A Game of Skill

[Gelquie]

Before Gelquie entirely knew what was happening, she found herself facing a madman with a hoe. She stared at the tiller, her eyes wide in terror. Of all the places she had to be, it was here. She thought that the game would be a good way to get herself away from reality. But to get herself thrust into this situation? Was this some kind of cruel joke?

The hoe was coming forward too close now. After the farmer made a swipe at Gelquie, she let out a scream as she turned the other way and mopped her way through the castle as fast as she could. She didn't bother to look around, but she could tell by the footsteps that the man was pursuing. This was it. He was certainly going to catch her eventually. She was dead. There would be no tomorrow.

"Woah!"

Gelquie heard the yelp from close behind her, and she knew the farmer had almost lost his footing. She looked down at herself and saw that she was leaving a faint trail of water behind her as she went. Water... She zoomed off down the next hallway, now sure of where she should go.

Of course, just as she made the turn, the farmer had caught up just enough to whack his hoe down on Gelquie, enough to slightly clip some of the mop. Gelquie let out a cry of pain before scurrying down the hallway faster.

"I've done nothing to you!" Gelquie cried as she went down the hallway. "I've done nothing but help clean this castle and make things better around here! And now you're trying to kill me for it! Why are all of you filthy backwards idiotic villagers all the same?!"

Gelquie realized too late that calling the farmer a filthy backwards idiotic villager was probably not the best idea, as she felt the hoe being slammed against her, and she found herself falling forward a good few feet. She struggled to get up in time to get away from the crazy farmer. This wasn't looking good...

It was then that Gelquie caught sight of the bath in her peripheral vision. She let out a sigh of relief and zoomed to it as soon as she could. She then dunked herself into a nearby washbasin and waited a second before scurrying out to face her enemy. Unfortunately, he was right in the doorway... There was no way out for her.

"Now I've got you, you stupid little mop," the farmer muttered as he moved to strike.

Gelquie wasted no time in pivoting around the man and moving herself around him, creating a puddle of water around him. The farmer missed Gelquie entirely and moved to reposition himself for another attack only for him to step on a part of Gelquie's mop. He tried to correct himself, only to find his other foot landing on a wet and slippery floor. He collapsed and fell onto the floor, hitting his head and stunning himself.

Gelquie wasted no time in moving himself over the man's legs and scurrying in one direction, her progress slowed by the damage she took. She didn't care which way she went, she just ran and hoped she would no longer meet any attackers. Courage for the Beast was all well and good for the sake of everyone.

But it wasn't for her. She couldn't keep this up. She couldn't do this.

[Tiger]

Not surprisingly, the woodsman swung his axe around to attack Tiger. A loud thoc! echoed in Tiger's nonexistant ears - panicking, Tiger shoved the woodsman away, craning her eyes to see what damage he had done. The wooden splinters weren't exactly gory, but the axe had chopped about halfway through the arm.

It didn't hurt nearly as badly as it should have - just an odd, stiff ache - but Tiger was definitely going to be more careful around that axe.

Looking panicked himself, the woodsman ran forward and swung the axe at Tiger's midsection. She hopped out of the way, trying to get behind the villager, where she could shove him into the wall or kick out his knees or something. She was still too slow, and had to spring back again.

"Listen!" Tiger gasped, "We don't want - " she jumped back from another swing - "to hurt anyone! Can't - " another spring back "we just get along?"

"NO!" The woodsman raised his axe overhead and lunged forward with a mighty downward chop. Tiger dived to the side - her broken arm snagged against something, then released with a loud snap!. Tiger hit the ground, and looked up to see her arm some distant away with a ragged, splintered end.

"That's my - you - you chopped off my arm?!"

The woodsman gasped dramatically. "It doesn't bleed!"

"I'm made of wood, you moron!" Tiger pushed herself to her feet as hte woodsman charged at her again. The pain was gone with her limb, and anger fueled Tiger's resolve as she crouched, waited for the axeman to get close - and dodged out of his way, sweeping a leg out to trip him.

"Hah!" Tiger's cartoonish eyes furrowed as the woodsman fell. His axe tumbled across the floor, landing in a puddle of something pitch-black and sticky. Judging by the woodsman's curse when he looked up and saw the axe, this was not merely mud.

Looming over the woodsman, Tiger snarled, "Now get out, before I make you really sorry you came here!"

Anger burned in the woodsman's eyes as he rose to his feet and started to back off. Tiger started to turn away to find another villager to take care of, but from the corner of her eye saw the checker-shirted ex-axeman barreling forward. All the man's hefty weight made her wobble, but she was a finely-made coat-rack - wobblign with the blow but not toppled by it, she shoved the man back. His arms cartwheeled, but it was no use - he landed spread-eagle in the tar, one hand precious inches from his axe.

Tiger decided not to botch her luck with another laugh, and hurried off to find someone a little less manic to fight.

((Yuck yuck, this's a horrible post >.<))

[Fraze]

As the players fight their assorted battles, a dozen more villagers surround the Beast and slowly stalk toward him, with their makeshift weapons raised. He had read enough books to know how this would go.

Most importantly, he can't make the first move. Instinct tells him to crouch onto all fours as he does when he hunts; to bare his teeth and bristle his fur. Instead, he stands straight. His head brushes against the ceiling.

The tension shatters as one villager lets out a cry, and rushes toward him with an axe. The Beast grabs the axe from the man's hands and sends him sliding across the floor. In the time that he does this, the rest of the villagers are upon him. The Beast lets out a roar.

----

Belle hears the cry, and yells something that is not likely to be repeated in polite conversation. She turns away from Ellen, and begins running back toward the castle. "I'm sorry," she calls behind her. "But this is absurd. I have to be there."

----

The Beast tosses his attackers away, doing his best not to hurt them while still trying to disable them. It doesn't always work. Many of the attacks make contact, and soon he has a number of cuts and bruises. Adrenaline keeps him fighting, but he quickly becomes tired from the constant onslaught. His movements become sloppy, and he begins stumbling. The attackers keep coming.

He hears it before he feels it. A scrunching noise that seems to come from his body itself, rather than the outside world. It travels up through his neck and into his head. A moment later, he feels the sharp pain in his side as the blade gets pulled back out. He turns around, and sees one of the villagers holding a large, bloody kitchen knife. The attacker draws back and prepares for another assault--

Belle dashes in front of the Beast, striking the villager in the side of the head with a large stick. She holds a first aid kit in the other hand

The pack of assailants pause for a moment at this surprise intrusion. Belle takes her opportunity.
"Do you realize what you're doing? He never hurt you!"
There is a pause. Apparently, nobody expected that they would be required to think. "It's not what he's doing," one of them says. "It's what he's not doing. He's hoarding this land for himself."
"No, he's letting you farm it."
"Oh aye," another one says with a mocking tone. "Our noble lord is giving us the honor of tilling his royal fields, and then he takes a quarter of our crops while he doesn't lift a finger. How fortunate are we!"
Belle squints at the speaker, and glances to the side for a moment, thinking. "You aren't even farming a plot here, are you?"
The man draws back. "Well, I--no."
"Then why is that your concern? It doesn't affect you."
This causes a stir in the quickly cooling crowd. Nobody seems to be able to come up with an answer.
"Criminy, you really went through with it, didn't you?" A number of heads snap around. The man who first bought rabbit furs from the Beast is there, along with several others. "Far as I can see, none of you have a field here. Those of us who do are happy for the extra harvest. Go home, you'll be ashamed of yourselves tomorrow."
One by one, the mob considers, mutters, and eventually files out of the castle. The man turns back to Belle. "You ought to give him some attention," he says, gesturing at the beast, who has slowly collapsed onto the floor.



Belle pulls a roll of gauze and a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the first aid kit. "This might sting a bit," she says, and begins to clean the wound. The Beast cringes and whimpers, but otherwise keeps quiet.

When he is capable of speaking again, he looks back at Belle. "...Thanks."
"Of course."
"Why did you come back? You could have been killed."
Belle smirks a bit. "Odd, I said the same about you a little while ago."
"That's different. This is my home. You don't have any obligations to this place, but I do."
"About that," Belle begins.
"Huh?"
"I need to give a report on your progress soon. I'm going to give you a passing grade, meaning there's no need for me here anymore."
The Beast's face falls. "Of course, you have an important job. I understand--"
"You didn't let me finish."
The Beast quiets down again.
"However, you may need help running the castle. If you wish, I can request a long-term, part-time position here as a joint overseer of the estate. If that happens, I'll be living here every other month. Together, the two of us will keep the castle and its estate up and running. What do you think?"
The Beast's eyes grow wide"I--you would stay here?"
"Every other month, like I said."
"For how long?"
"For as long as you want."
"Then...then yes!"
"Excellent!" Belle lets loose a beaming smile.
"But, one more thing..." With great difficulty, the beast sits upright. He looks into Belle's eyes. Their faces draw closer. You should know what happens next.

"ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: MATCH MADE IN CASTLE."

When they draw apart again, the Beast is human once again, as are all of the players.
"Well, that wasn't unexpected at all, was it?" Belle asks with a grin.
"Not really, but it was still appreciated."
"You should get some new clothes, those look a bit too big for you."
"Oh," the newly non-Beast looks down. "You...you might be right."

The Lord of the Castle emerges from his bedroom. The clothes he wears now are baggy and mostly cobbled together from scraps, but they will have to do until he gets new ones tailored. "I want to give this to you," he says to Belle, and holds out the rose. It's dried and withered, like a pressed flower.
"I appreciate the sentiment," Belle says, "But I find the symbolism dubious. I think you should give it to your servants instead." She hands it to the nearest player.

The perspective shifts, and the players find themselves watching the scene rather than interacting with it. They can see themselves still there.
"It won't be easy, you know," Belle says. "The village needs to adjust to the idea of having a Lord in the castle again, rather than a beast."
"So it will be a gradual improvement?"
Belle considers this. "I suppose so."
"I think we can do that."


BEST ENDING

--------

Miss Jensen once again appears in the scene. She takes the dried rose and gathers the players together. The world shifts once again, and the group returns to the circus tent.

Euripides beams at the crowd. "What a stunning performance! What a touching display! Our players have successfully navigated the currents of fear and hate, of pride and love. But, this next challenge will be the ultimate test of their wits. Can they untangle the web of lies and deceit in the fourth and final stage?"

((We'll have to wait and see, 'cause I'm done with this for now. Also, I wasn't kidding about the Best Ending part. I was fully prepared to have Belle and the Beast crash and burn if you guys made the wrong choices. But you didn't, so well done! A new post should be up in another day or two.))

[Draco]

((Part of me was still expecting it to crash and burn! XD I like the second panel of the comic. Beast's face XD And Belle reminds me of the bureaucrat lady in Futurama >.> As for the next stage. From what you hint about it, I'm interested in it Very XD But I can wait ^^))

Draco stares at his hand, or what should have been his hand. There was a total lack of hand at the end of his sleeve. Shouldn't that have come back? He holds it up to Gelquie.

"It's gone!"

Before a reaction can be said, his fingers slide out of his sleeve.

"Or... Not."

[Kristykimmy]

Kristy the Boo sobs dramatically, blubbering about how beautiful that was. Then she notices that she's back to normal.

"I have hands again!" she shouts. "I never realized how much I love having hands."

She looks around at the other players, seeing they are also back to normal.

"This has been fun and all, but admittedly, I'm a little nervous about the last stage after the mob and the skeletons."

((That picture is awesome. XD I'm glad we got the best ending, but I'm a little curious about the other endings. If we had gotten the bad ending would we just lose the round, or would be have to reset and try again?))

[PFA]

Though Jernath was sort of getting used to being a butter knife, he was so glad to be human again. So, so glad. He took the opportunity to stretch his arms and legs, never realizing how much he would come to miss them.

Web of lies and deceit, huh, he thought to himself as he listened to the description of the next stage. This promised to be interesting, certainly.

((I am also admittedly curious about the bad ending(s?). XD))

[Fraze]

((Well, the specifics of the ending would have depended on your choices. But there were a few things Hunty and I discussed. The bad ending probably would have been something like the castle getting destroyed and the Beast cowering in a corner. Belle would leave being all "Why does it always have to turn out this way?" and become even more cynical about her job.

For an intermediate/bittersweet ending, we were thinking of having the castle destroyed and Belle and the Beast running away together as sort of lukewarm companions. They'd stick together because neither of them can do any better, but the possibility of romance wouldn't be completely ruled out.

The bittersweet ending might have made for an interesting sequel, but I still like the one that you got.))

[Draco]

((I like how they pretty much end with the castle blowing up! XD I approve!))

[Pixie]

A ear to ear smile takes on her face when Ellen regains her human form. Her reformed hands flutter to her face. "That..."she exclaims was beautiful!I love a happy ending!" She glances down as her body returns to normal. She giggles, and hugs herself. "I never would think I would miss being squishy!"

I'm a little concerned about"lies and deceit"... This is going to be taxing. Maybe I should talk to another and see what they think, and work out a plain

She then realizes that she knows none of the people she is standing next to. She approaches the nearest humanoid, determined to learn more about the guilds. "Hello. I am Ellen, a new Arrival. Are you part of a guild? I'd like to learn a bit more about them. Can you help?" She quickly implores.

(( I am also glad what we did actually effected the story. I am happy we got the best ending, but bittersweet would have been epic too! Anyhoo, whoever is on can speak to my charrie. The context is she is new and not yet in a guild, but she is looking into them.))

[Fraze]

The world changes. The air grows cold, the ground becomes whiter and...taller. It's a bright winter day. The sky is a clear blue, and skeletons of hibernating trees protrude from otherwise undisturbed snow that blankets the ground.
You feel yourself shrink, becoming short and stocky. It seems that all of the players have turned into dwarves. The snow comes up past your knees. You are now dressed in warm winter gear, with tall snow boots, thick jackets, hats, and gloves. To your left is a cottage. Your footprints lead out the door; it appears that you just left.

A woman emerges through the trees. Her hair is jet black, her lips are deep red, and her skin is almost as pale as the snow on the ground. She wears a dress befitting royalty. Her arms are clasped tightly over her chest, apparently for warmth. She lets out a gasp when she sees you. "Oh! Hello, little masters of the forest. I didn't think that anyone would be here."
"Hello, miss," someone responds. "Forgive us for asking, but who are you?"
The young woman looks slightly offended. "Why, I am the princess of this kingdom! And anyway, I should be the one asking that."
"We beg your pardon, milady," somebody answers. You bow, feeling that this is the right time to do so. "We are simple miners." You aren't sure where that answer came from, but it sounds correct. "But milady, isn't it dangerous for a princess such as yourself to leave the castle unescorted?"
The princess calms down somewhat, but remains rather stiff. "That is not your concern. But if you must know, I let the castle know where I was going. I had to get out for a walk to clear my mind, after...after what happened."
You perk up, sensing a quest in the works. "What happened?"
The princess crosses her arms more tightly. "My father, the king...passed away two nights ago."
"I mean, how did he die?"
"He..." she pauses and swallows. "He suddenly fell ill and died during the banquet. They suspect he--he was poisoned."
"But who could have killed him?"
The princess looks down. "There aren't many possibilities. That was during the middle of the snowstorm. Only the castle staff and the royal family was there."
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
"If you can do anything to find out who killed him, you would be doing the kingdom a great benefit."

You speak with the princess some more about the specifics of the king's death. The princess gives you her seal, with which you can enter the castle and hunt around for clues. You decide that the best places to start looking would be the kitchen, the dining room, or the castle gardens (just in case there are some poisonous plants around there). Which one do you choose to explore first?

[Celestial]

A dwarf? Celestial was happier being a trunk. Dwarves and dragons were natural enemies, well they were seen to be such but not without good reason. Plus she was not used to others towering over her. She'll get used to it though. At least she had hands and did not have to balance on iron bars. Plus, blessedly, there was a distinct lack of beards.

The mage wondered what her dwarf name would be. She did not want anything silly but neither did she want a particularly grandiose- ah, who was she kidding, of course she wanted a grandiose name. It's deserving it which was the problem. For now, she might as well stick with her original name.

It was time to focus on the task at hand. The princess seemed pretty desperate and far too sane to be killing the poisoner on the orders of her dead father's ghost. So, since the police did not seem to exist in this pseudo-medieval land, the task fell to some dwarves. It was the next logical step down.

"I say we search the kitchens. The poison was more than likely in the food so it would have left traces there. Plus we can question the kitchen staff. If one of them is not the poisoner, they would be an invaluable source of information on what dishes were cooked and how," she suggested as they approached the castle.

[Kristykimmy]

"At least female dwarves don't actually have beards like some of the folk lore seems to suggest," Kristy says as she shrugs, deciding she's okay with the situation. At least dwarves have hands and feet, and she's used to being short.

"Poor Princess, I hope we can help. I second Celestial's idea. We should find out if the food was served individually in the kitchen before being brought out, or if the dishes were carried out and then they were served at the table. If the food was served then brought out, anyone could have snuck in and poisoned it, but if they were served at the table, it would mean that whoever hung around the king just prior to his becoming sick is suspicious."

[♥ Azzie]

Azalea looked down at her hands and feet. A dwarf? She hopped up and down, and discovered that dwarves are not naturally very good jumpers. For some reason this amused her, and she was giggling when the princess began to speak.

"Of course we'll help!" Azalea said. "The others are right; the kitchens make the most sense."
She looked up at the girl's face. "I'm sorry for your loss."

[Tiger]

Tiger rotated her returned arm in its socket and stretched. Having full range of movement again felt luxurious. Even her tail, usually a useless weight that only reminded the mage what she had become, felt comforting and familiar after being a coat rack.

From her right came a girl Tiger didn't recognize, though her voice sounded a little familiar. The iron, she thought. Odd that she'd chosen the cat-faced one with the scowl to talk to. "Nice to meet you, Ellen. I'm Tiger, one of the Kingdom's mages. I can tell you something about that guild at least...and the folks from Brassport, since I don't think any of them are h-"

Tiger's gaze snapped toward the sky, and she squinted as it began to brighten with winter sunlight. "We'll have to have this conversation later."

That thought was quickly driven from Tiger's mind by their new illusion. Dwarves. "I'll be I look like a grumpy kitten," Tiger thought, without much fondness. At least her sword - and the frying pan tied to her belt - had shrunk along with her ((OOC: Will remove this if weapons didn't come along for the ride)).

Stuffing her hands into her pockets, Tiger nodded agreement with the kitchen-searching plan. She hoped the castle wasn't far away; the walk was going to be difficult.

[Pixie]

Ellen was thankful for the tiger girl talking to her, but before she could respond she took on the new form. This time, it was dwarf.

She didn't change shape too much, not even loosing a full foot. She was short and stocky to begin with, so transforming into a dwarf didn't change too much. She sighed in relief at a beard not materializing.
"I am so sorry, Princess." she consoles her , in a soft voice. "We will work to our absolute limit to find out what's amiss."She nods her head decisively.

She shuts her eyes and turns away, before opening them towards the other players .
"I forth the idea of checking out the kitchen. We need to be careful not to trust the first people we talk to to extensively, as tempting as it is. Get all the facts in order before we draw any big conclusions. I say this mostly to remind myself, please don't take offense "