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

[deathgripped]

[Mydei pauses, and Castorice feels a rush of anticipation and dread well up within her. Her hands shift, ready to call her scythe into being as soon as the moment called for it. She waits, anticipating the arrival of a corrupted titankin, or perhaps an Ichorsprite -

The fact that it's nothing but a little animal should relieve her. Instead, she squeaks in surprise and takes a step back, all on instinct alone The scythe flickers into being, on instinct alone, and she has to scramble to keep hold of it.

Embarrassing, really. She was supposed to be composed, and at the very least, used to the horrors of a battlefield after the war had finished raising. Being startled at an animal is - ]

My apologies. T-This atmosphere seems to be getting to me.

[warchiseled]

[Mydei was absolutely not going to make fun of her for it.

Mostly because the moment the small creature had jumped out of the bushes and darted away, his own instincts had been to ready himself for an attack. He had taken a step back, arms coming up and ready to strike out. The moment the animal was gone, Mydei let out a slow breath and lowered his arms once more.]

It is better to be prepared for an attack than to be caught off guard.

[There was... something off about that... creaure.]

Did you catch sight of how that... I believe it was a squirrel, looked? It seemed ot have plants sprouting from it.

[deathgripped]

[Castorice does not respond immediately. Even as she stares after the creature, a chill runs down her spine. She'd barely seen it, had doubted her eyes when she'd spotted the strange additions to its form.

But now, left to recoup her senses, a grim feeling of foreboding grips her. A strange aura seems to follow the creature, a sense of wrongness, even if she might not know why just yet.

It takes her far too long to tear her gaze away, and slightly longer to process Mydei's words.]

That was unlike any animal I have come across. Even the very essence of it felt... wrong. Like it should not have been -

[But she trails off. Surely she is wrong about this. It is merely an enchanted animal, a product of a land they do not understand.]

I think it would be wise to find someone local. Perhaps they will be friendly enough to answer our questions.

[From there, maybe finding a way out would become easier.]

[warchiseled]

[Even with Mydei's senses not being as sharp as Castorice's, he could still sense how wrong this area was. Though, perhaps it didn't take a genius to know that.

Mydei curled his hands once more into a fist, then glanced back at her. There were bound to be more creatures like that in these woods, and he doubted they stopped at a harmless squirrill.]

Agreed.

[deathgripped]

[Castorice does not even try to obscure her relief. It is good that they're operating on the same page. Now, it's just a matter of figuring out where to find said locals. Or civilization in general.

If there was a river, they could follow it. Villages tended to crop up around bodies of water, after all. Trying to make sense of where they were through the trees, however, is a bit more difficult.

Once more, she tries to make sense of the undeath and decay within her mind. If she could just reach a little further then -

A glimmer, off in the distance. Faint, but enough. She twists, and points a finger off into the distance.]

This way.

[warchiseled]

[He did not hesitate to follow her.

Mydei kept his guard up, though he did not summon the crystals again. There was nothing about his demeanor that would give away how each step made the ringing in his ears worse, or how he felt suddenly cold.

It was a sensation similar to blood loss. He felt dizzy, with it getting worse the more times he summoned the blood-amber. Mydei squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, taking in slow, steady breaths as he followed after Castorice without a word.

After a minute or so, the sensation disappeared, and when Mydei opened his eyes again, the world wasn't tilting.]

[deathgripped]

[Indeed, attuned with life and death as she is, the hiccups and occurrences experienced by the living are lost on her. And given that she's forging the way, gaze both intent on the distance and primed to take in anything that may try to sneak up on them, she doesn't realize that Mydei is fighting something off.

When she does finally look back, it is only after they seem to reach a break in the trees. She makes sure he is prepared for whatever may come, in case they meet opposition. With that glance alone, he seems normal enough.

If only she knew. But maybe it's better that they don't fret just yet.

She offers a reassuring smile, before stepping into the clearing. Nearby, a clock tower sits, while the smell of fresh baked bread emanates from one of the nearby shops. It seems, at a glance, pleasant enough.]

This seems... promising.

[warchiseled]

[He didn't exactly expect to see a village in the middle of the forest, but then again... He didn't really know where they were. Perhaps this was normal.]

Civilization generally is.

[Unless the people that lived here were cannibals who lured people to their town by the scent of bread and the dangers of the forest to eat them.

Anything was possible.]

[deathgripped]

Most of the time, at least.

[As Calamity incarnate, though, both she and Mydei knew how resistant the common folk could be within their presence. No one willingly wanted to welcome death or strife.

Well, before, at least. Things were supposed to be different now. Whether or not those differences still applied in a place like this, though, remained to be seen.]

Should we ask around, then?

[warchiseled]

Do you see anyone?

[This place felt... Just slightly less off than the forest did. There was still something off about this place.

So... Maybe cannibals.

Or worse, really.]

[deathgripped]

I do not. But -

[Again her eyes close. Again, she tries to sift through the mire of wrongness, to the tune of her stomach twisting ever so slightly. At least here it is mildly relieved. And beneath it all...]

I can feel them. Feel life.

[She won't outright call it safe refuge, but it certainly feels less oppressive than forest outright.]

Maybe it would be best if we split up. We can gather information quicker while we are here...?

[warchiseled]

[Mydei knew Castorice could protect herself. There wasn't much that could get close enough to her to harm her, and those that could usually met a swift end.

Still, it didn't mean he wasn't worried.

But she was right.]

Agreed.

[He looked around for a moment before nodding towards the clock tower.]

We can meet back up by the clock tower. [it was tall enough to be seen from most places here, after all.] An hour?

[deathgripped]

[If only he knew, how much more at risk she might be these days. But that's a thought for later.

She gives a nod.]

Be safe, Lord Mydei. I look forward to the information you gather.

[She does not hesitate to set out. If she does, she might never leave him behind.

It is hard to shake the sense of foreboding here, after all.]