![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
January 2026 Event Plotting
Jan. 10th, 2026 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
singmodJANUARY 2026 EVENT
PROMPT ONE — SUNDERED PASS: The sun does not rise, and a new pathway is unlocked to Timberwolf Mountain: through the Sundered Pass.
SUNDERED PASS — CONTENT WARNINGS: themes of exploration/survival; potential injuries from rocks, potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk.
PROMPT TWO — THE GRAVEYARD: Interloper explore Bittermarsh Muskeg, and find an unusual graveyard of forgotten things.
THE GRAVEYARD — CONTENT WARNINGS: themes of exploration/survival; memory-sharing themes; potential disturbing scenes; dead bodies of humans, beings and animals; possible gore/decomposition;
PROMPT THREE — THE LAST RIDE: Interlopers come across a deadly steed and become potential victims of a watery grave.
THE LAST RIDE — CONTENT WARNINGS: malevolent mythical creatures, horse-creatures/kelpies; falling through ice, attempted drowning/possible successful drowning, potential character death; potential npc death.
SUNDERED PASS
WHEN: Mid-January, onwards.
WHERE: Milton Region, Timberwolf Mountain region.
Marra had once said that access to Bittermarsh Muskeg to the north was a treacherous journey, and often blocked off by the winter weather — even long before the lights went out. Now, the area is essentially cut off. The harsh, unforgiving weather has meant that the usual pathways have never revealed themselves. No thaw, no warm weather to allow passage to Timberwolf Mountain.
When Interlopers dream of Enola and the Darkwalker on the night of January 1st, a new pathway opens — even if it isn’t as obvious as first. The trembling of the world Interlopers wake to has been a shifting of the world: the mountains that envelope the Milton area crack and shift. Snow gives way, and a route lost to time is revealed: the Sundered Pass.
On January 14th, the first sunrise of the year is expected: those brief forty minutes of daylight to signify and end of the winter. Enola had warned you: The Darkwalker has been waiting, the solstice has only just come but it doesn’t intend for the light to return.
The sun does not rise, but lights can be seen to the east, growing closer to town: the flames of torchlights. Methuselah leads them, having found them in the wilds.
There are five, all women: four appear to be middle aged, one is no more than fifteen. They come to Milton, dressed in thick furs to protect them from the winter chill.
“They are natives from Mountain’s Watch.” Methuselah explains. “They say they have come through the Sundered Pass. It has been a pathway to the east long closed off by the quakes, but it seems the recent shifts have rendered it accessible.”
The women are fed in the Community Hall. They are exhausted from their journey, a couple of days traversing through the mountain pathways. They explain that while they are largely dependent on themselves, their trade routes with Silverpoint have been cut off for over two years now — making it difficult to get through the winters. Their numbers are low.
“There were others, but they’ve gone now.” the youngest tells you. “They went east with the one from here.”
They’re open to trade: they’ve brought caribou pelts and meats/jerky; cattail pollen flour; arrowheads made of bone skillfully crafted.
Methuselah looks at Interlopers carefully before offering: “If Enola is east, perhaps it is wise you travel there to meet her. Offer the people of Mountain’s Watch aid. You know only too well the hardships of this world, and how you have suffered in the face of it.”
After a few days rest, the women will depart to return home. Interlopers are free to go with them, journeying east towards the mountains that curve around the Milton region. They warn Interlopers to pack well: the journey is difficult and cold — climbing is involved. They will mark down maps for those who wish to venture forth at a larger date, advising the path is marked along the way.
The journey through Sundered Pass begins at a gorge between the mountains: a long, winding path that rises and falls through altitudes. In places, the space will open up, and travellers will have to climb and zigzag through the rocky ledges to pass through. The snow is thick and uneven in places, making it even more difficult to get through.
While sheltered from the worst of the weather, the tremors of the earth makes the rock tremble and can send broken pieces of rock tumbling down below. There are rest places here and there, overhangs and shallow caves where Interlopers can camp for the night. There are fallen trees remaining, ideal to use for fires to keep Interlopers warm through the night.
Coming out the other side of the mountains on the second day will reveal a mass expanse of open land and muskeg — dwarfed by the silent giant of a mountain to the north: Timberwolf Mountain. You see the small shapes of Mountain’s Watch up ahead, and with it: foreign and strange shapes of things dotted around Bittermarsh Muskeg.
THE GRAVEYARD
WHEN: Mid January, onwards.
WHERE: Timberwolf Mountain.
CONTENT WARNINGS:. themes of exploration/survival; memory-sharing themes; potential disturbing scenes; dead bodies of humans, beings and animals; possible gore/decomposition;
Bittermarsh Muskeg is an expanse of frozen muskeg that lies in the shadow of Timberwolf Mountain. The boggy pools differ in both size and depth, with some being marshy enough to sink an unsuspecting traveller into knee-deep frozen peat and others being several metres deep. While frozen over, the sections of pools are not sturdy ice and you may find yourself walking onto ice that cracks and splinters — sending you into the chilly water below. Sometimes it might be a better idea to take the long route and skirt the edges of the muskeg, where it’s far safer to travel.
While rugged and harsh, there’s a peaceful kind of beauty to the muskeg. Before the Flare, you could understand why people travelled here: teeming with wildlife, but a stillness too — the looming mountain above you.
They call Bittermarsh Muskeg ‘The Graveyard’ now.
You’ll have seen it as you first entered the region: the shapes of things in the distance — strange and out of place amongst nature. From Mountain’s Watch, these shapes become clearer, but seem to make no more sense. The people of Mountain’s Watch keep well away from these shapes, but they mention one from the Mainland who can often be found out there. The objects out on the muskeg disturb them, and they don’t seem keen to scavenge through — although they can hardly be blamed, considering how disturbing the scene is.
Throughout Bittermarsh Muskeg lies the remains of various things: objects and beings that were once living things, now dead, and their remains left behind.
Some of the things found are huge: sections of buildings from different points in time: the corner walling and windows of a Georgian townhouse; broken columns that one would find from a temple in Greece; the front door and mantle of a library. They lie in a heap, scattered across and half-sunk in the muskeg: brickwork warped and strange. There are smaller objects: vehicles, vessels, aircrafts, broken and useless in the snow and bog — warped and half-melted, rusting in the silence.
Among the buildings and objects lie the remains of both humans and animals alike — in varying states of completion and decomposition. Fortunately the cold keeps the rot away, and the remains are well preserved, half-mummified by ice or the peat from the muskeg. But Interlopers can find bodies of people, wide ranges of animals from whales to domesticated animals. They can also find remains of strange, otherworldly creatures — some of them no more than bones and frozen skin or scales.
But it is not just physical things that lie scattered across the muskeg. Throughout the Graveyard lie whispers and glimmers: ghostly visions of brief moments in time. It might be a simple, mundane thing: someone turns away, someone walking; an argument between friends, an embrace between lovers. Each of them on loop, playing over and over again for a time before they fizzle out, lost. Some of these moments you might recognise as moments from your own life: a few seconds of yourself, with a loved one. Tiny moments, significant and insignificant. Memories colliding between worlds. There for a few moments, then gone.
It’s not just yourself you can see in these moments, but moments from Enola can be found in amongst the ruin of the muskeg — sporadic instances throughout her life:
You see her as you recognise her now, but before her face was injured. Her face is grave, apprehension lingers. She turns to someone unseen: “I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”
As a child, she sits, clicking clumsy fingers to make them ignite with flames. She is barely seven, her eyes are wide and afraid. But there is wonder here, too.
Another, she is even younger. She sits with two boys, who you recognise as the Barker boys. The boys bicker as they fish. Enola is silent and sad as she watches them.
As a woman, she bites down her pain as she tends to a wife bite on her arm. She works with shaking fingers to clean the wound and stem the bleeding. The wolf lies dead, she pays it no mind.
As a teenager, she stands awkwardly in borrowed black clothes in the churchyard. The funeral is done. Methuselah puts his hand on her shoulder in comfort. Enola doesn’t cry, only looks down. “Where am I gonna go now?” she asks. Her lips do not move.
Another as a child, she kneels in snow in a stun, coughing and choking. Above her, a woman stands holding her arm, injured as she dry heaves: ... what did you do, Beatrice?! What did you do?! You have heard this voice before, in a dream, and now as you see her — you feel this woman is very familiar to you.
All these moments, all these relics. Held in this place. More questions.
THE LAST RIDE
WHEN: The month of January
WHERE: Everywhere, particularly near bodies of water.
The Northern Territories are home to many members of the Cervidae family: moose, deer, caribou — a good choice for the hungry Interloper looking to capture a decent bounty of meat. Interlopers these days are well accustomed to the sounds: their calls, how they flit through the woods. Given how long it’s been, hearing a different kind of animal may initially draw confusion.
Off in the distance, you hear the soft whinnying and snorts of a horse.
It’s hard to say just where a horse might have come from. Maybe it belongs to another Inteloper, because it’s not unheard of for Interlopers to bring animals from their words here. Curiosity gets the better of you, and you go in search for this mystery horse.
And you’ll find it, soon enough — snorting and stomping one of its feet at the water’s edge, trying to press at the ice.
At a glance, it looks like any ordinary horse. No saddle or reigns. But the horse will appear and behave to Interlopers depending on the Interlopers. It might come across as a favoured colour of coat or pattern — maybe a horse you once owned, or a horse you liked in a movie or TV show. Even the breed itself may differ: some Interlopers come across a warm-coloured Thoroughbred, or a powerful Shire. It might even appear as a Shetland Pony. Its behaviour towards you also differs depending on the Interloper. It might be skittish, or playful. It may be calm, just patiently watching you when it realises you are close.
However it appears: congratulations, you’ve just found a horse.
The horse will warm to you, with even the most aloof horses finally coming around. But however long it takes, the horse will seem to invite you to be close to it. To even climb on to ride it — maybe there’s a nearby trunk you can use to help get you on, or you could just hop on and try for the best. Either way, the horse is patient enough to wait for you. It seems relatively well-trained, and will even listen to your directions as you try to maneuver it towards civilisation. A horse could be pretty useful, for travel or for tasks back in Milton.
Until it decides it’s no longer listening to you and it bolts: back towards the direction of water.
Whatever body of what you might find yourself by, a river or pond or lake or muskeg, or even the sea itself — the horse gallops in the direction of it and onto the ice. You realise, as you hang on and try to correct the animal that the beast is no usual horse. The beast’s fur shifts into a mottled green-grey; pale and wet and sticky. It’s mane (perhaps the only thing you could hold on to) shifts from hair into thick clumps of ragged, wet reeds. You’re seemingly stuck to this creature, and it’s taking you straight for one thing: the water.
As the ‘horse’ moves onto the frozen water, the ice begins to crack beneath you — pings echoing in the air, sharp snaps as the surface begins to give way. The beast bears down hard, its hooves driving into the ice to break it and the ice finally gives way — slowing down as it begins to sink into the water, and dragging you with it.
Soon enough, you’ll find yourself submerged in the waters, stuck to the beast and slowly sinking down into what will be your watery grave. The beast plows onwards, breaking ice as it goes — and you can’t help but feel you’re stepping into your death in slow motion.
Perhaps you might have a friend close by. One who might be able to carefully brave the fragile ice to rescue you. There are ways to stop the beast from killing you, at least.
And after that, the beast will vanish — leaving you to flounder in the frozen waters. Pray you were in the shallows, and you might find yourself reaching a watery end still — or fall victim to hyperthermia.
FAQs
1. Timberwolf Mountain is now unlocked! The areas page will be updated to show the new details of the new area.
2. Players are free to ask for more information from the women of Mountain's Watch if they wish.
(tba)
1. This creature is based off of Kelpies, a creature of folklore who would lure weary travellers and then drag them to their watery graves.
2. Many of the typical ways to defeat kelpies can be used: they are susceptible to iron and silver, along with religious iconography/symbols. Bridling the creature while its transformed into its true self will also stop the creature from its course of action.
3. Players cannot keep the kelpies. Sorry.
