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Stitia - Chapter Two: Eternal Night (Now Closed For New Characters Except to Returning Players)
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(I'll head to the abandoned fort.)
Out of nowhere, you hear a voice of an innocent looking male elf from the stairs. "Hey, boss. It okay if I come down for a drink?"
Wosy sighs. "I'll make it for ya and have Goldilocks leave it on your windowsill. For now, stay in your room!"
"Okay sir! I'm heading back! I'll take a Dwarven Daybreak, heavy on the Dwarven Cream!" The figure then scampers back upstairs
. "It's one in the morning you bloody dunce! Your shift starts in six damn hours, why ya want coffee?!"
"Please?"
"Bloody 'ell..."
Wosy claps twice, and from upstairs sprints a grey haired male figure about eight feet tall, with alchemist's supplies, a raven mask, and a full leather body suit. His voice is way too high pitched, his British accent not helping anything. "Yes, Master?"
"Coffee's on you. Dwarven Daybreak, heavy cream."
"Righty, sir!"
They'll set off to make the elf's order, and Wosy shakes his head. "Now, as I was sayin'... wait… what was I sayin'?"
"You were going to establish communications, perhaps?" Otaimo replies.
"Oh yeah, that."
After a moment, you hear a deep, abyssal voice ring in your head, demonic to extremes and somewhat draconic. "So… is this working?"
"Um… well…" Pathos responds, shuddering a little. "Yes… but… what's with your voice?"
"It's always been like this."
"You sound like you're going to slaughter all of us for fun."
"Consider it motivation then… if the bar gets destroyed, all of you get eaten by the big, hungry demon dragon…"
“Considering you’re the main person defending it,” Onaeca protests, “that doesn’t seem right.”
“I’m pulling your tail,” Wosy reassures, chuckling. “However, if any of you don’t pull your weight, you’d best watch your back.”
“Have you any idea where our enemy will be stationed?” Otaimo has no room for nonsense.
“Yes, but I’m not finished being intimidating!”
“Then speak. Impatient, I have become. Blood, my blade craves. I require retribution…”
“Try not to cut yourself on that edge there, Sasuke.”
“Try not to slip on that tongue, curr.”
“Ahem!” Pathos clears his throat. “If this is really happening, then it’s an urgent matter. Give our men and women their intel so they can get on their way before I’m the one that has to put my foot down. You may run the bar, but I run this operation…”
“Go ahead. Why don’t you make sure I’m on the floor so you can step on me while you’re at it?”
“Oh, good grief,” Onaeca reacts, facepalming.
“Let’s be serious for once, Wosy,” Pathos warns. “We just watched Sprot die to protect us. I won’t be sitting idle any longer than necessary. Now, give us that intel.”
"Aight… aight. Intel suggests they captured the militia base to the west and are using it t'stage their little operation. If you don't know where it is, you'll know it by the decorations; there's a lot of red flags."
"Like?"
"I… made a pun, Pathos… there's literally red flags everywhere there."
"...oh."
"Counterattackers… we can't save everyone. Your priority is to get the forces headed towards the bar. Without it, we're very well screwed."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Onaeca begins, "but can't we do this thing without it?"
"Nope." Wosy corrects her. "See, this is the best place for us. It's a public location, but there aren't any people that come here that'd have a good reason to talk. The bar falls, and we have to choose either a highly conspicuous location or risk having one of our private hideouts exposed. And if one hideout falls, the rest become more vulnerable."
"Damn… I didn't think you'd actually think that through."
"This place is me pride and joy. I'm thankful everyday that Pathy here fixed it up for me."
“Alright, got it… don’t let the bar fall.”
“So… no intel on the building… only a direction to go…” Otaimo ponders. “May we hope we can find this place…”
“Well, splendid… that took much less time than expected.”
You and Otaimo arrive near the building after a relatively short search, spying from a rooftop about two miles away.
“Strange… activity is a bare minimum. Ex-treeemely light on patrols, yet I haven’t seen anyone on streets. I smell a rat.”
It takes a bit, but a few soldiers gather outside around a fire. Otaimo sends out a small, spiritual psuedodragon to spy on them, and you can look through its senses to see the conversation. They're making pottage and drinking cheap ale as they speak to one another.
"So… how's the plants been since Arne arose as god?" One says to another.
"More fruitful than ever!" They reply lively. "It seems as though they're growing better than they ever were, even before the sun went out!"
"Hmph," a paladin within the group clears their throat and readies his spear. "With that attitude, it sounds like you're doubting his aptitude…"
"No! No! Not at all!" The first person responds.
"Then apologize."
"A pity," Otaimo says to you, "for even the smallest seed of doubt is considered heresy. What a twisted world… come. Let us release them from their mortal shackles."
Otaimo will guide you through a rooftop approach, holding his shimmering katana in his hand. Inky shadow traces a short line behind it as it glows crimson, and you think you hear it humming. The approach takes some time, but once you're near, you find an excellent vantage point to scout entry plans.
"Back to telepathy," Otaimo warns. "Our methods of entry seem obvious; path one, we dive from here into the center. Least expected, but most likely to get us surrounded. Option two, the main entrance. There is vulnerable path there, where we can ambush the guards and enter." You hear a clicking, but can't tell where from below it's coming from. "Option three, we go in the rear. They're well protected, but if we're quick enough, we can make our entry. Option four-"
You hear six explosions, and suddenly find yourselves in the path of cannon blasts as a war horn is blown below. Dozens upon dozens of soldiers come out from their quarters, and it's apparent they're ready for you as the fireballs draw near.
Create a card that can deal with at least two Blastfire Bolts, either by neutralizing the spell or the negative effects against you. The target is 8 points.
As you approach the capital city, you realize that, while Onbay was quite modest, Ebon seems somewhat prosperous, a proper city rather than a small town. Images of the Six can be seen in the walls, the halls, and everywhere around. Outside of the six official shrines, there is a church for every mile. However, while you might expect a city of faith and devotion to be happy, cheerful, and bright, this city seems to have seen its fair share of wear, and is worn by what must have been a recent riot. While there are no bodies left over, there’s abandoned signs, broken pitchforks, and on the street you take to enter, a burning wagon. You hear a beeping coming from the wagon, and when you approach, you notice it’s from a strange device. In order to loot the wagon, you have to move the device, and doing so causes it to fall over and play an audio recording. Apparently, whoever owned this was quite high in society; recording devices such as these, even one as bulky as this, are excruciatingly expensive.
Transcript
This message sounds urgent, and the wagon seems to have crashed quite recently. Will you investigate?
Cthylla chooses to investigate the lead
#StitiaQueue
Choy https://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/comment/206546/#Comment_206546
The zombies attack you, but it's to no avail. You can dispatch them without hassle, and before you know it, you're back to looting. As you dig through the wagon you come across-
"Not… living…"
You turn, and see that there is a third zombie, but this one seems to be a mage…
"Inorganic… surrender yourself to destruction."
Suddenly, the other zombies rise back up and attack, and they're keeping you from attacking the necromancer.
Create a card that can deal with Zombie Master outside of combat. The target score is 8 points.2
Whether you gather your belongings now or not, you're able to get to the door of this room without drawing any attention. However, the door is magically locked. You'll either need to pick it well, disenchant it, or break down the door.
Create a card that can deal with the magical lock, demonstrating (in flavor) the unlocking of the door, the destruction of the door, or the disenchantment of the lock. The target score is 7 for the destructive method and 9 for nondestructive methods.
Also, prepare for how you're going to escape. Here's some things to consider:
What will you do? Options include, but are not limited to:
Your prompt: https://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/comment/201271/#Comment_201271
“Ladies, gentlemen… this is our newest recruit, Akira… and who I think is the best fit for this task force.”
“Ah, another fine warrior,” the leonin speaks. His voice is rather clear for a catfolk, seemingly more human in nature, except for that natural deepness most leonin seem to have. “Nice to meet you, Akira. I’ve heard stories of you, and I must say I am quite pleased to have you on our team.” He extends his hand to shake, smiling brightly. “I’m Terzoth of the Sunfeld Pride.”
“Hmm… I think we could have used someone more suitable for range,” the wizard complains, “but we’ll take any help we can get.”
“You complain too much,” the rogue spits out. “Even that nerd would have been better than nothing. Anyways, I’m Aelith, an operative from the Coven of Aranis. A pleasure.”
“Nailik,” the cleric tells you.
“I am Bronzewick,” the last folk, a barbarian, informs you. “You will make a fine addition, assuming you can hold your own in a fight.”
“I’ve seen it firsthand,” Pierre enlightens them. “She can hold her own quite well.”
“Excellent… his word is better than anyone else’s here.”
“You flatter me.”
“Anyways, with introductions out of the way, I shall fill you all in. Indie Squad, your next mission is as follows. We are looking for a new barracks to store supplies for an upcoming mission, as well as any spoils we might acquire from it. Ever heard of Roojkaa Dahm?”
Most shake their heads, but the wizard speaks. “Back when I was learning magic, I heard stories of it. It was supposedly a hotspot for mages all over the kingdom of Descour.”
“Correct. While pretty much the entire kingdom is gone, the dam, for the most part, still stands. We sent a reconnaissance crew to investigate, and they found an inert teleportation circle there. If we could reactivate it, that could give us easy access to a massive building to store soldiers, munitions, and other resources in. It’s in the middle of nowhere and stands high above the ground, which means that it’s both difficult to find and difficult to attack. However… there are hostiles located inside, so sending a simple task force won’t do. We want you to eliminate all threats, secure the dam, and reactivate the teleportation circle inside. I wish I had more intel, but unfortunately, our recon team went silent shortly after discovering the circle… whatever’s in there is dangerous, but we don’t know what.”
“Seems simple enough,” Aelith responds.
“Obviously, reactivating the circle will have to fall on me,” the wizard says, huffing. “I’m Turof, by the way.”
“You seem too sure, Aelith,” Nailik warns. “We don’t know what we’re up against here or whether or not they have reinforcements.”
“We can deal with them,” Terzoth affirms, placing his hand on your back and Bronzewick’s.
“Don’t. Be. So. Sure. Death is a very imminent threat.”
“And so? You can bring us back,” Bronzewick objects.
“He has a point,” Pierre supports. “In fact, there’s plenty of people here that can.”
“You act like death is such a little thing,” Nailik retorts. “With every life wasted, the soul is weakened, and magic that could be used for more fruitful endeavors is lost.”
“A necessary sacrifice, unfortunately. As for infil and exfil, we have a small airship we can fly in and out, but we can’t keep it within the area. We’ll have to fly in, drop you off, and keep a safe distance. We’ll be providing you with flare guns; they’re a fairly new invention. You can shoot them into the sky to signal you’re ready to leave, or, in case of emergency, use them as weapons. Anyways, you’ll have eight hours to prepare. I’ll see you at the staging area.”
You have eight hours to do as you please. What will you do, if anything?
You got - Flare Gun
This comes with one round, already loaded. You can use this to send a flare into the sky for assistance, or, if faced with a challenge, you may fire it at an enemy to blind them and have a chance at defeating them.
https://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/comment/201271/#Comment_201271
Burning Mad
Cthylla
Cthylla stared at the Zombie Master, a look of fear in her eyes. "Oh... oh no... what do I do what do I do..." Cthylla muttered to herself, trying to figure out a plan before it gets unleashed again. Suddenly, something pops into her mind... a distant memory, perhaps?----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dagon sat by his abode on the small, golden "terrance" that constituted his garden. The ancient beast stared out at the vast, overgrown ruins of R'leyh, admiring the orange tinge of the sunset. He has seen the sun set and rise billions of times, and yet he is always amazed by it. Then, he can hear a faint Clank! behind him. He smells the air. Rot.
"You scum never learn, do you?" Dagon growled, turning his massive form towards the small zombie that had approached him. "Now, to think of what to do to you..."
He turns to see two small, glowing, lizard-like creatures. He smiles as a plan forms in his head. " These ignets over here breed in the hot embers left by wildfires. The ash from your rotten flesh will be the perfect substitute." Dagon outstretches his arm and lets loose a small spark, which catches the zombie ablaze.
Dagon picks up the burning zombie and moves it over to the ignets, who leap into the now exposed chest cavity. The zombie collapses.
Dagon smiles. "Fits that abomination right"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cthylla snapped to focus, her chest glowing with energy. She conjures a small flame in her hand before throwing it at the Zombie Master. A glowing crack formed in the ground, and from it came an ignet, a small, lizard-like elemental, its reddish-black body glowing with the same yellow-orange light as Cthylla's own. "Looks like I'm not the one getting destroyed today" Cthylla smugly said.
"I appreciate your bravery, I very much do, as well as your concern for your liege. This won’t be a one man mission though… so as such I’ll gather some less… hairy men and women to aid you. You’ll be rewarded quite handsomely, but under one condition… for everyone one of the units I send to aid you that dies, your reward will be cut 10%. I’m thinking… 10,000 G to start, and maybe a couple things from my hoard to sweeten the deal. Sound fair?”
“Akira… if you do not mind me bothering you, I’d like to apologize to you. I’m sorry if I upset you earlier… it was quite inconsiderate what I said. Quite frankly I should be incredibly thankful you’re part of the team.”
Whether you accept the apology or not, he’s on his way directly afterwards so you can finish practicing alone.
The Eighth Hour…
As you arrive at the staging area, your airship awaits you, and it’s quite a marvel. Crafted of metal and harnessing experimental technology, this thing can fly extremely fast, though it’s small, only able to hold the six of you plus three crew members. Everyone except Terzoth is already there, chit chatting with each other and Pierre.
“Ah! Just in time;” Pierre greets you.
“Just in time to kick some heads in,” Bronzewick gleefully exclaims.
“Careful Bronzewick,” Nailik recommends. “We may be able to settle this nonlethally. Perhaps whoever is in there would be willing to cooperate with us.”
“Nailik, a brief reminder of the mission area,” Turof begins. “Roojkaa Dahm is in Descour. If anything remotely humanoid was responsible for the death of our reconnaissance team, it was likely undead.”
“Correct,” Aelith confirms. “I’ve been along a trade route there once, and my caravan was ambushed by raiders, yes… but they were all skeletons.”
“Speaking of skeletons and crews, we’re still short someone. Where’s Terzoth?”
“Probably stuffing his gullet again… or asleep.”
“How do you think he manages to keep off any fat with how much he eats and sleeps?”
“Trust me,” Pierre answers. “Someone like him needs both the food and the rest to keep up with the physical demands of their job. With great strength comes a greater need for energy, and he has to get it somehow.”
“All things considered;” Nailik responds, “he eats less than Bronzewick.”
“Now, little one,” Bronzewick says as he turns to the kobold, towering over the little guy.
“I take that back! I take that back!”
“Good.”
Pierre shakes his head. “I will give 15 minutes for him to arri-”
Suddenly, the door from inside the base to the airship staging area bursts open, and Terzoth has his armor in one hand and an almost comically oversized tuna sandwich in the other. “I sincerely apologize, my comrades. I appear to have spent too long in the dining hall.”
“I must give him credit. You’ve gotta be pretty strong to carry an adamantine plate with one hand.”
“It doesn’t even protect his arms,” Aulith corrects him.
“His… physique makes providing him with proper armor a pain. I have come across some extremely powerful warriors, but Terzoth is a different breed.”
“Gee, thanks,” Turof drones. “We know. Leonin are strong. No need to rub it in.”
“Don’t allow yourself to be downed by my physical prowess,” Terzoth says. “Each and every one of you is a strong link in this team; we each have strengths and weaknesses to tend to. I may be strong, yes, but I can’t use a lick of magic, or a bow for that matter.”
“I can kill fairly well and sneak around,” Aelith adds, “but I can’t take a hit very well.”
“There is much wisdom in your words, Terzoth,” Nailik finally mentions. “I myself take pride in my ability to heal and protect, but killing… well, that is more suited for you five.”
“Point taken,” Turof accepts. “I can do what’s needed, but I have to keep people at range. Yes, I can take up fists, but not nearly as well as… well, most of you actually.”
“I smash and kill,” Bronzewick declares. “I have been on a spiritual journey for some time now, but I feel I’ve found my purpose already; I use my expertise in combat to protect those that cannot protect themselves.”
“A valiant cause I vow myself to as well, Bronzewick,” Terzoth compliments. “Now, let us be on our way.”
“You’re the one that held us up, but alright,” Turof groans out.
“It’s not the best, but I’ve made a map for us,” Aelith notifies you and the group. “This is kind of what to expect.”
“We had hastily prepared this together,” Pierre adds. “I can’t even draw a straight line; my skill with straight lines comes in cutting them through my foes in battle. Anyways, there are five sectors of this city; to the north is Nethla Ka, home to the main industrial district. To the south is Sethla Ka, the residential district. To the east is Lifalla Ka, where the main market was settled, and to the west is Lifrisla Ka, where their farms were once located. In the center is the city center, Korala Ka, where many aristocrats and bureaucrats remained, and where city hall, Sertra Merus, was. Additionally, to get deeper into the dam, there may be other access points, but Sertra Merus contains lifts to the lower levels. They should be operable. As for the location of the circle… our team was lost before we could determine that.”
“Great… a witch hunt,” Turof mutters. “And we have several miles we’ll have to cover…”
“The recon team should have left markings along the path. Once you find where they start, finding the circle shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Now… everyone ready? Everyone have everything they need?”
“MINIONS! SAVE ME! KILL INORGANIC! KILL! KIIIIIiiiilll…”
The bitter necromancer falls apart, collapsing into a pile of ash. You find yourself surrounded by zombies, but you’re able to make quick work of them, then finally get inside the wagon to claim your prize…
You get the following items:
As you slip in, you see the outlines of what was once here. The closed gate, dragons and warriors, structurally sound walls... and traces of a viashino gang visiting. However, you can easily slip in undetected, and while you end up accidentally passing through one, they're too oblivious to notice. You can take a moment to scout things out, and try to nab some of the items in here...
You found:
Scoring details: 8.5/10