EVENT & TDM 028

[sticksandbonesmods]

WAKE UP

The chill of autumn sets into your bones as you wake from slumber. You don’t remember your window being left open — in fact, you’re pretty sure you double-checked last night that it was closed — but as you get up to slam it shut, you notice something different about the room you’re in.

…that is a whole baby animal curled up asleep on your bed. A baby squirrel, perhaps, or a deer or a fox. No matter what animal has crawled into your room, the mosses and mushrooms it grows on its back smacks of something distinctly fae. Cyclamen bloom across its head like a crown, and it looks at you with a sleepy expression before laying its head down and going back to sleep.

You gaze out the window. In the distance, a path of cyclamen bloom out in the woods, and something further beyond the treeline twinkles brightly despite it being broad daylight. Colourful, but distant. Where would it lead, if you were to follow the path…?

Actually, you should probably grab breakfast and kick that animal out of your room first.

WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS

cw: blood and gore, food-related horror
Following the path, no matter the time of day, leads you to an offshoot deep in the woods that you’re sure no one has explored before. The trip feels a lot shorter than it definitely was, yet you’re sure you must have walked for many hours to get here. The clearing is humungous; a circus tent stands high on a hill overhead, the path to it traced by the very same cyclamen that led you here in the first place. Around this peak rest stalls of carnival games and carnival foods, a bit eccentric in their make but no less fun according to the carnies who shout at you to come over and enjoy their booths. They wear masks, all of them do, but knock their masks off and they look a lot like people you know — though they don’t seem to recognize you, and seem more intent on getting you to enjoy your time here.

The Test Your Strength game is clearly rigged; the hammer that the man hands you is made entirely of a squeaky, air-filled rubber, and hitting it as hard as you can on the plate leads the machine to spew out a pathetic-sounding “L OOOOOO S E RRRRR” every hit. Those who are particularly frustrated may find that if they pop the hammer by slamming it down hard enough, the machine spits out an angry-sounding “WIIIIIIIIN EEEEERRRRR”. A few stalls down and to the left from that is a darts game, where the darts fly well and are weighted properly, but the balloons pinned to the wall are filled with a viscous mix of blood and offal. If they sit for too long, the plasma coagulating in the balloons will fall down in chunks when they’re popped. Ring Toss involves tossing rings around what look to be severed arms, but sometimes they move on their own to snag the ring out of the air in their fists. Naturally, this counts as a miss in the eyes of the carny, who laughs at you under their mask as they hand you another ring. Try and try again.

When you go to get food and lounge about, you’ll find that the food is no less disgusting — funnel cakes made of a ground mystery meat and covered in a suspicious red sauce are dolled out to anyone who so much as looks at the picture on the menu. The lemonade has eyes floating in it and tastes like sour tears. Corndogs are served on a stick that wiggles between your fingers as you try to hold it, the little legs tickling your hand in an attempt to escape; giant pretzels taste inverted, like a salt brick flavoured with breadcrumbs. Ice cream feels like white noise in your mouth.

You can’t quite get to the tent quite yet. The real circus isn’t for another month, as the carnies will tell you, but they’d love it if you stick around and play games with them for a while. They made this food special for you, don’t you want to eat it? Don’t you want to head to the face-painting booth to get an extremely realistic skull painted over your features? Don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?

IN THE CENTER OF THE RING

cw: animal abuse, death, unsafe depictions of live performances

Finally, finally it’s time for the big show! Clowns and acrobats swoop through Aldric’s Grove, hooting and hollering and urging you to come see, come see! If you refuse they will whine sadly but move on- the fun will come to you. Don’t worry. The fun will find you.

Those willing to give the circus a chance are ushered in with grand band music playing and lights shining all around. Lanterns swing, popcorn and cotton candy of varying quality are shoved into audience members’ hands and everyone is ushered into the stands. Despite the village being so small, it feels like there’s at least dozens within the tent, whispering in anticipation.

The ringleader steps out with a warm welcome, practically dancing around the ring while acts go on. Clowns dance and juggle and tumble - oops, did a bowling pin whizz past your head? And tamed animals actively try to charge for the audience - for you. No one seems to care beyond a laugh and a wave, though there’s an uncomfortably harsh tug at the beasts’ leashes every time. Stiltwalkers walk through the stands, uncaring if they step on someone, and perhaps, the worst of all is when the trapeze artists come out. Up, up, up they go and fling themselves through the air. It’s dazzling, at first - until the man drops his partner, letting her fall to the ground with a sickening crunch and disjointed limbs splayed, all while she smiles, face falling to look at the audience.

It’s such a quiet moment, yet deafeningly loud. One may be forgiven for not hearing the cages behind the scenes all slam open at the same time.

THE DEPTHS OF FEAR

The cages slam open, and something rips through the cloth of the tent. All the performers laugh and laugh and laugh, even as things with claws rip into them, even as the door to the outside seems to vanish behind stone, and as the only way to go is down a trapdoor that’s appeared beneath your feet. Though you could try and fight, you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed with large beasts and feral circus animals, so there isn’t much of a choice. The chute is cramped and harsh, leaving you scraped and bruised before it comes to a stop.

Stairs lead down further, reuniting you with your fellow captive audience members within the ruins of what looks to be multiple towns and villages stacked atop each other, each layer a different age, style or material than the last. It’s dark, cold yet muggy and you… you are not alone.

Deep within the shadows waits a monster, hoping to hunt you down; something built around your worst fears. Will it try and lure you away from the herd? Will it fight you head on? Or will it use you?

Either way, it wants your blood in its maws, and it will not stop, only running away to recover once injured enough. The only way out is to get back to the surface and back to town…

Where those who declined the invitation will find themselves at risk of being menaced by their own fears as well. You didn’t think we’d forget you, did you?

It’s going to be a long night.

A STRANGE DELIVERY

Eventually, be it the light of day chasing frights away or your own determination to kill that which cannot be killed- or maybe you discover another way- it’s over, and you find yourselves exhausted from the night before. The circus tents and their stalls still stand, though now they’re empty save for the scent of blood and rot and a flyer for the Cyclamen Circus tosses about in the breeze. The way to the Grove is quiet but safe, and you’ll probably want to clean up and go to bed, right…?

As you stumble back into the clearings, something happens, though. A sound of something thrumming, branches breaking and breaking and a deep guttural sound echoes from the forest, several bright lights shining through the trees.

To some, it’s something entirely new. To others, it’s achingly, frighteningly familiar. A large metal truck bursts through the treeline, coming to a stop a respectful distance from the Goddesses’ statues.

The passenger side’s door opens and a woman steps out, mouth opening and closing again as she struggles to find words. The driver steps out as well, just as stunned.

“I can’t believe it. All this time, there’s been people…?” The woman asks, while the man just slowly looks around.

“... It looks like it… but. It’s so hard to believe with everything else we’ve seen since breaching the fog…”

“We can’t just leave them here, we- we gotta do something!”

“What about-”

“Ohhhh, who cares! This is way bigger than any stupid ruin or whatever!” The woman snaps, before stepping forward with purpose and far too much energy for her body to handle. “Excuse me! I know this is really strange, but we’re here to help! My name is Iris and this is Henry, and we’re going to get you to safety!”

”We were supposed to be researching the fae ruins within…”

”Shut up, Henry.”

It’s an impressive declaration. But she insists that you start packing up what you can once you’ve gotten some rest, because the truck’s certainly big enough, and ignores Henry’s own misgivings. Roseroot awaits.

Spark Notes

summary

WAKE UP: Good morning! There's a creature in your room and also it's cold. If you look out your window, you'll see a path of cyclamen leading off into the woods, and some lights in the distance. Hmmm.
WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS: The workers at the circus, the carnies and dancers and performers, all look like people you knew at one point in your life. They don't know you, but they're happy to treat you like family as they serve you food and have you play their (rigged) games. What's wrong with the food? Why are you making a face?
IN THE CENTER OF THE RING: The real circus begins, and it's as delightful as it is gore-filled. ...depending on your definintion of delightful, anyway. The performers seem clumsy, often throwing things at you - or did they purposely aim in your direction? - and the stiltwalkers nearly step on you as they pass. Animals who get too close may bite, and one of the performers falls from the ceiling and dies with a smile.
THE DEPTHS OF FEAR: Your way out is through a trapdoor. The animal cages burst open, and not only are animals released, but beasts composed of your worst fears chase you down in an attempt to kill you. Those of you who spent your time back at the Grove don't fare much better; the fear monsters are after you, too.
A STRANGE DELIVERY: And at the month's end, a truck bursts through the forest, two people stumbling out of it in shock that you're here. Roseroot awaits you, but you all should get some rest and pack before making the journey.

out of character

Hello everyone! Welcome to our September TDM. This is a reminder that TDMs are considered game canon. We will have a second TDM in October, and then none in Nov-Dec to round out the year. As always if there are any questions, please head to the relevant Questions toplevel below.

updates

None yet! Important updates about how characters interact with the log and change the course of events will be placed here.

submissions

❖ Questions
❖ September Plotting
❖ Past Life Plotting (Closed to Game Members)
❖ Investigations

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Comments

[outofsynth]

"Okay," he answers, voice high. Min is more than happy to not be in charge here, but it quickly becomes clear that her strategy hasn't actually changed and is still very unlikely to work. He's not entirely sure the shadow can attack physically, but if it can and has just been holding out then she could be in real trouble if she keeps getting too close.

He isn't keen on telling her what to do when this is an area he has so little expertise on, but it sort of feels like it might be the best option.

"Or we could leave? I don't think that's hurting it."

[a_shadow]

Tex is not one to back down in the face of a fight. She doesn't want this kid to get hurt, though. And who's to say that if they try to leave, the thing won't try to follow them?

"Not yet," she says, teeth gritted together. She moves to be fully in front, shoulders square with the creature, and moves to slash at it again, rushing in faster and closer.

Once again, the shadow evades her. This time it actually morphs shape, parts of it moving out of the way of the knife strike. She turns her head, eyeing Min behind her.

"Okay, you win," she says. "Let's get out of here."

[outofsynth]

Min waits tensely, flinching at her next failed attempt to stab the shadow creature. It's a relief that she relents after that. He hadn't been sure she was going to.

"Stay close to me," he tells her. "I can protect us."

They can definitely move quicker without the shield, though, so he doesn't put it up yet. Better to try and gain some distance.

[a_shadow]

She doesn't know how he can do that, but she's really starting to catch on that things don't make sense here. She moves alongside him as they hurry away.

The shadow creature isn't taking that lying down, though. It swoops toward them, tendrils of itself moving ahead and in between them. Tex jerks away from where it has nearly touched her, and that causes a gap between herself and Min.

"Shit," she hisses.

[outofsynth]

Delaying had been a mistake. Min-Gi realizes this abruptly as the shadow worms its way between them and forces them apart. He falters, freezing as he tries to figure out how to fix this. The shadow can clearly keep up if not outspeed them, but if he raises his shield now then it will only trap it in there with them.

He's kicking himself internally for letting himself take this chance after promising her he'll be able to protect her when that's clearly not the case. The shadow's obviously picked up that proximity is important, so now he needs to figure out a way to get it away from her if only for a few moments.

The only idea he has is to loop behind it, hoping that somehow he can be quicker. He's almost touching Tex as he lifts his mini-synth to play the song that will bring up the shield around them. He can only hope the shadow is just far enough away that it won't get caught up with them.

[a_shadow]

Tex realizes quickly that Min is trying to get closer to her and follows his direction. A tendril of the shadow monster seems to be trying to infiltrate the shield as Min raises it, but it also doesn't seem to like the music very much, and it jerks back after a moment and jitters.

"Play," she encourages him urgently. She has no idea how this is working, but it is working, so she's going to roll with it.

[outofsynth]

"It doesn't like music?"

Oh. That is a solution that Min had not been expecting. He'd probably be offended, but it's just a relief to have stumbled upon something that works. He keeps up the same tune for now, making sure the shield stays up around them. If this makes it a little weaker, then he can see if he can play something else that will allow them to make their escape without a shield to slow them down.

[a_shadow]

"I think so." Something is causing it to falter, at least, and the music seems to be the most likely culprit.

She follows along as Min-Gi guides her along with the shield. The shadow monster follows them, but more half-hardheartedly, sending out tendrils in their direction, and then jerking them back.

[outofsynth]

Considering it's still following, he plays the same loop over and over, keeping them protected. It does seem to be struggling with keeping up though. Min is still wary, but a lot less fearful than he would normally be with a dangerous creature hot on his heels.

It really does seem to be keeping it away from them.

"Let's try and move a little faster..." he suggests.

Not by much. He doesn't want them to lose their protection by rushing, but maybe they'll be able to put some distance between themselves and the shadow if they do.

[a_shadow]

She lets out a little grunt of agreement with a sharp nod and follows his lead. The creature does falter, perhaps even beginning to give up.

And then suddenly it seems to implode, the tendrils jerking inward toward the biggest mass of dense shadow, and the shape of it becomes a tight sphere.

"Watch for it to try again," she warns. She doesn't trust it.

[outofsynth]

Min-Gi flinches inwards at the implosion, shield flickering briefly out of existence. He's glad he stuck to the same song now, even if it might be irritating to have to listen to him playing the same thing over and over. Maybe it is a sign of the shadow weakening, or maybe it's preparing to do something worse.

Either way, he doesn't want to take any chances. He'd already been preparing himself for the worst when she warns him, so he's quick to nod, bracing himself so he can try and avoid dropping their protection if they need it.