MINI-EVENT: RETURN FROM THE MOUNTAINS

[sticksandbonesmods]

You are tired.

Without the truck to come get you — where did those people go? Were they even real? — you have to walk, hike up to the mountain peak, only to go back down. Did no one tell you that just the base of the mountains to the Grove itself is a seven-day walk? Perhaps someone would have, if they were here to tell you.

As all of you escape Roseroot, leaving behind the horrors slaughtered en masse, poor Astrid is suddenly blinded, his eyes turning completely black as something whispers in his mind. “Please. Please, you have to help them. You have to help them. Please, please, you have to—” As quick as it came, he regains his vision, his eyes clearing back up, and the message cuts off. Whether he shares this information or not with the rest of you… that’s up to him.

Either way, to get over the mountains, you have to hike. The winged, the flighted ones, those who can float, they might be able to take people up to the peak faster, but the blizzards rage atop it. Is flying really safe? You have only a few supplies between all of you — do you look for firewood and rest along the path? Do you traverse the mazelike caverns and hope one of you spits you out at a higher peak? Do you take shelter underneath the crystals growing on the mountainside?

If you look at those crystals for too long, they seem to reflect your nightmares back at you, but sleeping beneath them gives an incredible sense of calm.

At the mountain peak is the scene of something nightmarish itself — a group of people, some humanoid, one shadowy, a few monstrous, all collapsed. Each of them sleeps beneath the bulk of a golden dragon, tucked up underneath their bulk for warmth, while the unconscious dragon itself is mostly-buried under the snow. In the air float three charms, one of the sun, one of the moon, and one of half a sun. And just under those, maintaining some sort of magic — though even the magically-inclined may struggle to tell what exactly it is — is a leucistic deer-centaur holding a staff with a dreamcatcher head, wearing furs and leathers and braving the blizzard in his unconscious state solely to keep whatever this magic field around the peak is running.

As soon as you step further into this field, your memories come back en masse. These people are yours. They are your Guardians, your friends, your almost-family, and they disappeared one day, and you did not remember them. When you go to wake one of them up, your mind is pulled into theirs, a fragmented web of memories spanning before you.

Do you fix them? Or do you leave them here forever to suffer with a fragmented mind?

Spark Notes

out of character

Per the plotting, please remember that it is ONE character per player for the NPCs minus the Lord of the Mountains — meaning for example that Amity cannot have White Lily fix Ydalir, Sidney fix Callan, and Mafuyu fix Heimr. However, players are free to select what NPC they want to help, even if multiple players are currently helping that NPC. Guess comments will be screened and replied to as they come in to avoid cheating when someone gets one right, and all will be unscreened at the end of the event. :)

If everyone lumps into a few NPCs and others don't have interaction, I will lift the rule saying one character per player in the Discord and make an announcement.

Participation in an NPC thread will be good for Bonus AC regardless of length. Please do not use these for main AC. You can get main AC off your toplevels on this event if you choose to do so.

Please refrain from general threading with the NPCs on this post; bar Lord of the Mountains, other NPCs should be threaded with on NPC Contact if it's irrelevant to the event proper. In the case of LotM, he is the exception to every rule — everyone is free to try solving his memories regardless of if you have another character solving another NPC's memory puzzle, and general threading with him is allowed.

I maintain the right to cut a threading-thread short at any time; this is to avoid overwhelm and flooding the post with irrelevant details to the event. Guess threads will not be cut until all guesses are correct at minimum. (This is more in defense of my wordiness than a slight at you guys, I know how I get so this is a rule that exists to protect Me lmao.)

code

Comments

[unheiring]

Mm, is that so? [Tucked into Joshua's neck, hidden away from his face, maybe Luca feels a little emboldened. Or perhaps it's just how well things have been going, how comfortable he feels with Joshua. The guilt does still eat at the back of his mind but..

It's one question, right? A question that Joshua even opened the door for.]

So, if I were not - half-frozen and trembling, you would still be holding me like this?

[He keeps his tone light, near teasing. With his face hidden, there's no way Joshua can tell just how serious the question happens to be.]

[kingincognito]

[ Ah. He had opened the door for it, indeed. He couldn't attempt to cover his tracks even if he wanted to, though. No, the truth of the matter is, he truly would keep Luca warm regardless of circumstances, and he would gladly hold his friend like this even if warmth wasn't needed. There's no denying it in the slightest.

The question makes him flush, though, and he's glad that neither of them can see each other's face. ]

... yes. I would. If you would be amenable, of course.

[ Way to make it sound like you're asking to court him, Joshua. What if that isn't why he's asking at all? The cold is addling his brain, clearly. ]

[unheiring]

[A low hum leaves Luca, thoughtful, and perhaps a touch delighted. His face feels hotter than ever, and he can't help but wonder if Joshua can feel as much, given their current proximity. If he dwells on that thought, though, he's never going to get out what he needs to.

Which is to say, looping back to what he meant to say before.]

We... should talk more then. When we return to the Grove.

[Not here on a mountain. Not just because it's completely unromantic, but because they both need time to think, of that he is certain. There is a path that they could choose to walk together here, but he won't rush onto it when there is so much else that could complicate matters.

Never mind the stress of the last several weeks. Who's to say it isn't their endorphins running high from finally breaking free, or the cold well and truly making them delirious. He has to be sure.

He has to do this right.]

[kingincognito]

[ Likewise, Joshua has his own reservations, and not because he doesn't feel this way for Luca. Ultimately, the last time he'd grown close to someone, the Forest had used it as a weapon against him, a means of punishing him for digging a little too far. He doesn't want that to happen again. He doesn't want Luca to suffer for his quest for knowledge.

But that is something that they can discuss later, once they are safely back in the Grove. ]

Indeed. When we return to the Grove.

[ But rather than dwell further on it, he pulls Luca closer, more snug against him. To share the warmth he's giving off, and all that .]

For right now, we shall keep each other warm.

[unheiring]

[It's a relief that Joshua doesn't spurn him for his hesitation. It makes it far easier to relax, body going almost limp against his friend's side. Weeks of tension begins to melt from his body, leaving him feeling almost boneless. If he needed to, he could probably lift up his sword and fight but beasts, let it not come to that.]

That's all I need.

[No matter what came of... all of this, really, at least he could rely on Joshua being there. Maybe they would decide that friendship was better for them, but the idea of Joshua actually casting Luca out...? That one seemed incredibly far-fetched.]

Thank you.