WEEKS 11 & 12

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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

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Comments

[beautifulknight]

[ He certainly is garbed in a bunch of jewelry for sure! Argenti doesn't think he could wear that much, in retrospect. ]

So they do hold a certain significance to you as well. No wonder you would wish to have them once again.

[ Holding them out for Shalem to take back. ]

[prozaic]

Hm? [He tilts his head. He thinks he saw some gears turning in this man's head but he could be wrong. (19)]

As well? Odd thing to say.

What made you ask in the first place?

[beautifulknight]

[ There were some gears turning, yes.

Though, Shalem's question gives him more time to ruminate on that to a greater extent. ]

I suppose I had merely wondered - you were already dressed in so much jewelry, but somehow not in a way that made it look too much. Then your question initially seemed to imply you weren't exactly too interested...

Yet, you also said jewelry is a part of your culture - and that these ones were for a modeling contract. Though, they're unlike the ones you wear now and seem to look like they wouldn't exactly be a set of jewelry that was made for a one-off incident.

[ If they're shaped like diamonds and they're diamonds themselves, they may in fact be very expensive. In retrospect, he wouldn't be surprised if they held a good significance. ]

[prozaic]

[Shalem pauses to think for a moment, before pulling off one of his hair clips, diamond-shaped and white in colour, and drops it into Argenti's waiting hand with its black siblings. He lets the image rest, just like that, before taking all of them.

Though he doesn't put the one clip back on. He'll let his hair fly free.]

They were indeed a one-off incident, because my usual clips would have been lost in a sea of white clothing, hence these were created as contrast. I don't know why the designer insisted on my wearing the same type of hair ornaments, but they were easy to put on and take off.

That's important to me, when I've more than my modeling contract to think about.

[beautifulknight]

[ Shalem passing along one of the hair clips - non-standard pure white - and letting one of them rest into his hand to join the pitch black ones makes for quite an obvious and visible difference. Argenti even blinks as he observes them closely, and then wonders why he doesn't place it back on. ]

...I see.

Well, in that case, it is indeed good to have something that would not easily be lost with your regular assortment of clothing.

By 'more than your modeling contract', you mean other occasions where you may need to dress up, in general, or other specific events in mind?

[prozaic]

[Shalem's answer is simple:] Matters of life and death, is what I mean.

Having a modeling contract may imply that my life at home is peaceful... but I assure you, it is anything but. [There's no amount of peace time that can turn any person into someone like Shalem. Argenti has seen him in action, he's not moral in the slightest.

But, perhaps, he's the most stable he's ever been in his life.]

This modeling contract is simply my company seeking to bring in more money, because funding a PMC like ours is never cheap nor easy.

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti has seen Shalem in action...and has not liked it in the slightest, yes.

He wonders if about questioning this man further right here and right now, but perhaps it is the best time to do exactly that. ]

...It is not peaceful? You mean to say that conflict is common at home, then.

[ He doesn't know if Shalem's behavior is a mark of his circumstances or simply because he just is, honestly. ]

PMC is short for what exactly, in this instance?

[prozaic]

A private military company. [Argenti should be honoured, he's the first one to know about this! And he'll even elaborate because if Argenti had to ask, it's likely he doesn't know what a PMC does.]

As company outside of the jurisdiction of any nation, the one I work for offers combat services to anyone who needs firepower-- just not against their political enemies unless there are extenuating circumstances. Now, if they had to deal with powerful beasts ready to ravage their home, my company is the first one they'll call.

[beautifulknight]

[ Oh. So... ]

...Essentially, comparable to being a mercenary - in fact, it sounds like exactly that.

[ Now, that's something Argenti didn't foresee. But, he doesn't think it impossible; the other man fights like someone who knows how to hold his own, despite the fact he seems to have been a new face than most here. ]

It sounds dangerous, but I assume you are committed to that kind of livelihood. After all, it must certainly help put food on the table.

What kind of powerful beasts would people need protection from? Demons?

[prozaic]

[Shalem gives an acknowledging nod at the word mercenaries. Because yes, many of his coworkers were mercenaries before becoming Operators.]

Creatures seeping in from other realms, the results of unchecked science threatening people, magic constructs, deities who believe they have a right to obesiance... And sometimes other people who have no legacy to leave but destruction.

And simply those who believe that people who are different than them should die. That's the main reason the company was formed-- humanitarian aid. But such aid is pointless when its peaceful employees keep getting killed.

There are many possibilities out there in my home world, more than I have said, and more than I'll ever be able to dream up of.

[beautifulknight]

It sounds as if your organization can be useful in such dangerous situations indeed, particularly as it appears there is experience to be had in dealing with those creatures in particular.

[ Argenti assumes so if he knows of these dangers in particular which seem rather...varied, to say the least. ]

Your homeworld truly does sound like quite a place where there is hardly much peace at all. With all of what you have said, I find myself thinking it natural that someone would try to form some sort of organization with the mission of lending aid to others.

[ Though it seems the idea of going about it peacefully is indeed moot given what Shalem has spoken about the dangers - and the result those have had. Hence, employment of combatants. ]

But, I am glad there are those who have been working to eliminate those threats, or awful individuals...in some manner.

[prozaic]

[Oh? Is Argenti being friendly to Shalem for once since Atem's palace? Colour him surprised.]

In the context of how you know me to be... Does it all make sense? I assume that's why you're curious.

[beautifulknight]

[ Not quite friendly...unfortunately, because he is still sour on so many things regarding Shalem's everything. Which does include that the nasty attitude he has witnessed reflected on certain other people and that vicious side of him in general. ]

I wouldn't say it makes much sense at all, given what I have glimpsed from you as of late - so you are right that it is why I had been curious.

You had seemed at times ready to encourage others to embrace things they shouldn't and showed quite a foul attitude towards others.

[prozaic]

"Shouldn't" but... Do they wish to?

Feelings repressed boil over, and make themselves known anyway... Or they manifest in ways that would make their owner hurt. Live in pain, fear, and suffering until... what end, I wonder. [And Shalem doesn't just say these things to say these things-- he knows. He's seen the effects.

Lived through them, in some cases.]

It's an option that I point out to those who have that spark in them, a small hint of release they could have and see if it's something they need, or just a push in the right direction, even if others would find it unsavoury. But...

If you truly care for someone, would you not accept even the indelible darkness within them, rather than leave it all to lip service? [He gives a shrug.]

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti's lips press into a thin line as he hears this. Various faces pass through his head as Shalem says these very words, recalling as he witnessed the worst of people displayed before his eyes. Unable to look away - only able to decide, whether to accept that those have been their parts.

But, he remembers clearly and cleanly that it isn't exactly that which he had been unable to accept, in the end. ]

It is not that I do not care truly for others, that I cannot accept that people have darkness deep within their souls. [ "With each triumph, you must confront yourselves anew, peering into the depths of your hearts and acknowledging the potential for malevolence." ] It is that I cannot accept the words you had given in their direction. I have already known that a soul that is bright cannot shine without its shadows.

...Yet, I do not think they necessarily must always fully embrace that darkness either. That of which you had encouraged is not a sort that I shall ever grant congratulation to or praise.

[ Immediately, his mind flashes back to Kirumi's Palace. ]

If you believe that my objection to that is a sign of my lack in caring or a desire to only entertain lip service, then you are horribly wrong.

[prozaic]

Then I hope you'll never have to meet and care for someone like me, who only wants that darkness in them to stay. There are people out there who only want to be seen for who they are, who are happiest in the darkness. [Who spurn the sort of saccharine caring that people here force on others because they know that they're being seen as something to be "fixed".

Shalem gives him a nod, before adjusting his hair tie to accommodate the lock that's insistent on flying free now that its hair clip is gone.]

Thank you for returning my belongings.

[This is the last time Shalem will ever talk to him, he thinks as he steps back and turns away.]