EVENT & TDM 008

[sticksandbonesmods]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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(CODE)

Comments

fucked up for you to icon that one and then USE IT ON ME HERE

[forwander]

...Sesa?

[There's no way. Sesa just spoke his name — his real name, not his codename, but a fragment of his actual given name. Why? Why, in his last moments, did that come to memory?

There isn't time to wonder about it, as Passenger sits up and puts his hands on Sesa's frozen cheeks and shakes him, something hopeless and desperate in his usually-stoic expression. Sesa smiles, but Passenger — Elliot — frowns, mentally cursing the circumstances, wondering just what can be done, how can Sesa be saved from his fate now?

This isn't what he wanted. It feels so silly to think, knowing death was never Elliot's to control, not as a boy and not now as a nearly-40 year old man. There's nothing he can do besides sit there and take yet another loss directly to the gut.

Elliot sits up, still squarely in Sesa's lap, and brushes the frozen strands of his hair away from his face.]

Sleep well, my friend. Perhaps, in the next life...

[And he leans forward, brushing their lips together in a soft "goodbye".]

:)

[sesa]

[Sesa doesn't respond. The moment that botched attempt at Passenger's given name leaved his lips, they- along with his lungs and heart- had frozen over completely. He's frozen with his eyes still open, staring up at Passenger sightlessly through the glittering ice. No amount of jostling or shaking seems to rouse him or get his attention, as he seems to have fully become one with the rest of the castle. A statue more than a person, he could easily be broken this way. All it would take was a gentle nudge to let gravity do the rest.

Of course, there's nothing else Passenger can do. He's going to become frozen to Sesa if he stays for much longer, yet he sees fit to linger in his lap anyway. He leans in, brushes his warm lips against Sesa's frigid ones, and that...seems to be that.

...except.

The ice, deep within Sesa's face, cracks. It splinters from his mouth all the way up his face to his eye, into one of his horns. It's a deep fissure that only worsens from that point, spider-web fractures forming on the icy surface.

His eyes, previously open wide and unblinking, crackle audibly as they roll in their sockets, shifting to look at Passenger while frozen eyelashes begin to flutter.]

[forwander]

[Passenger does not register the cracking as "part of Sesa" until too late. It's likely that Sesa will be more than able to register they're liplocked right now, long before Passenger pulls back and realises that the ice covering Sesa has begun to crack and melt.

He sits back, still perched in Sesa's lap. A hand traces the Vouivre's jaw, now much warmer than he remembers it being just a moment earlier.]

...Sesa?

[sesa]

[It's kindof funny how it happens, actually. One moment, Sesa felt the way his body's faculties shut down in an instant, not painful so much as it was sudden and unwanted. He couldn't do anything to warn Passenger it was coming either, other than sit there and try to speak his name.

If he were asked, he'd say he didn't know why he said "Elliot", though that in itself would be a lie.

When he comes to...the first thing he registers is a heat so warm against his face it almost feels scalding. His vision returns before his hearing does, blurry and hazy with how blue their surroundings are, and he sees Passenger's visage extremely close to him. And that warmth he feels...

It's the Liberi's lips, pressed against his own. And as that heat spreads into his face and neck, quickly moving down into his chest so that he isn't left unable to breathe for too long while conscious, his outward reaction might seem subdued at first. Inside, though? He is, uh.

Respectfully, freaking the fuck out-

He tries to speak, taking a short breath that follows with him coughing, his brows knit together as his head sort of flops a little to one side now that he's thawed out from his face all the way down to his shoulders, which is rapidly spreading as the remainder of his body thaws. When he is able to wrangle his frozen tongue into working again...]

I...wha-...t...?

[Shouldn't he be dead? Shouldn't he be...

Why did Passenger kiss him hello]

[forwander]

You're alive, [Passenger breathes, with a sense of disbelief colouring his tone,] I had thought...

[He thought you died, Sesa, moments after he said he didn't want to lose you. And now Sesa is back, probably having conveniently missed Passenger saying they'd meet in their next-next lives. Still, he's glad that he doesn't have to wait that long. Oripathy will claim his life eventually, yes, and it's likely he only has five to ten years left if that, but he'd rather not wait on that. He'd rather not leave it up to chance, not remembering Sesa in their next life, feeling so strongly for him all over again without knowing why...

It's greedy, but he likes the way they are now. Close without being close. Sesa's annoyance with him is entertaining, yet they trust each other to some degree. Passenger wants to mould the Vouivre into a force to be reckoned with, yet wants to help him achieve the vengeance he seeks out of kindness and sympathy. Passenger doesn't believe he wants to move onto the next life until that much is done, at least.

He traces the scales on Sesa's cheeks with his thumb.]

...you're warm, finally. I wonder why...?

[sesa]

I...don't know.

[His reactions are still slow, words a bit slurred as more and more of his body sees fit to thaw. It's still taking a moment for his brain to catch up with what just happened, with the fact that Passenger is still so close to him, warm hand resting against his still frigid- but rapidly warming- cheek.

His arms are starting to regain feeling, now. His claws twitch.]

You...why...?

[Is what he says next, dumbly. Because yes, Passenger, he was conscious in those last few seconds you still had your lips on his mouth.]

[forwander]

It was a goodbye, [he explains, voice soft; Sesa doesn't have to say much more than that for Passenger to immediately know to what he refers,] a well-wish for the road ahead. It seems I may have misjudged.

["May have".

Passenger's expression betrays absolutely no shame. He is full-stop going to do this again and not have a single regret about it. He's still tracing his fingertips over Sesa's jawline. He's still close, close enough to where Sesa could probably count the feathers on his head if he really wanted to.]

I'm quite glad to have misjudged the situation. I much prefer you like this.

[You know. Warm. Alive. A throne for Passenger to sit on. Breathing. His fingers trail from Sesa's jaw to the back of his hair... and he presses their lips together again.

You know. For Fun. Totally no reason behind it at all.]

[sesa]

[A goodbye...so it is true. In that moment where everything faded...he breathed his last. It was rather disappointing how, in his final moments, there was nothing to greet him beyond the veil. No grand revelation. No dead brother.

It was simply nothing, until Passenger pulled him back from the brink. Is still doing this, actually, as he suddenly leans in and kisses Sesa again.

His body begins to thaw...rapidly. What once was ice quickly gives way to flesh and bone, a puddle forming underneath his feet the more of his body melts away. His hands flex and audibly sizzle with just how quickly it happens, water dripping audibly onto the floor beyond the chair that Passenger and Sesa are sitting in.

Sesa...has no idea how to respond. It's clear that he doesn't, but if he wanted to he could easily pull away or push Passenger off of him, now. He has full use of his arms again, all the way down to his claws, but...he doesn't. He merely allows it, not realizing his tail has curled up into a little knot at the side of Passenger's thigh, the tip of it flicking against his hip like "hi".]

[forwander]

[Hello, Sesa's tail. What a welcome surprise it is. Passenger has learnt that you don't simply touch a man's tail (common courtesy; he'd snap someone's neck for touching his tailfeathers without his permission) but God does the tail tapping his hip tempt him. Oh, he wants to touch. He wants to touch so badly.

Passenger smirks against Sesa's lips. The voice in his head is, for once, blissfully quiet. It's just them in this freezing castle, keeping one another warm.]

Is it warming you up, Sesa? [Boy you know. You know he's warming back up, you can Feel It. Passenger, who is currently still coatless because Sesa has his still, is definitely able to feel the heat radiating off of the Vouivre.] You aren't still cold, are you?

[Elliot Glover you're Killing him. You're Killing your dragon.

But. If Sesa's tail is anything to go by, he's having a great time right now. It (unfortunately) spurns Passenger on. He boldly, without a single moment's hesitation, swipes his tongue along Sesa's lips and tries to part them with it.

One wonders if Passenger is knowingly messing around, or if he's so grateful Sesa is alive he wants to play tonsil hockey about it... or both, perhaps.]

[sesa]

[Well gee Passenger what do you think? Is it maybe the fact Sesa is melting underneath you, both figuratively and literally? He is more puddle than ice at this point as the rest of the ice from his knees down melts away, finally freezing his feet from being frozen completely to the floor. Passenger's jacket is going to come away more than a little damp following this endeavor, but judging by the way he's still perched in Sesa's lap, he seems to hardly care.

Sesa, of course, tries to speak but only finds his teeth chattering audibly in response, fangs clicking shut a few times dangerously close to Passenger's lips given the fact he's so close they share breath. He feels like he should say something, but the words won't come. They're tangled up in his chest with this feeling he can't quite put his finger on, though his brain might helpfully supply all the wrong adjectives. Frustration? Anger? Haha, no no...

Passenger leans back in for another taste. Greedy. Doesn't he know Sesa could snap back to reality at any moment and shove him off, or bite him? Well...perhaps he might, if Sesa were a different Vouivre. His instincts aren't going haywire enough for that, though Passenger sure as hell has managed to short circuit his brain, his lips searing against his still-cool ones as the Liberi seeks an even deeper kiss. Sesa jolts like a teenager sharing their first kiss, and it seems automatic the way his lips part. He hesitates, a shaky breath passing his lips, and when Passenger inevitably seals their lips once more, Sesa...

He leans into it. His tail reaches further, completely beyond his control, as it snakes its way around Passenger's waist from behind, as if to keep him from falling off his lap. Yeah, that's definitely it.]

[forwander]

[Let's just say, Passenger has an instinctive trust that Sesa won't actually do anything to him. There's a part of him that wonders how far he'd have to push for Sesa to well and truly snap, of course. That part is constantly pushing. Testing the boundaries, seeing how he responds, pushing again, going against the grain just to watch Sesa squirm. At the end of the day, Passenger wants the Vouivre to snap — either kill someone, or punch him in the face, or whatever else. Scorn him, as little Elliot so often reminds him he wants.

The other part of him wants Sesa to stay close. Maybe that's why he's gone right into kissing; there's a twisted part of him that cares, well and truly fucking cares, but there's that other part of him that pushes, and so here they are. Somehow, being liplocked is that happy medium between closeness and boundary-breaking.

Passenger's fingers wind into Sesa's wet hair. He doesn't intend to drag it out much longer, or do much more than barely brush their tongues together, sometimes feeling Sesa's sharp fangs with his and wondering if he pressed hard enough, would it come away bloody? But he's still driving the kiss onward regardless, appreciative of the tail around his waist. Tails truly are the windows to the soul or something.]

What do you think, Sesa? [He murmurs between kisses, against Sesa's lips and still debating on if he wants to cut his tongue or not and give Sesa a taste of the blood he could spill.] Will this keep you warm for the rest of the night?

[As we would in nights in Sargon, he'd said. This... isn't quite what he meant. But it may as well be close enough.]

[sesa]

[He is going to die. That is just how this is going to go. He's been brought back to life only to fucking Die again.

They kiss like this for what feels like a terribly long time. It's brief, yet at the same time it seems as if the moment lasts forever. He isn't sure what it is. Perhaps it's the magical warming affect on his body, or perhaps it's the affect that isn't so magical at all. His body feels like it's burning up from the inside out despite the fact he's still sitting on ice, Passenger's lips soft and inviting against his own.

Was the Liberi always this soft? His skin is like velvet, where Sesa's is coarse and rough due to his scales.

When Passenger deigns to break their kiss, Sesa feels feverish. He shivers inwardly and outwardly, and Passenger may actually feel the way his tail wiggles a bit against him. He still hasn't realized where it is, by the way.

...]

......it will suffice.