The Witches Huts

[travelagency]

Who: Various
What: Swamp Hunting
When: M11 D27 - M11 D29 (Feb 17 - Feb 25) IMPORTANT NOTE days have been changed to make the plot more accommodating.
Where: Three different swamps far from the Village
Notes & Warnings: See the plot post for further details. You are allowed to go to more than one swamp. There's plenty of time, to. Plotting Links: The Marsh of Sorrow | The Offending Swamp | The Witch's Den. Participation is encouraged so that we can make later plots around expanded world access, or so that characters can use potions or cauldrons they didn't turn in themselves. The Slip 'n' Slide log is still open for tagging.

The Marsh of Sorrow

Foggy and murkey, sparse trees jut out of the bog like gnarled fingers reaching to an unseen sky. There's a light mist in the air- raining again in some form or fashion as every explorer who has returned has reported. Not all have returned, though, and caution is very much encouraged. There are more wild hounds than one would expect for somewhere that apparently doesn't have free grazing livestock. They seem to be waiting around for something.

It becomes obvious when a sheep becomes mired in the mud near the border. Easy prey. Luckily the hounds have never shown any interest in people.

The good sign is that that there are few skeletons and creepers. While one might assume that they're hidden by the fog, they're generally extremely sparse. Off in the distant fog there are lit spots, areas where old huts are, glowing mysteriously. Those are the places that the museum wants to be investigated. It just requires wading through the muck to reach them.

What the museum doesn't know is when the marsh is active, emotions play a role in whether someone can make it across. Unfortunately it's the only time that the huts can be located through the fog. People that are entering the swamp with grim feelings in mind will find themselves sinking. Perseverence, ambition, joy, curiosity? Those will help people strive through, and hopefully pull others to the surface.

The Offending Swamp

The museum doesn't tell people why it provides them with face masks, but oh, they will know when they hit the border of the swamp. It's a terrible smell, not quite like being near a sewer but not far off. That unfortunate paper-mill smell. The mask given to them will allow people to speak freely and unmuffled, but it only blocks out about 90% of the stench. This is one of the situations where someone might hope that the rewards are worth it.

The ground is far more solid than in the Marsh of Sorrow, with plenty of firm areas to roam. It makes the stench more irritatingly mysterious. There are few animals, too. But the answer to that becomes obvious when bursts of flame pop out of small holes in the ground. Apparently getting through will require great care.

The museum did not provide fireproofed clothes. But when the hut is found, luckily alongside its cauldron will be an abundence of fireproofing potions. Their purpose isn't obvious so it would depend on the curious or the adventurous to figure it out. That will at least make getting back out easier.

The Witch's Den

When entered, this swamp seems the more relaxing one. The temperature is moderate, the air isn't deplorably foul, the boggy areas are not as difficult to navigate. Once someone is within its limits, making their way to the hut, the more unsettling aspects of the swamp make themselves known.

Voices of people lost or left behind speak to people over their shoulders, soft and sometimes pleading, or accusing. They mutter secrets, things about their past, fears that people don't say aloud. Sometimes they're just whispers, and sometimes they're loud enough for the next person over to hear. Often they will tell people to go a certain way, toward another object or in another direction.

If they follow, it will put them back at the edge of the swamp.

There is a single hut in this one, far towards the center. As with the ones in the Marsh of Sorrow, it will glow as the swamp's abilities are active. It lies past the remnants of dilapidated houses and landmarks, a village likely abandoned long before any of the other ruins were formed. It is best found as the sky grows dark. Unlike the Marsh of Sorrow, though, enemies will crawl out of the dark.

Comments

[ewestmarch]

Or they don't know where she went. Maybe they don't even know she's a witch.

[She's projecting a little, maybe, but that's fine because this place is fascinating. An entire life, alone, with only magic and exploration. Was she happy with her choices? Why here, and why this? And how-?

Emilia freezes.]

Shit. We need to consider what killed her, and whether it's in this room.

[ratkicker]

[She suddenly stops and listens for any movement in the hut. She can't sense anything, but she whispers, just in case.]

We should leave now. It's probably out now, but who knows when it's coming back.

[She looks at the skeleton outside.]

Can you tell how long she's been dead?

[ewestmarch]

She's a skeleton. At least three weeks.

[You learn these things when you're undead. How long you can go without healing before things start to break down.]

So if it was something alive, it'd be gone by now... but it could also be a poison, or a misfired spell that's still active.

[ratkicker]

So you're saying it could be anything.

[She heads outside and stops in front of the skeleton.]

Think we can take this back to the lab?

[ewestmarch]

What, why?

[Emilia looks taken aback.]

Oh. For an autopsy. I was thinking we'd bury her.

[Sentimental. She berates herself for it.]

Yeah. Let's.

[ratkicker]

We could bury her later, someplace better than the swamp. [

She understands Emilia's shock, but this marsh doesn't feel like the most respectful place to lay the dead.]

Maybe find out who she really was. [She crouches next to the skeleton, poking at the dirt around it.]

[ewestmarch]

She chose to live here, she must have liked it.

[Or Emilia could resurrect her, and ask. Possible, but not in front of Jade.]

An alchemist, for one. I don't know how to make potions this complicated.

[She gestures to the shelves.]

[ratkicker]

[Jade sighed.] Whatever you say. Still, might be a good idea to get her ready for a burial back at the town.

[They asked her to bring back interesting artifacts, and this skeleton could be the most important find of the day.]

Can you tell what they do? [She turns to the shelves.]

[ewestmarch]

Red is probably healing. Blue is probably ...something else.

[One of the vials is glowing, and she rattles it towards Jade temptingly.]

One way to find out~

[ratkicker]

[It's very tempting to open that vial in the hut, but she's worried about the consequences more.]

Let's take some of these back and test them there. [She takes one of the red ones and holds it next to her S.A.C. After several seconds, the entire object is covered in pale blue lines, then in digitally absorbed into the device.] I got plenty of storage space left.

[ewestmarch]

How did you do that?

[Emilia is very close to trying to take the SAC and examine it from every direction. New thing?]

A teleporter? How big an object can it store? Can it hold living things? Where do they go?

[ratkicker]

What, this? [Jade carefully removes the SAC from her belt and holds it in both hands.] I'm just storing it digitally. Almost everyone back home has one.

It's for small stuff only, like this bottle. And it's...not a good idea to store animals in it.

[ewestmarch]

So, I could get one? What happens, do they suffocate?

[She'll pick it up, if Jade lets her, to turn it every which way.]

[ratkicker]

I guess? I don't know where they sell them here.

[She lets Emilia hold it, as long as she handles it gently. The SAC is rather light with several buttons arranged on its side with an interface screen on one flat end.]

It works by compressing atomic structures, so, that'll kill anything.

[ewestmarch]

If you put water into it, does everything inside come out wet? Or is it compartmentalized?

[ratkicker]

I don't know why you'd do that, but yeah, every item there has its own code. [She turns her head to directly face the SAC.] Secundo, can you even store water not inside a container?

[At that, the display on the SAC lights up, and a small hologram of a young man flickers to life. He crosses his arms, and while the digital interface makes his voice choppy, he clearly speaks in a Spanish accent.]

Negativo. That is considered dangerous by protocol, and I will not scan.

[ewestmarch]

[Emilia jumps.]

What the hell are you? Have you been listening this whole time?

[ratkicker]

[Jade smiles at Emilia's surprise, trying not to laugh at this fearsome mage afraid of technology.]

I am Secundo, the AI of Jade's SAC, señorita. [The hologram smiles a little smugly.] It is a pleasure to meet you.

[ewestmarch]

I didn't know we had three of us here.

[She seems disgruntled - she hates not knowing things.]

Ugh. So, what do we do? Wait until morning here or keep going in case her spells kill us?

[ratkicker]

[The hologram flickers out and is drawn back into the device, which Jade hooks on her belt again.]

Secundo doesn't do much except manage my data and relay messages. It's not like he can do anything in the physical world.

[She turns to face the skeleton.] There's monsters out there, and Niko might not be nearby to save us again. The hut's probably the safest place to stay for the night.

[ewestmarch]

I don't need Niko to save me. I made it just fine without him so far.

[Maybe she's a little grumpy.]

Seems like a hell of an existence, living in a bag and only talking to one person.

[ratkicker]

[That gets a bit of a look from Jade.] We also need to look out for your...brother.

That's what an AI basically is. Artificial Intelligence. They do what they're programmed to, and in Secundo's case, it's to manage my inventory.

[ewestmarch]

Keep him from knocking over anything dangerous, more like.

[Reminded of that, she pulls the abomination into a corner away from the potions. She's barely a quarter of its size - luckily it seems cooperative.]

Is this all one room?

[ratkicker]

[Jade steps aside to allow Emilia pull the abomination to a pot where he is less likely to break things.]

What is? [She seems confused by the question?]

[ewestmarch]

Is this cabin.

[Abomination stowed, she starts checking the walls for seams or hinges.]