achates | [DAY 0] TDM.

[DAY 0] TDM.

Error in final launch sequence:
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹͚̽𝚡̰̍̂𝟸̠̯̘ͭͧ𝚌̭͉̺͖ͥ𝟿̳̰̒̇ͅ𝟷̦ͣ̉͌̅𝚋͓͎̈̒̀𝟻ͭ̌͂𝟷ͩ̓𝟾̦
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹̖͇͕̃𝚡͉̹̯͇̻̉̓̂𝟸͚̹͈͓̩͚̲̼͒̾𝚌̱̠͙̝̪͇̈̌̂̃̄ͭ𝟿̱̜̪͓̳̹ͤ̊̈́ͦͥ̑𝟷͖̱̝̀̒̇̂̄̈́̓̇ͅ𝚋̥̯͉̹͛͛̊ͤͦͩ𝟻̬̮̈́̋ͯ͛̉̐𝟷̋ͩ̔̔𝟾̼
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Debugger connection lost.
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Debugger connection lost.
Shutting down...
Rebooting
Download in Progress:
File download complete
Time elapsed during download operation: 00:12:33.131
Rebooting
Launching Demon Summoning Program. . .

You open your eyes to the end of the world, but you do not see it.

Instead what rouses you is screaming and crying, blood and tears: all around you are signs of life. Inside the overturned train, people begin to awaken, sprawled on the ground as if thrown violently from their seats, broken bones and bleeding wounds struggling to rise from the carpet of shattered glass from the windows at their feet. Emerging from the wreck, characters will find themselves at the edge of a dense forest, a towering stone wall at their backs. Bright eyes peer out from the shadows of the foliage, more and more blinking into view like stars in a darkening sky, but despite being drawn to the scent of blood that hangs heavy in the air, nothing steps out of the forest. Not yet.

None of the passengers can recall what happened, what they were doing on a train, where it was going- there's more they can't remember, but overshadowing the gaps of memory are things they have gained in return. A familiar item that is not theirs. A gemstone that feels lighter than it appears, as if hollow inside. And a device that wraps around their wrist (or rests on their head, or hangs around their neck, or however it presents itself to each character) that starts up on its own the moment the character turns their attention to it, as if waiting. Each character's COMP has a "navigator" selected at default, either "A☆L☆A" in bright neon orange, or "K5" in cool slate blue, although the presiding navigator can be freely switched between them.

Heya, boss! My name's Ala, your new navi!

You wanna know something really funny? Go ahead and touch the map on the corner of the screen to enlarge it. See all those little red dots? Those are demons out to kill you. Haha! You're surrounded!

Heya, boss! You can call me Keigo, your navigational AI.

If you touch the map on the corner of the screen, you can enlarge it and see the positions of all your allies. Looks like some of you are already heading out: see those little blue— oh. That one just disappeared. ... Try to stick together.

Along with providing a map with enemy/ally positions, the navigators will walk characters through the demon interaction, recruitment, and summoning processes, with advice varying between the two navigators (click to expand)

Just beat 'em up and force 'em to join! They can't say no if they're dead!

Nobody is immune to bribery, not even demons. What do you even have, though...? No matter what, don't let them get that life stone.

More demons incoming! Ooh, you're screwed. You'd better run! Don't worry, I won't tell.

Let's hide here. We'll wait here until that demon passes, then move!

Look, a body! Are they still alive? Wonder what's in their pockets...?

It's already too late to help. But better them being demon food than you.

Or, you could stay. There is nothing forcing anybody to leave the relative safety of the train. Those who stay behind will find the conductor's cabin empty, save for a small black cat perched on the headrest of the driver's seat that peers out with bright golden eyes at those who enter. Otherwise, there are no signs of a fight or struggle inside the cabin. Elsewhere, there is unclaimed luggage in the overhead compartments with an abundance of clothing and blankets, although characters will not find any of their own clothing except what they're already wearing. The dining cart is still stocked with enough food and beverage to last each passenger at least two days— maybe longer, if people keep leaving/dying... But at the same time, maybe shorter, considering the pervasive hunger that gnaws at the pits of everybody's stomachs, an emptiness that yearns to be filled by something... more.

As minutes stretch into hours, it becomes painfully clear that nobody is coming to help. Everybody only has each other, this town, its inhabitants. The forest is dark and unforgiving, near impossible to navigate even with a map. Strange creatures jump out from the shadows, eyes bright, mouths salivating, hungry. Strong hands claw through the dirt underfoot to grab at people's feet, pulling themselves up, mouths wide open, hungry. Sharp talons swoop down from the skies above, snatching characters up into the air, crushing skulls and snapping spines. Hungry. The demons here seem delighted to see such a feast wandering right into their home; those who are stopped for attempted conversation express surprise that characters are able to see them, but ultimately the hunger wins, and hunger does not listen to reason.

Casualties are inevitable. Blood mist permeates the air, and follows even as characters break out of the forest and across town, all the way to the fraying end of the world. Out in the open, however, the sun rays beat down bright and harsh, and those hungry eyes shy away from the sunlight to remain in the shadows, inside husks of buildings and thickets of overgrown fields. Characters will be able to find refuge in the greenhouse and the church, and some of the standing houses are truly vacant (as opposed to "surprise! there's actually a demon inside!" vacant); the only eyes that follow you are those of photographs hung crooked on the walls, of familiar strangers and forgotten friends. Look, there's a picture of you too.

Other locations require more caution to explore:

The sound of crying can be heard from the upper stories of the school building, thin wails echoing up and down the deserted halls, and human-like shadows peer out from the broken, unboarded windows, as if watching. A barricade inside the front doors makes it difficult to enter from the main entrance, and with most of the windows boarded up, the hallways inside remain dark even during the day. The smell of rot is prominent, heavy and cloying, especially in the auditorium-become-mausoleum that is littered with crushed bones, thin and brittle, every last scrap of flesh already nibbled away. A flock of demons crowd around outside principal's office, where a blizzard blows through the entire hallway, rendering visibility near zero and temperatures below that.

The hospital is also deathly cold, breath visible in puffs of mist that sometimes form into screaming faces, and when all is still and quiet, you look up and see yourself. Shadows form into mirror images of the characters who enter the hospital, silently approaching others and attacking once the person's guard is down. If a demon borrowing your face isn't bad enough, Phantoms go a step further and take the form of people who are close to your character: friends, family, foes. Exploring the hospital may or may not be worth the potential backstabbing, considering the fact that the supplies found are maybe not the most sterile, half the equipment is rusted or corroded, and a lot of the medicine is unlabeled tablets and capsules inside unlabeled bottles (essentially, take at your own risk). Moreover, hordes of all sorts of demon ghosts will bar characters' way down to the basement, gathering in massive numbers anytime somebody tries to descend. Electricity bounces around the top of the stairway down, while bright flames lick the bottom of the stairs; particularly unlucky characters may be hit with a confusion spell, liable to throw themselves headfirst down the stairs to be consumed by the waiting demons below.

Hauntingly beautiful music can be heard from within the concert hall, and listening to their song puts you fast asleep— possibly in the middle of the street if you're not careful— while those who manage to make it past the front doors are immediately frozen in a hunk of ice or electrocuted to a crisp before being kicked to the curb. The concert hall appears to be actively guarded, and it's clear that strangers are Not Welcome. Even the other demons keep clear of this building, drawn to the music but lingering far enough to not be overwhelmed. Characters may have an easier time of initiating conversations with demons from around town or inside the houses nearby the concert hall.

The crackle of electricity can be heard from inside the power plant's upper stories despite the blackout, and the entire building shakes from time to time, as if caught in a thunderstorm, or an earthquake. A slow drip... drip... drip... can be heard throughout the building, of amorphous demons clinging to the walls like mold and leaving puddles of caustic acid Everywhere. Anybody who enters the power plant's front entrance is met with a massive agglomerate of black Ooze that has expanded to fill the entire first floor from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, preventing anybody from going upstairs while it remains. Arms and legs poke out of the demon's body in places, desperately clawing and kicking, weaker, weaker. done.

OOC

Welcome to Day 0! What better meet-and-greet is there than everybody being tossed into the fray to fight for their lives? ('': For convenience, here are the game info, locations, and demon compendium pages; please use these as reference for what more can be found in the setting.

The characters' COMP will turn on only after they notice and focus on it. If they do NOT activate the COMP, they will not be able to see the demons or interact with them in any way other than being killed. Activating the COMP will allow characters to see demons and somewhat understand their language, with an added effect of allowing physical attacks to harm demons, and mitigating the damage taken from demons.

For characters who app and are accepted, please report demon recruitment here. Characters who are just tdming do not have to report. Recruited demons are inclined to listen to their summoner, but are not necessarily friendly at the beginning: if your character shows weakness, the demon may be just as likely to eat them as they are to protect them.

There will be no NPCs in this game other than the two navigators and some key demons. You're on your own for now!

This first event/tdm is open to the public, and can be used for test driving at any time after the game starts. I'll be keeping a pulse on threads for when characters have gotten their bearings and seem to have a general idea of how they want to proceed into the next day, and we'll go from there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Characters: Alice and Shun'ya
Location: Hospital
Action: Trying to bypass the horde of ghosties and ghoulies to get into the hospital basement with a literally hare-brained plan.
Thread: Here!

Edited 2024-08-30 04:40 (UTC)

let's gooooooooo

The two of them approach the stairs down to the basement, the temperature dropping several degrees the moment they open the door at the very top of the stairs. With two of them, there seems to be double the number of demons... or maybe it just seems so, with the different colors of demons all blurring together into a vibrant storm.

Alice will know that Trafuri will allow them to escape battles, but escape means sending them back up the stairs where they came from: they won't be able to use this trick to forge forward through the demon hoard, but it'll definitely help them avoid unnecessary battles.

On Shun'ya's end, if he's familiar with these demons or has had his COMP analyze them, he'll know that the different demons have different elemental weaknesses. How to approach this... Will he go on the offense, or only engage if they can't escape?

They won't be able to fling out spells indefinitely. The small MP pool of low level demons is unforgiving... hopefully they'll remember to save some, just in case.

Well, that didn't go according to plan, but let it never be said that Alice can't improvise. Around midway through, Alice will try something risky. She'll give her worn-out, human-smelling hoodie to Poser (her own Shadow) while it mimics her, then order Frankenbun (Hare of Inaba) to use Trafuri on only itself and the Shadow to bring it back to the top of the staircase... at which point Poser is to use Zio on the nearest enemy Shadow. If the distraction works, then the enemy ghosts' focus will be split, which might give Shun'ya's more offense-oriented demons the opportunity they need to break through.

Shun'ya is going to be a little conservative when using his demons - at first, but when the Trafuri trick doesn't work, he's going to be a little more aggressive if any of those demons come slithering up the stairs after them.

If Yatagarasu's Agilao, and Xiezhai's ULTIMATE HORN ATTACK, are effective against the demons, then he backs up Alice's Decoy Plan by sending his own demons to attack if the horde successfully splits - Yatagarasu focusing on those weak to its fire, and Xiezhai harassing those that are vulnerable to having Really Big Horn into, er, whatever the demons have for soft spots. Also electrifies said horn so it's like a very sharp cattle prod. Is there anything Xiezhai can't do?

And if any demons slip past them, he is willing to sacrifice one of his very precious 90 pistol rounds to protect himself and Alice, and if any demon gets closer than that? Then he also has his 'horn' (tanto) to use against any grabby ones.

The distraction does work, to an extent, some but not all of the demons peeling away from the group to follow her Shadow who would've immediately have been ganged up on if Shun'ya's demons hadn't come in from behind to burn and cattle prod them. It's working! sort of! they are severely outnumbered is what's happening here, and their demons' health is going to get progressively hacked away even if they're kicking ass

Shun'ya smacks a demon with his tanto. isn't it funny how ghosts are supposed to be incorporeal but this feels like hitting something solid... Anyways, there's the bottom of the stairs! it's in sight! they can probably make it, but lose their demons in the process since the demons are busy aggroing for them, unless they can come up with something fast

ORI. ORI IS THIS HOSPITAL UP TO FIRE CODE. ORI. IS THERE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER ON THE STAIRS. ORI. IS THERE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER ON THE STAIR CASE. OR WITHIN SHOOTING RANGE. ORI!!!

Alice will compartmentalize the despair of her precious orange hoodie getting torn up by demons for another day and order Poser to cast Zio (Shun'ya's been the only one on the offensive so far, so it should have the SP left for two or three more casts at least) on the overhead lights to give them a temporary jumpstart while she gets the door open. The ghosties down here probably aren't too fond of light.

I. I GUESS THERE'S A FIRE EXTINGUISHER NOW. Shun'ya successfully manifests a fire extinguisher that he blasts apart with #1 out of 90 pistol rounds, whereupon it disappointingly does not actually have enough pressure for a COOL EXPLOSION but it does tear apart the canister and flood the stairwell with white suppressant gas. At the same time, the overhead lights get jolted with electricity, exploding the lightbulbs and showering everybody below with little shards of glass, but the filament does continue to glow bright for a time.

Good news: with all the noise and lights and confusion, the demons temporarily scatter, their concentration disrupted

Bad news: Alice sprints towards the door and rattles the handle and finds that it is locked.

BREACH TRAINING BABY!!!!!! Can Shun'ya (or the Ultimate Sheep if he is still alive) kick or shoulder the door down? He'd prefer to keep it intact to use as a barrier against any demons that try to follow, but you know, if needs must. Shun'ya could also force the lock with his tanto but you know, depends on the lock...

(I'm sad the 'shooting the lock out of the door' is a hollywood myth u-u he would've done it for the cool points otherwise)

(also i'm imagining everyone, demons included, covered in white suppressant foam like they've just come out of the bathtub)

He can try! he kicks the door, shoulders it, bashes it several times with his tanto but it doesn't seem to be doing any damage at all to the door, as if there were a magical barrier blocking their way and not just a slab of wood and a lock. huh!

Also yes, everyone, demons included, is covered in white suppressant foam like they've just come out of the bathtub. it won't take long for the demons to shake it off, though

Alice will ask k5/Keigo to give the barrier a scan to determine if this is a "you need to beat the monsters before moving on to the next part of the dungeon you cheating dunkass" situation or if there's some other key to unsealing the door that they're missing.

Well. Keigo doesn't call her a dunkass, for one. Anyways, the reply is:

It's not like this is a scripted videogame, boss. If you can cheat, you should! There's a powerful presence behind this door that seems to be maintaining the barrier, though... I don't have enough information on how to unseal it. You'll have to continue looking around and learn more about this place.

Oh, this is a fetch quest isn't it. This is a "you have to find x magical item to undo the barrier on the door or fuck with it in some way" quest, isn't it???

Well, after Alice scans the barrier, Shun'ya is going to maybe request they retreat while they can and reconsider their options. Bit of a pain fighting through all those demons to figure out the door is unlockable by bullshit magical means and then having to high tail it outta there with nothing to show for it, but at least they knew there was no point trying again until they found The McGuffin Key.

Alice is already booking it when Shun'ya asks her about leaving tbh

ye tbh shun'ya would've started booking it the moment he realised the barrier isnt one you can brute force through. both of them just like:

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[DAY 0] TDM.

hospital investigation!

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