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

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Comments

[deathgripped]

[She had fought hard for a future like this. But never in her wildest dreams could she imagine the direction it would take. That included the hands of Lord Mydeimos, settled around her waist like some sort of delicate, lovelorn maiden worth clutching close.

That feels like it's come out of one of her own poems. One that was never supposed to involve her.

She swallows.]

You are right, I have. This is a result of all of our efforts. [Well...] Or, back home, was. Here is -

[She winces, the memories from just a few moments prior bubbling up within her mind.]

Here is quite different.

[warchiseled]

[Mydei doesn't release her. He isn't sure whether he was reading the situation correctly. She seemed like she was swaying on her feet, or perhaps the prolonged physical contact was more than she could stand currently.

It would make sense if that were the case.

Over a thousand years of being unable to touch anyone, or just being close to someone...

It would make sense that it was overwhelming.]

We'll get home again.

[Mydei finally removed his hands from around Castorice and took a step back. Enough to give her some semblece of personal space again.]

We didn't go through all we did not to be able to enjoy Era Nova.

[deathgripped]

[Is she disappointed when he lets go? Or relieved that she can somehow breathe again. The answer doesn't immediately come to mind, and Castorice doesn't see fit to unpack it all in this moment.

Even if she finds she does miss the warmth.]

I know we will.

[She offers a smile, small but confident.]

After all we have overcome, this will be more than manageable.

[One angry program obsessed with a cave vs. One angry god, obsessed with trees.

How hard could it be?]

[warchiseled]

[Exactly!

You get it.

He does end up taking her hand and leading her to sit somewhere dry and perhaps not covered in roots. Almost like a picnic, with no food. He didn't come prepared.]

Is there anything you can tell me? I will not force you, of course. I don't want to risk anything. I don't .. actually know how this works.

[deathgripped]

[Even if it's slightly damp, she doesn't seem to mind. She seats herself delicately within the grass, legs folded behind her. Though she lets go of him to right her skirt, she does extend her hand once more in offering.

She could get used to the idea of casual, intimate contact.]

I... admit I also do not know what price telling you the truth might incur. But I also do not know what knowing the truth will matter. [After all, Phainon had known the truth and suffered for millions of cycles. Would it really matter if Mydei had an inkling going into what surely would be the last cycle for him?

But then, if Mydei knew what happened to Phainon, the chance of Phainon himself finding out grew. And she wasn't sure she was ready for that.

More fragments, then. Truth within the lies.]

Era Nova does not look the way we envisioned it. The shape it takes, and the necessity of carrying it out is all the more steeper than even Lady Tribbie could have predicted. [That seems... reasonable enough to offer.] But as a result, it is all the more beautiful than I could have expected, too.

[warchiseled]

[Honestly, Mydei didn't know what he expected from this. Whatever Era Nova was, all that mattered to him was the fact that they had all succeeded in —]

Our companions... Have they returned?

[deathgripped]

[There's an almost unprecedented level of excitement that comes when Castorice nods. She cannot help the beaming smile that spreads over her lips.]

Trianne, Ladies Aglaea and Cipher, Lord Anaxa, they have all returned. But it is more than that. [She squeezes his hand.] Those lost before that have returned as well. My sister. Those that I grew up with. They are there as well.

[Notably, she does not mention Mydei's family. Even in the existence she came from, it was still a tender subject.]

[warchiseled]

[The shock was clear on his face. Despite how tightly he kept his emotions in check, there was no way to hide it.

She returned to squeeze to her hand, though he tried to be careful and not hurt her. That's the last thing he ever wanted to do.

If everyone was back... Then that meant...

Hephaestion and the others... His mother, his —]

I cannot imagine the joy of being able to see everyone again.

[His voice remained leveled, despite how the shock was slowly fading back into his more neutral expression.]

[deathgripped]

[Thankfully, Castorice doesn't appear at all bothered by the pressure on her hand. If anything, she's more focused on his face. Was shock good? Or a precursor to more negative thoughts.

... She isn't quite sure what to say.]

I hope it brings as much relief to you as it did to me, Lord Mydeimos.

[She has only heard stories but... they were bad enough.]

[warchiseled]

[He looked down at their hands once more. Without saying anything, he released her hand and took a minute to remove his gauntlets. He set them to the side, and with his now — incredibly soft — bare hands he reaches back down to take hers.]

It is.

[Her skin held a warmth to it that he hadn't expected. Death's hands had always felt cold to him, like ice digging themselves inside his veins to drown him.

She was cold, but not more than any other person would be here.]

It is a comfort.

[deathgripped]

[This is entirely unexpected.

Having gripped the hands of many battle-hardened individuals (and many Kremnoan's at that), Castorice would have expected that even beneath those gauntlets, Mydei's skin would be rough hewn.

Mystified as she is, she cannot help the way her thumbs slide over his skin, taking in the feeling of it and committing it to memory.]

That makes me more happy than you know. [It was such a long path they had walked.] I admit, seeing your smile after it was all said and done meant the world to me.

[warchiseled]

[He's so rarely without his gauntlets, even he wasn't all that used to seeing the markings on his arms and hands anymore. Okhema had been a safe haven for his people, but not for him.

The Cleaners had made sure of that.]

Is that so? [His smile returned, softening his features as he let her just... Explore his hands.]

[deathgripped]

[Well, since he's letting her, Castorice loosens her grip on his hands in favor of letting her fingers wander further. They span up his wrist, then down to stroke along each finger.

Human contact is still so new, and Mydei is so soft.]

The path you walked has been particularly difficult, Lord Mydei. In spite of that, you were a stalwart ally not just to the Chrysos Heirs, but to me, personally. Why would I not want to see your happiness at the end of this road?

[warchiseled]

[It's true. He is so soft.

He turns his hands as she's exploring, giving her easier access to where she wants to touch.]

My apologies. I did not mean it as such.

[He keeps his eyes on her now.]

It is perhaps harder for me to envision, but it gives me hope knowing that you have witnessed it.

[deathgripped]

I understand.

[She returns to his palms briefly, squeezes them once, and then continues her tracing once more.]

I suspect that were the roles reversed, I would share the same level of difficulty.

[Which just goes to show what they've been through in their many, many lives.

(And to think Mydei doesn't even know it).]

You will see it soon enough. I will be sure of it

[warchiseled]

[How could he ever doubt her?

Especially when she said it like that, full of confidence and renewed hope.

Using his free hand, he takes her chin and tilts her head up so they could make eye contact once more.]

Perhaps I can meet your sister.

[deathgripped]

[Once more, her heart begins to gallop, then swells. Mydei seems to keep doing this to her.

She meets his eyes all the same. It is a beautiful thought.]

I think... we would both enjoy that. [Without looking away, she offers:] Perhaps you could cook us all a meal to enjoy.

[warchiseled]

[His eyes soften as he watches her. There's something about her — about this situation — that still didn't feel real to him. The last time that he had her beside him had been against the Flame Reaver.

And now... When he returns to Amphoreus he will die, he knows that now. It was confirmed by Miss White Lily. But at least Phainon would succeed, despite what he had done to him and being forth Era Nova with everyone they love returning to enjoy it.]

That would be nice. Do you think the others would enjoy that?

[deathgripped]

[Though Castorice cannot entirely surmise the depth of Mydei's troubled thoughts, she can make a few guesses. The situation they were up against, at least from his perspective, was a bleak one. That was without knowing the even darker truth.

But as long as she can keep a modicum of his hope alive, it will be okay.

Right?]

I think so. [The thought, in turn, gives Castorice pause.] Perhaps we could do it here, too. Lord Phainon is likely troubled with everything that has happened as well. A nice meal... might put us all at ease.

[warchiseled]

[Mydei paused for a moment, playng with her fingers slowly. He rubbed his thumb against her palm, as his other fingers gently traced up and down each one.]

I think so too.

[It has been... a while, to say the least, that he had been around anyone. He had spent so long alone in Castrum Kremnos fighting back the Black Tide that he couldn't remember the last time he even had a home-cooked meal, let alone shared it with anyone.]

Do you think anyone else here would mind? Perhaps I can cook a meal for everyone here at some point to make up for it.

[deathgripped]

[Castorice barely suppresses a shiver, each glance from Mydei's finger serving as a bolt of lightning through her arm. It is not at all unpleasant — just unfamiliar. Touch has been such a foreign thing to her, and she finds she rather likes it.

Or maybe it's Mydei's touch in particular that draws her in?]

I do not think so. When I was speaking to - [She brightens up all the more. She hasn't been able to tell anyone else this - ] Lord Jiaoqiu, of the Xianzhou Yaoqing is here. And so is General Jing Yuan. The people the trailblazer and Mister Dan Heng told us stories about are -

[Abruptly, she seems to recognize her overly excited outburst and seems to shrink back. She clears her throat.]

Ah, all I meant is... Mister Jiaoqiu said the kitchen of the inn is open use. That is all.

[warchiseled]

[There were others here outside of Amphoreus?

He remembered some stories the Trailblazers had shared regarding the other worlds they had visited, but in truth he had never expected to meet any of them.

Or visit any other world outside of Amphoreus.]

In that case, why not invite them as well?

[deathgripped]

[The fact that he does not condemn her excitement, but encourages it, convinces Castorice to perk right back up. She beams at Mydei, unable to contain it.]

Are you certain? I would not want you to feel obligated.

[From Mydei's perspective, they've all been separated for some time, after all. Maybe they needed time to catch up, alone.]

[warchiseled]

[Her joy was contagious.

It was rare to be able to see her like this. Which wasn't surprising, considering her their circumstances. Hers especially.

Yet she had always been such a bright light in his life.]

A feast feels better with more people.

[deathgripped]

[It feels especially sweet, Mydei being so willing to indulge her desire like this. She glances toward their hands, sheepish but grateful.]

Then... I look forward to a wonderful feast [She closes her eyes contemplatively.] Would you like help? My skill in cooking is not quite your level, but I am adept enough. And I would hate for you to have to work alone.