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

[vagabone]

Nothing brave about setting people up to fight a kid. This is sick. What do they get out of this?

[Despicable on so many levels, treating a child that way. Can't blame the kid for panicking and trying to fight off a spooky skeleton and a giant goatlion. He drums his bare feet against the floor, head lolling back so he can stare at the ceiling pointlessly. Dios, why.]

[journalname]

I wonder if they were real...?

[He knows that child died years ago. And while things like that don't always matter here, it seems particularly cruel for the islands to summon a fallen soul for the sole purpose of tormenting him. They ought to be able to rest.

Unless, of course, they had wanted a chance for revenge? It's a possibility.]

I suppose it does not really matter. I am not going to do this.

[vagabone]

Me neither. I'm not giving them what they want.

[It... doesn't come out all that defiant. That takes more energy than he feels like putting into it right now. The mysterious they who set this maze up can bite his bony behind.]

[journalname]

...so I suppose that is that.

[It's one thing to decide that for himself, but Asgore doesn't much like to watch somebody else give up.

Maybe they don't have to completely give up? Maybe they can just sneak out, or something like that. At the very least, he might be able to distract whatever's out there so that Hector can get a little farther.]

Perhaps we can simply try to avoid them.

[vagabone]

[He's shaking his head slowly without actually looking up.]

Seems like any way you choose, there's something nasty waiting for you.

[journalname]

I do not mind.

[He deserves it.]

Let me go ahead of you. Perhaps I can provide a distraction. [just hide behind his massive fucking goat bod]

[vagabone]

What? Wait, wait, wait, no--

[For a moment, there's a little more life in him. It doesn't last. He's tired enough on a normal day without any of trial business.]

...you don't even know who I am, we're not doing that.

[journalname]

I do not see how that matters. And I will not be able to hide behind you.

[It's just logical; he's a much bigger and more conspicuous target. Though yeah, maybe introductions first would have been nicer.]

My name is Asgore.

[vagabone]

[Good point, he's an absolutely terrible meatshield. One hit and he's clattering bones on the floor.]

Héctor. [A beat.] ...You think this is it? That we'll really disappear if we fail?

[journalname]

I suppose if we truly die, we will be revived by the Storyteller. That is what happened before.

[So Asgore dying wouldn't even matter anyway!]

[vagabone]

[By that logic, it doesn't matter if Héctor fades away either! A few moments of pain and it'll be done with.]

They brought me back last time too. [Both hands wrap around his collarbone.] We could wait a little longer. Maybe someone else will want to go with us.

[Stalling, yeah, that'll help. Sure.]

[journalname]

...I suppose that we could do that.

[It's not really gonna help, but if it makes Hector feel better, he supposes there's no harm to it either. Asgore sighs and takes a seat back against the wall again.]

I was hoping to do some gardening this week, too...

[vagabone]

[Well, that's as close as he's going to come to talking the goat-man into fighting children. He wouldn't appreciate that if it were him...]

Is there anyone out there who'll look after your plants?

[journalname]

I do not live with anyone...

[So uh, no]

Perhaps one of my neighbors will see to them. I should really have asked ahead of time - though of course I did not expect this to happen.

[vagabone]

Yeah. Who would've thought we'd be kidnapped again?

[The eternal question: why would anyone want to kidnap him? He may have been a major pain for a lot of people, but... there's only really one 'enemy' he has, and this is way beyond him. He has nothing to offer, so why him?]

They'll probably figure out we're gone. Maybe someone will check on you and your garden.

[journalname]

That is a nice thought. Perhaps they will.

[vagabone]

They're good people, here. [This includes you, Asgore Goatman, willing to become a meatshield for some poor slob like Héctor. He'd look after the guy's garden himself, if he thought he'd make it back...] Someone'll help you out.

[journalname]

They are; you're quite right.

[He sits back against the wall again, this time not looking directly at the dismal numbers written up there. If they've decided to wait a little while before setting off to die, may as well be comfortable.]

You have been here quite some time, have you not?

[vagabone]

Since July. That's... five months now?

[The 'elevator tries to eat everyone' month. What a wonderful thing to be welcomed with!!]

How long have you been here?

[journalname]

Oh...I suppose it has been about two years, chronologically. But I was absent for several months in the middle of it.

[Not one of the ones where he went back home; as far as he knew, no time had passed at all. Very strange.]

[vagabone]

I'm not sure I can take this for two years. There's nothing... normal here, you know?

[No skeletons, nothing familiar, no one like him, no city life--nothing.]

[journalname]

Oh...yes, I understand.

[He doesn't feel the same, exactly, but he understands.]

Nothing has been normal for me for quite some time. And there are worse worlds to be drawn into.