JANUARY DUNGEON

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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

[toybombs]

[Rio's in her second year of high school, despite her looks. She's got a close friend group consisting of some of the other top students in both smarts and athleticism, but she's friendly enough even to others. She's one of the local Inspirational Stories™ - raised by a single mother, yet always excelling at school and, quite honestly, just about anything she' puts her mind to. She's such a good girl, that Rio Takeuchi, always looking out for others.

Whether it's during breaks between classes or even around town, she's cheerful and friendly enough!]

Hi hii~ ♪

[yokeye]

[One day, during a break between classes, Toki catches up to Rio in the hallway. Though once he's there, he hesitates and can't really look her in the eye. She's done so well for herself and he's on the opposite end of the spectrum; always failing, possibly the worst student in his entire grade and the two below it combined.]

Um, Rio-san, can I ask you something?

[toybombs]

[Her steps trail to a stop as she looks up at him curiously.]

Yes? What is it?

[yokeye]

Okay, so like, I'm really bad at school stuff... And I was talking to Ala and she said she wanted to work at a library and like, I have no idea what I want to do as like a career, but... I need to know something!

[That came out all convoluted, so he holds up one finger to ask Rio to wait while he collects his thoughts.]

Rio-san~! Can you tutor me!?

[toybombs]

Ehh- like, now? We're kind of busy!

[yokeye]

Ah! No, not now! I didn't mean like right away or during the festival or anything, it's just that the thought occurred to me just like yesterday and then here you are in the hallway, so I thought it was a good time to ask!

[All festival things can go as planned.]

[toybombs]

[SIGHS IN RELIEF.]

I was about to say...!

I think once everything's wrapped up, I should be able to help. It sounds like you need help in all subjects, right?

[yokeye]

Well, not so much in like sciencey stuff! I mean, it's still bad, but I understand some of that and I have a 34 average~!

[He seems very proud of that number.]

But like everything else, yeah.

[toybombs]

[...

So everything.]

I'll see if I can prepare something for you. Could you also show me where you are in your textbooks, too?

[yokeye]

[Everything.]

Really!? You're the best, Rio-san~!

[Textbooks, textbooks...]

I kind of... forgot like which chapters we're on exactly and... i-is there a literature textbook? Because it's like... reading...

[Which is hard, but involves smaller books, so there shouldn't be a big one.]

[toybombs]

For literature, I can just compile tips on how to study and what kinds of things the teachers are looking for. We can go over whatever you're reading to see how that works for you and tailor it to your needs from there.

[yokeye]

Perfect!

[Toki is considering the "things teachers are looking for" to be the equivalent of cheating on tests; knowing what information is needed to pass.]

I'll find out what the book is and get back to you with that~!

[toybombs]

Take your time ♪ there's still lots to set up, not to mention clean up afterwards.

What is your class doing for the festival, anyway?

[flowerclips]

[ "She's such a good girl, Rio Takeuchi, always looking out for others." Mmhm. Right. ]

Hi, Rio-chan! What's your class doing for the cultural festival?

[ She is already helping herself to a tray of takoyaki. She's helping by testing everything! ]

[toybombs]

[It's my AU you can't do anything about it.]

We're preparing a shooting range with prizes! What about yours?

[flowerclips]

[ I can't do anything but I can Doubt. ]

Oh, that sounds like fun! My class is having an ice cream and crepe shop and it's really hard to resist eating everything there!

[toybombs]

Oooh, I'll have to stop by. ...Is your class good at cooking?

[Just. Making sure!!]

[flowerclips]

Umm, I'm sure some of them are good at cooking!

[ She has no idea... but Zen will occasionally drop by and check if everything is okay, even though he's in another class. ]

[toybombs]

[...That's not very encouraging.]

Well... As long as people enjoy it...

[And don't get sick...]

[flowerclips]

Mmhm, I’m sure they will!

[ Because everyone loves ice cream! At least that’ll be safe, unlike the crepes... ]

You should come by! We have a lot of different flavours!

[toybombs]

Really? Like what?

[flowerclips]

Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, smelt, cookies n' creme, green tea, and mint chocolate chip!

[ ... there is one that does not belong. ]

[toybombs]

...Why smelt?!

[flowerclips]

Because it tastes good! Zen made it earlier and it's delicious. You should try some!

[toybombs]

What did he make it from...? Was it really smelt?