RUMORS: ROSE

[crittersheep]

WELCOME TO SILVER STAR, YOUR SOURCE OF THE BEST OF THE PASTURE NEWS! From Newspapers, magazines, radios and more, we at Silver Star are determined to bring you the best as it happens live. ... Is what we normally say but you work here today! So it's not like you need the big run down. You heard the boss though, we need you to get to WORK.

Your editor is YOUR NAME!

Comments

SUBMISSION

[crittersheep]

Entries are due at 4:30 PM EST, unless an extension is required.

Tales from the Rose Garden

[debug_mode]

[Your Name puts on a melancholy voice, more menacing in certain parts.]

It is said that if one beseeches the aid of the elder beings of the sea, one may be granted blessings, or have their deepest wishes fulfilled. The method is thus:

At sunset, go to a high cliff overlooking the sea, with a beach down below. Sing to the deeps of all your sorrows and desires, and cast out a cask of fish’s blood. If the Old Ones have heard your plea, a necklace of seashells will wash up on the shore below. If the shells are white, wear it for three days and three nights, and know the tides of fate will bring you blessings.

But if the shells are red, beware: the Old Ones have taken measure of your call and found it lacking. It may be that your offering did not match the size of your wish, or they’ve found the quality of your character is undeserving. Now you must pay with your own blood and flesh until they are sated.

Ignore the necklace on the sand, and you forfeit your life. But should you don it, you may show the Old Ones the strength of your resolve, and take upon yourself the chance to prove yourself again. They will send ashore their emissary -- a being so awful to behold, to lay eyes on it will cause you to cry tears of blood.

The creature will pursue you for three days and three nights. If you successfully elude their gaze in all that time, the Old Ones will be satisfied. The necklace will crumble from your neck as a sign of their change of hearts, and you may expect your tides to turn for the better.

Each time you look upon the emissary, another shell from the necklace shall crack, and it will grow tighter. Fail enough, and you’re surely done for. If you decide your wish isn’t worth it after all, fill two casks with blood from the land as an offering. Your wish will never come true in all your days, but you will be free from the emissary’s eyes, forever.

So, if you find yourself on a cliff at sunset, with a cask of blood in your hands, ask yourself carefully: are you worthy?

Is your wish worth the price you might pay? How far are you willing to go to prove it?

Re: Tales from the Rose Garden

[finalbows]

[ prim little golf clap ]

DISCUSSION

[crittersheep]

Re: DISCUSSION

[wants_the_phd]

[Azdaja currently has a broken horn and now also a necktie.]

Alright, let's hear your best superstitions, people. Quittin' time's around the corner and I want to be home in time for dinner.

1/2

[finalbows]

[ fondly regards horn situation ]

My favorite superstition is the--

2/2

[finalbows]

The...

[ his brain trips like he's missed a stair. trying to recall something that's no longer there, a reflexive tease about magic when his underlying assumptions it's built are don't match. ]

...Well, one I like, anyway...

...were the wedding traditions based around the aquatic serpent Gizamaluke. The rats of Burmecia would all make pilgrimage to stand before it and make their vows, and the shrine to the beast was built around the ringing of bells.

It could be cute if we made up a yarn about getting married in front of the Forever Snake.

Re: DISCUSSION

[poisonista]

[ Writes these outlines down: ]

- A trio of young women seeking eternal youth and immortality summon a mermaid, said to have knowledge on how to as much. The mermaid is clever, and offers them three of her scales with the promise that so long as they wear them, they will have what they desire, but they must remove the scale under the darkness of the new moon. She won't explain why, and the condition for her spell to work is that they follow her wishes. The women then remain young for years, following instruction and enjoying themselves, until one new moon, they forget to remove the scales from themselves.

( Why did the mermaid not want them to wear the scale during the new moon? It could be that the scale becomes a beacon to something horrific. Something might befall them, or warp them. Your guesses? )

- It is said that during sunset, if one sings to the older entities of the ocean and beseeches their help with an offering of a jar of their blood, they will get a blessing to fulfill one wish. If the song and offering is accepted, known by a necklace of seashells landing at the person's feet, the person will meet the goal they wished for. However, if the song is rejected, known by the sea turning red and angry, the blood must be spilled into the water to appease them and the person must depart. Now begins the chase- for you have summoned a being you must outrun for three days. If you succeed, you will gain your wish, but you will always know where they are, and cannot look at them directly. At night, you need to sleep in a tub of water to ensure they cannot come close to you. And if you do look at them directly, for they will try and try to make you do so...

(What could you see? Perhaps we leave this to the imagination.)


- Would you like to know your future, and know of your endeavor's success? Then follow these instructions, and do not leave a mess.


( This is the easiest kind, so we can do anything we want with this. )

Re: DISCUSSION

[finalbows]

People here like the ignore the idea that they'll be in this world that long, so nix the first one, a story of longevity doesn't have mass appeal.

I like the second one, but it's a little dense with detail to easily follow, so it's needs trim to have mass appeal and temptation to replicate. The third is too vague.

Re: DISCUSSION

[finalbows]

[ in an outfit that's basically exactly what you get if you google "sexy secretary costume" ]

So we just make something up that's exciting.


This will be easy.

Re: DISCUSSION

[debug_mode]

Well, well, well.

Look who's suddenly gets to be Little Miss Popular around here?

Re: DISCUSSION

[wants_the_phd]

How confident are you in your grammar and spelling?

Re: DISCUSSION

[strateelgic]

So much that comes to mind is ocean-related. Do you think we'd lose points for that?

[Levi is in unbuttoned pin stripes with a red turtleneck underneath.]

Re: DISCUSSION

[wants_the_phd]

Why would we?

Re: DISCUSSION

[poisonista]

[ Already taking notes. ]

We need to consider our outline, then. Our antagonist, the fear or condition to create the ritual of the situation, and the outcome.


Why not make it a tale involving a summoning? Those are usually rather horrific if they go wrong.

Re: DISCUSSION

[wants_the_phd]

Also it's a common enough occurrence that it's more likely to sound based in reality. In fact, it may be happening right now.

Re: DISCUSSION

[finalbows]

Oh, base it around fear. That's a good angle. Fear sells.

Re: DISCUSSION

[strateelgic]

I was thinking something more fun and light-hearted - like if blood is spilled three times in a whirlpool then an undead shark will rise and devour anyone nearby.

[How is this light-hearted.]

PHASE 2

[crittersheep]

THE BROADCAST

[crittersheep]

The radio in the room starts up with a slight crackle, and a girl speaks.

"Have you heard? There is a spider in the meadow. Everyone thought he was a villain, but he actually wanted to become a hero. The harder the spider fought for what was right, the more everyone felt the need to stand in his way. Alas, he is only one spider versus many. He could not stand up to the masses and eventually he perished, without even having a name to be remembered.

So he crawled back out of hell. Even dead, even a hundred times dead, the spider wouldn't stop fighting. Because there’s something the Spider couldn’t give up on. And that was love for his friends and home.

So crush the spider all you like, fiend. Each time he will come back stronger, until the day is his. After 100 deaths, the Spider would be given a prize for his endurance, a very special machine that allows him to gain more strength than he could imagine. Yes, this device allows him to transform, giving him clothing that protects him from monsters, a helmet that conceals his identity to protect him from foes so he can live a normal daily life, and powers that no human could wield without loss of life!

Yes, this newfound image is bright, colorful, flashy, and brings fear to those who try to torment the world he loves! He will cleanse all evil as a true transforming hero!

And so... if you kill a spider, it will come back as a swarm to curse and devour you until nothing is left.




Really...?"

AND: SCENE

[crittersheep]

The power in the room cuts out, and the air suddenly feels pleasantly warm, smelling fresh and floral. A gentle breeze brings light, and you'll find yourselves standing in a meadow. Before you stands a spider.

A large spider.

A large spider with a sword and armor, looking like it's come straight from Hell itself. Even amongst the rest of the meadow is more spiders, though these ones at least seem much more reasonable in size.

Except...

You really want to kill one. More than anything, you want to crush one of these little bastards.

Re: AND: SCENE

[finalbows]

[ turns red
urge to kill things rising but like that's every day before noon


sighs and starts casting protective barrier spells on flock instead ]

Re: AND: SCENE

[wants_the_phd]

[.....That feel when you realize you're the random encounter monster in someone else's RPG]

Re: AND: SCENE

[poisonista]

Oh please. Something this pathetic doesn't have the right to darken our path.

[ What is this story... he draws his magic pen and his grimoire. ]

I wonder if you'll come back stronger too if I crush you.

[debug_mode]

Welp. I've lived a long life.

Going down killing a spider isn't bad.