PAPER RITUAL - END

[wooliefrand]

[Bodies litter the pasture now, as the demons cackle through the air.

The blood that flowed from everyone converges on the paper flower, turning it a bright, disgusting red.

And then--something bursts from it. Another shadowy demonic beast, emerging with unfurled black wings. For those still alive, it looks something like a crow.

Black feathers scatter all over the pasture, and the voices of the demons are overjoyed. "She's returned! She's truly returned! Oh glorious day, our time has come--!"

The beast flies into the sky, easily bypassing the pasture's barrier, and simply....disappears. And with it, the oddities of the ritual.

All the remaining paper withers. and those living can hear a faint voice.

Well done, mortals. Finally you show your worth.

For the most ruthless, Rose, Daffodil, Weeds, Lily, Peony, you have our thanks.

The rest of you. . .what pleasant sacrifices you all made, hahahaHAHAHA!

And it is gone.


[OOC:
WINNERS get revived painlessly, and any special effects incurred are instantly poof, gone! BONUSES WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER/IN THE MORNING BUT YOU'LL GET SHIT FOR OUR SACRIFICES.

HOWEVER no limbs regrow if you're missing them. You gotta fix that shit yourself.

ETA WINNER BOONS
Each winning team gets the standard memory coins, along with their trees taking on the following changes/sprouting fruit:
Daffodil - Buddha's Hand.
Lily - Cherries
Rose - Pineapple (yes i know shh). But most curiously, their tree blooms into a giant rose. Not a tree with roses, a giant rose flower. It's stem is large enough to be climbed like a tree trunk, and its thorns act as branches. The fruit hands from stray leaves/petals.
Peony - Dragonfruit

WEEDS curiously, will have a strange plant growing on the grounds near their clubhouse. Uh oh are those Avocados?? Sure are.

MINI BONUSES
MOST READY KILL - Daffodil - They receive 50lbs of meat of whatever they desire. This can be a creature from home or just like. a lot of steaks. They will also find that for the next 3 ic days, they will auto-heal from any sort of injury whether they use their powers or not.

MOST 'can you lighten up a bit' - Weeds/Rose. They receive two sets of clothing; one any design in their standard fashion (ripped/suits), but the other can be in ANY STYLE so long as there is a flower of some sort incorporated into it somewhere, no matter how small.

MOST 'aren't you tired of being nice' - Peony - they'll find their Horse ability extended by 24 hours for the next 3 ic days. (tho it does not have to last that long)

MOST Survivor's Guilt - Lily - Ananke gets a knife made of pure silver, but it can be molded into any other kind of weapon.

DAFFODIL, ROSE, AND PEONY also instinctively know they can request a barn upgrade OR a community upgrade (one or the other, and it can't be something that's a deal in progress). Let Ash know what you want by Wednesday so I can incorporate in the next mingle!


Losers - Bluebell, Clover, Thistle. Oh buddies. Any dead MUST be manually put together/fixed by others, and also will incur a Paper Curse. This can either be:
-True words will appear on their body like ink/tattoos at inconvenient times
-They will become Light as Paper for two IC days and thus easily blown away/knocked down
-or have their soul trapped in an origami paper animal and just be that for a day.
SINCE THIS GAME WENT BUCK WILD this will only effect those present.]

Comments

[papartner]

What the hell happened?

[ missed another one. probably for the best but holy shit. ]

[survivaltricks]

[DRYLY. . . with the tone of someone who doesn't know what to feel other than Exhausted]

Demons and sacrifices happened.

. . . that's the short version, anyway.

[papartner]

Better questions - what should I know? How can I help?

[survivaltricks]

. . . Peony's on my shit list for the foreseeable future, though I'm sure I'll get over it eventually.

[pushing himself to his feet, exhaling deeply]

Check on the others. Tyr and Odin are probably managing, but I'm worried about Flora.

[papartner]

They're my next stop. You sure you're good? Peony aside?

[survivaltricks]

. . . [exhale]

Yeah. I'm okay.

I'll fill you in on more details as we head home.

[papartner]

Good. And I appreciate it - this looks like it was kind of a bloodbath.

[survivaltricks]

[aha. . . ha. . .]

That's putting it mildly.

[papartner]

Keep going? If you're up to it, anyway.

[survivaltricks]

[deep breath in, slow breath out. he starts speaking once they begin to make their way back to Thistle]

It started off with us being asked to choose two violent methods to sacrifice another sheep. Things like. . . tearing out emotions, or cutting off limbs, or strangling someone. . .

[grimaces]

We were told beforehand that we were tied to at least two different flocks. If we abstained, those flocks would be punished. So we went along with it.

And it turns out. . . the punishments we chose were enacted onto the flocks with which we were linked.

[papartner]

[ jesus. ]

Talk about extreme... Did everyone on Thistle get hit? Who the heck were you linked to?

[survivaltricks]

All of us but Tyr, I think. . . Odin was bitten, I had my fear taken away and was turned into a horse, and Flora had to sing a song? Or. . . something.

[. . .]

We were connected to Peony and the Weeds.

[papartner]

[ blinks. some of those don't sound too bad, so why all the dying, team ]

Should I be worried about what you guys had to do to them...?

1/2

[survivaltricks]

[JUST]

[DEADEYES HIM]

2/3

[survivaltricks]

[. . . but more seriously]

Flora took their sadness in round one. In round two, we were told to come up with some kind of— [ugh. winces at his words] — some kind of punishment based on our flock powers. If the punishments weren't good enough, the demons would take over.

[. . .]

Knowing from personal experienxe what demons are capable of. . . we came up with something pretty bad, but. . . as quick as we could make it. Sticking someone with thorns, then using our pain-to-heal powers to heal them up again, then repeating the process.

. . . it sucked.

[survivaltricks]

[DRYLY]

And then Peony abstained and killed us in round three.

[papartner]

You did-- they did - Holy shit.

[survivaltricks]

[slumping a bit after saying that, letting out a deep breath as he lifts a hand to rub tiredly at his temples]

It was shit all around.

. . . Tyr's warning had some merit to it.

[papartner]

Seriously. Not that it helped a whole lot.

[survivaltricks]

[a dry laugh]

. . . no.

It didn't do any good at all.

[papartner]

[ delicious futility, he hates it. and that dry laugh is a feeling he's familiar with ]

You sure you're good?

[survivaltricks]

[a small huff, and he rolls his shoulders back, standing a little taller]

I'm pissed off. At Peony, at the demons, at-- everything.

. . . but I'll be fine.

[he'll get over it in a few days and move on. that's. . . what he does, right? it's the only thing he can do]

[papartner]

[ the shit with the thorns was pretty brutal, and he can see why Peony went razed earth and abstained in the last round. But it's not like anyone was in a good position there. ]

Sure you are.

[ he was a teen too, man. ]

[survivaltricks]

[SHOULD HAVE LET THE DEMONS TAKE OVER!!]

[. . . is a thought racing through his head, but-- he knows better. he knows he could never]

[a small snort]

Right now, I just want. . . to go home.

[papartner]

Then go on. I'll check on everyone else and meet you there. Figure out something to eat and get everyone settled.