intro ♚ may

[boardmaster]

WELCOME TO Caissa

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.

WARNING: Contains death and related graphic descriptions.

ONE ♟ P.S. I Love You

It's a perfectly ordinary morning in Caissa. Enprise’s two suns peer over the horizon and smack into your face through the large bay window. At half past six in the morning, the floor nanny’s built-in alarm goes off and plays Prime Minister Teddy’s hit song Love Me Like Your Doughnuts. Once everyone in their rooms is up and awake, this mechanical pigeon announces that letters and small packages have been delivered to every Hero’s personal box in the mailroom. Yes, even you, Naked Newcomer! These letters are from the Heroes’ many fans all over Blanc. No matter who you are, there are small tokens of appreciation attached to the letters: these may include candies shaped like stars, chocolates with a surprise gooey center, or even a can of rainbow beans for those not fond of sweets.

Letters for veteran Heroes are full of praise and gratitude for the success of the naval battle at Graupera. New Heroes receive mail that express support towards their future endeavors as the Blanc military’s most formidable task force. That’s not all the letters contain, however; the citizens also plead for our Heroes’ help with new problems that have arisen in the fields surrounding Caissa. However, the details the letters provide are scant and vague. The fans seem more concerned with recent damage caused by some unknown entity. There is a 15-page narrative of how a man built this beautiful house for his lovely, sweet wife who did nothing wrong, but nothing about why the house is in shambles now. A market on the outskirts of Caissa lost 30,000 colle’s worth of food, but the writer neglects to explain what happened to the food. All you know is that this person stayed up all week taking inventory and now it has gone to waste.

Sharing letters with each other might give you a clue on where to start your investigations and figure out which areas were hit the hardest. Or you can talk about how cute your adoring fans are. One way or another, you’ll have to get tongues wagging to make any progress. Unfortunately, Blanc isn’t going to save itself and from the sound of it, this problem is bigger than expected...

TWO ♟ Distant Howling

After pooling information, the new objective is clear: to investigate the damages. The vast, vibrant fields around Caissa seem a good place to start. They are mostly empty, but here or there you will see some people from nearby smaller villages and farms. The villagers will admit to having seen threatening shadows move over the fields and having heard harsh, high-pitched howling. They are willing to point Heroes toward possible shadow sightings, but are otherwise reluctant to act as guides. They are simple townsfolk who wish to return to their quiet lifestyle.

You may come up with small settlements (e.g. villages, farms, inns, taverns, etc.) as they are considered minor locations.

Heroes will soon discover that some of the smaller villages have been burned down entirely. The smell of ash and charred wood is thick in the air, though some buildings are also smashed as as though by something large and heavy. Nearby trees which haven’t been uprooted or knocked over are scorched and their blackened branches crackle ominously in the breeze. There are large marks dug deep into the ground and—is that a cow? Heroes will find tagged fruit cows scattered everywhere, scared, confused and mooing sadly next to their dead fruit cow friends. Fruit cows are usually found in Gresser, how strange...

A couple of days’ worth of exploration may help you realize that whatever is terrorizing Blanc doesn’t only devour hapless animals. While trying to navigate the numerous backcountry roads and farmlands, Heroes may stumble upon some gruesome clues: a charred limb—or what’s left of it; teeth, half-eaten ribcages, melted jewelry, and other smaller bits; the less fortunate may actually trip over a corpse staring unseeingly into the sky. It has been gutted, half-roasted, and seems to have lain in the sun for some time; and if someone is brave enough to roll the body onto its stomach, they may discover claw marks on its back. The victim must have tried to flee from something.

The amount of damage grows the more our Heroes travel south. What could be awaiting them?

THREE ♟ Breath of Fire

Let’s put the clues together. Fire? Check. Claw marks? Check. Large shadows seemingly from something flying overhead? Check and check. Congratulations, Blanc, you are suffering from a dragon plague.

It will take several days for the Heroes to locate the source of the rumors. The dragons seem to have taken up residence in the hilly area near Caissa, where the slopes grow steeper and then drop suddenly off into cliffs. The beasts are quite willing to greet guests warmly: there’s nothing like a burst of dragonfire and a deafening screech to brighten your day.

The only warning you’ll get before they launch themselves into the air and at Heroes is the sound of trees bursting beneath their claws. Beware: a single swipe can cause some serious damage and their fire breath, fast, frequent and garnished with the occasional, boiling hot drop of saliva, is nothing you want to stick around for. The dragons cannot be reasoned with, nor can they be tamed. A queen’s Charm magic WILL NOT work. Should someone try and reach out with their senses to see if the dragons are somehow hurting, they will only feel something alien and terrible.

Heroes aren't the only ones suffering under the dragons’ claws, unfortunately. Scattered around the area are a few small and isolated farms, and the animals and the farmers are easy prey and unlikely to flee in time. Heroes will want to intervene before the dragons can devour and destroy. If they are too late, they will need to provide support. Put out fires, heal the injured, catch panicked cows before they become pot roast! The dragons might be coming around for another attack, so it would be a good time to test barriers and other damage control skills.

To make matters worse, Blanc’s weather has decided that now is the perfect time for a hailstorm. It’s barely anything at first, beginning with small kernels the size of corn here and there to wet the grass and ruin your footing. Then it becomes much larger and greater in number. Dragons are not exempt from this hailhole: large enough pieces may rip holes in their wings! Heroes may want to use this to their advantage; additionally, casting ice and wind spells will suddenly become a lot easier, and the dragons will struggle to navigate in the stormy weather, forcing them to land more often. Better get up on that dragon’s back!

In the end, survivors of the dragon horde let out one last, collective shriek before they turn southward. The battle has been won, but the war is just beginning: the dragons have only been chased away. Their nest seems to be elsewhere and that is a worrying prospect. Dragons aren’t native to Blanc, which can only mean one thing…

Meanwhile, a new job opening has appeared at Gresser. At least you finally know what to do with all those fruit cows.

INFO ♟ Welcome!

Welcome to Crosscheck's May intro log! For any further questions, please see the FAQ or reach us at the Contact Us page. Have fun!

Also by request, here are some Player Endorsements that may be of interest!

Heaven's Feel: Looking for something else to do? In the mood for more light-hearted mingling? Check out Heaven’s Feel, Caissa’s first heroic matchmaking service! Opening week is going on now.

Training Notice: This training notice is located on the bulletin board. You might want to take a look.

Comments

2

[querella]

And here I thought we were done with lizards.

[ The words were bitter, with a hint of aggravation. One really, really would rather forget about that dungeon and the lizardmen. The snakes. The mad priestess. But it wasn't so easy to forget. Hadn't been. But she was wiser now, more experienced. And this... was all too familiar.

Dragons had been a rare sight on Midgard, with wyverns being the more common pest. But only one of the two winged beasts was really feared by Intoners. Or, perhaps, welcomed. ]

What knowledge do you have of dragons or wyverns?

[hiryugaeshi]

I suspect it'll be a long time before we truly are. Dragons are said to stand at the pinnacle of all the magical beasts, so they will always be a danger to the people here.

[ And do you know how many Dragon's Fangs and Reverse Scales they'll need to fully upgrade all the Servants here? ... None at all because this isn't Chaldea, but they can certainly use the material for something else. ]

If you'd like an essay on them, I'm afraid you'll have to look somewhere else. But when it comes to slaying dragons, I may have a bit of experience.

[ "A bit", he says. The legend of Sasaki Kojirou certainly didn't have any dragons, but his shenanigans in his new life have earned him more than enough accolades. The Saviour of Orleans, and one of the Prince of Slayers isn't just for show. He certainly sounds confident enough. ]

[querella]

It also depends on the type of dragon. Where I come from the dragons didn't seem to care for human affairs.

[ Well, give or take. She couldn't speak up for what Michael cared for, because she didn't really know. She just knew that Gabriella didn't like him, or really anyone. Gabriella also didn't try to kill her even though the Flower was her enemy, and One by proxy. ]

I know enough about dragons. I simply wanted to make sure you had some idea of what they are capable of, should we find one. Or more.

[ Her lips curled at the edges, a hand rising to brush her hair from her face. So he considered himself a dragon slayer, she would have to keep that in mind. It was useful information. ]

[hiryugaeshi]

Dragons are intelligent creatures. That also means they're capable of utterly illogical things, like sheer boredom or malice. Or perhaps some witch has taken control of their minds?

[ Kojirou shrugs. They'll get to the bottom of these dragon attacks eventually, but first they need to stop the dragons from burninating everything. They can proceed from there. Besides, what else are a pair of Knights going to do? ]

But no matter how great they are, they're still a living creature in the end. As long as they can be cut down, I can kill them. So let us go dragon hunting, shall we?

[ It's not quite the boast of a certain other Japanese Assassin, but he doesn't have her eyes. All he has is his skills with a sword, and way too much confidence. ]

[querella]

Perhaps it might be another case of a cursed priestess and an angry god... Not too far from what we've already faced.

[ The Intoner paused a moment, mulling over the idea of hunting down whatever dragon or dragons had attacked these people. The only way to kill an Intoner was with something of a dragon, their flame or fangs. Once, she had taken a fang from her dear Gabriella, a fang she had carved a sword meant to kill Zero... And now she was to hunt them down. To put herself in harms way. To risk death once more.

Her gaze shifted to the other hero, briefly looking him over. She knew she could trust him, that he was relatively easy to work with. But should these dragons feel the same kind of desire to eliminate the Flower, would he be of any help? ]

Let us hope that this doesn't get us cursed as well.

[ Stalling. No matter what she told herself, she was well aware that she was stalling for time. That she was uncertain of what was to come. And the longer they stalled, the more harm would come to these people. She lifted a hand to the broach she had recently gained with the promotion in rank. Gloved fingers traced the serpent skull.

They needed to get moving. To start hunting these blasted creatures. With that in mind, One began to turn her gaze to the remains of the farming village. If she guessed right, depending on which buildings were burned the least, that would lead to where it took off. In her experience with dragons, they often stopped breathing fire as they took to the air. ]

[hiryugaeshi]

I've fought my share of witches and priestesses, but I've never had the chance to slay a fully incarnated god.

[ Kojirou would lose most probably, if it's a god worth paying attention to, but it's definitely worth the risk in his slightly mad eyes. Dragons though, dragons he has confidence with. The ones he's faced are nothing like whatever One's fought, admittedly. Even Fafnir was just a big beast that fell once enough sword to the face was applied. ]

I wonder what kind of curse that would bring down on us? Would we be trapped in a dungeon, doomed to eventually be slain by passing heroes? Ah, but it wouldn't be so bad with company.

[ Assassin has had experience being a midboss himself, sitting on that temple stairway, waiting for Servants to try to pass him by. He was very good at it, his sword keeping everyone but Berserker at bay, and even that was repelled once the giant and his girl Master got bored of trying to break through. He didn't enjoy it, but perhaps that's just because nobody visited.

He turns to follow One. She seems perfectly adept at tracking dragons. Perhaps she had her own experience with them? That wouldn't be too strange. Kojirou knows his way around nature from years of experience and meditation, but that's no match for actually studying dragons. He'll defer to her on this one. ]