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

[lovelyredthread]

[ Him? Pavlova tilts his head slightly. He doesn't quite get why, but he holds the door open all the same. ]

Sure, come inside. It's miserable out there.

[ The house smells liked baked goods, vanilla, lily, and mixed berries. Rip to Till if he came here hungry. ]

Do you want tea or cocoa or something?

[ Going through the motions of hospitality is more polite than asking him what he wants. ]

[foreversembrace]

Oh, uh...cocoa's fine.

[Unfortunately for Till, he loves sweets, so. Kindof makes things all the more awkward, considering-

But he doesn't say anything to that affect, instead letting himself inside so he can find somewhere to sit.]

You've been stayin' inside?

[lovelyredthread]

Habit.

[ Well- sort of. ]

Where I lived there wasn't really bad weather. But outside of that, getting too wet would make our dough soggy and mushy. Not exactly ideal.

[ Hence him seeing fog and rain and hissing like a cat at bathtime. Thankfully for Till, sweet drinks don't seem to be under the same scrutiny as some sweets. Pavlova starts making the cocoa as he talks. ]

[foreversembrace]

[Where I lived there wasn't really bad weather. Yeah, he got that impression...]

Yeah...I can imagine.

[...]

What...was it like? Where you lived.

[lovelyredthread]

[ He hesitates noticeably. ]

It was called the Garden of Delights. My mother's garden. She created it as a sort of haven. Cookies could go there if they were hurt or sick or unhappy in any way and she would make them happy. It was her thing as the Bringer of Happiness.

As such it was always sunny, temperate, flowers everywhere. There was even a hedge maze and mulled juice baths for relaxing. Anything a Cookie could need.

[ Don't ask why some liquids are fine and some aren't. Either way he's... clearly not giving the whole picture. He's well trained not to. ]

[foreversembrace]

[So it is exactly like what he saw, then.

Till frowns, worrying the friendship bracelet from Mephisto on his wrist.]

She "made" them happy?

[lovelyredthread]

Mm. One of her powers was sensing what someone's happiness is. They'd come to her and she would grant it.

[ Though some of those were granted in unorthodox ways. He could think of at least a few that had a sort of monkey's paw effect as it went on.

He kind of... taps just under his eye. Ever wondered why that heart shape is there? Now you know-- ]

[foreversembrace]

[Till frowns. It sounds...hollow, to him. But he understands why someone might come to her, desperate for some happiness. He thinks he would have, at his lowest.]

I grew up in a Garden too. Wasn't as nice as that one, but there was a lot of green grass...trees. A blue sky, and red flowers.

Didn't realize until I got bigger that it was all fake.

[lovelyredthread]

[ It's a little funny, what obvious lies you believe as a child. How easily manipulated the young are because of it. Not for the first time he's upset about how long he spent stuck like that.

But he stays quiet. ]

I don't think you've ever told me anything about your situation before. I'm guessing you have... complicated feelings about that.

[foreversembrace]

Yeah. I mean...complicated is an understatement.

[And normally, he wouldn't say anything, but...after seeing Pavlova's memory absolutely against his wishes- unintentional or not- he feels like it's only fair to.]

We were little, so we didn't really know any better. It's where me and a bunch of other kids were raised. Raised, and then...sold off to whoever would pay. You'd be lucky if you were bought by someone who had money, or, like. I dunno. Believed in fuckin' animal rights, or whatever.

[lovelyredthread]

You're not an animal.

[ Just like he's not food. It bothered him that anyone would consider him such. ]

... I wasn't ever allowed to leave unless Mother brought me somewhere. I couldn't tell you much about the rest of Beast-Yeast other than stories. My father had to travel to visit.

So I guess I can relate. It starts to feel pretty small after a while.

[foreversembrace]

Yeah. It does.

[He's quiet for a moment, looking at his hands laying loose in his lap.]

No matter how nice a place it seems, if you don't got your freedom...what kinda place is it, really?