thecircus | TEST DRIVE ARENA 002

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test drive meme

TEST DRIVE ARENA 002

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). Rule of thumb: If it's a physical difference, the Capitol will not mutilate it out (wings, etc), but other wise it's gone.

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 building is old and musty, light filtering down through the dust particles that every movement sends into the air. It was obviously once a grand and beautiful place, a bustling hub, but this is far from true anymore.

The building consists of multiple levels. The main concourse is a huge, cavernous room, a hard place to hide in, but where all the cornucopia goodies can be found. Blue paint speckled with gold can still be seen clinging to what's left of the room, but any design has long since eroded away. Below that, a floor that ones held business and restaurants of all natures, and lower still levels of tracks, now long past the days of holding trains. Some of these tracks can be followed down a bit, if you want to make the jump down into them, but eventually all end short, either collapsed over the years or long since flooded out, ending in dark, murky water.

You have been outfitted in a pair of heavy cotton denim jeans, solid boots, a light cotton t-shirt and a heavy cotton hoodie. The upper floor can catch a draft, especially as night comes, but below the temperature is moderate, even warm.

Many thins are falling apart here, but the bulk of the building, made of cement and marble, has stood against time well. However, window have long since broken out, and store fronts, benches and counters made of woods have not fared as well.

Al thought electricity stopped here long ago, the Capitol has rigged partial power into the arena. Sometimes. The flickering lights are dim, and unreliable, and seem to always come and go at the worst times. Expect to find yourself exploring a tunnel by flickering lights, to suddenly be plunged into the kind of darkness you can only find under ground. Just you, the rat, and the person following you alone in the cozy darkness.

Supplies.

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

Weapons:
-crowbar
-six-inch serrated hunting knife
-night stick

Equipment:
-day-glow orange backpacks containing the following items:
waterproof matches, high-tensile metal chord (12 feet) iodine
-small crate labeled "apples"
-chords of nylon rope
-metal quart-sized container presumably full of water
-flash lights

**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 rats. They are big, nasty, and hungry. And there are MANY of them, especially if you go into the tunnels.

-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.

-Cave ins. The tunnels have not been maintained. They are not as stable as they once were after years of flooding and damage with no one to patch them up.

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

Wildlife.

**Columba livia. Common city pigeon. They are available in mass, flying in from the broken windows and holes in the roof. They are flighty, and messy, but not particularly smart.

**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...) These guys are EVERYWHERE and some of them get to sizes that might make you wonder if they are cross breeding with stay dogs. And if you explores the tunnels, beware the mythical rat king a massive bundles of rats whose tails have knotted together.

Foodstuffs.

Both the rats and pigeons are edible. In additions, some of the restaurants might have food tucked into the back, in various states of edible.

Dripping water can be found in many places. Drink at your own risk. Some is fine, some...not so much.

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.

Post apocolyptic grand central image from here

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Gaius was used to living the low life, but this joint was lower than most. He made the immediate decision to head for the weapons and gear. Better to get there before everyone else did, and hell, he wasn't afraid of the dark. He'd worry about the lights and rats and possible lockjaw later.

He moved quick and he moved stealthy, sizing up the proffered items with a thief's practiced eye. No sweets, so that just left one item of interest (seriously, what were those weird cylindrical things?): the knife.

Not a sword, but it'd have to do till he could find something better. He grabbed for it without hesitation. Finders keepers, nothing personal and so on and so forth.

At the very beginning, Steve thought that he was going to jump on in and get a handful of weapons and make it out of there, all without a scratch. He's managed the latter, but he's left emptyhanded, and worse, he's left shaken and scared. He went for a knife at the same time as another person, and despite the fact that Steve's in excellent shape, the other person made it first - and then keeled over when someone had clubbed them with the flashlight from behind.

Steve had spent thirty seconds trying to drag them to safety before abandoning the proposition entirely, realizing that their head was resting at an angle usually reserved for horror movies. And then he'd run.

Now he moves through the dark, not going anywhere in particular, running and finding his way through his hands along the walls. The sound of his breath echoes in one of the hallways. He stops to catch his breath, unknowingly placing himself in Gaius' path. He can't see the thief, and at the moment his mind is too filled with images of the fights he just saw to focus and examine his surroundings.

Lucky for Steve, Gaius had nerves of steel, and also lots of practice in figuring out if there was someone else stumbling around in the dark with him. Came in handy when he was dodging a lance thrust or on the run from treasury guards.

He flattened himself to a nearby darkened wall, figuring he might as well try Not Stabbing first. "Hey," he called out to Steve. "Slow down, kid. You're going to trip and break your neck."

Steve comes to a stop and peers into the dark around him. His hands clench into fists. He doesn't know if he'll need to defend himself, but he's really not the hit-first kind of guy - even in the rare cases where he's had to tussle, he's strong and confident enough that he could get out of it without having to do more than put the other guy in an armlock.

He doesn't have that confidence now, but he does have that public speaking background, and he sounds as if he could take on a few people.

"Nah, pretty sure I've got pretty solid feet here. You wanna show yourself?"

"Nope," said Gaius cheerily. "I think I'm good right here." To his credit, he didn't do that creepy walking-around-and-sounding-like-he-came-from-everywhere trick that most assassins seemed to pick up, but he'd never been the bigger guy, just smarter and faster, which meant learning not to take the bait.

Well. Not the obvious bait.

Steve's manner had changed, which meant that either the before or the after had been an act. Which in turn meant Gaius should be pretty sure which was which before he blew the whole surprise advantage thing. "What's the rush? They got a sale on rat-infested sewer tunnels?"

Mellie runs. She doesn't know where she's going, but all that matters is getting away from these people, away from everyone beating and stabbing and fighting each other. She doesn't care that she doesn't have a weapon, or food, or anything but the clothes on her back; she doesn't even care when one of her shoes gets untied until she nearly kills herself tripping on it. Her knees slam into the ground and she yelps, but hearing no one else in this dark corner, she doesn't run any further.

She curls up against the wall and breathes into her hands until she stops shaking and panting. The silence presses in on her, lulling her from blind panic to almost curiosity. She wants to know about her surroundings to...protect herself, she supposes. She needs to go home. She prods at her knees, feels where bruises are forming, but there's no blood. She's okay, for now.

She hears a slight sound. Maybe a rat. Hopefully a rat.

"Wh-who's there? I don't want to hurt you."

Her voice is so weak and noncommital that she doubts anyone will take her for a threat. She throws in an "I mean it" and manages to undercut herself even more.

Now that was the voice of someone who was scared out of their wits if Gaius had ever heard one, and thief or not, he wasn't a jerk. Unless someone paid him. "You know, I usually have to break in before I hear that spiel. Relax; I'm just your friendly neighborhood cat burglar. You don't have happen to have any candy on you, do you?"

He could really use a sugar boost right now. Apples? Barely cut it.

"Candy? No, uh..." Mellie takes a deep breath and runs her hand through her hair. It's a shame it's just a little too short to tie in a knot that stays, because it's getting in her face. "It didn't look like it was in stock, back at the Cornucopia."

Then more quietly, "uh, that was a joke." She feels along the wall until she's standing under a slit of light from the some grate above. If he wants to kill her, she's already given away her position by speaking up, and he doesn't really sound like it. "You're a cat burglar?"

Edited 2013-03-09 21:11 (UTC)

"No kidding," said Gaius, cracking a smile that was audible in his voice. "Didn't even have any proper weapons."

"Anyway, we can't all make an honest living." Gaius sounded perfectly okay with admitting he survived by nabbing things from other people. Because he mostly was. Hell, if he'd been born with a fancy title or something, maybe he'd have been able to sit around all day eating bee larvae or something, but that was just how things shook out. "What do you do, Tiger?"

At the mention of 'proper weapons', and the dry tone of voice, Mellie wraps her arms around herself. That's right, they're supposed to kill each other. She doesn't want to die, per se, but at the same time...she can't help but realize that if she lives it's because other people are dead, other, more worthwhile people, most likely.

She decides to keep her judgment to herself about honest livings. Just because Paul's an FBI agent doesn't mean that she has to delineate between good guys and bad guys so clearly, and besides, there's a wide spectrum between human trafficking and burgling. Maybe he robs just rich people. She'd like to think that. Besides, she had friends in high school who shoplifted, even though she would never do it herself because she felt bad for the retail employees.

"Oh, you know, nothing exciting, like cat burglaring or anything, just your usual office job. I do accounting work for a small business that sells dishes and stuff." She takes another deep breath and winces as her knees twinge. "Can you step into the light, so I can see your face? It's just, it'll scare me a little less, if that's okay. I'm Mellie, by the way."

"Office job?" The term wasn't one that Gaius understood, but it sounded like she was some kind of shopkeeper's assistant. Definitely not someone who should be tooling around ruins with broken glass and nails and other nasty things. "No offense, but you might as well paint a big target on your back. You should find somewhere to hide and wait this out." No shame in running and hiding! That was like the thieves' motto or something.

He considered her proposition. "That's kind of a tall order, Tiger. And normally, I wouldn't do it unless there were at least a couple of pastries to sweeten the deal. But if it's just for a second, I guess I could swing it."

Gaius stepped out into the light, but only for a moment -- staying still in a place like this, who knew what could happen? Afterward, he disappeared back into the shadows, moving to a different location so as to be less of a sitting duck. "The name's Gaius."

"Yeah, you know, cubicle, just me and the fax machine having really long lunch dates, that kind of thing." She knows he has a point, about hiding, and about having a target painted on her back. "I don't know if I can just wait it out while people are killing each other."

Then again, she certainly booked it out of there when they started slaughtering each other over crowbars and nightsticks, and for the first time a wave of guilt starts to wash over her. She tries to push it aside. Better to think about the current situation than the one a few minutes ago - a cat burglar in front of her, talking about pastries, showing his face even though that's clearly not something he's comfortable with.

"Thank you. Gaius. That's a nice name." An unusual one, but she thinks it does sound nice, and knowing she's actually talking to a person and not just to shadows calms her nerves just a little bit. "You're not just telling me to go hide so you can kill me later, are you?"

She'd like to think that people aren't bloodthirsty out here, and he's been kind enough, but his comment about proper weapons is still bouncing around in her head, and it's only been a little while since she was attacked out of nowhere by a hit man.

"Cube of what?" He shook his head. "Never mind. You want the nice answer, or the real answer?"

Gaius knew a lot of people like Mellie. Nice, idealistic, sweet people who thought taking an arrow for someone was a brave, noble thing to do. And it was. But it didn't keep you alive. Which was why, in his mind, the Ylissean army needed people like him. Good at everything, willing to get his hands a little dirty, and so on and so forth.

And also the fact that Ylisse had an awesomely well-stocked and well-guarded treasure vault had nothing to do with it.

"I want the real answer. I mean, I don't think I'm going to like the real answer, don't get me wrong..." Mellie blinks and steps out of the light. "But since I'm probably going to die here from someone or other, it's probably better to just face that then lie to myself."

She's always been the painfully honest sort.

"All right, then. For the record, I don't plan on killing you. In fact, I hope you live. And if it were up to me, we'd all walk out of this alive and weighted down with all the candy we could carry. Unfortunately, unless someone comes out in the next ten minutes and shouts that it was all an elaborate joke, I don't think that's going to happen."

He was really jonesing for something sweet. He tried his pocket, but alas, no luck. "Plan A's finding an escape route out of here; they can't have sealed off everything, and I don't like getting blood on my hands if I don't have to. But I don't plan on dying here, either."

Gaius paused, then shoved his hands in his pockets. "That honest enough for you?"

"Just about honest enough, yeah." It's a nice fantasy, being told that this is all a joke, or better yet all a dream. The dankness of the air, the sting in her legs and the shortness of breath all say otherwise, though. "Thank you."

She sighs and pushes her hair back behind her ears. "If you find that escape route...let me know, okay? I'm a good baker, I can make you a pie or some cupcakes or something."

He gave her a short laugh. "That sounds tasty. In the meantime, why don't we look for a nice place for you to hole up? I'm a pro at the whole hiding thing. You can still walk, right?"

Gaius baked on and off himself, but he tended to oversugar things. A lot.

"I can walk, it's just some bumps. But I think..." She feels bad saying this, because he's been kind enough to her so far, but she does have to look after herself. She won't allow herself to give up and die just because it's probable. "I think I should find where to hide on my own. So you can't find me later."

She licks her lips in the dark. "But thank you. I hope if we see each other again, it's not to kill each other."

"All right," he said, shrugging to adjust the annoyingly close-cut hoodie he was wearing. "Take care of yourself, then."

He continued on into the darkness.

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TEST DRIVE ARENA 002

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