gaia_crown [ Setting : ] Through some manner, your character and their party have found a portal to the correct Location where a shard resides. You may make up the details, but no matter what it is, it is old. Think forgotten labyrinths, lost caves, and overgrown jungle ruins.
If in Halloween, it is a less populated area. If in the Human World, there's no one around for miles.
gaia_crown [ Rules : ] - The DM starts by rolling 2 20-sided dice for each character, including their own to determine the amount of stamina that character has. - If more than one character is in the group, roll all characters at once. IE: If you roll 4d20, and get 8, 7, 1, 4. Player 1, Bob, will have 15 stamina, and Jane will have 5. - Each ACTION consumes one stamina. Once a character has used up all their stamina they must return to the beginning of Round 1. - If a character's HP drops to 0, they cannot go any further and must portal/pendant out/dissipate. When they return, they must start again from Round 1.
gaia_crown [ Round 1: ] This round takes place just inside the entrance of the Location, barely a few footsteps in. All is quiet; no one is there but you and yours. For now.
- All players roll a 6 sided dice. This roll does not consume any stamina. Roll 1: For every player that rolls this, you trigger a boss: a rusted, reanimated wrought iron mirror revenant. - Yes, that means if two players roll a 1, you now have two bosses... congratulations. - No one can proceed to Round 2 until it has been defeated. - The DM is in charge of keeping track of the boss's HP. The boss has 30/ 30 HP and does 3 auto damage every time it is attacked. Normal battle rules apply. -IF NO ONE rolls a 1, or if you have defeated the boss, you may proceed to Round 2.
gaia_crown [ Round 2: ] All players now continue into a hall of shattered mirrors, accompanied by architecture fitting of your chosen location. Ruins walled with mirrors, simple shards of glass propped against cave walls, etc.
- All players roll 1d100 to determine their result. Roll 1-25: It appears that you've lost your way, and the halls get darker and darker with every turn. Keep rolling, and subtract 3 Stamina because of how long it took to find your way. Roll 26-50: You are entranced by your own reflection in a nearby mirror. A whispering runs through your mind, full of all your doubts and fears and-- you snap out of it. Keep rolling, and subtract 1 Stamina. Roll 51-70: The corridor ends rather abruptly, opening into a steep drop. However, there's a ladder, and it leads to another level of the same kind of hallway you were in before. Weird. Keep rolling, and subtract 1 Stamina. Roll 71-100: You manage to make it through the hall of mirrors unscathed. Continue to Round 3.
gaia_crown [ Round 3: ] You reach a large, seemingly insurmountable... staircase. Yes. A staircase. Crumbling, precarious, and ever so tall.
- All players need to roll to get a total of 25 steps each to make it to the next round. - All players must roll 1d10. This is how many steps your character walks up, accompanied by the following effect: Roll 1: You slip on nothing. Subtract 1 Stamina. Roll 2: With a spring in your step, you manage to not cut your feet on a huge shard of glass. Subtract 1 Stamina. Roll 3: - 50% of your remaining HP. A large shard of glass slices into your abdomen. Roll 4: Instant death for you. Return to Round 1, reroll stamina, and proceed. Roll 5: Fog obscures your view, so you step on glass caltrops. Subtract 3 Stamina. Roll 6: -5 HP. A vicious hand wraps around your ankle, cutting into your flesh. Subtract 2 Stamina. Roll 7-10: Nothing happens. Subtract 1 Stamina.
gaia_crown [ Round 4: ] Finally, you make it up the stairs, and come upon a room with a collection of mirror shards scattered along the ground. However: this area is unstable. You feel as though someone is watching you very closely, and the walls slowly start to move, stone grinding against stone, the mirror shards jittering against the ground. You don't have much time: grab something and GO!
- Roll 1d12. This is the shard you end up with, congratulations! Match the correct roll of yours to the item, and read the results carefully. - There is only one of EACH shard so if you manage to claim the shard in your quest, please claim it in this thread with the form below. - Once again, your character my only have one shard at a time. - These are first come first serve that means if someone else has already posted here claiming that item, you cannot get it! Instead, you may look for the two closest unclaimed shards. IE: If you roll 7, and 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 are taken, you may choose between 3 and 8. - You get ONE FREE reroll. You may only use the results of your most recent roll.
3. The Third Shard: A cloudy shard of a mirror. Looking into it reveals a forest and a cloak of red. Using this allows you to enter the Shard of a red riding hood universe. You get 1 IC day in that universe, or at most 7 pages in a thread, whichever comes first.
Setting: This shard can be set in any time period, with or without magic. It follows the plot loosely. Roles: Every character must play a role, but not all roles must be used. You may twist these however you like. - Red Riding Hood - The Wolf/Wolves - Who Red Visits - The Huntsman - Visitors on the Road
6. The Sixth Shard: A shard that has circuits running through it. Looking into this shard reveals a cybernetic you. Using this allows you to enter the Shard of a cyberpunk universe. You get 1 IC day in that universe, or at most 7 pages in a thread, whichever comes first.
Setting: This shard is set in futuristic times, and all characters can be human or their original, player's choice. There is no magic, and instead, technology reigns supreme. One faction is taking over the world, through whatever means necessary. Roles: Every character must play a role, but not all roles must be used. You may twist these however you like. - Cybernetic Enhancements - Refuses to Upgrade - A Corporate Double Agent - A Journalist - Powerful Corporate Employee - Corrupt Cop - Android/Robot
12. The Twelfth Shard: An inky black mirror, with stars inside. Looking into this shard reveals space as the final frontier. Using this allows you to enter the Shard of an aliens exist universe. You get 1 IC day in that universe, or at most 7 pages in a thread, whichever comes first.
Setting: This shard is set in futuristic times, with no magic. Characters in any role can be a human or an alien. First contact, or perhaps space exploration are the key. Roles: Every character must play a role, but not all roles must be used. You may twist these however you like. - The Amorous One - Mad Scientist - The Ambassador - The First Contact Human - Red Shirt - Alien Language and/or Culture Expert - Space Physics Expert - The Stoic One
Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:04 pm
Instead of waiting for Micah to show up at the portal like they had discussed, Horace showed up at Micah's door, bright an early. He had already packed his mission bag, even if this wasn't technically a mission by normal standards. Horace wondered if Micah had been on a mission before. Shrugging, he knocked three times.
It had occurred to Micah that he should probably have some kind of supplies on hand if he was going on an actual outside mission, and he'd thought about scavenging in a city full of zombies, because that was probably at least some kind of similar to missions, and packed accordingly. He had shoved a change of clothes into a backpack, and a bottle of water, a couple of the protein bars he'd been keeping in his room (not hoarding, that would require a lot more stuff than he was keeping), his swiss army knife, a marker, and a pencil. His phone had a camera and a voice recorder, so he didn't have to try and find anything like that. When Horace knocked, he was trying to think of anything else that might come in useful that he actually had.
"Yeah, come in," he called back.
The Semblance of Unity
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 11:55 am
"You got your pack?" He tried peering over Micah's shoulder, completely ignoring personal space. "Probably should have one of those thermal blankets in case we get caught outside - the ones that make you look like a baked potato." Horace's pack had runic daggers, water, sample bags, and random s**t including a printed map of where they were going - just in case the watch stopped working. He could remember the map perfectly, but, just in case. He felt like a boy scout.
He clapped his hand on Micah's shoulder, but gently, in case the bruises hadn't finished healing up. "Let's hit up the quartermaster for that blanket. Unless you wanna share." This was accompanied by an exaggerated brow waggle.
"Oh, the car blankets? Didn't think of that. Oh, hey, that reminds me." Micah felt like he was sort of starting to get used to Horace's complete disregard of personal space. It hadn't made him jump this time, at least. He pulled a duffel bag out from under the bed, rummaged in it, and eventually turned up a lighter, which he tested to make sure it worked, then stuffed into a pocket of his backpack.
"That's all I can really think of," he said, and zipped the backpack up. "We're not gonna be out that long, right?" He shrugged into his coat, wrapped the scarf around his neck, and stuffed his gloves into his pocket. He could loosen layers up to get warmer if where they were going was warm, but if he didn't have enough clothes and it was cold it would be a problem.
The Semblance of Unity
Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 7:33 pm
"No clue how long," Horace said cheerfully, and wrapped his own scarf a little more securely around his neck."Maybe, if we're lucky, it'll be balmy and nice." He approved of the contents of Micah's pack; Canada seemed like a good teacher. Or maybe Micah had some sordid background in the boy scouts.
After a short stop by the quartermaster's office (and some impressive cajoling that netted Horace a nicer blanket for his room - only one corner of which was stained a rusty red), they were at the portals. It was kind of weird not trekking up the lighthouse, he thought, but it mostly didn't exist anymore so that was that.
"Age before beauty," he said, gesturing to the portal.
"Now you jinxed it," Micah grumbled, and swung his backpack onto his shoulder, "now we're gonna have a ********' blizzard," and followed Horace, locking his door behind him out of habit. He kept quiet during the negotiations with the quartermaster, accepting a packet with a human baked potato blanket in it and tucking it into his backpack with a nod of thanks.
At the portals, he made a wordless grumbling sound at Horace's teasing and stepped through, his sour face firmly in place. The other side of the portal deposited him in a forest, an old forest, huge and ancient trees stretching up toward the sky on all sides. Underbrush snared smaller trees and made footing treacherous. The sky was overcast, and patches of snow lay in shady hollows and under the roots of trees.
Just in front of him, overgrown and wild and falling to pieces, lay a castle. An actual, honest-to-god kings-and-knights kind of castle, surrounded by a half-destroyed wall and bounded by a deep trench that he thought could genuinely be called a moat. Was it still a moat if it didn't have water in it? "Holy s**t," he said, awed.
The Semblance of Unity
The Semblance of Unity rolled 4 20-sided dice:
2, 4, 6, 6Total: 18 (4-80)
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 10:53 am
"I'm a master...jinxer," he said, and snickered before following Micah through the door.
The castle looked run-down, but in the way fantasy castles often do, to give it an air of mystery. It was unfortunately near a forest - in fact, they were in a forest, so Horace didn't have much time to appreciate the castle before stiffening up. "Holy s**t is right," he muttered, and power-walked to the castle, stumbling a little here and there as his feet caught in the underbrush. Horace did not look to see if Micah was following. Ever since the mission in Japan, forests had made him even more jittery. It was absolutely stupid, he thought, but not something he could quite quit. And that very fact made him angry at himself.
After what felt like like far too long (but was, in fact, very short), Horace was standing at the edge of the moat-thing. The tree had thinned a little. Not enough, but a little. He sighed and kicked a rock into the moat. "Is a moat even a moat if there's no water in it? ...Maybe it's just a fancy ditch." He shook his head and took a deep breath. Horace could just forget about the forest at his back, right?
He looked up, and up, and up. The dilapidated castle had a half-tumbled tower and vines twined in and out of the stones. It wasn't welcoming, but it was damn cool. "What do you think, Micah - any princesses left inside?"
Horace hurried toward the castle, and Micah followed more slowly; then he remembered that Horace didn't like trees and had a damn good reason for it, and staying in the forest longer than they really needed to would probably count as some kind of cruel. He sped up, catching up with Horace at the moat.
"I think it's still a moat," he guessed, "you still gotta cross it to get over there, right." He slid down into the steep ditch, placing his feet carefully in the snow that still lay at its bottom, and scrambled cautiously up the far side, kicking the toes of his boots hard into the side of the slope to get good footholds.
At the edge of the moat there was a dilapidated platform of stones that might once have supported a bridge. Micah hauled himself up onto it and peered through the crumbled archway into the narrow courtyard beyond it. "Dunno about princesses," he called back, "probably not much left if there was any."
The courtyard and the castle were stonily, stubbornly, emptily silent. Inside, a drift of snow marked the place where the shadow of the walls kept the ground cold all day. Micah shivered a little and turned to watch Horace cross, and to offer a hand up.
Stamina: 12
The Semblance of Unity
The Semblance of Unity rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-6)
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:53 pm
"You gotta cross a ditch, too," he said, debating briefly about making a joke about a chicken and a ditch. Too much effort to make it funny, Horace ultimately decided, and slid down into the ditch. Creepy, fairy-tale castles weren't exactly welcoming, but even crumbling stone felt better than trees that blocked out the sun. He stumbled a little, skidding to an ungainly stop, but followed dutifully after Micah. Gratefully, he accepted the hand and hoisted himself up.
He kicked the toes of his shoes into the ground, knocking off the bits of snow and dead grass that clung to them. "Well, if there's no princesses left, I'm gonna elect you, Micah. Shall we stroll about your purview, your highness?" His voice was a little quieter than normal, not a conscious decision, but like they were standing in some library where silence was required.
"******** no, I'm not wearing a dress," Micah grumped, but his voice was hushed, too, in unconscious deference to the silence that pressed in on all sides around them. After a moment, he said into the quiet, "I don't even hear any birds, that's just creepy."
Instead of strolling casually, he picked a doorway that yawned black in the wall, any door that had once closed it long since fallen to rot, and crossed the courtyard directly, his footsteps sounding strangely loud on the stone and snow. "Let's just," he said, and paused, hearing himself and feeling out of place, "get inside and do this, right?"
Inside, the hallway was vaulted and dim. It smelled of cold and dust and stone. As he moved into it, a flicker of motion caught his eye to the side. He jumped and summoned Nova, and felt stupid as he saw her green runes reflected back, dimly lighting his own face. "s**t," he said, "there's mirrors." His voice, too, reflected, echoing faintly back from the glass and stone. He sounded scared, he thought. Scared and dumb, and what was Horace even gonna think of him for freaking out about his own reflection?
It was dumb, and he was inexperienced. What was he even doing here, when he barely knew what he was doing? Did he ever know what he was doing? His eyes seemed flat and green in the mirror, filled with Nova's reflected light. He was just bumbling through this, like he did through everything, guessing in the dark and hoping not to ******** it up too bad.
Micah? Nova said, sounding strangely uncertain. What you thinking?
He shook his head, blinked, pulled his eyes away from the dimly seen outline of himself. What was he thinking? Why was he just standing here and staring at himself in a mirror? He looked back for Horace.
Stamina: 11
Quote:
Roll 26-50: You are entranced by your own reflection in a nearby mirror. A whispering runs through your mind, full of all your doubts and fears and-- you snap out of it. Keep rolling, and subtract 1 Stamina.
The Semblance of Unity rolled 1 100-sided dice:
13Total: 13 (1-100)
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:18 pm
Quote:
Roll 1-25: It appears that you've lost your way, and the halls get darker and darker with every turn. Keep rolling, and subtract 3 Stamina because of how long it took to find your way.
"Maybe nothing's left alive here, except for the trees." Horace grimaced at the thought, regretting having voiced it aloud. It made the forest seem closer, somehow, like it was creeping up on him. 'Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane'. Or something. He hurried inside, darkness quickly swallowing him up, even stifling the sound of his own heartbeat.
Mirrors lined the decrepit walls inside: half-shattered things collapsed on the stone floor (where was the rest of their broken glass - long ground to sand by careless feet of centuries past?), bright shining ovals that still hung proudly, dusty, clouded oracles. He could see the shadows of himself in those, even in the gloom, like some half-formed doppelganger that would, at any moment, spring out and take his place. Horace rubbed his hands along his arms, vaguely comforted by the fact that his reflection did that same.
As he walked, the light grew dim and dimmer around him. Horace debated summoned and instead turned. "Micah?" he called out. Great. One room in and he'd lost the meatball.
"Horace?" Micah called back along the corridor, trying to sound cranky instead of uncertain. "Come on, get in here." He moved slowly down the corridor, passing mirrors on both sides - mirrors in ornate frames, mirrors that seemed simply leaned against the wall, oval and square, narrow and wide, made of many tiny mirrors - and looking back over his shoulder every so often. Finally, unsettled, he stopped and turned around. The hallway seemed to go on forever. He hadn't come that far. Had he? Horace was still nowhere in sight. Micah headed back the way he had come, his steps quickening until he was almost running.
When he reached the door, he barely stopped himself from stepping out in time. He just gaped silently out at the chasm beyond the doorframe, a gap that absolutely hadn't been there when he had come in this way, which split the castle nearly in half and plummeted into shadowy depths that he didn't care to look down into. Had he gotten turned around somehow? No, that was impossible ... wasn't it? Had he somehow missed the courtyard falling in?
There was a ladder at his feet, one that careful craning showed him led into another doorway. He didn't really have anywhere else to go, and maybe, if the courtyard had fallen in, Horace was on another level. Micah climbed carefully down, deeply spooked.
Stamina: 10
Quote:
Roll 51-70: The corridor ends rather abruptly, opening into a steep drop. However, there's a ladder, and it leads to another level of the same kind of hallway you were in before. Weird. Keep rolling, and subtract 1 Stamina.
The Semblance of Unity rolled 1 100-sided dice:
43Total: 43 (1-100)
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 7:45 pm
Quote:
Roll 26-50: You are entranced by your own reflection in a nearby mirror. A whispering runs through your mind, full of all your doubts and fears and-- you snap out of it. Keep rolling, and subtract 1 Stamina.
"Dude, Micah - where'd you go?" He keyed up his spectre watch to open the all-channel radio... before remembering it wouldn't work because Micah didn't have one. Horace cursed under his breath before looking up. The hallways stretched long and dark in front of him and behind him. As he moved, he caught sight of himself in a mirror, the ghostly blue light of his watch casting unnatural shadows into the hollows and planes of his face. He jerked back.
s**t, s**t, s**t. What was he thinking? He'd forced someone to come along with him, a trainee, even. He should have gone alone; he'd ******** it up again, he'd...
He took a deep breath. It was okay because it had to be okay. His jittery nerves skittered down his back and he shifted uncomfortably. This wasn't like him.
The hallway grew darker and darker, and only Nova's runes lit the dim flicker of Micah's own motion in the mirrors on the walls as they passed. He held her handle in one hand, gripped the lash between the blades with the other, so she wouldn't drag as he moved. It felt more respectful, and the small, pleased chirping sound she made let him know that she appreciated it.
The hallway branched, and remembering how turning around hadn't helped at all, Micah picked left, and kept going. This hallway split also, and then again, and Micah growled aloud as he realized that he was becoming hopelessly lost. He should have brought a compass, he thought. If that would even have helped. It was too dark to put marks on the walls to show where he'd been. Flashlights, that was another thing. He was going to make a ******** list when they got back.
"Horace?" he tried again. His voice echoed down the corridor with no response.
Stamina: 7
Quote:
Roll 1-25: It appears that you've lost your way, and the halls get darker and darker with every turn. Keep rolling, and subtract 3 Stamina because of how long it took to find your way.
