6 Trials of the Weavers

[droqen]

RE: tallywinkle's
"6 Trials of the Weavers"

i suppose since this is a journaling game, i will journal here.

[AB]

[droqen]

hmmmm.

Your character is a persona entirely of your creation. Who are they? What do they look
like? How old are they? What kind of personality do they have? What are their interests?
Reflect on these questions either before or as you play.

i feel like i don't have enough to go on -- i haven't yet been introduced to a world. all i know is that my character is going to face some trials, but these are a very abstract concept at the moment. i will be myself from the month before i released starseed pilgrim, as best as i remember that person.

i would appreciate some direction, i suppose the facts of the world would not help me as much as, what type of character should i play? what are they going to go through? why do you want to know my character's age, tally? why do i want to be thinking about my character's interests, will we be reflecting upon their interests? will the trials relate to what they look like?

anyway. i am like 19-20 years old. but is this an important question??? we will find out.

[droqen]

- filled out character sheet, chose stats
- oops, prologue page tells me how to set stats. i'm not sure how these actions relate to my stats or the themes of the game though...
- ace of hearts. intro trial. nice spread of cards but not that meaningful? though it sets me up to look at the cards, so that makes s sense. hmm.
- my first trial is king of spades omgffg. hard spirit trial. my worst stat. i have to go back and look up the trial rules. i like the writing here, but i suppose it doesn't feel... like it's exploring anything with regard to my character. i feel there should be a prompt for my reaction or something? i can imagine my reaction ofc. but it still feels like something is missing. ok, going back to read the trial rules. this spider is gonna eat me

[droqen]

- ah... there's no feeling of "what happens now?", i wish that was better communicated. a prompt for what it feels like to fail, what kind of failure to describe or imagine. the end result is that the trial die goes down by one: but i don't even know what that means, yet? d&d's hit points are not particularly inspiring but they are at least more concrete! i can think, when i lose a hit point, i am physically injured. in this case, what's happening? hmm. my task is You must attempt to break free [from the giant spider's silk], convincing yourself this isn't real.

so i failed at doing that, with my low spirit, my low force of will... it was a hard task, a hard trial...

of course i would fail. i was ambushed by a horrible dream spider! boo! i believed it all.

BUT THEN, what happens is my trial die goes down by one. i suppose it really wasn't real, and the giant spider flickered away, and its silk, like nothing. whish whish whish. move on.

[droqen]

i find water. i drink it and gulp it down. it helps me remain clear...

- again i would so appreciate a little note, a question for me to answer, a ________ blank for me to fill in with my journaling.
- the game says "The water clears your mind and helps you focus." but it doesn't invite me to imagine beyond that. there is no explicit request, and there is also no understated mystery

i suppose that i needed to be, or feel, refreshed, after that encounter with the fake spider. i catch my breath. where am i? at least there is water here.

[droqen]

i give myself a pep talk.
oh good yes this one does have an explicit prompt. and it has to do with spirit, great!

"Pep talk" might be generous, but it gets you going. What do you say to yourself?

what do i say to myself?? you can do it! next time you see a spider, remember... it is an illusion. you can see through this big dream.

[droqen]

another spirit trial. panic and fear. panic and fear. good, i just gave myself a pep talk. i need to get ahold of myself. i'm going to tap in to my pep talk. let's just rek this easy trial.

what if i never leave this place? am i trapped in a dream...
who do i want to see again? i want to find my way back to my friends.

ha ha ha boom, nailed it. the pep talk helped too.

[droqen]

Who do you wish you could say one final goodbye to, if this is really the end? What would you say to them?

(this follows well from the last event. they are connecting well.)

for that period of time, i know who i would say goodbye to. i won't write it here but i will think about it a while.

[droqen]

- that was nice.

[droqen]

my third trial. something is coming for me, another spider. i'm caught. there are little spiders. i need to get out of here. especially now that i have been reminded of my friends, and a specific person who might miss me, and who i might miss. what if i don't get out of here. use that body, me! also, damn, give me a mind trial, weavers. jeez.

> i powerfully wrench myself half free with one desperate motion (6, 6)
> stuck. i'm not panicking. but i make no progress. just keep struggling. (2, 4)
> oh no lol. still stuck. the spider comes back and eats me (1, 1)

BUT AH IT TOO IS AN ILLUSION. gasp . . .

trial die is at 5 again.

[droqen]

fuk yeah mind trial time. jeez i got all the kings. bad luck. but mind is my good stat, so i'm gonna nail it, right?

right?

i even drank water yall. my mind is crystal clear.

5d6 lets go

- oooo okay i caught myself not even reading the prompt. i should really read it but i don't know if i've been finding the descriptions to give me new thoughts about my predicament. not reading the prompt can be seen as one small symptom of that. i'm expecting a creepy bug situation with webs again... a sticky trap i need to clever my way out of, or a riddle, or something. let's see

- oh wow i was so wrong! hmm. interesting.

the physical spider fear attacks give way to some kind of riddle, or puzzle... i have to sew a piece of fabric correctly... can i do this? i've never been good at sewing! but i must figure it out. ah, if only i was me of today, i'd at least have some experience.

remember though, i drank water.

> (1,3,5,5,6 = +2) i get a good start. i understand the riddle quickly.
> (4,4,5 = +3) i make amazing progress. just the embroidery left.
> (4,5,5 = +3) i finish it. i display it proudly: my, uh, sewing project. i don't even know what it is. maybe a big bow?

- i would appreciate, again, a little inspiring direction... am i making a piece of clothing? should i feel a certain way about it? i'm happy to fill in the blanks, but the more i have to fill in myself, the less it's going to be acknowledged by the game later.

i have decided i sewed myself a spider bag, like my fish bag. it's super cute. it has all the legs. (and by all the legs, i mean eight.) i can play to the game's themes. no spider? i make my own spider.

trial die: 6.

[droqen]

i'm crossing a bridge to the last trial. it is rickety. i have good balance. great balance in fact. balance is my specialty. it is the reason i gave myself 2 body in the first place: i practiced balance when i was around this age a lot. so let's do this.

> (2,6 = +0) bad start. inauspicious start. but the most important part of balance is being able to catch yourself, right? so i didn't fall. good. just keep moving.
> (2,5 = +0) keep moving.
> (3,4 = +1) i am halfway there. i'm keeping my balance, holding on. just a little more.
> (4,4 = +2) i made it. i am the best. i rule.

[droqen]

wow damn i walk past a hella effed up person. basically a mummy, but spidersilk flavoured. there is no risk here, but they creepy af frfr.

this is like the approach to the final boss. ominous.

[droqen]

BERRIES. i eat them. i can't help myself. how do i even know they're safe? well let me ask you this, how does link know it's ok to eat hearts that he finds in bushes

yes he eats them

. . . lots of yummy good eats down here. clear water. berries. eating and drinking. i probably pee off the edge of a chasm or something.

i feel the end is near. i ate some delicious berries, what you got

[droqen]

my nightmares. the weavers summon up my nightmares. i won't describe them here but i know what i envision.
i would use mind, but only the spirit can deal with this nightmare. i will fail, but only spirit can do it.

> (3 = +0)
> (5 = +1)
> (6 = +1) i have hope
> (1 = -1) ah lol nvm. i am hurt, i am falling for the illusion
> (3)
> (3)
> (4 = +1) i am halfway to believing myself when i say that this isn't the real person. i have to remember the real person.

i'm going to switch to mind because there's no way. there's just no way. i don't trust in my spirit. i think about everything i've been told about dreams and nightmares. i remember that it's unreasonable to accept their words, their fake words.
my spirit is not strong enough, damn.

> (3,5,6 = +2) the mind. i think rather than believe, the mind allows me to avoid. i avoid thinking about them. i think about how to escape the situation. it works, but is it good?

i go back to spirit. even if this fails i will allow the nightmare to wound me.

> (1 = -1) ouch. yes, this is about right. my spirit fails me. that's life. that's life. a nightmare is allowed to make me feel bad about the things that are on my mind. the nightmares bring these thoughts to the surface. thank you, weavers. even if you look suuuuper evil.

trial die: 5