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OCTOBER EVENT PT 1

OCTOBER EVENT PT1

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→ 10/3 Rain, rain, go away

As summer draws to a close and the season turns to autumn, the forest gradually starts to warm into golds and reds, starting from the mountains and working inwards towards the town. The first few drops of rain bring with them relief from the heat that had taken hold of the summer months, and the intermittent showers turn into constant downpours by the weekend. For the rest of the month, the rain is unrelenting, the sky cast in heavy grey clouds that refuse to part for the sun for even the briefest of moments, leaving October a month of constant darkness both night and day.

Without an ocean to drain into, the rainwater instead runs down the streets and drags dirt and debris from the forest along with it, ultimately collecting in the lake at the center of town and turning it muddy grey. The children have fun splashing in the puddles, until the worms and snails come crawling out and then there's more terrified shrieking than shouts of laughter, but it's kind of nice sitting by a window with a cup of hot tea while listening to the sound of pattering rain/screaming children outside. Only, the rain doesn't stop, worrying the townspeople enough that they start to talk about preparations for flooding. There really is no higher ground to move to, unless people want to trek all the way up to the mountains, so efforts are instead focused on keeping the water level controlled. Everybody is encouraged to pitch in filling and setting sandbags to build dams around the buildings to keep the water out, to donate non-perishable food and other emergency supplies to make sure there's enough to distribute to those who need them, and to take in what stray cats they're able to care for so that none of them are put in danger of the rushing water outside.

For the duration of the month, both the inn and the school are allowing people to stay in the second floor of the inn and the second story classrooms, free of charge. It's hard to say whether the ghosts in the inn are happy about all the extra company, with the wailing in between the walls getting louder as the month progresses, and some people say they hear giggling at times, which stops the moment they get closer. At the school, there are the Seven School Mysteries to contend with instead. They're all the typical things: the painting of the school founder whose eyes follow you around as you walk down the entrance hall, the bust in the art room that cries blood and stains the stone red, an anatomical model from the science lab that suddenly comes to life and chases people out of the room, the piano in the music room that plays by itself when nobody is in the room, a ghost haunting the bathrooms that locks all the doors when you really have to go, a goat man roaming the halls who chases and knocks anybody out cold if they aren't in a classroom between 4:00-4:05 PM, and ghostly hands that grab your wrists and ankles if you try to enter the gymnasium after sundown.

All these things are real. School's haunted.

→ 10/11-10/12 Paantu Festival

As the lake fills up, more water starts to slosh out of it than what drains in, contaminating the drinking water, causing the townspeople to fall ill, and sapping all the light and the heat from the days. It's never rained this hard and this long before, people are saying. The gods must be angry. Something must have happened or somebody must have done something to curse the town, and now everybody is suffering the consequences of it.

While some people sit around and hope for the best, others decide to take matters in their own hands and revive a forgotten tradition in an effort to save the town: the Paantu Festival. For these two days, several dozen Paantu are seen roaming the streets, humanoid forms covered in branches and leaves stuck onto their bodies with thick, sticky mud, wearing wooden masks over their faces and carrying walking sticks as they chase after anybody still wandering outside. The Paantu scoop mud off the ground and smear them on people's houses, the shops and the school and even the hospital doesn't get spared. It's difficult to get anywhere in town without being ambushed and having a handful of mud thrown at your face, especially with how wet and slippery the streets have become.

As the Paantu are meant to spread good luck and scare away evil spirits, it's ill advised to attack the creatures, although some little kids inadvertently do as they kick and scream and try to get away, and doing so causes a day of bad luck to befall the attacker. When unmasked, some of the Paantu are revealed to be villagers playing the roles, but other times, the Paantu transforms into a cackling demon that jumps out and tries to grab onto your body. These demons cannot be destroyed, but if you're able to remove them, either by force or by persuasion, they'll leave behind a gold coin as thanks for playing with them. Unfortunately, the townspeople aren't able to see the demon Paantu, so if mud hits them on the back of the head and you're the only one standing there, they can only blame one person and that person is you. Better run, punk.

Parents jokingly tell their kids that the Paantu will take them away if they misbehave, but as the last of the Paantu are caught and unmasked, it's found that some people have disappeared in the chaos, old and young alike. Even in the days after the festival, the mud gets washed away, but missing posters go up— including those for the owners of the occult shop so many of you rely on for income, and the shop is temporarily closed. So much for driving out bad luck.

→ 10/13-10/27 No, seriously, please go away

If anything, things just seem to get worse after the festival. With the lake saturated and nowhere else for the water to go, the town starts to flood, two feet by mid-month, with the water level rising exponentially higher until the town is drowning in eight feet of water by the end of the month, rendering all those sandbags useless. Although the water is largely still now instead of rushing towards the center of town, it's still mixed with the toxins from the lake and those who fall in or try to swim in it will eventually become ill, suffering chills and a fever and pressure in their chest that makes it difficult to breathe. Souji and Minato will be glad to have you over for tea any time to get rid of that poison, but unfortunately the tea doesn't help those who aren't Persona users. In order to make a tea that will help the townspeople, you'll have to help the Attendants gather the ingredients for it and fill their request.

On the 14th, the power goes out everywhere except the hospital, which has emergency generators, but those won't last forever either. In the following days, thunder roars in the distance, and lightning begins to flash across the sky, providing the only light now that both the sun and the moon are hidden above the clouds. By some miracle, the lightning never hits the town and electrocutes everybody in it, but it does hit the mountains from time to time, breaking the rock and causing avalanches to fall and smother the forest. At times, little pebbles of hail fall from the sky, and other times, it's frogs and fish that plop down into the water despite there being no ocean in Hirajiro.

Throughout the month, rain continues to fall even during Lockdown. The moon still cannot be seen, but in the area around the lake, faint blue light glows underwater to guide people towards the dungeon, and no Shadows leave this dungeon or the school dungeon to swim through town. For those taking shelter in the school, it still transforms into the previous dungeon during Lockdown, spitting people out onto a random floor and separating those who were together when midnight strikes. In these two dungeons, characters may find some reprieve from the rain, but none of the floors have a sun or a moon to provide light, and it becomes very humid. Yeah. You thought the fourth floor of the lake dungeon was hell already, but now it's 122°F/50°C with 100% humidity.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ We're doing great, guys. In order to fight the lake dungeon boss, 2 more coin threads must be completed and submitted by 10/14.
⬥ To determine the outcome of the boss battle, a minimum of 10 threads across the entire player base from September's dungeon post is required, with a maximum of 2 threads turned in per player, containing at least 5 comments for each character. These threads may not overlap with coin threads but may be threads started in September or October. The deadline for defeating the boss is 10/31.
⬥ The raining and flooding will continue through the month until 10/27, with part 2 of the event going up on 10/28, but the pouring rain will noticeably lessen once the boss is defeated and the ofuda is returned to the castle. At the worst of the flooding, single story buildings in town will be almost fully submerged, but the water level does not extend as high in the forest and both the castle and shrine will be left untouched by the flood during the month, although they'll still get rained on.
⬥ This month, the full moon (despite not being visible) occurs on 10/12-10/14, and Personas may behave strangely and disobey orders. This is an optional mechanic.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Hmmmmmmmmmm ]

For the price of one coin... Ah! How good are you at making milkshakes??

[ This is how little this whole thing means to him: the price of one milkshake. ]

[ Terry isn't going to think about the worth when it's so easy. This might as well be such an unfair trade, but he'll take it. Fuck equivalent exchange. ]

If you tell me your preferences, I can make the best milkshake you ever drank in your life.

[ Though at this point, he's currently boarding up the house... though the door will be done last for reasons. ]

Ehh... I'll have to get back to you on that! I'll let you know later what to put in it~

[ This'll probably never come up any time else, but essentially, the milkshake is for Ellie and he's got to ask her what she wants in her shake. So it'll have to be later. ]

But is that good? It's a deal? You'll blood oath it any everything??

I can bleed out on whatever you want later.

[ So, yes. It's a deal.

Though the deal doesn't include Kano's safety. ]

...That's not how a blood oath works, Boss. You've never done one before?

[ They have to blood oath first before doing anything else!! ]

Seriously...?

[ He looks so exasperated already and it hasn't even been a while since they just started talking. ]

Okay, fine. What is it?

It's like this, like this~ Both of us cut our hands or fingers or whatever, and I take some of yours and you take some of mine and we put 'em into little bottles, and if you break the deal then the bottle explodes and you're cursed forever~!!

[ That is not how it works, but Kano is already digging through his endless pockets for bottles. He doesn't really have any good ones... There's the soy sauce bottle he pulls out, but there's a lot of soy sauce left and he doesn't want to dump it out and waste it. Same with the little tubes of glitter; if he had a single larger container, he wouldn't mind consolidating them and having smaller spares, but that's no good too.

Napkins...? He holds out a wad to Terry. ]

This is good enough. Here, here, bleed on this~

[ Yeah, something's telling him that blood oaths are not like that. Terry looks down at Kano pulling out a soy sauce bottle from his... pocket...? Terry's pants usually have pretty deep pockets too, enough to store several molotovs that easily fit in his hand in ziploc bags, but that's an entire soy sauce bottle.

...

He'll take the napkin, get out a small kitchen knife, makes a small cut on his arm and wipes the blood with the napkin. Then he proceeds to wrap it around with bandages. ]

[ Maybe it's a difference of cultures? He can't know that.

Kano digs into a different pocket to get out a switchblade, and slices the blade across his thumb, laying the napkin out flat on his knee so he can carefully drip blood into a happy face. He gets as far as the smile before he stops bleeding, though, and he sticks a bandaid on his thumb and hands his bloody semi-circle napkin over to Terry.

Here, trade. ]

[ He really doesn't, but everything Kano does is fishy as hell.

He trades the napkins. That small cut on his arm is gonna be bleeding for a long ass time. ]

Are we done yet...

[ Cool. Kano folds the napkin so that all the blood in on the inside, but then he sticks it in his pocket and it's probably going to open up against in there so it doesn't matter. ]

Yep, that's it~ Now, let's see... There's an easy way to do it, but hey, Boss, you'll help out too, right? There's on ti~ny little part I need you for, but everything else I can handle! Is that good?

Yeah, what is it?

[ He already decided on killing the Shadows and stuff. How bad can it be?? ]

I need you to take down one Mist, but only one. You'll know exactly which one it is, but you gotta wait for me to set everything up. Got the patience for that?

[ You don't have to kill all the Shadows! Calm your bloodlust!! ]

How long is it going to take?

[ He still lacks the patience... but he'll try. ]

I can do what you failed to do all month in about... thirty seconds.

[ He could probably do it without Terry's help too? Terry is just extra insurance, because Kano doesn't fight. ]

[ oh my god Kano

It takes really all of Terry's willpower to just not lash out right then and there. He just grits his teeth and breathes out. ]

Fine. Just give me the signal and I'll go.

[ It's a great month for him to meet Kano, huh? ]

Sure, sure~ I'll be off, then! You can come watch, but stay back and be a good boy and you'll know the signal when you see it~

[ Kano goes ahead and trots off, the black fog around his feet growing thicker and spreading out until it forms the shape of a dragon— it's Vassago's form, except pure black with bright red eyes with Kano sitting sidesaddle on its back as it lifts into the air to fly overhead where all the Shadows are.

Kano gets a 30 foot radius, and he uses it all to his advantage. The stark white of the ice where all the Shadows stand takes on color and shape, forming a park complete with spring green grass and a little sand pit and a set of swings. The Shadows, while confused, only stop when the sun appears in the sky, shining down on the ground without any warmth attached to it, and it's in that instant where the coin disappears from the hands of one Shadow, and reappears in another's. In response, The Shadows pile onto their new target, only to find the coin's disappears and is held by another one, leading the Shadows around in circles as they chase after it. Every time a Shadow passes over the sandbox, a burst of flames comes up and sears it; the playground equipment, when touched, zaps the Shadows, and there are times when the Shadows seem to trip over thin air and come crashing to the ground.

Terry's signal consists of a large neon sign that appears in the sky, reading "HEY BOSS! YOUR TURN!" with flashing orange and green arrows pointing down at one of the Shadows left standing around and straggling at the end of the pack, probably the most confused looking one because it's the one holding onto the real coin while the others fight after the fake because they can't see the real one.

It really is a stupid plan, consisting of Terry marching straight up and taking the coin. Kano's not sparing Terry any of the obstacles either, so be careful of the chunks of bufu ice scattered around that Kano's hiding from everybody's sight, and don't touch anything but grass in the playground. ]

[ ...

He'll have to concede, just this once.

This is the kind of power that the others would have probably liked Terry to have. But no, he settled for brute strength, because he didn't want to be anything like a calculating mastermind.

He watches all this unfold and when the signal is given, Terry leaps quite the distance and drops down on the Shadow's head, creating cracks on the ground and easily takes the coin once it's dead. Cool.

Honestly, he's ready for all the aggro to shift to him eventually, but he puts the coin into his pocket, hopefully before the other Shadows see.

God. That was so easy. What the fuck. ]

[ If anything, Kano still considers it a weak power, because once you know what's going on, it's easy to pick out what's real and what's not. So he's glad Terry gets the coin quickly, before the other Shadows can catch on, and he considers for a moment letting the illusion go and having Terry be chased after but then he won't get that milkshake.

So he'll just play around with the Shadows a bit more, sending them on a wild goose chase while Ala lowers the two of them and lands on the ground, dissipating into smoke the moment Kano's feet touch the ground. ]

You did it, yay~! Good job!

... Yeah.

[ Terry sighs. Ughh. The little cut on his arm healed up because of his passive, now that Terry is actually letting it compared to the... earlier coin mission fiasco, but there's a weird feeling that gets lodged in his throat as he watches the Shadows. ]

Guess I'm done here. I'm going back home.

[ The illusion fades away, sapping all the colors and chaos away and leaving everything white ice and black Shadow again. ]

Wait wait wait!! Before you go, we gotta do the left hand right hand thing!

[ He holds out two fists. Choose one. ]

Again...?

[ He still doesn't understand its purpose. ]

Your left.

[ He doesn't ask, so Kano doesn't tell.

Kano opens up his left hand, and it's empty. Whatever's in his right doesn't matter, because it goes into his jacket pocket and stays in there, while he waves with his left. ]

Alright, that's it~ Thanks for playing, Boss! Better luck next time~!!

[ BUT HE DID ASK... AND HE DIDN'T GET AN ANSWER...

Terry looks unimpressed as usual. ]

Then you don't need help getting out, right?

[ Does Kano want to swim out of the lake by himself... ]

[ He asked, but not in the right way!! Kano sucks and is very particular about these things but he'll never say the reason unless Terry cares enough to pinpoint it out of him. ]

Hm? Nah, I'm going to keep going. What, this much and you're already spent?

[ Actually, Kano is pretty spent, wasting his SP on theatrics, but it's not like he needs to rely on his Persona for attacking, so it doesn't matter. ]

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ 10/3 Rain, rain, go away

→ 10/11-10/12 Paantu Festival

→ 10/13-10/27 No, seriously, please go away

→ MOD NOTES

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