boardmaster: (Default)
BOARDMASTER ([personal profile] boardmaster) wrote in [community profile] pawnstorm2016-04-09 04:30 am

intro ♚ april

WELCOME TO GRAUPERA



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.

ONE CAPABLANCA & AIRY
As much as Blanc’s capital welcomes its Heroes, new arrivals such as yourself won’t have much time to settle. Get dressed and pick up your weapon and Carrier, because sometime in the afternoon, all floor nannies and Carriers will broadcast an announcement by Commander Lisbrand. She delivers a brief greeting to their new members, but gets straight to the point: they will be headed for Capablanca and the open sea beyond, in order to restore the fortress of Graupera for battle with Noir looming on the horizon. All new Heroes are expected to report to the Airy at the Caissa aeroport on the 8th along with their seniors.

On the morning of the 11th, Airy alights on Graupera, an island about two hours away from Capablanca by ferry. From here, you can either help the navy with Graupera repairs or assist in Verdoni’s investigations and head for Capablanca proper. Heroes will be staying in the (in)famous Hotel Caruana: they say you can check in anytime you like, but you can never truly leave. Nobody will quite meet your eyes or tell you what it means.

Wherever you are, the Airy will remain parked at Graupera.

TWO GRAUPERA, CAPABLANCA SEA FORT
What was once a heavily fortified island rests a ways off the coast of Capablanca; it looks a little too much like one of the thunderclouds slowly swarming on the horizon. Graupera has seen many battles and withstood the ebb and flow of wars. Formerly the city’s first line of defense until it was abandoned after the Reclamation, its dilapidated condition is the current bane of the Blanc navy. Blanc needs to bring it back to its former glory before it can face a single warship, much less Noir’s fleet of magical cannons. Blanc’s government has no doubt Heroes will do a fine job at returning the fortress to its former glory!

A ♙ The great stone and iron wall facing the wide open ocean has seen better days and is full of holes overgrown with stubborn clinging vines; cannonballs used a lifetime ago litter the grounds. The vines are extremely thick and may tangle the careless beyond hope of escape, not to mention filled with a pungent sap that will seep into your clothes and hair for days. It makes a great adhesive, though? Conveniently, parts of the wall are strewn across the floor, so at least some of the cannon holes can be repaired with enough improvisation, desperation and a bit of spit. The rest need new material provided by our helpful Heroes in Option C. Furthermore, the lingering damage from a previous attack and old age have turned the floorboards weak and unstable. The wood creaks ominously beneath the mass of even a single average-sized person, so watch your step.

B ♟ You might want to get your weapon before you descend into the dank depths beneath the castle. Once you make it down the steep, slippery stairs, you’ll be meeting the gigantic, hostile rats that infest the castle cellar from top to bottom. It looks like magical residue from long-ago battles has seeped into both the foundation and its inhabitants. The cellars have become a huge warren filled with strange mana currents, and sometimes flooded with water. If you're going to start an extermination campaign, you may want to recall the magical residue: chopping off a rat’s head and limbs will barely slow it down. It will keep going for hours unless you either lop off all its limbs or pierce its heart.

If you manage to make it all the way up into the castle’s two intact towers (the other two are half-collapsed), the uppermost levels are utterly covered in bird crap. You’ll be encountering the kings of this castle: the unusually large, grey-feathered sea birds that have taken up residence here. Albatrosses, gulls, pelicans, even sand pipers: they all share nesting and pooping space here. The feathers of each bird seem to have taken on stone-like properties not unlike the castle’s walls. They’re extremely ferocious and protective of their nests, which are filled with all kinds of things: twigs, shiny things, coin money, Option C’s supplies, feathers of all kinds, and some completely ordinary tools that seem too small for human hands, and much older than anything else in the place save for the walls. If you look closely, you might be able to see a few baby rats scattered in amongst the eggs and the peeping chicks. They’re being fed, too.

You’re meant to be moving the birds out of the place, but you might have enough trouble just moving their offal.

C ♙ Don’t feel like dealing with pest control? No problem! Blanc will need materials for rebuilding and other supplies for the coming battle! Everyone knows how important it is for the fortress to remain standing, so Heroes will be provided with gadgets and weaponry that should make it difficult for enemies to penetrate the walls yet again. Word has spread that the Heroes are transporting valuable goods, though, so you might have to fend off the occasional hopeful man or annoying mouse (rat) who wishes to borrow much-needed material.

Of course, all this rebuilding will be for naught if you are not prepared to defend the stronghold! Ammunition such as cannonballs, bullets and arrows needs to be transported to Graupera en masse, pronto. Equally important essentials include first aid supplies and enough non-perishable food and water to last a small army (you) a month or two. You wouldn’t want to have to scavenge for rat meat.

No one knows just how long this battle is going to last.

THREE Training
It’s time for you landlubbers to learn how to swim! Commander Lisbrand won’t be tolerating any sinking stones on her task force. The upcoming battle will be fought on the sea so your instructor, one of Blanc’s many fine captains (when she isn’t intoxicated), will make every single individual who hesitates at the sight of the open ocean walk the plank. She’ll even give you a helpful kick if necessary! Once that’s over, she will show you how to steer a ship. However, wandering eyes that land anywhere on the inebriated captain’s assets will be swiftly and spectacularly dealt a large bottle of the harbor’s best swill right where it hurts.

Blanc has also provided training dummies dressed suspiciously like prominent figures of the Othellian underworld. Now might be a good time to branch out and learn about your affinities. Heroes who have recently been promoted in Rank might want to set some time aside for getting used to their new abilities, too. Power and responsibility come hand in hand, after all!

INFO Welcome!
Welcome to Crosscheck's April intro log! For any further questions, please see the FAQ or reach us at the Contact Us page. Have fun!
burlyheart: (victory)

[personal profile] burlyheart 2016-04-12 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
C: A 4/4 string ostinato in D minor

Potemkin is completely confident in the "not drowning" part of this exercise. He's always had a remarkably high lung capacity and showed no panic in the water, which was the real danger. It's the actual swimming part that he's finding hard to answer to. One problem of having a fat to weight ratio equal to a gorilla is that it's almost impossible for him to float. Potemkin practices by periodically dropping to touch the increasingly deeper ocean floor, and dragging himself to the surface. So fellow beachgoers may experience a massive shadow coming up from underneath, breaking the surface to snort water like a whale.

2A: Cyclopean Architecture with a cyclopean architect

Potemkin focuses most of his time on repairing the wall itself. Some might consider bricklaying boring, tedious work but he seems genuinely enraptured by the process of gauging out the sizes of the gaps and methodically picking the replacements, from a pile of massive bricks carried here by himself, of course.
Edited (html fix) 2016-04-12 16:10 (UTC)
hoasen: (waves)

[personal profile] hoasen 2016-04-12 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[She could totally relate if she believed that England had magic. Dammit.]

Ah, so a similar situation nevertheless!

[That snake biting its owner already!] I am not selective! If you are willing to practice with a shield, I think that could help us study how to defend ourselves outside of just sharp weapons!
hoasen: (hmm?)

[personal profile] hoasen 2016-04-12 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's true. It happened because you can feel her intensity from afar! But that's okay, because Saber is honest!]

Oh! I see. You wish to learn how to swim? I know how to swim, so I can teach you.

[Thank god for having a pretty important shoreline and so many rivers.]
hoasen: (contemplation)

[personal profile] hoasen 2016-04-12 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maybe because she still remembers in her dream: jumping for birds!!!

But no, there is a good reason for "some".]


Others may take it as a challenge.
sunderings: (she carries the act so convincingly)

[personal profile] sunderings 2016-04-12 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Am I not?

[ Is his face not completely, thoroughly, and utterly serious as he hovers in the air about her, the blades of light at his back (truly, they are the very opposite of the article which channels them, a blazing spear for each and every faceted stone in the link of chain which adorns his shoulders) bathing the area surrounding in their phantasmal glow. It could be a consecration (he has oftentimes been called Divine, the people of his country bowing their heads not on account of his crown, but because of the path which he walked, heavensent in his campaign to unite the world, to sunder its evils and allow peace to preside), but Sion Astal is anything but holy, despite being God incarnate.

(He is only a monster.) ]


You bid me to practice, and practice we will. I've never once carried weight aside from my own while in flight, and should an ally of mine become so imperiled...

[ What would be the purpose of having wings at all, if not to shepherd those who were lost to safety?

Floating close and closer still, one of his outstretched hands finds a lock of her hair, his finger twirling about its end before he lifts it to his lips, bestowing upon it a sweetly chaste kiss. What they had shared was a dream and little more than that, but for all his life the Hero King has chased a beautiful illustration of his own design, a dream-like illusion which he wished, with every fiber of his being, to actualize.

And Caren is still, in his eyes... ]


Allow me this. Grant to me your permission, and I'll not let you fall.

[ ...purity worth guarding. ]
praises: (love is our resistance)

1.

[personal profile] praises 2016-04-12 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Allelujah is fond of the Airy. While they may have been other ways to travel to Graupera from Capablanca, he'd actually looked forward to boarding the airship again at its stop in the glitzy seaside city. That didn't suit him, but the Airy, Feixing, well, that was a little like coming home. To his surprise, it's even busier than he remembered. Not with the feathery locals, but other Heroes. He notices immediately as he enters one of the bars to grab something to eat on the way over...

— only to get smacked in the face with a glob of rice? Allelujah makes a surprised noise, reaching up to scrape the grains off his cheek. A brief glance around gives him the likely culprit: a rather put-out looking woman sitting at the bar. A new arrival, he assumes, in which he can't exactly fault her.
]

You know, I hear it makes a better lunch than a weapon.

[ He ventures, almost gently. First days are rough. ]
hiryugaeshi: (still insufferably smug)

[personal profile] hiryugaeshi 2016-04-12 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A sleeve comes up to cover Kojirou's face as bits of bird fly everywhere. That's more than a bit gross, but it's to be expected. Blood and guts are an unfortunate part of hunting. ]

So it seems you can fight.

[ Kojirou's almost impressed. Almost. A monkey that can speak and use a weapon at all should be cause for surprise in itself, but he's just difficult to please.

He doesn't change his footing, having found a spot that wasn't covered in albatross crap it would take a lot for him to give it up, but he does change his weapon. The steel sword is gone, replaced by a long wooden sword. This one is magic, so it doesn't run the risk of chipping. ]


I should prove myself too, then.

[ More gulls are coming, but Kojirou's hardly phased. There's no need for his weapon's ability here, but a big swing with supernatural strength isn't exactly free of mana, the Laundry Pole braining any bird that dares come close.

They don't explode, thankfully. Kojirou's not that kind of strongman, but a wooden sword is more than enough to give a bird a deadly concussion. ]
hiryugaeshi: (really?)

[personal profile] hiryugaeshi 2016-04-12 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That's not a strike that can really ever reach Kojirou. A flick of his own sword, and Caren's attack is easily deflected wide left. But at least it's an attack. ]

Where should I even start? A straightforward strike like that is only ever acceptable if you're so confident in your superior strength that you can abandon technique.

[ Trust him, he's met his fair share of warriors with straightforward skills that were turned aside by his blade. They were strong, and fast, but they couldn't break past him. ]

But if you're copying someone, at least you're doing it well enough that you won't break your own wrists if you get blocked.

[ Faint praise, but she's a beginner, what was she expecting? ]
praises: (what we will reclaim)

two/a.

[personal profile] praises 2016-04-12 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Following the events of Capablanca, having faithfully followed through on Verdoni's request for the traitors to be flushed out, Allelujah finds he's not offended at the idea of grunt work. Anything that might help the tides continue to turn in their favor is something he will agree to without question. Not necessarily because he's committed to the idea of being someone else's soldier, but because he's come to care for the others like him. Work like this isn't glamorous, or indicative of their talents, but it will have an impact on their future against Noir.

If he manages to not make a wrong step and crash through the floorboards, that is. Allelujah breathes a noise as he hefts a cannonball up with little issue, save the unfortunate flex of the flooring beneath him. He's not alone, and measures his movements carefully so as not to put either of them in jeopardy.
]

I wonder if we wouldn't be better off securing the lower levels before continuing.

[ His tone is gentle, yet wry, almost as if he's joking. ]
hiryugaeshi: (come at me)

[personal profile] hiryugaeshi 2016-04-12 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
If you want advice on how to dual-wield better, I'm afraid I won't be of much help. I've always used a single long sword. But I will say this: It's something that can be learned, and once you've learned it, it'll be more effective than at least juggling weapons.

[ Switching between sword and staff constantly just sounds like a pain. Neither of them seem to have a real advantage over the other at specific ranges, and counting down until the sword runs out of mana is just unnecessary mental burden. ]

Practice is probably the only option for you. Mastery through repetition, that's how it works for most people.
praises: (these halos fail to glisten)

c. gently reaches for...

[personal profile] praises 2016-04-12 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I can help, if you'd like.

[ Allelujah's offer comes shortly after the younger Hero's query. Even with a bit more experience on his side, he's not one to mince his capabilities when he's in a position to assist. This suits him fine anyway, after the excitement of the last week, having no bones to pick with the concept of menial labor. Especially not when a more fortified position here will likely serve as a better foothold in this war.

Approaching, a lively foxlike Carrier prancing along by his ankles, he's tying his uniform's jacket around his waist and pulling an ornate dagger from his belt. Not exactly the type of weapon it looks like he'd choose on his own, but it'll get the job done.
]

Can you hold this? [ He offers an empty canteen to her. ] It'll be easier to bottle, with the two of us.
hiryugaeshi: (Default)

[personal profile] hiryugaeshi 2016-04-12 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At least Assassin isn't an Archer, you mean. ]

Are you worried, Saber? Don't be, between the King of Knights and myself, no number of rats can stop us. [ His wooden sword blocks one rat, then two, then a wild flurry of them all launched at his face, intent on nibbling his nose and/or hair off. His swordplay is impeccable, the wooden sword moving faster than it should have any right to, but the narrow hallway and Saber right next to him limits his range of motion and there are just so many rats. Just swinging his sword around won't do. ]

But for now, I suggest you get out of the way.

[ A burst of mana, and his sword changes. Many spikes grow out from the wooden sword like branches, some impaling the rats upon them, others merely transforming the thin pole into something of a fly-swatter, a web of wood smacking down at the flying rats.

Smack. ]


That hasn't killed them though, we should move quickly.
hiryugaeshi: (no I won't stop being a smug shit)

[personal profile] hiryugaeshi 2016-04-12 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Has he met this guy before? Assassin's not sure. Familiar, but not nearly enough to place a name to that face. Oh well, names aren't important. ]

Perhaps they should train harder, then, so I can't judge them.

[ Ouch. Harsh. ]

The battlefield will be far less kind than me. Better bearing a complex than dead.

[ But perhaps he has a point? ]
showsnopiety: (I have no choice)

[personal profile] showsnopiety 2016-04-12 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
....Are you pouting?

[She can't believe this. For a man who clearly having spent his share of battles, wearing wings of light that look as if it could destroy the enemy with an application of will, he wants only, just only, to carry her around.

And while he is speaking well, it's more or less the usual for him. Her face is incredulous, close to the point of sputtering. If she hadn't been so put off by his display, she would have smacked him.

As it was, at the chaste kiss on her hair, her cheeks became violently red. Caren was torn. Utterly torn. She wanted to visit violence on his person; she wanted to walk away. She wanted to rage because she was no ones precious thing. She was, and would always be, her own.

But with an exhaled breath through her nose, she knew he wouldn't stop until he achieved what he wanted.]


Fine. But don't think this is a free pass to carry me everywhere.

[It's practice, and nothing more. This does not mean picking her up in their shared rooms, or any sort of...weird display of affection.]
hiryugaeshi: (i'm just that good)

[personal profile] hiryugaeshi 2016-04-12 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Running water? I'm afraid there's nothing so modern here. It's a very old castle, and almost everything barely works if that. You'll have to make do with drawing water from the well.

[ You know, like normal medieval people. ]

I'm not sure it's possible to describe. Plant sap? Bird droppings? It's a rather foul cocktail.
praises: (the future won't let you disagree)

3.

[personal profile] praises 2016-04-12 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's rude to stare. Allelujah knows that, and yet he finds his attention momentarily drawn to the array of movement this young man is capable of, even with the obvious prosthetic. So when he's called out, he starts, gaze flicking to his face with an apologetic smile. ]

With this — [ Allelujah lifts an arm to mirror the side of Anakin's prosthetic, giving his fingers a flex. ] I'd say so, yes.
hiryugaeshi: (ugh)

[personal profile] hiryugaeshi 2016-04-12 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Assassin: Just a less drunk Yasuo. ]

Everybody has their specialities. I'm a swordsman, not a day labourer.

[ He sighs. Look, they said any means necessary, but that doesn't mean this particular hero gives a crap. He'll more than happily beat things up, and he's very good at it, but he's also bad at following orders. ]

A small flask like this isn't going to be much help for storage. Why don't you have someone bring a bucket instead?

[ Sasaki Kojirou: A pain in the ass. ]
praises: (light up my darkest skies)

2-C.

[personal profile] praises 2016-04-12 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's tough work, but Allelujah doesn't seem to mind the task as compared to the more warlike events of the last couple days. This is what he tells himself as the salt and humidity makes it necessary to lose his jacket, his hair already sticking uncomfortable to his temples and neck. As he hefts a cannonball up to square against his middle, already smeared in all manner of dirt and grime and sap, his multi-colored gaze flicks over to his task-partner, slightly curious.

And also slightly alarmed?
]

What do you mean by that? The 19th century?
praises: (crashing down to earth)

2B.

[personal profile] praises 2016-04-12 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Killing things: not a favored pastime, let's be real. At least not for this side of the coin, who is, unfortunately, the one dealing with things that need to be killed. Pest control sounded like a fairly straightforward task, but Allelujah is fast realizing that his company is making it anything but.

By screaming and crashing through walls and wow, this is going to end really badly in about ten seconds. He's suddenly coated in a liberal dusting of ceiling parts as the struggle goes on.
]

Can you hear me? [ God okay he has to get closer. Quickly. ] You — you can't kill them that way!
sunderings: (it was just how you looked in the light)

[personal profile] sunderings 2016-04-12 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Pouting? Aah, aah, she's caught him! But it is a stratagem as good as any to employ, especially where a so-proclaimed immovable woman is concerned. ]

Can a King not pout? Can he not boast emotion beyond a regal temperament— [ A pause, a gentle hum of consideration. ] —and can he not, on occasion, be given to whim?

[ She is not wrong: it is unusual for him, to realize his own wants beyond the single wish he carries for the world; to give voice to what is, perhaps, much too frivolous, too innocent a desire to take to the skies and to be free with her, if only for a moment in time. For she is lovely, a mirror of himself in more ways than one, and if by being selfish he might be able to grant her a foolish experience, something new, then he'll not have a single regret.

...not that he could possibly possess one, even now, if he were to be honest. Her blush is much too charming as it heats her face, flushing her skin rosy and red as his own will never be again, and her fluster...

Well, altogether, she's quite adorable, isn't she? What's more, she humors him, consents, and in the very next instant he's whisked her away, her back supported with one arm, the delicate bend of her knees with the other, and then, then they are flying. There are thunderclouds on the horizon, but they have no bearing upon them, the Hero King carrying his ward higher and higher still until the fortress Graupera seems to be a cloud itself beneath them, a whisper of a thought in the distance.

Here, he chooses to hover, suspended in the air with Caren who most certainly isn't a free pass to carry everywhere.

Softly: ]


What do you make of it, this world?
praises: (these halos fail to glisten)

3c.

[personal profile] praises 2016-04-12 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ In his defense, he hadn't meant to interrupt what he now realizes is a rather intense regimen. Despite having been conscripted for over a month now, he still maintains his Pawn rank. Its effects are stifling to him, despite the way he's tried to nurture his magic in hopes of lifting that veil. He's gotten better with it, but it still seems inherently foreign. That's why this suits him better. Physicality, the weight of something real in his hands to defend himself and others with. The stronger he can become under these circumstances, the better he'd able to protect.

To that end, he'd simply come to look at what Blanc had arranged for them to train with when Caren's voice hurtles through the air, not unlike a weapon itself. Allelujah pivots, eyebrows raising over a mismatched gaze: one gold, and one grey. Clipped to his arm is a severe looking shield.
]

Are you sure?

[ Not that he doubts her ability, just the effects of training so tirelessly. ]

Forgive me if it's forward to say, but it seems you've been at this a while.
hymnals: burning into the night (but i can see the fire's still alight)

[personal profile] hymnals 2016-04-12 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Well--that sounds heinous. Adra's eyes widen. ]

I assume that's no longer an issue here?
showsnopiety: (it's like a little prayer)

[personal profile] showsnopiety 2016-04-12 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
It seems so. Otherwise, I'm quite certain I'd be dead by now.

[She's saying it rather calmly.]
hymnals: where we look for the future (this is the time this is the place)

[personal profile] hymnals 2016-04-12 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ What ... ]

--why do you say that?
showsnopiety: (I close my eyes)

[personal profile] showsnopiety 2016-04-12 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Because we have demons among our numbers. And one of them would have most certainly triggered a severe reaction my body could not handle.

Snake tails for example. That would have caused trauma to the spine, and if the shock did not kill me outright, the blood loss would.