[CLOSED] Red Gate Log

[kaisoumods]

WHO: Anby Demara, Takame Kesi, Kinich, Rose, Dante, Sung Jinwoo, Lapis Agapov, Noa Kaiba, Persephone, and Hunter
WHERE: The Red Gate
WHEN: August
WHAT: Taking on the Red Gate
WARNINGS: Violence, Fire, ANTS



The Red Gate

It's the middle of the month when this gate appears. Right away, the energy levels of the gate felt extremely different than the other dungeon gates that'd been appearing this month. Whatever is in this place, it's a much higher threat.

As such, Zodiac alerts the Black Order directly to take care of it. As such, a team of Black Order members are dispatched to deal with the gate. However, they aren't the only ones who have been keeping watch of the gates, as several concerned app users have also been keeping an eye on the dungeon gates on their own. Considering the strength of this gate, it becomes quickly apparent it'd be best for the groups to work together.

Once inside the gate, they will find it to be a recreation of an area of Seoul... if the city was going through a fiery apocalypse anyway. Fire scorches the city, with only one building at the center of the gate being accessible. Seems you'll have to climb up that tower if you want to reach the boss.

Good luck.

Comments

ARRIVAL

[kaisoumods]

[A catch all spot for characters interacting when they meet up at the gate, or when they first enter the gate. Prepare yourself and get to know your fellow teammates! ]

[crisantemo]

[ After all the worry about when the Red Gate would finally appear, it's almost a relief when it does and she and many others are there for it. Almost because the moment they step in and are blasted with the wave of sheer heat, it becomes apparent this won't be easy.

A city on fire... How reassuring. And as she shields her eyes and glances up, at the building towering overhead, it becomes clear where they have to go. ]

Sooooo... How many of us are good at handling fire?

[burgersplease]

[Very not reassuring, especially when Anby's a wind element. But at the question, she shrugs]

Not great, but I haven't burned to death yet.

[hoshikiri]

[Takame expected this. Anticipated it. Waited for it. Almost wanted it. It has been too quiet. He couldn't relax at all. He expected the silence to break in a violent way. He expected to get between someone he loved and a threat to them just as he has the past two years.

That he could trust. That was normal.

One year hence, and you still treat me like such a squatter Kame-kun. We both know why you want this.

Perhaps they did. The same thing was said to him a year ago by his possessor. They both knew. They needn't say it to one another.

The unbearable heat from the flames was nothing more than a comfortable space heater to Takame. The smoke from it would be the true issue, at least for him.]

I ask that you all allow me to take point as a specialist in defense. And that you inform me of how best I may support you as such.

[poisontippedcure]

[What’s that? Danger and someone Takame loves?]

[Don’t worry, his little sister enters shortly after him. Thankfully, she’s seen more than her fair share of battles. And she’s fought with Takame time and time again.]

And all I ask is that we approach danger responsibly. I’ll be very cross if you get injured being reckless, nii-san.

[She still remembers last year. She still remembers watching Kirei kill him, of being so sure that he was dead. It felt like her heart was being ripped out.]

[She doesn’t want to go through that again.]

That goes for everyone here. This place is dangerous, so try to protect yourself. No stupid risks.

[Signed, Rose “fucked up a mech with a scythe” Qeido.]

FIRST CHALLENGE(?): CERBERUS

[kaisoumods]

[ As they head towards the burning structure, the team will be greeted by their first opponent. It's none other than Cerberus, the guard dog of the Underworld. Massive in size, the three heads snarl and growl as you make your approach. Normally, you'd have a hell of a time fighting off a beast so strong. However... you have a hidden trick up your sleeve.

Note: You can choose to fight Cerberus if you really wish.... or you could let Persephone deal with her dog. Up to you! ]

[crisantemo]

[ Of course just walking into the building isn't so simple; once they get close enough, the giant dog bars their path. It doesn't help that she can sense how strong it is, and Lapis shifts on her feet with a frown - scythe already forming in her hand. ]

So we aren't going to be able to just walk in.

[ Fighting something so strong already really wouldn't be good, though. Especially when Kinich sensed something powerful at the top before. ]

[lowestclass]

[ Jinwoo's blood honestly goes cold for a moment. When he locks eyes with that giant beast, he immediately gets a flash, a memory of fighting this damned thing before.

It threw him around like a damn ragdoll; and he felt his death on the edges of his teeth moments before he pulled out an undeserved win.
He had difficulty fighting it back in that life--what fucking chance did he have now?? ]

Of all enemies to face first, why that one.

[ he curses softly under his breath. ]

Even if we manage a few good attacks on it, the thing doubles its power if the battle lasts too long. It... almost killed my past-life self.

FIRST CHALLENGE (REALLY NOW): ANTS

[kaisoumods]

[As the team begins climbing up the burning tower (enjoy all the stairs), they will come upon their next challenge throughout the stairwells: ants. These are not small ants by any means, but rather each ant as large as a full grown man. Some will crawl across walls, others will fly in through the windows- and they frequently attack in groups of five. They are extremely fast, and will take a bite out of you if allowed close enough.

Note: Ants are to be controlled by the players. There are 40 ants in total, and each ant will take 2 successful hits to take down (or 1 nat 20). AOE/multi-target is allowed, just watch out for friendly fire]

Team Bear vs. ANTS

[crisantemo]

[ Ants?

Ants???

Of all things she was expecting in a flaming hellscape, ants was not one of them. But they're big, fast and there's a lot of them coming their way so this isn't the time to wonder "why ants". Honestly she was expecting something more like orcs, those would fit in here-

But Lapis has her scythe, so that should be good at clearing through the crowds of these things. One forceful sweep as she pushes ahead catches five of them, but the damage done is... negligible at best (7 + 4), mostly thanks to how they all clumped together. They're not easy to cut through, especially squashed together like this, and it mostly serves in pushing them out of the way rather than hurting them. ]

Seriously... These are gonna be annoying to fight.

[blueeyeswhitedoppelganger]

....

It's a pun, isn't it.

[It of course, isn't a pun, but Noa can't be blamed for thinking it. They're ants. They're in a fire zone. Fire Ants.

While he's equipped with his White Mage hood (which, even if he's a sphinx, still brings the vibes of your pet cat on halloween), there's nothing stopping Noa from making use of his normal abilities. He's been long warned to make sure to keep some energy in the tank for if he does have to heal, but-]

Getting them to stay still might help I would hope. [So he says as he focuses some energy to his eyes- it's a lesser practiced ability, but the familiarity to something from his past life helps, and whatever ants catch his eye find themselves momentarily Stopped (16).]

As should something with range, [He adds with a more muffled tone- as ozone scent meets the air, and gleaming white blasts from his mouth in the form of lightning. Whatever that hits, it's not getting back up (20).]

TEAM BABYSITTER LIZER vs ANTS

[hoshikiri]

[Even vilekin are not to be underestimated. And that was when they barely came up to Takame's ankles. Thankfully he was used to large mobs of enemies swarming at once. Shikuha had a code phrase of sorts she told him. "Keep your shields on cooldown", which was to say when swarmed one must use them at all times.

For his team he was the shield so he would follow that very advice while also keeping his team protected.]

With me!

[Said facing his gunblade point down, then activating a trigger on it to shield everyone from taking full damage. With his focus on getting everyone within his shield, he didn't have the time to launch his own attack (1). He would need to leave it to the rest for the moment.]

[burgersplease]

[Anby immediately gets into her battle stance when she hears the first group of ants coming, her twin blades at the ready.

As soon as Takame calls out and raises shield, she'll jump into action. With incredible speed, she lunges at a group of ants, managing to slice two of them with her blades (8+3= 11), even if it's far from the most ideal injury spots. She then jumps back to try to get behind the tank again and out of the way just as quickly. An ant very nearly lands a bite on her (8)-- but it's blocked by Takame's shield so she gets away cleanly]

SECOND CHALLENGE: PLATFORMING HELL

[kaisoumods]

[As you reach the halfway point of the tower, the room opens up to a large atrium that you have to cross to reach higher into the tower. Unfortunately, the floor has given out in the atrium, and beneath is a large pool of lava. And if that isn't tough enough, large pillars of fire dance across the room in a set pattern while shooting out fireballs, making even just flying across a challenge. For without flight, the best way across are a series of small platforms that you have to hop across.

And if that wasn't hard enough, halfway through there are slow spinning blades of spikes. Because this place hates you.

Note: It'll take each character 4 successful acts to get across. Non-Wind characters can withstand 5 hits before they're in dire straits (unless they roll a nat 1), Wind-Element characters can withstand 3, and Hunter can withstand 2 hits of fire. Should you get hit by fire, you will have to roll for burn damage. If you roll a nat 1, that'll count for 2 hits of damage.

If you have fire immunity, you don't have to worry about the fire beyond it potentially knocking you back into the lava. None of you have lava resistance.

You are welcome to use healing or barriers to help make it easier. ]

DANGER JUMP TIME

[lowestclass]

[ there's a distinct nervousness in how Jinwoo holds himself. The spaded devil's tail that's normally stationary behind him currently lashes from side to side as he considers the pillars. Despite the pair of devil-like wings that rise from his back; settled about half his height from joint to tip--they also flex as if Jinwoo's not sure if he should test flying or not.

Because he only got these recently.
And he sure as fuck has never tried flying with them before. And now would be a TERRIBLE time to attempt it. ]

...A nervous part of me wonders if I could just wait for someone else to get up there and jump into their shadow to skip this entirely.

I...
Have notorious bad luck as it is. One slip and I'm definitely going to experience what it's like to come back to life after becoming a lava person.

SAVE POINT BEFORE THE FINALE

[kaisoumods]

[When they reach near the top of the tower, they will find a floor level that is surprisingly devoid of fire. There's even a cool healing spring here, where drinking from it will cure any of the injuries you've received.

It'd be a relaxing place, were it not for the heavy aura of darkness you feel emanating from the floor above. Take this chance to prepare yourselves now.]

[crisantemo]

[ After... all the insect-filled, burning chaos of the last few floors, some respite is sorely needed. It hasn't been an easy journey, and judging by the aura coming from above, it's only going to get harder.

So now that they're on a floor that isn't on fire - and there's even the cooling healing spring - but Lapis is still more than a little restless. The darkness coming from above has her on edge, and she's not one to rest even on a good day; her time in the Order has taught her to always stay on guard and old habits die hard.

Which is why she's mostly pacing about the floor, keeping an eye out on the doors just in case, along with making sure there's like... no ants hiding anywhere. She's done with ants forever now. ]

FINAL CHALLENGE

[kaisoumods]

As you reach the top of the tower, you're greeted to a massive throne room. It's large enough to hold an entire court of nobles inside, but the room is entirely empty.

Empty.... except the king who sits upon the throne. Or, where they used to sit.

On the throne itself, is a shadowy figure. As you get near, you realize it looks just like Jinwoo- one of the people traveling with you today. Except instead of being made of flesh, this Jinwoo is completely shadow. His eyes glow an eerie shadow of purple, and there's no real sign of life coming from it.

An Echo.... of the last person who climbed this tower.

Anyone with power sensing though? Will sense that even if this thing is just an echo, it's power is far far greater than the Jinwoo in your party. When you get close enough, it'll move to stand- ready to protect its throne.

Fight your best, as this will be a challenging fight to be won]

Team Bear

[crisantemo]

[ Ever since they had that moment of rest in the floor below, Lapis has been... very on edge. It was impossible to ignore the darkness coming from the floor above, and now that they've rested and ascended, she believes she had a very good reason to be on edge.

The sight of the being sitting on that throne is enough to make her pause, going stiff as she looks at him - it - and the name leaves her before she can stop herself. ]

Jinwoo?

[ No. No, that's not him - nothing more than a reflection, a shadow of the last person here. But an obscenely powerful one. There's a moment where she considers her scythe but

Would shadow even work here? Maybe light then, but... ]

We... We'll need to be careful, it's really strong.

[ It, because that's not her partner. ]

Team Lizards

[burgersplease]

[The higher they climbed this tower, the more the hair on the back of her neck rose. Whatever was the master of this dungeon, they had to be really powerful.

However, Anby wasn't expecting to see a shadow of her old teammate. This had to be some kind of trick, right?

She'll tap her headphones so they switch to speaker mode, allowing her team to hear the fight music. She'll then draw her blades.]

You're not Jinwoo. Time for take down.

[While they can hear the music, team lizard will get a +1 on defense rolls!]

TRUE FINAL BATTLE

[lowestclass]

[ This should be it. it's done. Despite how dante took a blade directly in the chest, the man keeps fighting, and while Jinwoo's vision--and hearing--seem muddled, blurred, he has enough coherent thought to see that the 'other self' has gone down--turning into naught but a pile of writhing, formless shadow on the floor.

And then it comes towards him. His vision goes all black in the moment, and his head is filled with sounds and voices--screams and cries of his name--and a name that Is Not His--and when he opens his eyes next...

His friends are all gone. Replaced with faces that he recognises; but only just in the moment. Where Dante stood is now a pure-white Demon, a monster he'd killed in a previous life. His eyes flick--to where Kinich was standing--no, The King of Dragons now looms with a look of hate in his eyes. Frantic, his eyes flick from Persephone--that's not--Takame?

His friends--
All of his friends are gone.
And replaced now with enemies of his past.

Enemies that wanted him dead.
He takes in a deep breath and lets out a low, angry growl.
Even Lapis, currently still melded with him, her voice isn't being heard right now. ]

Give them back.

[ He's going to start his assault by launching two of his shadow companions at two of his most hated enemies in the room--"Tarnak"(Takame) and "Baran"(Dante). The bear once fighting FOR team bear now barrelling towards Dante--and the beautiful, fast knight launching its large, dark-knight like sword towards Takame.

The fight's not over yet. ]

Team Bear

[crisantemo]

[ The fight's over but something's still... wrong. The violent haze over Jinwoo hasn't settled - part of her wants to point him towards Dante, he's probably eager to keep fighting but...

No. No, there's something else here. In here. Something that's drowning her out, even as she tries to call out his name, taking over completely. It's smothering over, wrenching control away completely, and if she stays here any longer -

- Lapis pulls away from Jinwoo in a frenzied flurry of stardust, forming between Dante and the rampaging bear. It pains her to do this, but she raises her scythe up - shadows forming in her hands as she brings her weapon between them, blocking the bears path. ( 18 + 4 ) ]

Dammit!

[ Right. She's given them a few seconds, so let's not waste them - she raises her voice, enough so everyone can hear. ]

That shadow became part of him! He's out of control now, I don't know how long that berserk state will last!

[ As much as it pains her to do this, to say this, it's too dangerous to leave him like this. ]

He can't die, so don't hold back!

Team Lizard..................................2!

[hoshikiri]

[Habit kept Takame from sheathing his blade until the enemy was confirmed dead. It came in handy, it let him block the surprise attack that came from his actual friend.]

Jinwoo?!

[Hells take them... the battle was far from over. And this one was worse... this one was Jinwoo. His friend. So before making any moves, all he could manage was to hold his defense for a moment (7).

He heard Lapis' voice, however. Her call after being separated from Jinwoo. "He can't die".

So, don't hold back. Finally, you can let go of those restraints of yours in earnest.

... So he can. And in due time he would.]

The battle is not over! Bring all you have to bear!

Aftermath

[crisantemo]

[ It's over. The fight - both against the shadow and Jinwoo himself - is over, and everyone is still here. Despite what happened to Jinwoo, despite what happened to Kinich, everyone is still here and alive. Everyone is still alive.

So why does thinking that not help her feel any better?

Lapis has seated herself to the side for now, best let the actual healers to look over people, and she just tries to... focus. Her knees are drawn to her chest as she desperately tries to choke back the tears still stinging at the corner of her eyes, tries to remember to breath as her chest tightens painfully. This is ridiculous, why is she still so upset?

( Maybe if she had been faster, stronger, maybe it wouldn't have reached this point? Why can she never do enough -

He fell apart just like how Douman did - )

As she is right now, she knows she's not much help. But at least here she can keep an eye on things, in case something else does appear. At least she can still be of some use if there's more to fight.

But she might also be stuck in her own head a little. ]

[clonizo]

[This entire time, Hunter has been in the sky. Watching.

There was celebration, at first. They had struggled to the top of the tower, they had fought together, watched each other's backs, come together as one in order to defeat the monster at the top. It was something Hunter had never experienced before, that thrill of working as a part of a team, of succeeding as one. It had made him feel light, excited, had felt familiar in a strange way. So many things have felt familiar like that, lately.

But then, everything had... shifted. The shadows converged, and suddenly... they were fighting against a friend turned enemy, struggling harder than they had been before, striking out with violence and an intent to kill that hadn't been at those levels before.

Because the enemy they were facing was just that strong.

And the entire time he watched his new companions try to rip each other to pieces, Hunter had been frozen. Had been in the air, his palisman quiet as he kept Hunter airborne, kept him away from the danger, from the fight. The entire time he's sat there, eyes wide, knuckles white on their grip on the staff of his palisman.

This is why he was raised to fight alone. This was why Belos always made sure he was wearing a mask when around the other kids, when around other trainees, above the underlings he was placed in charge of, the few times he was trusted to go out on missions on his own. When he was a part of working with Belos on bringing children into Krusnik, into safety and security, into--

Claws rip through Kinich's spine. He watches the mentor he's latched onto in the Black Order be ripped in half. Watches as Jinwoo is struck back, sliced into, beheaded, it's-- ... it's one of the worst things he's ever witnessed. And all he could do this entire time is stay above it. To watch and wait and do nothing.

Maybe his uncle was right about him. Maybe he is nothing but a defective, useless soldier.

But as his own chest starts to tighten, as his own breathing becomes a little labored, he sees Lapis. Sees the woman who had been fighting as one with Jinwoo seat herself off to the side, knees drawn to her chest and it's... familiar.

Why is all of this so familiar? Friends fighting friends, loved ones against loved ones, wires around his wrists as his voice is ripped from his throat against his best efforts, as he dances the steps to someone else's song, powerless to stop. Why is it familiar to see someone curled up on themselves, images rotating around them, panicked and sliding further and further into a pit of self-hatred as they could all do nothing more than watch.

Like then - whenwhenwhenwhen - Hunter finds himself with his feet on the ground, walking towards Lapis before taking a seat on the ground next to her, legs crossed and hands pressed together, fiddling with his own thumbs awkwardly as his palisman shrinks from staff form and comes to a rest on his shoulder, chirping gently as he hops a little towards Lapis, concerned for their new ally as much as Hunter is.]

Hey. I-- I was told something, once. [When? From who?] When things get too intense or... just too much. There's a kind of breathing you can do.

[Hunter pauses, thinks, raises one hand to his chest as he really tries to dig into this memory that makes no sense. These words spoken by a... friend? he has no memory of ever having.]

How does it go...? Something like... [He sucks in a deep breath suddenly and harshly, puffing up his cheeks and forcing the air back out, causing it to whistle a little through the gap in his front teeth.] No, not exactly. Maybe it was--

[He's going to keep going, for a bit. Exaggerated gasps and forced exhales slowly morphing closer and closer to that basic 4-in-4-out breathing technique he doesn't quite remember.]