Stranger Things

@Nero @"Grappa & Jellisha" @KuroFaustΩ@Leona Jarnefeldt@Knight Owl

WORDS: 670

At one point in time, Kolleran was a beautiful village. It was nestled in the woods far south of Clover Town, along the river that ran from the lake down to the Calm Sea. It was a small place, with a simple but honest lift. The villagers saw little trouble day in and day out besides the natural predators of the forests and the occasional bandit group here and there, but the people were more than capable of defending themselves against such threats. Little came from the village outside of the trade goods its people carted regularly to be sold in Hargeon to the west, mostly high quality wood cut from the tree farms and valuable minerals harvested from the river. All in all, it was a peaceful place full of natural beauty that was often left unheard of by most of Fiore as nothing of note ever really seemed to take place there.

As such, it was quite concerning when one of the villagers came stumbling into the closest Rune Knight garrison, covered in dirt and dried blood. The young man’s clothes were scorched in many places, and he was so overcome by his wounds that he barely had enough energy to explain that the village had been attacked before he succumbed to the injuries. A squad of Knights was immediately dispatched to the area to investigate, the small troop making the trek along the coast in record time, but when they arrived they discovered that the attack was long since over.

The Knights spread out and got to the tedious task of scouring the area for survivors and clues. At first, there was little evidence of what had transpired. Nearly every body they found appeared to be a member of the village, most with weapons in their hands and signs that they had fought with every tool at their disposal to survive. However, they could not find any sign of what it was they had been fighting. It wasn’t until they started finding traces of strange colored blood that they began to suspect the attackers had not been human. When a scout returned from the woods with a strange device of unknown origins, it was decided that reinforcements were in order.

The call went out to the garrison and was forwarded back to the headquarters in Era, where a combination of higher ranked Knights from the various branches received orders to make their way to the scene at once. Additionally, after preliminary study of the odd device left the initial knights perplexed, a secondary notice was sent out seeking volunteers with scientific persuasion to assist in identifying the object. Any such mages who wanted to volunteer were instructed to report to the nearest Rune Knight garrison, and after a quick background check to confirm their credentials they would be escorted to the location in question.

As the mages who had been selected drew near to the town, they would be greeted by a grisly sight. A cursory glance would show that Kolleran had been mostly burned to the ground, though the active flames had since been put out by the first responders, leaving only a thick stench of smoke and death in the air. A number of Knights were still hard at work retrieving the bodies of the dead and lining them up in a clearing closer to the beach where they would eventually have to be examined for further clues and, if possible, identified by any survivors. A large portion of the forest was charred along with the small town it surrounded, and many more Knights were doing their best to set up caution tape and perimeters around areas they wanted to try and preserve for deeper study. A tent had been erected on the far side of the beach that was currently being used as a command station. This would be the location where the reinforcements and volunteer mages had been instructed to meet in order to be briefed on what had been discovered so far.

NOTES :
This is the starting thread for Stranger Things, one of two testing threads for a potential new RP mechanic for future Lore events. As a reminder, this thread is being guided by the Lore Master who's job is to determine whether the actions of the party succeed or fail, as well as to facilitate any combat that might arise. Any control over event NPCs and action outcomes by the players is strictly prohibited. You have exactly one week from the date and time of this post to get your own post started. The posting order with each round is first come first serve, and if you do not post before my next post is due then you will be skipped and are subject to any potential consequences of inaction. There is no ideal goal for word count, but you are encouraged to keep your posts concise. You should have enough with this first post to introduce your characters into the setting. Please PM me either on the site or discord with any questions.

@Nero @"Grappa & Jellisha" @KuroFaustΩ@Leona Jarnefeldt@Knight Owl

WORDS: 768/1438

One by one, the mages approached ground zero, both volunteers that had come in response to the request for aid as well as those who were active members of the Rune Knights called in as investigative back up. Each of them would be greeted swiftly upon their arrivals. Shen, Grappa, and Jellisha each were properly saluted by the knights not actively engaged in the investigation or moving bodies, while Leona and Owl were verified as expected volunteers. The only individual that was stopped before entry was Faustein. Since he had not followed the instructions of the summons to check in with a local garrison to have his identity and credentials verified in advance, he was not on the list of expected volunteers and as such was prevented from entering the crime scene at first. Only after checking his information and verifying his identity with Silver Wolf was he allowed to journey toward the tent.

Each of them was ushered inside as they arrived. Within the confines of the moderately sized tent they would find a number of medical tables that appeared to have dead bodies resting on them, the silhouettes of the corpses outlined by the white sheets that covered them from head to toe. On the far side of the tent was another table that had a couple members of the Engineering department bent over a curious artifact, while others were bent over another table with microscopes. For now they would not be given the chance to look over any of these items as they were gestured toward the side of the tent where the current Knight in charge of the investigation was wrapping up giving updated instructions to one of his subordinates.

He dismissed the lower ranked Knight once everyone was gathered and turned to face them, giving the three generals a brief salute before getting down to business. “Thank you all for coming. I am Major Rogan Price, head of this particular investigation. We have a lot of work to do, and a lot of dead bodies to be accounted for, so forgive me if I skip past pleasantries. I would like to get you all briefed and up to speed so you can get to work.

“As you can clearly see, Kolleran was attacked with such force that nearly the entire village was wiped out. So far, we have found no survivors, but we are still searching. Our initial suspicion was a dark guild -- rogue mages are known to band together and pick on isolated towns such as these, where the Knights aren’t close enough to respond as quickly as we’d like. However, what little we have found so far has been difficult to identify. If this was a group of dark mages, they are unlike any group that we have come across before.

“Each of you know your strengths better than I do, so rather than try to assign anyone to any particular task, I’m going to present the areas where we need the most assistance so you may lend your efforts in the area you feel best suited to you.” He pointed toward the bodies laid beneath sheets on the cold metal tables first. “Over there are a few victims that stood out to us. They have injuries on their bodies that don’t match any weapons or magics that we are aware of, though we suspect the wounds are related to the artifact we discovered.” Shifting his limb, he indicated the table with the strange device. “We also found traces of strange colored blood that we have not been able to identify. Any insight into that would be a welcome breakthrough.” By the motion of his hand, this was the evidence being studied at the second station where the microscopes were present.

Once those stations were identified, he gestured toward the door of the tent. “Lastly, we are also in need of assistance in the field. Our primary goals at the moment are searching the town and the outlying woods for survivors as well as any other evidence that may have been missed in the initial sweep. Either of these items would be tantamount in giving us more information that could be crucial to confirming what we are dealing with here. If you need something or find anything at all, no matter how small it is, please flag down the closest Knight for assistance. Any questions?”

He would give a brief pause to see if any of them needed further clarification on anything. Those who did not would be dismissed to head to the task that interested them the most.

NOTES :
None this round.

@Nero @"Grappa & Jellisha" @KuroFaustΩ@Leona Jarnefeldt@Knight Owl

WORDS: 739/2177

The options were laid before them, with each Knight or volunteer being given the choice to move themselves wherever they believed they would be most useful. Most everyone seemed to decide where they wanted to go fairly quickly, with only one question being posed by Faustein regarding when the artifact had been discovered. “As I explained, so far we have found no survivors. So unless anyone here happens to be a necromancer or able to communicate with the dead, there’s no way of knowing if the item was in the village before the attack or if it was brought in during. Right now the leading theory is that it was used in the attack by whomever carried out this massacre.”

There seemed to be no more questions. Shen announced his intention to search outside for survivors, and it seemed two of the others were intent on joining him. The major nodded his understanding. “Anywhere you want to start is fine, as it wouldn’t hurt to go over some of the areas we’ve already searched with a fresh eye in case we missed anything. However, my suggestion would be to either head for the mountains east of the river, or to head along the eastern coast in the direction of the canyons just south of the mountain range. Both of these areas are going to require an extensive search, and there are a lot of places survivors could have holed up. But, there’s also a lot of places that the attackers could be hiding as well. Please proceed with caution.”

OUTSIDE THE TENT

The trip toward the mountains and the canyons would be along mostly the same route through the forest. As they got further and further from the village, signs of an altercation became less and less common. Soon, the only signs they had that anyone may have come through the area recently would be found in the form of disturned grass or broken twigs that could have been evidence of wildlife as much as people. It wasn’t until they started reaching the point where the path would branch off in separate directions depending on where they planned on searching that they would find something new.

Laying half covered by a patch of grass was a pair of broken reading glasses. There was a bit of dried red blood on them to suggest that the glasses had been broken before their owner had lost them. However, nothing immediately stood out to indicate what direction the owner had gone in. For the moment, Michael’s suit seemed to only be pointing out native animals nearby, each of them keeping a wide berth from their little group. A deeper search of the immediate area would have to be done in order to turn up more potential information.

INSIDE THE TENT

Presuming that Faustein had no more questions, he would soon find himself at the table where other members of the Engineering department of the Rune Knights were gathered around the artifact in question. Now that he was up close and personal with it, he would find that it was quite unique. It bore a striking resemblance to a firearm of some kind, but not like any that had been documented on Earthland before. It seemed almost organic in nature, sporting a reddish brown color with spikes the color of charcoal pointed down the barrel of the weapon, giving it a sort of burnt look.

One of the Knights nodded as he approached. “Hey there,” she told him, “I’m Sergeant Krissy Mayweather. Feel free to just call me Kris. I assume if you’re here then you’re one of the volunteers that’s a bit handy with tech. Please put on a pair of gloves.” Kris nodded toward a small carton on the side of the table that had a few rubber gloves inside like the ones she and the second Knight with her were using. “We haven’t been able to uncover too much just yet. It’s clearly a pistol or rifle of some kind, but there doesn’t appear to be an obvious firing mechanism, nor have we been able to determine any kind of power source. As much as we don’t want to just yet, we’re starting to think we may have to find a way to break it open to get more details.” Once Faustein had put on his gloves, Kris would offer him the weapon to look over for himself.

NOTES : In this next round with your posts, please be as detailed as possible about WHERE or HOW you are conducting your searches, and what kind of things you are looking for. Feel free to utilize your magics in creative ways to conduct your searches, even if you aren't using pre-approved spells. Right now I am just looking for creativity. From here on out, it should be the actions of your characters driving the story forward, and I will facilitate the narrations based on the directions you take.

@Nero @"Grappa & Jellisha" @KuroFaustΩ@Leona Jarnefeldt@Knight Owl

WORDS: 1150/3327

OUTSIDE THE TENT

With the team paused in lieu of the clue they had found, a more indepth search began to take place. The volunteers and the present summons spread out in the immediate area to cover more ground. There would be more than enough scent from the glasses for the Jackal to pick up the direction the glasses’ owner must have gone, though after several hours the trail was so cold that it was extremely faint. Still, he would get enough of a whiff to point the group in the general direction of the cliffs. Tiny traces of dried blood continued on toward the cliffs, little more than the occasional droplets that likely could only be found by creatures with an excellent sense of smell.

If Michael chose to help search in that direction, he would come across a very distinct print in the soil where someone had slipped in some mud and fallen on the ground hard enough to make a slight impression with their body. If he focused his map past that, he would find evidence that someone had passed that way in a hurry as much of the foliage had been disturbed by something that was human in size. This evidence matched what the Jackal had found, all signs pointing toward the cliffs as the place where a possible survivor had escaped to.

However, that was not the only thing that would be found. High in the sky, Ramses would be able to have a much larger picture available to him and he would easily be able to cover a large expanse of space around the area. Closer toward the mountains was something peculiar: a large, dark blue mark staining the side of a small rock leading up toward the mountains. If he dove down to take a closer look, he would discover some kind of dried liquid smeared against the rock. Not only that, but there were droplets of the blue ichor dotting the ground heavily in places. There was a clear path in the area that was recently worn down by recent traffic from either people or large creatures leading up toward the mountains. Any tracks he would be able to pick out of the ground would be strange, not matching the shape of a human’s, or indeed that of any known creature that he would be able to immediately recognize, with three skinny toe like markings at the top and a lower mark toward the bottom similar to a dew claw. And given the way that the marks seemed to scratch at the ground rather than simply impress upon it would be enough of a conclusion that whatever made these tracks sport very sharp toes.

Altogether, the various clues would leave the party with a choice: It was obvious that at least one survivor had managed to seek sanctuary in the cliffs, though whether or not they still lived was up in the air. They could very well be dying wherever they had stopped, in desperate need of assistance. On the other hand, if Ramses was able to bring the other evidence up to the gathered party, the team could confidently assume between the strange blood like liquid and the odd shape of the tracks that the potential suspects in this attack had retreated into the mountains to either regroup or escape entirely. Time was always of the essence in capturing a suspect, but without knowing more about what they were facing there would be no telling what would happen if anyone elected to follow those tracks up into the mountains just yet, where they could be easily ambushed or overwhelmed by an enemy that had had plenty of time to set up a defensible position.


INSIDE THE TENT

Faust and Jellisha would find themselves working together at the station bearing the artifact. Kris saluted Jellisha as she approached before offering a pair of gloves to the crimson eyed young woman. “If you would, General Sinclair.” Then, she turned back to Faust and his question, nodding. “Yes, we’re quite certain these were the primary method of attack. As you can see, the tips of the weapon are blackened almost like charcoal, and there a bit of soot like residue that seems to point toward the energy from the weapon being some kind of high heat. Since no one has found anything that could point to some kind of traditional ammunition, like a bullet or a discharged casing of any kind, we can only assume it’s purely energy based.”

Waving for them to follow her, she lead them over toward the bodies on the gurneys and gently pulled back the sheet over the nearest one. The exposed body was that of a middle aged man. His clothing had been removed in order to more thoroughly inspect the body, which bore a number of large scorch marks along it. “If you take a close look at these injuries, they appear to have been created by some kind of precise heat strike, almost like a laser but much more powerful. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it.”

Picking up a clean scalpel and a pair of medical grade tweezers, she carefully peeled back a portion of skin over one of the burns where an incision had previously been made, pulling the flaps of flesh gently away from one another. “As you can see, this flesh has been burned through the layers of skin and directly into the muscle, resulting in a couple inches of charred flesh. However, I don’t know of any technology that could have resulted in an injury this.. Clean? Even a high powered laser would take time to burn through this much flesh, and the skin on the outside would be more cooked than what’s on the inside because it would be exposed longer. However, the burn here is even throughout, suggesting that the damage was done in a single, quick burst. Additionally, the accuracy of this is almost pin point. If this had been a burn from, say, an open flame, the circumference of the damage would be much larger, Instead, this wound is only about two inches wide; not much wider than the barrel of that weapon.”

“We did consider magic, of course. Magic is capable of a lot of crazy things. But as far as we can tell, the weapon has zero mana readings. We’ve scanned it with a number of tools, and it doesn’t give off even a trace of magic. That’s why we put out a call for volunteers to come take a look at everything. At this point we have exhausted our traditional methods of research, and our leading theory at the moment is that we’re dealing with a threat that’s possibly extraterrestrial in nature.. Anything either of you can offer by way of analysis would be welcome, no matter how out of the box it is.”

NOTES : None this round.

@Nero @"Grappa & Jellisha" @Leona Jarnefeldt@Knight Owl

WORDS: 1695/5022

THE CANYON

After a moment to go over the evidence, it was decided that the team would split into two groups, with Shen heading up the mountains in pursuit of whatever enemy may still lay in waiting, and the rest of the group heading toward the canyon where they hoped to find one or more survivors.

Luckily for the second group, the Jackal was able to at least start them off in the right direction. With that in mind, Leona, Michael, and Grappa fanned out toward the more southerly route, with the latter switching into her Exceed form and taking to the skies for a more bird’s eye view. As they moved, Michael’s HeXionic Radar did eventually pick up a faint impression upon the packed ground that would lead them directly to the canyon before the hard ground became too packed to leave such a trail to follow. Whoever they were tracking, they had managed to at least make it to the canyon, but where they had gone from there was not easily deduced.

A massive ravine yawned in either direction at their feet with a sheer drop of hundreds of meters below. A heavy wind raced between the cliffs with a dull roar, sending a sharp chill through the air that seemed to pierce through flesh and settle straight to the bone. There was nothing in either direction but more cliffs, and looking down from the edge all they would see was the jagged walls as they stretched toward the ground below, a view that may invite a sense of vertigo for any who didn’t quite have the stamina for such a sight. However, flying high in the sky as she was, Grappa would notice something from her position that the others couldn’t see from theirs.

A few dozen meters to the group’s left, there was a large enough portion of the stone jutting out from the cliff’s wall to form a very narrow walkway down along the wall’s face. It was such a thin passage that it would not be easily noticed even if one were standing right on top of it. In fact, it was a trail that one might only take if desperate, wide enough only to fit one person at a time, and even then it was a tight and treacherous fit… but not an impossible one. If Grappa followed the trail with her eyes she would see it stretched on for a number of meters until there was a shadow upon the wall that hinted at the possibility of a small cave. Should this trail be pointed out to the other two companions, not only would Michael pick up another singular footprint toward the top that would match the trail they had been following earlier, but the Jackal would pick up a small, mostly dried patch of blood against the wall, almost like an injured person had been hugging the wall while walking in an attempt to keep from falling over the edge.

Flying would certainly make it much easier to check along the face of the ravine for where the path lead, but anyone who would have to actually walk the trail would find it to be exceptionally dangerous. Not only was the path barely wide enough for a grown adult to walk down, but the edge was ragged and unstable, with plenty of loose rocks and gravel that could easily spell a slippery doom for a missed step, especially as the wind picked up heavier the further down the wall they went. Even if they managed to get where they were going and found whoever they were looking for, they might have to wonder how they were going to get back with their charges in tow.

No matter how they traversed the distance, they would eventually come across the mouth of a cave so small one could barely even call it such. It was really little more than a bend in the wall that offered miniscule protection from the environment. And there, laying on the ground with their back tucked tightly against the farthest wall, was a young girl of maybe eight years or so. Her clothing was tattered and dirty, and there was blood stained on her top. Her bright blonde hair was muddied with dust and there was a small injury on her forehead that suggested she may have fallen at one point and hurt herself. Wrapped tightly in her arms was an even younger child, barely bigger than an infant, swaddled in a blue blanket that was really the only thing keeping the fragile baby from being fully exposed to the dangerously cold air. The young girl was so exhausted and frozen that she couldn’t even move more than her eyes to signify that she saw those that had approached. They were both alive -- but barely. And infant in particular was in critical condition and coming close to being lost…

THE MOUNTAINS

With his superior speed, Shen would have no issue quickly traversing the mountainside. It would not take him very long to come across the spot where Leona’s summons had discovered the dark patch of what his senses would tell him was unmistakably blood, though not of any kind of creature he’d ever smelled before. The dark ichor gave off a scent not unlike sulfur. For most anyone else, attempting to search the mountain range for potential enemies would be quite the challenge. However, Shen’s supremely heightened senses gave him an incredible edge. Getting a good whiff of the unique scent, he would be able to use his ability to sniff out blood to easily point him in the right direction further up the mountain.

Eventually, he would find himself within range of a large cavern. Thanks to the assistance of his clairvoyance, even from a distance he could see through enough layers of the thick mountainous walls to get a glimpse of what waited within. The creatures were tall and gangling, with four legs, two arms, and long appendages like tentacles that sprouted from their backs. Their toes were as long as their fingers, and with their shape would seem to fit with the prints that Leona’s summons had described before. Their faces lacked all the typical features of Earthlanders, consisting of a smooth grey dome with a single gaping maw that practically wrapped around their entire heads. When open, their mouths glowed with an ominous blue light that also seemed to shine from within their bodies, visible across various places such as their chests, arms, and the tips of the tentacles on their backs. And even more curious, they had zero magical aura. In fact, Shen would get the distinct impression that if it had not been for the fact that he could see through solid objects and that his non-magical senses were so incredibly heightened, he may never have known they were there because they simply did not register on a magical frequency at all.

In total, he could currently see five such creatures loitering in their hiding space in various stages of alertness, with two keeping guard near the entrance and three a bit more relaxed further inside. They each carried large rifles that glowed red and seemed to be crafted from some kind of organic substance, and he could hear them speaking to one another a foreign language that he couldn’t understand. For the moment, they appeared unaware of the fact that they were being watched from afar, which would allow Shen an opening should he choose to utilize it.

INSIDE THE TENT

Back in Kolleran village, Jellisha was given an up close and personal view of one of the bodies on the gurneys, where Kris was giving a run down of all the odd findings they had managed to collect so far regarding the alleged weapon and its connection to the victims’ causes of death. She allowed her commanding officer time to ruminate over the information. The young general asked about the possibility of there being a missing part that could be the key to the weapon’s operation, causing the Sergent to frown in thought.

“As far as I can tell, the object is whole. I suppose it’s possible. At this point it’s hard to rule anything out when we are dealing with something we have no true basis of comparison for. But we did a pretty thorough inspection of it, and everything seems to fit together pretty smoothly with no grooves or anything to suggest that it is missing any pieces.”

“Hey, sergeant! You’re going to want to take a look at this.”

Their attention was drawn over toward one of the techs that was set up with the microscopes, a young man who bore the insignia of a private with the Engineering branch. He was waving them over with a look of shock on his face. Krissy covered the body back up and lead the way over to the station. “What did you find?”

He shook his head. “I couldn’t describe it if I tried, ma’am. You’re just going to have to look.”

With a frown, Kris positioned herself in front of the microscope and placed her face against the eyes to peer inside. “What the hell..? Is that… is that a DNA strand..?”

“I think so.”

Kris was glued to the microscope for another minute before pulling back, a look of absolute bewilderment on her face. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Stepping away from the station, she gave Jellisha the space to approach and see what all the fuss was about. If the young woman peered into the microscope, she would find what appeared to be a strand of DNA, but it was not shaped like any strand one would find on Earthland. Where a native strand would consist of a double helix conjoined by nitrogenous bases, the one before them was a triple helix. Furthermore, some of the nitrogenous pairs that connected the helixes together seemed to glow almost like they were burning, and the strand of DNA itself seemed to almost shimmer, like it was visible one moment and gone the next, flickering back and forth out of existence.

NOTES : Be advised that Kuro has dropped out of the thread due to a character change, and will no longer be participating.