Path - lip - recollection

You return along the bank, following the trampled path. Soon the reeds thin; there ahead of you lies the irruption in the earth. Oil sprays still, glittering downwards past the lip.

You pause, unsure. You remember the sight of the void of stars beneath you, the vertigo as you looked down. The energy barrier, the broken tunnel lit from within. Your footing feels unsteady again, the earth fragile, the rising trees and wooded hills undermined.

What does it mean? Can anyone answer? Is there reason at all in this strange land?

Attempt now to climb down to the tunnel   Blog One   Blog Two   Blog Three

Skirt the hole, heading for the bridge   Blog One   Blog Two

Skirt the hole and return to the oak   Blog One   Blog Two
Call out to declare your presence   Blog One

This is one of 54 scenes so far in an adventure spanning eight blogs. Start here. You choose where it leads. You can add a scene at any point. Just leave the URL in a comment at the post with the option you've used.

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Setting off the beaten track

We have another new scene for the cross-blog journey, a second this week at Garrisonjames, heading out across an unexpected sandscape.

This makes 53 scenes at eight blogs. If you want to write one, go for it. Post it when it's done then drop the URL in a comment at the scene before. The master list is here.

Begin the journey here.

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Handle - mat - collapse

As the rhyme goes on beyond the door, you reach for the iron handle. Movement on the floor catches your eye, and with a puff of dust the doormat strikes, sinking bristles deep.

You fall back, off balance, and seize a wiry root running out through the brick wall. For a moment it takes your full weight, then pulls away, and with a pounding of brickwork and rush of loam the tunnel collapses, carrying away the world in cold dust and damp earth.

Silence. Pressure and pain. The darkness grips tight and you realise you are buried - held down deep. You splutter in panic, spitting out clumps of soil and worms. They tumble back. Choking.

Cry out for help   Blog One

Struggle against the weight   Blog One

Attempt to compose yourself and take stock   Blog One

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Still blogging our own

We have a new scene in the online adventure, a second option from Ricalope over at The World of Damnation, continuing up the dry streambed.

That makes 44 scenes at eight blogs. If you want to write one, go for it. Post it when it's done then drop the URL in a comment at the scene before. The master list is here.

Begin the journey here.

Update: Ricalope actually has three more than I thought - one, two from Sunday and one more today, all exploring the space beyond the hole in the earth. That's 47 in total.

Update: Make that 48 - Ricalope has another, catching the creature high up in the tree. 

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Opening - sound - trail

The owl follows you with unblinking eyes as you crunch across the snow away from the oak, into the undergrowth of the space between the trees.

Tearing your gaze away, you scan the treeline for an alternative route, in among the drifts and hollows below the canopy. Pushing through a clump of ferns, you set off a skittering somewhere beneath frosted fronds. You freeze.

It comes again, now off to the left, movement over crusted ice, amid close-woven stems.

Light glitters over the landscape. You stand, listen. And beyond, past the oak, you see another trail. Narrow, but somehow grander, it climbs to a ribbon of sky. The owl stares.

Attempt to find the hidden creature   Blog One

Wait, listening and observing   Blog One

Take the game trail   Blog One

Head down to the clearing   Blog One   Blog Two

Follow the trail beyond the oak   Blog One   Blog Two

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Steps - lines - structure

You start up the trail towards a narrow arc of sky. The winding roots enclose stretches of soft turf, forming a set of natural steps; the spring in the earth makes the going easy.

Emerging above the trees on either side are sets of criss-crossing lines, strung taut high over the path. They sway in the chill breeze, glint in the light, whine in the moving air.

As you crest the last stair, the dome of a bare hilltop spreads before you. At the centre looms a single featureless structure, light in colour, large, perhaps capacious. Its outer surface is sheer, the top curved tighter than the hill. There is an opening at ground level.

Silence but for the wind.

Continue up to investigate the opening   Blog One

Circle the hilltop under the treeline   Blog One

Pause, observing the clearing   Blog One

Study the lines over the trail   Blog One
Return down the slope   Blog One

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... with no letting up

Another scene for the blogwalk, now added to the list. I'll have a follow-up ready later.

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Blogging our adventures (2)

A list of the scenes in the blogwalk so far - the current total is 39 across seven blogs.

Update: Garrisonjames is in now too, bumping the totals up to 40 across eight blogs.

Update: They keep coming so here's the running total: 54 scenes across eight blogs.

The blogs - with the abbreviations I'll use for them - are Lunching on Lamias (LoL), Nine Worlds, Ten Thousand Things (NW,TTT), ArmChairGeneral (ACG), Warpstone Flux (WF), The World of Damnation (WoD), Hereticwerks (Hw) and the Expanse (P'sE).

Update: ... and of course Garrisonjames (Gj).

It all starts here. Anyone can join in, no need to ask. Just write the scene, post it and drop the URL in a comment at the one before. Multiple scenes per option are welcome.

The clearing and the oak (1, P'sE)

Climbing the oak (38, Hw)

Arriving at the canopy (4, LoL)

Exploring the canopy (12, NW,TTT)
Returning to the rest spot (17, NW,TTT)

Eating the berries (16, P'sE)

Striking out into the forest (52, P'sE)

Finding a nest (22, P'sE)

Reaching in for an egg (23, NW,TTT)

Breaking the egg (24, P'sE, X)

Capturing the creature (48, WoD)

Returning to the base (39, Hw)
Entering the cold winter's night (40, Gj)
Heading into the woods (41, Hw)
Passing through the fog (51, Gj)
Seeking an alternative path (43, P'sE)
Entering the clearing (Gj, 50)

Climbing the trail (42, P'sE)

The voices (5, LoL)

Listening to the voices (8, P'sE)

Refusing them aid (33, P'sE)

Examining the trunk (35, P'sE)

The hollow among the roots (7, NW,TTT)

Reaching for the handle (49, P'sE)
Looking under the mat (15, P'sE)

Being discovered (18, NW,TTT)

The meadow (3, ACG)

The stream and the oil (6, P'sE)

Tasting the water (9, LoL)

Following the stream having tasted the water (10, ACG)

Following the stream otherwise (32, P'sE)
Returning along the path (54, P'sE)

The hole through the earth (11, P'sE)

Climbing down (21, NW,TTT)

Calling for help (34, P'sE)

Begging for mercy (36, P'sE, >)

The metal landscape (28, WoD)
Heading towards the tower (44, WoD)
Heading towards the city (45, WoD)
Opening the hatch (47, WoD)

The bridge (37, P'sE)

Approaching the bridge (13, P'sE)

The track down to the water (27, P'sE)

The dry streambed (14, LoL)

Escaping along the bed (19, P'sE)
Continuing, up into the mountains (46, WoD)

The metal woods (20, ACG)

Returning to the streambed (21, P'sE)

The rabbit appears (29, P'sE)

The rabbit begins to change (30, LoL)

The rabbit transforms (31, LoL)

The trail out of the meadow (25, WF)

Returning to the meadow (26, P'sE)

The sandscape (Gj, 53)

I've grouped the scenes by location, theme or activity and used bold to show the start point. The number in brackets should be position in the chronological order of posting, and the italics show those I'm especially unsure about; the abbreviation is used to identify the blog hosting the scene. End scenes are marked 'X' and loop scenes '>'.

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The blogwalk goes ever on!

Two more scenes for the blogwalk are live at Hereticwerks - here and here. They're both evocative and the second really opens doors. We now have 39 at seven blogs!

If you haven't tried it yet, it's a gamebook-style romp with the reader choosing how to continue from a list at the end of most scenes. Well worth a look, and if you want to jump in and write a scene, no need to ask. Just choose the scene, write it, post and leave the URL in a comment at the scene before it, for adding to the set of options.

I'll aim to get a full list of scenes up today, to help us get a handle on where we are.

For now, you can begin a journey at any time from the first, at the ancient oak...

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Creatures - gathering

As you head towards the bridge, the creatures begin to move, not obviously in response to your presence. From across the meadow they are gathering off at one edge, braying in the long grass beneath the canopy where the stream pools and staring at the water.

Disperse the creatures to investigate   Blog One   Blog Two

Approach the gathering with care   Blog One   Blog Two

Continue to the bridge   Blog One   Blog Two   Blog Three

Return to the oak   Blog One   Blog Two

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Plea - strike - memory

In profound pain now, you gurgle out a desperate plea through the fall of oil. Even as the words leave there is a movement at the edge of sight, up by the tunnel. Something fine and sharp strikes you. Despite your rapidly freezing legs, a warm darkness flows in...

You open your eyes, blink, still heavy with sleep, but unrefreshed. Tired. Lying deep in grass below high branches, you move your legs half-aware; you dreamt they were lost.

You pause, sit up. The clearing is familiar. Something, something about it... But a wave of calm from within pushes at the doubts, dissolves them. Relax, it soothes, all is well.

But...

Struggle to remember   Blog One
Allow yourself to forget   Blog One   Blog Two
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Trunk - bark - object

You approach the trunk, the drone of the voices rising. The body of the oak is so broad that to reach it you are forced to climb out from among the ferns and delving root arcs almost onto the curved flank of the tree itself, up under the thick lower branches.

The bark is weathered and worn, run through with fissures, and rippling with heavy folds. Tiny creatures flitter, alight and wander across the skin. Those voices... They draw your sight off. And then, there, beyond a large curtain fold of bark you see - what? A sharp edge, a dark form, an object perhaps soft in texture... You stare. Dare you reach in?

But there is so much else still to explore here... The paths run up and down from the clearing, and behind you, amid the undergrowth and the roots, lies the dark hollow.

Reach into the fold of bark   Blog One

Investigate the hollow   Blog One  Blog Two

Go down the hill   Blog One  Blog Two

Go up   Blog One  Blog Two

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Scream - hanging

You cry for help, the cry becoming a scream as the cold of the void creeps across ever more of your body. Flailing wildly, you slip further through the invisible barrier, the steady resistance of the field clinging as you go, teasing. Another gasping scream. One more. But only silence above through the torn hole in the earth; silence below among the stars.

Fear... You clutch at nothing, strain upwards, but are almost through, almost out - no!

And then - then - the field tightens. Solid. You are held; hung, swinging down into space.

Freezing, choking. Oil splashes down from the pipes. You wait, between life and death.

Beg for mercy   Blog One   Blog Twe

Offer your thanks   Blog One

Curse the madness   Blog One

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Refusal - tube - darkness

You cry out your refusal, loud, almost in fear. It fills the clearing. A crash of leaves in the tree above suggests creatures taking flight. A rush of air sways low-hanging branches.

Then calm returns. But the voices go on. Rough, metallic.

You stand, wait, wonder what to do. Stare at the trunk intently. Moments pass and your gaze wanders. You look down, at winding roots and ferns, and notice... What is that?

A slender tube, rising low among fronds, just a stride away. It stands aged, weathered, with a heavy dent; a snail rests on the outside, on a silvered climb up from the leaf litter.

You step forward, lean to look in. A distant clang echoes up. And with it a fragrance, warm and good; overwhelming. Food - such wonderful food! And domesticity. Safety?

Is there a way down? You look round, see great roots arching over a shaded space, a burrow-like opening. A shallow slope drops away, down into a deep green darkness.

Investigate the hollow  Blog One  Blog Two

Examine the trunk  Blog One  Blog Two

Go down the hill  Blog One  Blog Two

Go up  Blog One  Blog Two

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Bank - smoke

As you turn to follow the watercourse, the movement of one of the creatures draws your eye to the opposite bank. The far side of the clearing is also scattered with flowers, right up to the treeline. What you see then stops you. There, above the canopy, smoke drifts.

Continue along the stream   Blog One   Blog Two
Turn back to the bridge   Blog One   Blog Two   Blog Three 
Return to the oak   Blog One   Blog Two

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Rabbit - shock

At the instant you wonder how you might trap one, another of the rabbits bounds into view, immediately in front of you and no more than a stride away. What luck!

It pauses, as if surprised too, then leaps again... and freezes - in mid-air!

Stunned, you blink. The rabbit remains suspended, trapped in the moment of flight, high above the grass and with nothing at all visibly supporting it.

Approach and examine the scene.   Blog One

Move away from the creature.   Blog One   Blog Two
Look for alternative rabbits.   Blog One

Investigate the odd stump.   Blog One

Return to the streambed.   Blog One   Blog Two

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Blogging our adventures (1.5)

The online adventure has yet another fresh instalment, the second today, and it's hosted at a new blog too, The World of Damnation.

That makes 27 scenes in 11+ locations at six blogs, Lunching on Lamias, ArmChairGeneral, Nine Worlds, Ten Thousand Things, the newly joined Warpstone Flux and now The World of Damnation, and the Expanse. It all starts here.

If you're involved or plan to be, there's a quick summary at this post. I'll aim to get a fuller update out, ideally with a map. I've started one, but it's pretty complex already...

If you want to get involved, it's easy.

As an explorer, read, choose and enjoy. Start here.

As a blogger, continue the adventure at your blog. Write a scene with a choice for the reader to make and link each of the options to a destination post, if that post is already written. If you write a scene based on a choice at another blogger's post, just leave a comment there so he or she can add a link to you.

If a scene exists, but you feel another is possible, write it. That's what Ricalope has just done; Jennie's original is worth finding too, a powerful experience. If we have multiple scenes for one option, all the better. Feel free to create new takes on the world.

Be bold!

If you've still no idea what's going on, read this.

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Track - growl

Puzzled, you turn and step down the narrow track, keeping a hand on the stone flank of the bridge to steady yourself. While there are no hoofprints, you do see in the mud close to the bottom a large and unfamiliar mark. At that moment, a growl rumbles out from the darkness beneath the arch. You freeze. The corner is now but a pace or two away...

Suppress your fear, step forward and look into the dark space   Blog One

Retreat, cross the bridge and follow the trail into the woods   Blog One   Blog Two

Retreat and turn back to explore along the stream   Blog One   Blog Two

Retreat and return to the oak   Blog One    Blog Two

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Bridge - thirst - cliff

Passing back down the trail you re-enter the meadow where the creatures prance. The bridge again stands before you, crushed plants leading down to the shadow beneath.

The sparkle of the water reminds you how thirsty you are, but as you walk over to the stream you find the bank here is a low cliff and the water inaccessible. Opposite, however, the bank runs down out of the wildflowers right up to the water.

Cross the bridge to investigate the shadow   Blog One   Blog Two   Blog Three

Cross to reach the surface of the stream   Blog One   Blog Two   Blog Three

Cross to return to the oak   Blog One   Blog Two   Blog Three

Head back up the trail   Blog One   Blog Two

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Assault - drop

With a cautious watch kept on the creatures, you move to crack the shell of the egg on the branch. It has not yet made contact when the nearest of them is beating the air right beside you and has its tentacles on your skin, one at the upper arm, one the shoulder and - pain! - astounding pain, racing, rushing - crackling - fills all your upper body, and muscles clench hard, seem to tear, as light and leaves dim, and blue fire flashes. The view leaps away, and you realise you are falling, the layers of the canopy crashing up past you, leaves ripping at your arms and legs, branches striking your back, your hea -

- - - - - -

Your adventure ends here.

The life runs out of your body amid the ferns and roots at the base of the oak. Creatures circle high above the crown, mourning their loss. A breeze teases grass into darkness...

You did not discover the secrets of this world. You were not well suited to it. But the tree is kind to life. The energies at its roots are powerful. It is likely that some part of you will assume another form and emerge there again, born of the feathery green fronds and towering arches. Then another adventure will beckon, a chance to do better.

The oak awaits a new beginning...

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