THE UPPER LEVELS

[peckishmods]

up into the balconies

you climb

The breathing boughs of that nightmare tree crowd into the upper balconies of the ruined auditorium. You have to duck and bend to get by them in places, sometimes through spaces that seem to grow smaller as you press through. These branches are warm to the touch, some of them uncomfortably so, pulsing with something that isn't quite life.

You've climbed these stairs more than once in your time here; to take your place after your sorting, to watch new students find their House, or perhaps just for an assembly. This building always seemed so sturdy, so safe. It was a place to go for shows, for celebrations, and hell, to just get out of class. Now, the floorboards creek precariously, split and splintering where vines have crept through. Benches are broken, overturned and tossed aside to make room for the auditorium's new king: the malignant maple. Up here, the glowing blue seeds hanging from branches are close enough to pluck. Those that have ripened litter the floor and railings, filling the balconies with an eerie blue twinkle.

The air is muggy, clogged by falling ash. It stinks of coal and sulfer. But you keep moving, anyway. Keep opening portals and pushing on. Just a little bit higher, and then maybe you'll be able to plunge into the depths.

and you fight

By now there's a plan, and with it, a slowly growing brigade of people, of beings, of bugs, who are gathering to push back against inevitability.

and you never give up

TO ELSEWHERE
| TO THE BASE OF THE TREE | TO OUTSIDE | TO THE SORTING PATH |

IN THIS HUB
| THE SECOND FLOOR | OUT ON THE BOUGHS | THE THIRD FLOOR |

OOC POSTS
| OOC ACTION HUB | OOC CHATTER - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS |

Comments

Re: MEMORY: A Distant Shore

[teratophilia]

Armani can't look away. He begins to lift his hand to touch the face flowers, just to see what will happen, when the flowers begin to wilt and wither.

He gasps softly and watches. Watches her lips move to form what would have been her final words, if she could only speak them, and watches her dissolve into light.

Maybe they freed her. Maybe that's what she meant, what she wanted from them. He hopes it is. But either way, she's dead. And that's good.

Armani looks down at the mask, turning it in his hands to examine it, before dropping it on the ground. He turns, now, inhaling deeply and taking in the rest of their surroundings with a critical eye. They still haven't found the linchpin.

Armani moves with purpose toward the creature with the red crystal wreath, tiptoeing to steal its crown.

MEMORY: A Distant Shore

[peckishmods]

Under Armani's fingers, the red crystal wreath turns brilliant glowing gold. The warm light shines down on the dark face of the being, illuminating six gray orbs that must be eyes, the only visible features set into this strange, inhuman face.

Gathered at the corners of each one, faintly glittering, are tears, frozen in time.

Armani has found the linchpin.

[MEMORY COMPLETE! You have defeated the encounter and found the linchpin. There's nothing left to do but leave through the portal.]

MEMORY: A Distant Shore

[teratophilia]

Armani lowers the wreath onto his own head and reaches up to oh-so-tenderly cup the creature's face in his hands.

"He dies tonight," he tells it sweetly. A threat and a promise.

MEMORY: A Distant Shore

[arisahn]

Still dazed and certainly not thinking about the linchpin, Aris' dark eyes follow Armani as he moves quickly across the beach to grab the crown, which comes away glowing brightly in his hand before he drops it down on his own head. It looks a bit like a halo. He shakes his head and chimes in with open awe, "You're...really good at this!"

Then, almost as an afterthought, he moves to grab his journal from the ground; there's no reason to stay here now, so it's better to get moving.

MEMORY: A Distant Shore - TOKENS!

[peckishmods]

Aristotle, Armani and Imogen completed the memory "A Distant Shore"!

Upon emerging from the memory out into the auditorium, the portal snapped shut behind them.

Completing this memory and defeating the encounter freed the spirits of a Coalseam Creeper Ritualist and an Infinity Cultist! Elsewhere in the auditorium, ramps, a magimagicicada was freed!

• Aristotle, Armani and Imogen earned 5 Tokens for completing the memory!


• They earned 5 Tokens for completing a difficult memory encounter, plus an additional 2 Tokens bonus each for fighting so well!


• They earned 1 Token for finding the linchpin.

You can check your token totals in Pouch's shop here, and maybe see if there's anything worth grabbing while you're there!