(no subject)

[royalsubject]

Who: Everyone
When: Day 5, bright and early in the morning
Where: Labyrinth!
What: A daring labyrinth

[you somehow land into this labyrinth with a hard thud, sending clouds of dust flying everywhere. what you're in now is a stone room that has a flickering torch placed on each wall. it smells a bit dingy in here, like what one might picture an actual labyrinth or dungeon to smell like.

there doesn't actually seem to be much worth investigating in this room, aside from a sign and three old, wooden doors before you. the sign reads:

"If you risk it all, you gain it all. If you risk nothing, you gain nothing."

somehow, very inexplicably so, you get the strange sense that the riskier you play, the better the prize.]

(( RULES — PRE-MINGLE — WHICH DOOR DO YOU CHOOSE? — POST-MINGLE — TREASURE ))

Comments

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[Uh oh, might be treading onto some thin ice here. 'Application' must be... some sort of disguise...?

Time to dodge the question!]

How can I expect you to trade me a fair deal on this little lettuce if you can't even trade me honest information? If you won't give me a straight answer I'll go find someone else to take the sprout off my hands. There were some interesting cloaked fellows back there, perhaps they'd be more cooperative...?

[And Rideaux makes a little show of consideration, toootally thinking about going back the way he came...]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

[the skeleton seems thrown off by this topic redirection... but as soon as you mention the cloaked figures, he props the broom against one of the shelves, intent on giving you all of his focus.

"Come on, no need to be this way. Those things are valuable to our god. I know you could give them to the cloaked fellas, but whereas they'd give you nothing but their thanks, I'd give you something worth your while."]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[Now this is a little more like it. Rideaux smiles and glances over the shelves, ignoring whatever concerned noises the cabbage patch kid might be making.]

Worth my while? All I'm seeing is junk. What little trinkets do you have for a medical professional whose life is on the line? A weapon? Some kind of tool?

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

["Heh! I just gotta show you the stuff around back to get your attention. C'mon, follow me."

the skeleton immediately starts heading towards the "EMPLOYEE'S ONLY" room]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[Being led into a mystery room should probably set alarm bells ringing, but curiosity is stronger than caution, and especially when profit is involved. Rideaux takes a firmer grip on the cabbage, carrying it under one arm, but follows the skeleton!]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

[the baby whines at being carried like that.

in this Employee's Only room, there's the obvious table and seating for the employees to have their breaks at... but opposite of that is a set of shelves, containing boxes of three different sizes: small, medium, and large.

the skeleton, having already gotten one of the medium sized boxes, is pulling round objects out and setting them aside for you to see.

"Let's see... in this box, we have the bombs. Bombs, bombs, bombs. Explosives, tear gas, poison gas, light flares, firework bombs, smoke bombs..."

they each have a distinctive appearance that reflects its use. for instant, the smoke bomb looks like it's foggy. the fireworks bomb has a bright, iridescent coating. so on, and so on.]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[... hm.

So, just out of interest, is anyone else in this room? Any other skeletons? Any, uh, witnesses...~?]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

[why, none whatsoever. the sole skeleton in here is preoccupied with showing off his impressive bomb collection.]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[Better not take this too quickly. Rideaux smiles, nodding along with the skeleton's explanation and making sure to look as innocently interested and harmless as possible. Then he nods at the other boxes.]

These are bombs as well?

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

[the skeleton pauses to look over at those boxes, speaking very giddily.

"Naw, the big one's chock full of some nice weapons you might be after. The smaller one's got some fancy little devices. You seemed pretty interested in the bombs, but maybe... I should show you some of those instead?"]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[He already got those nice gemstone scalpels from a previous labyrinth, so weapons aren't much of a priority, but the bombs would be super useful. As for the rest...]

The devices, if you would.

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

["Heh! Coming right up!"

they set the bomb-box aside, grabbing the smaller one and pulling out its contents.

he pulls out a tiny violin made of marble. "You can make things n' beings stop moving at your will if you just hold this in your hand."

he pulls out a gold, satin scarf. "Anyone who wears THIS is gonna have hallucinations. Throw it on someone you don't like, that's what I say!"

finally, he pulls out a diamond with many facets. "This little thing let's you see in the dark, but only if you're holding onto it."]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[Well well. Now this sounds a bit more like it. But Rideaux only shrugs, not showing much interest in the trinkets.]

Let me take a look at those bombs. I think we can come to some kind of arrangement.

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

[the skeleton nods, eagerly holding out the box for you to look into. this inexperience pawn shop owner finds you pretty trustworthy!]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[soulbridge]

[How adorable ♥

Rideaux examines one or two of the bombs, then finally makes his move. Without any further warning Rideaux throws a smoke bomb at the feet of this poor skeleton (sure hope that's how these bombs work, huh!), then in the chaos makes a grab for the smaller box and the medium box. Or more specifically, grabs the medium box and tries to stuff the little trinkets into the bomb box or into his pockets, whichever is easier.

Assuming he'd managed to get away with all of this, he's going to get the heck out of there! Rideaux runs out of the employee lounge, but... throws an incendiary back over his shoulder before shutting the door behind him. Nothing personal, skeleton, it's just business.

Oh yeah, and during all of this, he somehow keeps a hold on what has to be a very unhappy cabbage baby. Bet you miss that magma pit right now, huh kid?]

Re: FIRE ROOM

[royalsubject]

[the baby would definitely prefer the magma pit over your dastardly theft/escape.

which is to say, it's a natural success—from behind the door the fire spreads quickly in the Employee's Lounge, so the skeleton you were speaking to doesn't come after you. they have a much different set of priorities now, thanks to that action... assuming they aren't dead once and for all, but that doesn't matter much if they're a no-show, right?

in the storefront of the pawn shop, there only seems to be shelves upon shelves of junk... but from this angle, you can get a good look at the glass windows overlooking a street. or, on the other hand, you could go back down that tunnel.]

[soulbridge]

[Between this labyrinth and a previous one, Rideaux has had quite enough of rocks and tunnels. It's not the most elegant exit in the world, but out through the glass window it is! Hope there aren't people around to witness this ignoble escape.]

[royalsubject]

[the glass shattering will probably hurt—and as for any witnesses... well, there are people on the street! but it seems that they aren't acknowledging your presence, even after a crash exit like that.

to be blunt, this looks like the bad end of town. buildings are boarded up. a broken down car sits on the street, smoking as though someone might have recently abandoned it. vendors with their carts are set up along the street. one sells potions; another sells psychic readings. these vendors all preoccupied with their stock or service in one way or another.

going left on the street is a presumable entry into another part of the city.

going right on the street leads you towards a mountain in the distance.]

[soulbridge]

[Already carrying a miserable baby, a heap of bombs and some fancy little trinkets, Rideaux's going to ignore those vendors for the time being. Instead, let's take a look at that abandoned car, shall we?]

[royalsubject]

[the abandoned car has smoke coming out of its exhaust, and it's inexplicably full of smoke, too... but it has all of its tires, so as abandoned as it is, it's not actually missing anything. there's no key in the ignition, and you can make out the scent of gasoline. however, at least there are a pair of giant dice dangling from the cracked mirror.

the psychic reader calls out, "Oh? Oh, do you want that car? Is that your car, sir, is that your car? I can fix it for a reading, yes I can!"]

[soulbridge]

[Do they have cars in Elympios? Sometimes it's better not to think too hard about these things...

If he can get the car working, it'll be easier to get out of the city and head toward that mountain. Given that he just... maybe murdered an innocent skeleton... leaving the city limits seems like a good idea. Which means he's going to have to pay attention to this phony psychic, doesn't it? Sigh. Rideaux strolls toward the psychic reader.]

And what does that involve?

[royalsubject]

[the psychic seems... very excited.

"I'll give it for free, I just can't get any customers, no I can't. And once you let me see into that future of yours, I'll give you something to pour into that car's tank that'll get it jumping, that's fore sure! All I'll need is that pretty hand of yours, that's all."]

[soulbridge]

[SHARP STEP BACKWARDS. He's really not so sure he wants confirmation of that, thank you very much.

But then again, why should he believe any nonsense these people say? He's here to make a new future, isn't he? He's here to decide a future for himself, using the Queen's power. Whatever this person decides to tell him, it has no bearing on what will actually happen. Hah! How stupid of him to feel nervous, even for a second. Rideaux shrugs—it's totally casual, he definitely isn't on edge right now.]

Then make it quick. Some of us have places to be.

[And he offers his hand, though you might have to take the glove off.]

[royalsubject]

[she all-too-eagerly takes your hand into her decrepit one.

and she doesn't bother taking your glove off either—weird. instead, she suddenly unveils a cleaver and tries swinging it down over your wrist]

[soulbridge]

[HOLY HELL. Rideaux really isn't anticipating that, distracted as he is with faux-bravado. It also doesn't help that he's holding baby and bomb box with his other hand. With only a second to react, he does just about the only thing he can - it's Chromatus time again. Maybe it won't stop the cleaver, but hopefully it'll lessen the blow considerably. Having both hands is great, thank you.]