kaisou | May Event Log

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May Event Log

May Event Log
Dominant Element: Shadow
Waning Element: Light

Full Moon: May 22nd - May 24th

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As Kaisou steps into the final month of spring, they'll be treated with a month full of pleasant weather. Flowers are blooming everywhere and the trees are covered fully in leaves. During the day, the weather is mild and pleasant. But with the Spirit Vein shifting into the shadow element, the nights will seem much darker than normal. In the sky, the Spirit vein will be glowing dimly with hues of black and purple. Those without night vision will need to remember to bring some type of light source should they go out at night. However, it might also be an excellent month to go star gazing, as the dimness of the spirit vein allows you to see things you normally wouldn't.

Town Event

♪- Joy

The city is a hive of activity as the warmer weather finally brings people out to enjoy what's on offer. Blue Fish Park has an outdoor movie event on the weekends- bring a deckchair or a picnic blanket and snuggle under the stars to watch some on the screen. Vendors can be found selling snacks and glow sticks for the occasion. Undertown is far less flashy, but it does have some fortune-telling booths dotted around- palm reading, tarot, runes- whatever floats your boat, there is someone promising that they can read your fortune. Some might even be accurate!!

Big Bang Burger has a much-advertised burger-eating contest. The whole restaurant is festooned with banners and excited onlookers. Those who want to take part need to eat as many burgers as they can in the space of half an hour- you will be sat at a table and brought burger after burger until you win or can't eat any more. Competition is stiff and there are some city residents who have clearly been prepping for this for a long time and are taking this far too seriously. The winner gets a year's supply of burgers which... honestly is probably the last thing you want after eating almost your body weight in the things.

For those in high school, prom is a big event, as is college graduation. It's time for those youngsters to celebrate these huge life milestones! Adults can (and probably should) be roped in for chaperoning to prevent any underage shenanigans. Or you can just stand in a corner, upset about your misspent youth. Whichever floats your boat. An art fair can be found in Brick Alley - there are stands of all sorts of art and craft skills- with local creators selling their wares. A few even have the opportunity to try the skill out for yourself- be that painting a still life, trying your hand at a pottery wheel or spending some time in a knitting circle. Maybe you'll get a perfect, unique gift for someone or maybe you'll pick up anew skill- the sky's the limit!

Light in the Darkness

♪- When the Moon is Reaching Out Stars

A few days after the Dark Hour begins, you will come across adverts from the local scam artist Kitsune in Blue Fish Park. Somehow, they've heard rumors of shadow beings that attack during the night. They promise a means to protect yourself against the current threat and for the low, low price of your most traumatic childhood memory. If you still haven't learned your lesson, you can go and check this out. Should you be willing to share some trauma with them, the Kitsune will happily present you with a floating, glowing orb which follows you wherever you walk.

While these lights do help with the darker nights thanks to the Spirit Vein, they do absolutely nothing against the shadow monsters around town. Worse still, they emit an obnoxious florescent light hum the WHOLE time which only attracts more of the monsters. You will find these orbs abandoned all around the city- either abandoned by disgruntled customers or left behind by someone who fell foul to the monsters. Either way, wherever they are left does create something of a hotbed for the monsters - best to try and clear them out from more populated areas before you end up with certain areas overrun.

The Dark Hour

♪- Fearful Experience

At the start of the month, everything feels completely normal. In fact those who sleep through the entire night will swear that they feel more rested than usual- like they got more sleep than they were expecting. Or maybe you find yourself waking up an hour before your alarm, finding yourself fully rested. Maybe it's a little strange, but hardly something you could see as a bad thing.

But for those who tend to stay up late? Well, it's a completely different story. Every night in May, as the clock strikes midnight - the entire world changes. The sky starts to glow an unsettling green color, and random pools of blood are spattered across the streets. And in every spot you know a non-app user was just moments before silently stands a coffin. The coffins can't be open, but those with presence sensing abilities will detect that there's someone alive in the coffin, sleeping away. It is possible to wake them from their slumber, if you really want... but considering what else is going on, it might be safer to let them rest.

If you're outside the safety of your home? You might come across shadow monsters that roam the streets and will attack any human not in a coffin on sight. These shadows can come in all shapes and sizes, and can be rather dangerous if they catch you unaware. While the Shadows seem to ignore all the coffins - if you manage to wake anyone in the coffins? They will become immediate targets for the shadows to prey on.

This hellish version of Kaisou will last one hour every night. As soon as the hour is over, everything will return to normal like it never happened. Even your clocks will read as 12:01am, as if no time has passed. And sure enough, anyone who isn't on the app? Will have no idea it occurred. There's no message from Zodiac is sent out addressing the matter, and asking them directly will get nothing but confusion on their end since none of their sensors have noticed anything. Even the Professor (fuzzy) doesn't seem to be around anywhere, with the Zodiac staff saying he went on sabbatical with an unclear return date.

But if you work or attend Cygnus, don't worry! He's left a trusty replacement behind that'll attend all the meetings and classes the Professor was covering. He even seems aware of the Dark Hour and will sit with people through it. Though you'll quickly discover that while Professor Koromaru is indeed, a very good boy, he is very much just a dog.

Seems whatever is going on this month, you'll have to fix it without Zodiac's help.

Tartarus

♪- The Voice Someone Calls

However, it looks like you won't be entirely on your own this time. After a few days of experiencing this mysterious hour of time, there will be a message sent out to Libra App users... from the Black Order.

ALERT: SPIRIT REALM ANOMALY DETECTED.
Element Classification: Shadow
Danger Level: High
Designation: Dark Hour

A dangerous place, birthed from a hidden extra hour--There's naught but danger here, so do not come without proper firepower! A serious mission has arrived--one we cannot leave to the wayside. To rid us all of the --

Enough of the poetry, clown! This is serious. Listen up, you lot. The Dark Hour’s hit Kaisou. Any of you that don’t know what that is, it’s another hour of night that hits when the clock strikes midnight. It’s an anomaly that ain’t supposed to happen and if we let it linger we’re all right fucked. Lucky for us, there might be a way to get rid of it. ‘Place called Tartarus appears with the Dark Hour, and you crazy bastards might just be able to do something about it if you band together. This ain’t your normal kinda Gate, though. You’d best come in with a plan if you don’t wanna get your arses handed to you. Let’s get together and finish this once and for all.

It's certainly an unusual message from the two newest Black Order team members. How much you trust it is up to you. However, next time the "Dark Hour" comes, you do notice that the crystal tower has changed shape to something much more omnious. If you want to get rid of this extra hour, your best hope is to head to that tower. You better go prepared, however, for it's going to be a long road ahead.

Once you manage to reach the tower, now called the Tartarus, you'll find the entrance to be a large lobby with a massive staircase leading to a giant clock. There aren't any shadows in the entry area, so it might be a good spot to collect yourselves and prepare for the long climb ahead.

First Block: Thebel

♪- Thebel Block

It's time to begin your journey. As you ascend the grand staircase in the lobby, you'll come across several floors that look similar to one another. They have black-and-white checkered floors and an all-around classical design. They'd look rather nice... were it not for the random pools of blood and ominous lightning. Strangely, these floors layout aren't laid out in any sensible manner. In fact, the entire layout of the floors seem to change every single night, almost at random - making the place difficult to map out.

Throughout the halls are the same weaker Shadow monsters that you found roaming around the city. Skilled and powered combatants shouldn't have any trouble with them, but don't let yourself get caught unaware. Your goal is to try to find the stairs to the next floor as soon as you can. Should you linger too long in on particular floor... you'll start to hear the rattling of chains before an extremely powerful Shadow with two guns begins to roam the halls, searching for people to attack. For most people against the Reaper, running to the next floor is your only chance of survival. Even the strongest app users will have a tough time taking this down on their own. Either work as a team, or get the hell out of there should the Reaper come calling.

The tower will continue like this for about fifteen floors. Luckily, there is a teleportation machine on every fifth floor that once it gets turned on, it can take people take you to the teleportation machine at the entrance. It'll be a good way to save time with your tower explorations, as you only get an hour each night to explore before the Dark Hour ends.

Finally at the fifteenth floor? You'll be faced with a moderately powered shadow. Get past that, and you'll reach a dead end. You know you're nowhere near the top of the tower, but the staircase is blocked. Looks like you'll have to figure out a way to unblock the staircase before you move on.

ALERT: Missing Person

As you head to the tower, some people will notice a particular person hasn't been seen or heard from in awhile. Fugo can't be found in his home or his usual locations, nor will he answer any attempts to contact him. It's just like he's vanished into thin air.

Just as his friends and family start to get really worried, a worrying message will be broadcasted on the Libra App from Fugo. Those who remember the Metaverse incident last year might recall the similar messages, and realize what's going on. Fugo has been whisked away into a special Spirit Realm, and needs to be saved.

Using the navigation app that POKEGO designed, they'll be able to track Fugo's gate down by the Eaglewing library. During the Dark Hour, the gate will open up. It has the appearance of a gate welcoming you to town, but almost like a set piece it's made out of cardboard. But there's no telling what will happen once you go past this cardboard gate, so you best be prepared.

HEAD TO FUGO'S GATE

Once Fugo has been rescued from his dungeon, the stairway on the 15th floor will unblock itself and allow passage onto the higher floors.

Second Block: Luna

♪- Il Vento D'oro

Starting on the 16th floor, the appearance of the tower's interior will change dramatically. While it's still an labyrinth that changes every night, it now has the appearance of a dilapidated theater. Worn out red curtains line the walls, and the place is dimly lit by old stage lights and the occasional large window that lets the green moonlight glow through. Long abandoned theater props are scattered across the floor, along with the occasional collection of old moth-eaten theater costumes.

There's plenty of dangers to be found amongst these floors. Should you be unlucky, you'll come across clouds of hazy purple gas that hangs around the hallways. Breathing in the purple gas can cause any number of status effects. Which one you'll get affected by seems to be random, but at least most of them are temporary in their duration.

The haze isn't the only thing to worry about. Shadow monsters affiliated with the Moon Arcana roam the floors, attacking anyone they spot. The best way to fend off these fiends is by hitting them with their elemental weaknesses to stun them, before going in for an all-out attack. It's not always clear which element will do the trick, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring along someone who can sense such things to navigate.

When you reach the 30th floor, you'll come across a large open area. But before you can get past, the way turns out to be blocked by a massive 8-headed serpent. This one isn't quite as large as the one that tried to take over Kaisou last November, but it'll be a difficult battle all the same. Work together to take out all eight of the heads by any means you can.

Once this variant of Yamata-no-Orochi is defeated, you'll find that the way up to the next floor is blocked like this section was earlier. Seems you got no choice but to wait until something changes.

ALERT: Another Missing Person

Perhaps it's easy to overlook due to all the chaos with the Dark Hour. However, in the days leading up to May 6th, people who know Rose may notice that she's nowhere to be found. She won't be found in any of her usual places nor will she respond to any attempts to contact her. Considering the last time she went missing she became a victim of Krusnik, no one would be blamed for having a sense of dread.

Then on May 5th during the day, a message from Rose appears on the network. Just like the message from Fugo, there's something incredibly off about it. Most likely it's her Shadow talking rather than Rose herself.

You'll have a couple to prepare, and then once the Dark Hour on the 6th hits, it'll be time to save Rose. This time, the gate will be located in the Vogue, in the back area behind a rack of clothes. The gate has the look of an entrance of a garden, but you should know by now that this will be no pleasant trip.

HEAD TO ROSE'S GATE

Once Rose has been rescued, the staircase on the 30th floor will open up, letting you move forward.

Third Block: Onnakyoukou

♪- Dun Scaith

As you step onto the 31st floor, the interior of the Tartarus will shift once again. This time the halls are lined with plants like a wild overgrown garden. But while Rose's garden was lush and beautiful, most of these plants are dead or dying. All of this is made even more eerie by the fact the only light continues to be the green light from the Dark Hour's sky. It'll continue on like this for the next several floors, try not to get too unnerved.

This block seems to be rather light on the Shadow monsters, with only a few from weaker or medium-strength Priestess Arcana monsters roaming the halls. Most of them will be defeated with ease by anyone with combat ability.

However, this area isn't without it's challenges. Every couple floors, the doorway to the next floor is blocked by a gate. These gates have an old fashion waterwheel attached to them. It seems you'll need to make the waterwheel move in order to get the gate pulled open. Should you look at the floor, you'll realize that the hallway floors are made to be water channels - you just need to find a water source.

So, it's time to explore the floor. Each of these floors will have a water source hidden somewhere, such as a large reservoir of water, or a waterfall that's falling from who knows where. But these water sources seemed to have been blocked by various obstructions. On some floors you'll need to move some heavy debris out of the way, on other floors there will be a shadow that's blocking it, and meanwhile on other floors it'll be an intricate set of levers that you need to open in the correct order to get the water flowing towards the waterwheel.

Should you manage to get the water flowing to the waterwheel, the plants in the room will start to revive themselves as they are watered. While it is a more beautiful sight, many of these plants will turn out to be the carnivorous type and try to attack you. And of course if you take too long on any of this, you always risk an encounter with the Reaper. But fortunately with the waterwheel moving, the gate will be lifted and you can run to the next floor.

Finally when you reach the 45th floor, there will be another open area that is lined with roses. There, the demon Scathach will be waiting for you. Fight her with all your might to best her. Once you're past her, you'll find that the stairway is blocked once more. At this point, you probably have a good idea of what's going to happen next.

ALERT: A Third Missing Person

On the days leading up to May 9th, people who know Caleb won't find him anywhere. Just like Fugo and Rose before him, any attempts to contact him will go nowhere. Considering this is the third time it's happened, everyone will probably immediately guess what's going to happen next.

Sure enough on May 9th during the day, there's a worrying message from what could only be Caleb's shadow. By now, most of the app users will be aware of what's going on and the next step. Not only that, but anyone who had previous run-ins with Douman and Dickson will find themselves able to remember them clearly and for the heinous people they are. However, there isn't much success in tracking them down for now...

When the Dark Hour arrives once more, they'll find that there's a new gate at Caleb's house. It sits in his yard, looking like a crack in the world, glowing hues of blue, black, and gold. Just like the other dungeon, you best make sure you're prepared before you head in.

HEAD TO CALEB'S GATE

Once Caleb has been saved, the blocked staircase on the 45th floor of the Tartarus will repair itself, allowing everyone to proceed further.

Fourth Block: Yunshi

♪- Aventurine of Stratagems

Starting on the 46th floor, the Tartarus changes once more. This time, the area looks like a futuristic train station that one might see in a science fiction movie. Though, it's far from the cleanest train station around. Throughout the halls, there will be piles of trash and opened dumpsters lying around. If you're lucky, you might find something valuable in these dungeons- but it's not recommended you take too long searching for stuff, with the Reaper still an ever present risk.

Through these halls, Shadow monsters from the Fortune Arcana will roam. There aren't too many of them, but they can be pretty difficult if caught unaware.

As you roam these floors, you'll realize that it's even more difficult to navigate. Large train stations are famous for being confusing, and this place is certainly no exception to the rule. Signs don't lead where they say they will lead, and there's no clear indication where the stair case will be. However, if you hold still for a moment, you'll notice one of the trash cans stand up on legs and start to run down the hallway. Follow these trashcans, and they will lead you to the staircase of the next floor. Don't let them know you're following them though, as they may turn around and attack you.

When you reach the 60th floor, you'll encounter another large space. In the center of the space, stands the shadow Norn. Defeat the keeper of fate, and you'll finally complete this section of Tartarus. However yet again, the stairway will be blocked at this point. All you can do now is wait.

ALERT: The Final Missing Person

Perhaps you tried to circle the wagons, and try to keep everyone safe. There's been enough chatter by now suggesting that people aren't just being whisked away by the Spirit Realm, but rather someone is putting them in. And eyewitness accounts keep pointing towards the newest Black Order members, Douman and Dickson.

Unfortunately, the intel came a little too late. Douman and Dickson are nowhere to be found in the city, and as his friends and family will quickly realize... neither is Wolfwood. Just like Fugo, Rose, and Caleb before him- he's nowhere to be found in the city and he won't respond to any attempts to contact him. The only clue left behind is evidence of a fight that took place in Vergil's antique shop.

Like clockwork, on May 12th during the day, another message will appear on the network from Wolfwood's shadow. And in the following Dark Hour, the gate will be found this time on Cathedral Hill, at the entrance of the cemetery. Prepare yourself for a rough ride ahead.

HEAD TO WOLFWOOD'S GATE

When Wolfwood is saved, the blocked stairway of the 45th floor will open up. From what you can tell, it shouldn't be much longer until you reach the top of the tower.

Fifth Block: Carnifex

♪- Rakuen

As you cross into the 46th floor, the interior will change. Now it has the appearance of an abandoned church, but with dunes of sand lying all over the ground. Trees and plants are found amongst all the sand, but all of them look like they're either dormant or dead. The sandy terrain will be a bit of a pain to walk through, and you'll have to worry about getting sand in your shoes, but at least nothing about the terrain itself appears to be too dangerous.

There are Shadow monsters from the Hanged Man arcana that wander the sandy dunes. Thankfully they are rather low and number and not too difficult to fight. Even more lucky, the entire area seems rather straight forward with no hidden puzzle mechanics. It should make for an easy trip up, and a bit of a reprieve from every other challenge you've had to take on this month.

When you finally reach the 60th floor, there will be an open area that's surrounded by sand dunes. At the center, is a Hell Biker, who'll drive around the dunes on his motorcycle as he attacks you. You can either try to defeat him on foot, or grab one an abandoned motorcycle lying in the sand and chase after him.

Once the Hell Biker has been defeated, the stairway to the top of the tower will be clear. It's time to stop the source of all this, for once and for all.

Grand Finale

♪- Engage the Enemy

As you enter into the top area of the Tartarus, the layout will change one final time. In contrast to the church-appearance of the previous block, this place looks like it came from Hell itself. Fire and scorch earth line the entire place, and the flames will very much burn you if you touch them. The air itself is pungent with the stench of sulfur, that and the sweltering heat making it difficult to breath.

Immediately on the first floor of this section, you'll come across a clearing with a (CW: NSFWish) massive shadow riding a chariot acting as a guard. You'll have to defeat Mara in order to get past him, and he gives quite a fight. When he's defeated, you'll find that the path branches two ways. One staircase has the name "Douman" etched in stone above it, while the other has "Dickson" etched above it. There's no other Shadows around, so you can take the moment to gather yourselves.

Both of them will need to be dealt with, so you'll need to pick which ones to confront. Better make sure that you're ready.

Dickson Confrontation
Douman Confrontation

Aftermath

Once the two Black Order Zealots have been defeated, the Dark Hour will cease to be. Their bodies will disappear along with the Dark Hour, so you'll have some time before the rest of the Order comes sniffing. The rest of the city continues to be none the wiser to the hell gauntlet that you just faced. But at least now, you can spend the rest of the month resting. Though some may find it difficult to get any rest, knowing that this is not going to be the last time the Black Order tries something.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Shadow! Anyone with an affinity to the earth element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Light will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. Another Zodiac Post will be going up May 15th to serve as an intro post for new characters and allow characters to react to developments over the network.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

>>__ i. [ introduction ]

[ Upon reaching the highest floor and topmost point of the Tartarus, the path through the gate is followed by a en enormous forest--thick with brush and impossible to traverse through--save for a single, bright red tori gate. The light of the entire place is the same eerie green as the Midnight Hour and the rest of the Tartarus has been--and at the top of a set of overgrown stone steps into that forest stands a familiar face. Instead of his friendly, overbright smile--a look of a quiet, feral cat sits on his face, eyes glowing with an eerie light as the sound of the bells hanging from his hair echo down the corridor of stone.

Jump to reach him, attack him, has you ascend to the top of the stairs and the image fades as an illusion, echoing with cacophonous laughter--as a scene of a large house surrounded in spires of stone and curling, gnarled trees comes into sight. That green glow continues until Douman makes himself known again--appearing on the roof of that mansion, dressed completely differently than his first appearance.

A true demon now, the jester appearance canned for that of the Rakshasa he is--the cacophonous laughter is nearly deafening as dozens of twisted trees start growing out of the building, around those rock formations, and even under the feet of those who came to this final confrontation.

The green glow slowly being replaced by that of bright, blinding orange as dozens of lantern-like fruit start to sprout and grow from the trees, ablaze with roaring fire that starts to leak out onto the ground the trees... a great black sun rising behind the building, many eyes floating around its voidblack form; wreathed in fire red.

Flaming fruit falling from those lanterns, setting everything they touch ablaze as the demon inside the fire laughs and laughs and laughs... ]

Welcome all who find themselves in this, my Mandala Hell. This will be your final resting place for I, Limbo, have judged you all unworthy of living the dangerous lives you live. Unwilling, selfish, mournful children you all are, living lives that could be used for the betterment and salvation of this world, and yet, you cling onto your simple lives, thinking only of yourselves.

While taking the life of one of those who actually did work for the wellbeing of this world. Theresa may have had a terrible personality, but her work was invaluable--while you're all parasites who cling to this world while doing nothing to help her heal.

Your chance to come clean has come and gone. You now face me, your judge and your executioner. Dangerous beings like you can't be trusted to live free of chains. So come, let me unmake you.

>>__ ii. [ the battle ]

[ the field is fraught with fire. getting a foothold here without burning is difficult. the lanterns on the trees constantly drop fruit that causes everything they touch to burst into flame. The fruit themselves can be destroyed with water or blasted away with magic--the fires they cause likewise making it hard to move around without burning one's feet, but footholds can be found via getting rid of the fire or with other magical means.

Fighting Douman himself proves difficult as he, nearly predictably, doesn't jump into battle himself, but rather, sending one of four of his Shikigami into battle for him. They are hardy creatures that go for the kill using weapon, tooth and claw--but once they're down, they go still as paper dolls and cease any sort of movement.

During the altercation with him, he will also be casting spells--curses that make it hard for your character to fly, jump, or move quickly, making you easier targets for his Shikigami.
He unleashes spells that seem to be terribly effective especially on demons. Any demons who get too close to him will find themselves bound in deep black chains that force them to the ground. Moving becomes the most achingly painful thing they've ever done in their lives.

Doing damage to him, however, doesn't seem that big an issue--he doesn't have such big defenses, nor does he seem that physically strong. Together surely you can take him and his shikigami down...? ]

God, will you shut up already?!

[Wasting no time, Waver immediately drew both his Dressphere's pistols and took a few shots at the nearest shikigami with Target MP in an attempt to drain its energy.]

I don't give a damn what you think, and you're not scaring anyone off with your grandstanding bullshit!

A life chained is not a life lived to its fullest, and you lack the right to pass judgment on this world as much as the outworlders you despise.

[While Waver is taking the back line, Diarmuid was right in the forefront. Even as a Saber his speed was unparalleled, and between Waver's shots and slashes from both his swords he will not allow the shikigami to bar his path for long!]

< Ashiya Douman | oqɯᴉ˥ oƃƎɹǝʇl∀ >

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Round 2 with Archons

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