Assorted Topics and Events
Apathy Syndrome
Sometimes people grapple with long-term feelings of isolation from others. If this persists, then during the Dark Hour, they may wake up without the protection of their coffin. People without The Potential or a Persona are often drawn to wander, continually caught in a negative self feedback loop of grappling with the idea that they would be better off dead. Those in Tatsumi Port Island are drawn to wander specifically towards Tartarus.
But often people don't make it far. Mindless Shadows prey upon these people, and most Persona users believe it is because the Mindless Shadow has 'devoured' the individual's shadow. While this isn't technically what occurs, the shadow leaves the person's body as a result of the attack. These individuals who survive the attacks by Shadows will inevitably be afflicted by Apathy Syndrome and be unable to function. Mostly these people will stand on the streets and mumble without any drive to care for themselves or do anything else, slowly wasting away. Most politicians and pundits have labeled it a 'social disease' of this generation, and little support has been given to these people by the healthcare community.
Often the media will report that someone with a case of apathy syndrome took action again, only to attempt suicide. However, it's unknown whether these cases accurately reflect apathy syndrome, and if so, why this occurs. It is quite possibly the case that apathy syndrome is misdiagnosed in a great number of people, as mental health professionals have yet to have consensus on the actual criteria for it.
Apathy Syndrome is distinct from a Mental Shutdown in that sometimes people are known to recover. This can occur when the Shadow that devoured the person's Shadow is defeated quickly after the incident--but not always. Sometimes people are just lost until their body finally gives out and they expire, and there's nothing to be done.
While cases of Apathy Syndrome first began appearing Ten Years Ago, largely people are unaware that it's been going on for so long. This is in part due to an effort of the Kirijo Group's immediate cover up of the incident, and part how long it took for the medical community took to acknowledge it as a phenomenon. It has only been acknowledged as a medical diagnosis only in the last five years. The SEBEC Scandal saw a spike in cases of Apathy Syndrome worldwide three years ago, but most prominently in Japan, leading to public outcry against the ruling party.
Change of Heart
A mysterious phenomenon that's only recently come into the spotlight of the Tokyo media, a change of heart in this context is ostensibly an act performed by the Phantom Thieves through an unknown method that causes an individual to 'confess their sins with their own mouth.' This has always followed a notice sent by The Phantoms declaring their intent to bring about that change of heart by 'stealing their distorted desires.' It's a puzzle to the public and police alike what this even means, but the results are unmistakable.
No matter how vile the person might have been before, those who've undergone changes of heart thus far have ended up publicly confessing their crimes and turning themselves into the police in genuinely dramatic and emotional displays of regret, overwhelmed by the crushing weight of what they've done.
The public is currently divided on this turn of events. Many cheer the Phantom Thieves on for rooting out corrupt individuals in society, whereas the second Detective Prince, Goro Akechi, insists he believes it's criminal brainwashing and has swayed a large segment of the Japanese public and media accordingly.
No matter how it's done, the Change of Heart phenomenon can't help but make the powers that be nervous, especially considering its emergence within an epidemic of Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns. It begs them all to ask the question...
...Who's next?
Dark Side of Sumaru
The Dark Side of Sumaru is a site on the dark web that's run by the infamous Rumormonger of Sumaru City, Baofu, and the central hub of the Rumormonger community on the internet in Japan. Here, people can post everything, from the wildest conspiracy theories to speculation from occult hobbyists to real people trying to be whistleblowers and warn people away from the worst 'Black Companies' throughout Japan.
Normal people tend to roll their eyes and pass by that particular forum discussing 'Personas' as too wild for even the biggest conspiracy theory aficionados to entertain. The home page appears to be shut down due to a host server error, with only the bulletin boards still operational. Within it, the top threads contain manifestos that look like the ravings of particularly over-imaginative middle schoolers who've had way too much caffeine and don't touch grass nearly enough.
But that's by design to act as a filter. Go past the top posts and you'll find where the real online community is, with discussions by the community about The Dark Hour, loose efforts to organize against Shadows in various communities every night, supernatural urban explorers making trips to Mementos, discussions of Resonance and various tips, and the hottest supernatural-related Rumors in Sumaru City.
There's rarely a how-to guide on how Personas work or how to get stronger; most attempts to compose one are fully scorned, because what works for one person often doesn't for many others.
There's almost no moderation on these forums ever. Rumormonger Baofu says it's because he's a generous guy who believes in freedom of expression, but many suspect he just likes encouraging people to say a little too much.
Ergonomics Research Institute
A highly secure facility on the island of Yakushima, south of Mainland Japan. Ten years ago it was the site of testing for the majority of the Kirijo Group's most clandestine projects. One test group for Artificial Persona Users was stationed here. The majority of the Anti-Shadow Suppressed Weapons were likewise tested here.
One of Takeharu Kirijo's first acts as head of the Kirijo Group was to suspend most operations at the Ergonomics Research Institute. While it is not permanently shuttered per se, the facilities that remain here are heavily supervised by Kirijo Group auditors.
OOC Minutiae
- While Shuji Ikutsuki was the head of this institute, he rarely showed his face to his experiments, instead delegating this to other scientists. As a result, if you wish to have had a concept that comes from this institute, please do not make yourself one of his direct personalized projects. Knowing he was in charge is absolutely fine.
- The majority of the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons prior to the 7th generation were destroyed here, and their personality module data were absorbed into a certain notable character. As such, even when they open for application, concepts for OC Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons must keep this in mind.
Gozen
The legendary warlord of the land that became Sumaru City, Kiyotada Sumaru, more commonly known as Gozen, is fully the creation of a rumor that resulted in the History Boom within Sumaru City--not that anyone knows it. While he was dug up nearly two decades back by the group that became the New World Order at the site of Honmaru Park, somewhere along the way, the world amended itself to his presence.
Every child in Sumaru City remembers growing up with a reference to his story, although few know it in any great detail. The historians of Sumaru City have been eager to research the sites found in Honmaru Park and the subway system in Narumi Ward, but without any success due to being mired in red tape by the local authorities.
Gozen's head is enshrined in an elaborate ritual chamber aboard the New World Order's warship, the Nichirinmaru. It is there that many of their more esoteric rituals are conducted, which conveys The Mark on both willing and unwilling participants.
Those that receive The Mark from Gozen rarely receive whispers regarding The Other Side, instead offering the commandment of fulfilling the New World Order's aims.
Grand Cross
An event that took place recently in May 2012, wherein all the planets in the solar system aligned. At the time, vague prophecies alluded to an apocalypse caused by the Grand Cross that would bring about the end of the world. Several small doomsday cults arose in Tatsumi Port Island and Sumaru City in response, though none of them could agree on what exactly that apocalypse would be.
To the embarrassment of all of them, the Grand Cross occurred and nothing happened. Now life continues as normal. What was the big deal, anyway?
History Boom
Spurred on by significant archaeological findings in Sumaru City's Honmaru Park and Narumi Ward, the History Boom has been a countrywide phenomenon for the past decade. Politicians and pundits alike have utilized the findings of past eras to spur views of Japanese nationalism, and warhawks that had previously fallen out of favor with the Japanese populace have found more footing.
Feelings of nationalist sentiment predominate as more and more of the elderly agree with the saber-rattlers that perhaps it is time for Japan to form a true military once more. The average child knows the History Boom as a glorification of the era of the samurai, resulting in more and more Japanese period piece media and anime with discreet jingoist messaging.
The Liberal Co-Prosperity Party has consolidated power in the National Diet from the sentiments of the History Boom, with the Foreign Minister Tatsuzou Sudou benefiting most of all from political headwinds of this time.
Innocent Sin Online
A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy MMORPG that's started up ten years ago, in 2002. Currently, the census in game is dwindling due to the ubiquitous presence of gold farmers and scammers, as well as the hesitance of the developers to address the issue due to recent legislation in other Asian countries. Despite this, there is a persistent cult following by gamers who cling to this game for nostalgic comfort despite it going decidedly downhill. Most former players have drifted towards Condemnation of Witchcraft, or CoW, a Western MMORPG that has more modern graphics and debatably better raid content.
OOC Notes
- Innocent Sin Online does have Tatsuya and Maya in it as main characters, but they don't have a family name and only look vaguely similar to their real life counterparts. Maya does indeed say the 'Let's think positive!' line. There is definitely not enough evidence as presented that this is a reference to the Other Side.
- ... Nevertheless, a Tatsuya Suou player might be suspicious as to where it came from. The Innocent Sin cast playing it would have a few Deja Vu moments along the way.
- Innocent Sin Online place in a ruined Tokyo invaded by demons, the main hub is Shinagawa Dungeon. Most technology no longer functions, demanding that humanity channel the power of Demons to defeat the invading forces of hell.
- Many references in the game are Persona English dub references. Lunarvale is present as a location in game. Dancing Crazy is something characters can do. Super Guido is a raid boss. The Persona 1 cast might double take a bit if they fought Super Guido, but given it's 'Evil Buddha' elements, they'd dismiss it rather quickly as just being an odd coincidence.
Joker Killer
One of the strongest Rumors right now is that of the Joker Killer, or as some call it, the Joker Curse. If you dial your own phone number, the line will connect. All you have to do then is say the name of someone you want dead, and the Joker Killer (alternately known among the police as Old Maid) will show up and kill them. Of course, the authorities don't believe a word of this -- it's just a rumor.
But strange killings have occurred in Sumaru City of late.
One of the most recent, most high profile victims is Principal Hanya of Seven Sisters High School. This case has gotten a lot of media attention and prompted heavy speculation on where he'll strike next.
But anyone can know that. All you have to do is pick up the phone and dial.
OOC Minutiae
- Thanks to the counter-rumor, protecting yourself against the curse of the Joker Killer is easy: just have one of the badges from school uniforms of Seven Sisters High School on your person and you'll be safe! The rumor works as advertised... for now.
- If there's a player for Tatsuya Sudou at launch, then this will always be a matter of OOC consent even though he doesn't have a great deal of control over carrying it out ICly. Otherwise, staff will work out the details of what happens by request.
- We encourage players to participate in the Joker Killer Rumor ICly if they want someone in their lives dead. However, one should understand that doing so will have heavy consequences for their character later. If you don't mind spoilers, we recommend you read up on the plot of Eternal Punishment and the Joker Curse.
Kirijo Group
A major Japanese conglomerate that began as a part of the Nanjo Group. Following Kouetsu Kirijo's split with the company, they've managed to maintain amicable relationships. However, there was a period where the company located strange crystals within some Jomon period ruins and what was initially excitement at a find that could revolutionize human life quickly took a darker turn into obsession bordering on religious zealotry.
The result is the tragedy of Ten Years Ago and the creation of The Dark Hour. In the wake of this incident, the Kirijo Group has covered up its involvement from public knowledge, believing that the best way to atone for its sins is to clean up its mess without interference by a government that will have no concept of what happened in the first place. As a part of working towards this goal, the Kirijo Group created SEES. Of course, most of SEES remains mostly unaware of the group's full role in these events.
The current head of the group is Takeharu Kirijo, a serious-minded and seemingly cold individual known for sporting an eyepatch over his right eye; the heiress is his daughter, Mitsuru Kirijo. Given that she's in her final year of high school, a subject of constant discussion within the Group is finding a suitable match for her.
The most well-known branch of it is Kirijo Electronics, which is known ubiquitously as a sponsor on various radio shows and sports teams throughout the area. Many students make use of their electric scooters and motorcycles.
Liberal Co-Prosperity Party
A center-right to right leaning party that currently is the ruling party of the National Diet, the Liberal Co-Prosperity Party was originally rocked with scandals during the era of the Kuramoto Children. Soon thereafter, it began it's rise to prominence as a result of the History Boom that began in Sumaru City.
The party is currently split between it's traditionalist and populist wings, with many understanding implicitly that the current party structure is merely an 'marriage of convenience'. The populist wing spends much of it's time appealing to the masses, and labeling the current ruling party structure as both stagnant and impotent in their inability to handle the fallout of the SEBEC Scandal that in their eyes has resulted in the Mental Shutdowns, Psychotic Breakdowns and Change of Heart phenomenon. As a result, they reap the benefits that ordinarily belong to opposition parties by targeting their own within.
Currently it's holding together as a result of the efforts of Kosei Tawarada, the current party leader, but many pundits are already warily predicting a messy divorce sooner rather than later, and elections as a result.
Mental Shutdowns
A wave of incidents throughout Tokyo where people shut down completely out of nowhere. Their eyes go blank and their body ceases to function. A more gruesome detail, mostly hidden from the public due to its graphic nature, is that black ichor begins to leak out of their eyes, ears, and mouth at the moment of death.
These incidents began roughly two years prior to the start of the game, mystifying both law enforcement and medical professionals. While it is much talked about by pundits who would capitalize upon the incidents for political gain, the public is no closer to understanding the cause.
The true cause of mental shutdowns is the death of a Person's Shadow, typically within the Metaverse. Strega has recently discovered this fact by performing several mental shutdowns themselves while exploring Mementos.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts currently are able to speculate that there is a culprit who has been using The Metaverse to perform mental shutdowns for years, but have little hard evidence thus far.
Some higher-ups within the New World Order will understand that high-profile mental shutdowns are available for a price, but concrete details are scarce for anyone who isn't a part of Tatsuzou Sudou or Masayoshi Shido's inner circles.
Nanjo Group
A Japanese super-conglomerate that originally got its start during the Meiji Restoration in oil and coal. It has since shifted in the post-war era to energy, chemical research, pharmaceuticals, and applied engineering. Known for its success in finding new markets abroad while maintaining excellent domestic relationships, it has survived multiple splits and been considered stronger for it.
Originally the Kirijo Group was a part of it, but its founder Kouetsu Kirijo navigated a disagreement with the prior Nanjo Group head into an amicable divorce that ended up paying dividends for both. Following the SEBEC Scandal, the Nanjo Group ended up acquiring SEBEC, which now no longer exists under that name given how toxic its brand had become. Rumors have followed the group around ever since that they've acquired mysterious occultist technology that they utilize in secret.
Its current heir, Kei Nanjo, doesn't tend to weigh in on Nanjo Group's current activities, though he has been a bit out of touch after spending two years studying abroad in England. He's still expected to take over once he graduates university, which begs the question of what he's doing spending his time in Tatsumi Port Island in a high school dorm!
Phan-Site
The Phantom Aficionado Website or 'Phan-Site' for short, is a website set up for the purpose of spreading support for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts throughout Japan. The site consists of a front page poll with an anonymous comment feed that allows people to post their thoughts on the doings of the Phantom Thieves. Most pertinent however is the ability to submit heist requests for the Phantom Thieves to change someone's heart.
It should be noted that the Phantom Thieves never post on the site, and have never made the claim of involvement in it's running. Nevertheless, the 'Phan-dom' is quite adamant that hearts have been changed as a result of requests posted on the site.
There have been calls by parental groups to have the website taken down, but as of yet Japanese Law Enforcement seems either unwilling or unable to.
OOC Minutiae
- While Yuuki Mishima is the administrator, this isn't known to the public. If there's a player of Yuuki Mishima, they'll control the site. Otherwise any attempts to discern his identity will need to be requested to staff with an intended purpose. It's not especially hard to figure out, but a story that goes beyond just pressing him for their identities would be preferred.
- The Police are not attempting to remove the Phan-Site on orders from the higher ups of the New World Order. This is not known to the rank and file, as it's considered 'beyond their paygrade.'
Psychotic Breakdowns
Often spoken about in the same breath as Mental Shutdowns by pundits and TV personalities alike due to them arising at nearly the same time, psychotic breakdowns are nevertheless distinct in several key ways. Typically a person will, seemingly at random, have an incident of erratic behavior or psychotic violence and go on what appears to be a rampage.
Whether it's stripping naked at their job, crashing the vehicle they're driving, or even a person suddenly committing arson, the lack of an easy pattern has made them seem impenetrable by law enforcement and mental health professionals. The key difference between mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns at this time appears to be that psychotic breakdowns are relatively brief, usually lasting a few hours at most, before the person in question snaps out of it with no memory of the incident. However, the two are easily conflated, because sometimes the psychotic breakdown incidents are quite deadly to the person in question.
Police are often hesitant to prosecute obvious psychotic breakdown incidents given the insanity defense, but for incidents that are more discreet, they're more than willing to claim the perpetrator is simply lying and make any footage of the incidents vanish without a trace. The reason is that rare footage of psychotic breakdowns show the victims with rolled back eyes and alarmingly dark blood pouring from their mouths.
Recently, in April, a high-profile psychotic breakdown occurred in which a subway driver derailed a train, injuring eighty people. This incident forced both the Minister of Transportation and the president of a metro company to take responsibility and resign.
The Phantom Thieves of Hearts have enough information to speculate that there's a culprit committing them at this time, but little hard evidence.
The New World Order's members may have heard that psychotic breakdowns are available for a price, but concrete details are scarce to anyone who isn't a member of Tatsuzou Sudou or Masayoshi Shido's inner circles.
OOC Hooks
- If characters want a psychotic breakdown to have happened to themselves or an NPC in their life as part of their background, then by all means apply for it. It's a great hook for your character or someone in their family or a friend to be harmed or disgraced as a result of a psychotic breakdown! The only stipulation is that they are always crafted to damage a business or politician's reputation and that the person committing the breakdown is almost always collateral damage, rarely ever the actual target.
Revenge Request
A website run by Strega's webmaster Jin Shirato, in which people can request anyone be murdered for a fee. The rates are not available on the site itself. One puts in a request, and the Webmaster sends you an e-mail with the details for delivering their fee. Trying to reply back to the e-mail fails, one either sends the fee, or doesn't.
The URL is hidden to most people, due to a very strong rumor which indicates that keeps the site hidden, spread by the Joker Killer, Tatsuya Sudou. Nevertheless, any Rumormonger worth their salt knows it. Law Enforcement in Japan has put forth no efforts so far to attempt to stop it, chalking it up to an urban legend.
Despite the tension one would think might be caused by the Joker Killer being free, neither Strega's leadership nor the Joker Killer himself seems to mind their coexistence. One might wonder if they know something that everyone else doesn't.
SEBEC Scandal
An incident three years ago that occurred at the Mikage-Cho branch of the Saeki Electronics and Biological and Energy Corporation, or SEBEC for short. As far as most of the public knows, an earthquake caused a lab accident, releasing an experimental chemical into the atmosphere of Mikage-Cho.
This caused a report of a mass hysteria incident within Mikage-Cho, though secretly most Persona Users at the time know it extended much further worldwide and was covered up, a fact given credence by an outbreak of a mental health epidemic within Japan immediately following the incident. The Dark Side of Sumaru has entire threads of discussion devoted to this, but without many specifics of the incident as those who were present have yet to weigh in.
With the death of SEBEC's Mikage-Cho branch president, Takahisa Kandori, at the site of the disaster, President Saeki, an old man in cognitive decline, was forced to take responsibility. He resigned on live TV before being quietly ushered away to his retirement. With their stocks tanking in the aftermath, SEBEC was bought out by the Nanjo Group and no longer exists as a publicly traded company.
The fallout of the incident included lingering depression and suicidal ideations within numerous people who had not previously shown any sign of mental illness, which revealed the inadequacies of the Japanese mental health system in being able to care for a crisis of this magnitude.
To this day, some point fingers at the current administration for the problems Japanese society is facing right now, claiming their failure to address the SEBEC Scandal adequately gave rise to the mental shutdown and psychotic breakdown phenomena.
Snow Queen Crisis
Almost a footnote to the public compared to the SEBEC Scandal, a revolutionary new central air system in St. Hermelin High School, as donated by the Saeki Electronics and Biological and Energy Corporation to the community, underwent a critical malfunction in its liquid nitrogen tank storage system that caused mass hospitalization for hypothermia and frostbite. Some theorize that the chemical released by SEBEC into the atmosphere was the reason for this malfunction.
This combined with the mass hysteria from the scandal itself caused the students to rave about the Snow Queen, a character from a play that had been performed for decades by the school's drama club, trying to kill them all. Still, journalists enjoyed sensationalizing the idea that there really was a 'Snow Queen' killer until the SEBEC Scandal's fallout eclipsed it.
The few Persona User survivors of St. Hermelin High School don't tend to speak of the reality of the incident, perhaps out of fear that their beloved teacher, Saeko Takami, might be blamed by the public for something they all know was not truly her fault.
Ten Years Ago
Ten years ago (relative to the start of Velvet Room MUSH in 2012), an explosion took place at a major Kirijo Group facility in Tatsumi Port Island. This resulted in the release of Shadows, numerous deaths amongst the populace, the worldwide creation of the Dark Hour, and the formation of Tartarus on the site of the former Kirijo lab.
Numerous personal tragedies occurred during this time before the incident inexplicably ended. To this day, no one seems to know how the incident was contained and stabilized. Still, the Dark Hour remains.
Earlier that same day in Sumaru City, a brutal murder of a child occurred at the Alaya Shrine, which has never once burned down. Still, tragic murders happen all the time, so this barely rates a mention in comparison.
Tien Tao Lien
The Tien Tao Lien is a gang within the Taiwanese mafia and one of the New World Order's 'alliances.' Led by a man named Yung Pao, the mafia acts as their arm in the underworld by giving the police plausible deniability about their involvement.
Yung Pao seems to have a grudge against the New World Order's leadership, but still complies obediently with their orders anyhow. One thus might wonder: what do they have on him?
Wang Long Fortune-telling
Wang Long fortune-telling is a feng shui-based style of fortune-telling where one uses the movement of the twelve Guardian Dragons sent from the Heavens to predict the future, purported to be highly accurate. It's reported to be an energy flow, somewhat similar to leylines, and the energy you put out into it comes back to you. In other words, if you're good, good things will happen, and if you're bad, you'll get your comeuppance.
"Wang Long" Chizuru popularized it in Sumaru City and the greater Tokyo metropolitan area when she did several readings on a TV show about fortunes. All of her predictions came true, and now the public is chomping at the bit to get their fortunes told, either by her or other fortune-tellers using the same method. People with even a basic understanding of it can attempt to tell their own fortunes, though their results may be mixed.
The twelve Guardian Dragons correspond to the months of the year, and have different colors and associations. They govern over those born within that year and supposedly share attributes with them; in this way, it's not unlike the Western Zodiac. Some dragons have an affinity with certain other dragons, while others vibe poorly with each other. This makes Wang Long particularly popular for romantic compatibility readings.
Guardian Dragons
The guardian dragon for each month is the...
January: Yellow Dragon, which protects balance. You are responsible and patient.
February: Blue Dragon, which prefers reform. You are intellectual and calm.
March: White Dragon, which rules the emotion. You are warm-hearted and easily moved to tears.
April: Scarlet Dragon, which leads battle. You are rash, hasty, and stubborn.
May: Gold Dragon, which protects the world. You are realistic and reasonable.
June: Navy Blue Dragon, which gives rise to liberation. You are lively and witty.
July: Light Dragon, which values morals. You are sensitive and caring.
August: Red Dragon, which rules passion. You are confident and adventurous.
September: Black Dragon, which grants wisdom. You are earnest and enthusiastic.
October: Silver Dragon, which protects moderation. You are artistic and pacifistic.
November: Moon Dragon, which creates mysticism. You trap passion inside your heart.
December: Purple Dragon, which honors justice. You are honest and wish to be free.
Affinity Chart
| Dragon | Good | Bad |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow Dragon (January) | Gold | Silver |
| Blue Dragon (February) | Navy Blue | -- |
| White Dragon (March) | Moon | -- |
| Scarlet Dragon (April) | -- | -- |
| Gold Dragon (May) | Yellow, Black | -- |
| Navy Blue Dragon (June) | Blue | -- |
| Light Dragon (July) | White, Moon | Red |
| Red Dragon (August) | -- | Light |
| Black Dragon (September) | Gold | -- |
| Silver Dragon (October) | Purple | Yellow |
| Moon Dragon (November) | White, Light | -- |
| Purple Dragon (December) | Silver | -- |
Joka
There is a thirteenth dragon who does not correspond with any month and stands opposed to the twelve guardians. It's known as Joka, the death dragon. It comes and goes on its own schedule and consequently can appear at random on a person's Wang Long chart. When it appears, bad luck and extreme misfortune will infest a person's life, though fortunately not for all eternity. There's nothing they can do about this; they just have to tough it out until the Joka has passed.
While Joka can appear at random, it is also called forth by Kegare--negativity, sin, and other bad energies--and releases it in turn. The other dragons hate Kegare and, according to legend, they will rise up to destroy it where it appears in sufficiently massive quantities.