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

[flowerclips]

[ She doesn't notice Lan Zhan's expression changing at all, especially when she's so focused on Wei Ying trying it out. She's ecstatic when it seems like he likes it. ]

Right?! Isn't it really good?!

[lotusroots]

[ He takes another bite and it's... better. Maybe it's an acquired taste. ]

It's not bad! [ Wei Ying can't lie to her and say it's really good, so he'll settle with that. ]

Did you come up with this flavor?

[flowerclips]

No, Zen did!

[ At the sound of his name, Zen looks up from the corner of the stand. He's just putting up signs. ]

He said that he doesn't like sweet things so he made it. We need to have flavours for people who don't want anything too sugary.

[lotusroots]

That's a good idea!

[ He thinks it's really considerate too, and he smiles warmly. ]

Hey, I have an idea or two myself, if you want to hear it.

[flowerclips]

Mmhm, I do want to hear it!

[ More ideas! She'd take them for sure. ]

[lotusroots]

What about spicy ice cream? Or if that's too much, sweet and spicy?

[ He crosses his arms, looking like he's sharing the best idea in the world. ]

[flowerclips]

Spicy ice cream?

[ She does not seem taken back by this idea. She's just confused. ]

Like... putting hot sauce on ice cream?

[lotusroots]

Oh, that's not a bad idea!

[ He would totally eat that. ]

I was thinking about peppers in the ice cream, or mixing in chili powder. Hot sauce would be a really nice flavor though.

[flowerclips]

[ Zen in the background, listening to this conversation. He just stares and silently looks at Lan Zhan. Hey. What's wrong with your husband. ]

Hmm, what about we do all of that at once? Ice cream with peppers, chilli powder, and hot sauce?

[lotusroots]

Wow, you're really good at this! That's such a great idea.

[ Lan Zhan doesn't know what his problem is either. He puts a hand on Wei Ying's waist, and Wei Ying immediately leans into it. ]

I think Lan Zhan is jealous. We should come up with a special flavor for him.

[flowerclips]

Mmhm, we should! What kind of flavours do you like?

[ Don't say anything weird, Lan Zhan. Zen is already not looking forward to making whatever crazy flavour that Wei Ying likes. ]

[lotusroots]

[ Lan Zhan's gaze flickers between all of them. "Whatever Wei Ying likes is fine."

Is that better or worse? Either way, Wei Ying likes that answer and he can't hold back a smirk. ]

If I get to decide then... let's just do something simple for him. Maybe something like green tea.

[flowerclips]

Oh, we already have green tea! That was one of our first flavours!

[ Because it's such a popular flavour. ]

But what else does he like? Maybe we can add to it and mix it.

[lotusroots]

[ He looks over at Lan Zhan, thinking for a few moments. Lan Zhan has the kind of palette that could be considered very boring, so Wei Ying doesn't want to get too adventurous. ]

Let's go with adding some mint! I don't want to make things too complicated.

[flowerclips]

Ehehe, that really isn't complicated at all. Okay, I'll name it after him!

[ So everyone can know that Lan Zhan is a basic bitch. ]

Thank you, sensei! I hope to see you at the festival tomorrow!