004 - Lucid Dreaming

[tabularasa_mods]

Lucid Dreaming Event Info Pt.1 ▲ Event Info Pt.2 ▼ Comments Please see the two info posts linked above for details on the nature of the event, the nightmares within, and the setting it takes place in. You may ask any unanswered questions in either post. If your character dies at any point during the dream event, please leave a comment in the death report thread to notify the mods.

As a final reminder, all characters will fall asleep for the full duration of this event whether you decide to take part or not. You may continue tagging threads that take place before the event, but everyone will fall asleep simultaneously.

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Falling Asleep, Waking Up
The shift happens without warning, much like the first time people appeared in the world. Perhaps you remember what you were doing in the last moments before a strange feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed you - or perhaps you remember nothing at all. Whatever it may be, you've appeared somewhere new. A seemingly ordinary train station, if not for the bizarre walls of flesh blocking the only exits. The only path forward is down into the pulsating depths, a humid breeze pushing at your back.

There may be others here with you, or you may be alone. Could there be more people trapped in this strange place? You won't find them just by standing around.

Nightmares
The screeching of a distant train will echo through the tunnels on occasion, shadows flicking through the translucent flesh of the walls. Sometimes, however, instead of fading away the noise will only grow louder, closer, until it sounds like the train should be upon you. It never appears, but something else always will.

The train is a siren call for nightmares, and you're unfortunate enough to be their victim. The shadows turn alive, twisting and growing as they rise up from the ground and begin to transform. What form they take varies, but the shadows of the mind know the true fears of those who walk among them. Are you prepared to face the darkness?

Volcanic Panic

The shadows congeal at the edges of the floor, and soon after a hot orange glow begins to fill the room - molten lava is pooling in from the other end of the tunnel. It rolls slowly forward, devouring everything it touches with an unquenchable searing hunger, leaving behind only the charred bones of its victims... although, strangely, the tunnels themselves appear to be completely unharmed.

Outrunning the flow of lava shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be no end to it. How long can you run from something that never stops? Or worse, what happens if you find yourself surrounded? You'll need to find a way to higher ground before that happens.

A Radiant Plague

The shadows rise up into familiar shapes, and at first glance it'd be easy to mistake them for people. They may even share the faces and voices of people you know, stumbling towards you with wide, open arms... and empty, glowing eyes filled with an orange light. Something smells sickly sweet, and it's only once they're close enough to grab you that they begin to attack.

These are not your friends, and they'll do whatever it takes to make you one of them instead. Unfortunately, it's not an experience you'll be able to survive. Your only hope is to fight back before the plague can take hold, lest you become another mindless husk that knows only to further spread the infection.

Trust No One, Not Even Yourself

The shadows stretch and fill the air, choking everything in a thick blanket of darkness... before dispersing just as quickly as they'd appeared. A few moments pass and nothing else seems to be happening. You must've gotten lucky this time!

... Or did you?

Surely it can't be that simple. Nothing else here has been, so something must have happened just now. It's only you and the person you're currently traveling with... but are you sure that's really them right now? How do you know they haven't been possessed by another nightmare, waiting until you let your guard down to stab you in the back? Should you interrogate them to be sure, or start with restraining them and ask questions later? Wouldn't it be better to just kill them before things get out of hand? The sooner you strike, the safer you'll be when their true form emerges.

Yes, that must be the real explanation. It has to be them that's been possessed by a nightmare. What else could it be?

Joker’s Wild

There’s no limit to what form the shadows can take. The world may have its own perception of fear, but your nightmares are something only you could understand. What darkness lurks in the depths of your heart?

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code bases by tricklet

Comments

[menaretrash]

It was Panther, or Sexy Cat. Panther sounded a lot better.

[ Listen, Blue. She gets it. She knows how it sounds, and it's probably all stupid, but still... ] I dunno about superheroes, we're... thieves! But we're trying to do the right thing, so I guess that kinda makes us like superheroes! Maybe... either way, I appreciate it.

[ Identities may not even be something that they need to worry about down here, but old habits die hard, and the least amount of people who know about the Phantom Thieves, the better. Poor Blue, this sweet summer child has no idea that this place is already changing. Some tunnels are the exact same that they just went through, others are brand new -- one thing that doesn't change, however, are the various Shadows that begin to slither into existence as they pass. ]

Yeah! That's a good way to explain it... our Persona's are an extension of our true selves. Our 'rebellion'. Wait, Ren told you about his Persona already?

[halloflamer]

[Blue stifles a chuckle. Okay, sure, better....]

Thieves that are good guys, huh? [He gives a teasing, dubious look. But really, he believes her.... She and Ren and Akechi had all seemed like good enough people for him to believe that whatever it was they were up to in their weird costumes, it couldn't be something bad.] Sounds like some kind of themed superhero to me. You must steal from the rich to give to the poor or something, right!?

[Robin Hood.... that's what Akechi had called his, right? Blue muses on that as he listens to Ann's explanation, though it's quickly clear that he's.. not quite getting it.]

[True selves? Rebellion?? Okay, you've lost him again, but.... he'll just pretend he's still following along and ignores that part to answer the question, instead.] Yeah! --Well, no, not exactly... I saw them in a vision of him and Akechi-kun fighting, in this same place. A memory, I guess it was. So neither of them really "told" me, exactly.

[Akechi had offered to explain some of it, but Blue had passed; it seemed too complicated and irrelevant at the time.... Now, he's wishing he had.]

[menaretrash]

Yeah! We do what we do to help people. [ She just grins at him... steal from the rich and give to the poor, eh? ] Sort of! We steal hearts, actually... it's complicated. But basically, we get to the root of someone's really shitty desires, steal their 'heart', and make them confess their crimes.

[ Yes, sometimes they can feel guilty... they're sort of in the morally grey spectrum, honestly. Except for Kamoshida. Ann really wanted to torch that bastard's smug ass, and she would have killed him for sure if it hadn't been for Shiho.... ]

Oh, during that weird period of time! Nice! Aha, that must have been really confusing, huh? I'll do what I can to try and help make it easier to understand. I wish that our cat was here, he's the best at explaining these things, you know?

[ ....That probably makes it more confusing, but whatever!! ]

[halloflamer]

Steal... hearts...?

[Oh no. This really is as complicated as he thought it was going to be! So he thinks it's probably better if he doesn't ask any more questions about these, um... powers that they have. Yeah...]

[It was complicated, but maybe not for the reasons Ann is thinking. He was mostly focused on the personal drama between the two- privy to their whole... well, relationship and all, but--]

[...Speaking of complicated. Cat.] Eh? Ah... You've got a cat Pokémon on your team too? [Blue glances back at Carmen. They had these Persona things, but Blue hadn't heard Ren or Akechi say anything about actual Pokémon before.]

[menaretrash]

Yeah. It sounds weird, right?

[ He's right about that, it's complicated, but hopefully he can understand that they're not bad guys, at least. They do what they do to help people, to rebel against oppressors, all that good shit. Blah, blah... ]

Oh, no! No, Mona's... it's hard to explain without him actually being here. But he's a cat that talks. Uh, just... no one but us can understand him. [ Let's make it even more complicated, right?! ]