The Deadland

I have a request to make from the inhabitants of Mercy Apartments! [Day sounds cheary and friendly] I have made a prototype of a poison that should be able to paralyse and kill these monsters pretty quick. But I need people to volunteer to be test subjects, we need to know if the poison is strong enough.

[There is a pause and it sounds like she is eating something] Name's Day by the way, I live in room 145. If you're happy to help test let me know and then you can come get a gun from me.

I have enough poisoned darts for five or six guns. Fighting experiance isn't needed, since the point is non combtants will be able to kill monsters this way but since the poison isn't finalised yet being able to run fast might be useful! [She laughs though it's not too obvious whether she is joking or not]

Oh and bring gloves if you have them, I have a few that I got from storage though if you don't have your own!

[Radio]

Bring your best loot and meet me in the town square. I have a lot of things you guys might be interested in.


[Action]

The merchant waits. He sits with his back against a lamppost and a blanket spread out in front of and under him. The monsters who usually haunt this place are nowhere to be seen, and there is a horse-drawn wagon stood not too far away from where he's seated.

Something had happened earlier, though Golbez wasn't clear on any of the details. Between whatever it had been, and the fact that apparently a little boy was missing, one might assume that his offer to teach magic to the less-capable "residents" of Asper would be put off for a more convenient time.

One would be wrong.

This was all the more reason to make sure everyone was capable of holding their own. Once the monsters had retreated for the night, he set up shop in the apartment next to his, using materials he'd looted from buildings around town; a whiteboard and some markers, and some notebooks and pencils for his "students".

The living room hardly made a proper classroom, and of all the people to have for a magic teacher Golbez was probably one of the worse choices. But they would have to take what they could get.


((OOC: For Lillet, Shion, and anyone else who's interested in studying FFIV-style magic. It will take quite some time for characters to achieve tangible results, but it's better than the alternative...

Tag in under the appropriate threads in the comments section.))

Regarding the matter of the holes that have mysteriously appeared around the city: Has anybody gone down into them? What have you found? A full-scale investigation is necessary, but we will need to assess the risks before we act.

And second: While many of us are capable of holding our own in a fight, I've noticed that many others are not. For those of you who are not proficient with weaponry, I can try teaching you the magic of my world. I cannot say how well you would be able to use it, being from other realities, but let me know if you are interested.

It is noon.

The TVs turn on to static, and the creatures start to attack.

Each monster when killed has a chance of dropping a random item, or a special item: Energy & 5 Fish Scales. Not every kill will drop something, but more likely than not it will drop at least some Energy.

[ ooc: Hi guys! We're testing out something new this week. Please comment in this post to fight the aggressive, Energy-dropping monsters out and about in Asper today! This in lieu of a whole new post for every person who wants to play out their character collecting items/Energy. Thank you. ]

When she arrives, the first thing she does is search for a place to hide.

There are monsters. She can hear them, and see them so faintly. They scrabble over things to get to her, but she manages to run, by some miracle. She ends up outside a house, and upon opening the door and not hearing anything she closes the door, locks it, and drags a nearby table over to help hold it shut. Things were chasing her, and very quickly she hears growls nearby.

She runs upstairs and hides herself inside one of the bedrooms, again dragging a piece of furniture in the way of the door. She doesn't know how she didn't drop it, but she's been holding onto the radio this entire time. Flicking the switch, she speaks.

[ radio ]

These creatures. They won't stop. What are they? They reek of death. [ She sounds almost panicked, but her voice returns to a monotone with her next words. ] I need help. I need a weapon. Take these beasts away, get rid of this death, please, quickly, I must... [ She trails off. There's the faint sounds of banging. ] Quickly.

Anyone headed in or out of Mercy Apartments at around 8 AM might notice Golbez crouched in the middle of the road, peering down into one of the holes that has appeared overnight. He's shining a flashlight down into the darkness, but it really doesn't help much.

Of course, he's not so distracted that someone will be able to sneak into the building without catching his attention, or that monsters will be able to get the drop on him. Actually, he's been at this for maybe a minute at most. Still, this development is rather odd...

[ The second she saw the TV turn on, she knew it was time. It was obvious to her: something odd like that... must be what that Oliver guy was talking about. Even so, that hour seemed to pass too quickly. Cornelia had been out with her hunting knife going after the smaller, injured and secluded monsters. They were still a struggle to bring down, but she managed to kill three of them and so she was able to collect three bottles of energy.

After a brief rest, she flicks on the radio. ]

Mercy Apartments: we're all well aware everyone needs at least one bottle a day. We have just over 15 people. In addition to this, we need food. Water. We're doing well with that, at the very least.

But Energy is a much more pressing issue. Anyone with Energy, hand it over to me. I'll distribute it among us and make sure it isn't wasted. It's best to regulate something like this. [ What she doesn't say is that preference will be given to those who aren't dead weight. ]

We need more guards for the doors. Let me know if you'd like to take a few shifts.

And unless you've proven you can handle yourself, don't think you're going out to forage alone. Go in pairs. The last thing we need is for any weapons and ammo to be lost along with an arrogant imbecile.

Cornelia li Britannia, out.

[ Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep. If you need her, you can find her pouring over legal documents in the Superintendent's office. ]

Hey! [She stops and giggles, radios are so much fun.] This is Jade Harley!

Uh-- What's that they say? Rodger? Over and out? [More giggling. Teeheehee this is so much fun.]


[action]

[if for whatever reason you're out in this godforesaken town, you might find Jade, darting around from building to building, looking for other people! She's being sneaky-sneaky, since she already had to deal with a few monsters, but you can still spot her as she darts around corners and things, her long hood trailing behind her.]

[RADIO]

The monsters are attacking. If you can't fight [WHAT IS THAT RATTLING SOUND], stay safe inside. If you can, we should fight them off and gather the Energy.

[ACTION]
[Minato is near the entrance of Mercy Street Apartment, a metal bat in hand and a 'gun' in his other hand. When one of the monsters come in to attack, he points the gun at his head and fire.]

Orpheus!

[Instead of certain death, a blue aura surrounds him and a strange, mechanical man appears to attack the monster.]

That morning, Lightning and Golbez were standing guard outside the front doors to the Mercy Street Apartments, making sure nothing dangerous tried to get in. No monsters would be getting past them.

Visitors might also have a hard time of it. But as long as you don't mean any harm, you'll be let through. Probably.

[radio]
[ if the child handed it to her, it's got to be useful, right? So after a few minutes of fleeing to find somewhere safe, she examines it and - a little doubtfully - presses the button. ]

H-hello? This is Lillet Blan, a student of the Silver Star. Oh, but that might not mean anything... um, I'm a magician, but without crystals I can't-- Oh n- [ aaand it cuts off as she has to relocate ]

What am I meant to do with a Laboratory, out here?

[action]
[ at any point in this weird broadcast, you can come across Lillet running from building to building, trying to find a safe place to draw a Laboratory Rune from the overly large tome she's cradling. And failing. ]

Uh... Where did that little kid go? He was saying something about a wish and helping this universe?

I was in the middle of something really important. I mean, I'd really like to help! But I need to finish what I was doing back home first. Can I just leave for a little while and then come back after that's done?

Actually Shion thought sticking with the others in the apartments would be the better idea, after all there wern't many of them and a lot of monsters, and surely helping each other out would be much easier than everyone going alone. But of course this was Rat so Shion really wasn't surprised. Allen had gone and Rat walked off in the opposite direction. Shion looked down at the mouse at his feet and picked it up. "Come on then Horatio," he hurried after Rat.

The sounds of monsters had become almost normal and none sounded too close... as long as they got inside quickly. "Where are we going Rat?"

[ when Rat can focus again against the lurch and shift of worlds and consciousness, it's the smell that hits him first. The overwhelming stench of rotten flesh and clotted blood, offal and bacteria. And the rust of iron.

When his vision slides back, he recognises the cage for what it is. What he doesn't recognise is the pile of meat that must have been a large animal at some point in the past. He's used to dead things, though, and after he remembers to breathe shallowly and through his mouth, he can occupy himself with working out a way out of the cage some bastard left him in.


An hour or so later, and he's exhausted himself trying to break the lock with alternatively a large rock and a shard of femur. It's only after this resounding failure that he deigns to try the radio. ]

Someone want to tell me why I'm in a fucking cage?

What is this?! Revitalizing a universe, granting a wish - do you honestly expect me to believe that?! I’m not going to save anything - not when you’ve kidnapped me! [ raging elliot is raging ] So you can take your stupid wish and go to hell! And while you're at it - take responsibility for your own stupid universe, idiot!

[ huff huff... ]

Saving a universe – how am I supposed to save it anyway?!

And where the hell is my sword?!

[ elliot is fast realizing that all these animals? THEY'RE OUT TO GET HIM. Brb, running down main street. feel free to run into him. ]

Shion opened his eyes, the dream had been so strange, so vivid. The child figure, who had he been? Shion was a little shaken, because dreams were not something he often had, not one that felt that realistic and yet were so divorced from real life.

He blamed Rat and all the books he was making him read. Shion sat up to inform his friend of this and his mouth dropped. He was still dreaming? No surely he could not have this much rational thought in a dream.

There were noises all around him, and he thought he heard a gun shot in the distance. A gun shot? Where was he? Even though he had gotten used to the West Town this was not there. This was... somewhere else entirely.

More noises, getting closer. Shion soon found himself surrounded by three... well they looked like a fusion of feline and canine but that wasn't scientifically possible either. He stood very still hoping they would react in the ways dogs did. As they got closer he started to doubt that. Maybe he should try to run.