JANUARY DUNGEON

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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Wei Ying laughs. He prefers it if students aren't scared of him and even talk back—they usually do better in his class since they aren't afraid to ask for help. ]

It will be! My class also has a special type of coffee too, so start preparing yourself!

[ They just have a few strange flavors and different colors. He looks down at Akira's bag when it starts moving on its own. ]

What's in your bag? [ He says it out of curiosity, rather than a demand for Akira to show him. ]

Nothing.

[It's a perfectly casual response as Akira walks off. Unfortunately because Morgana is a normal cat, he has no way of knowing that he should be staying in the bag, and the fact that he's been set down so suddenly is weird. If Wei Ying keeps watching, a couple of whiskers will start poking their way out of the bag, followed by the rest of a little feline head. The cat has a white muzzle and piercing blue eyes, which should not be natural... where did this cat come from?]

[ Wei Ying has never seen a cat like that before, and while he's surprised to see a cat in Akira's schoolbag at all, he's so caught off guard by the eyes for a moment that he doesn't say anything.

Once that wears off, he does all he can to hold back his laughter. ]

You have a cute cat.

[Akira returns with a stack of chairs. He looks Wei Ying dead in the eye and says:]

I don't know that cat.

[Morgana starts padding over before he's finished speaking, and rubs his body against Akira's leg.]

Don't know it at all.

Really? How'd he get into your bag?

[ Wei Ying kneels down, trying to get Morgana to come over to him. He should be getting chairs too but this is more important. ]

[Morgana turns around and rubs Akira a second time, but he's looking at Wei Ying now.]

Maybe he wanted to eat the snacks I had in there.

[Akira puts down the chairs off to the side.]

Is that what you were doing, Morganya? You just want dinner?

Oh, he's hungry?

[ What do cats even like to eat? He has no idea. Wei Ying reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out a small packet of crackers. ]

Hmmm, I don't know if these are any good. What kind of snacks do you have in your bag?

Let's see.

[Akira kneels down, ruffling through his bag. And then he makes a quiet ohhh sound and pulls out a sealed bag. It's full of squid jerky.]

This is what you wanted, huh, you little punk?

[Well you're not getting it. Akira puts the jerky back in his bag and stands up, taking Morgana's ride and snack storage with him.]

Morgana's obsessed with fish. All kinds of fish.

[ He watches the whole exchange with a smile. ]

Really? Is that something a lot of cats like?

All cats like meat.

[... After a moment, he reconsiders and reaches down again to pick up Morganya. The teacher's not doing anything to stop him, so he's going all in on cat appreciation. Look at him up close! Don't you want to pet him!!]

But Morgana likes fish more than all the rest.

Ah, really? I guess it makes sense... I only know what rabbits eat, since we have some at home.

[ He immediately walks over, reaching out to pet Morgana. ]

Hey, maybe I'll bring some fish one day!

Aw, that'll make him really happy. Right, Morganya? Right?

[Now that he's holding the cat and Wei Ying is petting him, Akira is starting to get way more expressive than he has been for most of this conversation. He just loves Morgana so much.]

[Morgana leans his head towards the teacher, jaw pointed upward. Chin skritches plz.]

I'll definitely bring some!

[ Wei Ying smiles, both at the cat and at how expressive Akira is now. It's really adorable.

He scratches Morgana's chin gently. ]

How long have you had him?

JANUARY DUNGEON

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Legion of the Dead

Champions of the Just

→ MOD NOTES

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