HEALTH:
[++++++++++]
CONSCIOUSNESS:
[+++++|+++++|++__]
[Uncon|Alert|Hyper]
INVENTORY [12/20]:
[ POWER STONE ] | KIT | SMARTPHONE | WALLET | SICKLE | Herbal Remedy: Betel Nuts | Herbal Remedy: Aloe Vera | Herbal Remedy: Kava Kava | Herbal Remedy: Milk Thistle | Herbal Remedy: Valerian | Flask of Ayahuasca | Bottle of Water | Sunglasses |
TIME:
Day 1, ?:?? PM
CURRENT OBJECTIVE: Find and kill the ARCHON.
Scarecrow is a little bit STONED. (penalty to reaction speed)
Scarecrow has taken IBOGA! His trip has begun.
Scarecrow has taken MUSHROOMS: P. SUBAERUGINOSA! His trip has begun.
Scarecrow feels STRONGLY GROUNDED in this place. A STRANGE POWER flows through him.
Scarecrow is in a POSITIVE MOOD. (bonus power)
Scarecrow's POWER STONE is vibrating against his chest. It's gently tugging FORWARD.
Scarecrow has no PERCEPTION OF TIME right now.
CHECKPOINT REACHED.
thought: the smoke is a bigger threat than the fire right now. even if you manage to escape, every breath you take will increase the archon's power, and if it becomes impossible to defeat you might as well burn to death.
get Drew's undivided attention and make sure he copies what you're about to do. quickly
pull your shirt up over your nose and mouth, take out your Bottle of Water and soak the top of your shirt. Give the rest to Drew and have him do the same. bunch your shirt up as much as you can and press it close against your face. breathing through the wet fabric should filter out most of the smoke, at least for a little while.
"Drew!" Scarecrow shouts, grabbing his arm to get his attention. "Do as I do!" He pulls his shirt up, over his mouth and nose, and Drew follows suit, unquestioning. Then, he uses the BOTTLE OF WATER to soak the fabric a bit, creating a crude filter against the smoke. He passes the bottle to Drew and he does the same.
The crude filter is SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE, and slows the rate at which Scarecrow is getting STONED.
Scarecrow doesn't know what the Spirit of Iboga will do, but he assumes that he is capable of defending himself somehow.
The haze of smoke has become thicker now, and Scarecrow is starting to feel a little hazy himself.
> GET THE HELL GOING! TO THE ARCHON! AND ALSO: Protect your "dear" friend Drew.
Taking the bottle back, Scarecrow points in the direction they had been going. The crackling noise of the fire is becoming a roar now, and Scarecrow has to shout to be heard. "Okay, uh... let's fucking move!" Scarecrow starts running, taking the lead this time. Looking behind him, he sees that Drew is following him closely, and the Iboga Spirit is taking the rear. The smoke doesn't seem to be affecting him at all. Good.
Facing ahead again, he realizes that he's about reach a cluster of flaming marijuana plants, and almost Scarecrow almost runs directly into the wall of fire. He stops himself at the last moment, stepping back. He hesitates, his mind blank for a moment.
if your path is blocked by fire, PROJECT YOUR ENERGYs toward it, assuming the energy is some sort of physical shockwave. if it's strong enough it might displace enough air to put out the flames ahead of you.
Right. Holding his sickle, Scarecrow extends his arm to his side, and focuses his energy through it. He can also feel power being drawn through him from the ground, as well as from the POWER STONE around his neck. He slashes horizontally, projecting forward towards the flames.
What appears to be a wave of energy (or perhaps a curved blade) - hard to see but unmistakeably there - blasts forth as he swings. It's razor sharp - just like the sickle. It slices through the air, and cuts down several rows of trees in front of him before disappating. Extremely surprised at how effective that was, he stares for a moment, forgetting that he's in the middle of a burning forest.
Snapping out of it, he slashes several more times, in both diagonal directions. The burning trees ahead of him are cut to ribbons, but they simply fall in a pile and continue to burn.
Trying something else, Scarecrow turns his blade on its side as he swings horizontally once more. This time, the wave of energy that comes forth is wider, softer. Less like a blade and more like a sweeping hand. It pushes much of the burning debris aside. He does this once more, and then the path ahead is clear enough to continue.
They quickly reach another wall of more flaming trees. However, these appear to have been burning for longer, so Scarecrow guesses that they're getting close.
Scarecrow does the same thing as he had done before; slash the trees down, then sweep them aside before continuing. It seems that those were the last of the flaming ones, as the rows of trees that follow are already burnt out, no longer flaming.
Scarecrow leads them through, running, and they quickly burst out of the orchard and into the open. He keeps going for quite some distance - far enough to get away from the smoke - before finally slowing down, pulling off his face mask, and coughing loudly a few times, resting his hands on his knees. He isn't tired, but his lungs aren't happy.
After coughing up some phlegm, he slowly stands upright, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply to get some fresh air. He feels energy from the earth move into him as he does so, nourishing his lungs. He opens his eyes as he exhales slowly, and realizes that he's now effectively tripping a little bit, despite already being inside a trip. Things are starting to shift, distort, and move subtley, and look a bit strange. The qualities of the changes are sinister.
They seem to be in the wide open clearing in between the orchard they had been on previously, and the small mountain they are heading to - probably about halfway.
He can hear music playing somewhere in the distance, and it helps him to relax and stay calm.
Drew is coughing somewhere behind him, and he looks over his shoulder to see him doubled over and on his knees. He appears to be completely exhausted from all that running. The Spirit of Iboga is standing next to him his hand on Drew's shoulder. He doesn't look tired, and he isn't coughing. His eyes are closed, and he seems to be making a connection with Drew.
Suddenly, Drew hacks up an absurd amount of phlegm, then inhales deeply as he sits upright a bit. He clears his throat, looking out of breath, but he isn't choking on his own lungs any more.
The Iboga man opens his eyes, and takes his hand of Drew's shoulder.
"Man, that was dank," Drew says, breathing heavily. He looks somewhat stoned, but Scarecrow knows that Drew is well versed in handling being somewhat stoned.
"Pull up some energy from the earth, dude," Scarecrow says, forgetting that Drew will have no idea what he's talking about.
"What."
"The mushrooms dude. They can feed you energy through the earth here, if you choose to use it. Meditative connection kind of deal."
"Oh," he says. Scarecrow has talked to Drew about meditation before, and even managed to convince him to do it for a while. He eventually lost interest, but he knows the foundations.
Drew closes his eyes and starts to slow down and deepen his breathing. There's an immediate change in his demeanour; he straightens up and starts looking a bit lively again. He opens his eyes a few minutes later.
"Neat," he says. "Is that how you did the thing before with the trees?"
"The thing?" Scarecrow asks, before realizing that he's talking about his sickle projections. "Oh - sort of. You're forgetting I've got this necklace also, as well as a weapon. Also, I've done tai chi and shit, so it's not hard for me to manipulate my energy. It's just a lot easier in this place."
"Oh," Drew replies. "How am I meant to fight with you then?"
"I'm sure you'll be able to do some damage if you use the earth a lot. You just need to try and focus it through you and into an intent - for example pushing forward or something. Think of it like the force or something, once you get a feel for it it'll get easier."
Drew stands, and faces a nearby shrub. He concentrates, then steps forward, pushing his hands towards it forcefully.
Nothing happens.
"You gotta pull the energy up from the ground before you push, man."
Drew widens his stance and centers himself, then closes his eyes and inhales deeply as he lifts his arms slowly. Then, he steps forward, pushing once more.
This time, the bush reacts as though it's been hit by a strong wind. Drew looks ecstatic.
"Sweet, you're getting the hang of it. Just remember you can focus it with different intents, for example into a punch, or a block, or whatever."
The Iboga Spirit speaks. "We should not waste too much time."
Scarecrow looks at him, knowing that he's right. He would love to teach Drew to fight with this power, but it would take far too long. Hopefully, now that he's got an idea of what to do, he can figure out how to use it in different ways himself as they go.
"Yeah, we should keep moving," Scarecrow affirms. "Come on Drew, you can practise on the way. You'll want to be able to do it on the move anyway.
Drew is now punching at the shrub, and this time it reacts as though a large rock has slammed into it. A few of its branches break, but it seems to be a hardy plant. A person might have a few ribs broken by it, though.
He turns to Scarecrow and nods. "All right, I guess we have a job to do."
They start moving towards the foot of the smal mountain up ahead, the Iboga Spirit taking the lead. They move at a more relaxed pace this time, allowing Drew practice as they walk. Now able to harness the earth's energy, he energetically jumps around, making martial arts poses and blasting trees and bushes with his projections. He needs to get fairly close to affect them, but his projections are sturdy. Hopefully he'll be able to defend himself a bit.
Soon, they reach the foot of the mountain. It isn't spectacularly tall or steep; in fact, it looks CLIMBABLE. However, it's rocky terrain, which COULD BE DANGEROUS. There's also a square archway sticking out of the base of the montain just ahead. It seems to be a manmade TUNNEL, WITH STAIRS that lead up. It looks structurally stable - in fact, it's very well made, and a soft light is coming from inside. It looks like it might lead to the interior of a building of some sort. Scarecrow has already noted that there's a matching structure at the top of the mountain, so presumable there's A WAY UP inside.
What to do?
HEALTH:
[++++++++++]
CONSCIOUSNESS:
[+++++|+++++|+++_]
[Uncon|Alert|Hyper]
INVENTORY [12/20]:
[ POWER STONE ] | KIT | SMARTPHONE | WALLET | SICKLE | Herbal Remedy: Betel Nuts | Herbal Remedy: Aloe Vera | Herbal Remedy: Kava Kava | Herbal Remedy: Milk Thistle | Herbal Remedy: Valerian | Flask of Ayahuasca | Half-Full Bottle of Water | Sunglasses |
TIME:
Day 1, ?:?? PM
CURRENT OBJECTIVE: Find and kill the ARCHON.
Scarecrow is moderately STONED. (moderate penalty to reaction speed)
Scarecrow has taken IBOGA! His trip has begun.
Scarecrow has taken MUSHROOMS: P. SUBAERUGINOSA! His trip has begun.
Scarecrow feels STRONGLY GROUNDED in this place. A STRANGE POWER flows through him.
Scarecrow is in a POSITIVE MOOD. (bonus power)
Scarecrow's POWER STONE is vibrating against his chest. It's gently tugging FORWARD.
Scarecrow has no PERCEPTION OF TIME right now.
