#Vacation
As a cartographer you have many responsibilities. The Guild knows that and arranged a week, in which all activities will be halted. Explorers will return, scribes relieved from their desks and librarians will probably still spend their time surrounded by books... But most importantly, the portals(that do not lead to any dangerous worlds) will be opened for everyone.
You, however, couldn't choose where to go on your last day of vacation... So you asked some friends of yours for some suggestions.
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(text-colour:cyan)[You can now choose where you want to go.
Please note that sometimes there will be a (link:"\(text-colour:navy)\[Link]")[Link, just like this,] embeded into the text. These are optional and might affect the outcome of the story.]
(text-colour:red)[Disclamer: All of these locations actually are not like I described them here. Mostly. These descriptions are only my lasting impressions and romanticizations of them.]
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[[A Forest(WiP)->Schwarzwald]]
[[A Ruin(In A Future Update)->Ronneburg?]]
[[A Beach(In A Future Update)->Ostsee]]
[[A Lake(In A Future Update)->Comer See]]You step out of a portal. This will only be a short expedition, so you only prepared little food and drink. You immediatly see trees, and a lot of them. A forrest. The leaves are green, and the sky is blue. A few light clouds slowly drift trough it. You hear the songs of birds praising spring. The air is warm.
The ground is at a steep incline. Downwaards you can spot a path leading into the deeper parts of the forrest. And up the hill you can see the forrest getting lighter and lighter. You hear the voices of children as well as adults from there.
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[[You follow the path deeper into the woods(WiP)->Marienstatue]]
[[You leave the forest(Undeveloped)->Vacation Home]]A portal attendant stops you.
(text-colour:navy)["I'm sorry, but this portal is still in development."] he sais.
You [[reconsider.->Vacation]]A portal attendant stops you.
(text-colour:navy)["I'm sorry, but this portal is still in development."] he sais.
You [[reconsider.->Vacation]]You walk over dead leaves and twigs laying on the ground. The crunching beneath your feet adds to the relaxed ambiance of your surroundings. You can spot a deer in the corner of your eye. As you turn your head to look at it, it turns around and moves deeper into the forrest once again.
The path is not far away, so it doesn't take you long to reach it. It is made of gravel and trampled dirt. You follow it, farther away from the voices. Although you go deeper into the forest it doesn't get darker. You quite enjoy your hike.
It does not take you long to reach a (text-colour:red)["indent"] in the path. In front of you stands a simple shrine made of stone. Behind iron bars stands a figrine of a woman, her hands folded in prayer. You decide that this as good as any place to rest and eat. Through the light canopy you can see the the midday sun. A ray of light hits the shrine.
(link:"Offer a prayer.")[(set: $Prayer to true)You offer a short prayer to the statuette in the shrine.]
You lay out a blanket and prepare your food.
After a quick and hearty meal you get up again and start walking again.
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[[You follow the path deeper into the forest(WiP)->Deeper]]
[[You go back to Banar Kinting->Return Home]]Dead EndA portal attendant stops you.
(text-colour:navy)["I'm sorry, but this portal is still in development."] he sais.
You [[reconsider.->Vacation]]You step through the portal and return to the ever so familiar portal tower. You go to your assinged home and catch a good nights rest. The next day wok cnontinues as normal although some idiots got themselves killed during their vacation, so there will be an even more restricted ammount of worlds available the next time. But that would never happen to you, right?The forest once again gets lighter. Less and less trees obstruct your vision of the landscape ahead. Although you now cant see much because of the darkness of a moonless night.
You can make out a few hills, smaller than the one this forrest is on spreading out into the distance.The ambience doesnt change as you make your way back towards the portal. The forest seemes so welcoming. A deer, maybe the one you saw before, approaches you.
It seemed so fluffy and welcoming. Your hand moved on its own to pet it. Its fur was fluffy. You feel so relaxed. Why dont you stay here (link-reveal:"just a bit longer?")[
You take the leftover bread out of your backpack and feed it to the deer. Its rough tongue tickles your palm. The fireflies swarm around you, their green light soothing your mood. Your eyelids are heavy.
(link-reveal:"You are a bit tired.")[
(link-reveal:"You blink.")[
(link-reveal:"You blink.")[
(link-reveal:"You blink.")[
(link-reveal:"You blink.")[
(link-reveal:"You blink.")[
You can see the statuette in the corner of your eyes.
(link-reveal:"You blink.")[
(link-reveal:"You blink again.")[
The head of the statuette turns towards you.
Your energy leaves your body. (link-reveal:"You blink slowly.")[
The statuette smiles.
"(text-colour:yellow)[I hope you enjoy jour stay]" it says. You can feel moss climbing up your legs. Your limbs grow stiff and elongate. (link-reveal:"You close your eyes.")[
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[[You feel your fingers growing, multiplicating and sprouting leaves.->Bad End]]]]]]]]]]]]]Were sorry to report the loss of one of our valued colleagues during the vacation time. We will reconsider the portals accesssible during the next vacation time, as we overestimated the survival skills of our employees.
we hope you wont curse the spirits of the dead for limiting your vacation locations.After you ate your fill you leave the wayside shrine and the statuette behind you.
The forest grows more silent as you move on. The chirping of the birds gets silent as they grow more distant. The only sounds you now hear is the gravel beneath your feet and the wind rustling through the leaves.
As you move on the forest gets denser with every step. Soon the sky is completely blocked out by the trees. Not much light gets through the thick layer of leaves above.
(if: $Prayer is true)[A strong gust of wind suddenly blows into your face. You close your eyes and raise a hand to protect them.
As you open your eyes again the scene that unfolds before you leaves you stunned for a moment. Of course, as a cartographer of the guild you have come across many extraordinary sights, but you can't quite get used to them.
The forest isn't as dark as it was before. It actually takes you a second for your eyes to adjust to the light.
The forest is now tingedd in orange light diffusing through the leaves. The ground that was dark brown from the dead leaves before was now covered in green moss patches. The dark and somewha depressive ambiencce of the forest was exchanged for a mysterious one.
A bright glowing dot flies past your face. A firefly. As time passes more and more specks of light illumnate.
You whish you could relish in the moment a bit longer, but your knowledge of this world (and your inner clock) tell you that it will soon be night, which you haven't prepared for. And even if you had, your work will still pick up tomorrow(either writing some due reports, teaching some apprentices or getting assigned a new mission. And one needs a good nights rest for that.
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[[So you turn around and walk back.->Return to the portal]]
[[You follow the path just a little further.(WiP)->Village]]](else:)[It got dark really fast and continued doing so. Instead you decide to not venture any further and return to Banar Kinting. You turn around and walk back. You, surprisingly, havent lost your path. That doesnt stop you from tripping over your own feet, however. Twice.
You quickly reach the portal after some stumbling.
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[[Return to Banar Kinting->Banar Kinting End]]]Since this is your last day of vacation you just cant spend it all in a different world...
So you go home. You turn your back on the statuette and head towards your portal. (if: $Prayer is true)[You feel a slight burn in your neck for the fragment of a second.]
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[[You return to the portal->Banar Kinting End]]<a href="https://instagram.com/wyrmwoodmaps">@wyrmwoodmaps</a></p>