WEEKS 9 & 10

[linkupmods]

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

code

Comments

[speedingticket]

[ The Rage sets in and it's very hard to remain calm and civil. Will Rutile regret this later when the status effect is gone? Yes! ]

Jeez, is that how you treat someone who just got here? Ugh. [ Rutile huffs, again, and taps his foot impatiently. ] Fine. Please! Do something.

[townmusician]

[Some people are just BITCHES, RUTILE. You should know this by now!

But Haruka will help, since he's pretty sure taking down the shadow will be a good start, moving to cut it down with his sword. (can u believe i rolled a 14 so he's actually going to hit it, crazy)]

This fight might take a while if you don't help out.

[speedingticket]

[ ok but mimi is different, ]

And what happened to our manners? [ Stern teacher voice! Where is his please? Why doesn't he get a please?! The Rage bubbles in him, and the frustration spills out— ] Gosh, you're no better than—

[ Interrupted! Thoth casts Megido on Haruka, and it strikes true (16). Rutile's eyes go wide, briefly snapped out of his frustrations. Wordlessly Mitis leaps from the aether around him as he casts Media to heal up at least a little bit of that damage. ]

"Thank you, Rutile!"

[townmusician]

[yeah, he's worse]

Fuck!

[Owwww, that hurt. The Media eases the worst of the sting, and Haruka grumbles.]

Thanks.

[Will you stop yelling now?!

Anyways, the counter (11 fuck you avrae dice roller is my new best friend)! Haruka casts Imperial Chain, the flames briefly engulfing the Thoth. It's not much damage, but it's enough to get its attention on Haruka fully, he hopes.]

C'mon, don't worry about the new guy—

[speedingticket]

[ Wow. Maybe stranger he is yelling with is actually very nice?

Rutile lets it go, but not without a shouted: ] You're welcome!

[ That's the last yell, he doesn't promise, but it is.

Thoth looks between the both of them and decides he wants to attack both. So he casts Mafreila to target both...except while one attack sails past Haruka (9), the other one hits Rutile (13). He stumbles backwards and lands on his ass. ]

Rrrrgh!

[ Frustration! Rutile can count on one hand how many times in his life he's felt this frustrated. Incredible how an enemy can fuck with his mind like this.

He takes out his dagger and starts outlining Haruka in the air, for Draw With Friends—his silly little spell sends a jolt of lightning through the air that...hits Thoth and fizzles and does nothing (8).

He huffs! ]

So useless!

[townmusician]

[Hey, at least Rutile didn't roll a fucking 1, so he doesn't eat shit and trip over a rock in the Nekyia instead of attacking.]

Fucking— Goddamit!

[He hasn't even been hit by rage but tripping over yourself is just. Embarrassing. He hates all of this.

Well, he can at least send a Diarama towards Rutile to heal him back up. He won't be the one being useless here!!]

[speedingticket]

Thank you!

[ He sounds angry but that's a very genuine thanks. This status effect is whack...

Thoth acts before Rutile can. Haruka's attitude has successfully captured his attention, and he sends a Freidyne his way...but it misses, just barely (10)! Phew.

Rutile pushes himself to his feet and he runs, theatrical war cry bellowing (?) from his chest as he brandishes his dagger. And he actually manages to get a hit in holy shit (13).

Not that he, as a level 1 support, is accomplishing much, but. ]

Just leave us alone already! Haven't you had enough?!

[townmusician]

[It's fine, it's fine, because Haruka can follow up his failed attempt with another sword slice (19!).]

The monsters are stubborn, but it won't take much longer.

[Also you're way underleveled but considering this guy's temper Haruka's not going to point it out...]

Just try not to get hit again--

[speedingticket]

[ rutile nui standing before a dinosaur like i can take him ]

Trying not to!

[ This guy (Rutile) clearly has no combat training, yet his last hit makes him overconfident enough to think he can do it again. He swings his dagger and misses beautifully (3).

Thoth doesn't seem bothered at all. Mafreila comes again, sending that wave of nuclear energy over both Haruka and Rutile. And it is devastating (19, 19).

Rutile falls to the floor... he's like 1hp bc i don't want to kill him... please help... ]

[townmusician]

[Ow, ow, fuck, that really hurts. Haruka lets out a yelp, but he can tank a hit like that. The new guy, on the other hand—]

Fuck, fuck, okay—

[Have a Diarama, blondie! The pain has thrown him off too much he can't manage another counterattack (8...), but at least Rutile should be able to get back on his feet!]

[speedingticket]

[ Ahhh, that's good. Rutile staggers to his feet, but there's fire flashing in his eyes. Despite the pain he's pretty furious. ]

Rrrgh, enough!

[ Usually he'd be smarter if he weren't so angry and frustrated, but instead he rushes towards Thoth with his dagger brandished and gives him a deep, deep gash (17).

Is it dead yet?!

[ Probably close, but...

Thoth closes its eyes and casts Concentrate. Uh oh... ]

[townmusician]

[Now would be a great time for Haruka to have a cool moment where he deals the finishing blow, but, unfortunately, I rolled like shit, so all Haruka really does is yelp as Rutile dashes in close. Dude, you nearly died!]

What are you doing, idiot?!

[can't believe you gotta do so much retconning now geez]

[speedingticket]

I'm going to kill this thing!

[ Ah, there's his mom's side, shining through, a rare treat for Haruka... Not that he knows this.

In his Rage, Rutile swings his dagger again but misses completely (6). He gives another growl in frustration, almost certain he can bring Thoth down with his glare alone...

Mafreila comes and goes and it's basically just like a fart (1). Totally whiffs it. Misses completely. If only it could explode in Thoth's face and defeat himself for us (4).

Rutile whips around to glare at Haruka. ]

Do something!