Spacebattles had the majority of the votes, and I think this one won. Eh, doesn't matter ultimately. GM says so if not
[] Siren's song (The pools)
The dawn of the next day leaves you a bit groggy, but mostly intact. Nothing appears to have followed you, and whatever caused that reaction doesn't appear to have followed you. Still, you are a bit wary of things so you limit your exploration to the pool nearby. So, after your meal of preserved food. (You've been here a week and a day and you are already sick of it.) You walk leisurely to the pools.
There you watch and enjoy the sights.
You can tentatively identify three categories of creatures that swim in the thing. There are the fish first. Varied in colors and sizes, they mostly swim around the pool and occasionally jump out of the water. The second group are the things you've tentatively identified as eels. They just swim around the bottom of the pool. You can't identify any function for them, but they don't do much other than keep near the bottom.
It's the third group that gets the most of your attention. If you were to call it anything, you would call it 'living water'. There only appears to be one of them. At least you only see it manifest itself as one. It's form is vaguely human, in that it has a head, body, and arms. For the most part the creature isn't visible.
Occasionally though, it will pull itself out of the pool and either play with the fish, or pick at things around the pool. It looks to be maintaining it for some reason actually. Surprisingly physical too, at one point you watch it pick up a stone and move it into the pond for some reason.
There are also the occasional visitors to drink. After the first big animal moves in though, you inch back some and find a good concealed area to continue watching. The monsters might not see you, but the animals certainly will. It strikes you that you can tell which animals are mundane and which ones are monsters too. The monsters are larger, more imposing. Often with parts of them slightly off.
Part of you knew that mundane creatures were outside The Wall, but the monsters often take almost all the attention. Even yours.
The day is spent watching mostly. And throughout it all, there is that vague feeling of something there. You strain yourself to listen to it. And over time, it slowly, but surely comes into focus.
It's a lovely song. A wordless beauty. Now that you can focus on it, you can tell it's coming from the pools. It becomes even more beautiful as you listen to it, and you have to shake your head as you get a bit too focused on it.
Then it intensifies. You freeze from a combination of panic and pure enthrallment. You force down the initial instinct to just move forward to hear better.
Despite yourself, you find that you're body has inched forward already anyway. Only a sound from the forest makes you freeze up. There in the distance you see a massive deer walk in step by step. It seems to be just as enthralled as you are actually.
You frown some as the initial panic wears off and the song suddenly reduces in intensity. This is different than the other times creatures have come to drink.
You find yourself parched as well, and as the deer leans down to drink, you think you know why.
Like that, the monster is pulled into the pool. One second it's drinking, and the next it's drowning. The eels spark with something more than electricity, and the monster thrashes. And then slows. And dies.
You swallow some. The entire process takes less than a minute.
Inside the pool, the monster dissolves quickly. The flesh dissolves, and is eaten by the fish. The bones crumple and are devoured by the eels. The creature forms out of the pool again, and you hear that musical laugh as the last of the deer monster dissolves away. The pools look absolutely pristine again.
And you swallow dryly.
Slowly, but surely you back away. And are noisily messy as soon as you are out of sight.
But not apparently earshot. Or something of that nature. You can hear that song still. Lower now, but no less potent. And you get the impression of words. Not the words themselves, but the meaning to them.
A feeling of home. A bit of anger at something smashing it. And deep satisfaction about punishing that.
You get to your shack, and you realize you can still, faintly hear the pool. The Siren's Song.
[]
20 days of rations left.
-1 humanity (97)
+1 instinct(3/10)
You will note I've added something to Siren's song. Technically the 'encounter' is complete. You won't see anything new if you just visit it, but you can do other things there. Hence the -action.
[] Siren's song (The pools) - Action
[] Scavenger's Hunger (Down the left fork of the stream, and into the fields)
[] Faustian Pact (Down the right fork, and near the cliff)
[] Royal curiosity (A strange cave nearby the fork of the stream)
[] Call Kale, check for news on phone, look for messages from mother. (Basically the catch all for 'check back home')
[] Explore (Dangerous)
