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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jan 31, 2022 22:07:18 GMT -5
<thinking> I wonder why this room seems brighter when I am actually in it? I probably won't be able to figure that out right now.
I gaze at the steps for a few moments and decide my next course of action.
<thinking> This may be against my better judgement but here it goes.
I proceed to walk to the steps and proceed.
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Post by hengest on Jan 31, 2022 22:38:04 GMT -5
You slip down the stone steps easily and outside, first under a bit of awning that might shield you from the rain if it were raining, and then into the garden proper.
You are in a roughly square area surrounding by building on all sides, but open to the sky. You cannot quite tell if it is day or night out here, although it should still be night by your reckoning. The light seems healthy enough, but somehow unlovely.
It appears that this place is a disused herb garden that must once have served the medicinal needs of the people resident here. You recognize a few of the plants but can tell that it has not been well-tended in some time.
In the center of the garden is a fountain with no water you can see.
The strangest sight is the dimly visible apparitions moving toward the fountain from all sides. Some walk, some glide. One, an older man, looks over at you and gestures for you to follow him before he enters the fountain himself. He does not then look back or return. The others seem to pay no attention to you. They crawl or float into it and downward and you see them no more.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Feb 1, 2022 19:32:39 GMT -5
<thinking> Okay. This is unexpected. What is going on here?
I watch the apparitions for a few moments more.
<thinking> I've already come this far. It IS just a ghost or something so what harm could it do?
I gaze at the fountain and then look up to the sky again and then back to the fountain.
<thinking> I will just go slowly and see what happens.
I advance SLOWLY toward the fountain.
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Post by hengest on Feb 1, 2022 21:18:43 GMT -5
The sky appears cloudless but somehow overcast as well. A muted light.
You advance towards the fountain and approach it. Looking in, you see no bottom and an impossibly wide space of, it seems, perfect blackness surrounding a distant (?) multicolored blob that seems to be writing or pulsating. The figures you see float downward a bit and then can no longer be seen. You do feel a bit of a pull, a kind of draft drawing you towards the fountain, although it is not really a wind. Nothing to worry about, you think, but you do note it.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Feb 2, 2022 8:15:35 GMT -5
<thinking> Interesting. I feel like I am being "pulled" to whatever is down there. Maybe I can find the source down there.
I pause and think for a few moments in preparation.
<thinking> I should have brought my pack with me. There should be some rope in it.
I stand at the edge of the fountain peering down to see if I can find anything like small ledges, steps, etc. I can use to get a grip.
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Post by hengest on Feb 2, 2022 14:33:35 GMT -5
You peer over the edge and can see that the outer wall of the fountain is made of separate stones on the inside, as well. They are joined in some fashion, but it seems you might be able to find enough of a grip to support yourself, should you wish to. You are not certain, however, and a fall would mean a fall into something you do not understand. It does not feel like a normal height as you look down.
As you ponder, the apparitions continue behaving as before, but you hear or feel also a kind of thrumming coming from below, perhaps from "inside" the fountain. The pull gets stronger.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Feb 2, 2022 21:13:33 GMT -5
<thinking> That feeling of being pulled seems to come from down there.
I continue to gaze downward.
<thinking> It DOES look like I have a fairly reasonable chance of climbing down there to see what is going on.
After a few more moments I start my descent down the inside of the fountain; ensuring to go slow and only continue as the grip and footholds seem solid.
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Post by hengest on Feb 2, 2022 23:19:23 GMT -5
You easily get onto the low wall and can begin to lower yourself downward. The stone is easy enough to grip and you are plenty strong enough to support your weight.
The strange part is that the wall only extends so far down, a few feet, on the inside before it yields to blackness. You can get enough handholds, you think, to "climb down," but you still don't know where you are climbing down to, and so far, your feet dangling below you aren't finding any purchase.
You expect that, if you go down a couple more feet, you are going to be in the position of jumping or hauling yourself back up, which you expect to be able to do, but it will be harder than climbing down, even if nothing bothers you.
At present you are lowering yourself into an apparently bottomless fountain while apparitions pass by you, sometimes almost through you, and descend to who knows where.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Feb 3, 2022 14:01:52 GMT -5
I decide to push the descent down just a little more; until I definitely cannot find any form of foothold or grip. I intend to climb back up if I cannot find anything that will suffice.
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Post by hengest on Feb 3, 2022 15:48:27 GMT -5
I decide to push the descent down just a little more; until I definitely cannot find any form of foothold or grip. I intend to climb back up if I cannot find anything that will suffice. You descend, gripping what handholds you can find. But it is not long before there is nothing below your feet. The only obvious choices are to try to pull yourself back up or drop and see what happens. The light seems to grow brighter from the sky above. You notice that the Bottleton "feel" seems to be departing from your lower extremities... |
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Post by hengest on Feb 3, 2022 17:15:06 GMT -5
As you hang there, the wind begins to move downward around you, as if the "well" is inhaling.
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Feb 3, 2022 19:03:58 GMT -5
<thinking> oh...this is weird. My legs feel "different" somehow. Maybe I'm just tired or something else is going on. I can't just hang here all day. I need to make a decision on pulling myself back up or just dropping to see what's down there.
I hang there for just a second more and say, "Well, here goes nothing.".
I look down and let go of the handholds I was gripping and prepare the best I can to land and roll if I need to.
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Post by hengest on Feb 3, 2022 20:34:07 GMT -5
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Feb 3, 2022 20:45:31 GMT -5
I gasp and...
[posted after following the link I missed earlier.]
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Post by hengest on Feb 3, 2022 20:55:38 GMT -5
Aspen wakes up with the sun and rouses her sister. They both feel refreshed that they have survived another night in what has become of Bottleton.
They do spend some time checking for their guest, however. After sleuthing, they find his pack and see that he lit one of the last candles and let it burn away. Whether he went out the window again for some reason or into the fire chamber...or perhaps something else happened to him--they both suspect something of the kind but do not speak of it to each other--they do not know.
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