reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2022-12-08 08:09 pm

now your tearin through the pages and the ink

DECEMBER 2022 EVENT
Due to the cyclical nature of Trench, LAST YEARS EVENT PROMPTS are also open to players. Please be sure to mark if you are using this years prompts or last years prompts to avoid confusion for players.

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: Animal paw print in the snow. ]
[Image Two: A close up of a hissing cat's mouth. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Hands underneath cracking ice. ]
[Image Two: A dark, snowy river bed in the woods at night under the moon and clouds. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A woman lying in the snow, her face covered by her hair. ]
[Image Two: Bloody handprints in the snow. ]

FIGHT OR FLIGHT
WHEN: December
WHERE: Throughout Trench, particularly near the woods.
CONTENT WARNINGS: Paranoia, fear, violence, possible murder, reality questioning


Dorothea seems to be off. She's more skittish than usual, even to those she may have formed even the slightest of connections to. Her own patrons will notice that she still acts like a cornered animal whenever someone gets too close. Her hair might puff up, she shrinks back from touch, and she's quick to bite if she feels she has to defend herself. People can put two and two together pretty easily: whatever illness that has made the Tower so odd has spread out to others.

The fear she's feeling will slowly start to spread out through the month. Those who have Dorothea as their patron Pthumerian will start to feel the impacts earlier than others, but soon it's going out into the general Sleeper population. It starts off with a tiny voice in the back of the mind, one that alerts danger, even if there isn't anything immediately threatening in the area. It's quiet at first, but becomes louder and louder, until the fear becomes overwhelming.

People will start to respond to it with their natural instincts of fight, flight, or freeze. Some people might try to blend into the background and keep away from strong social settings. Others might start to lash out, fighting with anyone who crosses their path because they could be the threat. People can even go so far as to try to kill those they're close to simply because they don't trust them to be safe.

But that rational side might still try to break through. The constant tug of war can leave people questioning what's real, where the danger really is coming from, or if there was any danger to begin with. It's hard to get the answers or to calm down enough to look for concrete proof when the heart is racing as fast as it is, clouding the mind from being able to handle reason.

If a Sleeper fights their natural instinct and tries to trust others, the effects seem to lessen, but they never fully go away. The small underlying feeling of fear will be there throughout the month, no matter how hard someone tries to fight it.

Note: Not everyone will be hit by this curse. You may opt-out by simply having your character not be effected. For those who are already dealing by paranoia or distrust from their blood impacts, the effects will be that much stronger and more difficult to fight, and more likely to escalate to violence.

COLD AS ICE
WHEN: December
WHERE: ???
CONTENT WARNINGS: Possible drowning, being trapped under ice, claustrophobia


It feels like a dream, but the world around is so solid and real, it's hard to tell if that's true. Everything is pitch black at first and the Sleeper stuck in this new place will feel a heavy weight on their chest. What's most noticeable right off the bat is how cold it is. Colder than it was back in Trench, an almost stabbing pain all over the skin, and it wouldn't be over the top to worry about frost bite. The pressure that's pushing onto the Sleeper's chest will become more noticeable all around them, like there's some sort of vice grip on their entire body.

A beam of moonlight breaks through the darkness and it's then that they are able to tell where they are: under water. Trapped under the ice of a large lake, one where shore seems completely out of reach. Swimming to the top will make it clear that while the ice has cracks on the very surface of it, they're superficial, and it may feel difficult to break through. Trying to use powers to break through the ice will make it clear very quickly that powers don' work in this water.

Is this it? Is that the end? Continuing to swim to try and find a hole may feel pointless, but those who choose to will eventually find that they run into another Sleeper or two. It's hard to communicate underwater, likely, especially when it seems like the omnis don't work to project thoughts to one another the way they usually do. But if the Sleepers can figure out how to communicate, they might find that coordinating their movements to push up against the ice will start to make a loud, rumbling noise fill the water.

The ice is starting to crack. It just takes team work.

Fighting one another or resisting will bring about the very obvious feeling of drowning. Even those who can breathe under water will find that they are unable to in these moments. The only option to get out is to work as a team. So long as they cooperate, Sleepers can break a hole through the ice, escaping the frozen water.

Crawling through the hole in the ice will bring them out of a manhole in a random street of Trench. The lake will be gone and the water too. Those who don't crawl out fast enough behind their teammates will find that the hole disappears entirely and they're forced to start all over.

NOW YOU SEE ME
WHEN: December
WHERE: Trenchwood
CONTENT WARNINGS: Murder, demons, supernatural, violence, abuse, other awful fairy tale themes


There's one thing that's always nice about the holiday seasons lining up across so many worlds: people get to share the stories of their homelands with one another. Traditions are passed down, legendary figures are explained. People will find that they're even more compelled to share stories from their home, whether it's about a winter holiday they deeply enjoy, or even fairy tales that they were told as children. Th urge to share will feel completely natural, even if it's just to one person rather than a whole group.

But there's always a catch in Trench. As stories are shared, the figures that they're focused on will start to manifest throughout the city as actual, real beings. Santa Claus, shoemaking elves, Snow Queens... Anything is up for grabs, but they won't be exactly like the figures that people spoke of. Their eyes will glow a deep red and their skin will be covered in bleeding wounds, dripping red paths across the snow. These strange versions of these legendary beings will haunt the streets of Trench, attacking anyone they see who doesn't look like them.

It will become clear that there's violent demons about as Trenchies (or even Sleepers) start to show up dead in the snow. Their deaths never seem to be gentle, but instead a clear product of a frenzied blood lust. People may have been brutally stabbed, or ripped to pieces and scattered. Even if the characters in a Sleeper's story were good people, even heroes, their Trench counterparts only want to destroy.

Killing these demons at least seems to be extremely easy. Luring them in with a blood sacrifice is probably the simplest, but people can try to find them and corner them throughout the city as well. Destroy their eyes and the demons will vanish. This can be done by attacking the face directly or by cutting off the head and destroying it. This information is not readily available however, so it will have to be done by trial and error until Sleepers can start to share the information with one another as the month goes on.

CODING
aetherweaver: (neutral)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2023-02-12 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
"... I understand it's not easy to change so quickly. But please think about it, Chizuru." He gives her hands another squeeze and then lets go. He doesn't want to make this even more awkward. "Please know that there's a safe place for you to feel your feelings."

Talking about them feels worse? He frowns. Hm... "Think of it like - like an injury. You can't treat the bad feelings unless you see that they're there and know what caused them. Just covering it up isn't going to help anything. And sometimes you need help addressing an injury, right?"
tealeafs: (my body)

[personal profile] tealeafs 2023-02-15 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
At least she does seem to be putting some serious thought in what Nara'a is saying here. The fact that he's comparing it to a physical injury actually helps more than the other might have been able to imagine - since Chizuru has a whole lot more experience with those in various ways, having grown up as the daughter of a doctor.

".. right," she slowly says. Yes, it's true. Even when you have a doctor's knowledge, sometimes you can't treat injuries all by yourself, or sometimes you can't even treat your own. "But.. I-I'm not sure why," she carefully starts, before adding: "I think I'd find it easier to describe a physical injury than.. um.. you know, any hurt I'm feeling inside..?"

She sounds a little embarrassed as she admits to it. It feels embarrassing. Like the sort of thing she's supposed to have figured out at her age, even though she doesn't. Everyone else is doing just fine, after all. So shouldn't she be the same?
aetherweaver: (Default)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2023-02-15 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"... Because it's more revealing. I know that it can be difficult... but you know I won't judge you." He smiles at her and stands, reaching over to tousle her hair slightly. "There's nothing to worry about with me, right? There's nothing you can say that's going to drive me away. I'm not going to leave you."

He sighs and goes over to his seat again, plopping down. "You trust me, right?"
tealeafs: (and this country)

[personal profile] tealeafs 2023-02-17 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Chizuru nods.

"Of course I trust you."

That's a no-brainer. Even when everything else feels so hard to think about in this moment - or ever, really - there's no doubt in Chizuru's mind about the fact that she does trust Nara'a.

But does that fact truly make it easier to share what's in her heart? She's not so sure, It's not like she hasn't trusted him for a long time already, after all.

"Maybe I just.. need some more time to think about everything." Maybe then she'll realise why it's so hard for her to talk about all of this.

(Or maybe she won't.)
Edited 2023-02-17 19:01 (UTC)
aetherweaver: (smile)

[personal profile] aetherweaver 2023-02-17 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's okay." He smiles at her.

He doesn't want to push her. He doesn't think that's going to get anything good out of that. "You can take all the time you need. I'm going to be here for you."

She's his friend. He's not going to just abandon her. He'll be here for her if she wants him to be. ... And possibly even if she doesn't.