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sticks and bones. ([personal profile] sticksandbonesmods) wrote in [community profile] sticksandbones2023-10-04 03:16 pm

Event & TDM 005

SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS
WAKE UP
cw: immolation, sinkholes

When your eyes open, you’re lying in crisp, blackened grass. The sky is dreary, the world around you is still and silent. Were it not for the ash raining from the sky or the acrid tang of burnt flesh, it might almost feel peaceful. Familiar-feeling memories wash over you — a town burning, the cackling of an unknown beast, the shrill screams of friends and loved ones dying a slow, painful death—

Where did that memory even come from? You’d better shake it off and rise to your feet before the ash buries you, too. It isn’t real… right?

The town you’re in is dilapidated and charred. Something snaps under your feet, and when you look down, a bone lies pressed into the earth, perfectly broken into two neat pieces. You press on, toward the destroyed remains of houses — some missing roofs, some collapsed in on themselves, others still weathering the test of time — to where the trees are vibrant and orange, to where the grass has regrown and the buildings stand tall. You press on… and your foot catches in the mud, a hole opening up beneath your feet and dragging you in. If you’re quick enough, you might be able to escape the collapsing earth before it buries you alive in years of muck and decay. If not… perhaps you’ll be lucky, and someone from the nearby settlement will bail you out.

Hopefully you won’t have to wait long.
KEEP MY HEAD TOGETHER
Somewhere on your body is an intricate, black mark that doesn’t come off no matter how hard you scrub. Perhaps there are two, or even three, or more. You don’t exactly remember getting these small, medallion-sized tattoos — it’s almost as though you woke up with them. Better make sure no one’s drawing on you in your sleep.

As the day progresses, the effects of these marks become apparent. Suddenly, everything hurts — a dull, throbbing pain as if you’ve been stabbed. Perhaps the pain is quick and sharp, like you stubbed your toe on the inn’s coffee table. Perhaps it slowly burns, like hot coffee accidentally splashed on your lap. No matter what the pain is, you feel it at less of an intensity than you would if you’d actually done these things. Later, you might meet with the person who shares a mark with you, and maybe they’ll tell you — they stubbed their toe, they spilled their coffee, someone randomly stabbed them, how weird is that?

These marks link you and your partner(s) — any pain they feel, you’ll feel, too, albeit at half the intensity they do. If you’re sharing that pain between three people, it’ll be at one third the intensity.

Negative emotions, though? Those, you get at full throttle. If those you share a mark with cry, you’ll cry, too; you feel their rage at being stuck here as though it were your own; you long for home, and you miss a mother that isn’t yours. Fight through your blurring sense of self, friend. Surely you’ll get used to it soon. After all, these will stay on your body for the rest of the month.
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
A week into October, a skeletal visitor comes rattling into the Grove, wearing a top hat on its bare cranium and a name tag on its ribcage: “Mr. Bone-Jangles”. Mr. Bone-Jangles cannot speak, but he’s very excited to take willing people into the burned town and lead them toward the far north of it, where a small army of fellow skeletons have put up a circus tent. Pumpkin-shaped flags decorate the scorched remnants of a street, and mysterious skull-shaped lights float in the air. Mr. Bone-Jangles joyfully motions to the tent, where a banner placed over the tent-flaps reads “MASKERADE”... you assume this is meant to be “masquerade”, but it would be rude to point out the spelling error. Skeletons don’t have brains.

Before you can even enter the tent, Mr. Bone-Jangles’ employees direct you to a smaller tent set up to the side, demanding with clacks of their jaws in morse code that you put on your costume and mask. Costumes are optional; masks are not. Luckily, all of these are free. The costume tent itself is entirely empty save for one giant mirror which, when gazed into, shows you standing in your outfit of choice. Once you exit the tent, you’ll be wearing that outfit, and the skeletons will hand you a wooden mask in any design you feel suits you, matching or not. Where did your old clothing wind up? Great question! They’ll be teleported back to your bed in a wrinkled heap, but you don’t have to worry about that until the party stops. And speaking of that mask… when you put it on between the party start at 10pm and end at 6am, it won’t come off no matter how hard you pull until 6:01am approximately.

The skeletons insist you don’t try to tug your skin off, though, and instead direct you inside the masquerade tent itself. It’s almost akin to being teleported to another dimension — a grand ballroom is decorated with classic Halloween decorations, a buffet of spooky-themed snacks is laid out on the tables, the music is almost too loud, and a lounge is set up off to the side for those who’d like to rest between dances. If you lack a dance partner, worry not — the skeletons are more than happy to waltz with you. And, if you’re of age, they’ll serve you any liquor you’d like.

Stay too late, though, and the skeletons will kick you out. They’re stronger than they look and aren’t afraid to toss you like a wet rag onto the burnt streets. Once the party ends for the night, you won’t be able to get back into the tent no matter how hard you try, so don’t leave anything behind!
DON’T CHASE THE DEAD
Turns out, the masquerade isn’t just for one night, but for every night for the rest of the month. On the second night of the masquerade and on from there, ghosts appear in droves, gathering at the party and in the burned town for a night out. No matter how hard you try, you can’t get their attention; they’ll merely pass right through you as if you aren’t there.

Some of the ghosts look eerily familiar to you, like people you knew in the past who aren’t here now. It could be your mother, your brother, a close friend, or maybe your old neighbour or coworker. Each is dressed in masquerade attire, each intends only to party until the sun comes up, and at that point, each ghost fades from the world as if dissolving away into nothingness.

They’ll be back the next night, of course. And the next. And the one after that. Until finally, the last day of the month rolls around, and the ghosts aren’t there. If you come to the burned town at 6am, you’ll be greeted by the sight of the skeletons packing up their tents and decorations. And if you stick around until 7…

Mr. Bone-Jangles takes off his top hat and takes a bow, waves one last goodbye, and then him and his skeleton crew take a dive into the sinkhole that was, somehow, underneath the masquerade tent the whole time.
SPARK NOTES
CLICK TO EXPAND!
You find yourself in a burned-down town. As you try to leave, a sinkhole opens beneath your feet and sucks you in. Screaming for help is a viable option.

Everyone is now sharing pain and negative emotions. Please try not to get stabbed so that your partner(s) don't have to also feel stabbed. You can pair up with as few or as many people as you want, as long as you're paired up with minimum one other person.

Welcome to the masquerade! Mr. Bone-Jangles hopes you have a good time. Masks and Halloween costumes are provided free of charge, but be careful, because donning the masks between 10pm and 6am makes them unable to be removed until the party stops at 6. There's tons of food and drink, and liquor for those who are old enough to have it. Just don't stay past the party's end or the skeletons will yeet you out onto the street.

The masquerade goes for the rest of the month, and after day 1, it'll be frequented by ghosts who look like people from your past. They don't seem to notice you and will float through you if you stand in their way. At the end of the month, the skeletons pack up the party, the ghosts disappear, and the skeletons jump into a sinkhole underneath the masquerade tent. Goodbye! Happy Halloween! Mr. Bone-Jangles sends his regards.

Welcome to the fifth TDM & Event Log of Sticks and Bones! This log is game canon. The prompts are meant for all players, current and future, so have fun! Our applications operate on a rolling basis, so applications are open with no end date unless we suddenly cap players. If there are any questions, please direct them to the "questions" header below.

❖ None yet!

TDM TOPLEVELS!
amhran: (93)

[personal profile] amhran 2023-10-08 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
The River...? Okay.. Yeah, it will be at the end of the Grove. We will pass the line of trees there, and the building.. Then the well, but beyond that is the river. We have been unable to travel down it fully but... I have heard a few people have been able to.

[ Caoimhe comments, unaware that the other seemed drawn to the river in question for unrelated reasons that she herself could not understand just yet. They will walk - it will take them about 30 minutes or so. Not too long, but long enough to let passing comments between them if he listens she will speak. She will tell him these things:

1. She herself, has been there for about - mun just looked HALF A YEAR!!!
2. During the first two months the Forest played games with those that were there, there were many faces she remembers - but then many of them disappeared. She will not say they lost their lives, Caoimhe may be in denial in that way. However, she will believe firmly that they can come back.
3. Forest Games: One was hide and seek, where a monster chased after them and threw them in a cage if they failed to play it or got caught. Another was this lava game, which felt real - absolutely real. However, was in a dreamland, where they had to climb up away from the lava or burn alive. She mentions that Felicity and Elsword suffered from burns - she looks at her own hands and comments that she does not know why her own body did not suffer from any.
4. She will mention the forest is possessed by an evil entity - but this I will roleplay out as they start to come towards the river in the distance.

The sounds of water scuttling across rocks can be heard. The river itself is wide and deep enough to walk in waist-deep within. A current will drag you down if you are not careful. ]


We.. We are still learning about the forest itself, but I believe it is more sentient then forests I have spoken to in my own realm. I know the forest is always living, and the plants speak to us even when we cannot hear the... But this Forest..? [ She will pause looking over the river. ] This forest, we must be careful around.

But... Here is the River.

[ The Grove itself is a lovely place, with tons of green. Much of which looks as if it is overgrowing into the buildings and land around them. ]
thestampede: (10)

[personal profile] thestampede 2023-10-12 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
[It's been some time since Vash has traveled with anyone like this. Or, well...maybe that isn't entirely true, since he met up with Meryl and the others. But this is decidedly different. He feels like he should be saying more himself, but Caoimhe does a good job filling the silence, so instead he tries to be polite and absorb everything she has to tell him.

In the end, he shouldn't be surprised that there's more to this place than meet's the eye. That there's some reason he's come here. He can't say he was expecting her to say it was sentient, however, as they approach the River.]


I see. This is...kindof all I needed to know that I'm not really back home anymore.

[He laughs a little, though it sounds a bit strained.]

Is it the forest's doing, then? Or do you know?
amhran: (pic#16415902)

[personal profile] amhran 2023-10-12 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm... [ Caoimhe wants to establish something else as well, but if it is as he says, and he is just getting accustomed to these new rules... This new way of living here, she does to want to overwhelm him. Remembering that Chung himself felt uncomfortable at the revelation that was discovered between them all. ]

We think that it is, but many of us are still taking the time to learn and understand what is going on... We are in the dark, mostly... Especially when it comes to the forest.