sticksandbones | Event & TDM 003

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Event & TDM 003

I AM THE WILD

WAKE UP

You open your eyes.

~~It feels like you’ve been here before, like you’re finally home.~~ Today, the sun shines brightly, brilliantly, on the open forest clearing making up Aldric’s Grove. Vines wrap around old buildings, overgrowth covers ruins of what once were homes and shops, and weeds poke up through the cracks of foundations. Before you stands an inn, a well, and one hundred beautiful flowers peppered throughout the clearing. Be not fooled by their beauty, wanderer; should you stray too close, the flowers are happy to bite.

Fret not, however; should you seek escape from the carnivorous foliage, the inn is plenty safe from attacks. Perhaps you ought to get acquainted with others like you, lounging in the lobby with nowhere to go. Perhaps you should find yourself a room, a place to stay. After all, room and board is completely free of charge! Should you dig through the bedside table of your new room, you’ll find only one thing within: A Polaroid photograph of yourself from years ago. You were younger, then — or, if age doesn’t define you, you were different. Still, you remember posing for this photograph… don’t you?

If the photo is too much for you, a trip to the river might offer respite. The oppressive fog wrapping around the grove and obscuring much of the distant forest some miles out won’t let you wander too far. Luckily, there’s a stretch of river perfect for a round of fishing, playing in, or simply relaxing by. Mushrooms grow along the banks and on the trees, but remember to say “thank you” to the forest if you take them. You wouldn’t like the consequences otherwise.

HEY

cw: madness, hallucinations

You might have had luck avoiding the gnashing fangs of the flowers thus far, but they begin to get restless and aggressive the longer they go without feeding. They can’t quite uproot themselves and chase you down, but they will stretch their stalks as far as they can, unfurl their petals and try to wrap sharp leaves around your legs and anything else within reach. If you aren’t careful, their fangs will pierce your flesh, and they will drink from you until they drain you dry. Shout for help if they latch on. Surely someone will come to your aid.

…just try not to look at them much. The flowers take passive abilities of anyone they feed from, and that means they possess powers of their own. Stare for a moment too long, and you’ll begin to see your nightmares brought to life, feel a crawling down your back like one million insect feet, a grappling at your ankles as something tries to drag you under the metaphorical tides. Black tendrils sweep over your eyes, they grip the facades of buildings, they tear your friends to shreds and eat them whole. Focus. Focus on that voice telling you to snap out of it, on the people around you waving their hands in front of your eyes. It isn’t real. Blink, shake your head, and clear your thoughts.

Or don’t. “Give in,” a sultry voice murmurs, “Let me consume you.”

IT'S ALRIGHT

cw: auditory hallucinations, animal butchery

From the fenced-off, locked-up manor to the northwest of the Grove, a spill of magic begins to leak out from boarded-up windows. It’s gradual at first before it suddenly bursts, and that’s when everything starts to go haywire. The Manor’s heart aches, friend. Something in that house is oh-so-miserable with no way out… and it intends to make you feel its pain.

Every regret you’ve ever had — every word left unspoken, every lie you’ve told, everything you believe you’ve done wrong — those feelings are brought to the surface and magnified. No matter where you look, what you do, or how much you try to distract yourself, those emotions will always bubble to the surface.

You might think wandering into the forest will help you flee from yourself for a time, but as soon as you cross the threshold, the path back to the clearing closes behind you in a rustle of leaves. The only way out is forward, it seems, but the forest won’t play fair. The path will shift unexpectedly, blocking your route, forcing you to backtrack, but never quite allowing escape. All the while, voices fill your mind, chasing after you no matter where you go. They are the murmurs of those you have wronged, the murmurs of a conscience slighted.

Seeking out a companion in the labyrinth will quell them, for a time. Should your heart weigh too heavy, confessing to your labyrinth-partner what you’re grappling with will absolve you of your guilt and leave you feeling clear-headed enough to escape. At that point, the forest, too, seems content to let you solve the maze without interference.

Should you escape fairly, without harming the labyrinth, you’ll be rewarded: A freshly-hunted game animal from your homeland is dropped at your feet just as you step back into the clearing. Enjoy it, for you will not have the opportunity to get another. The forest only allows one round per person.

I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU

The residents of Aldric’s Grove have had a rough time here, but not everything has to be bad. On the night of the new moon, the Shopkeeper leaves his store for the night, and alongside the Trader — who normally sits outside the inn by her stall and her giant turtle — he constructs a bonfire some distance from the carnivorous plants. Nearby to it are tables with a feast set upon them, free for everyone to enjoy. There’s music playing from… somewhere. Don’t think about it too hard. The wispy, sentient shadows that comprise the Shopkeeper and Trader are happy to dance with you, too, if you ask.

Enjoy your night, friends. You’ve made it to the end of the month, and you deserve a break.

SPARK NOTES

CLICK TO EXPAND!

WAKE UP

Welcome to Aldric's Grove! Watch out for the carnivorous flowers. There's a photograph of you in the inn, by the way. Don't worry about it.

HEY

The carnivorous flowers are now causing visual hallucinations and madness. Try not to look at them too long. Maybe buddy up for the time being, to make sure that the forest's whispering voice doesn't drag you too far down.

IT'S ALRIGHT

A flood of magic hits the Grove. Characters will be subject to reliving and re-experiencing all of their regrets, and should they wander into the forest to escape, they'll be made to play in the forest's maze game. The forest won't play fair, but seems to relent when you confess to a companion what's on your mind. And hey, that makes your heart weigh less heavy, too. At the end of the line, you'll get a reward of fresh meat as long as you didn't try to cheat!

I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU

The Shopkeeper and Trader are throwing a lighthearted bonfire party. Dance the night away and eat your heart out!

OOC

Welcome to the third TDM & Event Log of Sticks and Bones! This log is game canon. The prompts are meant for all players, current and future, so have fun! Our applications operate on a rolling basis, so applications are open with no end date unless we suddenly cap players. If there are any questions, please direct them to the "questions" header below.

UPDATES

❖ For those who enter the inn in the morning, a breakfast spread of scrambled eggs, bacon, smoked fish, roasted tomatoes on the vine and assorted fruits wait for you.
❖ Several patches of the murderous flowers seem to have been electrocuted, lit on fire or cut.

TDM TOPLEVELS!

TDMS

❖ Shalem (Arknights)
❖ Toge Inumaki (Jujutsu Kaisen)
❖ Jade Leech (Twisted Wonderland)
❖ BB (Fate/ Grand Order
❖ Akki (Original)
❖ Nikaidou Eisuke (Tsurune)
❖ Arthur Pendragon (Saber) (Fate/ Grand Order)

(CODE)

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[The mysteriously-appearing photo in his bedside table is troubling enough. Gnosis does not care for it; it's creepy and odd, to have a photo of himself from over twenty years ago in his hands, from before his head-feathers properly grew in. He is aware that similar photographs exist of others, based on chatter he's heard around the inn, and that only lends to the creep-factor.

He has no explanation for it. Gnosis is not a private investigator, but he'll make a solid attempt at piecing all of this together if he can, first by collecting other photographs that people may not want and will entrust to him. He thinks, if he can see similarities in the background, in structures around them, he can formulate something of a history of this place.

It's a long shot. But he approaches you anyway, because he does not shy away from the impossible. Not really.]

Excuse me. Did you also receive a strange photograph recently? Could I have a look, if you don't mind?

II.

[Gnosis Edelweiss does not harbour regrets and, more importantly, does not linger on them. He does not. The forest insists he does ("Monch, don't you remember Monch? What you did to Monch? How you betrayed her trust, how she left you?") but it seems, compared to everyone else, he has comparatively few things to linger on.

("Aren't you tired of running away? Of leaving people behind?")

Still, the yammering of the voices in his ear aren't entirely conducive to getting out of this maze. They're providing ample distraction, which aligns perfectly with the forest's goals so far — to mess with everyone here, he's ascertained — and why he thought it was a good idea to leave the Grove in the first place is beyond him. (It was the carnivorous plants and the constant search for answers. That's what it was. Scientific curiosity; damn his scientific curiosity.)

He rounds a corner in the maze and almost walks into you, so distracted is he. Whoops.]

Apologies. [...] Would you be interested in a team-up?

III. wildcard

[hello pls hit me up! or poke me @ wolfchan]

Perhaps so.

[He hums a low note, golden eyes set on the edges of the bonfire, of the dancing shadow-people and regular-people alike. They're having fun in their own personal hells, and Gnosis can't exactly blame them for needing the respite. One learns to take "personal hells" in stride, in his position.]

A question, then: Did you receive a strange photograph of yourself in recent days?

[This is one of the mysteries he'd like to piece together.]

i. wakes up
[ Akki opens his eyes. Blinks once— twice— and when that doesn't clear up the green-blue blur of his vision, he bolts upright, reaches up to his face to find his nose wet with blood and his glasses not askew, but rather, missing altogether.

...aha... A trembling laugh escapes his lips, more resigned than anything else, but despite being blinded and disoriented (also nauseous, and his head hurts, and he feels gross covered in a mix of old sweat and dirt), he doesn't appear altogether worried as he pushes himself to his feet, swaying and then steadying himself. Not yet. Because this is the typical experience for a respawn point where a player wakes up not knowing what's going on, and has to locate their initial inventory before setting off to gather information from the locals. He'll be fine.

This is what he says to himself as he sets off on this new... """adventure"""... a fool groping through the trees of the forest with his arms partially outstretched much like a zombie, complete with the shuffling gait and vacant stare of the unseeing, deathly pale, blood dripping from nose to chin. ]

ii. okay, ready to go back to sleep again
[ Assuming he doesn't get shot on the spot, he might begin to wish for it, because maybe he's better off starting over at the spawn point instead of wandering around lost in a forest for hours. It feels like it's been that long, although as time stretches on, he'd been doing less wandering and more hiding himself away in the midst of a dense thicket or the hollow of a tree, eyes squeezed shut tight, hands clamped over his ears, neither doing much to stop the voices that rage like a storm in his mind.

But again, nothing new. These are all things he's heard before, both to his face and from his own mouth. And he'll deal with it the same way he's always has, aka armadillo himself in a corner somewhere and hope nobody sneaks up on him because he WILL scream. ]

iii. be strong, akki, do it for rusty
[ He's going to do it! he's going to stay alive! at least long enough to make his way back to town and see that the dog is doing okay. If he's managed to survive the forest, surely he can manage a flower field... right...

Except, while the idea of spraying the flowers with his own blood to appease them like one would throw a bone to a dog to keep them occupied and away, it's an idea that backfires when 1) the crowding flowers make him sneeze, and 2) his nose had been recently(?) broken by a mechanical(??) moose(???).

The field's going to eat well tonight. ]

For a an actual cross over event only yearned by the very souls of our fans!!!!

[ BB Mocks, having not looked approachable but seeing as the man overlooked the meaning watch she fed him, and pushed to speak to her. She humor'd him. ]

Ab-so-lut-LEY~✰!!!! What do you need from little ol' Me?

[ Somewhere. There's a laptop. In the corner he is armadilloing in.

Aki at some point sees it. The screen lights up. A distinct message appears. ]

i c u

[ Casting Sending!!!! ]
Rennuid, I am lost in a labyrinth with another... The forest is playing games again, do you know how to escape from here?

[ The message is strangely comforting in its familiarity, that eerie sense of deja vu that breathes down his neck, the guilt that grips his guts and gently twists, the way he still reaches out without thinking to pick up the laptop and set it on his lap so it doesn't get dirt in its vents.

His fingers run along the keyboard, finding comfort in this too. ]

Through the webcam? Where are you?

[ Chooses violence - I mean. Caoimhe seems to stumble forward, and bump into the other. Completely caught unawares, and horrified at her lack of direction within this labyrinth of a forest. ]

I-I'm so sorry - -

[ She manages to blurt out. ]

[ A pause as the words are decompressed in its system. The silence all around him is eerie - far too eerie, but an answer comes forward - ]

is sHE here

Edited 2023-08-06 21:51 (UTC)

[ Oh, he's going to be sick. Deep breaths only bring in the smell of dirt and fear, does nothing to calm him and so forces himself to focus on the warmth and the weight of the laptop in his hands. ]

No. I have not seen her in a long time. Why are you looking for her?

Oh, think nothing of it. The lot of you have enough to worry about, keeping me company won't be one of them.

( the trader is almost inclined to wave her off, but instead she gestures to a stool beside goldie, and fusses with a kettle instead. though... she does pause. )

I'm simply a tradeswoman, child. But I keep my promises- and my treasures- safe. Nothing shall take that which you give me, for as long as you have me keep it.

[He politely assumes the shadows are the forest trying to intimidate him despite the fact they're inside, and focuses on Mizuki instead. He does not Know.]

You might find it easier to relax if you play something more orchestral. Classical music, or jazz. If you don't have anything like that, you can borrow my phone.

[It's not like there's anything too incriminating in there, as Gnosis tends to delete evidence regularly... like maybe there are some weird messages from Enciodes in there but that's fine that happens. His wallpaper is literally the default wallpaper. He's boring.]

[ SNAP!!! The laptop snaps with such suddenness. Aki would either have had his fingers clamped within or felt they were so close to clamping shut inside it! He would note of the dark slithering of something at the corners of his eyes. Fading back into the darkness whence they came. Whatever that was, had been the thing that shut the laptop in front of him.

However, all that stands there. Leaning forward over him is a girl with long purple hair and a dazzling smile ~ ]

Fuwaaa!! Looking through a girls private things, that is naughty, naughty!!!!!

[ She takes the laptop with a sudden swipe, and puts the notebook behind her. ]

( felicity almost pulls the knife she keeps hidden in her sleeve out, tense and eyes blank with the need to survive, but she sees red hair and fearful green eyes before she sees teeth and the aftervision of claws-

oh

its. caoimhe.

soft woman. gentle woman. bit of a crybaby, but felicity doesn't hate it. after a too-still moment, she shifts back to standing properly, any sign of the blade hidden in her sweater gone. )

You're okay. The forest is playing with us. ... But we'll do better together. Do you need a physical anchor?

[ Her words... A long deep sigh escapes her breath. She needed to hear this - know this could be a thing. It was just like the time she had entrusted Godwyyn with an item much like now. The moment was pivotal for her, entrusting someone who said they were capable with a potential burden, far too horrendous in the hands of any simple person. ]

I have... These cursed items... I cannot lift the curse from them, to be able to do so - requires such magnitude of power.

[ Like Holy Grail wish granting magic power. ]

I do not want to hold them, I fear if something happens to me. They would get in the hands of others who do not understand what they can do... They give abilities yes, but the payment to use them is not worth the use...

[ She grips at the bag of holding. ]

I have two - would you take them? Hide them? Keep them away forever? Will they truly be safe with you?

AHH!

[ He lets out a cry of surprise and pain (mostly pain) as he relinquishes the laptop, scooting back and likely would have fallen if he weren't already seated upon the dirt floor, one hand behind to steady himself, the other over his chest like it's enough to stop the thundering of his heart. ]

I- I'm not— I didn't...!

[ He wasn't!! Doesn't stop his face from turning red or his throat from closing up, though. ]

... I do not mean to relay on you... If you could... [ Caoimhe's voice is hoarse, and rough. Damaged from the emptying of her stomach she had been doing before hand. ] Are you... Are you well yourself?

!?!?! D-DID YOU SEE BB-CHANS LEWD PHOTOS?

[ BB's words fall from her lips so quickly, carrying a hint of blasphemy in their audacious delivery. ]

Do you KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!??!?!

[ It means he's going to die, regardless of his innocence, and all he has to protect himself is vehemently shake his head and try to make himself as small as possible, reaching for pity as a last resort. ]

[ She continues following her script, as items suddenly come from out of no where all around him. First a couch, then a spot light, and then a camera plops into her hand. If you want to know, its her tentacles coming out from Imaginary space and plopping them down from within out of the shadows. He might see them - or just simply see the flickering of shadows dancing around him. Changing the 'backdrop'. ]

THAT MEANS I GET TO TAKE LEWD PHOTOS OF YOU NOW ~!!

[ Is what she chimes in to say, but then turns around to notice him cowering on the floor. Without skipping a beat. BB begins taking pictures of him, just like this. As if him being frightened and scared are exactly the lewd photos she was looking for. ]

Ka-wa-ii!!! Look at the little face you are making - that is so lewd! So scared!!! AHAHAHA!!!!! [ You have a annoying BB taking pictures of you Aki, not caring for your personal space or mental state for that matter. ]

[Gnosis' first thought is: Oh god, she's a gamer. That's gamer-speak. Help, he's like 35.]

An excellent first step might be trying to get out of this maze without going insane. Have any leads?

I have all the leads in the world!!!

[ BB giggles, twirling a lock of her purple hair between fingertips. ]

Wouldn't you like to know? Eh? For the right price I will tell you~?

I'm not- I'm not scared!

[ That's not a strong enough word for what he's feeling, which is a mix of terror and mortification, with a dash of hopelessness sprinkled on top as he cowers away from the spotlight as if it would burn him. ]

Please stop! I didn't- I just- I couldn't help it! I'm sorry!

[ Can I interest you in you becoming this crazy bitches Senpai in her grove verse - here? Sign the contract now - - - - - ]

Truly after a womans heart - I WONT blame you, this time. Only because it must have been so appetizing for someone like you to get your grimy hands on it. BB is so beautiful after all. [ She playfully smiles toward the other, and taps at her lips. ] Are you getting off the floor or are you into crawling around on all fours begging for my mercy?

[ It'd be like he never left his old life behind... ]

Um... [ He would crawl on all fours begging for mercy if that's what it took, but seeing as she's rescinded her blame already, he hopes it wouldn't come to that and gets up on his own instead, taking a moment to stand and wait for his jelly legs to solidify before attempting to walk/run away. ]

BB... [ strange name for someone to name their laptop, but okay. ] really is beautiful, though. I couldn't believe my eyes at first.

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Page 5 of 51

Event & TDM 003

Gnosis | Arknights | Oldbie

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akki / oc

II.

ii. okay, ready to go back to sleep again

At some point within the Labyrinth while she is with Toge Inumaki

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it's alright

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Re: it's alright

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