Sanctuary Forum Game #1: Your Deepest Desires

[Arnox]

Your Deepest Desires
Turn 1

The time is now. The game is afoot. Players will now make their choices for which path they want to take. Left, right, or forward. If a decision isn't picked, one will be chosen at random for them. If you would like to review the rules, you can read them here. This will be the first turn. After this, assuming players are on the same spot as another, they can choose to attack each other or ignore each other. Keep in mind that attacking may waste valuable time. Player status can be found in the OP.

andersonnnunes - Lain - Hunter - Point 8 - No conditions - 38HP
gaijinkaiju - Aizen - Hunter - Point 8 - No conditions - 20HP
Houseman - Carmin - Possessed - Point 8 - No conditions - 38HP
Gauche - Gauche - Ritualist - Point 8 - Faster movement, enemies have 50% miss chance - 25HP
Arnox - Arnox - Sorceress - Point 8 - 1 of 3 Survival re-rolls used - 95 HP

Once again, the map can be found here:

S = Starting point
0 = Empty point
A = Obstacle and artifact
R = Obstacle
E = Obstacle and end goal

Players now have two days to make a decision.

 

[gaijinkaiju]

Going to rush to the point, Forward, I run

 

[Houseman]

Forward. Nothing else matters!

 

[Arnox]

Well, I can already tell this is gonna be interesting...

 

[andersonnnunes]

Lain starts walking forward, then quickly changes direction and goes towards point 5.

 

[Gauche]

Gauche choose the right path heading right towards 2

 

[Arnox]

Turn 2
​

The distinguished crowd that arrives at the ruins all eye each other suspiciously, though no one decides to attack... Yet. They can all tell though which path leads to where. An ancient looking series of engravings line the border between the walls and the ceiling. The left and right passages lead to great magical items. Forward leading to their true goal. Gauche has decided to go right. Lain, to the left. But interestingly, Aizen and Carmin go forward together. Though they won't be together for long...

-

Alright, so for now, Gauche and Anderson can't do anything except, of course, continue to move forward to their destinations. Gaijinkaiju and Houseman however may both choose to attack each other, should either of them wish. If not, they will also continue forward. Gaijin and Houseman have two days to decide. If not, an action will be randomly selected for them. Timer is in the OP.

 

[Houseman]

Continue forward

 

[gaijinkaiju]

Forward Again

 

[Arnox]

Turn 3
​

The group finally arrives at their first challenge. From right to left...

Gauche:

You walk into a dark room with a high ceiling. Stone pillars at the corners and long-since burnt out torches along the walls. There is also a passageway right in front of you leading on. But in the middle of the room lies an old dusty stone sundial. You don't know why anyone would put a sundial in the middle of an underground structure like this, but then this whole situation was weird, period. You try to walk toward it to examine it, but you soon find yourself blocked by some sort of invisible barrier that surrounds the dial. Winding around the dial on the floor though, you can read an inscription carved deep into the ground. It's unmistakable.

In dedication to memories long forgotten, ages past, lovers lost, and opportunities missed. We will remember the lessons of the past and move on to turn this future into paradise.

gaijinkaiju/Houseman:

The uneasiness around each other continues. However, as you both walk along the dark corridors of the underground structure, the stone walls suddenly give way to a misty forest. Thankfully, you can see a clear path leading you on, though the trees obscure it somewhat as you try to look beyond. As you continue walking though, it doesn't take long before you spot a hooded figure ahead of you both along the path. They seem to bit sitting down, waiting for something. As you two approach them, you're greeted by a low but smooth male voice.
"Good evening to you both." One of you begins to say something but they're immediately cut off by the hooded man. "I know you have questions. Most of them are irrelevant though. Because I am here to offer you both something. There's many challenges ahead and only one group may have the final prize. That is, of course, assuming that one of you even makes it. The question I instead now pose to you is... Why bother?" He then pulls out a mysterious large red gem from his robes. "I am a messenger from the goddess herself that sent you. Turn back now for the way ahead is not for the light-hearted, the weak-willed, or the powerless."

--If the gem is accepted, the accepting player will receive a custom title immediately but only for a month and will be pulled from the game. They then have a chance to get it back once the next forum game starts.--

andersonnnunes:

You come into a very large room. It looks like an amphitheater. And at the center of the room lays an altar with an ornate dagger laying neatly upon it. The dagger itself weirdly still seems completely clean and even shiny, although everything around it, including its scabbard is covered in dust from years of disuse. You come to the altar and look over the dagger but there seems to be no traps at all upon it. There is a deep inscription though upon the top of the stone altar.

The great sacrifices we make lead us to conquer all.

 

[andersonnnunes]

Lain was confused for a moment, not knowing how such a beautiful blade could have been abandoned in a place like this. Despite that beauty, he wasn't keen on carrying anything that could not be used to kill easily and swiftly, so he wondered: in a place like this, what could he do to test if the blade was sharp?

After circling around for a moment, the inscription he read came to his mind again: The great sacrifices we make lead us to conquer all. Never in his life had he made a sacrifice. Certainly not when he was a pampered brat in his father's lands, as back then he could have anything his small mind could imagine. Had he become the king, he would have done as his father, the one tasked with making sacrifices and offerings to the gods during the yearly festival, begging for protection from all enemies, known and unknown. But, as much as the revolution crushed his family, it crushed his belief in gods too. Gods had not cared about him, so making sacrifices for them had never crossed his mind.

Afraid that being lost in reminiscences any longer would cost him the future he sought, Lain forced himself to look at the blade again. Even if he had now focused his consciousness to something else, thoughts about his youth still lingered in his sub-conscious, causing a sudden mood change and making him angry. Maybe because of that, he let his hand fall violently on the altar. It should have hurt, but the anger was now rage and he could not feel anything else.

In his sight were his hand and the dagger. What a perfect idea that gave him, or so the rage led him to believe.

He took the dagger with one hand and immediately put his other hand, open, in the place the dagger had been. If he could chop off one of his fingers with the dagger, then he would have established that it was a suitable instrument for him. This time he led the dagger into a violent fall, making it hit his open hand, at a place between the palm and one of his fingers. His face became flushed, but not as much as his hand, which was now bathed in blood. He could feel that the finger's bone was not attached to where it had been before. This put nothing less than a smile in his face. No common dagger would have done this so easily.

Fast forward, he left his finger there, taking only the blade.

Explorers would later find the finger, talk about it at taverns, and a lengthy and tortuous series of events would give rise to the custom of yubikiri.

 

[Houseman]

Walk past the hooded man

 

[Gauche]

Gauche pisses on the invisible barrier and continues down the passageway

 

[gaijinkaiju]

You underestimate my will temptress, I shall ignore your offer for it is not my goal

 

[Arnox]

Turn 4
​

Gauche: Your urine entertainingly bounces right off the invisible barrier and nothing further happens. As you move past it and continue on down the passageway though, you soon black out for about three seconds before you awake back at the entrance to the dungeon. But something's very different this time... You feel something in your hand, and you open it to reveal that you're holding a smooth miniature crystal sundial. The frosted mineral actually seems like there are clouds moving just beneath the surface of it. But most significantly, you feel very light and full of energy. Suddenly though, as you pocket the sundial, you see Lain teleport into the starting room as well with you. He seemed a little confused just as you were at first.

--You move twice as fast around the dungeon now and all attacks directed at you now have an automatic 50% chance of missing. The effect goes away when you die.--

gaijinkaiju/Houseman: Aizen's bold pronouncement merely makes the hooded man smirk as he stows the gem back into his robes. "I thought you'd both be of such a mindset. I guess we'll see then just how stupid or well-founded that attitude really is... " He then disappeared into the fog as you both continue on your way. Though you don't get very far at all before you both begin encountering... Bodies slumped against the tree and laying on the ground. But on slightly closer inspection, they actually seem to be breathing... The path continues on before you both with no end visible, and the bodies continue on and on as well now. Warriors. Sorcerers. Almost all of them in very old gear and clothes. A few in new gear. But they all lay still as if sleeping.

--Ooooooh, I'm going to have fun with you all... :)--

andersonnnunes: As you ram the blade down upon your poor finger, the pain hits you for a second, but quickly goes away and you soon black out as well. As you wake up seemingly just as quickly as you went unconscious though, you find your finger fully reattached as if nothing happened and, what's more, you feel... Sturdy. Tough. Like your skin was made of steel scales. But the enjoyment of your newfound power doesn't last long though as you quickly spot Gauche in the room you are. You are both now in the starting room again.

--Your health has been increased to 50 HP. Does not renew on your resurrection.--

 

[andersonnnunes]

Lain smells cat piss and curses in his native language, then starts running ahead, to the last objective.

 

[Houseman]

Oh, are we moving? Or did we make the decision to move on the previous turn? Forward!

 

[Arnox]

Oh, are we moving? Or did we make the decision to move on the previous turn? Forward!

You're both still at point 7, but yeah, I'll just log your decision as going forward.

 

[Arnox]

gaijin and Gauche better hurry the hell up or I'm gonna start making random decisions for them. lol

 

[Gauche]

Gauche crawls backward on all fours towards the goal

 

[gaijinkaiju]

Forward

 

[Arnox]

Turn 5
​

andersonnnunes: You continue forward though Gauche seems to have contracted insanity with that last obstacle as they're crawling slowly on all fours with you to the next room.

--You may choose to attack Gauche still but I'm assuming you don't want to, so right now there's nothing else to do till next turn.--

Gauche: You decide walking on all fours seems to be the thing to do, so you do so to your next room.

--Due to your incredibly odd movement choice, your speed has been halved. You'll reach the next obstacle at the same time as anderson.--

gaijinkaiju/Houseman: You both decide to continue on, but the bodies don't stop appearing. Then suddenly you see... Glowing dots of blue light through the trees. As you both move a little closer, you realize they are glowing eyes. Attached to other people that are staring right at you both. And then you both hear that male voice again, but this time much colder than before, and echoed eerily throughout the group of people. If they could even be called people anymore. "This is your last chance. Accept the goddess' offer of mercy, or I tear your bodies and minds away from your pathetic selves."

--Again, you can accept with the same conditions as before, if not though, then choose the ability you wish to attack with on your next post. You're both in battle now.--

 

[Surana]

Of course, not that you bastards need your bodies.

 

[Erevar]

And nobody will care.

 

[Houseman]

How does the mimic attack work? Do I need to be hit first? Can I "use" it now, and then instantly return fire with whatever I'm hit with, when that happens?

Or does it only work after I take damage?

If I can use it now, I'll do that.

If I can't, I'll throw a fireball at one of them.