ic Devil's Journey (IC)

[Supercape]

Pitch ejected the empty clip and slotted in a new one. 

 

Sure she could throw fire and steel with her hands. But it wasn't quite as satisfying as unleashing lead from a smokin' gun. Besides, who knew what she would be facing, and if infernal fire and steel would have any effect against the horrors of this island. 

 

"And neither should you, Billy, neither should you. If something comes, shoot it. At the very least, I'll hear it". 

 

Probably not come running though. Not with her leg. 

 

"Now keep your eyes and ears open. In fact, you keep your nose open too. Might smell 'em before ya see or hear them" she added. "I'm going caving..."

 

Shouldering the rifle, clutching the Cantos cane, and gripping the mysterious stone, she entered the cave...

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

Billy nodded, and went looking for a good hideout, as Pitch embarked on her journey through the woods. The road ahead was winding, with many treestumps blocking her way. The trees cast their massive shadows on the ground, while the light, due to the refractions, was becoming blinding. A few steps in, the hail had completely stopped from falling. No living soul seemed to inhabit this particular maze of a forest, by the sound of it. No unliving soul, either, for that matter.

 

As Pitch moved forward, while trying to ascertain her position, she stumbled upon a root, and fell. She felt herself hit the ground, and let out a groan of pain. Which was curious indeed, as no groan reached her ears.

[Supercape]

Silence!

 

Grumbling inwardly, bubbling with rage that would surely never resolve, she cursed her disability, her further, and the damn root that had brought the whole thing up. She was ill disposed any way, the events of the island sniping at her reserve, such as it was. And she was not full of reserve at the best of time. 

 

She had an itch for some pounding angry punk-rock music. But...silence!

 

Standing up with her cane, she tapped the ground, tapped a tree, and pulled air into her lungs...giving a primal scream to test out the sound of the forest. 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

Despite her better efforts, Pitch realised that she was unable to produce even an inkling of a sound, even a whisper, a knock, something. This reminded her of another similar incident, one that had happened just last night, on the way back to the mansion with the rescued crew of the S.S. Gadelica... she had found herself trapped inside a magical field that trapped anyone inside, dampened almost all sounds out of existence, and twisted the fabric of space and one's sense of direction, so that escape would be impossible... that is, unless you destroyed the source of the field...

 

Pitch inspected the area more carefully this time. Three passages lay ahead of Pitch, and one behind her, creating a crossroad of some sort. Each led to a different direction, one ahead, one backwards, one on the left, and one on the right. A single tree stood in the middle of the passage, its light casting a shadow towards the leftmost passage.

 

As for the tablet... whatever sense of direction it had, it seemed to have gone haywire, pulling Carmen left and right, up and down. However... something curious caught her eye. At the base of the tree, there appeared to be... a socket!? It was roughly the same shape as the stone tablet, and was engraved with the icon of the Magician.

[Supercape]

Time to flip a coin?

 

Directness of action was her philosophy; why wait? seize the day, seize the moment. Live fast. Try not die, but if you do, leave a good looking corpse. 

 

Rock N' Roll. 

 

She was not taken in, or indeed, averse to the light. Anything could be a trick. Anything could be a trap. Demons did not belong to fire, or light, or darkness, or cold. They belonged to corruption. 

 

The socket, however...

 

...could also be a trap. But it was something that could not be ignored. For her own piece of mind. There was nothing to lead her, nothing to say "do" or "don't", but there would always be the wonder if she did not...

 

...do what she did. Seizing the moment, she jammed the stone in the socket, forcefully and firmly. 

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

For a few seconds, Pitch couldn't discern any reaction to her placing the tablet. Silence reigned supreme. Then, it started shinning, and the area around her started trembling; Trees shifted, roots moved, light bended, the ground spun. Only the tree in the middle remained unchanged. If Pitch wasn't standing in the ground, she could have sworn that it was merely the tree in the middle that turned around. But she felt the tremors in her legs. The entire area had rotated!!

 

The tablet was ejected from the tree stump, and fell into the ground, and the socket disappeared, as if it never existed in the first place. Picking it up, Pitch could still feel it wildly spinning in its pull.

 

She noted, nevertheless, that the shadow the tree was casting now fell on the frontmost path, instead of what was originally the leftmost.

[Supercape]

"Its a key" said Pitch, silently. 

 

Surely the stone was used to rotate the maze; a maze it surely was. In more than just three mundane dimensions, she guessed. What exactly was this island? what was in its stones, its roots, its bones? Surely it was something special, wild, and dangerous. What else would have attracted a rock star? A reclusive, half mad rock star with an obsession with the occult?

 

Still, the only way out of a maze was by moving. The only sure thing was that staying still would not get anywhere. Well, perhaps even that was not certain, but it was a fine principle to stick to. In any case, bum leg or not, pained and red flesh or not, movement was action, and action was her fire. 

 

Onwards then!

 

Towards the tree-cast shadow!

[Vahnyu]

GM Post

 

After a short walk through the path, Pitch arrived in another clearing, similar to the one she had been on, before. Only, this time, two trees laid ahead... And each tree had its shadow cast on a different direction! The left most tree casted its shadow on the frontmost path, while the second tree casted its shadow on the rightmostpath. After a brief inspection of the area, Pitch noticed that the two of them had one socket each. Would the trees rotate the area the same way the previous tree had done? Or would their rotation be different? She had no doubt that until she exited the area, things would only get progressively more complex.

[Supercape]

This was hellish. Spinning paths, spinning shadows. For a moment Pitch wondered if she would be wandering forever. 

 

That's the path to madness. 

 

She clenched her fist. Nobody would get the better of her!

 

The maths of the situation, if indeed there was any maths to it, was beyond her. 

 

Breathing in, she summoned forth Tazel, drawing him from her belly, out of her blood and bile. She spat out fire, smoke, and the terrible demon, bringing him forth to float in front of her. 

 

Fortunately, she did not need speak. The demon was bound to her blood, and they spoke though that connection, without words. 

 

So, caught in a maze, you and me both!

 

And not so simple a one. Whilst I am sure you would enjoy me wandering these forests forever and a day, I am equally sure that you would not. So tell me, and tell me true, what would you want?

 

Because together, we can follow two paths!