Hedge Patrol I

[Ram]

“I’m not saying we stop right now,” Ram clarified “And I trust you, but I also know that distances can get tricky in the Hedge and this is still your first time exploring this part of it. We’ve been walking what? I’d guess at least six hours?” It was hard to tell in the realm of Thorns. “If we keep going without a definite plan, we could end up being to exhausted for either of us to keep watch. If we haven’t made it out in another four, I say we need to seriously consider stopping.”

Vote to keep going. If we haven’t made it out after four rolls, it will change to making camp.

[Saber Sloth]

Ram, now carrying Cassandra, can tell what Gerrit had already discovered, not only was the Fairest lost of sleep, but to nightmares as well. The Winter, without his Burren, focuses on his task.

The Lost stay the Path.

Another INT + Survival please!
And Ram can you please give me a Perception check

[Gerrit]

Ram vocalized what Gerrit had been thinking himself. Time, distance - you couldn't fully trust those anymore. His mind wandered off to how they would be able to make camp if it came to it. Did they have to burry a trench, look for an abandoned Hollow or try something else entirely? "You're right. It's... tricky out here. And we need to think about a backup plan at some point."

He gave Cassandra a worried look. "Make it five hours, please. I can go on." He had to. Whatever happened to Cassandra - for all he knew staying in the Hedge made it worse or at least prevented her from getting better. With his thoughts circling around the Fairest and the anxiety of not getting out in time, he looked up and couldn't tell anymore if they were going the right way. Should he say something to Ram? That probably meant an immediate change of plans and Gerrit did not want that. For better or worse, he decided to focus on the task at hand again, use the few remaining hours he had been given to their fullest.

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-18 17:32:28	Gerrit rolls 4 to find the way home (Int 3 + Surv 1) (10 Again)	4, 3, 4, 4	failure

[Cassandra Reeding]

The Polychromatic keeps running down the hallways and she just feels exhausted. She looks down at her hands and she can slowly watch the color draining from her. It is as if her skin is like a rainbow ink and it is floating away from her. Underneath is a simple grey. "No. No. No. I'm not going back there. I don't want to be back there."

She keeps going, droplets of herself falling like rain around her, distracting her until she runs right into a wall. It is an odd looking wall, white and translucent. The same color she watched the insects inject her with. She beats against the wall, trying to shatter it. If I get rid of this obstacle, maybe I can break through. I need to wake up.

She tries to gather herself before using her palms to try and break it down, but it hurts. She recoils in pain. "Fuck." Her palms are red and sting from hitting the hard surface. What if this is just another trick. It's a dream. Dreams were always just pieces of imaginings with truth. Though, Cassandra would know better than anyone the value of the insight of a dream. Of course, what good does insight do when no one ever seems to listen or believe you?

She stands there for a long time before looking up and gazing at her reflection in the somewhat mirrored surface of the wall. Her skin had greyed, her hair looked dull, and her striking emerald eyes even look rather dim. She turns as sees splatters of paint all upon the walls where she came from. After a long moment, she realizes the paint was not paint, but rather her polychromatic coloring. What the hell is that even supposed to mean?

She couldn't quite figure it out, but she gazes back at her reflection again. "I'm not grey anymore. Let me go!" But she hasn't fought hard enough. She's been through all of this and yet something in her doesn't have the strength. I'm so tired.​

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-18 17:41:48	Cassandra Reeding rolls 1 to Wake up! (Resolve 2 + Composure 2) - 3 (10 Again)	5	failure

[Ram]

Ram sighed, suspecting Gerrit may be feeling more desperate than he was letting on.

“Alright,” he conceded reluctantly “Five, but that’s it.” He didn't sound happy about it. It was pushing it. Truth was, Ram had been expecting no more than eight hours of hiking while on patrol. Giving time to set camp, eat, and regroup. At eleven they probably would need to just find the levelest part of the path and put down a sleeping bag. “I’ll take first watch. Fours each then we set out again. Sound good” It wouldn't be a full night's rest but they didn't have the manning for that. And that was assuming something didn’t disturb them in that time. Or the shadowy insects decided his threats were idle.

He glanced down at Cassandra's fitfully sleeping form before returning attention to his surroundings.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-18 21:45:40	Ram rolls 4 to Wits2+Comp2 (10 Again)	8, 1, 4, 7	1 success

One down five to go before Ram gets stubborn.

[Saber Sloth]

Gerrit stumbles, confused for a moment, mind more on the hour he managed to wrangle out of Ram and on Cassandra, hours now asleep, while they traversed the Hedge, (would she wake? What had the insects done to the Fairest?) then on the Path.

From within the forced slumber, Cassandra feels the dream shudder around her, and...lightens almost. What had been realistically solid was now ever so slightly transparent. Whatever the bugs had injected her with seems to be lessening....?

Ram, gruff and almost fed up with this bull, but that doesn't mean he isn't paying attention. Things are starting to look familiar, moving from the deeper Hedge, to the more well traveled Paths. Thornes and brambles, pruned back, and tamed.

Cassandra Reeding Shenanigans having been 4-5 rolls already, we'll change the -3 to a -2

And another INT+SUrivival If you want to teamwork it to try and make things go faster go for it

[Ram]

"I'm recognizing some things around here," or maybe it was just that things weren't quite as wild. He pointed to couple 'landmarks'. "I think I remember those trees. The ones that look like they're dancing together. Though I'm not sure from this angle. And I think they were on the other side and farther from the path." He shrugged slightly, not sure if he was being helpful, and lapsed back into silence.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-19 14:15:35	Ram rolls 1 to Assist Int-Survival untrained (10 Again)	8	1 success

Posting ahead with permission to get in the assist.

[Gerrit]

Most of the time Gerrit walked in exhausted silence, trying to get his mind back on track homewards. Ram's words made him perk up, looking for the landmarks he called out. Yes, they were the same and as the Render called it - they moved. Looking at it longer their path seemed to be the way they'd go if they danced for real. As far as things could make sense here, this added up.
"You're right!" He looked at his companion with gratitude. That was the second time Ram helped them efficiently and without making a big fuss about it - something Gerrit gave him much credit for.

"I don't want to jinx it, but I think we can get out of here soon - we've definitely come from here. How are you - should I take her again?" With that he looked at Cassandra again, trying to come up with ways to help her. What if she didn't wake up once they left the Hedge? Tried as he might, his sluggish mind didn't make it far before returning to the task at hand again. One problem at a time.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-20 01:40:16	Gerrit rolls 5 to find the way home (with the power of Friendship™) (Int 3 + Surv 1 + TW 1) (10 Again)	4, 2, 9, 7, 1	1 success

[Cassandra Reeding]

There is a feeling of a quake and the dream feels as though it is lightening, becoming translucent around her. She bangs on the wall in front of her as hard as she can and it shatters.

"See. I didn't need your help."

"You'll always need my help." Always that beautiful voice, but she ignores it. I don't need you.

She runs through the doorway, leaving the dreams behind into a mirror in front of her. She sees her true reflection for a moment - her healthy self, beautiful, bright, and colorful in all her glory. "I've got this," she reassures herself before stepping through.

Cassandra gasps awake then. "John? Gerrit?" Her first instinct is to call for her courtmates - her best friends. She still feels a little weak and then she realizes that she is being carried. "Wha-what happened?"

She woke up!

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2020-12-20 02:00:20	Cassandra Reeding rolls 2 to Wake up! (Resolve 2 + Composure 2) - 2 (10 Again)	3, 8	1 success

[Saber Sloth]

At last! Hope!

The Ogres working in tandem, make quick work of the rest of their journey. What was starting to shed the dizzying alien sameness of the Hedge, fully bloomed into the knowing of exactly where they are. A dirt packed tunnel, and the stone arch that made up the 'Gate to Funnderland's underground tunnels.

Exactly where they entered from.

As they stop, looking upon the 'Gate the Fairest stirs within the Ogre's arms, forcing her way passed the supernatural sleep, and dragging herself back into the waking!