The Fourth Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: Heroes
When: Day 9, Midday
Where: The Dragon's Tower


Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth.

The earth rumbles beneath your feet with a mighty roar. This time a crumbling stone tower looms above you, unscalable and unbreachable. At the top of the tower is a single window with a single light, beckoning. The only entrance at the base is an arched wooden door which creaks in protest when you open it.


Upon entering the tower you will find yourself in a large room with high walls constructed of dark, uneven brick stone. The ceiling is so high that you cannot see anything but darkness as torches lining the walls serve as the only source of light. The room itself is achingly cold. It’s reminiscent of a dungeon… or a treasure room.

But the only treasure to be found lies in the middle of the room; a small pile of seven bracelets, each one inlaid with a beautiful jewel corresponding to each team’s color. It may be fairly obvious, but just in case anyone is slow on the uptake:

“What is it that you treasure in this world? What are you willing to give up? Until you can decide that much, you will not be allowed to leave this room. It matters not to me if you rot in here.

However, I will tell you this much; should you decide who among you is most precious, only they may bear the weight of your altruism.”


Mingle | Pre-Game Rules | Hostages | Rooms | Endgame

Comments

PRE-GAME RULES

[hot_mess_express]

→ Confer with your team oocly and icly to decide which among you will be considered the most “treasured” member of your team.
→ When you decide which member will be the hostage please respond to the HOSTAGES top level with the name of your team and the name of your hostage!
→ ONLY ICLY AGREED UPON HOSTAGES MAY TOUCH THEIR CORRESPONDING TEAM’S BRACELET. If anyone else tries they will find the bracelets unbearably painful to touch.
→ Powers are off.

HOSTAGES

[hot_mess_express]

[ respond here with your TEAM and HOSTAGE, icly or oocly is fine ]

JASMINE

[lapofluxury]

Aria is gonna be the hostage!

GINGER

[legis_vox]

Timur will be the hostage.

Clover

[saddleclub]

Jusis will be the hostage.

HAZEL

[howlsitgoin]

Eclair is the hostage!

SENNA

[ghostfromthemachine]

Kaiko will be the hostage!

THYME

[grimpa]

WE'RE SORRY IT'S ZOL

Licorice

[nihilmancy]

Emilia will be the hostage!

MINGLE

[hot_mess_express]

[ sorry we don't have any snacks here ]

[thereisnowhy]

[Sora will give some thought to the actual game stuff in a moment, but please give him some time to be over here blinking and rubbing his eyes a bit.]

Re: MINGLE

[hissoff]

[ hm. ]

Are they determined to freeze us to death? [ immediate whining mode on ]

[purrtagonist]

[still dressed in his unicorn onesie tbh, pulling the hood down on his features a bit via the ears to keep warm]

. . . hm?

Re: MINGLE

[crimeson]

...Well, the roaring is new.

[A FIRM DISLIKE FOR THIS ALREADY!!! looking around for other members of Jasmine.]

[lapofluxury]

Ooh, pick me. I want the pretty bracelet.

[assassinatedassassin]

[Ughhh it's coooold and they're being told some weird fancy nonsense again. Also it's cold. It's very cold. It's midday, why is it so cold??]

Re: MINGLE

[friskmanagement]

[You wrap your arms around yourself. It's cold in here.]

What does it mean by...most precious? And bearing weight?

[Going by pattern, probably something to do with murder or poison.]

Re: MINGLE

[legis_vox]

A dramatic introduction.

[Timur paces around the edge of the room, getting a feel for the space]

Re: MINGLE

[axeboyfriend]

Say... what now?

[agoodnoe]

[ Listening... listening... ]

Isn't everyone precious?

[grimpa]

We're meant to bribe our way out of this? What virtue is that meant to represent?

Re: MINGLE

[saddleclub]

"Most treasured" sounds like utter nonsense. But I'll take it.

Re: MINGLE

[ghostfromthemachine]

Altruism and self-sacrificial nonsense again, huh...

ROOMS

[hot_mess_express]

As the last bracelet is picked from the floor, the ground starts to shake again with a roar.

As in… an actual roar.

All at once the bracelets, whether worn or simply held, turn cold and heavy-- transforming themselves into stone shackles that snap themselves around the wrists of each hostage. Dark chains appear from the darkness above, attaching themselves to the shackles and without warning hoisting each of your “treasured people” high, into the void.

Three doors appear. Engraved into the wood are the names of your people. You have earned yourself the right to move on… but at what price?


Group A: Aria, Emilia, Kaiko - Jasmine, Licorice, Senna
Group B: Jusis, Timur - Clover, Ginger
Group C: Eclair, Zol - Hazel, Thyme

ENDGAME

[hot_mess_express]

[ You re-enter to your usual, familiar surroundings. Even though it is still midday, the sky is alight with stars again.

Gold, Apple, Terracotta, Cobalt, Violet, Hot Pink, and Forest all light the way back to the train....

In addition, the ground is now flowering with Gold and Hot Pink flowers.

Congratulations! It appears that all of your hostages have been saved! Everyone receives the full points for winning a game, but Ginger and Clover in particular receive an extra 200 sparks for playing the game flawlessly.


Any injuries are still retained, though most are easily healed through time or the clinic. Status effects will last for 1-2 IC Days (or just until you get bored really), and any scars are permanent but may be bought off through the shop.

All in all...... you did well! Good job, Heroes! ]

GAME RUNDOWN

[hot_mess_express]

[ REAL QUICK OOC RUN-DOWN OF HOW THIS WENT:

TEAM A:
round 1 - 3 body = 3
round 2 - 1 body = 4
round 3 - 2 mind = 6

TEAM B:
round 1 - 2 mind = 2
round 2 - 2 body = 4
round 3 - 2 heart = 6

TEAM C:
round 1 - 3 body = 3
round 2 - 2 body = 5
round 3 - 1 body = 6

The purpose of the game was balance and considering the minds of others. In any given round pulling ahead of the other teams was punished. Completing the game before the other teams could (for example, reaching 6 points in round 2 while everyone else was still playing) or going above 6 points would have resulted in a much heavier punishment. This did not happen, however! Everyone evened out!

If every team had finished the game at round 2 by playing 3+3 that would have resulted in everyone winning as well. ]