07.13i: The Most and Least Fair

[Joshua]

As stated, one may perceive a second party existing in the same place but out of 'social phase*' from the rest. High elves, elder fae and similar are interacting with each other in this space, most with dozens of feet between them. The game** is slow, whatever passes for moves within it also involves noticing if a move has been made or not.

At least one of the participants, a gargoyle-style creature with polished granite-like skin, had offered an invite, which Krajk did not turn down.

Also among the participants is Darnell. And within that context, the purpose of the game becomes slightly more clear. The stakes of the game are oneself and he is losing. No one has spotted him because another has taken his flamboyance*. He looks slightly weak as his vitality is drained**.

At which point, said polished-skin gargoyle will flash a set of razor-sharp teeth. There’s a sensation of loss as the magic (force? curse?) holding you in a form weakens a moment. There is clearly some kind of grand ritual to the game that’s intertwined to all the participants, and the social aspects seem to become or dictate reality. In this case, the gargoyle is attempting to assume Krajk’s shapeshifting***, as his teeth become increasingly sharklike, a second row starting to be visible.
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*: This is still Amber, so magic is relatively weak. Judging by the fact these actions are permitted, it is unlikely that this is fatal. Still, Krajk has no way of knowing that.
**: Vitality drained like a flu or a few extra points of bad stuff; he's not desiccating or anything that extreme.
***: It's some sort of psychic attack, akin to a power-word level of strength, only... pervasive. You could respond psychically, socially, or physically... The game seems to be social.

[Krajk]

((Arg, segregating characters by browser just bit me in the rump... Somehow managed to close Chrome before I'd actually finished writing up a post. Liked the phrasing of the missing post better too, but that always seems to be the case.))

One of Krajk's eyebrows tilts up a miniscule amount, and then it and its twin inch downwards an equally small degree. He glances down at the plate of easily eaten oddments he'd picked up at some point during Odin and Harrune's first game, lips pursed thoughtfully* and seemingly unconcerned with the psychic assault. He stabs his fork at a particularly messy ball (presumably some sort of pastry or cake bite, but it's hard to tell under the thick glaze/sauce)... and manages to hit it at just the right glancing angle to 'improbably' send it flying off the plate and bounce squarely off the gargoyle's philtrum**. "Apologies," Krajk says, not sounding at all apologetic, "I'm afraid fine dining and subtlety aren't skills particularly useful to a solitary hand-less aquatic predator; I appear to be a bit rusty, though I doubt you're in any danger of catching tetanus at least..."

(*He's actually debating which sampler bit he's least interested in and thus most willing to sacrifice for the cause.)
(**Or equivalent location, depending on anatomy. Also, I am impressed I remembered that word at all, let alone found a way to work it into a post...)

[Joshua]

The gargoyle snatches the pastry out of the air with one bite. He whispers*, "Too much talk." before turning away and floating a little further from Krajk.

Your mind expands**. Seeing for a moment the infinite dance of the fae and the methods they devour the aspects of each other. For a moment, you lament that the rules in Amber prevent a proper, long term duel for gain. Just a moment, before your sense of self kicks in, although, the impression lasts.

Darnell's punishment and situation seems a bit more clear. He's fighting for a place 'at the table'. Without shapeshifting, he's at a severe disadvantage though. Being fluid and malleable is essential in consuming traits.
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*: Seems that once you're part of the second event, you can always hear each other.
**: You have lost your Predator's Sensibilities quirk and replaced it with "Knows the rules, so he can break them."***
***: OOC: These changes are until you drop out of the second party. You likely know that instinctively, due to the above. The transfer is mostly that flinging food isn't shark-like, but turning away and ignoring you isn't very social.

[Krajk]

Krajk flinches visibly at the hidden attack, though the motion/impression only lasts for a scant fraction of a second. His pupils seem to dilate until the entirety of his eyes is an unrelieved ink-black. His breath hisses out from between clenched teeth that seem slightly pointier than a moment before, and then a moment later a small dagger* appears in his hand. Fortunately for the more paranoid he does not proceed to stalk after the gargoyle... at least not yet. Instead he clenches one hand around the blade of the dagger while setting his plate of oddments aside in favor of picking up a napkin. The dagger vanishes back to wherever it appeared from in the first place just as 'magically' as he lifts his gashed hand to his lips and takes a good taste of the blood. Lowering his hand, he quickly and deftly mops up the remaining blood (the gash itself is already more or less healed) with the napkin which then is equally quickly and deftly folded such that the stained section is safely in the middle and then stuffed into a pocket somewhere. The entire set of motions, from the drawing of the dagger to the pocketing of the bloodstained napkin, couldn't have taken more than six or seven seconds, probably less. Not quite a 'blink and you missed it' but remarkably close though, especially with most people distracted by the party. By this point his eyes have returned to normal as has his breathing and with a savage sideways mental 'lunge'** he breaks loose from the hellhole of a soul-raping game.

With a quick glance to make sure Odin isn't likely to need him over the next few moments, the wereshark makes his way through the crowd following the gargoyle along such a path that he ostensibly could just have coincidentally*** passed by the gargoyle on his way to some table or another of beverages. As he passes by the fae Krajk will simply say, quietly enough that the sounds of the party render his words more or less inaudible more than a few feet away, "Fortunately I value my employer's reputation more than my own satisfaction..." And yes, the ellipsis is quite 'audible'. Short of the gargoyle doing something Krajk actually cares about (which wouldn't be much at this point), Krajk will keep wending his way through the party until he reaches the beverage table whereupon he will make a selection and return to his temporarily abandoned sampler plate.

(*It's certainly not one of the ones visible, probably came from a wrist sheathe or something. Tiny too, whole thing isn't much longer than a finger, certainly too short to be much use in combat. Apparently great for surreptitiously drawing one's own blood without causing a scene though...)
(**An impression of a cat kicking dirt over a toilet spot would be closer to what he's feeling but he's a shark, not a cat.)
(***Coincidence, yes, he swears. Very much a fig leaf sort of ostensible. Also, in the interests of conservation of asterisks, I will hijack my own OOC snark to point out it's entirely probable that Odin at least would have noticed Krajk's inadvertent flirtation with uncontrolled vengeance/bloodthirst (rather similar to WW's frenzy, for all that he's not a Rokea) but that he got it under control just as fast.)

[Joshua]

Looks like that game ends without further incident. The fae, seem a little unnerved, but that's more... well... there's a scene in Ghost Story where Bob casually described cutting off part of his soul and is surprised that Harry is terrified/freaked out by the practice. It's a little like that. The fae ARE doing something horrific, but they don't see it as such and believe whoever participates does so voluntarily and eagerly.

OOC: Sorry about the confusion and mixup. New thread?