARADISE.

POLL EVENT: STAY OR LEAVE PARADISE
Cast your votes here!

> STAY IN PARADISE
> LEAVE(?) PARADISE ?- /

One moment, the ruins--dark metal and ominous red difficult beneath pointed hooves--and then, the pod.

Cold. Dreamlike. Where are you? Here, Pride tried to think, the voice's alarm cutting a sour note past the peace that drew him down. We are here-

...and then, the fields. Open field, flickering and then back--and figures, coming toward him. Familiar figures. Spotted black coat. Pale white. ...Did I die? Pride wondered, blinking, and pushed up to go to them.

To meet them. He couldn't remember how he'd come here.

He must, then, have died. Or is this a dream-? What of his family? What would they do-... They will live, he reasoned, but faintly troubling was the worry of what had killed him. What if whatever it had been, got them, too..? His mind was working overtime, trying to puzzle it out, but it was hard to feel worried when that blissful sense of well-being permeated his world.

When Nassir! was coming toward him.

red deer img credit - dan seagrave