sticksandbones | EVENT & TDM 024

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EVENT & TDM 024

WAKE UP

Where were you last? Do you remember falling asleep, thinking you’d wake up in your own home, your own bed?

When you open your eyes, the room you’re in doesn’t feel like your own. In fact, you’re almost certain you didn’t fall asleep here. You’re given only a short few moments to get your bearings before the door to that room opens, the doorknob jiggling as whoever is on the other side is unlocking it. Is it a library study room you’ve found yourself in, or an inn room that doesn’t belong to you? A home that isn’t yours? A business after-hours?

An unfortunate few of you may find yourself face-to-face with the real owners of these rooms, homes, and businesses — and surely they’re just as confused as you are. The lucky ones might instead find themselves being “rescued” from their sleeping states by a heavily scarred man with dreadlocks and an impossibly sunny demeanour.

“Mornin’, sunshine! Up and at ‘em!” he’ll say, hands on his hips and the door held open in a way that says he expects you to simply come follow him, whoever he is. “You ain’t where you’re supposed to be, but I’ll bail you out before the person who owns this place knocks your teeth out for trespassin’. It’ll be our little secret, ‘kay?”

TRANSPOREMATION

cw: body horror, monster transformations, fungal parasitism

As usual, Aldric’s Grove is something of a hot mess, and that’s especially true lately. Aside from random people popping into existence in various buildings, there’s a bit of a fungus problem lately. A wee little problem with cute little mushrooms. …a major, unignorable, horrendous problem with some very large, purplish-coloured mushrooms, fruiting on still-living trees and the forest floor. They look quite similar to meadow mushrooms, but far, far less harmless. While eating one won’t poison anybody too badly — aside from an episode of horrible stomach pain — stepping on them or touching them at all will cause them to shower you in a spray of spores, all of which suddenly curve around and cling onto you as if they have a mind of their own. Any attempt to remove them, to wash them off, to brush them away from your skin and clothes, only makes the spores cling more stubbornly. Soon, they’ve started to root under your skin, unable to be pulled out.

The resulting transformation is, for what little it’s worth, extremely swift. Perhaps you feel it, perhaps you don’t, but the spores leave you fundamentally changed no matter what.

Your bones lengthen and rearrange, grinding together underneath your muscle tissue. Snapping, creaking, where new joints form over the breaks. Wings rip through your back in a spray of blood and torn flesh, the wounds healing themselves over a short second later. You drop to the ground as your back legs become something foreign and new, toes bursting free of your shoes, claws digging into the soil as you writhe on the ground. Your spine elongates, the muscles in your neck tense and relax as it gets too long. The spores are deciding what to do with you, it seems, as extra eyes rapidly appear and disappear over your body alongside feathers and scales. Within the span of sixty seconds, it seems the mushrooms have come to a decision on what you should be, and the transformations it inflicts on you rapidfire begin evening out.

Whether that leaves you something wolflike, catlike, ghostly, chimeric, or otherwise… that seems to be up to the spores. Regardless, you’re no longer in your own skin. At least you’re still “you”, and at least you haven’t lost much more than your old form… right?

…

Well, not to worry. Try your luck stepping on the mushrooms again! This time, they might be kind enough to revert you back to normal… assuming they don’t turn you into a different type of creature instead.

TIME TREKS ON

For the foreseeable future, many people are “stuck” outside their normal bodies. It doesn’t mean that life in the Grove stops, however, as people flit from building to building — assuming their monster forms didn’t bar them off from entering most of them anyhow — and their daily routines continue. From the Church of the Golden Sun in the north of Aldric’s Grove emanates a lovely, warm light, inviting all who are loyal to the Goddesses within its halls and barring the Corrupted or those loyal to the Fallen Sun from entry. Describing it as a “church” may not entirely be accurate; instead of an altar, there sits a throne that automatically prevents anyone who isn’t the Goddess of the Sun from sitting on it (despite the fact she isn’t currently there). Instead of pews, the first room is a large combat arena, golden weapons hung up on the walls that are free to use if you need to spar. Thankfully, the doors are large enough to accommodate most monsters, though the halls in the back may not be sizeable enough for anyone over eight feet tall.

Within that church, the kilns in the back are fired up, pottery baking while animal spirits resembling lions and dogs mix paint with their paws. It’s difficult, being a little guy — help a critter out? You can paint a selection of finished pottery when you’re done, which they’d tell you if they could speak to you. If they bring you a flower-shaped plate or a vase in the shape of a tulip and a paintbrush, will you figure out what they mean? If you don’t, that’s not a problem, as they’ll nudge you toward the pottery wheels and get you clay to work with. When you make your own thing, they think you’ll be more willing to paint with them. Hope you brought your art hands, assuming you have any at all after those mushrooms got you.

In the opposite wing from the pottery room, the kitchen is going strong, the smells of freshly baked bread wafting down the hall. Here is where Ydalir is, the shadowy woman wearing silks who normally casts magic and sells items, who turns to you and extends a flour-covered palm. Come here! Let’s bake something together — it’s the least she feels she can do, since she can’t exactly eliminate the fungus problem. There’s a host of food sitting in the dining room nearby already, with Heimr and Renard setting the table, Heimr nitpicking the setup while Renard focuses too hard on decorating with garlands and candelabras.

If you can’t fit into the dining room for any reason, one of the three will bring you food. They’d hate to see you go hungry, after all.

IT NEVER ENDS

While the Guardians themselves are immune to the transformations — Moder is, in fact, eating the mushrooms when no one is nearby to get spore’d — it doesn’t mean they’re not enjoying the fact that some of you can now spend more time with them in ways you couldn’t before.

Those of you with wings or flight abilities are invited by Aurora and the newly-resurrected bone dragon Sehul to come flying. Though Sehul won’t land in the Grove (too many buildings too close together for a hundred-foot dragon to feel comfortable, you see), they’ll land on the seaside, and even invite you to race them there. They do have something of a body mass advantage, but when they eventually win, they’ll fairly concede that it doesn’t really count. Aurora, meanwhile, wants desperately to teach you to do a midair flip.

Those of you who find yourselves suddenly aquatic will be literally accosted by Callan, who swims up into the river for once only to wrap his tentacles around you and drag you off toward the lake with a watery laugh. He expects you to do the same to him in return, but the Guardian’s extreme strength might make it difficult. Worry not, because if no one comes to your rescue, Sinann will chide him until he lets go, and show you the nest the baby Seaborn have built at the deepest point in the river. You’re welcome to live with them for a while, if you want. Their pastime is singing, and they’d love to sing with you.

And to the folks with a sudden craving for plants, Moder will gladly show you where the best snacks are — her favourite trees to reach into, the best flowers to eat, a fragrant patch of wild herbs. She’s happy to stroll through the forest with you, calmer than her peers are. If you need a ride on her mossy back, she’ll accommodate, so long as you don’t mind her telling old tales of a world long gone.

The final Guardian, Zahliya, doesn’t seem too keen on playtime, and will simply perch in various locations throughout the Grove to keep watch, as he normally does. Gifts of food given his way are rejected for the time being. He has a job to do; why don’t you go play with everyone?

It’s a beautiful, sunny day. This world isn’t often peaceful and playful. You should take advantage of it before something horrible happens… you and everyone else here know the good mood can’t last too long.

Spark Notes

summary

WAKE UP: Welcome to the Grove! You've found yourself in someone else's home/business/room it seems. Good luck explaining this one, but maybe Renard will be in time to bail you out?
TRANSPOREMATION: The mushrooms in the woods will spray you with spore clouds if you're not careful, and then transform you into something else. After a potentially-painful transformation, you'll find yourself in a new, more monsterlike body for a while.
TIME TREKS ON: Despite the monster mash, Beiwe's church is going strong, providing an opportunity to get creative or cook some dinner. Ydalir, Heimr, and Renard are all happy to see you and invite you to a home-cooked meal. They'd probably appreciate help with the dining room decor, too.
IT NEVER ENDS: Despite the transformations, it seems like the Guardians are all super pumped to spend time with you guys in their own domains. Many of them will invite you and your friends to hang out, some more politely than others. It's peaceful for once, so why not take them up on that?

out of character

Happy May! Here is your usual reminder that TDM threads are game canon. Per our plotting post (linked below) please keep in mind our rules for the monster transformations, and have fun!

updates

Any potential updates, such as characters damaging something important or whatever else, will be put here.

submissions

❖ NPCs List
❖ Questions
❖ May Plotting
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations
❖ TDM NPC Contact

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[The voice startled him, but luckily Brant did not jump out of his skin and instead merely turned on his heels to look at the shorter man. There's a smile plastered on his face as he takes the other in.]

Hello there, friend! [Pause, because oh, this is HIS room, okay.] My deepest apologies, I think my crew must've played a prank on me last night. I woke up in your room, it seems.

[While not particularly the earliest riser by choice, unfortunately having a regular corporate adult job means that the habit is kind of hard to kick. Coffee, at the very least, helps! Hair mussed up from sleep and only mostly conscious, he'd half-stumbled his way down to the shared kitchen area to make himself a cup - lots of creamer, even more sugar, and a bit of whatever syrupy drizzle he could find, his usual flavor profile - and was making his way back up to his own room to sit by the window and enjoy the morning view of the grove.

That was, of course, the plan. Instead, as he lifts his mug up to his lips to take a sip and rounds the corner of the hallway, he almost collides into the ~~well-muscled~~ chest of a stranger, and promptly chokes mid-swallow.

An immediate backstep so he's not crowding the guy, and he's turning his head into his elbow to cough as some of it starts to dribble out of his nose. If he wasn't awake before, he certainly is now.]

S-sorry, my bad--

[Well, the last thing he expected was to collide with anyone, but the first part of his mission was a success!

He's found... someone!

He has no idea who this person is, but that's alright!]

Oh, my apologies, my friend! Are you alright?

[He's reaching out to make sure Aventurine isn't going to fall, or stumble.]

Mhm--

[He's still choking a little, although once he manages to get a handle on himself he's straightening back up and taking another quick sip to help soothe his throat. Honestly? This is one of the worst first impressions he's ever given, and that's a bit mortifying to say the least.

A cursory (practical, obviously) glance reveals he didn't spill any of his coffee on anyone at least, which is good. Lucky him.]

Yes, sorry, ah... I'm usually a bit more perceptive, but a restless night has me running on half a deck, so to speak. That said... I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting, have we?

I would have remembered seeing someone as striking as you.

[Brant takes a step back, placing his hat over his chest and bowing.]

My name is Brant! Captain of the Troupe of Fools, at your service.

[A wink, a smile and with a dramatic flare his hat was once again on the top of his head.]

[Girl help it is far too early for this. A third of his coffee is in his lungs and he’s being hit on. Maybe? It could just be charm; it’s a little like he talks to people, actually, he’s just woefully unprepared for it to be turned back onto him.

And tired.

He takes another sip and politely lifts his mug up in greeting.]

Normally, I make a far more dazzling impression; consider yourself lucky to catch me in such a… Relaxed state. Aventurine of the Ten Stonehearts, reporting in, dear Captain. [How does he ask this with enough tact…] Have you been in the area for some time, or are you something of a newcomer?

[Brant has never heard of the Stonehearts, but that might be an organization outside Rinascita. And with a name like Aventurine... that was either incredible luck or a title. Not that Brant was going to comment on it, of course.

He looked around for a moment before his violet eyes settled on the blonde before him again.]

I'm not even sure where this is, in truth. I thought perhaps my crew had played a prank on me while I lay drunk on deck, but this place doesn't seem familiar in the slightest.

[even if he can't fit through the front door, what with being about five feet wide, livio can check up on how the church is doing in other ways! namely, walking around the perimeter and peeking in through the windows. he just so happens to stick his big, scaly snake head through one in the pottery room to see who he thinks at first glance is zazie, but the face and voice are unmistakable.]

Oh. It's real pretty, Miss Lily.

[from outside, there's another familiar voice, raspy and excited.]

Crunchy?!

[from a different window, slightly behind lily rather than next to her, slides a second head, grinning from horn to horn. surprise!]

... Yeah, it looks cool I guess, but what the hell's it for?

[... the livio head just droops a little. he doesn't think razlo gives half a shit about the concept of art for its own sake, and he doesn't have the energy to argue.]

[oh, no. that voice...

despite a relaxed sort of gait (at least as relaxed as it could be when you're a huge, heavy, lumbering reptile) as they approach, the hydra locks the fuck in as soon as they see ain stuck up there. next to the tower, they crouch down on all fours, long tail lashing in an S shape.]

Just jump! I'll catch ya! [razlo's voice is obvious, especially given that his head opens impossibly wide, rows of dozens of needle-like fangs lining his top and bottom jaws. just jump right into his mouth, ain! don't mind that you're roughly the same size!

the far head groans and curls his lips at razlo.]

Cut it out! [and he looks around in the space around the tower before settling back on ain with a much softer expression.] Do yer wings work, hon? Maybe y'could glide down?

[razlo hisses. let him have ~~a snack~~ some fun!

all the while, the middle head just weeps silently.]

[livio was just coming to check up on the church, see if wolfwood was around, for Reasons... and he sees this. why do all his boyfriends end up on top of buildings...

one head, face twisted up in concern, the puppydog eyes obvious even on a snake head, is clearly livio.]

I -- well -- have ya even tried flyin' from the ground yet? [please don't fall and hurt yourself, wolfwood!

... meanwhile, the far head with razlo's blown-out eyes and too-wide grin, starts chanting.]

Jump! Jump! Jump!!!

[[ooc: hi this post does not contain spoilers for The Masses' Travels but i did read it and i'm going to make it everybody's problem eventually—]]

i. cooking

[If asked, Andoain would say it actually hasn't been that long since he's found himself somewhere unfamiliar — though there are other Terrans here, he's noticed the distinct lack of anything that resembles home otherwise, and some brief asking around led him to the deep lore that he's been pulled here by external forces. Someone else tells him that the mushrooms sprouting in the forest shouldn't be touched. All of this is strange and offputting, but it's nothing he finds he cannot adapt to.

This place, it seems, needs as much help as any other place he's visited. And with many mouths to feed, Andoain finds himself venturing to the kitchen in Beiwe's church, taking his priest's robe off and rolling the sleeves of his shirt up to get to work on cooking for everyone with Ydalir. If you come in at all, or are already here working, he'll eventually ask — in a thick ~~Spanish~~ Iberian accent:]

Do you prefer sweet, or spicy?

ii. helping out

["Don't step on the mushrooms" people say, and then Andoain accidentally steps on a mushroom. Oops. He'd done such a good job so far, alas. But he finds that there's something almost instinctual in the transformation forced upon him, not so much the way feathered bird wings rip through him, but in the way he finds he's immediately able to use them to take flight. This is despite them being on his arms, like a harpy's would be.

He thinks he might be some sort of woodclimbing beast. It's the closest approximation in his tongue, anyway. Unfortunately, the talons that appeared on his feet don't leave room for footwear, and it does take him a good several minutes to figure out how to walk with claws.

All of this is a minor inconvenience, though. Andoain finds it much easier to help out around town with his wings — flying between buildings to sweep rooftops, getting into nooks and crannies that others can't reach, the works. If you need your chimney swept, he's got it. Church windows cleaned? No problem, he's flying around with a bucket and squeegee right now. Laundry folded? Yeah okay sure just ask—

You can find Andoain around doing any of that (and probably more). And naturally, if he spots you at all, he'll offer a wave and a smile.]

Do you require any help with anything?

[Frisbee stuck on a roof? Therapy? A prayer said for your sick grandma? He's got you.]

iii. wildcard

[(takes a deep breath) i love this old man please help, anyway you know the drill etc]

Nooo...

[He don't wanna jump :( Jumping is scary, why is Razlo trying to eat him...]

If I jump or glide or whatever, you'll eat me...! [he is so sad and wet and pathetic, just like that middle head there. they are mirror images of each other right now.]

Haha, yeah, they grow differently. It's because they're made of El energy. They don't have to eat, even, but Dachie loves food. [This is 100% because Ain loves food.] Not every Elrian creature will grow like this, either. Just artifact creatures.

[Floppy ears... cute... ough he love him boyfriend—]

Aha, is that it? I guess you can chase me back home, then. It's just straight back from the fog wall, you said?

[Ain stands up and shakes himself off, feathers shaking, and then takes careful strides to the edge of the clearing.]

Okay, we can try it, if it makes you happy~.

[This is all he says before he leans down to smek Wolfwood on the forehead between the eyes, MWAH he love u, and then he spring sproings forward through the trees. Bounce bounce bounce :) ]

Nooo...

[He wants! Down! He came up here to eat plants that were growing on the roof and now he wants off this wild ride—]

I don't belong here, I belong on the ground... [god you are So pathetic today ain]

[Sniffing the air reveals mostly the scent of those burnt croissants... but there's something very familiar underlying it. Not quite used to his animal senses yet, Flamebringer can't quite pin it, and the scent of burnt baked goods is too overwhelming right now for him to make heads nor tails of it.

Still...]

I don't want what's in the trash. I do want you to not burn the bakery down — we got three people upstairs trying to sleep. [And a bunch of rabbits, and everyone's pets.]

"Ha. Are you normally a hunter, or is this beginner's luck?"

Lazily, he leans forward on the branch, tail flicking. He's not interested in the kill so much as the process, really.

[Good news, it won't take Flamebringer any time to catch up. He gets up, does a big stretch (elevator butt: deployed), leans forward on his forepaws and stretches his human torso out... and then leaps effortlessly from the roof, landing in the grass nearby with a dull thud. Then, he pads after Till with a yawn.]

Should've brought my camera. I'll round back for it in a bit.

[He also didn't grab his own sketchbook, he's just following after Till right now. Two creatures walkin', where will they stop—]

Nah, not hungry. I just saw your cottontail wiggling and thought you were cute.

[Bunji... bouny... bnuy... Flamebringer rolls onto his side, tail flicking. Ezell's little hops fucking kill him, man. Every time he hops or stomps, Flamebringer's entire brain goes blank.

He is purring. Loudly.]

[Because he roughs you up and you're into it—

Flamebringer's pupils narrow to slits when he sees the broom, and then they dilate again. The broom goes back and forth, and Flamebringer's tail lashes while he's still laying on his back. He is Watching that broom.]

Why does keeping the roof clean matter? It's a roof.

[There are other scents beneath the smell of burning bread and grass, the strongest being tobacco. There's a sweetness in there too though - like a gruff guy who likes kugel, an old man with a secret burnt marshmallow heart.

For the first time, the creature seems to respond in a way that shows it understands what's being said. It actually hesitates and looks up at the second floor, shoulders hunched - it knows it's being scolded.

...It still wants its dinner though, so it opens its mouth and bites the side of the garbage can right through the metal and starts trying to pull it away from the bakery building. This is a bit of a mixed success - garbage pours out of the can in a gross Hansel and Gretel trail, with some pieces still burning on the ground. It walks backwards the entire way, just in case this guy changes his mind about not wanting any of its food though.

Eventually it settles a little further from the building, laying down with one paw over the trash can, holding it still so it can gnaw it for something to anxiously chew on.]

[ Even Bakugo thinks he's pretty pathetic, he doesn't know who this is, thank god. Otherwise he'd be more bitchy about this meeting. ]

What do you want a written invitation to jump? Fucking jump, you're a goat. You'll land on your feet.

[ohhh, no... ain crying is just going to make him cry harder... crying back and forth forever.]

C'mooon! Don't be a thoma about it!

[one of their hands tries to grab at razlo, but alas, his neck is far too long. instead, their tail coils and smacks him upside the head, which makes him hiss again, but at least he closes his very pointy snoot.]

I promise, darlin', neither'a us is gonna eat ya. Raz's just bein' a shit. Y'know how he is?

[raz is also Grumping about it. y'all never let him have any fun.]

[Your wife :) Who is more than a little bewildered because whaaat are you-

Like not that he has room to talk, given his own changes, but Isidor's somehow feel VASTLY more different.]

Is that what caused all of this? [He gestures to himself with one of his wings, still awkwardly flipped on his back on the ground from where he was pulled.] Ah, your body...are you alright? Are you stuck?

[He is photosynthesizing bro]

Ah ah. I cannot just tell you.

[He gestures for Elliot to come closer, reaching into his pocket to fish something out.]

Close your eyes and hold out your hand.

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EVENT & TDM 024

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Andoain | Arknights | New Character

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Im boomeranging this bc the sesa in my brain is desperate to be as gay as humanely possible rn-