Twisted Tales: The Board Game

[Lady Grimoire]

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Twisted Tales: The Board Game
OOC | Profiles
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The book had turned up in a little used bookstore in the middle of town. Brown leather bindings, trimmed in gold at the corners and center, and set with what the owners believed to be cheap costume jewelry. Two locks kept it secured, so it wasn't placed out on the floor, but kept in the back until someone could come by to take a look and see if they could open it up. It was difficult to sell something if you didn't quite know what it was after all, and there was no way they could know what looked like a book, smelt, and felt like a book, wasn't actually a book.

It was a game. One that had taken many forms over the years, and its present incarnation was that of a board game hidden within a book. What's more, it wasn't content to just sit in the back of some shop collecting dust for who knows how long, and that was likely why it was discovered only a day or two later by Katie--one of the younger adults who worked in the store. She had been drawn into the back area by strange noises, whispers, and what she could have sworn sounded like two people going at it only to discover... nothing beyond a big book on the workbench.

Given it was a used bookstore, the owners had a policy where they didn't have much issue with employees checking out books now and again, as long as they were returned undamaged. Katie took full advantage of that, quite often, and something about this newly discovered book called to her. Come the end of her shift, she noted it on the checkout board, slipped it into her bag, and went home. The locks popped open for her without much trouble, but she was rather disappointed to discover it wasn't a book at all, but some kind of game. Disappointed until she realised her bi-weekly game night was coming up, and she still hadn't quite decided on what board game from her collection to bring to the table. Perhaps this one would be as good as any other?

Thus, she sent out the usual messages a few days later. A few texts, some social media posts, and even leaving an open invitation flyer on the message board of the local game shop. Inviting anyone who was interested to come try out a new game she found that she couldn't find any information about online. Granted, there was no way for Katie, nor anyone who responded, to know just what kind of night they were signing themselves up for.

* ~~~ * ~~~ *​

♪ "And all the roads we have to walk are winding~~" ♪
♪ "And all the lights that lead us there are blinding~~" ♪​

Those who arrived early would be greeted not by Katie, but the music playing from her stereo, which was just a touch too loud and was audible on the path leading up to her front door. It also left the first few knocks going unanswered until they got a touch more insistent, causing a somewhat flushed, embarrassed young woman to be dashing over to answer the door and let everyone inside. Out of the cool, crisp spring air of a Friday evening. Skies were clear, no chance of rain either, so fortunately nobody had to worry about bringing too much more than a light jacket or some snacks of their own.

Granted, even as the first few guests arrived, it was a touch too early to start just yet, affording those gathered time to mingle, chat, and get to know each other some first.

The living room was done up a bit. A large coffee table sat flanked by three couches, with the game waiting on it, ready to be open and played. Along the back of one couch was a long table, covered in bowls and trays of finger food, while both the stereo and the flat screen television provided some passing entertainment. Friends would get the usual 'make yourself at home,' while newcomers were offered a quick tour of the place--including the location of the bathroom, the kitchen where all the drinks were crammed into the fridge (including a fair bit of alcohol), and the fact that aside from the second bathroom upstairs, the top floor was off limits.

After all, it was just the bedrooms, and a study, hardly anything exciting next to the little 'game party' downstairs. Which at times wasn't so terribly exciting in of itself. Tonight would hopefully be a bit different, especially for those who were returning from other nights, which may have went well, or poorly.

All the notices and messages had asked everyone who wished to join to be there by 6:30, for a 7 PM sharp start with things set to run no longer than 10. As more people piled into the living room, Katie playing the role of party host, and everyone having to endure the lingering scent of the host's late dinner, it seemed things would end up starting sooner over later.

 

[ChrisGabriel]

It was her boss - and part time teacher - at the garage who told Charitas that: "Cherry, you better take some free time and do something not connected to mechanics..." after the young ... woman cursed up a storm and threw some tools and components because something was not fitting in its supposed place within a cherry red 64 impala. "Cher, you asshole, or Charity!" fumed the more than girl, but threw down the oily rags after cleaning up her hands as much as possible before washing it with the industrial cleaner.

But she went. And tried. But her life was all about mechanics, either doing or studying, so as a last resort, she went into a bookstore to find somethin different to read... buy some new books - or old ones, as she realized it was an used books store - if it was on her favorite subject that would not be bad either. Finally she choose three, and only got the wayward flyer because it had fallen down from somewhere in the shop, and it looked like it would be going into the trash anyway. Charitas grabbed it as a book-mark.

It was just luck that she read the paper before the proposed time... Seeing that all three books was about mechanics and engineering, she did not wanted to lie to the man when he asked monday if she took some time off... An evening of some game was not that bad choice. So, Charitas grabbed a six pack of beer, and walked over. Way over, as the adress was not that close to the dorms, so she was happy to arrive finally. Happy enough to start singing along with the loud music until she knocked on the door. Her singing voice was to deep and cloudy to be feminine, but too husky to be masculine. Also, quite false, but she did not cared.

"Hello. Here, I came for this." she pushed the rumpled flyer at Katie - aiming at the open cleveage if the big girl had some. "Call me Charitas or Cher, where is the fridge?" she lifted up the six-pack in her other hand, showing the not so cold but quality beer. "Bathroom?" she asked next, as she wanted to freshen up, being a little hot and sweaty after the power-walk.

 

[Zeth]

Archaeology was never like it was in the movies. Ryan knew that the Indiana Jones films were just entertaining fiction. But he still wished he was spending more time in the field instead of teaching and doing paperwork at the local university. He frequented the used bookstore and game shop. He saw the the flyer and signed up on impulse. Playing a board game with the charming bookstore girl and a couple of strangers sounded fun. Anything to get a break from this damn paperwork.

As Ryan Wilson stepped into the door he smiled warmly at Katie,"Hello Katie. Thank you for doing this." He was a tad shocked to see Cher. She had worked on his car once or twice before, but he really didn't know her that well. "Crap, was I supposed to bring something?" he asked noticing Cher brought beer. "Well it is good to see you... Cher was it?" Ryan asked. He glanced around and realized it was just the three of them right now. It was kind of ...intimate. Ryan nervously changed subject,"So what game are we playing?"

 

[ChrisGabriel]

Swinging back and balancing on her chair, Charitas lifted her beer at the young man, grinning, inclining it as a cheer back in welcome. The truth was she had not really cared for the evening, that is why she bought the beer, to drink it and buzz through the game. But now she realized that if the others was like him, - and just a little bit hotter than their host if female -, she could look at it as a fun, if lazy evening.

"Don't have a clue, Richie." she kept grinning, imagining Mr Wilson without his shirt on, as she had seen glimpses only once or twice while he played sports or helped with his car. "Grab a beer, or better, leave it in the freezer a little longer, as it is still warm enough for the English..." Charitas nodded towards a chair across her then sat up - or more like down - right with her chair, pushing out the indicated one with her leg "Plop down, Mr Fisk! How is Dennis?" as she had christened his car for it's troubles. "I hope Miss Holmes detected a great game, whatever it is."

 

[Princess_Kaylin]

The constant pecking order along with tweets could be heard through the halls of the gym. The women's locker room was in full circle as cheer practice clearly just ended. If this was a sit com or soap opera, this would be the moment the camera zoomed in through the door showing cheerleaders changing while some bullied or harassed others. It would move a slow pan shot from the bare feet up showing the thong with the rather sizable but to the bare back and finally the bra, bare shoulders, neck and the long blond hair.

Penny would turn as she glared at a few of the girls picking on the new girl in the corner, "Hey bitch squad leave her alone or I will never let you drink in the crawl again on your shitty tab." The two girls blinked as they backed off. Penny smiled nodding her head to the newest member of the cheer team. "Hey don't let those two bother you, they haze everyone who comes here for a little while till gum finds that thick luscious skirts of theirs."

The blond went back to her locker and began to change. She slid on a short black leather skirt and then reached for her white button long sleeved blouse. She would button each up before pausing as she reached down for her bag. Penny froze noticing the ad sticking out from the side. She pulled it out shaking her head, "Shit that's tonight...I GOTTA GO! " She quickly rushed out the door grasping at the inside of the bag for her keys.

She pulled up to the house rather quickly parking in the open spot with her Black 67 Chevy Impala. The side window has a decal stating some nerdy saying stating something bout thanks for all the fish and saying bye. Penny steps out of the car walking over to the passenger side. She opens the door grabbing the tray of snacks which had bowls sealed clearly full of cheetos, dorito chips, a few two liters of Mountain Dew, and her lucky set of pink dice.

Penny took a deep breath as she walked up to the door and pushed with a finger on the doorbell while balancing the tray as if she clearly was working at her waitress job on the side.

 

[Lady Grimoire]

At the door, Katie was a bit taken aback by her flyer being stuffed into her face. However, she quickly stepped aside and motioned Cher inside, nodding at the other questions and pointing the way. "I'm Katie. Bathroom is down the hall, first door on the right. Kitchen is the room at the far end of the hall. We're all setup in the living room through that opening right on your left there. Welcome." The young woman was no stranger to the occasional awkward stranger, she just hoped it wouldn't be a big thing come later.

She started to close the door when she spotted Ryan, giving a slight wave. "Oh, hey! Come on in, not many here yet." Quickly shaking her head, along with a slightly frantic wave of her hands at Ryan mentioning bringing something, she tried to clarify. "Oh, no, no, I bought a bunch of stuff for tonight. Don't worry. It's a game called Twisted Tales, it's sitting on the coffee table in the living room if you wish to check it out." She motioned for Ryan to go in and make himself at home, given Cher had already done so and seemed interested in chatting with him more.

At being called Ms. Holmes, Katie opened her mouth to speak while rising a finger in objection, but in the end, decided not to comment on it. It probably wasn't worth it. Door closed, and half-way back toward her seat on the couch--the doorbell rang. Immediately, she realised it was going to be one of those nights where everyone showed up one at a time, juuust a bit before she could sit back down. Thus, swiveling on her heel, she trudged her way back over to the front door and popped it open.

"Oh! Here, here, let me take that--!" she said immediately upon spying the girl trying to balance the tray with the doorbell, half-stepping outside and visibly making a face and shivering some as her bare foot hit the cold stone landing. If allowed, she'd relinquish Penny of those snacks, but leave her with the drinks. "The kitchen is the far door down the hall, everyone else is getting together in the living room. I'm probably going to give it another fifteen or twenty minutes then get things... started. Wait, I know you... "

She recalled seeing Penny at the gaming club here and there, though she couldn't quite place the name. "Ah, uh... well, I'm Katie, the other girl is Cher, and the guy is Ryan."

 

[Subspace Emissary]

By how loud that girl had the music blaring, you'd think she was throwing a party or something. But no, it was board games.

Fucking. Board games.

Baldur couldn't think of a more boring way to spend a Friday night than playing Candyland with his step-sister and her nerdy friends. How she managed to rope him into agreeing to it was another story entirely, but he was stuck now. It wasn't that Baldur disliked his sister or her friends. No, that wasn't it at all. By all means he was very protective of his family members and would be like a vicious lion to anyone who threatened them. She was pleasant enough; they were just polar opposites in seemingly every way and generally didn't interact much. Katie liked things like board games; Baldur liked lifting up heavy things, sex, drinking, fighting, and hard rock. Oh well, Baldur was a profound believer in making the best of whatever scenario you were dealt with and by God, he was going to find a way to have fun during this nerdfest.

Fresh off of his workout and a nice pleasant shower, Baldur donned a purple tanktop and a pair of highly distressed stylish jeans that hugged his muscular quads, round rump, and oversized bulge. The mammoth of a man came in with a beer keg hauled over his shoulder like it was a toy; overengorged muscles rippling and popping for everyone to see. From the mere sight of him, it was clear to see that he spent a lot of time in the gym; his arms were like tree trunks that were carved into defined trophies complete with a bulging horseshoe at his tricep. Hanging down from his free arm was a shopping bag. The man's wide shoulders and narrow waist gave him that desirable V shape to him as he walked into the room. Katie hadn't said anything about alcohol, but Baldur didn't need to have a prepared excuse to drink.

Setting the shopping bag down was the first step before he hauled the keg up, around, and then down onto the counter. Producing the tap from the shopping bag, he set it up, but that was of little interest to him. In fact, Baldur hated beer, but he had a friend who could get him kegs whenever he wanted, so he figured he'd bring it anyway. Amusingly enough, despite Baldur's daunting stature and intimidating appearance, Baldur's drinks of choice were all girly cocktail drinks like strawberry daiquiris, pina coladas, sex on the beach, etc. And is what lied in the shopping bag. Setting up the blender along with all of the material he would need to make for pina coladas, Baldur was already on his way to having fun.

He hadn't yet addressed anyone because it seemed like Katie was still showing people around. Finding that somewhat strange, Baldur wondered if she actually knew these people. Baldur certainly hadn't seen them at the house before.

 

[ChrisGabriel]

Looking at the newcomers - as she could not call them late arrivals - Charitas shrugged towards the lady of the house, Katie. "Sorry. I did not knew I had to bring my own weight in food and drinks." Then she grinned, eyeing the purple torso and the keg. "Hey, man, nice look! And I dig the muscles too..."

"Cher to you two too!" she lifted the remains of her can of beer, drank the beer, then crushed the can showing off a little, as with a twist she pushed the two hard ends very close together - instead of just crushing the can in the middle. Charitas then looked around for a dust-bin, but realized that ot must be in the kitchen under the sink... "Hey, He-Hulk, when you staked that keg, can you bin my recycle?" she waved the crushed can, obviously she would rather pass it through the air than to get up and walk that ten feet or so...

 

[Subspace Emissary]

"Hey, man, nice look! And I dig the muscles too..."

As he got everything situated, Baldur heard someone behind him talking into his direction and upon hearing the word 'muscles', it could only be him she was talking to with how gargantuan he was. Twisting at the waist, his wide lats swung around as he made eye contact with the person. Oh, she was cute. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad afterall. Ol' Baldur here was a notorious flirt and the way his eyes scanned Charitas up and down made it clear he was intrigued.

"Glad to see you're a woman of fine taste," Baldur winked at her as his pecs bulged and a pearly white smile materialized over his face, accompanied by profound dimples and piercing cheekbones. "The sentiment is shared."

The attractive girl he now had his eye on crushed her beer can in a rather showy manner; a cute attempt to impress the behemoth, Baldur mused to himself. She immediately followed up, "Hey, He-Hulk, when you staked that keg, can you bin my recycle?"

A breathy chuckle came up from Baldur's thick chest as he shook his head for a moment. Did Katie really not put a garbage bag out for people's drinks? Damn, that girl was an amateur at throwing parties. Looks like he'll have to see to a few things while he was still sober to make sure this ends up actually being fun. If he was going to be here, he'd have to at least make sure that his little sister (and little sister, as Baldur refers to her, he means her stature because she was a couple of months older than him) would leave a good impression on their household.

"Set it on the counter for now. I'll grab some garbage bags for people to put their drinks," Baldur said, walking toward the kitchen. "For now, you can use one of the plastic cups by the blender and fill it up from the keg."

 

[Lady Grimoire]

The moment Baldur made his presence known, Katie visibly made at face. One--what the hell was he wearing, and couldn't he have picked a different pair of pants? Ugh. Two--the beer keg. She had gotten alcohol, and thought she had mentioned it. Mind, she had gotten the 'lite' style stuff, given she didn't want to get all her guests drunk, but it looked like Baldur had other ideas in mind. "Yeah just... put that down there... I guess... " she murmured as he just... plopped the keg down on the counter, her attention on Penny leaving her a bit too late to stop the large man.

Mentioning garbage bags made the young girl pale some, and shift her weight from side teo side. She always forgot something when it came to these. Last time it had been some proper drinks. The time before that the game she had intended to run. There wasn't much she could do about it now, though with Baldur down, and Penny's arrival, it seemed like they had more than enough people. "Okay, okay, I think we can get started in a few minutes actually, once everyone gets settled! Can someone open up the board and start picking out the pieces?"

 

[ChrisGabriel]

"I will... after all, I have to get up anyway..." Charitas sighed, loosing her interest in the beer for now. Standing up with a spring in her steps, she walked to deposit her crushed can next to the keg, then went to the coffee table to get the ... "Twister Lates..." she purposefully misreads the name of the game. But bringing it to the main table, it is obvious that she had some humour that maybe needed adjustment - or less beer.

 

[Zeth]

"Well Dennis is good. The gas gauge sticks a little, bit nothing serious," replied Ryan. He was going to say more but then Penny walked in. She was followed by the mountain of the man Baldur. Ryan spotted the keg of beer and a bag of mixed drinks. He figured things would either get fun or awkward fast. So he grabbed one of the beers Cher brought over from the fridge and took a swig.

The game interested him when he heard about pieces. He stepped up besides Cher and helped her open the board. Okay, he just wanted an excuse to look at the game board and be next to a pretty girl. So help was being generous. "Twister Lates? Like the game with the floor mat and spinner? I'll need to drink more to be able to do that," joked Ryan. Though the thought of being tangled up in a pile with these women didn't sound half bad.

 

[Subspace Emissary]

Things were lukewarm between Baldur and Katie. Their parents were very much in love but that didn’t mean that they would be twinsies. That said, there wasn’t disdain either; Baldur still cared about his sister. They just couldn’t be more different if they tried.

There was a pep in his step despite what seemed like a boring event. Since high school, Baldur had been known for taking mundane activities and finding ways to make them fun. He was the class clown and the jock rolled up into one. Never the bully though as one might expect from his size. He detested bullies and only those who bullied would be bullied by him. Okay the word bully was used a lot there and doesn’t sound like a word anymore. Bully bully bully. Okay I’m good now. Anyway...

Grabbing the whole roll of garbage bags from under the sink, Baldur headed back in and caught the tail end of the conversation, “Did someone say twister?”

As he pulled one of the garbage bags off the roll and opened it before hanging it from the doorknob, the walking pectoral of a man’s eyes lit up. Katie said board games! She didn’t say anything about twister.

“If we are playing twister, then this party just got ten times better,” Baldur declared with a thunderous albeit excited voice that sounded authorative, even as he described Katie’s board game night as a party. “Just a fair warning, you wouldn’t think it but I’m a monster at twister. Get ready to get spanked.”

There was an inflection on the word 'spanked' as he gave a brief glance at Cher and then a teasing wink. The guns blazing, excited tone of his voice belied his actual words and it was clear from it that he was just being playful.

 

[Princess_Kaylin]

Penny shook her head as she felt the weight taken off her right hand. She nodded as she let a smile slip, "Thanks.....Nice to see you again Katie." Katie headed towards the kitchen as she froze hearing Char and Ryan. She turned bright red and shook her head, "No no I mean I bring food and drinks to every game I mean no offense people always ask for mountain dew and cheetos so I just cut their requests off at the head like slaying a dragon with a natural 20 on a dice roll."

Penny paused seeing Ryan's dress along with Baldur. Her face turned even redder as she shook her head a bit and held herself after placing the drinks down. She sat down at the table covering herself a bit as she noticed how perky her ladies were at the moment. She shook her head more and took a deep breath. "Dibs on the cute animal...or pink piece if there is one."

 

[Subspace Emissary]

"Dibs on the cute animal...or pink piece if there is one."

Hm, another attractive girl. Well, this was already 200% more interesting than Baldur had expected it to be. They seemed quite different in terms of their personalities, but the contrast was quite intriguing. Now the age old question of if Baldur could make a slam dunk and schmooze with both of them by the end of the night. Grabbing hold of the game that looked more like a book, Baldur began to turn it every which way to see what the story was with it. Well, it sure as hell wasn't Twister. And here Baldur was ready to show his domineering side on the mat. Ah well.

With a hearty laugh, Baldur flashed his pearly white teeth at Penny as a glint appeared in his aquamarine peepers, "The cute animal's name is Baldur."

 

[Princess_Kaylin]

Penny let out a slight giggle as she shook her head, "Nope Baldur sounds more like a dnd setting than a cute animal." She stretched her arms a bit behind her head as her breasts got pushed out without her thinking. She brushed her long hair behind her head as she quickly leaned to Cher, "Think that hunk is all yours.....unless he proves to be brighter than a fifth grader I am not too interested."

Penny looked over at the professor and blinked, "So uhm.....I know your a professor but you must be some kind of genius to be one at your age...."

 

[ChrisGabriel]

Charitas was getting second thoughts about the whole game night... If the girl with the idea is this nerdy, then..."Oh, God, I hope this is not another of those dice rolling roleplaying games... At least there is no heaps of figurines to put up on a map and mock-battle!" she grumbled, leaving the closed book to the MAN... Penny's words made her wink at the woman. "And what if I prefer the softer side of blondes?" with those parting words, she wandered to the keg to sample the new beer, and get a cup full, before she sat back on her chair.

 

[Subspace Emissary]

If one knew Baldur, they could ascertain from his sudden silence that something was wrong. There was a slight frown on his face as he seemed to withdraw from the conversation considerably. He hadn't heard the whole comment to Cher from Penny, but he got the part that mattered for him, "...brighter than a fifth grader I am not too interested."

It turned out that she had managed to hit on one of Baldur's few and biggest insecurities. One wouldn't think there would be many things if any that someone like Baldur could be insecure about. A slight frown took over his expression as he looked at Katie with what could only be described as a sigh manifest into a facial expression. Although Baldur was no genius, he was not oblivious to when a girl was not interested in him and the reasoning for it was disheartening. It was part of the reason why Baldur tended not to hang out with the 'nerds'; it had less to do with them just being nerds and more to do with the fact that every time he had tried in high school, someone inevitably mocked him for not being as intelligent as them. He never quite understood why there was such a fascination with putting him down about something he couldn't control; Baldur would never have dreamed of antagonizing them about not being as muscular or popular. Baldur's grades had always tended toward high C's to B's and subject matter like fitness and nutrition, he knew exceptionally well; it was afterall what he was majoring in college.

But Baldur couldn't quote you a line from Shakespeare or give you a thorough assessment of Noam Chomsky or gleefully cite Steven Pinker to back up an argument. The ADHD behemoth wasn't a rocket scientist and those with the capacity to do those things never shied away from reminding him. It didn't seem like Penny had intentionally tried to put him down, so he didn't say anything -- but he was abruptly reminded that he would forever be an outsider in an environment like this. Setting the game down on the table, he quietly headed over to the keg to get his first drink in him.

 

[Princess_Kaylin]

Penny turned more red hearing Char commenting about her. She shook her head as she stumbled a bit on words, " Look I uh...uhm.....thanks I think I uh " paused as she saw Baldur's expression and shook her head, "excuse me...I need to do something.". She took a deep breath and muttered, "I'm sorry that was uncalled for....it was the line you said.....I didn't mean to hurt you." She stood up and walked over putting her hand out. "I am really sorry..... I've had lots of bad one liners at the bar and even bad experiences...let's start over. I'm penny and you are?"

 

[Zeth]

"Is that a challenge?" Ryan called back to Baldur when he said they were getting spanked. Upon further inspection this was Not Twister but a board game. He let out small disappointed sigh and added,"It is not twister. More like a Jumanji style board game. The pieces seem to be animal themed." He chose a Green Tiger for his piece.

Upon hearing Penny say that fifth grader line Ryan fucking winced. He knew what it was like to have the dumb jock stereotype thrust upon him because he had muscles. To answer Penny's question he replied,"No, I just started my degree early and look younger then I really am. " Ryan took the closed book and opened it up for inspection. He said,"Nah, this isn't that Grotto & Gremlins or what ever that shit is. It's just a board game. Not a big fan of those mock battle things." Which was a blatant lie. He just knew that most girls do not want to hear about his level 42 sword master. When Cher made a subtle pass at Penny he looked up with interest. He then realized that poor Katie, the hostess was being ignored. Well FUCK THAT! "What piece would you like Katie?" Ryan asked as he tactfully tried to pull her back into the conversation.

 

[Subspace Emissary]

To his surprise, Baldur found the same girl who had just insulted him by his side as he was putting things in the blender to make the first batch of pina coladas. Even more surprisingly, she was apologizing for the remark without him even having said anything. In Baldur’s experience, people rarely apologized for such things without him calling them out on it.

There was a somewhat bewildered expression on his face for a moment before he finally responde, “Nah, it’s cool. I understand; a lot of guys can be real douchebags to women to swell their egos or some shit. You’re good; I know you weren’t trying to be rude. I’m Baldur.”

Taking her hand firmly, he shook it with his sparkling eyes locking with her own. He was clearly a man used to looking people in the eyes when he spoke with them. There was sincerity to his words in that he didn’t seem to hold any animosity toward her, but there was perhaps less of a playful, flirty tone. Big and untamed as he was, he respected boundaries.

Still, the words weren’t hollow and Baldur knew it. Inevitably people would always see him as the dumb jock; by and large, most of the group likely was smarter than him. Other than his sister for obvious reasons, Baldur only had one friend that fit the bill of nerd. As popular as he was, the one group he never seemed to be accepted by were the intellectual crowd. Still, he appreciated Penny’s ability to introspect, read the situation and react with empathy.

 

[Lady Grimoire]

Despite the visible locks, the board opened without much of a fuss. The inside of the front cover was a bit thicker, and the reason why became obvious the moment it was opened: on the inside of the cover, inside little indents, was a set of eight playing pieces, four on the top, four on the bottom, placed in near the middle. There was also two sets of six-sided dice, one golden set with black dots for numbers, and one red, translucent set with white numbers.

The first page appeared to be instructions, and there was an opening cut on the bottom-right corner of the page for a circular, ruby-red gemstone. It read as follows:

Twisted Tales
A game for those
who seek to find
a way to indulge
the FANTASIES
in their MIND
You roll the dice to
move your token then
complete the
CHALLENGE
that will be
SPOKEN
The first player to
reach the end wins​

"No, no way, no Twister!" Katie let out in objection, shaking her head vehemently. The memory of the last time she played that game, a couple of years ago, drew a slight red tint to her cheeks. Which was only made a bit worse as Penny indicated mentioned remembering her, causing her to wince, even as she took the tray over to set it down on the table behind the couch. From there, as others else gathered over the game and had a chance to read it, Katie went to take care of the music--turning it down.

Afterwards, she hurried back over to the couch, and sat herself down in the middle. Dressed simply in a pair of jeans, and white button-up blouse, she wasn't exactly dressed sexy,. She did toss in a splash of colour though with a blue twistie for her brown hair, done up in a ponytail, and blue socks. She quickly skimmed the first page, rolling her eyes at Baldur's attempt to be flirty with her guests, and snorting out a little laugh at the response it received.

Granted, a moment later she felt a little bad for that, when her green eyes flicked up and saw Baldur's face. She had been about to say something when Penny--thank god she introduced herself--said something first, allowing her to focus on just how much of mess this was starting to be. Hopefully things would settle as the game got started. At Ryan's question, she looked up at him and blinked, then took a second to look at the remaining seven pieces out of the book. "Uh, um... the blue one," she said, pointing to it, "Can you take all the things out of there, and turn the page? And get the pink one for Penny."

Once Ryan had finished with that, and turned the page, the group would discover on the back of the page where the text had been written was... even more writing. On the right side, at the top-left of the page, a round, big as the gemstone, area with the word 'Start' written in it. From it, a winding path made its way from right to left, and then down, across the page, looking like it was leading to the gemstone before it actually curved around it to the edge of the page where an arrow pointed, indicating once someone reached that point it was time to turn the page.

Although the instructions' page was thin, the other pages were much thicker, roughly the same as 50-bound together pages, making the rest of the 'book' for show. Based on the seams, there were two or three more pages of 'board game.' Between the board game's path was scribbled writing in what would be Greek to most, and look like little more than scribbles and symbols, leaving the most interesting thing being what was written on the back of the main instruction page:

READER BEWARE
Do not begin
unless you intend
TO FINISH
Each page that
is turned and
what CONSEQUENCES
brought CANNOT
be undone, at
least until one
amongst you has
gone through this
grimoire and won.​

A bit hesitant to take the lead, Katie did at least set her piece down in the start area once Ryan had handed it to her. She found the writing on the board a bit... odd, and ominous-sounding, but there were a lot of games like that out there which she'd played, so she didn't think too much of it. "It said spoken... I didn't see any kind of companion DVD and when I was googling, there wasn't any, like, app for it, so... hooopefully we don't need that?" she said before glancing around.

"Jumanji style is right, it looks almost like a big ripoff. So, uh... who wants to go first?"

 

[ChrisGabriel]

Charitas eyed the figurines, not really reading the writing. Just before the page was turned, she picked out the black horse... like the knight from a chess game, but not on a circle like foot, but a spade from the cards, that somehow made it look more sleek, and reminded her of a motorcycle....

"Well, dear readers, mind and body muscle all around, lets rew our engines... I intend to finish before morning, or just slightly after that..." Charitas was thinking more about the possible bedmates than the game, already making eyes at the people around the table... but thinking about the hot spots in the city where she could go and visit after the game if she did not get closer to any of the others.

"Maybe you have to press the fake crystal, and it has an inbuilt speaker?" she pressed down on the prominent jewelry with her figurine, and then put it on the starting position next to Katie's. "Hello blue babe! Want to ride this horsie?" but Charitas was thinking more on how she would have a motorbike of her own simetime soon... she just have to repair and update ot to present time and regulations... and then she could give rides to girls they would not soon forget.... Or at least she hoped, already feeling the effect of the beers and her daydreaming opening the fuel valve for her arousal.

 

[Lady Grimoire]

The words 'before morning' caused Katie's eyes to flick over toward Cher, a tad uncertain what the other girl meant--she hadn't forgotten to mention in the ad that it wasn't an all night thing, did she? Wracking her mind trying to recall until until she was asked a question that left her a bit at a loss for words and a scarlett hue to her cheeks. "Ah, huh... wh.. what? N-n-no, no, I think I'm alright... ?" she answered awkwardly, crossing her arms, settling back, and trying not to think about what had just been said to her.

Not too successfully, mind.

The gemstone seemed to glitter as Cher's fingers came into contact with it, the place her fingers touched glimmering not unlike how a plasma globe would focus on a touch to its edge. However, it didn't press in, nor move at all, the gemstone was solid, and fixed in place. What's more, it felt very smooth, and not at all like plastic, or glass.

 

[Zeth]

Ryan took out all the things and turned the page as asked. As he read the rules his mind was doing the mac daddy math. Right now Baulder was too sober to mac on his step sister Katie, so he will focus on Penny and Char. Meanwhile, Char seemed more interested in girls then boys. Not that Ryan could blame her, he preffered cute girls himself. So Ryan should focus all his mac mastery on Katie for the time being, and hope it winds up with a three way with Katie, Char, and himself. Now the question was how to go about it? Ryan was never terribly good at flirting. He usually just took his shirt off and got pounced by the ladies. Though he doubts Katie would be that kind of gal.

"Oh do I go first? Very well," said Ryan snapping back to the present. He casually placed his green tiger on the starting place then rolled the dice. "I got a four and three, so That is seven spaces forward,"he replied. He looked at the gemstone and half expected some sort of voice recording or holo projection to appear. Granted those hopes were high and unrealistic.