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test drive meme

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Welcome to Panem. You have been selected to participate in the 75th Annual Hunger Games!

Premise: Something has gone a bit wrong with the device, and it's pulling in more people than the Capitol had planned. Extras, doubles, or even the same exact version of someone already pulled into Panem, with or without their memories! It's a mess. But somebody has to clean it up. And what better way to do so than to have a televised death-match!?

This Arena is designed to be a small mock arena not all that dissimilar to the in-game arenas we run here at The Games. Our hope is to give new and prospective players a place to get their feet wet, and get a feel for the fun (and bloody) mess that goes on around here. This meme is open to anyone and everyone who would like to play. Current cast members, veteran and new, as well as anyone just wanting top drop in and have some fun!

How To Play.

Current cast members - you may tag into this arena in any way they choose. Even cast members who aren't or are no longer tributes. Since this meme is taking place between Arenas 03 and 04, you may play your character as though they have been sent into this arena after Arena 03, CR and in-game history intact. OR. You may play your character as having a clean slate; as though this is their very first Hunger Games. Or, at least the first one they can remember.

This meme may not count for in-game CR because it will not be considered as having actually happened, plot-wise.

Guests - welcome to Panem. This is your first time here. Your first Hunger Games. Run for the Cornucopia. Hide in a corner and cry. We don't care. Go crazy. Have fun. Make new friends. Profit.

***An important side note, as it is within the confines of the Area in-game, all powers are lessened/nullified to bring any character down to a vincible level. (I.E. Make more magical/super-powered characters easier to actually kill for a normal person).

The Arena.

Below, you will find a description of the setting for this arena as well as a few details regarding weapons, supplies and hazards.

Setting.

The sky above is a vivid and clear blue and the air is cool and thin; crisp and sharp with the distinctive smell of autumn. In the distance, you can see the peaks of tall purple mountains capped with fresh white snow but they are still many long miles from where you are.

To some, the immediate surroundings may seem slightly familiar, to others it is a strange place filled with peculiar and unstable structures scattered across roughly a square mile of clearly unmaintained concrete pathways. You are in an amusement park. Or what must have been one at some point in time. The rotted out husk of what once had been a Ferris wheel, and the weather-worn shells of old vendor stalls are the nearest things in sight. Some of their signs are even still legible; faded paint having not chipped off entirely. "Cotton Candy", "Win A Prize!" "Buy Ride Tickets Here"

You have been outfitted in a pair of heavy cotton denim jeans, a pair of high-topped black athletic shoes, a form-fitting grey long-sleeved nylon-blend undershirt and a heavier cotton shirt of the same colour to wear over the top, as well as a dark grey windbreaker with reflective white edging.

Shelter here is scarce but available. There are three brick buildings found throughout the park with restively intact roofs, all of them were once public restrooms that also served as tornado shelters. The plumbing in these buildings have long since been unusable. Ruptured pipes have damaged interior walls and floors. Several pools have formed in the lower areas of the ruined floors and the stagnate water is ripe with bacteria and grime. The southern-most building also has a very impressive infestation of rats.

Vendor and food stalls as well as storage and control sheds were not made quite of the same caliber as the restroom facilities, and though they are more frequent, they are also significantly less insulated. Though the wood from these places would be easy enough to break off and turn into firewood if you can find something to start a flame with.

Another key landmark is the sizable lake to the west of the park, man-made and stagnant, there is a peculiar odor that comes off the water if the wind is blowing the wrong way. A green and murky colour, the almost the entire surface of the water is coated in a thick layer of algae and bacteria. Though you can easily see from one shore to the next, the lake is deep and likely teeming with life below. Most of it... probably unpleasant.

Aside from the overgrowth of weeds that have begun to break through the concrete and twist around the bars of the rusted-out rides, there is very little vegetation here. A few thin trees have clung to life in their broken planters, and the boundaries of the park are thick with waist-high grasses, brown and dead in the near-winter of this place. In fact, the only real thing that seems to be thriving here is the algae floating upon the surface of the lake.

Supplies.

The Cornucopia is your first, most important resource. Around it are scattered the available resources:

Weapons:
-steel-tipped leather bull whip
-crowbar
-throwing axe
-six-inch serrated hunting knife

Equipment:
-day-glow orange backpacks containing the following items:
waterproof matches, high-tensile metal chord (12 feet), wool gloves, iodine
-small crate labeled "apples"
-chords of nylon rope
-metal quart-sized container presumably full of water
-small white plastic, containing the following items:
insect repellant, two strips of beef jerky, silver (reflective) emergency blanket

**IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!

Since this is a meme, we are going to allow each character the pick of ONE weapon and ONE equipment item, if you believe that your character would risk running for the cornucopia. Just remember. These are high demand items and we rather encourage you to fight over them ;) So long as you all remain civilized about it, of course. If things get out of hand, a mod will step in. Have fun with it, but be realistic too.

Immediate Hazards.

-The Cold. During the day temperatures are cool, but bearable. However, as soon as the sun drops behind the mountains, the temperatures plummet dramatically, lingering well below freezing until mid-morning.

-Debris. Broken glass, rusted metal, broken concrete, rotten wood. This place has been falling apart for years and you weren't given a tetanus shot before you came here.

-Insects. The stagnant lake is a ripe breeding ground for an alarming amount of insects. From giant dragon flies to tiny biting gnats, prepare yourself for a bite or two. Just hope nothing too nasty sinks it's teeth into you. You may not enjoy the results.

-The Water. Easy to acquire but bad to drink. Maybe you should pray for a rainstorm...

Wildlife.

**Cyprinus Acidus. These large bottom-feeding fish are abundant in the lake and though not recommended to consume raw, if cooked properly, could be eaten.

**Loxosceles reclusa granda. Aggressive and unnervingly large brown spiders native to the area and love to lurk in dark corners. Their bites are incredibly poisonous and will begin to rot away the surrounding flesh if not treated promptly.

**Rattus norvegicus. The common rat. Edible if cooked. Known to be carriers of diseases. (Especially if they were put here to do just that...)

Foodstuffs.

The aforementioned animals and some of the algae from lake are the only sources of food here, and they are not particularly good ones at that. Food and water are not easy to come by in the arena and will likely make for a miserable time for many.

As always, we here at The Games would like to wish you a very happy Hunger Games!

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Oh, and not sure who to throw in here? Oh look! An enable me/atp meme!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Grabbing what she could and booking it the hell out of dodge, De hadn't stopped until she could sink down in the reeds around the edge of the lake to figure out her gear.

A hunting knife and a rope. Could be worse. Could be better.

Food and water would be next. She crept towards the lake, boots making squelching sounds in the mud, till she could see into it's murky depths.

"...ew."

Kevin inched along the edge of the lake, careful not to fall in. He'd gotten away from the Cornucopia with a pack this time. It had to be better than nothing even if it had cost him a gash along his left shoulder, right? And there was a lake so he figured he could wash it off but, now that he was here, the water smelled strange, almost dead, and he was afraid to touch it. He walked a few feet away from the lake and sank to the ground, opening his pack and trying to figure out what the hell he should do now.

De heard someone rustling around.

Good thing about hiding out in the reeds, then. The bad things being she would be just about as noisy sneaking up on them.

Still, she tried her est for stealth, approaching their location.

Kevin jumped to his feet, spinning toward the noise. "Who is it?" he called. "What do you want?"

He brought his fists up in case whoever it was wanted to attack him like that girl the last Arena. At least he knew which direction this person was coming from. If it was a person.

"Sex, drugs and rock and roll. What about you?"

She stopped far enough back that she could get away fairly easily, staring at the kid. And he was just a kid. Jesus. What the fuck was wrong with these people.

"I want to go to Vegas," Kevin retorted, lifting his chin defiantly. "And I want to not get killed this time."

"If we make it out of here alive, I can recommend a few places to hit up." She said with a laugh.

But not relaxing. Not yet.

He looked at her suspiciously. "And what do you get out of that?" Because there was no way she'd do something like that just because. Besides, there was no way they'd both make it out. He'd seen that much last time.

Huh. This kid got straight to the point.

"Well I figured I'd start with idle chatter, and then we could see how it went, but if you wanna jump right into the middle of things..."

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fire_punk - 2012-11-04 23:38 (UTC) - Expand

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The smell alone is enough to set her stomach on edge. It's horrible. But she's so thirsty she doesn't care. She was lucky to get away from the Cornucopia with her life, a whip, and one of the orange backpacks. She has iodine. The water looks toxic, smells toxic, but at this point death by contamination seems like a far cry better than death by dehydration and she's willing to take the risk. It's better than freezing to death, too. She's been able to keep herself well-sheltered for the most part, especially at night, which makes the cold seem a little less ominous. It breaks the wing, at least.

She makes a quick run from her current hideout to the lake, prepared with an empty drink container she found half-cracked laying on the ground, and the iodine from her pack. She'll purify the water; it's the only option she has. Chloe whips her head around this way and that, just making sure the coast is clear, before she kneels down and rolls her sleeves up to dip the cup below the algae-covered surface. It's a quick in and out; the water is freezing, and gross besides. She scoops out the algae and flicks it aside, wiping her hand on the ground and her pants to get it marginally clean again. The water is still murky looking, and she doubts the color will improve, but she's pretty liberal with the iodine. She swirls it as best she can without spilling water out of the cracked plastic, then gathers up her things and turns to walk back to her shelter. She can't take the stench, and it's safer there, unexposed.

He's kept to himself mostly. Not wanting to hurt anyone unnecessarily, but knowing that he will if he must. It is better to remove himself from the situation. To get away from it and meditate on it. To think and figure it out. It's what Obi-wan would do, and he's starting to finally realize that the master Jedi does have some good advice.

It's been days and despite the relatively small amount of space they have been placed into, but most of them have scattered. Hiding in fear and trepidation. He can feel it.

He sees her before she sees him, but he knows it's only a matter of time, and the likeliness of startling her is high.

Anakin lifts his hands in a gesture of tentative peace as she begins to make her way toward him. "It's alright," he insists. "I won't hurt you."

And he means that. For now.

[...Well, this isn't a good sign.

Alright. Alright, alright. Focus, Reid.

He has no weapons. He had only had the guts to grab the plastic before he ran for it, and he nearly had a hand chopped off for his troubles, so he's actually pretty glad he didn't try getting anything else.

He found a tin bowl in one of the old game stands, probably one of the ones someone would try throwing balls in. He glances around himself, biting his lip before kneeling down in the mud. He shudders at the sound of it squelching under him, then slowly dips the bowl into the pond, bringing it up full of algae and filthy water.

Well, it's not exactly safe for him to drink, at least not as it is. He'd found a game stand relatively close by, and with the reflective blanket he had, he would probably be able to survive inside over night. Assuming no one came across him and slit his throat in his sleep. But the point was that if he laid low and focused on survival, he might be able to outlast everyone else, and he might be able to not die a horrible death.

And pigs will fly.

Screw it. He's going to go back to his little shelter and see if he can find some way to purify this water without setting a fire and signalling to everyone where he is. He stands up, careful to keep any precious drops from spilling over the edge of the bowl. Hopefully, the algae is edible. Hopefully. Because he really doesn't think two strips of jerky will last him.]

You probably don't wanna drink that.

[Sammy had been trying to figure out the issues of the water as well. Because this was it. There was none in the rest of the park.

And it didn't take long to figure out with no water, they weren't gonna get far anyway. She wasn't really a quitter, but she wasn't really an optimist either. And she'd rather someone stabbed her than slowly die of dehydration.

So having made that choice, it was nice to not be afraid of everyone in this damn place. If they wanted to fight, they could bring it.]

[Reid jerked at the sound of the voice, instinctively flinching away and expecting to get stabbed in the face.

When face-stabbings don't occur, he peers in the direction of the voice, not exactly relaxing but at least not inches from bolting out of there.]

I don't want to. It's not clean. But I'd rather try to find a way to clean it than let myself die.

[He creeps a little away from the green-haired girl, trying to judge how old she is and how much of a threat she might pose.]

You expecting to make it to the top of the dog pile?

[She gave him a look that said she highly doubted he needed to worry about it. But it wasn't scornful.

Because really, she wasn't going to either.]

You know anything about this whole deal?

Well... no, not really.

[He still seems skittish, occasionally glancing around to make sure that no one less friendly is out there.]

I know a bit. I know that there will only be one victor. I know it won't be me, but... I can't just give up and let myself die. Humans--survival instinct won't let me. [And believe it or not, but he's stronger than that. He won't give up so easily.]

[Eliot stumbled onto the same game stand and noticed the plastic container. Which meant whoever had come here first was probably alone and completely new to this. So he waited until the other Tribute came back before revealing his presence.

He steps into the doorway as the other man approaches.]

I hope ya got somethin' to treat that water before ya drink it

[Reid freezes at the sound of the voice.

Then his eyes flick up, fixing on a man who looks much bigger and much stronger than he is. Not that that's much of a feat, honestly.]

...I hope so too.

[Well. It's very possible that it's a moot point, because logically, this man should try to kill him within the next minute. His brain runs through all options, from running to fighting. Overall, his odds don't look too good.]

I, uh, was hoping I wouldn't have to use fire. Th-that, um, seems like a pretty obvious signal that I'm here.

In other words, you don't. [Eliot shakes his head, a wry smile turning the corners of his lips up. He slides his pack off of his shoulders and rummages through it for a moment before pulling out a medium-sized bottle.]

Use some of this. It should kill most of what's in the water as long is they didn't poison it. [He glanced at the man's wet hands.] At least it's not acid.

[Reid stares at the bottle, then at the man's face, then at the bottle again.

He slowly starts to creep closer, ready to bolt if the man suddenly decides that killing him is actually the smart thing to do.]

Y-you... wh-why are you helping me? I thought... Isn't this supposed to be a gladiator match? Battle for survival?

[Eliot sighs.]

Yeah, it is. But there's a couple people who need to win more than I do. They certainly deserve it more. Besides, I doubt anyone's going to make it through this Arena alone.

[Reid lets out a soft, slow sigh of relief. So this isn't a free-for-all entirely. Some people stay human.]

I-in that case... [He takes the bottle slowly, unscrewing the top and dripping the smallest amount of disinfectant in the murky water.] D-do you want to stay a bit? It's going to be dark soon, and we don't know what will happen at night.

Thanks. [Eliot stepped into the game stand cautiously.] Probably just some of the other Tributes hunting tonight. The Gamemakers usually wait at least a day or two before they throw anything new at us.

[Reid sits down on the ground, carefully taking the algae off the surface of the water and placing it on a plate that he has had lying out specifically for drying things out. So, let's see. Just on him, he has two strips of jerky and some drying algae. Not even enough to support one man, let alone two.] Then as long as we're quiet and don't have a fire, we should be okay, right?

[He eyes the algae, thinking about the food situation.] I think there are sea creatures in the lake that might be more filling if we can figure out how to cook them without a fire.