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𝚆𝙾𝚁𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿 (𝙼𝙾𝙳𝚂) ([personal profile] uruz) wrote in [community profile] sacktime2025-09-01 01:28 am
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JERICHO ● SEPTEMBER 2025 EVENT/TDM

TDM & EVENT: JERICHO


Prologue: New Characters

You've been plagued with a reoccuring dream, as of late. Every time you sleep, the dream returns to you.

It always begins the same way: As a breath held for too long. As a pressure at the base of your spine. A silence that presses against the skin like confession, like prophecy. A ripple moves through your bones. A tide builds and pulls at your feet, familiar by now. You dream of a black, soundless wave, thick like oil and starlight, swelling across the horizon line. You've seen the wave before, countless times, always rising. With every night, it never reaches you. You always seem to wake before it does . . . That is, until tonight.

The wave moves slow, deliberate— like something ancient and alive. And when it finally crashes, there is no harsh impact. Only warmth. Only submersion. Rather than drowning, you are being claimed with saltwater that's sweet with myrrh. The darkness embracing you pulses with desire. Then, a voice envelops you.

"Come home."

It dribbles with honey-like promise, like a truth you've always known, whispered now from within your marrow more like temptation than a request.

"You are mine. You always were."

The voice offers purpose. Worship. Belonging. And when you wake . . . You wake changed, with a mask on your face you did not choose. Elegant. Sacred. Too important to remove. You have been given a gift. A new beginning.

Welcome home, new Vessels.


Sink Down Like Precious Stones

( content warnings: drowning, body horror )
Vessels awaken within the dreamscape as the black wave recedes from their skin like velvet falling off the bone, their masks in place over their eyes and left afloat in the watery expanse. All around them, the ocean stretches infinite and lightless— so still it mirrors the sky above, indistinguishable from the void. Far in the distance, massive obsidian walls curve inward, enclosing this vast seascape like a forgotten temple basin. And there, at the far horizon, one glow pierces the dark: a low-burning fire flickering within a half-sunken structure of impossible architecture— arched, ribbed, as though built from marble and cathedral glass.

This is a test, and it begins with belief.

Those with unwavering faith— whether in Sleep, another god, or even themselves— will find the surface beneath their feet holds firm. The sea becomes glass, and they may rise, and walk. But those adrift in doubt begin to sink. Precious stone creeps over their skin. Joints stiffen. Flesh cracks. Breath slows. It is not death, but it is close and might as well be hell. Your only salvation lies in your own conviction . . . Or the mercy of another Vessel who happens to walk.

Those who drown will not die. They will loop this moment— sinking, blackness, return, sink again— until belief takes root in some way. Alternatively, they may awaken in a later dreamspace . . . Changed.

NOTES:
• Pale white fish as well as glowing jellyfish may be encounted. The fish stare at vessels as they drown, and jellyfish may leave behind a shock that could temporarily stop the process of crystalization. But only temporarily— and their stings are excrutiating.
TOKEN EFFECTS:
• Magic becomes volatile— spells flicker, overcharge, or fizzle unpredictably when cast on or near the ocean.
• When you cast, your veins glow from beneath the skin, but not with light. It's writhing. Like something trapped under glass.
• When channeling magic, your mouth may fill with brine and blood.
OFFERING EFFECTS:
• The water responds emotionally— thrashing with fury or calming with yearning depending on the Offering's state of mind.
• The sea amplifies desire and instinct, making base emotions harder to suppress— rage, hunger, longing all churn just beneath the surface.
• The black water feels too warm, too alive, clinging to the body like memory; any stillness invites visions of Sleep's embrace, both reverent and consuming.


You Taste Like New Flesh

( content warnings: body horror, psychological horror, compulsion, unreliable reality )
The ocean path ends at a palace carved of pearl and spun silk, impossibly perched where water meets nothingness. Whether you have traversed the black sea on trembling feet or simply awaken seated at an impossibly long table, it makes no difference. You are here now, and welcomed, suddenly in attire fit for a gala. Around this table sit countless Dream-Vessels, many silent and still, faces unreadable in the flickering candlelight wearing generic, six-eyed masks. The table stretches beyond sight, arching beneath creeping vines that twist like ancient veins overhead, blooming with strange blossoms that beat with energy. Flames dance atop dozens of candles— some burn on brass holders, others hover, like fireflies caught mid-flight, their shadows flickering and shifting with an otherworldly rhythm. Around you, phantasmal forms shimmer on pedestals: Sleep's ancient Guardians are eternalized through memorial, monstrous and magnificent, lost to time yet enshrined in reverence. On the highest pedestal stands a still living One, silent and watching the feast with somber eyes. Sleep's voice whispers in your ear, encouraging a glance to, perhaps, see what you may become.

"Feast, My Dear Vessels. Until you taste like New Flesh."


The foods before you don not come unmeddled with. Each bite pulls memories from your bones to the surface— moments buried or erased, but these are not just yours. The banquet feeds on shared history, stirring secrets tangled between you and the others here. To eat is to open a door: to risk awakening something dormant, to invite others inside your buried truths, to forge bonds or betrayals that can never be unseen.
Eton Mess: Crushed meringue, tangled cream, and berries that bleed like bruises when bitten. Sweetness melts quickly, leaving your tongue cold. As you eat, a memory rises— but you don't experience it alone. The person nearest you sees what you see, hears what you hear, feels what you felt. Together, you can alter one key detail, and that change ripples outward, shifting how you both remember the event.

Deviled Kidneys: Spiced and seared, the metallic richness clings to your mouth, as if tasting old blood. Eating summons the echo of a painful or violent memory, but your partner experiences it with you.

Roasted Lamb in Mint Sauce: The sweetness of the meat is cut by mint sharp enough to sting the throat. Your act of consumption awakens a craving, but not in you— in the Vessel sharing this dish. They feel an inexorable pull toward your memory, even without knowing what they seek. The bond persists until the craving is confronted.

Honey Scouse: A thick, golden stew heavy with warmth, but beneath the sweetness, something cloying curls around the edges. Every shared spoonful spreads a slow, creeping influence between you and your partner: intrusive visions, subtle compulsions, small lapses in agency. Neither of you can tell whose thoughts belong to whom.

Starpit Fruit: Plum-sized and faintly glowing, the juice leaves your fingertips dusted in silver, like handling starlight. When bitten, the fruit releases the memory of a forgotten wish, not to you but to the person beside you. They see it clearly— and know exactly what you once wanted most, even if you had buried it.

Marigold Brandy: A golden spirit served warm, glowing faintly as though sunlight has been trapped inside the glass. When lifted, it releases a soft, floral scent. The first sip draws you and your partner into a shared burst of joy— a memory that makes you swell with happiness. The sensation is so immediate, so electric, that when the memory breaks, your bodies ache to move, to speak, to draw more positivity to light. You may feel an irresistible pull to get up and dance on the wide palace floors, even if no music is playing . . . And if others nearby drink as well, the effect multiplies.

Saints Breath Chalice: A dark, wine-thick cordial served in tarnished silver cups etched with symbols that shift when stared at too long. The liquid smells faintly of frankincense and something sweeter— blood-warm and alive. Drinking it floods you and your partner with the overwhelming sensation of being inside someone else's celebration, a memory that belongs to neither of you: a vast mass of black, with branching antlers and six, glowing red eyes. It reaches to sink its claws into your chest as she sings: One. Beloved. We were meant to be. It is impossible to tell whether you're witnessing joy or manic worship. There is chanting you cannot understand but somehow already know, drums that sync with your heartbeat until you can feel nothing else. Your limbs begin to twitch, then sway, then move without conscious thought, drawn into a dance you do not remember learning. If more than two people drink, your movements synchronize perfectly, your breath matching theirs, until the room seems stop to watch.

The table awaits.

NOTES:
• Feasting becomes addictive. The more a character eats, the harder it is to stop. Gluttony may cause physical consequences: nosebleeds, twitching fingers, warping speech, uncontrollable confessions, or dripping nectar from their mouths.
• Those who refuse to eat at all begin to starve in a dream-sense: they lose color, smell burning, and feel the weight of Sleep's gaze. Her wrath isn't immediate— but it grows the longer you reject the feast. She takes offense.
TOKEN EFFECTS:
• Each spell cast after eating releases parasitic energy— manifesting as flowers, thorns, parasitic insects or rot— either from their own body or from someone they recently touched.
• Casting warps your limbs temporarily: too many joints, fingers curl the wrong way, nerves burn like wires.
• Touching others leaves sigils burned into their skin. These will briefly carry over into the waking world during next month's event. Runecasters will get the innate feeling that this symbol has a meaning summed up as "The Night Does Not Belong To God". How they interpret that is up to them.
OFFERING EFFECTS:
• The act of devouring awakens an overwhelming desire, often physical, but sometimes emotional or spiritual. This desire clings to another Vessel at the table, creating obsessive attachment or aggression.
• The more they eat, the more their monstrous traits subtly emerge.
• Consuming another Vessel's memory (if shared or touched) grants a brief glimpse of their deepest fear or weakness.

There's Something In The Way You Lay

( content warnings: sexual content, voyeurism, body modification, omegaverse traits, loss of agency )
Beneath its pearlescent halls, beyond the banquet of flickering candles and dream-Vessels who eat in hollow silence, a spiral staircase winds downward. Its steps are damp and velvet-slick. The further you descend, the warmer the air becomes— humid, cloying, thick with the scent of sweat, salt, and incense. The sounds reach you first: Slaps, gasps, the wet chorus of bodies and perverse intimacy. Laughter, muffled sobs, the echo of whispered names long forgotten. At the base lies a corridor of "private" rooms. Their doors swing open with dreamlike invitation. Inside, the scenes unfold: past dream-Vessels lost in tableau— arched backs, bitten lips, mouths open in prayer or obedience. Some are alone, coiled in worship. Others tangle in groups, indistinguishable where one body ends and another begins. Vines bloom across the ceilings, watching. The walls glisten with breath. You see their faces, but you can't quite distinguish what or who they are. You may not remember choosing a role, but the dream has chosen for you. α or Ω— and with the naming, your body changes. There is no shame here, only devotion made manifest. This is how Sleep is worshipped now: through cruelty and surrender, through the giving and the taking of flesh.

NOTES
• Masks may optionally offer a sort of glamour for Vessels who wander into these chambers— they will not be able to recognize each other. How much of that, whether it be appearance, voice, and so on, is up to you.
• Past dream-Vessels perform for no one, eyes vacant, movements perfect, as if only a ghost of a memory. Player characters may interact with them and even partake in intimacy with them, but be warned: they are emotionally absent and may cause symptoms of succumbence that could be remedied with a proper, player-character tether.
• Tools hang on the walls: Rods of all sizes, slick with heat. Collars that hum with low, seductive voltage. Blindfolds that intensify physical contact, There's no need for cuffs or chains when there are vines that seem to respond to the α party's mood— tightening, flowering, or reaching for skin. You are free to come up with your own items.
α perks:: Instinctive claiming (done through biting, rubbing, branding, etc), an almost predatory focus and obsession for those who interest them, pack gravity (the ability to attract one or more vessels at once), emitting a scent that ignites heat/rut in others, darker urges surge and a commanding voice.
Ω perks: High pain tolerance, instinctive yielding, emotional synchrony with those being watched, self-lubricating, hypersensitive, scent tracking, intense need to please or be filled emotionally, physically, and spiritually. When touched, glowing runes bloom across the skin.
TOKEN EFFECTS
• Spells cast during acts of intimacy may provoke a heightened sensation of euphoria for both caster and whoever is affected by the spell.
• Magic may manifest as misty appendages— extra hands, tongues, eyes, etc.
• Divine energy becomes volatile when passed through the body— ecstasy may border on agony, or vice versa, and Tethering becomes impossibly euphoric.
OFFERING EFFECTS
• Flesh becomes malleable mid-act— bones bending, jaws unhinging, skin blooming open, etc.
• Animalistic traits emerge: tails, claws, growls, tentacles, scent glands— all begging to be used.
• Feeding and Tethering are indistinguishable— hunger becomes worship, and worship becomes need.

I am not worthy

( content warnings: body horror, violence, gore, parasitic/invasive feeding, death )
Wherever you are, the palace begins to rot. First slowly, then all at once: vines swell with black fluid, splitting at the seams. They burst from beneath marble tiles, coil up pillars, slither across frames and vacant thrones like arteries choking a heart. The candlelight flickers. One by one, the flames throughout the palace float upward . . . And die. No smoke. No warning. Just wet silence. Then the Dream-Vessels begin to fall. They do not scream as they do. They collapse like marionettes, limbs askew. Their flesh splits open along wounds that should not exist— a rip at the neck, teeth marks prying open the ribcage, a bite that swallows half a torso. Bones jut like sculpted ivory. Entrails slither across the floor like garlands. Some burst mid-air, as if the dream demands spectacle. Others fold in on themselves until all that's left of them is a mound of flesh.

"I am not worthy."


One voice. Ten. A thousand—layered, glitching, sweaty. It echoes from the walls, the bodies, the seams in the floor. The corpses twitch in time with the chant, jerking violently. Some snap backwards, eyes wide, jaws unhinged. Others explode— blossoming in gore, raining viscera. From the heaving pile of ruined Dream-Vessels, something forms.

It lurches into being: stitched from tongues, teeth, torsos. Weeping. Wailing. Worshipping. A monstrosity of raw flesh and faith: all failures made meat. Its eyes (are they eyes?) blink out. Arms claw outwards, too many to count. Its scent is of copper, sweat, and sorrow.

When The Abomination chooses to feed, it seeks not flesh, but the softest rot inside you. An appendage uncoils from its writhing mass and unhinged jaw— veined, slick, and trembling like a violated root. It drives itself into your mouth, splitting your lips with obscene tenderness, and sinks deep into your throat, locking you still.

What it draws out is not blood. It siphons your doubts, your fears, your most secret self-hatred. Your inadequacy. Every buried shame. Your hate. Your negativity. Every flinch of unworthiness. Every moment you believed yourself unlovable, unseen, too small. It gorges on what you hide from even yourself, and the more you try to resist, the sweeter your sorrow becomes. The last thing it takes is your life force, and then your viscera, leaving you wilted and shrivled like a hollow log.

This death is violating and feels painfully slow. You're drained raw of your vitality until you're but a brittle husk that breaks to dust in the wind. It seems near impossible to destroy, always reforming into bits and pieces left smudged behind. Perhaps your best bet it to run, or attempt to wake yourself up from this nightmare.

One's voice repeats in choked sobs: I am not worthy.

NOTES:
• Wounds from the beast linger. You may wake bleeding or marked.
• If devoured, characters will awaken the following month extremely fatigued during the first 3-5 days of the month. They may also sporadically rigurgitate black sludge. Characters who die and are already in the game may requesta plot clue, that will be a vision your character will dream of before awakening.
TOKEN EFFECTS
• Magic recoils violently when used on The Abomination, backfiring with psychic screams or ripping into your flesh.
• Your hands glow uncontrollably, burning what you touch— even those you love.
• Magic becomes hungry; it demands pieces of your body to function. A tooth. A nail. A rib (and so on).
OFFERING EFFECTS
• The rage it stirs in you is monstrous. You begin to shift uncontrollably— flesh blooms, bones crack under strain.
• Your body begins moving before you decide to. Twitching toward The Abomination, and toward the scent of despair.
• During the chaos, you may develop a fixation with another Vessel's flaw. You can smell it on them. It entrances you . . . To the point that you may feel the urge to feed them to The Abomination.



OOC NOTES

➤ Welcome to Somnia's second TDM, which doubles as our third gamewide event!

➤ This TDM is considered game canon. You are free to have your character remember as many details as possible.

Only new characters are free to experiment with the Vessel options to your liking; this is a dreamscape, so multiple/different situations for you to really test which option you like most is possible. Current characters must remain as their chosen Vessel type unless you requested a switch, which can be done on the Taken page.

➤ All TDMs take place within a dreamscape, meaning characters can interact with the setting without needing to apply. Come have fun with us!

➤ Veteran players, I ask to please refrain from making post-event threads for the time being! We have some important information to take into account in next month's event when characters are slated to "wake up". At the very least, please wait for the information to be offered on the next plotting post. Thank you everyone for your patience!

➤ Please comment on the TDM's INVITE TL if you are a new player interested in joining the game, but don't yet have an invite. Current players or the mod may reach out to extend an invite. Once you've got one, please don't forget to comment on the Invite page so you may properly link it in your reserve and app.

➤ Questions? Please direct them to the designated questions comment linked below!

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cursedvessel: (pic#17940991)

II. roasted lamb in mint sauce

[personal profile] cursedvessel 2025-09-11 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yuji's plate is piled high with anything in reach, and his hands alternate between spooning up another mouthful and adding additional portions to his plate. There's a deep persistent hunger that he can't seem to satisfy. He's never been this hungry in his life. Is this what people mean when they say someone's stomach is a black hole?

He's scooping up a bite of honey scouse when he catches movement from the corner of his eye. Instinctively, his free hand snaps out grabbing at the intruding hand reaching across his plate.]


Man, don't be rude. You could've just asked. As if I haven't noticed you staring at it.

[Yeah, he's been noticing his guy looking his way for a bit now, but it's clearly just for the roasted lamb on his plate. He's been devouring it quicker then most people could get a bite, causing Yuji to turn his plate so that the lamb is as far from the guy as possible.

But he hadn't been expecting this level of desperation. There is still plenty for him to eat while his table partner seems more limited. Feeling sympathetic, Yuji turns his plate back around, placing the lamb and mint sauce within reach.]


Go ahead, don't be shy now.
for_sake: (that's not it)

oh i Love this

[personal profile] for_sake 2025-09-14 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
( this reminds him so much of when ms kurebayashi grabbed his arm and, just like then, his shock is immediate. yoshiki breaks into a cold sweat, the shame creeping in while he feels properly scolded. okay, he had that coming, but he hadn't thought, or he'd thought it wouldn't matter much, or, or, )

Uh—I, uh...

( what did he think? what can he say now? he doesn't try to wrench out of the hold, though his fingers twitch, hand shaking more as he resists the craving set in him. )

Sorry, I— ( I'm not usually like this doesn't come out. what would it mean after the fact? what does come out is an unstoppable, ) I wasn't thinking. I don't know why I'm so hungry.

( but to be offered the food, for the plate to be turned to him; it's embarrassing that it's such a relief. were he in his right mind, he'd be ashamed enough to make himself sparse. instead, he stammers out his gratitude, accepts as if he'd never been stopped at all. this time, while rolling the meat in the mint, he addresses the other. his shame still tightens his throat but it's the least he can do. )

You're real nice. Do you, uh, ( a pause for a bite—now he despises that he can't control himself. it would disturb his as much as the oily black spreading from his irises into the whites of his sclera as he swallows, were he aware of it, ) I can grab something... More of that stew for you, to make it even?
cursedvessel: (pic#18079856)

[personal profile] cursedvessel 2025-09-29 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's a bit startling for Yuji to see the other boy's confidence collapse so readily. He had been expecting a little pushback, maybe, or a little embarrassment at being caught. Not for the boy to fold into a sweaty, shaking mess.

He releases Yoshiki's wrist gently, hoping that will help calm him down. He didn't think he had been teasing him too hard, still he tries to gentle his tone a bit when he next responds.]


Don't worry about it. No harm done.

[Remembering the spoon in his other hand, with a hearty scoop of stew ready to eat, he eagerly shoves it in his mouth.]

Ahhh...this is probably one of the best meals I've ever had. Definitely better then anything I've eaten recently.

[Scavenged non-perishables from half-looted shops don't really have the same flavor.]

That's okay. I'm still working on this plate of food. Maybe on my next round.
for_sake: (hmm)

[personal profile] for_sake 2025-10-08 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
( whatever yoshiki expected to happen, it wasn't being let off so easily. if he's this nice about it, how is yoshiki supposed to eat the lamb from yuji's plate without guilt? not that he has much choice. the dream's addictive effect pushes him to continue, though he's slower about it now.

but the other boy seems content. not offended. he settles, idly rubbing the fork in hand instead of his wrist. )


The best, d'you like this kind of thing?

( maybe it's because he's not familiar with this sort of banquet, but the meat and fruit—the seemingly endless amount of food, dream or otherwise—feels odd. even if he's not picky, there's too much sweetness, and whatever's not sweet tastes too much like… hm. then again, maybe this guy likes that sweetness?

though the last bit makes him curious. where yoshiki would trip over himself if offered another serving (he did), it seems like… )


Eating's not making you feel... weird?
cursedvessel: (pic#18079832)

[personal profile] cursedvessel 2025-10-16 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
To be honest I'm not sure what most of it is. But the things I've tried have been pretty tasty.

[The meal laid before them is extremely Western. But in a very high class medieval way. The amount of ingredients he can identify on sight is very little. But at the same time...this is a dream. What would it hurt to try some new dishes? And once he started he couldn't consider stopping. He's just so hungry.]

Weird? What do you mean?

[He stills, his spoon hovering in front of his mouth. It takes actual restraint not to just shove it into his mouth. But something about the boy's words makes him stop. Something that has been itching at the back of his mind, begging for notice.]
for_sake: all art by モクモクれん/Mokumokuren (done already?)

[personal profile] for_sake 2025-10-28 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
( the honesty strikes a good chord; a soft laugh slips out before he can stop it, so he feels the need to clarify—he doesn't want to double up on his bad first impression. )

That reminds me of someone. M'glad it's tasty, imagine if we couldn't stop eating and it tasted like crap.

( and that's part of what he means. he fixes that hovering spoon with a pointed look then stabs his fork into a new cut of meat, lifts it just the same. )

Y'feel it, right? Like you're only getting hungrier? And... wanting something, like...

( it's hard to put the craving into words, especially because he doesn't know it's for the food and something as abstract as a memory, but maybe he can demonstrate it. he offers his fork. )

Trade with me? Just a couple bites, I think it'll make sense this way.
cursedvessel: (pic#18079869)

[personal profile] cursedvessel 2025-11-05 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
[His gaze follows Yoshiki's down to his fork, still frozen in the air above his plate. A part of him wants to shrugs the boy's words off and keep eating. But the other part of him feels like he's being jolted awake and becoming aware of something that now seems obvious.

This doesn't feel...normal. Not the hunger. Or the strange flashes of images he's seen in his head. Or the brief yet strong pulls of emotion that didn't feel like his own.]


Yeah...I'm feeling it. How did I not notice until now?

[He doesn't expect to receive an answer. Mostly he just feels a little silly about how clueless he's been. Yuji eyes the offered fork with a little trepidation before shrugging and leaning over to take the bite off the fork. While Yoshiki's still holding it. He chews the meat carefully, bracing himself for...something. He doesn't even know what. The mint sauce burns a bit as he swallows.]

I don't feel anything yet. Aside from hungry. Maybe it takes some time to kick in.
for_sake: (!?)

[personal profile] for_sake 2025-11-19 08:46 am (UTC)(link)
( yoshiki had felt the same, baffled that he only realised after yuji had stopped him in the first place. the sympathy's short-lived, first because he's surprised yuji had no problem taking a bite while yoshiki was still holding the fork, then because there's something stronger now. more than the creeping visions, the lapses in control— )

...I'm feelin' it.

( —a craving, almost like the pull to keep eating but shifted to the boy himself. yoshiki's mind goes frantic, jaw tight with restraint, confusion, as he scans yuji from head to hands to head again. what does this craving want? it's not attention nor proximity, not even his food… wait.

yoshiki eats another bite of lamb then, with a rushed apology, he takes the uneaten bite of yuji's stew too, grimacing as he swallows. it reminds him of forcing down too-sweet chocolate on valentine's and, perhaps, that is the next intrusive vision. )


How about now? ( he drops his fork and tucks his hands under his legs. ) Anything other than hungry?