reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2023-02-08 06:25 pm

and my heart went 'boom!'

FEBRUARY 2023 EVENT
Due to the cyclical nature of Trench, prompts from the PREVIOUS FEBRUARY are available for use again. Please note when you are using this years prompts vs last years prompts when plotting or writing top-levels to avoid confusion.

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: A broken mirror with a woman looking into it, pressing her fingers against the glass. ]
[Image Two: A rose lit up like embers. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Neon hearts glowing on a wall. ]
[Image Two: A pocket watch on top of a book page. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A young woman with dark hair standing in the snow with red flowers. ]
[Image Two: Footprints in the snow. ]

BAD LUCK OF THE EARLY WORM
WHEN: February
WHERE: All around the city
CONTENT WARNINGS: Curses, violence, danger, misfortune


Everyone has their own streak of bad times. There are some days or weeks whre it feels like nothing is going right. Most people would try and tell say that it's just the tendency to focus on the negative. That it can be relieved by writing down all the good things that happen in our lives, because we have a tendency to only ever focus on the bad. And maybe most of the time, people are right! Maybe the idea of luck really is just perspective.

But not in Trench. Not this month.

No matter what way it's looked at, bad luck seems to be clinging to some people. It might start out small, with simple things like knocking over a favorite drink or snack, or ruining a project that had hours invested into it. Then it might become bigger. A person might start to trip over things and injuring themselves, they might get lost in a blizzard and nearly freeze before finding their way home or to someone they know. Eventually, it could even become undeniably dangerous. The person impacted by bad luck could start to notice corruption levels rising quickly, they could start to turn into a beast at random, they could start to attract violent beasts to them and put themselves or others at risk with heavy battles. The possibilities seem to be endless and none of them are good. Did someone break a mirror? Or twenty?

It will be easy to see that this isn't just impacting one person. Sleepers and Trenchies alike seem to be being plagued by streaks of bad luck across the board. Luckily, the locals seem to know what to do about it. Bad luck pops up from time to time, and of course there would be a ritual to help cleanse it.

Small vendors will start to pop up through the city selling wooden carvings that they promise will absorb all the bad luck that's been going around and dispell it with a simple ritual. A drop of blood from the person impacted and a drop of blood from someone they are close should be placed upon the carving. The blood types of the persons involved should not match (i.e. Coldblood/Coldblood would not work, but Coldblood/Warmblood would). It must be left to soak into the wood overnight, leaving behind deep red stains. The carving must then be placed with a fully bloomed rose and burned in the entrance doorway to the home of the inflicted. The ashes should then be placed into a container and kept somewhere in the home for the duration of February, to make sure that the bad luck stays away.

It seems like it really works! The tricky part is making sure that the bad luck following doesn't get in the way of the ritual while the blood is soaking over night. It may be best for both parties involved to hunker down together until morning, just in case. Time to break out the small talk. Or the deep, meaningful conversations that can sometimes happen in the middle of the night.

GETTING TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU
WHEN: February
WHERE: A magic room in the city.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Reference to mild shocks. Forced honesty. Embarrassment. Lots and lots of embarrassment.


Honestly, after being in Trench for so long, people should be used to not ending up in the destination they initially intended for. This month, it seems like the city is trying to encourage people to social, to form new bonds, whether they're romantic, platonic, familial, or any other option one could think of. The bright idea this month for that sort of thing?

Speed dating.

It's not traditional speed dating, necessarily. No one is here to exclusively seek romantic partners, although there are certainly options for it. And it's not something people are signing up for out of their own free will. Instead, people seem to simply show up at the event, with no real recollection of how they got there. Maybe they just woke up on one of the comfy couches and found a "Hi, my name is..." sticker slapped on them. Or maybe they were wandering in the snow and got lost, ending up finding shelter in this strange place, and are now forced to participate until the blizzard passes. All in all, it's harmless fun, isn't it? Who doesn't need a few new friends.

Each person will have a small information blurb given about them that can't be seen by the naked eye, but will appear as soon as someone looks at the other party through their omni. What the blurb says is unique to each person, but it might become clear pretty quickly that they didn't write it themselves... Deerington survivors may find themselves having flashbacks to the days of DeerlyBeloved.

Pairings are completely random. People will be given a series of random questions they can ask one another or they can always feel free to make up their own. Anyone who tries to lie or avoid answering a question might feel a small shock from the chair they're sitting in, one that gets stronger with every lie they tell. The after effects of the shock seem to encourage the need to answer the question with full transparency. It's important to tell the truth when getting to know someone, after all.

After five minutes, both parties can either press a button beside their chair to continue talking to the person they're paired with, or they can move on to the next pairing. Both parties have to press the button in order to stay where they are.

Have fun and remember to always be honest!

LONELY HEARTS CLUB
WHEN: February
WHERE: Trenchwood and throughout the city.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, abuse of power, jealousy, possession, supernatural events, possible death from elemental exposure


There's a tale that comes up around this time of year, one that seems to be an old favorite in Trench. Long ago, in the heart of a blizzard, a young woman was found wandering in Trenchwood. She wore only thin fabrics to keep herself warm and had no shoes. Her skin felt cold as ice. The Hunters who found her quickly brought her into town, giving her shelter in a local in to try and get her warm. She stayed for many nights and it didn't take long for the inn keeper to fall in love with her. But she did not seem to return to his feelings and so he was heartbroken and jealous of all the other men who gave her attention. He demanded she offer him something in trade for her stay and when she could offer nothing, he threw her back out into the snow. The woman went back to the woods and some could hear her howling in anguish, carried through on the strong winds of the blizzard. The Hunters tried to find her, following her cries, but they were unable to, and had to return home before they too might freeze to death. The innkeeper was shunned from the town and forced to leave the city for his cruelty, but nothing stopped the howls of the snow woman.

Throughout the month of February, people will start to hear that the sound of the wind blowing strongly through the streets is starting to sound a little more human-like. The woman's cries will be heard in empty alleys, will be loudest near the edge of the woods, and can even penetrate into dreams. The cries might sometimes sound like cries for help, begging for someone to help save her from the cold. There will be a compulsion that sets deep into the bones of some and many will find it hard to resist her call. Eventually, they may even go looking for her in the woods, trying to brave the winter storms to help the lost snow woman.

Those who give in to that temptation will eventually find the snow woman, but she will not be friendly when found. Her skin has turned a pale white, her lips blue, her eyes glowing a bright red, her long hair blowing every which way in the wind. She will rush at whoever she sees, but instead of giving a physical blow to guard against, she will go through any solid objects and latch on to the soul of her target, possessing their bodies. Male or female, it doesn't seem to matter, she simply wants a chance at life again.

Those who are possessed by the snow woman will not realize they are possessed. They will forget why it was they came out into the woods looking for and will return to the city in a daze. As time passes, they will find that they become irritated by any signs of affection, will become physically aggressive towards couples they see around them, and will attack those who care about them most. The spirit does not necessarily hate love: instead, they see affection as a possible risk for all those who love others. Jealousy kills and she wants to save everyone around her from it, as well as keeping herself safe from losing this new chance at life.

Signs of possession outside of the aggression can be noticed by others. The possessed person will have: ice cold skin, blue-tinged lips, they might shiver even when inside where it's warm, and an aversion to fire or warm/hot water.

Information on how to banish the snow woman from another's body can be found in a book of local legends. This book is sold in stores or can be found in the Archives. To save someone from the snow woman, people must tell the possessed person the things they love most about them. It will cause the possessed person to react violently, so it is suggested that they be restrained during the process. The longer they are forced to hear the positive messages about love, the feelings that they can stir up in another (whether platonic or romantic), and the safety that can be found in that love, the more weakened the hold from the snow woman will be. When the possessed person eventually stops struggling, a cut must be made on the back of their neck, before a cloth soaked in warm rose water must be placed on top of the wound. Their skin will begin to steam before a large gust of snow will pour from their mouth, swirling around the room, and smash through the window. It's suggested to leave it open if you'd like to save the glass.

CODING
eudaimonikos: (critique of pure reason)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2023-05-15 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
[Michael grimaces, rolling his neck as if to shake out some hidden ache.]

I - well, yeah, I remember that. That was - geez, that was ages ago...

[He'd cooked him food for a while, even though he hadn't really known how to make anything beyond canned soup. Brought over cookies the one time. Deerington had already been beginning its slow collapse by then, so it'd been nice to get out and see friends.

Not. That this matters now. Obviously.]
possessum: (on dappled forest floors)

slides back in here 👻

[personal profile] possessum 2023-07-02 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
( He remembers how this is going to have to go. Weaken her hold by reminding Michael of how important he is, how loved.... then get her out. Cut the back of his neck, press rose water and a cloth against it. There's a jagged piece of glass from a broken window nearby, and an old shirt or jacket in a corner of the warehouse room, Peter's quickly made note of these things, heart thudding away.

But the rose water....? That's not exactly something he carries around on hand. And yet even as his thoughts delve into that concern, something within him almost immediately becomes at ease about it, like some weird instinct taking over and settling in. (Paimon can conjure things, Paimon can help him.)

The boy's attention turns back to Michael, and he wonders when he'll know that she's weak enough. He doesn't remember this part explicitly, when it happened to him. He just remembers being so.... afraid.
)

It was a long time ago, yeah. And even back then, I was.... afraid of you sometimes, deep down. But not anymore. I've seen what you really look like, underneath. Some of it. I'm not scared.

( He doesn't know the extent of it, the tentacled mass of a thing he'd seen and helped Michael burn, but he knows Michael is something terrible and ancient and strange beneath what looks human on the surface. He's demon, the word that's haunted Peter for years now. But Peter isn't afraid of him, because... )

I trust you. I know you, I— love you, man. You gotta come back to me.
eudaimonikos: (fear and trembling)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2023-07-03 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
I knew you were scared of me. You weren't subtle.

[It ought to please him. He ought to threaten to make him really scared this time. But the words only come out as mildly tetchy, irritated for reasons Michael cannot quite trace. He...doesn't actually know why he's upset, if he really thinks about it.

He lets out a huff. He's no longer struggling, really, just frowning at the ground and jiggling one of his legs idly.]


Well, that's...

[Fishing for an insult, but his heart's not really in it.]
possessum: (you move away)

[personal profile] possessum 2023-07-07 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It seems like something's different — Michael isn't thrashing around so much, or snapping at him, or any of the things that are so uncharacteristic of his friend. Maybe..... is this actually working??

Peter hesitates, not wanting to jump in too quickly (and admittedly not at all thrilled about what's going to come next) but also not wanting to wait too late.... He wishes Luna were here to help him through this.
]

Um— um, okay, just— wait here.

[ ....The world's most professional exorcism, carried out by Peter Graham, everyone.

The boy moves quickly away from Michael, rummaging around somewhere behind the chair he's tied to. He grasps a shard of glass and the jacket he'd spotted earlier, and then steps up behind him.... glass in hand. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
]

Okay... I'm coming up behind you.... This is going to sting a little bit, I'm sorry...!

[ One hand gingerly presses to the back of Michael's head, trying to coax it forwards so he can see the nape of his neck. He tries to be quick, in case the demon starts thrashing around again..... Shaking, Peter swipes the glass against him, too softly at first. It doesn't even break the skin... ]

H-hold on....!
eudaimonikos: (edifying discourses in diverse spirits)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2023-07-09 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
What are you doing?

[A sharp note of suspicion re-enters his voice when Peter steps out of sight. Michael tries to crane his neck around to see what's going on. The comment about a sting doesn't help!]

Don't - hey! [He does try to jerk away, but isn't quick enough to dodge the swipe of the glass even if he did have much space to move. It doesn't actually hurt at all. He's just surprised, and then annoyed at the fact that - ] Are you trying to stab me?

[Yeah, now he's thrashing around again.]

Who stabs like that?
possessum: (𝟎𝟒𝟕)

[personal profile] possessum 2023-07-29 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ NO Michael it's totally fine! He's trying to stab you but it's like, for a good reason!! ]

It's okay, dude! Just— hold still!

[ God, and now the demon's thrashing his head around again..... Peter balks, fear causing him to flinch back a moment. But something ripples through him, Paimon once again shuddering to the surface, demanding movement, and Peter suddenly lunges to grasp for Michael's hair, fingers curling into it from behind and shoving his head forwards in one quick motion. The intent is to do this firm and fast, before he can thrash around out of his grasp, or... use his powers to gruesomely kill Peter (an unfavourable outcome).

With his other hand, he tries again, grasping the shard of glass so hard that he feels it cutting into his own palm. Ignoring that, Peter cries out as he swipes it harder against the back of the man's neck, deep enough to split skin.
]
eudaimonikos: (reactive attitudes)

[personal profile] eudaimonikos 2023-08-02 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Well, at least now he's doing it properly!

Michael snarls in outrage, but before he can do much more about it, Peter makes the cut. Usually it takes the water to really start the steaming, but this is Michael - a few drops of ink ooze out and immediately start steaming in the cooler air. It seems like maybe he'd be an uncomfortable host for this particular ghost anyway, right?]