Firefly Lake

Before you enter, you may bring 3 things with you. These may include companions, accessories, and the like. Please list them at the start of your thread. There is great risk involved to all that you bring along as well as your chosen character, though you may find there will also be equally great benefit.

Any rewards gained in your adventure will be account bound and therefore not tradeable unless simply gems. A handful of the benefits will be for the character you bring only.

Your choice in character, companion, and accessory will possibly impact your story. Different attributes and aspects of your character, companion, and accessory will provide risks or benefits depending on the various encounters, and where one wolf would fail a situation another wolf might pass it with ease.

As the story progresses, encounters will become riskier though you can choose to abandon the adventure at any time. If you choose to remain, you do so understanding the risks!



Coming to this area, the sun rests low in the horizon and many fireflies are just starting to light the sky in its stead. There is nothing inherently spooky about these scenes, however the complete lack of the usual chittering of birds and rummaging of creatures puts even the most steadfast of visitors on edge. The water calls to you, reflecting the last luminescent rays of the golden sun as it sinks into the horizon. It seems as if every step is blocked off by a wall of fireflies which seem unpassable.

How do you attempt to get through?

• Barge your way through
  
• Eat the fireflies
  
• Leave
  

Firefly lake held many memories for Zee, though she couldn't remember a time where she felt so unnerved in a land all her life. She was an alpha damnit and a master of navigation to boot - the stillness of the air would not bother her, nor would the silence of the woodland creatures she came to expect to hear. The fireflies made a thick blanket before her and she took a moment to enjoy their beauty, swallowing her discomfort and deciding that no, SHE was going to control this spooky narrative. With a grin upon her face she aimed to rush into the flies, snapping and biting her way through them and maybe eating some of them in the process. "Speech"

Firefly Lake

From this point on, you can exit at any point, even if the option is not listed! If leaving is listed as a choice, then you may only ATTEMPT to exit!

You can’t eat all the fireflies. There’s too many. But while eating you make it through somehow, but your stomach feels upset and now your maw glows. As you finally make your way through the mass of fireflies and towards the water, you see a small bridge of strange, floating crystals leading through the middle of the lake to a… is that a downwards staircase into the lake? Those stones look a little slippery.


How do you attempt to get through?

• Use the bridge
  
• Swim
  
• Jump over the gap
  

Alright, even Zee could admit when too much was too much. Her stomach began to ache and she groaned - these fireflies were past their expiration date for sure. Thankfully she was done nursing her puppies, or she'd worry that perhaps her milk would start to glow, too. It was better that it was only her health she was risking in this adventure, and not that of her children too. Regardless, she managed it through until the bridge. Ears pricked with interest and she stared over at the floating crystals, wondering how she could manage the journey. She was an avid and skilled swimmer, and with her short and small stature the jump might be difficult.Swim it was! Zee moved to enter the water, hoping it wouldn't be too cold. "Speech"

Firefly Lake

Maybe its all the fireflies in you belly, but your body seems to want to sink. You paddle and prod to keep yourself afloat, but your head bobs below water briefly. In your thrashing, you pull your left shoulder, ouch! Eventually, you manage to haul yourself up onto the surface of the staircase.

Down the Rabbit(?) Hole

You step down the finely chiseled stairs which seem to be made of thin sheets of crystal, showing the water below as fish swim beneath your very paws. As you go lower, the fish swim beside, then above you until you are slowly immersed into a dark, watery chamber. When you come off the stairs, you find you are standing on solid ground, though far above you can still see the surface of the water. Light from above shimmers and refracts into tiny rainbows across the ground. The only place to go now is deeper into the cavern which narrows and darkens. The cavern grows quite steep and your eyes have not fully adjusted to the darkness. One should be careful as they descend into the depths.

How do you attempt to get through?

• Slow and steady wins the race
  
• Mad dash
  

The pain in her shoulder was distracting, but Zee had injured herself exploring before and it hadn't dissuaded her from moving further. Her and Harbringr had braved an active volcano while she was pregnant, how much worse could it really get? Coming up from the water she approached the stairs, staring down at the fish and wondering if eating them would give her a glow, too. Hmm. The darkness grew and along with it her ability to see began to fade. Sprinting down an unknown staircase was the choice of a fool, and so Zee decided she'd take it as slow and steady as possible, especially when her shoulder still ached from the swim. "Speech"

Down the Rabbit(?) Hole

You slowly descend down into the depths of the cave. As you walk, you feel a small notch in the wall. And another. And another! In each, sets a tiny gem. By the end of the tunnel, you have a nice handful of gems! You'll have to count them later!

Now, the cavern levels out, but is still tricky to navigate. You’re sure you hear shuffling ahead, but can't see anything to match the noise. What do you do? This is open ended! Respond as your character would, but only to the point to where you ATTEMPT something! No cheating!

Zee's fur began to bristle as soon as the shuffling noises started. Something was down here with her, her shoulder was injured, and turning tail now would be leaving her hind end available to attack. She did what she'd expect Sirius to do - continue forward ready and willing to fight anything that popped it's ugly face out of the darkness. Her lips pulled back to display her teeth, though it wasn't a mere show of intimidation - Zee's mouth fucking glowed in the dark, perhaps it'd help light the way for her. When she figured she looked positively terrifying, she started forward into the darkness. "Speech"

Down the Rabbit(?) Hole

You approach, baited breath and glowing teeth gleaming in the darkness. You are ready to fight anything in your path. This thing, however, does not stay in your path for long. With a final shuffle, it falls silent for only a few seconds before a rat with glowing eyes lunges at you. You perhaps go to react, or maybe you freeze in fear, but before the rat even makes it to you, it vanishes into seemingly nothing. Perhaps this is a warning to go back...

Sp̶͙̆͗̚̕ooky Cavȩ̴̧̩̖̱͔̈͑̾̅͂̊͝ͅ

The main cavern opens up to a large area full of stalagmites and stalactites. Your eyes adjust (if you have fireflies, their light dies out) allowing you to see just how vast this underground expanse is. Water trickles through the center of the cavern running from the wall near you and creating a small river cutting through the room all the way to the end. It seems clean, but there is no telling what lurks in the depths.

How will you navigate this room?

• Carefully around the stalagmites.
  
• Swim the river
  

While you're here... there's that water...

Do you take a sip?

• Sip Sip
  
• No sippy
  

Seeing things - Zee was definitely seeing things. The rat materialized and poofed before she could possibly try to bite it, and she was left with a shiver down her spine. What the fuck was going on in this cave? She didn't dawdle long, picking up her pace until she reached the main cavern. This definitely appeared to be the kind of water a loch ness monster would lurk in, and Zee wouldn't be putting any part of her body anywhere near it. Instead, she moved to carefully navigate the stalagmites with one eye upon the suspicious river the entire way. [Around the stalagmites] [No sippy] "Speech"

Sp̶͙̆͗̚̕ooky Cavȩ̴̧̩̖̱͔̈͑̾̅͂̊͝ͅ

If you know one thing, it's that the water is suspicious. You do your best to avoid it, climbing around the stalagmites. Some areas narrow so much, you're forced to pull back and try another route. On one such climb, you start to slide down into a deep crevice. You jerk back instinctively, but your left horn catches on the narrow entranceway, chipping it slightly.

You eventually clear your way into the next room...

Crȩ̸̱̞̈́͗̆̾̀̑̈̇vice S̵̡̥͉͌͗̿͋̾̓̀̍h̴̢̆͛̉͗̏̎̇́uffle

You cross into the next room and the passages just keep getting smaller and smaller! Finally, the passage forks into one that is very small, but stable-looking. The other is large and spacious but appears to be much more treacherous.

How will you navigate this room?

• Big Tunnel
  
• Small Tunnel
  

Just when she thought she was through, Zee heard (and felt) the cracking of one of her horns. "Fuck!" She seethed, her frustration out of pride more then pain. Great, she'd have to live with a chipped horn forever. As soon as she was home she was going to find a way to plaster it back together or hide the injury in some way, unwilling to be seen with any part of her broken. For now however she'd need to continue onwards, and paused at the fork in the passage. The big tunnel seemed much more frightening - Zee herself was small, she could fit in spaces other wolves couldn't and if there was a massive flying ghost mammoth in here then he'd sure as shit be in the big tunnel and not the small one. Using her size to her advantage, Zee crouched low and moved to enter the smaller space. "Speech"

Crȩ̸̱̞̈́͗̆̾̀̑̈̇vice S̵̡̥͉͌͗̿͋̾̓̀̍h̴̢̆͛̉͗̏̎̇́uffle

You fit snugly inside the small tunnel, just enough so you can pull your way though. A few spaces are tight, but you manage to get out without a scratch! When you finally emerge through the end of the tunnel, you find that all that stretching and pulling might have left you a different shape than before.

Ç̸̭̩̻͔͖̱̥̉̚ŕ̶̨̛͙͍͓̲̣͕̎̃̾̎̄̑̐̏̔͆͝͠ȳ̸̡̼͉̙̻̘͚͕̘̿̌stall̴̞̪̀͋̎̏̂̄̔́̈́̀̆͐̕͝ĩ̷̛͎̦͉̼̤͇̏͠në̸̻̗̣̏ D̴͔̲̲̫̭̤̲͌̑̅͗̔̐̇̒̾͐͌͝͝epths

The tunnel leads you into a vast room where pinholes of light shine down from the ceiling and down onto a sea of sharp but enchanting crystals below. The place is as breathtaking as it is lethal. You feel as though if you don’t turn back now, you will not be able to leave the tunnel the same as you came. You take a deep breath and decide to descend the glittering slopes. At your feet, there are surprisingly soft mosses with many microflora sprouting up between the rugged crystals and fireflies loom lazily in the air. Somewhere in the distance, a crystal from the ceiling falls like a dagger into the ground below. You do not see where it lands, but it shatters with enough ferocity to be felt in your paws.

How do you navigate this risky wonderland?

• Left, towards the crashing noise!
  
• Right, away from the crashing noise!
  
• Over the giant crystals!
  

Zee felt weird - really weird. She chose to ignore that feeling however rather then consider that this stupid cave was doing things to her without her consent. What was worse, she might make it out of this nightmare ugly. Fuck. Sirius was going to kill her for coming, then leave her for being ugly, then kill her again for making him leave her. Pushing past her discomfort she continued on, hearing the noise crash and steeling her nerves. Zee was the Queen of the Armada, and fuck it if she was going to show this cave that she was afraid of it. She moved onwards, towards the crashing noise and only prayed that whatever was causing the commotion would keep her face intact. "Speech"

Ç̸̭̩̻͔͖̱̥̉̚ŕ̶̨̛͙͍͓̲̣͕̎̃̾̎̄̑̐̏̔͆͝͠ȳ̸̡̼͉̙̻̘͚͕̘̿̌stall̴̞̪̀͋̎̏̂̄̔́̈́̀̆͐̕͝ĩ̷̛͎̦͉̼̤͇̏͠në̸̻̗̣̏ D̴͔̲̲̫̭̤̲͌̑̅͗̔̐̇̒̾͐͌͝͝epths

You head towards the crashing- what’s the chance a crystal falls in the same place twice, right? Not only that, but as you work your way to the crash site, the fall cleared many of the fallen crystals and you’re able to pick up a few shards on your way! Maybe this will make some nice armor or maybe a weapon later.

Kì̶̦̹͔̠͇͂̄̀ng Fire̴̢̡̝̹̭͚̲̫͔̔fly Guy

You enter the next room. It is small and curved like the inside of a geode. All around, fireflies buzz, lighting the room with a soft ambient glow that resonates within the smaller shards which dot the walls like a mosaic. In the center of the room, crystals grow up into a large throne and upon that throne sits a humanoid figure cloaked in a rough robe. Its eyes glitter and dance, and as it speaks it is as if many voices speak in unison from all around the room.

“You have entered my realm and come to see me with your own mortal eyes,” it says. The figure leans forward as if intrigued, you feel as if many eyes watch your every move. Behind you, a wall of fireflies block your path. “I can let you go, perhaps, if you give me something instead.”

Fireflies buzz around you angrily, throwing themselves into your pelt. A few buzz to the cloaked figure and drift into its hood before the whole body lights up angrily, “You are a true monster, wolf! Your crimes must be punished! I demand… your horns for your payment! Or do you think you deserve to be free?”

How do you navigate this risky wonderland?

• Offer your horns
  
• Offer something else (list in post)
  
• Negotiate to keep everything
  
• Attempt to flee