sticksandbones | July Family Meeting

July Family Meeting

Who: Town Meeting
What: Town Meeting
When: End of the month
Where: Passenger's cafe
Warnings: Typical Stix game warnings: Child death mentions, physical abuse via Nene, torture, body horror, cannibalism via Callan. More will be in post titles as they come up.

[ Enciodes once again makes his rounds to put in both the notebook and verbally let people know of the general time and place he would like everyone to gather. He even hands out paper reminders to everyone, just in case. Once everyone who's going to show up does so, Enciodes taps a glass to get everyone's attention to start the meeting. ]

Hello and thank you for coming to our town meeting. Firstly, I'd like to thank Passenger for letting us hold this gathering here at his café once again. It will be treated with respect, and anyone who tries to start a fight or break anything in here will be promptly escorted out. There are not many ground rules for this, but this is one I hold quite seriously.

Secondly, I do ask that everyone introduce themselves. Informing us of both your name and your skillset will help us all as a group, as it'll let us know who is here at the Grove and who is best to see for specific situations. This will also help myself, as I intend to keep a headcount and census of everyone here at the Grove, to keep track of who may have gone missing and to direct those who need help in the correct location. I shall begin by introducing myself. I am Enciodes Silverash. I am a diplomat of my world, and here I have taken a role of setting up meetings like this and clearing out the problems that lie with us in the fog wall. The burned town, for example, which is mostly cleaned at this point in time. I would also like to set up multiple sources of community provisions when deemed appropriate, as I believe patrols, guards, and medical staff are important to have on hand, though I am aware the first two are mostly performed by the guardians - Moder and Zahliya especially.

And finally, for the newcomers, I am sorry to have to inform you of the circumstances, but I implore you to come to me for any questions you may have. I want to make this transition for you as easy as I possibly can, and wish to provide you with all the resources and information that we currently have available to us. This may be a bit lengthy, so I understand if you may have questions for clarifications or anything of the like. I do ask that you hold onto these questions until I've finished, however.

To start with, we lived a previous life we have no real memory of here at the Grove.

This is mostly as it sounds, but we all used to be here at the Grove in one way or another. After horrible events occurred here, Heimr and Ydalir tried to preserve our souls, which lead us to our "current" lives. The ones we all have memories of. Though, it does seem many of us carry the same personalities and other such traits we had while here.

This in no way is an encouragement to learn about your past life, of course. If this makes you uncomfortable or frustrates you in any way, I completely understand. Learning about things you've done back here does not currently seem to help us find our way home, so you are under no obligation to try and find more out about this if you do not want to.

Our enemy here is the entity possessing the forest.

There's still a lot we don't know about him, but that is perhaps for the best. The more we know about him, it's likely the stronger he will become in turn. It's only right we keep this section brief, in that case. If you truly wish to know more about him, I would be willing to answer questions, but understand my hesitance in doing so. That, and also it's likely he can hear us through the people here who are Corrupted by the forest.

He is the person who got us all here. He wants us to suffer. He feeds on our misery. We won't let him have that satisfaction because we have this second chance. If he couldn't kill us before in a way that sated him, than he'll never get that satisfaction from us because we are resilient. Just be careful when going out into the forest. He can corrupt you, and... if you'd like, you can speak with those who have had first hand experience with it before, but essentially it means he can possess you if we're not careful.

And we'll talk about the previous residents here - the ones who didn't have new lives. As well as the deities here.

Heimr and Ydalir, or the Shopkeeper and the Trader respectively, both lost their previous names to the Forest. Heimr recently became human; maybe there's a way to get Ydalir to be the same? You cannot say their previous names, but... Heimr was once the man this Grove was named after, and Ydalir, his sister. Please keep this in mind if the Forest ever tries to speak with you. Do not, under any circumstances, give it your name.

Nene is here as well, and very recently purified, but had previously been confined to the Forest's hold for... centuries, it seems. Please be kind to her, as I'm sure I needn't even point out. She is daughter to Grace, who was a doctor here at the Grove. She has a few books in the archives that I've been perusing. She's also apparently the person behind the Garden - a place in the forest that I'll cover shortly.

The Guardians are a group of... demi-deities, as far as we are concerned. Treat them respectfully and give them offerings if you require their assistance or plan to take anything that is theirs. The few we have with us here at the Grove are as follows:

Moder, the forest Guardian, and the large moose-like creature who's seen wandering around. She is incredibly kind even if her appearances may be a bit horrifying. She's helped clean up the northern part of town with me. She's also willing to take people through the forest safely if needed, seeing both as she knows it well, and was also once corrupted, so knows roughly what to expect in there. Considering she's lost her domain to that bastard in the woods, I ask that you give her your tribute as often as you can, as I believe she will be the one to most fiercely fight with us for her home back.

Zahliya, who has many titles I've listed in the notebook, is the gargoyle who is generally on fire. He can burn away any Corruption, and cares about each of us. His powers have not been fully realized, but with some encouragement, that may change, so I ask that everyone please give him your trust.

Sinann, the River Guardian, is the blue, glowing fish within the River. It cannot speak like Moder and Zahliya, likely because it is recovering and has not regained the strength to do so. You can speak with it using the bone ring from Heimr's shop, however. Please do not remove the bones from the River, and return any fish bones of those you eat to it as well. Shells and medallions are able to be taken freely from it, however.

Callan, the Lake Guardian, is... Hm. The... thing that you all may have seen diving into the well when we got back from our time under the ocean. He is... not the kindest, but I don't believe he is malicious or malevolent by any means. I'm not entirely sure what to make of him. The Behemoth is his daughter, and the giant crocodile-like creature you've seen around the Grove. She isn't a Guardian, as far as I'm aware, but it's still recommended you are kind to her as well.

The Cosmic Serpent is in the ocean. For a good majority of the time, they are asleep. They do not seem to be opposed to helping us, but can only offer us so much, and likely may get annoyed if we expect too much of them.

There's a Sky Guardian, Aurora, as well, though Moder has informed us that it is long dead.

The Gods — Beiwe, the Goddess of the Sun, and Ourania, the Goddess of the Moon, are the current overseers. According to Moder, they are very weak and may need some help regaining their strength through prayer and acts of devotion. We likely have the power to help them return to their former strength.. We just need to figure out how. Recently, we've spoken directly to Ourania with a seance, and it's likely we can do the same with Beiwe. The information we got from Ourania can be asked through Mizuki, if needed.

Magic and belief of this world.

Belief in something gives it power. Names give it power. As such, refrain from giving the forest/the creature/the entity a true "name" of any kind. It's recommended to swap out the vague reference you use. Vice versa for our Guardians — please use their names, and believe in them intrinsically when we require their assistance. Mizuki has recommended before that we sing to Zahliya when he purifies things. Songs of protection and such might do us some good, I think. Just remember not to wish for things too frequently, only if it's absolutely necessary.

There are shards that seem to hold power of deities inside of them. Sun and Moon shards from Beiwe and Ourania respectively, and star shards from... likely, the stars? Be on a look out for them, as the Forest wants them destroyed. It also leads me to wonder if there are any shards of the entity we may be able to destroy?

Places of interest.

Aldric's Manor is a place where Heimr's kids are currently. We can't get to it, but the children inside do have a notebook, and we hope they'll try to communicate with us. One of his children… There's a grave outside for her. Do not do anything disrespectful by it.

There's a part of the forest where you might find people you know, but as trees. It's… very upsetting there. Refrain from visiting it too frequently.

The Garden is where you'll end up if you die. Nene brings you back if you do end up here. Do not die. Do not end up here. Coming back will have you giving up something important.

The River is where the River Guardian is. Return any remains of the fish we eat from there back to it after we're able to fish there again. Thank the River Guardian when you take apples from the tree nearby there, and thank Moder when you take berries from the bush near it. Do not take bones from the river without permission. Be kind to the river's inhabitants, and don't dump any trash into the water.

The Well's water will always stay clean. Don't go dumping garbage into it, of course, but know that the water there is safe to drink regardless of what happens, it seems. Also, the well is completely bottomless, so if you can't breathe underwater, I don't recommend trying to swim down it. Mizuki tried to, but at a certain point it felt like something was pushing him back.

North Aldric's Grove and Other Expansions — The Grove, prior to stuff going awry, was a sizeable place, so we're likely to explore more areas as a "reward" for participating in games. The part of the Grove to the north used to be horribly burnt and unlivable - in a perpetual state of fire and decay. We've since fixed the time anomalies there and, with Moder's help, I've managed to get it looking like the rest of the Grove. There are no more sinkholes to be wary of.

The Church was Nene's previous home, and a former place of worship for Beiwe. It has since been worn down and transformed into something to worship the entity of the forest. As such, it's likely we should try to erect a new church for Beiwe - one that is exclusively hers. We can discuss this further when we're able to contact Beiwe.
Near the old church, there's also a tree that Renard lies trapped in, found by both Mizuki and Wolfwood. At some point, we have to free him with the magic that resides in the sun, moon, and star shards. Renard is a former friend of Heimr and Ydalir.

The Temple is separate from the Church. Zahliya was formerly a statue guarding this place. It is also where the Creature was previously contained.

In the Lighthouse is a corrupted person who seems very territorial. It's recommended that no one go into the lighthouse or get near it, or they risk being attacked or even killed. There is a statue of Ourania embedded in the cliff face nearby the Lighthouse. Any more questions can be addressed to Vash about this area.

The beach is now accessible thanks to Moder. You may head there with the path she has made without needing help of the goggles. Just stay on the bridge of fallen trees she's made and you'll make it there.

There are other places within the forest and such, but if you want specifics, talk to Mizuki. He has a map.

If you do end up going into the forest, bring a pair of the golden spectacles that Heimr has with you. They will show you a safe-adjacent way into the forest. It won't guarantee safety, but it'll be your best case scenario.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Siffrin arrived dragging Loop along with him, who some people may have never seen before because they've made themself so scarce. It's especially wild that this person manages to hide given they have a literal star for a head. Y'all will just have to deal with being blinded every time you look in their general direction.

The two of them are also both looking a little disheveled, Siffrin hiding a bruised jaw beneath the high collar of his cloak. It's fine, don't worry about it.

Anyway. Siffrin isn't exactly inclined to speak up first in a big group of mostly strangers like this – or at all, really – but no one else jumps on the introduction train and they're trying to set a good example for someone here, so after an awkward few beats he tentatively raises his hand.]

I'm Siffrin. I'm fast and good in a fight, I guess? And I'm usually in charge of dealing with traps and stuff like that.

[Another beat, and then he shrugs like he can't think of anything else and nudges Loop with an elbow. Your turn, bitch.]

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