Shadows of Sandfield II Roleplay Thread

Rebecca Weathers - Safe Zone

"Then we won't repeat their mistakes," Becca said coldly, seemingly unbothered by the implications of what Malcaba was saying happened to the others. "We can easily train with shorter distances inside the wall."

Seraphina Twilight - The Mall - Holy Shit

Why the fuck is there a gargoyle?

Seraphina had been totally following along with the rest of the gang at the Mall, where she'll come to face to face with the 25 feet tall gargoyle. She gave it a confused look with her eyebrow raise.

"So, um, does anyone know where the gargoyle came from?" She asked, albeit she's comprehending the sight of the gargoyle better by each second.

Then, she was approached by Ross who asked her a question:

Seraphina smirked.

"Well, you asked the right person for that, but I suppose I have to reveal a deep secret of mine first," She pulled out Clara Bow, her trusty Tommy Gun, and then duplicated it with magic and held the cloned gun in her other hand.

"I'm a mage myself, albeit one that specializes in guns. I kept this secret for a few decades but since magic's out in the open, I figured it wouldn't hurt to take out the heat."

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Aug 7th 2023 at 10:48:25 AM

Shinyfield Mall - Ross Chase

"A few decades?" Ross asked, hoping Sera didn't just misspeak. So many experiences to ask about... Let's get the work going first.

"Division of duties, absolutely!" He replied to Kyle, "The moment I reunite with my lady, with my Lil' Katie, you will, uh, you will see what I'm truly capable of. For now, however..."

Ross stepped outside to get a better look at the tunnel entrance in progress. The cracks on the floor widened into a sloped hole a human could get themselves through with reasonable comfort. There was a balance between making something you can get a large amount of people through quickly, and something a giant 25 foot creature couldn't fit through. The superfluous stones and dirt flowed through the entrance into the mall, and deposited into a growing pile underneath a walkway above. Hopefully there would be enough of it by the end that a quick stabilization into an impromptu staircase could make for an extra mobility option.

I imagine it as a reasonably slow process, so another question was asked to pass the time. It started off in an unsure tone.

"That is a flapper get-up, is it not? I saw photos in my, uh, family album of my great, great, somethings wearing a similar style... That from an era you remem-" He asked another question before shutting up. Too close to asking a lady her real age. "Sorry, that was a tad too tactless of me."

Edited by JackCossack on Aug 7th 2023 at 10:14:58 AM

Pablo shuddered at the idea of getting into some volcano, hell dimension, or other unpleasant place.

"Well, first let's find a place to practice in as close to peace as possible" He said, with a shrug. "Let's get this right"

Seraphina Twilight - The Mall - Yes I'm that old

Sera scoffed at Ross' astonishment upon learning that she'd been in Sandfield for some time.

"Yeah, I'd been living in this town since the '80s; before then I was just a mercenary mage who traveled across the world doing pretty much everything to get a buck."

She followed Ross to the tunnel to also get a better look at it, analyzing the floors and walls.

"Nah, you're all good," Seraphina replied. It is indeed a flapper get-up; I was born on the turn of the century, so I came of age just in time for the Jazz Age. I have particularly fond memories of that time, so I always dressed like a flapper as a tribute. Now what's the current year again... There we go, I'm 116-years-old by the way. Mages age quite slowly to say the least. Hell, I think my father..."

Upon uttering that word, she cringed for a moment before resuming her sentence.

"Was several centuries old when I was born while my mother, bless her soul, was almost 70 yet looked like a fine gal in her twenties. So, what you should take from that is that we're old. Anyway, do you want me to help you build a path or something through this tunnel?"

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Aug 9th 2023 at 10:25:34 AM

Shinyfield Mall - Digging myself into a hole, hopefully only in the literal way - Ross Chase

"I see...I see." Ross took the information in. One hundred and sixteen. She probably remembers the era before the Model T, if only barely. And she was right there when Duesenbergs were still around. Huh. The implications were astounding. "Katie, did you just give me a few extra centuries of life when you heeded my first call to you?" Ross whispered into his key ring, and his mind then drifted off into the future. To all the roads he now has time to visit, and then to a further future, to the conquest of space. And then his mind snapped back to reality. Those potential centuries of life won't mean a thing if he gets riddled with bullets right now. He shuddered at the thought.

"We might have to fight inside this thing," he said, gesturing at the tunnel, "and, I'll be honest with you, I only know gunfight tactics from action films and first-person shooters. You have, like, actual experience. If you feel there should be a place to take cover behind, or a bend, or a kink, or something I don't even have an idea about, feel free to tell me. Might be easier to sort it out now than when under fire. Other than that... let's try and listen for the commotion above as we proceed, I think? I, uh, really, really, really don't want to dig out right in the middle of their ranks..."

Edited by JackCossack on Aug 10th 2023 at 7:55:06 PM

Rebecca Weathers - Safe Zone

Becca hadn't been paying much attention to what Katerina had been saying, seeing how she was quite adamant about not getting past the Green Wall. However, she finally noticed the game she had pulled out.

"You're a fan of the Wagon Vest games?" she asked, pointing to the cartridge.

Edited by kkhohoho on Aug 12th 2023 at 9:03:26 AM

Safe Zone - Knowing Your Enemy

Tom leaned forward and shared what he knew thus far from the briefings he'd been party to about the Eye;

"It's bigger than the one we fought in the base, quite a bit bigger - and quite well armed. In particular, its left arm is equipped with a large energy cannon - it's ponderous, but incredibly powerful. Everything that it sees gets fed back to Wagner command. So on top of being physically dangerous, it feeds information directly from the field to Gibbs' allies. The titular eye on it is obvious at the middle of its head - pretty obvious weak point."

Crossing his arms, Tom stated, "Taking down its legs to more thoroughly expose the eye to attack would be the best strategy. Do we have anyone with magic that could either damage the legs or affect the earth it's standing on?"

Malcaba meanwhile looked toward the Weathers girl and got up from his spot, walking toward her, "I believe you mentioned wanting to find a good spot for a Hazard Gate? I think I know a spot I could show you."

Mall - Book Store

"Alright," watching the tunnel get made, Kyle smiled broadly and looked out toward the rest of the mall, "Who wants to join me in checking up on anyone else remaining in the mall?" He glanced toward the newcomer, Cendrillon, and wondered about her. It was not courteous to distrust someone, especially in a situation like this...but he couldn't help but feel unsettled by her look.

And it made him feel legitimately awful, to have such a negative impression of someone when one should strive to see the best in people.

Luke on the other hand sidled over toward Colt, and whispered to him, "How about it? Let's...strategically take a look out the back of this place. See what we're working with, I suppose."

Edited by NickTheSwing on Aug 13th 2023 at 9:48:22 AM

James indicated Billy and Mina "If somebody draws the mech's attention, they should be able to liquidize the earth under its legs pretty easily. Then the rest of us should be able to use that opening to attack its eye. My primary worry is that the mech, or whoever is piloting it, is just going to decide to level everything in its vicinity, which is almost certain death if we have nowhere to run to. We should try and stay on the roofs or the air as much as possible to maximize maneuverability."

"Makes you want to ask if tricking that thing to shoot on the wall is viable" Pablo noted. "Would make things somewhat easier" He commented.

"Or I can just keep taking chunks of the wannabe Jaeger until we break the thing"

Cendrillon: The Mall (Bookstore)

"I will go first," Cendrillon said to the group at large, as the tunnel bordered on being completed. She'd taken off her hoodie completely now, draping it over one of the bookshelves. She could steal another one if she really needed it. What the others would notice once it was off, however, was that the simple shirt she wore underneath did nothing to hide her musculature. "C'est la vie... but you'll enjoy it, I think. Excusez..."

She pulled something out of her pocket, placing it against her chest. It clicked, and then unfurled, a black substance that was darker than any material the others had likely seen in their lives creeping over Cendrillon's body like a living, liquid thing. It gave off no visible reflection of light, like a black hole, and it didn't stop until almost her entire body was coated in the substance; creating a form-fitting suit of some sort around her. Stark red lines formed in select places on the suit, often between joints yet seeming to form some kind of network throughout it. Once it was done, her entire demeanour had shifted, and she stood up with her back straight as she glanced back at the others.

She'd been walking forward this whole time, even as the suit had covered her. Like it was an ordinary thing to her. Her hand went down to her hip, but instead of resting there it pulled something out of the pitch black material of the suit—a pistol of some sort, made of the same vantablack substance and with similar red lines cutting through it like strips of neon. She held it casually, barrel raised towards the ceiling, as she looked towards the group and gave them a slight nod.

"Forward, then. Whoever takes point with me... hmm. Drôle de risque. Your mistake, though. Make it if you want to be killed by what's out there. Otherwise... play smart out there. Oh, and don't get in front of me, ever. Merci."

Safehouse, Discussing The Giant Mecha-Shaped Problem

"Okay well that wheels back to the original question of how our odds change if we have a dragon. Because I can very much handle the whole 'stay in the air as much as possible thing'~"

Heather retrieved the coin from her pocket and pointedly did not flip it.

"Should we brief Strun on the plan bee-tee-dubs?"

"It isn't a feint that requires a great level of intelligence of the robot. No matter if it's automated or piloted it should react to a perceived attacker. I think we can safely assume it will work. If not, maybe have somebody with Mina and Billy who can shield them for a few seconds."

He was honestly unsure how to respond to Heather's question. He had assumed that there was at least a one way flow of knowledge between Heather and her "dragon". It would be a real pain to have to brief them both every time they were planning things out.

"Is that something we need to do? I guess I don't know how this whole thing works."

Veda - The Mall

That the woman in period getup is over a hundred years old does not surprise him. Magic, after all, is capable of all sorts of things. He observes the mana flows as Ross digs the tunnel. Veda could do the same, theoretically, but it would take a lot longer, the flow of Veda's energy being much slower.

He took point behind Cendrillon as she suited up, noting the unusual material and even more unusual weapon. Magical guns were an interesting idea, though perhaps a bit more lethal than Veda was comfortable with.

"I believe I'll allow you to take point, given your clear experience. My glasses are enchanted to greatly improve my vision, so I'll serve as scout and watchman." Veda announced.

Witnessing Cendrillon's clearly magical clothing had given him ideas, so he placed a hand on his own chest. There wasn't much he could do short-term, but changing the appearance of his clothes was quite simple.

At his touch, his purple button-up shifted, overtaking his grey jacket and seeming to merge with it, as well as his slacks, combining into a dark purple bodysuit. His sneakers became more like boots, naturally of the same violet shade.

His suit was not as form-fitting as Cendrillon's, which incidentally made it look a lot more comfortable and a lot less threatening. It was almost like what one would expect a superhero to wear. Veda felt powerful, and offered the point woman a confident smile. "Shall we, mademoiselle?"

Seraphina Twilight - The Mall - I don't have a nice suit, dammit

Seraphina watched in curiosity as Cendrillon and Veda suited up.

"Too bad I don't have my own supersuit or whatever," She remarked. "Would've been cool but I can live."

"Hmm, well, I think it's probably safer for you to stay behind me as I fight. I'll lend you Josephine so you can still fight but it's better for you to be an aid to me in combat and not the main fighter considering your self-admitted lack of experience."

After desummoning one of her Tommy Guns, Seraphina then manifested Josephine Baker the pistol and tossed it over to Ross. She then resummoned the Tommy Gun back in her now free hand.

"Zelda can pretty much clear up that tunnel but I'm almost certain it'll get everyone here killed due to the close proximity, so I'll have to think up other methods to dig through that tunnel. Oh and by the way, who's Kate? A friend of yours?"

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Aug 24th 2023 at 8:36:36 AM

Shinyfield Mall - Holy shit I've got a gun - Ross Chase

"Supersuit?" Ross peered out from the tunnel, and managed to catch a glimpse of Cinder and Veda in their new outfits. "Oh!" That is a brave styling choice. Catches attention. What if he had one... His deliberations were interrupted by a gun pressed into his hands.

Whoa.

It's a real gun alright. A pistol. Very lethal.

Ross went pale and swallowed hard at the thought of using it, at the thought of ending a life with his own hands. He tried flashing back to that one protest that was quelled with absolute disregard for innocent life. The one he lost one of his uncles in. A tear formed in his eye. Even so. Even so. To kill someone himself. It's not going to be easy.

He took a deep breath.

"Right. I'll try my best." He said, trying equally to reassure Sera and to reassure himself. Which is why it was a relief when Sera changed the topic to Katie. They've seen nothing of the Sandfield's number one driver yet. This will be the plot twist of all plot twists, something that will flabbergast them all. He could feel himself getting more and more giddy at the prospect, and he found himself resisting the urge to tell Sera everything right now.

"Oh, my Lil 'Katie!" He exclaimed with an excited smile on his face, the enthusiasm peeking through. "She absolutely is a friend of mine. The most loyal and dedicated I have. Awakened the gift within me. Saved my bacon on more than one occasion. Always revved up for whatever we do together, always willing to go the extra mile." A little bit of cheeky foreshadowing can stave off that urge to spoil the twist. "Why, she's looking out for us right now. She's on the outside, relaying every move the enemy makes in front of this place. Truly amazing. Truly dependable. Tough as nails. And she's got that inner power that drives her forward, no matter the chaos around us."

The tunnel he was digging got closer, and closer to Katie. Or, at least, as close as it could without spending too much of Ross's mana.

Edited by JackCossack on Aug 25th 2023 at 12:46:38 PM

Billy stepped forward upon hearing Tom's question, "I can absorb any ground this thing could stand on," he said, "Ah get taller the more earth I absorb too, furthest I ever got before I can't move is 30 feet n I dunno if that's gonna be enough 'ta tackle it head-on so I can stick ta just disruptin' the ground if ya need"

Rebecca Weathers - Safe Zone

After finishing her talk with Kat, Becca turned when she heard Malcaba's offer.

"By all means, lead the way," she told him, stepping forward so she was no longer leaning against the wall.

Safehouse, So Anyway Here's A Dragon

"Alright, bringing her out."

Heather flips the coin and the universe is distracted by it. It turns and glints at the apex of its arc and comes back down in the darker hand of the dragon's mortal guise. To be frank, the dragon looks as injured as she was during the interview, which is to say as injured as she was after the fight just that someone has properly bandaged her wounds and put her non-catching arm in a sling. She does not look pleased.

"... More questions? I told you everything about me already..."

James looked at the dragon. Contrary to his expectations, she hadn't seemed to have healed at all over the past few days. All the evidence thus far indicated that Heather and her new totem were entirely separate entities. That meant that they were going to have to spend twice the time and resources for what was essentially a single combatant. He could only hope that Heather would figure out some way to circumvent this. On the other hand, the separation might indicate that the entity wasn't a demon as Tom had feared. To be honest James hadn't placed much credence in that hypothesis, but it was still something worth ruling out.

"We were discussing our plans for an attack on the Eye of Wagner, a large mech surveilling much of the downtown area. We were going to try and trap its legs and then attack its eye, but it looks like you're still too wounded to fight. I can't say I know what would happen if your form got destroyed, but I doubt it would be good for you or Heather."

Safe Zone

"Ahem..." Malcaba announced, "I will be departing shortly to show Ms. Weathers to a suitable area for attempting use of a Hazard Gate. Keep that in mind when leaving the safe zone." A swift gesture with his hand extinguished the flame he had been tending to... And with that, he started leading the way out, carefully moving the large doors to the storage area open and then closed behind him on his way out.

"That sounds ''excellent!" Tom responded to Billy, "If you can tactically do that when the thing moves around, we can keep Prigo's toy off of an even keel...and hopefully expose the eye up top to attack."

When Heather brought up her dragon headmate-situation, Tom crossed his arms and simply listened in to what was being said. He agreed with James most publicly, nodding when it was clear the dragon was too wounded at this point to join the fight. Privately however he was still extremely cautious about how blithely accepting Heather was about this. This was something whose existence they didn't really understand, who had some inscrutable agenda, and could override Heather. It contributed to a sense that Tom could not be at ease with.

Yet as they spoke and got ready to move, the ground would shake and a distant mechanical groan could be vaguely herd through a crack in the window. The Eye was on the move.

Mall

"Now, let us head for our destination, to best...gauge a means for escape should shit hit the proverbial fan most intensely..." Luke for his part gripped Colt's sleeve and upper arm and began leading the way out of the area, toward the rear entrance of the mall. Passing by several stores that had some hints of activity and survivors remaining inside. All the better to try to instill a sense in the two of the stakes at hand. Should that creature run rampant, unsuspecting people would stand to lose their lives in brutal fashion.

However just as well, Veda, Kyle and Cendrillon headed through the mall to find any survivors.

Most were hidden away, wary of any people actively roaming around. After all, it wasn't just the Militia that many people needed to be wary of. However, as they proceeded through the mall toward the grand entrance, they would see a curious sight. An older man standing outside of one of the stores, now refitted with a number of items lying out on shelves emptied of the old store's wares.

The older man was portly, dark tanned, had a bushy, greying mustache and a receding, crescent shaped hairline. He was dressed in gold sewn clothing, a small hat resting on his near bald head. He didn't seem quite as worried about anything going on, and openly approached the two of them, "Ah, welcome, welcome! I'm glad some people still walk these halls instead of cowering in a corner like a beaten dog."

Sera and Ross proceeded through the tunnel out toward the parking area where Katie rested. As they exited they would come out near a side entrance to the mall, likely where security came and went during the more...normal days. They would see that the militia seemed to be struggling to get the gargoyle to cooperate. The beast roared - but the militiamen quickly seemed to act in cutting off its vocalization, for some reason.

It appeared though they were setting up for the Damnatio ad Bestia play. The lead of the walkers was getting a barrier ready to set up at the grand entrance. All the better to box the beast in and leave nowhere but forward for it to focus its ire.

The creature was a known factor in Sandfield's Magic Side - the Dominulan Gargoyle, a creature that lurked around the side path up near the hills. According to some rumors there were two of them, the product of some ancient magical experiments. But the exact truth was lost to time.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Sep 2nd 2023 at 12:37:13 PM

Outside the Shinyfield Mall - Exiting the tunnel. - Ross Chase

"...Not only that, she loves the great outdoors, and venturing off beyond the beaten path." Ross continued heaping praise upon Lil' Katie, and he continued doing so in a manner that avoided spoiling the fact that she is in fact an automobile. However, this praise had to come to an end. If his sense of direction was as reliable as he thought he was, him and Sera were about to surface soon. "It's time."

As he broke the last bit of asphalt that separated them from the light of day, Ross gestured Sera to lead the way, and followed her outside. He squeezed his keyring tightly upon seeing the creature with his own eyes, and hearing its roar, which was truly impressive even with the militiamen's interruption. Katie, how 'bout we dazzle them all? Ross directed his thoughts towards the car. If you could see under the tarp covering Lil' Katie, you would see all the chromey bits of the bodywork losing their shine. You would see the yellow paintjob fade into white. You would see black, swirly patterns appearing all over the car's paintwork. The end result of that would be a car covered in dazzle camouflage, akin to development mules the car manufacturers use to disguise the cars they test in public.◊ If the enemy can't recognize the vehicle, they can't track it down later.

The following was added on 2023-09-06 16:46 (GMT+2), after receiving a confirmation that less activity can be expected from Seraphina's player.

That being said, there was also the matter of getting to the truck. The place was swarming with the mercenaries, and being spotted is a good way to get shot at. And Ross, Ross was scared shitless of that. Nope, nope. Nope! What he needed was a distraction. If only they paid attention somewhere else, if only he could make sure they weren't looking his way. He examined the outer wall of the mall. Specifically, he examined a section of it that was (relative to him) in the direction of the creature and the people trying to set up the barrier, but further away from him. Was it made of concrete, or something else that would be manipulable with his earth magic talents? Was there anything affixed to it, like a billboard or whatever remained of one, or the mall's sign, or something of that nature? Barring that, was it weakened by the factors that led to the mall's dilapidated state, cracked in places?

Assuming it's all possible, Ross eroded the wall in the strategic places (attachment points for "something's attached to the wall scenario", the weak points in "the wall's weakened" scenario.), all to make something fall off and hit the ground in a loud manner and, simultaneously, a relatively inconspicuous one. (Like, sure, you can blame magic, or you can just blame the condition of the mall.) And then, the difficult part. Ross looks at Lil' Katie, and the thought of reuniting with her overrides his hesitation. While the enemy's hopefully distracted, he makes a mad dash towards the car.

Edited by JackCossack on Sep 6th 2023 at 4:46:54 PM

"I think that's our queue then." spoke James as he headed for the door. I think my magic is probably the flashiest, so I can be the one to draw its attention whilst Billy removes the ground under its feet. Then we can attack."

He poked his head out of the door and looked around. There was much cause for caution, the Eye was clearly patrolling the general area and he had little idea of what its surveillance abilities were.

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Sep 2nd 2023 at 10:48:54 AM

Safehouse, The Dragon is Not Pleased

"Yes. I would die, which is something I try at all times to avoid, and Heather would be trapped wherever she ends up when we swap. It's not the same place I am when I've been called forth, I'd know if she touched my stuff. Regardless, if you're going out to punch yet another giant machine I am just going to give her back to you."

The human-like guise of the dragon retrieves the coin and looks across the room.

"Anything else you wish to say before I leave?"