The gates of Dragon Tooth Pass closed behind them with a finality that seemed to echo. Beyond that threshold, the world changed. The Monumentum Deo rose ahead of them like a wall built by jagged spines of granite and obsidian thrust into a sky. Snow did not fall gently here, instead it moved sideways in cutting sheets. Ice in the form of hail rocketed to the earth constantly carried by winds that screamed between the peaks like something alive and angry.
Yet, within a subtle radius of the group, the worst of it bent away so it merely felt like a light snow. Kouin’s presence was not dramatic. There were no roaring gales answering his command and no spirals of wind announcing his effort. Yet still, the air softened around them just enough. The gusts seemed to break before they could strike head on. Even the cold, biting as it may be, did not sink fully into the bone. The difference was subtle, but survival in the Monumentum Deo was often measured in subtleties. Still, his influence could not touch the earth beneath them.
For hours now, the ground had not been still. The first tremors had been a faint and deep vibration that remained distant as it thrummed through their boots and up their legs. Occasionally, there came the sharper quakes, brief but violent, forcing careful footing across ice-glazed rock. It would be of note immediately that these tremors did not feel like ordinary fault movement. They did not roll in waves that faded naturally, and they instead felt restless in nature. It would feel like something beneath the crust of the world was shifting its weight and testing its boundaries. A thing pressing upward as if deciding whether the mountain should remain where it was or stand up to relocate entirely.
Sometimes the vibrations traveled for miles at once and the team could see it in the way snow cascaded down distant slopes in fine, powdery sheets. How birds, rare as they were, would erupt from crags in frantic flutters before settling again into an uneasy peace and silence. The stone here continued to hum that faint sound between tremors, a low resonance that lived somewhere at the bottom end of audible sound.
The group would follow the map carefully to a reasonable point. The paper marked mining facilities that appeared gradually along the lowest ridges. They could see an industry which likely once boomed with life, now seemed abandoned and half-buried in snow. Rail tracks vanished beneath snow drifts and collapsed scaffolding twisted into unnatural angles from where the mountain decided it no longer cared for human creation. They could take note of two entrances that had been marked on the map as collapsed. One was little more than a jagged crater where a tunnel mouth had once been, but the second looked like an in-tact tunnel entrance.
Up above, the group would also notice a third entrance. Another mining operation that had been evacuated, but no collapses had been indicated yet as of the reports you were given. However, reaching it would require a measured climb along the mountain's steep side. Snow clung here to narrow ledges, and a more common usable path had since been destroyed by the shifting of the land. Though, somewhere up the side of the mountain they could note a viable access point which yawned like a dark shape cut into the stone itself.
Here, the party would stand at the base of the mountain range and contemplate their options.
Then, without additional warning, the earth would convulse. Stone groaned with a sound deep and loud enough to rupture ear drums. The ground snapped sideways beneath their feet as if struck with an immense blow. Snow began to burst upward in violent plumes and loose rock tore free from the slopes above and began to rain down in shattering cascades. Even the air itself seemed to recoil.
This quake did not ripple, instead it tore the very fabric of the world apart, and for just a moment... the entire world tilted. Balance became instinct rather than certainty as the foundation beneath their feet threatened to give way entirely. Then, came the crack. It began low along the side of the mountain in front of the party, a thin, jagged line that appeared in the stone like a blade dragged across flesh. It raced upward in an unnatural way splitting stone that had been unmoved for centuries. The sound that followed was even more deafening and thunderous.
The mountain did not split in two, but it opened like a jagged wound. A fracture carved deep into the slope as debris bled outward in a violent spill of granite, ice, and rock. Powder would billow out into the air like a choking cloud of dangerous debris and it threatened the safety of all members...
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Welcome to my Modded Mission format! This system will be different than the typical combat system so please read below...
I will be taking 5 AP worth of actions per player.
1AP = Any Basic Attack... OR if you wish to "Activate" a Passive or an Ability, Style, Etc... OR if you use an E-Rank Technique
2AP = Any Technique D Rank or Above.
It is MOST important to note that you will be required to Roleplay "How" you utilize your techniques effectively. I care more about "Roleplay Reasoning" than mechanical combat function. I typically try my best to abide by the "Rule of Cool."
If you are OOC: S-Rank, then you will have 1 Additional AP. This can be utilized however you like.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to DM me on here or DM me in Discord.
Worth Noting: Kouin, for this first round I have already utilized your 1 Additional AP for "Storm Manipulation - Passive" to protect the party from adverse weather conditions. As this was something you stated in the Pre-Mission posts. If you wish to alter that, let me know.
Worth Noting: Moving forward, I will not specifically dictate what I believe are "Key" things. That will be up to you to figure out. However, to start this I will at least give you an idea of how I work narratively.
Some key points from the above post might be:
1) How do you wish to enter the mountain? Mining entrance up above... claimed clear. Or down below... looks clear but marked as blocked on our map. How to get to whichever entrance? Do we wish to investigate the fissure and splitting of rock to see if we can locate a better point of entry? Etc. etc.
2) How are we defending Vs. the Earth-Shattering Earthquake? What do you do? How do you help aid others?
3) How are we defending Vs. the Debris billowing out from the fissure that threatens the party. What do you do? How do you help others?
Remember, this is an A-Rank Reconnaissance mission. Our major goal for rewards is simply to locate the source of these seismic disturbances. There will be many environmental challenges along the way.
Hope this helps, and Good Luck!
Yet, within a subtle radius of the group, the worst of it bent away so it merely felt like a light snow. Kouin’s presence was not dramatic. There were no roaring gales answering his command and no spirals of wind announcing his effort. Yet still, the air softened around them just enough. The gusts seemed to break before they could strike head on. Even the cold, biting as it may be, did not sink fully into the bone. The difference was subtle, but survival in the Monumentum Deo was often measured in subtleties. Still, his influence could not touch the earth beneath them.
For hours now, the ground had not been still. The first tremors had been a faint and deep vibration that remained distant as it thrummed through their boots and up their legs. Occasionally, there came the sharper quakes, brief but violent, forcing careful footing across ice-glazed rock. It would be of note immediately that these tremors did not feel like ordinary fault movement. They did not roll in waves that faded naturally, and they instead felt restless in nature. It would feel like something beneath the crust of the world was shifting its weight and testing its boundaries. A thing pressing upward as if deciding whether the mountain should remain where it was or stand up to relocate entirely.
Sometimes the vibrations traveled for miles at once and the team could see it in the way snow cascaded down distant slopes in fine, powdery sheets. How birds, rare as they were, would erupt from crags in frantic flutters before settling again into an uneasy peace and silence. The stone here continued to hum that faint sound between tremors, a low resonance that lived somewhere at the bottom end of audible sound.
The group would follow the map carefully to a reasonable point. The paper marked mining facilities that appeared gradually along the lowest ridges. They could see an industry which likely once boomed with life, now seemed abandoned and half-buried in snow. Rail tracks vanished beneath snow drifts and collapsed scaffolding twisted into unnatural angles from where the mountain decided it no longer cared for human creation. They could take note of two entrances that had been marked on the map as collapsed. One was little more than a jagged crater where a tunnel mouth had once been, but the second looked like an in-tact tunnel entrance.
Up above, the group would also notice a third entrance. Another mining operation that had been evacuated, but no collapses had been indicated yet as of the reports you were given. However, reaching it would require a measured climb along the mountain's steep side. Snow clung here to narrow ledges, and a more common usable path had since been destroyed by the shifting of the land. Though, somewhere up the side of the mountain they could note a viable access point which yawned like a dark shape cut into the stone itself.
Here, the party would stand at the base of the mountain range and contemplate their options.
Then, without additional warning, the earth would convulse. Stone groaned with a sound deep and loud enough to rupture ear drums. The ground snapped sideways beneath their feet as if struck with an immense blow. Snow began to burst upward in violent plumes and loose rock tore free from the slopes above and began to rain down in shattering cascades. Even the air itself seemed to recoil.
This quake did not ripple, instead it tore the very fabric of the world apart, and for just a moment... the entire world tilted. Balance became instinct rather than certainty as the foundation beneath their feet threatened to give way entirely. Then, came the crack. It began low along the side of the mountain in front of the party, a thin, jagged line that appeared in the stone like a blade dragged across flesh. It raced upward in an unnatural way splitting stone that had been unmoved for centuries. The sound that followed was even more deafening and thunderous.
The mountain did not split in two, but it opened like a jagged wound. A fracture carved deep into the slope as debris bled outward in a violent spill of granite, ice, and rock. Powder would billow out into the air like a choking cloud of dangerous debris and it threatened the safety of all members...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to my Modded Mission format! This system will be different than the typical combat system so please read below...
I will be taking 5 AP worth of actions per player.
1AP = Any Basic Attack... OR if you wish to "Activate" a Passive or an Ability, Style, Etc... OR if you use an E-Rank Technique
2AP = Any Technique D Rank or Above.
It is MOST important to note that you will be required to Roleplay "How" you utilize your techniques effectively. I care more about "Roleplay Reasoning" than mechanical combat function. I typically try my best to abide by the "Rule of Cool."
If you are OOC: S-Rank, then you will have 1 Additional AP. This can be utilized however you like.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to DM me on here or DM me in Discord.
Worth Noting: Kouin, for this first round I have already utilized your 1 Additional AP for "Storm Manipulation - Passive" to protect the party from adverse weather conditions. As this was something you stated in the Pre-Mission posts. If you wish to alter that, let me know.
Worth Noting: Moving forward, I will not specifically dictate what I believe are "Key" things. That will be up to you to figure out. However, to start this I will at least give you an idea of how I work narratively.
Some key points from the above post might be:
1) How do you wish to enter the mountain? Mining entrance up above... claimed clear. Or down below... looks clear but marked as blocked on our map. How to get to whichever entrance? Do we wish to investigate the fissure and splitting of rock to see if we can locate a better point of entry? Etc. etc.
2) How are we defending Vs. the Earth-Shattering Earthquake? What do you do? How do you help aid others?
3) How are we defending Vs. the Debris billowing out from the fissure that threatens the party. What do you do? How do you help others?
Remember, this is an A-Rank Reconnaissance mission. Our major goal for rewards is simply to locate the source of these seismic disturbances. There will be many environmental challenges along the way.
Hope this helps, and Good Luck!
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