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

[purevanillacookie]

A few days.

[ He watches Luca down the medicine and nods gently, then takes his hands to gently check on the bite marks. They will leave the same sun motif in their place as the others, but the wounds themselves are healing. The venom is too deeply in to be drawn out, so they merely have to wait for it to run it's course.

Luca will be hit with warmth first from the medicine, the soft touches of the sun chasing after the chill the venom causes. Next will begin the easement of pain, bones no longer feeling like they will break with a movement. The Phoenix can let go a little with the medicine working. ]

You may yet slip back into slumber, but with the medicine in you, it will help keep your sleep from becoming painful. Gnosis has been studying the venom since the last time this has happened, and though there is no cure for it, this is a far less potent version. It may yet help neutralize it when he's finished.

[unheiring]

[Briefly, Luca tries to pull his hands back. It's an instinctive reaction alone, and one that he quickly relaxes out of. It's been ages since he's let someone tend his wounds, and his relative lack of familiarity with Pure Vanilla makes it difficult to outright trust him. Still, even if his experiences with the healer are few and far between, he knows well enough to know that he would not so be highly regarded within the town if he were not of decent character.

So he allows his hands to be inspected, breathing deep as he feels the warmth blossoming within him. It's comforting after how icy the venom had left him feeling. It also makes him drowsy, just as expected, but he does his best to push that urge ddown.]

Mm. You've all been hard at work, haven't you? [He presses his lips into a line.] I had hoped to secure more herbs for a friend to help in your fight, though it appears I have fallen short of that.

[purevanillacookie]

[ Vanillas grip is gentle but firm, the touch of a healer who is sorry but he has to look. He will let go when the wounds don't show any signs of infection, having been cleaned while Luca was asleep. He will also gently check for other issues, knowing well what will occur. Bruising, possible hallucinations. The Phoenix in the man seems to be working well to keep that at bay. He won't ask it to let go of it's hold, but he will suggest to let the medicine ease some of the burden.

The mention of the flowers makes him smile softly, and he finally pulls back to stop checking Luca out, moving to instead pour him some water to hand that over as well. The medicine might have tasted pleasant, but he was asleep for three days. And may yet be for longer. ]

Nonetheless, thank you for your attempt. Yet if you wish to help, once you are feeling well enough, I would gladly take your hands into mixing more of the medicine. For now? You will rest.

[unheiring]

[It feels a touch like being a child again. He remembers when he'd made the mistake of holding a rather agitated bird, and suffered from its talons. He'd wept hideously as his wounds were cleaned, all while his father had looked on with pain and sympathy.

The memory makes his chest ache. It feels raw, considering what he'd experienced the month prior.]

It seems only fair payment for the time and bed I have taken up. [He glances around warily.] How fares the rest of the town? Last I recall, the snakes were becoming all the more present in even the most secure areas.

[He may be wounded, but it's hard to shut off his concern. It's only to be expected, considering how he's been tapping into his bleeding heart a lot more lately.

[purevanillacookie]

[ Oh he feels that phantom ache from Luca and he desires to reach out and gentle pet the others hair. Or to pull him into a hug. But he doesn't know the other well enough. He wants to soothe him like he would any of those he considers his grand/children but-

The concern makes him sigh softly, leaning back in his chair, his fingers coming up to his chin to cradle it lightly. ]

The bites are becoming more frequent, but thankfully there have be no deaths.

[ The yet is silent, but there. He's certain if it goes on for longer, there will be. ]

The medicine is alleviating the worst of the pains suffered, and we've yet anyone be bitten by the larger snakes.

[ Yet... ]

[unheiring]

[Pure Vanilla's words are optimistic, but Luca doesn't feel convinced. He knows how these things go. He folds his arm closer, studying it silently as he weighs wehther or not he should speak his doubts into existence. Eventually, though...]

It feels like a matter of time, doesn't it?

[With his mouth twitching into a scowl, Luca lets himself lean back. He doesn't want to rest, but there's no way he's getting away with not doing so. And if satisfying Pure Vanilla is the only way he can get back out there and actually do something to help, then so be it.]

If you see my sibling, will you let her know where I am?

[purevanillacookie]

[ Because it's optimism for the sake of optimism. Pure Vanilla knows very well someone is more than likely going to die from this. Suri won't be satisfied with merely the pain. Vanilla sighs gently, and inclines his head lightly to Luca, his expression pinched. ]

Unfortunately, yes. And I fear those that have been targeted before will be the prime candidates for it. You have been bitten twice. A third time will call your life. I fear even your connection will not stop it.

[ It might but not for long. The connection stretches across worlds, and the Phoenix will weaken. He watches Luca relax back and offers him a small smile in thanks, briefly. ]

I will. If the pain begins to come back, call for me, do not try to bear it. If you slip into sleep, I will watch to make sure nightmares do not follow.

[unheiring]

[Both Luca and the Phoenix had both come to that conclusion as well. That doesn't mean either of them like hearing it out loud, though. And while they both know the Phoenix can't stop the venom from killing him, Luca isn't so sure that he'll be damned in that event.]

I think you'll find we have a few tricks up our sleeves.

[The Phoenix does not match Luca's confidence, however. He can feel it straining at Luca's mind, testing their distant connection. Luca tries to ignore it as best as he can.]

I will. After all, it isn't as if I can go anywhere.

[Pure Vanilla is nice, but he's nice in the way Aquila might be. Both would sooner chase him down than let him make his injuries worse.]

[purevanillacookie]

Hm...

[ He's watching you, Luca. Just because someone says they will be on their best behavior, doesn't mean they will. He narrows his eyes just a little, before smiling sweetly. ]

It's true, you cannot.

[ Oh he will chase you down, but also if he must, tie you to the bed. He smiles gestures for Luca to close his eyes and stands up to make more medicine just in case. ]

Rest.

[unheiring]

[There's nothing to be done about it, then. Between the healer's insistence and the medicine coaxing him back downward, Luca settles into the bed once more. He glances up at the ceiling, only to find his eyes closing before he can stop them.]

Very well then. [He sounds the slightest bit distracted, or perhaps simply drowsy.] But I intend to be put to work once I wake again, thank you.