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

[mamaterasu]

[In the darkness, Amaterasu too shines like a pale light, her coat giving off a sheen of shimmering white - like that of freshly fallen snow. Her eyes are first trained on the river, then the shapes on the far bank, before they fall on the small egg by her side. The aura radiating from the river is strong - intensely so - but she cannot discern its nature. It is neither good nor bad, it just...is. It is powerful, yes, but not a powerful good or a powerful evil. Her curiosity if piqued, but the egg is of far more importance, once she noticed the crack, and the dimming light.

Careful not to disturb it too much, she gives it a careful sniff, then a nudge with her snout before she notices Ginko near to her, lifting her head up to stare back at him wordlessly. He'll explain, she has an instinctual feeling, and simply waits patiently for him to say whether she should or should not disturb this little creature inside its shell.]

[onegreeneye]

[It takes him a moment - but he does explain, once he gets his bearings. He crouches down and reaches, tentatively, toward the egg, confirming that he can't touch it.]

...It's a god's egg. Its life needs to be returned to the river. [He looks at her, his ears tilting back and forward as he thinks. She doesn't have hands, but...] Do you think you could carry it safely?

[mamaterasu]

[A god's egg? Well, that just means she has to be extremely careful. It reminds Ammy almost of the phoenix chick she looked after for a time, and how careful she had to be with the volatile little creature, lest it burst into flames at a second's notice. She nods, and approaches the egg slowly, opening up her jaws and taking it slowly and gently into her mouth. It's pretty wild, how a wolf can be so calm and tender with something so fragile and easily breakable, but Ammy understands the importance of taking great pains to protect a delicate and fragile life. It's the duty she was entrusted with as a god herself.

Strength and tenderness, a love of life and a firm sense of duty for her children - that's what a mother is. She has the little egg held in her mouth and looks at Ginko once before approaching the river. Her eyes squint a bit from the brightness, and her fur seems to fluff out at the edges, feeling such a strong presence as she gets closer. It's not familiar, but also not unfamiliar either... A low groan escape her throat and her ears fold as she hesitates.]

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko watches closely as Ammy scoops up the egg, tension keeping him still and stiff all the way to his ears. It's not that he distrusts Ammy, specifically, of course - but her being surprisingly relaxing to be around (especially given his apprehension toward anything resembling a wolf these days) isn't quite enough to offset the nature of the situation. Of being here again.

He follows her to the river, one ear lifting slightly as Amaterasu hesitates. Interesting - but not surprising, he guesses, that she'd be able to pick up on the nature of this place.]

You don't have to get much closer than this, I promise. In fact, you probably shouldn't. Last time, I think I was about... [He takes a couple steps closer, ignoring the pull of old emotions in his chest, slightly too painful to be quite nostalgic. Then he stops, staring down at the river, just a foot or so ahead of him.] Here. Just have to be close enough for them to notice.

[mamaterasu]

[Nodding her head, Amaterasu moves closer with the egg held gently in her mouth. She can note a bit of...something coming off her friend here. Hesitation? Fear? Uncertainty? She can't pinpoint what it is exactly, but nonetheless, it's an uncomfortable feeling, and it translate in his demeanor quite well - for those who can pick up on those subtle, bodily cues at least. She gives a searching look as Ginko moves closer, then follows after.

Closing her eyes, as the light from the glowing river is even a little much for her, Ammy places the tiny egg by the riverbank where she was instructed, digging out a small groove with her paw - just enough to deposit the egg into without the fear of it rolling away...or into the river. She doesn't know what the aura is that she feels, or what sort of powers are working here, but she doesn't entirely trust that submerging the unhatched god into this river would benefit it at all. It's warm feels like a little...much. It's not like the river of stardust that she recalls from home in Nippon. The gentle, trickling glitter of thousands upon millions of stars, dusting the cosmos like scatterings of diamonds.

This is...well. It's unfamiliar. Not bad, but not entirely peaceful, either. It's something of a limbo where she doesn't know how to feel about it. And that is disconcerting in and of itself. But Ammy trusts Ginko, so she'll listen to him.]

[onegreeneye]

[When Ammy looks up from depositing the egg on the bank, there's a pair of hands floating in front of her. They look human, almost - but they're solid white, and the ends of the wrists trail off into masses of wriggling, three-pronged shapes.

The hands dip down and rest just between the egg and the river, such that the egg could easily be rolled into them. Ginko watches in silence.]

[mamaterasu]

[Well that. Certainly wasn't what Amaterasu was expecting. There's a jerk in her body when the hands appear, and she can't help the growl that rumbles deep in her throat, her eyes zeroing in on the hands extending for the tiny, fragile object. She doesn't know their intent, and thus is defensive, standing over the egg protectively.

It's only when they lower, palms cupped almost expectantly, that her growls soften slightly, but she doesn't make a move to nudge the egg towards them, instead turning an ear back toward Ginko. However, her eyes don't leave the waiting palms of the ghostly hands.]

[onegreeneye]

[Ah. He guesses it's pretty fair that ghostly hands reaching for a precious object wouldn't exactly be comforting to most.]

...Go ahead. They'll return its life to the river.

[He's going to have a lot of explaining to do after this, isn't he.]

[mamaterasu]

[He sure is, and Ammy hesitates only a moment before she nudges the little egg gently with her nose, causing it to indeed roll harmlessly into the palms of the awaiting hands. She still watches very carefully, dark eyes not leaving the path the small object takes, her nose moving just so when it curves slightly and bumps on a pebble or so. Her muscles twitch, poised and ready to spring forward, the moment the egg's shell touches the fingertips of the waiting fingers.

She's still very unsure, but she does trust Ginko, so...it should be fine. It will be fine. She has to put her faith in him that nothing bad will happen to the tiny, sleeping god. So, she exhales and relaxes her posture......a little.]

[onegreeneye]

[Once the egg has settled in their palms, those floating hands gently withdraw, cradling its precious form between them. And, just like that, they're gone, and a gentle pulse of light from the river is the only sign that anything has happened.

With that, the appearance of the strange space by the river starts to melt away, and they're free to move on. Ginko lets out a breath he didn't quite know he was holding.]

...That was it. [He laughs, weakly.] Little easier than some people have ended up with, huh.

[mamaterasu]

[That was indeed it, and Ammy paws at the space where the water used to be curiously, making a confused noise before turning back to Ginko and trotting over to sit by his side. There was clearly a lot more to that task that just giving away a little egg to the place where it should go. It seemed an easy enough endeavor for her, but that's mainly because she's not being directly effected by the memories and situations that come with this dreamscape. What could be a simple and seemingly mundane effort for some could be the hardest wall to to climb for others.

She leans affectionately on Ginko's side, folding her ears back and lightly pawing at his pants a bit. How are you doing there, friend? They have a bit of time before they need to go wandering off again, it seems like... Perhaps a heart-to-heart is also something that's needed here?]

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko starts at the contact, even less prepared than usual for... literally any kind of affection, thanks to his current distraction. It's just a momentary jolt, though, and he rests a hand lightly on Ammy's head, like he's not totally sure how else to respond.]

I'm fine. Just didn't expect to see any of this again. Especially not the, uh... the egg. [His gaze sticks somewhere off to the side, away from Ammy. He definitely should explain what the hell she just saw, but, uh. Not really something he loves talking about.] It was my fault that it broke to begin with. That's... why I had to bring it here.