Fogden Game

"Yet each man kills the thing he loves, by each let this be heard. Some do it with a bitter look, some with a flattering word. The coward does it with a kiss, the brave man with a sword!"

[Anomaly Story]

The Fog Coffin's contract bearer must complete the ritual to begin the Fogden Game. For the ritual, the contract bearer must offer three anomalies and turn in a handwritten letter of rules. Once the sacrifices and the letter are devoured by the Fog Coffin, it opens and the game begins. The portal stays open for about an hour. Whoever enters it during that time will enter the Fogden and become a participant in the Fogden Game.

(Exception: the Dimension Visitor was brought into the Fogden in her astrolabe form, and was not seen as a participant.)

Madam T, leader of the Scarlet Letter, became the Fog Coffin's contract bearer roughly two hundred years ago. From that point on, she held the Offering Right. Judging from information on past participants gathered inside the Fogden, Madam T has since successfully held at least two rounds of the game and won both.

Before the Scarlet Letter incident, Madam T operated in Hethereau under the identity of Inanna. She put effort into scouting participants, with a penchant for desperate outlaws with nowhere else to escape. She'd tell them about a game in which the winner can take one thing they want from the losers. Winning these people over gave her both enough resources to initiate the game and access to supplies beyond ordinary means. To make them believe the game was easy to win, she'd also drag in unwitting Espers and common folk who were relatively weak, exploiting them as "consumables."

The rules differ from each round and they are decided by the contract bearer. But one iron law holds true: in each round, the Fog Coffin allows only one person to survive.

However, the latest round was interrupted by the descent of Code Zero. After it destroyed the Fog Coffin Colossus, the rules fell apart. There was no winner, and the game was terminated. The Fogden collapsed, the Fog Coffin disintegrated, and the game was no more.

[Characteristics]

The Fogden Game begins with the awakening of the Fog Coffin. When a participant enters the Fogden, a Lumen Circle forms on their wrist.

The game has three phases

The hunting phase: Participants compete for Lumen Circles. They must defeat other participants and collect up to ten of them to enter the next phase.

The fog-zone phase: Qualified participants enter the fog zone, where thick fog blankets everything, visibility is low, and communication and perception are disrupted. Participants must traverse the fog zone to reach the arena, putting themselves at risk of being ambushed by the Fogden-Wright.

The arena phase: Participants who reach the arena gather here. The Fog Coffin Colossus appears to oversee this final phase. The colossus will eliminate any participant who indiscriminately attacks others or attempts to sabotage the game.

The transfer and counting of Lumen Circles are carried out automatically by the Fogden, with no manual operation required. The number of Lumen Circles on a participant's wrist updates in real time.

After the winner signs a contract with the Fog Coffin, they receive the Offering Right to initiate the next game, along with a reward of their choice. From then on, the contract bearer holds the power to awaken the Fog Coffin.

The game setting of each round differs. The nature of the offerings impacts the details of the Fogden. The "blood moon" that appeared in the final round was brought about by the properties of that round's offerings, the Helm of Theseus, the Eternal Present, and the First Branch.

[Anomaly Nexus]

The game ends.

[Risk Assessment]

Highly dangerous: The Fogden itself has powerful oddities and can cause encroachment. Participants must follow the rules to win, or be eliminated by the colossus.