![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sticksandbonesmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
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
There are no flowers around or behind fence, keeping the manor safe.
no subject
[ BB wants to investigate why this is, she is looking for items she knows can usually repel plants at first:
1. Plant repellent the most obvious things, a chemical component that would push flowers away.
2. Magical Repellent, even in her world runes are often what are used to repel magic beings of sorts... She is looking to see if they are inscribed anywhere on the fences, the floor, or even the foundation of each building.
3. More Magical Repellent, she is looking beyond Rune work. Acknowledging that magic works different and has different family branches. BB would begin hypothesizing, if magic exists in plenty that means this area itself works in collaboration in some way - meaning magic would be used to repel things magical or non magical.
4. Items of interest, she knows - especially from her own realm that magecraft can be absolved in items that have a purpose. Are there items of interest that seem replicated or similar around the area. ( Mun knows shopkeeeper paints the inn doors but BB does not know this! Would she see this as well? ) ]
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
[ Her hand is gloved and she pokes one of the petals mindful as to not let the desperate vines grip her - she knows they are so hungry. ]
But if you keep your secrets, I'll never give you the thing you wish for.
[ She presumes the flowers can either understand her to some extent, or take her message to where it will be valued. ]
Ne, ne, if you understand BB then come talk to her when you are ready to make trades. After all, I am interested in a partnership. If you are anything like what I think you are. We both want the same thing.
[ A white lie, but the desire of wanting the same thing may seem be the accurate truth. ]
When you are ready, let me know~~♡!!
no subject
Is she looking at the flowers? If so, she'll perhaps begin to feel the effects a little more strongly.
no subject
That is to say the flowers, the forest, and the entirety of these circumstances have effected her differently then the others. In that synergy she has become more cynically aligned with them. Almost as if she is home, and they are home. And they should come together this troubles her, because she doesn't understand why, and if she cannot fathom the understanding. Then what is it? There is not fear - but if 1 plus 1 cant equal 2, what does it mean?
They say, two identical beats often cause discord. ]
Oh...?
[ The Grail, is in her hand. Having been pulled out of her chest by her own means, she almost just out right gave it to them!!! Maybe... Just maybe... For fun - a little leaf had touched it for a split second. ]
Nasty little Flower-chans are you? You almost made BB give this to you, for free~☆!
[ You know that Pokemon Move Pressure? Yeah that's exactly what she is administering right now around her out of sheer anger. She eats it, right in front of them - NOM! Then goes to walk away!! She is going to get lost in the forest, and cause chaos - have fun... Play games... Never leave ever again! This is home after all. ]
no subject
If they were perhaps a little more sapient, they might be looking at each other in confusion.
no subject