deercountry | All men must die, but first he must live.

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All men must die, but first he must live.

SEPTEMBER 2021 EVENT

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Woman holding skull in bag. ]
[Image Two: Plants sprouting out of earth.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Woman rocking back and forth in dark.]
[Image Two: Woman rowing down river with corpses on stakes on horizon.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Beef cake man breaking arrows off of shield with a sword.]
[Image Two: Beefy man slamming axe into troll-like creature, spraying blood.]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

GROWING PAINS

WHEN: September
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Minor blood ritual.

September, for many in Trench, is considered a month of personal sacrifice. It is the month of self-actualization and promise. To grow your future, you must first be willing to sacrifice your past. You cannot walk forwards while walking backward. All throughout Trench, natives can be seen in yards and on plots of land digging small holes and planting a variety of items. Some plant seeds, some drop in a ring, others bury small parts of a body. But the ritual is simple: bury something that represents your past and seal it with a promise for your future.

You can write yourself a note or cut off a lock of your own hair. The ways in which people do this are limitless since it's a largely personal experience. Find a small patch of soil and dig yourself a shallow hole. Bury the item inside, say goodbye to who you used to be, and cover the item up with dirt. Once you are done, you must shed at least one drop of blood onto the sacrifice. It must be your own blood willingly given. Once the blood hits the soil, a small flower will miraculously grow out of the earth within seconds.

A single, powerless flower, but this flower will be completely immortal. You can either keep it on the patch of land or dig it up and bring it home. The flower will be a representation of your progress in Trench: if its petals wilt, you are lingering too much in the past. If it is in full bloom and vibrant, you're on the right path to a better future. If the flower starts to rot, you're heading down a dangerous path.

The flower may not be able to sway you one way or another, but it may serve as a valuable reminder of the kind of life you wish to lead. Some people abandon the flowers entirely and never bother with them. After all, there are no real consequences if you let the flower rot. If a character is dropped, their flower will fleck away like dust. Many believe that the flowers are made of the same stuff omens are made of.

You can dig up other people's flowers and watch their progress (make sure to get player permission) instead. After all, not everyone will care enough about their own flowers to really observe them closely. The flowers can come in any species or size, even fictional flowers, but they will only be replicas. Meaning if your character's flower is typically used for healing, there will be no healing properties in this replica. The flowers cannot be destroyed.

Many natives in Trench will repeat this ritual a few times every couple of years since the ritual is for letting go of the past. After all, the promises you make to yourself now won't be the same promises you make to yourself ten years from now. People change and so too will their flowers. What the characters bury is largely open to interpretation.

RIVER OF REGRET

WHEN: September
WHERE: Some obscure location within Gaze
CONTENT WARNINGS: Mangled corpses of loved ones, birds eating corpses, themes of regret.

You will find raven feathers all over Trench. They may drift through the air, lightly touch you, or you might decide to pick one up. The moment you come into physical contact with a feather, a conspiracy of ravens tears through the air and scoops you up into a whirlwind of feathers and caws. It only lasts a few seconds before you're deposited into a canoe drifting along a still river. Another Sleeper is in the boat with you. You pass beneath massive stone walls carved into the likeness of Never Mind and his ravens.

The world is silent around you. There is no rain here. Instead, sunlight pours through breaks in the clouds. Sunlight dapples across the water and golden-red leaves of nearby trees. It's more serene than most places in Trench.

You turn a corner and smell it before you see it. The picturesque summer day is dampened by the stench of rot. Then you come upon them: corpses. Corpses tied up to posts with barbed wire, corpses put through spikes and suspended in the air. Ravens flutter to and fro, picking at strips of meat. It isn't until you're close enough that you realize you recognize the corpses.

They are the corpses of people you have hurt. And that doesn't just mean people you killed or physically harmed. These are the bodies of people you have deep regrets towards: a lover you wronged, a best friend you lied to, an enemy you wish you had forgiven. Not everything is as black and white as murder, after all, and this grisly graveyard of mangled bodies says as much. Sometimes our regrets haunt us like the dead, and it seems like yours have followed you to Trench. You might even see your own body up on a post or the body of your canoe companions.

You have one of two choices: ignore your regret or face it.
Choosing to ignore your regrets doesn't seem to have any ill consequences at first. You pass by the corpses and continue on your river voyage. But the water grows thicker, and you come across the same corpses only in a worse state. The situation gets progressively worse each time you ignore it, and the river gradually becomes a river of blood and gore. The stench becomes insufferable and you will become increasingly corrupt. Some may even turn into beasts right there on the river.

Facing your regrets means talking about them, even mildly, to your canoe companions. You simply need to acknowledge the corpses, acknowledge the slightest truth to your feelings towards those regrets. When everyone in your canoe has acknowledged their regrets, the ravens will come for you once more. You will be brought back to Trench and awaken in the School of Mutter. Those who faced their regrets will discover that they have been gifted a white gold compass. The compass's needle will always point in the direction of the nearest Lamp Friend no matter the chaos going on in the world. But the compass only works once you have calmed down and focused.

QUICK FACTS

1. Each boat can hold up to 4 people. There can be multiple canoes in the same area.

2. If you try to leave the boat, you will drown in the River of Regret.

3. This does not have to encompass every regret someone's had. It can only represent one or two things. The regret should have to do with another individual or one's self. Something like "I regret not going to college" wouldn't necessarily work within the parameters of the prompt.

4. The river can only be accessed by touching a fallen raven feather. Touching a raven feather attached to the bird or a quill does not count.

5. Characters can engage with this prompt as many times as they touch a raven feather.

6. Characters with no regrets will not see corpses, but they will still be able to interact with characters who do have regrets.

BLOODSPORT

WHEN: During the Blood Moon
WHERE: Everywhere but specifically, The Gate
CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence, fighting, forced aggression/violence, forced fighting.

The Blood Moon invokes religious reverence among Trenchies. September and October are the ultimate months of sacrifice to pay tribute to the gods and the blood that rules this world. An energy begins to swell among Trenchies and you keep hearing the same word whispered excitedly around the city: "Bloodsport."

As the Blood Moon floods the streets in red, you begin to feel antsy, like you don't know what to do with yourself. You're not necessarily angry, you just have an abundance of energy. You don't need to be told what it is: your blood is reacting to the moon. The Blood Moon enhances blood powers significantly and you're simply not used to that yet. You don't feel in control of your own power or maybe even your own mind. At least until you exert some power, some force. Slam a door shut or swing a sword, shoot some electricity or spit some poison and you'll feel at peace with yourself. That nervous energy will ease out.

Only to come back twice as strong. It starts to put you in a real fighting mood and you start to realize why the locals call this Bloodsport. Hunting down beasts and monsters might seem like the fun thing to do right now, but the real attraction for Bloodsport takes place at The Gate. You can hear the roaring crowd blocks away. Hundreds of Trenchies have settled in to watch Sleepers duke it out with each other or with locked-up monsters. Maybe join in the fight. At least you know the other Sleepers there want to be there...Right?

Unfortunately not. Those who resist Bloodsport will find themselves passing out more and more frequently. Eventually, they will be taken by Mysterious Forces to The Gate to be pitted against other Sleepers and monsters. Some Sleepers will be forced into a gladiator-style fight that they either must win or die trying. Most fights at the Gate do end in death, but there are some circumstances where someone surrenders. Of course, that never stops their opponent from killing them anyway...Hopefully, you're fighting someone who is still relatively reasonable. Both parties can be resistant to fighting, but they will feel obligated to fight each other. If they don't, monsters will be unleashed into the arena and your situation will get a whole lot worse.

Bloodsport can greatly enhance a Sleeper's ability and many believe it is a gift from the Pthumerian gods. It is generally considered an advantage to Sleepers during the Season of Blood to prepare them and train them to hone their skills for the Season of Bone. Many believe it is wisest to submit to Bloodsport and let yourself get used to the motions of violence in order to survive the remainder of the year.

QUICK FACTS

1. Casual physical training will alleviate Bloodsport feelings. You could get through the month just by jogging around a lot.

2. Characters forced to the Gate will not remember how or when they arrived - they will just wake up and be thrown into the Gate by some shadowy force.

3. Characters who willingly participate in violence/fighting will feel temporary relief from Bloodsport only for the feeling to increase.

4. Effects of Bloodsport last as long as the Blood Moon shines through September and October.

5. You can treat symptoms of Bloodsport with calming techniques such as aromatherapy, meditation, medications, etc. Can be based on what would ICly help calm your character but it should require a lot of it.

6. You can invent the monsters/beasts that are at the Gate. They should be killable creatures and easily captured for the purpose of the Gate.

CODING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know? Sometimes I can do things like this with my music, but I wasn't singing?

[ As if in time-lapse, the little green shoot creeps its way up and out of the soil, a small bud forming at its top and unfurling into a bright white tulip before their eyes. Blinking at it in confusion and a little bit of wonderment, Orpheus reaches out and runs a fingertip along one of the leaves. ]

It's real.

[another soft "whoa" at that.

beat.

wait.

squinting:] There's no...eyeballs in it, is there?

[ Perhaps ill-advisedly, Orpheus gently prods apart the flower's delicate white petals and peers inside. Thankfully he finds nothing out of the ordinary, and looks over at Manabu, shaking his head. ]

It just looks like a normal flower? Just one that grew really fast. It probably has to do with the ritual?

[ He sits back on his heels, looking at it contemplatively. ]

I wonder if that means I should take it with me.

Or...or maybe you've got some kind of plant-magic now? [Manabu shrugs, rubbing the back of his head.] I mean, that's the talk now, right? Getting powers here...

[he's not entirely sure he can buy it. well, he can maybe buy it for other people, but not so much for himself.]

Maybe... [ he says, thoughtfully. ] Like I said, sometimes I can make flowers bloom by playing well enough.

[ He nods to the guitar on his back. ]

But I've never done it without music? And I didn't - feel anything, the way I normally do when I do something like that, this time. But maybe the way the magic of this place works is different.

[Manabu breathes out a soft sound in wonder, his hand moving so he can rub thoughtfully at his chin.]

That's so weird... [to be blunt.

beat.

he colors a bit, realizing that could sound rude:] But-! But as far as things that could happen? I think...I think making flowers grow is a pretty nice thing. Like! Like Fern! Do you know Fern? He'd started growing flowers, too. So maybe it's connected?

[ Fortunately any accidental rudeness goes flying entirely over Orpheus's head as he stares at the flower, trying to figure out how to take it with him without damaging its roots or anything.

Distractedly, he says, ]

I think Fern could always do that? He seemed to have flowers growing in his hair a lot back in Deerington, at least. Unless you mean he's started growing them not on himself now, too.

[ He thinks about that, quiet for a moment. ]

Maybe it is all connected. I guess there's no way to know unless we ask around.

Mm. [true enough. they could sit there and speculate all night and very little would change.

Manabu's hand falls away onto his knee as he muses on this.] ...Well...I guess that's as good a reason for those new communicators, huh? Seems like everyone had one show up in a bag, like the baskets.

You got one too, right?

[ Orpheus nods. ]

I did! I never really used mine back in Deerington very much? But it was really useful sometimes. Like when you need to ask a question of a lot of people, or check on a friend when you don't know where they are.

[ He thinks about this for a second, and adds, wistfully; ]

If we'd had something like this back home, it would've been a lot easier keeping people safe when they went out on their own.

[ In terms of their being able to call for help if they got into trouble, he means. ]

Eh?

[blink. frown.]

You mean...like the Fluid, right? That's what we had then. [wait. 'back home.' Deerington is not home. his face goes hot as he quickly amends:] Er, I mean-! Just-just in Deerington. Sorry. I didn't realize you were talking about...about wherever you came from before...

[ Orpheus looks up quizzically when Manabu flusters like that, brows furrowing in confusion. He's able to write off the mistake quickly enough, though, shrugging and moving on, oblivious to the potential significance of it. ]

We don't have anything like these or the Fluids back where I came from originally. There were radios, I guess? But most people used them just for listening, not sending messages. Some places in the big cities had telephones, but I think those have to be connected to each other by wires.

[ Not so useful, if you're out wandering and run into trouble. ]

Oh-- [he almost cuts Orpheus off when he says originally, realizing he wasn't even on the same page. it's...probably not a good idea to have even mistook origin points for Deerington, huh? even if it's the only place he knew the guy from.

embarrassed, he ducks his head and listens, nodding quickly to assure he understands.]

R-right. Sorry. [places without radios or network links...how...]

Oh, don't apologize! [ says Orpheus, unsure of why Manabu is apologizing to begin with, not having caught on to how bothered he is by his own mistake. ]

It's just... It's hard not to wonder how thing might've gone, if people who got lost out in the wilderness back home could've called for help, or even if I'd just been able to keep in touch with people far away when the weather got too bad to keep sending letters, or any other things that I can't even imagine that things like this [ he gestures with the little palm-sized gemstone ] make possible.

[ And he goes quiet and contemplative for a minute, before shaking his head and smiling again. ]

But I guess that's all the more reason to be grateful for them here, right?

[Manabu listens with a frown, but he nods with some level of understanding.]

Mm. You're right. So I guess...if things get dicey for you, me and other folks aren't too far out of reach.

[he hesitates, looking down at the mysterious flower.]

So...what're you gonna do about that? [he nods at it.]

What?

[ It takes Orpheus a second to realize what Manabu is asking about, so thoroughly derailed from his original train of thought by the discussion about the Omnis. He looks back down at the flower and catches up momentarily, though. ]

I'm not sure! It seems too important to leave behind, but... [ How to uproot it without killing it? He glances around, frowning thoughtfully, before catching sight of a nearby cafe, where some Trenchies are sitting outside conversing. ] Oh! Um, can you watch this for me, for a moment? I think I have an idea.

Huh? [blink.] Aa, okay... [he shifts, getting back to his feet and leaning to give Orpheus space to move about as he pleases, watching him with a quietly puzzled look. he stuffs his hands into his pockets, giving the flower a fleeting glance before following Orpheus' movements with his eye.]

[ Orpheus nods to Manabu, smiling, before getting up and heading over to the cafe, where he proceeds to have an animated conversation with the people at the table. They seem confused, initially, but quickly warm up to him, and after some further discussion one of them hands him their tea cup. Satisfied, he waves to them before hurrying back over to Manabu. ]

Okay, I think this should work? [ he says, kneeling in the dirt again and setting the cup down next to him before digging in a careful circle around the tulip. Once he's dug deep enough, he reaches into the hole and scoops the flower out, roots and all, which he then sets into the cup, like a tiny planter. ]

[ohhh. it doesn't entirely make sense until Orpheus is scooping the flower up, because Manabu was seconds away from asking how tea was going to help him out.

it's the work of a single pair of hands, so Manabu can only stand by and watch with a bit of curiosity while Orpheus works.]

You already got a place to stay to put it, then, huh?

[because not everyone here acts like a drifter for weeks after arrival, shockingly.]

[ Orpheus nods. ]

Mm-hmm! My wife and I found a place in Crenshaw a little while ago that - [ Hey wait a minute ] Oh! I forgot to mention! My wife, Eurydice, is here! She showed up a little before I did, and we found each other right away.

[ He beams, looking dreamy and a little far away. ]

I was so worried I'd never see her again, but - she's here! You should meet her, some time. I'd take you to see her now, but I think she's out foraging right now.

[ Orpheus is thoroughly distracted from whatever they were talking about before this, now. ]

Haa-?

[Manabu is entirely surprised by this new information, so his abruptness must be forgiven:] You're married? Really?

[since when? definitely before the nightmare. or...after it, immediately leading up to Trench? IN Trench? who the hell officiated?! many questions - too many to think up in the moment! so he'll just settle for the catch-all really and hope that clears things up.]

Yes! We, um. Got separated for a little while, and then I wound up in Deerington. Part of the reason I tried to go back home after the dream ended was to find her, but I couldn't get back to where she was.

[ His expression goes somber at that, still thinking about how desperately he'd tried to find a way back into the Underworld and how utterly he'd failed in those brief few months he'd spent back home. It passes, though, and he shakes his head and smiles. ]

But, she was already here when I arrived, so I guess it doesn't really matter. You should meet her sometime! She'd probably like you.

[ Manabu has an earnestness about him that Orpheus is pretty sure she'd appreciate. ]

[ever oblivious to nuance, Manabu just stares at him owlishly, more caught by the brightness of Orpheus' tone, rather than the shades of shadow that preceded it.

in hindsight, it might make sense; after all, there's a whole bunch of folks from the same place and time, some related, some not!

just not...from where Manabu's at. this will in no way feed into loneliness-based consequences down the road.]

Ehhh...really... Uoh, that's surprising to me. [as if it wasn't obvious. after a beat he startles a bit, realizing that sounds impolite.] Aa, that is! I wouldn't think about that sort of stuff in any case usually? So hearing it at all is a surprise...

She's, ah. She's safe here?

[ If Orpheus finds Manabu's reaction rude at all, he doesn't give any indication, just nodding in understanding. ]

I didn't expect it either. I know sometimes people would show up in little groups from the same world and even the same social circles, back in the dream and here? I actually have a cousin who was in the dream for a long time before I got there. But I never thought Eurydice would show up.

[ Or more like he'd never let himself hope for such a thing. Either way, he considers Manabu's question for a moment, frowning slightly. ]

As safe as any of us? It seems like this place can be kind of dangerous, but she's really smart, and she knows how big cities work better than I do, at least.

Right... [maybe it was a stupid question, considering the circumstances. but it's strange - Manabu would imagine he'd be stuck to a familiar person from home like glue, whether they wanted him there or not! Orpheus and his wife...they must have some kind of understanding he lacks.

in fact, they most likely definitely do, since he's got such a tiny scope into what it's like to have a partner who isn't yours because of work or survival.

a different thought hits:] Maybe...you could give that to her as a present? [the flower, he means. girls like flowers, right?]

[ Truth be told, Orpheus wasn't thrilled about the idea of splitting up either, but it was just more practical to explore the city that way, and at the very least they had the reassurance of the Omnis letting them keep in touch over long distances. It's fine. He's fine. ]

That's what I'm thinking of. The first gift I ever gave her back home was a flower, too, so it'd be appropriate! And if it turns out to be important, there's no one else I'd trust with it more.

All men must die, but first he must live.

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