Raffles & Giveaways

[url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/42981517][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/429816/42981517_350.png[/img][/url] Zuzaamir breathes a sigh of relief as they successfully manage to get to the door without being noticed. Without anyone [i]staring[/i]. Maybe things will continue to go well...? Or would that be too much to hope for, they wonder. They look over the captives, trying to catalogue and compare their actions. Their gaze lingers on the creature in the second cage, as they are once more filled with scientific curiosity. Of course, the creature is quite horrific, but that doesn't automatically equal guilt... When it comes to fears, they pick astraphobia almost immediately. One doesn't spend several years in a clan such as theirs without becoming comfortable with ghosts and ghouls and supernatural creatures of all sorts (they think of Abaddon's dead eyes and crumbling physique and feel nothing but anxious fondness). After finding themselves in the open field, they feel a strange combination of anticipation and stress. The storm moving closer and closer sends a spike of adrenaline through their body - they have to find an excape, and fast. Despite their worries about actually finding the door, they head towards the farmhouse as quickly as they can. (Astraphobia #1)

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/18351416][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/183515/18351416_350.png[/img][/url] Thoe next two scenes the players got to witness had left Pip feeling a bit uncertain, but as he stepped through the next portal and found himself in front of particularly spooky scene, that uncertainty drifted away. Not because he felt more certain about the main purpose of this game, [i]oh no[/i]... but he sure did feel confident in this setting! He had always had an interest in all things paranormal (maybe not to the same extent that [i]certain[/i] members of his clan did, but still!), and that interest helped him feel not so shaken up in the face of this next obstacle. In fact, it only took a few moments of thinking out the options for Pip to nail down what route he would choose. The shed? Pass! Why should he arm himself for a fight when he didn't know the intentions of any spirits that may or may not be around? He had no interest in being the cautious aggressor in this scenario, even if the ghosts didn't take him holding a weapon as such. Why be the provoker? As for the graveyard... it was certainly tempting. A big part of him would have loved to get in there and observe the spirits hanging about... perhaps he could have even gotten some communication in with them! There was one giant red flag, though... that mausoleum. The fact that so many seemed to congregate and hover around it filled him with a uneasiness... like he was staring at a trap just waiting to be sprung. No thank you. So that left going into the actual house. Yes, it was dark... and ominous...... but if these last few rounds had taught him anything, it's that sometimes the risk was worth the reward. Sure, you could argue that for any of the options presented, really, but this one... this one had the best mix of both possible danger and good gut feelings. Besides... houses tend to have many doors, right? There was a pretty good chance he could find the door he needed in there! Finishing up his reasonings with a nod, a fairly confident Pip stepped through the pathway and into the entrance of the house. (Pip has chosen [b]Phasmophobia: Choice 1[/b].) [s]((Also as a side note, I love that Idle Hands was referenced in the last scenario! I haven't seen that movie in forever and almost forgot about it, but now I need to find it and rewatch it, haha~))[/s][/center]

[center][b][size=6][color=blue]DAY SIX[/color][/size][/b][/center] [center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/C1qsnVfX/fancy-divider-260.png[/img][/center] [color=transparent]_____[/color]Panting a little, you are so relieved to be back where nothing is trying to take you out of the picture that you almost hug your closest fellow attendees. Unsure how much more of these tests you can take, you do your best to center your mind and turn your attention to the stage and your waiting host. [color=transparent]_____[/color]“It truly is interesting how different people react in so many different ways to impetus! Each of you individuals tackled things in your own way and in your own time… so let’s see how many of you got it right!” [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MBZrRq5.png[/img][/center] [columns][b]Ghosts 1:[/b] @ClockworkEclipse @Self @Soulthreads @Tues @Eeree [nextcol][color=transparent]___[/color][nextcol]Shivering slightly, you set your foot on the path to the front door. There are no obvious spirits this way, unlike the graveyard... and you wouldn't know how to use the weapons anyway. You just hope you're doing the right thing. Once you reach the house, the porch creaks under your feet. Trying not to jump at every little noise, you push aside the door hanging from one hinge and brace yourself for something to jump from the shadows. Instead, you see a glowing doorway directly across from you. Just before you get there, the phantom of what used to be a handsome male reaches out and opens the door for you. As you step closer to go through, his nearly-inaudible voice tells you, "The feeling of love does not make a villain any less dangerous... sometimes the love they feel isn't for you, it's for themselves. And sometimes the love they feel warps and fuels them even more."[/columns] [columns][b]Ghosts 2:[/b] No One [nextcol][color=transparent]___[/color][nextcol]Realizing that there might be ghosts no matter where you go anywhere in this scene, you might as well arm yourself. After all, if the Ghostbusters can do it, you can too. When the door falls off and nothing comes out, you lean into the shed to pick something up. It isn't until you've chosen an interesting configuration and hit the button you figure is the power on the side that you realize your mistake. You have no idea what any of these things are supposed to do. Just as you're figuring that out, the object in your hands begins humming, heating up, and glowing brightly. You manage to start to throw it way, but it explodes before it gets far beyond your fingers. Luckily the scene shows the devastation from the outside of the shed and you can only see the weirdly colored flames that end your choice.[/columns] [columns][b]Ghosts 3:[/b] @Aviander @BirdsDontTalk @Easte @Piccalily0510 @WolfTrickster [nextcol][color=transparent]___[/color][nextcol]You'd heard somewhere one time that fear only has the power you give it, and that ghosts can't really hurt you unless you act like they have power over you. Holding on to that thought, you turn into the graveyard after taking a deep breath and clearing your mind. Unfortunately the only thing your mind is now cleared for is a feeling of slowly-growing tension. The closer you get to the mausoleum, the thicker the ghosts get. Every step is harder than the last, and by the time you put your hand on the door you're barely moving. Before you can react, the mausoleum swings open and a huge phantom grins at you, reaching out with horribly solid hands. Though the picture goes black first, you can hear your screams for a moment afterward until it cuts off completely.[/columns] ----- [columns][b]Storms 1:[/b] @BunnySox @FishingNet @Kaimon @ShadeytheDragon [nextcol][color=transparent]___[/color][nextcol]It is the instinctual need of most creatures to seek some sturdy shelter in the face of nature's fury. Giving in to your basic instincts, you head for the apparent safety of the house. Running full out, you manage to just beat the funnel to the farmhouse. You dive for the doors to the cellar, but they seem to be barred from the inside. Though you bang against the wood, you realize that no one that might be inside could hear you over the violence of the wind anyway. Which is getting louder by the second. And then you hear nothing but the wind as the funnel scoops you up... not even your own screaming as the play through cuts off with a boom of thunder and a flash of lightning.[/columns] [columns][b]Storms 2:[/b] @RemanLT [nextcol][color=transparent]___[/color][nextcol]While shelter would be good, you're not counting on anything. The safest place to be in a storm is as far away from it as possible. With that thought firmly in mind, you race for the vehicle parked by the barn. Your heart leaps in relief as you get to the conveyance and find the keys in the ignition. You start it up and pull out onto the road... only to find the twister already has maneuvered around the house and barn to appear in front of you. There's no way to move fast enough to evade it, and the last thing you hear is the screeching of metal, the roar of the engine as your foot involuntarily presses the gas, and the shrieks of the wind.[/columns] [columns][b]Storms 3:[/b] @Crystalitar @sockmonkeygerald @Tremble [nextcol][color=transparent]___[/color][nextcol]Figuring that you cannot predict what will happen with any certainty, you go for the option that gets you under cover the fastest. It only takes you a moment to get to the culvert and on your hands and knees to crawl into the remnants of the last rain's runoff flowing through the corrugated tunnel. With some shock, you notice that as soon as you get all the way in the sounds outside are muted. The tunnel is a bit longer than you thought it was from outside. At the other end, you can see the opening glowing like previous doors. Just before you get there, what had appeared to be a pile of trash moves and a dirty, battered head lifts itself to look at you and a rusted voice creaks a message. "Some people view those who have fallen from grace as deserving of their fate... but remember that sometimes we are pushed. Victims are still worthwhile and can offer more than they were before their fall."[/columns] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MBZrRq5.png[/img][/center] [color=transparent]_____[/color]“Well done, well done! More of you are catching on than I thought! Though what you think you know can turn topsy turvy at any time, remember! Just keep the rules in mind, and let us get back to our show.” Dropping his voice into nearly sepulchral tones, the ringmaster grins with slight malice. “I hope you are enjoying it; it may be one of the last stories you ever hear.” [color=transparent]_____[/color]Before you can fully react to that statement, you hear the film strip start up again in the orb. Determined to make it out of here alive, you watch closely at the new information being provided by the broken narrative. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MBZrRq5.png[/img][/center] [color=transparent]_____[/color]The scenes this time go back and forth again between the two main characters, but seem to have a couple of common threads between them. [color=transparent]_____[/color]You see the pretty female looking in several mirrors. Sometimes she is pleased with what she sees, and you can almost see her glow. Other times she scowls and something about the way she looks so determined while staring at her reflection gives you the chills. Time seems to slow down and speed up. The scenes where she is the happiest, you always catch a glimpse of a clock running backward in the background and many fuzzy figures appear and disappear behind her. But any time a clock is moving forward, you get the feeling that she is filled with some nameless swirl of emotions… none of which seem happy - not even when spending time with her fiance. [color=transparent]_____[/color]Clocks feature highly in the scenes with our male lead as well. Many times you find him staring at a clock, then out the window or door of wherever he is as if waiting for something. The expressions on his face in those scenes vacillate between slightly melancholy eagerness to frustrated rage. Time seems to slow and speed for him as well, but it gets more and more frantic the less you see the two characters together. At the end of the film roll, you see the creature in the cage - not the handsome scientist from before - stare into a mirror with a look impossible to read on his scarred face before he nods decisively and races out the door. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MBZrRq5.png[/img][/center] [color=transparent]_____[/color]“Amazing how symbols can mean so much and so little to different people.” Tapping a finger on his pocket watch, the ringmaster smiles at his audience. “Sometimes an item or a concept will mean everything to someone, while having no effect on someone else. Or, they simply are affected differently but with equal strength. Fascinating, how the mind works!” [color=transparent]_____[/color]The wheel begins to spin again and you can feel everyone slightly tense up as the clicking of the arrow slows. When the spin winds down, your host lets out a breathless gasp. “Well, will you look at that? Can we say foreshadowing, my dears? I knew you could! Time to tackle…” [columns][center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/63342512][b]Spectrophobia the fear of [size=5]MIRRORS[/size][/b] It is said that if the married couple looks into a mirror shortly after they say “I do”, they are uniting their souls. When you look into mirror with someone, it is said to create an alternate universe where the two souls can live on, together forever.[/url][/center] [nextcol][center][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50506571162_02a8d84729_q.jpg[/img][/center] [nextcol][center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/63863124][b]Chronometrophobia the fear of [size=5]CLOCKS[/size][/b] One of the most common superstitions you’ll hear today is that giving or receiving a watch is considered bad luck, and for a number of reasons too. First and foremost, giving a watch as a gift to your significant other is saying two things: you’re counting down the time you have left together and you’re putting time on your relationship which will inevitably end your time together.[/url][/center][/columns]

Ah, oops. Got caught up with things.
@Sylvidoptera Am I still allowed to jump in for today since I missed yesterday?

@RisenWolf

Absolutely! Just play from where we are. :)

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/11843519][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/118436/11843519_350.png[/img][/url][/center] [i]I made a right hash of that.[/i] Isavar fumed as he was flung back into the hated hall from h*ll, and once again heard that insipid, loathsome voice - praise-mocking at the same time. [i]I don't know where I went wrong,[/i] he thought. [i]I missed something important, I know I did.[/i] His confidence in tatters, unsure of what to pin his next decision on, Isavar watched the film images unfold, restlessly, his leg bouncing in irritated impatience. He felt sorry for the female as she looked in the mirrors; maybe she was the one who was cursed, judging by the many tragical looks that crossed her face. [i]Maybe I have assumed that HE is cursed, b/c he is so monstrous in appearance now, and her appearance is much more "normal". But clearly in these images, they are both very troubled souls.[/i] Enough thinking. [i]Just get on with it, [/i]he growled under his breath. [i]Show us the choices.[/i] Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed another dragon's head, nodding in apparent agreement. Mirrors and Clocks. They were down to the last four images on the huge banner overhead. So this nightmare DID have an ending. Possibly. [i]That means tomorrow's choices are the Scythe and the Cup, [/i]he thought morosely. [i]Pretty sure about the meaning of the scythe, not so sure what the cup will hold, though... ...probably poison, with any luck,[/i] he fake-laughed to himself. [i]Well, no time like the present,[/i] he punned to himself, and stepped briskly through the portal to Chronometrophobia. [center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/zm9cim6xw0oxgcb/shadowmidsmall2.png[/img][/center] [center][i][color=mediumorchid]Confronted by clocks, clocks, and nothing but clocks, Isavar cautiously makes his way past hundreds of ticking, chiming, hooting timepieces, to the back of the room, where three large clocks form a perfect triangle. This seems to be the place to be, but... Issy's grateful that this is not another CHOOSE RIGHT NOW challenge. He doesn't seem to be in immediate danger, seems to have all the "time" in the world to make this decision. Better not to linger too long, though, or perhaps his decision will be made FOR him. Issy looks closely at all three of the great clocks surrounding him. The 1st clock replays images of his life; it is disquieting, almost mocking and demeaning, but also, it is all about HIM, about his PAST, and Issy feels instinctively that this is not the right choice to make. Yes, he sees the possibility that he might enter into time and go back and re-do some of his regrets and mistakes, but that isn't his purpose here. His purpose is to conquer his fears to move forward and help the suffering soul in that great hall. These images are spectres; he briefly relives some of his pain and failures, as they play across the clock's face, but really, they hold no sway for him. He takes note that some of these things from his past can be fixed outside of this phantasy, should he survive. A cheerful thought! He moves on. The 2nd clock seems to display, NOW. There is a large axe; suggesting that he could theoretically break through this clock, and reach... the hall? Or something much, much worse? Blunt force in this case doesn't appeal to him, though. He doesn't remember having to use it in any of the previous challenges (...although that's certainly no guarantee. He has chosen wrong before this!). Still, he hopes the 3rd choice seems more reasonable than these two. The 3rd clock, Issy believes, displays the FUTURE. A future that is uncertain, but the image he is shown is of him standing upright, on the other side, not lying in a cold heap on the ground. [i]Well, that's a positive. Possibly.[/i] he thinks wryly. The future is what he's working for, he reasons; it's what he's trying to reach - a future in which the two captives, and the con attendee captives, are all freed and safe. He knows he can only take action in the present, but his actions are meant to bring about positive results in the future. It is a risk worth taking. Out of all the choices given, he thinks this is the one. Issy literally crosses his fingers behind his back, more uncertain than he's ever been, and chooses Option #3.[/color][/i] [/center] [center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/hzvonpzcngbad5x/shadowtop2.png[/img][color=purple] Issy chooses [b]CHRONOMETROPHOBIA[/b]: Option #3, please [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ven9gmk4qi14dr5/shadowbottom2.png[/img][/center]

[url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/56686420][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/566865/56686420_350.png[/img][/url] Khufris had been so focused on figuring out how to get the truck to work that he had neglected to look out the windshield. It was only once he started driving down the road that he realized things looked awfully dark up ahead. The tornado was now directly in front of him! Frantically, Khufris tried to veer off the road into the field, but it was no use. The storm picked up the truck like it was a toy. The last thing Khufris saw was a huge plank of wood breaking through the windshield and smashing right into his face... ------------------------------ ...or, at least, that was what became of the Khufris on the screen. The Skydancer clutched at his face as the lights came back up. Once again, it had felt so real. He had been doing so well to begin with, but he hadn't gotten a single clue out of either of the last two challenges. He was beginning to despair that he wouldn't make the right decision when the time came. Khufris watched once more as scenes of the two prisoners began to play out again. But these scenes weren't playing out like the others; they were speeding up and slowing down. As the Skydancer watched, it seemed to him like the couple was being pulled apart by something. But the last shot drew his attention the most. For once, it showed the male after he had been horribly scarred. It occurred to Khufris then that the crime the ringmaster wanted them to punish might not be before these clips, but was still yet to come. Staggering to his feet, Khufris tried to pull himself together as the ringmaster summoned the next pair of doors. This one seemed like a toss-up again. Neither clocks nor mirrors seemed particularly scary. But then the Skydancer realized something- clocks and mirrors had both featured prominently in the clips he had just seen. Had that been true for all of the movies so far? Suspecting that the speeding up and slowing down of the footage might be a clue, Khufris took a deep breath and stepped through [b]the door marked "chronometrophobia".[/b] --------------------------------- He emerged on the other side into what appeared to be an old shop. There were clocks everywhere, in every shape and size imaginable. Unlike the last challenge, there seemed to be no immediate danger here, so Khufris took the opportunity to catch his breath and think. As he took a seat and looked around, he realized that all the clocks were moving at a different rate- some forwards, some backwards. All of them seemed to be wrong. What sort of collection was this? As he couldn't see a door leading out of the shop, Khufris began to examine the clocks themselves instead. His search eventually led him to a back corner of the room, where three giant clocks stood before him. None of them seemed to be working right- one was going forward too fast, one was going backwards, and the third wasn't moving at all. Strangest of all, though, was that when Khufris looked into the clock faces he could see images of himself. There appeared to be doors set into the clocks, so one of them had to have a way out of here. But which one? Khufris quickly dismissed the middle clock as being useless. Aside from seemingly being broken, it showed him wielding an axe and doing... something with it. Breaking down a door? That didn't seem very useful, even if there really was an axe hanging from the back of the clock. The clock on the right only showed him on the other side of a door, but he couldn't tell much more than that. Maybe it was a way out, a way to escape this game. Or maybe it was a trap. That only left the clock on the left, the one moving backwards. When Khufris gazed into this, he saw a variety of scenes playing out, some from his time in Clan Twinstar, others from his reign as a Pharaoh many centuries ago. These scenes all played out as tragedies the first time- the way he remembered them. But then they played out again, this time with happier endings. The dragon couldn't stop staring at them. He began to feel tempted to try to go back and fix these events- maybe he could even prevent himself from having died in the first place so very long ago! "No," he said to himself, shaking himself back into reality. Assuming this place even was real. "I have to focus. All that matters now is ending this game without anyone else dying. The clues I need must be in the past. Was that what he was trying to tell us?" It was a slim lead, but it was all he had at the moment. Taking a deep breath, Khufris opened the door in the clock and crawled on through, hoping it would take him where and when he needed to go. [b](Choice 1)[/b]

[url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/33589391][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/335894/33589391_350.png[/img][/url] There was something calming about stepping over the threshold, even if it did return Xerxes to the ringmaster's game. Now, standing again before the captives, the orb, the wheel, he takes a deep breath and grounds himself. This remains a forward march, the thing he has always done best. And now that he has his head again, it's time to see the end of it. And the details are becoming clearer now. He cannot confirm the precise events that occurred between the two captives, but a growing sense of sympathy has taken root in his chest. There is an innocent here, and while the exact nature of the crime is unclear, the devastation it brought on is unambiguous. Xerxes wishes the same could be said for the latest choices, though. Mirrors or clocks. Looking back at himself, or looking at all the time he has spent wandering this world as a phantom. It is easier to face time, though, than his own form. Mirrors, he thinks, will be inclined to show him his own failures and shortcomings. Clocks, on the other hand, are more unsettling for mortals, and he has long passed the need for counting down the hours. Eternity, like it or not, is his these days. So he steps through Chronometrophobia's door and marvels at the expanse that awaits him, hundreds of clocks ticking away at their own pace. The aural effect is jarring, even unsettling, but more ominous is the three clocks so large that Xerxes could step through them, if only they were open. By now, he knows a door when he sees one. And at this point, he has no trust left to give to temptations. He turns away from the clock that offers him second chances. The time to try again has long passed him by, and he cannot change the fates his fellow soldiers have suffered, even though it pains him with a fresh sting. Frozen time, too, does not sit right with him. He is all too familiar with the pain it causes, trapped in this afterlife with an unending future before him. He loses his sense of time on occasion, as it all blends together without every seeming to move on. That door will not have his trust either. But the last door marches forward, unknowable, but full of promise. Laying his claws on the knob, Xerxes lets himself believe that this is the way forward. Lets himself believe he might at last move on. [b]Chronometrophobia Choice 3[/b]

[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/60982939][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/609830/60982939_350.png[/img][/url] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2360rrbawqe4flt/lightningmid.png[/img] The twins watched in horror as they were dragged into darkness by the horrible cackling phantom, and for the first time in her life, Misa felt true fear of spirits. But the moment passed, and she shook it off, turning to watch the choices that fate rolled for them. When the announcer said 'Spectrophobia', Miso froze. [color=darkcyan]"No. No, no, no, not mirrors. Anything but mirrors. I don't care what it it, but not mirrors, please not mirrors!"[/color] Misa watched sympathetically as her brother backed away from the portal doors that appeared, his eyes wild with fear. When they were younger a spirit had pulled him through a mirror, she knew, and Miso had never quite been the same after. [color=darkcyan]"Doom is found in mirrors, Misa. Doom! We can't. I won't let you go through the Mirror Door. Come on. We have to choose clocks."[/color] With that, Miso grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the door on the right, the announcer watching them with amused eyes. When they appeared in the clock room, Miso seemed to calm down, and his breathing became normal once again, so Misa relaxed as well. They wove through the clocks, Misa looking around in wonder and interest, Miso forging ahead with nothing but his goal in his mind. When they came to the triangle with the three large clocks, the two of them were silent for a long time. [color=orangered]"I think we should choose the backwards clock."[/color] She finally said, looking to her brother for confirmation. To her surprise, Miso shook his head in disagreement. [color=darkcyan]"No, I think the frozen clock is the right choice."[/color] Misa looked at him in astonishment. The two of them didn't disagree very often, because they both disliked it when they did. It just felt [i]wrong[/i]. [color=orangered]"But Miso, remember, when we were watching the clip, whenever the clock was spinning backwards she was happy. That has to be a sign!"[/color] Miso thought for a moment. Finally, he nodded. [color=darkcyan] "Alright then. You're right. Let's go."[/color] Misa stepped forward and grabbed the axe, the two of them holding their breath when she swung it at the door. [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2360rrbawqe4flt/lightningmid.png[/img] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/60982938][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/609830/60982938_350.png[/img][/url] [/center]

[url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/64532706][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/645328/64532706_350.png[/img][/url] Torpor stepped back into the room a little dazed. He had succeeded this time?! He wondered if it had anything to do with that voice or maybe it was just luck. No matter. They still were here again with the Fool and his prisoners. He was starting to feel like a prisoner- but he was doing all these trials while they sat around in a cage. Hmmm, perhaps there was something to that. Torpor might find allies in them against the Fool. He wanted then to be judged right? Well then one of them would be freed if found innocent. Hopefully anyway. Time to get one of these fellow dragons out. Torpor watched the scene play and the spinner wind down. One more trial and then maybe they might be freed. One more turn. Torpor walked forward and considered the choices. They booth seemed odd, but he was concerned about time here. How much longer would it take for him to find his mate and escape this place? Best to choose something that he wasn't already afraid of. With that he walked through the portal. (Choice #1)