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cetana2020-01-01 12:34 pm
[OPEN] 1/1: Personal Shadow Event
premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation
→ PART ONE: REAL WORLD
On the morning of January 1st, someone wakes up in Akira Kurusu’s bed. It’s not Akira Kurusu. It looks exactly like him, talks with his voice, reads as him at a cellular and spiritual level on any supernatural or mundane tests. But it’s not Akira Kurusu.
During the daytime of the 1st and 2nd, he calls in sick to whatever work obligations he may have that day, and then leaves. On the first day he heads into town, making a point to avoid any other Persona-users he sees. There is definitely some picking fights with villagers who offend him, which is not unusual for Akira as of late, and the NPCs will complain to each other and the Persona-users about that awful boy with the glasses. On the second day, he will instead fuck off willingly into the ice-cold wilderness, looking around the mountains.
Things get worse during Lockdown. Both nights, the Nasty Crimeboy can be found skulking around town during Lockdown instead of in the dungeons like usual. He’s deliberately being stealthy and covering his tracks, even though the only people who are here to see him are a bunch of children who collectively share three brain cells, and Rio. On the first night he breaks into shops and takes their inventory, ostensibly for the purpose of obtaining things he needs that the villagers refuse to sell to him. Seamsters are missing a few winter garments, blacksmiths are down a pair of very high quality daggers and a sword, and the one gun shop in town is missing some of its stock of ammo — some for handguns, but some for other kinds too, so it’s not immediately apparent who took them. If someone checks Akira’s car in the Velvet Room after Lockdown, however, they will find the stolen goods hidden in various spots there.
Sometimes he gets in… other places. On the second night, both the mayor’s house and the police station are broken into. The mayor’s house is almost comedically simple to enter, because he has very little in the way of home security, and what he does have is completely useless during a Lockdown where he’s not physically there. Either way, the Crimeboy mostly takes any cash he can find from the mayor as well as valuables that could be inconspicuously sold to the shady folks who peddle phosphorus.
The station is unfortunately better protected, so eventually the Crimeboy realizes he has little option but brute force — so he locates the police chief’s office from the outside, and uses Mara to smash a hole in that wall. (The crash can be heard by any Persona-using prisoners who happen to be in the station at this time.) The next morning, the chief’s office looks like a tornado came through it. All cash and valuables either stolen or destroyed, all locked drawers or containers picked open, and so on. The chief’s desk has had everything knocked off of it onto the floor, and the word ROTTEN is carved deeply into the top of the wooden desk.
After Lockdown on the morning of January 3rd, the boy is nowhere to be seen or detected. You start to think that maybe something is wrong.
→ PART TWO: METAVERSE
School dungeon, third floor.
The entire floor is still on fire, but now there’s a new reason — lightning bolts. There is no rain; they just come down from the smoking skies. They strike environment, Persona-user, and Shadow alike, and become more and more frequent as you approach the palace. Some of the Shadows and FOEs are now on fire, having been struck by the bolts; their HP is lower, but their Attack is higher, and every hit has a chance of additional Fire damage. Any semblance of order that the FOEs may have had is gone, and they are now running around and attacking indiscriminately.
KOPPA TENGU
Type
Shadow Resists
Wind Weak
Dark
Curiously enough, none of the other Shadows or F.O.E.s pay them much attention...
A Tengu mask and a blank scroll can be collected as loot.
CHIMERA
Type
F.O.E. Null
Fire, Light Weak
None
Their physical strength is tremendous and a single swipe of their mighty paws or talons will surely knock out anyone who hasn’t been keeping up with their training. They are unaffected by fire or light-based attacks and they have no weaknesses. If a Chimera is on fire, its HP is not reduced at all, but its Attack is still higher and there’s still a chance of burn if it hits you. You might be strong enough to take them on, but these things are no joke…
Even from a distance, it becomes obvious that the palace is also on fire. Lightning strikes this building more than anywhere else. The gates around the palace have transformed, each stake now looking like the ribcage bone of some giant creature curling out from the ground. The gate itself hangs open and unattended.
There’s smoke pouring out of the palace windows, and the tallest tower has fallen off, lying in a blazing heap in the courtyard below. Investigating this tower will take you to the empty boss room where the Daitengu used to be, but there’s nothing of note there. The front entrance of the palace itself is clearly where you need to go; forget about sneaking in the side, because the front doors have transformed into an accursed portal, the strange obsidian-like material creeping into the stone walls like a virus.
Upon entering, the interior of the palace has changed drastically, and there’s nowhere to go but down. There is only one spiral path apart from a straight drop down the middle; it’s a very long one that leaves you in an indefensible position, and hiding in the darkness, the tobi tengu are all waiting to ambush you from land and air. Sometimes if you look over you can see their eyes staring from within a spinal column.
TOBI TENGU
Type
Shadow Resists
Light, Wind Weak
Ice
It doesn't attack characters directly. Instead, it uses its mini-versions to cast a wide range of status ailments that either causes team members to fight among themselves or hinders their progress, such as sleep, confusion, charm, or rage. After you are incapacitated, it will rush in with Dark-based attacks, but as soon as you are able to snap out of your afflictions, it will retreat and send its minions to immobilize you and your team once more.
A Tengu mask and magical healing leaves can be collected as loot. The masks they wear and drop are different than normal, but Crow’s is by far the most common.
If you can make it past all the birdfolk and ominous skeleton imagery, you’ll reach the bottom, where that awful orange glow comes from. It’s a vague approximation of Tokyo, where the sky is searing orange and all of the buildings are built out of that same black and red-veined obsidian material. There are giant bones sticking out of the ground and snaking through buildings, reaching up into the sky, some of them even taller than the full size skyscrapers around them. Somewhere in this hellhole, if you search for long enough, you’ll find a boy in a long black coat…
→ PART THREE: NOTES
⬥ ICly, this dungeon appears on January 1st, and one way or the other the event will conclude by the 5th, though of course you can backtag and fit things into this span of time.
⬥ There are certain conditions that must be achieved for this event's good ending. Failing to meet these conditions will not result in Akira's ego-death; rather, it will result in Joker becoming a permanent fixture of the game.
⬥ Since Joker and Akira share a body, any damage Joker sustains will of course affect Akira long-term as well. Killing Joker is not recommended.
⬥ The Nasty Crimeboy will be evasive and try to get out of all conversations with others as quickly as possible, but if you would like to speak to him, let me know and we can set up a toplevel.
⬥ Ganba, everyone.
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Akira's problems are his own to work out, in Ala's opinion. But he needs his friends, people who will support him- just by being there for him even if and especially if they don't understand. It's the being there that's important. Not doing and saying exactly the right thing, because there's no such thing, so even if they die today, Akira won't forget that they came and were there for him, and it'll matter. ]
Let's go.
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[Toki's glad Ala is here to help, though some human concepts are hard for her to comprehend. Maybe together with Sandalphon, they can at least get Joker to listen for a minute. He dismisses Joroko for the ride, so Sandalphone has one less person to carry.]
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[Even flying low, Sandalphon has to be well above most of the buildings of Tokyo owing to its size.]
Where did you last see him? Would you remember the surroundings from this angle?
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But she can at least direct them as close as possible before that happens. ]
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[This is mostly for Toki's benefit, so that he can have Joroko to cover for him if Joker decides to target the blind one.]
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[Toki thinks he is anyway. He doesn't expect to be attacked, because Joker did nothing before. He thinks they can have a conversation, though maybe with some raised voices. He is naive and stupid, but he will summon Joroko the moment they land.]
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[They approach the ground to find Lucifer waiting, gun drawn. Joker is nowhere to be seen, but the fallen angel glares contemptuously at the radiant one and its charges.]
SO. THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN. YOU HAVE BROUGHT IT BACK HERE TO BOLSTER YOUR OWN COURAGE.
[The horned Persona looks up at Sandalphon's face, and then down at Toki and Joroko, and then at Ala (wherever she is). With a few wingbeats, he starts to rise above the ground.]
SANDALPHON MAY KEEP YOU ALIVE. BUT KNOW THAT YOU WILL NEVER WIN.
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Leave us alone! We came back to talk to Akira! So he can find his own courage!
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Y-yeah! There's no winning! We just want to talk to Akira, and you I guess...
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UNTIL THAT TIME COMES, THERE ARE OTHERS TO TAKE THE BURDEN, AND NONE OF THOSE OTHERS STAND BEFORE ME NOW.
YOU ARE UNWANTED AND UNNEEDED HERE -- LEAVE.
[Lucifer swings its massive silver gun, and the grip of the barrel changes into a hilt. Apparently the gun is also a sword. Who knew?]
[There's a clink of metal against metal as Sandalphon moves to draw its own weapon. It does not remove the blade from the hilt just yet, but it's ready.]
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Let Akira make that decision— maybe he doesn't need us, but we can at least be there to support him. We want to be here! It's com— communism? No, comm... um. [ She turns to Toki. ] That thing in science where one side gets better and the other side doesn't change. What's that called? It's like that.
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[This is what Toki assumed there purpose has been, to bring all of Akira's pieces together and then he can figure it out. He's stopped from saying anything else, or consulting Joroko for opinions, because Ala's question baffles him.]
One side of what gets better?
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[Somewhere in that booming, monstrous voice, there's the judgmental sound of Lucifer hammering X to doubt. He honestly cannot believe the gall of these little shits, inviting themselves into the whole affair and then showing up with Sandalphon in tow — and they can't even come up with a decent appeal for why they should be here. Communism? Come on.]
[Behind them, Sandalphon urgently cuts into the conversation:]
Discuss this later!
[It will do its best to provide healing and rezzes, but because its stats are noticeably lower than Lucifer's and I don't really want to write both halves of whatever fight this turns out to be, it doesn't do more than that. The offensive front is going to have to be Joroko, Toki, and Ala.]
[Meanwhile, Lucifer is brandishing its sword, and lunging down at Toki. Not Joroko, Toki.]
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Who will call the retreat, if she's smart. ]
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Joroko is weak and her only decent spell is Psycho Blast, which she will spam at Lucifer until it works or she's run out of steam. A Makajamaon follows just in case, but it apparently sucks for one person, as 45 proved in Rei's dungeon.]
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[Joroko is welcome to keep spamming Psycho Blast, because it doesn't seem to do much at all. Lucifer keeps plunging, and pushes out his sword in front of him; if it hits Joroko or Toki or both, that matters little. Lucifer wants to see if they can even live through one hit, and if Sandalphon can keep up Samarecarms with its severely diminished MP pool.]
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[ Ala is not fast. It's her weakest stat and she still has her base stats, so she can't turn herself into a dragon and fly Toki over to Joroko or do any sort of hand off like that. All she can do it turn to smoke and let him drop, trust Joroko to catch him in a web with the warning while Ala reappears in human form right at the point of Lucifer's sword, eyes wide and wet and biting down on her bottom lip so the grimace doesn't get any worse or fear show any more. Getting stabbed doesn't hurt. It's the opposite, warm and comforting, like the lull of sleep. But it's scary and she's scared she can't protect Toki and Joroko like she promised— all she can do is get in the way of Lucifer's sword while Joroko attacks from the back, like how they did it back in the dungeon proper where those psycho blasts all serve to heal Ala the same way any normal sword or gun attacks will. ]
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[Either way Megidolaon still takes too long to cast. Lucifer has been around the block a few times, though, he knows what Drain Phys looks like. So after that first hit connects and is subsequently eaten by Ala's warm and fuzzy feelings, Lucifer quickly moves again. He flies past Ala, stuns Sandalphon with a quick blow to the face, and starts pursuing Joroko and Toki as fast as his wings will carry him.]
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[ It's closer and more readily reachable, so that's who Ala reaches out for first before turning around staring at Lucifer's back. Marin Karin won't do anything against Unshaken Will, but Wolvaan...? What is Wolvaan. It's the only thing Ala has left, so that's what she casts on Lucifer with all the SP she has left. ]
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[Sandalphon finds its footing again and sets off after Lucifer, but— well. It's much larger and much heavier, so even at flying speed, it's not going to catch up in time. All that Sandalphon can do is cast Mediarahan and hope that it times everything properly, such that the heal hits before Toki dies for good—]
[Lucifer swings, but Joroko makes a particularly adept leap up the web, and he misses.]
[Toki feels lovely inside. Warming and cooling at the same time, like a summer breeze.]
[Then the sword skewers through Joroko's spider abdomen, with such force that it sticks into the wall. This is not good enough for Lucifer; wanting to finish off the kill, he lets go of the weapon and grabs for Toki, regardless of whether Joroko is dissipated or not— and crushes the human in between his claws, from full vitality straight to zero with no hope of resurrection.]
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That's the tag. Ala just screaming her head off, because Lucifer didn't have to do that— he didn't have to do so much, when they already called the retreat. ]
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