imeeji_backstage | event: maintenance hell

Hello, this is the start of our August event: Maintenance Hell! This will be running from August 3rd to August 16th. How will this work? Well, come take a look!

How did this happen? What's going on?
Someone punched a hole into Tokyo F, which unrelated characters saw as a shooting star. We won't name any names though.

Because the city is damaged - or maybe just because this was ~planned all along~, absolutely believe us, says trustworthy source Pythia and her people - it's undergoing maintenance. In the meantime, while they're getting things worked out, your characters have been ~~dumped~~ taken to Hell! (This is temporary, which is known IC if you can believe what the shadow girls are saying, but how long this is lasting for is not.)

Your character will start in Liar Hell or Vengeance Hell - possibly with some ~new additions~ to better fit in with the locale(?).

Do you mean corruptions?
Yes, we mean corruptions. Here are some ground rules:
• Most all physical corruptions are permanent. If you start out in Vengeance Hell, it's absolutely permanent. (Mental corruptions can be switched out for physical corruptions, though not the other way around.)

• If you start out in Liar Hell, the corruptions may be temporary (OOC choice!): as the local denizens expect you to also have demonic features, and Liar Hell is a very special place in particular, now you've got them! The power of suggestion and a few real corruptions seeded amongst you work wonders.

• Whether it's permanent or not is up to you, but again, if you start out in Vengeance Hell, it is for sure permanent.

• You can choose any corruption you like OOC - this is not decided IC - but remember the golden rule: corruptions cannot be boons, and they cannot infringe upon existing unit abilities. That is, you can't have "turning into a wolf on command" as a corruption.

• The list of corruptions are examples. You can choose something that's not on the list if you desire!

OK that's cool, now what? What can I do in this event?
A number of things! The Producers are trying to keep this under wraps, and you can't revolutionize the world or anything, but you can do these things:
• Enjoy the commercial break! There are no cameras, no constant surveillance, no nothing like that - pressing the Live button won't do anything either. Hotel information will be provided with the setting info below!

• Explore your new surroundings! We will not be running game-wide things modside for the majority of this event, so you can assume that XYZ locations and such exist within the boundaries we've set for you. Go wild with it!

• Gather information! Things are pretty weird, after all! Again, we won't be running any game-wide things, so we've set up information (both helpful and unhelpful) for your characters to gather should they seek it out, however they do. Sidle up to a demon and chat with them, try using force, whatever. (Probably don't try using force.) Remember to pace yourselves. This event will be running for two weeks! There's no need to learn everything day 1!

• Catch up with old friends! That's right, dropped characters and Hell graduates can play in this event! I mean, they're here after all. This is Hell!
For dropped characters: if your character dropped to go do another show, go read the section on Liar Damned. Your character is in that state! If they're part of a more popular show, they can be basically as they always have been, their audience knows them well enough for them to have their "image" intact. Or, if you want to have the monochrome disease, be a weird silhouette, or have memory problems, they can be on a less popular show! Whatever is fun for you.

If your character dropped via dying, they might have ended up in any of the other territories, and you can play with the Vengeance damned option, or go look at this last bit of information and play them as in more or less the same state as an audition. They'll have a vague memory of bad stuff like any classical hell punishment like endless elevator with people they hate or burning alive, with any corruption you like.

For Hell graduates: assume that you're demons! Because you probably are. Coming in/out on business trips, you know how it goes. Obviously, Hell graduates can't take active/dropped idols out of Hell.

All Hell graduates start out in Vengeance Hell, as per their current faction, but they can travel to Liar Hell provided they filled out the extremely incredibly boring paperwork themselves and got a pass that way.

• Play around with hosts! I mean, this is their home after all, so you can talk with them off the clock! Gamerunner NPC players, you can play with this as much or as little as you like.

• In General, Stuff: there isn't a single demon or damned out there that has the motive or power to help with like, trying to break the setting or anything, but besides that you guys can sunite about as you like! Hell is your oyster, and you've got two of them right here. Just comment here if you're trying to do anything with the mysterious meteor or otherwise doing something you think the mods should know about!

What stuff do my characters have? How can they get stuff? What about powers? What about my phone?
Obviously, nothing in Hell is free. And your characters may have the clothes on their backs and whatever they were holding on their persons on Night 143, but their points are useless out here in Hellworld - so how do they get things?

Well, how else do you get something from someone if you don't have money? Favors, of course! Play with this how you like: X demon said I could have a vanilla bean sundae if I did the dishes or Y demon promised I could have those really nice shoes if I gave them some of my hair. The only rule with clothing is this: If your character tries to wear clothes that aren't to their unit's style, they will start fading from sofaform disorder rapidly. Hybridizing is still OK, but remember, you can only exist because people can pick you out from the thousands of damned that live here, so you need to really sell that unit look!

You can generally assume that Liar Hell demons are more amenable to idol-like tasks or products, whereas Vengeance Hell demons don't care all that much. There are more idol fans in Liar Hell than Vengeance Hell, it seems!

As for powers: they are on! Your phone functions like it normally does, except for the Live button. That's not working right now. As for points and buying things with points, those still work, but there is no mailbox so you can't pick up anything material. That means you can still buy powers, memories, and phone apps, but nothing else. (I mean, you can still buy them, but they'll just be sitting there waiting in the mailbox for the 2 OOC weeks sooooo)

This all looks really cool but what if I can't play? I'm too busy these next two weeks!
No problem! In that case, you can have your characters be taken to another show like a regular hiatus would be, or you can just have them . . . autopilot. Quite literally, autopiloting as an ~idol on tour~, like their identity and consciousness have dulled. They won't be shaken out of it until you're ready to resume play. Spooky.

Is there a way to cross over to Liar Hell if my character is in Vengeance Hell, or vice versa? Or am I stuck with what I choose?
You aren't stuck with what you choose, but there is a price to pay: travel between the two Hells can only be done via train, and only if you have a pass. How do you get a pass? Well, your character will have to find a demon to grant you permission and submit paperwork on your behalf. Super easy! And the price?

The character's true name.

(As in, they tell the demon their true name. Not like, they give it up like Ariel gives up her voice.)

If your character doesn't remember their birth name, they can give the name they identify with as their true name. If your character takes this option, please make a note of it!

I have another question that wasn't covered!
Great! Ask away over here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The city in Liar Hell you have been relocated to is, like Tokyo F, based on the Tokyo city grid. In many places, looking at the real Tokyo is your best guide around it, as you see analogues of locations: a movie theater in the human realm is a movie theater here, but the movies shown differ, as do the patrons, as does the aesthetic. . . but still, there is a movie theater.

That said, many office buildings and government buildings are now, instead, film locations. Inside those, the sets might be set to look like most anything-- a set with everything in black and white, with the actors all in black and white make-up so no color leaks through, instead of filming with black and white film. Sets that look like the wild west, sets that look like Edo, game-show stages, etc.

The territory also expands far beyond Tokyo, but characters will find security will come and pick them up and return them to the hotel they're staying at if they attempt to go too far abroad-- your show hasn't been cancelled, you're just out for a brief break.

-

Liar Hell's Tokyo is busy, bright, and contorted. Everything glows, all the windows blazing with kaleidoscopic light, high-rises done up with stained glass and wrought iron instead of impassive reflective surfaces and steel. The further up you look, the more they twist in your perception, becoming spiraled spires and gothic arches that create neon silhouettes. The sky above is in a perpetual night sky, but the stars wander like planets and airplanes rather than staying still in their orbits. In other words, the kind of place that gives you a headache.

Once you get past the extremely eye catching stairs up into the building, the hotel ceiling looks like the vaults of a gothic european church, repainted and repurposed as a nightclub with violet lights glowing and illuminating the arched beams, and light streaming from a jewel-like multi-faceted light in the ceiling's central dome. Above the automatic sliding door you enter through are windows of stained glass that show scenes of people paying tribute to the sun, and windows that are just television screens, showing iconic scenes of hell movies: there's the fall of Lucifer, there's a Romeo and Juliet-like tragic love between an angel and a demon, a heroic war scene valorizing the demon on screen, etcetera. The front desk will hand you the keys to your room, and a map of the building. Looks like you have the usual hotel amneities of an ice machine on your floor! There's a nightclub too, on the basement level. Your rooms, for better or worse, are in the same sort of aesthetic. You haven't been grouped by unit, but instead randomly assigned doubles or singles-- whatever the hotel had room for, it looks like.

(OOCly, you can decide to room with whoever you like, as long as they're also staying at the hotel in Liar Hell!)

Edited 2019-08-04 02:18 (UTC)

The Damned

Liar damned appear as silhouettes or as monochrome people-- and, on some very rare occasions, people in full color. The damned in Pythian territory are kept from falling into the abyss by the belief and attention of other humans. They rely on their Images to keep from fraying, but people are also in some sense hemmed in by their images: those that defy them cannot gather strength from them and will grey out. Those that exist as only silhouettes are largely humans who do not exist as part of a show, but still have enough human connections that they're able to exist-- it's important to be social in Pythia. Or, participate in fandom, I guess. This probably answers some questions about some of your fanmail, and why people willingly watch low-quality shows. The damned in Liar Hell have a pretty good chance of recognizing your characters, also. You're not as popular as like, Game of Thrones is, but you're not an unknown show either.

Demons

Many of them look fairly human or angelic, with some that have more leonine or bird-like features. With the domain's power relying on belief, they tend to like humans though how much depends on the individual demon. The typical powerset of a Pythian demon allows them to manipulate the thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions of others. But there are also some variations amongst the Pythians, of those whose powers work differently due to honestly believing they work differently, and their self-delusion and power being strong enough to enforce their will upon the world and giving them those powers. Unlike the damned who need to convince others to believe in and be aware of them, demons have their own power with which to imprint upon the world-- which means a lot of them have a problem with self-delusion, identity, and denial. Of the demons who are actors, there are quite a few who believe themselves honestly to be whatever their current role is, even off-screen. The demons are less likely to recognize you than the damned, but some definitely watch your show as junkfood TV.

If you manage to get a demon to talk, they might tell you some pretty few things . . .

Pythia is a messenger of God, and God told her to serve Hell so she could bring about the true rebirth of Heaven. Pythian territory will become Heaven in the coming days.

Pythia still serves Apollo, the real God she's always served rather than the pretender who stole his heavenly throne and silenced his voice.

Pythia's demons take the form of angels because they hide actual angels amongst their number, making good camouflage for those who fled during Heaven's siege.

Pythia is more powerful than Lucifer, and that's why he doesn't stop her from advertising her status as priestess and voice of God-- she can just tell him he doesn't stop her because he thinks it's funny, and he'll believe that's true.

Asmodeus used to be a lord of lust-- and became Prince of Vengeance because Lucifer had more use for him this way.

Asmodeus cozied up to Belial because the transgressor might make him a real demon.

Most inhabitants of Liar Hell are devout in their religion and say God is everywhere, the Messenger speaks His word, and Heaven is upon us. But if you speak to demons or Damned that have been in Pythia's Hell for some time, they'll tell you - that the territory has changed over time, with the stained glass and the pews and the servitors of the Oracle growing feathered wings. Surely, they say, it's a sign of God's acceptance of their devotion.

Maybe God isn't here now, maybe God isn't here yet, but with enough time and prayer, He will be.

The following information must be sought out intentionally on the matter of the meteor:
Whispers are that the meteor crash-landed near the prison, although almost immediately afterwards the Oracle had come down Herself to retrieve it. As for what it was - well, what else could it have been, but a missive from God for the Messenger? It's nearly time now, Heaven will soon be upon us - !

Root around further and you might hear something about something left behind by the missive. A lost book, the newest instructions from God - but these accounts aren't consistent. Was there really a book? Where did this book go? What did it look like? Did Pythia really pick it up? Did anyone see that happen?

Edited 2019-08-11 06:47 (UTC)

event: maintenance hell

LIAR HELL

CITY LAYOUT & AESTHETICS

HOTEL

INHABITANTS

RUMORS