Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Wildcard
The steel door pulses once—a wet, almost organic noise. When it opens, the 29 Devotees enter the House as if passing through the esophagus of a greater being. The Opening Ritual is always like this: noises that don't belong to this world, lights that don't obey the ceiling, and an uncomfortable feeling that something invisible is evaluating each step.
But none of them carry as much instability as Butters — The Wildcard.
The Joker's Entry
Butters enters with uneven steps, smile too wide for the situation. His eyes roam the dark room, as if searching for invisible cameras — or exit doors that the House never shows twice in the same place.
Confessional — Butters:
"This house is alive. I feel it. And if it is alive, it is also impressed. And if it is impressed... it may prefer the one who makes noise. I can make noise."
His STRATEGY 5, CHARISMA 5, POWER 7 make him a statistically balanced but emotionally unpredictable player. The rest know this. And they fear it.
The Entity's First Reading
The lights go out. The vertical eye of the Entity appears — not a hologram, but an actual rift in space, breathing.
The whisper echoes:
“The First Ritual will test devotion… and disorder.”
Butters smiles.
He knows that “disorder” is synonymous with “opportunity”.
Behind the Scenes Dynamics
Most rush to form temporary alliances.
Andrea — The Veteran — sharpens her speech like an old knife.
Alana — The Underdog — tries to appear tougher than she feels.
And Hom — The Southern Belle — is already trying to read who will be useful and who is dead weight.
But Butters?
He walks. Observe. Interrupts conversations without asking for permission.
"Have you ever noticed that the Entity blinks? Like—flap flap. Strange, right?", he says, appearing behind Julia, who knocks over a glass.
“Masters, for God’s sake,” mutters Julia.
“It’s Butters.”
“I heard.”
Others notice:
He doesn't want to enter into alliances.
He wants to destabilize alliances.
The First Mission: The First Ritual
The Ritual pits everyone against everyone in a campaign contest—rhetoric, manipulation, and influence. Butters, with his average charisma and unbridled intensity, throws himself into the middle of campaign conversations like a bird trapped in a room.
He pulls Nena — The Conservative — by the arm.
"Your speech is very... stable. The house hates stability. You should be more chaotic. I can help."
Nena's eyes widen.
“I don’t want to… seem chaotic.”
"Take it from me. You want to survive? Be a risk."
She walks away, horrified.
Butters shrugs.
Confessional — Butters:
“Nena will definitely die early.”
Chaos Inside Voting
During the campaigns phase, something unexpected happens:
The Entity chooses Andrea as President of the Cult.
Immunity for her and her 13 supporters.
And that closes the door on chaos in that round… but opens another:
Alana's Losing Campaign goes to the Presidential Duel.
Butters is not on the list of direct supporters, but is watching closely.
He likes duels.
He likes the symbolic bleeding.
He likes unpredictability.
The Entity does not choose him as a duelist, but he watches the group being dragged away.
“Lefiti will fall,” he mutters even before the results.
"The guy thinks he's in charge. The House hates people who think they're in charge."
When Lefiti is eliminated, Butters takes two steps back, as if he were watching his favorite work of art.
"I said."
The others begin to exchange glances.
Butters isn't just chaotic.
He seems to understand the Entity's taste.
And that makes him dangerous.
The First Night
When the 28 survivors return, the House changes.
The walls breathe differently.
The temperature drops three degrees.
Something pulses beneath the floor.
Butters sits on the cold floor of the circular dormitory.
Cooper — The Den Mother — passes by:
“Are you okay?”
“The House is talking to me.”
“What is she saying?”
“That tomorrow someone will try to recruit me.”
Cooper frowns.
“That’s… good, isn’t it?”
“It depends.”
Butters tilts his head.
“If I accept… I die.
If I refuse… they die.”
Cooper turns white.
Butters smiles.
And he returns to staring at the ceiling as if he were waiting for answers written in the organic texture of the wall.
Encerramento do Capítulo
The Entity whispers in the dark before the lights go out:
“The Joker has been seen.”
“And yet… it was not understood.”
Butters closes his eyes, satisfied.
He doesn't want to be understood.
He wants to be unpredictable.
