//SCENARIOS.EXE
PHASE I [ 16 00 ] At 4:00 PM, the lightly falling snow will stop and no sounds will be heard.
What will be heard is faint sound of ‘hohoho’ and ‘sleigh bells’ faintly in the distance distinctly in one direction but when you turn that way it seems to disappear and you can’t pick up a trace of sound. It will keep occurring intermittently no matter where you are and each interval of 15 minutes, it will sound as if it’s gotten closer but the same things will occur.
by 6:00 pm, when it sounds really close (like right behind the character or next to them), when they turn they’ll hear the sound of laughter that comes from someone they greatly admire or care about to one side of them. However, unlike how everything else has disappeared, that person remains and even seems to recognize they are there. At first, it seems well enough as they will ask innocent questions such as “What are you looking around for?” and if told the truth, their important person will kindly brush them off as joking and tell them they are imagining it. If told ‘nothing’, the important person will prod them with curiosity (you can have it be annoying, whiny, friendly--however that character would most likely nag them to let them in, including things said such as “you can tell me”).
Regardless of choice from there, the person will eventually decide to assist in locating this sound, as your character will hear it once more and from the sudden surprise on the other person’s face it seems they may have heard it, too.
At 6:30pm, the person will give up, suggesting you guys go back (go home, go shop, go eat, whatever the character would suggest as something fun and interesting. if they are the type of character who would just simply part ways with the other and say they will meet them back somewhere else, that’s fine, too!) In the end, they will start to walk past the PC if they are in front of them, but as soon as they are behind him the PC will get a hand on the shoulder and pulled to be whispered to by that person in the ear (or any variant of it at the player’s discretion to sound more like said individual): “You always did have a habit of looking for the things you can never find. A trait of only the most worthless.” followed by a strong wind that drowns out laughter of the person when they came, but this time much crueler. The wind is gale force so the character will not in any way be able to turn around fast enough to see whether the person walks off or disappears.
Looking to the ground, there are footprints, though, that suggest that person was there. Unfortunately, the snow is light and not wet, so unless the character looks quickly they may miss the evidence. And with the wind starts the heavy wet snow, increasing until blizzard conditions are reached.
OOC NOTES:
- If doing this prompt, people who tag into other people’s top levels can choose if they also have an important person that’s come to them in the same way or they can simply be alone.
- Both characters can see each other’s important persons (assuming the individual tagging the top level has one), and they will treat the other PC polite enough but would do what they normally do with strangers while around their PC. Players might want to take the opportunity to do some simple ‘npcing’ of their character’s important person in relation to the tags their top levels receive or the tagged into, but it is by no means required. Just one more potential thing you can add to your threads if it helps or will be more fun/interesting ).
- If any player-characters would happen to have the same important person, the player-character entering the thread will have their version start to slow down in their movements until they are behind them and no longer keeping up. When they turn around to look for them, they won’t be there any longer, but they will be fully acknowledged by the spectre and act as if the newly arrived isn’t remembering correctly (they ran ahead to find the player they are with now or etc.)
- The spectre should at least be believable to be able to cause doubt on whether it is real or in their heads or some other type of trick. If directly asked, the NPC will never quite say one way or another, but sort of be sympathetic to their uncertainty or laugh it off or dismiss it… again, however that character’s NPC would react to being doubted.
- It doesn’t have to be their “MOST IMPORTANT” person. Just someone that they are close enough to that their opinions matter/the player character really misses/they would be bothered by them not finding them worth anything/etc.
PHASE II [ 1700 ] Now that blizzard conditions have suddenly come into play, including white outs, all that lighting doesn’t seem to be much help (and that’s before any lighting finally ends up blowing out due to the conditions). You might want to look for that person that was with you, because you swore you saw footprints in the dry snow before it was all erased with the force of the wind.
Traveling outside may be more dangerous than you intend, however, not because of the cold, but because you can’t see who’s (or what) coming at you nor who’s (or what) coming behind you… or from any other direction, either.
Pretty convenient for an accidental murder in the form of a hit and run by a moving vehicle.
...Or a sleigh speeding forward by the work of nine reindeer and equipped with saw-blades used for ice cutting in place of the normal runners. You will want to get out of the streets as fast as you can because, while you will not be consistently chased, increased attempts at various times will be made on your life the longer you stay out.
While your character is welcome to run into the nearest place they can or continue to stay outside despite being an intended murder victim, the combination of the disorienting whiteout along with the sleigh attacks will strategically attempt to push characters towards the large mall that has been now shut down for the evening. They will find the doors unlocked and most likely others there that have be also driven here by the same situation. Somethings not right, though. Because the mall suddenly doesn’t look the way it once did, especially if you were just there earlier in the day. You are about to find out that the lot of you aren’t much safer, inside, either. Be prepared to run or fight your way out.
PHASE III [ xxxx ]
Depending which side of the mall you enter from depends on the layout of the mall and what you’ll be finding. Please note Cerealia’s mall is incredibly large so it would be quite the effort to go from one end to the other. However, it is possible, and if you reach the middle of the mall, the two variations of the mall will collide with one another. Once you step over into the other version, whatever dangers you faced from the other side will cease. However, now you have the other sides dangers to face, as well.
3A: WARM
The mall looks as if it’s been abandoned suddenly—there are no guards or any sign of movement initially. Despite the power being out, you will actually be able to search if your characters want to and get the power to turn back on. Be aware that turning the power back on in the mall will result in a change noted below for both prompt 3A and 3B.**
Regardless of whether you turn the lights on first or stay in the dark, you will find the multi-levels of the mall scattered with various gifts, left for all of you as gratitude for complying with coming to the mall. These may or may not be your definition of a gift, however. Every package is addressed to someone who has shown up at the mall, yourself included. While wandering by a gift that doesn’t have your name on it will do nothing, doing the same for one that does… Merry Christmas to you! Santa’s elves will be busting out of the packages and will solely be focused on you and you alone. They’ll be sporting just about anything and everything you could think of they could use to harm you, but it’ll be in the form of a creepy toy or candy (to try and choke/suffocate you with if they manage to get close enough to you to do it)—basically anything that could be harmless but is now not, but they will avoid any direct death methods. Their intention is incapacitate you to the point they can eat you. Note they are not easy to kill, but they are killable. However, there will always be at least one elf out chasing you. You might want to team up to take these guys out. (think of them as the hardest normal enemy on a map for your level).
Whether you turned the lights on yourself or not, at some point the lights will come on and make your lives more festive: different elves will be appearing on the upper floors with just about and every possible projectile weapon. There is probably even a canon or two, as well, so watch out! But probably nothing bigger than a canon… and no rocket launchers because there would be no fun in that if everyone died too quickly during playtime. These types of elves are more numerous but they are easier to dispatch and do not have a specific target. They also don’t care if they kill you, but they are more likely to try and slow you down so they can watch you become dinner for one of the bigger ones.
3B: COLD
The other side of the mall looks like quite a bit different and in heavy disrepair.
It is also possible (although more difficult) from this side of the mall to turn on lights (even if the lights will be a lot less numerous than on the other side of the mall.) There are no christmas decorations here, just the snow littering the wrecked structure. Even though it is clear there is a hole in the roof, for some reason the blizzard outside is not through it. Instead it’s just a quiet and light snowfall.
But this is side of the mall where there are LESS, but quite a bit more dangerous enemies. The elves that appear are identical to the ones in packages on the other side of the mall, however, they do not sport weapons other than their sharp teeth and claws (despite pictures, these features aren’t super noticeable on the ones on the other side of the mall like this side until they get at your throat). They are also faster and while they also want to eat you, they don’t care if they rip you apart in the process before getting to eat. All-in-all this would be a lot more of a visually gruesome death to experience as well as watch as the victim will end up in pieces. Since these are a little stronger than their counterparts hiding in the presents, there also aren’t as many (probably 1 for every two characters at all times). They would be the strength of a small mini-boss.
But, it won’t be long because you hear some inhuman snorts and growls that don’t sound very animallike, either. looking up you’ll find that it looks like Santa’s let his 9 reindeer out for the hunt and they’re coming in after you.
There’s only 9 of them (you know dasher, dancer…etc. etc..), but they are each the strength of a harder mini-boss. They withstand a lot of damage and the more injury they take, the more aggressive/frenzied they become. They will eat you/tear you apart/trample you/impale you with their antlers, whatever. While you’ll see them come in from the roof, they act like predators and use the shadows and disrepair of the mall to their advantage to try and corner you and otherwise surprise you. Your best chance with them is to stick together as one of you alone won’t be able to kill one of them), but they will make every effort they possibly can to separate all of you to take you each out one by one (and, why yes, the reindeer will gang up on you once they separate you like a little lamb from its heard…).
This side of the mall is definitely a team-effort survival trip. Each reindeer is slightly different in its methods, but who can really tell the difference when things are at this stage? Rudolph IS THE BOSS OF THE PACK… taking him out first will help your characters greatly, although he’s also the most difficult (and your characters would have to icly figure out killing him will actually help them out, too).
***CONCERNING TURNING ON THE LIGHTS (PROMPTS 3A + 3B): If characters on either side end up turning the lights on manually, they will also end up releasing a creature that is unkillable and will stalk your characters until you are too far away from it and it gives chase to another (so you have to run away when it finds you). The trick to encountering it the least amount of times is to constantly keep moving, although this will make any strategic things difficult against other problems being faced. It is possible to stun it/slow it down temporarily to aid in characters escaping when it shows up if the character has the ability to do it (summons, magic weapons, superhuman strength characters, etc).
This monster is also the only one that will not cease its attacks and ignore you should you cross between the center of the mall. So, yes, if it’s chasing you and you run straight through… it’s gonna CHASE YOU STRAIGHT THROUGH into the other version/side of the mall, so don’t stop D: !!
PHASE IV [ xxxx ]
And if you didn’t run to the mall, or didn’t get chased by santa’s killer sleigh, or heck, maybe you stayed inside your apartment all day? Don’t feel too safe for too long. If you aren’t celebrating christmas properly, aka in an area (a building, an office, a bathroom stall, your apartment, your bed etc etc) that is lacking either a Christmas Tree or the proper milk and cookies for Santa to assist him while he is so busy this night, he’s not going to be happy. Which means, he’s going to come punish you for your lack of respect for the hardworking. It doesn’t pay to be impolite to your elders, you know. This is why we can’t have nice things.
The room/area has to have both the Christmas Tree and the milk & cookies in order to be safe. This is literally the only way to keep Santa from coming at you with a machete like a jolly serial-killer. He starts with a machete, but he can pull just about anything out of his toy sac (semi-automatic machine gun, you got it…). Because Santa is magical, he is unkillable and you can’t injure him, either. The best you can do is break his weapons to stall him and hide, but he’ll stalk around looking for you, telling you what a naughty boy/girl you’ve been and now you’re hiding from the consequences! You can hide from him under beds, in lockers, closets, etc, and while he won’t open any of those things unless you make noise to alert him, he will leave. Don’t stay in the hiding spot for too long, though, because he will come back and that time he will find you.
The trick to getting off of Santa’s murder list? While he disappears once he’s lost sight of you (maybe 15-20 minutes is the grace period that he’ll leave you alone), get a christmas tree and get those milk and cookies out. OR run to a place that has both of these things.
While Santa is chasing/stalking you, he will talk to you and give hints on what the characters need to do to be spared (things along the lines of “good little girls and boys always leave Santa milk and cookies for his long journey” and “where is your christmas spirit? not even a christmas tree for old santa to put his gifts under.” etc etc.).
Once you complete this, he will return and be planning to be murderous once more, but once he sees the tree and cookies he will immediately stop and be extremely jolly and forget you in favor of the cookies in milk as well as putting a couple presents under the tree like he didn’t just terrorize the living snot out of you with sharp objects. And then he’ll be heard with his trademark commentary for those familiar with the Santa Claus lore: “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL GOOD NIGHT…” and disappear without (anymore, or at least, yours) bloodshed.
BONUS [ whyo'clock ]
{ there isn't a bonus this event, apologies! but we will do our best to remedy this for you guys on the upcoming test drive by connecting it to something appropriately traumatizing for mental processing. Please stay with us :D! }
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with trigger-y or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]
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Hmm... so it was the same thing. ( For the most part. Of course, she wouldn't have seen his old master, considering they were on different parts of the colony at the time so he doesn't suspect anything else. ) Don't worry about it!
( Oh, but his Ceres device is going off now and he checks it. Oh... oh... he looks up at Athena and then back at the phone and, unfortunately, he's a rather slow texter and can't quite multitask in this sense so it takes a while before he speaks to again, )
I think.... one of ya'r friends is looking for ya.
( And he'll show her the messages so far. )
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I told them not to reply! I'm so sorry!
[ She's more concerned about inconveniencing Mutsunokami even more, now. As much as she wants to know where Simon is, she'd rather her remained where he was. If he's able to text, then hopefully, he's in a safe place. And not at the mall where she can hear wild emotions of sadness and anger everywhere. ]
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( Really, he doesn't seem at all concerned about the messages. What he is concerned about is her dragging her fingers down her face like that. Please don't hurt yourself, Athena-san. He gets another message and brings it back to read.
Ah... He actually... physically leans back when he finishes reading and has a look on his face that is clearly offended. He's having a hard time responding, it doesn't help that he's slow, and then he gets up, brushing off his clothes and starts heading over to the entrance, )
I'm gonna go meet 'em out front. ( And a beat, ) Do you wanna come?
( They're just going to wait by the entrance. If he has to though, he'll go running into the snow.. )
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I'll stay here. I don't want to hold you back in case any danger comes.
[ More like she is going to wash her face and fix her "just woke up" look. She'd rather not make anyone uninvolved worry even more. ]
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O-okay! ( He looks down at his Cerevice and then back at her. He'd give it to her but if he has to go out, it would be better to have it on him. ) If anything happens, I'll call Vietnam-san or Horikawa-san, okay?
( Or anyone else in the camp. )
I'll bring ya're friend here so don't worry!
( AND HE'LL RUN OFF TO GO MEET THIS MYSTERIOUS INCREDIBLY RUDE FRIEND OF ATHENA'S )
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Fifty thousand free cakes as compensation ;_; ]
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He's not in great shape; he's shivering violently from being out on the streets for so long, sporting a few minor cuts and bruises, along with a gash along one arm... and he's beginning to suspect he might have a minor case of frostbite. But somehow, he made it.
He assumes the man waiting for him at the mall entrance is the one he messaged over the Cerevices, so he skips introductions.]
Take me to her.
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Yeah, yeah, but remember this! ( He helped! So leave his hands alone! Those are valuable limbs. If you have to cut something, please cut like... his ear or something. Mutsu would probably be willing to compromise. ) Stay close and if ya see anything with ya'r name on it run.
( And he'll start to lead the way back to camp! )
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What? Are you saying it's dangerous in the mall, as well? [He shouldn't be surprised, given the attacks outside were intentionally trying to drive him here, but Athena made it sound like she was safe...
He'll follow without another word. The sooner they get to the camp, the better.]
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There'a bunch of little guys running around. Might not look like much but trust me, those guys know how to take a hit. ( It's the most annoying part of these elves. They aren't particularly strong but their stamina was certainly something to be reckoned with. ) Don't worry, we got a camp set up with a bunch of other people!
( And there's safety in numbers.
Since the camp isn't very far from the entrance to begin with, it doesn't take long for Mutsu to guide Simon over. Look at their little make shift camp! With their little fires and their poor, huddled masses. )
Here we are! She should be nearby...
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He glances at Mutsu.]
You have my thanks for your aid... You may keep your hands attached to the rest of you. [And with that, he makes his way through the camp to find Athena.]
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She can't hide the drops of blood that have dried up on her shirt, but she can at least try to cover it up with a blanket that she has on her shoulders, which she uses to cover herself up. Though by the time Mutsu and Simon make it back to the camp, Athena has run out of things to do and is just pacing around, anxiously waiti— ]
Simon!
[ At least she tries to act surprised, but when she spots his damaged clothes, the cuts, and just how awful he looks, her concern becomes genuine. She picks up a blanket and brings it over to him. This guy probably did something dumb again!!! "You should have stayed where you were!", or "Did anything bad happen?!" might not be so helpful so say given the time, so she decides to add nothing else.
She nods at Mutsunokami's direction to thank him again. Seriously! She's given the guy a lot of work to do in just one day. ] Thank you again! I'm so sorry for the trouble.
SORRY, JOB THINGS HAPPENED THIS WEEK...
Really? ( Was that... sarcastic... ) Thanks a lot.
( LOOK HE'S EVEN SMILING BACK SO THAT MEANS HE'S COOL WITH THIS GUY... oh, but as soon as Athena comes over, Mutsu's smile broadens some and he waves one hand in the air, )
It was nothin`. ( And then his CereVice buzzes. He takes it out and looks up at Athena and her friend. He won't say what's going on but he's gotta break it. ) Uh... I gotta go!
( And before he leaves past Athena, he'll lean in closer to whisper (a little too loudly to be secret) )
If this guy gives ya any trouble, let me know when I get back, 'kay?
don't worry about it!
[He goes to meet her, not accepting the blanket straight away, but studying her intensely. He's glad to see she's unhurt -- he doesn't notice the dried blood on her clothes yet, since she's covering it up -- but it still looks like whatever has happened, she's had a rough time of it.
Mutsu's loud whispering earns a scathing expression.]
Yes, I came all this way to cause nothing but trouble for the girl.
[He's deadpan enough that it's hard to tell if he's being serious, saying it as he begins to shrug off his snow-covered surcoat. He's been exposed to the cold long enough that his limbs feel clumsy and numb, and he's still shivering, even if he's trying to put a stoic face to it.]
no subject
Look at you! You're shivering!
[ And she tries to push Simon further into the Camp where there's a small fire. It should definitely help. ]
You'll be fine over there. Did you meet anyone strange along the way? Did you get in trouble?
[ Better to bombard Simon with questions now so he doesn't do it to Athena. The early bird, et cetera, et cetera. ]
no subject
The only strange ones I met were those infernal sleighs.
[It's a blatant lie, but he can't tell her about Metis when it would break her heart. He won't tell her about Phoenix, or meeting his mentor, Mia Fey, for the same reason. It would only make her ask questions.
Still, he turns to Athena, and bows his head.]
Please forgive me. I should have found you sooner. [Though he won't ask forgiveness for the worst of his crimes -- not being able to bring her mother back to her. Instead he let her slip away, leaving him feeling like he has failed them both once again.]
no subject
You could have gotten in more trouble!
[ No... why is she even scolding him? He already told her to stop being a bully, amongst other things. That was what she was doing, wasn't it? She doesn't need more people leaving her. ]
I'm sorry. [ She looks down at her feet. Apologising is always awkward! ] I'm glad you're fine, and that you're here.
[ If he got into a similar accident as what happened to her on his way here, then she wouldn't know what to do. People don't need to get hurt for her sake. ]
no subject
Abandoning my duty is out of the question. You should know that by now. [Even if Metis was cruel enough to say he was worthless -- if that was really her -- he still won't abandon that duty. It simply means he'll have to double his efforts to prove himself worthy of serving her.] What about you? Are you all right?
no subject
She still doesn't get his "duty" since he's never been 100% specific about it, and yay canon for totally letting any references fly over Athena's head. ]
I was trying to get home, but I slipped and fell. [ Not that Athena's fully aware of Simon's lies, but she's lying just as well. People shouldn't really worry about her too much. She's not worth anybody's time. ] But there were a lot of people who helped me. I'm fine now.
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[He says it drily, in a tone that suggests he doesn't believe her for a second.]
If you must lie to me, at least make it a decent one. Why did "a lot of people" need to help you if you simply fell over?
[He's going to sit down near the fire, and try to get the feeling back into his hands.]
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[ An hand reaches to the back of her heard, where there's a bump. Her other hand pulls on the blanket she uses to cover her body. ]
Vietnam and her friends happened to pass by. Mutsunokami, the one who just left, was the one who carried me here.
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Then what are you fussing over me for? Come sit and rest, your wounds are far more grievous than mine. Have you been checked for a concussion?
[He's no medical expert, but there doesn't seem to be anything awry in terms of her concentration, at least. Yet that she was unconscious for a time is still concerning...]
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[ That actually sounds very weird to say out loud. She does sit next to him, though, and draws her knees closer to her to she can hug them. ]
I guess it makes no sense, but I do feel a lot better. That's why I've been trying to help everybody here now.
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She looks away to point to a table nearby. ]
There's some hot chocolate, if you want some. Are you feeling better?
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