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

[sticksandbonesmods]

[Watch out Till it's about to get scary when Moder suddenly tips forward and walks down the fallen tree toward the beach :) She's fine but your anxiety might not be!

In either case, they make it to the shore proper and Moder lays down to let the boys off her back, while Aurora flies up and becomes Large Aurora before landing in the sand nearby.

Sorry Till for your continued heart attacks.]

Little Moder said you may have wished to go further out to sea than she can take you. Till, sweet dear, would you be alright riding on my back?

[foreversembrace]

[His anxiety! Sure is not!! He wishes Mephisto were tall enough for him to hide his face into his shoulders, but the best he can do is squeeze his eyes shut and pretend he’s on a particularly rocky spaceship until it’s all over.

When Moder does finally stop, he’s going to have to be…literally coaxed to get off, at which point he moreso…slides off, then falls flat on his ass into the sand. At least the sand is soft.

He hasn’t even seen the sea fully yet, but just. Give him time.]

I-…in a sec.

[menophesto]

[ Mephisto, meanwhile, is doing great. This isn't too bad of a trip. He's had worse. Namely with W. Don't let her drive a car- ]

...He hasn't seen the ocean before. So it might be a moment for him to adjust and such.

[sticksandbonesmods]

[Moder is petting Till with her handibles :) Is this helping—

Aurora chirps:]

It's alright. Take your time, sweetheart, we aren't going anywhere.

[Hm. Would the fruit sharks swimming above the waves nearby freak him out... Aurora whistles out a short tune, and a banana fruit shark floats over and around her, harmless and dopey-looking.]

Do you like animals?

[foreversembrace]

Huh…?

[Till looks up, having briefly zoned out while Moder was pat-patting him, and is met face-to-face with a fruit shark. Oh, you sure are weird looking. They call them “animals” but Till would 100% point at one of these and just be like “that’s an alien”.]

Uh…I guess…what animal is this?

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Oh! He wasn't expecting it! The first association he has is with older rock legends, the people who were making it cool before Elvis came along and took all the credit. Idly while they talk, his own melody transitions into one a little softer - and maybe familiar, if Sidney's world has it.]

Really? What did she do?

[He's happy to stop his own improv and just listen for a little while, strumming a little background track for them. His own accent is a lot farther north, more Standard Canadian.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

This is a shark.

[Aurora has a smile in her voice like :) yes this is definitely a shark and sharks do not look vastly different at all.]

They float over the sea and sometimes within it, and feed on plant matter. I am told that sharks deeper in the ocean are carnivores, but not these.

[wolfetracks]

Just... burst into song, improvise. Once sang an entire ballad about how she was cold and didn't like it. Her kids take after her.

( he sounds fond, despite how little his expression seems to shift. but reminiscing hurts his focus- every word and name feels familiar, and rewrites itself in his vision to be in miss may's handwriting, passed notes in wicked games- )

... Could probably use a break, anyways.

[wolfetracks]

Nah. Just never got on well with confident types.

( which is a polite way to say 'brash fool'. but he's not going to clarify that. )

Still, I don't recognize this place. D'you?

[wolfetracks]

( this is so much easier to work with than those assholes in the manor. and miss may. miss may, god save her from her taste in men, is otherwise an angel who can do no wrong.

the assurance that his new... partner for lack of a better word can actually keep their backs watched as he goes is nice, though. normally that's his main concern, body blocking for whoever he's with. )

It's what I do.

( protect, protect, protect-

he doesn't resent it.

he can't hear the snakes, but red scratches of danger mark the ground and trees in the corner of his eyes- he can't slow down, not yet. not until they get to town.

only then does he set thorns down, taking the time to finally catch his breath- )

[chickenchoicejudy]

Aw, she sounds fun! I was always the random song guy in my house, and it usually just got on my sisters' nerves. ...Aaaand my brothers' nerves.

[Ryan laughs a little and shrugs. Comes with the the middle child territory, really. His expression shifts for a moment too, his fingers stilling.

...Do Kimberly or Nancy have kids by now?

The quiet doesn't last long, only a moment or so. Then he's strumming again as though neither of them paused at all.]

Breaks are good! What were you working on anyway? You looked kinda like you were studying for a test or something.

[foreversembrace]

[Why are all of the creatures in this dimension so fucking weird.]

It’s so…stupid looking.

[Don’t be MEAN TO HIM]

[reydelostests]

[I mean. He’s not WRONG…]

Oh! Well, I didn’t initially…but this is actually my second time coming here, if you would believe it. So I suppose I’m not as surprised as I could be, haha.

[eidxiety]

...

[CONTINUES LOOKING OFF TO THE SIDE]

........sorta, yeah.

[reydelostests]

[Hm…]

…Do you want to talk about it?

[sticksandbonesmods]

[Aurora fucking Laughs at that. It sounds like a bird squawk.]

Do you think it makes them less scary? I whistled to call it so you could see it, since I thought it may make you happy.

[nitrotempered]

[ After a million years, Bakugo will, infact. Come back with the tea. Placing it promptly on top of a table. He is listening, but also, not really. It isn't his business too. ]

Don't expect me to pour it out for you.

I still need the corpse here i am sorry

[jesterlies]

-1
-5
-2
+25
-10
-3
+69
-1
-13
-5
+32
-1

This was a great idea, he's so fucking smart. When he's done soaking in that leyline energy he is going to stand, and not at ALL be super winded, and try and ...move the corpse.

...

He's a mage and has absolutely no muscle, he is going to try and magically levitate the corpse up off the leyline.

why are you sorry, this is a free-range pasture-raised corpse

[sticksandbonesmods]

appreciate the damage numbers lmao

The corpse moves! Because he's moving it to be clear, not on its own. Wheeeeeee corpse robbery! Thank god there's not a court of law here or else this would definitely get you arrested.

[wolfetracks]

It was nice. Like she was so happy she couldn't contain it, even when she was complaining.

( like she could complain without fear. could be happy without fear.

singing is freedom in the wolfe household.

sidney shifts, leaning back in his chair. )

I'm new here, so I was tryin' to get information- the history, the people, whatever I could find.

[wolfetracks]

... Can you elaborate? What sort of place is this? Do you know it well?

[jesterlies]

ACAB BABEEEYYYYY

He is going to drag that thing all the way back to somewhere safe. As funny as it would be to try and wrangle the corpse into his Inn room, he's probably gonna take it to the sealed ruins of his past life's old research hall. There's a nice intact basement where he can set up some kind of magical preservation spell or something. He'll make it work!!

[jesterlies]

speaking of crime and because I know how DnD works, anything interesting in this guy's pockets??

[eidxiety]

......I mean.

[He doesn't. NOT want to talk about it. But also.]

Haha... you'd think I'd be better at this since I gave you advice, but one of my old friends from back home showed up here after nearly 8 months of me being by myself. I've been trying to be normal about him, but I missed him a lot...

[foreversembrace]

I think so…I can’t really imagine that being scary.

[Which means congrats Aurora you did your job! He is friend shaped. He is banana.

…

Till will, after a moment of hesitation, hold his hand out towards it like he’s done before with Ain’s creatures. Sorry Mephisto he’s making a friend-]