reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2021-09-08 06:20 pm
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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 β€’ Prompt 2 β€’ Prompt 3 β€’ Plotting β€’ 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
possessum: (πŸŽπŸ“πŸ)

[personal profile] possessum 2021-10-07 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
( Maybe the other shoe will drop soon enough β€” the flower becoming something scary and strange, but... Peter doesn't think it will. He made a sacrifice, and he.... earned this. He received something nice, because his sacrifice was worthy enough.

What a strange thought. To be on this side of it.... Any outright lingering fear in him is surely trickling away, the wet at the corners of his eyes no longer really an aching feeling. )


I think I know what you mean. It feels like... I was supposed to. ( He's not quite sure how to define what he'd given up. Maybe the self that existed before this β€” some quiet acceptance that he's not quite the same. The thing he'd been fearing, what he'd expressed concerns about. It will take some thought to really understand, and maybe later he'll mourn in a more concrete way, but for now he's.... okay. This is okay. And he doesn't mind at all opening up to her about it β€” telling her. It feels natural to do that, too. Like he should think about why it means what it does. A reminder. )

It was because I made someone... really happy. She has magic, and flowers bloomed in her hair because she was happy. Because of me. ( The tips of his ears flush a little, and he smiles quietly. )

And she gave me one of them after. A daisy, just like this. ( He pauses, gently shaking loose dirt from the flower's roots. )

What does your look like? Your lily.
notimeforfailure: (Hopeful)

[personal profile] notimeforfailure 2021-10-08 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
It's a black lily.

[Lysithea's hands make a subconscious motion, and it's almost like she's cupping the flower in her palms.]

Lilies were always my favorite. They didn't grow very commonly in the area I grew up, but I remember once seeing a great field of wild lilies in a valley. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

When I was in school, someone used to gift me lilies they'd grown in the greenhouse sometimes. It was... a highlight.

[Peter is clearly riding on a high right now. She will not feel the need to mention that her own flower is wilting, that despite having gone through this ritual, despite feeling the burden being lifted, she is still visited by the same struggles, still occasionally haunted by the feelings of the past.

It is a process. Day by day. No one can expect something so complex to be relieved from the mind so quickly.]


Your story is better, though. That flower represents your happiness. But it's not the happiness of the past; it's the happiness of the future - you're talking about somebody you met who's with you here, aren't you?
possessum: (deep in my lungs)

[personal profile] possessum 2021-10-15 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
( Peter listens quietly to her words, his mind conjuring up images to go along with them β€” a field of lilies, swaying gently in a breeze, maybe. He's never seen them in the wild, or really much at all otherwise; his family weren't one for flowers. Not out in the cold dark woods where they lived, everything so hidden and hushed.

But he can imagine what it would be like, that valley of wild lilies. Peaceful, quiet.

He really likes the thought of it, offering a little smile over to Lysithea. It's nice to hear what they mean to her, the associations she has with them: to get that glimpse into someone else. This place knew to gift her a lily, too. More and more he's becoming attached to the concept of these flowers, thinking they're a particular source of.. comfort. If they represent times, moments, that meant a great deal to someone. )


No, that'sβ€” it's really nice. Having memories associated with something specific like that, with lilies. I used to... stay away from anything that reminded me of home. For the longest time I wouldn't even touch my guitar when it showed up in Deerington, because it made me remember... the way my room smelled, and how my bed felt, and I didn't want to remember those things. But now I think... maybe I'm glad I have some things like that. So I don't forget... everything.

( The boy gently brushes his fingertip against the daisy's petals, thinking. The happiness of the future....? She's right, he realises with a quiet warmth. This flower doesn't make him think of the past at all, but of the future. It's not something Peter ever thought he'd be allowed to think of, for long. He nods softly, looks back down for a moment. )

When the Door showed up back in Deerington, I... chose to go through it, with her. I still don't know if I was supposed to or not, but... maybe the fact this place gave me this flower.... maybe that means it's okay that I'm here.
notimeforfailure: (Time)

[personal profile] notimeforfailure 2021-10-17 08:46 pm (UTC)(link)
It is.

[Lysithea quietly affirms, letting her hands drop to her side.]

I had that thought, too. Isn't it selfish to leave behind people - circumstances, situations that would depend on me? Isn't it selfish to -- want to live when that wasn't my destiny?

[Her brow furrows, and it's unclear what exactly her expression conveys. Regret? Frustration? Consternation, perhaps.]

I don't know what you had waiting for you back home, but if there's happiness in front of you, you must reach forth and grasp it. Nobody else will do it for you. So we are here. Where you have your daisy and I...

[I have a future.

From her bag, she pulls out a little container that seems to hold nuts of some sort; she pours them out into the soil and tamps them down with her foot. The container is offered to the boy.]


For your flower.

...I have to go now, but I'm glad to see you again, Peter. I hope we can help each other navigate what's ahead of us.
possessum: (join me where i was)

[personal profile] possessum 2021-10-19 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
( It's been a thought there in him for a long time. The decision to sacrifice his egg and then later to go through the Door took no deliberation; Peter knew right away it was what he'd choose to do. Going back home... he couldn't do that. Wouldn't.

Was it cowardly of him? Wrong? If there's some destiny he's meant to fulfill, some... purpose, choosing to come here might not even have stopped it. The demon may serve as some literal reminder of that; the shadow still seems to loom in over him. He can still feel it, pressing inwards, gently. There's something he's supposed to become. He doesn't know if he can ever really escape it.

...But what he does know is that here, there is happiness. Here, there'sβ€” people he loves, and they love him back, too.

Peter takes the container, and smiles at Lysithea again. It's easier now: soft, and warm. )


I'm glad you decided to come here. Glad you'reβ€” here. I missed you.

( The horror of her particular circumstance.... he's glad she's freed from that much of it. Allowed to live. Maybe it's selfish of him too, but he's glad the both of them are here together now.

The daisy is then gently tipped into the space, along with a little bit of the soil it grew out from. Peter's very much aware he couldn't have done this, any of it, without her helping him. But of course, it isn't the first time she's held his hand through some difficult loneliness, guided him through. Maybe he can help her, too. )


I'd like that very much. Thank you, Lysithea.
notimeforfailure: (Smirk)

[personal profile] notimeforfailure 2021-10-20 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
We do seem to meet at certain crossroads. Call it fate.

[Lysithea smiles, her words a bit more cryptic than she had meant them to be - but surely there is some reason they are perpetually drawn together under these odd circumstances.]

I'm glad I could be here for this.

Goodbye, then. Water your flower.

[With a brisk nod, Lysithea steps away and back into the quiet streets of Trench, disappearing around a corner soon afterwards.]