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 Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:07 am
The hall is cleared at midnight, and when its doors reopen at 2am there is another set change. The draperies are gone entirely, exposing the white marble bones of the hall. Behind those long curtains that had swathed the walls after high, arched galleries full of comfortable theater-style seating, pale blue upholstery blending nicely with the pale wood of their construction.
Down on the main floor, the food and drinks have been cleared away. The dancers are gone, the crowds are gone. There is only the council that will choose who is to die.
The council, and their tithes: Thorne, Shiloh, Hux, Alois, and Rabbit cluster near their patrons, their doubles nowhere in sight.
There are two hours to go until moonset and the tithe.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:09 am
[COUNCIL]The Burning Man
Is on fire. Unmasked, and on fire. Is not wearing any clothes, on account of being on fire. Responds well to philosophical inquiries, but as he is actively on fire, easily becomes impatient.
[COUNCIL]Adoelle Nashua
Unmasked, dressed all in white, happy and healthy. Seems concerned about all comers, genuinely seems to be helpful, but clams up tight when asked about herself. Far less knowledgeable than her peers, apparently.
[COUNCIL]The Spinel Lady
Wearing a black lace mask dotted with red spinel gems. Prefers to be approached by the beautiful, and those who speak beautiful words. Does not put up with sass, and has an aura of Severe Danger. Those who try to sass her will be ignored no matter your roll, because we are roleplaying.
[COUNCIL]The Sinister Survivor
Wearing a pale gray plague doctor mask and wearing a navy-blue sari-inspired suit. Very tall, very shapely, has tattoos visible below his cuffs. Seems human, but who knows? Always seems to be laughing at you when you're not looking directly at him.
[COUNCIL]The Eldritch Gentleman
Dressed in pale green with a red lacquer death mask to hide his identity, the Eldritch Gentleman is smaller than the Sinister Stranger, his partner. Charming and witty, but rather creepy. Is in on the joke, which is you.
[COUNCIL]The Sorrowful One
Veiled and silent, the Sorrowful One listens but does not react. Her hands are small and work-roughened.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:10 am
This is it. The Thread. The thread where the seventh member of the selection council is chosen. How, you ask?
You make one final 1d20 persuasion roll for each council member. You're pitching to them who you think would be the best option for the council (more on how to do that in a minute). You can only roll once, and your number doesn't change how your target reacts to you. These numbers will be all added up at the end of the night in order to determine who has the honor of choosing who will live and who will die. You can't nominate tithes, fetches, or NPCs to the role of seventh selector.
These characters scored over 50 points in the 10PM favor threads, and as such start out with a bonus to their scores:
Algernon: +15
Shun: +5
Marcus: +5
Juniper: +15
Rylan: +5
Leila: +10
Eve: +10
Jeremiah: +5
Chris: +5
Wil: +5
Connor: +5
Zac: +5
Jack: +5
Chester: +5
You may nominate any player character, but these characters above have bonuses.
You may roll 6d20 and address all six council members at once, if you so choose. Please do not quote shibrogane or this mule, but please DO quote the person you're nominating.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:45 am
alois scholz || 25/25 || oh… Alois woke blearily, his eyes refusing to focus the world around them past the veil of sleep. He rubbed his eyes but the action afforded little remedy. Sitting up from where he lay on the floor, curled in on himself, he felt stiffness in every joint, every muscle. His ribs felt bruised on the side pressed to the floor but it mattered little. The hand rubbing against one eye still felt all too warm, still aching from the cauterization.
What time is it, he wondered, though he hardly felt it mattered.
He still felt the flames of his father, and quickly found the flaming ankles before him. He looked up, and caught sight of his patrons back. Finally Alois pulled himself to his feet and rejoined his father’s side, where he stared out tiredly toward the crowd. To his left, he saw the rest of the patrons and their tithes in similar fashion. Rabbit was near now, he knew. He would be tested, just like Alois, but the other son lacked the foreknowledge he pulled from their father. Was that a leg up on the mess? Probably not; Rabbit may not have caught much sleep but Alois doubted that a couple hours at most afforded him much of an edge.
He sighed through his nose and looked to his father. It mut be time.bristling vale || 25/25 || whew Feathered mask in place once more, Vale resumed the role of Alois as he strode back into the silver hall. Autumn was eternally near, of course, but he felt less concern for this. He couldn’t stop smiling. „They’re almost ready,“ he voiced in a hushed whisper. His eyes lay on the council and the council alone as he took up his vigil on the far side of the hall.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:13 am
25/25 | Shiloh Beaumont | Surprisingly Calm
The atrium was dangerous, the atrium was dangerous, go to the plum parlor, it's safe there...
Shiloh didn't. He had stopped by the atrium to retrieve one of his precious items—a simple, black sketchbook—when he ran into Jamie and... that thing. The double. He shuddered again, mind still numb with all the information. It was true that he led a normal life once, had friends once. Jamie had been his best friend...
The details were still fuzzy at best, and when he entered the silver hall he still regarded Melany with respect. There was no animosity in his gaze, only the same pertinent exhaustion that had been plaguing him for weeks. It was two AM now. Would it be happening soon?
He had parted with Jamie outside of the hall's doors, shoes delicately clicking against the marbled floor as he neared Melany's side. "Do you really have to follow me still..." it sounded not like a question and more like a statement, but Shiloh turned to Beel with the same tired expression that he had regarded Melany with.
0/25 | Beel | Unsurprisingly Not, but a little more together than before
"You say that like you've never seen someone with your face before," he remarked back, and his face was in fact the same as Shiloh's again, though he was still maskless. Shiloh refused to believe some "corpse thing" (Beel shuddered at the comment) could have taken his place for so long, and one borrowed mask from Jamie later...
He gave the mask in the end. All he had wanted was another glamour, something to hide his monstrosity, his ugliness.
"Besides, it's time. You were chosen; remember that." They parted midway through the hall, Beel limped off to the side while Shiloh took a dutiful seat next to the Spinel Lady.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:17 am
[ thorne | unmasked | 25/25 ] : pissed o f f
Oh, his twin had drawled to him in the aftermath of their fight in the emerald alcove, it's time.
Thorne had thought, <******** had left together by no fault of his own, their steely silence permeating the halls around them as they'd both drifted towards their destination, unmasked and bruised. There were telltale signs of a fight that his twin mended out of sight with each step. A shirt straightened, a collar realigned.
But Thorne watched as the double only touched his neck where the bruises of a choking lay, and smiled at him with a secret between his teeth.
"I hate you," Thorne had said, reiterated, spit at him. Again. Always.
"I know," his twin drawled in his voice, "But don't you wonder what I've done?"
Thorne had left him in chilly, spiteful silence at the entrance of the hall. Melany was already there and her presence alone called him. He looked hardly as terrorized as he had in the alcove. His clothes were neat and straight, hair redone to an acceptable degree. Bruises lingered on his knuckles. There was a blossoming galaxy of black and blue on his right cheek. But he still cut through the crowd to join her, every step realigning him with what she wanted him to be.
Beautiful. Obedient.
But he wasn't obedient. Not really. Not anymore. He worried the seconds between his teeth. He shoved the disgust inside of him down, the terror in him down.
"Do you really think you can act against me, against her?" his twin had asked when Thorne had thrown the gift to the ground, the mask shattered, ribbons bright against the stone. "Do you really think you have a chance?"
And he still didn't know.
With the ease and silence and grace of an inhuman creature, a dog on display, Thorne joined Melany's side.
It was time, it was time.
[ thorne | unmasked (+cape) | 20/25 ] : popcorn.gif
Thorne had thought his twin would know better than to reject his gift. But oh, well.
It would make things interesting at least.
As the other man went to join Melany's side, Thorne cut through the crowd with ease, slicing his way to a corner of the room where he could watch and wait, a cat curled up with a dead mouse to see the rest of the show.
His eyes found Vale across the court, and there was a look of malevolence that cut across his face before he turned sharply away from the display. Leaning back against one of the pillars, Thorne laced his arms across his chest and tilted his head into the silver-white fur of his half-cape. Beel was also there, limping.
Just what the hell had happened to turn the other fetches into this mess?
Thorne didn't roll his eyes. It would be an ugly, juvenile display.
But he did exhale sharply and look towards the display of potential tithes.
Fight back, he thought, eyes on his twin. Show me that you still know how.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:22 am
Autumn Smith 20/25, on Blistering Vale's arm Her misery put aside for the moment, Autumn followed into the new hall, pristine as ever and looking the part of a demure guest. Bristling Vale was nothing short of elated, it seemed. And the council was ready to deliberate. Beneath her mask, her gaze flicked over to him.
"Who do you think they're going to tithe?" She murmured, looking out to the council.
Yeah, no way in hell was she going out there again.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:32 am
25/25 | Shiloh Beaumont (unmasked) | oh no big bro q__q
It would be wrong to say that Shiloh was without nervous energy; he was calmer, sure, but the way he held the sketchbook to his chest, the way he worried his nails against the cover... He was doing his best to keep still, and he did well not to sway or move unnecessarily, but the sight of Thorne covered in bruises...
"Thorne," his voice was a barely audible whisper as he shuffled his way over to the taller man, elbow nudging him for attention where his voice might not have. He didn't speak again, but his eyes shone through with concern. They were not hollow, not like they were at the start of the night. You okay? he mouthed. Coming to terms with collateral damage or not, Shiloh pressed the question.
When was the last time he actually showed his concern like this, he wondered?
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:38 am
bristling vale || 25/25 || ovo
“The tithe isn’t the best part,“ Vale corrected calmly. For a brief moment, his gaze slid over the crowd like ice until he spotted some of his brothers. None looked well for the occasion, nor could he blame them. He wanted to rejoin Corr. Was that so out of the question?
„They must elect the seventh council member first. Your friends must plead their cases. That is the best part. It’s always a wonder who they choose, and always a surprise for all the time I’ve known them. I wonder, oh I wonder…“ Again his gaze trailed to Corr.
Oh I wonder how we’ll finish out the night. I have no faith in Alois, friend. How about you of yours?
„I want to visit a friend. He’s just over there. May I, mistress?“
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:48 am
[ thorne | unmasked | 25/25 ] : little bro! q___q
Thorne tilted his head at Shiloh. It was a small, imperceptible gesture that could have passed as nothing more than the subconscious movement of an animal waiting. He caught Shiloh's eyes on him and the corner of his lips tilted just slightly. It wasn't a smile. It couldn't be.
Not here.
But it was something more alive than he had been in the past three months. He shifted his weight, hooked his arms behind his back. Every part of him felt broken and abused. Every part of him unmade. But he was breathing. And so was Shiloh. And for the first time in a long time, Thorne thought he saw light in the younger mans eyes.
Fight back, his double had dared him.
"Shiloh," Thorne breathed. His head tilted again, eyes cast towards the blond. "It's alright."
His expression was steel, the fire burning just beneath the surface, in the hollow crevice of his throat.
Be strong, be strong, he wanted to say to Shiloh. It came out as his name alone, a silent prayer that he would understand everything Thorne couldn't say out loud yet. Not here. He leaned his weight close to Shiloh. He pressed their shoulders together for a single second.
I'm here and I'm not leaving you again.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:18 pm
Alexis Tucker / 25/25
Alexis stumbled into the room, their hair in further disarray than it had been in the cellar only a few hours ago; their cheeks were spots of color, but their face was pale and drawn.
Seeing Autumn did wonders for their countenance, though; Vale, not so much, asshat that he was. (Well. Alois. Alexis hadn't known much of the fetches -- or anything at all, really -- he could have been anyone and they'd still hate him.) Still. Familiar face was good. "Autumn," they murmured, slipping over to her (barefoot, now, their glittering slippers discarded at some point), "you doing alright despite shithead here?"
Hetzvrei alexis says hi, but like, in an unpleasant way
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:24 pm
She nodded as she listened, ready to watch her friends throw themselves at the council. There was no way in hell Autumn was going to get on it- not after introducing Spinel to her foot as she had. Lips pursed as she overlooked the deciding factor, Autumn couldn't help but wonder who they were angling at. Was it the deer triplets, after all? Or did they have higher aims?
"You guys have friends?" Slightly surprised, but, it made sense. They'd probably been thrown together into the human world, and needed at least some kind of support.
"Why don't you introduce me? I'd love to meet your friends," She replied, smiling gently and offering out her arm.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:31 pm
bristling vale || 25/25 || >_> Alois cast a quizzical glance toward Alexis, who showed at Autumn’s side. He supposed the comment of ‚shithead‘ was directed toward him but voiced nothing of it. Commentary of any sort may end with him back in the basement. He’d rather not stare at the dead remains of wine glasses while he counted down the minutes.
„Of course we have friends. There are other ones like us, but… I do believe that meeting them at present is a, forgive me, poor idea. My good friend is very protective of me and I daresay he would become very unfriendly to your person, mistress. You did leave me in a cellar, after all.“ He eyed Corr a last time.
„Excitement in this party is coming to a head. I would not like to see you hurt, mistress. Or your friend.“ He finished, with a nod toward Alexis.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:40 pm
Autumn Smith 20|25, cracking the whip "Alexis! I was wondering where you got off to," Autumn chirped, and finally her smile seemed more genuine. A welcome, friendly tolerable face amongst a sea of duplicates and deceivers. And also Alois, who was crown reigning megadouche in this party. At Blistering Vale's insistence, she fixed him with a puzzling look.
"Hm. Let's say... ten minutes, and we meet back here? I need time to catch Alexis up, anyway," she responded finally, giving him a nod.
"Oh, and before you go- Alexis, Blistering Vale. Blistering Vale, Alexis. Play nice, please? I really don't want another glass incident."
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:45 pm
Alexis Tucker 25/25
"Here n' there," Alexis shrugged, sizing Bristling Vale up (not a human name -- one of the othercreatures, then; absolutely one of them) and coming away clearly unimpressed. "I hung out in the cellar a few hours ago, but I've pretty much been on the roof since then. Quieter up there." And it was, given how many people were committing intrigues on the other floors.
"I'd say nice t'meet you, but I'd be lying. If you hurt Autumn, I'll break your ******** arms." They smiled at Vale, then, particularly insincerely. "I could really use a catchup...seems like a lot's happened in the last hour, yeah?"
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