Androia and Hieronymus will not be there. They probably fell back into the plothole or time vortex or wherever they had come from, where they may have a chat about why he didn’t show more of an emotional reaction to her death. (He is used to seeing her die in-game; it’s not a big deal. Just spend some money on repairing the damage and she’s fine again. But telling her that he is the guy who literally pulled her strings might be a very bad idea.)

If this had been in continuity, it would happen between ”First Encounter” and their first mission, and I’m surprised how good it fits in there. It’s probably how Neshomeh said: an exercise in making the random events look in-character. I should try this talent-I-didn’t-know-I-possess at some of the random permission prompts, if there weren’t so much else to do.

Androia sends her apologies to Nikki. Thanks to Sergio for hosting the event and to DCCCV for pointing us to the generator in the first place.

HG

Henry: Well, second place isn't that bad, specially since apparently I got the same number of kills as the winner did, so that's good. Going temporally insane twice and ending up killing people I really didn't want to kill aside, this was a really fun experience. It sure was much more fun than fighting any Sues. Like I said before, agents are much smarter and more strategic, so this was more of a challenge.

Seems that there's going to be a party after this. It will be nice to meet up with Aiko again and I also really want to talk to Sergio and Corolla.

Field Commander Lola McCandless: I... I think I ran out of people to kill now. Which means back on the Skyra - er, sorry, back home. To a place that's not the Mountain. It's over. It's all over.

And I won.

And I'm... not sure how to feel about that. I mean, yeah, great, victory over a bunch of really hardcore agents, but I wanted to learn more about them and I'm terrified about how much I learned about myself. And, from what people have said, my partner. It's intimidating.

You've almost got to feel sorry for any Suvians that come our way for a bit. But right now? I am going to have a drink. They're on me, everyone, and all the contestants are invited. Even the Pokémon. Especially the Pokémon. The thought of that little pink guy off his tits just makes me laugh, and we could all do with a bit of that right now. Sorry if I'm not being especially coherent, but I've just come out of the second-worst camping holiday I've ever been on.

XCOM out. =]

From Night 4, Dafydd and Hieronymus snuggle:



For a given value of 'snuggle'.

And from Night 5, Selene and Dafydd hold hands:



For a given value of 'hold hands'.

(The only remaining picture that springs out is Nume doctoring Ave, but I'm still trying to find a way to get references for that, so it may not happen.)

hS

Kaitlyn

So that's what dysentery is? Huh. Nasty. I guess I should've listened to Lola when she said I looked a bit ill.

Oh well! It was a fun game. Except for the dying part, I could've given that a miss.

---

And with nine kills between them, do District Huinesoron win the 'most murderous' award? ;)

Well played, everyone (er... you know what I mean). And thanks for the game, Sergio!

hS

PS: Interviews and commentary. Sergio, do you plan to integrate all the commentary into the report? If not, do you mind if I rehost it and work it all in, for Nutmeg purposes? You all know I'm a hoarder of information these days... ~hS

Henry: Ok so, after I ended up losing sight of that girl I was keeping track of, I ended up grouping with Kaitlyn and Lola. Things were going well until we got ambushed by another group of three people, including the person I was following before and ... Sergio. Unfortunately, I was the one who ended up fighting him. Ended up in a swordfight with him. I have to say, guy fought rather well, but I ended up defeating and eliminating him. I'm really sorry about having had to do that, specially after accidently killing his partner earlier. Hope I can make it up to them after this is over.

And then since two other people ended up dying by themselves, it turns that there's only the three of us left in this. So I decided that it would best to run away and hide for now.

((Glaurung it, RNG, why do you keep doing this to me? Yes, I'm really glad that Henry got into the Final Three, but I didn't want him to be the one to take out two of my favorite agents, dammit!))

Field Commander Lola McCandless: Never trust a Time Lord. Never. The irony is that I'd invited Morgan to stay. I left a message on some tree bark near where she tends to hang around. I wanted to see her. And look where that got me. At least I've, I've made a podium finish. That's something. I let Kaitlyn run away, too, this afternoon. That's something too.

I think I had a flashback during the ambush. It'd certainly explain some things. I think a few of my perks from the Mountain are still active, too; I managed to get a shot off with Sergio's gun even though it was empty thanks to Lock'n'Load, and Shredder Ammo's still active. Yeah. It, um. It made a bit of a mess of Morgan. Confirmed kill, and then I had to deal with Library dying of an infected [Censored] wound because she wouldn't [cCensored] tell anyone the stupid proud [Really, really censored] --

It's just a game. It's just a game. I'm not going back to the Long War, they're not here.

Algernon, 7th Earl Wymbourne: Well then. I did not see that coming. Which, one supposes, is rather the point of a well-placed mine. Ah, but at least I have the tender mercies of FicPsych to look forward too. I hope I haven't made too much of a fool of myself in recent days... and I require a bath. Possibly several.

I shall also be sending my regards to the Aviator. While a game, I fear I may have done something in poor taste while in the grip of my madness. Perhaps involving a rabbit, if I remember right. Hm. Ah! I have it. I know just what to send. If you'll forgive me, I must away!

Library: It turns out simulated infections can also cause simulated high temperature fevers. That was unpleasant. I wish luck for the competitors still in the game. Hopefully it won't turn out too traumatic.

(Well, that's all of mine out! I'm still surprised Library lasted this long.)

Alternate Link

I considered giving Morgan her Tigereye Castellan collar, but it would've blocked too much of her face.

Remaining Huggle Games images to do:

-Dafydd and HG huddling for warmth.
-Selene persuading herself to leave Dafydd be.
-... anything that comes up in the rest of the game?

Huh. Nearly done, then. But all the cuddly animals are gone. :-/

hS

Dafydd

... bother.

Morgan

With everything that's been happening, I decided this was it: do or (heh) die time. My pursuer teamed up with two of - I thought - the easiest people for me to win against: Lola (who I figured was probably still infatuated with me) and that girl who thinks she's a hobbit.

To further stack the odds, I teamed up with two of the other survivors: the two former agents. I mean, they must be good in a fight, right?

Yeah. Didn't go so well. Oh, well.

Can I have that drink now?

Kaitlyn

Soooo there's only three of us now? I ran into Lola and Henry last night, but then we got attacked! I guess all the other Tributes were in on the attack, because they're all dead this morning.

I wish that meant it was just me and my friends, but I don't really trust Lola; she's a bit scary. Neither does Henry, I think - he's gone into hiding.

But, I mean, wow - there's only three of us? That must mean it'll be over soon...

---

Wow. Of all the people to make it into the Final Three, I think Kaitlyn would've been last on my list.

But only one can take home the trophy...

hS

Sergio: Well... I guess I really should've kept going with the same strategy that kept me in the game until now. Joined Dafydd and Morgan into staging an ambush - and it didn't work out that well. I ran out of ammo for my gun before we managed to get even one of them ,and had to resort to Nikki's Device - apparently, the holodeck's rendition of it is usable in Saber form by anyone - but Henry is much better experienced as a fencer than I am. The result is obvious.

Henry: Today went rather well, all things considered. But I'm still quite ... shaken up
From what happened earlier and causing another death didn't really help matters. I know this is just a game on one of those ... holodeck things, but these simulated deaths are still really brutal.

After all that happened, I ended up splitting up from Sergio and I'm currently following someone. I still can't believe that there only 8 of us left in this thing ...

Library: I spent the last couple nights in preparation, and it paid off fairly well. When I returned to the cornucopia I ended up in a fight with the Time Lady Morgan, and Gerry, and ended up killing Gerry. I hope she won't hold that against me after this is finished. Afterwards, I temporarily joined up with Algie's partner Lola, and we managed to kill the Aviator. There can't very many of us left. I wonder how soon this will end?

Gerry: Okay, okay, maybe I should have laid off on the sodding ghost stories and got some proper rest instead; Denny's girlfriend ended up taking me out when Morgan and I got into a fight with her. Didn't see that one coming, but Cal is a quiet one. Figures. I need to collect the money from the bet I made with Colt. At least I won that. *grumbling*

___

Well Library became a bit scary with this last bit.

Stupid! Stupid!! Stupid!!! Why didn't I stay with Kaitlyn?! We could have found this crate together.

Crunch. Munch, munch. Gulp. Yeah, the cave. That wasn't actually my cave; Dafydd had driven me out there. I guess it might be the cave Laura found the first day and abandoned for the flood; there were still some puddles of Sue tears. I had only just arrived myself when Kaitlyn showed up, and I made the same mistake again, not exploring the deeper depths of the hole immediately.

Munch. Munch. Gulp. No, I don't blame Kaitlyn for distracting me. Kaitlyn is nice. Dafydd hadn't had anything to share but warmth, having been dispossessed the previous night. Communicating with Tacitus had been difficult; if he possessed anything edible, sharing it was apparently not included in working together. But Kaytlyn shared her last food with me, and I had nothing to give her. I just had to go to get something.

And then the vampire got me.

Derik

*stares blankly at the camera*

...

I hate this game. If—hm? Well, what do you think happened? I'm half-blind. It does leave one somewhat vulnerable. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go apologize to several people and then get extremely drunk.

(( And that's me out. Cheers, y'all! ))

Field Commander Lola McCandless: The other night, Morgan mentioned to me that there were ways her people could track each other, kinda like a psychic trail. Time Lords are seriously damn dangerous, though, I know from experience, so I started monitoring them closely. Plus side, though, I've keeping fit and fed, and I met up with Library again! She's still nice, and she's actually a pretty decent tracker. Would've had her sent to Scout training back in the Mountain, no question. And... we got her. Yeah, she was wounded, yeah, it was two on one, but in the early days of the Long War that was how you killed Sectoids and Thin Men without getting a face full of plasma. Partial kill on a Time Lord. I'm... going to go and think for a bit.

Algernon, 7th Earl Wymbourne: Yes. Yes! The stars, as certain treatises on the darkest magics of the multiverse say, are indubitably coming right, haha! While I contemplated my inevitable victory over the ragbag of tawdry, gullible beings who have succumbed to archaic notions of sanity, the magic caught! All the truly great magicians have been at least slightly mad, and since I am completely mad that appears to have put me at some considerable advantage! I tested a simple spell to compel a river spirit to fish for me... and lo, this was achieved! Ha! My magic is undeniable now! They shall bow! Bow before me! As is only right!

The Aviator: I was still hurt from the explosion and that crazy bloke attacking me--do you really think two against one was doing me any favors?

Whatever. I'm off for a drink. And then I'm going to have some words with my brother and partner.

~~~

Well, her odds were 1/17 last I checked. Not surprised she got eliminated. Still, darn.

Tacitus

On one paw, my sleep was interrupted by a maniac who reached into my hole, pulled me out by the tail, threw me against a tree, and smashed my head in with a hammer.

On the other, I survived longer than my colleagues, evaded multiple assassination attempts, scored a kill, and accomplished my original information collection mission. So overall, a success.

Now please excuse me. I need to make Luxury pay for using me as a pillow.

Tacitus, Kaitlyn, and Lux talk their way through Night 3, but they all have other things on their minds...

The full list of snuggles must now include Selene being torn between sucking Dafydd's blood and trying to seduce him.

hS, having fuuuuuun

Dafydd

I ran into Selene last night. It's been... a while since we last saw each other. She's... well, honestly she's looking a little scary right now, I don't think the game-makers thought about vampires when they set this up. Maybe that's why she insisted on going to the Feast...? Bad idea, I heard four cannon shots from that. I have a much better resource-acquisition strategy: steal from people.

Kaitlyn

My friends keep dying. :( I met this old guy who'd holed up in a cave, and he let me camp with him, but he went to the Feast and got killed. I didn't go - too dangerous for me! - and as it turned out, I didn't need to. I found a crate full of food tucked away in a corner of the cave - I wonder why Hieronymus didn't spot it?

Selene

So hungry. All the time I was with Dafydd last night I couldn't stop thinking about his blood. Then at the Cornucopia I took down that grey-beard - but no, I couldn't drink from him, the DIA would go nuts.

So I lost. Don't care. I'm going to get something to eat. Get out of my way, or it might be you.

Morgan

I have a plan. Well... I had a plan. Make slightly-friends with people, so that they hunt each other before they do me. Great. Except the flip-side of that plan is that all my slightly-friends keep killing each other. Library took out Gerry today, and tried to come after me, too. Should I still count her on the list? If not, I'm down to... Lola. That's it.

And to make matters worse, someone's hunting me. I don't know who.

And I have a headache.

---

So nearly half of the final 8 are mine. Are you sure the RNG isn't biased?

hS

Sergio: Night was terrible. Nightmares again. Didn't went to the Cornucopia yet again, that place is dangerous. Rayson seems to have been eliminated as well - he fell into a pit or something.
Someone stole most of my gear when I was off looking for food - I know only have my Beretta and the Holodeck's replica of Nikki's Device, and that's because I never leave them around.
It happened again - I'm the last survivor of my group, with no supplies and several targets to take down. Time to finish this.

Rayson: That pit was scary. But... I guess no one will be after me now? I'm not signing up again.

I abandoned my cave. It is not safe anymore. This one-handed elf, Dafydd Illian, sneaked in. Yeah, I would have preferred an elleth, but snuggling to share heat is always better than being murdered in my sleep. Of course I didn't close an eye last night.

When I moved out, that crazy Fox-Pokémon showed up and suggested working together. Does Tacitus not know who I am, or does he believe that I'm not aware who poisoned Androia?

Wait. I wonder whether I should be aware. Can we hear the commentary while we are in the game? The energy sword comment sounded like Aya and Kuroko life-reporting what they had just watched, while Androia was still around, so overhearing this isn't a precedent. Sometimes, being the writer of one's own story can be quite confusing.

Anyway, I have to be careful. Being tired and hungry isn't the best condition for a fight. Are Pokémon edible?

Update: Tacitus ran away. Can he read minds? Did he see something I didn't notice?

Henry: Oh authors above ... Why did this have to happen!? Everything was doing great, Sergio and I were getting mighty fine ... Then I went to do guard duty during the night and I saw ... something approaching the camp and I instantly went after them and managed to hit them fatally. I don't even know how manage to hit a target that small at the dead of the night! But then ... then I found that I eliminate Sergio's other former partner, right in front of his eyes! Guy has already seen both of his partners being horribly mangled inside this madness ... I don't know how much more he can take after this ... or much more I can take this! Please make this stop! Please! I can't take it anymore!

Tacitus

Who else but PPC agents decide to break into song at night during a simulated murderfest? I found myself a foxhole and went to sleep.

I partnered up with Graubart for the day. He seems like a reasonable partner, if a little old. At least I have a decent chance of running away if he decides to attack me.

As we were moving through the forest we saw Supernumerary's corpse; it was dry as a bone. Fearing some strange trap-- or worse, Wymbourne's magic-- we stayed clear of the area.

Speaking of Wymbourne, I spotted him cutting Dives down to size before suddenly backing off and leaving her to bleed out. It seemed like a trap: one of the strongest agents in here, ready for someone to deliver the coup de grâce while her crazed attacker hides in the shadows, waiting for the two-for-one combo.

I'm not stupid. I ran from that as fast as I could.

Given that Kaitlyn won't shut up about them, this is of course still relevant. Of course.

^_^

hS

Nume

Well, I gave up on Aviator, but I never should have taken up with those two fruitcakes last night. Thirst my ass—that fekface Derik jabbed me with my own needle! All your cells dehydrating instantaneously, causing cardiac arrest, is not a fun experience. Christ, my skin is still crawling.

(( Or, if that's taking too much liberty with the situation... ))

Well, I gave up on Aviator, but I never should have taken up with those two fruitcakes last night. They wouldn't shut up!

In hindsight, I also shouldn't have filled my canteen with Single Tears. Who knew actual water would be so hard to come by?

Derik

♪A-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go, high-ho the derry-o, a-hunting we will go...♪

(( Bah. Just... bah. Nume was on a roll. {= with it. ))

Nume

Well, I gave up on Aviator, but I never should have taken up with those two fruitcakes last night. Thirst my ass—that fekface Derik jabbed me with my own needle! All your cells dehydrating instantaneously, causing cardiac arrest, is not a fun experience. Christ, my skin is still crawling.

(( Or, if that's taking too much liberty with the situation... ))

Well, I gave up on Aviator, but I never should have taken up with those two fruitcakes last night. They wouldn't shut up!

In hindsight, I also shouldn't have filled my canteen with Single Tears. Who knew actual water would be so hard to come by?

Derik

♪A-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go, high-ho the derry-o, a-hunting we will go...♪

(( Bah. Just... bah. Nume was on a roll. {= < Oh well. Derik's still in it, if not exactly with it. ))

Field Commander Lola McCandless: Soooo, last night was pretty interesting. Morgan seems a lot nicer than the Guardsman makes out she would. And Morgan... she seems to make out a lot nicer than the Guardsman would. Hoo boy. That was a lot of fun. Only wish I'd been able to get my hands on the elf, though, he's tricksy hobbitses. Or elfses. Or whatever. Still haven't seen Algie's name on the board, though, so that's a plus too.

I hope I'll see Morgan on the high ground again.

Algernon, 7th Earl Wymbourne: It would appear that companionship has come my way again. Though the gilding of my coat has lost all its starlight and the green fades like autumn, our songs bring a newfound vernal potency to the coming morning! And what a morning! I was taking a brief constitutional, and my, what healthful airs this place has! It reminds me of Eastbourne but with more butcher's knives. But yes, I must continue. I walked about and saw a rabbit, a shortish little rabbit, a slip of a thing that bounded about with a peculiar light. Box cutters have the flimsiest blades and it broke off in her shooting hand, but there are several and that vorpal blade went snicker-snack! And the way that the rabbit's blood ran deep crimson across my shoes amused me such that I laughed and laughed and laughed, and when I stopped, my new friend had gone to Fairyland, I suppose. I hope we can see each other again.

Dafydd

I figured having company last night was probably a good idea after someone went through my stuff yesterday. I'm... honestly not even sure who that person was. And then a Secondborn tried to stalk me across the Arena. Yeah... good luck with that.

It's all gone a bit quiet. Am I the only one expecting carnivorous squirrels any moment?

Kaitlyn

I miss Alleb. :( And the Doktor. :( I think the cold is getting to me, too; I didn't sleep very well for bad dreams. Wish I hadn't lost my firelighter. Then in the morning someone was chasing me, and I had to run. I wish I could find Selene.

Still no mushrooms.

Selene

I found Kaitlyn! ... but she ran away.

Last night I camped with an Italian and someone from Building Maintenance; I joined in their songs to try and stop myself thinking about their pulses. Then morning came, and I saw Kaitlyn across the Arena! I ran after her, but I don't think she knew it was me.

Or... maybe she did, and she still run. I know I've been getting more and more messed up as this has gone on. I really hope the Key isn't breaking down...

Morgan

Things are improving. I think my mood yesterday might've been leftover fumes from the Single Tears. I spent last night with a DIA agent - not my preferred company, but at least she's competent. Then struck out for the high ground.

I've been catching the edge of some pretty severe psychic ripples cutting across the Arena - thinking about who's still here, I think it must be the Aviator. I don't know if she's injured or just angry, but something's going on with her. I should watch out for that - a veteran of the Time War isn't someone I want to see flamethrower-crazy.

---

They're recovering, a bit. And now make up more than a quarter of the Tributes. Good grief...

hS

Corolla: Uh, I thought it was a good idea to try to join the camp Sergio was at. However, the one on guard thought I was trying to attack them, and... that didn't end so well. Well, game over. Still, I had a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to the next edition!

Sergio: Henry and I set up camp with Selene and Gerry, and everything was going smoothly (we were even singing to pass the time!) until Henry noticed some movement in the bushes and went to check. There was an intruder, and he took her down swiftly.
Normally I would commend him on that, but... well, the intruder was Corolla. Well, she's not truly dead beng this just a game, he didn't know who she was, his course of action was proper considering the circumstance so I don't hold it against him.
Still, I picked up some chamomile flowers during the day. I hope a chamomile will help my nerves.

Rayson: Everyone's trying to kill me! Everyone! AAAAH!

The Aviator: He got the drop on me and I'm still injured, alright? Stop looking at me like that, there were plenty of alternate timelines where I didn't survive the war! [CENSORED] off and leave me alone!

Here's to the Great RNG in the Sky, and may it receive my middle finger with all the devotion and sincerity with which it is intended. Cheers.

Field Commander Lola McCandless: Things are getting harder now, but at least I'm not having to do it on an empty stomach. I got lucky; a supply chest had a bunch of untouched MREs and a little camping stove thing that hadn't even been touched, along with a ton of balloons for some damn reason. It worked fine, and I decamped to higher ground once I was well-rested in my previous hiding place. At least it didn't flood this time. We'll see how the remaining contestants get on, but I'm doing okay for myself so far. Luck beats skill, but skill means you make your own luck. That got drilled into me in the Mountain and I'm glad of it. I wonder how His Lordship's doing.

Algernon, 7th Earl Wymbourne: Another sleepness night in this electric prison bore only the bitter fruit of failure, but I will succeed. I must. This damnable Holodeck's spirit will accede to my requests; I need only to find the proper phrasing. My meat remains, though it dwindles, and while I was hunting I espied another contestant. And I chased him. I howled my challenge like a shaman of the far Americas, loosing a cobbled-together tomahawk at his head as I ran after him, blood pumping in my ears, anger at him surging through my veins. This was my hunt! This was my prize! How dare I be denied by any man? I, who am by right of blood the lord of an English estate, wherever that England may now be? I would have chased him to his end if I could... but I could not. And as soon as I sat down, realizing I had wasted another day, that selfsame anger left me. Forgive me, O lord. I know not what I do.

Henry: I'm not even sure how I managed to get hurt. I don't think I was attacked or anything, but then again, I got pretty lost last night. I think this place is continuing to takes its toll on me...

It was lucky that I ended up meeting Sergio. My healing magic doesn't properly in this place, so it was fortunate that he was around to show me some Muggle first-aid techniques. Probably should try to learn more of those for whenever someone gets hurt on a mission where I can't use magic either.

I think I have actually heard of this guy before. He and his partners seem to have been pretty legendary when they worked in Floaters.

Apparently his girlfriend was one of the agents that got caught up in the explosion back at the Cornucopia in Day One of this madnesd. Ouch!

Anyway, seems pretty safe to hang around him for now. Things seems to be turning out pretty OK for me so, all considering, so lets hope that keeps up.

Night was better than the last. A third agent-- Kaitlyn-- acted as a buffer between Luxury and me. And here I was, thinking I was rid of her. Well, she might be of some use to me in the coming days. We discussed tactics throughout the night. Of course, there were some difficulties involved since I'm mute. The amount of paper I have left in my logbook is limited and I have no desire to waste it with idle chatter.

Morning. Detonation in distance. Cautiously investigated. Saw Dives crawling away from the explosion on the far side of the clearing-- if I was closer, I would've finished her off. Zeb, a catman, and Luxury have been vaporized in an apparent trap. What luck! Three down in one fell swoop.

Chased by Corolla later in the afternoon. Gave her the slip, no sweat. Seriously-- how many times do these Action agents have to try before realizing that you simply can't chase down a Spy?

Nume

I caught up with Aviator after that explosion. Even after pulling shrapnel out of her back, though, I don't know if an alliance is the way to go this time. I'm going to have to start getting aggressive to stand a chance at winning, and I don't like my chances against some of these people on my own, but an unstable ally is no better than an enemy. If she can stop swearing at me for five minutes, maybe we can still work together. If not, I'm out of here.

Derik

This morning I made my way back to the Cornucopia to see if I could find some extra supplies. I found a bomb. It's not my usual approach, but it was certainly effective. *grin* That should teach my opponents to stand too close together from now on.

(( Eeeeeek. O.o; Zeb, I am so, so sorry. In Derik's defense, he had no way of knowing. Also he is plainly a madman, but that's not really a defense... ))

Zeb: *shaking like a leaf* Explosions. Why did it have to be explosions. Why...?

Aviator: [CENSORED] Nume and [CENSORED] injuries I can't reach and [CENSORED, CENSORED, CENSORED] shrapnel and [CENSORED—]

Dafydd

Stealth: apparently a pretty common tactic. Last night I kept an eye out for fires, but only saw one. I kept my distance; I actually ran into Agent Derik doing the exact same thing, but I don't think he saw me. Everyone's a spy today.

As was whoever rifled my belongings while I was out on patrol. They moved as quietly as an elf, which makes them... no-one in the Arena? Maybe the producers decided to get funny. I'm just glad I didn't have much worth taking.

Kaitlyn

I made new friends... sort of. I ran into Agent Luxury, who was following some kind of fuzzy dog around - I think it was a Pokemon, but I'm not sure. Its name was Tacitus, though, and it was very eager for help in keeping Lux talking - and not, y'know, doing anything else - allll night long.

Yeah, they weren't really company to keep around, is what I'm saying. So I headed out by myself in the morning, and tested my skills by sneaking into that elf's camp. Apparently I am as quiet as a hobbit - good going, me!

I miss Alleb and the Doktor. :(

Selene

Cold; apparently lightning isn't good for lighting firewood still drenched in Single Tears. Don't work well by myself. Ran into the Time Lady who killed Wobbles around noon; I know how dangerous she is, so I settled for rifling her things.

Maybe I'll find Kaitlyn tonight. That would be nice.

Morgan

Whoever stole my stuff is going to pay.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night - Gerry from Building Maintenance (met her during the Blackout, I think - good-bad times) needed help, so I added her to my list of 'slightly allies'. That turned out not to be a good idea - she ran off after a spaceman in the morning, and while I tried to get a bit of rest, someone made off with my food supplies.

So now I'm tired and hungry.

I need a drink.

---

Man, this lot are a bunch of downers. Don't they realise that they now make up nearly a quarter of the surviving Tributes?

They'll liven up a bit when they do things other than fail to start fires. ;) Also, Kaitlyn apparently enjoys the company of Pokemon - who knew?

(They probably remind her of hobbits...)

hS

Somebody tried to chase me while I was out looking for food. But he moved like a zombie, probably sleep deprived, so I could escape easily. Had a good night’s sleep myself, back in my cave. And there is actually some water trickling from the rocks deep in. Should really have explored this place earlier. It’s not enough to still my thirst, but it helps me keep going. Alas, I’m quite hungry by now.

Library: I had no luck at night trying to make a fire. I decided to take a more proactive approach today regarding finding other competitors, but that didn't succeed either. Overall, not very fruitful at all.

Gerry: Had another run-in with Morgan and she helped patch me up, but I split up from her after I started chasing another agent. I'm still in to win.

Neither the short descrition for Night 3, Day 4 and the death count for this day. Is it normal?

Corolla: It was nice meeting Sergio again, he seems to be holding up rather nicely considering he said to have seen Nikki's body during the first day. Ouch. Rayson seems to be doing fine, too. Then during the day, Zeb got blown up - ouch again! I managed to barely escape the explosion, and later I chased a Zorua, but he got away. Not quite my day today.

Sergio: Corolla seems to be having fun, which is good. During the day I met a guy called Henry, a Potterverse wizard. He's an healer, but the Holodeck seems to have nerfed his healing. I gave him some non-magical first-aid tips I learned in the field - nothing flashy, I'm not a medic, but those are rare on the battlefield.
His partner got taken out too - and, in fact, she's an anime girl like Nikki. In a way, they remind me of us. Only that we didn't get a Bleepfic as a first asignment. Thinking about sticking with him for now, and having a talk with the stupid daisy before going home.

Rayson: Why is that girl chasing me? I haven't done anything to her! I don't want to die!

Henry: Today went rather well for me. I'm still in the running and no one has attacked me so far. I meet this wise looking old guy and he seemed pretty nice. Although he did tell me that I shouldn't have signed up for this and he asked something a 'mystical river'. That last part was pretty weurd.

Tacitus

I like my fur. It's a beautiful shade of dark grey and is as soft as a delicate silk cloth.

That is why when one of the PPC's most well-known taxidermists comes up to you and asks to use you as a pillow, you don't question it. You lie down and pretend that you're a pillow. And, when the sun comes back up and she has her back turned, you grab some of her supplies, try to claw out her Achilles tendon (a pity I missed), and run for your life.

Later on I was recruited by Agent Morgan and assisted her on a hunt. We stumbled on Wobbles attacking Library-- I let Morgan do the wetwork. No point in risking my 'life' for nothing.

My chances of winning? Slim, at best. There are too many high-powered agents left on the field. Firstly, the two Time Ladies: Morgan and Dives. Time Lords are inherently physically superior to all present-- I need to convince the other players to gang up on them. McCandless and Pittman are also major threats: their experiences as X-COM operatives makes them nearly as dangerous as the Gallifreyans. Wymbourne is a magic user. I have little to no information on how he weaponizes it-- if at all-- so I need to stay vigilant. And Zeb... suffice to say that if he can maul a Pokémon DIA agent in a one-on-one battle, he can easily win against a normal human.

Hopefully they'll start cutting each other down before they'll turn on me. I don't stand a chance in a head-on confrontation. I need poisons, I need explosives, I need ambushes... and everyone is keeping a close eye on the other. It's impossible to slip away undetected... or is it?

James

I wasn't sure what to make of that temporary nighttime alliance at first. Didn't really seem to fit the intent of this here game. But I eventually decided to just run with it. I had no idea where Laura was at the time, so having someone watch my back while I slept — even relative strangers — seemed like a decent idea.

Sure went to hell the next morning, though. That burnin' woman tried to follow me, talkin' about teaming up. No way. I had seen the damage she'd done at the Cornucopia. That wasn't exactly conducive to my overall strategy. She insisted. I decided to make my rebuttal sharp and to the point.

Laura's gone now. So's that Bad Slash team that we were grouped with. I'm all on my own. It's time to buckle down and focus.

Gremlin

You know what? Blowing up was probably for the best. I will totally admit to going a little loopy from stress there. I found some sais — might have been from one of the agents that drowned in the tear flood — then I found that DMS agent, and… well, I got stabby. That didn't improve things

I was just so out of it that I didn't even notice what was up with the supply crate. I could feel some sort of electrical system attached to the inside of it, but I just brushed it off. KABOOM! I'm out of the game.

Ugh. I'm going to Rudi's. Then I'm going to go sleep in my own bed.

Laura

[Agent Duke's comments about her elimination from play were deemed too explicit to publicize.]

Nume

Ran into Dafydd again last night. I don't think much of his choice of companions, but once they'd found me, it was either go along or lose sleep running or fighting. I went along. Lucky for me, that cowboy saved me the trouble of figuring out how to take out the girl who blew up my partner.

After that, the rest of us split up, which is just as well. I caught sight of Rina—the Aviator, whatever—and I'm thinking about resurrecting last year's alliance. She doesn't look too stable at the moment, though, so I'm keeping my distance for now. Wouldn't want to stick my neck out only to have her take my head off.

Derik

I could wish everyone weren't so obsessed with my face. I was a dragonman and a harper, not some madman in a mask. Maybe, if I can get my hands on a piece of wire, I can make them regret the comparison...

As long as they don't come up on my blind side first. I suppose I'm grateful that my appearance made that girl spare my life. She got that damn song stuck in my head, though. For that alone, I won't spare her if we meet again.

(( Uh-oh, y'all roused Derik's evil side with all that talk about the Phantom... ))

Natalie: I recognized the guy who killed me. His name is Gremlin. Gremlin! The one character from "Sherlock" who spooked the charges out of me. Ironic Overpower, you must be laughing your head off...

Za'kiir: This one has learned a new lesson: Never underestimate a Time Lord. In all seriousness, they are quite strong, wise, and, well, "cheeky." But she is a true and skilled fighter. If she believed in the Nords' Sovngarde, she would most certainly join the Hall of the Ancestors and take her rightful place among the warriors of legend. But Mara cast her light, and the Aviator spared me. Thank Alkosh! But now I follow Sangiin once more.

Wobbles The Clown: Oh, darn. I thought ya hadda have a kill-count in this thing and look where it got me! I went for that nice Library person who was like super nice but I couldn't remember where she worked for so we tussled for a while but then, well, then one of the Time Grump's friends came over and I tried to explain but she ended up garrotting me with my own tightrope wire. Oh well. I hope she got the supplies I'd stored, and, um... Morgan? If you're listening? I made some balloon flowers for Kaitlyn after what we talked about, so, uh, if you could... if you could make sure she gets them I'd really appreciate it.

Field Commander Lola McCandless: Today's been quiet. Scouting operations went well, and with a lot of people being killed during the night it might pay well to monitor any alliances. So I spent time last night telling war stories from my time on the COM with Derik, who used to be -- get this -- the Phantom of the friggin' Opera, and Sergio, who I believe still is Italian. Reminds me of an Assault from back in the Mountain, actually. Might look him up later. Anyway, come the morning, I noticed Henry and HG over by what remained of the lake. I've still got the bombs, but there wasn't really an opportune moment and my throwing arm's still not brilliant from where that Stone Knight of Angarling broke it last month so I left them to it.

Algernon, 7th Earl Wymbourne: My attempts to cajole the Holodeck into compliance with my wishes have so far met with total disdain. However, there is a sense of camaraderie that I am finding most conducive to a calm environment, even when we are flooded out with Suvian poisons; for instance, just last night I was sharing stories with a genuine astronaut, one mister Rayson Kerman of the Kerbal Space Program universe. The advances of science and technology are things that interest me immensely, and I only hope my own tales of life at Perenelle as a moderately-skilled practical magician were to his liking.

---

Footnotes: and so we continue the streak of mine and hS's agents wanting to kill each other. =]

Walking around at night isn’t a good idea. I tripped over a guy who was sleeping under a shield, with a makeshift spear at his side. Fortunately, I managed to grab him before he could spear me, and I fought with teeth, claws and knees, until I realized that “he” is actually a “she”. So I let her get away. Can’t hit a woman, can I?

Near noon, this young Harry Potter healer-wizard approached me, very cautious and nervous, seeking the wise elderman’s advice. I’m afraid that he will lose it soon, but all I could say was that he shouldn’t have entered the game in the first place. He doesn’t know where this mythical river is, either.

Zeb: Not too much to say about today, really. Um, I'm still in the running, at least, so that's good, right?

Aviator: What? Just because I was in a war doesn't mean I'm going to be killing everyone I see. [CENSORED] you and [CENSORED] that idea. I was a glorified mailman, not a [VERY CENSORED] Dalek!

Library: I nearly met my end during the night, though fortunately Agent Wobbles was stopped by Agent Morgan. I did, however, meet up with Zeb for a short period of time before we split up...

Gerry: Close shave with this one guy, though he didn't try to go through with it. Wish I could say the same for Lux's ideas... Ew.

JF: Nooooo ugh! I was having fun! With a lot of fire! Dumb knives.

Dafydd

Last night I met a girl who was fire. She's dead now, which wasn't my fault. Well... mostly not.

After the flood, I decided stealth wasn't really much of an option any more. I put together a team of the useful skilled survivors I could track down - Supernumerary (well, I know he's dangerous), a fairy-sized woman, an intimidating man with a gun, and the aforementioned girl who was fire.

We slept in shifts - two up, three down, to stop one of us going rogue. I... may have manipulated the schedules to let me stare at talk to the fire. I mean girl. Whatever.

But... well, things didn't go well for her this morning. Turns out the intimidating man? He wasn't really into the whole 'team' thing. He threw a knife into her chest, and bang, down she went. Given that Supernumerary had run off after that Time Lady, the fairy technician and I split up.

I did manage to fend off a cat-person of some description by myself, which was a plus (teeth and claws - yikes), but I think I might go back to stealth mode again...

Kaitlyn

Camp last night was lonely. Turns out, Alleb and the Doktor? The flood got both of them. Rubbish, right? So I was all by myself. Good thing I kept hold of my firelighter... oh! Then today I ran into a guy who looked just like the Phantom of the Opera. I had to fight him - that's what the game's about, right? - but I couldn't bring myself to kill him.

Still no more mushrooms. Consoling myself by humming The Music of the Night.

Selene

Not a good day. Tried to set up camp with Wobbles, but she insisted on going hunting. She attacked a harmless-looking agent (as in, 'easy target'), but then this Time Lady came out of nowhere and killed her.

I cried.

Then as if the Arena wanted to rub it in, Jesse - my other teammate... look, I don't want to talk about it. I had to kill him; that's all.

Alone now.

Morgan

Today was a good day. Last night I ran into a weird quirk of the Arena - killer clowns. I thought the game-makers were only going to use natural monsters? Ah, well. Rescued Agent Library from it, so that was me safe for the night.

Then after daybreak I teamed up with Tacitus - a Spy. We hunted together, but everyone's gotten fairly canny about staying out of sight. Still, it means one more person who vaguely trusts me.

Still not sure whether I should seek out the Aviator. She's a Council member now - but would I trust any of the rest of them to be allies in here? Mm, no, don't think so. Still, it's worth considering.

---

W...where are the massively-long transcripts? :O That's a terrifyingly fast change. And still no inter-team encounters for District Huinesoron... I'm sure they'll come.

Along with the deaths.

27 down... 21 to go.

(And Selene's getting miserable. :-/)

hS

Corolla: Ive manages to find a nice group to spend the night with, and in the morning I made myself a slingshot. Sure, my Moonlight Dagger spell has a higher rate of fire, but the damage is... meh.
Well, a slingshot isn't that better, but I am nowhere near big enough to wield a bow.

Sergio: Derik and Lola looked like alright guys, but the latter's wanting to avenge Androia. Sorry girl, I'm having none of it. If you try to blow up the guy who avenged Nikki, you're getting a bullet through the head, understood?
While I was fishing I ran into that Selene girl trying to drown a cowboy. Which one to attack, the lightning-shooting vampire or the dude armed with a revolver? I had no doubts. Electricity hurts, and the other dude had a revolver. Barbarian.

Rayson: That 7th Earl didn't want to kill me. It's good. I found a nice vantage point, which means it will be harder to people to get to me and kill me.

Michael: Well, that wasn't too bad. I feel a bit sorry for Mia, though. Algeron and I are working together for now, and he seems nice.

Mia: *growls and stomps past the interviewer*

Jesse: What kinda twisted mind thought up this sport!? I met a woman in the woods and I thought about killing her. Killing her!

Alleb: I met a very nice lady named Kaitlyn, and she and I decided to make flower crowns for a while. She also mentioned something about "botany," but I'm not sure what she meant. Maybe it's a type of poison? *looks up at flower crown and hurriedly knocks it off*

-Alleb

Henry: By all the authors, that Arena Event was really brutal! I mean, a flood made entirely of Single Tears, really!? That's too brutal and underhanded even for this sort of thing. And it seems that Aiko and the other agents that were part of my District got taken out during that horfible mes, too. When I said that I didn't want to fight them, I didn't quite mean something like that, but I guess that's what I get for tempting the Ironic Overpower like that.

Aiko: What was I thinking!? No really, what was I thinking!? Even from the little I learned about these Games beforehand, I should have know that they wouldn't throw drinkable water in there. I should have been suspicious when that woman offered me that canteen, but she seemed so nice and as it turns out, really persuasive. Oh well. Looks like Henry is alone in there. Let's how he fares next.

Hieronymus

This Viking girl isn’t too bad, actually. Totally unreasonable, though. Came out she never intended to smash my skull with this mace. She was looking for someone to cover her back, and apparently I’m looking the least backstabbingly dangerous here. So we talked all night, she doing most of the talking. It’s sad that she wanted to go fish then. Without any fishing gear. And not even knowing where’s a river or lake. Quite irrational, really. Had she gone with me, up the hill, where I found my cave ... Nah, it’s probably better so. She would have continued talking my ear off, and I wouldn’t have found any sleep. So I was really lucky there. When I woke up, everything was wet outside. The flood must have gone right up to the threshold. Had I seen it, I would probably have tried to taste the liquid. Now I’m really thirsty. I must find some water soon.

Androia

This had begun so well. I even found a companion, one Field Commander Lola McCandless of the Special Response Division. She reminds me of my partner, so very rational and focused. And then it all went down.

Lesson number two learned: Time Lords lie. I had to scare her off our camp. Alas, I may have been a bit too convincing there. Apparently Lola ran away, too.

Lesson number three learned: Those ‘Sue-things must be even more dangerous than I thought; even their tears are poison.

Am I allowed to curse here? No? Okay then. Lesson number four learned: Do not trust the spies? Do not trust foxes? I will withhold my judgement until I get more experience.

Tacitus

Alas, my collaboration with the good Captain, De Grasse, and this Jesse girl has come to an abrupt end. I lost the first one to a booby-trapped umbrella, the second one was too dumb to live, and I can't find Jesse anymore. Oh well.

Poisoned an agent with the Singe Tear water. You wouldn't believe the face she made when she finally realized what she had just chugged down. Sure, the Tears are diluted with some anti-Glitter medication or something, but it looked like it burnt on the way down.

Before his elimination, Captain Dandy sent me to chase after the Tiger Lily. Grass/Psychic against Dark types? That's a matchup that I can easily win. I decided to scare her away using an Illusion of an Emboar. You should've seen the face she made when she turned on her roots and ran for it. I left her to be-- I believe Agent Gremlin finished her off.

So-- onwards and upwards. Let's see if I can make it through another night.

Yakov

Aw, shucks. That's the last time I'll accept a drink from Luxury. Y'know, I thought the canteen smelled a little off. That's what I git from drinkin' anythin' right after the showrunners decided to flood the Holodeck with a poision!

Burnt like Firewhiskey on the way down. Bleh. I'll go and rinse out my mouth at Rudi's with Gaspard and Harris-- but after the former has had a swing at Harris. Don't wanna get in between that.

Harris

Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with! I really didn't stand a chance when the flood came in. I tried holding on to a nearby tree but that didn't do me much good, eh? I gotta say-- they really went for the realism angle in this thing. That sharp rock I slammed against was really, really hard. Ow.

...so I hear Gaspard got eliminated as well? Oh, I'll have to find him then. I need to know if he liked playing in the Gam--"

[Offscreen, to the left] "HARRIS!"

Oh, there he is. Hey, Gaspard. How--

[Offscreen, closer] ""You have three seconds to run before I come over there and punch you."

Oh, come on, man. It was a harmless prank. Wait, no, stop right there, don't come into the shot!

[Camera cuts as Gaspard steps into the frame, swinging]

Gaspard

Got him.

The Doktor was slowly but surely recovering from his time in the Holodeck. While it had been unpleasant, it hadn't exactly been as terrible as he'd expected; his weakness to Electric-type moves and atrocious Special Defence had meant that the initial Thunderbolt had knocked him out in short order. He gave one last interview to the pink-haired human and the not-pink-haired human, left a message on the nearest Notice Board that anyone he'd met in the simulation was welcome in RC 347, and journeyed home.

He was not, however, expecting the comprehensive glomp that formed his arrival.

"Mother of Mew, Doc, are you okay? I saw you get hit by that Thunderbolt from the umbrella and I was so worried and I knew it was a simulation but-"

"Ach, meine kleine Gabrielle, I am beink most hale und hearty! Zer end vas qwick und zer pain momentary at best. It ist like usink zer move Explosion, only vizzout zer explosion."

"I know, I know, it's just I really don't like seeing you hurt and I wanted to make sure you were okay and I couldn't tell and things hurt in the Holodeck here and, and, and, oh Arceus I'm so glad you're okay!" Gabrielle squished him even tighter, which caused him to deflate a bit. "I, I thought, I know it's silly but I thought... I was so scared of losing you."

The Doktor stroked the fur of her ruff with a fin. "You needn't vorry, mein Freundin. Friends forever, remember? Ein leetle teensy-veensy think like zer barriers between life und death are posink no problems vhatsoever to zer power of friendship!"

"I was just spooked, I guess." Gabrielle let go and hung her head. "I just... you've been so nice to me, getting me things, making sure everything is okay for me, even when you're in a holo-arena full of people who wanna kill you you're looking out for me, and I just... I wanna be worth it. And, and I'm sorry, I haven't had time to do any banners or Poffins or Pokéblocks or Butterbeer or, or anything like that, and I wanna be worth the effort you put into me but I just screw up -- ow!"

The Doktor flopped over and pulled the qwill out of her side with his teeth. "Vhat have ve said about puttink yourself down? Vas it qwickbanned from zer tier? Ach ja, it vas! So no more of zat. You are my friend, Gabrielle, und I am honoured und privileged to be sayink so. Now, let us be settlink down und bootink up zer DVD of A Very Potter Seqwel und beink zer firmest of friends. Okay?"

"Okay," she replied, with a sigh of contentment or relief; the Doktor didn't mind which as long as it helped.

"Echt klasse."

---

P.S.:

"Soooo," Gabrielle whispered halfway through the film, "should I expect a call from a certain Agent Alleb, huh?"

"Meine kleine Gabrielle, I am hopink! Ach ja, I am hopink!" The grin on the Doktor's face was enormous. "Zo I am not beink sure how zer hand-holdink affects zer IVs of any particular offsprink, or indeed zer species. Ve can but ponder."

"Uh... we could also not ponder? That's an option too, right?"

"Ja."

"Echt klass - oh, Arceus, now ya got me doing it!"

Nume

God damn, what a day. The Game Makers have gotten a lot more sadistic since last time. *shudder* Still, I made the most of it. Everyone knows my flask is full of Bleepka, so naturally the kid drank from it. Sorry, kid, but them's the breaks.

Hm? Oh, yeah, met the girl my partner's been mooning over last night. Typical Andalite, really. Not surprised she didn't last long.

Derik

As I said, knowing the Arena proved to be a major asset. I knew exactly where to go when the flooding started.

I was hoping to sleep next to a fire last night, but I picked the wrong person to approach. Lesson learned.

I did briefly run into Gremlin, but she hadn't seen Gall, either. It's a shame she went out before I had a chance to find her, but I hope she's learned something.

Gall

Motherf*****! That was a cheap, dirty trick! Gremlin, you better win this now, and if you see my partner, kick his ass for me!

(( Nume was apparently less impressed than Farilan, but then, he resents her for making his partner go all loony.

(( We all know there will be no lessons learned. And yeah, I probably did jinx it by bringing it up. Alas. ))

For some reason, I just loved the image of Rayson perched on his ladder amid the flood. Thus:



And, from Day 1: Corolla and Zeb.



hS

Laura

Seventeen deaths in one day? F***ing hell! At that rate, there's not going to be anyone left to fight! I don't think whoever designed that special event with the Single Tears did any proper testing. They gotta nerf that for next year. I also had to abandon that cave I found to avoid drowning. On the plus side, though, I found some food before the Sue-ish flood waters rolled in. Down one shelter, up some sustenance.

James

It was good a thing I've been scouting out the arena. I knew the perfect place to take shelter once that Single Tear flood began. You know, discountin' all the agents trying to hunt me down, the lethal weather, and the fact that the scenery is made in a computer, it's actually pretty nice out here. Reminds me of when I when I was in the Boy Scouts. Once this is over, I think I'll try to organize a non-mission camping trip somewhere.

Gremlin

Once again, my life is a ta ma de roller coaster. Sure, I didn't manage to swipe any supplies from that Time Lady whose nose I broke, but Wobbles was nice enough to share some stuff with me. We ended up scouting around together for most of the day. Well, I was scouting; she was doing stunts and impressions. I thought the constant high-energy thing was a performance she put on as part of her Nursery program. Nope. She's like that in real life too.

We got separated by the flood, which is when I found the Tiger Lily. She had been poisoned by the Single Tears, that was clear enough. Her petals were turning brown and she kept muttering to herself, talking to people and Flowers who weren't there.

Just leaving her there to suffer felt wrong. So… I did the only thing I could.

And, as a nice little shit cherry on top of my sundae, I just found out that Gall didn't make it. F***. We had made a deal before this whole thing started. If our partners died before we did, the two of us would team up to clear the board before squaring off in one final showdown. Loser would have paid for the first three rounds at Rudi's. It was gonna be awesome!

Yeah… awesome.

I am rapidly running out of friends.

Maybe I'll go harass that Time Lady again. Seeing her panic and flail about again might cheer me up.

* * * * *
((I feel like Nesh and I jinxed the Gall/Gremlin team-up by talking about it. Ah, what could have been… Also, I might write the Gremlin/Tiger Lily encounter out in a little short story later. I feel that could be interesting, if a little grim.))

Marina

The vampire didn't try anything so I found myself with only me and nightmares about the night the Fomors ruined my life. Soo much fun. Then this Luxray was coming around for me, so I ran away. Lightning are really bad for health. Then there is this strange flood from 'Single Tears' and I manage to steal his canteen while his back is turned...Now I know these tears are, at least. Must be that way Skavis' victims feel. Losing now is a bit disappointing, but at least, I found a perfect ingredient for potions. Seeing Sue killing themselves because of their cheap despair seems a pretty interesting idea, and someone just signed in for being a test subject...

Richard

All was going so well. I had a rather remote position where I could wait for the worst of the killing to pass, and where to carry the loot from the crates — Staff played too much Worms in my opinion when this happened. Single Tears everywhere, lightning, mass murder... By the time I collected myself I had dropped from this ducking cliff. Losing like this feels really bad, and Marina is out too, talking about using Single Tears as a basis for potion. And the way she's looking at Zeb gives me chills...

(OOC: Must admit I'm a bit disappointed from being out so soon, but heh, that's the game.)

Colt: You're kidding me! I mean sure, I got a bit banged up last night, but drowning! That's no fair. Did work with that one Time Lord that crashed into the fountain a bit back to find others before that, though.

Library: I had an interesting encounter during the night, but... I'm beginning to question how good an idea doing this was. This is terrible.

Gerry: Figures that Colt wouldn't last. They're starting to make this brutal- Single Tears? Eugh. I'm lucky I didn't have an attack.

JF: A-hunting we will go a-huuunting weee will gooooooo~~

Alex: Aw man... and here I thought I might be able to win this... Ah well. If I can't, Ave had better kick everyone's butts!

Farilan: Well, I must say, that Supernumerary fellow is actually rather interesting, for a human. Even if he is rude.

I don't care that I was eliminated early—what, me? Swim? You can't be serious!—since I can continue my observations remotely. It's not the same as being in the midst of the action, but you do what you have to do.

Zeb: *grimaces* I still feel kind of bad about giving that guy the Single Tears water... but if I don't start taking people out now, that's just more for me to fight later. Sorry, whoever you were.

The Aviator: *glares* So what if I cried myself to sleep? That's not any news, so [CENSORED] off you [CENSORED].

Single Tear? [CENSORED], please. Considering I was at a twenty percent glitter level last I checked, all that did was cause my tracker shackle to go haywire. It's gonna take a lot more than angst to kill me. Time Lord, remember? If you could harness our angst, you could power the [CENSORED] multiverse with it.

Dafydd

Stealth is... not working out so well. Turns out that some of the handy camoflaguing plants? Toxic. I'm a Noldo, I'm not supposed to get infected. Ugh. Good thing I remembered a decent healing song.

That still didn't mean I wanted to tangle with a mace-wielding Supernumerary. I had to run (well, stumble) for higher ground - which turned out to be a good thing, since I got to sit out the flood from the comfort of a treetop. I don't think the others were as lucky...

Kaitlyn

Some meanie stole my mushrooms. I found some in a cave this morning, and was going to fry them up for dinner, but someone made off with them! I kind of hope whoever it was died in the flooding - is that wrong of me? I'd ask Alleb what she thinks, but I saw her get struck by lightning during the flood.

Wait... lightning? I hope that wasn't Selene at work...

Selene

You know what would be nice? Not getting lost in the night. I'm a vampire, I should be able to navigate easily!

Since the presenters said before we started that our powers would be 'reduced', and since Wobbles wandered off during the day, I spent today testing my other abilities. Transformation is gone, but I still have my strength: I took out a DoSAT tech pretty easily. (Which gave me flashbacks to the DIA harassing me about Makes-Things, but I digress). And the flooding let me test out my persuasiveness - whoever that girl was, she accepted the water without question.

I wonder if I can find Wobbles again? It was good to have someone to listen to and keep my mind off things.

Not hungry yet.

Morgan

At least my nose is better. But I haven't slept. The girl with no hair has it out for me, I'm sure - she showed up with (of all people) Dr. Fitzgerald in tow to attack my camp, and I was up half the night fending them off with a stick. Then when I tried to sleep through the morning, some sort of Dark Elf lunatic dual-wielding a sickle and a staff decided to attack me. Do I have a target painted on my collar or something?

Focus, Morgan, focus. But it's so hard when there's all this stuff going on. I had to kill one agent just to shut her up, during the flood.

Ugh. I need a drink.

Captain Dandy

Now, that just wasn't fair. I did everything right - assembling a team from the Sub Rosa's spies to work together at night, encouraging Tacitus to go after the Tiger Lily (I know she's watching me), gathering limbs to keep my allies warm. And then what happens? A flood of Single Tears. I, of course, stay out of their reach, but the umbrella would have been useful to my allies.

Except for the lightning. That was not so useful.

The Tiger Lily

Final field report: Agent Supernumerary displayed agressive tendencies towards multiple agents. Agent Gall appears not to be an issue. Agent Tacitus clearly singled out myself for attack. Agent Gremlin a confirmed Flower-killer. I do not approve of the underhanded tactics used by the game designers; they should be monitored. I am leaving now.

---

Footnotes: Scapegrace & Alleb, it looks like the Doktor joined Alleb and Kaitlyn for the night - or Alleb left Kaitlyn to go hug a fish. Either works, I've not specified.

This is fun. ^_^ (Shame both Flowers went out at once, but oh well!)

hS

Corolla: Poor Harris, I spent all night patching him up and then he died today. Well, luckily I found a rather safe cave while going around with Zeb - it saved our lives during the Arena Event. Zeb's also got a kill - a rather cheaty one, in my opinion, but anything goes here.

Sergio: Well, I guess that Chinese saying, “If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by”, has its truth. While I was perched up on a tree to avoid the flood, I saw Androia's body floating in the water. Should thank that Tacitus guy for that. Hopefully, there will be no nightmares tonight.

Rayson: I'm alive! I managed to get that Andalite on the run with some Telus-fu, then she drowned and I didn't! I love my ladder.

Library: Hopefully chooosing the prudent path will work out in my favor for the long run- I knew staying near the Cornucopia would be a bad idea, and it's only sensible to learn more information about the other competitors.

Gerry: A shield and spear is pretty good kit. I was lucky nabbing the first, and the spear wasn't too hard to make. I feel pretty prepared.

Colt: I got a lighter and some rope, and I ran into some girl. We didn't fight, but I'll probably have to do that sooner or later. Have no idea what to do with the lighter, but I'm sure it'll come in handy.

JF: Firefirefirefirefirefirefirefire Errr whoo I took on two people at once!

Am I the only one parsing that as "it's gonna be a total accident but I can CLAIM it was deliberate"? :D

hS

Hieronymus

Well, what would you do if you see a Viking lass armed with a humongous mace walking straight up at you? Try to kiss her? I preferred running away. And then this other guy crossed my way, and he couldn’t just mind his own business. He had to yell some gibberish at me – was this French? or Chinese? – pointing here and there, so I turned around to look what he was pointing at, and when I turned back, he was gone. Well, that’s probably for the best.

Androia

This started quite well. I got a spare weapon that probably fits my secondary weapon skill, and I won a fight. So I learned already something. Those fancy sci-fi people depend too much on their technology and energy weapons. They are no match for a night-elf lurking in the underbrush.

((Hieronymus would know better, but you cannot expect Androia getting this right. She heard the commentator say “energy sword” and jumped to conclusions, probably thinking of light sabers.))

The single most hardcore grass-based threat I've heard in my entire life.

Tacitus

Found explosives and currently searching for water source. Stalked a few agents from the shadows. All of them seem to be getting their bearings-- the action is only just starting.

Will attempt to set up a trap if time permits. Need to find a safe place to sleep.

Yakov

Run, little thingy, run. I 'ave no idea who she was, but she ain't gettin' anything from the supply drop at the centre. Grabbed what I can, went into the woods. Gonna build meself a fire for the night-- and hide. As soon one of these guys pops in to investigate, Imma gonna git 'im.

Harris

The Cornucopia is for suckers. If anyone reasonably strong finds himself a weapon in there then everyone is dead. Gonna hide in the forest and forage for food. I feel like I'm being watched, though. I don't like this. I think I'll keep moving and try to blend in-- we're Spies for crying out loud. Sneaky-beaky is the name of our game.

Gaspard

I wanna go home. I'm being chased by some madman-- I managed to give him the slip and escaped. I can't be eliminated yet-- I need to find Harris and throttle him.

I should find a weapon or something. There's this nice stick nearby-- I think it could be a decent spear or something.

Laura

Kinda wished I had grabbed more from the Cornucopia than just a shovel. It's useful and all, but I'm not out here to dig trenches. I need to think about the long game; you know, food and stuff. This cave I found will do all right for shelter. Somebody might try trapping me in it, sure, but I'm pretty sure that would go badly for them in multiple ways.

James

I need to keep as much distance between me and the other players. Especially the Flowers; I was more than a bit surprised to see a couple of them out there. Got to stake out a few good spots and use them to my advantage. That's why I skipped the Cornucopia entirely and focused on investigatin' the arena. Know the terrain, and you can control it.

Gremlin

I don't believe this. I DON'T F***ING BELIEVE THIS!

Things were going pretty well. Got some food, broke that Time Lady's nose — I was getting things done! Then I look around and my partner HAS FALLEN DOWN A F***ING HOLE! Ta ma de! Now I've got no one to watch my back. Ugh, I feel like I'm losing my mind.

I swear, if Xericka deliberately fell down that hole to get out of this, we are going to have some words after this.

Xericka

I did not deliberately fall down that hole. While I had no desire to participate in the competition, actively sabotaging myself did not seem to be an acceptable way out. I made a promise to Gremlin and had every intention to keep it. I was merely trying to maneuver to a better spot on the outskirts of the Cornucopia when I fell into the trap.

As a note: teleportation by darkness portal is less than effective in the middle of a fall (if the fall is not long enough to allow for it).

Perhaps this is for the best. I will fully admit to not being a strong combatant. Observation and analysis is far more appealing to me.

* * * * *
((Oh, Xericka. I had such high hopes.))

Ilraen

. . . *facepalm*

Nume

So Ilraen got himself blown up right out of the gate again, huh? Damn. I blame Legal. He's the one of us who actually wants to be here, so of course he'd be the first to go.

Oh, that. Look, nobody told me there would be Flowers in this, and it's absurd. I was going to get out of the way, but then I saw the Tiger Lily picking up a frelling mace, and it just p***ed me off. What does a telepathic plant need with a mace? I'm not gonna use it, but I wasn't gonna let her have it, either. Same goes for Captain Dandy. I wasn't able to corner him today, but maybe tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

Derik

The Cornucopia is never a good idea. My plan was to get away and catch up with my dear partner as quickly as possible, but I wasn't able to find her. It seems she's actually being stealthy. Still, I got a good look at the Arena, which should serve me well.

Gall

Did you see the look on that old guy's face? Priceless!

That Flower is really bugging me, though. If she thinks she's getting my mace, she can forget it.

I didn't attack because you don't go after the weak opponents first. You take out the competition in the beginning, when you're at full strength, then pick off the weak at your leisure.

---

All I have to say is poor Ilraen. The guy just can't catch a break lately. {X D

~Neshomeh

Henry: Of course I ran away from the Cornucopia. If you have seen The Hunger Games in their canon, then you know any supplies there are not worth getting caught in the bloodbath that usually happens. It seems that most of people participating in these Games were smart enough to stay away from, though unfortunately my partnet decided, for some reason, to fight with a Glaurunging Flower over something. Why did they put Flowers in this anyway!? Ugh. You know, having read these things, I though I would be able to handle this better. but I think I'm already starting to lose it ...

Aiko: OK, so ending fighting with Captain Dandy over that bag of ... crystals? Well, whatever those were, that probably was not the best idea. I wish I could have gotten a bow or something similar. I also wish I knew more about these Games. Henry didn't have much time to explain things to me, so it seems that he knows something about this ... Cornucopia that I didn't, since he immediately took off. That probably was smarter, considering people got blown up back there.

At least I found this Colt guy afterwards. He seems nice enough, though I don't know how well he will fare in a fight, since it doesn't serm that he is from an action department. Though can't shake the feeling that we are being watched by someone.

Alex: Oh man, this is going to be awesome! I've never worked in the field before so I don't know how well I'm gonna do, but I'm definitely going to give it my best shot! I've been practicing with a training light saber so I think I might have an okay chance at winning.

Zeb: From what I've read, it's really not too different from a Pokémon battle... an unstructured, free-for-all, backstabbing Pokémon battle. It should be an interesting experience going up against opponents more intelligent than your average Sue, though, that's for sure.

The Aviator: I'm only here because my brother and partner made me come. Maybe I'll just step off the plate at the beginning just to **** them off... eh. I dunno. But I spent three hundred years dodging Dalek death rays—hey, alliteration—so if I go out, it's probably because I got bored or the other guy got lucky.

Farilan: I still think the whole concept is absolutely barbaric, but who am I to pass up a chance to study the primitive killing rituals of other species?

Dafydd

I hope you can already see my tactic: stealth. There's no point collecting weapons at this point - with 48 (wait, 44 now the cannons have gone) of us in here, anything I collect will be stolen twelve times by morning. No, the right thing to do is stay low, stay out of everyone's way, and wait for the rest of them to wear each other down.

Kaitlyn

Wow! This is pretty intense. Did you see all those people attacking each other at the Cornucopia? Obviously I didn't want to get tangled up in that, so while they were all distracted, I slipped away. I found this lovely open field, and this lovely girl - name's Alleb; we've been picking flowers all afternoon. Not, I hasten to add, (just) for fun (or just so's I could practice making daisy crowns for her): I'm not too bad a botanist, and any information I can get on the kind of things growing in here might help me find food in the absence of mushrooms.

Selene

I've seen agents running around by themselves all day, but I think they've got the wrong idea. Teamwork, that's the way to go. Why does the PPC give us partners? So we have someone to watch our backs, and help us when we get in trouble. Okay, I admit neither of my official partners in here has spared me a second glance, but there's still room for alliances. Wobbles and Jesse have been perfectly helpful - Wobbles reminds me a little of Kaitlyn, actually. And if I get hungr- no, never mind that.

Morgan

Winnig this thig is dot goig to be as easy as I thought. I dod't have a clue who that girl with do hair was, but she broke by dose with her wild swigig! Dow I'b having to rud away frob levitatig fish - how ebbarassig! At least it should heal edough overdight that I'll be able to talk properly agaid...

Captain Dandy

What's that saying? 'Well begun is half-done'? This game is very well-begun indeed. There wasn't much I needed at the Fertilizer-Horn - sorry, Cornucopia. The only really useful thing was a satchel of food crystals. Why that cheerful agent wanted it, I shan't even begin to guess, but I emerged victorious.

I have had the feeling someone's been following me today, though. I don't recognize their mind, but they have a trace of the Tiger Lily about them - perhaps one of her agents? Or just someone she encountered in the Arena... well, being a Flower in a chamber full of plants has its advantages; I'm certain I can shake them off.

The Tiger Lily

Field report #1. Physical combat isn't as easy as it feels. Agent Supernumerary has a possible habit of assaulting Flowers - he attacked me, and I noted him stalking the Weed. I have been keeping half my mind on him, while also observing Agent Gall - contact between the two of them has been noted before, and it is possible they share similar proclivities. I will continue to monitor and report.

---

I promise they'll get more involved as time goes on - the Tiger Lily's dispassionate prose will only last until she gets hurt. ^_~

Also: I skirted the issue with Morgan, but what levels of pain will the Holodeck allow? It has to hurt some if you break your leg, right?

(Also, I'm torn - all six of this lot are fun to write, but on the other hand I kind of want some of them to get killed off to cut down my workload... :-/)

(Also also wik: this is fun! Thanks again for setting it up!)

hS

Wobbles The Clown: Gosh, isn't this exciting? I mean, I know I'm not gonna do super great because there's a whole bunch of experienced agents in here and I don't like killing people who could be my friends one day but it's still super exciting and I hope you guys are making sure that any blood on the screen has the Ketchup Disclaimer if you're even thinking about putting it on or near NutMint.

Doktor Trollenfisch: Hello mein Freund! I am beink very excited about zer opportunity to test mein self against zer best HQ has to offer in zer ring of combat! Zer honour of zer Department of WhatThe is at stake! Also, vhile I am beink in zer simulation, if somevun could trot along to Responsezentrum 347 und make sure mein partner attends her FicPsych appointments and ist generally improvink in terms of mental health und vellbeink, zat vould be very much appreciated. Echt klasse!

Field Commander Lola McCandless: This is gonna be a really helpful thing. However long I last - and, y'know, I'm quietly confident - I'm an SRO; knowing in this kind of detail what potential partners are capable in a fight to the death is always useful.

Algernon, 7th Earl Wymbourne: Oh, was that today? D-mn! I have yet to sign up and must away. Good luck to my fellow competitors!

Selene shared out fishing gear with Wobbles and was then seen chatting to Jesse. You okay with the three of them being a group on Day 1?

hS