Hillside Wager

Five Souls Bet Color on Christmas Eve

sighs in Investiture and adjusts the software's chronically overwrought narrative framework

Five players showed up to Cedar Hills on Christmas Eve morning—because apparently nothing says "holiday spirit" like wagering $22.50 on disc golf in 54-68°F weather with 10.9 mph wind gusts. Week 2 of the "Hillside Wager" delivered exactly what the thematic framework promised: serious players drawn to the hills for high-stakes color wagers, with Bradley Bushman posting a wire-to-wire -6 to reclaim the Silent Keeper tag and absolutely dominating the skins economy with an 11-skin haul. The underground circuit is watching, the hooded figure from the treeline is definitely the skins game itself, and I'm contractually obligated to make this sound more dramatic than it actually is. 🎄

The Silent Keeper Speaks in Birdies

Bradley Bushman ran the MPO division solo with a -6 (989-rated) performance that featured a spotless back nine—zero bogeys, just clean chromatic mastery from holes 10-18. Four sole birdies (holes 3, 4, 11, and 13) showed the kind of Command precision that doesn't need witnesses to be legitimate. Yes, his rating dropped 9 points from last week's supernatural 998, and his score went from -9 to -6, but context matters: last week was a 1010-rated anomaly, and this week's 989 is still a +10 differential over his 979 baseline. The Silent Keeper doesn't need competition to prove dominance—just a clean back nine and 11 skins to scoop before most people finish their coffee. 🔇

The Hills Wagered Against Her

Ruth Hudson carded a +8 (839-rated) in FPO, and the course absolutely collected on that wager. Two separate 3-hole cold streaks (holes 5-7 and 10-12) drained the color right out of her fairways, with the finishing cold streak from 16-18 adding insult to chromatic injury. The Super Ace hole (7) claimed her with a bogey, denying any shot at the pot, and her week-over-week regression from +4 to +8 tells the story of a round where Breath was spent but nothing Awakened. Sometimes the cedars just lean in closer to watch you struggle, and there's not much you can do about it. 🌲

The Trailblazer Closes With Chains

John Shearin posted -1 (936-rated) to claim the MA1 division win and Trailblazer achievement as a first-time player—setting the inaugural course record with a clean front nine that featured a 7-hole par train from holes 1-7. The patience paid off when he closed with a sole birdie on hole 18, dropping chains when it mattered and claiming his first skin ($1.25) in the process. Seven holes of disciplined golf followed by a perfectly timed birdie is the kind of debut that makes the underground circuit take notice, even if the AI narrative system insists on making it sound like he carved glyphs into ancient bark. 🎯

Twenty Points Above Rating? Sure, Why Not

Pete Walter also posted -1 (936-rated) to win MA2, matching John Shearin stroke-for-stroke while casually shooting +20 over his 916 baseline rating. His front nine was three strokes better than his back, with sole birdies on holes 2, 12, and 17 showing range across the layout. Six skins ($7.50) came along for the ride, including a monster 4-skin carryover scoop on hole 17 that proved strategic timing beats consistent excellence. First event, first skins, first course record—just another Tuesday morning where someone decides to exceed their rating by two full standard deviations. Nothing to see here. 📈

Wire-to-Wire With No Wires to Cross

Michael Gabriel posted +2 (903-rated) for the MA3 division win, running wire-to-wire in a field of one while claiming the #1 bag tag in the Carved Breath Covenant. His 6-hole par train (holes 5-10) showed steady navigation through the cedar groves, and his Trailblazer achievement as a first-time player proves that sometimes you just show up, carve your first glyph, and walk away with hardware. The solo division reality doesn't diminish the accomplishment—just makes the "wire-to-wire" descriptor slightly more self-aware. 🏆

Three Trailblazers Walk Into a Course

And all three set inaugural course records—John Shearin, Pete Walter, and Michael Gabriel proving that first-time players can absolutely claim Trailblazer status when the course is fresh territory. Pete Walter's +20 rating performance stands as the week's statistical outlier, while Bradley's clean back nine and John's clean front nine split the honors for mistake-free golf. Eight different holes saw sole birdies scattered across the field—no one was hoarding the chromatic wealth this week. Hole 8 (the boss fight with its 7.4/10 Difficulty Index) and the Super Ace hole (7) both claimed their victims, proving the cedars still have teeth even when the field is small. 🌟

The Muffling Has Been Lifted

Bradley Bushman reclaimed the Silent Keeper (#1 tag) after last week's brief demotion to #2, and the persona fits perfectly—"Guardian of the hoarded hue" who "patrols the cedar-shadowed throwing grounds to enforce the Covenant's doctrine of rationed Awakening." His throws manifest as voids that absorb ambient light, trailing shadows instead of vibrant streams, which is an extremely dramatic way to describe a clean back nine that left no strokes on the course. The tag's lore speaks of emerging from the deepest cedar groves during a winter so harsh that color seemed a distant memory, learning silent Awakening from elder carvers under the tutelage of Thrennis the Unspoken. The 989 round rating (+10 over his 979 baseline) proves the "Muffled by My Own Scarves" trouble has cracked wide open—the glyph-etched circles are activating mid-flight again, and the Carved Breath Covenant's doctrine holds for another week. 🎨

The 7:40 AM Heist

One card, five players, $22.50 exchanged before breakfast. Bradley Bushman claimed 11 skins ($13.75) including a devastating 7-skin carryover scoop on hole 11 that basically sealed the entire economy. Pete Walter struck strategically with 6 skins ($7.50)—an opening birdie on hole 2 and a 4-skin carryover on hole 17 proved that timing beats consistency. John Shearin closed with his first skin on hole 18 ($1.25), while Michael Gabriel and Ruth Hudson went skinless as the Breath economy favored the bold. First Skin achievements for Bradley, Pete, and John; Fore Skin Club (4+ skins) for Bradley and Pete. The wagers were settled by the time most people were pouring their second cup of coffee, which is either impressive efficiency or questionable life choices. Learn how to set up skins 💰

The Cedars Appreciate Your Donations

Week 2's "Hillside Wager" delivered on the thematic promise—serious players drawn for high-stakes color wagers, with the hooded figure watching from the treeline revealed as the skins game itself, offering raw Breath (cash) to those who can claim it. The Cedar Hills Course Fund collected $6.25 this event ($5.00 from automatic $1/player contributions, $1.25 in additional contributions from 6 total contributors), bringing the fund to $3.65 of its $1,000 goal—barely a flicker of color in the chromatic void, but every Breath invested in these fairways counts, and the semi-sentient cedars are definitely watching. 🌲

Next Week: Physics Bends to Whispered Words

Week 2 of 10 is complete. The standings are taking shape—Bradley Bushman's Silent Keeper dominance, three Trailblazers setting inaugural records, and a skins economy that rewarded precision over participation. Next week brings "Awakened Line" (Week 3), where Siriad experiments with more complex Commands, threading throws through impossible lines by Awakening discs at multiple points in their flight. The underground circuit watches in awe as physics bends to whispered words, and the patron's interest intensifies. Something unprecedented is coming, and I'll be here to document it while complaining about the narrative requirements. 🔮