Citizens of Fort Hope,
Following the end of the first season of Duel of Guns, the Red Dragon Inn came under attack by our cowardly enemies. This Rebellion, thought to have been quelled when we captured its ringleaders a year ago, is forcing us to increase our drafting policies for the Militia. Several bombs blew away large sections of wall in the Battleground, and destabilized the foundation of the Red Dragon Fortress itself.
Until we can repair the damage, fortify our stronghold, and ensure that it is safe from further attacks, Lord Imperius has decreed that the Duel of Guns is on temporary hiatus until further notice.
Our Great President is also requesting the aid of any gun-fighters who are willing to step up and help protect our home from another dangerous terrorist situation that is developing.
A renegade Giant, heavily modified by cybernetics, has escaped our captivity and was last spotted leaving the city to the north. This dangerous criminal, known as Gethmog, is believed to be heading to the Forest of the Fae in the distant north on foot; we believe that he is searching for an artifact there that could bring doom down upon our city and what's left of the rest of the world.
Gethmog must be stopped. The Rhy'Din Defense League is preparing a high-speed flying ship to allow us to catch up with the Giant and stop whatever it is that he has planned.
The mission, which will take place on Thursday, June 5th, at 9:30pm (EST), will pay all volunteers two weeks worth of rations, one WoL to their DoG rankings, and two WoL to the DoG rankings for the warrior that puts the most hurtin' on the renegade Giant.
Sign up below, and assemble here to be flown to the location where we hope to surprise Gethmog, and then put him down like the rebel dog that he is.
Below the notice is the official seal of Lord Imperius, with a Wanted Poster of Gethmog below that.
((All information below is OOC or historical background, and not posted from an in-character perspective!))
The Legend of the Sky Giants and the Fae
Hidden among the lowest hanging clouds, high above the Forest of the Fae, floats an island of ancient technology and ice. This island was Haerfrust, the Kingdom of the Sky Giants. There was a time, before all of this, when the Island of Haerfrust did not exist.
Once, ages ago, Haerfrust, Lord of the Hill Giants -- and Eoran, Queen of the Forest of the Fae -- devoted their hearts to one another. Haerfrust was gentle and kind for a giant, and Eoran was fierce and courageous for a faerie. But their secret love was not meant to be, for no children can be born of giant and faerie. They continued to sneak off to see one another in the night; Haerfrust would climb down from the nearby mountains, while Eoran would leave behind her forest to see him.
Their secret could not be kept safe forever, and for a simple reason; no matter how softly he tread, Haerfrust could not sneak off without raising suspicion. When the other Hill Giants learned that their Lord wasn't sneaking off to devour shepherds in the fields, but rather to speak of song and poetry with the trickster Faerie Queen, they took up arms in the middle of the afternoon (usually a giant's nap-time), and revolted. Brutally, the Giants slaughtered Haerfrust, cursing his name as an abomination. Then, they decided to climb down from the mountainside and lay waste to the Forest of the Fae.
Being one with the essence of magic, as all Faeries were, Eoran had the Sight; she looked into her heart and saw her beloved Giant murdered. Enraged, the Faeries of the Forest called upon their allies, the River-Trolls and the Centaurs of the Plains, to come to their aid as the Hill Giants pressed their advance. Battle was met on the outskirts of the forest, and just when it seemed like nothing could stop the Hill Giants' rampage, Queen Eoran finished activating an ancient device once left in the countryside by visitors from another world. Nothing more is known about the origins of this device, though its effect was quite profound.
Binding the Hill Giants with magic and throwing them into the depths of a dark sleep, Eoran executed her plan. The alien device activated with a dull, tired hum. The icy plains, the battleground that night beyond the Forest of the Fae, were wrenched from the roots of the world and the ground, and were lifted up, up, and up! There, the floating mass of ice and earth stayed, among the clouds. When the Giants roused themselves from their enchanted sleep, none would risk their lives to jump down; it is a useful secret to know that Giants are often scared of heights!
And so, the Giants lingered in, and even grew to love their new, exiled, floating home in the sky. Down below, Queen Eoran and her people, the Fae, the Centaurs, and the River-Trolls, called the floating kingdom 'Haerfrust' after the Queen's great love lost.
Eons passed without incident. Through magic or other means, the Sky Giants survived. But their defeat had taught them humility, and never did they attempt to leave the sky, for fear of facing Queen Eoran's wrath once more.
After the Fall
Nothing ever stays the same.
The Sky Giants of Haerfrust were not immune to the ravages of the undead virus that destroyed the world. The Faeries were not immune to the ravages of being ripped from the Nexus and having all magic stolen from them. While the Fae devolved into madness immediately, the Sky Giants went some time before even realizing that anything was wrong.
But even Giants die of old age, eventually. That is how the Sky Giants came to know that something in them had changed; their dead were rising, and attempting to devour their massive comrades! The earliest incarnations of the Rhy'Din Defense League knew of the Legend of the Floating Island of Haerfrust, and knew of the danger it posed. An entire kingdom of Undead Giants crashing down from above, before they stormed the countriside and sought out Rhy'Din was a frightening prospect; and so, Lord Imperius prepared a great trap. Using all of the technology at his fingertips, which was much at the onset of the outbreak, he succeeded in creating an inescapable barrier of magnetic fields designed to repulse the Sky Giants should they turn and attempt to leave their Island. He set this barrier around Haerfrust, and left the ancient kingdom to be forgotten.
It is over thirty years later, now. There are no more faeries. The Forest of the Fae is haunted by the undead remains of once majestic creatures, while the Floating Isle of Haerfrust is a Necropolis; a Kingdom of Undead Giants. And Gethmog is seeking to free them.
Gethmog, A Big Mistake
Lord Imperius did not just seal the Sky Giants within their kingdom; he also stole a young, baby giant. He knew that one day, the Sky Giants (or other Giants) could pose a threat to his plans. And so, once the giant babe was grown to adolescence, Gethmog became the subject of twenty years of cybernetic experimentation and psychological conditioning. In truth, Lord Imperius designed the perfect secret killing machine.
Unfortunately for every living and breathing creature on this planet, Gethmog has managed to learn of his past and heritage. The cyborg Giant then managed to override his programming, blow up half of the Battleground, kill two dozen RDL Guards, and escape after leaving a message written in blood for Lord Imperius:
"Father, the Sky is Falling..."
If Gethmog succeeds in reaching the caverns beneath Haerfrust and finding a way to lower its seal, things in Rhy'Din could get much, much worse in the near future.
Fighting Gethmog
((Be sure to have your Duel of Guns Matrix ready!))
Gethmog is part giant, part machine, all badass.
Each round, Gethmog will use a regular Duel of Guns Matrix technique (Quickdraw, Energy Shield, etc). He will compare this technique to the techniques of all attacking him. Each of Gethmog's techniques target the entire party of player characters, resolving individually against each of them.
Additionally, Gethmog has several other abilities.
Gethmog is immune to the regular effect of Cryo Ammo, though being damaged with two Cryo Ammo Modifiers in the same turn will cause him to become "stunned" next turn.
If Gethmog uses a defensive technique, he has a 50% chance of using a Combination Modifier (with the same rules that apply to regular dueling).
If Gethmog uses an offensive technique, rolls 1d6 to decide which, if any offensive modifiers to add to his attack. If he rolls...
1: Incendiary Ammo
2: Bio Ammo
3: High Voltage Ammo
4: Ground Stomp (Gethmog's offensive technique automatically defeats all other offensive techniques this round.)
5: Regenerate (Gethmog regains 4HP.)
6: Stumble (Gethmog deals no damage this round.)
Once Gethmog has used an offensive modifier, he must re-roll as many times as it takes to ensure that he uses all of his other modifiers, before he can use the same modifier again.
Fighting the Undead in the Forest of the Fae
This is a new mechanic. Noise draws attention. Zombie attention. The longer you fight outdoors with noisy weaponry, the more nearby, starving undead are likely to draw upon your position. If you see a zombie, do not panic. Usually, a headshot is all it takes to put it to rest. Here's how it works:
A Zombie has only two statistics for you to consider. Their distance from your position (RANGE) and their race (Human/Crawling/Centaur/Troll). Each round of combat, Zombies' Range value decreases by one. Should it reach 0, that zombie will bite a player character at random, inflicting 4 damage (though no incurable zombie cure. Feel free to roleplay it however you prefer). That Zombie's range will remain 0 and attack again each consecutive round, until he is put down.(Human Zombie: Range 2, Crawling Zombie: Range 3, Centaur Zombie: Range 1)
To target a specific zombie, make it clear to your Official that you are targeting that creature when you submit your Offensive Technique for the round. Certain Techniques will work well against different types of Zombies, and some well against most types of Zombies. Use common sense! Zombies do not have hitpoints; if you use any of the the correct techniques against the correct race at the correct range, the zombie goes down for the count.
In a round where you target zombies, you are left vulnerable to attack from Gethmog should he use an Offensive Techniques.
Other Rules of Combat
1) All gun-fighters will begin the battle with ten hitpoints.
2) Each turn, gun-fighters submit moves in the same format as they would for a regulation Duel of Guns match.
3) All fighters have access only to the modifiers assigned to them via the standings, as per their Duel of Guns rank.
4) When a gun-fighter is reduced to zero hitpoints, he is knocked unconscious and can no longer participate in the fight until he is aided by an ally.
5) Gun-fighters may choose to forego submitting a technique in a given round to AID an ally that has been knocked unconscious. Gun-fighters who choose this receive no damage from Gethmog's defensive techniques, but automatically lose to Gethmog's offensive techniques. If the AIDing character is not hit by an offensive technique this round, the target ally that they chose to AID rejoins the battle with TWO HITPOINTS.
6) Gethmog uses a Random Number Generator to make his technique selections. He cannot use the same technique/s two rounds in a row.
7) It's possible to stun Gethmog. Sometimes, Gethmog cannot play an offensive technique due to being damaged with Bio Ammo in the previous round; if he tries to play an offensive technique in this situation, he instead is stunned for the rest of the round. Gethmog also becomes stunned if he was damaged by multiple Cryo Ammo Modifiers in the previous round. While stunned, all offensive techniques score automatically against him, and all defensive techniques null against him. He cannot, however, be stunned for two rounds in a row. When stunned, Bio Ammo and Cryo Ammo has no affect against him.
9) The battle ends when all characters are reduced to zero hitpoints, or Gethmog is reduced to zero hitpoints. If Gethmog is defeated, he is slain at the hands of the gun-fighters.
