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- !event,
- ai tsf: mizuki date,
- arcane: caitlyn kiramman,
- arcane: jinx,
- arcane: silco,
- arcane: violet / vi,
- blazblue: ragna the bloodedge,
- bungo stray dogs: nikolai gogol,
- bungo stray dogs: sigma,
- final fantasy xiii2: noel kreiss,
- fire emblem three hopes: marianne,
- fma:b: pride,
- magia record: mitama yakumo,
- original: astralin turnont,
- persona 3 portable: kotone shiomi,
- persona 4: yosuke hanamura,
- persona 4: yu narukami,
- persona 5 royal: goro akechi,
- umineko wtc: ange ushiromiya,
- x-men movieverse: scott summers
{EVENT #4} ADVERSITY 2933165.9475
MOD NOTES: Please direct any questions to the corresponding comment below. Note that character decisions and actions taken on these prompts will affect future events, storylines, and relationships with other peoples of Expiation. You can find the OOC poll here. Please pick from the corresponding options with the appropriate character journal. If you use a personal journal or a journal not part of Expiation, your votes will not be counted. Remember that if your character did something different than what is in the prompts given, leave a comment in the OOC poll entry and link to your comment in the option made available. We will provide an IC post in exactly ten days with the results of the poll that will wrap up the event. You may mingle on it if you like, but the most important purpose is to share the effects of character decisions on this event. The various prompts are, of course, optional. |
WHEN THE FOG ROLLS IN
On the night of September 10, an impenetrable fog covers the town of Aldrip. When characters wake in the morning, they find that Aldrip has disappeared, replaced by a large, enclosed maze.
Characters will wake up in one of three different levels of this maze, and they may—but don't have to—find that they are not alone. As they explore the maze, they will encounter trials and stumbling blocks both physical and mental. It seems the maze is testing them, poking at their fears, their past, their feelings. Confronting these questions about themselves and their very nature will allow them to progress through the maze in hopes of eventually finding the exit—and hopefully the town along with it.
While they do not all wake up in the same level of the maze, all characters do, in theory, have to complete all three trials in order to leave. This may not be so easy to achieve; due to the nature of these trials, if someone cannot get past one area, they may remain stuck there. Other characters are able to help them confront these issues, and may instead (or in addition) pass through that way if they choose to. Aside from the level where they wake up, characters may approach these levels in any order as they so choose.THE GROUPS
GROUP A:
Serah Farron
Elidibus
Nakahara Chuuya
Tsunayoshi Sawada
Rei Suwa
Caitlyn Kiramman
Ragna the Bloodedge
Kotone Shiomi
Monkey D. Luffy
Yuja Wightshade (WoL)
Yosuke Hanamura
Astralin Turnont
Dazai Osamu
Ange Ushiromiya
Hythlodaeus
Ethlyn
GROUP B:
Violet (Vi)
Silco
Mizuki Date
Claude von Riegan
Noel Kreiss
Kazuki Kurusu
G'raha Tia
Jinx
Marianne von Edmund
Goro Akechi
Sooyoung Han
Saito Sejima
Nikolai Gogol
Erichtonios
Emet-Selch
GROUP C:
Yu Narukami
Pride
Sigma
Usagi Tsukino
William G Maryblood
Scott Summers
Gundam Tanaka
Quentin Quire
Akira Kurusu
Mitama Yakumo
Med'an
Ken Amada
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Izuku "Deku" Midoriya
Echo
EXPLORING THE MAZE


The walls of the maze are made of stone slabs; tall, solid, and imposing. As far as one can see, there seem to be no cracks or seams in the wall. They're cool to the touch, perhaps a little dampened by the foggy weather. Some of the stones seem to glow with a dim, inner light. Most of the corridors are stable, but some are a little more risky. Walls or ceilings could collapse, leaving passages blocked and some Chosen trapped within tunnels or rooms of the maze.
Some corridors within the maze are less built up, as well, more like dug-out caverns that look somewhat like mining tunnels. In these tunnels, you can find the raw form of those glowing stones, which seem to light the darkness, allowing the Chosen to see at least a bit. They're enchanting, and some may have a hard time resisting trying to pull them out of the walls.
Occasionally, characters may find larger rooms with small tables of food, equipment, and supplies set up. These areas seem to be safety zones, untouched by the trials, where Chosen can eat, rest, treat any wounds, and replenish their energy.
ii. PERILS IN THE DARK


As the Chosen progress through the challenges of the maze—both illusions and real—the air itself may begin to feel more oppressive and heavy, making movement feel very difficult at times. As the week wears on, characters may find themselves worn out faster or feeling more sluggish than normal. More than that, they may find that their emotional lows become more intense: characters may become more easily frustrated, paranoid, scared, or impatient. In general, this seems to exacerbate the worst parts of their personalities.
On other occasions, Chosen may feel as if they are being watched. They get the feeling that something lurks in the shadows of the maze, that they are being watched or followed. They may hear something scratching or skittering across the walls. When they look…there is nothing there, nor any evidence of creatures stalking them through the halls. Characters who had bad luck in the Casino are particularly prone to this feeling; occasionally, they may feel as if someone—or something—is tugging at their hair or clothes, or breathing against their neck. Try to keep your head, Chosen. The hardest part is yet to come.
THE TRIALS


iii. A DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL [TRIAL A]
It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what location or event triggers the beginning of the trial; it seems to be different for every character. Chosen will find themselves in a long corridor, laced with fog. As they progress down this corridor, they begin to see and hear hallucinations and illusions that highlight their greatest insecurities: their flaws, their weaknesses, the darkness they suspect dwells within their soul.
These illusions may come in a variety of different forms. Perhaps they experience voices or images of peers issuing criticisms that they fear are accurate, or they may face a shadowy figure that bears their appearance that embodies all of their worst qualities. The form these illusions take is up to you, the players, and whether other characters are able to see those illusions can also be decided between players. Confronting, challenging, debunking, and/or accepting these criticisms and claims is the key to exiting this level.
Once they have confronted this challenge, the illusions and hallucinations stop immediately. The fog lifts, revealing a turn in the maze they didn't notice before. They may progress in their exploration.
iv. THE SHAPE OF YOUR FEARS [TRIAL B]
Similar to the first trial, this seems to trigger with little warning or fanfare. At some point in their exploration, characters will find their way blocked by something representing their deepest fears. This can be literal—a dark hallway for those who fear the dark, as an example—but can manifest in a myriad of other ways, too. A character could see someone from their past that represents this fear, or a monster, or an object or memory of something that connects to that fear. These fears will be made tangible and visible to anyone around them, leaving them exposed and vulnerable. In order to progress, they must be able to pass by these fears, and may do so in any way the player chooses, whether it requires fighting a monster, negotiating with an authority figure, finding a light in the darkness, or anything else players and characters can imagine.
The nature of this trial can be as massive or mundane as you, the player, chooses. Whether they need to simply turn on a light to abate their fear of the dark, or whether they need to take down a massive beast to confront something bigger, the area they find themselves in seems to accommodate the size of their trial. Once they have confronted this fear, it disappears, revealing a hallway that might not have been there before, allowing them to progress.
v. IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE [TRIAL C]
As with the first two trials, this one seems to emerge from the darkness when a character is ready to face it. They enter a room lined with obsidian mirrors. When they approach these mirrors, characters are confronted with memories related to the crime they have been charged with. This can be a specific moment or a series of moments related to their crime either directly or indirectly. Characters may become lost in these memories and may need help navigating through them from other people: the longer they remain lost in these memories, reliving them again and again, the more they run the risk of losing those memories entirely, either permanently or temporarily. Only by addressing the crime, the way they feel about it, the relationship that crime has to reality and to who the character is, can characters be free of this particular trial.
Once they have surpassed this trial, characters find themselves able to step back through these obsidian mirrors back into the maze, where they can continue their journey.
Navigating all three trials elicits no special fanfare or celebration. Upon completion of the third trial, they find themselves in a foggy corridor, where they will find an exit from the maze.
OPT-OUT AND AFTERMATH
Those characters (or players) who do not wish to interact with the maze will occasionally find quiet corridors that mysteriously place them outside the maze, unable to reenter. They will find that the town is, indeed, gone, as are their living quarters—hope you don't mind roughing it for a while. However, thanks to recent efforts to bolster the town's supplies, some of the underground storehouses organized by Claude and Marianne seem to remain intact and are available as temporary emergency shelter, should your character choose not to camp out.
After one week, the maze will disappear and life in Aldrip returns to normal. As for the locals? They don't seem to notice that anything strange has happened at all. Maze? What maze? Strange weather we're having this week, eh?


Just because there’s not a prompt for it doesn’t mean that your character’s actions aren’t acceptable. If you wish to do anything that hasn’t been directly addressed by the prompts, leave a message for the mod team to say what your character would do. If you choose to go down this path, note it as a comment on the OOC poll when it goes up, and leave a link to your threads so that we can take all actions into consideration for the next State of the Game.
Trial A
Eventually he rounds a corner and spots his erstwhile friend standing very still, staring at their hands. He hurries over, anxious to not be left alone again. ]
There you are. What do you think you're doing?
[ He tries to sound snappish but it ends up coming out relieved. ]
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"I merely..." Hythlodaeus begins, an ashamed look in his eyes, but another voice interrupts him.
"What are you bothering with him for?"
By fate or coincidence, it seems that the labyrinth chose a very similar way of forcing both Hades and Hythlodaeus to confront their doubts. A younger version of Hades steps out of the shadows again, giving his older counterpart an unimpressed look.
"Whatever hopes you may have for him, you know he never applies himself properly."
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Eventually, he speaks. "I don't know what you're talking about but if you intend to hinder our search for the exit, I shall not show mercy."
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The illusion of Hades, meanwhile, purses its lips, then shoots another glare in Hythlodaeus's direction before looking back to the real Hades.
"You are placing your trust in someone who is incapable of holding it up. You would be better served saving yourself the disappointment and leaving him once you've found your exit."
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Something about this image of himself rankles Hades. Is it because it holds up a mirror to the man he once was? Or the man he's afraid to become?
He marches around his younger self and takes Hythlodaeus' arm, tossing down a glare just as heated. "I need him and I'll not let you tell me otherwise."
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The illusion of young Hades, though, shows no sign of relenting. It crosses its arms and steps closer again.
"You do not need him. He is merely good at charming people, because he has naught else to offer. What you need is someone like Azem. No less irresponsible, certainly, but at least they can challenge you. Drive you to become better. Hah... match you when it comes to creation magicks, at the very least. What has your friend here ever created? Has he ever brought aught good to the star? To his people?"
Much like the real Hades, perhaps, the shade's voice grows louder and more agitated by the end of the tirade.
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He flings his other arm out in a wide gesture. He realises suddenly that he is inexplicably angry at himself. At this situation. "Not every citizen need develop new creations to contribute to a society. Some make art, some keep order, and others forge new connections between individuals. Who are you to say he gives nothing?!"
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The young Hades continues to glare unimpressedly. The response comes, instead, from Hythlodaeus's lips. He gives his friend a brief apologetic glance before looking down, as though ashamed.
"I have always feared that one day... you would think me useless. There is so little I can do without you, after all."
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His grip does slacken a little but he does not let go entirely. Comfort is not something he is used to giving. However, he can see that Hythlodaeus needs it right now. Some sort of reassurance that they are not useless, that Hades will never leave him behind.
"You are not useless," he mutters. "'Twas only when you were gone that I realised...I needed you. Both you and Azem. The nights were long and lonely without the warmth of your humour and company. I had no-one to vent my frustrations to. I had no-one to consult. I couldn't bear to speak to anyone for a long time after the Sundering. All I kept seeing were sickly, pale souls in need of restoring. Any single one I befriended would die before a century had passed. You know how little a century means to our people, Hythlodaeus. I was at a loss.
"So I pretended to be you when I stepped into the flesh of others. I tried to mimic your charm, your wit, your banter - and I hated every moment I had their eyes on me. I wanted to shrink into the background and pull on strings from the shadows. But I couldn't always. Whenever the eyes of the masses rested upon me, I felt the weight of their expectations. They never knew I was plotting their deaths in service to Zodiark, so by necessity, I kept them all at a distance."
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"And you would entrust those worries to a man who's only ever known peace and comfort?" The shadow seemingly senses that shame, but Hythlodaeus does not pay attention to it. Instead he thinks about the rest of Hades's words, the unusual openness of them; the things he'd always known and hoped that they would always stay true. He thinks about the cruel reality Hades describes, too; and there are a lot of things he could say, or things that would deserve to be said. But here and now, and as Hades's friend, there is only one thing he can think to say.
"... That must have been such a horrible burden on you."
He squeezes Hades's arm. Hythlodaeus knows how kind and sentimental his friend is, and it only feels him with sadness to think of what he's been through.
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"I'm telling you this because I-- because you said you would stay by my side. Because you refused to give me up. Night after night for thousands upon thousands of years I stared up at the prison Hydaelyn wrought for Zodiark and the souls he'd taken, seeing you above and Azem below yet with neither within my grasp.
"I don't care that you haven't the control over vast quantities of aether like I do. You were a bard, weren't you? You had the sharpest eyes any knew of in Etheirys, didn't you? How could you say you contributed naught of worth when you have your own unique talents?!"
Hades is ashamed to feel himself choking up. "Play a song for me when we find our way out, Hythlodaeus. I haven't heard you sing in millennia."
He doesn't have his friend's way with words, especially when it comes to reassurance or comfort. He can only hope his bullish feelings break through.
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Hythlodaeus sighs internally. In truth, he knows that his fears are mostly foolish and unfounded, but in his darkest hours the doubts do come through. But he doesn't have to let them win; he is no longer a child struggling to find himself.
He gazes down at their joined arms, a soft smile finally appearing on his face... and then starts to hum, quietly at first. It's a simple song, a lullaby that would be one of the first songs a child would know, and one that he would occasionally jokingly sing to both Hades and Azem when he felt they were in need of getting some rest instead of continuing to work.
As Hythlodaeus's voice slowly grows bolder, the shade of the maze seems to realize there is nothing it can do anymore to throw him off. The figure of young Hades fades away into the shadows with one final whisper.
"Pray that you won't meet with disappointment."
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The lullaby is what finally causes his tears to emerge. Like so many things, it is a fragment of their culture that ended up lost to time. What need had any of them for children's songs? Yet when he hears the tune it awakens the memory inside him and he cries for what has been lost.
They may be the very last people to remember such songs now.
"Hythlodaeus... If I had not already given myself to Zodiark, I..."
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Hythlodaeus's brain slowly constructs the chain of reasoning ("if" means a conditional, a proposition of a situation different from the current reality, and Hades mentioned his name, so...) - and then he blushes, his whole face going red. And stares down at Hades, mouth slightly open as he fails to form any words for a response.
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When he finally cleans his face and lifts his head, Hythlodaeus' expression confuses him.
"Did I say something strange...?"
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"Oh-- no, 'tis simply that... That is, I never... I never expected you to say it. So openly, I mean."
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"I have had many centuries to think on it. And if nothing else, I would like a piece of you to keep with me so that I know I'm not alone."
Perhaps it would make going to his death easier, when the time came.
"I would ask Azem as well, but we did not part on the best of terms."
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"What did happen between you two?" He asks casually, as though not drawing attention to what he just did.
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His fingers curl into the front of Hythlodaeus' robes. Then he pulls his friend back down and kisses them full on the lips.
(He is not letting you get the upper hand in this!!)
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Hythlodaeus makes a small noise of surprise as he's kissed - he didn't expect Hades to recover quite so quickly, or react quite so readily. His cheeks redden again as he kisses back, a little clumsily, one hand cupping the back of Hades's head. A strange maze that brings out one's worst doubts is probably around the bottom of the list of most romantic places to have your first kiss in, but Hythlodaeus isn't going to complain.
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"Our first kiss and you don't even make it a proper one. Were you always this cruel?"
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"Ah, but you ought to know I like to provoke you into doing something. Besides, mayhap I have simply imagined it often enough that I came to believe we've already had it!"
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"You are...ridiculous. More ridiculous than I remember," he mumbles. He takes a deep breath. "To answer your earlier question, Azem disagreed with the Convocation's decision to summon Zodiark and left to find another solution. They did not find it. Not before the star was sundered."
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"That sounds so much like Azem. You did not go with them? I would have thought you would, despite protesting it... or at least regret not helping them."
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With one friend volunteering as a sacrifice to their new god and the other vehemently opposed to such drastic measures, how was Hades supposed to choose? He had always been the more dutiful of the three of them and so of course he had chosen to uphold his duty.
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