Dead End
Pick Your Peril: The Hero of Mudtown
What is this place? You feel like you’ve seen it before.
One minute you were caught up in some grand adventure, and the next you were wandering through some kind of… forest? It‘s hard to tell exactly where you are as the shapes shift around you, appearing as trees one moment and smoke the next. You walk through the foggy landscape and come upon a hooded figure.
You walk up to them, cautiously. You are only a few steps away when they speak. Their voice and stature make it impossible to tell if they are a man or a woman.
“Greetings, traveler.” They say, facing away from you. “You need to turn back. This path’s outcome is still uncertain. In time, your fate may become clearer, but for now you will need to return to where you came from.”
How would you know the way back? You don’t even know how you got here in the first place! You are about to ask the hooded figure when they speak again, anticipating your questions.
“I can take you to the start, if you desire.” A skeletal hand emerges from beneath the robe. “Just take my hand and we’ll go back to the beginning. Or you can find your own way back, the arrow will point the way if you know where to look.”
Beginning? Arrow? This is all very cryptic, but somehow what the figure is saying seems to make sense.
“The way back might also be found on a different tab-uh… path, just try looking in the right place.” The figure again beckons with their bony appendage. “Why not go back and start over again? See where fate takes you this time?”
There could be more adventure out in the fog, you just need to press on a little longer. A fresh start doesn’t sound like a terrible idea, though. Or you could just figure out how to go back to where you came from. The choice is yours.
What will you do?