september dungeon.

[citta]

SEPTEMBER DUNGEON

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→ 9/3 Lockdown

With the heat wave having calmed down, the nights are cool despite the warm summer days, quiet, save for the buzzing of insects and the murmurs of those wandering the streets late into the night. After a month of festivities, the town has gone into a peaceful respite— one that's broken at the stroke of midnight, the wind picking up and drowning out all other sound with howls that pierce the air as if the town itself were screaming. The sliver of moon in the sky offers barely enough light to act as a guide, but the winds are frigid and strong, drawing all that gets caught in the gust towards the heart of the town: the lake.

Some time after Lockdown begins, the Shadows start to emerge from the lake, the same blobs of inky black dragging themselves out onto the surface. These Shadows do not show their true form, intent on entering the town and scouring homes for... whatever they're searching for... Over the course of the month until the dungeon is cleared, a sickness seems to settle back over the town, complaints of chills and bouts of sleepiness culminating into lethargy so severe that people stop responding and cannot care for themselves, a familiar pattern of zombies and disappearances until the boss is dealt with.

Despite the winds, the surface of the lake remains eerily still, a perfect mirror reflecting your face until touched, reflection warped by ripples. Around the perimeter of the lake are the occasional posts staked into the ground with the written warning to stay away from the water, but during Lockdown, there are no townspeople to come rushing forward to shoo you away, so... will you take the risk and plunge into the depths, or turn around and leave?

→ 1st Floor

The lake is chilly when you first step into it, showing nothing past the surface but inky darkness during the night. But once your entire body is submerged, your vision suddenly clears up to reveal a brightly lit lake, the water lukewarm as if it were daytime and the sun is shining directly overhead.

The lake is as wide as ever, sides cut out with Minecraft-level blockiness, and at the bottom, a mere fifty feet below the surface, a dark hole has been cut out from the rest of the stone floor, just large enough for a single person to fit through. Sunken and scattered across the floor lie rusted excavators, drills, a bulldozer with its door shining a bright Velvet Room blue, shovels and pickaxes, swords and shields and battered pieces of armor, and the occasional skeleton that falls apart at the touch, flesh and ligament long since picked clean.

And then there are the Shadows.

IKU-TURSO
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
As if the poisonous waters weren't bad enough, these rotting Shadows carry a vile and toxic cloud of water wherever they go. Staying too close to them will result in swimmers becoming immediately posioned, causing them to feel severely nauseous and sick to their stomach. These Shadows reach out with their slimy webbed hands and drag any poisoned victims to the depths of the lake with the intent on burying them in the murky sands. If you don't die first from the poison, you'll suffocate from the sand instead. As a result, it's advised to attack these Shadows from afar or to avoid them outright, if you can. Poisonous slime and ragged horns can be collected as loot.

AMEMASU
Type Shadow	Resists Ice	Weak Light
Once you come across an Amemasu, your only option is to either defeat them or run away. These giantic creatures take up entire invisible hallways of the maze and can unhinge its jaw to swallow humans alive. In fact, that's mostly how it attacks; by eating whatever that gets in its path. Unfortunately for it and luckily for everyone else, this creature's sight is not very strong and can only detect moving objects. If you stay perfectly still in these waters, it may completely ignore you. Of course, you'd still have to figure out how to get around this hulking Shadow through the tight corridors of the maze, but surprise attacks will be easier to land, so long as it doesn't catch you moving first. Large scales that shine in the light can be collected as loot.

The Shadows glide through the water as if it were nothing more than air, but for everybody else, swimming in the lake is as slow and cumbersome as ever. Despite the unnatural stillness and clarity of the water, unseen currents flow all throughout the lake and can easily drag you off course if you're caught in them, and invisible walls are set up throughout the area like the most annoying maze in existence where you can't see anything. The walls and the currents confine the Shadows in predetermined routes, but the same goes for you if you try to navigate the maze, crossed paths unavoidable. The walls can be shattered, at the risk of the glass shards getting caught in the currents and slicing you and all your friends up in the process, but seem to be what redirects the currents in the first place.

The longer you stay in the water contemplating how to get down to the hole at the bottom of the lake, the sicker you start to feel; the townspeople were serious about their warnings, and the poison lingers even after you leave the water. Also, most of you can't breathe underwater and have a minute or however long your lung capacity allows. Haha. Good luck.

With a bit of patience, good luck is what comes on the morning of 9/4, when a passing crow swoops down and sets a polished aquamarine charm directly on each character's head. The charm is in the shape of a feather, thin and easily broken if you're not careful, but having it on your person allows you to breathe underwater so long as the charm is intact. Unfortunately, it comes with the downside of having a song stuck in your head, the same way you can't get rid of the music in the Velvet Room, until you're out of the water again. Maybe this is incentive enough to get to that hole as quickly as possible.

As of 10/28: The glass maze inside the lake has been shattered, although shards of glass still float within the water, and the currents have also stopped. During Lockdown, the first floor appears twice as large as the lake normally is, and outside of Lockdown, there is a huge rift spanning the floor of the lake.
As of 10/31: The lake has been purified, and swimming in the water no longer makes people feel sick.

→ 2nd Floor

After reaching the hole at the bottom of the lake and passing through a series of twists and turns, you're spat out onto solid ground and crisp fresh air, refreshing after the pressure of the water and the lingering poison. The ground is solid ice, and whether you kept your clothes on or stripped for the swim, you're in for a miserable time in these sub-zero temperatures unless you dry off quickly, bundle up, and find a way to warm yourself up. This floor doesn't offer much: every direction you look is an expanse of white, almost blinding in the way the sky and the ice share the same lack of color, a complete whiteout with no visible horizon, no borders or end to the world.

With the lack of traction on the smooth and slick ice, it's easy to fall and difficult to brake, unless the terrain is altered to make travel possible. The ice is thick, difficult but not impossible to break, but the temperature is so cold that attempts to melt the ice has the water quickly refreezing. You'll need to find a reliable way to get around, though, seeing as the emptiness is broken up by the Shadows that roam the area, congregated together at the center of this world.

ONIKUMA
Type Shadow	Resists Ice, Physical	Weak None
When you feel the ice shaking underneath your feet, an Onikuma is nearby. These Shadows walk upright on their hind legs and are the very defintion of tanks. They're incredibly strong and a single swipe from their enormous paws is enough to knock an average human out. With their thick fur and skin, they can take an insane amount of damage before they even fall. Without any apparent weaknesses, they are a force to be reckoned with. Luckily, they're solidtary creatures so groups will only have to fight them one at a time. When it's close to dying, it will let out an ear-piercing roar. All those who don't immediately cover their ears will fall under a debilitating rage spell and begin to lash out wildly at both friends and foes. Unlike normal rage ailments that eventually fade away, the only way to recover from this particular affliction is to use a status-healing spell/item (if you're lucky) or to simply knock out the affected person (if you're unlucky). Indescrutible claws can be collected as loot.

ARCTOS
Type Shadow	Resists Ice	Weak Fire
Unless you come across one that wears an Obon lantern around its neck, these wolf-like Shadows are difficult to spot without a keen eye. Their pure snow-white fur easily blends in with the white expanse of their surroundings and they move silently across the ice. If you don't pay close attention, you may find yourself surrounded by a pack. These creatures employ a series of ice-related attacks to freeze their prey in place and to single out the weakest links in a team. They never attack individually, choosing to group together on a single enemy with the hopes of overpowering them. Furthermore, their protruding fangs hold a powerful charm spell that can cause their victims to confuse these Shadows as their allies while perceiving their actual team members as the enemies. A single nick from their fangs is enough to do the trick and when they realize they're up against an opponent that they cannot defeat head-on, they resort to turning their enemies into their allies and attacking them when their backs are turned. Fangs with the ability cause charm and small round gems that heal any status ailment one time each can be collected as loot.

A closer look reveals them to be fighting one another, limbs and heads torn off to splatter black gunk onto the icy ground, only to reform as another Shadow to throw themselves into the fray all over again. Some of the Shadows are carrying lanterns— the same ones hung around town during Obon, with family names etched into the sides and in danger of being dashed into the ground or swallowed whole by the Shadows as they fight. For those who had hung their own lanterns, you might recognize the one for the friend or family of the departed, sent off to rest in this very lake— only to get no rest as they're fought over by the Shadows.

At the center of all things is another hole carved into the ground, where the mass of Shadows is the densest, the most violent, and the most prone to hit you with stray spells that mess with your mind and your vision, turning friend to foe with the illusion that those teammates standing beside you are now Shadows about to rip out your throat. Keep an eye on your friends, along with your enemies.

As of 10/28: Sleet rains constantly on this floor.

→ 3rd Floor

Jumping down through the ice pit, you fall into the darkness and eventually spat out again, this time onto dirt and fallen leaves. The air is blessedly warm and dry again, spots of sunlight filtering through the thick canopy above your head and illuminating the dirt path at your feet. A quick look around reveals the area to be the middle of a forest, with you standing on a wide path surrounded by trees packed together to form a loose wall. One end of the path has been overrun with bramble, the other direction clear.

Visible over the treetops above the blocked end are spires of a castle, and nothing is stopping you from stepping off the path and pushing your way through the bramble and the trees. Except for the razor-sharp leaves and blades of grass that can slice through fabric and skin at the lightest touch, and the thorns hidden in the undergrowth that make you itch like hell when you're pricked, causing your vision and your mind to go hazy in a matter of minutes. Setting the forest on fire will also release these toxins into the air, making you and everybody in the immediate area lethargic, mind numb and difficult to concentrate.

If you choose to continue along the open path instead, you'll get to enjoy a nice stroll for a couple of minutes before the peace is interrupted by a rumble in the background, the mountains behind you falling apart with a landslide racing towards the castle. If it reaches the castle before you do, the rocks are impossible to move or destroy, and you'll have to come back another night for the dungeon to reset and get a second chance. But you'll make it if you stick to the main path and ignore the handful of off-shoots temping people astray; either way, you'll have to make quick work of the Shadows, or find a way to contend with the forest itself to create your own path.

WARAJI
Type Shadow	Resists None	Weak Physical
These tiny creatures, standing only a few inches high, are more of a nusiance than anything else. They're less interested in fighting you and more interested in just making life really annoying. They come out from the bushes and run around wildly with their arms over their heads, hoping to trip anyone that gets in their path. They also reach out with their sharp chicken-like hands and claw at unsuspecting ankles before they retreat back into the bushes with glee in their single eyes. Unfortunately, trying to traverse through these bushes to get your revenge on these despicable minions will be near impossible as these bushes take on the same dangerous properties as the other living green life on this floor. However, if you're really that determined to get proper retribution, you can just wait until they come back, silently screeching like little demons, and simply step on them. They're incredibly weak and once you're not taken by surprise anymore, you can easily just kick them away. Loose pieces of straw rope can be collected as loot.

USHI-ONI
Type Shadow	Resists Dark, Light	Weak Fire
Similarly to the Onmoraki Shadows from the previous dungeon, these rotting Shadows can be smelled miles away before you even see them. Fortunately, they like to keep their distance so their smell is mitigated, but unfortunately, this exact same distance allows it to avoid being easily killed. It uses a wide range of magic-based attacks but primarily focuses on bless and curse skills. It uses one of the many talismans hanging off its body to throw at their enemies and to keep a wide space between itself and others. With its sharp claws, it easily climbs up the side of trees, resting just underneath the razor-sharp leaves, to further increase this distance. Fortunately, it can be easily killed by using a simple fire spell, but be careful not to burn down the tree as well. The fire will spread quickly and release those terrible toxins into the air. A tattered black cape and talismans that cause light bless or curse damage can be collected as loot.

At the end of the winding path stands the castle, a mirror image of Castle Ouma complete with a large black bear(?) snoozing in the middle of the room, the corner of a door cut into the stone floor and visible beneath its front paws. This bear(?) is a light sleeper, lifting its head the moment anybody crosses the threshold into the room and staring down the intruders with glowing, golden eyes. It seems uninterested in fighting, let alone moving, and any attacks on the bear are reflected and returned double, as the bear(?) turns into stone, immovable and indestructible no matter how hard you try to move or break it. Again, another way to screw you and everybody else over for the rest of the night, with the bear(?) shaking itself free of its stone prison by the following night. You'll have to get it to move somehow, if you want to get to that door.

As of 10/28: It will constantly raining on this floor, although the rainfall is light.

→ 4th Floor

Hot. Hot hot hot hot hot.

It's even worse than the heatwave of last month, this oppressive heat that makes breathing difficult and the ground shimmer with a heat haze that ripples across the entire floor with temping puddles of water that aren't there. You find yourself in a rural town like Hirajiro, with empty buildings and empty streets save for the Shadows that patrol through the streets. They're fewer in number than in the other floors, but are much larger than the rest, stronger than the rest, more dangerous, and give chase immediately when somebody crosses their line of sight, unrelenting until they either catch their prey and engage you in battle.

The ground buckles easily when you walk, steam escaping from the cracks as if the stone path were sitting on top of a pool of magma threatening to break apart and melt into the molten rock below. With the sky painted a deep orange-red but missing a sun to beat down on the world below, there is no shade cast from the buildings to offer reprieve from the heat. Along the lakefront, a dozen long, wooden storehouses line the perimeter, with piles of gold and precious metals visible through the open doors, each storehouse guarded by a pair of Shadows on high alert for the faintest sound or smallest movement, and a F.O.E. lurking within one of the buildings to deal with any intruders who slip past.

WRATH
Type Shadow	Absorbs Fire, Physical	Weak None
Underneath their semi-transparent skin, a hot fire burns within these hellish creatures and smoke seeps through openings of their exposed skulls. They gallop through the area, always on high alert and ready to charge at the slightest noise it hears. There are fewer of them in the main town, but they're far more prominent across the lakefront, guarding the storehouses and its treasures. Almost unsurprisingly, they use fire to dispel their enemies, breathing out hot flames. If you, for some godforsaken reason, choose to use fire right back at them, it will only heal them. Less surprisingly, if you also try to use any physical attacks, you'll find that they have no effect against them. For some reason, it only heals them as well. Perhaps they're masochists. Regardless, these Shadows aren't something that you want to fight. Their powerful legs make them fast persuaders and it'd be hard to lose them in a chase so it's best to just steer clear of these Shadows a keep your head low. Horns and sharp ribs can be collected as loot.

ELDRITCH
Type F.O.E.	Nulls Fire, Dark, Physical	Weak None
Lukcily, this singular F.O.E. can only be found if you were to venture into a particular storehouse. It sits silently in the air, waiting for any thieves to steal the treasure within, and when a foolish intruder enters, it locks the door to prevent any last-minute escapes. It's relentless in its curse-based attacks, leaving absolutely no room for a counter, and inflicts a powerful fear status ailment, causing the victim to suddenly become terrified of death. It will beat its victims to near-death before tossing them out of the dungeon, leaving them battered and injured, but hopefully smart enough not to reenter its domain...

And at the center of town, the lake has been drained, fire burning in a deep cavern filled with poisonous gas. Any wind used to blow away the gas only temporarily clears the area until more gas seeps out from the ground below, and serves to fan the flames that lick the rock all the way down to the bottom where a large slab of stone sits, much like the one at Castle Ouma. Instead of four slots, however, there are sixteen: a ring of eight small circles at the center, with a second ring of eight surrounding the first. Of the sixteen slots, ten have already been filled, in no particular order, with shining golden coins.

The toll to pass is six golden coins, and the boss awaits beyond.

As of 10/28: Heavy thunderstorms pour rain down on the floor, quelling some of the flames and especially at the cavern at the center of town, but while the humidity of the other floors have lessened, it remains 122°F/50°C with 100% humidity on this floor.

→ Mod Notes

⬥ There are multiple ways to deal with the dungeon, from clearing out the floors to make them more accessible, getting to the doors to the next floors, and obtaining the coins needed to face the boss. Players are encouraged to come up with their own solutions and may run their plans with the mods in the top level below to discuss results.
⬥ There is no scheduled IC/OOC date for when the boss battle with be posted. In order to access the boss, all six coins must be retrieved and reported to the mod top level below, after which the top level for the boss will go up. Sign-ups for teams is done below.
⬥ To determine the outcome of the boss battle, a minimum of 10 threads across the entire player base from this post is required, with a maximum of 2 threads turned in per player, containing at least 5 comments from you, and may not overlap with coin threads. Threads may involve battling, healing, exploring, discussing, etc as long as the characters interact with the dungeon in some way. Please report your threads in the mod top level below. They are due by the end of the month.
⬥ When knocked out in the dungeon, characters black out and wake up the next morning lying by the lake, fully soaked regardless of what floor they were on and will have chills for the rest of the day unless healed sooner.
⬥ Curing of poison can be hand-waved as provided by the Velvet Room attendants if the character visits them in the Velvet Room accessed from the first floor or outside the dungeon. They will be offered dokudami tea, which has a very pungent odor akin to fish but will cure them of poison, and a warm blanket. It seems like the music has changed since everybody was here last and everybody is required to sing the line "Every day young life Ju-ne-su!" before they're allowed to leave.
⬥ This month, the full moon occurs on 9/13-9/15, and Personas may behave strangely and disobey orders. This is an optional mechanic.
⬥ As of 10/28, floors in this dungeon see constant rainfall. As of 10/31, the lake has been purified and no longer poison people both during Lockdown and outside of it.

Comments

Mod Questions

[citta]

If you have any questions or would like to run any puzzle-solving attempts by the mods, please leave them here!

Re: Mod Questions

[overstrain]

This completely slipped my mind, but is it still possible for RO to be poisoned? Since she's... an android and all. She doesn't have organs in her body. Or will it affect her differently?

[not_that_sasuke]

After the 5th, is there anything Kurou or Sasuke would find out about via overheard gossip?

Re: Mod Questions

[overstrain]

Is the Daitengu's fan loot actually capable of making wind magic just like it did with its wielder? Or is it just a regular fan?

Coin Team Sign-ups

[citta]

There is no limit to how many characters are on a team, but players are limited to a maximum of two coin threads, and we ask that priority be given to those who have not yet signed up before a second thread is taken.

Please sign up with the following form:

Player:
Character:

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character:</b>

Coin 1 (Caution)

[citta]

If you stray from the third floor's main path and decide to head in the opposite direction of the castle, checking out the bramble and densely packed trees, you'll find a spot of pale blueish-green from the corner of your eyes. "Hello...?" It hides behind the trees, peeking out to look at you with its big eyes. Once you make it clear that you're not going to harm it, it slowly comes out, floating over towards you. It's small. It only stands about a foot tall. "You're not going to hurt me...? Thank you, mister/miss!" It giggles and it looks up at you as it sways side to side. "Umm, can you help me? I lost my parents' lanterns... Those big dogs stole them from me on the last floor and I'm not strong enough to beat them for it." Its shoulders sink and it somehow looks even smaller than it actually is. "I don't know how to read so I don't know which ones belong to mom and dad... and I can't really remember their names. I always just called them 'mom' and 'dad'... so can you please bring back some lanterns to me, still intact, and read their names out loud to me? Maybe I'll remember their names if I hear them. Umm, I'll reward you! Here. I found this earlier..." Seemingly from nowhere, it pulls out a gold coin with both of its small hands. "Please? I really just want to be back with mom and dad..." Players may control this Shadow in their threads without the mod's approval. If it's attacked, it will float away and refuse to come back out, taking the coin with it. It's surprisingly quick and nimble so trying to take the coin out of its hands will be impossible. It will only trade away its coin after characters bring back a number of lanterns and it finds the one that belonged to its parents. At the very end, it'll happily thank the characters for bringing back their parents, give away its coin, and then float away with the lanterns.

Coin 2 (Critical Thinking)

[citta]

As you walk across the second floor's frozen horizon, you'll eventually find a clear patch of ice. It's remarkably transparent, allowing you to get a clear look underneath. It's difficult to see at first, at least with a quick glance, but as you carefully search the depth's floor, you'll see something that sparkles in the light: a coin. It's at least fifteen feet down, but luckily, it'd be a simple dive. There's nothing obstructing your path so going down and then coming back up should be relatively easy, but of course, nothing is that straightforward. Breaking the ice takes a little bit of effort and it'd stay shattered for two whole seconds before it completely freezes over once again, regardless if there's a new obstruction or not. Did you have a leg halfway in the water right when the ice freezes back? Well, now you have a leg stuck in the ice. Good going. You'll have to figure out a way to reach the coin deep within the water without getting stuck in the ice and then becoming trapped underwater when it freezes back over. Breaking it on the surface is a lot easier than breaking it when you're in water that will probably give you hypothermia and when your punches and kicks are not as ineffective underwater.

Coin 3 (Negotiation)

[citta]

As you walk down the open path of the third floor, you may hear a gruff voice coming from the trees. "Heheh, so I've heard that you're looking for a coin." A Shadow(?) stands in the grass, seemingly unaffected by the razor-sharp blades. It carries a heavy sack over one shoulder and it pulls out a clean golden coin out of its pocket, showing it to you for a brief second before it goes back into the pocket. As it snickers, its entire body shakes. "Why don't we negotiate for a trade? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. What do you say?" Players may control this Shadow in their threads without the mod's approval. It will ask numerous outrageous requests after another, ranging from large amounts of money to the clothes off a character's back to an actual limb. It cannot be destroyed as it reflects all types of attacks and will easily defeat characters if it wants. Negotiations are the only way to succeed.

Coin 4 (Speed)

[citta]

Just as easily as you can see the exit to the second level of the dungeon through the crystal clear water, you can also spot out a stone pedestal at the bottom of the lake. It's bizarrely out of place, sitting amongst all the rusty weapons and in pristine condition, and those with keen eyes will spot that a gold coin sits at the very top of the pedestal. Well, that looks important, doesn't it? It would easy to just swim down and grab it, but this invisible maze makes that plan near impossible. It twists and turns, seemingly taking you further and further away from the coin. To make matters worse, Shadows are more heavily prominent around the pedestal and as you go deeper and deeper into the lake, you start to feel more nauseous. The poison seeps through your skin and the longer you stay, the quicker you feel your consciousness slipping from you. This is no place to take your time and smell the seaweed. You need to be in and out as quickly as possible with that coin if you want to survive. Of course, that's easier than done...

Coin 5 (Stealth)

[citta]

Through the gaps of the fourth floor's storehouse doors, you'll see seemingly endless piles of treasures stacked upon each other. Stealing those might solve all of your money problems but something more important might catch your eye: a coin. Now, each one of these storehouses seems to house one so maybe you caught your lucky break. There's no need to travel to the other floors and do all that tedious work to get those coins when you can just take these ones, right? Well... Heavily guarded, it'd be a struggle to even break into these storehouses. There aren't any windows or obvious other points of entry that you can use to break into the building, so you're stuck using the front door (of course, you could break down the wall but that's an easy way to draw attention). You'll have to figure out a way to get past the Wrath Shadows, either by drawing their attention elsewhere or somehow slipping right under their noses. Then, when you enter, you'll find out that the coin that you saw? It's not even real. It falls apart the moment that you take it into your hands and you wasted all that effort for nothing. You'll have to find the correct storehouse with the real coin (the one containing the F.O.E.), but even if you do manage to get the real deal, you'll have to somehow sneak back out without engaging with the Eldritch and unlocking the front door...

Coin 6 (Strength)

[citta]

If you stay around on the second floor long enough to watch the Shadows fighting one another, you'll find out the reason behind their carnage: a coin. The moment that one Shadow grabs hold of it, it's immediately attacked by another, ripped apart until it's nothing but a splatter of black gunk on the ground, soon to reform and come back again as a contestant for the coin. Getting the coin will be no easy task. Even if you manage to somehow defeat the Shadows to grab hold of it, you'll immediately become every Shadow's target. They will be relentless in pinning you down and tearing you apart for daring to get yourself involved in the fight. If you think about trying to make a run for it, they'll block your path and try to take back what rightfully belongs to them. No matter what, you'll have to fight your way out and avoid being mauled to death.

Coin Thread Reporting

[citta]

Only one person from each group needs to report the thread. Please use the following form:

Coin #:
Characters involved:
Thread:

<b>Coin #:</b> <b>Characters involved:</b> <b>Thread:</b>

[overstrain]

Coin #: 4
Characters involved: Terrence Nowell, Mondo Oowada
Thread: so much for speed...

[reveilation]

Coin #: 5
Characters involved: Kido, Rei, Terry (sort of, he picked up the coin in the end)
Thread: we also sucked at stealth lmfao

[reveilation]

Coin #: 3
Characters involved: Kido, Kaede
Thread: there was no negotiating at all

[overstrain]

Coin #: 6
Characters involved: Terrence Nowell, Shuuya Kano
Thread: strength? what strength??

[overstrain]

Coin #: 2
Characters involved: Terrence Nowell, Rio Takeuchi
Thread: wow there was actually some thinking this time

General Thread Reporting

[citta]

Please use the following form:

Player:
Character:
Thread: (may link up to 2 threads with 2 different characters)

<b>Player:</b> <b>Character:</b> <b>Thread: (may link up to 2 threads with 2 different characters)</b>

[defragment]

Player: Haki
Character: Terrence Nowell
Thread: 1 2

[overstrain]

I - 9/4-6: children under 13 must be supervised

[ (I - one person only) 9/4: You'll find a 12-year-old boy with similar features with a certain Persona user. He's around 5' tall, and has blue eyes as opposed to his usual brown ones. It's Terry, but he can probably be mistaken fro Hibiki's relative from his hair and eyes. If anyone does figure out this little boy is Terry, they're free to question him as to why he has blue eyes. He won't know either. Anyway, this boy is leaning over the lake while kneeling next to it. He seems pretty wary, but he ends up leaning in too much and falls in.

(II) 9/5-6: Terry is a little more prepared this time, lobbing molotovs with a lighter that were sealed inside ziploc bags, setting fire to the Arctos and Onikuma that threaten to attack him. It seems to work a little better on the former than the latter, but the hesitation is enough for Terry to summon Vassago in time to cast a Psiodyne to strike it down before it screams into a bloodcurling scream that afflicts rage. It looks like the little boy knows what he's doing at least. Pinpointing is great. But he keeps lobbing molotovs at them. Just how many does he have... either way, he's setting fire to everything around him, so you better be careful not to catch on fire too. Or maybe just gather around for warmth that the fire is emitting in this cold place. ]

II - 9/8-12: dragon taxi services return

[ Terry is normal sized now and he seems to have gotten tired of how the floors are. This is why if you're on the second or third floors, he'll call out to you right at the entrance of the stairwell. ]

Hey! Let's take a shortcut and let Vassago take us through the floor! It'll be quick and the faster we get out of this floor, the better.

[ Do you accept his offer or just tell him that he's crazy... ]

III - wildcard

[ If you'd like another prompt with bitty Terry or regular sized Terry, feel free to wildcard it! I'll have separate prompts for the coin missions under this top level when I have the chance. If there's anything you'd like to discuss beforehand, PM me or hit me up at celenza ! He's also starting his dungeon runs on 9/4 instead of 9/3 because he just slept the entire night from fatigue. lmao... ]

i

[laconism]

[Approaching the lake to dive into the dungeon with his new water charm and wearing his usual outfit like the mad lad that he is, Red sees the boy peering into the lake but doesn't recognize him as Terry. Being the social butterfly that he is, he simply begins to walk around to another section of the lake as if the kid isn't even there — but when he suddenly falls in, Red abandons that course of action and immediately jumps in after the younger Terry, pulling him out before he can be submerged too deeply into the lake.

Once they're both safely out, similar to their first meeting, Red wordlessly pulls a towel out of his backpack and hands it to Terry, although he still thinks this is a stranger.]

[reveilation]

i. 9/4 lakefront
[ Kido sleeps with her earbuds in, so she completely misses the first night, but on the second, she stands by the lakeside with her feather charm tucked inside her omamori and a very dubious look on her face while she stares down at the water. For the first time in two months, she has on a t-shirt and shorts instead of her usual two jackets and long pants that she doesn't want to get wet and drag her down, but the scowl on her face is the usual and it gets worse when she leans over and peers at her reflection on the surface.

"If you were to visit it at night and stare at your reflection in the water, you will get pulled in and never come back out." Great. If they're not slaughtered by the monsters, they're all going to drown down there. ]

Is it for sure this is where we need to be...?

[ Like walking straight into a death trap. ]

ii. 9/6 2nd floor
[ T-shirt and shorts were a mistake, actually. Kido lands hard on the ice, breaking her fall with her hands and knees that scrape the ice and start to bleed, but even then it's so cold that the blood starts to freeze before it gets the chance to drip any more. She should have it better than most people since she has ice resistance, but it's still enough that she can't feel her fingers, her ears and eyes burn with the cold, and though she had the presence of mind to wear shoes to swim through the lake, all that means is that her feet are going to be stuck in solid chunks of ice soon too.

This really sucks! She does not plan on freezing to death, so before she becomes and ice statue herself, she turns around to go back through the hole. If you're coming down at that exact time, Kido will either murder you for blocking the way, or if you have any fire spells or some other way to keep warm, she'll begrudgingly owe you her life. ]

iii. 9/10 3rd floor
[ She finally reaches the end of the path, sick and tired of how much bullshit everything is, and now she stands before the castle that has already been returned to ruins, large boulders and chunks of mountain burying most of the castle. Is this it? Or are they supposed to figure something else out?

With no idea what else to do, Kido starts climbing the boulders, because maybe the door to the next floor is somewhere on the top of it? She is not going to get anywhere and she's going to be lost in the mountains forever... ]

wc.
[ I'll wait to see who signs up for what missions to get a better idea of teams, but Kido will be on stealth for sure! If you want to partner up and fail any one of the missions with Kido, just to be able to play around with the prompts, let me know which coin you want and I can write us up a starter! \o/ ]

Rei - 4th floor

[reveilation]

[ The heat is miserable, and still Kido keeps a tight grip on Rei's hand as they walk through the street. Like she does every single time, she cautions Rei to keep an eye out and not to touch anybody or her masking ability will break, but otherwise, they should be safe in the dungeon. Nekogami's doing his best floating behind them and blowing cold air at their backs, but all that means is the front of her is hot while her back is cold and the overall effect is that she feels sick.

The glint of gold from the storehouses catch her eye, and it takes a couple more steps to assure herself that it's not just a mirage from the heat. ]

Hey, look over there. Those monsters are pretty close to the door... Let's go around the building and see if there's a way in somewhere else.

[rabbeats]

[ i'll put up some starters for closed threads in here, but if you want a thread with hibiki just leave your own starter (i'll roll with anything) or hit me up at koohii for plotting!! ]

NEGOTIATION COIN - LEÓN

[rabbeats]

[ It's negotiation time.

Hibiki was somewhat surprised to find León near the lake and offered to team up right on the spot. Miraculously, they managed to get to the third floor despite the powerful Shadows along the way. On top of that, the third floor seems rather unwelcoming with its flora. They should be fine as long as they don't walk off the path...

The Shadow they eventually spot doesn't care about paths at all, however. Hibiki stops as soon as he spots him and locks his eyes on the coin.

Then, he turns to León and leans in to whisper to him: ]

I guess we have to do this...let's hear him out.

[flowerclips]

[ this is where ichi will put some closed top-levels!!! hmu at northpaws for any plotting!! ]

caution - red

[flowerclips]

[ rei stands a bit close to red, nervous when she sees a shadow(?) jump out, but as it begins to talk and asks for a favour, explaining how it just wants to be back with its parents, her guard lowers and she's more sympathetic to it. she looks over at red, trying to see what his thoughts are. ]

I think we should help it...

[claytools]

I. LOCKDOWN, FIRST NIGHT

[A vulture flies towards the lakefront.]

[In case you were wondering, no, vultures are not native wildlife of this area. There’s not even anything dead around for it to eat. But it is soaring high through the night sky nonetheless, trying to keep out of reach of the crawling mass of Shadows below as they emerge from the water as the first lifeforms did from the great primordial ooze. To be honest, these things still look like primordial lifeforms… they should not exist, that much is for certain.]

[It’s sitting in a tree now, the vulture, watching the water. It’s so still, even when the creatures come out.]

[If another person approaches from the same direction, the vulture turns its head towards them. It opens its beak and speaks very quietly in a human tongue, so as not to alert the Shadows — though how this is physically possible remains unclear:]

It says, stay away from the water.

[The voice is still distinctly Enkidu’s.]

II. FIRST FLOOR, AROUND THE 13TH

[So um as some people may have noticed, Enkidu has been staying faaar away from the dungeons until this point. It literally takes them two weeks to go into the lake. The reason for this is, getting too involved with the dungeon naturally leads to getting too involved with their Persona, and they are Very Specifically Not Doing That. The townsfolk have gotten bad enough, however, that they're essentially guilted into doing their part. ...But if they wanted to get through the dungeon, they maybe should have picked a different moon phase to do that in.]

[The first floor should be a fairly simple matter of shifting shape into a fish or some other undersea creature, and yeeting themselves to the bottom. They don’t need to breathe at all, which is convenient… but they have trouble holding any shape at all when poisoned, which is less convenient.]

[You might watch someone who looks human casually turn into a fish and swim to the bottom of the lake without incident, because that dark hole at the bottom is pretty visibly where they’re supposed to go. Feel free to stop them for a talk either in the lake or after they make it to the next floor — just don’t linger in the poison too long.]

[Or maybe you find them confronted by an Iku-turso. If they’re grabbed and injected with the poison, Enkidu has an easy time simply cleaving their body apart to get out of its grip. But while they’re poisoned, they can’t reform as easily, and what this results in is a massive cloud of mud and dirt occasionally growing things like arms holding swords, or arrows, or pitchforks, attempting feebly to ward off the creature. They only last for a few seconds though before un-forming again.]

[On top of how weird it all is, Enkidu’s native powers are ineffective against Shadows… but since they’ve spent literally their entire time here either ignoring or being hostile towards their Persona, summoning Marduk results in the strange entity simply floating in the water, its singular eye watching the proceedings with absolute indifference.]

[The goopy wet clay forms temporarily into some crude facsimile of Enkidu’s head, floating in the water, chunks drifting out from their hair or eyebrow or neck or nose, long enough to say in a garbled voice:]

D—o som—ethin—g—!

[Marduk does nothing.]

III. WILDCARD

Anything else you want to do? Message me on plurk at skysplitter. I also signed Kidu up for two of the coins that haven’t been completed as of this writing, which are Critical Thinking and Strength (ha), so hmu if you want to do that too.]

ii

[reveilation]

[ Kido and Rei had planned to go as far as they could in the dungeon tonight, but with the two of them not being able to communicate underwater, the plan was to get through separately and meet up in the second floor. Kido trusts Rei to have made it and will be waiting for her, but since poison doesn't affect Kido at all, she can linger and help out those on this floor.

It's not the Iku-turso that grabs Kido's attention, or Marduk for that matter, but the cloud of dirt and mud sprouting arms and for a moment, Kido almost thinks this is a new type of Shadow she's supposed to be fighting, like the Shadow blobs that appear outside the dungeons, but then she hears Enkidu's muffled voice and she throws that thought aside.

She says something, but it's just a bubble of air that's released from her mouth, Nekogami appearing and swimming lazily around as if the water were no more than air. The Person unleashes a sheet of ice, but instead of aiming at the Shadow, the ice covers the lake bottom instead, preventing the Iku-turso from dragging anybody down. ]

[not_that_sasuke]

[Once his Shadow has been accepted, Sasuke can be found around doing all kinds of fun things, such as...]

[Dungeon - Floor 2]

[The water and feeling of sickness is awful enough to get him passing through the first floor as quickly as possible, but the ice afterwards is especially cruel.

After the 9th he can be found on this floor using an Agi spell to warm up and dry off after the water before he dares venture any further, his Persona holding the flame in place patiently for him. If he spots anyone else as they're deposited on the floor, he'll go ahead and nod at the flame.]

Probably want to warm up.

[Let's all try not to get hypothermia!]

[Forest - Torii]

[The torii that appeared last month can still be found out in the middle of the forest, somehow hanging in there in spite of its bad condition. Sasuke can occasionally be found by it too, eyes closed for... a nap??

Or not. He opens his eyes whenever someone approaches, tilting his head to get a better view of them.]

...? Did you get lost?

[Wildcard!]

[Hit me up at danidanidanica and we can plot something out! Sasuke is also available for up to two successful coin adventures.]

Closed to Akira

[not_that_sasuke]

[After hearing the spirit's plea, Sasuke turns to Akira.]

...I think we should help it.

[His eyes stray to the coin before he looks again to Akira.]

Plus, I think... I heard the people in Hirajiro talking about nightmares involving their ancestors. It might be connected.

[And if that's the case, they should probably do something about it for the sake of all those spirits...]

Boss Battle

[citta]

DAITENGU (大天狗) ASAKA-NO-MIKOTO
Type BOSS	Blocks Ice	Resists Fire, Dark, Light
『 Have you come for your trial, sinners? Allow me to judge you. 』 Immediately upon entering, thick black nooses drop down and wrap themselves around your neck, pulling you up high into the air. The longer you hesitate and struggle to cut the ropes, the bigger your fall and the harsher your descent to the iron hot ground will be. 『 I am the Daitengu, Asaka-no-Mikoto, the embodiment of death. Repent or suffer. 』 For those without a resistance to fire, you'd find yourself having a difficult time on the barren scalding floors. You'd have to find a way to stay off the ground or risk your shoes melting and catching on fire. Or, if you're unfortunate enough and touch the floor with direct skin contact, you'd immediately suffer painful burns. Staying off the ground is a task that is easier said than done, however, as thin black threads shoot out from seemingly nowhere, ensnaring anyone who dares to stay still for a few seconds. The longer you stay trapped, the weaker and sicker you feel as you are overwhelmed with the same toxins that ran through the first floor's waters. Pulling on the threads will only make them curl up tighter around your limbs, so use a Persona or a sharp blade to cut through before you succumb to the poison. However, the curse of the threads does not simply end there. Even if you cut through the threads and free yourself, you'd find dark black lines across your clothing and skin that mark you and are the targets of the Daitengu's sword. Cover up your markings or wash them away before you're struck down. 『 No matter what you do, your sins will always remain. 』 The narrow cylindrical-shaped room makes it difficult to maneuver around, avoiding the Daitengu, his threads, and the scorching floor. The only way to properly move is by going up. The ceiling seems nonexistent and you'd be able to properly avoid the hazards in this hell. Find someone or a Persona that can fly to increase your mobility. As the Daitengu fights solely with his weapons, using his sword to strike or his fan to send powerful gusts of wind that knock people back to the ground, disarming him will be the easiest way to defeat him. Take away his possessions and leave him vulnerable to initiate an all-out-attack. 『 ... gone, gone gone all the way over... everyone gone to the other shore... enlightenment... 』 He melts away into darkness. All that remains is his fan, black feathers, and an ofuda. It is inscribed with the Daitengu's name.

[overstrain]

[ Terry is here on the 13th, having sped through the insanely hot fourth floor, just to realize the boss cylinder chamber is also freakishly hot. His Persona had gained fire resistance somehow over the past month, but even that isn't enough to prevent him from breaking a sweat. Not to mention he had a real big bone to pick with the previous Daitengu for "killing" him, and this one is a Daitengu too, and he is absolutely going to try his damn best to kill this one during the 13th and 14th only.

A) Since he always has a knife on his person, he will immediately help cut the nooses and strings off anyone who happens to be trapped by them. Though you'll have to cover the landing yourself.

B) You can also see Terry leaping off the cylindrical walls quick enough to take a slash at the Daitengu with his serrated knife that can usually cause charm (bosses are unfortunately immune), the Daitengu, solemnly tells Terry that he's not his type, which only makes Terry even angrier and tries to stab his head next. He doesn't care about you!! Stupid Daitengu!! Burn in hell!!

C) Or you can see him riding on Vassago, trying to attack him from all around with Psycho Force and God's Hand while Terry fends him off to give Vassago openings by clashing his own weapons with the Daitengu. If you need a ride, call for him. He might or might not give you one.

D) Give me your own scenario! Terry managed to summon Vassago again, so if you need a Persona with wings, he's there for you. Probably. ]