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OCTOBER EVENT PT 2
premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation
→ 10/28 - 10/30
Two seconds before midnight leading into the 28th, a rumble rolls across town, an earthquake hitting and creating waves that crash against the buildings, lights disappearing to signify the start of Lockdown. At the lake, a whirlpool starts to form, sucking in the floodwaters like a drain with its plug pulled, and entering the dungeon from this point on reveals a first floor that's become twice as deep, water filled with shards of broken glass, and invisible walls to the maze permanently shattered, subsequently quelling the currents that used to run through the entire floor. All the other floors now see constant rainfall: freezing sleet on the second floor, a light rainshower on the third, heavy thunderstorms on the fourth, and a flooded final floor with poisonous water slowly dripping off the ropes.
When Lockdown lifts, those reentering the lake will see that the bottom has collapsed into a rift spanning one side of the lake to the other, with a trench that runs so deep, the entire overflow from the flood pours down into the abyss below. At dawn of the 28th, the rain finally starts to let up, slowing to a drizzle by midday with light grey clouds that have thinned enough to look almost as if glowing, the sunlight behind them trying to shine through but not yet. The storm has passed and eventually the sky will clear; by the end of the day, the streets can be seen again, the entire town covered in muck and grime but enjoying its first sunset in weeks. Once everything settles, the water level of the lake is slightly lower than originally, and for the next seven days, low flames burn constantly across the surface of the lake, unable to be put out by wind or water.
People pour out onto the streets on the 29th and 30th, busy hosing down buildings and sweeping the streets, fixing what damages they can and restocking all the stores so businesses can reopen. The townspeople work hard, glad that the storm is over and life may continue, but calls for help in restoring the town are endless. All the buildings smell like mildew, there's the occasional frog or fish flopping on people's rooftops or rotting on the streets, all the fields have been destroyed, and any food left out during the storm have all spoiled. They have no idea what to do about the lake fire. It may take some time for the town to get back on its feet, but it will.
During these three days, the Velvet Room is quiet. No music plays in people's heads, and on a couch in the corner of the lounge, Minato lies flat on his back, eyes closed, wet hair and clothes sticking to his skin, and the broken hilt of a sword lying on the ground next to him. He has a fever and can't be roused.
→ 10/31
- While the townspeople are busy in deep cleaning mode, the children are kept out of the way and occupied by a Halloween event thrown together by the high school student council. Each child gets an index card with eight blank squares, with a hint written in each square telling them which classroom at school to go to: the art room with the bleeding bust, the science room with a broken anatomical model, the music room with the silent piano, etc. There's a student council member or volunteer waiting in each room to hand out candy and stamp the cards, and anybody is allowed to join in, either doing the treasure hunt or volunteering to pass out candy.
Stepping outside on the 31st, Persona users are greeted by bright sunshine and an index card to the face, with crows incessantly dive-bombing with the cards in their talons until they're taken. The index cards are similar to the ones used inside the school, but instead of a set of hints, there is only one word listed in the first of the eight squares: "lake." The flames are still burning on the lake's surface with no indication of dying down, and you can now dive in the lake without being poisoned from the 31st forward, but what you're looking for is not underwater. Searching around the perimeter of the lake reveals a rubber stamp hanging from an old sign post warning people to stay out of the water, which can finally be retired, but there's nobody around to greet you, and there is no candy... Instead, you get to stamp your own card, which spells out the next location in glistening red ink. Each new area has a stamp hidden around it, leading you from place to place all over town, from the warning sign at the lake; to the picture of the school founder in the entrance hall of the school; to the vacant room at the inn that's roped off by police tape; to the entrance to the emergency room of the hospital; to a fox hanging around the occult shop that's still in the middle of cleaning up before reopening; to the base of the torii in the middle of the forest; to the throne inside the castle; and finally, up the steps of the shrine.
With every other stamp pressed down on your card, your Persona feels a surge of power, four times in all with the very last stamp hanging on the front door of a large building behind the shrine. It did not exist here before; there's no way you would miss an ornate mansion painted all black and covered in cobwebs, with white smoke filtering through a slot on the door that's just wide enough to slip the card through. Upon doing so, the door swings open, allowing entry.
→ 10/31 - 11/3
- The moment you step inside the mansion, the door shuts behind you and disappears altogether, leaving behind a solid blank wall. Door? What door? The entrance hall is dimly lit by candles sitting on top of low tea tables spaced neatly around the open lobby; there are no chairs. The room ends with two doors on opposite sides, with no indication of what lies beyond either.
The door to the left leads to a brightly lit room filled with full length mirrors that form a maze, except that no matter which way you turn, the hundreds of reflections are always facing you, staring with bright yellow eyes and speaking in your voice. "I'm scared..." one of the voices might say. "I'm going to be all alone in the end..." whispers another. "There's nobody I can trust." "I don't know what's real..." "They're going to die and it's all my fault!" "I can't escape..." "Why me?!" "There's no point in any of this." "I won't let them take me!" "I want to give up..." "I'll destroy anybody who gets in my way." It's like seeing yourself splintered into a hundred shadow selves: the part of you who's bitter, the part of you who's vindictive, who's jealous, who's cruel, a liar, a coward— hundreds of voices overlapping and drawing on your fears, voicing your doubts, crying and pleading and contradicting. All you can do is endure and push forward, find the exit, and leave.
The door to the right leads to a large, empty room, pitch black no matter what source of light you enter with. In contrast to the maze, there's... nothing. It's an empty room, no tangible wall aside from the one with the door you entered through, but even that seems to go on forever on either side. But there must be an end, and this space can't be infinite, so choose a direction and walk. In the darkness, voices start to whisper. Rather than your own, it's the voice of your most loved one, the voice of your closest friend, of the person you despise the most, the one you look up to the most, people you love, people you hate, voices of the people who are closest to you, for better or for worse. "Don't leave me," they plead. "Where are you?" they ask. "Come home." "I miss you..." It starts off easy, pitiful and longing. And then comes the blame, drawing on shame and guilt and giving voice to everything you always feared to hear, from the last people you wanted to hear them from. "It's all your fault." "You should have known better." "This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you!" "You deserve this!" "Knowing you was a mistake." "It would be better if you didn't exist..." "I hate you." Endure it. Push forward. Find the exit, and leave.
In the end, you have no choice but to run away.
No matter which door you choose, both lead to the same place in the end, joining together in a hallway set in stone, blood seeping through the crevices and pooling across the floor. Either side of the room is lined with tombstones, no dates etched into the faces but some of the names on them may seem familiar:
Out of the corner of your eye, you think you see the person in your life that you miss the most, but they disappear the moment you turn around. A slight breeze can be felt coming down the end of the hall, urging you forward, and opening the door at the end leads into a lobby in the exact replica of the one at the entrance to the building, except the furniture is gone, the wallpaper torn and burnt, splashes of blood on the ground dried but still present. Scattered across the floor are a variety of personal objects all in disrepair: a broken pair of glasses, a single bloodied earring, an empty lighter, a smashed compact mirror, a stuffed toy rabbit with its head torn off, a set of earphones stripped to the wire, and, in the corner of the room, kicked aside and forgotten, a torn burlap sack filled with small silk omamoris. All of them are torn and burnt, black crows stitched into the corners barely visible under the stains of blood, listing dozens of names representing every Arcana that exists. And on the top of the pile lies:
FOOL | FOOL |
It's Lockdown, and the wind is blowing in your face. When you turn around, you stand before the sacred honden of the shrine.
→ MOD NOTES
- ⬥ Regardless of whether your character would participate in the stamp cards, each character may receive +1 to all stats (strength, magic, endurance, and agility). Please update your info page to reflect this. ICly, characters will receive these stat boosts when they stamp their card at the school, hospital, torii, and shrine, and must visit each location in order.
⬥ Important IC dates are summarized as follows:
- ‣ 10/28: The rain stops and the flood water recedes into the lake, leaving the streets in town dry by the end of the day.
‣ 10/28 - 10/30: Minato will ICly be unavailable, but can still be found in the Velvet Room.
‣ 10/28 - 11/3: the lake is on fire, but the dungeon is still accessible by diving through the flames.
‣ 10/31: the water from the lake has been purified, and there is no adverse effect of poison for swimming in the lake either during the day or during Lockdown.
‣ 10/31: crows will deliver stamp cards to each character; the haunted mansion will appear only on the 10/31, and once inside, characters will be trapped until 11/3, although only a few hours will pass from their point of view.
‣ 11/3: characters will be able to exit the mansion, and further details after this point will be given OOCly on 11/3 when the November dungeon log will be posted.
⬥ Voices heard in either room will be audible to anybody in the same vicinity, and players may make up what is said, although they must reflect concepts the character is scared or unsettled by (e.g. failure, loneliness, loss of control, etc.). Neither voices or reflections will respond to anything characters say or do.
⬥ Characters are not required to participate in the stamp card game, nor are they required to enter the mansion upon collecting all the stamps. For those who do enter and are trapped, they are not required to go through any of the rooms either, as the exit will reappear at the entrance lobby. They are free to turn around and exit the rooms at any time, and may reenter the rooms as many times as they wish.