Part 47: The Draconic Prayer Statue

It's time to get started on another route! Once again, the vote resulted in a tie, so we're going to be doing the two routes that tied back to back like before.

This next one's actually going to be very straightforward to start, as it's a path we've already seen! In Round Two, Mouse will go explore with Snake and Rooster in the darkroom and find a Minor Trinket, and then the group all votes to RUN once again. After this, Mouse goes with Bunny and Dog to the truth and false room, where they find a Major Trinket. After this, once again, the group all votes to RUN once again, and reconvene in the cafeteria, where we get Brian's end of Round Three message once again:

VICTORIOUS can only win if they finish first with no more than two other people, and DEFEATED wants to finish last, which will result in only the two of them surviving.

The group is in disarray for a time, and nobody comes forward about being one of the two personalities in question. Eventually, the group starts splitting into teams of three, as it is considered the safest plan of action, statistically. Here, Mouse decides once more she wishes to go with Bunny and Dog, but when asked if there's any concerns about how everything's shaken out, Mouse isn't so ready to leave this time...

[BGM: Dog Days]


To speed things up since time is now of the essence, I say we should only reconvene at the cafeteria once every two rounds. Sound good?

Sure thing, no one gave a shit about that in the first place.

I don't-

Ox, drop it. It's not worth arguing.

Fine. So is this fine with everybody? This situation works, right?



Uh, actually, I have another suggestion.

What is it, Mouse?

I'm worried about the possibility that someone might have both traitors in their group.

Oh come on, what are the chances of that?

Or, or, what if the traitor is someone like Horse or Tiger? No one in those groups can stand against them.

She's not wrong.

Nope.



For that reason, I think we should, as a collective, pledge to all look in the same general area. Obviously not in the same specific places, that defeats the purpose of spreading out, but the same area of the floor.

That way, if something goes wrong, we can call out to each other.

I like that idea a lot!

Me too.

There is strength in numbers. The suggestion makes sense.

Alright, okay. We'll go with that.



If this is the plan, then what section of the school should we look through first?

May I suggest the right part of the first floor? I don't think we've covered enough ground over there.

Sure, let's just do it already. I'm sick of talking about this.

Dragon's curt remark cut the conversation off. We were all sick of just talking. We were antsy and nervous and sick. What would make us feel better? Looking for the dang Trinkets. So everyone started searching throughout the same general portion of the first floor.

[BGM: Lucky Foot]


Dog was a very light conversationalist, and Bunny took his cues, so our group was a very quiet search party. But that didn't mean we weren't a determined search party. We went through rooms with a great amount of precision and speed. It was only natural that before long, Bunny found something unusual.



In some room with a big projector, there was a safe hidden under some stairs. Unfortunately, to open it, there was a crossword puzzle that used a bunch of movie trivia.

How the hell are we supposed to answer some of these when we haven't watched some of these movies?

It's really weird. In the past, these things didn't seem to need specific knowledge. I don't know why this one's different.

If we're really stuck, why don't we start asking other people for help? Didn't that one kid do camera stuff?

You mean acting?

Yeah, yeah, whatever.



My point is that we should pool our brain resources, you feel me?

Good thinking.

Taking Dog's advice, we talked to other people, and before we knew it we were able to solve the puzzle. By the time Bunny was able to open the safe, we had amassed something of a crowd. Unfortunately, when we looked in the safe, there wasn't a Minor Trinket, but a statue. Bunny took it out.

What's this? There's numbers on it. 829-

Shut up!

What?

You moron! We don't know what it does!



You missed a piece of paper inside the safe again.

Whoops. Same dents, same mistakes, you know what I mean?

Just read the paper, Dog.

I'm getting to it. Relax. Ahem.

[BGM: Silence]


This is a Prayer Statue to the ancient Draconic Gods, said to strike down enemies if asked. By activating this item, you are introducing another action that animals can take.

There will now be a 'Pray' option to all available. After pressing 'Pray', you can select any other animal's name, or you can select no one.

'Pray' cycles will be every 15 minutes instead of 45, and everyone must select a prayer option each cycle or face punishment. Which means there will be 3 'Pray' cycles every 45 minute round.



At the end of a 'Pray' cycle, the participant whose name was entered by the most people will receive holy judgment, and will be executed.

Executed?!

The votes will be anonymous, but it will be revealed how many people voted for the participant. If everyone selects 'no one' or if multiple people receive an equal amount of votes, no one will be executed.

When you activate this item, the effects will start at the beginning of the next round and will be explained to the group.

That's crazy! Who would ever want to activate that item?

There's absolutely no benefit to something like that. You mean to tell me my sick 'A 2nd Chance' information was for nothing?



I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this item. If there were a traitor which we could not easily conventionally defeat, say, Horse or Tiger, we could activate this item and use it to take them down safely.

It's a leveling item to ensure that if there's one person completely physically superior to the group, they can't simply steamroll the rest.

What it is is bait. We lock the statue up, and never open it.

Agreed. It seems entirely too risky to activate the item under any circumstances.

So we decided to seal off that item. We kept on searching. Snake's group found another Minor Trinket, bringing the count to 6. But eventually, time ran low, so we had to go into individual rooms and input our actions.

I chose to run, obviously.

When that was done, we decided to start looking around the left side of the first floor. However, when the fourth round switched over, a voice started to play on our tablets.

[BGM: Rabid Rabbit]


Attention, animals. A Major Trinket has been used, and there is now a new option available.

What?!

PRAYing.

Our faces twisted to horror as we realized that those horrible rules we had heard about had indeed been put into play. I could already tell that this meant nothing good. Someone used the Major Trinket.

An immediate emergency meeting was called.

...



What the hell was that! I thought we agreed to throw that horrible mechanic away!

Okay, fess up, who did it? Don't worry, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

You really think that's going to get them to confess?

It's what my Dad said when I messed up.

All of you, shut up!

Ox snapped. His face was flushed with frustration. An understandable reaction to the horrible situation we had been thrust into.

[BGM: Silence]


It's obvious that whoever activated this Trinket had ill intent. We should assume that it was either the victorious personality or the defeated personality. In either case, the more people dead, the easier it will be for them to fulfill their objective.

But how were they able to use the Trinket? It should've been locked away.

None of it matters since that idiot Bunny blathered off the first three numbers without thinking! At that point, they could've guessed and checked for the last one.

That's...

Hey, isn't it suspicious that he gave the code away like that? Maybe he did that on purpose to try and make it seem like anyone could've used the item. That way, we wouldn't be able to pin the activation on him!



Hold on a minute, Pig. I know that you have a right to be angry, but you're putting out some really hurtful accusations right now! Take a moment to reconsider, would you?

Not to impose, but is Pig's theory really possible? Bunny had yet to read the rule explanation, and thus had no idea what announcing those numbers would really accomplish.

This doesn't necessarily clear him of suspicion, but I believe it a stretch to claim malintent for an oversight.

Thank you, Monkey.

No gratitude is necessary. I am just hoping to keep the conversation measured.

Whatever, it's still his dumb ass's fault for running his mouth like that.



Quit it with the pointless squabbling. We have a much larger concern to deal with.

What are we supposed to do now that this stupid system is in play?

We can't descend into paranoia just because of this threat. We need to all promise to choose 'no one' when we vote.

You seriously think people are gonna do that?! If everyone does that, one rogue vote could kill you!

I believe Pig has brought up the real reason why this will never work. Even if we assume that whoever activated the Major Trinket will refrain from voting, a questionable assumption, there is a real risk that non-traitors will vote others in fear of being voted for themselves.

It's a true dilemma.

[BGM: Ox's Logic]


It's clear that simply promising to not vote isn't going to cut it. Therefore, we are forced to turn to the other way nobody dies- the case of a tie. If we focus all our votes in equal proportion on two people, then the votes will tie, and we can all stay alive.

Wait, Ox, you're saying that you want us to vote for each other?

Yes. I believe that is the only way.

I think it's a wise idea, in theory.

But Ox, I fear that few will want to volunteer for the position of 'voted'. It's an undesirable position no matter how you view it.



Fine. Then I'll step up to the plate.

Ox?

Mouse, Bunny, Dragon, Sheep, Monkey, Pig, I want you all to vote for me.

Are you serious?

Heh. So this is what conviction looks like, eh?

What, you think Ox's being 'brave' or something? That's nothing!



Ox, Tiger, Snake, Horse, Rooster, Dog, you all can vote for me.

Seriously?

The votes'll be split 6 to 6, right? Neither of us will die.

Hopefully.

Definitely! I know myself, and I know that I'm not the type to die in a shithole like this!

I don't like this plan... But if everyone agrees with it, I'll go along with it.

No objection here.

Nor here!



I admire your bravery Ox, Dragon. I'll volunteer to be one of the voted next round!

No, it'll take too long to discuss this every single time. We need to resume our Trinket search, so if we can come up with a system, we should stick to it.

If we're decided, should we go and enter our votes now? These 15 minute cycles are going to be a lot faster than full round cycles.

Yes, I think that would be for the best. Come, everybody, find a room and input your votes.

Everyone remembers who to vote for, right? I swear to god, if one of you fuckers forgets who you're on and screw this up, you're dead meat!

[BGM: Silence]


We split up and entered individual rooms. I voted for Ox. I didn't have a choice- if I didn't, Dragon might die. But...

I had a bad feeling about this. I really didn't like voting for Ox like that.