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
possessum: (bring all your sons over)

[personal profile] possessum 2022-01-16 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
( The other demon doesn't know him? So he must not be one of his Legion. How strange to think that a great king couldn't remember such things, but he's.... barely a shadow of his former self, right now.

Still. The figure's answer makes his eyes widen further. The same as being family...? He would even commit himself to this... Paimon studies him, curious and confused and so intrigued all at once. )


Family....? Because you are... a demon? Like me?

( He voices the word aloud, still unsure exactly what this creature before him is, but he must be... The Same. )
thevengefuldoll: (Non Threatening)

[personal profile] thevengefuldoll 2022-01-18 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
Of Course! I'm unsure if we bleed the same, but we truly are of the same kind.

[ The doll master smiles. With a hand to his chest, he decides to provide an introduction. ]

My name is Chin Yisou. It is a pleasure to meet you...

[ He pauses while glancing at the stranger. His introduction seems cordial, but is one that invites an answer in return. With family, there is a give and take. At least, that is all that Chin Yisou can recall from his past self. In Trench, what he lacks is family. Hence the need for the demon to make alliances. ]
possessum: (all love's filth and grime)

I'm so sorry for the delay; tags have been at a crawl! No worries at all if you prefer to drop this!

[personal profile] possessum 2022-02-06 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
( It isn't the first fellow demon he's encountered in this place, though Paimon's learned that they all seem to vary. So far, he hasn't quite met the same sort as himself. But even so, there's... a desire to be close to those other demons; he does stick close with them. Some desperate way to feel the connection he's lost.

Chin Yisou.... the name isn't familiar to him, and he isn't sure if this entity is one from his same Hell, or a different Hell altogether. Still, it's meaningful, and Paimon feels his spirit spark again.

He also well understands the concept of give and take; in fact, it is how the demon king is meant to function. Through offering and reward, sacrifice and grant. Exchange. Now that the other demon has given his name, Paimon will return the gesture. )


I am Paimon. ( He looks over the other demon, taking him in. ) What... is your Purpose?
thevengefuldoll: (Delighted)

Re: I'm so sorry for the delay; tags have been at a crawl! No worries at all if you prefer to drop t

[personal profile] thevengefuldoll 2022-02-06 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
(OoC: That's fine- I don't mind continuing the thread to see where it goes. Though, if you're not interested in Chinny's mission, than it's fine if Paimon declines his request. We could always work on another prompt at a different time)

[ Chin Yisou smiles. He gives a wave of his hand to gather his thoughts. ]

I'm investigating a strange matter. I've been sensing some disturbances as of late.

[ He folds his arms and pauses for moment. Perhaps, recieving assistance would be best. ]

Do you know any information regarding the increase in darker energy?
possessum: (and every little bird)

[personal profile] possessum 2022-02-13 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
ooc: I'm definitely down to continue; Paimon is always very thrilled to meet another demon and would certainly help him out! Thank you for your patience ♥

( Investigating... Somewhere through Paimon's Corrupted state, more pieces of his true self are beginning to emerge, the more he speaks to this entity. He's a being of knowledge; he's meant to find answers, and help spread his teaching and guidance to others in turn.

If this other demon is seeking information.... something in Paimon's spirit wishes to help him. Though he's still strange and growing worse every day as the Corruption unknowingly spreads in him... Perhaps he'll be able to be more controlled tonight, in the company of this demon. Hopefully. )


Darker energy.... I have sensed shifts in energy, in this place. It is... very strange here. ( He mulls, quietly. )

But I do not know what causes it. Perhaps different people's bodies are affected differently.... ( A pause, as he takes in Yisou's appearance again, the elongated ears... he doesn't look like a normal human. )

....Do you occupy a human vessel?
thevengefuldoll: (Glance)

[personal profile] thevengefuldoll 2022-02-13 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
ooc: Much appreciated! Let's see what they can discover

A human vessel...

[ The demon muses over the phrase. He squints his eyes tightly as to express deep thought. The more he speaks with another demon, the more Chin Yisou seems to be able to unlock such details of his old world. Yokai the word expresses itself in his mind. ]

I belive that there have been demons who were able to manifest in their own bodies. At least, where I came from. The humans would call us "yokai."

[ Chin Yisou does not recall the specifics of how demons were able to enter earth. Yet, he is intrigued that Trench seems to allow a variety of interconnections. Perhaps, the openness of Trench allows for such beings as Paimon and himself to walk freely amongst others. ]

So, I take it that you're in a human body?

[ Honestly, the thought didn't cross Chin Yisou's mind before the question was raised. There is much that the demon must learn...and relearn. ]
possessum: (𝟎𝟎𝟒)

[personal profile] possessum 2022-03-13 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
( Demons who could manifest in their own bodies? Paimon takes in this information just as curiously as the rest, absorbing the knowledge. He still doesn't quite remember his true form, what it looks like, but he's seen depictions of himself in grimoires and other such texts. Humans seem to have recorded him in varying forms over history.

The question gives him pause. He's... forgotten those details, in his Corrupted state. But being asked so specifically like that allows memory to seep through, even though he still can't recall the specific circumstances that led up to it, or even Peter's name. )


Yes. This vessel was.... given to me.

( The demon king glances down for a moment, as though looking at himself. The body feels... strange. Supposedly it was the "correct" host, but he's not certain he's supposed to be in a host at all. To occupy human flesh is to be contained within it.... Trapped.

He wonders how powerful such a being as this before him must be, if he is not trapped within a human. )


Can all yokai... do as you can? With the doll?
thevengefuldoll: (Smiles)

[personal profile] thevengefuldoll 2022-03-13 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
A given vessel? What a great gift. Yet, I hope it holds well in this terrain.

[ Chin Yisou is still new to this world. Yet, he has a feeling that Trench is a dangerous place. Though the more one investigates, than the better the odds of survival. ]

Managing a puppet is my family's specialty. I'm not sure about every yoga, but there are those with specialized crafts.

[ The demon looks into space, trying to figure out a new plan of action. ]

Is there a place in Trench that provides information regarding the dark energies?

[ Perhaps a bit of research is in need. To understand demonology and the other dark aurora surrounding Trench's atmosphere. ]