((I'm fairly certain Kosak and the Captain haven't been introduced yet...))
Kosak Durar:
"Well then, Captain. But a name is not all the answer to the question "Who are you". Anything else?"
((The Captain does not care about your useless concept of introductions. If you do not know who The Captain is, that is your problem, not The Captain's.))
<You want more? Very well. I'll give you more.>The door to your personal area slams open and in comes a middle aged man in a dark blue general's uniform. His hair have started to become grey but his muscles show you that you shouldn't underestimate this body despite its apparent age.
"Well, boy? Didn't they teach you to salute your betters?" he asks as he quickly walks towards you. He is not showing any signs of slowing down.
Brian Hoss, Staging Area
Replace the book and return to snowgazing.
You try to place the book back in its place the bookcase but accidentally jostle a floating sphere in the process, causing it to become unbalanced and bounce away from the bookcase. You curse your lack of binocular vision and depth perception as you fumble with the sphere while you try to keep it from falling. Despite your best efforts, it slips through your hands and keeps falling, only to be caught by a hand.
"You should be more precise in your movements." the man says absentmindedly as he raises the sphere and puts it back in its place.
He is pale man wearing brown and white robes. His ear-length blonde hair are parted straight in the middle. His face looks a bit chubby. He is staring at you with his light blue eyes.
After a few seconds of staring you, he turns his head and instead stares at the bookcase. His eyes look unfocused and unmoving, as if he's not really looking at anything.
Nikolai, has very little idea whats going on
(in possession of Ike, along with belongings that survived)
Commwire
Short rogue sword
Kitchen knife
Glass shiv
Slinging rocks and some light small pebbles
Scissors
A few bottles of water
A few bottles of red bull
Worn and singed peasant clothes
Did I get this stuff back from Ike?
"I do not like leaving my weapons, at all."
Extended disarming scene commence. Leave all my weapons.
Try to find a couple harmless things, like a knitting needle or tiny utility knife (or that pair of scissors) that could be tsarred into a usable weapon. Just in case.
Yes, you got that. Minus the clothes, but you got new clothes so who cares. Unless you were really attached to those clothes for some reason.
You start removing all your potentially harmful possessions from your bag and leaving them behind at the wagon. You've removed almost everything except for your scissors. The man at the gate stares at you as you look at them and then put them back in your bag. He keeps staring as you approach.
"Oh. No, you would not part a young man from his knitting supplies?"The man stares at you for a few more seconds and then shrugs.
"Very well. I will not stop you." he responds.
You start walking away.
"However!" he continues, raising his voice. You halt mid-stride.
"We have plenty of knives on our tables. You do not need to bring your own."You walk backwards for a bit, dig around your trousers, take out the knife and toss it in the wagon with the rest. You then walk through the door with an approving nod from the gatekeeper.
"Right, right! Do you have a place to put these? My sword's a little peculiar, so you may want to keep it apart from the rest."
Surrender our weapons and behave in a well-mannered sort of way as we presumably enter.
You leave your weapons back in the wagons (now moved to an elevated dry spot) and arrange for your men to guard it in shifts so that no thieves or wild animals disturb it during the night. You leave your more bloody weapon for a less civilized age where you usually put it, tied under the 'shotgun' seat of one of the wagons, where it is not in danger of shredding stuff or getting lost but can be easily retrieved should the need suddenly arise. The men are probably smart enough not to mess with it.
That done, you enter the monastery with your posse. The floor of the gateway and the area beyond it is dry, which your legs are thankful for. And that's about the only thing that
is dry in there. The first thing you see is a building on the other side of the courtyard, a great blocky, monolithic thing carved out of the rock, probably acting as an entrance leading to where the important people are. It kinda reminds you of an Ancient Egyptian temple with those wide blocky towers on either side. It is painted a simple light red with some green accents. The waterfall you saw from outside ends on the top of that entrance and rolls through channels across its surface. Most of it ends up in a large basin and from there slowly flows out to various channels.
The area around it is surrounded by a constant mist but it probably won't be very unpleasant walking around there as most of the paths leading to it are covered by stone or cloth, providing shade and protecting from most of the falling water. The paths are accompanied by narrow channels through which water constantly flows. Much of the water ends up in pools filled with rows of tall yet slim green plants, which you are informed are edible but not indigenous in this area, being more common in the south, beyond the Scar.
Several people are working at expanding the fields through the gardens and parks surrounding them, although most of them are currently in the process of collecting their shovels, picks and other tools and leaving. They make their way through an inner wall and out to what appears to be the residential district. It's got some stone houses and a great amount of tents and hovels set up around them like mushrooms around the trunk of a tree.
The residential area ends here, close to the gate. There's a grand plaza with a few fountains and benches here, with shade provided by a few sizable trees. The entire area is lit by some of those magical lanterns hanging from the trees. You don't see any traders around. You ask the gatekeeper and he informs you that the caravan has yet to arrive, but they are expecting it any day now. In fact, it's a few days late.
He also mentions that there are a few traders from Kodromota around that peddle their wares close to this gate or the entrance to the Walled Garden during the day (which he says is the name of the area with the fields beyond the wall). Right now they're probably in one of the inns. You should be able to locate them easily, if you really wish to speak with them immediately for whatever reason.
Finally, he warns you that the gates to the walled garden will close soon and that if you wish to see it or the Temple from up close then you will have to wait until morning. Sneaking around in there after dark is frowned upon. You may stay for a few days and partake their food and water, but if you wish to stay longer than you are expected to contribute, though you are not obliged to accept the Flowing Way.
"So, you're one of the monks then? Are you one of the people that make the decisions around here? Because you look like you've been here for a long time.""Oh, no, nothing that grand, I'm afraid. I'm merely one of the many Water Carriers. I've been helping the Temple for many of my years. I know much about Chizra, certainly enough to answer any questions travelers may have. I believe that is the reason the Headwater usually asks from me to perform duties close to the gates.""You've been here all your life and you're still on glorified guard duty? Isn't that a little strange?""Oh, not at all. Such is the nature of the Flowing Way. It is not easy. Remaining in it requires patience, strength, spirit. I know that even though I follow its Twists, I may never reach True Enlightenment in my lifetime. But even so, I believe it is worth the pursuit."Alan, Accomplished Cross-Cultural Diplomat
"Don't worry guys, I've got this."
Clearly we need to resort to interpretive dance to get them to understand us!
((I realize after writing this that they actually speak the common language but I went to the trouble of looking up that link so this is still happening))
The man stares at you with a raised eyebrow. Then he looks at the nearby fountain for a few moments and then at the waterfall and then back at you and the water still dripping from your legs.
"Yes, I'm quite certain that there is water here. Is there something more you require?"
Hmmm... How would you signal each other? Well, I suppose you can make fire. So let's say you agree on some sort of smoke signal to indicate that you are in danger or that danger is going towards your friends or that you have a new Pope.
((Either any of the most suitable methods our environment can do with, or using a reflective surface [...maybe the soulstone if it reflects light] and directing it in Ike's general direction, aimed with my hand and through my fingers | Thanks for covering 'it' 
I was being indirect, it's my connection with River//stability of his soulstone that Irine hinted at beforehand))
Rest too; do some chat with San, plot out plans for future reference with our main goal as the whole idea.
((Light signals could also work if you're not too far away. Although in that case Irine could just use her ability to control fire to write a message in the air. Then again, if she did that then everyone around you would know where you are, not just your friends.))
You set up your bedrolls, eat some of your supplies and then huddle together for the night close to Irine's fire-sword to help keep yourselves warm. As you wait for sleep to take you, you discuss with San about what his home is like and where his father is most likely to be. He tells you what he remembers about the villages he went through to get here as well as what he has heard about the surrounding areas. Then again, he is still a child that has never left his small town so what he knows about the world is mostly limited to what other have told him.
((You have gained general knowledge about the eastern regions. If you ask anything about that area or if some important fact comes up, there's a good chance you'll know it.))
As for his father, he believes he might have gone to the hills in the north. There are caves and abandoned mines there, an army could easily hide there if it had to. He hopes that he'll see signs of them once you get to the next town. Then all he has to do is convince the soldiers to take him with them.
In exchange you tell him stories, both real and imaginary, until he has fallen asleep. Irine fell asleep even before he did, probably quite tired from walking all day. You make sure San and Irine are well-covered by their blankets and then go to sleep yourself. It's naptime.
upon re-reading the campsite description, I'd want to just take the bag as a whole, leaving the coins inside it. sorry about that, my fault. Somehow when I first read the description I didn't notice the bag, just the coins.
anyways, yeah, no special arrangements for the night, just find a secluded spot and rest.
All right then. You receive a bag, some stale rations and some clothes on top of the coins.
...
You wake up during the night from Theri's snoring. You're certain something must have messed up hair airways when she was injured in that last fight because you're positive you've never heard her be this loud before. You're about to change sides and cover yourself with the blanket to stave off the cold when the sword speaks to you.
<You are awake. Good.>You blink. There's grey lines all around you, as if some physicist drew a Cartesian grid centered on your little campsite.
<You should remain quiet and not move. We woke you up.>You slowly turn to look at the sword and discover that it is the centre of that grid.
<We have detected dark magic. River is doing something. Do you wish for me to stop it?>You can feel it too. That sense of cold and pressure, the silence.
Okay, this shield, is it close to flush to the ground? Pretty well sealed him in there, more like a dome than a cage?
Assuming the dome, then summon/technomance as able (not sure if can touchy the shield) a bomb on the inside, which then gets detonated a la a bomb squad containment vessel. The contained blast should wreck him pretty hard.
If it's more like a cage (the blast has lots of places to escape) then instead the bots all shoot in the openings to damage him as much as possible while I summon a heat ray. If I can't stab him, then I melt him.
Saevus, After the End
Blast the shield off. Then smack John with the polehammer. Keep my back (and shield) towards the bots.
John summons a firecracker and tosses it under the shield. It doesn't cause any damage.
Saevus tries to blast the shield off but fails. So he just rips it off. He raises his polehammer... And then the bots fire a concentrated coordinated beam and cleave Saevus in half.
<That's... anticlimactic. Oh well.>
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1147718 times)