Complete Private Vintergard Those who were Lost

[Hanno Futaba]

Visiting Vintergard used to be a stroll four years ago. Nowadays, it felt like anyone that dared to approach it was considered crazy or suicidal. Infested with magitech guards and opportunist bandits, the isolated place was home for danger of all kinds. That, however, didn't stop the quest boards in taverns and plazas to be filled with unanswered requests for adventures to go there, and it also didn't stop some daring adventurers to go there and face what some needed.

Hanno was one of them, and his quest partner Corsair was another. Usually, he would be against bringing someone of her level to such a dangerous place, but two main things made him decide to go with it:

1 - Having someone good at Magi-Tech and Spirit Magic was perfect for the task. Even if the later was covered by Hanno, spirits were whimscal, and had compatibility with different people.

2 - She was going to a quest there anyway, so better together than alone.

As they approached a keep in ruins, Hanno glanced at her with a smile. "These are just the outkirts, so it should be somewhat silent... But let's stay aware. Do you, uh... have a detect robot or something?" He asked, curious while adjusting his gigantic shield on his back.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

"I have two constructs," Corsair said, answering correctly instead of directly, "however one is more of an alarm bot and fighter, and the other is a scout and healer." She took Sam the <Puddle Spirit Frog> and Fujitsu the <Bloodless Wolf Spider> out of her bag. Sam was happy to sit on her arm, pulsing with gentle healing energy, but Fujitsu immediately set to prowling, looking for something to bite.

Corsair was glad to have a more experienced player with her for this quest. Vintergard was littered with magitech scraps, and she'd already picked up enough junk to create a new construct when they stopped at the entrance to the ruins. The collapsed roof and obliterated walls left much to the imagination. What had this place even been four years ago? A hospital? A church? A guild hall? Regardless, in the here and now it was a terrifying place to walk through alone, and having a companion with a massive shield was a great relief. She knelt down and put Sam among the rubble. She felt good today. Clear-headed and competitive, and eager to show her useful skills.

"I can send Sam in to scout ahead of us," she said, ready to whisper the command words to her adorable little frog. "What are we looking for exactly?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"These are some cool dudes." Hanno watched amazed at the skills of his quest buddy, especially when she easily started creating a new construct out of pure junk. Certainly something he should be expecting from someone like her, but magi-tech was still a bit too alien to him. Both to Hanno and to Brian.

His eyes averted to the ruins when she asked about what they were looking for.

"That quest requested us to find a personal belonging from one of the soldiers that used to work in this keep. Apparently, he had it in a small silvery box with a locker, of size enough to keep a ring or a necklace in it." Hanno explained, looking at Corsair and then softening into something more solemn compared to his usual cheerful expression so far.

"I'd also like to see if we could find any spirit of the place. His widowed wife wants to know if he had anything to tell her-" He explained, looking up at the Corsair.

"Honestly, on a more selfish side, I'd also like to know a bit more about what happened, so if we could take it as extra it would be good." Hanno said, with the smile returning to his lips.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

"A memento, a spirit, and an account. All awfully specific, but I'll see Sam I can find." She wondered briefly which of the three Sam would have the best chance of finding. "Three objectives," she commanded the little creature. "Search for treasure. Priority is a silver box. Alarm warning 30 kHz. Avoid large, mobile figures. Alarm warning 45 kHz. If attacked, retreat as fast as possible. Alarm warning 20 kHz." Upgrading her hearing to the ultrasonic range had been a godsend, and barring there being any dogs or cats hunting around in this war zone, nothing would pick up on the alarms. Only the warning warble, the lowest frequency of the three, would be audible to people nearby. If Sam was already being attacked she didn't want to have to explain why she was running.

"Let's clear what's left of upstairs first," Corsair suggested, as Sam hopped away into the rubble. "Sam will do a quick hop around the ground level, and if we don't find what we're looking for then perhaps there's an entrance to a basement around here."

She headed for the staircase, which was actually a series of collapsed, concrete wall segments. The true staircase had been blown away by some tremendous explosion. "Do you think," Corsair asked, stepping up a chunk of wall, "that anybody could have looted this place before us? The crash happened a few years ago, didn't it?"

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno whistled at Corsair's set of orders and commands. "Shit, that kind of stuff didn't use to exist when I played. These new characters are fancy as hell." He chuckled, good-natured while nodding at her suggestion. "That sounds good to me, I will be right behind ya, just in case something ambushes us from the rear." The robots were already scouting ahead, so anything in the vanguard should already be clear.

"Yeah, it happened years ago, after the game was locked," Hanno said, following along and stepping up as well, not having too much trouble climbing an obstacle if needed as long as it didn't need a lot of dexterity of his part.

Slapping the dirt out of his hands, he continued: "I've heard that are plenty of bandits around, so it wouldn't be a surprise. They could take these types of structures that aren't entirely destroyed yet to use as a base, so we should be aware of any sign of long or short term presence around here." At least he guessed that, he could be wrong. If Ash was right about what he told him, all of this area should be under the vigilance of patrolling sentries, something that would make creating any base a big logistic headache.

As they stepped into the next room, the walls to the outside were falling apart, though the structural spots of it were still stable enough. It was possible to see the outside and beyond, and scattered around the room there were chairs, tables, and adornments. Frames with maps of the now abandoned Vintergard filled the room, and worn-out weapons were tossed aside.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

With Sam the frog hopping around the lower level, and Fujitsu scuttling through the smashed roofing, Corsair felt secure, though she knew the illusion of control would not last long.

On the way to the ruins Corsair had seen the warning signs. Literal, tilted signs warning of enemy bombardments and robotic sentries. She'd walked around some of the craters from the auto-cannons just to get here! But thankfully there had been no sign of the patrolling sentries yet. "This seems like a poor choice for a base," Corsair said, speaking flatly. "A good base should be defensible, secure," she peeked through a hole blown in one of the walls, getting a good look at the wrecked landscape outside, "and preferably free from structural defects."

They moved along a shattered hallway, the holes and cracks becoming more frequent as they reached the Northern side of the building. "Do you have a base?" She asked, edging around a massive hole in the floor and wall, where harsh sunlight poured in from the wasteland beyond. "I've been operating out of Honeyhome mostly. I just came to Vintergard for-" Corsair froze. There was movement outside.

A dull sphere of blackened plating and red magitech wiring rose from one of the craters, humming across the landscape. It wasn't moving directly towards them, but its orbit would take it incredibly close to the shattered ruins they were exploring.

It was time for a choice: cross the gap now or hide and wait.

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno hummed and nodded at Corsair's opinion regarding this being a bad base, taking mental notes of her observations and smiling. "I see, you are right. That probably means our chances of finding what we need is bigger though." He said positively, grinning at that fact. "I don't really have a base per se. Well, not anymore. I used to have a cottage I bought, but it was like, four years ago- It was kinda, y'know, destroyed like the rest of everything else around here." Hanno chuckled before blinking at Corsair's reaction.

He shifted his sight to see what she was spotting, and he immediately acted.

"Come on, buddy, it ain't time to stand still-" He said quietly, tugging her by the arm and leaning closer to the nearest cover they had, lifting his colossal shield to try and cover both of them while he held his breath and casted a glance at her, giving a reassuring nod.

If they had to fight it, they would, but for now it was better to avoid catching any attention.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

Corsair let herself be pulled to safety. Her battle senses were far from hardened, and a few weeks of letting Brutus throw himself in harms way made it an almost a reflex.

The two hunkered down as the sentry passed below, its path taking it through the ruins of the house. Corsair held her breath. We're safe on the second floor, right? The glow passed underneath them, dim red light and synthetic hum coming up through the holes in the floor.

The sentry's path took it elsewhere in the ruin, and Corsair let out a breath. "Let's try to keep away from that thing," she said, jumping over a hole. She pressed forward, checking into rooms that were more holes than walls, filled with collapsed rooves that were more mildew and red powder than any sort of roofing. She sifted through some rubble, tugging as the first non-mechanical thing she'd found: a corpse.

Time, scavengers, and game-systems had worn it down to a skeleton dressed in rags. She checked its pockets, and to her absolute astonishment found a small silver box. "Is this it?" she asked, head cocked to one side. Her eyes shifted to gold as her Inspection Mode activated. <Lost Silver Box>

"This is it!" she whispered loudly, grinning as she pulled the box open to discover this- it was locked. Corsair frowned, and tried to pry open the box with her metallic hands. A small prompt appeared on the box.
<Requires lockpicking skill or key to open>. "Well what is the point of having metal hands then if I can't bend open a box?"

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno could feel his heart racing when the red light was vaguely visible. Combat could start at any moment, and he could feel his shield's desire flourishing for a moment before the sentry's signs disappeared from sight and hearing. A sigh escaped from his lips, and he stood glancing at Corsair with a nod. "As far as possible. I've heard from a buddy that the robots around here take like... Four people to bring them down." He said quietly.

He didn't know if that was an exaggeration, but he wasn't willing to see with his own eyes, especially with someone else there.

With pointy ears perked up, Hanno listened attentively for any approaching danger while Corsair investigated with her more attentive and magi-tech tools.

Eventually, something was found along with a corpse, making Hanno purse his lips until the silver box was revealed. "Oh, there we are-" He grinned along with her, looking closely and then raising his eyebrow at her words. "Maybe I can try?" Hanno asked, offering to take the box and try to force it open with his brute strength.

However, before it could happen, something tingled in his mind and he quickly turned to look at a corner filled with rubbles. He then slowly shifted to look at the corpse, finally figuring it out. "This person... They are still here." Hanno said, looking at Corsair.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

As Hanno spoke the words, she felt her bracelet begin to buzz. They are still here.

Corsair turned, and watched as small fragments of mist rose from the disturbed corpse. Only the specter wasn't wearing the uniform of a soldier, or the clothes of a simple worker. They wore battle-scarred armor, and the face of the ghost was scrunched into a perpetual, rage-filled snarl. The marker above his head filled in the missing piece of the puzzle. <Ruin Bandit Phantom>

"Get outta our base!" shouted the ghost, with a voice filled with rage and distortion. It was like hearing an angry relative calling you via a poor Skype connection. "And gimme back the treasure!" The bandit snarled, and it lunged at Hanno!

Corsair stuck an arm out, shoving her arm right through the torso of the ghost. It stopped dead, thrashing in place as she led it back with her tenuous spiritual grasp. "Kill it!" Corsair said, somewhat betraying her lack of spirit knowledge.

The ghost changed targets and swung at her, landing a punch that passed through her jaw, leaving goosebumps on her bones and turning her synthetic stomach.

 

[Hanno Futaba]

The bandit phantom was unexpected, and before Hanno could react, Corsair took the initiative and struck the bandit in her own way, sending it away and giving him time to ready his shield once again, watching the bandit attacking her. "Damn it-" He growled, making his shield glow with divine magic before shoving it against the phantom, allowing the magic to actually touch it and send it away from Corsair with a hissing sound and an eerie smoke escaping from it.

Screams of agony came from the phantom, that felt its phantasmagorical surface melt, with ectoplasm dripping on the ground, albeit the bandit managed to keep existing.

"Are you alright?!" Hanno asked Corsair, keeping his eyes focused on the phantom who was still stunned by the strike, preparing himself to throw another attack if necessary or to cover his buddy from any more charges the bandit could do in case it recovered before she could finish it off.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Nice hit," Corsair said, giving a little nod to the shield. She'd never seen an elemental weapon before, nor did she know that they even existed, but something about the strange radiance of the shield set off alarm bells. A question for after the battle.

The phantom bandit dropped through the ground, and Corsair jumped to her feet, eyes glued to the broken floor. "Careful, it'll be back any moment."

A hand grabbed at her through the bricks, latching on to her ankle. She cried out in pain as the incorporeal digits wrapped around and through her leg, tangling with her nerves and tendons. "Ugh! Get out!" she cried, grabbing onto him again.

With her free hand she reached into her pack and frantically reached around through her spoils of war. Her delicate fingers grabbed plates, carved rune-boards, and plates of reinforced magic filament. The ghostly fingers ripped at her ankle just as she found what she was looking for. Her hands closed over the ovoid and she pulled it free, scattering machine parts along the corridor.

Her bracelet glowed with ghostly light as she brought the broken gyro down on the hand of the ghost. There was a flash of pale-green light, and she poured her will into the construct, sucking the ghost up through the floorboards and into the damaged machine.

The gyro fell to the floor. It was missing its propeller, making it little more than an glass and copper sphere; a perfect place to trap an unruly spirit. The phantom bandit pressed against the sides of the baseball-sized prison. "Let me free!" it shouted, voice muffled by the glass.

Corsair shook her head. "Not a chance." She sat down, hard, panting for breath. She looked up at Hanno and then back down at the sphere. "Do you have any questions for our new guide?"

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno nodded, quickly trying to regain awareness of the situation before the bandit simply disappeared into the ground. He looked around, with the eye on the center of his shield opening to try and search for the enemy as well. "Why phantoms are always so complicated-" He huffed, and when Corsair cried, Hanno turned around quickly, preparing himself to do another attack but the woman was quick to defend herself and restrain the undead in some magi-tech apparatus.

A sigh escaped from his lips, and he approached her with a faint smile. "That was a job well done. Good work, buddy." He grinned, giving a pat on her back and releasing a soothing and warm magical energy to heal and ease her with a gentle touch.

Meanwhile, his eyes turned to look at the sphere she had made, and he cleared his throat looking at it. He did feel bad for having a spirit stuck in there, but he was the one that attacked them first.

"Perhaps I do. In fact, it would be great if he knew where are the keys to this box. Or if there was anything else in the place he got it." He said, glancing at Corsair. "The widow did ask us to talk to the spirit of her husband if we did find him. So maybe this guy would know where to find him."

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

"So how about it?" Corsair asked the spirit, eyeing the trapped soul with all the kindness of a prosecution lawyer. "Will you help us find the key? If you do we'll set you-" she cut off, not wanting to rhyme, "loose again," she finished. It was one thing to be a cold, scientific robot, and quite another to turn into some sort of riddler.

"I ain't got the key! And I ain't giving Martha back the box neither! It's mine!" said the muffled voice of the phantom. The words were like barbs, the voice filled with enough vehement poison to remind Corsair that phantoms stuck around through strong emotions. So he's an angry spirit. Maybe unfinished business?

Corsair brought the ball up to her face. "So you know Martha then?" she asked, trying to look the mushed up ball of mist in his eyes. "Are you perhaps the missing husband?"

"Piss off! I'm not missing. I've been here the whole time!" he shouted, making the orb rattle. "And it's not my fault the robot stole the key!"

Corsair shared a look with Hanno. "Well, on the plus side he's not very bright," she muttered to her big-shielded friend. "Tell us your name, spirit. And we will do everything we can to return that key to you."

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno glanced at Corsair, having a small smirk on his lips when she had the strategic pause in her words. His smirk couldn't have been wider when the bandit himself started spilling the beans without they even pushing too much about it, and his eyebrows rose wide. "So you know who's Martha, huh? That's interesting-" He said, looking at Corsair with an interested expression.

The bandit continued to speak like a dumbass, pretty much handing a lot more information than they expected, and making Hanno have to hold back a laughter when Corsair spoke.

"Dude ain't bright at all, that's for sure." He muttered looking back at her, then casting a glance at the apparatus he was stuck in and adding more to the questions of the Magia.

"If you could tell us what have in the box that you want to keep that much, it would be hella helpful as well." Knowing what had in the box would solve anything? Probably not. But judging by how easy the guy answered other things they didn't ask by pure accident, maybe they would get to the end of the problem by just baiting him into speaking anything.

@Corsair

 

[Corsair]

"Me bloody wedding ring!" the ghost shouted at Hanno. His soul shook in its prison as he pushed against the magitech walls, trying to find a way out. "I paid for it and she can't have it!"

"That's fine, you can keep the box," Corsair promised, though she shot Hanno a look that said something very different. "What did you say your name was?"

"Barn!" he said, rocking the ball. Corsair wasn't sure if he gave his name or was swearing at them, but she took him at his word.

"Okay Barn. We'll help you get the key back from the robot, and then-" she was cut off by wailing. A double-tone of screeching coming from underneath them. A fusion of Sam's 20kHz warning alarm for being attacked, and his much higher 45 kHz robot alarm. "Sam's in trouble. Robot found him," she said to Hanno, her voice trembling with worry.

Corsair's head swiveled unnaturally to follow the sound as it moved through the corridor underneath them. She snatched up the magitech sphere holding Barn's soul and raced down the crumbling corridor, catching a glimpse of the robot's red flashing lights through the floorboards. If I can get above the robot I can drop down on it through one of the holes in the floor, she thought.

 

[Hanno Futaba]

235 / 285

Play Sheet
-50 HP from Sentry

"Wedding ring, huh? Seems like you guys didn't have the best divorce." He shook his head. Was that why the ghost was still stuck in here? Because of some wedding? Hanno could only wonder why it was source of so much drama.

But before he could question too much, his eyes grew wide at Corsair's reveal.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna catch their attention and you can destroy them from afar!" Hanno told Corsair, trying to reassure her, noticing the tone of her voice when she mentioned Sam's troublesome situation.

He hurried downstairs, wielding his shield up and charging his way through everything, gritting his teeth to try and reach for the enemy. The red light escaping on the cracks of the floor made it clear where the robots were, and Hanno gestured with a nod before blasting off as fast as he could, pushing a door open only to spot three sentries hovering in the room, with Corsair's construct being surrounded.

Hanno roared a war cry, trampling his way toward the Magitech enemies that quickly turned around to see him.

With a slam, Hanno struck one of the sentries and quickly shoved it against a wall, nearly cracking it open in the middle before throwing a punch on its antennae, to make sure it wouldn't be able to call enemies.

This would buy time for Corsair's robots to escape or attack, depending on what she wanted to do, though it came at the cost of a red beam striking the faerin from behind, making him yelp and wince, taking a turn to look at the enemy sentries that still remained.

Rolls

Protect
1d100 (71) + 25 + 15 = 111
111 damage (-2 LP)
Protecting @Corsair
Guard Arts | Hanno Futaba | Thread Code

❰ 4 / 6 ❱

DC 50 | 50 Retal​

 

[Corsair]

120 / 145

Play Sheet
-50 from Sentry (Halved by Hanno's Protect)

Three.

Corsair had only noticed one patrolling the building. Had the others been nearby? Had they been lying in wait? The idea that the massive, crimson bots could have set a trap for them was unnerving to say the least.

Hanno slammed the first one with his massive shield, shattering its crunchy outer shell and spilling delicious components and crunchy circuitry down the faded rug of the hall. It was like a nerdy pinata, and as the light in the sentry's eyes faded the glimmer of greed in her own only grew.

Two.

"Fujitsu! Attack the closest target!" Corsair called, and her spider dropped from its hiding place in the ceiling, entangling one of the remaining sentries in globs of poorly-managed web. It was far from precise, but very much what she expected from a wolf spirit in a mechanical spider's body.

The sentry bumped into a wall, its gyroscope gunked up and useless. The webbing around its rings stuck fast, and suddenly the sentry was little more than an angry wall ornament. "Get into the eye. Cover its sensors!" Corsair called, and Fujitsu crawled into the rogue magitech, taking it apart from the inside.

One.

Rolls

Normal Attack
1d100 (15) + 20 + 15 + 15 = 65
65 damage

Magitech | Corsair | 370

❰ 3 / 6 ❱

DC 50 | 50 Retal

 

[Hanno Futaba]

185 / 285

Play Sheet
-50 HP from Sentry

While Corsair's robots efficiently brought another of the sentries down, Hanno readied himself to face another wave of attacks..

His sight locked on the remaining sentry, gripping his shield tightly and letting out a breath through his clenched teeth when it blasted another dangerous laser through its magitech weapons.

Hanno managed to deflect it partially, but at the cost of the laser scorching his arm that was caught in part of the avoided attack.

The deflected laser struck against one of the wood furnitune, litting it up and making flames erupt from it.

"Damn it-" He growled, knowing it could potentially alert other dangerous beings from the surroundings.

Without wasting any more second, Hanno rushed his steps toward the sentry, shoving his shield against every laser that went against him or Corsair until he finally managed to reach it, following with a slam against its side that made it stagger momentarily.

"Buddy, now it is the time!" He said, taking a step back and giving room for the Magia to deal the killing blow.

Rolls

Protect
1d100 (71) + 25 + 15 = 111
111 damage (-2 LP)
Protecting @Corsair
Guard Arts | Hanno Futaba | 370

❰ 1 / 6 ❱

DC 50 | 50 Retal​

 

[Corsair]

95 / 145

Play Sheet
-50 from Sentry (Halved by Hanno's Protect)

Beams of red hatred tore through the hallway, piercing the walls like needles through wet paper. Hanno had the final sentry pinned up against the wall, but even then the barrage of lasers sliced easily through Corsair's hiding spot, scorching her skin and leaving tiny, sizzling holes where they pierced her.

It was death by a thousand tiny laser beams.

I wonder what it smells like in here. Does it smell like me? Corsair wondered absently, as she pressed into the floor, minimizing her targeted area. How do I smell right now? Like a computer overheating, or like someone being cooked alive?

She whistled, letting out ultrasonic commands that only Fujitsu could hear. Many of the best computer programs were short and sweet, and Corsair spent a moment congratulating herself on her optimizations.
Attack! Attack! Attack! she commanded, and Fujitsu crawled out of the ruined sentry and leapt over to the remaining one, tearing at its optics and stuffing its fans full of webbing until the heat from its own lasers overheated it.

Now she was sure that the whole hallway smelled of smoke.

"Thank you Hanno, that was skillfully done," Corsair said, pulling herself up from the floor. One of her arms was gently smoking and she set Sam to work healing her. "Now, did you see a key on any of them?"

Rolls

Normal Attack
1d100 (25) + 20 + 15 + 15 = 85
85 damage

Magitech | Corsair | 370

❰ 0 / 6 ❱

DC 50 | 50 Retal