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

[incandescentfaith]

[Rei nods at that, reaching into a pouch for a small trowel.]

Yes, I think so. Do you want to go first, or shall I?

[She...only has the one.]

[notimeforfailure]

Oh -- well...

[Unwrapping her bundle of worn and ragged clothes, Lysithea... also has a little shovel.]

We can do it together.

[She tends to be the type to overprepare.]

[incandescentfaith]

[Gasp! They are prepared together.]

[With a nod, Rei stoops and begins digging.]

So, how long were you in Deerington?

[notimeforfailure]

[She actually can't recall exactly. Lysithea, too, begins to scoop up the dirt, finding a certain rhythm to the process.]

...Fall.

It was fall when I appeared. And I was there less than a year. So perhaps eight or nine months?

I cannot recall exactly when it all ended.

[incandescentfaith]

I...think it was late Spring. Perhaps early summer...but that's difficult to say.

[Rei seems unhappy with that, her brow furrowing.]

...time feels slightly more immaterial than it did, beforehand. I was meticulous at tracking days.

[notimeforfailure]

Time is an illusion.

[Lysithea agrees.]

There is always too little of it, and yet one always seems to need to devise ways to use it more wisely.

We bury the past so that we may look to the future.

[So saying, she places her clothes into the small hole.]

[incandescentfaith]

Mmm. Yes, that's a poetic way of putting it.

[Rei does the same, finally putting a little pendant down into the hole. It's nothing special, just a simple silver locket in the shape of a heart.]

Do you remember if we were supposed to finish burying them first, or add our blood beforehand?

[notimeforfailure]

Buried first.

[Lysithea responds quietly as she begins to pile dirt over the shallow grave. For that's what it felt like - the death of something she once held important.]

And then...

[Still prepared, she holds out her antler knife from Deerington that had come with her into this world.]

A drop of blood.

[incandescentfaith]

Very well.

[Rei does likewise, gently patting down the upturned earth with her trowel before rising and drawing a long knife from her hand. A gift from an old friend, and a tool she's used for a few such things back in Deerington.]

On three?

[notimeforfailure]

On three.

Three... two... one --

[And Lysithea gives herself a single prick on the forefinger, just enough to break the skin and squeeze out the smallest droplet of blood. To her great surprise... it doesn't come out as a droplet. Instead, there is a sudden sparkle of light as of something glittering before something falls - more like dust than like liquid.

There is a single, tiny, very dark stain.]

...Well that's new.

[incandescentfaith]

Three...two...one.

[Rei presses the athame against her fingertip, slicing it and letting a single drop of milky-pale blood onto the patch of earth. It glitters as it drops, just for a moment, and sinks into the earth almost immediately.]

What is?

[notimeforfailure]

The bloo --

[Lysithea is about to respond when, before her eyes, a single sprout pushes out from the ground and in a matter of ten seconds or so, surges upwards and blossoms into a single black lily.]

...That, too.

Everything. All new.

[incandescentfaith]

Oh!

[Rei's own flower blossoms a moment later, growing into a full lily of her own. This one is paler, more milky, a casablanca.]

...What was quick. How fascinating!

[notimeforfailure]

Oh -- we match.

[Lysithea smiles lightly as she glances down at their twin flowers, gently ruffled by the breeze.]

Well... Now we just take care of it and make sure it survives. Is that right? And our troubles will be released.

Something along those lines.

[incandescentfaith]

Yes, I suppose we do.

[Rei dips her head, smiling back.]

I believe that's the case. So, water every other day, and weeding around the area. If...it is like a normal flower.

[notimeforfailure]

Somehow, I feel as if it will be complicated than that. But... I think we'll be up to the challenge.

[In this moment, the idea of letting go of her past seems as light and airy as the breeze.]

I forgot to purchase plant care products. You wouldn't happen to know of a gardening center conveniently nearby, would you?

[incandescentfaith]

There's a hardware store down the street that should have most of what we'd need.

[Buckets, clippers, and the like.]

Come, I'll show you.

[notimeforfailure]

Thanks. So... we'll just leave them here for the time being, then.

[It feels somehow a bit wrong.]

I'll uproot it and bring it back home once I have some supplies. Lead the way.

[incandescentfaith]

I'll leave my Omen to watch over them.

[She whistles, and from out of the shadows steps a dog, or something like a dog. It sniffs the air and settles down on it's haunches to wait.]

Aika's good at this. So, let's be off.

[notimeforfailure]

Oh -- good idea. I... still forget to call mine. He just sort of hangs around doing as he pleases.

[Lysithea glances skywards for some reason, even though there is nothing there.]

So, Rei... is there something in particular you're thinking of when you opt to leave your past behind?

ugh html fail. It's an Okuri Inu, if you know what that is.

[incandescentfaith]

[Rei considers the question for a moment before answering in a quiet, thoughtful tone.]

There is. Mostly just simply moving beyond some of the tribulations Deerington subjected me to over the years. A little bit of trouble from home, but the dream was my reality for so long, it's hard to separate the two.

What about you, Lysithea?

yes! hahaha i certainly do

[notimeforfailure]

Ah - of course. Leaving behind the horrors of the dream...

[Lysithea lapses into silence for a moment as she considers. If that was what Rei wanted to leave behind, she supposes...

But somehow, there was a part of her that felt like leaving behind Deerington wasn't something she could do right now.]

No -- not Deerington for me. My home is in the midst of terrible conflict right now. I was thinking of all that had happened there.

I figured you would.

[incandescentfaith]

Mmm.

[Rei hums, clearly sympathetic. She knows quite well the rigors of conflict. Violence was her reality for much of the last decade, fighting evil by moonlight and all.]

...Mine has found peace now, thankfully. So I was no longer truly needed.

Is it that bad that you have no intention of returning, then?

[notimeforfailure]

I don't believe I have a choice about it.

[Lysithea smiles wanly.]

In one sense, that is a relief. If you were to ask me what I would prefer... I don't think I could truthfully say.

But this action -- symbolically, I accept that this is my place now. That's what must be.

[incandescentfaith]

That's wise.

[She smiles, a little more warmly than her companion.]

There's little purpose in worrying about things beyond our control. And sometimes simply accepting the reality of our situation is what we must do.

[As much as it may hurt sometimes, missing her grandfather and her missing friends.]

Have you thought much about this place and our role here? It cannot have been around for very long, if half of what I suspect is true.