{EVENT #4} ADVERSITY 2933165.9475

[expiationmods]

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.

Comments

[orphne]

[She smiles gently against his neck when he says there's only one of him. Yeah, that's true (as far as she knows)! And she's lucky to know him, for however long or short a time it ends up being.

Eventually, she doesn't have any tears left to cry, and she pulls back a little, just enough to rub her eyes and try to wipe her nose on her sleeve. There's no way she looks great right now -- like a child, it feels like she's worn herself out crying. Or maybe it's just been long enough in the maze that her familiar nightly exhaustion is catching up with her. At least it means she's too tired to be embarrassed by the whole display as she tries to compose herself a little bit more.]

Do you... still think I'm reliable? [she mumbles finally, pressing her forehead against his shoulder instead of trying to look him in the eye. Did he even think that in the first place?]

[laserguy]

[He feels that smile against him and Scott's mouth twitches upward as well, glad that he was able to do that, even in a time like this. Guess he's not entirely crap at this, maybe far from it.

Scott's about to offer his jacket for her to wipe her face against, because he doesn't really mind, but she's back to holding him close, covering her expression from him. She's really worried about people relying on her, huh? He kind of understands, in the sense that he wants to be reliable for others too. Back home, he didn't care, but that started to change when he enrolled in Xavier's... and now he's here.]

Of course.

[He reassures her without hesitation, because there was never any doubt on his end to stop relying on Kotone. Or find her one of the most dependable people here. Scott remembers how hard she searched for Shinji... and how she supported him back at the casino.]

Girls are supposed to cry anyway. [He teases again.]

[orphne]

[Her knees go a little weak at the way he can answer that without thinking about it, without even hesitating, as if it was easy to answer and not something that's been dragging her down for- ever, maybe. It doesn't stop her from huffing a quiet, tired laugh through her nose as she clutches her fingers into the back of his jacket.]

There sure are a lot of rules for boys and girls in America, [she murmurs, shoulders shaking a little as she huffs out another little laugh. It's not even so much that it's funny as it is sheer relief.

She lets herself hold him just a little longer before she makes herself step back, if only so she can try to make herself a little more presentable... which is probably impossible until she can at least splash some water on herself, but she tries, laughing a little at her own efforts.]

Sorry. I'm a mess.

[laserguy]

Nah, that's a universal thing.

[But as she pulls back, Kotone will find Scott smiling at her with that small, if reassuring grin. Maybe for the first time since coming here, he actually doesn't want to go home, even if he misses his brother and everything. He knows he'll have to go back someday, but he's not in a rush. At least have her go home first-- not that he wants that to happen either.

Because what is she going to return to? And he'll also miss her.

Scott sucks in a breath and pushes away his thoughts, still wanting to be her pillar, especially right now. Hopefully she'll think that he's reliable too and he can't be that person if he's always the one crying and being upset.]

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you sometimes have bad makeup days. [Is this what he's going to call it? But in all seriousness, he's not planning on telling anyone about what happened here, unless she wants to.]

[orphne]

[His smile is reassuring, in spite of it all, almost infectious. With careful fingers, she reaches up and gently touches her fingertips to his lips, as if she could somehow memorize that smile to carry it with her all the time. If she didn't feel so bad, she'd kiss him, properly this time. It's with the smallest smile of her own that she makes herself a promise to look forward to -- once they both get out of here, she will.

Anyway, she isn't even wearing makeup, which almost makes her laugh. She can't quite manage it, but it does make her tiny smile brighten a bit as she draws her hand back and rubs her nose on her sleeve one more time with a mighty sniffle.]

Are you doing okay? [she asks finally, glancing back up at him again. Her eyes are visibly red, face still streaked from tears and nose still running in spite of herself, but she has to ask. She should have asked way earlier.] Honestly.

[laserguy]

[Scott momentarily freezes, with his lips parting just slightly, when Kotone presses her fingers against him. He's not quite sure what she's doing, and he finds himself feeling that familiar embarrassment, but somehow, he keeps still as he lets her do whatever she wants. Maybe they're going to in for a kiss...?

His heart beats just a little faster at the thought, but disappointingly, she steps back. R-right, maybe now's not the time anyway.

Scott clears his throat and tries to get his thoughts back in order. Is he truly okay? Probably? He's certainly feeling better than her and he's glad that she was able to be honest with him. But seeing all those memories hurt, especially the one of her final moment. Does he tell her how he feels though? He said he'd still rely on her, but...]

Y-Yeah, I'll be fine. [His smile becomes slightly more strained.] I mean, it hurt seeing all that, but... I definitely don't want to forget.

[orphne]

[She thought she didn't have any tears left, but her eyes well up a little again when he says he doesn't want to forget. She doesn't want him to forget, either. She doesn't ever want to be forgotten again. But she manages to keep herself together this time, closing her eyes and pressing her lips tightly together with a nod.]

A lot of it probably doesn't make sense to you, huh...? [she asks, taking a deep breath as if bracing herself. Opening her eyes, she glances back to the mirrors, only to finally realize that they've gone blank.]

...Eh? Where did it all go...?

[laserguy]

Not at all.

[Somehow, freely admitting that isn't so bad. Yeah, he doesn't fully understand Personas and Nyx and everything that went on back in her world, but what he cares most about is how it affected Kotone and her friends. While he can't talk with Shinji now, he can at least find Ken some point later and maybe... talk with him? Although, Scott's not sure what he'd say. Just randomly bring up Kotone and everything they went through?

Okay, that's a lot less appealing than it sounds.

But Scott pushes those thoughts away, files them as 'things to worry about later,' because she's still needs his help, or his support.]

Oh it stopped playing those memories a few minutes ago. Didn't notice until now, huh? [He teases lightly.] Too comfortable in my arms?

[orphne]

[She manages a little huff of a laugh through her nose, even as she smacks his shoulder lightly with one hand.]

Yeah, that must be it.

[It's so strange to feel like making a joke about it, but somehow, it makes the weight pressing down on her heart just that little bit more manageable. She takes another breath, the hand that had smacked him gently holding onto his arm.

Still, there's the faintest shadow of a smile lingering on her lips as she gazes up at him.]

Let's get out of here, okay? And... once we get out, I'll answer any of your questions. Promise.

[laserguy]

I've been working out and everything.

[Scott quit while you're ahead--

He raises his other hand to lightly grasp the hand that's holding onto his arm, threading their fingers together before smiling almost reassuringly at her.] Yeah, let's go, really getting tired of seeing this place.

[He's not sure how much he really wants to hear, but it's probably important if he asks those important questions. He'll just give himself and Kotone a small break first, because they both need it after dealing with this. Maybe they can go on a date and be normal for a couple of weeks before diving back into this.]

Okay, Kotone. [Scott acknowledges, still smiling at her.]

[orphne]

[Another little snort when he says he's working out -- but still, that's good. He's the kind of guy who needs to do something, isn't he? Maybe once they get out of here and this is all over, they can work out together. She's always done better with friends.

Once they get out of here, will they be out of the maze entirely...? Or will there just be some new trial awaiting both of them? Last time she crossed floors, the person she was with had disappeared, whisked off to their own private hell.

She gently squeezes his hand with a nod, summoning all of her courage with a deep breath. They'll get out of here. And they'll see each other when it's over. She made a promise, after all. And she always keeps her promises.]

Through the mirrors, then.