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

[purrtagonist]

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

. . . hm?

[saddleclub]

Welcome to one of the ridiculous trials.

[purrtagonist]

[stands up a little straighter, eyeing him thoughtfully]

I heard about them from some guy in blue. What was his name?

Rando. . . Ranger. . . Rudolph. . .

[saddleclub]

Randy?

[purrtagonist]

[. . . soft snort]

I was kidding. Yeah, that was him. You know him?

[saddleclub]

Yes, he's an acquaintance of my brother's and a friend of a friend, apparently.

[He waves a hand vaguely.]

Something about being from the future so I may know him as well, according to him.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN]

Ah, all right. Makes sense.

[no it doesn't]

[legis_vox]

Seems we get first-hand experience of what it takes to bring joy back to the stars.

[purrtagonist]

[a huff]

I haven't decided yet if that's a good or a bad thing.

[legis_vox]

Not much longer until we find out.

[purrtagonist]

I'm also not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing.

[he seems pretty calm on the outside, though he is holding his shoulders pretty tensely as he glances around the area]

[legis_vox]

[noting that, and taking a quiet step to cover his blind spots]

If it helps, I'm told these are mostly investigation and reasoning tests. Or at least they have been so far.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . a slow nod]

Randy-san described them as trials where we had to answer complex moral questions. "Right" answers would be rewarded, and whatever constituted the "right" answer was in the discretion of the runner.

[bitterwiththesweet]

Welcome to being a hero, I guess!

At least this time we aren't getting arrested.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . BEEN THERE, DONE THAT]

[but nothing about his expression conveys this as he just blinks at her blearily]

Hm. Nobody told me I was on a team with a bunch of criminals.

[no judgment, just. mild amusement]

[bitterwiththesweet]

You know, I'm actually almost certain SB's an actual literal criminal. Other than that I think we're just a couple of fancy kids, you, and...whatever the new girl is.

[ some sort of wild animal? ]

[purrtagonist]

[guess who is also an actual literal criminal]

SB?

[bitterwiththesweet]

Scalebutt. The snake. Ceylon if you're certain fun-haters around here.

[nihilmancy]

You are aware that they give you other clothes, here.

[purrtagonist]

Yeah, but they're all significantly inferior to this outfit.

[. . .]

[yeah okay, Akira]

[malignstar]

Cute outfit.

[purrtagonist]

Thanks. You're not looking so bad yourself.

[FINGERGUNS]

[malignstar]

[ He is very feathery right now ]

Not too worried about the cold?

[purrtagonist]

Nope.

[popping that p for emphasis]

I'm actually pretty warm right now.

[malignstar]

Sounds nice. I'm freezing my ass off.