[ EV | F1-F29 ] Fatal Error - Act 1

[Cardinal 0]

The rumors that a scout had made it to the labyrinth on Floor 29 spread like wildfire, and all of Aincrad’s player base waited with baited breath for any news of its completion. To most it was just another day at the office, but for those who had their heels dug in on the untamed Floor 29, things would be anything but normal. Even more so considering it was filled with eldritch abominations.

The swordsmen and women that were fighting on the frontlines quickly would become overwhelmed as waves of these blighted and grotesque mobs charged with a renewed vigor. They seem to be under the command of new humanoid figures of living glass that seem fixated on a very unique target, Teleport Gates.

As it stands, Aincrad has fallen into some sort of apocalyptic event, possibly triggered by the labyrinth search. Across the entirety of the floating castle, players of all walks of life find their vision immediately interrupted by a new quest panel titled simply <<Fatal Error>>-

SUMMARY
The labyrinth search has concluded, but the guardian is nowhere to be found. More concerning - all that the scout found inside the boss room was a broken stone and a dead dragon. The door to the 30th Floor remains locked.

Upon making this discovery, a new quest appeared in every Players’ log. Titled simply “Fatal Error”, it explained that the Sword of Kings had been removed from its rightful place. Until it was returned, the path forward would remain blocked, and the corruption would continue to spread. No other information was provided.

Unsurprisingly, the new quest prompted a flood of Players to Floor 29. These individuals were quickly swarmed by the floor’s monstrous mobs, but also a strange new creature that spawned in with the quest’s appearance. Labeled as “Spectral Knights”, these long, willowy beings were unlike anything seen before in Aincrad - and they began appearing on all twenty-nine floors. Exceptionally aggressive in nature, they seemed drawn to the teleport gates, and other spaces where Players gathered in groups. After the first was killed, someone noticed an addition to the Fatal Error quest objectives - “1/5 Spectral Knights Slain" and "0/10 Support Actions Made".

With more questions than answers, Players of all levels and walks of life must face new mobs, bad storms, and an uncertain future. What happened to the labyrinth guardian? Where is the sword? And perhaps most unsettling - if the dragon was meant to be the floor boss, what got to it first?

OBJECTIVES
0/5 - Spectral Knights Slain

• This is the combat option. There is a risk of death.
• Only one Spectral Knight can be spawned per thread. This can only take place on Floor 29, and may not be a part of a dungeon or quest.

<<Spectral Knight>>

HP: 3700/3700 | DMG: 300 | MIT:100 | ACC:5 | EVA:3 | FRB [40/2] | BLD [48/2] | BLGT [32/2] | BRN [56/2]

Splinter | Whenever the Spectral Knight critically hits (BD 9-10), its attack instead only deals 50 mitigated damage and 60 unmitigated damage to the entire party as the weapon splinters into a sharpened spray. This attack applies all applicable DoT's to all targets when this occurs.
Mist Body | Natural BD 9 attacks made against Spectral Knight no longer automatically hit and instead automatically miss, as the Spectral Knight bends and twists allowing dangerous attacks to pass harmlessly through.
Attempted Rewrite | On a CD 10+, the Spectral Knight will find another NPC nearby and manufacture that NPC into a clone of itself with the same stat block including remaining hit points and any applied status effects.
Tier Lock | For the duration of the fight, all of the participants’ stats that scale with Tier are calculated as though they’re Tier 4. [DMG/MIT/BLEED enhancements etc.] This skill only locks downward. Those at Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 will still have T1, T2, or T3 stats, respectively.

0/10 - Support Actions Made

• This is the non-combat option. There is not a risk of death.
• Each participant in a party (up to four) can claim one support action per thread.
• Threads can take place on any floor.
• Support actions include, but are not limited to: building/reinforcing barricades, helping injured Players, running crowd control, searching floors for the boss or Spectral Knights, asking NPCs and other Players for information.

Strangely, the objectives portion of the quest description keeps glitching. The goal for "Spectral Knights Slain" flickers between 5 and 10, and the goal for "Support Actions Made" constantly shifts to 20, then back again.

RULES

1. The event will run until 11:59 PM EDT on June 30, 2025. Beyond that point, threads may be closed for standard rewards, but will not count toward the event objectives.
2. To qualify, threads must be started AND submitted between now and the end of the event.
3. Please post a link to your thread here once it has been closed. This will make applying it to the objective counter easier.
4. All threads should have [EV] in the title, to mark them as event threads. As usual, these threads award 1 Mon to each participant in addition to standard thread rewards.
5. All questions can be posted here, asked on Discord, or sent directly to Lessa's on-site DMs.

An important message regarding the Floor 29 Raid: Due to the nature of the event, there will not be an in-game boss meeting. Please take care of all in-game preparation (field boss farming, skill resets, consumable purchasing) before the Act I timer runs out. All discussions pertaining to party makeup and strategy should take place over Discord. Once the timer runs out, Act II will include the raid fight and a companion event for non-Frontliners.