Kress Chapter
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Everyone had assembled in front of the stage that Thyme had set up. It was set up perpendicular to the ocean and had a massive amount of beach space behind it. What remained of the volleyball court had been completely removed, leaving the final challenge mysterious. Thyme was lounging on a big chair that was raised up slightly so they could look at everyone. They were wearing a castle-bucket as a hat with seashells covering the spot their nipples would be if they had any, and finally Thyme had some pants made out of seaweed. "I call upon everyone participating in this round,"
Kress, Borgick, Midnight, Stan and Ellenell all stepped forward and climbed up onto the stage. Thyme nodded pleased, "Great, everyone is here. I see that one of you has come prepared," everyone except Kress was just dressed in normal clothes, though Borgick did have his cannon, so perhaps they were the one prepared for the task. "This is where I let everyone know that the rules.
"But first! I've got to reveal what this round will be. Kress seems to have my measure… it's going to be a sand structure contest! Yes, you'll be given the next four hours to make the best sculpture you can from sand. I'll be bringing in a panel of judges to eliminate my bias. The structure needs to consist mostly of sand, but anything found on the island is fair game… unless it comes from the inn. I'd consider that cheating.
"For every person working on the sculpture you'll be provided a bucket and shovel, but you can request I change the size of those tools at any time. You will all be confined to a marked area for each team. Crossing into an enemy teams area will not be grounds for immediate disqualification, but loitering or interrupting their work will be. No magic is allowed inside of any of the marked squares including your own, but if you can make use of it outside the area that's fine.
"To make things interesting though… every person will be allowed two extra team members. The first will be… one of these!" Thyme snapped their fingers and a Timmy appeared. A small, miniaturised version of Thyme. They had a bucket on their head, a little shovel in hand, and they were wearing oversized pants that came up to their armpits. "They are very strong, magically powerful and will follow any command given to them… but they will also be… idiots. Doing EXACTLY as they're told. So be careful. They'll be a really powerful addition to your team but you'll need to watch them.
"The second member of your team will be one person from a rival team. It will be first come first serve, as you may only pick one additional person from each team. It is worth noting that all members of the winning team will receive full points, so additional members are encouraged to try and win it. Though it is worth mentioning that additional team members must listen to the main contestant. Before we start allowing you to pick your extra team members are there any questions?"
Kress ignored Stan who was collapsed on the ground like this was some sort of catastrophic failing on his part. *Right. I need to work out what questions I have, as well as what person I want on my team. First question: What are we being judged on? Second question: Can Timmy use magic inside the square, and if they CAN will we be punished if the Timmy does so. Third question: How many times will Thyme change out our tools. And are there rules about breaking them?
That's probably everything. I'll go through those questions, then I can start planning who I want.* So that's what Kress did, he asked all the questions in one big list and Thyme responded, also in a big list. "Timmy's will try to use magic if you ask them to, but you will be punished and possibly removed from the round if they use it inside the marked zones. You can get as many sets of tools as you want, but I'll be taking away a set every time you get a new one so the number stays the same. Ther are no rules about breaking them, but to replace tools you need to give me the whole set back so I can swap them out. Finally, it was your first question but it's my last answer… I don't know what you'll be judged on, I'm not a judge,"
Ellenell took the chance to ask, "In that case can you introduce us TO the judges so we can ask them?"
Thyme shook their head, "I'm afraid not. I'll be summoning them in just for the judging… and for the food afterwards. I had to promise them something for coming to judge your sculptures after all. I'll need to get out the flood lights so everyone can see properly… or I could just use spatial manipulation to make it seem like the sun is still above the island. I'll get back to you on that one,"
*Hmm… not being able to see the judges beforehand and guess what they might like is a bit of an annoyance. For all we know they could all really like… flowers or something and the best way to earn points would be just to make a giant ass flower or something equally silly.* "Thyme, I know you can't say what we're being judged on, but will there be multiple categories?" asked Kress, hoping to get some sign that the variance would be reduced.
Thyme thought that over for a few moments, stroking the handle of the bucket they wore on their head. "I'm going to say… yes? I think so? I'm pretty sure there will be multiple categories but I can't be completely certain, as once again, I am not a judge,"
*That's something. Ok… do I have any more questions? Maybe? Not right now I don't think. Hopefully someone else can ask a few while I consider who I want on my team. Burgandy has potential, because she's got Earth affinity… but her attitude is also pretty terrible. That and you can't use magic inside the marked area. Which… might not be a big issue. If I can get her to make small detailed structures out of sand using magic, then carry them in on a stone plate or something that could be really useful. But attitude problems aside I'm not sure that's possible. She seems to be on Gareth's level.
Blue might be my next big ask. Her ability to summon large amounts of water would be really useful. I could have her on sand mixing duty just outside of our marked area… though we haven't seen how big the marked area is just yet. Wait that's a question I probably should ask… how big is the area? Aw well someone else might ask for me. Um… what was I saying? Ah yes Blue. Getting Blue to mix the water into the sand for me could be huge help… but I'm not sure she'll want to cast even MORE magic today. So that could be a risk.*
Kress was lucky, as Midnight decided to ask Kress' question, "Thyme, how big will these marked areas be?"
"They will be one hundred metre squares, roughly. I'll have glowing lines that mark them out properly for everyone," answered Thyme.
*Right. That's pretty large. I'm still thinking Blue might be my best grab. I'd take Stan as a helper if I could, but clearly that's not possible. March might be worth asking just for her strength… but I suspect that Timmy will be able to fill her roll. Do I have a backup though? Just in case I'm not the person who gets to ask first? Burgandy… maybe as a third place person. So who would I want from Romilda's team, or Marigold's team?
Kat's been chatting with Burnice… so she might be alright? Not sure she's any better than anyone else. Not Marigold… I don't trust her not to mess around. So maybe Vanya, maybe Burnice. Though Mauve was pretty accurate with her axe… would that translate to detailed work with a shovel? Yes… yes it just might. So I'd take Mauve from that team then.
From Romilda's team… maybe just Carl? He's nice and chill… though Asteodia might have some good ideas. Aw well, they're pretty low on my priority list and I'm hopefully not going to be choosing last, so it should be fine if I only have a vague idea for who I'd pick from that team.*
"Can we request tools in any size and shape?" asked Ellenell.
Thyme made a 'so-so' gesture. "Somewhat? I'm willing to stretch things a bit, but you need to always have something that can pass as a bucket, and something that can pass as a shovel,"
*OOoh, that's a good question. I can certainly make use of that little bit of information.*
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