15:32     -- | Channel #forest: 3 nicks (1 op, 0 halfops, 0 voices, 2 normals)
15:32  @elly | alright, 6-sided die: check, copy of book: check, pen & paper: check
15:32     -- | Channel created on Fri, 18 Mar 2022 15:30:02
15:33 dozens | i am here for some forest game
15:33  @elly | off I go to deliver warm blankets to Auntie Tenfingers, deep in the coniferous forest
15:33  @elly | https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvMTQ0NjczNS84NDQ2ODg5LnBuZw==/original/Xhi%2FKl.png the map
15:34  @elly | I start in the bottom tile, which is regular forest
15:35  @elly | This is a friendly wood. d6 = 5: a trio of very competitive sprites are racing through the woods! They are fretful, apparently
15:35  @elly | there is apparently also a cute bug here :)
15:36  @elly | I'll try to heard north
15:36  @elly | this area has Lost 2, and I rolled a 6, so I get to go north, which is another friendly forest tile
15:36 dozens | aw cute bug
15:36  @elly | d6 = 2: A young brown wolf is surprised to see me, and I suppose I will do my absolute best to seem non-threatening since I don't want to fight with a wolf at
             | all
15:37  @elly | here, there is also a handful of stones stacked atop each other, presumably by some prior traveller
15:37  @elly | I will definitely be careful not to disturb those
15:37 dozens | haha this is so fun
15:38  @elly | lost roll of 2, which is not less than the location's lost value, so I head north to the big tree at the center
15:38  @elly | ah, the Allmother Tree!
15:38  @elly | often heard of but supposedly only seen by those touched by fate, which could be a good sign... or a bad one
15:39  @elly | er, I rolled "a tree explodes right in front of you!" which is a bit alarming
15:39  @elly | I'm going to ignore that extremely grim omen and keep soldiering on
15:39  @elly | the Lost value here is 1, so I can't get lost really... let's see if I can find Auntie's house further this direction
15:39  @elly | I'm entering a coniferous forest!
15:40  @elly | there are a swarm of giant ants here, carrying carcasses back to their mound for food
15:41  @elly | I'm going to slink away from those, hopefully unseen, and go southwest into what looks like it might be at least a little bit less dangerous
15:41  @elly | uhoh, this is an old and wild forest...
15:41  @elly | a lost sprite wants to get back to the fae wood! well, at least we're lost together
15:41  @elly | you can come with me, sprite
15:42 dozens | omg an exploding tree at the allmother!! what an omen
15:42  @elly | there are words carved into a tree: after scratching away a good deal of moss, they appear to be a signpost back to the allmother tree
15:42  @elly | maybe I can find a different route north from there...
15:42  @elly | 1 on my Lost die though so I'm lost
15:43 dozens | o no
15:43  @elly | grasping vines reach down from the branches to grab me!
15:43  @elly | I shriek in surprise and the sprite helps me fight my way free
15:43  @elly | there's also a small bird's nest that has fallen to the floor here... I'll see if I can find a hollow in a tree to at least give it a bit of protection
15:43  @elly | good luck, small birds
15:44  @elly | lost dice: 5!
15:44  @elly | I make my way back to the Allmother Tree
15:44 dozens | whew, that wild forest was scary
15:44  @elly | there are some massive animal tracks crossing my path - footprints deep enough for me to sink into up to my knees
15:45  @elly | unfortunately they're heading north, the direction I think I need to go, so I decide to make my way northeast - I think the fae are that way anyway and it'll
             | help the sprite get home
15:45  @elly | fae forest time...
15:45  @elly | a field of giant moonflowers tower over me, watching my every move
15:45  @elly | that's pretty alarming but fortunately the sprite, grateful to be home, reassures me: they're not dangerous, just curious
15:45  @elly | I touch one and end up slightly sticky
15:46  @elly | within the moonflower's bud, I find a small rock, perfectly round and nicely sized to fit in my hand
15:46  @elly | it's pleasing to hold so I take it with me as a token
15:46  @elly | onward!
15:46  @elly | northwest into the coniferous forest if I can
15:47  @elly | lost = 4, I manage to make my way away from the fae
15:47  @elly | I run into a mosu rubbing its horns on a tree trunk and looking groggy... hmm
15:47  @elly | and another handful of stones stacked atop one another!
15:47  @elly | I must be heading the right way, I think
15:48  @elly | I wonder if the mosu's had a bit too much moonflower nectar
15:48  @elly | let's try going northwest, deeper into the coniferous forest
15:48  @elly | lost = 2, I'm stuck here!
15:49  @elly | a giant sloth hanging sleepily from an overhead branch! I stay out from underneath it and try not to disturb its rest
15:49  @elly | and... off to the side, an enormous spider web
15:49  @elly | I decide to go the other direction!
15:49  @elly | lost = 3, I manage to make my way northwest, deeper into the forest
15:50  @elly | a larger murder of crowcoons stand still in a circle around one of their own, which is hopping back and forth and chattering nervously
15:50  @elly | I observe silently for a few moments, then make my way into the center of the ring, ignoring the stunned silence of the bird-creatures, and place my smooth
             | rock next to the crow in the center
15:51  @elly | there is a contemplative pause, then they all take flight in unison
15:51  @elly | perhaps I helped
15:51 dozens | <3
15:51  @elly | I take a seat on a fallen, hollowed-out tree to rest for a moment, then press onward...
15:51  @elly | lost = 1, still lost in this coniferous forest!
15:51  @elly | an enormous spiderweb blocks the path ahead :(
15:52  @elly | definitely in the giant spider zone
15:52  @elly | I'll try heading to the northeast instead to see if I can't get around this particular nest of spiders
15:52  @elly | lost = 2, still lost in the coniferous forest!
15:53  @elly | Aha! Auntie Tenfingers' hut, at last! I make my way in to deliver the blankets and partake of some of her excellent Coniferous Forest Cookies
15:53  @elly | she gives me the Woodland Cloak! and asks me if I can talk some sense into the fauns and sprites
15:54  @elly | well, in return for such a fine gift, it's the least I can go
15:54  @elly | I'll head back south to the allmother tree, then see if I can figure out how to find them to reason with them
15:54  @elly | (btw, page 27: "fretfull" -> "fretful")
15:54  @elly | I head south... and immediately get turned around in the woods, with every landmark apparently buried under a carpet of pine needles
15:55  @elly | I emerge into a clearing to see a herd of goats frolicing and headbutting each other!
15:55  @elly | fortunately I know fainting goats when I see them and I approach very openly and cautiously to avoid scaring them
15:55  @elly | one of them licks my hand
15:55  @elly | I am blessed by the goat!
15:56  @elly | ...
15:56  @elly | a pair of the goats are snuffling around in the dirt, and when I go to investigate, it turns out that what they're nosing at is a half-buried human skull,
             | cracked and dusty
15:56  @elly | another bad omen if there ever was one
15:56  @elly | I want to go straight home, but I did promise Auntie Tenfingers
15:56  @elly | lost = 6, I make my way to the Allmother Tree
15:57  @elly | I have the Woodland Cloak this time!
15:57  @elly | I climb/fall through a gap in the tree, fall briefly into darkness, and end up blessed by the tree, gaining the Barkskin effect
15:57  @elly | onward, northeast!
15:58  @elly | a fae forest... oh no, a passing band of warsprites spot me intruding on their territory and they don't seem all that happy that I've intruded
15:59  @elly | they "gently encourage" me to move on at spearpoint, so I depart as quickly as I can: northward, into the blighted part of the woods, furthest from hearth or
             | hope
15:59  @elly | well, this was a mistake
15:59  @elly | the first thing I see, entering the blighted woods, is a squirrel that has been skinned and pinned to a tree with a hunting knife
16:00 dozens | egad
16:00  @elly | shuddering, I pull the hunting knife out so I can at least lay the creature to rest properly, and pocket the knife
16:00  @elly | time to try entering the fae woods again, by a different route
16:00  @elly | a faerie ring! now *that's* a blessing
16:01  @elly | the sun seems to be shining a bit more brightly, too...
16:01  @elly | I step into the faerie ring and stand in the sunlight for a few minutes, warming myself and calming my nerves
16:01  @elly | back into the coniferous forest I go!
16:02  @elly | ... but I got lost
16:02  @elly | as I'm trying to figure out how to exit this enchanted part of the forest, I come across a honeybear, which is apparently a bear zombie animated by evil bees
16:02  @elly | it is busy being a beehive though, so I slink past it
16:03 dozens | wow close call
16:03  @elly | yeah... I wouldn't have been able to do much with this little knife
16:03  @elly | I do manage to pick my way out and back to the coniferous forest
16:04  @elly | I'm back at Auntie Tenfingers' hut :) I don't stop by, though - I don't want her to trouble myself making me fresh tea, nor can I possibly eat any more cookies
16:04  @elly | westward ho, looking for some fauns
16:05  @elly | I come across a watering hole with a crocodile and a couple of capybaras drinking
16:05  @elly | is it possible to get into petting range of the capybaras without possibly getting eaten? does not look like it
16:05  @elly | as I'm trying to find out if I can, though, I stumble into... quicksand!
16:06  @elly | I flail around for a minute and then one of the capybaras moseys over to me and, thankfully, offers me a paw to grab onto and I'm able to haul myself free
16:06  @elly | yikes
16:06  @elly | time to keep looking for the fauns, if I can find them
16:06  @elly | well, I'm lost
16:06  @elly | ... and I found some more quicksand, the hard way
16:07  @elly | I'm able to grab a hanging vine dangling from a decrepit tree and just barely get myself back onto solid ground
16:07  @elly | I must be more careful with my footing
16:07  @elly | but what's this? another perfectly rounded rock? or is it the same one...?
16:07  @elly | either way, I'll pocket that, too
16:07  @elly | I head south!
16:08  @elly | Aha! Laughter, music... it's the faun village!
16:08  @elly | The fauns would like if I recover their drinking horn for them - they think the faeries stole it
16:08  @elly | which, knowing fairies, they may well have
16:09  @elly | alright, I'll make the attempt!
16:09  @elly | I'll head southeast around the allmother tree
16:09  @elly | or, alternatively, get lost
16:09  @elly | a handful of bush brats are building a golem together! how... cute...
16:10  @elly | at least they look like they're having a good time, although I doubt anyone else will once they're done
16:10  @elly | off to my right I suddenly hear a cracking sound as a small tree snaps
16:10  @elly | what's that? I peer into the underbrush - whatever it is, it's coming my way, but taking its sweet time about it
16:11  @elly | after a few minutes it comes into view: a giant snail!
16:11  @elly | I've always wanted to try this... I grab hold of the snail's shell and hoist myself up
16:11  @elly | take me southeast, giant snail!
16:11  @elly | my snail mount (very slowly) takes me out of the wilderness and back into the homey forest I know and love
16:12  @elly | a lost snail hound!
16:12  @elly | the snail hound excitedly waves its... eyestalks? when it spots the snail I'm riding
16:12  @elly | perhaps they can be snail friends
16:12  @elly | it starts to tag along with us
16:13  @elly | as we cross over the trail I'd used earlier, heading towards the fae woods once again... hm, that's odd, someone or something has kicked a bunch of dirt over
             | the trail since I last used it, obscuring my footprints
16:13  @elly | that's ominous!
16:14  @elly | back into the faewoods we slowly go, and here's - is that a cat in a bird cage? and surrounded by the remains of a dozen deceased sprites?
16:14  @elly | I'm going to steer clear of that, even though it's mewling pitifully
16:14  @elly | I and my two snail companions stumble around aimlessly and happen on the sprite village
16:14  @elly | excellent!
16:15  @elly | and, even luckier, one of these sprites *did* steal the drinking horn and is willing to part with it!
16:15  @elly | now I have the drinking horn... but the sprites need me to get their queen bee back
16:16  @elly | southwest, snailbro!
16:16  @elly | a lone faun is passed out cold against a tree trunk, holding a flask of "psycho mead"
16:16  @elly | fauns are quick to anger if roused while drunk so I'll just very slowly slink past
16:16  @elly | snails: style, comfort, speed, pick two
16:17 dozens | lol
16:17  @elly | made it back into the wild forest though! let's see if I can find the queen bee
16:17  @elly | oh, in fact, this is the Faun village
16:17  @elly | (the "Protocol L" header didn't get bolded)
16:18  @elly | alright, well, I have just learned about "psycho bees" which sound like a good and normal thing for an ecosystem to have
16:18  @elly | (page 33: "aquried" -> "acquired")
16:19  @elly | yes! the faun is so grateful to have his drinking horn back that he shows me to the beehives of the psycho bees, and lets me very gently take the queen bee
16:19  @elly | southeast and back to the fae, one last time
16:19  @elly | unfortunately, as I'm trying to irish-exit the revelry, a group of fauns make a very determined effort to lure me into it
16:20  @elly | no thanks fauns! I'm literally holding a swarm of bees, this is extremely not the time
16:20  @elly | we make our way southeast, past a pair of rutting moose that are trying to batter each other unconscious with their antlers
16:20  @elly | charming!
16:21  @elly | huh, what's that? a mossman tending a sapling! I've never seen one up close before
16:21  @elly | it turns its nose up at my snail, possibly because my snail keeps trying to chew its leaves
16:21  @elly | I manage to make my way back to the fae woods
16:22  @elly | and back to the sprite village, specifically!
16:22  @elly | I have finished the forest friendship quest, hooray!
16:23  @elly | whew
16:23  @elly | quite a day in the woods, and I made two new friends, and plus I'm no longer covered in bees!
16:23  @elly | time to head home
16:23  @elly | southwest...
16:23  @elly | a bunch of the trees along this trail have had their bark clawed off by what must be a massive cat
16:23  @elly | I'd just as soon not run afoul of that
16:23  @elly | south!
16:24  @elly | and I'm back at the entrance to the woods, astride my snail :)
16:24  @elly | there we go, game success!
16:24  @elly | very cute game dozens
16:25  @elly | entire backlog: ~elly/t/forest.log
16:25 dozens | yaaay!
16:25 dozens | that was cute and charming
16:26  @elly | I'm glad
16:26  @elly | it was a lot of fun
16:26 dozens | :D
16:26  @elly | it would easily play with a group, for what it's worth
16:26  @elly | as a storytelling game
16:26 dozens | awesome!
16:27 dozens | maybe we can play it together some time. there was another branch that you didn't take, and a lot more content.
16:28  @elly | yeah, I figured from there being like a dozen more protocols I didn't see :)
16:28  @elly | nor did I really explore the blighted woods
16:28  @elly | they aren't really on the way between anywhere and anywhere
16:28 dozens | blighted woods are scary :(
16:28 dozens | yeah

