WEEKS 11 & 12

[linkupmods]

WEEKS 11 & 12

YOU CAN'T GET OFF THE RIDE...

The dream king has been vanquished, and with it, everyone’s dreams have returned to normal. For those who have had trouble sleeping in the past few weeks, that’s a relief, right?

You know what they say - one step forward, two steps back.

The border between the Nekyia and the real world is thinning - watch your step, Chosen. With your Shadows still haunting you at every opportunity, turn the corner and you may find yourself suddenly in the Nekyia, tendrils of dark fog curling around your feet even though you’ve spent so much effort trying to clear the previous districts of fog and shadows. Blink, and you’ll find yourself back where you were in the real world, with everyone looking at you quizzically because for a moment, you disappeared.

Braphine’s temple is oddly silent. Where there were once priests and priestesses around the courtyards and the main building, now, when you visit, there is nobody around to attend to you. Walking through the halls of the temple now feels fraught with danger, almost - look into a mirror for too long, and your Shadow may end up looking back at you.

Speaking of attendants – maybe you should check in on your local priestess.

Thanks to everyone’s help with the Business District, it is now... actually, it’s more or less the way it always has been. People are still standoffish, and there’s a tension in the air - it feels like just one little spark is all that’s needed to start an argument or a fight.

In fact, it isn’t even only the Business District suffering these effects. Though specific individuals may retain a fondness for characters who helped them, the population overall seems to have regained its old vitriol towards each other. The Chosen saw for themselves the positive impact they were able to have on the City - what in the world could have reversed it all...?

TEMPTATION TOUCHED MY TONGUE...

You blink, and it’s there. Blink again, and it vanishes.

Perhaps your eyes are playing tricks on you, but where there used to be a park just outside the dorms, now lies a large orange grove. It does, however, look a little shadowy around the edges, like it’s not supposed to be there - and the strange thing is that it can only be seen by Braphine’s chosen. Asking any of the passers by will just net you bewildered looks.

Despite the roiling storm and the grey clouds outside, the sky in the orange grove is clear when you enter into it.

You are surrounded by the smell of orange blossoms, and as the scent envelops you, a strange feeling of unsettlement starts to build.

The oranges are in the right season for harvesting, and somehow you get an irresistible urge to pick one and bite into it. But biting into it comes at a price– you start to forget. It could be a memory, a part of you, or worse, one of the bonds you have made here.

The more of the oranges you eat, the deeper you fall into the grove, and perhaps, just perhaps, you might come into contact with a familiar face that gives you a warning before you fall too deep into it. Keep eating and you won't just forget. You’ll start wanting to eat things that aren’t meant to be eaten too.

After meeting with “Schneider”, you realise there’s only one way out of this hazy mess: help others to help yourself. It could be collecting little memories that glitter like “stars” amongst the trees, and walking people back to the scattered fragments of themselves.

Or it could be helping the shadowy farm workers, who look at you with disdain and ask:

“You city folk here to do some real work for once? Hurry up.”

They ask you to do a number of chores: chopping up firewood, cleaning stables, harvesting the oranges (but don’t you dare eat them without permission) and planting new trees. There’s also a church that you could help clean up and donate your funds towards which makes the shadowy figures very happy. Schneider will not be.

Each successful chore completed is another “part” of yourself returned, and the better equipped you are to help the people around you. Better start working.

It’s odd though. When you look outside the orange grove, it’s almost like the raindrops are moving in reverse.

(OOC: Schneider'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! Welcome to your memloss event!)

WEATHER FORECAST

Gloomy. Grey skies about, and the sun seems to have hidden itself away for some reason. When it isn’t raining or storming, there somehow seems to always be the sound of thunder rolling in the distance. Eagle-eyed characters may even notice a metallic glint through the clouds, every now and then...

Characters that venture into the Nekyia during these two weeks will find themselves occasionally being afflicted with Dizzy during combat. Watch your step.

COMMISSIONS

TREASURE THE TEMPLE

Without the Priest or Priestess to care for the temple, it continues to grow dustier and more dismal by the day. Characters who work together to help with upkeep - dusting, sweeping, wiping down surfaces, even airing it out by opening up the windows - will not only receive the regular rewards, but also find themselves imbued with a gentle desire to spend some time taking care of those they care about, too.

MASTERS OF THEIR ELEMENT

There are Level 50 Shadows to be found in the Nekyia, though thankfully they are not on the prowl. One can be found in each cardinal and intercardinal direction: Garuda in the East, Surt in the South, Scathach in the West, and Fafnir to the North, as well as Dionysus in the North East, Michael in the North West, Alitat in the South West, and Belial in the South East. Each of these enemies has punishing attacks, and will need to be taken on by groups of three or more characters. However, upon defeat they will drop a stone that glows with a soft light that corresponds to an element colour (e.g. pink for Psy, red for Fire); offer these to Braphine’s temple to give the goddess strength, and receive a Magatama in that particular element.

(OOC: Please turn in your threads for this commission on the rewards page to receive an Elemental Magatama which deals medium damage to one target in one specific element, and is valid for one time use during any battle. This is only valid for the first turn in of the commission.)

BONDS AND CONNECTIONS

”My connection to Sunset City has been interrupted... I no longer have the strength to support you as I did before. Look out for each other, and keep forging new bonds; they will protect you when I cannot.”

While characters have gained strength from the bonds they’ve forged, there are still those who are freshly arrived with no such defenses; characters who make the effort to establish relationships with faces they have not interacted with much so far will be rewarded. If the character has not been used for a Social Link writeup, they are fair game! Characters may choose what activities they partake in at their own leisure, whether that’s battling alongside one another in the Nekyia or using one of those coupons for a free dinner at a fancy restaurant. They should, however, have a focus on getting to know each other during the activity.

OOC

READ ME!!!!

Welcome to your log for Weeks 11 and 12! Feel free to use this log for any developments that happen during the next two weeks.
Please note that there will be no log next week BUT there will be a network post going up for endgame plot purposes going up once Week 11's palaces are complete!
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 Haruka's palace are underway and will start later today, and our Clover (capped) and Moon (FFA) palaces will be going up later this weekend!
Don't forget to check in with AC to get your endgame unlocks and submit your rewards/Rank 10 social links before 20 October, 11:59PM EST!

ic comm | inboxes | ooc comm | full nav

code

Comments

[moodwrecker]

A. Treasure the Temple

[As a person who has in fact spent a nonzero amount of time hanging around the temple, Aubrey can be found tidying it up - which, for her part, mostly consists of some sweeping and dusting here and there. And, if anyone else happens to walk in--]

Heads up!

[She's tossing a broom at them. Make yourself useful!]

B. Bonds and Connections

[If your character has arrived within the last month or so and haven't had many, if any threads with Aubrey, she'll be tapping their shoulder at the dorms around mealtime.]

Let's just grab something. My treat.

[And with that, she's turning to leave. Follow?]

C. Wildcard!

[Tap me over PM or Discord and we can make a custom toplevel! Especially if you wanna do some last minute social linking :3c]

FOR MAFUYU

[moodwrecker]

[At some point, she's tapping Mafuyu in particular when the other girl doesn't look busy. She's got a plan - but first, she has to find out if Mafuyu even has time for it.]

Hey- what are you doing today?

[beathollow]

I'm not sure.

( she has no plans! i almost wrote problems which is significantly less true, but wow she's getting better on that front- )

Why, is something up?

[moodwrecker]

I found a cool place we can go to, so I figured I'd invite you.

Have you ever heard of a rage room before?

[beathollow]

A rage room...? No, I haven't.

[moodwrecker]

I hadn't either, until just now. Apparently it's a place where you pay money to go into a room full of junk to smash.

[Which sounds, quite frankly, sick as hell, so of course she's interested in going.]

[beathollow]

( mafuyu is quiet, unsure of what to say.

but there is a certain mischievous spark in her eyes that has never been there before. )

[moodwrecker]

Sounds cool, right? So, c'mon. Let's go.

[And without waiting for a response, she's already turning to head out!]

[beathollow]

Oh-

( she follows!

... there's something very silly about the idea of aubrey (punk) (affectionate) and mafuyu (probably in some lowkey lolita style and pigtails) showing up for destruction. )

Temple

[needsteaplz]

Whoa!

[Saori has no problem catching the broom with one hand. Probably comes with the territory of being a mom with kids who now realize they can throw things.]

Alright, guess it's never too early to start year end cleaning...Uh, which rooms haven't you covered yet?

Re: Temple

[moodwrecker]

I'm just doing the main room. ...I have no idea what's in the other ones, and it feels kind of rude to rummage through them?

[needsteaplz]

Gotcha! I'll get started on the main foyer and the walkway then. If we are good on time, we can work on getting these windows cleaned and some fresh air in here too.

[She glances around. It's too quiet here...]

Have you seen anyone else here? I don't think I saw any of the clergy people here since I got here...

[moodwrecker]

[She shakes her head.]

Not recently. There used to be a couple priests and priestesses, and a few devotees, too. But now it's like they just... Gave up on the whole place.

[It's bad vibes man.]

[needsteaplz]

[Saori's brows furrow with that little revelation. For a goddess's temple to be suddenly vacant is never a good sign. Now is one of those times she wished she could speak with Braphine, goddess to goddess but she'll make do with what she has.]

No note left behind or anything? That is alarming to say the least...Maybe once I take care of the foyer, I should check on the kitchen before things get spoiled.

[moodwrecker]

Oh, that's probably a good idea. I think they used to host little gatherings here.

[Rather than a solemn place of worship, it always seemed more laid back.]

treasure the temple

[moonshaded]

[It's not like Kainé to be poking around here, but for undisclosed reasons, she's checking out the state of the temple. It's certainly not the bustling beacon of togetherness that she's come to expect.

Catching the broom deftly with one hand, she leans her weight on it like the bad employee on a cleaning motivation poster. If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean, Kainé!]

Where is everyone? This place is like a graveyard. [It just feels like another problem for them to deal with.]

[moodwrecker]

No idea. Not even the usual faces are around anymore. It's like they all just... gave up on it.

[Which seems... bad.]

[moonshaded]

Well, shit.

[It does seem bad, indeed, and Kainé's reply marks just how very bad it really seems.]

So, what happened? [Not like Aubrey has the answers...but she seems more comfortable being here.] I thought everyone was getting so close, or whatever.

[moodwrecker]

That's what I'm trying to find out. It's always been kind of empty, but never a ghost town like this.

[...Getting back to sweeping, now that she thinks about it.]

[moonshaded]

The city kinda sucks again.

[To her, who's never been fully able to work herself into the town's environment, it's always sucked... but maybe there's a little slip there. Maybe Kainé got, by however small a measure, a little more familiar with the place.

She watches Aubrey sweep but doesn't join in right away.]

If we're just cleaning it up with no idea if anyone's coming back... [Hmph. Will that actually fix anything?]

[moodwrecker]

It's not like she's dead.

[Probably.]

And it's not like it's hard to clean it up a little, especially if it stops him from getting even stronger somehow.

[moonshaded]

That we know.

[But no, she's pretty sure the goddess' little assistant would have also been found dead in her office if that happened to be the case. Since Kainé hasn't heard any screaming, she is going to assume that Mina has not shown up like a murder victim of the week.]

It'll just get dirty again until this gets fixed. [Right now, the way it's all reset has made everything feel meaningless... but then, she's never really been one to believe in that grand, world-changing heroics kind of thing. Rather thoughtlessly, she tosses some foliage that blew in through a window back out of it.]

[moodwrecker]

Yeah, but it's always harder to clean up if you let it go for a long time instead of cleaning it up while it's not so bad.

[Ask her how she knows! Or just, you know, recall the state of her house.]

A

[strawsandals]

Oi-!

[ He catches the broom with one hand. He's ready to be useful! However, he opens up his knapsack and moves to toss something towards her in return. It's an onigiri! ]

Right back at you!

[moodwrecker]

[She's surprised, but still manages to catch the onigiri.]

...You brought food?