sassafrisk: <user name=e8luhs site=tumblr.com> (Can't Believe You)
sassafrisk ([personal profile] sassafrisk) wrote in [community profile] melodiesofeternity2018-11-16 11:26 am

Player Plot: Winter Isn't Coming, it's Already Here

Who: Everybody who signed up for the event.
When: November 23rd-30th
Where: The Uncharted Territories
What: Frisk leads an expedition into the North to try and find Hades. It doesn't go well.
Warnings/Notes: Post a toplevel to each of the segments below if you want. Encounters will be posted under the appropriate toplevel. For combat, I'd appreciate it if you put where your putting your passive job stat boosts in the subject line of your first post, plus any other boosts your character may have. Thank you!


THE STAGING GROUND (DAY ONE)
The directions that the volunteers have been sent over mail lead to a chocobo ranch just a day away from Armstrong Fort. For a groundbreaking journey into the unknown, the staging ground for Frisk’s expedition isn’t all that impressive. A quaint, if run-down, farmhouse lies next to the chocobos’ grazing patch, where Frisk can be seen arguing with a surly-looking Elezen. White chocobos coo at the new arrivals next to a mound of barely organized high-quality camping gear, staring at them curiously (or blankly, depending on how much intelligence to ascribe to chocobos). It’s a brisk November morning, and the cold bites into marrow of one’s bones as frost-encrusted dead grass crunches beneath the chocobos’ feet. Bleak grey clouds block out the sun, threatening snow but never quite delivering. Resignation and bleakness permeate the air. This certainly isn’t an auspicious start to an already dubious quest.

INTO THE VAST (DAY ONE)
The first day of the expedition is, in a word, boring. Dreary, depressing, monotonous, and several other words of similar caliber would also be apt descriptors. The moody weather doesn’t change through the long hours of plodding towards Armstrong Fort, the clouds oscillating between grey and sullen, and black and intimidating; but always refusing to actually burst and bring down snow on the party’s head. Not even random encounters deign to make an appearance to spice up the day, due to the extensive efforts of Tark Varentain’s military. Perhaps the only redeeming factor of this first day is that the flat terrain and docile chocobos make the actual riding of the birds a breeze, with only the most inept of chocobo riders--such as Frisk--falling off or bruising their rumps through other means. With MogNet reception growing spottier as the team approaches the Claus Snowfields, the only way to pass the time is with conversation.

ARMSTRONG FORT (NIGHT ONE)
When Armstrong Fort appears on the horizon near sundown, it brings a sudden change in weather. Snowflakes begin falling from the sky, increasing in numbers and force as the expedition party makes its way towards the imposing fortress. After just thirty minutes, it’s nearly impossible to see ten feet past your chocobo’s beak. Thankfully, the white chocobos are used to such conditions, so the expedition party still makes good time. The party arrives at Armstrong Fort an hour after the inclement weather begins, and they’re greeted by grim guards who refuse to let them in after a solid fifteen minutes of arguing with Frisk, despite the permit for lodging that they display.

Inside, the fort is just as bleak as the outside, although in a significantly different way. Primarily elezen and human soldiers huddle around sputtering fires on the walls, peering through the snowstorm looking for any signs of monsters. The cries of the wounded echo from the medical hall, although all of the soldiers remain stoic even to their comrades’ pain. If pressed, one of the guards will begrudgingly explain that without a regular shipment of mana potions, their healers often can’t use magic on every wounded soldier, forcing them to do it the old-fashioned way.

The empty bunks that the volunteers are escorted to are uncomfortable, cold, and barren, but it’s marginally better than sleeping on the floor. Marginally. But whatever slumber the party gets is interrupted at one in the morning, when a pack of ferocious yetis attacks the walls. The soldiers stationed at Armstrong Fort are used to such assaults and don’t need any help fending off the monsters, but if any of the adventurers give their assistance anyways, they’ll earn the guards’ grudging respect and perhaps a little something for their trouble.

CLAUS SNOWFIELDS (DAYS TWO AND THREE)
The volunteers are awoken just before the crack of dawn, dragged (by force if need be) to a breakfast of heated ration block and hustled out the door before the sun would even peek over the horizon if it wasn’t completely obscured by the endless snowstorm. From there, a boring journey becomes downright miserable.

Everybody has to huddle uncomfortably close together on their chocobos to keep from losing each other in the oppressive whiteness of the storm. Even the high-end survival gear that the volunteers are wearing only slightly blunts the biting edge of the cold, the raw frigidity of the environment digging deep into the marrow of the bones and nestling there like some twisted parasite. The white chocobos, as surefooted as they are in this environment, struggle against the howling gales, each step forward seeming like a monumental accomplishment.

It isn’t long before all sense of direction is lost. Compasses stop working just a few hours in, their only use being pointing a way vaguely forward to venture towards. The only reliable way to tell the time is the frequency and strength of monster attacks; as the day inches towards night at an agonizingly slow pace, more and more monsters bound out of the snow to savage the party. At the start of this leg of the journey, packs of roving monsters only came once or twice every hour. But as the hours grind past it begins seeming like the party can’t have five minutes of peace before being interrupted by some manner of beast. It’s not just yetis and ice elementals, either: there are strange, exotic animals, all the apex of physical perfection that comes with the ability to survive in such a harsh environment. Magical constructs such as ice golems and undead dressed in the clothes of other explorers also sometimes come charging out of the snow at the party, forcing a confrontation.
hatejakku: (serious)

[personal profile] hatejakku 2018-11-20 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
His attention successfully taken away from the yeti, Finn has to shake the frost off his arm to no avail. His hand feels frozen.

He tries the Flamethrower again, directing most of his attack on the Ice Elemental.
musicinmysoul: (Default)

[personal profile] musicinmysoul 2018-11-21 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
The initial worry towards the yeti engaging Madhuri is mildly settled by the fact that it's trying to move in on Madhuri. The tiefling has handled far worse than a fuzzy brute.

She'll just have to keep the one in front of her on lockdown. Mileena is quick on her feet and keeping her and her rider weaving through the attacks as they come. She's a Smart Mount and a nimble one, too, tackling the yeti with a Last Charge while the cavalier herself keeps her shield held out and ready to defend.
songbird_slayer: (Default)

[personal profile] songbird_slayer 2018-11-22 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Madhuri maintains the pain on that elemental, giving Finn a hand with another Aeroga. She all but dances out of the path of that headbutt.

"Thank you, dear," she began with a nod to Serge. Nice cut-in!

"Keep it up, everyone, we've got them on their toes!"
timecrash: (Default)

[personal profile] timecrash 2018-11-23 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
Serge turns to look- and groans. "Seriously? Come on, how many monsters are out here, anyway?!"
Undead are weak to healing magic, right? He activates his Slate, switching to |Time Mage|.
songbird_slayer: (pic#11861568)

[personal profile] songbird_slayer 2018-11-24 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
Madhuri seemed to have a similar idea, and with a frown, started gathering Medica magic over the field, the sparkle of holy magic raining from above.

"None of them look friendly nor scientific, neither. Poor Papyrus, he must be dreadfully lonely..."
musicinmysoul: (Default)

[personal profile] musicinmysoul 2018-11-24 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
"At least they're not trying to animate all the dead they can find? I guess?" Unlike a certain skeleton she knew from back home. Odd time to think about him, but it is what it is.

The enemies are still far off, but she can still take a shot at one of them with a Light Arrow.
hatejakku: (surprise)

[personal profile] hatejakku 2018-11-24 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Finn lets out a deep breath and takes the time to reload his gun and Concentrate. "We make a good team. We can take these guys." What can a bunch of skeletons do, anyway? Right?
musicinmysoul: (Default)

[personal profile] musicinmysoul 2018-11-24 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"Gh...!"

She feels the attacks cutting through her defenses, blood starting to drip from her armor and even touches of it from Mileena. It's manageable, however; far from the worst beating she'd taken. Can't say she's fond of the Leech spells, however.

Still, Mileena's Smart enough that she should leave Tilly or herself surrounded like this. Keep their attention on them, sure but we can only protect against so much like this. This is far from the pair's Last Charge, but ideally it'll break out of the flanked position and still put them between the skeletons and the others.
timecrash: (Default)

[personal profile] timecrash 2018-11-25 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh boy. Have I mentioned this is the first time I've actually used this Asterisk in a fight really hope this doesn't make a paradox or something!"

Serge pulls at the timestream for a moment, and sure maybe nobody will notice if Madhuri's doing two things at once, here have some [Haste].
hatejakku: (pissed)

[personal profile] hatejakku 2018-12-01 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
Finn curses beneath his breath and unleashes another torrent of Trigger Happy on one of the skeletons attacking Tilly, his concentration improving the attack by a much needed 50%.

"Probably not a good time to break out a new job!" he says over the gunfire.