JANUARY DUNGEON

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→ 1/12 Lockdown: The Final Dungeon

When preparations are complete and the team is ready to tackle the dungeons, both Attendants can be found at the castle, with Minato sitting on the armrest of the throne with a plain short sword balanced on his knees, and Souji standing to the side with several backpacks full of food, water, and blankets at his feet. "Last chance to change your mind and join the Champions of the Just," Minato pipes up from where he's sitting. "They've got trail mix." The team he's heading, incidentally, he named the Legion of the Dead and there is no trail mix or any other supplies provided by Minato, because Souji is a responsible leader who comes prepared, and Minato just doesn't care.

A several day hiking trip up the mountains for the sake of team bonding was considered but ultimately vetoed, so Souji simply opens a portal up from the forest shrine's torii to the mountain shrine's, and from there, it's only a short trek through the drifting snow to reach the honden. At the stroke of midnight, each Attendant places their hand flat on their door, the surface glowing bright blue and turning translucent: a one-way barrier swallowing each person whole as they pass through the portals.

Legion of the Dead

It's a straight ten-foot drop once you step through the ofuda door in the castle, with nothing to break your fall but hard stone— or Minato if you happen to be the next person after him. It's a large stone chamber, with two large indentations on the far wall the size and appearance of doors, but neither open when touched or attacked. The only other thing of note in the room is a pedestal at the center with three omamoris slowing burning in a weak flame, one with Rio's name and arcana, another with Kido's, and the last with Yamato's, the same ones that were thrown away at the forest shrine on New Years as a statement of rejection of the Kotengu and his lent powers. Really, it's just Rio and Yamato's, though, because Kido had two omamoris to start with and doesn't need this second one. But with nothing else in the room, the first choice is a time-limited one: will you save the omamoris from the fire so Rio and Yamato can have it to summon their Personas, or will you respect their decision and allow the omamoris to burn to ashes?

Depending on your choice, one of two doors will open.

Champions of the Just

Entering the honden brings the group to a large stone chamber reminiscent of the forest shrine dungeon: a circular hub with a dozen arches along the perimeter, clearly meant to entice the impatient to spread themselves thin. Instead of multiple Shadow ghosts appearing from the ether to ambush the group, however, there is only one: a semitransparent ghostly form of a young boy huddled against the archway on the opposite side of where everybody had entered. He looks to be around seven, with very little distinguishing features other than pale eyes staring at the group. The moment anybody takes a step closer to him, calls out to him, or tries to attack, he starts in fear and turns to run through the archway— anybody who gives chase is met with a barrier; in fact, every other archway is blocked by the same invisible barrier, cutting their potential routes in half.

The rest of the room is empty. There should be a way to get the barriers to drop in one of the five available passageways... Will you proceed all together, or divide and conquer?

There is no Velvet Room within the dungeons, and using a traesto gem or goho-m will only bring you to the beginning of the dungeon in either main hub, not outside. Falling unconscious within the dungeons doesn't bring you anywhere to be revived either; all it means is that your unconscious body lies there to rot or get eaten by Shadows until somebody hopefully saves you. So look after one another in the dungeons, and don't be afraid to rely on your Attendants. Souji will keep everybody safe.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Both dungeons are team-based and require some coordination with other members of their team, with some decisions involving the entire team (e.g. Legion of the Dead's first decision regarding the omamoris). The teams will make their way through several rooms to find the exit, either split up or all together, with each room containing a battle, puzzle, decision, or another obstacle. The team as a whole will bear the consequences of the actions taken, so please give each choice careful consideration. As actions may affect subsequent rooms, new rooms will become available after the previous are cleared, rather than all the information given at one time.
⬥ A toplevel for the boss will go up once a team ICly reaches the boss' chamber, and overall, this deadline is the end of the month to avoid IC consequences.

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I can try!

[Iris gets up and falls to her side dramatically.]

I swallowed something funny during lunch. Sensei, may I be excused? [She's actually fake crying and it becomes real tears a few minutes later.]

It hurts so much. I need to walk with a friend or else I'll vomit!!

[ The teacher looks at Iris, clearly annoyed. She doesn't seem to particularly care that Iris is supposedly in pain, only irritated that her class has been interrupted, so she waves a hand. She instructs Souji, the student sitting next to her, to hurry up and take her to the nurse or outside to vomit. She clicks her tongue and mutters under her breath that Iris should have at least waited until the break, which was only ten minutes away. ]

[ Souji gets up from his seat to go over to Iris and help her up, wrapping one of her arms around his shoulders and one of his arms around her as he walks her out of the classroom. He makes sure to get a few steps outside into the hallway and ensuring that they're far away from the room for the teacher to hear before he speaks. ]

That was pretty impressive. I almost believed you.

[ He'll let go of Iris so she can walk on her own as he looks around. This is an old building, one you'd only really see in a living history museum when you go on a class trip to learn about how people back in the day lived. The hallways are narrow and there's a musky smell in the air. There aren't any lockers, of course, or even little cubbies for kids to put away their belongings. It's just a plain hallway with a few desks pressed up against the wall with wide-open windows that reveal an enclosed field where kids can run out and have fun. ]

We managed to leave together! That's good.

[This hallway does look pretty old and run down. Honestly, she's starting to get a little distracted. The more they look and poke around the more she actually feels like she has to go pee somewhere.

Do they have toilets in the fake dungeon school? Iris points to one of the doors.]

Do you need to go potty? I know we had something important to do but peeing is just as important!!

[ Iris, that is such a weird way to ask if someone needs to use the washroom. Souji has not yet learned the art of shrugging things off and/or going along with things at this age so he's just awkward about it. ]

No, uh, I'm good. Do... you need to go?

Yes...! I'll be out in five minutes. Promise you won't run off without me!!

[She stares at Souji seriously like she'll be really upset if he decides to go away for some reason.]

Cross your heart!

Okay, okay, it's crossed.

[ He'll draw an x over his heart to show that it's crossed. Little Souji is so much more exasperated by things. He won't run off, but he will look around the hallway, peeking into desks and looking at the ceiling. ]

[tbh Iris had other Things to do in the bathroom. She prepares a few toilet paper bombs using water and a bit of soap.

She still walks out of there within a few minutes as promised.]

We can use this to fight bullies and we won't get in trouble. It's just water.

[ Souji hasn't had much luck looking around in the desks or in the hallway, so when he looks up, hearing that Iris brought something, he's a little hopeful. He deflates when he sees that it's just toilet paper bombs. ]

But that'll just get us into trouble with the teach--

[ He doesn't get to finish his sentence because classes has been dismissed and all the kids are eager to go out to the field to take their break. There aren't that many children, but with the tight and narrow hallway, they easily push and squish up against one another. ]

[Iris has the most fun when she's in trouble and having chaos. So she'll chuck a few toilet paper bombs into the crowd until it lands on people??? She's a menace tbh.

If the students or teachers pay attention enough they'll notice where it came from. In this corpse party episode we don't have buckets. ]

[ The students shriek at the wet paper balls that land on their heads. It's gross and all the screaming captures the teacher's attention. There's only one teacher since there aren't a lot of kids in the school and it's the same teacher from earlier. She yells at Iris and tries to march on over to give her an ear tug all the way to the office, but she can't easily move with all the kids crowding in the hallway. That gives both Souji and Iris enough time to run off, but before that can even happen, someone grabs onto Iris' hand and tells her to follow him. It's the boy from earlier. ]

[Oh! How exciting. Iris practically beaming up with joy.

It reminds her of that time she had a food fight and it made everyone angry. Her smiles stop when the teachers notice her. OOps. They're about to get sent to detention or something.

It's a good thing the hallway is so crowded. She agrees to follow the other boy and nods.]

Souji let's go with him! We can't stay here anymore.

Right!

[ Souji will run as fast as his little legs can go as the boy leads them down the hall, taking a corner and then another before they go out the back door of the school. Behind the building is nothing exciting, just a dirt ground. The building faces the village so there's nothing behind it. ]

[ Once it appears that the teacher won't chase them, probably figuring that she'd just punish them the next time they're in class, the boy lets out a sigh of relief. He then looks at Iris and asks in a timid why she would do that. The teacher would have punished her if she got caught. ]

It's because we're kids. We have to do crazy things when we're still young!

[She sounds too pleased with herself.]

We're not gonna be seven years old forever. Is there something special you want to do?

[Children just have really wild imaginations.]

[ Souji gives her an exasperated look probably for the fifth time today. Well, he'll stay silent and let her do the talking. After all, he's still an attendant. He is in this dungeon with them, but she still wants to make a point of just being support. The guests should do everything. ]

[ The boy shakes his head as he looks downwards. He doesn't seem like the type of kid to get into trouble and just keep his head down so he can avoid being dragged into anything so why did he help them get away? Who knows, but he asks who they are. He hasn't seen them before in class or in the village. ]

Really? There's nothing? Aw.

I want to do something nice for you. You did help us get away from the teachers. Souji say somethinggggg!!

[This boy seems very nice she'd feel bad if he got into trouble because they wanted to horse around for an afternoon.]

[ Iris' attention span sure is short, isn't it... the boy just asked a question and she completely ignored it. At least Souji is here to do the talking since Iris whined at him to do so. He'll try to stay on track. ]

We just moved here.

[ The boy seems doubtful of that answer because hardly anyone ever comes from over the mountains. He also didn't hear about any families arriving. Are they siblings? Maybe if only one family came, that's why there isn't a lot of talking just yet. ]

Mmhm, she's my younger sister and she's really not used to a school like this. They never taught us things about vital points before.

[ The boy looks uncomfortable when the subject is brought up, looking downwards and digging the tip of his sandal into the dirt, making little circles. He says that they just started learning it and they're not learning anything else now. ]

You know he's right! We haven't been here for too long.

[She beams upwards and boosts up a high five motion.]

I'm Iris and he's Souji. What's your name? I promise I won't throw anymore toilet bombs.

[This doesn't even sound remotely trustworthy but she's Trying.]

[ The boy peeks up at Iris' hand, but he doesn't high-five it. Sorry, he's leaving her hanging, but he will answer her question, saying that his name is Hiroto. ]

[ Souji slides his foot a bit to nudge Iris' own foot, trying to do it as discreetly as possible. It's good to make friends, Iris, but remember, they're still in a dungeon and the longer they're in here, the faster the days progress outside. Ask an important question. They need to get the barrier down. ]

I need to ask you for a favor.

Hiroto can you help us leave the school? We need to do it without getting caught by the teachers.

Me and Souji would really appreciate your help.

[Iris looks sincere about it. Would they be able to manage with that alonre?]

Edited 2020-01-25 22:35 (UTC)

[ Hiroto, a boy who plays by the rules and looks like he'd never intentionally upset the teachers, seem hesitant. He asks why they want to leave school. They'll get in trouble for skipping and they have a test in the next class on vital points on a body. If they live in Hirajiro, every kid needs to know that and pass the test. ]

[Iris nods. She understands how it's important to attend class and how Hiroto might be worried about breaking the rules. She's a bit whimsical but not unsympathetic. She looks back at Souji and then ponders.]

We're just gonna leave for a short while. Maybe the teachers will forget they're upset with us and let us off easy. I think that might work!

[ He looks skeptical and looks as if he wants to continue to try and convince them to stay, but Souji speaks up. ]

We'll make sure to study and if the teachers do remember and we get into trouble, we'll be okay. You don't have to worry.

[ Hiroto still looks unsure and he rubs his hands together, but he nods. He'll help them out, but do they promise that they'll see each other again? They're coming back, right? ]

We'll see each other again soon. It's promise!

[She folds her hands together and makes a more sincere gesture.]

I mean, if we're gone for too long it'll be bad for our grades.

[ That manages to finally get a small smile from Hiroto. He nods. He'll see them again soon. He'll look forward to that time. ]

[ He points back to where they came from, back into the school. Breaks don't last that long. Everyone should be coming back in a minute or two. When everyone rushes back and floods the hallways, they can use that distraction to sneak out the front. After that, they can leave. ]

[ He smiles again and says that the barrier will be lifted as well. Good luck, he tells them, as he walks back into the school before they can say anything. ]

Thank you so much! Souji let's get going.

[She grabs onto his hand and stays closer to him.]

I don't want to lose you now.

(no subject)

tarotcards - 2020-01-27 23:28 (UTC) - Expand

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