Long Game 97: Midnight Whimsy

[Szeth Pancakes he/they]

Long Game 97: Midnight Whimsy

The one thing nobody expected of the Tree of Dreams was the pervasive smell of rot. As an Upper Roots native, it didn’t bother Cochalis as he climbed, calloused hands and feet finding holds in the worn, rust-brown bark. He had the confident, practiced gait of a native: he had nothing to prove by climbing fast. He made the Climb twice a day, once up and once down (though never as high as today); he took every chance he could to minimize his chances of falling. He’d read the statistics. Ten people a day plummeted to their deaths and rotted at the base of the Tree, their precious nitrogen fueling the Tree’s growth. Of course, most of them were pilgrims, usually drunk, trying to prove their Whimsy to the heavens, and many of the rest were Gardeners, taking in Investiture by trimming branches that couldn’t hold them. But accidents happened, and Cochalise preferred to be careful. He’d had enough close calls to know that he was far from infallible.

The smell slowly faded as he traversed towards the apex of the Tree. After half an hour of climbing, he reached his destination, a nondescript door carved into the Tree above a particularly large branch. (He didn’t make the mistake of looking down, but if he did, he wouldn’t have been able to see the ground through the clouds.) Carved into the door was a small carnation, painted pink. Cochalis took a deep breath before knocking, watching the green light, filtered through the leaves of the Tree, dance across the door.

The door opened immediately, and a woman with a bored expression and raven-black hair greeted him, her robes and the pink flower tattooed on her left cheek making her as a scion of House Carnation. “Your business,” she said flatly.

“Scion Cochalis of House Rose, ma’am. Your Floral sent for me.”

She looked him up and down, silently judging his lesser status, then stepped aside, inviting him in. The soil covering the floor of the House was warm under his bare feet as he took in his surroundings. Carnations climbed out of the soil on the sides of the lobby. Incandescent bulbs hung from the tall, arched ceiling, lighting the room a sickly, menacing yellow.

“This way,” the aloof scion said, leading him through a door at the side of the room and through a curved hallway, pink and purple stained glass windows bringing in ethereal light from the outside. The two of them entered another chamber at the end of the hallway, filled with wooden tables rising out of the soil. Only one of them, closest to the door, was occupied. A slender, smiling man sat there, intricate embroidery covering his robes and flowers weaved through his long brown hair. The Carnation Floral, of course. Cochalis gulped. This man was one of the most powerful people in the world, with a direct line to Whimsy Themself. At his whim, Cochalis could be thrown out of his house, disgraced. Or worse.

The Floral beckoned him towards the table, his long, manicured fingernails catching the incandescent light. Cochalis walked towards the table and sat in the seat across from him. The Floral smiled, apparently trying to put him at ease, but in the yellow light, his grin looked predatory; malicious.

“Shivi, prepare us some tea, dear,” he said to his scion, his voice light and melodious. She bowed and left the room. He fixed his gaze on Cochalis, the Floral’s ice-blue eyes peeling away his flesh and bones and staring directly into his soul. “I’ve heard many things about you,” he said. After a second of silence, Cochalis realized he wasn’t going to elaborate.

“What have you heard, your Floral?” Cochalis’s throat was dry.

“Many things. Is it true that you’re one of the greatest Mages alive? On par with, say, Scion Alavar?” Cochalis took a moment to place the name as Carnation’s head mage.

“I wouldn’t say–”

The Floral cut him off. “Then why are you working for a House like Rose?” He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Cochalis knew he had to choose his next words carefully. “I find I enjoy helping those who… need it more.”

“Hm.” The Floral cupped Cochalis’s chin in his hand, licking his lips. Cochalis’s heart pumped harder in his chest. “I have a… business proposal for you.”

***

Report

Office of the Upper Roots Coroner

Name: Unidentified

Time of death (est.): 4.16.135, 00:31

Cause: Broken neck, crushed skull from probable climbing fall

Description: House Rose scion. Dark brown hair, hazel eyes, medium-brown skin

Notes: Rose Floral contacted. Body likely not important enough for retrieval.

-------------

On the Shardworld of Ira, in the Tree of Dreams, the nexus of Whimsy’s power, a dark force is gathering. A corruption of Whimsy’s Intent, perhaps. And those affected manifest powers that no mortal should have…

[OOC: This is a blackout game. Beware, for nothing is as it seems…

Due to the nature of the game, I will not be taking any questions.]

Welcome to LG##! Your IM is @Elandera. RP-ful, story-driven play is highly encouraged  

The game with begin at 5:30 PM PDT on Saturday, October 7.

Rules

General

Spoiler

1. The game is split into 48-hour Day turns and 24-hour Night turns (alternating.)
2. Every Day turn, there is an execution, decided by popular vote in the thread. To vote, put names in red, the color of the blood spilled by your decision. If a vote is tied, one of the top candidates will be selected randomly. (There is no vote minimum.)
3. You may lodge a complaint against other players in your GM PM. Players with three complaints will be removed from the game. Each player has one complaint at the start of the game and gains another one every two cycles. 
4. PMs are open.
5. Each player has one action per turn.

Factions

Spoiler

Affected - ???. One of them can use an action to kill another player every Night turn. They win when they can’t possibly be defeated.

Non-Affected - You win when all of the Affected have been defeated.

Roles

Spoiler

 

• Mage – Your powers require massive amounts of magical energy to use. You may use an action on any Turn to tend the Tree of Dreams and gain one charge of Whimsical Investiture. These charges can be passed to a player of their choice. Mages are split into three categories:
  • Mindmage – You may change one player’s vote to the player of your choice during a Day turn. (cost: 2 charges)
  • Fighter –  You may attack a player of your choice during any turn. You injure the target for the next turn, rendering them unable to take an action.  (cost: 3 charges)
  • Protector – On a Night turn, you may either protect one player from being killed (cost: 2 charges) or you can protect all players on your team from being killed (cost: 5 charges). 
• Non-Mages can also gain Investiture by tending the Tree. Any player may use an action to pass one Investiture charge per turn to any other player.

-------------

Participants

Spoiler

Player List

Spoiler

1. @The Known Novel - Cain Abbel
2. @Experience
3. @Matrim's Dice
4. @Araris Valerian - Whamsy, who ran into a wall really hard one day, “WHAM!” and now thinks he’s a shard.
5. @Aeoryi - AMBITION, who ran into a wall really hard one day and now believes she is a shard.
6. @DeTess
7. @Devotary of Spontaneity -Calephor, a Mage of House Azalea.
8. @Archer - Aschu the Blessed
9. @JNV - Jellin
10. @Mark IV - Mark
11. @Frustration
12. @STINK

Pinch-Hitters

Spoiler

 

Spectators

Spoiler

1. @Labyrinth

 

Quicklinks

Spoiler

Day One: You Got Tired of My Scheming (For the Last Time)
Night One: What If I Told You I'm a Mastermind?
Day Two: Fastening Myself to You with a Stitch
Night Two: Pierced Through the Heart (But Never Killed)
Day Three: All That You Ever Wanted From Me Was Sweet Nothing
Day Three: All That You Ever Wanted From Me Was Sweet Nothing [2]
Day Three: All That You Ever Wanted From Me Was Sweet Nothing [3]
Night Three: I Think There's Been a Glitch
Day Four: Bloodshed, Crimson Clover
Aftermath: Meet Me at Midnight

[meet me at midnight.]

Edited December 27, 2023 by Elandera

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

I'll sign up.

[Experience he/him]

Another blackout. Wow.

I'm in.

Some clarifications (not questions )

Does lodging a complaint take an action?

To tend the tree and to pass the one investiture, it would take two turns as they are both separate actions?

[The Paradoxical Phenomenon he/him]

Spec doc please

[Mat he/him]

I don’t want to play another blackout tbh but I will

if the next qf is blackout I might not play xD

[Aeoryi she/her]

i'm rather afraid of getting lodged a complaint against, and I'm not sure how SE RP works so imma take the spec doc.

[Experience he/him]

Just now, Aeoryi said:

i'm rather afraid of getting lodged a complaint against, and I'm not sure how SE RP works so imma take the spec doc.

You could always...just not RP...

It's better than not being able to play 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

4 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

i'm rather afraid of getting lodged a complaint against, and I'm not sure how SE RP works so imma take the spec doc.

A part of me says the proper response to this is to lodge a complaint against your for not signing up

I’m in as Whamsy. One day he ran into a wall really hard, “WHAM!” And now he thinks he’s a shard.

[Aeoryi she/her]

5 minutes ago, Experience said:

You could always...just not RP...

It's better than not being able to play 

Hm. But as much as I like it when szeth gms - er blackout-

Just now, Araris Valerian said:

A part of me says the proper response to this is to lodge a complaint against your for not signing up

I’m in as Whamsy. One day he ran into a wall really hard, “WHAM!” And now he thinks he’s a shard.

okay fine... but am i allowed sign up instead? (or is that illegal)

@Szeth_Pancakes

[Araris Valerian he/him]

3 minutes ago, Aeoryi said:

okay fine... but am i allowed sign up instead? (or is that illegal)

@Szeth_Pancakes

You mean as yourself? That's definitely allowed. Araris is one of my most-used (and most-killed ) characters.

[Aeoryi she/her]

1 hour ago, Araris Valerian said:

You mean as yourself? That's definitely allowed. Araris is one of my most-used (and most-killed ) characters.

okay. I'm going to sign up as AMBITION, who ran into a wall really hard on day and now believes she is a shard.

 

[Kasimir he/him]

1 hour ago, Araris Valerian said:

You mean as yourself? That's definitely allowed. Araris is one of my most-used (and most-killed ) characters.

One day, I will run a Codex Alera game and make Araris Valerian a character just to watch the confusion  

[Araris Valerian he/him]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

One day, I will run a Codex Alera game and make Araris Valerian a character just to watch the confusion  

Codex Alera > Confusion. I’m in all the way.

Thanks for the reminder that I should cook up a rule set for an Alera game.

1 hour ago, Aeoryi said:

okay. I'm going to sign up as AMBITION, who ran into a wall really hard on day and now believes she is a shard.

 

I’m a bit concerned she didn’t believe she was a shard before hitting the wall

[Szeth Pancakes he/they]

6 hours ago, Experience said:

Does lodging a complaint take an action?

To tend the tree and to pass the one investiture, it would take two turns as they are both separate actions?

No.

Yes.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Is the complaint system meant to be a gameplay element?

Are there direct interactions in the rules for roleplay?

[DeTess she/her]

Sure, I'll play another blackout game

I'm not really familiar with this setting though... Is this something original, or did I just walk into some secrets project #4 spoilers?

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

I'll sign up as Calephor, a Mage of House Azalea.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

6 hours ago, DeTess said:

Sure, I'll play another blackout game

I'm not really familiar with this setting though... Is this something original, or did I just walk into some secrets project #4 spoilers?

Original by my guess. 

My roleplay character will come soon.

[Szeth Pancakes he/they]

41 minutes ago, The Known Novel said:

Original by my guess. 

Your guess is correct.

 

[Archer he/him]

In as Aschu The Blessed. 

The game starts during my Thanksgiving weekend so I'm going to be nearly non existent during D1. 

[Ashbringer he/him]

I will pinch-hit, if able.

[Szeth Pancakes he/they]

10 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

I will pinch-hit, if able.

You are most definitely able.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

2 hours ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

You are most definitely able.

But what if Ash is Cain?

[JNV]

Hi Ill play as Jelin

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

You know what, I'll sign up as Cain Abbel, a man that wants nothing more than to escape a mistake he made in his youth.