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Forest Role Play:
Chatterbox: Inkwell
Forest Role Play:
Forest Role Play: Part Two
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"In the middle of a huge sea of trees lies a tiny town.
The forest used to be called Silva Vivus Umbrare, which, translated from the old language, means the Forest of Living Shadows, but the people just called it the Woods. Still, the forest lived up to its old name.
The trees moved during the night, uprooting themselves and gliding across the earth to a new spot. Sometimes the guards on duty at night would catch a glimpse of an elk or a deer gliding through the trees with a tall, graceful figure on its back. Occasionally, a larger creature slipped past the guards and stole away a cow or pig or goat.
But even with all the dangers which surrounded them, the people of the town were proud to say that through the half-decade of the existence of the town, they had never lost a person to the woods or to any creature living in the woods.
Until now.
This year, during the Cilana festival, a time in the spring when the people cut down all the trees which have grown at or moved to the edge of town, three young children disappeared.
Alana, an eight-year-old girl with frizzy red hair and a quick smile, Jakob, a serious five-year-old boy with sunburned skin from too many naps in the open, and Zena, a talkative seven-year-old girl with intense blue eyes. Their disappearance stopped the Cilana festival and threw the town into chaos.
The townspeople knew that the three would never have gone off into the Woods by themselves, for the fear of the forest was too deep set in everyone, so the townspeople could only think that they had been kidnapped or stolen. Although the townspeople were frightened and scared and the parents of the children were frantic, only a few people dared to go out into the woods.
You, along with a small group, have decided to venture into the forest to see if the children can still be found. Your bravery has given the town new hope, and the townspeople have provided you with weapons, tools, and horses. You will leave on the new moon.”
-Hummingbird
~~~
Here it is, the long-awaited sequel to the Forest Role Play! For those of you who don’t know, the original thread was created by Hummingbird, who unfortunately left the CB soon after. We kept the thread alive, and ended up finishing Part One in April of 2021. We left several loose ends to be tied up in Part Two--this thread!
I’ll summarize the plot so far, and if you’d like to read the original thread, I’ll link it here: http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/inkwell/node/446255
~~~
The characters gather their supplies and leave the village, soon setting up camp for the night. They encounter their first creature, an Ibrix whom Azi keeps and names Ben. The next night, after an argument, their camp is attacked by Hollowfaces, Shadowbeasts, and Murkbeings, dangerous creatures of the forest who can sense and track hatred. They fight off the creatures and make it to a nearby village, where they spend the night. The next day they continue and find a hair ribbon belonging to Zena, one of the missing children. At camp that night, their fire spreads, growing out of control and burning the clearing. Azi, Iyara, and Demi run back into the flames to save Ben and Spirit, Iyara’s dog. They make it out, badly burned, and the group puts out the fire with river water. After searching the forest for a few more days, the characters find a dead eight-year-old boy, though not one of the kids they’re searching for. They hold a funeral, and an upset Demi wanders into the woods and is kidnapped. She wakes up next to Jakob, one of the missing children. Back at camp, the characters realize Demi is missing, and birds (whom Jeannie can speak to) lead them to Demi and Jakob. There’s a fight, and everyone but Demi, Jakob, and Ash are captured. To escape, they jump out of a moving wagon, then follow the wagon after meeting up with Demi, Jakob, and Ash. Bradley breaks his arm and it starts to rain, so they set up a shelter. Zabder wakes up with amnesia, and the other two missing children, Alana and Zena, show up out of the forest. Meanwhile, Ash wanders into the woods and meets an elf-like creature, a Fynchnox, who has another Zena. Demi finds them and gets hit by an arrow, and the others run away while Macey offers to trade herself for Zena. Caston and Azi remember the Fynchnox’s weakness is cold, and they all go back to help while Demi stays with the kids. They defeat the Fynchnox, but then realize that there are two Zenas. Sebastian figures out who is the real Zena because on is missing the hair ribbon that they’d found earlier. They decide to return to the village, but realize they’re lost. Just as they think they’ve found their way, they’re attacked again by Shadowbeasts and mysterious figures throwing knives. They retreat, heading back to the village, but when they arrive they find it empty.
~~~
That’s Part One in a nutshell. Our plan for Part Two is that the characters will leave the children at the village and venture back out to discover who kidnapped them in the first place, and why. Any inactive characters from Part One will stay back to take care of the kids, and any new characters that join will be survivors found in the village. As Hummingbird originally said, don’t be afraid to move the story forward! Create new creatures, add plot twists, make things happen! Hopefully everyone grows to love this story as much as we do.
~~~
Name:
Age (12-20):
Gender/Pronouns:
Appearance:
Personality:
Quirks:
Flaws:
Shipping:
Other:
~~~
Thanks to Hummingbird for creating this RP, and thanks to everyone who made it possible to finish. I can’t wait to continue this story, I’ll see you all in the Woods!
submitted by Quill, Silva Vivus Umbrare
(October 11, 2021 - 4:04 pm)
(October 11, 2021 - 4:04 pm)
i know i'm not hosting this thread but since leaf just made a charrie i'd say go for it, since you pretty much reserved anyways :)
(October 28, 2021 - 8:03 pm)
MACY'S POV
--------------------
"Uh, guys?" I say, as I caught everyone's attention.
"What it it NOW, Macy?" Demi asked.
"I know this is probably a REALLY bad time to ask, but... what're we gonna do 'bout tryin' to remove Bradley's curse?" I asked.
Sorry it's SO STINKIN' short, I just don't know what to do right now, everythin's kinda... CHAOTIC at my house, 'casue we're movin' on Monday. *Sarcasticaly* Yay.
(October 29, 2021 - 4:31 pm)
(November 1, 2021 - 9:21 pm)
(November 2, 2021 - 5:31 pm)
I'm here! Finally! Hopefully life will get less busy from here on out and I'll be able to actually participate :)
Caston~
I ladle out a bowl of stew for the last of the survivors and wipe sweat off my brow. The other adventurers and I have taken on most of the responsibilities around the town, now that everyone else is gone. We're all so young, but everyone seems to look up to us, and we've been doing our best to be what they need right now.
I stifle a yawn (I'd been up half the previous night on guard duty), then notice Sebastian walking to the front of the crowd.
"Attention, please!" he calls, and the chatter slowly quiets. "I have an announcement. We're almost out of food."
I grimace, even though I'd been expecting it. We'd had a conversation about it earlier in the day. As Sebastian begins listing suggestions for what to do next, I fall back to stand next to Jeannie, Demi, and another dark-haired girl whom I recognize as one of the survivers, but whose name I can't place. Demi is in the midst of a conversation with the girl, so I turn to Jeannie. She looks deep in thought, and her hands are twisting the hem of her shirt nervously. I feel a pang of sympathy for the poor girl. She's the youngest out of all of us, but she still takes on probably more than her fair share of responsibilities, and definitely more than her fair share of worries.
"Are you alright?" I ask quietly, and she seems to snap out of it.
"Oh. Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking..." She trails off. After a moment, she opens her mouth to continue, but she's interrupted by Demi.
"Guys! Listen up, Markina knows something!"
The dark-haired girl--Markina--blushes, but at Demi's urging, she speaks up. "Well, I don't know much, but I know that everything in the town went dark, there was shouting and footsteps, and when the sun came back everything was gone. I don't know how helpful that is, but it's what I know."
Sebastian frowns. "How do you know? And why didn't you tell us until now?"
Markina mumbles something, and Demi cuts in. "It doesn't matter how she knows. It's a start, we can work with it!"
The chatter renews, and Sebastian is drawn into conversation with Demi and Markina. Deciding to let them handle it for now, I return my attention to Jeannie.
"Darkness, shouting..." she muses. "What could have happened here?"
"I don't know," I respond. "Jeannie, what were you going to say earlier? Before Demi interrupted?"
"Oh, nothing really, just something odd I noticed."
"What did you notice?"
"Well, when we were making dinner the other day, there was a lot of food left. Too much to have been eaten that quickly."
"Now that I think about it, you're right. We're going through our supplies faster than should be possible."
"It's the Forest, isn't it?" Jeannie asks abruptly. "I don't know how or why, but it is." She looks pained. "You know what we're going to have to do, don't you?"
I nod. "The Forest wants us back."
(November 3, 2021 - 3:40 pm)
Aspen-
I ended up joining up with the other survivors. Because I make good life descisions. It's currently pending how much longer I'll be alive, anyways.
We're running out of food.
I'm helping to bake for the other survivors. Whenever I feel helpless, that's what I do. And I've never felt more helpless before.
I stare at the forest, at all its dark trees. It's suffocating to look at, especially now. Is my family in the forest? Is everyone? I turn away from it. I would go into the forest in a heartbeat if I knew that was where everything was.
I just want everything to go back to normal.
Why am I here while the rest of my family isn't? I don't know what to do. Anastasia would have a plan to bring everyone home within the hour. My parents would know how to calm everyone down, at least.
And I'm here, and I don't know what I'm doing, and I just wish everyone was here, and home, and safe.
I don't deserve to be here.
But I have to be.
A voice cuts through the various conversations between the survivors. It's Markina. Haltingly, she explains what happened when everyone went missing. I was sleeping then. It had been a late night.
If I wasn't asleep, I could have saved my family.
My breathing gets faster and I stand up quickly. I need to walk. Towards something, or maybe away. This forest surrounds us. I hadn't noticed how claustrophobic this village is.
I need to get out.
And to get out, I need to go through the forest.
(Hope this was okay! Little bit of survivor's guilt for Aspen, because I like seeing my characters suffer >:D)
(November 4, 2021 - 11:43 am)
~ Anneriverie ~
Blackness, seeping like spilled ink across the village. It was sinisterly silent. I opened my mouth, I had to scream, anything to break this horror that was crushing me and my home. No air, my scream was nothing --- I was nothing. I looked down at my hands. No, no... My vision filled with the red of terror.
"Are you okay?"
I let out a stifled scream and snapped my head up. My heart beating so quickly I felt faint. I swayed. A hand fumbled for my elbow to support me but ended up awkwardly grasping my shoulder. I steadied and the hand dropped away from me.
"Thank you", I gasp.
I turned my head upwards until my I meet golden eyes and black and white hair.
". . . Aspen?", I guess.
"Yes." He continues before I can give my name, "Are you alright?" He glances down at my hands.
I look down and realize I have them spread out, palms up. I shake my head to dispel the faint memory of inky stains spreading across my hands and darkening. Had it been a dream? I curl my hands closed and let my arms drop to my side.
"Y-yes, I'm fine." I can't seem to forget the lingering horror of watching my hands blacken. It must have been a dream, it had to be.
Aspen turns away. "Good." They stride off, saying over their shoulder, "You dropped your bowl."
I watch him go, then bend down and retrieve my bowl from where I had dropped it.
Alana, Jakob, and Zena look toward me, worry on their faces, when I approach them to take their bowls to be cleaned.
"They say there is no food", Zena tells me.
"They say we are almost out of food", Jakob corrects her.
"We will eat pine needles, then", Alana smiles at me. A forced one.
I gather their bowls and spoons. "Pine needles make good tea", I say. "Perhaps not a meal, but we will find food. There are many people to help." I smile at them, though I still feel shaken inside. "Let's find something to do."
(November 5, 2021 - 2:19 pm)
Sorry I haven't commented for so long!
Markina~~
I shiver in the cold, and I’m unable to get to sleep. I toss and turn, thinking about the missing food. It was true, there were a lot of us, but we couldn’t have gone through it that fast.
I hadn’t been in the village long, but the villagers had cared for me. I felt like it was my duty to care for them
When the others go, so will I, I decide. Something in the forest is taking people, and it’s my responsibility to help find out. I was glad that I wouldn’t have to go alone. I stretched out a hand and curled it around a little sprout growing out of the dirt.
Sing me to sleep? I asked it.
Hmmmm, it replied, and then its soft songs filled my head. I drifted off.
At somewhere around midnight, my eyes snapped open. Noises came from the forest: snuffling and moaning. I sat bolt upright, my heart pounding. It was louder that could have come from the usual forest animals.
Should I wake someone up?
Instead, I stretched out my mind to the trees in the forest and was shocked to find them all in deep sleep. Trees rarely slept, unless they were very sick or it was a new moon. I could tell they weren’t sick and it wasn’t new moon, so I was alarmed. Who had the power to silence the trees?
I listened a while more. Then the sounds moved further away and died into silence. The trees awakened and resumed their nightly chatter. I shivered and rolled over under my thing blanket.
What had the noises been?
~~
(November 5, 2021 - 5:06 pm)
(November 7, 2021 - 6:15 pm)
(November 8, 2021 - 4:16 pm)
(November 13, 2021 - 8:50 pm)
(November 20, 2021 - 3:19 pm)
(November 20, 2021 - 3:42 pm)
(November 21, 2021 - 1:14 pm)
THIS. WILL. NOT. DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(November 29, 2021 - 11:27 am)