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

[tarotcards]

[ Right. He does have a few things that he wants to talk about, but he's hoping that they won't just take all of his info and then kill him. He can fight if he really has to, but he's significantly weaker than the other Daitengus. It's probably why they left him last and behind. ]

Mm, well, I wanted to know what the Kotengu has told you so far, who you think he is, what's his role in Hirajiro, and his plans.

[defragment]

[ There's a reason why 45 is never the one to write up reports, but time in Cetana sure made her skills versatile. Even so, she doesn't want to go full infodump mode, so she'll put it as casually as she can. ]

He's a bird deity that opposes the Daitengus. They fought against each other in some war, and Hirajiro got caught up in it. He just wants his power back and he made a contract with the Attendants in order to get us, the Persona users, to get his way. Apparently the people in the town had a small minority that believed in the Daitengu rather than the Kotengu.

[ If you're gonna team with someone, you'd probably want to team up with big birds instead of one small bird though. ]

And they were to be executed if caught.

[tarotcards]

[ He places a finger to his chin as he looks up and thinks. One of his wings wraps itself around the hand that's currently up. ]

I remember that. The other Daitengus weren't happy that their followers were dying, but they also knew that this was going to happen.

[ He looks back at 45, once he finished remembering that one particular incident. ]

The Kotengu was always really power-hungry. He didn't think that Hirajiro should be cut off from the rest of the world and that the village should become more militarized. He wasn't happy that everyone was happy just being farmers and living their own lives.

[defragment]

[ Hm, that's one thing, but there are other points to bring up. ]

Have people ever considered the possibility of invasion from other places? Even with the terrain being what it is surrounding the town, it's not impossible to get through. For a peace-loving demilitarized town that's totally defenseless, if any one person can get by to destroy it, they could.

Have they ever considered splitting the forces? It's not like everybody had to fight.

[tarotcards]

Hirajiro just wasn't that type of village. Since it was created, it was peaceful. There might be disputes between the people who lived there, but it was calm.

[ Was it foolish for the villagers to think that this type of peace would last forever? Perhaps, but that was just the way of life there. Born and raised in peace, either never seeing an outsider or only the occasional one or two travellers, they never had to worry about the outside. ]

The village did get attacked, though, and the Kotengu used that to his advantage. He made everyone afraid that it'd happen again and that they should attack the other villages first and take over so Hirajiro will always be one step ahead.

[ He lowers his hand and his wing folds back inside. He looks up at 45. ]

... can I tell you something? The other Daitengus didn't like it whenever I spoke my opinion.

[defragment]

[ Neutral territories stopped being neutral because treaties were torn. Neutral territories that had nothing to do with the war had turned into a base of supplies for one of the factions. 45 thinks it's stupid to think you can be safe, but she's not from a peace ridden world--she's from a universe where there was world war 3 and an outbreak that turns humans into zombie equivalent in a desolate wasteland. So of course, this feels like the natural state of things when the village got attacked. She thinks that the Kotengu was right that it could happen again. ]

Yeah? You're speaking already, so go ahead. Say whatever you want.

[tarotcards]

[ Hiroto appears slightly surprised that she's allowing him to speak his mind. It doesn't seem like he gets to talk all that much, judging by his reaction. However, rather than being excited to voice his thoughts, he somehow looks more... ashamed? Or scared. His voice goes quieter and his wings droop. ]

I... don't think the Kotengu was wrong. I think he did want to do some good for the village, but he just took it too far...

[defragment]

[ People would call this cute, huh? Maybe it's because of how Hiroto lacks the pride, so that's why he could see things from another perspective. 45 thinks that's a rather handy thing to deal with right now. ]

Kinda like those awkward people who have good intentions, but execution is poor?

[ Gods are just humans with powers. ]

So because you believe in that, it's hard for you to openly take sides.

[tarotcards]

[ He nods, but he still keeps his head down. It's clear why the other Daitengus wouldn't want him to openly express that opinion. They're prideful creatures. To say that their enemy is even partially right is shameful, so they've always shunned Hiroto. Not to mention that he's not even a "true" Daitengu, but one that was born from a human. He doesn't fit in. ]

Yeah... I'm a Daitengu so I'm supposed to be completely against the Kotengu, but I don't think it's right to think that someone is all bad or all good. Everyone is more complicated than that, even gods.

[defragment]

[ If Terry was here, this is where he'd say "everyone's just people, with different capabilities", but he isn't and Hiroto has to deal with 45 nee-chan instead. 45 gets the feeling of being an outcast, because she was one too, but it's nothing she could change except herself. So that's what she did. ]

That's a rather interesting perspective to have as a god, since gods are usually full of pride and smite everyone who they think is wrong. It's nice that you can be open for other perspectives.

[ This makes conversation so much easier and 45 feels less on edge. His actions also fit with his initial first impression and claims, so 45 isn't too worried about him being a threat. ]

Anyway, the Kotengu instructed the Attendants to advise the Guests to collect ofuda from each Daitengu. Putting them into the stone slab will give the Kotengu more power, which is what he wants. The Guests were led to believe that once all the ofudas are slotted, we could return to the worlds where we came from.

What do you think about that, if you think that the Kotengu is a well-intentioned extremist who was, or still is, against you?

[tarotcards]

I think...

[ He stays quiet for a moment before he looks up at 45. ]

... that's the truth. Once you collect all the ofudas, the Kotengu has no more use for you. He's using you to defeat the Daitengus so he could be released. By holding your way back home as hostage, you're forced to kill us. Also, he wouldn't want any of the guests to stay behind and interfere with his plans, so he'd force everyone to leave. It'd be too risky to have you around, even if he takes back the powers that he gave you.

[ ... he then tilts his head, crossing his arms. It almost seems like he's pouting and he kind of is. ]

Of course, I haven't seen him in a really long time so I can't say that this is all certain. This is just from what I remember of him.

[defragment]

[ Given that the Kotengu has presumably not escaped since Hiroto had seen him, he's mostly likely the same as ever. She doesn't think the Kotengu is a benevolent god. 45 thinks it's also funny that the Daitengu and Kotengu were essentially fighting over fake people in town, and a town that had already been destroyed a long time ago. A reconstruction isn't the same. The people may feel real, but the real ones probably already died a long time ago. It's like an AU of some sorts for the townspeople, is what 45 thinks.

She looks at Hiroto with the same smiling face she had, but her smile gets wider. ]

You know... you're the only Daitengu now. You don't have to live in shame of the other ones that oppressed you. In my opinion, you'd be a great asset in trying to negotiate with the Kotengu, should he ever show himself.

[ She knows that there's a select few who want to stay in Hirajiro, even after all this is over, but that's not her problem. 45 just wants to return, and the Kotengu shoving them back home is all the more welcome to her. ]

The previous Daitengu also mentioned that more than two Daitengus were required to fend off the Kotengu at his full power, so I'm not expecting you to fight if it comes down to it.