happy holidays, here is another akechi palace au lore dump as a Boon. This section focuses in on Joker's various side quests :>
Previous parts: [1] [2] [3]
As always additional notes and content under the cut!
VELVET ROOM
Akira’s heart changes quite a lot during his time away, this reflects in the changes to the Velvet Room which is now a Jazz Lounge.
Though no longer a prisoner, he feels like a guest in his own life, something temporary, like a passing patron in a bar. Despite this, Akira actually has a pretty stable sense of self, even with his drifting over the past couple years. As a result he often appears as Joker whilst in the Room.
His love for jazz is directly tied to Akechi and those nights they spent at Jazz Jin. It’s the original reason he started picking up records at vintage shops and secondhand stores.
As this is a softer, calmer iteration of the Room, instead of executions, newly acquired personas become somewhat dubious looking potion bottles when Joker enters the Room, that Lavenza then mixes into various mock-tails and drinks.
Some ingredients for a few of the drinks featured:
* Banshee + Hag = Alraune
* Dis + Freyr + Indun = Freyja
* Balor + Fjalar +Sif/and or Yggdrasil + Berserker + Hellhound = Jormungander & Fenrir (NOTE: can only be mixed at once)
* Fenrir & Jormungander + Sleipnir + Dark Willow = Hel
* Macha + Nehain + Badb Catha = Morrigan
And just for funsies, here's all the drinks next to their respective smt demons!
In addition, this dungeon is especially unique and attracts beings of all sorts on account of it belonging to a Wild Card! Even with a new audience, Akechi is still very popular ♡
Nameless and Belladonna accompany each other on stage, calming the hearts of visitors.
METAVERSE NAVIGATOR
There are two new conditions to activate this MetaNav in addition to the keyword system!
Akira must be looking into a reflective surface when he activates the app. Water is preferable as the entirety of the outer layer of the palace is surrounded by a stagnated ocean.
Akira must physically enter this ‘reflective surface’ and merge with his metaverse self--his mirror image.
He uses a reflective pool in the back of the Tokyo court to enter Akechi’s palace! Though, in the case of locked rooms (of which there are many) he can use a mirror in a pinch.
Unlike Maruki, Akechi isn’t possessed by a god or anything outlandish of the sort! So his palace, thankfully, follows some semblance of established rules with a straightforward route to the “treasure”. It is just unfathomably large for an individual’s palace, a time sink meant to break a malicious infiltrator’s will.
(Un)Luckily for Akechi he has the most stubborn rival in the known Metaverse!
CONFIDANTS
SHIDO MASAYOSHI - VIII Adjustment - Akechi's biological father and former employer. He was given a forced heart change by the Phantom Thieves! Akira only does the bare minimum for this social link to the end of gathering information and furthering his progress in the palace.
SATO FUMIKO - XIV Art - Shido's (and Akechi's) shady accountant, well known for working with yakuza and career criminals. She is highly successful, but spends her nights playing slots at the pachinko bar. She always wins whenever Akira comes to chat. He is her 'lucky charm'.
JOSE - XX The Aeon - A helpful boy who Joker knows from Mementos. His existence and role remains a mystery, though he still gives out god tier accessories!
#project hail mary
#lana del rey
#iron lung
#photography
