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sticksandbones2024-09-06 11:16 am
sticksandbonesmods) wrote in sticksandbones2024-09-06 11:16 am
EVENT & TDM 016
A CREEPING FURY SETTING IN
WAKE UP
You don’t recall how you got here. Hell, you’re barely sure “why” you’re here in the first place. But the fact is, by the time you come to your senses, you’re already standing in line out in front of a tent with a big sign on it: FREE STUFF! FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!
Others who have been here longer are aware of you, of course. They watched you ambling around on autopilot for two hours before the sign went up, and then you suddenly hopped into the queue (and maybe even cut in line! the horror!) before the brain fog cleared. Where are you? Why are you in line? Do you even want free stuff? All of these questions can only be answered when you see what the free stuff is.
…it’s random junk. Random magical junk, mind, but when a woman made of solid shadows hands you a wand that apparently summons a small amount of pigeons “per day, until it breaks”, you take it. Or, perhaps, the item was a crystal ball that only shows you made-up scenes from a book. Or it’s a hand-fan that blows only warm air, or a pen that writes all of your letters backwards despite the fact you yourself aren’t doing that… anything quirky and stupid is within the realm of possibility, and Ydalir is trying so hard to get rid of her failed magical experiments. Please. Please take these. Her tent is overstocked and she needs to start anew.
And to those of you who are new here, she’ll offer a friendly greeting and wave, and ask you how your head is feeling after that strange wandering session earlier. Don’t feel pressured to answer; the line needs to keep moving, after all.
Others who have been here longer are aware of you, of course. They watched you ambling around on autopilot for two hours before the sign went up, and then you suddenly hopped into the queue (and maybe even cut in line! the horror!) before the brain fog cleared. Where are you? Why are you in line? Do you even want free stuff? All of these questions can only be answered when you see what the free stuff is.
…it’s random junk. Random magical junk, mind, but when a woman made of solid shadows hands you a wand that apparently summons a small amount of pigeons “per day, until it breaks”, you take it. Or, perhaps, the item was a crystal ball that only shows you made-up scenes from a book. Or it’s a hand-fan that blows only warm air, or a pen that writes all of your letters backwards despite the fact you yourself aren’t doing that… anything quirky and stupid is within the realm of possibility, and Ydalir is trying so hard to get rid of her failed magical experiments. Please. Please take these. Her tent is overstocked and she needs to start anew.
And to those of you who are new here, she’ll offer a friendly greeting and wave, and ask you how your head is feeling after that strange wandering session earlier. Don’t feel pressured to answer; the line needs to keep moving, after all.
HOUNDS ON YOUR HEELS
At some point as the summer fades into autumn, something in the air changes. The surrounding woods and its foggy walls have felt tenser than usual, like something is waiting for you to slip and fall into jaws just waiting to snap shut around your flesh — but nothing happens. Not initially, at least. But keen eyes will soon see a plethora of fairies, long sleeves dangling over razor-sharp claws like a praying mantis’s arms, hair tied back in loose buns, all wearing masks with a single watchful eye painted upon them. As your gazes meet, they giggle and disperse.
And then there are more. And as more gather, watching the paths you take, the houses and buildings erected, the way you move through the gardens, they begin to screech like cicadas. Like alarms.
It could be the lumbering, moss-covered frog that leaps towards you from the lake, large enough to match a car. It could be the wood and stone-crusted bear, spears and arrows collected in its haunches like decoration and not the injuries they clearly are, standing taller than anything you’ve ever seen. It could be the long, winding dragon with lichen dripping off of it, coiling through the trees. Regardless, the fairies are calling to your location and one of them is going to answer.
They chase with an almost single-minded perseverance, with claws and sticky tongues and fangs — stealth is the key, so long as the fairies don’t rat you out again. Though they can be fought, they cannot die in a way that matters — just as easily as flesh tears, it will stitch itself back together and hold a grudge.
Every broken twig is a signal to your location. Every brush of wind in the trees and the grass could be the monsters stalking after you.
It’s time to play: Hide and Seek.
And then there are more. And as more gather, watching the paths you take, the houses and buildings erected, the way you move through the gardens, they begin to screech like cicadas. Like alarms.
It could be the lumbering, moss-covered frog that leaps towards you from the lake, large enough to match a car. It could be the wood and stone-crusted bear, spears and arrows collected in its haunches like decoration and not the injuries they clearly are, standing taller than anything you’ve ever seen. It could be the long, winding dragon with lichen dripping off of it, coiling through the trees. Regardless, the fairies are calling to your location and one of them is going to answer.
They chase with an almost single-minded perseverance, with claws and sticky tongues and fangs — stealth is the key, so long as the fairies don’t rat you out again. Though they can be fought, they cannot die in a way that matters — just as easily as flesh tears, it will stitch itself back together and hold a grudge.
Every broken twig is a signal to your location. Every brush of wind in the trees and the grass could be the monsters stalking after you.
It’s time to play: Hide and Seek.
‘TIL THERE’S NOTHING LEFT
cw: supernatural parasitism & energy/life-force draining
… And where do those captured go, when all is said and done? None of the Seekers actually kill them after all — they may carry their unfortunate victims within their mouths if they are large enough to do so, but as soon as one is captured, they leave.
Though it’s risky to try and track them through the woods, those who try or stay awake during their capture will find themselves taken down a winding path in the fog. One can also bribe a fairy or two to help — or at least not rat you out. A shiny object or food — berries, honey, the fresh-killed heart of that songbird on the branch, all work fine to win its favor for a time. Eventually, they’ll find themselves up a path to a gargantuan tree covered in glowing boils — it’s something that manages to dwarf even the whale-sized moose that may wander by wordlessly, impassive to your plights as moose are wont to do.
Sickly motes of light waft through the air and gently-glowing flowers bloom all around the land, moss glistens against the bark and dirt and perhaps if this place was not so warped by evil, it could have been beautiful once. Coiled around the tree is a vine where the captured are tied to, and they will feel…
Tired. Compliant. Don’t you wish to sleep? The tree needs you. Don’t struggle. Don’t resist. Sleep, and dream no more…
Keen eyes will see the skeletons of former victims further up the vines. As the tree feeds on its captives’ life force, fairies and the Seekers stand guard, only going out to fetch more victims. Do you make the attempt? Or will you come back with reinforcements?
… And where do those captured go, when all is said and done? None of the Seekers actually kill them after all — they may carry their unfortunate victims within their mouths if they are large enough to do so, but as soon as one is captured, they leave.
Though it’s risky to try and track them through the woods, those who try or stay awake during their capture will find themselves taken down a winding path in the fog. One can also bribe a fairy or two to help — or at least not rat you out. A shiny object or food — berries, honey, the fresh-killed heart of that songbird on the branch, all work fine to win its favor for a time. Eventually, they’ll find themselves up a path to a gargantuan tree covered in glowing boils — it’s something that manages to dwarf even the whale-sized moose that may wander by wordlessly, impassive to your plights as moose are wont to do.
Sickly motes of light waft through the air and gently-glowing flowers bloom all around the land, moss glistens against the bark and dirt and perhaps if this place was not so warped by evil, it could have been beautiful once. Coiled around the tree is a vine where the captured are tied to, and they will feel…
Tired. Compliant. Don’t you wish to sleep? The tree needs you. Don’t struggle. Don’t resist. Sleep, and dream no more…
Keen eyes will see the skeletons of former victims further up the vines. As the tree feeds on its captives’ life force, fairies and the Seekers stand guard, only going out to fetch more victims. Do you make the attempt? Or will you come back with reinforcements?
DON’T LOOK BACK
… But regardless of the hostility from the forest, the game must come to an end eventually. And in return for surviving, upon whatever throne he sits upon, the Black Sun offers the world a bit of power as the victims recover — those who perish to the monsters will awaken within their beds, unable to remember anything for a total 24 hours and with floral growths blooming around their scars — but after the initial panic, those who can will confirm that there is no Corruption in these wounds. They may fade, or they may not. Those who survive the month will only carry whatever injuries and weariness they gained over time.
Come morning light, the area of the river will give off a bright glow. Investigation will yield a lot of pain in the eyes, like looking directly at the sun, but eventually it dies down and residents of the Grove can properly have a look at the river again. Those that do may find themselves pleasantly surprised. While clouds shield the skies most of the time, over the river there is a gentle, warm sunlight and blue skies. The abundance of riverside foliage has grown, with new species available for those who can recognize such things — and the water, crisp and clearer than ever, holds more types of fish and amphibians as well. Besides the apple tree — Sinann’s gift for freedom long ago, and Moder’s blackberry bush — new is fruit available. The apple tree is flanked by a peach tree and an orange tree, while the other side of the riverbank houses… …A durian tree.
Some Guardians are grateful. Callan is Callan.
Perhaps best of all though is that Sinann itself has grown in size and in power: in fact, as you approach, it floats above the water to give a greeting.
“Thank you once more for your help.”
Come morning light, the area of the river will give off a bright glow. Investigation will yield a lot of pain in the eyes, like looking directly at the sun, but eventually it dies down and residents of the Grove can properly have a look at the river again. Those that do may find themselves pleasantly surprised. While clouds shield the skies most of the time, over the river there is a gentle, warm sunlight and blue skies. The abundance of riverside foliage has grown, with new species available for those who can recognize such things — and the water, crisp and clearer than ever, holds more types of fish and amphibians as well. Besides the apple tree — Sinann’s gift for freedom long ago, and Moder’s blackberry bush — new is fruit available. The apple tree is flanked by a peach tree and an orange tree, while the other side of the riverbank houses… …A durian tree.
Some Guardians are grateful. Callan is Callan.
Perhaps best of all though is that Sinann itself has grown in size and in power: in fact, as you approach, it floats above the water to give a greeting.
“Thank you once more for your help.”
SPARK NOTES
CLICK TO EXPAND!
WAKE UP
Welcome to Aldric's Grove! New and old residents alike are being gifted free, joke magic items from Ydalir's tent while she does her autumn cleaning. Please take these, she's desperate.
HOUNDS ON YOUR HEELS
Little insect-faeries watch your every move. Suddenly, from the barrier, you're being attacked by various monsters trying to capture you and drag you off. Better run. Better hide.
‘TIL THERE’S NOTHING LEFT
If you're caught, you'll be dragged to become food for a large tree that drains your life force directly. If you aren't rescued in time, you'll die slowly and peacefully.
DON’T LOOK BACK
Those of you who die will come back the next day with temporary amnesia lasting 24 hours. It'll clear up after, and all of your memories will come back as if with magic. But, in the end, you've won the game, and that means ample rewards: More fruit trees, and the River Guardian growing more powerful after all this time.
OOC
Welcome to September's TDM! Reminder that all TDMs are game canon. OOC Plotting Lives Here if you'd like to plot anything out! We have several toplevel comments below for randomizing any result you want this month, including the magic items from Ydalir if you're having a hard time making something up.
UPDATES
❖ None yet!
SUBMISSIONS
B!
[If Stan looks somewhat like a pirate, this lady looks like she just stepped out of a steampunk convention and was overdressed for it. Her golden hair is cut in a short bob, curling to frame her face, and she's... floating. Seated on some kind of golden... blade? Half a pair of giant scissors? much like a witch would a broom, one leg crossed over the other as she watches Stan with some small amount of amusement.
She's also wearing a top hat and has an eyepatch over one eye, so you know, make of that what you will.]
Although where I am from, most food is sweet! Not so for humans, I have gathered.
no subject
Stan's been around enough weird in the last few years that the floating doesn't alarm him at all though. Maybe it should be weirder to him but, eh. It'd be weirder if she wasn't yet another witch out to steal his hands or whatever.]
Sweet alone isn't strange; this is just more of a...condiment? I guess? Unless people go around drinking straight syrup in whatever sweet tooth steampunk dimension you're from.
no subject
[She shakes her head, dismissing the topic, but her smile has grown. Good - it has been harder to do that, lately.]
We Cookies use jams and syrups as condiments too, of course, though it is not unheard of to drink them alone either. Freshly baked cookies especially enjoy such things! Though I suspect there are parallels between our timelines here and there...
Ah, I am Timekeeper Cookie, by the way.
[Hello, welcome to cookies are people sometimes. To be fair, there is a distinct scent of fresh buttery bread wafting around her. It might specifically bring croissants to mind.]
1/3
2/3
3/3
...A cookie.
[Remember when he was so unphased by the floating? He is very phased by this; what the fuck do you mean there are cookie people here?]
What, like...some kinda living gingerbread woman or something? Flour and sugar and...
[And congrats! She might have broken him!]
no subject
[Timekeeper draws in the air with a finger as she speaks, a glowing gold line forming in the perfect shape of a typical gingerbread cookie cutter. It hovers there a moment before dissolving.]
Of course, all of the cookies here arrived as humans, you might notice. It certainly is not a boring experience. If you are interested in the science behind our kind's existence, I suggest you seek out White Lily Cookie - she knows far more on the subject than I. I'm more an expert on the history... past, present, and future.
[She pauses, tapping a finger against her chin.]
You know, normally when one gives their name, they expect another in return...?
no subject
Nah, I'll pass. Science is more my brother's thing.
[Weirdly the shock is already wearing off, though maybe that says more about him as a person than the cookies. Really, it's on par with anything back in Gravity Falls the more he thinks about it. Not that he ever entirely understood every weird mysterious thing there but eventually you learn to just stop asking dumb questions and deal with it. He just wasn't prepared for the existential crisis of something he's eaten hundreds of in his lifetime to announce that it was alive. Because apparently cookies are...alive...
Yeah, it's still going to take some getting used to. She catches him red-handed not giving his own name though.]
Oh, right.
[He rubs the back of his neck as though he just forgot and definitely didn't omit it on purpose. The thought of using a fake crosses his mind, but since he's going to looking for his family he skips it.]
Stan Pines. Uh, human. Do I have to specify human here?
no subject
[There's probably something offputting in the way her eye widens at that, almost seems to glow, the swirls in her iris quickening if you look closely enough. Her smile breaking wide does nothing to soften that feeling, either, though she almost seems surprised herself at her laugh, a sound like ticking clocks and falling sand.]
Ah, if that means what I think it does, then this is a grand day indeed! Good. [She could use one.] Perhaps this is why I thought I felt this place's rotten time shift in good favor, for once.
Dipper is here. The one from your timeline - now that I look closely, there can be no mistake. It is quite the unique signature.
no subject
...What do you mean "signature"?
[Granted, Dipper could have just told her than he has fire magic now, but that doesn't seem to be what happened here.]
I mean, I ran into him so I know you're telling the truth, but how do you know? [He shrugs, joking and trying to keep things light here.] Could be a time forgery!
no subject
[She's not saying more than that. Ask Dipper why it's extra funny later - also, Timekeeper likes this old man already. A lot. She'd like all of Dipper's family, she wagers - they must be entertaining to the core!]
But no, my senses and my experience both cannot be fooled. You would be hard pressed to find a more skillful chronokinetic than myself, and the thread of your time is stitched in a way I've seen on no other but your nephew. I doubt any could forge it in a way I would not notice.
no subject
[What a casual way to talk about crime with a stranger!]
--gesundheit. [Said immediately after "chronokinetic."] But uh. Guess that makes sense? We've been around the dimensional block at this point. If you think ours is weird, my brother's would make your head spin!
[Assuming of course that this is all about the various dimensions they've been to - being lost in the multiverse for 30 years would probably mess up whatever a time signature is pretty bad.]
no subject
[Nah it's fine, look they both have blatant disrespect for authority!]
I should quite like to meet the rest of your family, if they are all as fascinating as you and Dipper.
no subject
Yeah! You get it! What's the point of laws if you can't break 'em now and then or all the time?
[He's a little less sure how he feels about being "fascinating" but...maybe it's not a bad thing here? It depends what Timekeeper's trying to sell with that compliment, but for now he's listening.]
You're in luck if they ever turn up. We're the most interesting people I know!
no subject
[She chuckles, and it's only a little darkly.]
"Luck" is a myth. Given what I have heard from Dipper, however, meeting you all here may yet be an inevitability. I shall look forward to it! The opportunity to hear of timelines I was not previously aware of is quite exciting.
Hmm... actually, is there something I can ask you to keep an eye out for? You seem shrewd enough for it.
no subject
[Things are good now, but he spent more of his life down on his luck than not. Where were his owl-filled scratch cards and winning race horses when he needed them, huh?]
...Maybe. Depends what it is. What is it?
[He's shrewd enough to know better than to agree to do something for a stranger without knowing the terms first.]
no subject
[But with that, she touches down on the ground, pulling that golden blade out from under her and resting its tip on the ground between them instead. She gestures to it with her other hand as she speaks.]
You may have noticed the state of my poor Sonic Embroider here. It was once a full pair of scissors, but in the heat of last month's events, it ended up broken in two - and I do not yet know where the other half has gone. I should like very much to see it repaired, and you would think such a thing would be easy to spot! Of course, if someone has found it and is trying to keep it from me, it would do no good if I myself ask around, you know?
[Look, Stan! She's asking you to look for something huge and shiny and gold colored! Also, now that she's not floating, it might be way more obvious that she's... pretty short, actually. The top hat's adding like a foot, but if you ignore it? She's probably shorter than Dipper.]
no subject
[Weirdly, doesn't come with a lot of judgement! Look, he can respect a fellow cheater - he'd be gaming the system too if he had time powers, which is probably why he got fire ones instead.
He takes a good look at the giant gold pair of scissors (or, well. Single scissor? Ford would probably know). Honestly she's right about all of it - it shouldn't be too hard to spot, since something like that would be hard to find, and if she goes around asking herself obviously people are going to give her a hard time.]
I guess I could keep an eye out for it. But two things - what's it do? And why can't you use your...time whatever, to figure out who's got it?
[Wait, no. There's a third thing.]
And what were "last month's events?"
no subject
[Really now, what else would a giant pair of scissors wielded by a time traveling cookie be?]
Surely that answers your questions, yes?
[What a funny thing to imply when she's been speaking as if her powers are innate this whole time.]
Last month I would rather not discuss.
no subject
Look, if you don't wanna tell me what happened to you, fine. Whatever. I don't care anyway. But my great nephew's here and now I'm here, so I wanna know the kind of stuff we're up against.
[Better to know that kind of thing now and be able to get ready for it as best as they can than get caught off-guard later.]