The Twenty Second Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: You
When: Day 49, Morning
Where:

The entrance today is a huge, ornate stone archway. A gossamer veil glittering like starlight upon water hangs inside it, fluttering as if caught in a gentle breeze. It's impossible to say what might lie beyond; even if you walk around the other side — and it's perfectly possible to do so — you just see the same thing.

SIGN-UPS | MINGLE | INSTRUCTIONS | ROOMS | ENDGAME | REVIVALS
Winners are Ginger, Thyme, Jasmine, and Licorice!

Comments

MINGLE

[hot_mess_express]

Through the veil lies a vast hall beautifully carved from the rock itself, deep, deep underground. It's a work of architectural art, not unlike a cathedral, and it's illuminated by hundreds of shining crystalline lamps. The air is clean and fresh, crisp without being chilled.

The gentle rush of running water can be heard somewhere nearby …

At the end of the hall are six doors, smaller than the archway but equally ornate. Each has veins of a team's colour running through the dark wood.

Re: MINGLE

[dismemberthename]

Oooh, fancy. Is this the usual?

Re: MINGLE

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow lets out a low whistle. ]

Damn, now this is fancy.

Re: MINGLE

[dismemberthename]

So this isn't common! Think they're pulling out all the stops?

Re: MINGLE

[beeknighted]

This is a trial? It's very fancy.

[featherbeaned]

[ guess who figured out how to shapeshift into a REAL GIRL earlier this morning ]

[ EXCITED FASCINATED SQUEAK ]

Wow, wow! Wow!

[beeknighted]

[...that voice is familiar...]

INSTRUCTIONS/INFO

[hot_mess_express]

INFO
All inhuman advantages, powers and abilities are OFF from the moment they enter their team's room. Non-human bodies are fine unless they have the aforementioned benefits.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: If you're OOCly uncomfortable with a task you've been presented with, please let me know ASAP and I'll work with you to figure out an alternative.
OTHER IMPORTANT NOTE: It's possible that characters may die from injuries over the course of the game.

TIMING
All times are in EST. Below is a general guideline — the extra time is for me to do some work behind the scenes, but I will, as always, endeavour to get it done as quickly as possible!

Round 1: 6pm - 7:15pm
Round 2: 7:30pm - 8:45pm
Round 3: 9pm - 10:15pm
Round 4: 10:30pm - 11:45pm

TEAM INSTRUCTIONS
✰ To survive, each team needs to end round 4 with a total of six keys. Anything less than six means death; anything more than six means extra points.

✰ Each round, teams will have the choice between a "light" trial (worth 1 key), and a "heavy" trial (worth 2 keys).

✰ Once during the game, at any point, they may choose to hand off a trial to another team of their choice. They still get to keep the key(s).

✰ During round 4, they will have the opportunity to steal a maximum of 2 keys. There is no obligation for them to do so. They may: do nothing; take one key from one team; take two keys from one team; take one key each from two teams.

✰ If a team refuses to do a trial and cannot or will not pass it off, they cannot move forward and will not earn any keys.

ROOMS

[hot_mess_express]

Ginger
Thyme
Senna
Jasmine
Licorice
Clover

ENDGAME

[hot_mess_express]

Water. You’re underwater, and you know that you have precious seconds left before you run out of air. You need, you need to get out, you need to get out now, before you drown, before whatever other wounds the trials left you with finish you off, you need you need YOU NEED —

When — if — you manage to reach the surface, you'll find yourself back in the hall you started in. Everything's exactly the same … except for the ring of seven foot deep, circular pools in the middle. There are probably still people trying to clamber out of them. There may also be some corpses.

((While the poisons from round 2 were not necessarily fatal, they can be! As can cumulative injuries. I leave it to your judgement and preference. The mental afflictions may begin to fade immediately — or maybe not. They can linger for a maximum of one day.))

Re: ENDGAME

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow climbs out of the water with his right ear missing and his eyes continually darting around rather than focusing on anyone. ]

Well, that was interesting!

[ His tone is light, calm. Casual!

Internally? He's homicidal. ]

Re: ENDGAME

[bowtiedbones]

[hauling herself from the water, pulling teammates along with her before just, freezing. one knee on the rim of the pool, halfway out.



there sure are a lot more people out here to hallucinate about, huh.]

[bluediligence]

[ GLUB GLUB FLAIL GLUB GLUB ]

Re: ENDGAME

[ruinatings]

[Rufus crawls out of the water looking unscathed! He's also... carrying a half-eaten chunk of someone's arm in his hand.

He stands up, shakes his head, and scowls.]

How stupid.

[He says, taking another bite.]

Re: ENDGAME

[deerlyloved]

[shhakily drags himself out of the water, only to lie face down on the ground, still coughing blood.]

Nngh.

Re: ENDGAME

[dismemberthename]

[ugh, crawling out of the water with their left hand missing.]

That sucked.

Re: ENDGAME

[beeknighted]

[Mao stumbles away from his team as soon as they're let out, intending to get space between him and them. But he stops dead when he sees the corpses.]

REVIVALS

[hot_mess_express]

You come to, feeling as if you've had a bad dream ...

And possibly in some amount of lingering pain; the revival may or may not have fixed all of your hurts.

[featherbeaned]

[ One of the dead and drowned is a Clover, with blood all over her face and chin. Her arms and hands are — bad. Mauled, especially the right, half eaten by a hungry beast with sharp teeth. ]

[ Spoilers: the beast was her. ]

Re: REVIVALS

[awakenerd]

[So here is Rean's corpse, relatively unharmed! Missing a chunk of arm and with a lot of blood staining his chest and mouth.

He's starting to revive.]

[voreaciously]

[80H is here an there sure is a fucking stab wound in her chest that's bleeding. She is also missing so much of her skin and the synthetic musculature and plating are revealed beneath it (if you ever doubted she was an android). Her face is also bleeding and smeared with crimson and ghastly showing teeth that are dripping red right onto the floor.

Because she has no lips.

It is a mess.

She is stirring but it's a little difficult to tell.]

Re: REVIVALS

[comingstorm]

[Dead jasmine number two, kinda bloody but only recovering from one stab wound.]

Re: REVIVALS

[crimeson]

[DEAD RANDY ALERT! His neck and mouth and shoulder have definitely been. savaged by a humanish mouth, but it looks like the knife sticking out of him probably finished the jaw.

coming to, he at least has the presence of mind to yank it out of himself with a groan.]

Re: REVIVALS

[malignstar]

[ So apparently coughing up enough blood, getting your finger bitten off and going into a rabid frenzy results in dead kitties. He's got blood all over the front of his shirt and face and probably both hands and claws, but he's slowly starting to stir... ]

Re: REVIVALS

[learnedfool]

[This was not the game to try to play solo. Pen is covered in blood, still slightly hallucinating, and having an incoherent and panicked voice because while Desdemona has dealt with a rider's death, she doesn't often get confronted with her own mortality.]

[he's just going to try to recover enough strength to actually stand up... panic is exhausting]