TURN TEN: SUNSET, IS GUD. (*OBLIGATORY "GM IS A FOOL"*)
"Eh Ah, odd jobs, because I couldn't reach a shelter in time."
Hope these answers suffice. Remain calm. Try to remember what it was I actually worked as.
Eh AhYou remain still for a few moments more, unable to read the soldier's expression through his or her visor. Finally, the soldier begins to speak into a headset.
"Scythe One, Scythe Seven. Compound 4A cleared, Scythe Seven moving to Block 026." Now that you have more time to listen, the soldier seems to have a feminine tone in her voice.
The soldier pulls up her visor, revealing washed, sea-green irises. Her eyes are a little puffy, but with resolve. She points towards you and then at the back door, and nods. She pulls down the visor, looks towards the front door, and heads out the back exit without waiting for you.
Throughout this new turn of events, you remember that you used to work at a fish market in northern Aecrocia. It isn't the best paying job, but it does good justice, and you used to meet nice people every day.
I'm not going to be able to sleep for a while anyway, might as well look around.
Circle the shack in slowly expanding circles, never letting it completely leave my sight. Move quietly, and hunt for small game I can bring down with my throwing knives. Avoid anything that would get me wet, but note water sources for later. After I've gotten my bearings, and preferably gotten some food though that part is optional, collect firewood from fallen branches and logs, and take it back to the front of the shack. once I have a decent-size stockpile to work with, start a fire in the shack's fireplace if it has one. if it doesn't, then start it out in front of the doorway, a safe distance from it so it wont catch the shack on fire, but where it will help retain heat in the shack. bank the fire with a couple large logs to help it last the night, and if I managed to catch any small game, then cook and eat it. Once the fire is going, and hopefully while food is cooking, take one of the logs and carve out a bowl with my combat knife. Fill the bowl with snow and place it by the fire to give me water to drink. refill the bowl with clean snow as necessary. after all this is done, THEN I'll sleep. While I work I'll be able to work through my concerns and plan out what my next things to do are, what my options are, and suchlike. Also, remain alert to any... oddities... regarding me and darkness. I mean, I've always had good nightvision, but still...
LirianDeciding not to waste any time lest night fall on you, you set out to carefully explore the area. You take cautious steps in a circle around the shack, looking for anything that may be moving. You are only able to move about fifty meters from behind the shack before the altitude of the mountain sharply increases, making it difficult to see the shack from that point onward.
You begin shifting your movement downhill instead. As you move, you learn that the sack is situated in only a small flat area of about seventy meters in diameter before the hill takes a steeper angle. It sits on one side of a valley, where at the bottom of this valley you find a frozen river. Not a very active water source, but it should work if you are able to find a heat source to melt it with.
You move slowly and stealthily down near the river and finally manage to find something alive: a mink wandering on the opposite side of the river. You take aim with your knife and wait until the mink stops moving for a second.
You're not lucky enough. The knife misses by a few centimeters and merely startles the mink, who promptly escapes. Disappointed, you begin your walk back to the shack, collecting twigs on the way back. There's not many twigs that are dry enough to be properly used in a fire, but you manage to collect a small handful and a half. The sun is over the horizon at this point and night is falling very quickly, so you quicken your pace.
You attempt to hurriedly set up a small campfire near the front of the shack, as there is no chimney to use. Despite your best efforts, the twigs do not light on fire with friction, perhaps because even these twigs are still too wet from the melted snow. With frustration, you collect the twigs and deposit them inside the shack. You make yourself small inside of a corner opposite the windows and doors in the interior of the shack, the weather being very, very chilly and the night dark now.
As you close your eyes and attempt to get some sleep, you hear some light crunching not unlike footsteps somewhere near the shack.
Start baking all the pieces, then boredly shape a golem out of clay.
Rune(Creation of multiple objects in one turn allowed due to proficiency in this affinity.)
Roll for focus (+1) suceeded! 6 + 1 = 7
Domain bonus received for focus! +1
Baking action: 6 + 2 = 8, success
Clay golem: 2 + 3 = 5 -> great quality
You clean up what is left of the pieces of clay and set what has been completed to bake. Simply for entertainment, you begin to mold a little clay golem, which reaches the height of maybe 1/4 of the height of the cave in total. It's a nice creation and doesn't take much effort on your part, allowing you to pass some of the time as the items bake.
Somewhere along the line of creating the golem you begin to nod off and involuntarily decide that now's a good time to take a nap. You fall into the line of cheese, alcohol, and clay for about an hour or two.
When you wake up, it is clearly nighttime, with two of the three moons showing in the night sky. The clay items are now well baked, and the desalination construct's parts are ready. The golem simply stares at you from the other side of the room.
try to keep the soldiers back until the tendrils can get closer
Alex RamanConsidering that you are an Atisi civilian with no combat training against soldiers who probably have had rigorous physical exercise, this seems to be a futile effort.
Struggle, you still do. Like expected, however, the soldiers don't really mind this, as they don't seem to notice the tendrils crawling up from the beach. This struggle does help to fuel your motivation, however, so you continue while stretching one hand out to the ocean. The tendrils start rising faster and faster, climbing higher as time passes on.
After what feels like forever, two tendrils from the rising frost of the ocean break off and suddenly change direction. More specifically,
your direction. You flinch, expecting to have your heart sliced out by the magical forces of ice. In the next moment, you turn around to find that one of the two guards who has been holding you has just been currently impaled by two spikes of ice. He is dead before he even hits the ground. It takes a few seconds for the soldiers to react, but they don't take it very well.
"Man down, man down! Itho Six, take care of him! The rest of you, secure the area and find out what happened!"The tendrils continue rising, restoring your resolve even more.
Attempt to follow the voices. Stealthily.
Warren DrakeThe first few minutes of your attempt to follow the voices do not go so well. Some sort of confusion keeps you from finding the correct path, and you miss some time stumbling around the swamp. This swamp almost seems to be like a stranger to you, wanting to greet you, but not exactly shaking your hand halfway there.
Eventually, the swamp accepts you, just like the forest back at Atis. It opens up a little bit and influences your footsteps, allowing you to find the way to the voices with much more ease.
Time passes, and you eventually reach the end of the swamp and the beginning of the marshland, where you begin to hear voices. The voices, they speak to you, in your head. You can feel the pressure of insanity already cracking your fragile skull...
Nah, not really. It's simply the voices of the strangers that you've been following for the past half hour or so.
"...I bring passport, is official. Cobrastan passport."This throws you off. What is this about a passport?
You keep a safe distance and circle around to the edge of the swamp again, only a bit closer to the voices. You get into line of sight of the speakers.
...A ragged old man, a Magis uniformed soldier, two teenagers in different clothing, and a noble-looking fellow. You can almost hear the others, like a train coming down a tunnel.
Wait a minute, that's not from these strangers. What-
hhhhhhHHHHHEEEEEELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!Dammit, Darzenis.
Pick up the kitten and carry it with me as I head down, following the frozen river.
Cromwell JacksonThe kitten gladly hops into your arms and begins licking his paws contentedly as you begin your walk along the river. Small beads of moisture glisten on the surface of the river, but the ice persists on the river. As you move along, the sun goes down faster and faster, inviting the cold air to rush in quicker. It doesn't help that there's a light breeze to knock the felt temperature down a few notches. It would be really helpful to find shelter soon, as you don't think the kitten could survive the night in this cold. You don't manage to find anything interesting in this valley besides a lot of cones and the sun setting beyond the horizon.
Just as your eyes grow heavy with sleepiness, your kitten decides that now would be a good time to interrupt your near-sleepwalk with a small growl. It honestly sounds more like a purr due to the kitten's small size and cute demeanor. You heed his advice and hide behind a nearby tree.
About a hundred meters ahead, you find a girl searching for something in the ground and muttering silently to herself. Suddenly, she looks around, as if she's been alerted, but doesn't appear to notice you. She picks up an armful of twigs and begins heading up the hill. You look up the hill and find a small run-down building that she is walking to at this moment. You decide to follow her cautiously, seeing that it's the only available shelter in the area. You don't go anywhere near the shack yet, however, deciding that it might be good to not startle her yet.
You stay about a hundred or so meters away, crouched down near a large tree that your kitten has huddled himself in.
Find something to hide behind, with the crossbow with reach. If the person comes down and is obviously an enemy, fire off a bolt and charge with my sword.
UnknownYou flatten yourself against the wall below the stairway, hiding in the shadows with the crossbow in hand. Whoever was upstairs is now proceeding down the stairway.
"Thine Team, Patrol Five. Another Magis guard has been dispatched, moving down the guar-"As soon as he rounds the corner, you immediately identify him as one of the invading soldiers. Without hesitation, you aim the crossbow and fire a bolt directly into his right arm, forcing him to drop the rifle and yelp out in pain. With a clean and swift movement, you pick up the sword and slice it across his upper body, cutting several major organs. He spends several moments choking on his own blood before finally succumbing to death.
You look on his body for anything useful, finding a radio, his rifle and ammo, his helmet/headset, body armor, and a dagger. He doesn't have anything else of worth on him.
You don't hear anyone nearby upstairs, though his call on the radio might attract attention.
"Well, politicians certainly have a place: serving the people. They just seem to have trouble remembering where it is and need the occasional rebellion to put them back on track. Would you like to meet here, or perhaps at another landmark? I could leave you waiting for a day or perhaps two. Red tape can tie hands for an annoyingly long time."
ArnequerSeira contemplates what you say for a small amount of time.
"Hmm.. interesting. If you do indeed wish to meet again instead of another representative, I would prefer to meet on the LES Typhon, though I understand that may be too much security for the situation. Very well then, the Atis Government Complex near the bay shall suffice. I will only remain on this island as long as my military needs to... integrate the island of Atis into the Empire. I do welcome these meetings, Vice Admiral. If we-"She is interrupted by one of her guards. She takes on an expression of irritation very quickly, turning to one of her officers.
"Aleitha! Myrth! Establish contact with Teams Thine and Itho! I expect an incredibly well thought-out excuse as to why they have not retrieved the captives from Sectors Beta and Cyte. Move!"She takes one last look at you and waves one of her guards to escort you back to Summer Hall, taking off promptly.
The guard motions for you to start moving back to the Hall. Behind the guards, the Empire forces begin mobilizing once again.
Cecil G. Palmer, Diana Crown, and Jorji ConstanzaThe three of you, along with Diana's brother and the Magis guard, begin to get to know each other quite well during the calm evening. The Aecrocian-Magis party learns that Jorji is from the country Cobrastan and apparently has traveled here with a passport, apparently to go back to his home country of Cobrastan. They aren't really sure why he brought the bag of plant material, but Jorji reassures them that it's nothing.
Meanwhile, Jorji learns that the four of them are magical warriors from the far-off land of Atis, coming to save Cobrastan from the evil Kolechia. The middle-aged male is a prince of high esteem, and the guard is a guard. The two youngest of the four are apparently to be married, although they do not show too much enthusiasm for it.
Curse the Kolechians, messing with the Atis childrens' weddings. Someday, they will pay.
Eventually, the sun disappears beyond the horizon, and Jorji kindly takes apart his own raft for wood and cloth supplies. The five of them stay near the boat, as that is their only shelter at the moment. The waves aren't too high and the breeze is only light, though it is very chilly. The two moons of the night appear one after the other, providing a bit of dim light to see.
Notes: Had to redo this due to my unfortunate lack of foresight. And browser problems. But mostly lack of foresight.
Other than that, this update pretty much explains itself. Military is mobilizing on Atis and a new land is yet to be explored.
Goodnight and have fun.
-Artemis