hot_mess_express ([personal profile] hot_mess_express) wrote in [community profile] auroraexpress2018-12-07 06:50 pm

The First Trial

Who: All Brave Heroes
When: Day 4, morning
Where: The Witch's House

[ Something is amiss.

The jungle goes still, unsettling in its silence. Not a leaf shudders and not a beast makes a sound, as if everything alive outside is holding its breath in dead… or anticipation?

All of the lights on the Aurora begin to flicker. And while at first it may seem as though it is simply the beginnings of another power outage, the notion is quickly chased by the entire train abruptly swaying and shuddering-- as if something seized hold of it and started shaking it from the outside.


Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth.



If you step outside you will see it. There, sitting just in sight of the train, is a place that most certainly had never been there before. Or had it always been there?

Based on the outside, it seems like a place that no one has lived in for quite some time. The wooden shutters on the windows are barely hanging, rotting from age. The stones that make up the house look weathered and are covered in moss. The roof is missing shingles, any plantlife around the building appears to be dead . . . and yet the chimney has smoke coming out of it.

The air around the house seems to waver and the darkness of the world seems to be drawn, to gather around its worn silhouette.

Likewise, whether by compulsion or sheer curiosity, you are also drawn towards the house.

Entering is simple enough. You need only go through the front door to enter your first Trial. As you enter a voice greets you from nowhere, ]



“Welcome, children. This is the real beginning of your journey. Let’s see how strong you truly are. Oh, but do be careful, and . . . “

[ There is a chuckle. ]

“Don’t die. ♥”

[ The house that you entered is no longer a house. Rather, it is a moonlit clearing, with vegetation surrounding reminiscent to the jungle you just left. Around you, you may hear the familiar sounds of the beasts. They wait for you. They wait for you to fall so that they may feast.

But the beasts are the least of your concerns. As soon as you enter this clearing you feel it-- a burning hot sensation, the world spinning around you, and a sick twisting feeling in your gut.

You know immediately. You are sick. You’ve been poisoned.

Lining the edges of the clearing are seven cauldrons, and around each of them a circle of flowers growing in seven different colors. At the center of the clearing is a similar circle, in the middle of which lies a book full of blank pages, a collection of feathered pens, and a knife of which the handle is inlaid with a beautiful earthy gemstone.

To each cauldron is pinned a piece of parchment that reads “antidote” before a list of ingredients scrawled in a muddled mess of handwritings.

You may want to read these parchments carefully. Your time is already running out. ]


Instructions and RulesQ&AIngredients and Turn-InWinners and ConsequencesEndgame
ghostfromthemachine: (of the sun's hard rays)

[personal profile] ghostfromthemachine 2018-12-08 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Pink...

[ ...not an opinion she thinks she shares, huh. the more she knows! ]

Mm, thank you. —sorry, that was somewhat abrupt.
bowtiedbones: (3)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-08 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)
It's okay. I don't have anything pink with me, though. My group got all green and black clothes.
ghostfromthemachine: (I'm the first to know—)

[personal profile] ghostfromthemachine 2018-12-09 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ floppy handwave ]

There's a team that wears pink; I'll bother one of them later.
bowtiedbones: (22)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, that works. Is there anything else I can do for you?
ghostfromthemachine: ((let's have a talk about--))

[personal profile] ghostfromthemachine 2018-12-09 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
...I think we're still looking for "the scale of a snake"... what about you, though? It's kind of unfair if it's only one-sided.
Edited 2018-12-09 03:18 (UTC)
bowtiedbones: (63)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
We're about set on our items, but I wouldn't mind doubling up some of our ingredients. Do you have anything for the the color of shine, a good laugh, the uncredited author, the kindness of a stranger, or the blood of the virtuous on hand?