"THIS IS THE END TIMES!"

It was market day in Rig, and the crowds flowed and swirled like spilled paint and glitter.

Yellow and green were the latest fashion, draped with patterned sashes and oversized hoods that kept the sun from their necks. Brown faces smiled up out of the heat, laughing at the paper hats glued to the drones overhead. Dogs and children raced squealing underfoot while hawkers bellowed their sales on fresh fish and glass beads and used solar panels and music players. A busker danced with a sitar while a little girl sang along, and a puppeteer competed for crowds with her holographic scenes and robotic players.

Everything would have been peaceful and happy were it not for the bearded man on the stairs.

"SOMETHING IS COMING!" he hollered, his sharp blue eyes wide in terror while he flung his arms over the crowd, a red cape tossed behind him. "THE SIGNS ARE ALL THERE, BUT NO ONE'S LOOKING! THERE'S A REASON THE NOX ARE GONE, AND IT'S NOT A GOOD ONE!"

Everyone knew Ruskali, the self-described prophet. He'd once accused a cat of being the reincarnation of an ancient war-lord, and had called for the destruction of all electronic devices because they were whispering demonic instructions to their users. Last year he'd spent months insisting a particular style of graffiti was proof of alien invasion.

No one listened to him now--
--except one.

Archer leaned back on two legs of her chair, balancing precarious while she shoved handfuls of candied walnuts under her mask. Her flickering scanners were fixed on Ruskali and his wild shouting, so much that she almost didn't notice when her newest recruits began to arrive.

She had asked them to meet her here, after all, under Ruskali's stairs.


[color=C2EC2C]"All right, hello then, love the mask!"[/color] Archer called whenever another recruit showed up, and she teetered in her chair and gestured to a big wooden chest beside her. [color=C2EC2C]"We're just waiting for the others, but in the meantime how 'bout you pick yourself a weapon? They're not all [i]dangerous[/i] in the usual sense-- well, some are --but they're for Nox hunting. You can destroy Nox-- they go up in a poof of smoke --or suck them up into little bottles, or stun them or spook them away, whatever makes you less squeamish. There's a lot to be squeamish about, I won't lie to ya. Care for a walnut?"[/color]


[hider=player notes!]Please choose your weapon! You can create anything you like. It doesn't even have to look like a weapon at all, but please describe how it helps get rid of the Nox.

Other than that, you're free to interact with each other and/or with the scene. Archer and Ruskali are mine to control but the merchants, drones, performers, crowds, etc are for you to interpret as you like.[/hider]