Author Games: Dawn of Nameless Desires

Task Three: Charisma Check

 Clemathia looked down upon her subjects with nothing but a smirk gracing her bare face. For an elf such as herself, she need not bother with makeup or masks to hide her beauty. While her subjects had donned the wildest of outfits, some going as far as to appear to have sheared a whole peacock, she wore a simple green gown that flowed elegantly at her feet.

With the swish of her hand, she ushered the orchestra to silence. The whole crowd looked up to her with wide eyes. "Welcome to Trokya, fair champions," she began, her voice echoing throughout the room, "It is time for the 200th annual Trokyian Ball, held in honor of the Godchosen Champions. At this ball, you'll be able to meet with tons of royalty which may be so kind as to give you things for your journey ahead. The stained glass memorials to each god will let you gaze contemplatively out the windows and feel just a tinge of sadness for whatsoever your sorrow might be at this current moment."

Stopping to spare a moment to look at the two fae queens, and the three mismatched men who seemed far more fit for a start of an orc joke than anything else, she gave them a bow. "And to the royalty who have come to visit us, we welcome you too to our fair home of Troyka. Tonight, our empire is your empire," she said. Perhaps it was the wine leading her on, but she had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything else about her 'royal' guests.

That introduction done, she sat down. The luscious notes of harps began the winds section of her orchestra and just as they started to crescendo into a billowing song, she began to drink once more. It was one thing to have the Godchosen in her sights. It was another thing to have their countries' leaders there as well. And it was a goddamn slight of everything that she knew--absolutely knew, that there were traitors to the Nation of Hiudrall in the midst. She sat down the wine and waved off the tiefling who'd come to refill her glass. She didn't need to drink more. She needed to get her Godchosen out of Trokya and onto the next task already.

As one song ended, and another was about to begin, she rose again. This time, with a flick of her wrist and a smile strong enough to hold whatever was left of her empire together, she loudly let the crowd know the second task.

"Oh, Godchosen," she said. "As far as your second task? Decode a riddle to be led to your second prize. The foolish man wastes me, The average man spends me, And wise man invests me, Yet all men succumb to me. What am I?"

Out amongst the crowd, murmurs broke out. It wasn't often that the townspeople got to hear the direct tasks of the Godchosen. "The individual awaiting you at the answer will lead you to a place of great importance. Be careful, Godchosen. And, for the Gods' sake, be quick about it."

***

Touya Watanabe, Saint Salvius Shiva, Devron Linster, Ira 'Sesa' Vasuki, Avis, Eryhissa Stoneheart:

You've been released from your writing duties. However, we'd love if you stayed around and watched the rest of the competition/encouraged your old teammates!

***

TASK REQUIREMENTS:

Dress in your finest and attend the ball with your party! Go crazy with details, we look forward to it. It's time for your inner designer to come out--or, if you'd rather, your inner cynicism towards fashion. You must provide an answer to the riddle and obtain a hidden scroll that will not open until it is the Right Time.

WORD LIMIT:

2500 words

DUE DATE:

October 2nd, 10 pm EST.

If you need us to figure out what time is for different time zones, PM the acct, and we will let you know! :)

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