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!
mithrarin: (smile)

[personal profile] mithrarin 2016-04-11 02:55 pm (UTC)(link)
If you're providing the barriers, it sounds more like I'm in your care. [Dust turns this over in his head quickly, already forming the best plan of attack. In his viewpoint, she really is in his care -- whatever her level of experience back home had been, now she's here with a weapon that can provide no offense and a mana level that can't output nearly what she'd expect.]

Done any studying of magic yet?
armorial: (pic#10133768)

[personal profile] armorial 2016-04-12 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
I imagine you're talking about magic of this world... Unfortunately, I haven't yet. [ She was hoping to be given more time to learn about everything, but had to find her way to the dock to board. She has maybe tried her grail a couple of times, but there's so much you can practice with throwing water. She's also not a caster type--she reconsiders her priorities now.

Anyway, she gestures over to the steps. They should start their descent.
]

I can feel that my mana is not what it used to be, so I will do my best to manage. If you can sweep the enemy, I can give you time to cast any spells you have. [ A nod. They're just rats, so she doesn't think they'll need a lot. ]

You may also call me Saber. [ It would be weird not to know her comrade's name vice versa. ]
mithrarin: (outstretched hand)

[personal profile] mithrarin 2016-04-12 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
Dust.

[Welcome to Team Noun Names, Saber.]

This will work just fine. I should be doing some practicing of my own, with magic.

[He lifts one hand from his staff, then draws it into a fist, demonstratively.]

If you protect me, I can get it done.
armorial: (pic#10134259)

[personal profile] armorial 2016-04-13 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A mage. She nods as if pleased with this dynamic so far and also to protect her new ally. She gestures for them to head down the steps. It is time to slay a bunch of rodents!! ]

Let us go, Dust. [ As they take their descent down the steps, Saber will throw water up into the air and it drops into a barrier around them. Unfortunately, it's small... So she sticks close. It's best to be prepared especially when she hears a large amount of heavy scurrying against the floor. It's coming their way. ]

Their numbers are great. Be prepared.
mithrarin: (grr)

[personal profile] mithrarin 2016-04-14 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
True, but they're not exactly the most fearsome foes. Let's see how we do.

[The hand he'd gathered into a fist, he clenches tight, tendons flexing beneath the fur. Wind is easy; earth, however, is not. He has to completely change what he's doing.]

[By the time the first rat scurries into view, he has the spell prepared. With wind, he'd make a swift cutting gesture with his hand, but this spell requires a slow, measured descent of his fist. As he makes the motion, shards of stone coalesce around the rat, then collapse inwards to form a central whole that incidentally smashes the rat quite nicely.]

[One down.]
armorial: (pic#10133793)

[personal profile] armorial 2016-04-14 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ The rat is unmoving--Saber is pleased. It is rather... large. Larger than expected. The barrier starts disintegrating piece by piece as water refills in her chalice. It's still up long enough to block two more rats that come in and tackle the barrier, almost shaking it in place. ]

They are also rather large... Do you have enough time? [ She's not sure if the barrier will last, but the rats are furiously scratching at the shell, trying their hardest to get in and have a bite at them. ]
mithrarin: (smile)

[personal profile] mithrarin 2016-04-14 04:12 pm (UTC)(link)
...I'll leave that up to you, actually. I can take them both down with a wind spell, but I don't need to actually practice that. The question is, do you want to play it safe, or do you want to take risks and see if you learn more from it?

[Him? He can go either way, but he quickly recognize that he has the advantage of magical practice on his side, plus his own natural agility and a pair of weapons to help. She's the one who needs experience with her 'weapon' and mana in general -- so set a pace for them, Saber.]
armorial: (pic#10133890)

[personal profile] armorial 2016-04-15 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
They are merely rodents. [ She is the KING OF KNIGHTS. The barrier shatters as if on cue (actually, it just ran out naturally). The mob comes in with a swift leap and scurry. Saber is rather fast, easily avoiding the rat that decides to lock onto her delicate figure. It's not like she has a choice, but she'll see if she can use her Grail's ill effect to her advantage.

The other rat has its eyes set on Dust, carefully circling him because it notices his weapon. Unlike its friend who is attacking someone that's "unarmed", it's cautious. But in an instance, it comes in with its fangs bared.
]

We should complete the task. [ Aka take risks. While she does like some time to get used to new mechanics, they have to restore the fort. With that said, she throws the water onto the rats. yes, one of them drinks the water and its eyes start glowing a bright red. ]