gamehead | night one; hunters

Through the night, the wind howls and a blizzard rages, but everyone is safe and warm locked inside their cabins. Everyone, that is, except you. At 11 PM precisely, the door from your bedroom to the outside world creaks open. If you were sleeping, you will find yourself stir to the sound.

Outside, despite the sounds of a blizzard and the whiteout blocking the views from your window, the world is still and calm. The ground and trees are blanketed in thick snow, but no snow is falling and the wind is no longer blowing.

You find yourself drawn out into the snow, unable to feel tired or cold despite the freezing temperature and the late hour. It is impossible to resist the call you feel to journey out into the dark woods, past the old graveyard, to where the trees meet the cliffs and caves at the edge of the mountains.

Here, you and fourteen others gather. There is a feeling in the air as though you are being watched, but besides the other visitors, you're all alone. For now, you don't know what has brought you here, but you can't bring yourselves to leave.

((OOC: Just a note on how threads with Critter will work! There will be several 'stages' to Critter's explanations, which I'll be accomplishing by posting various subthreads. You can tag into any stage assuming your character has heard the rest, or you can tag earlier on and we can thread until you reach the next stage.

So, for example, in Critter's arrival, when you reach the point of needing to know the rules, your conversation progresses to the next subthread directly below the arrival. You can then reply to that subthread to continue the conversation if you want. I may stall on replying to you if your reply is getting to a subthread I don't want to post quite so quickly.

I know this is confusing, but this is so I can thread with all of you as much as you want without having to get into weird thread orders and so everyone hears all the relevant info.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[After introducing himself a little, Critter looks as though it forgot something again.]

Oh, right! All of you need your notebooks! If you open them to the first page, there's a special list of rules just for you guys! And no one but you can see 'em!

[Behind Critter is a pile of journals; the same journals found inside your bedroom back at the cabin. These journals even have your name in the corner. And on the first page, there's a message.]

You are a hunter. Your role is to devour prey.

→ In this game, there are hunters, prey, and scavengers. Everyone here is a hunter, and everyone else is either prey or scavenger.
→ Every night, the hunters will meet and pick someone to kill. Then, a few lucky hunters will get to kill the prey themselves!
→ The next day, everyone will get together. The prey will try to find out who the hunters are!
→ At the end of the day, there will be a trial, and one player will be chosen. Whoever is chosen will be executed!
→ The hunters will win if they outnumber the other players or kill all of the prey!
→ Be careful and be smart! Don't let the prey know who you are, and try to make other prey look suspicious! Remember that some prey is dangerous to you. They might have special abilities that will help them find out who you are!
→ Always keep in mind the scavengers, too. Some of them may just be hunting YOU!

Edited 2013-04-22 02:30 (UTC)

[Holden went out in winter clothes even though he can't feel the cold. And even though he can't feel the cold, he's shivering. He drags the book down from his face slowly, arms shaking, and looks nervously at the other hunters gathered there, unable to keep his gaze focused on just one, looking for some encouraging sign from anyone.]

Okay, is this seriously happening? Are we - gonna have to do this, I mean? Because - if it's kill or be killed, you know, I guess we gotta go through with it. There are s'pposed to be scavengers hunting US, they said. And--and--

Did we get dragged to this dump all so we could play a stupid GAME?

A dump? That's sort of rude, Holden.

Don't worry, I think you're really, really going to like it.

Oh yeah? Why? What's in it for me besides not gettin' scavenged, huh?

Oh! That's a really good question! I forgot to tell you guys the most important part!

(no subject)

goddamnphonies - 2013-04-22 03:01 (UTC) - Expand

gamehead - 2013-04-22 03:19 (UTC) - Expand

[It's not as if everything else is not disturbing as it is, but it is the last point that finally snaps Prussia's patience.

You have us gathered here, you might as well tell us more about the scavengers. That's a bit too important, don't you think?

Edited 2013-04-22 02:39 (UTC)

It is important...but it's also part of the mystery, right? You'll find out more about that later!

Not if we die first. [But she mutters that part]

They're not among us, are they?

Edited 2013-04-22 02:46 (UTC)

Here? Read the rules, silly.

[Critter giggles to itself.]

There are hunters, scavenger, and prey. No one can be both a hunter and a scavenger, and everyone here is a hunter.

You guys are a pack now. You should trust each other!

unadorned - 2013-04-22 02:53 (UTC) - Expand

gamehead - 2013-04-22 02:55 (UTC) - Expand

unadorned - 2013-04-22 03:02 (UTC) - Expand

gamehead - 2013-04-22 03:03 (UTC) - Expand

unadorned - 2013-04-22 03:04 (UTC) - Expand

gamehead - 2013-04-22 03:20 (UTC) - Expand

[Her eyes scanned the notebook, and upon getting to the fourth line, she threw it on the ground. Luckily, it landed face down.]

Is this some kinda joke?! You really expect us to pick someone to kill like that?

Yes. I know you will.

Really? And why would I want to kill someone for some dumbass game?

All right, America, I have to admit this is one of your better pranks. The wolf mask is a bit tasteless, and there's no subtlety whatsoever, but it's still quite well thought-out for you.

But seriously, you can come out now.

I'm not America, England! America is prey!

Well, I guess he could be a scavenger, too.

I know you're not America, he was much cuter when he was your size. But you don't have to keep doing this, you know. I don't know how much he's paying you, but it can't be worth this.

gamehead - 2013-04-22 03:33 (UTC) - Expand

tsunneverset - 2013-04-22 16:46 (UTC) - Expand

gamehead - 2013-04-22 16:48 (UTC) - Expand

[ Hanekoma scans the page a few times over, silent and serious but not flinching from any of the words. Kill or be killed; it's familiar. But the game he knows has a purpose, a real and immediate value, and he likes it better when he knows what he's playing for. ]

Here's a question. Why us? Who chooses the hunters and the prey?

Good question! I chose you, Hanekoma. Because I knew you would be a good killer.

[ Okay, fine. Check out the notebook. Willing to humor the kid, Tony goes to pick one up, trying not to be vaguely disconcerted by the fact that his name's on the damn thing. It's something he stops trying to do once he reads through the rules. ]

You're kidding. You've got to be kidding.

No, silly. These are the rules!

Your rules suck, kid. And I'm not really inclined to play.

gamehead - 2013-04-22 22:56 (UTC) - Expand

[If there was one thing Hermione needed to understand anything it was books. But this kind of reading wasn't... exactly what she had in mind. Her stomach twisted in nods as she read the first page not once or twice, but three times. Listening to the words of others she shut it with an unamused look.]

You really can't expect us to just play along with something like this.

Edited 2013-04-22 13:29 (UTC)

You don't have to play Hermione, but I know you will. I'll show you.

[She just... this... what.]

You can't be serious. You can't honestly believe us to go along with this.

I know you will!

And why, exactly, is that?