The Portal
beyond visions of wretched smiles and the dread that they've befriended
Late Drench, 1174.
Miin's unfortunate trip to the Portal.
The day started much like any other in Drench. Light barely seeped through the dense blanket of clouds in the sky above. The world appeared dull and lifeless in the shade of grey smeared over everything. The forest floor was damp, unpleasantly so, and the bark looked bloodied in the moisture.
Slumbering quietly in the brush along side a well-beaten path was Miin.
The rain had long since soaked through her coat, though the mare either didn't notice or didn't care - difficult to discern which one. She sought no shelter from the slow, relentless onslaught of water from the season. The season was familiar to her, though she remembers a time when it was less extreme. The creature had been reborn several times in Drench, and, though she can't remember, it was the first season she had experienced in the Rift. Therefore, the water serves not to wake her.
Instead, it is the buzzing of an insect fluttering around her mouths. All three sets of lips begin to quiver and squabble at the annoying brush of air against her skin. The loud buzzing that natters against her ears and sends them flying back against her misshapen skull. Four deep, dark eyes open in a flash. "Ack," she squalls, a vicious snap of her teeth catches the bug in a satisfying crunch. Instead of spitting the unlucky fly out into the word, she swallows. "Rude, rude, rude," a half coo chides the insect now making its way steadily down her esophagus and toward her stomach.
After a few moments, the once-fair maiden shakes her neck, sending a cascade of water flying into the air around her. She begins her trek out from the brush, completely ignoring the bits of leaves and dirt clinging to her coat. She looks like a pale, thin ghost sauntering through the shaded trees, making her way toward the nasty place known as the Portal.
The little heathen typically stays away from the Portal, not caring for the idiotic newcomers that slip into her crevice of the world. They tend to display fear at the beautiful flash of lights and eyes in the shadows of the trees, not appreciating the wonder that is the distorted world of the Rift. The cowardice and confusion irritates Miin in a way that she would rather avoid.
Yet, she felt a disturbance from the north, and so she travels steadily every day toward the glowing blue light of the Pinnacle.
Her tiny hooves carve little indents in the loam at a sluggish pace. Her stretched limbs move slower than one of her height should. Very little energy goes into her movements, as though time and age have worn her down as it might an old crone, yet no visible sign of age plagues her form.
It is when she gets close to the Portal something begins to feel off. Now, the waif had been around the Rift long enough to know of its nature. The ravenous, unpredictable, and violent land would take and give at different times, and so she freezes in place. Her ears stand at attention atop her skull, breathing slows, and her three faces look a mixture between horror and glee, uncertain what the claws of the Rift would do.
"Hello, pretty," she greets the Presence, her voice a shrill sound in rain. "It's been a while since you visited Miin."
Then, erupting from all three mouths at the same time, raucous laughter.
""
Miin's unfortunate trip to the Portal.
The day started much like any other in Drench. Light barely seeped through the dense blanket of clouds in the sky above. The world appeared dull and lifeless in the shade of grey smeared over everything. The forest floor was damp, unpleasantly so, and the bark looked bloodied in the moisture.
Slumbering quietly in the brush along side a well-beaten path was Miin.
The rain had long since soaked through her coat, though the mare either didn't notice or didn't care - difficult to discern which one. She sought no shelter from the slow, relentless onslaught of water from the season. The season was familiar to her, though she remembers a time when it was less extreme. The creature had been reborn several times in Drench, and, though she can't remember, it was the first season she had experienced in the Rift. Therefore, the water serves not to wake her.
Instead, it is the buzzing of an insect fluttering around her mouths. All three sets of lips begin to quiver and squabble at the annoying brush of air against her skin. The loud buzzing that natters against her ears and sends them flying back against her misshapen skull. Four deep, dark eyes open in a flash. "Ack," she squalls, a vicious snap of her teeth catches the bug in a satisfying crunch. Instead of spitting the unlucky fly out into the word, she swallows. "Rude, rude, rude," a half coo chides the insect now making its way steadily down her esophagus and toward her stomach.
After a few moments, the once-fair maiden shakes her neck, sending a cascade of water flying into the air around her. She begins her trek out from the brush, completely ignoring the bits of leaves and dirt clinging to her coat. She looks like a pale, thin ghost sauntering through the shaded trees, making her way toward the nasty place known as the Portal.
The little heathen typically stays away from the Portal, not caring for the idiotic newcomers that slip into her crevice of the world. They tend to display fear at the beautiful flash of lights and eyes in the shadows of the trees, not appreciating the wonder that is the distorted world of the Rift. The cowardice and confusion irritates Miin in a way that she would rather avoid.
Yet, she felt a disturbance from the north, and so she travels steadily every day toward the glowing blue light of the Pinnacle.
Her tiny hooves carve little indents in the loam at a sluggish pace. Her stretched limbs move slower than one of her height should. Very little energy goes into her movements, as though time and age have worn her down as it might an old crone, yet no visible sign of age plagues her form.
It is when she gets close to the Portal something begins to feel off. Now, the waif had been around the Rift long enough to know of its nature. The ravenous, unpredictable, and violent land would take and give at different times, and so she freezes in place. Her ears stand at attention atop her skull, breathing slows, and her three faces look a mixture between horror and glee, uncertain what the claws of the Rift would do.
"Hello, pretty," she greets the Presence, her voice a shrill sound in rain. "It's been a while since you visited Miin."
Then, erupting from all three mouths at the same time, raucous laughter.
""
miin
image credit to Rene Bohmer on Unsplash
Miin is a Native Riftian.
Guaranteed Magic:
Immortality: Miin is reborn when she dies from fatal wounds or old age. She may be permanently killed by removing her head and splitting apart her faces.
Desired Magic:
Transformation Magic: Miin may adopt the face of anyone she meets and speak with their voice. She is unable to transform her body.
Knowledge Magic: Miin can "see" into past events of those she has met.
Mutations:
Opal Coloring: Miin's coat shines like opal in the sun. Otherwise it appears a dull white.
Elongated limbs/body: Miin has an impossibly long, thin frame.
Multiple Faces: Miin's face is framed by two halves of another face.
Normal Items:
Glass beads shaped like faces in her mane.
Leather satchel decorated with twigs, bones, and fur which can be slung around her neck and sits upon her shoulder.
Various animal bones which are held in her bag along with her cards.
Desired Enchanted Item:
Enchanted "Tarot" Cards: Set of twenty-two cards with strange rune markings and pictures in various colors which can float in the air and show Miin's "visions". Miin uses them to "tell the future", though accuracy is not guaranteed and is likely just her own rantings.
Miin is a Native Riftian.
Guaranteed Magic:
Immortality: Miin is reborn when she dies from fatal wounds or old age. She may be permanently killed by removing her head and splitting apart her faces.
Desired Magic:
Transformation Magic: Miin may adopt the face of anyone she meets and speak with their voice. She is unable to transform her body.
Knowledge Magic: Miin can "see" into past events of those she has met.
Mutations:
Opal Coloring: Miin's coat shines like opal in the sun. Otherwise it appears a dull white.
Elongated limbs/body: Miin has an impossibly long, thin frame.
Multiple Faces: Miin's face is framed by two halves of another face.
Normal Items:
Glass beads shaped like faces in her mane.
Leather satchel decorated with twigs, bones, and fur which can be slung around her neck and sits upon her shoulder.
Various animal bones which are held in her bag along with her cards.
Desired Enchanted Item:
Enchanted "Tarot" Cards: Set of twenty-two cards with strange rune markings and pictures in various colors which can float in the air and show Miin's "visions". Miin uses them to "tell the future", though accuracy is not guaranteed and is likely just her own rantings.
