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sticksandbones2024-03-01 09:09 am
sticksandbonesmods) wrote in sticksandbones2024-03-01 09:09 am
Entry tags:
EVENT & TDM 010
WOULD YOU STILL LOVE ME IF I WAS A WORM?
WAKE UP
Nothing ever stays the same in this place. The people who came here before you know that, and have known that, and are used to that. When you and the other new arrivals start to stumble out of the fog wall and the surrounding woods, it’s an expected thing. They see you. They knew you’d be here eventually. Perhaps someone will be kind enough to explain how you got here, and why you have such a splitting headache, and why you feel so paranoid. Perhaps the sudden sense of foreboding and doom is too much to handle. It feels unnatural. It feels like the emotions aren’t your own. And when a butterfly with eyespots almost too realistic lands on your hand, it’s nearly impossible not to scream.
“Don’t touch the fog wall.” That’s what you’re told, and whether it reaches you through the fog-induced paranoid haze or not is left up to your will and your will alone. That sense wears off within half an hour, at least, though there are still more questions than answers in this place.
For instance: What is that in the river, that monstrous crocodile with too many eyes that seems to be stalking everybody who comes too close? “The Behemoth”, they call it, and it only wants as much to do with you as you want to do with it. Come too close, and it backs up to continue watching you from afar. Attack it, and it fights back, unkillable and gargantuan in strength. Offer it meat, and it cautiously takes the food from your hand before diving into the river’s depths.
Alternatively, you might wonder what that stone creature on the church’s roof is, or what the story behind the shadow-people are, or why there’s a two-story tall, many-limbed moose monster wandering around that no one seems bothered by. Where is this?
This is Aldric’s Grove. And for better or for worse, it’s your new home.
“Don’t touch the fog wall.” That’s what you’re told, and whether it reaches you through the fog-induced paranoid haze or not is left up to your will and your will alone. That sense wears off within half an hour, at least, though there are still more questions than answers in this place.
For instance: What is that in the river, that monstrous crocodile with too many eyes that seems to be stalking everybody who comes too close? “The Behemoth”, they call it, and it only wants as much to do with you as you want to do with it. Come too close, and it backs up to continue watching you from afar. Attack it, and it fights back, unkillable and gargantuan in strength. Offer it meat, and it cautiously takes the food from your hand before diving into the river’s depths.
Alternatively, you might wonder what that stone creature on the church’s roof is, or what the story behind the shadow-people are, or why there’s a two-story tall, many-limbed moose monster wandering around that no one seems bothered by. Where is this?
This is Aldric’s Grove. And for better or for worse, it’s your new home.
CAT-TASTROPHE
cw: forced animal transformations
Although time blends together in this place and makes it difficult to tell the exact date, it’s easy enough to tell that it’s early in March when everybody wakes up feeling and looking… different.
You recall going to bed in your usual body. You recall, as you fell asleep, hearing a childish voice whisper in your ear, “I’m booooored. Let’s race!” You almost certainly do not recall being an animal no bigger than a large dog, almost unable to leave your bedroom because door handles are difficult to open with paws or claws or anything else. It’s lucky that the windows are easy enough to nudge open with snouts and beaks so that you can leave your bedroom and see what, exactly, is going on.
You aren’t the only animal. Everyone here is, too, creatures of different shapes and kinds, though all of them hail from Earth itself. The Guardians and shadowy merchant siblings are just as miffed as you are about this. “Here we go again,” they say, just as the last of you arrives at the Grove’s centre — and then it all goes dark. When you next open your eyes, you’re deep within the woods, where colourful flag markers on trees and a winding, long path indicates a race.
A long race. One that will last at least eight hours, assuming you use your time appropriately and don’t take too many naps in the trees along the path. Fret not: To ensure everyone participates in the race as expected, the Creature in the woods has sent an entourage of monsters after you, with too many eyes and gnashing fangs and claws the size of tree trunks. They’ll chase you down and try to eat you if they get their talons on you.
Use your time wisely, unless you want to meet an untimely demise.
Although time blends together in this place and makes it difficult to tell the exact date, it’s easy enough to tell that it’s early in March when everybody wakes up feeling and looking… different.
You recall going to bed in your usual body. You recall, as you fell asleep, hearing a childish voice whisper in your ear, “I’m booooored. Let’s race!” You almost certainly do not recall being an animal no bigger than a large dog, almost unable to leave your bedroom because door handles are difficult to open with paws or claws or anything else. It’s lucky that the windows are easy enough to nudge open with snouts and beaks so that you can leave your bedroom and see what, exactly, is going on.
You aren’t the only animal. Everyone here is, too, creatures of different shapes and kinds, though all of them hail from Earth itself. The Guardians and shadowy merchant siblings are just as miffed as you are about this. “Here we go again,” they say, just as the last of you arrives at the Grove’s centre — and then it all goes dark. When you next open your eyes, you’re deep within the woods, where colourful flag markers on trees and a winding, long path indicates a race.
A long race. One that will last at least eight hours, assuming you use your time appropriately and don’t take too many naps in the trees along the path. Fret not: To ensure everyone participates in the race as expected, the Creature in the woods has sent an entourage of monsters after you, with too many eyes and gnashing fangs and claws the size of tree trunks. They’ll chase you down and try to eat you if they get their talons on you.
Use your time wisely, unless you want to meet an untimely demise.
BURIAL OF ANCIENTS
The Creature is a big fan of participation awards. Whether you won the race against your peers, came in second or third or fifteenth, or died during the challenge, it matters little when the fog starts to pull back. That’s your reward for being forced to participate in a race you didn’t want to be part of in the first place, aside from the regular reward of going back to your normal body: you get to explore, and you get to explore a lot.
To the east and west where the river bends, the fog is no longer a blockade impeding progress. You can travel far in either direction by river raft, chart unknown territory, and get lost in the woods for as long as you desire. Though it will take three days to travel to the new “end point” in either direction, an offering of shells and fruits can be given to the River Guardian to be granted a travel boon that will decrease your travel time from three days to one. You’ll still have to camp out along the shoreline, but asking for that boon will ensure you aren’t gone too long.
Taking the river to the west leads you through an ever-darkening forest, marked on the banks and trees by blue-glowing mushrooms. The canopy here is so thick that the sun doesn’t shine through, making it twice as difficult to tell how much time has passed — and to see where you’re headed in general. At the end of the journey, the black fog wall comes back into view, as the river begins to widen into the beginnings of a lake. A lake, which you cannot yet reach, as you dock the raft and hop onto the shore.
Following the path leads you to a wide-open clearing with more of those glowing fungi and a strong smell of moss. In the centre of it lies a humungous skeleton half-embedded in the soil, so enormous in stature that one wonders how such a creature ever roamed this land. The inside of its skull alone is enough to build a moderately-sized house within, and have a lovely view of the lake behind the fog wall to go with it.
If you approach the lake’s edge, you can hear a soft song from within, beautiful and hypnotizing. It makes you want to walk into the fog wall. It makes you want to enter the water and drown in its depths. And if you don’t, if you get control of yourself, hundreds of sickly black hands slam into the wall again and again, desperately trying to reach you.
…
The next time you come out this far, all three Guardians are here, arguing with the thing in the lake in a language you can’t comprehend.
To the east and west where the river bends, the fog is no longer a blockade impeding progress. You can travel far in either direction by river raft, chart unknown territory, and get lost in the woods for as long as you desire. Though it will take three days to travel to the new “end point” in either direction, an offering of shells and fruits can be given to the River Guardian to be granted a travel boon that will decrease your travel time from three days to one. You’ll still have to camp out along the shoreline, but asking for that boon will ensure you aren’t gone too long.
Taking the river to the west leads you through an ever-darkening forest, marked on the banks and trees by blue-glowing mushrooms. The canopy here is so thick that the sun doesn’t shine through, making it twice as difficult to tell how much time has passed — and to see where you’re headed in general. At the end of the journey, the black fog wall comes back into view, as the river begins to widen into the beginnings of a lake. A lake, which you cannot yet reach, as you dock the raft and hop onto the shore.
Following the path leads you to a wide-open clearing with more of those glowing fungi and a strong smell of moss. In the centre of it lies a humungous skeleton half-embedded in the soil, so enormous in stature that one wonders how such a creature ever roamed this land. The inside of its skull alone is enough to build a moderately-sized house within, and have a lovely view of the lake behind the fog wall to go with it.
If you approach the lake’s edge, you can hear a soft song from within, beautiful and hypnotizing. It makes you want to walk into the fog wall. It makes you want to enter the water and drown in its depths. And if you don’t, if you get control of yourself, hundreds of sickly black hands slam into the wall again and again, desperately trying to reach you.
…
The next time you come out this far, all three Guardians are here, arguing with the thing in the lake in a language you can’t comprehend.
SHIMMERING COSMOS
To the east, another three days out (or only one if you ask for that boon), is a forest of sequoias that reach into the very heavens, and moose tracks the size of your inn rooms. Out here, there are no glowing fungi to guide your way, only the distant sound of the ocean and the smell of salt. The closer you get, the stronger both of those become.
At the end of the river where the fog wall yet again impedes progress, you hear a waterfall. It’s overwhelmingly loud, nearly impossible to talk over, but if anyone is with you, you’ll have to manage somehow. Behind the fog — only a scant few feet away — is the edge of a cliff, and a sheer drop into the sea. In the far distance looms the silhouette of a lighthouse, unreachable, and in the sea itself just barely visible behind that black wall, within a spiralling whirlpool…
…is the sleeping, peaceful figure of a serpent, scales glittering with stars. It doesn’t respond to if you call out to it. Perhaps it can’t hear you. Perhaps it doesn’t care. It is the stars fallen from the sky and the cosmos you haven’t seen since you’ve been here, immune to your plight, because what is a mortal but an ant to a God?
Even though the Cosmic Serpent can’t be reached, a sense of calm washes over you the longer you stay close to the sea. Before you head back home, why not take a nap against one of those tree trunks? Just be careful you aren’t asleep too long. A “nap” to you might seem like a small coma to everyone waiting for you to come back to the Grove.
At the end of the river where the fog wall yet again impedes progress, you hear a waterfall. It’s overwhelmingly loud, nearly impossible to talk over, but if anyone is with you, you’ll have to manage somehow. Behind the fog — only a scant few feet away — is the edge of a cliff, and a sheer drop into the sea. In the far distance looms the silhouette of a lighthouse, unreachable, and in the sea itself just barely visible behind that black wall, within a spiralling whirlpool…
…is the sleeping, peaceful figure of a serpent, scales glittering with stars. It doesn’t respond to if you call out to it. Perhaps it can’t hear you. Perhaps it doesn’t care. It is the stars fallen from the sky and the cosmos you haven’t seen since you’ve been here, immune to your plight, because what is a mortal but an ant to a God?
Even though the Cosmic Serpent can’t be reached, a sense of calm washes over you the longer you stay close to the sea. Before you head back home, why not take a nap against one of those tree trunks? Just be careful you aren’t asleep too long. A “nap” to you might seem like a small coma to everyone waiting for you to come back to the Grove.
SPARK NOTES
CLICK TO EXPAND!
WAKE UP
Welcome to Aldric's Grove. New arrivals walk out of the fog wall feeling paranoid because they touched the fog wall. There's a biblically-accurate crocodile in the river. Surely this is fine.
CAT-TASTROPHE
Everybody gets transformed into an Earth animal and thrown into a long race in which they'll be chased by monsters the entire time. Sounds fun, right? ...no?
BURIAL OF ANCIENTS
To the west is a dark forest marked with glowing mushrooms. Travel far enough out via river raft and you'll reach the edge of the lake and find the ancient bones of a humongous creature. Getting too close to the lake and listening to the thing behind it singing makes you want to walk into the fog wall and drown in the lake. If you don't do this, hands slam against the fog wall, trying to reach you. Sometimes the Guardians wander out here to shout at the thing in the lake.
SHIMMERING COSMOS
To the east is a forest of sequoias, with moose tracks between the trees the size of an inn room. The further you go, the closer you get to the cliffside, where you can hear a roaring waterfall just beyond the fog wall. Through the fog is the sleeping form of the Cosmic Serpent, and the lighthouse in the far distance.
OOC
Happy March! TDMs are considered game canon. If you'd like to plot with people for this event, head over to OOC plotting. We encourage exploration considering the sheer volume of setting updates this time, so if there's anything you want to explore in more depth, hit up this log's investigations toplevel.
UPDATES
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SUBMISSIONS
no subject
Ooh. Big name, there.
[For a little man. But that goes unsaid, because that question catches him off guard just enough that his attention is abruptly diverted. He laughs, a quiet chuckle, and shifts again to lean back in his "seat".]
Mm, maybe. Maybe not. What do you think?
no subject
[Like, yall both have big dick names for no reason. Calm down.]
I think humans haven't evolved to the point where they're capable of floating by their own power. At least, not since I last checked in.
[He gestures at Josh with his cane.]
Not to mention your little disappearing act. Not bad.
no subject
Why, thank you. I do enjoy it.
[With his surprise now out of the way, Joshua lowers himself back down to the ground, feet lightly touching down as he goes. His hands are slid into his pockets for now, but the cocky jut of his hips says enough.]
Let's just say, I haven't been human in a long, long time.
no subject
[He's leaning forward on his cane again, not yet having shown his own hand. He could- he very much wants to, the urge to show off is there- but he also isn't looking to pick a fight exactly, and he has no idea what Joshua might do if he showed any kind of display of power. Like, here he thought he was just on Earth somehow, but...
This has gotten far more complicated than he was anticipating far too quickly for him to wrap his head around.]
But, I'll give you a hint. You know why they call me Lucifer, Joshua?
no subject
[Take it from him, the man that plays at being human just to be a food snob. It really does make it worth it, though. Where in the Higher Plane can you get a Definitivo Chili Dog? Nowhere, that's where. Angels are boring.
He can sense the metaphorical flaunting, though. Not that he isn't doing it a bit himself, of course. Joshua tips his head, smile never slipping.]
Gosh, I can't imagine. It couldn't be because that is your name, could it?
no subject
[He'll take his hat off, then, and tilt it with a flourish as he half-bows to Joshua. A courtesy, more than anything. Or perhaps an offer of peace? It's hard to say, when the two of them have been this coy.]
Lucifer Morningstar, the first Angel and Overlord of Hell, at your service.
no subject
Well, that is a big name.
[Hm. Go big or go home, is it? He has a feeling Lucifer isn't showing his whole hand, so he won't, either, but showing off a little isn't off the table.
Behind him, his back begins to glow with a bright, blue-white light. That light shifts, forming itself into two shapes that are revealed to be white, feathery wings as the light moves away to cast his entire body in a soft glow.]
Yoshiya Kiryu, Angel and Composer of Shibuya's Underground. It's a pleasure.
no subject
[He puts his hat back on his head as Joshua reveals his wings, because apparently they've both been thinking the same thing this entire time.
Is he? Yes, yes he is.
Now, Lucifer doesn't exactly have a friendly relationship with Heaven or its Angels, for obvious reasons. He's bitter and jaded for a lot of reasons, though these days that feeling has lessened somewhat thanks to his daughter's influence. Particularly now, with their recent victory against the executioners. And something tells him that Joshua may not be one of their ranks, if even a part of the Heaven Lucifer knows to begin with.
So he cants his head to one side, and after a moment of thought, decides to show his wings as well. It's a similar display, though it happens in a cloud of seeping red and black, six red wings appearing in two neat rows along his shoulders. He flaps them once, though doesn't actually lift himself up off the ground.]
You know, I've not heard of an Angel coming down to Earth for a very long time. And the fact you didn't immediately report me in some fashion told me that you weren't exactly who I feared. But then I asked myself, "So who IS he, exactly?"
[Lucifer shrugs his shoulders, his wings fluttering behind him.]
A Composer, apparently. That's not a position I've heard of, unless they've added new stations in the last ten thousand years.
no subject
He's sure he'll find out eventually, of course. No sense in finding out the entire surprise all at once. Spreading it out means more surprises over time.]
It's a difference in worlds, I think. Mine doesn't have anything as fancy as Hell.
[He unfolds his arms just enough that he can rest his elbow on the back of his hand, so that arm's hand can tuck thoughtfully beneath his chin. Behind him, his wings settle in against his back.]
I judge the souls of the recently deceased, and give them a second chance, if they're worthy of it. Help them refine their souls into their best selves, so to speak, so long as they don't crumble under the pressure first.
no subject
And...his expression doesn't drop so much as it morphs into something genuinely confused. Shocked, even. He starts gesturing with his hands a little before he speaks, unable to properly find the words at first.]
Iii- hang on a sec. You...judge souls? You give them another chance?
[It's exactly what Charlie wants to do. To redeem those deemed unworthy of such a fate.]
How can you be an Angel and do something like that? Not to be offensive or anything, but in my experience? They've got rules. Lots of rules. And the one rule, the biggest one?
There are no second chances. You either go up or down, that's it.
no subject
Oh, no no no. You misunderstand. You see, like I said, we don't have a Hell. There's no "down" to go to. When you die, provided your soul is of a high enough quality, you go up. But if you die and your soul hasn't had a chance to refine yet, for whatever reason, you come to me.
[Those words are embellished with a little flourish of his fingers. For flavor, you know.]
Now, every Composer does things differently, but I like to think that my way is the most efficient. Second chances aren't just given willy-nilly, you know. In my Underground, you have to work for it. I'm very fond of games, you see; I take what someone considers most important, and if they want it back, they have to win a game - survive a week with another player. If they do, they also get to return to the land of the living, if they want to. If not, they're more than welcome to stick around and help out.
It all fits in with the rules, of course. Anyone that wins, their soul is refined and they go on to contribute to the district they're in before finally dying and ascending. And if they don't win... well, back to the drawing board they go. Their soul gets added back to the collective energy, and it gets used for something else.
no subject
[Lucifer draws back slightly, tugging a bit at his lapels while keeping his cane secure in one hand.]
Well, the fact you and I are from different universes is...very abundantly clear, but I guess...without a Lucifer, you wouldn't have a Hell, right? Ha ha...
[You know, the guy who fucked up everything for everybody? Yeah. He doesn't need much reminding.]
In that case though, it's still a liiiiiittle weird to me you have any sort of inbetween. Y'see, without original Sin, you don't really have a reason to go anywhere else. Amiright? And Hell exists because I gave free Will to humanity, so...these things sortof.
[Gesturing]
Correlate.
[...]
Not that your way of doing things doesn't sound fantastic, by the way! Really cool, really innovative stuff you got going on there, Yoshiya. Not exactly the most benevolent of games but hey, I'm from fucking Hell, so I can't say anything!
no subject
Oh, believe me, there's plenty of free will and sin in the world. Humanity doesn't live in a biblical paradise.
There may have been a Lucifer once. There may still be! Hard to say - I don't go to the Higher Plane much. But there are plenty of Angels, and Angels have been known to fall for making certain... decisions. I had an acquaintance that fell for distributing information illegally.
[He shrugs at that. It was Hanekoma's decision. He's paying for it now.]
At any rate, what I'm doing is benevolent in it's own way. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worthwhile. I suppose you could consider the Underground a... temporary Hell, in some regard, though less emphasis on eternal punishment and more emphasis on personal improvement via fighting for your life. I'm sure most of the Players that go through it would call it Hell, at any rate.
no subject
[Lucifer laughs, adjusting his coat again.]
I think the key difference here is the idea that you would take a soul and re-disperse it into the world. Now, ya see, that's something we don't do.
[He shakes his head a little, pressing his palm into his cane.]
If you die in Hell? That's it. You're just...gone, forever. Kinda sucks but hey, that's the afterlife for you.