idolpro | SESSION 7

[ Though only part of the forest can be accessed before hitting the invisible wall, LiliS' area has enough foliage to get lost in, if you wanted to hide. However, you'll want to be on the lookout—it feels like there's something distinctly alive in these woods. Maybe dozens of somethings...

Speaking of dozens of somethings, if you look around, you'll surprisingly be able to find any number of any kind of plant seed here, even if it's not suitable for the environment. Huh.

A river runs through the forest, going into the direction of the swamp.

In the center clearing, there's a wooden statue that stretches out to the sky, looking like a beacon for anyone who's lost their way. (20HP)

No matter where you are, it seems like the vines are constantly trying to trip you up. Non-Rapunzel users lose 2 Agility in this zone.

You can go northeast to the Clinic, or follow the river southeast to the Swamp/Park, or you can go south to the Mountain's Edge. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:09 (UTC)

[ In this zone is a run-down clinic. It really speaks to how rural this area must be, or at least how old this clinic must be, because there are only two rooms: the waiting room and the doctor's office. Besides that, the windows are plentiful and tall, so it's a little hard to hide in this area.

Weirdly, there doesn't seem to be anything available here to treat anyone—no first aid equipment at all?—but there is a vending machine. Press any button on it and you'll get a Sn〇〇er's bar. Because you're not you when you're hungry.

In the inner room is a statue with a plush exterior. It almost looks taxidermied. It's kind of … creepy. But it's kind of … cute? (20HP)

A strange gas emits from the clinic seemingly at all times—it's hard to tell where the source is. One thing's for sure, though: standing in the gas makes you feel like you're on fire, though you can logically tell there's no damage happening to you. Those who don't have the "become so Numb" effect lose 2 of a random stat (can be spread out) while in this zone.

You can go southwest to the Forest's Edge, south to the Swamp/Park, southeast to the Junkyard, or northeast to the Water Park. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:11 (UTC)

[ The water park might be a little too shabby. It consists primarily of a swimming pool, a couple slip 'n slides on the grass, a few hoses that reach anywhere in the zone, and a fire sprinkler hallway (with the water always on and blasting) that leads to the changing room.

At least there are fashionable slip-proof crocs available in the changing area. But, with how much water there is on the ground, it'd be pretty bad if someone messed with the temperature, or dropped an exposed wire and electrified the whole zone…

Near the pool is a lifeguard's stand, and on top of it, a statue with a whistle. (20HP)

The clouds are dark in this area, taking away what sunlight exists—and, perhaps more importantly, lowering the temperature here to an impossibly chilly degree. It's hard to move with how cold it is. Those in an area unaffected by Thermo-Dynamic lose 2 Agility in this zone.

You can go southwest to the Clinic, south to the Junkyard, southeast to the Construction Site, or northeast to the School. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:39 (UTC)

[ When you enter this zone, the school gates close behind you. You're now, for better or worse, in the schoolyard, where it looks like there's some sort of outdoor club presentation day or something.

There are a number of pamphlets everywhere here, each pamphlet with a simple fill-in-the-blank form:

Contract: I will protect _____ Reward: _____ Punishment: _____ x_____	Contract: I will fight and/or^{circle one} kill _____ Reward: _____ Punishment: _____ x_____
Contract: I will _____ Reward: _____ Punishment: _____ x_____	Contract: I will not _____ Reward: _____ Punishment: _____ x_____

There are also pens, pencils, and brushes all available, though, you know. If you're desperate for a signature, blood will do.

The school statue—a majestic, historical-looking person in a hakama—stands in the middle of the school courtyard. (20HP)

The school gates lock from the inside with an odd unlocking mechanism: you must win a brief game of Concentration shown on the gate's screen to get out. By brief, it is brief—blink and you'll miss them showing the cards to you. Non-Photographic Memory users must roll 5 or higher on Adaptability to leave this zone.

You can go southwest to the Water Park, or you can go south to the Construction Site. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers (you still have to unlock the manhole via Concentration though). ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:16 (UTC)

[ This construction site is dangerous, even without any of the equipment being operable. There are two-by-fours and steel beams haphazardly placed, some erected already to start creating the skeleton of a new building.

They're surprisingly sturdy, though someone with a keen eye for weak points could easily collapse a support beam, which could work pretty well as either a distraction or a killing blow.

A menacing statue stands on a few wooden pallets. (20HP)

With all the construction going on, it's no wonder that the dust kicks up every time someone moves around, especially in a fight. Non-Hysmine Blessing users lose 2 Agility when fighting in this area.

You can go north to the School, northwest to the Water Park, southwest to the Junkyard, or you can go south to the General Store. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:17 (UTC)

[ One man's trash is another man's treasure, they say—and the junkyard is full of treasures, if you consider big hunks of metal and destroyed cars and broken appliances to be just that. There isn't anything like a weapon here, but then, given the unit, isn't everything here actually a weapon?

Surprisingly, there are a few things that could start working if they were simply repaired. It looks like some owners just didn't bother.

On the top of one of the junk heaps is a metal statue of Ha〇〇〇ne M〇〇u. This isn't junk! (20HP)

There's actually a lot of useful junk here, if you find the right way to use it. Personal Assistants get 1 point toward any stat when Gadgeteered with items specifically from the Junkyard. This can be done twice.

You can go north to the Water Park, northeast to the Construction Site, southeast to the General Store, south to the Shopping Street, southwest to the Swamp/Park, or northwest to the Clinic. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:18 (UTC)

[ With sparser trees in this swamp, it seems like a great place to make a park … not! The swamp water is knee-deep and also, more importantly, it's definitely infested with something in the waters!? But whatever, guess the town decided to put up a jungle gym here anyway! In order to get anywhere in this zone, you'll have to either wade through the swamp waters or climb the monkey bars. Pick your poison.

Interestingly, the animals do seem pretty intelligent, if not understanding of human language. Maybe they could even cooperate with a competitor they respect.

What's that!? Near the center of the swamp is a lion chimera…-like statue, which looks intimidating at first. Huh. False alarm. (20HP)

The only signs of life besides you resides in this swamp, and oh, the animals aren't friendly. Non-Primal Instinct (Name Pending) users must roll Endurance:
3+: They're intimidating, but none will approach unless aggressed. Still, you have to be cautious. Lose 2 points in Agility.
0-2: You aren't welcome here, and they can smell your fear. A number of circling birds swoop down to claw at you to show just how (un)welcome you are here! Lose 2HP.
You can go north to the Clinic, northeast to the Junkyard, southeast to the Shopping Street, south to the WcDonald's, southwest to the Mountain's Edge, or northwest to the Forest's Edge. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:28 (UTC)

[ You stand at the base of a mountain, beyond which the entrance to the abandoned mines stands. More intriguing, though, is how shaky the ground is here—you can feel tremors on the ground constantly, as though there's always a low-key earthquake going on here, and it's hard to keep your balance.

If only your feet didn't touch the ground, then it wouldn't matter, would it?

In front of the entrance to the abandoned mines is a tall statue of someone beautiful. No? You don't think so? (20HP)

Possibly as a result of the earthquake, there are rocks constantly falling from the mountaintop, especially when someone enters the zone. Upon entering this zone, non-Verticality users must roll Agility or Adaptability:
3+: You managed to dodge it, but the shakiness is really starting to get to you… Lose 2 points from any given stat.
0-2: Ouch! Direct hit! Lose 2HP.
You can go north to the Forest's Edge, northeast to the Swamp/Park, southeast to the WcDonald's, or go through the south entrance to the Abandoned Mines. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:32 (UTC)

[ Inside the mountain are the abandoned mines, though you only have access to the beginning cavern and a couple tunnels … possibly because these mines might be fucked? The main cavern is wayyy, waaaaaaay farther down than any of the exits, including the manhole, and it's too steep to climb back up. You can use any one of the minecarts though—just get into one and toss a rock to get the switch on and you'll be on your way!

Alternatively, you could get a friend to hit the switch and get you up.

Near the switch is the statue of a miner, except that looks more like a Henshin form. It works?? (20HP)

The minerals glittering in the walls fill you and your aibou with DETERMINATION. Aibou are granted 2 points to be allocated to any stat.

You can leave to the outside world in a couple ways: the north entrance, to the Mountain's Edge, or northeast through the secret tunnel to get to the … WcDonald's? Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:32 (UTC)

[ It's everyone's beloved fast food restaurant, WcDonald's! Which of course means you've got access to the dining area, the food prep area, and also . . . .the jungle gym and ball pit.

It's fun. Plus, behind the food prep area (or in the depths of the ball pit) you can find every toy that MWcDonald's has ever made. This is definitely useful.

There's a Lonard Wcdonard statue in the middle of the dining area. Do you like clowns? (20HP)

This is the F U N Z O N E. In the F U N Z O N E, you may have to take certain risks, such as a giant flyswatter slapping you in the face for 2HP as soon as you enter the zone. Of course, if you had Foresight, you could easily avoid the flyswatter.

You can go southwest through the weird hole in the wall at the back of the food prep area to get to the Abandoned Mines, or northwest through a regular door to the Mountain's Edge, or north through the drive through to the Swamp/Park, or northeast through the back entrance to the Shopping Street. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:42 (UTC)

[ Welcome to the Shopping Street! You can find anything and everything here—or at least, you can find the shop that would have it, if this world were fair and just and not just a simulacrum created for death games. Every shop is a street vendor with its own umbrella or tent, unattended by anyone. Somehow, though, they move—and all too abruptly, too: they shuffle one tent down to the side, or maybe two; they meet in the middle, tables and containers slamming into each other, like a particularly reckless Thousand Night Parade of inanimate objects dancing to an imaginary, militant tune.

Weirdly, while they all "sell" a variety of different things, they all have framed pictures of swords. Specifically swords. Could this be used for something?

The statue is always moving here, carried by the stalls moving back and forth and every which way. It seems to be of a military general, and has a framed picture of a sword. (20HP)

With all the hustle and bustle, the ground isn't safe. The only real place you can stand without getting crushed by the tables and wares are either the walls of the buildings that the Shopping Street occupies between, or the tops of the tents themselves. Non-Stability users must roll Agility every turn:
2+: You manage to get on top of one of the street vendors' tents, and your footing is solid … for now.
1: You can't keep yourself out of vendor traffic, either knocked down by a particularly tall street vendor tent or otherwise just losing your footing. Lose 1 turn to climbing back up.
0: You've been swept away by the shops. Roll a 1d12 to land in a different zone corresponding to the unit number: 1 is LiliS, 12 is BARiTONES.
You can escape southwest to the WcDonald's, northwest to the Swamp/Park, north to the Junkyard, or northeast to the General Store. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:35 (UTC)

[ For being the only store in a building in this part of town, its empty shelves sure are disappointing. Still, you could hide behind the shelves if you needed?

There's only booze in the form of water bottles here. I mean, it's actually water in the form of water bottles, but is it really water around BARiTONES?

The statue is a cashier. Please put it out of its misery. (20HP)

Something broke that wasn't supposed to, and the whole store is filled with an odorless white gas. Breathing it in makes you feel sleepy ... Upon entering the General Store, roll Endurance every turn:
2+: You manage to resist the sleepiness. If you fell asleep, you manage to wake up. Lose 2 points in any stat once until you leave the area.
0-1: You're asleep. Lose 1 turn in the waking world. If you are in a BARiTONES dreamscape, lose 2 once as long as you're asleep, until you wake up again (and it will reset).
You can go southwest to the Shopping Street, northwest to the Junkyard, or north to the Construction Site. Or, you can uncover the manhole and escape into the sewers. ]

Edited 2021-10-03 15:36 (UTC)

[ You'd think this place was a maze, but it's actually just a wide, open space, with nothing to duck and hide behind. There are crisscrossings of railings everywhere so you can get to any ladder.

Before anyone asks, yeah, the smell in this place is absolutely rancid. The liquid underneath the railing looks straight up toxic-green and deadly, and … occasionally, when a rock drops into the acid, it hisses as it melts.

The acid will eat away at your clothes, your skin, and even your bones if you let it. Don't fall. Characters who fall into the acid lose either 1 stat point or 1 HP per comment. Without use of abilities, it takes three comments to climb the nearest ladder out of the acid.

You can take any of the ladders to the following: ]

Forest's Edge here	Clinic here	Water Park here	School here
Construction Site here	Junkyard here	Swamp/Park here	Mountain's Edge here
Abandoned Mines here	WcDonald's here	Shopping Street here	General Store here