sticksandbones | 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'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?

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...

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.

[ 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.

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.]

[ ... 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.

[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?

[ 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.

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?

[ 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.

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.]

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. ]

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~~]

[ Ah, he's reminded of Mid yet again, which makes his mind wander for a brief second. What are they all doing back at home? Are they still waiting for Clive and himself to come back, or are they frozen in time?

He can't help but wonder which one is the more cruel option, considering he knows of his own fate. ]

You are most welcome.

[ Joshua gives Shoka a smile. This had been him, just a handful of weeks ago. ]

I know what it is like, being taken to an unfamiliar world. Whatever I may do to ease your transition, please do not hesitate to ask.

It'd be helpful too if you could explain to me a little bit about what you know about this place. I don't think I'm entirely up to speed on what's been happening.

[something something grove something]

Ah, yes, of course.

[ Where to begin... Well, at the beginning would probably be the best. ]

Supposedly, this is the place where our souls originated. I haven't seen any evidence to prove it, but I don't exactly have any evidence disproving it, either. The goddesses, Beiwe and Ourania - the sun and the moon, respectively - are here and can speak to us, but Ourania specifically is in a highly weakened state.

The Fallen Sun, Beiwe's brother, turned cruel. I'm still not certain what happened to cause it, but his hatred for humanity knows no bounds. He was sealed away for a long, long time, but he has escaped his bindings and now seeks to harm every single one of us.

[She narrows her eyes dubiously, doubtful of the narrative but not of Joshua himself-- he too was expressing doubts of validity himself, anyways. But hey, just as he said, who were they to disprove it thus far, either? If forces were strong enough to drag them here, who knows what else was going on?]

What, are we like, special somehow? Special enough to deserve the attention and ire?

EVENT & TDM 020

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