OCTOBER EVENT PT 1

[citta]

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.

Comments

[yokeye]

Furniture?

[For some reason, that strikes him as weirder than fish. Questioning all the physical laws and mechanics of this place makes his head hurt. So he's done. Toki presumes he's been unhelpful enough in the cleaning that Kido no longer wants his assistance. He sits down at one of the remaining desks, shoved up against the wall to make space for those currently commandeering the school. He props his feet up on the desk top and leans back as far as he can without tipping the chair over.]

Anyway~! When you're done cleaning, I want to go looking for something!

[reveilation]

[ Thanks, Toki... But yeah, he would be more helpful staying out of the way, and Kido is glad she doesn't have to suggest it. His strengths probably lie elsewhere, and Kido will try her best to find out what they are. ]

I'll just be a couple of minutes. Did you need something besides just a bucket? There should be paper and pens around here somewhere, if you want to make a list.

[yokeye]

[Oh. A list would be good. He didn't even need the bucket anymore, because he thought they decided on nets, but maybe he heard wrong. While she finishes up, Toki finds a pen and paper and puts together a list. When he's done, he presents it to Kido.]

The list~!

[It's this.]

[reveilation]

[ The floor swept and dust deposited into the trash can, Kido can finally put the broom and everything else away. The room looks exactly the same as it did before she started sweeping, but that doesn't matter. ]

Alright, let's see that list of yours.

[ She sits down on the desk to read it, and thinks that her previous assessment must be right: Toki is just a really really tall nine-year-old. The writing is in Japanese, but with mistakes here and there so that it might have been another language entirely, making no difference between Japanese and French. Probably, the way she has to look closely and read slowly makes her seem like the illiterate one here, but as long as she can understand what it says... ]

These things shouldn't be hard to find. The janitor's supply closet should have a bucket, and the gym probably has a volleyball net we can use. I'm not sure where to get balloons, but how much of the other stuff do you need?

[ Kano has balloons, but Kido is never allowed to know about Kano. ]

[yokeye]

[He takes Kido's concentration to be her thinking of where to find the items, and not that his list is barely comprehensible.]

Hmm. I don't know really, it depends on how big the piece of wood is! Because that's the most important part of this, and then everything else can be based from that!

[reveilation]

[ That piece of wood is probably the most troublesome item on that list, so it takes Kido some time trying to think of what they could use, without resorting to breaking legs off a table or something. ]

Huh... It might have to be a table... Does it have to be wood? Does the shape matter?

[ They could use doors... Again, Kano would have been the right person for the job, not Kido. ]

What's all this for, anyways?

[yokeye]

A table might work if you turn it upside down and it's not really heavy!

[He nods enthusiastically, and rattles off an explanation of not just the wood, but every item and what he plans to do with them.]

Okay, so like this has two purposes!

[He holds up two fingers for emphasis, looking at them twice to make sure it's just two.]

Number one is fishing, which is where the bucket comes in, but I thought we'd ditched the bucket for a net until you talked about the bucket again, so that's why I included it on the list along with net and now that I think about it more, it's really good to have both because we can catch the fish with the net in the water and then keep them in the bucket so we can use the net again and get more fish that way, and how we're going to fish is why we need the wood and the balloons or the plastic bags and the string, but like, the string is needed for both, or well either, just to clear that up if it wasn't obvious, and so with everything on the list, with the interchangeable balloons or plastic bags, which we'll fill with air like balloons, so they're kind of a backup and we're going to make a raft so we can go out further to fish, but also for its primary purpose, which maybe should have been number one because it's more important, but it's too late to switch that around now, so number two, but more important than number one, is following the rivers in the forest because you said there's no ocean, but they have to be tributaries of something, so we're going to look for the source of the water!

[reveilation]

[ Kido stares at Toki's two fingers, but it's difficult to follow and she thinks a couple more fingers would be more accurate. It's easier visualizing what he's saving rather than trying to follow word for word, and that way it's easier, especially because Toki sort of goes back and worth to reinforce things. ]

Okay... So, essentially, we're making a boat to go on a fishing trip following the rivers.

[ She immediately rules out plastic bags, because there's no way they can tie those secure enough to not leak immediately. But the rest of it... Yeah. It might be doable. ]

We'll get the bucket from the janitor first. The drama club should have wood they use to make props from. There's probably sting over there as well. Volleyball nets are probably the way to go still, and if there aren't any balloons, we can use the volleyballs themselves, since those should float. Am I missing anything?

[yokeye]

Yes!

[That his idea isn't immediately shot down is a new thing for him.]

No, I think you got it all~! Uh. Wait... how are we going to attach the volleyballs to the raft? I don't think string will work for those...

[reveilation]

[ It's still stupid and pointless, in Kido's opinion, but she has a feeling that if she doesn't help, Toki would be out there with balloons strapped to his arms trying to navigate the floodwaters. ]

No problem. We'll use another volleyball net as a basket and use that to hold together a single layer of volleyballs underneath the raft. Like this—-

[ She takes the paper and flips it over so she can draw out what she means, because she's nowhere near as good at explaining things as Toki is. She's also not an artist, so whatever. ]

[yokeye]

[His eyes widen in amazement, because that's exactly what he was coming up with. Slower to get there, but he envisioned it too.]

This will absolutely work! I'm so happy to find someone who thinks like I do!

[Whether that's a compliment or a disheartening sentiment is up to Kido's interpretation.]

[reveilation]

[ It's... it's fine. Toki's kind of out there, but he's enthusiastic and that's a nice thing to see, even if Kido wouldn't say she's anything like that. She tries to be succinct with her words, but what's the difference between her reasoning things out in her head and Toki going through the same process out loud? ]

Hopefully it does. Come on. Let's get the bucket first, then hit up the gym, and do the assembly in the drama club room.

[ She sounds somewhat excited too, despite the fatal flaw in their plan that she's overlooking, but that's a problem for when they're actually out in the water. ]

[yokeye]

Okay!

[He heads out the door into the hallway, hopefully going in the right direction for the janitor's closet.]

But should we assemble it inside? Because then we have to get it out a doorway! We can do it on the roof!

[reveilation]

And how are we going to get it off the roof? Throw it over?

[ Kido is now officially offended Toki said their thinking is similar. ]

[yokeye]

Kind of!

[He shrugs.]

Like, we hold on to it and jump!

[reveilation]

We are not doing that.

[ Kido's not even going to let him finish saying the word "jump" before she cut in. This kid is going to die. He's like Terry, but he can actually die. ]

We'll find a board that will fit through the doors, and that'll solve that problem. Don't just go with the first thing that comes to mind, or you'll get hurt, acting off impulse that way.

[yokeye]

Sorry, I just thought it was kind of the most obvious solution here...

[He'd never considered turning the raft sideways to fit through the doors, but that's what he pictures now.]

Yeah, the roof was a really bad idea.

[reveilation]

I mean, it's direct, but that's not always the best way to do it.

[ She can sort of see the thought process? If the boat can't fit through doors, then build it outside. The roof is outside. You can get the boat down and also yourself down by jumping. It's direct, and very stupid. ]

Just run any other ideas by me first if you have them, and it'll be fine... probably...

[ She's so tired. The more they talk about this, the more she just wants to give up and go lie on the floor or something, so she exits the room first to go find where the janitor keeps stuff, and exchange the broom and dust pan for a bucket. ]

[yokeye]

Okay! I will!

[She's opened herself up to constant chatter should anything idea-like comes to him. Toki follows, though he's not exactly excited about this anymore either. It's so much work, with really nothing to get in return. Some fish for the cats... to save them from drowning? What was his original idea here anyway?]

Uh, hm.

[Does he know her name? He can't remember it.]

There's some kind of idea forming right now and it's mostly that this whole plan doesn't isn't exactly uh, coherent, or logical, I don't think, and maybe uh, building the raft right now is too impulsive?

[reveilation]

[ Kido never told him her name, and he's going to be Tokidoki to her forever. ]

Well, yeah, I think the entire thing is kind of stupid, but it's doable. Harmless, as long as you keep off the roof. What else would you do sitting around inside with nothing to do all day?

[ People are meant to go outside every once in a while and let off steam doing stupid but not deadly things. It's a wonder that the townspeople here haven't all gotten cabin fever from being cooped up inside. ]

What would you rather be doing?

[yokeye]

[She'll be Hana-chan in his mind until he does learn her name.]

Roofs are dangerous, really, but they're the closest you can get to the stars sometimes.

[He has to think deeply for a minute on what he'd rather be doing. He mostly does things just to get away from his own weird thoughts or draw attention to himself to prove he's real. He comes up with absolutely nothing as an answer.]

I don't know?

[reveilation]

[ It's close enough to her real name, and she'd hate it either way. ]

Closest to the stars...

[ If Toki's only come here this month, he must not have had the chance to see the stars here— or the sun, or the moon, or anything above the heavy storm clouds perpetually blanketing the town. So either Toki is into astronomy, or he likes high places? ...It's not much to work with, and Kido doesn't have much to suggest for what people should want to do, when she just wants to lie on the ground and be useless for a couple of days. ]

You're not giving me much to work on, here. What are things you like? Cooking? Do you like cats? Are you good with children?

[yokeye]

[The clouds are depressing most of the time, but he can imagine what's behind them. It might stop raining. One day.]

Uh...

[While he thinks these things over, he's staring into space. Those questions are always so hard. Trying to find something he wants, or likes, or has an opinion on. He shouldn't have to make those decisions or pick something. He does like cats, because they're soft and you can talk to them, and they're cute, but are those good reasons? Does he like cats because a lot of people do? He only got a pet cat because Orihime suggested it. Cooking is... something to do. Sometimes food is cute, like cat donuts and turtle bread... Children are confusing, and he's too much of a child himself to be in any sort of position of caring for them in any capacity. It's three different options at once and he doesn't know which one is more important to focus on. What does Hana like? What would she like him to talk about, or participate in? He blinks slowly, and in the end, he has no answers or responses.]

[reveilation]

[ She's just going to take the silence as a no. ]

How about the other way around: do you hate any of those things?

[ Because Kido will settle on whatever Toki doesn't hate, if there's nothing he particularly likes, and all three of those are things people will need help here with in general so Toki can occupy himself whenever he's sitting around with nothing to do. ]

[yokeye]

Uh...

[He can't say he hates them, as much as he can't say he likes them.]

I don't think... I'd be good with children?

[He might say things that disturb them, or accidentally convince them the roof is a great place to play.]