Arena 08

Setting
The tribute platforms rise in a wide ring to encircle this new arena's enormous cornucopia. The first thing in anyone's line of sight, the structure is a massive hulk of a thing, sitting upon a raised and rusted metal platform about three feet off the ground. It is the only other object in the immediate area, aside from the tributes inside a wide and perfectly circular field of grass. The grass in this field is a vibrant green and abnormally overgrown, with stalks that have grown to a uniform height of five feet three inches tall and will conceal just about anything with sensibility enough to crouch, and possibly more. Many little surprises litter the ground - some less enjoyable than others - but mostly just overflow from the massive cache of supplies available at the cornucopia here. The thing is bursting from brim to brim with supplies of weapons, crates of food, bags, tents, lanterns, even a camping stove or two can be found amidst the spoils. It's the largest and most plentiful cornucopia in Hunger Game history, just 200 feet from the edge of your platform and it's all ripe and ready for the taking.



Five hundred feet in the opposite direction is the edge of cornucopia field, and beyond that, a dense tangle of green jungle. The first real objects of note beyond the boundaries of the bountiful grass circle are the numerous, towering steel rods. Placed every 20 feet, these rods encircle the cornucopia field like a gate but are littered throughout the arena, starting at the edge of the grass field and continuing beyond; an entire network of sonic fences. If you listen, you can hear a faint buzzing noise coming from each activated rod.

Outside the grass field, stretches a mountainous jungle, so green and twisted together it seems like a single entity, and a slightly ominous one at that. It smells like it's only just stopped raining, though the skies above are a picturesque blue. The surrounding jungle seems to rise all around you, creeping up the faces of the mountains that rise into the skyline in a crescent shape. Rugged, but not particularly high, even the tallest of the peaks could be summited in a single afternoon. Their rocky peeks jut out from the top of the jungle canopy; craggy grey stone against the lush green and clear sky. Only to the north does the land flatten out, and there you may catch your first glimpse of the blue haze of the sea.

The island itself is fairly large; several miles across, in all directions. Crossing from shore to shore would certainly be an overnight journey. But this is no tropical paradise. This island feels alive. It hums and shakes and groans occasionally. And it does not seem pleased to have you as its guest.

The forests here are thick and lush and crawling with wildlife. But don't dare eat a thing. Absolutely nothing in this arena is edible, unless it's come out of a container. No birds, no bugs, no fish, no spiders. Not even a berry or a blade of grass. While most of these things are fine to touch, everything organic in this arena is toxic at some level. Remember that this arena was not just some island the Capitol claimed as it's own. It was built just for this occasion, and everything here has been designed to kill you. Life in this arena is entirely based on dextro-amino acids; incompatible with human and most other species based on levo-amino acids. By ingesting any form of life on this island, at best you will experience a particularly intense form or food poisoning; vomiting, fever, body tremors, abdominal cramps and vertigo. At worst? I suppose we will be seeing you next arena.

And don't for one moment believe that poisoned jungles are the only thing this island has to offer. No, the more you explore the area, the more you are likely to find. Hidden bunkers and secret towns await you here. It's just a matter of exploring them and finding them that will be the challenge.

Shore to sandy shore, the boundaries of the arena and the dome-shaped force field lie somewhere beyond the edges of the shoreline and is unreachable without somehow crossing the water. But you may want to keep away, if you can help it. The ocean may look serene and inviting, but that is not water out there, but hydrochloric acid slowly eating away at the shoreline. So, if you're drinking the water, make sure it's flowing downstream. Water inland is fresh and clean. Only near the edges does the water mix with the acid.

Center: The Platform Station
The south side of the platform on which the cornucopia sits, has a small, rusty-hinged door. If discovered and pried open, leads to a small underground bunker. This bunker has a small, rusted cot with a thin mattress hanging from one wall by a chain support. A small metal desk and a small metal chair have both been bolted and welded to the floor. They are positioned in the very center of the room and face a wall made entirely of television screens. There are 108 screens that show different camera feeds from all across the arena. Allowing you to spy on and know the potential locations of other tributes.

The door to the bunker may only be opened when the sonic fences are ON, leaving you trapped inside the cornucopia center until they turn off. This door opens outward and cannot manually be locked from the inside.

A force field has been set up directly in front of the television screens. Tampering with them will have no effect. You may look but do not touch.

North: The Caves
The caves are found along the northern cliff-sides that face the sea. Good for hiding and taking shelter from the storms, most caves are deep enough and large enough to conceal several people at once from outside view.

But be wary of the dark pools…

There are fewer sonic fences in the north than anywhere else in the island. And no carnivorous plant life, either. There also seem to be fewer projection sightings here.

East: The Temple
Though the steel rods are still frequent in this area, stone pillars are also worked into the mix. Erected into a large spiral-like pattern, the pillars encircle a small stone fountain. If a person chooses to drink from this fountain, they will find their wounds healed.

There is a small drawback to this however. Your wounds will heal every time you drink from this fountain. But any other liquid consumed will bring all previously earned arena wounds back. Immediately and painfully. So, you better fill up those water bottles.

This is also known to be raptor breeding grounds. Packs frequent this area all throughout the year.

West: The Labs
Rusted cages and empty hidden bunkers are littered throughout the west. Massive hulking ruins of things that obviously contained something very large inside them at some point in time.

There are two large structures here made of crumbling cement and rusted metal and what few windows remain are fogged and broken. Everything is overgrown; invaded by vine and tree and moss and who knows what else. Animal tracks (and droppings) are abundant here. Colorful birds roost in the trees tops of the massive cages and eves of the crumbling buildings. There are several entrances to these buildings, but the structures are deeply unsound. Stairways have rotted out and beams are bending. Venturing into the upper floors is unadvised.

There are a number of small, buried or hidden bunker-like facilities in this area. Eight of them total; doors hidden behind vines and in guise of false tree stumps. The rooms are somewhat odd. Wires hang from ceilings, and metal chairs with straps and wire cages are bolted and welded to the floor. Everything is rusted and old. Some facilities have multiple rooms. Most of the others are vacant. Moldy white hallways lead to dark windowless rooms with broken light bulbs and dented metal tables. Occasionally, old cans of food and stale boxes of crackers can be found in rusty cabinets.

South: The Compound
In a perfect circle there are six perfect houses, each with two bedrooms that sleep two persons each. There is a living room. A dining room. A kitchen. A bathroom. Even a white picket fence. All working. All functional. And all completely stocked. And by that we mean fully loaded: swords, knives, crossbows and spears, fresh water, good food, and a soft bed to sleep in. There's even a tv, and guess what's on!?

And it's all open for the taking.

But only for so long.

Only a certain amount of tributes are allowed inside the compound at a time. But once that magic number has been reached, everyone is locked inside. A force field will be activated around the compound until the Gamemakers decide that a proper entertainment quota has been met.

By entering the compound, your name will automatically be included in the next death roll. In other words, you will have no immunity from death, regardless of character score or cornucopia result, as long as you remain within the compound.

Also of note: at the center of the circle of houses there is a small metal pedestal with an unmarked red button. If you press that button… something might happen.

Supplies
Everything here is poisonous. Deadly. Often aggressively so. If you eat anything from the wild, if will upset your stomach to some degree or another. Eat too much of it and you will die. Water however is fresh and clean, so long as it is flowing down stream. The Cornucopia of this arena may very well be your best and only source of food that won't poison you, but we've definitely tried to make it worth your while:

26 Unmarked Watertight Bags; contents unknown 8 Gallons of Peanut Butter 2 Crates of Apples 47 Cans of Spam 300 Cans of Tuna 5 Gallons of Ranch Dressing 6 Crates of Potatoes 16 Cases of Beer 20 Boxes of Powdered Eggs 43 Cartons of Milk 11 Boxes of Whole Wheat Cereal 24 First Aid Kits 16 Sleeping Bags 8 4-Person Tents 5 2-Person Tents 11 Single Person Tents 2 Portable Stoves 47 7-inch serrated hunting knives 56 wooden, steel-tipped spears 9 woven trap nets 60 empty metal water tight containers; holds 1 liter 4 bear traps 10 blow guns with 16 poison-tipped darts 11 silver bows and quivers with 23 silver arrows

Hazards
Aside from the expected jungle creatures; the snakes and the frogs and the bugs and the birds, there are a few, less expect additions to the arena's inhabitants…

Accipitridae Velociraptorinae or "Raptors"

Yes. You read that right. Velociraptors. Not the real deal of course, but these very vicious and tremendously territorial giant bird-lizards are nothing to trifle with. Around 6-8 feet in height, capable of speeds up to 60 miles an hour, these taloned pack hunters have 10-inch claws and 8-inch razor-sharp teeth.

Raptors hunt in packs of 5-9 and are extremely territorial and frighteningly intelligent. There are dozens of raptor packs throughout the arena, but they will travel across the entire island if they are provoked. If you kill one, you had better hope to kill the whole pack. They hunt for the fun of it.

Caryophyllales Vīnea or "Man-Eating-Vines"

The dampness of this place spurs the growth of wildlife here as much as a drought spurs on a wildfire. Plant life in this place can be downright vicious. Much of the forest floor (which is most of the island) is covered with a network of carnivorous vines. It will wait until an animal is still and resting, and then wind themselves around their prey, strangling them to death and then eventually, devouring them.

Anything standing still longer than a few minutes on the forest floor will find itself becoming prey of the vines that will cover your feet and wind around your ankles tight enough to leave red angry rashes on your skin. It happens much faster than you would think a plant is capable of moving.

Sleeping on the forest floor is likely to kill you.

Aquiseridis Merreels.

Imagine the most nightmarish eel you can think up. Make it ten feet long and then give it a human like torso and a set of six inch claws. And then try to remember never to go into the black pools around the northern caves. Merreels are carnivorous. Silent. And can come out of the water for several minutes to hunt their next meal. Avoid if possible.

Immediate Hazards Sonic Fences. Sonic fences will turn on, island-wide, every two hours: two hours on, two hours off. Never find yourself walking between two of the giant steel rods when they are on, or you will find yourself in agonizing pain for a few horrible minutes. And then you will find yourself bleeding our your ears and eyes. And then you will find yourself dead.

Sonic fences use high frequency sound waves to create a barrier between two of the specialized steel rods. Rods are 8 feet in diameter and 108 feet high. They are controlled from underground and tampering will have no effect on them.

Downpours.

Torrential. Brutal. Hail and near-freezing water pour from the sky with almost no warning and then cease just as quickly. Storms come and go at least once or twice a day and last about 15 minutes. But during such conditions, visibility is almost impossible for even those with the best of vision. Lower elevation areas and caves are very susceptible to flooding.

Cliffs.

The island is a rugged, treacherous place full of many steep edges and sharp objects hidden from view behind the dense green foliage of the island. It is also full of many, many tricks. Some of which happen to be holographic projections of your fellow tributes; known allies and enemies alike. These projections are programmed to trick their prey into following them, and unfortunately cliff edges are some of their favourite places to lead you astray.

Projections.

While not physically harmful themselves, projections are programmed into tricking you into bad situations. Eating things you shouldn't, stepping places you shouldn't, distracting you from paying attention to things you should be paying attention to. Gamemakers have the ability to project the holographic version of any tribute that has been inside this arena, at any time or location of their choosing. Most are triggered by proximity or automatic responses to areas of the arena. Some are just the Gamemakers fucking with you.



Foodstuffs
Of all recent Arenas, this has the most bountiful in terms of food to be had. There is almost no place where there isn't some kind of food to pluck, eat or lick, even if it is the candied and sugary type.

However, Tributes had better watch out before they think getting food will be easy this time around. Various of the sugary flora and other parts of the environ have been given an extra oomph in the form of various poisons baked into them. Side effects from eating the poisoned foodstuffs can range from the runs for a few hours and shakes, to vomiting and nausea, to a painful death. Said poisoned candy is also indistinguishable in taste from the safer, non-poisoned variety.

Thankfully, there is an alternative that doesn't involve relying on sponsors. All of the Doki-Doki are also edible; their insides, when cooked, are actually rich and nutritious. Its just a matter of killing one without causing a dozen more to converge and eat it before anyone else can.

Attire
Tributes are each outfitted in appropriate undergarments; a pair of simple khaki cargo pants; cotton socks; a brown leather belt; below-the-knee lace up hiking boots; a short sleeved cotton t-shirt; a long sleeved button up cotton shirt. Colours are neutral, plain, earthy tones, but vary in coordinated shades from district to district.

Trivia

 * Mentors and past victors were forced to participate in Arena 08 but were prevented from winning. Mentors were pulled from the Arena just prior to their deaths.