A Game of Skill

[Terra]

Zephyr looked around. There didn't appear to be anything of interest on this floor, as far as he could tell.

[dice=6][rand=36236445559188724895362552022561448003913392312825613077787682414]

[Amneiger]

Amneiger looked up.

There was no one there. He had been talking to the air. Apparently everyone else had wandered off while he had been looking at the map.

Well, at least no one had been around to see it. He hurried up the stairs to try to see who he could find.

[dice=6]

((I just wanted to talk to people while at least a few of us were in the same place. >>))
[rand=04699666053056717432972901733592150414422242902219322133241617120802]

[Fraze]

Amneiger: Realizing everyone else has already moved on, you catapult ahead to catch up with them! You get all the way to square 1 before getting tired. Perhaps a visit to the Spacefleet gym is in order.

Jernath: You meander leisurely up another square, getting to square 3. Not much to see here.

GLQ: You start making your way up the tower, but a secret tunnel jumps out at you! You fall back down, landing in the Sphinx's room. You decide to engage in a most dangerous game, getting a score of 17.

Tiger: You play your belated game with the Sphinx, with a score of 19.

Draco: You really should have been watching GLQ, since you fall victim to the same surprise slide. It's not all for naught though, since now you, too, get to play a game of Blackjack. You draw 7.
((And technically you were supposed to hit for yourself, but since you're asking me to do it...I guess I'll keep hitting until I think you've gotten to a reasonably smart score?))
[dice=13]
[dice=13]

Zylaa: Suddenly possessed with boundless energy, you dash up to the Sphinx's room and join in the fray, getting a perfect 21!
A familiar voice booms from out of the walls:
"ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: 50% OF THE ULTIMATE ANSWER."

Zephyr: You climb up to square 5, when you then encounter the same mysterious creepiness-inducing footsteps that so plagued Celestial. You dash up another square to get away from them, finally reaching the Sphinx, but you don't play against it just yet.

The Sphinx grins wickedly, pleased at the game's turnout this time around.
[dice=13]

Its grin grows even wider as it reveals its face-down card. "And that's 21, so nice of you all to play."

GLQ, Tiger, Draco: A trio of trapdoors appear underneath you, and you catapult down three squares, coming to an uncomfortable landing. Better luck next time?

Zylaa: You tied, so no moving up for you. But at least you got an achievement!

Celestial: Deciding better than to risk another game against the Sphinx, you continue your journey up the tower. You come to a stop at, fittingly, the library. You walk in, peruse down the rows upon rows of shelves, and pick up a book.
[dice=6]
As you open the book, you feel a great energy flowing from the book, up your arms, and throughout your body. You feel as though you could run all day without getting tired! You get to roll twice on your next turn.

Azzie: You climb all the way up to square 13. Well done! There are some lovely flowers sitting on a table near the wall, you wonder what they smell like...
Oh, my.
You can't quite pinpoint the scent, but it makes you woozy. You lose your balance and fall 2 squares down, back to the library. Once you regain your composure, you decide to make the most of it, and look for a book.
[dice=6]
Your book is cursed! It flies at you, flapping its pages and growling menacingly. You dash out of the library, and it chases you down 3 flights of stairs before finally giving up.

Kristy: You follow Azzie all the way up to square 13, but the lure of the flowers is too much for you. After one deep whiff of their strange but enticing aroma, you find yourself unable to stand upright, and tumble down to the library. This must be the square where all the cool kids congregate, you think to yourself as you reach for a book.
[dice=6]
Unfortunately, the book you chose was volume 2 of Azzie's book. Once again, it chases you back down 3 squares before turning around and returning to the library. It gives a final disgruntled ruffle of its pages as it leaves. It seems that the two of you are destined to go through the whole game together.

((NOTE: Square 16 is the kitchen! It's fully stocked with all the food and cooking implements you'd expect from a kitchen built to feed a castle. If you land there, you can choose one thing from it to take with you. You can do this in the same post in which you rolled to get there, you don't need to wait until the next turn. Also, NOTE2: If you land on square 14, the wonderful smell of delicious food will entice you up to the kitchen. You can also choose something to take with you if you get there this way.))



Sphinx's next roll: [dice=13][rand=42979957093484723686860129237175549707769416272632714248029515147]

[♥ Azzie]

Well. That was a rude book! Azzie thought. She huddled in the corner for a while, trying to regain her composure. Being chased by an angry book is quite a frightening experience, you know! Still, she knew she had to continue, so she set off up the stairs again.
[dice=6][rand=149362595751881662090336973778913797787507064642707298754248768]

[Gelquie]

Well darnit. Gelquie had a bad feeling about that Sphinx. Guess she was right. So now she was down a few floors, though at least she wasn't badly damaged from the landing. She got up and dusted herself off before bringing her thoughts to another problem. Draco was still following her.

"...We meet again indeed," Gelquie muttered. "At least you're not trying to kill me this time."

Gelquie couldn't deny that the way Draco seemed so skilled at following her was a bit unnerving, though. She sighed and headed for the stairs again.

[dice=6][rand=5300834353547543927806950639933302743630041368305730520026315934956]

[Kristykimmy]

By this time, Kristy was so traumatized from sudden falls and demonic books that she just wanted to give up and cry into a pillow somewhere safe and sunny. She looked over at Azzie who she had seemed to be following inadvertently the entire time. She looked pretty out of it too.

However, Azzie was clearly making an effort to get up and move on, so Kristy decided to be brave too. She headed for the stairs.

[dice=6]

She went up the stairs, stopping in a room that smelled delicious.

"I've got to know where that smell is coming from," she thought.

She went up another set of stairs, coming to the kitchen. She looked around. Celestial was there too, holding a frying pan.

Kristy considered taking one too, just in case whatever was upstairs was dangerous, but reconsidered. She was tiny and not much of a fighter.

She picked up a bowl full of apples off a counter. If she met something above she could try to make friends by offering it the apples. If that failed, she could always assault it with them.[rand=94168438017368325143556306138635217594516463577756836145094130188]

[Celestial]

Man, what was in those books? She needed a couple of those for the library. They would probably be the most checked-out books in the whole library, considering novices and their all-night cram sessions but it would be worth it. For now, Celestial had to take advantage of this sudden burst of energy while it lasted.

[dice=6][dice=6]

Hmm...the kitchen. Celestial looked around, raising her eyebrow at the sign over the dirty dishes in the sink that read "For my wife." before deciding to ignore it. Now, what to take? It only took a moment for her to decide on the cliche: the frying pan. Well, it was cliche for a reason.

The mage took the frying pan off the hook on the wall, testing it out. Pretty light, no good for extended use but it felt good enough. Plus if the worst came to the worst, she could use it to keep the rain off her.[rand=2564261362879191679545903884177611457657353382933641953865148337]

[PFA]

Jernath was just walking along, when all of the sudden a whole slew of people fell down some trapdoors. He jumped, startled, before realizing they were some of the other players.

"...Oh. Trouble up above?" he asked.

That didn't stop him from wanting to see what else was in this tower, though. After a few moments of looking around, confirming that there was nothing of interest on this floor, he kept going.

[dice=6][rand=2354287743401427550554682270032170091889539115669333573797425236791]

[Zylaa]

Zylaa experiences a mild pang of sympathy for the three people who plummet down the trapdoor. Draco even granted her weasels the musical instruments that had come in so handy for foreshadowing and dramatic battle scenes.

Then she remembered that Draco had brought the demon koalas upon everyone on the treasure island, and her sympathy went away.

She decides that, fun as blackjack is, the odds aren't good enough that she'd advance, and she *did* already unlock an achievement.

[dice=6]

She heads upward at a leisurely pace.[rand=15856939763762057558297589654102987254489911720165535846203565598]

[Amneiger]

After far too long, Amneiger finally reached the top of the stairs on the first floor. It was totally and completely empty. Everyone else must have gone ahead.

He sat there for several minutes, getting his breath back, before getting up again and heading on up.

[dice=6][rand=654725457075983343573491577990353120341707952320581596417163964361]

[Tiger]

Tiger growled as she got to her feet. What were the odds, she wondered, of having a twenty and being beaten by an exact twenty-one?

She was distracted by Gelquie's dark words to Draco, sighed as she realized there might be Guild things she never understood, and headed for the stairs. No point lounging around here.

[dice=6][rand=9815450743772094555992884561419572807759232819086615644076373428]

[Draco]

Draco grumbles a little bit about falling down like he did. Really, a ninja should have landed better then this... He however smirked when he heard Gelquie. It was a bit odd how they kept ending up in the same place.

[dice=6]

"Ok, this is just getting strange."

He runs over to catch up with Gelquie.

((Really, what is up with my dice?!))[rand=6311809960752726485449458938092079543498111888775985239208675921]

[Fraze]

((I'm afraid the post for this round will be delayed. I need to go to bed early tonight, so I won't have time to write anything up. The post should come about 12 hours from now. Sorry about this everyone, hopefully this won't happen too often.))

[Fraze]

((Note: You don't have to get to the top of the tower on an exact roll, you just have to roll at least as high as you need to get there. So if you're 3 squares away, you can get into the tower on a 3, 4, 5, or 6. If you're the first to get to the top, wait outside until the next turn and then I'll say what happens next.))

Jernath: You make your way up 2 flights of stairs, and are about to pause and rest when you hear those unmistakable mysterious footsteps. Just who is it who keeps banging their feet? Unnerved, you go up one more flight of stairs just to be safe, and find yourself on the Sphinx's level.

Amneiger: You bound up to square 5, and then to square 6 upon hearing the oft-lamented footsteps. And find a Sphinx.

Tiger: You leap forward, up a whole 6 flights of stairs. Nothing can stop you! ...Except then you fall down a secret tunnel and find yourself back with the Sphinx again.

GLQ: Trying to get away from Draco, you climb up to square 7, hoping that he won't follow you.

Draco: Trying to keep away from GLQ, climb up to square 7, hoping that she won't go up that far. You two just seem made for each other.

Zylaa: A bit miffed at tying with the Sphinx despite a perfect game, you stomp up another two floors to square 8, harumphing mightily.

Azzie: Finally separating from Kristy, you tiptoe up to square 10.

Kristy: You climb all the way to square 14, when you catch a whiff of something irresistible cooking above you. Compelled to find the source of the smell, you make your way to the kitchen, where you take a bowl of apples. Maybe they'll come in handy later on.

Celestial: Due to a cosmic miscount, you find yourself on square 17--one above where you thought you were! Shame really, your plan of taking a frying pan from the kitchen was a brilliant idea, and hopefully someone else will do the same thing. _{Me, give blatant hints? Preposterous!}



Sphinx's draw for the next round:
[dice=13][rand=9364748557563871563234638655558245559566235169776832386322785169]

[Tiger]

Getting to her feet for the second time in less than a few minutes, Tiger glowered at the Sphinx and trudged toward the stairs. How had a challenge that required giving directions as a songbird and fighting an anthropomorphic wolf been easier than climbing a tower?

[dice=6]

"Let's see what's up here..."[rand=85470888460986329001438049599528446830106899142277543205569963902]