EVENT & TDM 036

[sticksandbonesmods]

WAKE UP

Whatever you were doing, something doesn’t add up. For starters, you were most certainly not in this strange little village with a mishmash of cultures and strange animals everywhere. You might have been holding your weapon, yes, but maybe you weren’t- maybe you don’t even have one, and the heavy wooden beam or old pipe in your hands is foreign entirely. But as you stop to think, you also realize you were mid-swing, and someone stands before you; another fresh face being urged by whispers untraceable to fight? Or one of the villagers, alarmed and primed to defend themselves before your time seemed to stop and your mind awoke?

Even stranger, once you get that sorted out, is that the wildlife- all animals mixed with plants- are all nervous at best, actively frightened by something unseen at worst. Squirrels whose tails resemble hyacinths more than fluff and fur run through the trees chittering and shrieking, foxes and dogs with reeds and leaves and petals gently growing from their haunches bolt from place to place, alert and stanced for an attack before running off again. Getting too close to a warren may lead to something biting down on your feet.

Should you journey the distance to the beach- or use the Ark gate generously provided- even the Emerald Sea churns and roars violently, the cliffside whirlpool practically a hurricane beneath the sea. Something is amiss in Aldric’s Grove, and you are only the latest victims.

A LANTERN IN THE HANGING TREE

There’s something that wasn’t there before, one day. A dark, gnarled tree with a gaping hole in it- except the hole is pitch black, and a barrier stops you from entering despite the opening being large enough to walk into. Hanging from the almost-bare boughs are metal lanterns, all of them unable to be lit. As fog rolls in, so too does poor weather. It’s almost always raining, if not outright storming. Sometimes it lets up, but not for long.

The fog brings something else though. Golden lights wait in the fog, and approaching them sounds… incredible, actually? They do not move or give chase, but you may find them unavoidable regardless. Walking into the lights brings you to a memory, a scene from someone’s life… but not your own.

As it finishes, you might be where you’d just been standing, but there’s a slim chance you now stand before the owner of the memory; as if you’d walked there in a daze while lost in thoughts that aren’t your own.

With each light met by a villager, a lantern in the tree lights.

GUIDING BONDS IN THE DARK

It’s dark. It’s painfully dark even though your eyes are wide open. As you fumble around, hands outstretched for anything at all, your fingers catch on a metal curve. Instinctively, you slip it on your wrist- and as your sight returns, emotions that aren’t yours slip into your heart and mind. You aren’t alone, but maybe you will wish you were. A silver chain connects the bracelet on your wrist with your companion’s own before vanishing again, and if you try to put more than six feet of space between each other an invisible tug between you stops you. Removing the bracelet blinds you again, but if given the opportunity, wearing more than one overwhelms your mind to the point that you may as well be wearing none at all. Your powers are null, your weapons are not with you. The two of you are alone.

You find yourselves in a dark cavern of dirt and root. High above, a silvery blue light shines.You can hear rain hitting leaves and bark, water trickling down roots. Should you try to climb up, the roots shake you off themselves. Behind you is a solid wall. Ahead of you is a path to take, twisting and winding with ever shifting false routes and a chill in the air. There’s only one way forward.

As you traverse the labyrinth it will quickly become clear you aren’t alone. Something trudges through the caverns with heavy feet, stalking everyone within. Unlucky travelers will find themselves cornered by a minotaur looming over them, ready to fight and give chase- but it can be distracted by other travelers, or killed… temporarily, and it will come back with a vengeance.

Even outside of the minotaur there are other threats however. As you go from hall to room to hall, familiar scents and sounds creep in, all meant to invoke something you dread. Soon enough those scents and sounds will take shape, hunting you down just as fervently as the bull. Lingering in any space for too long also incites rising temperaments and lower inhibitions that you may struggle to shake off. Why would you? Smacking your partner for being a coward is so much more enticing. … Not just a smack. After all, about half-way through, when monsters born of your memories start to haunt the labyrinth too, you found your weapons, after all.

Your goal is to get to the center of the maze, while the maze wants to crush you with the minotaur, with memories of fear and regret, with its own rush of root and dirt while your emotions feed into each other, crashing against each other’s minds like ocean waves against a cliff. And should it succeed, should air leave your lungs one last time, you will not awaken in the Garden. This is a game, after all. No, as your companions filter into the center two by two, they will find you just barely breathing, strung up from the root, and the roots strung up in you. Plants grow from your flesh and blood, squeeze your lungs and heart. They may fade in a couple days, or you may well be corrupted by the Fallen Sun’s touch. You frame a single opening in the dreariness, but the sound of rain is louder than ever.

Little by little you make your way through, exiting from the gnarled tree strung in lanterns. The bracelets drop from your wrists and crumble to pieces. You’re free.

SOMBER RAINY MORNINGS

It’s been a trying month, and the rain does not stop. The lights do not dim, the lanterns in the tree do not flicker. All you can do is try to cope, in whatever way you can. And when something tugs at your mind again and the scent of dirt floods your nose, something roars in the distance.

The clouds in the sky are cut in half as a serpent made of the cosmos flies above, an iridescent rain falling from its body. Those corrupted in death will find themselves trying to avoid it, for its waters purify the rot in their bodies. Others may simply enjoy the warm beauty as the world seems to settle into a calm. The lantern tree seems to bloom and heal before vanishing into a flurry of petals, leaving only a few broken lanterns behind on the ground. Nene, the girl with flowers growing from her hair picks one up with a far-off gaze before returning to her cottage, leaving the rest behind.

Flowers begin to spring to life, embracing the warmer days of summer in the wake of spring, and gradually the wildlife begins to calm down.

For the first time in weeks, a sunny day awaits and the sky is stained with rainbows.

Spark Notes (Click to Expand)

summary

WAKE UP: New arrivals in Aldric's Grove arrive holding weapons, covered in blood, and most likely pointing them at someone. Surprise! On top of that, all the animals are on edge, and some might attack you if you agitate them or get too close.
A LANTERN IN THE HANGING TREE: A tree appears one day with hanging lanterns. Getting close to a golden light means that memories of others will enter your mind, and with each person who touches a light, a lantern on the tree lights.
GUIDING BONDS IN THE DARK: Within the labyrinth, everyone is connected by a bracelet and are therefore sharing emotions. Getting more than six feet apart will stop you from moving further forward, but without a bracelet, you'll be fully blinded in the maze. Your weapons and magical powers aren't with you, and threats loom around every corner.
SOMBER RAINY MORNINGS: To potentially cure the Corruption that some characters may have endured by dying in the labyrinth, the Cosmic Serpent rises from the sea to spew purifying rains across the Grove. Flowers bloom where the corrupted ground was healed, and you're given a break - for now.

out of character

Happy May! This is a reminder that TDMs are game canon. Current players in the game may redeem TDM AC this month (meaning: if you tag a new player/character and the thread reaches 5 comments from you, your AC is that entire thread for the month if you want). We'll find a better way to clarify this rule in the future and we're sorry for anyone it's confused in the past. Have fun with the event!

updates

Any potential updates, such as characters damaging something important or whatever else, will be put here.

submissions

❖ Questions
❖ May Plotting
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations

code

Comments

[lilyberation]

He likes people very much, you may. He's just a bit clingy with me right now. He is... bonded to me, so when I went through something a bit rough- ( girl you died. ) -earlier this month, he became very clingy.

I don't believe I've seen you before...? I'm... White Lily. ( she is dead. she can not go back to being a cookie. and yet, it feels... strange. almost as much as not using her full name. ) I run the clinic.

[deathgripped]

I... am very sorry to hear that.

[She gently strokes the top of Vernal's head once, but otherwise leaves him be. If he is working to comfort his master, then she would rather not interrupt.]

You have a lovely name, Miss White Lily. [Castorice's smile is shy, but warm.] As for your question, you are correct. I arrived... I do not believe it was so long ago. I admit, my sense of time feels shifted, but... [She shakes her head, pushing the thought away.] My name is Castorice.

[She gives a half bow, polite as can be.]

[lilyberation]

( vernal chirps happily and does a little spin before nestling back in lily's lap like a marshmallow loaf. )

Time in this realm is warped, it's not your fault. These woods were once ruled by faeries, and thus the forest was full of tricks- including the way the passage of time flows. It can be hard to decipher how much has passed, but... seasons seem to be largely the same, at least.

[deathgripped]

[A smile is offered to Vernal, before her attention shifts back to White Lily once more. Confusion etches itself onto her features.]

I find myself wanting to ask if that has displeased the titans of this world, but... [She lays a hand thoughtfully against the side of her head.] I believe I am correct in assuming that the deities of my home have little impact upon this one?

[lilyberation]

Yes. ... Sit with me? I can tell you about this world's gods.

( the bench she sits on has plenty of room, and a spell guards it from the rain as it comes and goes. though, castorice may run the risk of something small and fluffy getting into her lap the moment she does. )

[deathgripped]

Are you certain? I would hate to disturb you.

[After a moment of hesitation, though, she does wind up sitting. Partially because Vernal is so cute, how could she ever say no?]

[lilyberation]

( vernal beeps happily, yes! but it is eden in it's 'large housecat' size that jumps on her, actually. she has been Chosen. )

I don't mind. It's important information.

This world was created and overseen by three Gods: Ourania the Silver Moon, her wife Beiwe the Golden Sun, and Beiwe's twin, the Crimson Sun who fell from grace, his name wiped from history.

The Crimson Sun was the God of Knowledge and Creation. The Golden Sun is the God of War and the Hearth. Ourania is the God of Healing and Wilderness, and the mother of the stars. Beneath them are elemental dragons and the Guardians, beings who become demi-gods through belief and love for that which they protect. You may have seen that... unusual moose, for instance. That is Moder, Guardian of the Fae Woods we reside in. According to her, many things can have Guardians; a small den of mice, even, may have a Guardian protector that we people will never meet. These Guardians spread their reach all over the world, and I imagine every area has multiple working together for the sake of protecting nature and those in their care much like we have our own here.

We then have the people- though we have not encountered anyone from this realm because of the barriers keeping us trapped, we know that this forest used to hold a faerie kingdom, and that the world outside thrives.

We have also had an encounter with Morrigan the Death, who oversees the garden of death as a grim reaper and guardian of the stream of life. I did not speak with them, but others could tell you more, I am sure. She is not considered a God, but is still treated as an equal by them.

[deathgripped]

[Though Castorice tucks all of this information away for later — the other heirs would certainly need this information, and would undoubtedly draw their own parallels — her focus settles on one name in particular.

A hand rises to her own chest, steadying herself as she draws a breath. The feeling of her lungs filling with air is as soothing as ever.]

You are certain you have nothing else to share of this lord of death??

[lilyberation]

Well... Let me think. ( lily closes her eyes and does just that. ) She is... kind, and perhaps more forgiving than we deserve. One of my lovers has gone against Death in a blasphemous way for the greater good, and they showed him no ill will. I heard no one speak ill of them, too.

[deathgripped]

[Though some small part of Castorice riles at the idea of going against death, she swallows it. It is not relevant to the conversation at hand, nor is it her place to judge the workings of other realms.]

I see. They seem to be the ideal embodiment of death, then. [Her own eyes close, mirroring Lily.] Is it possible to meet with her? It is my understanding that in some realms - [Like, you know, her own.] Deities are amenable to conversations with their subjects. And given my own affiliations, I have... questions of my own.

[lilyberation]

Not... exactly. In my lover's study there is a door to the afterlife, but it was built by man and not gifted by Morrigan the Death- and we must keep it closed as intermingling the worlds of the living and dead is... unfavorable, as I'm sure you understand. Some have managed to contact her with great difficulty, but the connection is- fuzzy? I'm sure if we could though, she would be happy to talk more.

[deathgripped]

[As to be expected, Castorice's brow pinches. It isn't the ideal answer, but... perhaps with her ties to the realm of the afterlife, she stood more of a chance than others.]

I see. Thank you, then, for your advisement, Miss White Lily.

[lilyberation]

I'm sorry I don't have more for you. I believe it was... Mephisto, one of the children here, that managed to contact her the fist time, if it helps. Genya, another child in the Grove, has spoken to them as well, during the brief time they did manage a visit.

( eden looks up at castorice. you aren't going to move, are you? because it is very comfortable. )

[deathgripped]

I see.

[She does not know these names off the top of her head, but she will change it if she must.

As for Vernal, Castorice offers her hand in apology. She really shouldn't linger.]

... Thank you again. [And after a beat.] It seems your soul is as beautiful as your visage is.

[lilyberation]

Ah...

( lily wants to deny it, but. ... well... )

... Thank you. I'm learning how to accept the kindness of others again... So, um. If I'm a bit awkward, please forgive me...

[deathgripped]

[That gives her a brief moment of pause. Her expression wobbles, moving between a hint of hurt, a pinch of familiarity, before finally settling on a warm, if small, smile.]

... It takes time to learn, but I do hope you find it in the long run.

[Without another word, Castorice gives a little bow, before heading on her way.]