Post by Cloudbat (they/them) on May 4, 2024 0:00:22 GMT
After a day or so of rest, Blanca gathered all those who had successfully returned with a root again; this time, the gazelle shifter still looked worried, but relieved to see them all gathered.
“You’ve done well to make it out of the cenotes…but the corruption is slowly worsening, and this time, the hazards may be deadly.” She said grimly.
"Congratulations." Caesarion followed up, "You managed to survive so far."
Blanca turned, gesturing to the north of the Endgrove.
“You must all go to the hedge maze, before it becomes completely overrun…the corruption there is taking a very strange form.
At first, nothing seems wrong, but when you aren’t looking at the topiary animals…they quickly move closer to you. They rear up and open their mouths. I don’t know what would happen if they caught someone.” She admitted, shuddering slightly.
"Assume the worst because, once again, we are not going to be retrieving your bodies." Caesarion noted, allowing a cruel smile to form on his lips, "Medical services are, of course, provided...to those who can crawl back."
Blanca continued, hands clasped together. “Unfortunately, I need some of their leaves for the medicine. The topiary animals - and only them - are made of a specific type of holly. I wish you could just take samples from the maze walls instead, but…” She sighed.
“The good news is, three or four leaves per person will do for the protective essence I need; to preserve the corrupted from further harm.” She said, trying to lighten the mood.
“To keep you safer, you’ll be sent in pairs, watching each other’s backs. The last time I was there, the topiaries were the only corrupted plants, but I don’t know if that’s changed since.”
“Despite what you might think, I’m not a very good plant whisperer so I can’t confirm anything either. Our vibes don’t match, ya know? But maybe you will have a better shot!” The flytrap added.
She looked more solemn again. “This time…only those who bring back the most leaves, and quickly, will be able to keep helping me. It’s too dangerous to allow anyone who falters to continue, I’m sorry. We’ll be patrolling the edges of the hedge maze, so once you get near an entrance, we can help you get out if you’re in trouble. Beware, though; the paths seem to change themselves now, so take a compass if you need one.”
“Yeah! I’ll help snatch you outta there as quick as a flytrap snapping up a fly! Uh… or something like that!” Hurvy said.
A cold wind pierced through the assembled competitors, its whistling almost reminiscent of a whispered warning.
—
RULES:
Round Requirements:
-Show your character making their way through the hedge maze, finding a topiary animal, collecting a few of its leaves, and successfully making it out of the hedge maze again.
-This is a paired round; returning with the leaves is the only win condition. Your character may choose to cooperate with, sabotage, or directly fight their opponent. They may also encounter other competitors if you wish, but the focus must primarily be on your pairing.
-As long as they return either with more topiary leaves than their opponent at the same time, or deliver the leaves to a staff NPC before their opponent does, they will move on to the next round.
General Rules:
1. Characters will be assigned their pairings by Blanca’s helpers after the round speech and offered compasses to help navigate the maze. Everyone will then be led to the maze by the staff NPCs to go in at the same time; there are various different entrances.
2. The topiary animals come in various designs and sizes, and are scattered randomly about the hedge maze. You may invent their exact appearances as you wish; the one in Hurvy's speech bubble is an example of what they can look like.
3. The topiaries can rearrange the maze walls, and may do so if unobserved.
4. There may be other corrupted plants or fauna in the hedge maze as well, if you would like to use them in your round. However, only holly leaves from the topiary animals can be presented to the NPCs to win.
5. Opponent characters may now be injured or killed; however, showing any characters besides your own and your opponent’s being injured or killed is still forbidden.
6. What exactly the topiary animals do if they catch someone is up to you, but it would likely be heavily damaging to a character if not outright deadly.
