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

[digophelia]

[ For now, she would likely not budge or retreat from her pile of blankets until they left and she couldn't see them. She would do so as many times as she could, until she knew it was going to be at least safe to. As tired as she is, she simply can't go back to sleep, so Alice lies there, listening. ]

Alice Liddell.

[ Smoothly underneath the blankets, despite how tired he is. She's almost tempted to ask him why anyone would name their son "Gilgamesh". What an odd name. ]

[babbylon]

Alice...

[That name was infamous in the world of Servants. Though Gilgamesh was disconnected from his Gate and thus from its infinite knowledge of Heroes, he did recognize Alice—the girl who fell down the rabbit hole all the way to Wonderland. That creature of hers would've fit in there perfectly, he thinks.

Should he mention it? Should he say anything? In the end, wouldn't it simply make her even more frightful? No, it was for the best that he settled down. His words would be brushed aside, and Gilgamesh was not in the habit of giving advice, anyway. Ultimately, she must find her own path.

Gilgamesh goes quiet, but his eyes remain open. Alice isn't the only one unaccustomed to a good night's sleep.]

[digophelia]

[ It's a bit calmer than what she's expecting, originally. She was expecting the worst case scenario at this point, being the only woman in the room. It was always the case in the asylum and while nothing was happening so far, Alice still felt plenty vulnerable. Lying there under the blanket, Alice was pained at the idea that she wouldn't be able to sleep so openly.

She was used to sleeping on hard surfaces. It was a shame, really, she couldn't feel completely comfortable like this. So, eventually, Alice broke the awkward silence, slowly shifting.

Pillows were a plus -- she couldn't say she had decent pillows like this in a long time. ]

May I ask you something?

[babbylon]

[It catches Gilgamesh by surprise. He wasn't drifting towards anything like sleep, anyway, but his thoughts had begun to wander. He can't know what will follow may I ask you something, yet that she spoke up at all rather than lapse into silence does rekindle some faith he won't get stabbed in the side the moment he shuts his eyes.]

You may.

[In a situation like this, titles and ranks didn't matter. He was no more a king than she was a queen. He couldn't order her about and he couldn't make her see reason. She must adapt to him, but the same applies in his case—he must adapt to her, too, or else there really would be hell to pay.

He still can't believe he's entertaining this girl. Maybe she's stronger-willed than he originally thought to have that sort of effect on him.]

[digophelia]

[ Alice is gathering up the blanket around her body, slipping off the bed, onto the floor. Her voice gentle, but firm, Alice wants to actually go back to sleep again. It's a simple request, it's all she wants. ]

Let me rest and I will do so for you as well.

[ He had to sleep sometime, much like the rest of them, whenever they showed up. Alice had half the mind to actually pretend she wasn't there at all. It was odd, but she was willing to at least hand off some level of trust for this stranger not to say anything for what she was doing.

And that was succumbing to her old habit of hiding herself. Pillows off the bed, as well as the comforters, Alice weasels herself underneath, grabbing her blanket with her and leaving her poor carrier to quizzically watch her, hissing faintly before it decides to hop down at the corner of the bed and wait for Alice.

Silence.

But finally, Alice was wrapped up in her comforter, with two pillows under her head and the sword by her side. As odd as it was, she finally felt somewhat comfortable enough to try and rest and fall back asleep. Sort of. ]

[babbylon]

[It really was a simple request. It was also free of that earlier unease, absent of malice. Just a very small wish from someone who Gilgamesh had now deduced was very scared. Gilgamesh was a cruel man who did very cruel things, but picking on a person that had been beaten down so far already to the point where she'd cower in her sheets and pillows was beneath his pedigree. Maybe, just maybe, they could get along after all, on account of that pity.]

Good night.

[He doesn't question it one bit. For once, even Gilgamesh recognizes it's none of his business, though part of him wants to tell her you cannot hide from the whole world. But she is wrong in one regard: Gilgamesh doesn't sleep. If Alice had slept for years, Gilgamesh has not slept for millennia, and a single night wouldn't change that.

He will watch her 'til sunrise and wonder again how he could've possibly fallen so far so fast.]