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.
adropofsunlight: (204)

[personal profile] adropofsunlight 2021-03-19 11:59 am (UTC)(link)
"It could maybe be magic-based then. Something that hides what it truly is or something."

Not that she could understand how that type of thing worked exactly. But it would at least make logical sense, but then it begged the question of the source of such things.

"Which then makes it harder to find proof."
yondu: (2 0 5)

[personal profile] yondu 2021-03-19 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, an' then we oughta try to figure out who'd be best to convince. 'Cause someone who people are listenin' to would be better than some strangers. But here's you with ten odd miles of hair an' here's me blue as a clear sky an' no one's playin' us no mind."

Which shows the strength of the illusion. Also makes him wonder how they're seeing him, if he looks all Terran in their eyes.

"Alright, uh, how about I ask that vendor if he can tell us where some of the boss folk are at, we can figure it out on the way?"
adropofsunlight: (245)

[personal profile] adropofsunlight 2021-03-24 11:41 am (UTC)(link)
"I mean yeah, but my hair is up so thankfully it doesn't look as long as it actually is." 70ft is a lot, but at least she seemed to understand what he meant anyway. It also made figuring things out a lot harder if such things don't make people question anything.

"I can always ask to. Maybe I will ask in one place. The more the merrier they say right and the quicker we find answers"
yondu: (2 2 5)

[personal profile] yondu 2021-03-24 12:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"Alright, I'm gonna ask this fella?" He points loosely in the direction of the guy at the cart, and he pulls his journal out of his leather coat.

"I'll write down anybody he mentions an' we can regroup when you're done askin'."

Since apparently, the guy doesn't see him as any kind of threat so he'll tell him whatever. No 'take me to your leader' paranoia to worry about.
adropofsunlight: (227)

[personal profile] adropofsunlight 2021-03-26 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
She nodded slightly looking over towards a random direction and seeing a group that appeared to be having a nice chat. But now with added Rapunzel attempting to join in.

She seemed to be chatting to them well enough before going onto the next person. After a while she was soon back. "I have nothing interesting to report, but some people have told me a recipe. It sounded delicious."