Welcome to the Apocalypse - Director's Cut IC

[Yours Truly]

On 12/2/2017 at 10:25 AM, Strider said:

"No. I could likely deduce some things, but I am no expert on either, and in some fields, pure deduction does not result in success. But you omitted anything saying you could not pilot a helicopter. Can you? If you can, would it be possible to collaborate with with someone capable of sailing?" Ena turned, and marched carefully over to the entrance to the helm area, and called out once more to the occupants of the vessel. "DOES ANYONE HERE HAVE NAUTICAL EXPERIENCE? THIS VESSEL REQUIRES THAT."

Alan slowly turned to face Ena after she had finished asking her many questions and yelling out loud towards practically everyone in the ship, and he cleared his throat before he finally said "While I can sort of fly a helicopter...I honestly don't know if it would be possible to pilot this ship even with the help of a second person, but it might be worth a try".

[Chevaleresse]

The set of controls that materialized in Lucine's head was odd, but not entirely offputting; she was accustomed to witnessing and occasionally experiencing all sorts of strange magical effects, after all. However, a general familiarity with the type of situation did not gift her with the ability to properly deal with the specifics of this one. Perhaps less than wisely, she tried to choose a control that looked less sensitive than the others, and fiddled with it slightly, to see what happened. 

[DragonRage]

"You are a Planeswalker, my Lady," Solara reminds Marisa, definitely confused, "Your whim can sink continents, warp minds, and create new planes from the aether.  The only way to defeat a Planeswalker is to enlist the help of another, and pray that your world survives the clash.  You are immortal, eternal, and could doubtlessly destroy us all with ease."

 

Freya reaches into the powerstone, and pulls another soul out.  This one looks like the remains of a human knight.  He thanks Freya profusely before dissolving into golden sparkles, headed for the afterlife at last.

 

Stellio goes searching for the Weatherlight's armory or barracks.  After searching through a lot of abandoned rooms he finds a metal-floored room with a chimney, an anvil, and a few worn tools laying around.  It looks about as safe as a room for metalworking can be on a wooden ship.

 

Contagion examines the Weatherlight's systems carefully, walking through the ship, and comes to the conclusion that in addition to the fuel line damage and the giant hole in the side, some jerk from the Talon group plugged a bunch of conduits in backwards to try to sabotage anyone who wanted to make it fly.  Grumbling to himself, he decides to start things off by fixing the fuel lines; it's easy enough for someone of his training.

 

Lucine pushes a button!  And nothing explodes!  In fact, nothing much at all seems to happen, except that the hole in the hull starts rapidly sealing itself.  Soon, it is as good as new.  And that is when the Weatherlight shudders, and pulls itself to hover just above the ground.  A door opens near the prow, allowing a ramp to extend for easy loading and unloading.  Presumably, everyone inside or on top except Lucine were thrown about by the sudden shift.

[Chevaleresse]

Marisa was about to reply when she abruptly fell over when the ship decided that now was a good time to enter good working order. "Uh, if that's the case, I didn't get the memo. . ." she began, dusting herself off and mumbling a quick incantation that seemed to have the effect of smoothing out her clothing and causing the thin layer of dust it had been accumulating to deposit itself neatly on the floor behind her. "Oh. Right. You're old. Uh, not that I mean any offense by that. You've, uh, missed a lot since Urza put you in that rock, let's say that. For one, the Mending happened, and Planeswalkers haven't been immortal shapeshifting gods for. . . A while, let's say that. A good long while."

 

Lucine, on the other hand, was rather pleased with herself, but seemed to finally have acquired enough common sense to not do anything else. She began to work her way back to the rest of the group, a grin plastered across her face. 

[StormLord]

Sha'Tith glared about(his default state now), he wasn't exactly thrilled with the sudden appearance of a large winged....thing in the same room he was in, and he was even less so to be nearly thrown to the ground.

But having little else to do for the time being, he leaned against a wall and watched the conversation with as much interest as he could muster.  Needless to say he didn't look very interested.

[kj1225]

Aquila happens to keep his feet after a few seconds of stumbling and scrambling. Looking about, he shrugs and goes to wander about. In doing so he finds the suit of armor and, after a bit of thought puts it on to be polite. He had to admit, the black was a nice choice... but f he went home he should see about calling in favours for a more intimidating dye job.

[Sutoratosu]

Stellio took off his helmet as he stepped further into the room. Not quite what he'd been searching for, but it was definitely close enough. As to who had thought it a good idea to put a forge in the middle of a ship, with the walls left their barren wood finish and only the flooring reinforced to protect against potential fire, he did not know. And by all accounts, he reckoned whoever had made the decision was long dead anyway.

 

He stepped over to the Anvil with the worn tools and Chimney to see if there was anything of even remote interest about any of them. After which his attention turned to searching the room for any remnant of old arms or other gear the previous occupants left behind.

[Endlessblaze]

"Wait really? nhggg. I should have known it would be soul powered"

He sighs and looks to the angel. "Hey if you guys want bodies, I can probably whip up some basic golems. But anything more advanced then a basic rock golem would have to wait. I'm kinda strapped for resources."

 

"Hold on, what if there in there for a reason? There could be some pretty awful people in there"

"True, but this one seems nice enough. So I see no reason not to help them out."

Edited December 4, 2017 by Endlessblaze

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Freya watched as yet another spirit was pulled out, but instead of remaining around, they simply gave her thanks, before fading away. Being the Necromancer she was, she instantly knew that he chose to head off to the afterlife... Something that should never have been denied of him in the first place. It felt extremely good to see that happen though... Even if it made her a bit more angry at Urza for doing this. Oh, if she ever met him, she'd give him a what for by-

 

And just as that train of thought began to get interesting, it was stopped when a sudden lurch of the ship caused Freya to shout in surprised, falling off balance and falling to the ground, rather hard. For a few seconds, Freya laid there, eyes shut, before she blinked them open, grabbing her staff and using it to help herself up, jumping back to her feet with its help and quickly brushing herself off, "I have absolutely no idea what happened there... Oh! Right!" she said, suddenly turning and walking up to the Demon summoner, "Uh, don't mean to sound sudden or anything Marisa, but are you still willing to trade me that jawbone- the giant one in your junk stuff, not your actual jawbone?" she asked, the folded piece of paper that had her notes suddenly in her hands as she held it up.

[kj1225]

Following the large footprints in the ship, Aquila happens upon Stellio in what appears to be a room with a forge in it. If it wasn't for the fact that the place is apparently powered by angels Aquila might have been really, really confused. That said, he was only slightly confused at this discovery. After all, why would a wizard need a forge? That said, he clears his throat to signal to the other man that he was there, partially to get some input on his new armor.

[Chevaleresse]

"Oh, yeah, definitely. That's pretty handy." She pulled the maw - much larger than anything that should reasonably be fitting into the pocket she stuffed it - out and presented it to Freya, taking the note and causing it to vanish into a different pocket in a blink. 

 

Marisa loses Wyvern Maw, gains Spell Notes: Death's Lock.

 

Freya gains Wyvern Maw!

 

"Alright, who else wanted something? I've still got more crap to peddle. You guys also need to decide between the mask and the tome."

[DragonRage]

"Planeswalkers no longer have all but unlimited power?  Oh, thank Serra," Solara affects a sigh of relief, "Then the end of my people will never be repeated.  This is good."  Her gaze pans over the Frost Brute, and Snow.

 

"Thank you for your offer, sir," She tells Leo, "But I believe I would prefer to explore... alternative options.  And most of my comrades would prefer to pass on.  We decided that, should we ever be freed, I would shoulder the burden of repaying our debt to our savior.  I was the loudest voice of opposition to our former leader Radiant; Urza carries the lion's share of the blame for our fate, but Radiant was not blameless.  Of course, when I pledged so I believed we would never be free, but I will stand by my word.  Besides, to serve our savior is no onerous task."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"As I said, I'm definitely interested in taking a look at that mask," Vitor says, "Looks like there's a lot of history to it.  For payment, well, I'm kind of an expert in identifying and ferreting out the secrets of ancient artifacts and magic items.  If you've got anything you've had trouble identifying, I can definitely save you a lot of work."

[Endlessblaze]

Leo nods.

"Alright then. The offer stands though."

Leo then turns his attention to Marisa.

"I need that seed. Would a spell that allows you to shape any non-living solid to your very whims suffice as payment? If not I can throw in some spells for golem creation."

He was interested in the crystal as well. If the others failed to make a suitable offer for it, he might be able to trade for that one as well. It was quite the interesting thing.

[StormLord]

After a few moments Sha'Tith approached Marisa with a an old worn knife in his hand.

"Simply holding this knife will make anything you hit bleed."

 

Sha'Tith offers Marisa "Worn Blade" in trade for the "Teleportation Pearl".

Edited December 11, 2017 by StormLord

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Needless to say, Freya was more than happy to finally be getting that jaw, passing the notes of her spell to Marisa and taking the extremely large jaw... Only to find her self forced to take several steps back, wobbling as she struggled under the extremely large jaw, which was heavy enough that Freya's physically unfit form struggled to hold its weight. At least, until her two zombies began to move, the charred one helping Freya with holding the jaw, and lifting it up on top of the bear, who didn't even flinch at the sudden weight on its back.

 

Freya, on the other hand, took a few seconds to catch her breath, before stretching, turning to Solara with a rather surprised look on her face, having heard her response to Leo, "Wait, so you're... Indebted to me now?" she asked, pausing for about a second before bringing her hand up to the back of her head, suddenly looking a bit uncomfortable... Which was really only because of the fact that angels had never gotten along with her, since they always worked for gods/goddesses that hated her guts.

[Hal Henderics]

"I'll unlock the true potential of any mundane items you so desire, in return for the Crystal Core."  Blue says from down there.

 

"Or, I can give you an item in my possession, a sky blue bead that lightens objects on command."

[Chevaleresse]

"Do you mind an IOU on that? I don't have anything on me in particular that I need identified, but that's definitely a service I could use later. Though I've always wondered where this thing originated. . ." She pats a large, heavy tome attached to her waist by a sturdy chain; it was bound in what appeared to be pale leather, and was a bit unsettling to look directly at. "Is this a one-for-one deal, or can I expect more than one trace?"

 

"If it works as advertised, then that's fine for me. I could always use better spells for direct offense, and I have artificer friends that might like a look."

 

Sha'Tith loses Worn Blade. Sha'Tith gains Teleportation Pearl!

 

Marisa digs in a pocket for a moment, and out comes. . . a fairly simple ballpoint pen. "How about one of these? You can unlock it, and then we'll see if it's worth an actual trade. Though this thing is pretty rare and expensive, so it'd be nice if you could make a strong offer."

[Hal Henderics]

Blue starts by disassembling it, into the capscrew and various other bits.
 

He attempts to enforce his power on the casing, the tube full of ink, the metal nib, the button, and the spring.

 

The casing gains the magical ability to create what is on Blue's scale powerful suction through itself on command. To anyone bigger, the suction would not be that powerful.

The metal nib seems to attract metal filings to itself, but no other types of materials.

The button gains the ability to make an obnoxious clicking noise on command, even when not connected to the rest of the pen.

The spring gains the ability to launch even objects bigger than a person away from itself with great force. However, the larger the object it repels, the longer it takes before this power can be used again. Blue thinks that if too large an object is repelled, it might burn out the spring.

The ink tube... makes black marks on things. Blue isn't sure if that's the ink inside, magic, or both.

 

"Proof enough that my power can produce usable materials?"  Blue says, as he grabs the spring and uses it to lightly tap a rock, sending it flying into the horizon with incredible speed and force.

[Chevaleresse]

"That's. . . fascinating, actually. I know an artificer or three that would love to take a look at this while you actually did it, but I can't exactly take you to them. . ." She trailed off, realizing where she was standing. "Or, I could, if I figured out how to operate this thing, but you probably have better things to do than have some mage watch you do this fifty times in a row. Plus one of them lives in Ravnica and I'm not going back there unless it's an emergency. Anyway. That's proof enough for me, and I could use an infinite pen and a spring to launch people around with. Sound like a fair trade to you?"

[DragonRage]

"Sure thing, I'll take a look at your book.  But depending on what the mask does, I could probably be persuaded to look at more stuff for you.  Maybe we set up a working relationship?" Vitor offers, "I like to study ancient relics, especially magical ones, and it seems like you do too.  Maybe I help you with the real hard to identify ones, and in exchange, you give me first bid on the really cool finds?"  He places his hand on the cover of the tome, but after only a second jerks back, complexion ashen.  

Spoiler

 

"W-wherever you got that, you should put it back," He informs her shakily, "No, throw it in a volcano.  It's the only way to be sure!  I know you're a badass demon binder, and I'm not trying to belittle your mysteries, but you don't want that shit!  Oh God I can't believe I didn't think about that; if fictional universes are real, then so is he!  Oh God please tell me you didn't pick up a gold ring on the same world.

 

"Sauron.  Why did it have to be Sauron?"

[Hal Henderics]

"I am not so greedy, in my own world, objects are inherently like this.  I suppose merely interacting with them causes them to reflect the magics of my homeland.  Feel free to have the entire pen and whatever else you'd like me to unleash."  Blue says, his body bobbing in a nod.

[Chevaleresse]

Marisa frowned. "I've had this thing for years. Yeah, sure, it's a little offputting, and I'm pretty sure I heard it scream once, but it's not like there's a such thing as knowledge that's inherently bad. Bad people, maybe, but contrary to popular belief I'm not one of those. And, uh, no gold ring that I can remember." Her expression changed to one that was rather more annoyed-looking. "Are you actually going to tell me the history behind it, or just that I should throw away my primary means of blowing up people trying to stick various bits of sharpened metal in me?"

 

She handed the core over to Blue in exchange for the pen parts. 

 

Blue obtains the Crystalline Core!

 

"If you could be so kind, what about a second pen and whatever you can do with this thimble?" She pulled the objects in question from her bag once again. 

[DragonRage]

"Bloody hell.  Okay, okay, I'll have another go," Vitor touches the book again, wincing, but doesn't pull away.  "It feels like Sauron doesn't have a direct connection to this thing.  Thank God for that.  It feels like when he first started studying wizardry and dark magic, he wrote down his successes and failures in this book.  It's not intended as a spellbook, though you could use it as that.  It's a lab journal.  He eventually shelved it when he moved on to more powerful magic and left it behind when he relocated to the Dark Tower in Mordor, since he needed to travel light. This is an incredibly valuable repository of knowledge, but needless to say, you should be very careful with it.  

 

"For context, in this world Sauron is widely considered to be the archetypal dark lord.  He's a fictional character here, but if you have that, then Middle Earth exists.  He almost conquered it, covering the entire world in darkness and ruling it with an iron fist.  His personal mystic code, the One Ring, was so powerful that just being near it for long enough could corrupt you to his cause, no matter how powerful you were or strong your will was.  Over the course of the entire book series, three huge volumes, only four people successfully resist the Ring's influence.  Sauron is bad news, but as far as I can tell this tome is just a lab notebook detailing his exploration of basic black magic.  It should be safe to use.  I'd recommend having a curse breaker take a look at it before you do anything else with it anyways.  And a priest, if you can find one willing to give it back afterwards."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"That is correct, My Lady," Solara informs Freya, taking a knee before her, "My sword is yours, your cause mine, until our debt to you is repaid, or... death...  'Or until death takes me' seems to have lost its usual meaning in this case.  So I suppose I shall be serving until honor is satisfied.  So mote be it!"

Spoiler

Solara, Serran Archangel

The spirit of the leader of the refugees from Serra's Realm.  A powerful archangel in life, Solara retains her spiritual purity and holy power in death, though as a ghost her ability to leverage the physical potency she once enjoyed is rather lacking.

 

Stats:

HP:  36
Str:  8

Dex:  8

Int:  1

Syn:  4

Cons:  -

Res:  5

Ess:  8

 

Oathbound Spirit:  Freya can expend merit to upgrade Solara as though the angel spirit was a part of her character sheet.  The merit spent cannot exceed the amount of merit Freya has spent on herself this plot.  Solara occupies 3 action slots, and starts with 3 action slots, though more can be gained through investment of merit.

 

Intangibility:  Solara is incapable of interacting directly with other physical objects.  While this grants a complete immunity to actions that don't affect spirits and the ability to pass through most substances, it also makes Solara incapable of affecting others with physical actions.

 

Vigilance:  In addition to her other actions, Solara will body-block incoming attacks for Freya when she can.  Unfortunately, Solara is in her current form incapable of blocking physical attacks.

 

Holy Shroud:  Being undead, Solara is all but impossible to permanently destroy.  Should she be reduced to 0 HP she does not suffer a wound, but is rendered unable to act in encounters for the rest of the plot.

 

Actions:

Flaming Sword (level 2, active):  Solara throws a cut with her holy sword, dealing 2d8 + strength holy damage.  This attack can affect targets even if they would ordinarily be immune to it, but the damage is halved in this case.

 

Lay On Hands (level 2, active, 36/36):  Solara can use holy magic to heal injuries.  She gets a number of charges per plot equal to the MHP she had at the start of the plot.  1 charge can be spent to heal 1 HP.  5 charges can be spent to heal 1 status ailment or debuff.  During each use, any number of charges may be spent on a single target touched.  Despite being a holy healing effect, this action can heal undead.

 

Serran Armor (level 2, passive):  Solara's holy aura manifests blessed mail armor to defend her.  Grants +4 resistance.

 

Angel Wings (level 2, passive):  Solara can fly.  While flying, Solara has a 5% dodge chance.

1

1

 

[Hal Henderics]

Blue takes the pen in his psychic grip, and unleashes it.  He suddenly senses a dark power from it, and slashes it to ribbons.

 

"It had a vile ability.  Let me try again.  I wouldn't want you using something with a power that dark, for your own safety."

 

He unleashes it again.  The broken remains of the pen become shining and refractive, while the metal becomes another spring.

[Chevaleresse]

"I don't mess with priests much. Most people consider what I do sacrelige. . . Even if their religion doesn't even mention demons, weirdly enough. It's not even restricted to demons, yknow, they're just the easiest and most morally acceptable targets. Anyway. Thanks for the knowledge - I was pretty sure this wasn't made using particularly kosher methods in the first place - and the advice. Here's your mask."

 

Vitor gains the Stone Mask!

 

". . . Can I ask what it was, at least?" She seems confused by the virulent reaction.