Re: Epic Clash Round 1 - Dungeon of the Crimson Fish
02-22-2010, 10:04 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.
The group suddenly found themselves in a new location, frozen from the neck down in a standing position. Bryce stood resolutely with his arms crossed behind Miles. A large, transparent dome arched far above them, revealing a strange and alien sky. Right at the top of the dome was a large clock. Below that, rows upon rows of stadium seats rested just beyond the dome's border, all currently empty. All around them sat pieces of stone and metal architecture, more intended to provide cover and restrict vision than to serve any structural purpose. Most of it was covered in places by a dull, translucent, slightly malleable substance. Several free-standing walls, a few platforms on pillars above the ground, some railings, hollow boxes, tunnels. Spaced throughout these objects stood silent, eerie wax statues, contorted into positions of agony. Most were human, with some notable exceptions. Most also wore strange garb or wielded unusual weapons, now encased in wax.
The first thing that would come to those familiar with wax figures would be "wax museum." However, the description was not quite correct. It resembled a twisted Colosseum, more than a museum, built for the sole purpose of lethal competition. For this purpose, the sections of the area were wildly varied, parts of it being forest while others sand-scapes. However, one thing was constant- a low, white fog pervaded the entire space, denser in some places more than others. If one observed closer, they might notice that the fogs seemed to congregate around the wax figures...
From an overhanging chunk of stone, the wax covering moved. It congealed into one solid stalactite of wax, which dripped down and formed the shape of a woman. She opened her eyes, which shone and reflected like real eyes would.
"Greetings, heretics. You have been summoned to the Wax Colosseum for disrespecting Lord Geromar and will now play a game for your lives and His amusement. Number of players has been set to nine. Eight st-"
Bryce snapped frustratedly. The woman's head twitched to the side violently. She began to repeat herself in exactly the same tone, as if her speech were prerecorded. "-musement. Number of players has been set to seven. Six statues will be activated to play the game with you. Time limit has been set to sixty minutes, and will be visible on the clock above you at all times. The rules of the game are simple. Rule number one-"
Bryce snapped again and the wax woman exploded in a shower of waxen globules. "This part is boring. You do it, Chronicler. I'm out."
He disappeared with another snap, and the players all found themselves fully animate again.
Miles looked around at the player's puzzled faces, and scratched his head.
"Alright... uh, my friend isn't really... well the rules here probably need to be explained, is what I'm saying."
Although Miles was certainly less imposing verbally as the Overseer, and did not actively use his power, he was still listened to in silence. Miles had a way about him, an indescribable weight that demanded for him not to be interrupted.
Stiffly, he waved his hands in space, creating three screens in the air.
"Uhm... Yeah, here. Look. Basically... Uh, wait..."
He retracted his screen hastily, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Sor- I mean... Anyway. You guys... and girls... will be playing tag, basically. You all know tag, right? It's kind of... basic, to the development of all mammals- OK, ok, I should get to the point. You'll be playing a 13 man game of tag, with the seven of you. The other players? They'll be... some of these people."
Miles awkwardly waved, directing attention towards the wax figures.
"Each time someone loses this game, they become part of it. Six of them... uh, I mean, six for this game, it's always one less than the number of players...uh, they come to life. They're uh... the other... I said it's a 13-person game, and there's seven of you. They're the other six...although really they can barely do anything. I'm not even sure if they're still alive... uh, they'll be the six other players you'll play with. Don't bother uh... attacking them... It won't really work out well. Next..."
Miles moved over to the melted Wax woman, and picked a shape out of her base. It was sort of like a football, but thinner. It's surface was fairly smooth, save for a small line of indentation. Inside of the indentation, it read: "Miles Fawman".
"Right... as... as you can see, it has my name in it. That means, I'm It. Right here, there are seven of these. Each one of you will start out as someone who is It."
His words were calmer and even, now. Miles was becoming visibly looser. With a still somewhat rigid action, he waved, lifting all six of the other devices out of their holders and handed them to each of the players. The last person, Asteria, did not get one, yet. Realizing that he held the final object, Miles felt slightly foolish and quickly tossed it over to her. Asteria, realizing the nature of the game, leapt to the side and avoided it completely. Miles looked suprised for a moment, and then frowned. A sudden heaviness bore down on Asteria. Suddenly, the device appeared in her hands, and her name appeared.
"... anyway... The devices record the name of the last person to touch it. The wax players will also have this effect applied to them. Erm... You can sorta just shove the devices into them, they probably won't mind. So, basically, you'll have to race off and find a wax person and give them your device. Not... not any of them. One of the alive ones. Since there are... seven of you... and only six wax players, the last person would be It. Oh, and you can't be...double It. I mean, one person can't have two devices with their name on it at the same time.. So, uh, you won't be able to like, replace the device in one wax figure with your own."
His mood obviously a bit darker now, as he wore his feelings on his face easily. He was quite easily offended, it seemed, as if he took everything to heart. Then, he lightened up a little, and finally brought his three screens back out.
"But, don't worry if you're It! This game would be boring without a good chance for the It to change hands."
His first screen displayed a corner of the museum, which had another screen occupying most of the wall. It displayed a map of the area, complete with little green stick figures representing each player. The wax figures had stick figures too, white ones, although the ones that were playing the game were not specified.
"This is over there," Miles waved like a weatherman behind him. "and it shows you where everyone is. Basically, you won't be able to sit and hide."
The next screen blipped to life, displaying another indistinct portion of the playing field. Another screen was here too, displaying another map of the field. The difference was that this one had only 7 red dots on them.
"This one is... basically the same, only it shows where the devices are. It's to prevent a boring game... like if someone was hiding them or something. This one is... over there."
The final one revealed a different screen- a longer, thinner one that displayed a list of names. On it were five names the players did not recognize, plus one Miles Fawman.
"The last one... it's the list of players who are not It. Uhm... I shouldn't be there." Miles' name was replaced with another unfamiliar one. "Yeah, so... those are the names of the six wax people who are alive. Or, uh, I don't think they're all people. Err... moving on. You'll probably want to check this one out sometimes, who knows if someone might trick you or something."
He gestured up to the clock above them, which now read 57:28. Miles frowned and waved towards it. It reset to 60:00 and stayed there.
"And then... well, there's the clock up there too. When it gets to zero, uh, everyone who's It...they die. I mean, they turn into one of..." He gestured towards the wax statues around them. "...one of those. Unless they are one already. But, we still take you out of the game if someone dies before the countdown ends... So I guess you can... you can kill someone if you're about to lose. Or something."
Miles clapped his hands and began sinking into the floor, finished. "That's it, guys! Uh... I know it's weird to say, but I hope you guys... have a good time? ...No, nevermind..." Miles' buoyancy left him as his head sunk through the ground. Suddenly, he jumped back out, with a surprised look.
"Oh! I almost forgot, one of the most important rules! The devices don't allow tag backs!"
This time, he sunk out of the arena properly, leaving the players to their business. The clock began its countdown.
The group suddenly found themselves in a new location, frozen from the neck down in a standing position. Bryce stood resolutely with his arms crossed behind Miles. A large, transparent dome arched far above them, revealing a strange and alien sky. Right at the top of the dome was a large clock. Below that, rows upon rows of stadium seats rested just beyond the dome's border, all currently empty. All around them sat pieces of stone and metal architecture, more intended to provide cover and restrict vision than to serve any structural purpose. Most of it was covered in places by a dull, translucent, slightly malleable substance. Several free-standing walls, a few platforms on pillars above the ground, some railings, hollow boxes, tunnels. Spaced throughout these objects stood silent, eerie wax statues, contorted into positions of agony. Most were human, with some notable exceptions. Most also wore strange garb or wielded unusual weapons, now encased in wax.
The first thing that would come to those familiar with wax figures would be "wax museum." However, the description was not quite correct. It resembled a twisted Colosseum, more than a museum, built for the sole purpose of lethal competition. For this purpose, the sections of the area were wildly varied, parts of it being forest while others sand-scapes. However, one thing was constant- a low, white fog pervaded the entire space, denser in some places more than others. If one observed closer, they might notice that the fogs seemed to congregate around the wax figures...
From an overhanging chunk of stone, the wax covering moved. It congealed into one solid stalactite of wax, which dripped down and formed the shape of a woman. She opened her eyes, which shone and reflected like real eyes would.
"Greetings, heretics. You have been summoned to the Wax Colosseum for disrespecting Lord Geromar and will now play a game for your lives and His amusement. Number of players has been set to nine. Eight st-"
Bryce snapped frustratedly. The woman's head twitched to the side violently. She began to repeat herself in exactly the same tone, as if her speech were prerecorded. "-musement. Number of players has been set to seven. Six statues will be activated to play the game with you. Time limit has been set to sixty minutes, and will be visible on the clock above you at all times. The rules of the game are simple. Rule number one-"
Bryce snapped again and the wax woman exploded in a shower of waxen globules. "This part is boring. You do it, Chronicler. I'm out."
He disappeared with another snap, and the players all found themselves fully animate again.
Miles looked around at the player's puzzled faces, and scratched his head.
"Alright... uh, my friend isn't really... well the rules here probably need to be explained, is what I'm saying."
Although Miles was certainly less imposing verbally as the Overseer, and did not actively use his power, he was still listened to in silence. Miles had a way about him, an indescribable weight that demanded for him not to be interrupted.
Stiffly, he waved his hands in space, creating three screens in the air.
"Uhm... Yeah, here. Look. Basically... Uh, wait..."
He retracted his screen hastily, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Sor- I mean... Anyway. You guys... and girls... will be playing tag, basically. You all know tag, right? It's kind of... basic, to the development of all mammals- OK, ok, I should get to the point. You'll be playing a 13 man game of tag, with the seven of you. The other players? They'll be... some of these people."
Miles awkwardly waved, directing attention towards the wax figures.
"Each time someone loses this game, they become part of it. Six of them... uh, I mean, six for this game, it's always one less than the number of players...uh, they come to life. They're uh... the other... I said it's a 13-person game, and there's seven of you. They're the other six...although really they can barely do anything. I'm not even sure if they're still alive... uh, they'll be the six other players you'll play with. Don't bother uh... attacking them... It won't really work out well. Next..."
Miles moved over to the melted Wax woman, and picked a shape out of her base. It was sort of like a football, but thinner. It's surface was fairly smooth, save for a small line of indentation. Inside of the indentation, it read: "Miles Fawman".
"Right... as... as you can see, it has my name in it. That means, I'm It. Right here, there are seven of these. Each one of you will start out as someone who is It."
His words were calmer and even, now. Miles was becoming visibly looser. With a still somewhat rigid action, he waved, lifting all six of the other devices out of their holders and handed them to each of the players. The last person, Asteria, did not get one, yet. Realizing that he held the final object, Miles felt slightly foolish and quickly tossed it over to her. Asteria, realizing the nature of the game, leapt to the side and avoided it completely. Miles looked suprised for a moment, and then frowned. A sudden heaviness bore down on Asteria. Suddenly, the device appeared in her hands, and her name appeared.
"... anyway... The devices record the name of the last person to touch it. The wax players will also have this effect applied to them. Erm... You can sorta just shove the devices into them, they probably won't mind. So, basically, you'll have to race off and find a wax person and give them your device. Not... not any of them. One of the alive ones. Since there are... seven of you... and only six wax players, the last person would be It. Oh, and you can't be...double It. I mean, one person can't have two devices with their name on it at the same time.. So, uh, you won't be able to like, replace the device in one wax figure with your own."
His mood obviously a bit darker now, as he wore his feelings on his face easily. He was quite easily offended, it seemed, as if he took everything to heart. Then, he lightened up a little, and finally brought his three screens back out.
"But, don't worry if you're It! This game would be boring without a good chance for the It to change hands."
His first screen displayed a corner of the museum, which had another screen occupying most of the wall. It displayed a map of the area, complete with little green stick figures representing each player. The wax figures had stick figures too, white ones, although the ones that were playing the game were not specified.
"This is over there," Miles waved like a weatherman behind him. "and it shows you where everyone is. Basically, you won't be able to sit and hide."
The next screen blipped to life, displaying another indistinct portion of the playing field. Another screen was here too, displaying another map of the field. The difference was that this one had only 7 red dots on them.
"This one is... basically the same, only it shows where the devices are. It's to prevent a boring game... like if someone was hiding them or something. This one is... over there."
The final one revealed a different screen- a longer, thinner one that displayed a list of names. On it were five names the players did not recognize, plus one Miles Fawman.
"The last one... it's the list of players who are not It. Uhm... I shouldn't be there." Miles' name was replaced with another unfamiliar one. "Yeah, so... those are the names of the six wax people who are alive. Or, uh, I don't think they're all people. Err... moving on. You'll probably want to check this one out sometimes, who knows if someone might trick you or something."
He gestured up to the clock above them, which now read 57:28. Miles frowned and waved towards it. It reset to 60:00 and stayed there.
"And then... well, there's the clock up there too. When it gets to zero, uh, everyone who's It...they die. I mean, they turn into one of..." He gestured towards the wax statues around them. "...one of those. Unless they are one already. But, we still take you out of the game if someone dies before the countdown ends... So I guess you can... you can kill someone if you're about to lose. Or something."
Miles clapped his hands and began sinking into the floor, finished. "That's it, guys! Uh... I know it's weird to say, but I hope you guys... have a good time? ...No, nevermind..." Miles' buoyancy left him as his head sunk through the ground. Suddenly, he jumped back out, with a surprised look.
"Oh! I almost forgot, one of the most important rules! The devices don't allow tag backs!"
This time, he sunk out of the arena properly, leaving the players to their business. The clock began its countdown.