987/Death-T Beta Testing - Monster World RPG

Death-T Beta Testing - Monster World RPG
Date of Scene:	17 November 2014
Location:	Yu-Gi-Oh Earth
Synopsis:	Kaiba invites various Elites to play in a game of Monster World, a tabletop RPG.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 287, Theo Morrison, 530, Eryl Fairfax, 619, 623

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Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Kaiba Land, specifically, Kaiba Land California. One of the first Kaiba Lands built in America, it is truly a stunning place. It is a gigantic tower, many stories high, and decently wide. The Multi-floor themepark layout allows it to be an absolutely outstanding facility filled with more rides and games than most comparable theme parks.

     When the Elites arrive, though, they'll be guided to a special area. It's actually a place that isn't overly obvious. It's in a section of the park that very much looks like a fantasy themed area. A lever has to be pulled down, and the wall opens up, just long enough for people to get by. Workers, of course, are helping guide the honored guests to the area.

     And the area is a large grid-like room. Incredibly large. As in, 'bigger on the inside' large. Really, it's just tricks of Kaiba's holograms and technology, to make it /seem/ bigger than it really is.

     But boy, there is a lot of pizza on a table in here. And soda. And chips. In fact, everyone has a chance to down some food for a bit, because Kaiba isn't anywhere to be seen, at least not yet.

     From the look of this setup, though... It's going to be /awesome/. Also, Kaiba has had everyone's character sheets taken already, for his looking through, to make sure they're all statted right. And in preperation for the beginning of the game.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen made his way in, likely gathering quite a few looks. It's not every day you see a man with red eyes and blue skin walking through a themepark. He enters the large room and grabs some food right away. "Quite the preperations. I'm quite impressed." He says to himself. He thumbs ofer the sheet, matching up the numbers himself. "I suppose we wait for the guest of honor now."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is excited she's had nothing but horror lately and some fun could be good she's curious about the holotech to be sure, her world had is but this world may be pushing the technology harder and in aw a way her world does not? She's dressed casually if not in somethign suited for clubbing on her world. She seem to be quite amuse and has to admt this place is impressive she lets out a whistle.

"This ... is some impressive holographic technology."

Given Kiba's done his home world he'd have dug up Kotone is a full conversion cyborg. That's very much say8ing somthing.

"This is going to be quite the experiance."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Since reconnecting with the outside world, after having lived in an isolated realm for a few years of 'real time', the priestess known as Sanae Kochiya has been eagerly devouring her newfound access to mass media. In between assignments, there's been television to binge watch, and sometimes it would feature this Kaiba name as one of the sponsors. It was time to catch up on the latest gaming technology this unified multiverse could offer! What a rush it was when her petition to play, at one of the theme parks no less, was actually accepted, and she had eagerly come along and sent in all of the forms that might have been requested - after obsessing a bit over what to play.

    And now the day had arrived, and she and a few other guests are being escorted like VIPs through what can be presumed to be the less frequently visited parts of the place. She's opted to wear her old school uniform for this outing, having hoped to blend in better with what she presumed would be others of similar stripe - teenagers and kids. Though at least in one case, maybe she shouldn't have worried too much.

    "Wow, holograms," she says, barely keeping herself from poking at things rudely and prematurely. "The last time I saw this kind of stuff, it was just cheesy looking mirrors and spinning prisms!" Her enthusiasm is genuine, and her gushing is almost embarassing. She's way too distracted to be eating all that junk food right now.

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
You even mention tabletop and Yumi's interested, although, generally, her latent capability for strategy means -she- is the dungeon master, rather than a player. (Something about having read 'all of the books ever... including the bestiary'). She happily, then, accepted the chance to come play.

"This is gonna be awesoooome!" The Deckmaster says, clapping her hands together.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     ReGenesis had taken interest in Kaiba Corp when they learned of it. The thing is, when people's basic needs to survive are met, they then need to fill the time in other ways. Eryl typically shows them some simple sport games they can play, like soccer, as well as board games like checkers and chess. But, people get tired of that eventually.

     To that end, they got in touch with Eryl, telling him that he will be sent to attend this beta test that they are running. They explained the nature of the game and asked him what kind of character Eryl might enjoy playing. Mulling it over, Eryl ultimately responded by requesting a dedicated healing character, one with some extra mobility options to make up for lack of defences.

     Someone over at ReGenesis got on that, putting together a White Wizard pixie-fairy for the diplomat. But, as they did, they committed a certain logical fallacy. All the pixies and fairies in the recovered media he had encountered were all female. So, it must be an all-female race, yes?

     Eryl strides into Kaiba Land, politely smiling and nodding his head to those he meets. Upon reaching the hologram room, he nabs a piece of pizza and eats it, refuelling as he waits for Mister Kaiba to arrive, unaware of what is waiting for him.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo showed up promptly, refreshed and prepared after the weekend full of disaster relief. His backpack is slung over one shoulder, and his impression of the skyscraper of an amusement park is generally positive. He wears it on his sleeve, the atmosphere of the place bringing a smile to his face. He attempted to ask the people who worked here a couple questions in a small-talk kinda way, gauging the conditions behind the scenes as he does everything else.

Theo's character sheet is a beautiful thing. It's correctly filled, with everything in its place and a seperate page included with page references and calculations for starting stats, abilities and equipment. Everything is optimized; everything is by the book. It's impressive in it's own right.

Rather than gawk at the holograms, Theo is sitting at one end of the table, pizza and soda at his elbow and a clear space in front of him. He slouches in a chair, looking down at the stuff strewn on the table.

"Yeah, we'll see how it goes." He doesn't even look up. Theo reaches out and messes with some stuff. "Drop an Ankle Shanker, go to attacks, swing team. Everything's first strike deathtouch, Mardu Ascendancy generates four one-one goblins that swing in too. Blockers?"

It's pre-tabletop time. Of /course/ he's dragged Yumi into a card game.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     With everyone gathered, enjoying pizza, playing card games while waiting, it's about time that Kaiba himself showed up. But, he isn't showing up in person. Or at least, not exactly. A monitor appears. Though, it is worth noting: The monitor itslef might even be a hologram. It's hard to tell. The technology held by Kaiba Corp is astounding.

     Kaiba speaks, his face on the monitor. He looks rather pleasant. Or at least, he's putting on a facade of pleasantness.

     "Well. It looks like you all made it. Welcome, all of you, to Kaiba Land's virtual tabletop simulator. Let's get things started, shall we?"

     He /does/ give a slight moment for Yumi and Theo to finish up their game. It is only fair, after all. Sure, they might be dirty casual gamers, but /still/.

     But, once everything is wrapped up, the scene begins to set itself.

     It starts with the players. Elaborate holograms take shape around each player, giving them shapes closer to their character. It seems that the Pixie-Fairies are not tiny, at least. Or perhaps it simply can't make things smaller than what they are? But either way, everyone has holograms put around to make them look like their character. It can /somewhat/ simulate sensations as well, though for the most part, people are going to feel like they're still in their own body. The wings on the bodies are kind of controlled just by thinking, as well, though they wouldn't feel them as if real body parts.

     Eryl, of course, gets the short end of the stick, having ended up as a female character.

     Next, the place begins to take form. The landscape becomes a field of dieing grass, and its nighttime. A village is nearby. A grid can be seen as well. The village looks rather decently sized, but run down at the same time. Lights are on in some of the homes, and there is an obvious in near the main street into town.

     And, Kaiba speaks up.

     "You are a group of adventurers, each set out for your own reason. You've known eachother for some time, but this is the first time you have all travelled together, exploring the land. As your day of travel wraps up, night began to fall, much faster than you expected. Luckily, though, you can see a village in the distance. What do you do?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Says "Thank you Sir and thank you for the food."

She'd been scarfing down some pizza he stops that and grins for a moment as she finish up the last of her slice with some food in the tank she's set ti go and she looks about for a moment the holgrams take shape she soon a tall elf woman with red hair pointy ears green eys and wearing leather clothing there's a pair od leather daggers at her side and oh yes she's got a dusky looking bandana on. She smiles a bit as she sees the game take shape.

"Come on let's head for town and find a room for the night, mayne some supplies or if we're lucky they got ale!"

The elf likes her ale it seems and she's falling into character, the holograms help a hell of a lot honestly.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    The girl in the school uniform was just about to move over to eyeball that card game, when the man of the hour appears! ..well, at least in teleconference form. That, in itself, is kind of cool and impressive, though. As expected of the head of Kaibacorp. All but tiptoeing with her arms behind her back, and trying to be nonchalant about it, she tries to get a look around the monitor, but she's fortunately got enough self control not to try and touch it. After a moment, she gets yanked back to being polite to their host, "Ah.. Thank you for inviting us here!" Sanae hops upright and gives a bow at the waist.

    It seems he's not one to waste time, though, and this is still a business engagement, presumably. By the time she's raised back up, she - well - looks more or less like she did before, perhaps a bit taller, and she's now dressed in what looks like well-worn leather armor. The kind one might pick up at the feudal fantasy equivalent of Goodwill for a few copper pieces. In her hands, a short sword - she doesn't have much confidence in this. But despite the few notches in the blade, that have been buffed out as they could be, it seems sturdy enough. "..ooooh," comes her illicited response, after she's had a chance to soak it all in. And then is unashamedly looking over her new apparent travelling companions, with an analytical eye, before puffing up a bit, "I'm the tank! YES!"

    But yes, the actual game! She nods enthusiastically, and adopting her best heroic speech, "Let us sally forth into yonder hamlet, fellow warriors! Mayhaps the residents have 'valuable information' about our just quest!"

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Yumi looks at Theo, then flips her life counter. It's the polite version of a full on table flip, which she's not about to do. Then she sweeps her cards up and in a series of surprisingly deft gestures, she gets them stored away in a small box that then gets tucked away ... under her hat...? So weird.

Then she stands there, practically bouncing as the holograms take form - and then she looks down at herself, hands clapping together as she looks over her shoulder at her fluttering wings. She just happily beams for like thirty seconds, working out the body before she makes an amused noise.

"To the village!" She agrees.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo wins handily. Yumi isn't paying enough attention to defeat the Mardu Facepunch. Maybe next time...!

Theo, Master Illusionist appears basically as he did, though lean and winged and wearing billowing robes cut so as not to hinder his flight. It's a fantasy game, so it basically takes care of that without him having to. He's mostly wearing shades of dark blue and carrying a quarterstaff, the kind with a stereotypical knob on the end. Theo takes a second to test the flight mechanic experimentally before moving on.

"Sweet," he mutters. Theo clears his throat, pitching his voice down a bit. "Aye, a fine plan. While I prefer the open sky, a roof and a warm room would be quite welcome."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl smiles as Kaiba as his visage appears before them. Finally, something that Original Face can understand! Holograms are-were-actually a thing on Eryl's world, back in The Before Times, so he can play without a splitting headache.
"Mister Kaiba, thank you for the invitation. I do look forward to what you have in store for us." He smiles as the holographic projectors come to life, projecting everyone's characters on to the players. Time to see what Davidson put together fo-

     Eryl's cheeks burn so red that it might actually be visible through the hologram. His character is a pixie-fairy, clad in a white robe, hood pulled up with red embroidery along the hems at each opening. It has a slit down the back to allow wings to poke out. It carries a simple staff of wood, curling at the head. It is also clearly female, looking like Eryl but with a softer face and longer hair, bangs framing her face, trailing down to her chest.

     Eryl's fist clenches tightly around that staff. He and Davidson were going to have words after this. But, he is a diplomat, and it would not do to derail everything over something as small as this, no matter how embarrassing. Taking a deep breath, he calms himself and speaks.

     "Settling down for the night would be ideal. By the state of this place, it seems that being out after dark might not be advisable." He tries to flutter those wings to take flight, heading towards the village.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen gives a nod of greeting ot their host and, once in game, gives a quick look over his character. A cloak and magic bullets, with luck it'll last until he can stock up more stuff. "Let's move." He says simply, moving towards the village.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     As the group walks towards the village, Kaiba begins to narrate more. Yeah, this may have virtual holograms, and could almost entirely be played out via just taking action. But maybe Kaiba just likes the sound of his own voice?

     "As you approach the village, you begin to realize that very few people are out and about. Though it is dark, it's not that late, especially considering winter is soon approaching. At the least, there is an inn nearby, with its sign labelled 'The Medusa's Head.' It looks fairly welcoming, and from the smokestack, there is at least a lit fire inside."

     "But. There are two other things you'll notice as you enter the town. For one, at the far end of town, you begin to make out a bit of a hill, rising up. At the top, there is a castle of some significant age. But, more immediately a concern. You spot two figures, about a block away. A man and a woman. The man has the woman backed against a brick wall, and seems to be trying to force her into an alleyway. The woman seems incredibly frightened."

     Of course, things are there as described. The man looks rather well dressed, surprisingly. The woman is more likely a peasant, in comparison. And the castle in the distance is honestly /incredibly/ intimidating. It looks as if it is designed with the complete idea of being 'bad news'.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen looks over, and his avatar's eyes narrow. "Excuse me a moment..." He says to the group. He walks over, eyes narrowed. He waits for just a moment, before he speaks up. "Pardon me, but I think you should walk away from her." He says simply, arms folding as he keeps his eyes trained and narrowed.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Having enough presence of mind to notice Eryl's situation, Sanae the Warrior attempts to make 'her' at peace with it. A warm smile is given, and she flatters the faerie, stepping out of character for a moment, "It's okay, lots of people play games this way! And your character is very cute." ..yeah, that'll probably just end up embarassing him again, but she didn't mean it that way. With everyone walking towards the village, though, she keeps up on foot - not having the benefit of flight, somewhat ironically.

    "..forsooth," comes Sanae's shout, upon encountering such a scene! "Is that any manner in which a gentleman should be approaching a lady!? Unhand her at once, forthwith!" Well, Garen seems to have taken the lead on this one, perhaps trying to be the diplomatic one, a skill that isn't precisely in this young lady's portfolio. She's got enough tact to hang back for a bit, and will simply cross her arms over her chestplate, putting on her best intimidating look to back up her comrade. Something stinks here, and it's not the villagers' chamber pots!

    That castle though. It looks really intimidating, maybe it's a vampire castle? --well-dressed man, hmm. Her internal monologue goes something like: 'Nah..a game wouldn't throw an enemy like that at a level 1 party! It would be slimes, wouldn't it? Definitely slimes.' She spares a few more glances around the almost deserted village, still keeping an eye on Garen and the little situation up ahead.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is a bit on the bouncy sie as she movee more she's always moving on her feet an seems to be in quite the good mood all things really. She notes there's not many people here and she's trying to keep alert she notices the two who seem to be in troubl and the thief seems to be meling into the shadows. She's moving in she'll wollow about the castl later and it seems she's not alone in going to deal with it she'll pop in behind the assaulter

"I'd suggest, you depart while all your limbs are intact."

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Yumi takes to wing, zipping past Eryl and Theo. She's going to aim for flying overhead of the pair that are at fault that Garen and Sanae are talking too - if anything, she's soaring a bit higher into the air, trying to get a lay for the land, as well as perhaps a better eye on the seemingly ominious castle. Plus, up here, she can see if there's any back up coming for the man.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo does not give Eryl any crap for the, uh, character mix-up. He smirks a little, clears his throat to wipe the expression off his face, and... well, follows the party. He stays near the middle of the marching order.

"It looks like we may have found a place prepared to be hospitable," he remarks, pointing at the Medusa's Head. His companions go to intervene with the scene in the streets, and he follows, lingering a short distance back and looking for any other potential trouble.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl flies so his feet are just off the ground, still looking a little pouty. He looks around, noting how deserted the place appears to be. He also spots the old castle on the hill and frowns slightly. Turning to the party, he says "I think something bad has happened here. The streets are oddly empty." At the very least, he seems to be TRYING to get into character, speaking a little more softly that usual. But that might just be from the embarrassment.

     Embarrassment that is only exacerbated by Sanae's comment. "... not my intention, believe me..." he mutters, looking away. But! There is evil afoot! Seeing the man, Eryl reacts instinctively for a moment, pointing his index finger towards the man, only to stop upon seeing a smaller-than-usual hand. Firing off 'One Hand Clapping' would just end with expensive machines breaking. With a little sigh, he opts to hang back, raising the staff in what he hopes is a threatening way.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     As the group gathers around, aside from Theo and Eryl who are staying near the back, well. The man just looks at them all... and laughs.

     "What chance do you all think you stand against me? Stay away from me, or meet your demise."

     And the man grabs ahold of the woman by her wrist, pulling her back. She's obviously struggling for help. He lifts his free hand towards the group, defensively.

     But, this is when a cloud of mist starts forming behind the ones making the confrontation, but in front of the two who elected to stay back. Kaiba's voice speaks once again.

     "While you confront the man, you fail to see something happening behind you. The two who stayed back see it, though. Mist forms, and from it, creatures pop out. Two strange wolves leap out, and attack. One aims for the Warrior, and one for the Thief. After that, the two in back will have a chance, and then it will be followed by those who are surprised. And as for the attack itself..."

     Two dice appear in the sky. They fall down, and roll near the party. This happens twice. First for the wolf attacking Sanae, and then for the one attacking Kotone. Both move in to bite, but we'll see how effective that is.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     And, the dice fall. The wolf fails to strike Sanae. But, the wolf that leaps in to attack Kotone? It bites down at her abdomen, and it bites /hard/. The teeth pierce /deeply/ in.

     And, probably to Kotone's surprise? The bite is going to cause her /real/ damage as well. As in, physical damage to her real body. Not as bad as the holographic body took, but /still/.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Your out numbered lad, I suggest you..." She's then caught by behind as a wolf is upn her and riups into her very bad the elf is not. She get spouned she might have thought to wear better gear but she's not a front line ihter she does get her taggers and attemp to gut the creature up the belly.

"GRAH FOUL BEAST! YOUR END IS NOW!"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl blinks in surprise as a mist appears before him, cutting him off from those who actively confronted the man. He hears the wolves emerge, and apparently attack Miss Kochiya and Miss Yamakawa. Listening to Kaiba talk, it seems that it is now his turn!

     The first thing he does is take flight, higher into the air. If they are wolves, they should not be able to pursue him. Looking down, he can see that Kotone has taken some serious damage from one of the wolves. This is his time to shine!

     Pointing his staff down at Kotone's thief character, Eryl says "Heal!" in a clear voice! This is the whole reason he wanted such a character. Being able to ease the pain of others directly and instantly? That's exactly what he wants to be able to do.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    She was surprised - warriors aren't exactly always the most tactically minded, so this should come as little shock. ...especially now that this warrior has Sanae's gung ho approach driving her. However, surprise needn't turn into disaster, and perhaps sensing something amiss, Sanae feels the contact and harmlessly bats the already somewhat errant wolf away from its collision course. She wheels around with that, checking quickly on her fellow adventurers, and catches sight of the rather deep bite - wincing noticeably. She doesn't know that it's just gotten 'real' just yet, though.

    "Take up thy arms, comrades," she shouts! "This villain must be allowed to terrorize the village no longer!" She particularly aims a strong warrior kick, of a reinforced boot, at the wolf that had just passed her by, and hopefully is still knocked off balance by it. Mostly to try and keep it away from the rest of the party, if not to scatter it into particle effects altogether. She assumes that's what still happens in games these days, that is.

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Perhaps if you introduced yourself, we would have a better idea of who we were dealing with," Theo calls. He turns, spotting the wolves and raising his staff. Theo spins his staff, drawing a ring in the air with the end. It's appropriately glowy, because holograms say it is.

AND THEN THERE IS A PIT, OH NO!! He drops one on the ground, trying to corner the man so he can't just run away. It's an illusion, but it's a really /fancy/ one. Bits of dust and rocks fall down into it, even, making it look even more real.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Unaware of what was going on behind him, Garen moved forward after the man and woman. "Let her go." He says simply. His voice hinted that there would be consequences if he didn't. Then again...maybe he knew and had confidence in his allies. "I trust you all have things under control?" He shouts to his allies.

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Yumi goes for a much more direct method... as the wolves pop up and everything goes to heck, she flitters down -behind- the man, having been up in the air over his head. She continues floating there, before leaning forward calmly and going. ... "Boo." Surprise; keep your eyes in the skies for the pixie-fairies.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     The wolves are destroyed quite readily by the attacks. Kotone's critical hit manages to cleave the monster along its belly, causing it to turn to dust. The wolf attacking Sanae has its head stomped on, and falls down to the ground. It isn't dead, yet, but it is obviously unconcious.

     Also, thankfully for Kotone, the healing of the holograms seem to heal her real wounds, a bit. Again, it's not as effective as the real thing, but it at least helps the real pain.

     The others, meanwhile, pin the man. He looks at them all. And frowns. A pit and a fairy block his path, a gunman has him at close range... This is not a good situation for him, quite obviously.

     But, still, the man speaks. "You do not know what you meddle with. You are in vampire country. My Lord will be alerted of this, even if you slay me!"

     Then, Kaiba speaks up again.

     "As he says this, he attempts to use one of his abilities: The skill of turning into a ferocious bat, to give him a chance to fly away. And..."

     The dice roll. They land. 66.

     "...He succeeds at the transformation, but as you can see... Not quite how he wanted. He is obviously new with his vampire powers."

     The guy is now trying to flutter away as a relatively harmless fruit bat. It wouldn't be any problem to finish him off now.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen smirks. "Well, that answers a few questions." He says. As for the man turning into a bat, the magic gunman grabs his weapon and one of his bullets, takes aim, and fires at the bat with a small fireball. At the least he hoped to roast the wings.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gets an alert on her hud, what the heck? She's thankful for the healing but she's not been expecting all of that she really hasn't been. She guesses its like like full dive wait? WAs that just pain or actual? What the heck is going on here. She's got to wonder these guys my not have perfected ahem safties she's not sure she looks at the vampire and pauses for a moment oh dea she's at least got the thing dead and now she's back on her feet. She's looking him she's trying to not focus on she's actually been hurt.

She pulls a throwing knife and hurrls the weapon at the bat.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl lands back on the ground, folding his arms-deliberately low, across his waist- and mulling the situation over. So, vampires have taken domain over the place and are ruling it eh? That would explain why the streets are so empty at night. Vampires cannot tolerate the sun, after all. In all likelihood, they would hole themselves up in the castle on the hill. This is a bit of a clich� plot, but this is a beta test after all. Perhaps Mister Kaiba just needed something quick and simple to test the holographic technology.

     "In all likelihood, the vampires are up in the castle. I say we go there and clear them out. We cannot allow undead filth like them to roam free." Typically, Eryl would try to find a diplomatic solution, but this is why people play games like this. A way of escape, of doing things they cannot do in reality. A white wizard, empowered by good, would not stand idly by as evil roams, would they?

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Though she might not always be quite this ruthless, this is just a game, you know! And these are just computer programs or whatever equivalent occupies the memory of Kaiba's holographic projectors. As she is a warrior of justice, she doesn't hesitate to follow up felling the now helpless beast of darkness with a coup de grace! "Be released, fiend, into the next world!" With that, she clutches her short sword in both hands, and drives it down towards the wolf's heart. Or rather, where it would be if it had one, and wasn't a hologram.

    After that grim task, she rushes to catch up with the rest of her companions, inwardly chastising herself for allowing herself to be parted, even if for a moment. Some tank she's turned out to be, but she is admittedly pretty rusty at games. As she was preoccupied, she didn't see the man's transformation and confirmation of her earlier thoughts, and so wonders quite curiously, "Friends - why art thou attacking a harmless fruite batte? Hath the villain beaten a retreat? Is the maiden safe!?" In the midst of her blathering, she does catch the tail end of Eryl's explanations, and embarassedly stammers, "Of--of course. I totally knew the vile man was none other than - a vampire! Agreed, this must not be allowed to continue."

    "...however! Now that the 'immediate' threat has ended, perhaps the townsfolk that remain will be more approachable. A vampire is a powerful foe, and we must prepare!"

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
"It's soooo cute." Yumi says, staring at the poor bat-vampire.

Theo, stop h-- "Can we keep him?"

She isn't fighting, though, mainly staying out of the way and acting as a watch out.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo would normally object to gunning someone helpless down in cold blood and hot fireballs, but this is a fantasy game. They're a group of murder-hobos. It's a thing that they do. Yumi gets answered by way of Garen having an itchy trigger finger.

"Indeed. Felling the lord of the undead here would go far to free these people from the yoke of fear," he says, a touch dramatically. He folds his arms, thinking. "We should check with the locals; there are usually rebels in these places, and they could outfit us for the task."

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     As the Magic Gun is fired, barely any flames come out, sadly. The fruit bat is hit by the dagger. Sadly, in this form, it isn't all that powerful, and so, it falls to the ground, turning to dust.

     The woman, though, who is still here? She is looking absolutely /terrified/.

     "--what.... What did you just do?! You... you killed one of them?! This... This town is going to be /torn apart/ as they look for you! Get... Get away from me!"

     And, she flees. Oddly enough, in the direction of the castle. Though she was scared of the man, and trying to get away? She is obviously /far/ more scared of what the end result is going to be.

     Kaiba speaks aloud, though, "So. Are you going to search for rebels still? Or are you going to head straight to the castle?"

Garen (530) has posed:
    "That was...unexpected. Still, we can't fight any enemy without knowing about their capabilities, their forces and any detail we can get. The informed man is the victorious man." He says. He holsters his gun and turns away. "Either way, I imagine we have until nightfall to get help."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "We should gather information from the tavern before we head out they might know more about this situation we do. Running in is a good way to see us all turned. She gets they should have talked more before things happened but it seems they got a choice not.

"It seems we're going to have to head into the maw then? Shall we?"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    It is an important and confusing question, in a way. It gives the priestess-turned-warrior pause, as she stops to consider and rub at a cheek, especially perplexed with the woman's reaction. If you can't beat `em, join em? What a sad state of affairs. "Methinks she must have been confused, or even more grimly, already under the creature's hypnotic gaze." She missed the part where he was was still a noob and probably couldn't manage such a feat..if he even could do it. "Well - even if the kind villagers are too frightened to render aid personally, we can at least look to equip ourselves."

    ..a thought suddenly strikes her, and she looks up to the monitor pointedly, breaking out of her 'game voice' to address the game master directly, "How do you earn money and buy things in this game? Or is it all loot drops?" None of these things seemed to have any bags or treasure chests. With that aside finished, she gives her own vote on the matter, "Regardless - we should see to the safety of the town, before we do so. To win their trust, the streets must be absolutely clear of the dark cloud that plagues them, and there may yet be stragglers on the prowl!"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl watches as the woman flees towards the castle, sighing softly. "She is likely going to warn the vampires of what we have done. If we do not act fast, every fell beast in the area will be breathing down our necks, leaping from the shadows to gnaw our necks. We should act swiftly."

     Eryl seems to be getting into this now, clenching his hands, lifting his head, having something of a fervent look on his pretty face. "But yet. The people here have been crushed. They have forgotten the power that good holds, too scared to rise up against their undead tyrants. We should remind them, light a faithful fire in their hearts, inspire them to help us!"

     He gives a little sigh, smiling sadly to the party. "I will go with what everyone decides. May we be ever triumphant over dark forces."

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Kaiba answers to Sanae.

     "You have some money on you. Actual physical coins are hard to render in large numbers, and it is being worked on for future releases. Think on your inventory, and you should be able to briefly visualize it."

     Everyone has basically 'beginner level amount of gold'. And seems even this hologram has to cut corners in more minor places to make everything work properly without much lag.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen turns and heads straight for the tavern. "The best place to learn is going where people drink. Trust me on this one." He says.

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
"Uh... huh." Yumi continues floating there in the air, wings fluttering as she thinks hard at her inventory. once she has what she wants in there- including a light armor and -- is that /garlic/-?? - she trails after Garen.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     As promised, Eryl goes along with what the others decide, following the party to the tavern as he checks out his inventory. "Hmm... Acolyte Robes, Simple Staff and a spell book of Heal." He dismisses the screen and follows, hoping the town might have a spell store with some kind of anti-undead spell.

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Well that wasn't the reaction I was expecting," Theo mutters. "Uh... right. Let's go check the tavern, I guess." He checks his inventory on the way, but he makes a weird gesture when he does. The attentive will mark it as the gesture you make in a FullDive game to open the menu there. Theo only catches himself after he tries it, but it looks like he's got the gear he wanted, so...

TO THE TAVERN!

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     As the group approaches the tavern? They hear a /sudden/ locking of the door.

     "GO AWAY WE DON'T WANT YOUR KIND HERE. Night is already horrible around here, and people like you, fighting against this, is just going to make it /worse/."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Sanae seems satisfied with Kaiba's explanation. It's easy to forget that this is just supposed to be a beta, with how polished most of it already is..and with how involved she was getting! She briefly takes a moment to visualize her own inventory, still rubbing her cheek in thought. Well, this will certainly be caught up to the rest of things, in due time. For now, though, it's off to the village, and as Garen had suggested, the tavern in particular. With the liquid courage in them, perhaps the folk there will be more looselipped, and not as skittish.

    All but ready to throw the door open, she tries her best to look like she toootally belongs in a fantasy saloon, even if all her friends back in Gensokyo would know that she's quite a lightweight. It becomes a moot point shortly after, though, as she hears the place being locked up shut, and she just sort of stands there mid-motion, dumbfounded. "--ah, ahem. You need not fear the night with us here, good people!" This isn't going according to plan. When did TRPG townspeople start acting believably to danger!?

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen sighs softly at that. "Listen. You may not want our kind here, but unless you make a stand here and now, the Vampire's will continue picking you all off one by one until you are all their mindless pets. Is that what you want? I know it's not. If not for you, think of the next generation. Do you want them to live in fear, or do you want them happy, and able to live without fear?"

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     There is a strange sound coming from inside. Or at least it would be, in this time period. The sound of a shotgun being loaded.

     Obviously the Barkeep is a magic gunman as well and the diplomatic route isn't working.

     On the other hand, though, there is a man at the window to the tavern. He looks as if he is trying to double check the bartender is not looking.

     He slips a small piece of paper out through the window.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl huffs, cheeks puffing out a little as he goes up to the door. Raising his staff, it looks as if he is about to pound on it and let out a rant-but the click sound of a gun being cocked causes him to back down, still looking a little pouty.

     But then his eyes catch the person at the window, and the paper being slipped through to them. He decides to be loud, to draw the barkeeper's attention while gesturing for someone in the party to grab the paper. "Fine! We will go without you, defeat your tyrants and free you from the bottom of their cruel heels! Because that is what Good does, something you have forgotten!"

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen reaches up to rub his temples. He understood being afraid, but there HAD to be some people tired of living in fear. "Your fear is understandable. We'll leave you in peace." He says. Then, he spots the paper slipped out of the window. He walks over and picks it up.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     The paper reads as follows:

     I prepared explosive runes this morning.

     ...Okay it really doesn't say that. but instead, it says something else, more helpful.

     'If you want to get into the castle, we can help you. Meet at the west wall of the castle, and we'll help you get in through a secret shortcut the rebellion has been aiding with.'

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen reads it and nods. He motions for the group to get together. "West wall. Seems we made the right connections." He says. He immidiately starts heading in that direction, while taking a look at his inventory.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    She might be bullheaded at times, but the language of a gun being cocked is universal and easy to hear. Backing away from the door, she rubs the back of her helmeted head, "The fae maiden speaks the truth. With us or not, my brave companions and I will find a way!" With that, she gives Eryl a pat on the head with a beaming expression, "Spoken like a true *warrior for justice*. I am proud of you, my friend!"

    Curious, though. What was Garen distracted with over there? Parting the winged healer's company, she wanders over there, glancing over and around his shoulder. "...ooh," she pipes lowly, in an in-on-the-secret tone, should she be allowed to be privvy to its contents. Though she doesn't know if they're able to see through the window, she gives a wink, calling for the benefit of the tavern owner, "Well, I guess our luck has dried out here! Let us continue forward, allies!" And moves to follow.

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
"Yyyyeah, this is gonna be good." Yumi says, doubtfully, but she floats along anyways, tagging at the tail end of the group, occasionally swinging around to check behind them.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is looking to the others for a moment and nods to Sanae for a moment

"This is the best lead we have we best follow this to see where it goes."

Still this makes her jumpy and her mind flashes back to the cyrstalid infested hell of a small villiage, she shoves it out of her mind and focuses upon the game moving with the rest of the party now.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl gets a little flustered at Sanae's praise, scratching his cheek and shrugging a little. "Just trying to get into character..." he mutters, looking away. At least, with someone else playing along, he felt a little less foolish.

     Hearing what is documented on the slip of paper, he beams. "Well, it's the best lead we have. At least some in the village remain true on the path of good. Let us go." He hovers off the ground, sticking close with everyone.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     The group manages to make it to the west wall of the castle. What appears to be a homeless man is sitting there, just, you know. Leaning against the wall, peddling.

     But, upon seeing the /obviously/ well armed group of adventurers, he looks up, and speaks, in quiet whispers.

     "...You the ones who are trying to get things fixed? ...Alright. I'll open the path. Get in, fast, before they realize you're here. This'll lead you to a cellar. From there, you'll be in the basement. Go down the end of the hall. That's where the vampires' coffins are. Without them, they won't be able to rest anymore."

     The homeless man moves aside, and pulls at the grass. It's a fake cover. Seems they've dug an earthen tunnel past the castle walls.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen nods towards the man. "Thank you for the help. Keep safe." He says. He looked back and gave a nod to everyone. "Never thought I would be a grave buster...oh well." He says, starting inside.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Given how hush-hush the matter is, Sanae will skip the boisterous thunder of a proud warrior's voice, for now. In its stead, it is up to the common but trustworthy beggar to see them in, whether to their victory or their doom is another matter. One might wonder why, if they already had come this far, they hadn't completed the grim deed themselves -- but the one wondering would not be Sanae. It is presumably just game logic at work. "Many thanks, good sir. Your deeds will be recorded, once our work here is done," she mumbles to the secretdoorman as they file past.

    Without much hesitation, she also enters immediately after Garen, though only moderately paced in step. She has to allow her eyes a chance to adjust to the quite convincing holograms, obviously. Hopefully they won't start piping stale air in through air ducts in the ceiling to give the full experience there, too. Her short sword at the ready, since who knows for certain what awaits them on the other side, she cautiously but confidently makes her way through the passage. "Smashing their coffins is a really old school way of dealing with vampires," she says, a bit more out of character. "Ahem-- As long as the beasts are delt with, I can live with the consequences."

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Yumi continues bringing up the rear. She shouldn't be in front anyways, and inbred gamer paranoia means she's checking over her shoulder every ten seconds. "Shh?" She says, hesitantly, lifting a finger to her mouth.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl smiles at the man guarding the tunnel. "Blessings upon you sir. You and your allies are the surest force of good this town has." Tucking his wings in, he follows after the group, squeezing into the tunnel.

     "If only the tip of my staff was sharpened, I could try and stake them as they slept. That would be quieter than smashing up coffins..." he mutters.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Yes we are we're trying fix this and thank you."

She smiles a bit she's gtot an got the idea, she sees what will happen they blow these coffins and the vampires are in big trouble. She nods smirks and will start being more alert for traps that may lay ahead.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo is totally still here. He's basically taking 20 on all his search checks as they go forward, explaining why he's staring at walls instead of saying 'hark' and 'forsooth.'

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Kaiba speaks up, for the first time he has in a bit, and in that tone that most gamers hate to hear from a DM.

     "You don't /find/ any traps."

     The tunnel is damp and dirty. And a little bit wet. But, once through it, they're in what seems to be the cellar.

     Of course, cellars are generally used for food, correct? Well, then, this shouldn't be too much of a surprise.

     In this room, there are three women, each chained up, and stuck on the ground. Their mouths are gagged with clothes, and they're looking, pleadingly, towards the group.

     A ring of keys with multiple keys is hung on the wall.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen notes the other female's trapped in the cells. He reaches over to grab the keys, but hesitates for just a moment. He scanned the keys, and took a close look at the ladies. Something told him they could possibly be vampires themselves, set as a trap

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Kaiba speaks up at that die roll.

     "You don't notice anything unusual about the traps, and the women seem to be human."

     Yay for the standard non-confirming DM answers.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Emerging from the dusky tunnel, and into the cellar! Just as the kindly villagers had promised. This campaign was going really well, which to someone less enthusiastic might instantly set off some alarms. But not to Sanae, the Warrior. Inwardly wondering why everyone keeps rolling their dice, especially that guy that keeps doing it while staring at obviously solid walls, she nonetheless keeps such ponderances to herself. She's far too busy -- gasp, "So they kept even prisoners here!" She somehow manages to exclaim her disgust while simultaneously keeping her voice down. They're supposed to be stealthy in here, and best not to alert the masters and mistresses of the house, at level 1.

    She doesn't hesitate, unlike her more worried companions, immediately going to fetch the keys - which she will assume are used for the locks on the chains, among other things. "Be at ease, maidens. You will soon be free," she announces with a warm smile! Reaching out, she'll attempt to take the key ring. Certainly there is no trap door or anything. Vampires don't do traps.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     There is no trap door, thankfully.

     The wooden hook the keys are on, though? It raises up a little bit as the keys come off. In the distance, a tiny bell noise can be incredibly faintly heard.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl smiles kindly at the women. "Rest easy, you will soon be free." Crossing over to the other side of the cellar, he begins looking for an exit to go further into the castle.

     When the chime is distantly heard, he gasps and hisses at the rest of the party. "Hide, quickly!" He himself flies up and into a corner, silently cursing his white robes. Not at all good for stealth.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen STARES at Sanae. "That was EXACTLY what I expected. Now we have to do things the hard way..." He mutters. He pulls his gun and loads up one of his bullets. He quickly moves to hide, but a thought occurs to him. "They might smell us, you know..."

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Yumi solemnly pulls out that bulb of garlic she thought about earlier. This surely can't work. This done, she takes back to the air, floating against the wall the door is in and above, in hopes of not getting noticed.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo, super paranoid, is about to --

*tinkletinkletinkle*

"Oh, good." He looks around for a staircase. When he finds it, he... doesn't do what he's going to. He goes off with Eryl, looking for a side of the room they can fit on, and then herds the party that way towards it. Then he casts an illusion: the same wall, but a foot or two ahead of where it should be, concealing them all.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    The warrior maiden lifts the key ring off, and then the chime. She just gives that sheepish look like a toddler might give with an empty cookie jar and crumbs around their mouth, and tries to deflect hopefully, "Mayhaps - it was thy doorbell?" Nonetheless, whatever it was they were doing, they would have to do it quickly. The keys are secreted into her inventory, after a brief moment of concentration to open and then close it, and she's crambling for a hiding place -- which in a musty old vampire cellar, is surprisingly hard to find.

    Thankfully, their resident illusionist comes through, and she moves into the corner with them, opting to remain a little bit further ahead so that if they are detected, she'll at least be braced in a position to take the brunt. This is..her responsibility, as the one that rung the bell. Even with Garen's guess that they might possess superhuman senses, it's not like they have much of an option but to do their best. "..if it comes to it, we'll just turn this into am *ambush*," she whispers, somehow seeming to relish the idea.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     It takes a few minutes. But, eventually, a man dressed in wizard-like garb steps in through the door, and glances around.

     Shortly after, this vampire sorcerer leaves, not noticing anything out of place. He just shrugs, and calls out.

     "False alarm."

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen blinks as he hears the vampire announce a false alarm. He couldn't believe that just happenned, but he still remained hidden. Somehow, he couldn't take the risk that was a ploy in and of itsel.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl smiles gratefully at Theo as he comes over and throws up an illusion. When the vampire comes in, Eryl begins to hold his breath, remaining utterly still until the vampire shrugs and leaves. He waits for a few moments before letting his held breath out.

     "Thank goodness. I suppose not even the taint of undead can remove idiocy," he mutters. Beaming, he pats Theo on the shoulder. "That was a wise plan. Well done. Now, let us free these women, direct them out the tunnel and purge this evil, hm?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks to the situation they have to deal with and she looks the woman over she'll pause to check them for bite marks before they untie them at the very least she's got the sense to be to get they my be already changed as the trap however they need to yes make ready with what's coming.

"You have a good point however check them for bite marks first."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    It's really difficult to keep herself in check, especially after she had the thrilling idea to ambush whomever came to investigate. Even if it was a vampire, they would have the element of surprise. Her armored body visibly trembles and her teeth grit while trying to hold it in; the sorcerer was so close. He'd never see it coming. And yet if she were to run out now, it looks like she'd be the only one out there - and she already messed up moments ago! After the one that came seems satisfied and leaves, she finally lets out the breath she had been holding - more to keep herself from lunging out than any conscious attempt at stealth.

    "I can't believe we actually got away with it," she says, as herself the player. "The RNG gods are truly smiling upon us, and you, Sir Illusionist." That just means doom will soon inevitably follow, doesn't it? Law of averages and all. Clearing her throat lightly, after quietly giving her thanks to the machine gods, she makes her way to aforementioned maidens, retrieving the key ring once again from inside her inventory. Considering earlier, she'll wait for everyone else to see for themself whether it's safe to unlock them. Who knows what vile things have been visited upon them by the fiendish residents of the castle.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     There are no obvious bite marks on the necks.

Garen (530) has posed:
    "Good work." Garen finally says. He pokes his head down the way, just making sure all the vampires were gone. "right......if they have no bites or the like, free them and lets get moving. Check the cell doors for traps. That felt like an easily foun trap."

Theo Morrison has posed:
"Phew..." Theo grins, clearly pleased with his trick, glancing between his fellow adventurers with a confident look. "Thanks. Yeah, let's get 'em out of here and then... what, smash the coffins, right?" He keeps his voice down, watching the stairs.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    "Thou art correct, duly," Warrior Sanae confirms. "We will smash the coffins - and then make good our escape. The vampires will be robbed of their place of rest..and will be powerful foes no longer." That's how she's seeing it in her mind's eye, anyway. Nonetheless, they've got ladies to free! Assuming the keys fit the locks, she'll mess with those, all the while lifting a finger to her lips and giving a 'shh' to each in turn, as she works to free them from their bindings. Hopefully they saw the tunnel they came out of, so they know where to head out of. --presumably safer than trying the front door.

    "Good ladies, pray tell, are there any other captives you know of," she asks, after they are further ungagged? "Have you seen where the foul beings take their unholy rest?" Whether by their crew or by their own hand, it makes little difference. Regardless of the answer, she gathers herself, trying to self-remind to be more mindful of the dangers that lurk inside the vampire's castle. It turns out, vampires DO do the trap thing, after all. Who'da thunk it? "Now then, let us locate the coffins, and restore peace to these fearful folk."

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     The women seem too relieved to answer. They just seem /so/ thankful, at least at first. Finally, though, they anser.

     "...There are no other captives, that we know of. And... If you're talking about coffins. They... don't use coffins. There is no need. This land is covered in eternal night."

     ...Huh. So apparently it just /seemed/ like it was getting later as they approached the town. It was a more direct effect.

     One of the women sighs in relief. "Just... Thank you all, for the rescue."

     They move in for hugs. One for Garen, one for Sanae, one for Theo. They're all, very obviously, quite distraught.

     At least until the point where they move to brutally bite at the necks of those three, very painfully.

     Dice fall. 23. 11. 00. The 00 is for Theo, the other two for Sanae and Garen. So Theo is going to be bleeding out of the jugular /quite/ readily, though the other two still have it fairly bad.

     Of course, now all three of these people will also see the pain is /very/ real. And their physical bodies are taking the damage from the bites as well.

     Either way, the three vampires reveal their true forms. They no longer look like weak and trapped women. They are beautifully garbed seductive vampires. The one that just bit Theo smiles.

     "...Thank you, really. We'll be able to take control of this castle from those who overthrew us, thanks to you all."

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen feels the bite, and makes a note of this. Outside of the game, he figured this might work as outside interrogation tactics for the Sith empire at some point. "It bloody figures..." He mutters. He moves to use his gun to bash the vampire lady back and put a magic burst of ice on her head...then hopefully shatter it.

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Hey now, biting THeo is Yumi's job.

The little pixie-fairy illusionist suddenly snaps her finger, and attempts to make a sun in the high corner of the room in an attempt to trick the vampires.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl hangs back, smiling at the women as they are freed! He listens closely to them as they explain. No coffins? Oh dear... that does complicate things. No matter what, they are going to have to deal with the vampires directly now.

     Know what else complicates things? Three of your party getting their throats ripped open. Eryl's face goes pale, and he immediately points his staff at Theo, who seems to have gotten it the worse. "Heal!" He sends a wave of white magic at him, hoping to at least staunch the bleeding.

     Really should have gone shopping for an anti-undead spell...

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    B-but, they were captives, weren't they!? This was just about to be a happy ending, not even of the euphemistic kind! Just as Sanae was preparing herself mentally for more devious traps, she didn't see what should have been the most obvious one coming. Her allies had been so thorough in examining the ladies, after all. It doesn't even process for a moment that the one she had just freed, the final one it turns out, was a little too close for just a thankful hug - and had just sunken her teeth in! There's no painful yelp, as the warrior's eyes draw in, but there is a gritting of the teeth, and as soon as the bite won't rip her neck in the process, she moves to forcefully push the foul temptress away.

    Once the initial shock had worn off, she feels the throbbing at her neck - real throbbing, no less, and moves a gloved hand up toward it, while staring down what has turned out to be the *true* foe, all along. This is..her real blood? What kind of game is this! "I think you might need to check the programming on this thing," she shouts, voice a little bit shaky from the thankfully yet moderate - but progressing - blood loss. But nonetheless, if it's going to be like that..she won't hold back, with what remains of her strength. With her short sword, she lunges toward the vampire that had just bitten her, though her sword arm isn't quite what it would be if she weren't, you know, bleeding.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo is kind of off-put by the abrupt touchy-feely nature of the captive women. On the one hand, sure, that's awesome and all, but on the other hand... well, that sorta thing is just /weird/ in D&D.

Aaaaand they're vampires.

Theo jerks backwards, stumbling and falling. He screams, but it's short and cut off by a sort of strangled noise. Eryl's heal hits him, and it /looks/ like he's better... but Theo, still alarmed, reaches his hand up to his neck and feels his real skin come away bloody.

He croaks out, "Healing Salve," and there's a glimmer of wispy white mist and a flicker of light that has nothing to do with Kaiba's projections. He twists the top off a container in one hand and slaps the contents on his actually-bleeding neck. It passes through the projection. There's a scent of roses.

"Fucking /what/," he says, incensed, "is /this/?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa damn well knew it it seems at least this is good training for actual time. She's however she's got her daggers out and is going for the cloest of the vampires. This is the sort of damn traps she'd run into in Kingsmouth. The Elf thief is not going to hold back as eh attemps to just behead one of the vampires.

"Take them down worry about eveyrthing else later!"

Her guard was down as this was a game, if it been considered more serious? Kaiba would be seening Xcom level combat paranoia from the get go. He's seeing it now.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Garen manages to hit the Vampire Vamp straight in the head. It's head is covered in ice, but. It is still 'living', as it were. She lets out a hiss, through the ice, before trying to tear into Garen's chest.

     The dice roll. 04.

     The vampire brutalizes at Garen's chest with its hands.

     The presence of the sun does seem to cause the vampires discomfort, at least. They seem more in pain, in general, now that its out. Unfortunately, it's likely only the real thing that will bring about their end.

     Eryl's healing, thankfully, should help Theo's own healing. Kaiba, from where he is watching, just /smirks/, though. Yeah. Theo is breaking out the real magic. The technology running this can tell that something outside of what his in-game powers are.

     Kaiba will allow it, though, and lecture him later.

     The dice come down for the vampire fighting Theo: 88. Kaiba's voice comes out, once again.

     "She rolled poorly, and so she succumbs to the pleasure of the blood, just briefly."

     The Vampire Vamp is pushed away from Sanae fairly easily, but the blade passes right through without causing any damage. The vampire becomes partially transparent as this happens, but is solid once again. A ball of dark magic appears in her hand, and she throws it.

     The dice come down. 78. It flies past her head and into the wall behind.

     Kotone does come in, though, to cut at Sanae's Vampire Vamp. She manages to strike, and in the back as well. It takes some damage, but it still seems fairly healthy.

     And suddenly, the homeless from earlier comes out of the secret cellar entrance, the entrance bursting open. The homeless man lets out a roar, and then leaps to Eryl, trying to claw at him with his massive claws, while also slashing with an ebony black sword that has appeared in its hand.

     09. Critical hit. At least it's not another 00 super critical.

     "And it seems the man who helped you was simply one of the warwolf servents of the vampires. The warwolf's roar is alerting the rest of the castle. It's perhaps the worst possible end result."

Garen (530) has posed:
    If Kaiba's systems were scanning the players, they would find Garen's mind working overtime. His instincts kicked in and suppressed the pain he was feeling, allowing him to keep thinking. "Right..." He says to himself. He takes aim with a pair of rounds, one aimed to hit like a rock against the ice with the goal to shatter it. The other was aimed for the Warwolf's heart, or at least where it should be. He also looked around, and it hit him. "I hope you can make that light spell more powerful. Right now we need the sun in here."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl is looking around, eyes wide. This is all going very poorly. At least he managed to close Theo's gaping neck wound. But now... he wanted to be a healer because the idea of being able to mend wounds instantly is appealing to him in real life. But because he is a /dedicated/ healer, it's all he can do. He lacks the physical capabilities to help in the actual fight.

     With a little sigh, he starts to prepare another Heal... when he is slashed across the back by a warwolf! He cries out, likely feeling the pain in reality, sinking to one knee. His wings have been shredded, so no chance to fly away. He reacts on pure instinct, turning to swing his staff right at the traitorous warwolf!

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    As the sword passes fairly harmlessly through the vampire, Sanae suddenly remembers something. "..ugh, that's right. I probably need at least a plus-one sword for this!" The roleplaying veneer has been dropped completely for the time being, since for all she knows they could be in actual mortal danger, if these wounds being inflicted weren't just an accident. But, she'll save using her own abilities for if there proves to be no other recourse. For now, she'll continue playing by the rules. ..even as it seems the game is falling down around them, considering the oh-so-helpful man from earlier turns out to be a co-conspirator. Eesh!

    Willing her ailing warrior persona onward, and calling upon her reserves of pride, she continues her assault. Retreat at this point is impossible, anyway, so their characters will go down fighting, it seems. She'll return to her character, for the moment, "Even if you stop us here, others will be inspired to end your tyranny!" At this point, the holograms are seeming a bit hazy to her eyes, perhaps to simulate the inevitable loss of concentration. But until she's fully down, she'll keep at it. What would Miss Kanako say if she didn't give her all?

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
"This is probably a distraction." Yumi remarks idly, before she lets out a humming noise and attempts to cast a replicate illusion of Sanae. Why? Why not! Plus it'll scatter the vampires attention. (This is why you don't bring the game strategist to a D&D game... ladies and gentlemen.)

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is still in the fight but she gets it now it was a set up a trap and they may have to bug out to avoid a total party kill. The basic get to the sky ranger plan/ She's not about to use her last panic ability to bail at this point but she knows sometimes you got to bail. She howeve ris going for the vampire that she struck ahain but this time the blade strikes are evne more vicous.

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo is, as mentioned, incensed. It's not that they're getting mauled by a bullshit trap, it's that Kaiba is doing actual damage to people and didn't say that was the intent.

"God, this is such /bullshit/!" Theo points his staff at the Warwolf. Wooden objects -- crates, barrels, stools, doors -- all over the room start to rattle and shake. A few of them seem to loosen or fall apart, off in the near-darkness of the corners of the cellar. Tiny objects fly towards Theo, arraying themselves in a staggering number of rows between him and the Warwolf. They all suddenly gleam, the sheen of a certain distinct metal coming over them as if they're changing composition.

Nails. He's got a wall of silver nails.

They start pelting the Warwolf like he was using a machine gun, the hovering 'belts' of silver nails unloaded into the creature. He doesn't actually know if silver is the werewolf's bane in this world, but it should be /terrifying/ if it is.

Of course, none of it's /real/, but what you don't know /can/ hurt you.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     The wall of Silver Nails give the Warwolf reason to pause, and move back a bit. Sure, he realizes it isn't real fairly soon. But it gives time for Garen to act. The bullet manages to strike the warwolf right in the chest. It's not /quite/ enough though. But, as Eryl's staff comes in, a massive burst of energy coems out as well. While White Wizards are primarily healers, they also possess holy energy. This burst of light disintegrates the Warwolf.

     As Kotone's blades strike in, teh Vampire Vamp fighting Theo vanishes, just briefly, and moves out of the ways. As the blade comes in from Sanae, the Vampire Vamp dodges out of the way. Laughing, just a bit. She moves in, to bite.

     But her attack, and the attack of all the other Vampires, stop. For, when she moves to bite into Sanae, she instead bites into the illusion.

     And, do to the /incredible/ illusion created by Yumi, a critical surge of illusory magic? The entire party is currently invisible to the creatures. The room has a shroud over it, hiding their presence.

     Outside the door into the rest of the basement, though? Sound is beginning to gather. Massive numbers of footsteps.

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Yumi looks surprised.

However, she quickly catches onto what is going on, and she makes a silent, 'let's get the hell out of here gesture'. Don't talk, guys; don't ruin the invisibility illusion. THat Yumi didn't even mean to cast, but damn is she proud of herself. She, herself, in fact, bolts, wings fluttering.

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen looks around and once more accesses the situation. He gives a nod towards yumi, and just like he had done in the real world, it was time to become a ghost. He uses every bit of skill he had to get the heck out of dodge.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl grunts in satisfaction as his staff flashes with holy energy, disintegrating the warwolf. Not totally helpless after all! He looks around, eyes wide as the room is suddenly cast into a haze, throwing off the vampires. Looking to Yumi, he nods as she makes a motion to retreat, following after her. On foot, of course, his wings are all torn up.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is shocked at this point she's missed but the illusion is like she knows it's time to aboart now. She's does not hold up and is running with Garren at this point it's time to get out of here as fast as she can. No she's not holding back on her cyborg attributes right now.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Why did they stop? Even though she's mid-sword swing at one of the annoyingly laughing harpies, the kind she knows all too well from elder evils that know they're supposed to be invincible, she freezes as she notices their looks of confusion. She backs away with this seeming moment of respite, quirking an eyebrow, and opens her mouth to speak when she catches sight of Yumi through her hazy vision. ...huh? Wait..so that.. Ah right, an illusionist!

    As much as her heart wants to face down the gathering hordes, that same heart is also slowly draining the life from both her digitally constructed body and her real one - even if, thankfully, the real blood has mostly slowed in its place, now that she's had a chance to break from her battle fury. A frown comes to her as she gives one more look, fist clenched around her sword, but another wave of fatigue sweeps over head, and even the warrior has to realize this is a round of the game she won't win.

    'We'll call it a draw,' she vows silently, in her mind, before stumbling as softly footed as she can with the rest towards the tunnel. By the end of it someone might have to half-carry her, by the look of it. How the mighty warrior has fallen. She'll never trust a vampire again. Thanks, Kaiba!

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo holds L + R.

It means he /runs away/.

He adds a layer of sound dampening to the illusion -- something simple, illusion-wise -- and just books it. He doesn't have anything clever to say or do.

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     With the length of time this session has taken, and the /really/ bad turn of the situation... Well. Kaiba feels this is a good ending point.

     The holograms vanish. Completely. The room is no long an illusion of being an endless space. It's still a fairly spacious room. And Kaiba is there, right in front of everyone. Of course, everyone now has various injuries due to the battles they've fought.

     He pauses, for a second. And then speaks.

     "Was this too difficult for all of you?"

Theo Morrison has posed:
Theo speaks immediately.

"First off, you didn't /say/ you were turning off the safeties." Theo is furious at this particular bit. He takes a slow breath, and then smiles. It's an oily, mean expression; there's no joy in it. It's the kind of look you get from an opponent who /knows/ he's out of your league and is going to take his time crushing you underfoot.

"Second... I just needed to get your measure as a GM. Thanks." It's not sincere.

Garen (530) has posed:
    "It was a fair challenge. I expected those girls to be a trap, to be honest. The key was just a bit too obvious. The old man was unexpected. A fault on our part." Garen says. In the moment, the chiss revealed his own expectations, and perhaps too much familiarity with those kind of situations. "Even so, it was enjoyable. I thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Kaiba."

Yumi Musumi (287) has posed:
Yumi is promptly dropped out of the air as her wings disappear, but like a cat - ha, ha - she lands neatly on her feet by Theo's side. Immediately the nearly foot smaller Deckmaster is on her tiptoes and tugging at Theo's shirt with a frown to check out his neck. "That was typical." She says, her tone flat. "For a DM, at least. Keys as a trap are so god forsakenly obvious that it's stupid, and there's even motivational memes about cute women getting used as traps. So, as a DM goes, not all that great. I coulda run better three, four years ago." Yumi barely looks about seventeen for the record.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    She finds it hard to be mad at him, even as she rubs her sore neck with her now un-gloved hand. For all she knows for the moment, it wasn't his plan to have the holograms inflict actual injury. "Well, it was fun..but I think you need to work on the bug where you actually get hurt," she thinks, still honestly a little dizzy even without the holograms to add visual effects. "Games are supposed to be only for fun!" Ah, poor, naive girl. She reaches up to adjust her hairclip that's shaped like a stylized frog's face.

    After that, she finds her manners, and bows to their host. "Anyhow - your technology is way cool. I can't wait to see how it looks when it's finished! Maybe we can play a full campaign then? I imagine it's a bit different once you know what to expect from the system." To all the others giving their bluster about how they totally weren't fooled for a moment, well..Sanae can't quite claim the same, so her cheeks turn a little bit pink from all of it. Would she have played the game a bit more carefully if she knew the stakes involved, so to speak? Likely! But she was playing a part, and one that fits her well.

    Helping herself to a seat at the table, she steadies her head after a few moments. Good thing all this free food is here. She'll be on the mend in no time. "Geez..who knew vampires could be so sneaky."

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Kaiba, more than anything, appreciates the honesty and praise comming from both Garen and Sanae. Mostly the praise. He chuckles at the two of them. "Well, I'm glad the both of you had fun. I will admit... I designed this campaign to be /somewhat/ obvious. With new players, you're not sure what to expect. And, even for..." A pause. What word to use? ...No, not 'good.' He'll use... "...Even with more experienced players, they're only as strong as the newer players."

     A glance at Garen and Yumi, "Well, at the least, we'll keep these complaints in mind. I meant the traps to be obvious, to judge your skill. Simple traps first. You don't want to plunge them right into the hard ones."

     A smile. He speaks. It's hard to understand if he is sincere or not as he says, "And for the safeties... My apologies. We are still working out some bugs on the program."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl shakes his head as the holograms turn off, relieved to see his own arms and body again. Reaching behind him, he feels the pains in his body. While the announcement had mentioned that Kaiba Corp was 'not responsible for personal injury sustained while playing' this was going a bit far.

     "It has been a long time since I was so limited in combat capability. I may have fared a little better if it real," he says simply. If he was allowed to use 'Original Face,' he may have been able to see the women were vampires, been able to pick off the vampires more easily... Eryl's not really a sore loser when it comes to matters of small import, but even he feels a little annoyed at how unfair some of that seemed.

     "All in all though, it seemed to run fine. I noticed no graphical glitches, the AI-controlled characters seemed to react realistically... but yes, I would highly recommend that you deal with the issue of pain being felt by the players. Some might appreciate the increased realism, but those with a weak heart, or a tenuous grip on reality? They may react poorly."

     He beams, and bows his head to Kaiba. "All in all though, it was an interesting experience. Thank you for allowing me to share it."

Garen (530) has posed:
    Garen nods and moves carefully. He offers his hand to him in a gesture of thanks. "Thank you for allowing us the chance to test the system." He says. If his hand is shaken, a card would be slipped from Garen to the CEO. On it, it said 'my employers would be interested in the tech.' A company name would be given, but it was an anogram that led to perhaps the true nature of Garen, and his real employers.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa found it was an interesing set up she has to amdi the technology was interesting and she looks about for a moment and she tilts her head.

"It was an interesting challenge I'd not been able to table top for alng time win or lose she got a hell of a time.

"It was an interesting challenge and yes I also should have voiced they were likely a trap. It's like damn chrsylids."

She's just a player who was happy to get in a game.

"I'm quite curious about this technology and it's application and thank you."

She will totally enjoy her self after the fac

Seto Kaiba (623) has posed:
     Kaiba shakes Garen's hand. Yeah, he's in charge of a company, he has to be used to some of this handshaking thing. He then puts both of his hands in his coat pocket, to hide that he got the business card.

     "Thank you, too, for helping me test this game. All of you provided vital data. I'm glad to have had you all here. I have other business to attend to now, though, so feel free to enjoy what is left of the food I have provided, and feel free to enjoy the normal attractions of Kaiba Land as well."

     And with that, Kaiba takes off, to get to more important business.