Deer Country Mod (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
reddosmod) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
countryclub2023-05-05 10:55 pm
reddosmod) wrote in countryclub2023-05-05 10:55 pm
Entry tags:
MAY 2023 EVENT PLOTTING
MAY 2023 PLOTTING POST
CODING
Please use this post to plot with other players and keep track of your plans for this month's event! You can ask specific questions about the event down below. If you are ever waiting on a question, please feel free to reach out to Simcha directly.
This post will be updated with the Live Event once it is posted. Plotting posts are always made on the 5th and events always go live on the 8th.
Due to the cyclical nature of Trench, some of last year's May Prompts are available for use. Prompts 1 & 2 may be used if you wish, unchanged from the previous year's prompts.
This post will be updated with the Live Event once it is posted. Plotting posts are always made on the 5th and events always go live on the 8th.
Due to the cyclical nature of Trench, some of last year's May Prompts are available for use. Prompts 1 & 2 may be used if you wish, unchanged from the previous year's prompts.
[NAVIGATION]
Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3
Plotting Form • Event Questions • Live Event • Monthly Newsletter
[JUMP TO COMMENTS]
PROMPT 1: TRAPPED
Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3
Plotting Form • Event Questions • Live Event • Monthly Newsletter
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological Horror, Out-of-body Experience, Potential Self-Harm, Potential Feelings of Severe Isolation, Possible Monster Transformation, Possible Death
[Excerpt From the Transmorgriphia, a pamphlet on Bausphomette penned an indeterminate number of years ago. It is commonly found in Cassandra, if one asks more about the Pthumerian.]
The next day, you feel trapped. You can still move around, still talk, still do everything that you normally do. Anyone who might look at you would see nothing wrong, and in fact you go through the motions for the next day or two without any physiological differences, other than that you feel a cold and almost clammy sensation all along your skin, like it is tingling and alive somehow. Yet, still, you feel trapped in your body, as if your body was a prison and you have to somehow figure out a way to get out of it, to become something else. You aren't meant to be what you are, no matter how out of place this sensation is, and you have to get out of your current state or something awful will happen. You become increasingly sure of this. It is almost as if you are riding inside of your own body, and something else is occupying it, displacing you and making you feel deeply wrong. You can try to explain it to others, but the sensation is so out of the norm that it can be hard to put into words, and deep down the feeling that nobody would believe you may permeate for many people.
Within days, however, the sensation becomes all consuming. You are certain of it. You have to get out of your body, have to become something else, have to transform. Something is supposed to be helping you, but they're not, and you have to take drastic actions. At this point, one of three things may happen. The first and arguably the most awful is that you resist the urge to do anything truly drastic. You soldier through, but you do not tell others or find nobody who can sympathize with your situation. You suffer in silence for days until you begin to curl in on yourself, your body calcifying like your mind as you convert into a shriveled, curled up statue in a shape eerily like a cocoon. At this point, death is a mercy as your heart slowly stops. The bad dream will linger for a week after you come back to life, but it will be over at least. The second is almost as bad, and certainly more dangerous for others. You succumb to the urge and take drastic measures to break out of your body. This could come in the form of cutting yourself in horrific fashion, skinning yourself alive, dashing your head against a rock, or some other very obviously fatal and gruesome activity meant to get out of the shell that you perceive to be your body. The only problem is that you don't die. You do, in fact, immediately transform into your Beast state if you do this, insane with rage that must either be calmed normally or necessitate your death. The third is that you are talked down from this state. A friend shows empathy to you, reassuring you that you are in fact fine, that perhaps whatever you are experiencing is a curse, or maybe you're having an actual identity crisis. It isn't actually important how the person empathizes with you, or even if they really understand what you are experiencing. It is the fact that they are empathizing, trying to help you. That interaction, much like what the Night Walkers do every day, helps to cleanse the malaise and, though the harrowing experience may haunt you for a day or two more, the comfort can keep you from doing anything too dangerous.
Wastes, if asked about this effect later on in the month, will say that the cocoons of Argonaut's lesser moths are always cleaned up by Bausphomette in advance of the Flushed Moon. Still filled with so much hope for a new possibility, they carry an almost toxic level of desire for change that the Pthumerian cleanses them lest they coerce people into a state of confusion and malaise under the light of the flushed moon. It is one of many acts that the Pthumerian usually takes in order to protect the people of Trench and help ease them through transitions in a healthy fashion. The Disciples will confirm that their influence is weak this month, because they are performing an incredibly powerful ritual, one whose hum of power can be felt throughout the month.
FAQ:
PROMPT 2: CULICIDAE
[Excerpt From the Transmorgriphia, a pamphlet on Bausphomette penned an indeterminate number of years ago. It is commonly found in Cassandra, if one asks more about the Pthumerian.]
Bausphomette and Madam Generosity are thought of by many as being closely associated, though many have wondered why it is that the Shedding Ceremony is always found to occur during Madam Generosity's influence rather than Bausphomette's, given the latter's focus upon evolution, sense of self and transformation. One thought as to why stems from the difference in their attitudes on the subject. Where Madame Generosity focused upon the process of change and the need for all things to evolve, Bausphomette represented the fact that change should ultimately come from who one truly is, that it should be healthy and that one should neither be trapped in a state of being, nor forced to be altered.The experience seems to come from something so innocuous. You look, and you see what appears to be the left over shell of a moth's cocoon. Its larval and pupal stages are done and now it has spread its wings and fluttered away. By the look of things, it couldn't have been more than a few weeks old, and quite possibly was one of the lesser brethren of Argonaut. Funny, though, you don't remember seeing these around last year when it was this time of year. If you mention it to someone in Trench, their face will pale and they will swallow hard, saying that Bausphomette usually cleans those up at the start of the month. Perhaps you shrug it off, or perhaps you decide to research it or even collect it. It doesn't matter, because that's when everything goes awry.
The result of this line of thought has been the long-standing belief that Bausphomette is less of the creator of change, and more its regulator in the city of Trench. They focus their energies upon making sure that transformations that occur over which they watch do so in a fashion that is healthy, and at the same time in a way that reflects the “True Self” of the person transforming. When Bausphomette is strong, then, sense of self is also found to be very healthy, and likewise beastly transformations are rarer if not unheard of. Likewise, without that regulation it is possible for a person to find themselves stymied and unable to transform when they wish to and are ready to do so, or just as bad could find themselves transforming against their will to a form that is anything but healthy. For this reason, Bausphomette is one of the most consistently revered among the Disciples for what is seen as a very positive influence upon all in Trench, especially Sleepers.
The next day, you feel trapped. You can still move around, still talk, still do everything that you normally do. Anyone who might look at you would see nothing wrong, and in fact you go through the motions for the next day or two without any physiological differences, other than that you feel a cold and almost clammy sensation all along your skin, like it is tingling and alive somehow. Yet, still, you feel trapped in your body, as if your body was a prison and you have to somehow figure out a way to get out of it, to become something else. You aren't meant to be what you are, no matter how out of place this sensation is, and you have to get out of your current state or something awful will happen. You become increasingly sure of this. It is almost as if you are riding inside of your own body, and something else is occupying it, displacing you and making you feel deeply wrong. You can try to explain it to others, but the sensation is so out of the norm that it can be hard to put into words, and deep down the feeling that nobody would believe you may permeate for many people.
Within days, however, the sensation becomes all consuming. You are certain of it. You have to get out of your body, have to become something else, have to transform. Something is supposed to be helping you, but they're not, and you have to take drastic actions. At this point, one of three things may happen. The first and arguably the most awful is that you resist the urge to do anything truly drastic. You soldier through, but you do not tell others or find nobody who can sympathize with your situation. You suffer in silence for days until you begin to curl in on yourself, your body calcifying like your mind as you convert into a shriveled, curled up statue in a shape eerily like a cocoon. At this point, death is a mercy as your heart slowly stops. The bad dream will linger for a week after you come back to life, but it will be over at least. The second is almost as bad, and certainly more dangerous for others. You succumb to the urge and take drastic measures to break out of your body. This could come in the form of cutting yourself in horrific fashion, skinning yourself alive, dashing your head against a rock, or some other very obviously fatal and gruesome activity meant to get out of the shell that you perceive to be your body. The only problem is that you don't die. You do, in fact, immediately transform into your Beast state if you do this, insane with rage that must either be calmed normally or necessitate your death. The third is that you are talked down from this state. A friend shows empathy to you, reassuring you that you are in fact fine, that perhaps whatever you are experiencing is a curse, or maybe you're having an actual identity crisis. It isn't actually important how the person empathizes with you, or even if they really understand what you are experiencing. It is the fact that they are empathizing, trying to help you. That interaction, much like what the Night Walkers do every day, helps to cleanse the malaise and, though the harrowing experience may haunt you for a day or two more, the comfort can keep you from doing anything too dangerous.
Wastes, if asked about this effect later on in the month, will say that the cocoons of Argonaut's lesser moths are always cleaned up by Bausphomette in advance of the Flushed Moon. Still filled with so much hope for a new possibility, they carry an almost toxic level of desire for change that the Pthumerian cleanses them lest they coerce people into a state of confusion and malaise under the light of the flushed moon. It is one of many acts that the Pthumerian usually takes in order to protect the people of Trench and help ease them through transitions in a healthy fashion. The Disciples will confirm that their influence is weak this month, because they are performing an incredibly powerful ritual, one whose hum of power can be felt throughout the month.
FAQ:
- This effect is easily avoided by simply never finding a cocoon.
- The condition worsens over a period somewhere between 3-7 days.
- If a Sleeper transforms into a Beast, they can be cured of beasthood in normal fashions, or killed in normal fashions.
- It is possible to speak about this out of body experience, but it is difficult to explain what is going on, and to articulate one's feelings. Characters are not stopped from doing so, but they may feel increasingly uncomfortable speaking about their problems.
- Any positive empathy and conversation about the problem can lead to a cure of the effect if the player wishes it. This does not need to take any specific form, so long as the issue a person has is acknowledged and they are listened to sincerely.
CONTENT WARNINGS:Insect Horror, Blood Loss, Disease, Pathogen, Possible Character Death, Hallucinations
mosquitoes are awful creatures, and most people would hate them. It's no surprise, then, that great lengths are usually taken to try and minimize their presence in the city of Trench. The fact that they could transfer contact between blood types, even including the toxic nature of many vilebloods would make them a hazard to everyone. So, the people of Trench usually take extensive steps to kill them off whenever they rise. However, this month the marshy conditions are making that more difficult than normal. Though many of the Architects and Arcane Scholars in town assure anyone who ask that the problem will be gotten under control soon enough, for now there are mosquitoes everywhere. It's hard to avoid the little bastards, and they're causing a real problem in Trench.
First of all, there are just the simple dangers of veritable plagues of tiny blood suckers floating around and trying to get a taste. They can be found anywhere a stagnant pool of water lies unattended, and the clouds of them are numerous enough to be a real threat. If you're assaulted by one such cloud, they will endeavor to suck you dry of whatever blood you may have inside of you. This isn't likely to be fatal, but it can be deeply unpleasant as hundreds of bites result in actual blood loss! Worse, even those who might have protections against this sort of thing like toxic blood will find that these bugs are surprisingly resistant to any blood-power based defenses, even though they tend to be less interested in Vilebloods and very interested in Darkbloods. Regardless of their preferences, everyone is in peril.
Of course, regular mosquitoes are bad, but they're not the worst. There's the big ones. Wretched Stirges and Bloodbugs that are reminiscent of monstrous insectoids from other realities have at times managed to populate in Trench. Usually, they are kept to a miniscule level, but currently they can be found in town. They can be anywhere from the size of a housecat and hunting in packs, or humanoid in size. Their hunger is proportional to their body mass, meaning that they very well could suck a person dry. They're thankfully very much killable, but the buggers are fast and hideous, so be prepared to fight them off if you're spending a lot of time outside, especially in the areas between districts.
That's not the worst of it, sadly. Such creatures are known to be harbingers of disease in many worlds, and these are no exceptions. A particularly nasty condition known as “Blood Rot” is the very reason that mosquitoes are so reviled in Trench. When one feeds from two different types of blood in a twenty-four hour period, there is a very real possibility that the blood itself becomes corrupted in the process. It guarantees that the awful creature will die by the end of that period, but they may transfer some of that corrupted blood in the process of biting an unwitting target. The symptoms are brief stages of intense delirium and hallucinations, usually of monstrous sorts that can cause distress for anyone, followed by a very negative impact on the blood. A sleeper's blood powers begin to act up in ways that are violently dangerous to themselves and those around them. A Darkblood could find themselves teleporting wildly and without warning into hazardous places, or accidentally teleporting dangerous objects over a friend's head. Vilebloods might become toxic to the touch or start exuding putrid gases when they breathe, sickening those around them. Palebloods might very well start causing the emotions of people around them to worsen considerably, or see false visions that lead to bad decisions. Coldbloods could find their powers wildly out of control, burning and freezing things around them. Warmbloods could find themselves with new, uncontrollable powers that are intensely painful. These are symptoms of the real threat. The disease, within a week, will begin to manifest its final and terminal stages. The blood inside of the person rots, causing them to develop severe fatigue and black lesions in the form of veiny patches all over their bodies. At this point, they have to be treated within hours, or they will die horribly, coughing up black blood everywhere. Should a person die this way, corrupted blood crystals form on their body which could theoretically be harvested, though they are highly toxic and only produce a poisonous effect of severe, debilitating nausea, usually upon those mishandling them!
The cure is thankfully a simple one, but it isn't exactly pleasant. They must have the corrupted blood removed from them, generally through leeches. There are leeches that are in the possession of the Blood Ministers who are trained to seek out and devour corrupted blood like this. They can do so safely, and so long as an infusion of the same kind of blood as the victim normally has is produced, they can recover. However, the farther in they are, the more difficult the process is and the longer it takes. Though, so long as they are not coughing up their own blood, they can recover within a week at the worst.
PROMPT 3: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
mosquitoes are awful creatures, and most people would hate them. It's no surprise, then, that great lengths are usually taken to try and minimize their presence in the city of Trench. The fact that they could transfer contact between blood types, even including the toxic nature of many vilebloods would make them a hazard to everyone. So, the people of Trench usually take extensive steps to kill them off whenever they rise. However, this month the marshy conditions are making that more difficult than normal. Though many of the Architects and Arcane Scholars in town assure anyone who ask that the problem will be gotten under control soon enough, for now there are mosquitoes everywhere. It's hard to avoid the little bastards, and they're causing a real problem in Trench.
First of all, there are just the simple dangers of veritable plagues of tiny blood suckers floating around and trying to get a taste. They can be found anywhere a stagnant pool of water lies unattended, and the clouds of them are numerous enough to be a real threat. If you're assaulted by one such cloud, they will endeavor to suck you dry of whatever blood you may have inside of you. This isn't likely to be fatal, but it can be deeply unpleasant as hundreds of bites result in actual blood loss! Worse, even those who might have protections against this sort of thing like toxic blood will find that these bugs are surprisingly resistant to any blood-power based defenses, even though they tend to be less interested in Vilebloods and very interested in Darkbloods. Regardless of their preferences, everyone is in peril.
Of course, regular mosquitoes are bad, but they're not the worst. There's the big ones. Wretched Stirges and Bloodbugs that are reminiscent of monstrous insectoids from other realities have at times managed to populate in Trench. Usually, they are kept to a miniscule level, but currently they can be found in town. They can be anywhere from the size of a housecat and hunting in packs, or humanoid in size. Their hunger is proportional to their body mass, meaning that they very well could suck a person dry. They're thankfully very much killable, but the buggers are fast and hideous, so be prepared to fight them off if you're spending a lot of time outside, especially in the areas between districts.
That's not the worst of it, sadly. Such creatures are known to be harbingers of disease in many worlds, and these are no exceptions. A particularly nasty condition known as “Blood Rot” is the very reason that mosquitoes are so reviled in Trench. When one feeds from two different types of blood in a twenty-four hour period, there is a very real possibility that the blood itself becomes corrupted in the process. It guarantees that the awful creature will die by the end of that period, but they may transfer some of that corrupted blood in the process of biting an unwitting target. The symptoms are brief stages of intense delirium and hallucinations, usually of monstrous sorts that can cause distress for anyone, followed by a very negative impact on the blood. A sleeper's blood powers begin to act up in ways that are violently dangerous to themselves and those around them. A Darkblood could find themselves teleporting wildly and without warning into hazardous places, or accidentally teleporting dangerous objects over a friend's head. Vilebloods might become toxic to the touch or start exuding putrid gases when they breathe, sickening those around them. Palebloods might very well start causing the emotions of people around them to worsen considerably, or see false visions that lead to bad decisions. Coldbloods could find their powers wildly out of control, burning and freezing things around them. Warmbloods could find themselves with new, uncontrollable powers that are intensely painful. These are symptoms of the real threat. The disease, within a week, will begin to manifest its final and terminal stages. The blood inside of the person rots, causing them to develop severe fatigue and black lesions in the form of veiny patches all over their bodies. At this point, they have to be treated within hours, or they will die horribly, coughing up black blood everywhere. Should a person die this way, corrupted blood crystals form on their body which could theoretically be harvested, though they are highly toxic and only produce a poisonous effect of severe, debilitating nausea, usually upon those mishandling them!
The cure is thankfully a simple one, but it isn't exactly pleasant. They must have the corrupted blood removed from them, generally through leeches. There are leeches that are in the possession of the Blood Ministers who are trained to seek out and devour corrupted blood like this. They can do so safely, and so long as an infusion of the same kind of blood as the victim normally has is produced, they can recover. However, the farther in they are, the more difficult the process is and the longer it takes. Though, so long as they are not coughing up their own blood, they can recover within a week at the worst.
CONTENT WARNINGS:Flesh Cocoons, Perception of Dying, Memory Loss, Heavy 4th Wall Implications.
Well, that's it then. Knackered yet again. You don't even know how it happened. One minute you were alive, and now you're not. Pushing up Daisies, or perhaps more accurately crystals, that's what your body has to be doing. You felt it as it happened. You were just standing there, minding your own business, when you felt what almost seemed to be a colossal titan's blow to the chest, right about where your heart is. For some of you, you didn't even realize that you had a heart, but now that it's missing from your chest, you know that you desperately needed it in that moment, and the old love muscle's disappearance from your chest cavity has caused your body to collapse to the ground like a ragdoll and rapidly cool. Hopefully you weren't in too humiliating of a position, but this is Trench, so I wouldn't be hoping for the best right now. Nothing for it. Don't hang about here feeling sorry for yourself. It's time to hop to it, roll up those stats again and get vengeance after you get over the death flu. There's just one teensy little problem.
You aren't where you expected to be.
You're still catching your breath when you realize that you are somewhere different. The place feels deeply familiar, but you cannot place it. You would swear that you've been here before, but your memory refuses to pin it down at first. For a few of you, the memory eventually begins to gel while you look around what seems to be a platform of cobbled stone, surrounded by crystals. It looks unnervingly like a place that no longer exists, a glimmer of the memories of Deerington, deep underground, where one of three doors once stood, but not the door that was ultimately opened. There are differences, and everywhere in this darkened chamber you smell the acrid, salty bite of brackish seawater. There is a constant dripping sound, and you feel like you aren't alone. This is probably about the time that you are looking for an exit.
There are two of them. Along one path, you see a stairwell leading down towards a doorway. Immediately opposite it in the circular space you stand is another stairwell, leading upwards towards the scintillating surfaces of undulating light that eerily fills the chamber. At the top of the stairs is another doorway. The moment that you have seen both doorways, there is a growl that rumbles from behind you, a low rumble. “If you had a choice. What would you choose?” The presence does not linger, nor does it answer questions. It is not sinister in tone, but it is likewise not human. You have three choices. Wait, and see what happens or test one of the two doors. Each, despite their alien nature, feels deeply familiar for some reason. While you are here, you may even see other sleepers similarly trapped, and be able to talk with them, perhaps even enter a door together.
(NOTE: Only actual canon mates can enter the doorway leading down together. Anyone can enter the doorway leading upwards together.)
Through the doorway that leads down, you find yourself in your old life, at the exact moment from which you departed to arrive in Trench. The very last memory you felt plays out, and all memory of Trench, of the life you lived in it, of Deerington (should your memories go back that far), is gone. You do not remember a moment of the time that you spent in this world, and instead you pick up with your life exactly as you were about to in that split second of time. This vision could last for mere seconds, or it could continue for days. Though it is unlikely, it might even last for a year. At some point, for just a split second you will sense the reality, that something is not right, that it is still nothing more than a vision, and when you blink, you will find yourself back before the door again, the latch now firmly closed. You will remember all that you saw, a memory of returning to your world, to your life, to everything that you were, but one where Trench was not even a memory.
Through the doorway that leads up, you open it to find yourself returned to the streets of Trench, changed. You happen to glance at a mirror and you see it in your face. There are gray hairs, wrinkles, weathered years. Perhaps you are in shape, perhaps not, but you can remember time's passage suddenly. You have lived in Trench for years now, for decades. Like most real memories, things get muddled the farther back you go, so you don't remember it all clearly, but you remember holding down a job, finding a way to deal with blood corruption, putting up with frequent awfulness but making a life in the midst of it all. Beasts and monsters have been a threat, but you have soldiered on, and now you are home. It isn't a temporary home, but rather the home you have owned for a long time. You have family in this place, a life. The form it takes is as unique as you yourself are, and it is both as awful as one might imagine at times, and yet it is also a life where the happiness of having chosen to live here has outweighed the bad. You can travel among the places in Trench, use the lantern network, meet with your friends who remained behind, see the children playing at the orphanage. At some point, you will vaguely recall as a passing memory having spoken to someone from your old world, and that they had reassured you that 'you' were still present in their world, though they don't know how it was possible. You just smiled that day. It all feels so very normal, and perhaps you linger here for a while, but eventually this too feels like the vision it is, and you blink before finding yourself before a now locked door.
Only when you have opened one, or both of these doors do you find that there is another door, right in the center. It's a simple wooden door. You don't have to take it yet, but you know for a fact that it has to be the only way out. The moment your hand touches the door, you hear the growl again. “I cannot open the passageway for you yet, for it is not mine to open or close, but this I can give you. One last bit of this world's pull that I will cleanse from you.” And, as you step through the door, you no longer feel compelled to remain in Trench. You do not feel compelled to leave, but likewise you do not feel compelled to remain. It is simply a place now. You awaken with a gasp, right where you were, covered in the fleshy strands of a cocoon, as if you had visited home.
F.A.Q.
PLOTTING FORM
Well, that's it then. Knackered yet again. You don't even know how it happened. One minute you were alive, and now you're not. Pushing up Daisies, or perhaps more accurately crystals, that's what your body has to be doing. You felt it as it happened. You were just standing there, minding your own business, when you felt what almost seemed to be a colossal titan's blow to the chest, right about where your heart is. For some of you, you didn't even realize that you had a heart, but now that it's missing from your chest, you know that you desperately needed it in that moment, and the old love muscle's disappearance from your chest cavity has caused your body to collapse to the ground like a ragdoll and rapidly cool. Hopefully you weren't in too humiliating of a position, but this is Trench, so I wouldn't be hoping for the best right now. Nothing for it. Don't hang about here feeling sorry for yourself. It's time to hop to it, roll up those stats again and get vengeance after you get over the death flu. There's just one teensy little problem.
You aren't where you expected to be.
You're still catching your breath when you realize that you are somewhere different. The place feels deeply familiar, but you cannot place it. You would swear that you've been here before, but your memory refuses to pin it down at first. For a few of you, the memory eventually begins to gel while you look around what seems to be a platform of cobbled stone, surrounded by crystals. It looks unnervingly like a place that no longer exists, a glimmer of the memories of Deerington, deep underground, where one of three doors once stood, but not the door that was ultimately opened. There are differences, and everywhere in this darkened chamber you smell the acrid, salty bite of brackish seawater. There is a constant dripping sound, and you feel like you aren't alone. This is probably about the time that you are looking for an exit.
There are two of them. Along one path, you see a stairwell leading down towards a doorway. Immediately opposite it in the circular space you stand is another stairwell, leading upwards towards the scintillating surfaces of undulating light that eerily fills the chamber. At the top of the stairs is another doorway. The moment that you have seen both doorways, there is a growl that rumbles from behind you, a low rumble. “If you had a choice. What would you choose?” The presence does not linger, nor does it answer questions. It is not sinister in tone, but it is likewise not human. You have three choices. Wait, and see what happens or test one of the two doors. Each, despite their alien nature, feels deeply familiar for some reason. While you are here, you may even see other sleepers similarly trapped, and be able to talk with them, perhaps even enter a door together.
(NOTE: Only actual canon mates can enter the doorway leading down together. Anyone can enter the doorway leading upwards together.)
Through the doorway that leads down, you find yourself in your old life, at the exact moment from which you departed to arrive in Trench. The very last memory you felt plays out, and all memory of Trench, of the life you lived in it, of Deerington (should your memories go back that far), is gone. You do not remember a moment of the time that you spent in this world, and instead you pick up with your life exactly as you were about to in that split second of time. This vision could last for mere seconds, or it could continue for days. Though it is unlikely, it might even last for a year. At some point, for just a split second you will sense the reality, that something is not right, that it is still nothing more than a vision, and when you blink, you will find yourself back before the door again, the latch now firmly closed. You will remember all that you saw, a memory of returning to your world, to your life, to everything that you were, but one where Trench was not even a memory.
Through the doorway that leads up, you open it to find yourself returned to the streets of Trench, changed. You happen to glance at a mirror and you see it in your face. There are gray hairs, wrinkles, weathered years. Perhaps you are in shape, perhaps not, but you can remember time's passage suddenly. You have lived in Trench for years now, for decades. Like most real memories, things get muddled the farther back you go, so you don't remember it all clearly, but you remember holding down a job, finding a way to deal with blood corruption, putting up with frequent awfulness but making a life in the midst of it all. Beasts and monsters have been a threat, but you have soldiered on, and now you are home. It isn't a temporary home, but rather the home you have owned for a long time. You have family in this place, a life. The form it takes is as unique as you yourself are, and it is both as awful as one might imagine at times, and yet it is also a life where the happiness of having chosen to live here has outweighed the bad. You can travel among the places in Trench, use the lantern network, meet with your friends who remained behind, see the children playing at the orphanage. At some point, you will vaguely recall as a passing memory having spoken to someone from your old world, and that they had reassured you that 'you' were still present in their world, though they don't know how it was possible. You just smiled that day. It all feels so very normal, and perhaps you linger here for a while, but eventually this too feels like the vision it is, and you blink before finding yourself before a now locked door.
Only when you have opened one, or both of these doors do you find that there is another door, right in the center. It's a simple wooden door. You don't have to take it yet, but you know for a fact that it has to be the only way out. The moment your hand touches the door, you hear the growl again. “I cannot open the passageway for you yet, for it is not mine to open or close, but this I can give you. One last bit of this world's pull that I will cleanse from you.” And, as you step through the door, you no longer feel compelled to remain in Trench. You do not feel compelled to leave, but likewise you do not feel compelled to remain. It is simply a place now. You awaken with a gasp, right where you were, covered in the fleshy strands of a cocoon, as if you had visited home.
F.A.Q.
- Any character currently in Trench is invited to experience this prompt at any time during the month of May. It may happen at any time within that month, and because time does not work normally in this event, when a character experiences this vision does not impact what other characters they may experience it with (e.g. a person who experiences it on the 1st may also experience it with someone who experiences it on the 31st because wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
- This prompt can be avoided, though one side effect of it cannot. By the end of the month of May, there is a sense in which your character will no longer feel a magical compulsion to remain, or to leave in Trench. They will feel that they are clearly able to choose what they wish, should at a later time it become possible to return home of their own free will, or likewise to choose to remain.
- Though Bausphomette removes the compulsion to remain in Trench, it was not of Pthumerian origins, but rather natural to the world of Trench. Your character may choose to believe or disbelieve this.
- Any character may experience this place once, but may remain within the doorways for as long as you wish. In Trench, they will collapse without warning and appear to be in a cocoon as if in a canon update for 24 hours.
- Your character does not actually die. Bausphomette is just being dramatic.
- ONLY canon mates can experience your canon together through the doorway leading down. This is because your characters will experience what happens in their actual canon, without AU effects. They will not remember anything of Trench, as if it never happened.
- You may experience the door leading up with any character or characters that you wish, as many times as you wish (as if they entered the door at slightly different times, and you simply run into each other in Trench.
- The feeling of freedom your character experiences does not impact the app/drop cycle in any way, but does come with the feeling that at some point you may actually have the choice to remain, or to leave.
- You may experience up to one calendar year at most in each doorway. Eventually the vision will fade.
- Your canon experience is verbatim what happens in your canon. No curses. If there are multiple possible endings for your character from your canon point, you may experience one of these along with the feeling that there were other possibilities. Your Life in Trench experience will have recollections of blood corruption, beasthood, curses and monsters, but though there is danger there will be a clear message that they have found a way to live more, or less, comfortably in the city. It also does not feel definite, but rather an honest possibility.
- The vision of Trench will leave your character with the clear hint that, even if they choose to remain in Trench, their original self will still live out the events of their life. Their world will not experience the lack of their presence. They will simply be a splinter, a fragment, an alternate who chose to remain in this world. (Congratulations. You are now an AU.)
Feel free to use the following form as a general guidance for your ideas for this month's event. Tag around for new CR, build off old CR, or use this as a way of organizing your thoughts and plans.
Questions!
no subject
no subject
no subject
oh I forgot to ask if they eat regular mosquitos??
no subject
no subject
Is there any problem with characters figuring it out ICly? I have a vague plan for some darkblood bullshit but I don't want to mess things up for anyone else.
no subject
For a vision of life in Trench: It's a feeling of how things could go.
There is no problem in characters learning the above ICly through gut feeling or absolute certainty of temporal physics or what have you.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Re: Questions!
So, in the latest season of RWBY, Blake confesses her love for her teammate, its reciprocated, they kiss, etc. That teammate, Yang, isn't currently part of Deer Country and isn't likely to be any time soon, but there's always a possibility. For Prompt 3, if I had Blake see her future life in Trench, would I be allowed to say that Yang pops up in Trench at some point? I'm assuming the answer is no, because that's kind of godmodding, but I figured I'd ask anyway!
Re: Questions!
Because things will be moving into a more open sort of sandbox, the fact that "It is always possible" is something that can be played with here. Yang could show up, but there is no guarantee that she will. But you're welcome to tease that she could be in Trench in this vision.
This also applies to anyone else who would wish to see a castmate in the setting within the vision. They can't really be played in detail, but an awareness of their presence is fine. (The only caveat here is that this should not be a specific Yang played by a specific other player, as that wouldn't be fair. It's simply the fact that yes, a castmate could show up theoretically.)
no subject
How would cure disease potions work on the illness? Would it just stave off the full effect or do absolutely nothing at all?
no subject
no subject
SPECIAL NOTE: Hali's Vote
no subject
Player's Pronouns: He/Him
Preferred Player Contact:
Monthly Pacing: Not sure! I have had low motivation here recently but it's possible I'll regain some tagging energy for this game!
OOC Limits: See Permissions
Opting-Out Prompts: I dunno if any are completely off the table this time!
Character Name: Scorpia
Character Blood Type: Coldblood
Character Role: Nightwalker
What CR you would like to develop for this event: Pretty much any CR, old or new, could be good!
Open/Closed to New CR this event: Y
What CR you want to avoid this event: Not sure!
Timeline/Event Ideas:
- I'm debating whether or not to expose Scorpia to the effects of the first prompt (and if so, whether or not she'd go full Beast). Regardless, she can try to help others who are afflicted by it).
- For exploring the idea of Scorpia being corrupted, I think I'm more interested in using the second prompt from the last tdm with the creepy smiling figures and the solution involving talking to her reflection.
- I'm mostly interested in the third prompt! For characters deliberating things in the caverns and also for playing out the whole 'Future Trench' scenario.
no subject
If you want to do anything with Scorpia getting corrupted, I am here for it 100%. Just let me know what you're interested in exploring for her. I would love to get to help you thread something new.
Also . . . I would love to play out a Future Trench AU with the two of them. Having stayed here, having built a completely different life.
no subject
And ooh yeah I love that idea for Future Trench and definitely want to play it! Suddenly old wives
no subject
Player's Pronouns: she/her
Preferred Player Contact:
Monthly Pacing: medium-fast?
OOC Limits: death + turning into a beast
Opting-Out Prompts: 3
Character Name: jinx
Character Blood Type: coldblood
Character Role: owner of the clink n' clank
What CR you would like to develop for this event: SUPPORT GROUP ASSEMBLE! she is currently jinx.exe.not working and she really needs help coping with last month's stuff.
Open/Closed to New CR this event: all are good!
What CR you want to avoid this event: killing her and not be an asshole to her this month. I GUESS.
Timeline/Event Ideas:
[PROMPT 1: TRAPPED] .
[PROMPT 2: CULICIDAE] .
[PROMPT 3: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS] .
IN GENERAL.
➤ OPEN POST OF JINX'S RETURN HERE
BLOOD EFFECT.
no subject
Also I'd love to get Paimon @ her again sometime, he'd be wanting to check on Jinx himself and he could potentially help her out a little bit with some things if you like. One of his abilities is dream/nightmare manipulation, so he could help take away her bad dreams one night or give her some good ones, or just generally help a bit with her mental state by giving her some demonic support. (In exchange for an offering, but it's totally fine to make exchanges with demons!!!) Or, she could just get some wishes granted from him, she deserves to be spoiled okay and he really likes Jinx
no subject
BUT PAIMON YES. i definitely do want them to chat again and you know, the nightmares/dream thing would be rad right about now cause she is struggling SO bad with nightmares. like... since she arrived in trench, she's been having nightmares. she haven't had a dream or a good dream for the last 9 months sob.
i definitely want to do the wish granting thing but idk what she would even wish for.
no subject
and heckkk yes, I'm definitely excited for more Jinx & Demon things. Maybe he can come seek her out and they can get to talking / he can offer to help her with her nightmares & see what kind of dreams she might request in place of them? In that process he could tell her about his wishes too and let her know what kinds of things he can grant her, but there's definitely no rush for them, he'll be here any time for ur wishes B)
no subject
cheryl | witchy girl and spirit boy
Player's Pronouns: she/her
Preferred Player Contact:
Monthly Pacing: Generally speaking, I'm on the slow side. I've been picking up a little as of late, but I'm mostly a slow bean.
OOC Limits: I'm not looking to kill off anyone, I'm still kind of wavering on Corruption/Beasthood for Cole since he's still pretty new!
Opting-Out Prompts: Unsure :|a
cole | dragon age: inquisition
Character Blood Type: Warmblood
Character Role: N/A at this time, but I think he will likely fall into the ranks of the Night Walkers very quickly.
What CR you would like to develop for this event: Cole is still super shiny and new in game so I'm down for just getting him out there and seeing what happens. He's spoken to quite a few people, so it'd be nice to interact with those people again and start building that CR. I'm pretty good with either positive or negative CR for him, as to be honest — Cole can often rub people up the wrong way with the fact he can read them and perceive them so well. Even people who like him are generally made uncomfortable by him. But yes, just gimme people!
Open/Closed to New CR this event: open af.
What CR you want to avoid this event: Romance. He wouldn't even know what to do with that, and he has no interest in it generally speaking.
Timeline/Event Ideas:
— general/blood effects Cole can be found pretty much all over the city. He's rather easy to come across, since he's very much a busy bee helping the people of Trench deal with their hurts. In addition, as a Warmblood his blood effects are as follows: Warmbloods find themselves feeling like there is something lacking inside. It's not a particularly strong feeling, but it is very much present. Perhaps it is the fact that the mosquitos buzzing everywhere seem not at all interested in them? What gives? Is their blood not good enough for the bugs?.
Being around Cole will keep the mosquitos away, so if characters just want to come hang out with him and chill mosquito-free then he's your
guyspirit. I'm also kind of interest in toying with the feeling of 'something lacking inside'. Given Cole's current state, he is neither something wholly Spirit not wholly Human and in a strange precipice for change. He's kind of got one foot in each. So possible talks about personhood/him being something Different (given that in canon he's pretty unique by becoming the real Cole. Spirits don't usually do that) would be something interesting to explore!— trapped The curing route of positive empathy is absolutely Cole's ballgame. He's a Spirit of Compassion, so I would love for him to talk people down and help people cure them of their curse. He'd be able to highlight people's core identities via use of his abilities and remind them of that, assuring people they're actually okay. He could even throw in a lot of themes of Change with himself, even if he's not entirely sure of what he is right now — he still does know what he is at his core and that doesn't change.
— culicidae Mmm, I don't really have much of an idea for this one other than 'kill bugs'. Or just dealing with other characters getting cursed abilities/helping characters to the Blood Ministers for leechin'.
luna lovegood | harry potter
Character Blood Type: Paleblood
Character Role: Arcane Scholar, specialising in Beasthood. She also co-runs an occult shop called Ritual Gig.
What CR you would like to develop for this event: Pretty much on board for anything, really: friends, found family, mentor-types, sibling-shaped friends, fellow nerds! Adults to fret over the tiny witch, offer her life advice on things; peers to also learn about the more 'mundane' aspects of young adult-life, etc. Luna's a witch so other witchy-types are always welcome, she likes learning about other forms of magic and has been taking an interest in occult magic. That being said, occult-types in general be it demons or magic-users — especially demons, considering she has a bond with a goetic-entity. She's currently twenty one years old, so others around her own age would be wonderful. Or people for her to gently big-sister. And lastly, she's always a good with those in need of soft, kind CR; she's very good with outcasts, lonely sorts.
Open/Closed to New CR this event: Opennn.
What CR you want to avoid this event: Romance, she's very much in a v happy relationship with Peter Graham. ♥
Timeline/Event Ideas:
— general / player plots Luna is currently involved with the 'Palpatine in Trench' plot, where she is absolutely gunning for the Sith Lord (down with Dark Lords tbh) and trying to flush him out of each and every person or Beast he possesses. She's performing exorcisms, and peacefully curing Beasts by using her Blade of Agency (and picking up some new NPC entries for her Beasthood book she's writing). I have a closed prompt toplevel for that if anyone wants to go for a thread there!
— trapped Since she's already helping save people from Beasthood, I would absolutely be down for her doing the same concerning this plot! Additionally playing with the possibility of Luna being the one dealing with the curse herself. She's been going through a lot of change herself, considering her slowly settling into her role as Witch to an Ancient Goetic Entity. She's got some 3+ years of development, so having her have some kind of identity crisis and being talked down from it would be Interesting.
— culicidae While she'd be the sort go killing these buggos (not entirely pleased but it's Necessarily), kind of toying with the idea of giving Luna the cursed/corrupted disease. She's a Paleblood, currently hearing lots of voices due to her blood effects, so I'm tempted to have that amplified to the point it starts driving her a bit mad. Or possibly giving people False Visions? Either way, get her butt to the Ministers.
— home is where the heart is I'm honestly not sure about playing with this one or not for Luna since she's pretty happy with her life here in Trench. Maybe having her with other characters? Or just ensuring people they're not really dead, she's been there and done that (twice).
no subject
I definitely want to get at least one chance to play proper beast Fiddleford before the game ends, and I think it'd be extra funny if it was around Luna who is 1. studying beasthood and 2. has a very misinformed idea of what his beast form is like because she's only encountered it when he got there via weed and not from actual corruption fuckery
no subject
no subject
This is why I haven't properly responded to your Beast compendium btw, I was like... do I give inaccurate information or do I give correct information that nobody would have any way of knowing... but now after this it can be accurate!
I think I'll probably do a 'causing mayhem' general event prompt and then a closed one for her to unscromble him, if that works for you?
no subject
And that sounds great to me! He's going to get a personal meeting with her Blade of Agency :') (which oh, I should also state that being hit by it will cause a temporary amnesia afterwards oop) he'll be fine
confirmed may plans | do not reply to this
— Thread with Tory, NPC Beast saving.
— Thread with Deku, NPC Exorcism.
— Thread with Viktor, Beasthood saving.
— Thread with Fiddleford, Beasthood saving.
— Thread with Maul, Player Plot Ritual (late-May).
— Thread with Robby + Paul, "robby it's rude to set beasts onto people".
Cole
— Thread with Sharon, hanging out/personhood chat.
— Thread with Peter/Paimon, hanging out/first meeting.
Jhey + Peter Graham | Hereditary
Player's Pronouns: she/her
Preferred Player Contact:
Monthly Pacing: Probably... slow..... I've admittedly been dealing with some major motivation struggles, but I'm actively trying to get past it
Character Name: Peter Graham
Character Blood Type: Darkblood
Character Role: Arcane Scholar; Weed Supplier; Host to an ancient demon king of Hell; Employee at Ritual Gig, a little occult shop (sales clerk + conduit for said demon king to work through)
What CR you would like to develop for this event: With AC being check-in only from now on, I'd love to use this as a chance to just kind of chill and indulge, continue along paths with cr, get back in touch with cr that maybe I haven't had an opportunity to hit up in a while, and explore new, as well!
Open/Closed to New CR this event: Always open!
Timeline/Event Ideas:
Lat's Brats
Player's Pronouns: He/Him
Preferred Player Contact:
Monthly Pacing: Should be fairly active this month. I has myself some plans.
OOC Limits: None that apply to this month. I'll let you know if there's any concerns.
Opting-Out Prompts: Nope, I'm good to go.
As always, I have an Opt Out available if you need or want to use it.
Neopolitan Sustrai | RWBY (Warning for Volume 9 Spoilers as possible)
Character Blood Type: Darkblood
Character Role: Hunter
What CR you would like to develop for this event: I am very much open to any and all, though I have a very strong wish for some canon interactions, even as I am looking to have Neo interact with her close CR
Open/Closed to New CR this event: Wide Open
What CR you want to avoid this event: Any and all
Timeline/Event Ideas:
The Big One is the Main Event, Prompt 3. Neo will be experiencing this on May 23rd. Why the 23rd, you ask? Because that is 1 month AFTER Volume 9's conclusion was put up, which will allow me to use the full episode and everything that Neo experiences during the volume. I will have available a Future in Trench prompt, a "Canon mates REALLY HATING NEO FOR SOME REASON" prompt that obviously follows the events of volume 9, leading right up to an implied ending to Volume 9 right after something happens.
There will also be a postlude and a network post on the 23rd, where Neopolitan has to make a decision, because the events of Volume 9 are very important for her in light of everything she's experienced in Trench. I won't spoil the exact details of what she will say on the 23rd, but the short version:
She will be staying in Trench until she dies of natural causes.
Other Prompts:
Mosquito fighting can be damned fun, so let's do it. I'm down for her getting sick and having to deal with this crap if anyone wants to do a transfusion, or for her to help a close CR out.
I am probably going to pass on Neo experiencing the cocoon herself, as it will run counter to Prompt 3's emotional state for her. If you want a backup to help out though, gimme a buzz.
Vira-Lorr | Record of Agarest War
Character Blood Type: The Vilest of Vile
Character Role: Arcane Scholar/Night Walker
What CR you would like to develop for this event: Vira-Lorr is going to be doing her usual thing, which means being a know it all and a busy body with a debatable sense of responsibility. So, I'm open to just about anything this month.
Open/Closed to New CR this event: Yuuuup
What CR you want to avoid this event: Romance, unless you are one specific character. Vira-Lorr, this month, is coming to terms with the certainty that Minako may never return to her, and while she's not grieving as she did in January, she's not available that way without a lot of history.
Timeline/Event Ideas:
Prompt 1 - Yeah, I'm down for this one with Vira-Lorr having a kind of out of body experience and not knowing quite how to handle or speak on it. I think I'd prefer to avoid her doing something drastic, so no beastmode. Not in the mood to go Alien Queen this month. And for personal reasons I will not be going the statue ending. So, let me know if you're up for chitty chatty. And obviously she's always there for friends.
Prompt 2 - The Blood Corruption and Mosquitos will be a fun little addition though I'll likely do this through tag outs rather than a prompt of my own.
Prompt 3 - Vira-Lorr will experience ONLY a future in Trench. So, there will only be two prompts available (besides the fact that she has no canon mates in game). One will be in the platform, and the other will be a distant future prompt.
If asked? Vira-Lorr will openly refuse to go down the door that leads to her world. She doesn't want to be lied to by Trench, and she ardently believes she cannot return home. In her case? This has nothing to do with any curse on the world of Trench. She legit believes she will die forever if she tries to return home because of the events of Deerington, and has made peace with living in Trench forever. She's pointedly unwilling to look into any other possibility and quite stubborn about it. If pressed, someone might actually learn about her fears that her soul is broken and can't survive the trip.
Lunare & Sharon Da Silva
Player's Pronouns: She/Her
Preferred Player Contact:
Monthly Pacing: I try to get to every thread at least once a day. Some heavier tags can take me a little longer, though. Never hesitate to give me a poke if you're worried something might have slipped through the cracks!
OOC Limits: The limit does not exist.
Opting-Out Prompts: N/A
Character Name: Sharon Da Silva
Character Blood Type: Coldblood
Character Role: Hunter-adjacent | Painter
What CR you would like to develop for this event: I'd love to explore and deepen current CR but I'm really open to any kind of CR.
Open/Closed to New CR this event: Always Open
Timeline/Event Ideas:
TRAPPED
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
MISC
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject