((What weapon do they (mostly) carry?))
I go to Artemis's car, get in a back passenger seat, and sleep.
((I am assuming it's nearly morning. Lirian is shifting her sleep schedule to a mostly-nocturnal one.))
((Whoops, should've specified that. I edited the guards' description with relevant information.))
LirianSeeing no purpose in sticking around for much longer, you walk toward the front of the convoy. Diana seems to be checking some things in her bag at the moment. She lets you know that she'll be coming to the car in a few minutes. The convoy appears to be made up of two military trucks, an armed military transport car, and two sleek, dark-colored cars in the lead. The one in front, a black luxury car, is the one that Artemis is standing beside. Just as he said, he is conversing with two other people. The other two are not dressed like the guards, but one - the brown-haired woman - has a precision bolt-action rifle slung on her back while the dark-haired man has a carbine rifle that is similar in appearance to the ones used by the normal soldiers. However, the man's carbine is distinctly shorter and has a different magazine than the one equipped on the normal rifles. Artemis sees you as you approach and cuts off his speech. He turns his view back to the other two and motions toward you.
"She plans to accompany us on our mission. Lirian, these are two of my associates: Sir Walter Reio and Ceturtai Sarine Avon. Avon, Reio, this is Lirian." Sir Reio gives you a simple nod of greeting; the woman falls on the side of being skeptical of you. She sizes you up and says nothing in greeting.
Artemis addresses you directly now.
"Walter and Sarine are two of the better soldiers in my personal command. They are loyal, precise, and clean about what they do. Hopefully, you'll be working with them - along with some others - when we start the operation." You tell Artemis that you're ready to leave.
"You're welcome to wait in the car. I still have some things to discuss with the soldiers before we load the trucks completely and leave." Letting your fatigue rule over your decisions, you enter the car and close the door behind you. The car looks as if it could carry five people in seated positions. The seats are quite comfortable; there's enough room for you to stretch out across the seats in a prone position, and the seats themselves seem to have linen covers. You make yourself comfortable and lie down in a sideways fashion - that is, your eyes face the front of the car instead of its ceiling. Your sword is on the floor of the car. This arrangement allows you to easily grab your sword and get out of the car if necessary.
With this comfortable arrangement, you let your exhaustion take over and bring you into that other world of dreams and fantasy - the very same world that offers you your only mode of communication with the ghost girl, Danielle.
You blink once, then twice. You expected to be met with a flood of light from the sun overhead, but you are instead washed over by the faint glow of the moon. Oddly enough, there are no stars in the sky that you can see. In the distance, you can see the faint glow of the volcano, signaling to you that you are indeed where you need to be. You look down and find the same pattern of flowers and grass at your feet. You're in the meadow next to Danielle's town. This is a change, however. In every past encounter with Danielle, the sun was out and shining brightly. Now, she seems to have arranged for a sort of simulation of the night. A slow breeze flows through the landscape, chilling the air just a bit.
You can't see Danielle yet. Her little outdoor table is still there, but she is not present.
Eh Ah
Consider the way each of the unresponsive individuals is facing. Is it in a particular direction shared by them all, as if they were looking at something in particular? Can I tell?
Perhaps approach an Imperial patrol and offer an introduction, then ask more about the city. They would probably be in the know about these strange people.
Eh AhFrom what you saw, they weren't all looking in the same direction. The only common aspect of their directions lies in the fact that they weren't staring at walls, corners, or floors. Essentially, they all were staring at either a space or the open air. They don't seem to be looking at any particular object, part of a building, or other feature.
It doesn't take you long to find a Theyin patrol, made up of two men and a woman. They seem a bit surprised to find you here, which hints to you that the entire kingdom may in fact be devoid of civilians. You tell them that you are Eh Ah, and that you are a surveyor of sorts under the Empress herself. The woman steps forward, nods to you, and says,
"We were informed just this morning that you might be around here. I am Sergeant Margaret White. What can we do for you?" She speaks with an authoritative tone and a regular cadence. You ask for what she knows about the kingdom's situation and the strange appearance of the despondent civilians.
"Ah, the kingdom," she begins.
"I was just recently assigned to this sector of the island, so I can't give you too much information, unfortunately. But I do know that it's been almost completely vacated. When the eruption of the volcano happened, the Empress' forces were forced to retreat from the inner portion of the kingdom. When it was safe to come back, we found that the royal family's castle was completely abandoned. There were only a few civilians left over; we weren't able to get any information regarding the whereabouts of the majority of the population. Over the course of the next few days, there was an abrupt change. I was not deployed to this sector yet, but there were reports of some odd creatures roaming the kingdom. Come morning, several civilians were found to be unresponsive. Alive, but unconscious, in a way. Some were brought to Aecrocia to be examined by the medical ward. Our job here is to secure the area, find any evidence we can of any diseases, attacks, or other events, and bring that to the forces in Aecrocia."
Warren Drake
"Shadows. Uh-huh. So... these other guys, they're close by? I already met a weird possibly magical girl whose home this is, but I take it she's not who I'm looking for."
Warren rubs his temples contemplatively.
"Who are the others? Are they people I will regret meeting?" He pauses. "Hell, are they actual people? Actually, maybe tell me on the way. I get the feeling I won't like your answers in any case, so might as well get moving now."
Move out if reptilian familiar wants to. Maybe introduce him to the girl if she's around. Otherwise maybe leave a note that I'm off to do destiny shenanigans and thanking her for the fruit.
Also stuff face with as much dried fruit as possible before leaving.
Warren Drake"Yesss!" Darzenis says before pausing.
"Well, no. Ehh, maybe.. I only know where they might be. Not exactly sssure, but it'ss better than - wait, you found a Guardian? Where iss ssshe?" The frenetic lizard paces around the room and looks around you, trying to see if you're hiding someone behind you. Finding nothing, he looks up to you and waits for a response.
"Nonono. Yess, they are humanss, like you! Nothing to worry about. But where iss thiss Guardian friend of yourss?" You exit the den and peer outside, looking for the girl who so interests Darzenis. As it happens, she appears to be returning now from, what you assume, was a foraging trip. She has a large basket in hand, filled nearly to the brim with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. She sees you at the entrance and waves to you with her free hand. She seems to become a little bit confused when she sees Darzenis next to you, but doesn't hesitate to approach.
"Hi!" she exclaims with a cheery tone.
"I hope you slept well. Who's this, er, friend of yours?" She looks down at Darzenis. Darzenis, however, chooses to look up at you.
"Iss sshe a Guardian? Doess sshe have powerss? Assk her!" Darzenis circles around the girl, brushing his tail against her leg lightly. She lifts her foot and laughs.
"He seems very friendly. Is he your pet?"
((Is this still accepting players? I've a mind to make a character for this if so. Not quite sure what, but it involves ... teeth. Lots of teeth.))
Yes, actually. I haven't really
stopped taking characters at any recent point, so if you know anyone who'd be interested, I'm also willing to welcome anyone into the story. I'm excited to see what you've got.
If you have any questions about the story itself, characters, character creation, mechanics, or anything else at all, please ask and I'll be happy to answer. Most relevant information should be located in the OP regarding character creation (not sure if some stuff is outdated. If it is, let me know).
If you need to, take your time in creating your character. There's no real rush, and there'll probably be a little bit of wait while I sync your character to the story.
((What am I doing? I think I was killing guards. Was I killing guards? Or was I talking to guards. Or the army. Or was I.... (Continues prattling on for hours on end)))
The Intermission gives you a summary of everything that your character has done/interacted with up to this point. Most recently, you were talking to the guards. They informed you that you could go ahead and retrieve some personal belongings from your tunnels before they would go in and secure the tunnels for the Empire's uses. You have an hour or a few to collect your items. The guards are from the Theyin Empire, not the Magis Kingdom or any other native authority. You don't seem to recognize any of them. They don't seem to be willing to budge on the issue; you're either going to have to accede and move out, or take action to resist them. Of course, if you resist with your golems, that'll put your work in jeopardy.
It's your decision as to how you will handle them.
For reference, here is (what I believe is) the latest response to your most recent action.
Alex shivered as he felt the cold air pass by him. He quickly stood up, while remaining focused on the loudspeaker. He was interested in what was happening. Try to find a blanket or jacket, while listening to the loudspeaker.
Alex RamanThere aren't many supplies to speak of in the garage. You already inspected it and could not find anything really of use. You're forced to brave out the weather and venture out to try and make sense of the situation. The loudspeaker, you reason to yourself, would probably be the best source of information right now. The echoes of the loudspeaker off the walls of the town make it difficult to discern individual words, but you get a sense of the overall message. The town's administration is telling people to evacuate the town; the military is bringing in reinforcements to secure the area and to combat the strange threat that appeared in the middle of the night. Medical units are also being moved to the town to help in dealing with the casualties. The announcer on the loudspeaker once again stresses the importance of evacuating the area before the message cuts off. Ten seconds pass before the message loops over.
Excluding the loudspeaker, the area around you appears to be calm. The wind snakes around the town and drops the temperature, causing you to hug your body tighter and to exhale with uncertainty. You peer around the side of the building and find that the garage merges with a street that extends both to the left and the right. A row of poorly-maintained houses stands in front of you and matches the curve of the road. Not a single living soul appears to be on this street right now. However, you can hear one or two voices in the far distance. The good news is that you don't hear any monsters, such as the ones that were roaming the streets and attacking people. The bad news, however, is that you have no orientation, low confidence in your own power, and are wounded currently.