The Sixth Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: unfortunate (?) souls
When: Day 15, afternoon
Where: some shady tent

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth.

[Oh boy it's Trial time guys!!

That is to say there's the usual slight shake of the train, and outside a trial area appears! This time it's a highly decorated cloth tent, reminiscent of a fortune teller's stall, and the voice calling the heroes forth is a deep, aged and manly one. A warm light peeks out from behind the curtained entrance, welcoming you inside.

Those who go in, by their own will or compulsion, will find themselves in what seems to be a theatre lobby. There's a pretty, golden fountain with bench seating around it and lovely flickering oil lamps on the brocade walls.

For a little while, you're left to mingle.]

SIGNUPS ☆ PREGAME MINGLE ☆ RULES ☆ ROOMS ☆ WINNERS & ENDGAME

Comments

[desirestruth]

How ostentatious...

[She's squinting at the gold fountain. Who makes a fountain out of gold???]

[nihilmancy]

I wonder where all of this comes from.

[desirestruth]

My first guess would be magic, but even so...

[She sighs, rubbing her finger on the fountain to see if the gold comes off.]

This seems somewhat wasteful.

[nihilmancy]

Of course it's magic, but there must be more to it than that. Did these things exist in some other space before this event? Or are they merely a fleeting dream, fading away without a trace?

[desirestruth]

There's really no way to tell, unfortunately. And I don't see them telling us.

[Shrugging.] Though, if they had this in another space, why wouldn't they use it?

[nihilmancy]

There's no way of saying that this is the work of a collaborater of the Prince. This may well be some other force.

[desirestruth]

While true, I still question the judgement of anyone making fountains out of gold.

[nihilmancy]

It doesn't rust easily, at least. Most likely it is not solid gold, though.

[desirestruth]

It's ostentatious and pointlessly showy, is what it is.

[nihilmancy]

[Scoffs.]

So sayeth the Queen. [She agrees, though.]

[desirestruth]

I rule over a forest, we'd never have this much metal to waste to begin with.

[nihilmancy]

How do you farm, if all of the land is forested?

[desirestruth]

We don't, largely. There are some spaces suitable for smaller scale gardening, but agriculture in general isn't feasible. Fishing, foraging and hunting make up the majority of the food supply.

[She pauses, for a while.] A...little over a century ago, we also traded for those things we could not produce ourselves. And with recent developments, that trade may soon resume, but it's been a source of some concern.

[nihilmancy]

The population must be quite small, then.

You are isolated diplomatically? A loss in trade must mean a severe decline in living standards as well.

[desirestruth]

...Well, my mother seceeded from the empire we were a protectorate of, cursing our people and theirs in the process, and started a war that's been ongoing on and off for about 90 years.

So isolated's a word for it.