Ominous Gate

This is a **Forest** exploration event. It occurs once per playthrough and offers the chance to acquire one  Orichalcum Bead and some  Sage Powder. Investigating this event may incur  Injury and  Depression, and certain actions may lead to the participating survivor becoming  Blinded temporarily or  Paranoid until cured.

## Inspect

In the middle of nowhere, a gate stands tall. The atmosphere around it feels heavy, still you feel drawn by its oddity. The iron railings are closed shut by two chains: a small one and a big one. The carved yew frame is peculiar: you saw no such tree on the island. But it's nothing compared to the stone... It looks like any other stone albeit the rune carved on it, still it gives you an ominous feeling.

## Check the Rune

Relevant Skills: **Wisdom**

You crouch and run your fingers on the rune, thinking...

* **Try to remember its meaning.** (**Wisdom**)

Failure
And then something clicks in your mind: it's the rune of death! You fall backwards. You know runes have several meanings but right now you can only think of this... and it terrifies you.
+  Depression
+ The participating survivor gains the negative trait  Scared temporarily.
Success
You recognize \*EIHWAZ, the 13th rune, symbolizing yew, omen of death and rebirth. Are those doors the entry to Hel's realm? You wonder...
+ Wisdom +1
## Approach the Gate

Relevant Skills: **Courage**

You climb the few steps to reach the threshold. Each step makes you feel more and more uneasy.

* **Check the chains.** (**Courage**)

Failure
As you approach the chains, you hear some kind of strange voices valling from the other side. "Not... worthy... Get lost... Filthy... Don't touch..." Startled, you take a step backwards and slip on the stairs. You try to catch the small chain but fail. Unable to get a firm grip, you fall and hurt your head on the runic stone.
You wake up a few hours later. Your head hurts.
+  Injury
Success
You touch the chains. The small one breaks right away and falls on the floor. The bigger one gets loose and slides to the ground. You freeze. Without you even touching the door, you see it slides open. You feel... a presence on the other side but see nothing. You can't help but avert your eyes.It smells like death even [sic] since the gates opened. You gulp, feeling even more uneasy than before. Is this a challenge by the gods? Making a huge effort, you try to gaze at the opening. You squint your eyes and see... A CORPSE! IT'S MOVING TOWARD YOU! Panic makes you jump on your feet and take a defensive stance. But no one's there... You could swear you saw it on the other side of the opened gates! You walk around the gate, there's nothing. Each time you try to look directly into the opening, you swear you can see, for a split second, more corpses gathering. And then, you blink and they're gone. What the hell have you unleashed!
+  Depression
## Check the Stone

Relevant Skills: **Wisdom**

The stones look like any other stone except for the rune carved on it. You place your hands around the stone, trying to lift it up. You realise your hands are getting colder, and number. You get them off the stone and slowly recover.

+  Injury

## Cross the gate

Relevant Skills: **Courage**

Appears after successfully approaching the gate

You feel you have to cross the gate. BUT, would you really dare step out of the living to enter the land of the dead? And what about the creatures you saw? You know that, according to Norse Legends, Hermos the Brave did it to retrieve the deceased Baldr from Hel's embrace but... He is a god. And you're merely human.

* **Give up for now.**

You feel too intimidated to cross the gate right now. Maybe tomorrow. Or the day after. When you're well rested... and the weather is right. Just... Not now...
* **Cross from backside.** (**Courage**)

Failure
You're afraid you'll die if you cross the gate. To be fair, you're even afraid of getting near the gate. Or turning your back to it. You stare at the threshold, debating with yourself what you should do. The more you think, the more you're afraid. Your mouth begins to feel dry.
+  Depression
Success
If this side is the living one, maybe the other side is death. With that thought, you walk to the other side. You feel slightly less uneasy. You take a deep breath, close your eyes and run through the door. Your body crashes against a wall of heat. Past it, you feel as is you were back in your mother's womb. You could stay here forever.
But a force starts pushing you forward. You leave the warmth. Your're beginning to feel short of breath. You take a deep breath.
IT HURTS. A lot. You feel liquid leaving your lungs as air gushes in. You finally manage to open your eyes. It's a bit blurry. You're on the ground, on the other side of the door, now closed. Then, you notice you have a small bead in your hand. how long have you been holding it?
-  Depression
+  Injury
+  Orichalcum Bead  Sage Powder
* **Cross from frontside.** (**Courage**)

Failure
You're afraid you'll die if you cross the gate. To be fair, you're even afraid of getting near the gate. Or turning your back to it. You stare at the threshold, debating with yourself what you should do. The more you think, the more you're afraid. Your mouth begins to feel dry.
+  Depression
+ The participating survivor gains the disease  Paranoia until cured.
Success
You know it's a challenge from the gods. You take a deep breath, close your eyes and run through the door. Your body crashes against a wall of cold. It's so cold it burns. You open your eyes. Around you are several skeletons. They're wearing... your companions' garments! Are they...? They point at you. You look at yourself and see you're a corpse as well! You pass out from the shock. When you wake up, you touch your arms and are relieved to feel flesh again. But... BUT... YOU CAN'T SEE ANYMORE!
It's with a bitter taste you remember the tale: "Nine nights did Hermod ride to enter Hel, through valleys do deep and dark that he saw nothing."
+  Depression
+ The participating survivor gains the negative trait  Blinded temporarily.