Insight's "Emerald City Knights" - Prelude - The Silver Storm

EMERALD CITY KNIGHTS - PRELUDE - THE SILVER STORM
Welcome to EMERALD CITY KNIGHTS! This is the prelude to the main adventure. It is entitled, "The Silver Storm".

The characters for this prelude are:
James Marks - Martial Arts Instructor [MENTION=59043]Walking Dad[/MENTION]
Michelle Lindberg - Corporate Climber [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION]
Jacie - Pro Gamer [MENTION=9026]Jemal[/MENTION]
Marcus Holmes - Anchorman [MENTION=84167]HolyMan[/MENTION]
John Sears - Actor [MENTION=6675475]BBs[/MENTION]
Kyle Ellinger - College Student and Baseball Player [MENTION=21705]Graybeard[/MENTION]

***

[sblock=Emerald City Background]From Emerald City Knights Prelude: The Silver Storm -
WELCOME TO THE BOOMTOWN
Its founders dubbed Emerald City “the City of Destiny”, because for them it was the last stop on the continent’s edge. With nothing but the deep blue sea beyond, a man had no choice but to meet his fate there—whatever it was. Even in the present age of supersonic jets and a shrinking globe, Emerald City remains the last stop for most who journey there, both for reasons joyous and tragic. Now, it’s the heroes’ turn to come face to face with their destiny.

IN THE CITY
Emerald City is located in the Pacific Northwest of the United States near the Atlas Mountain range, a quiet, humble neighbor of Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Founded on Malory Bay, it’s been best-known to fishermen (by trade and by hobby) and lumberjacks through most of its history.
The anglers and all others who venture there find a cosmopolitan place, befitting a gateway to the Far East, including a large, old, and influential Asian population who sought refuge from other, increasingly exclusionary, areas of the Pacific Northwest during the late 1800s. A century later, Emerald City is still graced by a large Eastern District and a “Jadetown” area sizable enough to rival San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Today, first-time visitors are greeted by twin giants: one a monument of God’s creation, and the other of man’s. The dormant volcanic peak of Mount Stanley has framed the city skyline from the start, and in 1968 was joined by the Emerald Tower, looming impressively towards the heavens (check out the cover of the M&M Hero’s Handbook for a shot of the Tower).
In the last two decades, Emerald City has grown almost exponentially, becoming a true boomtown. The city proper is quite large, surrounded by a number of expanding suburbs and bedroom communities. Driving this growth was the establishment of MarsTech, Inc. (MSTI on the New York Stock Exchange) by the flamboyant plutocrat and techno-wizard Maximilian Mars. As MarsTech and other high-tech companies flourished, so did Emerald City, transforming the once-sleepy burgh into a leading center for the computer industry and other high-technology businesses.

GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
Nothing marks Emerald City newcomers more than making a Munchkin joke in public. They think it’s clever, but to longtime residents (and in truth) they’re just being punchably obvious and annoying. It’s all an understandable offshoot of the city’s 70-year-long love/hate relationship with The Wizard of Oz. There are many businesses and organizations that work overtime to avoid any association with the classic stories and legendary film, while others embrace the eponymous association wholeheartedly.
Those who revel in the city’s L. Frank Baum connection with the enthusiasm of flying monkeys successfully lobbied to have the open-air walking mall in the downtown shopping district dubbed the Yellow Brick Row. There, the street is indeed bricked just as advertised, duly painted yellow every year on the official birthday of the city, August 27th.[/sblock]

PEACEFUL EASY FEELING
The heroes begin writing their own chapter in Emerald City history on an otherwise pleasant day. There’s enough sunshine to make most anyone glad to be alive, and seemingly all of Emerald City has ventured outside to take advantage of it. Every downtown street is lined with people out roller-blading, walking their dogs, peoplewatching at sidewalk cafes, or doing a little shopping.
Bargain-hunters are preeminently drawn to Yellow Brick Row, and most local merchants have sidewalk sales set up to greet them. Food and beverage carts aren’t hard to find, and city newcomers are bound to notice the Row’s restauranteurs offer cuisine with an Asian flair. There are plenty of burgers and fries to be had, but just as many good spots to grab some pad Thai, teriyaki, and other Eastern delicacies.



Before any of the characters can sit down and grab their chopsticks, however, the deafening sound of trouble interrupts their good times.

IT BEGINS...
The loud, heart-stopping sounds of an explosion and shattering glass along with the accompanying shock strike you all without warning. Within moments, a strange cloud of silvery mist blankets the surrounding area. Just as panic and flight are about to take hold, the cloud begins to swirl without any evident prompting from the wind.
It whips itself into a cyclonic mass, discharging what appear to be bolts of bluish lightning both within itself and outward around its immediate vicinity.
Both blast and bolts subside and begin to dissipate before anyone (yourselves included) can arrive on the scene, leaving the dead and injured as the most immediate concern. The fleeing, panicked crowds and hopelessly jammed roads make you all the only first-responders available for the critically injured now.

Jacie charges in towards the carnage, looking around for survivors. Though she has no medical training, she has seen a lot of Medical shows, and done some reading on the subject, and can at least tell the others what *Not* to do. She sees a couple others helping the wounded and starts yelling at them.

"Don't rip that out, he'll just bleed more..
Don't move that guy, you'll make it worse..
Somebody help me move this girder off this girl!"

James Marks

Jim was jogging, trying to get a clean way through the crowd. It was a nice day to bring his daily training outside.

After getting through the shock of the explosion he quickly moves in, but not sure what to do. He grasps his cell to call an ambulance. Even with many bystanders many forget to do the basic thing and start doing things for the sake of doing things.

Kyle Ellinger

Kyle was patiently waiting on a bench for his girlfriend Melissa. They had scheduled time to meet after school today for a late lunch at Sakuro's. Unfortunately she had called just moments ago to say she was stuck in traffic and running late. To kill time until she arrived, Kyle had found an empty bench and sat people watching.

While he waited he watched a few joggers trying to dodge the pedestrians, high school girls dressed in clothes entirely too small trying to attract the attention of high school boys, shoppers, families, couples, people eating, some just walking around enjoying the nice weather, and even a few very attractive college age girls. Kyle made sure he got a good look at them even though he was very much in love with his girlfriend Melissa. It never hurt to look unless your girlfriend catches you doing it and smacks you in the head.

Without warning there was an explosion! Kyle dove to the ground thinking it might be a terrorist attack. He could clearly hear glass shattering all around him and a shockwave swept through the area. When that passed, he lifted his head and looked around at the damage. What came next was a sight he would never forget. A cloud unlike anything he had ever seen suddenly appeared in the sky above the downtown area. Within moments it turned into a tornado that swirled and caused more damage and devastation. Strange blue lightning shot out of the swirling mass causing more damage wherever it struck. He watched in horror as innocent people were struck and fell to the ground, likely dead. Dozens more were injured by flying debris or by falling debris from buildings where the lightning struck.

Almost as quickly as it began, the lightning faded and stopped followed shortly by the cloud dissipating. When the sky cleared, Kyle saw damage and devastation reminiscent of tornadoes in his native midwest.

Picking himself up off the ground, Kyle immediately began to help those around him. He cleared debris off of injured people wherever he could and asked those who were conscious if they were okay. He tried to get an idea of how badly injured the people were. Some had broken bones, others only bruises and cuts, and still others with serious injuries.

"Does anyone have any medical training?" he yelled out trying to be heard above the noise.

Jemal said:

Jacie charges in towards the carnage, looking around for survivors. Though she has no medical training, she has seen a lot of Medical shows, and done some reading on the subject, and can at least tell the others what *Not* to do. She sees a couple others helping the wounded and starts yelling at them.

"Don't rip that out, he'll just bleed more..
Don't move that guy, you'll make it worse..
Somebody help me move this girder off this girl!"

Click to expand...

The people who have their wits about them enough to assist begin to act as Jacie has suggested. None of them appear to be emergency trained or wearing uniforms to suggest that they are police, fire personnel, EMTs, or anything of that sort.

Jacie spots a young man in military fatigues trapped beneath a downed lightpole. He is conscious and trying to get himself free.

Graybeard said:

Picking himself up off the ground, Kyle immediately began to help those around him. He cleared debris off of injured people wherever he could and asked those who were conscious if they were okay. He tried to get an idea of how badly injured the people were. Some had broken bones, others only bruises and cuts, and still others with serious injuries.

"Does anyone have any medical training?" he yelled out trying to be heard above the noise.

Click to expand...

A young woman, one of the college students Kyle had been eyeing before, steps tentatively forward. "I am... a med student," she says. "Maybe I could help." She looks around at the chaos and carnage. "I think."

Jacie rushed over to the downed military man.
"hold still, we'll get you out."
She waved some help over, Looking at the man for a few seconds.
"Hey soldier, your name wouldn't happen to be Dave, would it?"

Jacie didn't usually frequent this area, but had been set to meet one of her online friends for lunch. She'd been running a bit late and had just arrived when the 'cyclone' happened. Dave had said he'd be dressed in fatigues, and she had worn her one and only dress for the occasion.. Which was, she realized belatedly, hiking up with all her activity. 'the one time I wear a dress..' she mutters to herself, ignoring the slight inconvenience as they work to free him.

Insight said:

A young woman, one of the college students Kyle had been eyeing before, steps tentatively forward. "I am... a med student," she says. "Maybe I could help." She looks around at the chaos and carnage. "I think."

Click to expand...

"Good. I'm Kyle, a history student. There are a lot of injured people around here. I know you don't have a first aid kit or anything with you but maybe one of the restaurants or stores has one you can use. These people need all the help they can get until the paramedics arrive. Just do the best you can." he said as calmly as possible under the circumstances.

Kyle took a good look around and saw some others trying to help the trapped and injured.

"I'm going to try to help free some of the people that are trapped. You'll do just fine, I know it." he said encouragingly.

Then he started walking around and trying to lift some of the debris off of those who were trapped.

John Sears was in his disguise of a trench coat, drinking his cup of coffee at the famous Yellow Brick Row Coffee House. He may be in the mood to not want attention, but he'll be damned to drink second grade coffee. His enjoyment with his tasty coffee was to be knocked down for ... Literally! A loud boom with a sudden of a shock wave knocked him straight down off his feet.

Getting his bearings straight, and getting up to his feet, he first and foremost act was to go to the source of the loud booming sound. Seeing people in trouble, he instantly went to help to do what he can. While assisting in removing the debris, he gave courage to the trapped people. "Don't worry, you're going to be all right." "You're going to make it." And even the occasional "Have no fear, John is here!"