pawnstorm | 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Like a grown man!

[The knife he's dug into the wall slides down a couple of centimetres and Anakin makes the decision that he can't really afford to wait for his answer. Bracing his feet against the wall causes him to slide down further and he makes the jump with no hesitation.

The vine lurches and there's a worrying creak of the floorboards.]

[And GAIUS nearly slams forward because he didn't see that coming. He manages to gather himself before he falls into the pit, if but barely, but in the process the jawbreaker that he'd been rolling around in his mouth gets launched into the pit with a ptooo.

Worst rescue ever.]

Gods! [Shit fuck man you're heavy fuck.] That ain't catching, right? Your hand?

[Because if so he's going to drop Anakin and nope away. Hngh. Climb fast, asshole.]

[Anakin wasn't going to wait to get pulled up and he's already climbing.]

What? I lost it in a fight, not from a disease.

[By the time he finishes his sentence he's already reached the end and instead of climbing over Gaius or waiting for him to move, he steadies himself against the floorboards before swinging the vine until he gets enough momentum to do a flip and land. This time it holds.]

Niiice. [That was to the flip and land. He smirks, although the smirk quickly falls to a slightly pensive frown.]

But you still got it.

[Just like...what the fuck, man. And he's a little distrustful because someone who contracted a horribly disfiguring disease that was contagious likely wouldn't just say it and all, although not so much that he's going to do the safe thing and attempt to punt Anakin back into the pit for the good of the people. It seems plausible enough that something else was behind the hand, just...

What the fuck happened to you. He's going to stand, brush off his clothes, drop the vine into the pit, and...just...what the fuck is that hand.]

[Anakin starts brushing himself off when he stops and just stares at Gaius. Slowly:]

It's a mechno-arm.

[He holds it up and wiggles his very mechanical fingers.]

[...]

What?

[Holy shit. Holy shit!]

Like those things outside. [You know, the technology shit. (On a related note, you know how great flush toilets are? Really great. They beat chamber pots easy.)]

What?

[He immediately runs over to look outside... and nothing. He looks up, down and side to side and still nothing.]

I don't see anything.

[He's just standing there like 'what' but sort of saunters to also look outside, very casually, mildly confused as well. But rolling with it, now that he's got an explanation that isn't 'and I'm going to turn into a giant metal skeleton in a few weeks.']

What were you looking for, Thump? [...] Thumper? Thumper. [Sounds better.]

[Anakin's not sure how he's picked up another nickname, but it sounds a little better than Ani or Skyguy.]

My name's Anakin Skywalker not Thumper.

[He gives another look, but he still doesn't see anything.]

I thought you said there were mechno-limbs outside.

[Wait.] Is that what that hand thing of yours is called? [This is...vaguely accusatory because it sounds slightly silly if the prosthetic hand was constantly referred to as a 'mechno-limbs.'] Mechno-limbs.

[He stops and stares.]

What else would I call it?

[Weird names are the norm for him.]

Dunno. Never seen something like that before. [He's going to peer at the thing but not touch it. What the fuck. And then nod inwards because if they're caught slacking they'll...probably not have to deal with much, actually, why is he being responsible.

...

Unless Anakin started heading back in he's going to lean against the nearest sturdy object and immediately regret it as it seems to be slightly crumbly.]

[Anakin looks at him oddly for not knowing. This is already the most backwater place he could imagine and to think that it could be worse is strange.]

Then what do you guys do if someone loses an arm?

[If anyone does end up interrupting them they can just say they had a near death experience and need some time to deal with it.]

Cripes, Thumper, how often do people get their limbs lopped off where you come from?

[And he's looking at Anakin in...probably just an expression of pure what, because that's sounding like, "Man, we get our shit cut off all the time."]

[Look just because he's going to lose all his limbs in the future and his son is also going to lose a hand doesn't mean that's commonplace!]

There's a war, people get injured.

[Also he normally wields a laser sword which is a lot more effective in cutting through people than normal swords.]

Yeah, I know. I nearly got my head cut off more than once in the last one I was in, but I don't make a habit of getting my limbs cut off on a regular basis.

[And just for emphasis he's going to raise both of his hands and waggle his fingers.

This would be more effective if he wasn't wearing gloves.

But just saying.] And most of the people I know don't either. [But okay, he'll relent and cross his arms and lean in a slightly different fashion than he was attempting to lean, shifting a bit.] Normally you just...you know. Got a stump.

intro ♚ april

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