As the third crystalline prison shifted opaque once more, The Curator spun around to face the void beyond, his back facing his trapped victims.

“Whew! A real menagerie we have assembled here, huh?” The Curator yelled out into the nothingness beyond, his voice projecting across the space, filling the ears of deities unseen.

The Curator spoke up again to address his godly audience. “Now that we’ve met our contestants, it’s time to explain the rules! Ahem,” He pulls a folded slip of paper from his coat and peers at it, “First and foremost we have the shop.” The environment around the stage shifts and changes, warping into a grandly adorned hall, various items laying on marble pedestals lining the walls, plaques regarding their information set into them.

“Here, any deity with points to spend can purchase items, classes, and more! Simply send your request to the order log specifying what you’d like to buy, and we’ll have it delivered to the mortal plane as soon as we can! Keep in mind, requests may take a bit to be delivered, but be assured they will arrive within two… two…” The ever-present enthusiasm animating the masked figure seems to drain from him. His hands, which a moment before had been gesturing wildly, slowly lowered, before he perked up again.

“Within a timely enough manner! Now, unfortunately, only deities that roam the Divine Intercommunication Space Created for Orderly and Regulated Discussion, or D.I.S.C.O.R.D. for short, will be able to make requests, or even have any points to spend.”

Again, the surrounding area was distorted. When it returned to normal, The Curator’s stage was overlooking a verdantly green planet. Lush jungles, expansive deserts, and white tundras dotted the landscape.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“This is where our game will take place. A planet yet unnamed by its savage inhabitants. Our contestants can’t be completely defenseless, coming here, else they’d be slaughtered immediately! Which is where the shop comes in handy. Simply buy a championship offer, with some included benefits if you want to get persuasive while also making sure your champion-to-be doesn’t get eaten by a dinosaur, and voila! That poor mortal soul is now tied to you and you alone, for the rest of its life! Unfortunately, you can only have one champion at a time, and if the champion refuses, you are not refunded. Though you are not charged for the additional benefits included in the offer unless it is accepted.”

The Curator cackles maniacally before continuing.

“Speaking of benefits, I will now explain the class system.” The Curator straightens his back and dons a set of glasses that hang loosely on his drama mask, before pointing at empty air with his cane.

“From lowest to highest, we have common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, mythic, and artifact. These apply to classes, skills, and items. Further expanding on classes, the highest rarity that can be bought from the shop is epic. When classes reach the level cap of twenty, their holder is offered an advancement to proceed to the next rarity, keeping all of their skills and starting back at level one. Since only one class path can be taken in a creature’s life, this means that in addition to the extra cost of buying an epic class, champions will also end up with less total skills down the line in exchange for the extra initial power. Skills, by the way, are gained at first, tenth, and twentieth level respectively.”

The Curator removes his glasses and tucks them away again, before dramatically wiping his brow of non-existent sweat. “Whew! Bit of an info dump there, huh? Hope you caught all of that! Moving on, the champions. We can only follow one champion at a time, which will be decided by you the deities! Unlike the shop, you do not need to be present on the D.I.S.C.O.R.D. to participate in the vote. Once a champion is voted for, they will take center stage for at least five and at most ten… we’ll call them episodes.”

The Curator stretches his arms above his head and lets out a loud groan. “Now! You have the general idea of how this will play out mechanically speaking, let’s cast these mortal souls from heaven and safety, shall we?”

The crystal tubes lift off the stage, rotating so their bottom faces planet side. With a flick of The Curator’s gloved hand, they are sent careening toward it.

The Curator spins to once again address his audience. “Until next time, ladies and gentlemen! And Happy hunting!”

The Curator releases his hold on the cane, leaving it floated mid air, before clapping as both he and the stage disappear.