Several days after Giant’s sentinel arrived at your doorstep, he comes again, informing you that the Tournament is about to begin. You are taken with 11 other contestants in a waiting Gauntlet fighter to the Arena, where you enter through a side gate. “Welcome to the Arena, my friends!” Giant greets heartedly. He stands on a raised dais in the center of the Arena. All around you, the crowd cheers and shouts the names of each of the contestants. “So glad you could make it. I was worried that no one would come!” he chortles. “Anyway, I suppose I should explain the rules. Today’s Trial will be a test of Strength. Of dominance, against your peers. You will fight each other in this Arena, and I will see how each of you stand. No allies, just you, and your weapon.” He raises an eyebrow. “Speaking of which, you’re going to be needing one.” Giant gestures to a large weapon rack next to the dais, filled with weapons of all size and shape. Guns, swords, gun swords, and more. “Pick one weapon, and choose wisely, you cannot pick another for the rest of the tournament. Trust me on this.” He places his fist to his chest in affirmation. You and other contestants each take a weapon from the rack. You look at the one you have chosen. All of the weapons are normal save for their dull gray color. “Now then,” Giant continues, “I should also remind everyone that you only get [i][b]one[/b][/i] life each. You only get one chance in combat, and this replicates that. Don’t worry, all of the weapons are calibrated to incapacitate instead of kill. I triple-checked it before we started. Oh, and one more thing:” Giant raises his hand and snaps his fingers loudly. Your surroundings shimmer and fade as they suddenly change. A moment later you find yourself in a frozen taiga, filled with clusters of trees and blanketed with glistening snow. “BREAK them, challenger.” Giant’s booming voice crackles over the radio. [spoiler]So here’s how it’s going to work. Each of you will be running your own RP reply-chain respectively. I will act as arbiter and mediator between the two of you when you come across each other and fight. You will state your actions to me and I will in turn state them to your opponent, and vice versa. This means I know exactly how each fight is going, so no godmodding. As for the system of deciding fights, I’ll let that choice be up to you and your opponent. If both of you can’t agree then by default we’ll do the normal RP battle system with me deciding the outcome. Also, be sure you reply to [i]me[/i] when stating the actions of your character, not your opponent himself. You two can deliberate on win conditions in DM’s, but that’s the only bit of communication you can have, as there are no team ups. Not yet, at least. Now, Fight! Win!...Liiiive....[/spoiler] —————————————————————— [b][u]Epilogue:[/b][/u] “Enough!” Giant says. Immediately, the surroundings flicker, and change back into the the Arena. Up on the platform he stands, hands folded behind his back, with Blaze and Donny sitting with Speaker. They stand as they notice you and the others. “Okay, that was a good first run.” Giant speaks. “Some minor tweaks are in order for it to fully succeed, but this was a good learning experience. For those that stand, your survival bears rewards.” He takes a pile of aqua-colored gems from a chest and flips them to each of the combatants still standing. “You fought well. Some, better than others.” He chooses an obsidian-colored gem and tosses it to Vessel. “You defeated the most opponents. Vicious. I like you. “You two also defeated your opponents,” he faces Crowley and Bucky, “for that achievement you will be awarded.” He takes 2 Orange-colored gems and tosses both to each of them. Giant grabs a red-colored gem and tosses it to Aura. “You somehow managed to fight 2 opponents at once, and trick the devil out of the second. Nice work.” “Of course, all of you performed well.” He turns to face everyone. “You did your best, and there is something to be gained from that too.” He takes a stack of green gems and tosses one to everybody, until one remains. “Wait. Where is Axolaire? I have not seen him since he was defeated by Crowley. Hmm. I will give this to him when he shows up. Remember to hold on to those. And please, don’t sell them. They’re worthless outside of the Forge. Thank you for participating in this, the Forge’s First Challenge. Next time, the challenge will be different, and so will the playing field. Farewell for now, and good day!” [spoiler]RP ends here (except for Axolaire, he still needs his gem). Thank you all for participating, and I will be sure to take what I have learned here to make sure that the next challenge runs smoother. I’ll be seeing ya.[/spoiler]