soulping | TAKSHAKA

[. . . you wake up laying prone on your stomach on a swaying hanging bird cage. The entire room around you is dark, making it impossible to tell what your surroundings are. The cage is plenty large enough to fit you and your team, and the iron bars are far too tough to be broken. The cage is suspended by rickety chains over a large pit of fire]

[NEEDLESS TO SAY. . . falling would not be a pleasant experience]

[You can see the other team cages suspended in the air around you. They're far enough away that you can easily hold a private conversation with your team, but close enough that if you yell really loudly, you may be able to talk to them]

[The strange voice speaks up again]

If your oh so caring Haunt is light, then you may consider me d̗͙͊͗a̯̽̒͆ͥ̅r̬̺̙̠͖̠̥ͥk̰̦̲̄n̞̰̠̲͍͍̿̇̎͋͑̆e̜̰ͤͥ̇́̂͌s͚ͤ͗s͔̯͉̰͍͍̥̏ͦ̇͆ͩ̋͋. I will be running this game now-- my name is of no importance to you sorry lot. Listen up, and listen up well.

See those chains? Ah yes, the ones that are keeping you from plummeting to your deaths below. They're old, rickety, and weak. Too much weight will surely break them. So what do you think your goal is? That's right! Try to break the other teams' chains, while keeping yours safe! Ahahaha! Let's see how well you all do!

Ah. . . right. And one last thing.

If every team winds up with the exact same amount of stones, then I'll make sure e̺̪ͥ̽̉̽̈́̈́̌ ́́͗v͂ͭ̐ͫͭ̾ ̰̦͎̬͚ͮ͒̍e̳̼͔̤̼͐̓ͨ̍ͤ̏ ͌̏̓̑͊̉r̭̗̰̬̫͕ͯ ̜̲̩̠̪̥̱͐̿͑͋͐̅̀y̘̓͌ ̪̻̲̪͎̰̤o̺̮͇͇̒̅ ̣̟̞̜̥̪̰̊ͧ̅n͍̺͎̯̰̠ ̤͔̘͉͉̼e̜͚̤͕̻͊͐̈́̒̂̃ͣ ̤̝̦̦͈̹ͯ̓̅̎̈̆̀'̣̞̯ ̝͈̭̪̤̇̈ͮ͑͛ͮ̋s̗̠͚̦̤̭̥̔̈́͌ͪͯ̈̎ chains break.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They're not. But they might've gotten someone else killed.

They'll have to deal with the consequences of that themselves.

They...?

[doing mental math

oh]

It would have gone to someone else.

[ Y E A H ]

I'm not gonna ask them. But they'll know by now.

--And what is asking going to do? The faster we get this farce over with, the faster they'll come back! Focus on that instead.

Nothing. That's why there's no point. It'll just make them feel worse.

[ Said sort of dully, THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF HIS DISAPPOINT ]

We have to decide what we're going to do this time.