Thorn had walked about for an hour in the wraith woods and now was lying on the ground, a large piece of parchment in front of him.  It seemed an easy area to get lost and thus one requiring a good map.  This was the first of many stops he planned to make in these woods to get a full picture, slow but for the best details.  Thorn held a piece of chalk in his mouth, making soft lines, ones that could easily be overlooked once darker lines were formed.  

There were so many trees that looked the same he had a hard time deciding how to make the map useful.  He could use the trees as landmarks but trees grew, they fell down, and other animals could change their looks and yet they were the most noticeable figure.  

With a sigh, Thorn made an ‘x’ for where he had entered with pale lines to make boundary lines.  It was a start, small as it was.  Staring ahead Thorn looked intently at the trees, the path, and anything else he could find to try and determine solid landmarks.

"Thorn Carpathius"

Three wolfish borzoi stand before you, shifting with anticipation. Their glowing green eyes flitter and dance with an ethereal excitement. To your left, a pale and excitable wolf beckons, their tail wagging fervently behind them. In the center, a mournful wolf who's coat is such a pure slate, it seems as if she's tinged blue. To your right stands a dark abrasive looking wolf who's eyes are barely visible under his furrowed brow as he impatiently awaits your decision. In fact, it seems they are all waiting for you to make a choice between the three.

Who do you choose?

Easy Route: The Gleeful Guide

This route poses minimal risk, but also lesser rewards.
Risks: Scarring, small loss of gems/skill points

Medium Route: The Sorrowful Guide

This route poses some risk and moderate rewards.
Risks: Scarring, cosmetic disfigurement, temporary disabilities, moderate loss of gems/skill points

Hard Route: The Irascible Guide

This route poses the most risk and greater rewards.
Risks: Scarring, cosmetic disfigurement, permanent disabilities, higher loss of gems/skill points

Thorn paused his map-making as he saw a surprising sight, that of 3 strange wolves, no, wolf crossbreeds nearby.  “Hello,” he offered the three with a friendly tone.  “One moment please.”  Thorn folded up his map, putting a rock over the parchment to hold it in place.  

Thorn smiled politely at the extra friendly wolf-something.  His eyes drifted to the more mournful wolf, his features softening as he wondered what pained her, after a moment he also gave her a fake smile to try and encourage her with his looks.  Not knowing her problem probably wouldn’t help much.  Maybe he should talk to her in a bit?
For now, though he looked curiously at the black canine.  “Hello, friend.” This area wasn’t owned and he didn’t smell any pack he knew of in the group.  This was a mysterious place though.  “Where do you all come from?"  Thinking of the mournful one he continued speaking to the black wolf-cross.  “Are you in need of aid?  May I help you?”

(Choosing the black wolf)

"Thorn Carpathius"

The grumpy wolf's brow relaxes just slightly when you choose him, though he refuses to answer any of your questions. He seems to give you a moment to reconsider. After a moment, the tough looking wolf grunts in approval and turns to lead.

As you follow, a thick smoke rolls in and masks sight and smell. Through watery eyes, you are barely able to follow the guide, but eventually the smoke begins to clear and you are hit with the strong smell of Sulphur. You take a step forward and the guide pulls you back slightly. Blinking the rest of the tears out of your eyes, you realize you're on the edge of a steep chasm- a chasm filled with bubbling lava. One wrong move and it's over.

The guide motions to a wobbly wooden bridge that connects down into a cave on the other side of the canyon.

What do you do?

Strength: Dash across before the bridge can collapse.

If you're fast, the bridge won't have a chance to collapse!

Charisma: Make the guide go first.

This was his idea, so make him go first.

Dexterity: Balance lightly between the planks evenly as you go.

Most of the planks seem stable enough. If you balance evenly, surely none of them will break.

Wisdom: Evaluate the safest planks to walk on.

If you take your time, you can pick out the safest planks.

Leave.

Leave and exit the event.

Thorn follows the black canine, turning his gaze back to the sad one hoping she might also be coming.  It quickly becomes apparent it will be just him and the black stranger.  The other animals and even the scenery around them disappear into a fog that hides everything from his sight.  On top of that, Thorn realized he couldn’t smell anything.  As he pondered a smell did start to reach him, one that made him scrunch up his nose.  The sulphur scent was strong and even as his sight started to return he felt the black wolf pulling him back from another step.

Thorn looked down, muscles tensing at how close he had come to walking off the ground and into a lava chasm.  A curious glance to the black wolf and then back ahead of them.  That bridge looked questionabl and Thorn pondered the logic in this  The notion of turning around teased at him but the desire to roam all of the lands rang just as true in this strange place.  Would he ever be able to find this place again if he left now?

Thorn was large, tall as his dad and that wasn’t going to help at all in walking lightly on the bridge.  On the other hand, Thorn did have the benefit of a long stride.  The need of a mapper to see everything encouraged him forward and Thorn picked up speed, hoping he could get across safely if he just went fast enough that the bridge didn’t need to hold his weight long.

Thorn chooses strength

"Thorn Carpathius"

You kick off, launching yourself down the shaky bridge. You can hear the guide grunt in surprise behind you. Your paws crash down on the warm, dry wood. About halfway through the bridge, your paw crashes through a plank, sending your body tumbling into the weakened structure. The guide is fast behind you, scruffing you and shoving you down the bridge one step at a time. At the end, he releases you and ushers you quickly into the cave with an eyeroll.

In the struggle, you scrape the skin over your left ribs. It bleeds a little, but will heal just fine.

Inside the cave, warm lava lights the way. Small pools bubble and small streams flow from tiny cracks in the walls. Several boulders act as stepping stones across larger gaps, and small wooden bridges span other areas. Around the walls of the room, a thin edge navigates above any threat of lava. It is clear you need to get to the end of this room if you wish to continue your journey.

What do you do?

Strength: Take the stepping stones.

The stepping stones look sturdy and all you have to do is jump a little.

Charisma: Ask the guide to lead the way.

The guide should know the way through the pass.

Dexterity: Take the thin edge.

Creeping on the thin edge keeps you above and away from danger.

Wisdom: Take the bridges.

The bridges are obviously there for a reason, so use them.

Leave.

Leave and exit the event.

Thorn’s paw goes through the wood, causing him to lose his balance.  Surprisingly his foot manages not to get injured from breaking through though as he’s helped across he does feel a bit of pain along his ribs.  Being scruffed and shoved like he was still some rookie kid was a bit embarrassing but he certainly wasn’t going to complain that the stranger just saved his life.

Looking back to the bridge he turns his head to the black wolf, “Thank you,” Thorn humbly offers.  A slight nod in grateful respect and he turns to see what comes next.  Following the path, he stops when once again lava gets in the way of moving on.  This time he needed to make smarter plans or at least move better so that he didn’t end up needing to be saved.

Bridge or stones?  The bridge was straight without needing to jump but then it also came into question of stability and quite frankly he felt done with bridges.  Thorn was confident in his stride and timing and boulders don’t easily break or fall apart.  He was about to leap when he paused to look back and try to soak all of this into his memory.  Later he wanted to put all of this on paper though he doubted it would be very useful.  Thorn had no idea how he would ever find this place again after all.

After Thorn was confident he could remember where he’d been Thorn swung his focus back to his path.  Time to go.  Thorn leaped to the first boulder and continued on towards his goal of the other side.

Choosing strength – across the stones

"Thorn Carpathius"

You jump rock to rock. They're sturdy and secure. A few jumps in, and one cracks, falling into the lava. You scramble at the surface just enough to save yourself from falling in with a little help of the guide. The lava sputters, splashing you across your right back inner leg. The lava singes through your fur, leaving a deep burn about the size of a wolf's paw (5in x 4in). Ouch! That's gonna leave a scar.

Across the lava room stands a flat piece of smooth stone, so level and flat, it is as if thousands of paws had worn it over time. It looks cool to the touch and vaguely important. Surrounding it is a mote of lava, separated only by sharp stalagmites that impale it to point towards the open ceiling. There is no discernible path across. You know you must get there one way or another, but you're not sure you'll be able to go back the same way you came if you cross.

What do you do?

Strength: Jump over the gap.

If you push off real hard, you can close the gap... probably.

Charisma: Ask the guide to help.

Maybe just this once...? He's got to know something!

Dexterity: Use the stalagmites as stepping stones.

If you're careful, some of the tips of the stalagmites look wide enough to balance on.

Wisdom: Build a bridge with the materials from the other room.

It'll take a while, but it should work...

LAST CHANCE TO LEAVE.

If you proceed further, you will not be able to leave. Abandoned threads may result in failed rolls.
Risks: Scarring, cosmetic disfigurement, permanent disabilities, higher loss of gems/skill points

This was going to work just fine.  Thorn hopped, sized up the jump, and hopped again.  Easy.  Then one cracks, crumbles, and falls into the lava.  Thorn’s feet scrabble for purchase and quickly keep hopping to the end.  Pain is flaming on his back right leg.  He didn’t need to look to imagine where the lava splashed him, the pain was pulsating with his every heartbeat.

The dark guide had once again helped and Thorn gave a small nod of thanks. “Appreciate that, thank you.” The words of gratitude are sincere, his tone hushed and the last part hissed out with the pain.  Well, the leg is still there and now what was all fun and games was far more serious.  He needed to get to a healer and that meant getting out of here as fast as possible.

While it was burning with pain it appeared the leg was still working.  There were no great options here and they all meant using the injured leg.  Taking a few deep slow breaths Thorn worked at centering himself.  When the moment felt right he ran, all legs forced to work as he hit the edge, lifting his frame off the ground as he attempted to jump over the gap.  

Strength - Jump the gap

"Thorn Carpathius"

You decide to kick off hard, hoping to close the gap using your sheer strength. Only when you're almost to the other side do you realize you underestimated the size of the gap, and you feel yourself falling, falling, falling...

All you remember is the hot blazing heat and then... cool darkness. You awake outside of the chasm on a smooth, flat rock.

A familiar form kneels beside you, tending your wounds. It takes several blurry moments to realize this is not your guide, but a cluster of fireflies in a cloak the same color as your guide's fur. Your injuries are blindingly painful, but you will live; you can tell somehow by the way the fireflies buzz around you. One in particular will stand out, a deep, ugly wound that lies across your left neck right hip, that will leave an impressive scar (about 6 inches long). You feel less knowledgeable at having gone on that adventure as well, losing 80 83 Navigation skill points.

You realize loosely how little sense that makes and you wonder if this is real, but a warm force closes your eyes and bids you to think of home, of safety. When you awake next, you are in a safe place, one which you might have imagined.

Three wolfish borzoi bow their heads in appreciation. Thank you for playing the Halloween 2023 event! All is calm as you look out, but there's no telling what's on the horizon... or perhaps even under it...

Look forward to peeks into the event, hiccups, and maybe some hints into the next adventure!

You Gained This Along the Way...

• No stuff here.
  

You Lost These Along the Way...

• Minor injury - left ribs
  
• Medium Scar - right back inner leg
  
• Major scar- right hip
  
• -83 Navigation skill points