realmofstories | Side Stories: January

Side Stories: January—

Around the middle of the month, there will be a soft, white flash from the journals, and upon opening the Aspects will find a new message from the Storyteller waiting on the first page.

Greetings, Aspects, I hope that you are doing well. While I have yet to decide which Book to send you, I have received pleas from lesser stories that have been frequently attacked by the Story Eater's Erasers. The Books themselves have yet to fall, but they will if this continues. Please, I ask those who are willing and able to travel to these stories and help repair and restore the parts that are damaged. The people are weak and vulnerable, but they will lend aid when they can. It will take some time for me to rewrite a proper barrier for these Books, so they may fall under attack again. Thus I will bestow upon you a small gift to help in your endeavors.

This "gift" will be a small hook bookmark adorned with with a butterfly and round gemstone. The gemstone will glow a faint white hue, and the note attached to it will inform the user that the stone will glow red when Erasers are near. When a task is completed or conditions are met, it will glow a light green. This should prove useful for dealing with Erasers and knowing when their job is done.

In addition to the message and the bookmark, a small, hand drawn map will appear beneath the Storyteller's message. There are three paths leading out of town and towards the Segments that still connect the Index to the Books in need of help. Upon arriving at the Segment, they will find it heavily guarded by white and black knight chess pieces. Due to the current dangers, they are restricting access, but upon realizing they are facing Aspects, they will let them through with well wishes and luck. Everyone must walk over the Segments, and the paths themselves are tattered, the ink and pages that construct them fraying and spilling into the void. But there are large, open book covers that if stood upon will fly them across and hasten their journey.

Upon arriving into the Book, more chess pieces will greet them and will guide them to the specific story in need of help. The journey will feel a bit surreal as they are traveling through the pages and can take small glimpses of other chapters and stories contained within. Unlike the first Book the Aspects had to repair, these are still whole and full of life. It is only the specific story they are entering that seems to have suffered great damage, with the colors beginning to fade and various parts destroyed or tearing apart. Once in the proper place, the chess pieces will depart to assist elsewhere, leaving the Aspects to their tasks.

§ instructions.
As mentioned in our Game Notes, these mini adventures are basically like our TDM and event prompts. They are available throughout the entirety of the Break and can be done at any time and as many times as you want as the stories will be constantly under attacked and will need to be revisited until the Storyteller finishes its work. In terms of format, the prompts will have a mix of needing scenes to be fulfilled and other objectives. Because these are bite sized, rather than the entire story we're just picking a few key scenes for each and then balancing it with other options to hopefully flesh it out for other characters. No sign ups are required, just choose whatever you want! Although the chess pieces are around to assist, they will mostly stay out of the characters' way.

As a reminder, characters will have the necessary information within their journals. Those who are selected to play a scene will find their journal flashing red, so hard to miss. The information they have is roughly the same as what is written OOCly. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on the linked Game Notes post.

§ prompts.

¶ I. Hansel and Gretel. Set in a forest with a cottage made of candy and other tasty delectables, some Aspects will find themselves automatically assigned to play and dressed as the role of one of the following characters: Hansel, Gretel, and the Witch. The cottage itself looks as if it could use a bit of a fixer upper, and the forest is also a tad rotten and rife with danger. Although there are no Blots to worry about, the Erasers are lurking and ready to strike. Take care.

Crumbling Cottage. The witch's cottage is supposed to be made of candy, gingerbread, cookies, and other tasty treats, but it's already melting and crumbling away. Parts of it even have large bite marks from giant rat-shaped Erasers that dart in for a feast. Take care of the pests and help rebuild the cottage by finding pieces within the forest.
Rotten Forest. The forest itself is an unusual one. Rather than standard trees, everything is made of various candies and sweet foods. Candy cane trees, marshmallow bushes, jawbreaker rocks. It would be more appetizing if it wasn't melting and rotting everywhere, creating a very sticky mess. There's not much that can be about it, but it does make it easier for the Erasers to hide and try and trap anyone not careful. Beware the large spider and find shiny white pebbles to use against the Erasers more effectively.
Pick a Scene. There are a couple of scenes that need to be reenacted:
1. Hansel and Gretel. Trek through the woods to the cottage and leave bread crumbs. Fight off the Erasers and don't get lost.
2. Witch and Hansel. The Witch is to give Hansel food while he's trapped in a cage, and Hansel must outwit the Witch to keep them thinking he's skinny. To mimic the Witch's poor eyesight, they must wear a blindfold. Hansel is free to try and escape.
3. Gretel and the Witch. Gretel must somehow send the Witch into the oven or defeat her another way. Alternatively Gretel could lose and is cooked instead, whatever floats your boat. Fortunately the oven is off so no one should actually be cooked... Unless it somehow starts working again.

¶ II. Gingerbread Man. Run, run as fast as you can--this is a giant marathon. Although there quite a number of characters who chase the Gingerbread Man, the actual assigned roles are: Gingerbread Man and the Fox. Everyone will start at the house and follow the long, winding perilous road down to the river. The Erasers have congregated along the path and in the waters, so take care.

Might of the Gingerbread Army. Although someone is going to be playing the role, they still need to actually make a gingerbread man. However, that's easier said than done when it turns out that others had tried before and failed in the worst way imaginable. First off, the "failed rejects" have formed an army, barricading themselves within the cottage. Most are average sized, but someone thought to try to make a jumbo sized gingerbread man and it stands guard right outside. If they manage to fight through and defeat (or eat) the gingerbread army, they then have a finicky stove to deal with and ingredients to find.
Run Run as Fast as You Can. In the story there are a number of characters chasing after the Gingerbread Man. For our purposes, the Gingerbread Man just has to race against anyone (except the Fox) and try to win. For those who would like to try and take on a role, the following options are available:
- Old Man or Woman: Sit back in this wheelchair and let its magic propel its rider through at incredible speeds. It even comes with a frosting gun to try and slow down the Gingerbread Man.
- Pig: Hop aboard a flying pig and drop pies down to try and knock out the Gingerbread Man.
- Cow: Actually, this is a bull—a lot of bulls. Just open the gates, let them loose, and follow the stampede.
- Horse: A horse drawn chariot will be available and the rider can try and use some licorice lasso to catch that Gingerbread Man!
As for the road itself, it's mostly in good condition, but there are various obstacles along the way. Random candy cane poles, laffy taffy tar pits, gum drop bumps. Add to the fact it's downhill all the way and Erasers skulking about, and this is one rough trip. Perhaps an Aspect should just play escort instead to make sure the Gingerbread Man gets down safely.
...I'm the Gingerbread Man? Alternatively, everyone finds themselves in a Gingerbread Man (or Woman) outfit and will find themselves being hunted down by the Erasers taking on the forms instead. Either run, fight, or do both, but they are tenacious and hungry.
Outfoxed. The final scene is the Gingerbread Man crossing the river on the Fox. Unless the Fox actually wants to carry the Gingerbread Man, a boat will be provided for them. From there, the Fox must try to "eat" the Gingerbread Man (or at least stab them with the provided fork), but anything can happen out there. Maybe the Gingerbread Man will be the one to defeat the Fox instead. Just be wary of the Eraser sharks circling around.
Fishing Erasers. Along with the Erasers on land, there are quite a few shark based ones in the water ready to wreak havoc to those who will eventually sail into it. They will even breach and go on land. Fortunately, the chess pieces have left a number of hardcore fishing gear and a strong enough boat to venture out there and provide backup support. Get ready to try and spear, harpoon, and even cannon blast those Erasers! But beware of the "Great Black," a giant shark that could take down the boat if not careful.

¶ III. The Princess and the Pea. A healthy change compared to the sugary sweets of the other stories, but also a very simple story. There is only one real role, the Princess, but she (or he) is going to need all the help they can get. You'd think a story about a princess sleeping on a stack of beds would be easy, but no. When the door is opened to the room the Princess is to sleep in, they will find themselves staring up what looks more like rotating Jenga tower, with the beds of all shapes and sizes moving and shifting around, some just floating out in space. There are twenty "levels" with three beds to a row, and it's a precarious balance. One wrong shift could send it, and everyone else, toppling into a giant pit of tennis ball sized peas below where Erasers lurk and try to climb up the tower as well. Have fun.

A Towering Puzzle. A pea must be placed at the bottom bed, but that's hard to do when the beds keep moving around. Fortunately, they don't need to try and glue and hammer the beds down. There are a few symbols and colors on each row that match certain beds within the tower. Matching them will lock them in place (complete with a little tune), creating a more stable foundation and help everyone else. Now it's a matter of finding the beds and slotting them in without breaking everything else. Just watch out for the beds themselves because they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and some may have spikes or loose nails on them. There are also the Erasers which will try to climb and knock the beds out, so take care of them as well.
Pea Pit. The next problem is getting the pea, and there are three that need to be found, one for each bed. Not only that, they have to be the right pea that will fit in the molds set in each bed, needing to match both shape and color. There are a few ways to go about this. Aside from the Erasers that lurk within, the sea of peas actually safe and is more like a giant ball pit. Those who are brave enough can dive in and try to find the pea. At least they're unusual and distinct enough to stand out from the rest. Otherwise, there are mattress that can be used as floats and pillow casing as nets to try and scoop a few peas out and try and "fish" one out that way. As for the Erasers, rather than directly attack they are more likely to pull and drag down their unwary victim. Fortunately the chess pieces have left plenty of bedsheet rope to tie oneself to help pull out.
Ascend the Bed Tower. The Princess must climb up to the top, but it won't be easy with the beds moving, even dropping down several levels or suddenly rising up. At least the chess pieces have managed to assemble some climbing gear that the Princess can use, but with the rope made of seemingly endless bedsheets, maybe they shouldn't trust it too much. Doesn't help that parts of it have already broken off. Hopefully others will be able to assist in keeping the beds in place.

¶ IV. Wildcard. Make up your own prompt!