EVENT 30

[sticksandbonesmods]

I CALL MYSELF A SHELL

A USED UP BULLET CASING

The air is cold, the sky dreary. Ever since your return to Aldric’s Grove, the chill in the air is as bitter and sharp as a knife. The scent of stew from the General Store’s windows is comforting, almost as much as the teas Ydalir is handing out if you pass by her tent. Nene puts baskets of her fresh produce on every doorstep or before the doors of people’s rooms in the inn, and Evan and Rillian join her sometimes, the two also handing out sweaters or cloaks. It’s not going to be as bad as last year, but a bitter winter is coming. It’s best to be prepared, isn’t it?

As the winter approaches, plantimals busy themselves to prepare as best they can, too. Pinecone squirrels harvest away nuts while one by one birds move as close to warmth as they can — and that may well just be Sehul and Aurora’s domains. The river water is clear as ever and even colder, with only the blessed trees and bushes still flowering and bearing fruit.

Yet nothing prepares anyone for the green mist, knee-high at the lowest, waist-high at the highest. It smells earthy and grassy, almost floral like a garden,and it pours out of the research hall.

There’s a chill in the air. Something… strange is happening, yet again.

THE AFTERMATH OF SOMETHING LETHAL

The mist is not the only thing that follows. In your homes, walking around the slowly rebuilding town, resting in the inn — all over, there are ghosts, and they all look painfully familiar. After all… it's not every day you get to see your face without a mirror.

Ghosts of the former residents of the Grove have followed where the mist flows, fragments of history that are part of you given form. Some look pristine, like they’d simply gotten up and got dressed like any normal day. Others look bloodied and wounded, clearly killed and still persisting. None seem bothered by their state — if anything, the lot are curious about the changes that have been made to the Grove, or about you.

Of course they know you. They know your pains, the life you’ve lived, they’re part of you after all… though some ghosts know the full extent better than others. You must have something you want to say, don’t you? Or… maybe you’re approached by the ghost of another soul, with something else in mind.

AN ECHO OF INFLICTED EVIL

cw: a brief instance of animal death

Within the heart of it all stands a woman almost eight feet tall, maybe more. There is an unearthly glow to her green eyes, and she wears a black gown that looks like it’s meant for a funeral and a garden party in the same day. Draped in her arm is a basket as she talks to various blooms, and occasionally she may… pluck at a passing by animal, placing a silvery light within the basket as the animal comes to a stop and finds its final rest.

She looks at each resident of the Grove as she walks, poking and pulling at things that cannot be seen — from the air, from the buildings, from you-

And then she keeps on walking, pausing only at the fog barrier.

“... What a troubling scene this sets. And the rot in the roots… beastly, isn’t it? What a shame that I cannot be here in full to set this straight.” She hums thoughtfully, before finally she stops and sits down.

“Come along now, then. I’m sure you all have questions.”

So, will you talk to Morrigan the Lady Death?

... SO COMES SNOW AFTER FIRE ...

With talking to Morrigan comes a task: close the door once more. Once this is done, the Grove settles again, a blanket of quiet settling over the little village finally. Time passes, and once the first snow starts to fall, Heimr calls everyone to the inn. White snowdrops are painted along the banisters, the door frames and windows, and warm spices and savory smells waft through the air.

Renard is dishing up different plates as you come in, and he smiles radiantly with a wave. Later on he might show off some of his creations, or hand you an instrument.

Music flows through the dining room as Ydalir feeds the fire, and some of Callisto’s meads and wines — flavored or simple honey — eventually turn up on the table. It’s nice not to be alone, right?

Unfortunately it might be ruined when Heimr sets out what looks to be a deck for UNO. And a stack of other board games. But UNO is the killer, here. UNO may just ruin your carefully-crafted friendships with everyone here. …please don’t let it do that. You’ve already been through so much together, and there’s so much more to come.

Spark Notes

summary

A USED UP BULLET CASING Fall is here and winter is fast approaching. The residents of the Grove are trying to help take care of player characters after the past two months of hardships... but one night, a green mist spills out of the Research Hall.
THE AFTERMATH OF SOMETHING LETHAL All throughout the Grove, the ghosts of your past lives linger waiting to speak to you- or to the ones you love. They know your life, though the intimate details may vary, and can be touched. And linger they will! They're very curious, you know.
THE ECHO OF INFLICTED EVIL Morrigan the Death wanders the town, poking and prodding at the magics in play. Whatever she's found, however, they have decided can wait. After all, you probably have questions, don't you?
... SO COMES SNOW AFTER FIRE ... After the Door to the Afterlife has been closed- presumably by you, someone's got to do it- and Morrigan has presumably also left, Heimr decides it's time for another community meal. And this time, he brought board games! Please do not kill each other over Monopoly.

out of character

Welcome to November! Thank you very much to Jami for allowing us to use their past life plotting and location for this event, and to Aspen for helping facilitate it ICly!. This has been a long time coming, and now you get to meet another force of nature: Death!

AC will be check-in for November and December before resuming regularly. September and October are the last TDM of the year, and we encourage you to reuse them as desired if current players wish to test new characters, or if new players want to break the ice! We check the TDMs regularly.

updates

Any potential updates, such as characters damaging something important or whatever else, will be put here.

submissions

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

code

Comments

[namuthing]

[Genya bristles at the laughter. It feels like he's being mocked, which stings like hell in the face of his vulnerability. Looking down at him — he seems so much less dangerous like this — and hearing that mocking tone almost makes him want to grab Shadow Milk by all the ruffles and throw him as far as he can. Genya's reasonably sure he can get some distance, too.

But no, he's here to make amends. Or at least, something close to that. He doesn't want to be friends with the guy, still doesn't trust him for anything, but he's supposed to be trying. After all, he knows what the toll of words can be.

He still hears his own from years ago within his head.]

Not that! [His tone does come out a little sharper than he means, the volume a little louder. He curbs it back with a grimace. It gives him just long enough to notice Shadow Milk's own reaction, but he doesn't quite care enough to ask at present.]

Murderer. That's what I was going to call you.

[jesterlies]

[Ah.]

[He simmers down a little. Even more surprising, considering one of their first conversations. That mocking tone, his uncertain laughter, it all dies down and Shadow Milk speaks in a surprisingly even tone. He almost sounds normal.]

And yet you would have had every right to call me that, you realize. My hands are soaked in jam- in blood, for you humans, I guess. I may be a deceitful beast, but for something like that, I won't deny things things I've wrought.

[namuthing]

Even if it's true - [Genya's throat visibly bobs as he swallows. Whatever confidence had bubbled up in his chest seems to be dissipating rapidly. His gaze falls down to his feet — clad solely in cloth rather than actual shoes of any sort.] It's not a word I should go throwing around. I know better.

[Even if it's true, and he has no reason to doubt that it is. Unlike Shadow Milk, Elder Faerie has proven to be kind and trustworthy. And that's to say nothing about the fact that Cookie outright admits it. No, it goes deeper than that. The actions and crude exterior, after all, are not unfamiliar to Genya, even if the methods and behaviors are entirely different.]

So. There you go. Sorry. Won't happen again. We can leave it there, right?

[jesterlies]

[Shadow Milk hums at that. Well, so long as he's not in denial about what he is, then that's fine. He'll accept that.]

Of course. Though I find the apology unnecessary, I do acknowledge your words.

[It's a novel sentiment. He had no reason to come back and say all this, so that he did speaks of something, doesn't it? A good heart perhaps? Something sentimental?]

Words have power, after all, especially in a place like this.

[namuthing]

Yeah. They do.

[He knows that more than anyone. He's borne the weight of his own words for so many years now, after all. He had witnessed how those words had changed someone dear to him, had destroyed the happiness shared between them.]

Look, I still don't trust you. And maybe I'm not supposed to. But... you didn't have to be worried about the rest of the town when I fucked up. [Genya also acknowledges that Shadow Milk made an effort to conceal his identity during his announcement. He only fails to bring it up because, well, it had been kind of pointless thanks to his own efforts.] So... I can at least acknowledge that you did something right.

[jesterlies]

That you don't trust me just speaks of your survival instinct! You should be proud of that! It's foolish to trust blindly, when deceit lurks behind every corner.

[He turns back to his scroll, not to be dismissive, but because he has a hard time being still. Or perhaps to have the "good" thing he did pointed out makes him feel weird. He returns to putting lines on the map.]

For a character like mine, written the way I should be, you could say I did it only because the people here are more useful to me alive than dead. That would be easy to believe, right?

[namuthing]

[Shadow Milk isn't wrong. Genya has acted with distrust for a large portion of his independent life. Granted, some of that is the result of his training, and the fact that his very enemies — the demons he fought — were capable of such deceit, but the point still remains.

Nevertheless, something stands out to him.]

Morrigan didn't seem to think so. The uh. The death person. They said you were trying. So maybe this is you, trying to be better. [Genya wrinkles his nose. He sounds like Tanjiro, when he thinks about it.] And if that is the case, maybe I can relate.

[jesterlies]

[He pauses.]

[WHO said that about him?]

Huh. Really, and of all people they have the most reason to renounce me. How about that.

[They have had their chat by now, and he knows she seems to find him an amusing child more than anything, but to have them say that to someone ELSE is a little...hm.]

Mm, well, perhaps you're better at reading between the lines than I had given you credit for.

[After all, the reason he always phrases things that way, like how the story should go, what acting would be most believable, is often to deflect from the truth.]

Perhaps I have a word, too, that I care not to say.

[namuthing]

Nah, I'd say I'm pretty shit about that. Kind of the shoot first, ask questions never type.

[Still, Genya manages a half-smile through his self-deprecation. He appreciates the sentiment, but they don't need to fool themselves with it, either. Even now, he isn't entirely sure what Shadow Milk is trying to say, but he thinks he might have an idea of it?]

It's the one you said earlier, right? The one you thought I wanted to say?

[jesterlies]

Yes, I do know the type!

[One of his colleagues is the Beast of Destruction after all.]

Make no mistake, little rooster. I have no illusions of what I am and what I've done. I know that word is an easy way to describe my very core and I have been called it time and again with very good reason!

[He sighs, he opens his palm and a small mote of light appears, he closes his hand and it disappears.]

But someone made me promise to never be the one to say it about myself, regardless of its Truth, because as you're very aware, words have power.

[namuthing]

[Genya huffs once. He isn't sure where this "Little Rooster" bit has come from, but it's not the first time Shadow Milk has tossed it his way. Maybe he'll ask about it later, but there are more important things at hand.]

I guess I get it. [He's said a lot of bad things about himself, only to have the force of someone contend directly with it. He gets it on more than one level.]

If it helps, it's not the kind of word I'm gonna throw around either. Not with... people at least. [And Shadow Milk, regardless of where he comes from or what he's done, is a person.] 's just being a hypocrite at that point.

[After all, Shadow Milk has seen what he can do, even if he doesn't understand it himself.]