Upstairs, Second Floor, Stellar Toy Company, Industrial District, Byjerfal City
(Urban Exploration)
It...it worked?
"Bun bun!"
It worked!!! She'd actually, for the first time ever, caught a Pokemon on her own! Or, well, with the help of Sir Lopsalot at least. But still, it was a catch! The psychic felt the edges of her mouth tug upward somewhat, not bothering to push it back down in the moment as she suddenly sat down on the floor with a loud sigh. Sir Lopsalot, for his part, would slightly slowly hop on over to her in turn and into the psychic's lap. While beat up and seeming worse for the wear, the little bunny was certainly a tough one to stick it out....and even to give Clarissa a beaming smile despite his condition at this point in time to boot.
Reaching back to grab her second Potion of the day, Clarissa would begin to work on aplying it to her partner Pokemon despite his wincing at the sting of it at first. Still, he seemed to mtaphorically 'bite his tongue' on the matter for the most part. The medicine stung, but it certainly was better than the alternative of being more hurt again. That much he seemed to get at the very least. Even so...
"You did great, and I couldn't be more proud."
Clarissa's voice was soft, and her tone was tender, a rare moment to see even for Sir Lopsalot himself as she spoke to him. Yet feeling something still wrong with things, he would use one little arm to poke Clarissa back a bit as well.
"Bun! Bun bun."
Eh? What was he-....oh.
"Ok, ok....'we' did great. Hehe."
By the time she finished applying the Potion to fix Sir Lopsalot back up a bit, the psychic would return to her usual expression of general stoicism before looking to the next bit of business ahead of them. The Pokeball. Her new Pokemon. The blasted Murkrow that she'd been seeking so far, finally caught in a handy Pokeball. It was decently strong too....she'd have to train Sir Lopsalot a bit to get him up to par too, though for now-
Before she could actually pick up the pokeball, the Gastly from earlier would phase through the wall, grab the ball in its mouth, give a ghostly laughed before zipping through a door - consequently throwing it open in the process.
She’d probably want to give chase. Unless she didn’t want to keep the pokeball.
"...Bun."
Sir Lopsalot wasn't amused. Well, wasn't very amused at least. Meanwhile, Clarissa scrambled to her feet and grabbed her things up again as Sir Lopsalot jumped up on her right shoulder. After that, it was a dead run toward the newly opened door the other Pokemon had taken its ill-stolen gains through. They had to go after that Gastly, and get back that Pokeball! Albeit as Clarissa did so, and Sir Lopsalot held on staying in his place, the girl's device would go off with another message. This time, it seemed, it was from Chloe once more with hopefully an update from the rescue party that had come to help her.
O M G girl im SO sorry for leaving u on read!! u wont BELIEVE what happened here 😱😱 ill tell u abt it later like??? it's crazy. anyway are u ok? we're coming NOW i promise 💖
ps. the dude with us is like an actual legit douchecanoe omg 🤡
The boy was a douchecanoe? What was his name....Yuu? Yuu. Reminded her of the more abrasive-seeming guy back at the Professor's lab who had fussed about Ripley and his less-than-stellar earlier comments. Was that the same guy who had come to help? Perhaps. But she also didn't have any idea what had happened with the group of rescuers either thus far, aside from them coming in through a window it seemed. Oh dear. And now the psychic herself likely had just one Potion left now, right?
Oh this was certianly a situation for sure. But she'd try to hash out a quick response to Chloe as she ran in a sliughtly exasperated pursuit of it at least.
You will have 2 tell me later for sure. Somehow ran in2 and caught an actual Murkrow. Little rough for the wear 4 now.
Then the Gastly I ran into earlier just took the Pokeball I caught it in and ran off with it. In pursuit to try to get the Pokeball back.
"I'm ready to go, but we might as well take this with us," he spoke, picking up the pelt in the chest. "I don't seem to have anything resembling currency, but we might be able to barter this for something."
"Okay, false alarm. Let's go find ourselves a way out of here," Jase said, reasoning if someone brought the chest in, they must have a way out... unless it arrived the same way they did.
Well, however it had worked out she had the flute safely on her person now and in her inventory. That much was simple, though she would let the other armored man take the pelt. Even so, it didn't take a genius to be told 'please be careful with that thing' even if she was a bit grateful for someone else showing a bit of caution on the matter at the very least. It would hopefully be useful to them as they moved along, and maybe she'd be able to play it later if she remembered anything about musical instruments? Either way she wasn't going to test it right now, lest some evil would destroy the world in a three-day-long time loop or something. Or, well, in case it drew anything bad to their location and such to boot...they didn't know fully where they were after all.
"I'll aim to be careful with this thing, yes. But having something to barter with like that pelt would cewrtianly help too."
Still, with the armored man in tow she hoped the others would come along too so they could just get out of the cave altogether and move things onward a bit for their survival situation here.
"Literally nothing in the alcoves, I have no idea why they're even here. We could try playing the flute, maybe it'll do something interesting and we could do that while moving. I've got to say a flute and a pelt is a very random combination though, random loot is certainly common in fiction, but doesn't make much sense, maybe when we get out of here we can ask a local."
...Well, at least he hadn't triggered some sort of trap or the like in the process. But while he seemed to mean well, something about the mage felt a bit grating to the slime girl knight.
Maybe it was the somewhat defeatist way of just shrugging his shoulders at things prior, and simply going 'just let the tank walk into it'. Maybe it was the seemingly lakidasical effort or manner she felt he fired off an ice ball at the chest without thinking twice about it as Jase's suggestion. Maybe it was even the way he had just suggested just tinkering with a random item they found in a seemingly real magical world they'd all be isekai'd into that rubbed her a bit of the wrong way. Something about him was mildly irritating to her in the end, but for all she knew she was irritating as hell too somehow thus far. Or perhaps it was just the situation in and of itself getting to her a bit as she tried to keep a cool head and keep moving onward right now. It was a fair bit jarring to wake up in a new body and in a new world and....all of this crap so far really.
Still, they were all former people, it seemed, and she wasn't going to try to assume too much up front here. She hoped. Indeed, Nyana would mentally take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Whew. Again, the party mage seemed to be genuine enough about being helpful at least and hadn't tried anything worse like immediate PvP shenanigans or the ilk. Etc. Plus they had all just met, and had just met and were stuck in jointly not-so-expected circumstances to boot. That was not to mention the whole planbe crash business they'd all just been in. So yeah, she just needed to breathe and they all needed to keep on moving before the day was over.
The clanking of armor would echo throughout the cavern, as would the footsteps of the group, but eventually the next corridor would give way to a new chamber.
Or, well, maybe it would be more apt to simply call this the "entrance" to the cave proper? The midday sun would be very visibly shining through from the opening visible in the distance, and past that would be an expansive deciduous forest that seemed to stretch into the horizon. The cave they had awoken in, it seemed, was situated at the top of a cliffside that overlooked this grand scenery. There did seem to be a natural pathway leading from the cavern towards ground level, but it seemed rather precarious all the same.
Fresh air! That much was a welcome sight to her for the moment being. Though there were more than a few people in her, she supposed now 'prior', life who'd have joked about her 'touching grass' as well in a situation like this. Haha. What was decidely less funny to muse about for more than a moment, however, was the fact that the cave they'd been in was at the top of a cliffside with a somewhat questionable and precarious but natural pathway leading down to proper ground below. Ah....joy. But with the sun in the middle of the sky, it seemed, they had some time left to actually get out of here and do something at least.
Or, well, maybe they'd manage to leave in one piece and find some non-hostile civilization of some sort at least. Maybe a place to trade the pelt in, she wasn't going to hand over that flute for now after all, and get a cheap room they could all crash in. Or maybe a meal instead? Er, that'd certainly be something to work out in such a case now, wouldn't it? But no. For now, get off of the cliffside and getting moving would be good.
"We'd better be careful, one at a time," he advised as he very carefully exited the cave, making his way down the path, hoping that the boots he had been reincarnated in would have good enough traction.
"Of course."
Nyana would look over as Javal had spoken to them all, deciding to be the first to try to navigate the path down, and she for one would let him be the first at the very least. Then, whenever he'd get down the path, she'd let the others move forward to be the next one to go down the path to the ground...alone. One at a time. Etc. But having a tank down at the bottom earlier on, just in case, would perhaps be a safer bet? Eh? Maybe a thought to express on her part in the future, should they all find themselves still together in a a group and in a simialr situation of course.
"Well, that is quite the view, I've seen forests before, but not that reach the horizon. Uh, any of you know how to survive in a forest? Because I'm not seeing as much as a village."
Good question. She'd seen enough shows to get some gist, she felt, about that sort of thing. Boil water in the wild. Shelter. Attempt to make a fire. Er....hang food up in a bad? Or was that just something for bears in Alaska? Ugh. But perhaps Jase or the other armored man would have some outdoorsing-type skills to put to use for them in the case they got stuck out here for the night. Either way she didn't want to overthink it more than she had to at the moment.
"Sing out if you see water," he said gruffly, glancing behind him at the knight. "And mind your step."
Nyana would silently nod back at Jase, gruffness aside, and once the 'Confused Man' (she'd yet to learn his name), Vrelenor, and then Jase made their ways down individually she'd follow behind them in turn. Her armor and shield and sword made it tougher, but as she moved cautiosly and carefully onward down the path Nyana would mind to keep herself pushed as close to the cliff-face as she reasonably could. Each step was at a normal-ish pacing, though each was also placed carefully she kept a close eye out on her surroundings for tricky spots or crumbling stone or dirt underneath her feet and such things.
Upstairs, Second Floor, Stellar Toy Company, Industrial District, Byjerfal City
(Urban Exploration)
CRASH
THUNK
FLOP
THUD!!!
Clarissa endured the Gust as best as she could, though the beating her hair and clothes took was certainly not unexpected. Thank goodness it wasn't a far stronger Pokemon, or else-....well, she didn't want to think about it. Getting thrown back into a wall or down a flight of stairs wasn't appetizing as a thought or a thing to have to deal with on the conceptual level. However, for now at least, the Murkrow was on the ground now. Sir Lopsalot was too, for that matter. That much made the psychic glad to some extent, though, as she quickly reached back into her things for a moment while seeing the scene in front of her.
Not that Sir Lopsalot seemed to find what was going on all very palatable, admittedly, given he was hitting at the Murkrow's beak with his little fists to try to defend himself now as well. In some capacity, really, the two Pokemon looked like two siblings fighting over something stupid until both of them were bruised and beaten up. But perhaps that was a bit of well-wishing? Ah, well, or something of the sort. But what could the adventerous duo do at a time like this? With the enemy in such a position, it was the perfect time to try to do something effective! They had come here to battle and catch one of these Pokemon, after all.
“Muuuur…!”
"Bun!"
Perhaps it was time to chance a Pokeball now? It seemed reasonable enough, even if it wasn't a perfect guarantee in the end. Worst case? Ah, Sir Lopsalot could....oh! That could work well, at least if it came through. Er, at any rate, she'd been practicing her throwing a good bit before coming to Byjerfal in the first place at least. So maybe they could have a moment to try something to better the odds for the time being, if nothing else, and see if the hurt put on the Murkrow was enough to catch it as well. Either way it would further the goal of trying to complete their mission here! THhough hopefulyl thhey'd meet up with the others before eventually escaping this place and going to the Contest!
*Clarissa threw a Pokeball at the Wild Murkrow!*
"Prepare a Power-Up Punch, and be ready to attack it immediately, if it breaks out of the Pokeball!"
Even if the Pokeball merely brought them a moment's reprieve, if it was enough time for Sir Lopsalot to get a good attack ready....then they might have a chance! Still, if the Pokeball hit the Murkrow and interrupted the two Pokemon's battle Sir Lopsalot would nod as he did what his trainer had told him to. Albeit he would wince in pain....the damage was racking up for sure in the fight. But he had to perservere! He would not stop until the battle was won! Such was the seriousness of his incredible resolve. (Though if the Pokeball for some reason didn't hit the Murkrow and try to capture it, Sir Lopsalot would just try to smack the Murkrow back into the nearest wall with a Power-Up Punch instead.)
Would the fist of justice once again crash into Sir Lopsalot's foe before the day was through? Would the attempt to catch the Pokemon previal? Only the whims of fate and chance could tell now....
Description: A faction of mutants, ghouls, and humans whose settling within the Divide has resulted in a long, meandering settlement reaching from the Canyon Wreckage and winding all the way down to the walled-up and fortified area of what was once Hopeville itself. This is the true “Jacobsville”, as it were, with the location of the former Canyon Wreckage now being a settlement in the Mojave Wasteland and being the Mojave-facing-front of the faction. Aside from its current safehouse in the somewhat Green-encroached “Cure Cove” location, its presence in the main of the Mojave is at current times small in terms of settlements. It is a cosmopolitan haven for mutants, ghouls, and humans in a general sense, and its leadership and staff have been working on study of and hoping to solve the matter of The Green since the days of it once being just “Jacobstown” in the northwest of the Mojave Wasteland.
At the same time, however, Jacobsville is a faction and a place that has for certain found itself lingering in Mojave rumors and the ‘underground’ of the Mojave to an extent as well by current times. It is a faction with less production and not the largest of populations, even if it admittedly has a growing population, but even so whose desire remains to avoid drawing unwanted or other forms of ill-attention to itself is a stand-out feature. It is, however, a hub of higher knowledge and expertise, and due to this one can get things tinkered on in Jacobsville, find the know-how for mystery or pre-war types of technology, get decent medical care there outside of the likes of the Followers, and even find specialty or rare items for sale to boot. It is a place that, by coming there, forces customers to accept them before they even show up and in that vein keeps away negative attention as well.
While individuals and businesses are willing to make deals with outsiders and work with them, however, there is also simultaneously a communal and close-knit sort of culture within Jacobsville at its very innate core. They are all part of the same fabric, the same community, the same trial-and-fire-tested ‘whole’ and home and the like that binds them all together and gives them hope for building a better future. It is like the phrase ‘blood is thicker than water’, though rather than literal blood relations it is applied in a cultural and community sense to the denizens of Jacobsville. In a world forsaken by the nations/ideals that birthed the wastelands of the former United States of America, they carry what traditions they know on their backs like a flag.....and likewise hoist aloft new hopes and new dreams like a battle standard moving foward as they move on to support the new life in front of them.
The faction internally has remained rather self-sufficient, thus its isolation in a sense from wider matters has generally been a thing by current times, though it externally maintains close ties and trade relations with both the Bright Brotherhood at the REPCONN Test Site and the growing ghoul settlement at Camp Searchlight. While the proximity of the NCR to Novac limits things to an extent in terms of trade or diplomacy there, trade for sure (and some diplomacy even) is also present between Jacobsville and the Gibson Scrap Yard outright otherwise. Unless on active missions, however, Jacoobsville’s mutants do not leave the borders of Jacobsville and aren’t seen outside of it, leaving mostly humans and ghouls to be liaisons with the outside world in turn.
Leadership: Jacobsville’s leadership takes the form of several figures.
The first to note within Jacobsville’s leadership is a large Nightkin named Alexander. A descendant of Vault Dwellers, and among such descendants who got taken to turned into a Nightkin for the army of The Master, though after the death of The Master he wandered off with a group of his kind. His mind ultimately fragmented into several split personalities by the time he and his group made their way to Jacobstown and then Cure Cove for treatment. Yet while out in the wastes, Alexander and his group were a terror to face for the most part. They most often targeted raiders and raider camps for the sake of ‘entertainment’ and conquest, all at their leader’s behest, though upon getting treatment the “Alexander the Great” delusions of this Nighkin came to an end and he came to show his original personality more so: Calm yet tactical, cool-headed yet commanding, just and equitable yet not afraid to get his hands dirty, and understanding yet personally stoic in the face of adversity. Alexander also came with his own personal weapon, a recharger-breeder-infused gatling laser named “Unending Conquest” that can still overheat but functionally has ‘infinite’ ammunition. This one-off weapon was ‘commissioned’ by the Nightkin from some ‘conquered’ Vault Dwellers during his years prior to going to Jacobstown, something that fit his more grandiose madness back in the day but which still remains a beloved personal weapon of Alexander to this day.
The second member of Jacobsville’s leadership is that of Marcus, an intelligent Super Mutant who helped found the original Jacobstown. Niel, Marcus’ former mole at Black Mountain, has also joined alongside him as an assistant. Mostly helping with regards to internal relations and diplomacy on the part of Jacobsville’s mutants, he has remained in the leadership of Jacobsville and helped with other internal matters and Mojave diplomacy by current times.
The third member of the leadership is Keene, whose reception of the cure for the Nightkin’s schizophrenia proved to at least make him much less irritable and self-conscious than he once was. His impatience at times has had its issues even still, but his presence in helping keep order internally over the past years has given him a new and improved ‘voice’ of a sort within the faction by current times. He works with a former Black Lung mercenary human named Noah, and a pre-war female ghoul named Noel in his role of internal security and such. He also wields the “Oh Baby!” super sledge that was originally found deep in the Nightstalker Den in the area of what was once Jacobstown’s surrounding foothills by current times.
The fourth member of Jacobsville’s leadership is Doc Henry, an ex-Enclave Remnant whose time has mostly been focused on trying to solve the issues of The Green more than anything else. Despite having developed the still faction-distributed cure for Nightkin several years ago, he has become near-reclusive with his work in the last two years alongside his other staff. While he rarely comes to meetings anymore, Marcus on occasion visits Henry when the good doctor and scientist has a very rare moment of forced rest from his labors. In lieu of this, Henry often sends a second, a human staff member named Eleonora, as his representative.
The fifth and final member of Jacobsville’s leadership is a pre-war ghoul named George Robert Johnston, he was a former army commander who served in the Great War before being sent home after an injury and being reassigned to the home front after recovering. He was assigned to a nuclear missile launch silo base in the northern Midwest, along with several others under his command, and they had already launched their missiles when the bombs fell. The small bunker they made it into at the base kept them from being annihalated by the Chinese nukes, but it crumpled up well enough that those in the bunker were irradiated to high hell and turned into ghouls in the end. From here it was Georgo who gathered up his men and went to find if there were other 'survivors' closer to the blasts. It was he who felt the weight of the Great War and his part in it on his shoulders, even as he led a group of surviving military and some other distnat locals or ghouls to find a safe haven. It was along the way that the nightmares of the past haunted him, sounds of dying soldiers and the crunch of defening nuclear blasts from the bunker, even as he saw what the United States and the citizenry and everything had become in the wake of it all. Ultimately he and the remaining ghoulified survivors under him, after some struggles to head southwest, made their way to the Mojave Wasteland in the end after losing moistly some 'civilians' along the way as he'd say it. It was here, however, the group would find out about the presence of The Green and its dangers, and going around eastern Vegas to escape it before they moved west again with intent to head to California and see the fabled NCR for themselves. It was, however, that night when George had a dream.....a strange dream, a dream of a place carved up by nuclear fire and filled with storms of harsh dust and sand. A place that, despite how it looked, seemed to have people trailing into it. Settling in it. A filled him with....hope? Hope. It had been a long time since he'd felt that. Hope. Waking from this dream, however, George roused his people and led them further west a bit earlier than he'd usually set out. It was still dark, and very early in the morning, but it was here the ghouls came across a Jacobstown party headed to the Divide. One thing led to another, and by current times Robert has become a voice in the leadership for the ghouls of the faction as well as their representative of sorts within the faction’s leadership. He carries a 12.7mm pistol he bought in the Mojave called the “Li’l Devil”, or “Head Eraser” sometimes by him due to its tendency to ‘remove heads in a hurry’, a bowie knife he took off of a killed Marked Man, and a pre-war Service Rifle that apparently has been fixed up and cared for well for over the past two and some-odd centuries since his time on the front lines of the Great War so very long ago. To say the very least George, the man, the ghoul, the soldier, the criminal, has sought ever since to shore up and support the new 'hope' he and his people have found in Jacobsville and its growing population.
There is also a figure of some note in the faction who goes by the name of "Ulysses", he being a human man with a flag and the weight of it carried on his back who has come to be a figure of some sort within the faction proper. He one day walked into early Jacobsville with silence on his mouth and a look in his eyes. Ultimately he would become a figure in training the scouts of the Jacobsville armed forces in due time, after a behind-closed-doors conversation with Jacobsville's leadership, as well as eventually help run important messages and train new runners within the faction's territory to boot. It is known that he is close to Jacobsville's leadership as well, though he still seems to retain some amount of 'mystery' or 'mystique' to him in the end. However, his ardent support for the faction and the 'hope' he says it embodies has been described by all who meet him as 'more genuine than anything'.
Territory:
***Mojave - Hopetown (Canyon Wreckage; Major Settlement), Cure Cove (formerly the abandoned Tribal Village; was once a Settlement, but currently is now just primarily a safe house, as well as being a point of contact with declining importance in that sense as time goes on that is manned by a very small garrison of five volunteers there keeping it maintained and keeping a lookout), and three pairs of two traders, each pair having roughly three outsourced/hired Caravan guards and two domestically-assigned ones, are stationed at and move between Jacobsville, Camp Searchlight, the Gibson Scrap Yard, and the REPCONN Test Site respectively for regular trade interactions and such (six traders total, each with a total of five guards for a grand total of 15 between the three pairs, and then each pair with their guards have some accompanying pack Brahmin/Bighorners).
***Note: The faction, given the encroaching green getting a bit too close to Cure Cove, is seeking out another viable safehouse location. That among other things at least.
Sphere of influence (What areas of the Mojave is your faction active in): Generally they are active in spots stretching from west to east from the Canyon Wreckage following the Nevada 164 highway to Camp Searchlight, and then north from Camp Searchlight up to Novac and the REPCONN Test Site heading north on Highway 95. They mostly deal in peaceful trade and establishing diplomatic relations.
***Note: More humans live in the Silo Bunker and Hopetown, becoming more common the closer one gets to the Mojave and less common the farther into the Divide one gets. Likewise, and inversely, more mutants and ghouls can be found farther into the Divide and less commonly heading toward the Mojave. However, this is just a general trend for the population rather than a hard rule.
Force Composition (How many fighting members, what are they armed with etc.):
***Numbers - The total fighting power for Jacobsville numbers at 300, though it can be broken down into two parts. The first is the “full-time fighting members”, who consist of 150 full-time soldiers and guards who operate for and within the faction, and the second part consists of up to 150 armed citizens who hold other jobs and such but can be mustered on an as-needed basis otherwise.
The particular breakdown for the 150 full-time soldiers and guards, however, is the following:
20 Nightkin
50 Super Mutants
35 Humans
35 Ghouls
In general, full-time soldiers and guards are generally well-disciplined and well-trained, overall both individually and in working as a team. Professional organization of troops and supplies is used by the faction as well in this vein, mostly to keep things generally organized and allow things to work more smoothly. These ‘standard’ 110 full-time soldiers and guards are generally mixed units, combining the majority of less-intelligent Generation 2 Super Mutants with intelligent leaders and supporting comrades to try to best utilize their strength. A few all-mutant squads do exist as well, though mostly mix intelligent cured Nightkin with Gen 2 Super Mutants to best effect.
Roughly twenty percent of all full-time soldiers and guards, totalling 30 in number, are highly-trained and highly-disciplined ex-Enclave trained humans and ghouls and ex-Master Army mutants. These “Elites” likewise receive better arms and armor than their standard counterparts in turn inherently, and are both held to a higher standard as well as are more effective in the field than their standard counterparts in a general sense. A few are based at the settlement of Hopetown at what was once the Canyon Wreckage, though most are within the territory held inside of the Divide.
The final component and last 10 members of the faction’s 150 full-time soldiers are a squad of 10 top-tier elites within the faction. Composed by a mix of humans and ghouls in particular, it is dubbed “Bannermen”. This unit most notably dons a mixed pattern of Enclave and US Army T-51B and T-45 power armor respectively, as well as the best weapons and most strict and maintained high-grade training and discipline within the entirety of the Jacobsville military. The top of the top, in other words, even above the elite troops the faction fields, despite being ultimately rather few in number.
Meanwhile, mustered armed citizens go once every few months in rotating groups to get some basic drilling/training before going back to their normal jobs and such. Upon being mustered for combat, this is generally meant to make them more ‘prepared’ for things in some sense and ready to go ‘well enough’ as soon as they are brought in.
Rifles/SMGs utilized by the soldiers of Jacobsville include: Hunting Rifles, Brush Guns, 10mm Pistols, Hunting Revolvers, Recharger Pistols, and Recharger Rifles.
Heavy weapons utilized by the soldiers of Jacobsville take the form of: SMMGs (most commonly), Red Glare(s) (A Very Limited Number), and Incinerator/Heavy Incinerator (Just A Limited Number).
Explosives utilized by the soldiers of Jacobsville include: Frag Grenades (most common), Flash Grenades (“Flashbangs”), and Satchel Charges.
Melee weapon utilized by the soldiers of Jacobsville take the form of: Bowie Knives (most common/easy to trade for or produce), Sledgehammers, Super Sledges, and “Blade of the West” replicas either wrought based on those of Marked Men make or which were traded for with individual Marked Men traders in turn.
***Armor -
Standard troops are dressed in reinforced leather armor, including a helmet of sorts, which has metal plates sewn into vitals-protecting areas for added defense. A super-mutant sized form is also used on mutant soldiers in turn. This armor is cheaper to make, cheaper to modify into existence by purchasing regular or lighter leather armor, and offers a general sort of protection and survivability while being light enough to allow soldiers to move on the battlefield.
Elite soldiers of the human and ghoul variety, meanwhile, are equipped and dressed for their own particular roles on the battlefield in terms of armor. Domestically produced armor for elite troops of this sort appears similar to something like Vault Security Armor or regular old world Combat Armor with improved protection in key areas. Likewise salvaged or acquired suits of Riot Armor/Elite Riot Armor from the Divide, including helmets, are used and maintained but cannot be reproduced by the faction as well.
Finally, Nightkin/Super Mutant soldiers are generally dressed in their own armor with similar specifications to those of human/ghoul troops but for a larger-sized individual. The standard mutant soldiers wear the equivalent of standard soldier reinforced leather armor, with the metal plates sewn in and a helmet too of course, though their helmet is usually made of metal outright in this case instead of having leather put over it. Meanwhile elite mutant soldiers don much more metal with their and include added bits of added protection such as face guards and shin protection and the like. Unlike average super mutant armor, the design of these has been generally ‘standardized’ in its make at the very least to give a consistent and different-looking appearance in the field compared to ‘wild’ super mutant ways of making armor.
The faction also possesses ten suits of power armor total/at all, with most of these having been brought in by ex-Enclave soldiers or the Remnants and the remainder having been acquired or salvaged one way or another. Meanwhile training for the use of Power armor has been passed down to the faction by ex-Enclave members, with power armor training having been formally recorded down and been instituted for the Bannermen.
Breathing masks are a staple for ‘unsafe environments’ and areas close enough in proximity to The Green for all soldiers and personnel, including mustered ones, where or on an as-needed basis. Some have been scavenged from The Divide, while the rest have been produced domestically by copying designs. A very small number of respirators (10) exist, though are makeshift and mostly made for fun by one or two bored engineers before being seized as inventory by command afterwards.
***Weapons Production/Acquisition -
In-house ammo and weapon production is not done for export due to its rather limited scope and scale and size, mostly leading to it being streamlined as effectively as possible into what little the faction can create for itself. This has led to a standard for weapons using 10mm and .45-70 Gov’t ammunition, which is locally produced, as well as the production of 12 gauge ammo to be used with the corresponding 12g shotguns and Riot Shotguns. This more streamlined focus in production to only a few ammo types at most has led Jacobsville to make the most out of what they can produce and make for themselves, and has allowed more for the recycling of other ammo and weapon types as materials for in-house production in turn. Meanwhile, the production, trading for, or salvaging of Bowie Knives has become common, and the general fixing up or repairing of acquired, traded, or salvaged Recharger weapons acquired from the Bright Brotherhood at the REPCONN Test Site has become a normal part of trade with that faction. Even SMMGs have entered domestic production to some extent within the Jacobsville faction as a whole to make use of their already-being-used ammo type and domestic production of it in turn.
Otherwise, other weapons and ammunition used are traded for or scavenged locally or by mutant-led scavenging groups sent into the Divide elsewhere outside of Jacobsville territory. In this vein, any existing Red Glares in the faction have only ever been salvaged, or traded for with Marked Men, though existing ones are maintained as best as possible as designs are studied with the ‘hopes’ of at some point in the future producing them at-home at some point. Meanwhile Incinerators and Heavy Incinerators are mostly traded for in general, with very few having been fashioned over the years or makeshift together with advanced knowledge in the first place.
***Loadout -
The most basic loadout for a Standard Soldier of Jacobsvillle includes: A Bowie Knife, a 10mm pistol or Recharger Pistol, Hunting Rifle or Recharger Rifle, and two frag or incendiary grenades. They may also alternatively use a 10mm SMG, Riot Shotgun, or general 12g Shotgun to add more mixed effectiveness to units on the battlefield when closing the distance or having the distance closed against them in turn (or when fighting in closer/urban quarters, etc). Scouting or Sabotage units might utilize satchel charges instead of just two frag grenades, and likewise a custom silenced 10mm SMG/pistol or the like might be used to assist in the stealthy nature of the mission in such a particular role.
Elite Soldiers on the average are armed with the following as the most basic form of loadout: A Hunting Revolver, a Brush Gun, a bowie knife, and two or three frag grenades. Alternatively they will be armed with a Riot Shotgun or be decked out as a heavy weapons specialist. Heavy Weapon Specialists most often carry as a loadout: A heavy weapon (usually an SMMG), a Hunting Revolver, and two frag grenades. Elite melee weapons like a “Blade of the West” or Sledgehammer might also be used in certain scenarios or squads or conditions to boot.
Nightkin or Super Mutants usually end up wielding 10mm SMGs, Riot Shotguns or 12g Shotguns, SMMGs, various faction-available explosives, Super Sledges, Sledgehammers, or even “Blade of the West” replicas made by their kind or traded for with individual Marked Men traders. They are usually heavier and heartier troops that take hits and likewise dish them out rather well at the same time, the ‘meat’ of certain patrols and especially in scavenging teams sent out into the rough dangers of the Divide. Nightkin can serve in scouting/sabotage units using scavenged Stealth Boys acquired from the Divide or Wasteland, or traded for with traders, which are domestically upgraded within Jacobsville territory in turn.
History:
2281 - Doc Henry and Marcus, the effective leadership of Jacobstown at the time aside from Keene, scrounge up caps to hire some caps-desperate mercs called the “Black Lung” via friendly caravan contracts from the edge of NCR territory to help him get night stalker samples and such. They also bring back a strange weapon from the bottom of the night stalker den to boot. Said mercenaries were also present during the confrontation with NCR-hired harassing mercs, and through offering Keene the weapon from the Night Stalker Den and being a presence to reinforce Doc Henry’s side during the nightkin’s attempt to take the experimental Stealth Boy the end result is managing to somehow deter Keene from his actions in the end. Peace is restored within Jacobstown, and with some insight from a pre-war doctor ghoul among the mercenaries’ ranks Doc Henry is able to test his work on night stalker brains moving forward. In the wake of this, the Black Lung Mercenaries move to return to their gloomy corner of NCR territory with a bonus to their paycheck for assisting the town with the other NCR mercs and avoiding a full-on firefight at least.
However, the mercenaries driven off from Jacobstown report back to the one who had hired them, leading to a certain party in the NCR getting the Black Lung Mercenaries blacklisted back in the NCR as a result after returning home for “helping the muties”. Gathering what they can of their things and caps and such, even as the government is going to seize their home base imminently with NCR troop support to evict them, the mercenaries evacuate the NCR and end up coming back to live at Jacobstown. It leads to a brief standoff at the entrance as the remainder of the mercenaries’ company comes back with them, but in the end Marcus, Keene, and Henry are able to agree on the mercenaries moving in to live with them after all of the trouble. The new arrivals begin to settle into new roles, ranging from assisting in the care of Bighorner livestock to assisting Henry in his work to even helping protect the town itself and keeping the roads clear for friendly incoming/outbound caravans.
2282 - With a new assistant in the form of the ghoul doctor who had given him the idea for testing on night stalker brains prior, and Calamity’s continued support as his assistant, Doc Henry in early 2282 finally develops a cure for the Nightkin’s schizophrenia. Keene, at his own insistence, is the first subject to receive the cure and becomes the veritable poster-boy for its effects as he helps encourage the rest of his kin to receive it as well. Word begins to be spread out, and several from Davidson’s outfit at the REPCONN Test Site and eventually Tabitha’s operation on Black Mountain begin to flock to Jacobstown alongside other super mutants and Nightkin from afar being drawn in by the news. Due to worries and concern about the sudden grown in population in Jacobstown proper, however, Keene and several others go south to help clear out the old and abandoned Tribal Village of its Cazadors and work with Doc Henry’s new assistant to set up a secondary living and cure-providing center that would become known as “Cure Cove” in the Mojave.
Strange plants likewise begin to get noticed in the foothills by foragers and scouts from Jacobstown, things that stand out from the normal plantlife and the like. However, the matter mostly becomes moot as the focus on providing the cure and housing new mutants in Jacobstown and at Cure Cove becomes a focus. Davidson refuses to go to Jacobstown, however, at the behest of “Antler”. He also takes the remainder of his people and leaves the REPCONN Test Site after a number of his people defect to go get the cure. The Bright Brotherhood is saved from the violence of Davidson and his people in turn, and begins to expand back into their original territory at the test site while striking a salvage deal with Novac to narrowly avoid a total collapse of the settlement’s notably-declined economy at this point in time. It will take time for Novac to recover from the decline from its time spent cut off from the Test Site and its salvage, but the Bright Brotherhood provides assistance to the town that will forge a closer bond between the two groups in the coming years.
By the end of the year, though, naturally the issues of Greenlung and events of the Mojave have come to the attention of Jacobstown while simultaneously some Greenlung cases have occurred around Jacobstown to boot. Cure Cove, meanwhile, seems to not have any cases of Greenlung. Further, the seeming resistance of mutants to dying of Greenlung, compared to humans and ghouls at least, leads Doc Henry to ponder if they might hold a possible source for a ‘vaccine’ to the condition. However, odd behavior among formerly-infected mutants is becoming more and more common and noticeable to Doc Henry and Marcus and Keene. It is a worrying sight to them, being dubbed ‘Greenlung Insanity’ by Doc Henry, especially as such cases of odd behavior seem to disappear into the foothills in the dead of night or seemingly out of the blue. Several cases of this ‘insanity’ begin to be locked up in the lodge itself for study and attempts to develop a cure for them begin on the part of Doc Henry. With more assistance needed to also distribute the cure to the influx of new mutants, though, the abandonment of Old Mormon Fort by the Followers and NCR coincides with the same time frame that Doc Henry contacts Arcade Ganon and other Enclave Remnants to be eyes and ears for him in the Mojave for more news about Greenlung. Arcade is able to help Doc Henry in the hiring of several disaffected but more ‘amenable’ Followers members who had fled Camp McCarran to assist in his own work, though this comes with some hesitation on the hired members’ part at first after the ‘McCarran Incident’.
2283 though 2284 - This time period of two years sees legends of a "Cure Cove'' location become a spreading rumor in the Mojave as some ill and sickly mistake it for a place to find refuge and cure from the spreading cases of Greenlung. Many have to be turned away who manage to find Cure Cove in that vein, though several more desperate or violent groups of affected cases are instead killed. Some non-ill and anti-NCR or at least amenable-enough Mojave locals both ghoul and human alike, however, find refuge with Jacobstown and at Cure Cove and join its ranks to avoid Abernathy and his rule. Further, a new arrival becomes a secondary Nightkin (OC) leader for Jacobstown and a major figure starting after they help assert control and bring order to an increasingly chaotic Cure Cove location over the course of this year. Connections between the strange plant life continuing to be found in the foothills of Jacobstown and the seemingly new odd cases of 'insanity' in super mutants has fully established within this time period, and in that vein some of Jacobstown’s ever-growing population and new arrivals are instead moved to the burgeoning and expanding Cure Cove location instead. Foraging or scouting is done with procured breathing masks or other such protective gear makeshift together or acquired from friendly Caravans along the way.
More Followers who have become more distrusting of the NCR after the Vault 22 expedition goes missing, and the more amenable of these end up being recruited via Caravan contacts by Doc Henry as well in this time period. These end up being split between cure distribution/production and Doc Henry’s work toward curing Greenlung. A group of four older ex-Enclave, with two younger individuals in the same group with them, eventually reach the Mojave Wasteland in this time period and make contact with Doc Henry and his people after Henry and his friends seek out others to help with their work. Henry’s contacts in the Mojave, however, still help feed him information on what is going on elsewhere with Greenlung and the strange plants within the Mojave Wasteland. Ultimately Jacobstown leadership decides on transferring a portion of the town’s growing population to Cure Cove proper, mostly as it is being fortified into a growing town in its own right over the long-term.
2285 - This year sees the growth and cases get worse as Henry and his people try to look into the Greenlung and strange plants, and more personnel/mutants and things are moved out of Jacobstown to Cure Cove to get them safe and away from things. But it is apparent that things are getting pretty bad on all fronts. NCR presence in the Mojave under the leadership of Abernathy puts its own form of pressure, Jacobstown is suffering from cases of attacking 'monsters' in the night that no one has properly seen or can identify, missing formerly-infected mutants disappearing into the night has still been ongoing, odd behavior continues to be studied by those locked up in the lodge or rarely observed in the wild as more of the strange plant life continues to encroach more and more on Jacobstown in a worrying manner, and the encroachment of bad news from Westside and Judah Kreiger’s flight from there with some more amenable locals from there to live with Doc Henry and his people after the loss of Westside has only stacked up more on the growing population problems at Cure Cove and even still.
With the mounting issues, information the ex-Enclave newcomers have brought leads to Jacobstown leadership deciding on relocating Jacobstown to a location called “The Divide” in Mojave lore after the Jacobstown situation is declared ‘untenable’. Relocation of the population to the Divide in early October 2285 with the first larger armed party of mutants and settlers being sent out there. Overall, however, the migration and movement are being kept covert and secret from caravans and others to try to avoid NCR aggression or otherwise on the road during the course of it. Likewise, the path to the new location avoids NCR-active or NCR-controlled territory in the Mojave for the most part. Stuff likewise begins to be taken out and moved from the Remnants Bunker as well as the Green encroaches upon it and Jacobstown.
Initial contact with hostile Marked Men also occurs at the end of the year, though upon driving out enemy forces as far as Hopeville proper within the Divide in late December the process of securing and fortifying up this gained ground for further settlement is started. This comes at a cost, however, and ultimately sees this become the final extent of the newly-claimed ‘borders’ of the migrants and forces coming from Jacobstown moving to their current maximum extent. Further, an outpost of sorts is set up at the Canyon Wreckage at the entrance to the Divide for newcomers and incoming migrant groups from Jacobstown and Cure Cove.
2286 through 2287 - By March 2286, the outpost built around the Canyon Wreckage has grown large enough to begin life as a proper settlement, and likewise settlement of the divide within the large Hopeville Silo Bunker and fortifying and rebuilding remnants of Hopeville are in full swing. Cure Cove has lost over half of its once overcrowded population by this point, and patrols guide new arriving mutants or other recruits to the Canyon Wreckage settlement. Jacobstown just has a small protective-gear-equipped left, who are all using makeshift or acquired protective gear to go anywhere, that are observing and trying to get data from infected 'Greenlung Insanity'-afflicted mutants and the like before Jacobstown becomes fully lost to the Green. However, the month of April sees the remnants in Jacobstown forced to flee due to the explosive growth of the strange plants after the abnormally-high rainfall that month. Most escape, but some are lost in the process as the remainder escape with what they could bring with them to Cure Cove. Cure Cove is set to remain as an outpost, though a secondary outpost and settlement location at Lone Wolf Radio is established as a redundancy as the continued expansion of the Green continues. Both locations redirect mutants to the new location, setting up their own garrisons and fortifications in the process, while in the end the rest of the population leaves for the Divide.
The final loss of Jacobstown leads to the renaming of the faction to “Jacobsville’ in honor of the growing mixed-population faction’s new status and composition, though this is also done in more part to help new arriving mutants both Nightkin and Super Mutant alike identify and find it easier. Meanwhile the growing Canyon Wreckage settlement of Hopetown becomes the new arrival point for the large majority of incoming mutants and refugees and such like who join the faction’s ranks as well.
Jacobsville also recruits Orion Moreno, who hates the NCR well enough, and Cannibal Johnson to come help out with training and knowledge alongside Doc Henry and others who already live there. Enclave Remnants training and knowledge gets disseminated into the faction functionally enough, though the ideology isn’t passed down in favor of more practical knowledge and the like for locals to help get things set up and improve conditions for those living within the Jacobsville faction’s territory for the most part. That and prepare them in case of NCR troubles….that was at least one thing they could all worry about at the very least. The faction gets its own food production going, with Bighorners still being primary sources but now beginning to formally cultivate and include desert plants like the banana yucca and such that can be grown to feed the bighorners and be food for the people too. The faction also begins to build up capability to produce its own arms and armor to a certain extent, and likewise seeks to establish its own medical capabilities in turn.
Further, seeking trade and diplomatic relations elsewhere in the Mojave, Jacobsville also moves to establish relations with other settlements and groups within the Mojave Wasteland. Of particular note, the faction establishes formal and ultimately close relations with both the recovered Bright Brotherhood at the REPCONN Test Site and a new growing ghoul settlement forming within the ruins of the former Camp Searchlight. Beyond this, the settlement establishes good relations and trade with the settlement of Novac and the nearby Gibson Scrap Yard as well.
2288 - Some avenue of trade is established on the side with the Gun Runners in lieu of the strife between it and the NCR-affiliated Van Graffs, albeit the trade is kept on a legal basis to try to avoid trouble, though beyond this much business carries on as usual. Jacobsville becomes a haven for many who settle within its borders, becoming a cosmopolitan hub of knowledge and trade while still seeking to stay out of the limelight and not seeking to attract attention to draw it to itself. A place where diplomacy and trade and keeping out of the limelight aims to keep it safe and out of the eyes of the NCR or other potentially-harmful polities.
However, more trouble yet ultimately seems to be brewing for Jacobsville and its inhabitants even yet still. The continued encroachment of The Green within the Mojave Wasteland continues to fuel the concern over finding a solution to the problem, as well as begins to encroach on the location of Cure Cove, and if not solved in enough time the spreading plague brought by The Green might consume the whole of the Mojave….and then some. Yet this ongoing problem hasn’t been the only concerning matter either.
Further, the return of the NCR’s attentions to the Mojave with a new ambassador to the Mojave, the completion of the Trans-Mojave Railroad, and the changing of the guard at Helios One and Hoover Dam with Van Graff CSF seems to signal a new chapter in the involvement of the NCR in the Mojave to boot. Rumors from the eyes and ears Jacobsville has within the Wasteland also seem to indicate that the Three Families are up to something or another in their own right, and the silence of Mr House has been concerning in its own right during this time period to boot. This likewise comes as rumors of a lingering Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel likewise comes to the ears of Jacobsville leadership. To say the very least, it would seem potential danger has been growing across the board even as Jacobsville has simply tried to go about its own business in things.
But what will come next? No one truly knows….but the people of Jacobsville must keep an eye out and try to be ready nonetheless.
Upstairs, Second Floor, Stellar Toy Company, Industrial District, Byjerfal City
(Urban Exploration)
Stat changes were reset. Drat! It wasn't a good thing, given their situation, and their opponent was still going on! But there had to be something to do, some way for them to pull this off! Or something of the sort. Clarissa lightly grit her teeth behind her otherwise stoic expression, trying to focus on the enemy in front of them and its newest attack launched at them both! It was not the best scenario, and the pull on the window to close it had certinaly left her feeling a bit more drained, but there had to be-....aha! There could be something.
The psychic would try to brace herself for the incoming Gust peronsally, though would try to give Sir Lopsalot further orders to help him out of this pinch!
"Use everything you've got to dodge it, and then launch a counterattack!"
The little Buneary would clench its fist again, as it had been running back toward the Murkrow already as it was righting itself, though instead of darting into the oncoming Gust the little Pokemon would attempt something else. Launching from his position mid-run with all he had in his little legs left, Sir Lopsalot would fling himself to land under-....no, wait, what?! He was launch himself to jump OVER the attack and move ABOVE the enemy Murkrow? The intent, as it were, was to lauch himself above the enemy's attack, tucking into a spin as he did so with the intent to chop the opponent in the head from above with another Power-Up Punch. This even as his little fist once again began to glow!
Would the dodge work in this case, all while trying to surprise the enemy by not jumping to get underneath it again? Would Clarissa be able to withstand the Gust? Would the One Punch Bunny the Buneary manage to get in a critial blow on his opponent? Only the coming moments would truly tell...
No tripwires. No pressure plates. Noooooo problem~! Jase's blade had made light enough work of opening the chest proper, which seemed to not be trapped despite her and the man opening it standing there in front of it at the time. All in all, it was not a bad call to be safe....but yeah it had been a bit too much in this instance. Probably. However, what was inside of the chest was something that gave her gut instincts some sort of prodding. That much she knew.
Upon further inspection, the box would appear to have a flute carved of a white-green stone of some sort and left covered in a soft fur pelt of some variety.
The nature of either object was still unknown, of course, but inspecting the interior of the box would make it clear that there was no sort of trick, magical or otherwise, lying in wait.
The knight gingerly put the moss in her hand on the ground, set her sword and shield on the ground, and then gently used her hands to pick up the jade-looking flute in the chest and the soft fur pelt it was nestled inside of. She brought it closer to her shadowed face for inspection, curiously trying to look the item over. It was in a old cavern room, in an old chest, and in some sort of good shape while having been wrapped in a pelt. A religious item, perhaps? Or maybe one of a set of macguffins to cause the end of the world. Either way, she was going to keep the thing close as a 'just in case' in the same way odd items picked up early in some JRPG might end up useful later. Or such was her philosophy about the matter.
Better safe and hoarding than sorry. Or was that the sort of mindset leading to becoming a dragon? Eh, either way~!
"This screams of 'macguffin to end or save the world', or at least something thought well enough of to hide all the way back here."
The slime girl knight would then attempt to open her status, or inventory, or something of the sort. See if there were options to 'put item in inventory' or something, if she could, to magic it out of her hands and into some safe storage spot. It wasn't too farfetched to attempt, right? Plus even if it didn't work, maybe-....well, she'd have to check her info and see if it could be hidden away inside of her or something? Maybe. But also eww. Still, if she was a slime, then couldn't slimes hold something inside of their body for safekeeping perhaps? Eh? Or not? At least in such case she could keep the flute itself safe, and the fur could be a nice cape for now to boot.
Barring the prior two ideas not working in sucession, if it came too that, Nyana woould at least try to tuck away the bundle on her person for safekeeping or something. Then she'd be able to pick up her sword and shield again if nothing else. Though it did remind her of playing flute in high school....hmm. Anywhosies, that was that unless something happend otherwise~
"Alright, the mystery item is at least in our possession. If anyone else wants to grab that moss I put down, we can start trying to find another path to get us out of here. Well, do all of that carefully unless we want to get ganked or stuck in a pit trap or something at the start here.
I'll walk at the front too regardless, though, since I've got some decent starting defenses it seems."
Her tone generally seemed to go into what she'd call 'gamer mode', though to her it felt more natural than the panic of not long ago. Not that said panic was wholly gone or something, but hey having something to focus on and using familiar terms and things would certainly be preferrable to nothing, right? Right! Like totally! All she needed right now was a cold drink, her favorite tank and shorts on, and her streaming setup for a good gaming session! Well, one that was pretty IRL for her now and kinda' serious though....yeah. Yeah that was going to be a thing to need to eventually get adjusted to for sure. That on top of the new body and all.
Well, it at least seemed that the poor armored man was aware of the terms a certain 'mage' was using. Then again the mage guy was trying to explain things....not that she felt it was the best way to go about it for people waking up IN ANOTHER WORLD nessecarily. But what was the perfect approach then? Eh. She could've done better too, she supposed, though personally it felt gamelike enough that she didn't feel too much panic or anxiety about it all for the time being. Not much at least. So perhaps an apology was in order then.
Nyana did, however, refuse to acknowledge the gibberish that kinda sounded like Spanish of some kind? She didn't speak it, but she'd heard others speak it often enough to get the gist of it being that sort of thing perhaps.
"Sorry for the fussing then, but...yeah, this isn't pretty normal or anything. Not sure if everyone on that plane would be familiar with this sort of thing or genre at that."
"I agree with the knight, through, we should find our way out of here. We'd better be very careful, though."
This guy had a head on his shoulders, even if she didn't know his name as of yet. Still was a small comfort to know someone else was wanting to see if they could get out of where they were and to actual sunlight though. Albeit they'd need to be careful, yes, depending on what lived in here. If it was a giant sleeping dragon, though, she was not going to be around for one of them to accidentally wake it up! That sort of stupid aggro-pulling was not her forte, and it didn't seem they had a healer on their hands either for that matter. Yup. A bunch of potential DPS and Tanks....totally the best comp for a spooky cave dungeon.
Nyana would gently run a hand along some of the wall moss as they walked along, trying not to damage it but also to listen to how it brushed against her gloved and armored hands. It was a beautiful litte glow it seemed to have, at least once that meadow was gone, but overall was still just as strange as it could be to her she supposd. It shouted 'unnatural', and yet for all she knew something like this was back on Earth. Hmm. Pushing such things toward the back of her mind as they moved along, however, Nyana took pause and stopped as they entered the new section of the cave. Her shadowed and hidden face, then, swiveled about to look at the details of it carefully before anything else as MMO and game knowledge seemed to kick in somewhat for her.
The other branching path would eventually lead to a small alcove—one that appeared to be rather empty at a glance. The main path from which the two diverged, however, seemed to open up into a more spacious area. This new section of the cave seemed a fair deal more barren, but a quick glance around would little more than the presence of a simple wooden chest and a few odd indentations along the stone wall.
Odd indentations, a wooden chest with a fantasy-esque chest lock on it, and all of that barren space between them and the chest itself. She could already hear the meme describing the whole situation inside of her head at that. It's a trap! Because duh, it looked like a trap to her at the very least. Not that everyoone in the world might notice such, but ah....eh, it was what it was she supposed.
"'Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.'"
"Unless someone knows how to make a light, I suggest we try gathering some of that moss in the last cave and bring it in here to see if we can find any tripwires. Or don't they have traps in isekais?"
Well, Jase the Cold Water Thrower was aware of what this room looked like as well. Good. The more they were all aware of this, the better they could get past it perhaps. Beause this was nothing but a trap. A trappity trap trap tra-
"Yeah, this is screaming trap, probably something nasty in those indentations just waiting for us to get closer, either that or something triggered by the opening the chest. My new eyes seem to be seeing pretty well in this light and I don't see anything, but the triggers could easily be inside the chest itself, or even some magical sensor. Our best bet is probably to have whoever's toughest walk carefully inside while the rest of us watch their back, if that doesn't trigger anything we can take a closer look at the chest. Before we try anything though, what are we working with if something does ambush us? My skill is Ice Magic, sounds like it could get interesting eventually, but for now it's basically just shooting sharp icicles and jets of frost which could slow something down."
Holy mother of dialogue. Did this guy know how to-....never mind. Never mind. Look, it was good he was seming to think of ways to try to help, but at the same time he could have not just blurted it all out. But even so, the idea of the 'tankiest one walks in and we see what happens' felt like not the best of ideas. It was obvious, yes, but that was what the makers of the trap wanted, yes? For someone to just walk into it? They needed a better plan, though, and so perhaps-
"So shoot an icicle at it," he said with a shrug at Vrelenor. "Something with some heft to it. If it's boobytrapped, we can see what it does."
Eh?
"I'd rather not do that unless we don't have any other option, if I can hit hard enough to smash the chest, then I'd probably also ruin anything inside it, an it might well be those indentations that we need to worry about anyway."
"Would it be possible for you to shoot ice with less force?"
"If need be, I could prod for triggers from a distance with my weapon. And if I am interpreting my skill correctly, I might be able to jump over the traps, but that wouldn't help if the chest has a trigger or a trap of its own."
Whew. Blowing the thing apart was one way to perhaps mess things up royally for themselves, depending on said chest contents or the like, though the possibility of a pressure trigger under the chest was maybe there as well? Hmm. They didn't need to overthink it, but perhaps those indentations would be the key. Perhaps have icy guy put his skills to the test and try to plug up those holes, while Jase went and got some moss to light up the way and potential tripwires? Yeah. Jase's less-inane suggestion, to her mind that was, combined with that approach could do it. She just needed to say something.
"What about you?" he asked the knight. "Do you have a skill or ability that might help us here?"
Nyana quickly pulled up her status screen again to check things, before quickly closing it again with a sigh as she got her answer. Perhaps this guy's skill would be more useful in this place? Though again they'd need to deal with the indenations and such as well. Get some light in here. Etc. So it wasn't too cut and dry, though her 'skill' wasn't going to be a help unless it involved tanking damage perhaps.
"Not unless I want to jump out there and get shot with arrows or such I'm afraid. All I have for a skill right now is a boost to one of my defensive stats. But perhaps-"
"I can certainly try."
A fist sized lump of ice forms in under a second and shoots towards the chest, he manages to hold back enough that it's no faster than if he'd simply thrown a rock.
Amidst all of the uncertainty about what had happened and how to proceed, the decision to launch a ball of ice at the lone chest would prove rather fruitless. Not because the ice had missed—no, it had certainly landed on the chest and bounced off with a 'thunk' indicative of blunt force meeting wood—but because nothing came of it.
"Well I tried, one of you armoured guys gets to go poke it now."
For the love of-...nope. Nope, they were not going to dawdle like this and waste too much time doing nothing or the less-useful ideas if she could help it. If. So, in that vein, the streamer breathed in, slowly breathed out, and then turned to address the three guys in the room. They'd had some ideas so far, yeah? So they needed to make use of the good ones from that pile then. Seemed like a not-bad idea to her at least.
"I-....ok. Ok. Guys, we have a few good ideas going for this that you've already said somewhat already. So here's the plan:
Jase had a good idea with getting some of that moss for starters, so I'll go and grab some unlesss anyone else wants to help with that tooo. Not too much, don't want to lose our way elsewhere navigating this place, but enough to see if there's little tripwires or something carefully. If we don't find tripwires, then maybe its pressure plates or something here instead. Keeps it simple, narrows things down.
Second, Vrelenor, you already mentioned the indentations on the wall, ok? Can you try to fire some 'frost ray' or something to freeze them over maybe? Clog them up if they're holes or arrow slits or poison gas vents or someting like that with an icicle or something like that even?
Then ah-....actually, I don't know your name yet either. Your idea to prod the traps isn't bad, though, and if it ends up being tripwires you might be able to maneuver past them to get to the chest. Barring that, maybe, perhaps with a good enough running start or something you could jump over to the chest...or, well, as close as possible without landing on it maybe? Up to you there, but for now I'm going to get a small bit of glowing moss."
With that, Nyana would head out to gather some glowing moss along the way they'd come. Not too much, or enoough to lose her way, but a small amount to bring back and use to look for things on the floor. Well, if it stayed bioluminescent after removing it from the wall at least. It was worth a try though! And once she got that moss, she'd come back and try to carefully check the floor for tripwire-type triggers....but not step forward onto it in case of pressure plates.
Zapdos
Xaltwind
Spiffy
dwyer austin
The Otter
Dezuel
Izurich
Danyel
Aku the Samurai
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