Capture the Flag: Game One

[notthatjason]

characters: Jason, Quentin, Eliot, Rosi, Coraline, Luna, Javert, Kol, Mary, Matt, Bruce, Vanitas, Riku, Noct, OTHERS ARE FREE TO POKE IN.
location: Bonfire Square @ start, from there it's open to various explored locations
date/time: September 14, evening
content: During the town hall it was suggested that they start learning how to fight and more specifically how to fight in the dark on uneven ground. Jason took this as an opening to suggest the ancient Camp Half-Blood tradition of Capture the Flag. So now he's going to host a game...this is that game
warnings: None so far...


OOC: I'm just giving a general mapping out of the game here. You guys go nuts with top levels and flag shenanigans. If you want to see Jason specifically just let me know. Questions Can Be Posted Here

I. A Challenge is set…
(Thread Suggestions: Mingle at the bonfire, meet with Jason, discuss strategy, set up team base w. flag, etc.)

The moon is full and the sound of buzzing bugs is a little distant when you’re this close to the bonfire. Jason stands before it with a flag planted in the ground on either side of where he stands. He stands tall, looking a little serious for someone about to host what some would deem a children’s game. It’s less of a children’s game to him though, injuries occur and you can never tell what might be lurking in the woods around a demigod camp. Jason is prepared for the worst and his serious look makes him come across as the Roman praetor or general he once was. He’d spent most of the past few days talking to the others and now all he could do was wait.

When the first participants start to arrive, Jason may chat with you, but it’s not long before those that agreed to play are all assembled before the bonfire. Once gathered, Jason will spend some time sorting teams, captains, and reminding everyone of the rules:

Team 1
Eliot (Captain)
Rosi
Coraline
Luna
Team 2
The Princesses
Javert
Kol (Captain)
Mary
Matt

Rules
1. Each team will be given a flag. Teams will be expected to hide their flag somewhere visible, but easily defensible. To win for your team, you will need to capture the opponent’s flag and bring it to Bonfire Square.

2. Hiding flags in any of the buildings is off limits. The boundary is all areas previously explored.

3. Abilities are allowed with a few exceptions. Namely, since the point of this exercise is to promote cooperation and especially focus on navigating in rough terrain in the dark, players must stay on the ground. They can also only handle the flag with their hands and not with any sort of ability. This should hopefully prevent anyone from just playing keep away with the flag overhead or teleporting the flag to different locations.

4. The flags must be prominently displayed and can have no more than two guards. The guards are not allowed to stand within ten yards of the flag.

5. There is to be no killing or maiming. You are allowed to take prisoners and disarm them, but do not bind or gag the prisoners.

Once teams and rules are known, Jason gives the teams a few minutes to discuss their strategy and then shouts:

“Teams! Move out and set up your flags. You have ten minutes!”

And Jason watched as they wandered off with their chosen flags. He’d decided to sit out this time and play referee, but he was curious to see how both teams would progress tonight. Where will you team take the flag?

II. A Twist in the game…
(Thread Suggestions: Mingle at team base, encounters with forest spirits, encounters with other players, encounters with Jason, enter Team Shadow, this is the bulk of game play really...so go nuts)
The game takes off, players taking prisoners, prisoners escaping, and flags under guard. Jason can be found hovering sometimes as he tries out flying short distances or heights, but he keeps a close eye when teams clash. He wants to make sure this game stays as fair as possible. However, he can’t be everywhere and occasionally he gets distracted by forest spirits as they come to check out the kid who is floating on the breeze or maybe investigate the flag you’re supposed to be guarding. They’re mostly harmless though and just seem to want to know what the heck this is all about.

Unbeknownst to Jason and perhaps most of the players, a third team was starting to form in the dark. What might they be up to?

III. A Winner declared…
(Thread Suggestions: Wrapping up the game -- so Team 2 The Princesses winning, reactions to Team 2 The Princesses winning, giving Team Shadow a piece of your mind for tripping you up, post-game cool down and chill?)

Jason couldn’t have anticipated everything, but in a way that’s good. This is supposed to be practice for actual encounters and so he’s sort of strangely happy with the involvement of the Shadow Team and the forest spirits. The players have done well, but from the tree line Jason can see movement and someone coming with a flag -- probably running like all hell -- so as to avoid being caught again. The flag is jammed down into the ground and thus Jason shouts: “TEAM T--I mean Team Princess is the winner!”

Comments

TEAM 2: THE PRINCESSES 👑

[unpredict]

0. TEAM SET UP
[ the team strategy is fairly simple:

matt stays close to the flag with his incredible sense of identifying people when they are close and the likelihood he'll be underestimated because he's a brunette.

mary stays near the flag, too, hopefully prepared to "trip" over a tree root or stone and cry until someone takes pity on her and forgets the game. she's also prepared to alert matt when someone's nearby so he can evidently use his sense of style against them.

javert uses his super sneaky spy senses to take on the other team's flag. with his keen observation skills and the fact that he is taking this very, very seriously, he should be akin to a bullet coming out of a gate.

kol distracts as best he can, running at super speed, cracking branches, and generally appearing like he's coming for the flag and then not coming for the flag. he might even be throwing some rocks… ]

1. TEAM MINGLE

[ the princesses are looking good and ready to mingle. mingle with yourselves or mingle with team 1 and psych the competition out! look, you guys can mingle however you like!

kol will be busy trying to ensure that the flag isn't going to be whisked away by anything or anyone pre-gameplay, and also ensure everyone's up for what they've discussed. (otherwise, he can step in!) if your character needs a pep talk, kol can give it a try. ]

2. TEAM WIN

[ kol's got the biggest smile on his face—he's finally won something! ] Good job. [ he tells his team, with either a pat on the back or a respectful nod. he's never been proud of much in his life, but this? this was great. the adrenaline's still coursing through his veins. this is the most fun he's head in a while.

to the other team: ] You played well.

[ and he means it. kol may be an original vampire, a mikaelson, and someone who generally doesn't like it when things don't go to plan, but he's not a sore loser when the game was an actual good match.

this idea, jason? was great. ]

( re: gameplay - team 2: if you want to thread out some gameplay, don't let me stop you! this is for a more general kind of thing that's a lot easier to write a starter for without too many specifics. make a top level in the post and let us (teams 1 and 2) know, and we'll tag you! )

team win

[policier]

You, too.

( He answers, with the barest hint of a smile creeping across his face. Javert's a creature of pride as well, so he can't help but feel happy about what they accomplished. Once he's able to properly catch his breath, he looks Kol over and admits, )

I mean no offense when I say this but—you're much better than I expected.

( He's relieved that Kol was on his team and not the other way around. )

[unpredict]

[ kol wears his surprise good-naturedly: with his eyebrows raised and a smile. ] Really?

[ it's been a long, long, long time since he's been underestimated, let alone a surprise. usually it would anger him, but this time… it's taken him being implanted in someone else's body and stripped of his vampiric abilities to realise that this isn't the worst thing in the world.

crossing his arms against his chest, he continues smiling as he tilts his head to the side. ] What did you expect?

[policier]

For you to move at a regular speed, I suppose.

( He says it goodnaturedly. It's not very often that Javert gives anyone a compliment, but then again, it's not very often that he runs into anyone as super-humanly talented as Kol. Before coming to Beacon, there was only one other man he knew to be like that. )

I knew a man, back home, who had the strength enough to rival that of four men. Yet, I have never seen anyone run as fast as you.

[unpredict]

[ his brows rise at that, his interest definitely piqued. ] Really? How strong was he? Able to move mountains? [ that one's said teasingly.

he does doubt the mountains had been moved, but it's an opener for further conversation, isn't it? so many people in beacon either understand and know the supernatural intimately… or they don't. if kol's to admit his own presumption of javert, it would've been him descending from a world that was plain and sans a supernatural underbelly.

he's very glad he's surprised by this new development. ]

[policier]

( Javert chuckles, dry and sarcastic, but there's a tinge of fondness to it, too. Valjean is certainly quite singular, and it isn't just his strength that makes him so. )

Perhaps. If there were an injured child pinned beneath it, I'm certain he would try.

( It's only a slight exaggeration. Valjean may only be able to move mountains in the figurative sense, but the rest is certainly true. )

I have seen him lift carts right off their wheels, bearing loads that would crush any normal man. He can scale walls with the agility of a beast, and survive falls that should have certainly killed him.

[unpredict]

Really?

[ kol looks interested—and that's because he is. although all of what javert describes could easily be a description of himself, he still finds himself curious. unless his friend was a vampire or werewolf, it must mean he's something else entirely. ]

Are you similar to him?

[ from observation, he can easily guess the answer—no. but he knows not to judge a book by its cover. sometimes there's something in the pages that turns everything on its head. ]

[policier]

No.

( If he was, perhaps Valjean wouldn't have evaded capture from him for so long. Or on one occasion, at least, where he had climbed a wall and seemingly disappeared into thin air. The fondness in his voice is still present, but gruff. )

He was quite singular in that regard. The only remarkable ability I possessed was a lack of fear.

( And an inexplicable ability to make guns miss, but that was part of it. He motions toward Kol and wonders, )

What about yourself?

[unpredict]

[ javert's lack of fear had been quite apparent during their game. he had been keen to toe the lines of the opposition, after all. for someone who couldn't scale walls or turn invisible, that's a type of confidence no supernatural ability could make someone possess.

kol, though? being one of the first made vampires in the history of time has left him with a remarkable set of skills, talents he'd been happy to show off during his life—some that he had been willing to use in their game. super speed and super strength are one of the most common abilities he thinks people may have. ]

I'm very strong. [ he says it casually, like it doesn't have a history of lore, mayhem, and family bitterness behind it. it's easier to tell him what he already knows. ] A little fearful, although I've been told that can be quite smart to have. I'm still a little iffy on that advice.

[policier]

( So there is a blemish on him after all. Javert doesn't seem the least bit surprised, nor disappointed. Not everyone can be as irreproachable as he — as he once was — before Valjean and his unwelcome kindness ruined him. Now, he is far more human than he used to be, but that is not something he's willing to admit aloud. )

I suppose that depends on what you fear.

( Being afraid of someone stronger who's than you, that is simply a natural instinct. Javert continues on, a little more cheekily this time, )

Given how well you've adapted so far, I can, at the very least, surmise that you're not afraid of the dark.

[unpredict]

Oh, I'm terrified. [ he says it with a smile. ] Thank god we have those lanterns or else I'd be petrified of all the monsters lurking in the shadows.

[ the monsters that often comprise of his family and himself. javert isn't quite off the mark, though; kol's afraid of a different type of darkness—the type that comes with being neutralised, taken off the chess board, and stuffed into a coffin.

if death counts as being afraid of the dark, he's it's biggest non-fan.

tapping the lantern hooked to the side of his pants, ] Where would we be without these things? Perhaps appearing more fashionable.

[policier]

I do not find them unnecessarily cumbersome.

( But that's only because he's from the 19th century. Everywhere he went at night, he had to carry a lantern around with him. It's a shame he doesn't make a habit of laughing or smiling, or he may have reacted as such to Kol's quip. As it is, he merely scoffs, saying, )

Although if it is fashion advice you seek, I would not be the one to ask.

( Even if he does look quite well put together, without a wrinkle or blemish on his clothes. )