guillotineroom: (Default)
Locked Rooms ([personal profile] guillotineroom) wrote2022-11-01 10:48 pm

[elevator] [cerberus]

[ When you open your eyes again the first thing that you, and your teammates, may notice is that you are confined within an iron cage, rectangle in shape. Further inspection will reveal that outside of the cage is a large structure of sorts, reaching far above you. It kind of looks like an unfinished clock tower, really... there are spots that look finished and bolted tightly, and others that look like they had been left once and the work never thought of again.

Also, it's pretty chilly. You might get to notice that.

It's foggy and windy—the kind of wind that howls and roars, jostling your cage against the tall shaft, and every so often you feel as though you might have had the ghost of a raindrop on you. The tower-like build creaks horribly ominously in the wind, and you can see the rusted metals swaying slightly. But if you decide to look around...

Flapping above you (and not helping with the wind) is a harpy-like creature, iron chains wrapped around their talons. Though, maybe it's more like a lion? The chains are bolted to the top of your cage. There are also little indicators on the structure, the same distance apart, that seem to be declaring different levels or heights. They look horribly unhappy to be here, but they're also impressive at ignoring any call you might have for them.

There's a door to the cage, but it won't open, even if it's just a simple-looking locking mechanism. If you peer out, it's too foggy on the ground to make out very much, but you can make out nine other, tower-like structures with similarly flapping harpies. Each one, including your own, has an emblazoned emblem of every team's patron monster, so that you can see where everyone is—it's just difficult to make out exactly who may be in each one. Even more difficult to try and communicate like this.

Attached to the door is an aged metal panel with a screen and four buttons; two to choose between the team names that appear on the dark green and black screen, and two to choose whether you wish for that team to go up or down.

After a moment, a little speaker in the corner starts playing an incredibly bad quality version of this.]
moonlit_knight: (pic#15474387)

[personal profile] moonlit_knight 2022-11-06 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
Very likely in my opinion, but they'd need five votes for a team at the bottom to hit the top. I doubt they'd go up that much, which gives us time to try and balance things.
messianic: (Comforts not me)

[personal profile] messianic 2022-11-06 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ ... :( he's sorry, Sprezzatura. ]

Right... I think you're right. Hopefully... everyone else's votes will be spread out enough that we can compensate for how high they might be raised next round.
moonlit_knight: (pic#14845243)

[personal profile] moonlit_knight 2022-11-06 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
If they're in danger, and it doesn't conflict with our obligations to Bugbear, we can vote to lower them next time.
messianic: (not a famous-last-words)

[personal profile] messianic 2022-11-06 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ he nods quietly at that. ]

Mm... if it ends up being bad, we can try to compensate. I think that makes sense.
moonlit_knight: (pic#15102562)

[personal profile] moonlit_knight 2022-11-06 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
I know we can't stop everyone from getting hurt, but even if it prolongs the trial, I want the losing half to be as low as possible to the ground.
messianic: (which the night the power went out)

[personal profile] messianic 2022-11-06 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
Mm... that's a really good point. We know that half the teams will be dropped, but if we can keep everyone relatively low... it may just be injuries we'll have to contend with. Then we can buy the Lovers card from the shop and heal everyone up.
moonlit_knight: (pic#14815760)

[personal profile] moonlit_knight 2022-11-06 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
The injuries are gonna suck a lot, but they'll be manageable. More manageable than multiple teams hitting the top and berserking. I understand some people will be playing hard to protect themselves, it's just... It's an unnecessary level to go to.
messianic: (your footprints in fresh snow.)

[personal profile] messianic 2022-11-06 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
It changes the game if we think of it as a gradient instead of a win or loss thing. We can still "win" and protect everyone if we keep as many of the elevators as low as possible... right?

We have to keep that in mind for sure.
moonlit_knight: (pic#15518498)

[personal profile] moonlit_knight 2022-11-06 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
I can't think of a game like this in terms of numbers, of wins and losses. I'm looking down at the height we're at and... All I can think is, how much could we endure?
messianic: (We shall be happy)

[personal profile] messianic 2022-11-06 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
... I think... we could endure a lot, as a team. Everyone here is so, so strong.

But...

[ a flicker of doubt and frustration. ]

... I don't want you guys to have to.