>>6335816
>Girl
>Willfully refuse

>>6335816
>Girl
>Willfully refuse

>>6335818
>>6335858

Hazy memories of your past life remain in your mind, though they're getting hazier by the minute. Like a half-forgotten dream.

You were a girl-- no, that's not quite right. You were a young woman, with a dreary job. It was the kind of job that would make you almost welcome being spirited away into...

What was this?

Little Red Riding Hood?

Based on what your "mother" called you, signs point to yes.

It had been a while since you heard the story and certain details were lost, not helped by the fact that you were very quickly forgetting memories of your past life.

Still, vestiges of memory remained. You were NOT getting eaten by that wolf.

So, with a willful refusal, you abscond through the door, faster than your mom can catch you. It helps that you have the sort of youthful vigor that ten year olds have, and your mother was middle aged.

Once you're past the door, your mother doesn't make an effort to catch you, figuring that you'll probably come back home whether you get hungry or tired.

Now outside, you catch the glinting of something shiny by the chicken coop that provides your family with eggs. You don't need many eggs since there's only you and your mother. Any excess gets sold at the market or exchanged for other goods that your family needs.

You find yourself drawn to the glinting, as if an invisible force was pulling you towards it.

Of course, that's schmuck bait, or at least that's what you want to say to yourself.

If you don't want to check out the chicken coop, there was also the option of going to town. There's always something interesting there and other children to play with.

Of course, going to town to fool around while trying to escape an errand assigned to you had its own problems.

In short, you have to pick your poison.

> Go inspect the shiny object at the chicken coop
> Go to town for a day of messing around

>>6335870
> Go inspect the shiny object at the chicken coop

>>6335870
>Go inspect the shiny object at the chicken coop
Let's see where this goes

>>6335904
>>6335899

Schmuck bait. That's what you tell yourself as you approach the glinting object.

As you near, you see that the object is a coin. However, it looks too shiny for something that changes hands as frequently as money does. It's like the coin was freshly minted.

Getting closer to pick it up, you notice that the coin is attached to a stem of grass. You pluck it from the plant and notice that there's a bit of stem still attached to the coin, as if the blade of grass had borne the coin as a fruit or flower.

You're not entirely sure whether the coin is legal tender or not. The part of your memories that is Little Red doesn't ever remember handling money. It seems that little children here don't get any sort of spending cash.

You pocket the coin and only now realize you've fled your house in your pajamas.

Feeling a bit embarassed, you're alerted by the sound of rustling in the bushes.

A small fox, its red fur vibrant against the greenery is trying to sneak towards the chicken coop. It doesn't look like it's spotted you yet. Foxes are foul creatures, always killing chickens and other smaller livestock like rabbits.

It seems a bit odd that the glinting coin in your pocket had lured you to the chicken coop just in time to catch this sneaky fox. It seems connected somehow, in that fairy tale logic way, but the part of your mind that was the woman with the dreary job rebels against the idea that connections can be that neat.

You have a couple of options here.

You can try chasing the fox away. If you make yourself big by raising your arms, you can spook the fox and hopefully that's the end of that.

However, having a bit of spending coin had inflamed Little Red's-- or yours now, you suppose-- greed. Foxes fetch a pretty penny due to their vibrant coats. You'll get into a scrap and lose some health in the process, but you'll be able to sell the fox in town.

The part of you that was the woman with the dreary job doesn't like the idea of hurting animals though, no matter how much of a pest they may be. Maybe if you give the fox an egg or something, it'll be satisfied and go away. However, if your mother catches you feeding wild animals, a fox no less, you'll be in for a whooping since you're already on thin ice.

>Scare the fox away
>Fight the fox
>Give the fox an egg

>>6335913
>Give the fox an egg

>>6335913
>Give the fox an egg

Mother may scold us, but ultimately we can trust our parent, probably. Better than starting an Aesop chain of events about greed or doing the obvious choice.

>>6335927
>>6335917

Roll me a 1d20, gents :)

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>6335929

>>6335933
>>6335927
>>6335917

The woman in you, the older one who didn't want to harm animals, was at odds with Little Red, who thought of foxes as pests. Ultimately, due to her experience, the woman won out.

The woman was skeptical that being cruel to the fox was the play here. Part of that had been her aversion to harming animals. But a part of it was also she suspected that this was a setup to some stupid Aesop about kindness.

Bending over to pick up an egg, she offered it to a fox. Losing an egg was inconsequential, compared to losing a laying hen.

A bit apprehensive at first, the fox eventually accepts the offered treat. The fox was small enough that picking up the egg had been a bit of an endeavor, but the fox eventually manages it. Its mouth full of egg, the fox eventually manages a muffled "Thank you".

Neither the woman in your head, nor Little Red had ever heard a fox speak before. Surprised, you let out a squeak of a scream.

Fearing the worst, your mother had come running, only to spot you red handed, feeding the fox.

"Don't feed wild animals! You should know better by now, Little Red!"

Despite not running after you earlier when you fled from the house, your mother felt surprisingly strong when she grabbed you by the arm and spanked your bottom red with one of her slippers.

This world, it seemed, didn't care much for the phenomenon of "gentle parenting".

>-2 Health
>You have 4 Health left

"Honestly, what am I going to do with you? I asked you nicely to take food to your grandma and you run out in your pajamas..."

Your mother had a whole litany of nagging complaints that you eventually tune out. Your mind was on more serious matters.

The fox had fled into the forest, where there were no well worn paths.

However, there also appears to be some form of merriment in town that you don't know the reason for. You've got a bit of spending money after finding that shiny coin.

There was also the matter of the food your mother prepared for your aging grandmother. You'd already refused once, and you really pissed her off by feeding that fox. Maybe it isn't wise to continue to put this off.

>Follow the fox... but get properly dressed first.
>Check out the merriment in town.
>Deliver the food to your grandmother.

>>6335946
>>Check out the merriment in town.

>>6335946
>Check out the merriment in town.

Maybe the fox will come back to repay the favor to us later when we are in trouble? We should at least buy something with our new shiny and enjoy what may be our last livings breaths on this earth before being railroaded down grandma's path.

>>6335948
>>6335947

After getting properly dressed and escaping before your mother can try to foist the basket on you again, you head to town.

The area you live in, the Widow's Quarter is a short 15 minute walk away from the town proper, so long as you follow the path.

Arriving at the town, colorful streamers are hung from house to house. The noontime sunlight reflects off the streamers, bathing the streets in a kaleidoscope of colors.

There is a man dressed in bright yellows and reds, leading a parade of what appears to be animate stuffed animals. You gawk at the display, not having seen anything like it before in either of your lives.

With keen eyes, you spot the local troublemakers, Lock, Shock and Barrel. The trio, commonly found wearing a devil mask, a witch mask and a skeleton mask respectively were well known for their cruel tricks.

Lock, the leader, was the brains of the operation and was the one who came up with the biggest, most troublesome schemes. Shock came up with their crueler schemes, her pranks often targeted to knock people down using her keen social sense. And Barrel? Well, he was the muscle.

The trio of pranksters were waiting for the brightly dressed man to pass by, a crate of no doubt rotten tomatoes prepared so they can lob them at the unexpecting sap.

>Ask the trio if you can join them in throwing tomatoes at the clown
>Warn the man of the impending rotten projectiles
>Throw pebbles at the trio to dissuade them from engaging in tomfoolery.

Take note that there are three of them and only one of you. If you choose the last option, you better be prepared to lose some health in the process.

>>6335951
I don't suppose just ignoring this and moving on is a possibility? Or is there another invisible force compelling us to make a choice here?

>Warn the man of the impending rotten projectiles

I don't want a reputation as a troublemaker, adults are scarier than a trio of miscreants. Will get us on the trio's bad side, but losing health later is better than losing it now.

>>6335951
>Warn the man of the impending rotten projectiles

>>6335951
>Ask them where Oogey Boogey is

>>6335952
>>6335958

Instead of taking the low road and risking opening yourself up to being roughed up by the trio, you take another approach.

The man sees you and approaches, doing a magic trick. He brushes your hair behind your ear and in doing so, pulls out a coin. You immediately recognize the coin as the one you "picked" from the grass earlier, complete with a little stub on the reverse side where it connected to the grass.

While the jesterly man performed his trick, you warn him of the trio's trick meant for him.

The man in the flashy jester clothes smiles.

"Do you know what that is?" He says, gesturing to your coin.

You nod, saying that it's a bit of money.

"It's not just money, it's more than that. It's a little bit of luck. I reckon something strange is going to pop up with the intention of taking that coin from you... unless..."

He reaches into his jester clothing, the jostle undoing the topmost of his excessively buttoned garments.

He pulls out three objects: A piece of round glass, almost like a marble. A box of tinder, that smells of freshly ignited flame. A small conch shell, with a mouthpiece attached to one end, allowing one to blow on it and make a noise.

"Look through the marble, and you can see if something or someone you're interacting with is disguised. When someone is looking at you through a means other than sight, you may crush the marble and they will pay dearly."

"The box of tinder allows you to light a fire that wards off wild animals instead of attracting them. The smell of the smoke will cling to you for a while after. It doesn't work on animals that know magic."

"The last one is a wood instrument. Blow on it and a nearby door will open, leading you back home."

"You may have one of these treasures, in exchange for the coin."

>Exchange the coin for the marble
>Exchange the coin for the box of tinder
>Exchange the coin for the conch flute
>Don't exchange the coin

The jester smiles at your decision.

Afterwards, he takes note to avoid the area where the troublemaking trio are hiding out. It looks like the troublemaking trio haven't figured out you told the jester about their trick, so you're safe for now.

Soon enough the merriment dies down. There are less people dancing in the streets, though with evening approaching, you sense that the dwindling numbers will increase again, as people get drunk on beer and wine.

From the town, there are a few places of interest you can go to, for the last third of the day before you have to go home for supper.

There is a patch of wild pumpkins, adjacent to the Widow's Quarter. They're called wild pumpkins for a reason. They say after the sun sets, the pumpkins sprout legs and start dancing.

(1/2)

>>6335986
Opposite the pumpkin patch, but still adjacent to the Widow's Quarter, is the river. Here, the village does most of its laundry and bathing. One time, Barrel pissed in the water upstream, ruining a batch of laundry and got in trouble. Odd things occasionally wash up here, pretty treasures with no discernible source.

Lastly, opposite the Widow's Quarter, are the village gates. These gates, leading to dangerous areas beyond the village are staffed by somewhat lazy town guards. There's always odd jobs to do here, and plenty of opportunity to earn coin-- mundane ones unlike the one you found. However, if you go here, it's a bit of a walk from the Widow's Quarter and will cause you to be late for supper, possibly earning you another whooping from your mother depending on how she feels after you ignored your errands all day.

>Go to the Pumpkin Patch
>Go to the River
>Go to the Town Gates
>Return to Widow's Quarter early.

>>6335986
>Exchange the coin for the marble

Seems useful for the story we're in. Though the conch is also worth considering, since once we discover something awry, ahead of time or not, we'll need a way to get away. Would also be useful to return home on time if we go to the town gates.

>>6335988
>Go to the River

Treasure!

>>6335988
>>Go to the River

>>6335986
>Exchange the coin for the marble
>>6335988
>Go to the River

>>6336204
>>6336196
>>6336011

The Marble catches your eye. Its ability to see the true form of things might be useful, and it's pretty besides. It helps that you don't want to be caught with the coin if it'll attract strange things attracted to its power.

The jester stows the coin in an inner shirt pocket and hands you the marble with a wink.

----

The river has a reputation for having treasures wash up on its shores. Sometimes it's scarves or other pieces of clothing in blue or other luxurious colors, like purple. Sometimes it's gems that the local children have made a game of collecting, but the gems are fragile and shatter in a satisfying way. The children would fling the gems at each other and the gem that comes away with less damaged is the "winner".

You doubt that the gems hold any true value, save for the value that the local children place upon them.

These treasures that frequently pop up often have no visible source. Children have searched up and down the river in search for a possible treasure trove and have come up empty handed.

You intend to change that.

There are two areas of interest along the river, where the luxurious scarves and precious gems can typically be found.

Upriver, there is a dam, probably made by beavers or some other rodent like animal, that are made of teal wood that doesn't resemble any of the local species.

Downriver, there is a particularly large anthill made of paper and insect-chewed wood, that is decorated with many of the fragile gems that can be found on the river. Though pretty, the ants pack a mean bite that can hurt and itch for days, and a common dare among the children is to pry one of the gems from the anthill, risking the ants' painful bites.

You get the feeling that peering through the marble at either of these locations might reveal something that has been overlooked and lead you to a potential treasure trove.

The path towards the anthill is easier, though its treasures are worthless save for the value that village children place upon the pretty gems.

Upstream, where the dam is, there have been sightings of snakes. Sometimes, the snakes are seen eating the rodents, but sometimes, the rodents are seen eating the snakes. You can find clothing here, in rare and exotic colors like blue and purple that your mother can sell for cash. If you find the source, it can set your family up for years. However the snake sightings bears repeating, an additional danger on top of the other dangers you can find by using the marble.

> Use the Marble to find the source of the luxurious clothing by the dam.
>Use the Marble to find the source of the brittle gems by the anthill.
>See if the dam has been picked clean by the local children, but don't use the marble.
>See if you can pry some gems off the anthill, but don't use the marble. (You will lose one health.)

>>6336220
>Use the Marble to find the source of the luxurious clothing by the dam.

Our fox friend would be useful in dealing with the snakes, but alas, Foxy is free.

>>6336220
>Use the Marble to find the source of the luxurious clothing by the dam.

>>6336222
>>6336235

I need a 1d20 please. As this is an encounter roll, lower results in a weaker or possibly bypassed encounter. A higher encounter roll is a more difficult encounter, but there will be opportunities.

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>6336239

>>6336291
OOC: A middling roll, so it's a bit of a worst of both worlds scenario. The encounter isn't as powerful as it could be, but there's no opportunity to be had either. You're not getting away completely unscathed.

---

Making your way upstream, it's an uphill struggle in the literal sense. Due to the way water and gravity work, moving upstream necessitates an increase in elevation.

This near the river, the riverbanks are covered in foliage, the river plants nearly tall enough to pass the top of your boot.

Unable to see the ground, you accidentally step on a snake. Angered, the snake bites you. It stings, but there's none of the numbing or stinging sensation associated with venomous snakes.

You kick the snake away, sending it tumbling into the thick greenery. This proves to be a mistake, because you lost track of it. You eventually manage to spot it thanks to the plants shifting as it slithers past and over them. However, you spot it too late. The snake is too fast and rears in for another bite.

Just before the snake is about to bite you in the leg again, a fox jumps out from the perhipery and bites down on the snake. Shocked, the snake tries to bite the fox, but the fox is vicious and tears a chunk out of the snake instantly killing it.

Was it a coincidence that there was a fox here when you fed a fox earlier today? Or is this the same fox coming to return the favor? You can't quite tell.

The fox will be your companion for the next Encounters until the end of this Adventure, or the fox is incapacitated.

> -1 Health
> You have 3 Health left

You eventually reach the dam without much more fanfare. The dam is just like you remember it, made of teal branches that don't resemble any of the tree species in the local area.

Somehow, that didn't seem odd to you before, but it does now. In fact, it really bothers you because there's an aura of peculiarity about it that you've never noticed before today. What was different from the you of before to the you of now, that allowed you to notice this strangeness.

Fishing the Marble out of your pocket, you hold it to your eye and peer through the glass. Looking through the marble, the world seems distorted, yet one thing remains unmodified by the refractions.

Through the Glass Marble, the dam resembles an archway. You see a different place beyond the archway that doesn't resemble what's supposed to be behind it.

Compelled by some unseen force, you and the fox step through.

Past the archway, there is a sprawling forest with a path through it wrought in white brick. The bricks are unlike anything Little Red has ever seen before. To the woman who you used to be, the bricks look like polished marble with a slight luminosity to it.

You get the feeling that straying too far from the path here risks you getting lost in a way that you might not be able to find your way back home. You listen to your instincts and follow the path.

(1/?)

>>6336295
The trees are strange here. Where you're used to seeing trees that were brown, or a ruddy shade of red, or even the occasional white-grey tree, the trees here are in teals and blues, in shades that remind you of jewels. Real ones, not that Little Red has ever seen real jewels.

Following the path eventually leads you to a clearing, with the floor of the clearing covered in the same white, slightly luminous stones that make up the rest of the path.

Here and there, the paved stones are cracked and missing. Great trees, their trunks in jewel blues, teals and greens, peek their way through gaps in the pavement.

Hanging on the trees in the clearing are:

>A blue cloak
>A blue cloak. Cheap canvas and a dead ringer for your own red cloak, save for the color.
>A green shirt. The fabric shimmers slightly.
>A pair of blue pants with a luxurious texture
>Two dark blue shoes, with their laces tied together, hanging from a branch.

You may take one for free carrying the item in your arms, or more. However, each additional item you take, you must leave behind one of your clothes.

>Your red cloak
>Your tan, cotton dress
>Your white pants
>Your shoes

Something tells you that you need to be careful which of your belongings you leave behind in this place.

>>6336296
OOC: Please ignore the extra blue cloak, there's only one blue cloak in the branches.

>>6336296
>A green shirt. The fabric shimmers slightly.
>A pair of blue pants with a luxurious texture
>Two dark blue shoes, with their laces tied together, hanging from a branch.

>Your white pants
>Your shoes

Probably not good to leave our red cloak behind, it's who we are. Or our dress, which is a sign of our sex, mother might throw a fit if we lose it and dress as a boy.

>>6336296
>>6336353 +1

>>6336365
>>6336353

You pull the green shirt, the blue pants and the dark blue shoes. The pants and shoes, you put on and leave your old pants and shoes behind.

Sensing that there's nothing more to be gained or lost in this place, you move on.

You note that the entrance to the clearing had disappeared, making it impossible to go back the way you came from. If there is an exit to this place, you'll only see it by following the paved path through to the end.

As the clearing disappears behind you, the fantastically colored trees that decorate either side of the luminous path grow, both in number and in thickness.

This portion of the luminous path it seemed, hadn't been swept in a while and there are plenty of brown, dried leaves littering the path.

The gentle luminosity of the marble bricks that formed the path hadn't decreased in intensity, despite the litter. However, there is a coldness in this path, and a darkness as well.

You pull your red cloak closer to your body, hoping to ward away some of the chill. It doesn't help.

Because you didn't take the blue cloak, the cold and the darkness seeps into your bones, making for a distracting sensation. You're more likely to get lost and stray from the path... unless you make a fire.

In theory, it would be simple to make a fire-- just gather some dried leaves and twigs off the ground to make a simple firestarter. The fire would ward off the darkness and the chill, in this strange fairy tale place.

However there are other considerations.

Making a fire would attract wild animals, and you don't know the sort of wild animals that can live in a fantastical wood such as this. They could be mundane, or they could have been turned strange by this equally strange place, possessing odd powers or capabilities.

If you had taken the tinder box earlier, you would have been able to make a fire here that had no risk of attracting wild animals, at the cost of the stench of the burning tinder clinging to you for a short while.

That's twice now that choices you didn't make earlier would have helped you on this path. Ironic. Or maybe targeted. You don't know.

The fox that had been walking beside you whines, alerting you once more to its presence. Right. You aren't alone.

If you were attacked by an animal attracted to the fire, the fox would help protect you, taking on some of the health damage you would have taken.

>Try to navigate this cold, dark place as stealthily as possible. Chance of getting lost.
>Light a fire to help navigate this cold, dark place and ward off the worst of the cold and the dark. Attracts wild animals.

>>6336380
Well, maybe keeping our red cloak will prevent us from boiling in our world?

>Light a fire to help navigate this cold, dark place and ward off the worst of the cold and the dark. Attracts wild animals.

The cold will kill us. If we get lost, we're probably lost forever.

>>6336380
>Light a fire to help navigate this cold, dark place and ward off the worst of the cold and the dark. Attracts wild animals.

>>6336442
>>6336389

I need a 1d20 again, please.

As this is an encounter roll, low numbers will mean a weaker, or even bypassed encounter while high numbers will represent a hard encounter and potentially come with opportunities. A middling roll here means you get the worst of both worlds, a middle difficulty encounter with no opportunity attached.

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>6336452

>>6336454

As you progress through the path, it becomes colder and colder. It's cold in a way that ignores the fact that you have a cloak on, telling you that there's something very strange in this place.

Proceeding forward in the cold, compounded with the darkness meant it would be easy to get distracted and get lost. Something tells you that getting lost in this strange place has high chances of making it so you never find your way back or you find your way back, but you lose something core to your being.

Luckily, you're a kid in a vaguely old-timey European setting and you've gotten into a fair bit of mischief in your time. You're no stranger to starting fires for fun and to scare other children and adults. It's easy to fashion a bit of forest detritus into a firestarter, then leverage that small flame into something like a torch.

The flame crafted from the forest detritus immediately warms you up, in a way that suggests that it's the "intended" solution, whatever that is.

As you progress along the luminous path that somehow does less to illuminate the shadowy path forward than your torch does, you notice a shadow walking in step with you darting from tree to tree. It only moves when you have your eyes fixed forward on the path ahead, and never when you're watching the trees on the wayside for its movement.

Sometimes you hear it coming from the left, sometimes you hear it coming from the right. When you look left, or right, the sound of movement suddenly shifts to the opposite direction.

You hurry your steps, eager to get past this section of path and hopefully lose the creature. No such luck.

The shadow eventually resolves into a young man with pointy wolf ears atop his head, wearing a black leather jacket and black leather pants in a style more contemporary to the young woman that you were, before being suddenly thrust into the identity of Little Red. Bangles, ribbons and bracelets, all in vivid blues and greens, with just a hint of gold criss cross over both of his forearms. The arrangement of the accessories seem to change each time you blink.

Another eyeblink, and he's changed from leaning on a tree to blocking the path ahead.

"HEY LITTLE GIRL, WHY DON'T YOU LET BIG PAPA SHOW YOU A GOOD TIME?" The wolf-eared man sneers at you lecherously.

He approaches, his movements seemingly not constrained to the time between eyeblinks as you had prematurely assumed.

The fox is agitated, its fur bristling, its face locked in a snarl.

You think of using the Marble here, in order to get a better measure of the wolf-eared man, but decide against it. You're not sure it would do much, and it would take time to peer into it besides. You hold your torch in front of you defensively instead.

Closing the distance, the wolf grabs your arm, trying to wrest away the torch in your hands. Shadows and light dance in the struggle, as you desperately try to keep the fiery implement in between yourself and your assailant.

(1/?)

>>6336472
The fox comes to your rescue here, pouncing up and raking its claws against the wolf-man's face. Wincing, the wolf man lets go of your arm, allowing you to bash him in the face with your torch.

"STUPID STUPID STUPID. ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS COME WITH ME. I WOULD HAVE BEEN GENTLE. NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY. I'LL MAKE IT HURT."

Retaliating, he kicks the fox, sending it flying where it hits one of the teal trees with a meaty thunk.

>-2 Health
>The fox has 1 Health left.

The man transforms, fur growing where there once was human skin. However, it wasn't quite fur that grew, instead resembling coarse human hair. His nails lengthen into claws, and the lower part of his face extends into a muzzle. He postures, though a keen eye tells you that he's compensating for some weakness brought about by the transformation.

You take advantage, bashing him with your torch, leaving scorch marks on the fur/hair on his face. You overextend your attack, hoping that the added leverage would make the impact hurt more.

His moment of weakness passes and he looks furious.

Your previous attack had sent momentary embers flying into the air, besides the flickering shadows cast by your unsteady torch. The wolf-man, now more wolf than man, takes advantage. His arms blink, and suddenly he had his fist against your stomach.

It was the full force punch of a burly wolf man against a 10 year old girl half his size. Thankfully, your cloak is made of sturdy stuff and it absorbed some of the impact.

>-1 Health
>You have 2 Health remaining

Despite your cloak taking a bit of the edge away from the wolf's punch, you're still left breathless by the attack. The wolf-man moves in to press his advantage...

And stumbles.

The cause? The Wolf-man had forgotten the fox and the fox had simply moved in front of the Wolf-man while he was scrambling to get another hit in.

That had taken some of the wolf man's momentum, allowing you to drive the butt of your torch into his eye.

>The Wolf-Man's 4 Health was reduced to 0
>You defeated the Wolf-man

Before you proceed to the next stretch of the path, what do you do with the Wolf-man while he's passed out?

>Take one of his bracelets. They have the same kind of strangeness that the marble in your pocket has.
>Push him off the side of the path, where opportunistic... whatever lives out there... can take care of him before he comes to.

These are not mutually exclusive. You may choose one, or both, or even none.

If you do none of the above, the wolf-man will owe you in the future by the strange rules that govern this place, opening up non-combat encounters.

>>6336502
>Push him off the side of the path, where opportunistic... whatever lives out there... can take care of him before he comes to.

We have enough loot, we got enough to equip an entire different outfit. Finish the wolf, so he never bothers us again.

>Loot Him
>Burn him to a Crisp
This wasn't a fox looking for food, this was a scumbag abomination that deserves none of our mercy.

>>6336508
>>6336510

Pushing him off the path and burning him to a crisp aren't mutually exclusive so we'll lock those in, it's good for flavor

However I need a tiebreak between
>Loot
And
>Don't Loot

>>6336517
>Loot

Sure.

>>6336517
>Loot

>>6336508
>>6336510
>>6336517
>>6336522
>>6336606

Looting corpses isn't normal child behavior. However, the bastard did just try to kill you... or worse. Well let's just say there's a reason your mother makes you wear pants under your dress.

You slip one of the wolf-man's many bracelets and bangles onto your own wrists. The blue beads feel cold against your skin.

You look back at the passed out wolf-man. Was there a chance he would try to attack you again in the future? It was possible, especially if you make a habit of travelling through these strange, twisted places.

You lower your torch to the corner of the man's leather jacket and it catches in a way that ordinary leather doesn't catch. The material crinkles and shrinks under the heat, in a way that reminds your past life of a material from her world-- Plastic.

You drag the wolf to the edge of the path, then push the smoldering... corpse? Not quite. He still seems to be breathing... You push him off the path, careful not to step off the path yourself. The wild animals can have him.

If you encounter the wolf again in the future, he will be severely wounded (But still at the same level of power).

You return to the task at hand-- getting to the end of wherever this path leads you.

As you travel, the chill in the air gets worse and worse, until you can see your own breath when you walk. Luckily, your torch keeps you warm but eventually, you spot patches of snow upon the luminous path.

Like this, the snow almost seemed cast in shadow against the lightly luminous brick path.

Eventually, the oppressive darkness creeping in from all sides lets up, though it is still cold. Not cold enough to be distracting, not with your torch, but there is snow here when you know there shouldn't be. The season isn't right for it.

The forest and the path stops abruptly, marking the end.

You see a house that heavily reminds you of your grandmothers house, except the details are wrong. The little half-structure attached to the house is on the wrong side, windows are far too large and open for this kind of weather, and everything was wrought in the same kind of teal and blue wood that was ubiquitous to this place.

Near the front, three people were doing winter crafts. An old woman who almost reminds you of your grandmother is sitting at a loom, processing threads and turning them into cloth. Actually, the resemblance is almost uncanny, except her wrinkles are deeper and more numerous than your grandmother's, almost like she's a caricature of the old, matronly woman.

Threads spill from the "unmade" part of the loom, and disappear behind the trees.

Nearby, a woman who resembles your mother is standing at a table with a charcoal pencil, tracing out patterns in the finished cloth. Like the woman who resembles your grandmother, this woman who resembles your mother looks like a caricature of the woman you know. Her face is too symmetrical and beautiful in a way that almost makes her seem uncanny. (1/?)

>>6336733
Her curves too, were all wrong. Too voluptuous in a way that makes her seem sultry when she doesn't mean to, or like a man had taken all the bits he liked on a woman and made them more.

There is a table where the finished cloth on the loom is bunched up and dumped, seemingly haphazardly. All along the table, various baked treats were strewn about, some half-eaten and leaving crumbs on the blue-green cloth.

At the end of the table, someone who resembles you is munching on a muffin, scissors in her other hand. Like the others, she looks like a caricature of you, except something is subtly wrong.

She's somewhat chubbier, and more snot-nosed in a literal sense. A trail of bright green snot is trailing from her nose and dripping down the side of her mouth. She seems greedy in a way, not helped by the fact that there are multiple baked goods arrayed in front of her, all half-eaten.

Periodically, she would put down the muffin she's eating and take a bite off another one.

The old lady on the loom is the first to spot you.

"Oh Little Red!" She speaks with a familiarity to her tone. "It's been a while since I've last seen you. How come you don't visit your dear grandmother more often? Come and sit my dear. You must be tired, walking all the way here from your mother's place. Sit! Sit! And enjoy a muffin!"

After your journey, you can't say you aren't tempted to partake. However, you notice that all three of the women have blue skin. You're not entirely sure how that wasn't the first thing you noticed, but their resemblance to people you know-- and yourself, you suppose-- had taken over the bulk of your cognition.

Tales abound of mysterious creatures who live in these places that are less defined. They would ensnare travellers, ask a small task of them. Nothing that would take more than an hour, but when the travellers returned to places more mundane, they find that they'd been missing for 10 or 20 years.

However, you aren't entirely sure refusing is the play here. After all doing so when you've been offered a treat would have been rude, and these creatures from the tales were also known to fly into a rage from perceived slights or rudenesses.

You can't afford a fight right now, not against three people, when you've just fought the wolf.

What do you do?
>Dont eat anything, but distract them by offering something up for trade.
>> Red Hood
>> Tan Dress
>> Green Shirt
>> Blue Pants
>> Dark Blue Shoes
>> Glass Bead
>> Wolf Bracelet

You may offer more than one thing up for trade, and the more things you offer for trade, the less likely it is they'll notice if you don't eat anything. In fact, the more you offer, the happier they'll be to send you on your way.

You get the sense that anything magical you offer for trade, what they give you will be simultaneously be better and worse than what you've given, ultimately amounting to roughly the same level of power.

(2/?)

>>6336736
Alternatively, you can accept the three ladies' offers of a treat.
>Eat 1 and restore 1 Health
>Eat 2 and restore 2 Health
>Eat 3 and restore 3 Health

For each treat you eat, the three women will ask you to do a quick task.

You can also
>Pretend to eat a treat, but pocket it instead, saving it for later.

If you do this, the three women will be satisfied, but won't be able to compel you to complete a task.

The above options are compatible with trading as well, with the same sub-options.

>>6336736
Crone, Mother, Maiden shenanigans, oh no! I'm glad we didn't take the blue cloak.

I'm not sure going missing for 10 years is the worst thing in the world. Sure, we lose 10 or 20 years of our life, and everyone thinks we are dead, but we'll come back no longer vulnerable as a child.

>Trade Wolf Bracelet
>Trade Blue Pants
>Eat 1 and restore 1 Health

The wolf bracelet is the detritus of a vile creature, and we don't know what it does. Trading blue pants, because I'm not sure the blue stuff is good in our world, what if we end up boiling in our world, just like we were freezing in this one. Plus my previous rationale regarding keeping our identity and an identifier of our sex still applies, so no giving up those. I want at least some buffer between death, and frankly I wouldn't mind ending up 16, even at the cost of our childhood and the troubles of explaining who we are to our mother down the line. Though I'll understand if people don't want to eat, in which case I say we pocket it instead.

Two trades, one tasks, three things in total for the three Goddesses. That should leave no loose ends.

>>6336736
>>Dont eat anything, but distract them by offering something up for trade.
>>> Red Hood
>>> Tan Dress
>>> Green Shirt
>>> Blue Pants

>>6336736
>Wolf Bracelet
> Blue Pants
> Dark Blue Shoes

>>6336749
>>6336792
>>6336802

Wolf Bracelet and Blue Pants up for trade, locked in.

Need a tiebreaker for

>Eat 1 treat
>Trade Dark Blue Shoes.

>>6336749
The person staying away for 10-20 years doesn't always age during that time in this kind of story, it is just possible that 20 years pass but we come back as still 6 year old Red Riding hood

>>6336805
>Trade Dark Blue Shoes.

>>6336814

Guided by your instincts, you reply.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around much, grandma, but I've found some neat treasures while on my way here. I was wondering if you could give me anything for them."

Sweeping the treats aside, you make room on the table for the items you wanted to trade. You note that the fox gives them a sniff, only to recoil, whimpering.

Taking off the Wolf Bracelet, the Blue Pants and the Dark Blue shoes, you place them on the table.

Barefoot against the snow-patched brick, a shiver of cold runs through you.

"Grandmother, please be a dear and fetch what we have to trade from the house," says the oldest-looking of the three women.

"Of course, Grandmother," replies the youngest-looking, taking a break from stuffing her face to take the items you've put on the table. She takes them back to the house and with some surprise, you find out that the door opens upward, instead of to the side like a normal door would.

You, the grandmother and the mother exchange pleasantries, though you take care not to reveal too much about yourself lest they somehow be able to use that information against you. This somehow proves to be unnecessary, not because talking to them didn't warrant caution, but casual remarks revealed that they knew way too much about you and your living situation despite you never volunteering or even hinting about it.

A couple of minutes later, the youngest reappears from the house. The door opens in a different direction this time, downward instead of upward.

The youngest places three items on the table, but doesn't explain how they are better or worse. For what its worth, the items are different.

First, a jade-green bangle with a motif of what looks like hands partially transforming into wolf arms. The bangle is closed by making it so the hands clasp together, bound together by friction and tension.

For the blue pants, you get blue pants in return. However, they are a different shade of blue, mottled in color that reminds you of blue jeans, even though denim hadn't been invented yet. Or at least, not in this world. There is gold trim at the waistline, at the sides, and at the hem of each leg that's very eyecatching.

For the dark blue shoes, you get a pair of sandals, well worn. Where there are cracks in the leather, it seems to have been patched up with some wolf fur. Somehow they look more comfortable than the shoes you've traded in.

You hurry to put the pants and sandals on and find that the pants are much better at warding off the cold in this place than the satin pants had been. That gives you direction to explore what its effects might be later, once you've settled down for this adventure.

As opposed to the boots you've traded in, the sandals you got in return doesn't do much in the way of warding off the cold, leaving your toes bare and exposed to the elements.

(1/?)

>>6336827
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, with some invasive questions that you avoid answering, you finally manage to leave this place.

You exit into the forest, where the teal trees slowly transition into more normal colors. You find yourself once more, near the river, having exited a wooded area that was impossible for you to be in, given the direction you entered in and the relatively straight path that you took through that weird place.

It seems that your wound has gotten infected, but not in the strange pus kind of way that is common in deep puncture wounds like the snake's bite. It seems that the cold in that place had seeped into your bones in a way that makes them ache. You get the feeling that ointments and painkillers wouldn't be enough to make this go away.

You now walk with a limp.

There may be other consequences for walking through that fairy-tale space that you don't yet know about.

You return home, limping all the way and it takes you longer than you expected to make your way from the river back to your house.

You think you'll need to take a few days' break before you go on an adventure like that again.

When you return, your mother seems to be in a much better mood, despite the late hour. She's cooking some stew, the same stew you've had for the past few days, with ingredients added to replace the ingredients that had been taken out. The flavor of the stew changes day by day, so you haven't gotten tired of it at all.

>You have three downtime actions, before you're ready to go on an adventure again.

For your downtime actions, you may:
> Examine one of the magic items you have that you haven't figured out yet.
>> Wolfjade Bangle
>> Denim and gold trousers
>> Wolfleather Sandals
>> Gem Green Shirt

As these items are fairly low power, they don't have much nuance to figure out.

>Socialize with Lock, Shock and Barrel

The local troublemakers are always up to mean pranks. Thwarting them will increase your reputation as a helpful child, while helping them might help you pick up a couple of tricks, while tanking your reputation.

>Socialize with the schoolchildren

You're not enrolled. Your mother couldn't pay the tuition on a widow's budget. That doesn't stop you from trying to socialize with others of your age group. Exchanging stories of your adventures here yields child lore fragments that can be useful in future adventures.

>>6336827
Whoops, forgot one other choice:

>You may modify the Glass Marble into an accessory. Doing so may change its function.

>>6336828
>Examine two of the magic items you have that you haven't figured out yet.
> Wolfjade Bangle
> Gem Green Shirt
>Socialize with the schoolchildren

>>6336828
> Examine one of the magic items you have that you haven't figured out yet.
>Wolfjade Bangle
>Wolfleather Sandals
>Socialize with the schoolchildren