LET'S PLAY A GAME

(Not OSHA Approved)

Today, something special was happening. The scents of a huge feast drifted through the trees, the normally quiet Carnival with its few daily visitors instead bustling with guests. Nemean had come and gone, laughing about something, and maybe that was ominous or maybe she'd just heard a funny joke.

It was probably fine.

A new attraction was being unveiled, though. And the fox-imps were happily barking their advertisements: "STEP RIGHT UP! Ride the new... ride, and get AMAZING prizes! Limited time only, no refunds, some restrictions may apply, staff not responsible for injury or death! Show your friends you're the bravest of the brave!" Fangs gleamed in patient grins, clawed hands gesturing guests to step into the 'ride.' Now and then they pointed to a large, round board set up beside the ride. This board had pictures around its edges with various body parts, and a plastic arrow in the middle that could spin round and round to point at a picture at random.

The ride was a large, enclosed quartz sphere. A door at one end allowed even large Gembound to step inside, upon which the door would be firmly closed, and the sphere spun wildly on its rotating steel axis. It would not be pleasant, but at least the riders would be unconscious rather quickly, and anyway, the quartz was cloudy enough to spare viewers any gory details.

Not that anyone would die, or anything. Not really. That wouldn't be fun, after all! ...But every time the ride was turned away, and the door opened, it wasn't a Gembound but their chrysalis pulled out. The fox-imps didn't seem to mind, or to even be surprised. "Wake up renewed, new, and improved! Show everyone the NEW YOU!"

Now, what could that possibly mean..?

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Mutation Slots are changing! Click here for more information on adjustments to cost decreases & the new Mutation Slot type, along with other changes!

To celebrate the release of the Major and Minor Mutation Slots, and the decrease of their costs (along with RCS and UCS price drops), we're running a limited-time event in which your Gembounds can experience the wonderous joy of being shunted back into their chrysalis via a horrific and mildly traumatic Carnival ride! After your character has taken their ride and had their chrysalis lovingly settled into the dirt outside the Carnival, GM tag your post. We will roll, and your character will be given a free Minor Mutation rolled at random!

This event will run until May 15th. All characters will awaken from chrysalis two weeks from their post date.

The jackal that approached looked like it had just crawled out of a hole in the ground that it had not left in a number of years - fur matted and tangled, dusty and dirty, looking gaunt and almost sickly. To a certain extent, that was exactly what had happened. Ever since Fiver had gone missing, Anubis had fallen into a strange depression - not for the child himself, but the wonderful, long-period experiment that had been lost there. So much build up and waiting only for it to slip out of his grasp...

But now...time to take a walk. Perhaps find inspiration elsewhere, stumble across something that could further this madness for knowledge that had latched itself to his brain like a parasite. That was what had brought him to the carnival and...whatever this was. He had never been to this part of the cave before and the idea of being "improved" was fascinating and interesting to him, drawing him like a moth to light.

He stared at the fox-imp, wordlessly, eyes raking over the dial next to the sphere. He didn't understand and oh how he hated having no understanding. He blinked and walked past without a sound, entering the sphere curiously.

It was over quickly and he felt himself drifting into that chrysalis state he'd been in once before. It was different this time, some strange magic blanketing him, before he drifted off into the dark ether of unconsciousness, fully welcoming the stupidity of walking right into the trap - for the sacrifice of knowledge, he truly would do anything.

LET'S PLAY A GAME

(Not OSHA Approved)

The Big Board was dragged over the moment Anubis was inside, the imps making a great deal (with the music growing louder) of flicking and then spinning the giant plastic dial. It looked like a kids' toy, clumsily painted over and then blown out of all proportion, some eight feet high; the various patches to which the arrows could point had poor handwriting and awful pictures of body parts.

Ominous.



The arrow spun, even as the quartz ball tumbled the poor jackal about like a stone to be polished. The arrow came to a halt after several rotations, slowly (as the imps cheered it on, far too loudly) coming to a rest over the section labelled "FUR".

"...But it's already got fur," one complained, confused. They all looked up as a spark of magic shimmered over the dial, then shot to the ball that held Anubis. "Eh, trust the magic," another said.

The ball's door was swung wide the moment it had stopped rotating. The dark-hued chrysalis was dumped unceremoniously out, dragged away by cheering imps, and the leader turned with a manic grin.

"NEXT!"

@Anubis will awaken with the rear and lower half of his body covered in shining, golden scales. They're soft and metallic, like some species of fish or a gleaming snake, and make him look as though he's partly made of gold.

Games? Ah, oh, Deli liked games! They'd never had the pleasure to visit the carnival themselves, but the sight of all the mischievous joy, the rolling marble thing, oh it was just right up their alley! With a barking laugh, they headed up to the place where the entrance to the glass sphere was and looked down at all the strange little attendants. "Well this certainly looks extremely dangerous and not safe at all!" They watched, briefly, as the last rider of the attraction was unceremoniously spat out in a chrysalis.

Without a moment of hesitation, Deli stepped inside once the door was open again. Whatever the fuck this thing was, they sure weren't gonna be missing out on it!

LET'S PLAY A GAME

(Not OSHA Approved)

"STEP RIGHT UP!" came the cries, cheerful backslaps of camaraderie aimed Deli's way as they entered The Ball™. Then the door slammed shut, and it began to tumble, an unpleasant sensation to say the least.

Trauma and broken bones aside, the cheers outside were at least enthusiastic. They took on a rhythmic tune, and was that-... were they chanting, 'Die! Die! Die!'? ...No, it must've been something else. Hard to tell through all the quartz. And the being knocked unconscious.

At length the wild careening of the globe was stopped, and Deli's shining green chrysalis was dragged out and dumped in the woods. What a wonderful ride.

"NEXT!"

@Deli will awaken with a beautiful, curving set of branched antlers.

GM note: I rolled Reindeer, but feel free to use whatever deer you like!

Aran, if he's truly honest to himself, only got on the ride because of his dangerous curiosity. And curiosity killed the cat - or deer - in this case. His bird vision - and his bird's vision - allow him to see the quartz, see the strange sphere. It's not something that looks particularly dangerous, but well. Aran knows how these caves work, he's been around long enough.

He steps inside.

The strange ride begins to spin, and spin until Aran gets knocked out by the thing right into his chrysalis. Frankly, one of the impressive ones he's had in his lifetime.

LET'S PLAY A GAME

(Not OSHA Approved)

"AHA, our next PLAYER!" Grins and bows escorted Aran to his deadly sphere, and from there--after a horrific, jarring spinning and jolting--back out in his beautiful gemstone. The brilliant green was prodded and poked for a moment, and then the Imps began to laugh. "Bumblebugs," one snickered.

"NEXT!"

However, a couple of the fox-imps... lingered. One had picked up Aran's bird-skull necklace, and moved to pocket it--but another black-furred hand grabbed this one's wrist. A shake of a head, and then a quiet "That's one of his," was enough to have the first imp hastily drop it on Aran's stone--where it'd safely remain until his awakening.

@Aran will awaken with his brown and white colors still intact... but rearranged into the broad, distinct stripes of a bumblebee.

Sair

Sair had little awareness about what was to come. That was the point, wasn't it? Researching the unknown? She wanted to learn the secrets of the world around her, to know the ancients and their crafts as if she once lived in their time. They wanted knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and others to share their discoveries with. What more could one want?
The horse wasn't nervous, really, but they weren't excited either. Just... curious. There was no stronger motivation than curiosity, not for this one.
The tumbling, the crunching, and was that a scream? It was enough to light him on fire, muscles taut with an instinctual urge to run. He'd done a lot of that already though, and was less than keen to ignore such a shining opportunity. How could one learn about mutations without mutating?
They could only hope it was something useful.

"Speaking." Thinking. Doing.
OOC:

We don't know how to accept we're just a product of a chance /
And less like gods but more like plants

Edeltraud thought the little fox she had followed suspicious, but couldn't help but indulge her curiosity. It was so small and cute--she'd already started mulling over names for it. She left Bly and Freda behind of course, she couldnt risk an incident where the new doll tried to eat one of them. Inadvertently, she'd ended up following the fox into the carnival. At first the bright lights and eerie fog had left her uneasy, but she was nothing if not a trooper! No spooky terrain could keep her from a new adorable little doll.

She was goaded forward by throngs of the imps through their twisting labyrinth of a carnival, before being left dazed and reeling in front of the orb. "Oh my," Edeltraud muttered. "Whats this...? The new me?" She tilted her head as she stared at the board. Perhaps she'd be granted a smidge of confidence if she looked different! Some spikes or extra horns would surely make her more intimidating than her stature alone. She cautiously trotted to the entrance once it was cleared out. "This isn't dangerous, is it? While I would adore a change, I'm rather nervous of this thing. How does it work? Why does it shake? May I take a peek inside?"

She put a single foot in, stretching her neck forward to get a good view. "I'm rather curious of how this contraption works, surely it does not simply shake you to death or something so brutish, no one would get into a ride that dangerous!" Edeltraud said, seconds before being shaken to death.

She leaned further in, bringing in her second hoof. Evidently she had been taking too long, as someone pushed her rear in, and she stumbled fully inside. The door clicked behind her. Edeltraud blinked. Her eyes widened in horror. She got out a single, "wait!", before the ride began, tumbling her to death.

LET'S PLAY A GAME

(Not OSHA Approved)

Cheers and jeers filled the air as new victims thrillseekers rode the brand new attraction. The massive sphere nearly broke at Sair's size, careening this way and that and nearly cracking or ricocheting off its stands. Their chrysalis was not easy to remove, and the Imps had to call over a number of others to help them out.

After it was dragged free, the poor hapless sheep was next: the imps doubled over in laughter to see little stick-legs, barely visible as a silhouette, briefly framed against the quartz. Cheers met the sphere as it stopped, and more cheers as Edeltraud's chrysalis was dragged free.

@Sair will awaken with altered hind legs: the hook-taloned feet of a bird of prey in place of their hooves. @Edeltraud will awaken... red, those parts of her wool that were once pale now a brilliant carmine hue.