VIGIL II: All Our Base Are Belong to... Who?

[Ashen Lilies]

Whereas GLoG concerns itself with redeeming evil-doers (and healing the sick and sheltering refugees etc.) and AMEN is evildoers, VIGIL takes a more neutral approach. VIGIL doesn’t concern itself with good or evil, but with kicking people who need to be kicked. It is dedicated to preventing threats to the Nexus, both massive-scale and small-scale, from muggers and exploding taverns to apocalypsoi and demonic invasions. Of course, given that evil-doers tend to be the ones who cause those things, VIGIL tends to be pitted against the forces of evil more often than not, but it doesn’t care that they’re evil, just that they’re causing trouble. Calling it a 'Good' organization is likely to draw the ire of some of the more morally relative members around. Maybe. Some members do call it a Good organization. This is because it is formed from the merging of the two organizations, WATCHTOWER and HALO. Both were similar in that they fought off those who need to be fought. But then certain elements of HALO turned around and walked away because... reasons? It's awfully confusing, but there's no real reason to care about it, so I'm not gonna!

VIGIL is an organization that exists to stop some bad things from happening. No one is entirely sure which ones, or why.

To join, you might want to look at this membership form. However, as this is still a new organization, the membership process is not completely hashed out.
MEMBERSHIP

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Prospective Members should fill out the below form and submit it to any member.

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Name:
Age:
Sex:
Species:
Profession:
Reason for joining VIGIL:
Special skills/items you believe will aid/have decided to contribute to VIGIL:
Other Information:

Additionally, prospective members probably should prove their worth to the organization. The proof is open-ended, and can be decided by any member, with proofs ranging from a simple interview or test of skill, duels in the arena, even to accompanying a member on a mission. ((OoC note: Players of prospective members are encouraged to discuss the terms of their test in advance with the player of their 'interviewing' member, in order to find a test suitable to both players. Not everyone wants to run an entire adventure for a new member, but on the other hand, some people might find a simple interview or test too simple for their tastes.))

Accepted and proven members gain access to more secure and important rooms. Higher level members have higher clearance. And so on. The organization is, as with most things in the Nexus, prone to change according to the desires of the members. If you have any questions, ask someone either in the OoC thread or in the IRC.

VIGIL is also accepting applications for cleaning, nursing, secretarial, maintenance, security, or other miscellaneous duties, without the full responsibilities of membership. Prospective staff members should apply to, and be interviewed by a senior member for suitability. VIGIL staff members will receive quarters if requested, and will be allowed full run of the bases except for where they logically wouldn't.

The Bases Base

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VIGIL Mountain Base

Far to the north, nestled in a valley bordered by tall grey mountains and pine forests, is the magnificent Lake Selene: a deep, crescent shaped lake of pure blue water surrounding a massive cliff of limestone, which juts out into the lake like the prow of a massive ship. Falling from this massive cliff are two great waterfalls, the massive Silver Falls, to the west, and the smaller Overlook Falls, to the east. Just west of Overlook Falls is a curious man-made protusion, and upon it, a massive spire surrounded by a fortress, built from stones cut from the same limestone of the cliff itself. Once polished white and gleaming, this ancient fortress is now stained with black and grey streaks, though no less magnificent than before, teetering perilously hundreds of meters in the air above cool waters of the lake below it. The top of the spire glows with a magical light, and a close look would find a bright nexus of magical energy hovering above the the white spire, forming a rolling spiral vaguely reminiscent of a great eye.

Carved the side of the limestone cliff is a wide path leading from the shores of Lake Selene, its cross-hatched surface providing firm purchase even when slick with wetness as it cuts behind the waters of Overlook Falls.

The first thing anyone approaching it will see is the massive white limestone spire, reaching up into the heavens. The second thing they'll see is the wall. It's a rather impressive wall, made out of magically reinforced limestone like the rest of the fortress, over 12 meters tall and 4 meters thick. Two towers mark the corners of the wall as it extends from the cliff face over Lake Selene, and the gate house is large, square and solid, looming over the path leading up to the fortress.

Inside the walls is a large open courtyard, filled with grass and wild flowers. A gravel path leads from the main gates, splitting off to lead to each of the buildings within the fortress.

To the south-east, one of the wall towers has been extended to be slightly taller than the other three others. This is the Training Tower, and in front of it are the Training Grounds.

Turning north from the gates, right up against the cliff face on the center line of the courtyard is the monolothic Keep, built squat and strong, right into the stone of the mountain, with the exception of a tall spire, which towers high above the rest of the fortress, braced against the cliffside with heavy stone buttresses. At the top of the spire is the Eye, a spiraling nexus of magical energy which serves as the focus point of a powerful scrying spell capable of casting its gaze over the entire Nexus and beyond. To the west side of the Keep, also built into the cliff, is a secondary tower known as the Lab Tower. At its foot is a small forge built by Harnel for his smithing. To the east side, above the keep and next to the spire is an Airship Gantry, built into an open cavern in the cliff face. Below the the opening of the gantry is a vehicle lift for transport from the airship gantry to a door on the third floor of the keep, or to the courtyard. Near the bottom of the lift is a small stable for whatever animal mounts may be brought into the fortress, though their owners are required to take care of the animals themselves.

To the south-west side of the courtyard is a small apple orchard, dotted with small magic obelisks which enhance its growth and fertility, ensuring that it is always in fruit: spring, summer and fall (but not in winter). In the south-west corner another tower has been modified, with a small nexus of magical energy hovering above it. This is the Hospital Tower.

Near the keep, set directly into the cliff-face, is a large Bronze Door locked and inscribed with runes of sealing and warding, which leads to the Catacombs.

Spoiler: Training Tower + Training Grounds

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Converted from one of the defensive towers nearest the main gates, the Training Tower serves as the main training resource for WATCHTOWER members. The bottom floor of the tower contains a small armory full of basic weapons and armor for training. The upper floors hold a fully equipped gym. At one wall on the bottom floor is a secret Safe Room panel.

The Training Grounds take up much of the gate-side part of the Courtyard. Facilities in the Training Grounds include a small track, a shooting range, a modular obstacle course, and several rings for sparring.

Spoiler: Keep

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Spoiler: Ground Floor

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• Main Room - Once the main hall, this cavernous room has been transformed into a sort of wide, square lounge area. There are several low tables and comfy chairs. And a TV! To one side is a 'fireplace' which is really just a stone recess occupied by the illusion of a fire, and several heating glyphs. No chimney, you see. Several torch brackets hang on the walls but are empty. Light here is provided (as in all rooms of the building) by glyphs of light in the ceiling. At the back are three doors, leading to the barracks and the stairway. At one wall is a secret Safe Room panel.
• Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the keep, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has two doors, which lead to the Main Room and the Dining Hall.
• Dining Hall - A small dining hall, with two long tables. To the rear of the dining hall is a door that leads to a large kitchen and storage room. The kitchen has been refurbished to contain modern kitchen equipment.
• Keep Quarters (East and West wings) - A pair of long corridors that lead into several rectangular rooms. Each room was originally designed to house four bunks, but has since been refurbished to provide quarters for a single (or perhaps two) people. Upon being assigned, a room will initially contain a single bed, a dresser with a mirror, a desk with a chair, and another larger armchair. All the rooms have 'windows' which are not actually real windows, due to being inside a cliff, but magically show what it looks outside anyway. These rooms can be modified by members every which-way, so individual member rooms may be very different from the standard.
• Bathroom - A large communal bathroom accessible at the end of each barracks corridor. There are cubicles with toilets and cubicles with showers and tiny attached dressing areas. Hot water, too!

Spoiler: Second Floor

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• Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the keep, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has four doors, which lead to the Library and Map Room.
• Mage's Library - A large room, with a large window that overlooks the courtyard. In the center of the room is a statue of an robed figure with a long beard holding a staff and an open grimoire, probably the likeness of some long forgotten elder enchanter. Radiating out from the statue are masses upon masses of shelves, upon which sit books on all topics, but mostly magic. Contains a panel which opens up a portal to the Safe Room.
• Map Room - This small room has a cupboard full of maps covering most of the Nexus, as well as most of its major locations, though some of them, such as Remnant HQ, are incomplete for obvious reasons, and the maps of AMEN and HALO start to make your eyes hurt if you look at them too long, and change every time you blink or look away. The center of the room has a large table white table for maps to go on. If a slightly more high tech option is what you need, there is a computer in the room as well, with access to the VIGIL database as well as digital copies of all the maps. Images form the computer screen can be projected onto a wall or the table, and there's a drawer full of miniatures to play with as well, if you're into that.

Spoiler: Third Floor

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• Stairway - A small square room dominated by a spiral staircase which leads up the keep, to identical such small square rooms on every floor. Has four doors, which lead to the Security Room, Rec Room and the Vaults.
• Security Room - Access restricted to Members only, as determined by a magical handscanner. If the fortress were a ship, this would be the bridge. Overlooking the courtyard, this room is filled with magical interface panels which control the base defenses, internal and external, as well as the prison cells. Computer wires and ports interlink with the panels, converting mana signals into binary, allowing control from one of the computer terminals in the room for the less magically inclined. The computers are also wired to the VIGIL mainframe, allowing for access to the main database. The mainframe for this particular base itself is also contained in this room. At one wall is a secret panel that when pressed by an active member opens up a Doorway to the Safe Room. Non-members pressing the panel will have no result.
• Rec Room - Once an arena for fighting and practicing spells, this roundish room has been turned into a rec room, for relaxing and having fun. I wonder what that says about VIGIL. Like the Main Room, it has a bunch of couches and soft chairs and low tables and a TV, though the TV is larger than the one in the Main Room, and may or may not have several gaming consoles attached to it. There is also a pool table, because no Rec Room is complete without a pool table, dartboards, and cupboards with boardgames like Twister: HALO Edition (like regular Twister except all players are required to be female and also nude), The Game of Undeadtime and Magopoly. Generally, if it's fun, it can be found here. Though... not that kind of fun. Save that for the rooms.
• Vaults - The fortress vaults contain some of the dangerous and powerful artifacts, good or evil, that VIGIL have managed to procure. The vaults are constantly under high security, and have a handscanners much like the security room. Right now they contains:
  
  • A large block of an incredibly strong concrete-like substance, etched with runes of binding and sealing, warded against teleportation or dimensional irregularities, and a number of other things. Sealed inside are a pair of ceramic jars, similarly warded, which house the captured souls of Shepherd and Cynthia.

Spoiler: Basement

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• Safe Room - A large room located deep underground within the mountain, filled with mattresses and several months of consumables. Virtually impregnable, and accessible from the outside only via the secret portals scattered around the fortress. These secret portals may be triggered by the various panels located throughout the base, which can only be opened by members. The portal may also be used to return to any of these locations (even by non-members, if they entered through different means or as a guest). In the back is a small door that leads to the Escape Tunnel. The existence of this room is only told to members of Watch, and great pains have been taken to magically ward this room from detection, if anyone ever bothered to search so deeply within the mountain.
• Escape Tunnel - A long tunnel that leads south. Its exit is a hidden trapdoor, on the south shore of Lake Selene.

Spoiler: The Spire

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• The Stairway - A continuation of the staircase that ran up the center of the main keep, this massive stairway makes up the bulk of the spire, snaking around the outer edges of the hollow structure in endless spirals of step upon step upon step. Landings up the stairway open out into the spire's obvservation decks, and all the way at the very top the staircase emerges out into the main observatory. For those that don't feel like climbing endless steps, twin pillars of light shine up the center of the spire. Stepping into one of the pillars will cause you to levitate up, the other will cause you to gently sink down. These pillars can be ridden all the way up or down, or can be stepped out of onto any of the observation landings.
• Observation Decks - Up the length of the spire lie several observation decks, larger near the bottom, but progressively smaller up the spire. These stone constructions open up into the air above the keep and the courtyard, allowing an unparalleled view over Lake Selene and the rest of the fortress's surroundings. Just don't fall off the edge.
• The Observatory - Walking up the last few steps of the vast staircase of the tower's impressive spire would bring you into this room, the observatory. The room is not large, and enclosed entirely in stone, in defiance of what the name of the room would have you believe. In the center of the room, however, is a small raised dais, in front of which hovers a vast silver mirror, edged with glowing magical runes, which serves as the viewing port for the massively powerful scrying spell at the top of the Spire. On three sides of the dais are magical interface panels linked to computers. The computers here are partially networked to the Security Room computers, and allow searching to a copy of the VIGIL Database. The computers and interface panels are primarily used, however, to control the view from the observatory.
• The Eye - Hanging in midair above the top of the spire is this colossal writhing nexus of magical energy; a roiling maelstrom of primal forces strong enough to crack the mountain in two, bound and contained to power one of the strongest scrying spells in the Nexus. The scrying spell can pierce through most material obstacles and weak magical wards, as well as many technological methods of concealment. However, stronger magical defenses or purpose-built methods of concealment can defeat the spell even despite the powerful forces at work, as the spell primarily focuses on coverage and scope, able to reach across the entire planet, as well as into space, rather than defeating abjurations. The ladder and trapdoor in the Observatory will bring you to the top of the spire, directly under the focus of the spell itself. Due to the powerful magical forces at play, those emerging through the trapdoor will find themselves feeling an uncomfortable pressure on their being, as the spinning magical energies hammer at their essence. Coming closer to the focus of the spell intensifies the effect, to the point where trying to come in contact with the 'surface' of the magical nexus would most likely result in death, if you were dumb enough to try.

Spoiler: Lab Tower

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Set into the cliff on the west side of the base, the Lab Tower contains the reinforced labs once used by the mages that built this tower for magical experimentation. Since then, the labs have been refurbished to allow for more modern-thinking scientists or engineers to have their space for experimentation. Each floor of the tower contains a central room with a large elevator, and doors to the labs ringing the center. Each lab has two doors for decontamination purposes, if necessary. Belowground, a few extra floors are home to Holding Pens which once held a menagerie of magical experiments and abominations. These rooms are still equipped for that purpose, though magical experimentation on sapient beings, or perverting the laws of nature to create unholy beasts of unparalleled destructive power is gently discouraged.

Spoiler: Hospital Tower

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The tower furthest from the main base has been converted into a hospital building, with a nice view of the orchard. The tower, though not as large or extensive as a proper civilian hospital, pretty much lives up to its name. The first floor has several rooms fully stocked with surgery equipment, an x-ray room, and several other rooms filled with most of the kinds of things necessary for treating a membership with a distressing habit of getting shot, or stabbed with swords, or smacked with maces, or burned by magical fireballs, or bitten by horrendous demonic monsters, etc.
The upper floors, accessible by stairs or a lift large enough to carry a bed (as all of them are on wheels), contain several wards for recovering patients. Aside from the PC doctors, the Hospital is staffed by a number of drones, specialized to serve as surgeons, nurses and orderlies, so that patients here are always in good care. A secret panel on each floor opens a portal to the Safe Room when pressed by a member. Non-members pressing the panels will have no effect, but they can still enter portals opened by a member.
The small magical nexus at the top of the Hospital Tower serves as a second shield spell, giving the Hospital Tower an extra layer of defense in case the outer shield spell fails durign an attack.

Spoiler: Airship Gantry

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Set into a purpose-build cavern in the side of the cliff to the east of the Keep is a large gantry, which is accessible from the third floor of the Keep or ground level by a small lift or a small spiral staircase. In addition, there is a larger vehicle lift from the ground level up to the airship gantry, allowing ground vehicles to be stored up there as well.

• Vehicles
  
  • A large, heavily armored zeppelin of K-Corp design, captured after a failed attack on the fortress. It's been decorated psychedelic patterns painted all over the envelope, as well as a pair of angry eyes and mouth. The zeppelin has a rather large cargo hold, as well as a separate bomb-bay, which can drop rather large bombs (though they are currently in rather short supply). It's armed with a rather heavy variety of weapons, including: two disruptor quad-cannons mounted in the aft of the envelope (one ventral, the other dorsal); two heavier disruptor quad-cannons mounted on either side of the gondola and two long-range flamethrowers mounted on the fore. The thing is powered by one of DC's zero-point modules, and can pretty much stay aloft and fire forever, carrying no fuel except for that which goes in the flamethrowers. It has energy shielding, though prolonged use cuts into the ship's energy supply significantly. Currently it is the base's only functioning aircraft, and is purposed for large scale assaults.
  • A smaller airship stolen from Lethargia, built for transport. It has controls, two seats for the pilot and co-pilot, and cages in the back for prisoners. It's currently in a state of refurbishment, (and has been for more than a year, due to KR's lack of proper materials and powerful mages to complete the dimensional magics she intends to power the thing). The combustion engines have been replaced by much simpler ones, seemingly powered by magitech, and everything that can possibly be simplified has been. The hull has been reinforced slightly, and is now both fireproof (up to several thousand degrees centigrade) and vacuum proof. The inside has been hollowed out somewhat, regular controls having been replaced, again, by much simpler ones, and benches have been added along the sides, for extra passengers. The center is dominated by some sort of receptacle, for what looks like a large cylindrical device that stretches from floor to ceiling, though the device itself is currently missing.
  • Several generic hovercars and hoverbikes intended for use by members. They're unarmed and (mostly) unarmored, plainly intended for transport instead of combat.

Spoiler: Defenses

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The internal defenses of each building include magical forcefields in every doorway that can be activated singularly, or all together in an emergency.

External defenses include extra strong magical shields on the main gate and a magical shield spell that starts at the walls and encloses the entire base. The Keep and the Hospital Tower have secondary shield spells, providing an extra layer of defense for those inside should the gate and wall be breached. There are also a variety of cunning magical traps buried in the courtyard and the path to the fortress, that may be deployed for explosive effect.

Forcefields may remain active for roughly 4 hours before having to recharge (for 24 hours), or until they are beaten down or dispelled. Traps take a roughly 12 hours to recharge. Simply dispelling the forcefield or traps (or indeed, any of the various glyphs in the building) only deactivates them. More powerful spells (like a Mage's Disjunction, for instance) must be used to get rid of them permanently.

All the defenses are triggered from the Security Room.

Spoiler: Catacombs

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Generally sealed, by the large bronze door in the courtyard, the catacombs are a series of corridors and tunnels that lead deep into the mountainside. The full extent of these catacombs is unknown, and very little has been mapped of them. Whats inside? Treasure perhaps, but also danger. Cave dwelling monsters native to the mountains may dwell within, as well as magical beasts and abominations: descendents of failed experiments thrown into the darkness by the mages who previously inhabited the fortress.

((The Catacombs are a free area for anyone to invent their own dungeon crawls for VIGIL members, should they so wish it. Anything and everything can possibly be found inside the mountain, at the plot GM's discretion.))

Spoiler: Base NPCs

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Tower Servants (Player: Anyone)

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Recently discovered by KR, these magical servants were created by the original inhabitants of Watchtower, but only recently re-awakened. They appear as ordinary humans of various appearances, some male and some female, and all of them different looking, though they share the same vaguely attractive, but neutral features. All of them wear form-fitting knee length grey coats, buttoned all the way up the front and embroidered with a single eye on the left breast, in addition to dark trousers and shoes. Though solid seeming, and able to interact with physical objects, closer inspection will reveal that their physical 'substance' is made up of thousands of tiny magic sigils, constantly shifting and moving past each other to create an illusion of solid presence.

The Tower Servants, though unable to speak, write or communicate beyond simple body language, have a limited intelligence and ability to learn, and a natural compulsion to clean, garden, arrange, and just generally make themselves useful at all times. They can also understand speech or written instructions and can thus be commanded to perform specific tasks or assist specific individuals, with tasks as complex as leading them to specific areas of the tower, doing laundry, putting items away in specific places, or even cooking basic meals.

They are unable to participate in combat of any kind, and will generally ignore intruders of any kind, though they cannot take orders from those they do not recognize as inhabitants of the tower. If a servant is 'damaged', either by physical force such as a sword thrust or by a spell, the servant will disappate, and reappear in 24 hours, seemingly unharmed.

Though mute and meant to be perfectly servile and unassuming, some of them may seem to manifest subtle personality traits. Whether this is a genuine phenomenon or just wishful thinking and a desire to project human traits onto inhuman (but human-like) constructs is uncertain.

A Perfectly Ordinary Cat (Player: Kris on a Stick)

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This is a perfectly ordinary cat. A white cat. With a black collar made of some mysterious, stone-like material that's immune to scratching or chipping of any sort. A close look at the collar will reveal faintly etched runes in the stone, which seem to glow slightly in the presence of magic, and brightly in the presence of powerful magic. Despite being perfectly ordinary, the cat has a few powers. First of all, it can understand language, and speak any language that exists, in the realms of mortals or gods, with a voice that would sound perfectly androgynous to all those who hear it. Second of all, it seemed to have the ability to bypass any and all barriers, physical or magical, slipping through stone doors or forcefields of any sort as if they were air. This ability would only seem to work within the confines of the fortress, however, though this is hard to prove since the cat does not seem to be able to leave the fortress by any means.

The cat is highly bitter and sardonic, and will likely taunt any hapless WATCH members or visitors it comes across, though it will help them grudgingly if asked, and in fact seems to appear specifically when help is most needed.

The cat seems to be able to control the Seen Servants mentally, and exhibits some degree of control over the tower's magical functions, turning lights on and off or activating other forms of magic at a whim.

Membership/Leadership Lists
* Although the members are relatively known by the players in the organizations, they are either too complicated, out-of-date, hashtagged, in fluctuation, or so on to be put in right now. If you have a dying urge to see the membership lists, go back and look at the HALO and WATCHTOWER threads. What's important right now is to get the thread up, not to have a flawless first post.

Leaders: These four leaders are in charge of the general direction of the group. Their permission is not needed for every individual action a member makes, but things that affect the organization as a whole or that need a mobilization of the entire VIGIL should go through them.

• DC => Wenomir
• Magtok
• Cessie

Previous Threads

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WATCHTOWER 1: I can see my house from here! 07/09/2009 - 13/12/2009
WATCHTOWER 2: Who Watches the WATCHTOWER? 13/12/2009 - 09/05/2010
WATCHTOWER 3: Big Brother is WATCHing You. 09/05/2010 - 30/07/2010
WATCHTOWER 4: Doing Nothing, With Style (since 2009) 30/07/2010 - 12/09/2010
WATCHTOWER 5: 100 Rooms of DOOOM! 12/09/2010 - 14/11/2010
WATCHTOWER 6: Like Justice League, but ON LAAAND! 14/11/2010 - 17/01/2011
WATCHTOWER 7: In the Face of Overwhelming Adversity, we Break Things. 17/01/2011 - 13/03/2011
WATCHTOWER 8: It's Curtains for You! 13/03/2011 - 09/04/2011
WATCHTOWER 9: The Impenetrable Thread. 09/04/2011 - 28/05/2011
WATCHTOWER 10: All Out of Bubblegum 28/05/2011 - 28/06/2011
WATCHTOWER's 11: Fighting Apocalypses Through Childbearing 28/06/2011 - 19/08/2011
WATCHTOWER 12: Maturity Optional 19/08/2011 - 4/10/2011
WATCHTOWER the 13th 4/10/2011 - 18/11/2011
WATCHTOWER 14: Now a Family Business. 18/11/2011 - 14/05/2012
WATCHTOWER 15: New and Improved! 14/05/2012 - 10/10/2012
WATCHTOWER 16: Quick and Dirty 11/10/2012 - 13/08/2013
WATCHTOWER 17: Through Cloud, Shadow, Earth, and Flesh. 13/08/2013 - 04/07/2014

WATCHTOWER and HALO Unification Tournament

VIGIL I: We don't have a cool title yet...

Spoiler: Out of Character Notes

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1. Conflict is great! It's the heart of any story, and there isn't much to roleplay without it. However, no randomly destroying the place, or doing something to it that'll produce a similar effect (for example, no placing a massive time freeze on the entire area forever). You're allowed to damage it, but destroying it just takes the fun out of it for all the other players. If you do want to run a plot in which a base or the whole organization gets destroyed, though, feel free to run your idea through OoC to see if other people like it and are willing to roleplay it out!
2. No godmoding/godmodding. It's not permitted in other ACRONYMs, and it isn't in VIGIL. The occasional mishap's OK, repeated offense isn't.
3. Please try and keep posts longer than one or two lines of speech. Description is appreciated. One-or-two-liners that don't do much are OK once in a while - but not regularly.
4. If you want random smashy hahaN00BlulzFun, here's not the place. Anything spammy, random, or just plain annoying, can go! Of course, if your silliness is in moderation and well-roleplayed, and considerate of other players, then welcome in.
5. Romance/Fanservice/Secks/WOOHOO!/Whateveryawannacallit is acceptable here, but remember to curtain once it goes past the snuggling stage, and be aware that there may be IC repercussions for dropping the curtain whenever you're online, as this is a thread with a mission. And said mission does not involve ******* like rabbits.

[Cyber Punk]

Spoiler: Spoilered for Length

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[Courtyard]

Wenomir looks as Cutter leaves, but doesn't stop her. She hasn't actually managed to betray them, so they'll just have to watch out for her in the future. He likewise doesn't stop Magtok from leaving. A confrontation between him and DC is liable to end in violence, but maybe it has to happen eventually.

"Take care of this new one," he tells Sophia. "I need to keep track of the mess that seems to have been dumped into our lap."

He walks to the side, then pulls out his communicator to make a base-wide announcement:

"Attention, everyone. Tobias decided to leave and take HALO with him, for reasons currently unknown. We don't know how many members followed him, yet. Please report to me so I can get some sort of tally."

Hearing the announcement, Richie moves closer to Wenomir and presumably Sophia. "Detective Richard Vesuvius, reporting in. What is going to happen with my test, sir?"

Richie looks towards Sophia and waves his hand to signify that he's the said new recruit.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Mountain Base - Vault]

DC shakes his head. "We can't risk trying to hold the base against Magtok like that. We'd end up basically starting a war between him and whoever actually sided with us, and if you hadn't noticed, I haven't exactly been the best at turning anyone to my side. " He sighs. "But Magtok himself can be stopped-take out his income and he's dead in the water. I was close already, when I brought his brainwashed doubles he made from bombing victims to light. I have the resources to start up something new, but we can't risk plunging the Nexus into what'd essentially be a corporate war between MagCorp and EI. The connections we have would essentially drag everyone in with us, and who knows who would take advantage of the chaos? He thinks he prevented war by betraying me to the cat and attacking EI in Riverside, but he came very close to causing it instead."

The demons watching probably take exception to that last part. Damn psychic and his shocking capacity for foresight.

"Brute force is too dangerous, but we can stop him my way. It's only a matter of time."

[Mountain Base]

Kr is about to respond, but then there's an announcement.
"Are you still sure? It seems the chaos is happening without us."

[Darkcomet]

[Mountain Base (Only Base) - Vault]

DC sighs in exasperation as he hears that announcement. "Seriously? Seriously. This was supposed to be simple, in and out, no one needing to die, no prolonged damn messes. But you're right. Chaos it clearly already is, and while I still refuse to set everything back years with a bloody war, the powers here...this block, the members, whatever else is in the damn mystical history of this place? They can't be left to the hope that someone will have a sudden bout of competence to keep it all in order. That's why I tried to make it change instead of resorting to theft in the first place. Obviously, something has to be done here, but...let's see.

Attempting a violent takeover results in a full-scale war with Magtok, allowing who even knows how many opportunistic scum to take advantage of it, and resulting in widespread destruction. Unacceptable.

The status quo inevitably results in the overly-trusting and lenient leadership ending just as the League's did years ago. Unacceptable.

I could fulfill my original plan, but that results in everyone here being left to their own devices and likely ends poorly, though the consequences are much lesser than in either of the previous outcomes. The safest option, but not optimal.

Which leaves...hrm. Could attempt a bloodless coup and relegate the current leadership to standard member status, Magtok included-it's easier to watch him that way anyway, not that we would tell him that was why, and obviously the moment he screwed up we'd have him right where we wanted him to begin with. While that could justify him as a member, his leadership role is clearly unacceptable. But that requires that the organization somehow accept it, and I have severe doubts about that possibility given how few listen to anything I say, but it's the only course of action that comes to mind as having even a chance of a truly optimal outcome, if that's what we're shooting for now. And even that isn't very likely." A pause.

"Although one might listen to you, come to think of it. Still leaves Mithar, but if we can get them both, they can override Magtok if he's still even in this organization after Vulpan's stunt..."

[Morty]

[Courtyard/Base-wide]

"Your test will probably have to wait until we have a better handle on the situation," Wenomir tells Richie. "Consider yourself a probationary member for now." To the others, both those near him and those listening to base-wide announcements, he says: "We don't know why Tobias defected, or how many people follow him. Our top priority right now is to make sure VIGIL stays stable despite that."

[Cyber Punk]

[Courtyard]

Richie gives Wenomir a small salute. "Yes, sir."

"Is there anyway I could help with that?" He asks after his speech.

[Lord Magtok]

Vault

"They told you, 'Don't you ever come around here. Don't wanna see your face; you better disappear.' The fire's in their eyes and their words were really clear, so beat it." Magtok chides DC, walking in on the two (after warping past the forcefield obstruction)with his arms crossed and slight frown on his face as he leans against the nearest wall. I doubt he's heard anything incriminating; he was probably too lost in his own head, trying to think of something clever to say when he got up here. It's too bad there weren't more stairs on the way up here, maybe then he would've come up with something less stupid.

[Zefir]

[Courtyard/Base-wide from Infirmary]

"Ok." Mia replies through the communicator. "MDM, Me and the two patients are the only ones here. I will stay here and watch over them, unless you got something that requires my presence."

[Morty]

[Courtyard]

"Just stay here for now," Wenomir tells Richie. "Like I said, we don't know how many members defected alongside Tobias." He frowns. "I'm not sure how we should deal with those who did. I'll have to discuss with the other leaders. We can either treat them as deserters, or traitors. A subtle difference, but a vital one."

[Recaiden]

[Courtyard]

"Deserters."
Arlem and Dorotea keep flickering through shapes. So many are associated with the deserters and the ocean base. They'll have to come up with some new ones.
"At least until HALO does something that makes them our enemies, endangers the Nexus." It's not a question of if, but when.
"Then we give them another chance, and those who refuse are traitors."

[Cyber Punk]

[Courtyard]

"If I may suggest..." Richie begins before he's interrupted by Arlem and Dorotea. When they finish speaking, he adds "... yes, yes. What they just said." Sans the second chance, of course.

[Morty]

[Courtyard]

Wenomir nods.

"We should treat them all as VIGIL members, unless they come back and officially resign. Including Tobias. With all that it implies. It's not just my decision to make, though."

[goto124]

[Entrance]

A young man in armor walks in. His features are boring, with neatly groomed black hair and dark brown eyes, his plate armor mostly plain apart from a sun symbol adorning his torso. He is holding onto a sword and shield, which also carries the sun symbol.

Shortly after he walks in, he looks around, rather confused. 'Hello? Where am I? Where is everybody?'

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

"Praise the sun!"

A librarian pops up! By pops up, I mean opens the door to the entrance to let the paladin in. A human(?) woman, with chrome circular glasses, blue hair up in a bun, and a pink robe with the VIGIL symbol emblazoned on it.

"You're at the base of VIGIL, an organization dedicated to upholding the stability and safety of our realm. I'd guess from your confusion you have fallen into one of the many cracks between worlds. If so, welcome to the Nexus!"

[goto124]

[Entrance]

'Cracks between worlds? Nexus? Oh no, I'm not home anymore? Will I never see my family again?'

He brings his hands up to his head and starts running about childishly, letting his sword fall to the floor.

Panic mode!

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

The librarian leans over and reaches out to grab the sword before it hits the ground.
"Be careful!"

She favors him with a sad smile.
"For most people, that's true; this becomes their new home. But some have been known to return to their home, especially if it was well-connected before. Did you have a name for your realm?"

[Cyber Punk]

[Courtyard]

Richie nods, then looks around their present location. "Is there one who can accompany me as I tour the base? Wouldn't want to stumble about, or end up where I shouldn't." He glances at Sophia. "Might you assist me in this endeavour?"

[goto124]

[Entrance]

The just-barely-paladin stops running to catch his breath. 'Sorry about that.' he says sheepishly as he reaches out to get his sword back.

'Well, I'm from the glorious Sun Kingdom. Lived there all my life.' With that, his armor glows like the sun, complete with sound effect. 'Oh goodness, how could I forget.' He bows deeply to the librarian. 'My name is Laru Garu. Just became a Paladin of the Sun Kingdom.'

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

The sword is offered back to him, and he might note that the librarian now has an identical sword at her side, on a girdle that wasn't there a moment ago.

"That's not a place I've heard of in our records...perhaps the Sun thought you would be of more use to the righteous cause here?"

[goto124]

[Entrance]

Run away, it's the Attack of the Sword Clones! Nah, Laru tends to fail his Perception checks not notice things.

Laru boggles at the librarian, then appears to ponder deeply.

'You said, this place... organisation... upholds safety and stability? Perhaps it's in His plans after all. A strange one, but who am I to to question The Sun?'

The sun symbol on Laru's shield glows this time.

(And here I am, making glowy sound effects and laughing like an idiot.)

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

"Yes. We would probably be glad to have you."

She shakes her head.
"Always question."

[goto124]

[Entrance]

'Oooh, how do I sign up? Looks like I get to serve a large community for a greater good! How could I possibly question that!'

You know, Lawful Good. This one happens to be a bit dumb too.

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

The librarian produces a form and hands it to the paladin.

Name:
Age:
Sex:
Species:
Profession:
Reason for joining VIGIL:
Special skills/items you believe will aid/have decided to contribute to VIGIL:
Other Information:

"Fill that out, and then we'll need to prove your skills somehow."
She winks at the paladin.
"See you around."

[goto124]

[Entrance]

Laru takes the form, looks it over, then attempts to find his non-existent pockets.

'Er... excuse me miss? Do you have a... quill? To write with?'

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

"Oh, right."
She turns and tosses him a ballpoint pen.

"Be just a moment."
And hurries off, to return a few minutes later.

[goto124]

[Entrance]

Laru tries to catch the pen, but misses. It falls onto the floor. He bends down to pick it up, then examines it.

'This isn't a quill...'

But he senses the librarian is in a rush, and decides to figure out this strange device by himself. What material is it made out of, where is the tip, and how does he write without ink?

When the librarian returns, she'll find him puzzling over the pen.

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

The librarian hides laughing.
"Oh, you're from a world like mine, aren't you? Here, you take off that part, and then the tiny ball at the tip lets the ink flow."

She'll show him how to operate the pen.
"So I'm guessing catching things isn't on your list of skills."

[goto124]

[Entrance]

Laru can't help but go oooooo at the piece of modern technology.

'Catching things? What do you...' Laru asks, before he gets it. 'Oh. I'm just not as fast as you are. I hope it's not a bad thing? As my father said, "Slow and steady wins the race".'

Laru beams brightly. And literally, for the hilt of his sword glows. What's up with his equipment?

[Recaiden]

[Entrance]

"It never hurts to be quick with one's hands and on one's feet."
The librarian waits for him to fill out the form, shading her eyes from the glowing blade.

A subtle presence reaches out, trying to read Laru's mind. The librarian sees thoughts easier than seeing light with her eyes.

[goto124]

[Entrance]

Laru doesn't even notice as his mind is easily read. Also? He's simple-minded; there's not much to read.

Come to think of it, why does that lady have blue hair? Is she a faerie of some sort?

Species:

Hmm, she could be a faerie after all! I've heard of them from Mom, but never actually met them before. Interesting!

Laru places the form on a nearby counter, readies the quill pen and starts writing.

Name: Laru Garu
Age: 21 yeara old
Sex: Male
Species: Human
Profession: Paladin
Reason for joining VIGIL:

Laru pauses here. Hmm, how should I put it? To help people? To do Good? Or... He continues writing.

Reason for joining VIGIL: To protect and serve the community
Special skills/items you believe will aid/have decided to contribute to VIGIL: My loyalty

Laru looks over the form, then turns around and passes the form and pen to the librarian.

'There you go, milady. Anything else you need me to do?'

(Mind-reading could be a great way to reveal Laru's thoughts without him getting too talkative or rude. Perhaps we could keep this going for a while?)