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Link Up! Mods ([personal profile] linkupmods) wrote in [community profile] linkingup2024-10-12 09:16 pm

WEEKS 11 & 12

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!
linkmakers: (Mina 24)

YOUR RA

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-12 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[...Is sick with fever in a little cot in her office.

Player characters will need to clean up the dorms themselves, it seems.
]
Edited 2024-10-12 15:35 (UTC)
unweathered: (child6)

into the orange grove

[personal profile] unweathered 2024-10-12 02:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The orange trees in the grove are tall and strong, all lined up in neat rows. They're well loved trees, brimming with ripe fruit, ready for the picking - provided of course, you can climb up and gather the ones at the very top.

At the centre of the grove is Schneider--at least, it looks like Schneider. She's younger though, and her eyes aren't red but gold. She's singing to herself.

"London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down~"

She peels an orange, splitting it apart, a fleshy mess that spills over her hands and then looks up and smiles]


Oh. Are you a friend? Are you here to work? We need so many workers, you know. You're not stupid enough to eat things you shouldn't, are you?

[ It's a beautiful day. Perfect for fruit picking. Wont you join her?

After all, the longer you spend in this space without doing anything, you wont just lose memories, but your sense of "what is proper to eat". Suddenly, scoffing down mouthfuls of cash and gold bars seems like a brilliant idea. People are greedy after all. Schneider will help you out of it...provided you say all the right things.

Warnings: Schneider's shadow will have references to pica, starvation, poverty, religious abuse, and mentions of drugs and alcohol]
Edited 2024-10-12 14:57 (UTC)
fullmoonmutt: (010)

[personal profile] fullmoonmutt 2024-10-12 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Wait, has she been sleeping in a friggin' cot in her office this entire time? Doesn't she have a room of her own?! Mina?! Eli hasn't checked in with Mina since his apple request, and... well... He suddenly has this feeling that he should. ]

Eyebrows? [ What the...? ] Mina?

[ He'll come up to the cot, dropping down into a crouch beside it. ]

What's happening with you?
linkmakers: (Mina 17)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-12 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[She has a room! But it's a WORK DAY.

Not that she's actually getting any work done like this.
]

Oh. Eli? Um, hi.

I'm... not really sure? The doctor said there wasn't anything wrong with me when I went...
fullmoonmutt: (077)

[personal profile] fullmoonmutt 2024-10-12 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND REST, MINA?! ]

...fucking quack don't got eyes? You obviously got something wrong. Have you been able to ask your goddess about it, maybe?
unweathered: (12)

[personal profile] unweathered 2024-10-12 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ bad mood bad mood bad mood but

Mina

Do you like bread

There is suddenly a tray of warm foccacia on your table]
linkmakers: (Mina 21)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-12 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[How did you know she loves bread??

She will slowly eat through it throughout the day, in between exhausted napping.
]
linkmakers: (Mina 16)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-12 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm... no, I haven't. I've been trying to pray to her, but...

She hasn't answered me.
fullmoonmutt: (073)

[personal profile] fullmoonmutt 2024-10-12 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
That's bad. Do you think... the God of Conflict took her out already?
linkmakers: (Mina 24)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-13 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
Nnn... No, I don't think he could have taken her out completely. But... if he expanded his influence, maybe...
unweathered: (33)

[personal profile] unweathered 2024-10-13 10:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Schneider comes back eventually to take back her plate and see if Mina has left yet]

You're still here?
beautifulknight: (🌹116)

[personal profile] beautifulknight 2024-10-13 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Argenti himself doesn't mind cleaning up. But it has been awhile since he has checked in on Mina, so he'll do that.

He'll bring her some fruit snacks with water once he peers in and sees how she's doing. ]


Lady Mina, good day. I hope you have been managing to stay hydrated.
fullmoonmutt: (052)

[personal profile] fullmoonmutt 2024-10-13 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Could... that be why you're sick? 'cause you two are connected? And she's losing?

[ That seems horribly unfair. Regardless, he's going to pop back up to his feet. ]

How'd we be able to check if he's expanded that far?
Edited 2024-10-13 15:36 (UTC)
linkmakers: (Mina 17)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-13 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[Lifting her head weakly.]

Oh... hello.
linkmakers: (Mina 17)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-13 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[Looking up blearily.]

Oh... uh, I think so? ...My water might've run out, though.

[So a very good thing he brought some with him!]
beautifulknight: (🌹28)

[personal profile] beautifulknight 2024-10-13 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She looks like she is having a hard time indeed.

Argenti holds out the container of water to her; it's not in a glass. Rather, it's in a plastic bottle. ]


Here. You'll need to stay hydrated.

How long have you been feeling sick?
linkmakers: (Mina 16)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-13 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[She looks troubled at that, trying to think through the haze.]

I... I mean, I guess so...? But I don't think she's that weak... U-unless all his influence is here in the city...? But I'm not sure how you'd check...
linkmakers: (Mina 16)

[personal profile] linkmakers 2024-10-13 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Taking it gratefully and sitting up to drink.]

I was really tired the last few weeks but... I didn't think I was sick. The doctor didn't see anything wrong with me, either.
beautifulknight: (🌹58)

[personal profile] beautifulknight 2024-10-13 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That's worrisome. He wonders what this even means...that she was this level of sick after being so tired - though, the exhaustion may have something to do with Oberon, this is still a harder to identify source.

Which to him leaves only one other possibility... ]


It must be the influence of the God of Conflict at work if there is no discernable reason. There have been oddities affecting this side as well as time goes on.

Have you spoken to your Goddess about this?
fullmoonmutt: (073)

[personal profile] fullmoonmutt 2024-10-13 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
So all we can do is keep on... doing what we have been doing, huh?
unweathered: (1)

[personal profile] unweathered 2024-10-14 08:34 am (UTC)(link)
Is this some type of masochism thing? Work yourself to death to gain God's approval?

[ See that empty plate? More delicious bread now except it's bruschetta. Not her doing at all. Nope.]
beathollow: (Default)

yard sard

[personal profile] beathollow 2024-10-14 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
beathollow: (L2D. 002)

[personal profile] beathollow 2024-10-14 01:50 pm (UTC)(link)
( at some point in the week, mafuyu is bringing a box to the common room... or posting a photo, in one case. looks like she's got quite the haul!

Racing Suit and Helmet - Safety first! Perfect for motorcycle racing.
Spicebush Fan - A folding fan covered in sprigs of fragrant yellow flowers.
Business Card - A black business card with the name "Van Arkride" in large lettering, for an office named Arkride Solutions. The tagline underneath reads, "Complicated matters only".
Motorcycle - A sick set of wheels perfect for a little battle at top speed on the highway.
Bracelet - A simple silver bracelet with no particularly noteworthy features. From a Courageous Warrior.
Clean Set of Clothes - A plain, oversized long sleeved t-shirt and a loose pair of pants perfect for working out, both in pristine white. The size appears to be for a tall male.
Azeyma's Earrings - Wearing these will give you an experience boost up to level 90! No wait, that doesn't work here.

she mostly sits with a cup of tea, but once she sees you- )


If you recognize something, please feel free to take it.
Edited 2024-10-14 14:31 (UTC)
vogelfrei: (serious; smile; contemplating hard)

[personal profile] vogelfrei 2024-10-14 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Well, Mafuyu probably has the right of it and they should auction off some of the strange stuff they have gotten.

Which is why McGillis is adding some of his own stuff to the pile:

♦ A N*kia brick phone that when turned on, calms the user's mind and alleviates their nerves.
♦ Herba Mystica - A legendary herb originating from the Great Crater of Paldea. Herba Mystica are rumored to have incredible health effects depending on the variety used...wonder which one you got?
♦ Doll Arm - At first it looks real enough to be human, but the wiring on the end confirms it belongs to an animatronic doll of some sort.
Spring Lilies - A handful of pale green lilies with petals that emit a faint, soothing glow. It's said that their light guides departed souls to the Heavenly Mother's side.

And then he's chilling nearby with a book because he's nosy about who picks up this stuff. ]
supherb: (arven12)

[personal profile] supherb 2024-10-14 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[Arven's here to peruse everyone's offerings...and he audibly gasps when he lays eyes on the Bitter Herba Mystica.

He rushes over and examines it to make sure his eyes aren't playing tricks on him. Sure enough, it's the real deal.]


No way!

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