EVENT 037

[sticksandbonesmods]

Couleurs Embrasées

Drip. Drip. Drip.

As one month gives way to another, the rain begins to dry up. Though the trees above retain enough of the damp to splatter upon your head when you least expect it, the balmy days and shorter nights feel like they should be a promise of better things to come. The beach is but an Ark Gate away, and the mobster lobsters miss their god.

And yet, with the shackles of winter weakness and camp booty shorts cast off, and with his depleted strength beginning to return, it’s only a matter of time until the False God starts a new game.

It begins with a single streak of ink, as if a pen had been briefly dipped into the river. The cloud follows the swirling eddies of the river, little more than a shadow and barely enough to cause a stir. Just as the swath of ink disappears, however, more clouds begin to appear. Some are alive with color, and draw the delight of the Seaborn that make themselves at home within the depths. Others are deep as night, obscuring the depths and staining the skin of whoever might seek to cool off within the water.

Isn’t it strange, how the polluted waters almost seem to still, then change course whenever someone is around? Or how the ink from the water, as it finally washes upon the shore, begins to branch outward and form its own root system.

The disturbances are not limited to the ground, either. Trying to run any amount of water throughout the Grove brings with it the scent of turpentine for the first few moments. The sky above, only recently fixed thanks to the efforts of yourselves and Ydalir, begins to distort once more. Colors begin to drip and blend into one another. It makes for a beautiful sunset, sure, but proves to be an equally unnerving sight all the same.

And since when did your room have such an odd painting in it? Unfortunately, staring at it too long in an attempt to investigate results in a migraine. And yet, in spite of the pain, a compulsion exists within you. Perhaps just one more look?

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The ink continues to spread.

Vie à Pleurer, Vie Inachevée

cw: starvation mentions

Your room is not the only one adorned with a new painting. Within a few days, they can be found against the sides of buildings, splattered across trees, and eventually come to bedeck the stones across the river. Trying to scrub them away, as Luca does to the mural now adorning the bar, only results in it returning within a few hours.

Not that they are static things. The longer you find yourself looking at one, familiar shapes will begin to take form. The blob in the corner warps, taking on the shape of your nose, the cut of your hair, and the silhouette of your favorite outfit. For some, the paintings may take the shape of a life you wish you led. Others may find that it was the life you led before, a person they’ve lost, or even when things in the Grove were so much brighter. Whoever painted these, there seemed to be no limit to their creativity. Memories, wants, dreams all play out within the frame. All they need now is you.

And they will have you.

When the desire grows to be too much, when you submit to the indelible call of oil upon fabric, your mind will be drawn inward. A wash of ink and paint sweeps over you, an attempt to erase whatever you remember of the life outside. Whatever controls this space seems to desire complete assimilation, to forget what was and savor what is now. Whether you submit or persevere is up to you — it will not change what happens next. The painted world takes shape, crafting the new story of you.

Unfortunately, while you enjoy the peaceful dream granted by the inkscape, in reality your countdown begins. Both the changes to and deterioration of your body happens quickly. By the end of the first day, tears made of paint will begin to flow from a character’s eyes. Upon the end of the second, the effects of starvation and dehydration have become extremely apparent. At the end of the third, your character will pass away. Locked in the dream as they are, they will be unaware of the changes happening in their body, or even of the passing of time itself. Years, it seems, can pass in but minutes within this realm.

Help will have to come from the outside. Hope that your bonds remain strong, resident of Aldric’s Grove, for it is only your friends that will be able to save you. While it is difficult, those who are not subjects of the painting may still enter in an attempt to save you. The painting will try to push you out, while the painted folk will be hostile or even violent toward you. The message is clear: outsiders are not meant to be here. You will need to work together in order to find a way out, even as the painting tries to pull its subjects back into the blissful dream.

Be it through the carrot of an even more enticing shift in the paint, or a stick in the form of the painting’s false denizens turning against you, the artist seems determined to not let you leave.

Au Néant les Liens Perdurent

Outside of the paintings, the Grove begins to descend into inky chaos of its own variety. The strands of ink that had once been few and far between beside the bank of the river begin to thicken and grow. More streaks join them, streams of thick black slowly beginning to congregate and congeal within the center of the Grove. A circle is formed just east of the clinic and west of the inn, one that spans roughly ten yards in any direction.
For the first few days, you might be able to step over the perimeter it creates as you go about your business. However, around the same time that everyone begins to be drawn to their paintings, the roots of ichor take proper shape, forming an impermeable sphere around this central location. Anyone with the misfortune of being caught inside will lose consciousness and awaken several hours later outside of the orb, none the worse for wear.

At least, outside of the riot of color now dyeing their hair. That, at least, won’t last more than a few days.

As more and more souls begin to emerge from their paintings, they’ll be able to trace the liquid black veins within the grass and earth back to the orb itself. The message is clear: if you want to prevent your friends from being pulled back in by temptation, you will need to take out the beating heart that fuels them. Taking out the monsters on patrol throughout the Grove will be only part of the problem. You will need to band together and utilize your abilities, your magic, and your brains to figure out how to destroy the sphere.

Only then will you discover the heart of what has been haunting the Grove these past few days.

Continuer de Peindre

When all is said and done, there is one small matter left to resolve: the mess that has been made. You didn’t think all the ink and paint would just disappear, right?

Thankfully, Ydalir — now sporting both new found confidence and human skin — is more than happy to provide a solution. With the use of a few runes, the amalgamation of color is collected into a number of balloons and handed to players. She’s seen what you’ve been through. You have confronted monsters of both your own making and of Suri’s. It’s about time you caught your breath and had a little fun.

Said fun comes in the form of chucking balloons at your fellows. They explode in washes of color that leaves clothes, skin, and hair dyed. Some of them even have glitter in them? There definitely wasn’t glitter in your paintings, where did that even come from?

Anyone that might worry that this activity is counterproductive will get a pat on the head and told not to worry. And indeed, within 24 hours, any new messes, either on your person or splattered across the ground and buildings in the area will magically clear up.

It’s just a shame that your own problems could not be cleaned up so easily.

Spark Notes (Click to Expand)

summary

Couleurs Embrasées: The waters of the Grove begin to run with ink, and mysterious paintings begin to show up within the Grove.
Vie à Pleurer, Vie Inachevée: More paintings, including murals and graffiti, show up along the buildings. The paintings take the shape of the life you wish you led, or they might take shape of who you were before, or who you don't want to be. They could even be from your past lives. If you stare into them too long, your mind will be pulled into the painting. If you spend more than three days with your mind in the painting, your body will deteriorate in the waking world and you'll die.
Au Néant les Liens Perdurent: Within the centre of the Grove is... an inky orb. It looks like something you might be able to break into, but be careful: monsters roam, and you'll have to take them out if you want to make any headway.
Continuer de Peindre: It's time to clean the Grove up... by throwing paint balloons at each other! Don't worry, all magical paint will disappear in 24 hours. This is just for fun and therapy.

out of character

Happy June! Everyone say thank you to Aspen for writing this event, and we (Aspen & I) hope you have fun! Please break the orb it'll be soooo funny if you guys break the orb. C'mon. You know you want to break the orb. Please please ple-

updates

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

submissions

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

code

Comments

[lupusxylem]

[Not unless he's fine with getting an extra dose of Pride-month to his hair.

Wolfwood, meanwhile, makes a face as Vildred claps him on the back, but he can't exactly be too annoyed when they're both suffering in the same way. One of them just has a more semi-permanent problem than the other.]

Yeah, well. I thought 'bout maybe dyin' my hair back to black, so I might end up doing that sooner rather than later.

[SIGHS...]

Have you seen anything else weird lately, other than the paint? Usually shit goes downhill pretty fast.