The Ninth Trial

[advisories]

Who: everyone
When: Day 18, starting just after dawn
Where: The Hermit's Tent, and all around

[This morning as the sun begins to pour through the train's windows, there's the tremor that signals a Trial.]

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth. Or something like that!

[It's the same older man's voice from the sixth trial, and outside is the same fortune teller's stall. Today the front flap is lifted to show a normal interior -- there's a wooden table, carved with geometric patterns and painted in bright colours, lit by teal-coloured carved candles.

At the table sits a man of indeterminate age, somewhere between 30 and 60. He's wearing what appear to be monk's robes, teal with patterned trimming. In front of him is a crystal ball and a stack of bingo cards, along with a stand-up sign bearing the rules of this Trial.

Across the top in large font, it says:

Icebreaker Bingo

Good luck and have fun!]

Comments

[desirestruth]

...It's a very optimistic way of looking at the world, certainly.

[She's too old and has seen too much to believe everyone thinks that way. But it would be nicer, she supposes, if he were right.]

[saddleclub]

I somewhat doubt anyone here would be wholly nihilistic. We're supposedly the brightest souls or whatever.

[desirestruth]

...A soul in pain can blaze very brightly, too. People...don't act in their best interests, when they're hurting.

[Her voice remains mostly even, and her expression steady, but there's a soft, sorrowful tinge to it.]

[saddleclub]

Of that I'm well aware.