voidtreckermods: (voidtrain)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2021-03-11 06:00 am

The Will to Fight: Start

"Good Morning Passengers, today is day six of the month of Kazoo." The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. Not long afterwards their SCA’s glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preparation

They have an hour or two to prepare. Enough time to read their briefs, make decisions, meet in their teams and gather anything they may need. The dressing carriage is open with tents and other basic camping equipment.

"Shortly arriving in system #86525656412355. Drop order is Orange and Blue followed by Red and Purple. Orange and Blue to doors, arriving in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train lurches as it exits through the void, before descending smoothly to the world below.

Blue and Orange

Arrival

If anyone peeks through the windows as the train lands they will see a glimpse of cracked and crumbling walls, a city on its last legs. As they exit the train, however, any passengers who aren't immune to magics influencing the mind will find themselves looking at grand, sturdy walls, flags with a blue field and golden tower fluttering from the ramparts.

They aren't too far from a gate, depending on where on the train they exited, and the gates are opened and unmanned. Inside, people are going about their business, selling their wares, while children run around playing among dogs and chickens.

The newcomers don't get too much attention, even though their hoodies and combat trousers seem very out of place in this city.

The Towers

The towers stand in each corner of the city. They are solid stone, no windows all the way up. The ground floor is the largest, grand doors leading into a functional yet beautiful foyer, and from there into smaller chambers. Wide, curving stairs lead up into the tower proper.

As they climb the towers they will come to the different levels which are all trapped, to dissuade intruders and train their disciples. They will be able to descend the towers and exit and enter again as many times as they like as they work their way up to the top.

The City

It will soon become apparent that persuading these people to fight isn't going to happen. The war has already been won, the demons were defeated. The world is safe once more. Welcome, travellers, to the Shining City.

Their SCA's show them the locations of the entrances to the catacombs. There are a handful, scattered around the city, clearly designed for quick evacuation should the city defences ever be breached.

Persuading people that the city needs to be evacuated might take a good while.

The Catacombs

The catacombs are cold and dark, lamps having gone unlit for months. Those that are sensitive or can sense magic in any way will be able to tell that at least here the wards hold: no demons will be able to enter.

The tunnels are narrow, able to fit two people side by side at their widest points, but more often than not they must move single file to avoid collapsed walls or leaning pillars. Or, sometimes, piles of bones spilled from the tombs set into the walls. Side tunnels extend out into the darkness, signposts or symbols marking old, unused storerooms, bunkers for temporary shelter, or private tombs and crypts.

At points the tunnels widen out into large chambers, rooms or galleries that have been used as cemeteries for centuries. At other points the tunnels have collapsed or become almost impassable. People will need to wriggle through the gaps or find ways to stabilise the tunnels in order to pass through.

Purple and Red

Arrival

"Red and Purple to doors." The train flies back into the air after dropping Orange and Blue at the city gates. It doesn't go very far; it's less than a minute later that they're landing again. The doors open and they can step out into the destroyed countryside.

They don't get much time to get their bearings as the train flies off again, because coming over a nearby hill is a band of demons, a gate crackling behind them. The band is mostly footsoldiers, with several of the larger breed interspersed.

It's hard to say which side is more taken by surprise, but the Voidtreckers will only have moments to ready themselves before the demons rush in.

Defending the City

It's a wide area to cover, surrounding the city, and there is plenty of work to be done. Bands of demons roam around, most headed towards the city. They run, claws digging into the ground, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Sometimes they will have a larger demon or even two with them, armed with toxic whips that they use with dangerous accuracy.

Other times there will be smaller demons, carrying ornate daggers, whispering foul spells to drain and bind their enemies. These demons become more regular as the days progress as it becomes obvious that taking the city will not be as easy as they first thought.

Closing the Demon Gates

The gates nearer the city are smaller, and easy enough to find, but the SCA's of the red team pinpoint more and more gates as they open in the areas further out. Triangular markings on their SCA maps indicate distance and direction.

The gates must be closed from the other side, so the first thing is to enter them. Entering the gates feels strange, uncomfortable, as if something were tugging and clawing at their very being, trying to pull them out of their own skin.

That feeling lasts for a moment, albeit one that feels stretched, and then they are in the demon realm: a monochrome world devoid of life, where every step taken tires the body, where even existing is exhausting.

The gates are guarded, so adjusting will need to be done in combat. Smaller gates have fewer guards than the larger, but all will fight savagely to protect the keystone.

The keystones are smooth black obelisks about a foot high, usually stood on a plinth or set above the gate location as a centrepiece. Each can be destroyed by blunt force or any other ability able to shatter stone, and once it is they will have a short amount of time to leave before the gate closes. Their SCA will helpfully start a timer indicating this.
10billionpercent: (Huh?)

Arrival

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-13 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"No." Senku said, coming up behind him.

"I was expecting something a lot more in the realm of war torn and falling apart, considering."
swansongs: (Let's face it I blew it you waited)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-15 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
Dyme glanced over at him before looking around again. "Yeah, same. Maybe their defenses are better than we thought?" That or something was seriously wrong.
10billionpercent: (I Sense A Plot)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-15 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"I mean...they could be..." He looked around though, peering through the entraces to the city.

"Except I don't see any defenses, do you?"
swansongs: (To what I said)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-17 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh-" Dyme looked around yet again, squinting at the large gates. "No...not really." Okay, that was kind of weird. "Maybe they've got, uh. Magic?"
10billionpercent: (Default)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-17 01:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"I can't discount that." He said, looking on with a frown.

"Then again, I also can't tell that." His experience with magic was still very limited and he never jumped there first.

"Wouldn't you still see something? I don't know."
swansongs: (Let's face it I blew it you waited)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-19 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
"Mmmmm. Maybe. I don't know, either. I'm definitely not an expert on magic."

He paused for a moment, considering things.

"You don't think this is one giant trap, do you?"
10billionpercent: (Side Glance)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-19 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
"I do now." Senku responded with a little snort.

"I hadn't considered that but it very well could be, but that would be quite a departure from the behaviour of the train thus far. Usually it at least seems to be pretending to try and protect us." He mused it over.
swansongs: (To what I said)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-20 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Glad to help." Dyme was pretty good at coming up with the worst-case scenarios, sometimes.

"But...yeah. I've never gotten the impression the train's out to kill us, but maybe it's gotten tired of us. Or something."
10billionpercent: (Default)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-20 05:13 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't think so." Senku shook his head. "So if it's not trying to hurt us, something must be going on, we just don't know what it is yet." He grimaced.

"If it is a trap, it may not be orchestrated by the train. That doesn't mean it's not a trap though."
swansongs: (Let's face it I blew it you waited)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-22 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
"That's true." He thought for a moment, then started. "Wait, you don't think someone here knew we were coming, do you?" Or maybe they weren't who the trap was for?
10billionpercent: (Huh?)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-22 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
"I mean, we do supposedly have outside enemies, it's not outside the realm of possibility." Senku mused. "But I can't say with just a message on the system and no other information. We'll find out, probably."
swansongs: (Let's face it I blew it you waited)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-23 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
"Do we?" Had he known about this and forgotten? Was this new information entirely? Either of those options were a possibility, knowing Dyme. "Well, hopefully, trap or not, we'll be able to work through things here without too much trouble."
10billionpercent: (Default)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-23 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, the Ministry at least." Senku hummed a bit. "The rumour goes they're dangerous but we don't know first hand. Better to stay away though, for now."
swansongs: (Let's face it I blew it you waited)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-24 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, right." That sounded kind of familiar, at least. After a moment, he added, "How are they dangerous?" Did they know that much?
10billionpercent: (Huh?)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-24 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
"Apparently because this isn't an official train and we're unofficial passengers we're considered fugitives to them. All we know is that being caught would be bad. I did ask the train, but that's all I got from it." Senku frowned. "Not particularly helpful."
swansongs: (To what I said)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-25 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Dyme opened his mouth, paused, and closed his mouth again to reconsider what he wanted to say. "Like...they do know none of this was our idea and we were pretty much kidnapped, right? That should kind of let us off the hook there."
10billionpercent: (Avoiding Emotions)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-26 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
"No idea. From what we know, that's not supposed to matter." Senku frowned. "I don't like it, I think it all sounds fishy, but I'm also not willing to risk the kids on board to test that theory."
swansongs: (To what I said)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-27 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Not supposed to matter like...they don't care, or? Also, yeah, I wouldn't want to take the risk, either." Like, he definitely didn't want to march up to the ministry and find out what would happen.
10billionpercent: (I Sense A Plot)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-27 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"The first one. I don't think they care whether or not we're here willingly. They should, because it implies we need a rescue." Senku hummed, which wasn't entirely inaccurate.

"No. If we're ever going to face the Ministry, it won't be risking everyone else."
swansongs: (To what I said)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-28 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
"That's stupid. We're not criminals or whatever, we're victims." Well, as much as a train full of people who could mostly kick ass could be victims.

"I'd rather not face them at all if they're gonna try and lock us up or something, but." He paused for a moment. "You think they know anything about a way to get home?"
10billionpercent: (This Is So Exciting)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-03-28 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"No idea, but what I do know is that this train doesn't want us talking to them." Senku said with a frown.

"If it wasn't so dangerous, I'd suggest trying to contact them, but it is dangerous and I don't want to invite danger here."

If there was a chance to investigate though, he might take it.
swansongs: (To what I said)

[personal profile] swansongs 2021-03-30 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"So, basically we're stuck between a rock and a hard place," he said. They'd just have to figure out something else, then. And do what they could to avoid the ministry. If there...was actually anything they could do since none of them were in control of the train.