sticksandbones | EVENT & TDM 020

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EVENT & TDM 020

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think that's what he is? I didn't ask.

[Patpatting Dachie's head. Who's a good dachie? He squishes his feathery cheeks up, causing his eyes to scrunch up. He's soft like a mochi.]

A fowlbeast and a dog mixed together, haha. But yeah, this room's probably Ain's. We might want to look a little further down.

[Dachie is thoroughly enjoying this treatment thank you. He tries to sound cute, like how puppies will whine at you when they want something, but instead it's a horrifying barn owl noise and Thorns looks between him and Elysium like "uh" while Dachie enthusiastically licks Elysium's hand.

...

So he's friendly. Thorns thinks. But yeah, this is clearly someone else's room, so let's move on.]

He leaves his door open? [Yeah that's Dachie's room and Ain's room2 for when he's upset and needs to compartmentalize all his emotions away from everyone, duh. Anyway, down the hall they go. After testing several in a row, Thorns happens across an empty one at the end of the hall, undecorated and clean in that way that inns tend to be. Way, way too clean. Scarily clean.] Here's one.

I guess so? Maybe he just left for a little bit?

[He just met the guy, he doesn't know how Ain lives his life.

He will, however, give Dachie one more headscritch before waving goodbye and following Thorns on down the hallway, poking his head into the room they find behind him.]

Oooh yeah, this is definitely a free one. It doesn't look lived in at all!

[He saunters his way over to the bed, taking a seat on the edge of it. Honestly, he'd argue it's cozier than his quarters at Rhodes. Maybe it's the atmosphere though, this is like a cabin while Rhodes is all metal and cold.]

I'll let you sleep by the window, if you want.

[.................oh okay you're just living in the room WITH him you just decided that]

[...why is this not surprising at fucking all.]

What if I wanted my own room?

[He doesn't. He's lying. But he wants to see how Elysium reacts to this, because messing with him is 24/7.]

[Elysium is swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, pleased as punch...then Thorns says that, and his head snaps over like ???]

Wha- why? I mean...I guess if you really wanted, that's fine...but you'd still have to put up with me having a room across from yours!

[He will leave his door open so they can talk. You are not escaping him]

I don't get a moment of peace.

[Thorns is currently toeing his boots off as he says that, and taking off those extraneous bits on his outfit. The cape, the jewellery, all that stuff.]

...I'm kidding. How many years have we been roommates now? [Which is why he's just. Stripping, apparently.] You're just as easy to mess with as you were day one.

[Yeah you'd better be kidding he was actually starting to worry-

But that worry immediately disappears and he's all smiles again, practically cooing as he leans his weight forward on the heels of his hands. He could be dressing down a bit himself, but he's not. He's just.

Watching. Watching Thorns while he strips. It's fine.]

I am not! You're just so...genuine, you know? It's hard not to believe what you say.

[Gayass.

Thorns is taking his braid out, and that tiny ponytail he normally wears. Darting around the room, finding places to put things... he does wish he had decent winter clothing, and warm pyjamas suddenly. The man is a mess on the best day, but it's still the least bit cold.

His eyes dart to the pillows on the bed, then to Elysium. Hm.]

I was being sarcastic. [Thorns, buddy, you do not ever sound sarcastic.]

[ :)??? ]

Oh, really? I couldn't tell.

[Lmaoooo

Anyway! Elysium stretches his arms above his head...mmm.]

I should remove my coat...but it's so cold I don't really want to...mmm....

[Yeah no shit you couldn't tell.

Thorns walks over to the bed now, standing in front of Elysium now, a single brow very subtly raised. It's those little microexpressions that Elysium can read better than Thorns' "sarcasm", apparently.

There's an obvious suggestion there. Elysium could take his coat off, and probably in his mind, he wants Thorns to say "we could cuddle :)" even though Thorns has never made those suggestions in his life. Instead, he leans closer, grabbing the edge of Elysium's coat like he's going to take it off for him.

His expression is completely unreadable. Or, he hopes it is, anyway.]

Really?

[Elysium likes to think he can read Thorns very well, even though he absolutely cannot. He reads him better than most, make no mistake, but there's still a lot that flies right over his head. So yes, he notices that little brow raise. And when Thorns comes over and takes the edge of his coat, he sort of forgets to breathe for a moment.

Ahaha-]

Ah...w-well. I mean. It is getting pretty warm in here, haha...

[But like. If Thorns wanted to cuddle, Elysium wouldn't say NO...]

[He sees, he sees...

Thorns, a man with absolutely zero rizz, leans in really close. Like, really obnoxiously close, to where Elysium will no doubt feel his quick breaths.]

I can think of a way to warm you up.

[His left hand fists around the pillow while his right fists tight in Elysium's coat, and then Thorns leans back and whacks him in the face with it.

Pillow fight: Engaged.]

[On god, if Thorns had grabbed his coat and got any closer before breaking the tension, Elysium might have snapped and tried to kiss him, it's the romantic movie tension his chance was right there-

But no. He gets walloped in the face with a pillow the moment his heart begins to race, causing him to let loose a very bird-like squeal muffled into that pillow as he falls straight back onto the bed. Comically so.

He pops back up a second later, beet red with his feathers so fluffed his head looks massive.]

You-! You-!!!

[SNATCHES UP THE OTHER PILLOW AND WHIPS IT AT THORNS LIKE-

GIRL!!!!!!!!]

[Oblivious as always, Thorns takes that pillow to the face (it slides down his face and chest, and hits the floor) and just starts fucking laughing about it. It's a quiet laugh, nothing too boisterous (he never is), but he's still grinning as he picks it back up and goes in for a second strike.

This is what men do at sleepovers. Gay pillow fights.]

[Aaaaa!!

Elysium is so frazzled he almost doesn't fully register that Thorns is laughing, as quiet as he is. But he hears it well enough, and it causes something to roil hot in his chest as he gets hit in the face full-on a second time before catching and hurling the pillow that was thrown at him back.]

Take that!

[Everyone who sees you two thinks you're fucking married. If they saw this shit, double-assumed married. Juana definitely thinks they're married and Thorns is like, completely oblivious to this. And there's a high chance Rose Salts probably looked at Elysium like "so your husband—".

Anyway, Thorns dodges that pillow like one would dodge a projectile mid fight, and then disappears swiftly out of the room. He comes back a moment later hauling three different pillows with him that he undoubtedly pilfered from adjacent empty rooms, hurling them in succession at Elysium.

The boys. They're boying.]

[As Thorns arrives with MORE AMMO, Elysium lifts a hand to point, as if to be like "HEY NO FAIR", but before he can say anything he's getting pelted again. You'd think he'd be better at dodging but no, he's getting hit by each and every one, though that's probably because he's starting to go breathless from laughing too hard. They literally sound like children up here stomping around and throwing things at each other.]

You never- Umph-! Struck me as a man who would play dirty-!!

I'm a pirate, mi amigo.

[Shut up you didn't become a pirate until like a month ago, this is Not core to your identity you're a nerd.

But, it's fine, because the more pillows he throws (all of them) the less ammo he has, which puts him literally against a wall over here. Your move, Elysium, he's run out.]

Yeah, so?? You can be a nice pirate! A gentleman pirate!!

[Now that Thorns is out of ammo...Elysium will grab the nearest pillow and start whapping him with it without letting it go. Whap whap whap-]

I have you now, you cur! Have at you!!

[aaaaAAAAAAA—

Thorns, forced on the back foot here, puts both hands up to try to deflect. It works only somewhat, the pillow is still smacking him in the face regardless. Whap whap whap—]

It would only be a fair fight if I were also— [pwah] —armed!

[He attempts to shuffle over to grab a fallen pillow from the nest of those on the floors, and tries to parry the strikes.]

[Thorns will be successful, because Elysium is starting to get a little winded. He's still laughing inbetween breaths as he meets Thorns' strikes with his own, and if these pillows happen to have down in them, there are probably little feathers floating around in the air by now.]

Fair? You came at me without any warning! That's hardly fair!

You had— [bleh bleh feather in mouth, whether it's one of Elysium's or a pillow feather is unknown,] —your chance to gauge my movements before I struck.

[He was gauging how close your lips were to his, Thorns. He was not watching anything else. Please you have got to stop being this oblivious.

Anyway. Thorns tries smacking Elysium with a now almost-empty pillowcase, realises that it's empty, leans down to try to grab another... loses his footing completely and falls back onto the mattress instead.

Good job genius.]

[It's a good thing these rooms repair themselves. Hopefully that includes what's in them too...these poor pillows.

Anyway, when Thorns falls back, Elysium takes this as his opportunity to pounce. He springs forward with his own pillow and plants a knee on the mattress between Thorns' legs (he's not even trying to make this suggestive this time, but oops) so he can smash the pillow he's holding (gently) right into his face.

WHAP.]

And now you're at my mercy! Admit defeat!

[Thorns is Squashed. Might as well smother him with that sucker while he's down here because you Know his ass ain't slept in ??????? anyway— if he were a meaner overly-competitive roommate, he might've kicked Elysium between the legs, but instead he tries to reach up for his arms and then (gently) shoves at the Liberi's thighs with his bare feet. Trying to push him away, but not hurt him.]

If I [whap] admit defeat— [it's hard to talk like this, actually,] —I'll never hear the end of—

[This is hopeless. He has to un-smother himself. Of course his face will be all flushed when he can breathe again, and he's panting to catch his breath, dishevelled because of being ASSAILED via PILLOW... and Elysium's leg is between his. Feast your eyes on it, he's never going to look this way ever again.]

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