((I find that here in the RTD subforum, if the GM wishes the players to use stealth, then they should be very explicit about it. See: Magnificent Timelord mission #2.))
Yeah, but that's the point. I don't want to restrict you. I like it when I see people get creative and use one of the alternate solutions to a situation. I LOVE it when players surprise me with a great idea, something I hadn't even considered. I wouldn't get that if I restricted you. So to quote
him:
"How you complete those objectives is completely up to you. You can go in guns blazing, killing everybody in your path. You can forget about the teams and do things as a single group. You can stealthily hunt every living thing in the base leaving you free to pursue your objectives unmolested. You can stealthily perform your objectives, bluffing your way past security, leaving everyone unharmed and with no clue you were ever there."
"Yeah, like that will ever happen. Did you see what took place a moment ago?"
"Anyway, you will still be able to talk to us during the mission.
Just remember that you will only be rewarded for completing the mission, so try to do so, even if it kills you."
Unfortunately, this being an RTD means you're more than likely to interpret "be creative" as "kill everybody". Or just do that by accident.
(Wouldn't mind a bar brawl in a gangster-infested nightclub.)
Jordan rubbed his eyes and stood up.
"Getting caught in a nuclear explosion is less painful then I expected."
"Well, that's what you get when you mix nuclear weapons with magic." responds your entity.
"Anyway, I think congratulations are in order. You did exactly as requested. I can see you're worth every penny. It is a bit... unfortunate you didn't manage to escape. But the change you caused in that universe was well worth it. I know your teammates are also partially responsible for this, but I have a feeling you deserve extra credit for your role in this mission. And for furthering my cause. Don't you?
"Hi Stellar. What... Did..."
I begin piecing bits together from what I remember of the mission's end.
"Wait, no. Nonononononononononono. Did... did he... was he really... No. NO! I... I... I can't... no! I..."
I sit up and look around desperately, choking back the occasional sob.
"I.. I... Why... But... But it's so petty. Why..."
If I can locate where Stellar has manifested herself this time, dash into her arms and hide in them. If I can't, then still move about as I speak, looking for her.
"Stellar... w-what happapened to... to the person I... I don't even know her name! The girl I... The girl whose free will I stole! My host! At the mission's end... did... She died didn't she! She never even had a chance! That... That ship. The... the so-called 'escape vehicle'. It couldn't land! He... He tricked me! He tricked all of us! From the moment we started that mission everyone was doomed to die. He rigged it so that even if he lost, we couldn't win! I... I tried. I TRIED AS HARD AS I COULD! SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE! SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO ESCAPE! HE CHEATED HER! I GOT HER OUT OF THERE AND HE MURDERED HER OUT OF SPITE! HE COULDN'T HURT ME DIRECTLY SO HE KILLED HER INSTEAD! THAT 'ESCAPE VEHICLE' DIDN'T WORK IT JUST WENT UP IT NEVER COULD COME BACK DOWN. HE STOLE THAT GIRL'S FREE WILL AND GAVE IT BACK JUST TO TRAP HER IN SOMEONE, NO, SOMETHING ELSE'S BODY AND ENCASE HER IN A FLYING TOMB! ALL FOR HIS STUPID PRIDE! HE... HE... he doesn't even get it does he? She's just... just... someone else's toy, left in his sandbox. Valueless and meaningless. He doesn't get it, does he. That he's responsible for her, and has been from the moment he stole her will... just like I was. And then He Dragged Me Out Just In Time To Loophole-Murder Her. oh so I win and 'escape' but she dies? That's Not Right! that... that... Why??!??!?"
Stellar is sitting down besides you in that water-form of hers, a humanoid with vaguely feminine characteristics made of clear water. She has her knees on her chest and her arms around her legs. She gets up when you do.
The area around you is just like you remembered it. The clearing, the lake, the thick trees, the grass and weeds, the little cabin with its small garden, the island with the two white trees with interwoven branches and the Mirror. The only difference is it's hotter. It's Summer.
Stellar looks unsure of what to do. She has no facial features for you to read, but her head is moving nervously. When you dash into her arms, she nearly falls backwards.
Her avatar feels comforting. Inviting. Soft like flesh and hot but not painfully so. It is a good sense of heat, like the feeling of having a hot shower.
She says nothing as you speak. She awkwardly moves her hand to your head to give a comforting rub but stops partway. Reconsidering, she moves her hands to your back to give you a hug, rubbing your back slightly, trying to comfort you. She keeps at it, even after you finish speaking.
She takes a deep breath as if she's to say something but then she doesn't. She just hugs you a bit tighter.
((Couldn't find a good synonym for pet or caress that couldn't be interpreted as either demeaning or sexual. So I chose rub which doesn't quite fit. Damn you English language.))
"Ugh...wha..."
Get up. Look around for people.
Well, there's an Eria and there's an Alan and there's a new guy, a man in a suit. Hey, Eria threw an ice needle at Alan. That was not a nice needle. Oh, and Zechariah stepped through a portal.
"Cool as hell, though a bit confusing, all in all. For one, I think we may have bombed somebody we shouldn't have. And lots of people died. But you know all that, I guess. All fun and games. Too bad sad alternate me had to die like that, but hey, we all have to die someday, right? Also, I suddenly feel at least three times as cool somehow. That normal?"
Relax.
"Yeah, you made a real hash of that. You pretty much managed to royally screw this one up as much as possible without actually failing the mission.
Sorry I wasn't much help, but there's only so much I can do before I get punished. I was pushing it as it was. I tried to help, I even got to the gate of the facility to try and help you escape but it seems like you chose a different exit. Eh, what can you do? Hard lines. Like you said, everybody dies eventually. No reason to mope over that. Like SOMEONE ELSE!" You're pretty sure that last part was not directed at you.
"Anyway, you got awarded extra points so I got to pimp out your body and soul and give you some sweet sweet upgrades. That's where the coolness comes from. No, don't say it, no need to thank me, I already know I'm awesome.
...
Okay, maybe say I'm awesome a little. I won't mind."
John looked around. He remembered the table... and some tango lessons. Hmm. His powers felt more in control, and there was something... else, as well. The machines... were they whispering?
He did feel good, though. He sprang to his feet and spoke. "Hello?"
"Acknowledged." Hmmm... Probably not the response you were looking for.
Daa daaaa naaaa naaaaa neer neer neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!
Feel like the best. Go up to some random person - read teammate - and go boast to them of my accomplishments.
I AM AWESOME! I ONCE SHOT A WHIFF AT MY OWN EYE! AND IT WAS AWESOME!Daa daaaa naaaa naaaaa neer neer neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!
Feel like the best. Go up to some random person - read teammate - and go boast to them of my accomplishments.
Eria, by sheer accident, tosses a needle at Alan that embed in his flesh.
Eria manages to somehow accidentally hit Alan with one of her ice needles. The needle embeds itself a bit in Alan's flesh but he only feels a minor sting.
Zechariah opens his eyes and stretches.
"Rather the opposite," Zechariah murmured to himself. "Pretty much everyone and everything hated me and liked me at the same time. It's what I'm good at.
...
I'm the only true Medium, the line between Soul and Shadow. I create and destroy, lead and follow, trust and betray, love and hate.
I am the Shadow. I embraced my true self. At the same time, I am part of the human soul.
I am the Medium."
Zechariah felt his resolve grow, his anger building.
In order to be the Medium, I have to use both sides of my powers. Shadow and Soul, working together for the good of others.
Try to find a way to the staging area. If not possible, think to myself.
((I'd like one of the Extreme or Huge Arenas. The Amethyst thing sounds awesome, too, considering Artemis was associated with Amethyst and thus it could spark curiosity within Zechariah. Who knows, maybe Artemis does come back to cause chaos in this dimension too? My final vote goes to Small Boss fight.
"Whatever you say... 'Medium'." How you can tell someone who's just a voice in your head is making air quotes is beyond you.
"I hope you enjoy the upgrades." You step on the pedastal on the island with the rock slab, activating the portal.
"I didn't get to play with your personality today." She says while the portal fully forms.
"But don't worry. There's always next time..." she whispers as you step through the portal.
You emerge from a hole in the wall of a mountain, a small cave containing your portal. The staging area is dominated by a waterfall. There are a few pine trees in this outcropping, as well as a few other players. Angel, Alan who just got accidentally stabbed with an ice shard by Eria, some new guy in a suit...
((I like the survival idea.))
Bryan sees a bunch of squids crash into the main area and decides to investigate.
The squids slowly disperse, swimming into the river. You think there was a starfish with the head of a human riding those squids? No, that can't be right, that's crazy. Your eyes are probably playing tricks on you. Anyway, this place seems a lot more lively all of the sudden. There's a little girl here, a teenage boy with a wooden staff and aqua wings, a lizard that just stabbed a fat guy that looks very similar to the starfish riding that squid...
<chatacter>
You wake up.
There's an old, cracked and moldy concrete ceiling above you with a few rusty pipes and broken fluorescent lamps hanging from it. You can also feel hard concrete below you.
Wherever you are, it's cold, it's damp and it's dark, barely illuminated by a few shafts of light. You can hear water dripping nearby.
Peregrine
((I confuse my kitsunes x3
Also, I wholly understand that guy...I guess it's my weirdness showing?))
Oooo, seems like he's prepared this for others? I guess it would be so. I mean, that's how I'd feel.
But he's so happy! Adorably happy!
Ernh. I..mmh.
Well anyway. Why not?
The kitsune silently nodded, and took the figurative gesture and held his hand.
He holds your hand tightly and looks into your eyes.
"I think you already know I'm a creature of magic, right?" he asks, still holding your hand tightly, looking a bit more serious now. Without waiting for an answer, he continues. His amber eyes seem... different. Almost glowing.
"Not entirely natural. Not of this world myself."
You look at your hands, black and white fur mingling together where you touch. That feeling... There's something strange here. He keeps holding your hand tightly.
"But you do not know what exactly I am or what I can do. And yet you trusted me. I respect you for that."
Your vision is distorting, the black and white of your hands mixing together. This feels like a dream. One of those dreams where everything is moving slow, where you want to speak but the words can't leave your mouth, where you want to move but you just can't get your body to do what you want.
"You were worthy companions. Be strong. Little ones, make me proud." he says. You don't think he's speaking to you.
"Don't be afraid. This will be over in a moment." is the last thing you hear before you drift into unconsciousness.
There's the sound of a waterfall. Someone's speaking.
"-er one? Got jealous?" one voice says with amusement in his voice.
"No. You?" the other responds seriously.
"I don't understand what you see in that thing?" a third voice asks with indignation, her tone demanding.
The voices sound strange, distorted yet familiar.
"You know."
"Reeeeaally?" the voice teasingly lets the word drag on.
"No. The same thing you see in yours."
You realize you are awake.
You can feel the soft dirt below you and see dim light through your eyelids.
"Your concern is unfounded. She's my... travel companion. A worthy being, an exceptional being. Nothing more."
"...We shall see."
You open your eyes just in time to see what looks like black smoke disappearing near River. Maybe it's just your eyes playing tricks on you.
River is standing on the edge of a cliff a few meters away with his back turned to you, his tail nervously twitching from side to side. He doesn't seem to have noticed you are awake.
You can't see what he's looking at from this angle. Small bushes obscure your line of sight.
You are certainly at a different place than before. The terrain here is devoid of weeds and many rock outcroppings are visible. The pine trees around you are sparse. It is cold. You're probably near or on some mountain.
((I've got a poll in the mission thread. Vote for the next mission type if you want. You can see the mission types in the first reply of the thread.
You'll probably get to meet the other characters soon. Either now or at the start of the next mission.))
Poll
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1145657 times)