Round 1 Information

Official BTOCT Roster & Match-ups

Click here for a Google Documents version of this page.

It has been a long time coming, but roster is finally released: 

Let it be known that it was a very hard decision that took multiple days of judge VCing and chatting and deliberation and discussion and even full on debating at times (don't worry, we're all still friends)-- and that was all AFTER over 2 weeks of individually reading, scoring, and ruminating on all of your amazing auditions. This was no easy feat, but we wanted to do our best for you all as quickly as we could. Thank you to EVERYONE who auditioned! We wish we didn't have to make any cuts at all! 

Official BTOCT Roster

Doe Hawthorne

Paintman

Abigail & We

Lens

Akhila & Emma

Val Halmore

Zetsel

Ester & Curie

Miranda Cinderpointe

Kasper Reenberg

Kuro Adumo

Delim & Kailios

Snezhana Isakov

Nephala

Moss & Lyra

Mal & Fran

Round 1 Match-ups

(Match-ups were randomized via a Google Sheets script) 

Folder of portraits: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Lq9dNoPAdPLzXIXx3sAw2kzBKJAFaOVy?usp=drive_link

To Those Who Auditioned, But Didn't Make Roster (AKA The Freed)

If you auditioned for BTOCT but did not make the roster, fear not. Your audition was not a waste. Based on the following plot point, your character WAS present and you can still make an impact on the overall story-- that's right, actions taken can potentially affect the overall canon story! You have the unique "The Freed" plot route open to you. Just as with The Expedition, this is a specific "spectator" event for those who auditioned but did not make the roster. Points will be earned cumulatively alongside The Expedition players. By the end of BTOCT, the top 3 "spectator" players with the most points earned will receive a prize.

Canon Event: Your Services Are No Longer Needed

Not long after The Entity initially addressed you all, you hear its voice again, this time disembodied, echoing off the impossibly high walls around you. 

“Hmph. Upon further inspection, there are too many of you assigned to this task to be an efficient use of resources. I've decided: some of your services are no longer required.” 

Without warning, you and several others are restrained by an unbreakable invisible force. Before you can react, you are pulled swiftly into the darkness beyond until those remaining can no longer hear or see you. Darkness surrounds you, oppressive and all-consuming. You may even begin to consider that death will soon to be upon you–

Sunlight. Cold. Snow. A soft crunch as you are suddenly portaled to the outside of The Terminal, landing in a fresh patch of snow not far from the very footprints you had just created going into the building in the first place. Everyone else that had been spirited away into the darkness too is now with you. Adjusting to the daylight, you glance up and make a startling realization: You’ve been ejected from The Bifrost Terminal, teleported to the basecamp just outside.

Just as there is no way out for those still inside, those doors will not open for you again. You are… free?

What shall you do now? Will you try to find a way back in? Will you alert Kazuya and anyone else who stayed behind to the predicament of those still trapped inside? Will you start your trek back down the treacherous Mount Panthea? Will you investigate the outside of The Terminal in the hopes of finding any clues? Will you simply wait at the basecamp to see who emerges victorious from the bowels of the facility? 

Regardless of what you choose to do now, you have your freedom. The same cannot be said for those still inside…

Optional Prompt: You Have The Power

Under the massive platform holding up The Bifrost Terminal, there sits an equally massive utilities department– and for whatever reason it hasn’t been supernaturally sealed off from the world. The doors connecting it to the Terminal proper ARE sealed, however, so none can sneak into the rest of the building through the utilities area, nor can anyone find a way out of the Terminal via that department. Regardless, if you can manage your way down there and get inside, you can potentially find a way to turn the power back on to the entire facility. Just know, you may face more than dormant machinery down there…

FAQ About The Freed

Please see "The Expedition" below section for requirements and scoring. 

The Main Tournament

The following is R1 information for the 16 competitors who have made the main tournament roster. There is a required prompt, as well as optional supplementary prompts and official lore for your story-telling needs. 

Canon Event: Let's Begin

Suddenly, your numbers are halved. Silence hangs after you can no longer see or hear those that were dragged off into the darkness, their fates unknown.

If you glance at the psychic that brought you here, the man arguably at fault for your entrapment now, you can clearly see the weight of it all bearing down upon him: the façade of confidence is gone and what remains is a genuine portrait of sorrow, fear, and guilt. You swear you could hear him whimper a despondent "What have I done-- this is all my fault..." 

The Bifrost Terminal lies open before you, quiet and looming; the public areas are accessible, while staff-only secure doors remain completely sealed for now. You cannot access the utilities area to turn on the power. You don't know what sorts of spirits might be dwelling deeper within the Terminal. You feel there is much more here to uncover than just a haunting...

It’s time to get to work. 

Required Prompt: It's Not Going To Be That Easy

No matter what you try, you learn (likely to your surprise) that you CANNOT exorcise or release the spirits. Nothing will work. It is impossible, as of this moment, to free them. As it stands, it seems the mystery of what actually happened to cause these spirits to become trapped must be solved before you can succeed… 

Official R1 Lore Drops

Optional Prompt: Simon Says

Between Cain's first visit to The Bifrost Terminal and his return to build the basecamp, a week passed and TITAN caught wind of his plan to hire on more help. Not wanting potentially more people investigating the Terminal grounds, TITAN sent Simon, a lowly TITAN office employee and the man that had been sent initially to offer Cain the job in the first place, to try to talk Cain out of bringing in more onto the job. Simon, however, had no idea that Cain wasn't at The Bifrost Terminal at the time of his arrival to Origa, so the poor man traversed up Mount Panthea hoping to find him there-- only to find an empty Terminal. Well... empty of any particularly thin psychics, at least.

Now, you find Simon, holed up in some section or corner in The Bifrost Terminal, having been spooked by the spirits when he arrived days ago into now being completely lost inside. He doesn't care about the job anymore, he just wants to find a way out. 

You will find Simon's Archive page here.

Main Tournament R1 Requirements

• Within your R1 entry, you MUST meet these requirements:

• • Your entry must feature your opponent
  • • The details are up to you and your imagination
  • You must adhere to the required prompt: your entry must NOT have any spirit successfully freed or exorcised
  • • This is absolutely canon, but it is not required to be showcased. How it is discovered, if at all, is up to your discretion

• Word count maximum limit: approximately 25,000

• • Reminder: This is a MAXIMUM CAP, this is NOT A GOAL
  • • There is NO MINIMUM CAP

• You must submit everything through the official submission form [will be linked soon] before the deadline: August 15th 2025 23:59:59 EST

Main Tournament R1 Rules

1. GenAI, in any form at all, is STRICTLY PROHIBITED
2. 1. Anyone caught utilizing generative AI for any portion of their work in BTOCT will be promptly removed and banned from any future ThraelosVerse participation
3. The work must be primarily text-based
4. 1. You can create visual art or non-text supplementary aspects to add to your entries, however the story as a whole must be complete within, and able to be followed within, text format
   2. You will be judged only on the prose/text portion, so be sure to focus on that
   3. Format, is up to you, but keep the text/prose as the focus in mind
5. The R1 entry must be a “complete” work
6. 1. R1 entries with incomplete story will not be accepted– do not turn in WIPs (Works In Progress) as they will be automatically rejected
   2. Story must be able to be followed from beginning to end, even if unpolished (bare bones plot point lists will not be accepted)-- remember: finished, not perfect
7. Must all be submitted via the official submission form [to be linked soon] before deadline-- August 15th 2025 23:59:59 EST-- or the R1 entry will not be considered
8. Must be your original work

The Expedition

The following is R1 information for anyone and everyone who IS NOT actively in the main tournament roster.  The expedition is a form of “spectator” event with a canon starting point and optional prompts. This will be a cumulative points-earning event in which certain things will garner you a set amount of points each round, such as making an entry, including others' characters, using certain prompts, etc. By the end of BTOCT, the top 3 "spectator" players with the most points earned will receive a prize, but their scores will be checked by judges for accuracy. Actions taken in The Expedition can potentially affect the overall canon story.

Canon Event

It was hard for the village of Origa to not take notice of the sudden influx of visitors flocking in and requesting information about (and rides up to) The Bifrost Terminal. It was harder still to not notice the amount of people that then started heading up Mount Panthea, supposedly trying to reach The Bifrost Terminal. Normally when someone tried to head up the mountain, especially with that destination, they realized how difficult a trek it is and returned to the village a few hours later. But in this case, several people have been traversing up the mountain and not a single one has returned back down. Needless to say, the many denizens of Origa have grown concerned. 

A knight that goes by the name ‘Goose’, and his ex-assassin wife named ‘Crane’, have decided to take up the charge on a rescue expedition. The duo have put out their own call for help: join the expedition up Mount Panthea and assist in potentially rescuing those presumed trapped on the mountain. 

Since it is expected that many, if not all, of those that previously travelled up the mountain are stranded, stuck, trapped, or otherwise in trouble along the way to The Bifrost Terminal, this expedition will be made on foot, meticulously combing the mountainside for any signs of those that went before–as such there will be no flying or teleporting shortcuts made. You are all under the assumption that none of those that headed up to The Bifrost Terminal made it and are instead scattered across Mount Panthea in need of help (although this assumption is entirely incorrect, your character doesn't know this).

You will find Goose and Crane's Archive pages here:

• Goose
• Crane

 

Optional Prompts: A Vast Array Of Options

FAQ About The Expedition

The Expedition & The Freed R1 Requirements

• If you did not audition, make a new character to use in The Expedition and create a page for them on the Archives

• • Those that did audition are welcome to create and use new characters for The Expedition as well
  • All new characters (included NPCs) are encouraged to have character pages made for them regardless where they are used in the spectator events

• You must submit everything through the official submission form [will be linked soon] before the deadline-- August 15th 2025 23:59:59 EST-- to have your points counted for R1

• • You will submit via the specific form and you will score your own entry based on the following criteria:

The Expedition & The Freed R1 Rules

1. GenAI, in any form at all, is STRICTLY PROHIBITED
2. 1. Anyone caught utilizing generative AI for any portion of their work in BTOCT will be promptly removed and banned from any future ThraelosVerse participation
3. The work should be primarily text-based
4. 1. You can create visual art or non-text supplementary aspects to add to your entries, however the story as a whole must be complete within, and able to be followed within, text format if you want it to count for the most points
   2. Format, is up to you, but keep the text/prose as the focus in mind
5. Must all be submitted via the official submission form [to be linked soon] before deadline-- August 15th 2025 23:59:59 EST-- or the spectator R1 entry will not be considered for points
6. Must be your original work