INTRO ♚ FEBRUARY

[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.

ONE ♟ Settling In

Welcome to Blanc! You wake up on one of the beds inside the Hall of Glory. You might still be feeling a little light-headed, but sudden dimensional travel will do that to a body. You could have sworn visions of a fantastic world flashed before your eyes not long ago: monsters, magic, and a mission to save the world. You can't quite recall much beyond the basics, but could this be it?

Save your questions for later! The room nannies are quick to urge Heroes into their uniforms (with their beaks if necessary) and to point them to the pick-up locations for their Blanc-issued Weapons and Carriers. Hopefully, nobody but the pigeon’s watching you change. On the other hand, maybe you're the type to turn every roommate into a new friend before you even step foot outside the room.

As you make your way down the halls, you might notice strangely familiar faces around you. But don’t linger too long to chat—the people in charge of the armory and the menagerie have gone through many Heroes before you, and still have many more to go after you. NPCs need meal breaks, too! If you don’t make a decision in time, the random Weapons and/or Carriers they pick for you can be just a little odd.

And if you’re hungry? No matter how rich you were in your homeworld, you’re penniless now until you earn some colle. Thankfully, the Hall of Glory provides free meals to Heroes and those associated with them! Sunday’s breakfast and lunch are bananalicious and seafood pasta. A friendly visiting scholar may have a word of advice for you: “Beware the dining hall on Mondays.”

But you’ll barely have time for lunch before guards come and round you up. “For the parade,” is the only reason they’ll give you.

TWO ♟ Welcome Celebrations

Trumpets sound, cymbals clang and the crowd roars as the parade gets underway! What’s all the fuss about? Well, you Heroes were sent by the gods to save Blanc, right? Of course they’d celebrate! Smiling and waving at the citizens of Caissa from your uniquely crafted float might be a chore, but hey, they love you. Are you really going to let them down, or lose the spotlight to the fellow Heroes sharing your float?

The reception after the Prime Minister’s speech is like some kind of idol session, with Caissa citizens coming up to shake hands and welcome the Heroes warmly. Some are even asking for autographs!

There’s a lot of things to do in festive and lively Caissa, even late into the night under a light fall of snow. Sparrow Town is all lit up, ready for another festival next week.

While some shops are closed for the holiday, others have buffet tables or are giving out free samples to the Heroes. The food stalls here are way better than the bizarre cafeteria menu at the Hall of Glory! Why waste the opportunity to finally gorge on real food? The shop owners have done their best to impress, showing off their local cuisines proudly along the city streets: from the local hamburger joint to the exotic L'adderan curries, you'll find a little of everything to whet your palate. Your growling stomach will likely thank you for the food. … Oh, wait. That wasn’t you? You think the fish sandwich on your plate just sang? Nonsense. That just means you had a marvelous piece of fish bread. Please remember to visit them again sometime when you have the colle, okay?

Various stalls with games and activities have also been set up. Maybe you can impress the crowd by nailing an apple with an arrow or by sacrificing your friend(s) at the water tanks! An unusual Go-style stall offers something like fish scooping, but be careful: touching the fish with your bare hands will leave you feeling funny… Wow, you’ve never seen that color before! But whatever it takes to impress the children, right?

Said children might try and get you to dance in the falling snow. Better not mess up, though, because everyone in Caissa seems to be watching.

THREE ♟ The Day After

Hopefully, you didn’t sleep too late after yesterday’s celebrations! Or maybe you slept badly, since it felt like something was watching you…

The free breakfast that awaits you at the dining hall is… something special. Please enjoy it to your heart’s content! Remember: no food fights, and leave no leftovers! Nothing will save you from the chef’s disapproving mustache swirl if you do!

If you want to make money (to get away from Monday’s Horrors), there are now jobs up for taking at the Hall of Glory and the Poisoned Pawn! If there’s nothing to your taste, check back again every so often. Something new might pop up!

Heroes not in the mood to be errand-runners (it’s understandable, you’re Heroes after all!) can hang out in the parlor, read in the library, or express yourself in one of the Hall’s many studios or other rooms.

If lying back and taking it slow isn’t your thing, you could train or spar! Being summoned to a new world takes a toll on the body, and some Heroes have lost abilities familiar to them. Besides, it’ll take a while to get used to your weapons. Some of them might even be disobedient, backfiring at worst and unresponsive at best. Try not to hit your fellow Heroes (including yourself), or you’ll either have to find enough Heroes to cast weak healing spells or carry the wounded to the infirmary. While the snow has been cleared overnight, it’s still very cold!

INFO ♟ Welcome!

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

Comments

[planmade]

['They'. The general term for the unknown. As if spurred on by Richard's mechanical bird, Mello's chimes in right behind it. His gaze does travel to the ugly uniform at the end of his bed, but other than that he ignores it.

The blond reaches for the key and note sitting on top of the pile. The first is clutched tightly in two fingers while he tosses the second aside. For him, is it? Not very helpful. His roommates clearly don't know any more than he does, so there's no point in directing questions their way. He might have to listen to the pigeon after all.]

Maybe you should take the tour.

[Since that's what their little clockwork irritants are going on about. Right not it's the only available source of information - though he has a feeling this guy is more interested in punching his way to a solution.

He has no interest in wearing the uniform at all. Sadly, he doesn't see any other possibilities.

Is he frightened? Certainly. But he's not going to admit it in this company. He'd been at the brink of death, and that's something he's sure of. To have been pulled from that point and brought to wherever this place is, his abductors would have to be able to overcome the rules of the Death Note, and that's no small feat. For far too long his enemies have had the upper hand simply by having access to information he didn't, and this has become tiring.

But he's alive, and there's little point in not making the best use of this second opportunity.]

Unless you want to hit the pigeon too.

[stormboarn]

[Seeing Metal Bat back up toward the door, clearly in no state of mind to calm down and see things in a reasonable way, Richard sighs and finally gets out of the bed, yanking on the sheets until they pull free. Wrapping it tightly around him, he goes to the clothes and finds his own letter and key. Turning the envelope over in his hand, he then puts it down on the bed for later.

Picking up the key, he holds it up for Metal Bat to see.]

Look, here's a key; you might have one too if you care to check. If you truly believe that you can give them a, how did you put it...

[His lips curl a little before echoing his words.]

-ah, a "nasty beatdown" with one hand over your nethers? Be my guest. I will not stop you, at any rate.

[At that, his persistent bird pecks at his ankle to get his attention, chirping about tours and uniforms again.]

I cannot speak for these...things, though.

[swinges]

[mello continues to ride on his last nerve, but it does sound like a better idea than what he had planned (read: nothing). they seem willing to foot suggestions and it stops him from making any hasty decisions. letting the blankets sag with broad shoulders, metal bat seems to deflate visibly after ascertaining that they're no current threat—they just want to get dressed and sort out their own stresses.

fair enough.]

Don't give a shit how it's done, so long as it's done. [he replies shamelessly.

he does, however, take a slow step away from the door, edging back towards his own bundle of clothing. he can't dally, if there's a tour starting up, mello and richard's advice leaving him with no other foreseeable options. dropping the blankets with little to no care given to the room at large, he flaps the clothing out piece by piece and drags it all on.

the uniform fits well—too well—unused to anything less than baggy and the colours leave a lot to be desired. too many flaps, too many frills, the collar snug against his throat. irritating to say the least, but when metal bat smoothes back the stray hairs falling into his eyes, he looks rather militant (blanc army's desired effect).

makes him far grumpier, holding up the key with a curl of lip.]

We're gonna look like fuckin' boy scouts.

[planmade]

[Mello purposefully leaves his uniform sloppy, buttons undone and undershirt loose. If they want to stop him in the hallway to correct him, they're free to do so, and he'll have some idea of how serious they are about their dress code. He's not a soldier and surely they have to know that.]

And without any badges to show off, it looks like.

[He could really go for anything that isn't white - something in a nice black, or even red for that matter. White has never suited him. This is Near's color. Though his rival wouldn't go for anything nearly this frilly either. The little bits of color are his only consolation.

If not for his own interest in the tour, he'd be taking a lot longer to get prepared just out of spite.]

I'm guessing it's just the three of us in this room?