"You have three minutes to rest. Then we need to get Joanna."
Check what's outside each door, see if there's something I can patch the person up with.
"
You have three minutes to rest. Then we need to get Joanna." you inform her.
"OK." she sighs the response and allows herself to fall to the floor, her injury the fact that her hands are handcuffed behind her back making her fall rather ungraceful. She stays there, looking down.
You look around the room for something to bind her injuries and spot a red strip of cloth in one of the cases. You grab it and start working on binding the bullet hole in her leg. It should help keep her alive a bit longer.
"Thank you." she says quietly.
She raises her head to look at you directly.
"You can't win. He will kill you. You should just leave. While you still can." You pause your work for a second and look back at her. You can't sense her mind, but she looks sincerely concerned.
"You don't have to do this. Don't throw your life away. I can get you out of here. I don't know much about the circles but I've studied them enough to know how to get you back."When you're done treating her, you make your way to the large armoured double doors. You try to pull them open but they won't budge.
"Nobody is allowed in there except for him. There's no way you can enter."You try the two normal-looking doors next.
One leads to what looks like a storage room or armoury. It's a long hallway with varying equipment from a set of medieval armour complete with a sword to a modern handgun to a case of alcohol or fine fabrics or precious gems. Something feels wrong about that room. You can't help but feel a hint of fear as you open it, as if something is telling your subconscious that there is danger here.
Opposite to that door is a door leading to a lavish bedroom, silky red sheets covering a large bed surrounded by red drapes. You guess from the clothing and the other objects inside it that it belongs to a woman. There's another two doors there and behind one of them you feel a powerful psychic presence. The strength of its emotions hit you like the voice of a screaming man. Impatience mixed with a sort of mad joy. This room must be somehow isolated from the other.
You try the final door. Beyond it is a small hallway leading to another room. You can hear voices behind it. You can also sense two people, their feelings are faint, but their presence is there. It feels important somehow. They are joined by a third psychic presence, one that suddenly appears in there, as if it materialized out of thin air. This one is filled with a mix of fear, surprise and a bit of pain. Feels familiar somehow.
((Darn, thought I posted.))
Team A?, WMD
Go through the portal.
You go through the portal and into the office beyond, the portal disappearing behind you, replaced by a door leading to a small staircase. It's not very big, its emptiness makes it feel bigger than it is. The largest part of it is made up of a dark circle carved into the floor and filled with indecipherable symbols arranged in spiralling fractal patterns. Unlike the floor around it, it remains completely unharmed. The rest of the room is taken up by a bookcase, a drink cabinet and a large imposing desk. There's another door, this one closed.
Behind the large imposing desk you see a small old man dressed in expensive-looking red silk robe. He's sitting on a wheelchair, completely unmoving. In the dim light of this room Besides him is standing a woman, her right hand on the man's left shoulder. She's wearing quite revealing red clothing and has a red strip of cloth tied around her eyes, like a blindfold.
"Good. You are here." you hear a voice coming from the man.
"You can see. Drinks are available. As promised." the voice continues. You're not sure if he's being serious or not. The man is not moving his mouth, or anything at all, but it still sounds and feels like the voice is coming from him.
Staging Area
John looked at Zero quietly for a minute. "So... once we feel like we've learned enough, this is our ticket out and back home? Interesting."
He was quiet again for a bit.
"You know, I think I'm going to have to go on another regular mission first. I don't feel like I am ready yet; I've still got at least one more thing to learn. After that, I should be good. So tell me though, Zero; what's the success rate on these missions? Can you describe any typical ones of the past? Are you just using us for the real dirty missions on these final challenges?"
"You know, I think I'm going to have to go on another regular mission first. I don't feel like I am ready yet; I've still got at least one more thing to learn. After that, I should be good." : I agree. Not doing the challenge now is preferable, until the situation changes. : "So tell me though, Zero; what's the success rate on these missions?" : Survival rate depends on what the entity desires most out of their players and out of their challenge. Entities that believe their player holds value for whatever reason are more likely to give them challenges they believe their player can handle or symbolic challenges.
Entities that are desperate or value the opportunity the final challenge provides them to operate outside of the established rules and agreements and are more likely to push their players. A player might expire, but their mission could still be a success and that is what matters in the end.
There are outliers. Some entities may be in the games for pleasure or compensation or simply not care. However if you care only about the numerical average then that is approximately 68.6%. : "Can you describe any typical ones of the past?" : Details are not widely available, however I am aware of some.
Hassan was used by Kathryn to acquire something of importance to Rook. I do not know what it was, but it was an S0 unit that oversaw the transfer of ransom for its return. Rook left the games soon after.
Redwing tried to assault a Core World belonging to Scion, attempting to defeat one of her avatars. My estimate is that he was trying to use his abilities and the special provisions of final challenges to acquire sensitive information from her. She paraded what was left of his body here, gloating about her victory and how his soul was now hers.
Victor was used by Charlie to intervene in a challenge directly in an attempt to influence its outcome to his favour. He manipulated and evaded the other players in an attempt to fulfil his objectives. : "Are you just using us for the real dirty missions on these final challenges?" : Define 'real dirty'. During your time in the games you have done things that could be judged as good or bad or irrelevant. Depending on the events in question and the morals used, different conclusions can be reached. Do you expect the final challenge to be any different? Are the laws and agreements of entities any more important to you than the laws of humans you have broken? Or are you afraid of grudges and retribution? :
Rune pauses, feeling a bit better. He then morphs into a fungiman, imitating those up on stage, and then walks up on stage. And begins screaming at all the fungimen performing.
((Drunkrune is best Rune))
You invent Saloon Metal. It's a poetic form originating in the Staging Area, intended to teach a moral lesson about drunkenness. Use of synchysis and vivid imagery is characteristic of the form.
"MODI!"
I Jump around Punching and Kicking people in the face.
(What are my Strength and Constitution scores at? I thought they were three, but I couldn't read my upgrade chart very well.)
Okay, I'm done with guns. Let's rip the top off of this tin can! After pushing the little runt out of the way, first. (Unresolved fight with Saevus, engage)
You've got two strength upgrades, one endurance upgrade and three ability upgrades.
"MODI!"
I Jump around Punching and Kicking people in the face.
Sit this guy down. Just using my left hand should be enough.
Edit: After doing that, summon an axe and use a combination of it and the blingcannon to engage Ron in combat.
The three of you do your best impression of one of those cartoon fight clouds.
Wait, where did that cat came from?
"MODI!"
I Jump around Punching and Kicking people in the face.
Sit this guy down. Just using my left hand should be enough.
Edit: After doing that, summon an axe and use a combination of it and the blingcannon to engage Ron in combat.
Take a few steps back, wish for a bag of popcorn, and enjoy the show.
[insert popcorn gif here]
"Well actually that was my question. So which one of you was it anyway?"
"Does it matter? It's highly unlikely you'd know any of us." he says, his shrug distorted by a shoe flying through him.
Campaign
After recovering, the general spends some time talking to his wife, convincing her that you are skilled labourers that can help with the repairs in exchange for food and shelter and that you are good people and that your help is valuable. She doesn't appear to be very happy about the matter or even just a tiny bit convinced, but she seems to decide to stop complaining about it.
That done, he spends some time coordinating with you, assigning rooms and jobs. River, seeing Irine and Theri worry about him and where he will rest, requests that he sleeps in the same room as them instead of sleeping outside as he originally planned. Once everyone has a general idea about what they've agreed upon and what they're supposed to do, you get to work.
During the time skipped day, Alan will drink an absolute crapton of the red bull, collect as much as he can in various containers around the place, and try his best to push it on ... the guy. Whatever his name is. He needs Red Bull, so decrees Alan.
And Alan's actions aside from accidentally almost killing myself/other people in amusing and accidental ways will mostly consist of running around being even more Alanish than usual due to all the stimulants and probably randomly exploring around looking for interesting things. He'll be fine with helping the guy with work or whatever but he'll very easily get bored and wander off.
Maybe try to feed the elf some Red Bull too.
If he finds anything interesting he'll nab it but not outright steal it, he'd just end up wandering around playing with it. He'll probably end up getting banned from any breakable thing places, just as a prediction.
You spend a large amount of time emptying the giant can of red bull into whatever empty container you can find, buckets, jars, jugs, bowls, your mouth... Predictably, with your hyper-caffeinated shaking hands, you manage to break a few plates while raiding the kitchen for containers. And the general's wife is not very happy when she finds you in the kitchen among a pile of ceramic shards. She alternates from screaming to crying and back to screaming at you while you bumble around, moving your containers to wherever.
The general arrives soon after, spends some time hugging and comforting his wife, repairs a broken plate with magic. And then he tells you to find someone else to bother and locks you out of the house. How rude. But his suggestion is not half-bad. There must be other people around here you can bother. Like the elf! You run around for a while, trying to bother the elf, but to your dismay you discover that Terrevieve left for the east as soon as the cart was loaded and prepared.
You resign and go around, asking Ike and the others for something to do. You are given critically essential tasks, such as looking for spare bubbles for a spirit level, obtaining a container of elbow grease or acquiring a left-handed hammer.
WORK. TOIL. OBEY.
Or something like that, anyway. Maybe spend some time explaining the magic of electromagnetism to somebody who cares to listen, like Alan for instance.
You spend most of your time going about, completing the various tasks the general has assigned to you. It's mostly menial work. Repairing the fence, removing barricades from windows, checking buildings for damage, cleaning dust from inside the house, returning paintings and furniture to their proper places from where they were sheltered... A point of interest is when you are cleaning the garden, removing the dust from the plants there. The garden is watered by a semi-magical pump, turned on by touching two grey stones together, which in turn activates something that looks like a steam engine without steam.
The other members of the family seem to keep their distance from you. Not from you specifically, but from everyone. The wife certainly doesn't like you and she does her best to keep her children away from you. The most you get out of her is some instructions about how to do things and where to put stuff. And the general is mostly preoccupied with his work with Irine, so beyond some questions and clarifications about your assignments, you don't get too much time to talk to him during the day.
Overall, the work goes well. A bit tiring, but not very demanding. If it wasn't for Alan, it might have actually gotten a bit boring.
Get hand fixed hopefully by someone who knows what they're doing.
Ask to use the Generals tools and try to make some armour from that giant can.
In general help out be respectful earn my keep.
Theri treats your hand with River's help and some materials provided by the general, immobilizing it so that the bone can mend properly and hopefully treating whatever blockage or infection was there. You try not to think about it too much. Unfortunately, it's not an instantaneous magical healing, so you don't regain use of your hand. Not until it has had sufficient time to heal.
You approach the general and ask for permission to use his tools to work on literal tin-can armour. First he questions how the can got there in the first place and then he questions how you intended to work on it with only one hand. He laughs at your suggestion that you can use it to make good armour, but allows you to use his tools anyway, as long as you don't break them and don't use up any important supplies. Unfortunately, given that everyone else is busy with their own things, you don't find anyone willing to help you. And you don't want to risk doing this on your own. Maybe tomorrow...
With nothing to do on the matter, you join the others and try to help in whatever way you can. Your work mostly consists of hauling things around for others or helping with the animals. You learn that they are apparently semi-magical creatures, feeding on the flow of fire magic. The large things are kinda like hairless cows, although they don't produce much milk, it doesn't taste as good and the males can apparently spit tiny amounts of fire, which Alan gets to experience first hand when he tries messing with them. At least they didn't kick him too hard when he pulled one of their tails, then you'd be dealing with more broken bones instead of some bruises.
You spend a good chunk of time from your lunch break and dinner discussing science with the general. It's mostly you and Ike explaining some concepts to him. He tends to assume many things are based on magic, displaying some resistance when you suggest that things such as fire or lightning are not actually the results of magic. Especially when he can just demonstrate that you are not entirely correct with a snap of his fingers. He comes to the conclusion that what you are describing is merely another form of magic and after a while you give up trying to convince him it's otherwise.
Still, he seems quick to understand things and how they work or how they can be used, once they are put into words and concepts he is familiar with. Even when he doesn't understand something fully, he seems to be able to quickly come to conclusions about how something works and how it can be used to accomplish something. Your explanations take considerably less time than you anticipated, although you aren't certain of how much use they will be to him.
((You forgot to mention River's resting location if one is made for him.))
skip is fine. sleeping arrangements are mostly fine, but would insist that everyone gets a place to rest, wouldn't accept excluding River. would explore if left unattended, mostly to satisfy curiosity. would not steal. people-watching is also an interest. would generally follow directions, but would ask why of them whilst doing so.
The general wastes no time in beginning to work with you. You aren't certain if it's because of inspiration or because he anticipated how little time he'd end up having. Various interruptions mean he doesn't end up getting as much done as he had hoped to. Or at least that's what he states close to the end of the day, when he stops working and invites all of you for dinner with him and his family.
Most of your work consists of you manipulating the fire he generates for you in certain ways, either following his instructions or letting you take the initiative. You assume he's looking for interesting patterns, which you are more than happy to provide. He doesn't seem to like people looking at his work before it's finished (with the exception of his son who sometimes comes upstairs and curiously peers at you and his work), but you do take a peek when he's not looking. From the looks of it, he is mostly working on backgrounds, lighting and patterns, along with some sketches of you in various poses. You're not sure if this is a warm up, a preparation of a background or merely a more abstract work.
He doesn't seem to mind talking when he works. In fact he seems to enjoy telling stories, especially whenever his son comes around to watch him work. So you and Theri learn a few things about him and the world.
He says this place is called Godstone Fortress named after the hill itself which is also called Godstone. Legend says that the name came from the way it was created, when two sibling gods, the two Reapers, Time and Death, made a bet. They were walking around, arguing about which of the two was the greatest. Death said she was the greatest, for there was no man safe from her. But Time said that he was even greater, for while Death could claim the lives of men, Time could claim man's work, the things men claimed made them immortal, the things that taunted Death with their ability to give men life beyond her. Time, he said, would eventually claim everything.
Seeing no way to resolve their disagreement with words, they picked up a stone and let it fall on the earth, betting on who could have its followers claim it first, saying that the one who managed to do so would be victorious. Time laughed. He thought his victory assured, for Death's domain was not over the elements. So Time took his time and rather than expending effort, he waited for the Wind, Water and the Fire of the Sun to claim the rock for him. Death on the other hand worked quickly and quietly, killing an emperor and setting her minions on his empire. The empire was broken into pieces and fighting broke out, soldiers for each piece seeking places of importance. Soldiers came to claim the hill, digging a fortress here partially under Death's influence, which she claimed was a victory for her. For who is a bigger follower of Death than a soldier, one whose job is to reap lives? Time, of course, disagreed.
The two once again couldn't come to an agreement, so they went to Dauros, who was known for being a fair god and one whose judgement they trusted. They explained the situation to him and asked that he declare a winner. Dauros stroked his beard and after some thought, he decreed that Death's minions would attack the fortress and attempt to capture it. If she won and her minions took the fortress, then she could truly claim it was hers. If however she lost, the Time would claim the stone as his, to be reaped at his leisure and with the help of the Elements, as he originally planned.
Death brought forth every fell creature in her disposal, skeletal behemoths and the souls of the damned all howling and pounding at the stone. The battle was hard, but in the end, the fortress stood, its walls and the resolve of its men too great for the minions of death. But it was at a heavy price, for countless soldiers died in the battle. Death had no choice but to admit defeat. In the end, both gods were happy. Time got his victory and Death got a good share of souls.
You're not certain if gods actually did throw this hill here, you think there would be a crater and some giant footsteps around if that was the case, but it certainly does look like a big rock, with flat sides and rounded edges both on its top and its bottom.
He continues to explain how the King himself gave him this land, among other things, for his success in the campaign in the north. "While other generals tended to ask for wealth, titles and influential political positions, I had no such ambitions. I chose to ask for this place and enough money and help to get it to an acceptable condition. I didn't want power. I wanted my family to be able to grow up and live in a place where we would be safe. I did not want to get caught in the political games of the Palace, I did not want to be afraid I would be assassinated or that my family would be held ransom. I have gone to war, I have done my duty to my kingdom. Now, as a reward, I want to claim a peaceful end to my life and something I can leave to my son and daughter." His wife disagreed on the matter, she keeps saying he is squandering his time here. That he could be a great and powerful advisor to the King. That he could start a dynasty. That their life would be better in the City. "With the way things turned out, I suppose I probably made the right choice." he says, although he sounds thoughtful, unsure.
He goes on to talk about the first time he saw this place, when he came from the north through the city, going towards the east. After he finished his training and he was leading only a small squad of magic users and soldiers, the battalion he was in was sent to the East, to help in the its defence from Glider raids coming through the eastern borders, where there was enough Wind magic to allow them to operate and make raids before the local militia could respond. He doesn't talk about combat or the raids themselves though, he just mentions that they stopped them by holding and fortifying the mountain passages the raiders went through. However, he says that that is when he first heard about Nether Pass and its dangers. The locals that knew about it told all manner of horror stories about it. The local militia just warned them to stay away from it. He heard rumours that a small squad of scouts was sent to watch it but they run away when something took two of them in the middle of the night.
He pauses his painting for a couple of minutes to show you the location on what he calls a Minimap, an enchanted item full of a magical dust-like substance. The substance can be controlled with certain words, making it move outside of the container and into surfaces, where it forms maps made out of simple lines. Despite the simplicity of its shapes, it offers much more details than the simple map he was showing you earlier. Unfortunately, when you inquire about it, you learn that it is also prohibitively expensive. Nether Pass doesn't look that imposing from there. A narrow, zig-zagging path going up the side of a mountain and then moving through the gap between two peaks before going down a similar zig-zagging path on the other side. There are a few areas where the path wideness, some of them holding things marked as ruins and caves. The general points out that the map is old, that the area might have changed since the last time someone mapped it and since the time the Minimap was created.
The general keeps working, telling you stories and asking you questions in the meantime, until one point when something goes wrong. He curses as he drops the brush he is using. The fingers of his right hand, the gloved one, seem to have bent at an odd angle. He apologizes, grabs a one of those magical lamps with his other hand and leaves, saying he has to go fix his hand.
You follow him out of curiosity. He takes the staircase to the ground floor, unlocking a door, closing it behind him. and then continuing further down, below the surface of the earth. The spiral staircase continues for a few more turns until it reaches an open area with fortifications lining the walls. It seems designed to allow archers to fire at attackers coming through the staircase, while the fortifications funnel their forces to easily defensible choke points. He says that this is the real fortress and that its true size is massive, able to hold a few hundred men. The tower above ground was just for the watch. But, despite its strength, it was abandoned a long time ago, long before he was born. There's no use for a fortress this close to the City. It was built at a different time, during the birth of this Kingdom. Now it's simply a storage area for things they seldom need.
You continue, opening an armoured door, going through a tunnel and then taking another staircase that takes you deeper below the earth. There are lamps and torches on some walls, but none of them are working. There are many doors and branching paths along your way. If most of them weren't locked or sealed with thick rocks, you'd be worried about getting lost in this labyrinth. You continue until you find a door with a bright light coming through it. You go through it and find a large chamber with a great magical fire burning at its centre, surrounded by a grey glass dome.
The general starts removing his shirt, which causes Rodger to whistle and start making remarks about the
"stupid sexy lord general" luring you into the dark depths so that he can show you his scarred muscular body and have his perverse fun. Then the general removes the glove covering his right hand, which causes D to aaaw in disappointment. His lower arm has been replaced by a prosthetic made out of dark stone, held on to his arm by metal pieces sticking out of it and leather straps wrapped around his shoulder and arm. He uses his other hand to open a compartment and remove a small red stone from it, one that looks quite similar to the ones you saw in the Tower in the City. He places it close to the glass dome and with some muttered words the fire from inside the dome leaps inside the stone.
He explains that he lost part of his lower arm while fighting a Beastman, although he doesn't go into details about the incident. However, judging from the slash marks on his body and the bite marks on what's left of his arm, you'd guess that he came very close to not being alive. He says that his arm still hurts, the prosthetic took some getting used to since it requires some magical skill to use, it takes a lot of maintenance and the damn things are still quite likely to explode. But it's still better than missing his arm.
He says this is one of the reasons this location is so valuable. He can use this source of power to create or recharge enchanted items. Those who know about this place sometimes stop here to recharge their magical items. He says that normally the spells he has put to this place would let him funnel the magical energy here wherever he wants, allowing his prosthetic to stay charged without having to come down here. But something is disrupting the flow of magic here since you arrived to this place, although his spells are still intact.
"Maybe it's just your abilities interfering with it. I understand that they are not entirely conscious magic?" You explain that you are in control of your magic, but he seems to hold the belief that magic that is not based on spells is inherently unstable.
He stays there for a while, looking at the fire and fiddling with his prosthetic, until he is ready to leave. He is right about the source of power. The fire makes you feel a warmth, a sense of inner power, similarly to how you felt close to the City, similar to how you sometimes feel with your link with Roger.
Speaking of Roger, he continues with his usual behaviour during the day, making comments or (possibly inappropriate) jokes about what's going on and occasionally singing bits of music at odd intervals, saying it's for the
80's training montage, whatever that is.
Eleri casually examines the magical items in the room, doing her best not to disturb Irine's poise and the General's focus.
Timeskip is alright; also insist (to) River (that he) gets the same quality rest we do. Explore the area along with Irine if able--doing the same measures of non-transferable possession of item rules. Get to know the General more, and ask a hypothetical question on if ever he has any ideas that would help manhunts [and then subtly add more details that would parallel our goal in that hypothetical questioning]
((If you don't read the entire turn, see Irine's for some stories about the general.))
You examine the magical items you can see without disturbing them. Some seem simple and easy to understand, like a piece of stone with a very hot pointy end or a grey pointy stone next to a bottle of ink. There are others that you can't really tell what they do though. Some sort of glowing bowl? A broken magnifying glass? A tiny knife attached to what looks like a red doorknob? You can't really make sense of those things. You also spot some herbs you know can be used as an antiseptic and some plants that you know have very potent narcotic properties.
When asked about tracking, the general says it is a matter of evidence and a matter of resources. If you know where your target is going, if you have evidence and clues then it is simply a matter of following those clues and watching out for misdirection. However, if you do not know where your target is and you have to search for him, then you need to find a way to make others search him for you. If you have the money or power to hire a large group of people, then doing so is relatively easy. However, when you lack those resources, you need to figure out ways to make others work for you for what you have.
Offering a reward is one way to expend less effort for greater results. Many will search, but only one can claim the reward, essentially giving you free labour. Another is to listen for and spread rumours, present yourself as a friend or someone desirable or of interest to the target and wait for them to find you. That is especially useful in situations where you know the local population might be hiding your target. One way or the other, you need to make them trust you, at least long enough for you to investigate them. If you get them to trust you enough, you could even discredit the one they are hiding, hoping they will give them up once they hear the "truth" about him.
While it is tempting to threaten to hurt people unless the target surrenders himself or is revealed by those hiding him, that rarely works unless someone close to the target can be found. And even then it usually results in bad long term effects as the local population is alienated.
When the day ends, you join the general his wife and his son for dinner, his infant daughter remaining in her room on the first floor. The dinner is quite rich. Tender meat with a spicy red sauce, a salad made out of thin stringy leaves, a pie of some sort with cheese, meat and some sort of plant in it and a gravy with crunchy bread chunks in it, all accompanied by alcohol provided by Nikolai and some pleasant conversation provided by all participants. Well, most participants.
During dinner, the generals' wife continues her attempts to silently antagonize you, this time by wearing a fox fur coat. She is definitely doing this to make a statement, considering that the room is comfortably warm and she appears to be sweating. She also continually insists that you are careful around her plates.
While the wife doesn't like you or the others very much, especially the ones that don't appear fully human, the young boy seems to enjoy the strange new visitors. He frequently attempts to come close to you, although he seems to be having trouble distinguishing you, calling you all "doggy" as he attempts to hug you, catch your tails or otherwise play with you.
River seems to be enjoying the attention somewhat, playing around with the boy and chasing one of his toys. River makes a comment about how the child should learn to fear his enemies and suggests to the general that he could bite the child to teach it that lesson. There is a moment of awkwardness but the general passes it off as a joke and switches the topic to River's ability to assume different forms, for which he expresses some interest. However River states he can't talk about it and the subject is dropped.
OOCOof. That took more time and effort than I anticipated. There might be some mistakes there but I'm too tired to fix them.
So, you reached the end of the day with nothing very bad happening during it. Say anything you want to say or do during the night and for the conclusion of your agreement for next day.
Poll
15 (42.9%)
Author
Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1140918 times)