soulping | Amalthea

Amalthea

[You enter a room made entirely of thick glass and patterned porcelain. Fluffy pillows and beanbags are scattered across the floor, providing plenty of comfortable places to sit, but they probably don't make up for what's on the ceiling (spears of jagged glass, steaming kettles of some boiling liquid), or the view through the floor (a long, long drop down into a pit, wherein weapons glint, sharp and business-ends pointed up towards you).

A round table stands in the middle of the room. Upon it stands six vases, each one the color of one team, and a scattering of gems in three different colors: obsidian, sapphire, and crystals.]

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[Staring at the vases...]

[Then at the roof, then the floor.]

[With a small sigh, she awaits instructions.]

[Looks like we're going it alone??]

Today's game is a simple one, my darlings. Who will you save? Who will you sacrifice?

You'll find twelve obsidian gems; these are your attacks. All of these must be played.
Six sapphire gems; each one will negate one attack.
Two crystals. Should you play one against a team that has chosen to attack yours, half of their total attack will be reflected back against them.

Deposit your gemstones in the vases whenever you're ready, but be warned—once played, they cannot be taken back.

Your goal is to be the least attacked or the most defended, dear hearts!

(OOC: This will be a one-round game! Please try to have your decisions in by 9PM EST.))

[Well. If it's all about intuition...]

[Six sapphires to Amalthea.]

[A crystal to Ratatoskr.]

[Another crystal to Epona.]

[Twelve obsidian to Ometotchtli.]

[My intuition tells me to stab someone who is supposed to be a friend in the back while nobody is around to complain about it. Because that's how business works.]

[Staring at the vases, and beginning to think out loud...]

...Connections, is it..?

[Who's more likely to die then, ------? The lone team with one, fragile thread keeping them a float, or the people with their net spread below them?]

[Well then. I guess it's a good thing we've spread our net. We mentioned knowing Ometotchtli, but as I don't know them personally a crystal may be a problem.]

[The sapphire gems are obvious, six to myself.]

[The obsidian gems... should be spread out. On average, a team can cover 40% of the other teams. Five teams covering 40% of other teams means that I should see two crystals coming at me, on average. If I go 12 on one team, a reflection will cause me six damage... this should be avoided, I should hit only a team which I know will not reflect back at me....]

Nyssa.

May I have more tea? This is an interesting puzzle I have been given.

Certainly!

[a tray full of tea and tea-related things appears! it's super classy]

[This is the most amazing tea ever thank you.]

[I will just have some tea while I am busy puzzling this out.]

Ah, one more thing. You said the winners would be the most defended and the least attacked, yes?

Are there any other prizes?

Prizes other than memories or skills, my dear? No.

However, there is another way to win.

That is precisely what I was talking about...

Do go on. [Tea sip.]

Oh, I'm afraid I can't give it away so easily. You'll have to use your intuition, darling.

Nyssa, that is a dangerous statement.

My intuition clearly tells me to simply pick someone and murder them as efficiently as I can.

Then by all means, do so.

I believe I shall.

Thank you for the lovely refreshments, Nyssa. [Tea sip.]

You're quite welcome, my dear. I must say, I appreciate a woman with taste.

As do I.

This side of me I have been hiding all this time... Who knows? There may not even be a point to covering it at all.

You hide it? Why?

It is a question of strategy.

If possible, I want the others here to believe I am a benign force who is their friend. This is because in doing so, they will be less likely to attack at times like this, and may in fact protect me instead. They are far less likely to do that if it is known openly that I shall slaughter them should it convenience me.

Should such a thing become public knowledge, the odds are fairly high that I would make a target of my team instead. Thus, I act.

It is a strategy which worked in another place like this, I think.

My, you are an interesting one.

Do tell me of this "other place".

I do not know much of it... only that there were more teams than there are here.

I was a member of a team called Teal... I remember being inside of a cave. [Adjusting her scarf!]

This came from that uniform... the rest was an amalgamation of belts and clothes with more belts.

There were other games, there... a teammate I know was eaten by a dragon, and apparently we were to choose one team and only one to protect in the game just before it.

I do not think I got along particularly well with at least one of my teammates... An antennaed lawyer. I remember us fighting over my refusal to invest in fickle, pointless things like emotion. [HARRUMPH.]

A cave! How crude.

[her disembodied voice definitely sounds like it's smiling.]

Oh, my dear, emotions are quite fascinating. They make things so amusingly complicated.

I suppose... but they are utterly pointless things to have if you want to win.

You must manipulate them, and not fall prey to their whimsy.

[. . . where did that door come from?! It leads back to the Garden, and you're allowed to leave unscathed.]

It has been a pleasure, Nyssa.

I must come back for tea and more pleasant conversation sometime.

[Heading on out~]

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Amalthea

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