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sticksandbones2023-04-06 08:03 pm
- !event,
- !tdm,
- elsword: add,
- elsword: elsword,
- final fantasy vii remake: aerith gainsbo,
- final fantasy xv: noctis lucis caelum,
- my hero academia: izuku midoriya,
- nier automata: 9s,
- original: felicity morais,
- original: hyacinth,
- original: rennuid tathviel,
- spy x family: yor forger,
- summertime rendering: shinpei ajiro
TDM 001
Whatever you remember last, something interrupts - be it a fight, a test, a walk, or death itself. All you can recall is a childlike voice (or was it voices?) asking, "Do you want to play with me?" before everything stopped. Your eyelids feel heavy, and the surrounding air is chilled. When you wake up, you and the others find yourselves standing in a makeshift plaza on a foggy morning. In the very center is a well. The water within is cold and clear as can be.
Surrounding the clearing is a ring of what looks to be the foundations of buildings never finished, save for two rather large ones and a smaller one. Only the small building has any light shining from the windows. One is labeled as an inn but has no name, and the other is an imposing, large manor with a red dog quietly scratching at the door. Given the indents on the wood, he's been at it for a very long time. Beyond the buildings is the start of a forest, though it quickly fills up with a fog so thick you can't see through it at all.
The smaller building is simply signed as a general store. A thick figure stands in the doorway, layered in brown and dark red cloaks that cover most of his body, save for brown worker's gloves and his pants. Two blue lights shine from the shadows where his face would be, and they shift as they watch you... before he turns around and takes his seat at the counter of the store. It's open, but he doesn't seem too thrilled.
There's a gap in the fog in the south east corner of it all, and you can hear the flow of water if approached. Trying to force your way through the fog lets you move forward four feet before you hit an invisible wall, while trying to go up- be it flight or climbing- sees you thwarted twenty feet above the canopy with a similar experience. Those above will see only the tree tops and a dense, heavy fog, and a cloudy, cold sun-lit sky. Through your explorations, you can find the start of a gate almost opposite across the clearing of the river, with a somehow familiar sign hanging from it:
Welcome to Aldric's Grove.
The inn is just as empty as the rest of the grove, save for the shopkeeper. Four rooms on the first floor are locked, and won't budge even under force, and their keys are missing from the clerk's counter. On the bright side, there are remaining keys, free to claim - keys to the store rooms, too. The kitchen is large, as one might expect from an inn, but the kitchenware seems a touch out of date, by anyone's standards. The pantry has enough to feed the lot of you for a time, fresh food and vegetables and dried or cured meats, alongside spices and herbs. One could bake if they were so inclined.
There's a lounge room as well, just before the stairs. All the furniture was pushed to the wall for what can be presumed to be cleaning, if the empty bucket and dry mop is anything to go by. In the center of the far wall is an empty fireplace, but there's no firewood to be found.
Upstairs are more rooms, accessible only with keys. It's not perfect, but it's at least a place to stay. There's a bed for two, a small table by the window, a dresser and closet, a very small stove and a private bathroom to each, but everything seems bare... at a glance.
The worst of it is that you know the layout. You've been here before- or... no, that can't be right. Surely you would remember a place like this. Right?
"What you take from the river, you must return." That's what the Shopkeeper says, if you stop by the store before going to the river.
The water rushing over rocks can be heard even from the distance of the grove itself, but upon approach it only seems louder. From what can be seen, the fog has only receded enough to grant access to 30 yards of the river and it's matching banks- after that, only fog and unusually thick bramble patches remain and block off passage on land or water. At it's deepest, the water is four feet deep and the current seems gentle. Fish can be seen swimming through the water, and objects glitter beneath the sand and mud.
Along the riverbanks, scales, small bones and teeth and strange coins marked with canines litter the ground. Keen eyes will note that some of the bones and teeth are that of animals, and some are that of humans. Some, however, are impossible to identify.
Stepping into the water feels relaxing. It's cold yet inviting. The fish swirl around your ankles before darting away, and just for a moment, everything seems like it will be okay.
On the other hand, when trying to cut through the brambles, there's a low rumble from the surrounding woods. Persist, and a vine coils around your ankle, dragging you into the water. That feels less relaxing, most likely.
At some point, there's an unusual sound- earth moving on it's own, old trees parting from their nesting place and rearranging themselves behind the fog. And as the din dies down, the fog parts, showing a thick tunnel of trees and leaves. It might look like something out of a fairy tale, if not for the sickening noises of the bark and wood creaking and writhing slowly. Whether you want to go or not, however, you will find yourself compelled to walk down the road eventually.
The road seems like a brief fifteen minute hike and a near three hour trek at the same time, but when you come to the end, you find yourself still in the woods, still circled by fog, but not the same as the grove. Once enough people are there, the path closes behind you. Keen eyes may spot hollowed out logs, trees with holes beneath the roots or high up above the branches, and large patches of very tall grass. Within the center is a cage with a pinecone shaped button on two opposing sides. Before you can finish taking it all in, however, a soft, cheerful whisper of a voice speaks:
"Let's play! If you win, I'll give you something special. Promise! Here, I'll explain the rules:"
1. Robbers must hide within the arena, and not get caught. Upon being found by the jailer, they have the opportunity to flee. But if they get caught, they get brought to jail.
2. Prisoners cannot free themselves, but free players can by pushing both of the buttons on the cage. This will give everyone a three minute immunity to run and hide again.
3. Players must move every five minutes, or they get caught immediately.
"The game will end if everyone gets caught or if at least one person stays free at the end of the hour."
The voice doesn't elaborate what happens if everyone gets caught- if you lose. Instead, it's jailer steps forward from the shadows, staring at everyone with a featureless face. It resembles a moose-faced centaur made of rusted metal and wood, yet what should be creaky, slow steps are light and agile. You have five minutes to hide. But when it bursts into a run, searching forcefully through grass, leaving cracks in the earth beneath its hooves as it starts to run, there's an unsettling feeling in your stomach: what happens if you get caught at all?
In order to win as a group, 10 threads featuring a successful escape- be it from the monster or from the cage- must be submitted by the end of the month. You may only submit one thread per character, but two characters can use the same thread. If you want to get caught and suffer consequences, or try to fight the monster, please use the "FIGHT OR FLIGHT" comment beneath the submission toplevel. Should the characters win the game, they will get a prize after all submissions have been accounted for!
CLICK TO EXPAND!
❖ A portion of the arena of the game- alongside the hiding spots in that area- are on fire, or destroyed by fire. Kjell forgot they were in the forest when fleeing the jailer.
❖ One of the cutting boards in the inn kitchen is cleaved in half, and the counter has deep gouges in it. Yor was cutting bread.
no subject
( despite the heavy tone in his words, he's gentle. especially for a large shadow man, really. his eye-lights are a heavy blue as he watches her for a moment before he sighs, shoulders heaving.
'course there's another who wants to be kind to the devil.
equal parts gently and abruptly, he scoops the woman into his arms like a princess, and starts trudging back to the grove. )
Can't reach you if it can't touch you. Once you're back in the grove it can only talk. Don't listen to it.
no subject
Does he feel cold? Textured in any way? The presence of this Shadowman does not appear to intimidate the elven woman. Living in a place where encountering orcs, goblins, and even demon-like creatures in the plains of her world on a regular basis. Had resulted in her being accustomed to the existence of such beings. ] Do you know why they beckon..? Oh - Um... My name, I am... Caoimhe daughter... [ To no one apparently. ] Well what is your name, are you by any chance... One of the Beast's Servants?
no subject
he shakes his head. )
I gave my name to the Woods long ago. I'm just the Shopkeeper now. ... Don't know what beast yer referrin to, but I serve no one and nothing.
no subject
[ These woods, sounded so much like the Fae folk. Not that many fae stole names from what she recalled, but it was hard not to discern information. Considering how common fairies were with fae bubbles in her realm, a rather constant thing. ]
Are you unable to name yourself, something different?
no subject
she's the second to ask that. ... )
It don't feel right, pickin' another one after I gave mine away.
( he has to earn it. )
The Woods weren't always like this, though - used to be an ordinary forest, where we were building a town in. Supposed to link some trade routes through it. Then... somethin' woke up. Then the fog came. And the rest...
...
If it's Fae or demons, I couldn't tell you. I just know it's vile.
no subject
T-Then we must help them! Must help you too! [ Caoimhe's movements may have jostled him around, considering he is still holding her. ] Fae or Demonkind, if it is as you say... Then even here the shadows of ill intent have befallen this plane. We can simply speak to the forest and convey our intentions! Mayhaps it would let us cure the ailment of darkness eating away at its roots?
no subject
There was a girl who thought that way once. ... She tried to help the forest. Then, she tried to appease the monster. It kidnapped her, planted itself inside her mind and ate her alive- and she's still there, trapped in her own body while it puppets her around.
The Woods are cruel, Caoimhe. It's not something you can save. And it's gon' eat you alive too if you try to follow her footsteps.
no subject
I do not mean to appease the monster. [ A soft voice says. ] Even I know, a monster cannot change the ways of its innate nature. It is no different than the grass growing under the sun or the wolf's hunger that can only be satisfied by the flesh of its prey.
The Woods may be cruel now, but they once were not. [ Her voice trembles with fear, despite the steady cadence. Caoimhe couldn't shake off the memory of the boy who had died under her watch, believing that his death would prove something of himself. Her failure haunted her and she couldn't bear the thought of letting down more people, especially in a realm that was facing danger. The weight of her past mistakes hung heavy on her heart, but she knew she had to do what was right to prevent a calamity from befalling this realm. Since.. She could not prevent one from swallowing her own world. ] We must free that girl, must free the forest, return your name, and condemn the monster that seeds itself here now. That must be why I am here, because even where I am from. Such a horrendous fate threatens our people in the same way.
no subject
( he watched so many fall by the woods' trees, watched it corrupt and slowly kill a child without letting her die. he can't watch it again, not after so many years of solitude. of course the entity within has to be stopped- but what can be done that he hasn't tried?
then again, the shopkeeper is one that's fallen to despair a long time ago. it's only the fact that he hasn't buried his family properly that keeps him on his feet still. )
no subject
I am scared. [ So she says softly. ] But even if I am... I don't... I don't think it's okay, to leave the world just the way it is because of that.
[ She plants her palm upon his chest. As if attempting to ground him, or remind him that he is not alone. There are people here. ]
I don't want you to continue living like this either, or anyone. If I die for it, I want you to know that... You are truly kind, and I thank you for trying to deter me away. Don't ever let that stop you from trying to protect or help others, I think that... I think that in the face of all adversity, your patience and understanding is a strength that is needed.
[ A pause. ]
I think it is safe now, you don't have to carry me so much. [ As if the Shopkeepers burdens are already weighted upon his shoulders, and she does not need herself to be another weight upon his back. ] I don't want to burden you more than I have already.