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

[aneikonic]

Will.

[ He nods to the name. He didn't know Beastmen had human names. He's starting to feel bad he didn't try to communicate with them more, like with the Goblins in Boklad.

He sighs and looks towards the wounds. The one on his side is worse, thick ice stiffening his arm. But... it's been slowly decreasing. It's... ]

Like a curse. [ Like petrification. ] It seems to be easing, however.

[goldenambition]

[He snaps his fingers in a 'bingo' like gesture, pointing at Clive]

Exactly. Maybe the heat. Maybe the one that hit you being gone. Can' say. Though-

[he closes his eyes, scenting the air softly]

Not malicious the way a curse is, usually. Just... death. Death and cold.

[aneikonic]

Natural. Simply the elements.

[ Ice. Wind. Elements aren't malicious, even those Wraiths didn't seem malicious. But they call for a sacrifice and he's not letting that happen. Reaching back he unhooks his word from it's scabbard to set it to the side so he can settle better without it jabbing into the floor, propping his arm on his knee to turn the injuries more towards the fire.

Even if the fire doesn't seem to touch the ice so much as something else. Will helping from before seemed to hasten it faster.... Clive turns his head towards the other, thoughtful. ]

You're a bearer? You can heal?

[goldenambition]

[he nods. Yes, natural is the word for the scent of it. The natural world could be cruel, but it was a fair cruel. That's what this feels like. He doesn't look up from the wound, but his ears turn towards Clive as he speaks]

Dunno the term, but I know a bit of magic, aye. A little healing, some tricks. Nothing formal or fancy like you were doing.

[he flicks a hand to where he hung his bow]

Even that was something my brother cooked up- he's got a talent for pulling power into machines.

[aneikonic]

[ He's silent as he absorbs this information. He would never ask a bearer to use their magic for his sake, lest the curse advance in them. Maybe it's not the healing that helped? He glances towards the crossbow, expecting to see a crystal, and is a little surprised he doesn't. ]

Your brother is able to work magic into machinery without crystals?

[ Oh, Mid would be all over this, his heart clenching to the thought. He hopes they're all all right back in the Hideaway. ]

[goldenambition]

[And as Clive frets over it, Will nods to himself, deciding that the heat is not doing as much as he wanted. Raising his hands again to flood the spot with more light]

Mhm. Though I know he uses this and that in doin' it, I wouldn' be able to tell you how. He really is a genius.

[Said with open pride and fondness]

[aneikonic]

Wait. Don't push yourself.

[ But whether it's the healing or the care towards him, the ice glimmers under the light and begins to shrink. Slowly but surely, and he flexes his hand as sensation comes back. ]

But... thank you.

[ And oh, he knows that pride and fondness, and it gets a small smile from him in return. ]

Younger?

[goldenambition]

It's fine. I can' put yer guts back in or nothin', so let me do this much.

[He smiles, chuckling]

Elder, actually. He pretty much raised me.

[aneikonic]

[ He won't argue but his gaze will be intensely focused on Will's hands, as if to watch for something. Any sign of petrification. But... Beastmen have never seem to be afflicted by the curse so maybe.... ]

He must love you dearly.

[ Which means Clive needs to find a way to get them all home. ]

[goldenambition]

I'd be dead otherwise.

[His voice is as airy as it's been this whole time, but there's a seriousness to his gaze. He finishes up casting, looking at the place the wraith clawed]

Now that looks right keen, I think!

[aneikonic]

Hm.

[ Agreeance. He understands that as well. Once the warmth from the healing stops, he'll check out his shoulder. More scars to add to the bunch, and he'll have to sew up his armor there but. ]

I owe you.

[goldenambition]

No more shiny a coin than that.

[He grins, tail wagging]

[aneikonic]

Hah, agreed.

[ He doesn't mind owing this man. Twice over, truthfully.

Do forgive him for watching the tail wag though, brow lowering thoughtfully. It's a lot like how Torgal would react...

Do Beastmen also like their ears rubbed? He probably shouldn't. Or at least ask first. Hm. ]

[goldenambition]

[ Oh Clive, you have no idea. Gold is fine. He likes gold. Loves it even- likes having means for himself and his loved ones. But a favor, ooooh a favor. A favor never goes stale and never depreciates. He hordes them like gems. Trades them like a merchant baron. Gives them out and cashes them in with utmost care.

That wasn't on his mind when he leapt to aid him, of course. But his better nature has paid out more than once. He doesn't see it as a sin.

Thinking on this he almost doesn't notice Clive's eyes falling to his swishing tail. His eyes lid in amusement, and he rests his elbow on the armrest and his chin in his hand, looking self satisfied. Cat in the cream]

Not used to beastkin, eh?

[aneikonic]

... Yes and no.

[ It's rude to stare and he lifts his eyes from the tail only to land them on the ears. A lot like Torgals too... Yet different enough to not be a wolf. His fingers itch to rub them. ]

The Beastmen I am most aware of are Goblins, Orcs, Minotaurs, and Gigas.

[ He folds his arms over his chest and relaxes back, propping his back up against something. ]

I have never encountered a more humanoid one, with beast features. Forgive me if that's rude.

[goldenambition]

[His tail and fur puff up a little. Goblin!? He'd be insulted if it wasn't clear Clive has either a very twisted or completely different use of those words.]

It is a bit, but a bloke can' stay mad at that confused face.

[aneikonic]

[ ... Well that's not the first time he's heard sentiments like that, so while he does blink he also smiles a faint little crooked smile. ]

Thank you, and my apologies. I take it you are not from Valisthea?

[ Where, in particular, is he. Across the Ocean? Has the blight there manifested in this horrible Winter? ]

[goldenambition]

Caledonia. Which I'm guessin' is just as gibberjack as Valisthea is to me. Looks like we really did get faesnatched in the worst way.

[aneikonic]

[ That's met with silence. Sorry, Will, he's a brooder, his faint smile fading as he thinks. ]

Unfortunately, it is, but for me the world is largely unknown.

[ Faesnatched... ]

[goldenambition]

[It doesn't seem to bother him when Clive goes quiet. He's used to it from Jay.]

Well, they've been saying everyone here was livin' here in a past life or something like that. Sounds like bollocks to me, personally. But it's at least a starting point to getting outta here, right right?

[aneikonic]

A past life?

[ Well, that's not too far fetched, gathering what he knows of souls and aether. At least he seems to relaxing the more they talk. ]

So you believe this to be another world entirely? If that's true, there must be a similar principle of aether and magic here.

[ He lifts a hand and summons a small flame to it, the Phoenix's blessing warm in his hand. ]

Else this would be impossible.

[goldenambition]

Another world. Another plane. A country so hidden and distant none's mapped it. All the same when you ya think 'bout it, pally.

[ he reaches out and twirls his finger above the flame, like a cook stiring a pot. The flame tints a brilliant emerald green, though the aether and heat is unchanged. One of the 'tricks' he mentioned]

Maybe the magic here is the same. Maybe just you are. But doesn't not knowing jus' tickle the fancy?

[aneikonic]

[ Oh, that's interesting, and Clive lets it happen to watch the red turn a healthier jolly green. It's almost as if Garuda's been mixed in, but there's no sense of wind in it. It's still just the Phoenix's flame, full of life. Huh. ]

It worries me. There is a curse that strikes those that strain themselves too much with magic, so if magic here is the same. If I am the same...

[ Petrification should already be starting on him, but as he finally snuffs the flames and checks his hand... it's healthy. Alive.

It's not possible. In any sense. ]

[goldenambition]

Ah... that explains it.

[He makes no move to explain WHAT that explains. Thanks Will]

Should it have already started? You were throwing around a lot of fire out there.

[aneikonic]

Not going to share with the rest of the class?

[ His voice is teasing and that is all he says on the matter, before he sighs, his brow crinkling. ]

That's what I don't understand. It should be, yes. But if we are truly in another world...

[ Which doesn't make sense. ]