Mission: The Will to Fight

[voidtreckermods]

On the morning of Day 6 of the month of Kazoo (ooc: 11th March) the train symbol on everyone’s Safety Control Apparatus will shimmer in many colours, almost like the void itself. A moment later a holo-screen will pop up with the following information:

Destination: System #86525656412355.

Erda is a non-void active, pre-industrial world, connected to a corresponding demonic realm through ancient means.

Strife between the two realms has lasted for centuries. However recently the scales have shifted in the demons' favour. Although the humans have been pushed back to one last stronghold, the Shining City, they were withstanding the attacks until a few days ago, when all fighting ceased.

A large number of demon gates have opened around the realm, and sizable forces are marching through towards the final city. Without help, the city will fall, and the last of the world's people with it.

Purple Team

Defend the city. There are demons already inside the walls, and a larger force is approaching from the surrounding areas. Keep the city safe and hold off the demons.

Orange Team

The city's four ward-towers are manned by guardian monks who channel their energies into wards to protect the city. Enter the towers and investigate what has happened to the guardians. Beware any defences.

Red Team

The demon realm is connected to the human world by gates, each powered by a keystone. Residual protective wards are preventing large gates from opening within the city. Travel to the larger gates outside the city, and through them to destroy their keystones. The gates collapse thirty seconds after keystone destruction. They will be guarded.

Blue Team

Enter the Shining City to find out the reason for their lack of resistance. If fighting is impossible, locate the entrances to the catacombs that run under the city and escort the people out before there are further casualties.

Additional Information

All the information you will need for writing the mission is below. Remember that the only information characters know about IC before the mission is the blockquote section above, though they may learn the rest through play.

Lay of the Land

The Shining City

For those that disembark within the walls, it is a large, sprawling city with simple wood-and-plaster houses around the outskirts and more sturdy stonework buildings towards the centre. It is a bustling hive of activity, with more people than perhaps usual living there.

The city is surrounded by walls with large gates that are kept open throughout the day and closed at night. At the four corners stand ward-towers, with large doors leading into them from the inside of the city. Outside the city walls are fields and pastures; the ones nearby are manned, though it is rare to see anyone going further than a couple of fields away from the walls.

The people are in fine spirits, though a few might mention strange occurrences: farmers going missing, uneasy dreams, some even claim to have seen animals attacking townspeople. Cows, dogs, even cats and chickens. Such talk is largely dismissed as nonsense.

If asked about the demons they will rejoice: the demons were beaten back. The humans are victorious. The war has been won.

Voidtreckers who are resistant to mind-controlling magic will not see the Shining City as described above, please refer below to 'Outside the City' for what they will see instead.

Outside the City

For those that disembark outside the city they will see the truth of the world. The landscape is ravaged, destroyed. Small homesteads lie in rubble, fields lay barren and rotting. The earth is scorched. The destruction is vast and comprehensive, but it seems to be fairly recent: stubborn plants grow beside rubble or sheltered by walls; half-wrecked buildings still hold food supplies that have not yet spoiled.

Looking towards the city they will see a dilapidated, war-torn sight. The towers have large cracks running through their walls, and many of the buildings are held together with makeshift wooden scaffolding. Most of the remaining structures are more tent-like, blankets, carpets or hides over wooden frames.

Demon Realm

For those jumping through the gates they will find the demon realm looks almost like a grey-scale version of the human world, except somehow even more barren. Each gate has a keystone, which looks like a smooth black obelisk about a foot high, usually stood on a plinth or set above the gate location as a centrepiece. It needs to be destroyed to close the gate. Each is guarded: smaller gates might only have two or three guards, but larger gates have groups of demons to protect the keystone numbering in the dozens. Any attack able to damage stone can destroy the keys.

The SCA allows the Voidtreckers to survive in the demon realm, a world otherwise entirely hostile to non-demonic life, but they will become fatigued easily and weakened if they try to remain there for long periods of time. Keeping their energy up through meals and regular rest - or the equivalent for non-humans - will be necessary.

Routes

Purple

The train will drop them outside the city so they will see reality (see: Outside the City). However, if they enter the city or get too close to the walls they will see the Shining City. It's hard to shake off the illusion once they see it, but moving away from the city and remaining outside for a while will allow it to fade.

The area that needs to be covered is large, and there are demons approaching from every direction. Many of the demons arrive on foot but some small portals are open both in the ruined countryside and inside the city itself, through which more may arrive.

Orange

The train will drop them inside of the city. Each of the four towers has a door that opens easily. Once inside they will find a staircase that leads them upwards through different levels until they reach the top. The staircase takes them onto each level and the next staircase begins at the opposite side of the floor. Each level of the tower is full of wards that, without their custodians to deactivate them, must be navigated through.

We will put up a page with puzzle and trap ideas to play with when the start post goes up! During the start section of the mission they will be able to move up the towers but will not reach the final floor until 'ongoing'.

Red

The train will drop them outside of the city. Their SCA's will pinpoint the demon gates that need to be closed. The gates are all over the place and demons move in and out of them to get around; it seems they can move faster on their own plane than in the human world.

Once the Voidtreckers destroy the keystone they will have roughly thirty seconds to leave before the gate collapses. If they don't make it they will be able to travel to another gate through the demon world since the geography is similar enough for the SCA to still lead them to the gates. They will emerge fatigued for it, however, as the very matter of the realm is inimical to life.

Blue

The train will drop them inside the city. Their SCA will pinpoint the entrances to the catacombs. There are roughly ten entrances around the city and, having been heavily sanctified, they are places that demons cannot easily enter.

The catacombs are cold and dark and morale will be low; the townspeople will be resistant to leave their perfectly safe and comfortable city. The map on their SCA will show a route through the tunnels, though the way will be difficult. Some of the tunnels are partially collapsed and will need to be worked around; sometimes requiring the group to squeeze through small gaps or clamber over rubble.

Creatures

Demons

The regular demons are large humanoid creatures, scaled in dark jewel tones. While they can stand and fight on two feet, they drop to all fours to run for greater speed and distance; their hind legs are two-jointed. They have large claws on both their hands and feet, and several layers of fangs running along their jaws, and are more than happy to use both in a fight. They are capable of withering plant life with a touch, though it is not a passive effect, and takes their attention.

There are larger demons, towering above the others. These are slower, unable to run in the same quadrupedal way as their lesser cousins, but wield toxic whips with skill and unnerving accuracy to make them as dangerous at mid-range as they are up close. They are luckily rarer than the regular demons and are more likely to come through the larger portals away from the city.

Even rarer are demons smaller than any of the others, waifish and sharp-featured. They carry short, ornate daggers and wield the same withering magic as their larger cohorts with far greater skill and power. They can throw spheres of anti-life - bodies grow fatigued, injuries worsen, mundane materials age and decay. Their preferred style is to bind their foes with shadowy chains and drain them slowly. The other demons defer to them in all matters.

For those under the illusions of the Shining City these demons look like ordinary farm and domestic creatures though it will soon become apparent that they are now- once they attack.

They can be fought and killed by ordinary means, though magic that is life affirming is the most effective against them. Necromancy and 'anti-life' magic does not have much effect at all.

Humans

The humans of the city are a mixture of people, as would be expected of the vestiges of humanity safe within its last stronghold. For the most part they are good-natured and friendly, welcoming the Voidtreckers though they may make comments about not having many visitors lately.

As well as universally being under the illusions of the Shining City, they also all seem to share a sense of false history, one where the demon threat has been eliminated and peace has returned to the realm. It will be difficult to persuade them otherwise, and may take a day or so to get them to leave through the catacombs, though the people aren't particularly stubborn as a whole. If they hear enough arguments about needing to evacuate, public opinion will change, and they will begin to move.

Once the boundaries of the city have been cleared and they are far enough through the tunnels, they will begin to come back to themselves (towards the third). They will be frightened and furious that they were tricked. Some, especially the youths, will want to return to avenge their fallen home, but the older members of the city will be more keen to regroup and come up with a plan first.

Other Information

The dressing carriage will open to provide tents and basic camping equipment. There is food in the city though supplies are running low- as many of the fields have been destroyed and much of the livestock killed. The demons themselves are not edible- decaying almost instantly on death.

For the illusions of the shining city- Characters who are immune to mind influencing will not see the illusions at all. Characters who have strong mental defences or incredibly strong will power will be able to force themselves to see past the illusions once they know that they are illusions. Characters who have low will power or who are susceptible to mind control will have a much harder time shaking the illusions off once they have seen them. On average for the voidtreckers, once they have seen the illusions it will take a whole day of being away from the city boundaries before they begin to see reality again.

Though it is a work-in-progress it may be worth looking here for ‘background’ mission preparation. Other initiatives are listed here and here is the list of community supplies that you can assume characters have access to.

This mission will run from the 11th to the 25th March. A post will go up on the 11th March (K6) and will cover the Voidtreckers' arrival to the city. An ongoing post will happen on the 17th March (K9).. A final challenge for all teams on the 21st March (K11).

Rewards.

Taking part in a mission in any way will earn you five team points. You claim those by submitting a link during AC.

Also threads of 10 comments or more where mission goals are being worked towards will also earn you 10 team points. To claim those please fill in the form below and reply to the rewards header.

<b>Characters:</b> <b>Mission goal colour:</b> <b>Link:</b>

Please feel free to use this as a plotting post. Remember there is nothing forcing your character to do the task assigned to their group so if you wish to do a different one, feel free! If your character decides to not do any of the tasks at all that’s fine too, just let me know! Please reply under the colour you decide to go with once you decide for definite!

Have fun plotting!

Comments

Questions?

[voidtreckermods]

Re: Questions?

[azrthmtrnznthos]

Would any of the defenses in place react to Raven, as she's half-demon? Also, she will not likely be endearing herself to the townsfolk, considering her magic manifests as dark-energy (like in her icon). In addition, her magic and the feel inside her cloak has been described as "Dark" and SO cold, and actually seemed to drain the color a bit of Dr. Light. (See here at about 1:28.)

Would this affect her at all in the Demon Realm?

[adregem]

I can't believe this mission we're in the demon world of DOOM

1. Higgledies are considered 'life-affirming' spirits, but in particular, even the strongest ones get frightened of boss-level dark entities (like in the game, Nightmare Queens, Nightmare Rooks, etc.). Until such a time, if at all, will they be extra effective against the regular Demons through their presence/magic?

2. Are all the humans under the veil of The Shining City's illusion? There are no humans to speak with Outside the City?

Thank you! This looks like so much fun!

Re: Questions?

[springforth]

Can I assume that magic plant fertility powers are life affirming?

Re: Questions?

[worthallthis]

What will, uh, being dead do to someone going into the demon realm? Will it matter at all, or will it affect Soldat the same as a living person?

[melodiouspacifist]

1. Obviously the demon realm is barely hospitable to those with an SCA. What if you're in the city and take it off, anything of interest happen?

2. Anything to be heard on the radio? I'll ask either in the city or the demon realm as I'm not sure who's going to have it/where they are going.

[controlsthedie]

- If a character is aligned with death and darkness, how does the different realms affect them? Are they going to sense/feel things in general? (Like "Holy hell! There's a lot of death here!")

- Can those who are able to teleport blindly places travel to and from the demon realm and the human realm? Only areas within a particular realm?

- Can those shadow chains be cut/broken? Those toxic whips too?

- What makes the whips toxic?

- Is there a night sky?

Re: Questions?

[yondu]

How will humans react to someone that is very much not human-looking?

[lanxichen]

So should the puzzles get solved, would someone be able to temporarily power the towers by pouring spiritual energy into them... asking for a friend.

[sciencegirl]

Is it safe to assume that, while Entrapta couldn't see through the illusion, her scanner could pick up inconsistencies/monk energies? So far she's been reading a lot of magical people on the train and regularly collecting data, too.

Re: Questions?

[obliviouspatriarch]

Sorry if this is redundant considering the first question, but would a youkai-possessed person be seen as a demon since youkai themselves are trickster spirits?
(Not accounting for the demonic cultivation/resentful energies he already can use and being "friends" with death so to speak...)

[blitzcheer]

1. Would spells towards resistance towards magic lessen the effects of the illusion any? Even if it would gradually wane as the spell does.

2. Related to the above, there are three Golem Shields available, which cast physical/magical resistance constantly to anyone who wields it, as well as will 'reflect' magic -- would these help against the illusions permanently? They wouldn't really be able to help more than one person if so tbh.

3. Red Team goers are expected to come to and fro from the gates over the time period, right? To recover.

Re: Questions?

[fightcreamsundae]

This may be too meta but what order will the train drop our characters off in? Will it start outside the city and work in? (As starting outside the city would allow everyone looking out the windows a glimpse at the true nature of things, whereas starting inside the city wouldn't allow our internal teams such an opportunity?)

Re: Questions?

[dyingpro]

1. Can the demon gate's keystones be broken both in Erda and in the Demon Realm?

2. Does the Demon Realm follow Erda's timespace (so 1:1) or is it more of a Minecraft Nether situation, where 1 meter in the Nether is 8 meters in the Overworld?

Re: Questions?

[schrodingersghost]

How would the demon world affect Danny as a half-ghost?

Re: Questions?

[emerald_mirror]

Would the demons react to Xander in any way, seeing as he's half-angel (and at least looks it)? His more angelic powers are either mild or dormant at this stage.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou Sanzo:

Koumyou is inherently holy, and is the moon (and thus the moonlight).

On top of that, he's wearing the concept of light and holiness and restoration itself, the Seiten Sutra, around his shoulders. As a reminder because it's been a while, this is the info I had on my app about it:

Long ago, Shakyamuni Tathagata spread forth a sutra across the heavens, from which was born existence and void, light and dark. The earth was created thence, where life and death came to be. Shakyamuni tore apart the sutra into five pieces and entrusted its fate into the hands of the people Below.

Seiten Scripture: One of the Founding Scriptures of Heaven and Earth. It manages “holy” or “yang”, and falls under restoration. Unique to the Seiten Sutra, it has healing and restorative powers. It has the power to create light.

All five of the sutras are indestructible, and have a form that drapes over the shoulders of their Sanzo, and a form where it's a scroll. Upon activation, a potentially limitless number of tendrils of the scroll move through the air, guided by the Sanzo it's attached to, and can be used offensively or defensively as the Sanzo sees fit.

There is something of a blurred line between a sutra and its Sanzo, Koumyou himself actually has some of these properties since it's bound to his soul.

...Sooooo, all that is to say... I think it's safe to say Koumyou will be highly effective against the demons, and highly resistant to the demon realm's dark/death/decay bullshit?

Yes?

Possibly even able to shield others near him from that shit, with the sutra, if needed?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

So, uh... supposing an overlord decided to conquer the demon realm, namely by killing or conquering whoever is in charge... how would that go down?

[renegadeprince]

A few questions to help balance Vegeta during this and maybe nerf him as needed:
- In regards to the demon realm, is the decay in energy similar to all of those in there, or will it hit others stronger?
- Would having a higher energy output cause it to effect a person stronger? (aka, Vegeta in Blue form getting hit harder by the energy drain than super saiyan or base form)
- Would ki sensers be able to sense the demons strength and locations?
- Is demon flesh able to be consumed safely (if not by humans than maybe saiyans) or is it complete toxic to all life forms?
- I spotted someone saying this is Doom related, is this a good scale to judge enemy strengths by?
- Does the keystones have any resilience to attack or is it just the guards supposed to be protecting them?
- What would be suitable flight times between the city and the portals, and the keystones within the demon realm itself, keeping in mind Vegeta is capable of incredibly high speeds?

I just don't want Vegeta to be too op within this, so any suggestions to help make him struggle will be helpful. I am hoping the drain on energy will be a good one to use on him, because I am sure now he has space to let loose he will go into Blue form for as much as he can to make the most of the time on the stop.

Thank you! :)

Edit: Quick edit as another thought if above doesn't nerf him then an idea/suggestion: Is it possible for him to get bored enough to go searching out in the demon realm for something stronger hidden within it? More than understandable if not, depending on what you have planned for the event and other stages of it, as don't want to wake up something too big and bad too early or at all.

[agathokakological]

Soooo I dont normally do missions but my character is literally a scaley demon. How is he affected on this world?

Oh and his plant-specific powers involve him scaring life into them?? So there's that to note also.

[tortoiseshelltigress]

Gates, you say. Specifically demon gates, but gates.

Saash, as stated on her app, is a gate technician. Is there perhaps a way for her to try to get access to these gates and if not mess with/prematurely close them, take them over to let her control where they go? (Probably not ALL of them, Saash is but one wizard, though this IS her specialty. Even having possession of one gate under Voidtrecker control and basically 'safe' is a feat, and a feather in a certain cat's cap! If she manages.)

Is the train going to play its usual disappearing act, or is it going to hang around, as an aside?

NPCs

[voidtreckermods]

If you wish to interact with an NPC please reply here.

<b>Team:</b> The team of the mission you are doing <b>Link:</b> Link to the post/thread where you want them to turn up. <a href="LINK">Post</a>

Re: NPCs

[gentle_jim]

Team: Blue
Link: Post

I want an npc or two to respond to this amazing speech. *cough* If you don't mind, that is.

Rewards!

[voidtreckermods]

Remember these must be threads where mission goals are being worked towards!

WIP

[adregem]

Characters: Roland and Casper
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland and Inigo
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland and Trunks
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland and Hera
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland and Tidus
Mission goal colour: Purple
Links: Here. | Here.

Characters: Roland and Demyx
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland / NPC
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland and Ken
Mission goal colour: Purple & Red
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland and Guri
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland, Tidus, Inigo / NPC
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland, Ken, Entrapta, Tidus
Mission goal colour: Purple, Red, Orange
Link: Here.

Characters: Entrapta, Trunks, Inigo, Roland
Mission goal colour: Purple, Orange
Link: Here.

Characters: Roland, Casper, Devero, SecUnit, Soldat
Mission goal colour: Purple
Link: Here.

Plotting!

[voidtreckermods]

RED

[voidtreckermods]

[unholyandbroken]

Thea is a fighter b nature so anyone need an archer?

Jessie can do recon so may team hop, also a bar brawler so interest in starting one? :) Also cr possible since not many know she can fight.

Cassie L may stay on train and run point if wanted?