pawnstorm | intro ♚ april

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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!

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[Dust, for his own part, could fight all day and all night without tiring -- but not with any use of magic. Coming here had been quite an adjustment.]

[And he's adjusting.] Maybe alone... [He lowers the staff, lifting one hand from it to gather mana around it.] But you're not alone. Give me a moment and I'll finish this.

Glenwood... [ Is that a place in America? But it can't be; Sorey hasn't even seen an airship. You'd think he'd have seen one in video games. ] Me, I was in Taiwan!

[ Juzumaru's surprise at the sudden entrance of the other will dissipate after a few short moments. His smile is softly spreading across his features as looks down at the cute, but strange, little creature that is Jirou's carrier. ]

Perhaps just a small amount, if you wouldn't mind. I think a view like this is deserving of a drink with friends.

[There will soon be another thing you don't understand, Yoon. But maybe it won't become apparently why just yet.

There is another person standing on the hill, a girl wearing a long blue dress with short-cut blonde hair and a strange white covering over her neck and the bottom of her chin. She's looking out at the ocean, too, and turns to him when he speaks.

She smiles.]

Isn't it beautiful? I like just... looking at a sight like this.

[ She even has her hair up while wearing an apron! She's tasting her own dish when she spots Minato in the doorway. Although she's surprised, she greets him with a bright smile. It's idol material. ]

Oh, hello! Are you here to help out, too? I'm making the cubs a bamboo shoot dish... Have you eaten? Do you want to try?

[ Ah so that was their weakness. A stab through the heart would end it quickly and with little effort. ]

Try to knock them over to expose their bellies. Their hearts seem to be their weak points.

[ The charming effect slowly begins to disappate as Juzumaru joins the fray, his carrier helping where ever it could as it pecks and scratches at the rat's eyes. ]

It is a beautiful scene to transcribe onto paper, Kanesada-san. I'm sure if there is anyone within the army that could achieve in conveying its beauty, it is you.

[ Juzumaru gives the other spirit a warm smile as he looks out over the landscape beneath them. He's never flown before so this is truly a thrilling experience for the other. ]

Is this a normal means of transport? It's so much different...than on horseback.

[Ah, the differences between being a pawn and a higher rank. She'd almost be envious, but he seems really good! And a lot less tired than she is.] Don't... overdo it, though... [Well, he kinda looks like he's going to get it done, though. She steps back and nocks an arrow just in case, but this looks like it'll be a good show, either way.]

[ Juzumaru nods silently in response to the other. He's still chanting while Wukong fights off those birds and any other remaining creatures. ]

As long as I chant it seems to work.

[ A strange contraption to be sure, but Juzumaru isn't complaining. ]

But the longer it is done, the more tired I feel. [ His mana is pretty much almost used up, but he will press onward as his duty to do so calls for it. ] If we time our attacks correctly we might be able to take them out together.

And yet we are to play a part of the tale, summoned as Heroes by the Gods themselves.

[ Gods which the King holds no faith in and would see dead by his hands one way or another—by nature and by design, it is his purpose to tear down such constructs, putting an end to the exertion of their will upon humans. Humans, like Caren, held safe and dear in the bassinet of his arms as they gaze down at the world below. ]

I woke in Caissa two months and some weeks ago. I regaled stories to children, built snowmen with young ones, and helped to free toys from the ice of frozen-over canals. For all intents and purposes, the Capital is a peaceful place; the people who call it home are unused to talk of war.

[ Funny, how capricious his moods can be. Playful, in one instant, and solemn in the next. It is as though he could be many people; that he either is accustomed to wearing many faces, or has no true sense of self. ]

Noir changed that in a day. There was an attack upon civilians at Palamède, and the casualties were great. Blanc's military is ill-prepared for combat, and we are the country's first and last line of defense.

[ As much as evident in the present state of Graupera, the clamor surrounding as it undergoes swift repair in preparation for a battle on the heels of the stormclouds above. ]

And while I share your sentiment, I cannot turn a blind eye to needless loss of life. I will fight, and I will learn the true nature of the forces at work here in this world.

[ At such a height, the wind is fierce, and though Sion's wings spare them the brunt of it, he would not expose Caren to it for long. Slowly, he descends, circling at his leisure for there are the bonds of mana exchange between them, and where alone he might have depleted the whole of reserves, with delicate weight in his arms...

Could he not fly forever? ]

I should enjoy watching you as well, I think. You are no pawn, Caren.

[ Juzumaru will nod back at the other man. He senses a sort...similarity with him that he hasn't felt with anyone else here. Hm it's a curious thing, but he doesn't mention it. Instead he nods as he looks back out towards the sky. ]

Yes. This is...the first time I have ever traveled like this. It's an amazing feat to even be up as high as we are.

[ Of course! If any champion could be trusted, have the right ideals, and maintain a positive outlook... he couldn't think of anyone better. Not to mention, she's basically vetted in his mind as a good bean. ]

... think you'd be the only one? They had to pick the best to come first, so they made the right choice?

[ He puffs out his chest. At least he could find one positive thing out of it. ]

This is true. You have some experience making decisions like this. [ Letting her go, he puts his hands on his waist and looks around. ]

So. Sap, huh? Don't think I have anything to carry that on me, unless you're expecting me to use my hands!

Of course I can fight! What'd you expect, a song and dance?

[ Another bird! This one, smaller and quicker, and Wukong can't reach it in time. It blows by him, sending a few rocky feathers into his face--- which definitely don't feel very nice at all. Grunting, he wipes his nose and mouth; there's definitely some crap on those feathers and this is not okay. ]

Look, you're gonna need to get a few more out of here. The big ones I can handle, but for some reason... the quicker ones, they elude me.

[ Perhaps if he was back at home, the nimbleness in his movements and swings would be more obvious. But with the strength he found himself with, he felt more like a gorilla than a monkey a times--- this being one of them.

Thankfully, the fattest pigeon comes along and he smashes that into bits too. +1 for the ego, -50 because he couldn't catch up with a fastbird. ]

The heck is that? A dowel?

[ He'd been mostly talking to himself, and seems a little startled to hear someone nearer than he'd realized. Yoon looks over, arms crossed over his chest for warmth from the slight chill and wind off the ocean, and lets out a small sigh. ]

There is something calming about it.

No matter where you are, the sea on the horizon tends to look the same.

[ When she says it's pretty old, that really only leads to more questions. If the 19th century isn't where she's from, how is that she's been around long enough to observe more than one century? Not to mention it must also mean where she comes from is even further along. He couldn't imagine it if he wanted to.

If there were ever a topic to distract him though, it'd probably be this one. The confusion crossing over his face seems to momentarily stabilize. ]

Well, back on the mainland. I haven't really been around this island.

[The whole selection of gods, the idea that she has holy magic...it does not make sense to her. And as the wind chills her body and tosses her hair to and fro, she listens.

Public relations in a public place, for little ones and their like. It would be enough to make her sick, even as she listens. He lives for the people, by the people. And that makes little sense to her. But there was an attack on a city and they...so called heroes...are to be used.

This makes little sense to her. Unless this is a game by a greater hand that she can not see herself. She has no belief in gods. God, it could be seen as dubious.

She's quiet, considering, her arms followed against each other. But she takes in a slow, deep breath.]

You are a coward and a tease. You can not let others die around you, and you let yourself be used, little better then a pawn yourself. A pawn for gods where we have seen none.

[Her golden eyes flicker up to his face, no sneer, no smirk. Her expression is surprisingly impassive.]

There is nothing to watch, Sion. I am a pawn, and that will not change whether I live or die.

Basic but...basic is better than nothing.

[She offers a simple lift and shrug of her shoulders. It's kind of him, but she'll still try. She'll try until she no longer fails.]

If I have the basics, I can at least build upon the theory from there. If not with you, than on my own.

[those weapons]

[Kaito's gaze narrows when he sees them]

Trust me! This thing's good for more than just a little bit of fun.

[that cryptic answer is all Taiwan gets before Kaito acts. the yo-yo suddenly lashes out, entwining itself around one of the thug's arms before he can shoot. before the man can let out a surprised yell, Kaito yanks on the string and sends the man stumbling and crashing into his partner. there's a loud bang as the partner's weapon fires, but the shot goes wild and strikes the rooftop of a building next to them]

[two of the men are pretty thoroughly distracted now, at any rate!]

[harsh indeed. but the point is a good one, and Kaito lets out an amused snort]

S'pose there's no point in arguing against that.

[but even if he doesn't argue the point, he isn't going to pass up the chance to pick on his fellow hero. just a little bit]

Still, if someone tries to throw something at your head for being judgmental, I'm not gonna stop 'em.

Pretty sure heroes don't work in pest control, bud.

[she says bluntly. her view of a hero is an individual who goes on quests, and slays dragons, and saves princesses!! she definitely does not feel very heroic right now]

[she'd also sass at Dust some more, but the sudden updraft that fills the room takes her by surprise. she squeaks and stumbles back, startled]

W-- is that you? What's happening?

[first days are so rough. especially for someone with a very logical and scientific mind, like Ema. she was having difficulties wrapping her head around the more magical, fantastical aspects of this world]

[at Allelujah's comment, she just shrugs]

It's not nearly as aerodynamic as Snackoos, but it serves its purpose. For now.

[ah? was that the sweet sound of optimism reaching her ears? Ema's grumpiness means she'd rather not hear it, but perhaps there's a small part of her. . . a small part of her that knows this woman is right. . . that lets said optimism slide without irritated commentary to counter it]

[she does, however, heave a heavy sigh]

I've got a couple of other things on my mind at the moment, unfortunately.

[just give her some time, Lux. she'll come around]

[ The female Hero asked the right person. Setsuna is in possession of a number of blades, so it doesn't take long for him to unsheathe one of them. He picks the non-magical sword from his belt, keeping it safely lowered until they begin.

Keeping the essence of the vines is a good idea, though. Making use of every resource that they can get a hold of is the best way to survive in a world like this. Thankfully, he is also carrying a couple of empty milk bottles. Hey, it's easy to be dehydrated when doing manual labor.

And so, with his free hand, he reaches into his travel bag to slide those bottles out. He offers each of them to the girl in continued silence. ]

"No, it seems she didn't! Ah well, can't expect everyone to, after all. I just wish she'd offered a drink of whatever was in that bottle as a recovery method."

Because yes, he'd had centuries of experience being hit by women who didn't appreciate his loving gaze. Generally they were his lieutenants!

2A

[It hadn't taken Kaede long to figure out that this uniform was really just an elaborate janitor's outfit. Maybe a day or so after she had first arrived. So instead of getting anyone else to clean up a dilapidated fortress, like, say, trained professionals, they got to do that instead. Lucky them.

This time it was a climbing exercise; with how overgrown almost all of these holes were, was it really necessary to patch them up? Ugh. Guillotine's fire was of only marginal use against the vines; it burned and charred through fine, but it did nothing to cauterize the spray of sap. There was already a ragged, greenish stripe of it across Kaede's back, and she'd barely started clearing this particular area.

During a moment of downtime, Kaede can be found sitting on a yet-unsalvaged lump of rubble, gingerly removing her gloves and rebinding her hands with cooling gauze.

The culprit of the burns was once again leaning on the rock beside her; the poleaxe seemed inert at the moment, its gem only lazily lit.]

2C

[Transporting supplies that absolutely cannot be spared for any sob stories or pleading eyes? Why not put the most disagreeable and angriest looking person they could find at short notice at the head of the convoy?

Or so the logic had gone for putting Kaede in the lead of this particular one. It was a short trip, down to the docks and waiting transport ships and back to the fortress again—but it had already attracted some unwelcome parasites. This time it was for arrows—barrels and barrels of them for the archers—and simple medical equipment, bound into anonymous bundles and hurriedly thrown onto the same cart.

It might be a good idea to stop her before she abruptly chops off the hand of someone she thinks might be trying to take something from the convoy.

Or at least give them a warning, because Kaede certainly wasn't.]

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intro ♚ april

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