EVENT & TDM 020

[sticksandbonesmods]

BITTER WINDS HOWLING

WAKES AND AWAKENINGS

Are you one to find yourself plagued with nightmares? Do you dream at all? Well, worry not, because tonight you find yourself in a somewhat alarming peace. You’re asleep. You’re aware of this. Yet, you feel incredibly lucid, all the same.

You hear the sound of water, like you’re under the ocean waves. You don’t see anything, but it’s almost as if you can feel others around you, despite not touching anything at all. They’re your… family? No. Friends? No. You don’t seem to be able to find a word to describe them. They’re important to you! …You think. Who are they, again?

You think they’re trying to speak to you, but all you can hear is the sound of gentle currents and air bubbles. Or maybe this is what they’re saying to you? You don’t know. Dreams are weird, aren’t they? But then they sing. It’s the prettiest sound you’ve heard. It’s the most haunting sound you’ve heard. It encourages you to move, at last. You didn’t realize you could. There’s a light that filters through the surface of the water…

…and you wake up. You feel strangely refreshed, like that’s the best sleep you’ve gotten in ages! You also feel… distantly sad, like you’ve just remembered something horrible that happened a long time ago.

It’s probably nothing.

For the rest of the month, you find sleep comes easy, and dreams are soothing. How uncharacteristically nice! Maybe don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

A BITTER ARRIVAL

You wake up to bitter cold. It's dark, the winds howling and whipping through the air, snow battering anything not sturdy enough to stand tall against it... and even the trees seem like one more push could knock them over. This isn't a forest you know, yet it seems like home. If you're not prepared for the cold, the warm lights of a small town will guide you, call to you, and your heart yearns for warmth. As you stumble through the heavy snow and harsh winds, something heavy hangs from your neck and the winds begin to form words with your own voice- SACRIFICE... END THIS WINTER WITH SACRIFICE.

As more voices join the wretched wails, your eyes feel heavier. You're almost to the town, though. Is it one of the houses that you wind up knocking on? Or do you manage to get to the inn, big and tall and radiating more warmth than anything you've ever felt? Regardless, you are no longer alone, but the cold still aches and clings, and something with your voice still calls it's omens outside. Only when you melt the heavy snowflake-shaped amulet hanging around your neck in the fires does the cold abate and the foreign copy of your voice fall silent.

A COLD RECEPTION

In the forest of the lost, the worst winter you've ever seen has finally set in full. The lake and river are both frozen over completely, and even the most hardy of beasts have hidden away from the cruel blizzard. The sky is dark, the winds are sharp and the freezing temperatures permeate most buildings, creeping in like a thief ready to steal the breath from your lungs if you aren't careful. Even fires seem to bend to this cold, save for the ever-burning, ever-blinding light of the fireplace in the inn- though she's long since gone, it seems one woman's faith still protects those in the Grove. Shadows haunt the clearing and amongst the winds and even the deafest ears can hear the voices howling alongside the storm, always demanding the same thing: a sacrifice.

When shadows flicker across the window, that is when you know you aren't alone. Ghastly wraiths of frost and ragged sleet fly through the air, and it's hard to tell if they are commanding the winter winds or if they are working in tandem. Regardless, the cold seems to be enhanced by their presence and if they catch you alone outside, they curse you with a frost so deep it pierces the heart and spreads. To some, it may be familiar, like turning to ice from within. To others it may be entirely new. But it spreads slowly and with agony while the wraiths make their demand once more and then vanish. Thankfully, a bit of kindness can melt the ice, but the winter wraiths are always willing to inflict the curse again...

... But you are not powerless. So long as you don't go alone, so long as you have a weapon, you can fend these things off, for a time. But they will be back.

They must have their sacrifice, after all.

BEACONS

Not everyone can fight though. Not everyone should. The only peace that can be found is in the sleep that follows that odd dream... but eventually the large shadow woman known as the Trader, Ydalir, makes her way through the snow to find you. With a warm furry blanket and a cup of tea, she gives you a small kit.

"Build these lanterns and hang them in the window. Be a light in the dark, loves." Is what she says.

The lanterns consist of wood, paper and a little cup for a candle. They can be in any shape and color, and when you hang them in the window the candle sparks into light. As frost clings on the other side of the window and the snow shrouds the outside world and veils what lies beyond, you can see other lights. Other lanterns, shining brightly. It may not be much, but it is still a sign. A reminder. You are not alone in this blizzard.

Spark Notes

summary

wakes and awakenings will bring you into a strange dream of being with many being, important ones, and a haunting song. Despite the melancholy feeling, it also brings a month of restful sleep no matter what.

a bitter arrival is how our new arrivals find themselves: lost in the woods in the middle of a terrible blizzard with only the faint lights of the Grove to guide you to safety. While you wear the snowflake amulet, the winter wraiths can use a mimicry of your voice to make their demands and curse you with a lingering freeze- only melting the amulets in a fire will set you free and silence the copy of your voice in the cacophony.

a cold reception shows just how bad the winter's gotten, with impenetrable ice freezing both the lake and the river solid. the wraiths curse whoever they see with turning to ice from within, but a genuine act of kindness or love will save their victims. the wraiths can be fought, but only with a companion or two, and definitely not with your bare hands. ... they will return though, again and again.

beacons grants perhaps a bit of hope in this dark winter- ydalir brings people supplies as best she can since the cold doesn't affect her shadowy body and there is nothing for the wraith to freeze, and she also brings a gift- a lantern to craft and hang in the window to show the others in town that you're all still here, cutting through the darkness.

out of character

Welcome to the first TDM of 2025! Regular AC resumes this month and as you can see, we're changing things up a little. TDMers are welcome and encouraged to reach out on our plotting post linked below. We're so excited to start the new year with everyone, and may the horrors stay in writing... because they are resuming now.

updates

❖ AFFOGATO COOKIE has used a magical artifact as a sacrifice. This has resulted in the blizzard lessening but still being present and the wraiths being banished from the grove, but still haunting the forest. There are further effects but they will come in to play during a player plot. ... Get your sacrifices in still though.
❖ MAYOI'S prayer to Ourania the day of the fight with Suri invoked a blessing: an aurora shines through the sky, and anyone in it's lights will be gradually healed and soothed.

submissions

❖ Questions
❖ January Plotting (Open to TDMers)
❖ Sacrifices (Plot relevant, open to all)
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations

code

Comments

arrival

[cryptograms]

[ On a scale of one to ten on the weird scale, this is a solid 6. The wiggly hair with eyes gives him a few extra points, but that really just makes him a possible Medusa. Hardly too bizarre.

Still, the shouting is hardly a surprise, and Ford simply lifts his hand in a wave when he hears it. ]

Greetings! This must be your first trip through dimensions.

[jesterlies]

[There's quite a lot going on in his head. Why does he not recognize where he is, where did his followers go since they were just with him in the portal, why is his body like this, and why does it feel like something is wrong with his magic.]

[There is also, you know, the events that just happened, but how about we shove that down into a deep dark little box where he can't think about it. There is someone talking to him, and his first knee-jerk response is to accuse witch because he has not known anyone else to hold a form like this but witches.]

[But this man does not look like a witch to him. His knowledge of witches, while not complete is still far greater than anyone else's, and he feels mostly??? confident that this is true. Oh. That is something else that has become very clear to him suddenly. He does not have access to all the fucking knowledge of everything anymore. His head is. Very quiet.]

[Ford has been given the single most bewildered owlish expression for the solid like silent thirty seconds he's been stared at by this weird clown man.]

--Yes! [And like a toy that's button has been pressed, he springs to life, dragging himself gracelessly to his feet.] Yes, it would appear I'm suddenly very far from home!

[This is an easy part to play. It will get him somewhere he hopes.]

Please forgive me just now, I must have been in terrible shock. Might you tell me what's going on?

[cryptograms]

[ Honestly, witch is a more accurate description for Ford than Shadow Milk might conclude. He has not brought any cookies alive for the sole purpose of eating them, but... well, it's not like his moral compass is that much more robust.

He's helpful, at least. He waits patiently while Shadow Milk processes things; Ford easily occupies himself wondering if his many-eyed hairstyle is physiological, magical, or just some sort of accessory. And when Shadow Milk finally has a question for him, Ford has a prompt answer. ]

Like you said, you're a long way from home. This is the Grove. I'm afraid I don't know its dimensional designation, but—

[ He waves a hand, dismissive. It doesn't really matter until they leave. ]

In any case, you're stuck here indefinitely. You might meet a few other people from your home dimension, or none at all. Some very strange things will happen while you're here, and you should avoid the forest as much as you can.

[ Let's see... ]

Oh. And all of us are supposedly reincarnations of individuals that lived here hundreds of years ago, so you might find perfect strangers strangely familiar.

[jesterlies]

[Hahahaha, wow, there sure is a lot to process here while Shadow Milk is trying to maintain a veneer of pleasantness to this gnat that is explaining things to him. His smile stays, one of rapt attention but-]

[His hair begins to writhe, making it even harder for Ford to probably discern the nature of it. It splits apart like tentacles, while black inkiness seems to drip upwards while the eyes look. Particularly unhappy. There is a strange thickness to the air around them for a moment before it just ...peters out. His hair simmers down to just looking kind of bewildered, eyes blinking. Shadow Milk continues to hold that saccharine expression on his face.]

Since you've been so kind as to explain so much, [He tests the ground with his feet, tapping the toe of his shoe a few times before he simply rises in the air to float comfortably.] I don't suppose you would mind taking me to whatever counts as civilization? I would be so ever in your debt. I'm but a humble jester, and if this forest is as frightening as you imply, it sounds like we should proooobably leave!

[cryptograms]

[ Oh, that is fascinating. Ford carries on steadily with his explanation, but while he does a hand vanishes into his coat only to reemerge with a thick, leather-bound journal. When Shadow Milk simply levitates himself into the air, Ford's expression goes from curious to delighted. ]

Certainly! We're not too far from the inn. But along the way—

[ His hand vanishes into his coat again, and this time it emerges with a pen. ]

Do you mind if I ask you some questions?

[jesterlies]

[This bitch doesn't know how to walk.]

[Anyway, he raises an eyebrow as the journal comes out. Hmm. Well it will make things less boring on the way! Let's see what kind of questions he has. He floats along after him like a tool.]

Ooooh, an interview with yours truly? I suppose! What do you have for little ol' me?

[cryptograms]

Magnificent! First—

[ Ford points to Shadow Milk's hair as they walk. ]

Those eyes in your... hair? Are they physiological—that is, a part of your body—or are they some sort of magical or technological addition?

[jesterlies]

Oh? The hair product I use is quite reflective. The sort of thing that shows you something deep within, heheh. You see eyes? How interesting.

[He's fucking lying, and he was always intending to lie, but lets see what happens when he says this. Maybe it will be amusing.]

Are they looking at you now?

[They are.]

[cryptograms]

[ Ford is already not the greatest at detecting when he's being lied to. Add in the huge variety of extremely bizarre things he's seen in his life and you've got a perfect recipe for someone who can't tell when he's being fucked with. ]

They are.

[ Eyes, huh...? Well, that's easy enough to move on from. ]

So the shampoo—did you make it yourself, or is that a commonly available product in your dimension?

[jesterlies]

Oh, of course! Magic is prevalent aaaaall around Earthbread! You'd be shocked to know what kind of tomfoolery they get up to in those magic academies. Toiling away with their little cauldrons, playing with the natural order, and what have you, heheh.

[His hair shifts, and all the eyes close? they open up and become stars and moons for a moment, before shifting into ...candy shapes? Anyway, this guy seems really gullible so that's fun.]

Wanna see a magic trick?