promittere | eastern mission

eastern mission

LACRIMOSA FOR THE CLOCKWORK MOON

It's just as dawn breaks on this dreary morning when Lazuli seeks out Shinjiro, Yamato, Mikaela, Phillip, and Ginger. He isn't gentle with the way he handles them, and though he is typically stoic, things are a little different this time—there's an urgency, a pensiveness to the way he ushers them into the lounge.

Tatara is waiting for them there, pacing, uncharacteristically. Once the five are sat down, Lazuli locks the door and casts soundproofing over the whole room. Whatever this is, it's a sensitive matter.

"I know this is sudden," Tatara begins, still standing, his voice low and even. "But a letter came in from the City of Rain and I don't think this can wait."

He pulls out a letter from behind his back, bloodsoaked, and begins to read aloud:

On behalf of the City of Rain, we hope this letter finds you well.

We would like to thank you once again for your assistance in cleaning up the blast site outside of the city. Our gratitude cannot be overstated.

However, we have another urgent request: Despite our best efforts and precautions, the city has fallen under siege by the very clockwork automatons we were attempting to scrap the week prior. It seems not all of the affected pieces made it to the scrap pile, and some have even found their way out.

We are unsure why or how these automatons have come to life—they speak and move as though they have sentience. They are hostile and aggressive towards us and refuse to let us leave our homes until their "plans" are ready. We do not wish to wait long enough to find out what those are.

Please help us at your earliest convenience.

When he's finished reading, he folds it and hands it to Phillip.

"What with the blast, its possible connection to the moon fragments, and the City of Rain's role as a witness, I can't help but think this mission is going to be crucial. I need you to go to the City of Rain and free them from this siege immediately."

Afterwards, Tatara and Lazuli escort the five wizards to the manor tower. Tatara expresses his regrets that neither he or Lazuli can go with you, but he bids you the best of luck. He drops a mana stone into the mechanism, pulls the lever, and waves you off.

OOC NOTES

Welcome, Eastern wizards, to your mission!

Missions are mod-guided events that are partial CYOA, partial play-by-post instances. In general, you are free to interact with a scene as you please, and the mod will tell you how the scene reacts as a consequence of your actions. Some scenes will allow for more flexible threading, such as exploration or conversation, while some scenes will require strict turn order to preserve rounds, such as combat or other time-sensitive conflict. The mod will inform you if strict turn order is required at the start of a scene. Regardless, always be sure to bold any important actions you take.

This mission has been specifically tailored to Eastern disposition, attitudes, and magic. If you find yourself struggling to tackle a situation, refresh yourself on the description of the East on the locations page, and make sure to confer with your teammates too!

As a bonus, here's your theme music!

You will have until 11:59 AM EDT on Saturday, May 18 to reach a conclusion for this mission. Good luck!

» NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh, this is not good... Phil rapidly realizes that he's the only one left completely uninjured so far, which isn't saying much when every breath he takes still burns. Still, he shoves that thought aside for the moment and almost starts into an offensive spell before realizing that it would likely attract unwanted attention to them.

So instead he opts for another seal (4, 14), hoping to seal or at least slow whatever magic or power source is keeping these automatons functioning. It's far less visually obvious than something elemental would be...]

[ That hurts, and Yamato grits his teeth while he tanks the blow. It's nice of Mika to step in front of him, but he's also not going to not do anything, either. He refuses to be a liability and feel helpless when everyone else is working so hard.

Yamato lets his blades manifest again, and he swipes at the automaton that hit him< (11). He's not half-assing it this time. This is personal. ]

[ A click of the tongue escapes as the blade swipes Yamato, the faint throb of his own leg reminding him they're definitely not walking home out of this one unscathed. Still, it's mostly surface level, at least- which means it doesn't bother him when he steps forward with both hands on the handle of his axe, teeth gritting as his arms raise.

One brutal two-handed slash towards the one that managed to land a hit (18), and then an abrupt swing at the other (9), although it doesn't hit as hard with the angle letting the axe slip a bit from his grip. He's tired of these bitch-ass robots. ]

[Mika's curse does nothing to curb their frenzy, their devotion to their love outweighing any negative feelings he could try to inspire than them, but Ginger's attempt to bind them succeeds, yellow tape wrapping around their limbs and immobilizing them. At Phil's seal, the glowing of their eyes flickers, slowly dimming, and the one that hit Yamato staggers from his blow, and Shinji's axe takes its head from its shoulders, the rest of its body falling limp.

The second swing scratches the metal, but it remains standing, struggling against the binds and managing to break free (20) of the tape, but it's not quick enough to take another attack before y'all inevitably dogpile it or something.

The other three automatons in the district remain at the posts, standing guard against the encircled building. They've not yet joined the fray...]

( Mika is suspicious of the others remaining put - either they're going to jump in, or they'll jump in if they defeat this other guy and get closer. One option is slightly preferable, but neither is great.

Mika finds he doesn't have opportunity to attack (9) as the others (probably) rush in (please roll better than he did), so instead he's going to pull back, and instead, with the decapitated automaton body?

He's going to crack that bad boy open with a firm stomp of his heel and see if he can determine what's making it move besides just the clockwork - does he sense magic or abnormality? Does he see anything that seems pointedly not clockworky within its geared innards? (20)

He's also keeping an eye on the battlefield but the rain is screwing up his senses really badly (probably more than the average person, since he's getting pouring rain and mid-rain-combat in surround sound), so that's a bit of wishful thinking on his part. )

[ The other automaton's gears are still slowing, clicking, scratching against one another as it finds death. Nestled amongst the clockwork are fading specks of purple light, much like those in its eyes.

From these specks of light, Mikaela will sense a magic he has never felt before... No, wait—actually, he has felt a similar magic before: the faint dread that permeated the air at the blast site not far from this very city was the same.

As the glow fades, Mika will see that it was coming from bits of polished, gray stone. It's rather easy to conclude that whatever that is, or no matter what its intended function amongst the automaton's parts originally were, these little bits have been causing the automatons to act on their own. ]

Edited 2024-05-14 08:18 (UTC)

( Well, that's not great - not promising - but very telling. Maybe this Collodi didn't intend for things to get out of hand - but in this hurried moment, Mika wonders if he used the scrap collected from the blast site, and mixed in was this strange... stone? Not quite like a mana stone, but...

Kneeling down at this point to sift through the gears, likely, Mika will reach in to swipe it, if he can, before rising to ideally return his attention to his surroundings (this is presumably happening quick while the others are fighting, so he doesn't exactly want to pause to ponder or linger). )

Edited 2024-05-14 08:22 (UTC)

[Meanwhile, Phil's attention is on the remaining automaton as he creates another rock spike to attempt to pierce it (19) since the first one worked so well. For the briefest moment after he finishes casting, it almost seems as though he sways slightly, though he's quick to shake it off...

He notes what Mika is doing with the remains of the other automaton, but there's no time to ask about it right now. They need to deal with this one first.]

[ Yamato will follow up all of this with a stab (15) on the automaton. He's incredibly annoyed, and he also takes note of what Mika is doing over there but now is not the time, yeah.

This is annoying. Annoying. You can see the moon when you die, robot. ]

Edited 2024-05-14 10:41 (UTC)

[ Looks like Phil and Yamato have the rest handled, so Ginger stands ready to back them up - until -

Faint sense of dread? Ginger’s heart starts beating fast as he takes quick steps to Mika’s side. He reaches out and grabs Mika’s hand before it can touch the rock - firmly, he guides Mika’s hand away (preferably to his heart where he can keep it safe from this moon rock). ]

Don’t - don’t touch the moon rock.

[ He hadn’t been there at the meeting, but he has heard (privately) about what happened during the Southern mission.

Withered and bad enough that it couldn’t be healed. Nasty-feeling magic with weird resonance - that had to be purified before touching. He has no idea if this is the same rock, but no one will be touching it before they cleanse the hell out of it. Or the moon out of it, whatever. ]

We need a purification spell on it first - and to be safe, a protection spell on us.

[ Between Phillip's rock spike and Yamato's stab, the second automaton falls quickly.

Now, between them and the workshop, stand only three more automatons. They have noticed the wizards' presence, but make no move to attack. It seems they will only do so if approached or attacked first.

You have some time to plan and discuss. ]

( Mika hadn't gone to the meeting, he hadn't spoken to the locals at the ball or since then, and he hadn't followed up with Central privately, either. These are things he slowly is coming to learn that maybe he should do, but it's a realization that comes with his heels dug in the dirt. He's not the social sort.

But he did generally hear the news that moonstones are bad things. He didn't see the one presented to know how they look, but he's heard this. So when Ginger guided his hand away - he's surprised, looking up, but his expression hardens when he hears what Ginger says. )

—Right. Thanks.

( He pushes himself up, the purple lights of the automatons no less discomfiting even as the enemy ahead of them goes down. )

... We can leave it; I think there's one in all of them. That Collodi guy might've found a big one to put in them. It's smooth and polished - like a gemstone. Someone had to cut them off pieces of a bigger rock and work them down...

( Mika trails off as he speaks, a probably obvious question occurring to him and possibly the others: if moon stones are dangerous to touch, and this one still radiates bad vibes, how did he - or anyone - work with and polish enough moonstones for this many automatons...? Was the effect delayed - did he do a couple, and the automatons handled the rest when they came to life...? They're inorganic, so maybe. But surely they'd find out if they got into the workshop.

If anything, it's not hard to guess the Eastern crash site they've been helping clean up was the site of a moon stone landing. But none of them found one while cleaning up, which means... Someone - Collodi? - found the rock and brought it, probably, to... )

... The main moonstone is probably in this workshop.

( They we're going in, anyway, so that works out, but now they know to be more careful.

Three more automatons left... He's losing patience with these. He sighs. )

... I guess we just keep fighting our way in.

... we should combine our magic.

[Then, to explain what he means:]

After what Yodarha and I did to free that ghost from Akira, the two of us spoke about the potential for doing a similar thing again-- combining attacks on a single target to utilize our differing strengths in magic. A team effort, so to speak.

It may be a challenge without having practiced the coordination and timing beforehand, but even so, it should be more effective to have us all attack at once rather than separately. It will be faster and hopefully less dangerous if we're able to take them all out simultaneously.

[And though he won't say as much out loud, Phil is very much in favor of "faster" if only because he doesn't know how long he'll be able to hold out before this progresses into a full-blown fit.]

I'm no good at covering multiple enemies, [ just saying! ] but I can handle one at a time. Though...

[ Hm. Hmmmm. ]

I might be able to try something new, get one of the enemies to whittle down gradually while I take out another one.

[ Just trust him bro. He's gonna do it. ]

[ It is getting to be a pain, but after crawling through several floors of Tartarus in one night several times over, Shinjiro hardly looks winded.

He would be content to keep smacking things, but there is merit in the teaming up…though, ]

…That ain’t really my thing. [ Same hat, Yamato. He shifts his weapon to rest on his shoulder, eyeballing the remaining 3 opponents. ] But I can give it a shot. Probably faster if we work together.

[ Hmmmm. ]

I can try and make’em weaker so it’ll be easier. Debilitate them or something.

[ Pulling things from Castor’s ability list….makes the magic thing a little easier, at least. ]

Right, got it.

[ Is what he says to Phil, but he’s - nervous about his own magical control. Working only half the time, he’s been resigned to it all mission and it’s shown. But… He swallows, looking at his feet briefly. What was it that Solomon had said?

Caution is one thing. But it needs to be an anchor, not a ball and chain.

His hesitation chains him. Right. He nods at Phil more firmly this time. ]

Do you have a spell in mind? Should we try to bind them again?

( Working together? Not really his thing, but... even Yuu and his friends insisted on it back home. It was a very human quality.

He picks up on Ginger's - discomfort? Anxiety? beside him. It's hard to tell with the sound sight of the rain, and he doubts his perception for a moment, especially since it doesn't last long, but. Without fanfare, and as he speaks, he'll take Ginger's hand between them, squeezing it briefly before letting go. )

... Binding should be fine. Then Yamato and Shinjiro can do their thing. Might as well experiment.

( Mika would not say that to a more reckless group, but he knows these people to be... mostly sensible (when no one's draining their blood), so he'll tentatively allow it.

He looks to Phil. )

We'll follow your lead.

( Since he suggested it, and has a background in magic prior to coming here. You pick the spell, homie. )

[Phil nods to Ginger.]

I think that might be our best option. It seemed to work well when I did it just now, and in addition, it's far less flashy than any sort of combat-oriented spell would be. That was why I avoided using several of my own artes in the first place-- while they might be powerful, they would be likely to draw attention from anyone or anything who saw them go off.

[He sees that hesitation, though, and is quick to give a soft smile.]

... it's all right. I'm... in my world, I hold the title of the most accomplished mirrist-- mage. If things do go badly, please trust me. I won't let anything happen.

[Because he's the Biqe. Because he has much, much more experience with magic than anyone else in this group and he can't drag them down. Because he has to.

Even with his body threatening to give out on him, he knows well how much power he's capable of wielding should it come down to that.]

( Mika seems to think this approach is reasonable enough. Still - he looks at Phil, pointedly. )

... Just be careful.

( He may not be as privy as he usually is to Phil's condition with all this noise, but he suspects it.

But if Phil wants their confidence, he's tentatively willing to give it - he just hopes Phil doesnt squander it by pushing himself at his own expense. (Pot, kettle, etc.) )

Let's go.

On your cue.

[ He'll ready his blades and infuse them with some kind of...dark fire? It's not regular fire, that's for sure. He's not sure how this is going to go but he's gonna try this fire thing out anyway.

He'll either stay put or ready himself to attack any automatons that try to interrupt Phil, as promised. ]

We'll use a seal. Try to get all three of them at once.

[Then, to their two DPS:]

Yamato and Shinjiro, please wait until it has taken effect. I don't want either of you to end up getting injured further.

[He's already settling into a casting position, mentally starting to weave the seal together. It's more complex than the previous one, needing to stop three rather than two, but the concept is the same.]

Spectemur Agendo.

[A glowing circle appears beneath the automatons' feet, once again trying to shut down their functions (15, 19). With the support of the others' magic, this should hopefully be enough to do the trick... and if not, well, Phil has plenty of other tricks up his sleeve. Assuming that his body will cooperate, that is.]

[ With Mikaela and Ginger's assistance, Phillip's circle appears bright and powerful beneath the automatons' feet. Before they can even react to the aggression, they freeze in place, perfectly still. The lights of their eyes and the pinpricks of purple glow throughout their mechanisms show they are not dead, but it seems as though they will not be moving anytime soon.

So long as the three concentrate on holding this spell, the automatons cannot break free. Have at them, Shinjiro and Yamato! ]

[ There we go. Nice job, guys.

Yamato goes forth and rushes at one of the autmatons, blades aflame. He stabs one of them (15) and the flame spreads to the automaton quickly, lighting it on fire...though the fire is dark purple. Huh! Interesting. ]

[ That's a good enough cue, he thinks. Time for ~~An All-Out Attack~~ the old fashioned way.

He'll let Yamato deal with one, and dart towards another in turn; hefting the axe up with one arm just to swing it right at that golden chassis (18). ]

[Metal is not a flammable substance, but that does not mean that the dark flames Yamato uses against the automaton aren't effective. It can't escape, and the flames aren't extinguished by the rain... the golden metal soon begins to glow red hot, the most delicate and fine pieces beginning to soften and run in molten rivulets. The fire makes quick work of it, with the automaton helpless to put out the flames and the others unable to help. As its voice box heats up the pitch of its voice warps, warble, sounding even more wretched than before.

Shinjiro's axe finds purchase in the second automaton, and when he pulls the axe back he can see the inside of the automaton has corroded near entirely. It was already hanging on by a thread, it seems, so such a brutal hit to already damaged parts finishes it off, its eyes going dim.

The third one can do nothing else as you turn on it, finishing it off just as quickly, flames and blades too much for it. It turns its gaze to the rainy sky, the lights of its eyes flickering.]

How blessed we were to receive this life, and to feel the moon's light and its love. Will the moon ever know we love it in turn? That we promise to return to its embrace one day...?

[Then it stills.

The workshop stands before them, a magic circle the same purple as the automatons eyes caging it in. The lines of the circle are blocky and mechanical, likely coming from the automatons themselves, but the destruction of the guards does not seemed to have ended the spell.]

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