sheep_game | Day 36 Mingle

Come with me if you'd like a full explanation that will tell you everything.

Including where you are, why you're here, who's responsible, and how to hurt her, as we all have been doing.

[ There's a very long pause. After a few beats, she narrows her eyes like she's trying to assess whether this is a trap or not. ]

... If you try anything funny, I will defend myself.

You won't have to. You're one of us, after all.

[she taps her collar]

Please follow me.

[she'll start leading the way to the Weeds clubhouse]

. . .

[ There's another beat of caution, but she eventually follows along, casting timid glances at her surroundings along the way. ]

[She points]

This is our clubhouse. This is where the weeds sleep. It's not the nicest place to live, but it's ours. Just come inside, have a seat at one of the tables, and I'll start answering your questions.

--Are you hungry? I do have a few figs or grapes.

You test them first, and I might consider it. Though I'm hardly in a state of mind to be snacking.

Sure. [she doesn't even question it.]

[She'll bring out a bunch of grapes on a piece of cloth, and eat one from the bunch.]

...If you're worried I may have coated them in poison individually and am just picking a 'clean' one, I'll eat any random grape you point to.

At any rate...

[She moves out another sketch-pad she was holding, with a pen.]

This is called 'the pasture.' It is a place people from other worlds get pulled into, against their will. This spans different periods in history, worlds you might consider 'fantasy,' and even what some might call 'the future'. I believe we may have even had one person claim to be a god.

There is one individual responsible, and she represents all that is evil here.

[ She gingerly takes a seat, pointing to a random grape as she does. ]

Even as far as magic goes, that sounds unbelievable...

But if that's truly the case, isn't it just a matter of dealing with that one individual? What has everyone here been doing all this time?

[She eats that specific grape with no hesitation, making a show of chewing and swallowing it. Politely, though. Good manners.]

That's just it. Because she was able to pull us here, she has other powerful magic. She can cheat death itself.

[She shows the first picture on her sketch book, which has her rendition of pink sheep Blossom.]

She's a talking sheep. If she's killed? One of the other mindless sheep suddenly becomes pink, and takes on her personality and memories. Whether she's transferring her consciousness or simply creating a new version of herself, we don't know. That's why it's impossible to kill her. Or even threaten her.

No one wants to try killing them all. They fear the consequences.

[ In a somewhat gratingly "know-it-all" tone for someone who just found out about the situation ten seconds ago: ]

Well, if she can swap between bodies at will, there's no point attacking her physically. The better play is to target her soul.

...Could you do that?

[ Seems to snap to her senses before slinking back in her seat somewhat defensively. ]

I-I never said that! It just seems like a reasonable enough assumption. ... Of all the people who have been pulled in here, is there no one who can use magic?

It's different here. From what I understand, even if you are a god who could literally do anything in another world, that doesn't make you a god 'here,' so anything you can do is... halved? We don't try to make sense of it. If you could do something like that, it would certainly help.

But, there's another reason... his name is Stormy.

[She turns her sketchbook to the next page and shows Stormy, the black sheep.]

His name is Stormy, and he's her protector. He isn't always around, but if someone acts like they're going to hurt her, he'll just give you this 'look'...

And if you're really unlucky, then like the name, he'll call down lightning to zap you to ashes.

P-People have already been killed?!

Sad, but true... that's why it's not so easy to target Blossom.

But, we can do other things.

[ It takes her a moment to stop panicking long enough to even ask: ]

Such as...?

Look at your collar. You can't take it off.

[She fingers her own.]

You'll meet other people here. People who have bells attached to their collar. These people are cursed by Blossom's will. Blossom will torture them, and has. Ostensibly by demons she summons. However... we have been saved.

There's another entity in the pasture. He's called the Snake. He's freed us from this situation. We won't find ourselves being involved in these rituals where we're sacrificed to demons.

[she flips to her next page, and shows off her rendering of the Snake. This one is a lot more detailed. It's clear she's seen the subject more often and put her heart into drawing it.]

The Snake is attempting to take away Blossom's control of the pasture, and that starts by shaking off Blossom's influence.

When the Snake succeeds, he has offered to return us to where we came.

[ She put two fingers on hers, trying to see if she can budge it, then swallows hard.

And there's a long pause as she processes all that information. ]

... How do we know if he's telling the truth? And how is he attempting to take control?

I've been here for a long time. He has always been a good boss, for lack of a better word. He does not demand obedience; he lets us make our own decisions with as much guidance as we ask. He rewards success, but offers advice if we report failure. He's treated me personally with nothing but respect and kindness. But, you don't have to take my word for it. Meet him yourself and you'll understand.

It's very simple. Blossom offers the sheep gifts in exchange for tasks. "Sheep" are what we call those with belled collars. --Anyway, she calls this "herd mentality." That is, she's trying to make them all think alike and fall sway to her influence, like a cult.

We must break that influence, and that can be accomplished several ways.

One: you can outright cause problems for the sheep. Annoy them. Distract them. Otherwise sabotage them. Then they'll be concentrating on the problems you cause, and not what Blossom wants.

Two: you can try to convince them Blossom is evil and shouldn't be relied on. This is a bit more difficult. A lot of people have been here for a while and already have formed their opinions. They either think Blossom is a positive influence, think she can be ignored, or they don't care, because they hate the Snake. Furthermore, since you're new, you can't talk about exactly how Blossom is evil because you haven't seen it with your own eyes, yet.

Three: you can do nothing and wait. To be honest, the sheep don't really need our help in causing their own problems in the pasture. A lot of them have really complex relationships with each other and will even outright fight each other.

You're new. The sheep outnumber us by a lot. The first thing they'll be trying to figure out is if you're a threat or not. Then, they'll try to find out if you can be persuaded to betray, or at least ignore, the Snake, or not. They'll give you some breathing room to acclimate yourself, and even show you outright kindness, but be careful. I'm not saying they'll stab you in the back, but they will expect favors, and judge you if they don't get those favors.

[ She seems somewhat distressed for the entire explanation, but her expression especially darkens at the last part.

But then she scoffs, as if to emphasize how unbothered she is. ]

Well, of course. People... most people never hand out charity without strings attached. I'm not an idiot.

Exactly. But, you'll always have a room here.

So, what are you going to do now?

As if I could figure that out this quickly!

[ Puts a hand to her temple.

. . . ]

I'll... First, I'll make sure there's really no way home...

If you care to hear it, may I make some suggestions?

I'll hear them, at least.

You must have realized it yourself. You have magic that forces people to tell the truth.

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