intro ♚ june

[boardmaster]

WELCOME TO Lasker

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 ♟ Caissa: Cut to the Chase

Rise and shine, Heroes! Some of you are naked, some of you have no idea where you are, but all of you should be listening to the new announcement from the Prime Minister that your trusty household pigeon is blasting right across the room.

Thierry Toussaint Good morning, my dear Heroes. I hope you are all well rested. I must ask for another favor: a very important guest from Gammon will be visiting us, and he will pass through Lasker in two weeks. His name is Ryder; quite a charming man, I’m sure you’ll enjoy his company. I will be staying here to prepare for his arrival, so I would like a few of you to escort him to Caissa. You will be rewarded handsomely. Oh, and if you get to Lasker early, could you please get me a few Double Duo booster packs? It’s a very popular card game. One day, if Secretary Verdoni spares some time in my schedule, I would love to play it with you!

You will also spot a new note on the Hall of Glory bulletin board, signed with an emblem veteran Heroes will recognize as a Noir lightning ward. Newcomers may have to ask around, or give in to their curiosity whenever their peers or seniors in the Heroic business run off to investigate! This will likely be a team effort. Meanwhile, it looks like Black Lightning picked up the Gresserian fondness for riddles: her first clue reads:

Jenny and Walt like their bratwurst, but Katyusha will be having them for breakfast. Buy some from the market for her, will you?
All those very specific names are probably important, but how? Why is Katyusha so attached to bratwurst? Just how many markets will you have to go through for this hypothetical pork meal? Find out on the next episode of Lasker & Order! Should you work this one out, you will find the second clue pinned under a string of pork bratwurst with a knife of Noir craftsmanship, on the wooden door of a certain butcher shop:

History repeats itself. Get a refresher downtown.
There is a certain wall in a murky alleyway downtown plastered full of old posters, dirty and worn; these date from when our Heroes failed to protect Palamède, the site of Noir’s first act of war against Blanc. Heroes were quite unpopular at the time! A single unmarred poster hangs near the end of the alleyway, preserved in a new frame. How unusual! Behind the frame lies the third clue:

Some say I’m faster than a speeding train. Are you?
To the train station! Stuck on a sign is a newspaper clipping in Chernovian.

Escaped convicts executed
By IVANA MANTOLOV     VALLARIA XTH 2016

Eight escaped convicts were executed on the spot as they attempted to cross the Empire’s borders into Gris yesterday. They were later confirmed to be members of the group of twenty-nine convicts who went missing after the riot at the Chernov Penitentiary Ward two days prior. Authorities are still looking for the remaining twenty-one.

Found on the back of this clipping is Black Lightning’s last message scrawled in black ink: See you there. But where? Just lift your eyes:

TO LASKER
➵
Once you return to your quarters at the Hall of Glory in the evening, the Prime Minister will have another announcement.

Thierry Toussaint I have concerning news. Ryder is in danger, and I need you to go to Lasker to do a preemptive investigation before his arrival. Our… contact requests your presence. As they say in Noir, you do not find her. She finds you. Be careful. There are many uncertainties in this mission, and I would like to send you with more backup, but she said to bring only yourselves. Be as discreet as possible; we do not want to cause an incident.

What do those clues even mean? Maybe you can help.

TWO ♟ Lasker

Black Lightning Miss me? … Ah, you brought new face. Cute. [ chuckle ] Blanc never runs out of blessing, huh? You know Double Duo? [ she reaches into her cleavage for a card with a matagot on it ] Game with monster cards. [ and behind the monster card, she reveals another. wait, is that your face? ] Now, Hero cards. New shipments are coming in. Watch the arena.

Before you can ask, Black Lightning disappears in a flash, dropping both the matagot and Hero cards as a parting gift. For some of you, the mention of shipments sends shivers down your spine. Heroes who’ve been around longer will remember the involvement of Noir shipments in the attack on Palamède. Needless to say, hurrying to the Double Duo arena is the best course of action for now.

Lasker is often dubbed the Double Duo capital of the world, and you’ll find no better evidence of that grand claim than its jam-packed arena. Excited chatter fills the air as throngs of Double Duo enthusiasts fill the seats, making no attempt to keep their voices down. You can hear them talk about how they’re looking forward to the new Hero cards’ release.

All questions concerning Hero cards, shipments, or even Black Lightning will unhelpfully point you towards Heroes the Gathering, a popular hobby shop. There isn’t any other shop quite like it: with its vast collection of Hero-related goods on display, from holographic sticker sets to limited edition figurines of your favorite Queen, it could almost rival some of Caissa’s latest shopping haunts for the completeness of its selection. Look at your literal mugshot on a cutely-shaped mug! See one of your latest party members inexplicably wearing a maid costume on that fan! Just don’t let your crush catch you buying their body pillow. From what the staff and regular customers will tell you, it looks like Hero cards will be super rare—with the price range to match.

There are posters plastered all over the walls, revealing the release date of those new Hero cards: COMING SOON... 20TH ROSA. The striking contrast of its black, white, and red scheme make it pop against the busy, vivid colors of the shop. Most notable is the blood red moon behind the text, looming in the distance. Those shivers are back, aren’t they? Maybe the staff does know something.

“I hear D’Amore’s shipping them,” a young shop worker sporting twintails and a poorly made Hero uniform cosplay informs you.

“Don’t you mean Rambaldi?”

“The dead can’t do business, honey.”

“No, they’re already selling them in Sokrovich!” an avid collector chimes in.

“Shipments? Aren’t they coming in by caravan?”

Answers continue to vary as you ask in and around the shop. You might have to scour every inch of Lasker and its surrounding fields at this rate. Or buy merchandise. What else is there to do?

THREE ♟ Card Shark

You’ve already combed through all the areas by teatime. No matter what information you’ve managed to scrounge, you can’t shake the feeling that you’re being led on a wild goose chase. However, your luck will change if you manage to stumble upon the carriages holding the shipments of Hero cards. Be prepared to face some resistance.

As it turns out, there are assassins lying in wait to ambush Heroes along the back roads. Noir is here! Any feeling of dread you had? Completely justified. Well-hidden mages launch spells from a distance and soldiers armed to the teeth await around every corner. Remain vigilant: Noir forces have set up booby traps that range from simple spikes that prick your feet to complex contraptions that can kill entire mobs. Most peculiar is their method of attack: with their enchanted cards, they hypnotise your allies AND imbue them with sundry card effects*, forcing you to fight each other. The hypnotized party will be completely under their spell, so find a way to knock some sense back into them. Otherwise, you may have to take more drastic measures. Et tu, Brute?

*Card effects may include bonuses to weapons (such as elemental attacks) or magical spells (such as status effects). You may even find yourself with mild body horror or other disastrous effects. This includes dramatic, optional changes in outfit or hairstyle or other aspects of appearance, etc. All effects are TEMPORARY and will vanish within an hour after hypnosis is removed, or if the affected party is killed in action.

After weathering ambushes from Noir, Heroes will discover a source of the shipments. You may come up with your own minor location: be it an obscure warehouse, an abandoned mansion at the city outskirts, a crypt in a local cemetery, a cellar beneath an ice cream shop, a trapdoor beneath a rich widow’s bed, and more! Noir security on the shipments is bristling and they are not happy to see you. They will aggressively resist arrest, so bring them back dead or alive! Captured Noir forces will disappear thanks to a special enchanted card before interrogation can begin, but they leave behind what searching the bodies of those slain will also yield: the card, which bears the symbol of a black rose and has lost its enchanted properties, and written information on the back of said card about other shipments scattered throughout Lasker. It doesn’t specify any locations, though. An amateur detective’s work is never done!

As for the shipment you secured, you better take care of those cards before they come back to bite you later! Sending parts of the shipment back to Caissa may prove worthwhile, but making a bonfire out of the entire thing might just be the brighter idea. You decide.

INFO ♟ Welcome!

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

Comments

[alchemisc]

One with paper that according to the description, requires some written guidance.

[ Paracelsus takes one of them out of the book. It floats in the air above his hand for few seconds, before falling down as would a normal sheet. ]

[shewhocompels]

[She watches it float, and then fall. Not very impressive, but clearly this is not a normal book.]

...The ways in which this world reminds me it is alien are innumerable.

I think I got a pen from the administrator at the Hall of Heroes.

[pocket patting eventually does produce an ordinary pen, which she lends over. She's GOTTA see this.]

[alchemisc]

Thank you.

[ Paracelsus takes it graciously. With the pen in hand, he tries to figure out something simple to write down. He doesn't have the biggest expectations for it- it's paper after all.

"Move around in a circle"

This time, the page floats leisurely around the two of them, making one round before landing on the floor. ]

How nice. This world is strange, but it's not too confusing where it counts.

[shewhocompels]

To what ultimate purpose, though? Perhaps it could be used to deliver messages?

[alchemisc]

Ah, that's a good use for it.

I do wonder, if all weapons are meant to have offensive capabilities, as the general name implies. Do you have yours, by chance?

[shewhocompels]

Not on me, at the moment.

[She did have a sword at her hip. Dressing light to cut down on weight and heat was all well and good, but exploring a strange place without a weapon by her side was too much to ask for.

But it was just a regular sword, not a magic weapon.]

I disregarded most of what was told to me about these weapons, categorizing it as superstitious garbage for children. This may have been an error or my part.

[alchemisc]

Well, I suppose for those unused to the extraordinary, it would normal to disregard them. Even for me, this weapon is unusual, thus I wished to see it at work.

[ Says the fellow who makes artificial elemental spirits and uses a magical sword to enhance his spellcasting ability... Then again, what he can do is more pragmatic than other forms of magic. ]

I feel like this place is not too much different from my own. I'm thankful.

[shewhocompels]

Would that I could say the same. This land is very alien in many ways.