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
bowtiedbones: (60)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-08 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[fetches the knife and starts putting her hair up and out of the way with a green ribbon, leaving one lock loose]

We have "an uncredited author" on ours. Could you write us down something for that? If Saber, Smile, and I don't know what the quote's from, it should count.
unaffective: (Untitled-21f)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
I'm certain I could think of something...

[ grabbing one of the pens and. pausing. the things she'd think to write are things someone would prooobably know, but what could she use instead- something that she can be sure no one'd recognize -

in the end, she jots down a couple of lines: "And so fierce was the fire that the greatest of men withered to pale ash and embraced the firmament, such was the sin of the lands beneath the firmament. The beloved of the night constructed around her great bone-white marble and ashen stone, called by those of the sixth realm as 'Shalott.' And thus the maiden became the lady Shalott." ]
bowtiedbones: (27)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[claps her hands, still holding the knife]

Perfect! I have no idea what or who that's from.
unaffective: (174)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ PHEW ]

Ah, I'm glad to hear. I hope it's helpful.
bowtiedbones: (51)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
I hope so too! My group has just about everything we need now.

[tying a second ribbon around her spare lock of hair to keep it tidy and, welp. starting on sawing that off.]
unaffective: (177)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
That's relieving, certainly... I believe that we should be nearly done as well.

Though... You wouldn't happen to have met with any snakes here, would you?
bowtiedbones: (53)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
No, this is my first time off the train since we landed inland. What do you need from a snake?
unaffective: (Untitled-16f)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
A scale, though with consideration to the other ingredients it may not be literal...
bowtiedbones: (23)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
The scale of a snake... The size of a snake? The value of a snake? The musical scale of a snake?
unaffective: (186)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
Yes. And from what I've learned prior to my arrival in this place, a "snake" may not always refer to the animal either.
bowtiedbones: (54)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, that's right! It can be an insult for liars, too.
unaffective: (Untitled-15f)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
That's right - if any uncredited authorial work may suffice, then I'm certain that the same may be said of my scale - though there remains the issue of which to choose.
bowtiedbones: (53)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
Whichever is easiest at hand? If there's someone here you would call a snake, you could just put something for their height or weight, maybe.
unaffective: (Untitled-21f)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
... Oh my. That's very clever.
bowtiedbones: (63)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
Only if it works. Otherwise I'm just overstretching it.
unaffective: (185)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-09 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
I'd consider it as a clever thought independent of its viability, however...
bowtiedbones: (32)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-09 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
Well then, thanks!