To Zech through interface: <You may wanna roll away, dude. Or at least put up a shield for yourself. This ain't the best range for handgun use, and you might get hit.>
Shoot that damn ghost. Shoot 'im dead!
Enter adrenaline and shoot! If it moves, shoot where it's going to move!
Zechariah observed the movements of the white blur. As far as he could tell, it only moved very fast, and was not bending time to its will, although it might just have some control over space. He barely even felt the little bugger slash into his body, considering he had just been hit by bullets earlier.
Duck out of the way and use the shadows to hold the white thing down!
Zechariah doesn't have enough time to move. He doesn't have enough time to do much of anything. Ducking would take too long and jumping may mean a long fall to his death. He doesn't want to die. And he really wants to hurt this thing. So he decides to do something a bit more drastic and a bit more reckless.
Zechariah moves his staff forward, using it and some shadows to block the creatures blow. The creature's left arm connects with his staff and for a moment the creature solidifies. It looks much like a human with his feature's smoothed. No hair, no face, no spots or wrinkles or hair on its skin. It's made of white flesh and plastic and traces of metals, mostly cooper and steel collected near its arms and shaped like cleavers, like the arms of a mantis.
It is at this moment that one of Ike's bullets passes through the thing's upper left arm, removing some of the strength of the blow and spraying the air with blood and a white liquid. Still, it's not enough. Zechariah is pushed back, briefly lamenting the lack of railing as he goes over the edge of the platform.
What's worse, one of Jordan's bullets hits him in the left hand. Not where you want to get hit when you're potentially falling to your death.
As he falls backwards, he watches one of Jordan's bullets hit the creature's head, which became blurry once more the moment they broke contact. The effect of the bullet diminishes but it's speed is enough to let the bullet embed itself in its head. The creature stumbles backwards and disappears.
Zechariah manages to grab hold of the edge with his hands and is left dangling there above the darkness, the drops of blood falling from his arm and abdomen tracing the course he might soon follow.
((Fun fact 1: You all rolled the same (5 after bonuses) for initiative and I had to do a second roll to determine what happened when. That's why everything is happening almost at the same time.
Fun fact 2: Everyone (including the Mantis) but Zach rolled only 5s or above this combat round.))
Nurture the fire I'm warming myself by, growing it (and any others nearby I can use) to a useful level.
You make the nearby boxes burn a bit quicker, hotter and brighter but not by much. Someone wouldn't be able to tell the difference if they weren't looking for it.
AH EXCELLENT MY SQUID CHARIOT IS READY. WHAT IS THY NAME, SQUIDBEARERS?
Try to wrestle the squids down and tie them together to make a raft. Try to go flying around.
((I feel sorry for the entity that got assigned to me.))
((In universe, HE chose YOU. Consider that for a moment.))
You start swimming after the squids, grabbing their tentacles and tying them together, their tentacles merging as you do so. You're not entirely certain how you manage it (you kinda lost track of time) but you end up with a jellyfish like thing, floating forward like a parachute made of merged tentacles, slowly closing and opening to propel itself forward.
You sit in front of your squid chariot. The soft, squishy, and slippery heads of the cephalopods make for an oddly comfortable seat, the soft, rhythmical pressure they exert relaxing you further. You travel the void for a while, various color-changing orbs floating past you.
"I am the squids you float with." the squids speak.
"I'm the darkness hiding in men's hearts.
I am the change the world needs. I am the dark truth lurking in these parts.
I am the the whisper from the shadows. I am comprehension's blight.
So if with a name you must call me, then I must ensure it's done right."
Bryan follows Kathryn, "A place between worlds, interesting. Does this mean that we are in space, that there are multiple realities, or that there is something that I'm not thinking of. I like trying to help people, especially if it's for a good cause. what do you need help with?"
Follow Kathryn
"No, we're not in space. But that IS a good question, isn't it? 'Where are we?' It becomes very obvious after a while that this place was constructed for the Games, its rules set and reset at the will of its 3 creators and the beings they give permission to. It is also a gateway to other places, some very similar to one another while others are extremely different, some even completely incomprehensible. And yet all can be reached from here. So doesn't that mean that all those places are linked in some way? That they are, in a way, all part of a greater whole? And if so, shouldn't this whole be considered a single reality rather than a collection of realities? Or are they all simply some elaborate lie, created by Them to manipulate us, to deceive us? What is the truth?"She stops walking and turns around to look at you.
"Sorry, I'm rambling. The truth is, I don't know. I believe we're no closer to answering the question about the nature of reality then when the first philosopher posed that question. I use the word 'World' to say a place that is important enough to be considered for the Games.
And that is where you come in. The Architect, one of the creators of this place, wishes to control all. To trap me. I want you to help me fight him, to help me be free, for the sake of all worlds. I want you to be my champion in the Games. That's why I'm taking you see him right now. He will explain some things to you"She turns her head to look away from you.
"Of course, I... would understand it if you don't want to get involved in the affairs of others. I'm willing to offer payment, if that would make my cause more appealing to you. Some help with problems of your own, if you want it."
((The music would have fit better if it had loaded before I got to Xantalos's turn.))
"Um...well, it wasn't so bad, I guess. I was from a small town in Nevada. That's in the Republic, by the way. Sort of in the center, I guess. There were only a couple heroes, but there were only about half a dozen villains, and only one of them was anything to worry about, so it was a lot safer than the big towns. I...I haven't been around that long, and a lot of that I was a baby or toddler or whatever, so I didn't really get a chance to do much except be a kid. Once I got taken hostage by one of the little villains, but that's not too special. He was nice, he gave me some candy when I said I was hungry...I think he just took it from the jar the bank had, though.
"Friends...not a lot. I mean, I have some kids from school I talk to, that I invited to my birthday parties and stuff, but they weren't really close. I like to read a lot, or be read to. And...yeah, there are a bunch of the ones who do crimes, the villains. But they aren't organized at all, they mostly fight each other as often as the heroes. The places they don't...well, Chicago's been under marshal law for a while, and while I'm not quite sure what that means it sounds bad. I think it has to do with Leadfist."
((I'll get it right in post production. This is just a rough cut for internal review.))
((Just out of curiosity, when you say little villains, do you mean a kids, people with little power/reputation or
people who are really really short?))
The entity remains silent for a while.
"I guess... I guess that's good, right? You are fine and you have fun. I've never had many friends around here. Not many like what I like or think like I do. Others are always too busy with one thing or another. Even I have so much work..."
Hope the dead guys get a turn soonish as well.
((Technically, you're neither dead nor living while in the Staging Area. At least, I don't think the definitions apply. But I'm at a loss for what the right term is, so...))
Peregrine (for those of you who don't know what that means, those quotes are from PMs I exchanged with Tiruin for her character's actions, so her participation would be secret and her character would look like an NPC. She proposed we try this and I thought it would be fun, so I said yes. Plus, it gave me other opportunities to mess with and surprise the rest of the players and I can't say no to that...
So when reading through this, try to imagine the rest of the players not knowing all this take place and having the eventual reveal be a complete surprise to them, how their perception of events and characters were altered. Try to think of how you would treat an NPC and what you would think if they suddenly turned out to be a PC.)
I remember what just happened--why am I here, and my surroundings if close to any major city or village! 
Or, improvise some sort of weapon useable.
What gametype is the current round in?
((The current mission is an Assault. They're in another world, helping Rebels raid a Soviet base researching UFOs.
Yeah, I know it's strange. That's what you get when you let your players give ideas for the plot.
Irene (Lenglon), Zechariah (DarkArtemisFowl), Jordan (Fniff), Ike (Harry Baldman) and Eria (scapheap) are in it (although scapheap seems kind of inactive lately). It's almost over, just one area left, so you'll get in the next mission very soon.))
You don't remember how you got here. You remember you felt restless these past few days, you felt the need to travel again. You remember walking in the wilderness and then... nothing. You woke up here.
The woods feel familiar and yet you cannot determine where you are. There are only trees and bushes as far as the eye can see, the only feature of the area of any note being a game trail that passes through the small clearing you're in.
You've still got your clothes and your orb. You've also got some supplies, food and water enough for a day. Everything else is gone.
As for weapon choices, the simplest thing you could do is find a sturdy piece of wood to use as a club or a pointy stick to use as a spear. You could go for something more complex, like an axe or a slingshot if you want to take some more time, but what little light remains is quickly fading. It will be dark soon.
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1148169 times)