A Veiled Journey (Part 3)

Malik's eyes flick about, following -- something. Something that blurs at the edges just a bit, like the air over the stone on a hot day. He glances to Serene, mumbling something under his breath as he rubs at the back of his neck, but turns his attention to the spot he was staring at earlier. "Like the invisible elves on the roof wielding the alchemical fire? Would that count as evidence of sabotage?"

Well, if you can help, well take it.

It does seem like help is going to be had, too, with the healing magic. While they might be Charneth soldiers, they're not about to question the validity of unexpected healing on this border at this time. Most of the harm is from smoke but there were a handful of serious burns. No fatalities.

They're grateful enough that theres an offer to fill ones packs with food stuffs they retrieved from the fires.

“Can’t think of any reasons you'd all be out this way but one. The Forest of Whispers means to keep its secrets. I’d reconsider whether you're thinking if I were you lot. Still, if we cant persuade you otherwise, perhaps a little advice is in order: Stop your ears.”

Zeke bows his head at the advice, and nods. "Thisss one thanksss you for your advisce. We will be on our way now." He glances at Serene. Best to be on their way while the Charnese are still willing to let them go. He turns and heads back the way they came. Though he takes a different, longer path back to Seldan.

"Erm." The Gobbo peers at Zeke, and then Seldan. "What... should we stop up our ears with, then?"

She rubs at her cheeks and fusses with a few bits of soot that have smudged her mithril plate. "What exactly does the forest whisper?", Acedia wonders, taking a few steps towards said forest in question.

Serene tilts her head, while declining the offer of topped up supplies.. on the grounds her and Zeke being well equipped on their own, and with the fort in the condition it is, the soldiers are far more likely to need them. She says as much, before setting to follow Zeke on his misdirecting path.

With the conditions of the soldiers stabilized and some useful info gleaned, you'll be able to get back away from th tower and on your way to the Forest.

It looms in the distance, yes, with its tall, bent peaks and it's longer shadows.

"Stop your ears," the soldiers said, "they don't call it the forest of whispers for no reason. It talks to you. Shows you ... things that could have been different. Sometimes. Don't listen. Whatever you do, don't listen." Some worrisome advice, perhaps, given the amount of regrets your average adventurer carries.

When the others return, Seldan turns away and back towards the others, listening expectantly. "I see. Plug one's ears, that one might not hear what the forest whispers - very well. I trust that the soldiers are well enough?" He waits for an answer, all the while digging in his pack for spare rags that he can stuff into his ears.

Zeke reiterates the warnings to those that had been left behind as they make their way toward the forest of whispsers. "If there is a healer'sss kit among ussss, there should be cloth that we can ussse insssside it to sssstopper up our earsss." He offers this suggestion and then nods to Seldan. "Thisss one healed thossse in need of it. They will sssurvive."

Malik frowns at the idea of stopping his ears, for whatever reason. He leans against the staff in his hands, looking pensive. "I have candles," he tells them. "If need be, a simple cantrip can heat the wax to make it pliable. It should block -- nearly everything."

A thought that doesn't seem as hopeful for him as it might for the others.

The Gobbo pulls her pack free, setting it down and rummaging through it. "I've got a kit we can use.", she says softly. Acedia pulls free a roll of fine gauze. "Would this work?", she wonders of Zeke, offering it to him.

"I could also play my violin. It uhm might attract attention to ourselves, but maybe it can drown out the whispering? Do we have any magical means of protection?"

Serene seems to share Malik's dislike for the idea, though perhaps not for the same reasons. "Blocking our ability to hear each other may be worse than whatever temptations may be whispered to us."

"Some among us may find ourselves able to resist," Seldan counters evenly, zipping his pack and taking the rags between his hands. "Others..." He trails off, carefully not looking at Malik.

Malik carefully does not look at Seldan in turn -- though he does cast his eyes to the ground a bit, the faintest hint of color rising to the surface of his olive skin. Fortunately, his hair is long enough once more to fall in front of his face, obscuring that from view of most everyone -- save, perhaps, the gobbo.

It takes some time but you're soon approaching the outskirts of the Forest of Whispers. The invisible presence that Malik and Seldan saw has definitely flitted off to the trees at this point, and the rest of you have taken the time to stop your ears as warned by the Charneth soldiers over at the tower-fire.

With just Serene able to hear, you soon pass the threshold and a feeling of chill pervades almost immediately. It's not just physically cooler being in the shadows of the tall trees, but sit just *feels* ... colder here.

In armor and multiple cloaks, and being who he is, Seldan seldom feels the cold, even in the dead of winter, but this - this is no ordinary cold. It's something different entirely. He pulls his cloak closer around him, his eyes roving the woods around him continuously as if to compensate for the loss of hearing.

Acedia does her best to remain close, though she flits back and forth between sides of the group, attempting to observe as much as possible. She shudders visibly as they cross over the threshold, pulling her pack from her back, and soon wearing an extra cloak.

The Gobbo scratches something onto her parchment, her neat writing, perhaps a bit small, spelling out: Did you feel a chill just now?

Having declined to stopper her own ears, Serene steels herself against what the group has been warned of within the forest while she marches with the others. She assumes a position on the outside, keeping her eyes sharp, her visage grim, as if she expects trouble to jump out behind every shadow, every tree. A short nod is offered to Acedia after a brief moment taken to read her note.

Zeke follows Seldan carefully. His own green eyes roaming the wilderness much like the others. His ears are stuffed, so he can't hear the forest of whispers and the lack of hearing is disorienting to him. Still, it might be a necessary precaution.

Seldan leans over to study the writing on the parchment as he walks, the stuffed sensation in his ears at once uncomfortable and unsettling, but he looks down and offers a short nod to Acedia once he has read. A hand reaches up to shove an unruly lock of hair out of his eyes, though, as he returns his attention to the road.

Malik follows, his bow drawn, sharp eyes just scanning the forest around them for any sign of threats. There's a cautious look to Seldan, but whatever communication the two men might have, it seems to be entirely unspoken. Perhaps a side-effect of being close enough to risk the dangers of marriage.

GAME: Serene rolls will: (20)+34: 54 (CRITICAL SUCCESS)

Serene's lips part ever so slightly, not enough to be called a grimace, but there is a flash of teeth as she steels herself further. She holds up a hand, as if to indicate that yes, the warnings were accurate.. then waves it dismissively in a manner to convey she is fine.

Zeke pauses as Serene raises her hand, but she waves it dismissively afterwards and the sith-makar continues to trundle along. It's worrisome that there is something trying to whisper... something to Serene, but he takes heart that she seems to be handling it well.

Like the others, Seldan eyes Serene for a moment, but nods as she waves it off, and his eyes flick to Malik before returning to the road, but he seems resolute, and content to continue.

Deeper, then.

It's true that you're not sure exactly where you're going. You're only following the instructions of a massive magical item that Seldan stole from the Llyranessi, after all. All you've got is the general direction of 'deeper into the horrible forest of shadows'. And it *is* that. The longer you're here, the more the ambient, oppressive darkness of this place begins to settle into you. Serene is clearly hearing things that the rest of you are missing with your ears stopped, but even with that, you can't shake a sense of overwhelming vulnerability.

Or maybe that's just the tinnitus.

In any event, this place is a truly ancient forest, with the untouched, slightly bent trees rising up into the sky creating a dense canopy of which only the barest slivers of light are visible.

As they walk, Seldan has grown more and more quiet, more and more impassive, more and more stone-like. He says nothing, but his expression sets into grim lines, and he pulls his cloak tighter around him, careful not to touch the sword at his hip.

Serene keeps whatever she is hearing at bay, pushing it back like she has pushed so many other a regret into the dark recesses of her mind, compartmentalizing as she continues to scan the shadows of the forest for trouble... specifically for signs of the mul, though the likelihood of spotting one of those in their element is small.

GAME: Serene rolls will: (14)+34: 48
GAME: Seldan rolls will: (18)+32: 50
GAME: Malik rolls Will: (17)+16: 33

The Gobbo also begins to withdraw into herself, huddling under her cloak. She still attempts to keep an eye on everything near them, but she stays much closer to the group. This forest is very moody, isn't it?, she scratches out onto the parchment.

GAME: Acedia rolls will: (19)+10: 29

Even Malik's dark mood grows visibly darker as they continue walking, his dislike of the ambience here practically radiating off of him as much as the forest itself is radiating its strange, foreboding feelings. He does, notably, take a few steps closer to Seldan -- just standing nearer to the man. That, at least, seems to lighten his mood a bit. Just a bit.

GAME: Stjepan rolls will: (15)+8: 23

Stjepan trudges along, head down, feeling the weight of the forest. As time goes by, he pauses, suddenly, and says quietly but distinctly: "Sh-- what are you doing here?" Then he blinks and shakes his head, and keeps walking, looking even more troubled.

"Irritating," Serene mutters to herself, though the others cannot hear.. though anyone watching at that moment will definitely see her talking to herself. And if her eyes are a little tighter around the corners, if her sword hand clenches more firmly into a fist, can she truly be blamed? Even her nostrils flare a little as she breathes deeper, an exercise in clearing her head.

The Goblin visibly pales, gasping as she peers off into the forest, pausing for several long moments. "It... you're not real.", she says with a shaky voice. Turning suddenly, she bumps into Seldan's leg, bouncing back a step, before turning the /other/ way and carrying on.

Like the others, Seldan grits his teeth, staring at something off in the trees that only he can see - and then shuts his eyes, squeezing them hard. Oddly, it is the collision with Acedia that seems to snap him out of whatever he saw, and he shakes his head, quickly and hard, and reaches down to steady the gobber. Still, he says nothing, but there's a pinched, haunted look there.

Malik reaches out, taking Seldan's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze as he moves up to the man's side. Just for a moment, and then released again. Though whether it's for his comfort or Seldan's is hard to say.

Regret is a pervading emotion here, yes. The paths not taken, never seen or never done. The choices one wishes they hadn't made, or perhaps 'had' to make. Did you *have* to do those things?

Perhaps those are the real whispers they refer to, the ones that no doubt eat at the back of even the strongest minds.

All the while, the forest darkens. Deepens. You're heading into the older growths, now, and the twisted brambles and trees all around you begin to become more treacherous in their passage. Their is no clear path, here... but then, rare is it that life offers a bright and clear one? Even the well trod paths of game animals seem absent, or perhaps you simply can't see them?

It's here that Serene is forced to stop, mostly because she is the first and only person to hear it. A voice calling to her from the trees.

"Hold there, travelers. Rare is one who makes their way this far into our domain, rarer still a group of travelers. You are unwelcome here, as the land has surely told you."

It's a mul'niessa, yes, pale-skinned and armed, a lance over his shoulders.

"You would do well not to linger long here. I see most of you have stopped your ears, but that won't stop you from hearing me."

And it's true. You can just ... understand.

-End