sticksandbones | EVENT & TDM 020

Entry tags:

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

[ At least for the Beastman the flames are merely warm and not hot like they should be. In fact... they seem to be flickering lower, the cold and wind around them smothering them, and with every swing of his sword as a Wraith gets closer they die faster.

So he moves closer to the Beastman, the heat still only warm and comforting. But he's also urging them to move so that the Wraiths are mostly in front of them instead. ]

Fire through the flames!

[ He hopes your crossbow is reloaded in time, as he summons Phoenix's flames with the last of his priming. Red flares bright on his chest and scarlet wings of fire with an incandescent shimmer sprout from his back, and both of them are suddenly surrounded by flames.

Which are quickly fading as swiftly as they are summoned. ]

[He has to trust the guy knows what he's doing... and the flames don't SMELL dangerous other then, well, being fire. So he holds his ground, getting the barrel set and the magnetic crackling.

Still, it's hard not to stare. Those wings sure are pretty.

Never-mind that though, he takes aim... and shoots through the lingering flames. And like an open window in a burning house they flare with sudden blinding heat. Last gasping breaths of power fueled by the wind into final bursts.

Fwoom.

Still, it doesn't last long. The air ate up by the heat and the heat swallowed by the supernatural cold. But as it fade it seems the current wave of foes is gone. Melted, shattered or corpses.]

[ Exactly as he hoped would happen, and as the fire fades from around them and in him, and Clive drops to a knee as unnatural exhaustion takes hold, he feels a touch of satisfaction at a combination well done. ]

Well done.

[ The words are sincere despite the tired gruffness of his voice, the rime on his shoulder an side crackling ominously as it begins to form into ice. It hurts and he grimaces, but pulls himself to his feet despite it. ]

Are you hurt?

[And Will darts over, swinging his bow back to his back holster.]

I'm fine. More worried 'bout that frost on you. Hold up, lemme see.

[Hands free he rubs them together, seemingly against the cold until they glow with warm healing light]

[ Hm, he's met Beastmen who are able to cast magic, so this doesn't surprise him. What does is the intelligence, and the more humanoid features. Harpocrates would love to hear about this. ]

Thank you. I fear without your arrival, it would have been much worse.

[ The pain eases under the warm light and the ice seems to stop it's advancement, but it doesn't seem to retreat any. He studies it, thoughtful, fingering the bits. ]

You were the one givin' the impressive light show! Still, this storm is something else... and doesn't seem to wanna get her claws outta you just yet. Can you walk, friend? I will give a shoulder if you need it, but I think you might crush me.

Edited 2025-01-04 00:55 (UTC)

A light show was all it was.

[ The flames dying so fast and making him feel so ill were something new. He nods to the question, rotating his shoulder a little. The joke gets a little smile from him. ]

I should be able to. To the Inn?

To the Inn. If the fire don' melt this ice there should be better healers than me at least.

[ he puts a hand on Clive's back. Just in case his steadiness is bluster. But he can't help but pause, gazing out at the woods, nose twitching]

Somethin' bout this storm. Deep, old stuff. Slit a beasties throat for the harvest kind of old. Don' think she's gonna back off on her own.

Edited 2025-01-04 01:13 (UTC)

[ The hand on his back makes him blink, but it's a kind gesture and he'll take it. The comment gets the slight smile to slip and he glances out with the Beastman towards the woods. He trusts one so connected to nature as they are. ]

Then we fight. Nothing will be sacrificed.

[ Not if he has anything to say about it. No one, nothing, dies for this. He begins to walk, leaning a little due to the ice pulling on his side. ]

Real brave. Might not matter. But noth of that gloomy bit! In we go-

[ the Inn feels like a furnace compared to the outside, and Will closes the door quickly and seems intent on herding Clive to the fire like a small livestock dog- friendly, but undeniable and not opposed to nipping]

Here we go big man, pop a squat.

[ And he doesn't need to be told twice. He unhooks the cape from around his shoulders to settle it on a chair nearby to dry, then drops himself cautiously down near the fire, grimacing to his wounds pulling.

Big man... ]

It's Clive.

Clive. And this here is Whippoorwill. But jus' Will is dandy if that's too much a mouthful.

[Chattered as he kneels down to peer at the wounds, his tail twitching back and forth as he thinks]

Hmhm... it really is strange. More like a poison then ice, innit?

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.

[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.

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?

[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.

[ 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. ]

[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]

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?

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.

[ 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. ]

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!

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.

No more shiny a coin than that.

[He grins, tail wagging]

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. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject