BOARDMASTER (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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pawnstorm2017-01-10 09:59 am
boardmaster) wrote in pawnstorm2017-01-10 09:59 am
event ♚ january
Alumina Antimoine, daughter of the mayor of Menchik, is missing.
Upon her sister Gretchen’s urging, the mayor has rented a conference room at the Gearson Hotel as a venue for all Heroes to share information regarding the recent disappearances, including their daughter.
According to various reports, Alumina ran off yesterday nght and hasn’t been seen since. She was quick to rush from her home despite her timid nature, claiming she had something important to do. Her parents are beginning to grow worried. Hannes and Gretchen have done their best to look for her, but so far their efforts have been fruitless.
Upon her sister Gretchen’s urging, the mayor has rented a conference room at the Gearson Hotel as a venue for all Heroes to share information regarding the recent disappearances, including their daughter.
According to various reports, Alumina ran off yesterday nght and hasn’t been seen since. She was quick to rush from her home despite her timid nature, claiming she had something important to do. Her parents are beginning to grow worried. Hannes and Gretchen have done their best to look for her, but so far their efforts have been fruitless.
 |
Gretchen Sorry to interrupt your investigation, but I’ve enough reason to believe Alumina’s disappearance is linked to this. She’s the most invested in the missing people’s case more than anyone else, so I... |
 |
Hannes Ooh, macarons! |
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Gretchen Hannes. [ loads gun ] |
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Hannes [ pops a macaron in her mouth ] Relax! There are security automatons all over the city, so I’m sure we’ll find her in no time. Maybe she’s hitting it off with one right now. I mean, they’re pretty hot. |
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Gretchen [ munches on it ] Buttercream… [ gasp, how embarrassing ] A-anyway! If you’re more useful than my brother, by all means, help us! |
| Lisbrand Gretchen. |
|
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Gretchen F-Fleur! You’re back! |
| Lisbrand My task force and Lisbrand Technologies will take it from here. Our company’s automatons are equipped with cameras. If we can get into the system, we can locate Ledo and Alumina quickly. |
|
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Hannes See, I knew there was more to Fleur than her huge knockers! |
| Lisbrand Hannes. [ loads gun ] |
ONE ♟ ALL-NIGHTER
Long tables and uncomfortable chairs await you in the conference room. Coffee, tea and some small snacks have been prepared for the Heroes as well as pen and paper to take notes with. This is where Heroes can share information and pool knowledge. Maybe something will add up if you all work together!
Each table has copies of the missing people reports and some might recognize the faces staring up at them from the pages as corpses found near the lake. Newspapers have been neatly stacked on a table in the corner, with many articles noting increased avian activity near the lake and within the city. Certainly odd at this time of the year. Other articles include statements from Menchikans where they found severed fingers or toes that turned into black feathers shortly after.
Hannes and Gretchen also haven’t been idle and have interviewed police officers and Commander Lisbrand’s scouts, who reported encounters with misshapen monsters with beaks. The number of casualties and injured are high. It appears that the monster is too strong for ordinary humans to deal with.
Each table has copies of the missing people reports and some might recognize the faces staring up at them from the pages as corpses found near the lake. Newspapers have been neatly stacked on a table in the corner, with many articles noting increased avian activity near the lake and within the city. Certainly odd at this time of the year. Other articles include statements from Menchikans where they found severed fingers or toes that turned into black feathers shortly after.
Hannes and Gretchen also haven’t been idle and have interviewed police officers and Commander Lisbrand’s scouts, who reported encounters with misshapen monsters with beaks. The number of casualties and injured are high. It appears that the monster is too strong for ordinary humans to deal with.
TWO ♟ Never tell me the odds
The door slams open and a messenger from Lisbrand Technologies runs into the room, breathless from his travels. He claims that Alumina has been found near Lebedche Lake!
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Gretchen That’s great! But… |
| Lisbrand Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that lake. |
|
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Hannes Oof, hold on. Everyone, take these. [ gives everyone a satchel of magical bread crumbs ] Use these so the others can find you. |
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Gretchen Yeah, alright. Let’s leave glowing bird feed on the ground. That’s a great idea. |
| Lisbrand No, he has a point. This time around, the birds are out to eat us. Heroes, move! |
- Tattered pieces of Alumina’s hair ribbon rest on a dead branch of an otherwise healthy tree. When you pick the pieces up, you’re hit by a sudden chill and your vision grows dark. Something bitter seems to coat your tongue for an instant, and you immediately feel exhausted. Look at your hands and you will find that the ribbon is no longer in your possession.
- As you climb one of the large rocks near the shore, something light brushes against your head—a soft, black feather. Another falls, and another... until you are pelted by the ton.
- Empty bullet shells can be found in the pebble stones by the shore. If brought back to Gretchen, she will worriedly comment that the shells match the gun she gave Alumina for self-defense a while back. Does that mean that someone tried to hurt her?
- An envelope addressed to Alumina. It’s contents are empty and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary until you hold it up against a source of light, revealing an emblem.
- Pages of a letter are scattered across the lake’s surface. Retrieve them and the ink will suddenly begin to spill from the pages and drip down your arms, burning your skin. No spell or ointment will cure it until an hour has passed. What is left behind on the pages, however, are broken sentences: “...can’t be... “ “Promise to…” “...happier with me.”
THREE ♟ Cave Story
It’s evening by the time Lisbrand’s team discovers where Alumina is being kept. The Heroes and Lisbrand will be led to a cave near the lake. Reports say that the strange noises from further in often ward intruders away…
Inside, Heroes will find angry, screeching bats. Lisbrand is all too used to shooting them due to Verdoni’s antics, but they’re not vampiric by any means. Be mindful of the ground as well—the lake floods the cave once in a while, leaving stones slippery and covered in algae. Steady footing will come in handy when vicious rock monsters come charging towards you. Madness fills their eyes as if they have been tampered with by dark magic... There’s no other choice but to put them out of their misery.
A foul smell fills the air as you venture deeper into the cave. You soon find its source: severed body parts left to rot litter the cavern floor. The various parts have been sorted into morbidly neat piles: hands to hands and feet to feet. This isn’t the work of a mere beast. This was planned by someone meticulous.
Someone human.
Gretchen gags at the sight and Hannes exchanges a nod with Lisbrand before leading his sister back to the cavern entrance. The siblings won’t be tagging along for what’s to come. You keep moving. Water drops from the ceiling, your footsteps echo down the grimy walls. The shadows cast by your torches seem to come alive, reaching out and clawing at everything they can reach. Finally, moonlight filters in through a hole in the ceiling and in the center of it lies—
Alumina.
No calling will wake her. Approach her and heavy fog will begin to filter in the room. Lisbrand snaps, “Don’t breathe!” The fog is poison! They need to get out of here! She snatches Alumina with a grunt and escapes with the Heroes. They will be hounded by by a flock of black swans who will try to cut the Heroes off with their dark magic spells. Once out of the cave…
Inside, Heroes will find angry, screeching bats. Lisbrand is all too used to shooting them due to Verdoni’s antics, but they’re not vampiric by any means. Be mindful of the ground as well—the lake floods the cave once in a while, leaving stones slippery and covered in algae. Steady footing will come in handy when vicious rock monsters come charging towards you. Madness fills their eyes as if they have been tampered with by dark magic... There’s no other choice but to put them out of their misery.
A foul smell fills the air as you venture deeper into the cave. You soon find its source: severed body parts left to rot litter the cavern floor. The various parts have been sorted into morbidly neat piles: hands to hands and feet to feet. This isn’t the work of a mere beast. This was planned by someone meticulous.
Someone human.
Gretchen gags at the sight and Hannes exchanges a nod with Lisbrand before leading his sister back to the cavern entrance. The siblings won’t be tagging along for what’s to come. You keep moving. Water drops from the ceiling, your footsteps echo down the grimy walls. The shadows cast by your torches seem to come alive, reaching out and clawing at everything they can reach. Finally, moonlight filters in through a hole in the ceiling and in the center of it lies—
Alumina.
No calling will wake her. Approach her and heavy fog will begin to filter in the room. Lisbrand snaps, “Don’t breathe!” The fog is poison! They need to get out of here! She snatches Alumina with a grunt and escapes with the Heroes. They will be hounded by by a flock of black swans who will try to cut the Heroes off with their dark magic spells. Once out of the cave…
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Gretchen Alumina! |
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Hannes What happened to her!? |
| Lisbrand Get back, the cave isn’t safe! [ turns to the Heroes ] I’ll bring her to the hospital. You’re all dismissed. We’ll talk about this when I get back, but I have a feeling it doesn’t end here. |
III
Don't know. Why are you asking me?
[The handful of fire held in her palms in lieu of a torch didn't flicker, but the shadows seemed very...lively anyway. They stretched into hands and claws stretched on gaunt filaments, disappeared around corners and reappeared from behind the piled and sorted corpses.]
no subject
Everyone needs someone.]
A rhetorical question, I suppose. But something we will found out, I hope. [Not because she wants to, but that they just have to.
Wait, the fire--] Did those shadows just move?
no subject
They do- [That shadow didn't belong to any of them, much less was even humanoid. And the jointless way the arms moved was alarmingly familiar to her.] —that.
[The Queen stood motionless, and the flames gathered in her hand intensified and grew. The shadows didn't fade.
So, of course, Kaede's next action was to throw the flames against the nearest wall, turning it from a light source into a projectile. The shadows scattered—and surged back into that space, thrashing angrily.]
Got their attention.
[They lifted off the wall, reaching unpredictably and erratically with sharp, clawed fingers.]
no subject
Shadows in a cave, it does seem like the perfect place for them.
[She wonders if they can escape off the walls, or the floor, and attack them now, seeing as they have been discovered. There's nothing for them to lose anymore when it comes to ambushing them!
She takes out her blade, revving it up.]
I wonder if we can just be rid of the claws? Though I am willing to end them completely if they are easy to destroy.
no subject
Hands don't need claws to kill you.
[The shadows circled them erratically, like frenzied sharks—before surging forwards towards them, pulling and tearing and scratching as they reached. At clothes, at armor, at skin—light deterred them, but it would take more to dispel them. Whatever they were.]
no subject
[Kaede was right, of course, but what is this? She watches with great interest at first, seeing how axe shone.]
Then we go all out.
[Or at least, as much as they need to. Conserving mana was still always part of the game plan. With a few muttered words, Vietnam switches her gravity to force a field around them, rejecting the claws if they come closer. It'll give them any opening needed, a rather costly spell but with them surrounded as they are, it would be best to lessen the numbers as much as they can.]
no subject
Or perhaps particularly...enthusiastic about lighting things on fire. One of the two, or perhaps both.
The axe's charge finished—flames ignited from its blade, fueled by Kaede's mana and the enchantment in her gauntlets. And then it pulsed, in front of her—behind and she'd set her current comrade on fire, which was profoundly impolite.
The shadows stopped on the edges of the shield, thrashing and clawing in frenzied frustration. The wave of fire was from Kaede's axe short lived, but smashed right into them—crumpling the shadows back flat against the wall.]