Shadows of Sandfield II Roleplay Thread

Veda, 317th Central Camp

As the recording began, Veda stared intently at the screen, barely even blinking as he took in every frame. His expression did not change, even at the sound of slaughter, remaining calm and calculating throughout.

When it finished, he put a hand to his chin.

"...this data is inconclusive." He assessed. "There's no clear visual of the creature moving, or attacking, so I cannot gauge it's capabilities. Even if Katie is faster, this thing is clearly mechanical, so it's entirely possible it has ranged weaponry. As such, I can't advise trying the Hazard Gate again."

He gave Ross a glance. It was obvious the driver was afraid. A rational response to... that.

"A faraday cage isn't necessary. If the construct damaged electronics, the recording would be damaged from the start, but the video distortion increased after the creature appeared; it wasn't damaging the camera, it's a cognitohazard-type effect. Which might mean that simply looking at it could harm us if we encounter it in person. Additionally, the runic array was also distorted, implying it can interfere with magic as well."

During this rant, Veda had begun to pace back and forth. He stopped, taking a deep breath.

"I can't stop you if you decide to go through with it, Ross, but there's enough unknowns here that there's no guarantee of survival." He looked at the assembled team. "It's up to each of you if you want to take that risk."

Jayden

It was strange, what stood out to Jayden about the diary.

It wasn't that his dad had been friends with Carl. It wasn't that his dad had apparently been the kind of person to drink, or drive drunk. It wasn't even the investigation.

No, what stood out to Jayden was just how little he and his siblings were mentioned.

Their mother had been the breadwinner of the household, so their dad had been the one who'd taken care of them. It was an arrangement some would raise eyebrows at, but Arthur had been the best parent anyone could ask for (if you wanted Jayden's admittedly very biased opinion). He'd taken care of them, soothed them when they were upset, shown them love and compassion and kindness. He'd taught them to be as human as humanly possible.

So for him to barely spare them a word in his diary...was sort of like a slap to the face.

At least, Jayden thought bitterly as he closed the diary, he cared more than Kyrio seemed to have.

He slipped the piece of paper with the spell circle between its pages, then stood up, slinging his backpack around to his front to store the diary.

But then he had another idea.

Wait. What if I put it somewhere safer?

Jayden blinked, then frowned. He hadn't really exercised his magic up until now; the biggest new thing he'd done was earlier that day, when he turned to shadow and slipped through the gates. But...the thought of his own little pocket dimension bag of holding...was a tempting one.

Suddenly, he had to try it. He picked up a nearby pencil, found a dark corner of the room, and focused. He imagined a pocket in the wall, one only he could reach, one that was big enough to contain whatever it needed to...and putting the pencil in.

And being able to take it out if he needed to. Obviously.

Rebecca Weathers - 317th Central Camp

Becca watched the footage play out, and when it showed only static and screams, she winced. Once the video ended, she decided to weigh in.

"There are two thing we do know for certain," Becca said to Veda. "If we open a gate, this thing will come out. But unlike those people, we'll be at our best and on guard. But more importantly," she continued. "If the thing is at least partly mechanical, it's solid. Which means we can hit it back. So I say we see how tough this thing really is."

Becca looked at the whole group. "If we're going to master conjuring up a Hazard Gate, that'll include closing it when we're done. So if this thing wants to hijack our gates, we can turn the gate against it. I can put up an ice wall to give us some extra protection, then we open gate. And once that thing starts to come out..." Becca pounded her open palm with her fist. "We close the gate and cut that thing in half. If this thing has any sense, it'll think twice before sticking any other appendages through the gate. And if it tries again, we'll just see how many we have to take to get the lesson to stick."

Ross Chase - The 317th Central Camp

"I wasn't exactly planning on backing down, no," Ross said with an uncharacteristic conviction, "I'm sure I could take a little bit of ranged weaponry. Katie is a comparatively small target. Agile. Hard to hit." Despite the obvious fear of the thing, and the mood dampened by Veda's conclusion, Ross's sense of duty, and his need for freedom didn't allow him to leave the matter unaddressed. However, the things Veda concluded... "Cognitohazards. Scary stuff. Do you know how to protect oneself against those?" He asked, focusing on the observation he disliked the most. It was a sound conclusion, and Veda has proven himself to be a perceptive fellow. There was however, one problem with it: Ross didn't want it to be true. It's one thing to go up against a powerful foe; it's quite another to go up against a foe you can't even see without getting hurt. And so, he clicked the rewind button. And watched out for the signs that could determine the truth of the matter. Any kind of reaction from those unfortunate mages that would suggest they had been harmed by merely seeing the beast. Perhaps any electrical device that was also interfered with - something that would prove his initial theory right. The anguished screams seared into his mind.

"If it interferes with magic, will we be able to close the gate after it hijacks it?" He asked as he looked at the disturbations in the runic array and in the gate itself. He hoped this disruption didn't extend past the gate itself. If it interfered with all magic in the area, it would impact his connection with Lil' Katie, and that would be disastrous. And so, he rewinded the footage once again, listening for signs of other spells backfiring, or at the very least, failing to be cast. Because if there were problems with that, Ross would have to turn to traditional means of making his car go faster. To putting a proper turbo in her, for an instance. Of course, with Sandfield disconnected from the outside world, getting hands on one could be difficult. He'd... oh no. He'd need to contact them. The Perpetual Hoarders. The technology gatekeepers. The ones that snatched most cars from the streets of this town. He didn't look forward to that. Speaking of them, however...

"It's the Forge's turf. What's their role in all of this? Why didn't they help?" He asked, puzzled. Did those mages that died, did they mess with the Forge somehow?

Edited by JackCossack on Apr 30th 2024 at 8:23:23 PM

James nodded grimly. "We'll do our upmost. I promise you that. I'll go talk to the 317th then. Let's hope they know something about what we're about to face." In a weird way, he was relieved to see Chase acknowledging the possibility of Cici's death. Perhaps he should have been more optimistic, but that was never really his temperament. He would, like he said, give it his all; but he had a hard time believing they would succeed. He started walking back towards the two schools to try and see if he could find Daniel. There was a doubt in the back of his mind as to whether they would be permitted to go on their frankly haphazard rescue mission. To another party, this plan might look like the perfect combination of futile and dangerous. He knew that he would go through with it even if they were refused. They had made a promise, and he would deliver on it or die.

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on May 2nd 2024 at 11:33:08 AM

Pablo managed a smile once James accepted doing the talks. He didn't know if he could have been diplomatic enough or show he had a good plan for this stunt.

"If nothing else, we can steal some vehicle or something from the docks to get out, if we can't get a ride back" He said, joking a bit.

"So, how do you guys feel about this one?" He said, thoughtfully "Do we look for something to eat in the meantime?"