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

[forwearemany]

No, they are not.

They're sitting, without their sword, arms around their knees, folded up smaller than most would imagine is possible for them (probably helped by digitigrade legs and a lack of physical discomfort), eye shuttered to a pinprick.

Programs in charge of sensor operation are caught in the jumble of confusion--joy, misery, rage, the knowledge that their people are alive but heretical and being used--and this it takes time before Ren's presence and words are processed, at which point they jolt to attention, letting out a stream of startled chatter.

They are the opposite of okay.

[catpiper]

If they were a tiny bit less sentient, she would try to smack them back into coherency. It worked on an old cellphone, why not a highly advanced collection of AIs? But that would be the opposite of helpful right now and she kneels down, setting the sword to her side, and waving a hand in front of their face instead. They might be a robot, but they're also a living person with a heart. Not a broken radio. This might work.

"Can you see me? Do your eyes work? Do you-"

She can't work any sort of mechanical magic on them. ARUM was a lost cause and she hopes their injuries aren't that extensive, if they have any.

"Do you want to hold my hand?"

[forwearemany]

They chatter a bit, staring at her.

They are alone.

She is their ally.

She is offering assistance.

"Yes."

[catpiper]

Sometimes this one step is all a person needs to feel comforted and she wastes no time in reaching out to clutch their hand.

And for awhile, she holds it tight without saying a single word. The silence around them is terrifying and she feels like she can hear footsteps somewhere behind them.

She tries not to think about it.

"We'll keep holding hands and start walking around together." She hates to say it. Would prefer to sit here for hours, days, weeks until someone rescues them, but that hope is dwindling with every lost life.

[forwearemany]

"...Acknowledged." The response is slow.

Their people are here. Their people are hostile.

They do not have the provided sword. They will not use it.

They stand up.

"Preferred direction?" If she doesn't have one, they'll pick at random.

[catpiper]

The preferred direction is whatever gets them out, except that's not a helpful answer. It's clear she's having some difficulty deciding, clutching their hand tighter and tighter as she scans the area. The direction she came from-

Isn't great.

Not good at all, actually, but she knows what's ahead. They can maneuver around the scientists and she can try to leave burns along the wall near the dangerous twists and turns so they don't go down the same path twice. Unfortunately, if she has the torch and their hand, they have to carry-

"We need to bring that weapon. We have to hold it." Not use it, persay, but-"You can hold the light and I'll carry that thing."

[forwearemany]

They consider this.

"Acknowledged."

She does not possess any natural defense that they are aware of. It is likely she will need the weapon more than they.

They reach to take the torch.

[catpiper]

It's a difficult step to take and relief washes over her face as they muster up the courage to do it. She doesn't want to be the one to say it-to force someone out of their hiding place, but they're going to be found. This isn't an old building with entries and exits. It's not the island.

She presses the palm of her hand against Legion's robo fingers to make sure they've got a good grip on it before letting go, moving to grab their other hand again and pull them along. "We'll be okay."

[forwearemany]

They take the torch and squeeze the hand holding theirs.

"Acknowledged."

They're a bit slow, but they do move.

Up ahead, the sound of Geth chattering fills the air. Legion stops.

[catpiper]

Walking in the silence was uncomfortable, but Legion's sudden stop and that noise filling the air is worse. She keeps a tight hold on their hand, attempting to pull them towards another path that sounds quieter, but it's hard to tell where they're really going right now.

[forwearemany]

They allow her to direct them, but no matter which path is taken the chatter continues to fill the air.

It doesn't sound threatening. It doesn't sound too different from Legion.

And yet, Legion is reluctant, moving forward only to keep up with Ren.

[catpiper]

Talking seems like a really dumb idea, but there's a question on her mind, as her eyes flicker from the maze, back to them, and she has to ask-"Do you understand what they're saying?"

Maybe they can avoid running into them, if they know where the chattering is stemming from and what they're saying.

[forwearemany]

"Yes." They lower audio output volume to prevent detection.

Will they clarify anything else? For a moment, it may seem uncertain.

"They are Heretics, worshippers of entities known to most organics as 'Reapers'. They seek to destroy nonbelievers."

Their headflaps flutter.

"Alert: this catagory includes us." And by us, they do not just mean themselves.

Ren, after all, is probably not looking to join the Reaper cult.

[catpiper]

It helps in the sense that it spurs her to move quicker. The word destroy is never good in any context, even if she doesn't understand much else in that sentence. She nervously paces in one spot and then asks. "Can you tell where they are? Which way?"

[forwearemany]

For several moments, Legion seems to focus on nothing but movement, headflaps rippling and rippling and rippling.

Then, they stop.

"Uncertain. Sound appears to be coming from multiple locations. Avoidance may not be possible."

They look down.

"They are the last."