intro ♚ april

[boardmaster]

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!

Comments

Yoon | Akatsuki no Yona

[tsyoon]

One - Hotel & Ventoso Hill

[ It's been a hell of a couple of days. By the time the ship lands and Yoon ends up in the hotel, it's clear there is an overwhelming number of things in this place he doesn't understand and has no frame of reference for. (He's still rather stunned by the airship, even though he was literally just on it.)

When they reach the inn -- hotel, rather, and it seems huge to him, if not as huge as the airship -- Yoon can be found wandering around after he's found his room, exploring the area.

The views from the windows are nice, but he'll also look around outside, following recommendations from locals to check out Ventoso Hill. It's a different ocean from the one he's seen, but it's still a breathtaking sight once he makes it up to the top of the hill. He stands there for a long while, awestruck, letting the rest of everything that's been going on fall away for just a bit while he admires the way the ocean stretches on and on into the horizon, gleaming under the high sun. ]

It looks like it goes on forever...

Three - Training, i.e. magic is weird

[ The idea of being able to do magic now is both exciting and a bit daunting, without the right resources. Apparently, the Hall of Glory provides classes, he's been told-- but that doesn't exactly help Yoon very much right now. With the limited sources he's been able to find, the boy has managed a very basic understanding, but he's curious to learn more.

The training area seems like a good place to start. Yoon can be found wandering around watching others practicing and taking notes.

Someone catches his eye -- perhaps it's a spell they're doing, or maybe he's been watching them for a while because they seem good at it -- and he'll approach eventually, waving. ]

Excuse me. Do you have some time? I was hoping to ask you some questions about the spells you were doing.

1

[seventhgen]

[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.

[tsyoon]

[ 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.

[seventhgen]

It makes you wonder who else is looking at it, from somewhere else. What they're doing, and what they're thinking about.

It makes you feel small... but connected to others, somehow. [She glances at him.] At least, that's what I think.

[tsyoon]

...yeah.

[ He doesn't look at her, settling down to sit on the grass instead, elbows on his knees, staring out at the water.

It does make you feel small. And very, very far away. ]

It's a nice thought, but it's not the same ocean.

1

[twosidedsword]

[Shin-Ah has always had this bad habit of being too quiet. That still hasn't changed and it's why he so quietly moves to the hill behind Yoon. For a time he's quiet, just glad to be there with this member of his family. Of course he probably should just say he's there but instead he's...just standing there. Well, at least until Yoon speaks. At that point he figures he could be saying something too.]

It's a great distance.

[...Uh...surprise? Shin-Ah still hasn't realized he should use his words to say something when coming up quietly behind people. Oops.]

[tsyoon]

[ In some situations, Shin-Ah's ability to move stealthily is a great advantage. In other types of situations... not so much.

When a voice speaks up suddenly right behind him, Yoon yelps and stumbles forward a step or two to whirl around, practically bristling with annoyance as he throws an arm out, gesturing angrily at the perpetrator. ]

Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! Don't just sneak up on--

[ And then he actually looks at who he's yelling at, and Yoon's shouting trails off into a stunned stammer. ]

--on p- peo... ple...

[tsyoon]

[ A moment's pause, his mouth still open, before he manages: ]

Sh- Shin-Ah...?

[twosidedsword]

Mm.

[Master of conversation. Right here. Shin-Ah is just overwhelming Yoon with how many words he's using in this exact moment.

Sorry for how much he's talking. He'll try to speak less next time. Probably stare a bit.]

[tsyoon]

[ It's fine. Yoon probably wouldn't have been listening anyway.

A beat, another moment of hesitation like he's suddenly worried it's not real after all, and then suddenly he's slamming into Shin-Ah to throw his arms around the older boy's neck, squeezing without immediate regard for things like oxygen necessity. ]

You stupid dragon idiot! Where have you been?! I've been alone for days--

3

[buildyourworld]

[ Training has been slightly easier since promotion thanks to having a better mana reserve but it's also harder because he could easily ends up using too much mana when he's too concentrated on practice. Which is why he's pacing his practice and keeping it to tier 1 spells only.

He's about to start casting a lightning spell when Yoon interrupted him but since he's asking nicely, Tieria nods and lowers Forseti. ]

What about it?

[tsyoon]

[ Nodding in thanks, Yoon takes that as invitation to step closer, and peers at the weapon in the person's hand. ]

I haven't had a chance to read up on magic very much yet.

I thought you didn't need a weapon to do a spell. Does it depend on the magic-- or the weapon?

[buildyourworld]

Did you just arrived recently?

[ Although he allows Yoon to look, he shows no sign of willingness to let the boy examines it closer. ]

You don't need it but having one would amplify the magic we cast. Mine for example [ raising a little so Yoon could see it for himself ] has a mana crystal that helps stabilized the spells I cast.

[ He could tell him about ranks but since Yoon is still new, Tieria is sure he'll just end up confusing him instead. So, Yoon gets the bare bone, for now. ]

[tsyoon]

[ Don't worry, he's not rude enough to try grabbing it, just looking...! Yoon nods, curious, absorbing the information. ]

I think I understand. It magnifies and channels the magic you're working with anyway.

I heard something about affinities or specializations, like elemental magic. Does that have to do with the weapon too?

3

[showsnopiety]

I've time.

[Caren stops what she was doing, and her hands come to rest in front of her. Sure, the Halls of Glory has classes of some sort...maybe. She isn't sure. But she's been picking up bits and pieces, and she had help with one person in particular.

Her golden eyes sweep over him briefly, before she quietly adds:]

Ask away.

[tsyoon]

[ A nod, almost thanks, before he gets into it. ]

Do you know what the relationship is between the words you have to speak and the spell? Are they always something specific for a specific kind of magic, or does it depend on the person?

I wasn't able to find many resources on the ship.

[ It's frustrating, feeling like he doesn't understand anything-- knowing he doesn't understand anything. He needs to learn. Honestly, he really wants to, and he likes learning, but with everything else being unknown too, it's all just mixing together for a frustrating and slightly frightening experience. ]

[showsnopiety]

My own source was someone who has been here for a few months. The ship was more of a gambling resource if nothing else.

[She blows out a breath, and she holds out her hand. She channels mana, and lo, out comes a small star of light, hovering over her palm.]

It's focus and willpower; the way a person may focus varies, hence the unique gestures and phrases. It has to be something that will focus you into doing that specific spell.

So I've been given to understand.

[tsyoon]

You seem pretty good at it already. [ He sounds a little impressed, even-- and laughs at the comment about gambling. It's not like he has money or the desire to gamble it away even if he had some, so he never used those facilities, but she's not wrong. ]

Whoa... [ leaning in to look at the light, eyes big. ] That's a really useful spell!

Can you teach me?

1

[yaoihand]

[ so i heard yoon's carrier is a rat

Well then, Yoon better keep a watchful eye over him, because even in this magical land there are predators on the prowl. From behind a tree, a certain flying white snake is eyeing Hanuel, intrigued by the possibility of a tasty, winged snack. Moon may be an adorable pet most of the time, but she still has her predatory instincts. She'll always prefer live prey to cooked food, and that's why she often slips away from Kija to do a bit of hunting.

Soundlessly, Moon slithers closer, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

Meanwhile, Kija is in the area somewhere and he's calling out to her. ] Moon ...? Where have you gone this time?

you say 1 but i say wildcard...

[tsyoon]

[ Yoon is sitting with his back against a tree with his rat in his lap, intent on training the animal to goddamn listen to him wtf. He's saved some food scraps from his meal earlier in a little bag, and is currently engaged in offering Haneul crumbs for good behavior. ]

You can ride in my clothes, but not on my head, okay?

[ How smart are the carriers? Does Haneul understand and just like to act dumb or what? Yoon squints at the creature suspiciously when it raises up on its hind legs on his thigh, chittering plaintively and reaching for the snack. ]

Okay?

[ He stares into its beady red eyes firmly for a few seconds and finally holds out the bit of bread crust for Haneul to snatch up and nibble at.

Looks like neither of them are aware of the snake in the grass, slithering closer... not yet......... ]

oh true .. .

[yaoihand]

[ Perfect. Her victim is completely clueless!! Deeming the timing just right, Moon finally strikes, lunging forward with her fangs open and ready to sink into rodent flesh.

Here's when Kija finally peeks out from behind a tree ... and the first thing he sees is his carrier lunging at someone else's pet (Again???). ]

MOON! NO!! [ Without a second thought, Kija tackles that carrier of his, his long arms scrambling to grab hold of her. Unfortunately, because of the proximity, this means he's likely to end up tackling Yoon at the same time. He doesn't even notice who he's just slammed into yet. All he's focused on is this naughty snake of his! ]

You cannot attack other people's pets! If you're hungry, just tell me!

[tsyoon]

What the--?!

[ OOF. THERE THEY GO. Yoon makes a grab for his rat on instinct, tucking the animal against his chest to protect him as someone just... tackles them out of nowhere... fuckin rude???!

He grunts, scrambling to get free when they plop against the grass, and disentangle himself from... whoever it is. That voice sounds familiar. ]

Do you mind?! Get off!

[ Yoon grumbles, shoving at the-- ]









K- Kija?!

i also want a carrier wildcard

[flirtations]

[ So it isn't Jae-ha that finds Yoon first, but his carrier, Song. She has strayed, as she is wont to do, because much like her master, she is quite fond of doing as she pleases. She's just as begrudging about following orders, too. As Yoon is about to open his room, the tiny fairy flies up to him, just a few centimeters away from his nose, quite apparently...

Smitten.

This beautiful boy! She's seen her share of pretty people here, but there's something special about that silky pink hair, those clear-as-water blue eyes...

Song blushes, placing her hands behind her back, tilting her head, and coyly smiling at Yoon. Finally, she musters up the courage to give him a timid, tiny wave.

Meanwhile, Jae-ha is convinced that Song has ran away for good, and is roaming the hallways endlessly. Damnit, Song, they have to get to work! ]

nice nice nice

[tsyoon]

[ Yoon pauses with his hand on the knob, surprised by the tiny little person with wings that flutters in front of his face. It's another carrier, probably, but he hasn't seen her before. She's... pretty cute. Yoon blinks. ]

Uh- Hello?

[ Turning toward her, he steps away from the door and reaches out a hand, finger out, like he's beckoning a butterfly. ]

Who are you?

[ Meanwhile, he can feel Haneul stirring inside his jacket, and then a little rat nose peeks out from beneath the collar. There's a small, questioning squeak. ]

[flirtations]

[ All too eagerly, Song lands gently on the tip of his finger, giving him a polite curtsy. She has a good feeling about this guy; he looks gentle and kind.

A few seconds pass before Jae-ha comes even remotely close to where they are, and Yoon probably hears him before seeing him, his voice tired and whiny. ]

Two strawberries! Two! That's how many I've got on me right now, Song-chan!

[ Suddenly, Song seems to be having a dilemma. She flies forward and clings to Yoon's shirt collar, because she likes him a lot, but she's conflicted.

She wants a few more moments of freedom before begrudingly going back to Jae-ha, wants to get to know this boy better, but...

Strawberries...

She loves strawberries! ]