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!
plumblossom: (❀ smile)

[personal profile] plumblossom 2016-04-13 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Laughter bubbles out of her; he talks funny. It's kind of cute. She's already forgiven the doctor for his mistake, so after a quick word of gratitude, she holds on tighter as he makes that sharp turn. For a doctor, he sure can run! Maybe it's because of all the house calls? ]

Taiwan! The personification of Taiwan. I'm a Hero, too. What we're doing isn't very heroic, though.

[personal profile] corpsedoctor 2016-04-13 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ To his credit, he doesn't stop running. He just stares at her for a long time -- long enough to almost run into something before jerking his head back to focus on the WHERE they are going rather than the WHO he is carrying. ]

Ah... I know your sister. Vietnam. She mentioned you as her sister... but I thought that ... I thought something else entirely. [ Vietnam, he is proud of jer. ] But! That does not mean I am disappointed in this meeting, however, Taiwan!

You... I definitely would want to dissect uou, too. [ He starts to laugh in his manic way before halting. ] That was a joke... really.
plumblossom: (❀ koreaaaaa)

[personal profile] plumblossom 2016-04-13 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ah, Vietnam. Surely a man who knows her sister isn't a bad perso— ]

...

[ She starts flailing her feet and shoving his face away. Did we mention screaming? That's definitely happening, too. ]

Help, help! This man is turning me into sushi—! [ She pulls on his eyepatch to stretch it just enough so that it smacks him in the eye. That'll show him! ]

[personal profile] corpsedoctor 2016-04-14 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Stop that--!

[ Ah! He now has to skid to a halt with her flailing about as she is. It's more like holding a disgruntled cat. ] Don't say things like that! People are definitely going to get the wrong idea! [ Ow-ow-ow! He does not like what he's feeling going on around his eye and does have to loosen his grip. One hand slaps over his eye. ]

That was incredibly uncalled for!
plumblossom: (pink 1 ❀ angry)

[personal profile] plumblossom 2016-04-18 09:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ They aren't going to get the wrong idea, because it's absolutely right. ]

What did I do to you? I don't want to be dissected! Aren't I cute enough to be kept in a pure and pristine condition?

[ If he won't hold her tightly, she will. She clings onto the man for dear life as they rush down another alley. ]

[personal profile] corpsedoctor 2016-04-18 01:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Because you are a fascinating specimen! And you do not seem to be using your brain so give it to me!

[ He tries to pick up speed so that they are able to put that much more distance between them and their would be attacker. Though, in Taiwan's case, attacker. ]

And if you think that, you shouldn't have gotten into a fight to begin with! Look at your arms and legs! When we are safe, you are going to definitely hear I!

[ Like she isn't now? ]
plumblossom: (pink 2 ❀ sad)

[personal profile] plumblossom 2016-04-18 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She says this with a pout so clear, he can hear it: ]

It's not my fault I accidentally caught them making out while they were transporting illegal weapons into that warehouse!

[ Wait, did she say something important just now!? ]

[personal profile] corpsedoctor 2016-04-18 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Caught who making out?

[ Could it be -- wait the other bit is much more important than his search for fish people smut. ] Illegal weapons, you said?

Why are they stockpiling weapone? Did you happen to catch that part?
plumblossom: (❀ koreaaaaa)

[personal profile] plumblossom 2016-04-21 10:58 am (UTC)(link)
Um... no! [ She holds on as Thunderland encounters a bump in the road. ] I was too disturbed, Doctor!

[personal profile] corpsedoctor 2016-04-21 01:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Too disturbed?!

[ What joy! Wait, he probably shouldn't feel that while he is running for Taiwan's and his life. ] Then it was a fish monster that was kissing the mobster? I wonder if they're related at all to the situation -- ?!