places

[hengest]

The Tower

One who climbs out onto the tower late at night finds himself looking down at a field in full daylight. An army of horse and foot is massing there. The air is warm but chills the skin. The sun looks bigger than usual, and the sky is brighter. 

[hengest]

The Clearing

The clearing deep inside a pine wood is a safe place to spend the night. In the morning, one awakens with tears on one's face and does not know one's companions. 

[hengest]

The Entry-way

The entry-way is between the street and the interior of the general goods store. If one lingers in the entryway, one finds that the sounds of the world around grow quieter and then fall silent. Some time later, one may notice another person in the entry-way. This person does not speak. Some time later still, one may notice a stairway leading down.

[hengest]

The Lake

You cannot see the entire lake from where you stand. There is a rocky bit of shore here, but otherwise the lake is largely surrounded by larches. The water is cool and clean. Men often hear a soft voice near the lake, but cannot make out its words. Women do not hear the voice, but are not surprised that the men do.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Wow, you could write a fantasy novel that would scare people half to death.

[hengest]

Oct 15, 2019 8:51:40 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Wow, you could write a fantasy novel that would scare people half to death.

Nice of you to say, if only I had the discipline.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Oct 15, 2019 9:57:38 GMT -5 hengest said:

Oct 15, 2019 8:51:40 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Wow, you could write a fantasy novel that would scare people half to death.

Nice of you to say, if only I had the discipline.

You are probably like me, you need  a good writer to collabrate with. (with which to collaborate )

[hengest]

The Stone Wall

A little ways to the west of the town, there is a low stone wall of old make but in good repair. On the near side of the wall, things are as they always are. On the far side, the town and wall seem distant and unremarkable, and one is drawn downwards towards the woods. 

[hengest]

The Children's Hideout

Surrounding the farmland outside of town are uncleared woods. Perhaps a minute's walk into the woods you can find a lean-to. It obviously belongs to a child or a group of children. It seems well-used, but is not a permanent residence. There are a few children's items left lying out, as if someone expected to return for them.  On a closer look, you can see that the packed dirt of the hideout has been drawn in with a stick, as if to make a map.

[hengest]

The Old Hospital

This large chamber contains a dozen raised beds made of stone. There is still a faint whiff of straw and various herbs. The ceiling of the room is a large dome of colored glass. 

[mao]

Oct 15, 2019 21:36:22 GMT -5 hengest said:

The Children's Hideout

Surrounding the farmland outside of town are uncleared woods. Perhaps a minute's walk into the woods you can find a lean-to. It obviously belongs to a child or a group of children. It seems well-used, but is not a permanent residence. There are a few children's items left lying out, as if someone expected to return for them.  On a closer look, you can see that the packed dirt of the hideout has been drawn in with a stick, as if to make a map.

OOh , a  Goosebumps one!

[hengest]

Oct 20, 2019 9:49:49 GMT -5 mao said:

Oct 15, 2019 21:36:22 GMT -5 hengest said:

The Children's Hideout

Surrounding the farmland outside of town are uncleared woods. Perhaps a minute's walk into the woods you can find a lean-to. It obviously belongs to a child or a group of children. It seems well-used, but is not a permanent residence. There are a few children's items left lying out, as if someone expected to return for them.  On a closer look, you can see that the packed dirt of the hideout has been drawn in with a stick, as if to make a map.

OOh , a  Goosebumps one!

Did I steal that?? I've never seen Goosebumps.

[mao]

Oct 20, 2019 10:17:14 GMT -5 hengest said:

Oct 20, 2019 9:49:49 GMT -5 mao said:

OOh , a  Goosebumps one!

Did I steal that?? I've never seen Goosebumps.

LOL, I ment that that is what it sounds like, not stolen

[hengest]

The Stone Arch

In the side of steep hill there is a stone arch. There is nothing inside but grass. That side of the hill faces due east. The arch is well-preserved but the keystone is missing.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

This is a great thread, lots of great concise descriptions, great ideas.

[mao]

Oct 26, 2019 18:57:16 GMT -5 hengest said:

The Stone Arch

In the side of steep hill there is a stone arch. There is nothing inside but grass. That side of the hill faces due east. The arch is well-preserved but the keystone is missing.

So simple and elegant! have an exalt!

[hengest]

The Vegetable Patch

In late autumn, this vegetable patch in the clearing between the wood and the village seems only half-alive. Some vines have withered while some are still green. Some vegetables rot while others look good even now.  There are no objects of men apart from the patch itself.  The place feels cool and safe.

At midnight, the patch is transformed when ghostly vines and herbs appear alongside those you saw during the day.  Figures of the same insubstantial appearance come and pick them.  They are focused on their tasks, but if you speak to them, they will speak to you.

[hengest]

The Face

On the far side of the chamber, there is a face in three-quarter relief that takes up most of the wall. The face itself is the wall, which is a dry stone construction.  The stones appear somewhat warped and unnatural, but are indeed set without any mortar.  The room is perfectly silent and contains nothing but the face and some old stains.  

Investigating the face is safe, although the stones show variations in color almost like the complexion of a human face.  

The air in the room is surprisingly fresh.  

[hengest]

The Bushes

As you look around under the brush, you see a very large stick, almost a small branch.  It seems to have been hidden under the bushes and cannot have fallen there on its own.  As you pull it out to see if it suits you as a staff, a voice says, "Don't touch him!  That's the silly king."  You straighten up and turn around to see a very young child glaring at you. 

[hengest]

The Armory

An old soldier lies asleep on the floor, his lantern glowing by his feet. Despite his slovenly appearance, you can see at a glance that this large armory is well-organized.  After a moment, you notice that the weapons and armor hanging up seem to be organized in an unusual way.  You walk further into the room, glancing at the soldier, and look closer.  Equipment closer to the door is of more recent make, but is damaged and worn. The older items further back are better preserved.  You take the lantern and follow the walls all the way down. 


Near the far end of the room, which has begun to narrow into a hallway, you find a full panoply such as you have never seen before.  You peer at it in the flickering light.  You could not have imagined such a design, but it appears to be the predecessor of all those you have just walked by.  It looks primitive but not crude.  You feel it would fit you and serve you very well.  And despite its apparent age, it looks like it was made yesterday.

Beyond it, at the very end of the hallway, there is only a wooden door. 

[hengest]

The Twin Flames

Well past the edge of town there are two tall flames that emerge from the ground in the middle of a field that is slowly turning back into forest.  They have never been known to fail and are sometimes used for cooking.  The locals have a nonchalant attitude about them.  But they once marked an entrance that might be found again.    

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Feb 26, 2021 0:35:08 GMT -5 hengest said:

The Twin Flames

Well past the edge of town there are two tall flames that emerge from the ground in the middle of a field that is slowly turning back into forest.  They have never been known to fail and are sometimes used for cooking.  The locals have a nonchalant attitude about them.  But they once marked an entrance that might be found again.    

I want to find that entrance.

[hengest]

The Path Down to the Lake

From the way the rolling hills within this wood gently slope ever downward, and the hidden rills show themselves in the sun for a bit before ducking back underground, you know there must be a small lake nearby.  You see how you can make your way generally downward among the widely-spaced trees and hills, and you begin to head in that direction, following what could be an old and disused path. 

You walk somewhat unsteadily downhill, checking your footing at times before you proceed.  The ground yields a bit.  As you come up to a large tree fallen across your path, you duck a bit to the left to go around it.  Stepping into a patch of ground thickly strewn with the remains of last fall's leaves, you sink suddenly half a foot down into water. As you look down in displeasure and begin to extract your feet, you hear a rustle further off to your left.  Looking over there, you see a small family of rabbits sitting on their haunches and staring at you with unreadable expressions on their faces.  The largest of them is holding a pipe between his teeth.  He takes it out and begins to speak.

[hengest]

The Sunken Wood

Almost a path leads you from between the dunes into this hidden wood. The trees are not so giant as they often are. Some are just barely taller than you, but mature. They feel like your brothers as you pass into their midst. 

The track leads you down a little ways and the sunlight of late afternoon is cut by the dunes and by the trees to your right. This wood feels strange to your eyes. It is as if nothing is bigger or smaller than anything else. 

A vole skitters by. You catch sight of it just as it darts into a well-defined hole. As you look closer, you see a warm light coming from that hole. Turning around, you notice that there are many such sources of light in the wood. At the sunlight fails, they seem to grow brighter: some in the earth, some in the trunks of trees.  

You peer into the vole's hole and see a world that cannot be: an impossibly large space, almost bigger than your visual field. It holds many paths and tracks that float unsupported in the middle of the space, weaving past each other like the latticework top of a fruit pie, but broken apart into three dimensions.  Each track appears to be moving, or perhaps its colors, which remind you of various terrain types, are simply shifting as the paths undulate. 

As you look into the distance, the distance seems unaccountably clear to your eye.  

You sit up and look around at the other spots of light in the wood that is rapidly growing dark. 

[mao]

Master pieces as usual, I am gonna steal so much for my new game.....

[mao]

Oct 26, 2019 18:57:16 GMT -5 hengest said:

The Stone Arch

In the side of steep hill there is a stone arch. There is nothing inside but grass. That side of the hill faces due east. The arch is well-preserved but the keystone is missing.

I am going to make a thread of links to your individual threads in The Lost.

[hengest]

Deep in the woods, as the midmorning light is cutting through the trees to fall across your path, you come over the crest of the hill and see a strange sight, not quite understanding at first. In an area only slightly less thickly wooded than what you have been trekking through, you see the hulk of a large sailing ship stretching our before you.  It lies there in the wood, a wreck, with all kinds of moss, trees, and vines growing over, on, and through it.  

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Sept 2, 2021 22:51:55 GMT -5 hengest said:

Deep in the woods, as the midmorning light is cutting through the trees to fall across your path, you come over the crest of the hill and see a strange sight, not quite understanding at first. In an area only slightly less thickly wooded than what you have been trekking through, you see the hulk of a large sailing ship stretching our before you.  It lies there in the wood, a wreck, with all kinds of moss, trees, and vines growing over, on, and through it.  

That is sweet, I can picture that like a photograph. Wish I come split into two people, ref and player and sit across from myself.  I want to play in my own game. There are some of you on here, that I think would give me the player experience I would like to have.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Sept 2, 2021 22:51:55 GMT -5 hengest said:

Deep in the woods, as the midmorning light is cutting through the trees to fall across your path, you come over the crest of the hill and see a strange sight, not quite understanding at first. In an area only slightly less thickly wooded than what you have been trekking through, you see the hulk of a large sailing ship stretching our before you.  It lies there in the wood, a wreck, with all kinds of moss, trees, and vines growing over, on, and through it.  

I just noticed, you did not name this one.

[hengest]

Sept 2, 2021 23:18:17 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Sept 2, 2021 22:51:55 GMT -5 hengest said:

Deep in the woods, as the midmorning light is cutting through the trees to fall across your path, you come over the crest of the hill and see a strange sight, not quite understanding at first. In an area only slightly less thickly wooded than what you have been trekking through, you see the hulk of a large sailing ship stretching our before you.  It lies there in the wood, a wreck, with all kinds of moss, trees, and vines growing over, on, and through it.  

I just noticed, you did not name this one.

I did not name it because I did not want to give the idea away in the title, I wanted a touch of surprise in the text as an inspiration (however small) to anyone who might care to use it in their game.