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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.
WAKE UP
no subject
Irene keeps the rapier out but she does lower it to the ground, brows knitting together as she does so. ]
I have no intentions to harm you, I have no reason to. I am just asking questions, I don't know where I am.
LMAO OH NO not the dice
O-Okay.. I-I have been here for a few months... I-I know a lot, w-what do you want to know?
no subject
no subject
I-I Am C-Caoimhe Daughter of Eithne, my-my Matriarch is Lady Ailbhe. You may call me simply Caoimhe! My Patron Deities are Emer and Beithir of the skies and seas! I-I come from another Plane, of lands of Grandal. I was taken too b-by the beings upon this p-plane. I was in the middle of traveling across the lands to save the Material Plane and the Fae wilds from being consumed by this P-Primordial being called the Beast!!
I-I was shortly taken after defeating one of the Ten disciples of the Beast, and after I entered into M-Merctown. T-Then shortly there, when it was discovered that one of the people traveling with us - he...
He was possessed by one of the Beasts Generals - and he - they - [ She is crying panicking- ] killed him mercilessly. Then sometime after I went to rest, I woke up here with my companions Goat.
I met... R-Rennuid after and then, we were forced to play a game by this Forest and its Entities. We had to hide or be thrown into a cell where the vines and leaves would take themselves to our bodies!! And... And then after we won, we received gifts from the forest - which, I just learned was made by this girl named Nene. They are attuned to who won the game, and cannot be used by anyone else but they!! S-She may be a Fae from the forest - you must be careful not to give your name too freely!
As it might be taken from the Forest, that is what happened to the Trader and Shopkeeper here - and - and - Then the trees - they are... They are trying to eat us, alive and - - there were werewovles that had come to kill us. The other here, we managed to fend them off. Y-You can trust Elsword, Fel - Mizuki! Everyone too like you and myself, you are not alone in being taken here out of your own will!
I-I don't know so much, merely this much. There are names given to us, and stories told by all but I know not if they are true or if we can ever be free from here and this fog that surrounds the grove. You musn't go into the fog, I know this only... I - I am so sorry I dont know any more.
no subject
Caoimhe. You must hold yourself as if your deity is watching now, yes? Do you intend to bring your faith any pride while you're near groveling?
[ She'll address everything else once this other girl calms a bit... ]
no subject
Ah - [ Caoimhe firmly presses a hand onto her chest, a deep exhale is followed after. She is reminded in this moment when she had prayed to her God. Their answer unto her, although not in words but in images. She was shown the still of ocean waves, the warm winds that bellowed across them. The cooing of gulls as they flitted through the air, and the suns rays that passed through the floating clouds. ]
No... Forgive me.
[ Its the first time she has ever made a sign of prayer here, with fingers pointing. She moves them inwards and then rolls them outwards. Following one swift movement, splaying them outwards along her collarbone as if they were wings. She takes a moment to herself, and then promptly settles her hands to her lap. Eyes still lowered. ]
.. I-I am sorry... My nerves often do not find me... I am not the best when it comes to representing my people, please do not - do not think that I am like them. They are as strong as the constant winds, and bellowing ocean waves... [ She needs to stop talking but even here she feels she needs to keep apologizing. ]