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

[ Mephisto does not need to write any of this down. He absorbs everything like a goddamn sponge. It's why he very rarely needs to bring files with him on people - and why he'd become commander in the first place. Still he listens, soaking this all in with a little nod once Moder finishes. ]

Understood. I have not really looked into the maps of this place, but how big of an isle is this? How far does the forest expand? Is he able to reach outside of it? Is the ocean keeping him at bay?

Oh, but more importantly, could you tell me a little more about the spirits? I mean, what differs them from the Gods? Can they become Gods? How can he ban Death? Would you say he is strictly a malevolent spirit, or just one trying to do its job? What will happen when it is here again, and will have reign to this place? I mean, I've been told about people dying and coming back - if Death is here, would those who died permanently go? Is there anyway we can help them, since surely having them on our side for our cause would... help, yes?

Sorry, I know this is a lot. I can start writing my questions down if that's easier, then you can go down the list one by one~

The isle is sizeable enough to have a mountain range about a seven-day journey north from here. I am not sure how this correlates in human measurements. The forest encompasses a majority of it. He is scared of the sea, so he does not reach beyond it, I believe.

A Spirit may be able to ascend to Godhood, provided belief is sufficient. They are otherwise not as powerful as the Gods themselves. We Guardians are deities of a kind, though weaker than the Goddesses, for example. I do not know how he can ban Death from reaching us. The Fallen Sun is malevolent, but Death is not. Death has always been kind. If Death is here, the cycle of impermanence should stop. I would like to help them, but I do not know how.

I cannot read modern human language, so you writing would be unhelpful. I am willing to answer your questions as they are given.

I see. Then, in that case, if belief makes a god, can a god be demoted? I mean, I know bits and pieces that the other have talked of the Forest, and I recognize that the Guardians even teaming up were unable to… with no due respect, unable to take him down fully. Where I’m from as well, gods are unable to “die”. They are simply in a state where they can be “broken” or reincarnated or things of that nature. Never truly gone. Is it like that here, too?

Would they be willing to help us, you think? I can’t imagine they’re too happy with someone playing with their cycle like that~ Do you best know the way to talk with them from here? I can’t say I know my way through the Forest all that well yet. Mostly because I cannot walk all that quickly. But I’m sure if we can get to the Isle’s borders there should be a way?

That is correct. A God could be denoted, if you did not believe it to be a God. It would suffer some power decreases. However, even one belief is enough to keep it going, albeit its light may be less luminous. If people were to stop believing in me, my power would decrease. Likewise, the more belief I receive, the more I can command the forests. The Guardians can truly "die", but I did come back after my death. Whether that is because of the off-cycle of life and death here, or simply because we as deities cannot... I do not know.

I imagine Death would be happy to help. I do not think we can reach them from here. Perhaps the fog wall at the ocean's edge would be far enough out? I apologise; I do not have the answer you seek.

[ Fascinating!!!!!! Mephisto is so excited. He's ready to go right now to the edges of the beach, but... he knows that'll take preparations. ]

What would happen if the things they reside over disappears? Obviously getting rid of sun and moon are next to impossible for mortals, but... this is purely hypothetical, just to understand the divine and their "rules" here. What if sun vanished? Or, maybe more realistically, Sinann's river, or your forest? Does that make gods "die" or just powerless?
Are they gods anymore without power?
What is "belief" truly in this world? What does it mean to believe in something, I mean? Or to not? Should we simply ignore the forest's existence, or is it enough to assume he's just жалкая сука?
Would you consider it worth it to try and somehow reach the people outside of this world and seek help with belief in the goddesses, or do you think it's futile to try?

Not right now, of course, but would you be willing to in a few days taking me to the shoreline?

Typically, provided we have enough faith on our sides, we can restore that which was lost. With no faith and no domain, though, I believe we would be powerless.

Without power, I would declare us to be nothing but mortals, or adjacent.

[give her one second to autotranslate... ah okay]

An existence that is true is difficult to ignore. Belief is akin to hope. You must hope for us, that we succeed. You must hope for yourselves, that you survive. It, and our names, give us power. Yet, derogatory statements, or hoping for failure, will contribute to that. There is a human phrase, "self-fulfilling prophecy"? It is that. To hope is to believe, to believe is to manifest an outcome you desire, but you must also be willing to chase it.

I would like to see if it is possible. And yes, I can guide you to the shore.

So... it's hoping, when things look hopeless and lost? [ Haha... what a fucking joke. Mephisto doesn't want to totally doom everyone because his life is a shitshow, but this feels a bit like rubbing salt in his still fresh wound. ] I see. Alright.

Then, what other rules of this world have the others been overlooking that you can think of...? Something that might help?
I've been told about about these "corruptions" of the forest as well. Is there any lingering effects of those we should be aware of after being cleansed?
What all has the Forest done in the time we weren't here for that you can recall?

[Turns out manifestation is a thing that works here, like when you stand in front of a mirror and go "you're going to do so well on your job interview babe you're gonna get that job" and the cosmic forces of the universe actually give you the fucking job.]

I do not believe anything has been overlooked, other than... do not die. Each death fuels the Fallen One more.

For Corruption, after it has been cleansed, one need not worry. There is nothing left. Zahliya's purifying flames are of a particular power that make him the target of the Forest's wrath because of his ability to purge all of it.

The Forest was the one who started both apocalypses this place has experienced, wiping out both the first and second ages of man. We do not want it to happen again. I was merely a baby during the first, and that was also when Aurora was felled.

At least you have the courtesy to tell me "no death" and not "no killing". [ This is... mostly a jab at someone that's not here. Don't worry about it, Moder. ]

Both being... the one when he was initially sealed, and the second to the Grove, correct? And you were corrupted at one point, too, so if you don't mind me asking, is there anything you remember him telling you that you can recall might be helpful to us now?

[Mephisto, no death/no killing is the same fucking thing.]

That is correct.

When He speaks to the Corrupted, it is their fears he plays on. For me, it was taking my domain away, letting the earth I walk die. For others, it may be twisting their existing anxieties and fears to convince them to never leave, to never seek a cure.

It is complicated and cruel.

[ 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~ ]

Edited 2025-04-01 19:54 (UTC)

We have had such individuals before. They find their fears, and if they do not, He finds ways to twist them anyway.

Tch... [ Yeah, sure, okay. Mephisto has been through the fucking ringer for years now, though, so this is really nothing new. This time, though, he can't just burn the motherfucker like he did his father.

What a shame. ]

...Well, thank you, regardless. For your answers. I'll come to you soon for that trip to the beach.

[ Which will only take about a day. Mephisto wants to make sure he gets things together for the trip, like food, extra clothes, and matches. He knocks on Till's door with a spare bag of stuff that he's holding out for Till when he answers. ]

Come on. You're gonna see the ocean today.

[Well it sure is a good thing Mephisto elected to pack a bag for Till as well, because he sure wasn’t prepared even slightly. He’s so ill prepared, in fact, that he answers the door barefoot looking like he just woke up from a depression nap, smudging the heel of his hand against the corner of his eyes before blearily taking the bag without thinking…then kindof looking at it like ?]

Uh, thanks for the heads up…

[He mutters, shucking the fingers of his free hand through his hair. Till sighs though, because like…what better does he have to be doing, really? Maybe if they’re lucky, they’ll find some unknown gap in the Forest wall near the ocean and be able to escape, or something. That’d be nice.]

Give me a sec to change.

... [ Yeah, that's fair. Still, though, come on, Till. Where's your lust for knowledge! Mephisto has been exploring as much as he could safely recently...

Well, whatever the case, Mephisto waits patiently for Till to come out. ]

[For what it’s worth, Mephisto won’t be waiting long. Till throws on his clothes he showed up in (they’re clean, but more importantly, they’re the most comfortable ironically) before he returns with that bag of supplies slung over his shoulder.

Out the door they go, to the tune of Till drawling:]

Pretty sudden. Did something happen, or did you just decide to go today?

"Sudden"? I warned you about it, even if I didn't know how long it'd take to get ducks in row. We can't be wasting time twiddling thumbs. Inactivity kills more than anything else, and there's so much we still need to learn about this place.

[ ASMR Russian boy scolds you. ]

Those who've been here before us have been here for long, and they have so little to show for it. It's disgraceful. We cannot fall into their pattern, da?

[need to mention Moder is standing patiently outside. Little Bird Aurora is on her head like :>

She's even folded her handibles in Waiting Posture. Hi Till!]

Yeah yeah, I hear you.

[Better to be scolded than coddled, he supposes. He’s not one to want to just sit around either, especially since he’s been antsy to try visiting other places. Not to say he thinks trying to leave again will be a good idea, but…they haven’t visited the beach yet, so he has no frame of reference for what to expect. If it’s a relatively new locale that isn’t often visited, maybe there’s a higher chance something has been overlooked.]

It’s gonna take a while if we’re walking again anyway.

[Lol lmao oh no yall ain’t walking]

And waste perfectly good time? No, absolutely not. I've arranged for someone to give us a ride there.

[ Which is to say, Mephisto heads downstairs of the inn to open the door and gesture at Moder and Aurora both as he looks back at Till. ]

I hate walking more than necessary, as I'm sure you're aware.

[So Till has like…seen Moder before, obviously, but from like. A distance. He’s less familiar with Aurora…

…he takes a step back. Behind Mephisto.]

Uh. Y-yeah, sure…

привет, Moder, Aurora. I believe we're all ready, if you both are?

[ Mephisto will absolutely make the uppies gesture. He's not ashamed of being carried. ]

[Moder will Lift :) get Lifted :)

She makes clap clap motions at Till too. You want lift?]

[Noooooo he is exposed-

He is. Uh. Fucking TERRIFIED of you Moder, it shows in his expression and how pale he is. He even takes another step back and just

shakes his head no, quickly]

[ Mephisto is making himself comfortable next to Aurora, looking back at Till when he recognizes there's a pause. ]

...Hey, idiot, you're not going to be able to keep up with a big moose. If you don't want to be picked up, would you prefer a ladder?? Seriously, it's fine.

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