Namira snarled across the table at Discord as her turn came. The game that had been chosen - given her own field of Darkness and Shadow - was terror, with each seeking to create something that would terrify the other. Each would have only one attempt, and Boethiah would judge whose reaction was stronger. With her specialty with the undead and cannibals, Namira had chosen to strike as close to Discord's heart as possible...by conjuring a zombie Vaermina attempting to devour him. Discord's only response had been 'Kinky!' She was now waiting for Discord's entry. However, she doubted he could make anything that could terrify her.
"Here it is!" he said finally as he plucked a book out of the ether. "Vaermina and I came across these on one of our dates. Fascinating, really. I think you'll enjoy them." With a grin, he handed over the book. "Give it a read. If you can make it through half the stories in here, I'll call it a draw, and we'll try again."
Namira tilted her head in confusion as she examined the book. It had no author on the front, and the cover was completely black, save the title written in blood red. Creepypasta. Curiously, she opened the tome.
Before long, Meridia of all Daedra was trying to coax her out of the fetal position, the book sitting open only a quarter of the way through. Discord 'tsk'ed sadly. "Didn't even make it to the 70s..."
Much to Boethiah's surprise, before his challenge was accepted, those Daedra who had not yet challenged Discord - the ones who were plainly on his side to begin with - had all sworn fealty to him, making Boethiah's challenge a 'winner take all' match. As such, Discord had decided to change things up completely.
Set up on the table was a massive gameboard to something Discord called Ogres & Oubliettes, which he explained was a pretend world that acted as a reflection of Aurbis - or whatever world it was played in - and they would determine the outcome of the challenge in a single campaign. Boethiah and all those who'd willingly sworn fealty to Discord were playing as players with their own Characters drawn up, while Discord sat as Game Master. The explanation of the game was quite simple. Boethiah's goal was to defeat the final boss of the campaign. He could do this either by himself, or by convincing the other players' characters - in character - to aid him. If he succeeded, he won the game...but only if he delivered the final blow.
Boethiah had at first gone with his strengths, trying to gently twist the game and other player characters around to his way of thinking to help him win...but he'd come across something in the 'source books' Discord had provided that gave him a completely different way to win. All it took was a pledge to some in-game entity spoken in and out of character, and he'd get a new class that had supremely effective abilities that fit his play style - as he'd developed it - to a T. Eager to do so, he played through the game to the proper place and spoke the pledge. ".gniklan reteymsa, ssend amdnas oahc foec nirp, droc sidotyt laeflan retera ewsyb erehi"
With the oath spoken, the game really picked up pace. For a time, Boethiah even lost sight of the fact he was trying to win the crown of Daedra King with this. He had come to love the game itself. He made a mental note to play it again sometime.
At long last, he and the others faced off against the final boss of the several week - relatively speaking - long campaign, and it was his character that delivered the final blow. With a wide grin, he sat back to hear the accolades.
Smiling, Discord proceeded to read out the loot and awards that everyone had gained for their performance. Boethiah was chuckling to himself until he heard one particular sentence.
"-and with Boethiah's oath, I win the crown-"
"What oath?" Boethiah demanded angrily. "I never swore an oath!"
Discord grinned widely. "I told you...the world we played in was a reflection of Aurbis." He snapped his claws and handed Boethiah a mirror. "Take a look at that 'pledge' of yours for your class upgrade, and how it reflects on us."
Confused, Boethiah looked at the reflection.
"I hereby swear eternal fealty to Discord, Prince of Chaos and Madness, as my Eternal King."
Boethiah blinked several times, then rounded on Discord. "You tricked me!"
"You mean...I deceived you?" Discord corrected playfully. As Boethiah's eyes widened, Discord chuckled. "That's what all these games were all about." He gestured to each Prince as he described the challenges. "I out-knowledged Hermaeus Mora. I out-destroyed Mehrunus Dagon. I out-sexed Mephala-"
"I think I did that," Vaermina purred teasingly.
"But you were always loyal to me, dearest," Discord purred back. He then continued around. "I out-conquered Molag Bal. I out-darked Namira. And I out-deceived you, Boethiah. In each game with those who weren't sworn to me out of loyalty, I showed that you should be sworn to me because, even in your own domains..."
"Anything we can do, you can do better?" Boethiah offered ruefully, grinning despite the upset.
"Precisely!" Discord proclaimed as the air warped around his head, and a crown forged of metal that was the color of magic - a color that did not exist on any rainbow known to Aurbis, but known to certain other worlds - took shape, hovering ever so slightly over Discord's head as it rotated between his horn and antler. The crown had 16 gems in it, each gem with a fragment of power from one of the other Princes, binding them to their new King. "And now...a new era begins..."
So he made himself an octarine crown?
Edit: Oh, I see what you did there.
[source]
And here I thought the colour of magic was octarine.
Molag Bal was just staring into the face of defeat.
Guess that book was 2spooky4 Namira.
Seems Boetiah had that whole pledge thing backwards.
By the way, check the spelling of that reversed oath, I think you got the 'ea' backwards in the reversed 'fealty'.
7859181
Fixed.
Best there is
That sounds about right
And THAT is why tia and Luna had to cheat and nab the Deus ex Mechina or however that's spelled which is granted by plot armor to just to win because he way outclasses them
Also, now we get to the REAL fun
Hurrah Discord is King! But wait, if this happened before the end of the third era, does that mean the Mythic Dawn laying siege to Tamriel gets put on hold? For that matter what manner of change has Discord made to Tamriel in his time there? Am I just overthinking this? Will Captain Pic- I mean Uriel Septim make it through to this "New Era"? Heres hoping it turns out for the best!
7859172 I'd rage at the puns... but at the moment I'm trying to work out that second one.
Ah Discord, ever the trickster. That pledge was ingenious though. Quite obvious what it was (at least when I read it for the first time), but still ingenious.
But come on, nobody gave him even a bit of a challenge. He truly is a Gary Stu of Aubris
Then again, it was quite amusing, so you get a pass. Delivered with laughing and all the madness. And cheese. We can't forget about cheese.
No, the Crown of Barenziah!
Discord is very good at playing with the rules.
Of course he would.
Never cared for those. Read a few, though I was mostly MST3King them alone, mocking the logic of them more than being scared.
Oh boy...
Probably the idea, knowing Discord.
That is what he does.
Like Trixie, except he can actually back up what he says.
And now the fun begins.
7859242 It's alright, let's just focus on Discord's crowning achievement shall we?
So Discord likes vore. Huh.
In difference to everyone else's guess, I must ask: is it the color of magic, or the color of Magic?
This are going to be very interesting, very, VERY, soon.....
I can't help but be put off by how gullible you made the Daedra. Unless you're going to tell me that Discord was messing with their heads to make them fall for his incredibly obvious tricks, I can't accept that Discord is just that much better than everyone else. I try to suspend my disbelief, but there's only so much I can take.
Ahh, I knew from the beginning, when I read the rules of Torment, exactly what Discord would do. After all, his dad's done it before...
Excellent games, I must say!
You know, if he intended to use a role-playing game, maybe Paranoia would have been better to prove his point, seeing a deceiving is the whole point... Including deceiving everyone into thinking anyone but the GM can win
7859374
Truth be told, it reminds me of the Greeks or even the Norse pantheon.
7859574 No, I mean vore, though necrophilia did occur to me. Zombies don't stop with eating the male bits, you see.
7859614 necrovorephillia, then?
That hidden pledge I instantly recognized. Well-played
damn Discord you OP prick your just far to entertaining
I Spy with my little eye a Discworld reference!
...Just occurred to me: didn't you do Molag Bal's challenge last chapter?
7859846
You're right, I did. How'd I miss that? Fixed.
Another enjoyable chapter. Great job.
Lots of people are pointing out the crown is likely Octarine, the colour of Magic.
So the crown is sort of a greenish-purple.
I'm honestly sad Discord didn't use Fluttershy giving the STARE or Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie on Namira to break her.
We need more games of Ogres & Oubliettes being played, maybe with the various Heroes of the Ages and the Aedra joining in for fun.
7861576
*gasp* how did you know? It's an awesome game. I wonder what the next game will be, Minesweeper?
I knew the oath was backwards but you skewed the spacing! You clever person!
Whatever next? Schooling the Dragon Priests? Checkers with Trigon? Or how about reforming the Joker?
only one question what the buck did she read that had her cowering i know creepy pasta but wat one did it
7865062 cupcakes...
7865138 Except I'm not. Do a quick Google search yourself before 'correcting' someone.
7865378 nah that's just the start read muffins or utube its the sequel series to cupcakes
Namira could never read our dark fantasies without even batting an eye. That said, "it's 'kay, sweet pea, it's just a story, I swear~!
how do you like them nightmares ?
7861396
Pretty much, though the source material for where the color got its name describes it as viewer dependant, as in the color will look different to everyone depending on how they see magic. Nice!
8344083
But magic comes in multiple colors for me! What will I see? A rainbow?
Discord OP. Pls nerf.
8868611
Magic is happy and sad. It changes color when it changes mood. I wonder what color I would see that crown as?
Slow clap. Bravo wildly