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May 31, 2023 21:25:23 GMT
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Post by Raven on Jul 3, 2017 16:57:40 GMT
Poking around in the bushes only seems to result in startling some Pokemon out of their hiding spot. The tracks seem to just end here.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jul 3, 2017 17:12:22 GMT
Clay frowns. The path was obviously a false trail, but he's not sure how he managed to circle back without noticing it at all. That's very, very strange. But he's pretty sure that's the same tree, and any other explanation would be ridiculously complicated - the thief would have to have come back to the fork after he'd been and gone to see the mark, then gotten ahead of him to mark on a tree farther ahead and lay more false trails, all without him noticing. He rejects this as difficult to pull off and a lot of pointless effort compared to him just missing the turn.
He huffs quietly and exchanges glances with Fan. "Well, what now?" She doesn't seem to have any suggestions, apart from a less than elegant hand gesture about what she'd like to do to the thief, so after a moment he sighs and sets off down the middle trail, where he'll presumably come up behind Rei and Tiki. "Any luck?"
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Nov 23, 2023 19:11:09 GMT
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Post by lichlord on Jul 3, 2017 18:09:13 GMT
Rei frowns as they can't seem to find any continuation of the tracks. She escorts Tiki back the way they came, before they run into Clay.
"No, the trail seems to end. We'll have to go back and take the third option."
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Post by oddeyes on Jul 3, 2017 21:12:55 GMT
Tiki lightly tugs on Rei's clothes. "H-...Hurry...."
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Post by Raven on Jul 3, 2017 21:56:17 GMT
Your group (minus Sano, who said something about going back to town for help) heads back to the starting position and follows the remaining right-hand path. After much searching and following of paths, you find that this route also dead-ends after about 5 minutes. Returning once more to the start of the split paths, you ponder your next course of action.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jul 3, 2017 22:14:43 GMT
Clay frowns and turns to look at the path he went down the first time. "... This one looped back around. Something kinda weird about it actually, I never noticed I was even turning."
He glances back at the others. "Do you guys wanna try this one? It's the only one we didn't lose all the way... maybe you can spot something I didn't." Because when both of the other trails are dead ends, he has to think there's something strange going on despite his earlier dismissal. Especially considering that there's no sign of the other two trails looping back.
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Post by Raven on Jul 4, 2017 2:15:07 GMT
Walking along the easy-to-follow trail, Rei immediately senses something amiss. There is some sort of 'sorcery' (for lack of a better term) at work here. Illusions of this sort not being her specialty, she can only say that this is a false trail as well, meant to keep any pursuers walking in circles for some undetermined length of time.
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Post by lichlord on Jul 4, 2017 3:56:40 GMT
Rei looks around, seemingly piecing something together. She points down to the path in question.
"There's something amiss about this. This path right here has some sort of illusion or charm on it. If I had some of my stuff I might be able to dispel it but... We obviously cannot. We have to find some way to fight through it ourselves. Although, I'm not sure... how."
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Post by oddeyes on Jul 4, 2017 3:59:13 GMT
"Illusions?....What are we gonna do?" Tiki looks down at the ground. She has never felt more useless in her life.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jul 4, 2017 4:05:35 GMT
"It's a what." Clay mostly just looks ticked off at this. "Okay, fine. Let's try this."
Clay has no idea whether what he's about to do will actually help, because he frankly doesn't know the slightest thing about illusions, but it's better than nothing - he sets off at right angles to the path, as if he thinks he can just walk around the illusion. "I'm gonna go this way, then. This has to be the right way, right? They wouldn't have messed with it if it was another false trail. Gotta be a way around this..."
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Post by Raven on Jul 4, 2017 4:07:21 GMT
Clay wanders off into the woods, attempting to "get around" whatever nonsense is blocking the path. Unfortunately for him, his plan does not work, and he eventually makes his way back up behind the girls.
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jul 4, 2017 4:17:21 GMT
The girls will probably hear a tree shaking some way behind them. This is because when Clay discovers he's back on the path, he kicks it.
On the other hand, this gives him an idea. He starts looking around for a tall tree and scrambles up it, trying to get a view of the area around him. Fan follows close behind him. After a moment he gives a passable impression of a Murkrow's caw. "Hey bird, come up here! See if we can find the guy this way!"
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Post by lichlord on Jul 4, 2017 4:19:06 GMT
Rei picks up some sticks and stones, and tries throwing them ahead of her. She's trying to see if, or when, they vanish into whatever illusion they are in.
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Post by oddeyes on Jul 4, 2017 4:24:30 GMT
Tiki is very confused at where to go next, but looks back at the path behind them. "Hey...What if we walk back the path behind us?"
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Post by lichlord on Jul 4, 2017 4:32:50 GMT
"Wait. Wait. There's no way to move people or pokemon back in this way. No way a simple thief has anything that powerful. Or else they wouldn't be a simple thief. Whoever this is WANTS us to turn back and be confused. We need to keep trying the original path you chose Clay. If we keep moving foward, we may brake out of it."
Rei leads Tiki down the 'C' path and just keeps walking.
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Post by Raven on Jul 4, 2017 4:33:25 GMT
Rei throws some sticks and stones ahead of her, but they don't come flying back like she expects. They just land normally, like there is nothing weird going on here at all.
Clay climbs a tree and tries to get Kopi to help him out. It reluctantly flies up there, only for them to discover that the canopy of trees is simply too thick to see down to ground level.
~~~
Traveling down Clay's original path, the trio discovers nothing new. Instead, they simply find that the trail stops after about 10 minutes of walking. As if whoever made the tracks simply vanished into thin air or something (or just got off the ground).
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Post by carnackiArdent on Jul 4, 2017 5:07:51 GMT
More tree-punching ensues. Also a variety of very irritated screechy noises. Occasionally interspersed with a "damn", because Clay's finally figured out what that word is for, more or less.
He finally stops after a few minutes, breathing hard. "Okay. Okay. I'm gonna try this. If this is an illusion, right, I'm gonna close my eyes. I've got instincts. I can walk forward without hitting things. It's like that story about the blind Lucario, right? Do humans have that one? He can't see but he uses his instincts to fight?"
Except Clay doesn't have Aura powers. But he's going to try anyway. He closes his eyes and begins to walk straight along the path, trying to focus his senses to make sure he's still walking in a straight line.
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Post by Raven on Jul 4, 2017 5:11:33 GMT
Clay shuts his eyes and begins to walk, with Fan trying to keep him running into stuff by tapping his left or right shoulders depending on which way he needs to correct. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to work either, as Fan (and the girls) proclaim that he is now back where he started. Again.
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Post by oddeyes on Jul 4, 2017 5:23:04 GMT
Tiki tugs harder at Rei's clothes. "Rrreeeiiiii.....This way." She points at the path behind them. "I wanna try this way..."
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Post by lichlord on Jul 4, 2017 5:25:36 GMT
Rei notices Tiki's tugging.
"Right, you did suggest that. Well forward isn't getting us out of the illusion, maybe we do have to back up and get around. Ok Tiki, lead the way."
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