undyingcourt | january tdm/event post

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january tdm/event post

JANUARY TDM - WINTER DREAMS

Welcome to the Undying Court's January Test Drive Meme! This post also functions as the January Event for existing characters, and continues the Winter Season, led by the Blue Court.

New characters may handwave or backdate the previous season's arrival prompt should they wish to, but you may otherwise assume they've been here the whole time! Additionally, all TDM threads can be taken as in-game canon if desired. And remember that apps open February 3-7, with invites opening on January 28, and reserves not long after!

Note that this post will contain: violence, enthrallment, torture, slavery, horror and potentially sexual content. Dreams come in many forms, after all.

This event also features another chance for characters to submit Regains, so make sure to submit after you've posted your top-level or reply to someone else's dream. For characters both new and old, feel free to brush up on the Premise, Vampire Powers, and head over to the FAQ/Game Info page if you have any questions!

Note that this event will be occurring throughout the month of January and into February, so characters are free to forward-date as desired!
For new characters please format your Top-level in this format: Character Name | Canon | Court | Youngblood/Novice | TDM
For existing characters please format your Top-level in this format: Character Name | Court | Youngblood/Novice
If you have any questions specific to the event, ask them in the Plotting Post Q&A section!

Top-Level Directory:

ONCE UPON A DREAM

A quiet falls over the Castle as a new day begins to break. As with every morning, this is a time when vampires must retreat to avoid the rays of the sun, pulling heavy curtains around their beds and windows to block out any light. However, this particular morning is abnormally quiet as the whole of the Castle seems to fall asleep all at once, and all together. After this enchanted sleep, and for the the next thirty days, the Castle's residents will start to experience strange phenomena within their dreams.

During this period, dreams become more vivid, so realistic it feels like the dreamer is awake. Dreamers can pass into each other's dreams without meaning to. Some of these dreams are in fact memories--either those from the lives the characters have lived in the Castle and the outlying lands, or the strange memories they've begun to gain back.

But be careful! For what starts as a regular memory might start to warp into something new. If you're lucky, it'll be something positive, like a dream of a home you've always wanted. But if you're unlucky, the memory might twist and turn into a nightmare, catching you in it and turning your worst fears against you.

Each nightfall, everyone will wake and return to normal. Or at least, most people will.

[Note: Any current characters who participate in the dream event by creating a top level or tagging someone else at least once in this prompt may be rewarded with a free impactful memory, which may be used in the dreamscape. Don't forget to submit for your Regains!]

A NIGHTMARISH CURSE

It turns out that not everyone wakes up. Those who stay in nightmares for too long may find themselves cursed, and unable to wake up. At first, the curse appears no different from regular sleep. But a few hours in the victim will start screaming uncontrollably. No touch will wake them, no amount of calling their name will break the spell. After too long, the victim will start to bleed, slowly at first, and then more and more as they remain afflicted. A victim left unattended will bleed out and die.

The Council works quickly to step in. Kashire (who is looking rather frayed this season) delivers the news that there's no need to panic, but everyone will need to do their part in locating and curing victims. In fact, the youngbloods seem to be taking this as the perfect opportunity for a teaching moment, and students are expected to try and find a cure with the skills that match their Court. Novices and youngbloods alike are encouraged to try and help lift the curse from anyone they can. (Get creative! Blood heals many wounds...) Any victims that have progressed too far will need to be seen to by Revar.

The nightmare curse, however, can spread quickly. Anyone who enters the nightmare of a victim will fall victim to the curse. Additionally, any attempt to reach out to the mind of a curse victim will also spread the curse. With the combined efforts of the students and teachers, the curse can be completely put out. But it will take time and care to ensure everyone is found in time, and cured safely.

ANYWAY, WINTER GAMES!

But a few curses aren't going to stop the Blue Court from making sure everyone has a good time. The days might be short, and weighed down by the threats of nightmares, but winter has hit Castle Courtsheart in full force, and the long nights and snow-covered grounds make for an excellent backdrop to the Inter-Court Winter Games!

There isn't really a reward for the winning house besides bragging rights and maybe a trophy that doubles as a chalice, but youngbloods and novices alike are invited to join in the festivities and compete against one another in the spirit of glory and the chance to lord over your Court's superiority. Even Council members and mature vampires of each court seem to enjoy cheering on their respective teams from the stands. Everything is fine! Forget your troubles and go play in the snow.

What kind of sports do vampires play? Feel free to get creative, but here are some examples:

Thrall-Curling: Since vampiric strength proves to be a little too much for this sport otherwise, teams of novices (or youngbloods) of the same Court can team up to gently compel their thralls to play the thrilling sport of curling. Coax that stone across the ice with care, and take out the opposing team! Or, well, the thralls will do that, assuming they're guided well. Try not to break them. (The thralls, that is.)

Figure skating: Practicing your pirouettes? For a vampire, a quadruple-axel is hardly worth breaking a sweat over. Favored for its beauty and almost seductive grace, the figure skating competition will be scored and judged by a multi-court panel. Participants might get extra points for incorporating bladework and masking into their sets, so these performances are sure to wow the judges.

Ice Hockey: Yes, the high-contact sport transcends time and space, but vampires don't need silly things like helmets or padded safety gear. Don your court's colors and hit the ice to toss the puck around and score as many points against the opposing team as you can before the time runs out. Violence is encouraged! Everyone likes to see a bit of blood on the ice this time of year. (Shadowstepping is considered cheating, but only if you get caught.)

And more! Snowball fighting may not be a sport, but there's no better time to enjoy the outdoors and stretch those growing fangs and muscles than the dead of winter. So whether you're cheering on your Court or watching from the sidelines, there's something here for everyone. Just because the castle is full of the the undead doesn't mean they can't have a little winter fun.

CLASS NOTES

Other notable happenings for the early winter season include:

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and maybe it's time to find or make gifts for that special blood claim in your life. This season blood jewelry is the hot ticket item. These are pieces made from precious metal and glass, which hold the blood of a vampire in them. Carry a lover's blood to show how much you love them, or carry your own to force down the throat of your enemies so you can influence them.

Whispers around school start to say that Black Court lost a novice this month. Not murder this time! He simply unmade himself trying to mistwalk. Eh, these things happen.

As a result of a tie in last month's pumpkin carving contest, members of the Black and Red Courts will find small packages outside their doors. They are gifted silver letter openers, with the handle inlaid with pumpkins and leaves, and a note from Revar with a little drawing of a pumpkin and their signature. How nice!

Lady Whisperfangs is quiet for now, but her time is yet to come... This month's check-in will have a field to submit gossip about your characters! Vampires do so love their drama.

Once again, characters are free to talk to the NPCs as well: Revar & Kashire. For any questions regarding this month's prompts, please comment in the Plotting Post. For general game questions, please check the FAQ/Game Info. In the meantime, remember to submit your Regains for this month's free reward, and keep an eye out for our AC Check-in next week, starting on January 25-31.

The new year has brought us plenty of thirsty vampires, so we're glad you're here to share them with you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Revar will be available throughout the month both in the castle and grounds, helping with curing curses, watching the games, etc. Please specify where you'd like to interact with them! ]

Edited 2024-01-20 17:46 (UTC)

[ Similar in volunteering to help with the medical care of the thralls after Sol, at least in the early portion, she was joining where some of the affected people were kept. For the moment, tracking and monitoring the pulse of one of the ones who was found recently, to compare to one who's bleeding issue was being worked on.

After all, she wasn't exactly in a place to try to do more than help with monitoring and administering whatever she could right now. There were some curious thoughts stirring in her mind, but they were still kept quiet. ~~Hopefully she thinks to voice them before the days she catches the curse as well.~~ Students were being encouraged to figure out ways to solve it, but Eden felt more secure doing so around someone more experienced. ]

It's like they're both caught in a high anxiety state. There's something more arrhythmic about the one bleeding, but that tracks it being a more severe state... Has saliva helped with any part of their state? Maybe even slowing this bleeding issue?

[ Though if the fix was to feed them blood, it would have to come from someone else. Probably best to be a full vampire anyway, than a novice... Plus she promised not to give her blood away so easily. ]

The anxiety will be from the dreams.

[ They're mixing together plants, their voice a little more tight than usual, present where it normally feels a bit more ethereal. ]

I worry about the time spent treating symptoms instead of causes. I suspect there are many more to find.

There are; I've had to direct more to rooms I passed on the way here. Each day it's spreading faster.

[ Like a horrible infection, not unlike the plagues she was told about. One of the villages had something bad, but not to those levels. There were a lot of cases where they just had to fight the symptoms long enough for it to run through it's course in someone's body. Running a finger along the center of the forehead and down the back of the skull, she could feel the extra tension building. ]

I want to at least buy us enough time to get down to those causes, though. Even better if it gives us a clue to the latter.

[ Maybe if she... Shaking the thoughts away, they got up to fetch a couple small glass slides and something to collect the blood coming out. Maybe there was some hint of the source bleeding through with their own blood. A bit of light going through, some magnification for a closer look, if it's something subtle. ]

Has anything like this happened before?

[ Eden won't find much of anything aside from what she was told--they're literally screaming themselves to death, drawing up more blood with every scream. ]

Curses and magical ailments are not undheard of.

[ The drop the mixture they'd been working on into a little glass cup sitting over a small fire and then add a silver solution to it. ]

But I couldn't tell you how long it's been since we last had one here. At least 100 years.

[ Confirming that their best idea for buying time was to paralyze the vocal chords. Which, there's been plenty ways to accomplish and she's guessing that's what Revar is putting together (along with something to mend the bloody area,) but it doesn't stop the source. ]

There's a few of us wondering if this was all an aimed sabotage, given what happened at the bonfire to so many of us.

[ Not that any of them liked the implication of a group that could affect so many, despite how long they've been vampires. It was a thought left unspoken, but loud enough to be picked up, as Eden started looking through the supplies. May as well see if such a set of needles actually exist, or if she just made up something elaborate in her head. ]

Did the last time also spread like some infection?

[ Revar wonders who Eden means by "a few of us," but they don't bother asking. Either gossip will become inquiry or it will remain gossip. That is the way of the world, as ever. ]

It could be.

[ The liquid boils, bubbles rising and thick, vicious smoke coming with it. They pick up the glass bottle with their bare hand (it's fine, they're a vampire, after all), and carry it over towards the victim.

The smell from the rising smoke starts to calm the victim first, their screams slowly, even as blood continues to drip from their lips. ]

Yes, it spread in similar fashion. There may be records on it in the library.

[ Given that it's Gold Court vampires, they may be taking the information directly there. It would be hard for Eden to believe that Xenk didn't share every single anomaly with someone in the council. Satoru... She didn't know as well.

Which was probably why she was up here acting as an extra set of hands to treat the people collected so far. Even if some of what those extra hands did was clean up the blood. There was still a list of various herbs- some she wasn't sure actually existed- that she wanted to check against the current mixture being used to see if it could help. Henbane had potential, but it would depend on other things in it... ]

Sadly, the library is a bit... In shambles. A lot of people are going through everything trying to get any clues. Hopefully they share...

The novices must be eager to curry favor with their Court.

[ The novices were being encouraged to help cure the victims, after all. This may not have been the vampires' fault, but there was no reason they couldn't turn it into a lesson.

At least, until the victims became too far gone, like here. After the smoke dies down, Revar tips the bottle so the liquid falls into the victim's open mouth, and after the last drop is gone, the victim sits up suddenly, blinking and looking around at the room. ]

Welcome back.

It is also a bit of a scary thing, when we're not in control of finding ourselves in other people's dreams.

[ She knew that even the youngbloods were getting involved to solve this curse as well. Especially Xenk, who seemed to feel even more vulnerable, thanks to their court being more easily affected. Which, honestly, depended on them holding back on going into affected minds until they have their own solutions figured out.

But good, they're awake- Getting a hand against the victim's back to make sure they stay steady, Eden checks various things to confirm that it all seemed to be fixed. Her own healing skills were still very much in beginner stages, which is why Eden was focusing on this with herbs and other methods to minimize that requirement. Especially if a cure was supposed to be pulled off by anyone. For now, the focus will be on the woken up victim. ]

It's best to take it easy. A few steady breaths...

Oh, yes. [ They say it like they've just now remembered that fear is a thing, that the novices might have some cause to be scared. It's been some time since they've felt that particular emotion. ] I suppose it must. But do try not to become immobilized by it.

[ They watch Eden take care of the victim and nod. ]

I will entrust this one to you.

[ Even Eden could tell that it sounded like Revar forgot what fear was. Which seemed... Then again, after long enough, things that aren't practiced were only ever fated to fade away. But instead of saying the good parts of having some fear, she just nods while rubbing along the saved victim's back. ]

I can do that. Oh, can you look over my notebook? I've made a list of potential things to make a cure that even a novice could put together. It's either the tabbed page or the one after.

[ Of course not all of the herbs may exist, like the snow lotus, but there were plenty different others that could be used instead of relying on a fully turned Silver vampire. Along with notes on what would be removed from the mix to avoid poor interactions, or so effects aren't too imbalanced, and the types of measurements that would be used for a novice and another amount for someone fully undead.

That would be the page after the tabbed, as Eden was correct in remembering it was on a different page. The one tabbed is all the acupuncture stuff that's come to her head. A flow chart of energy, what spots would have certain effects, and the description of the needles- silver mostly, but some were gold plated. ]

If you wish.

[ Revar skips quickly to the page after the tabbed one, and then reads through Eden's notes. ]

Hm. This may work.

[ Their version used their blood which, of course, was rather special. ]

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[ If Revar is here, then that means things have probably calmed down some. Or they finally have a break, is the thing.

Either way, Leonard respects Revar. And he's been almost as busy in the infirmary, so he knows that's probably the last thing they want to talk about. ]

So... sports, huh?

[ Look, no one said Leonard was good at schmoozing. And he is trying for small talk out of a sense of courtesy. ]

Did you ever try any of these?

[ Revar smiles. Leonard always reminds them of Karma, in a way that gives them a protective instinct around him. They cognizant enough to know when it's simply blood and not their real feelings, but all the same. ]

I was a fairly competitive skater in my day.

[ You know what they say, if you can't trust your grand-maker, who can you trust? Maybe that's the reason he trusts them so much. A mutual love and respect for Karma. ]

I ain't surprised, you seem like you'd be real graceful on the ice.

[ And Leonard very much approved of ice skating, because it's not violent and barbaric like hockey. ]

I guess we've been doing these for a long time, then?

[ By vampire standards, Leonard is baby. He knows this. It's why he's being so very respectful, he would never sass Revar. ]

That's kind of you to say.

[ But it's also true; Revar has an air about them that can only be described as grace, so it did suit them. ]

We have. As you know, the Castle wasn't always here, so the Winter games have taken different shapes in different places. For awhile we made our home where there was no snow in the winter. During that time, games on horseback were quite popular.

[ Even Bones can see it, though to be fair, he tries to pay attention to Revar, since they're his grand-maker. It wouldn't do to ignore them. ]

Damn, I had no idea. How long ago was that?

[ He would have thought the Castle was here for forever, even though, academically, he knows that isn't the case. He just never realized... ]

Oh, hm, a few hundred years ago at least.

[ Revar doesn't really count any more ]

[ Bones releases a breath. Phew, that's a lot. ]

And you've been around all this time, huh? Damn.

[ Living that long... Bones can't even imagine. No wonder they seem so... detached at times. ]

What made you guys leave? From the last place, I mean. You said the castle wasn't always here... was there another fortress somewhere else? Or did you all build something new when you got here?

Edited (clearer) 2024-02-16 05:11 (UTC)

I'm not the oldest vampire, but many people seem to think I am.

[ Yes, that's the answer Bones is getting. ]

We've moved the Courts a few times. [ they say this like a teacher giving a lesson, and a slight smile plays on their lips. ] You're so good at healing, but it would appear history was not your strong suit.

Oh, I don't know about the oldest... Hope that didn't come off insultin'.

[ Heaven forbid. He can respect authority when he needs to, and Revar and him have something of a blood connection. He'd never disrespect his Gram!! ]

Hah... you got me there.

[ He can tell he's being taught here, and as much as it bugs him, he knows Revar is so much older than him. If anyone is allowed to treat him like a kid, it's them. ]

I may have, uh, focused a little hard on healing and science, when I was a novice... But I appreciate the history lesson.

[ They laugh lightly, there's no offense taken, of course. It's very hard to offend them. ]

I think I like this location, but each has been unique. There is plenty on the subject in the library.

[ Thank goodness for that, with how prone Bones is to sticking his foot in his mouth. ]

I'll have to check it out, when I have time. I usually keep pretty busy.

[ Ok, but that's like. Because he wants to be busy. He could easily take less shifts at the infirmary, but does he? No. ]

Leonard.

[ Hey Bones, did you want the full weight of Revar's attention? Because for a singular moment, you have it. ]

Do remember that running from your problems is not the same as solving them.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Revar

Curing Curses

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games

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