Jack Jason - Oregon Rex
One of the Oregon Rex's passengers was not exactly defenceless. The cannon damaging the ship has caused worry to those nearby him but this man was ready to enter the fray. There were some odd looks of Jack bringing out two magnetic pistols, weapons that should not work outside the Bright Republic but he's ready to fight with them none the less.
Getting to an area on the ship where Jack could get a clear enough shot, he fired both of his handguns at once at the soldiers. Despite all doubts, the guns are able to fire bullets with no problem. The cannon was the biggest problem right now, so Jack felt like he should get rid of that first, he drew out 2 gifts. The Storm Breaks to remove it before he truly joins the fight and Bolt of Invincible Skill so he does as much damage as he can to it.
(1d20+4 to hit steampunk cannon, result = 10)
Edited by JustaUsername on Jan 2nd 2019 at 9:22:44 PM
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
Catra - In Petra's ship cabin
Catra's ears flicked at the sound of weapons firing. She lifted her head, looking around the small but well appointed cabin. Catra had been sleeping in a bundle of blankets on the floor, underneath the hammock containing her sleeping friend Petra. With a yawn, Catra stood up and stretched, then reached over to try to shake her friend awake. "Hey, Petra... I heard a cannon fire, and sounds like some sort of smaller explosions... you might want to go see what's going on."
Edited by Nodrog on Jan 1st 2019 at 11:27:33 AM
Fwomph
Savona Docks, Kasir trading vessel
Petra woke quickly with the cannon shot but it took a few moments for her to get in the right headspace and get out of bed. It was clear that something was going down and as much as she didn't want to get involved it was probably a good idea to find out what was happening and whether she should run for cover or talk things down. But the first step was to get out of bed, give Catra a silent thumbs-up and walk blearily on-deck and onto the dock to check the situation.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Quarry
Anastasia wasn't quite sure how she ended up here. Somehow or another, she was surrounded by slaves in togas who were fighting against well armed soldiers. She knew not of their lives and had little reason to care about their individual struggles, yet... an opportunity to test out her abilities had presented itself. If she offered aid to these people, surely they would pay her back with loyalty in return. A goddess could always use some followers, after all.
She approached some of the toga clad slaves.
"I don't know who you people are, but you're going to need powerful weaponry to defeat your enemies."
To demonstrate her power, she created weapons out out of the ground they walked over. Ten Thousand Tools made this a swift process, and 'Transmutation allowed her to create the requesite materials needed. A bow, a rapier, an armor, and a large axe. Simply by looking at them, any laymen could tell it had power weapons from an ordinary craftsmen or blacksmith didn't possess thanks to Perpetual Perfection'. All this from someone who wasn't even wearing armor, yet didn't seem to be concerned about her safety.
"What say you?" Anastasia smirked, clearly enjoying an opportunity to show off. "There's more where that came from. Come, take my arms and lay waste to these fools."
Not the most inspiring call to battle, but she somehow said it with some degree of charm. Maybe.
Edited by HilarityEnsues on Jan 2nd 2019 at 12:08:15 PM
Catra waited till Petra had left the room and then, with a smirk, climbed into the still warm hammock and pulled Petra's blanket over her. She didn't know what all the noise was, but hopefully it would be enough to keep Petra distracted from demanding her life long friend and room mate tag along.
Knight Cheesebeam
Qianzhang - Sinkova walls
Qianzhang gazed intently at the imposing stone wall, hands folded behind his back. He had already deduced its function; probably to keep filth of some form within and deter nosy outsiders. Given that the immediate area was also emptied, something very taboo was afoot. All that was left is to find a way inside.
The front door was not going to open any time soon, given the chaos taking place, and he lacked the might to pry the iron gates open. The most likely method was to go above. The surrounding farms may not have a twenty foot tall ladder to scale the walls with, but there may still be something a bit of ingenuity can make use of.
After a bit of searching, Qianzhang "borrowed" a large linen sheet without many holes, and wrapped it around his arms such that it largely hanged behind him. Qianzhang positioned himself a decent distance away from the Sinkova gate, began running and invoked Windsinger to summon a powerful updraft that hopefully would carry him above the walls.
Timers to measure time, thermometers to measure thermomets, mometers to measure mom, and measuring containers to measure measurements.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Zinyan - Sinkova
If there was one thing Zinyan didn't like, it was something verbally, or physically, telling him where he could and could not go. So, these walls, it seemed, were going to be a problem for him in the immediate future.
Zinyan had been walking a straight path for what felt like a day and a half, and yet he didn't feel too tired and exhausted. He didn't question where this power came from, but he did enjoy the fact that it allowed him to rip off a great beasts head very little effort.
Zinyan was a man of simplicity, it seemed.
He looked up at the massive wall standing before him and his path. Again, he had to admire the craftsmanship and the fact how it wasn't about to stop him any time soon. Besides, from the scuffle on the other side of the wall, it sounded like there was a fight being held.
And if there was a fight being had, Zinyan wanted to be a part of it.
So, pulling his arm back and clenching a fist, he felt whatever strange energy now coursed through his body and swung his fist as hard as he could, shattering through the simple rock and stone that kept him from the chaos and anarchy. (Using Gift: Thews of God)
He wanted in on that FUN.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Quarry
A figure in flowing clothes with a chain shirt worn in top of them approaches the quarry, raising an eyebrow at the state of disarray it's in.
"Odd. Seems I might have to postpone the plea for assistance from this quarry."
He leers down into the tense near-battlefield below, his face twisting in slight disgust.
"So, slaves, hmm?"
Elmdore makes his way down to the line of slaves making their stand, arms held in the air and away from his blade.
"I come in peace, to offer my assistance. I am Sir Elmdore Alazar, of the Pavian Order of the Ancalian Knights."
Sinkova, The Raktine Confederacy
Zinyan's blow struck true, obliterating the wall and sending pieces of rubble flying.
Most definitely unrelated, Qianzhang soared over the walls and saw a spray of bricks and stone obliterate a small crowd standing near the wall.
Zinyan could see a light shining from within the dust cloud from his blow; a sort of dim, fluttering blue light, lying low, rising slowly. The dust cleared just in time for it to be dramatic: a small mob of humanoid creatures with cow-skulls for heads stood up out of the dust, a couple of their number killed. They were dressed like upper middle-class Raktians, with flames coming out of the back of the skulls. They held improvised weapons, all cruel: fishhooks, wire, picks, and crooks.
"I advise you to stand down, outsider." The nominal leader intoned, holding a handscythe. "The Wild Hunt is strictly within the borders of Sinkova. You step over where that wall was and none of us will guarantee or ensure your safety."
Qianzhang, from above, could see scenes like that all over the town. Steady blue flames, sometimes in mobs, sometimes with horses, tearing not just each other apart but tearing apart humans. A couple blocks down from Zinyan's entrance this was literal, a human man being slowly yanked in half by two of the strange flame-people pulling on his arms with rope.
Savona, Vissio
With the power of The Storm Breaks, the first swing Jack made in that fight was bound to hit thanks to the passive ability of Bolt of Invincible Skill. Committing effort to the effect ensured that the bolts from the mag-pistol well and truly trashed the thing before he even had time to apply the casual fray damage he had.
Calzaretta's response to this was an immediate and violent rage. He snarled inarticulately in shock at the cannon's destruction before he finally pointed and shouted, "Get them! Sieze everything aboard, and turn that ship into cutlery for my dinner!" The squad of soldiers charged off, swords held high and ready to try and board the ship. The Godbound still had a turn to act before they reach the boat.
Patrian Empire Quarry, Near Danum
At the front of the battle line, Elmdore hadn't encountered any resistance coming down. Plenty of Ancalian knights had retired into legbreaking, and most people assumed he was one of those newfangled "Pinkertons" like what they had in the Bright Republic. None of the slaves up top had the numbers to confidently approach someone so clearly of a higher caste than them and so well armed.
"Name's Commander Circinus, sir." A quarry guard distinguished by a plumed helmet and slightly fancier shield nodded to Elmdore. "Pleasure to work with you, what's Elos's situation report?"
A good hundred yards away, Anastasia received a similar grateful response. Several of the slaves simply fell at her feet, thanking her profusely; others took up the weapons and charged to the front to start handing them out.
The current situation: A Large Mob of Furious Peasants with +1 to hit versus a Small Mob of Trained Soldiers!
Jack Jason - Savona, Vissio
Having spent all that "inner power" in him destroying the cannon, Jack was going to have to go for more mundane methods to take down the guards, well mundane for a Godbound anyway. He fired at the Mob, though what shot from his guns were not lead but rubber. Though, even if non-lethal, they were just as capable of incapacitating this mob.
(Roll to hit = 7, damage if hit succeeds = 12 = 4 HP, fray die roll = 1)
Edited by JustaUsername on Jan 5th 2019 at 6:43:30 AM
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
Fwomph
Savona Docks
Petra was about half a block back from the cannon when it collapsed into a pile of magshot and freshly-scrapped metal. For a moment she pondered whether the thing had simply tore itself apart on jammed ammunition before people started yelling and a small contingent started boarding a boat that looked way more peculiar than the wooden one she disembarked from. But still, people were yelling and Petra was pretty sure that without intervention the situation was bound to just continue escalating.
So she decided to intervene.
Picking out the obvious leader as Calzaretta (for he was the most shouty of the bunch), Petra wandered over and put on the best warm concerned face she could in her rudely awakened state.
"Hello there friend, what seems to be the problem and is there anything I can do to stop it becoming a war while folks are trying to sleep?"
Petra commits Effort for the scene to cast Fashioning a Friend.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Zinyan - Sinkova
Zinyan stared silently among the freakishly dressed populace and sized them all up. Weapons, weird heads, likely causing all manner of chaos...
He didn't let the threat stop him very much. Instead, he cracked his neck and rolled his arms, as if preparing for a fight. but then again, for Zinyan, when wasn't he?
"I was prepared to just go about my day. I would have even fixed the wall if it inconvenienced some people. But then you had to go, and blatantly threaten me. And it looks like you're all in the middle of some weird shit. So sorry to have to cut the fun short..."
He blatantly stepped over the wall, making sure he stared unflinchingly into the one who spokes...eyes? Mask? One of the two.
"But if you're willing to try something with me, I'm more than willing to see it through to the end. Who knows? You may be a fun fight."
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Catra climbed out of the hammock, grumbling.
There was a SYSTEM. Catra would convince Petra to do something, Catra would lay down in Petra's hammock, then Petra would come back and drag Catra along. Sure, she could just go with Petra willingly, but then that would have eliminated the need for a system. But now Petra HADN'T grabbed Catra, that left Catra unable to enjoy a catnap. Now she'd have to find Petra and remind her of their system. It wasn't because she was worried about Petra. Any idea that the self reliant, independent woman named Catra would ever worry about anyone beside Catra was just ridiculous.
Having convinced herself of her not-need to worry, Catra hurried out of the cabin to find Petra.
Knight Cheesebeam
Sinkova
Of all the things Qianzhang took into consideration before investigating the town (the great blue blazes were somewhat surprising as he did not see any glow from the outside), the wall itself exploding was not one of them. Fortunately none of the debris reached his altitude. The cause for such an event deserves to be investigated, though, and he banked toward the epicenter of the explosion.
From above, he saw a standoff between a herd of geists similar to those burning the city and hunting its denizens, and a lone figure where the door once stood. Both parties would probably not take kindly if he were to be seen as an enemy, but to ignore them would too be dangerous lest he gets caught in the crossfire. It would be best to observe for the moment, and circled above the standoff, still using Windsinger to keep himself afloat.
Timers to measure time, thermometers to measure thermomets, mometers to measure mom, and measuring containers to measure measurements.
ON THE DOCKS
Catra hurried through the ship, pulling on addition clothes and a hooded robe. She jumped down lightly to the dock, pulling the hood up to cover her ears and hide her face, just in time to hear the order for the Oregon Rex to be carved up.
Catra saw Petra talking to Calzaretta, so decided this was the best time to try to board the Oregon Rex to try to see what the fuss was about and if there was any easily lootable items she could take before the boat was destroyed.
Committing effort to use the greater gift of Walking Ghost... as long as Catra doesn't attack or otherwise blatantly draw attention, lesser foes cannot see her and worthy foes need to make a spirit save. Assuming she can board the ship, Catra will be trying to use her supernaturally-keen senses and knowledge of deception to see if she can figure out what the ship is hiding.
Catra tries to get onboard the Oregon Rex without being noticed.
Edited by Nodrog on Jan 11th 2019 at 7:32:23 AM
Sinkova
"YEAAAHHHHH!!!" The horde charged Zinyan and were on him in moments, surging forward with the power of the Blood Like Water horde combat technique. They inflicted 1 point of damage to him automatically, but opened themselves up for a brutal counterattack from the master combatant; not the best move, probably, but certainly the one you'd make if you were as confident as they were. They were so focused that they didn't pay Qianzang any mind at all.
Patrian Quarry
The storm broke. Nobody had taken action. The two crowds converged.
The Soldiers struck true on the peasants, but the peasants struck just as well on them as well. The two sides backed off for now, but there were dead between them now. "We got them, thanks to the guidance of the newcomer!" said both sides, almost simultaneously.
Savona, Vissio
It was actually a help that Jack's bullets failed to strike true, because Calzaretta was that little bit even more compliant with Petra's friend-fashioning. She immediately got him straightened up, and he hastily slicked down his hair and saluted in acknowledgement. "Yes ma'am, we were just, uh... well," he gestured awkwardly to the boat. "Just doing business, collecting taxes as you do, you know how it is, daily grind and all that, but they, well, they trashed our gun, but now you shouldn't worry about escalation, see, because errrr, you know..." He gestured again, just as vaguely, "we got men boarding the ship to settle things up close, you know?"
Catra boarded the ship without incident. "It's just, you know... THESE JACKASSES," Calzaretta chopped through the air, his hand barely missing Catra as she passed, "won't let us DO OUR JOBS!"
Once aboard, to nobody but Jack and Petra's notice, Catra could pretty quickly grok what the issue might be. These were all Bright Republicans for the most part, but the only ones not in ship crew wear or civilian clothes were from the Bright's Candy Company, in brown polos with matching visors. She could just barely catch a glimpse of pastel-colored cargo down one hatch and off to one side of the ship's corridors. Candy Contraband! Candraband!
Fwomph
Savona, Vissio
Petra was a little disturbed that her attempts to talk it out only stopped the shouty man from shouting for a moment but really at this point she might as well stay the course and get this all resolved.
"Well sir, would you mind terribly much if I went over there and got them to stand down too? Maybe I can get them to... I guess give you money? This feels like a money problem."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Catra rolled her eyes. Smuggled sweeties? She'd gotten out of a warm bed... ok, technically it had been Petra's warm bed, but still a warm bed... for contraband confections? She considered for a minute the pleasant vision of sinking the entire boat, before deciding to simply snag a sufficient sampling of the sweets. If Petra complained, Catra could always claim to have taken them to give to hungry orphans. If Petra didn't complain, free candy from Petra and Catra.
Seeing no downside to the plan, Catra set off to grab the largest container of candy she could, planning to sneak it and herself off the ship.
Edited by Nodrog on Jan 27th 2019 at 5:27:44 AM
Knight Cheesebeam
Sinkova
So the ghostly group would rush to attack a person who practically bulldozed a gigantic gate by himself. Very unwise. No potential ally of his would blindly attack a foe of superior capability. Perhaps, though, their opponent would be a useful ally in exploring this haunted town.
He let go of the blanket, intending to land on (and take out) one member of the mob as a sign of goodwill.
Timers to measure time, thermometers to measure thermomets, mometers to measure mom, and measuring containers to measure measurements.
Savona, Vissio
Jack could feel the air, the newcomer was trying to calm things down. However, something wasn't right to the man. It feels like there's somebody who's ready to interfere with this for reasons Jack couldn't put his finger on, somebody like Catra.
(Perception roll, 18+0=18)
Edited by JustaUsername on Feb 6th 2019 at 8:21:49 PM
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
Catra goes to pick up a box of candy, unaware that she is being observed. I think the observation roll is just a straight up spirit roll, but if I need to roll an opposing check I rolled a 5.
Edited by Nodrog on Feb 7th 2019 at 3:24:39 AM
The Godbound are Awakening!
All across the shattered realm of Arcem, the detritus of the Made Gods that destroyed it is filtering into the bodies of the people that are going to save it. They awoke to their powers only a short while ago, but their first trials begin today. Historians would later attribute this to three major "flashpoints" throughout Arcem:
There is a small town in The Raktine Confederacy named Sinkova, just a day's travel west of Berzova. You've arrived on rumors you heard about a recent windfall it's had, and on warnings you heard not to be here around now.
"Good time to invest in the Sinkovans in general," Said Ari the Barber over in Berzova, "but not, like, now specifically; they've started locking up the town walls every night of the full moon. Stranger things happen all the time, though, and their money's good." You didn't take his advice to lay low until the full moon passed. The farms around the town are deserted, or rather evacuated—they weren't left in a hurry. Whether you met on the road or only coincidentally got here at the same time just now, you're now standing in front of a pair of massive iron gates. The gates are built into a similarly strong twenty-foot stone wall around the town, which is itself about 5 miles in diameter. These gates are brand new, excellently machined, and utterly inconsequential to the Godbound. It sounds like there's a fight going on on the other side of the gate; footsteps, clashing steel, occasional screams. People are being hurt, and it is time to act.
It's business as usual in the Vissian city of Savona; Director-General Calzaretta of the Luxottica Combine is showing off again. Only this time he's having slightly more trouble than usual. The Bright Republic transport Oregon Rex is docked in the port of the fabulous Vissian city, but Captain Vulkar over on the Rex is refusing to pay Calzaretta's "convenience fee" for docking there. It's a small iron Republican ship, about a hundred feet stem to stern; it has a small electric motor on the back, but a set of oars coming out the bottom have kept it moving outside the Republic's aura of Ether. You could certainly be on the boat, but the commotion Calzaretta draws whenever someone stands up to him means any old person living in Savona could have come by to watch too. The docks are about 200 yards long in this section; a single main road leads out and a set of warehouses sit directly on the cobblestones connected to the docks that just out into the water to hold about a dozen different boats from around the country. Ready to throw the fuck down, Calzaretta has rolled out a dozen trained soldiers and a clockwork cannon in response to Vulkar's defiance. It's a gleaming beast of a machine sitting on the stone pavement on the edge of the docks, not on the jetty. You can tell it has a business end coming out of the mess of gears and pneumatic tubes, a thicket of barbed spears, but that's about it.
"Come on, Vissian! Don't need the Nodes to show you we Republicans are made of sterner stuff!" Vulkar taunts with a laugh. He's an old, old man, short with a widow's peak and a modern polyester engineer's jumpsuit. He laughs, but then the cannon pops off a shot and pierces the hull right above the waterline and the genuine laughter stops for a moment, then escalates into something more strained. People are going to get hurt; he's got two dozen passengers and he's not gonna budge.
"Fuck! Papers!" A minor Patrian bureaucrat, Elos Makos Secundus, practically shoulder-checks a door into a cool central office and starts shuffling through the archival drawer on the far wall. The guard in platemail outside nearly falls over from him rushing past. There's a slave revolt on! More importantly, he's got to get the paperwork out of here! It's a small office no more than fifteen feet square with a desk and a drawer, and a window—suddenly shattered with a marble brick flying in from outside. He whines in concern. This marble quarry was supposed to be his first big responsibility! Dad's gonna be pissed.
Outside, the quarry goes about 500 feet down; scaffolding supports ramps to carry the marble via sledge and rope up to hauler horses, spiraling up out of the hole like a drill. The Cirta River is only about half a mile downhill, and from there it's a short trip downriver to Danum. It's this mine's extreme proximity to the Raktine border that got people so ready to liberate themselves; it's a mile east to freedom. It would have been easier if they could have gotten to the hauler horses early, at least, but the horses bolted after the first guard screamed from sudden onset pickaxe-face. The slaves are an unorganized be-toga'd mob; at the very bottom they've managed to get a battle-line drawn where their numbers are too thick for the guards to advance, but a line of pikemen are holding fast about 100 feet up the path. If this doesn't break soon people will die on both sides. The guards are 36 men total, heavily armored and armed, but vastly outnumbered by the 150 slaves, about 100 down at the bottom and 50 scattered throughout the upper levels of the quarry.
Edited by Taco on Jan 1st 2019 at 7:58:15 AM