WEEKS 9 & 10

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WEEKS 9 & 10

AS YOUR BONDS DEEPEN...

The charity event and the dreamscapes have come to an end... and the Fashion District seems a little better than it once was. Your efforts are being recognized, acknowledged by the environment and by Braphine herself. There's still work to be done - the thinning fog allows you to venture even further into the Office District, where there are stronger foes lurking around the corner and in dark alleyways.

Speaking of Braphine, she is pleased by your progress as a group thus far, and has given characters a little blessing: If there is something you've always wanted to tell someone – whether it be how you feel about someone else here, someone at home, a secret you've been holding in, or something else entirely – but have lacked the courage to do so, you may find the strength to say it now. While the God of Conflict forced ugly truths out of you, Braphine would like ones that come from a place of willingness without fear. This sensation will last until the end of your stay here.

How nice, isn't it? To feel like you're finally starting to get somewhere with your fellow Chosen.

The God of Conflict, however, thinks otherwise.

A LOOK IN THE MIRROR...

The world around you has seen a few changes. There are the positives, thanks to your efforts in completing commissions and forming connections, both of which aid Braphine.

However…

If you look in any sort of mirror, window, puddle that will give you your reflection, The God of Conflict is there, looking back at you, gazing at you eerily, freezing you and holding you in place.

"Well, well, well. Fancy running into you here, Chosen. Tell me…do you really believe that you're aiding Braphine in her mission? Do you really think any of the bonds that you've made here matter all that much, so much that it'll stop me, in the end? Don't make me laugh. We'll see how much your flimsy little chains hold up in time."

And then, just like that, he's gone…not without another little gift, though. You will be surrounded by 2-3 Nekyia Shadows once he disappears…in the real world. The Shadows, notably, will not attack unless provoked, and the locals will not be able to see them. As always, the only way you can attack them is through using your Personas; as soon as you engage in combat, you will also disappear to the locals like the Shadows.

For those who decide not to fight them, they will simply stare at you as you leave... but they will each briefly flicker into another form: The God of Conflict. But before you can say a word, they’ll disappear.

However, should you choose to engage in battle with them, any harm done to the environment or the locals themselves through the battle will be tangible. If you slam a Jack Frost into a building, it will leave a dent, in other words. The locals will not be able to see the actual fight, but they will notice the weird explosions and damages happening to them and around them. An important thing to note is that, being outside of the Nekyia, you will drain energy faster as you fight them, but you can defeat them with your Personas as usual otherwise.

THE DARKEST BEFORE DAWN.

So, maybe you didn't spawn a Palace, or even create a weird Nekyia environment like Soujuurou and Joshua have. That, however, does not mean you are free of your Shadow selves.

However, you are trapped with them. If you venture into the Nekyia, every so often when you look over your shoulder, they may be there, watching you, taunting you, following you around, even interacting with people (yourself or others) as if they were corporeal-- blink and you may miss them hovering over your shoulder, and turn the corner and you may just see them in the distance.

What follows your Shadow selves even after you return back to the safety of the dorms are the nightmares... which you find yourself having a little more often than normal. If you happen to stumble into a shared dreamscape, it looks... slightly different from when you last saw it. The nightmares always end the same way, though, even if the dreams are different: your Shadow self is staring back at you, haunting you before you wake up.

For anyone who has already confronted their Shadow selves, however, there is a glimmer of hope. In the Shadow's place is the best version of yourself, reminding you that although this is a nightmare, it does not have to continue forever. You have changed thanks to the people around you. Perhaps this is Braphine's reminder to you that she is still here, and despite her quiet, she's still watching.

Speaking of quiet, though…

…Has anyone checked on Mina lately?

And why does a certain brown cat keep on pacing in the dormitory hallways?

( OOC: A few limitations to keep in mind regarding this prompt:
• Shadows can now appear exclusively in nightmares, in the Nekyia, OR BOTH.
• Since the Dream King has not been vanquished yet, those who want to continue the dreamscape prompt as your nightmares are free to do so (this is optional though). Your Shadows are going to be here regardless!
• In this prompt, Shadows are NOT going to possess any characters. They are haunting you in the Nekyia (and may engage with other player characters, should you desire to go that route)!
• On that note, you can let your Shadows manifest however you'd like – they can yap, they can be completely quiet and stand menacingly, they can appear in quick glimpses and jumpscare you or linger for as long as you're in the Nekyia. They can stick to you or talk to others. Either way, everyone will see each other's Shadows.
• At this time, Shadows cannot be defeated outside of Palaces and mod-run mini-events.
• The same limitations apply to those seeing their best selves over their Shadows. )

WEATHER FORECAST

Balmy weather with a light breeze. Weather looks fair and comfortable for the next two weeks but don't forget to wrap up warmly or risk catching a chill! You wouldn't want to fall sick, would you?

Characters who journey into the Nekyia when it is getting chilly may find that Shadows in combat may be randomly afflicted with Freeze during combat.

COMMISSIONS

REAL WORLD COMMISSIONS

NO HORSING AROUND

The zoo is looking for volunteers! They need hands available to feed and clean up after the petting zoo animals in particular. You won’t be dealing with lions on this job, but you will be face to face with goat kids with a penchant for headbutting, so do take care while you work!

ONE FOR THE BOOKS

A new writer is in town to promote their book at the library! The problem is... very few people signed up for the meet and greet. Library workers are looking for volunteers or, really, anyone off the street who can be convinced to at least attend the poor author’s reading and fill out the room a little. Those who do end up attending will be treated to a reading of a high fantasy tale with romance, trysts, and a surprising number of werewolves, but those who manage to stay attentive may just notice a suspicious individual slipping in partway through... A disgruntled netizen has decided to make a mess of the author’s first meet and greet, and will get violent unless someone stops them.

DABBLING IN DELINQUENCY

Some of the students on the island have decided not to return to the classroom after all - instead roaming in packs around the city and causing general mischief. Try to turn them back on the path of decency! Especially when the boldest of them decide you’re a prime pickpocketing target...

NEKYIA COMMISSIONS

FANDOM WARS

“Disgusting... Anyone could pick up that slop and read all kinds of depraved things... People who write that stuff should just die.”

It seems someone got a little too into fights online about books - because their gripes about today’s tales has created a Shadow in the form of level 39 Thoth in the Nekyia. Worse yet, those who are inflicted by Rage by this Shadow cannot be cured with a simple spell - instead, those afflicted will find themselves venting out their frustrations for their battle companion to hear. The effect ends once the battle is completed, or they finish getting everything off their chest, whichever comes first.

KILL THE LIGHTS

“Don’t they see? There’s so much money to be made! If we just expanded our influence...”

A crooked politician trying to drum up support for military activity has generated quite the shadow. A level 40 Eligor can be found deep in the Nekyia’s business district, muttering to himself about all the profits to be had with a little conflict. Needless to say, things will get very, very bad if he goes through with it - take him down before he can start anything!

HORSING AROUND

The Nekyia business district is overrun with Unicorns teaming up with Ganesha to make quite the formidable team of a fierce fighter and a powerful support. That said, those who defeat the pair may just find that their foes have dropped quite a useful healing item...

(OOC: Please turn in your threads for this commission on the rewards page to receive a Bead Chain, which fully restores HP to all allies (maximum 4 including the user) and is valid for one time use during any battle. This is only valid for the first turn in of the commission.)

OOC

READ ME!!!!

Welcome to your log for Weeks 9 and 10! Feel free to use this log for any developments that happen during the next two weeks. There will be no log next week.
We're heading into endgame and AC is due 30 September, Monday, at 2359 EST! The boon for this month's AC has been updated as well - please have a look!
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.
Palaces are still going strong - sign ups for Atem (here) and Kirumi's (here) capped palaces are still open, and sign ups for our FFA palace will be going up later today.

ic comm | inboxes | ooc comm | full nav

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Comments

[goei]

[You say "come get stabbed" and I say "how high". That doesn't make sense you say. I say listen. Here's Izou. He was literally just minding his own busines and behaving for once. He's holding a paper bag full of cheeseburgers and now he's getting stabbed.]

Oi, what the hell's yer problem!? You wanna die pickin' a fight with a manslayer??

[speedingticket]

Wh—

[ Rutile's eyes go wide when he realizes his dagger has slashed, just scarcely, the skin of a person, and not a shadow. He looks at the blade, the small bead of blood, and he goes pale.

It's a good thing he has twig arms and like, no training, eh? ]

N-no, I'm sorry, there was a shadow, and—

[ Said shadow doesn't wait for Rutile to finish his sentence, however. It lunges at him, and with a solid 15, it knocks him to the ground. Or into Izou? Can you see the shadow, Izou? Or did Rutile just fall over on his own in front of you? ]

[goei]

[I'm going to say Izou can see it only because if Rutile got to fight without him, right in front of him, he'd be even more cross. Like the way the picture flickers when you hit an old tv set, his vision judders into the Nekiya as the shadow attacks Rutile and transports them fully into Fight Town.]

There's always some new fuckin' nonsense here...

[Izou draws his sword with his free hand, but barely misses the shadow as he strikes at it. (8) At least it seems to get its attention as it realizes it can't just make easy pickings of Rutile.]

[speedingticket]

[ Friendly fire probably put him in combat, anyway—

Rutile is worried for a moment that the rough-looking man will, in fact, be angry with him, but it seems "shadow" was the right word. And now he has an ally!

For a moment, he watches with awe. A sword...very cool. Rutile takes a deep breath, readjusts the handle on his dagger, and swipes at one of the other shadows. It does, in fact, connect (12)! ]

Yes!

[ Except his celebration doesn't last long, because the one shadow he hits doesn't take kindly to his violence and pummels him in turn (19??!!!), thrusting him to the ground.

The one Izou attacked strikes back firm (14), while the last and third makes a paltry attempt at hitting him but whiffs him pretty bad (5). ]

[goei]

[Correct his sword is very cool and he is cool for having it. That said these guys are pissing him off, he has a burger snack to eat?? And now he's in the nekiya with a bunch of freaks??? Anyway, he holds up his sword, Medea materializing to cast a Maeiga at the shadows, missing one completely (1) and hitting the other two for medium curse damage (12, 16).]

How the hell did ya get shadows showin' up in the real world, new guy!?

[At least he's pretty sure this guy is new???]

[speedingticket]

[ Correct! He is new. ​]

I—I don't know! [ And Rutile basically confirms this by not correcting him. He staggers to his feet, casts Izou a glance, and then stares at the shadow that pushed him down again. ]

All of a sudden, I just couldn't move, and a voice began talking to me... He said my bonds don't matter. [ If Izou looks, Rutile seems more confused than upset by this. He readjusts the grip on his dagger. ] When he vanished, these shadows appeared instead!

[ Izou's Maeiga does do something—the first shadow that he attacked fizzles out of existence completely, leaving two more. This encounter has been scaled for baby level, perhaps...?

Rutile is a little too frazzled to try and summon his own persona at the moment, so he lunges in with another stab again, and it strikes true (16). The blade plunges into the center of the shadow's chest, and it dissipates on the spot.

The last shadow lunges at Izou, but staggers as it totally whiffs it (3). At least it shouldn't be that hard to take out. ]

[goei]

[Yeah these are baby shadows because we gotta get rid of them so Rutile can say some wacky shit at Izou about his personal relationships.

Anyway Avrae isn't cooperating with me so I'm just making up my own numbers. Izou stabs the last shadow in the gut and it dissapates (11). After a moment, they shift back out of the Nekiya in much the same was they entered. One wrapped cheeseburger lies sadly on the ground, a casualty.]

That damn conflict gods gettin' desperate I guess.

[As he sheathes his sword.]

[speedingticket]

[ Alas, poor cheeseburger...

When the scenery stutters back to normal, they get a few startled looks from passers-by as they rematerialize. Rutile looks back at them, similarly startled, but not for long. Izou drops an important piece of information Rutile was clearly missing, so he looks back at him. ]

That was the god of conflict? [ Stooping to pick up that cheeseburger... Perhaps it can be salvaged. ] What does he want?

[goei]

Nah, but he probably is what made those shadows appear. Y'know what the goddess summoned us here for, yeah? Basically he's the reason this is happenin' so he's tryin' ta stop us from fixing it.

[He makes no move to take back the other cheeseburger so apparently Rutile can have it.]

[speedingticket]

He's trying to stop us...from forming bonds?

[ Rutile tilts his head, mildly confused, as he takes a few steps towards Izou. ]

That's silly. People will form bonds regardless. He can't stop that.

[ He holds out the cheeseburger for Izou to take! He's clearly not taking it for himself. ]

[goei]

Hah, yer tellin' me. The fact that he's sendin' shadows after us in the real world now means he's gotta be getting desperate.

[Ah. Well if Rutile don't want it, he'll take it.]

You got a name, new guy?

[speedingticket]

I'm guessing he didn't used to do that before.

[ Burger successfully given. Rutile clasps his hands behind his back. ]

I do. I'm Rutile. [ At last, his tension seems to ease a bit, and he smiles slightly. ] Thank you for your help, I don't think I would've been able to take them out on my own. You are?

[goei]

[He hasn't had to introduce himself for a while and he's just been indirectly complimented, so he puffs up.]

Okada Izou! Sword genius and one of the four great manslayers of the Bakumatsu!