reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2021-12-08 02:19 am

I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't

DECEMBER 2021 EVENT
Hello! We are trying a new style of event this December with archival-like entries that characters can ICly find in the Archives. This should allow characters to be able to plan against certain events that occur in-game and do research ahead of time, during the event, or after the fact.

The idea is that these prompts will provide you with all the possibilities characters could theoretically face from the prompt. We hope this leaves more open-ended opportunities for people to engage with. Anything mentioned in the excerpts could be an experience characters encounter. You can always ask for clarification on any prompt on the plotting page.

This is a way to keep all event prompts relevant since new characters would be able to "read up" on these events/excerpts by visiting the Archives or other such resources for information about past events and what they can anticipate from the setting.

We hope this new style makes sense and is fun for players to work with! They will rely on players creating more of the atmosphere than the prompts, but we think that the prompts will provide the perfect guidance as to what the atmosphere should feel like. Enjoy!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: Holiday themed antler decoration.]
[Image Two: White stag with perfect, circular antlers with bits of ice attached.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Sculpture of white rabbit with neck caught in a snare. Non-graphic.]
[Image Two: Person in red cloak and wolf mask turning around.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Puppet making bloody snow angel in snow.]
[Image Two: Bloodied hands wrapped in bandages clenching.]

WINTER MOURNING
WHEN: Begins in December and can last until the end of Feb.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Spoilers for various canons, survival situations, forced memory share


[A passage from Rituals of Trench: Remembering Our Pasts reads the following:]

"A long-standing tradition to celebrate Bone Season is for Deerians to collect antlers and bones salvaged from natural resources and create decorative home accents. These antler-bone decors are known formally as Winter Mournings and can be found in almost every residential home throughout Deer Country. Winter Mournings can be made to look like wreaths, candle holders, or simply an antler with a bow hung up on a wall.

Winter Mournings is seen as a way to honor one's past tribulations and how one has managed to survive and overcome hardships during their life. Winter Mournings serves as a testament to survival and a willingness to keep surviving even when things look bleak and dismal.

Creating Winter Mournings is considered a blessing to the Pthumerians Dorothea, Remina, and Argonaut. You will know if the blessing was accepted once your Winter Mourning begins to glow like the moon. Touch your Winter Mourning and you will be pulled back in time to a memory of a specific time when you or someone else had to survive something physically or mentally challenging. For some, it is merely a memory that cannot hurt, but for others, you may want to proceed with caution as it has been known to pull people physically back to times of war.

One cannot choose which memory they wind up in if it is their own, a friend's, or a complete stranger's. Winter Mournings was designed to create a sense of union and empathy among residents and is meant to open your mind and heart to those who have suffered around you. It is time you explore your past, or someone else's past, with an open mind and see how the other side has lived through hard times. These memories are known to be from adolescence, adulthood, or sometimes even futures that have not yet happened or timelines you have never known. After all, Remina sees all past and all history. That means they see all of your past and history too.

No memory lasts forever though. Once the memory has been concluded, you shall be brought back to the present by the Winter Mourning Stag: a great white beast with a circle of frozen antlers. It will come to you when the time is ready, and you will return to the present like waking from a dazzling dream.

Experiencing Winter Mournings can stabilize one's mood and provide restful sleep after, even if the memories may be difficult to swallow. It truly is a tribute to honor past horrors and traumas. Some memories are painful to remember, but forgetting them will never do anyone any good either. So hang your Winter Mournings and remember what matters.

Survive another day. You are worth it."

FAQ

1. Winter Mournings can produce new memories every time you touch them or the same memory.

2. Characters cannot choose what the memory is.

3. Characters can arrive in each other's memories regardless of if they already know each other. Multiple people can experience the same memory.

4. You can either experience the memory as a memory you can't touch or experience - or you can physically be in the memory and have to survive the situation as well. If you die in memory, your body will die wherever you had been touching the Winter Mourning.

5. Palebloods are capable of altering memories or how they or others experience memories.

6. Characters can be pulled into memories at random - as long as one of the characters in the memory share is touching a Winter Mourning at first.
RUN, RABBIT, RUN
WHEN: Month of December
WHERE: Everywhere/the woods
CONTENT WARNINGS: Themes of hunting, ghosts, curses, attempts at animal violence, hunting people based on blood types.


[An excerpt from Legends of Trench: Curses and Causations reads the following:]

"One of the most notorious legends of Trench is without a doubt the tale of The Huntress and the Hare. Most Trenchies have been told this tale since they were children, but for those unfamiliar, settle in.

This story begins with a mischievous god and an ambitious huntress. The Pthumerian Dorothea loved to play tricks on hunters trying to survive the Bone Season, setting animals free from traps and remaking the traps to catch the hunters instead. One day, a darkblood Huntress was fed up with Dorothea preventing her from catching food for her family and decided to settle the score. The Huntress began to hunt for Dorothea specifically, but it is no small feat hunting the god of trickery and survival.

The Huntress started to rely on her darkblood powers to alter reality to make the perfect traps. Innocuous trees turned into glue traps that anyone would stick to until they were freed by a darkblood or death took their pain from them. Walking through bushes would snag legs and necks, effectively trapping whatever creatures were unfortunate enough to wander for food. Magical snares and beartraps lock around victims with unrelenting force, leaving people and animals to try for help until they cry no more. While this took many innocent lives in the woods, animals, and people alike, it never seemed to work on Dorothea.

Dorothea continued to outwit the Huntress until she eventually drove the Huntress insane. The Huntress died without ever catching Dorothea, but they say her vengeful spirit awakens in winter and begins to set her traps yet again. The Huntress sends her traps and her dead animals after vilebloods and warmbloods to spite Dorothea and hope to maybe catch the god's attention. But Dorothea is no passive god. Dorothea spurs vilebloods and warmbloods to defend themselves against darkbloods and coldbloods.

Infamously, this has created enormous tension between the blood types during December some years, and it is said that the blood lust has caused the types to begin hunting one another regardless of old friendships and alliances. Beware the Huntress's curse. Some believe darkbloods and coldbloods can still hear her haunting commands and cries from the Trenchwood.

They say there is no ease for the tension between the bloodtypes until December has passed, but some believe palebloods may provide relief if they are willing."

FAQ

1. Characters will increasingly feel the urge to actively hunt one another using traps/etc.

2. The Huntress's curse includes undead animals/beasts chasing after warmbloods and vilebloods and magical traps. Players can invent unique traps for their characters.

3. There will be an innate urge to chase/hide from one another.

4. The curse can be broken by paleblood intervention, character death, or a gradual wearing off by the end of the month.
LOCKJOINT
WHEN: All of Bone Season
WHERE: On Sleeper bodies
CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild body horror, blood magic curses, physical curses, cures through blood ministration/blood letting, possible skin removal, injuries, possible death via starvation/exposure.


[An passage from The Sleeper Condition; Chapter 13: Bodily Aches and More. Found exclusively at the Lumenarium:]

"Generally speaking, Sleeper blood allows Sleepers to navigate this world without the fear of illness and disease. However, no organic body is perfect, and Sleeper blood has its own set of ailments to fret over. Blood Ministers have studied the phenomena of Lockjoint for years now and believe that it is linked to the crystalization found in Sleeper death, though the exact connection remains unknown.

Lockjoint tends to begin and last throughout Bone Season. Some Sleepers may never experience it, but for many, it becomes a reoccurring issue to dread each season. This condition forces blood magic to gather at the joints and effectively lock up. Sleepers find it difficult to move their bodies at the bends, fingers, knees, shoulders, etc without some form of discomfort. Minimal lockjoint can be painful and annoyance, but critical lockjoint can be fatal.

The most severe cases of lockjoint documented have shown Sleepers to have crystalization form over their joints, rendering parts of their bodies completely immobile. Some Sleepers have been found dead in this condition, all their joints crystallized, and it is believed most died from natural causes thereafter.

One can determine they are experiencing lockjoint when the coloration around the joints begins to darken in color, typically looking like a bruise. Calcification may occur rapidly the more magic a Sleeper uses or the more they expose themselves to outside elements. It is imperative that Sleepers remain properly clothed during Bone Season, even if they are coldbloods, and to invest in enchanted clothes that can lock in heat.

A known cure for lockjoint is the art of bloodletting. Puncturing the joints with small incisions seems to allow a release of the built-up magic and can provide immediate relief to the Sleeper. Catching lockjoint early is imperative. Alternative methods are soaking in hot springs and salted water.

Those who are in a more severe state will have to carefully have the crystals removed. This will likely remove the skin as well. Local anesthesia is highly recommended for the procedure. This process is known to leave scarring. The crystals can be saved and used as bloodstones from whoever they were harvested from. If you find a Sleeper dead from lockjoint, make sure to harvest the crystals as they are incredibly valuable.

This curse is believed to stem from Sleeper blood magic congealing within the body in contrast with the atmospheric magic of Bone Season. There is no known prevention for lockjoint. Lockjoint can impact all Sleepers regardless of bloodtype or the material their bodies are made from."

FAQ

1. This impacts characters regardless of blood type or their body - meaning it can impact characters with metal/plastic/plant/wood/etc bodies.

2. Players can choose how rapid or severe this gets and how quickly they can be healed.
CODING
onekindsoul: (The secret to your life)

Shore

[personal profile] onekindsoul 2021-12-08 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[While the safehouses kept Ruby mostly busy, she did often try to make trips down to the shores. After Neo had mentioned the odds of people getting trapped under the ice after arriving she did her best to do a quick patrol of the area. Which is where she catches sight of Luna weeping at the edge of shoreline.

Her heart starts to ache and she gently steps closer and plops herself down on the ground. She doesn't quite know what's happened but she can guess and she doesn't want her friend to be alone if she can help it.

Once she's sure her presence is known she gently raises an arm and wraps it around Luna's shoulders. It's okay friend, Ruby's here.]
creidim: (☾ 056)

[personal profile] creidim 2021-12-09 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ She sits, knees drawn to her chest, trying to keep her body heat close together. Part of her is quite sure her tears might be frosting over as they run down her cheeks; they certainly sting quite a bit. There's movement at her side, Luna doesn't look — but the presence feels familiar, the footfalls, the way she settles herself down onto the sand next to her.

And then there's an arm around her shoulders. Luna doesn't move at first, her lips pursing as she tries to halt her tears. After a few moments, she leans into the hug, sniffling a few times and then falls quiet. They sit like that for some time in the silence, until finally: ]


... Hi, Ruby.
onekindsoul: (you and me)

[personal profile] onekindsoul 2021-12-12 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ruby feels a little bad once she gets a better look at Luna. She looks so cold and Ruby's own body heat is naturally very low now- it's probably not a good mix. She concentrates on her aura which no long really functions as a protective shield but tends to react elementally now. She focuses on heat without actually igniting into a burst of flame to provide a modicum of warmth. It takes some concentration but she manages it.

She let's the silence stand until Luna finally speaks up. Then she looks over and just holds Luna a little tighter as she leans in.]


Hey.

...I'm guessing someone left, didn't they?
creidim: commission, dnt (☾ 114)

[personal profile] creidim 2021-12-15 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
... They did, yes. [ Oh, bless you for trying, Ruby. It's definitely cold, nothing but the sand beneath her keeping her from completely freezing. So the little added warmth is very much appreciated. ]

My friend, Diarmuid. The ocean called him back. [ She sniffles softly, wipes at her face. ] He only just got here, though. We... we made it here, but—

[ Now he's gone. ]
onekindsoul: (I’ll be here until the end)

[personal profile] onekindsoul 2021-12-17 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
[Ruby was still getting used to her new situation when it came to comforting people. Her warm heart didn't quite match the icy blood running through her system.

This whole situation pulls at her heart strings. She spent so much time talking about how strong they were when they were all together but it always hurt when a friend couldn't continue on with them.

She doesn't have a handkerchief but she offers the edge of her cloak for Luna to clean herself up with if she needs it.]


I'm sorry, Luna. I only knew him a little.

I... I hope going out there means he can accomplish whatever he needs to though.

Why don't you tell me a little about him?
creidim: commission, dnt (☾ 085)

[personal profile] creidim 2021-12-22 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, Ruby. She couldn't. Not your nice cloak just for the sake of her tears. She shakes her head with the tiniest of smiles. It's fine, she'll just use the back of her sleeve. Better to wipe it on her own clothes than someone else's. ]

I don't know if he's gone home or he's just... out there in the ocean. [ From her tone, neither of those options sound good. He'd told her once there was nothing back home for him, but with the way the ocean's freezing over like that. ] Do you think it's warm? Deep in the ocean?

[ Maybe he's found somewhere warm to bob around. ]

He was ever so kind, you know? The first time I met him in person, I slept-walked to his cabin. He let me in without question. Even when he barely knew who I was.
onekindsoul: (pic#15025904)

[personal profile] onekindsoul 2022-01-02 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
[She loses one almost every other month depending on how dangerous things are. THis would have been worth it. Still she sits back and thinks on her words briefly before speaking again.]

I guess that is a good question... I think I like to think it's warm enough. The squids seem fine at least until they take our shape.

[She taps her chin. She knows that's not exactly the most comforting.]

What if we made him a care package and sent it out to sea? With food and things to say warm incase he needs it. We could put a note on it asking for other squids not to touch it. That it was just for him.

[She gives a light little smile hearing that story.]

I can't imagine you making a friend who wasn't. Warm and welcoming? Sounds like a real quality Luna Lovegood friend right there. Were you asleep when he let you in or had you woken up?
creidim: commission, dnt (☾ 107)

[personal profile] creidim 2022-01-13 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
And hopefully a great deal calmer too. [ She nods quietly, sniffles a little. If Diarmuid is out there within the ocean, she really does hope it isn't much of a frigid, tumultuous life. Of all people, Diarmuid deserves some peace as a squid.

The suggest does make her pause, she gently huffs out a soft sound of bemusement. It does sound a little ridiculous, voiced out loud like that. But Luna... very much likes the idea of it; it's very sweet, and thoughtful. Yes, she likes the sound of that. ]


Perhaps something in Gaeilge, then he'd know it would definitely be for him. [ Not many people know how to read it, she thinks. But Diarmuid would definitely know it was for him!! ]

I'd woken up. He let me in without question, I must have given him such a fright turning up like that. But yes— [ She exhales softly. ] That's very much who Diarmuid is, he's a Hufflepuff. A very good friend.

... I wish he didn't have to go.
onekindsoul: (The sky is turning black)

[personal profile] onekindsoul 2022-01-28 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Honestly Ruby brightens up a little seeing that she got at least a little hint of amusement out of Luna. Anything to take her mind off of just how awful parting could be.]

Yeah... I don't know what that is. So I definitely wouldn't touch it if I was down there.

[She settles back in and just listens to what she had to say. It very much reminds her of the first time they had met. How willing to be a friend Luna had been.]

Maybe. But it was just an opening for the both of you to meet. To see how great the both of you were.

...It's awful. I wish I could say it gets easier. But- I think you just learn to carry it over time.
creidim: (☾ 131)

[personal profile] creidim 2022-02-08 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Teanga ár ndaoine, Ruby. [ There's another little smile there, almost teasingly. She and Diarmuid are both Irish, after all. What else would they use to speak with one another to make sure the care package would be received by the right squid? ]

I suppose it was. Deerington did have its ways of throwing us together, didn't it? [ A reason to be... grateful for it, really. Luna knows fine well they wouldn't have otherwise met. It wasn't just different worlds that separated them, after all. Time did, too. ]

I'm... used to it, I suppose. [ She exhales. ] There's been a lot of people I've had to say goodbye to, had to learn how to carry the weight of losing them. I just— I just hoped this place would be different. That we wouldn't have to say goodbye.