Anniversary Game 2: Return of the Koloss

[Metacognition he/him]

Working on it today actually. I had all of my classes decide everything was due last week and then I was distracted by some book that just recently came out (and I still need to read the new Novella!). It should be done tonight. My apologies for the wait. 

[Metacognition he/him]

Aftermath: Cursed

The next few days passed in a blur for the Koloss; not that most days didn’t. The only days that had any amount of clarity to them were the days when their bloodlust was high. They drew closer and closer to what their bodiless master told them was their destination. One of the smaller Koloss, one that they called Terris due to the bloodied, V-shaped robe he had come back wearing a few days ago, felt something close to anticipation as they neared the blackened area that spewed forth the seemingly never ending smoke. But even that strong of a reaction was uncommon.

Finally, the day arrived. The blackened area, when seen up close, turned out to be the husks of buildings and the never ending smoke was coming from the charred remains. As the Koloss gathered roughly 100 meters from the boundary of the village, Terris could tell from there that no building had been spared.

The dismal state of the village did nothing to curb their unseen master’s orders though. They were to march to this spot and then destroy and that’s what they were going to do. They started working each other up into a frenzy.

There was no response from the village.

The Koloss beat on the ground, throwing up snow and boulders all around them. They beat on each other, using the pain to drive them deeper into the bloodlust.

Still no sign. A trap perhaps?

A few moments more and it didn’t matter one way or another. One of the larger Koloss, within the full extent of the rage, picked up a younger and threw the fresh one towards the village. The young Koloss surprisingly made it the entire distance, but splattered against one of the building supports still standing. As if that one action had released the floodgates, the Koloss charged.

They crossed the field to the edge of the village in seconds. There was no fighting back.

Many of the Koloss started hacking at what remained of the buildings, determined to tear them down. Many more flooded the streets and alleyways between the shells, pushing further inward and looking for people to slaughter. They heard no screams of panic.

Terris, near the front of the horde started to feel uneasy; an odd sensation for him. Where was the prey? Why did no one attack them? Koloss were used to fighting, but there was no one here to fight! Where they hiding, hoping that the Koloss would not find them?

Eventually, the Koloss roared their way into the center of town and into the town square. What they found there made even the largest of them stop, the bloodrage subsiding as they tried to figure out what to make of it all.

Bones. They had found a mountain of bones. There, piled all together in the middle of the square were all that remained of the villagers. Well, except for 4 people, but the people were marked by their headless master and were to remain unharmed.

***

Clara sat on her new throne on top of the pile of bones. Kilven had helped her make it. After they had finished slaughtering everyone in Tyrian Falls, they had still had plenty of time to get one of his forges working again. In return, he had used some of the bones and joined them together to make her throne. It was truly a work of art. Ribcages lined the back of the chair so that it seemed to encompass the person sitting in it and there were skulls for the hand rests. From her vantage, she could see Kilven and Unknown sitting around the bonfire they had created to help keep the cold at bay.

Unknown sat on the far side. He was having dinner with his new “family.” Since he couldn’t remember his own, he had “acquired” a new family from the bodies of his victims. El was one of them.

On the other side of her mountain, Kane was watering his flowers. His new source of fertilizer was doing wonders for them, even in the harshness of winter, and there were already buds tearing forth from the ground.

Clara shook her head. Such an odd bunch for Ruin to assemble. A Florist, an Amnesiac, a blacksmith, and a hard-on-her-luck Noblewomen? And she shouldn’t forget Mrs. Lippen, the Seamstress. Though she had died, she had been an important member of the team and her death had helped the rest of them. As she tapped one of the skulls for the hand rest, she wondered if one of them was Lippen’s. No matter and it wasn’t for her to judge who Ruin had picked either. It had obviously worked. They had singlehandedly taken out the entire village. The Koloss were unnecessary. The four of them were an army for Ruin in their own right.

As the Koloss looked on at their display, befuddled, Clara smiled. She popped an almond in her mouth and waited to see what Ruin would decide….

***

Ruin’s attention was divided. He watched as the Koloss swarmed the village. The fact that they did not have anything left to destroy didn’t bother him in the slightest. His goal wasn’t the destruction of just one, insignificant town.

He was also watching the events in Luthadel. Evidently, word of the crisis in Tyrian Falls hadn’t made it to the capital yet. Vin still remained there; safe amongst her friends. He needed to draw her out. He needed to remind her that it wasn’t over. With Rashek now gone, someone else would have to find the Well of Ascension and this gave Ruin the opportunity he needed.

He just needed to give her a reason to begin searching. So it didn’t matter to him whether it was one village or a hundred. Sooner or later, word would arrive and Vin would come. Then, he could find his body.

The dead stood in some strange place. It seemed to be made entirely out of mist. They couldn’t even explain how they knew that everyone else was there. They were all spread out at varying distances, their spectral forms hidden in the swirling clouds. Slowly, things started appearing in the mist. “Things” was the only definition that they could give them. They looked liked regular objects or buildings, but they looked as if they were made of more condensed versions of the mist itself.

A light appeared in the distance. It sat at about eye level and it shone too brightly to stare at directly for long. Such an odd thing for ghosts to experience. The light pushed against the mist and the mist slowly gave ground.

Except for the condensed mist. That mist started to become even more substantial and changed colors as needed.

With dawning horror, the dead began to recognize their surroundings. It was Tyrian Falls as it had been before they had heard word of the approaching Koloss. They were back.

As the mist retreated, so too did their memories. By the time Slart came running up to the edge of the city, out of breath, but frantic to let everyone know what he had found on his hunt, the only thing that any of the dead remembered of the time before was the feeling of dread.

“Guys,” Slart panted between breaths. “You won’t believe what I found. Koloss. They’re camped a couple weeks almost due west of us. And I’m pretty sure that they’re coming this way.”


And that’s a wrap! Again, sorry it took so long. Is it okay if I blame Sanderson for releasing a new book around the same time? Either way, sorry and I hope it was worth the wait.

Congrats to our Spiked! They win again! And now, Tyrian Falls is well and truly cursed due to it. Three times in a row? Won’t you guys take pity on this poor village and save it from itself? I joke, but they really do deserve some praise. After the first day and Lopen getting lynched, I worried on whether or not they stood a chance! They definitely proved me wrong!

To the rest of the Village, there’s a cure for every curse, right? Maybe next year, eh? If you guys have any questions, comments, or anything else for me, I’ll do my best to answer them here. Also, feel free to discuss and talk about the game amongst yourselves here as well!

Thank you, each and every one of you for playing; not only this game, but all of them. Without you, there would be no games at all. Let’s have another great year of games and bloodshed and chaos! I’d say this game is set to start us off right in those regards!

Master Doc
Master Spreadsheet
Mistborn Heaven
Ruin’s Guide to Destruction

Till next time!

Edited May 27, 2017 by Alvron

[Haelbarde he/him]

Thanks for the game, Meta!

[Hellscythe he/him]

GJ Spiked. I suppose I should've smoked . I'm glad I got a good read on Mashadar. Mark and Lopen I was wrong on however.

[TheMightyLopen he/him]

Nice job team! Can't really take any of the glory for this game since I died so early, but you guys did great! 

 

Thanks for GM'ing Meta! I look forward to the next AG.

[Elbereth she/her]

Wow, good game.

Hah, I actually had it basically right at the end. Too late to do anything, though. Storm it.

RP coming in the next day or so.

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

Thanks!!!

[Mashadar Mistborn he/him]

GJ Spiked. I suppose I should've smoked . I'm glad I got a good read on Mashadar. Mark and Lopen I was wrong on however.

You knew me from the start. Which was kind of scary for my first ( but not my last) game. Hopefully, I'll be village next time.

[luckat she/her]

Thanks for running the game, Meta! And congrats to the Spiked! You all did well at remaining hidden. It was fun.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Thanks again Meta! Your games are always a blast, even if I lose every one of them. I really wanted this to be the game, but congrats to the Spiked! I almost had you, but too late.

[Mark IV he/him]

GG everyone. A really good first game for me. Loved playing with you all.

Also, I'm not thug!

@Maill, that always happens to you.

[Elbereth she/her]

Four woke El up early that morning, with such a huge grin on his face that El couldn't help but doubt her suspicions and paranoia.

"I've got something to show you," he said eagerly. "Come on!" he urged, as she climbed down after him.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her along towards the main square. But just before they turned the last corner, he hesitated. "El, I- I've never had a family before. No one else in the village would take me in, would let me be in their family. But you did. I'll never forget that. That's why– well, come and see."

They turned the corner, and El stared, aghast. Bodies were strewn across the square, with fresh blood still streaking the dark cobblestones. In front of the bodies stood Clara, flanked by [Elkanah] and [Mashadar].

Behind her, Four nervously said, "I want you to be part of my family. Everyone else agreed that you can join us, if you want to."

El finally found her voice. "You killed all of these people."

"They wouldn't let me be part of their family," said Four, sounding hurt. "So will you? Please? Please, El, I don't want to see you die."

She whipped around to face him. "These were my friends and neighbors. I grew up with them, learned from them, loved them. You're asking me to be a part of your family when you just killed mine."

"Please, El," Four repeated in desperation.

"And you know what? I have no reason to stay in this world anymore, except to avenge my real family. No. I will not join you. I will never join you! Why should I still be alive?

"You killed Kassien!"

She attacked Four uncaring of her life, and Clara stabbed her in the back.

El gasped as the world receded, bright gushing lifeblood fading to gray.

Four knelt over her, face stricken. "El... El, I'm sorry. Don't die, El! Don't leave me alone," he choked out.

As El faded into death, she whispered one last word. "Kassien..."

---

Well, after reading the evil doc I am even more impressed by the eliminator team. Awesome job, guys!

Particular kudos to Mark. You know, after the game ended, the Villagers still didn't have a clue who was on the eliminator team (though Elk and Ripple both revealed in thread at some point). At that point, I was still doubting myself, and I was almost convinced that Mark was loyal. Nice.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Elbereth

[Elkanah he/him]

Beautiful RP Elbereth. +1 TBH I've been excited to read this betrayal ever since you started your RP weeks ago.

[Elbereth she/her]

Aw, thanks! I'm rather proud of it, given that I wrote it on the airplane after about twenty hours of being awake. It had to go through several iterations before it made any sense at all, but it turned out quite nicely in the end.

Poor El. Her life was not happy.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Elbereth

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Thank you a lot for running this Meta! One year, Aralis is going to be right about everyone else being crazy. For now, I guess he has to settle for being dead...

[Mark IV he/him]

@El,

Nice RP. Loved it. +1 to you.

Well, not much to say right now though. Loved the game. Thanks for the compliment Elbereth, but we (the eliminators ) couldn't have done it without each other.

@Araris,

I'll take your side next time. Then we'll make sure we're right.

[Herowannabe he/him]

Thanks Meta and good game everyone!

Woot! Koloss-Herwynbe made it into the writeup! Totally playing as Terris the Koloss in the next Scadrial-based game I play.

[Mark IV he/him]

Wait.....

The villagers didn't have a Coinshot AND a mistborn? Am I reading this right?

[Elbereth she/her]

Yes you are. There was basically nothing but Soothers and Smokers, with one Seeker and one Rioter. That's it. That certainly made it interesting (although also quite long, because only two deaths per cycle rather than three or more).

[little wilson she/her]

There's a reason people say not to try to guess Meta's role distribution at the start of the game.

 

 

Excellent job to the Spiked this game. Tyrian Falls is well and truly cursed now (the team that breaks said curse in later anniversary games will surely go down in the annals of history).

 

I'm going to lock this thread up, since it seems like everyone's said what they want. If anyone wants to try running a game, contact Alvron, Meta, Gamma, or me, and we'll get you added to the list.

 

If you have any questions about building a game or want some help or feedback about a game, the Art of Game Creation thread is perfect for that. The four of us mods can help with what you need, but we've also got a number of experienced GMs (and players) that can help you refine a game you're working on.

 

If you'd like to sign up for another game we've got a Quick Fix run by Anamaximder that'll be opening up signups in the next day or two, and Long Game 18's sign ups will go up this weekend. So stick around and join another game!

 

Thanks for playing everyone, and we hope to see you in future games!