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

[tarotcards]

[ A cute little sister is what Minato will get as Nanako's class has just finished their practise run of their music show for tomorrow's festival. Everyone is now just socializing and having fun, including Nanako, and as soon as she sees Minato, she beams. ] Big bro Minato! [ She excitingly runs up to him. She has her recorder in hand. ] What are you doing here?

[compendiem]

[ Ahh, yes, the squeaky recorder performance Minato's glad he doesn't have to play accompaniment to, because he's just going to be drowned out by overenthusiastic elementary schoolers and he might as well not be there. His piano playing was no match for Nanako's solo recorder back home, so there's no way he'll be able to go up against 18 recorders. ]

Hey, Nanako. Practice is over, right? I was hoping to have an egg roll or something from your bento.

[tarotcards]

[ He doesn't have to play alongside her class, but he'll still come to the concert, right? She'll cry if she doesn't see both Minato and Souji there. Anyway, she giggles, despite that Minato is a dirty food thief who wants to steal from a cute elementary school girl. ]

Did Big Bro forget to make your bento?

[ Souji is the original so he doesn't have his name attached to the end of big bro. ]

[compendiem]

[ These Nanako icons are so cute, they're all you need. ]

He made me two but I ate both and am still hungry...

[ One of those bentos might have been Souji's own lunch, but. Anyways, Souji's cooking is so good, how can anybody blame Minato for stealing from both his husband and a cute elementary school girl? ]

[tarotcards]

[ You're right. I'll just use all the icons that have Nanako in them, like this one, where Souji shields Nanako's eyes from Minato's gluttony. She only giggles again. ]

Okay, I'll share my lunch with you.

[ He better only eat a single roll like he said or else she'll be very upset. ]

School is now over because everyone has to prepare for the festival. Maybe we can see if Big Bro is done as well.

[compendiem]

[ He'll eat one roll and then sit there at her side practicing his puppydog pout in hopes that there are leftovers. ]

Okay. He's overseeing one of the cafes... If we're lucky, they could be practicing their cooking for tomorrow and we can score dessert.

[ But he'll be over in the high school section of the campus, so Minato makes sure Nanako has all her things before leading her over there; he walks with his hands in his pockets, so Nanako will have to hang onto his wrist or just walk alongside him this time. ]