January Event: Rejection Rooms

[lifeaftr_mods]

JANUARY EVENT: REJECTION ROOMS

Who: Anyone and everyone!
What: Rejecting your Light comes with dire consequences
When: January 25th - 28th
Where: All over Monsun
Warnings: Violence and possible character death; please note any specific content warnings if they come up!

You're Ruled by the Things You Feel

This log is primarily for the Rejection Room portion of the event, for ease and convenience. To quote our event post:

Characters intent on rejecting their Light will find themselves irrevocably drawn to Monsun's shores. They might not even be aware of it - driven by their rage, their paranoia, their fear, or all of the above, and more. Monsun, for its part, is happy to receive them. Its landscape has become so warped over time...and those parts of Monsun consumed by shadow will start to distort, molding into structures that such characters are only too happy to hide within: Rejection Rooms.

Those who challenge the Rejection Rooms need not worry about death for themselves - damage taken within the rooms will simply translate to exhaustion outside of it, with seemingly mortal wounds leading to expulsion from the room itself, and an inability to re-enter.

The same holds true for the boss of each Room. Failure to beat them into expulsion means that the Room will continue to feed from their wildly catastrophizing mind, until there's nothing left to save at all.

So, simply top-level below with your character if they've signed up for a Rejection Room and prepare for whoever wants to gamble a confrontation. We recommend linking to the comment that details your character's Room, for the benefit of others. Remember to communicate; if your character is still trapped in their Room by the event's end, they will suffer a character death, though characters who merely try and fail to free them will not.

If your Rejection Room opt-in comment did not receive any response or additional discussion from the mod team, consider your Room and moveset approved; we want to allow for retroactive edits to your comments and plans, if those become necessary!

---

Some useful links, for reference:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Post
[ ♆ ] Rejection Room Sign-Ups, for information on what Rejection Rooms look like
[ ♆ ] Deaths Page; death penalties have been reduced for the duration of this event, but remember to let us know if your character is still stuck in their Room by the event's end!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] January 20th: The monthly Storytelling occurs.
[ ♆ ] January 21st: Shadows of both initial variants appear.
[ ♆ ] January 23rd: Shadows of both initial variants disappear.
[ ♆ ] January 25th Lights and Rejection Rooms appear.
[ ♆ ] January 28th: Lights and Rejection Rooms dissipate. Those still trapped in their Rejection Rooms by the event's end will suffer a character death.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Chip Abaroa | OTA

[demonpuppy]

[The room you find yourself in is small...or it should be. Despite there only being ten or so rows of pews in this church, the sanctuary stretches on near endlessly, twisting and turning in on itself and even bulging in places to create small alcoves. Scattered growths of clear quartz crystal cling to the walls, pews, even jut out of the floor into massive columns that cast a small circle of light that somehow stave off the oppressive air of fear and dread that marks the rest of the church. Everything, from the light to the objects to even those standing within are cast in stark shades of pure black and white, though details are still somehow clear despite this.]

"Our Lord, who paints the world in Red and White..."

"Who are these people? I'm surprised they didn't burn themselves on the wards coming in!"

[The pews, though empty, still hold an unseen presence. Voices fill the air, their murmurs only just audible as one passes further and further into the chamber. Though hard to pick out at first, the words become clear the further one ventures. Prayers, gossip, judgement...they pick away at flaws in appearance, stature, morality, unceasing and uncaring.]

"Guide us to our salvation, free us from our earthly sins."

"You know what that type is like. I don't care how devout you are, nothing changes what you were born with!"

[Directly ahead stands the pulpit, seemingly abandoned with a massive bible sitting open upon it. Behind is a mass of solid obsidian that engulfs a massive cross, cracked in half and fused into the fluid curves of the stone. The flow is formed into masses of flesh-like shapes, arms with wicked-looking spurs and mouths containing far too many teeth--almost reminiscent of a Fustercluck, if not for a certain uniformity to it all. In the center is a formation almost like a partially broken egg, hollow inside with a single occupant.]

[Chip scribbles furiously in a notebook, their grip on the marker in their hands white-knuckled with something like fury or grief. Before anyone can pass the third-to-final pew, their head shoots up to stare at the intruders, their eyes pitch black and empty of any light. They grit their teeth and thrust the notebook forward, and a pack of malformed monsters spring out to charge those nearest as Chip screams in defiance:]

GO AWAY!!

[bitch4bitch]

[There is pretty much nothing about this that Erika doesn't hate. Moving through the warping church only makes that bad feeling worse by the second, and her hand tightens on the hilt of the knife tucked into her jacket. She's reluctant to draw any weapons at the moment - as creepy as this place can be, she can just see Chip from here, and she doesn't want to scare them. If she can get their attention--

She's just about to speak when their scream rings out, and those things are charging at her. Erika swears under her breath and draws her knife, darting back and to the side to put a little distance between herself and the monsters. Not much chance of getting far enough back to make using any of her limited bullets worth it, no matter how much she's not looking forward to fighting these things up close.] --Chip! It's me, I just-- want to talk!

[demonpuppy]

Shut up! SHUT UP!

[A lash of unseen power whips out from Chip and lodges itself into Erika's throat and spreads into her lungs, robbing her of breath and voice. The scribble beasts, most of which are near formless masses of teeth and claw, leap at her with high-pitched shrieks with a multitude of weapons to bear. To bite, claw, entangle--too much at once to judge exactly what will happen, but none of it is good.]

[bitch4bitch]

[Fuck. For a moment, surprise passes over her face, her free hand going to her throat at the sudden pull of air from her lungs - but then the monsters are almost on her, and she doesn't have time to hesitate, air or none.

She clenches her jaw and, the moment the closest beast is near enough, brings her knife down on it before jerking the blade out and slamming the hilt into another of the monsters. She finds herself going for the handgun in her jacket after all; if Chip is going to be keeping her from breathing during all this, whether consistently or just on and off, she'd like to have some way to defend herself with minimal motion on her part.]

[demonpuppy]

[They're hardier than normal animals--it takes more than one strike to bring each down, but a knife through the skull is certainly enough to stun one for a moment. As the monsters swarm and lash out Chip remains lurking in their hiding spot, glowering at Erika with that empty stare, but even in this state their curses can't hold for long--moment by moment, the tightness in Erika's throat will begin to let up, but in the frantic heat of a fight it's not nearly fast enough.]

[One of the beasts manages to get around behind Erika and strike out at a leg, aiming to hinder her movement.]

[bitch4bitch]

[Her teeth grit at the flare of pain in her leg, but she does keep from crying out – waste of breath, even if she’s recovering a bit at a time. Instead, she grabs her gun and fires a shot at the thing behind her, hoping that her aim is close enough to do some damage.

She can’t put as much focus on that one as she’d like, of course, and once that shot is fired off it’s time for another stab at the one she got through the skull before, fucking hell she can’t believe it’s still moving.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ A church. Empty pulpits. An unceasing whisper.

The Knight barely pays them any mind; they straighten their back and lift their head. They are ghosts, or dreams maybe, and if such things cannot touch them then they will pay them no heed.

If they are too weak to bring nail and claw and fang to bear, to be made flesh or dream-real, then such voices may as well not exist.

Chip's eyes are empty again, like theirs. They sit in an egg, much like theirs, and the darkness that crawls from it and from their book and words is given painful shape.

If they can't reach their friend through kindness, it must be combat. And, at least, combat is what they're good at; so they launch themselves forward without fear or hesitation to strike the monsters down. ]

[demonpuppy]

[The first of the creations takes the full brunt of their nail with an angry shriek, something hollow and echoing and other. But even as it is knocked back the others converge, lashing out with claw and tooth and whip-like appendages, using their advantage in size to keep the Knight from breaking past their guard.]

[Chip glares out at the fight from their sanctuary, bitterness and hate emanating from them in palpable waves--and something in that feeling is gathering, like a viper waiting to strike.]

[lightlessfuture]

[ That's familiar enough. Hatred that turns into action, that turns into pain.

(ANCIENT ENEMY their memory helpfully supplies and they push it aside. It's not the same. It's not the same.

They can't be afraid, not in the face of someone else's fear and suffering.)

They use their small size to lever an advantage; they press against the stifling crush of claw and whip with nail gleaming bright, forcing an opening just big enough for them to slip through and past.

They expect to be attacked again, and it will hurt. But it will hurt more if they flee from it, refuse to face it down, so they charge towards Chip with very little caution or care for themselves. ]

[demonpuppy]

[The beasts turn to charge after the Knight, and in the same moment that they break past that first line of defense Chip lets out a screech of anger laced with magic--magic that binds onto the Knight, into them, and presses down with an immense weight. Every movement must fight against the bonds, but that's not the only new threat in play.]

[Chip barrels out of their broken throne with animal-like speed, swinging with an arm that warps itself with sudden growth of muscle and bone into a massive claw. They swipe at the Knight, enough strength behind the blow to knock the tiny vessel right back into the monsters if they aren't careful.]