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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.]

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
entreats: (the lit determination)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-09-20 11:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ At least that's a compliment she can kind of accept. Ange tries to be clever, and she likes to think she at least somewhat succeeds in that.

But she's still thinking. About Rei, and Justine, and about how she could possibly make this situation a little better. Even though there's not much to save when it's this crappy in the first place. ]


Do you.. think that it'd help? If you talked about her more right now?

[ Maybe Rei can at least air some of her emotions that way. ]
incandescentfaith: <user name=axiometric> (Alone)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-09-22 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
I don't...really know.

[Rei? Talk about her emotions? What do you take her for, Ange?

Though, she doesn't stop, and she doesn't dismiss the notion, as they float on down the stench-filled river.]


She was a good person, and...really I think the night she died was the night I resolved to stay in Deerington as long as I could.
entreats: (where do i go)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-09-22 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Look, Ange is also definitely a member of the 'how about I bury these emotions deep within and never talk about them, ever' club, but she does know there are people who are a little bit better about it than that.

And despite not knowing whether or not Rei is one of those people in the first place, Ange thinks that maybe.. it'd help in this case? Isn't that why those other people are so open with their emotions all the time?

.. who knows. She's not sure, and she certainly isn't an expert. Instead she just quietly listens to the other speak until she's sure Rei is done talking for the moment, which is Ange's cue to at least try and guide the other on a little. ]


Why was that..?
incandescentfaith: <user name=cupcakegraphics> (Prayer)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-09-23 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Rei isn't sure either. She just feels like maybe she should speak. And, weirdly it helps? Wonder of wonders, bottling things up isn't always best.]

...Because I failed to save her. She died in my arms.

[and despite herself, Rei wanted to be the big damn hero sometimes.]

I knew it'd happen again, and again. And that there were a lot of people in the town that would too, unless we figured out what was going on, and what went wrong.

...And now Deerington is gone, and we're free of that place. Scars and all. But it's done.
entreats: (and we are so fragile)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-09-24 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ So that's why Rei was saying she wanted to stay in Deerington for as long as she could - so she could try to not fail to save others. So she could help out where she could. It's such a kind and selfless thing, and pretty admirable in Ange's eyes. Especially with the sheer amount of selfish people she has encountered in her life.

Yet Rei isn't like that at all. ]


Right. I thought we were going to leave that all behind us.

[ Ange's gaze travels from Rei in the direction of the corpse as she says it. ]

But.. I'm not so sure anymore now. Us suddenly being thrown into this situation feels like we'll have to go through the same things over and over now, even though we escaped that place. I don't want to feel hopeless, but.. it's kind of disappointing, isn't it?
incandescentfaith: <user name=cupcakegraphics> (Concentration)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-09-25 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
It is disappointing that we're still dealing with the scars that place left in us, yes. And that this world is marked by Sodder, and Mother Superior, and all those others.

[Perhaps that's the worst possible outcome, really. But...her mind skips to a better feeling, and she hopes to assuage some of those doubts.]

...But we have each other, still. And the connections we made with one another. That counts for something, doesn't it? I don't think I would trade Winter or Ruby, or any of the others away to erase those scars.
entreats: (the curtains rise again)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-09-26 11:04 am (UTC)(link)
... of course not. As crappy as this place is, it's still better than my own world.

[ Though Ange also strongly feels that such a statement has so much more to do with the quality of her homeworld, rather than with the quality of this place. She'd rather be in a hell that has people she loves in it, rather than in a hell all by herself.

This moment is the very example of that. This dumb boat thing is so much more bearable, just because Rei is right here with her. But even so.. ]


I just thought we deserved better. Especially after everything.
incandescentfaith: (Sad Eyes)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-09-28 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, Ange...

[Rei shakes her head, leaning a little closer, her eyes now brimming with real concern. She knows about some of it, of course, but hearing that this is better than her own world is a harsh truth.]

We do. I don't know what the universe has against us, but, we do deserve better after all that time in Deerington.
entreats: (the lit determination)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-09-28 12:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Though Ange mostly managed to maintain her pokerface while saying that a moment ago, it's something about what Rei is saying - or perhaps just the tone she's using - that makes Ange duck her head, looking a little bit more.. it's hard to place, really. Perhaps shy, perhaps sad, perhaps worried. Perhaps a little bit of all of them, making her expression summed up the easiest as vulnerable. ]

Maybe we can figure out why this is happening.

[ Or maybe not the why behind it, but rather..

She looks back at Rei now, trying to shift her expression back into something a little more steady. ]


Or who is behind this. So we can ask them some questions about all of this. [ And hopefully keep crappy things from happening to them over and over, the way they did back in Deerington. ]
incandescentfaith: (Lies and Superstitions)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-09-28 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ange as usual, really. Prickly on the outside, gooey and soft on the inside. And it isn't that deep of a layer.]

Maybe. Never Mind may be involved in some way, given the raven symbolism and the fact that it happened in Gaze.

[That's one logical conclusion. He may have other ideas, and may be willing to point them in the correct direction.

However there are more pressing problems than that, as a second island appears to be looming up out of the darkness.]
entreats: (as if hurrying the sound of rain)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-09-29 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
We should--

[ But Ange is stopped in whatever suggestion she was about to make by the fact that it doesn't seem like their boat ride is quite over yet. And considering what they saw just a moment ago, she's pretty sure what they might find over there.

Unless it's even worse than that, and this boat ride is about to escalate. ]


Another one. [ Ange figures she doesn't have to say more. Rei is smart, she'll catch on to what Ange means. It's mostly a warning, like she's telling the other girl to brace herself - just in case. ]
incandescentfaith: Icon by <user name=palpos> Colors by Naoko (Steely)

Ange's turn, then?

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-09-30 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
[Rei steels herself, putting herself physically between Ange and the upcoming island, just in case. Yes, this could escalate badly, it always could, and she's ready to fight if need be.

But there's no fight. Just another island with a gibbet, another crow-pecked body twisting on a half-rotten, creaking rope.]
entreats: (the curtains rise again)

yes!

[personal profile] entreats 2021-09-30 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's strange. From a distance there only seems to be one corpse, and so that's what Ange is anticipating. Perhaps another person Rei knows, or perhaps someone Ange knew back in Deerington, but who didn't show up in Trench alongside the rest of it.

But that isn't it. The closer the boat gets, the more obvious it becomes that it's not just one body. It's seven corpses, lined up so perfectly that they only all become visible when the boat is right next to all of them. The corpses even look strangely identical - in the sense that they're all wearing the same, outfit, now half-worn from the damage to the body. It's only their hair and their faces that differences the girls from one another, none of them looking particularly older than Ange herself.

.. and the sight of them causes Ange to slowly exhale, though it's hard to tell if she's hiding more behind that sound or not. Her expression has shifted back to a pokerface - perhaps purposefully so - and her gaze is turned entirely towards the girl's corpses, rather than towards Rei. ]


Ah.. How messed up.

[ That's the only thing she says at first, apparently. ]
incandescentfaith: (Leaning Forward)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-10-01 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
...Yes.

[Rei leans forward, frowning at the swaying corpses. A trio, all...the same? It's curious, and she shifts her attention back to Ange. Her eyebrow rises in an unspoken question, but she doesn't let the silence last for very long.]

You know them.

[Not a question, but a statement. She doesn't know these people. So, they must be from Ange's memories this time.]
entreats: (before long)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-10-03 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
They're my friends from my own world.

[ There's a brief moment of silence after Ange says it, but then she manages to tear her gaze away from the bodies, instead looking back at Rei. Ange is - mostly - still looking relatively calm on the outside, but the look in her eyes is a little more complicated. ]

I guess they really are just showing us people who aren't here with us. And in the most grotesque possible way.
Edited 2021-10-03 07:45 (UTC)
incandescentfaith: <user name=cupcakegraphics> (Deeply Concerned)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-10-03 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm still sorry.

[It's not easy to look at such a sight, even if she doesn't know these people. Scooting a little closer, she keeps herself in front of the younger woman, intent on taking as much of the sight out of her field of vision as possible.]

This is pretty messed up. Are...your friends at least safe at home?
entreats: (where do i go)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-10-04 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ Rei's action, no matter how small, doesn't go unnoticed by Ange. It's a weird sort of kindness to be thrown towards her in this situation - weird mostly due to the fact that she isn't used to it. But she takes it all the same, lowering her gaze, as if she wants to try and not look at the corpses if Rei is trying to protect her from them in the first place. ]

They're not human. It's how I know this is fake. It wouldn't happen to them.

[ And while that is something she would have shared with anyone asking that question, Ange does continue after a moment. If Rei is being kind to her, she at least wants to be a little more open here. Though doing that always leaves her feeling so vulnerable, so she can't quite meet the other girl's eyes as she speaks. ]

I.. didn't really have friends back home. Not regular human ones, I mean. Everyone always thought I was weird. They bullied me, and told everyone to stay away from me while calling me a witch and saying I might curse someone. [ It's hard to talk about, and hard to think about, even though it's been such a long time by now since she's been in that situation. ]

So I made friends with a group of demons instead, because they were the only ones who accepted me. That's these girls here.
incandescentfaith: (Not Pleased)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-10-05 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
[Rei's eyebrow arches a little bit, because witch? That doesn't really seem like an Ange thing to her. But then, she's not really in the same age group, and she admittedly dealt with similar accusations, so maybe she's biased? It's hard to say.

It is easy to empathize for her at the very least.

Demons though? That...well...actually that doesn't sound all that far fetched. Recalling her earlier life, before Usagi, Rei could easily see herself cavorting with demons if they were kind to her.]


That...definitely means that this couldn't be them.

Did they wear human shapes, like these, I guess?
entreats: (and we are so fragile)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-10-05 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah.

[ With what she has already said, it's not hard to answer this question as well. ]

This is what they usually looked like around me. Just.. you know. Less.. gross. [ Less mangled up, compared to how these corpses look. It sucks. She technically hasn't seen them in the flesh in so long, and now the first time she sees them again, it has to be like this. Ange tries to put it out of her mind, but even though Rei is blocking her from fully looking at the bodies, it's like they're already burned onto her eyelids. ]

They must be messing with me like this because I miss them.

[ And surely Rei misses that person she saw earlier as well. It's the one trend she can see here. ]
incandescentfaith: (Not Pleased)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-10-06 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
Of course. That's the only reason I can think they'd bother.

[Well, other than to just be assholes.]

Perhaps it's a conversation starter. Or some other morbid thing. I imagine, given the ravens, that it is related to Never Mind.

[And he's all about that nonsense.]
entreats: (and we are so fragile)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-10-06 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
A conversation starter? [ Ange's tone suggests that she finds the idea ridiculous, though she realises that's no fault of Rei's.

It's true that beings with way too much power - whatever they specifically might be - often view these sorts of things that way, huh? Even though they'd be utterly traumatic to regular people.

It's annoying. And hurtful. Ange releases a breath before looking a bit more hopeless, glancing at the bottom of the boat. ]


I really hate this.
incandescentfaith: Icon by <user name=palpos> Colors by Naoko (Contemplate the Future)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-10-08 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
And I hate it as well.

[Frowning deeply, she rolls her shoulders, glowering back at the corpses on that little hill.]

...Tell me about your friends?
entreats: (and we are so fragile)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-10-08 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ange seems to slump even a little further, moving to bury her face in her hands now. It's mostly because she's trying to let the anger and annoyance that's being induced by the thought that they're being played like puppets once more sail for the moment, but that just leaves her with an empty feeling, bordering on despair. ]

I don't know.. Wouldn't anyone say the same thing about their friends? They were great. [ It's a little mumbled behind her hands like this, but still audible. ] I never had friends at school, but they were just like how I imagined having friends like that would be. We'd play games, talk late into the night, and they'd try to cheer me up after bad days..
incandescentfaith: <user name=cupcakegraphics> (♂ Wistful)

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2021-10-09 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Yes...that's what friends do.

[But that isn't really answering her question. She shakes her head, looking sympathetic.]

But Ange, how did they cheer you up? Were they energetic, were they quiet? I...have a feeling that this place will want us to talk about that kind of thing.
entreats: (and we are so fragile)

[personal profile] entreats 2021-10-09 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
...

[ She glances up at Rei, even though her facial expression is definitely still kind of a mess now it's no longer hidden. ]

You do? [ She trusts Rei. Ange doesn't think the other would say she has a feeling without actually having a real feeling of some sort. Rei always seems to have good intuition, after all.

So she sucks in a deep breath, trying her best to talk on, despite it feeling like there's lead in her stomach. ]


They-- They were energetic, of course. Way more than me. They'd always chatter away, to a point where I sometimes thought they'd never quiet down..

[ Though she sounds faintly nostalgic as she says it, like she's thinking about something from long ago. ]

But eventually, I.. I found out that they couldn't protect me when I needed it the most, and I got really mad at them.

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