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
enblightened: (even closer behind)

[personal profile] enblightened 2021-12-10 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
So we must.

[He has a feeling that this must be Lysithea's memory, unless somehow there is a third person unaccounted for. Still, he doesn't make the attempt to ask; if she wants to volunteer that information, he will let her.

Either way, they have some investigating to do indeed.]


Let me go first. [If he knows anything about most magic users, they tend to be fragile -- and frankly, he is not.

So he takes point.]
notimeforfailure: (Time)

[personal profile] notimeforfailure 2021-12-11 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
[She smiles faintly - she recalls this man, of course, and their peculiar meeting on that day the fish had risen from the sea. He had the impression, perhaps, that she lacked the grit to face challenges head-on.

...Truth be told, she just didn't like rotting fish much.

But now is not the time to disabuse him of that notion.]


Thanks.

[She feels a dread awakening within her consciousness. If this is not her partner's memory, it must be her own. And if this is hers, then...

Then she knows what it must be.

Down the hall they go. It is a short distance to the next entryway, and here the screams grow more distinct. Mommy. Daddy. Before Bigby can step inside, there comes the light touch of a hand on his shoulder.

The mage girl is as pale as a sheet.]


Wait. Please wait. Let me -- ...Let me look.
enblightened: (i smell like i sound)

[personal profile] enblightened 2021-12-11 08:13 am (UTC)(link)
Lysithea...

[There's hesitance for a moment, but eventually he nods. The screaming aches his heart, but there is no helping it right now. He breathes in and out to ease his stress.]

As you wish it. Just know that I am here, however I can assist.
notimeforfailure: (Serious)

[personal profile] notimeforfailure 2021-12-11 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lysithea steps carefully around him with a slow nod, one hand reached out to steady herself on the doorframe. The other grasps aimlessly at her own side, fingers tugging at the folds of her clothing, the only betrayal of her inner turmoil. Her expression is stiff, empty - nothing is displayed.

The room is suddenly thrust into light as she enters, as if her memory has finally unveiled itself from the deepest recesses of her mind. For a moment, everything is still.

Around the room, faceless figures with large cowls and robes, some taking notes in large, leather-bound volumes, others busying themselves with various bits of machinery. It is a strange fusion of technology and magic - here, a mage drawing spell circles, there, an engineer pulling levers on some incomprehensible device. Two figures stand before another stone slab, one holding a needle pointed up into the sky, the second holding down a struggling figure.

And on that slab...

Lysithea steps forward, her eyes locked on that frozen figure.

A little girl, with long, deep violet, almost black hair. She cannot be more than two or three.]


Of course...

So this is... how it was. Yes -- I remember now.

[As she breathes out these words, the memory suddenly snaps back into time and the needle is plunged into the struggling child.]
enblightened: (too close to hide)

[personal profile] enblightened 2021-12-13 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[As Bigby gazes over the scene before them, his chest feels heavy and his stomach twists. No matter his own sufferings, he's never really gotten used to any of it, and witnessing it happening to another person makes him feel all the worse. He loathes the sight of it, seeing this little girl being subjected, tortured, like she was less than a person.

For a moment, he feels that stress and anger rise up inside, his teeth feeling more like fangs, his fingers forming claws, but he holds back.

Instead, his heart goes out to Lysithea. No one deserves this. Absolutely no one.]


Who are these monsters doing this to a child?

[He wants--

He wants to slay them, maul them, render them into a puree of meat, but he tries to clear his mind of those impulses. However powerful they are.]
notimeforfailure: (Time)

[personal profile] notimeforfailure 2021-12-14 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know.

[The memory is growing fuzzier before their eyes. Obviously, the child on the table was not conscious for this next part. But she can fill in the blanks - had subconsciously filled in the blanks much later on. On the far end, the mage at the strange device pulls a lever and begins to draw out a long tube towards the child.

The others busy themselves with either spell incantations or a series of strange vials and liquids.]


I didn't know for a long time.

It was only recently that I began to connect the dots. These people... they resurfaced a few years ago when I was in school.

They are dark mages aligned with the Empire. Conducting cruel, subversive experiments despised by all men, all nations alike. We call them Those Who Slither in the Dark.

I know not their true aims, still...

[On the table, the struggling girl finally goes still.]
enblightened: (straddle the line)

[personal profile] enblightened 2021-12-15 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
If I could grant you comfort from this, I would. It is a thing I am too familiar with. The callousness of other people is more monstrous than what lies inside of me.

[There is a pause, then lightly he places his hand to Lysithea's shoulder. He does want to offer something, even if it's just his empathy. Because he knows the toll of these kinds of tortures. Worst yet, she had to endure as a child. At least he had been a full grown man in his situation.

She deserved a childhood. Happy memories.]


No matter their true intentions, it matters little in the wake of misery they have left.

It could not be worth this.
Edited 2021-12-15 01:21 (UTC)
notimeforfailure: (Suspicion)

[personal profile] notimeforfailure 2021-12-15 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
[Her eyes momentarily flicker in his direction. Was this man, perhaps the victim of some unethical magical treatment as well? Was it an explanation for his physical peculiarities?

She does not think she can pursue that avenue of inquiry right now - not at this moment. Later, perhaps, when the thought returns to her.]


No.

[Lysithea hovers by the still child, her hand on the girl's shoulder as if she can somehow steady her - prepare her for what is to come. As the tubing is connected, a thick fluid begins to circulate...]

I am a success story, actually. Beyond their wildest expectations, I survived the full blood transfusion with full use of the Crests they implanted. [He will not understand this - but perhaps she is not speaking for his sake.] When they had run all the tests they needed, they left me to find my way back to the gates of my home.

For them, I was not a person - just a test subject.

...Come.

[Lysithea gently strokes the girl's dark, beautiful hair for a moment before glancing sharply towards Bigby.]

This is not the true travesty. I -- need to see the rest.