Event Annex - The Senate Room

[pumpkinhollow]

CRY HAVOC, AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR.

W

elcome, esteemed guests, to the Senate Room.

The rules of the game are simple. You have a word over your head that you cannot see, and the same word written on a piece of paper in an envelope that also contains a key. There is a door out of this room. Each key opens the door for only one person. You can see the words above others' heads, but you cannot say them, nor can you say any direct synonyms that might give it away too easily, nor can you spell the word or its synonyms. You must find other ways to describe it to allow the other person to guess. More abstract. Get creative with it.

If you believe you know the word, speak it aloud and open your envelope to retrieve your key. If you are correct, you can leave without incident. If you are wrong, your organs will immediately fail and you will die.

Here are the words each participant has been assigned. Players can use them to refer to other players' characters to help them guess, and you can use them to check your answers when you guess, but you can also OOCly know your answer provided you don't use it to ICly cheat. Good luck.

Agent Connecticut

Fickle

Agni Azimar

Traitor (there is an additional document contained in this envelope)

Aloy

Obstinate

Ancient Fuelweaver

Ruined

Anzu Menelikov

Deceitful

Artemy Burakh

Tainted

Capochin Bastone

Inadequate

Cassandra de Rolo

Cynical

Dahlia Leeds

Insatiable

Daisy Tonner

Merciless

Elias Coldwood

Discarded

Ethan Winters

Insufficient

Felix Gaeta

Imprudent

Hector Monaque

Covetous

Jonathan Sims

Hubristic

Lev/Lyubov Morgenshtern

Weak

Luo Binghe

Alone

Marik Ishtar

Megalomaniacal

Mr. Ant Tenna

Histrionic

Papyrus

Ineffectual

Sasavachi Chunome

Misanthropic

Shen Qingqiu

Pretentious

Simon

Selfish

Violet Vespertine

Cowardly

✦Return to Event ✦

Comments

[for_i_have_none]

"Pray don't give it another thought, dear fellow, I'm quite happy to assist."

A beat, and he cocks his head. "And I beg your pardon, but I find myself suddenly consumed with curiosity: did you say immortal?"

[xiaoxiuya]

"Oh yes," Shen Qingqiu admits, tucking the key back into its envelope and placing both in an inside pocket of his sleep robes for safekeeping. Because of course his sleeping clothes have pockets, what kind of gentleman scholar do you take him for. "An unavoidable side effect of cultivating to my present level, you see."

Nope, Azimar doesn't see. Shen Qingqiu can see it on his face. He sighs and smiles wryly, opening his fan again with a graceful flick of his wrists. "Well, never mind. It's an esoteric form of magical study from my world, I've only met a few people on Marrow Island who seem to have heard of it."

[for_i_have_none]

"Ah," he says in abrupt understanding, "cultivation of the soul and body together -- like a monk, perhaps? I've heard one can live a truly astonishing lifespan, with sufficient honing of those skills. I'd never been sure how much confidence to put in those tales."

[xiaoxiuya]

"Many cultivators are also Buddhist monks or Daoist priests," Shen Qingqiu says neutrally, hiding a peevish frown at the way Azimar immediately jumped to monks. What is this, D&D? "However, the techniques have their root in martial practices that do not require any particular affiliation. It is as much about bringing the body and mind into harmony with each other as it is about opening one's spirit to the innate ebbs and flows of nature. When all these disparate pieces are brought together, the united whole benefits in many ways...although this is hardly to place to go into an in-depth discussion of technique."

The last thing this world needs is actual demonic cultivators.

[for_i_have_none]

"No, naturally not," he agrees peaceably, unaware of Shen Qingqiu's irritation or its source.

[The narration, on the other hand, is cackling madly.]

"But I'm pleased to hear it nonetheless. The last case of immortality I encountered was nothing like so, mm, benign."

[xiaoxiuya]

"I'm guessing it was a vampire or a lich or something equally malevolent?" Shen Qingqiu raises an eyebrow, smiling wryly over the edge of his fan. "I won't pretend selfish and wicked cultivators don't exist, but in the main any technique that requires taking something from someone else to strengthen yourself is likely to do you more harm than good in the long run. Some techniques are simply and plainly villainous by anyone's standards."

[for_i_have_none]

"There, that's twice you've been right on the first guess." Azimar beams at him, incongruously pleased. "Yes, a whole wretched castle full of vampires. And a lady who might be a lich, come to think of it, if she isn't a vampire as well herself."

With a glance around the room, he adds, "Perhaps I'll tell you about them sometime, in better circumstances. If we can ever get to any of those."