December Event: No Rest for the Wicked

[lifeaftr_mods]

DECEMBER EVENT: NO REST FOR THE WICKED

Who: Anyone and everyone
What: Your trials by fire
When: December 15th - 18th
Where: On Maati and Ensō
Warnings: Character deaths and violence are both likely - please mark as you go!

The Trials: Only Then Can We Begin

As noted in the OOC info post, your Trials will all begin on December 15th. As many of you will not be deposited into your trials with food and water (or any items of your own at all, in most cases), the Trials will last only as long as December 18th. If you've failed to complete your Trial by this deadline but have not used up all the deaths allotted to you, you will awaken by Maati's mana pool at the event's conclusion. If you have not failed your Trial by using up all your deaths, this will not count as a character death, and you will not need to submit for a penalty; you simply won't be able to obtain the reward you would get if you had succeeded! When your character wakes in their allotted Trial, they will discover that their starting chamber has been inscribed with the name of the Trial, the names of those participating, and the number of deaths they have remaining - though the latter aren't labeled in any way. You'll simply have to learn it the hard way; every time your character suffers a death, the number will go down by one. If it wasn't obvious what those numbers stood for at first, by the time the dying starts properly, it certainly will be. And you probably don't want to see it go all the way down to zero...

Should you reach the end of your Trial, you will step out onto the rocky cliffs of Maati, exiting from one of the seven doors set into the cliffs at the seven points of the island's star shape. You see, those doors you discovered earlier weren't the entrances to the Trials at all. They were the exits. And set into the towering cliffs...why, those house the winding mazes that comprise the Trials themselves.

There will be a top-level below for each Trial. Remember to plan with your groups and communicate with your thread partners! Whether you choose to do mingle-style threads or lengthier group threads is up to you.

Once you know the outcome of your Trial, success OR failure, please do let us know so that we can ensure your character gets the reward that befits their triumph...or lackthereof.

Remember also to let us know if your character uses up ALL their deaths during this event. While death penalties will not be inflicted during Trial deaths, if you use up all the deaths allotted to you and die for real, your death penalty will NOT be reduced.

The Water: Don't Let Them Get Away

The rest of you have plenty to contend with as well, of course. If you've opted out of this month's event, be advise that the waters creeping across shores of Ensō, along with the rest of the island, aren't going to take evasion kindly. They'll seek you out, spread along every inch of the island if they can, until they can find you. There is a top-level below, if you're intrigued! Though if you end up top-leveling yourself, we may very well reach out and find you anyway...

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] December 15th: The Trials on Maati begin, and the water begins to rise.
[ ♆ ] December 18th: The Trials reach their end.
[ ♆ ] December 19th: Those who have "perma"-died in their Trials are revived.
[ ♆ ] December 20th: The monthly Storytelling occurs.

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

b. one teamkill coming right up

[counterblows]

[This is going, in a word: poorly.]

[At the moment, he's not sure if there's a quantifiable difference between this and the month of October. The things he's seeing appear to be distressingly solid, but they're definitely not things he thinks he'd miss. They're also, in this case - completely unfamiliar.]

[He's a little more concerned about the decidedly real possibility that one of his fellow trial-goers looks about ready to blow the world apart.]

[Does he expect the words to matter? No, not particularly.]

[It's just that Agent Washington happens to specialize in futility.]

We don't know if this is real yet.

[scourgingstars]

Do I honestly present the appearance of being a man who gives a damn if it is or not?

[A fair question, considering Ardyn was still fixated on the young man in blue with a look of wanting to rip his throat out.]

You truly do have a monstrous temper, brother. Little wonder we got rid of you.

[counterblows]

[No, he'd say that he doesn't. He'd venture that Ardyn operates on a very fragile edge, and this place - it's designed to tip him the fuck over. It's designed to tip them all over.]

[The point being that "Forgiving" isn't a trait he'd ascribe to literally anyone here.]

Hey. [He tries addressing the man in blue instead.] Hey. You mind shutting up for two seconds?

[scourgingstars]

[To say the least, Ardyn was not an incredibly forgiving person.]

Look at that, brother. Someone's actually defending you? He must not know what sort of horrific daemon you are.

[Behind him, the phantom swords made of light still hovered threateningly.]

...don't recall asking your opinion.

[counterblows]

[All right. So this isn't like October, then. This is something else. He can perceive Wash himself just fine, even if this is - obviously - a personal spat. Familial. Fucking perfect, then, for him to be getting in the middle of this, right? His eyes narrow behind the visor, and he decides it's time to try something else.]

I don't think you're real. [He draws his sidearm. Doesn't fire, but just points it in the direction of the apparition, more or less to see what happens.] Do you?

[scourgingstars]

This one isn't yours to kill.

[It was Ardyn who reacted rather than Somnus, directing a cold glare in Wash's direction.]

Stay out of affairs that haven't anything to do with you.

[counterblows]

He doesn't seem bothered by the fact that someone's pointing a fucking gun at him, [says Wash, steadily.] Maybe he thinks no one else can hurt him. Maybe nothing can. Seems like a fucking problem to me. Don't you think?

[scourgingstars]

I think he's a fucking problem, if you'll pardon my Tenebraean. I'll not warn you again to stay out of it.

[counterblows]

[There's a moment, or possibly longer than a moment, where Wash considers the likelihood that challenging him further is going to go well. He lets his gaze shift - from Ardyn, crackling and enraged, to the man whose existence he still finds dubious at best.]

[He has no idea what Tenebraean is.]

[There are two options available to him, and he'd rather take the one that allows the smallest degree of risk to himself - which is, to say, to stand aside and see what happens.]

[He mag-clamps his sidearm back to the strip at his thigh and steps back with exaggerated civility.]

By all means. Don't let me stop you.

[scourgingstars]

A wise decision, I think.

You're not known for those yourself, Accurse-

[Before Somnus could finish the word, one of the weapons--a greatsword--broke from formation and launched itself into the younger brother's shoulder-]

[-only for Ardyn himself to grip his own shoulder and stagger back against the opposite wall in a splatter of black blood that began evaporating in smokelike trails moments after it made contact with the air.]

[counterblows]

[Well.]

[That complicates things.]

[Wash is now infinitely grateful that he did not actually end up shooting anyone. Would the shot rebound onto himself, or onto the person that corresponds to the specter in question? He's not brave enough to risk finding out. He flinches, watching tendrils of smoke-black dissipate into the empty air, like water across a windshield.]

'Course. 'Course it couldn't be that simple. [He darts a glance in Ardyn's direction and starts edging back, slowly. To avoid the radius of destruction, ideally. That's bound to work out just fine.]

[scourgingstars]

Gods forbid I ever get one miserable thing I want in life--

[The swords were in disarray for a brief moment as Ardyn straightened back up clutching his shoulder, gold eyes glaring daggers through his largely unfazed brother.]

-...why the hell isn't it healing.

[counterblows]

I'm guessing it's supposed to.

[He shoots a look in the direction of the...apparition, figment, whatever the fuck, looking him up and down. Doesn't look hurt. Doesn't even look rattled. That's fucking great.]

[Wash sighs.]

You think they can hurt us on top of it?

[scourgingstars]

Of course it's supposed to, I'm immortal.

[this is Fine.]

I don't give a damn what he can do, I want to know why I can't kill him!

[counterblows]

Probably because he's not real.

[As Wash suggested, but, you know, whatever right.]

But go ahead, try killing him again, if you think that'll do anything for you.

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn scowled and fired off a second blade; a smaller one handed sword this time. But where it should have struck his little brother, instead came another splash of black miasma from Ardyn's own arm. Followed by a string of curses in a lost language that was definitely not Al Bhed, shut up.]

[When he looked back up again, Ardyn's face had changed and turned deathly pale, glaring at Somnus with eyes stained black with the same substance that was apparently his blood.]

Are you quite done, Accursed, because you've a good deal more swords to throw.

[counterblows]

[The name Accursed holds a little more weight when someone looks as though they're leaking some kind of black, tarry substance from their eyes and mouth. For half a second, it reminds him blazingly of the pulped remnants of Sangheili - black, oxidized, congealing on armor in spattered whorls, and he twitches in a spasmodic pulse of reflexive motion.]

That isn't helping! [snaps Wash, but there's a note of something a little less controlled humming underneath.] You're just killing yourself faster.

[You never really forget war. You only forget that you're not in it.]

cw: suicidal ideation

[scourgingstars]

Good.

[Ardyn snapped that viciously, the scourge staining his face making the snarl he wore even more pronounced.]

Maybe it'll actually work this time and I can be free of these miserable islands and worthless gods who oversee them.

cw not...discouraging it....

[counterblows]

Yeah, that seems likely.

[He's trying not to lose it, he's trying - trying to clamp down the rage that's like a fucking boil, heavy and familiar and denser than a black hole; raw and substernal.]

Go ahead and kill yourself. See if that gets you anywhere. I'm sure you won't come back, given this place's track record.

cw: all that shit, continued

[scourgingstars]

Don't mock me, mortal. I think I've had quite enough of mockery for several lifetimes now.

[Another blade of red-toned light trembled slightly, as though Ardyn wasn't sure who to fire at at this point.]

That thing is not all that clever. You should watch out he doesn't end this world as the last one just out of a temper tantrum.

[counterblows]

[Wash laughs, once. It's harsh, unfettered, and completely mirthless.]

Don't mock you? You're fighting a hallucination and losing. I don't need to mock you.