PJ00s XVII: The Fantasy Round | We have a winner! | And they all lived happily ever after.

There was a lot of confusion over this one. Most of the release dates we found were in 2010 or later, but there was evidence of, I kid you not, a limited-run vinyl release approximately two weeks before the end of 2009.

 

Sneakiness100! The song triggered me because it was quite prominent in the movie Drive and it felt more recent than <2010.

 

The 18th December 2009 release date likely makes it the PJ00s song with the most recent release date ever, not counting the special round that allowed 2010 songs.

Kinda curious what the PJ00s song with the oldest release date is now, have there been any from January 2000?

 

That song has a bit of a messy history as it seems to have been on multiple releases over several years, from 2008 to 2011. Well, there's no actual proof of the 2008 one though, aside from Wikipedia.

 

This doesn't really count, but "You've Changed" by Sia was entered in one of the legend rounds, and its release date is 28th December 2009.

As for the oldest one, I don't know, but I have one song among my potential future entries that was released in early 2000.

 

My Heart Beats Like A Drum is from September 2000 - could we have the oldest and newest in the same round?

 

I doubt that over so many rounds there haven't been at least some songs from January-August 2000!

I think my oldest entry was Like A Feather by Nikka Costa, which was released in 2001, and my most recent one was French Navy by Camera Obscura, released in April 2009.

 

Mine was Alex Lloyd Amazing for oldest in 2001 and newest would probably be Talk Like That by The Presets...

 

My iconic, twice-top-10 entry breaking the boundaries as usual.

That was a classic, that was a classic.

 

The third trial results and the fourth one will be up later today by the way! The trials so far have all been a collaborative effort (me coming up with a short synopsis and @Oleander turning it into a full story), but the next one is all @Oleander so I might try my hand at solving/overcoming it.

The two last characters will also be up later today.

 

Trial III: Illusionary

Thanks to everyone who participated in the third trial. The illusions were lifted and you are finally able to make it out of Kaleidian Forest and continue your adventure. Now let's see who got the

Reward: Tiny Mirror
























































It turns out that the Tiny Mirror itself was also an illusion, and as the illusion lifted, so did the mirror reveal its true form...

Reward: Tiny Mirror Shards



In reality, the mirror has been broken for many years, (conveniently) split into three shards. So the third trial winners are...

@berserkboi

​

​

@əʊæ

​

&

@Maki

​

(I have no idea why @əʊæ's and @Maki's stories got split in two quotes, but I can't seem to fix it, even with the BB code editor).

In reality, @Oleander and I couldn't decide on a winner for this trial, as all the stories were great in their own way, and given the theme, it was the perfect opportunity to pull something like this. So, congratulations to three winners!

The fourth trial will be posted later today. I hope everyone has their cauldrons ready.​

 

Hmm.

Hmm?

 

Characters

@ComeOnGloria

An avatar of light: a noble knight with a pure heart and sword of justice. Blessed by the angels and adored by the people, any monster, demon or evil human she comes across stands no chance.


@Remorque

An avatar of darkness: a powerful and insidious vampire with a special taste for the blood of the innocent and just. Fear of her is known to turn people into crime and villainy, as that's the only way their lives might be spared.

And that's the last two! Hope everyone enjoyed their characters, I had a lot of fun coming up with them.

Now don't forget to make use of them in the remaining trials.​

 

Bonus characters

@The people who didn't participate in this round

A gaggle of goblins who unfortunately don't know any better.​

 

Yasss! The power of Dalida getting us three winners, and all of them voters in the Dalida Rate! Congratulations to my fellow GiGis!! :D xxx

 

Before the 4th trial goes live, I thought I'd do something a bit different since the 3rd trial actually had a sort of riddle to decipher. So, with that in mind, let me reveal what the Braille text says. By the way, the Braille text may or may not have been inspired by the 3rd generation of Pokémon games. Anyway.....

Let's start with the short one.


This simply translates to "fire" which given how prominent fire is in the story is a big clue.

And now for the longer text.



For those of you who figured out who the ghostly apparition in the gif was, this hidden message should be very familiar to you. This block of text translates to....

"Everyone can start again
Through the fire, we're born again
Peace by vengeance
Brings the end."

So basically with this knowledge in mind combined with the story, the suggested answer was to use the mirror and fire to illuminate the forest and eliminate the mystical fog. But like with all the other trials, there is a hundred ways to solve it.

Oh and the "Circles and circles...." quote is taken from Tori Amos' song Cloud On My Tongue and was another more abstract clue.

 

Trial IV: Alchemical
Reward: Tiny Vial



Following the miraculous escape you and your party made from the Kaleidian Forest and its endless riddles, you continue on your quest. You’re relieved to see that things have finally settled down and nothing bad has happened. If only things could stay that way.

A few days after escaping the forest, you begin to notice that one of your party members is looking a bit white and sheepish. You ask them if they are alright to which they respond “Yeah, I’m fine. I think I’m still just getting over the shock from what happened in the forest.” Deciding to have faith in his words, you reassure him that he’ll be fine soon and flash a quick smile. However, the exact opposite proves to be true. As the day progresses, your companion gets paler and paler and his movements begin to progressively become slower. Sadly, you have found yourselves in empty prairie land and have no choice but to keep going if you want to find help for your companion. Eventually, your companion collapses to the ground, unable to move his legs. You approach him and ask what he’s feeling. He tells you that he has lost movement in the lower half of his legs and that he can feel it slowly spreading through his body. You notice that he says this in a slightly odd tone and you ask him if he knows why this is happening. The companion tries to play it off at first but quickly gives in and reveals to you that on the way out of the forest, he saw a bush with some berries on it and his great hunger drove him to eat them.







Inside you feel furious that he would do something so careless but seeing how worried he is that he might die makes the anger subsided and give way to sympathy. You calm him down and decide to change tactics in order to try and find a way to save him. The best course of action for you seems to be to go off with one or two men in search of help while the rest of the party stays behind with the injured companion to keep watch over him. As always, it takes a bit of convincing but your party eventually agrees to your plan. You then proceed to run through the prairie land with your chosen party members in search for help. Due to the wide-open land that looks like a tawny sea due to the way in which the sunlight hits the dried wild grass, it feels like you’ve been traveling for ages without making any progress due to your surroundings looking exactly the same. After some time passes, you hear something in the distance. You keep moving forward and notice that the prairie comes to a sudden end on a cliff. Once you approach the edge, you look down and see a small village not too far down.



After making it down to the lower ground, you go around asking people if there is some kind of physician in the village. You learn that there is not a physician in the village but that there is a wise old druid who lives in a hut on the edge of the village who might be able to help you. As quickly as you can, you go where the villagers told you to go and you find the druid’s hut. You knock on the door and hear an old but hearty voice say “Go away.” You beg the druid to let you in because you need to help your companion before he dies. Eventually, the druid gives in and lets you explain your situation. Once you are finished, he begins to chuckle. This upsets you but before you can call him out on his rudeness, the druid says “You’re friend isn’t going to die.” This shocking information leads to you ask “What do you mean?” The druid then says “Your friend ate some berries of what is known as the Paralyia bush. It’s a potent and powerful plant and whoever eats its berries loses all sensation in their body and their motor control, until they fall into suspended animation.”




You ask the druid what to do and he takes out an old tome that he begins to read from:

“He who eats the fruit of the Paralyia bush will become a still image, a hollow reflection of who they once were. The only hope of breaking the spell of the Paralyia fruit is to make and drink the Animatia elixir. Only when this elixir is coursing through your veins will your body be reawakened and all sensation coming rushing back in like a river flowing into the sea.”

You then ask the druid if he can make the elixir to which he says he can but that you’ll have to procure some ingredients for him. He begins to list off the three missing ingredients one-by-one.

“The first one is the petals of the Rejuvia flower. This rare flower only makes itself visible during the night of a full moon when that prairie you wandered through becomes dotted with them. However, while it appears like the prairie is full of flowers, only one of them is real, the rest are merely illusions created by the flower to protect itself. You’ll know the real one by the gold threads running through its stem.”



“The second ingredient is a few of the crimson hairs of the Marouge Fox which wanders the forest near the bank of the Hamartian River. Be warned, the fox has wisened up to the fact that people want his fur and it has made sure to use it’s swift speed to its advantage to escape from any fur collectors. You must find a way to catch this fox whose movements are so nimble, quick, and seamless that when it runs it looks like a red lightning bolt that disappears in a flash as it runs.”



“The third and final ingredient is the sap of the last remaining Plasmaria Tree which stands at the peak of the Hadriatic Mountain. The tree is so old that legend has it that if you were to cut it down, you’d see an infinite number of rings in its trunk. That is…..if you can find a way to even make a little cut on it. The bark of the tree is said to be impenetrable and a thousand times harder than diamond. What makes it so tricky is that if you try to cut it, you will end up accidentally cutting yourself as it will reflect your slices. The sap of the tree also happens to be the same color as blood which has tricked many into thinking they finally got the sap only for them to be staring at a vial of their own blood.”



The druid finishes by saying “Only with these three ingredients can the elixir that will save your friend be made. Now, begone!”

As you leave the druid’s hut, your mind is flooded with questions. Which one of the ingredients will you collect first? How will you overcome the challenges presented by each one? Is it even possible to overcome them?

Look deep in your soul and the answer will become clear. ​

 

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