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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 9, 2019 16:36:40 GMT -6
In addition to that, the resemblance here seemed entirely incidental. Metaphorically those roots might have resembled reaching hands, but literally they were just dry, dead roots. It wasn’t that bad here, actually. Cascading off of the banks were waves of colorful leaves, in all their autumnal shades. There weren’t any wax ones as far as she could tell- she had no clue where those came from- but there were plenty of regular ones, adding a dash of color to the otherwise dreary environment. Between the clear skies, pretty leaves, fresh smelling mist, and cozy embankments, Fiera felt pretty comfortable here. That probably meant that the mansion was trying to lure her into a false sense of security, though. That was always her luck with this place. If she had any luck at all though, Victor would act as an early warning system. He was supposed to be tuned in to magic, right?
Fiera 19 Victor 1.4/3.4 39
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 9, 2019 16:42:52 GMT -6
As they walked however, the embankments started to close in, the path getting narrower and narrower. The path grew more leaf covered too, less bare, though they were thankfully quite crunchy and not soggy and wet like the ones in the public park. Victor seemed to quite enjoy them in fact, taking the time to slow down and snuffle around in them. Fiera couldn’t help but laugh as he stuck his head in a pile and snorted loudly before sneezing, practically exploding the pile off of him with the shake of his horns. He gave Fiera a withering glare as she laughed even harder at the sight of several leaves impaled on his horns like decorations. Still, if he was ashamed it didn’t stick, as soon he was back to jumping through the leaves and wagging his tail, like a fox jumps through snow in the winter months.
Fiera 20 (level up!) Victor 2.0/4.0 40
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Post by Renathan on Oct 9, 2019 16:47:52 GMT -6
A beautiful mini-model of a haunted mansion is nearby, easily found but perhaps delicate to collect.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 7:51:26 GMT -6
As Victor tore around in the leaf piles, something else caught Fiera's eye, uncovered by his shenanigans. Fiera leaned down, and brushed away the rest of the leaves from it. She wasn't really sure how to respond to what she found to be honest. What was a toy house doing all the way out here? She looked around, but there were zero signs of humanity to indicate who left it behind. As a result, she supposed like a lot of other mansion items, it was just... here. It was definitely a model of a mansion, about the size of her hand, but complete with glowing windows from an unknown source. It was incredibly detailed, down to every last tile and little spires and spines coming off the top. The delicacy was something she had to keep in mind, so Fiera slipped it into an unzipped outer pocket of her backpack.
Fiera 2.1/4.1 41
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 8:03:19 GMT -6
Once it was secure- or at least as safe and secure as she could get it- she zipped her bag back up and moved on. Victor seemed to be about ready for it, standing as gracefully and calmly as he could while still having leaves stuck on his horns. Fiera snickered and picked up his leash again before walking over to pluck them off. Despite his usual reservations about being touched, he let her pull them off. She guessed they were bothering him enough to put aside his dignity for a moment. As soon as it started though, the nice little moment between the two of them was over. Almost the moment she pulled off the last leaf, Victor was off like a shot, pulling down the path again and trudging through the rest of the fallen leaves, as if he hadn't been fascinated by them just a moment before.
Fiera 2 Victor 2.2/4.2 42
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 8:50:24 GMT -6
She kept an eye out, but there were no more toy houses to be found in the leaves or along the embankment what an odd finding all the way out here... but she supposed it was to be expected with this place. At any rate, Victor seemed eager to move on, practically plowing through the leaves with his horns due to him keeping his nose to the pavement (or dirt, as it were). Fiera had finally figured out how to keep pace with the arcane rakai at least, and no longer was in danger of falling over. She was, however, getting out of breath. She wouldn't have to go to the gym for weeks after this, with how fast he was pulling her along. He showed no signs of slowing or stopping either- whatever it was he was smelling, its scent was strong and he wasn't letting up on it.
Fiera 3 Victor 2.3/4.3 43
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 8:55:13 GMT -6
The path they were walking through continued to change as well, though Victor hardly seemed to notice with how fast he was walking. The pair of them were now trudging through piles of crackling leaves at least two feet deep, having to high step to get through them in Fiera's case. The embankments had continued to get taller and taller, lifting the grey brown trees at least fifteen feet above Fiera's head. They were so steep now that Fiera didn't think she could climb it unassisted anymore... but she probably could if she used the roots jutting from the sides. The path had narrowed to be only three feet wide, so while Fiera and Victor could walk through comfortably, the roots were practically brushing her on either side now, as if getting ready to grab at her. A lesser woman would feel claustrophobic. Fiera was not, however, a lesser woman.
Fiera 4 Victor 2.4/4.4 44
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 8:58:58 GMT -6
She WAS hoping that this path was actually going somewhere however, and that they weren't just coming up on a dead end. While they had found some nice things on the way here, she didn't think it would really be worth it if she just had to turn around and go back again. After all, there probably wouldn't be more nice things waiting for her on the way back, unless the mansion decided to take pity on her. And why would a (previously huge and wide) foot path just end in a dead end anyway? You could fit a wagon through it back at the start! So of course, as usual, Fiera decided to stick it out for as long as possible, stubborn to the very end, wherever that happened to be. Hopefully it wouldn't be a straight, vertical wall of roots. She didn't want to have to get dirty climbing, after all.
Fiera 5 Victory 3.0/5.0 45
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Post by Jack on Oct 10, 2019 9:03:58 GMT -6
Is... is that a spleen?
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 13:38:42 GMT -6
The leaves Fiera was trudging through we’re at the very least very least light and crispy to the touch, making it quite easy for her to walk through them. Which of course, made things very surprising and frankly quite gross when her food came down on a wet, sticky patch. Ew! Had she broken through into a rotten patch? She lifted her foot back up, and Victor immediately whipped around, looking at the spot before he walked over, sniffing loudly. If Victor was curious... what was it? She looked down, but the leaves had already covered back up whatever she stepped on. She sighed and reached down to dig it out, whatever it was. Clumps of leaves flew into the air, Victor sniffing them as they flew. After a few moments, she finally hit the wet spot again- only to feel something cold, wet and slimy wrap itself around her wrist.
Fiera 6 Victor 3.1/5.1 46
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 13:56:15 GMT -6
She immediately yelped with surprise and disgust, jerking her arm away. The rapid movement catapulted the creature that grabbed her up and behind her, splatting wetly against the wall of the embankment. Fiera whined and looked at her wrist. Thankfully it was just slimy and not injured. She sighed with relief and looked at the embankment wall. Victor was flipping out (not that Fiera could blame him, with how she reacted), barking wildly and pawing at the wall. Fiera looked up, and there was the offender- what looked like an organ, stuck in amongst the roots. A... spleen? Or something? She couldn’t recognize the shape that well, but what did it matter? Someone was dropping guys all over the mansion grounds! But... wait, hadn’t it grabbed her? Fiera leaned in closer to the offending organ, taking a closer look than before while trying to hold Victor back a bit.
Fiera 7 Victor 3.2/5.2 47
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 14:04:01 GMT -6
Sure enough, it was moving slowly along the embankment wall, leaving a trail of slime like a slug. It stuck to the wall like a slug too, disregarding gravity. It held its major “vein” ahead of it, searching with it like it was an eye stalk or antennae. Looking at it, Fiera realized that that’s what likely grabbed her under the leaves. It wasn’t attacking- the slub creature was probably just trying to figure out what was attacking IT when Fiera went and stepped on it while it was minding its business in the leaf litter. She felt a twinge of guilt at having stepped on it, and then throwing it at a wall. At the very least, it didn’t seem scuffed or injured. She held out a finger, and poked it gently. It hardly seemed to notice, and her finger came away with a trail of slime. Weird.
Fiera 8 Victor 3.3/5.3 48
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 14:44:40 GMT -6
It was gross but... not mean. That’s what broke the tie in Fiera’s mind and she reached out to grab it, shoving Victor’s curious nose out of the way. It peeled off the wall with a wet slurp, and curled up around her fingers as if trying to protect itself. She couldn’t blame it- Victor was trying everything short of biting her to get his mouth on it. It DID look like a walking hunk of food to him after all. Still, it was still alive so Fiera wasn’t about to let him chow down on it, and played keep away with her rakai sarane while trying to unzip her bag. She did a pretty good job, all things considered, and managed to shove it in with the little bottles creatures she had found earlier. Victor only managed to knock her over once she had finished zipping the bag.
Fiera 9 Victor 3.4/5.4 49
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Oct 10, 2019 15:12:53 GMT -6
She grumbled as she got back up again, pushing away Victor’s inquisitive snout. “You lost, ya big lug, get over it.” She grumbled, finally shoving him off. The rakai sarane growled at her grumpily, and he sat down with a huff as Fiera searched for his leash, finally snapping it back up from the leaves. Thank goodness she hadn’t lost it- these piles were endless. And just in time too, as Victor lost interest in the spleen slug and took off once more in the direction of some other goal. What it was, Fiera couldn’t say, but he was certainly getting there fast, as usual. Fiera let herself get tugged along- at least one of them had a sense of direction here. Fiera was more than happy to just take in the scenery- and to keep an eye on where she was stepping for more “wet patches”.
Fiera 10 Victor 4.0/6.0 50
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Post by Renathan on Oct 10, 2019 15:17:56 GMT -6
A spooky twig suddenly fell out of nowhere, with a strange brown wax leaf following behind.
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