(So, one day I said, hey, that Conquering Remnant game looks like fun in Volume 2! I wonder how that would play out if it was an actual thing... And then many months and thoughts later I made this. So, here's my start on getting RWBY to play a particularly interesting game of Conquering Remnant, at least if I have anything to say about it. Hope you enjoy!)
The sky was dark. The lightning flashed. The rain fell in sheets, and the storm let its fury loose upon Vale. The vicious storm clouds smothered out the light of the sun, robbing the day of warmth, and sending fell winds to blow and batter at the buildings below.
Down amongst the many buildings bathed in rainwater, was a simple grey stone affair, one-story with dark green shingles, no windows, and a set of dark brown wooden double-doors at the front. The doors had the letter C carved into the left, and the letter G carved into the door to the right, both in fancy lettering. There were no knockers, nor any locks on the black iron door handles. And they did not open up into room or a hallway, but to a set of grey stone stairs, leading down several feet below the ground, to a hallway that progressed even deeper within.
It was a strange little building with a strange little entrance. One that no one approached without a reason. And for four adolescent females, rushing through the storm-ridden streets, through the doors, and down the steps into the deep hall, there was a very good reason. Even if only one of them knew what it might be at the moment.
"Ugh, I swear Xiao Long, I don't know why I let you get me wrapped up in your little 'adventures'." Muttered a frustrated Weiss, futilely trying to wring out her ponytail with her hands, a notably peeved expression on her face.
"Oh come on! How was I supposed to know it'd rain today of all days?" Asked Yang with a put-upon tone, trying to stroke water out of her own long locks with a grimace, not particularly a fan of damp hair.
"Maybe by checking your scroll once in a while, or at least once, before we left." Muttered a particularly grumpy Blake. She did not like getting wet. At all. And the fact that her ears were drenched inside of her now soggy bow only furthered the sour look upon the cat faunus's face. Out of all of them, only Ruby seemed to be comparatively unaffected by the storm, still smiling as she brushed some water droplets off of her combat skirt.
"Aw come on team! Yes, Yang could have thought to look at her scroll and maybe see the severe thunderstorm warning-"
"Seriously?! You guys have those to!"
"But the important thing is that we have arrived at our destination, we team RWBY, are here!" Spoke Ruby raising her right hand up, index finger pointed upwards, left hand moving in a fist to her side... before she turned her head to look at Yang with a sheepish look on her face.
"Um, now where exactly is here, again?"
"Yes, just where have you dragged us to for your 'top secret surprise'?" Asked Weiss, obviously still miffed as she crossed her arms over her chest, and silently thanked Dust that the white dresses she wore were designed with the potential of rainfall in mind, and thus would not be turning see-through and showing anything. Not that she had anything to show...
Weiss allowed herself a grimace and looked down, having gone to that unfortunate spot in her mind concerned with body image, while Blake picked up the slack.
"Yeah, you haven't really told us anything about what we're doing here. I'm actually kinda impressed, you usually can't keep quiet about, well, anything. " Muttered Blake, allowing herself a smirk, before grimacing again as her ears flicked against her soggy bow. She moved both her hands up and under the cloth to start massaging her ears through the cloth as Yang replied.
"Heheheh, well, I can't tell you quite yet, yes I can be quiet thank you very much grumpy puss, but soon all will be revealed! And it will be totally worth it." Spoke Yang, grinning wide and slowly rubbing her hands together in front of her, a mad glint in her eye. Weiss looked back up from her own bosom and narrowed her eyes at the far bustier blonde.
"Yang. If I followed you out into a storm just to be the victim of some stupid prank I will hurt you." She spoke, lowly and with a dangerous tone. Yang responded with a chuckle, a cocky grin, and a shrug of her shoulders.
"Ah give me some credit Weiss! When have I ever lead you gals astray?" Yang's question was met with three deadpan stares and crossed arms from the other adolescent females.
"Hey, Ice Queen, let me borrow your sword for a minute. Don't worry, I'll be quick, I just want to see if I can do something totally awesome with it." Weiss recounted, causing Yang to blush a bit and grin awkwardly.
"Hehehehe, yeah okay, trying to fire off every Dust canister at once wasn't the best idea I'll-" Started Yang, before Blake chimed in.
"Here it is Blake, this store's great, you're going to love it, especially the section at the back, they have some great literature in there." Blake spoke, narrowing her eyes a bit at the end as Yang gulped a little, blushed a bit deeper, and moved her right hand back up behind her head, rubbing it nervously.
"H-hey, technically there was literature... with illustrations... and instructions..." Muttered Yang, before Ruby threw in her two lien.
"Oh, don't worry Ruby, dad won't mind, see, I drew whiskers on his face, why don't you try something?" Quoted Ruby with a glare, as Yang lifted her eyes and stared at her baby sister for a moment.
"Ruby... that was when you were nine." She spoke, before Ruby replied.
"No cookies for a week Yang!" Replied the sibling, narrowing her eyes.
"For. A. Week!" Yang blinked, then quickly shook her head and held her hands up in surrender.
"Alright, alright I get it! So not all my ideas were as awesome as they could have been. Trust me though, you're gonna like this one!" Spoke the blonde bombshell before smirking and walking down the hall, gesturing for the girls to follow.
"Now come on, it'll be warmer inside." She spoke, before turning and starting to walk down the hallway. The rest of Team RWBY, as motivated by the promise of heat as much as they were by Yang's assurances that they'd be getting to the goal of their venture soon, began progressing down the darkened hall. It didn't stay darkened for long. As they walked, black iron torches bolted to the walls, previously hidden in the dark, began to 'burst' to life, fire Dust crystals activating to some unknown trigger, and causing warm orange flames to spring up and illuminate the grey stone walls and red carpeting of the hall.
The girls' eyes widened as this occurred, with the exception of Yang who just smirked knowingly, as they continued to journey down the path.
"Ooooh! Mysterious!" Spoke Ruby, some excitement in her eyes as she brought her hands up in little fists and tapped them together, already getting an energetic vibe from their secret-shrouded journey.
"Yeah, he likes his dramatics." Spoke Yang with a roll of her eyes as more torches lit themselves with the girls passing.
"He?" Asked Weiss curiously, moving along quickly down the self-lighting hallway, eyeing the torches askance.
"Yeah, it's a dude. Don't worry though he's cool. And we're four Huntresses in training sooooooo..." Spoke Yang, shrugging smugly and letting the end of the sentence imply itself.
"We're... going in pretty deep." Spoke Blake cautiously, rubbing her arms now and looking behind her, appreciating the warmth as it began to reach through her bow and into her ears, much less the rest of her body, even as she considered the depths and how potentially difficult they'd be to run from.
"Uhuh, I asked him about that the first time I came here." Spoke Yang, lifting her right hand and waving it off.
"He said it's mainly for two reasons. One, to help prevent noise distraction, and two, because it gives an air of 'mystery and suspense'." Spoke the blonde brawler, making air quotations with her fingers as she smirked further.
"Like I said, guy's a drama queen. Annnnnd here we are, this is the place!" Continued the blonde brawler, before stopping with a smirk. The girls looking around her curiously, Ruby leaning to the right, Weiss leaning to the left, and Blake leaning to the right, all to get a look around Yang to see what they'd reached.
In front of them all was a door, large, dark and wooden, with a black iron knocker in the shape of an Ursa Major's head, teeth clenched around a ring. Carved into the door itself, upwards from the center, was what looked like a representation of the four Kingdoms. The spear and gear of Atlas was up at the top, the twin axes of Vale with the wreath of victory down at the bottom, the guarding shield of Mistral was over at the right, and the three winged swords of Vacuo was at the left. And in the center betwixt all of them was a simple X, with long lines separating the symbols, North, South, East, and West.
The girls, especially Weiss who had always had a fascination with the various cultures of Remnant, found themselves interested in the design but couldn't contemplate it for long as Yang lifted her hand to grasp the knocker and-
Knock-Knock-Knock
Struck it against the door. They waited for a few moments... and then with a slow and groaning creak of its hinges the door opened, pouring out warm orange light from within, and revealing the man they had come to see... He wasn't what the RWB portion of RWBY had expected.
The male was about 5ft11 and wore a black two-tailed tuxedo coat with white edging along the tails and cuffs. Beneath that he wore a black waistcoat with silver buttons, a red dress shirt underneath the waistcoat, and a black bow-tie tied neatly at the collar with a milky white oval shaped opal in the center, embedded in a light silver casing, thin edges around. His pants were black dress pants, with a single thin white stripe, down the outside on either side, and black dress shoes on his feet, with red soles. On his hands were fingerless black leather gloves, with small diamond shaped rubies on the backs of each, thinly edged in silver.
Odder than his attire though was the male himself. He looked to be somewhere in his younger twenties, though on Remnant that could mean anything from him actually being young to just having a strong aura. He was pale-skinned and wearing... dark red lipstick, applied expertly to his lips. He was also wearing a little black eyeshadow, and eyeliner. His nails were painted red, the same shade as his lipstick. The nails were immaculately manicured, and he had short black hair trimmed neatly and styled back on his head. His eyes were a dark red themselves, and seemed to match his lips. He also seemed to be lightly perfumed, nothing particularly noticeable but pleasant enough. All in all, he seemed to be somewhat... effeminate.
Each of the girls who had yet to meet him had varying reactions to this. Ruby, whose mind was often as innocent as her heart, just thought he looked kind of pretty and liked all the red. Weiss's eyes widened at the non-traditional look, and then she quickly looked down and began to silently berate herself, bringing to mind her ongoing efforts to be more open-minded and understanding of people. As for Blake, the male reminded her of a character from one of her novels, Sakura-Chan the 'trap' geisha, and so she quickly looked away to hide the blush forming on her cheeks as she instantly and vividly recalled a number of steamy scenes containing said character. As for Yang, well, she already knew him, so when he opened the door she simply raised her right hand up in greeting.
"Yo." She spoke, grinning wide as the man blinked with surprise in his eyes.
"Yang? You actually came today?" He replied, the surprise making itself clear in his voice in case anyone had missed the eyes.
"Well, yeah V, said I would right?" Retorted Yang, shrugging with a bit of a smirk as the male stood to the side, and opened the door wider for her and the rest of her friends to come in. As they stepped inside, Ruby, Blake, and Weiss began to look around at the new environment, built so deeply and secretly down at the end of a torch-lit hall. It was actually rather comfy looking. They were stepping onto a plush red carpet and into what looked like another hallway, wider than the one they'd just left, with a series of small silver chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, red lit candles present in each one. The walls were white, and instead of going straight, curved up in arcs to form the ceiling, leaving no corners. The actual ceiling, starting where the walls curved, showed a silver and white diamond-pattern painted upon it, lining the hall. The hallways went all the way down to a set of double-doors, made of some kind of black wood by the look of them, and then split in the center to go down two different halls, implying that this space beneath was even bigger than originally thought.
There were other doors down the hallway as well as at the end of it, black single doors in the wall, two on the left and two on the right, with plenty of space between each other. Overall, the place looked more than a little mysterious, however it also looked like someplace where someone would live fairly comfortably. The male looked over the girls as curiously as they looked around the hall while they entered, then turned his eyes back to Yang.
"Yes but there's a storm outside! Honestly I was expecting you to call and reschedule." He spoke simply, before closing the door behind the girls. Yang turned back to look at him fully and smiled pleasantly, even as the Black and White figures of the RWBY color-scheme shot Yang dirty looks.
"Well, we didn't notice there was a storm coming until we were already in Vale-"
"Because someone doesn't bother to check her scroll." Muttered Weiss.
"And it was a little late to go back by then, so we figured we'd press on." Finished Yang, ignoring Weiss's interruption as the male blinked, then smiled a bit himself in understanding.
"Ah, I see. Well in that case, I ask that you all please follow me. There is a warm fire that may be of some use nearby." He spoke simply, walking past the girls down the hall, beckoning them to follow as they moved. As they walked, the girls, excepting Yang, continued to look around, and saw that on the black doors were silver etchings of the Kingdom symbols, up from the center like on the door they'd just walked through. The ones they passed on the left and right had Atlas and Mistral, respectively. And as they reached the second set of doors, there was Vale on the left and Vacuo over on the right. Weiss found herself more and more curious as to the reasoning behind it, while Blake and Ruby kept a general curiosity. The male 'V' however cut the curiosity short by leading them over to the Vale door, and calmly lifting his right hand up to push it open, before stepping aside and letting them see inside.
The room was a well-lit lounge, fair sized, with more plush red carpet and a grey stone fireplace with the fire lit, black iron covering positioned in front of it to prevent an errant spark from igniting said carpet. The fireplace was the only part that Ruby needed to see before her eyes widened.
"Oooh!" Shouted Ruby, and immediately DARTED in past the others, falling to her knees in front of the fireplace and moving her hands in front of her body.
"So, warm!" She spoke with glee, Yang rolled her eyes and smiled softly at her sister's antics as she walked in, Blake and Weiss following, both with their own little smiles, unable to help but be amused. Unlike their partners, the two non-blood related females took the time to actually look around the lounge as they entered. It was very comfortable looking, with a couple of plush red chairs positioned off and diagonal from the fireplace, close enough for warmth but not to risk uncomfortable heat. There was a large red couch back against the right wall, and a slim dark-brown wooden bookshelf to its right. There was a second couch against the opposing wall, though smaller, with a brown wooden coffee table positioned in front of it, and against the wall to the right of the door, pretty much immediately, was a dark brown long table. This long table had numerous red plastic cups, bottles of varying soda waters, a punch bowl and two pitchers, one of iced tea and one of ice water. There was also a small stack of red paper plates, a larger plate of cookies, chocolate chip, serving size, a tray of chocolate chip muffins, a salad at the far right, and a pair of fair-sized cakes, one with white frosting and one with chocolate, sitting next to each other. Snack foods and baked goods, meant for munching.
Blake and Weiss looked over this plethora of goods with slightly widened eyes. It was... more than they had been expecting. By a fair amount. And they almost didn't notice as 'V' moved inside, pulling the door closed behind him with a smile.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable. And feel free to partake of any of the refreshments, beverages and sweets both are here for the pleasure of the guest." Spoke the male. As he finished however both Blake and Weiss's eyes widened, turning quickly to look at him and as one and lifting up their hands to wave them emphatically, shaking their heads in the same motion. He only wondered why they had that reaction for a moment before he heard-
"Sweets!?" From the younger red-hooded girl, and when she turned away from the fire to look for the promised sweets and saw the table her eyes lit up, and she RUSHED away from the fire towards the table, leaving only some rose-petals across the floor. She stood there, above the table, her hands up, fingers curling with eagerness, drool collecting at the right side of her mouth, and what 'V' could have sworn were literal stars in her eyes as her gaze locked onto the cookies with all the precision and focus of a smart-missile.
"Oooooh thank you!" She shouted before her hands began snatching up chocolate chip cookies in a blur, moving them from the plate into her mouth with a truly enviable speed. V blinked.
"... You... are welcome." He spoke slowly, eyes widening slightly as he continued to watch, a somewhat amazed look upon his face. Weiss in the meantime just sighed, bringing her right hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose and her left hand to rest on her waist as she shook her head, and Blake hung her head and arms in defeat, knowing that whatever battle to keep some of the cookies for themselves was now lost. Yang, for her part, just chuckled and looked back over to 'V' with a smirk.
"Heh, sorry, guess I shoulda mentioned my sis is a cookie freak."
"Awm nwot!" spoke Ruby, her mouth filled with cookie, causing Weiss to narrow her eyes and cross her arms, turning her head to give Ruby a glare.
"Ruby don't speak with your mouth full, it's rude." She chided, encouraging Ruby to gulp down the cookie then let out an 'ah' and smile sheepishly.
"S-sorry." She spoke, before her left hand began tentatively reaching for another. V withdrew his eyes from the unique display of cookie-love to look towards the rest of the assembled girls, smiling lightly.
"Well, now that we're in an appropriate setting, I believe that introductions are in order." Spoke the male, before crossing his left arm across his waist and bowing forward lightly to his adolescent guests.
"Hello, my name is Vermilion De'Cinabrous. Welcome, Team RWBY, to my humble hall." He greeted, before rising again with a polite smile. Weiss, always one for good manners, brought her hands down to the sides of her combat skirt and 'curtsied'.
"Thank you for the welcome Mister Cinabrous, I am Weiss Schnee, it is my pleasure to meet you." She spoke, years of etiquette lessons manifesting themselves, and Yang rolling her eyes slightly at Weiss's formality. Vermilion however smiled a little wider, grinning with a pleasant spark in his eyes.
"Ah, what a polite young lady you are Miss Schnee! It is quite the pleasure to meet you as well." He spoke, nodding slightly to Weiss, who actually blushed a bit at being complimented on her good manners. Weiss looked down towards the carpet in a futile effort to hide her blush or at least not look at the cause of it, and smiled, perhaps just a little smugly, even as Yang looked over to Blake and made a 'gag' gesture with her finger, causing Blake to lift her right hand up across her mouth to keep her chuckle silent.
"Ah, mm, and I'm Ruby! Hi!" Spoke Ruby, having swallowed down another snatched cookie, before lifting her right hand and waving it emphatically at Vermilion. The man grinned at that, amusement in his eyes.
"And hello to you to! Yang told me you were an energetic and talented young lady, and I can already see she was correct. A pleasure to meet you Ruby." Spoke Vermilion, causing Ruby to blush much deeper than Weiss had, lower her head and go-
"Awmghlstahpmg" with possibly some other unintelligible phrases mixed in. Yang, in the meantime beamed with pride, and walked over to wrap her left arm around Ruby's shoulders, just hugging her close as Blake smirked in amusement and rolled her eyes, before looking over to Vermilion.
"And I'm Blake. Hello." She stated simply, giving Vermilion a polite nod. Vermilion smirked a bit at that.
"Ah, a lady of thoughtful and measured action I see. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Blake." He spoke, giving a polite nod in turn, before looking to Yang.
"Well, now that we've all been introduced, do we need a few minutes to relax or are we ready to begin?" He asked simply, to which he was met with silence for a few moments... before Blake actually jumped in.
"Um, begin what, exactly?" She asked, causing Vermilion to blink... then narrow his eyes slightly at Yang.
"You didn't tell them?" He asked, to which Yang grinned sheepishly.
"I-uh kinda wanted it to be a surprise, you know?" She spoke, causing Vermilion to lower his head for a moment and sigh, bringing his right hand up to pinch his brow in a way that reminded Weiss very much of how she frequently felt with Ruby... she'd gotten better about it, however still, they had their moments. Vermilion took a breath in deeply, then exhaled slowly... before lowering his hand and looking up to Yang with a somewhat dry expression on his face.
"Well Miss Xiao Long, you have certainly succeeded in surprising me twice today, and without any previous knowledge of the subject this will be a surprise to your friends to I'm sure." He spoke bluntly, before straightening up, rolling his shoulders back, then smiling pleasantly once more.
"Right then, might I recommend everyone get comfortable? Grab whatever refreshments you like please and relax so that I may thoroughly address what Miss Xiao Long has brought you here to surprise you with." He stated calmly, and the members of Team RWBY, even more curious now than they were a few minutes ago, began to arrange themselves for maximum comfort.
Ruby, grabbing the only three cookies left on the serving plate and a paper plate to put them on, also took a cup filled with some cherry-flavored soda water, and seated herself in the middle of the couch. Yang, grabbing a cup of more regularly flavored soda, sat herself to the right of her sister, pressed up. Blake grabbed soda from the same source as Yang, and also a small slice of chocolate cake, before seating herself to Yang's right, not quite pressed up but not especially distant either. And Weiss grabbed some of the vanilla cake, a nice dainty slice, along with knife and fork, as well as a cup of the iced tea, before sitting to Ruby's left, a little more distant but still close enough.
Vermilion himself seemed to partake, grabbing some soda from a different bottle and pouring it into a cup. The host he was, but he needed something to help deal with Yang's antics and he made sure to overstock for the four females... except for the cookies. He would have to get more of those. Discreetly. But that was a problem for later, for the moment, he pulled over one of the red chairs, and sat down opposite the couch of adolescent females, cup in his right hand as he leaned back, and looked across the assembled girls.
"Now then, what do you all know about Conquering Remnant?" he asked simply, to which Ruby's eyes immediately furrowed.
"Ummm, bad guys try to do it a lot?" She guessed, causing Yang to 'snrk' immediately and move her right hand over her mouth, clasping it firmly to halt her laughter, while putting her left wrist on Ruby's shoulder, hand busy holding her drink, and shaking her head. Vermilion smirked a bit at that, then shook his head as well.
"The 'other' type of Conquering Remnant, Miss Ruby." He clarified, to which Weiss actually replied.
"Do you mean the board game? That board game we all played in the library?" She asked with furrowed brows, looking across to the rest of her team, to which Ruby's eyes lit up in recognition, and Yang gave a single nod with a grin, lowering her hand as the chuckles died down. Blake creased her own brows slightly. She hadn't been in the best state of mind when they'd tried to play that game. She had categorized it as a 'waste of time' and perhaps some of that harsh view from before still lingered, even if she knew it was kind of unfair. Still, she felt a bit uneasy about the subject of Vermilion continued.
"Yes, it is a very popular board game. Making use of cards, models, and dice all. It has achieved fame and popularity far outside of its original intended sphere, amassing a large and dedicated fandom. In the center of this fandom, available for intense and casual players alike, is an entity referred to as The Conqueror's Guild, of which I am a Game-Master. This position, at its heart, simply means that I am to arrange games of Conquering Remnant for those who would play it. Most formally in Guild sponsored tournaments, but in numerous other venues as well. Such as, for example, private gatherings..." He spoke, letting that part sink in with the girls.
Ruby's eyes widened a bit with interest, already having many fond memories of the casual version of the game. Yang just looked kind of smug. Weiss and Blake however both turned their eyes to Yang and narrowed them as one, though it was Weiss who spoke first.
"Yang... Did you drag us into Vale during a storm for the sake of a game that we could have played in our room?" She asked, her tone even enough but a very clear underlying agitation within, as partially evidenced by her right eye twitching. Blake's eyes were even more narrowed, and actually she looked like she might be less agitated and closer to actually angry. She did not like having her time wasted. At all. To say nothing of the storm she'd had to run through. But it wasn't Yang who responded to Weiss's question.
"No." Stated Vermilion, quite plainly and firmly, pulling the eyes of the girls off of Yang, which let her release a nervous breath she hadn't realized she'd taken in, and bring their attention back to the Game-Master of Vale.
"You could not replicate my services in a casual game. This chamber is custom-built and designed for the sole purpose of playing the game in peace and comfort, where no distractions may emerge to draw the players from their stratagems. I myself act as a host and moderator for the game, keeping track, keeping watch, and most importantly, acting as vehicle for the energy of the game, providing a unique, one of a kind experience for every player, every time. Excuse me if this rings of arrogance, but I take my work seriously, and I am very good at my job. I hope you will all give me the opportunity to prove it to you, and make the unpleasant trip through the storm worth it." Spoke Vermilion, bowing his head forward slightly at that, respectfully, causing the girls to look at him with fairly wide eyes. That was a little more impassioned than they had been expecting.
"Uhhhh..." sounded Blake, looking to the rest of the team with an uncertain gaze. In far contrast to Ruby's own excited eyes.
"Pfh! Well yeah of course we will! I mean it sounds cool! And we're already here it'd be pretty silly to just leave without giving it a try." Spoke Ruby with a grin, looking around to her team and giving them repeated nods. Weiss, in the face of Ruby's enthusiasm, quickly shook off her slight nervousness and brought her right hand up in a fist in front of mouth, coughing lightly into it then clearing her throat.
"Ah-ahem, mm, yes. It would be very improper to make this trip then leave without accomplishing our objective!" She spoke, with more confidence than she felt, then moving her hands down to smooth out her combat skirt as a substitute for anxious movement. She didn't want to discourage Vermilion after hearing that impassioned request. While she didn't really understand why someone would get passionate about hosting a game, she did know how it felt to take something so seriously and put so much work into it that you can't help but try and show your skills. Just dismissing someone after they'd poured their heart and soul into something was insensitive, to say the least. And emotionally traumatizing for a child, but that was a deep-seated issue she might have to see a psychiatrist about one day.
The rest of the team then looked to Blake, who looked back to them for a moment... then sighed, rolled her eyes, and smiled a bit.
"Sure. Why not?" She assented, prompting Yang to grin and pump her right arm.
"Yes! Team RWBY is ready to play!" She spoke excitedly. Vermilion lifted his head back up at that with a wide smile.
"Thank you very much ladies of Beacon. I will not disappoint you." He spoke, with what all of Team RWBY could have sworn was fire in his eyes. Then he smiled pleasantly again, and leaned back in his seat before lifting his beverage and taking a light sip, before continuing on in a calm tone.
"Now, as glad as I am that you are willing to use my services, I must disagree with Miss Xiao Long that you are 'ready to play'." He spoke, prompting Yang to raise an eyebrow as he continued.
"For example, Miss Schnee, Miss Blake, are either of you familiar with the game?" He asked, looking to the girls in question. Blake and Weiss shared a look for a moment, before Weiss responded.
"N-not really." Spoke Weiss, a little embarrassed that she had never really grasped the game. Blake shook her head calmly.
"I never really had time for... board games." She spoke, grimacing a bit at the memories of what she was doing instead with her time, and how little choice she felt she'd ever had in the matter. Vermilion gave a slight nod with an understand smile.
"It is quite fine. It simply means that a bit more explanation and background is required before we begin." He stated simply, before sipping from his drink a little, then continuing to speak.
"Conquering Remnant is a game that assumes that the four powers of Remnant have gone to war for reasons that are entirely logical to them I'm sure. Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo, have taken up arms against one another. A player takes the head of each of these four Kingdoms, and then attempts to conquer the other three, gaining the benefits and resources of the Kingdoms they conquer." Spoke Vermilion, the girls listening up as he spoke, even Yang and Ruby who already knew the rules.
"The game uses a mixture of cards, models, and dice in its playing, as well as multiple unique terms. While these rules can seem quite complex, especially as you get into the re-balanced Tournament style which we will be using for this game, all the concepts behind them are actually very simple. And while I cannot tell you what to do or advise you on strategy, I will be available to all of you to answer any questions about your cards and their capabilities, and will be keeping track of the fine details. So please, do not let them overwhelm." Vermilion mentioned with a reassuring smile.
"Now, each of the players rolls for the order of turns. Two six sided dies are used. The one who rolls the highest gets to go first, and the one who rolls the lowest goes last, order assigned by roll. If two players roll the same, then they get to have a roll-off. Very basic. Each player gets a turn, and once all players have had a turn, that is considered to be a 'round'. The start of the next 'round' is the Host roll, followed by the players in proper order, and so it continues. All players acquire seven cards at the start of the game. These cards come in three different types, 'Warriors', 'Effects', and 'Defenses'. Warrior cards are, in essence, the fighting units, who can be deployed by the player and the kingdom they represent. When held in the player's hand they are considered 'Garrisoned' in the founding city of their kingdom, and can be played directly to counter attacks to the city. A player may 'Deploy' these warriors from their hands, to patrol the kingdom outside of their founding city, attack one of the other kingdoms, or even perform more subversive actions depending on the warrior card.
Effect cards can vary very wildly, however are deployed on the player's turn, and unless otherwise stated, end after their turn. Usually, these effects focus on either strengthening your forces or damaging the enemy's forces, but other more esoteric ones can exist as well. And defense cards are focused on the defense of your territory and Kingdom. These are deployed in either the founding city, or kingdom territory usually, but can also be deployed in conquered kingdom territories and cities. Some are static, and others activate only when an enemy attacks. Those second types are casually called 'trap' cards, and the name is often quite appropriate."
Spoke Vermilion, before taking a breath and a sip from his soda. He wasn't the only one, as Blake had started to munch on her cake, holding it in her right hand and biting at the end, and Weiss had started to cut into hers with her left hand holding the fork, sipping at the iced tea in her right. Ruby was finishing off the last cookie, at a thankfully slower pace than the previous with only half of it gone in one chomp this time, and had already downed half of her soda, while Yang was casually drinking from her own beverage, just listening in on the refresher.
Vermilion finished sipping then after a moment of savoring, continued to speak.
"Now, many of these cards have a 'Faction' assigned to them, most of which are either one of the Kingdoms, a third party usually fictional and made for the game, or the Grimm. Kingdoms apply bonuses to cards that share their own faction, however any player can play cards from any faction. And any warrior card in their hands are still considered garrisoned in the founding city, regardless of faction. This is important, because the only way that one can defeat the other kingdoms is to either conquer or destroy their founding city. If a player's garrison is destroyed, including any city-based defenses, and another player has cards inside of their city, the city is considered conquered along with their kingdom, and that player is beaten. Unless it's a Grimm card. In that case, the city is considered destroyed and the player is, once again, beaten. The player who destroys a founding city can no longer gain the bonuses and rewards of the kingdom. A conquered city however continues to supply these rewards.
Each founding city is protected by their defenses. Every founding city begins with one static defense in play, namely their walls. The walls have their own defense value, and all defense cards deployed to protect them will have to be destroyed before the walls can be attacked directly. When the walls fall, attacking forces may enter the city proper, and the walls have to be rebuilt. Not an easy task as rebuilding or repairing only brings back one point of their defense value per turn. And speaking of walls and vulnerability, it is now time to discuss something unique to the tournament style of this game, something that adds an additional level of tension... The Grimm." That caused all the girls involved to tense up just a little bit, the word triggering the parts of their minds that remembered the monsters they were training to fight.
"The models on the board in tournament-style are used solely to represent the Grimm and their increasing numbers as they respond to the violence across Remnant. Every conflict between the kingdoms results in additional grimm, as well as every playing of a grimm card. In addition to this, a random amount of grimm, decided by dice-roll, are added to each kingdom at the end of a full 'round' when all four players have had their turn. If the grimm, at the start of a player's turn, outnumber the defense score of the player's founding cities, then there is a 'Grimm Attack', with a random roll for the intensity of the attack, and grimm cards drawn from the Host's grimm deck. Grimm can also attack patrolling forces, if at any time the number of models outweighs the power of the patrols. One can dedicate forces to attacking the grimm, putting them at risk, but reducing the number of grimm in their kingdom. However, a large grimm presence will also attack enemy forces sent to assault your kingdom if their total power is less than the power of the grimm. This turns grimm management into a vital strategic choice, the creatures able to harm both the players, and their enemies. Something to keep in mind. Oh, and as a completely unique rule to tournament style, successful 'Huntsman' warrior card deployments against the grimm result in twice the grimm casualties that would normally occur, making them very efficient at clearing the grimm from kingdoms." Spoke Vermilion, as the girls listened on.
Ruby was listening intently to this new set of rules. Most of them were very similar to casual, however the Grimm in Tournament style seemed to be a bigger factor. Grimm cards were always potentially dangerous to the people who played them, but usually the models were just used as representations of total force power, positioned to represent the forces of the Kingdom with the cards adding support. These rule changes thus far put the pressure on the cards themselves to carry the day to victory, and the models represented the very real dangers of waging war in Remnant... she liked it.
Weiss was also finding the rules very interesting, as she carefully chewed on her vanilla cake slice, brows furrowed in thought. While the specifics of the rules might get a little complicated, she was fairly certain she could figure them out and remember them without much trouble. More than that though, the rule-set seemed to be based in very logical patterns. The cards in your hand were there as part of your resources, so soldiers and troops were garrisoned from the hand because they were already there. Deploying them put them to actual work, and you had to keep a mind to both defense and offense. And of course the Grimm would congregate in times of war, they always did historically and forces had to be dedicated to putting them down. In short, Weiss was finding the concepts behind the game quite sound thus far, and well organized.
Blake was less certain. It sounded like the game rules would be very specific and detailed, probably with a steep learning curve. Meaning that Yang, who had already done it, would be having an easier time of it... Still, Yang wasn't that kind of subversive. Competitive sure, but if this wasn't a joke of hers, and the guy here certainly didn't seem to be treating it like a joke, then she probably had brought all the girls here with the intention of having a good time and getting some team bonding going. Might not have even considered her unfair advantage. So Blake continued to listen, and munch on her cake with eyebrows furrowed in thought as the man continued.
"Let's see... Ah, the number of cards you draw per turn depends on a mixture of factors. The base is three cards drawn at the start of your turn, however if there are enemy forces deployed within your kingdom at the start of your next turn, then that goes down to one card drawn. For every victorious engagement however, offensive during your turn or defensive during your opponent's turns, you gain an additional card at the start of your next turn. These are referred to as 'Reward' cards. And while there is no maximum amount to the number of cards you can have in your hand, there is a maximum number of warrior cards you can keep in your hand at one point. You may only have four warrior cards garrisoned at any time, once you reach five warrior cards or more you must either deploy the additional cards, or discard them. Every card removed from the game by use, sacrifice, or being destroyed, goes into the discard pile. While you can deploy all the warrior cards you have during your turn, both effect and defenses cards are more limited. You can play one defense card, and one effect card per turn. Defense cards are placed face-down until they are revealed, hidden until defenses are tested. Effect cards are shown face-up and go into effect immediately upon playing. Any questions thus far?" Asked Vermilion, before Blake, after a moment, nodded thoughtfully, then spoke.
"Warrior cards. They're hidden when they're garrisoned and revealed when deployed?" She asked simply, to which Vermilion nodded with a light smile.
"Indeed. In your hand all cards are hidden, and the garrisoned warriors are only revealed if the founding city is attacked. Deployed forces, either for patrol or in an attack, are face-up and revealed to your opponents."
"Ooh! Ooh!" Sounded Ruby, lifting her right hand and waving it in the air emphatically. Vermilion smiled a little at that and nodded to her.
"Yes Ruby?" He asked, as Ruby brought her hand down and asked quickly.
"What about repairs? Do they function the same?" She asked, and Vermilion's eyes lit up at that.
"Ah yes! Good question. Yes 'Repairs' function essentially the same. Conceptually, after any engagement, victorious or lost where the warrior card is not destroyed, they must repair themselves in a founding city, this representing literal repairing, rearming, replenishing the ranks, etc. Each warrior card has their own individual repair time and cannot be used again until the repairs are completed. It should be noted that while repairing in a founding city, the warrior card does not act as a garrison unit, and the garrison maximum does not apply to the card. If you have a full garrison, a repaired card must be immediately deployed, either on the assault or patrol."
"Um-" Sounded in Weiss, not raising her hand like Ruby but getting attention.
"How do we decide who wins an engagement between warrior cards?" Asked Weiss, causing Vermilion to smile slightly.
"That one is decided through a mixture. One, of the card's 'Power' rating, and two, random rolling. Two six sided dice are rolled by each player, and the card's power-rating is added to the roll for each. If the outcome is seven points or higher in the favor of one of the cards, then the defeated warrior card is destroyed. If it's six to one point higher, then that card is defeated but returns to its founding city for repairs. If the value is the same, then the defending card wins and the attacking returns to their founding city for repairs. And then some cards have special effects, however that will be noted individually by card." Spoke Vermilion pleasantly, Weiss giving a slight nod as she pondered the combat stylings.
"Hey, haven't mentioned Navies or Flying yet V." Spoke Yang, causing Vermilion's eyes to light up again.
"Ah yes! Thank you for reminding me. Ahem, cards that are 'Naval' are unable to patrol regularly but are able to be stationed between the kingdom waterways, to prevent forces from one kingdom approaching without first destroying the navy. They can be deployed to any of the ocean pathways between the kingdoms, Vacuo and Vale's assumed not to use the overland desert route for game-balancing's sake. Only other 'Naval' cards or 'Flying' cards can attack these naval forces. There is also a slight chance of them being attacked by Grimm at the end of every round, a chance which increases the larger the naval forces stationed are, which is something the Host will roll for. It should be noted that since all the founding cities have waterways and water accesses, the navies can attack the cities, their defenses, and their garrisons. They cannot actually occupy them however, only land-based troops can do that. 'Flying' units can attack naval but they can't patrol the waterways like them, though they can patrol the kingdom the same as land. They can also attack 'over' land-forces, ignoring them to assault a kingdom's founding city directly, unless intercepted by other flyers or a warrior effect. They are able to attack land units at their leisure, who have a negative against 'flying' units unless otherwise stated, only able to use half their power to aid them. They can also attack kingdom defenses and garrisoned units within a founding city. Like navies however, they cannot 'occupy' a founding city." Vermilion sipped a bit more soda, blinked away the stars in his eyes, then cleared his throat.
"Mmm, mm now, this is worth noting. If a naval blockade is stationed by, say, Vacuo between Vacuo and Mistral, and Mistrali warriors deployed to Vacuo by airlift or sent in a previous turn are defeated but not destroyed, and would usually retreat to the founding city... they can't. There's a naval blockade. Unless they're being transported actively by flying units, they will be destroyed because they're unable to get home. In this way, navy's can be used to block off the retreat of land units who have invaded your kingdom." Spoke Vermilion, Weiss 'wincing' a bit at the brutal tactic, but Yang nodding with a smirk. It was one of the clever tactics that she just loved.
"One more element to cover. At the end of every round, I, the Host, will roll to see if there are any 'World Effects'. These effects stay in play unless they are replaced by another 'World Effect'. They can drastically effect gameplay and change the scope of the game. They are rare though, as only a value of '7' rolled between the dice, will see a world effect played. Now, does everyone understand? Keep in mind that I will still be available for help in understanding cards and will review any rules or aspects of the game you're uncomfortable with." Spoke Vermilion, as the girls looked to one another.
"I think I've got a good understanding. Sounds simple really." Spoke Weiss, smiling a bit as Blake shrugged slightly.
"I think I can manage." She stated, while Ruby grinned.
"Oh I've got it! Don't worry about me!" She spoke, as Yang gave a simple nod with a smirk, already very familiar with tournament style. Vermilion smiled wide.
"Wonderful." He stated simply, giving the girls a nod.
"Then I do believe we are ready to play. I recommend that as soon as you ladies have properly warmed up and finished your refreshments, we make our way to the game room. I am quite eager to get this game started, and see what you all can do..." Spoke Vermilion, smiling a little wider... with a spark of fire in his eyes.