Remove ads

Light Quest: a CK2 Style Quest in an 8-Bit Dystopia

Reader mode
Adhoc vote count started by Chocobro Mamba on Nov 17, 2023 at 9:37 PM, finished with 28 posts and 19 votes.
  • [X] Plan Light under Feet
    -[X] "I refuse to let this city destroy my soul. The people need to know that no matter how dark the city gets there will still be light, but only if we work together and have hope that the future will turn out for the better."
    -[X] "There's so much to do. I have so little time to do it. I need my lab back."
    -[X] Light In The Depths
    [X] PLAN: LIGHT UP THE NIGHT
    -[X] "I refuse to let this city destroy my soul. The people need to know that no matter how dark the city gets there will still be light, but only if we work together and have hope that the future will turn out for the better."
    -[X] "Everyone failed in the end. Myself. Wily. The City. This is collectively our fault. We could have done better. We should do better now."
    -[X] Dr. Right Behind You
    [X] PLAN: Far, Far Away
    -[X] "I refuse to let this city destroy my soul. The people need to know that no matter how dark the city gets there will still be light, but only if we work together and have hope that the future will turn out for the better."
    -[X] "There's so much to do. I have so little time to do it. I need my lab back."
    -[X] Light in the Distance
    [X] PLAN: Box Art Buster
Click to expand...


There. Fixed it. Looks like Light Under Feet wins! Voting is now closed. Give me a little bit and I'll post the next part!
 
Remove ads
Unrest in the House of Light: Part Two
  • Threadmarks
    • Light huffed as he ducked his way under a pipe, trying to follow his guide through a maze of tunnels and small caverns. Jack, an old friend from the Driller Commune he'd met on one of the Arkanoid ships, had some of his "boys" to help smuggle him into the pipeworks through one of the old express freight elevators the commune used to trade supplies with the corporations and other groups like the various plumber organizations and the occasional mercenary or gang. Besides the always useful supplies, they often traded maps as well, the commune having been lucky enough to gain an old copy of the ones the Mario Brothers used in their occupation. Which was the map Jack was using now to help guide Light through the upper levels of the pipeworks.​

    "You alright back there, Thomas?" Jack called, a note of amusement in his voice.

    "Y-yes, I'm alright. I didn't know how bad it was down here. Is it really like this everywhere in the pipeworks, Jack?" Light asked, nearly missing slamming his head against a pipe that jutted out an odd angle.

    "Yep." Jack said, popping the p. "Them lemmings don't really care if these tunnels are easy to navigate. They just dig down. You think it's bad now, this is just the upper level. This is where most of the folk stay. Too dangerous further down. Even them hardened city criminals don't go down too deep. They's too afraid." Jack explained. "Oh, watch yourself. Bit of a drop here."

    Light stumbled from the drop, having been too caught up in his own mind to hear his friend properly. Light began to grumble, but Jack just chuckled in return.

    "There's a bigger cavern not too far ahead. It's close to the commune. You'll be able to see a pretty good way down. Lotsa kids come up here, see the sights. Might not be as pretty as some of the Earth ones though." Jack smiled, "But we make do." He said, helping Light up a jagged step and motioning outwards towards the cavern with a patchwork mechanical claw.

    Light stepped next to his friend, looking out into the massive cavern. It was lit up to a certain extent by a uneven line of wooden poles, each one having a different light on them. They were clearly salvage in some way, most with different models or colors- one of them even being a pole with several smaller lights taped onto a bigger one. The light poles continued downwards for quite a ways down along a curving incline, leading into a small village of sorts made of metal that sat comfortably overlooking a cliff, a curving green pipe serving as a sort of railing. He knew those buildings. They were old digging machines and some of those premade, blocky outposts clumped together to serve as housing.
    ​
    It was a little too far away for him to see in detail, but bright colored lights seemed to cover some of the converted buildings.

    These light poles stood in stark contrast to the pitch darkness of the pit, only lit up by bright patches of colorful glowing moss along the other side of the gulf. The massive green pipes intersected with one another, some curving upwards or downwards and others turning sharply at 90 degree angles. The pipes were bright green, but at a certain point they too were engulfed by the darkness. Strangely, there was a few pipes that jutted out here and there, churning out a waterfall of green-tinted water.

    It was certainly pretty if a bit of a surreal view, but Light was too caught up in the maze-like nature of the pipes. They were all over the place and there wasn't any sense or purpose to their movement beyond leading down. These pipes were massive enough that a pair of people could fit inside them and comfortably move around. He shuddered to think about what navigating those pipes would be like, seeing how they often turned around on one another. Or dropped down suddenly. Was this also his and Albert's fault? The S.I.M. was supposed to manage these machines, but they had been so busy with everything else they didn't keep track of the manufacturing robots. Now the underground was a mess.
    ​
    "Beautiful, aint she?" Jack asked.

    "It's... something, alright." Light said, running a hand through his hair. "Alright. I need to get to work. Is there anywhere we can set down these maps and plan out where I'm going to stay for the time being?"

    "Sure thing, I think I can set aside some space for ya. And don't worry. My boys will stay quiet about you surviving 'n all. We'll make sure the rest of 'em stay quiet too." Jack told him, patting Light on the shoulder as ran to go wave down some workers coming out of a nearby tunnel.

    Before he followed after, Light took one last look at the view before him. He sighed. It wasn't going to be as simple as just taking down Albert, was it? This entire planet needed his help. The City, The Pipeworks, even the Outlands. He'd pay more attention this time, too. If there was going to be any hope for tomorrow he'd have to. He supposed there were worse parts to start than the foundation.

    =========​

    Where Did Light End Up? [Select One]

    [ ] The Upper Pipeworks [Alone]
    A small, ramshackle building with no occupant he found that was out of the way of the normal paths people would take through the pipeworks. It was closer to Monsteropolis and in turn his old friend, which came with some benefits and drawbacks. He'd have to be careful not to be spotted by anybody on Wily's payroll, but there was more access to parts and the fact that most don't bother looking too hard in a maze. He did manage to build a friend, though.

    --> [ ] His name was Rock.
    --> [ ] Her name was Roll.

    ----------------------------------------------

    [ ] The Upper Pipeworks [Driller Commune]
    He'd felt he needed to pay the Commune back the goodwill and the danger that came from helping smuggle him in. Luckily, there were a lot of things that needed fixing and he was one of the ones that helped make a lot of the equipment in the first place. At the very least he could get some of the broken mining Mets back online to minimize some of the danger to the member of the Commune.

    Jack the Driller joins you as a Hero Unit.

    ----------------------------------------------

    [ ] The Upper Pipeworks [The Battletoads]
    While trying to find a place to lay low, Light came across a strange sight. A group of black suited ninjas in a martial arts brawl with a bunch of mutants. The mutants seemed to be matching them in skill, but the ninjas were overrunning them with numbers. Taking a chance, he joined the fray- not as a combatant but as a distraction, giving the mutants enough of an opening to win the fight. They introduced themselves as Rash, Zitz and Pimple and offered to let Light stay at their hangout as long as he could pull his weight.

    Pimple the Battletoad joins you as a Hero Unit.

    ----------------------------------------------

    [ ] The Deep Works [Mushroom Village]
    Light had gotten lost as he went deeper into the Pipeworks to learn more about how badly the Lemmings had gone off course, only to be attacked by a group of roaming biomonsters. He was saved by a strange group of short, mushroom headed mutants and brought to their village. Initially worried about being eaten (though he would deny it) he would come to find the 'Mushroom People' friendly. They told him tales of a monstrous lizard king in the deepest part of the pipeworks and it's prophecy against the surface world and asked for Light's help in defending the village and its inhabitants against the dragon king.

    Toad the Mushroom joins you as a Hero Unit.

    Alright, I don't think I'm going to do another 24 hour post. Let's give it a two hour moratorium and then I'll close out the next one around 4 PM EST tomorrow.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • [] The Deep Works [Mushroom Village]

    It's either this, with the Drillers, or Alone for me honestly.

    I just think this is neat enough to try out.
     
    Last edited:
    @Chocobro Mamba I would suggest putting moratorium notifications in bold and/or big letters (I used to do both of those and a big alarm clock emoji) so people see them better.

    [ ] The Upper Pipeworks [Alone]
    -[ ] Her name was Roll.

    My reasoning is that we need a robot child to watch our back and keep us on the straight and narrow. Roll is the support, and Rock is the masterwork. Seeing that we are in the Pipes and already know a Driller, we could be friends with them without becoming a full member of the Driller Family. The Battletoads vote almost won me over for the weirdness factor, but everyone likes Rash, not Pimple. For similar reasons to the above, we could still befriend the Toads and battle the Koopa Troops when we eventually encounter them.

    Gotta roll with Roll.
     
    Once the vote opens I'm going to go with either [Alone] or [Mushroom Village]. Leaning to the first to get the robo-kid and I feel like the toads would distract us from our main objective. (Also weredrago2 above me made some good points too).
    Not attracted to [Driller Commune] or [The Battletoads], because neither of them capture my interest, despite the former looking like a good choice and as for the former I just don't know anything about the toads.
     
    Got confirmation on who Jack is, so I'm ready to info-dive.

    Jack is an OC, belonging to the Driller Commune - looks like Light already has a good relationship with him. Initially thought he was the main character from Mighty Bomb Jack, but after confirming with Mamba; that doesn't seem to be the case. Not much else to say here - he's the "human option."

    Toad is the Mario character, who... this could be any Toad, mind - but if it's the main character Toad, he probably has especially good Stewardship. At the very least, this Toad would probably have a good understanding of the Pipeworks itself. Working with him might lead to some factions looking down on us; but at the same time, it could lead back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

    Pimple is one of the three Battletoads and is probably a strong Martial unit. Takes a lot to do the Turbo Tunnel, after all. He'll get us in with the Battletoads - a small group which, depending on their background, they could also have some pretty solid Learning! I feel like if we don't go down the route of building Rock and/or Roll immediately, then this is the route we should take. The downside here is size.

    Rock and Roll are such vital characters to Light's own character - and could likely have very good stat blocks - that it makes too much sense to pick them. The counterpoint to this, though, is that we won't have many connections to start with - just one very strong ace up our sleeve... or at least a lab assistant that can cover our failings.

    [ ] The Upper Pipeworks [Alone]
    -[ ] Her name was Roll.

    I think, all in all, I agree with Arch on this being a good route.
     
    [] The Upper Pipeworks [Driller Commune]

    Think I'll go with this option. Not only would we have plenty of local guides, but I think that the last thing Dr. Light needs right now is to be alone after what he's been through.
     
    Last edited:
    Mega Man and Roll, working together to build up their arsenals and explore the underground ruins for treasures? Sounds a lot like Mega Man Legends to me!

    I can't wait for us to run into Tron Bonne. Or accidentally build her instead of Roll during character creation.
     
    Personally, I'm feeling like the Dillers might be the way to go. We get some old world tech safety in Numbers and ways to help out the community already, and they would also have a lot more information on some of the surrounding players in the pipe works. I was also alerted that building rock and/or roll would be actions we could take in the future, so we wouldn't be locked out of them immediately as well.

    I also think we should make a roll first instead of rock. She would be a much greater help in the early game, as we (hopefully) wouldn't really need to rely much on the physical/Martial aspects
     
    There's nothing stopping us from building Rock and Roll later on right? Whether we pick one over the other or neither, Light should just be able to build them given enough time.
     
    The Grey Mage said:
    There's nothing stopping us from building Rock and Roll later on right? Whether we pick one over the other or neither, Light should just be able to build them given enough time.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Building Rock and Roll is going to take up a lot of our Personals & perhaps Funds. Building a child is alot of work.
     
    How has nobody voted yet?

    [X] The Upper Pipeworks [Alone]
    -[X] Her name was Roll.

    I'm up to make Roll Woman just to change up the formula.

    Idk if approval voting is allowed for this, but I'd go with the deep works too.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top