EVENT & TDM 022

[sticksandbonesmods]

THE SERPENT UNDERNEATH

WAKE UP

Being out in the woods is, for some people, an ordinary day. You may or may not be one of those people — you almost certainly don’t remember going camping, do you? — and yet you emerge from a tent and think to yourself, hm, that’s quite odd! Where is the nearest civilization anyhow? If you’re brave enough, perhaps you set out to seek it, walking toward where you think you hear noise in the far distance. It sounds a bit like cheering. A party? A bonfire? You can’t be certain, not at first.

As you step onto the worn trail, something nearly clocks you right in the head. A nimble dodge to the left and a quick glance at the ground tells you that it’s some kind of tree branch made of… flesh? It’s certainly flesh-textured, though the colour is a deep blue that glows white. It seems to be rapidly rotting into the ground, and as you look up… a giant, several hundred foot tree of a similar eldritch makeup is falling apart before your eyes. Your walk back to civilization will be full of dodging probably-dead flesh tree bits.

Should you make it in one piece, the source of the noise becomes obvious: the people making up this small town are cheering and yelling about something else of eldritch makeup. It seems that some of the creatures who have lived in this civilization’s river for the last year, the Seaborn, have decided to evolve to be capable of flight. Some residents of this town seem extremely enthusiastic with this. Some are wary. Some simply don’t care.

You? Well, that’s for you to decide.

Welcome to the eldritch horror fae woods, dear friend. Enjoy your stay.

A SNAKE IN THE GRASS

While the black fog returns, some paths are left clear, or at least not as impacted as other areas of the woods. Mist fades in and out, and even if you aren’t one for nature, surely exploration can sing its siren song when the size of the town is too small and all the faces look the same. Paths line themselves with daffodils and chamomile flowers, with arctic poppies and clearings of wildflowers- foxglove and lavender especially prominent. They’re lovely, all of them, and bloom far more rapidly than anything else should be this early into spring, this late into winter, but they do.

But something creeps beneath the flowers, and something large digs through the earth, leaving upturned grooves in the dirt and grass, trails of flattened mud and roots with only bushes of camelia on the outskirts left behind. It’s quiet in the forest, not even birds singing. It makes the hiss of tongues all the more noticeable.

If you’re lucky, you might see a purple and grey stone shift in the distance, gone just as quickly as it was there. If you aren’t, you don’t see its much smaller, flower-patterned counterpart strike from the shadows. Snakes are working their way into the Grove, hiding in bushes and under steps, anywhere they can lurk and strike the unsuspecting, and their bite is venomous.

One bite brings excruciating pain, bone-deep cold, an increased frailty of the body and hallucinations. A second bite brings a deep, nightmare-filled sleep. A third bite brings death. All of them scar with a black sun over the bites, a mark of divine wrath — the Fallen Sun sends his regards, and his hate.

Those who perish to the snake bite will awaken in their bed in a few days, feeling nauseous and weakened, but…

'NEATH SERPENT'S GAZE

… This simply isn’t tenable. Between the paranoia and the snake’s stealth, it’s hard to feel safe outside of your home, and maybe inside, despite the fact that once again your homes offer refuge from the forest’s attacks—they hadn’t once upon a red, hot summer, after all. How did they face this last time? It was a flower, wasn’t it? And the new flowers in the forest seem special, if only because of their strong growth compared to the rest of the forest.

But if you go into the woods, two large stone snakes wait, ready to protect the natural gardens. Breaking them does little but slow them down for a time, and their bite is both larger and their venom stronger—the true version, the one that crippled a household in seconds. The severity of the symptoms are worse, murderously so, but survivable if it’s not the third bite.

They block the way, ambush would-be travelers, coil around the flower patches, and will not be stopped. Does this confirm that the flowers could help? Or are they simply protective of their master’s property? Is it play?

Regardless, they wait and watch.

CITIES & BONES

When all the violence of the month ends, and thank goodness for that, you decide to head to bed. For once, you might sleep well — there are no threats of snakes making you wonder if you or your friends might die tomorrow, and the Grove as a whole feels much safer. It’s as if someone or something is guarding over it — different from the Guardian Deities and the Goddesses as a whole.

For the next several days after the snakes disappear, your dreams are strange, as if you’re receiving a vision from another world. A modern city, so different from Aldric’s Grove that you’re not entirely convinced it lies in this dimension, blinks in neon lights behind your eyelids. Between the cacophonous sounds of motorized vehicles rushing by, the din of people talking in a language you don’t understand, and the distant electrical humming from the street lights, perceptive dreamers might hear something else:

The soft clacking of dry bones.

Spark Notes

summary

Wake up: You were apparently camping. You don't recall this. As you head out toward the sound of civilization, bits of giant blue flesh-tree nearly hit you in the head. You'll have to dodge the remaining flesh tree bits as it crumbles while you walk back to town.

A Snake In The Grass: Flowers spring up far too early in the season, and the fog wall returns. Purple and grey-coloured stone snakes begin to attack from the bushes and flowers where they're hidden. One bite brings cold and frailty, a second bite brings nightmares, and a third bite brings death. All bites scar with a mark of the Black Sun.

'Neath Serpent's Gaze: You've heard of a flower that can cure the poison, but to get there, you have to face two far larger stone snakes who are guarding over nature here. Whether they want to play or simply kill isn't clear. You're in danger of death either way.

Cities & Bones: While you sleep after the snakes disappear, you'll have strange dreams that feel like visions and feel watched by something safe and kindly. While your dreams are absorbed in that of a cityscape that feels almost too real, you can sometimes hear the clattering of bones.

out of character

Welcome to March's TDM and Event! Spring is springing and we've got a lot of really cool events coming up in the next few months. The magic system should debut this month as well, which we're very excited about. It is a slow process but the rewards should be well worth it.

updates

Any potential updates, such as characters damaging something important or whatever else, will be put here.

submissions

❖ Questions
❖ March Plotting
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations

code

Comments

[aneikonic]

[ Oh, his hand being taken means he has to follow his brother into the Clinic. Sneaky little Joshua, understanding his brother. Clive sighs as he's dragged into the clinic with him and then told to wait there. While moving backwards, as if to keep his eyes on his brother.

Clive raises an eyebrow and makes a show of folding his arms across his chest and shifting his weight onto one leg in his typical "Fine, I'll wait" pose.

Even if he has a very strong urge the moment Joshua is out of sight to turn around and walk out, his head turning as he looks at the outer doors as if to consider it.

........

He stays. ]

[aneikonic]

[ Titans Tits....

With the curse gone and the other two back, Clive nods. ]

I'll see about getting it moved with Heimr. Well done.

[ Even if he looks like he's debating the life choices that led him here with this group. ]

[kingincognito]

[ It doesn't take long for Joshua to move to the back, unloading his satchel full of flowers - blooms and full plants alike - for Pure Vanilla to take and washing Clive's glove in the sink. He doesn't personally know how to process the flowers for medicine, and he knows that if he stays back here for too long, Clive will go back to the forest on him. If he hasn't already.

So, when he comes back out and sees Clive still standing there, he lets out a sigh of relief. ]

Thank you.

[ For staying. He knows he doesn't have to say it.

Clive gets a quick but thorough inspection, and once he's satisfied that his brother is neither injured nor bitten and covering up the fact, Joshua hands the glove back. ]

All right. Let's go.

[ He knows Clive itches to get back to destroying the snakes. And he isn't letting Clive go back in alone. ]

[aneikonic]

[ The thank you makes him huff but he inclines his head a little in acknowledgement, letting Joshua give him a check over. He's as healthy as he can be given the circumstances, the curse hasn't increased and there are no bites. Slight scraps on his stone hand from teeth that couldn't penetrate but that's all.

He takes the glove back and pulls it on, then pauses to Joshua's let's go. He gives his brother a look, clearly having expected his brother to make him stay. His lips twitch a little, as if he's not sure whether to smile or frown. ]

An hours worth, then we'll held back. Promise.

[ He reaches out to clap Joshua on the shoulder, squeeze gently, then turn to hold the door open for him. ]

Shall we make a bet?

[kingincognito]

[ For a moment, Joshua had fully expected Clive to insist that he stays here, that he's needed here. But there isn't a single word of argument. Clive is willing to let him go along.

It's more than he'd hoped for. But he can't quite bring himself to smile, dire as the circumstances are. Instead, he soaks in that touch to his shoulder, and nods. ]

All right. An hour's worth.

[ Though, Clive's offer is intriguing. He leaves through the door, keeping a close eye out for snakes as his brother follows behind him. ]

What sort of bet?

[livlaughlove]

[at ww --] Do it, bitch. You won't.

[well, have fun regretting your life choices, clive, bc razlo is making faces at wolfwood literally the entire road home.]

Loic Ard | Soul of Sovereignty | Current Player, New Character

[yieldtomemory]

wake up.

[ He doesn't know how he got here. One moment, he was leaving the last trial site with Tutu and Ysme in tow, only to find himself leaving a tent alone? He blinks, looking back at it for a moment. If it's a portal, he shouldn't disturb it, and something in him knows he won't be able to go back just yet if he tries to go back inside.

Time to press on as, slightly wide-eyed, he dodges the looming flesh-textured branches as he makes his way towards civilization. He'll call out to someone the moment he spots them. ]

Hello? Do you live here, by chance? I seem to have gotten... very turned around.

'neath the serpent's gaze.

[ After his own tango with the smaller snakes and trying to gather more flowers, Loic has his eyes on the patch that those two larger snakes watch over. He keeps his distance, but they watch him right back, waiting and lurking to see if he makes the first move. He doesn't, just yet, trying to come up with ideas in his head. Before walking off. If he could examine those flowers, maybe he'd be able to figure out a way to heal the ones that have been afflicted with bites.

Maybe it'd be one step closer to-

He doesn't want to think about that right now. Instead, he makes his way over to someone who's also looking at the flower patch. ]

I don't suppose you have ideas on how to get past the big guys.

wildcard.

[ Itsa me, Pumpkin!!! Feel free to throw your guys at my guy. For some context, Loic is just a humble "florist" who knows some magic. (He knows how to magically flower read, and is a very nice dad.) Feel free to hit me up on Discord, or at sillygourd if you wanna plot something out! ]

[yieldtomemory]

Would any of the snakes be resistant to sleep magic?

[menophesto]

[ Not if you’re Mephisto. At least, being told “no killing” comes with the context that he’s going to do something like that. Which he isn’t. “No death”, though, comes with the context of not doing something stupid and getting yourself killed. Which.

Yeah.

Anyway, Mephisto hums at this thoughtfully. ]

And what if… hypothetically… someone arrived with no fears or anxieties? [ Rather, fears already realized and nothing left to lose, but Mephisto is not saying that because it’s Too Specific, and he doesn’t want Moder to worry. It’s just a very innocent question~ That’s all~ ]

[sticksandbonesmods]

Honestly, they're stone... so, rule of funny/cool/drama it. Maybe only half of them are. Maybe things get wonky! We have fun here.

[yieldtomemory]

Gotcha, thank yoooou!

[yieldtomemory]

One more question- are the healing flowers a specific kind of flower?

[sticksandbonesmods]

It is the lavender and the chamomile! Technically wild chamomile and lavender would also help, but this bunch is right there in huge batches... The camellia flowers as a tea can also help. This is my bad for not doublechecking it's edibility when writing the log.

Though they grow alongside the foxglove, daffodil, and arctic poppy, those three are toxic and will make things exponentially worse!!!

[sticksandbonesmods]

Felicity's shrine shines like a radiant beacon, a lighthouse in the distance, a sign screaming to the infected, I'm here! I'm here!

Without Loop's fresh injury, some of the stars stop paying attention again, turning back instead to join the swarm. As they approach, pink shields, soft rosy-colored bolts of lightning, and the very flowers and brambled vines themselves move to defend the shrine.

The rabbit screams and it sounds human, struggling to free itself. It fails, very miserably.

... But it catches more attention.

Hoku the Holy Lion has arrived.

[sticksandbonesmods]

No fairy rings, no traps. Just the echoes of something long forgotten. ... For now.

The scent leads inside.

[goldenambition]

And in he goes, senses tuned for anything even slightly off- even with all this time investment he is not above abandoning the investigation and bolting. A living Will is better then a dead but justified one.

[sticksandbonesmods]

It smells like dirt and old, loving magic, and things that were so long ago, they no longer matter.

It looks like broken rock and dirt, like nature reclaiming something rightfully hers.

It sounds like a little colony of mice has made the cracks and burrows their home.

Something shines in the dark.

[goldenambition]

The shine makes him perk and head that way. He can't resist treasure.

[sticksandbonesmods]

The shine leads him to a partially caved-in room, one that's ceiling has been half-way replaced with roots and leaves. A stained glass portrait of the goddess Ourania somehow remains whole and unmarred, light shining through it in a way that feels like moonlight. It portrays her as holding a star in one hand before her, the hand behind her calling the sea. Several white pieces of glass represent the cosmos above.

Resting below is a half-buried chest. Smells like mom!

[goldenambition]

The chest calls, but he makes sure to pause and take in the stained glass. It really is lovely, and it surviving this long must be divine whim. He is not artist, so no way could he recreate it, but if he can memorize it maybe someone else could.

But the chest is too tempting to linger long, and he kneels down to see if it's locked, running his fingers around the edge to check for indents that would hide trip wires or trap latches.

[sticksandbonesmods]

There is a small trap- a tripwire, to be precise.

[goldenambition]

"Ah, bingo. Won' catch ol' Will that easy."

He reaches into his pack to get his tools, and thinks that he should invest in a masterwork set later. Funds are way easier to get here then back home, after all. He sets to work disarming it, ears turned to the entrance as he lets his fingers focus on the task. He'd hate to get jumped while Locked In.

[purevanillacookie]

"Loop! I will follow, I promise, just go! Now! Before we attract more attention!"

There's no sweet Peepaw in this mans voice anymore. He used to be a King, an Ancient Champion, but he needs Loop and the rabbit out - Will quickly absconds with the Rabbit even as it screams and he'll thank him later - as he begins to charge something into his staff. The light brilliantly shining there begins to spark with the magic, as he grimaces to the scream of their departing corrupted star. Truthless used a repelling magic and if he can make it last until Dawn, he can set his staff beside Felicity's shrine to aid her.

... And then there it is, and that's the very one he was worried about. It's impossible not to recognize the Lion for who it is. It's the one Pure Vanilla truly wanted to capture, and he hesitates. Felicity can withstand against the other, lesser stars, if Hoku is removed. But Pure Vanilla may be Awakened, with an empowered Jam, and even then he's unsure if he has what it takes to subdued Hoku.

But Hoku's mere presence may begin corruption on Loop.

"Timekeeper, get him out!"

[sticksandbonesmods]

No sound from outside, nor down the hall, nor in any of the shattered remains of this building. Wisps of light float in and out, now that whatever they are have accepted that Will is here, but no threat.

Probably for the best, when one remembers there's lions and tigers and bears, oh my.

It's a rather simple tripwire, like it wasn't a serious trap at all- just a deterrent from mischief.

[goldenambition]

That's the most obvious answer- which is why he kneels down and listens, tapping around the chest for the different echo of internal mechanisms. Juuust to be safe. A bait trap to make a novice think he's found everything has killed more than one adventurer, after all.

If he finds nothing he sets to work opening her up.