While exploring the King's land, a strange feeling seems to pull you towards an unfamiliar part of the Territory surrounded by dead trees and grass, it doesn't look like anything could grow here... Everything looks so dead, it looks like a dark forest, strange of how you've never noticed it before...The sky seems to grow darker the closer you walk towards it. Cold, dense fog slowly swallows the ground making the that difficult to see as you enter the strange place. Your paws start to feel numb from the coldness, thick puffs of white vapor fill your vision every time you take a breath, a shiver runs down your spine - shaking your whole body with chills. Eventually you realise that you've become hopelessly lost in the fog of the dark forest, as you look behind you, you realise that the fog is much too think to retrace your paw prints back out. With a heavy sigh, you press on, deeper into the forest....
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Hours seem to pass and you don't feel like your any closer to getting out of here. Distant screeching breaks the heavy silence and catches your attention, you pause in mid-step, flicking your ears in every direction trying to find the sound. Little by little, the sound grows louder and louder, soon you can clearly hear that is the screeching of bats and...thumping? Something lightly thumping the ground in rhythmic pattern. You stand your ground as the sounds grow louder, closer to where you are. You glare down through the trees in front of you, where the sounds are resonating from. Through the fog, a small shadow appears, coming straight at you! You brace yourself, ready for fight as it draws closer and closer. A bat suddenly swoops down out of nowhere, causing you to flinch backward a step. When you open your eyes, a skull-faced cervid stands before you, the smell of decaying grass fills the air around it...The bats quietly flutter around above.
Without a sound the creature, slowly turns around, facing the way that it just came from. It lifts if head to peer over it shoulder and gives you a slow nod to follow it as it begins to slowly step forward, back down the path of decay that it left. Hesitantly, you follow it...Maybe it knows the way out...?
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Your not sure how much time has passed, the forest is thick with fog and darkness. You can't get a sense of direction in this place, but this...creature seems to know exactly where it's going. Perhaps it lives here?
A small, light blue light drifts past you. You pause your steps to stare that the odd thing, watching it as it floats around silently. A deep grunt and the light tap of a hoof to the ground averts your attention back to the creature a few paces ahead of you. It jerks it head towards the trees ahead of you impatiently. You take one last glance at the blue, floating light before trotting up to the creature. It stiffly walks forward, watching you with hollow sockets, making sure that you're not 'sightseeing' again. The further you two press forward the more lights seem to appear, swirling around you both.
Suddenly, the creature stops. You slow your pace to a stop beside it and glance at it, wondering why it stopped....It doesn't move. You start to think that it froze in the freezing cold atmosphere and slowly lift a paw to nudge it. Just before you paw makes contact, a quiet voice stops you. "I wouldn't, if I were you." You jump, quickly looking to the source of the voice. A lion wearing a dark-skinned hood with dark horns stands before you. He grins lightly, showing his stark white fangs and gives a nod to the creature, who slowly turns around and sprints back into the forest. As you stare at the stranger, you begin to notice that you're at the edge of the forest. However, you don't feel any more comfortable. This place looks more frightening than the forest. Before you can ask where you are, the stranger speaks. "I'm glad that you made it...alive..."'Wait, what?!'
"Welcome. Welcome to the Decrepit Cave. Here is where the King sends his wares for me to sell to those who..make it...through the forest." He speaks quietly, as a raven flies into the cave behind him. "Come, this way, I'll show you." He says as he turns to head inside. You follow quickly behind, trusting him is better than trusting that skull-faced deer! Plus, you'd rather not be outside, alone in this place... Best to find what you want, pay the guy and get out of here - asap!
