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
laruetheday: skim milk. which is water that's lying about being milk. (only one thing i hate more than lying.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2021-12-20 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Clarisse nods, her ego fed enough to satisfy her for now. Besides, it isn't like she's going to try to punch a guy who isn't actually there. Though it does make her wonder if it would be possible to hit a memory hard enough to send it flying right out of Bella's head, permanently. Not that she would do that. She wouldn't! (Probably.)

It takes a minute for Clarisse to realize that this isn't just one singular memory, that there are small differences in the room as each night switches into the next. The one constant is Edward standing in the corner, still and cold as a statue. It's what gets her to finally turn and look at Bella, really look at her. ]


Did you know this was happening? [ Like... she couldn't have, right? There's no way she would have just been okay with that. Right? ]
littlelesshelpless: ([down] it's not worth it)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2021-12-20 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
[Clarisse could probably open a fairly lucrative business punching traumatic memories out of people's heads, honestly.

Bella's still looking at Edward, her face twisted a little, like she's actually seeing him for the first time. He's still beautiful, still ethereal and compelling and it still tugs at a part of her heart. But the louder, more indignant part is screaming at her younger self to run away as fast as she can.

The question makes her blink, turning towards Clarisse.
] ...he told me later he liked watching me sleep. After we were -- together. I thought he meant...that one night. I didn't realize...it had been going on all this time.

[Then she grimaces.] I probably would've thought it was romantic, though.
laruetheday: but you can tell they don't like it. (they do allow some nervous crying.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2021-12-23 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ Clarisse's lip curls in an expression caught somewhere in between confusion and disgust. She just can't imagine what there is to gain by this. Sneaking into someone's house to stand up against their wall and stare at them while they're unconscious? Like... why?

The more she learns about this Edward guy, the creepier he seems. ]


Look, [ she says finally, ] I love you, but sitting around watching you sleep every night would be boring as shit. No offense. [ And that's that on that!!! ]
littlelesshelpless: (Default)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-02 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
[That gets a sudden, surprised laugh out of Bella, and she finally turns to look at Clarisse.] I love you too. [It hangs in the air for a moment before she adds, quickly:] A-And yeah, that sounds...I mean, I like watching you sleep, but only right before I also...sleep...

[Wow, Edward's no longer the most awkward one in the room.]
laruetheday: who's the idiot now? (ha! it was english i took twice.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-03 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ Scuse me, it's TIME FOR SOMEONE TO CHOKE ON HER OWN SPIT— ]

You've watched me sleep? [ Honestly, Clarisse is self-aware enough to picture herself fairly accurately, sprawled out with her mouth hanging open and one leg hanging off the side of the bed. Which is like -100 sexy girlfriend points, probably. ]
littlelesshelpless: ([down] u gotta be joking)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-03 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
[WOAH okay stop choking Bella doesn't know CPR. She reaches out awkwardly, like she's going to...thwack the demi-god on the back to make her stop choking.]

Only like!! When I wake up and can't fall back asleep right away! I-It's...it's comforting!
laruetheday: (who hasn't had gay thoughts?)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-04 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ Clarisse ducks her head, fighting to hide the way her lips are curling up into a tiny, pleased grin. What? Bella's awkwardness is cute. She's always been endeared by it, and pretended otherwise (badly), even before they started dating. ]

Okay, weirdo.
littlelesshelpless: ([up] feelin' soft)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-06 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
[Bella ducks her head a little, a slow smile of her own flickering across her face.] Heyyyy, liar. You like it.
laruetheday: whole-ass one thing. (never half-ass two things.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-08 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
I like you. [ She's still smiling. ] So I guess I'll put up with your weirdness.

[ Clarisse reaches out to brush her fingertips across Bella's arm, hesitant at first, unsure whether she'll even be able to make contact with her if they're just stuck in some old memory together. ] Hey, you know if you wake up and you can't fall back to sleep, you can always wake me up, you know... [ Just a casual suggestion, Bella! ]
littlelesshelpless: ([up] sweet girl)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-09 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
I like you too. Even when you're drooling.

[Bella can definitely feel that, and she smiles in relief as the memory around them starts to fade. She turns more towards Clarisse, deciding again to let the past just...be in the past.] Sometimes I do. But it's...nice to see you resting. I guess.
laruetheday: only idiots recommend that. (110% is impossible.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-12 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ Okay, she can appreciate that the only time she's ever totally still is while she's unconscious. And even then, not all the time, given the weird dreams demigods have. So like, fair point, Bella, well made. ]

Are you implying I need to rest more?

[ With the memory of Edward fading away from them, Clarisse feels comfortable enough to let her hand rest on Bella's arm. It's still not totally natural, though. Not after they've been avoiding each other for as long as they have. ]
littlelesshelpless: ([down] stiff upper lip)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-13 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
No, I'm flat-out saying it. [They're not quite in the real world yet, just in that weird...in-between void after being inside of a memory. The fact that this has happened so often that Bella recognizes this void is probably concerning.

She looks down at Clarisse's hand, then back up at her.
] ...I'm sorry. [Bella had expected it to be hard to say, but at this point it's not. It feels...like not enough. But it's not hard.]
laruetheday: robins @ insanejournal (my goal is to run to the moon.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-14 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Oh.

[ Well, that's very honest of her, and Clarisse can't argue with it. She also can't lie and promise she'll try to relax more often because she knows she won't, so... "oh."

She bites at her bottom lip, not sure what to say in response to Bella's apology. It's been enough time—more than enough—for her to cool down and get over herself a little bit, but it still hasn't offered her a whole lot of clarity about who was actually at fault, if either of them were. ]


You... you didn't really do anything. Wrong.
Edited 2022-01-14 03:43 (UTC)
littlelesshelpless: ([neutral] just feel tired)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-15 09:09 am (UTC)(link)
[Bella's had more than enough time as well to turn everything over and over in her head and explore the...multiple different ways she could've handled that. It definitely could've been better all around. Like, literally any other way would've probably been nicer or more thoughtful or whatever.

So she shakes her head, firmly.
] I kinda did. I wasn't -- I was pushing you, even though I know that only makes you more frustrated. I wasn't listening to you, I was just talking over you. That's...not okay.
laruetheday: and that i never did laundry. (i'm sorry i dragged you into this.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-16 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
I was being awful, though. You didn't deserve that.

[ Lying in bed all day, shades drawn. Refusing to talk to anybody. Only eating whatever Bella took it upon herself to cook and deliver to Clarisse, without even a thank you. It makes her cringe thinking about the way she was acting, but the horrible thing is that she thinks it could happen again. Like she's clawing her way out of some internal abyss by sheer force of will, and it would only take a light push to send her falling again.

So she inhales, sharply, and takes both of Bella's hands in hers. ]


This place has made me feel... like, just, sad in a way I've never felt before. I hate—I hate being that person. But I don't know how to stop it when it starts. I'm scared it'll come back.
littlelesshelpless: ([down] stiff upper lip)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-18 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
[Bella is quiet for a moment, looking down at their joined hands. She thinks about -- well, she thinks about how angry and helpless and scared Clarisse's dark mood had made her feel. Then she thinks about her own slips into that sad, empty, endless place. There had been...so many more than she ever anticipated.

So she exhales, looks back up, her expression solemn.
] It might. Or it -- might for me. I've been that person before too.

It doesn't change how I feel about you, though. Nothing you do could change that.
laruetheday: (my low is right now.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-21 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Still, I'm... sorry I was being like that. And then I was ignoring you after.

[ Apologizing isn't really done in Clarisse's world. Being angry and then icing somebody out is what feels familiar and safe to her, and even though it's caused major problems in the past, she finds it hard to let go of. Falling back into those old patterns, being arrogant and prideful and terrible, just like her father. She can't say she doesn't come by it honestly, but it's not a good look on Ares, and she knows it's not a good look on her. ]

My family... [ She trails off, awkward, then amends, ] The godly side of my family, they're not... they don't talk things out. When they offend each other they just take revenge and call it even, or they ignore each other for, like, decades at a time. So that's how we learn to be. I'm sorry. I just... want you to know I'm trying.
littlelesshelpless: ([neutral] curious)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-23 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Bella listens quietly, crossing her arms loosely. She still only knows tiny tiny bits of information about Ares, but everything she hears is...really terrible. Can you kill a god? Or at least beat them up until they stop being the biggest asshole ever?

But then Clarisse finishes, and Bella's whole posture softens as she reaches out for her girlfriend's hand.
] I know you are. I'm not mad anymore. I...haven't been for a while. [She sort of laughs, weakly.] My family isn't great at talking about stuff either, I guess.
laruetheday: i find that relaxes me. (i'm just gonna stay angry.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-25 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ Clarisse threads their fingers together and squeezes Bella's hand against hers. She still remembers how Bella'd described her parents that one time—a mom who's more of a kid than Bella and a dad who's pretty hopeless. ]

Gods and mortals have some stuff in common. [ Usually... usually it's bad stuff. ] I wasn't mad either. I just never know what to say, after. [ It's probably a good thing that despite Clarisse's temper and Bella's willingness to argue anything to death, they haven't had very many fights. They would probably spend more time ignoring each other than they would speaking. ]
littlelesshelpless: ([up] not as big of a dick as u could've)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-30 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I guess so. [She doesn't know many gods, but the ones she's heard about are pretty...mortal in their pettiness and whatever. She squeezes Clarisse's hand back.] Me neither. Well, I don't know...the right things to say. I always have something to say.
laruetheday: this party is going to be off the hook! (unlimited juice?)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-01-31 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
The somethings you say sound smarter than the somethings I say. The somethings I say are usually dumb.

[ Case in point, that. ]

But, yeah, I'm... sorry. Again. And sorry I got sucked into your memory.
littlelesshelpless: ([up] not as big of a dick as u could've)

[personal profile] littlelesshelpless 2022-01-31 05:56 am (UTC)(link)
Mine are...dumb things masquerading as smart things. [Even her thoughts are ~mysterious and deep~.

Then Bella snortlaughs, covering her face with her hands.
] I'm sorry you had to see my weird...teenage angst.
laruetheday: to be fair, i did. (imagine that.)

[personal profile] laruetheday 2022-02-01 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Nah. [ Clarisse leans in to give her a quick kiss. ] You're pretty smart most of the time.

[ She has to laugh at "teenage angst," though. That's... one way to describe having a vampire fiancé who stands in a corner and watches you sleep. ] It's okay. My memories from when I was sixteen are pretty weird, too. A lot of sing-alongs.