pawnstorm | event ♚ january

Entry tags:

!job,
!story

event ♚ january

WELCOME? TO MENCHIK

Alumina Antimoine, daughter of the mayor of Menchik, is missing.

Upon her sister Gretchen’s urging, the mayor has rented a conference room at the Gearson Hotel as a venue for all Heroes to share information regarding the recent disappearances, including their daughter.

According to various reports, Alumina ran off yesterday nght and hasn’t been seen since. She was quick to rush from her home despite her timid nature, claiming she had something important to do. Her parents are beginning to grow worried. Hannes and Gretchen have done their best to look for her, but so far their efforts have been fruitless.

	Gretchen Sorry to interrupt your investigation, but I’ve enough reason to believe Alumina’s disappearance is linked to this. She’s the most invested in the missing people’s case more than anyone else, so I...
	Hannes Ooh, macarons!
	Gretchen Hannes. [ loads gun ]
	Hannes [ pops a macaron in her mouth ] Relax! There are security automatons all over the city, so I’m sure we’ll find her in no time. Maybe she’s hitting it off with one right now. I mean, they’re pretty hot.
	Gretchen [ munches on it ] Buttercream… [ gasp, how embarrassing ] A-anyway! If you’re more useful than my brother, by all means, help us!
	Lisbrand Gretchen.
	Gretchen F-Fleur! You’re back!
	Lisbrand My task force and Lisbrand Technologies will take it from here. Our company’s automatons are equipped with cameras. If we can get into the system, we can locate Ledo and Alumina quickly.
	Hannes See, I knew there was more to Fleur than her huge knockers!
	Lisbrand Hannes. [ loads gun ]

ONE ♟ ALL-NIGHTER

Long tables and uncomfortable chairs await you in the conference room. Coffee, tea and some small snacks have been prepared for the Heroes as well as pen and paper to take notes with. This is where Heroes can share information and pool knowledge. Maybe something will add up if you all work together!

Each table has copies of the missing people reports and some might recognize the faces staring up at them from the pages as corpses found near the lake. Newspapers have been neatly stacked on a table in the corner, with many articles noting increased avian activity near the lake and within the city. Certainly odd at this time of the year. Other articles include statements from Menchikans where they found severed fingers or toes that turned into black feathers shortly after.

Hannes and Gretchen also haven’t been idle and have interviewed police officers and Commander Lisbrand’s scouts, who reported encounters with misshapen monsters with beaks. The number of casualties and injured are high. It appears that the monster is too strong for ordinary humans to deal with.

TWO ♟ Never tell me the odds

The door slams open and a messenger from Lisbrand Technologies runs into the room, breathless from his travels. He claims that Alumina has been found near Lebedche Lake!

	Gretchen That’s great! But…
	Lisbrand Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that lake.
	Hannes Oof, hold on. Everyone, take these. [ gives everyone a satchel of magical bread crumbs ] Use these so the others can find you.
	Gretchen Yeah, alright. Let’s leave glowing bird feed on the ground. That’s a great idea.
	Lisbrand No, he has a point. This time around, the birds are out to eat us. Heroes, move!

While searching the lake and the surrounding area, Heroes may find one of the following:

Tattered pieces of Alumina’s hair ribbon rest on a dead branch of an otherwise healthy tree. When you pick the pieces up, you’re hit by a sudden chill and your vision grows dark. Something bitter seems to coat your tongue for an instant, and you immediately feel exhausted. Look at your hands and you will find that the ribbon is no longer in your possession.

As you climb one of the large rocks near the shore, something light brushes against your head—a soft, black feather. Another falls, and another... until you are pelted by the ton.

Empty bullet shells can be found in the pebble stones by the shore. If brought back to Gretchen, she will worriedly comment that the shells match the gun she gave Alumina for self-defense a while back. Does that mean that someone tried to hurt her?

An envelope addressed to Alumina. It’s contents are empty and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary until you hold it up against a source of light, revealing an emblem.

Pages of a letter are scattered across the lake’s surface. Retrieve them and the ink will suddenly begin to spill from the pages and drip down your arms, burning your skin. No spell or ointment will cure it until an hour has passed. What is left behind on the pages, however, are broken sentences: “...can’t be... “ “Promise to…” “...happier with me.”

Find other Heroes to put the pieces together. There will be only one conclusion: Alumina has been kidnapped. Considering the recent events, this is very bad news indeed. And not some they will take lying down, Lisbrand promises. She won’t rest until she knows more and Heroes are welcome to join her.

THREE ♟ Cave Story

It’s evening by the time Lisbrand’s team discovers where Alumina is being kept. The Heroes and Lisbrand will be led to a cave near the lake. Reports say that the strange noises from further in often ward intruders away…

Inside, Heroes will find angry, screeching bats. Lisbrand is all too used to shooting them due to Verdoni’s antics, but they’re not vampiric by any means. Be mindful of the ground as well—the lake floods the cave once in a while, leaving stones slippery and covered in algae. Steady footing will come in handy when vicious rock monsters come charging towards you. Madness fills their eyes as if they have been tampered with by dark magic... There’s no other choice but to put them out of their misery.

A foul smell fills the air as you venture deeper into the cave. You soon find its source: severed body parts left to rot litter the cavern floor. The various parts have been sorted into morbidly neat piles: hands to hands and feet to feet. This isn’t the work of a mere beast. This was planned by someone meticulous.

Someone human.

Gretchen gags at the sight and Hannes exchanges a nod with Lisbrand before leading his sister back to the cavern entrance. The siblings won’t be tagging along for what’s to come. You keep moving. Water drops from the ceiling, your footsteps echo down the grimy walls. The shadows cast by your torches seem to come alive, reaching out and clawing at everything they can reach. Finally, moonlight filters in through a hole in the ceiling and in the center of it lies—

Alumina.

No calling will wake her. Approach her and heavy fog will begin to filter in the room. Lisbrand snaps, “Don’t breathe!” The fog is poison! They need to get out of here! She snatches Alumina with a grunt and escapes with the Heroes. They will be hounded by by a flock of black swans who will try to cut the Heroes off with their dark magic spells. Once out of the cave…

	Gretchen Alumina!
	Hannes What happened to her!?
	Lisbrand Get back, the cave isn’t safe! [ turns to the Heroes ] I’ll bring her to the hospital. You’re all dismissed. We’ll talk about this when I get back, but I have a feeling it doesn’t end here.

They leave with Alumina, rushing with fear and panic towards the hospital. As Commander Lisbrand says, it doesn’t end here. The investigation continues.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A

[There is a loud screech from Vietnam as it looks like she's slowly backing away from...

Something?

This entire situation probably explains itself as you carefully watch her try to dodge the automaton.]

Stop! Stop right there--!

[She was so flustered she nearly missed the logo on the body of the automaton]

ii

[Vietnam was still at the lake when she starts to reach out for pieces of paper that seems to be that of a letter, blown towards a lake. Whatever would be? The ink was beginning to run, so she sure hoped she could get it them in time.]

iii

[Though it doesn't at all affect her like it would most others due to her past, Vietnam finds the ordered body parts disgusting for a different reason. She scowls, clearly unhappy with the situation. That being an understatement.]

What purpose does this even serve...?

[ Nice situation you're in, Vietnam. Let Setsuna suplex that pervert for you, then. So that's exactly what he does, with the intention to knock the naked guy's consciousness out. The sexy robot smashes against the ground, but that didn't affect him at all because... Yeah, he's not actually human!!

The Knight realizes this all too clearly when his target just stands back up as if nothing happened. And said naked guy is still trying to approach Vietnam... ]

What is this?

[ If he destroys that guy, will he end up in jail... Is this considered destruction of private property...?? ]

[NOT WHAT SHE THINKS. As long she's not sure this is a nice situation.

Although, she's pleased and touched that Setsuna tried.]

This I believe...is a kind of robot? [She dodges again before he lunges.]

You will have to watch out too, Setsuna!

Oh wow, he's pretty hung. I think you should try and go for it!

[ Junko, god bless her and all that she does, decides to simply watch Vietnam struggle with the automan. The logo doesn't go unnoticed by her, either, but right now she's not trying to be helpful. ]

You're never gonna find a guy as big as him in your life! DO IT!

[WELL NOW THAT JUNKO MENTIONED IT, Vietnam finds her eyes drawn towards the package. And really, it's hard to mess that logo when one's focus is on his massive roboparts.]

I-I mean I h-have no need for a--[SEXBOT] an artificial gentleman right now! [And she has to take a side step.]

[Kaede has been, ah...desensitized to dismembered corpses a long time ago. Her nose wrinkles at the smell of decay, but she just shrugs at the question as if Vietnam was pointing out the weather.]

Don't know. Why are you asking me?

[The handful of fire held in her palms in lieu of a torch didn't flicker, but the shadows seemed very...lively anyway. They stretched into hands and claws stretched on gaunt filaments, disappeared around corners and reappeared from behind the piled and sorted corpses.]

[Kaede is probably the most calm about this situation she's seen anyone ever been. With how the young woman who came with them ended up needing to be assisted out, and the others she assume aren't looking too good either, you have this one pillar of strength just standing there with fire in her palms.

Everyone needs someone.]

A rhetorical question, I suppose. But something we will found out, I hope. [Not because she wants to, but that they just have to.

Wait, the fire--] Did those shadows just move?

[Kaede was going to shrug again, ambivalence unruffled.]

They do- [That shadow didn't belong to any of them, much less was even humanoid. And the jointless way the arms moved was alarmingly familiar to her.] —that.

[The Queen stood motionless, and the flames gathered in her hand intensified and grew. The shadows didn't fade.

So, of course, Kaede's next action was to throw the flames against the nearest wall, turning it from a light source into a projectile. The shadows scattered—and surged back into that space, thrashing angrily.]

Got their attention.

[They lifted off the wall, reaching unpredictably and erratically with sharp, clawed fingers.]

[It was a quick and seamless move indeed, one that has Vietnam nodding in approval. At least now they wouldn't be suddenly attacked in the dark, they know their enemy.]

Shadows in a cave, it does seem like the perfect place for them.

[She wonders if they can escape off the walls, or the floor, and attack them now, seeing as they have been discovered. There's nothing for them to lose anymore when it comes to ambushing them!

She takes out her blade, revving it up.]

I wonder if we can just be rid of the claws? Though I am willing to end them completely if they are easy to destroy.

vietnam | ota!

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my inbox betrayed me and sent my tags late.. why