The campaign will be starting soon. Please dot with your character. Once everyone has dotted, I will post the start!
Dot
•
I dot at thee!
FFS I can't dot.
Grimy, dirty, loud, with the air smelling of burning and rust. Gears grind and turn beneath the stone streets, and your ears ring and shake to the sounds of massive Metals stomping about in the distance. A row of factories, at least ten, interconnected in front of Lake Aurol, stand before you. You stand amongst a crowd of warriors, wizards, adventurers like you who have answered the call. Behind you is the thick, soupy lake, small enough to see the other side, if it weren't for the smoke and steam. The light of the sun barely reaches your eyes through the smog, just rising above the factories ahead of you.
A old man with a sharp chin and even sharper nose steps to the front of the crowd, standing on a small podium. He has large goggles on, as well as a black suit and large top hat. He looks into his hands, at small pieces of paper. He seems to have a hard time seeing them, but clears his throat and looks out at the crowd. As he speaks, each of you can hear him as clearly as if her were right beside you.
"Men and women of faith, warriors, scholars, please. You all know why you are here today. Our paths have crossed, and crossed here, betwixt machinations, for a purpose beyond each of you, for reward unfathomable, for justice, for vengeance, for... for the people of this kingdom! Yesterday morning, Neox vanished, and shut down his factories as well! This would mean disaster for Vadna's economic structure and safety! Though you may not all agree with the reasons, you must have some cause, some... er.... reason for yourself! Else not would you have come here after hearing such news, correct?"
The old gentleman clears his throat again, straightening his hat.
"To find him, you need to work together and explore, investigate what you can! When found, Neox will be sentenced and punished for his crimes! Evenf he is no longer with us, his belongings, and land, will belong to the Council, and, erm... Manufacturing will begin once more!"
Several members of the crowd boo and throw garbage.
"There is a reward of one hundred thousand gold to those that find this man! You may speak to my associates for leads and take flyers! Good day!!!"
An empty, quiet and abandoned town sits in the middle of nowhere, no walls to protect it, and no Metals. A large, empty factory sits in the middle of this small settlement, surrounding by wooden houses, half burnt to ash, the other half rotted and decaying. Five small dirt paths connect to the town, and you're on one of them. At the gathering you were told that this town held one of Neox's many homes, and that he visited this factory occasionally through his travels.
On the other four paths, as fate would have it, were four other adventurers like you, to investigate the same house, the same factory, at the same time.
"100,000 gold!" Kearra shouted to no one in particular as she read over a transcription of the announcement. "I could start my open fighting pits. Maybe stay in here in Vadna; have people fight robots or whatever they're called. Just gotta bust some head and drag some dude back to the authorities. Easy money."
Resalth walks along the path, taking in her surroundings as she holds the flyer from two weeks ago. "I could finally settle in a good house somewhere with this gold.."
"I could help Mom and Dad expand their library! Maybe they won't be so upset I ran off in the middle of the night!" Arendyl exclaims. A gust of wind suddenly whiffs past her hair. She turns to speak to what appears to be empty air."Not you, gramps. I know you don't approve and all that, but can't you understand that I wanted to see the rest of the world for myself?"
"Oh hi!"She greets Kesarra, Resath, Ricardo and Gimpy. "Sorry about that, I was talking to my deceased grandfather. I know he means well, but he's such an old stick in the mud sometimes." At this point of time, a mysterious gust of wind toys with Arendyl's hair."My name is Arendyl." She holds out her hand for each of them to shake in return. "I think it'd be a good idea to team up to look for Neox. Theres safety in numbers, you know the saying?"
"100,000 gold... I could live in luxury for the rest of my life!" Ricard comments to himself, striding confidently down the path. "I've had some tough bounties before but this one's going to be the score of the lifetime!"
Ricard regards the others as they converge on one spot with a bit of concern. "Hmm... looks like I'd only be getting 20,000... Damn." he mutters. The half-elven man adjusts his sword belt and straightens his headband before speaking to Arendyl with a smile. "Greetings! I am Ricard. Ricard Jandleroy... I'm a bit of a bounty hunter in these parts, I take it you're of the same profession?"
The sun sits directly above your heads as you all meet together in the eerily silent town. Several deactivated Metals litter the streets, burgled of all their inner machinations and workings, rusted over and never getting back up.
"20,000? Well I could get those bracers I had my eye with that, I guess." Kearra said a bit deflated. "Oh well, put 'er there." Kerra shook Arendyl's hand with a strong grip and a toothy grin. "Kearra Greilsdóttir. Good to meet ya. Your Grandpa a spirit? Think I know a guy who can put 'im to rest if you like."
A cold gust of wind blows down Kearra's neck as she suggests exorcising Arendyl's Grandfather.
"I'm not a bounty hunter, Ricard. I just figured in all the confusion of people running around to get the bounty, I would be able to get my opportunity to see the world!" Arendyl replies.
Then she looks at Kearra. "Uh no thanks. He's sort of like a friendly family ghost, if a bit of a nag..." Then she winces as the wind plays with her hair once more. "Yes, I know, I know. I shouldn't be disrespectful of elders and all that..."
|
Gimpy listens to the man, and when he hears the reward he nearly spits his chewing tabaco out. That'd be enough to put me in the Hearts and graces of more than just the bar whores! he lauges to himself and goes to make himself some gold! He smacks right into the half orc woman standing near by however... Oh! I am greatly sorry! he sees she is almost twice his size and he chuckles.
Oh, your a big one!
"I guess we all could be technically bounty hunters!" Shengives off a nervous laughter before shaking Arendyl's hand. "Everyone can just call me Resalth, And it's great to be working with all of you!"
"Well then, since we're going to be sharing the reward, we better start sharing our skillsets." the half-elf says. "We need to gather information on exactly where he disappeared from, where he was last seen, and work our way from there."
"Urmm...the factory is there. Maybe he might have left something that would indicate where he was headed to?" Arendyl helpfully suggests. "Or maybe the townsfolk saw where he went?"
"Gimpy is it?" Ricard asks with a raised eyebrow. "Charmed. I hope that this is everyone, otherwise, there's not going to be nearly as much of a reward as I hoped there would be!" He sighs dramatically, looking around.
"I suppose we should try his headquarters first, see if he left behind clues where he went. Then his home, and see if he had any friends he would talk to."
"20,000 will still buy a mighty fine pint, Ricard." Kearra said with a laugh. "Now that we're all best friends, let's go find that Neox guy and beat him up. I'll be knocking on the door; you guys can follow behind if you like."
With that, Kearra runs up to the door and punches it as hard as she can.
Arendyl winces at the sound of Kearra's knuckles on the door. "Shouldn't we uh...knock and ask politely if we can enter?"
The metal door falls off its old, rusted hinges with a loud, echoing BANG as it hits the hollow iron floor. Inside is a deep darkness, and only now do you notice the strange lack of windows. Birds in the distance fly away from the noise, and afterwards, the eerie silence of the town creeps back in...
"Oooh! Bracing!" Ricard comments, drawing his sword and stepping through the now open doorway. His blade is long and comes to a sharp point, but has only the barest of edges... almost like it's a four-sided thrusting spike.
Arendyl gives Gimpy a glare that could turn blood to ice."You try that and I'll gut you."A cold iron dagger swiftly appears in her hand."I know how to use this, you know."
"It's pretty dark in here. Lets get some light going."
Arendyl looks at the place to see what the light has revealed.
"And so I glow with inner peace. Thanks, luv," Kearra says with a huge grin on her face. She didn't need the light but it was fun to glow.
"Hey Neox!" She shouted. "Come on out if you're here! I'll hurt a lot less!"
Gimpy also feels his ears being tugged by unseen spectral fingers.
Kearra's armor glows brightly, casting light deep into the large factory. Workstations, saws, cogs, and other large machines scatter the room, and hanging above are half finished Metals on racks, waiting in vain to one day be completed.
Dull bloodstains on the walls and floor catch your attention, and appear to have been lazily cleaned long ago. The sheer emptiness and hollowness of the factory leaves a low, near silent ringing in your ears, immediately broken by Kearra's shouting, which echoes loudly within the dark walls.
Ahead of you, beyond the glow of Kearra's armor, is pure darkness.
"Figures. He's probably not here then. Let's get some fires going and look around some."
"Anyone can tell what caused the bloodstains?" She asks.
She looks in the area for any kind of tracks other those made by the party.
With the darkness, and hard, iron floor, any kinds of tracks made are invisible, and impossible to see or track. The blood is a dark, crusty crimson color, likely humanoid. The blood may be from a former factory worker, based on how old these stains are, and the location. The cause, however, is too difficult to tell.
"Here guys, let me see if I can't find anything." Resalth takes a few steps beyond the reach of Arendyl's light, peering into the dark.
Peering past the glow of Kearra's armor, Resalth doesn't see much but the same, and the factory is too large to see the ceiling or opposite wall, even with Resalth's eyesight in the dark.
Ricard will advance further into the room, his blade held before him.
Kearra will too given that she's become a Human* Torch.
Sniffing around, Gimpy smells rust and other less than appetizing odors, but nothing that smells human, besides his allies. Kearra and Ricard advance together, lighting up more of the dark, abandoned factory.
Walking further in, more machinery and incomplete Metals come into view..... as well as a small, closed trapdoor between two assembly lines.
"Ah, that's interesting." Ricard observes, squatting next to the trapdoor. He tests to see if it's locked.
Ricard approaches the trap door, leaning down and inspecting it. It is a simple handle, and from what he can tell, there seems to be no locks.
Kearra looks at the trapdoor too. "Alright everyone, ready whatever you call a weapon and get ready." Once everyone has done so, she opens the trapdoor.
Opening the trapdoor reveals a ladder, leading down further than you can see. Almost immediately after opening, the entire group can hear the sound of something unlatching from far above their heads.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Out of the darkness, a large wooden pole, like a large branch, swings into view, tied with a rope to somewhere above. It swings past Kearra, hitting Ricard with enough force to leave a hefty bruise, but nothing more. It quickly slows and stops swinging, hanging above the trapdoor.
"Sorry, sorry. If you spot anything uncanny I can try tinker with it. But be careful!" Arendyl exclaims.
"Woah woah!" Resalth turns toward the open trap door, drawing her sword and gripping it tightly with both hands, before calming down. "We should let Arendyl deal with the doors guys, mostly because this place seems awfully quiet to be anything abandoned.."
Arendyl looks down the ladder as far as she can see in the darkness and sees no traps. However, she doesn't even see the trigger mechanism for the first trap... What could've caused it, then?
"Yah! What the..." Ricard complains, rubbing his shoulder.
-Posted with Wayfinder