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sticksandbones2023-08-04 10:59 am
- !event,
- !tdm,
- arknights: gnosis,
- arknights: mizuki,
- arknights: shalem,
- baldur's gate iii: astarion ancunín,
- elsword: elsword,
- fate: bb,
- handead anthem: gara ukai,
- i'm the grim reaper: brook,
- jujutsu kaisen: toge inumaki,
- original: caoimhe ailbhe,
- original: felicity morais,
- original: rennuid tathviel
Event & TDM 003
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.
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.”
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.
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.
CLICK TO EXPAND!
❖ Several patches of the murderous flowers seem to have been electrocuted, lit on fire or cut.
no subject
I am Kaedehara Kazuha, but if that's too much to remember, please don't trouble yourself with anything beyond "Kazuha."
If I may ask... is it something about this place that is causing your memory troubles?
[in other words: just how fucked are we]
no subject
Kazuha, [he echoes, feeling the name out in his mouth.] Kazuha. Okay. I can do that much.
But no, actually, this place hasn't affected my memory much at all. I have a kind of magical amnesia, I guess, from back home. A lot of faces from my past are all blurry, and I have a hard time keeping people's names straight if I don't see them all the time. It's getting better here, though, because the Trader and my friends have been helping.
[Kicks his feet.]
I'm okay, so you don't need to worry about me, and you don't need to worry about your memories disappearing here, either. I think.
no subject
[His voice stays light, but the sincerity is palpable.]
Where is it that you come from?
no subject
[He says that so casually it's tragic. Elsword would rather memorize information about others than himself; he can recall all of Add's "tells" and bits of Chung's history and all the egregiously fucked-up things Ain has done that he's tried his best to stop, but he sure can't remember his childhood or the names of his parents or even who he is some days. Self-sacrificing to a fault, this one.]
I'm from Elrios. What about you?
no subject
Elrios... the name is unfamiliar, though he doesn't show it.]
I come from Inazuma, though at present I have made it my purpose to wander far and wide.
no subject
[He's... "excited". It's not entirely obvious, with how flatly he speaks and how his expression doesn't change, but there's a shift in posture as Elsword turns his shoulders to really face Kazuha properly.]
Do you have any cool adventuring stories?
no subject
Truth be told, Kazuha hasn't had many dealings with the adventurer's guild in Teyvat, but perhaps the definition of "adventurer" is looser in Elrios. Wherever that might be.]
I'm sure I could come up with a few. If you are also an "adventurer," perhaps we could even trade tales.
no subject
I am. I've been one since I was a kid. [The timeline is unclear; he doesn't remember quite when that was, but he knows that—] I picked up my first sword when I was thirteen, heheh.
[Trading tales... hm. Sounds like a fun day to him.]
A lot of my old stories are lost to amnesia, but... before coming here, me and my friends were in the Demon Realm investigating something there. The demons had an... "amusement park"? It was something I don't think I've ever seen before. Other people here know what amusement parks are, so I guess we just don't have them on Elrios.
[He is therefore assuming Kazuha also knows what an amusement park is and will not proceed to mansplain one to him.]