wildestlogs | HEARTSTONE TROLLMARKET ※ CAMP

HEARTSTONE TROLLMARKET

The Nightrenders and the Sisters stop following their prey once they get some distance into the woods. The protective aura coming from the shelter up north is full of deep protective magic.

It is a strange place. It looks like a massive cavern underground was somehow thrust up through earth and stone, until the roof and one wall cracked and fell in many places, creating a sort of canyon with rounded inner walls. If they look up they'll see a starry band of the night sky through the cracked roof. The rocks clearly crushed some houses and businesses but seem to have finally settled, so it's safe to wander around.

The way the ceiling opened was a source of far more tragedy than the falling rocks, though. When day breaks, they'll see the band of sunlight that cut through this community. Scattered through this band of light are large figures wrapped in sheets and blankets, tied in place with pieces of bright cloth. Little trinkets lay scattered at their feet. If anyone takes one of the blankets off, they'll see the petrified figure of a troll, their stone face forever etched in fear and surprise. It's clear from the cloth coverings and the trinkets that this is a people that cared for their dead, and that had community and family life. Among some of the trinkets are the drawings of children and dolls left for their lost loved one.

Market stalls have been ransacked, house doors are open, with larders of whatever this people ate empty, like the people here left very suddenly. Perhaps they felt the need to leave because of their sudden exposure - their community not thrust on the surface, the walls and ceiling holding back the sun crumbling.

Or perhaps the were nervous because of what was happening to the great crystal at the center of their world: the Heartstone. This great glowing crystal that got folded into the Wilderlands, was the nexus of magical energy of a world, its lifeblood, the beating heart of all magic. It sustained and protected the trolls.

It is cracked and dying. Dimming to a deeper color, occasionally flickering in a way that shows that someday it will dim completely. But not tonight. Tonight its nourishing, protective magic will keep the monsters away and give them some light in the dark. Even without the torches of the trolls, the Heartstone's light causes gems and crystals in the cavern - now a canyon - to glimmer with its protective light.

OOC DETAILS
❧ Quest magic: Players can handwave that the quest bond magic ultimately tugged the group to the Heartstone, eventually teleporting any stragglers to it. Once the group is gathered there, no one can go far without getting teleported back.

❧ Time Period: The mods will set up a top-level for the night they all arrived, and a top-level for players to post their ongoing threads set over the ensuing days. Unless the group decides to leave faster, they will likely stay there for several IC days. (And the mods will probably allow this rest stop to run 1-2 OOC weeks, but will touch base with the playerbase on their preferences.)

❧ NPCing: No npcs are left in Trollmarket - the trolls have abandoned their now unsafe home. However, gnomes can be found wandering the canyon. The gnomes seem sentient, as they clearly speak a squeaky language that just can't be translated, but they're near feral, once the pests of the trolls. They're small, extremely fast, massively strong for their tiny sizes, and love to steal the belongings of bigger people. Groups of them sometimes gang up to carry larger items. They're also aggressive: prone to biting with their pointy teeth, and taking off their pointy caps and leaping at people to stab them with the pointy horns on the tops of their heads.

❧ Supplies: There is no human food in Trollmarket and the remains of any stalls advertising food make that clear. The trollish writing on the signs is translated by translation magic to Sylvaen, the language they've all gained knowledge of. Apparently the trolls liked to eat rocks and various minerals, socks stolen from humans, and cats. Fortunately, the cages from the stalls advertising the last one are empty, and the feral cat colony around Trollmarket makes it clear they weren't taken as emergency rations. (Occasionally there is a great racket as the gnomes and cats go to war.) However, there are resources like course cloth, woolen blankets, and sewing and cobbling materials. There are also leather goods like satchels, packs, and belts. There is rope. And waxy paper that can be used to wrap food supplies.

❧ Weapons: There are weapons that can be found in places, but not many. The trolls were not a peaceful people but they settled most of their problems with simple, non-fatal brawling, rather than anything crueler, only fighting against outside attackers. The few weapons that can be found are very large and heavy, clearly meant for war. They're built for a people that averages 8-10 feet tall and only the strongest and largest among the squad will find them anything but unwieldy. However, there are a few "small" knives of crude metal that can be used as short swords, and metal shields probably used as bucklers, that would work as full shields for normal-sized people.

❧ Forest resources: The woods around Trollmarket are safe, especially if traversed during the day. They're full of potential food, for those that know what to look for. There are wild blueberries, raspberries, and huckleberries, and enough flat, dark rocks to dry fruit in the sun. At the edge of a nearby pond are cattails, with edible roots, and reeds and grasses that can be used for basket-making. Dandelions grow everywhere, with edible flowers and roots, and there are edible marigold flowers. There's ample firewood, pieces of flint (though it takes time to find them), and wild game like deer and rabbits. The trolls' cookware, cutlery, and knives can be used to cook and dress animals, but might be heavy to take along. Water can be found in the pond (though it'd need boiling), or in small, cleaner springs in the woods.

❧ Spells: Archivists will find that there are little springs in the woods that they can draw spells from. The mods will make up random spells for Archivist players that request one.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's an impressively dramatic sigh.

"At some point we're going to have to make a decision about how we want to deal with that, but it doesn't have to be right now. I'm fine with being careful and vague while we're still figuring stuff out."

Elle is more than happy to choose her words carefully. She does it anyway, so she might as well do it with a specific purpose.

Stacia heaves another sigh, just to make sure that Elle and the universe both know how put-upon she is.

"I suppose that's reasonable," she says.

She lets the silence hang for a moment. She considers letting it hang until Elle fills it.

"So, what now?"

Elle smiles at Stacia's dramatic sigh, and continues to smile when Stacia calls her proposal reasonable, because Elle really does try.

It's Elle's turn to sigh when Stacia asks the big question.

"Fuck if I know," she says tiredly. "Survive, I guess. Take care of each other, and the others. Figure out why we're here and figure out what we're going to do about it."

Elle likes knowing things. She likes knowing what's going on and how people feel about it. She doesn't like being left in the dark like this.

"Same old business in a brand new place, huh?" Stacia smiles, but it lacks the usual energy and enthusiasm. "Well, I'll try not to live down to the Garou's reputation for violence and douchebaggery."

"It never ends," Elle commiserates. "And please, make my life easier. At least I know how to handle idiot Garou, this is all new territory."

Well, somewhat. Dealing with non-shifters isn't something that happens very often anymore. Regular human social dynamics... oh boy. She's going to ge the chance to brush up on some skills.

Stacia blows a raspberry at her.

"Absolutely not," she says. "Only new and exciting mistakes for me. Repeating the past is so...passé."

Eh? Eh?

Elle snorts in a completely undignified manner. "New and exciting my ass," she retorts. "We've got enough 'new and exciting' already. Old and boring would be a welcome change of pace."

She sticks her tongue out back at Stacia to show that she's joking.

"Give it time and maybe all of this will become old and boring too," Stacia says.
"Or at least old and annoying. I was looking forward to getting access to proper shampoo and conditioner again, and now I guess I'm going to have to figure out whatever they use in fantasy land. Magic lye or whatever."

"Believe me, it's already annoying," Elle has the capacity to find anything annoying if she tries hard enough. She thinks Stacia might be similar in that regard.

"Oh, god," she moans. "I hadn't even thought about hygiene. I'll promise to never comment on how gross you smell without having taken a shower for too long if you'll do the same in return."

Politely ignoring that kind of thing seems like a good deal, especially when they're all in the same smelly boat.

"Deal", Stacia says. "Hopefully we'll go nose blind to the worst of it. At least until we shift and get hit with a wall of Camping Stank."

HEARTSTONE TROLLMARKET ※ CAMP

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle

Re: Stacia & Elle