The Author Games: Literature

Task One: The Talent of Words

Pre-game evaluation was always one of the tasks Paella enjoyed most. Despite the annoyance of the sponsors and less important Gamemakers lounging about the area drinking their wits away, she rather enjoyed seeing which of this year's tributes seemed like they were going to last a long time. If the others wanted to consume alcohol to the point where it could ruin their career, then so be it. They were all idiots anyway. She, meanwhile, would do productive things.

The door to the glass chamber they would shortly be observing each tribute in opened, and her fellow Head Gamemaker, Pluto, entered the room. Their eyes met; her eyebrows narrowed, his lip curled in disgust. Waves of pure hatred radiated from both of them. How she wished he would suddenly disappear off the planet and never return, leaving her as the only person in charge. Having to share her dream position was absolute torture for Paella. She had worked so hard to get there her whole life, but he had always been there as well. Andouille and Solaris had always been known for being neck and neck at the top of the class. When interviewing for the top position, the decision was apparently too tough to make, though Paella knew she would have been far more successful than Pluto. He had all the ideas, but she actually made everything happen. And had a good idea every once in awhile. She could have been fine as a lone wolf gamemaking.

"Is everything ready?" Pluto questioned as he approached her. His stride was confident, and somehow it still threatened her, even though she knew she had so much more talent than the Gamemaker. Eventually President Necare would recognize her outstanding work and see how little Pluto was contributing.

Shooting him a cold glare, Paella responded, "What do you think?" She turned her gaze away, glancing out over the rows of bookshelves in the library she had put so much effort into. Oh, how entertaining it would be to watch her fantastic, hand-picked, word-loving tributes fight something made only of ink on paper.

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Welcome, everyone, to The Author Games: Literature! We are so delighted to be hosting these games, and just want to thank you all again for joining it! Anyways, let's get down to business.

THE TASK:

As your tribute steps into the room where tributes typically show off their skills to the gamemakers, something immediately appears different. Glancing to your left and right, bookcases tower over your head, packed with books of all kinds. It's impossible to see over the shelves or get around them. In between some of the books, however, your tribute may discover the handles of various weapons sticking out. You do not have to take any of these if you do not believe it will benefit you. Left with no choice but to continue forward, you follow the maze of bookshelves, eventually coming to a split in the shelves.

If your tribute chooses to turn LEFT, you have chosen the path of the brute. You value your physical strength and skill with weapons over your other qualities and think you can beat most of the other tributes while fighting. When you turn the corner, a strange figure that vaguely represents a human. Long strips of white paper loosely flow together in the shapes of body parts, softly swirling in place. Looking closer, you identify words decorating the scraps- the figure is made of pages from various books. The fragile fingers of its right hand curl around a sword that shines menacingly as it reflects the artificial lights still seen on the Training Center's ceiling.

This simulated fighter isn't as crushed as easily as its paper limbs make it seem, though- it will not let you pass by it until you have somehow found a way to defeat it. The figure, despite being made of books, fights as well as another tribute. If/when your tribute manages to injure it, it will also react like an actual being- when one of the pages tears, it will gush thick, red blood, wetting the pages around it and hindering it like an actual wound.

If your tribute chooses to turn RIGHT, you have chosen the path of the intellectual. Tributes who go this way value their street/book smarts over all their other strengths. They are quick thinkers and use their intelligence to aid them when faced with challenging situations. You, too, will encounter the aforementioned figure, but fighting it physically will have no effect on it if you attempt to. Instead, it will ask you questions, prompting you to answer how you would react to a situation if you were suddenly placed in it. The paper figure will not let you continue down the path of bookshelves until you have answered a satisfactory number of questions in a way that proves your intellectuality.

If your tribute chooses to walk STRAIGHT, you have chosen the path of the wordy. These tributes can twist what they say, lie easily, and can be manipulative. Just like the others, you will find your path blocked by a figure made of book pages. Your task is to convince the figure to move using only your words. You may trick, bribe, or use any other method that will successfully convince this very stubborn figure to step out of your way.

Please note that for all three paths, the tribute's journey through training can end directly after facing the paper figure- they do not have to face any more challenges. Additionally, we are aware that some of your tributes may not fully match the traits listed for each pathway. Nobody has to be a perfect fit, but choose something that isn't the complete opposite of your tribute's personality/skills.

Word Count Maximum: 2250

Due Date:

EST: Saturday, 14 May 2016, 19:00pm

CST: Saturday, 14 May 2016, 18:00pm

MST: Saturday, 14 May 2016, 17:00pm

PST: Saturday, 14 May 2016, 16:00pm

GMT: Sunday, 15 May 2016, 00:00am

BST: Sunday, 15 May 2016, 01:00am

GMT+3: Sunday, 15 May 2016, 03:00am

UTC+8: Sunday, 15 May 2016, 8:00am

AEST: Sunday, 15 May 2016, 10:00am

If your time zone has not been listed or you have difficulties converting, alert us and it will be added.

Deaths/Ballots:

Deaths: None, as the games have not begun yet.

Ballots: 1

Further Explanation (Not Just For Beginners): Ballots are something you award to tributes whom you want to kill without them knowing/stating in your entry. These tributes can be competitors or people you just want out of the games. On odd numbered tasks, ballots(and deaths) will count towards ballot rankings, which will determine certain bonuses/challenges tributes in the rankings will receive. On even numbered tasks, ballots/deaths will subtract half a point from the selected tribute's writing score, and challenges will not be received that task.

Bonuses:

First Entry: +0.5 points

Formatting:

Please state the task("Task #_" or "Task Title"), your tribute's name, and your wattpad username in the subject line of your entry's email. The entry should go in the email body. Ballots(and deaths in future tasks) at the bottom of the email after some sort of page break.

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Good luck on your first task, everyone! Write well, because your performance this task and the next one will both be factored in to determine sponsorships. Despite that this task will not eliminate any tributes, you should still put in your best effort. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM us or comment down below.