Indenture

The Story

Indenture is not a single story, but many. It is a story of twelve different couples and their reasons for being at this exclusive and extreme event.

All of these couples know a few things about the event itself:

Anyone invited was first contacted privately in what must surely have appeared as a scam to the majority of them at first. They received tickets to an exclusive trip where they had a chance to meet the Host and receive the offer.

The Host, an eccentric billionaire, is known but discreet in the wider world. They have made a name for themselves as an avid sponsor of gambling events with high prizes in the past. Through a personal meeting with them before agreeing, all were convinced that the offer was legitimate. Not all said yes, but the ones who did all signed papers about its confidentiality.

They all agreed to participate in the Indenture Tournament.

The rules are simple:

• No cash is required to participate.
• In order to receive the buy in (The starting pool of poker chips) each person has to bring someone who would voluntarily sign a contract of indenture.
• The contract of indenture means signing away ten years of life to work extreme hours, with minimal security or privileges, for whoever won them in the tournament. It is not the same as becoming property or that you can be locked up as a prisoner, at least not on paper. You still have legal rights.
• The chips are worth money in the end, which is a bonus on top of the contracts of indenture. All in all, 18 million dollars are at stake.

Essentially, anyone participating would trade the risk of losing ten years of someone’s life to an unknown kind of work, but have the chance of winning millions, money far outside anyone’s reach. Wouldn’t most people spend more than ten years of their life working in a job they didn’t want anyway? Here was a chance to gamble those ten years and possibly earn freedom, or in some cases, life itself.

Characters

Among the pairs that are present at the larp, some already know each other through the Host. Others have been heard about, some have met before outside the tournament. No matter if they know anyone else, their most important connection is within the pair.

• The Thrill Seekers – These two are seeking the greatest, most extreme kicks that life can give them. The Indenture tournament puts something at stake that they’ve never tested before. They intend to flip a coin to see who they put in as prize, and flip to see who plays each game.
• The Desperate – This couple have been wracked by tragedy and loss of hope. Now, seeking something that brings the possibility of a new life, they enter the tournament. They need to decide who will sacrifice their future for their love for the other.
• The Broken – Years of psychological abuse has led to this, this final way to prove their control over their partner. Bringing them here and convincing them to agree to be indentured, all for the so-called love of their abuser.
• The Owned – The owner already trafficks in people, so bringing a poor victim to be played about is nothing new for them. Still, both need to behave civilized and proper at the tournament or they might be exposed for the crime that is written all over them.
• The Competitors – Known to be competitive and very skilled, these two players have carefully planned their entry. They are very close friends who intend to win all the money after their own lives have taken an unlucky turn. There’s no way they could lose this against amateurs.
• The Chained – A lifetime prisoner, smuggled out to be used as human stakes in a game. In a life with no hope of release, even a cruel game like this offers a hope for freedom. Above them looms the corrupt official who wants gratitude for granting this chance.
• The Deviants – Two consenting adults in a very complex power exchange have gone a bit too far. How much are they are willing to do in the name of their relation? One step has led to another and now, the owned is risking ten years in the name of their owner.
• The Ailing – A deeply loving couple where one of them is dying in a rare disease. With enough money, they could attempt a treatment, but they had none. When the Host gave them this opportunity, the healthy one was the only one accepted as a stake. Now they gamble for a literal life.
• The Indebted – With enormous debts accrued and staring down people who will follow them until the end of the earth to collect what they are owed, this couple are desperate enough to attempt the tournament of Indenture. Where else could they win enough to save their own skin?
• The Cultic – How would you prove loyalty in the best of ways, if not by showing willingness to give away years of your life to someone without question? This spiritual leader has brought one of their disciples who have displeased the leaders of the movement, and now the disciple must show they are willing to do anything for their beliefs.
• The Reversed – Enormously wealthy and bored unto nihilism, this person offered themselves as stake and gave the power over them to a recent infatuation. But, as their emotions grew and matured, have they made a grievous mistake and now might lose the hope they had just discovered?
• The Host (Organizer character) – Playing because they can, and because they apparently must have won someone in a previous game. What is the relation between the host and their stake? They’ve spent years together, that is clear, but the Host is now seeking to put them back up on the gambling table.