EVENT 033

[sticksandbonesmods]

CRUSADER PROBE MISSION

Sometimes when you look outside, you think the Iris must be closer. That, or a month of isolation in the inn and not seeing the light of day has convinced you that the awful red moon has crept toward the realm you’re currently stuck in. Night after night feels largely the same; you go to bed to the awful shrieks of the Fake People, wretched hands tap against your window, and fleshy masses climb the walls. When you wake up, you hopefully remember to eat, and hopefully don’t fight with your neighbours you’ve been locked indoors with over the state of the kitchen, or the medical supplies scattered across the floor because someone tripped their way into the mobile clinic. Those of you who venture outside hopefully come back unharmed, maybe to the tune of worried friends and partners shouting that you should take a break. Surely the Goddesses must be working on a solution skywards, surely you need to wait, surely there’s some piece of the puzzle you’re missing, surely the magic will come back. Surely, surely…

Sleep, wake up, survive. Sleep, wake up, survive. Sleep… wake up.

There are twenty-five new moons in the sky.

Around the Grove’s sky in an uneven ring, your moon — the one from your home — joins the moons of your peers, bleeding, wounded, its craters unnatural and new. Sinew and tendon connect and pull like a sore being spread open by prodding fingertips. The twin moons of Elrios embrace Earthbread’s in a mass of unnatural tendrils. Valisthea’s moon is cleft in two, one half being pulled toward the east by a mass of goo attached to No Man’s, the other mid-collision with Earth’s. The debris that sprays out from it is a disgusting mix of blood and rock, frozen mid-splatter under the Iris’ gravity.

You swear when you look at the horizon that there are more Woodcrawlers than there were before, despite everyone’s best efforts. The wards on the inn hold, suppressed magic bubbling beneath the surface like a volcano waiting to erupt — one you can feel shuddering under your footsteps — and as the inn endures hit after hit from enraged creatures trying to get to you, you can’t help but wonder…

How much longer do you have left, realistically?

SLEEP IMAGE VISUALIZER

cw: promoting suicide

Out in the depths of the woods, the False God — the Forest, the Black Sun, the Creature — wakes from his slumber, to Zonari’s frantic shoulder-shakes and skyward pointing. The moons continue to corrupt, to bleed, to be consumed; the Heavens stay silent, and magic barely comes to the fingertips of those more powerful than you all. When the Forest glances at his fingertips, he can feel it suppressed under the surface, inaccessible even to Him. A Woodcrawler skitters toward his bedchambers from a shattered window and gets swatted like a gnat out of fury.

The Black Sun wants this hideous red moon to get out of his skies.

He does not approach the Grove. Rather, with the few dregs of magic that remain in a Fallen God and the blessings of his daughter at his side, he reaches into your minds — sleeping or waking.

“It’s been a while. If I wasn’t asleep, I would have cast that thing out of the sky before it got here for daring to mess with what is mine. It stole most of my magic, and I need it back — but I’ll get rid of it if you help me get my magic back. Consider it a gift.”

Whether sleeping or awake, you feel it — the burn of something on your wrist, like a tattoo needle being pressed down too hard for comfort. Some are marked with a black sun whose body is in the shape of a crescent; the other half are marked with one in the shape of a gibbous. When you try to cover the mark, or brush your hand over it to soothe the sudden sharp ache, it glows through your clothing and fingertips, unable to be hidden.

“Find someone with your opposite mark. Kill them, or give up and kill yourself.” The words hang heavy, but He does not pause to let you process it. “Don’t worry — you’ll only have things to gain from this. You already know how to give me the magic I need to get rid of that thing. Mizuki has told you time and time again, has he not? I promise there will be no consequences. I promise those who die immortality until the red moon is defeated, and if you lost something before… Zonari will give it back. And killers, well… you get the satisfaction, guilt-free. I know your fingertips must ache to pull the trigger, Wolfwood.

Chop chop.”

[CLICK FOR TEAM ASSIGNMENTS]

CRESCENT SUN	GIBBOUS SUN
Till	Viktor
Jayce	Ezell
Flamebringer	Faust
Mephisto	Mizuki
Elder Faerie	Pavlova
Pure Vanilla	White Lily
Shadow Milk	Silent Salt
Akaza	Genya
Senjuro	Kyojuro
Shinobu	Muichiro
Ain	Elsword
Aira	Vildred
Ras	Stan
Joshua	Ryan
Dipper	Zoey
Min-Gi	Astrid
Mystery	Luca
Lyle	Urbain
Kiera	Wolfwood
Corbeau	Cy
River	Lodi

GAMES FOR KIDS

Whether the Grove descends into immediate chaos depends on you. Do you immediately turn on your neighbour and try to kill them? Do you sacrifice yourself on the pyre? Do you grab your loved ones and hole up with the door barricaded? Ignore it? Hope someone else dies so you don’t have to?

Ydalir and Heimr, cross with this entire charade and unmarked, breathe out sighs that carry thousands of years of fatigue. The Guardians look no less thrilled about the situation, but their concerns lie around re-killing all of the Woodcrawlers and Fake People they spent so much time smashing weeks ago. The river, covered in Nethersea Brand, protects Sinann and the Seaborn — and only just, as the Woodcrawlers repeatedly try to stomp through it, only to get paralysed on top of it.

Zonari does not enter the inn, despite Heimr trying to extend the olive branch and say she may as well come inside. Instead, she sticks closer to the barn as she typically does if she visits, only venturing out into the cold to retrieve the dead after they resurrect twenty-four hours later and lead them back to the Grove. “What did you want back?” She asks those who have visited the Garden and lost something — a memory, a limb, an eye, an ability. “I have just enough magic to give it to you. Don’t go losing it again, or this was all a waste, wasn’t it?”

It is the Forest, though, that grants your immortality for dying. He has just enough magic to spare a little to throw your way. If you lose a limb under this blessing, it’ll reattach. Fatal wounds heal almost instantly, though they’ll still hurt for a brief few seconds. A papercut barely tickles you. The Woodcrawlers cannot crawl down your throat, Deep Root Disease does not settle under your skin, and the Nature’s Mockery can do little to impede your steps.

The nights tick on. Days become weeks. The marks on the wrists of the dead-and-resurrected fade. The chaos begins to lessen, little by little.

Then begins an all-out war.

THE DEEP BLUE

The Iris is not one to go down without a fight. It and the Black Sun are in a deadlock, pushing back against the other in an unending game of chess. When one is in check, the other retaliates. The fused moons suspended in the sky act as vessels to beam more and more threats down into the Grove — fifty, one hundred, one thousand. The inn weathers the storm only as long as Heimr and Ydalir continually cast what little magic they can access from the corners of the lobby; chalk-stained fingertips repeatedly draw and re-draw magic circles and arcane wards. If you can’t help outside with the sudden swarm of creatures attacking the inn’s walls and drive them back, they’ll instead ask you to help draw further wards, knowing that this is the best anyone could do in this situation.

The Guardians take on newfound rage outside. Moder’s earthquakes shake the threats off their feet every time she rears back. What doesn’t get stepped on and whipped aside by Sehul gets devoured by Callan’s ceaseless hunger. Back-to-back, Zahliya and Zonari stand valiant in front of the inn to cut down anything that gets too close, Nightfall clutched in her hand as a show of tentative trust from the shorter Gargoyle.

The Seaborn, adults and babies alike, rise from the river en masse and form together into something larger, tentacles and tiny hands holding tight to create an enormous, knightlike being donning shell armour and a blade made from sharpened bones. The Behemoth, too, joins the final stand with teeth and claws gnashing. Within the mountain peaks far away, if you listen closely, you swear you can hear the solemn prayers of the Lord of the Mountains. And far in the distance, rising beyond the cliffside covering the sea, the Cosmic Serpent rises from slumber, the stars making up its form twinkling dimly against the night sky as water cascades off its form. Its jaw unhinges, the light of thousands of swallowed stars gathering in its open mouth.

For a moment, the world seems to stop. You take a single breath and hold it as the chaos surrounds you, and suddenly the sky sunders with the burning light of dawn.

“ENOUGH!” Beiwe’s cry of fury mixes with the Fallen Sun’s own in tandem, and at the same moment her blade of dawn bears down upon the Iris, a blade of black from him joins parallel to hers. The Cosmic Serpent’s beam smashes into the Grove, vaporizing the monsters — and almost vaporizing you, if you’re helping the war efforts outside — at the same time the twin blades cleave the Iris in twain.

A still breath ripples through the trees. The rift in the sky torn open by brother and sister wobbles and ripples, but doesn’t close. The mutated moons are gradually bathed in Ourania’s healing light, the Seaborn return to the river, and the drained Fallen God’s breathing becomes a laboured, exhausted laugh. As the twin Gargoyles bicker and break the silence — Zonari thought it was a good idea to give her brother a noogie, okay? — a sense of calm finally comes over the Grove.

The next few days will be spent cleaning up the ashes of corpses, repairing broken infrastructure, and watching the skies gradually return to normal… yet the rift still hangs overhead, and the tickle of magic doesn’t return to your fingertips.

It still lies in wait.

Spark Notes (Click to Expand)

summary

CRUSADER PROBE MISSION: The moons are more mutated, with some of them smashed up or in pieces. Instead of rotating through the moons from various worlds of player characters, all moons from all player worlds show up in some state of decay.
SLEEP IMAGE VISUALIZER: Suri contacts everyone, places marks upon their wrists, and tells you all to kill each other to power him up so that he can get rid of the Iris. Everyone is assigned one of two teams... good luck!
GAMES FOR KIDS: Welcome to the Hunger Suri Games! Those who die and come back after 24 hours will become immortal for the month. If they died and previously lost something in the Garden, Zonari will grant it back to them with no questions asked. The chaos outside moderately lessens as more and more people become immortal, but the Iris makes a final stand.
THE DEEP BLUE: The inn's wards start to waver, resulting in Ydalir and Heimr asking for help maintaining them from those of you that can draw magic circles before they break again. Those of you who can fight should go outside and fight, they say. The Iris beams down thousands of threats through each wounded moon, and the Guardians, Cosmic Serpent, Seaborn, and the twin suns themselves attend the war. After the Iris' defeat, the sky is sundered and a rift hangs overhead, and yet magic still doesn't return.

out of character

Y'all, it's already February. Anyway, this is the second and final part of our GHE inspired event! Thank you for indulging in it with me, I've enjoyed running it. March and April will be our typical calm-after-the-storm months to make up for the murders I've inflicted on you all. Fun facts: Had I not gotten enough murder sign-ups I wasn't sure how I was going to end this log h-haha, so thank you guys for being SUCH enthusiastic little blorbo killers.

updates

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

submissions

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

code

Comments

QUESTIONS

[sticksandbonesmods]

Characters that app in during this event will automatically be added to the dropdown teams above per mod discretion; please do NOT ask for us to add you to a specific team on this toplevel!

INVESTIGATIONS

[sticksandbonesmods]

If you want to talk to Zonari or Suri instead of purely investigating, please do so on NPC Contact.

Please use the following form for investigations:

Character(s):
Location:
Action: What are they looking for? What are they doing?

<b>Character(s):</b> <b>Location:</b> <b>Action:</b>

Hello I would like to cash in One Ominous Vision —

[ninelines]

Character(s): Lodi!
Location: Either at the inn or at Kyojuro's house. He's sheltering, but that doesn't mean he can't throw his proverbial hat in the ring looking for answers.
Action: After having already received a prior ominous vision, he is looking for another one. Maybe it will be helpful! Probably not! Worth a shot! Dialing on the proverbial rotary phone in hopes of receiving something of substance.

white lily cookie ⚜️ cookie run kingdom ⚜️ gibbous sun

[lilyberation]

i. crusader probe mission

( a flower needs sunlight, most of the time. good, nutrient soil, clean water and sunlight. these needs can often translate to flower cookies, as well. sunlight grants them energy, and spring and summer leave them peppy and in good spirits while winter especially leaves them drained.

and white lily cookie is a flower who has not seen the sun properly in about a month, now.

she's exhausted. even when she sleeps it feels like she gets no rest, and she already sleeps a lot in winter, and every day feels worse and worse- she wouldn't be surprised if the flower in her hair is wilting, alongside her staff. even trying to get around the inn feels like a struggle. her steps are slow, skin pale, and eyes heavy- sitting in front of the fireplace doesn't help, but she tries regardless with tea and heavy meals because she needs to stay focused. but... )

... 'm sorry, did you say something? I'm having a hard time focusing...

ii. games for kids

( so, the thing is...

is that white lily cookie is not truly worried about herself. not really. she's already had her price paid, after all. so while others are staying cautious, white lily is in the kitchen making meals to deliver, quiet as she focuses.

it's just that, when something falls over behind her, she responds. when she knocks on the door and someone speaks- she responds. )

You don't have to come out! I just wanted to bring you something to eat. I can leave it by the door.

iii. the deep blue

( white lily cannot fight without her magic. this is an unfortunate truth. but she can, even if her hands burn and tighten and seize, draw. the inn must remain a safe haven, a beacon of hope and security for those who fight- so while the battle rages on, lily races throughout the inn, chalk in hand and symbols burned into her mind. )

Do you need anything? I have more chalk-

( even when her hands tremble and shake, she draws, and draws again to keep lines in the proper form- she has to keep going, because this is all she can do right now. )

Just... a bit more...

iv. wildcard!

( reach out for any plotting or ideas you have! )

ii.

[outofsynth]

[Food is a necessity. Which is the only reason Min-Gi finds himself holed up alone inside a room that isn't his own. Any knock or attempt to open the door is met by a singular rebuff, and in most cases ignoring whoever's outside until they leave.

White Lily gives him pause though. In part because he likes her, and doesn't want to leave her out there where it's dangerous when he's almost certain she would never do anything to hurt him. In part because it's strange that she seems to respond to his voice.

Is it a trick, or was the timing a coincidence? How did she even work out he was in here? He'd been careful, but maybe she'd still seen him come in.

It doesn't sit well with him, but if it really is her he can't just leave her out there. Reluctantly, he moves aside the furniture he'd been using as a barricade and opens the door just enough to peer suspiciously through the gap.]

Urbain | Pokemon Z-A | Gibbous Sun

[justacityboy]

will y'all tell me if you're cool with z-a spoilers and up to what point/ingame royale rank if you play, thanks

i. closed to corbeau

[Urbain isn't used to Suri's bullshit yet. When he wakes up from the dream, he thinks to himself: ooh yeah real edgy okay sure telling people to kill themselves is so cool, you've done it, you've become every internet user in the last twenty years congratsssss. It's when he sits up out of the bed that he's still sharing with Corbeau that he realises this might be real — the weirdly-shaped sun on his wrist seems to indicate that much.

Instantly, his stomach drops, and he looks down at the man sleeping on the other half of the bed and frowns. One glance at his wrist reveals that they're on opposite teams, and Urbain knows better than to think he's entirely safe. After all, they don't really know each other, and if killing is the way to solve this problem... he doesn't know, maybe there's some reality out there where Corbeau shoots him dead? Maybe it would be a mercy of a kind, to become temporarily immortal, but Urbain thinks to himself that he'd rather not die at all. How long can "temporary immortality" last anyway? It could be all of an hour! It could take the Forest a whole five minutes to defeat the Iris if enough people slaughter each other!

With his hands shaking, Urbain quickly scrambles out of bed and goes to find gauze to cover the new "tattoo" with, a clatter in the bathroom signalling that he dropped the first aid kit. Whoops.]

ii. sneakin for snacksins

[It's midnight, and Urbain needs to be as quiet as possible when he makes a run out of his and Corbeau's room for food. It's not that they're running out, but he's also scared that they will, not knowing how many more weeks they're going to be locked inside. He figures if he's quiet enough in the dark, that he can grab whatever is needed in terms of cans or crackers and haul ass back upstairs before anyone notices him.

Floette floats after him, guarding the rear. While she can't do anything now, she does make an angry chittering threat when you round the corner, putting herself between you and Urbain as if all 8 inches of her will do anything, should you choose violence. But she sure as fuck is gonna try—]

Uh, hey, [he whispers,] I'm just getting food, so can we both be cool?

iii. wildcard

[baby boy is not for killing but you may do anything else!!]

The prompt for me :)

[loansharpedo]

[In fairness to Urbain, it's not like Corbeau is well versed in this brand of bullshittery either. To be clear, that doesn't mean he finds it any LESS insane of a leap, because wow imagine being here for barely a couple months and you're suddenly being told kill yourself or someone else if you wanna live, bye!! Maybe it's because he's used to hearing pretty dark things in his usual day-to-day dealings that he doesn't end up waking up when Urbain does.

He does stir when Urbain drops shit in the bathroom, though. He he didn't want to get caught immediately, he maybe should have tried harder to avoid dropping shit.

Corbeau pushes himself upright, sitting forward as he pulls his fingers through his hair to straighten his part. He can only just see Urbain's shadow flitting across the wall from where he didn't fully close the door.]

Urbain? Are you up?

[He says this as he's checking the mark on his skin, frowning.]

ii as threatened :)

[averageineverything]

[it sure is midnight, but the kitchen is not exactly quiet. sure, senjuro isn't very talkative, especially not when he's mostly alone -- puckward standing guard behind him notwithstanding -- but the sound of something frying on the stove is obvious before it's even in view.

the sound of a potentially unhappy pokemon startles him more than anything, and he jumps, flipping a small pancake clear out of the pan as he turns around to look at her. urbain next to her relaxes him somewhat, but he is a stranger, after all, and she might be defensive of her trainer...]

O-oh -- yes, of course. I can be cool. [he has never been cool a day in his life.] Are you cool? You seem very cool to me.

[... as intense as puck's stare is (he will fight to the death for senjuro's safety, thank you) he also tries to extend the olive branch rather than jump straight into battle. his claws reach to pick up the floor pancake, which is mercifully just a little bit underdone, and he extends it toward floette.]

Flamebringer | Arknights | Crescent Sun

[thebladebringstheflame]

i. closed to wolfwood

[Suri says "kill" and Flamebringer honestly says "oh word?" in response. This is so stupid. He promised Ezell he would not, and to be fair, he's not interested in mindless killing without a purpose.

...buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut also what iffffff he got it out of his system, the fuckass moon went away, and he got to kill Wolfwood (this is his fetish i guess) and Wolfwood killed him for free? And they were immortal??? And then could move on??

Ezell is going to kill him but what if, like, his death... served a purpose... (He's going to be in so much trouble and he knows there's no justification for it but unfortunately Flamebringer is a bad person, so. Crosses will be beared and he will have to be soggy.)]

Hey. So, I was thinking. [he sure was] We're on opposite teams, we literally can't lose, and we never get to go all out. So what if... we fucking kill each other just this once? It's the only time we're going to get to.

[...]

We can have sex after we're back. [FLAMEBRINGER—]

ii. post iris gone, we have to fix the greenhouse

[Victory was achieved and Flamebringer has gardening shears.

He has kept up with both greenhouses during the events of the buggening, don't get him wrong, but it was much harder to keep the buildings intact when the stupid fucking Woodcrawlers kept breaking in and throwing off the temperature gradients. A lot of the plants have died to the winter or being tipped over as a result, and that's only pissed him off more than anything... but they're dead now, it's good, and he's patched up the buildings with Heimr's help.

And now that that's done... Flamebringer has begun the process of emergency plant rescue for the ones that can be saved. Where he used to completely snip the dead flowers, leaves, and branches off and say "it makes the main body stronger" as some sort of philosophical own, and toss plants with only one healthy branch because he figured they wouldn't grow at all... now he's trying to revive the whole thing without any sacrifices.

Those who know his weird plant philosophies and how he uses them as a front for life and death may find it interesting. Those who don't will see this and go "that man is caring for his plants". In either case, that isn't what he chooses to talk about when you come into the greenhouse. You will get one of two statements, depending on how well he knows you. Either:]

Do me a favour while my hands are full — the storage in the back has some supplies. I need the plant lights, wire, and wooden stakes first and foremost.

[OR, if you've spoken frequently enough by this point:]

My wife is mad at me still.

[ :(

also his wife is a man—]

wildcard

[IMMORTAL PPL ROOF JUMPIES WILL BE SAVED FOR A LOG SORRY GIVE ME A WEEK]

The prompt for me

[lupusxylem]

[It's not like Wolfwood isn't in the exact same boat, here. He KNOWS that getting himself into shit is a terrible idea, and Ain is going to beat his ass. Deservedly so, mind you, but still. Vash and Livio will haunt him from their damn graves, but who is he if not 1) a hypocrite and 2) also a bad person?

Flamebringer approaches him when they're mercifully alone, and though Wolfwood raises a brow at the suggestion, the darkness of his eyes is easily read. He's thinking the exact same thing.]

Our asses. We have our asses to lose.

[...]

But I get what you're sayin'. Not just the opportunity to do shit we always wanted but never could- [NOBODY ever said you couldn't kill each other, you'd technically still come back, also what's wrong with you-]- but the possibility it'd mean somethin'.

[Because he...is not confident that the Woodcrawlers and the Fake People and the Flesh Masses are just going to magically disappear, at this point.]

wildcarddddddd sorry Flamebringer

[ezellotry]

[ If Flamebringer thinks he is even a little bit welcome back after the shit he pulled, he, uh. Is. Very Wrong! Basically the moment he tries to return from the whole dying thing, Ezell is in front of him, and he is pissed. Flamebringer has likely only seen him this angry before they were dating - when Flamebringer was doing dangerous stupid shit when they first arrived here.

He doesn't let Flamebringer speak. He doesn't say anything either. He rears his hand back and strikes the side of Flamebringer's face that isn't covered with Oripathy in one of the hardest slaps he can muster. It's vicious enough to resound through the inn, surely. Enough that in the moment, it doesn't even hurt that much, but the stinging will come in full force a few seconds later. ]

How fucking dare you!

Nicholas D. Wolfwood | Trigun Stampede | Gibbous Sun

[lupusxylem]

[OOC: Just in case, I have NOT seen any of Season 2 Stargaze, so I'm avoiding that in here obviously! Not that Wolfwood would know any of that but just in case. I plan on binging when the whole thing is released <3]

A) Crusader Probe Mission | The Inn | Open

[By now, trapped in the Inn as they all are, not a single one of them has missed the presence of the multiple moons now hanging in the sky, and it makes his stomach churn to imagine what that could mean. Seeing the moons of No Man's is a grim reminder, and Wolfwood- for the first time in a while- feels a fresh, aching stab of grief. He doesn't leave the Inn even though he doesn't fear the creatures outside, though he doesn't make himself easy to find for the early hours of the morning. He spends them in his old room, finishing off the last few drops of Bride as he sits on his old bed, staring out the gaps of a barricaded window as he pets Angelina laying across his legs. Maybe you find him up here. He didn't bother fully closing the door, so.

He does come downstairs eventually, to make coffee of all things. If he was going to do that he could have just put the booze IN the coffee but whatever, he doesn't give a shit anymore. He's rummaging around in the kitchen as Angelina circles at his heels, though she'll eventually wander into the living space nearby to stick her nose into your hands. Hi :)

Wolfwood glances over his shoulder to make sure she isn't sticking her face in someone's mug, sighing.]

I'd offer t'make you some, but my coffee tastes like road tar. So.

B) Sleep Image Visualizer | Netbook | OPEN

[Wolfwood and the Forest are not exactly on. Good terms. At all. It's no surprise that he hears his fucking voice calling him out by name, speaking to him directly in a way that points a clear finger: if anybody would do it, HE would. Don't trust the assassin with a gun. He's killed hundreds. He doesn't care who he kills.

He'd kill just to save himself. Right?

He smokes an extra cigarette after his little speech ends, and then pulls his notebook from his inner blazer pocket.]

hey so if you're a kid don't look
[crudely drawn picture of two middle fingers here]

thats for you forest
cant even specify how many people youd expect us to kill
you think im gonna believe youd do shit if just one or two died?
dumbass.

C) Games for Kids | The Grove (Outside, after WW Resurrects) | OPEN

[Wolfwood knows damn well that he's going to be in hot water. He knows. Flamebringer knows, too. But there were no rules specifying who you had to kill, for what reason, how, or why, beyond the "teams" the Forest had created.

And as it turned out, he and Flamebringer happened to be on opposite teams. Both willing to do what most people wouldn't. Couldn't. That's a sacrifice he knows they were both ready to make, even if it did mean cowing to the Forest's demands. The alternative is this going on for longer...God knows how much longer they could even hold out against the Woodcrawlers.

He'd do anything to spare them all that kind of death.

Zonari asks him what he wants, and he tells her plain and simply "I don't deserve it, even if you can give it".

And then he decides he'll take advantage of his immortality to mow down as many of those Woodcrawler motherfuckers as he can. It's only fair.]

D) Wildcard

[Wolfwood has already died so idk if a second death grants him anything but if you wanna do something other than the prompts here lmk!]

Pavlova Cookie // Cookie Run Kingdom // Gibbous Sun

[lovelyredthread]

Sleep Image Visualizer ♡1》
[ Pavlova feels like he really should have expected something like this after how bad last month was. As annoying as it is, this does fall under them needing to do something so a god could help them, just like he had predicted. It’s been the pattern of things so far that they generally need a deus ex machina of some kind to fix an issue, and unfortunately this time it was everyone’s least favorite.

But despite the fact the price set was murder… Pavlova isn’t that concerned. This little community doesn’t have a lot of people that would be willing to kill without provocation. The boy is wary, he watches people carefully if they get too close, but he doesn’t hide in his room. They’ll meet the business end of his bow if they try to pick him off.

Until this blows over… he’s just going to keep his routine, often found in his room or in the lobby, huddled by the fireplace. ]

I can’t wait for the sun to come back, it was cold enough already.

Deep Blue ♡2》
[ Things go from zero to one hundred so quickly Pavlova Cookie is left fumbling. He’s not even sure where his abilities would be better utilized given he could reasonably help with fighting or the wards in a pinch. He first takes position at a window to shoot at the swarm from a safe vantage. He’s not immortal like those that died earlier in the month so he has to be careful about how he approaches this. ]

Incoming!

[ Someone near the Inn will hear an arrow woosh past them and then see a woodcrawler utterly decimated about a foot from them. He doesn’t have his magic, but the draw strength on his bow is still absurd. ]

Wildcard ♡3》
[ Literally anything, come at me. ]

Aira Shiratori ♡ Ensemble Stars ♡ Crescent Sun

[love_swan]

Just a little more ♡1》 CW: Suicidal ideation/mentions; Closed to Stan
[ In Aira’s humble opinion, this situation could not get much worse. Mayoi was gone, Mafuyu was gone, and suddenly the whole Grove felt that much less manageable. The air felt that much more oppressive, and the voice of what had to be the god that was holding them hostage coming to them and implying a free for all on killing each other to get out of this? Yeah, that was the last straw. He left the inn directly after, less because he didn’t trust the others so much as he just didn’t want to see what this devolved into, and… well, he couldn’t do this himself. He knows himself too well. He was too much of a coward to take his own life.

He arrives at the Pines’ cabin shortly, his legs trembling from a mixture of fear and exhaustion. He’s unarmed after all. Getting to the cabin around all of the nasty things in the way without being caught was a feat in itself, but one he’s unfortunately not unaccustomed to. He’d said he wouldn’t come out here, but… well this was warranted, he thought. In his panic, he really wasn’t thinking that much about the fact this most certainly wouldn’t go well. He was thinking about the fact this place was about to become a battlefield and if everyone was going to kill each other he’d rather have it both count and be at the hands of someone he trusted not to make it painful.

Hurrying past the warning signs, Aira slid to a stop by the door and knocked- polite even in this situation. That, and he’s not entirely sure where they are, and short of calling for them he’s not sure how else to get their attention. ]

If you step forward ♡2》 CW: Suicidal ideation/mentions; Closed to Dipper
[ Predictably, showing up at his best friend’s door and asking his uncle to kill him had ended poorly. After a good scolding he ended up inside the house and was sat down with a cup of what was presumably coffee. If Dipper hadn’t heard it himself, then he imagines his uncle had probably told him himself by now. Aira was still a little drained from the emotional whiplash he’s been through and the relief that in fact he did not seem to have to die for this stupid plan to work. He’s not sure how to feel. On some level he’d felt like this was– only fair? After he’s cheated death so many times at the expense of others this felt like the way to pay others back with his own. Is he selfish for being relieved? He doesn’t know.

Footsteps on the stairs startle him a little, but he stops himself from jolting too badly- spilling the coffee would be bad. ]

D..Dipper-kun?

If you’re just a little kinder ♡3》 Netbook
Hey everyone- it’s Aira in case you don’t know my handwriting! Sorry I ran off so suddenly. I’m alright, I just went to the Pines’ house! I’ll probably stay here until things calm down some, so I’m sorry for the inconvenience!

This ordinary day ♡4》
[ After he and Stan ended up getting killed anyway and the three of them returned to the Inn, Aira picked up where he left off with assisting the medics. Time passed and things eventually somewhat settled. Until, of course, the Fallen Sun made good on his promise. The Grove erupted into activity, and while Aira had immortality from having died, he was positively useless as a combatant. No, his shaking hands were better utilized helping fortify the wards on the Inn so that things didn’t get even more dire than they already are. ]

Er… Does this look right?

[ Art is the one thing he would say he’s pretty passable at, but he also has next to no knowledge of magic. He’s seen many a demonic rune, however, and he’s terrified he might get one of the wards wrong in his haste. ]

Can become something beautiful ♡5》
[ Wildcard! Come get your lil guy. ]

Luca Aurelius | Original Character | Gibbous Sun

[unheiring]

i. When's the Last Time you Tasted Blood? — Netbook

[Luca spends far longer than he would care to admit, squirreled away in his temporary room as he stares at his wrist. The fact that the invasion had carried on far longer than most hiccups in the Grove tended to was already a problem. Being cooped up with clashing personalities was worse.

And now the bastard went and threw a match into a powder keg.

It's with that thought that Luca stumbles over to his netbook and quickly scrawls something out.]

Drinks are only free to whoever decides not to take up this Beasts Blighted offer.
If I find out any of you played a part in this, I will charge you double.

[That'll show them, right?]

ii. And What Will it Take to Stem the Flood? — Inn Roof

[No it will not. One by one, they succumb to the offer. Maybe it's accidental. Maybe it's a noble decision. Whatever it is, it's a damn headache. Sure, people make it back — sometimes even better than when they left. But through it all, Luca's apprehension grows. More often than not, he seems to step away from the makeshift bar set up in the lobby, instead heading up to the roof. He practices with his sword against a cobbled together dummy made from pillows and pilfered chairs.

It reminds him too much of days that are not far enough in the past. Once, he would have gladly thrown himself on the blade for the sake of shutting the Phoenix up. Now, he has more reason than ever to live. And given all that he has experienced with deities, he doesn't dare trust that the Forest doesn't have something up its sleeve.

So he practices for a fight. He doesn't know if it'll be against one of his compatriots, or if it'll be the Forest itself. But whatever happens, he will be ready for it.]


iii. Wildcard

[Wildcard! Hit me with whatever you want, or drop a DM over on discord! I'm flex!]

ii. Fish incoming!

[sirensinger]

[For most, grappling with the undertaking of being forced to cut through your peers would be deeply distressing. For a newly-introduced, combat-enthused rogue element, who had few tethers to any of the walking, talking mainstays in the Grove? This was an opportunity.

It had not been difficult to track down the primary location that Luca was lingering at. A curiosity that had been burning at him since the day he had awoken with the mark scrawled on the back of his hand has driven him here. Were they on opposing sides? Had someone already stumbled to this place with ill intent fresh on their mind? The mere notion bites at him. A unique possessiveness curls round his throat.

River steps round the outside the building with halberd loosely in hand and waits. Whether he would have to scale the building to reach Luca on the roof would soon become evident, he surmises. While there was a high likelihood that Luca was on high alert due to the state of things, a part of River is banking on him attempting to maintain some semblance of normalcy.]

ii

[lovelyredthread]

[ The little boy is not here to practice, thoughhe keeps his bow on him in case one of those awful woodcrawler things gets on the roof.

He's been letting Luca train/vent in silence, but he gets bored of sharpening the tops of the arrows he's making eventually. ]

You really thought alcohol would stop them?

iii

[cryopathy]

[the second the forest ceases beaming his demands in their brains, kiera reaches out through their bond. such a raw, mental connection leaves no room for hiding how scared and desperate they feel, especially after the way luca cut them off earlier, presumably after finding him.

this is the worst possible time for alazon to come along, and yet again kiera feels personally targeted by the creature in this.]

Don't. Don't you fucking dare even think it, Luca. Where are you?

[with their senses nulled to that of an ordinary bird, they haven't the first hint at how to find him otherwise. the most they can do is dart this way and that throughout the inn, and shut doors might as well be immovable stone.]

Lodi | Destiny 2 | Gibbous Sun

[ninelines]

i. Crusader Probe Mission

[It is difficult to discern how long he has been here. The inexorable march of time was famously difficult to gauge with a normalized day-night cycle. Each individual time Lodi had peeked outside in a vague bid to get a better grasp of that cycle, he found himself staring at a steadily growing amalgamation. The sky awash in infernal red.

For a man who was—had been—so closely tethered to the planetary bodies of his Solar System, seeing Earth’s moon fragmented and blooming with sickly, unnatural gore would already be enough to put him ill-at-ease. The way that moon had begun to intertwine and conjoin with, seemingly, the moons of the other inhabitants would already be enough to set his teeth on edge.

In the throes of fitful sleep, he finds himself beset by a vision. From whom is difficult to discern. It flashes through his pitching subconscious so quickly that when he wrestles himself awake, brow streaked with sweat, he can hardly fit the puzzle pieces together. When he shuffles from his temporary lodgings in the inn and makes his way to the more communal areas, the vision crystallizes.

He had seen corpses. Corpses of a number of the inhabitants, broken in a myriad of... horrible ways. Was this a vision of something yet to come? How far in the future? Was he meant to warn these fated victims? Lodi finds himself so utterly engrossed in his fragmented, distressed thoughts that even the slightest acknowledgment makes him jump.]

Oh - sorry, I didn’t see you. Did you say something…?

ii. Sleep Image Visualizer

[That sickening, unpleasant voice sears through his mind like the Nine’s voices never had. The pain in his hand is vivid enough that he goes to clap his opposite hand over it, fearing, ridiculously, that one of those clambering creatures outside had managed to catch him unawares.

When he glances down and sees the incendiary inkwork of a gibbous sun scrawled on the back of his hand… realization sets in. With realization, dread.

Lodi had spent much of his recent life endeavoring to avoid inflicting violent harm upon others. Though he had arrived in the Grove with a weapon, he had yet to have cause to use it. In an ideal world, he would like to maintain that track record. Though… when he next emerges from his lodgings at the inn, he does not venture out without the gun.

He may be incredibly reluctant to hurt another but that did not mean he was going to act the part of a naive fool. If circumstances deemed it necessary, he would defend himself. Ideally, without killing.

For now… he’ll keep to himself. As much as it pains him to do so. He had to ruminate on the second, equally inconclusive vision he had received after wandering a bit further into the woods, after all!]

iii. The Deep Blue

[Regardless of how the situation ultimately shook out, when the Grove erupts in activity Lodi ultimately finds himself back at the inn. If there was one thing he was certain of, ensuring that there was a sanctuary for the inhabitants here was paramount over all else. He would sooner swallow his own misgivings and grudges to enable the continuation of that safety.

Although he is woefully unversed in any kind of magic or esotericism, Lodi knows he can passably replicate the indicated wards. So he applies himself there, darting to and fro with the frenzied energy of a man who needed to know he was actionably contributing to the survival of everyone here.

He eventually sits back on his heels, clapping his chalk-covered palms against the front of his clothes… and grimacing when they streak white down the fabric.]

Oh. Uh. I hope that is not… magic chalk?

iv. Wildcard!

You know the drill! I am up for anything EXCEPT the killing of this guy. Drop YOUR guys here in any capacity.

ii. hello this is your new roommate and his. comatose boyfriend-

[bladeascent]

[Vildred would not have left his room with Ras had he not run out of general supplies. The magic suppression largely has made his partner comatose for most of this month and the last, as Lodi had, erm, clearly seen when they met — and were Vildred not a human guy with human needs, he'd probably just sit vigilant for the next... until this ends.

Alas, Vildred is Just A Dude With A Sword and he needs food. This leads them to run into each other in the inn's hall, but luckily, Lodi had made a peaceful enough impression that Vildred doesn't immediately raise his blade.

There's that, and the fact that he'd rather not fight either. His ribs are cracked and his ankle is broken — splinted, but bones take a long time to heal — so he's at a severe disadvantage. They lock eyes, and Vildred holds his hands up, palms forward, at the shorter man in a "I mean no harm" sort of motion. The similar gibbous sun mark is obvious on his wrist as he does so. Same team, lower threat.]

I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to run to get some food from Heimr.

Genya Shinazugawa | Demon Slayer | Gibbous Sun

[namuthing]

i. Closed to Akaza

[It's no surprise that Genya's thoughts go to one person in particular, when all hell breaks loose. It's a perfect loophole for a bloodthirsty demon, as far as he's concerned. He'd be protecting people by killing them, right? No harm, no foul, just carnage for the sake of carnage.

The thought makes him sick. He won't stand for it.

He's gotten well used to Akaza's behaviors over the last few weeks. The demon stalks around the Grove killing Woodcrawlers wherever he can. There's no chance he won't keep up the pattern, especially with a fresh swarm now crawling around.

Genya just has to wait. If he can catch him by surprise, too busy fending off a crawler, then surely he'll be able to cut his head off, no problem.]

ii. Closed to Muichiro — Cannibalism Allusions

[One way or another, Akaza falls. And one way or another, Genya takes. Any revlusion he feels at the idea goes out the window quickly. He has lost control before, but never like this. He's never had to reconcile with the sheer power of a Upper Rank, at least not on this scale. He has not shied away from taking his fill, and the consequence is great.

Though he does not feel Akaza's power, the hunger grows. And it will not be sated by the flesh of another demon. No, he needs what all monsters of that ilk does — human flesh. Blind to his desire, he hauls off. His senses are dulled by the magic of this place, but it matters not.

He will find someone eventually.]

iii. Outside

[Eventually, the blood lust fades. Regardless of what happened with Muichiro, Genya finds himself sitting near the well, staring at the statues of the Goddesses. He knows there are threats to be worried about but...

No matter how hard he scrubs his skin, the stains won't come out. His skin feels raw, his muscles ache, but he scrubs and scrubs and scrubs. Somewhere out there, someone is screaming a wordless noise. He doesn't know who, only that his throat hurts.

And that he is not alone.]

iv. Wildcard

[You know what to do. Drop something or send me a DM on discord!]

the is for me one <:}

[bluebasketballed]

[with the influx of bastard creatures, of course he's going to venture out and cull the numbers when he can. he happens to be out when the forest speaks to them all, and a number of grove residents admittedly fly through his head as he makes his way back to the inn. he takes temporary shelter here and there, mostly to bully people on the netbook as usual, and happens to end up face to face with genya upon leaving one such building.

head tilted just so, he stares at the young slayer with a calculating gaze for far too long. after an uncomfortable silence, his eyes and fangs glint with mirth.]

Good -- I'm glad you're here! I was a bit worried one of our friends would stumble across the body if I came all the way to the inn.

ii for meeee

[infinitemist]

[ Muichiro is not the careless type. Not normally. Through this mess he's managed to get off pretty lightly on his forays outside, not straying far from the Inn and merely thinning the herd so to speak of these nasty little creatures. Now that they've somehow replenished, somehow gotten more annoying, he's back outside in hopes he can take out enough to make it safer for the others. It's his job... and above anything he wants to believe there's a way out of this that doesn't end in bloodshed.

He senses Genya before he sees him, of course. His senses are sharp. The loss of the more special parts of his abilities haven't left him helpless... but something seemed odd. Why was he out here at all, he should be at the inn, shouldn't he? It's not safe to be out here, and if one of the Woodcrawlers got too close he'd be in trouble.

The boy flicked the ichor from his blade and swiftly moved to catch up with the other Slayer. They needed to head back. ]

River | Original Character | Crescent Sun

[sirensinger]

i. Not the most flattering introduction —

[For a battle-hungry creature like River, sating his bloodlust on creatures had hardly proven to be sporting. Even the largest among the Woodcrawlers barely scratched that bone-deep itch. It's why that clarion call for violence among the inhabitants excites him to a degree that most would likely consider uncanny!

Considering he had been gifted this... strange little notebook upon first arriving, and had thusly seen it being utilized for communication across the residents, he figures he might as well utilize it now.]

If you are participating in this little game and would prefer a fair go at it rather than slinking about stabbing each other in the back, simply name a place. I'm not looking to squabble over the morality of it.

[Was he supposed to sign it? Instead, he simply draws a surprisingly cutesy caricature of a fish.]

ii. Games For Kids

[Depending on the success rate of his earlier bid for combat, River fills the gaps in time by skulking through the forest like a finned menace. Now that he had been presented the prime opportunity for violence, the mere idea of being disallowed or denied it in some capacity had him... a bit rustled.

Surely it had nothing to do with his innate bloodlust. Surely that hadn't been stirred into a frenzy by the hypothetical presented by the Forest. What a pain.

He sharpens his halberd against the Woodcrawlers in the interim. They seem to have cropped up in unreasonable abundance, after all, and he is nothing but a willing host for all manner of sparring partners. Though he would largely prefer a humanoid combatant...]

iii. Wildcard

Please stick your fingers through the bars of his enclosure please please please.

Mystery | KPop Demon Hunters | Crescent

[itisa]

[ I - Closed to Shinobu ]

[cw: suicidal ideation]
[If there's one thing Mystery knows - bone deep, soul deep, it's that when a voice ripples through your mind and presses glowing markings into your skin, you listen.

And so, he does. In fact, it nearly has him opening his inn window and throwing himself directly to the woodcrawlers and false people. Surely that'd be quick, efficient... not easy, but dying was never easy no matter how many times it came for him.

But.

He thinks of Zoey. He can't ask that of her. He thinks of Kyojuro... it might be easier to ask it of him, but...

But there's another hunter here. Several, really, but one... She's newer. Easy to find. Most importantly, less likely to have entirely come to terms with the shaky little truce.

Or maybe she had - it wouldn't be the first time he'd made incorrect assumptions. Regardless, he finds himself at the makeshift little clinic in the quiet early hours of the morning.]

Miss... Shinobu, wasn't it? I'd like you to kill me.

[Hell of a first non-group conversation starter there, Mystery!]

[ II - Sleep Image Part Two ]

[When a voice echoes through your mind you listen, yes, but voices that hold power like that... they lie. They manipulate. They wring you out for all they can and then keep wringing until there's nothing left of what once was... you.

So he died. So he returns, markless. So he doesn't trust the promise of immortality, nor the promise of there being no consequences. There are always consequences.

And if there are always consequences, it's stupid to spread the load, right?

So he'll be somewhat brazenly spending time in the common areas, keeping an eye out for your markings, and if you're a gibbous... well.]

I had a crescent.

[Kill or be killed, there's a volunteer right here.]

[ III - Games ]

[Perhaps because he's still relatively new, perhaps because he's been careful to be good, perhaps because of the way events have been structured of some sheer force of luck for once in his stupid life, he hasn't lost anything permanently since his arrival in the grove. His death and ressurection bring no reward.

However.

He's not one to sit on his laurels, not after a month of the screech-screech-screech of woodcrawlers clawing at the windows. So once immortality has been thoroughly proven, he's out of the inn and into the fray.

He's still not used to fighting alone.]

[ IV - Wildcard ]

[You know the drill on this one! <3]