WEEKS 7 & 8

[linkupmods]

WEEKS 7 & 8

THE SEASONS TURN...

Time really passes, doesn't it? Before you know it, you're halfway through the time that the goddess Braphine has promised that you'll be here, your home away from home. You are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, maybe, even through all the challenges and eventful (!) twist and turns that have followed you through your stay here. Surely there can't be anything else lurking in the wings, right?

Through the efforts of all of Braphine's chosen, the city definitely is starting to feel a little bit cheerier, in contrast to the temperatures that are starting to cool as the seasons in Sunset City turn and the leaves change their colour. The Shopping District and the Entertainment District look and feel decidedly more warm, and a quick trip into the Nekyia also show that the haze has cleared from both districts, with the Shadows lurking much fewer in number.

Further exploration will find that the haze has thinned to explorable levels in the Nekyia Fashion District - there are Shadows to be cleared, after all. Maybe if you are lucky, they might drop you a little something in reward for your efforts.

DO YOUR PART FOR CHARITY!

On Saturday, there's a notice pinned in the lobby of the dormitory:

CHARITY EVENT FOR THE TEMPLE OF BRAPHINE
9/21
FLEA MARKET AM
FORMAL MASQUERADE BALL PM
Come and support the temple when we need it most!



Yes, you read that right: There will be a Charity Event for the Temple of Braphine, hosted by no one other than her devoted followers. They sent this over to the dorms to request the Chosens' assistance, it seems, and as the flyer says, this is an all-day event to take place on September 21st.

In the morning, there will be a Flea Market! There's a note from the hosts that they'd like the Chosens to either find a vendor to assist, provide entertainment, or participate as vendors in the Flea Market. At night, a ball will be held with live music, dinner, refreshments, and an open dance floor for all. They are not asking for your assistance with the ball, however; rather, you are automatically invited as esteemed guests and are encouraged to dress your finest for the occasion!

Given that this isn't for another week, however, it is highly encouraged that you shop around to find an outfit you'll look snazzy in for the ball. You can also start preparing merchandise to sell; or maybe, perhaps, you'd like to save that street performance for the Flea Market? Either way, you've got a long week ahead of you…

…but it won't be all rainbows and sunshine.

KEEP DREAMING.

Late into the night on Saturday, you will dream. What that dream consists of varies with each individual, but you will have one, even if you've never dreamed before. This dream could be a core memory, or perhaps about something you've always wanted, your worst fear...the list goes on.

The next day, anyone who enters the Nekyia will find that, aside from the strange "Palaces" that have popped up, things aren't right yet again…but for an entirely different reason. No matter where you are, you enter the Nekyia to a hallway full of dressing rooms. It's a fairly long hallway, because venturing down it will eventually lead you to a door that has your name on it.

Why don't you journey there and find out what awaits?

–

After seeing "Sayaka" and finding your door, you'll find something even more strange.

That dream you had last night? Well, it's here. Your dream may manifest as a small, contained landscape from your dream; a creature that you may have dreamt of might be scurrying around; another version of you, different from a Shadow; or you could be unlucky and have one of your memories on full display for everyone to see.

This phenomenon will last for the next two weeks, and dreamscapes will shift with the different dreams characters have. It won't be a one and done ordeal, unfortunately…but there is, perhaps, a way you can stop it.

(OOC: Sayaka's top level is NOT time sensitive, nor is it a mod-run event. This can be treated like a regular top level to be tagged at your own pace!

Please see the "A Dream Unraveled" commission for some details on what's causing the dreamscapes to appear! Welcome to your dreamwalking/memory share event!)

WEATHER FORECAST

Temperature: hot and humid, but gradually getting cooler! Surprise showers may occur during these two weeks when you least expect it, so stay sharp and don't get drenched!

Characters who journery into the Nekyia when it is raining may find HP-restoring items dropped during combat with Shadows.

COMMISSIONS

REAL WORLD COMMISSIONS

BATTLE OF THE BRANDS

Two boutiques on Amaranth Avenue have been at war with each other - figuratively, at least. The sweet lolita brand Cookies for Mice and the punk brand Panthera Punks started out merely vying for advertising space, but have now been taking rather pointed pot shots at each other in their marketing. As the shops are across from each other, it’s plain to see the owners are taking it personally as they can’t seem to stop glaring at each other from across the road. Won’t somebody help mediate before it escalates any further…?

AN ALTERNATIVE CANVAS

Up-and-coming makeup artists are looking to land a job with a new makeup brand in the area, and their final test: finding a model (or two) to model their work and prove their skill. Characters will find that these artists are on the prowl for willing (or not so willing) faces - but at least you’ll be compensated for your patience as they endeavor to make you look your best?

FISHY FUN FASHION

Saffron Street has been chosen to host a highly regarded fashion show! The theme: aquatic life. They need models of all sexes and sizes to walk the runway in ethereal clothing that brings to mind deep sea creatures like bioluminescent jellyfish, or even angler fish! For those who are not brave enough to walk the walk, volunteers are needed to help maintain the large, specially made tanks the city’s aquarium has generously lent out for the occasion. The tanks are full of friendly fish and plant life to create the perfect backdrop for the show! …You know how to use diving gear, don’t you?

NEKYIA COMMISSIONS

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

She thinks she’s so great… I’ll show her! We don’t need her prissy, holier-than-thou attitude around here! We’ll see how she behaves when her shop’s reduced to shreds…

It seems the owner of Panthera Punks having beef with the owner of Cookies for Mice isn’t just a real world problem - she has her very own Shadow in the form of a level 30 Narcissus. Take him on in battle and help to loosen its grip on her in reality before things get much, much worse.

HER HEART WON'T GO ON

How could he… After all I’ve done, after all the money I’ve spent… He leaves me behind for her?! I’ll make him pay… I’ll make them both pay!!

It seems one of the local models has had a rather nasty breakup, and the ex and other woman may end up suffering a rather harrowing fate if all these feelings of anger are left to fester… Characters who follow these angry rants will find themselves face to face with a Level 32 Leanan Sidhe, a jealous lover all too willing to enact a very real harm on those who wronged her. Fight back against the Shadow and teach her the value in moving on from a lover who was never worth her time to begin with.

A DREAM UNRAVELLED

Deep in the Nekyia, whispers and wails can be heard; a fashion designer bemoans their dearth of ideas, and hotly defends their choice to steal their designs instead. After all, this was their dream, and they can’t give it up now - no matter the cost.

Characters may find the Unfaithful Dream-King in a nest of collected dreams of the populace - including some of Braphine’s own chosen. He will be a powerful opponent for sure, but it seems solving this particular Shadow problem is the only way to ensure everyone can have a good night’s rest once more.

Once he is defeated, he will drop a rare item. Who knows, maybe this will help you in your journey ahead.

(OOC: Please turn in your threads for this commission on the rewards page to receive a stat boost item, valid for one time use during any battle.)

OOC

READ ME!!!!

Welcome to your log for Weeks 7 and 8! Feel free to use this log for any developments that happen during the next two weeks. There will be no log posted next week, but a top-level for the charity event will be posted instead on next Saturday!
For plotting, please feel free to head over to this post on the OOC comm to post your plotting top levels.
For Nekyia commissions, you can assume that the Shadows will respawn until they've been beaten enough times to go back to normal.
Don't forget that the deadline for applications and character swaps is on September 28!

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Comments

[bloodandstars]

[ She's so little — weak and underfed, and Maika knows the look pretty well. She takes Schneider's hand in her cooperative state, keeping this child version close to her side.

Not great that it occupies her only limb if a fight comes up. But... well, maybe dream logic will let her do something. ]

Protect you from everyone but themselves, huh? [ Her poor stupid father. And his poor kids. Maika's grip tightens a little. ] There are always people like that. No matter how little someone else has, they still want it. They know you can't stop them.

[unweathered]

... I'll stop them. I'll protect my family.

[ The alleyway seems endless, before the walls fall away into a dark void. The path below them becomes dirt and it stretches out into nothingness, until they see a church in the distance.

Schneider isn't wearing a drab gray dress anymore but an oversized suit jacket on top of a black dress. She's slightly older now, better fed and yet...]

I can be strong enough for all of them.

[ And then they're at the church, hearing wailing and crying in the distance as the sermon drones on. The sound of rain is all around them, but not one drop dampens their clothes.]

[bloodandstars]

You'll be strong, alright. Sometimes, strength is even enough.

[ The worst part, probably, is knowing how it ends. That's how dreams like this always are. The hope is devastating when you know what's waiting after waking up.

Maika listens to the rain, the sound of it blending with the lull of a sermon she hardly hears. She's never even been attentive to her own Goddess; and nothing she's heard from Schneider has inclined her to think she owes more respect to that one. ]

...Do your gods ever answer?

[unweathered]

Never. [Schneider trembles as the priest's voice rises and falls, her sisters and mother weeping and wailing. Whose funeral was this one now? She can't remember] I prayed endlessly. Mama and Papa said salvation will come to us, but we are plagued with sins. The disease of the soul. So pray until God's grace reaches us, even when there's not enough bread for communion.

[Her expression darkens and a familiar sardonic little smile tugs at her lips]

But he never once answered. Not me, not my sisters. Not them. We're all the same in the end.

[bloodandstars]

Even gods only want what they can take from the weak. If adoration is free, then why should they work for it? People don't fear gentleness.

[ She doesn't know what true gods must be like. But if they don't answer anyway, then what good are they? Maika looks at the crying around them, at the superficial calm of Schneider's face. ]

...If you want to cry, I wouldn't tell. It wouldn't make you weak.

[unweathered]

...I do not know how to anymore.

[Grief is heavy, rising up in her throat and choking. But she hasn't cried once despite it. She just squeezes Maika's hand a little harder]

[bloodandstars]

That's the way of the world, isn't it? It's too easy to forget what's good for you.

[ How to cry, how to give vent to those feelings without choking on them, without being dragged under by them. Maika's brow furrows as she squeezes Schneider's hand in reply. ]

[unweathered]

Is crying good for you?... my eldest sister once told me that we need to pray for absolution. That suffering is our only currency.

[ Schneider looks out onto the scene and tugs Maika to take them away]

What do you think?

[bloodandstars]

[ Maika follows, completely failing to suppress a grimace at that thought. ]

Pile of shit. [ No offense to Schneider's sister. ] Suffering doesn't have some innate value. It just... happens to you. And keeps happening until you can make it stop. Praying to be forgiven, to have your pain eased... it's just a desperate attempt to give meaning to what you can't escape.

[unweathered]

That's right. We can only make meaning ourselves.

[ Schneider is quiet, her young face solemn as they continue walking. It's a bloody scene after scene, anguish and blood and desperation permeating the air. As they walk, Schneider gets older and older...

And then, they're in a smoke filled bar, listening to an offer

"We will protect arcanists like you and... didn't you have a sister to be found?" A man says, though his visage is twisted and distorted, as if Schneider can barely handle remembering him. Rage consumes for a moment]

[bloodandstars]

That's right. That's why we keep living.

[ One of the reasons, anyway. Maybe one of the more important ones.

Maika takes in the scenes around them, half attentive and half... simply watching Schneider. The progression, the toll it takes on her. It's not surprising. She'd seen plenty of herself in the way Schneider carries herself, the confidence and the willfully projected strength. You didn't develop that by accident, or by living in peaceful times.

It all brings her to where she is now. Or to this memory, this turning point. She glances over at Schneider again to read her expression. ]

[unweathered]

If you will protect my family from the storm then...ah, I suppose I'll go pigeon hunting on your behalf then?

[Schneider is all smiles, a mask of flippant apathy to murder. She still holds onto Maika's hand as they walk away, the fog growing deeper and deeper around them]

...we need to leave.

[bloodandstars]

[ Pigeon hunting... Maika remembers their first conversation with a brief arch of her brows. Not that Schneider hasn't made it extremely obvious since then that her business isn't anything so peaceable as "trading." Except maybe in the sense the Brothers Imura "trade."

She glances at the fog around them, tensing a little warily. ]

What comes next? The storm?

[unweathered]

[ Schneider glances over, smiles]

Doesn't it always? This dream would like you to see the worst parts of me after all.

[The desperation, the need. There are bodies they need to step around, bullets places neatly in each forehead. They're all humans after all. Schneider shows no reaction.

There's young voices, calling out.

"How could you...?" Schneider hums]

...I never did understand why they cared so much about men trying to kill people like them. I thought they could see it as a favour.

[bloodandstars]

The worst, hm?

[ Is it worse to know that Schneider's way of presenting herself isn't all bluff and bluster? Predator to predator, she feels like she'd always recognized that scent on her.

Is it the worst that Schneider shows no reaction to it now? Maika's expression is thoughtful as she watches her. Schneider, like her, is someone who knows the unvarnished truth of what she's done. Being afraid to look at it afterwards would be, to Maika's thinking, so much worse. ]

...Most creatures want to live. No matter how miserable and pitiful that existence is. As long as you're alive, there's always the hope that something could be better. That if you keep moving forward, you'll reach something— anything else.

[unweathered]

[ There are two girls; one boyish with her grey-white hair beneath her top hat and one with long orange hair. Schneider's gaze lingers on the one with white hair, her lips pulled into a sardonic little smile]

Something else, huh? I suppose that's true. We are all animals, desperately trying to avoid being sifted out by the storm.

[Her chest throbs and
she exhales as they reach a dead woodland, burnt to crisp. The rain patters down against them]

[bloodandstars]

[ Maika studies the figures — but it's hard to read much from Schneider when she doesn't choose to share. All she can tell with certainty is the connection between her and the white-haired girl, something lingering. ]

More vicious than animals. But otherwise... I've never seen much difference.

[ She shakes her head against the onslaught of raindrops, glancing around at the burned out clearing. ]

What happened here?

[unweathered]

A story from long ago was that a firefighter wanted fame and glory. So [ Schneider flicks her fingers] he lit everything up to "save" it all. This was the aftermath.

[ She hums, holding her hand out to let the rain drops patter against it]

[bloodandstars]

...Stupid bastard. People always want more power than they can hold. When they're lucky, they only burn themselves.

[ But it's usually more like this, isn't it? Thinking of that, for a moment the rain seems soothing. ]

[unweathered]

Fly too close to the sun and take the whole world down with you.

[ That's how it seems at least. The rain is soothing for now, but in front of them is a man, in a suit and his hair tied back]

...Lord Forget Me Not.

[The man smiles at them but does not answer. And in the gesture of his hand, monsters are born.

"Miss Schneider...are you ready to make atonement?"]

[bloodandstars]

[ Oh... fuck this dude on basic principles. Maika's eyes narrow, her hand curling into a fist. Monsters? Bring it. ]

Pretty ballsy thing to ask. When has the answer ever been "yes"?

[ Schneider's not caving for this, is she? Maika glances sidelong at her. ]

[unweathered]

[ Schneider just laughs, dark and menacing]

After what was done to my sister...? I'll rip every fucking tooth from your mouth and make you choke on it.

[ Schneider shoots, angry, blinding and in this world, it retains the magic of her blessed guns. BANG. BANG. BANG.]

[bloodandstars]

...That's what I thought.

[ Maika doesn't know the full story of what happened to Schneider's sister; but she knows it wasn't good, and she knows for damn sure Schneider deserves to shoot someone over it. She takes a half-step to the side, leaving the man to Schneider and lunging for a monster with claws and fangs.

She's got the sense not to get in the way of Schneider's bullets, but she's here to help her fight. ]

[unweathered]

[If only it was as simple as shooting this man to death. This bastard who kidnapped his sister and tortured her for weeks, months on end. The monsters, dripping with some black viscous slime ambles towards them and the man laughs as the bullets simply go through him, vanishing like a mirage and then, all around them is the slime, and monsters that threaten to devour them both]


Ahaha...even in my dreams it can't go the way I want.

[bloodandstars]

Fuck this place. After everything, don't we at least deserve a good dream?

[ One where those who deserve it meet their brutal ends. Where everything lost returns whole. Where they live happily. ]

...We don't have to follow their script. Let's go. Tear right through these.