pawnstorm | intro ♚ may

WELCOME TO Caissa

We’ve all had those dreams: you wake up on a table, to blurry, ominous images and the certainty that you are absolutely buck-naked in a room full of strangers. This is not quite it.

Instead, you come awake to the sun on your face. The soft burble of water nearby. The hustle and bustle of a busy street and the faint, fortifying smell of bread. You open your eyes and there’s no one there at your bedside, but there is what appears to be the end of the world happening just beyond your window.

There’s a crack in the world across the sky, the “sun” is the totally unnatural light spilling from that crack straight into your eyes, and someone’s left a neatly pressed and folded uniform at the foot of the bed that isn’t yours. Somewhere in the room, there’s a strange clatter like beads, the click of claws on the floor.

Something’s in here with you.

Also, you are naked.

WARNING: Contains death and related graphic descriptions.

ONE ♟ P.S. I Love You

It's a perfectly ordinary morning in Caissa. Enprise’s two suns peer over the horizon and smack into your face through the large bay window. At half past six in the morning, the floor nanny’s built-in alarm goes off and plays Prime Minister Teddy’s hit song Love Me Like Your Doughnuts. Once everyone in their rooms is up and awake, this mechanical pigeon announces that letters and small packages have been delivered to every Hero’s personal box in the mailroom. Yes, even you, Naked Newcomer! These letters are from the Heroes’ many fans all over Blanc. No matter who you are, there are small tokens of appreciation attached to the letters: these may include candies shaped like stars, chocolates with a surprise gooey center, or even a can of rainbow beans for those not fond of sweets.

Letters for veteran Heroes are full of praise and gratitude for the success of the naval battle at Graupera. New Heroes receive mail that express support towards their future endeavors as the Blanc military’s most formidable task force. That’s not all the letters contain, however; the citizens also plead for our Heroes’ help with new problems that have arisen in the fields surrounding Caissa. However, the details the letters provide are scant and vague. The fans seem more concerned with recent damage caused by some unknown entity. There is a 15-page narrative of how a man built this beautiful house for his lovely, sweet wife who did nothing wrong, but nothing about why the house is in shambles now. A market on the outskirts of Caissa lost 30,000 colle’s worth of food, but the writer neglects to explain what happened to the food. All you know is that this person stayed up all week taking inventory and now it has gone to waste.

Sharing letters with each other might give you a clue on where to start your investigations and figure out which areas were hit the hardest. Or you can talk about how cute your adoring fans are. One way or another, you’ll have to get tongues wagging to make any progress. Unfortunately, Blanc isn’t going to save itself and from the sound of it, this problem is bigger than expected...

TWO ♟ Distant Howling

After pooling information, the new objective is clear: to investigate the damages. The vast, vibrant fields around Caissa seem a good place to start. They are mostly empty, but here or there you will see some people from nearby smaller villages and farms. The villagers will admit to having seen threatening shadows move over the fields and having heard harsh, high-pitched howling. They are willing to point Heroes toward possible shadow sightings, but are otherwise reluctant to act as guides. They are simple townsfolk who wish to return to their quiet lifestyle.

You may come up with small settlements (e.g. villages, farms, inns, taverns, etc.) as they are considered minor locations.

Heroes will soon discover that some of the smaller villages have been burned down entirely. The smell of ash and charred wood is thick in the air, though some buildings are also smashed as as though by something large and heavy. Nearby trees which haven’t been uprooted or knocked over are scorched and their blackened branches crackle ominously in the breeze. There are large marks dug deep into the ground and—is that a cow? Heroes will find tagged fruit cows scattered everywhere, scared, confused and mooing sadly next to their dead fruit cow friends. Fruit cows are usually found in Gresser, how strange...

A couple of days’ worth of exploration may help you realize that whatever is terrorizing Blanc doesn’t only devour hapless animals. While trying to navigate the numerous backcountry roads and farmlands, Heroes may stumble upon some gruesome clues: a charred limb—or what’s left of it; teeth, half-eaten ribcages, melted jewelry, and other smaller bits; the less fortunate may actually trip over a corpse staring unseeingly into the sky. It has been gutted, half-roasted, and seems to have lain in the sun for some time; and if someone is brave enough to roll the body onto its stomach, they may discover claw marks on its back. The victim must have tried to flee from something.

The amount of damage grows the more our Heroes travel south. What could be awaiting them?

THREE ♟ Breath of Fire

Let’s put the clues together. Fire? Check. Claw marks? Check. Large shadows seemingly from something flying overhead? Check and check. Congratulations, Blanc, you are suffering from a dragon plague.

It will take several days for the Heroes to locate the source of the rumors. The dragons seem to have taken up residence in the hilly area near Caissa, where the slopes grow steeper and then drop suddenly off into cliffs. The beasts are quite willing to greet guests warmly: there’s nothing like a burst of dragonfire and a deafening screech to brighten your day.

The only warning you’ll get before they launch themselves into the air and at Heroes is the sound of trees bursting beneath their claws. Beware: a single swipe can cause some serious damage and their fire breath, fast, frequent and garnished with the occasional, boiling hot drop of saliva, is nothing you want to stick around for. The dragons cannot be reasoned with, nor can they be tamed. A queen’s Charm magic WILL NOT work. Should someone try and reach out with their senses to see if the dragons are somehow hurting, they will only feel something alien and terrible.

Heroes aren't the only ones suffering under the dragons’ claws, unfortunately. Scattered around the area are a few small and isolated farms, and the animals and the farmers are easy prey and unlikely to flee in time. Heroes will want to intervene before the dragons can devour and destroy. If they are too late, they will need to provide support. Put out fires, heal the injured, catch panicked cows before they become pot roast! The dragons might be coming around for another attack, so it would be a good time to test barriers and other damage control skills.

To make matters worse, Blanc’s weather has decided that now is the perfect time for a hailstorm. It’s barely anything at first, beginning with small kernels the size of corn here and there to wet the grass and ruin your footing. Then it becomes much larger and greater in number. Dragons are not exempt from this hailhole: large enough pieces may rip holes in their wings! Heroes may want to use this to their advantage; additionally, casting ice and wind spells will suddenly become a lot easier, and the dragons will struggle to navigate in the stormy weather, forcing them to land more often. Better get up on that dragon’s back!

In the end, survivors of the dragon horde let out one last, collective shriek before they turn southward. The battle has been won, but the war is just beginning: the dragons have only been chased away. Their nest seems to be elsewhere and that is a worrying prospect. Dragons aren’t native to Blanc, which can only mean one thing…

Meanwhile, a new job opening has appeared at Gresser. At least you finally know what to do with all those fruit cows.

INFO ♟ Welcome!

Welcome to Crosscheck's May intro log! For any further questions, please see the FAQ or reach us at the Contact Us page. Have fun!

Also by request, here are some Player Endorsements that may be of interest!

Heaven's Feel: Looking for something else to do? In the mood for more light-hearted mingling? Check out Heaven’s Feel, Caissa’s first heroic matchmaking service! Opening week is going on now.

Training Notice: This training notice is located on the bulletin board. You might want to take a look.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Naruto heads outside because it feels like the right thing to do. He's never been very good at sitting back and mulling things over, he learns through his body- a restlessness he hasn't grown out of. Cows dot the landscape, shifting their weight noisily at his approach. Naruto slows down, hands raised in a gesture meant to calm, or maybe just to demonstrate that he means no harm.

That's when he notices her, a girl digging into the ground. His brows pull together.]

Hey hey, whatcha-
[And that's where his eyes catch up with his mouth. The sight punches the volume right out of his voice.] -Oh.

[Korra knows the same restlessness intimately. Being locked up in a compound for twelve years didn't help anything. She's not surprised to see other people out here, but she does feel bad that he had to see what was... the clawed and charred remnants of a corpse being buried.

It's not an easy thing to stomach.

She takes in a breath.]

It's okay, I'm done. [She dusts her hands on her pants.] I was looking for cows, but instead I keep finding people. Their families should be the ones to bury them, but...

Edited 2016-05-15 20:43 (UTC)

[As charred as the remains are, they are almost horribly recognizable. Not far to his right there's part of an arm- each individual finger now permanently frozen in this half curled position. It's painfully human, that preserved moment, and unbidden, he remembers Neji. How taut the muscles in his body had been when he'd been pierced through the middle. How still he became as his last breaths left his lungs and with each wet exhale, how he'd softened by degrees. A statue right up until he wasn't. Had some of these people been trying to save someone too?]

They might not have families.

[It's quiet for a conversation piece. Naruto says it because he understands what she means, and that it's a nice idea- but sometimes-] And sometimes people die far away from the people they love.

[Jiraiya had.

Naruto listens to the sound of her inhale and it reminds him to let go of his own. Closing the distance, small upended stones go skittering through the grass. There are a lot of graves. She must have been at this for awhile.]

I think they'd be glad you were here. It'd mean a lot to me, if it was somebody I knew.

Yeah... that's true.

[Naruto understands. Korra might not know how innately, but his demeanor and his words say enough. She's been at this for a while, and she didn't even realize she wanted someone to share her grief with.

Once-Avatar Korra has no way to communicate with her past lives, and Raava is silent, as she will always be.

She looks at Naruto.]

I'm going to pray for them now. It's the Avatar's job to see them into the other world. You don't have to stay.

[He's never heard of an Avatar before, but there's something about the set of her shoulders and the resignation in her face that tells him she knows what she's doing. Naruto looks at her hands and wonders how calloused her palms must be from all that digging. She feels responsible for them. For all these lives.

His head shakes. For all the chaos the past few days have been, it's so quiet up here.]

Funerals are for the living too.

[She's surprised by his resolution to stay, but the surprise is quickly replaced with a smile of gratitude.]

Thank you.

[She pulls something out of her pack, sets it in the ground, and lights it with a small fire spell. Incense. It's not great, but it will do. Why does she carry incense? Because she's the motherfucking Avatar and she never knows when she'll have to pray to get something, that's why.

Her voice is low, but it remains steady as she goes through the traditional prayers for the dead. She finishes with the prayer of loving-kindness.]

May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature. May all beings be free...

[He's less surprised by the incense than he is by her fire spell. Magic isn't something he's even wrapped his mind around, let alone is it a skill he's begun to practice and use.

Naruto kneels when she begins, a short but respectful distance behind her, and bows his head. He's not a particularly spiritual person and he's a far cry from the bridge between physical and spiritual worlds that she represents, but he can be there as a person- someone who feels regret for these strangers and mourns the loss of everything their futures could have been. He keeps on staying until she's finished and the world is quiet and there's nothing more to be said.

And then he offers her a hand, to help her back to her feet.]

intro ♚ may

two

sorry this sat for a while, i was working full time retail 8((((((

don't worry about it! i totally know the feel <3

protect naruto 2k16

u mean protect korra 2k16??? my feels????

[SOBBING]

YOU'RE TELLING ME