The Harbringer - Act Two
Chapter One: The Shadowlands
The Circle makes its way through the woods, new member Ino among them.
- - insert dialogue for character development.
After nearly half a day's worth of traveling, with the sun long gone and a bright moon hanging overhead, the group reaches a clearing. It appears to be perfectly circular, the trees giving way to grasses and a small ring of stones encircling some invisible point in the center. The clearing is barren, save for a small cottage situated near the far end of the perimeter. Though most of the Circle seems unperturbed by its presence, Halar immediately feels uncomfortable at the sight, knowing that something is amiss.
A beautiful woman steps out of the cottage, and spotting the travelers, beckons them over, "You boys look tired, you must've been making your way from Ravenhurst! That's quite the distance from here, come, let me offer my place to rest. I've plenty of beds, food, and drink to offer."
Isosceles and Ino are hesitant, unsure of how to proceed, while Halar suspects the situation is trouble and advises his partners to stay clear of the woman. However, Bianfu and Mugen, wary from the trip and seeing no danger in a kind woman's offer, take no heed in Halar's warnings, and begin to make their way towards the cottage. On realizing that the clearing is indeed a shadow-land, as evidenced by the vegetation being somewhat muted and the sky having a slightly darker tint, the rest of the circle follows into the clearing, knowing that once someone had entered the clearing they would not return to creation until sun up.
The woman smiles and beckons once more to the travelers, encouraging them to hurry up; Halar makes one final attempt to persuade Mugen and Bianfu to discontinue their progress. Bianfu hears wisdom in his voice, and his step falters, hesitating a moment. Mugen however, transfixed on the woman, seems to hasten his pace, and he quickly is ushered into the cottage, the door closing behind him. The rest of the circle stands awkwardly outside the door, trying to decide how to proceed.
Inside the cottage, Mugen remarks that the interior is vast, much larger on the inside than what initially appeared to be a quaint cottage from outside. There are indeed enough beds - coincidentally, exactly five beds along the wall - with a dining table near the door and five already-set places around the table. The woman instructs Mugen to take a seat, "Please sit, your food is nearly ready," and turns to a large black cooking pot boiling with some delicious-smelling stew. While there is a fireplace where the pot is cooking, Mugen faintly remembers there not being a chimney on the outside of the cabin, but the thought quickly leaves his mind as he sits into the chair and takes in the delicious smells and sights of the room.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Circle stands outside the door, debating on what to do. - insert debate here
Bianfu grows tired of the indecision, and with a swift thrust of his clenched fist towards the door, breaks it open. Spotting Mugen in the chair, Bianfu rushes in to find he is simply unresponsive to any attempt to persuade out of the cabin. Bianfu has no time for this and decisively slaps Mugen across the face.
"Faerie magic. Run," Bianfu orders.
Nodding knowingly, Mugen rises and runs out of the cabin with Bianfu; the rest of the Circle follows and they all sprint towards the edge of the clearing, hopping over the ring of stones on their way out. As they turn back, they no longer see a cottage or woman present. Contact with faerie magic is dangerous, bending the fabric of creation as exposure is maintained. This manifests itself into mutations in humans, and while Bianfu was brief enough in his rescue to remain unscathed, Mugen finds himself of a noticeably larger stature, now rising a good head and shoulders above his comrades.
The Circle takes a moment to catch their breaths and plan out where to go to next.' - some banter
Guessing that the Underworld was more or less a mirror of Creation, there should be a town of some kind in the direction that Ravnhurst had been, and they proceed to walk in that direction. No sooner had they lost sight of the clearing were they suddenly approached by a group of ghostly-looking men. "Hey there, catch anything good?"
It was a hunting party of ghosts, camped out around the shadow-lands looking to catch any mortals wandering through the portal. Thanks to the charm Sanchez had given them, the members of the Circle were in no danger of appearing mortal to these ghosts, however they could still be found out by suspicion, and the hunting party was annoyed that seemingly a rival party had been poaching their targets this night. Ino took point in mediating the groups, quelling their suspicions, allowing the Circle to continue down the path on amiable terms with the hunting party, now moving closer to the clearing to ensure there were no more surprises waiting for them around there. The group continues travelling down the forest path. Though they've traveled for many hours and the sun should be rising, there is no apparent sun. Instead, the dark night sky simply becomes less dark, a pale light emanating throughout the sky, highlighting the sickly-looking vegetation of the forest around them. They finally come across the edge of the forest, where they do not find a town of village, but simply some sort of trading post situated by the river.