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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

[ This girl is dressed in all blue Attendant clothes with her Persona, some half crow half demon thing walking beside her and she turns to see where that shout came from. That doesn't sound like the usual voices that scream for help, so she readies her gun, takes the silencer off, and shoots one rubber bullet to the sky, making a really loud shooting noise. After her job is done, she reattached the silencer. ]

That's great! Me too.

[The gunfire just makes him scream again, and drop the sword with a loud clatter. At least he's sure she's not one of the Shadows/mist demons, but he's still slow to venture out to take a look. Now he's only armed with his pink omamori, but he will unleash Joroko if necessary. Maybe. There's a lot of fire and she has informed him she doesn't like it.]

Um. Hello~! Do you have an extra gun? Do they even work on uhh, Shadows?

[Oh. It's one of the train Attendants. She probably won't be any help.]

Sorry, I only have one for me.

[ Whether the gun works on Shadows or not, well... he'll just have to fond out somehow, won't he? She smiles. ]

It's alright. You can come out. There aren't any Shadows around for the time being.

[He leaves his not-very-protective shelter, taking another look around at the dungeon.]

But they'll be back, right?

[He throws a suspicious glance at her Persona. It's tengu-adjacent enough that he's unnerved.]

Of course! But if you stay here, you might as well stay forever, and you wouldn't want that, would you?

[ She reaches a hand up to pat Malphas's mask. There, there. ]

Edited 2019-10-21 02:37 (UTC)

No!

[He absolutely would not want that. The Persona is a little less concerning now that he sees how she's treating it. It's cute.]

I'm sure an intelligent woman like yourself knows exactly how to escape this place, and I leave my rescue in your capable hands~!

[If she can show him the way out before he has to actually fight anything, that would be good.]

[ Good, good, because that's exactly what she's going for here. She just smiles at Toki in response to what he said and she doesn't put the gun away just yet. ]

Okay~ You just have to stay close to me now. Come here. We can hold hands while we leave the Dungeon too ☆

[Toki slips the omamori back into his pocket for now, and then reaches for her hand. It's so hot in here, and his hand is sweaty, but it was her idea.]

It didn't look like this last time.

[He's not quite informed on the different floors of dungeons.]

Hm?

[ She holds his hand, not minding the sweatiness. She doesn't seem to care much about it, honestly. ]

What do you mean by that?

I mean, things weren't on fire yesterday and the mi- Shadows looked different.

[She had called it a dungeon, and it certainly doesn't look like a typical one he'd imagine.]

It's some kind of magic weirdness, isn't it?

[ Sorry for the repeat answer Toki, but-- ]

Yup, it's magic because magic.

But this floor has always been on fire. There's a similar environment in the second floor, it's not as lit as this one.

[He nods, because he's realized that's just how things are here. Nothing makes actual sense, and that's fine.]

You said you knew the way out?

[ Nothing makes sense, and you just gotta roll with it. ]

Sure do.

[ And since they're holding hands, it'll be all okay. She starts leading the way. ]

You're a new guy, huh? I'm Itsuki.

[He lets her lead, not paying much attention to where they're going. Distracted every few seconds by more screaming in the distance, and sweat dripping into his eye.]

Itsuki~! That's a pretty name~!

[Minato had already told him her name, but it's good to have confirmation.]

I'm Toki! I got here like a few days ago...

[He's not currently screaming, so he's adjusted pretty well thus far.]

[ She could say something like "thanks I picked it myself", but. Hm. The follow up questions could be annoying to deal with, if any. They eventually get to the stairwell that leads them to the second floor. ]

Well, Toki. Have you wanted to return where you were before you came here? Or leave this place in general? Not the Dungeon, but I mean the forest, the town... everything here.

I don't want to go back to France!

[It's an immediate answer for that part. That "elite private school" was a prison and he was being stifled and silenced there. He could only see it getting much worse, which is why he'd wanted to run away when they'd gone to New York to see Hamilton. He was successful, apparently, even if this is where he ended up. Hirajiro is frightening in different ways, more traditional ways. Monsters and creepy forests and strange happenings. But it's better. It's better than being around so many people and still feeling like he didn't exist, like his entire being was wrong and didn't fit with their expectations of him.

He liked Tokyo, but there was nothing to go back there for either. His sister was dead; it would only bring sad memories to return to that place. There was nothing for him at all in the world he left; and thinking it over now, there's only person he'd ever even consider going back for. But in time, he'll forget that one friend who never wanted him to be something he wasn't.]

I don't know if I'd want to leave here. I don't know where I'd go. Somewhere else might be worse.

[He feels some kind of hope here, and maybe he's incredibly naive about it, but he feels free even though they're trapped.]

If that's the case, you need to learn how to fight--though your Persona will do the bulk of the work, don't forget to treat them well and take care of yourself.

[ Maybe she's a little more Attendant-like when she's like this, but in all honesty, she doesn't want a repeat of that other hideous Dungeon. ]

Even if you don't want to leave, this place has enough hazards. It would also be in your best interest to not die.

[ You'd think the last statement should be obvious, but it sounds like there's more to it than that. Either way, the second floor is less on fire when they walk past the burning village. ]

Is this what you saw before?

I know! About the Persona. That they kind of fight for you, and I think we're getting along fine so far~!

[He swallows thickly at the mention of dying. He's been trying not to entertain that line of thought. He looks around the second floor of the dungeon, and it's certainly less intense, but not exactly what he remembers.]

Kind of? I think maybe it's further down.

Good, good. For a new guy, you're getting the hang of things quickly.

[ Though it's a difference between knowing and doing... well, to that extent isn't her problem.

They walk further to where the staircase should be to the first floor, but there's a flock of Ravens in the way. ]

Want to show me what you got?

[Oh shit. He remembers these. He hid from the ravens the last two nights, but now he has to... do something. Because Itsuki is cute, and his desire to show off and potentially impress her is taking over what small logical part of his brain exists. He should run, but he doesn't. He does shriek and duck as one of the ravens darts down, the lantern almost hitting him. A bad start. Toki maybe should have kept the sword, but he goes for the omamori and holds it up to the ravens.]

The mighty and resplendent Joroko will destroy you~!

[Or not. Toki's shadow remains just that, and the spider-woman is nowhere in sight.]

Joroko!

[He says it like admonishing a child. She doesn't like the fire, but he's trying to cultivate an image here. She could at least show up for a minute and stab some ravens. He drops the omamori as a couple more ravens attack, one managing to hit him in the face with a lantern, which was no great feat. He wipes the trickle of blood away from a small laceration, and is now determined to make up for this display of uselessness. He has to try a different tactic to get his Persona out. He retrieves the omamori and smiles at Itsuki.]

Itsuki~! Have I told you how strikingly beautiful you are in the warm glow of the flames~? Your pure heart radiates from within and brings me joy and peace even in this dungeon of despair! If only I could capture one sliver of such glorious bravery as you display, I would be invincible!

[And that worked. Joroko emerges from the shadow, quickly and hissing. Unfortunately, she turns to Toki and not the ravens. How dare he speak to another woman that way? Her eight eyes glare violently and she raises one leg, resting the sharp point of it against his chest.]

I didn't mean it! K-kill the ravens!... please?

[This is where he'll die, he's sure of it.]

[ If she's learned anything during her stay in Hirajiro, it's that if Personas don't come out when you want them to, it could create problems for the future. It may not look so serious now, as she watches the scene of jealousy unfold before her eyes, but, Again, she doesn't want a repeat of that hideous Dungeon at the sewer hole. Joroko, she's sure that's not the "leggy up" Toki would ever want to see, no matter how much of a flirt he is.

Anyway.

45 tugs Toki away from Joroko's leg while swiftly dodging a divebombing Raven in the process. She could just kill the Ravens herself pretty easily, but this is more fun. And it might help? She's not sure, but she's going to do something, which is, in some cases, better than nothing. After the tugging, she twirls Toki towards her and dips him as if they're in some ballroom. She's strong enough to do this, even when he's six inches taller than her. ]

I didn't say you could let go of my hand, Toki.

[ Her voice is a little lower than before and she glances over at Joroko, with Toki still dipped. Her voice lighter with a smile. ]

Hey, Joroko~ Let's have a contest. The one who kills all the Ravens first will get a cheek kiss from him! How about it?

[ Hopefully she can use her jealousy as an advantage?! And if she tries stabbing her next, Malphas is on standby. He feels tense just from watching all this. ]

After all, there's no one to love if he's dead.

Edited 2019-10-22 02:45 (UTC)

[He's still freaking out, trying to get Joroko to pay attention to the ravens instead, when he's pulled away. By the time he figures out what happened, he's leaning against Itsuki's arm and holding her hand again, like they were dancing. Is she- no. She's provoking the Persona! He's about to protest, but really, the end is a win for him either way.

Joroko's eyes narrow on Itsuki. Her rival, if one could call it that. She sneers; this child cannot take what is hers. Her voice is soft, but there's an underlying malice.]

I accept this challenge.

[The finality of the agreement is pointed by a leg darting out behind her to stab a raven; its lantern clattering to the floor. She slides her leg away from the still-glowing flame.]

Great!

[ She promptly drops Toki, but Malphas, the giant that's freakishly tall at 6'7", catches him easily and helps him stand. Even though he has a mask on, his body language seems to convey that he's worried, even though he shouldn't be.

Meanwhile, 45 readies her gun again and starts shooting. She collects the lanterns and feathers that the Ravens drop and stows them away in her small bag as she continues a slaughter. The noise only attracts more Ravens coming this way, which is pretty much more stress relief for Joroko. She doesn't intend to win, but she might as well give a show as if she cares about it. ]

[Toki mutters a thank you to Malphas, not really concerned by his height, as he had a friend who was 7'3" back in France. He stands beside the Persona and watches. It's not the first time girls have fought over his affections, but it's a much stranger situation.

Joroko, in contrast, is determined to win. Less for Toki himself, and more for keeping an object she considers her possession. The ravens aren't much, and she needs nothing more than to stab them as they approach; legs darting out quickly and striking them down. She gives no thought to their lanterns or anything else they drop as they die.

A quick glance at Itsuki is spared, and the corner of Joroko's lips quirk up. She focuses six of her eyes on the ravens, one set left for Itsuki, and concentrates a psychokinetic command on a small group of the birds. It fails mostly, and only one heads straight for Itsuki from behind, with the instructions to claw her eyes out.]

[ Malphas heals Toki's wound by using a weak healing spell, Dia. Hope that stops the bleeding.

She's been pretty alert, since she's aware that Ravens can come from any direction since they have the entire "sky" to themselves. She's also not one to particularly stay still either, as she moves with light steps. Attendant uniform consists of long pants, which partially restricts her movement as she's used to, but she has long since adjusted to that too.

However, she just assumes that the Ravens are being... well, Ravens, so she doesn't think twice in gunning one down after stepping to the side to evade. Wow, it's like she's trained for this kind of thing?! ]

Joroko~ You can't be losing your touch, right?

[ In all honesty, she wants Joroko to kill all of them so that she herself doesn't need to deal with a kiss and waste more bullets. ]

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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