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

[catpiper]

[The thank you is unnecessary and while it's impossible to take her eyes fully off the terrifying stranger, she tries to concentrate on Mira in this moment. She returns the hug-tighter than how Mira is clutching her, to prove that she's there. She's not going anywhere and she'll let those feelings rush into her, for however long it takes to prove that she's not a monster. That she hasn't done anything wrong. That empathy-

It's not something to be ashamed of.]

[antepone]

[ She wants to thank her... but. Carefully, gently, she lets her gratitude be felt. Mira hugs her close, and drops a kiss to the top of Ren's head. She feels how tight Ren is holding onto her, and it anchors her. It gives her strength.

Maybe she is stronger than she thinks. It's not her fault she has this power. And, maybe... it can be used to help people. She hopes so, at least.

She pulls away from Ren. ]

... I'm going to get rid of the phantom... okay? You don't have to watch.

[catpiper]

[Mira's gratitude is powerful and it fuels something in her-she doesn't want to let go, wants to keep her tight against her body and wait for the apparition to vanish, because that's what's going to happen, right? It's fine if they ignore it-leave the person be and just wait it out.

But before she can react, Mira's pulling away to-

Get rid of it. The person before them that Mira recognizes. Maybe someone she cares about. Maybe a person she knew in the past. Maybe someone she knows now and-

There's a moment where she reaches out to grab her hand, lightly touching the back of it and pulling back. The happiness in her quickly being replaced with concern and worry and all she can do is-

Shut her eyes. She doesn't want to see what happens next.]

[antepone]

[ She doesn't want to see, either. But... being brave is about facing the hard things. Still, that doesn't mean Ren has to watch. Mira nearly drops a kiss to the top of her head, again, but the phantom of Allura is gazing heat into Mira's back.

She needs to work quickly. If not, she thinks things could get bad. She's not sure if these things can hurt other people, after all. If Ren got hurt, Mira could never forgive herself.

Her grip tightens on the handle of the sword, and she steps forward. Her hands shake, and she feels downright sick about doing this. Because it's Allura--or someone close to Allura, and she hates this. She hates that she has to do this. The more she ruminates on what she has to do, the more she hates herself.

She closes the distance and drives the sword home. It takes only the one stab to rid the labyrinth of the phantom, and Mira lets out a choked sob. It's quiet, but just loud enough that Ren might be able to hear. ]

It's okay. You can look now, Ren, [ she says, and it'd be useless to pretend like she's okay. She doesn't stop her voice from trembling. ]

[catpiper]

[Her eyes are so tightly shut that she's seeing lights and spots in that darkness, but she's listening. For any sign that something's going wrong in Mira's battle to face the demons she had been hiding from for so long.

The sob makes her hands involuntarily twitch, as she resists the urge to press her hands against her ears. She wants to look, wants to look, wants to look and doesn't want to see, what might be, a crumpled body in front of her and-

The trembling voice gives her the okay slowly open her eyes, adjusting from one pitch black vision to another and-

She takes a step, then another, then however many more it takes to get back to Mira, wrapping her arms around her friend's body and pressing her face into her back with a-]

You did it.