expiationlogs | {EVENT #4} ADVERSITY 2933165.9475

{EVENT #4} ADVERSITY 2933165.9475

AN EXAMINATION OF SPIRIT

MOD NOTES:

Please direct any questions to the corresponding comment below. Note that character decisions and actions taken on these prompts will affect future events, storylines, and relationships with other peoples of Expiation.

You can find the OOC poll here. Please pick from the corresponding options with the appropriate character journal. If you use a personal journal or a journal not part of Expiation, your votes will not be counted. Remember that if your character did something different than what is in the prompts given, leave a comment in the OOC poll entry and link to your comment in the option made available.

We will provide an IC post in exactly ten days with the results of the poll that will wrap up the event. You may mingle on it if you like, but the most important purpose is to share the effects of character decisions on this event.

The various prompts are, of course, optional.

WHEN THE FOG ROLLS IN

On the night of September 10, an impenetrable fog covers the town of Aldrip. When characters wake in the morning, they find that Aldrip has disappeared, replaced by a large, enclosed maze.

Characters will wake up in one of three different levels of this maze, and they may—but don't have to—find that they are not alone. As they explore the maze, they will encounter trials and stumbling blocks both physical and mental. It seems the maze is testing them, poking at their fears, their past, their feelings. Confronting these questions about themselves and their very nature will allow them to progress through the maze in hopes of eventually finding the exit—and hopefully the town along with it.

While they do not all wake up in the same level of the maze, all characters do, in theory, have to complete all three trials in order to leave. This may not be so easy to achieve; due to the nature of these trials, if someone cannot get past one area, they may remain stuck there. Other characters are able to help them confront these issues, and may instead (or in addition) pass through that way if they choose to. Aside from the level where they wake up, characters may approach these levels in any order as they so choose.

THE GROUPS

GROUP A:
Serah Farron
Elidibus
Nakahara Chuuya
Tsunayoshi Sawada
Rei Suwa
Caitlyn Kiramman
Ragna the Bloodedge
Kotone Shiomi
Monkey D. Luffy
Yuja Wightshade (WoL)
Yosuke Hanamura
Astralin Turnont
Dazai Osamu
Ange Ushiromiya
Hythlodaeus
Ethlyn

GROUP B:
Violet (Vi)
Silco
Mizuki Date
Claude von Riegan
Noel Kreiss
Kazuki Kurusu
G'raha Tia
Jinx
Marianne von Edmund
Goro Akechi
Sooyoung Han
Saito Sejima
Nikolai Gogol
Erichtonios
Emet-Selch

GROUP C:
Yu Narukami
Pride
Sigma
Usagi Tsukino
William G Maryblood
Scott Summers
Gundam Tanaka
Quentin Quire
Akira Kurusu
Mitama Yakumo
Med'an
Ken Amada
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Izuku "Deku" Midoriya
Echo

EXPLORING THE MAZE

i. A WINDING LABYRINTH

The walls of the maze are made of stone slabs; tall, solid, and imposing. As far as one can see, there seem to be no cracks or seams in the wall. They're cool to the touch, perhaps a little dampened by the foggy weather. Some of the stones seem to glow with a dim, inner light. Most of the corridors are stable, but some are a little more risky. Walls or ceilings could collapse, leaving passages blocked and some Chosen trapped within tunnels or rooms of the maze.

Some corridors within the maze are less built up, as well, more like dug-out caverns that look somewhat like mining tunnels. In these tunnels, you can find the raw form of those glowing stones, which seem to light the darkness, allowing the Chosen to see at least a bit. They're enchanting, and some may have a hard time resisting trying to pull them out of the walls.

Occasionally, characters may find larger rooms with small tables of food, equipment, and supplies set up. These areas seem to be safety zones, untouched by the trials, where Chosen can eat, rest, treat any wounds, and replenish their energy.

ii. PERILS IN THE DARK

As the Chosen progress through the challenges of the maze—both illusions and real—the air itself may begin to feel more oppressive and heavy, making movement feel very difficult at times. As the week wears on, characters may find themselves worn out faster or feeling more sluggish than normal. More than that, they may find that their emotional lows become more intense: characters may become more easily frustrated, paranoid, scared, or impatient. In general, this seems to exacerbate the worst parts of their personalities.

On other occasions, Chosen may feel as if they are being watched. They get the feeling that something lurks in the shadows of the maze, that they are being watched or followed. They may hear something scratching or skittering across the walls. When they look…there is nothing there, nor any evidence of creatures stalking them through the halls. Characters who had bad luck in the Casino are particularly prone to this feeling; occasionally, they may feel as if someone—or something—is tugging at their hair or clothes, or breathing against their neck. Try to keep your head, Chosen. The hardest part is yet to come.

THE TRIALS

iii. A DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL [TRIAL A]

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what location or event triggers the beginning of the trial; it seems to be different for every character. Chosen will find themselves in a long corridor, laced with fog. As they progress down this corridor, they begin to see and hear hallucinations and illusions that highlight their greatest insecurities: their flaws, their weaknesses, the darkness they suspect dwells within their soul.

These illusions may come in a variety of different forms. Perhaps they experience voices or images of peers issuing criticisms that they fear are accurate, or they may face a shadowy figure that bears their appearance that embodies all of their worst qualities. The form these illusions take is up to you, the players, and whether other characters are able to see those illusions can also be decided between players. Confronting, challenging, debunking, and/or accepting these criticisms and claims is the key to exiting this level.

Once they have confronted this challenge, the illusions and hallucinations stop immediately. The fog lifts, revealing a turn in the maze they didn't notice before. They may progress in their exploration.

iv. THE SHAPE OF YOUR FEARS [TRIAL B]

Similar to the first trial, this seems to trigger with little warning or fanfare. At some point in their exploration, characters will find their way blocked by something representing their deepest fears. This can be literal—a dark hallway for those who fear the dark, as an example—but can manifest in a myriad of other ways, too. A character could see someone from their past that represents this fear, or a monster, or an object or memory of something that connects to that fear. These fears will be made tangible and visible to anyone around them, leaving them exposed and vulnerable. In order to progress, they must be able to pass by these fears, and may do so in any way the player chooses, whether it requires fighting a monster, negotiating with an authority figure, finding a light in the darkness, or anything else players and characters can imagine.

The nature of this trial can be as massive or mundane as you, the player, chooses. Whether they need to simply turn on a light to abate their fear of the dark, or whether they need to take down a massive beast to confront something bigger, the area they find themselves in seems to accommodate the size of their trial. Once they have confronted this fear, it disappears, revealing a hallway that might not have been there before, allowing them to progress.

v. IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE [TRIAL C]

As with the first two trials, this one seems to emerge from the darkness when a character is ready to face it. They enter a room lined with obsidian mirrors. When they approach these mirrors, characters are confronted with memories related to the crime they have been charged with. This can be a specific moment or a series of moments related to their crime either directly or indirectly. Characters may become lost in these memories and may need help navigating through them from other people: the longer they remain lost in these memories, reliving them again and again, the more they run the risk of losing those memories entirely, either permanently or temporarily. Only by addressing the crime, the way they feel about it, the relationship that crime has to reality and to who the character is, can characters be free of this particular trial.

Once they have surpassed this trial, characters find themselves able to step back through these obsidian mirrors back into the maze, where they can continue their journey.

Navigating all three trials elicits no special fanfare or celebration. Upon completion of the third trial, they find themselves in a foggy corridor, where they will find an exit from the maze.

OPT-OUT AND AFTERMATH

Those characters (or players) who do not wish to interact with the maze will occasionally find quiet corridors that mysteriously place them outside the maze, unable to reenter. They will find that the town is, indeed, gone, as are their living quarters—hope you don't mind roughing it for a while. However, thanks to recent efforts to bolster the town's supplies, some of the underground storehouses organized by Claude and Marianne seem to remain intact and are available as temporary emergency shelter, should your character choose not to camp out.

After one week, the maze will disappear and life in Aldrip returns to normal. As for the locals? They don't seem to notice that anything strange has happened at all. Maze? What maze? Strange weather we're having this week, eh?

WHAT ELSE YA GOT? (WILDCARD)

Just because there’s not a prompt for it doesn’t mean that your character’s actions aren’t acceptable. If you wish to do anything that hasn’t been directly addressed by the prompts, leave a message for the mod team to say what your character would do. If you choose to go down this path, note it as a comment on the OOC poll when it goes up, and leave a link to your threads so that we can take all actions into consideration for the next State of the Game.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( she's deteriorating. or maybe it's just her mind that's fading away. but does it matter at this point whether it's that or her entirely? because she feels she had been in this terror for hours on end, and jinx can't seem to tell the difference between her own hallucinations, someone else's, or what she's witnessing is the reality. the teen had been venturing on in a third person state since her first trial, her emotions had been blurred and detached some time ago too, so there had been very little reaction from her when she witnesses things. her world feels and seems lifeless and a fog to her -- and whenever jinx attempts to think, there's a stone wall that seems to block any coherent thoughts to flow through. )

( and for that matter, where is here anyway? how did she get here? and what was her name again? who is she? the few times she had glanced down at her hands with the dirt underneath her barely polished nails, they appear so unrecognizable to her. and as the machine gun that's on her back, does she even know how to use it? it had a name too, right? either way, all she knows is that she needs to keep walking forward, or at least that's what this body wants to do. in time, she comes across silco and this little girl who feels... oddly familiar in some way. jinx can't quite place it right now, but something is telling her that she needs to stand behind the man and watch.... so she does. )

( but her dull eyes dart up to the man before her, staring at his back first and then to his head. there's an aura of love and trust coming from this man -- as if he is someone in her life despite that his name is escaping her. so when the other girl drifts off like a ghostly breeze, jinx removes her machine gun off her back steadily to the ground. and then, her body moves on its own again to approach closer to silco until she is only a few inches away from his back.

very carefully to not alert him too much, her arms loop around his stomach as she rests a gentle head against his back. this is something she is meant to do, right? it... feels like it's something she should be doing anyway. because embracing him this way, above everything, feels distinct. )

[Silco half turned at the sounds behind him despite wanting to focus wholly on the little girl that faded in and out of his reality. He wanted to remind himself that this place was trying to test him, trying to push him to act out beyond his usual calm demeanor in order to take advantage of the situation. He suspected and continued to think that if he left his guard down that something about this maze and its hallucinations would be able to stick.

So he wouldn't. Not yet.

Thus, when he partially turned to spotted Jinx, he considered her another illusion up until the point where her thin arms curled around his waist. She felt far too real to be a twist of this space, correct? Yet, he had seen that look on Jinx's teenage feature before, the fact that she was so overwhelmed that she disassociated and unplugged from reality.

He watched the top of her head where it rested to his back, and the warmth of her embrace was grounding. Was this part of the play? Did it matter even if it was? He made a mental decision almost instantly.]

Jinx. Are you alright, child?

( jinx. so that must be her name. she lets it settle in for a moment and then lifts up her head to see silco's face. there's a smile on her, drained, but it's there still. his daughter doesn't respond to his question nor does she really need to, when her eyes are telling him the full story of her state.

the pinks, while use to be so vibrant and wild, now appear faded and muted. every few seconds, they flicker in attempt to shine but fail -- like a lighting bulb that's running out of electricity before it gives out completely. and whenever they do break apart from this embrace she has on him, he'll notice even more signs of withdrawal. wearing shorts and not her usual pants, bare legs had been clawed enough to leave behind markings. not gruesome-looking, thank goodness, but still concerning seeing it's all self-inflected. )

[The illusion of the little girl returned, tugging at his vest for attention. She had never liked competition for his attention in the beginning, but he had slowly built the necessary trust that she should know that the work he did was to make life better for them and their people. He would also make time for her. Still, the little blue-haired girl tugged insistently on his vest.

He set a hand on the top of her head, though there was something off about the sensation. It was different than the feel of Jinx's arms around his waist, but he pulled the little girl against his leg all the same even as his other hand dropped to lightly capture Jinx's wrist even as they break apart as he turned to regard her.]

We need to find our way out of this place. It's full of the monsters it's best to avoid for the time being.

( her gaze dance between the hand he has on her wrist and to the little girl on the other side of him. just what is it about that kid, anyway?and why is there some weird bubbling dislike of her in her chest? even if jinx wants to stand here and think it through, all of her thoughts are crashing against this wall inside her mind and building up to be one clutter of a mess of itself.

so far now, she should just listen to this important person and find a way out of here. but before he can lead them away, jinx peeks behind her shoulder at her forgotten weapon. hopefully, this will give him the indication to let her go so she can retrieve the machinery before they move on. because if there are monsters (they are and deep down she knows. just... not all there to recall), she should protect all of them from harm. )

[He ignored how the little girl's hands grasped harder to his vest when he wasn't her sole attention. Instead, he patted her head lightly before arranging one of her barrettes so it stopped one piece of her bangs falling forward.

He turned his head further when Jinx's attention shifted away, noting her discarded weapon. That was very much like his daughter. Weapons were one of the items she didn't abandon long. He let her wrist go so that she could retrieve it, but he kept continuous watch on her in case she disappear into the fog like another illusion of this maze.]

Be quick about it, Jinx. We shouldn't linger in one place long.

( getting the okay to fetch her weapon, jinx scurries off as quickly as her body allows her and slips the machine gun strap over her shoulder. instead of having pow-pow on her back, his daughter holds onto its handle to have it lock and ready for anything or anyone to jump out at them in any given moment.

and as much as the exhaustion is growing on her, the blue haired girl exhales out a sigh to air out the fatigue then shapes up. she needs to be her strongest here -- she knows he is counting on her take down the monsters they might face. after all, she is the only one out of the ~~three~~ two of them with a weapon. so the teen forces her strained body to move forward and ahead of them, but not too far. she is still within arm's reach if he wants to tap her on the shoulder, but enough distance where if something attacks them, she'll be the first target. )

[Silco remained stationary and on alert as Jinx stepped away to retrieve her discarded weapon, and he recognized two thin arms curling tightly and possessively around his waist. Why the little girl was still here he had no idea, but he expected it was part of some continued attempt at torment.

As Jinx took point, he began to walk behind her, and the moment he did, the little girl wailed loudly and disappeared. He paused to look for where she might appear next, but for the moment, she was gone. He focused on Jinx and followed her as they began to make progress through the maze. Around one corner, down a long corridor. The corridor was accompanied with the distant sound of gunfire in short bursts.]

( what a pain that little girl was. jinx knew she disliked her for a reason and quite frankly, she is happy that it's just the two of them again. she is doing her best to stay quiet and focus, it's a little difficult when she needs to blink once or twice to keep herself grounded to where she is now and not... wherever this mentality wants her to go. but the rings of gunfire pulls her back -- the prodigy tightens her grip on the handles as she comes into a screeching halt. her fainted pink scans the area hastily, looking to see if there is anywhere the man can duck down for safety if she decides to move forward alone. )

... Someone's around.

[Firearms were not a common weapon in the Undercity; it was Piltover weapon for the most part. A few select individuals leaned into that preference - Jinx for example - but the winding claustrophobia of the streets were often not conducive to the use of guns. That and the people of Zaun seemed to like to be close, personal and quiet with their violence.

As they approach closer to the sound, he set a hand on the knife hilt on his belt.]

It could be the girl. Verify the identify before any shooting, Jinx.

( she doesn't hum or make any noise to confirm she understood the order, but her straightening her spine more is enough indication that she heard him. subconsciously holding her breath and rolling her tongue behind her lips, his prodigy moves on ahead of him -- eyes darting in every little nook and cranny to spot their company.

so far however, she doesn't see anything but the stone wall of this labyrinth. the gunshots are definitely real and neither of their imaginations. jinx had been around the firearm way longer than any girl should to recognize how they sing when the trigger is pulled. still though, she doesn't lower her guard as she cautiously takes another step. )

Edited 2023-10-09 18:23 (UTC)

[He knew she had heard him without a verbal acknowledgement, and his focus was aimed towards the intermittent gun fire ahead. The fog seemed to grow far more dense as they moved forward, yellowing and starting to obscure the stone walls of the maze.

Suddenly there was a burst of manic laughter that followed the gun fire, and he would know that laugh anywhere. He stood straighter and moved forward into the fog until he came to a stop as a small body slammed into his front and arms curled around his middle.

The little Jinx smiled up at him and hugged him as tight at her arms could.

I made you something. Wanna see?

Without waiting for an answer, she gestured with a hand and the stone wall nearby was riddled with bullet holes in the shape of a crazed cartoon monkey face.

You like it, right? I've been practicing my shooting, so you don't have to worry about me getting hurt when you're working! Cool, huh?]

Jinx...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

{EVENT #4} ADVERSITY 2933165.9475

trial a; after private thread and the 3 of them somehow got separated for a bit.

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I don't know how I missed this one....

i just figured you got tired lol

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