TURN SEVEN: THE GEARS OF TIMEThe fire south of Magis dies out after lacking resources to continue burning. Good thing the Magis decided to clear out that space of land next to the wall for building purposes.
Me. I would invent such tools of death
Alex RamanMe. I would invent such tools of death, you think to yourself as you fall unconscious.
You feel a quiet calm fall over you in your land of unconsciousness. A cold calm, actually. You do not fear what will happen to you, nor to your girlfriend, nor anyone else who might be of importance to you.
You only feel cold, and calm. That is all.
Waking up next turn.
"Go away. In too much pain to buy girl scout cookies right now"
Use any methods to stop the bleeding of my arm, and it keep it in a position where it can heal. Do my best to keep the door shut, as I only have enough food and water for one!
You decide to rip a bit of cloth off of the right shoulder part of your shirt and wrap it around the cut part of your arm. It's not very well sanitized, but it is secure and should stop the bleeding.
Cut bandaged.While you do this, you shout
"Go away. In too much pain to buy girl scout cookies right now."Once you accomplish that, you attempt to shift the rock back into a good position. Unfortunately, you jammed the rock into the entrance of the cave and it will not budge. On the other side of the door, an angry
something knocks harder and hisses at you. You back away from the door at this.
Follow the kitten! To the forest! Grab something to use as a walking stick/cane!
Cromwell JacksonYou are unable to find a walking stick for the trip through the town, but you still make it to the edge of the forest. Upon reaching the edge here, you find a sizable branch that serves as an impromptu cane. Behind you, you can hear the cracks of gunshots as the unknown invaders press through the Aecrocian territory. Not knowing what to do, you look around and find nothing of notice except for the forest, with its leaves rustling through the fresh breeze. You spot a girl, seemingly talking to herself, and backing into the forest cautiously, but you are not close enough to see what she is exactly doing. You look down and the kitten has jumped out and is running into the swaying forest.
You are almost pushed over as the breeze suddenly pushes you ever so closer to the forest. You can almost see a lime-colored light pouring out from the deeper reaches of the forest itself. You can hear a faint mew from inside the forest, almost beckoning you inside.
Walk out the emergency door. Head to the boat.
Sigh heavily.
Cecil G. PalmerYour sigh is not heavy enough to satisfy you.
You trudge across the street and get in your car, which has a PDA inside and other assort business-like items, including a list of sponsorship deals and corporate trust offers. It takes you some time to start the car, as you think about what has been set up for you without your notice. Just as if you were a pawn in this sad, sad game called capitalism.
You go into a daze with your melancholy for a while, until you hear a bullet slam through the window and land in the radio. Several more bullets follow, burying themselves within the seats and the windshield.
Time to move, then. You turn on the engine and slam on the pedal, getting the heck out of there. Your escape is successful, save for many bullets being stuck inside your car. You drive around the shore on the side of the volcano opposite from the forest. Fortunately the Magis have not walled this area off, perhaps because it is pretty much pointless because they already walled off the forest area just ahead. You see a wooden boat craft being brought to the shore, and get out of your vehicle. Just as you do this, you hear the beep of a message from the PDA. You look to it and it says:
"I LOVE YOU SON."
"GO."You faintly hear a guard calling to you, urging you to get in the boat.
"Look, trust has to be earned. You're acting like you're a bigger danger to me than whoever these invaders are. Be reasonable with me, and I'll be reasonable with you. Manipulative orders with no explanation are unacceptable, and that's all you've done so far. What is in the forest for me, and why does helping me help you?"
move to the edge of the woods, ready to duck into the trees if someone comes after me, but also ready to dive away from the trees whenever the ghostly individual springs her trap on me.
Lirian"Oh for god's sa-"She stops as you mention "manipulative orders," almost choking on her own words. You turn around and she appears behind you, her eyes less playful and more shallow this time. She hugs herself, as if she is cold.
"Look. You know I am here for a reason, and that reason is that I am here to help you. You talk about trust - well, here's a trust test for you. I can't tell you what's in the forest, but just know that it benefits you. Helping you helps me pick up some broken pieces of reality.""It's your choice. I am here to help you. Trust me." She disappears again, and the breeze picks up, urging you towards the forest. Behind you, you hear scuffling and the mew of a cat. You back away near the edge of the forest, keeping your guard up. The breeze once again urges you into the forest, and you can almost feel the forest itself urging you inside.
Go southwest. Wonder what that was about.
Warren DrakeYou jog southwest at a steady pace, and arrive at the edge of the forest. You hear marching and screaming, which turns your attention towards the sounds. You see about twenty Atisi warriors dead on the ground, with ten civilians being taken prisoner to just about forty invading troops. They wear black and green camouflage uniforms with protective vests and caps with combat goggles. The invading force appears to be made of both men and women. Among the civilians being taken, one of them is unconscious and looks somewhat wounded, although you can't tell his wounds from this distance.
Behind you, a noise is made. Darzenis has followed you here.
"Point. Point to bad people. Forest help then."You feel a strange sensation going through your body, and your vision is tinted green at the corners.
Keep reasonably hidden - hopefully these foreign people have more important things to worry about than me.
Eh AhYou flatten yourself on the stairway leading down to the basement, hoping that the invaders will not see you. Outside you can hear gunshots coming from both your left and right, but eventually the gunshots from the left stop. The firing from the right does not stop for a little while longer, however, and the troops continue their marching. They do not enter the building you are in. Outside, you hear pleads, begging, and crying as Aecrocian citizens who had not left their homes or businesses being pulled out of their houses and told to keep quiet. The marching still goes on, and you think that they are beginning to head to the center of the city.
The voices are very muffled, but you believe you can hear a woman shouting orders. No, not an adult woman, you believe; it sounds younger, like a girl.
To the east coast
Diana CrownWith the guard behind you, you get down to the coast, meeting with your twin brother, who ushers you onto the boat. You look back and see a car driving down the beach, with what appears to be a young Aecrocian boy in there. He seems exhausted: either that, or depressed. Either way, he gets out and looks back inside the car one more time, apparently reading something inside. He pauses for a moment before beginning to walk down the beach at the request of a guard.
You get inside the boat, which is facing the side of the island opposite the setting sun. The dark, purple night crawls up the horizon to meet the blue sky, blending and creating a cool setting. It would be better had not you been forced to leave your life and everything you know behind, at the request of your aunt, who did not even come to say goodbye to you.
Hiss and knock on the door even harder.
Unknown"Go away. In too much pain to buy girl scout cookies right now," is the only thing you hear inside of the cave, other than scuffling and the tearing of cloth. This annoys you, as clearly the occupant of this cave clearly does not understand the true nature of the situation. You knock harder on the door, but the occupant does not react other than moving around a bit more inside of the cave. The blacksmith decides to help.
"Yuri? 's John, I'm in a bit of some trouble 'ere and we be needin' a place for the night. Could yeh please open?"
My apologies, all, I've had a very lively Christmas.
Start organizing, somewhat.
"Anyone with useful information, step forward. This includes war stories about those who attacked our country before that might match this naval bombardment, the supplies in this shelter, the number of people it can sustain, how long, and how many it is currently housing. Naturally, the war stories go in a different group than the logistics. Second, those who know nothing of use be patient and keep distance. A report will be compiled and given within the hour."
Endure the sudden rising shouts of morons who don't comprehend how to form a line.
"FORM A LINE."
Arnequer[9]: Immediately, the thousands of people within the hall form ranks with their families. Several government workers step forward, presumably with information on the stocks of the Hall.
"Currently, 9,877 are sheltered within Summer Hall. As required by the Aecrocian Emergency Procedure, we have enough supplies stocked up to have secure food and drink supplying 10,000 people for two weeks under siege. Basic sleeping mats, changes of clothing, and instructions on what civilians must do are being distributed at this moment. The walls of Summer Hall have been constructed to withstand a large amount of explosive force, and the glass windows have been blocked off with metal barriers."
Several elderly men and women, along with some of the older government officials, step forward and offer their advice. This is their collective information, provided by one of the chief members among them:
"About seventy, maybe eighty years ago, we were invaded by a nation with a sizable fleet, most likely the same nation that is invading us today. They did not have these bombs of death that dropped today, nor did they have such fast-firing guns. Then again, neither did us in Aecrocia. Back then, we still used repeat-firing bows, while the Atisi were unarmed and the Magis used spears. They invaded swiftly and secured the island.
However, something or another happened. Rumor has it that their empire crumbled under economic duress and resource shortage, which weakened their military presence on the island. Military forces from all three cultures on Atis armed themselves and provided coordinated, piercing attacks, and this invading nation's emperor's sister had visited at one point. Atis forces took her hostage and eventually she was released in return for the sovereign status of Atis. It was assumed that the empire simply collapsed as the military force never returned. Until now, that is. We do not know the losses taken yet, but be sure that whoever is leading this new nation is not going to be lenient with us."A defense official steps forward from the group of government workers, conversing among themselves.
"We do have a militia trying to repel the invaders, but it's a vain attempt. Our militia is being pushed far back, and the best they are doing is slowing the attack. The militia is taking heavy losses, and we've heard that the Magis are taking heavy losses also. We have not heard from the Atisi yet; we do not know what happened to their leaders."The civilians begin organizing themselves and government workers start giving out emergency supplies. They all work efficiently and at a good pace. Outside, you can hear the gunfire coming closer and closer to the Hall.
Author's Note: The next turn is most likely the end of Chapter One. As you can see, there are differences in turn lengths for all of you. Some of you only have short descriptions, others (Onyx) have a lot of information to go on. This is mostly due to dialogue.
Also, I decided to show Onyx's roll because it was actually pretty high. He rolled a 6 + 2 + 1 = 9 for all of his modifiers, which was pretty awesome.
Take care, everyone. Have a Happy New Years.