24th Hunger Games

The 24th Hunger Games took place during the presidency of Luperca Galba.

## Arena

The 24th Hunger Games took place in a manufactured mangrove swamp. The Cornucopia was situated on a flat patch of mud, and much of the rest of the Arena was submerged in water with an average depth of two feet. Trees were thickly concentrated throughout the mud, standing close enough together to form a canopy that Tributes could climb through. The only dry ground was patches of mud no more than ten feet in diameter.

## Flora and Fauna

### Flora

Nearly all of the trees in the Arena were of the *Rhizophora* genus. They were characterized by large aboveground root systems and wide, canopy-forming branches. Many of the trees were surrounded by liana vines or strangler figs.

Other plants in the Arena were added to provide food for the Tributes. The most common edible plants were cattails.

### Fauna

Natural fauna in the Arena consisted of fish and frogs, both seeded in large numbers to provide food for the Tributes.

Unnatural fauna, or mutts, included a monstrous crocodile and muskrat-raccoon hybrids.

## Games Description

### Bloodbath

Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the countdown. When the Games began, most of the Tributes ran at least partially toward the Cornucopia, with a few exceptions, such as the Mondins siblings. Venus Lorieta was the first to make a kill when she threw a knife at Miller Thresher from District Nine. She also killed Daniel Mondins of District Five. Alayza Mont of District Eight then killed Thompson Kirstein of District Two in a stunning upset, but she was quickly felled by another of Venus' knives. The Bloodbath ended fairly quickly and resulted in a disappointing death toll of four.

### Days Two and Three

Unusually, no one outside the Bloodbath died on the first day. Caldwell Brax of District Eight was the next to fall. He was killed by Royal Spinel of District One. The Careers continued to hunt while the other Tributes tried to secure food and water. Some, like Spencer Wire of District Three, turned to frog-hunting, while others gathered edible plants. Any Tributes that did not possess water purifiers quickly developed dysentery. On day three, the Sarcosuchus mutt made its first appearance.

The Careers struck again on Day Three, killing Apollo Wilson of District Eleven.This started his sister Peppermint on a vendetta that lasted for the remainder of the Games. The next day, Bree Maeberry of District Ten was killed by Royal and Harvey Willis of District Six was killed by the sarcosuchus.

### Career Breakup

Day Six marked the Career pack breakup, brought about by Valencia Widad of District One's plot to kill her allies in the night. She succeeded in killing Royal, but Venus was aware of her intentions and struck first.

### Day Seven

After six days of languishing, Dane Verity of District Four succumbed to tetanus caused by an infected wound inflicted by Peppermint Wilson at the Bloodbath. On the same day, Spencer Wire was killed by Ever Fellows of District Seven, who mistakenly thought he was attacking when he was startled by some birds.

### Day Nine

Day nine was the site of two unrelated incidents, making it one of the deadliest days in the Games. Valerie Fallow and Aspen Matthews of District Twelve were both killed by Venus. Hailey Falkenrath of District Three was unintentionally killed by Jean Roberts of District Ten, who was attempting to escape Hailey's snare.

### Day Ten

Jean Roberts was able to escape Hailey's snare but sustained a stomach wound in the process. He survived to the next morning but then died of blood loss. Astra Quill of District Six was killed by Venus.

### Day Eleven

The sarcosuchus attacked again, killing Sarla Mondins and Timber Jones of District Seven. However, Timber was able to wound it enough that the mutt died of blood loss.

### Day Thirteen

Venus killed Ever Fellows, though Ever was able to wound Venus first, leaving a long scar on her cheek.

### Day Fifteen

The Gamemakers, bored after two days without any fights, started a fire in order to draw the Tributes together. Though they were not targeting any Tributes in particular, Heidi Garrett of District Nine was caught in the spreading blaze and died of smoke inhalation. Humorously, the remaining Tributes blamed each other for the fire- Peppermint and Celestial thinking Venus wanted to drive them into the open, and Venus assuming only Peppermint would be dumb enough to start something as dangerous as a fire.

### Day Sixteen

The Gamemakers achieved their goal in starting the fire. With the aid of the Gamemakers, it was able to consume nearly all the greenery in the Arena, leaving no hiding places behind and forcing the three remaining Tributes together. Peppermint and Celestial Yeager of District Four crossed paths and made an alliance against Venus. They hatched a plan using the feral mutts Celestial had befriended and waited for the Career. When Venus appeared, Peppermint and Celestial launched into action, drenching the Career with honey and pointing the mutts at her. Even as she was attacked by the creatures, Venus threw a knif and fatally wounded Celestial. Peppermint sprang at her sworn enemy and speared her during a brutal battle. Venus was the first to die, followed by Celestial, leaving Peppermint as the Victor.

Victor: Peppermint Wilson, District Eleven

## Placings

24th: Miller Thresher, District Nine

23rd: Daniel Mondins, District Five

22nd: Thompson Kirstein, District Two

21st: Alayza Mont, District Eight

20th: Caldwell Brax, District Eight

19th: Apollo Wilson, District Eleven

18th: Bree Maeberry, District Ten

17th: Harvey Willis, District Six

16th Royal Spinel, District One

15th: Valencia Widad, District One

13th: Dane Verity, District Four

12th: Spencer Wire, District Three

11th: Aspen Matthews, District Twelve (tie)

11th: Valerie Fallow, District Twelve (tie)

10th: Hailey Falkenrath, District Three

9th: Jean Roberts, District Ten

8th: Astra Quill, District Six

7th: Sarla Mondins, District Five

6th: Timber Jones, District Seven

5th: Ever Fellows, District Seven

4rd: Heidi Garrett, District Nine

3rd: Venus Lorieta, District Two

2nd: Celestial Yeager, District Four

Victor: Peppermint Wilson, District Eleven

## Muttations

### Sarcosuchus

A large crocodilian mutt. The mutt was minimally altered, possessing a large size and thicker skin.

### Muskrat-Raccoons

Aquatic mammals intended to be aggressive. They possessed muskrat-like tails and were slightly smaller than raccoons. The genetic engineering was imperfect, causing the mutts to be unaggressive and friendly. They were very fond of honey. This failure led to great disapproval toward the Gamemakers by President Galba and was the event that caused Head Gamemaker Exsequia Exil to retire a few years later out of fear.

## Statistics

* Deadliest Tribute: Venus Lorieta, with ten kills

* Most common cause of death: Venus

* Victor kills: One
* Bloodbath deaths: Four
* Length: Sixteen days

## Trivia

* Venus Lorieta set a kill record that is yet unmatched.
* The muskrat-raccoon muttations were so popular in the Capitol that President Galba forced the embarrassed Gamemakers to mass-produce them for public purchase. They became popular pets and are often found in handbags.
* The 24th Games was the first to extensively use mutts and started a trend that continued throughout the Games.