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

Rei Hino | Sailor Moon

[incandescentfaith]

Growing Pains Crenshaw (Pre-Existing CR only please!)

[It's easy enough for Rei to accept this kind of rite and ritual, her curiousity piqued by the explanations of it she's been given by the natives. It isn't something that's harmful, and it's not that different from a number of things she's done in Deerington, but there is a part of her that is a little trepidatious about spilling some of her own blood here. So, she arranges to not do this alone, if only to make sure that she and the other person have someone to watch their back. Dressing smartly, she heads towards an obscure park in Crenshaw to do this, a parcel tucked under one arm.

When she arrives, she dips her head to the other person.]

I apologize, I got held up. Are you ready?

[ooc: Feel free to assume Rei contacted your character on the network for this.]


River of Regret Gaze

[Rei hardly thought twice about picking up a feather that had dropped at her feet. She had grown up around crows, and she was curious about Never-Mind in general, and it had seemed harmless enough. The swooping, cawing onslaught of the birds that gathered her up and carried her aloft would have been enough to change her mind on that if it hadn't been quite so bewildering. Confused, she flailed for a moment before finding herself deposited in..a canoe?]

...What the hell?!

[Scrabbling to get upright, sharp eyes glaring around until they focus on someone else in the boat, she grabs for a knife at her belt. ]

Who are you? Is this your doing?


Bloodsport The Gate

[The call for blood and the pull of the Blood Moon were familiar to Rei. The Blood Moon was almost a comfort, a source of familiarity as summer faded towards October, but Trench was not Deerington. She fought to remind herself of that fact, even as she stared up at the night sky. A great deal of this held very little interest for her, as unconcerned with battle and testing her mettle as she was, but there was an undeniable energy that she needed to work out.

So, she'd sought out a training ground, one with dummies and the like, and begun to vent this energy. Anyone in the area can doubtless see and hear her working herself to the bone, swinging a sword at practice dummies, or working with a singularly massive longbow to turn a target into a pincushion. She's at this for hours, if anyone has the patience to watch, but eventually she has to take a breather. Sitting down heavily, she mops sweat from her brow and gulps down a cup of water.]

...Why...am I not tired?


Wildcard

[Open to other ideas! PM me or hit me on plurk at intercession

river of regret

[entreats]

[ Ange's survival instinct is working overtime here, apparently. Because while it does register with Ange that it's Rei she's looking at, she'd know the gesture the other is making anywhere - which means that Ange is quickly moving backwards a bit, just to try and stay out of range. Just in case.

(Not that there's much room to move backwards. Please, Rei, chill out, or they're going to tip this boat..!) ]

C.. Come on, take a look at who you're sitting here with! Don't you recognize me?!

[ Ange hasn't even had time to take in the situation around them just yet, honestly. Calming Rei down first seems like the priority to her. ]

[incandescentfaith]

[The knife hasn't left it's sheathe and her hand drops away the instant Ange opens her mouth. Frazzled, angry, and confused, Rei shifts from an overtly aggressive posture and glares all around them.]

Of course I recognize you.

[A breath follows and she seems to collect herself more completely.]

It was instinct. Something pulled me here, and I just assumed it was more of this place's nonsense magic.

[entreats]

[ Honestly, she's mostly just glad that knife didn't have the time to actually come out. The last thing she needed, so early in her stay here, is to get stabbed on some random boat in.. well, wherever they are.

It sure seems like the middle of nowhere, Ange thinks as she looks around. She doesn't even recognize it as any part of Trench.. ]

Well, the same happened to me.

[ Hence why she's here. Ange wasn't out to just have some fun boat ride! ]

But I thought.. I thought these things wouldn't happen this randomly anymore outside of Deerington.

[incandescentfaith]

I had hoped the same.

[Glowering, Rei settles down on her send of the boat, eyeing the water and the gloomy surroundings with a baleful expression. She's annoyed, of course, and angry that she'd snapped at Ange of all people.]

I wonder what this is going to be. Some sort of messed up carnival ride, perhaps?

[entreats]

I don't know, but..

[ Before Ange can finish that sentence with an 'it sure seems that way', she stops. The girl frowns a little, and the bridge of her nose wrinkles, as if she's suddenly starting to smell something increasingly unpleasant.

It takes a few moments to place the exact smell though, and in that time she speaks up. ]

.. wait, do you smell that too?

[ It's only then that Ange realises it.

It's the stench of death. ]

growing pains

[notimeforfailure]

[She had taken advantage of this excursion to attempt teleportation for the first time. ...For somebody who has Warped innumerable allies all around the battlefield, Lysithea decides that actually, it's pretty unpleasant to be broken apart and put back together elsewhere.

She arrives at the park in Crenshaw only a few moments before Rei.]

Good afternoon. No need for apology; I've only just arrived myself. This is my first time in this district.

[There was so much of this city yet to explore. Gaze was where she spent most of her time, of course - and where she had run into a fellow scholar, somebody who had expressed interest in this particular tradition of Trench. They had made an agreement to attempt it together. In the interests of Science. (And idle curiosity.)]

[incandescentfaith]

Oh, is it?

[Rei smiles faintly, looking around the park, and then back to Lysithea. Yes, that's fair, they'd only seen one another at the school, hadn't they?]

Crenshaw is where my house appeared. I think it's a little more homey than Gaze, and I admit I'm a little grateful for that as it gives me an opportunity to set study aside when I need to.

[And it doesn't plant her quite so firmly in the Arcane Scholar camp, as she also has some interest in being a Disciple.]

Thank you again for agreeing with this, Lysithea.

[notimeforfailure]

Not in the slightest. I'm glad to have somebody to try this with. I've indulged in a number of arcane rituals, but nothing in this vein before.

[Lysithea herself is holding a bundle of tattered clothes that has certainly seen better days.]

I think I'll stay in Gaze. It's not very... homey, for sure, but I can't resist the allure of the magic and the books. I've missed our school library enormously ever since I had to leave the Academy.

Shall we give this a try?

[incandescentfaith]

Oh, I understand. If my house hadn't appeared here, I'd have considered moving into Gaze. Obviously that isn't the kind of thing I can just pick up and move.

[She's holding a leather band in one hand, her fingers closed tightly around something small and metallic.]

Yes, I think we should. [Fishing in her pouch, she pulls out a simple trowel and kneels down to start digging.]

You're a student at a magic school, then? Out of curiosity, is it at Hogwarts?

[That isn't a joke. Luna and various others had told her about that place.]

[notimeforfailure]

Hog...

[What a truly terrible name. Lysithea blinks for a moment before responding in a faintly aggrieved tone:]

Not at all. It wasn't a magic school - it was the Officers' Academy. For the purposes of training youth in the art of war. The Fhirdiad School of Sorcery is my country's elite magic school. ...Well, not my country.

[But they accepted applicants from elsewhere.]

Unfortunately, my education was interrupted by... a war.

[...]

I acknowledge the irony. ...And what of you, Rei? Are you a student?

Growing Pains

[undermoonlight]

[The natives have made this ritual sound important and Atsushi is easily pressured about these kinds of things... but like Rei, he isn't keen to do the spilling his bloody willingly part on his own. It sounds like a recipe for disaster. And in general, the ritual is something he wants to do before Usagi or Makoto try it. He gladly takes up Rei's offer to try it together and make sure it's harmless.]

As ready as I can be, considering what we're doing.

[He bows his head as she arrives. Atsushi has a small knife in one hand and a couple seeds in the other. As for what to bury with the seeds...] Though I couldn't figure out what to bury. You?

[incandescentfaith]

I have something.

[She's holding a small strip of leather attached to something she has her hand closed around. It's an important memento, but not something that she's sure she wants to be rid of yet. If nothing else, she can clip her hair.]

Have you ever done a ritual of any sort before, Atsushi?

[undermoonlight]

[While he's curious about her memento, Atsushi won't pry. He focuses on her question and shakes his head slowly.]

No, sorry. We didn't really get out of the orphanage much. I've been to shrines, but only to pray.

Do you recognize this ritual they're talking about? I would think burying random items is like littering..?

[incandescentfaith]

It isn't, if it's done with a purpose. There are...some rites that involve this sort of thing in certain faiths, but I don't believe this is like those.

[This place is wholly different, the church is nothing like ones she's familiar with, either.]

The blood bit is unique, certainly.

[undermoonlight]

The blood bit is unique, indeed... and quite common here, huh?

[It reminds him of a bad horror novel, really. He needed to do a doubletake when he first saw someone performing this ritual.

He unconsciously begins pushing the sleeve of one arm up slightly, anticipating what they're going to have to do.]

I don't know much about rituals or religions, but this place seems to really like blood? Or... fear it?

( river of regret )

[jedies]

[ obi-wan takes this in stride, arms folded neatly, not a twitch of a muscle. he has, of course, encountered far worse. ]

I would hardly think so. This seems more a product of this place.

[incandescentfaith]

[The knife doesn't make it into her hand before she releases the grip. It's an explanation that cuts through the cloud of her irritation, and she exhales slowly, some of the defensiveness ebbing away.]

...I'd hoped to be done with that nonsense after Deerington.

[Frustration, as ever, remains.]

Sorry. Force of habit, expecting something to try and eat my face and all.

Any idea where this place is?

[jedies]

[ obi-wan nods, accepting this with ease. ]

I'm afraid not. I was carried away by some birds and now here I am.

[incandescentfaith]

Same. How...bizarre.

[Rei slowly sinks down into the boat, settling herself.]

I had hoped that nonsense like this would be over when we left Deerington.

[jedies]

[ he sighs. ]

It does seem very dogged about following us.

Wildcard -> Growing Pains

[winter_bestowed]

[This was a first for Winter. The only rituals or ceremonies she'd ever been a part of were associated with the Atlas military. There were pagentries when she was younger, displays of talent and ways for her family to show her off, but those had been left behind when she joined the General and became a huntress. Now it was that part of her life that she was leaving behind. She looked at the uniform as she folded it and wrapped it.

Rei had told her some of the basics of the ceremony, the symbolism behind it and the power that could be felt. Winter did want the chance to bury the past, to move forward and continue to grow. And she she'd agreed to go along. Rei had been ready and waiting on Winter, with a deep breath she closed her eyes and walked out into the living room carrying the package she was meant to bury.]

I'm ready.

[incandescentfaith]

Rei rose immediately, her own package ready, and crossed the room to Winter's side. Her face was lit by a smile, something small and quiet, ready to reassure Winter if she needed it. She believed in this stuff, and in the message of the ritual. They needed to grow, and grow together, without dwelling on the past.

"Wonderful. Have you thought about where you'd like to do this?"

The location probably didn't matter, but she didn't want to assume Winter would be comfortable with doing this out in the open. Nor did she want to restrict that choice, if she did. This should be her partner's decision.

[winter_bestowed]

Seeing Rei's smile brought one to Winter's face as well. Any hesitation and uncertainty fading as she glimpsed at the woman that seemed to make the room brighter and at the same time made Winter feel like she was more than an instrument or trophy. At the question though she shook her head,

"Not really, I don't know the protocol for this so I wasn't sure about the importance of the location or if it needed to be someplace special."

Did they need to visit a shrine, or someplace that symbolized or was tied to what she was leaving behind?

"It will need to be somewhere that we can visit regularly correct?"

To check on the flowers as they bloomed.

[incandescentfaith]

Rei reached for Winter's hand, glad to have brightened her up just like that. Something that, apparently, isn't all that easy for Ruby and other people. Apparently.

"It doesn't need to be anywhere special, I was told. We could use the back yard, if you wanted something more private. Or a park? There's a space in one of them that seems to be where a few locals are doing this. It just depends on what you feel comfortable with."

She's leaning towards the back yard herself, though.