use the HONORIFIC

[Rostislav]

No I didn't find the fucking relic. I looked all over Novus (like.. really all over), and found squat. Well.. I found that small red gem, and the iridescent gold ball, but since those have obviously not turned out to be the relic, that really counts as nothing. I sigh as I trudge along, not paying attention to much of anything. My head droops, mane shaggy and tangled instead of its normal coarse and flat. Without the relic, I can't barter with the Gods to bring me Damaris. The distraction that was the search for the relic has left me emptier than before, and painfully aware that nothing has really changed. I had met a few other equines that I might be able to call friends, and that was nice.. but nothing can erase the pain and loneliness of Damaris's absence.

I didn't realize I'd closed my eyes until I run face first into the scratchy brush of... a hedge. I stepped back, shaking my horned head to rid myself of the bramble that entangled itself there. Spitting out a leaf or two, I glance up at the huge hedge. I glance from one side to the other, and see that it stretches so far each direction that I can't actually see the end of it. Just to my left from where I'd collided with the greenery, there's an opening in the far expanse. I walk toward it then stop, peering in around to the right. Eyes are wide and nostrils even wider as I try to figure what the hell this all is.... "I'm pretty sure this wasn't here before..." I would have seen it in all my travels, wouldn't I? It appears to be.... a gigantic maze. I step in and feel my gut cramp and twist immediately. What if I never get out? But some part of me didn't care... and so I began wandering a path, not having any idea where I was going or if I'd ever emerge again.

Rumor had it that the relic I'd searched so far and long for was discovered by a Shaman. Perhaps he would be at the other end of this madness? Perhaps I could throttle him and convince him to speak to the Gods on my behalf. "Poor bastard won't know what hit him..." I huff, convinced that I'll have to strong arm this 'shaman' into helping me. I sigh and return to my trudging, in no hurry to reach the end because as I figure it... I won't make it.

WC: 423
Tag: @Random Events

Rostislav

more than a drunken fool

x - x

[Random Events]

The Shaman Has Appeared!

As you enter the maze, the world around you seem to dampen and grow darker, the tall hedges casting shadows from every direction as they seem to lean in towards you. The air cools the further you venture in, crystals of ice covering a few delicate leaves on the hedges, the ground hardened under hoof. Each breath of air you take is cold, and small puffs of frost are emitted with every exhale. From somewhere up ahead comes a high pitched cackle, disembodied in the mist.

Rounding the next corner will show a lone figure standing there, his skin as pale and thin as stone, tangled locks obscuring a good portion of his face. Across his body is draped the skin of some animal you don’t recognize, covering frail shoulders.

”Is it the relic of almighty Tempus you seek, Rostislav?” he asks, his voice youthful despite his aged appearance, carrying a lilt you cannot place into any of the Courts. You do not know how he knows your name, for he is a figure you have never seen before, and you can only wonder what more he knows about you. ”You will have to follow me to find it.” And with that, he turns and takes off further into the maze, ever leading you northwards. His speed belies his age, for he is constantly just ahead of you, sometimes disappearing into the dim but never venturing far. As he disappears around the next corner, you become aware of another creature lurking somewhere behind you, one of the many beasts to have make the maze its home.

---

@Rostislav you’ve found the Shaman! However he is not one to stay and chat, and has already taken off into the brambles. It is up to you to hunt him down or not, but be warned: the maze contains many hidden dangers and beasts lurking within it that you might just get caught up in!

Feel free to write in your own obstacles or beasts, or tag the Random Events account if you would like one given to you! You have until Wednesday, July 19th to get your next reply in, at which point the Shaman will again respond.

Happy writing!

[Rostislav]

My footsteps slow as I wander the maze, for the world around me seems to grow darker. A haze settles, and it seems like the walls of the hedge are closing in around me. I feel a chill on my skin as it feels like I'm walking into winter, except without snow. Ice on the hedges, my own frosty breath, a stiff ground hardened by freeze. I stop, feeling concerned about moving forward. I can't see where I'm going, I don't know what's in here... why the hell would I go on? Just then there's a cackle somewhere within the now-thick fog. And yet I push on, thoughts of Damaris and pride keeping my striped hooves moving as much as the courage that no one (including myself) might have thought of me.

Revealed to me is what I can only guess is the shaman - for he doesn't look like he could be a normal inhabitant of Novus. He seems the wizened old fool that I had been expecting - yet as he speaks he sounds a great deal younger. (A GREAT deal. The mismatch was entirely unnerving.) Goose bumps prick along my pelt and my blood courses thick inside. He knows my name and knows my agenda. I nod in response to his question, not managing words to manage my stare. 'You will have to follow me to find it.' Well of COURSE I do... that's how things like this work, right? I sigh, resigning myself to the fate of these Gods that are rather unfamiliar to me.

As he wanders off I seem not to be able to catch him -- some sort of sorcery that I might expect of a shaman. After all, they are rather mystical. I'm nervous, but somehow trust in this.. process. Though I have no good reason to, I believe the shaman will do what he says and that somehow this will all be worth it in the end. But the sudden laughter behind me - NOT a happy, enjoyable sound as it should be -  makes me stop in my tracks, and slowly turn around. At first I can't see anything, the fog closing in as much behind me as in front of me. Then, so slowly... the haze clears to reveal a sphinx. A mythical creature I'd only heard rainy-day tales of, certainly one I'd never thought to actually exist.

I gulp and turn fully to face it. We stare at each other for a moment, the laugh clearly having come from the amalgamation of creatures before me. Her face is beautiful, eyes enchanting. Her wings are tucked against her leonine body as she sits on her haunches, not moving except the slightest twitch of her tail. My voice does not ooze confidence, but neither does it crack from nervousness or fear. "I'm guessing... you're here to test me, somehow." Again.. the way this game seems to be going would certainly call for such a thing.

WC: 490
Tag: @Random Events

Rostislav

more than a drunken fool

x - x

[Random Events]

She continues to smile without wavering, the expression fixed unnaturally across her features. “Me? No, I think you’ve proven yourself plenty."

“They, however—they may have a different agenda.” Her gaze does not wander, but you can hear them, their high pitched laughs filling the air as they appear from behind the sphinx. They sneer and cackle, five wolverines total who begin to circle around you, snapping their jaws at your ankles.

“Tell me, Warrior—are you afraid?”

---

@Rostislav

You now have until Wednesday, July 26th at 11:59pm PST to get one last reply in before the Shaman reappears, so please reply accordingly!

Happy writing!

[Rostislav]

I'm surprised to hear that the sphinx is not going to test me. Isn't that what they do? They appear to ask questions, riddles... and yet this one seems so casual in her continuing smile. Perhaps that unsettles me more than anything else. I doubt her sincerity, feeling that there is some trick behind this all and that I'm going to be shocked, led into a trap. Of course, it turns out I'm right. Five wolverines appear from the darkness, though how they got into the maze is beyond me. (How the hell did a sphinx get into the maze?) Their laughing, then growling... they pad around me, just beyond tiptoeing, canines snapping at my fetlocks. I stomp a striped hoof in warning, snorting at the beasts. Though there is not so much as fear coursing through me as general apprehension. I dare a glance back at the sphinx, who shows no indication of what I should do, what comes next - the purpose of the wolverines. I pin my ears back and swing my horned skull at one that dares to get too close.

"I am not afraid." I'd put that at about 80% true. I've never had wolverines gang up on me before. If I am afraid, I'm doing a very good job of convincing myself that I'm not. I growl at the beasts, then back at the sphinx. "So is this to the death then? Me, or them? I won't go down without a fight." A hind leg shoots out at another that thinks to sneak up on me from behind and I squeal (a manly squeal) in protest.

WC: 271
Tag: @Random Events

Rostislav

more than a drunken fool

x - x

[Random Events]

The Shaman Has Appeared!

“You will have to prove you are not.” As your hoof strikes the canine it dissolves, mist replacing its body. One by one the others lunge, but they too are consumed by the fog upon contact until none of them remain, and you stand unharmed. Your determination seems to have appeased her, for as you look back to the sphinx she is gone, and in her place stands the Shaman. As you turn to face him the maze whirls around you, reworking itself on a whim until eight pathways lead from where you stand, creating an octagonal clearing. If you pay close enough attention, you might be able to catch one entrance open while another simultaneously closes.

“So, you’ve made it to the center of the maze,” the Shaman says in his lilting voice, pacing around the clearing. “Now all you have left is to answer my riddle. Get it right, and what once was lost may again be found—get it wrong, and I will leave you here to face the Maze once again, without my guidance.

“Answer me this:

“This thing repeats, no man ever yet did see,
it never was but is always to be.
From Orien’s first breath to Caligo’s great dark,
Birthed from nothing and returning thenceforth.
It leaves behind a single sign:
the passing of the sun across the sky.”

---

@Rostislav

You may write your character interacting with the Shaman, but please pm your response to the Random Events account! Title the pm as “RIDDLE—Character Name.” You have until Sunday, August 6th to get your answer pm sent! Your IC may be made during that time or after the winner is selected. If multiple correct answers are received, a dice roll may be used to decide who the winner is.

Happy writing!

[Random Events]

The Shaman Has Spoken!

The Shaman's sneer deepens, a jagged line across his face as he arches his serpentine neck back to peer down at you. A long pause stretches between the two of you, your answer hanging heavy on the air.

"Wrong."

With that the mist returns, crawling up his legs and over his spine, thickening until his entire body is obscured. When it again clears the Shaman is gone, in his wake a strange darkness falling across the maze.

Leaving you alone.

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To tag this account: @*'Random Events' without the asterisk.
Please be advised, tagging the Random Event account does not guarantee a response!