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 * The trade city Straza. When the mists fell on Theobrom and it's lands, Straza barely escaped the danger. Now, standing on the border of the no man's land, it found a new position as the port of call for those venturing to the dead nation. Where most struggled to recover from the war, Straza boomed after it's end. With the rise of magpies, and the renewed magicite trade they brought, Straza had found plenty where most had found want. It was even home to perhaps the most official of the many magpie guilds on Rhizan, where many clans would register to make their travels into Theobrom's ruin easier. In the early morning, the smell of ozone and spice was fresh on the air, wafting from the docks and the mists not far from the city borders. Before the trains arrived, but after the ships, the city still looked slow to the untrained eye. Still, merchants shook off their sleep, and prepared their wares. Magicite dealers prepared for the day, and mechanics got ready to keep the city running a few days longer. The Straza Guild Hall  The guild master looked over the application in front of him. Already he had run out of reasons to deny it. Using the name of a fallen magpie clan was bad luck. Everyone knew that. So why did he keep finding this application on his desk? And with what looked like fresh-faced rookies to boot. He only recognized a single name among the members. The far, far fewer members. With a sigh and a practiced consternation, he stamped the sheet in front of him. “I still think you're making a mistake, but you're registered.” He leaned back in his chair, eying the group in front of him. “I can only hope that you have better luck than the last clan to bear this name...” Straza Train Station  The train was a new arrival in Straza. A technological advancement stolen from Theobrom after the fall. Every day fresh-faced adventurers, those looking for new opportunities, and weary magpies returning with news and scavenged treasures came into the city. This day was no different. The magicite core of the train whined and hissed over the especially heavy load. With magicite hard to come by, and many places struggling to get by, the amount of travelers into Straza had only increased over time. People packed into the crammed car by scores, some even hiding up in the baggage compartments to find room. A single viera pushed past the throngs of passengers, handing out a scrawled flier advertising her services as a bard. Several children, many who had not seen anything but humes in their home, flocked around the stranger visitors to the city state. A few dirty, dangerous looking sorts hung around in the back cars, returning from picking at Theobrom's bones. A murmur of conversation travels down the train cars in waves. The train has arrived, but something is happening on the tracks... ** Welcome to the thread! In your first post, put the location you are starting in under your character's name, either the train station, the magpie guild, or somewhere else. Also link to, or repost your sheets! Radioactive Bears fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Jan 2, 2016 |
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Jan 2, 2016 17:14
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Jan 2, 2016 17:16
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The Train Station As a few brave passengers aboard the train step out, it becomes apparent that the train hasn't reached the platform just yet. The befuddled engineers are too busy standing around one end of the tracks to stop this terrible breach of train safety regulations, chatting busily among themselves as the train platform waits up ahead. Obvious to everyone outside, is why. Several feet of track is missing in front of the train. Lancer, from his perch, sees that it isn't just the tracks that have gone missing. Safety rails around the tracks, and even an old iron gate to the north of the station seem to be victims of whatever happened here as well. “Never seen anything like this,” an older hume in train conductor's clothing says to Suriti and Noh. “Been on this line near a year and we haven't had a problem like this. Guess that's the problem with new forms of transportation. You ain't ever sure what's going to go wrong until it does.” Outside Straza Guild Hall Biggs and Wedge, two of Rune's recruits, argue about team uniforms nearby. Wedge is insistent on capes. Wedge wants headbands. Neither reach a compromise before Rune slips past, blade in hand. She begins pushing her way through crowds between herself and the station, but a group of harried guardsmen give her pause on their own way to the Hall. Rubberneckers and passersby crowd an alleyway leading to the train station, and it's apparent why. Someone has dismantled several walls and gates between the guild and the train platform. Inside the Hall “Probably just the trains getting overloaded again. Too many bodies on those things and not enough magicite to power it all. You know how it goes.” The guildmaster says, leaning over in his chair and drawing his blinds to close. “Well, I'm sure you're both very busy.” He says, staring at his office door expectantly. Outside the door, it appears that there are new arrivals to the guild. Or at least, visitors. Several guardsmen, red-faced and tense, are arguing with an attendant just outside the door. You don't catch everything they're saying, but you catch enough. There is something happening in some nearby ruins, and they need magpies to go check it out. Sounds pretty urgent...
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Jan 8, 2016 17:57
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Straza Train Tracks The conductor responds to Moh with a confused grunt, and ignores the moogle and vierra as they hurry toward the station. The tunnel inside is open and free, and what they find inside is only more perplexing. Whatever has stolen the tracks from the station has come this way, several lengths of track missing entirely from inside, and several guards standing in a rough perimeter around the station. It looks like a few pieces of the track are embedded deep in the walls. Rubberneckers shuffle to get a glance inside. For Rune, the scene is even stranger. On her way to the station, Biggs and Wedge close behind, several other pieces of surrounding buildings are missing. Doors hang open, missing their latches and hinges, and several walls have fallen askew, missing their nails and screws. People mill about, attempting basic repairs to close their homes and businesses in the dark alleyway. The sunlight from the open tracks ahead paints a picture not much better, with several lengths of the track missing from where Rune can see. Lancer, meanwhile, flits about the rooftops of Straza. It appears to him that whatever occurred on the track took a drastic turn after leaving the station. Huge gouges in the earth, and several twisted bits of train track lie near broken walls and barriers as something made it's way through... Straza Guild Hall The two newly minted magpies filter out into the lobby without so much as a goodbye from the guildmaster. The beleaguered secretary is trying assuage several of the guards as they write up a formal request, but the tension is clear in their posture. Berry sidles up to the group, and several members jump in their skin. “We might be...” The man wearing a captain's badge says warily, “we're in the middle of writing up a request.” The guards give the approaching mercenaries a long glance, and tense up. “We need discretion though. No talking about it in the open. Is your group or team or whatever you magpie sorts get up to discrete?” He continues, his eyes boring a hole into Berry with a feverish intensity that usually comes with a lack of sleep.
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Jan 23, 2016 03:31
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Straza Train Station Inside the station, an older guardswoman leans on her pike near the tracks where Moh and Skirti mosey up. The vierra's question take her off guard, and she dips her helm up before looking over the two. “Aye, that you might, girl.” She says in a friendly drawl, “I know the captain just went looking for folks to go on an expedition. You with one of the Magpie clans?” She jumps when Lancer impacts the ground nearby. Her face goes hard and pale when she sees the insignia on the Dragoon's mantle, but she says nothing. All Moh receives in reply to her goodbye is a weary nod. Straza Guild Hall The captain looks uneasy, but the answer is clear on his face. It looks like they are very much connected. The other guards soon pipe up, talking over one another. “I hear is those bandits we chased out of abandoned train yard a few nights back.” One says, “They say that they went right to the ruins. Maybe woke something inside up, I figure.” Another pipes up in irritation “It ain't no bandits, Holly, it's them wolves. It's mating season, and they've been stuck in those mists so long they got changed. Hear a few peels of a bell'll scare 'em right off, though.” The youngest, just joined the guard by the looks, clears his throat uneasy. “What about the unstable magicite? Could it have spread?” He looks a little downcast at the notion. “My sister was a Magpie for a time. He used to tell me about how dangerous those veins were...” The captain holds up a hand with a stern expression, and the chatter quickly cuts out. “I don't mind taking a chance on you. Just you remember to keep things under your hat. None of that usual Magpie flashiness.” He says, still holding a disapproving gaze on Berry. You've rolled a complication while looking for information! So have a lot of information! One of these bits of info might be true, but at least two are definitively false. Plan wisely...
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Feb 6, 2016 20:29
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Station The group of three rushes through a crowd of looky-lous, but find their progress stymied. Though the path of destruction was quite clear, whatever caused it grew much quieter in it's escape. At first, a few shop signs and fallen walls and windowsills are all that mark the path leading out of town. Eventually, there isn't any sign of what occurred here at all, and the group is forced to follow where the culprit might have gone using your intuition and the evidence at hand... Anyone who wants to can test their Awareness to try and continue tracking whatever tore up the train station. Otherwise, the trail has gone cold, and you'll need to solve this mystery by other means. Guild The dizzying collection of clauses and agreements drafted up by Berry baffles the guards. The aide who was assisting them can barely keep up, but they draft the contract dutifully before handing it to both parties. With no real training in the fine art of contract negotiation, the captain reluctantly signs off, his eyes slightly glazed over after the flood of contract law that assailed him and his men. “You, uh, you do that, lads.” He responds to Cid, trying to find his bearings. With that, Berry and Cid are left to their own devices, and the secretary takes a copy of the contract for the guild's records. Now all you need is to find the rest of your guild! You can meet up with anyone you'd like, just say so.
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Feb 16, 2016 23:57
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