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
vitellina: (I heard him sing)

[personal profile] vitellina 2018-12-08 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
This is bullshit and I still hate it!
hissoff: (13 (3))

[personal profile] hissoff 2018-12-08 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ well at least he manages to get to the cauldron circled in pink to grab the parchment and read it... before sliding to the ground.

he just lives here now. ]


This is a little far for a joke, isn't it....

[personal profile] unperturbed 2018-12-08 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Staggers a bit and puts a hand to his forehead as everything seems to spin around, but he does manage to stay on his feet for once. Whew. This is very not nice.]
bowtiedbones: (48)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2018-12-08 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
Ummm... Sorry, wait, what? What is this?
bitterwiththesweet: (2410861 (4))

[personal profile] bitterwiththesweet 2018-12-08 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
This is skronked up.
dragonheartedgirl: credit @ colorise (Unwell)

[personal profile] dragonheartedgirl 2018-12-08 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ I feel so sick. but. what other choice do I have really? ]

Can anyone here sing? Or thinks they can?
nihilmancy: (Distressed)

[personal profile] nihilmancy 2018-12-08 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Tabby is breathing hard, leaning against her team's cauldron as she tries to catch her breath.]

Who did this?
unaffective: (174)

[personal profile] unaffective 2018-12-08 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's a moment or so where she's obviously taken aback, staggering, hand reaching to clutch at the fabric nearest her stomach, but -

this. at least it isn't the absolute first time she's ever felt like this, so she manages to paste a good-natured smile on top as she flags you - yes you! - down. ]


Good morning. If I may be so forward as to ask - is there anything within this place that you happen to consider as "valuable?"

[personal profile] voreaciously 2018-12-08 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
[For goodness sake. Some things never change. Se tries curing herself on the poison with her magic, but of course, it does not work. She did not expect it to.]

Very well, then. Let us be finished with this, quickly.
friskmanagement: (Act: Confused)

[personal profile] friskmanagement 2018-12-08 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
[You try to stay on your feet, but eventually everything is spinning too much and you feel really hot and your legs feels like jelly, and you think you might throw up - yes, you're definitely going to throw up - it's going to happen any second now -

Making it worse?

Making it worse. Sorry.

Anyway, after a few minutes, you gave up on standing up, so now you're just kind of laying on the ground.]


I really wanna help you get your ingredients, but I think I'm gonna have to do it from down here.

[Can't be that many of these things that require being vertical, right?]
cawnflict: (pic#12724280)

[personal profile] cawnflict 2018-12-08 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ "the blood of thine love"

excuse him????????????????????????????????????? wow. no. the rest is doable but he can't do that one. where's that stupid snake. he can make him do two of these— ]


These are pretty outlandish. Where did that snake go...?
aimforthestars: (pic#12607686)

[personal profile] aimforthestars 2018-12-08 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
...this is an unpleasant shopping trip.

[Disregard this wobbling, annoyed mess.]

What's the point of being poisoned BEFORE participating again?
ruinatings: (006)

[personal profile] ruinatings 2018-12-08 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh no. He doesn't feel so good. He presses a hand to his temple, briefly, before purposefully dragging himself over to check these cauldrons.]

As if this wasn't already incredibly stupid...
Edited 2018-12-08 06:38 (UTC)

[personal profile] ghostfromthemachine 2018-12-08 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ keeled over by Senna's cauldron, squinting at the antidote ingredient list ]

you could at least have written this legibly what is even the POINT of this if I find you I am going to throw up on your shoes

[ abruptly, without any real pause as she shifts gears ]

—does anyone want to trade?
stakesthesame: (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust)

[personal profile] stakesthesame 2018-12-08 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ staring... at licorice's ingredient list, ]

Man, what the blood. This is stupid. What does any of this junk even mean.
marmitekeef: (blue tone)

[personal profile] marmitekeef 2018-12-08 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ UGH he feels terrible, what is this. This is terrible. Frowning in confusion at Licorice's list. ]

What the quiznak...