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

III

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Ryan doesn't waste much time after Ain posts. He just shoots a couple of quick messages along the lines of "Oh my god you are the actual best" and...something about his knees being backwards and gross?

It isn't long before he finds out exactly what Ryan means by that - when he turns up at the tailor's shop. He's a little smaller than normal - not to the extremes of those who turned into fairies and butterflies - but small enough that he could be scooped up under the arms with no effort. He has wings (brown and sparrow-like, to match his hair) and his ears have become tufts of feathers. Feathers spread all the way up his arms, along his shoulders and collarbones, and down his back between the wings down to his tailbone. His legs have become thick bird legs that bend forward then backward as if he has an extra pair of knees. His normal jeans just don't bend in the right places anymore, and they're suddenly too long.

Ryan has never really had a problem with public nudity, but it's a little different when he suddenly can't wear any of clothes he has. Even underwear has been kind of a pain in the ass - right now he has his usual green turtleneck tied around his waist as a loincloth of sorts, because it's not like he can use it as a shirt right now without wing holes.

Once he's inside, he sighs. When he does, his wings flutter reflexively.]

Dude, you are such a lifesaver.

[eidxiety]

[Ryan is a tiny bird, and Ain is a huge-ass deer-taur who is loafed in the grass while Ryan runs in and talks from the door. Do not worry buddy, no one will see your bits, Ain will make sure of it.

He looks back over his shoulder at Ryan and smiles, just in time for a light breeze to blow some of the fabric sitting in his antlers right into his face. RIP.]

Haha— [pff pbfafbfff] —I try my best. I'm going to have to take measurements, though, so you're going to need to come out and take the sweater off. Don't worry, I'll cover you with my wings, so no one will see.

[chickenchoicejudy]

[He's puzzled for a second when Ain doesn't seem to be there, but then the answer comes from somewhere behind him and he realizes he just breezed right past Ain without recognizing him. He stares for a second, wide-eyed and in awe, taking in all of Ain's new colorful gigantic form.]

Woah...

[But right! He's here for a reason! So he kicks up off the ground and flies over like he's been doing it his whole life, landing gracefully right in front of him as he unties the sweater.]

Thanks. Mine aren't really big enough to hide anything.

[He stands with his arms out and legs slightly apart so Ain can measure. As an afterthought, he spreads his wings out too and flutters them a little.]

[eidxiety]

Haha, don't worry about it. I'll try not to make it too embarrassing for you~.

[He says, in that fruity way he says everything, but Ain will shuffle a little until Ryan is in wing-hugging range. Thankfully, the huge wings on his back are big enough to cover the little bird that is Ryan, wrapping around like the branches of a willow tree without actually touching him. Safe, shady, and warm.

And then Ain goes at him with the tape measure, stopping to write things down as he takes measurements.]

Wow, the transformation really shrank you!

[Says man who gained like, two extra feet of height and has to literally be sitting down in the grass to even be spoken to at eye-level by most people. Yeah Ryan is tiny to you, you leggy bitch.]

[chickenchoicejudy]

[Ryan laughs!]

I dunno, man! I think you~ just got super tall!

[It's both. Ain is a gentle giant and Ryan shrank, but it's more fun to tease him back than get embarrassed about it. His equally fruity sing-song voice has an unusual cadence to it that isn't there normally - mesmerizing, but ultimately extremely mild and easy to shake off as just feeling pleasant for a second. Ryan doesn't seem to be aware it's any different.

Now that Ain's started measuring, Ryan doesn't seem embarrassed at all. He doesn't even flinch, even when his (probably very odd, due to how his new legs bend) inseam is taken. It's just Ain; this is totally fine now.]

[eidxiety]

Haha, unlike you, I've always been tall~.

[Ain clocks that strange effect Ryan's voice has, but ultimately doesn't say anything because he's not sure if he hallucinated it or not. As an angel he's already resistant to mental effects. As a deer... no idea, but it doesn't seem to have done much besides.

The inseam is very weird, two different measurements from thigh to knee to knee to ankle, then another from thigh to floor, and Ain has drawn out the rough shape of Ryan's leg to account for it in his notes. He's not prone to forgetting, but juuuust in case. Waist, hip, chest... He's making good, quick progress here, having Ryan spin around as necessary.]

So you'll want something pretty open for the upper body, and something easy to remove around your talons for the lower... do you like flare-leg? And how do you feel about halter tops?

[chickenchoicejudy]

That's the thing! You were already tall, you didn't need to get any taller! I could've used an inch or two.

[The tone is still teasing. Sure he thinks he looks like he's back in high school, but it's not like he's trying to woo Ain or anything, so it's fine. Ain might notice when they've back to being themself though that Ryan tends to have a little heel on his boots.

When he turns his wings flutter just feeling just that slight bit of air, but he does his best to still them so Ain can measure properly.]

Oh! Halter tops are cool! My oldest sister wore them a lot and and I always kind of wondered, you know? So yeah, go for it! Wings would fit perfect in something like that.

[He's never totally understood why they were "girl shirts". Kimberly was almost as flat as he is, so it's not like it was a boob thing the way bras are, but god forbid a guy show off his back.]

Are you thinking like, full bell bottoms? 'Cause of the weird feet?

[eidxiety]

[GOD FORBID. Ain's on your side here, Ryan, he wears halter tops all the time. Well, when it's warm out he does. That's why he's showing tummy today even though his hips have been stolen for deer crimes.]

Yeah, but lifted a few inches off the ground so your talons don't snag on them. [Once he's done being measured, Ain will tie the sweater back around Ryan for him. There you go bud.] Your legs bend backwards, and your feet are wider, so I want to make them easy to take on and off without your claws snagging somewhere. I could also do something tighter with buttons on the sides, like putting a button-down on sideways, but that might pinch your feathers if you're not careful.

[chickenchoicejudy]

[All of this makes perfect sense to Ryan, and he nods along. He admittedly doesn't love bell bottoms, but he does like being able to put on pants without having to contort himself in weird ways or hurt himself.]

Ehh...I think bell bottoms are probably the way to go here. I don't usually go with flowy pants, but I also don't usually have weird legs or pinchy feathers either, so...yeah! I don't mind changing up my look.

[He grins up at Ain - literally. He has to tilt his head up to look at him.]

Besides, I trust you, dude! You wouldn't make me look weird; you've got good taste.

[eidxiety]

Haha, I'll make them look good, I promise~.

[And, like, whatever else Ryan wants — but let's focus on getting proper pants on him first before a stiff breeze flashes everybody in the Grove.

After a brief sketch of the general design, Ain starts laying out sheets of fabric to cut them. Thank you, antlers, for storing those for him!]

If you want, you can sit with me while I work, or you can hide inside since you're naked~. I don't mind either way.