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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!
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154393)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-14 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
[Don't worry, of all the elements, Yukari is the best-versed at dodging fire.]

It's not over yet, but I think we got this!

[Sure she has to duck a few of the birds, but letting them get too close is bad, too.]

Closer... I can try! You wanna take one side, I'll take the other? [She motions as she nocks another arrow, readying it to fire toward the side she's standing on.] If we can funnel 'em down, one or the other of us can get 'em at the center.
cutiepanther: (74)

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-14 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Most people you know wouldn't have that kind of experience! ]

Right! That's a good idea! [ Maki wouldn't have thought of it herself, she's not all that good at coming up with things like that when she's on the spot. But she can follow directions well.

Scrambling to the other side Maki leans out past the stones, to almost take a diving bird to the face. Luckily she pulls back just in time!
]

J-Just tell me when!
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154389)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-15 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Don't ruin your face, Maki, you need that to woo crowds or whatever it is you guys do.

Yukari, for her part, peeks over a parapet, squinting against the flock. Okay, she has an idea of when she can do this.
] After me... ready?

Argus!

[The bird takes off, and the flock shifts to accommodate a flying predator, and Yukari is up in an instant.] How about now!?

[Nocking arrow. Preparing to fire.]
cutiepanther: (37)

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-15 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That's true. It is her money maker.... Well, though she's giving up on being an idol and becoming a doctor after high school. Still! ]

Huh? [ The name catches her by surprise, but she realizes what Yukari is doing only a second later. Her carrier is going to help them, it's a good plan! Raising up her revolver she pulls the hammer back and rests the butt of it on the stone outcropping to take aim. ]

Shoot!! [ she yells, hitting two stones this time around the base of the gun (of course there's only 6, leaving her with three more filled with mana) and pulls back on the trigger.

A larger fire than before escapes the barrel of her gun and knocks her back with it's recoil, but that screeching flame is almost like a pair of wings as it tears into the flock.
]
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154389)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-16 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah, that thing Fuuka never wanted to be. Yukari has very little time to figure out what they're doing, so she grabs a second arrow, and holds it in her drawing hand. She might be the one that has to do it fast...

And then there is fire, and Yukari looses the wind-based attack of her bow, creating a hellacious tailwind that knocks a chunk of the birds into either those that tried to dodge, or straight into others, knocking them into the fire, leaving a column in the middle.

And then, sufficiently funneled, she nocks the other arrow, and looses it right into the middle, tearing birds from the sky.

There's not many left afterward, but really...

Then...

Yukari squawks.
] Ew! We're kneeling in it!

[Yep.]
cutiepanther: (85)

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-16 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Maki wasn't sure she did either. But she's coming around on it. Her parents would be happy, which is important to her. ]

It worked! [ Maki cheers as she tries to get back up to her knees after falling onto her back from her recoil. She really was happy that she had helped so much. And then she realizes what Yukari is talking about. ]

It's... it's.... Iyaaaaaah!! [ There's a scream from a girl that travels all the way to the mainland. ]
couldntpullthetrigger: (There are really no words strong enough)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-16 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Man, and Yukari thought she was a loud, squawky bird. Argus, tripped off by the scream, alights on a nearby rock and tilts its head at Maki, staring silently.]

This is gross...

[She cannot, however, say anything about the screech because jfc look at this mess.] Ugh, do we have to clean this up, too? Isn't there someone else to do this?
cutiepanther: (61)

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-18 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
It's so gross... [ Maki couldn't help but scream. She's never done anything like this, and certainly never had gotten covered in this... stuff. So she's more than a little grossed out. She also just happens to be a trained vocalist so the outcome was always going to be like this from the start. ]

W-We better not...

[ Looking around as he tries to get onto her feet, Maki notices something shining from behind them. It's the nests of the birds, and they are filled with all kinds of things aside from the expected twigs. Money, supplies, twinkets.. it's practically a goldmine here. ] Takeba-san! Look!
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154391)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-20 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
Huh?

[Looking looking. Oh hey.

The birds like to collect shiny stuff.
]

Oh wow, look at all this stuff. [So much money.] I guess we found what we're supposed to use with helping rebuild this place, then.
cutiepanther: (23)

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-20 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
H-How are we going to take any of this back with us?

[ Because Maki's all too aware of how gross everything is up here. Which one of them is planning on digging out the jewels and coins and supplies amongst all that bird poop??

..And Maki just looks expectantly at Yukari as if silently suggesting she do it.
]
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154359)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-20 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
... Um, well... I don't think we're taking anything back, unless you wanna be on cleaning crew. But we can tell 'em we found it?

[Fuck that. That's nasty.]
cutiepanther: (62)

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-22 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
A-Are you sure we should just leave it all here?

[ There's legit money here Yukari. And JEWELS. Like... what kind of girl doesn't stop to even think "what if?" As a rich girl turned not so rich, Maki misses being loaded... But she's only thinking of helping out Capablanca, of course!!

Maki also refuses to get in there herself.
]
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154359)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-24 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
I think the only people that're here are us Heroes, right? ... I guess someone might try to steal it, but if we tell a superior, it'll help.

[So? Let her be practical.]
cutiepanther: (36)

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-25 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Y-Yeah. I guess so.

[ It seems silly to her to leave this behind, she just hopes no one tells them they should have grabbed it when they get back or something! But then again, there is no way in hell Maki is digging through bird.... excrement, to find some jewels. No matter how many pairs of new shoes she could buy.. ]

Let's head down then, I'm starting to get nauseous and I really could use a shower.
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154382)

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-27 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Or, I guess, we can get hazmat suits or something and really airtight bags. I wonder if any vendors'd take 'em unwashed... [She's joking.]

But a shower definitely sounds great right now. [NO, NOT TOGETHER, ASHLEY.]
cutiepanther: (8)

end?

[personal profile] cutiepanther 2016-04-28 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
S-So long as it isn't us!

[ Even if she's joking it sends a shiver down Maki's spine. Nope, that's gross, this whole place is gross, she wants out.

She touches her hair to twirl it as she always does... and realizes that she just got something on her hand, refusing to look at it.
]

I-I feel gross...
couldntpullthetrigger: (pic#10154359)

Yeah

[personal profile] couldntpullthetrigger 2016-04-29 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
[Yukari can agree with that.]

... Yeah. Let's just... get back to the hotel or something. Hot water sounds good right about now.