deercountry | Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom

Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom

OCTOBER 2021 EVENT

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Band playing on moving float with people in masks walking behind.]
[Image Two: Woman in gas mask and elaborate ballgown.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Man looking away while creepy corpse-like woman puts hand on window.]
[Image Two: Two contorted girls crawling across floor with blood flowing out.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Headless horseman with jack-o-lantern rearing on horse.]
[Image Two: Annabelle doll rocking on its own in chair.]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE

WHEN: During the daytime every day of October
WHERE: Throughout the streets of Cellar Door and Willful Machine.
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

The Black Parade has begun in Trench. You will begin to see residents painting skulls and monsters onto their faces, even the ones who abide by practical lifestyles. By the first week of October, you won't see a single resident of Trench without facepaint or a mask of some kind obscuring their face.

"It's for the Black Parade," they say, "It's to keep us safe. You should start painting your face too. You should disguise yourself so they can't find you."

Who, you might ask? Anyone dangerous. It's vague and unsettling, but you think maybe they are onto something. Call it intuition or basic common sense. Stalls pop up all around Trench selling cheap masks and costumes. They aren't exactly Halloween costumes. There's less of a focus on becoming something and more of a focus on looking different than you currently do.

Then the Black Parade really takes off. Black and white confetti seem to fall from the sky and you can hear the distant sound of trumpets and drums. You can feel the earth give small tremors and Trenchies begin to flock to Cellar Door and the Willful Machine. They line the streets and you can see why: a literal parade is coming through. Stages are set with talented musicians rocking out, singing into wireless, floating moonlit mics. Incredible, giant puppets walk through the streets guided by a dozen talented Architects. Other people move about in stilted costumes, elaborate gowns. Some performers set up small, stationary areas to perform for smaller crowds. The sky is filled with massive and unusual kites. Find one among the many stalls or make your own!

Stalls hand out candied applies, foil-wrapped candies, and roasted pumpkin seeds by the bundles. Hot ciders are kept in barrels ready to be served up in tin mugs, with or without alcohol. It's a festive atmosphere that seems to go nonstop 24/7 throughout October but exclusively in these areas. It's a good place to go to avoid some of the haunts of October and to have a good time. Why not get involved? Make your own puppet, float, or costumes, and join in the fun. Chunks of the road are reserved for parades, but others have been sectioned off for people to dance and mingle about. You quickly learn that face-paint and masked/concealed faces seem to be a good way of avoiding the attention of beasts, angry Pthumerians, and other unusual creatures in Trench.

It's not a foolproof method, but October largely celebrates the safety of ambiguity and is one of the few times the practical and pleasure factions get along. Get your face painted up or pick out a costume - it's both aesthetic and life-saving! The Black Parade is held annually every October all October long and is considered a significant Trench holiday. Many people refer to the costumes specifically as "Black Parade" costumes and sentiments commonly exchanged at this time include: Have a blessed and safe Blood Moon; May your Seasons pass unseen; Bless the many faces of cleverness; May you go unseen by the blood; Blessed Black Parade.

QUICK FACTS

1. Halloween costumes you can buy at the store won't be available unless a character intentionally makes one. Most of the costumes in Trench are more or less eccentric make-up looks and unusual masks. They look a lot more like Cirque du Soleil costumes than Halloween costumes.

2. Characters can have multiple costume/face-paint/mask changes throughout the month. No one will be forced into these - but it is strongly, culturally encouraged for everyone's safety to dress up!

LONELINESS KILLS: THE CURSE OF CLOVERFIELD

WHEN: October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological-based curse, feelings of intense loneliness, mental health.

It is said that the Blood Moon reminds Cloverfield of those he has lost over the decades. They say that the howling wind is actually the sound of Cloverfield's cries and there seems to be some truth to that. He can be seen wandering the Farther Shores and watching the moon. If you seek out Cloverfield and offer him comfort and companionship, he will bless you with a worn picture of a loved one or someone you miss desperately or even just a place you miss...Even if it's impossible for such a picture to exist.

Of course, not everyone will visit Cloverfield. Cloverfield's loneliness begins to curse the city of Trench. Sleepers will be impacted the most heavily as their blood will directly react to this curse. Sleepers who have a good sense of relationship may be able to avoid the curse, but those who often feel lonely or homesick will start to feel worse and worse as the days go by.

Eventually, their loneliness begins to manifest as a corpse-like version of themselves or the person they care about most. This corpse follows them around everywhere like a shadow. You won't notice your own Loneliness, but other people might, especially palebloods, Night Walkers, and Disciples. These corpses don't seem to care about anything or anyone and at first don't seem violent...But eventually, this Loneliness becomes consuming.

Once it does, you too will contort, and you and your Loneliness will soon be crawling about on all fours, blood floating out of you in thin streams. You'll be lost to your feelings of loneliness, stalking the streets with your Loneliness, looking for companionship. Of course, you're completely corrupt at this point, so your version of finding companionship most likely involves accidentally suffocating someone or other violent actions. Some people may never become violent once they are in the Final Stage, but the blood constantly flowing from them will create heavy blood pollution and may draw in far more dangerous creatures. You really don't want Lonely People walking around!

Better start some conversations - even if these Lonely People are creepy as hell. But, then again, they are just lonely. Hopefully, you will find peace of mind and find your people. Hopefully, you will banish loneliness...For the time being.

QUICK FACTS

1. This curse will impact people who are more isolated than others. Interaction with other people or animals will alleviate the curse and may completely stop it for some.

2. You can stop the curse at the corpse stage by confronting a Sleeper and opening up an emotional conversation about their loneliness. This may not always work, but the more the conversation works for the Sleeper, the more effective. The corpse will fleck away once the curse has been reversed.

3. Curses can continue to come back throughout October, but once you've experienced it once, it's less likely to occur again.

4. The Final Stage of the curse is the hardest to stop and most of the time, it's easiest to just kill the Cursed. It's easier to kill them than talk them out of their loneliness, but it is not impossible to talk them out of it. It requires dedication, patience, and some serious cleverness on how to survive a monster trying to kill you at the same time.

5. Loneliness can be widely interpreted once in the Final Stage. People should generally still look like themselves. How people act in this stage can vary from character to character and should be centric to how characters deal with their loneliness in general. If they're prone to shutting people out, then maybe their Loneliness is aloof and distant. If they're prone to clinging to toxic people, then maybe their Loneliness is accidentally violent. It's open to interpretation.

LEGENDS OF TRENCH

WHEN: All October
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Ghosts, Themes of death.

Unfortunately, not everyone can gain control of their loneliness. As blood is spilled throughout Trench over loneliness, this blood pollution festers and begins to claim poor souls. Corruption leads way to beasthood and people lost to this find themselves transforming into familiar, legendary ghost stories of old-world lore. These Legendary Ghosts come out primarily at night. As the Black Parade established, anyone who keeps their faces disguised with make-up or masks will be completely safe from the Legendary Ghosts. Though if you go after a Legendary Ghost in a costume, you'll only be safe until you attack them. It's not a bad move for a sneak attack though!

...But those who forgot to dress up or felt like such superstitions wouldn't work...

Congratulations, you might come across the path of a Dullahan: a headless horseman carrying a whip made from a spinal cord, ready to throw basins of blood on you and draw in other beasts. Or maybe you encounter a far more subtle Legendary Ghost. Maybe you see a hitchhiker on the side of the road and decide to give them a ride, but when you look in your rearview mirror, they are no longer in your backseat. While most of these Legendary Ghosts are intending to harm you and spread more blood pollution, some just seem to be genuinely lost souls, lost to corruption, lost to their own failures and loneliness. In some cases, freeing them is protecting yourself and others, but in other cases, freeing them is just simple kindness.

You may meet a ghost bride who is waiting eternally for her wedding by one of the shrines in Cassandra. Maybe you meet a ghostly scholar at the Archives in Gaze. The spirits range widely and seem to haunt every corner of Trench - including your own homes. The only real way to deter a Legendary Ghost from your home is by heavily decorating your home with things like jack-o-lanterns, fake blood splatters, fake gravestones, and various other death-centric decor. This seems to repel Legendary Ghosts as they see it as a reminder of their own fate. Some are angered by the decorations while others are terrified by them and seem incapable of telling the difference between real blood and fake blood.

QUICK FACTS

1. These corrupt souls can be saved through blood rituals/magic/ghost banishings relying on blood artifacts. This will usually put the soul to rest - it will not bring people "back to life."

2. While it is mostly Trenchies turning into these beings, Sleepers can also be transformed into Legendary Ghosts. We provide a general outline, but the idea is that people are turning into legendary ghost stories so you can play with your own ideas/canons.

While Trenchies cannot be saved, we leave it up to you if a Sleeper could be brought back to themselves or if they will have to "die" to be cured of their Legendary Ghost status.

3. You can use famous Legendary Ghosts from around the world. We gave a few examples, but have fun with this! The Legendary Ghost-like creature you go with should generally be "ghost-like" / have to do with death specifically. They do not need to be exclusively evil/violent spirits, but many are.

CODING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Diluc makes no move to help him with the task. Instead, he nods once and takes a second glance around. No one is taking any heed of them at all by now.]

My thanks for humoring me. Now it’s been seen I imagine you will get a little peace.

[People would know he has it now. He might get poked to keep it on at all times, but that’s for this man to worry about.] Before I depart, I hope you’ve found what you needed since our last meeting.

[nehan sighs, the sound muffled by his mask, and he tugs it off to return it to his coat. then he pauses, and instead hangs it from one of his coat's buttons instead, so people can just stop bothering him about getting one.]

I'm still looking. [nehan has to shake his head, ears swaying, before he starts to drink his cider down-- though he pauses on occasion to speak with the human.] Ingredients aren't easy to come by, but I hear Lumenwood is a decent place to be for those.

[He nods again,] It is and they know how to offer their services to Willful Machine for equipment. With how efficient you seem to be I don't foresee a problem for you at all.

[He seems to think something before he says,] ...my dragon is an omen if you've heard of them yet. They're a useful partner that you can trust.

[nehan vaguely recognizes "willful machine" as one of the districts, though he doesn't know yet who lives there, or what they do. creation, building, from the name and the context he's given, but that's as much as he knows.

but nehan prefers to work alone, and not in a commune. there has to be a way for him to do it all from his house. but he'll deal with that himself, and not by asking someone else.]

I've met mine already. It's not out at the moment, but I already know what mine is. [he cradles his mug of cider with both hands, the fingers of his left hand shaking more than usual. he still hasn't fully recovered yet.]

It's around here somewhere.

Edited 2021-10-14 03:10 (UTC)

[Another nod. Then smoke gathers in his chest and spills down. Dellingr perches behind Diluc but noticeably giving Nehan space. Neither he or his omen has forgotten Nehan’s moving away from the dragon.]

Then I believe we’ve exhausted what I can tell you. Short of information on what’s been happening here. Or further information on blood types here. Both I assume are things you now know already.

Edited 2021-10-14 18:46 (UTC)

[nehan raises his eyebrow, his ears tilting this way and that. he's giving diluc an expression that should tell the human that the erune is unamused. but still, he keeps his tone vaguely polite.]

You sound like all you care for is imparting knowledge on people, before disappearing from their lives forever.

Are you perhaps employed by the locals to do this?

[then he reaches for his cider, and begins to down it in one go.]

Edited 2021-10-15 03:24 (UTC)

[Surprise flickers in his eyes then he dips his head slightly. His own tone is polite as he gestures slightly with one hand.] My apologies, I didn't mean to come off that way.

[He carefully says,] You seemed to prefer..solitude. I didn't want to impose upon you.

[He glances to the dragon behind him then back at Nehan.] If you are alright with it I would like to stay and talk.

I have no preference either way. [which is true-- nehan simply lives day by day.]

That I'm out here right now shows I wouldn't mind interaction for the day.

[in fact, it might make some things easier, such as moving about. with a second body, nehan might not get as jostled as much, because people recognize two or more people better than one, and give them a wider berth.

nehan sets his finished cider down, and stands, strapping his crutch onto his right arm with shaky fingers.] Let's move to your stall, shall we?

Edited 2021-10-15 05:59 (UTC)

[Diluc nods and Dellingr drops to the ground, expanding. The dragon takes the size of a large dog. He shakes his head once and Diluc puts a hand on him as people move away from his omen.]

Yes, let’s go. It’s not too far from here. This way. [He waits for Nehan to move and falls in step at his side with Dellingr slightly ahead of them. People give the dragon a bit of a respectful berth.]

[even if his left hand is being troublesome, his legs are still fine. he keeps up easily, more experienced with the crutch now than when he first had to start using it. then again, there's a gap between then and now, and walking on crutches in the sand tends to... make someone get good.

and just in time, his omen comes back from exploring, a massive grey wolf that situates itself at nehan's left side, covering his blind spot.]

There he is.

[Now there are four of them. Diluc nods once.] Has he told you his name yet?

[Dellingr cuts to the right. He follows, seeing his own stall looming up in that direction. His Out to lunch sign is still up. As they get close enough he takes it down. Dellingr shrinks down and leaps up to his perch on a rack by the counter.]

Would you like anything? I do have raw pumpkin seeds if you want more of them. [He peels off his gloves and washes his hands, tucking the gloves into a small box under the counter.]

I already know many of the basics, you don't need to continue trying to guide me through this. [like a mother hen, he doesn't say.]

But I will take those pumpkin seeds-- if you don't need them.

[He reaches under the counter for where he keeps the raw seeds for anyone who prefers them that way. As he brings them to Nehan he says,]

Then let me clarify. I was asking so I could address him properly. And to correct my own errors, I’m Diluc Ragnvidr. How would you prefer to be addressed as well?

Zuo. His name is Zuo. [nehan pronounces it as tsu-woh, with a t-sound so soft that it could be mistaken as non-existent. though he's not entirely honest about his wolf's name, but he made a decision not to say the whole thing in front of other people if he can help it, when the name is more complicated than that. given how he knows some people have trouble with the entire name itself, he believes this is just the right call.

not to mention, he doesn't want strangers to know his partner's full name, in the same way his own real name is a secret-- it's only prudent.]

And mine is Nehan.

[the erune leans against a pole, his omen trotting over to fetch the bag itself. already it's living up to its name as nehan's follower and assistant, his left side when his limbs are nigh useless.]

[Diluc kneels down and hands the bag over to Zou. Once he has it he returns to behind the counter. He touches the sides of both cider barrels and a wash of heat brings them back up to a warmer temperature.

He nods to himself and settles behind the counter.] I still don’t know what to make of this city. Everyone works together so the entire city survives. It’s not a bad thing just nothing I’m used to.

[Nor does it spell good news.] They’ve been talking about preparing for the rest of the year.

[clearly diluc is used to fending for himself-- and looking out for others, and then disappearing. he's unused to letting others help.

bah, he's one of those, the erune thinks as he accepts the bag of seeds from zuo and tucks it into his coat with the other bag.]

It's October here, is it not? At home, that would mean Halloween is coming, and that means beasts from the land of the dead start coming into ours for just a few days. Some of them need to be fended off, others just want to have a party.

Halloween? [Diluc leans forward like a cat judging the distance before a leap. The holiday is so unfamiliar to him. But it sounds like one.]

It’s merely part of the harvest season at home. For Liyue, when Moonchase festival begins. What all does Halloween entail?

Dressing up in costume depicting monsters and asking for candy. It's primarily for merrymaking nowadays, but people forget that they're not the only ones having some fun.

[that's spoken like a person who hasn't participated in halloween... ever. only watched from a distance.

because he is that sort of person.]

Seems here, the people are more aware of it-- perhaps because there are more dire situations than those at home.

[Diluc glances down the street, but his gaze is distant.] It’s possible,

[He says, as he turns and sets to constructing meat skewers. He sets them on a rack as the grill in the stall heats back up under his direction.]

They keep saying it isn’t about dressing up. It’s about looking different so we won’t be noticed.

In the previous month we were forced onto a river of blood to share our regrets and encouraged to fight when a strange blood lust hit all of us. They called it preparing for the year to come.

I don't doubt them in the least. The unknown is always something we should be wary about. [as he says that, zuo noses at his left hand, before slipping under it to hold him up.]

So if they want to prepare for the new year... [that's just under three months.] Then they anticipate it to be worse than what you've already experienced, for preparations to start this early.

Which means you have a lot to prepare for.

Edited 2021-10-20 07:48 (UTC)

Yes it does. [He glances to the barrels then takes a rag and wipes down his counter. A mug left by someone else before he drifted away is picked up and cleaned. He does it all with the smooth ease of practice.]

Given what's already happened and how it seems to focus on honing the self and growing past things. I'm wondering...

[He trails off and shakes his head. Then he seems to come to a decision.] In the dream realm it was all about death, escapism, and clutching desperately to a past that couldn't be changed.

I wonder if the waking world is the exact opposite and meant to bring about...what holding onto a dying god would not.

[nehan has... a number of thoughts on that. personal growth... ah, that just evokes so much from him. but, as his usual, he keeps those thoughts to himself.]

So, you were in a world connected to this, beforehand... For instance, was asleep somewhere that's not your home, and dreamed? With many others? And now here.

[that's actually a bit of a concern for nehan-- but also brings him some relief. he was asleep for a long time, and never came here or that supposed dream realm, as far as he can remember, and that is a good thing.]

[Diluc looks a little tired as he drags a hand over his face. He shakes his head.] I think we didn't dream it. We were pulled into the dream. It was set up that way to keep a dying higher being alive.

Or should I say a being who was all but dead but those involved in her story refused to let her go. It's a long story. But this is the waking world tied to that dream. But the rest is accurate. We were all together, some of us.

[He drops his hand to the counter and resumes cleaning.] I went home from that dream realm but a door to this one appeared and I made the choice to return. I had a promise to keep.

Hmm. [so he woke up from that shared dream, but then chose to come here.] You're a man who clearly has something happening in your world, because you're just that sort of person. Yet you chose to be here, than there.

That promise must be something important. [which nehan doesn't understand. what could be so important to leave what you had behind? then he raises his hand.] I don't need to know. I'm just thinking out loud.

And you are quite perceptive. [Diluc says mildly as he rests both his hands against the counter. The full weight of his gaze settles on Nehan as all of his attention is briefly devoted to watching him.

It ebbs as he resumes his self appointed task. He draws a mug of his cider and sets it on the bar, clearly for himself.] If this place is like there, one can be returned to the exact moment we left our timelines.

When I went back until a piece of the dream found its way to me I remembered nothing of Deerington. That’s when things began to change and reality started feeling less real than the fragment.

Until I remembered everything and the door appeared before me. No one else saw it.

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