The Boy in the Tunnel

by Gardner Linn

The Rules of MiloBall, Official Sport of Wintertree Hall

Being a Game of Physical and Mental Skill for Thirty-Four Players

1. MiloBall is played in the interior of Wintertree Hall. The entirety of Wintertree’s interior (both official and secret) is considered in-bounds, except for residents’ rooms.

2. The game is played by two (2) teams (Red and Blue) of fifteen (15) players each, three (3) referees, and one (1) Shambling Horror.

2a. The Red and Blue teams have largely constant memberships. Up to two first-time players and two second-time players are allowed in each game. The two first-timers serve as Assistant Referees. The two second-timers serve as Head Referee and Shambling Horror. In a player’s third game, he may rotate into the Red or Blue team if a space is available; otherwise, he remains as Head Referee or Shambling Horror. No new players are allowed until a current player leaves.

2b. Rule 2a is provisional to the outcome of the previous game, as outlined in Rule 20.

2c. Captains are responsible for fielding full teams. If there are fewer than 34 total players when the game begins, the captains have one hour in which to find the needed additional players. If they fail, the game is canceled. If they succeed, the game is played as usual, but it will still end at the appointed time (see Rule 6). The newest players will serve as Referees and Shambling Horror. Players will be assigned to the Red and Blue teams by coin toss if necessary.

3. The Red and Blue teams each control roughly equal territories within Wintertree. In the first MiloBall game, Red controlled the first and third floors, and Blue the second and fourth, but subsequent games have altered territorial possession considerably. Red and Blue captains are responsible for maintaining records of their teams’ territories, and for ratifying such before each game.

4. The following areas are considered Neutral: the first-floor lobby, the first-floor north bathroom, the auditorium, the laundry room.

5. The official map of Wintertree Hall on page 79 of the UNWG Student Handbook delineates the areas that may be considered Red, Blue or Neutral. All areas inside Wintertree not indicated on the map (e.g. tunnels and secret rooms) are the territory of the Shambling Horror.

6. The game begins at 8 p.m. on a Friday or Saturday night, and ends at either 8 a.m. the following morning, or when one team is declared the winner, whichever comes first.

6a. There must be at least three games per semester, and no more than seven.

7. The object of the game is to find the MiloBall and then to deposit it into the opposing team’s Mausoleum. The team that first accomplishes this task within a 12-hour time frame is declared the winner.

7a. The MiloBall shall be a regulation size purple volleyball or soccer ball.

7b. Each team’s Mausoleum shall be a cardboard box at least 18”x24”x18”, marked with red or blue tape as appropriate.

8. The Head Referee shall hide the MiloBall somewhere within the Red or Blue territories. He may not hide it in Neutral areas or in the Shambling Horror’s territories. The Head Referee will tell one of the Assistant Referees the true location of the MiloBall; separately, he will tell the other A.R. a false location. He will not indicate which is true and which is false. Each Assistant Referee is to assume he is given the correct information; neither is to know which location was told to the other.

8a. Once per semester, the Head Referee may choose not to hide the MiloBall at all. If he chooses to do this, he gives false locations to both Assistant Referees.

8b. If either team captain believes that there is no MiloBall to be found, he must file a written complaint of at least 500 words with either Assistant Referee. If the A.R. judges the complaint worthy, the two Assistant Referees will then convene and search the locations given to them by the Head Referee. If the MiloBall is in neither location, the complainant’s team is declared the winner. (The complainant will not accompany the A.R.s on their search.)

8c. If a captain files such a complaint and the MiloBall is found by the A.R.s, the captain is sent to the opposing team’s Gaol, and the A.R.s rehide the MiloBall. They do not tell the Head Referee the new location. The game continues as before, but if the complainant’s team wins, one third of that team’s territory is given to the other team for the next game.

8d. If the Head Referee does not hide the MiloBall, and neither captain files a complaint before the 12-hour deadline, the Head Referee becomes captain of the team of his choice in the next game. The displaced captain will be an Assistant Referee in the next game.

9. Each team’s captain shall hide his team’s Mausoleum somewhere within his team’s territory. The captain may choose to tell any or all of his teammates where the Mausoleum is, or he may keep the information to himself. None of the referees are to know the location of either Mausoleum.

9a. No players are allowed within fifteen feet of their own team’s Mausoleum.

9b. Each Mausoleum will contain a Polaroid camera loaded with film.

10. Players are free to roam about their own team’s territory. If a player enters the other team’s territory and is tagged by a member of that team, he must go to Gaol. (For example, if a Red player enters Blue territory and is tagged by a Blue player, he will go to Gaol.)

11. Each team’s captain chooses the location of his team’s Gaol. All players and referees know the locations of both Gaols. Each team’s Gaol must be a room within that team’s territory, and must have at least two separate entrances. One player may be posted inside the Gaol room to serve as a guard, though this is not required. Only one player is allowed in his own Gaol at a time. There is no limit to the number of opposing players who can be imprisoned at one time.

12. A player may free his imprisoned teammates from the opposing team’s Gaol by entering the Gaol and tagging them. Once an imprisoned player is tagged free, he is subject to being tagged and imprisoned again by the guard or another opposing player. There is no immunity or neutrality for escaping prisoners.

13. If the Shambling Horror tags a player in the S.H.’s territory, that player then becomes the Shambling Horror’s Envoy. The Envoy continues playing the game as if he was still a member of his original team, but his goal is to find the MiloBall and bring it back to the Shambling Horror.

13a. If the Shambling Horror takes possession of the MiloBall, he may offer himself and the ball to either team in exchange for one of their players. If the trade is accepted, the Shambling Horror becomes a member of that team, and the traded player becomes the Shambling Horror.

13b. The Shambling Horror may not leave his territories except when in possession of the MiloBall.

13c. A player may retrieve the MiloBall from the Shambling Horror without making a trade by touching the S.H. with one of the six magical items described in Rule 17.

13d. If a player suspects a teammate of being the Shambling Horror’s Envoy, the player may invoke Code Green by tagging the suspected Envoy, shouting “Code Green!” and accompanying the suspect to the auditorium. The accuser and accused will have one minute each to present their cases to the two palaver participants and the Head Referee, who will then vote on whether the accused is the Envoy. If they decide he is, he is ejected from the game. If they decide he isn’t, he may rejoin the game, but the accuser is ejected.

13e. The Envoy must always deny being the Envoy (except when affected by the Hoop of Truth [see Rule 17]), and must always strive to accomplish his task of retrieving the MiloBall for the Shambling Horror.

14. At the beginning of the game, the two captains and the Head Referee adjourn to the auditorium and sit at a card table on the stage to palaver. The captains may attempt to discover from the Head Referee the location of the MiloBall, or from each other the locations of the Mausoleums. They may use any tactics they wish, but they may not rise from their chairs or make physical contact with either of the other participants. Every thirty minutes, the captains have the option to leave the palaver and find a replacement. The captain dons the Vest of Concealment, which renders him immune to tagging by opponents, and exits the auditorium. He must give the Vest to the first teammate he finds, who then goes to the auditorium to continue the palaver. The captain may then share whatever information he discovered with other teammates, if he wishes. The same palaver rules apply to the replacement participants; every thirty minutes they may leave to find a replacement. They do not have to leave, but they may only leave every thirty minutes.

14a. The Vest of Concealment may only be worn on the way to or from the palaver. Breaking of this rule is grounds for imprisonment.

15. The two Assistant Referees patrol the Red and Blue territories. The two A.R.s should work out between themselves which will focus on Red and which on Blue, but they are both free to go wherever they please. Players with disputes may bring them to the attention of either A.R. for a ruling. Players standing within five feet of an A.R. are immune to tagging, but the A.R. may revoke that right if he feels a player is abusing it. The rulings of the A.R.s may be appealed once to the Head Referee. In the case of an appeal, the player(s) involved in the dispute will accompany the A.R. to the auditorium, and they will have immunity for the duration of the journey.

16. One player on each team will be designated a Sniper. Each Sniper is equipped with a dart gun and three suction cup-tipped darts. If the Sniper hits an opposing player in either Red or Blue territory, regardless of either player’s team affiliation, the opposing player is considered tagged and must go to Gaol.

16a. If a player tags the opposing team’s Sniper—in either Red or Blue territory, no matter which team either player is on—the tagging player acquires the Sniper’s dart gun. The Sniper does not have to go to Gaol, but he should probably run away quickly to avoid being sniped himself.

16b. It is the Sniper’s responsibility to retrieve his darts after firing them. Any other player may pick up darts that are lying on the floor, and those darts then become his property. If the Sniper wishes to get them back, he must either shoot the new owner or work out a trade.

16c. Players shot by a Sniper and on their way to Gaol may not pick up loose darts.

17. Prior to the game, each Assistant Referee is given three items to hide in any in-bounds area (including neutral areas and the territories of the Shambling Horror). These items will be of use to the players that find them.

17a. Assistant Referee 1 hides the following three items:

Delmonico’s Shield – A purple Frisbee. Renders the bearer immune to tagging. The bearer is still vulnerable to Sniper attacks, if the dart hits his body; he may use the shield to physically block the darts. An opposing player may challenge the shield bearer to the Question Game for possession of the shield: the two players hold a conversation using only questions. The first player to make a non-interrogatory statement loses. If the shield bearer loses, he relinquishes the shield to the winner. Both players are immune to tagging during the question game and for thirty seconds immediately thereafter.

The Staff of Extreme Cold – A plastic or foam-rubber tube approximately five feet long. If the staff bearer touches an opposing player with the staff, that player becomes frozen and may not move for ten minutes. The frozen player is vulnerable to tagging, but the staff bearer may not tag him. If the staff bearer is tagged, he must relinquish the staff, but does not go to Gaol.

The Hoop of Truth – A standard-sized hula hoop, preferably purple in color. If the hoop is thrown or placed around the body of any player, referee, or Shambling Horror, that person is compelled to truthfully answer one question posed by the hoop bearer. The hooped player is immune to tagging during the hooping and for 30 seconds immediately thereafter. The hoop may only be used once; after use, it must be left on the floor to await its next bearer. The hoop has no effect in neutral areas.

17b. Assistant Referee 2 hides the following three items:

The Unrefusable Offer – A purple plastic disc about the size of a soda cup lid. The bearer may present this to any of the Referees to overturn an unfavorable ruling. The Unrefusable Offer may only be used once per game.

The Blanket Pardon – A small purple blanket or towel. If the bearer is tagged, he must go to Gaol, but once there, he may give the blanket to another prisoner. All of the prisoners except the original blanket bearer then go free, and have 30 seconds of immunity to tagging (during these 30 seconds, the prisoners must stay in a group and the new bearer must wave the blanket over his head). The blanket has no prisoner-freeing effect if the bearer enters Gaol of his own accord; he must be sent there by an opposing player. For obvious reasons, the blanket bearer may wish to keep the blanket hidden. Or, if he is selfish and wishes to discourage opposing players from tagging him, he may wish to display it prominently.

The Cloak of Great Reward – A purple cloak, to be worn around the neck. Has no effect during the game beyond looking cool. At the end of the game, the wearer of the cloak is entitled to the contents of the Box of Mystery, which is sealed prior to the game by the Head Referee. The Box of Mystery is the same size as the Mausoleums, and may contain anything the Head Referee chooses that fits inside. The contents may be useful in the next game (an extra Sniper gun or Delmonico’s Shield), they may be punitive (a card with the message “Give the other team a fifth of your territory”), or they may have no relation to the game at all (an old sweater the Head Referee wishes to get rid of). The cloak wearer may give up the cloak any time prior to the 12-hour deadline or the declaration of a winner. If the wearer is tagged, he goes to Gaol, and the cloak becomes the property of the player who tagged him. After time is called, or a winner is declared, there will be a five-minute period during which the cloak may be traded.

18. If a player in possession of the MiloBall is tagged, the ball becomes the possession of the tagging player. The tagged player does not go to Gaol; he is, however, frozen for fifteen minutes. During those fifteen minutes he is vulnerable to tagging, except by the player who took the MiloBall from him.

19. When a player deposits the MiloBall into the opposing team’s Mausoleum, he is to take a picture of the ball in the Mausoleum using the Polaroid camera, and then bring the photograph to the Head Referee. The Head Referee will then accompany the player to the Mausoleum to verify the win and declare victory.

19a. After a player deposits the MiloBall in the Mausoleum and takes the picture, an opposing player may then take the ball and attempt to deposit it into the other Mausoleum. If he can do so and place a Polaroid of this accomplishment in his own Mausoleum before the Head Referee arrives to verify the win, his team will be declared the winner.

20. The winning team may take up to one eighth of the losing team’s territory, and may elect to alter the losing team’s lineup by up to four players. The winning team may trade these players for the Referees and Shambling Horror, or players from the winning team, or any combination thereof.

20a. If the winning team has more players in Gaol than the losing team when the game ends, they will lose a percentage of their territory equal to the percentage of their players in Gaol. For example, if the Red team wins, but has three players in Gaol (and the Blue team has only two), the Red team will take 1/8 of the Blue team’s territory, but must give the Blue team 1/5 of their territory.

20b. If time is called before either team claims victory, both teams will give to the other a percentage of their territory equal to the percentage of their players in Gaol.