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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
[Like... he asks, nicely, "do you want help", but he's going to help anyway. This is just courtesy.]
I can stand watch while you scout things out.
no subject
[ He opens his mouth to ask the guy if he isn't busy with his own activities, only to think better of it. What is there to do around here, really?
Besides, company sounds better than the alternative. So, instead... ]
What's your name, anyway?
no subject
Anyway hey isn't that a great question—]
...I don't remember. Sorry. Add knows it.
[Elsword's magical amnesia usually has him forgetting it these days. He'd rather focus his energy into remembering other people's names and faces, which is why he stares so hard at 9S next. The blindfold isn't entirely helpful for memorizing facial features, especially when Elsword already struggles, but... a blindfold is also a distinguishing feature in another way. He can deal.]
I'll try to remember yours, though. What is it?
no subject
[ He's always known his designation, of course. It's one thing driven into the core of him, into the deepest recesses of his programming, like his unfulfilled longing for Mankind and his drive to serve and protect at all costs.
He couldn't purge these things from himself unless he removed his OS chip, and then he'd just be dead. Again. ]
I'm YoRHa No.9, Type S, Sir. The S is for Scanner— my unit type. Nine's my model. That's a mouthful though, so it's just 9S. People used to call me Nines, but...
[ Moving right along from that forlorn thought, for he remembers when 4S tried to call him Nines, to extend that sense of connection and camaraderie they'd both lost with YoRHa's fall. The aching loss, hearing that nickname on someone's lips, even as it was proof they were both alive and not so alone.
He still felt very much alone. He wonders whether the infection was slithering through his data even then. ]
What should I call you for now?
no subject
[He's gonna call him Nines unless otherwise corrected.]
...someone here is calling me Tyr'oc, [how he remembers that but not his actual fucking name,] but "hey you" also works.
[It's a joke he's trying to make without the key components of a joke, such as a laugh or a smile.]
no subject
[ At least, that's how it seems to 9S. He'd heard similar speech when learning the language, but the singsong nature of how the words are arranged still eludes him.
It simply bears further analysis, he assures himself. ]
Well, until I can ask Add about it, huh... [ Nicknaming a human seems a bit rude, but "hey you" is worse... ] I've heard snow's white, like your hair [ and his but spare him, he's never named anyone or anything here ] so how about 'Snow' for now?
no subject
That works. "Snow", then. ...you've never seen snow before?
[This is an important question, Why have you been denied snow]
no subject
[ Even in his boots. Nasty. ]
no subject
[Wet socks. :/
Elsword looks off into the distance, like if he squints, he might find a memory buried underneath the cobwebs in his brain.]
I think... I went to the desert once, with my friends. I can't remember that much. Add was there, and... I think he complained about the sand getting everywhere then, too. I don't remember if it bothered me or not.
no subject
[ 9S has to wonder whether "Snow" might be like her or not, but there's no way of knowing. ]
But you know, we met a unit who'd lost her memory once. Maybe if you saw some images of different scenery, it might help you remember like it did for her.
[ Though 9S has to hope present company has better memories than that E-unit did. ]
no subject
It might. I can remember things clearer if I see them often. For example... [He breathes a little sigh, reminiscent,] even if I can't really remember how Add and I met, I still know that he's always been a good friend to me since then.
But if I didn't see him for a long time, I don't think I'd be able to hang onto that anymore.
[There's something upsetting in that, but the feeling is distant and unreachable, a glint underneath the surface of water. Too far down for him to wrap his fingers around, but there.]
no subject
Maybe Add would know something more about it, the way 9S better understood 2B's systems than anyone here would. He'd have to ask, especially since it doesn't sit well with him that the guy can't access or hold onto his memories the way he ought to.
9S had chosen destruction over the loss of his own memory. ]
If you were like me, I could fix you right up, but... [ Could he somehow fix a human? ] I'm sure there must be a way.
[ Having his memories slip through him like a sieve is just wrong. ]