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

[kittygirl]

[She lets her Mr. Mews disappear as well, now that the fight was seemingly over. For now...]

I think whatever spell it was casting on me got interrupted. But it's Shoka, none of this lady stuff.

[She would normally bully a little harder, if not for the fact she had to silently admit he definitely saved her ass back there. The fire was probably much more of a deterrent than her pin psych.]

You can tell me who you are while we get our asses inside somewhere.

[kingincognito]

[ Ah. Like Mid, she doesn't seem to enjoy the formalities. Noted. ]

Of course. The inn is the best place - I'd just been returning there myself.

[ He gives her a glance, as if silently asking, "Were you going elsewhere?" But he's making an executive decision. Back to the inn he turns. It's a bit dangerous to be going elsewhere, and the inn is warm. ]

I am Joshua Rosfield. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

[kittygirl]

[Aw dangit, she'd wanted to go to the general store she'd heard about, but he's kinda right if she had to be honest, so she's not gonna object to the change in direction. But she's gonna be just a little inwardly pouty about it.]

Joshua. Cool.

[Now she knows two of those, that won't be confusing at all!]

What was that thing you did back there? You were like, literally on fire.

[kingincognito]

[ The time for going shopping is not now, when shopping comes with a side order of angry wraith and possible death.

Ah, but of course she would ask. It isn't something that he's been trying to advertise, but with how things have been lately, there's really no way to keep it under lock and key any longer. Joshua inhales softly, exhaling a sigh through his nose. ]

I am the Dominant of the Phoenix, so I am able to transform into it. That was... a sort of partial form. Where fully transforming is called priming, we call that form semi-priming.

And what about yours? What were those... toys?

[kittygirl]

I have no idea what that means, but good for you. Or I'm sorry or whatever.

[Said cheerfully. The phoenix she fought looked a lot different, but he did sort of kind of remind her of someone taking on a sort of guise of the kind of phoenix that you'd catch on FanGO. He must be super powerful, then... man, what's with everyone around here and being so powerful?]

Oh, that was Mr. Mew.

[Said very matter-of-factly. She's not really the exposition kinda girl, soooo....]

[kingincognito]

[ Once again, Joshua experiences a brief moment of "Huh???" It's only because she's dismissed it so... cheerfully, though, after sounding interested. Again, he's reminded of Mid.

Mr. Mew... So it has a name. It seems like something a child would have, rather than a girl near Mid's age - and now that he thinks about it, where did they come from? She isn't holding even a single one of them, although her cloak looks similar... A spell of some sort? ]

Is Mr. Mew a coeurl?

[kittygirl]

[She thought it was sick as hell, but she's not gonna tell him that.]

No, he's a cat.

[There's a hint of exasperation that lends to the belief that she's been through this conversation before. But, something seems to really catch her interest from what he said--]

You know what a coeurl is? Do you play FanGO?

[kingincognito]

[ It certainly sounds like she has. But he'd recognized it as coeurl-like, at least! Minus the long whiskers. ]

Well, I have fought one before.

[ A pause. ]

What is "fango?" Some sort of game?

[kittygirl]

Yes it's a game! One of the like, most popular phone apps out there!

[She almost sounds insulted, before her brain wraps back around to the first thing he said. Wait wait wait.]

...Are you saying you've seen a coeurl like, for real?

[kingincognito]

I... My apologies, but I don't know what a "phone" is.

[ ... oh look, it's the inn! Haha! In we go. He will at least hold the door open for Shoka - ladies first. ]

I have. And I try not to. They're quite dangerous.

[kittygirl]

[She's not even gonna razz him for not knowing what a phone is because she's too fixated on what he's saying now. Shoka won't even comment on him holding open the door, even!]

They're like, enemies you fight?

[kingincognito]

[ How generous of her! He follows inside once she's cleared the door, closing it firmly behind him to keep out the cold. ]

Well, they are creatures trying to live like all else, but yes, I suppose so. If they attack.

[kittygirl]

I've never seen a coeurl in person, but they're in my game I mentioned. And some other games I've played, too.

[Her face is lit up with keen curiosity.]

It's wild that they're like, real for you. But wait-- are regular cats not?

[kingincognito]

I... see. Odd that they exist in your games, but not in your world.

[ What does that mean, exactly? He hasn't the foggiest idea of where to even start. ]

Coeurls are the only cats that I know of. It's possible that maybe at one point, there were others more like your doll, but with our lands blighted as they are...

[kittygirl]

To be fair, Mr. Mew is pretty stylized. Regular cats are like... kinda like coeurls? But smaller, and cuter, and without the giant whisker things.

[She puts her hands on her hips.]

Your home is in trouble, then? Sucks that you're stuck here.

[kingincognito]

[ Oh. She really does know about coeurls. ]

I see... Then no, I haven't seen any.

[ It's possible that the blight eliminated their source of food, if they're like coeurls and feed on smaller creatures. A lot of the smaller ones started dying off when the blight moved in. ]

Something like that... Our lands are being drained of aether, and without aether, the land cannot grow anything. Which means that smaller creatures cannot eat, and the people go hungry. My brother and I were trying to remedy the problem [ on a very, very large scale ] when we were brought here.

[kittygirl]

Oh, fuck. Aether is like, the source of life, right? Everything is made up of aether, or whatever. Well, not where I'm from, but...

[She knows this one, too!]

That's rough, buddy. I hope you and your brother can get back soon.

[Believe it or not from her attitude thus far, it seems a genuine remark.]

[kingincognito]

[ ... it's amazing, what she knows. Joshua raises his eyebrows. ]

Yes, it is. Even us.

[ Just wait until you find out what happens when someone depletes their aether enough, Shoka! It's real fun. ]

Thank you. I do wonder what is happening back at home, but... while here, we can only do the best that we can. And this place needs help, too. It gives us something to focus on.

[kittygirl]

[Wao... just like her Final Fantasies...]

I haven't really been here long enough to know what help this place needs, just that it wants to kill me very much, apparently.

[She pouts.]

Is it gonna be like this forever? Snowy and full of monsters?

[kingincognito]

[ it's blorbo from her vidya games.......... ]

To be honest, I haven't been here for long myself... so I certainly hope not.

[ Valisthea is decidedly not a cold climate, unless you go to the northern territories. But few, if any, people go to the northern territories these days. ]

But from what I've observed, I get the feeling that this isn't normal. The snow, anyway. There are definitely still monsters.

[kittygirl]

I'm gonna go stir crazy if it doesn't stop snowing soon. I hate that it's either go outside and get attacked in the cold, or stay inside and be bored. I'll take the monsters if it means I can get something to do with my life!

[She sighs in exasperation.]

What do you do for fun?

[kingincognito]

[ Sorry, Shoka, but he laughs at that. It's not an unkind laugh! It's a knowing laugh, and a soft one at that. ]

I know the feeling. Unfortunately, this place isn't... kind, when it comes to death. Staying in is the best option, I'm afraid.

[ As for what he does for fun: ]

I read, usually.

[kittygirl]

Someone else suggested reading too, among other things, but I didn't know where to find any books or stuff... except to go to the store and look for some.

[Hence, y'know...

She probably should've just asked people to lend her some, but imagine the terrifying ordeal of being social.]

[kingincognito]

Oh. Well, I have some that you're welcome to borrow. I don't know if the subjects are anything you're interested in, but it's certainly better than boredom.

[ They're mostly books he was able to find on local things. History, folklore, whatever he could find. One of them is a recipe book. ]

[kittygirl]

Anything is better than nothing.

[You'd be surprised what Shoka would find interesting, anyways.]

...Thanks. Or whatever,

[She seems a bit sheepish as she speaks, as if she was almost unsure what to say, or perhaps even a little bit embarrassed. Man, she's not used to these sorts of random niceties from people. This guy gave her some of the same kind of vibes Neku did-- just a sweet, kind, heroic sort. Gross]