Welcome to the Coliseum

[sinfulmods]

Event: Welcome to the Coliseum

Shortly after the City-wide flooding, in the wake of the now-infamous Tower break-in, and just after a new City influence comes into play comes a rather odd little invitation: just as citizens were starting to feel as though things were tapering off, it’s obvious that they are not.

For the Chosen, at least.

Towards the end of the week, on July 3, every Chosen in the City will receive the same message: a video from Justice inviting everyone to come to the Coliseum in two days time for some kind of competition. He won’t tell anyone what the prize is, but it’s pretty obvious from the tone of his voice that he thinks it’s pretty good. Everyone will be strongly encouraged to come by, if they want to know what exactly it is they have a shot at.

All Chosen who show up at the appointed time and place will be met by Justice himself, and only at that point is he willing to divulge what it is he’s offering: the chance to go home, providing they’re willing to fight. Not just anyone, though - he expects them to fight each other in an all-out, Hunger Games-style brawl. The thing is that Justice isn’t exactly willing to let anyone who showed up go if they suddenly don’t want to participate. They’re stuck, for all intents and purposes.

Now, some Chosen may remember that Justice hasn’t exactly been a presence the last few weeks, and that rumours had been flying about his disappearance. Unfortunately, he’s not going to answer anything in regards to that, but it does seem like he’s just slightly pissed about things.

Of course, maybe that’s why he wants the Chosen to fight to what looks like it could be the death.

This is a mod-run plot, taking place from July 5 - 6 in game, and August 28 - September 2 OOCly. There will be an announcement in the State of the City to remind players, an official network from Justice that characters may respond to, and a log for all involved players.

FAQ

- What exactly does this plot involve?
All characters who show up to the Coliseum will promptly be locked in it. There isn’t any leaving, not even by magical means, because being held somewhere by a Magistrate generally means that only another Magistrate can let you out. On the plus side, instead of the Coliseum being this closed off, round little arena, all that flooding caused one of the walls to break open, opening it up to a rather large forested area just outside the City.

Characters have full reign over this forested area, so to speak. They will be able to travel three miles from the break in the Coliseum wall in any direction, at which point they hit an invisible force field that will send a current through them not unlike an electric fence. Most people will probably find that they’re knocked out for a couple of minutes if they touch the force field, so it’s not recommended. Periodically, there are sources of clean water, though there are also sources of rather rank water; there is also access to food, including but not limited to berries, greens, and the odd animal.

But at the same time, their time in the Coliseum is not just about surviving the elements: they are also encouraged to survive one another. Justice has made it abundantly clear that there are weapons scattered all around the area, mostly located in the Coliseum itself, and the last man standing will be the one to get their opportunity to go home. Theoretically, at least.

- I’m not into this. Is this plot optional?
It is, providing that your character not sign up for it. If your character would be into the idea, but you, as the player, are not for whatever reason, that’s absolutely acceptable as well - we can come up and handwave extenuating circumstances that would keep the character from being able to participate. If this doesn’t suit either, please come to the mods and we’ll do our best to figure out something that will work best.

- So if it’s a fight to the death, what happens to all the characters who die?
For the duration of this event, all characters who ‘die’ or are given what is likely a killing blow will fall unconscious for a few hours (roughly; this will be up to players), and be healed entirely upon their awakening. They still won’t be able to leave the Coliseum, and will wake up in one of the group dressing rooms in the lower levels there, with no recollection of how they got there and why they’re not dead. From there, they’ll be allowed to head up to the bleachers to watch the rest of the brawl play out.

- What if my character’s immortal / has the ability to heal themselves?
For the duration of this plot, that ability will be quashed. Perhaps not entirely, but characters will be, for all intents and purposes, mortal. This is to even out the playing field between characters who can take a little more than the rest of us squishy humans.

- What if I want my character to keep an injury after the fact?
Why would you do that to your poor character?

Actually, in the case of those wanting to have their character show some sign of having participated, we will be allowing characters to retain one injury even after death. They won’t realise it immediately, but will instead find out just how real the battle was after the fact, once they’ve left the Coliseum. It is up to players as to whether or not they want the injury (of their choosing) to appear immediately after leaving the Coliseum or shortly thereafter, but it must appear before the day’s end.

- What kind of weapons are available and where?
There are mostly various types of knives, but there is the odd other thing as well: staves, spears, a bow, a crossbow, etc. No guns, however. Most of them are found in lockers or under things in the Coliseum itself, but there is also the odd weapon scattered outside as well, such as in the trunk of a tree. Have fun with it! If you have any questions about whether a particular weapon might be available, feel free to ask the mods, and we’ll let you know.

- What if my character tries to escape?
Escape is, effectively, impossible, no matter how determined your character is. If they try to hit the force field bordering the forest too much, they’ll suffer the effects of intense electrocution and will, for all intents and purposes, ‘die’, thus waking up with the other ‘dead’ in the Coliseum. If they try to escape through the Coliseum, they’ll find all their ways out blocked by fallen rocks. But they’re also more than welcome to just get lost in the Coliseum’s winding lower levels, if they’re so inclined. Just watch out for traps.

- What kind of traps?
Think Indiana Jones. There are holes in the floor full of spikes, arrows that shoot out of the walls, rocks that could potentially crush a character - that kind of thing. Once again, if you have any questions about what might happen in the slightly labyrinthine lower levels of the Coliseum, feel free to ask the mods, and we’ll clear anything up.

- What’s up with Justice?
He’s sort of bent out of shape that the Emperor took him out of commission for so long. As some characters have already figured out, he’s the Magistrate of the district ruling over the sin of wrath, so despite his normally casual demeanour, he’s obviously got a bit of a temper.

And apparently he’s taking it out on the Chosen.

- Does this have any ties to that break-in on the Tower?
It absolutely does! Sort of. Consider this punishment for not listening. Some of the Magistrates are obviously more angry than others.

- How are you choosing a winner?
The mods will be using the RNG to determine who ‘wins’ from those who choose to participate, to keep things from getting unbalanced. We know there’s a good chance that, logically, one of the higher-powered characters should win, but instead of having everyone argue it out, we feel as though random is good.

- What are the other characters, who chose not to go, doing?
Likely living their lives, regretting their actions, and generally missing out on all the fun.

But in all honesty, they’re fully capable of finding out exactly what Justice had set up for them. All the televisions in the City are apparently set to show the fights, once again in the same way as the Hunger Games does. If characters don’t necessarily watch TV, they’re welcome to run across it at a bar or in the windows of an electronics shop. And besides that, it’s all the citizens of the City can talk about. It’s kind of exciting for them.

- The Coliseum doesn’t normally look like this, does it?
Not at all. Normally, the Coliseum is a relatively straightforward place, with a couple of areas for fighters to prepare for their battles, and tunnels through which they enter the arena. The stands are set up in a circle around the arena, so everyone has an excellent view of the fighting.

However, since it’s abundantly clear that nothing about this set-up is normal, things are getting a little bit more intense. The stands remain the same, and there’s still a few tunnels leading out to the arena, but the areas that normally act as locker rooms or preparation areas are now expansive and labyrinthine, with stone corridors leading every which way, rather like catacombs. It’s just as easy to get lost under there as it is in the forest outside.

- I have another question that you haven’t answered!
Feel free to ask below, in the appropriate subthread! We’ll be happy to answer it for you!

Please feel free to use this as a plotting post!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[sinfulmods]

Have another question? Ask it here!

[lookingforhope]

Two questions actually:

1. It touches base on characters who are immortal/have healing. But what about abilities in general? Will muses have full scope of those, or will they be dumbed down/stripped?

2. What will happen to those characters who protect ones who have no way to defend themselves?

QUESTIONS. I HAVE THEM.

[artistwithasickness]

1. Will the Chosen involved be allowed their phones?

2. Can Devi have her dagger with her plzkthx? >.>

[intuitive_aptitude]

I know you touched on this a little already, but what happens if whoever is remaining refuses to kill one another? If there are two people left (like a Katniss and Peeta situation), would Justice just kill one of them off?

[toxic_tsarina]

Since I'm the difficult one, is the invitation public? By that I mean, I need to know if Natasha is showing up as herself or as Red Death. I imagine herself, given the whole leaving part (and maybe THIS will be what I need to reveal her true identity), but I wanted to ask, just the same.

I'M SORRY I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ;;

[redfiend]

1. Dante's demon blood allows him to heal pretty instantaneously. Can his healing speed just slow down and become a gradual thing during the event instead of it being outright nonexistent (since it's a part of his blood)?

2. Is Devil Trigger allowed in this event? It's not likely he'll use it, but I'm curious. All he really gains out of it is an increase in strength and speed... his healing speed is pretty slow in it.

3. If not, would he be allowed to partially DT if he's in a tight spot or something (like a desperation mode) and would he be allowed to have a slight boost in his strength and speed? It'd be a tiny increase of his usual, normal (aka non-DT'd) strength and speed.

4. ANOTHER DT RELATED QUESTION... though you can probably fuse this with the other two but, uh, what exactly will nerf it or prevent him from using it? It's not really a power or anything, but a part of him. Actually, as weird as this sounds, it's his true form. >_>

5. I asked about Rebellion being allowed last night on plurk, since he has it on him pretty much 24/7 and was told he was allowed that but, um, what happens to his guns? I know the FAQ says no guns but... Ebony and Ivory and even Coyote-A are pretty much on him all the time. Will they be taken away and put somewhere until the event is over?

[neverbotheredme]

You touched on it with Charles's telepathy, but given what both Elsa and Ingrid did with their ice magic, what would the limitations be for that? Like, would she still be able to create snow monsters or freeze people for indeterminate amounts of time? And should she freeze someone solid (like Ingrid did), would that count as a "death"?

Draco Malfoy | Harry Potter

[alphaophiuchi]

Draco is going to be participating (though not of his own volition; he's going to be dragged in forcibly because of his participation in the Tower break-in). He's not much of a fighter at the best of times, and especially won't be keen on maiming people he knows after his last run-in with that sort of thing. So in all likelihood, he'll probably be getting killed pretty early on, unless RNG grants him some kind of crazy immunity.

Depending on who else is participating, he might just hide out somewhere in the forest and try to avoid everything. I'd love for him to have to watch one of his friends die, or possibly be forced to fight back somewhere down the line, because I like messing with him and triggering wicked PTSD.

[a_chipped_cup]

When he and Belle meet, she could end up getting killed and Draco is the only one to be there with her.

Re: Draco Malfoy | Harry Potter

[queenofbooks]

Do I really want to kill Hermione?

Charles and Caius

[lookingforhope]

Charles is only going to arrive at the Coliseum with intentions of getting his fiance. After that he will do his best to try and help keep people alive with however little his abilities work. If you'd like your character to get help from the telepath, let me know!

Caius is going to be severely affected by this in ways that will trigger PTSD from when he was a gladiator in Rome's Colosseum. But he'll push that aside while trying to protect Margaery (with Oberyn) and others until they, or he dies.

[alphaophiuchi]

I can just see Draco and Charles sticking together and one of them getting taken out, and the other not taking it well at all.

Devi

[artistwithasickness]

Devi is going to be participaing, whether she wants to or not and will be super pissed and frightened. Some how, by player or environment, she's going to die but she's going to go out kicking and screaming, so who wants to fight and struggle with her?

Bring it on.

[alphaophiuchi]

I would love some sort of thing with Draco and Devi commiserating over the fact that they were dragged into this unwillingly. Also maybe protecting one another as best they can for a time.

Ace | A Marvel Universe

[aces_and_eights]

He's most likely going to have to be nerfed power wise but that isn't going to stop him. He's got his own motivation besides the just the 'reward'.

I haven't gotten the time today to properly brain state of mind and all so I reserve the right to tweak!

Though likely he's going to be quiet pissed about the details

[alphaophiuchi]

I feel like he is the lone person who wants to win.

Also we should have them meet up again. It's been ages. Draco will only vaguely remember him.

Natalia Romanova ☭ 616/818/things

[toxic_tsarina]

Um, the Black Widow will absolutely be partaking, because she's pretty effing confident she can win, save for against a few (Oberyn, Magneto, etc). Not that she knows RNGesus is in the house, but still.

I've played the Joker and Baby Firefly, so I don't have very many taboos if someone wants some darker stuff. I rarely get to play Widow-mode, so I might have her sort of be submersed or something?

If you need a run-down of her skills, they're in her app under 'the Abilities'.

[alphaophiuchi]

But the real question is if she can kill her buddies.

Sylar

[intuitive_aptitude]

Yeah, Sylar will be showing up all right. He can't turn a perfectly intriguing invitation down.

He's going to be very, very distressed however. A clear directive to kill everyone around him? Deep, deep down, he's going to want to. But he's basically just spent five years trying to change his ways. Ideally, here are some scenarios that I could totally see happening:

- Someone who doesn't want to kill others being one-on-one with Sylar, when he starts freaking out.
- Some sort of multi-party tag team to suppress Sylar ('cause c'mon this guy has too many powers to be kept down by one person, maybe Charles could do it on his own). Maybe one of them kills him. Maybe he dies by accident.
- He's about to kill someone. Someone else stops Sylar from doing it.
- Somehow Sylar accidentally kills somebody, and that sets up a series of bad consequences.

I can't decide if Sylar will end up killing anyone on purpose yet, but if you're interested in any of these, just let me know!

Separately, if Elle and/or Claire participates, and he sees someone trying to kill them? REACTIONS.

[artistwithasickness]

Sylar is welcome to kill Devi, iffin you want >.>

Hermione Granger| Harry Potter

[queenofbooks]

Well Hermione has fought before, but not in quite sometime. She will most likely die, but she is clever.

Elle Bishop | Heroes

[shocktreatment]

Yep, Elle will be there. Her electrical manipulation ability isn't quite as powerful as on the show, but she can probably stun people quite well with it. She's likely to be protective of Sylar, and if she sees Claire-- well, there might be a begrudging protectiveness there too.

I'm up for anything with her- killing, getting killed. She's a trained agent, but since her power is nerfed and she used to rely on it so much, that's going to put her at a disadvantage. I'm up for her meeting anyone this way (she may try to badly apologize later to anyone she murders).

Louise Gardiner

[doomed_copper]

I know that I already posted this on Plurk, but thought it would be a good idea to crosspost it here, as well.

It wouldn't be IC for Louise to participate in this event due to many reasons, so she will be sitting this out, but I have thought of a few things she might do instead:

Since the Tower break-in, she's really been wary and distrustful of the Magistrates, and will see this "game" at the Coliseum as payback. It's too good to be true, and far too coincidental in time to be otherwise.

She will make a private, secure channel Network post to those she's closest to, and imploring them not to go, not to take the bait.

As she watches her friends die one by one on her television at home, she'll face a loss that she's not felt in quite some time, not since she was abandoned by her partner in 1999, and, when she then took her own life, thereby setting in motion the events that took her to Gene Hunt's copper's limbo world, and then to various other alternative realities before arriving back in 2013 London, shortly before her return to the City.

It will be eerily familiar, and very much a déjà vu scenario, and she will have PTSD as a result, possibly finding herself having that decision in front of her again. Has she learned from the last time? Has she evolved? Or is she the same weak, spineless officer with just bravado masking it?

SPOILER ALERT: She definitely will not off herself. Instead, she'll throw herself into busy work, sequestering herself in her office or flat, or training to the point of exhaustion, or spending too much time at The Bullet Hole. The flask will also make a comeback. Basically, anything and everything she can do to avoid the pain, or show raw emotion. She's going to try to beat it out of herself.

Bruce

[wearebothangry]

Man between Wrath week and this Bruce is in. He'll go hoping to bleed off the rising anger and not for the prize he doesn't really to go home. The Hulk doesn't normally kill, because Bruce's morals are normally in control but the more tired he gets the more likely it is he will either slip and die or kill someone.

[aces_and_eights]

Ok, I'm totally game for Hulk death if that is in the cards RNG. Cause it fits. >>

Boyd

[demolitions]

I'm flailing a bit over this, and subsequently am having a hard time making solid plans, but here's a few vague thoughts.

Boyd in canon, is a killer, no argument, but for the most part in S1-5ish he only kills people more reprehensible than he, associates who've betrayed him and pulled a gun, etc. This changes in S6 and as things get dire and he unravels, he's shown to be fully capable of killing innocents/people who get in his way, in order to survive and also because he trusts no-one.

However, his canon-point in-game is a mixture of end of S3 and end of S5, because of previous game history and a canon update shortly before he left that game. The premise there had involved second chances and he'd embraced that and did pretty well (going on to become mayor, lol), but after the canon update he had a lot of self-loathing (which happened ICly during S5, with some of the abhorrent lines he had to cross to help Ava in prison), which he'd been dealing with back in that game and now this one.

So, given his canonical history and future (which I'm only grudgingly taking into consideration because his shift from bad-guy-but-not-a-bad-man into straight-up villain in S6 was jarring and inconsistent, and therefore seemed ooc), the potential is there for him to go into survival-at-any-cost mode and try to kill everyone else off, but I think I want to temper that with his in-game progress. He's not going to kill anyone unless he has to and I want him to be killed at some point, ideally because he hesitates, not being able to kill the other person first because he likes them; something along those lines, which would be good for his character development.

[toxic_tsarina]

Fucked up idea, but I'm at work so I'll explain later. Idea is Tash kills him so no one else can?? Idk. Will poke you when home. I also had another if she switches to full Widow mode via trigger word.


EDIT - SO. MY IDEA. Waiting to hear back from mods, but if Natasha goes Widow mode, she'd just be seeing red and unfeeling, and would have no hesitations killing everyone. She'd attack Boyd, hence the hesitation to kill? But if another offer comes by that's better or you just plain don't want to explore that, I am more than okay with them being survivor buddies. :3

Oberyn Martell

[dornishviper]

Late plotting is late.

I've only hashed out that Oberyn will be traveling/protecting Margaery and Caius at some point.

Otherwise he's free and OTA. Warning, Oberyn is a very skilled fighter and one of the warriors at the Coliseum; however, upon finding out that he's suppose to fight with his fellow friends here, he's not going to be into the battle. He wants to go home, but not at the cost of harming his friends.

[toxic_tsarina]

My thought was that if Sylar doesn't kill Natasha, Oberyn could (meaning skill-wise). If she's all Widowed-out and won't stop coming at him, would he be more inclined to kill her?

Dante

[redfiend]

Gonna let Dante join in on the fun since the idea of going home would tempt him enough and he'd like to give himself a challenge and ensure he doesn't get rusty. Once he finds out people are going to be dying during this, though, he's going to lose interest fast and try his damnedest to not kill anyone (since it contradicts what his job is about and his own morality).

I'd like to see him slip, though... maybe out of self-defense or desperation. I can also see him joining people and/or helping them out, especially if they plan on trying to stir shit up. ;)

I also have a feeling he will find something about this shady from the get-go. He doesn't know all the details, but he will probably feel something...off about it. Dante's not stupid, that's for sure. >_>

DISREGARD MY UNPOLISHED STUFF.

Gonna let Dante join in on the fun, though he's going to find the whole thing shady. He's bored though and the idea of competition (and maybe even going home but he doesn't care about that much) is going to lull him in. Plus, he probably wants to blow off some steam due to Wrath Week though he won't admit to that.

SO.

Dante's going to be pretty unsettled once he finds out people are dying in this and knows he doesn't want to kill anyone but also knows he doesn't want to die, either. So, he'll turn pretty crafty and evasive... which means he won't be easy to catch.

He's going to be on the defensive rather than the offensive, too, because he's as durable as a human and he knows it. If he gets in any tough spots, he's likely going to devil trigger to get out of them, but that's generally all he'll use it for since it's going to drain him, making him even more vulnerable and that's not something he can afford to happen.

Dante isn't going to be as fast or strong as he's use to being in DT, either. He's going to be just slightly above his normal (aka human form) strength and speed... also, he can't heal while in DT.

Also, being on the defensive doesn't mean Dante won't put up a fight and he's going to put everything he can into said fight to ensure he gets out alive. So, uh, yeah... if you want to try your hand at putting a dent in Dante, let me know.

I also want to see Dante slip and kill people, either out of self-defense or desperation (as said in the scratched out bit). If you're willing to have the honor of being killed by Dante, then hit me up!

Dante is killable, by the way... it's just that he's not going to make it easy for anyone. I'd like to see him go down, but can't see him going down until mid-way through the event or late in it... stubborn mule.

[neverbotheredme]

Elsa: She will be participating in the event, but as more of a defensive sort of way. She's not going to willingly kill anyone, or even like hurting anyone, and will mostly try to either defend herself or save others. I'll update on her magic limits once I hear back from the mods, but she's probably going in with her magic nerfed.

Handy: Will not be participating in the event. Now, he'll be curious as to what the Magistrates are planning (since it's his district) but something is going to prevent him from actually getting into the Coliseum. He's just died recently so I'd rather not kill him a second time so soon.

Once the games start, he's going to be fuming, and he's going to want answers. So if anyone wants to work with him on that, feel free!

[solus_unus]

Seeing as I'm all up and invested in OUaT, I kind of (okay really want) Caius to run into Elsa. He's going to be trying to protect people, so maybe he sees her defending herself and calls out to her to watch out (before someone hurts her)?

As for Handy, Charles was going to send out a telepathic message to people to stay away from the Coliseum after hearing what is about to go down. Perhaps Charles can give him the answers Handy wants?

I want your CR! I miss it <3

[madame_de_pompadour]

Reinette: She's going to sit out during this event, as she's a bit consumed with wedding plans to get involved. As well as house shopping.

Belle: She'll be participating in this event, but unable to really do much combat. She knows a few survival skills, but likely will be getting killed unless she can hide out during all the carnage. I believe she's running into Draco during this.

Margaery: She'll be paying a visit and duped into attending. Oberyn and Caius will be protecting her, but I think I'm going to have her killed. If your character wants to be the one to shank her, let me know.