After a day of rest and preparation, the four remaining challengers traveled with Queen Athena to the Mycenian Ruins. They rode together in a large covered carriage, and the Queen pointed out various spots of interest along the way, much to the delight of the travelers. Since the Ruins were rather large and remote, the journey would take longer than a single day, so they spent the night together in a fortress near a river crossing, then continued the following day, arriving at the Ruins shortly before noon.
The entrance to the Mycenian Ruins was... not quite what the challengers expected. Rather than a large castle, or some glorious landscape, they were instead greeted with a hard-to-spot hole in the side of the rock face of a mountain, barely large enough for two people to walk abreast.
The Queen stopped to a halt shortly before the entrance. "Here before you lies the entrance to the Mycenian Ruins. No one will help you once you're inside; you'll be completely on your own. Your mission is to get as deep as you can, and to collect as much as you can... or at least further and more than your fellow competitors." She smiled wanely. "It is not a trip for the faint of heart, but I believe all of you will exceed my expectations. Go forth and meet your destiny!"
The Queen retreated back to a pavillion that had been set up for her benefit nearby, and she helped herself to a nice, large meal while waiting for the challengers to complete their quest. First back was Naxi, then Jabber, then Mathas... but the deadline came and went, and there was still no sign of Altaver.
Worried, Athena sent a portion of her guards into the Ruins to search for the lone remaining challenger, and they returned only a few minutes later with Altaver supported between them. The poor woman looked scared half to death, and was shaking like a leaf!
"I don't know what came over me, my Queen," Altaver stammered as she was brought into the pavillion and offered warm food and drink, "but as soon as I got in there I just... I just locked up and I couldn't go anywhere or do anything." She hung her head, tears glittering in the corners of her eyes. "I'm so sorry to have failed you."
"Cheer up, my devoted lady." The Queen smiled. "Failure is only a mistake to learn from, and you have accomplished much and more in this Challenge over all, a lifetime's worth of achievements to be proud of. You may be eliminated, but keep your head up high, for you will go far in this world. I'm sure of it."
The entrance to the Mycenian Ruins was... not quite what the challengers expected. Rather than a large castle, or some glorious landscape, they were instead greeted with a hard-to-spot hole in the side of the rock face of a mountain, barely large enough for two people to walk abreast.
The Queen stopped to a halt shortly before the entrance. "Here before you lies the entrance to the Mycenian Ruins. No one will help you once you're inside; you'll be completely on your own. Your mission is to get as deep as you can, and to collect as much as you can... or at least further and more than your fellow competitors." She smiled wanely. "It is not a trip for the faint of heart, but I believe all of you will exceed my expectations. Go forth and meet your destiny!"
The Queen retreated back to a pavillion that had been set up for her benefit nearby, and she helped herself to a nice, large meal while waiting for the challengers to complete their quest. First back was Naxi, then Jabber, then Mathas... but the deadline came and went, and there was still no sign of Altaver.
Worried, Athena sent a portion of her guards into the Ruins to search for the lone remaining challenger, and they returned only a few minutes later with Altaver supported between them. The poor woman looked scared half to death, and was shaking like a leaf!
"I don't know what came over me, my Queen," Altaver stammered as she was brought into the pavillion and offered warm food and drink, "but as soon as I got in there I just... I just locked up and I couldn't go anywhere or do anything." She hung her head, tears glittering in the corners of her eyes. "I'm so sorry to have failed you."
"Cheer up, my devoted lady." The Queen smiled. "Failure is only a mistake to learn from, and you have accomplished much and more in this Challenge over all, a lifetime's worth of achievements to be proud of. You may be eliminated, but keep your head up high, for you will go far in this world. I'm sure of it."
Challenge 15 Results
The Mycenian Ruins
The Mycenian Ruins
The final scores for all challengers are as follows:
I'm glad that at least 3 out of 4 of you had fun with this game.
I thought it was rather amusing myself, and I had quite a lot of fun playing it while I was stuck on the laptop at my mother-in-law's house during construction. It combined a lot of the fun of old text-input computer games and the craziness of old school D&D, and the theme also felt rather fitting, too! Unfortunately for the 4th person, this is an elimination challenge, and so...
@Celever has been eliminated from the game!
Thank you very much for participating! I hope you enjoyed your time in the game. Please contact me privately if you would like a link to the Dead/Spectator QT to discuss the game behind the scenes.
The Next Challenge?
Should be up sometime within a week! My goal is to have it running and live before the Sun/Moon TCG set starts leaking, since I'll obviously be fairly busy with that, and shortly afterward I'll have Cipher to handle, too...
Thank you all for being patient with my slowness lately. Between construction taking forever, and my own surgery and recovery being a bit more difficult than anticipated, I've obviously not been feeling up to doing a whole lot recently.
The next challenge will probably be the last one before we take a break for the winter holidays (and for my own vacation to the US), and will resume with the final 1-2 challenges after the new year.
