[WP] "Over time, folks gettin' swallowed up by the woods just became... normal, y'know? Something that just happened every now n' then. When they started comin' back, though... That was a LOT tougher to get used to, I tell ya."
Adventurer guilds had always been a hotspot for the craziest quests and it’s always an adventurer’s pleasure to serve and hopefully receive a huge sum from the quests but upon the arrival of this new quest. Every adventurer has avoided it like the plague. As time went by, the rewards grew higher and the risk became higher. The few brave souls that offered their lives for the task never came back.
As a guild rule, if the quests has not been accepted yet remains active in the span of 3 years, it’s either given to the highest ranking member or it’s given to another guild that doesn’t already have an existing request similar to the quest.
It was rather unfortunate that as one of the platinum tagged members, the task was given to me. And now here I am on the only boat to Pryham
“I could be headed to the mountains to look for a dragon horde” I let out a loud sigh out of my obvious dismay
“That be a good ya got there, boy. Only the crazies ever be wantin’ to go up against them critters, ya see” A bearded man approached me and offered me a tobacco roll that i politely declined. I looked ahead and focused on the approaching island
“Mind telling me what goes on in that island, captain?”
He glanced at me then back at the island in question as he exhaled a puff of smoke “Some really creepy things. Best it be abandoned but the nutty folks all be waitin for the ones that went missin”
“What do mean by the ones that went missing? I mean, I need to know if I’m hired for the job”
‘Ya make a fair point, lad. Ya see, some weird mist came here outta nowhere one day. Sure it’s an island but that fog was just funky, y’know” He took another drag of smoke and exhaled moments later “T’was painful. Even lost me dear wife in that fog. They were all called to the forest, they said. But I dunno bout that”
“You think the fog came from the forest somehow?”
He shook his head and propped himself up over the ship’s railing, leaning forward a bit “Dunno. But people just disappeared one day. T’was crazy as hell. Over time, folks gettin' swallowed up by the woods just became... normal, y'know? Something that just happened every now n' then. When they started comin' back, though... That was a LOT tougher to get used to, I tell ya."
I was about to ask more when the horns sounded and my attention was immediately diverted to the source of the noise.
“And one more thing, boy’o! Make sure ya dun go out without that suit ya got packed in that bag o’ yers. No matter what”
I could only nod as the crew guided me down the ladder where a boat was waiting for me below it. Apparently that captain doesn’t enjoy going near the island anymore. What was up with when the townsfolk came back. Shouldn’t they have been happy?
“Are you the adventurer, Liam, sir?” The man rowing the boat asked with such a creepy wide smile and such lifeless eyes. I suddenly remembered the suit
“Ye-yeah, that’s me” I tried to smile as wide as I could before I hurriedly slipped into the white suit I had bought off some merchant. It would protect me, he said. It made me feel ridiculous but as we boarded off the boat and made our way to town. I could see the same creepy smiles everywhere. Something was definitely messed up here. I could only do my best to smile like they did so as to avoid further questioning about my suit. I was escorted to the town hall where I was greeted with the lord of the land. There he told me exactly the same thing the captain did except this time instead of telling me to keep on the suit, he kept urging me to remove it.
Scared definitely was what I should be feeling but coming back to the guild a coward didn’t seem an option either after having already arrived at the island already. But I suspect that even the lord has been exposed to that fog the captain was talking about.
I didn’t consume anything they had offered that day and asked to retire to the prepared chambers early, claiming that I was tired from such a long journey. Luckily they permitted me and were left to my thoughts until the next day. My simple wish was too much to ask, apparently.
I wasn’t sure when exactly it was but after the clock had passed midnight, disturbing noises could be heard from outside. Bones seemed to crack, pained moans and groans of and after a while, it was followed by growls and dialects which were not of this world. I was hoping I could keep my curiosity at bay but the sound of booming drums echoing from outside made me peer out of the window.
The first thing that greeted me was the deformed figure of what could presumably be the town’s folks and it looked as if they had started a procession of sorts seeing as they were all forming a line, and slowly they marched into the forest. As more people disappeared behind the woodlands, a strange glow emerged from the tree and I just simply watched from the safety of my room. At around 5am, one by one they returned to their own homes, all having that creepy smile plastered across their faces. What exactly happened, I’ll need to ask around when the people would be outside again but for now I need sleep. I barely got any sleep that night but I uncovered
I woke up at high noon and ate from the rations I had brought along with me. I didn’t trust what touched the fog and that included food. As much as it would have been a pleasure to have tasted unusual cuisine but now wasn’t the time. I made my way into the forest and there I began my exploration in hopes of finding clues on what I needed to do here. So far, the only facts I was sure of was that
These people aren’t people anymore
They’re darn good at avoiding questions when asked. And
I need to get out of here as soon as I can because these people creep the hell out of me.
Couldn't resist- the prompt Idea was so good, I wanted to milk it as best as could
Something I interesting in here... page flipping...