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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!
succiduous: (002 @ryuzakiichi)

[personal profile] succiduous 2023-10-09 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Gnosis affords a half-hearted snort.]

I'm no bartender. I'd surely concoct you the worst thing you've ever tasted, were I to be haplessly put in charge. ...I do make a mean cup of tea, though.

[Trust him on this.]

Gnosis Edelweiss. It seems that it's that time when new people start popping up at every turn.
interestingtimes: (10)

[personal profile] interestingtimes 2023-10-09 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[That did manage to pull a laugh from her.]

It can't be worse than some of the things I've drank in the past. But tea is a great drink to be able to make and some people can't do it correctly.

[She gave him a short little curtsy.]

Taliira A'Daragon. It's a pleasure to meet you.
succiduous: (008 users55725576)

[personal profile] succiduous 2023-10-12 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
[He'll gesture for her to sit, if she'd like to join him.]

Yes, like those fools who think that putting sugar in cold tea is a "sweet tea". [Just saying.] Or, Laterans, who put so much sugar in their drinks it's akin to drinking syrup.

[He has Opinions, alright.]
interestingtimes: (10)

[personal profile] interestingtimes 2023-10-12 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
[She takes the invitation and hikes up her skirt, sliding into the seat beside him. It had been a while since she'd actively worn heels, and man her feet were feeling it. You'd think hiking across mountains in boots would make her feet used to it, but no. Why would it.]

You should try the teas that were brewed in the Underdark. [A pause, and she scrunched up her face because that was a flat lie.] Don't actually. They taste like... if someone put dirt in muddy water, and then pissed in it.

[That's very ladylike language, Taliira.]
succiduous: (013 users4889594)

[personal profile] succiduous 2023-10-14 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
I can't say I'm familiar with the Underdark, though judging by the quality of the tea, it must not be very splendid.

[A joke. Kind of. If your tea sucks, are you really a place worth visiting?]

If you would pardon my curiosity for a moment, you are elvish, are you not? [They had... a lot of elves here at one point. He's trying to learn the language from Caoimhe, so he says, in Elvish:] « I'm still trying to learn the language, as I'm sure you can tell. »
interestingtimes: (07)

[personal profile] interestingtimes 2023-10-14 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[The obvious surprise on her face states that she was, in fact, not expecting him to know, let alone speak, Elvish. A smile formed on her lips after a few seconds and when she spoke, it was in Elvish as well.]

« You speak it very well, actually. »
succiduous: (011 users6531999)

[personal profile] succiduous 2023-10-18 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
« Wonderful. I'm glad to hear it, actually. »

[He shakes his head, a small smile forming on his lips. The, in the Common tongue, or I guess English... Aldric's Grove's English, fuck dude idk:]

There seem to be multiple dialects, but one of them is similar to my native tongue, so pronunciation isn't over my head, at least. I'm nowhere near that of a native speaker's mastery, though it's kind of you to say.
interestingtimes: (10)

[personal profile] interestingtimes 2023-10-19 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
That'll come with practice.

[Says the woman who can speak four languages because this is DnD.]

The dialect from where I'm from is also different from normal elvish, but it's similar enough. Do you know many languages?
succiduous: (010 users55725576)

[personal profile] succiduous 2023-10-21 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
A handful, yes. I'm fluent in Kjeragi and Victorian. I know some Sami, and can get by in Lateran, Iberian, and Gaulish. [So that's, for translation: Norse 1, British English, Norse 2, Latin, Spanish, and French.] ...my partner is a businessman, and I'm the CTO of our company, so being a polyglot is important for trade deals. Granted, I work more on the technological side of things, but not a day goes by without me having to read over some business deal in another language so that we may jointly come to a decision.
interestingtimes: (10)

[personal profile] interestingtimes 2023-10-23 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
That's very impressive.

[Not the British English.]

And sort of incredible, really. [She has no idea what a CTO is but she's gonna pretend she does.] I've never heard of those languages, but knowing multiple is important for running a business. I... Had a friend who knew just about as much as you, though I don't think his title was nearly as fancy.

[Is being CTO fancy?]
succiduous: (004 users6038743)

[personal profile] succiduous 2023-10-31 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[I'm amazed you didn't try to tell me that the French is unimpressive too—]

Is that so? Did he have a title at all?

[Gnosis doesn't ask the obvious "is he here" because uh... Welcome to Aldric's Grove, lots of people just aren't here.]
interestingtimes: (Default)

[personal profile] interestingtimes 2023-11-01 11:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[The French aren't real.]

I'm actually not sure. I don't think so, but that's more so because men aren't given as many privileges where I come from.

[That is the nicest way she can say it, and also not mentiont the fact that the reason he's not here might be due to premature death and not whatever the fuck is going on around here.]