Chapter 5: LOBUJE APRIL 8, 1996 — 16,200 FEET
Huge boulders lent an air of solidity to the place, but the rolling rubble underfoot corrected the misimpression. All that one could see and feel and hear – of Icefall, moraine, avalanche, cold – was of a world not intended for human habitation. No water flowed, nothing grew – only destruction and decay. … This would be home for the next several months, until the mountain was climbed. (p. 62)
IN BAD WEATHER AT BASE CAMP, DEAD OF NIGHT APRIL 16, 1996 — 17,600 FEET
Such human-centric views. Such species-blindness. Despite being an eyesore and known as a demon early on in his life for his patricide, Blucifer had been somewhat reluctantly accepted as a majestic part of the great assault on Everest – willing to welcome all who came and to stare at those who left. But he had had a sinking feeling in his gut regarding several other people in their expedition for the last couple days. Something was off, Blucifer the Horse from Hell thought, as his glowing red eyes bore into the night. Sure, George Mallory had turned out to be exactly who he said he was, an overly excited schoolteacher and Shakespeare lover. Blucifer knew everything about libel, after all. When you have been accused of conspiring with the Illuminati, of housing a secret nuclear launch site, of being the cover-up for an alien research facility…, you better grow a skin thick enough to withstand the icy Himalayan winds.
But there are limits to his patience, Blucifer learns when he is ambushed by three of his fellow climbers.
“Oh look, it’s Blucifer. What do gay horses eat?”
“Hey, not okay!”
They laugh. There’s no warmth to it.
“Whotcha gonna do with those red eyes, bud?”
“Burn the big fat pile of money you’re trying to hide underneath your big feet, Bigfoot.”
“Oh, this old thing?” Damn.
Gabe cocks the elephant gun. It’s obvious where this is going.
“Oh, so you’re Gabe, huh? Gabe, from me to you, you’re an asshole.”
“Yeah? And you’re a loud-mouth punk stag who’s about to die.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But in a minute, I’ll be dead – or not – and you, you will always be an asshole. So go ahead and shoot.”
“I said to do it quietly!”, Maria whispers with urgency.
Blucifer tosses his mane over his shoulder. He taunts them: “I’m getting cold…!”
“Don’t. shoot! We’re so close!” Maria may not be all too concerned about taking someone’s life, but she sure as hell (ha…) is very particular about not disrupting people’s sleep. Priorities, you know.
“Who’s shooting?!” Gabe is annoyed.
So is Blucifer. Focussing, he uses the built-in NSA-commissioned top secret long-range laser cannon in his “LED”-lit eyes to set the pile of money that Bigfoot is standing on right on fire.
“It costs a fortune to heat this place. The downside of Hell freezing over, I guess.”
The horse runs into the fire. The fire it loves him, he is free.
Blucifer the Demon Horse from Hell (Moonster) has crossed the bridge he burnt. She was a member of the Motley Mountaineering Crew (Town).
(All cursive text quoted from: Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air, Anchor Books, New York, 1999)
Paraphrased in parts from:
Cliffhanger, Renny Harlin, 1994
Terry Pratchett: I Shall Wear Midnight, Corgi Books, London, 2010, p. 85
https://www.uncovercolorado.com/blucifer-blue-mustang-statue-denver-airport/
3 Wolves
(The roles are for flavor only and aren’t assigned to specific players)
- Maria von Trapp: Maria is sick and tired of her Sound of Music persona. She longs for change. Maria is ready, so ready for something other than cream-coloured ponies and crisp apple strudels. The hills are alive with The Sound of … Murder!
- Bigfoot: Two things have sent Bigfoot on this homicidal path. First, the US of Arrogance claiming him as theirs. Secondly, the constant littering of those damn climbing tourists. Some of the stuff is actually recyclable!
- Gabriel Walker as Portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger (just call him Gabe): Nobody understands the mumbled motivations of The World According to Gabe, but that’s okay. His emotional issues are so massive that you can see them bulge even through a snow suit, anyway.
13 4 members of the Motley Mountaineering Crew (Town): Their only power is to vote on whom to leave out in the snow to turn into a Permanent Popsicle at the end of each day.
- Do not edit or delete posts for any reason.
- The Wolf kill is mandatory.
- On the mountain, indecision can be deadly – In the event of a tie, the wolves decide which of the tied players dies.
- Autokill is triggered if one player gets a majority, but only if everyone has voted (a retracted vote still counts for this purpose).
- Town wins when all Wolves are eliminated. Wolves win when their numbers equal Town (or when nothing can be done to prevent this).
- Play the game! Inactivity may result in replacement. Try to make at least 10 game related posts per day.
- Quoting: do not directly reference any communication with the Mod that happened outside the game threads.
- No game talk after twilight. If it’s not roleplay, save it for the next day.
- Attack arguments, not people. Be kind.
- VT Message: “You are a member of the Motley Mountaineering Crew (Vanilla Town)”
- Special thanks to Tiff for writing all the flavor (sorry, flavour).
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11Dm2aRZ9p2GNn71nOEGAGO2BUtUbreZJxJOCmI_Hx3w
- The spreadsheet will have the most up to date vote count, though I’ll also update the count in the vote thread as often as I can.
- If you’re in the document, you’ll show up as a random anonymous animal to anyone else viewing the document (including me), even if you’re signed into a google account. So you can open it without worrying about anyone seeing your IRL info.
Players
- Abby // THE BOULDER
- April // Det. Alex Cumberland, MD
- Chum // Big Rock Candy Mountain Expeditionist
- Goat // MU Logicker
- Lamb // Cliff Hanger
- Queequeg // Yukon Kornelius
- Sic // Smash Bros Ice Climbers
Jake // Not-the-Horror-Film Jack Frost– Town, Died Night 5Moonster // Blucifer, the Blue Mustang from Hell– Town, Died Night 4Mike // George Mallory, Mystery Mountaineer– Town, Died Day 4Lindsay // Skydancer, Fairy of the Mountain– Town, Died Night 3Nuka // Cuphead– Town, Died Day 3Owen // Snow Miser– Town, Died Night 2Cork // Brett, an Alternative (TM) White Guy– Town, Died Day 2Malthusc // Frederick Barbarossa– Town, Died Night 1Josephus // The Ghost of Edmund Hillary– Town, Died Day 1
Twilight will be at 5pm Central (6pm Eastern) on Friday, July 29.
Today is KiLo (kill a wolf or lose)