All men must die, but first he must live.

[reddosmod]

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

Comments

[royalfling]

Wu lets him finish, staying quiet. It's clear to him now that Varian wants to punish himself, feels like he needs to be chastised for what he did, still carries a lot of guilt for it. He can feel it, through their connection, can feel the emotion rolling off of him, and he lets out a breath.

"I'm not going to be mad at you. It, it sounds like you want me to be, but, Varian... we all make mistakes. And, yeah, that was a big mistake! But you're, you're so young, and it sounds like you had no one there to support you. I can't blame you for something like that, when you were in an impossible position. I do think it's admirable that you did so much to try and save your father, even if you took it too far. And it's clear that you aren't that person anymore."

He lets out a slow breath, looking at Varian. "Are you?"

[droptheious]

It's been years and Varian still struggles to understand why he wasn't punished more. Why he isn't still hated and shoved to the sides. He's been given friendship and a second chance at life and a part of him will never feel like he deserves it.

And yet here is Wu, steadfastly refusing to treat him like that- seeing logic and reason and having compassion to him about it and something twinges tight in his chest. He feels tears prick at the corners of his eyes- he'd been so afraid that he'd lose Wu over this. It hit so very close to home, and he knows he might lose him yet- but this does wonders to ease some of the tension in his shoulders.

"I'd deserve it," Wu to be mad at him. "It was a terrible mistake and I'm not that person anymore. I- I've been trying so hard not to be. But I still did it."

He never wants to be that again, and aside from Deerington forcing him down that road in July, he's never gone back. Not once. Not willingly. He glances up at Wu, and the worry is still very clear on his features.

"There's...there's a little more," he adds, nervous. "The people I broke out of prison with took over the kingdom, and I helped. I...I helped wipe the king and queens memories and ran the kingdom through them, forcing the people to work in the mines to get the...the minerals I needed to wipe everyone's memories. I thought that was the only way I could fix things."

Because at least then he knew things needed to be fixed, he just couldn't imagine forgiveness would be part of that.

"Rapunzel came back from her trip and I found out the people I was with wanted to raze Corona to the ground with the chemical I'd created. I-" he frowns, looking down again. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt. Wholescale slaughter was a line I couldn't cross anymore. That's- that's the point I changed and helped her stop them and I've been trying to make up for it ever since."

[royalfling]

That's certainly hard to hear. That's what Kuvira wanted, if not to raze the Earth Kingdom, but to reshape it in her image. Making people work for her, putting them into camps, hurting his people.

To think that Varian did that, it is hard. It's hard to think of his friend, who's really still a child, doing that? He wants to pull back, but instead he squeezes Varian's arm tight. He's not going to let go that easily. He forgave Kuvira, didn't he? He forgave her, and she knew what she did was wrong. Varian clearly does, too. He wants forgiveness, wants to be better.

Who would Wu be to deny him that?

"We aren't defined by our pasts." He looks back up at Mako's family, dead and limp in the river. He lets out a breath. "Our pasts are what we learn from. If we let them define us, then we can't grow, we can't learn. That's, that would be a terrible way to live. I didn't do right by my people, either, Varian. I let what you just described? I let that happen to them because I wasn't paying attention. I thought, I thought that someone I trusted would protect my people, and would simply hand the kingdom to me when her work was done. That didn't happen, of course. It didn't happen, and people suffered. People like, like them," he gestures to the bodies with a little shiver.

"They're okay. They are now! But they had to leave their home, their country, because some very awful people believed that organized government was the source of all evil in the world. It's, it's my fault that my country was in such disarray. I trusted the wrong people. It sounds like you did, too. People were hurt, scarred, tormented, because of my inaction. But I can't spend every day feeling like that's the main thing that defines me. I want to define my life by what I can do now, to right those wrongs, and the wrongs of my family. I can do so much more-- or I could, at home-- by looking forward instead of backwards."

He takes a steadying breath and looks back at Varian, offering him a small smile. "You aren't those things. You learned from them, right? Take them forward with you, as lessons for what not to do, for what to do differently. And this time, you'll have the support you need. Okay?"

[droptheious]

Varian had been bracing himself for the worst. He knows enough about Wu's story, about what Wu and his family had gone through to understand that what he did should be unforgivable. It skims far too close to Wu's own traumas to be treated as anything other than an awful betrayal. That he did it at all. That he did it from him. So he's expecting to be shouted out, to have this experience end with one less friend and he would completely and utterly deserve it.

But Wu doesn't do that. Wu meets this with understanding, and explaining more of the life he came from, the troubles he's been through. Troubles that really would justify him dropping Varian like a hot potato. Wu was backstabbed and betrayed while he was trying to get used to a role that was foisted on him suddenly, that he had no preparation for. While he was still trying to deal with the death of his aunt. And here he is, explaining all of this and feeling at fault for people taking advantage of him. But maybe he was right. Maybe it was about trusting the wrong people. Andrew sure was the wrong person- preying on him when he was scared and alone and desperate. Mako had said as much to him.

Tears prick at the corners of his eyes as his shoulders sag a little. He doesn't deserve people who are so endlessly good and understanding of his past. He doesn't, he's sure of that. And yet he gets it anyway. He gets people who want him to have a chance to do better, who don't just give up on him immediately.

"I'm- I'm trying anyway. Not...not to be that person anymore? Learning, I-" his voice wavers. "Thank you. I... I don't think I deserve that from you but...thank you. It means. Well, it means everything. I'm really lucky to have you in my life."

He sucks in a breath, it's shuddery, he's still verging on the edge of crying.

"I'm sorry all of that happened to you. You're a really good person. You- you didn't deserve any of that."

[royalfling]

"I'm sorry all that happened to you, too," Wu turns back to him with a sad smile, and gathers Varian up in his arms, squeezing him close. He closes his eyes, feeling like a weight is lifted from saying that. He doesn't fully believe it, is the thing. He doesn't fully believe that he can move on from his guilt, but he wants to. He wants to believe that he can do more good from learning from it and leaving it behind, even if it's hard.

When he opens his eyes again, they aren't in the boat anymore. They're in a... school? Wu gasps, pulling back a little to look around. It doesn't smell anymore, either, and Wu didn't realize quite how bad it was until he can suck in a breath of fresh air. "Oh, wow! Wow, we did it! We're free."

He laughs, pulling Varian up to his feet and hugging him again, this time an emphatic squeeze.

"We did it!" Varian's small, right? Wu swings him around as best as he can. He isn't strong by any means, but he is enthusiastic. "We did it! And you didn't deserve that either, Varian! I can't even imagine what you went through. It's just awful. And it won't happen again, okay? If you need help, if you need support, you have me and Mako and all your friends here, okay?"

[droptheious]

Varian leans into the hug, very glad for it, returning it, wrapping his arms tightly around Wu. He's still not convinced he deserves this sort of comfort, but he's going to take it all the same. Much like Wu, Varian feels his own guilt is a weight he'll never really be rid of. It's gotten easier to carry as the years have gone on, but it never leaves...nor should it.

He wasn't expecting to suddenly be out of the boat and in Mutter- he recognises the school, at least, he's been here plenty of times already. He's glad to be away from the smells and sight of the corpses- having to deal with the full weight of his regrets pushing him down. He is, indeed, very small and easily picked up- and he lets out a surprised squeak as Wu does just that.

He's struggling to find much delight in it, even if he's glad to be out of that mess. He feels raw and tired and hurt- he never likes opening up that old wound of his- but having Wu being so goddamn supportive has helped more than he can explain. He returns the second hug, trying for a laugh, but it doesn't sound quite right.

"Th-thanks, Wu. I- I appreciate that. I don't... well I don't plan on ever being like that again," he sucks in a breath, trying to find some calm again. "At least we're out of the boat. Are...are you okay?"

[royalfling]

"I'm..." is he okay? He doesn't really know. He pulls back a little, gripping Varian's shoulders. He feels a little wrung out, drained, but he nods. "I'm okay. That wasn't easy, but we're safe now. That's what matters."

He feels sure of it. He feels sure of that, and feels something settle in his chest. He can help people, that's what he can do, and it feels good. Not the kind of good like eating a gourmet meal or getting a great massage, but the kind of good that he felt after the evacuation in Republic City, or when people used the safe house in Deerington. It's a new type of good, a deeper type, and it makes him smile, soft and gentle, at Varian.

"I'm sorry, that all of that happened to you. That you had to tell me all of that. That sounded really hard. Thank you, for trusting me with that." He means it, somewhere deep in his chest. He means it, means all of it, because even though it hurt to hear, that Varian did that, that no one supported him, that he was in prison (he's a child!), even with all of that, Varian put that trust in him, in Wu.

That means something.

[droptheious]

Varian's shoulders sag under Wu's hands as he lets out a slow breath. It really wasn't easy, but they're not still in the boats, and that's... well he'll take that right now. But Wu is right, he's provided such an intense relief here. It's never an easy story to tell and Wu listened and understood with such kindness and non-judgement that Varian can't put into words how much he appreciates it. And so when Wu smiles, he returns the gesture, it's a little more tired and nervous, but it's still there.

"It's... well, it's not okay, but it- it was a while ago now," he raises his shoulders in a shrug. "It doesn't make it hurt any less, but I guess it's less...raw? I don't know. And that's- that's fine too. You deserve to know, you've deserved to know for a while."

Because he trusts Wu an awful lot - he's more than earned the right to know the darker parts of Varian's past.

"...Thank you for being so understanding. I- I wouldn't have blamed you if you never wanted to speak to me again after that."

[royalfling]

Wu shakes his head, his smile softening into something a little sad. "Of course not, Varian. Sleepers have to stick together! And we've all made mistakes. As long as you know what you did was wrong, and you're trying to do better, I can't hold your past against you. I'm trying to do better, too. That's all we can do."

Mistakes still hold on, still haunt him, too, but he isn't his mistakes and neither is Varian.

He shudders, shaking out his arms. He sounds a lot more like his usual self: "Well I, for one, could use something sweet after that. Want to go see if anywhere here has smoothies? Boy, that was awful!"

[droptheious]

Well, that makes him feel a lot better. Guilt clings to him a little, but he knows it always will. If it was so easy to slough off, he probably wouldn't have got to where he is today in trying to make himself a better person. But he's at least at a point in his life now where he can accept they're one part of his story- not all he has. Even if he still worried one day it will mean someone really would be done with him.

"Thanks, Wu. That's... that's what I'm trying anyway, and I know for a fact you're doing all you can to help people here- you really do make a difference."

Because that was important to say.

"Hah...you know what, sure. I think I could have a smoothie. Because that really was the worst."

[royalfling]

Wu takes Varian's hand and tucks it into his arm because he's nothing if not well mannered, and starts on their way out of the school. "Thank you. Really! I want to, I want to do right by people, to make up for my own mistakes."

But, "enough of this! We're here, we're alive, we're moving forward! To smoothies!"