Bordertowns

[SINIB]

Contested Areas

A large swathe of the land in the north between the three great powers is not directly controlled by any of them. A diverse collection of polities and communes exist within this area, influenced to various degrees. Most are at least nominally aligned with one or more of the powers, and there are large swathes of people whom simply wish to live their lives in peace seperate from "all the bullshit."

[MissingMandible]

Adaham District

History:

Adaham has had a checkered past. Decades ago, it was a center of industry, harvesting resources from the bordering Stone Forest. The workers didn’t risk angering the elementals by logging, instead mining the meadows where the mineral-rich trees fell ages before. WIth a steady flow of rare material and precious gemstones, the district experienced great wealth and prestige.

Of course, all great things must come to an end. Restricted to the meadows, and all but forbidden from logging, there was no room for expansion. Soon, the open-pits bottomed out and, with that, the industry halted. The wealthy packed up and left, with the middle-class following soon after. Refineries closed their doors, and the apartment complexes emptied out.

Adaham became a slum. Poverty was rife, and the streets could only be described as ”semi-controlled anarchy.” The district chief was the leader of whatever gang held the most influence.  It is dangerous to walk the streets at night, and exploring the myriad of empty buildings could end up with you stumbling upon the more..carnivorous citizens or witnessing something a less-than-scrupulous syndicate doesn’t want to be seen.

At least, that was the case up to five years ago…

Witnesses described seeing an angel clothed in white flying out of a bank of clouds. Shortly afterwards, the then-district chief’s administrative building erupted in flames. As suddenly as it arrived, the angel disappeared. Days later, a wealthy man by the name of Edward Flank arrived with a mercenary outfit…


Current Day Overview:

Edward Flank seeks to restore Adaham to its former glory, no matter the cost. The main streets have been cleaned up, the refineries repaired, the apartments returned to livable conditions. It is a time consuming process that requires a lot of capital, and there are plenty of areas just off the main roads that are still ghettos.

Flank is not entirely benevolent, however. Said refineries are being put under the Adaham Mineral Corporation’s name, a corporation he himself started up. Those who become a thorn in his side are forcibly removed from the district or just disappear.

The surrounding districts is wary of Flank; After all, the timing of the supposed angel attack and him setting up shop is far too short to be coincidence. Not to mention the fact that the mines have been exhausted for decades now, so him creating a corporation tailored to such an industry is quite suspect.

[Aiden]

Meeting Hall

4:00 PM Nexus Time

The people of Longdale led uneasy lives. Its people had some choice in who led them, and a few of them were strong enough to keep the monsters away. It still had some crime, some of it even violent, but it wasn't ruled by supernatural dictators or controlled by massive gangs either. It was a fairly ordinary place with fairly ordinary people who had fairly ordinary problems - but those were still problems. People were still poor, still had trouble finding work, and still had unpleasant home lives. No amount of stability and mundanity could take away these things. No, only a real effort could work to improve the lives of others when the answer wasn't 'put a bullet in it.'

COMMUNITY DINNER TODAY

BRING YOUR OWN DISHES

SPONSORED ENTERTAINMENT

Which is why events like this one happened every so often. People would come together and spend the day as a community, and there would be all kinds of raffles and local organizations would try to recruit or solicit donations. And food.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

4:00 PM Nexus Time

As soon as they had returned from their unexpectedly-extended walk, Sakura and Shirou immediately set to work, cooking up the dishes that they had planned for the dinner. Despite the delay and the resultant hurry they were in to get everything ready in time, they were in good spirits, excited to be able to meet people and share their delicious cooking with their neighbours. They moved around the kitchen with great efficiency and skill, cooking up as many of the dishes they had planned as possible, aided by their wise decision to do as much as possible beforehand. Still, they knew they would unfortunately be somewhat late to the party.


5:00 PM Nexus time

An hour later, Sakura and Shirou were ready. Both of them had dressed up in smart clothes, Sakura wearing a nice blouse and knee-length skirt, and Shirou in a shirt and trousers. The food, meanwhile, had been absorbed by Sakura into her shadow dimension, and was being carefully maintained and stored for retreival when they arrived.

"OK, let's go, Senpai!" Sakura said. "We're already an hour late."

Shirou nodded, and the two of them headed out of the door.

On arrival at the hall, they rushed in, seeking out the person in charge of the food.

"Sorry we're late", Sakura said, apologetically. "We got a little delayed, and we needed the time to cook. Where should we put our dishes?"

[Aiden]

Meeting Hall

On their way in the young couple had a lot of people waving to them, smiling and saying hello, but many were already sitting down at the tables set out in the hall and getting the plates and plastic utensils ready. Up at the stage set up on the other end of the hall were people shuffling about, clearly cleaning up after some other opening event Sakura and Shirou had just missed.

One of the organizers, a nice young man wearing a white button-up shirt and some slacks, smiled in relief as the two of them walked in. Shirou and Sakura had a bit of a reputation for their cooking in the neighborhood, but from this boy's expression it was like they'd just saved the day. "Oh, thank you! We were just starting to have people start serving. You missed one of the opening presentations, but I don't think anybody minds."

He showed them to a spot on the serving tables, where some guests were already helping themselves, where there was room. "Please, help yourselves while you're at it! Some of the charity events are still getting set up, so you have time."

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

The couple responded to the greetings by returning their own, waving and smiling as they greeted their neighbours before they found the person they were seeking, the man in charge of the food. They could tell from the look of relief on his face that he had been somewhat worried that they and, more importantly, their food, wouldn't be coming, and they smiled back as he directed them to the serving tables.

"OK, thank you", Sakura said, politely, before heading over towards the tables.

On arrival, Sakura opened a small shadow portal and removed the dishes one by one, as if she was pulling them out of thin air, before placing them on the table as instructed. Then, with that complete, the two of them moved to join the short queue for obtaining a plate and some food. After a few moments, they were able to obtain the plate and moved to collect some food. They both took food from a variety of dishes, some of their own together with some of the dishes cooked by other people which caught their fancy. Then, having loaded their plates up with a reasonable but not excessive amount of food, they looked around the room for a mostly-occupied table with a pair of seemingly free seats. Finding some, they moved over to the table in question.

"Are these seats free?" Shirou asked when he got to the table, smiling kindly.

[Aiden]

Meeting Hall

"Hmm? Oh, yes, of course!" An older woman at the table they sought a place to sit and eat. She looked at them both and smiled, as if to think 'what a cute couple', and then turned her attention back to what she was doing. Talking to her friend across the table about some portion of her daily routine. Everything was pretty much as normal, as you would expect it to be at something like this. Sakura and Shirou found themselves with plenty of time to eat a bit, mingle with the locals, get a sense for what was going on.

They heard soon enough about some of the charities and other donors involved with the event. They had some local churches and and a couple of student groups renting the space out for this, and the two of them could see people passing out pamphlets and other materials around some of the tables. One young girl with long hair dyed a bright pink and wearing a blue sundress came up to Sakura in particular and bounced in excitement. "Wow, I love your hair! What dye did you use? Oh, or is it real?!"

[yinsukin]

The DMV

5 AM Nexus Time

A man stands outside the local DMV.  His car sits behind him, the hum of the engine fading along with his passion for life.  There were few places so boring and tepid, so pointless and dry.  He was a grown man, with a history of visits here.  This was one of the safer spots in town.  Nothing bad tended to happen here, almost nothing at all.  There was crime sure, but where wasn't their crime.  Supernaturals lived here, but they kept things quiet.  It wasn't something people really talked about.  This was a safe location.

And so boring.

There was nothing in the building, nothing but sadness and the sensation of his butt against the hard seat.  Every single face had the same thing on it, the face of people who wanted to be anywhere else.  Some looked around in dispair, others in anguish, many with just exhaustion.  Him... All he could think of was what lead him to this moment.  There was something dark, something truely terrifying about reflecting on ones decisions when in the DMV.  Yes. Then and there he decided to reflect on his entire life.

Born to a wealthy family, Jackson lived a life of privlage.  He never needed anything in the world.  A smart boy, the young Jackson did well in his classes.  With all the special tutoring, he knew everything he needed to in order to overcome the education system and thus had no real troubles there either.  With his connections, finding a job wasn't that much trouble either.  However, wealth couldn't help him with his personality and so he got fired from his high paying job.  Even they thought he was entitled. Dropping from the ladder of society, he found himself falling further and further, losing the respect of his wife, family and freinds.  Worst of all, he had to learn how to drive.

Jackson wiggled in his seat.  There was nothing he hated more than these trips.  They were so miserable....

Jacksons body began to expand and grow as the feeling of despair deepened.  The ground beneath him started to crack as his body grew larger.  Bodies began to slump in their seats, souls gathering around him.  His dispair acted as a magnet for all those lost in the eternal hell of the DMV.  The giant of a man burst out of the DMV his eyes glowing red with anger.  He reached down, scooped up several bodies in the palm of his hands and emptied them into his mouth.  The sound of bones cracking filled the air as blood dripped from his lips.  The huge behemoth of a monster began to glow....

[SINIB]

Sakura Edelfeldt

5 am Nexus Time

Sakura had been flying over the Nexus with Edelgard clinging to her back, looking around studiously for something they could justify beating the snot out of. Sakura felt powerful, invincible, as Elizabeth's blood still coursed through her veins.

And finally, they had found something! An enormous monster had burst out of a building, and threatened this small community.

She waved her wand at it, an enormous magical circle instantly forming in front of her, charging energy from parallel worlds.

"Sakura beaaaaaam!"

A brilliant violet blast hurtled forward, about as thick as a car, towards the monster.

[YOLF]

Edelgard

Edelgard didn't plan to complain, but this flying was awkward even with Sakura's uplifting mood. So it was almost a relief when something came into their view, breaking through the repose of the sleeping city.

At the sound and tremor of it, the Forsaken flashed back to a distasteful fight from two days ago - and the meeting that ensued -, but Sakura acted first. The darkness scattered with a glare of mystical force, and that removed any need for words. In an instant, Edelgard climbed into Sakura's shoulders and jumped into the air. Her body twisted with ferocious grace, as Forthright End came free from its straps, and her feet catapulted it.

The spear boomed, and faster than it boomed, it flew parallel to the cherry-colored lance with dragon-piercing strength, while Edelgard began her free-fall.

[yinsukin]

Jackson the Giant

The giant held out his palm, the blast pressing against his palm.  The beast roared in pain, the crushed bones of the victims visible in his mouth.  Blood and drool overflowed from his lips, dropping the mushy remains onto the rubble beneath.  The beasts entire arm slumped down to its side, the giant falling on one knee.  The spear pierced its back, causing it to roar once more.

Finally, it swallowed, a dark magical aura engulfing its body.  The third-degree burns on its arm started to heal, becoming less and less severe by the second.  If nothing was done, they would fully heal.

"DIE!"

With its free arm, it attempted to swat Sakura out of the sky, completely ignoring the other one.

[SINIB]

Sakura Edelfeldt

Sakura dodged upwards, laughing like a maniac. "Hahaha, this feels great!" She waved Sapphire at the giant's hand, sending out another series of beams in rapid succession. "Fire!" Brilliant purple beams headed straight for the monster's eyes.

She felt the blood pulsing through her body, the nimbleness of her movements, and the throbbing of her addition.

Despite her better impulses, she was getting really into this fight. She wanted more.

[YOLF]

Edelgard

Tough, Edelgard thought, but no matter. The warrior flicked her wrist, and the spear tore free from the meat of the monster, and she clasped it decisively in her hands. Her body turned mid-air and she landed bladed point-first on the thing's wounded arm.

Edelgard inhaled as it only shallowly buried past burned skin. Steadying her footing, she pulled the spear out, and began a mad run over the length of the limb. The polearm whistled repeatedly through the air, spraying unclean blood as it made a trench of scars through the still-recovering meat.

[yinsukin]

Jackson the Giant

The giant bit his lip, finally swallowing the mangled victims, all while blood on his arm shot upward like a geyser.  It was a shallow cut, but it was still incredibly painful, maddeningly so.  Frustrated, the giant slammed its foot into the ground, shattering the earth below and sending minor tremors through the district.  The rubble of the DMV shot upwards, shooting up entire chairs, bodies, chunks of the reception desks, and even the building.  It all threatened to strike both Sakura and Edelgard at the same time if they did not take action to defend themselves.

[SINIB]

Jackson the Giant

The giant bit his lip, finally swallowing the mangled victims, all while blood on his arm shot upward like a geyser.  It was a shallow cut, but it was still incredibly painful, maddeningly so.  Frustrated, the giant slammed its foot into the ground, shattering the earth below and sending minor tremors through the district.  The rubble of the DMV shot upwards, shooting up entire chairs, bodies, chunks of the reception desks, and even the building.  It all threatened to strike both Sakura and Edelgard at the same time if they did not take action to defend themselves.

Sakura Edelfeldt

Sakura trusted Edelgard to take care of herself, but she was worried-this monster was ludicrously strong, physically seeming to be as powerful as a strong servant. Shadows began wrapping themselves around both the women's bodies, ready to absorb blows if need be. Sakura's quickly turned into clothing-like gloves and boots, while Edelgard's simply remained as it was, a writhing black mass that gave her the impression of Sakura.

Sakura waved Sapphire in front of herself, and let the stick do her work. Her magical output shifted in favor of defense, lowering her offensive power but increasing the automatic shields Sapphire created.

Even weakened, she still continued strafing with her beams, aiming for vulnerable points such as the monster's eyes and groin area.

If he even still works like that anymore, she thought to herself.