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outofsticks2025-10-30 02:33 pm
sticksandbonesmods) wrote in outofsticks2025-10-30 02:33 pm
Entry tags:
PAST LIFE PLOTTING: THE LONG OVERDUE 5TH
Once upon a time, in the continent of Ostorn, there was a town called Haven. After a deadly plague had ravaged the lands, a man decided to strike out and pave a new trade route to cities barred by a lack of roads and an abundance of natural blockades...
Welcome to our newest past life plotting toplevel! Sticks and Bones is a setting where player characters are the reincarnations of previous residents of the town that Aldric founded within the woods as a midway stop between cities on his new trade route. The continent of Ostorn and the world of Sticks and Bones is a magical land inspired by the Tales of series, among other games. Below in the comments are some explanations, locations and pre-existing NPCs who can be referenced!
Players with dropped characters are encouraged to include their dropped characters if only for potential backstory purposes for others, but it is not a requirement.
While we don't want to restrict things a lot, we must ask you keep the following in mind!
When you're ready, please use this form and then tag out!
Name: it u
Place of Birth: where u from
Reasons for Joining the Grove: why u here
History: whahappun
Role: what u doin
Looking for: what are you most interested in having for your past life cr?
Wants and Wishes: anything else!
Welcome to our newest past life plotting toplevel! Sticks and Bones is a setting where player characters are the reincarnations of previous residents of the town that Aldric founded within the woods as a midway stop between cities on his new trade route. The continent of Ostorn and the world of Sticks and Bones is a magical land inspired by the Tales of series, among other games. Below in the comments are some explanations, locations and pre-existing NPCs who can be referenced!
Players with dropped characters are encouraged to include their dropped characters if only for potential backstory purposes for others, but it is not a requirement.
While we don't want to restrict things a lot, we must ask you keep the following in mind!
- Although this is a magical setting where plant-animals and beasts like the Guardians exist, characters must be human in their past life, with few exceptions. Please speak to the mods if you feel something else is better for your character.
- The level of technology was a bit skewed, but largely it was very basic electricity that just... happened to be magic. Light bulbs, the magic of indoor plumbing.
- Speaking of magic, while there are forms of magic such as enchantment and standard RPG mechanics, the Celestial magic that's been included in the game plot is not open to characters in their past lives.
- You are more than welcome to include new locations or expand on current ones, though if it is noted to reach out to a specific player about it, please do that. Ostorn is a large continent, and there is an even bigger world out there.
- The Goddesses are known, but very distantly as ancient history. Religion depends on the region, but Guardians, being demigod animals, are frequent objects of worship.
- Your past life should not be a 1:1 parallel to your current life! Things change, situations change, and the new reincarnations got off very badly actually.
When you're ready, please use this form and then tag out!
Name: it u
Place of Birth: where u from
Reasons for Joining the Grove: why u here
History: whahappun
Role: what u doin
Looking for: what are you most interested in having for your past life cr?
Wants and Wishes: anything else!
LOCATIONS
HAVEN
ROSEROOT
THE MORAIS DUCHY
THE CRESCENT ISLANDS
THE EMERALD SEA
POLARIS LANDING
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EDEN
Players who were here for April 2025 may now know this city as "Neo Eden", a Cyberpunk 2077-style dystopia with zero greenery, zero qualms about using as much energy as possible no matter where it comes from, and that is now something of a surveillance state. Big Brother Is Always Watching.
SMALLER CITIES
SHIPTON:
ZALFARI:
OLD CARRAN:
PENDLETON:
MAJOR PLAYERS
QUESTIONS
wolfie's creature locker
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Place of Birth: Roseroot
Reasons for Joining the Grove: :') Mom's fault—
History: He and his mom and brothers were priests! Unfortunately I don't have normal art of his mom but this is his mom :) Probably assume she had the blue hair/face veil but was less monstrous. Very tall tho. Here is a brother, idk assume there are like 6 of these running around. They Probably all look different but the game provides me with One other angel okay :/ Whenever I have modern AUs I call this brother Almeric— so we'll go with that here. I feel like at some point I named the others but I can't find my names now.
Anyhoo, when I say his entire family were priests I mean it in a very Evangelical sense. These were not people you'd want to hang out around. They were from Roseroot and came here to Spread The Word Of God, meaning they were a) very posh and b) very stuck-up, so sorry to anyone who knew Ain between the ages of 10-18 he was very much An Asshole. It did not help that his mom, known by "Lady Ishmael", kept all of her children on a short leash and basically sequestered them in her house constantly (which she was trying?? to turn into a church dwbi). There was a lot of "those people outside are dirty / we don't associate with them / they must be brought to God's Light" type of Evangelical bullshit. Which, you know, a Smol Ain bought into and I'm sorry to say he was the most annoying motherfucker for many years due to this.
Good news is, Smol Ain would later snap out of this because he realised Boys Cute and maybe those people outside their walls aren't so bad. Unfortunately his mom and brothers were the type of people to boot his ass out for this, you may insert other religious homophobia overtones here because I am not writing them down but it was Bad Enough that Ain was very self-hating for quite a while. In the end he wound up couch-surfing and probably had a lot of sordid gay rendezvous behind buildings and in the woods, especially in his twenties.
He was very much the "I'm trying to avoid my entire family while they try to form a cult" kid. He probably had 300 crushes and this was known about him... near "the end" we'll call it, he picked up music and gardening and finally started to be happier with himself. He still did not have a house. He did have a cute little baby crush on Ezell, and Ezell was one of the ones who would comfort him when his mother was acting, uh, Like That. However, he didn't confess until it was too late, by leaving an ominous note that essentially read, "I feel like my mother's going to do something. I don't know why. But if I die, it's her fault. I love you, I hope I'll see you soon."
As for his death, it was swift and merciless; his freak of a mother thought the sudden apocalypse was Great and had his brothers grab him and offer him as a sacrifice to a monster. It's okay, they died soon after, all is right (?) with the world.
Role: After abandoning being a priest and giving into the sin as mom would call it, he took up singing, and would often be seen gardening. No tailoring for him in this past life, that's for future-Ain to figure out. He wasn't really trying to make it big so much as just find something he loved. ...and then he died before he could figure himself out totally so oops.
Looking for: I'm down for pmuch anything. Bandmates, romance arcs, couches to surf on, people to shake the religion out of him...
Wants and Wishes: Right now I am looking for like:
- A semi-permanent residence, or an alleyway for him to sleep in
- A little more romance in his stupid baka life, if anyone wants an Ain to think ur cute (other than Ezell anyway).
- More cultists to bully him?? More reason to have him be Sacrificed by his freak-ass mother??
PLOT WITH AIN
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PLOT WITH FLAMEBRINGER
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PLOT WITH VIL
kaed's critters
Joshua (info)
Place of Birth: The Grove
Reasons for Joining the Grove: He was born here!
History: Caleb and his fraternal twin brother, Jacob, were both born in the Grove. Jacob was born first and thus was "older", while Caleb was born second. Caleb was also born fae-touched, and from a very young age was able to see things that no one else could see, not even Jacob. The twins spent a lot of time running around in the woods, and Jacob often fought off the things that Caleb could see, even though he couldn't see them himself.
As the twins grew older, Jacob went off to join the guard, and Caleb - who was not cut out for the guard - drifted toward tending the library. He also became the town's telegraph operator, having picked up an affinity for the machines, and helped to more easily relay messages between towns.
When the town began to fall, Caleb had retreated back to their family home, helping his father shutter the doors and windows. Jacob was able to eventually make it back to the house, but he died in front of Caleb while protecting him from the monsters. Caleb's parents also succumbed to the monsters right in front of his eyes. In a last ditch effort to call for help, he retreated to send out a telegram to the next closest town. Unfortunately, the monsters broke down the doors and killed him before the entire message could be sent, so whoever received it - if anyone - only received a frantic "SOS SOS SOS".
Role: Librarian and telegraph operator.
Looking for: Friends, romantic interests, anything!
Wants and Wishes: holds my hands out gimme
Joshua (plotting)
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Vesper's lil guys
Pavlova Cookie
Place of Birth: Haven
Reasons for Joining the Grove: A series of unfortunate events.
History: Kallias was born and raised in Haven. He was a smart, if mischievous and restless boy, rarely sitting still. He had a fascination with magic so when he finished his basic studies, he studied under Seamus, often taking extended time away from his master to look into something that required travel and taking his notes and findings back to Seamus for peer review. On his return from one of these trips, he found his master had left for Aldric’s Grove, and worried for his master, followed after him to assist.
Role: Seamus’s assistant! Probably did some magic mischief on the side. He also was the one to go to for relationship gossip.
Looking for: Friends and acquaintances for Pavlova! Kallias serves as foreshadowing for Pavlova’s true form. And regaining memories from him will allow him to feel less like an outsider here.
Wants and Wishes: This is just a general outline rn, but I'm up for him having friends all over, and different relationships if desired. Kallias would be in his late 20s early 30s
Pavlova Plotting
Aira Shiratori
Aira Plotting
Aspen's Assholes
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Name: Kyojuro Rengoku
Place of Birth:Middle o' fuckin' nowhere, probs
Reasons for Joining the Grove: Duty/Love LMAO
History: Historically, the Rengoku family has been a group of traveling swordsmen, well known in the Crescent Islands. However, at a young age, Shinjuro Rengoku left the islands, preferring to not lord over others with his skills, but actually put it to use. It wasn't long until he met Ruka Rengoku, a skilled medic who took one look at this scraggly, bleeding man and had to put him back together. Between Shinjuro's strict honor code and Ruka's high levels of empathy, their two sons, Kyojuro and Senjuro, would grow up to be well-rounded and talented young men in their own right. While Kyojuro would naturally follow in his footsteps and learn the techniques of their family, Senjuro thrived under Ruka's tutelage. Together, their family served as a roaming band of bodyguards for those that might need it. Unsurprisingly, the expedition to Aldric's Grove caught their attention, and they would gladly accompany the first foray into the unknown. At the time, Kyojuro was around 25 years old.
Along the way, Kyojuro would quickly fall in with Hakuji, not only another skilled medic providing aid to the expedition, but also a talented martial artist. The two got on amazingly, and by the time the Grove was on its way to no longer needing a group of glorified mercenaries to watch over them, they were fast friends. Kyojuro, admittedly, had his own interest in Hakuji, but given his engagement to Koyuki Soyama, he assumed nothing would come of it. Despite being encouraged by Hakuji to stay (or perhaps outright begged, he would reluctantly return to Haven on what he assumed would be his last assignment for the Grove — informing Hakuji's father of the safety of the town, and arranging the man's travel back.
Well, that was what was supposed to happen, at least. However, after some gentle encouragement from both Hakuji's father, as well as his own family, Kyojuro would personally escort Hakuji's father back to the Grove and, in the end, settle down with the soon-to-be Soyama family.
Eventually, the combined family would settle into a relatively small, multi-building dojo. Yes, Hakuji, Koyuki, and Kyojuro were all three married. Fight me on this.
With the guard well-established, Kyojuro ultimately wound up putting down his sword and settling into work as a teacher. Though he largely preferred history, given the initial lack of educators, he fell into a general studies role pretty quickly. In his free time, he helped out at the Soyama Dojo, performing various tasks around the facility and offering lessons of his own from time to time.
Being that they were part of the initial wave to arrive, Kyojuro and the Soyama's were significantly older by the time everything went down. The combined Rengoku-Soyama family went down swinging in an attempt to spare the Grove. Senjuro was the first to die of the bunch, proving to be a devastating blow to Kyojuro. Stunned as he was, he failed to notice he was being corrupted until it was too late. The now corrupted Kyojuro then turned on his family.
In the ensuing duel between Hakuji and Kyojuro, the former tried desperately to both bring his husband back to his senses, and also avoid injuring him in any permanent way. In the end, Hakuji would be killed by a blade through the solar plexus, left to bleed out and watch as Kyojuro went on to attack the rest of the village.
Koyuki, notably, was the last to die of the family, but I'll make Weasel talk more about that one. 8)
Role: Swordsman/Teacher/General Handyman
Looking for: Mostly friends and students at the moment! Did he help teach yours how to use a sword? Did he teach you the initial history of the expedition? Did he fail your kiddo? Did he murder you in his corrupted state? Or were you the one to bring him down?
Wants and Wishes: Help make him blissfully happy so we can laugh at how badly things went to shit for him when he was resurrected. Or give him things to regret and lament when he gains PL memories.
Kyojuro Plotting :)
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June's little guys
Elder Faerie Cookie
Place of Birth: Zalfari
Reasons for Joining the Grove: since Zalfari was all about the sky, he grew up appreciating nature. he found what he was searching for in the Grove, companionship with others
History: Elden was in his late twenties when he first entered the Grove, looking for something fresh and exciting. He had never married, and was interested in traveling to different parts of the world while studying various forms of music. He came to the Grove hoping to find a good place to launch off of. What he discovered was an inspiring community thriving in the forest. He began treasuring the people there, and would go on long walks through the woods, finding it difficult to leave. He did travel, but he always returned to Aldric's Grove in between trips, rather than his original home.
He began collecting musical instruments as the Grove opened up exciting opportunities for trade. He started to collect so many and did not know how to play them all, so he set up a music shop to sell the instruments he purchased or traded for later. He also taught voice lessons there, for people who wanted to sing, or for those who just wanted to improve their diction/speech. He implemented rules and teachings he learned during his excursions.
Eventually, he settled down to fully run the store and create a family. He actually died in the store, huddled together with a friend or family member during the apocalypse.
Role: the music man, by which i mean he ran a music shop, where you could purchase sheet music, and instruments, and other objects to care for your instrument
Looking for: i'm interested in all types of CR for Elden! friends, rivals, enemies, family, lovers! he's a personable character who really likes other people. feel free to be his pal, or hate his guts idk i'm not your mom
Wants and Wishes: open to whatever, really!
plotting for EF
weasel's whumslies
Tex's past life; cw: human husbandry, vague allusions to poor parenting, some alcohol abuse
Place of Birth: Eden, probably
Reasons for Joining the Grove: Recruited to the Guard by Helputt
History:
Cutting this for the cws:
Alena was in her late teens when she was awakened. Her life before this is lost to her—she is an amnesia patient who has no recollection of her birth name or status. Her rescuer, Aldred Bethenn, adopted her and required her to finish school; she did have some knowledge that seemed to have come from having started her schooling, such as the ability to read and write.
The only indication of her previous activities was how incredibly fit she was. Her interests, indeed, aligned with being in law enforcement, and she joined the town's Guard as soon as she was able. She swiftly gained status and prestige as a member of the Guard, though her quick temper sometimes led to her having trouble outside of work. One night, unwinding at a bar, she was propositioned by a man who wouldn't leave her alone, and she broke a bottle over his head. This was considered misconduct and caused her to be demoted at work.
Alena became embittered and her conduct only became more unruly. She instigated another fight at a bar six months later, following a sex pest who was bothering another woman out with a knife, and the agency she worked for placed her on a short suspension. Helputt was told about her case when he visited Eden and asked her if she would like to join the Guard in the Grove, which would have a higher placement for her in its Guard. He also made the case that moving there would give her a clean break from her past and allow her to start fresh.
Indeed, this turned out to be true, and she quickly made Captain of the Guard in the Grove. However, a man came to the Grove who no one knew, in person or by reputation, and stayed in his room in the Inn for weeks. He made no effort to ingratiate himself to the community, simply coming down to the dining hall for meals and drinking himself under the table every night. Alena's agents were called several times to haul him up to his room, but one night he refused to go unless she came herself to take him up.
Surprised to learn he knew or cared who she was, she assented to do so. When she got him to his room her told her a story of her origins—he had had her bred to replace his wife, and as a rich man, he expected her to follow him back to Eden and marry him. Disgusted, she left him there and told the innkeeper she refused to ever return to deal with him, despite him prostrating himself and begging that he needed her to help him deal with his adult daughter.
Over a few days of deliberations, she decided that instead of returning to Eden with him, she would find out as much about the daughter as she could and bring her to live with her in the Grove. When she found the daughter, Cristini, the daughter was glad to be rescued from the life her father had built for her and leaves with Alena gratefully. Alena returned to the Grove and began a new friendship with Cristini, helping her become integrated into her new home.
Role: Captain of the Guard
Looking for: perpetrators of mischief who may have become embroiled in trouble with law enforcement, people who are ride-or-die ACAB (ACAB includes Tex, I am sad to say), anyone who has a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Alena just because she's a cop, drinking buddies, bartenders
Wants and Wishes: idk anything that has to do with the above!
plot with Tex pls pls
Jami's Freaks
Mayoi Ayase
Place of Birth: It's a Mystery! He walked out of the woods one day with no memory of how he got there, but it's possible his family was from the Crescent Islands originally.
Reasons for Joining the Grove: He just turned up one day as a child and got adopted. (His family had been traveling through the Fae Woods and got lost. His parents bargained with the fae to let Mayoi live in return for [??????]. Mayoi remembers none of this.)
History: No one is quite sure where Mayoi came from, only that he walked out of the woods one day, as a child, and never left. Any attempt to learn anything about where he was from who his family was went no where, but he seemed happy enough to live in the grove, and eventually he was taken in by Asher Kariv and his household.
As Mayoi grew older, his interest in singing landed him at the community theater, where he thrived as an actor, often encouraging friendly rivalries with some of the other actors. While he could be described as shy and reserved around strangers, when he was on stage he became a completely different person.
Eventually he came to love Mafuyu and would often sneak off to go see her behind the back of her tyrant of a mother. The entire Grove probably helped him do this. On the night of the catastrophe, Mayoi went to go and get Mafuyu so they could try and escape together only to find that her mother had killed her as a "mercy" before anything could befall her. Overcome with grief and anger, Mayoi kills her in return and then takes his own life.
Role: An actor in the community theater, maybe also sold some homemade crafts as a sidegig
Looking for: THEATER FRIENDS. People to help him sneak into Mafuyu's window. Shenanigans. Mayoi in his old life was way more outgoing and confident.
Wants and Wishes: OTA
Mayoi plotting.
Dipper Pines
Dipper Plotting.
Shadow Milk Cookie
Shadow Milk Plotting
Rubie's Dorks and Losers
Jude's characters!
Pure Vanilla
Place of Birth: Zalfari
Reasons for Joining the Grove: Ultimately, he traveled to the Grove to further his research in healing alignments that supposedly have little cure. After hearing rumors of the Grove having answers that he's sought after for some time, he decided to travel to the Grove in search of doing whatever he can to prevent history from repeating itself.
History: Despite spending his childhood helping out at his family farm, Philip took interest in medicine and healing. With the encouragement of both family and friends, he was able to begin research to even aid in even the most dire of situations for others.
Philip has a reputation of being welcoming to anyone who needs shelter, opening his doors to anyone who needs a helping hand -- whether it's a warm meal, or a bed for the night. Although the city he grew up in has a reputation for being positive, he only further aided in that with his gentle and encouraging demeanor.
However, at one point in time, things took a darker turn for Philip. With the research of one of his beloved partners and friends taking a turn for the worst. With one of their experiments backfiring, his friend grew deathly ill and despite all of his efforts, it had ended up causing their demise. For a while, he was withdrawn, blaming himself for what had happened to them. Why didn't he see it coming, and why hadn't he been able to help? If not for the encouragement of his friends, perhaps things would have taken an uglier turn for him. Despite that, it's almost become an obsession of sorts for him, and it's around that time when he started to hear murmurs of what may be waiting for him at the Grove.
Role: He's helping wherever he can.
Looking for: I'M STILL VERY NEW HERE PLEASE COME AT ME WITH ANY IDEAS... i'm literally open for anything and everything.
Wants and Wishes: I would really just love a chance to get more CR with PV here!!
Pure Vanilla plotting.
asters assortment
astrid
Place of Birth: Grove
Reasons for Joining the Grove: what does a land once plagued by plague need more than another mortuary/funeral parlor for a new town?
History:
•his parents traveled to the Grove because they'd heard good things and wanted a change of pace and no competition
•they run the town mortuary and funeral parlor
•he's training to take over when his parents want to retire
•he felt very pressured by expectations by his parents
•tended to be a bit shy and introverted because he didn't get to go out much and hang out with people his age, or really even alive people a lot, and people tended to think his area of work was WEEIIRRDDD
•shortly before he died, he seriously disappointed his parents by telling them he didn't want to keep being groomed for this role instead of getting to figure out what HE wanted to do with his life
•the parlor caught fire during all the chaos and while astrid got out, his parents did not
•unfortunately it didn't really matter he got out because he got killed by monsters anyways ✨
Role:
• mortuary's assistant
• can tell you the difference between a coffin and a casket
Looking for: friends! people to crush on from afar! siblings?
Wants and Wishes: don't know yet! this is still wip for fleshing out
astrid plotting
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firefly
firefly plotting
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Joey
Min-Gi Park
Place of Birth: Polaris Landing
Reasons for Joining the Grove: They came across it on their travels and ended up sticking around.
History:
Min and Ryan grew up in Polaris Landing, a small riverside settlement in the north. Although they remain the same age they do not share a birthday. They've still known each other since childhood and in this universe actually got their act together and have been dating since their teens. This same date happens to be their birthday in their reincarnation! Min-Gi was and is close with his family, but due to its small size and its only real access being by ferry it's common for people to leave to pursue new careers and opportunities. Both Min and Ryan always dreamed of being musicians, and left pretty much as soon as they were old enough.
They did okay! They travelled for a while, playing in whatever towns they found themselves in before moving along again. It wasn't always easy, but so long as they could play music together they were happy. This only changed once they arrived in the Grove. Travelling had been exciting, but settling down somewhere had its perks too. They could still make music, and without moving from one town to the next they could land work more reliably.
Despite having been together so long and being practically inseparable, the two are in their late 20s by the time they decide it's time to propose. They both had rings and were ready to surprise each other, but ultimately never had time to officially ask the question.
Some Min things:
- Min has an interest in unusual instruments, particularly those with complicated or revolutionary mechanics.
- He's an only child in both lives. In his previous life he (mostly secretly) kind of wishes he wasn't.
- He's great at navigation, and although he much prefers to travel in the day he's particularly good when using the stars. He knows all the constellations, and even uses a few that he and Ryan made up when they were young.
Role: MusicianLooking for: Friends! Presumably there were people to keep them in the Grove after they first arrived. Relationships with venue owners would also be pretty good considering their vocation.
Wants and Wishes: ???????
Min-Gi (Plotting)
Cy
Cy (Plotting)