aftr_ooc | December Event: No Rest for the Wicked

DECEMBER EVENT: NO REST FOR THE WICKED

The Trials: If One Heart Can Mend Another

The morning of the December 15th, those of you who opted in to this event will awaken in one of seven chambers located on Maati. As you might have guessed, each chamber will correspond to the sigil that's been branded upon your hand, and you will be accompanied solely by those who have been emblazoned with the same symbol. And you're about to discover what those symbols mean.

As the number of sigils indicates, there are a total of seven trials on Maati, each focusing on different foibles and flaws that might be holding your character back. These flaws are not necessarily inherently bad or evil in nature - instead, they are something that is holding your character back from their personal development. Each trial is designed to push your character out of their comfort zone, in order to prove that they are capable of things that they may not believe they are.

The trials are as follows:

Maati's trials operate on different rules compared to what you might be used to. For one, death is not permanent; upon perishing in your trials, you will simply be "reset" to where you initially started. Bear in mind that some trials have multiple starting points, which means you'll only be "reset" back to where you first started. However, it is only if you fail utterly to complete the trial that your death will be semipermanent, and that you must succumb to a death penalty.

You'll find the details of these trials - as well as those who will be undergoing them alongside you - below. Simply click on the trial that corresponds to the one your character received! Trial starting points are marked by the ⊗ symbol, while their finishing points are marked by the ♥ symbol.

Trial of the Brave

Those of you who have been sorted into this trial, the Trial of the Brave...this trial has deemed you to be too wary, too anxious, too fixated on certain singular fears, or simply too passive. This trial is designed to force you to face those fears, and come out stronger on the other side. Upon awakening, you will discover that any abilities you possess have been nerfed; instead, you are equipped with a single short sword and a single torch. You'll need both if you intend to make it out unscathed, as the trial is almost completely pitch-dark...and flooded with enemies.

Learning to navigate the dark, labyrinthine layout of the trial is only half the battle. Around nearly every corner stalks something terrible, something you don't want to face. Characters undergoing this trial must contend with their greatest fears. These fears take two particular forms, depending on what sort of subconscious terror is plaguing you. Some of you may see more of one than you will the other, and some of you will see both. It all rather boils down to what is most holding you back.

Unlike the ghosts present in October, who were real purely in the psychological sense, these enemies are very much physical. If you want any hope of making it out to the other side, you will have to defeat them to proceed. However, while everyone can see your fears, you are the only one who can actually defeat them - all other attempts that others make will simply phase harmlessly through them.

Trial Notes:
Characters:
Asgore Dreemurr, Héctor Rivera, Legion, Mira, Nott, Yeager, Xion

Death Count:
Characters within this trial may die a total of five times before failing the trial entirely. After the fifth death, a comment is required to our Deaths page and a death penalty will apply.

Character Nerfing:
All skills, abilities, and magic that go beyond the abilities of your everyday human will be entirely nerfed for the duration of the trial. Personal items will also be missing, to be returned at the end of the trial - a single short sword and torch will be provided in their place

Plotting:
Players are encouraged to consider the very best fears to manifest for their characters. While these beings may have one goal in mind, they are fully capable of attacking anyone else who gets in their way. In addition, characters may also work together to defeat their fears - though they may need to find each other first. Additionally, your character must contribute significantly to the fight to overcome these fears in order for them to be successfully vanquished; no sneaking in only to strike the final blow!

As shown on the map above, there are a total of four entry points where your character may start their dark journey; we encourage players to choose their preference, or RNG the result!

Trial of the Trusting

Paranoia, paranoia, everything is coming to get you. That, or you just happen to have some severe trust issues. For characters that were with us back during August, it’s possible they perished to the Overgrowth, because there was simply too much they didn't know how to admit to others and themselves. Unfortunately, there's going to be a bit more to this trial than simply confessing one's sins or emotions - which is a good thing, considering how abysmal most of you are at that anyway.

Similar to the above trial, the Trial of the Trusting is constructed in a most labyrinthine fashion, damp, dimly lit, and full of confusing, narrow corridors. With four starting points, characters may feel comfortable in separating quickly from the few people with which they awoke. But if they do, they won't get very far.

Of course, there's more to this trial than just a simple maze. Characters will find their pathways to be radically different, even in areas others have walked mere minutes ago. What stays consistent is the variety of blockades and trials hindering their way to the exit - problems that cannot be solved on their own. The following basic tests are certain to show up along the way. However, there is room for creativity when plotting to make some of your own:

Whilst these obstacles may seem of a basic nature, they will not be the only element of the trial characters must face. It is one thing to trust another when one is sure of their ability to retaliate to betrayal - and another entirely when one is well aware of a vulnerability. As characters draw closer to the exit, a variety of effects may come into play - physical ailments such as blindness, exhaustion, or paralysis of body parts…or shadowy whispers that sound like disappointed family and friends, slowly transforming into the voices of those working beside you.

Trust is necessary to succeed in this trial, just as it is to exit. For those who abandon their partners or teams at the home stretch, the door out will not open for you. Strangers may enter, but only companions may leave.

Trial Notes:
Characters:
Allura, Connor Murphy, Fang Ray Shin, Foster van Denend, Jules Dagger Samari, Nezumi, Pidge Gunderson, Taako

Death Count:
Characters within this trial may die a total of five times before failing the trial entirely. After the fifth death, a comment is required to our Deaths page and a death penalty will apply.

Character Nerfing:
All skills, abilities, and magic that go beyond the abilities of your everyday human will be entirely nerfed for the duration of the trial. In addition, all items will be missing from your character's person until the end of the trial, with the exception of basic, short-ranged weapons.

Plotting:
There are four initial starting points players may choose from. You may choose which group you would like to start within, though RNG is an option for those who are unsure or don't mind! To allow for as much creativity as possible, the contents of the trial are fluid, and obstacles may appear wherever you please, including any that have not been mentioned in the list above.

Additionally, characters may find themselves hindered during their progression by a sudden, physical ailment, or the voices of paranoia. It is up to players to decide what would most effectively hinder their character, in addition to working together in order to triumph regardless!

Trial of the Forgiving

As you might have guessed, the characters who find themselves within this trial all happen to be people who suffer from the dreadful pitfall of wrath. They lash out. Seek vengeance to the exclusion of judgment. They are those fraught with loathing, a feeling reserved for themselves almost as often as it is for others, if not more. They are the ones who allow their anger and resentment to rule their reasoning, often to a most cruel extent.

Unlike the trials others must face, the Trial of Forgiveness has no complex maze or chambers to overcome. Instead, characters will awaken to find themselves within a small chamber at the end of a long corridor - one that will continue to circle inwards to the exit at its center. Well-lit and rather comfortable in temperature, it's about time characters ready themselves for a long, long walk. All you have to do is get to the end, and the door will open. Isn't that nice and simple?

Perhaps not. A little experimentation will reveal something quite magical - literally, in some cases. For this trial, all magic, abilities, and skills that can be used offensively will be un-nerfed and unrestricted. It's far too good to be true! The catch? Why, a hefty dose of temptation, of course.

From the very first step characters take from the starting chamber, new figures will join their party - familiar figures, to be precise. They certainly won’t go unrecognized for long, as each new figure is one toward which your character holds a significant grievance - John Hunger, Somnus Lucis Caelum, Flowey the Flower, Suguru Kamoshida, to name but a few possibilities…or even your own self, if your self-hatred is that immense. The man who was willing to sell out and betray the Reds and Blues. The Wraith you know you will become, under the right circumstances.

At every corner, a new apparition will be waiting to accompany trial goers as they attempt to reach the outside world - though many, many more may certainly await those whose grudges number in the thousands. As temptation may have already implied, these specters will not follow silently into this quiet night; through words and action, each apparition will be seeking to strike the right nerve required to fan the flames enough for physical retaliation.

As the temptation to lash out increases, so do the consequences. Characters may have their abilities fully restored, but it does come at a significant price: all damage they attempt to do on non-living spirits will simply rebound back to them. In addition, some of these haunting figures may not be as they seem; every new corner turned heightens their efforts to fog the mind. Figures will seemingly disappear and reappear at will. In some cases, they may project their visage onto the form of a fellow trial-goer, and while attacks will still rebound onto the one who lashes out, that damage may also be taken by an unsuspecting party member.

Death is probably imminent. Luckily, you're not restricted to just the one.

Trial Notes:
Characters:
Alexei Dinoia, Ann Takamaki, Agent Washington, Ardyn Izunia, Chara Dreemurr, Laurent, Yasha Nydoorin, Ichimatsu Matsuno

Death Count:
Characters within this trial may die a total of ten times before failing the trial entirely. After the tenth death, a comment is required to our Deaths page and a death penalty will apply.

Character Nerfing:
Any skills, abilities, or magic that can do harm to another will be entirely unnerfed for the duration of the trial - skills such as healing, flight, or defensive skills will remain locked.

Plotting:
Players have the option to decide any (and every) hated spirit from the past that dogs their character's footsteps, from the morbidly mundane to the murderers and traitors. Characters can interact with one another's visions, and spirits can change the visage of characters to that of someone else…someone who may, in your own character's opinion, really look much better if they weren't breathing anymore.

Trial of the Mindful

Some say that to better understand and love others, you must first understand and love yourself. That's not necessarily always true. However, there is something to be said for accepting yourself in the first place, which is why these characters in particular have been selected for the Trial of the Mindful. For each character, some part of them is suffering from a painful uncertainty that is holding them back. Perhaps they lack confidence. Perhaps they struggle with immense self-loathing. Perhaps they don't feel as though they do enough, or that they aren't as strong as they think they should be. Perhaps...they don't believe they're deserving of personhood at all.

The weight of all the errors these adventurers have made and the struggles of self-definition have placed them here, at the Trial of the Mindful. And they won't be leaving until they acknowledge and embrace the parts of themselves they’ve thus far denied - unless, of course, death is that much more preferable.

Unlike other trials, only the faded pink-red walls of the corridors remain uniform. Characters will soon discover that one of the many rooms ahead is a trial they personally find quite simple. You might be hard-pressed to call it a trial at all: piloting a ship, a perfect score in the target range, a battle within a Colosseum of Fools, for example. In each and every room, one character will find themself in their element, capable of breezing through that which their companions might otherwise have difficulty in.

In theory. You see, characters won't just awaken in the maze of the Mindful - they will also awaken in each other's bodies. A one-to-one body swap will occur by the time you stir awake in the Trial of the Mindful, including any powers or skills characters may have.

The challenge then is threefold. You must first recognize what skills you personally possess; second, adapt to the new body in which you've found yourself placed; and third, coach the poor soul who's been trapped in your body how best to circumvent your room. In order to save your companions and yourself, you'll need to identify all those skills and qualities that would make your room so simple to overcome, if only you were the one completing it.

Trial Notes:
Characters:
Bucky Barnes, Chip Abaroa, Frisk, the Hollow Knight, Lance, Prompto Argentum, Tim Wright, Shion

Death Count:
Characters within this trial may die a total of five times before failing the trial entirely. After the fifth death, a comment is required to our Deaths page and a death penalty will apply.

Character Nerfing:
Nerfs will remain as per character's acceptance notices throughout the duration of the trial. However, you will inherit the skills and abilities of the character whose body you have been swapped with - as well as their weaknesses!

Plotting:
As the map above indicates, each room will comprise of a different style of obstacle that characters must overcome - and they're yours to choose. Plotting for this group includes deciding upon a difficulty or obstacle that, whilst others may find difficulty in completing it, your own character will respond to with ease. What test will you put your friends through? We highly recommend that players toplevel for their room to supply full details of what they have created. Additionally, we encourage discussion as to who would like to end up in whose body; while we're more than happy to RNG the results for you, we'd understand if you'd rather not leave that up to chance!

Trial of the Patient

Patience can take many different forms, just like its polar opposite. Some characters may have learned patience, over time, but that does not mean they can't learn a lot more. Many who have been marked for this trial are too prone to conflict escalation, or are easily incited into action. For some, perhaps, they are simply incapable of inaction, doing their utmost to avoid being alone with their thoughts, compensating by throwing themselves into every task that comes their way. Whatever the case may be, they’re about to learn that, sometimes, the best course of action is to do absolutely nothing at all.

The Trial of the Patient has a distinctive layout that may remind some players of a death run. Rooms are filled with narrow walkways, copious traps, and a significant need for caution and a steady pace. Racing ahead is a sure way to fail.

Upon waking, characters will find that they have been nerfed entirely - no powers or weapons will help them navigate this treacherous domain. What's more, playing the hero and dashing ahead of the pack will most certainly come with consequences, as when one character dies, ALL characters will return back to the start of the trial.

For any character to succeed, all characters must succeed. Each room will only open to the next after all characters have proceeded through each challenge safely. With many obstacles requiring characters to progress in single file, patience is not merely a virtue.

It's a necessity.

What's more is that the more deaths your character accrues, the more they will start to hear...things. Snippets of conversation. No, not conversation - screams? Shouts. The sounds of all the people you love most...and they need your help. Can you hear it? Shiro screaming for aid, Yasha pleading for your help, the Guardian on their last legs, if only you could race ahead and help them. Their voices will be evident to you, and you alone, and they'll grow louder and louder, more and more desperate the more times you perish. You swear they're just around the corner...they're right there, if only you could just race ahead to meet them - !

Trial Notes:
Characters:
Beauregard, Castore Westmoore, the Drifter, Erika Fisher, Gladiolus Amicitia, Keith Kogane, Lup

Death Count:
Characters within this trial may die a total of ten times before failing the trial entirely. After the tenth death, a comment is required to our Deaths page and a death penalty will apply. Keep in mind that if one character dies, all characters will be returned to the starting point of the trial - this will not count as a death for any character but the one originally felled.

Character Nerfing:
Characters will be nerfed entirely for the duration of the trial. In addition, no items will be accessible. Any items that characters would usually keep on their person will be returned to them upon leaving.

Plotting:
As the map above indicates, each room will comprise of a different style of obstacle that characters must overcome. Examples of this include timed movement to avoid traps, narrow walkways over immense drops, and avoiding harm from creatures that require at least one character to keep their eyes on them at all times. While all characters are expected to pass a room for characters to continue to the next, large group threads can be unwieldy - players are encouraged to top-level for the rooms that interest them and interact in groups of two to three for the sake of easing participation! Additionally, we encourage you to think about what penalties would most challenge your character's progress. Whose voice would they hear to spur them forward, and how good are they going to be at coming to resist that?

Trial of the Humble

It feels good to be right, doesn't it? To have a belief in one's own mind, or the mind of those around you. Unfortunately for those who awaken within this trial, the Trial of the Humble is here to remind them that there is a difference between self-confidence and conceit, faith and blind trust. This trial is intended for the prideful, the dismissive, or those who are simply prone to overconfidence - and, on the rare occasion, those too gullible or trusting to consider thinking for themselves. These qualities are not those of leaders; in fact, they are hardly the qualities one would wish to find in a partner at all.

Initially divided into two teams, trial goers will find the atmosphere of the testing chambers clean, temperate, and moderately comfortable. Each vast room appears to have been set up for tests of a different kind, but for today, there will be no expected fights or feats of ability within these walls. What is expected of you, then?

A correct answer or two. That's all.

As shown above, each numbered room above coincides with a style of puzzle, riddle, or equation that characters (and players, if you’re keen to give them a shot for yourself!) must overcome in order to unlock the way to the next room - and eventually, the exit. For two groups of terribly smart people, this shouldn’t be too difficult.

If only their egos could be kept in check. As each puzzle is solved, characters will find that their pride takes a little bit of a boost - one that refuses to settle down. As the two groups continue, surpassing the initial four tests in order to face the final four together, each character will become utterly convinced of their own superiority in the problems to be solved, whether they truly know the answer, or not. And while characters will not have access to their powers for the duration of the trial, they may very well find themselves desperate to prove their superiority, until nothing short of death will stop them from being the one to input the next answer.

Not even murder.

Swallow your egos. Learn to function as a team and ask for help when you need it...or die failing to do so.

Trial Notes:
Characters:
Agent Connecticut, Commander Shepard, Damianos, Edward Elric, Ignis Scientia, Kravitz, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Nari Nishitani, Newton Gesizler

Death Count:
Characters within this trial may die a total of five times before failing the trial entirely. After the fifth death, a comment is required to our Deaths page and a death penalty will apply.

Character Nerfing:
All skills, abilities, and magic that go beyond the abilities of your everyday human will be entirely nerfed for the duration of the trial. Characters must rely on their wits - and their fists, should it come to that.

Plotting:
There are two initial starting points players may choose from. Though the type of tests each will solve are the same, the contents will most certainly vary. You may choose which group you would like to start within, though RNG is an option for those who are unsure or don't mind! In addition, every puzzle characters will be exposed to (a total of eight for each group) are fully interactable: once the event post is live, we fully encourage you all to work together in completing each as characters very well may do in the beginning…or for the competitive, competing to solve a puzzle first. Additionally, all puzzles have been tested and completed by the mods - there are solutions and answers available, should you desire them!

Trial of the Generous

At long last: a trial for the generous, the selfless, the giving, the virtuous…or is it for the selfish? Kindness is a virtue, but it can also turn into a deadly imperfection. For characters branded for the Trial of the Generous, they must paradoxically come to unlearn some of their generous nature, and realize that they cannot possibly fix everyone else's problems for them. In fact, this trial explicitly requires characters to focus in on themselves. Not such an easy feat, is it? Particularly for those who constantly put the needs of others before their own.

Which, of course…is all of you.

In a unique fashion, the Trial of the Generous is standard only in its starting point and hallways - stone walls of deep purple decorated with creeping ivy. For those wondering if there will be a tutorial to ease their way, the answer is an emphatic no. From the first trial onwards, you're on your own.

Or, to be more precise, everyone else is.

Whether characters like it or not, each of the following rooms will share aspects of their life that they may otherwise keep to themselves. A physical confrontation which you barely survived, a struggle to resist a being beyond your understanding. Each and every character has undergone trials of a personal nature. And now, that trial belongs to everyone else.

Within the room exhibiting their memory, characters will be unable to physically interact with the world around them. The rest of their party will not be so lucky. Those terrible instances that have made and broken adventurers, personal struggles that they have happily kept to themselves are now someone else's problem, and those caught in their grips will fail, unless they receive a voice of guidance. Remember, it may be impossible to rescue your fellow trial goers...

But you can help them save themselves.

Of course, there is a consequence for attempting to take on everyone's problems alone. For characters who insist on attempting to handle each memory without assistance from those with prior experience, or those currently struggling alongside them, a variety of magical effects may strike them to render their efforts far less effective. Facing down a great enemy is far more difficult when you're blind, or have lost access to the motor skills for one side of your body.

Trial Notes:
Characters:
Amaterasu, Ginko, The Guardian, The Knight, Minako Arisato, Muffet, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Pyrrha Nikos, Takashi Shirogane

Death Count:
Characters within this trial may die a total of ten times before failing the trial entirely. After the tenth death, a comment is required to our Deaths page and a death penalty will apply.

Character Nerfing:
Within their allocated rooms, characters will be unable to interact with the memory that has manifested. Nerfs will remain as per each character’s acceptance notice.

Plotting:
Above, you may select a room on the map as your character's "designated" room. For plotting purposes, your group will be plotting out the trials that each character has faced - a confrontation with the Immortal Cell, fighting the Radiance for control of one's body, and more. Participation in each room is not required by every group member, but keep in mind that each room will likely require a top level to provide the full details of what is to be faced!

Additionally, adverse magical effects can be imposed if you feel your character is attempting too much on their own. While it's important that this does not affect their ability to hear, you are welcome to decide upon what may befall them as you please, in addition to deciding whether this effect will dissipate at the end of that room, or remain for the rest of the trial.

code. tessisamess

Opt-Out: So Won't You Hold On a Little Longer?

And what of those who have avoided the trials and tribulations of Maati - those who did not end up roped into this nonsense, for whatever reason or another? Well, they'll have plenty to contend with as well. Those rising water levels from the week prior haven't improved any...and they're not going away, either. While that immense tower of water has vanished, the threat still remains. More specifically, the water will begin to slink up along the shores of Ensō in a most peculiar fashion. It acts almost like its own living entity - instead of frothing at the shores in the form of waves or bubbling up in geyser-like swells, it simply starts to...spread, illogical as it may seem, inching its way up steep inclines, over the trunks of trees, until almost everything is coated in a thin, watery layer.

Whatever is at work here, one thing is plain: it's not natural. Not in the slightest.

With the Storyteller still shut up in their temple and thus far evading any and all contact, there's nothing to do but take matters into your own hands, however you may choose to do so. Some may fight and some may flee - though while the mana pools are working well enough to allow travel across the islands, escaping this peculiar flood won't be easy. It will pursue you relentlessly, tirelessly, and it will not stop until it has caught up to you.

Until you've heard what it has to say.

OOCly, please be aware that if you have opted out of this month's event, there will be an NPC present for characters to interact with.

Odds and Ends: Can You Give Me Just Another

Since this event is a bit more involved than our usual fare, we'd like to take the opportunity to encourage feedback and promote inter-player communication. Plan with your groups and thread partners - whether you want to try for a single thread or multiple mingle-style threads to chart the progress of your trials is up to you, but communication between players is key.

Confused about any of the above wording? Concerned that your character might not have been allocated to the right group? Let us know below and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. There were a lot of factors present in how we elected to group characters the way we did; not only was this event was also structured around helping characters build new relationships with characters outside of close CR and castmates, but we also wanted to make the groups as balanced as we were able to make them.

However, if you're worried that the particular trial is simply not centered on how you want to develop your character, we're happy to listen and work with you to find a solution!

Lastly, characters will be rewarded for their participation. Those who succeed at their trials will come away with a reward based on the trial they've endured, while those who fail will...well, they'll be rewarded with something for giving it an honest try, at least! We'll provide more details upon the event's conclusion.

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