SAPPHIRE

[dramatispersonae]

Paper walls rise up around your team's table now, and a quill pen appears upon it, along with a well full of vivid Sapphire-colored ink. Finely-lettered words shift and scroll in silvery-black ink across their surface, and even if you cannot read or write normally, the ability comes to you for the duration of this game.

Comments

ROUND ONE

[dramatispersonae]

[The words on the walls shift and sparkle, demanding your attention as they start to spell out instructions.]

At the heart of stories are words. In this game, you will shape and connect words, and we will see what stories emerge...

CROSSWORD

[dramatispersonae]

[One paper wall reveals a shape made of blanks to be filled in...]

DISCUSSION

[dramatispersonae]

Re: DISCUSSION

[appleofhiseye]

Hmm...are there any words we want to use?

Re: DISCUSSION

[telepathetically]

Whatever fits? This looks hard.

Re: DISCUSSION

[appleofhiseye]

I don't know if it's going to be hard...just, mm, irritating, perhaps.

Re: DISCUSSION

[glorious]

We have one 5-letter vertical, and 8-letter, 5-letter and 7-letter horizontals. I imagine the 5-letter vertical would give us the most difficulties later so it may be best to start with that one.

SUBMISSION

[dramatispersonae]

[New instructions appear for you...]

Fill in the crossword puzzle on the wall.

Re: SUBMISSION

[glorious]

[SAPPHIRE MADE A CROSSWORD]

Re: SUBMISSION

[dramatispersonae]

[The words glow brightly there for a moment, and then, on another wall, a new set of instructions begins to appear...]

ROUND TWO

[dramatispersonae]

[Words shift and change on the walls again.]

Well done; you've put something together. Now give it a meaning. Tell me a short story or make a brief adage based on these words--without using any of the exact words themselves.

DISCUSSION

[dramatispersonae]

Re: DISCUSSION

[appleofhiseye]

[SRS CONTEMPLATING...]

Re: DISCUSSION

[glorious]

I feel as though we have a potentially interesting story here.

SUBMISSION

[dramatispersonae]

Re: SUBMISSION

[appleofhiseye]

A team of medical specialists found an injured serpent that they decided to nurse to health. As the serpent was not used to kindness from humans, it doubted their intentions but the team were eventually able to show that they genuinely cared for the serpent's well being, and it eventually allowed them to heal it.

Otherwise known as, "sweet-hearted specialists saved some sadly suspicious serpents."

Re: SUBMISSION

[dramatispersonae]

[The words glow brightly once again, and then they--along with the completed crossword--fade for now...]

ROUND THREE

[dramatispersonae]

[The words on the walls change one more time before settling back down.]

Now comes the time to unravel the puzzle set before you by another team. The clues are in their story. You must do your best to come even a little bit close to their original crossword.

CROSSWORD

[dramatispersonae]

[The crossword is blank once more, and beneath it, a short story or saying appears on the wall...]



Once upon a time, a sea serpent set off a firecracker at night. The end.

DISCUSSION

[dramatispersonae]

Re: DISCUSSION

[appleofhiseye]

A sea serpent....since it's iolite, one of their words might be "dragon" or "dragons". And if there's sea, maybe "ocean" or "water"?

Re: DISCUSSION

[glorious]

...It's likely a good guess. I would assume 'ocean', since sea serpents are large enough that they can't fit in smaller bodies of water.

SUBMISSION

[dramatispersonae]

Re: SUBMISSION

[appleofhiseye]

[AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE]

Re: SUBMISSION

[dramatispersonae]

[The words glow once more before fading, and the paper walls slowly descend back into the paper floor. You may go to endgame.]