X'MAS 2014 Yl.U.L.E: Your Little Underground LARP Experience

[Atmadja]

Character Name: Glint
Player: Prime Meridian
Species: an elf-phony
Class: Cleric
Appearance: Glint wears a truly amazing and inspiring celestial (printed sheet) robe, tied at the base of his tail in a beautiful (??) knot (that he hopes he can undo later.) His mane is done up with a laurel (or whatever leaves he could find) crown, to show the magnificent nature of his healing craft. Or something. Who knows.

A. The door to the south
Well, Glint was about to make his way toward the NORTHERN door, but he was waylaid by, uhm, well, seeing a bunch of really beautiful lady-phonies go into the southern door. He floated gracefully (okay, clomped) in that direction, his head held high (because he doesn't want his laurel crown to fall off) in graceful dignity.  

[Ac.Wings]

A. The Door to the North

Shazam BOOM! gulped down his excitement and nerves as he stood with the other phonies. With a careful and steady hand he held the lantern. The brawny half breed gazed around at each of them as they started to branch off and go their chosen paths. Hmm....north made sense. Might as well give it a shot.  

[DivineSaturn]

Character Name: Norzadi
Player: Sunny Delight
Species: Dwarf-pony
Class: Fighter
Appearance: A colander-helmet and a frying pan-breastplate, worn over an apron, make up most of Sunny's costume. The apron doubles as a sword belt, with a citrus reamer, a melon baller, and a pair of tongs stuck through the strings. A pair of onion goggles protects her eyes, and she carries a pot lid to use as a shield.

A. The door to the north

(This. Was. So. Cool.

It was, Sunny figured, high time she tried out this game that her mother and aunt seemed so fond of. And why wouldn't they be? There were costumes and cryptic instructions, and a whole lot of other Phonies to play with. What was not to love?

Staying in character was hard, though. She tried to appear serious, maybe even a little dangerous, but smiles kept shining through when she saw something new to ooh and aah at. Everyone's costumes were so good! And what was the treasure they were supposed to be looking for? That sounded really awesome!)

No, Norzadi was a serious warrior, not impressed by these trappings of others. She marched forward proudly, nodding to the mares who had summoned her here-

("Hi, Mom!" Sunny whispered cheerily, before making an "oops" face and moving on.)

- and strode, without hesitation, through the door to the North. That was what the directions had said to do. Or was that just the first door? Well, whatever the case, she would follow instructions as best she could. Only a fool would do otherwise.

(This. Was. So. Cool!)
 

[Hopelessly Pretty]

Lark lifted his lamp carefully to get a better look at the creature inside, but when he realized he probably would scare the crap out of it he decdied to keep it a short distance away from his side, via elf-phony (unicorn) magic. He wasn't sure which way to go, but he decided to go South, thinking it might be a safe route to venture toward.

B. The door to the south.  

[Scaramouche Fandango]

((Out-of-character and out-of-character-and-out-of-Phony-character message: Gonna try this a little differently this time!))

A: The door to the north
You have entered the door to the north. It is dark. The stench of mildew emanates from the wet dungeon walls. Wait, dungeon? It seems that you’ve found yourself in the dungeon of an abandoned ruin. Skeletons litter the floor of the cells and rotting wood splinters indicate what may have been benches and beds. In the southeast corner of this room is evidence of a cave-in, but no evidence of a jailer. The bent bars and chipped stones of the cell walls show that the prisoners here were trying rather desperately to escape- but probably died of starvation or madness-induced violence- one skull’s got a spoon sticking out of its eye socket, not a particularly natural way to go. However, it appears that one prisoner did manage to escape the carnage- a small isolation cell has a tunnel chipped out of the corner that seems to have gone somewhere. The cave-in seems to have rendered that point somewhat moot- you could probably climb out of it, if you were careful.
(This area seems like it was decorated by somebody who’d been on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at that other theme park a few times too many. Cardboard walls and paper towel tube bars create moderately convincing prison cells in the dark. Plastic Halloween skeletons serve as the hapless prisoners; one of them does have a metal spoon in its eye. One person could take that, if they wanted. The “cave-in” area is a naturally-occurring pile of rocks that leads up a hillside to a slightly more elevated area; the “tunnel” is actually a few painted refrigerator boxes taped together. You can’t see quite where it goes.)

How do you escape?
A. Tunnel
B. Cave-in

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Maxx D

Chrystali

Kitty Sprightt

Fea Line

frozen_flames06

Ac.Wings

DivineSaturn

B: The door to the south
The door to the south opens to an extremely narrow corridor with sharp, sharp edges along the walls. The light of your lantern gives everything a pale blue cast, but you know enough from a few glances that these are the most valuable walls you’ve ever seen- you’ve found yourself in a seam of ruby! The gemstones gleam as they catch the light, and you find yourself wandering if this is the treasure you’ve come for. Could it be that easy? Suddenly, you feel a sharp pinch. Ouch! You slap at the spot- it feels like something bit you- and swing the lantern over to see a strange creature sitting on your back. It’s a small, reptilian animal with gem-like eyes and sharp, sharp teeth. It grins up at you, almost innocently. It’s kind of cute! Suddenly, there’s another one next to it, and one running up your leg, and one pulling at your tail… And then the first one opens its jaws and lunges for you. You have died- The goblins will get you if you don’t watch out...
(You come to a dead end in the clearing to the south. Roll to Dodge showers you with slightly sticky stretchy lizards, the kind you get as party favors around Halloween or when you are a small child. She hands you a gold ribbon that says “I’m special!” in festive letters. "Better luck next time!" she says, patting each LARPer on the back.)

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Jun D

Astraea Pandora

Tristam Lockhart

Atmadja

Hopelessly Pretty

C. The door to the east.
After a short, stifling corridor, the door to the east opens up to a sheer drop. A puddle of light at the bottom indicates that you’re not alone in this room; bodiless whispers in a language you can’t understand make it even more evident. A pegasus could fly down… but the crosswinds that cut through the cavern make that extremely dangerous. Unicorn teleportation might also work… but you don’t really know where you’re going. You could teleport into and get stuck inside a rock face. That’d be torturous. It seems as though the only way down is to climb down. A frayed straw rope is wound around a rock pillar; somebody seems to have made it down there, and the light in the distance beckons to you.
However, perhaps the other side of the drop might be promising- there might be an easier way down over there. Though it’s far too dark to see across, you can make out a rickety rope bridge, its planks eaten with dry rot. It might hold your weight… if it goes anywhere at all. (You are standing on the edge of the creek cutting through the park. A big sign says “NO MAGIC. NO FLYING. YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.” You know you’ll be kicked out of the LARP if you try to break the spirit of the game. There’s a bridge across the creek that’s always been there, but for some reason the end is covered in fog- looks like somebody brought a fog machine.)

What will you do?
A. Climb down
B. Cross the chasm

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cursedandwandering

FrostyPeaches

thyPOPE

D. The door to the west.
The door to the west leads to a gravelly passageway leading… down, you think. The darkness is incredibly disorienting, and you have a hard time seeing where the ceiling of this passage is. The ground crunches under your feet- pebbles, maybe? A look down confirms your worst suspicion: bones. You find yourself in a massive ossuary filled with bones of all sorts of creatures. Tattered ribbons and faded silk flowers only enhance the ghoulish atmosphere; you swear you can hear the strains of an enchanted pipe organ playing in the distance. It all looks like some kind of macabre carnival of the damned. A skull leers at you, and you feel incredibly unsettled (or right at home, if you’re an evil character). Suddenly, the skull’s eyes blaze to life, as do the eyes of a number of other skulls. What looked like an abandoned graveyard or body cache is actually full of animated skeletons- hundreds of them, from the glow in the distance. They rattle and creak menacingly, and though you are able to fight the first few off, they just keep coming and coming, even after they’ve gone to pieces. The first skull you saw latches itself around your ankle and starts gnawing. Evil doesn’t need arms. You have died.
(A small picnic shelter has been repurposed and filled with all kinds of plastic skeletons and skulls, some of which have chattering teeth and battery-operated glowing eyes. TPK is standing there, waiting for you. "Sorry, buddy." TPK says with a smile, "You're dead". She throws a plastic skull, clearly bought on clearance after Halloween, at your face, and you barely dodge it. "But don't worry, you still get a ribbon for trying."

You look at the ribbon. It's the traditional purple participation ribbon they give to losers in school to make them feel like they still won something. You flip it over, and on the back there's a message written (don't worry, it's not it Explosive Runes), "You Suck at LARPing.")

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Kitomyx

Ruriska

 

[iStoleYurVamps]

B.
Hanz (aka Afterparty aftermath) was more one for the camp cleanup and refreshment table. Keep the drink flowing and bellies full and swords polished and sheilds dent free. Being on the actual adventure?

Well that suited him too just fine. He could help on the road!

In a robe far to big for him, (in fact, it was his father's bathrobe and it was very soft and plush and probably going to be stained by the night's end much to Afterparty's dismay), the halfling stumbled over his own hooves to keep up with the others and when give the option to pick a door? "OH OH I KNOW THIS I KNOW THIS!" He jumped up and down and waved at the lantern at her. "WE PICK THE DOOR YOU TELL US NOT TO PICK RIGHT?"

His lantern was jostled in his bouncing.  

[Chrystali]

Door to the North: B.

The dragonkin stepped around the neko, surveying their choices. "It doesn't seem very promising, does it?" he mused out loud. ("Hi!" Zen whispered loudly to Caramelldansen. "Isn't this neat?") The beast lumbered to survey both options: the tunnel, that may or may not have given a prisoner its freedom, or the cave in, which looked like it was one misplaced claw (hoof) away from a secondary spill.

He was, however, a dragon, and dragons did so enjoy hoarding shinies. He took the spoon, not minding as the skull it belonged to toppled over. Making his decision, the dragon slid towards the cave in, carefully, delicately traversing his path.

(Cave in's mean something had to cave in from an open space, he reasoned. It meant there was a path at some point, and perhaps one he could find again. Prisoners -- well, they weren't smart enough to not get caught. He didn't really want to trust their methods of 'escape.')

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Fea Line

 

[theCorniest]

Blissfully unaware of nearly half the starting party's demise, Dryssian weighed his options in the ghoulish dungeon. (Bumble Thunder sort of wished she hadn't overheard so many players being disqualified already. This was going to be a very fast game, at this rate.) The cave-in might lead to something interesting, but the odds of that AND making it up there without causing a secondary collapse seemed awfully slim. The tunnel was probably more structurally sound, but there was no actual guarantee it went anywhere - the prisoner who'd carved it could well have met their doom at its end, through starvation or less... natural means.

Still, the tunnel seemed the wiser choice. Dryssian hoped he might be able to backtrack if it didn't lead anywhere after all, (but Bumble Thunder knew that wasn't gonna happen.)  

[frozen_flames06]

Door to the North: A. the Tunnel

Silver smirked as she looked around, noticing all the lovely decay and spider webs around. She giggled lightly as she headed toward the dug tunnel.

"Ah, so many in the service of My Goddess, how lovely.."

She then takes her daggers out as she enters the tunnel.
(Obi was a little glad that they weren't dead yet, but some body took the spoon or was it a spork out of a skull. Carrying her fake daggers tightly, she was ready for anything.")  

[Atmadja]

Glint met his noble end, fiercely fighting to protect the maidens in his guard. If only there had been enough time for him to heal them! And for them to show their appreciation with a smooch on the cheek! Alas! Alas, but this is the way that heroes go from the world...

("Oof!" Prime said in a slightly-undignified tone, trying his best to swat away the sticky lizards from the pretty mares in his group. Well. At least he got a pretty awesome ribbon? AND he saw some total cuties? Not a loss... not a loss at all.

He pinned the ribbon to his robes and went to wait for Sandlot Bambino. Gotta brag!)  

[cursedandwandering]

(To the east, choice B)

Reaper was stopped staring at a scrawled out sign with the words "No flying" written across it with a look of annoyance on his face. "You've gotta be kidding me," he snorted, casting a glance over his shoulder to see soyme small twerps had followed after him. Not a smart move on those brats' parts. Hadn't the colts ever heard about him? With a snarl he spat out, "******** off, worms" before returning his attention to the options that lay before him.

Smashy gazed across the chasm, lips curled back into a sneer. A great orc like him could not be held up by a rope of mere straw. Smashy was a brute and he was going to use his sheer strength to jump that gap. Taking a few steps back, he took a running leap to the other edge.  

[Fea Line]

Door to the North: B - Cave in.


Nyekka surveyed her two options closely, ears perked in attempt to listen to her surroundings wiht her increased cat like senses. She still held on to her staff carefully so as to not jostle about the critter providing her light. "Seems quite so. I fear for what poor fools suffered in these depths." ("Ohmygosh this is SOMUCHFUN!" she whispered loudly back at Zen, flashing him a sheepish grin before melding back into character.)

She looked towards the cave and the others who decided that was the best way to go before watching the little dragonkin snatch up the spoon and head off towards the cave in. The druid had no idea where the tunnel went, or if it even went anywhere at all but a cave in.....well the druid hoped it had seen its last tumbling and would provide an easier way out.

Pushing after the little dragon, she nimbly began darting about the rocks using her feline agility.

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Chrystali

 

[Maxx D]

A.A Tunnel
Friar F(r)ight was all full-up on his toolbelt and was happy to leave the spoon for someone else. Instead, he surveyed the dungeon, and was intrigued by the tunnel. He did like Shawshank. Ducking and folding his wings close, he started to crawl through the tunnel.  

[Kitomyx]

The rather under-equipped noble unicorn stiffened at the sound of the lumbering hoofsteps behind him, halting in his tracks at announcement that followed before glancing over his shoulder to frown at the orc barbarian. "If that's your plan, you'd better not blame me for your fate," he grumbled. "This 'little man' isn't much of an adventurer."

As he continued on, ear swerving at the whisper from the white mare, the unicorn scowled. "I wasn't about to go rooting through dumpsters for filthy cardboard containers to take apart and wear. My own clothes are quite sufficient, especially if we're all just 'pretending' everything is something else. And what about you? I'd never imagined you would have owned so much make-up," he said, eyeing her 'scars' and shiny splotches. "I think you fit the description of a barbarian just fine without all that junk."

It just so happened that Vermithirod's and Gashnakh's first decisions - the former to go west and the latter to follow - were their last. Headed down into the depths of the Underlands, it wasn't long before they came across a myriad of skulls with the ominous background music of a pipe organ. Unfortunately, the skeletons seemed to be alive and hungering for flesh with too many to fight off. Though he valiantly attempted to protect himself and his sole travelling companion, the wizard was soon outnumbered and overwhelmed. His corpse soon joined the countless others littering the ground. Vermithirod had died.

Casting Total Party Kill and incredulous look after he had barely dodged the thrown skull, Truths sighed. "You're whole-heartedly enjoying this, aren't you? Killing off phonies and the like. I suppose that much would have been obvious from your name, though..."

The ribbon awarded to them added insult to injury. Well, that was what he got for listening to songs and stories. That was more Mooncake's thing, anyway. He could almost hear the flutter's laughter in his head, mocking him for his failure. 'You Suck at LARPing.' At the back of his mind, the ribbon's words read as dialogue in the purple stallion's voice. Snorting in irritation, the vermillion stallion tossed his mane.

"Hmph. At least that frees up the rest of my evening. I was getting hungry, too." He looked at Shrill. "I'm getting dinner. Care to join me, orc?"

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

"Gashnakh smash little man," the orc rumbled as they made their way down the tunnel.

("I did not go rooting through dumpsters," she hissed, awkwardly swinging her cardboard mace and nearly getting him in the head. "I just bought a new plasma and had the stuff sitting around." She rubbed at her cheek, smearing one of her scars. "And I can do girly things too, don’t be an a**.")

It was horribly unfortunate for the orc barbarian that her first decision should end so badly. That, she had time to mutter to herself, was what comes from following strange little fancy men. Yet she fought valiantly and without pause, her mace tearing through the skeletons, shattering them left and right.

But it wasn’t enough and with a roar, Gashnakh fell to her knees and died.

("This is bullshit!" Shrill X tore her cardboard mace in two in frustrated anger, not accustomed to losing, especially so soon.

But she accepted the ribbon, even if it came with a glower at TPK. "Whatever. You nerds have fun. We’re going to go have burgers." And with a shrug at Truths, they left for dinner.

Kitomyx