pawnstorm | DUNGEON ♛ HAVE A BALL (NOT LIKE THAT)

DUNGEON ♛ HAVE A BALL (NOT LIKE THAT)

HAVE A BALL (NOT LIKE THAT)
17 FEBRUARY (VIOLA) 2016

To quell the rumors and (one-sided) bad blood between the Heroes and the regular army, the Prime Minister has decided to settle the matter once and for all with a snowball fight at the Colosseum. Located on top of a mountain at the edge of Caissa, winter seems to have transformed the Colosseum into a fortress of frost, complete with stairs of ice along the mountainside that lead up to the arena gates. It’s a full house—the seats are jam-packed with people from all over Blanc who’ve come to see our Heroes in action!

Once the Heroes step inside the arena proper, they’ll find that this fight isn’t just any children’s game. The arena has been converted into a huge mirror maze made of ice so polished, you can see yourself. Inside, the best of Blanc’s soldiers lie in wait. What gives? Maybe if you reach the center of the maze, you’ll find your answer…

But first, the rules!

Participants are divided into two teams: Heroes and the Blanc National Army. Only Heroes, Blanc soldiers, beasts and mechanical units in the arena are regarded as players. Just what else could be in here with you? Well...
Once a player gets hit by a snowball, they’re out! They will automatically be removed from the arena via trap door into the arena’s underground (please note that this will be a different level from the hypogeum in Option 2 and will lead directly to the outside). This rule does not apply to mechanical units.
Once a mechanical unit can no longer function, it’s out! It will NOT be removed from the arena until the game is over.
Hitting players with snowballs and disabling mechanical units are the only valid ways to earn points. Each player hit or disabled mechanical unit nets the attacking team one point.
Excessive destruction of Blanc property and intentional injury of other living players is not allowed. Violation of this rule will result in disqualification and automatically remove the player from the arena via trap door.
The use of non-magical weapons is not allowed. Violation of this rule will result in disqualification and automatically remove the player from the arena via trap door.
When the boss at the center of the maze can no longer function, the game will end.

Now get out there and have fun! Your reputation is on the line!

All OOC questions about the event may be directed to the thread below.

"Haha, wow, a full house! Our Heroes are quite lively today, aren't they? Hey, you! Gooood luuuuck!"
"Don't waste your breath, Prime Minister. They'll need more than luck to best our own."
“If anyone needs snowball making tips, I’ll be hereeee!”
“Prime Minister…”

ONE ♙

Braving the ice mirror labyrinth is a test of both the body and the mind. The walls are 15 feet high and strangely impervious to fire magic. In fact, the entire maze is like a freezer, literally chilling everyone to the bone. If you ever get lost, we hope you brought something warm to keep you from freezing to the floor or the walls! It’s a very likely scenario, too; reflections in the ice do their best to both confuse your enemies and reveal their location. Unfortunately, the mirrors do their job so well, Heroes, soldiers, mechs and beasts alike are bumping into walls and walking (or sliding) in circles.

Yep, you read it: beasts. Scattered around the labyrinth are magical snow wolves, prowling around the labyrinth. They are most likely found in the outer rings, sniffing for our Heroes or chasing their own reflections. Don’t be fooled—taking them down is no walk in the park!

ENEMY ♟ Snow Wolf
Weak against Fire	Strong against Ice, Water	Immune to None
“Grrr…” These canine creatures are trained to chase off Heroes with their incredible SPEED. They are also capable of throwing SNOWBALLS with their tails and firing FREEZING ICE BLASTS from their mouths. One hit can turn anyone into a popsicle! In an attempt to one-up the yetis of Shatranj, Blanc has also trained these wolves to STAND ON THEIR HIND LEGS. Commander Lisbrand herself is said to have complained about the canine unit having too much time on their hands. Don’t fret! Although trained to attack, the wolves would never kill a Hero—especially if they bring RAW TREATS and BELLY RUBS!

TWO ♙

Everything is easy peasy, right? The good old dodge and throw that every child learns sooner or later. Except that whoever taught our Heroes didn’t include the possibility of enemies getting the jump on them. When Heroes least expect it, the trap doors bring reinforcements of soldiers and mechanical monsters into the fight from the underground. Better get ready to take them down!

Entering one of the trap doors—on purpose or accidentally—will lead to the hypogeum, another underground maze below the ice. Although made of stone, it’s filled with enough snow to supply both teams with ammo. Those who tried to memorize the labyrinth above in order to get around faster will have to redo their precious work: this maze’s layout is entirely different. If you thought Blanc’s budget wouldn’t allow for more ways to make you suffer, you’re wrong.

Traditionally used as the arena’s “backstage”, the hypogeum contains a huge network of tunnels and rooms used to hold both fighters and monsters. Wandering around the hypogeum will lead to the discovery of even more soldiers and mechanical monsters than in the ice maze above, so pay attention to who is coming up behind you and keep a steady supply of snowballs at hand.

ENEMY ♟ Blanc Soldier
Weak against None	Strong against None	Immune to None
“I thought what we had was special!” Fueled by envy, spite and suspicion, this soldier won’t go easy on you. Wearing LIGHT ARMOR to allow for FASTER MOVEMENT, this guy has absolute ZERO CHILL. He seems especially good at firing snowballs at A FAST RATE but his AIM seems to suffer every so often due to his GLASSES fogging up—a perfect opportunity to strike. Knocking off his glasses seems like a good strategy to win this, if you want to cheat a little. You might have to be careful, though. He is a trained soldier after all... If you manage to back him into a corner, you might just be at a range close enough for him to whip out his small but trusty SNOW BLASTER for a lucky shot. Even a guy with bad eyesight can get you from two feet away!

ENEMY ♟ Mechamon
Weak against Water	Strong against Lightning	Immune to Status Effects
“…vrrr…” Mechanical monsters proudly decorated with ‘MADE IN FISCHER’ logos. They come in a VARIETY OF SHAPES, from majestic bears to the exotic one-eyed ahriman. They move in a slightly CLUMSY manner and are prone to SLIPPING on the ice and snow. They shovel large amounts of snow into their oral cavities, which process them into (slightly lopsided and possibly with a dangerous spring sticking out) snowballs that reappear in their hands or mouths. Strike when they’re out of ammo! Be careful, since Mechamon limbs can still flail and leave bruises. They’re also fond of ATTACKING IN GROUPS, so Heroes might suddenly find themselves surrounded by packs, herds or flocks of these mechanical critters. Make sure to bring backup! If someone happens to get the bright idea to FRY the mech’s CIRCUITS, they’ll be bitterly disappointed. Rather than bringing the Mechamon to a halt, it will MOVE and ATTACK even FASTER than before. Hope you’re prepared for a barrage of snowballs!

THREE ♙

This is it. The final battle. Despite the utterly frosty weather, the very atmosphere seems to heat with anticipation. Muffled cheers from the crowd above are drifting down and the ground shakes as something begins to approach. This soldier must have had a Monday Mystery meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner to help them grow because no regular human could possibly be as tall or as heavy as whatever seems to be looming just around the corner. Cracks begin to appear on the ground and the sound of booming footsteps grows until…

An oversized robot shambles into the arena. Wait, what? Wasn’t this supposed to be between the Heroes and soldiers? There isn’t much time to fume and complain as the robot moves closer. Hoping it’s intelligent and can be reasoned with? Any attempt at talking to it will be met with loud, mechanical screeching and angry whirring noises. Diplomacy is out. Good thing the robot is very slow and won’t be able to cover a lot of distance very quickly—oh. Judging by the ridiculous leap our robot of the hour just made, distance could be a problem after all.

ENEMY ♟ CR-E MARK VII
Weak against Water	Strong against Lightning	Immune to Status Effects
“ENEMY DETECTED.” The CR-E MARK VII doesn’t waste time and springs right into action. Don’t let its entrance have fool you: this robot is FAST. Anyone hoping to get some distance from this thing will find themselves cursing the disadvantage of having shorter legs. Heavy, quick steps leave cracked and deep imprints in the ground and inattentive Heroes may trip and fall. Whoever is able to catch a glimpse of the robot’s palms will see the FLEUR DE LIS logo branded into them. “ANNIHILATION MODE.” Heroes who have come to a halt are being targeted, especially Pawns that are CASTING MAGIC. Those who know how to be bothersome pests should try and draw attention away from the casters unless they want to face a rampaging robot with fewer people to back them up. But watch out! Rather than bring snowballs to the fight like a good kid, this robot is here to prove its superiority to the human element; its long, spindly arms somehow manage to haul HEAPING HELPINGS OF SNOW, whirling the whole mess like a miniature, mobile avalanche to target Heroes! Occasionally, it JUMPS to create QUAKES and TREMORS, effectively causing Heroes to lose their balance, cancel their spells, or throw off their aim. The unlucky ones might even FALL INTO A TRAP DOOR jarred loose by all the commotion. “INITIATING BETA PROGRAM: EXECU-U-U-TI--vrrr.” The robot becomes HOT to the touch and those who specialize in hand to hand combat should take heed! Steam begins to rise from the hot metal, making the large ICE CRYSTALS on the ceiling slowly MELT and drip onto the participants below. Whenever a DROP hits the CR-E MARK VII, it will begin to thrash and its movements will become unsteady and rigid. The green lights in its face turn red, as loud and eerie mechanical whimpers fill the air. More observant Heroes may notice that the longer the battle goes on, the more HAPHAZARD and IRREGULAR its ATTACKS become. It will begin to flail more and act with much less coordination than before, partially due to the water but also because of circuits frying. “ERROR ERROR ERROR.” Once enough damage has been dealt, the robot goes into TOTAL SYSTEM OVERLOAD and starts indiscriminately hurling rocks, debris, ice, snow, and fellow mechanical creations in all directions without rest. Stay clear or end up with injuries Heroes never thought they’d get from a snowball match. Although it’s hard to dodge, the lack of openings makes it even harder to land a hit. Just when it seems as though all is lost (or about to be buried in a completely unprogrammed avalanche), COMMANDER LISBRAND suddenly jumps in out of nowhere, hurling the massive REMOTE CONTROL she’s been carrying towards the robot and then drawing her GUNS to fire upon CR-E MARK VII. “How many times have I told them I don’t need these buckets of junk to help me do my job?! How many times? You should all stop standing there catching flies and get moving! I want two on each flank right now! Did you hear me? I don’t want to see a hair in my line of fire!”

You thought one robot was bad enough? How about the fact that mechanical lackeys begin to show up halfway into the battle, throwing snowballs at everything and everyone?

ENEMY ♟ CR-E MARK VII-MINI
Weak against Water	Strong against Lightning	Immune to Status Effects
“Vrrr!” Meet the CR-E MARK VII-MINI units. You may think of them as CR-E MARK VII’s children. Actually, they’re support units originally intended to function as an auxiliary arsenal for CR-E MARK VII... But development was halted when the division ran out of funds. They’re now just a smaller-scaled version of their parent design--the result of desperate salvaging and a terrible naming sense. By itself, a single mini unit isn’t threatening. But when they get together, these little robots are a true menace, sneaking small rocks into their snowballs that can give unfortunate Heroes a brief STUN STATUS. Wow, did they all just multiply by two? Better shake off that dizziness before more of them hit you! What else do they do? Absolutely nothing! But don’t let your guard down; they’re smarter than they look! These mini units may often wait for an opportune moment to execute a COMBO with their parent unit. After all, defending the parent is the basis of their programming.

FOUR ♙

Despite having been in charge of the Heroes for less than a month, Lisbrand manages to seamlessly blend her attacks into their attempts to disable the CR-E MARK VII and its tiny lackeys. It’s almost as though she’s been watching you. She does seem to be at the Hall of Glory a lot, even if she hasn’t given a lot of orders so far…

Her attacks are measured and pinpoint-precise, crashing through the robot’s joints and hidden mechanisms with an efficiency almost as devastating as the force of the literal avalanches it was unleashing earlier. Finally, the MARK VII yawls backwards, arms pinwheeling comically, and one of its legs folds the wrong way… sending it to a crashing halt. The battle is done, the day is won!

“It’s a miracle this is only the MARK VII… But this is what you get for skimping on your tests.”

Blanc’s soldiers, despite knowing they’ve lost, immediately burst into a thunderous round of cheering. Some of them have even thrown their dignified guard hats into the air. Yells of, “Go Heroes!” and somewhat less appropriate hollers of, “I’m sorry, please marry me!” ring out from the crowd. The snowball match (if it could still be called one at all) is over and the bad blood is miraculously gone in a cloud of burnt circuitry and adoring gazes not quite directed towards our Heroes. It’s time to return home victoriously to Wednesday’s dinner of mutton stew and meat dumplings. Your loving floor nannies will approach shortly, carrying first aid and other necessities. Even they begin showering you with affection!

The Prime Minister appears to be ready to give the Heroes a congratulatory speech, but Lisbrand quickly interrupts to remind him about some business he needs to attend to. In the middle of speaking to the Prime Minister, she raises a hand to excuse herself, takes out her revolver and shoots at a screeching stray bat in one fluid motion. Although the bat falls, its body is nowhere to be found. What’s a bat doing in the arena, anyway?

After blowing the smoke from the barrel of her gun and returning it to its holster with a flourish that looks oddly deliberate considering her usual reserve, Lisbrand turns to the Heroes.

“I suppose some congratulations are in order. Nothing ever goes as planned on the battlefield—and that’s something you should be taking with you into the dungeons if you want to come out again. Prime Minister, if you would please, keep it short.”

“Congratulations! It was a victory hard fought and well won. I hope it was as fun for you as it was for the audience. Let’s do this again next year!”

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[ he's not sure which part of this is stupider, but he's resigned himself to his fate and being a part of this... train wreck. For so much insult done to these soldiers and yet somehow they are okay with a snowball fight to be the score settler... well, Guren just has to question how deep the insult runs. That, or how loose the screws in the typical Blanc soldier's head are.

Even so, while he's not exactly supportive of the choices made for them by forcing participation, Guren at least is absolutely serious about winning. And there's nothing better than to know your backup in a throwing match are long-range skilled. Their accuracy is pretty on point. This is a piece of cake.

Or, it was. The newly appeared reinforcements are a bit of a surprise (not really--there's ALWAYS reinforcements--although their timing and popping out suddenly from nowhere is) but even then he's so used to sudden and unexpected difficulties presenting themselves on the battlefield the it's taken it stride. From there, things go relatively well so long as they keep alert to mini ambushes in their continued quest to be kings of ice mountain.

There is just one tiny mistake made by the lieutenant colonel in all of this—he never does have enough time (nor does he force himself to make some) to identify exactly how or where the reinforcements spring from other than them popping up from under the snow.

So when one pops up directly behind him, he twists and manages to get out of the way of getting a snowball right in the back of the head. Intentions to counter attack require him to backpedal enough to switch places with his opponent—which would have been fine if the trap door wasn't still open. Or, if Guren knew about its existence. One second he's swinging to throw a pile of snow at the poor sop who thought they had a chance via their tactics...

...the next he's making impact with a friendly snow pile on the ground.

Way below the ground he was standing seconds ago. The fall smarts and while the s ow prevents any injury, for the immediate moment he can feel that uncomfortableness echoing your body hitting against whatever just broke your free-fall.

Guren sputters, coughing out bits of snow and ice before rubbing at his face to remove any from getting in his eyes as he goes to look up towards the hole in the hypogeum's "roof" bleeding daylight.

This is some bullshit. how does he get back up? (How the hell did the soldiers and mechanical beasts get up there, even?

Suddenly this seems to have become significantly more complicated to win.

(Guren curses himself for his own shortcoming as he rides to his feet and starts dusting himself off of clinging snow, all the while hyper-alert of any dangers down here now, too. He should have known better and been more careful because of course the enemies had to be coming from somewhere. There will be no second mistake consisting of assuming this cave area is abandoned or is a cease-fire zone until getting oneself back up to the arena. Maybe it's really all just one huge part of the game. ]

[ Shinya didn't so much as fall into the trap door as practically jump into it, with poor Yoichi along for the mystery investigation. In a location different from Guren's point of origin but not much further away, they've zeroed in on where the machinery is coming from, and in an effort to understand the dynamics of the maze better, they've crudely slid their way into the underground. It's not like they were exactly stealthy above ground, anyway, with Yoichi's carrier all too happy to give away their location via its cheery pop-inspired battle tunes.

Actually, Shinya doesn't mind too much, seeing as it's just a snowball fight. Things might be different if they were in any actual danger, but for now, it's just provided another layer of challenge.

It's much more quiet underground, and the bird's singing practically echoes off the walls. Still, that doesn't mean there aren't more monsters or soldiers down here, too. ]

It's just another maze down here. [ He says to Yoichi as he dusts some snow off his lap. He almost sounds a little disappointed. ] It's different from the one we just came from, too. Do you think we should bother trying to map it?

[ It is at this moment that he hears the sound of something heavy hit the snow just a few feet ahead of them, his attention drawn to the sudden noise.

Oh, that lump looks pretty familiar. ]

[ By the time that trap door had appeared, Yoichi had been resigned to his fate as Shinya's partner in the snowball fight from hell. When he sees Shinya dive for it, he doesn't even blink, just looks over his shoulder to make sure their Carriers (and his friendly wolf, he can't get it to stop following him around for some reason) have seen where they've gone before he gamely gulps in a breath and jumps down the dark hole, too.

Never let it be said that the Imperial Demon Army hasn't prepared him well. Sure, there could be anything down there, death and dismemberment waiting, but he's not going to let the major general go to death and dismemberment alone.

It's a long way to the bottom, and Maggie's cheerful singing doesn't stop, just echoes, builds upon itself as she keeps right on caroling cutie leopard watashi doko demo iku yo all the way down.

When they finally hit the ground, Yoichi lies there stunned for a second before he props himself up and looks around, blinking against the glare from yet more light off icy walls. Yoichi's about to answer Shinya's question when that thud heralds another unfortunate arrival.

Oh, look, it's Guren. At least Yoichi's gotten all his relieved crying out of his system by now. Probably. ]

Lieutenant Colonel! [ Yoichi leaps to his feet and scurries over to Guren, checking to see if he's okay after the fall.

His magpie, delighted by the helpful arrival of a new perch, swoops down to sit on Guren's head, settling in the messy nest of his dark hair, still singing. ]

[ yoichi's magpie may have more balls than the entire moon demon army together. Guren can't decide if he should respect that or not but considering there is little more reaction from the lieutenant colonel than a twitch at the corner of one side of his mouth, the carrier seems to have been granted amnesty.

(At least until Guren's carrier decides it wants to sit on its Master's head, too...where is it, anyway?!) ]

What are you two doing down here? [ he asks at Yoichi's approach. He's assuming seeing one of his black demon gear users running towards him the way he is means he's not injured. ( Also, don't worry, Yoichi he is totally alive and well and you can put your tears into the savings bank for later extra effectiveness.)

You didn't come down here on purpose, did you. He's not the only loser who fell in is he...?!

Speaking of losers, there's a cackling echo that catches Guren's attention and he looks up—way way up—to see the tiny silhouette of his carrier sticking its head in the trap door like ceiling cat. ]

...Get down here, you giant wuss! [ crunchy doesn't seem convinced its master loves it enough to break its fall. It's absolutely right to doubt.

Guren wonders if this is punishment. Crunchy, you're a bigger coward than Yoichi ever has been, wow. Well, since Maggie is trumpeting their presence loud and clear he figures any trouble will come to them sooner than they will stumble upon it. He glances around. ]

More maze-wandering? This stupid government has way too much money and way too much time on their hands. [ cackleCaCKLe —oh my god. ] —One of you shoot that moron to get his ass down here so we can go. [ Guren, no, the carrier is not your Yuu-abuse replacement.... ]

Honestly, wandering around down here seemed just as productive as wandering around up there. It's too soon to say whether or not it was a bad idea to come here. [ He offers Guren a hand. At least the snow doesn't show up too obviously on their white uniform... ]

And I think Yoichi-kun thought I might get lost by myself, so we've been exploring together. [ He smiles towards the younger boy, fully aware that this isn't why they've stuck together, but hey, it's entirely possible he could have. Company made this hike a little better.

Anyway, walking around anywhere in the maze is a bad idea with that singing magpie, so above ground or underground, they were an obnoxiously easy target.

Add one cackling ant to that mess, and they're basically a traveling circus now. Might as well embrace it. Poor Crunchy. He deserves so much more.

Shinya walks over to right underneath the trap door, arms spread out above his head in an attempt to coax Guren's carrier. ] Don't worry, Crunchy, I'll catch you! [ does he know how heavy that thing is??? ]

[ Some of Yoichi's nervousness fades away under the benevolence of Shinya's smile and his kind excuse for how Yoichi had pretty much run into Shinya and stuck to his side like a bur. So unlike Guren, who is... ~~old man~~ yelling at the sky?

But no, there's something up there, halfway out of one of the doors, and Yoichi squints, absently replying to Guren as he tries to figure it out, while Shinya walks over to it. ]

We figured if we were going to win the game, we were supposed to explore deeper in.

[ He pauses though, eyes widening. That's a giant mechanical ant that Shinya is offering to catch! ]

Um... Shinya-san? Do you want some help?

[ As in, say, some help not being squished by the giant metal ant when it loses its grip and comes tumbling down onto his head?? Yoichi's decided to worry about that more than about the whole giant metal ant thing; from the way Guren and Shinya are acting, it must be Guren's Carrier. Guren definitely seems grumpy enough about it for it to be. ]

[ Crunchy starts making clicking noises as if responding to Shinya's offer. Whatever it's trying to convey, it seems that it involves taking its long antennae and crossing them over its far-too-massive-to-cover eyes, as if not wanting to look at the results of this scenario when it happens. It might crawl all over Guren whenever it feels like it, but even it assumes this will probably hurt its master's kind friend.

Guren nods in acceptance of their answer. Good enough.

Now, about this carrier business. Crunchy being a baby about heights is annoying. Shinya offering to further baby Crunchy is even more annoying. Yoichi hoping to avert this obvious disaster-in-the-making that could happen is... less annoying, but not enough to neutralize the rising of the Annoyance Meter. Not to mention, Maggie's anthem is definitely starting to attract unwanted company if the strange distortions reflected through the ice walls suggest anything.

Silent, Guren waits a few seconds, glancing up at the carrier one more time: it looks to be seemingly wiggling around about the edging of the trap door as if getting ready to come down ( intentionally or accidentally seems irrelevant at this point ). Deciding to move up behind Shinya now, the lieutenant colonel raises one of his legs-- slow enough to not lose his balance as well as give some strength to his foot despite not being ground-- before slamming his booted foot bottom-first against the major general's ass to knock him forward and over to the ground. ]

Shut up, that's stupid.

[ Wow, did he just play his carrier and then remove its hopes of a safe landing? Yeah, sort of.

In this grouchy frump's defense, it's for a good reason; which will become obvious once logically concerned minds look up to see if the ant is still coming down on their heads.

It's not.

It's also not peeking through the hall down at them anymore, either.

It's hanging upside down from the ceiling like any normally live ant would be able to do, but the carrier sure looks confused as what to do with this sudden ability it didn't know it had. Crunchy decides to start moving, its joints making the cackling sound like mindless complaining or otherwise talking to itself about what now, WHAT NOW??, wandering along the ceiling and looking for a pillar of ice or something that it could crawl down.

Foot still on Shinya's butt to keep him down, Guren looks to Yoichi. ]

Now that it's being somewhat useful, with any luck, it'll manage to distract enough enemies to make this less of a headache.

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DUNGEON ♛ HAVE A BALL (NOT LIKE THAT)

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sorry for the delay guys... next time if i get too slow feel free to ditch me

no worries!

i'm super slow here and good to backtag forever so you guys take your time!!