JANUARY DUNGEON

[citta]

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.

Comments

[defragment]

[ While everyone else is getting situated after defeating the doppelgangers, 45 finds the scrap of paper after going through the bag. She can tell which kanji it is from the torn part alone, and wonders to herself... she's fluent enough to speak, and if there's wordplay or whatever, she thinks she'll be able to pick up on it quickly.

Either way, she gets Souji's attention. ]

Clown god #2, what's this? Is the next Daitengu's name going to start with "miya"? Or is it another shrine related thing?

[tarotcards]

[ Souji's just been dusting himself off from the battle and ensuring that everyone is all right, so his attention is grabbed easily. He turns his head and looks at the scrap of paper. ]

According to the shrine's sign, the next Daitengu's name should be Miyamoto-no-Yamazaki so this may be related to them. Where did you find it?

[ He'll reach for the scrap to examine if 45 lets him. ]

[defragment]

It was in your doppelganger's bag. That's all I could find in there though, other than the usual supplies.

[ 45 gives the paper to Souji. ]

Also, when we first entered, there was that ghost boy who was terrified of you for some reason. Is it because you related to the Kotengu in a more obvious way than us?

[tarotcards]

[ He takes it and feels it by rubbing it with his fingers. There's nothing particular special about it and when he flips it over, it's blank on the other side. ]

I can't say for certain, but it's possible. There are some beings who can sense Personas and although they can't get the exact details, they can get a basic understanding of the Persona.

[ It's rare to find someone like that, but it's definitely something that is plausible. Souji carries multiple Personas, even excluding his guests', and his ultimate is far more powerful than everyone else's. That could be a telling sign. ]

[defragment]

The boy looked plain and quite average, as if he was one of the townspeople. I wonder if he's some projected spirit that's been trapped in here.

[ She doesn't really believe it and waves it off mentally. ]

Is that all? I guess we can move on if there isn't anything else.

[tarotcards]

[ You shouldn't judge things by their cover, 45. Souji has been surprised by a plain and average-looking person before. In fact, a gas station attendant who only spoke to him once and didn't even have a character portrait........ thanks, Atlus. ]

Yeah, that's all. We have a lot of rooms to cover so it might be best if we split up and regroup in the centre once we're all done.

[defragment]

[ She's still waiting for the day to be proven wrong. People are so unremarkable to her despite appearances anyway. ]

Assuming it won't take too much firepower, I'm for it.

[tarotcards]

[ He thinks for a moment. ]

... I'll go with Iris since she's still new. Akira and Rio can take Wei and you can team up with Kido. Those teams should be balanced.

[defragment]

I'll keep kitty savior out of trouble then~

[ Yeah.

Time to go, guys. ]