soulping | RATATOSKR

RATATOSKR

[ Upon stepping through the archway, you find yourself deep within a green forest, surrounded by trees, undergrowth, and the chittering skittering noises of small animals and insects. Behind you and around you, the trees and other vegetation close in on themselves; before you, a narrow but clear path beckons strongly. ]

[ Your normal skills are off, but you gain Basic Outdoorsmanship. ]

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[ A wizened old crone waits at the side of the path with a dire warning. ]

Beware, travelers! This forest is haunted and alive with magic. I can send the spirits and spells away for you, but only if you choose another part of the forest to lay them on. Do you wish my aid?

[ You know instinctively what she means: you can make the challenges ahead of you less complicated and fraught with unpredictable curses if you pick another team to burden. ]

[Ooooo, what is this skill.]

....well, I'm ready for whatev.

Me too!

Take it all on then?

Yep!

Takin' our burdens it is!

We'll accept our own burdens!

[With a bit of a cackle:]

Very well then!

[And she retreats altogether too quickly into the woods, leaving you all to move forward on the path...]

[Hell yeah, tally ho!]

[ The path stops abruptly at the banks of a roaring, rushing river, dotted with slick treacherous rocks in the shallows and almost two meters deep in the middle. On the other side, about fifteen meters away, the path resumes. But there's no bridge, only a couple of rotting posts that might once have supported one. You're going to have to figure out how to get across yourself.

Why not have a look around? ]

[ The thick forest opens up quite a bit right next to the river, allowing you to travel easily a little ways up and down the bank, away from the path, before it grows too dense to travel through again. In some locations, the river is slightly slower, a bit narrower or shallower, or a little less plagued by sharp rocks, though there's no place that looks like it would be particularly pleasant to cross. In several places, the crumbling remains of a stone wall, at its tallest no more than a meter high by now and surrounded by stones that have fallen loose from the rest, can be seen on the riverbank. ]

[ Near the river, the forest thins out enough to explore for a time. It's still thick with undergrowth and fallen branches--some small and easy to snap, some almost as heavy as the tree trunks themselves--but it can be traversed. Here and there in small clearings are mysterious piles of stones stacked upon each other. Some of the trees are easily climbable thanks to the thick vines that wrap around their trunks; others tower impossibly. ]

[Hmmmmm.]

How much you against gettin' wet?

[ Between a couple of tall trees is a worn-down statue that might once have been a serpent or a mermaid. However, the inscription on its base is still very readable. ]

Wroth am I with my disorder,
In this alone do I seek quarter:
Bereft of it both gold and ash
Together fetch the same cold cash.

[Statue?]

[HUH. That poem though.]

I don't get it...

....

I am angry with my disorder and I want to be given mercy with it?

To be free of gold and ash...but that somehow gets cash?

[ HMMM... ]

We'll set the forest on fire!

[ewjaioejw]

No!

No fire!

Fire is NEVER GOOD for anyone on our team!

It said ash...

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RATATOSKR

PROLOGUE

DISCUSSION

ANSWER

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FIRST CHALLENGE: THE RIVER

ON THE RIVERBANK

NEARBY IN THE FOREST

DISCUSSION

SUBMIT YOUR SOLUTION

Re: DISCUSSION

A MYSTERIOUS STATUE

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