A-Bomb ready<Team A, Svajoklis>
Chase after the creature. If the mace is not so heavy as to neccecerily need to be carried in both hands, shot the thing.
You keep up with the creature as it frantically tries to move away from you, its claws digging into the wooden and stone of the floor. It emits a high pitched sound that makes you want to close your ears, that makes the room quiver and the flame of your torch-mace shrink, but you don't let that impede you.
You raise your gun to shoot it, holding the firearm with one hand while using the mace to illuminate your target with the other. You unload three rounds in it, two in its back, one in the head. The creature twitches for a few moments and then goes still, its horrible screeching silenced.
You notice a bright green light coming from down the hallway, from the room you started. You also notice the light on your torch slowly getting brighter.
Team A
Keep charging. Banjo harder.
Strange distortions appear around you, luminous clouds that slowly slither around you, distorting any light that goes through them like water.
You are charged and ready. You feel the power inside you. You can barely contain it, barely resist the urge to release it, to feel relieved from it. If you wait any longer, you feel like you'd burst.
So...
Shall I push the button?Team A
"Who died? What happened? Please, I understand that you're angry right now because I couldn't help before. What can I do now?"
Hold my position for right now, but keep an eye on how close she is getting.
"I don't know- you- you- should had done something!"She stops moving and falls to her knees as the psychic energy around her begins to dissipate, using her arms to keep herself from falling completely.
"N-now it's too late and I- I don't know-" the girl on the ground says as she whimpers, shining in your minds eye with a storm of emotion: fear, sadness, confusion, anger...
"Why, you do know!" comes a voice from somewhere close to her.
"Look at him! He didn't even care enough to know what happened. To know what he was to you."She speaks quietly, but you can hear her in the silence of this place.
"Remember what we talked about? Doesn't he and those like him deserve to be punished?"Strangely though, you cannot feel her nearby. You can only feel the girl on her knees, not the one hidden in the mist.
"Y-yes. I think."
Laser Bs"Whoops, sorry about that. I was getting the hang of laser without hitting you guys whoch meant that it was inevitable for me to become overconfident and mess up, you know how it is, I'm sure you've done something like that before, I know I have! Anyways, don't panic. I have an idea!"
You said there were some machinery and tools in here, any metal rods or similar that I could grab/salvage/break off/laser off? If so collect them, as well as any tools that look like they might be useful in surgery. Maybe some thread too. Also grab some strips of fabric from the dresses, and a severed left leg from a mannequin, there must be loads of those lying around by now.
Sure. You quickly move through the room, avoiding the still moving bodies. On your way, you grab a leg. Once you reach a pile of supplies, you grab a metal rod and use a pair of scissors to cut some fabric and grab some thread.
Storm Coming
Study the appearance of the glowing areas. Is there any kind of pattern to them? For example, are there certain regions that are not being touched by the blue glowing areas? Something that might suggest a blind spot in the enemy's line of sight, which would allow us to see where the enemy was planting these glowing areas from?
The only pattern you can see is that they are denser closer to John and Ron. However, now that they have become brighter and hotter, you can see that the heat coming out of them seems to be pointing to a particular part of the sky, tendrils of heat extending towards the front of the dark clouds approaching your position.
Storm Coming - George
As George reluctantly withdrew from the fetal position (his go-to position for dangerous situations), he looked around the house he was hiding in. I better make sure there isn't some kind of mutant fire rat hiding around the corner, eager to spit fireballs at me and nibble on my head. Sure, it's unlikely, but it wouldn't be the strangest thing I've seen today.
Cautiously look around and search the house that I'm hiding in. Pay close attention to any details that might indicate that dangerous fire-spitting or head-crushing creatures live here. Also look for any clues that show that the house is about to collapse any minute now. If I discover that dangerous creatures live here, the house is about to collapse, or any other kind of fire hazard exists here, then immediately run out of the house and find another hiding place.
The house is not the sturdiest thing in the world, but unless someone like Ron punches it, you think it'll be fine. As for things in it, the building looks completely empty, the only thing that has disturbed the ash and dust inside being you and the wind. There's the charred remains of... something that looks and smells fleshy. You're not really sure what it is, you can't tell much about it beyond the fact that it's small, fleshy and has four limbs. But judging from the smell and the fact that it looks more like charcoal than flesh, it won't be getting up any time soon.
Let's go with "Car". Get a gun from John if he copies one (and wants to give me one). If I didn't get a gun, summon myself a tower shield (although I think it probably won't work).
You pick a random car and go stand next to it. You grab it by the roll cage and lift it experimentally, shaking the dust and ash out of it in the process. Hm. Yes. That does feel quite easier now. You let the car down and summon a shield while waiting.
I don't like the sight of that. Dig a hidey hole in the side of the creator to shield myself from the car
((ME! Something simpler though, like a giant shotgun would do.))
You easily pulverize the stone on the side of the crater away from the blue glow. You start moving through the gap you have created.
Adam sees the monstrosity of a weapon tha John is holding.
"You call that a long rifle? I asked for a sniper rifle, not a cannon!
*Sigh*, No chance of just making me some sort of binoculars that could see through this smog, th..."
This whole time, he had been staring up at the clouds, but then he stops, focuses on a specific point, then continues speaking.
"But it'll have to do, give me that cannon, [Toaster]."
If he gives me the cannon, hunker down and brace, then search for the enemy and steady my aim, if not, then just start hiding.
"Lemme make another first! Sharing is caring."
Get a bit of cover, then start duplicating. Pass copies to anyone who wants one.
((I just realized the high utility of one of the powers I haven't picked yet.))
Adam follows John's ponderous footsteps, eager to receive his big gun. He goes with John behind a sturdy-looking car where John proceeds to give it to him. Adam has trouble handling such a big tool, he isn't really sure how John can walk with that gigantic thing on his pelvis. Nevertheless, after some grunting and tugging, he manages to get it up.
EveryoneThe blue glow suddenly intensifies. Sparks begin flying from objects as particles of dust and pieces of rubble begin floating, moving away from the ground. The ground itself begins breaking apart and bending upwards. A moment later, the approaching black clouds flash and rumble as one by one lightning bolts start escaping from them, forming a jagged line, a momentary bridge of light between the earth and the clouds so bright its after-image keeps glowing in your eyes even when you close them. And you do close them, instinctively trying to protect yourselves from the booms and showers of red-hot debris that follow as every point hit by lightning, every glowing area, is repeatedly detonated. When it is over, the blue glowing areas have been replaced by red glowing craters surrounded by red hot debris.
SalsacookiesThe explosion that happens behind you causes a large amount of concrete and asphalt to bury you, but it doesn't do much more than slow you down a bit and cause some unpleasant but minor burns.
Execute/Dumbo.exeThe car protects you from most of the debris, however it doesn't do much to steady you. The sudden sounds and vibrations surprise you and cause you to lose your balance. You try to grab hold of the car you're hiding behind, but you end up grabbing a mirror that easily breaks off from the combined weight of you and your weapon. You find yourself on the ground moments later, with your gun next to you. Its whine has become louder and the three rings on its cover has started to glow. You
might have accidentally pulled the trigger while falling. But, like any customer would do, you feel inclined to blame the manufacturer and his faulty products.
ToasterYou watch Adam struggle to manage to get your gun up and hold it... and then watch him fall like a tree when the electrostatic artillery hits. As the echoes you notice that his gun has started whining... and the three rings on the outside of the gun's barrel that signify the three spinning things inside it have started glowing.
EveryoneAnother glowing area appears, this time directly where John and Adam are hiding. They feel their skin tingling, their hair rising. More start appearing around them.
<Going with the Battleship strategy, I see?><It's hard to resist when they make such good targets.><A bit boring, but practical. I hope it's not your only trick.><Don't worry. It's one of many! You'll see soon.>
Campaign
"Awwww, I wanted that bird. Oh well."
I carefully climb back down and inspect Nik's tent.
"Neat! Where's the door?"
You safely make your way down with the help of Ike.
"Ooh! Ooh I can help!"
Enthusiastically summon some scissors for Nikolai.
You summon a pair of scissors and then proceed to run with them to Nikolai and his tent.
Hah! Nothing bad happened! All those people telling you not to run with scissors all those years were lying!
((Damn. I have been away for a while. I'm so terribly sorry for not posting. I've been mentally exhausted with a bunch of work and study recently.
From what I read, I assume that I'm still with Nikolai and the others of the main group.))
Zechariah sat down on the ground and yawned. He was zoning out, trying to keep his mind blank so as to focus on the mission ahead and not let his somber mood disturb his attention. He watched as Nikolai set up a shelter, though with an odd result in the end.
With nothing much to do, Zechariah kept watch with his inferior human eyes. He really wasn't that much of a help now. He couldn't really hunt or sense things like the others could, and he can't really summon shards right now due to the time. He would have to rely on the shadows, even though they were only suitable for defensive or evasive measures.
Deciding that he couldn't just mope around, he righted himself and attempted to meditate, even with the commotion around him. He hoped that he could slow down his thought process enough to remain calm and at least relaxed despite his insecurities.
Closing his eyes, he said to Nikolai, "If you need help, just ask. I could guard or try to conceal our position if needed, but I don't have too much energy."
Meditate and be calm. Try to keep an ear out for disturbances, however.
You lay down cross-legged, close your eyes and try to relax while being aware of your surroundings, trying to be receptive to their influence.
After a while, as you calm down, you slowly start becoming aware of the power of the storm, the beating of its heart, an irregular thumping noise at the edge of hearing. A noise you realise was always there, you just hadn't noticed it. You feel its energy going through you, pushing back the tiredness and hunger, making you restless, giving you the urge to get up and pace.
"Hmmm..."
Get a feel for the local insect population. Do they look like Earth insects, or different? What insects could I equate them with after a period of observation?
Furthermore, check the alcove behind the statue for secret doors and similar fuckery.
((For the insects, looking at first, catching for closer looks next. For the alcove, touching the walls, looking for seams, knocking on the cliff and listening plus whatever else comes to mind.
And yes, that's how I imagined it was. Perhaps "around" would have been a more fitting word than "behind".))
You look around the statue at the various insects. There are things that feel like ants, retreating to a crack in the rock close to the statue. You can't tell with certainty in the darkness, but you think they are red. You let one climb on your hand and walk on it for a few moments.
There is also a thing that is as large as your hand, half-buried in the sand, that you could had easily mistaken for a bone or a rock. It has a smooth white bone-like exoskeleton and remains stationary unless prodded. It has spiky legs and translucent wings hidden beneath white covers, that it attempts to use to fly away once you catch it, while at the same time attempting to bite you and pierce you with its spiky legs. You let go of it before it causes you any harm. You don't think it could had killed you or anything, but who knows when poisonous or magical creatures might be involved.
There are also spiders, hiding inside cracks in the rock, only their legs visible outside of them. Yet one can easily tell there are spiders here, for there are a few webs around here, with even fewer insects caught in them. You softly prod one of them with the tip of your sword. It tries to hide deeper into the hole, but seeing it is useless, it comes out of its hiding spot and starts quickly moving away. It is black, it has very long and very thin legs and its body is very small. It becomes difficult to keep track of as it blends with the shadows and cracks. You have to resort to catching glimpses of a moving black dot at the edges of your vision to actually see it, even though you can sort-of echolocate it. It keeps moving until it finds another crack to hide in.
As for secret doors, you can't really look for seams in this light. You grope around and echolocate a bit, but you can't find anything. Just a few cracks. So you resort to just randomly knocking at the wall and listening for anything different in the resulting sound. After a while, you think you have found something. There's an area where the sound produced has a slightly lower pitch than the surrounding rock. But you can't find anything nearby. No seams, no protrusions on the rock that could be levers, no inscriptions saying 'this is a secret door'... Maybe the rock there just has different composition.
((My internets dead until monday. Posting from phone, can't post much. I think Tiruin might be cursing people.))
"Oops, forgot the door."
Try to cut a door with my knife or Alan's scissors, whichever works better. I hope the fabric isn't too impenetrable.
If I can't get through then try hitting the handle of the knife with a rock to get it through, but something about that screams bad idea.
Closing his eyes, he said to Nikolai, "If you need help, just ask. I could guard or try to conceal our position if needed, but I don't have too much energy."
"Won't need much guarding or concealment in the sandstorm. Relax and conserve your energy."
Ever heard that saying that driving tired is the same as driving drunk? This must be somewhat similar, because after failing to penetrate the tent with your kitchen knife and Alan's scissors (the knife keeps sliding off without actually cutting), you decide that the best thing you can do is use a rock to make your hits stronger. So you steady the hilt of your knife to the centre of your palm, press it against the tent and then hit it as hard as you can with a rock. Through your palm.
You fall down, holding your broken hand and screaming profanity that is not suitable for sensitive
children Alans.
Hey, at least you made a small hole. That should help let fresh air into the tent.
"Hunuh? just watch."
I dig a crawltunnel from the edge of the tent to the inside of it.
You go downwind of the tent where you proceed to start digging under one of the rock-barriers around the tent. You try to be careful not to make the tunnel too wide, because then you risk one of the stone barriers falling on you, and that would be unpleasant to say the least. You encounter a few small pebbles in the ground here, probably broken off from the cliff, but they don't make digging hard in any significant way.
I'm not sure if you wanted to turn to fox or not after climbing down.
If yes, then you manage to dig a tunnel that you can go through comfortably and that a human could probably squeeze through with a bit of effort (if said human wasn't as big as Alan).
If no, then you use a rock to start digging a relatively large tunnel, big enough for a human to fit through. You make it about halfway under the barrier, towards the inside of the tent.