In the chaos of crashing through the metaphysical barrier of the bright moon, half the party was cast into a vast rainforest covered in thick black smoke. Wet as the forest was, the low fires were unlikely to be natural. Keen-eyed hunters in black masks carrying rifles with long, brutal bayonets crept through the haze for startled and unsuspecting prey.

It was deep night; the great planet loomed above, rimmed in red light from an unseen sun. The forest was painted in blacks and dark greens accented by the red blood of the all-too-frequent eclipse.

[Up to five players may participate in this quest. To enter, just reply describing your entry to the area.]

[Quest has two parts; the Hunt, and  the Godslaying. There are several secrets to discover within the Hunt portion of the quest that will provide information about your target or offer some immediate advantage. If the Hunt is not completed within three hours, the quest will automatically progress to the Godslaying as the native theofauna discovers you.]

[Quest Completion awards 10 spheres and +1000 XP divided amongst the hunting party.]

Having your consciousness in two places at once had some benefits. Like only being half aware that you were falling from the sky. From the Void, she felt her body sundered by the pull of the planet in one direction. And in the other went many of her comrades. It was hard to parse who was left with her. The hands and paws and what-have-you that she was holding onto were ripped apart. She was left tumbling towards the Burning Rainforest of Ilan, alone, thinking the void was not so bad after all. At least you never landed there...

And then, just as she was consumed by what she thought was a fast, spiraling descent became her, standing in the dirt, eyes squeezed shut in terror. When she opened them, she found herself in a rainforest, blanketed by smoke. Not a crator or a smudge on the ground like a falling star. Just... standing there. Perfectly fine. How much of what she experienced was all in her head? More importantly, where did her comrades go?

Euphoria was clenching her hand so hard, that they almost bled. It had been the only thing that kept her from screaming - tightening every muscle in her body. Thank the Gods she didn't because she soon became aware that she was not alone. Shapes moved nearby in the smog, and Euphoria quickly gathered what wits she had to scramble into the underbrush. She crouched down and tried to [Appraise] the situation. Specifically, she tracked the movements of the hunters, to see if there was a pattern to their scouting.

She pawed at her belt and found only the knife. And then she searched for Haloise's voice in her mind. She remembered the events in the valley. Of their transformation. Of the shallow lake shuddering as it transformed too. Of Eri's anger. There was no telling if Haloise and her were still tethered together. There wasn't even a guarantee that she was nearby. So much happened that Euphoria hadn't even the time to take stock of her own transformation. She was preoccupied with the earth beneath her feet, the brush in her face, and the feminine urge not to get stabbed...

She looked about, the best she could, for anyone else who appeared.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:55, Sun 04 Sept 2022.

Azalea popped into being several feet above where she'd expected to. She was reminded of the feeling of sudden falling in a dream. She 'clenched' as hard as she could, stabilizing herself from impact mere inches from the ground. She released the 'clench' and let the suit fall gently. Slowly she looked around herself, and spun on her axis in the armor while she processed her thoughts.

She certainly didn't mind a change of location. All these metaphysical realms made her long for something solid and substantial. Was this a jungle of some kind? a rainforest? Not a bad setting to get some experience points in. "A place like this must be stocked with some kind of enemy we could do some numbers on and level up quick."

"That was a lot of smoke. A burning rainforest? Is this our home world after all?" She joked and gave the area around her a scan with her [Appraise Lv: 4] and her [Meta-Analytic Computation] to try to get a better understanding.

"Oh!" Euphoria was there. She almost didn't see her there, in stealth mode. Maybe she should be doing the same. Azalea crept low to match the Shage's crouching height. "Hey." She whispered, coming up from behind.

[Grimalkin] was falling, falling he closed his eyes and raised his arms defensively as he approached the moon. As he got closer his transformation caught up with him in his dual locations and a soft bit of fluff in kitten form was suddenly landing feet first in the rain forest loam. Only a gentle fwoof from his small body landing.

Ok being a kitten has it's advantages. He felt relief as he looked at his unbroken limbs. He shook his head though at the smell of smoke. It was like in the [Lost House] when the fires burnt out of control. His tiny nose sniffed, and whiskers twitched as he looked around.

He was not expecting this. There were trees and plants and thick loam. Also fires and a strange sky above. His eyes adjusted to the low light and he saw movement at first thinking it was [Euphoria Blooded Shage with Haloise in spear form gripped in her hand] It was not though. The spear point was actually the bayonet of some rifle and the figure holding it was certainly not [Shage]

[Grimalkin] hunkered down like a prowling cat body low to the ground half hidden by the forest floor.  Eyes studying the figure with the bayoneted and rifle with both [Apraisal 4 and Prophesy]

Was he alone ? Where was everyone else ? He hadn't seen the others land before him.

Haloise lands on the ground in it's spear form, hitting the ground head first and twanging back in forth after it hits the ground, vibrating with the force of an indestructible spear falling from orbit. Thankfully, there's no mass destruction on landing as the backend of the spear begins to glow, a figure slowly forming.

It's a lot like the more monstrous form Haloise took earlier - the themes are certainly there, ceramic plates as clothing and spears for three limbs, though it isn't as tall and gangly, and Haloise's face is visible. Now, she's... much shorter than she was before. Standing up tall, she's still a couple of inches shorter than the Shage, though she is lithe like the world's tiniest runner. Also, she is clearly a she now: though she was nude for a moment and she had no sexual organs to speak of, her ceramic plates contour to her more pear-shaped body, jutting out slightly at the chest. Haloise is currently... trying to pull her arm out of the ground. She succeeds, but the force she exerts lodges her spearfeet into the ground. She looks down for a moment... and then looks back up, blinking with silvery eyes.

"This is a lot easier sans gravity." She notes flatly, her voice muted but clearly human.

Hearing the light thud he looked around and saw the spear and then change.
[Grimalkin] Scampers over to [Leise Schwertgeist] He was grateful he wasn't alone. He began to dig around Haloise spear feet to help free her. Digging with his front paws and bracing himself with his back legs.

This place was much more real than the House or Valley or Void. Breathing was harsh here, the smoke attacking the lungs. It wasn't normal smoke, either - there was some edge to it, a bite that scurried at the back of the mind.

VALENCE was the only one to succeed in identifying the situation [17]. There ware not being hunted, these were troop movements oblivious to them - about 40 or soldiers, with four sergeants and a lieutenant. They were not Xin, the natives of this place. An invading force, then.

Grim's [Prophecy] told him they needed to head due east to 'progress'; directly through through the path of the soldiers.

[Timestamp 20:55]
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This message was last edited by the GM at 04:47, Wed 07 Sept 2022.

[Grim] looked to [Prydwen] "We need to head east." said quietly through the shadows, fire and general darkness to her.

"This game has guns, I didn't know that."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:56, Wed 07 Sept 2022.

Euphoria was on edge trying to deduce what the soldiers were up to while hiding in the brush. So when someone suddenly came up behind her and went "Hi! she nearly jumped out of her skin. She whipped around, hands ready to grab whoever it was, and toss them over her shoulder when she realized it was Azalea in her battle armor. At least, she was pretty sure it was Azalea. She looked... kind of different. "What the friggin hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?" Euphoria said, sweat dribbling from her temples. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was just the sweltering fire that surrounded them. It was insanely hot, and Euphoria was even used to wading through swampy, pseudo-tropical moisture. The smog was a bit much, though, even for a city girl.

"What if I accidentally used my sweet moves to kill you? Huh? Then what?" she hissed under her breath. If by sweet moves, she meant flinching and squealing like a girl.

Euphoria then put her hand on the top of Azalea's head and pushed her a bit deeper into the brush, conspiratorily. "You see anything useful in that big brain of yours, nerd?" Being held like that while also being called a nerd might have dredged up memories of being shoved in lockers and given swirlies. If Azalea ever suffered such indignities in her past life. "We need to find the others. I don't like the look of these guys. They have rancid vibes." Surly between Azalea's Meta-Computation and her vibe check, they would win the day. She then focused hard on trying to hear Haloise in her mind and heard the faintest of calls. She responded with her own. Almost immediately, Euphoria started to move through the brush quickly in a direction. It was hard to tell what direction the voice was coming from because it wasn't exactly a voice, but she had a sense of these things.

Or she was leading them around in a circle.

Through the fog, Euphoria saw two forms and heard scratching. She listened carefully, and then took the chance of darting into the clearing. It was a good chance because there was Grim digging someone with three spears for limbs out of the ground. She recognized the prince's cat form immediately. Although resembling the elemental somewhat from before, it took her a minute to realize the girl stuck in the ground was Haloise. "You guys!" Euphoria called out as loud as she could while still trying to maintain a whisper. Sounded kind of rough and horse from the strain. And the smoke. She peered around to make sure no soldiers were around, before slipping close enough for them to see her. She unfolded to her full height, completely unaware of how she appeared now. Hopefully, they would recognize her and the stupid jacket she liked to wear over her armor.

"Thank God we found you, this place sucks." She looked disappointed that they were the only ones around. "Do you know where the others are?" The smog and heat were getting to her, so instinctively, she tried to keep both at bay, wishing to push at the fire that surrounded them. The way you gave a stink-eye to someone on the other team. Real Stay the hell out of my way sentiment. [81] She coveted room for them all to escape the elements and breathe. And it was really starting to piss her off.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Wed 07 Sept 2022.