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]

I'm sorry for having seen it without your permission. Unfortunately, things in the Grove don't always care about how we might feel about privacy...

( there's a melancholy to her, thought the cracks in her face and the burned wings or singed-looking tips of her hair certainly don't help. she holds her staff close with a gentle grip as she looks away for a moment, and then back to the young man.

something akin to divinity seems to radiate from her. )

Were you... able to find a path you wanted?

[warchiseled]

[Divinity can sense divinity, as they say.

Something similar radiates off of him, despite his more or less normal appearance.

Or as normal as a half-naked, heavily tattooed man could look like.]

That is a hard question to answer, Lady...?

[lilyberation]

( that it can, and that it does. she will not pry, though- not this time. with the heavy truth of the soul jam fresh in her mind, she'd hate to overstep. )

White Lily.

[warchiseled]

[He gives her a small, curt nod.]

It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady White Lily. Though perhaps wishing it under better circumstances.

[lilyberation]

That does seem the sentiment most days. The threats here do seem to like mental torments.

( she sounds tired, but not about him, at least. )

[warchiseled]

I am Mydei, though... I suppose you would know that already.

[You know... considering the whole memory thing.

He takes a moment to watch her for a moment before he glances back towards the tree.]

I know we just met, but you seemed troubled with something incredibly heavy. You do not need to disclose what it is, of course, though I am willing to listen.

[lilyberation]

Ah...

( she blinks, eyes widening slightly before she thinks. she doesn't want to, not really, but... )

... It's a little complicated, but if you are to stay here there is one rare occurrence that you should know about. While we don't actually leave, we can... gain new memories of the lives we left behind when we were taken. These can include sudden physical changes- ( she points to the singed tints of hair, the cracks in her face- ) -among other things...

Were you aware that those who have died can persist after death here?

[warchiseled]

[Mydei frowns, tilting his head to the side almost like a cat as he examined her a little closer.]

I sensed that death was wrong here, though I hadn't gotten a confirmation in regards to what exactly was wrong with it.

[lilyberation]

It is, though I am not quite the expert in it. There are those of us who have died in our native realms and been brought here whole and hale, but it has been confirmed that if they return to their home world the will return to death, but will remain alive if they should stay here.

... I bring this up because- well.

This recently happened to me. I- ( how to say this... her grip on her staff tightens. ) -I recently regained memories of what would lead to my own death.

As I said, it is best that you know that this is possible.

[warchiseled]

[Mydei was silent as he absorbed this information.

He reached behind himself, running his fingers across his spine until he touched the area over his tenth thoracic vertebra.

That hit he took from the Flame Reaver should have killed him. And if Miss White Lily was correct then... It did. He just woke up here.

He had his suspensions, but this confirmed it.]

I... See.

[Mydei dropped his hand, letting it fall to his side before looking down at her once more.]

I am sorry. Those are difficult memories to have to endure. I am familiar with them.

[lilyberation]

( his reaction is telling, and her wings droop slightly. )

... It isn't the first time. It is- hard to cope with, though, especially when our captor enjoys thrusting us into a new, fresh hell every few weeks.

I am sorry that you also know the pain. I would not wish this pain on anyone.

[warchiseled]

[That is a statement he could agree with.

For her sake, not his.

He shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest.]

Death is nothing for me. I have died a thousand deaths already [More actually. But who's counting?] It is something I am quite used to. Though something I wish on no one. I am sorry that has been a date you have suffered, Miss White Lily.