pawnstorm | intro ♚ may

Entry tags:

intro ♚ may

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

one;

[The pigeon has shown her the way to the mailroom sometime before, during the tour for the newcomers. It also has mentioned letters and packages waiting for the heroes there.

That's the reason why Luna's peeking from behind the slightly opened door and then walks in carefully, just like being even a bit louder would bother someone inside. Among many boxes, she finally finds the one that belongs to her and opens it by simply touching the small door. A few letters inside the box are truly a surprise. What is that pile of papers, though?

She decides to go back to it later and opens the first letter, hoping to find an explanation to why she woke up here or at the very least some clues. Is it her another "mission"? Being sent here on purpose would make sense, but there's nothing she can be fully sure of. Even though the contents of the letter doesn't explain anything at all, these words of encouragement from a stranger makes her smile softly as she continues reading. The next one even contains a small packet of star-shaped candies, which makes her smile even wider. Even if it's just a mistake and it's meant to someone else entirely, it's still really nice.

The time to check that pile of papers finally comes; it's the longest letter inside (or more like a prologue to a lengthy novel, really), but it doesn't mean she's going to leave it be. Quite the opposite, actually. Somewhere in the middle of reading it, Luna stops and sniffles.]

T-This is just too sad.

[Does she plan to go through all of this eventually? Yes, definitely.]

two;

[It's been already a few days after they began the investigation and the clues they stumble upon with her partner are pointing to something morbid. The first one was the limb which was burnt to that extent that they could hardly tell whether it had belonged to a man or a woman. It was getting even worse with every new finding, but Luna remained calm at all times—sadness kept lingering in her eyes and voice, especially if they found another evidence of something terrible that has been going on.

While walking along the road, Luna notices someone lying on the ground in the distance and turns to her companion.]

They might need help...!

[Sadly, it's too late for that person, but they're about to learn that.]

three;

[As the dragon begin their intrusion, Luna finds herself in the middle of the village under attack, trying to speak to the people scattered around and panicking. It doesn't as well as she hoped, though.]

P-Please...don't run around! It's making things worse!

[It's obvious that speaking to so many people is somewhat of a challenge to her, but she has to do it—there's no other way to make the situation at least a bit better.]

I-I'll do my best to heal the injured!

[She's not telling them that she's just a newbie on purpose...however, no one seems to be listening to her, anyway. Actually, when she's in the middle of the sentence, someone starts shouting about the end of the world.]

Excuse me...could you help me? I'm not even sure what should I do, I just want them all to get to safety.

[Some help will be truly appreciated.]

[For someone who's lived a life of bloodshed and matured on the battlefield, picking up on whether a body was merely someone injured or dead altogether became second nature. She could tell there was nothing to salvage of this person, yet...

She rests a hand on Luna's shoulder, urging her forward gently.]

Go on.

[The thought that it might have been too late for them strikes Luna a moment after—there's so much blood splattered around, but she doesn't want to give up hope. She has to, though, that much is sure after she approaches the body.]

Oh...no...

[It looks like she'll shed tears at any moment now, but it doesn't happen. Instead, she remains calm and collected.]

What even happened here...? Should we...

[Her eyes are fixed on the corpse.]

S-Should we examine the body?

At the very least, it might shed some light on whatever did this.

[She advances now, walking past Luna to crouch down beside the corpse, even reaching out to shift its position now and again to get a closer look. There's a definite degree of flippancy to her behaviour, tone and body language both.]

Terribly burnt as far as I can tell...but judging from everything else something so large wouldn't have to resort to that. Unless...hm.

[She stands, looking to Luna.]

What do you think?

Luna | Zero Escape

two;

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two

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three;

so...cute...

why yes you are

One

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three

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three

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Three

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three(ish!)

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two - if you don't mind the lateness!

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