EVENT & TDM 024

[sticksandbonesmods]

MONSTER MASH

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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Comments

Andoain | Arknights | New Character

[untosufferers]

[[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]

ii

[lupusxylem]

[Wolfwood, to Andoain at least, is going to seem like an extra bestial Lupo at first glance from a distance. This man is Just an Anthro Wolf, until you get closer and realize he's got a pair of wings at his back (more Liberi than Sankta), but then a black halo intersected with three sharp lines that hangs slightly off-center over one ear. Literally like what the fuck is he-

His ear flicks when he hears an unfamiliar voice over his shoulder, prompting him to turn to look and immediately recognize that whoever this new guy is, he just got mushroom-blasted too. That's probably going to be a running theme for this month, he realizes.]

Well, if you're gonna ask-

[He's gonna push the broom he was holding into Andoain's direction. And if Andoain hasn't caught on or noticed yet, they're both standing in front of a somewhat delapidated church at the moment.]

Sweep between the pews while I work on the window sills. The vines are gettin' outta control again.

[untosufferers]

[Fascinating. He will not question this. He is aware of the mushrooms and their wiles.

Two priests in a church what will they do—]

Ah, if you build a trellis and provide them something else to grow on, they shouldn't cover your windows so. [He's not trying to mansplain, merely suggest, and his tone is light and polite to hopefully say that much.] Vines can be quite beautiful against churches like this one, don't you think?

[lupusxylem]

[They will clean! You know, as priests do. Wolfwood has had this church for how long and he's never even given a sermon...and it's been a long ass time since he's listened to any confessions, since. You know. He's mentally ill.

With Andoain in charge of the broom, Wolfwood will make his way over to said windows, sizing them up with a hand on one hip before he glances back at Andoain over his shoulder.]

Kindof...this church's always looked more or less run down, so anythin' that isn't dirt and grime would make it look nicer, I reckon.

So I'd just...prop the trellis up against the wall?

[He brings Flamebringer in like look I'm gardening, and Flamebringer's like "no"]

[untosufferers]

[Andoain is also mentally ill and that hasn't stopped him probably, get good idiot—]

Less "propping it up" and more... hammering it into the ground and the wall, so that the vines do not steal it. Trust me, they will. They can be quite difficult to remove once they've decided to cling to something, thus it is better to redirect them, in my experience.

[If the vines are going to grow, you might as well give them something to grow on that isn't The Fucking Wall.]

Mother Nature likes to reclaim places that have been settled. But vines can provide natural homes for insects, rodents, and reptiles, and some may flower besides. I think it gives a certain colourful aesthetic, unlike the drab whites in the churches of Laterano.

[lupusxylem]

[Thanks to Andoain, who will be here only for the length of this TDM, the church is going to have a couple trellis....es? Trelli??? set up in it for the vines. Wolfwood DOES take peoples' advice sometimes, especially if it's actually good advice as is the case here.

But that...gives him pause with what he's doing, as he turns away from the window briefly to glance in Andoain's direction.]

...Laterano?

[THAT rings a bell, thanks to Ezell.]

You Terran too?

[untosufferers]

[Andoain just likes the run-down church being reclaimed by nature aesthetic. It's a cool one, okay. Also it reminds him of that funeral house he worked in very briefly.]

Yes. [Did the wings give it away too?] You sound quite familiar. I take it others here are Terrans as well?

[lupusxylem]

Yeah, lots of 'em. They've been here a while now.

[Certainly not ALL of the Terrans that Andoain knows, and quite a few he doesn't, but...]

Ezell is the only other one from Laterano though, I think.

i

[wolfetracks]

( oh- he hadn't expected that, somehow. despite coming in for the same purpose, sidney blinks, before finally admitting: )

I got a bit of a sweet tooth, I admit. But there's a kid out front who's been taking a lot of the spicier dishes. Eatin' a lot for his new metabolism, I'm guessin'. I'd like to focus on him and the other kids.

[untosufferers]

[A nod, acknowledgement, and then the littlest smile flits over Andoain's features as he shuffles down the counter toward a bag of sugar.]

I can do both, [he says easily,] it's hardly any extra effort on my part. Leche frita, or crema catalana?

[He's feeling the Iberian recipes today, but judging by the state of the kitchen, someone's been making other sweets too. The dead giveaway just so happens to be a towering stack of crêpes off to the side, waiting to be stuffed with chopped berries and whipped cream.

Perhaps Andoain has been indulging in his own sweet tooth today as well.]

[wolfetracks]

Ah- I can't say I'm familiar with either. What are they like?

( he eyes the crepe tower and chuckles a bit, but doesn't comment. instead sidney focuses on washing his hands and going to help make more spicy dishes for bakugo. kid needs to eat. )

[untosufferers]

[The children* here are indeed very hungry.

*Andoain is probably like 50 and has no idea that folks like Vash are vastly older than him, whoops.]

They're dishes from my homeland. Leche frita is a fried milk pudding, dusted with cinnamon and usually served with ice cream. Crema catalana is what the Gauls would have called "crème brûlée" — but with an Iberian twist, made with milk instead of cream and flavoured with lemon zest and cinnamon rather than vanilla.

In Iberia, we would have such things after dinner. [He laughs.] But in Laterano, where I lived until recently, the timing on desserts never mattered. This, I vastly prefer.

[He would eat crêpes all day every day if his old man bones wouldn't give out on him due to malnutrition, probably.]

[wolfetracks]

Ah...

( crème brûlée is a universal constant. fascinating. still, both sound rather appealing... )

Both sound wonderful. ... And a little dessert before dinner's fine now and then. How heavy are they? If they're on the lighter side, I wouldn't mind trying both.

[untosufferers]

[It truly is.]

They're both fairly light. Cream is a heavier ingredient than milk, after all, [he gestures with a wooden spoon,] and leche frita are— [pinching his fingers together, looking over his shoulder at Sidney with a smile,] —small. Bite-sized.

[And then, the sound of stirring.]

[wolfetracks]

Then, if it's not too much trouble, I'd gladly accept your offer.

Sidney Wolfe. You?

[untosufferers]

Andoain Agathangelos. [The fanciest name you'll ever hear in your life, maybe probably, spoken with that thick accent of his.] Aside from cooking for the youths outside, what is it you do, if I may ask?

[wolfetracks]

( the youths... hehe. )

I was a police detective. I've been considering a new branch in life, but...

( he shrugs. they aren't home, so there's not a lot he can do but think. and that's... terrifying. )

ii.

[outofsynth]

[Min doesn't recognize the sound of Andoain's wings, which is honestly even more reason to look up and make sure he's not about to be snatched out of the water. He's quick to relax once he realizes he doesn't appear to be a threat, but does remain hunched almost protectively over what appears to be various piles of shells and other river debri he's placed on the shore beside him.]

Oh! No, that's okay. I don't need anything.

[untosufferers]

[Nods, and then Andoain walks away, end thread— just kidding. Though he does still nod, and offers a polite smile as he walks some distance up the bank, able to tell that Min-Gi is protecting something.]

Then, that's good to hear. I hope you don't mind the offer from a perfect stranger.

[He's an older man, gaunt cheekbones revealing fatigue and maybe some bad habits with regard to taking care of himself.]

Are you lonely in the river? I've noticed many people here seem to be terrestrial.

[outofsynth]

It's fine. It was nice of you to offer.

[The distance is better, and it's not like Min wants to be rude. Especially since while the space has been nice in some ways it has left him with far fewer options for socializing when he does feel like it. He sits back from his collection, though not far enough he couldn't cover them back over if he needs to.

If Andoain has learned enough about the currency of the Grove it's actually a decent amount. With spending so much time in the river it's been a good opportunity to start building up his savings and it looks like he's been making use of it.

If he hasn't... it mostly looks like neatly arranged piles of worthless detritus. Some of the shells are pretty and a few of the rocks are shiny, but none of it especially stands out.]

I don't mind it. People still still come out here, and I have a friend who comes by every day.

[Multiple times a day, actually, but he doesn't mention that.]

[untosufferers]

I'm glad to hear it.

[And he intends to leave it there and ask Min-Gi further about the collection of shells, if he's using them for currency or hoarding them because many are shiny, when a little Seaborn blorps up onto the shore and patpats a tentacle over the treasures.

...

Or looks to be placing another there, on second glance. Hm!]

Oh, hello, little one. [And to Min-Gi:] It's been a long time since I've seen one of these creatures. They lived in the oceans of my home country. Are they native here as well?

[outofsynth]

[The Seaborn are common in the river. This particular one is one of the few that seems to have become fond of Min-Gi and he's learned to recognize in the time he's been living out here. He doesn't make any move to protect his hoard from it, knowing it's not the same Seaborn who thinks it's funny to take his treasures.

(Though that one likely isn't too far away either.)

It looks up at being addressed, waving its tentacles as it regards the newcomer. It holds one up as though telling Andoain to stay where he is before slipping back into the water.]

I think so. I've never seen them before this place, but there are a lot of them living in the river. They have a nest.

[If he looks, Andoain might even see some swimming further into the river.]

i

[ezellotry]

A... [ He had thought for a moment he was hallucinating. But then he so casually asks him the sort of food he likes, which is so very... like him. He's getting a headache now thinking about how casually he'd mentioned he was getting crepes while walking through the very city that wanted his head on a spear. He shudders a bit, unsure what the horrid cocktail of emotions were that were gripping his throat, but... he has to say something. He can't just stand there like an idiot. ]

Andoain?!

[untosufferers]

Sweet, then.

[He concludes easily, turning his attention to, what else, a stack of crêpes that he's currently got in a goddamn tower on a plate. He's making one for Ezell now. God stop this man.]

Hello, Ezell. Are you well? I didn't realise you were here, or I would have showed up to visit.

[ezellotry]

That’s the first thing you have to say to me?! Andoain, you haven’t tried to contact me at all, and— are you serious?!