estoria | Error: File Not Found

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Error: File Not Found

Who: ? ? ?
When: OOC: 11/03, IC: 11/18
Where: Cerealia
What: Well, that sure went wrong quickly.
Rating/Warning: PG-13 for dangerous/scary situations

//event???.EXE

The quiet of Cerealia is interrupted almost all too suddenly.

Things were broken and not working before, sure, but that was before the sky opened up -- and the clouds part. And then, above the planet, hovering almost innocently...there’s a ship.

The peace only hovers there for a moment.

Because then...then the Flamines come.

There’s a debt they have to settle.

And the time has come to pay up.

We're here.

:)

//SCENARIOS.EXE

PHASE I

[ ❓❓❓ ] And then the Flamines are there.

They just appear, suddenly, as if from nowhere. They’re a race of mercenary aliens, and fighting is all they know -- they’re definitely not going to be easy to kill by any means. They seem to have a natural resistance to magic: aside from very specific types of magic (in particular, light magic and anything highly spiritual), they absorb it. Light magic and spiritual magic can harm them, but it will take a lot to take one down.

They can be stabbed, if you can get that close.

But good luck.

Of course, they look like nondescript black shapes with masks until you knock the mask off...and then you can see the true shape of the Flamines.

They’re here to kill you all. :)

PHASE II

[ ❓❓❓ ] As if that isn’t enough… it seems the Flamines’ arrival was the last straw for Cerealia and the Nexus Code. There’s a tear in the sky, and from it… the Nexus Code, where all of the lost friends from before, can be seen. It can be entered, even, though remaining there too long can be detrimental to your health.

But people are there.

Old friends, strung up and lifeless, can be seen there, unmoving.

And…

Then some of them move. They open their eyes. They remember how to breathe. And they’re able to return, able to stagger their way back into Cerealia and take their first breath of air in a long, long time.

Welcome back to the chaos of Cerealia, friends.

Unfortunately, you’ve got nothing but the clothes on your back while murderous aliens are rampaging, so hopefully you’re able to think fast. It’d be unfortunate to die so soon after coming back.

As for spiritual and magical characters who were not in the Nexus Code...well, when they return, they’ll find that they’re covered in old, dried blood, and their clothing might have tears in it, as if from a knife.

There are no scars, though, and they’re otherwise fine. Strange.

PHASE III

[ ❓❓❓ ] As if this chaos isn’t enough… there are also the masks. Regardless of whether or not characters were around to receive them the first time, regardless what they did with them before, the masks will suddenly reappear in your characters’ hands. They can be tossed aside, but they’ll reappear again eventually, unable to be truly shaken.

Characters who received them before will receive the same mask they had before.

Characters who didn’t receive them before will receive a mask according to the trait that’s more prominent for them.

Either way...it’ll have a profound effect on the Flamines.

They will go after any character with a broken mask in a bloodthirsty rage, intent on murdering them. Characters with a barcode mask or bloody mask will be the next likely to be chased down intently by the Flamines.

Characters with a :( mask will be killed if they get in the Flamines’ way, though they will not go out of their way to chase them down.

Characters with a vine mask or feather mask will be treated with wariness, though they may still be attacked if they get in a Flamines’ way.

Characters with a grey mask will not be killed unless they are first the aggressor, as will characters with a bloody fingerprint mask.

Naturally there will be exceptions to every rule, but the masks will change how the Flamines’ generally act towards characters!

PHASE IV

[ ❓❓❓ ] But something’s not quite right.

Regardless of the battles against the Flamines, it seems Cerealia’s just been under too much pressure lately. Something had to give --

And it’s the code building up the characters that really suffers.

Their code has been hanging on by a thread without CERES to maintain it, and now… it’s finally giving out. The glitches that afflicted characters before will be even more prominent now; they might glitch from place to place, or have their powers go totally awry in odd ways. There may be a lack of powers suddenly, or a sudden difficulty staying on the ground as gravity stops working on the character.

They might suddenly be unable to breathe, or go cold, or very nearly die --

But it can be controlled, too, with effort. Characters can learn to control the glitches, gaining an ability to almost teleport, or ways to tweak their powers in exciting new ways.

With a lot of effort, they could even possibly reverse a death -- but only their own, and only once.

BONUS

[ ❓❓❓ ] There are also… birds?

Flamingos, to be exact. Who knows where they came from, but either way, there are plastic flamingos chilling all over the place. They’re just normal plastic; they don’t move, they can very easily be destroyed --

But if you touch one with your bare hands… it’ll have an interesting effect.

Characters will suddenly find that they have the abilities or the last person they touched -- but without any of the practice or ability to control it, of course.

Still, it might help with that pesky Flamines problem, right?

[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ]

//RUN.EXE

Welcome to the beginning of Cerealia's endgame event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will begin 11/03, or IC 11/18. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

III-a

[Lucky for Rise, she has a feathered mask and it means she won't exactly be a problem right away. If she notices someone running frantically looking for their friends, she'll stop them just long enough.]

Who are you looking for? I think I can help you find them!

[Characters with a broken mask, barcode mask, or bloody mask will also be stopped as she darts past, yelling at them to go seek Yuri Kozukata to clear their mask. If a character with one of those masks appears to be in trouble though, they may also find Rise stepping in with what looks like a microphone stand (microphone attached) and whacking Flamines over the head.]

This way! We can get you to one of the shelters before they get up again!

Bonus

[Flamingos are definitely her color, but they're in her way and she's not having it. They're annoying right now and soon Rise starts stockpiling flamingos to move them out of the way. With that, she pauses for a moment to take a breather and try to pinpoint her friends.]

Persona!

[However…it's not Kanzeon who appears. Instead, when Rise summons she'll find herself facing Beelzebub. There's a moment where she's left blinking…and then the shrieking can be heard all across the colony.]

III-b

[It's hard to explain what's happening to her. She knows, logically, that the only Persona she can summon in Kanzeon, but each time she summons again and again a new one appears. If anyone looks to the sky, they may see her on a familiar golden dragon that was accompanying Yu Narukami. When she's on the ground though, she's come to find someone else familiar is behind her.]

Izanagi! Let's go! [It…sort of works. Izanagi isn't exactly used to someone who isn't truly a wildcard, and when Rise tries to fire Agidyne on a Flamine in her way…well, the spell goes a little haywire and a tree catches on fire instead. Oops.] Ugh, crap, crap, crap! [How about a Bufudyne? You might want to move out of the way before she freezes you instead.

But eventually she can be found learning how to work with her new friends, spamming Garudyne spells to use the wind to blow back Flamines away from anyone being hunted down.

If someone appears injured she's quick to rush forward though, a beautiful winged lady behind her.]

Hey, are you all right?

wildcard

[Same as usual, hit me with your best shot! You can also plot with me at

alternatively!]

[True to her word, Naoto is sticking with Rise and watching her friend's back, as she'd promised Yu she would do. Despite Rise's increased combat effectiveness, Naoto still kind of feels a responsibility for protecting the team's navigator. She's still vulnerable when she's using Kanzeon, after all, and Naoto has learned that her own Hama spells are very effective at handling the Flamines.

She hears-- and feels-- Rise summon her Persona behind her, but doesn't think much of it until Rise screams. Feeling her heart turn to ice, Naoto spins around, ready to summon Yamato-Sumeragi, and...

...that is not Kanzeon.] What on earth--?

[As always, thank you for protecting the princess, Naoto. With her friend at her side and the two of them in the fray of the fighting, she's doing her best to navigate them through the colony and check on their friends.

It helps to know she isn't alone when this happens, but it also helps to know that someone else will recognize this particular being.]

I...Naoto-kun, what just happened?! [Like Naoto will have all of the answers...but to be fair, she usually does. Rise's busy staring at Beelzebub in sheer horror and even stumbles back toward Naoto as the Persona more or less leers at both girls.] Make it go away!

I-- that's-- [Naoto's mind gets ahead of her mouth for a second. She recognizes that Persona. It's one of their leader's. She quickly scans the area to see if Yu is around, but she sees no trace of him, and she's never known someone to be able to summon a Persona from that far away.] That's... one of senpai's.

How did you summon it? [She'd felt the surge of spiritual energy from Rise, after all. It's a pretty logical conclusion that the Persona here would have been the one summoned by her, and yet.] Our data may be becoming altered in some way. [She answers her own question.]

I don't know! [She's not happy about it at all and she knows that Beelzebub came from her even if she can't explain how or why. This wasn't something she wanted? Ew???] Do you really think it can be altered that much? Beelzebub's a real part of Yu-senpai. It'd be like if I summoned your Persona instead, it doesn't make any sense!

[She's still wigged out, but she's more calm now that Naoto's here and explaining things.] ...you think I should dismiss him and try again?

[Naoto is less perturbed by that, but then again, it also didn't come out of her herself. Still, their senpai's power meant that any of the various Personas he could harness was less intimately a facet of his personality than was their own.

But that said, she imagines it's a little uneasy to reach down and call the manifestation of your psyche only to find that it's a giant demonic bug.] No, it doesn't make any sense. Yet here it is nonetheless.

If my hypothesis is correct... no, I need more data. What happens if you try calling Kanzeon again? [Will it be the same one-- indicating that whatever's happened to Rise's Persona, it seems more permanent-- or one of Yu's other options?]

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iii-a

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WILDCARD?? lmk if this doesn't work

NO NEVER :|

:c

<3