this is Salem, a land filled with magic and maladies. It is a place where witches and their elemental familiars gather, a home to legend and
lore that predates time itself. Yet of all the wicked and wonderful stories the past can tell us of, the most magical are the ones yet to happen.
This is Salem - this is the start of your very own journey. Welcome to starfall
Starfall is an animaga witch roleplay set in mostly modern times. Members play as witches in a world plagued by monsters, where the only safe spots are walled cities. Starfall strives to be a character-driven roleplay with expansive lore and a highly interactive plotline. We want to allow members to
create and look back on a magical journey, and mold the site and its plot as their characters grow.
There was a cold wind that seemed to be blowing. The sun could be seen setting in the sky as it started to dip below the horizon. There was a beautiful swatch of colors as a man in a black cloak stood behind a crumbled wall that looked like it used to be some kind of storage building that had crumbled and decayed within the past century.
"I trust you will all keep this quiet. Here is all the information we have." The man in the black cloak stepped away from a chest that was seated behind him. There was a lock on the chest made of iron. Maybe? It looked iron like in color with that kind of gross dark grey color. The man stepped behind the wall and vanished after that. This was all the information that would be given from the group.
Billy had gotten there... well he honestly wasn't the first to show up. The man seemed to be an agent from this trust group that had hired the covens for a mission concerning stolen idols. He was only here because of what these idols could do. It was said these idols had the power to control certain mythical creatures and there was one in particular that drew his eye.
Dr Puddy was in his sweater as he stared down at the box. There was no key given. Maybe the man left the key somewhere around the decaying building... or there was some other way to open the box. It was a mystery that would have to be solved. After all there was no actual information about the mission given besides the basics of what the client desired. No information of what the idols looked like or who could have stolen them.
"Well maybe there is a key somewhere or... maybe a lock pick? Hmmm..." he hummed to himself as he thought about the options granted to him. He could try and pick the lock but who knows if it was booby trapped or something. Also he was not that quick at lock picking so it could take some time to do. Maybe there was a key around... or he could just blow open the box but that risked damaging the insides. What to do what to do.
He wasn’t incredibly enthusiastic about how the stranger had simply left them a fucking chest and left. With very little information, and barely a competent description of the person that had taken their precious idol, they expected that his group would somehow find the idol quickly. They would find it sure, eventually. There was certainly spells that would help track this thief down, but it wouldn’t happen overnight. He highly doubted that. The witch was also incredibly annoyed that they couldn’t even start searching when the information they had was in a LOCKED CHEST? “Was it really that hard to get us a copy in a manila envelope?” he asked, eyeing the chest. Rich people were so fucking extra sometimes.
“Considering he just left it there maybe it’s already unlocked?” Heath suggested as he eyed the box before glancing around. Their informer had vanished. He’d assumed they didn’t care what happened to the chest. He glanced at his team for the night before adding, “Nice to see you again.” The blonde then looked around the remains of the building. Why hadn’t it been cleared yet? He kicked a bit of dirty mulling the choice over before summoning Sinclair. “I’ll look around for a key. Maybe it’s under the welcome mat.” He stated before nodding at his familiar who sighed, quietly complaining over the mission already as he trotted past Heath and began sifting through the dirt.
“Though, even with the contents of the chest I don’t think we’ll really figure out where the last idol is until someone actually tries to use it.” He added lightly as his eyes scanned the grounds. “What kind of beast did they mean?”
[attr="class","gearcore"] "Billy, I gotta say, this's gotta' be some o' the shadiest shit you've gotten me into yet," Zeph comments, eyeing the man's exit after the cloaked stranger leaves them with nothing but a cryptic message and a locked chest behind a derelict building. Spock, lounging in her typical position on Zephyr's shoulder, nods in agreement with a exasperated huff. She was a firm believer that putting so much effort into a mysterious aesthetic was a ridiculous waste of time (unless it was a costume festival, of course).
The crafter crouches down by the chest and gives the lid a bit of a rattle to confirm that it's locked tight. "I'm obligated t' mention that Spock's more than happy t' crush this thing open if ya want, but if you're even remotely interested in, y'know, keepin' whatever's inside intact, I got a couple lockpicks on me if ya need." The monkey climbs across his arm and onto the lid, holding her ear to the chest and tapping it in various places with her knuckles to see if she could discern what was inside. "Maybe they accidentally locked their idol in here an' lost the key," Zeph muses jokingly as he feels around the container, searching for any crumbling points or crevices he could make use of to crack it open by force (without crushing the whole thing, of course).
Zeph hums in agreement at Heath's comment about finding the idol. "Yeh, it'd be more useful for me t' see the place it was taken from. I'd be able t' scan the area t' see what types o' spells were used t' take it... we'd at least figure out what kind o' thief we're dealin' with that way." Speaking of scanning for magic, that didn't sound like a bad plan right about now. His atheneum interface flickers to life in the form of a warmly-tinted holographic display which Billy had seen many times before over the course of D&D games. Focusing on the chest, he analyzes whether its or its contents had their mana altered somehow, perhaps for an enchantment or jinx. The results displayed clearly on the display for his partners to see.
"You gotta commend them thought they are really committing to the aesthetic" The man in the black cloak was a nice touch and the whole vanishing into thin air behind an old building with a shady chest was so strange. Heath seemed intent on looking around and he wasn't about to stop the other man. He just put on his best shit eating grin and gave it to Zeph. This was going to be a fun day.
"Don't wander to far babe," he said with a small chuckle and a wink. He was partially serious about his words. Besides the subtle flirty jest he was barbing at Heath he really did mean for the man to stay near. It was safer in numbers and given how he fought last time they teamed up he should really stay with the big kids.
Dr Puddy was asleep in his sweater while the monkey was looking around for some way to do something. The creature tapped and tapped to try to find a weakness in the boxes layout. Honestly there was one huge weakness in the chest... it had a huge hole in the bottom of the box. There was no key because you were just supposed to lift it up. The familiar knocking on the wood would probably be able to pick up that is was mostly hollow inside and the would not very strong.
"So like someone who can't open a pickle jar so they get a friend to do it but like... rich people style?" he said with a small chuckle. Maybe they had locked their idol in the chest. Of course that just wasn't the case. It was not the case at all. With the atheneum up and running the display could be clearly seen that there was some kind of mana change that was affecting the box. Well whatever was inside the box that is. There was a small journal with detailed records about the idol they were looking for. Of course much of the information was blacked out even the name of the creature it was supposed to control. There was also a pair of blue crystals that seemed to give off mana but were otherwise just rocks.
"Maybe we just break off the lock? I could always light it on fire!" he suggested in how they should open the box. Honestly one of them just needed to tip it over or try to pick it up and their answer would come to them. That was it. He turned to Heath as he asked questions. "They wouldn't say what creature... or really much at all..." They were quiet for a reason.
Post by heath ambroise on Apr 20, 2018 14:30:20 GMT
Heath doesn't turn towards Billy, but he does frown at the pet name. He looks around the derelict building, wondering for a moment how the man had vanished and if he was still around. Though annoying, Billy's warning had set him in edge. His focus shifted from the fabled key to his surroundings. A lot of fucking dirt. There was also a couple of trees not to dar from them. Patches of weeds plagued the old structure. He nodded to himself. He could work with this at least.
Heath narrowed his eyes. “They don't want to confirm anything, but being so secretive implicitly confirms this idol actually works.” he noted as Sinclair returned to him, clapping his little paws clean. “So, if whoever took it is aware of us they could be trying to activate it. Not sure what you'd need for this kind of artifact to work though.” he bit into his cheek as he mulled over possible leads. He had worked with less, as irritating as the secrecy was he could deal with it.
He walked back to the pair. “Any luck? I can probably find a bolt cutter if we really need it. Lock picking isn't my specialty, really.” Took too long, and with his luck, he'd snap a lock pick in the lock and reveal someone was trying to sneak in, upping security for next time. No thanks. It sounded like a useful skill though, but he hadn't wanted to put time into figuring it out for himself. "Why not just hand us the info?" he added, though it was a more of a grumble as he tried to wrap his head aorund the ways of extra rich people.
[attr="class","gearcore"] Zeph just shook his head and chuckled at Billy's shameless grin. That guy was crazy, but Zeph wouldn't rather have it any other way.
The chest didn't appear to be magical, according to Zeph's Atheneum spell. Spock, meanwhile, concluded that the wood of the chest was rather thin, as if it wasn't meant to be a challenge in the first place. "Ain't the most likely thing in here some sort of information written on flammable paper? Or a wooden totem artifact thing which, coincidentally, is also real fuckin' flammable?" Zeph asks Billy with a questioningly raised brow, taking a short handful of seconds to glance over at the Jester. The crafter generally preferred whatever alternative was available before resorting to the element which had marred half of his face. In this case, though, there weren't many clean alternatives besides picking the lock or solving the mystery in whatever way Mystery-Cloaked-Man had intended.
As Heath is asking why their employer didn't provide them with relevant information, Zeph lifts up the chest to investigate the bottom panel -- the one side he or Spock hadn't yet analyzed. And as he does, he finds an old-looking book and a collection of crystals sitting where the chest had just been. The crafter gives the chest's contents a blank, silent stare, and quietly turns the chest itself to confirm that it, in fact, had no bottom panel at all. The whole thing was just for show.
A laugh bubbles out from his lips before words to: "Apparently 'e did -- we're just fuckin' idiots. Look at this shit." Zeph holds up the opening of the hollow chest, with Spock still sitting on top of the wooden structure, slumped over in exasperation from the theatrics of this whole situation.
Zeph was correct flamible paper was more than likely in the chest. He was in fact even proven right when the journal would eventually be found underneath the chest. The huge hole and chest was just another one of their tricks. They always did like their tricks. Rich people.
"Or maybe they think it works but aren't sure. Or they know it works and are afraid of what it can do. Cursed objects can do some damage depending on what the curse is." How... level headed of him. Of course it could also be an object of holy power. A power that maybe protected against curses. Of course it happened to be neither of those. It was something more akin to a locator but also something else. Something more interesting. Billy knew that. Billy knew more than he was letting on.
Zephyr had found the journal and no doubt was keen on looking through it. If he or Heath did read the journal it would state that the crystals were charged to react in the presence of a tracker placed on the idol. No name was given for what they were looking for but a not very detailed drawing was included in the journal. It looked kind of like a dream catcher?
"Rich people are so weird" he with a laugh. His chuckling earned a swap from Dr Puddy as it disturbed her beauty napping. It wouldn't be long before they made their way towards where the thing was last seen. On the plus side there was a few notes on that location inscribed in the journal. It appears the last known location was this weird house with reports saying the culprit went west towards the old mansion just north of here. No doubt they were using this place as their hideout. Well they should probably get going soon as it. If not then whoever has the idol will probably get away.
when the villain is to lazy to go very far from the crime scene
Post by heath ambroise on Apr 22, 2018 5:17:47 GMT
“Aw for fuck’s sake-” Heath snapped in annoyance, but it was clear from the way the edges of his lips were twitching upward that he found this just as funny as Zeph did. Again, what had been the point of that? “Let’s keep the chest so we can give our bosses the thing back in it.” He added, walking over to get a better look at it. He then moved his attention onto the journal and picked it up to flip through it. It was an interesting read though still weird. Were they supposed to burn this once they were done? He picked up a crystal for himself before tossing the other two at his companions. “Our mission starts with a game of hot and cold.” He stated as he pocketed the crystal and glanced at Billy. “So, it’s a cursed totem now is it?” he asked pointedly before handing off the journal to Zephyr after getting a good look picture.
He mulled over the new information as he turned over his tracking crystal. “Weird curse. Aren’t dreamcatchers usually used for good?” he asked aloud as he fell in step behind his companions. With his affinity, any man-made environment would put him at a disadvantage from the get go. His only hope was that the place they were heading over to was broken down as all hell. The more weeds the better. Honestly, he really needed to figure out a way around this limitation. He went to school! He was smart! Smart enough to figure out something. Anything really. He kept watch of his crystal, glancing down at his fist to see if it changed at all as the group moved on.
[attr="class","gearcore"] "Consider it done," Zeph replies to Heath's suggestion to keep the chest for later. He flips it upside down in sync with Spock jumping feet-first into the hole in its base. The wooden paneling of the chest and the rounded lid currently at its bottom made it look like Spock was riding in her own mini pirate ship. (At least, that's how Spock imagined it looked).
And naturally, pirates needed treasure. The earth elementalist monkey magically lifts the remaining crystals that hadn't already been grabbed and greedily snatches them into her ship.
Zephyr, with his familiar's new toy carried under his arm, peeks over Heath's shoulder at the journal. He doesn't know much about dreamcatchers beyond what the name implied -- they don't exactly fall within his scope of interest. He does know a thing or two of the geography of the area, though. "Employers who like playin' mind games... cursed totems... haunted mansions... t'day just keeps gettin' weirder," he comments. But he had been prepared for weirdness -- he couldn't go cryptid hunting with Billy if he wasn't.
"So... what's our plan here? Sneak in? Knock on th' front door? Scout around with atheneum?" Zeph asks as they begin making their way downtown to the mansion. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with the plan of just showing up and hoping for the best...
Zeph monkey familiar was his kind of people. Weird and a little off but fun at the same time. The spider monkey in the little makeshift pirate ship was the kind of extra he aspired to be and do... and the be honest succeeded with quite often if the other two had anything to say about it.
"Walk through the door? That was my plan. We could burn it down too that'd smoke them out. Ooo I do like the sneaking though. We could be like ninja." He seemed kind of excited about the idea of being little ninja sneaking into the old mansion that wasn't to far up the path from them. He lifted up the hood of his sweatshirt and used it to obscure his face a little bit putting his hands together like he was on some ghetto naruto knock off.
"Ninjaaaaaa" he said seeming to be totally serious. I mean to be honest they could easily try to sneak in given the party size and with Zeph's archive type magic it'd be easy. They were also in a forested area so his and Heath's plant magic would be more powerful than normal given the resources they could now work with. A fairy circle here or there to put some people to sleep or a flashbang to blind the enemies. Then again Billy was super extra.
"Well we can figure it out on the way lets go!" he shouted as he started making his way towards the old mansion. He moved his way down the path taking extra care to be super extra hiding badly behind every tree he could on the way. Okay he was not taking this seriously at all but seemed to want the other two following his lead. If they were gonna ninja their way in they had to be with him on it. That and it was just so frickin funny like what even is this. No fear.
when the villain is to lazy to go very far from the crime scene
Post by heath ambroise on May 27, 2018 23:39:53 GMT
The blonde didn’t protest at sneaking around. Better to keep a low profile until they could corner their target. He didn’t quite follow Billy’s lead, refraining from imitating the strange gestures but he did keep on his heels. “Ninja scouting it is.” He sighed, creeping after Billy. Was it really sneaking if they were only as quiet as their fearless leader? “We can circle around for a good place to go in. Maybe they’re dumb enough to have one of the lights on.” He added, his voice low as he attempted his best to be a sneaky ninja. His best efforts were taking care he didn’t make too much noise when he stepped and looking over at his companions for hints on how to continue. Being a ninja was too awkward for him, but at least he was trying.
The mansion loomed before them and Heath took a moment to peer at his crystal again. He thought he saw it flicker faintly but perhaps they needed to get closer. He briefly wished they could’ve just set the house on fire. It seemed unoccupied for the most part, and it would solve the situation pretty easily. But the people wanted their idol back. Ugh. Whatever, no fear, right? Sinclair tugged on his pants leg for attention before directing Heath to a window. It seemed a little obscured by the shadows but out on this one most of the glass paneling was missing. Heath paused, squinting at the other windows that glinted a bit off moonlight off them. “Hey if we’re going in anytime soon, should we try that?” he asked nodding over at what Sinclair had spotted. Sinclair set himself low to the ground, crawling closer to inspect the possible entrance. He paused by the wall, half hidden by the overgrowth and lifted his head to sniff. Nothing…unusual. If this was a hideout, the window was definitely not the way their suspect had come through. That was good though. This was probably a forgotten spot in the mansion. He looked over at his witch, relaying his findings.
Heath didn’t seem worried, but he glanced over at Zeph in particular. He had mentioned he was able to scan areas or something? Could he scan for traps? “How does your scans work again, Zeph?”
[attr="class","gearcore"] "Personally, I support th' ninja plan," Zeph offers as Billy's lifting his hood undergoing his ninja transformation, "But on the topic o' burnin' shit down... how much liquid fire did ya bring along?" The question is asked with a wary side-eye towards the Jester -- Zeph wanted to know exactly how far away he needed to stand from Billy if vials started breaking.
However, the crafter can't help but grin with an entertained snort at the sight of his friend's mock sneaking. Spock gives a delighted squeak and dips her head into the chest, only to pop back up a few moments later with a dark fabric wrapped around her face (save for her eyes). The familiar was deeply enjoying the prospect of being a ninja pirate.
Zeph follows Heath's gaze to the window with missing glass. "It's worth a shot," he affirms, bringing up his interface (and keeping its blueish glow to a minimum) to check for any magical influences before they charged in. "It's mostly just good for pickin' up on altered mana or gettin' people's stats. Ah, and scoutin' ahead--" he replies in a hushed tone to the journalist as Spock once again retreats to the belly of her ship. This time when she returns, she's holding what looks to be a mechanical life-sized crow above her head. If there was any doubt before, the Jesters could now very safely assume that the monkey had a portal inside the chest. "Thanks, capt'n," Zeph says as he picks up the bird and holds it over his interface, causing its eyes to turn an identical shade of blue.
"For th' record, there's not any active spells out here or around that entrance," he notes as he throws the crow skywards and it begins to fly towards the mansion. The screen of his interface flickers, and the trio can soon see the visual inputs from the bird's perspective.
Billy was behind a tree when Zeph asked his question about fire. To be honest he didn't pack nearly as much as he did during the tournament because... well he had to fit Dr Puddy in his sweatshirt this time. He turned his head back towards the witch and said "Like... ten bottles I think? Not that much." Insert flat face emoji.
There was a mechanical bird the monkey familiar sent out to do some scouting. Could he just like add that monkey to his list of friends? Who needs Zeph he could totally just adopt his familiar and like have two familiars. That was totally normal and okay right? Who needs possible options? Not in this house!
"It looks like there are some lights on... is there maybe a way we can cut the power? Easier to move in the dark after all." Finally something sensible from him. Sure it would make his own elemental magic weaker but it also meant they could move about undetected much more easily. Besides he had the perfect potion just for this occasion. I mean sure aquapyre was great for all occasions but that wasn't the one he meant.
"See anything?" There had to be an easy way in. The front door was way to obvious so maybe a window. Though the building was more than one story so getting up high could be a problem for those who were not... athletically inclined. Then again this group was a bunch of spry young men so they probably wouldn't have an issue. The darkness was sweeping over the land as it got later and later. It wouldn't be super long before it was full on night. They should do something soon.
when the villain is to lazy to go very far from the crime scene
Post by heath ambroise on Aug 26, 2018 23:37:40 GMT
He admits it; watching Zeph’s familiar disappear and come back with a new pirate themed object over and over was fascinating. Sure, logically, there was a way she was doing it by disappearing into the chest, but if he ignored that adult reasoning in his brain shit was fascinating. She just poofed into the treasure chest and popped back out with something new. Whether or not it was useful was up for debate, but the spider monkey seemed to be doing fine. He noted the ninja pirate aesthetic and felt entirely unprepared.
Heath stares at the visual the crow brought them, chewing on his lip as the bird did wide circles around the building. “We’d have to find the circuit breaker. But I don’t think there was a box on the outside when we snuck by.” The blond pointed out. “It could be in the kitchen or in the basement if they have one.” They had to have a basement. This place just SCREAMED creepy basement remodel. On maybe the third circle of the bird he pointed out a small opening on the ground. Wooden doors leading to a cellar. Yup, creepy basement. “There’s that. Looks wooden, probably rotted. It wouldn’t take much to get through if its locked.” He glanced over at Billy. If his boss was any example he imagined his friend had a pretty flexible box of goodies just waiting to fuck some shit up. Though, if he brought it with him or not was the problem.
Then again, this place was decrepit, and the door was left out to the elements with no maintenance. Maybe termites were about. It could happen, they could get lucky. He held back a sigh. Breaking in would be so much easier if he actually had something he could do discretely. Everything he had knowledge of was pretty noisy, and they were still trying to maintain the element of surprise. His eyes flickered back to the screen, looking for more options. Broken windows were good and all, but this was a pretty nice sweater. If he could avoid damaging it too much that would be great. If not, at least he was wearing a t-shirt underneath. “I’ll check it out.” He informed the pair, sending a mental command for Sinclair to start moving over to assist him. Sometimes bouncing ideas off the coati helped him think through stuff faster. Sometimes it was just a pain. It was a coin toss really.
He moved quickly enough only to stumble over a tree root and nearly topple over. He righted himself but not without earning a small laugh from his familiar. Sinclair perched himself by the cellar doors, sniffing at the entrance and waiting. There was a rusted lock on the middle of it. Heath knelt down next to the wall and pulled out a pen from his back pocket. The wood looked dark, even in the low light. Splotches of wood looked wet but there hadn’t been a storm for a while in this area. He pressed the tip of the pen into the darkest looking spot before nodding at his familiar as the pen sunk in with ease. “These doors are overdue for maintenance.” Heath looked up to the sky, squinting as he looked for the mechanical crow before spotting it again. He waved at it before giving a thumbs up and mouthing the words ‘seems ok’ before looking back down at the wood and pushing the pen in deeper. It’d take him a few minutes but he imagined him and Sinclair could carve out the spongy would out from around the lock. Even if the entrance was its own separate thing from the house, they might still find the circuit breaker. Or like, the bodies of dead tortured prisoners.
[attr="class","gearcore"] The crafter squints at Billy when he mentioned that he "only" brought ten bottles of potion which burst into flames. Wasn't that a lot? Captain Spock offers an approving thumbs-up.
However, Zeph does nod in agreement when Billy suggests they cut the lights. Although there was a chance it would raise suspicion of their presence, they could probably (hopefully) make it look like an accident.
While Heath scouts ahead, Zeph rummages around in his pockets and pulls out a bundle of two Gates knotted together. After untangling them, he drops one on the ground where they stood. Though he didn't want to leave one of his gates inside the mansion unless he had to (at the risk of leaving evidence leading back to him), he still wanted to have the option of using them in case things went poorly.
"Heath's givin' us the go ahead," Zeph quietly mentions to Billy as he notices the reporter waving at his crow. The mechanical bird flutters onto the roof of the building and perches on the edge. Meanwhile, Zeph pulls up the hood of his jacket, makes sure no one's glancing out through the windows, and hurries over to Heath's position.
Zeph glances at the crumbling doors and the old lock and grimaces a bit. It would be all too easy to lift the lock right out of the doors with his elemental magic, but he knows they're trying to keep a low profile -- destroying the first door they come across with fairly uncommon magic wouldn't exactly be a great start. Hell, even opening them normally might break the wood if they weren't careful. Glancing to Billy, he asks: "Brought your own lockpicks?" He remembers it being mentioned earlier as an option to unlock the chest. If Billy didn't have any, Zeph always had a few stashed away in his prosthetic fingers.
Billy Kasparianheath ambroise hecK GUYS JUST YELL AT ME WHEN I DON'T REPLY PROMPTLY ;o; mission prompt used scrolls: (1) THE OPERATIONALIZATION OF MAGIC, VOLUME 1 (2) GATES (3) THE CLOCKWORK LOTUS: YATAGARASU