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

(01. Burying the Past)

[The natives have been insisting on it all day: Bury the past, so you can move forward. It reminds him (annoyingly,) of the last conversation that he had with Akutagawa. Back then, Atsushi had realized that he could let go of his miserable past and pursue a happy future. That future was supposed to be in Yokohama...

But that had been almost a year ago. Now, Atsushi was lost. If he was supposed to apply that logic to his current situation, what would that mean? Burying his life in Yokohama and pursuing a life here? In this miserable, dark world full of rain and blood rituals? Wasn't that burying his chance at happiness to accept misery?

These thoughts have plagued him for hours. He finds a bench, sheltered from the rain, and sits down. Staring at some seeds that a native had given him, but not sure how to proceed.]

here?

[He knows the answer: Because of his new friends. But it's still hard to bury his old ones.]

(02. Bloodsport | Avoidance )

[The feeling of anger isn't new to Atsushi. It's the fuel that the tiger seems to feed off of, giving Atsushi the strength to resist his pain. He's used to letting that feeling push him through a fight. But this is different. What heats his blood now isn't ~~just~~ anger, but something even more frightening: Violence.

He's been trying to avoid people since he recognized the feeling. It had led him to slam doors and crack dishes, to throw his few belongings around his room, and to eventually stomp out of the house. But Atsushi isn't sure where to run to in the Trenches. He can only wander around aimlessly.

Whenever someone tries to stop him, Atsushi growls and shoves them back. Just as quickly, he takes a few steps away to maintain distance.]

please.

(03. Wildcard)

(feel free to hit me up on my plotting thread for a custom prompt!)

[Vira-Lorr was settled in a seat opposite him, a drink in hand. The question was an entirely fair one. She thumbed along the edges of the cup in her hands, closing her eyes. How did she answer that, because it was entirely a question that should be answered, but for everyone, it was singular...]

So, I don't know if the answer that I have is the answer for you. This isn't the world either of us wanted exactly, but it is a world we helped to fashion through our actions. Perhaps for me? It is because I do not know that I can return, and so I have chosen to make this place a home, to find a place in it and watch as it's story unfolds. But that is me.

Perhaps for you? It is a matter of making the most of the situation while you are here. Finding happiness where you can.

[If it were anyone else, Atsushi would politely lift his head at the sound of a voice answering him. But it's Vira-Lorr, and he's comfortable enough in her presence to keep his gaze on the seeds as he listens. Then, with a sigh, he folds his fingers around the seeds and leans back against the bench. Visibly exhausted by his own spinning thought process.]

You make it sound so easy. But a home is...

[... and he leans forward, arms on his knees. He doesn't really know what a home is. The Orphanage was home, but only because it was a roof over his head. And the Trench has plenty of roofs. And his apartment in Yokohama was home for the same reason. So why doesn't the pink monstrosity fit that bill too?

He knows the reason. Because what made Yokohama his first home was ADA. Admitting that will mean admitting that Makoto and Usagi are home too... and Atsushi is afraid of seeming like he needs to pick between them. After all: Abandonment is a foundation of his existence. He can't abandon anyone.]

... It can't be that easy?

[She chuckled.] A gift of mine, lying to myself and making it sound easy when it isn't.

[She had that faintly self-deprecating tone that she always seemed to use. Vira-Lorr didn't admit it to many people, but she used that constant air of implying she was less skilled than others, or that she was just faking it as a defense mechanism. If people believed her, they wouldn't expect too much, so if she failed it would be alright. Or, so she told herself. Still, while she didn't get 'what' was on his mind, they did share one thing in common.]

I haven't had what you'd call a stable home for a long time, Atsushi. I move from place to place. It's the price of being in an army. You're always on the march, so your homes are a few months at a time. The war ends for a time, and you get a year or two in place before you're on the road again.

I think I only want to think of this as home because I want to have a home. A place I can finally settle down, but it isn't really that easy. Still, it is ok to have many different homes in your life, isn't it? They're all home, after all.

I want a home too.

[He does, doesn't he? Being an orphan is ingrained into his identity, but that doesn't mean that he has to like it. Atsushi thought he had learned that lesson back in Yokohama. Why is he so afraid to apply it to the Trench?

A reason does come to the surface. With Vira-Lorr being so kind as to share her truths, Atsushi sighs into his own honesty.]

... But there's someone back home. A little girl, who loves bunnies and boiled tofu, and hates thunderstorms. She... Kyouka-chan was so lonely. We had finally convinced her that she would be safe with us. I need to look after her.

[That's not entirely true. Plenty of people love Kyouka outside of Atsushi. She doesn't need him in the same way that he pretends she does.]

Even if Yokohama was still a home, I'm choosing to leave her by staying here. I'm abandoning her. I can't stand that.

No, I understand. You have people you care about. Even if you were to know that you could return to them, no time past, you still have people you care about here, people that you care about there. You can't be with both, and it hurts a little. I have people that I miss too.

[She was more comfortable with staying under the circumstances. But that didn't mean there weren't people she missed too, so she definitely understood that yearning to be there for the young woman.]

And you wouldn't want her here, where it might be dangerous.

... I shouldn't, yeah.

[But he does want her there. Atsushi hasn't found a way to describe his feelings yet and doesn't understand his dependence on Kyouka, but he wants to be needed by her. By anyone. Being apart like this just proves how optional he was in her life.

He's too selfish to fully let that go.]

I wonder if anyone of them even know that we've left them. Wasn't time supposed to stop while we were asleep? But now we're awake.

It's ok to miss her, Atsushi. Ignoring the dangers here, you'd like her close so you can protect her.

[It was complicated.]

I don't think they do because time was stopped before and almost certainly is again.

That doesn't seem good. Wouldn't that mean that our home worlds can't move on until we return?

[Atsushi can't help but think of Yokohama again. When he was on the airship and imagining the toll of it crashing, he was reminded of how many people live in Yokohama.

There's no way that all of their lives are on pause because he's gone. But if they are, maybe burying his tie clip was more selfish than he realized.]

I want to believe that it is more accurate to say that we are pulled out of time and space into a pocket of sorts. Nobody's hinted that their worlds seemed paused so much as they just ended up back where they came from.

[Wei Wuxian has been dealing with the effects of the Bloodsport but he refuses to give into it. He had always been able to control the desires that coursed through him because of the demonic cultivation...he can figure out how to keep this new power at bay as well.

But he knows his own stubbornness, and also knows that not everyone has that kind of resolve or past dealings with such things. So he packs a small bag of herbs and powders that he thinks will help to ease the symptoms and leaves him home. He figures he can at least attempt to help others through this.

As he sees Atsushi he hurries over but makes sure not to touch him.]

It's okay. I might have something that can help.

[It's wise not to touch Atsushi. He's like a stray dog as he backs up, cornering himself against a wall out of instinctive. But the fact Wei Wuxian doesn't come after him does serve to put him at ease.

At least enough to shake his head.]

There's nothing to help this. I don't even know what's going on!

[Maybe in other situations, Atsushi might spin these phrases differently: That if he doesn't know what's going on, he can still find a way to fix it. But that applies to other things. When it comes to himself and being an awful, violent person, Atsushi is quick to give up.]

It's this place...and this blood that they put in our veins.

[He isn't even going to begin to understand what is going on with each of them. But he does know that his blood isn't normal and that is all he can do... blame the changes with his body. But he is still trying to learn as much as he can about it all.]

I have some things that might alleviate some of the symptoms. They will calm the bubbling up of emotions inside of you.

[He reaches into his bag. Usually he would use incense or tea but this isn't exactly the right situation for that. So instead a small pill bottle is what he pulls out.]

You'll just have to trust me.

How can blood... [Atsushi doesn't finish his sentence. There doesn't need to be logic or reason for this place to torment them. It does explain why the anger feels like it's under his skin.]

... What are those?

[A pill bottle? Instinct causes him to tense.]

If there's medicine for this, then I'd have already heard about it.

It's something I invented. It's like a very concentrated version of what would typically be burned in an incense. One that is intended to have a calming effect. I can't promise it will work miracles for everyone but I can promise that it won't have any negative effects.

[These things are an all or nothing. Either it will help calm some of the stirrings in the blood or it will be a placebo. But Wei Wuxian can't be certain which will happen unless the other man trusts him enough to give it a shot.]

Or if you are willing, I can take you back to my house and we can try some of the other stuff I have.

I'll try it.

[He gives himself no room to hesitate. Honestly, Atsushi would take it even if it was a mild poison. Better too sick and weak to hurt anyone than lashing out at every person that he sees, right?]

Thank you... I don't want to bother you. And I'd hate to break anything in your house if it doesn't work.

Honestly this house has been through a lot and still manages to still stand. Even managed to travel from a dream world into this one...so that has to say something for its ability to withstand anything.

[He walks over and places a couple pills in his palm, holding them out towards Atsushi. He isn't afraid of the other man or what he might do as his hand is steady as he reaches it out.]

[Makoto had felt like she was being pulled in a dozen different directions. She had participated in the ritual of burying something. Having taken a bracelet that she'd worn for years and burying it along with blood from a small cut on her arm. The sight of the green blood with little streaks of red still unnerved her.

And then when she kept hearing that it was a sign of a rotten soul, seeing how everyone else around her seemed to almost glow. It drew her closer and at the same time made her feel worse. Usagi's boundless energy wasn't anything new, but when Atsushi seemed to be becoming restless Makoto was worried. But it seemed like she kept missing him, entering a room just as he stormed out, having a door slammed almost in her face as she left the house, then there was the broken dishes, the mess, it wasn't like him. Not when he was himself.

When she managed to catch up to him, Makoto grabbed his arm even as he tried to shove her away.]

I'll be alright, quit running away.

[His aggression scares him. He doesn't know how to deal with anger, so it explodes in bursts as the tiger. Even after shedding his past, Atsushi hasn't been able to escape this part of him. It would be easier to bottle it up, because just acknowledging it risks a tiger moment.

So after he shoves Makoto back, Atsushi is mortified to hear her voice. If he's unleashing his temper on an enemy, Atsushi can twist himself into justifying it. But his girlfriend?

He still tries to resist her hold. If she doesn't let go, then will he hit her? Claw her with the tiger's power? The aggressive feel of bloodsport is like a tiger growling under his skin and it only serves to make him more anxious.]

I said leave me alone! Didn't you see what I did?!

It doesn't matter, I'm not going to let you go. You'll just wind up making it worse, you'll keep punishing yourself for something that isn't your fault.

[He would keep seeing himself as that monster that he really wasn't.]

You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself remember? Please, just talk to me.

[She didn't want him to shut her out, to push her away. Makoto wanted to be patient and understand everything that he was going through, and she had tried to, but there was still so much that she had no clue about. Like whatever was setting him on edge now. Granted she had felt herself being worried and anxious about Usagi, about him, and even about Rei as of late. There was something else too, something that felt like it was just beneath her skin crawling to get out.]

I'm just as strong and stubborn as you are. I'm not leaving.

There's nothing to talk about! I don't know what's going on!

[But he makes no second attempt to push her away. Atsushi may be confused about what's wrong with him right now, but he knows at least one thing: Makoto is right. That she's stubborn, strong, and that he should be talking to her. If they've learned anything from the last town, it's that they need to be working together.]

The tiger... It has to be the tiger. It's going berserk, right? I keep lashing out and I don't know why else I would..! It's always making me dangerous.

[They'd learned that she was able to deal with the tiger as well, and that it wouldn't really hurt her, not unless provoked and given no other choice. She'd seen the restless around others and felt the squirming sensation herself, the itch to try something to do something. The desire to find someone for a sparring match among other things.]

That's why we need to talk about it, to figure it out.

It can't just be the tiger. I've known you, I've seen the tiger, there's more to it than just anger and lashing out. You're not like this, it's not like this, there's something else going on. Let's just go home and we can figure it out.

[Makoto reached forward and gently grabbed his hand, squeezing lightly. He seemed like he was in pain, and was so angry about something, but she didn't know what. And that hurt her, it made her heart ache to see him like this. But she kept that from showing, staying strong and assertive in her tone and expression.]

[He knows that. Atsushi knows that it isn't the tiger. He's just pinning the blame on something convenient. It's a way to both take the blame and keep it away from himself.

His blood is itching for a fight and he feels that urge rise, claws literally taking form, but he holds his body in check. Only a soft hiss of self restraint, where he would otherwise have tried to attack when she touched him. The tiger's claws don't retract, so he doesn't hold her hand back.]

There's no figuring it out. It- I'm itching to fight. [That kind of honesty is like pulling teeth. Looking her in the eyes, Atsushi finally voices what he knows. Even the bits that he wishes he could hide.] I thought I could get rid of this feeling, but everything I've done is making it worse!

You want to fight, but you're worried that you'll hurt someone. Or that something even worse might happen?

[She could understand, she was afraid for him, knew that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something that did happen. If someone was injured because he wasn't able to hold back. And so Makoto released his hand, taking a few steps back as she double-checked the hair tie holding her ponytail in place.]

If you're worried about hurting someone else, then come at me. We know that I can take the tiger, and we could consider it a rematch. That way you won't have to worry if something happens, I'll heal pretty quick and we know at the very least I can hold you back.

Makoto-chan?!

[New to dating though he may be, Atsushi is quite confident that hitting his girlfriend is wrong. Even in this situation... No, especially in this situation! He'd sooner break every dish in the house than lay a finger on Makoto.

His fists clench at his sides. Logic says that Makoto offering to spar with him should be motivation for him to calm down. His will to fight should be completely sapped by the thought of it. But instead, the irritating itch to fight only rises. It's rising with the frustrating fact that Makoto is willing to go this far to help him, but he can't repay her.]

I-- That's not possible! I'm not going to heal from hitting you! [Was that a selfish outburst? It was honest, in any case.

Her offer scares him, but it also shakes some sense into him. Makoto really doesn't want him wandering off. He's being awful by running.] I'm sorry... You're right about not running, but I can't do that to you!

All men must die, but first he must live.

Atsushi Nakajima | Bungo Stray Dogs

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