sticksandbones | EVENT & TDM 022

EVENT & TDM 022

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ ... Either Dipper is the most adept liar Oscar has ever met in his life, or he's being perfectly serious about the Cookie Dimension. And about looking through memories, an idea that makes the hair on the back of Oscar's neck stand on end.

What the hell is going on here? The amusement and confusion fades from his expression, replaced with a sort of grim acceptance. ]

... Right...

[ He speaks slowly and thoughtfully, but not doubtfully. He's still deciding if he believes Dipper, but even if he doesn't then there's no point in arguing about it. ]

And this 'angry, vengeful spirit'?

[Oscar will figure it out when they get to town, so Dipper does not even try to convince him any harder than this. He will learn.]

[...It's disquieting, feeling this kind of distance from him. He can tell Oscar isn't sure if he can believe him, and he hates this feeling, like Oscar is debating if he can trust him. It makes him want to scream.]

[But he has to hold onto it. It won't make things better, especially now. Just focus on explaining and get him to the Inn. He can process the rest later.]

It's called by a lot of names, which is on purpose. Names have power here, and so any time you refer to it, make sure it's as demeaning and dehumanizing as possible. It used to be a God, but it's since fallen and now possesses the forest. It's what's keeping us in, and it is not nice.

Edited (THAT changes the word a lot) 2025-03-08 03:36 (UTC)

[ 'Names have power' isn't a concept Oscar is unfamiliar with. Even if it's not quite so literal in Remnant, just hearing the name 'Ozma' is enough to make Oscar want to cringe out of his own skin. But regardless of how well he understands the mechanics behind it, he understands the instructions well enough: don't let it have any dignity.

What would Nora call something like this. ]

So... the world itself brought us here? To handle the Forest Edgelord?

No, the Forest Edgelord brought us here, because it wanted more toys to break.

[Forest Edgelord is good, though and it almost makes him laugh. However, here comes the hardest part of this explanation.]

[He takes a deep breath.]

So, this next part is going to sound even crazier than anything I just said, and I'll be really honest, we've had some proof of it being true, but I'm still not 100% sold myself.

But, the reason we're here is because we're reincarnation of the original inhabitants of this town. Hundreds, and I mean hundreds of years ago the Forest Edgelord escaped from its prison deep in the woods and obliterated this place. Apparently to keep it from eating our souls or whatever, a ritual was done to send everyone out into the cosmos.

[ Well. That's... something.

... Reincarnation, huh? He's got a strong reason to doubt the truth behind that, if only owing to the time-related logistics of it all. Ozpin has been stuck in this cycle for thousands of years, for one. But it's not a hard concept to wrap his head around.

Oscar realizes that he's lapsed into a silence that's probably a little too telling. He shakes his head, but he can't force the somber expression off his face. ]

There's a fairy tale on Remnant—the Infinite Man—about a man who comes back every time he's killed. So I think that part's even easier to understand than the 'multiple universes' thing.

[It takes everything in his power to not immediately react to the bringing up of the Infinite Man. To not scream yeah, he fucking knows, and he hates that guy, as loudly as he possibly can and to scare off the birds.]

[Perhaps Oscar will miss the way Dipper's shadow writhes a little behind them as they walk.]

Hey, if that makes it easier to digest, then cool.

[Cool, cool, cool.]

Anyway, we are definitely working to get out of this place, it's just, you know, taking some time. Until then, the people here are pretty cool and the Inn is free to use. There's a bakery and a cafe, an Archive, and Mizuki has video games at the Therapy clinic-

[And that's when Alcaid bursts out of Dipper's chest with a billow of smoke to screech at him.]

Wh- Alcaid-

[ Oscar does, in fact, miss it—or at least, most of it. He does catch a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye, but it's already gone by the time he turns his head to look closer. Still, that doesn't ring any alarm bells. They're in a forest. Even odds it was a lizard rather than anything dangerous.

Oscar makes for an attentive audience as he and Dipper walk, almost relaxing as they make their way towards the village. And then Alcaid makes their appearance.

Oscar reacts in a flash, stepping aside to give Dipper room to maneuver. He reverses his grip on his cane, bringing it up like a sword once again. It takes a moment for him to parse that not only is Alcaid not a threat, they're something that Dipper seems to recognize. Even so, he stares at the little puffball. ]

What is that?

[ His voice pitches up sharply and even cracks a little at the end, and for the first time this conversation Oscar actually looks and sounds like a fifteen year old boy. ]

[Holy Paul Bunyan a lot happens at once. Dipper grabs onto Alcaid, who squeaks with indignance. He's immediately aware of how fast Oscar jumped into action, and his eyes go right to the Long Memory in surprise, right before Oscar seems to realize Alcaid isn't a threat. He's fluttering in Dipper's arms in all a Tizzy.]

Wh- Alcaid, what's wrong- [Dude please don't blow his cover, he knows he's really fucking upset right now but he is trying so hard to keep this under wraps.]

It's. This is Alcaid, it's fine they live in my soul. They're probably just-

Oh.

[Dipper goes very still, looking down at his feet where a ...stone? Snake? Has managed to curl up his boot far enough to sink it's fangs into his leg. He takes a deep breath.]

[And then the pain slams into him like someone pumped pure fire into his veins. Despite his best efforts not to, Dipper screams.]

They live in your—

[ And then Dipper is screaming. Oscar tenses up, but he's already following Dipper's gaze down. He's too late to stop the bite but even so he lashes out with the Long Memory, smacking the snake hard enough to fling it away with a bizarrely solid sounding tonk.

Okay. Snake bite first aid. This is something that Oscar—just Oscar—knows very, very well. He doesn't have the right supplies, but he has 'good enough' supplies. He tucks his cane under one arm and yanks one of his gloves off with his teeth. Then he reaches up and starts to unwind the top few loops of the bandages wrapped around his throat. He'd rather not sacrifice all of them, but he can spare a couple feet to make a compress. ]

Dipper, where's the nearest doctor?

[Alcaid is in more distress, as if screeching to Dipper This!! This is what I was trying to prevent! Why didn't you listen! They try to pull on Dipper's clothes a little as if to try and ease them down, while Dipper just straight up collapses.]

[Holy shit, it finally hits him what this is. As the molten lead runs through his veins and the deep chill goes down his spine, he struggles to keep his head clear, but this is up there for him. It's up there with losing his eye.]

C-Clinic... [He gasps. The bite is frming some dark, almost black mark around the wound. Something that looks like a sun.] God venom...

[ Oscar lurches forward to catch Dipper as he drops, though the process ends up being kind of awkward. His cane clatters to the ground behind him, and he gently strangles himself with the loose end of bandage still in hand. But he pulls it off! He eases Dipper to the ground without further incident. ]

Clinic, got it.

[ The question of what god venom is will have to wait. Oscar tears a length of bandage free from his throat. He folds the glove over and presses it to the bitemark, then winds the loose bit of bandage around it over and over to form a compress. Already it's pretty clear that Dipper is in no condition to manage a piggyback ride. So once the compress is in place and the Long Memory has been collected, Oscar hauls Dipper across his shoulders and into a fireman's carry.

Oh, he can already tell he's going to be exhausted by the end of this. But rather than dwelling on that, Oscar heaves himself to his feet and sets off down the path after Alcaid. ]

Ohhh my God, Affogato, if this is somehow your-

[He was supposed to be reformed! Why are the snakes back! Holy shit this sucks.]

[All he can do is let Oscar handle him, he’s trying to get back to his feet but he is so void of strength suddenly he has no choice but to let Oscar fireman carry him. He’s right there but he’s never been so far from him in this moment.]

[He heaves an upset noise, but it wouldn’t be strange for Oscar to mistake that as a pain response.]

[Alcaid does their best to get them to the clinic, but as they get closer, the smoke off of them dwindles, grows sparse, snd even the fluffball looks like it in great pain. Dipper has succumbed to some kind of fever and begun mumbling.]

[ Affogato...? Isn't that a type of coffee? Oscar doesn't ask. He's having to keep most of his focus on putting one foot in front of the other without dropping Dipper in the process. He wishes he'd had more time to take up Jaune's offer of weight training—but that thought makes his throat feel tight, so he pushes it aside.

Oscar still has no idea what Alcaid is, but even he catches on that they're struggling that the smoke drifting off of them has lessened. He's not sure that touching them is advisable, either, but he doesn't like the idea of just leaving them to struggle. ]

Alcaid, you can land on me. I can see the village already.

[ He'll just get more precise directions once they're closer. In the meantime, Dipper's muttering is worrying him. ]

We're almost there, Dipper.

[Oh, Alcaid will be happy to take Oscar up on that. They fall back to take a comfortable spot on Oscar’s shoulder. They make a pathetic little noise in response. They shouldn’t be far now.]

[Dipper, meanwhile, sounds like he is getting weaker and only barely clinging to consciousness.]

Oscar- you… have to get Mabel. She has … journal. Remedy- can’t remember the ingredients…

[ Well, no ill-effects from Alcaid landing on him. Oscar will be grateful for that.

Dipper still being conscious is good, but what he's saying is... not very helpful. Oscar slides a gaze towards him as best he can, though he mostly ends up looking at Alcaid. Maybe that's for the best, though. ]

Who's Mabel?

[ They're at the clinic, at least, and with a bit of wiggling Oscar is able to turn the knob enough to kick the front door open. ]

[ Joshua has been in and out of the clinic ever since this started, but today, Dipper and Oscar are catching him while he is there. Which means that, when the door gets kicked open, that's who meets them!

With the feathers on his wings briefly flaring up in surprise, of course, but that quickly dissipates. He's seen his fair share of snake bites this week, but-- ]

By the Founder--

[ Not Dipper. He sucks in a breath, motioning to Oscar and taking as he walks. ]

Follow me. I'll find him a bed. How many times has he been bitten?

[ One? He looks like he may still be conscious. ]

[He is still sort of conscious. He's holding on, even though he feels terrible and doesn't entirely know where he is right now.]

Mabel, you know Mabel. [He tiredly insists.] My sister.

[It should be pretty apparent to Josh at least, that he's hallucinating, since he made it pretty clear in Mizukiquest his sister isn't here, so that's fun.]

[To Josh, who he is a little bit aware of, he tries to shake his head.]

M'Fine, I can walk [He can't.] Grunkle Stan'll ground me for ending up at the clinic again.

[This is probably not true, but Stan IS going to be hella worried probably.]

[ Thank goodness, someone's here. Oscar gives Joshua—some sort of bird Faunus, he supposes—a nod and follows after him without further comment. He does frown at Dipper's insistence that he should know who Mabel is, but right now he's still more concerned than suspicious. This time he gives Josh a little shake of his head, hopefully conveying that he has no idea who Mabel is or where to find her. ]

He was only bitten once that I saw, but the effects were immediate. He said something about 'god venom'.

[ The bite should be easy to identify, at least. The bright orange glove and scrap of bandage around Dipper's leg make for a pathetic but highly visible compress.

Oscar eases Dipper down onto the bed Joshua brings them to. He manages to do it without dropping him or setting him down too heavily, but he immediately sags with relief once the weight is off his shoulders. ]

Wherever Mabel is, she supposedly has a journal with the antivenom recipe. And— [ His tone gets sharper here, disapproving and reproachful. ] —he can't walk, and shouldn't be exerting himself even if he could.

[ Once is preferable. Still not a good thing, but Dipper isn't in a comatose state, or dead. Joshua nods, frowning thoughtfully. ]

From what I've seen, one bite can cause hallucinations and delusion... Mabel isn't here, so it is likely an effect of the venom making him believe that she is.

[ Concerning! Very concerning. His hands move down to the makeshift compress, working to undo it. He needs to see the wound, dress it properly. ]

I'm sure your Grunkle Stan will understand, Dipper, and will be much more appreciative that you aren't dead. [ Bluntly. He turns to Oscar as he works. ] I don't believe we have met - my name is Joshua. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, though I wish it were under more favorable circumstances.

[Dipper groans, partially in pain, but mostly to the idea that he isn't allowed to walk and that Stan finding out is imminent. This is terrible, actually.]

No- she's ...working at the stationary store today. She has the tea recipes.

[So yeah, Dipper is definitely not on the same plane as them right now. But, once they move him, his journal will probably just slide right out of his jacket. It's a thick, worn, leather bound thing with a blue cover and a silver tree emblazoned on the front. "3" is marked in black.]

[He does also still have a fire arm holstered to his belt, so it's probably good to get that off of him, too.]

[ Well, at least Joshua knows Dipper well enough to clear things up. Dipper asking someone to find his sister when she isn't even here is pretty upsetting, but at least now they know. As for Joshua's introduction: ]

Oscar Pine. I only showed up here... [ ... Oh, wow. ] ... Maybe 30 minutes ago? But if there's any way I can help just—

[ Oscar lurches forward, catching the journal before it hits the ground. He blinks, then straightens up. ]

... I think it found the journal he was talking about.

[ He'll let Joshua handle the weapon, though he does hold out a hand to take it once it's out of the way. Oscar will crack open the journal and start looking for this remedy Dipper mentioned. ]

[ Poor Dipper. Joshua pauses in removing the compress, lifting a hand and smoothing the hair back from Dipper's forehead. It's meant to check for any fever, but it does double duty in maybe comforting him, too. ]

We will find her, don't you worry.

[ And back to the compress. As soon as it's removed, he frowns down at it. That black mark... If he could remove it, he would. But the wound is a wound otherwise, and so he moves to gather the supplies for dressing it. Gauze, bandages, salve.

But Oscar's words make him look back. A journal, after all... ]

There may be some truth to his words, if that's the case... I am sorry your arrival is so hectic, Oscar, but I'll leave the searching to you. Let me know if you find anything of importance?

[ Oh. Oh, that sure is a weapon on Dipper's belt. He's never handled a gun before, but he very carefully removes that. Best not to accidentally hurt anyone. ]

[That does seem to settle him down somewhat. The only other thing he manages to say is directed at Oscar. He caught that he had the journal- clearly they found Mabel after all, so-]

June... July? July.

[He's pretty sure the first snake incident was then. God, that was so long ago actually, hng. He was still pretty new to the Grove and had walked in on the chaos of an entire household getting taken down. A household of people that had been very kind to him.]

[Oscar will find the gun to be awfully weighty, but not in an unfamiliar way. Huntsman weapons sure have a lot of inner working parts after all.]

[Anyway, Oscar will find the journal pretty interesting! He's been writing it for some time it seems like, starting with late May. It looks like the actual days of the month are a little ??? approximate, but he explains in an early entry that the nature of the Faewoods make time difficult to track down. How old is he? He isn't totally sure, since it was August last he recalled before waking up here and now its summer again. He'll call himself sixteen at the next birthday and go from there.]

[If Oscar does not skim past the introduction he will be treated to:

Dipper Pines here.

This is volume three of my journals, and once again I've woken up in some weird new dimension. I really hope it doesn't happen again when I inevitably fill this one up. It's starting to feel like some kind of curse. Anyway, let's get the intro out of the way.

My name is Dipper, I know I already said that, but I tried to rewrite this part like three times so I'm keeping it. I'm originally from a place called Earth, California, specifically, but when I turned thirteen I got dragged across the multiverse to a place called Deerington. It was the nightmare of a girl named Sodder, who had CRAZY eldritch reality warping powers. We were trapped there, but she really didn't have any control over it. It's actually pretty sad what happened. Anyway, I was there for a while before the nightmare started to break down and fall apart. We ...being that our existence in this dream was dodgy to start with, weren't really sure what was going to happen to us when this happened. Would we fade away? Die? Would we wake up in bed and not remember anything? It was all a mystery.

Then a door opened, and we knew. We needed to go through. We didn't know what would happen on the other side, but that was the way forward. My family- My two great-uncles and my twin sister- we all went through together. "Where ever you go, we go together". That's a Pines saying.

We woke up in a city called Trench. By wake up I mean we crawled out of the ocean as squids and spend an embarrassing amount of time trying to figure out how limbs worked again. If you want my take? 0/10 would not recommend being that hyperaware of your own bones or lack thereof. But! It looks like going through the door brought us somewhere new! Somewhere we could live in relative (??) peace? Trench was not exactly luxurious and had plenty of problems (like blood pollution. Monsters. An environment so inhospitable that you can't grow COFFEE.) but it was home.

But then we were called back to the ocean and now I'm here. Alone. I hope everyone's doing okay, and we can figure out how to deal with the Forest so I can go back home. I miss my family. I miss my friends? I miss Oscar. My nail polish is starting to chip ...I need to find another shade of orange. I hope Heimr has something.

That's all for now. I'll update once I've had the chance to get a feel for this place. The people here are way interesting.

[It's signed with a pine tree, matching the one on the cover and also the charm hanging off his gun. Flipping to July will show Oscar the incident of a snake infiltrating the house of someone called "Pure Vanilla" and he explains in detail how it attacked a bunch of people in the house. Dipper explains the Forest was purposefully trying to hurt "PV" by hurting his people and so he is going to spend some time at their house helping to take care of them.]

[Lavender tea seems to be the only thing that helps. That and PV put some crushed up powder from a moonstone. Is there a connection with the Moon? That moonstone was specifically from Earthbread so supplies are likely limited... At least the Lavender for sure helped.]

[Well Oscar. Want to keep looking?]

[ Joshua's apology gets an exhausted chuckle from Oscar. ]

Believe it or not, this isn't the most hectic day I've ever had.

[ But with that Oscar focuses on Joshua's request, gaze already turned down to the journal. He's at least familiar enough with Huntsman weapons that he can reach out, take the Azure Pine, and sling the strap over his shoulder without having to look up.

He's only skimming that initial journal entry at first, trying to orient himself. If the information is in July and the journal stars in January, he can probably skip ahead a bit.

His own name catches his attention, of course, but he's ready to dismiss it as a coincidence. But... orange? Orange nail polish? When it's pretty clear Dipper associates himself with blue? Oscar's gaze flicks to his own (vibrant orange) glove. And didn't Dipper seem to think he should know who Mabel is? That's....

Not important. Oscar takes a deep breath and keeps sleeping through the journal, and eventually he's able to give Joshua something useful. ]

Lavender tea. Someone named Pure Vanilla found out that lavender tea can at least help. And something else called moonstone, but it sounds like Dipper thinks that's rare—something that could only come from a place called Earthbread?

[ Wait. The Cookie Dimension? ]

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