MISSION 1

[adsum]

Participants: Hanako, Amami, Clamor, Lucifer, Meng Yao, Shinobu, Gundham
Location: Courtyard
Date: 08/07

(ooc notes: I will state any possible content warnings in the subject line of the mod response when it comes up. If anything makes you uncomfortable, please tell me so I can back off and refocus the thread.

There will be no tag order, and a mod response will come after at least 6 player responses OR the next day, whichever is earlier. Please note this means that if you're absent for a day or more, the thread will move on, but I will pace things so that people aren't missing large plot beats.

For this mission, characters will icly split into two groups, and there may be an opportunity to remix groups later in the mission.)

Comments

[sisters]

( his memories...? oh, insane, but it would explain a lot about the presence of those rules, which amami has long assumed were from the past. the talismans stand out, too. all of it has to be connected somehow: the rules, kazuki, and "it", it's just a question of how. he thinks about how the man curled into himself, hands over his ears. )

I think what Meng Yao said just now is right, it's probably already bound, or being bound — to him.

( oh, but when meng yao asked, it kind of hit him — amami never did get around to telling him any of the rules the way he'd been thinking, did he? if the lights show is still going, and he can't communicate with the clamor comrades yet, then maybe there is time...? )

The rules for the school before were different. The woods are off limits to all students...

( just pretend he's listing them all off again, louder this time for their benefit. )

[adsum]

[ Amami watches as darkness clashes with light, masked man turned to shadow that overtakes the trio outside.

"The woods are off limits to all students."
"When the whistle blows, line up quickly."
"Do not let it hear you."

Three strikes and they're out.

The doors and windows still refuse to open for the three stuck inside, but they rattle a little when they try. Looking through the adderstone, Gundham can see some look newer than others, unused, while others appear torn and smeared with blood. There are some clean, un-bled on binding talismans, yes. There is also plenty of chalk inside the classrooms. ]

[filialdeception]

[ Well then, it does seem strange that there's only one building now and it seemed like things had disappeared or regressed in some manner. If it was somehow that they were in the 'past' or someone's 'memories', then...it'd make sense.

Meng Yao snatches up some chalk; he can't just use blood to make an array in a hurry or anything like that (sincerely a last resort for any cultivator.) So it's either going to be making marks in the ground, or drawing chalk against a board or a wall.

When he hears Amami list off the rules, he can feel a headache come on. At the very LEAST two of those rules have been broken, he's sure of it, especially with the energy borne from that light likely not to have come from the school itself but the group outside. ]

The others are in danger, then.

[ He quickly heads out of the classroom and making his way to the other room Gundham is in because he needs to check the talismans that are available as well. He's continuing to speak so he too is loud enough for the three. ]

Here's an idea:

We use the binding talismans to keep the creature in place, and I may be also be able to draw up a binding array which can make a substitute for a binding net if need be to help assist in keeping it in one place in the event the talismans aren't enough. Of course we'd also carry the protective talismans with us as protection.

Of course my follow-up to that would be utilizing what fire and ghost-destroying talismans I have to eliminate it, with a finishing blow to ensure it's destroyed this time.

If there are any other ideas to help with this, of course I am amendable to that.

[sisters]

( his heart races in a chest that feels leaden with guilt, and a pit of dread gathers in his stomach, but even as amami watches them get surrounded by the shadow, there's nothing he can do. he can bang on the windows all he likes, and it's still not going to get them out of there. his fingers curl into fists, instead.

... there's really nothing he can do here.

meng yao, though... he speaks up, and meng yao and gundham can do something. if anything, amami can try to keep from being a dead-weight to them. )

About the ghost-destroying and fire talismans — I'm not sure about that. We don't want the others to end up caught up in it. It's... ( he swallows hard, though he keeps his voice raised as he narrates the scene. ) The shadow... it wrapped around them.

( and they are not repeating the tree incident! )

[filialdeception]

[ Well then. ]

...It is?

[ He wasn't looking out there, admittedly, so it was something he hadn't seen. Just the brightness from the corner of his eyes when the light show had occurred.

But he decides that maybe the idea isn't viable if that's the case. That is not to say he won't consider it once he's certain it's not wrapped around the others, but...

He has to think of something else. ]

In that case, we'd even have to use the binding talismans a little more carefully. Binding the creature to keep it at its current spot when it's wrapped around the others wouldn't work out well to begin with.

[ But he thinks they still have a decent chance, just to go about this a little differently, perhaps... ]

[sisters]

( hmm. on meng yao's response, that's something amami had been afraid of too, but hoping wouldn't end up being the case. there's a pause, and he starts trying the window he's standing in front of, which only rattles as he tries to pull it open. he grimaces, but it's true that they haven't done anything to change that fact yet. )

Are the two of you able to make your own talismans? ( gundham did that one time, amami remembers, didn't he? ) What about un-protection ones — ones that can reverse something. Whether it's binding or anything else, we probably can't do it if we're still separated from that thing. We need to get the door open first.

( and he would rather not leave the others inside of whatever that is for longer than absolutely necessary, so he'll just bring it up now. )

Then all we have to do is get it to let them go for you to bind it, right?

( then their arson streak can continue. )

[adsum]

[ It would work, undoing the bounds that keep them inside, that keeps Kazuki and that shadow together, that keeps the other three trapped inside its darkness where light continues to pulse inside like lightning in a storm cloud.

By which I mean please, yes, let's get out of here so we can consolidate threads for arson time. ]

[sisters]

( oh sick. we're just gonna summarize The Proceedings to simplify things so that the clamor comrades aren't in void limbo for another three days.

following meng yao's confirmation that he can probably reverse-engineer the binding and protection talismans that gundham found, amami will pitch that they do so. then they can hide quietly in the corners so that they aren't breaking rules or drawing the attention of the shadow, and use the reverse protection seal on the door so that it can get inside, where a trap would be waiting in front of the entrance for it.

on meng yao's recommendation, the trap has a reverse binding talisman that they're hoping will "un-bind" the others from inside of the shadow. arson time will follow.

when everyone agrees, meng yao will show gundham and amami how to make those talismans, and when they're ready, they'll set The Plan in motion up to whatever the appropriate point is. )

[adsum]

[ okay arson time ]