sticksandbones | 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

... Well, the good news it that despite it's feathers, whether it's the beast's vaguely human proportions or the stubby wings, or something else entirely (it doesn't look too healthy), it cannot reach you! ... Not for a lack of effort, but it's going to hurt itself if it keeps jumping. Grumbling, it circles the base of the tree. ... Reprieve! But not escape.

Safe for now... but trapped as well. And he only has so long before creatures that can climb and fly show up too. He finds a sturdy branch to sit on and ponder his options.

Will swings his crossbow off his back, checking his ammo. A full barrel, of course. Thankfully he hasn't used it much in the Grove. Time to see how sturdy this critter is.

He braces himself and takes aim, firing a wind infused bolt at the owl-thing.

Good news! It's big, but it still is flesh and bone! It screeches as one of the haunches is pierced, and

uh

well now it is trying to knock the tree down.

"W-whoa!" He clings to the trunk, almost losing his bow if not for it's strap. Soooo fighting his way out was not happening. No way could he aim for an eye or throat with the tree shaking like this.

He looks around- this is a thick wood, there should be another tree close by, yeah?

Sure are! Lots of trees, even. Better get to it!

Right-o. For a base human this kinda from a standstill jump would be risky even this close. But thankfully Will is at least 25% cat, so it's not nearly as bad.

Still not great though. He's not above a little wind magic to help- but his skill as a elementalist has never been great, so it's not as graceful as it will be on retelling.

He'll be able to get a few trees away before the beast realizes he's moving, and at this point the trees are thicker, closer together- it must slow down if it actually wants to move.

Ha! Will takes a second to re-sling his bow properly and goes full Tarzan, hopping from tree to tree with growing confidence. Maybe his momma was a squirelkin? Wouldn't that be a fucking lark!

...

This bird might be stupid.

Is what I would like to say.

But the creature manages to at least follow the scent of moonlight, even if it loses track of Will himself. While Will buys himself time and space, it is following, even if it's not as fast as before.

As funny as this is, it can't last forever. At BEST he'd lead it to town. At worst he's going to end up lost until he's mobbed.

But having the time to watch the beast, the fact that it's lost HIM but is tracking him somehow sinks in. He hid his scent with magic earlier so how...

... the items he picked up. Well shit. He opens his bag and peers in. He'll toss the stones if he has to, but that's a last ditch desperation move. But maybe... He pulls out some of the incense, giving it a sniff. Is it magic?

Very faintly, as is everything... save the Shards.

... If it means anything, though, the beast is slowing down. It's awfully thin, isn't it? Not everything is built for persistence, especially on an empty stomach.

He kinda feels bad for it, honestly. He considers trying to use the other items as a distraction, but maybe he doesn't need to now. The arrow in it's haunch probably isn't helping it's speed either.

He lifts his face and sniffs the air, trying to get his bearings. Can he get a heading towards home?

Yes!

This is only possible because Aurora's alive again! But yes! He can probably escape with ease.

Or, like, find Moder.

The scent's heading... presumably north-west? Fae woods, man.

(He definitely did not enter from the South-east.)

Hell yeah. He pauses, watching the lumbering creature... and while he can get away now, he makes a choice.

He raises his bow, taking the time to aim now that he can. And takes the shot, aiming for it's head. The creature is starving, and the wound in it's leg would likely kill it from infection. Best to end it now.

His arrow flies true. The beast collapses, unceremoniously.

Best to keep moving. Scavengers aren't picky, after all.

"Sorry..." he whispers, climbing down and heading out quickly. He has had his fill of Woods. For now.

... On the bright side, that's it! That's the worst of it. He's home free with so may spoils!

EVENT & TDM 022

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