#amchalice2025

[of-ostia]

The darkness of the tower is followed by bright, blinding light.

And when he enters it, Hector finds himself by himself. Well, no—not quite. Linoan, Darios, Sara, and Karla are no longer by his side, but Hector is not alone. From the light emerges a small form dressed in whites and golds, cherubic face framed by lemon-yellow hair in messy ringlets. Her piercing gaze peers into the man from where she stands.

"You left." She says.

The girl fiddles with the hem of her dress. "What did you come here for, anyway?" She asks, caught somewhere between curious and apprehensive. Almost childishly sheepish, she cants her head so that she can look at him out of the corner of her eye. "Are you mad at me? Is that it?"

Momentum catapults Hector through the tower's door. His first steps into the world outside are stumbling, his feet fighting to propel him forward, then fighting to slow him down. The threat is gone—and so are his allies.

And the tower.

And..everything.

Harsh light blots out everything but the form before him. His squint shifts into a frown of bleary confusion, then frustration—frustration at her question, at the fact that he can't tell whether the other are all right, and most of all, at his continued helplessness.

"I'm mad, all right. Mad at whoever locked us in that blasted tower." He makes no move to approach her, not while their surroundings are a complete mystery. He jabs a thumb over his shoulder at where the tower should have been.

"Why the hell would I stay in a place that wants me dead?" he throws back at her. "What about you? What are you doing here when that giant fox is running around?" His tone is harsh even as he asks after her safety, unable to keep the edge out of his voice or his tense posture.

For as on edge as he is, though, he's got enough of his bearings to realize that some topics aren't meant for a child. If she's already apprehensive at his mood, then telling her about an execution would likely scare her off, and he needs all the answers he can get right now.

[theofficersacademy]

　　　　　　　Ninian Karla Hector Rowan Darios 　 Camilla Sharena Sara Ivy Python 　 Lyon Edelgard Linoan Hapi Yuri

WEEK 1: The First Eve DURATION: Until 11:59PM EST on Friday, August 8 TEAM TAG: #AMChalice2025

What good is a cup with nothing within?

On the church's orders, you have been sent into that fateful mirror to find a prisoner sealed within for years upon years. So long has it been that they have little they can tell you of her beyond the barest of basics: a woman they refer to as the Chalice is your target on this eve. Those asking anything beyond that were met with little—her name, her appearance, and where she might be have all been lost to time. All your superiors had been able to provide you was a single warning:

Be sure not to get too close.

The Sun

Ninian Python Rowan Camilla Sharena Ivy Lyon Edelgard Hapi Yuri

When you open your eyes, you find yourself on the ground. There's not a cloud in the sky, and in spite of that, you find yourself a bit cool.

The grass beneath you is long, and the dewdrops that dot it make it sparkle beneath the unrelentingly bright sun. Distantly you hear the chirping of cicadas, and the running of a nearby river. Looking down, you realize something different about yourself: regardless of what you came in wearing, you are now clad in all black.

In the distance is an ivory bell tower, so tall that were there clouds in the sky it would surely cut through them. Beyond it there is nothing, the horizon seems to stop short, and that is how you realize that you haven't spotted a cloud because you are above them. But before you can take too much longer to look at your surroundings, you realize that you are not alone. A woman stands looking over the group of you, brows quirked in curiosity.

"Now, when did you all get out here...?"

WHAT YOU KNOW:

You know just enough to know how little you know. You are looking for your Lady Chalice, and unless there is some kind of mistake, you imagine she must be here.

You entered the mirror a group of 15, and now you are a group of 10. That is not an especially promising start—but at least you haven't found any startling pools of blood anywhere.

Walking away from the hamlet proves to you what you may have suspected: you are on a landmass floating in the sky. Rivers flow off of it like waterfalls, clouds float underneath it. You have never been closer to the bright warmth of sun than you are now, and yet you are cooler than ever. It doesn't extend all too far out from the bell tower at its center point.

WHAT TO DO:

The woman before you introduces herself as Evette. She seems amenable to talking, so it may be worth sticking around to listen before taking your leave. You know very little about where you are and what you are looking for, and if you are lucky, she may be able to help.

You look to have woken up in a field on the edge of a hamlet that surrounds that impossible-to-ignore bell tower. A short walk from here, you see a scattering of buildings and croplands: from signage alone, you see an orchard, an inn, a ranch, and an all-ages school. Surely, there must be people living in and manning these spaces—perhaps someone has seen one of your missing companions or the woman you are looking for. If not, it may still be worth getting to know your surroundings.

(The people here that you talk to will use this blog to interact via threads, so following it is advisable.)

The tower calls to you. The tower calls to you. The tower calls to you.

Stick together. Cooperate. Collaborate. You are encouraged to get to know one another. You do not know what you are up against, but you can know who you are up against it with.

The Dark

Darios, Linoan, Sara, Hector, Karla

When you open your eyes, you find yourself on the ground. It is damp, cold, and hard beneath your back.

Through the darkness you can tell only a couple of things: you are indoors, surrounded by stone walls. So quiet is it that you can hear the thrum of your own heartbeat. You can only assume that wherever you are, it is ancient. Moss grows through cracks where it can. Roots and vines find purchase where by all means they should not. On rare occasion, beams of sunlight filter in overhead through faults in the ceiling.

And creeping across your back is the hair-raising sixth sense that, if you stay here, the five of you will not be alone for long.

WHAT YOU KNOW:

It is dark, it is cold, and you are not alone.

You entered the mirror in a group of 15, and now you are a group of 5. You know not whether or not the rest of your allies are in here. You're not sure whether it would be better or worse if they were.

In spite of the circumstances, something compels you to keep your eyes peeled. You feel as though something is missing—but checking your belongings, everything is accounted for.

A fortunate gap in the wall informs you that you are not on the ground floor. In fact, the sky stretches around you. If you want out, you will need to descend.

WHAT TO DO:

Escape from your current confines, and find the rest of your allies, and most importantly of all: survive. This week, you all will be playing The Tower From Hell To Heaven. Familiarize yourself with the rules. You have until the end of the event week to escape.

Each player action must be a dash post. You are recommended to keep these posts short to keep the game moving—200 words or less. If you linger, be warned that there may be consequences.

It is encouraged that you let your team know what times you will be around. It is also encouraged that you let your teammates roll for you in your absence to keep things moving. If more than 8 hours passes between posts on the dash, be warned that there will be consequences.

Come see me. Come see me. Come see me.

If you have any questions, ping Mod Cecil.

[scarletplain]

It was all so... confusing. Disorienting as it was, he is somewhat glad to awake and see Karla well though... her attire has changed? Surely he hadn't rested his eyes for that long? It hardly felt like he rested them at all.

"Karla," he says as he steps over to her. This wasn't the monastery... had the rest of their group found them after their run in at the tower. "Are you alright?" It might be best to find Linoan or Sara to check in on her...

Now that Linoan is pulled away from her, Karla leans forward with no direction, seeking something to support her weight blindly. Darios comes at just the right time, but — to take his assistance feels almost wrong, like she should be the one protecting him. Perhaps it’s because something about him reminds him of her brothers. It’s that kindness, she’s sure, and that darkness, hardly shrouded, hardly hidden...

A shaking hand goes to her chest, where a wound still festers, still bleeds, still throbs and aches at her. “I— need to... dress my wound,” she admits, breathless, dizzy with it. “And... rest... But then I... should be fine.” The world around them is painted with a setting sun... So they’ve been here a full day? Karel would be getting worried... she needs to be getting home... Ah, focus, focus on what’s in front of her...

“Are you alright? You didn’t... get injured, did you?” Her eyelids are so heavy, she can barely look over him. He’s dark, shadowed... Ah — she stumbles against him, finally.

[sybellion]

"Rowan!"

Words can't describe the relief that washed over him and he rushes to take his friend into his arms. He was glad to have caught him in the inn hallway before he went mad running around trying to find him.

"Where..." No, he was the one that was lost. Their group of five had been split off from the original fifteen. "The tower. We were thrown into the tower and made to escape some beast that seemed intent on taking us down."

He sighs and his shoulders fall slack. "I'm glad... you've been safe, right?"

As if keen to challenge his already confused mind, the world changed within a blink of an eye. Once sitting tall and proud above surrounded by a vast sunny blue, now the sun seemed to slowly make its way towards the horizon bathing the island in warm pastels- but something felt off amidst the seemingly gentle sunset. The ground felt strained, weighted down by an unknown weight. Worry filled the atmosphere, vegetation seemed to slowly suffer.

Rowan almost thought this was just another vision, a disturbingly long one at that, until he noticed his own clothes had changed as well- all while he had no memory of ever getting new ones in the first place. Deep blacks were now replaced by gleaming white fabric, much closer to what he used to wear back in Aytolis, but just as unsettling to the young king. As he rushed out of the inn he also took notice of how citizens, once neutral if not slightly suspicious of his presence, now treated him warmly.

Thoughts trailing back to his conversation with Python and previous visions were however interrupted by a voice that struck him like a wall of bricks, his head turning so fast it almost made him dizzy. 

“Darios!”

He hadn’t forgotten- if anything throughout his entire time running around the ranch or talking to Evette, Rowan kept thinking back to their missing friends- and if he were to be selfish, thinking about Darios specifically. How he seemed to just up and vanish as soon as they arrived, sending crashing waves of anxiety towards his already racing heart- though it all disappeared as soon as he felt his friend’s warmth enveloping him again.

“You- you look…” Tired, beaten up. “I knew that tower had something with you guys disappearing! I knew it!” He didn’t expect a beast, however. Suddenly Enliron’s weight on his holster felt much more present. “We kept trying to figure out how to get to it or how to open the door but nothing worked so we focused on setting down a base…at least so we’d all have somewhere to go to as soon as we found you all.”

Rowan nodded fervently. “I’m doing just fine! If anything…too fine. Nothing really happened with us until now, I was helping out Python deliver some milk to the inn and find more of this little gemstone here since it seems to react to the tower for some reason…compared to you guys, we were doing pretty much nothing here.” A gloved hand then showed him the clover gem, its color still a gentle green- but Rowan’s interest in it was almost none as he quickly placed it back on his pocket and just brought Darios close again, a palm cradling the back of his head and his face hidden behind a shoulder clad in black.

“I’m just…I’m glad you’re back…” He tried to hold back a cracking voice but to no avail. “I was so worried…you’re not going anywhere now! You’re staying with me!”

[ninisdance]

a rift widened by one’s own hand.

Week 3 / The Outdoors Reunion

[theofficersacademy]

　　　　　　Ninian Karla Hector Rowan Darios 　　　　　　 　Camilla Sharena Sara Ivy Python 　　　　　 　　Lyon Edelgard Linoan Hapi Yuri

WEEK 3: The Final Eve DURATION: Until 11:59PM EST on Thursday, August 28 TEAM TAG: #AMChalice2025

Before your very eyes, the Tower has been cleft in two after bright, blinding light. It seems as though it will collapse entirely, bringing everything down with it—but the moment you imagine the inevitable, the sun goes out, leaving the world in a perpetual night. And as though time has frozen for the tower alone, that split half hangs midair at an eerie tilt.

Something in the fabric of the universe snaps. Time itself—forged here though it may be—is sent careening forward at a breakneck pace. The rise of an idol, the fervent devotion of her people, the growing concern of one immune, and eventually,

her abduction,

and the complete chaos of loss.

The Hamlet Collapsing:

Ninian, Karla, Hector, Darios, Camilla, Sara, Python, Edelgard, Linoan, Yuri

The master designer rips her strings from the puppets here, leaving them bereft of love, bereft of warmth, and most of all, bereft of mercy.

What are left are weapons of self-defense. Through the dark of utter night, torchlight dances as humanoids-but-not-humans search the town in crazed fervor, spouting half-recalled sentiments and vaguely-remembered quips. Long since has the orchard succumbed to nothingness. The world rescinds at its edges.

There is only one space left safe: the remains of the base of the Tower.

WHAT YOU KNOW:

The world collapses around you, gobbled up by nothingness. The tower is all left that is sacred will remain.

Karla, Hector, Darios (now dressed in grey), Sara, & Linoan remain at the inn. The trek to the tower would no doubt be a dangerous one. You must move in the cover of night, lest you be discovered.

Ninian (now dressed in grey), Camilla, Python, Yuri, & Edelgard stand at the top of the base of the tower. The 'people' here cannot see them, but there is certainly something left that can.

If you reunite, you will certainly be stronger.

Evette is nowhere to be found. Overhead, you see a blinding white shadow soar towards the spire hanging.

WHAT TO DO:

Form groups to escape to the tower. All groups should be 2-3 muses in size. Linger in any place for too long, and it will be safe no longer.

At the end of every Hour (in-game time), the opportunity to regroup will be presented. As such, threads should be expected to be short and conclude within the timeframe presented. Chatplay is acceptable for those who prefer it.

It is recommended not to let your character reach 0 VP. You know not what the consequences are.

If you will not love me, then you have no place here.

The Toppling Spire:

Rowan, Sharena, Ivy, Lyon, Hapi

Adaline, too young to possess eyes with such deep longing as she does, passes the box to the one who has agreed to carry it. 'If you are here, it must either be to free me, or to put me out of my misery', she states, sorrowful. 'You are no one I know, so I can't imagine it's the latter.'

'My body is at the top of that tower. I cannot take you the whole way there,' the says, sounding mournful, 'but I can take you to where it has split. My diary should work as a springboard.'

She closes her eyes, and like a dandelion blown by the wind, she disappears. 'Hang on tight.'

WHAT YOU KNOW:

Adaline's magic has brought you to the base of the upper half of the tower. It leans midair, but gravity acts as though it stands upright.

On occasion, a tremendous rumble shakes the tower to its very foundation. It crumbles at its new base. You will need to move quickly.

Beneath your feet is a sigil. Your steps glow a faint blue as you walk, tracing your path.

It cannot be seen but by occasional candlelight on the walls, but Sharena is dressed in white. Lyon and Ivy are dressed in grey.

Of course, you cannot descend. The only way is up.

WHAT TO DO:

Ascend as high as you can. This week, you all will be playing The Tower In Free Fall. Familiarize yourself with the rules. You have until the end of the event week.

Each player action must be a dash post. You are recommended to keep these posts short to keep the game moving—200 words or less. If you linger, be warned that there may be consequences.

It is encouraged that you let your team know what times you will be around. It is also encouraged that you let your teammates roll for you in your absence to keep things moving. If more than 8 hours passes between posts on the dash, be warned that there will be consequences.

Together, we can finally be whole.

[pillarofopenness]

"Is it so bad?"

It's the first time Sharena has heard this voice, but it sounds familiar, anyway. Feminine, soft, and with every word as though it wavers between sure and unsure.

It comes after that box is handed over to its chosen owner, from that girl to he whom has been entrusted with it. There is something at its core that rings similarly to the voice of that little girl, but she does not speak, and nor has any new party joined you.

It must be Sharena's own thoughts, then.

"To recognize the natural order of things? Ignoring them won't make them change," She hums, sounding matter-of-fact in her assessment. Sharena sees nothing, but the sound shifts from her left ear to her right, as though she is being circled. "Laughing is all we can do, isn't it?"

Sharena gasps, eyes flying wide open as her gaze frantically darts across the room. The noise is so subtle, so soft, in another scenario she likely would’ve brushed it off as nothing. A trick of the wind, maybe, were she anywhere else. Had she not seen and heard the things she hasn’t in what was in truth only hours prior, but at this point feels like days.

There is no reaction from anyone else, even as the voice continues in its… mockery? Bargaining? No movement of mouths that would in any way form the words that echo through her mind. Yet what frightens her most of all isn’t the revelation it’s all in her head — no, she’s grown ‘used’ to that by now. Come to accept it with Darios and Karla’s reassurances that she is still her, an echo of her brother’s words that had brought her so much comfort in the past.

What scares her is that she, whoever she may be, is right.

She can’t blame the fox for eating the rat, it needs to do so to survive. It can’t change what it is, it has no control or say over what it has to do. Nobody does. 

“There is a difference between nature and cruelty.” The naturally loud voice of the Askran comes out a low whisper, head lowering as she turns away from the others as to not disturb them with the conversation only she can hear. It’s a difference she’s seen firsthand, in death. In Hel. A natural process taken far beyond nature, by a person who did nothing but laugh in the wake of its terror.

But it was in death, that there was another, kinder way. That there was Eir. Nature cannot be changed, that much is true — No matter how much she cried, pleaded, tried to ignore the truth, her father was still claimed by death. But it can still be accepted, as a friend. Only then, did things begin to get better.

“You don’t have to be this way.” Sharena lifts her head, whispering words of hope now to the sky, rather than ones of despair to the ground. The princess may not know the struggles of the girl in her head, but friendship and acceptance can overcome even death… then maybe, just maybe, it can overcome that hunger, too? “You aren’t alone in this, whatever ‘this’ may be. We don’t have to be enemies. We’ll be here for you — I’ll be here for you.” 

She doesn’t know where the voice is coming from. She doesn’t know if the girl can even hear her answer, let alone see her face. Yet still, she hopes. Still, she smiles. Even if the voice isn’t truly here with them for her to offer the hand, still she lifts it to her chest, and offers her heart.

“There is always another choice. Would you… like to make a better one, with me?”