soulping | TAKSHAKA + SHINICHI

[You are ushered through an archway covered in flowers of your team color and find yourself in a different, smaller garden- or at least, what will soon be a garden. Plots of freshly turned soil are lined up in two rows and the area is littered with all the tools you could need. The small field is surrounded on three sides by a wooden fence, and past it all that can be seen is a thick white fog.

Along the back fence is a wooden table, covered with paper seed packets. Each packet has the plant name and a price neatly written on the front, along with some...slightly strange descriptions. You can examine them all you like, but you'll find you can't actually pick up the packets...until you pay for them, of course. A small pile of silver coins sits on the table next to the seeds, which you can move and distribute freely.

A voice speaks from the sky as you look around, just as loud and obnoxiously cheerful as before:]

Okay, let's get started already! Today you guys are gonna try to grow the best garden you possibly can! You can handle that, right? Yeah, I know ya can! Seriously, it ain't hard, just buy whatever ya want! Oh, but be sure to take good care of them, and make sure they all grow big and strong. Trust me- you're gonna need 'em!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

•Your team's goal in the first part of the game is to plan and grow their garden! Purchase seed packets and plant them strategically to ~~build your defenses~~ make your garden super pretty~

•You have ten plots to place your plants in. Don't bother trying to fit more than that: they'll choke each other out and nothing will grow! Remember that you don't have to fill all the plots.

•Your garden plots are in two rows of five; one row facing the entrance of the garden, and a second row behind it. The order of plants within each row doesn't matter, but which row is in front or back does.

•You have 100 credits initially to buy seeds with. You can buy as many of each kind as you want, and you don't have to spend all your credits. Each seed has a unique attack and defense score, so consider your options carefully.

•Why on earth do plants need attack and defense scores, you ask? ~It is a mystery~

Each seed packet is handwritten in a delicate script, and then hastily crossed out and rewritten in much messier handwriting.

•Peashooter - 10
~~Moderate damage and defense~~ A staple food!

•Wall-nut - 10
~~No attack, heavy defense~~ Ideal for snacking!

•Cabbage-pult - 15
~~Moderate damage and defense, bonus to mass attacks~~ Great for large parties!

•Squash - 10
~~Heavy kamikaze damage~~ Single-serving!

•Snapdragon - 15
~~Moderate damage and defense, bonus to close-range~~ Brightens nearby scenery!

•Four Leaf Blover - 40
~~Low defense, high resistance and support~~ Really good luck!

•Spikeweed - 15
~~Heavy damage, indestructible~~ Incredibly hearty!

•Marigold - 15
~~No attack, low defense, bonus to credits~~ Lovely and valuable!

•Sunflower - 15
~~No attack, low defense, bonus to score~~ Award-winning!!

[Please submit what plants you've purchased AND which row you're planting them in! Example:

1 - Three Wall-nuts
2 - Five Peashooters

OR

1 - xWWWX
2 - PPPPP

Etc.]

[ ...those stricken-out descriptions, though. ]

...It looks as though we'll have to strategize for some sort of fight.

. . . with plants.

[but he is reading those descriptions carefully]

There have been stranger things, so it seems a possibility.

Mm, that's true. This isn't as strange as some things I've seen.

—ah. I'm Shinichi, by the way. I don't think I've worked with your team before.

I am Crane, of Takshaka. It is nice to meet you.

It's nice to meet you, Crane.

Shall we come up with a strategy then?

Yes, I think that would be wise.

I like the look of the spikeweeds, as they can do heavy damage and apparently cannot be destroyed. Although we will likely want to invest in defense as well, so we can withstand a battle.

[he nods his agreement]

That's a good idea. What about the wall-nuts as well? If we're focusing on defense.

...Yes, those should work. I imagine we'd want those in the front row, assuming that we'll have to defend against the entrance.

Actually . . . we may want to put the spikeweeds up front and the wall-nuts behind. I'm assuming the names are somewhat literal, so it'd stop whatever it is, right? And they'd be stuck on the spikeweeds.

Ah, I see what you're saying. We wouldn't want to accidentally block our own means of attack, and the spikeweeds themselves don't need any protection. Yes, perhaps that is a better plan.

Mmm, and we wouldn't want to lose any of our defenses.

...Are there any other plants you think would be useful, or should we limit it to those two types?

Well . . . how many of the spikeweeds do you want to use?

At least two, I would think, but the exact number would probably depend on what else we would want to purchase.

. . . maybe two of the cabbage-pults? That would leave us with some credits left over, as well.

And that way, we'd have the spikeweeds, then the wall-nuts, then the cabbage-pults providing extra protection from behind.

Two spikeweeds, two cabbage-pults, and two wall-nuts as well, then? With the spikeweeds in the first row, and the rest in the second, I suppose.

Right.

1 spikeweed, wall-nut, cabbage-pult
2 spikeweed, wall-nut, cabbage-pult

i hope i did that right

[The plants spring up as soon as you put their seeds in the earth and rapidly grow to a hearty size. They're looking pretty good, although rather...odd, completely unlike any plants you may have seen before.

Either way, the afternoon quickly slips away while you take care of your budding garden. Before you know it the sun is setting behind the white fog, eventually leaving you in the dark. Aside from the sound of the wind, there is silence...until a soft giggle comes from the sky. The voice is much different from before; quiet, gentler, and distinctly feminine.]

Lovely...! You've helped create life. But how well did you do? All life leads to death. How strong is the life you've created, compared to death...?

[Beyond the fog, there is the sound of heavy, dragging footsteps approaching. As they slowly shuffle closer, you hear something else...a low moan in the distance...]

Braaaaainsss...

Page 1 of 3

TAKSHAKA + SHINICHI

PART 1

INSTRUCTIONS

SEEDS

DISCUSSION

TURN-IN

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Re: TURN-IN

PART 2 - ROUND 1