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JANUARY EVENT
JANUARY EVENT
premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation
→ 1/2, 23:37
- Outside the jailhouse, hoarse caws punctuate a flutter of wings, clear and sharp in the frigid night air. Another animal is out there, jaws snapping and causing another flurry of wings that can be heard and then seen through tiny barred window of the jailhouse which holds a single occupied cell. Almost melding into the darkness of night, a pitch black crow sits on the windowsill, the gleam of the moonlight on its glossy feathers and its piercing black eyes that stare down the two prisoners in this cell.
"You two are able to understand me, correct? We need to talk," the bird says, wings unfolding and refolding behind it, unable to get a comfortable grip on the windowsill in its agitation. "Can you pass along a message?" "Tell them to bring ham sand—-" "Shut up, bird! There are more important things!" There's another snap of sharp teeth from the other side of the wall, angry cawing and the sound of birds taking flight. The crow left on the windowsill stretches its wings out again, then looks back at the prisoners. Midnight fast approaches... With these two locked up unable to spread the word themselves, Rago is sent in their stead back to the clubhouse and neighboring house to call for a meeting at the jail, where the guards will be absent for the full hour of Lockdown. Black smoke appears and disappears in the inn, in the woods, at the Velvet Room door as Ala searches for the rest of the Persona users, gathering them up for a dragon ride to the jail to meet up with everybody else.
In the meanwhile, in the time that is left, the crow delivers its message in raspy caws, repeated word for word from its "Boss," while a fox lies pressed against the outer wall of the jail, waiting patiently towards the end to speak on its own behalf. The crow worries over the belief that the "Boss" is angry, while the fox mutters under its breath that the reason is because the offertory box is always empty now, and there is a sense that the "Boss" is losing faith in both the Persona users and their Attendants, who are so keen on fooling around and slacking off that they might as well be "Guests" themselves and join the team. They really might as well, as it becomes midnight and the world goes dark, Shadows crawling out of each dungeon and the two Attendants stand by the offertory box at the forest shrine, heads bowed in whispered conversation, Velvet Room deserted.
→ 1/3 Lockdown
- Hush falls across the world as every voice in town is snuffed out in the darkness of midnight, a moment of reprieve before the world takes a breath and the wind starts to howl once more, snow picked up by the handfuls and flung through the air with the intensity of a small blizzard, the deep toll of the bell from the forest shrine softened and blurred one into the next. With zero visibility in the blizzard, the wind is nevertheless insistent on people's backs, guiding them one way or another with little regard as to whether that's across an icy patch or into a building corner hidden in thick snow, gales buffeting against one another and then splitting in opposite directions: one stream towards the castle in the forest, and the other towards the broken mountain peaks on the other side of town.
The solid stone walls of the castle stands firm against the onslaught of snow and flying branches battering against the walls and entering through the large windows of the second floor, piles of snow building up in the corners of each open room and carpeting the floors. Snow continues to layer across the first floor as well, well up to the legs of the throne and completely covering the ofuda doors inlaid into the ground, which glows a bright blue that illuminates several inches of snow settled above it. Brushing away the snow reveals the two ofudas still melded into place in the door, though with no visible handle or apparent way of opening it, it remains nothing more than a slab of stone shining like a beacon, blue light faintly illuminating the sheets of snow blowing through the castle.
Facing the wind head-on, the blinding snow obscures the view of the forest mere meters away, the direct path through the trees straight to town, and the uncharted forest encircling the other side that culminates in broken mountain peaks still towering over the world. The gale urging those up the winding mountain path is also liable to blow them clean off the mountainside, the blizzard continuing to rage down at the base and barely letting up until halfway up the mountain where the wind becomes calm once again, though the trail is no less icy and treacherous. A bright red torii marks the end of the path and the start of a short rising of stairs that announces the arrival into the sacred grounds of the mountain shrine and the main path lined with empty stone lanterns on either side. A crystal clear block of ice sits inside the basin, next to it a sign displaying the following names:
Asaka-no-Mikoto
Yashiro-no-Shugosha
Miyamoto-no-Yamazaki
→ 1/3 Lockdown
- Once everybody has battled their way through the blizzard to gather at the jailhouse, Jiro and Seto report back on what they've learned from the animals that visited them: a flock of crows and the fox which lives at the forest shrine.
The following information is shared by the crows:
⬥ Two dungeons have appeared: one at the castle and the other at a shrine in the mountains.
⬥ Once one dungeon is entered, the other must be entered on the same night or it will remain permanently sealed. To enter either dungeon, a Persona stat check must be passed for a total of 150+ Strength to open the castle door, and 150+ Magic to open the shrine door. No single person can enter on their own, and the "Boss" suggests the Attendants be there to make up the numbers.
⬥ Upon entering, the door will be sealed and inaccessible, making the only exit somewhere in the final chamber at the end of the dungeon. It is unclear how long it will take to clear the dungeon, but the crows have a betting pool going and none of them are hopeful the Persona users will be able to leave either dungeon in less than a week.
⬥ The mountain shrine also has an offertory box where Shadow gemstones may be offered. The Daitengu are said to be protectors of nature and peace, and paying respect to them may resort in the restoration of nature, such as cleaning the lake or regrowing trees, as well as calming the townspeople down and preventing them from perceiving the strangeness surrounding the Persona users like they weren't able to before.
⬥ The Kotengu, on the other hand, is said to put people first and foremost, and if respect is paid at the forest shrine in terms of gemstones, the foundations of the town may be rebuilt to withstand natural disasters, and he may be able to keep the illness from spreading and possibly cure those inflicted before they die.
⬥ If neither shrine is given the gemstones, the fox fears the town and its people will be caught between this war between gods and be destroyed by it. The number of natural disasters and certainly the townspeople's behaviour isn't normal, but the gods' influence is real and the fox asks the Persona users to appease both sides until a solution can be found or they will all hurt for it.
→ 1/4 - 1/31 Unrest throughout town
- The snowfall dies down by morning, dawn arriving to a still and quiet town. The townspeople are hard at work clearing snow off the streets, no longer paying the Persona users to shovel snow but appearing surprised— pleasantly, but also very suspiciously so— if helped anyways without payment. The wariness in which they carry themselves is almost tangible, with eye contact being avoided and voices terse if forced into conversation, voices dying down to whispers the moment any Persona user enters the area, every single word and action subject to scrutiny. The townspeople as a whole refuse service to the Persona users, turning them away from convenience stores and cafes, firing them from their jobs, and soon telling them outright that the foreigners associated with monsters and murderers are not welcome in their town, as Hirajiro has always been a safe and peaceful community before their arrival brought in such bad karma, especially considering the recent rise in forced entry, burglary, and vandalism. Damn you followers of the evil demon lord Vassago.
Those townspeople who have become friends with the Persona users are more sympathetic, the occult shop owners allowing them to stay in their shop for a while to read and enjoy some hot tea and sweet bread before venturing back out in town, and every few days, a bag of groceries filled with vegetables, dried fruit, and bread is left on the doorsteps of each the Black Cat house and the clubhouse with a note reading "I believe in you. Hang in there. --Souta." until one day, in the middle of the month, the bags appear smashed and torn, and the deliveries stop. In its place, a note has been taped to the door of the clubhouse, with an ultimatum requesting that the Persona users wrap up their business and leave town by the end of the month.
The townspeople have their own worries to deal with in the meantime, without the Persona users threatening death and destruction by their presence alone. The foundations to many buildings and several major roads have split due to the earthquake and expanding ice, and the rink over the lake has cracked straight down to the water, ice falling in and the revealing a water level that has dropped several meters, with a growing fear that the chasm at the bottom will widen, causing a sinkhole that will suck half the town down into it. The illness plaguing the town since last month has not let up at all either, with the hospital in ruins and still in the process of getting cleared out, and the only medical facility available is the makeshift clinic set up at the community center filled with families of patients desperate for a cure while a new coma or death is announced every several days. Those healthy and able-bodied continue to search the mountains for a certain species of plant that may slow the progression of the disease but turn up empty-handed and discouraged, soon shifting their efforts in clearing out the path up the mountain to the shrine sitting at the peak to ask the gods for favour instead.
The first townsperson makes it to the shrine on the 3rd, and soon after, dozens follow to secure the mountainside path and restore the shrine to its former glory. They stand with their heads bowed and hands together, puffs of breath visible in the frigid mountain air as they say their prayers to the Daitengu of the mountains, who look over the forest and the town and may they forgive the people for their neglect, to return as their protectors. Considering the amount of effort it takes to reach the shrine, few regularly make the pilgrimage to the peaks, but those that do, greet Persona users with a smile, offering thermoses of hot tea, worrying if they're wearing warm enough clothes, encouraging them to rest and asking if they would like somebody to guide them back down the mountain if they aren't sure of the path or of their footing. Curiously, they cannot see any summoned Persona, and any mention of the supernatural just makes them laugh about your wild, wild imagination.
→ MOD NOTES
- ⬥ Happy new year, friends! Let's do our best this new year ＼＼\٩(•̀ᴗ•́٩)(۶•̀ᴗ•́)۶//／／
⬥ Both dungeons are available on 1/3, but OOCly/ICly a specific date must be chosen, advisably in the second half of the month to allow time for Akira's Shadow dungeon to be cleared. Once a date is chosen, the dungeon log will be posted. To assist with deciding on teams, Minato will be in the castle dungeon and Souji will be in the mountain shrine dungeon.
⬥ Starting this month, there will be the option on the Bonus Activity page to donate Shadow gemstones to the forest shrine, mountain shrine, or the Attendants. Donating to the forest shrine may result in the town structure being fixed and the illness abating, while donating to the mountain shrine may result in nature restoring and the townspeople reverting back to clueless NPCs. Updates of the effects will be summarized in each new event log.
⬥ This month, the full moon occurs on 1/9 - 1/11, during which Personas are stronger but more likely to act out and become uncontrollable. This is an optional mechanic.
iv
A while later he comes back without the trolley but with a soda. He holds it out to her without comment. ]
no subject
[ Kido takes the soda in her hands, wrapping them around the cool metal that's a relief in the large room made into a make-shift recovery room, with a wide open space but not enough windows lining the walls so it's on the warmer end of room temperature at all times.
She's by the bedside of a cot with two younger children on it, one lying under the sheets and the other on top of it- a friend that had come to visit and both are asleep now, a storybook on the edge of the bed that teeters slightly each time either of them breathes in and out, but doesn't fall. It was storytime, and Kido keeps her voice quiet, looking up at Yamato. ]
Were you going around making deliveries for the patients?
[ Gifts sent by well-wishing friends and family, she imagines, or otherwise routine medication that's typically the nurses' job, but they're stretched thin and sometimes are patients themselves, especially later into the month. ]
no subject
[ Yamato is naturally not a talkative person, but as the days go by, he becomes even more taciturn. It's better to show the townsfolk via their actions rather than by words. He already knows from experience that words never mean anything. ]
You're nice to kids.
[ He nods at the sleeping children. ]
no subject
I like kids. Growing up, the people I looked up to most were my older sisters... and I always thought it'd be nice if I could be like that. Children don't forget the kindness they're shown as easily.
[ She leaves the bedside so they can talk a little further away so the kids can sleep and they can find somebody else who needs help. The book gets taken too, some children's story about becoming friends with monsters after realizing it's what's on the inside that counts. What Kido's trying to do with that is obvious, but whatever. ]
no subject
[ They're away from most eavesdroppers now, and the doctors aren't likely to come bother them. It's probably safe to talk. He agrees with her assessment - children are the most malleable, which is why they're the most vulnerable. ]
I'm on the other end. Well, sort of. I have a twin sister. I don't know how they determine relative ages of twins, but I'm apparently older.
[ It's rare that he speaks about Akira at all, but it feels only fair to give information about himself in exchange. ]
no subject
It's whoever comes out first, right? Even if it's as short as two minutes apart, that makes you the big brother. You do give off that reliable and responsible vibe.
[ It's the unshakable calm. ]
no subject
Yamato tilts his head. ]
I guess, but a couple minutes doesn't feel significant. A year or so maybe. We're basically identical anyway.
no subject
Did she work in the police force like you, or in a clinic setting like this?
[ Yamato seems comfortable enough in both, she would mention, if he didn't seem comfortable just about anywhere. She picks up empty cups and plates as she passes by people's bedsides, earning a few accusations about being a thief before she assures them she's just taking them to be washed. ]
no subject
She's also in the police force like me. We did everything together. Our dad was a cop too. Naturally we wanted to be like him. He saved people.
[ He's gone now. Yamato's voice doesn't change. ]
Then we went into the Legion unit. It's there that we had differences. She wasn't as good as me and that upset her. I thought it was unfair, we're supposed to be the same. It doesn't make sense for obvious disparities.
no subject
Legion unit...?
[ Something like a group of Persona users is what Kido's imagining. Persona user unit. ]
Every person is different, so I suppose it's inevitable... Even Terry and the guy he was cloned from are very different, and that's about as close to twins as you can get.
[ Terry's and Terrence's Persona were both different, so it's not a surprise to Kido at all that Yamato's and his sister's would be too, and it's too bad she was upset she got some non-Legion Persona or something. ]
no subject
I thought it'd be a small thing. I tried to say sorry to her but she got caught up in herself. Then one of the Legion scientists wanted to 'improve' her. It was awful and I kinda, feel responsible you know? Like if I did something then she wouldn't have been that upset and made bad decisions.
[ He's dealt with this mostly by dissociating, which is why he can say this with composure. ]
no subject
Yamato probably meant something normal like training to be stronger and faster, but while she wants to ask for clarification about what awful things he meant, she doesn't want the details. ]
It's... not your fault. Being different. Is she okay now?
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I guess...
[ He looks into the distance. 'Akira' is fine, but only by virtue of remembering nothing that happened. ]
She's gonna be upset I disappeared.
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We'll get you back. This place is... set apart from everything else, is how it's been explained to me. Like you're plucked out and put back in the same place, when you go back— and we will get you back. It could be as early as this month.
[ It's idealistic, but not impossible. Defeat the Daitengu, and they'll have all four ofudas and can go directly to the ofuda door this time with no waiting period. They can do it today. This could all be over by the end of the day.
But for whatever reason, they drag their feet, with so many loose ends still hanging in there despite the way out being right there. Kido, at least, will not leave without Seto. She refuses to. But they're so close. ]
no subject
I hope the others will pick up the pace as well. Not that we can force them to train, but. There's that wishing.
[ Deep down, he thinks they'll probably have to do it alone. ]
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I don't like the idea of turning children into soldiers. Not that we're all children, but... like, people like Rei and Toki shouldn't have to fight. They're young, and kind, and wouldn't hurt anybody in normal circumstances...
[ They're only slightly younger than herself, who doesn't want to fight either, but Nekogami disallows the option of her running away anymore. It could have been that way at the beginning, her Persona a little ghost cat the length of her arm and her crying every time she entered the dungeons, but that's not an option now. ]
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Things are hardly that simple even if we wish them to.
[ He says this quietly, looking away for a few moments. When his attention returns, he looks grim and resigned. ]
I'll fight in their place for as long as I can.
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I'm glad to have you. I hope we can get through it without people dying... we're so close.
no subject
No problem.
[ They'll both get back to their work assisting the clinic. Every action counts, and hopefully it does something. ]