Duvors

Noticing the announcement on the Training Hall's æther terminal, Enson had a look to see what all the fuss was about. He nodded in pleased surprise at what he saw, a smile on his face. He briefly wondered what he should select, but ultimately his sense of whimsy made it clear what the only possible choice was. Enson will choose the bagpipes.

Enson entered the Training Center quietly, tea in hand, looking around expectantly. It took only a moment for him to relocate the shelf of manuals that he had borrowed from last time he was here. Fishing about in his pockets for a moment he soon withdrew his previous selections and slid them back into place. Start: +9 CP Survival 1 -- 0 (+1 CP) End: +10 CP Having done this, Enson began looking around inquisitively, wandering further into the room. After a few minutes went by without him finding what he was looking for he made a polite cough and called out gently: '"Excuse me, Roderick? Roddy? Are you there?" "Just a Moment!" an answering voice called from behind a door, slightly ajar, off to one side of the room. A few seconds later the Adamite emerged, cheerful as always. "I'm sorry, I was just taking an inventory. What can I do for you?" "Sorry to bother you, I was just wondering if anyone was using the meditation garden. I'd, ah, I'd like to spend a little time there." "No, it's free at the moment." "Ah good. I... have been feeling a little tense lately and I feel the need to properly recompose myself. Do you think we could set up a schedule so anyone else who wants to use it knows when it is occupied?" "Sure, I'll just get the log." He paused for a moment, "Is there anything else?" "Well..." Enson said as he reached into his pocket, "I'd also like you to teach me how to properly use this." As he finished he drew a small object, like the hilt of a sword, from his pocket and held it out to Roderick. "I see, may I?" Having received a nod from Enson he gently took the object and examined it closely. Stepping away from Enson, he moved into the middle of the room and held it out at arm's length with the 'end' pointed away from him. As he turned a small dial with his thumb, a blade of white light - straight with a slight curve at the end - extended slowly from his hand with a whoosh. He began slowly circling a space in the middle of the room, assuming a few practice stances as he did. He began to take a few practice swings with it, the blade humming and hissing through the air. Seemingly satisfied, he held it point up and slowly retracted the burning brand, which quieted like a slackening breeze as he did. "Well," he said, moving over to Enson and handing the weapon back over to him, "That seems a nice pice of kit you have there, not the standard torch of raw plasma. That blade is shaped by layered magnetic fields for more precise cuts, and there's some sort of shifting weight in the hilt that replicated the feeling of a lightweight blade." He made a motion with his hand like someone swinging a sword. "Makes it feel more natural to the wielder and therefore easier to use." "Yes, I did notice that. So do you think you can set up something for that?" "Yes, I believe so." he said with a confident smile.

Current Sign-ups for Mission 9: Ronin (Yzalirk) Decker DaCabe (Endgame) Sign-ups close Dec. 12th.

To be honest I rather enjoyed M5., even though I don't think that kind of mission really suits my character. It did feel a bit like I was hurrying things along at some points but that never felt particularly odious. To be honest I was worried at some points that I wasn't giving the other players the space for their characters to shine, but thankfully that doesn't seem to have been the case. With regards to the battles; The first was, quite simply, too easy. Hordes of trash enemies don't seem to work in this system. The second was better, but not quite equal to the party. It's easy to see in hindsight that you were using less points than originally planned. The Gator fights were awfully swingy, largely due to poor rolls, and that felt awful as a player. I think that the Skill was slightly too high, but admittedly not by much. The thing that bothered me the most was seeing Ronin go down, as I didn't want Yzalirk to lose a character they'd obviously invested a lot in. The final fight was the best, it had an excellent mix of opponents and things never got so bad, even when I went down, that I rarely felt the need to try and direct the other players. My one gripe with it though was that the grid was bigger than it needed to be. I don't know why you bothered to wrap the grid all the way around the dragon and then never gave us any reason to go back there. When It comes to the other players, I will wholeheartedly say you were fantastic. I'm sorry you didn't all have the free time to involve yourselves more with the events of the mission, but I enjoyed interacting with you nonetheless. @samurai-turtle Polaris is a character I like greatly. I think they've come more fully into their own here, and I'm thankful for the chance to bounce my own character off them. MILES is also, I think, the best example of a secondary character I've seen yet. They're very integrated in your character and their presence is always felt in your posts. @Peppermint_M I'll be honest, even though I like Aysu as a character, I don't have a good handle on them. This isn't to find fault with you, but it just seems you haven't had an opportunity to expand on their character and history. I'm really hoping you get a better chance in the near future. @Yzalirk Ronin is an interesting character, and I can certainly see what you were going for with them. I'm sorry you didn't have the opportunity to participate more, but I enjoyed interacting with them. I already have a theory about what's under the mask and I can't wait to see if I'm right or not. @Endgame Decker is a very simple character, and I appreciate that. I do find both their behavior and central concept very amusing, and I hope you have more opportunities to add levity to future missions. When it comes to my character, I'm happy to see that everyone seems to have enjoyed his company. Samurai_turtle's impression of a tired war veteran is in fact very close to the backstory I've come up with for him, and I'm glad to see that came across. I'm also happy I got the opportunity to demonstrate both the 'rational leader' and 'impulsive do-gooder' sides of his character. Mechanically, this is the first mission I've had the opportunity to play him the way I intended, a support character who largely refrains from attacking, to which I owe the presence of other melee players.

Sign-Ups for Mission 9 are extended to Dec. 12th

"Thank you Thorvald," Enson said as he accepted his tea. "Now if you'll excuse me-" he rose from his seat, bowing slightly to those around him "-ladies, gentlemen, I have things to do." And with that, he glided out of the room.

Current Sign-ups for Mission 9: He's Dead, Jim Bers (Dutch Thriceman) Polaris Ursaring (samurai-turtle) Sign-ups close Dec. 8th.

You've neglected to add a range to the static cannon.

@Peppermint_M, you only need to invest two points to increase attributes regardless of what you're increasing it to. Only proficiencies scale in cost.

Enson slid unobtrusively into the largely unoccupied hall, a serene smile on his face. He had enjoyed himself on Recivec, the race had been exhilarating and he hadn't properly relaxed and mingled with people in a long time. Now however the time had come to return. He had much to do in the Hall, mostly to do with training to properly use his new weapon. But first, tea. Moving over to the bar, nodding in greeting to the other occupants, he settled into a barstool and spoke: "Thorvald, could I trouble you for a cup of green tea please? Thank you."

Cool.

The relevant stats break down like this: Strength - Kinetic Skill - Energy Smarts - Elemental So if you want a calibrated kinetic weapon you'd have to upgrade your strength to three. For @Yzalirk I'd recommend a deviation from my recommendation: As Ronin already has the Gator Tooth he could easily upgrade it into a calibrated elemental melee weapon without having to upgrade his attributes. For him I would recommend getting something with a different range for versatility.

My personal recommendation would be something with a range you're already proficient in, but with a different damage type than what you currently have. That way you'll have a backup in case you run into an enemy with an armor type matching one of your weapons. Keep in mind that if you do this you'll have to upgrade one of your attributes to match.

"You know, I think I would. It was my interest in the races that prompted me to sign up for this, and in truth," he smiled slightly, "I feel I need a rest anyway." "Oh, yes, that." Enson looked slightly uncomfortable. "To be honest I'd completely forgotten about that. Erm, not really sure I'm competent to use... Let's see, something with utility, maybe something that can be hidden easily... Oh, one of those retractable plasma-sword things should do for me." Plasma Falchion (+2 Melee Energy) Don't want to bother you, but you seem to have missed that Aysu gave the Gator Tooth to Ronin.

"Thank you, the money would be appreciated. But I feel the payment for the head should go to Ronin here, he was the one who ultimately brought it down. I would also like to split the money for my feathers equally between the party." He turned to the rest of the group. "Something of an apology for convincing you to pick the most expensive guide."

"Mmm, yes." Enson sat himself down carefully in the proffered seat. "I am afraid these were plenty of foes for us to face, however we believe that the route should now be free of predators." He placed his handful of feathers on the table. "We also have the head of a very large polar gator, which I would like to donate to this establishment. The proprietor can boil it for broth if they wish." He leaned back slightly and clasped his hands before his stomach. "As for the cause of the surge in carnivores, well..." he took out the scale fragments and slid them across the table. "These we found in the stomachs of the hawks that attacked the town on the day we arrived, and in the body of the gator we also found an immense talon belonging to a flying predator. We believe that these belong to the rime drake that was harassing Krystal Ice, and that when the mercenaries killed it they and their employers failed to dispose of the body properly, allowing the local scavengers to gorge themselves until the population exploded out of proportion. Unfortunately we were not able to investigate the area we believed the corpse to be, as that would have involved trespassing on Krystal Ice property." He paused for a moment, a blank look on his face. "However," he continued, "we did witness a large explosion and fire centered around the area where we believe the corpse to be, so it is unlikely that the problems caused by its presence should persist. Additionally, I have reason to think that you will soon receive images from an anonymous source-" he gestured towards Polaris "-clearly showing the drake's body on one of Krystal's geothermal fields. This, along with the physical evidence, should prove sufficient should you or anyone else wish to pursue legal action against the company for their negligence."

"No, because if we were innocent we would be heading toward the big explosion to see what it was, not ignoring it. And we are trespassing in any case. The salient point however is that I do not want them to have any record of our names and faces, or anything that could tie the mercenary group hired by the local authorities to whoever may have committed an act of arson on Krystal Ice property. I especially do not want to risk a situation that may result in the addition of a murder charge to that either."

"I'm not sure that's a tenable strategy, considering that we have no legitimate reason for being here and are fleeing from the scene of a crime - or something very much like one." Enson ground his teeth. "We need to deny them any chance to conclusively identify us, so we cannot stick around to fight. Lose them."

"Well, no sense in waiting around. We don't have a proper fuse on hand though- Here, hand me a length of rope and something to cut it with. A nice thick piece that will burn slowly." Enson will do the thing.

Enson will quickly gather some feathers from the birds. "Miss Aysu, would you mind giving that gator tooth to Ronin? I feel he has more use for it than you do."

"What? Have we won? Well... good work, everyone." Enson tried to rise, but fell back with a groan. "I'll see to myself, the rest of you get that fuel spread." Enson will meditate and begin healing the party.

Ronin will move to N12 and attempt to stabilize Enson.

There wasn't any, and everything we took afterwards is currently in Aysu's inventory. That I think we'll have to deal with properly after the fight, sorry.

The issue is that Ronin and I are both very low on vitality and in danger of going down. I can't afford the frost hawk surviving this round because if it attacks me and I go down Ronin has no way of healing himself. I want Aysu to attack it because she's more likely to kill it, whereas Decker's numbers are a bit too close. Edit: By my reckoning it has been more than 24 hours. Actions: Decker will move to L7 and attack the polar gator. Aysu will move to N9 and attack the frost hawk.

@samurai-turtle, Polaris can't hit the gator reliably due to its skill being higher than your melee, and its armor countering your weapon. I suggest you and @Endgame switch targets. "Aysu, bird, shoot!" Enson will move to M12 and cast sustaining healing on Ronin.