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

[bowtiedbones]

I won't come any closer. Promise.

[holds her hands up like it's fine it's fine, before digging her finger into the dirt to draw a circle around herself to set a simple barrier— nothing of Eliza's magic is outside the circle, and nothing of Kaiko's influence is inside the cirle]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ the chill starts fading as soon as the circle is closed and the barrier is set, and with it the worst of that feeling of being hunted by something fades. ...not all of it, but whatever remains is less supernatural and more. you know. common sense. ]

[bowtiedbones]

[pulls her knees up to her chest, sitting tidy inside her circle]

Is that any better? Isolating myself is the best I can do right now, but I thought this might give you some more space spiritually-wise.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ shakes her head. with a bitter twist to her mouth that says she knows exactly how messed-up this sounds: ]

You still exist.

[bowtiedbones]

Well I’m not going to stop doing that.

If I bring you a first aid kit, will you be able to bandage yourself?

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ that's enough to startle a weak snort out of her— really startle, going by the flicker of expression that crosses her face after the fact. ]

Good.

[ she looks a little startled by that, too... but from there starts to settles into something mulish. maybe even a little angry, but— it's at least a little more animated than the sort of dead-eyed predatory aggressiveness she's been wearing. ]

...I think I'd better try.

[ there's still a good chunk of her that doesn't want to, that wants to be able to see the wounds and is still insisting that treating them is the lowest possible priority on the list of the things to be done about them, but— that little bit of conflict, that momentary reflexive amusement and acknowledgement that on some level she genuinely would rather see the other girl alive was enough to jarr her free.

whatever those impulses are, they aren't entirely her. it's a little late, but she can start digging her heels in again. ]

[bowtiedbones]

Okay! Sit tight, I'll go get you some bandages.

[brightly, genuinely pleased by that little step of progress]

[ghostfromthemachine]

Mm.

[ rearranging her huddle a bit to display her willingness to stay put. look, she's getting comfy, ]

[bowtiedbones]

[gives her a thumb's up OK GOOD, and hurries to fetch bandages]

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ it's a lot warmer when she gets back. there's still a bit of lingering Bad News feeling, and it's distinctly more staticky, but not really in an unpleasant way; just sort of fuzzy feeling. the girl's eyes are still dark when she glances over, but they aren't quite as creepily dull. look at all these positive changes!! ]

I think I can... you can probably put them on, after all. If that isn't—

[ asking too much? potentially putting herself in danger? ]

[bowtiedbones]

[crouches down next to her again, closer this time. and scuffs out the ward, since she's not sitting in it anymore.]

Okay. It'll be no trouble, and faster than trying to do it yourself.

[ghostfromthemachine]

Thank you. I'm... pretty sure I broke something, so...

[ slowly uncurling to offer her arms, keeping her breathing carefully steady rather than letting herself wince ]

...I could work through it, but— hurting too much was what got me here to begin with.

[bowtiedbones]

[looking over the damage as she unpacks the first aid kit, not touching her yet]

You don't have to work through it. I'll treat what I can, and we'll go slowly. The pods upstairs in the clinic should be able to fix a broken bone.

[ghostfromthemachine]

[ no obvious fractures, but tons of bruising and nasty gouges from those cuffs. notably, there isn't much inflammation—there's none of the swelling or redness that would usually accompany that much damage—and what blood has welled up is a deep, viscous black. she's dead jim

mmmaking a complicated sort of face but not actually saying anything ]

[bowtiedbones]

[well at least she won't need an ice pack. pulling on a pair of disposable gloves and getting started on cleaning around the cuts.]

I don't know enough medicine to know anything about stitches, so keep an eye on these cuts, okay? They might need more than bandages.