The earth rumbled. Trees sprouted from beneath the gladiators' feet. The ground before them rocked and sunk, revealing a deep cutting gorge a hundred so meters down, and in the distance, a tower seemed to spring up, towering above those present. Most important of all, was that the sun had gone down, and only the moonlight granted sight through the pitch black darkness. And if each person turned to look at his surroundings, they would find themselves utterly alone, amongst similar trees.
"Allow me to explain."
The monotone voice of Seventeen boomed from above, almost routine at this point.
"The rules are simple. Gather one key for yourself and head to the end. Once two gladiators have reached the end with a key of their own, they are considered to have won, and the rest, lost and dead."
The image of a crudely drawn map was burned in the minds of the gladiators as he spoke, the methods of which he used a mystery.
"There are no tricks. Each bit of land is forested, connected by study bridges...but there is a catch. There are not three keys, but two. One at the top of the spiraling tower ahead of you, and the other...our resident monster himself, Handyman. His position is indicated by the "H". You can either convince him to tag along and he will stay for the next round, or drag his corpse to the end, to which he will be obviously eliminated. I care not for your methods."
"Finally, it would not do for you to know who is headed where; your positions will be known to only you. Information is sacred, after all."
General information:
The task is to navigate through a forested area in the dark, either taking handyman along for the ride dead or alive or climbing through the tower for the key. Write your character's journey to victory through whatever means they see fit. For Handyman, his role as a key means that he will win unconditionally unless defeated. He may hunt a gladiator, follow another, or be attacked himself. His choices are his to make, or forced to be made.
The Tower:
Unremarkable stone tower that has a spiraling staircase leading to the key. The stairs are long, ensuring that any person deciding to head up the route will take an incredibly long time.
The Key:
A giant key shaped stone that has to be held in one hand due to its size, and encumbers its holder.
The End:
The long bridge leads to a small flat land with a poorly made banner with the words "Goal" scrawled onto it. Being there with a key does not guarantee safety until the round concludes.
Limitations:
Flight is disabled as well as any sort of device or ability that may enable fast travel. The only way is walking, and falling off the bridges spells an instant death.
Night Vision and any other ability that aids vision is disabled.
Upholding alliances and betrayals.
Alliances will allow your character to stay alive, as with the other person they work with. However, without a confirmation, they are left guessing if their proposal was agreed to. Your character, if proposed, has the option of upholding the alliance, ignoring it, or betraying the partner. If they were the proposer, they have the option to uphold it, withdraw it, or be betrayed. Note that any scenario will affect your character, and the other's survival.
The numbers:
1: L.L. Bust
2: Venox
3: Bl.An.C
Entertain me.
Perhaps it might be those words that are the goal of this round, as they forced their way into the minds of each gladiator.
Handicaps: Appearing for seemingly no reason, they hinder each gladiator, forcing them to make do with what they have left.
Bl.An.C
Grounded in reality: Every action has its cause. But now Bl.An.C is forced into a reality where nothing is explainable, everything being false. He has lost all sense of direction. The land seems to warp beneath him, and the trees sway as if alive. But being able to touch and feel what should have been a hallucination seemed to suggest it was all real. Even the simplest logic seems hard to grasp now.
"There is no order in chaos", the voice echoes,
"accept, or drown in its transiency."
Aloof: Bl.An.C is completely unable to tell the identity of each person. Their voices the same, and their appearance warps when he tries to discern them.
L.L. Bust
Detached: L.L. Bust can no longer keep his emotions in check. They force themselves on him, drowning his own thoughts and guiding his actions. Only strong willpower can keep them at bay, and only just.
Alone: Severe paranoia overcomes L.L. Bust. Betrayal seems imminent no matter where he looks.
Handyman
Starving: It's hunt-a-gladiator time.
Hidden in plain sight: When discovered, Handyman will be seen glowing to the discoverer, making an easy target even in the dark.
Puppeteer and the puppeted: Limbs jerk uncontrollably. Even his tongue now seems unreliable.
Mortality in Immortality: Severe injury to point of being incapable of combat results in dormancy, and subsequently defeat.
Venox
Those who fail to listen: Deafness. Not a single sound can be heard.
Grasping falsities: Hallucinations abound, except they affect all senses. So seemingly real, that they cannot be perceived through.
Knowledge without knowledge: Venox has lost all knowledge of each gladiator's identity, retaining only his previous feelings towards them.
Action without action: Venox's presence and location is immediately noticeable by those within meters of him. His opponents seem to know his every action that he attempts.
To entertain:
The goal is no longer what it seems. It is not to reach the end. It is not to record the entirety of the journey. It is not to overcome given handicaps with trivial effort. It is to entertain. Only creativity is rewarded; following the guidelines is secondary.
Deadline:
Three weeks from now, 19th of March. The maximum word limit is a soft 4000, and a hard minimum of 1000. Breaking the limits will incur penalties so plan accordingly.
