Welcome to Gaia! ::

As the days remaining before the beginning of Bloodfest ticked down, trolls leaned out of their hotel room windows and walked up and down the beach, staring up at the sky for one single, solitary cloud. But, while the air was crisp and cold, no snow fell. Rumors began to circulate of the festivities being cancelled, and more and more trolls began to pack up early, in preparation for an untimely short end to their vacation.

And then, the night before the festival, appearing as if summoned by the collective hopes of all the trolls, dark clouds amassed on the horizon. And throughout the night, snow began to fall. And fall. And fall. And was still falling the next morning as trolls spilled out of their hotels to frolic in the thick layer of pure white fluffy snow that now carpeted Old Hemisect in its entirety.

It's snowing!!

Things had been quiet on Alterina for quite some time. No stampeding musclebeast invasions, no inexplicable disappearances, even the bounty boards had stood empty. After the insanity that had gripped the planet for the year or so after the transition to their new queen, near loss of their Mother Grub, and sudden population de-aging, the trolls of Alternia had waited, expectantly, for the next disaster to come. But, as time passed, nothing emerged. And so, as the collective population had relaxed and sat back, putting their feet up on the table, the news that the queen would be hosting another Bloodfest, in the dead of winter no less, came as quite an unexpected surprise.

It was a welcome one, nevertheless, to most trolls. Who didn't enjoy a celebration? And in the long and (depending where you lived) bitter winter months, any excuse to get out of the hive and go to the (again, Chittentown trolls would argue against this) warmer climate of the seaside was welcome. And so Bloodfest came again to Old Hemisect, bringing with it the light and life and frequent arguments of a sizable part of the troll population. There were a few differences from the previous one, primarily the shedding of bathing suits and donning of winter wear, but apart from that things were pretty much the same. Booths hocking dubious wares, treats so unhealthy that if you stared at them long enough you'd gain weight, and rigged carnival games lined the sides of the boardwalk, and trolls fought each other hand and tooth to throw their beetles away for a chance to win a prize worth less than one tenth of what they paid.

And of course, what was a festival without the face of Her Royal Highness, standing on stage and giving one of her amazing speeches? The ones where your eyes slowly crossed throughout the long bits, but you jumped back into alertness when she whacked the podium? As always, it was slightly delayed, partly because of Regina's 'fashionably late' lifestyle, and secondly because she kept trying to give her escorts the slip the entire way to the podium. Eventually though she stomped up, jacket hood bouncing behind her as she turned and beamed a sharp, alert smile down at the trolls waiting, kept warm by the torridity convector emitters that had been set up in advance of the crowds.

"Friends! Countrytrolls! Lend me your ears! And throw your fists in the air for the second official, royally sanctioned Bloodfest! It's great to see such a turn out, I hope you all are prepared for a rocking good time, 'cause I know I am. We've got so many great events and strong contenders this year, it will blow. your. thinkpan. Pshooooo. Right? Right! Ha ha ha ha ha. Seriously though, we're doing the good vibes thing again, with all profits being channeled into the reconstruction of Old Hemisect. And look, look at how much has been done so far. Check this s**t out! This is all because of you and your donations from the last games. We are building this city on fun and games everyone, on the most awesome and amazing of bloodsports, literally!"

As she spoke, Regina gestured behind her, to the construction cranes towering high over the city behind her. And it was true, things were happening. Streets were being cleared of the rubble and detritus of collapsed buildings, remaining structures were being leveled, and stuff was going up. Most of the city was still uninhabitable, but main streets were at least clear enough to walk down easily, and you could go whole blocks before accidentally stepping on the skeleton of a troll, half buried in rubble with a hand still clutching the withered carton of its musclebeast and caffeine flavoured beverage.

"For registered contestants, as always, while there will only be one winner for each event, everyone's final scores will count to their team. So even if you don't take home the gold you can show your blood pride by going out there and being as radical as you can be. I'd like to give a biiig welcome to the tealbloods, who have enough members this year to be participating as a separate team! Wooh! Yeahhhh!! They'll be taking the place of the yellowbloods, who don't have enough members to form a separate team. So, are y'all troll enough to win this year? I'll be looking forward to seeing all your entries, and kicking some butt in the snowball fight, yeah! Queenie out!"

Dropping the microphone on the stage and accompanied by a blast of feedback, Regina strode off among the applause of the trolls who weren't busy clutching at their sponge clots. And with a burst of confetti and a tinny trumpet fanfare from the speakers, the games were now open!