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.
Basil had been having a really bad past couple of weeks. With Fane gone, he was the one in charge of mission distribution, and he hated mission distribution. Plus, she'd left him with a bundle of half-investigated, half-verified leads pointing towards Hydra's leaders for him to comb through, but got herself captured before he'd even been able to ask about where she managed to find it all. [break][break] At the very least, he had managed to find two of the perpetrators and report their locations for tonight to his subordinates. He'd also found a third, but unfortunately that wasn't such a simple situation to handle. Oddly enough, Fane had left a note with the Rothscus kid. Did she really want to test him now of all times? When the power they'd work for so long to build up was on the verge of crumbling? [break][break] What a frustrating woman... [break][break] The athenian scratches his head in annoyance. This was all happening too quickly and with too little planning for his taste. Logically, he knew the enemy wasn't going to wait, and that time was not on their side. But he could dream, right? [break][break] "Come on in. And have a seat," he says to Maddox when the purifier makes himself known. He had spoken in passing to Maddox earlier today to stop by before sunset. Unfortunately, the navigator looks a bit haggard, and could presumably use a few extra hours of sleep. He certainly doesn't look like he's excited to go through the mission specs right now. Unfortunately, tonight's counterstrikes against Hydra's leaders were a necessity. The head navigator's cabin is cozier than most would expect, with multi-colored pillows decorating the chairs and hammock, and a large, old nautical map taking up the majority of the far wall. There is a shelf for books, a cabinet for weapons, and a table gently lit by an enchanted crystal for plotting courses (if, presumably, the S.S. Black Window were to leave port anytime soon -- another unlikely dream). [break][break] "I'm sure you've heard the basics of what's happening tonight. We're taking out as many of Hydra's heads as possible in one coordinated strike. The problem is that up until now we didn't know how they knew so much about our activities. Which brings me to this..." The athenian opens up a book on the table, spreading loose notes and pictures kept between two pages across the table's wooden surface. They're all excerpts and images from an athenian's interface, magically transferred onto the paper's surface. All of them show Damaris Rothscus interacting with the highest ranked members of Hydra. All of them imply she'd been divulging secrets which she had no right to tell to outsiders. The navigator gives the other acolyte a minute or two to process all of the evidence. [break][break] "This isn't a betrayal that we can forgive..." Basil notes gravely, his eyes trained keenly on the other male to gauge his reaction.
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thread-specific rules
maddox rothscus ✨, welcome to hell your master rank-up thread. This thread is death enabled and may involve other consequences such as (but not limited to) expulsion from your current coven and/or the permanent death of a major NPC depending on your character's actions. Failure to perform the initial mission as it's initially explained does not necessarily equate to failure to receive master rank; to rank up, something extremely noteworthy must be achieved, regardless of whether it aligns with the goals of your coven or the mission requestor. [break][break] This thread is part of Operation Hydra. [break][break] Staff will reply to this thread only after the involved character replies to this thread and also any other IC thread. Please be patient with us, since site-wide events will take priority.
[attr="class","m1scroll"]there are some things that take time — the procurement and adjustment to a new arm, for one. it starts as soon as the nerves connect and the feelings return ( a blaze of pain, at first, but it’s something and that’s better than nothing ), and then he’s throwing himself into training twofold, fuelled by endless gratitude to zephyr and the death-grip of desperation to make up for lost time. it has only been a few weeks at most, but the day never gives back what it stole.
he must admit, though, he is a little surprised when basil calls him in. there’s that familiar heart-in-throat sensation as the door opens and he sees the navigator, taking a cautious step into the room and perching on the edge of the nearest seat. he’s never actually been in here before, and it is far more homey than expected. his gaze flits curiously over the paraphernalia, sharp and curious. spares a moment to inspect basil himself. wonders if he’s taking good enough care of himself. hopes he is. ( thinks about asking. thinks it might be too awkward. )
the mention of hydra, however, is well-enough to bring his attention back to the task at hand. it is a sobering one, too. the evidence piles up, and it is a death warrant signed in blood. he doesn’t want to believe it. he doesn’t want to think about it.
“she—”
she is a rothscus, she is family, she shares the same blood that runs like lightning through his veins.
“she knows what we do to traitors.”
he leans back in his seat, arms crossed, meeting basil’s gaze with stubborn storm-grey eyes. he will not falter. he will not falter.
There was precious little in this world capable of hiding from the gaze of athenian Basil Aerbersold. As one of the primary strategists in Coven Leviathan, he needed to know who to trust and when to trust them, and also when words wove lies and faces wore masks. Misjudging someone could often lead to lethal mistakes. [break][break] Basil trusted that Maddox Rothscus was loyal and willing to risk a great deal for his family. Basil did not trust that the fellow acolyte had much opportunity to decide whether he more valued familial bonds from the coven or from blood. He didn't blame him, though; few Rothscuses, with their name so closely interwoven in Leviathan's history, had ever had reason to make such a distinction. [break][break] Although Basil didn't usually mind a bit of gambling, his list of alternatives was uncomfortably short for such a high-stakes bet. [break][break] Behind him, a wide scroll appears in mid-air and begins to unravel, looping around the two acolytes. Upon it, shifting notes in ink and moving photos diagram portion of tonight's raid. This is his interface -- or, at least part of it. A segment of the winding trail of paper bends in towards the table, displaying a variety of aerial images of docked ships, likely from the drone spell, and a simplified map of the area at the center drawn in ink. "Casimir has more than one ship under his command, and he seems to be the one working the most closely with Damaris. When he isn't around, the crews listen to her. This is the most ships of his I've seen docked at Sundial at the same time, and I'm concerned about how much it would turn the tide in their favor if even half of these guys attack Bell's Bar in addition to the force that's already on its way there. Putting it bluntly, the best case scenario would be taking down the ships, the crew, and Damaris with what's left of our available resources... which is just you and me." There is no continuation to the statement -- no more reasonable alternative is offered. He's serious. [break][break] "I have some ideas, most of which involve bringing down a storm for the initial blow, but it'll be tricky regardless of how we go about it since the docks sit within city limits." [break][break] maddox rothscus ✨
Post by maddox rothscus ✨ on Dec 24, 2018 10:33:03 GMT
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[attr="class","m1scroll"]the slightest bit of tension bleeds from his shoulders; he relaxes, just marginally, at what appears to be an acceptance of loyalty.
( in retrospect, when he thinks on this later, he will scare himself with the willingness to give up his family for the coven. some of his family had thought themselves infallible — they had thought that one could not survive without the other, but he does not delude himself with such fantasies. some of the family had more cynical leanings, believing them to be no more than parasites, the consequence of a great beast rolling around in the dirt. he does not know if he prefers this version or not; he likes to think that his loyalty to the coven is something more than a simple hunger. )
but that is for later. in the moment, his attention is wholly fixated on the interface that coalesces before him, eyes tracing the movements of the ships at dock, before turning back to basil as he begins to talk. he waits for a punchline — an entire fleet of ships, and just the two of them? you’ve got to be joking. — and it does not come.
“oh,” he ends up saying, reeling from the realisation, “cool, yeah, that’s totally fine, yup.”
“i don’t have much, but i could augment our abilities to call down the storm? a mana spike like that will probably attract unwanted attention, though. when we get closer, i can also try to shut down the mana of the crew, maybe? if damaris is there, she’ll likely try to do the same to us too.”
he turns around to pull a slightly squashed, rolled-up map from a bag. “when activated, this shows hidden doors and pathways, if any — we could use this to escape, after, and let the knights blame hydra? or it might come in helpful in finding a place to start the attack, i- i don’t know.”
a pause, almost reluctant to hear an answer. “are we expecting anyone — anything — else of note?”
"I assure you, I'm not happy about the situation either," the navigator notes, not missing the shock in Maddox's voice. It's a lot to take in, and a lot of responsibility being thrust on their shoulders. [break][break] Basil listens to the purifier, and examines the odd map he supplies. He seems to ponder for a moment, before cautiously offering a suggestion of his own: "Well... if we're going to cause a scene, it'd be best if we were out of city limits before we start casting so the Knights don't get involved too soon. The only solid land I know of that would let us keep the docks within sight is the sunken tower..." One of Sundial's protective towers, the sunken tower is the only one of the twelve which was built beneath the sea. Though part of it peaks above the water's surface, the majority of the structure remains underwater. Most importantly, it lies just outside of Sundial's spell detection wards managed by the Knights. "We'd be far enough away to avoid being immediately swarmed by all of their men at once, and draw their attention away from the shore. And... since Hydra sails under a few different banners to elude suspicion, it wouldn't be too difficult to make the Knights believe that one of their groups attacked the others. How we escape will depend a lot on how the enemy reacts, so save the map for then... I doubt we'll find much out there in the middle of the sea, but it's worth a shot. There isn't much else of note, really... just a fleet of magically diverse pirates and their battle-ready ships." [break][break] He glances at a part of his scroll-shaped interface, ink rippling across the page, "There's a merchant ship getting ready to leave port. We could hitch a ride on it if we want to get out of the city's detection range without raising suspicion..." his voice trails off as the gears of his mind spin, and when he speaks again he seems to be speaking to himself more than Maddox, sounding out the idea, uncertain if it was viable, "Or... we could take one of Hydra's ships to lure out the rest." [break][break]
