Do we dare pass into the Forest of Dean?

[Sean Hall]

Sean stopped the groups vehicle in the car park outside of the Forest of Dean. There was only one other vehicle there at the moment, but that may have had more to do with the sun beginning its descent rather than anything particularly spooky.

"We've reached our destination the Forest of Dean," Sean said trying for some levity, "Please make sure your tray tables are up and chairs are in the upright position."

Those magically sensitive could certainly feel the ancient presence of this forest. It had been there a long time and had seen many things. The sensation made it a bit difficult to try and find the ritual circle if it was in fact in this forest.

For McManus the feeling was a bit more profound as something seemed to slide into place whether from the memories that had assaulted her while she was in Sean's mindscape or the scrying ritual done by Victoria it was hard to tell. However, this place felt incredibly familiar and it felt almost like the forest was pulling her towards it.

[Victoria Valentine]

Victoria stepped from the car lightly, glancing around. Congratulations, Victoria, you may officially be out of your league. At least you might not be out of your league and alone this time.

She closed her eyes, picturing her intent, then breathed into her clasped hands, her skin going pale blue with swirls of black as she did.
"Bird of night to watch our path,
Spirits gathered in this place,
Sing for any danger near,
Let us pass without a trace."

She unclasped her hands in a thrusting motion, and a small flock of dark birds fluttered from them and into the trees, vanishing into the shadows as her spell took shape. "That... should last a short while, anyway. If anything comes for us, we should have advance warning where, or at least know if they counter the spell. And it should foul up any scrying until it degrades. In a place that's seen other types of magic before, that might not take terribly long, but it's something."

[Nailah Weaver]

"I'm surprised your scrying penetrated this in the first place." she says, quietly admitting to herself that possibly using Sam's shadow hadn't been entirely wasted and a terrible idea on Victoria's part afterall.

[Victoria Valentine]

"Might have been luck, might have just been good teaching," Victoria said, peering around. "If this is the same forest. I'm not taking anything for granted today."

[Samantha McManus]

"Oh, it's the same forest alright," she murmured, blinking in confusion.

[Sean Hall]

Sean had lapsed into silence after his attempt at levity something about this forest was weighing on him. It certail felt familiar. He looked at Sam his face a mask, but his emotions were fluctuating between extremes. He wass frightened one moment, sad the next, determined another.

For Sam looked like it was blurring. She could hear people walking deeper into the forest. At the edges of her vision there were ethereal humanoid shapes that vanished after only moments.

[Samantha McManus]

"We're... not alone."

[Victoria Valentine]

"Nothing that wasn't already here," Victoria put in, checking her spell briefly.

[Sean Hall]

The spell was working as it was supposed and it wasn't picking up anything particularly interesting. Nothing external for a certainty. The magic of the forest itself was stable though it was creating a detectable amount of background noise.

"I can't feel anything," Sean said.

The figures went from Sam's peripheral into her direct vision walking a set path. They had bags over their heads and were being pulled or shoved along by something unseen.

[Samantha McManus]

"No..." She murmured, starting towards where she saw the figures.

[Victoria Valentine]

"What do you see," Victoria said quietly, peering around.

[Samantha McManus]

"A sacrifice," she almost breathed.

[Sean Hall]

Sean looked at Sam with a mix of confusion and pain.

"What?" Sean asked unable to move right away.

At the back of the line a much larger man carried a limp bundle his eyes lambent and snout sticking out from the front of his hood. On either side there were two men cloaked in shadow escorting the bundle. They formed a line as the entered the forest. The cloaked figures walking warily while shoving those with sacks over their heads forwards.

[Victoria Valentine]

"Past?" she asked quietly, wishing she knew exactly what Sam was seeing.

[Samantha McManus]

"I'm... not entirely sure." She admitted.

[Victoria Valentine]

"Try not to panic," Victoria said, turning slowly to take in everything that she could. "Sacrifices happen in all religions. Even yours."

[Samantha McManus]

"It's a line of people... they're being herded along by a man... no, a monster."

[Victoria Valentine]

"Ah. One of those, then," Victoria said darkly. "I don't feel that they're actually here, for what that's worth."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Can you follow them? Past or present, they're bound to lead us to the ritual circle."

[Samantha McManus]

A shiver passed through her, but she nodded.

"...aye. Not hard at all to follow them."

[Sean Hall]

"Let's see where they take us," Sean said finding some determination.

Whatever the figures were they were steadily getting clearer as they walked deeper into the forest. The one in front would run a finger along the bark of the trees as he guided the rest of them.

As they wound deeper into the forest they could all feel something a bit strange. The magic felt denser in the direction they were going.

[Samantha McManus]

Samantha found her own hand straying to the bark as they walked.

[Sean Hall]

There had been something there, markings of some sort. Likely writing but something had come through and burned them almost entirely away. What little she could make out by touch felt like flowing almost organic lines rather than sharp angled ones of the runes she'd been shown in Sean's mind.

"Do not stray from the path," the figure at the front of the line said, "She will not allow you to find it again if you do."

Victoria's birds could still be heard but weakly now. They weren't reporting anything strange but this path seemed to be taking them far away from them.

[Victoria Valentine]

Victoria followed along after Sam, her spell affecting an area around them as they moved since she hadn't been stupid enough to expect that they would be standing in one place without moving.

[Samantha McManus]

"Someone... tried to scour this place, I think. Remove evidence. Things aren't matching up..."

[Nailah Weaver]

Nailah runs a hand over the burnt out symbol, tracing the lines with a fingernail.

"These aren't symbols of his kind. Though I'm sure it were his followers who tried to erase them..."

[Sean Hall]

As Nailah traced the lines she would see that it was in fact two runes running together. The runes didn't match with Cthon, or anything from Oshtur either. Together they appeared to make something that looked like 'hidden path' but it was hard to be 100% sure because of the damage that had been done. A third force was in play.

Sam would see the man performing the same action on almost every tree he passed. After each marking was destoryed the line of people seemed to become clearer to her. There was something off about the people whose heads were covered, but it was hard to put into words. They seemed to simply fit better into the forest than was entirely natural, but maybe that had something to do with men wearing black cloaks burning the bark off trees.

[Samantha McManus]

"This was someone else's place. Not the cult that led the sacrifices here. The monster that was leading them was destroying the symbols as they went..."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Something about these runes... They chose this place for a reason, even if I can't quite tell why. But they obviously tried to claim it from someone else for their own purposes..."

[Sean Hall]

It was the trees that changed first as they walked through the forest. The leaves started to become tinged with blue. You could feel the magic coursing through them. It seemed to flow from the ground into them. Here and there were trees that were little more than husks the ground around them littered with blood red leaves.

Sam would see one prisoners fall only to be kicked repeatedly before being lifted back onto its feet and tossed forwards.

"Fool," one of the cloaked ones whispered, "Their blood is too valuable to waste on the trees."

[Samantha McManus]

"There was something about the prisoners that made them valuable. Their blood..."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Not to sound snippy but... I think we figured that one out by now."

[Samantha McManus]

"Not just as a sacrifice, love..."

[Sean Hall]

One of the hooded ones was muttering something to herself over and over again. It almost sounded like a prayer.

"Save us from this mother. Please forgive us we did not know."

[Samantha McManus]

"...power of their own, asking 'mother' for help..."

[Sean Hall]

After a few minutes the muttering changed as they continued to walk. The leaves overhead becoming further stained with blue and the dead trees becoming increasinly more common.

"We strayed when we asked your sister for help. We wasted the gift she gave us," the figure said to nobody in particular, "But this is more punishment than we des-"

That was when of the cloaked ones cuffed the muttering prisoner.

"No more prayers, she can no longer protect you, nor can the other," the cloaked one said, "He is the only one who can offer you anything."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Do you feel that? The trees. It's almost as if it wasn't just corruption but desecration..."

[Sean Hall]

As they walked the feeling of corruption grew stronger and the dead trees more common than the living ones. Whatever spell had been put in place over this area was slowly but surely falling to pieces. Not too far in the distance they could see a clearing and began to feel the magic resonating from it. The magic felt wrong, it tainted the air with the smell of blood, death, and decay. Nailah had felt this magic before when she'd walked in on Sean and Samantha's meeting. Samantha would likely feel it as well that sense of dread and familiarity with what they approached.

"This whole place feels wrong, like it's been soaked in blood, like walking into the past," Sean said as they continued walking.

Victoria's sentries still didn't pick up anything strange coming into the forest. No threatening magic being harnessed. The forest was still strangely quiet in that regard.

Samantha got a sense of worry from the cloaked figures.

She'll know the spell has been broken before long. We must move quickly before she intervenes.

"Move child of Gaea," one of the cloaked figures said as it, "Move or the pact is broken."

[Samantha McManus]

"...Gaea. This was consecrated to Gaea before the Darkholders got to it."

"They knew they were trespassing. They had to move quickly. They were fearing retribution."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Seems it never came..." she says, looking at the increasing amount of trees that are twisted and rotten.