songerein | { battle against the story eater }

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{ battle against the story eater }

BATTLE AGAINST THE STORY EATER

The Story Eater has arrived.

More details on everything can be found here. We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during AC and TDM threads will count. For more information, refer to the Game Notes.

Players who made boss submissions, if you are creating a prompt in your toplevel or wish to create a designated prompt for your boss, please comment here which will be used as a directory.

I. ON THE MOON

Those on the moon will at first feel overwhelmed, possibly even forced to the ground by the sheer enormous force of the nightmare energy that continues to pour out where the Story Eater had once stood. It feels as if they had extremely underestimated its power, and those of a weak mind will already feel the effects of the nightmare latching onto their worst fears. However, a cold air brushes over them and the ground beneath warms as it pulses white. In an instant, the oppressive feeling disappears, clarity returning to them.

It's too early to fall now, little dreamers, a sultry voice whispers in their ears with a laugh as another sighs, the softer voice like a melody. Quick, before the blessing loses its effect. The rest is up to you.

A. Tapir Calvary. The tapirs may have been hanging back for a while, but they will pop in, all eager to feast upon the nightmares that appear. Of course… Like anything, too much is dangerous for them as well. While they are able to withstand the seemingly endless amount of nightmare energy as if they are just swimming through flooded waters, after eating too much they start to wobble and complain of their stomachs hurting. This in turn makes them irritable, and instead of stopping to eat, they start eating more. Stop them before they eat themselves sick. Those that start to exude a dark mist and start turning black need to be quickly taken off the moon or sent into a dream. If they are not… They will disappear to somewhere unknown.

B. Slenderman and Cupid. There are two particularly strong foes that will be working with the Story Eater. "Slenderman" will be just like it was when it first appeared by the castle, feasting on nightmare energy and using shadows to its advantage. It will be a tough foe to kill, but explosive wisps and pure dreamotion light will be effective against it. Cupid will be insane and will try to inflict hatred upon any struck by his arrows. He is more unstable and will be more susceptible to those who try to purify it with love and kindness. (Cupid will most likely move to attack the town so he is available for On the Ground prompts.)

C. Wisped Away. With the amount of monsters and damage caused by the Story Eater directly and its creations, deaths are inevitable. Normally for those who have fully integrated into the world, like the fae and the dragons, this would have been permanent. However, perhaps due to the unusual nature of the Story Eater, they will be "graced" the same fate like the dreamers that inhabit Reverein. Their physical body may disappear, but their "soul" turns into condensed dreamotion energy and takes the form of a wisp. (Characters can and will be turned into wisps if they die so these can also apply to them.)

🛑 Because of the high likelihood of the original body suffering a traumatic event, the wisp will be extremely vulnerable and has a high risk of turning into a noctaere. They will flash red and black and the deeper the color, the closer they are to changing. Find and help purify them via dreamotion.
🚦 Escort vulnerable wisps to the portal so they can be taken to a safehouse and calm down.
💣 Some wisps will not feel negative emotions and instead will want to continue to fight. Although they are still vulnerable, because their dreamotion energy is so condensed they have the ability to explode without any harm to themselves to either inflict damage on the creatures OR to help purify those afflicted with pure dreamotion energy. These wisps will be gold in color.

II. ON THE GROUND

As soon as the Story Eater appeared, those of strong magical prowess had attempted to erect a barrier to protect the town and its surroundings from the brunt of the fallout, but it could not keep up forever, especially as those who try to keep it in place begin to quickly fall as their own nightmares take over. Thus while it's still safer than what's going on on the moon, the same afflictions can still be felt and experienced.

A. Support the Barriers. There are two different barriers currently protecting Reverein and the surrounding areas. Not only must they be defended from attacks, they also need help to stay up.

🧱 The sand walls erected earlier will stand tall and withstand most physical attacks, but eventually they will begin to crumble and create gaps. They must be quickly patched up and defended as the Story Eater's minions, creations, and those turned into noctaere start to push through.
🔮 The magic barrier is fueled with dreamotion and serves to help keep the effects of the nightmare energy lowered so that most of the people inside can withstand it. However, as those who are trying to keep it up fall, replacements are needed. To help, the moles from before bring up crystals that anyone can help channel and use to help as a power source to empower the barrier.

B. Aid Relief. Those who have been injured and brought back from the moon or from around town will be ushered into designated locations set up for healing. Be it physical or mental, they will be treated and protected by those who remain on defense. However, as the battle goes on and more people are afflicted, supplies and personnel will wear out, so additional aid will be needed. This may even require venturing out to get much needed herbs or supplies unless someone can dreamotion them up.

III. SPECIAL MONSTERS & BOSSES

The Story Eater is using its powers to take on the forms of an individual's worst nightmare or enemy. This could be anything. Below is the full list of special bosses and mob monsters that were submitted by players and can be encountered both on the moon and on the ground. Refer to the original links for more information. Players are still free to create and use anything that is not on the list, especially f their character's worst nightmare is something else. IMPORTANT! While any of these are capable of killing, those marked with the red flag (🚩) indicate that these are more likely to perform kills or destroy the individual to turn them into wisps.

A. Monster Mobs. Typical monster/mob creatures that while numerous are the weakest and easier to defeat. Physical attacks will be enough, but dreamotion or using Aspect abilities will inflict more damage.

🍆 Sinner Demons. They take on any form based on the type of sin they committed. Could take on the form based on the person they face.
😱 Devils. Takes on forms based on the fears of people.
🚨 Garlean K-9 Soldiers and hunting dogs. These soldiers aren't here to help and will be targeting anyone they come across.
👻 Cursed Spirits. Spiritual beings manifested from cursed energy as a result of the negative emotions that flow out of humans. They cause harm to humans and seek humans out to harm them.
💨 Redead. Emits a scream that immobilizes temporarily, moves towards target and jumps on back to deal damage.
🐍 Nagas. Breathe and spew toxic miasma and prolonged exposure to it can cause weaker beings to transform into nagas themselves. Archnaga's venom is corrosive in both liquid and gas forms. Can also swallow large objects. 🚩
🕶 Shadows. Shadow-like blobs and tables and headless dancers and things. Fairly weak.
💎 Zeugles. Aggressive genetically enhanced animals; must destroy the core inside to completely destroy them.
🤺 Sword Retrograde Army. Sword tsukumogami summoned for a cause to change history. Generally stronger than normal humans with some spiritual powers.
👹 Demons. Can hide their horns and wings to appear more human, otherwise their true form is more monstrous. They range from committing harmless silly pranks to more violent and murderous. 🚩
🎭 Four Masks. Drains one's sanity until they go berserk with potential to summon Atman (boss).
🔊 Noise. Affect people with weaker willpower and play on their negative emotions or nightmares.
📰 Xeroms. Monsters capable of attacking, infesting and draining emotions dry leaving the victim an empty husk.

B. Solo Bosses. Some nightmares manifest into one singular entity with greater powers and considered a higher leveled "boss." They do not appear as often or in number as the monster mobs and some may be controlled by players.

🍬 Gumball Waterson. Cartoon character turned creepy due to nightmare energy, but still on the sillier side. Body parts morphing or separating from him, getting into weird places, driving invisible cars, surviving crazy falls; basically whatever might be funny at that moment.
👂 Parrah & Nayo. Twin puppets that are not physically strong, but they're very annoying and are the "like to break people by talking" type of antagonist.
🙍‍♂️ Takaya Sakaki. Charismatic but otherwise a weaker enemy capable of standard Persona based magical and physical attacks and capable of summoning nightmare based Personas.
🐀 Rasputin. Can summon minions, destroy things, conceal nightmares within illusions.
🔥 Firelord Ozai. Can bend/generate fire and lightning, strong physical abilities.
🦋 Valentino. A charismatic moth demon capable of controlling smoke and has pheromones that can attract those to him.
🧝‍♀️ Gaea. Goddess of the Earth. Stronger when tethered to Earth. Powers include geokinesis, chlorokinesis (control of plants), creation of sentient life forms, atmokinesis (weather), control of animals, transformation.
🌱 Omega Flowey. Can grow vines, venus flytraps, plant stems that shoot, lots of plant based attacks.
🍐 Sephiroth. Sword fighting proficiency, shapeshifting, ability to cause hallucinations, telekinesis of medium sized objects, minor manipulation abilities, materia magic. Potential lethal backstabs. (Prompts available within FFVII toplevels). 🚩
⚡ Raiden Shogun. Scary lady with lightning based attacks, illusions, large-range attacks.
🤖 Shouki no Kami. Divine Automaton that uses lightning based attacks.
💃 Stella. Vile woman who thrives off mentally and physically tormenting.
👑 Paimon . Stolas' father, a powerful demon capable of shapeshifting, teleportation, grimoire manipulation, projection.
🧣 Ardyn Izunia. Has thirteen weapons at his disposal; can cast powerful magic such as striking down lightning, summoning blizzards, fiery explosions; has the power to heal; and is resilient to physical pain.
⏳ Kronos. God-like strength, specializes in sword combat, tough to take down. Has several types of kinesis magic.
💀 Nyx. Only has one main ability: cast death. However it's a slow windup so can be beaten beforehand. 🚩
😾 Wakaba Isshiki. Large sphynx with a woman's head. Heavy wind, almighty, and physical attacks. There can be riddles that are pertinent to those who engage it.
👮‍♀️ Makima. A woman who looks normal but is actually a Devil of immense strength, enhanced smell, domination, and can force manipulation that can damage weak targets by simply staring at them.
🖤 Atman. A very creepy giant mask that will disappear but then reappear after being defeated.
🤸‍♂️ Vholran. Fights with a waterblade. Acrobatic swordsman, mastery over water-elemental astral energy and can cast high power artes.
🎨 Creed Graphite. A Will Artist (spellcaster) capable of casting spells and summoning and controlling Xeroms.
🎼 Ganon. Hate and hunger for power in physical form. Can corrupt anything with darkness, will only be able to corrupt non-PCs unless players want to do something with that.
🌋 Calamity Ganon. Capable of creating Malice (poison substance that can cause other monsters or bosses to go aggro) and raising other monsters from the dead. Can be destroyed by any type of sealing dreamotion magic.
💔 Xehanorts (multiple). Control darkness and use darkness as a weapon; controlling people to his will by turning them into versions of himself, otherwise known as getting "norted" where victim gains yellow eyes and is controlled to his whims and the darkness in their heart/they will follow their darker side. Darkness meteorites can also be a thing.
➕ Emperor Demitrius (final boss form). Basically heal himself back up to full mid-fight so it will take a few rounds to defeat him.

C. Megabosses. Extremely powerful entities that may not even be defeated by conventional means and instead have powers that affect everyone instead. High chance of death. 🚩🚩🚩

🤖 Diaspora. Half the size of Dragon Island and up in the sky, it can disassemble dreamotion energy and knock someone out into wisp form without dying with a beam of blue goop. Has high regeneration, but will be vulnerable to prolonged attacks.
🐲 Dragons (Voids). Faces of dragons that coalesce in from the sky when they decide to attack with high concentrations of nightmare energy. Zhaitan will be capable of turning those who turned into wisps into noctaere in the form of Void Risen. Mordremoth will just descend and smash into small areas to inflict damage. Kralkatorrik will fire a giant beam of crystal fire breath that will encase anyone and anything in its path into purple crystal, and they must be freed before they turn into noctaere.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[the wall has managed to take a lot of attacks and kratos is helping out as needed to see that it holds up for as long as possible. his attention had been elsewhere briefly so he fails to notice the monsters threatening to break through. zhongli speaking makes kratos turn, first toward zhongli and then toward where the creatures were coming from.

kratos narrows his eyes at the monsters before nodding at the request for defense.]

I can hold them off as long as needed.

[he draws his sword begins to fend this batch off. though there's a significant amount of them, kratos doesn't have too much trouble keeping them back. for now.]

[Zhongli appreciates the covering offensive, because it gives him time to patch up and fortify the sand wall. More glowing patches of Geo-infused sand are becoming visible as he works.]

I should only need a moment longer...

[As Zhongli works, those nightmare beasts continue their assault. Many of them fall to Kratos's blade, but one seems to be rather stubborn, matching Kratos's blows with iron-sharp claws.]

[a moment longer kratos can do. he continues to cut through the easier enemies without breaking much of a sweat.

but one enemy fails to fall quite so easily. it matching blows with him takes him by surprise and causes him to hit back harder. something keeping up this well with him is rare, which makes it all the more important to keep it at bay as zhongli patches the wall. as well as kratos manages to parry its claws, an attack finally connects with his shoulder. it's a sizable wound, but not overly severe and not each to keep kratos from following up with an immediate counter-attack at the creature's torso.]

[That moment is all Zhongli needs to help patch up the last hole in the section of wall in front of him. He turns in time to see Kratos attacking the nightmare creature, though winces as he notices that large wound. The creature in turn takes the hit to the torso, but not before trying to sink its claws into the redhead again.]

[Fortunately for Kratos, now that Zhongli isn't focused on the wall, those claws only manage to scrape against a glowing shield of Geo energy, which shimmers around Kratos and helps stave off that last attack. The monster falls, and Zhongli brushes his suit clean.]

You have my thanks.

[the sudden shield helps with not only finishing off the monster but spares kratos from having additional injuries to deal with, which is nice. one careless injury to heal is more than enough.

when the large one falls, kratos glances around to check if any remain. none. not only has this group of monsters been dealt with, but the wall looks to be fully repaired, too. good. once having confirmed no further threat is around, kratos sheathes his blade before turning toward zhongli.]

You have mine, as well, assuming that shield had been your doing.

Yes, it was. I had finished repairing the wall, and didn't wish to see you suffer any more injuries.

[He dismisses his spear and brushes the front of his suit before looking at Kratos's side.]

Are you hurt? I'm afraid I don't excel in healing magics, but if you require aid I can help you get to a healer.

[the question makes him finally take a look at the injury. while bloody, it's hardly deep and nothing beyond kratos' own abilities to deal with. he holds a hand over the wound. the soft glow a healing arte envelops it and, once gone, the injury is nicely healed up.]

Fortunately, this isn't anything I can't handle.

[kratos turns his attention back over to zhongli once done treating his wound.]

And it seems you were able to repair that breach before anyone else was seriously hurt.

[none of the monsters got too far in and no more are getting in for now. all in all, a job well done!]

[The display of healing magic makes Zhongli's eyes widen a bit, and he nods in approval.]

I did not realize you possessed healing abilities. I am glad; we'll have to conserve our strength for the battles to come.

[When the attention is turned back on him, Zhongli looks up at the wall and the glowing Geo sigils adorning it.]

I am just glad I was able to repair it before further damage was dealt. But now that we have a moment's respite, we should take advantage of it.

[kratos feels similarly. simply because the current threat is dealt with doesn't mean that they can relax.]

Agreed.

[they can at the very least make sure this section of the wall is reinforced to the point that further breaches should be unlikely to occur. as his gaze shifts back over to the wall, it lingers on one of the sigils. while fighting those monsters, he had caught zhongli setting those up, but hadn't had the chance to properly observe them till now. those magical symbols are wholly unfamiliar to him, but it's easy to see they're helping with keeping the wall reinforced.]

Will this magic be enough to keep this part of the wall secure?

[or should they work on further reinforcing it?]

Yes, it should. The earth is my element, and I am able to utilize it as I need. Now that I have been able to infuse the wall with my Geo shields, they should be able to withstand further attack. Even if they do fall under siege again, they will hold for a little while before they crumble.

[His magic wasn't indefinite, but it would be able to withstand further onslaught for long enough to keep others safe, or at least long enough for others to evacuate should the attacks turn severe.]

For now, we should focus on recovering our strength.

[his element, huh? with the confidence that zhongli speaks about it, kratos has little doubt it'll hold the way it's described. with this portion of the wall secure, it'd be good to go check out other sections.]

I'm alright on my end, you needn't wory.

[ignoring the fact kratos is a little worse for the wear after the fighting and healing himself up. maybe he's been on his feet and doing the same for a while now. maybe he's also used up more energy than he'd like. but that's fine. combat is combat and he can take it.]

[Zhongli gives Kratos a curious look at those words, his eyes doing a quick once-over of the red-haired warrior. He is healed, yes, but he does look like he's been in several battles right now. It's what makes Zhongli cross his arms after a moment.]

As eager as you are to rush into battle, you must not overexert yourself. Wars are not one in a single battle, and to wear yourself out only gives our enemies an advantage. You should take the time to rest so that you can rebound and strike with renewed strength.

[He says the words matter-of-factly, like he's seen his fair share of combat and battles before. That probably goes against the gentlemanly businessman appearance that he exudes, but then again he also seems right at home on a battlefield like this.]

[to be on the receiving end of such a lecture rarely happens. usually, it's kratos himself who says similar words to others so it happening to him ends up oddly amusing. kratos quirks a brow as he fully takes in both those words as zhongli. though the clothes aren't the best suited for combat, those words sound as though they come from a place of experience.

a moment passes before he relents and nods.]

...You raise a good point. Very well, I'll take some time rest before returning to the fight.

[he's not one to ignore good advice when given.]

[This man seems a sensible one, and he's proud to see the man willing to accept his advice. Zhongli nods back, lowering his arms.]

I am glad to hear it. I will also take this moment to rest; we do not wish to be caught unprepared in case of another attack.

[Can never be too prepared in a war! And because there's a moment's reprieve, he adds,]

I am Zhongli. You have my thanks for your assistance back there. You're a skilled warrior.

Kratos Aurion. You held your own well as well, both in combat and outside it.

[the whole situation would've been way worse without zhongli. kratos would've had more healing to do and, chances are, the wall would still be in the process of being repaired. speaking of, kratos glances back over at the wall behind them or, rather, at those sigils.]

I've never seen magic quite like this before.

Thank you, Mr. Kratos. Your praise is appreciated.

[Ever polite is Zhongli, even in combat. He looks up at the wall as well, letting out a hum.]

It is something that I admit I came up with quite recently. I have power over the earth and stone, and am able to create shields with my power. I figured, why not try to combine the two abilities while reinforcing the walls? I'm just glad that they worked out well.

[It's a bit of a humble brag, but he's honestly just glad that the sand walls are sturdy now.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

{ battle against the story eater }

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