TDM 001

[sticksandbonesmods]

INTO THE WOODS

WAKE UP

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

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?

THE RIVER

"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.

PLAY TIME

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!

SPARK NOTES

CLICK TO EXPAND!

WAKE UP

A general welcome to Aldric's Grove! The shopkeeper has witnessed your arrival and seems... resigned. Rusty is trying very hard to get inside the manor. Otherwise, everything seems eerily still.

THE INN

A cursory glance at the inn! It's bare, barely furnished yet stocked enough to provide shelter and food. Several doors are locked and won't budge. But you know it. You know this place.

THE RIVER

The river is only barely accesible, though opportnity to try and explore anyways is possible. Bone fragments, scales and teeth from all sorts of species, including humans, litter the banks alongside canine-decorated medalions, and something glitters beneath the sand in the river itself. While in the water, there's an unnaturally soothing feeling.

PLAY TIME

The forest opens up a path through the fog to invite people to play with it. Once they reach the next clearing, the path closes behind everyone and a disembodied voice announces that we're playing cops and robbers. The cop is a large moose-faced centaur statue made of rusty metal and wood, and it packs one hell of a punch. Don't get caught!

OOC

Welcome to the very first TDM and Event of Sticks and Bones! This TDM is game canon. Questions may be asked below or on the faq, and everything may be revisted with bonus ac items as time goes on. Applications are now open, and all TDM threads will count for AC and Bonus AC.

UPDATES

❖ Rusty has a bed to lay on on the porch! Izuku should be so proud of himself.
❖ 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.

SUBMISSIONS

QUESTIONS & INVESTIGATIONS ⚘ NPC CONTACT ⚘ PLAY TIME ⚘ FIGHT OR FLIGHT

(CODE)

Comments

satsuki minazuki | liar satsuki can see death

[premonitory]

►wake up

[ Plenty of scenarios came to Minazuki Satsuki's mind. She'd grown light-headed from the fumes of the paint used to fool her, in addition to the amount of running she had done in a short period of time. She could have collapsed, dehydrated and exhausted from the entire ordeal that she'd been put through. There had to be a piece missing between speaking with Seo and the sound of a child's voice seemingly calling for her...

At least she wasn't alone in this? It seemed as if others had been picked up too, and some were just as confused as she was. Had she died? Was this the afterlife?

No, it didn't make sense. As hard as she had tried to prevent the previous death, exhaustion wouldn't have been enough to kill her if Seo was right there to help her. So then how... no, for the time being, her first option was to find a way to get back. Whether it's regaining consciousness or learning why she's there in the first place.

Which is why, as she goes to the inn and spots someone who might look as puzzled as she is, she immediately runs up. ]

Excuse me. Do you know if you were going to be killed before you got here?

[ Incredibly blunt and to the point--! ]

►river

[ Reaching the riverbank, Satsuki had began to search for any clues that'd get her back home, anything at all. Although, it certainly felt like there may be a reason for her showing up after all. While she hadn't particularly seen any premonitory corpses since arriving, she could still do her part as an observer. She was suddenly working as an investigator! If her friends could see her now... well, in one case, they'd see her sifting through the objects in the sand, and then carefully picking up some of the debris from the ground.

Very well could be hunting grounds for assorted animals? Obviously preying on other animals, but... potentially, humans as well?

Moments later, having decided that getting out of this area was the best option, Satsuki can be found literally standing in the river, socks and shoes in her hands with her eyes closed. When was the last time she ever felt this peaceful...? She feels like she could fall asleep like this. Even the idea she had in her head, potentially tripping and hitting her head on a rock or actually falling asleep and drowning, they started to fade away due to stress leaving her body.

Why leave? ]

►game on

[ Satsuki didn't sign up for this...!

She knew there would be some kind of "game", but the moment that she saw the "centaur", she knew her life actually was in danger. Getting caught felt like it was much more costly than sitting in a cage...! So, she took to the first thing she could think of... which was climbing a tree and hiding, waiting for it to pass by. For the most part, it worked well... until, she failed to gain any purchase on a branch, and she started to slid down the tree, scraping her knee in the process. ]

Damn it, no no no...!

[ If that thing came back, she'd be in trouble... for the time being, she grasps onto her knee and searches around for something to at least stop the bleeding for a second? She can't just give up her shirt or anything... or maybe, she could rip it? She winces in pain as she decides to stand up, resting against the tree and... hiding behind it for the time being while she brainstorms. There has to be something, otherwise she's going to get gored...! ]

►wildcard

[ Sup. If you wanna play something else with Satsuki, would like a little more info about her, or anything else, hit me up via DM! For those who do know her, she's from the middle of Chapter 50, just before some uhhhh, very fun shit happens! She's in the eye of the hurricane on that one. Thanks for reading! ]

wake up | also oshi no ko spoilers for anyone reading

[idolincarnate]

[ Dying in the industry wasn't actually as uncommon as one might think. It probably doesn't help that she's reached the age where her mother gave birth to her and Aqua-

Eventually, she'll even reach the age where her mother died, too.

She can't help but wonder, though, really: would it be possible that people might try and kill her, too? ]

...I can't say that I know if someone wants to kill me or not, but I wouldn't be surprised.

[ Her voice sounds absolutely detached. ]

[premonitory]

[ "Wouldn't be surprised" is pretty damn alarming! Right now, her suspicions are definitely skewing more towards already being dead.

The tone doesn't help either. She doesn't sound all that concerned about it. ]

Did you really make a lot of enemies where you're from...?

[idolincarnate]

I don't know of any.

[ Personally, that is.

She continues to be emotionally distant as she shrugs her shoulders. ]

But they probably exist.

[premonitory]

[ Oh, of course. That makes sense! Someone probably exists looking to... murder... a lot of them. ]

So no one you know was trying to recently... I thought maybe that's why we were here, because someone killed us.

[idolincarnate]

Hah? There's no way that heaven would look like such a gross place...

[premonitory]

Uh...

[ She hesitates to bring this up, but really, she can't help herself from saying it. ]

Maybe this... isn't heaven?

game on

[amethystic]

( satsuki might get a scare of a different sort- specifically, that of a pink-haired goth girl popping up out of nowhere, crouched in the shadows and carefully eyeing the scrape on her knee. )

Keep quiet, okay? I'm here to help. Is this your only injury?

[premonitory]

[ Satsuki just barely holds back her yelp, covering her own mouth and turning. Where did she come from...?!

Despite that thought, she does nod. ]

I-I'm a bit sore, but this is the only wound. If you have any bandages... I'd pay you back for them when this is over!

[amethystic]

I have some gauze, at least-

( and here the cool confidence of a girl who's fought her entire life falters. )

And I can heal it... but the method is really embarrassing.

( that is not the only detriment to it. but it's the one that matters. (no) )

[premonitory]

[ Embarrassing... well, luckily! ]

If it'll be embarrassing, I can take care of it myself. I'm experienced with first aid!

[ Missing the point by a mile. ]

[amethystic]

Alright, but if it gets worse, let me handle it.

( until then, she just. reaches into her black sweater. pulls out a roll of gauze. where was she keeping that? good question. probably with one of the knives and the pack of creampuffs. )

There's a hole in the ground beneath the roots of a tree nearby, we can use that for the next stop once we have to move again. I'll keep a lookout, alright?

[premonitory]

[ She'd like antiseptic too, but she figures she's already asking a lot with the gauze. Honestly, Satsuki couldn't help but be surprised at how prepared this girl was... after so many people she knew just casually dismissed danger, someone here was taking this seriously. ]

R-Right. If that thing comes, then--

[ Wait. She's going to be lookout? ]

If you see it, let me know and I can act as a decoy. You can get to safety.

wake up

[kyokai]

Uh—

[ The question surprises Akki but also doesn't surprise him. It's enough, though, to make him lift his head up from where it'd been held between his hands in a "noooooooooo what am i going to do" despair pose. ]

I, uh. Yes? Eventually? N-not that I know for sure, though. I was really trying to avoid it...

[ he was doing his best to survive. but like a rabbit in a wolf's den, he hadn't much hope for it ]

Why...? You think... somebody brought us here and saved us?

[premonitory]

I don't know about saving us...

[ The boy seemed fairly jumpy, but for good reason. They were probably all in the same boat, and Satsuki wasn't particularly optimistic about their arrival.

She can relate at least, to the need to survive... although it's more, the need to ensure the people around her survive. ]

If that's the case though, then it's weird that I'm here. I wasn't the one in danger this time.

[kyokai]

[ If they were about to die and suddenly appeared here, isn't that saving them? He's trying to be optimistic, but it's hard when somebody else questions it and he's immediately "okay no i'm wrong" ]

I don't get it... Were you trying to save someone from being killed?

[premonitory]

I did. I think I did...

[ Seo was right behind her, and there was no reason to believe it didn't work out. So why then... ]

I don't know why I'd be here otherwise.

[kyokai]

There was a voice... Something about playing a game?

[ It was clearly a taunt and they clearly had no choice on the matter, but that doesn't stop Akki from feeling that his heart would've answered the same either way: yes, he loves games, yes, he wants to play ]

Did you hear anything about that? And maybe... unconsciously... agreed to play...?

[premonitory]

I don't remember agreeing to anything... but everything's so fuzzy right now.

[ She wouldn't have agreed to it-- there's no way. At a time like that, needing to make sure Seo-senpai was okay, how could she? ]

Is... are we having our memories messed with?

wake up

[lostpsalm]

E...ventual...ly?

_{[ ...is that why he wasn't supposed to use the mirror. Oops. ]}

Uh. There's a chance yes?

[premonitory]

But not like, today? Or yesterday, I mean?

[ Whenever! Some time that she was going to be murdered...! ]

[lostpsalm]

I... well... Hmm.

...I may or may not have been struck dead by fooling around with a strange artifact. I'm not all that sure. There's really no way to tell. Sorry about that.

[premonitory]

That's okay. I'm just having a hard time figuring out why we're here.

I don't think I've been around any artifacts, so it's not that. Unless it was so strange that I didn't know it was there.

[lostpsalm]

That can happen! But... do you recall... hearing a voice?

_{[ :) if.. not... maybe he can play it off that he must have been dreaming... ]}

[premonitory]

I... I did. Like a kid, asking if I wanted to play. Did they ask you the same thing...?

[ Can't escape through dreams THIS time! ]