VANARA + ROY

[soulping]

[As you stand around waiting for something to happen, you begin to feel something pressing on you, vaguely...as though a heavy blanket has been draped around your shoulders, although there's still nothing there. You close your eyes for just a moment - just a blink - and then-

The floor drops. You go plummeting downwards, or so it seems; you can't quite tell, because suddenly everything is pitch dark and you feel like you're falling, falling, falling...]

Comments

RULES

[soulping]

• Teams will find themselves in a series of rooms that force them to confront some common fears ("common" as chosen by the majority who signed up- y'all got some issues).

• There will be four rooms. They will be run in a semi-exploradora format, although "exploration" is not the actual goal. In that sense, it is more like a heart or shadow game.

• The game takes place in a nightmare/mindscape formed by Knut, so that no one can actually get hurt from what happens. However, your characters will not know this. Everything that happens will seem completely real, despite being occasionally vague and absurd in the way that dreams are. Stuff will only seem weird after they wake up!

• This means that anyone who comes late or leaves early will simply appear or vanish and their fellow players won't really find it odd, because again: dreams. (In other words, don't worry too much about it.)

• People may get hurt during the course of the game! It IS a nightmare, after all. But no matter how bad an injury is, the character will only feel it in a conceptual way; like they're remembering the pain rather than actually experiencing it. This will seem normal at the time. Dreams!!!

• Powers are ON but characters will not realize this unless they actively make an attempt to use them. And certain rooms will prevent them from doing even that!

• These rules are all OOC. Your characters do not know what is going on.

• However, this does not exclude the possibility that they might eventually figure it out. That's up to you.

ROOM 1

[soulping]

You don't remember hitting the ground. But you must have at some point, because that's where you're lying now- on your back, staring up at a dark, blank ceiling. There's no indication of where you fell from...wait, fell? Did you actually fall? You can't seem to remember anymore. Your thoughts seem a little hazy and dreamlike around the edges, but your surroundings, at least, appear to be solid and real enough. So do your teammates, who lay nearby.

As everyone sits up and looks around, you see that you are in a small, dingy room. The floors and walls are rough-cut stone that is cracked and crumbling, covered in grime and mold, and there's an inch of filthy, stinking water covering half of the floor. One wall is covered entirely in thick steel bars like a prison cell. Although you can make out your dimly lit surroundings well enough, immediately beyond the bars you can see nothing but a solid wall of darkness.

There is a buzzing in the back of your mind and you feel weak and tired, sapped of any power and strength.

[overfull]

... Ugh...

[ This is terrible. Wendigo's heart was ultimately fine to run through, but this place... it's smelly and dark and she aches. Why is she even on the floor? And why is there buzzing? This isn't a memory, is it?

But it's not like she can do anything about it. After a bit more lying down, she'll get up to scan the room with her eyes, then head over to the bars. Squinting at the darkness. ]

[soulping]

You can't see anything past the bars. It's completely black and featureless, like a literal wall of nothingness.

[overfull]

[ SQUINTS HARDER...... but it's sort of giving her a headache. Let's stop that.

Shaking the bars a little. ]

[soulping]

The bars are very solid.

[overfull]

[ Boo.

She shifts on her feet a little. Being by herself in here is a little uncomfortable. Can't she at least have some mice? Something to make noise...?

Oh. There's an idea. She moves to the wet half of the room, kneeling in front - then flicks at the water with her fingers. ]

[soulping]

It makes the delightful plink plink noise of waterdrops.

[overfull]

[ That's much more relieving than it should be, but she is pretty lonely on her own.

> Stand up and splash around in filthy, stagnant water like a five year old ]

[soulping]

You're probably going to get a disease, but you're having a great time. You feel a little strength return and you don't notice the smell as much.

However, the buzzing in your head seems to grow a bit louder.

[overfull]

[ BRING IT ON WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE ANYWAY

But the buzzing isn't great. It's noisy. They weren't half this noisy before. What's going on? She moves to go rest against one of the stone walls, hand between her and the mold. ]

[soulping]

The wall is here for you, friend. So is the mold, which is probably getting all up in your lungs and throwing a party. #YOLO

The buzzing doesn't stop, but it remains steady and doesn't get any louder.

[overfull]

[ Thanks mold

It tickles. It takes longer to get acclimated to the noise when she's trying not to cough. But she realizes she probably shouldn't scratch at the mold with her hands or things will get worse...

Taking another look around. Is there a torch or stick or something she could use to get rid of it easier? ]

[soulping]

Nope and nope. There's nothing here but you.

[overfull]

[ Bleh. FINE THEN

Holding her breath, then scratching away at some of the mold with her fingers... maybe there's something beneath. This all looks old anyway... ]

[soulping]

It sure is ancient. But there's nothing on the walls.

[hatebound]

[yes hello I was totally here the whole time and why do I feel so weak ugghhhHH]

Where is this?

[overfull]

[ - oh thank god

GIVING HIM A HUG god it was way too quiet in here

she smells terrible though ]

Minotaur!

... I don't know where this is.

[hatebound]

[woah hold up what are you doing to me]

[oh it's a hug. okay.]

. . . We should find a way out, at any rate.

[overfull]

I've been looking... I can't find anything.

Would you be strong enough to try breaking the bars or walls?

[hatebound]

. . .

[well, one way to find out.]

I may be able to cut through.

[Gonna summon his energy arm blade to try and slice through those bars]

[soulping]

What energy blade? You're way too tired and weak for that, aren't you?

[hatebound]

[Wow rude he totally didn't want to cut those stupid bars anyway.]

[stares down at his hand in aggravated consternation. this is the WORST]

[overfull]

... Are you all right?

[hatebound]

No. I feel weak.

[PUNCHES A WALL mostly out of rage]

[soulping]

Rage is a strong emotion. Not strong enough to break down the walls, of course, but it's something to focus on. There's some actual strength behind the punch, and you don't seem to notice the smell as much.

[overfull]

It didn't work...

[ - hm ]

Ah, I have an idea.

When I played in the water, I noticed that I felt a bit more awake... If we exert energy, maybe we'll begin to feel stronger.

[hatebound]

[. . . Huh.]

[Focus on rage, you say.]

[He can do that.]

If it will make me stronger, then-

[repeated progressively angrier wall punching counts as exerting energy, right]

[soulping]

PUNCHING PARTY

You're just wasting your energy though, getting weaker and more tired until. Suddenly. You aren't? After a certain point, it seems to reverse, and you feel a tiny bit of strength return.

The buzzing in your head seems to grow louder though, making it somewhat difficult to hear your fellow players despite the silence in the rest of the room.

[overfull]

Minotaur, is it working?

[hatebound]

[further weakness just induces MORE RAGE but oh. Still mad, but pauses the punching party.]

Somewhat. Do you hear that noise?

[overfull]

... You can hear it too?

[ well, it's not voices, so obviously it's different from the usual. ]

Yes, I can.

[hatebound]

[good thing he's in no position to judge anyone else's sanity levels]

It's gotten louder.

[overfull]

It did get louder after I went in the water, but my strength also improved.

[ so. even tradeoff. ]

If we were able to bend the bars there, somehow...

[hatebound]

I could feel my strength returning as I became angry. If I focus on that, perhaps...

[minotaur you're not strong enough to bend metal yet calm down]

[not that he isn't trying anyway, focusing on dat rage]

[overfull]

Should I try to make you angry?

[hatebound]

[why would you ever offer that to bass]

I have more than enough to be angry about.

[anger of ~*~betrayal~*~]

[overfull]

[ why does arachne ever do or say anything ]

All right...

[ meanwhile, since she has SOME energy, going to see if those bars can be moved yet ]

[soulping]

They...wiggle. A little.

[overfull]

[ !!! ]

- They moved!

[ TRYING HARDER, if Minotaur can focus on his anger and have it help, well -

well, she's not mad. But she'll try to pick out her excitement and focus on it while moving the bars. ]

[soulping]

Why would you be excited? You're trapped here and you're completely powerless. You're so weak and fragile, there's no way you'll ever get out. You're going to be trapped here forever, all alone.

[overfull]

[ ... deflates, suddenly. lets out a defeated sigh. ]

... I thought that I saw them move, but...

[hatebound]

[pauses in his angry bar wiggling]

What's wrong?