STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Initiation

You feel ... damp.

Vash cries out now.

"Hey, what the hell, Rianna?" Vash shouts. "I didn't touch you, why'd you touch me?"

"I didn't even come near you!" Rianna snaps back. "Something weird is going on here."

You feel another hand on your upper arm, Rianna.

Rianna turns in that direction, pushing out with the Force.

You lash out with the Force! Nothing happens, but you get a clear look at your arm when you make the gesture.

The splash of the water drop formed in the shape of a hand.

"It's this stupid rain!" Rianna says. "Let's see where this goes and then get out of here."

"It's not rain," Vash says.

The water drops start to fall faster and, each time, without fail, they give the sensation cold hands pressing against your skin, whether it falls on clothing or not.

You start to feel tired.

"Whatever. That's what's causing this...I don't like it. Maybe we should leave..."

She's probably fallen asleep at this point... 😛

Hey now...

"What the..." Vash says, unnerved. "Let's go back."

He turns to flee and the hands push him back. You too feel dozens of hands on you, now, pushing you into the dead, damp forest.

"What is this?!" Vash asks.

"I don't know!" Rianna replies, more than just a bit confused and uneasy about it. She will, as ever, struggle against the invisible hands trying to push her on and and try and force her way back out of there.

This is like trying to fight against a large crowd, Rianna. When push comes to shove (literally), you are not strong enough to do so. Especially when you can't actually see them.

Is Vash faring any better against them (whatever this is) than she is?

Not one bit.

They appear to be ushering you into a particularly large grove of trees. You stumble over a root (was that there a moment ago?) and sprawl face first into a clearing, slapping down hard into the mud.

Rianna will pick herself up out of the mud, grumbling about bizarre haunted forests and generally being unhappy with this entire thing.

Does she sense anything at all?

And does anything appear to be special about this grove?

There is a mist that flows thickly over the ground, and the trees arch upward and inward, creating a natural dome. It would be dark but for the scintillating figure of Myraline Kiros standing at the center of the grove.

"No...you can't be here. You're dead!" Rianna shouts, moving back away from Myraline.

Myraline opens her mouth. Her lips do not move, and a mouthful of water gushes forth. It dribbles down her chin and into her already damp robes.

"I have been chosen as a persona you can connect with, dark one," Myraline says. Her words sound gargled. "Why have you come to this world?"

"I didn't come here - I was brought here. I had no choice!" Rianna says, trying to back away. "What are you?!"

The phantasm emits a choked laugh.

"We are what was," 'Myraline' gurgles. "What about the forest? Why did you enter it? And the fortress before it..."