IC - Goelev

[Comissar]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1cydiXZyF1qlkhfco1_500.gif

As you awake to the dawn of a new day, realisation hits you. This is it, the time has come for the Reaping of the 73rd Hunger Games. This has always been an unforgettable day throughout your life.

Getting dressed in your best clothes, you leave your home to join the growing throng of people. Each and every person is making the effort to look their best. The nice clothes are just a formality here, the district tends to treat the reapings more as a celebration than anything else. The tributes will be congratulated, their families becoming the centre of the celebrations. But even through that, there's an uncomfortable undercurrent. Everyone knows that somebody will die. Not today, but as a direct result of today's events. It's a sobering thought.

Just like all the other children in your district, you're lined up with those of your age. Girls stand to one side, boys on the other. Your blood sample is taken by the white clothed peacekeepers at the desk. Once taken, you're ushered into the space in front of the stage. The silence is maddening, and everyone is wearing those false smiles.

Standing on the stage, stationed between two bowls filled with names, is a well built man. His hair carefully styled and his suit well-pressed. His smile doesn't reach his eyes, just like everyone elses...

[Comissar]

If you want to play out any interactions at an earlier time than this, feel free to do so at a different time stamp. Your fellow tribute is also a career, called Athena Carrow (commonly nicknamed Arrow). Your District mentor's are Cashmere and Gloss, your escort is Simeon. Feel free to direct conversation towards them, I'll be controlling them, though.

The speeding train catches your attention as it suddenly begins to slow. For the last hour the train has been speeding along mountains and shooting through tunnels. Finally it comes out of a final tunnel and the sun shines down upon it. With it now slowing, the train track curves to the side and allows you to see in the distance the capital.

A gigantic metropolis, it is comprised of countless metal buildings that stretch into the sky towards the clouds. Never in your life have you seen such tall buildings. Scattered along the skyline are floating ships that hang in the sky.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Na6ePbPVYVc/UWH_BAxX2YI/AAAAAAAALgU/WvLuZokDrgk/s1600/The+capitol+Panem.jpg

The train continues to slow, and eventually closes into the city. People line the track, waving to you as the train enters the capital. The capital citizens are an odd bunch, all dressed in bright colors with bizarre hairstyles and some even have odd grafts on their bodies. The sheer number of them decorating the pristine streets is mind boggling to you.

_______________________

Once the train stops, your chaperone takes you to a nearby building. There a team of highly trained capital employees take over cleaning you. They scrub you clean on a level you've never felt before, removing a layer of skin from your body, thoroughly washing your hair, waxing body hair, and picking any specks of dirt that may be under your nails.

IC - Hunger Games Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?357262-IC-The-Hunger-Games)

[Congruent Bob]

The edited reaping for Goelev goes in the same way up to the male participant. The call of "I volunteer" is shouted in a loud, gruff voice. The crowd exchange bemused looks as a short ginger-haired figure emerges from the back and steps up to the stage. As some people recognise that the volunteer is a dwarf, they suddenly feel more assured as they notice that this dwarf is very tall for his race, and looks more athletic and well-toned for a dwarf; a difficult image to convey underneath a heavy amount of ginger body hair. It looks like what you expect for a District 1 Dwarf.

_________________

Goelev puts on a confident image of an expectant smirk as he surveys the tall, intimidating buildings, but secretly he feels more nervous than he had ever felt before. More nervous than when he volunteered for District 1; he had prepared and imagined that before, it was nothing new to him. But the alienating feeling of the capital, and the pressure that felt so much more real now, was terrifying.

Having already received some odd looks at the reaping, Goelev was the centre of attention so far as peculiar-looking characters went among the tributes. It was almost as though he fitted in in that sense, which Goelev started to think that gave him an advantage - anything he could find would do. As he was going through the cleaning, it took much longer than any other tribute. "I've never felt so clean!" Goelev remarked to the exhausted cleaners once they had finished.

[Comissar]

The chariot from District 1 is the first to take its leave from the parade. It pulls away, heading towards a towering skyscraper. The pair are greeted at the door by Cashmere and Gloss, the two mentor's. Cashmere is grinning broadly, giving the two his own round of applause as they dismount. "Nice work, you two. You looked very strong up there."

Gloss nods in agreement with her brother, "I agree, you did a good job. Come on, we'll show you where you'll be staying for the next few days."

Leading the way, she takes the two Career tributes into an elevator. The ride is a short one, stopping almost as soon as it starts to rise. The doors open to reveal a luxurious apartment. A table laden with food stands center stage, Simeon, District 1's escort, is already sitting there. He raises a glass of wine in greeting as the tributes and mentor's step out. "Good to see you both, you each have a private room and wardrobe if you want to change before you eat. We can talk about strategy once you're back, if you like."

Athena nods curtly, heading off down the corridor to get out of her parade outfit.

[Congruent Bob]

Goelev is beginning to feel tired from all the adrenaline of getting super enthusiastic over all the alien experiences. He says "I will indeed change into something much less heavy" and makes his way to his room.

[Comissar]

Within his room, Goelev finds a wide variety of outfits already prepared and sized for him. It seems the Capital's clothes makers received his measurements almost as soon as his parade outfit was put together. The room itself is in keeping with the luxurious nature of the apartment. There is a huge window looking out onto the city below, along with a control that apparently allows it to be blanked out should he so wish.

From back in the dining room, the sound of muffled voices drifts down the corridor. Perhaps the mentors are discussing their first impressions of the tributes?

[Congruent Bob]

Goelev is intrigued by the chat in the background, so he hurriedly changed into the most regular looking, comfortable clothes he could find, and attempts to listen in from his room, hoping to hear honest opinions, or gossip as it were.

[Comissar]

The sound of conversation resolves itself into Gloss and Cashmere discussing strategy. "It's a strong year, this year. We need to make sure they get into the pack."

"You're worrying too much, they always want us in the pack, we're consistently strong."

"True... What do you think of their strengths?"

"I reviewed some of the training footage, the girl is pretty good with a bow. The boy knows his way around blades. So long as they show it..."

The rest is lost in the sound of footsteps approaching his door. A sharp knock resonates in the room and Goelev recognises Athena's voice, "You in there, Goelev?"

[Congruent Bob]

Goelev tries to hide his intentions of listening in by responding "Oh er, hello Athena! Just finished here now" (You can get me to do a performance check or anything if you think it matters)

In his mind, Goelev quite liked the idea of a pack. He needed people who could back him up and help against the crafty types who wouldn't fight him face to face. And of course, at the right time, he would abandon them, just like anyone else who wanted to win. The thought of having to go solo at some point gave him the figurative shivers.

___________________

As for levelling up, I'll take the average for HP, which is, for D12, 7 (roll) + 4 (con) = +11. New HP is 24!

[Congruent Bob]

Roll for endurance test:

[roll0]

Fortitude mod is +8, so hopefully it isn't a flop.
If it's a 4, does this mean I succeed or fail?

[Comissar]

Nah, should be ok without the perform check

At Goelev's response, Athena opens the door and leans against the frame. She crosses her arms in front of her as she talks, "Just wanted to say 'hi', really. We've not really had a chance to chat since getting here, what with one thing and another." She gives Goelev a smile that fails to reach her eyes, "Had a chance to look at the ones from 2 and 4 yet? Think they'll measure up to us?"

[Congruent Bob]

"Aye, we haven't. It's been quite full-on so far!" Goelev replied cheerfully yet awkwardly. "They look weak to me, apart from the other careers of course. You can see the fear on their faces!" he chuckled, trying to be friendly yet intimidating.

_________________________

Before I roll for the exams, Knowledge: Local is a class skill for barbs, does this mean I can use it? And is there anything else I need to roll for apart from the intelligence check and the will save?

[Comissar]

Athena nods sharply, when she replies her tone is neutral, "I didn't think all that much of Four, to be honest. Neither of them look all that strong physically," Her tone becomes colder, "They're probably the ones we'll want to kill first in the pack, if we even let them in in the first place. Two looks stronger, but we can see about pushing them to deal with Four for us, let them take the risk."

The way she talks almost makes it sound like she believes the only other tributes will be the ones from the Career districts.

Just looked, and reflex is useable for the matching test, and remember that you can add your Con. bonus to your Will save for the electric rod test.

[Congruent Bob]

Goelev was slightly taken aback by the bluntness of mentioning the pack. He made his response equally as serious "You may be right. Then again, once we've eliminated everyone outside the pack, we should try to take out whoever we most fear, like the magic users... I hate magic users."

Is there a post I've missed that gives everyone a summary of what each tribute looks like? I want to be able to have an impression of each guy, but the info seems either spread out and hard-to-obtain or it must have slipped my reading

_______________________

Rolls for exams:

Reflex: (not choosing to risk a survival or Knowledge check to boost this)
Will + con bonus: [roll]1D20+1+4

[Congruent Bob]

Damn, that didn't work... Let me try that again

[roll0]+4 is the will + con bonus

[Comissar]

The faintest hint of a sneer shows on Athena's face at the mention of magic users, "Agreed, too many variables once magic gets involved. That said, they from what I remember from back when we were training, they tend to be softer targets. Shouldn't be too hard to take them out if we get the drop on them."

She glances down the corridor to the main room, "Come on, we can talk it over with the Mentor's. They've got more experience in these things, they may have some tips for us."

You can get a rough idea of what the other tributes look like in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?357260-The-Hunger-Games-Channel). Of course, you're also welcome to ask the others in the OOC what their characters look and act like.

[Congruent Bob]

"Yeah, sure, let's see what they think." Goelev joins Athena in speaking to the mentors. Perhaps they had better experience with who's best in a pack? Who they'd let in, and who they'd keep out and target?

Just so I know how valuable 500xp is worth, would you be happy with answering:

1. How far away are we from level 3?
2. What's the xp gap between 3 and 4?
3. If I spent 1500xp now, how far over level 3 would I be by the start?

Fair enough if you don't want to answer one (or all) of these questions, I'm just trying to weigh up how useful these traits could be, if I'm just going to level up fairly soon into the game and make the trait(s) obsolete.

Speaking of traits, are you happy with this (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/combat-traits/nature-s-mimic) or less likely this (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits/faith-traits/inspired)?

[Comissar]

Athena leads the way, striding into the shared space at the entrance of the apartment. Gloss looks up as the two enter, whatever conversation the two siblings were having appears to have come to an end by this point. She's the first to speak, "Here to talk strategy then? It's looking like a tougher year than normal, I won't lie to you. You'll want to make sure there's no weak links."

Athena nods sharply, eager to plan for the upcoming games. "We've watched the tapes of you two training, it's good stuff." Cashmere grins again, his praise genuine, "We know what you can do with weapons, let's talk about the other bit. What image do you want the Capital to see?"

You're currently just at level 2, so you've got the full level's worth of experience, medium track (i.e. 3000 xp). Gap between 3 and 4 is 4000 xp. I'm afraid I can't answer question 3, buying traits will put you behind by 500/1500 xp, that's all I can tell you.

First trait is fine, second is not.

[Comissar]

Gonna do a jump ahead a bit here, feel free to still respond to my last post. Just divide the two time frames with a line (__________). This part is technically taking place after the training that is currently occuring in the main thread, so it's a little on the timey-wimey side. As such, feel free to make reference to things that crop up in the main thread as though you've already mentioned them in the conversation for this time frame.

Once Athena and Goelev complete their first day's training, they return to their apartment to find Gloss waiting for them. She waves them to sit down at the table, her demeanour serious. "I've got something important to talk to you two about. But first, I want to know what your thoughts are. What do you think of the tributes from four?"

Athena sneers derisively, "Very little, they're not up to the same standard that we are, they're not even up to two's standard's."

Cashmere nods ever so slightly before turning her attention to Goelev, "And you?"

[Congruent Bob]

"For me, I just want to be a likable favourite. So that it's almost like justice is served if I win -- if one of us, wins" Goelev added hastily, glancing at Athena. "I guess that just revolves around not having a decent underdog..."

__________________

"Yeah, they look like they're lacking ability. Not sure if we've seen enough of them, but if they were good enough they'd definitely have shown more than what they have. Are we gonna ditch them?" Goelev was quite relaxed. To be talking freely, knowing they were the favourites, was very comforting.

[Comissar]

Athena smirks at Goelev's clarification, "Don't get too ahead of yourself Goelev, I want to win just as much as you do."

Cashmere ignores Athena's banter, instead opting to respond to Goelev's plan, "Good. Being likeable is really important, it makes getting sponsor's much easier. If that's your game plan, make sure to be good in front of Caesar."

____________________________________

"Well then..." Cashmere pauses, seeming to take care picking his next words, "Would it surprise you to know that Finnick is pushing for Four to be a part of the pack this year?"