Victory came as swift as the rush of emotions that befell them for as soon as the bells tolled of their victory, their minds went blank and their bodies slumped to the floor. When they awoke, they each found themselves standing on a hexagonal stone platform surrounded by Nazca Lines an ancient writings scribbled all over the floor. No sooner did they get their bearings did one of their number speak.

"Kalena! You are alright. I'm hoping."

The swordsman glanced up to find a familliar friend...Corvon. He stood a mere ten feet in front of her, as fit and flabbergasted as ever. But her joys were interrupted by the sound of rumbling rock. A slight quake shook the entire stage as huge blocks of stone rose from where the Nazca Lines were. They covered the entire region with layers and layers of slabs until only the way ahead was clear.

"No!" Kalena shouted, banging on the walls were Corvon stood behind. But it was no use. He was gone once again.

Atop this labyrinthian monument was The Host, gleeful as ever. He had requisitioned this alien abode that once doubled as a sacrificial pit for the cosmic gods of war. Today however, it was going to be a test of courage, strength, and divine right...for only one of them in the end deserved to be called the god king of wRHGs.

"Listen well, gents. All you have to do is escape..." he began.






Recap: the Scoring System
The Pt. System remains fairly unchanged from the previous round with the exception of Antes. But we'll get to that later. Here they are again in case ya'll forgot:

Votals - Natch. In every voting period after both entries are submitted, every vote is worth FIVE POINTS.

Ante - These are "miniwagers" you can take on if you think you're losing just because of popularity power. For this round, Ante's will play a larger role and will be explained in the Theme below. But scoring remains the same: you take an Ante you have to work with and bet 5/10/15 points. If you fail to achieve it, you'll lose that much. If you succeed, you'll get 10/20/30 points in return! There will still be three categories: Easy/Medium/Hard.

Bonus Wins - In addition to the current objective of the Round, there will be an extra Bonus Win condition that is constant for all the Rounds. Points for this Bonus element will always be constant: TWENTY POINTS.

CNC Benefits - Competitors will get TEN EXTRA POINTS for every battle in this tournament they CNC. They must both vote AND comment why they voted for that person. It could be as simple as just liking some specific thing. CNC Points will not count if the comment is vague or unhelpful and you can only CNC a maximum of THREE times. Moreso, if the cnc is extremely detailed, explaining more than just one thing, the cnc-er will get an EXTRA FIVE POINTS.

Judge's Favor - In any of the votable threads in any round, if any of the three judges has deemed an entry very exceptional, fully utilizing the environment given to him, he will recieve Me or acute's blessing by announcing so. A judge's favor grants an extra FIFTEEN POINTS to your current score. Please note that when the judges vote in your battle that is NOT the blessing, but rather we will declare it in a separate post. The blessings also come when the Rounds are ending to prevent favortism or bias.



What do I do?
1. On the bottom of this post you will find this round's bracket as well as the conditions and theme which may or may not alter how the round will play out.

2. You must first post here as a sign that you are still alive and active with the following:ng who you're fighting agaisnt in this round
- what item/ability you are currently carrying
- Also mention the Ante that you wish to take if any (Easy Medium Hard), otherwise just say "No Ante"[/spoiler]3. You may then begin writing your entry as usual: with you as the victor. You may then post it in this thread as well when you're done. IN SPOILERS. Please DO NOT make your own thread. No googledocs. No textuploaders. You must. Post it here.

4. As soon as I have both/all entries of the same bracket, I will put up a voting thread in the battles section and the voting may commence. If your opponent fails to produce an entry and post here, he/she will be forced to forfeit and the other guy will move on to the next round (and recieve 35 points as voting points to boot)!

5. Aaaand that's it. You have until two weeks from now AKA August 12, 2013 to post all your entries. The deadlines for the polls themselves will be a week from whence they are posted.



Theme
Every Round will have their own common theme by which all participants should adhere. It could be anything: a special element, a unique win condition, a debilitating or strengthening modifier for either competitor. Anything. For this Round, the theme is called Lost and Found. Details are as follows:


The Maze
For this Round, the competitors are all trapped in one giant stone maze. Its walls are so high up, it is nigh impossible to scale and even if you try, The Host is bound to penalize and punish you severely (AKA You Can't Do It). That is to say, the maze doesn't have 7 distinct paths. One way or another, any one of you can and will or might meet up. The only sure thing is that you will definitely meet up with your opponent for the round.


The Key
Each participant will be carrying two things: A Key and A Rune. The Key is unique to each competitor in that it is required to exit the maze (which is located in the center where everyone started). However, the key that you all own will not be your own...but your opponent's. The goal is thus obvious: In order to finish this Round, you must defeat your designated opponent and acquire the key he's holding. The Key itself is indestructible and is in the shape of a small card.


The Trap (Optional)
The halls are also littered with a unique deathtrap catered towards each fighter's specifications. If you were the disadvantaged one in Round 1 then you know the drill: it'll be something geared towards your skills and weaknesses. You may encounter it if you wish (aka it's up to you to incorporate it in your story). Each participant will get a list of those settings in the bracket list below so you can think it over if you wish to do them. You may also, if you choose, encounter other people's Deathtraps in your story. You're gonna want to anyways heheheheh...


The Mixer (Optional)
As I mentioned in my preview, this is in the loosest sense an FFA (Free-For-All). You can and may encounter anyone of your 6 other co-competitors at any moment in your story as you navigate this insidous stone maze. You don't have to fight them all as you each have your own goals. How you will interact with each of the participants is totally up to you. Have fun with it :D


The Swap (Optional)
In addition to the chaos, The Host has also robbed from each of you an item or ability---something that makes you tick, and properly redistributed them to your fellow combatants for this Round. Note that he reshuffled your abilities but not your proficiencies, which means if you don't know how to use a sword, you won't be able to wield it as well as you think your character could. In other words, your abilities have been shuffled and there's nothing you can do about it!

Just kidding.

Remember that second item? The Rune? THAT is the source of your items and abilities. For as long as you own it, your (Clarification: The Rune looks like a tiny dodecahedral artifact, easily hideable in the palm of your hand. Upon closer inspection it appears to be glowing and throbbing with power. It comes with a strap initially found around your neck, but can easily be pockettable.) opponent's gear/ability is bound to you. That doesn't really mean anything, they can still steal your shit but they won't be able to leave the maze without it until your Rune is destroyed or the Round ends and your opponent escapes. But here's the thing: Your actual opponent isn't the holder of these Runes, but an entirely different person. A third-party. Whether or not you want to get your gear back is totally up to you. Now you may be asking "Why does it matter if I can or cannot fight my optional opponent for it if I'm just going to acquire it no matter what in the Semi-Finals?" I'll tell you why...


The Ante (Optional)
Antes this round are all the same kind, and are as follows: Room and escape it.
Medium - Beat your opponent in your personal Deathtrap Room and escape it.
Hard - Beat your opponent in your personal Deathtrap Room and escape it, AND get your shit back from the third-party participant by crushing his Rune.[/spoiler]
As usual, when you post here to acknowledge yourself, you must post your Ante if you desire it. The difference though is that in this Round, the same opponents can share the same Ante. That's right, you can all take the Hard Ante for all I care but know this: only ONE successful Ante to ONE bracket which means, if two of you choose to do a Hard Ante, only the better one will get the points for it. The loser will lose the points wagered. Who decides on how the Ante was handled the best will be up to the judges. Will you risk it?

Note that for the Triple Threat bracket, if all 3 will choose the same Ante only the best will get the full points, the 2nd best will get half the points, and the worst will get the deductions wagered. So if you're not up to it you might want to pick another Ante while the two others wrassle for it XD



"Mix and Match" Bracket for Round 2:

Lobotomizer vs blakphoenixrvon but gained Walden's Spectral Wolves. Zero has her key.
Deathtrap: An innocuously long and spacious hallway that when triggered with sensitive pressure plates beneath the cobblestones will have its floor area give way to reveal spikes. The plates have a pattern to them and there is a slight delay before the floor area opens up. The spikes are made of stone and are breakable and moderately sized. Slow careful movements can cause the plates not to trigger but only if you're aware where they are.

Zero has lost his Gem Encrusted Sword but gained Acel's Aether Shield and Laser Blades. Kalena has his key.
Deathtrap: An empty square room that upon having two or more people step into it, will shut the door and cause the walls to converge like a trash compactor. The only way to stop it is if someone is defeated.

Lobotomizer and blakphoenix have decided to go head-on-head with a Hard Ante.[/spoiler]

ErrorBlender vs BirtDogties (he's still wearing it but can't do anything with it except for the part that allows him to breathe and function) but gained Kalena's Earthen Sword and has Corvon with him. The Saint has his key.
Deathtrap: An eternally hazy hallway filled with fog. Not too thick but enough to only see sillouettes at about 8 ft. away. If one were to hug the walls, one would notice shadows of familiar figures dancing. These are the the wraiths of previous combatants...the Round 1 losers. While they have lost their abilities, they can still speak and latch onto you, putting an unnecessary weight on you or dragging you to an abyss-like hell if you're not careful.

The Saint has lost his Evil Eye but gained Chance's Blood Manipulation. Bl.An.C. has his key.
Note: saintmccaw has failed to acknowledge his presence for the past week. BirtDog has taken his place. But he must use The Saint's Bio still.
Deathtrap: A room with zero gravity. In the center lies a floating black hole that seems to serve as the room's gravity well. Don't go about touching it unnecessarily. This black hole device is housed by an electric cage powered by four tesla coils surrounding it.

Errorblender has initiated a Medium Ante.
saintmccaw has been kicked for inactivity. BirtDog has benched for him. Errorblender will get an autowin but the match will still go on for a Pt. Battle.
BirtDog is going for a Hard Ante.[/spoiler]

Chamel vs The Organization vs The Strongeste other 2 opponents have your key. You must pick one.

Chance has lost his Blood Manipulation ability but has gained Bl.An.C.'s fully functional suit. Either Walden or Acel has his key.
Deathtrap: A mysterious door leading into...a nightclub. What. Every other door from then on leads back to the central dance floor where hundreds of sweaty ravers dance endlessly. Up above, the speakers are pumped with Chance's least favorite song in 69 different remixes, steadily driving him insane. The DJ's booth is there too and it houses a laptop from which the secret passcode to a door out of this hellhole is found. The problem? The password is on the lower side of the screen and the mousepad doesn't work. The down key on the keyboard is suspiciously missing and only one of the hundred ravers on the dance floor is carrying it. The laptop is also plugged to the wall and is missing its battery so it can't be taken out.

Acel has lost her Aether Shield and Laser Blades but has gained Zero's Gem encrusted sword. Either Chance or the Walden has her key.
Deathtrap: An eerily tranquil garden filled with white and puplish flowers. The ceiling above is cracked in a way that let's sunlight shine down on these beauties, and a small river runs criss-cross through the center of the place. There's barely any room to walk on however and in order to traverse the place, one must go through the flowers itself. Beware though as the plants are filled with particles of poppy pollen. The slightest nudge could send these tiny things into the air and a mere whiff could send someone to gradual hallucinatory madness. There's already a few of them already floating around thanks to a slight breeze coming from an indeterminable crack on a wall...

Walden has lost his Spectral Wolves but has gained The Saint's Evil Eye. (He retains his Antique Pistol.) Either Chance or Acel has his key.
Deathtrap: An extremely round and long hallway with a large 4-propeller industrial fan at the end. It turns on and a wall of spikes appear behind him (it

Do we have to state who has our wRHG's key when we declare?

Yep.

They're your opponent anyway so you are going to say it by default.

Mecha-Hewitt, you poopy face! Using my opponent in the example thus robbing me of an ironic option! Lol! I probably would not have even thought to use that anyway.

blakphoenix here ready to face off (or head off :rolleyes:) against Lobotomizer.

I've got sunshine in a bag with Acel's aether shield and laser blades. (My elements? Why are they always gone? I'm never in my element here! T_T)

I'm going to risk asking for a medium ante. (Be gentle it's my first time.)

My entry depicting a victorious Walden shall be competing with those depicting Acel and Chance as the victors, they are my opponents whose key I may or may not actually have. Plot twist: It turns out that Acel really had Walden's key, Walden had Chance's, and Chance had Acel's
Walden possesses The Saint's Evil Eye.
I'm going to be rolling a hard-ante. Come at me, other two.

Mecha-Hewitt, since the Organization is in the triple-thread, I think the question was asking whether or not which of Acel's two possible key-holders was the one who would be holding the key for the entry had to be determined at this moment.

EDIT: Updated in bold.

Oh right hahah, forgot the 3 of you were fighting.

Just mention that either of your opponents could have the key, just as you have so hilariously worded, Strongest.

So everyone in the entire maze has abilities swapped, keys to escape distributed and all in all chaos.

I like it.

In the Hard Ante, does defeat mean anything other than beating the third party to a pulp? Can it be steal it back or something else?

I define "Defeat" as: Not in the capacity to fight back. While they can offer it to you on their own free will, note that this is highly unlikely seeing as they need their current ability to survive.

So it is possible to switch the runes if they can give it of their own free will?

Well they can but that doesn't really do anything. Switching runes is just another way of distancing them. They'll still be bound to the user. The onnly real way to 'render the third party from fighting back' is to acquire your ability/items by crushing that guy's rune.

EDIT: I reclarified it in the rules ^^

So when the rune is smashed, the ability automatically returns to their true owner?

Chance in a full body Kick-Ass suit... This will be quite fun!!

I, Chamel, hereby decree, that my Prized gladiator shall take on both Acel, and Walden, using only the android-suit to defeat them. He will be carrying either Acel's or Walden's key.
Acel shall have his key. And Walden...Will have Acels.

I like the sound of the bonus~ Chance's charming skills might prove useful in this ;)

Easy Ante!

WAIT ~ Can we write the three-way match? Or put a spin on it where all three are included?

Quote from ErrorBlender

So when the rune is smashed, the ability automatically returns to their true owner?

Yep. that's how it works. So you can actually do it out of order if you're going Hard Ante...

...beat your Rune-keeper first THEN encounter your opponent in the deathtrap room.

...or maybe you encounter another person and you work together and shit.

So many things can happen.






Also I just wanna clarify on the Triple Threat match. You must declare which of your other two opponents have your key. The fight will still be 1 on 1 and you do not need to take on the 3rd guy. The actual Triple Threat will come when the voting period comes in as all 3 of you will be put in the polls at the same time and the one with the least votes will be eliminated.

So Chamel and The Strongest please reconfirm your ONE opponent to smosh. The Organization, I hope I cleared that up for you.

ErrorBlender confirms his place in the tournament.

Bl.An.C. will wield the Sword Of Truth and is accompanied by Corvon in maze in the hunt for The Saint.

I will take the Medium ante since it goes better with the plot I have in mind.

Quote from Chamel

WAIT ~ Can we write the three-way match? Or put a spin on it where all three are included?

Though I did not intend it to be that way for balance purposes, you may do so. It's up to you :D