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

Oh, Is It A Dream? —

I - It's dusk and Conrad can be found sitting in an orchard, the last rays of the sun warming his face. There are fruit trees of various types surrounding him, apples, pears, cherries, plums... And as the sun sets and the stars become visible he lays back on the grass, just admiring the evening sky for a moment, watching the dark clouds obscure the waking moon. And then, as the night envelopes everything around him, in an instant he's up in the air, transformed into his bat self.

He's free to fly wherever he pleases and he passes through the trees until he finds some ripe fruit that's just calling his name. He grasps a branch and quickly tucks into a juicy gigantic peach. Normally it would be too big for a bat to hold onto and he's not actually a fruit bat, but this is all a dream, so it makes sense enough.

Whoever appears in this dream alongside him will be offered to take a bite of some especially sweet fruit. "Hey, you've gotta try some."

II - ( CW: violence, blood ) Another dream of his isn't so pleasant. Conrad finds himself in a dark alleyway. He's running, but he doesn't know what's chasing him. He's being hunted, though, he knows that for sure. He can feel the frantic fear of being caught deep in his gut.

Suddenly something rings out in the darkness. There are several bangs and flashes of light and a wet smokey smell carries on the wind. Conrad looks down at his torso to see his shirt is soaked in blood. He turns his head back toward the source of the noise, but all he sees is a figure lying on the ground, a pool of blood spreading from their body. He feels like he knows this person. Someone with bright red hair and a small frame. He calls out a name, but it sounds garbled. He tries to run toward the body but suddenly his legs no longer work.

What just happened? He tries calling out the same name once again to no avail and drops to his knees. He continues to bleed but remains conscious, despite the pain. "Help! I need... help..." He shouts into the darkness, but will anybody answer? Maybe whoever's hunting him will appear to finish the job.

Curses —

- ( CW: blood ) Somehow, Conrad manages to avoid being cursed so far. Maybe it's because the distorted nightmares he's experiencing are so disturbing they always jolt him awake at sunset? In any case, he's going to do his best to locate and help the victims.

However, he's not exactly sure how he can help to keep them from bleeding out. He can sop up the blood, but that's not exactly doing much. Maybe he should seek someone out from his own court, or whoever, and ask how he can be more useful. At least he can gently try talking to the cursed victims because... Maybe they can hear him?

"You have to wake up," he'll say, on repeat, as he does his best to aid another cursed soul. But his words are pretty much lost amidst all the screaming. It's probably not helping at all...

Snowy, Snowy, Snow —

- Conrad never cared about sports. They're just not his thing. He's also not a big fan of messing about in the snow. Sure, vampires can't get frostbite, but he doesn't want to be cold and inevitably wet after he's been in the snow and goes inside to warm up.

One thing he doesn't mind so much is walking in the snow, though. It's peaceful. And he even has a pair of snowshoes on so he's not sinking down into it. They also prevent his new boots from getting all slushy, too.

If someone is so inclined they can interrupt his solitude and he won't mind too much. Maybe he can even be talked into sledding or some other classic winter activity. Or lob a snowball at him, and see what happens. Fair warning, he'll be more than a little grouchy over his clothes getting covered in snow. And so help you if you break his glasses. He can't be seen without his glasses.

Wildcard— ( Please feel free to tweak any of the prompts or come up with something else~ Here's Connie's plotting thread or you can reach me @

TheRusty or PM if you have any questions or want to plot something! )

Edited 2024-01-22 19:13 (UTC)

[The darkness was thick, almost too thick. Another dream, wasn't it? One not her own, because this wasn't familiar to her. Which was fine. The less she dealt with the reality teased to her and taken away the better she seemed to feel.

But this meant walking to see where this dark alley took her. The sound of blood being drawn seemed to pique her interest as she kept up the pace, only to see a familiar face there.

...help.

Maybe it wasn't her face he expected to see, but it was her that slowly and cautious appeared into whatever light existed in this dark.]

It's you.

[She knelt by him, examining his person before feeling her dead heart tug. This made her hear those words again in her head as she found her thin hand reaching forward.]

[Conrad is quite surprised, and relieved, as he realizes that she's someone he knows. A friendly face. So far he has yet to see anyone he can recognize with any real clarity since he couldn't perceive whoever was chasing him and he can't discern whose body it is that lays strewn out on the ground not too far from them. Even this place, it seems familiar, but he doesn't know where he is. Just some dark back alley where an odd light flickers through the blackness to outline the shapes of buildings surrounding them.]

Please. You have to help... Help him...

[His voice sounds strained and weak, and his eyes are pleading with her. He gestures to the body of the small man with wavy red hair, who was unmoving, and with the amount of blood spilled around him, he was most certainly no longer alive.

Conrad once again tries to get to his feet, reaching for her hand and clutching the wound in his gut, but he falters. Blood just gushes out of him and seeps through his clothes to stain the pavement beneath him.]

[Daria looked the way she was directed to and, sure enough, she knew from here there was no way that man was alive. There was too much blood. So much that he went into shock ages ago. His heart would stop and his organs soon to follow. If a hungrier vampire found him, they would learn there was no longer a fresh feast for them.

It caused her to frown. For once, she was speechless, her cold dead heart trying to find the ways to convey what she knew from the scene.]

...He's dead. There's too much blood loss.

[...]

I'm sorry.

[Conrad stops trying to climb to his feet, he just stills, staring at the body on the ground. It can't be true, he just can't believe it.]

N-No... He can't be... I know him. Or... I knew him.

[He can hear his voice waver as he speaks. He bows his head, forcing himself to take his eyes off the body, and looks into the expanding puddle of blood that is forming around him. The hole in his stomach just continues to bleed at a steady pace no matter how much pressure he puts on it with the palm of his hand.]

I was supposed to help him. He was- He's my friend.

[ Being in his first season, Wyll's a little new at this vampire stuff, he certainly wasn't expecting to see other people's dreams as a side-effect to the whole thing.

Now his teacher is a bat. That's. Hm. you know, it could be stranger. Talking animals and all, it's not so bad as far as these dreams go. ]

Thank you.

[ He accepts the fruit, taking a bite. Were Youngbloods able to eat fruit? Perhaps it doesn't matter in a dream. Wyll's not exactly from around here either, so he doesn't recognize it. ]

Oh, this is good. What's it called?

[Conrad's had dreams where he's a bat before, so it's not that weird for him. Sometimes the dreams are nice like this one, sometimes they involve him getting chased by an angry magpie or something. But, anyway, he's happy to enjoy some fruit and share it with someone.]

It's a peach. You've never had one? They're great in pies. And cobblers. And jams.

[He takes another big bite, sucking out some of the juice before chomping down and swallowing.]

... You should try one of the nectarines, too. They're similar but different.

I haven't. They must not have had them, in my home.

[ Wyll smiles about it, though. He loves trying new things. ~~Plus Speak with Animals is very Warlock of him.~~ ]

I'll have to ask for them when I next get the chance. Nectarines I have heard of though. Citrus, yes? Seems you have a taste for them.

[Conrad scrunches up his little bat face, thinking for a moment, and then sucks on the peach a bit more before speaking again.]

Are they? I enjoy a good orange, too. Or a tangerine. Kumquats are pretty great.

What about lychees? They're one of my favorites. Or, ah, what is your favorite fruit?

Lychees..? I don't think I've heard of those either.

[ He's so cute as a little bat... This is turning out to be fun. Are animal forms all like this? They don't seem so bad. ]

We have quite a bit of citrus where I'm from, but I think pomegranates are my favorite. Bit hard to eat, unfortunately.

Hmmm-mmm. Pomegranates!

[He is pretty ridiculously cute as a bat. Small and pudgy. This form has its pros and cons, of course.

Once he finishes the peach in a few big, for him, bites he drops the pit and scuttles around on the tree branch before flitting into the air.]

I'll be right back.

[And in an instant he's gone and back again, carrying a large ripe pomegranate in his little claws. He drops it right in front of Wyll, so he better catch it.]

There you go. They are pretty good.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

january tdm/event post

Conrad Achenleck | Red Court | Youngblood

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