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sticksandbones2024-01-05 07:59 am
sticksandbonesmods) wrote in sticksandbones2024-01-05 07:59 am
Entry tags:
EVENT & TDM 008
LET IT GO
WAKE UP
It’s strange, how as the dawn of a new day finally arrives, coinciding with the howling winds dying out, classic, adorable snowmen seem to have popped up all over the Grove overnight. The fog wall has yet to surround the barren remains of a town that once was, but it’s visible once more in the great distance.
Not that you can see it immediately. Something covers your eyes, and you can feel something heavy and frigid wrapped all around you. As you struggle more and more, the crunch of snow echoes through your ears as you step free- and when you turn back to examine their prison, you’ll realize one of the snowmen was you.
Meanwhile, old residents will get to deal with more and more people popping out of snowmen like daisies, and must remember that this is just their life now. It’s just another day in Aldric’s Grove.
Though, maybe you ought to help them before frostbite sets in.
Not that you can see it immediately. Something covers your eyes, and you can feel something heavy and frigid wrapped all around you. As you struggle more and more, the crunch of snow echoes through your ears as you step free- and when you turn back to examine their prison, you’ll realize one of the snowmen was you.
Meanwhile, old residents will get to deal with more and more people popping out of snowmen like daisies, and must remember that this is just their life now. It’s just another day in Aldric’s Grove.
Though, maybe you ought to help them before frostbite sets in.
MIRROR, MIRROR
The quiet couldn’t last forever. You should have known that something would happen, especially with the fog beginning to make itself known again. And this time, it’s something quiet. As you wake up one morning, there is a mirror on your nightstand — it’s silver and round, able to fit comfortably in your hand and wreathed in crystalline snowflakes.
And as you look into it, your reflection twists into something still undeniably you, but… have you a temper problem? Too many lies? A sadistic sense of humor? All of your worst traits are dragged out and reflected on the mirror, and no matter what, it keeps ending up wherever you are — and whoever else looks into the mirror will see this awful, terrible you, too. All of your worst characteristics, all the things you try to hide, unable to be hidden.
Maybe you keep trying to hide it. Maybe you let it stay wherever it keeps turning up, following you like a particularly terrible walking salesman, or maybe you break it. Regardless, nothing seems to happen… for now.
And as you look into it, your reflection twists into something still undeniably you, but… have you a temper problem? Too many lies? A sadistic sense of humor? All of your worst traits are dragged out and reflected on the mirror, and no matter what, it keeps ending up wherever you are — and whoever else looks into the mirror will see this awful, terrible you, too. All of your worst characteristics, all the things you try to hide, unable to be hidden.
Maybe you keep trying to hide it. Maybe you let it stay wherever it keeps turning up, following you like a particularly terrible walking salesman, or maybe you break it. Regardless, nothing seems to happen… for now.
WITH SHARDS OF ICE
“For now”.
Late into the night, everyone wakes up to a sudden, terrible chill. When you open your eyes, you’ll find that you aren’t in your inn room or home, but instead within a giant castle made of ice. It must be a ballroom of some sort, a grand hall glittering in the moonlight — but looking out the window shows that the world beyond the castle is but a frozen wasteland of more blizzards and nothing else. Though you’ve been granted some of your gear — weapons and some supplies, and coats if you’re lucky — you’ll find that the temperature is dropping steadily, while something approaches…
Peek out the door to the main hall and you’ll see what’s coming so noisily. An army’s worth of hallowed ice knights with all sorts of weapons are marching to the door, intent on slaying the intruders. Should they get close, they’ll attack; should they land the killing blow, you’ll instantly freeze into a solid block and shatter.
And if you broke the mirror that haunted you? On top of all of this, you can feel yourself gradually growing colder, physically and emotionally, and your magic, if you have it, takes on an icy flair that you may find difficult to control. Maybe it's your feet that start to turn to ice first — maybe it's your fingertips. But as the night goes on, you’ll steadily freeze solid, and like any fairy tale, only an act of true love could possibly save you. Good luck figuring out what that actually means. True love’s kiss? A genuine compliment? A hug? What could possibly save you from your fate?
Those of you who survive until morning, who don’t become solid statues of ice or die within the castle’s walls, will be lucky enough to witness the sun coming up through narrow windows the size of your forearm. All around you, the castle starts to melt, dripping freezing water onto your head. For as much as you try to run before you, presumably, drown terribly…
…your eyes will close, and you’ll wake up in your bed, drenched.
Late into the night, everyone wakes up to a sudden, terrible chill. When you open your eyes, you’ll find that you aren’t in your inn room or home, but instead within a giant castle made of ice. It must be a ballroom of some sort, a grand hall glittering in the moonlight — but looking out the window shows that the world beyond the castle is but a frozen wasteland of more blizzards and nothing else. Though you’ve been granted some of your gear — weapons and some supplies, and coats if you’re lucky — you’ll find that the temperature is dropping steadily, while something approaches…
Peek out the door to the main hall and you’ll see what’s coming so noisily. An army’s worth of hallowed ice knights with all sorts of weapons are marching to the door, intent on slaying the intruders. Should they get close, they’ll attack; should they land the killing blow, you’ll instantly freeze into a solid block and shatter.
And if you broke the mirror that haunted you? On top of all of this, you can feel yourself gradually growing colder, physically and emotionally, and your magic, if you have it, takes on an icy flair that you may find difficult to control. Maybe it's your feet that start to turn to ice first — maybe it's your fingertips. But as the night goes on, you’ll steadily freeze solid, and like any fairy tale, only an act of true love could possibly save you. Good luck figuring out what that actually means. True love’s kiss? A genuine compliment? A hug? What could possibly save you from your fate?
Those of you who survive until morning, who don’t become solid statues of ice or die within the castle’s walls, will be lucky enough to witness the sun coming up through narrow windows the size of your forearm. All around you, the castle starts to melt, dripping freezing water onto your head. For as much as you try to run before you, presumably, drown terribly…
…your eyes will close, and you’ll wake up in your bed, drenched.
FOOTPRINTS IN THE FRESH SNOW
The morning after that dreadful night, things… settle, again. Aldric’s Grove is quiet, and clear sunlight glistens across the snowy plaza and radiates off of frosted trees. Even now, the apple tree and blackberry bushes are unfazed by the cold, though the fruit may taste crisper and chillier than usual. Those that died within the castle return to life, feeling colder than normal for the rest of the day, but there seems to be no lasting damage. And, everyone who participated in the castle “game” receives a mysterious gift: A wooden coin with a sigil on it, resembling a clock with backwards hands behind a shield, attached to frosted pinecones, red berries and sprigs of mistletoe. It feels warm and protective.
You go outside. It’s been some time since anyone’s seen anything from the woods, let alone something that doesn’t want them dead — so imagine one’s surprise when a small family of deer can be seen walking amongst the trees. Birds alight to the branches on rare moments, and it’s surely a sign of something, that life has begun to return to the forest despite the deep snow and deeper chill.
Never mind that one of the deer has an extra set of antlers and another has three eyes. Never mind that the birds sound like people. Never mind that the rabbits have blood on their maws.
It’s just another day in Aldric’s Grove.
You go outside. It’s been some time since anyone’s seen anything from the woods, let alone something that doesn’t want them dead — so imagine one’s surprise when a small family of deer can be seen walking amongst the trees. Birds alight to the branches on rare moments, and it’s surely a sign of something, that life has begun to return to the forest despite the deep snow and deeper chill.
Never mind that one of the deer has an extra set of antlers and another has three eyes. Never mind that the birds sound like people. Never mind that the rabbits have blood on their maws.
It’s just another day in Aldric’s Grove.
SPARK NOTES
CLICK TO EXPAND!
WAKE UP
Good day, new arrivals! You are now a snowman. Hopefully people who have been here a bit longer are willing to give you a blanket or ten.
MIRROR, MIRROR
A mirror appears and starts following you around, reflecting what you think are your worst traits or worst version of yourself is. Other people can look into it and see the awful you, too. You can break it and it'll leave you alone, or you can let it stalk you all month.
WITH SHARDS OF ICE
Welcome to the ice castle! It's cold, but you have your stuff with you, and it's not unlivable. Well, until the frozen army of knights starts marching in with the intent to kill everyone inside, anyway. One lethal hit from them will make you shatter into pieces. For those of you who broke your mirrors, you'll gradually grow colder both physically & emotionally, and eventually start to freeze solid. Don't worry, though, you can be saved through the power of love.
FOOTPRINTS IN THE FRESH SNOW
Dawn rises on the Grove and the dead come back to life. Everyone who participated in the castle game receives a magical charm, though they don't know what it does so far. Animals come back to the Grove as well! ...why do they look like that?
OOC
Happy January! TDMs are game canon as a reminder, and if you'd like to plot with people for this event, head over to OOC plotting. While it is not known to player characters at this time, the charms granted as a reward for the ice castle can undo one future negative effect (i.e. a major death). They are a one-time use item. As for how characters discover this information... idk, we'll see how y'all decide to utilize those. :)
UPDATES
❖ None yet!
no subject
It's for Vash. Vash,
who absolutely would not want this, y'all,his brother first and foremost, even despite their myriad disagreements and fights over the years. Vash, who neither he nor Wolfwood could save, despite the fact that something as simple as a hug had saved Nai earlier.This world will rue the day it ripped his twin out of his hands.
And so Nai carves a path backwards through this room, carefully eyeing that gouge in the wall. The outer walls may not break, but the inner wall where it was struck is melting away slowly. Without a second hit, it's likely to freeze again before it fully breaks. Which is why, when the cross-gun revs, Nai quickly accounts for multiple things: The trajectory of the beam, the specific way he has to dodge hits to get the larger knights at minimum in front of the wall, the path of escape. All of these are slotted into his mind, and when that blast finally goes off to crush everyone underneath the collapsing walls...
Nai ducks low and takes that path of escape as quickly as he can, using the slippery floors as a slide halfway through to hasten it before the ice crushes him, too.]
no subject
Somehow, some way, he and Nai are able to communicate their intent silently, and because of that, they work together to achieve a singularly common goal: blasting these motherfuckers into icy splinters. It's his last blast, and he makes sure to make it count as it razes through the ice hot enough to melt it, and while it doesn't destroy the wall on contact, it does fracture it enough to cause it to come tumbling down. It's heavy, it's solid ice...and the Knights that just so happen to be in its path do not stand a chance, even if they were somehow fast enough to dodge it.
Wolfwood lifts an arm to shield his eyes from the blast of icy air and mist that rushes off the debris as the ice crumbles between him and Nai, who he lost track of in the chaos. Since it was the Independent's idea to do this, though, he has to assume he got out of there alright. Not out of any concern for him, but because he knows that if Nai died right after Vash, he'd never be able to live it down, knowing he immediately let him down just moments after he breathed his last.
It's not all of them, but it's most of them, and with the Punisher hot to the touch and needing to cool before he can fire it again, he quite literally throws it down and takes to using Peacebringer exclusively for a bit, zeroing in on whatever's left for target practice.]
no subject
It looks like there are only stragglers left, and Wolfwood is going to be able to take out all of them before Nai can even get back up.
The battle unceremoniously ends with a whimper, a bang, and a collapsed wall. They can see into the next room, which looks to be nothing more than some vague semblance of "kitchen" with appliances carved from ice. Somehow, this doesn't feel like enough. Nai's anger hasn't remotely quelled — how could it? — and he finds himself feeling hollow, in the end. Nothing is going to bring back Vash (haha, lol). His brother is gone. Neither of them could save him.
That hollow rage is going to follow him for the next several centuries, at least.]
...good work. [Fine. Wolfwood can have one (1) genuine compliment, as if Wolfwood wasn't lab-created to do the exact destructive shit he just did.] I don't hear any more approaching.
[That, too, has no meaning: There are no more for now. They aren't being swarmed for now. More will definitely show up or be created somewhere later.]
no subject
He'd fooled himself into thinking that, for just a moment, they could have peace. They could live a semi-normal life. He and Vash...
...what a fucking joke.
He's breathing heavily as the metaphorical dust settles, bits of ice falling around them from the rubble like snow. The barrel of Peacebringer still smokes from where Wolfwood unloaded the entire second round that Vash had bought, leaving one that had been lost when he perished. Bullet casings litter the floor as the ice they were previously encased in melts away.
Wolfwood isn't looking at Nai when he speaks. Good work, he says, and Wolfwood genuinely doesn't know what he's supposed to do with that. It's not like they're friends now, just because they've now experienced mutual loss. No matter what Vash had asked of him...he's not sure if it's something he can even promise. Nai is reason for all of this, in Wolfwood's eyes. He's the reason the Eye exists. The reason people suffer every day, thanks to the Big Fall.
And here he is, looking him dead in the eye and thanking him for the destruction he's wrought.
...he doesn't have it in him to turn it into another fight, though. It simply just...is. Hollow, empty, and awful.]
...yeah.
[...]
Get out alive. Don't let what he did go to waste.
[He knows that Nai isn't going to take this laying down, nor will he forget the reason Vash died.
The next time they see each other will not be this civil.]
no subject
[No, it won't be civil. Nai, for what it's worth, can respect Wolfwood's attempt to save Vash. There's a deep-seated irony in it, the man who loves killing friends the most falling in love with his target, and such isn't lost on him. He doubts it's lost on Wolfwood either, even if that irony is difficult to reach right now.
In that same vein, though, Nai has no reason to stick around. He doesn't intend to make friends with some human. He doesn't intend to make friends with one of the humans who is actively stealing his brother away from him. The help is appreciated, a thin thread of respect lingers, but Millions Knives is not a man of sympathy. Even had Vash been saved, he would still rip his twin out of Wolfwood's arms a moment later.
Their single connecting thread has been severed. So, Nai spins on his heel to leave, heading further into the castle, past the ruins left behind, path the place where his twin died.
He still has vengeance to enact on what remains.]