TDM 002

[sticksandbonesmods]

SOMETHING WICKED

WAKE UP

Good morning, stranger. No matter what was happening within the last few minutes of your life, it's not happening anymore. All you recall about the transition from there to this sleepy, abandoned grove in the middle of the foggy woods is a collective of childish voices whispering in your mind, Do you want to play with me? And it did not care what the answer was. The manor, ever inaccessible, has not a single light within the windows, but the general store and the inn both seem to have some life- you may just miss the child watching through the manor attic as you approach the other locations.

Also notable is what looks to be a street stall manned by a shadow cloaked in red and a giant turtle. The warm glow of lights and the sourceless jovial music is also inviting. The woman herself, however, can only stare with her eye-lights a gray shade that seems unfitting. Even when she shakes off her dismay, there's something shaky in her voice as she speaks later.

Though there's an abundance of flowers, something about them seems wrong. Maybe it's the fact that some of them are the size of sports balls. Or the roots are starting to emerge through the dirt, sprawling across the grove's floor like a mess of cords. Or maybe it's the fact that the red dog keeps snarling and trying to dig through them. When you investigate, some of the flowers have leaves and petals sharp as knives. They do not grab you... yet. Do be careful, because they will if you let your guard down.

The entire place is strange and odd. But you are not alone. Be it those beside you, freshly awakened, or the residents already here. Welcome to Aldric's Grove.

ROLL BACK

At some point, the grove is more... open. With how closed in the clearing is, with it's dreary cloudy sky and the fog all around, it always felt small. But now? Now it's... strange. It's open. And perhaps that is when you realize, you can enter the woods. It's letting you in perhaps more than one might expect, but ultimately there is still no escape. But as you venture forth, some of the trees, you note, are oddly shaped. The trunk twists or warps into uneven lumps, or maybe a branch looks more like an arm than it should. And then you find them.

Someone you know, warped and wooden, leaves growing from them like any normal tree. Were they fighting? Were they fleeing? Did they freeze in surprise? All you can tell is that no one escaped. But why are they here? Where did they come from? Press your ear against their chest and you can hear the flow of water. Or... maybe it's... no, no, it must be water. Do you dare try and cut through the bark? Try and uproot the tree? And now that you see the faces, it feels like every single tree in the area is looking right at you. Watching.

Waiting.

Something in the air giggles.

SPLIT THE DECK

While the forest invites you to see the horrors of the forest, a more clear cut path through the fog also extends it's invitation. The narrow path through the fog may be easier than open air, now that you know what lies beyond. Eventually the fog dissipates and leaves you in a one-tree forest; every tree is the same species and, though it may not be true, feels as if they're exactly the same. Same height. Same width. Same space apart, from all angles. Even as the fog surrounds you, it feels like an endless pattern of wood, and you are the outlier. At least you are not alone.

The only other thing breaking the pattern is a gray, whispy figure made of smoke sitting at a raw log table, a deck of cards before it. The smoke breaks to offer a grin with too many teeth, and it gestures to the cards.

Round of cards? You pick the game. Win, and I'll give you something nice.

... At least there's no moosetaur ready to break your neck at a moment's notice this time, at least, but if you do cheat a hail of acorns and other tree nuts falls upon you. Hard. Bruisingly so, even. The figure does not stop smiling all the while. You can challenge the figure to any card game played with a standard deck of cards alone, or with up to two other players- so one to three players against the smoke total. Refusal to play is met with an easy smile... but the three-day loss of one of your senses.

FLOW

Several weeks ago- ... or... was it days? Time is strange here, foggy and unclear- there was a ruckus at the river. And then it had closed, cutting the survivors off from their main source of food. Now, the path to the river is open and upon entry, it's much different. The thorns and giant brambles are gone, the open space unblocked by the fog is wider, and a larger abundance of fish can be seen, none recognizable... except. Huh. That sure is a holographic turtle. And golden fish that glow like the sun...

The water is cold and clear. The riverbanks are full of flowers and clovers. Scales and bones and medalions still wash up on the shore or can be fished out from between the cracks, but the teeth seem to be gone at least. Compared to the watchful, hateful, despairing air of the forest, the river is welcoming. Above the water, it feels like there's not a cloud in the sky. Nothing can reach you here.

Growing around the river is also some fruit trees- apples, primarily. If you take one, it's the brightest red you've ever seen on a fruit, and should you bite into it, it's perhaps the most delicious thing you've had in a long while. Idly, there is a soft voice flowing through the water and the air, gentle enough to go unnoticed.

thank you.

SPARK NOTES

CLICK TO EXPAND!

WAKE UP

Welcome to Aldric's Grove! While you may be dismayed about your presence, so is everyone else. No one is happy! The flowers are getting worse! ... And there may be more life in the manor than previously assumed.

ROLL BACK

The fog pulls back to reveal more of the woods, but the trees further in are unsettling, as they look like people you know. Maybe they are. The feeling of being watched intensifies.

SPLIT THE DECK

You're once again invited into the forest to play- this time it leads you to a same-tree section of forest that's eerily sterile. A smoke-like entity invites you to play a game of cards. Submissions will be linked below.

FLOW

The river had blocked itself out for a time, and now it invites others back in. Now it's healthier, even more vibrant and diverse with even the cloud coverage gone while at the river, and the calming effects are stronger. The brambles and threats are gone, and apple trees grow. Something feels grateful.

OOC

Welcome to the second TDM of Sticks and Bones! This TDM is game canon and will double as the event for the month. We also have a rather barebones EMP for the game, and we'd love to see your considerations! Invitations are open by current players, and if you're not a friend of the mod or current player, please feel free to reach out to the mod account if you'd like to join anyways. We can talk things out! (Also my apologies that some pages are currently still under construction.)

UPDATES

❖ None yet!

TDM TOPLEVELS!

TDMS

❖ Tyki Mikk | D.Gray Man

SUBMISSIONS

QUESTIONS & INVESTIGATIONS ⚘ NPC CONTACT ⚘ PLAY TIME

(CODE)

Comments

[teezes]

[Tyki can't really help with the cuts. Like, unless she wants her legs eaten off — he can do that much with the Teez, but that seems counterproductive. He frowns, taking a drag on his cigarette and puffing the smoke out in a ring, an act of Coolness that goes unnoticed because she's blind.]

One of meus membros da família get migraines so bad they blind him. It's hardly the same, but you can say I've gotten good at helping the blind navigate. [bro why did you word it like that] As for the forest itself, I only just arrived a few hours ago, and found that it doesn't exactly like losing a good game of poker. It seems this forest has a bit of a mean streak.

...Are you an Exorcist, little lady?

[Tyki very recently found out that they let women do that! Wild. Times are changing, women's rights are becoming a thing. She's not in uniform but weirder things have happened.]

[amethystic]

( felicity frowns softly, tilting her head in his direction as he speaks. )

That's... Portuguese...? Haven't heard that in forever... --Oh, you have no idea. The first time it tried playing, it was cops and robbers, but the cop was a giant metal-and-wood moose-centaur thing. It strangled me and threw me into a tree.

And then it tried to smite us with lightning when it lost.

( and then he asks. and she can't help but laugh, loudly, almost tipping the chair backwards- )

What holy organization would take a witch?! And what witch would join? Absolutely not!

[teezes]

[Oh, good, he's speaking a familiar language. He's almost tempted to ask where she's from exactly (because he's assuming she's from Portugal and not, y'know, Brazil) when the next comment hits and she nearly falls out of her chair. Tyki can only blink in surprise before he, too, busts out laughing.]

Black magic, huh?! The Church would despise you!

[You may only do magic if you use Innocence if you start waving that incense shit around they're gonna getcha.]

Desculpe. I only asked because I thought that the Innocence holding us here was a bit strange. I've never encountered something like it.

[Basically he was blaming her for the incident, we all know how out-of-control Innocence goes.]

[amethystic]

( she'd be so burnt at the stake if she was from his world. like, ten times over. she does manage to calm down though, wiping laughter-induced tears from her eyes. back to serious talk. )

Innocence, innocence... mmmm.... doesn't ring a bell...

( chin in one hand, she taps the table idly. )

You'll find that most people aren't from the same place here. You familiar with the idea of alternate worlds?

[teezes]

...no?

[Sorry the Bible doesn't cover that. Nor does late 1800s education. Nor do the schools Tyki never went to. The multiversal theory, if it exists at all in that time period, is attributed to quacks doing cocaine and not like, a legitimate scientific theorem, if it is that at all.]

You're going to have to explain. Give me a high-level overview. [do not just sit there talking his ear off for thirty minutes about nerd shit please]

[amethystic]

( sitting back a litte, felicity waves her finger and a small orb of a faint pink light appears. as she speaks, it splits into several, side by side to almost demonstrate before they vanish with a gentle pop. )

Existing alongside your world, across different realities and dimensions, are countless other worlds- some paralleling your own with only minute differences, and some with with such great changes it's completely alien. Almost none of us are from the same world or time period. I'm from the year 2022, for example.

You can basically assume no one is going to know anything about what you consider to be completely normal and commonplace, with exceptions- liiiike how you're speaking Portuguese. --It is Portuguese, right?

[teezes]

Uh, [Tyki says, dumbly, incredibly dumbly—] Eu sou insano? It's 1899... where I come from, I suppose.

[TWO THOUSAND AND WHAT NOW?

Tyki clears his throat into his hand, slicking a hand back through his curls. Oi.]

It is Portuguese, you're correct. Half of my... hm, família is from Portugal. [The other half are not related by anything other than dormant Noah genes.] Você fala português?

[amethystic]

Oh, you're old-

( FELLIE.

but she hates that it takes her a moment- )

My mother was Brazilian, but... she didn't want a magic kid- too much trouble. I remember a little bit, but the last time I met someone from either was when I was much younger.

( and she had rejected a lot about brazil and portugal in turn for her mother rejecting her. abandoning her. she had only been seven.

felicity rests her chin in one hand, pale eyes half-closed as the melancholy sets in. )

I remember a little, but I don't think I could converse.