Mirandae

BLEAK

I've added an appendix to the codex with all the lore compiled by @Aeolian. Also, nice touch with the font! I like it.

BLEAK

Happy New Year, indeed.

I'll get another post in this week. Between today and Friday. I go back to work next week, so then I'm back on the old schedule with off-days being Friday through Sunday.

BLEAK

I've updated the boss card a bit. I found some elemental icons that were nice, and then I abbreviated the attacks.

@Aeolian It could be. Water could have some healing properties as well.

BLEAK

@Aeolian That is amazing! I'll definitely add and maintain that kind of 'lore tidbits' list in the codex. This is exactly how common world-building should progress in the story.

To fill in some of the question marks:
'Call to Arms Alert' is a mandatory rally for all Helston citizens. It's usually for immediate defense of the town.
'General Alert' is not mandatory, but there is reward incentive.

We can also use some of those elements. We already have electricity, but I renamed it to 'arc'. We can use water, metal, and smoke. Glass is similar to crystal. Snow can happen through the ice element. Sand and plant can happen through the earth element. I'm not sure how 'life' would play out. I feel like it's close to Light, which we already have.

BLEAK

I've updated the attacks with a few additional ones that everyone knows. I've also experimented with the card layout for player characters. I made one for Alice that has her 'special attack' in it. If you create one for yourself, then I can make a card for your character!

BLEAK

@Prisk

So for exotic and mystical elements, do we have to choose one of the ones u listed in those sections, or can we create our own element for those categories? I was thinking of Sound or Wind element. Would either of those be okay?

@Aeolian

I can add those two. The elements that are listed there are the ones that we use. But, if you have suggestions, I'm always open to hear them. This combat 'system' is very much experimentation as we go.

BLEAK

I updated the combat information in the character tab. I removed the whole 'items' thing. I've also experimented with a card template from Magic the gathering. Could be a nice way to frame boss information. I'm not sure what to put in the little box below the description, though, but I'll think of something.

BLEAK

Oh right one question, I suppose. Are all Aeon able to manipulate multiple elements or are we only able to use one?

@Sync

Multiple, or the ones that they've trained to use. Think of it as any other physical skill. You can't butterfly swim until you've learned how, but anyone can do it. The same applies to Aeons and attacks/elements.

BLEAK

Note: In battle, feel free to control the boss in your post, but only attack your own character with it (if you want to). I'll control it universally in my posts, however. The cannon fodder enemies you can kill as many as you like, use whoever you want.

BLEAK

_{HELSTON OUTSKIRTS ▎ FRIDAY ▎ 26 OCTOBER}
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An amply prepared fellow approached Alice with conversation. He towered well beyond her reaches, but such was the case for most people. Alice was certainly of the shorter kind. The man next to her had sought the attention of the sergeant. However, as the previous conversation with him had proved, the sergeant was half-way panicking and in a terrible hurry. Alice glanced at her new company with an upward tilt. The stylish and quite robust looking helmet reminded the girl of her lack of anonymity. She pulled her scarf mask up over her nose and tightened it firmly in place. Her eyes and forehead were still visible, yet somewhat hidden by her cascading hair.

“He said that what we are fighting isn’t human,” Alice uttered with soft tones as she checked her weapon and returned her gaze from the man. “So, it’s either machines or animals. But, seeing as we were just hit by a meteor, I’m guessing the enemy isn’t even from this planet,” she sighed lightly, thinking about what all of this was going to lead to. “He also said something about this whole area being overrun and this attack basically being pointless, but the sergeant felt confident that we would make it out of here. But, at least the sun is shining,” Alice chuckled and glanced at the man again with modestly smiling eyes.

More people from Helston arrived. There were a couple of odd characters lining up to join the fray, but Alice was not one to judge—at least not now. The only thing that circled within her mind was the sergeant’s plan, if one could even call it a plan. He had most likely just mixed comforting words together that popped up in his head, thinking that Alice was just cannon fodder like everyone else. However, he had a point in trying to find other Aeons out there and team up. Such a thing usually was not necessary given the power they possessed, but these were extraordinary circumstances that called for extraordinary solutions.

Alice gave a half-hearted wave to the guy that said What’s up, people of Helston. It almost felt like a comic relief, as the guy seemed larger than life. A few paces behind them, Alice noticed a tiny clique that seemed to move around like a hive mind together. One of the members, who had soft features much like Alice herself, seemed familiar, but she could not place from where. Beyond the clique, there was a tall looking woman by a motorcycle along with a red-headed fellow. There was no way of telling a normal person from an Aeon, but sometimes a gut feeling was enough. She just thought that these individuals stood out from the rest of the crowd that was getting ready to saddle up. Alice noted their appearances and would keep an eye on them during the attack.

The personnel carriers were firing up. Officers that were still around urged those that were going to join the assault to embark. The vehicles could hold twenty people inside, and there were five of them ready to go. “Here we go,” Alice shrugged and paced towards the convoy. It was a casual invite to the man standing next to her. General Alerts was a great way of meeting new people from the town. Or, well, it was not ‘great’ in the sense of circumstance, but rather in the sense of sharing sweat and tears in something that mattered. The drive over to the incursion site just beyond the facility was quick. It too less than two minutes before a huge crater presented itself along with gunfire flashing through smoke.

Before they knew what happened, the convoy came to a screeching halt. Something had smashed into the front vehicle and flipped it over. An alarm sounded throughout the other vehicles, indicating emergency disembark. The sight that Alice met when exiting the vehicle was unlike anything she could ever describe. An intense rumbling could be felt at her feet from whatever the meteor had brought digging deeper into the ground. Masses of tiny, fast moving creatures swarmed the area in the midst of panicking gunfire. Dust from the impact of the meteor and smoke grenades had enveloped the site in a thick fog that nearly blotted out the sun. Some vile creature could be seen utterly destroying the first personnel carrier of the convoy, the one that had been knocked over.

The tiny, swarming creatures were quite horrid. They had long, twisting limbs that they moved around with at a fast pace. Their leathery skin was riddled with holes that fumed with spores. Their faces were completely blank with long, slithering tentacles connected to it. They seemed to go down fairly easily, but they sure were uncomfortable to look at. When they moved around on all four limbs, their backs barely reached waist height of most people around. However, the creature that had knocked over the personnel carrier was much larger. It stood on two legs with its head reaching well beyond two meters in height, nearly three. Its face was also completely covered except the mouth, which had large, vile teeth. While most of the creature resembled that of a human being in structure, the chest and head was engulfed in tumors and growths that spews forth long, fanatic tentacles of some reddish coloration.

Alice disembarked with the rest of those in the vehicle. The sensory input of this battlefield was quite intense. Gunfire and explosions going off left and right, terrifying screeches and growls coming from the creatures, and that rumbling beneath their feet only made things worse. Alice let loose a couple of rounds towards the tiny swarm creatures. Just a few shots sunk them to the ground completely lifeless. Their blood was pitch black. However, the real threat was that Red Terror of a creature roaming around. It ran and jumped around so fast. Every person that it assaulted and frantically devoured seemed to only make it faster, as if plunging into some kind of frenzy. Alice kept it within her sights, rapidly tracking its movements, as she let bullet after bullet escape the barrel of her carbine, but it only appeared to anger it further.

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QUEST STEPS: Ride into battle beyond the facility. Approach the battle with the 'Red Terror'.

Boss Information

"Red Terror"

Victory Conditions — Fire (element), Ice (element), Beam (attack), Missile (attack), Blast (attack), physical damage from weapons.

Combat — Fast and agile fighter. Its tentacles can rapidly grow in length for lashing attacks, grabbing, and throwing. Hands and feet are reinforced with carapace for stronger hits. Incredibly strong bite that can easily chew through metal. This enemy will escape battle before being killed and becomes stronger/heals after tasting flesh and blood.