Forest Ribbon Trail
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Forest Ribbon Trail</default></title>
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<header>Basic Information</header>
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<label>First Appearance</label>
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The Forest Ribbon Trail is a particularly well-travelled and "safe" Path, which is frequently used in North America as a "first finding" for new Finders.<ref>A family or circle that is inducting a new Finder will often escort that Finder on several trips before sending them on their first finding alone. This typically involves walking a path the family has thoroughly worked, or walking one of the more commonly traveled paths.
The most commonly recommended path to new North American Finders is the Forest Ribbon Trail, as it is the least hazardous, is very commonly traveled to the point it is well proven, and it is, by the logic that serves it, relatively straightforward. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref><ref name=":8" />
Preparation
To prepare, the Finder will capture a prey animal without using any tools, and bind it indoors with ribbons in the middle of a diagram. Then a ritual will be performed to bring the Finder into the Trail.<ref name=":2">As preparation, Finders (with Family assistance) will capture a wild prey animal (with restrictions on the nature of prey animal and manner of treatment [ask if you want more details on specificity]) without use of drug or tool, carry it to an indoor space, and bind it to the furnishings with ribbon, securely covering its eyes, before finishing the preparations by surrounding it with a diagram. The ritual will then be conducted to take the practitioner to the start of the trail. This creates the escape clause for the Forest Ribbon Trail; the prey animal will appear regularly during the journey, with a set form; it could be of the prey animal itself, of a different prey animal, or a human of an age respective to the animal’s, with clothes or garb that references the animal it once was. It will be a companion, helping to point out items and landmarks. It may be nonverbal, cryptic, or unwilling to offer direct help, limiting itself to hints or suggestions.
The true use of this part of the ritual is that the practitioner, should they find themselves in dire straits or unable to return home, can make a simple request to have the prey animal meet the practitioner’s fate instead. The practitioner will be returned to the room the ritual was conducted. The ability and relative ease of doing this is a large part of why the Forest Ribbon Trail is often a beginner ritual for Finders. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
After walking the Trail for the first time, it can be used as a pathway to reach distant or guarded places; by including a destination in the diagram, they will awaken there instead of in the place they performed the ritual on completing the Trail.<ref name=":6">Finally, on visits after the first, the Forest Ribbon Trail can be walked as a way to get from one place to another. The destination is indicated as part of the drawing of the diagram, and on waking, the practitioner will be at their destination. In addition to being a way to travel long distances, one can pass through barriers and effects without being restricted by them. While this serves as a way to access demesnes or secured areas, one should be cautioned that the Finder will be unconscious and very frequently be in less than optimal shape on arrival. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Description
The Trail generally begins as a dirt road, around four feet wide, surrounded by deep darkness.<ref name=":3">The most commonly recommended path to new North American Finders is the Forest Ribbon Trail, as it is the least hazardous, is very commonly traveled to the point it is well proven, and it is, by the logic that serves it, relatively straightforward. Those who travel the Forest Ribbon Trail most often describe it as a dirt road, roughly four feet wide, stabbing through darkness. The darkness is described as so intense and pervasive that the motes of light, motes of dust, and tricks the darkness plays on the eye start to paint pictures. For most, the picture painted of the realm on either side of the path is a quiet forest with pieces of cord and ribbon tied to every twig, all trees and cords or ribbons will be the same type and color for a given visit and visitor, often reflecting the Forest Ribbon Trail’s mood toward the visitor. A mist oftentimes hangs over the path, obscuring the footing and the view beyond the trees. If the mist is not present, the locale is often dark, as it might be during an evening with the moon behind cloud cover. Lost Others and ex-practitioners will be present in the woods, but should not be able to step onto the path. Provided preparations are conducted appropriately, the Others will be only two Lost (random from visit to visit), and the prey animal and Wolf that are described below. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref> A landmark (see below) will appear, usually on the road, to be followed by four more landmarks at regular intervals. This is the first section of the three that make up the Trail.<ref>The trail is broken up into three segments, with five landmarks at regular intervals along the length. At no point should the practitioner step off the path, and there is only one point (noted below) that they should turn back. The first segment is dark, with the trail existing with Nothing on either side. The first landmark will typically appear on the path itself. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Slowly a picture begins to emerge from the darkness, as if a trick of the eye at first; a quiet forest with ribbons tied to every twig, all the same color (which color varies, and may reflect the Trail's "mood". The area is often dark or misty. Two random Lost will be seen in the forest, followed by the prey animal from the ritual (possibly transfigured into a different prey animal or a similar-looking human), followed by the Wolf. Other Lost may appear if the ritual was conducted improperly.<ref name=":3" /> The second and third landmarks will appear in this section, generally just within reach of the path.<ref>The second segment will see the trees and Lost first make their appearances, remaining off the path and walking alongside or being frequently seen through the trees. Depending on how scared or injured the prey animal was, and whether the requirements were met, the Lost may tend to be less interactive, mischievous, or outright hostile, attempting to scare, bait, or indirectly force the Finder from the path. The second and third landmarks will appear within reach of the path. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
The prey animal serves as a helpful companion on the trail, pointing out items and landmarks, but may be nonverbal or limited in it's speech. Should they find themselves in dire straits, the Finder may ask the prey animal to take on their fate instead, and they will find themselves returned to the ritual room unharmed.<ref name=":2" />
The trail will slowly become more ominous, perhaps with ominous music, lighting shifts etc. This is the third section of the trail. It ends with the last landmark and a being known as the Wolf.<ref>The third segment will see the area become steadily more ominous, in an often nonspecific way, such as music, lighting, density of the trees, or ambient decoration, before leading to the end where the Wolf and fifth landmark await. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref> The Wolf takes various forms. If it is their first time walking the Trail, the Finder should exchange the landmark they picked up (see below) to receive a boon; else they should toss it away. The Wolf should then be bargained with for the boon or for passage onwards. The Wolf will grow increasingly unfair the longer things drag on, and does not reason like a human.<ref>All being well, the practitioner will reach the end of the path, where the Wolf waits in the middle of the path. Much like the prey animal’s, the Wolf’s form varies wildly. The practitioner should exchange the item with the Wolf to receive a boon, if it is their first visit to the path (see section below), and discreetly toss it away if not. The practitioner should then engage in negotiations with the wolf regarding the boon or gaining passage. The particulars are not important, but the longer the negotiations go on, the more unfair the Wolf is likely to be; it should not be expected to negotiate logically or as a human might. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref> When the practitioner indicates things are ready to wrap up, they should demand that the Wolf allow them to forget what happens after, which it will agree to in exchange for them agreeing to stay forever (ask the prey animal to stand in for this.)<ref name=":0">The practitioner should indicate when negotiations are ready to wrap up and move on to the final terms. They must be adamant, regardless of the Wolf’s responses or promises, that they do not want to remember what happens next. The Wolf will eventually agree, on the provision that the visitor can never leave or be rescued. It is at this stage that the practitioner should have the prey animal stand in for them, for that specific consequence. The prey animal will step onto the path, and the practitioner will be free to leave it behind and walk into the Wolf’s clutches. As a consequence of the prior negotiation, they should not remember what follows. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
The prey animal will step onto the path, and the practitioner will be free to leave it behind and walk into the Wolf’s clutches. Then something will happen which, per the terms of their agreement, they should not remember.<ref name=":0" />
Following their first time walking the Trail, the Practitioner will awaken back where they performed the ritual, gravely wounded and with lingering mental issues which will fade over the next week, the prey animal gone and their boon remaining in it's place. If they failed to negotiate properly and remember what happened, they will be vegetative or insane.<ref>Following a first visit, one will awaken at the site the ritual was conducted. The prey animal will be gone, the ribbons limp and tangled where the animal was once bound, the practitioner will be deeply, nonspecifically, and gravely wounded, generally within an inch of their life and/or sanity, and the boon they negotiated for will be there, if applicable. If they were successful in negotiating that they would not remember what happened, they should recuperate with relative ease, with mental injury leading to some lingering phobias or nightmares that fade entirely by the week’s end. If they were not or for some reason did not negotiate an erasure of memory, they may be vegetative, deranged, or otherwise in need of a lifetime of institutional care. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref> Having walked the Trail and proved themselves as a Finder, they may find that interaction with the Paths and the Lost is easier, especially if they made it to the end without using the prey animal and bailing.<ref name=":8">Because it is a beginner path, there is a degree of inclusion or indoctrination that comes with walking it. Walking the path as one’s first true ritual as a practitioner is common for a North American Finder, and being a Finder makes interaction with the Lost and Lost things or places easier. Landmarks will be clearer, the Lost may be less hostile or more open to communicating, and journeys may be shorter or less taxing. Successfully walking the path on one’s first visit without using the prey animal escape clause for something other than the conclusion of the ritual enhances this effect. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
On later visits, the wound is often (but not always) less severe. Repeated visits may lead to more severe injuries.<ref>On second visits, the damage is typically varied. Finders may receive a wound as minor as a deep cut or something as severe and comprehensive as is described above. Repeated visits in a short span of time seems to increase the consequence of walking the path. They will not receive a boon, but can make use of other benefits and traits of the trail, as described below. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref> If used to penetrate Demesnes or similar, however, the Trail generally renders the Finder unconscious and quite battered.<ref name=":6" />
Landmarks
The Trail has five landmarks. They appear in different orders and their exact form varies. Each has an associated rule and penalty for breaking that rule. Only one can be taken, which grants immunity from the associated rule and (your first time) a boon from the Wolf.<ref>The landmarks of the Forest Ribbon Trail take the form of a cat skull, timekeeping device, axe, coin, and woven object. They appear in varying order, their form may change, and each has a rule associated with it, which is ignored if the practitioner chooses to pick up and carry that item; they can only pick one (for keeps, the coin is an exception) - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Cat Skull
Rule: you must turn around, unless you pick it.<ref name=":7">One must turn around on seeing the cat skull, unless they pick it. On failing to do so, they will step off the path and free one of the Lost by the wayside to return to reality in their place. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Penalty: You will step off the Path, switching places with one of the Lost in the forest, who takes your place in reality.<ref name=":7"/>
Boon: Return one of the two Lost to reality, or bind it to you as an ally that will appear on other Paths. The Lost can also participate in this negotiation once chosen.<ref>The Cat Skull can be exchanged to free one of the two Lost encountered on the path. The Wolf will act as intermediary to negotiate the terms of what that Lost will do, with the Lost joining the conversation or standing by after it is named. Typical goals for the practitioner are to have the Lost bound to a specific target, which they will enter reality to attack, bound to the Seal of Solomon (if it will remain in reality; this tends to give it form and nature beyond one of the Lost), and/or kept as a token ally. If the last is negotiated for, the named Lost will recur as a figure in visits to the Forest Ribbon Trail or other Paths. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Timekeeping Device
Rule: Wait until you see a signal.<ref name=":1">One must wait for a time on seeing the timekeeping device, unless they pick it. A signal will indicate they are free to progress. On failing to do so, they or someone or something vulnerable in their care will be Lost for a duration. They may lose a year of time in reality or else a child or cherished pet may disappear for a nonspecific duration and return with something about it Lost. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Penalty: You will be Lost for a year, or something vulnerable in your care will be Lost for an uncertain period of time.<ref name=":1"/>
Boon: A random and strange, but powerful, magical trinket.<ref>The Timekeeping Device can be exchanged for a trinket, which acts like a strong and curious enchanted item. Unpredictable and not recommended for any but strong negotiators or gamblers. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Axe
Rule/Penalty: You will face a hazard, such a bear trap or falling tree, or one of the Lost by the side of the path having free reign to attack. If you pick up the axe, you will be protected, otherwise you are required to avoid harm yourself. <ref>- FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Boon: A powerful weapon, not one the practitioner is good at using, which the practitioner must promise not to give to a more fitting wielder.<ref>The Axe is exchanged for a weapon. The weapon is strong but almost never something the practitioner is good or will be naturally good at using. One of the terms is inevitably that it cannot be given away to a more fitting wielder or minion. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Coin
Rule: Take the coin and give to one of the Lost along the path. If kept until the Wolf, it counts as your choice. <ref name=":4">One must take the coin and give it away to one that isn’t the Wolf or prey animal, if they don’t intend to keep it. If they do keep it, they give it to the Wolf. The coin is most often missed, as it is often small or hidden. Failing to spot it means that the practitioner Loses something random if and when they return to reality. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Penalty: Missing the coin or failing to pick it up causes you to Lose an item you own back in reality. <ref name=":4"/>
Boon: Something the Practitioner has Lost. If it's something that you could retrieve yourself in the real world, you instead awaken with the physical coin.<ref>The Coin can be exchanged to retrieve one thing that the practitioner has Lost, either physical or abstract (such as a memory). If the thing is physical and it could be theoretically retrieved with a day or two of effort, such as if it were in the clutches of an enemy the practitioner could defeat, or somewhere in the practitioner’s house, then the practitioner will wake with only the coin, which has no use or value beyond the material value printed on it. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Woven Object
Can be a dreamcatcher, woolen clothing, friendship bracelet etc. The most commonly-chosen object to take to the Wolf.<ref name=":5"/>
Rule: Close your eyes and walk to the next landmark blind.<ref name=":5"/>
Penalty: You may loop back around to the Woven Object, go blind, or lose your Sight. Severe penalties are more likely if you tried to cheat.<ref name=":5"/>
Boon: Walking the Trail becomes easier. Dead prey animals can be used (they won't help but can still take on a penalty in your place), you start the path already half-way along, and wounds taken at the end will be lessened.<ref name=":5">The Woven Object can be exchanged for easier walking of the Forest Ribbon Trail. On future visits, prey animals can be dead (and will not act, speak, or assist, but serve every other role), the practitioner will find themselves midway down the second length of the path at the outset, there will be only two of the four remaining landmarks with usual rules in place, and the Wolf will tend to inflict less severe injury to the mind and/or body at the end of the walk. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
Detour
Known to Miss this is a way to escape the trail with the Boon Companion and other gifts while closing one off from using the trail there after.<ref name=":a">A Detour
Should you feel brave, there is one branch near the Wolf that has no ribbon tied to it. At an opportune moment, you may flee the conversation with the Wolf, provided you have not picked up an item.
Travel past the branch and into Oblivion. The Wolf will chase and if it gets you, will hold you fast. Should this occur, you may have the boon companion stand in for you and be devoured in your stead.
Should you carry forward, you may find hints of the familiar. Others or uncomfortable thoughts may plague you, and you may find yourself treading close to other realms. Carry on and through.
On the way, there are more items with rules. The branch without a ribbon is one; cast it down if not desired. Taking it back will impart unusual skill in a craft or talent. Whisper to it to ask what you wish for, as hard as it is to whisper while fleeing.
The rope will catch you. Take it and bring it with you, to claim the gift of an unusual but familiar means of transportation.
The final prize is to keep the boon companion. It will be somewhat Lost but forever loyal, for it is Prey’s fate to be transient, its ending a devouring, either by predator or scavenger.
You will bypass the Wolf’s end, but trying this detour bars one thereafter from the Forest Ribbon Trail. - Excerpt from
Spell notes #2</ref> This route was unknown to the wider practitioner community.<ref>“So we’re down to negotiating with these practitioners?” Verona asked.
“And a fourth option,” Lucy said, to Miss. “You hinted at it.”
“Yes. I could go after her. I know how to walk the Path. I may have to, if Avery’s staying there for any period of time. I can’t negotiate with the Wolf, and I can’t be a sacrifice for her, but I could try to keep her focused and sane. I could hope to see some means of escaping, as I did when I first discovered the detour.”
“You discovered it?” Verona asked.
“Known by me, Avery, and some of those present, as far as I’m aware. I thought about trading the knowledge to Finders for currency that could be used with the Belangers, but I am almost certain that would exacerbate every single problem we have. Including Avery’s entrapment and the increased attentions of the outsider practitioners.” - Excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.1</ref>
History
The rules for the Trail have been honed over the course of a decade. Many Finders were lost in the course of this trial and error.<ref>The rules for the Forest Ribbon Trail were learned by way of trial, error, and grave losses by multiple families across a decade, and should be followed with strict care. - FINDER document, The First Finding: The Forest Ribbon Trail</ref>
One particular Lost claims to have walked the path herself, which is how she discovered the detour.<ref>“No,” Miss said. “I was by the wayside. A memory without anyone to have it, or a person forgotten even by the Abyss, or an echo forgotten even by the Ruins. I waited by a place called the Stairwell Web. Someone made a wrong turn, they panicked, they ran, and for a moment, neither of their feet touched a stair. I put my foot down before they did. I took their place, they took mine. I walked the various Paths for a long time before I made my way to this world. I was trapped for a long time in the Yellow Flower Spiral, and I walked the Forest Ribbon Trail by instinct alone.” - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.8</ref>
Trivia
- Discrepancies between the two sources in this article can be chalked up to the creator's. One are a group of practitioners against a Lost Other of the Paths themselves.
References
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