Missionless
((I think I haven't messed with TV Tropes, beyond correcting some spelling that were bothering me. Go ahead and edit away if you want, I don't mind.))
You run, grab a chair and wedge it behind the door to keep it from opening. You can hear the dolls trying to open the door, banging on it constantly. After that, you hide your doll under the table, modifying it so that it perfectly blends in with its surroundings. You do such a good job that you think even you yourself would had trouble knowing it was there if it wasn't for your ESP.
You continue with getting ready to enact your plan, positioning the chair and sitting down on it while your doll acts as your eyes and ears. You have waited for a little more than half a minute, but it feels like it's been a lot longer than that. The dolls keep banging on the door but don't appear to be any closer to breaching it. In fact, you don't think they're trying with their full strength. Sure, it could damage them, but they could land punches a lot stronger-
You notice a sound at the other end of the kitchen. You've been so focused on your other senses you completely missed it. The twisted doll has made its way around and into the kitchen from the other side. Despite the sudden change of plan, you manage to maintain your composure and continue your performance. It flickers closer to you and then stops, looking at you moaning in despair. The distortion around it recedes somewhat. You think it looks almost like it's... curious? It doesn't approach you, at least not in body. You feel the whispers in your mind again, but it's not an attack, merely a brush against your will, like a shark curiously poking something he is not sure is edible.
It also comes to your attention that the dolls at the door have stopped banging and are merely standing there.
Feeling that it was nearby, Napoleon was confused as to why it sudden decides to stop. Was it unsure of what to do in this situation or, worse, was it suspecting that it was a trap? Nevertheless, though Napoleon wanted to continue his performance, he also wanted to ascertain the twisted doll's intention and why it was attacking him in the first place. Though he wasn't sure that it could talk, he wanted to know whether he was in this bind because of the sword or something else. At the very least, it would probably entice it into attacking and allow him to execute his plan.
"Oh why is this happening to me?" he moaned. "All I did was break open a display case and stole a sword! I had no intention of breaking into this place. I'd only woke up in here!"
Continue the plan as normal.
The whispers in your mind intensify to a cacophony of overlapping sentences. It's hard to make out, but a single word stood out: 'Free'. You try to remain focused but it's just too much. It's disorienting to say the least. If you weren't already sitting, you're certain you'd have fallen down. But a few seconds later it stops, allowing you to start to think clearly once more. When your head clears, you realise that the twisted doll has circled around you and is making its way to the door.
You have no doubt about it. It knows. Did it read your mind? Or maybe there was a problem with your performance? Maybe it thought you should had reacted differently to it touching your mind? You can't tell. All you can tell is that if it removes the chair blocking the door, you'll have 3 dolls to deal with instead of 1. You feel like there's something unfair here, like the world is cheating you somehow. Every plan you come up with, no matter how good, is almost immediately turned against you, as if this a nightmare or the afterlife and this is some kind of torture for your past sins or someone's twisted idea of a joke.
At least it didn't attack you while you were incapacitated, though you aren't sure why it would do so. Even with one arm broken it would had a good chance of defeating you if it attacked while you were incapacitated. Maybe it has some sense of honour or goodness that kept it from attacking you while you were defenseless? Or maybe it is just as afraid of dying as you are and prefers to risk expendable dolls just like you do.
Stephano Falcone
Pretend to yawn, and then say:
"Sorry, I'm a bit scatterbrained. I didn't get enough sleep last night. Is there anything else I'm forgetting about?"
After fulfilling whatever other requirements are necessary, say politely:
"Say, you wouldn't happen to have a coffee maker back there, would you? It's been a few hours since my last cup, and if you're feeling generous, a refill would be much appreciated."
Afterward, repeat this part of the my previous action:
If the guard asks me for more information or identification:
Provide the identification I have available to me. If he wants to know why I was here, tell him that I was interrogating a certain person as part of my investigation of the terrorist group known as Rockslide. If he wants to know more details, tell him that he'll need to speak to my superiors, as I am not permitted to go into further detail.
If after cooperating, the guard lets me continue:
Then continue toward the stairwell and the exit.
If the guard identifies me as an escapee at some point:
If the guard is out of my reach, then run to the stairwell, and try to follow the signs as I rush toward the building's exit.
Otherwise, if the guard is close to me, then take out my multi tool and stab him in the neck with the sharpest instrument on the multi tool. Afterward, wrestle him to the ground and grab any weapons or radios he has on his person and toss them away while I remain on top of him. If he's still significantly struggling, stab him in both of his legs. Then get up and quickly back away from him, while keeping my concealed eyes on him. Grab up the items I had tossed away from his person. If he is on the verge of dying or makes any sudden dangerous moves, then remove my sunglasses and stare at him until he is fully healed. Afterward, while he is suffering the side effects from my ability, replace my sunglasses, go over to him, and strangle him into unconsciousness.
In any other situation:
Adapt as best as I can to bypass the guard peacefully. Prioritize actions that can prevent the guard from alerting the rest of security. Resort to violence only as a last resort.
"Uh huh." the guard grunts in assent, still sounding a bit unconvinced.
He looks at you for another second before retrieving the book and closing the port.
"All right then. Have a nice day." the guard says before reclining back into his chair.
"Say, you wouldn't happen to have a coffee maker back there, would you? It's been a few hours since my last cup, and if you're feeling generous, a refill would be much appreciated.""Sorry pal. Only got my batch here." he says, pointing at a nearby isothermal flask.
"If you want your own, make your way to the kitchen like everyone else."
"Oh, I understand, got to make it through the day.""Uh huh." the guard says, reaching for the sports section of a newspaper. There's a cheering man in a red uniform on the front page.
"Well, goodbye then.""Later."
With that, you make your way away from the guard station and towards the door with the red exit sign. Through the door is a short dark corridor with only one other door leading out of it. You take a moment to hide the gun you received under your clothes before opening the other door.
Through the door you find a wide open area, divided by walls made out of cabinets and transparent dividers. It is lit by several rows of old incandescent tubes on its ceiling, one of them flickering from time to time with an annoying noise. There are men and women sitting in desks there but few take their eyes off their computers and paperwork to pay any attention to you and those few that do merely glance your way with the corner of their eyes.
You keep walking like a man with somewhere to be while keeping your eyes in front of you, making sure not to stare at anyone. You follow the signs pointing you towards the exit until you reach the stairwell and make your way downstairs. The stairwell leads to a lobby that immediately gives you the impression of a castle, a barricade awaiting an assault at any moment. It's a bowl-shaped area leading down to the exit with low walls giving ample places to take cover behind and shoot towards the entrance, currently manned by guards lazily stranding around or sitting around tables. The stairs and two corridors leading out of the lobby are hidden behind high walls and sport thick doors with signs that declare that they should remain closed at all times. The exit itself offers no protection to those entering, only hindrance, as the only thing beyond the glass doors is another set of those turnstiles you encountered earlier. Beyond the turnstiles, beyond the glass doors you can see the parking lot. Iris is waiting for you in a van somewhere out there.
You make your way through the guards, fully aware that most of them look towards you. You reach the stairs and start descending them. You hear a distorted voice coming through one of the guard's radio, you can't make out what it says. You've reached the exit. You activate the turnstiles with your security card and make your way through them. A couple of steps away from the exit now.
"Hey! You! Stop right there!" one of the guards shouts.
You look behind you. He's quickly walking towards you. The other guards look agitated. He's reaching for his gun.
I'll enter the game as Slightly Above-Average Joe, then.
How much are my random powers/modifications discounted by?
((Let's say they cost 1 point for now.))
"-and that's why I think this will never happen, you know?"
You wake up. Your head is cold from where it rested on the window. There's the powerful stink of cigarette smoke in the air.
"I mean, you said that, but I don't really believe it." he keeps speaking, continuing a conversation that you can't quite remember how it started.
You rub your eyes to get the blurriness out of them. Must have fallen asleep while you were going home. You can't get a good look at the taxi meter, the old LCD screen appears faded by age and sunlight, the black numbers barely visible in the faint red light emitted by its background. Hopefully he's not trying to overcharge you.
"I mean, I can't seriously believe that you can keep going like this. Living with all of that." he says, letting go of the steering wheel to emphasize his statement with a gesture.
You can't make out his features in the darkness, but you can tell by the sound of his voice that he is smiling. The only reason you can clearly see his hand is due to the orange light coming from the tip of the cigarette as he waves it around, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.
"I can prove this to you. 'tis easy. Just think hard and then answer me this: 'What's the most exciting thing you've done in your life?'"
The smoke is a bit too much. It makes your eyes and throat sting a bit and you feel lightheaded. You think about opening a window but you probably shouldn't, it's cold and rainy outside. You can see the falling raindrops in the headlights of other cars going in the opposite direction, the light coming from them appearing as thousands points of light through the droplets of water clinging to the window.
"And don't start talking about your work. That shit don't count. That's just gonna make me angry."
Campaign
((Oh boy. I've been gone for a while. I hope I read everything correctly. If I missed some details, please feel free to correct me. I'll read everything over again a couple of times later in the day to make sure.
So, assuming the Headwater gave Zechariah the go ahead - same as with Ike and Nikolai - here's what I plan...))
The recent few days left Zechariah in a state of constant self-questioning - perhaps even more so than normally, if that is even possible. His memories from his past were still jumbled together and hard to make sense of, but he remember a sense of relief near the end of his life in the Medium. He felt like he had actually accomplished something. Now, Zechariah wasn't so sure of himself. Strangely enough, disconnecting himself from Artemis and the rest of the Medium made him feel weaker and more at war with himself than he ever was. If even now, so far from his previous life, he was a bedlam of anguish and helplessness, what hope did he have to actually achieve his goals? As of now, he felt like more of an amusement than anything - a jester with wings, or a magician putting on a show. If he didn't have the power to stop corruption from happening, did his moral compass really mean anything? Or was it merely a self-comforting thought?
If he wanted to help people, he reasoned with himself, he needed to be able to protect himself first. Despite finding the Headwater's actions suspicious, he couldn't afford to start splintering the group over it. There was an opportunity to strengthen himself and prepare for the future. At the very least, he could take advantage of it to make himself less of a liability in the group.
Go to whoever is in charge of the armaments for Chizra, be it the Headwater or one of his assistants. Ask for the following possible things:
1. Light armor; or, if not armor, then another vestment that protects against pervasive magic (magic that disables Zechariah's abilities or magic that prevents him from moving, thinking, acting etc.)
2. Artifacts or other equipment that help Zechariah focus his mind on his abilities, or otherwise makes his abilities more potent
3. Consumables (drinks, potions, food) that would help Zechariah focus
4. Spell scrolls wouldn't be unwelcome
5. Some proper, form-fitting clothes that match the region we are in
6. At least some money
7. Finally, go search for Alan if possible, or reconvene with Ike.
1. Getting some light armour is easy. Magical protection is not as easy to get however, you usually need an Order mage to maintain wards around a person or a place, protective Order enchantments are not as easy to make. From what you understand they have one or two but are not willing to give them up.
2. You get an Amulet of Firelight. Named after one of the Angels of Selas and blessed by one of her priests, this small thing is supposed to light the Dark places and offer protection against the Darkness. It's a small bronze-coloured bullet-shaped object dangling from the end of a chain that emits a faint orangered light. You don't know how helpful it will be, but you accept it, along with the priest's blessings. You hide it underneath your clothes for now, not wishing to attract more attention to yourself than necessary.
3. Your group has already received a good deal of supplies, you can use them as you see fit. You've also got a master alchemist traveling with you, you can ask her if you need anything specific. You might want to be careful about what you get from her though. She's not an evil psycho or anything (as far as you can tell), but she does seem a bit fond of experimenting and playing pranks with her potions.
4. Spell scrolls aren't really used in this part of the world and the mages here don't know much about them. Scrolls are mostly used in the northern kingdoms, beyond the Dunes. The mages in this part of the world prefer to enchant objects and use their natural magical ability to control them, instead of binding their activation to the reading of a scroll. The closest thing they have is certain enchantments that can only be used after speaking a 'password spell' of sorts in the Old Language. You guess limiting the availability of scrolls is a good way to ensure the power held by mages is not used by the common man, though you don't say that to their face.
5. Clothes is the easiest thing to get. There's no shortage of clothes.
6. Your group has received several gold coins along with your supplies, you're certain you could use them as long as you don't spend them on anything that will make everyone else angry at you.
7. Ike is searching for Alan, so those two are more or less the same action.
((It's been slightly bothering me for at least a year by now - it's 'could have', not 'could had'. They're linked so the second one ought to be written in the infinitive form, like 'could do' instead of 'could did'. To illustrate: 'I do' and 'I can do' in the present, 'I did' and 'I could do' in the past.))
Ike, General of the People!
We have the trail! Go after this Brad and shake him down right and proper!
Are you just going to drop everything and leg it after him?
Oh no, I'm gonna set off after him with a couple followers (possibly one of our party if anybody's willing) while also instructing everyone else to get their asses into gear quick-like and go after us (presumably slower on account of the sheer number of people). Not gonna wait for them to get ready to go, but make sure clear instructions to follow after me when they're able to move out together are given.
"I and comrade squire Lune will join the search for Alan! We should take 8 people, that's how many can sneak with our two mirages."
Nikolai and Lune will join the search for Alan.
Lune will have the important role of carrying and using the Malachite's Malignant Mirage. Also some spare water bottles to reload it.
Nikolai loads a non-lethal sleeping gas bolt into his crossbow.
((Irine has no reason to go to Chizra whatsoever and is feeling time-pressure. Ike is gonna need to give a good reason if he wants her to go directly away from our goal. Also wasn't she already to the (south)east of Chizra anyway? So not going back would put everyone closer to Brad anyway, right?))
((We didn't travel back to Chizra, we just haven't left yet. It was a retcon because leaving Alan behind while we still had leads to him was OOC and no one actually posted an action to leave Chizra. You're probably welcome to still be scouting ahead in the wilderness.
Also, is rescuing one of our party members not a good enough reason?))
Well, here's the deal. Brad's quickly heading east-northeast. Chizra would definitely send people to aid the injured refugees that Theri warned them about and with the forces of the Sovereignty, monsters and dangerous wildlife roaming about, they would most certainly not send them there unprotected, they would redirect at least some if not all the soldiers and mages they would have accompany your group of recruits. Furthermore, there are no roads leading towards the direction Brad is moving towards, so the carts full of supplies and soldiers can't follow Ike directly (at least not without getting frequently delayed) so he would also have to leave some people to protect them.
So I think the most logical thing to do would be to send almost everyone along the road and towards Irine. Ike, Nikolai and Zechariah will take a few recruits (say how many you want and if you want anybody specific (beyond Nikolai's squire) or just nameless mooks) and a water mage and follow Brad. They will use the water mage to stay in contact with Irine and the Headwater by performing the communication ritual at the times they have agreed upon to report on their status and location.
Is everyone OK with this?
((It's been slightly bothering me for at least a year by now - it's 'could have', not 'could had'. They're linked so the second one ought to be written in the infinitive form, like 'could do' instead of 'could did'. To illustrate: 'I do' and 'I can do' in the present, 'I did' and 'I could do' in the past.))
((Wasn't...it always like that o_O Could and had are both double past tense so the tense gets mucked up.))
Theri, Camp Follower in Ike's Army, and San/River/Irine's buddyguard!
Spend my time busying my magic in doing minor stuff--training here, repairs there, some healing here, some testing out better'ing our food supply and such there...
You spend some time experimenting with Light magic. You don't pour too much of your strength into it though, not wanting to risk exhausting yourself or accidentally hurting yourself. You focus your mind on the memory of a beautiful flower and let a bit of magical power seep into those thoughts, focusing on trying to make it appear on your hand. Instead of a flower you get an amazing display of dancing white lights jumping out of your hand. Now that you know how it feels, you try the spell again, this time focusing more on it, giving it more power. The light becomes more colorful, taking on the colors from your memory and the patters of the dancing lights become more intricate, forming twisting lines and exploding into colorful little explosions, like a fireworks show for ants.
Hmm... Maybe you need more training before you can actually summon something. That is, if you
can actually summon anything. As you let the display fade, you are startled by the sound of applause. You look up to find three recruits staring at you. They noticed you experimenting and stayed to watch. It looks like they enjoyed the show.
Your other experimentation goes less than well. You can't seem to be able to apply your magic to anything more than a bit of healing and even that exhausts you. From what you understand of magic in this world, this is not entirely your fault. The flow of Light magic in this place is quite weak, meaning you mostly draw power from yourself and those few others that have flows of Light within them.
With magic out of the question, you fall back to more mundane means of helping others, though you make sure to keep exercising your magic as well.
The Maximus
<Svjoklis, Hull of Maximus>
Continue with my attempts to not bleed out.
You employ one of the oldest methods used by man to heal himself. And, as those very first men found out the hard way, you also find that it's not very effective.
Brian Hoss, hull of the Maximus
: If that guy is still alive, could someone give him this? :
Take off the regen gauntlet and be ready to give it away.
That's a good idea. That thing has stopped most of your bleeding by now, so you bet it would help. Someone just has to bring it to him.
: Aid here. Ready to help that guy. Just, bring him here, because I'm real busy helping prevent our only ride out of here from being exploded. Or get him the gauntlet. Whatever you want, either is fine by me. Not that hard. I bet he would be grateful. Just sayin', it would be mighty nice of you if you could do that. Anyone? Nobody? :I dunno man, they must really not like that guy. That or they didn't read your post.
Kosak Durar:
"Excellent! ... what's a prosthetic?"
Progress on cutting into the ship?
It looks like the Phoenix has moved out of comms range for now.
You're 100% certain your telekinesis is not strong enough to warp the tracks and disabling the motors would only make things worse, since there would be nothing holding the pieces of hull in place and preventing them from moving backwards. The best you can do is activate the locks and hope they manage to engage, but from what you can see only 2 pieces are in an appropriate position for that. You could always send one of your teammates with higher strength down there to warp the tracks or attempt to manually engage the locks and secure the doors in place.
You could go in through the maintenance area beneath the armor pieces (the incomplete reconfiguration has left it partially exposed), enter the cargo area and make your way to the central transport hub (or anywhere else you want) that way. There's the issue of the Phoenix, since the ship can't fit through the maintenance area. Icarus would either have to hide outside until you open a hangar or leave the Phoenix attached to the hull and accompany you inside.
Okay. Lock those two pieces and hope for the best; then head for that opening with anyone who's nearby. Need to move as a group.
John and Kosak (now dragging the semi-conscious Svajoklis with him) swim through the opening left due to the doors being stuck in an in-between configuration. They leave Brian behind, who is still blinding the turret and waving his healing gauntlet at their general direction. They reach the entrance to the maintenance area. From what John remembers, there's a cramped area housing a motor beyond it. They can feel the vibrations of the straining thing through the door.
John uses his ability to unlock the door and Kosak uses his strength to force it open a crack. He waits for a few seconds for the liquid to rush in and the air to escape before opening it the rest of the way. They make their way through the motor chamber and into the control room for the doors, using the same method to open the door there. Beyond the control room is a small airlock that leads to a corridor leading further into the ship. They would have to seal the airlock behind them so that they don't get swept away by the liquid rushing in.
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1144936 times)