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
vibing: (neutral | look | calm | skit)

1iii

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-08 11:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Yuri looks on impassively, but just being in a place like this makes him feel tense, like he wants to bolt, but he can't-- he's here, with someone he doesn't know, and he grits his teeth, looking at the baths. None of his nerves show on the surface. ]

Yeah. I know that feeling pretty damn well.

[ His wasn't... whatever this is. His was innocuous, a stolen blastia, that led to so much more. But he knows the feeling, knows how he looks back on that moment with wonder that something so small could kick off events that literally changed the world ]

What were you doing?
kingofsarcasm: (99)

[personal profile] kingofsarcasm 2021-12-10 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[Stiles looks over at Yuri for a moment, then back at the scene. Nobody has started speaking yet, so he gives a quick context:]

Our parents were kidnapped by a psycho darach- which is a dark druid- and they were gonna be used as sacrifices in a spell. So we did a ritual of our own to save them and find where they were.

[Then the adult in the room, Deaton, addresses the teenagers, he's a bald man with dark skin perhaps in his late thirties with a calm and wise demeanor.] All right. What did you bring?

[Memory Stiles answers first:] Um, I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a little bit. Still doesn't look right.

[Deaton:] Well, it doesn't have to look good if it has meaning.

[Current day stiles takes a moment in the lull in the memory's conversation to turn back to Yuri with furrowed brows.] By the way, considering you're about to watch me do one of the scariest things I've done ever in my life, I should probably get your name.
Edited 2021-12-10 21:49 (UTC)
vibing: (look | tired | serious | pout)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-12 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Shit.

[ He can guess what happens next, then. Using something meaningful to save someone can't be pretty. He tears his eyes away from the scene to glance at Stiles ]

Yuri Lowell. Sorry to intrude, man. I can turn around and cover my ears if you want.

[ Being forced to show someone something so deep, so painful, shouldn't be done by force. ]
kingofsarcasm: (67)

[personal profile] kingofsarcasm 2021-12-13 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Stiles.

[He gives his name in return and then heaves a breath, looking back to the scene as both Scott and Allison present their chosen items. First Allison is asked by Isaac if what she's holding is an actual silver bullet, and she replies:] My dad made it. It's kind of a ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a Hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the Code.

[Present day Stiles shakes his head and addresses Yuri.] It's fine. I'll just be a hell of a first impression.

[Deaton, then looks to his best friend Scott:] Scott?

[Scott pauses before holding up a watch.] My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked.

[There's another silent moment as they take all this in.]
vibing: (look | tired | sus | neutral)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-15 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
If you're sure.

[ There's still an out, if he wants to take it. Yuri crosses his arms over his chest, turning to watch the scene, if that's in fact what they're doing. ]

What are you trying to do with all that stuff?
kingofsarcasm: (220)

[personal profile] kingofsarcasm 2022-01-09 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
[Stiles shrugs and snorts, the quip he returns isn't harsh in tone.] What? You think we're all about to strip down and take some erotic ice baths or something? Yeah, I'm sure.

[Then he heaves a breath and in answer to Yuri's question he jerks his chin to the memory where Deaton replies to the last thing Scott said:] Okay. The three of you will get in. Each of us will hold you under until you're essentially... well, dead… But, it's not just someone to hold you under-- it needs to be someone who can pull you back, someone with a strong connection to you. A kind of emotional tether.

[Each of them move to pair up, Lydia and Allison move to each other and Scott and Stiles linger, contemplating until Deaton speaks again a beat later:] Lydia... You go with Stiles.

[They all look unsure, meeting each other's eyes and Allison speaks up:] Are you sure? I mean, Scott and I both have to go under.

[Scott:] …It's okay.

[It's clear there's some relationship tension going on here, particularly between Allison, Scott and Isaac. Lydia moves to stand with Stiles easily enough, flashing him a smile.]