Escape from the Winter Festival! [CLOSED]
- lilacfishie
- Patron
- Pebbles: 4,904.48
- Posts: 3398
- Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 1:38 am
- Location: SW VA
- Avatar Art Credit: space crawfish
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
ARE YOU READY?
Week - 3
Username – lilacfishie
Kin name – Flop
What are they in the setting? – Animatronic Lizard, Available through the Arts & Crafts Party Bundle!*
*Bundle subject to availability. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for any allergic reactions, maiming, paper cuts, death, or ruined clothes as a result of booking this package.
Description (for possible sketches) – A muted green lizard animatronic covered in pink, purple, and blue colorful paint splotches. Her tongue sticks out the side of her mouth and doubles as a paint brush and she has bright green eyes.
Extra ticket? - N/A
Flop was having a really tough time trying to figure out what to do. She tried to distract herself with all of the face painting requests, but it just reminded her that she might be put back in the party rooms at the end of this event. So, should she follow the rabbit man, who made her, who put her in the party rooms, who could decide if she got to roam the plex? Or, this other person who said they were in danger? A few minutes of standing, thinking to herself, and she trudged towards the sewers.
Trying to navigate through the dark hallways lined with trash was hard enough, but she had to keep pausing to allow her S.T.A.F.F. Bot buddy to catch up with its limited movement. She was surprised the whirring of her nervous fans couldn't be heard down in the depths, but thanked her lucky stars all the same. What was going to happen to her if this was the wrong choice. Eventually, though, she joined the scruffy man and the others down in the sewers.
Week - 3
Username – lilacfishie
Kin name – Flop
What are they in the setting? – Animatronic Lizard, Available through the Arts & Crafts Party Bundle!*
*Bundle subject to availability. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for any allergic reactions, maiming, paper cuts, death, or ruined clothes as a result of booking this package.
Description (for possible sketches) – A muted green lizard animatronic covered in pink, purple, and blue colorful paint splotches. Her tongue sticks out the side of her mouth and doubles as a paint brush and she has bright green eyes.
Extra ticket? - N/A
Flop was having a really tough time trying to figure out what to do. She tried to distract herself with all of the face painting requests, but it just reminded her that she might be put back in the party rooms at the end of this event. So, should she follow the rabbit man, who made her, who put her in the party rooms, who could decide if she got to roam the plex? Or, this other person who said they were in danger? A few minutes of standing, thinking to herself, and she trudged towards the sewers.
Trying to navigate through the dark hallways lined with trash was hard enough, but she had to keep pausing to allow her S.T.A.F.F. Bot buddy to catch up with its limited movement. She was surprised the whirring of her nervous fans couldn't be heard down in the depths, but thanked her lucky stars all the same. What was going to happen to her if this was the wrong choice. Eventually, though, she joined the scruffy man and the others down in the sewers.
word count: 281
- Beejoux
- Colorist
- Pebbles: 4,511.50
- Posts: 3343
- Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2019 5:40 pm
- Avatar Art Credit: Wander
- Kin Journal: viewtopic.php?t=1272
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
ARE YOU READY?
Week - 3
Username – beejoux
Kin name – trifling
What are they in the setting? – tween
Description (for possible sketches) –
Extra ticket? - Evidence
It didn't really feel fair. Trifling had been waiting so long to visit the Pizza Plex, and instead of being and to enjoy herself and have fun, she was being approached by strange, scruffy man telling her the man in the rabbit suit can't be treated, and they needed to do something about it. Agreed given him a ticket to show she believed him, 5he scruffy man, but now he wanted her to meet him in the sewer.
It was crazy, and more than that, it was going to be really really hard for her to get away from her parents and get down there. She spent a long time waffling over it; surely enough other people would go, but in the end she thought up an excuse to head to the bathrooms herself.
From there it became of matter of sneaking out without being noticed, which ended up being easier than shed thought it would be. Then she got lucky. Something else seemed to have the same idea, and Trifling hurried to fall in step with them, following them down.
Into the sewer.
Dear God. The smell.
The whole time, all she could think was that this had better be serious, cause she was going to be in so much trouble when h3r parents realized she was gone. Grounded, probably. For months.
This was a bad idea...
Week - 3
Username – beejoux
Kin name – trifling
What are they in the setting? – tween
Description (for possible sketches) –
Extra ticket? - Evidence
It didn't really feel fair. Trifling had been waiting so long to visit the Pizza Plex, and instead of being and to enjoy herself and have fun, she was being approached by strange, scruffy man telling her the man in the rabbit suit can't be treated, and they needed to do something about it. Agreed given him a ticket to show she believed him, 5he scruffy man, but now he wanted her to meet him in the sewer.
It was crazy, and more than that, it was going to be really really hard for her to get away from her parents and get down there. She spent a long time waffling over it; surely enough other people would go, but in the end she thought up an excuse to head to the bathrooms herself.
From there it became of matter of sneaking out without being noticed, which ended up being easier than shed thought it would be. Then she got lucky. Something else seemed to have the same idea, and Trifling hurried to fall in step with them, following them down.
Into the sewer.
Dear God. The smell.
The whole time, all she could think was that this had better be serious, cause she was going to be in so much trouble when h3r parents realized she was gone. Grounded, probably. For months.
This was a bad idea...
word count: 254
- Baneful
- Swampmaster
- Pebbles: 9,333.44
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 11:10 am
- Location: Scotland
- Kin Journal: viewtopic.php?p=3043#p3043
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
- lilacfishie
- Patron
- Pebbles: 4,904.48
- Posts: 3398
- Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 1:38 am
- Location: SW VA
- Avatar Art Credit: space crawfish
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
ARE YOU READY?
Week - 4
Username – lilacfishie
Kin name – Flop
What are they in the setting? – Animatronic Lizard, Available through the Arts & Crafts Party Bundle!*
*Bundle subject to availability. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for any allergic reactions, maiming, paper cuts, death, or ruined clothes as a result of booking this package.
Description (for possible sketches) – A muted green lizard animatronic covered in pink, purple, and blue colorful paint splotches. Her tongue sticks out the side of her mouth and doubles as a paint brush and she has bright green eyes.
Extra ticket? -
Response
Week - 4
Username – lilacfishie
Kin name – Flop
What are they in the setting? – Animatronic Lizard, Available through the Arts & Crafts Party Bundle!*
*Bundle subject to availability. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for any allergic reactions, maiming, paper cuts, death, or ruined clothes as a result of booking this package.
Description (for possible sketches) – A muted green lizard animatronic covered in pink, purple, and blue colorful paint splotches. Her tongue sticks out the side of her mouth and doubles as a paint brush and she has bright green eyes.
Extra ticket? -
Response
- Dice rolls
- [5] = 5
1d5: [5] = 5
Last edited by lilacfishie on Thu Dec 21, 2023 10:15 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 94
- HuniPi
- Patron
- Pebbles: 1,206.34
- Posts: 1910
- Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:40 pm
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
ARE YOU READY?
Week - 4
Username – HuniPi
Kin name – Sun-Cursed
What are they in the setting? –tween/pre-teen
Description (for possible sketches) – Skinny and has some small scrapes and nicks, results of being too much of a daydreamer and not paying attention to her surroundings. During weekdays wears the stereotypical anime schoolgirl uniforms, on the weekends a little more tomboy-ish with denim shorts and tank tops.
Extra ticket? - 518 words
Sun-Cursed was worried when she noticed there weren't that many other kids around in the VR room. It was cool and all but she was starting to think twice about whether or not she followed the correct authority figure. But then more people started to fill in the room and that gave the young girl some comfort.
The bunny man came in shortly, he was excited for this project, this Harvest as he called it. Why did that sound ominous? Probably something to do with data harvesting, did that mean she was a farmer now? (Or was she the crop?)
The gadgets were donned and adjusted, the staff ensuring she was comfortable and secured before the helmet visor lowered and transported her elsewhere.
At first things were a collection of lines and grids, momentary geometric shapes before forming into more complex structures and details. Sun-Cursed soon found she was in a classroom and her heart sank. Tests. She was going to be tested. Soon an instructor would come strolling through the classroom door and hand out incredibly difficult quizzes she would have to answer perfectly otherwise her parents would be so disappointed in her.
But rather than the expected instructor, in flitted a man-sized sheet of paper. While theoretically Sun-Cursed knew this wasn't normal, the weight of the VR gear reminded her that no matter how realistic everything was, this was only a simulation: Make believe with all the bells and whistles.
The giant sheet of paper turned to face her, and she knew it did because a cartoonish pair of eyes and a mouth suddenly formed on the sheet, making up an uncanny face. Tiger Rock quickly skipped into the classroom, just in time for a school bell's chime to ring.
"Hello, I Am The Headmaster," the giant sheet said in a voice that one expected to hear from a wizened old wizard. "You Have Been Brought Here To Collect Correct Answers."
Sun-Cursed nodded in understanding and reached out her hand, expecting the quiz she would be taking.
Tiger Rock gently pushed her hand back down and smiled.
"The Questions Shall Appear Before You. Select The Correct Answers Before Time Runs Out. You May Return To Previous Questions If You Wish To Change Your Answers." The Headmaster explained.
"Ah. I see." Sun-Cursed nervously nodded, wondering what area of knowledge she would have to pull from.
It turned out to be a wide range of subjects, math, science, language, history, majority of these Sun-Cursed knew by rote and the occasional question she knew by interest. She was doing very well in her opinion, up until The Headmaster threw her a couple of curveballs in the form of pop-culture media questions.
Her parents heavily monitored the media she was allowed to consume, and they deemed most of the things kids her age knew and liked as "frivolous" at best and "dangerous" at worst. So questions that fell in that category tripped her up and rather than getting the 100% score as she was aiming for, she would have to settle for 80%.
"C-can I do a retake?" she asked.
Week - 4
Username – HuniPi
Kin name – Sun-Cursed
What are they in the setting? –tween/pre-teen
Description (for possible sketches) – Skinny and has some small scrapes and nicks, results of being too much of a daydreamer and not paying attention to her surroundings. During weekdays wears the stereotypical anime schoolgirl uniforms, on the weekends a little more tomboy-ish with denim shorts and tank tops.
Extra ticket? - 518 words
Sun-Cursed was worried when she noticed there weren't that many other kids around in the VR room. It was cool and all but she was starting to think twice about whether or not she followed the correct authority figure. But then more people started to fill in the room and that gave the young girl some comfort.
The bunny man came in shortly, he was excited for this project, this Harvest as he called it. Why did that sound ominous? Probably something to do with data harvesting, did that mean she was a farmer now? (Or was she the crop?)
The gadgets were donned and adjusted, the staff ensuring she was comfortable and secured before the helmet visor lowered and transported her elsewhere.
At first things were a collection of lines and grids, momentary geometric shapes before forming into more complex structures and details. Sun-Cursed soon found she was in a classroom and her heart sank. Tests. She was going to be tested. Soon an instructor would come strolling through the classroom door and hand out incredibly difficult quizzes she would have to answer perfectly otherwise her parents would be so disappointed in her.
But rather than the expected instructor, in flitted a man-sized sheet of paper. While theoretically Sun-Cursed knew this wasn't normal, the weight of the VR gear reminded her that no matter how realistic everything was, this was only a simulation: Make believe with all the bells and whistles.
The giant sheet of paper turned to face her, and she knew it did because a cartoonish pair of eyes and a mouth suddenly formed on the sheet, making up an uncanny face. Tiger Rock quickly skipped into the classroom, just in time for a school bell's chime to ring.
"Hello, I Am The Headmaster," the giant sheet said in a voice that one expected to hear from a wizened old wizard. "You Have Been Brought Here To Collect Correct Answers."
Sun-Cursed nodded in understanding and reached out her hand, expecting the quiz she would be taking.
Tiger Rock gently pushed her hand back down and smiled.
"The Questions Shall Appear Before You. Select The Correct Answers Before Time Runs Out. You May Return To Previous Questions If You Wish To Change Your Answers." The Headmaster explained.
"Ah. I see." Sun-Cursed nervously nodded, wondering what area of knowledge she would have to pull from.
It turned out to be a wide range of subjects, math, science, language, history, majority of these Sun-Cursed knew by rote and the occasional question she knew by interest. She was doing very well in her opinion, up until The Headmaster threw her a couple of curveballs in the form of pop-culture media questions.
Her parents heavily monitored the media she was allowed to consume, and they deemed most of the things kids her age knew and liked as "frivolous" at best and "dangerous" at worst. So questions that fell in that category tripped her up and rather than getting the 100% score as she was aiming for, she would have to settle for 80%.
"C-can I do a retake?" she asked.
- Dice rolls
- [18] = 18
d20: [18] = 18
word count: 603
-
- Patron
- Pebbles: 1,226.84
- Posts: 1773
- Joined: Thu May 23, 2019 6:29 pm
- Avatar Art Credit: Almighty
- Gender:
-
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
I'll just make a roll first hehe
- Dice rolls
- [10] = 10
1d20: [10] = 10
word count: 8
-
- Patron
- Pebbles: 1,226.84
- Posts: 1773
- Joined: Thu May 23, 2019 6:29 pm
- Avatar Art Credit: Almighty
- Gender:
-
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
ARE YOU READY?
Week - 3/4
Username – Tiarana
Kin name – Balsam Spice
What are they in the setting? – a middle aged woman named Beth Sparks
Description (for possible sketches) –
Extra ticket? - yeah there's sure words here
Beth was by this point eating pizza, a be-sweatered STAFF bot waiting patiently at her table. She hadn't thought of anything to teach it while she chewed her pizza, but she did name it Gerald and gave it her sweater and bag to hold. She didn't notice the glitching animatronics because she was merely people-watching without a care in the world. She was even thinking of leaving, until an animatronic walked up to her table and offered her a pass to the VIP lounge.
"That sounds great!" she said brightly, and, after collecting a box for her half-eaten pizza, she headed in the direction the animatronic rabbit pointed to. A staff member handed her a bright pink headset and she turned it over in her hands, wondering how hard this game would be - Beth was not, in general, very good at video games that required reflexes, and she'd never tried a VR game before. She stood by, listening to Will give instructions, then put on the VR equipment and took her seat.
The loading screen was a rustic cabin in a snowy forest, and she found herself sitting at a table with hot cocoa in front of her. She could almost smell it - was VR always this immersive? But before she could think about it she spotted the tiger man and startled a bit.
"Welcome to the Harvest," he said smoothly. Beth thought that was a weird name for a game, but it was still under testing. Tiger Rock went on to introduce himself and the game, and when he was done, he opened the door to the cabin. "Step through the door to begin," he said with a nod.
Beth looked at the door for a long moment, wondering what she would find on the other side, but she stepped through it quickly enough. On the other side, she found herself at the base of a tall, snowy mountain that disappeared into the clouds.
Read on for more...
Week - 3/4
Username – Tiarana
Kin name – Balsam Spice
What are they in the setting? – a middle aged woman named Beth Sparks
Description (for possible sketches) –
Extra ticket? - yeah there's sure words here
Beth was by this point eating pizza, a be-sweatered STAFF bot waiting patiently at her table. She hadn't thought of anything to teach it while she chewed her pizza, but she did name it Gerald and gave it her sweater and bag to hold. She didn't notice the glitching animatronics because she was merely people-watching without a care in the world. She was even thinking of leaving, until an animatronic walked up to her table and offered her a pass to the VIP lounge.
"That sounds great!" she said brightly, and, after collecting a box for her half-eaten pizza, she headed in the direction the animatronic rabbit pointed to. A staff member handed her a bright pink headset and she turned it over in her hands, wondering how hard this game would be - Beth was not, in general, very good at video games that required reflexes, and she'd never tried a VR game before. She stood by, listening to Will give instructions, then put on the VR equipment and took her seat.
The loading screen was a rustic cabin in a snowy forest, and she found herself sitting at a table with hot cocoa in front of her. She could almost smell it - was VR always this immersive? But before she could think about it she spotted the tiger man and startled a bit.
"Welcome to the Harvest," he said smoothly. Beth thought that was a weird name for a game, but it was still under testing. Tiger Rock went on to introduce himself and the game, and when he was done, he opened the door to the cabin. "Step through the door to begin," he said with a nod.
Beth looked at the door for a long moment, wondering what she would find on the other side, but she stepped through it quickly enough. On the other side, she found herself at the base of a tall, snowy mountain that disappeared into the clouds.
Read on for more...
Spoiler
"Welcome, traveler!" a kind-looking, stereotypical old man greeted her. He had a cartoonish, chibi look to him. "Are you here for the competition?"
"Competition?" Beth raised an eyebrow; there was no one else here, or any signs, or anything other than the old man and the mountain.
"Yes!" the NPC continued, "today is the day of the Heavenly Competition! The only chance for us valley-dwellers to make our way to the top of the mountain and join the shining gods above!"
"Hmm," Beth said.
"On your way make sure you find the fruit of ambrosia, or they won't open the gates!"
"Uh...ok," said Beth, looking at the narrow path that wound upwards. "What does the fruit of ambrosia look like?"
"It takes many forms, but you'll know it when you see it!" the man said cheerfully.
"Great," Beth sighed, but this was VR, right? Maybe climbing the mountain would be easier than it was in real life...she hoped.
"Oh, and take this! It's a map that will show the locations of the fruit of ambrosia!" The old man handed her an incredibly vague map that showed the mountain from the side, with a pointer showing her location at the bottom and sparkles at different spots throughout.
"Uh, thanks, sir! I'd better get going!" Beth took the map, squinting at it, but it didn't really offer much insight into the locations of the fruits of ambrosia.
She started up the path, and after a few minutes of walking, came across a forlorn-looking wolf pup sitting next to a split in the path. "Awooo," it said sadly.
Beth sat down next to the wolf pup. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"I've lost my mother," it sighed. "Can you help me find her?"
"Sure," Beth said, and an icon appeared in the corner of her vision. If she focused on it, she could open it. A list of tasks was displayed, with the only item being to help the wolf pup find its mother. Beth focused back on the wolf pup. "Where did you last see her?"
"We were picking berries together. The berry field is on the path to the right, by the way."
Wow, thought Beth. I hope it's not going to be like this the entire time. "I'll go find her and bring her back."
She followed the path to the right and sure enough, there was an adult wolf sitting in a field of berries. "Awoo," the wolf said sadly.
"I found your pup," Beth said before she even asked the wolf what the problem was.
"I lost my pup," the wolf said automatically, and then, "Oh, you found him? Please bring me to him!"
Beth led the mother wolf back down the path to the wolf pup. "Thank you for finding my pup," the wolf said. "As gratitude, I'll give you this fruit of ambrosia." The wolf coughed up a sparkling raspberry and Beth put it in a bag she just then discovered she had. A strange victory noise played.
We will be here all night if I have to collect these one at a time, Beth thought. She pulled out the map and looked at it. There were areas that only had one sparkle, and others that had several. And some of them were moving. That seemed promising. Maybe there were some mini games or something. Beth followed the path upward, pausing every once in a while to check the location of her pointer. She passed a baby rabbit, a baby deer, and a baby bird, plus an old lady, but finally she found the location of one of the groups of sparkles.
It was...what she could only assume was another contestant. A child who looked about the age of 12, strolling up the path ahead of her. Oh no, thought Beth.
Well, it was only a game, right? Beth examined her pack and discovered a whole set of bandit clothes, plus a pair of long daggers that felt comfortable in her hands. "Thief path unlocked!" announced a floating banner that faded away as quickly as it had come.
Well...ok. Beth jumped in front of the kid, brandishing her daggers threateningly. "Give me all your fruits of ambrosia!"
The kid pulled out a sword, because of course 12 year olds wandering around alone on a mountain are going to have swords, and some battle music started playing. Beth dodged around the kid's sword - her reach was a little better after all - and stabbed them directly in the heart. The kid fell forward into the snow.
"Critical hit!" A flashing banner proclaimed. "Gained 10 exp. Leveled up!"
Beth stared at the body, a little horrified at what she had done, but it was hard to take the game's cartoonish art style too seriously. There was no blood on her daggers, she noted as she returned them to their sheaths. The kid had a pack like hers, and when she examined it, two shining fruits fell out, along with a small handful of gold. The body vanished after she was finished, the snow beneath a pristine white as if it was never there.
She didn't feel great about mugging (murdering?) her competitors. And a thought occurred to her: if she could attack them, then they must be able to attack her as well. She would need to move carefully, especially on the higher levels of the mountain.
Beth examined the map again. Maybe she could stick with targets that weren't moving. She located one not far from her current location and followed the path - though she stayed well off of it - to the next location. She was surprised to find a thriving village on the side of the mountain.
An old lady stood at the entrance to the village. "I wonder where little Timmy has gotten to," she said. "He said he was going to search for fruits of ambrosia today."
"Hmm," said Beth. "Can't say I've seen him." She hoped that wasn't the kid she murdered (?). Beth looked around the village. She had no idea where the fruits of ambrosia could be, but the map indicated there were at least three of them here. A person-shaped bear approached her.
"Hello, traveler!" Great, this again. "Several of our men have gotten trapped in the mine, and we'd be ever so grateful for your assist-" Beth was already walking away. A path outside the village led directly to the mine. She followed it down, but her way was quickly blocked...by bats.
So. Many. Bats.
Beth slashed at them wildly, raking in exp that was still helpful for a low level newbie, and unlocked a new skill, dagger throwing! She continued into the mine, being careful not to trigger more attacks from the hordes of bats, as the way grew more and more treacherous. It was dark, the ground was full of random holes, and there were just boxes full of bombs lying around. She wondered if she could just...maybe take a few...yep, an entire box went into her pack. There was no way these weren't going to be useful later!
After fighting her way through a gauntlet of bats, lynxes, rattlesnakes, giant rats, and other low-level creatures, Beth finally reached the bottom of the mine. The missing miners were nowhere in sight, but there was a huge drill-looking mechanical monster standing in front of a large treasure chest.
Beth contemplated it. Cords and hoses hanging from the ceiling connected the thing to power, air, and oil supplies. All she would need to do was sever the cords and hoses. She wouldn't be able to reach the ceiling inside the cavern, but the cords connected to several tunnels around the outside. She'd just have to find those tunnels.
This set off another long segment of scurrying hither and yon through the maze-like mine. Several ladders were involved as Beth worked her way to each of the tunnels in turn. Finally, she severed the last of the cables...and the entire mine went dark. But she was in front of the cavern with the monster and the treasure chest, and she hurried in there anyway. She could hear groans but she went straight for the chest. "You've received the boots of Apollo! No one can catch you!"
Beth groaned, then dug around in her pack until she pulled out a flashlight. The beam was pitifully small, no more than you'd get from a keychain, but it was better than nothing. She swept it over the drill-monster, and discovered the source of the groans: the missing miners were trapped in the cab. They all looked to be in rough shape. She opened the door to help them out, and selected the fittest one to come back to town with her. She was not going back through the maze to bring help. Together they made their way through the legions of animals (where did they all come from?? Beth could have sworn these tunnels were clear earlier), back to town.
Beth brought the injured miner to the bear. "Thanks for helping our miners, please take th-" yeah, yeah. She had figured out how to skip dialogue. She shoved three more fruits of ambrosia into her pack, put on the boots, and practically flew up the path. It was true that nobody could catch her while she was wearing them... But they could catch her every time she ran into a tree! "Useless things," Beth muttered as she slid them back into the pack. On the increasingly craggy mountain it felt like she would fall into a ravine if she wasn't careful.
The map showed that she was about 1/4 of the way up the mountain. Beth looked up towards the vanishing mountaintop and back down at the map.
Then I ran out of energy but BASICALLY Beth obtained the last 4 fruits of ambrosia by setting a trap for any competitors intent on tracking her. After blowing them to smithereens with her bombs, she was able to recover a few fruits. With the fruits in hand she headed to the top of the mountain, only for the gate guard to turn her away because she didn't have enough. "You're kidding!" she shouted, thinking back to all the opportunities she had passed on.
"Competition?" Beth raised an eyebrow; there was no one else here, or any signs, or anything other than the old man and the mountain.
"Yes!" the NPC continued, "today is the day of the Heavenly Competition! The only chance for us valley-dwellers to make our way to the top of the mountain and join the shining gods above!"
"Hmm," Beth said.
"On your way make sure you find the fruit of ambrosia, or they won't open the gates!"
"Uh...ok," said Beth, looking at the narrow path that wound upwards. "What does the fruit of ambrosia look like?"
"It takes many forms, but you'll know it when you see it!" the man said cheerfully.
"Great," Beth sighed, but this was VR, right? Maybe climbing the mountain would be easier than it was in real life...she hoped.
"Oh, and take this! It's a map that will show the locations of the fruit of ambrosia!" The old man handed her an incredibly vague map that showed the mountain from the side, with a pointer showing her location at the bottom and sparkles at different spots throughout.
"Uh, thanks, sir! I'd better get going!" Beth took the map, squinting at it, but it didn't really offer much insight into the locations of the fruits of ambrosia.
She started up the path, and after a few minutes of walking, came across a forlorn-looking wolf pup sitting next to a split in the path. "Awooo," it said sadly.
Beth sat down next to the wolf pup. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"I've lost my mother," it sighed. "Can you help me find her?"
"Sure," Beth said, and an icon appeared in the corner of her vision. If she focused on it, she could open it. A list of tasks was displayed, with the only item being to help the wolf pup find its mother. Beth focused back on the wolf pup. "Where did you last see her?"
"We were picking berries together. The berry field is on the path to the right, by the way."
Wow, thought Beth. I hope it's not going to be like this the entire time. "I'll go find her and bring her back."
She followed the path to the right and sure enough, there was an adult wolf sitting in a field of berries. "Awoo," the wolf said sadly.
"I found your pup," Beth said before she even asked the wolf what the problem was.
"I lost my pup," the wolf said automatically, and then, "Oh, you found him? Please bring me to him!"
Beth led the mother wolf back down the path to the wolf pup. "Thank you for finding my pup," the wolf said. "As gratitude, I'll give you this fruit of ambrosia." The wolf coughed up a sparkling raspberry and Beth put it in a bag she just then discovered she had. A strange victory noise played.
We will be here all night if I have to collect these one at a time, Beth thought. She pulled out the map and looked at it. There were areas that only had one sparkle, and others that had several. And some of them were moving. That seemed promising. Maybe there were some mini games or something. Beth followed the path upward, pausing every once in a while to check the location of her pointer. She passed a baby rabbit, a baby deer, and a baby bird, plus an old lady, but finally she found the location of one of the groups of sparkles.
It was...what she could only assume was another contestant. A child who looked about the age of 12, strolling up the path ahead of her. Oh no, thought Beth.
Well, it was only a game, right? Beth examined her pack and discovered a whole set of bandit clothes, plus a pair of long daggers that felt comfortable in her hands. "Thief path unlocked!" announced a floating banner that faded away as quickly as it had come.
Well...ok. Beth jumped in front of the kid, brandishing her daggers threateningly. "Give me all your fruits of ambrosia!"
The kid pulled out a sword, because of course 12 year olds wandering around alone on a mountain are going to have swords, and some battle music started playing. Beth dodged around the kid's sword - her reach was a little better after all - and stabbed them directly in the heart. The kid fell forward into the snow.
"Critical hit!" A flashing banner proclaimed. "Gained 10 exp. Leveled up!"
Beth stared at the body, a little horrified at what she had done, but it was hard to take the game's cartoonish art style too seriously. There was no blood on her daggers, she noted as she returned them to their sheaths. The kid had a pack like hers, and when she examined it, two shining fruits fell out, along with a small handful of gold. The body vanished after she was finished, the snow beneath a pristine white as if it was never there.
She didn't feel great about mugging (murdering?) her competitors. And a thought occurred to her: if she could attack them, then they must be able to attack her as well. She would need to move carefully, especially on the higher levels of the mountain.
Beth examined the map again. Maybe she could stick with targets that weren't moving. She located one not far from her current location and followed the path - though she stayed well off of it - to the next location. She was surprised to find a thriving village on the side of the mountain.
An old lady stood at the entrance to the village. "I wonder where little Timmy has gotten to," she said. "He said he was going to search for fruits of ambrosia today."
"Hmm," said Beth. "Can't say I've seen him." She hoped that wasn't the kid she murdered (?). Beth looked around the village. She had no idea where the fruits of ambrosia could be, but the map indicated there were at least three of them here. A person-shaped bear approached her.
"Hello, traveler!" Great, this again. "Several of our men have gotten trapped in the mine, and we'd be ever so grateful for your assist-" Beth was already walking away. A path outside the village led directly to the mine. She followed it down, but her way was quickly blocked...by bats.
So. Many. Bats.
Beth slashed at them wildly, raking in exp that was still helpful for a low level newbie, and unlocked a new skill, dagger throwing! She continued into the mine, being careful not to trigger more attacks from the hordes of bats, as the way grew more and more treacherous. It was dark, the ground was full of random holes, and there were just boxes full of bombs lying around. She wondered if she could just...maybe take a few...yep, an entire box went into her pack. There was no way these weren't going to be useful later!
After fighting her way through a gauntlet of bats, lynxes, rattlesnakes, giant rats, and other low-level creatures, Beth finally reached the bottom of the mine. The missing miners were nowhere in sight, but there was a huge drill-looking mechanical monster standing in front of a large treasure chest.
Beth contemplated it. Cords and hoses hanging from the ceiling connected the thing to power, air, and oil supplies. All she would need to do was sever the cords and hoses. She wouldn't be able to reach the ceiling inside the cavern, but the cords connected to several tunnels around the outside. She'd just have to find those tunnels.
This set off another long segment of scurrying hither and yon through the maze-like mine. Several ladders were involved as Beth worked her way to each of the tunnels in turn. Finally, she severed the last of the cables...and the entire mine went dark. But she was in front of the cavern with the monster and the treasure chest, and she hurried in there anyway. She could hear groans but she went straight for the chest. "You've received the boots of Apollo! No one can catch you!"
Beth groaned, then dug around in her pack until she pulled out a flashlight. The beam was pitifully small, no more than you'd get from a keychain, but it was better than nothing. She swept it over the drill-monster, and discovered the source of the groans: the missing miners were trapped in the cab. They all looked to be in rough shape. She opened the door to help them out, and selected the fittest one to come back to town with her. She was not going back through the maze to bring help. Together they made their way through the legions of animals (where did they all come from?? Beth could have sworn these tunnels were clear earlier), back to town.
Beth brought the injured miner to the bear. "Thanks for helping our miners, please take th-" yeah, yeah. She had figured out how to skip dialogue. She shoved three more fruits of ambrosia into her pack, put on the boots, and practically flew up the path. It was true that nobody could catch her while she was wearing them... But they could catch her every time she ran into a tree! "Useless things," Beth muttered as she slid them back into the pack. On the increasingly craggy mountain it felt like she would fall into a ravine if she wasn't careful.
The map showed that she was about 1/4 of the way up the mountain. Beth looked up towards the vanishing mountaintop and back down at the map.
Then I ran out of energy but BASICALLY Beth obtained the last 4 fruits of ambrosia by setting a trap for any competitors intent on tracking her. After blowing them to smithereens with her bombs, she was able to recover a few fruits. With the fruits in hand she headed to the top of the mountain, only for the gate guard to turn her away because she didn't have enough. "You're kidding!" she shouted, thinking back to all the opportunities she had passed on.
Baneful wrote:I rolled a 10!
word count: 2128
- Baneful
- Swampmaster
- Pebbles: 9,333.44
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 11:10 am
- Location: Scotland
- Kin Journal: viewtopic.php?p=3043#p3043
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
It shouldn’t have been so easy for Flop to get lost, but their internal map of the Pizzaplex didn’t contain any of the things down here; there were uncountable scrapped animatronics and rotten festering food, which their memory would have told them should have been disposed of. Customers asked questions about the Pizzaplex, and it seemed like many of the answers had always been lies.
Flop sees a ghostly echo ahead of her, and it leads her away from the group. It looks like her, but decimated and broken, a version of herself scrapped long ago.
When she looks at it, her head hurts, and the world seems to glitch, but she cannot help but pursue it. As she catches up to it, it stops and stutters.
The words “Harvest Protocol Initiated” flash up on her internal screen.
And for just a moment, she is somewhere else, another version of herself, and she sees her teeth close around the ribcage of one of the guests, who screams horribly, bleeds a lot, and then goes limp.
And then she is back in the sewers, the person is gone, and she can hear the voices of the others.
But she wonders if she is all right.
word count: 215
- Baneful
- Swampmaster
- Pebbles: 9,333.44
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 11:10 am
- Location: Scotland
- Kin Journal: viewtopic.php?p=3043#p3043
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
The games should have continued for Beth, but something seems wrong. A jolt appears to hit her right behind her eyes, radiating pain throughout her head, and the world she is in changes from the game she was playing to a view of the Atrium where they’d been. She seems to be standing on a balcony overlooking it all.
It seems like moments ago that there were hundreds of people, families and kids with their companion STAFF bots, with music and lights creating a bustling and lively atmosphere. But now it is dark, and Beth can see primarily through some kind of night vision from where she looks down on it all. There is desolation and destruction everywhere, with tables cleaved in half and a nightmarish amount of still and unmoving figures.
All around the space, the animatronics hunt, helped by the formerly gentle STAFF bots, with people hiding everywhere they possibly can and some putting up a hopeless stand against the encroaching hordes.
And overlooking it all, the man in the rabbit suit stands on the stage with glowing purple eyes and a fixed and terrible smile.
As they fall, he begins to dance, a childish and silly little dance that contrasts horrifically with everything below, clearly having the time of his life, surrounded by gently falling artificial snow.
Other STAFF bots begin to drag away the wounded and dying, leaving long trails of blood in their wake.
Beth is freed from the restraints of her VR console and can act however she wishes, able to make whatever choice she likes. She is in control of a very large, very dangerous-looking animatronic that she can pilot as though she inhabited it herself.
It is up to her what she’d like to do next.
((Beth can respond to the above prompt in art or writing for an additional ticket for this week. I’ll give another prompt after that to you that will apply for the next week’s prompt))
word count: 342
- subducting
- Patron
- Pebbles: 1,069.24
- Posts: 1319
- Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 3:38 pm
-
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
ARE YOU READY?
Week - 4
Username – Subducting
Kin name – Midnight Melody
What are they in the setting? – A singing unicorn animatronic
Description (for possible sketches) – A little more saturated than in the swamp, with sleek shapes and a tall frame. She has digitigrade legs and is dressed something like your typical pop idol, in white and neon blue and pink. She sports very cool pink triangle shades with no frames and a curling spiralling horn. She wears a miniskirt made of semi see through plastic (with shorts underneath) and a cool tank with a star cutout. The look is finished with a bolero in the same plastic, this time holographic. Her clothes are accented with yellow cartoon stars.
OPTIONAL
Extra ticket?
Unquenched was here too. She glanced at the dragon animatronic warily, trying to gauge if he was experiencing the same weird glitches as her, but a scuttling sound startled her. Being unused to experiencing fear, she jumped and took off like a shot, charging away from the noises without a backwards glance.
Soon, though, Midnight would regret running off on her own. The newly minted feelings were electrically sharp, jolting through her circuits and making her twitch. She had some lighting she could turn on from her horn, but after a couple of moments the disco lights and upbeat music felt terribly loud, and she killed them again with a thought.
Down in the dark, she wandered for what felt like hours until some non-digital glow lit her awareness. She vaguely sensed it was coming from ahead of her and not behind her and she inched forwards anxiously. It felt terribly wrong.
She emerged round the corner to a horrific sight. An ominous firey glow half-illuminated headless animatronics, all headless, all still. She was almost completely frozen, whether because she had absolutely nothing close to programming that could deal with this or because she was too terrified to move, she wasn’t sure. After realising they weren’t moving she reached out and touched one warily, but the paint on her palm sizzled to nothing, leaving the metal scarred. She snatched her hand away, and her olfactory sensors reported a smell that couldn’t solely be explained by the burning paint. Still clutching her ruined palm, she backed away, eyes on the robots.
After what felt like an agonisingly long time wandering the tunnels, she heard voices, and dashed back out of a side tunnel to find the group still mostly together, albeit looking about as spooked as she was.
Week - 4
Username – Subducting
Kin name – Midnight Melody
What are they in the setting? – A singing unicorn animatronic
Description (for possible sketches) – A little more saturated than in the swamp, with sleek shapes and a tall frame. She has digitigrade legs and is dressed something like your typical pop idol, in white and neon blue and pink. She sports very cool pink triangle shades with no frames and a curling spiralling horn. She wears a miniskirt made of semi see through plastic (with shorts underneath) and a cool tank with a star cutout. The look is finished with a bolero in the same plastic, this time holographic. Her clothes are accented with yellow cartoon stars.
OPTIONAL
Extra ticket?
Midnight was starting to get the heebies, which absolutely shouldn’t have been possible. Her software just didn’t support it, but… the creepy animatronics were all the creepier for potentially being other models of her… she refocused her lenses and tried to follow the scruffy man’s explanation. She was feeling weird. She was… feeling. Weird.4. Distracted by a group of very large rats, they end up separated from the group along a side passage that branches off of the tunnel. The entire space is full of headless robots, lit by some faint glowing light like the embers behind a fire. If they touch the robots, they are scalding hot to the touch, and the acrid smell of chemicals reaches them. They fortunately find their way back to the group.
Unquenched was here too. She glanced at the dragon animatronic warily, trying to gauge if he was experiencing the same weird glitches as her, but a scuttling sound startled her. Being unused to experiencing fear, she jumped and took off like a shot, charging away from the noises without a backwards glance.
Soon, though, Midnight would regret running off on her own. The newly minted feelings were electrically sharp, jolting through her circuits and making her twitch. She had some lighting she could turn on from her horn, but after a couple of moments the disco lights and upbeat music felt terribly loud, and she killed them again with a thought.
Down in the dark, she wandered for what felt like hours until some non-digital glow lit her awareness. She vaguely sensed it was coming from ahead of her and not behind her and she inched forwards anxiously. It felt terribly wrong.
She emerged round the corner to a horrific sight. An ominous firey glow half-illuminated headless animatronics, all headless, all still. She was almost completely frozen, whether because she had absolutely nothing close to programming that could deal with this or because she was too terrified to move, she wasn’t sure. After realising they weren’t moving she reached out and touched one warily, but the paint on her palm sizzled to nothing, leaving the metal scarred. She snatched her hand away, and her olfactory sensors reported a smell that couldn’t solely be explained by the burning paint. Still clutching her ruined palm, she backed away, eyes on the robots.
After what felt like an agonisingly long time wandering the tunnels, she heard voices, and dashed back out of a side tunnel to find the group still mostly together, albeit looking about as spooked as she was.
- Dice rolls
- [4] = 4
1d5: [4] = 4
Last edited by subducting on Tue Dec 19, 2023 2:24 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 555
- Baneful
- Swampmaster
- Pebbles: 9,333.44
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 11:10 am
- Location: Scotland
- Kin Journal: viewtopic.php?p=3043#p3043
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
- subducting
- Patron
- Pebbles: 1,069.24
- Posts: 1319
- Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 3:38 pm
-
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
ARE YOU READY?
Week - 5
Username – Subducting
Kin name – Midnight Melody
What are they in the setting? – A singing unicorn animatronic
Description (for possible sketches) – A little more saturated than in the swamp, with sleek shapes and a tall frame. She has digitigrade legs and is dressed something like your typical pop idol, in white and neon blue and pink. She sports very cool pink triangle shades with no frames and a curling spiralling horn. She wears a miniskirt made of semi see through plastic (with shorts underneath) and a cool tank with a star cutout. The look is finished with a bolero in the same plastic, this time holographic. Her clothes are accented with yellow cartoon stars.
Prompt:
Midnight Melody felt the weird pulse go through her from the activation, but it didn’t do anything to her. She… seemed to be able to still move of her own free will? The unicorn singer ducked under the swing of a staff bot but ate another one, getting knocked back, almost toppling into the humans. Planting her feet firmly, she lowered her head and thrust forwards. A staff bot let out an electronic screech as it was impaled straight through on her horn. She threw her head to one side to throw it off and began swinging the other way, scoring a gash in another staff bot, severing it’s arm. It hissed mechanically at her and she tensed, ready to continue fighting as long as she needed to. She would be okay. She had to. Her and Unquenched and the other bots had the advantage. They had to hold off the approaching hoard.
Week - 5
Username – Subducting
Kin name – Midnight Melody
What are they in the setting? – A singing unicorn animatronic
Description (for possible sketches) – A little more saturated than in the swamp, with sleek shapes and a tall frame. She has digitigrade legs and is dressed something like your typical pop idol, in white and neon blue and pink. She sports very cool pink triangle shades with no frames and a curling spiralling horn. She wears a miniskirt made of semi see through plastic (with shorts underneath) and a cool tank with a star cutout. The look is finished with a bolero in the same plastic, this time holographic. Her clothes are accented with yellow cartoon stars.
Prompt:
Midnight Melody felt the weird pulse go through her from the activation, but it didn’t do anything to her. She… seemed to be able to still move of her own free will? The unicorn singer ducked under the swing of a staff bot but ate another one, getting knocked back, almost toppling into the humans. Planting her feet firmly, she lowered her head and thrust forwards. A staff bot let out an electronic screech as it was impaled straight through on her horn. She threw her head to one side to throw it off and began swinging the other way, scoring a gash in another staff bot, severing it’s arm. It hissed mechanically at her and she tensed, ready to continue fighting as long as she needed to. She would be okay. She had to. Her and Unquenched and the other bots had the advantage. They had to hold off the approaching hoard.
- Dice rolls
- [15] = 15
1d20: [15] = 15
Last edited by subducting on Sun Dec 24, 2023 5:41 pm, edited 2 times in total. word count: 274
- Toshiful
- Legendary
- Pebbles: 2,907.12
- Posts: 1946
- Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 10:21 am
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
Ben was doing his best, but he needed more time and people had already been killed. Families. Kids. Helpy was small, and this whole place was Will's territory. If they got caught, the consequences would be terrible.
He patted Ben's sleeve, to let him know he was going to try something, then hopped down and made his way grimly to one of the desk's emergency phones. Something had to be done. They needed a distraction.
Henry had Will's personal dialer. He had been threatening with Ben. He adjusted his bowtie, taking a small mechanical breath with strange, tinny lungs, and put through a call to the dancing rabbit on the stage.
When it crackled to life, he said in his oldest voice, "Hi, Bon."
He patted Ben's sleeve, to let him know he was going to try something, then hopped down and made his way grimly to one of the desk's emergency phones. Something had to be done. They needed a distraction.
Henry had Will's personal dialer. He had been threatening with Ben. He adjusted his bowtie, taking a small mechanical breath with strange, tinny lungs, and put through a call to the dancing rabbit on the stage.
When it crackled to life, he said in his oldest voice, "Hi, Bon."
word count: 128
- Baneful
- Swampmaster
- Pebbles: 9,333.44
- Posts: 1541
- Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 11:10 am
- Location: Scotland
- Kin Journal: viewtopic.php?p=3043#p3043
- Gender:
- Contact:
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
The rabbit on the stage stopped dancing abruptly; one leg still held aloft as it froze mid-gesture.
He fished out a walkie-talkie, fumbled it, caught it mid-air and then held it up to his head. The voice was like something from beyond the grave; he was sure he'd never have heard it again.
"Henry?" he said. "What are you doing here?"
If there was one way this could all go pear-shaped, this was it.
He fished out a walkie-talkie, fumbled it, caught it mid-air and then held it up to his head. The voice was like something from beyond the grave; he was sure he'd never have heard it again.
"Henry?" he said. "What are you doing here?"
If there was one way this could all go pear-shaped, this was it.
word count: 79
- Toshiful
- Legendary
- Pebbles: 2,907.12
- Posts: 1946
- Joined: Fri May 31, 2019 10:21 am
-
Kin Count
Kin Species
Event
Forum
Escape from the Winter Festival! [OPEN]
"It's been a while," Helpy said, "and I know you're busy. But I've been- it's been lonely. I hoped you might be able to meet me somewhere."
His eyes flickered at Ben, and he made a give me suggestions gesture with his free paw.
His eyes flickered at Ben, and he made a give me suggestions gesture with his free paw.
word count: 48