Round 3 Information and Class Selection

“Thank you all for joining me on stage.” Cassandra began. “Now I figured I could use this time to explain the upcoming round to you all.”

Merida was still exhausted but the nap had helped a bit as did leaning on Flora for support. Flora’s tail was swishing in excitement.

Cassandra continued. “Now I mentioned that I took this idea from Flora. For taking the idea from Flora she has been given some idea of what things are going to happen, though she will be restricted from simply divulging it completely. In addition she is going to be one of the two party leaders.” Everyone gave Flora a curious glance. “Flora wanted to go LARPing, which I loved the idea so much that I decided to send you all on one. Specifically with some assistance from various sources it will be a fantasy setting. Think D&D but you are your characters for those not familiar with the concept. But instead of using lame props, life foam swords and shields, like LARPing on your world does, with the aid of magic we are making it much more realistic.”

Sam raised her hand, “Umm… won’t that hurt a lot?”

“Hurt? No.” Cassandra shook her head. “We will be using an HP system much like many games use. When you get struck you will take HP damage, and when the damage exceeds your maximum Horny Points, you will be incapacitated via orgasm.”

Aubrey asked, “So like the sparring arena?”

“Exactly, though it is modified to be slightly more game-like. Now I will warn you, get incapacitated too often or for too long without aid, and you risk becoming exhausted, requiring you to remain in camp for the day to recover. I’ll leave the rest of the mechanics for you to discover for yourself. Now for class selection. See I thought about having each of you pick your own classes but instead I’ve decided to let the audience pick them out so we could get some interesting combinations.”

Everyone let out a collective groan. After the groan Flora asked, “So what exactly does it mean to be a party leader and why am I one of two?”

“To answer your second question first.” Cassandra replied in a delightful tone. “You will be split into two groups. Each party leader will get to draft their party after class selection. You will also have substantial say in how your group approaches things. Finally I should mention that the challenge this round is obviously going to involve the LARP. There are rewards and penalties for the party leader and party as a whole depending on various things you do throughout the round.”

Allie asked, “So is the other party leader Mark? That doesn’t seem particularly fair if he is.”

“No. Mark is not a party leader as you are correct that would be an unfair advantage. The other party leader is going to be Sadie.”

“WHAT!” Chloe exploded in anger. “WHY DOES SHE GET TO BE A PARTY LEADER!?”

“Chloe, lower your volume, or I will lower it for you.” Cassandra glared at Chloe. “Sadie gets to be party leader because I say so. As for why I chose her, it's so she can integrate with at least some of you better. Whereas if she was just another party member she might end up getting ignored. As a leader her party will need to interact with her. Don’t worry there is a mechanism to remove the party leader in place if they try to act like a tyrant. I’m not telling you what it is, but it exists. That isn’t to say they can’t occasionally say ‘We are doing this or we are not doing that.’ Just that if they push things to an unreasonable level they can be replaced. Now as I was going to say before being interrupted by Chloe. Mark will actually be in both parties at once. Rather Mark will be in one and Mary in the other. They will swap halfway through the round as well. Any questions?”

Laura raised her hand, “How will dates work?”

“Excellent question. The rules will be relaxed significantly this round since you won’t be staying here on the island. To receive the benefits of a long rest though in the LARP you must be sleeping with your assigned partner or partners for the night, unless they are also sleeping with Mark or Mary. Failure to do so will result in you being exhausted the following day, and trust me you want to avoid that happening if at all possible. While you will be on the LARP the whole round that doesn’t mean you can’t still show Mark a good time but it’s up to you to balance that with doing well in the challenge at the end of the round.” Seeing no other questions Cassandra continued. “Now I’ve sent you each a list of class options, you’ll find them on your phone. Feel free to discuss them amongst yourselves. You’ll each be given a vote here and rank them according to your preference.”

Everyone immediately got out their phones to look at the options, except for Chloe, who walked over to Cassandra. “Cassandra, would it be possible for Aubrey and I to step out for a short while, so she can speak?”

Cassandra thought about it. “Fine but you two have five minutes to get back here.” Chloe quickly grabbed Aubrey’s hand and rushed out to the lobby so she could Milk her in some privacy. Cassandra turned around and found that there were three groups slightly apart from one another. Sam, Isabella, Allie and Sadie, in the first circle, Talia, Lucia, and Laura in the second, with Hilde Flora, Merida with Mark in the third.

As soon as Cassandra allowed them to talk Samantha grabbed Allie and Isabella and pulled them to the side. “Okay we need to have a very quick discussion. What are we doing if we are on opposite teams?”

Sadie stepped near them. “Sorry if I’m interrupting something, but—”

“You are.” Sam replied curtly.

“Well I heard what you said. I could pick the three of you for my team or at least try to.”

Sam and Allie eyed Sadie with suspicion but Isabella said, “Really that would help a lot. If that’s the case we should see about making a balanced group with us in mind.”

Sam replied. “Not that I don’t like the idea, Isabella, but I don’t think we should do that. It’s one thing for you and Allie to coordinate because I’m willing to bet you count as one person for this.”

“We do.” Allie confirmed, “At least sort of. Whoever picks one of us has to pick both but we take up two party slots apparently. At least that’s what it says on my info for this. We also share a vote so what one of us gets is dependent on the other.”

“Right, but there is no way to guarantee we are on the same team. We should play to our own strengths. If we are on opposite teams though, what are we doing?”

“We play to win.” Allie said, which caught Sam by surprise but Isabella nodded like that was what she had suspected. “Sam, it would be different if this was a free for all where we could team up, but you aren’t to hamper yourself to spare us.” Allie turned to Sadie. “Why us?”

Sadie sighed, “A few reasons, the main ones being Chloe, Aubrey and Laura. I know them and would prefer not to have them on my team. Which is going to be annoying because I feel like I need to put Chloe on my team, because of the Underdogs transformation. That’s actually true of you two as well as Hilde.” Sadie gestured to Allie and Isabella. “But I figure Flora is going to pick Merida first. I don’t know what is going on with Lucia really, but it is clear that Laura and Talia Winchester are dating, which is surprising, to me. In either case I feel like both wouldn’t be pleased if I try to snipe them away from being on the same team as Laura.”

Sam looked confused. “You know Talia?”

Sadie looked confused now. “Yeah Talia, is a billionaire genius, she’s rather famous. She also owns a large share of the company I work for. Why is it surprising I know about her?”

“Oh… so you don’t know how she changed?”

“Sort of. I got the introductions you all gave but that’s it. ”

Allie commented, “So you are interested in us mostly because we are the only group that doesn’t have reason to dislike you yet,?”

“No.” Sadie’s shoulders sagged. “Okay yeah a bit. If Flora wasn't the other party leader I would probably try rounding out the team with her and Merida but that’s my luck. Anyway Allie I would also like your advice. I saw your first path’s name and figured you would be the most likely to give me good advice.” Sadie handed over her list of class choices. “I don’t know what any of this means really.”

Sadie’s Class Choices:

• Fae Blooded Sorceress (Ranged DPS)
• Fairy Godmother (Healer)
• Pixie Princess (Utility/Skill)
• Fae Trickster (Support)

https://strawpoll.com/ajnE1Vp3onW

“Hmm…” Allie read over the options “Well the stuff in parentheses is the primary role the class fills. I don’t know how technical Cassandra is getting with these but I also don’t think they fully encapsulate the classes either. In short, would you prefer to cast magic to get rid of threats, patch people back up after they were hurt, be the best at non-combat stuff or some niche specialty, or help others in combat. That’s how I would sort of think about it. Though if you are planning on picking Isabella and I, I would go with Fairy Godmother, or Pixie Princess.”

“Why what are yours?” Sadie asked. Allie went ahead and showed both Sadie and Sam their options.

Allie’s & Isabella’s class choices

• A God Damn Stealth Archer (Ranged DPS)/Another God Damn Stealth Archer (Ranged DPS)
• Canine Champion (Tank) / Dancing Dervish (Melee DPS)
• Feral Berserker (Melee DPS) / Shadow Dancer (Utility/Skill)
• Pack Mother(Support) / Gourmet Chef (Healer)
  

https://strawpoll.com/e7ZJaRQ1Pg3

“Having an extra healer or utility character is usually fine in a six person party. Especially because I would expect the shadow dancer to be a rogue or caster type character.”

“Why is one of your options the same thing for both of you?” Sam asked.

Allie sighed, “It’s a meme.”

“It’s also a habit of Allie's,” Isabella added. “She’ll always devolve into playing a stealth archer in games she is allowed to do so. Usually because stealth mechanics are bullshit. I guess I’m getting pulled along for that ride if the voters choose it.”

Allie turned to Isabella “You know I can just leave the order like it is if you want?”

“Please don’t.”

“That’s what I thought. I’m going to put our vote in as Berserker, Archer, Champion, Pack Mother, from first to fourth.”

“Works for me.” Isabella said.

Allie then turned to Sadie. “Sadie I would go Godmother, Princess, Trickster, Sorceress unless you have a strong preference.”

“I really don’t.” Sadie went ahead and followed Allie’s advice.

“Sam, do you want help?”

“Nah I got this.”

Sam arranged her options in the order she wanted them and submitted her vote.

Samantha’s Class Choices (In order of her vote)

• Guardian Dragon Knight (Tank)
• Dragoon (Melee DPS)
• Assassin (Utility)
• Dragon Shaman (Healer)

https://strawpoll.com/w4nWWlB2qnA

Laura, Talia, and Lucia grouped together. Talia looked at Sadie walking over to Allie, Isabella and Sam. “Okay so I just want to reaffirm something we discussed the other day. No actively screwing with one another but we don’t need to hold back if we have to go head to head right? I ask because I think one of us is going to be on the opposite team from the others.”

“Really why?” Laura asked.

“Well Sadie is one of the team leads. So she isn’t going to want Chloe or Aubrey for sure. Merida is going to Flora’s team probably as a first pick. It looks like Sadie is trying to get those three on her team, which is probably the best choice for her. Which leaves four people left. Us and Hilde. So I’ll ask again if that is our agreed upon policy.”

The twins nodded.

Each person brought up their options and showed the others.

Laura’s Class Choices

• War Priestess (Melee DPS)
• Eromancer (Ranged DPS)
• Zealot (Tank)
• Oracle (Support)
  

https://strawpoll.com/3RnYXjO7xye

Talia’s Class Choices

• Graviture (Ranged DPS)
• Priestess (Healer)
• Artificer (Utility/Skill)
• Chronomancer (Support)

https://strawpoll.com/QrgewxpvKyp

Ellen’s/Lucia’s Class Choices

• Infiltrator (Melee DPS)
• Mirror Knight (Tank)
• Doppelganger (Utility/Skill)
• Minstrel (Support)

https://strawpoll.com/PKgleJN8QZp

Laura looked at the others, “Any thoughts?”

Lucia spoke up, “Well I know a bit about these sorts of games. I have a good friend who plays. I’m inverting my list because I don’t think I have what it takes to stand in front of things and hit them. Laura, assuming you are willing to do that, and I think you are, I would either leave your list as is or swap Zealot and Eromancer.”

“I don’t really want to be a zealot.”

“Eh, it’s probably more like a holy knight class than anything.”

Laura nodded, “Okay I guess I’ll leave it as is instead of lowering zealot.”

Talia asked “What about me?”

“Chronomancer, Graviture, Artificer, Priestess.” Lucia recommended. “Time and gravity magic are always strong. Artificer is going to be fairly unique and priestess is just generic.”

Laura asked, “Do we want to check with Mark first?”

“No!” Talia exclaimed and then dialed down her volume. “No. Sorry I just don’t want to rely on Mark’s judgement for everything. I still care about his opinion on stuff but no I think we are okay. I was honestly thinking much the same as Lucia was for all three of us.”

The three of them nodded and locked in their votes. Talia then turned to Laura, “Laura, I think you should ask Sadie to put you on her team.”

“Wait… What?!” Laura exclaimed.

Flora, Merida and Hilde went over to Mark for advice.

“Boss, I only vaguely understand what we are doing here.” Hilde said, looking up at Mark.

“Have you used the VR simulator that Allie and I used on her first date with me?”

“Yeah.”

“Something like that but without the simulator.” Mark then turned to Flora, “I take it this was the date you were planning that caused you to have a last minute plan this past round?”

“Yeah, told me she was taking it and asked me quite a few questions. I’m mostly just curious what you have Mark, I’ve already locked in my choices.”

Flora’s Class Choices (In Order of her vote)

• Dread Stalker (Ranged DPS)
• Cat Burglar (Utility/Skill)
• Shieldmadien of the Lioness (Tank)
• Keeper of the Grove (Healer)

https://strawpoll.com/Q0Zp72xDEgM

Mark pulled up his phone and looked at his options.

Mark & Mary Class Choices.

• Casanova (Healer) & Sultry Wench (Healer)
• Oath of Dick Paladin (Support) & Furry Summoner (Tank)
• Plain ol’ Fighter (Tank) & Magical Girl (Ranged DPS)
• Spellblade (Melee DPS) & Enchantress (Support)

https://strawpoll.com/GJn442KW3nz

“Well this is an easy choice.” And Mark Moved the choices so it went Spellblade, Casanova, Paladin, Fighter. “Hilde if you show me yours I can make recommendations if you would like. You too Merida if you need the help.”

“Aye, I’m ower fair knackered tae think straight. I could dae wi’ a' the help that ye can gie me.”

“Thank you, Sir. I appreciate the guidance.” Hilde said in an overly formal tone.

Mark frowned at the tone. Well that is getting fixed. I already miss energetic Hilde. Mark looked over Merida’s options.

Merida’s Class Choices.

• Kitsune Blooded Berserker (Melee DPS)
• Sniper (Ranged DPS)
• The Pack Alpha (Utility/Skill)
• Foxfire Sage (Support)

https://strawpoll.com/NMnQNa3OYg6

“Well clearly these are mostly leaning into your newest transformation. I honestly like them all for you. I think I would reverse the list but your call.” Merida just nodded sleepily and reversed her list and voted. Mark then turned to Hilde’s choices.

Hilde’s Class Choices

• Disciple of the Hoof (Melee DPS)
• Skirmisher (Ranged DPS)
• Tiny Titan (Tank)
• Hospitalier (Healer)

https://strawpoll.com/BDyNzJP6eyR

“Disciple, titan, skirmisher, Hospitalier.” Mark said. “Disciple is likely a monk type, not sure how tiny titan is supposed to work but I would guess you would be a heavy armour user. Skirmisher plays into your speed. I don’t like Hospitalier at all. They are almost never well balanced and not in an overpowered way.”

“Sir, if it is alright with you, I think I would leave the list as is then. I don’t fancy being in heavy armour.”

“Your call, that seems reasonable to me as well.” With that Hilde locked in her vote.

Chloe and Aubrey rushed out of the auditorium and went behind the bar in the lobby. “Okay we don’t have time to be picky Aubrey.” Chloe slid the straps of Aubrey’s dress off her shoulders, then started milking her using the drain at the bar to dispose of her milk.

“BAAAAA BAAAAA!” Chloe was not gentle realizing she was on a timer. After the first minute of milking Aubrey came, and her knees buckled. “BAAAAA, Chloe…” Chloe found it hard as Aubrey was having difficulty in keeping herself upright.

“Come on Aubrey, I need your help here. We only have another few minutes.” Aubrey tried to support herself as best she could.

Aubrey came another two times before Chloe pulled the straps to Aubrey’s dress up over her shoulders again and helped support her back into the auditorium where they took seats near the back. Where Aubrey collapsed. “That was baaa great and awful. At least I can baaaaa speak normally.”

Chloe got out her phone and Aubrey’s phone, looking at their choices.

Chloe’s Class Choices

• Alchemist (Ranged DPS)
• Eldritch Knight (Tank)
• Back-Alley Doctor (Healer)
• Witch (Utility/Skill)

https://strawpoll.com/eJnvVp1EEnv

Aubrey’s Class Choices

• The Pink Knight (Melee DPS)
• Fluffy Fortress (Tank)
• Shepherdess of Life (Healer)
• Black Sheep (Utility/Skill)
  

https://strawpoll.com/jVyG2v4rQZ7

Chloe read out their options to Aubrey who seemed euphoric at the moment.

Aubrey did respond though, saying, “Keep mine the way you said them. For you I would either keep it the same or move Alchemist to after the doctor. Depending on what you want.”

“I don’t really want to be a shady doctor.”

“Classes with weird names like that tend to be pretty good.”

“I think I’ll just leave my list the same, too.” Chloe went ahead and put in their votes.

People were mostly taking seats just waiting for the results to come in, when Laura came over to talk with Chloe.

Laura sat down and said, “Hey you two. I have a question for you. How would you feel about one of us asking Sadie to put us on her team.”

“You can’t be serious Laura!” Chloe exclaimed. “She’s literally made false accusations against me for years.”

Laura seemed skeptical. “Chloe, if you actually had substantial enough evidence you would have taken it to court and sued for damages. You don’t actually know it’s her, you're assuming it is.”

“Who else would it be? My parents aren’t smart enough or well connected enough to pull something like what’s happened to me off. Who else could it be? I couldn’t even tell you who I dislike most next because the gap between Sadie and the next person is that far.”

“Chloe even if Sadie has done all of that. We still have to deal with her. She’s a part of this now. What’s going to happen if you and her start going at one another? I’m not saying just forgive her or anything but I think one of the three of us should talk with her, and try and figure things out. I’m willing to do it since I have less bad blood with her but… I also think maybe you should do it.” Laura paused expecting Chloe to yell at her or tell her off but Chloe just scowled in anger at the suggestion. “Look, right now she’s going to be amenable to helping you earn VP. Maybe you could figure out what went wrong.” Laura held up finger to stop Chloe’s response. “I know that this apparently started because she asked out Mark, but maybe there's more to it. Look, if you don’t think you can talk to her civilly I’ll do it.”

“Not happening.” Chloe shook her head. “Laura, I want to make this clear. The only reason I haven’t bought stuff from the BP store to hit her with, like an extra TF vote where I can craft an option, is that I don’t want to set a precedent that that kind of behavior is acceptable in any way.”

“Fine. I’ll talk to her then.”

“So, you’ll just believe her then?”

“No, Chloe I won’t. Because despite the fact Aubrey took advantage of Talia and you **** me to forgive her, the two of you are still my friends. You have been for years. It’s part of why what you both did hurt so much. But I also know what I saw when Sadie talked about you. She doesn’t like you either, but I’m skeptical that she’s the one doing the things you’ve talked about. Also no hard feelings if we have to compete against one another okay?”

“Yeah. No hard feelings, this show is shit, I’m not going to judge you for doing crap to survive in challenges.”

“Well that makes one of us.” Laura muttered. “Chloe, I’m proud of you by the way. I want you to know that. You handled that challenge well.”

“I came in last, Laura. I don’t know how long my integrity is going to last, if I keep placing low in challenges. If you are beating yourself up over what you did to your mom’s sperm donor, don’t. You made a split second decision while in a completely messed up situation and under a lot of emotional stress. I’m not saying be proud of what you did but let’s just say that if I had been given my father instead of my mother, well what Sam did to those pigs would have been tame. Also thank you Laura.”

“For what?”

Chloe glanced towards Aubrey. “I think you know what. Thank you.”

“Not my doing, ultimately that was on Cassandra. Anyway I’m going to go talk with Sadie.” Laura got up and walked away.

It took a solid minute to figure out where Sadie was. Mostly because Laura hadn’t bothered to look up. Sadie was floating near the ceiling next to a set of stage lighting. Laura sprouted her wings and jumped up next to Sadie, grabbed onto the rail the lights were attached to, and pulled herself to a sitting position.

Sadie exclaimed, “HOLY CRAP!”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to talk.”

Sadie placed a hand on her chest. “Okay what about?” Sadie floated over and took a seat next to Laura.

“Could you pick me for your team? Look, we don't have time to get into everything right now. This is your best chance at an olive branch as you are going to get.”

“I haven’t been doing most of the things she claims and the stuff I have is only in response to her making up allegations about me.”

“Like I said we will get into all that but I doubt we have time to discuss it now. The thing is if I’m not on your team I doubt we will discuss it before the end of the round. Also if you are thinking of putting Chloe on your team, don’t. It will end poorly.”

“Sure. Can you tell me what’s going on with your double down there? Is that really Ellen Thompson the movie star?”

“Sort of? Ellen is currently wearing a bodysuit of my likeness. Stuff happened and both she and I got memories of us being twin sisters from an alternate reality where we actually are twin sisters. She goes by Lucia while like that. In the alternate reality my mom and her dad got together and had the two of us. As you saw in the challenge our parents actually did get together. So yeah, our relationship with each other is weird as hell.”

“Okay I’ll add you if I can but I’m going to try and get Allie, Isabella and Sam first. Assuming that it results in a good ‘party comp’ as Allie called it. Oh Cassandra is telling us it’s time. Are you nervous at all? I was terrified.”

“Not really. Honestly I’ve had it fairly easy because I don’t mind the sex all that much. Honestly, even becoming more fertile isn’t the end of the world.”

“Laura Elliot, ready to settle down and have kids. I never thought I would hear of the day.”

“I’m not ready. But I think it is in my future someday. Let’s go Cassandra is glaring at us.” So the two glided down to the stage, to find out the results of the polls.