It was supposed to be just a normal get together between five friends who promised they would always stay in touch after art school. But when on their fifth trip their friend Mallory decided the group will rough it in the woods, things go off the rails. Quick.
Ten Candles: The Woods is the first volume of Ten Candles, which is the first series in The Phobos Saga. The Woods is broken down into three parts, and can be considered episodes one thru three of The Phobos Saga. The Woods aired on Twitch from March 5th 2018 to March 19th 2018.
The cast is made up of:
Zac Eubank: The GM. The Major NPC he plays is Mallory Jenkins. Mallory sets the plot in motion, and seems to know more than he lets on.
Mike Ginn plays Raymond Pierce Murasaki, a mild mannered single father who once wanted to be a sculptor, but needing to take care of his daughter, became a mall cop. He hopes to get into the Police Academy one day.
Kelly Nugent plays Cindy Touchstone, a smalltown anchor who puts on airs and thinks very highly of herself. She's brought down several times throughout this volume.
Kate Elliott plays Jan Baker, a paranoid stoner visual artist. A bit hyperactive and skittish, also British. Has a bit of a rivalry with Cindy.
Markeia McCarty plays Adora "Addy" Nadine Morningside. The level headed member of the group, she tries to keep everyone together and calm. Wasn't much of an artist (photo realism), found her calling as a chef and businesswoman.
For The Episodes:
For a complete synopsis, check the Wiki
Tropes found in The Woods:
- Book Dumb: Either Darryl or Denny, believes New Zealand is a city.
- Breakout Character: Mallory, in spades. He only shows up in one other volume, but throughout Ten Candles, everyone believed he was more of a major character than he truly was.
- Camping Episode: The entire volume.
- Deep South: The volume starts in Missouri, before going to Arkansas.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Jan is Sanguine, Raymond is Melancholic, Addy is Phlegmatic, Cindy is Choleric.
- Funny Foreigner: Both Jan and Raymond get harassed at the airport by some rednecks for their accents.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: When everyone is freaking out and its pitch dark, they see two glowing eyes looking at them. Mallory scares whatever it was away by firing his gun.
- Ghost Story: Mallory tells a tale about a little girl that drowned in the well the group is going to. Addy wasn't happy to hear that.
- Good Ol' Boy: The case since this volume takes place in Missouri and Arkansas. Some are antagonistic, like the ones Jan and Raymond meet at the Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri. Another one is clearly racist, but has a personal code of honor and is willing to help the group. Darryl and Denny are indifferent to the group.
- Horrible Camping Trip: In spades.
- Those Two Guys: Darryl and Denny.
Tropes found in The Woods, created by Audience Participation:
- Ancient Evil: When night falls, its made clear that there is something out in the woods. Whether speaking to the group individually, or causing them to see things.
- Demonic Possession: By the end of Volume 1, everyone is clearly possessed by something.
- Our Demons Are Different: Auditory and visual hallucinations, rust liquid seeping into open wounds and giving ancient visions with memory loss, and finally a large wood elk thing running amuck. Something is out there.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Mallory, Darryl, and Denny is undead, and must sacrifice life to stay alive.
- Soul-Crushing Desk Job: It turns out that Cindy isn't actually an elite new anchor, she has a public news station at early hours, and does fluff pieces at old folks homes.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Sounds like cracking of pieces of woods amongst other things that eventually leads to a giant wood monster with an elk head looking for the group.
- Vision Quest: Jan cuts her hand grabbing for a piece of metal. As the rust creeps into her cut hand, she has a vision of ancient indigenous people using blood to make art.
