+ The Time Has Come, the Time Is Now +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: Everyone in Wonderland!
Where: The chessboard hills
When: Monday, June 11, all day starting at 10:00 AM
Rating: R for (sometimes excessive) violence
Summary: The Queen of Hearts has declared war and the time for battle has come.
The Story:
♥ ICly, the Real Things who will act as pieces volunteered and are led by the Red Queen. The Mirrors were chosen by the Queen of Hearts without being given a choice. The Queen of Hearts announced her choices to her Mirrors very directly, with an order to show up at 10:00 AM on the chessboard, ready to fight. The Red Queen announced her choices more politely, but just as firmly, with a text message sent out over the network listing her pieces and requesting their assistance to protect their fellow Real Things. Characters were not ICly able to respond to this message.

♥ Those pieces who choose to obey the summons will have time to gather any items or weapons they might want to have with them, within reason. Those who don't heed the summons will find themselves suddenly and instantly transported to their square on the chessboard when 10:00 AM rolls around. They will arrive with anything that was on their person at the time, as well as one weapon (whatever it would be normal for them to use). Likewise, any spectators who are not in or around the stands by 10:00 AM will find themselves transported there.

♥ Each player sports an armband, white for the Real Things and Black for the Mirrors, with the shape of their assigned chess piece embroidered in the opposite color. Royalty pieces wear crowns indicative of their status. Should a pawn be promoted to queen, a crown will appear on their head.

♥ Pieces will find that they can't leave their assigned spots until they're told what square to move to by either the Queen of Hearts or the Red Queen. And if they refuse to move, after a couple of moments, an unseen force will scoot them along to their new space.

♥ When threading moves on the board, please find the appropriate top-level under which to comment! It might be helpful to label your thread with which move/encounter you're playing out.

♥ Players on the board can not communicate with those in the stands and vice versa (other than by jumping around and flailing, I guess). However, players on the board can communicate directly with those in squares adjacent to them or with any challenger whose square they share. Since some pieces have a lot of down time, feel free to have them chat with others on the board while they're waiting around.

♥ Directions from the Queens can be assumed. Go ahead and play out moves without waiting for a comment to officially announce them.

♥ The plotting and info post for this log is here.

♥ For your convenience, here are links to the thread headers:

The Donation Box
Pre-Game
The Game - Moves 1-20
The Game - Moves 21-40
The Game - Moves 41-60
The Game - Moves 61-80
The Game - Moves 81-100
The Game - Moves 101-117
The Holding Area
The Stands

Have fun!

Comments

[beautifullies]

[ Claire only quickly glances up from the medicinal herbs she's grinding in her mortar and pestle for a topical salve. ]

Minato, if you could please start sorting the pain medication into individual doses, that way I can simply reach and take what I need without looking, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

[ She nods at the table next to her where the pain meds are still in their bottles with little paper cups next to them. ]

[panatipata]

[For a second, the Mirror felt a spark of joy since she said his name, but then it was snuffed out the next second since he remembered it was because she mistook him for someone else. Not that he could blame her.

Ah, but he could still be helpful! He nodded and inspected the bottles, then divvied up the pills into those paper cups as instructed. Then he started to move them closer to her within her reach.]

Like that? Is that okay? Is... Is it enough?

[Because, well, things could get really bad. A pill wasn't going to solve everything.]

[beautifullies]

That's perfect, thank you. For the minor injuries, anyway. You'll still help if people come here mortally wounded?

[ She has no idea she's talking to the mirror, and that part, that's what matters to her. ]

[panatipata]

[The Mirror nodded quickly. He could stay here and continue to be helpful.]

I might be over there... [He pointed to the stands.] But do you need me here? I can stay.

[He swallowed hard.]

... I don't know if you'd want me around though.

[beautifullies]

[ It's only now that Claire truly looks at him, in part because of what he's said. Why wouldn't she - and then it hits her. ]

You're the mirror, aren't you?

[panatipata]

[The Mirror had made it obvious, but then wonder if he regretted or not. She would've figured it out sooner or later. He nodded.]

Is that not... Do you still want me here?

[Because he could leave if he were asked to. Not that... Well, did he want to leave? He didn't think he did. But he would if he had to. But he didn't want to. It was complicated.]

[beautifullies]

[ Claire's lips press together in a thin line. ]

I suppose that all depends. Are you a mirror who likes to hurt others or do you truly only want to help?

[panatipata]

[Minato winced. He understood though that the Real things would think that way about all Mirrors.]

I've never hurt anyone before. I've had no reason to. I'd rather help someone instead even if I don't know who they are.

[He'd rather be useful or wanted.]

[beautifullies]

That's certainly good to know. I apologize if I came across as accusatory. I was always told the mirrors were complete opposites of the real version, and Minato is possibly one of the kindest men I've met here.

[ And so, the assumption had been made about his mirror. ]

[panatipata]

[He shook his head. It was normal or natural, to think that the Mirrors were opposites. He wondered too if he really were. But he hadn't quite figured out how yet, if he were asked how.]

It's okay. It's hard on all of you when there's someone you think you know, but it's not really them. It's kind of unfair to you.

[Somehow he had an advantage, being able to spy or know enough about his side and gain more information about the other side. He tilted his head in thought.]

A lot of you on this side are really nice. I guess you have to be if you all want to get along and leave at some point. But it's more too, that you really are nice because that's just the way you are.

[beautifullies]

Not everyone is nice and friendly just because they aren't a mirror.

[ She isn't naive enough to think that, but she does understand what he's saying. ]

Do you have any idea what may come of this match? What's at stake?

[panatipata]

[Minato looked out over at the field and then back at all the people around, Mirrors and Reals alike. He wished there were more people who were just... nice.]

I don't know. She said we were going to war and that we didn't have a choice either to fight or watch the game. If we win... then that's good for her.

[He wasn't sure what they really got out of it except to stroke her ego, though perhaps he could hope for some other benefits if they did win.]

If we don't win... then I guess some bad things might happen to us.

[beautifullies]

[ There's the first hint of that feeling of dread she's tried holding at bay. The mirrors don't deserve this simply for their bloody Queen being a dramatic psychopath. ]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry there isn't a way for me to help your side.

[panatipata]

[Minato shook his head. It really couldn't be helped, the circumstances on his side of the mirrors. It was just the way it was.]

No, it's okay, I guess I'm used to it? But I don't cause much trouble, so she doesn't bother me too much. I'm not really surprised that she bothers all of you more.

You work really hard to make sure things are okay on your side though. It's selfless though... Aren't you afraid that you'll get hurt?

[beautifullies]

That's what happens sometimes. I've been hurt before and I'm sure to be hurt again. But I will never sit by and watch or hide when someone needs help. It isn't in me.

[ The lengths she's gone to, in order to protect someone are varied but always because she could never bear to see another person suffer. The man he tried to assault her in Edinburgh, the man she killed, she still tried to save before he died. ]

[panatipata]

[Minato thought about that and thought that he'd rather not get hurt if he could help it. But he could understand why someone would risk it.]

How do you get to be like that? If you're hurt, you would think you wouldn't want it to hurt again because the next time, it could be too much to take.

[beautifullies]

Once you've seen pain and suffering or been a victim of it yourself, your world outlook tends to change.

[ Or at least it had for her. ]

My parents were in an automobile accident when I was nine years old. Had someone been there to help them, they might have lived. Instead, I became an orphan.

[panatipata]

[The Mirror blinked at that last part. He had memories of something like that. Not himself. He knew where they came from.]

Wasn't it hard to be on your own? Weren't you sad when they were gone?

[beautifullies]

I was very sad. I was taken in, by my Uncle, so I wasn't completely alone, but he wasn't exactly...parental, either. I missed out on quite a solid piece of childhood. But he did take me places, all around the world as an archaeologist. And I saw people suffering either in poverty or because they were so remote. That, combined with losing my parents made me realize I could never stand by if someone needed assistance. It isn't who I am.

[panatipata]

That sounds...

[How should he describe it? It sounded liked something he wanted to be, but didn't think he could, though he wasn't sure either if it were for lack of trying. Maybe. He'd have to think about it.]

... really selfless and noble. Life isn't fair though, but it's like you don't care if it is or not.

[beautifullies]

I'm not trying to be selfless and noble. I'm doing the right thing. It doesn't matter who you are or who the other person is. There's a moral obligation to do the right thing.

[ It isn't about life being fair or not, either. She watched her husband be viciously tortured. She miscarried in her eighth month, she was torn away from the husband she wanted for twenty years, she's been assaulted, she's lost, she's grieved. But she's never given up her humanity. If she ever lost that, then she'd be no better than Black Jack Randall. ]

[panatipata]

[Minato nodded, thinking that over. It still sounded selfless to him.]

But how do you determine what's right and wrong? You can help people, and that seems like it's right. But sometimes things can get ambiguous. Your moral compass might not be the same as someone else's.

[beautifullies]

Is a person going to die if I turn a blind eye on them? Yes or no. There's nothing ambiguous about that.

[panatipata]

If that person killed a thousand people, would you still save them?

[beautifullies]

My duty isn't to let someone die no matter the person.

[ She decides to get very candid, not sure that she would have said this otherwise. ]

Before I arrived here, a man tried to...assault me. I pushed him away and he fell, cracked open his skull. I tried to save his life. It wasn't about what he did to me, it's about what I swore to do as a healer.