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

[not_a_traitor]

Yeah, Gaeta didn't expect that, either, from the look on his face. An antonym of prepared? For the guy who'd show up to his CIC shifts with multi-day to-do lists and tick them off as methodically as a clock?

...Then again, he wasn't exactly prepared for what Gaius became. Or Adama. The less said about the Eight, the better.

"So... not prepared. Sloppy? Ignorant?"

Rude as frak, but he can't really argue it.

[thetombkeeper]

Marik opens his mouth but nothing comes out. He physically can't say yes or no.

A grunt. Followed by him fiddling with his earlobe like he would if his earrings were in. A thing he tends to do when nervous or thinking. Or both. Will it convey to Felix that he's trying to tell him 'no?'

[not_a_traitor]

There's enough hesitation in Marik's body language to steer Gaeta that way. (And it doesn't seem feigned, either.)

"Okay, probably not." Gaeta makes a disgruntled noise, rifling further through his mental catalogue. "Are there any undertones to it being a -- I don't know, a purposeful action, or is it something a person would do by mistake?"

[thetombkeeper]

Marik thinks on how he could describe it and what allow him to speak.

"... I'd lean towards the former."

[not_a_traitor]

Okay. That helps... a little? At least he has more of the word's vibe, if still no godsdamn idea what it might be.

"Any other way to describe it besides 'ill-prepared'?"

[thetombkeeper]

There's one word he can say without tipping his hand too much — and this one in particular is a favorite of his.

"Foolish, some might say."

Said with a little smirk.

[not_a_traitor]

Gaeta narrows his eyes. Foolish, but not ignorant; unprepared, but not sloppy; something done on purpose, and something that contradicts whatever facade he presents to the world. He can practically hear the Web laughing softly as he fails to put the pieces together. Little help? he thinks sourly, which doesn't get him anywhere either.

Maybe he just has to put it on the back burner for a couple minutes. Let it clock a few cycles while he thinks about something else.

"Okay, fine, I'll -- think about it some more." He doesn't sound any less disgruntled over not being able to solve the puzzle in ten seconds flat. "Let's focus on yours."

[thetombkeeper]

Marik doesn't seem bothered by the switch. If he can get out without having to kill the man for his key, that would be preferred... but he's still keeping an eye out for the opportunity.

"Very well. And what will your hint be?"

[not_a_traitor]

Dryly: "I'd use it to describe a supervillain, usually, not a teenager. But you do think pretty highly of yourself."

A slight smirk.

"Guess it's why you think you can get away with so much."

[thetombkeeper]

The tomb keeper narrows his eyes and his smirk falls into a grumpy little frown.

A super villain? Thinking he can get away with so much...?

He could go off on to a big rant but instead keeps it as a simple answer: "... Entitled?"

[not_a_traitor]

Oh it would be so tempting to string Marik along in the wrong direction, but -- that won't accomplish anything. He might get a nice meal out of it; he might also get Marik killed, permanently. Gaeta's a bit of a monster these days, sure, but not that kind of monster.

"Stronger than that," he says.

[thetombkeeper]

Stronger than entitled. The boy rubs his chin as he thinks.

Villainy though? He's not a villain...! He's just doing what needs to be done. So it's likely nothing too bad. Gaeta is clearly just being opinionated.

"... Empowered?"

[not_a_traitor]

Gaeta snorts. "Look at everyone else's descriptors. Do you think you alone got lucky enough to earn a nice word like 'empowered?' Stronger and meaner."

[thetombkeeper]

Ugh. Why did he have to point that out?

Marik purses his lips.

"... Tyrant...?"

[not_a_traitor]

"Closer. What words would you use to describe a tyrant?"

He injects just a smidge of false patience into his voice, like a teacher who can't believe he has to hand-hold his dullest student through yet another simple quiz.

[thetombkeeper]

What word would he use to describe a tyrant besides that? The boy glances up as he thinks.

"It depends on the tyrant."

A shrug.

"Sometimes what they do is for the better of their people."

[not_a_traitor]

Well.

Something flares in Gaeta's eyes, like Marik just flicked a droplet of water on a hot coal. Evenly, he says, "You really think so?"

Of course this little frakker would.

[thetombkeeper]

Marik notices that strange look, raising an eyebrow at both that and the man's question.

"... Why else would I have answered that? If it's not that word then is it 'dictator'? That doesn't really fit me though..."

[not_a_traitor]

"No, I think it might fit pretty well if you honestly think a tyrant can do good."

A coldness leaches into his voice, replacing the airy, almost amused tone. This doesn't sound like someone playing the game anymore.

[thetombkeeper]

The tone, along with his words, has the boy growing increasingly grumpy. "Just because I think a tyrant can do good doesn't mean I'm one. I simply understand that sacrifices must be made from time to time."

If it's a type of dictator then but not that word then perhaps... "Zealot, maybe?"

[not_a_traitor]

"It's an adjective, not a noun," says Gaeta shortly, and immediately follows it up with, "And having sympathy and understanding for a tyrant doesn't make your case a hell of a lot better, you know that, right?"

[thetombkeeper]

"Whatever," he huffs, waving a hand dismissively. "I don't see why it's such a bad thing. Why don't you explain."

[not_a_traitor]

Gaeta stares, incredulous.

"What is there to explain?" he demands. "A single person coercing an entire population into doing whatever he wants, whether they want to or not? Not having any say in the choices a leader makes? Being ruled over so violently that any dissent gets you killed?"

[thetombkeeper]

His eyes narrow.

"And what if that eventually brings peace to the land?"