Mid-Range Game 5: Competing Realities

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

Well, us Zombies gotta stick together. Tulir.

[Lord Pifferdoo he/him]

Dowanx. 

 

Tulir.

[dowanx]

tulir

[Tulir he/him]

Traitor! I name you!

[Alvron]

Cycle is over.

[little wilson she/her]

Traitor! I name you!

 

You're one to talk about traitors....traitor.

[Lord Pifferdoo he/him]

I told you, old friend. I said that honor of yours will get you killed someday. 

[Alvron]

Round Twelve: The Final Four

Al Vron here folks.  After eleven rounds of brutal fighting we have reached the last five combatants.  Which of these hardy souls will emerge victorious?  And will they be scarred for life or can they overcome this experience?  We may never know the answer to the second question but we will find out the first.  Right here, right now, live at the arena.

Count Piffula has been a beast.  Sneaking up on your opponent and draining them of blood is an unusual method of killing but hey, if it works then it works.  I wonder what he needs all that blood for?  Wait, didn't one of the others drown in blood.  Is Piffula killing one contestant with the blood of another?  Now that's smart.  Nothing goes to waste with this guy around.  Looks like someone disagrees,  They just stabbed the Count with a length of wood.  And another, and another.  They are staking Count Piffula to the ground.  Now they are driving rebar through his eyes.  A little extreme if you ask me.  The Count is dead and with him goes the hope of many a fan.

Tristal has been backed into a corner.  There isn't much they can do but hope for a quick death.

Wait, is that movement I see over there?  It is.  Was someone buried alive under the bodies of the others?  Who is that trying to claw their way free from the fallen?

We have finally come to the final four contestants.  We are down to the wire.  29 began and only four remain.  Who will be crowned the champion?  Stay tuned to find out.

Beware:  A player has returned from the grave.  They must post this cycle or be killed once again.

Vote Tally:
Tulir: 3
Araris: 1
Dowanx: 1

Death Tally:
Tristal (Tuilr) Librarian
Count Piffula (Lord Pifferdoo) Cosmere

Lottery has two items up for grabs.
Jumper Cables:  These cables and portable battery can be used to protect someone from death by shocking them back to life. However should the one protected not be attacked then they shall die instead.  Battery has one charge.
Syphon:  This diabolical device can be used to drain one life from another player and add it to your own.  If the player targeted only has one life then this will kill that player.  (Contains one charge.)

Edited September 10, 2016 by Alvron

[dowanx]

3 zombies in the final 4!! It's the walking dead...

[Araris Valerian he/him]

I just don't even have any idea any more this game... Who the heck is on which team?

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Well, I think Wilson already revealed it, but I've got some handy warriors lenses, and would be willing to work a bit with anyone who wants to contact me in a PM.

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

"BRRRAAAIIINNNNSSSS!" Figgldygrak roared out, his savage voice full of hunger. The meager meal he had eaten alone had not been nearly enough to sate his desires, and he craved something more. Something.... living.

Join Grak in the Zombie Apocalypse today! If Dow and the new zombie (looking at you, lurker) vote with me, we can get a majority lynch on Araris, taking out the living, and claiming the game for the Dead. What will happen is we should enter into a Special Lottery if we all agree to and HOLD BY a treaty to allow the Special Lottery to be held, to determine the last victims/winner, I'd assume. Let's face it, no faction deserves to win this game on merit alone. Let Fate decide!

 

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain!

[Araris Valerian he/him]

I thought the servants of Odium were of one mind...

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Well, in the interests of my own preservation and as a reserve against my own forgetfulness, I will vote for Dow. I see no reason to exclude myself from the lottery.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Araris Valerian

[dowanx]

How dare you vote for a fellow Odiumite!  Araris

[little wilson she/her]

Keira gasped, her eyes shooting open. Her face felt stretched tight, and she brought her hands up to rub some life back into her cold skin, when she realized her hands were red. Covered in red. Blood. She was covered in blood. Her skin, her clothes….

 

That’s right. They drowned her in blood. She felt like she should be gagging at that thought, but for some reason, her gag reflex was gone.

 

She felt different, but she supposed that was what happened when one died. Not that she’d thought for a second that that would stick. After all, she was a Healer. She was the gift that kept on giving. They had all tried to kill her--twice even--but had it worked? No. She was back, and with a vengeance. She’d taken names, and now she was ready to deliver payback. First to Tristal and Arall.

 

She wandered around in the shadows of the city for a bit, orienting herself on everything she’d missed. She stumbled over Tristal’s body at some point, and mentally crossed his name off her list. She found Arall in the distance across the town square, arguing with Grak and Dow about something called Odium, whatever that was. It looked like those three were all that was left. Made things easy for her.

 

She stepped out in the open, quickly crossing the square before the three even realized she was there. She wasn’t sure if the shock on their faces was more from seeing her alive or the fact that she was covered in blood. She didn’t really care, either way. This covered-in-blood thing was a good look. She looked at Arall. “You thought you could get rid of me that easily? You said we wouldn’t try to kill the other for any reason. And then you tried to kill me. You broke our alliance. For that, I require blood. Your blood, Arall. I hope you're ready to embrace Death. Maybe he'll spit you out like he did me, but I wouldn't count on it.”

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Dowanx

"Aha! There's the last Zombie! Keira, you've never been able to be loyal to a team with a decent motive, even when you try. You probably would have voted for me on accident if I didn't break our agreement. Somebody had to, just be glad that I spared you the trouble." Arall thought to himself for a minute. "You know, I wonder what happens if I don't exist for this lynch... Assuming everyone is bent on having me dead, that means I get full power over the vote..."

I'm still open for an alliance with anyone that wants to shoot me a PM. Gamma, Fien Urbain would never approve the abandonment of the surviving Luthadel nobility, that fought against the tyranny of both Lord Heron and the skaa infiltrators, never mind the Oathpact we made to utterly extinguish the light of all Shardic dominance. And, need I remind you of this:

 

Kenna walked out of the armory, stretching after her long night. She didn’t regret not killing Aidan. That Street Performer made her task difficult, especially with his paranoia. Sure, he said he wanted friends--he even called himself Friend--but he wasn’t actually willing to trust anyone. So she’d hesitated. But that was okay. The job was almost done, and they couldn’t stop her from completing it.

 

“I’m afraid you’re both wrong about Kelsey. She’s thoroughly out of it. Has been all along. And you just killed your last chance of winning this.” She chuckled darkly. “Not that you really had much of a chance as it was.”

 

The two of them stared at her, and she could tell they felt betrayed. For a brief moment, she felt bad about how much she’d manipulated them into doing nearly exactly what she wanted. But only for a moment. “Friend, I’m afraid you won’t live through the day. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” Two of her clones jumped behind Friend, holding him. “In fact, you’ll even be helping me kill you.” She grinned, and then turned to Aidan. “And thank you, Aidan. I couldn’t have done this without you. There was a rough patch there, where I thought you’d caught me, but you turned right back around and gave me the best defense a girl could ask for. I really hate to repay that with death, so if you want, you can help me string up Friend here and join me in my cause. I could use an Enforcer with your skill. Think about it, and let me know.”

 

She started back toward the armory and then stopped, digging into her pocket. She pulled out a dead mouse and tossed it to Friend. “There you go. You finally have a friend now.” She laughed at him and then continued to her cot in the armory. Time to relax before the action really started.

 

I doubt you’ll choose to join me, Aonar, and even if you do, I don’t know if I can actually choose not to kill you, but we can have Alv make that ruling should you want that (but I really doubt you will. And I can't blame you). And really, I am genuinely sorry for the manipulation. Especially after you tried saving my life in the other game….

 

[little wilson she/her]

Keira and Kenna are entirely different.....except for the fact that they're both Epics. And that their names start with K.

 

Regardless, I contest the validity of your statements. I've never broken an actual alliance I had with someone. The Gamma and Aonar bit was probably the closest I came, but we never really had an alliance there. We were all working together, yes, but it was more of a tentative alliance rather than a clearly worded alliance, and anyway, I couldn't follow through and kill Gamma anyway. He and Aonar both survived and joined me in my Epic cause.

 

All the other times when an alliance was broken, it wasn't me doing the breaking. In all these games, I've made alliances with Gamma and Wes in LG4; Wes, Kas, Aonar, Maill, and Jerric in LG6; Claincy, Maill, Hero, and Sarc in the AG; and Luckat, Aonar, Gamma, Twei, Winter, and you in this game. I didn't break any of the LG6 or AG alliances, or Gamma's in LG4. All of those I stayed true to until either I died, the other person died, or the game was over. Winter's is an iffy one. I wouldn't count it as breaking, since we'd had a plan, and I wasn't expecting her to die like she did (she wouldn't have if Karlin hadn't had the Void Sphere). And the rest were broken by the other parties, whether through threats or blatantly trying to kill me. So to say that I've never been loyal to a team that even has a decent motive is an outright lie. I am. The alliances that get broken aren't through me breaking them. My allies break them, and I have to kill them for betraying me. That's not me breaking them. That's me saying that I don't take betrayal lightly and if someone is going to callously make an alliance and then not have the integrity to stick to their words, I'm going to use all my power to kill them for lying to me, because they wouldn't hesitate to kill me if they had the chance and the means to do so. And don't deny that. You know it's true. This game proves that.

 

Basically, if I state something very clearly, I mean it, and I won't break it. I'm very loyal to alliances when people can actually pin me down on my words and the terms of the alliance. It's when I'm vague that you should be wary. I expect others to have that same integrity, but I get that this is a game of backstabbing and betrayal, so some people don't mean what they say and they know they don't when they say it. But just because I know that doesn't mean I'll be quick to forgive them and overlook their gross error in leading me on.

 

Also, I doubt you have the Void Sphere, though it's a clever move trying to make us think you have it. Even if you do, that's not going to keep you alive. It'll just delay your death another cycle, and Gamma and I will both have lottery items, so....you're still going to die.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

You will die, actually, from the lynch. So it will be me, Gamma and Dow, unless somebody changes a vote. I'm fine with Gamma winning, so I just hope he gets the siphon and not the jumper cables.

[little wilson she/her]

Um, no, I'm pretty sure that's wrong.

 

Arall: 2 (Dow, Keira)

Keira: 1 (Arall)

 

I believe Gamma is voting for you as well; he just hasn't placed his vote. So that will put it as Arall: 3, Keira: 1. Even if Gamma for some reason doesn't vote for you and votes for me (which I don't see happening), that will still put it as a tie. Arall: 2, Keira: 2. So the only way you'd think that I would die is if you have the Void Sphere, in which case the vote would be Keira: 1. One vote isn't enough to kill someone. So it will still be me and Gamma with the lottery items and you without a Void Sphere (assuming you even have one, which I still doubt).

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Oh, 1 vote doesn't kill somebody... Well then. I guess we will just wait another round for me to die then.

 

And I still don't understand why Dowanx can't get an item... Or at least you are implying that.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Araris Valerian

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

Grak craved the souls. Flesh and bone, and sinew and blood. Odium and despair were strong Intents, usually enough to drive him forward. But the monster hungered for the brains of the living.

 

Araris.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Gamma Fiend
color

[dowanx]

Sorry Gamma

[little wilson she/her]

Keira found the bones next to the charred remains of a fire. She tried to cry, but no tears would come. She hoped Aora had put up a fight and that Finn hadn’t just bounded up to his murderer like his usual cheery self.

 

She knew who had done it. The indentations on the ground around the fire made it obvious it had been Grak. Her eyes narrowed as she resolved to take care of the beast once and for all. Arall’s betrayal was nothing compared to this. Before she died, the thought of confronting Grak for this horrible act would’ve made her balk. But that fear was a thing of the past.

 

The remnants of a tune floated to her on the winds, and she recognized Grak’s voice as well as the tune. It was hers. She remembered humming the strange melody, but she hadn’t thought she’d put words to it. Yet, she could hear words, and she didn’t think they were Grak’s.

 

She headed through the streets, following the tune, quietly singing along.

“It’s funny how some distance

Makes everything seem small

And the fears that once controlled me

Can’t get to me at all.”

 

She paused, thinking about the lyrics. Those words were oddly appropriate for her current situation. She smiled and continued.

 

“It’s time to see what I can do

To test the limits and break through;

No right, no wrong, no rules for me--I’m free!”

 

She picked up rebar from beside a building, spinning it around as she continued down the road, getting steadily closer to Grak.

 

“Let it go, let it go.

I am one with the ropes and knives.

Let it go, let it go.

Watch as the light leaves their eyes.”

 

She felt the chorus grow, taking her over.

 

“Here I stand,

And here I’ll stay/

Let the death rage on!”

 

She continued through the bridge (which I’m not putting here, sorry), and then she turned a corner, finding herself face-to-maw with Grak. It didn’t seem terribly surprised to see her. They sang together, its off-key voice harmonizing strangely with her melody.

 

“Here I stand

With the friends I slay

Let the death rage on,

The blood never bothered me anyway!”

They stopped and stared at each other. She broke the silence first. “You killed my friends. Aora and Finn. You ate them. And then you stole my song. Those words were mine. Not yours. What friends have you slain? What fears controlled you? You can’t even feel!” She spun the rebar, and stepped toward Grak. “This is for Aora and Finn.”

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

The crowd cheered and the stands pounded as the final moments of the round counted down, the Zombies relentless in their assault on the living and all former restraints and differences that once help them apart. He had to trust his compatriot undead.

"YOLT!" he roared out to the crowd, one last time, and surged forward towards Wilson, thirsty for living flesh.

 

Edit: Well played. I fixed to Wilson and Red at 10:59, but was probably hitting enter as soon as it switched over. If you don't want to count the vote change, I understand and accept your decision, Lord GM!  

Edited March 31, 2015 by Gamma Fiend