Multiverse Crisis MUSH - User contributions [en]

7218/KHA: A Door to the Heart

2020-05-31T22:41:29Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/05/30 |Location=Winter |Synopsis=The final showdown with the Seeker of Darkness occurs at the End of the World, a place where Hearts lost to D..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/05/30
|Location=Winter
|Synopsis=The final showdown with the Seeker of Darkness occurs at the End of the World, a place where Hearts lost to Darkness collect. There, Ansem stands before a door that leads to a Darkness deeper still.
|Cast of Characters=6928, 7002, 1086, 7201, 42, 1106, 6994, 6909, 7148, 7225, 6906
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     LAST TIME ON KINGDOM HEARTS: AGES     A signal calls out to Seifer across the worlds, the SeeD tracking device barely locked onto as Kairi guides them through the Darkness to a place deep within. There, in a lacunae, Hollow Bastion rests, a place of ancient knowledge and dark histories. The place was veritably swarming with Heartless, and the group was pressed to battle their way inside. The gates were left open. Every lock undone, as if taunting them... Or perhaps they were never closed. There, they saw a massive Gate that seemed to lead into a place deeper still. As they debated what to do, they were drawn inside...     And left spilled onto a beach. There, standing at the wash of water, was Riku... Who taunted them about their behavior. He reshaped his body then, revealing his true form as Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, who had lured them into a trap, presumably, and claimed that he had already won. Those assembled battled him to a standstill until his shadowy guardian was shattered, damaging his ability to continue the battle as he was blasted with intense Light. He evacuated the area, taunting them to follow if they dared.     NOW...     The vista is little like it was before. The horizon is shattered, revealing a great ocean of shadow. Structures from dozens of worlds jut out of the blackness, their wrecked remains slowly decaying into nothingness. Spheres of shadow bubble up from the wash, floating there with oil-slick darkness before slowly collapsing back. The place is... oddly peaceful, actually. There are no great Heartless hordes assaulting them, though there is a sense of movement in the distance, something massive and terrible, perhaps, stirring there. The occasional winking of golden eyes, watching them... But nothing moves to attack. Nothing interposes itself. BGM: https://youtu.be/dkKXbFoMWmw The Keyblade War: The Final World - ROZEN + REVEN     All that remains is to brave the path to the deepest Darkness, where Ansem awaits. 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko rubs the back of her head, looking at this wasteland.  There is an oddly familiar feeling.  The night after the Iconoclasm, she thinks, it was so much darker without light, with monsters squirming out there waiting to eat you.  There is a moment in her eye as to her she'd see the feet of two people unmoving before she shakes the memory out of her head.  Can't dwell on that, have to push forward.   Taking a step forward, she starts down the path to the darkness within darkness.  "So wait, is this guy serious about the darkness being inside the darkness?  What does that make it, anti-nega-ultra darkness?  Or do we add greek letters to it to make it sound cooler?" Well, trying to make light of the situation was probably the best way to keep her spirits up.  This is strange because it's coming out of the mouth of a somewhat demonic-looking girl.  Right now the flesh that can be seen is taut around her muscles.  Her arms longer than they should be, and her fingers extended like claws.  Her face still remains some sense of normalcy, but her eyes are glowing green.  Though as they go, and the energy she managed to steal is evaporating, she starts to return to normal proportions.   "So...uh...I got nothing." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      There may be serenity out here, but Seifer is fired up inside. He's almost like a kid again - practically bouncing on his heels as he leads the way into the Darkness Beyond Darkness. He's taking the lead because he's the Knight - the shield, the protecter, the defender. He was always that, that was always his dream, but somewhere along the way, he forgot that part of that was relying on the people he was defending. Somewhere along the way, after he lost Sora and Molly, he started to feel as if he needed to be the only one fighting, as if the only way to protect everybody else was to shoulder the needs of everyone else, as if the only way to win glory and acclaim and make a name for himself as a famous knight as alone.      But Zefar wasn't alone. He was relying on Ayaka to rebuild the country. He was the shield to her blade, the wall that protected her. Yeah, he was cool. But what made him so cool was that she could lean on him in times of trouble.      So here's Seifer, rolling forward, Hyperion swinging back and forth like a pendulum as he walks confidently into the shadows. What are the shadows gonna do? Fight him? Hit him in the brain? With a grin like this?      Bring it. He'll clear the way for everybody else. That's what he does. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Last time, Arkae went in to back up Seifer. Friendship! It turns out the person they were looking for wasn't there, and it was a trap, but... well, she's still here. In for a penny, in for a heartless pounding. And as she looks over where they've ended up... she's glad she came. A camera is pulled out of her bag of holding, and pictures are taken. "Neat!" And then she puts the camera way and draws her sword. "So... we're chasing down Ansem, right? He couldn't have 'already won' like he was claiming he did... they're always lying about that, you know." "... And besides, I want to see what else is here... and where this ends," she adds, as Seifer gets moving. She falls in line behind him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren started to wade into the ocean, and then Seifer points out the path and Staren follows. Wouldn't do to get lost in darkness, within darkness or otherwise. Staren gives Sumiko a curious look. Now, out of the chaos of battle, he has his first chance to really notice how her powers are different from Mikoto's. Although she does seem to have not been spamming animals as much, maybe.     Staren likes this change in Seifer. Becoming less a bully who'd psychologically torture someone who'd once been a friend, and trying to do right by them instead. Sometimes he feels out of place in the Concord, when they're robbing banks or feeding souls to despair or stealing pokemon just because, and Seifer's always there on the radio to tell him why being concerned about such things is wrong.     It makes Staren feel very alone.     But today? Today they're working together for friendship, to save someone. Even when being torn apart by heartless and dark magic, Staren feels better than during those radio conversations. Maybe Seifer will do more of this sort of thing in the future. Maybe the Concord will. The point is saving Riku, of course, but those would be a nice bonus.     Thinking about that makes him smile as he walks along after Seifer, even though his armor is covered in scorches, scratches, and hastily-patched cuts. 

:'''{{#var:1106|Tamamo no Mae (1106)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo was called in by Seifer, the blue robed fox woman standing idly behind her knight as her mirror floats around her body. Her eyes take in the scenery, ears perked as notes are taken inside of her mind, "It's oddly comfortable here." she whispers. "Mmm, you'll forgive me if I am here to back you up my dear Knight." there's a bright smile from Tamamo's face, the always supportive wife behind Seifer.     "Are we looking for someone in particular? That Sora boy and Kairi girl?" she questions, trying to take some stock of the situation, idly flicking her tail in curiosity. Eyes go back to scanning the horizon, taking a brief look at everyone here, some she didn't know, some she did. "Hmm." 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Last time, Rean spent an inordinate amount of time trying to avoid his self and Sumiko directed frustration about the Mikoto situation. By the end though he'd And now, it was time to go save Riku. Rean follows after the group quietly, glancing around at the fragments of worlds driftng in this sea of shadow. "Riku actually." Rean says, turning to Tamamo. The one that's Seifer's Wife, not the Paladin one. He's actually never met this one.  "Kairi's here...someplace." 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' Kairi waves at Tamamo-no-Mae. "Hello! I'm Kairi, Sora's lost his heart, and we're after Riku!" She smiles brightly. "Sorry it's confusing. Riku's heart was overcome by malicious..." A wince. "Well, malice. If I call it 'malicious darkness' it means more, not less. He's got malice in his Heart and we need to beat it out of him. Basically: Friendly violence is the solution!" It's a sea of darkness. You can't just jump in. It'd tear you apart unless you knew exactly what you're doing..." Kairi observes, staring out into the waves of inky black and tumbling purple. "And even if some of you have the ability to resist or ignore being flooded by darkness, it'd probably be playing right into his hands. But..." Archer's dimension... Seifer saying there's always a gap to exploit... Kairi softly snaps her fingers, the crack of her finger muffled by the black gloves she wears. "Darkness shies away from the light - I'll make a path." Bringing her right fist into her left hand, she raises both up. With a metallic 'shwink!', she summons a length of odd silver and brass awkward cross guard with a jangling star-charmed keychain she immediately jams into the sand on the beach - and turns. A sound like a lock clicking open chimes through the beachfront as a washed-out silver godray strikes the dark sea just off the coast, the water parting biblically down, down, down... Revealing an endless drop, and a shimmering white-silver path. A rail. A set of rails. Kairi made a goddamn rail segment, thus marking her as the worst villain. "Come on, that looks fun!" Kairi calls, sprinting to the coast and leaping acrobatically onto one of the magical rails, griding it down ito the opened path. "Watch out for heartless!" She adds, disappearing deeper into the Unskippable Playable Cutscene Rail Shooter Between Phase 1 And Phase 2 Ansem 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer, cheerfully, says, "You know what? That does look like fun."      And then he scoops up Caster in a princess carry. "You shoot if anything comes at us, I'll ride."      And then he's off after Kairi. 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' Guzma and the Team Skull Trio are still moving. Golisopod's a bit wounded, so it's been returned to its ball to rest. The group look over the sand, and then up towards the sea of darkness. Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp group-shudder. "We can't cross that! Not even Golisopod could cross that! What do we do, homies?!" Guzma's considering just jumping in with Seifer, when Kairi saves(?) the day with a rail. Guzma nods, takes a breath, and charges forward. "Come on, gang! Slide!" And then, one after another, they all jump on the rail, trying to carefully slide down it. They're not good, but they're not going to fall down during the grinding segment. They'll live. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren jumps down onto the rails. He doesn't say it, but... this is kinda fun! 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko looks at Kairi, as the Railway finishes up. She doesn't say anything, just stares at her. Then, flipping onto the rail, she starts the minigame. Hopefully this isn't as bad as finny fun. 

:'''{{#var:7225|Terra (7225)}} has posed:'''      Years. So many years since the last time he's fought Xehanort. Every second, every day, every week, every moment of time that passes he's still just as angry as that day. Angry that he failed. Angry that they 'live'. Angry that it took this long to get to this point again.      But it's happening. Again. And while the circumstances are unfortunate, the moment that Terra has been waiting for has finally presented itself to him. He can only hope they aren't too late.      An armored figure makes its way through the halls of the castle, dealing with whatever remains of the heartless as they make their way to the gate. There's a mighty need to smash it, to reduce it to scrap components, but that's probably what Xehanort wants. And it isn't going to deal with The Problem. So they just push on through. Into the dead land, and past the group as they follow the obvious path of rails towards their destination. They don't even say hello, so it's kind of hard to tell if he even acknowledges them. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Kairi opens a path forward, a bunch of rails of light. ...Ok, that was pretty cool. Rean takes a few steps back, and then takes a running leap onto one of the rails, sliding down after the others, eventually letting out a "Whoo!" as he slides down. 

:'''{{#var:1106|Tamamo no Mae (1106)}} has posed:'''     Well, this isn't exactly what she signed up for but if she's in a rail shooter and she's carried by Seifer, this is fine.     Talismans are fired at the various things, ice shards created from those to knock out those targets for Seifer. "Whee, just hold onto me, dear knight!" 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Some ponder braving that endless sea of Darkness by simply walking into it. It would certainly get someone where they want to go, but could their Hearts take being flooded with that much? Any weakness, any crack and they might find themselves being overhwelmed...     But Kairi makes a path. Her Keyblade is used in the manner it is supposed to, to open the way between one one thing and another. From high above, a beam of light flares, blinding in the ambient dark, a finger of the Realm of Light intruding into this place at the end of all that fall fo the Darkness. The shimmering path is forged, and the great sea of Dark yawns wide, a roaring vortex of swirling pitch that begins twisting in a maelstrom of all-consuming black. Slowly, decrepit buildings and pieces of other worlds expose themselves, and the air suddenly stirs, the piercing glare of yellow as clawed, demonic beings pull themselves out of the black, bearing massive scalloped blades.     Kairi, and then others, lunge down onto the path and skid down, down, ever downwards into the dark, the swirling and winding path staying a certain distance from the vortex wall. But that doesn't mean the path is /safe/. It bobs and weaves, sometimes splitting into multiple paths doing various directions. Sometimes, a wash of blackness lashes out and breaks one path, leaving the other intact. Other times, the Invisibles lash out, sweeping in darting, deadly strikes across the path to use the momentum against those rushing down into it.     But also the path bobs, weaving between disparate elements. Ancient banners unfurled on stone walls as the silver light streaks though holes in the wall. Passing over run-down homes and empty houses. Past garages with cars that haven't seen use in aeons. Down past pieces of laboratories and schools, ghettos and mansions. The Darkness takes all.     With a parting of wash, something massive lurches out of the water. A great horned beast, eyes gleaming with destruction as a building-sized paw comes down and crushes one of those mansions, trying to scatter the others... But with some quick thinking, they can change their path and continue on.     And the group makes their way inexorably downwards, swirling deeper and deeper, the world itself seeming to dim around them until they reach... A tiny cavern, spilling out into it, the silver path ending here. There are a couple small pools being fed by trickles of glittering water, a tiny point of light in the depths. Before them lies a strangely ornate door of silver, set in against the wall of the cavern. The door looks... important, giving them a final moment to catch their breath before breaching the area beyond. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae knows a final boss door when she sees one. "Alright, everyone stocked back up on potions?" The tengu reaches deep into her bag of holding, which stretches out wide as she pulls a large rectangle out of it. It turns out to be a cheap folding card table, followed by a similarly cheap folding chair, both of which she kicks open and sets up. "Open for business!" she calls as she pulls dozens of brightly colored vials from her bag next, setting them up in neat rows on the card table. They're very pretty, all lined up like that. "Get your healing potions, your cure-alls, the basics... potions of leaping and wall-walking, water-walking and water-breathing, never know what terrain you're going to come across, right?" "Oh, you don't want to drink the ones on the end, though," she adds, though given that each of those vials are marked with skulls on their labels, it probably doesn't need to be said. "You want *other people* to drink those." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      None of this is familiar. None of this is pleasant.      When they reach the end of the rail shooter, Seifer sets Caster down delicately. His eyes are drawn to the glowing door. He's about to say something when Arkae starts offering potions.      Seifer laughs.      He tosses her some Munny. He doesn't ask for a potion. The laugh was worth it.      Then he starts walking towards the door. He's not ready to open it just yet. It's got...a feeling to it. Something uncomfortable. Something he's not sure about.      No, he's just gonna...put his hand on it. Feel it. See if it's warm or cold, if he can hear anything behind it.      But not open it. Not yet. 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko is on the path, skating along with the rest of the people on the way to save Riku.  She doesn't have enough time to think, just barely able to focus on the path before her.  As they go, the path is destroyed by darkness in some places, causing her to flip to the other one to avoid being eaten.   Heartless show up to complicate their path, and she jumps to avoid shots while firing blasts of glass right back at them to try and either shoot them down or get them out of our way.  Ruined buildings start to come up next, causing her to pause.  There are a few flashes of memory in her heart, always driven back to where she doesn't want to be.  Gritting her teeth, she jumps over one Invisible, to fire another explosion of glass at the next.   Not now, just focus on what's in front of her, she thinks to herself.  Even as the Behemoth growls into existence behind them, and threatens to end their trip, she pushes on.  Opting to try and get to the end first, instead of trying to fight that thing on its turf.   At the landing, the calm area, she finally has a moment to catch her breath.  The area is...relaxing, to say the least.  How could such a place exist here?  Part of her is leery of it, but she could use a small break.  Though that door forward does loom, as Seifer goes for it to touch it, she frowns.  She takes a drink of the water first, before looking at Arkae. "That's dedication, I respect it," Sumiko says, paying for a healing potion and a leaping potion.  She takes the opportunity, however, to actually rest.  Rubbing her head to work the images out of them.  Happy thoughts...happy thoughts.     

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The door is firmly room temprature. There is no heat. No cold. No tremors. No movement. Nothing within, nothing without. Only a subtle sense of something beyond. Meanwhile, a mysterious Moogle gets their place as Final Shop cut out by Arkae. Possibly. Probably. Maybe. It's all very mysterious, and as such doesn't appear at all. Such is the way of things. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The grinding is fun and then it gets all... DYNAMIC, with monsters getting in the way and smashing the path. It's dangerous enough to make Staren feel a little more alive jumping to other routes (and abusing thrusters and magic wings when jumping won't cut it) without actually ending his run. The joyful group adventure continues!     They slide out into a room with a door. Arkae decides to be the wandering merchant. He selects strength and movement-enhancers and powerful repair potions, and then comes to the poisons at the end. "Are any of these the kind that will work with bullets?" He'll pay in coins and/or credits as preferred. Once potions are bought, he opens up a compartment and puts them inside his body for hands-free use. 

:'''{{#var:7225|Terra (7225)}} has posed:'''      Terra goes through the rail shooter without a hitch. If there was a score being kept, he clearly would have won the special accessory and the orichalcum+. Sadly, there wasn't. They'll have to comfort themselves with the countless heartless they slew along the way.      Once they've landed in the safe area and assessed that there are no clear immediate hazards and only 'a door', Terra moves towards it, placing an armored hand on it before shoving it open with surprising force.      He doesn't care that people want to take it slow. They're free to do it if they want. But for as for him, every moment delaying what he came here for is just making him more mad. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' Kairi is acrobatic across the rails, adroitly flipping between the available tracks like a figure skater, light on 'actually helping' but doing some SWEET TRICKS instead. It's fun! The landscape zips past, crumbled laboratories and shattered cities. Down, past giant optional superbosses that the party is currently ignoring against all RPG and ARPG traditions! To come to rest at a platform of pools and doors. "Oh! A potion shop! I didn't figure you for a moogle, but if you've got Hi-Potions, I'll definitely buy some." Kairi muses, scoping out Arkae's shop right about the time Terra starts thrust punching the door until the boss fight starts while mashing every face button, all the triggers, start and select all at once. "H-hey, don't you want to check the shop?" No, he doesn't, Kairi. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' The path becomes filled with Darkness, covering the way with Heartless and the like. He jumps from rail to rail with ease, sending out arc shockwaves and fireballs at the Invisibles to help clear the way. Once they make it to the end, Rean takes a seat next to one of the pools and takes a few breaths to settle his head. Happy thoughts, right?  Well, that ride down here was fun, even if it did turn into a shootout at the end. Seifer says something about the door feeling like nothing, along with whatever laid ahead. Also Terra tried to bust the door down on his own by shoulder checking it, which..yeah that tracked. "Huh, really?" Rean says, getting up. He puts one hand on the door, and tries to get a sense of what's beyond himself, though perhaps his aura sense would just get the exact damn thing. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Some purchase potions. Others recoup their power and senses for a moment. Terra, as inexorable as always, simply open the door immediately, basically making Rean's attempt to divine what's beyond the door a moot point.     The reason why the door is so odd becomes apparent: The door opens into a vast nothingness, a blackness deep and profound. There are only three things present. First, a series of stark white islands of some unknown mass, tendrils of the material twisting up around them in an almost rootlike manner. The color is even more pronounced against the all-consuming backdrop.     The second thing present is... another door. Some distance ahead on the largest of the islands, a massive door forged in white, with massive golden bar-handles. Ornate stained glass is inset into the door in diamond-shaped cutouts, and the top is bracketed in an angular decoration of a golden heart against black granite. The top of the door menaces with spikes of marble.     The third thing present is... As one might expect, Ansem. He stands there, seemingly refreshed after all the damage he has taken. His back is to the group. As they enter, Ansem begins to speak. "Is it not splendid?" He asks, apparently indicating the door. "Here, in this place of absolute Darkness, there lies a door to a place darker still. A Darkness beyond Darkness... The absolute Darkness from which all Hearts emerge, and all return in the end." He turns to face the group, his impassive face still flat. "Kingdom Hearts." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The arrival of Terra gets him to narrow his eyes. "And so the prodigal returns. Even now, you think you can strike me down, do you? You already failed. You failed yourself. You failed your friends. You even failed the boy. Everything you have tried to do has come to naught. You would have been better off simply accepting what must be and yielding. I do not fear you, nor the girl. Allow me to remind you what you contend with." BGM: https://youtu.be/KgTYNov7VJ8 The Keyblade War: Darkness - ROZEN + REVEN     Burning flames erupt around him, the blackness shaping into a curled sphere around him, the front open as he begins to float higher off the ground. The ebony form spreads outwards, massive spiked wings flaring wide with more of that dark energy... And above him emerges a hollow-chested demonic figure, that wrapped Darkside, reconstituted after it had been shattered... But merged with Ansem in some strange way. It will not be guarding him... Far from it.     Ansem spreads his arms wide. "And yet you would challenge me here. You have learned nothing. The door will be opened. And I will claim that Darkness as my own." Black energy begins to boil up around him, tendrils of that absolute black coiling around him. "Allow me to draw you into the deepest Darkness!" The wings beat backwards, and a howling blast of destructive force rushes forward, threatening to pitch people into the abyss if the energy does not simply tear them apart. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Yay, money," says Arkae as she sells potions. Honestly, she'd give them away for free, especially for supporting Seifer like this? But... people seem to take more if she charges a little for them, compared to if she gave them away for free. It's weird, you know? And then the folding card table and its contents are shoved back into the bag of holding as the group transitions into the boss room. "Okay, that's new..." says Arkae, as Ansem(?) comes into view, wrapped and merged with darkness. She weathers the blast of destructive force by chugging a couple of potions, ones that help propel her forward to counteract the pushing force being brought forth, but at the end she still looks quite the worse for the experience. "Yeah... you aren't claiming anything today," says the tengu alchemist, but she's probably spoken over by someone else giving a big heroic or friendship speech. So, instead, she chugs *another* potion, and starts running forward. As she runs, water rises up to meet her - not whatever inky dark bullshit is between the islands, but genuine pure water, surging around her feet in a wave, lifting her up like a rising tide! "Taste this!" she yells, swinging her glistening sword at Ansem. (He probably does not actually want to taste any of the many things she's coated it with.) 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     When Ansem disses Terra, Staren points out "Hey! He kicked OUR asses! And now it's YOUR turn!"     When Ansem asserts the door will be opened, Staren retorts, "If you could have opened it you'd have done it already!"     And then the dark wind howls. Staren pops potions inside his mechanical body and moves with blazing speed, but it turns out he zigged when he should have zagged. The darkness shatters his chest armor and cracks the rest of it, and he plunges to one of the platforms.     "Rrgh..." Staren groans, but his exposed metal chest opens and the parts inside reconfigure to bring a missile rack to the fore, with dozens of magic-marker-sized micromissiles. They launch into the air and then curve, spreading out to hit Ansem as a swarm across the body and wings; Each warhead is a tiny, one-shot plasma cannon, designed to burn holes in things like wings.     Will that even work on magic darkness wings??     Staren will find out, as he groans and gets to his feet. 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Terra goes right for the door, "Hey could you like to wait for te-" Now their in front of a man very attached to his body horror, as the entire area around them is the darkest void.  If it wasn't so real and consuming, she'd make a comment on it.  The wind from the wings blows her away, trying to hold on as the energy tears through her body.  She can feel herself burning away in a way that was very uncomfortable.  Even more than normally being set on fire.   Too late to turn away, too late to back down.  The Diamond Blade swings into her hand, as a glass winged horse appears right under her.  Now able to fly, she charges the giant Ansem, trying to pull her ride to the side and strike at the big creature by using the sword to make passing strikes.  Each one aiming to try and drain more energy. She was going to need all she could get.  Even as her body starts changing from what she can take.  She was going to need to go all out to try and win.   

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' As they push through the grind rails, Guzma ignores the potions. He doesn't need them. They push through the doors, and find themselves in a new place. A new arena. The same old boss, but stronger. Scarier.     he sheer power of destructive force is too much for Guzma and his goons. They're thrown backwards, into tendrils and into the ground, clothes torn up, wounds bruised and bleeding, utterly beaten up by that. Guzma shakes, rising. This is too much. How do these people do this? Wear your confident mask, Guzma. Don't let them see your fear. "Go, Scizor." The Ultra Ball spins out, releasing the red metal bug, as Guzma flickers a hand out. "Swords Dance." Scizor starts 'dancing', energy swords appearing around it and spinning, but nothing happens. Or at least, visibly. Scizor then starts to move... "Now, Bullet Punch!" A metal pincer goes flying out at Ansem's gut. It moves to /smash him as hard as possible/, with sheer strength and speed. It's frightening. It's like this is one of Guzma's trump cards, thrown out immediately - if Golisopod is the ace, Scizor is the one who cleans up. Because, as Ansem can likely taste it - he's scared. There's darkness in his heart. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Ansem.      The Shadow is a lot bigger this time. It'll take more than just Greg and a bunch of friends to suppress. Seifer alone can't do it - but he can run interference for everybody else.      First, and most important, is Caster.      Seifer just hurls Caster up and out of the way. He's about to jump out of the way himself, but boy, he does not succeed. The flames hit him dead-on. Darkness, deepest Darkness, familiar Darkness, burns around him. He doesn't scream. But he'd sure like to.      And the only reason he doesn't is because he's not sure what it might draw.      By the time it's passed, though, Seifer's already running forward. He surges into Ansem, Hyperion moving not to attack the core with Ansem inside it but the hands of the monster. He's hammering away at its hands and arms to try and pin it down as much as possible. It may not be as strong as his attack earlier, and he may not have as much behind him, but he can rely on everybody else. And they can rely on him.      "ALRIGHT!"      Seifer's loud cheer echoes over the sound of the darkness. "YOU GONNA BRING THE DARK!? THEN I'LL BRING THE HYPE!"      "REMEMBER, EvERYBODY, JUST KEEP ON SMILING! NO MATTER WHAT! DON'T STOP SMILING!" t It's loud, and it's childish, and it's the kind of thing Sora would say. It's the kind of thing Molly would say. It's the kind of thing his more immature (hah, yeah, that's a scary thought) friends might say.      But right here, and right now, in this place, it's the kind of thing Seifer Almasy would say.                                   /\ CHEER                                   

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' The door opens revealing....another door. And Ansem. He takes a deep breath. Time to roll. He glances at the others, taking in this team. This was nothing like his usual team, but when was it ever?  But this feeling...it was still the same, wasn't it? All of them aiming for this one goal together. Rean draws his sword and brandishes it at Ansem. "He hasn't failed yet. /We/ haven't failed yet." Rean says, bringing his own brand of encouragement to the table. Rean settles into his fighting stance. time to roll.  "Just keep focused, and let's get Riku back!" Rean kicks off the ground, rushing at Ansem at full tilt, using his momentum to amplify the strike. 

:'''{{#var:1106|Tamamo no Mae (1106)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo's listening to Seifer and just smiling, even after she's just lobbed out of the way from the dark wave attack emitted by this weird ass thing floating in the air. It's okay, because as Tamamo's flying, she's chanting faster and faster, "Well well well, it's nice that my Husband is so fired up, it just positively sparks something inside me that I cannot help let escape! Such joy, such cheerful nature, something I don't always hear him do!"     The fox lady skids down when she lands and her mirror glows a soft red, "He's so fired up, it has me... wanting to let loose with the fire myself!" Tamamo starts to run sideways, looking to duck and dodge anything else that comes her way... at least, that's her hope, as her mirror just starts spamming out fireballs like some sort of unskilled fighting game player!     Small fireballs, shot out machine gun style towards Ansem, "See, I'm here to support this wonderful person, now... while he isn't able to say these words... please get the fuck out of our way~" 

:'''{{#var:7225|Terra (7225)}} has posed:'''      "Ansem...No...Xehanort. Do you remember what I said?"      They're here. They're finally here. Face to face with him. They don't openly acknowledge what Ansem said, but something doesn't add up. He couldn't have gotten the Xi-Blade, so is this really Kingdom Hearts? He can't say it isn't. It might very well be /The/ Kingdom Hearts. But he doesn't want to believe. It's easier not to, if anything else.      Deep thinking time is over though, as Ansem greets the party with scorching hot fires of Darkness. They're completely engulfed in it unmoving as they they're lost from view. By the time they subside however, they're still standing, albeit heavily singed, a massive cannon slung over their shoulders as it's already nearly done charging.      "One day, I will set this right..."      There's no visible trigger, but Terra somehow fires the cannon, letting out a brilliant stream of blinding white out towards Ansem, the force causing him to skid back a bit ever so slightly. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' Arkae's 'yay money' is the last truly happy thing that happens to Kairi before the bad times come again. Terra is the furious tip of the spear, and Kairi can't help but visibly shake, her eyes misty. An upwelling of nostalgic terror. She looks sick, but there's no real choice to make. "You keep saying those words like they mean anything!" Kairi shouts, her voice cracking in the highs. She's silenced by the buffeting winds of caustic darkness that flare out, scorching her as they wash over her, striking her airborn -- only for her to flash into an aerial recovery, landing on her toes and knees and rolling to a crouch. "I've *done* all this before. It was terrifying, scarring, and awful. But I'm still here - like everyone else - for Riku!" A keyblade like a white angel's wing 'shwinks' into Kairi's hands. "So I'm here to keep my promises. Did you ever think about how light and darkness work? When you're in the very darkest place possible: that's when light shines its brightest!" She 'swings' her Keyblade, aiming the tip towards Ansem's Big Stupid FLoating Darkball Tornadolegs. "Dia!" Kairi incants, a set of focusing rings forming at the tip of her keyblade and firing out a concentrated beam-blast of light with a cliche 'vrrr-pshoom!' charge-fire sequence. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Arkae faces the Dark Wind. It tears at her, but she's able to push forward, calling up water to push her forward into the oblivion gale. The blade cleaves into the black sphere, cutting across Ansem's chest. He is far, far less concerned about defense in this form, it seems, because it cleaves into him easily, the flesh tinting as the poison begins to do its work. "You think you are going to overcome the Darkness with your cheap tricks?" He hisses back at her.     Staren follows up on the poisoned Ansem with a barrage of plasma blast missiles. The missiles explode, shredding the Darkness with the burning light of Science, and he actually reels on the impact, the massive beast falling back as the wings begin to reform slowly through the burning blue flame. He doesn't drop to the ground. It looks like the wings are mostly for show here. Still, the damage is massive. "Gggh... You are a fool. You are making assumptions. I am telling you, your struggle is worthless compared to the power of Kingdom Hearts."     Sumiko strikes fast and true, the Diamond Blade punching right into his chest and drawing away some of that black power for herself. Is this something she really wants? Ansem grimaces as he holds his chest, covering the wound as he speaks to Sumiko. "Do you also seek the Darkness, child?" Ansem asks. "There is more here than even you can consume."     There might be more to say, but Guzma is a Big Bad Boss who doesn't believe in waiting his turn. Scizor slams into the sphere, the augmented Bullet Punch striking fast and true. It's super effective, it seems, as the strike sends a wash of black flame splashing across the white island in a Kurosawa-esque roostertail before it vaporizes. Just how much Darkness is this man /made/ of? "You wear your bravado like a mask." Ansem says to him. "The Darkness is deep inside you. Deep and strong. It could have made you powerful beyond imagining, but your fear makes you weak."     Rean charges in. Maybe making up with Sumiko helped. Maybe it's something else. But the swordsman launches towards the dark man, and the blade cleaves into and through him, Rean passing clear through the horror and exploding past, burning fire and destruction in his wake as the massive beast roars. Ansam's arms claw at the air, and the creature's arms follow suit, the pain evident... But he does not fall despite the crushing blow. The creature reincorporates, and Ansem hisses. "You are too late. The boy's Heart is drowned in the Darkness. He will never escape." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The fox-woman is not expected. She wasn't there with the others. How did she arrive? Ansem has no answer for this, but the flourishing blasts of flame from her mirror rain down over him, peppering him with destructive forces. Red, burning firelight battles against light-devouring black as the creature is forced to bunker down under the onslaught. "Even you will fall to the Darkness." He replies to Tamamo. "I will not allow you to win through so easily."     But Terra has his own things to say about that, his cannon burning with power as it charges up... And then the beam of white punches right into and through the beast, the energy deflecting cleanly off of the great Door behind into the darkness. Again, he is rebuilding himself as quickly as he is torn apart, the massive form growing darker, denser to try to compensate. "Who are you to say that it is not already right, Terra? You and your friends are scattered and gone. You have nothing left to offer the worlds. You are nothing but a hollow shell that you have allowed to be filled with a foolish thirst for revenge. You should have simply embraced the Darkness."     Kairi is right there, ready to rebuke his words and follow right up. Do his words mean anything? What does he really have to say otherwise? Even as she proclaims why she is here, there is simply a "Hmph." from Ansem. "You claim you are here for Riku, but do you think you can even give him what he requires? Do you think you can salve his rage and despair just by showing him your face? I think not." But the Dia blasts, blinding bright in the encroaching dark and shredding into the Seeker of Darkness, melting parts of the blackness away. "Your light will be swallowed whole in the Darkness." He spits, grimacing.     Seifer calls out his defiance, trying to ride high on spirit and happy thoughts, a stalwart Light in the middle of the Darkness. But Ansem chooses this moment to rally, the beast slamming forward to simply intercept the thousand cuts of Hyperion by simply grasping the blade between both hands. For a moment, they struggle against each other... But Seifer can only do so much. The blade is turned aside. "You fool. You scream pointless things like the Keyblade Wielder did. A pity he turned out so poorly. I did not even get a chance to use his body as his Heart departed."     He pulls back, the massive, half-melted thing lunging into the air and spreading the wings wide once more as it looms over the platform. "You are all doomed, you simply have yet to accept it. Drown in the Darkness!" At that, a torrential series of blasts of scorching black bolts rain down upon the platform, trying to eat away at those present. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "EXCUSE ME!" calls Arkae. Bolts of darkness rain down all around her. "I SAID EXCUSE ME!" "Cheap tricks... I'll have you know..." She smashes open another trio of poisons onto her blade, even as she weathers the wave of darkness. "That my tricks..." The wave of pure water wells up around her, and she dashes in to make another swing at Ansem. "ARE EXPENSIVE!" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      "You're right! Sora's a complete idiot! A total blockhead! A screw-up! A moron!"      Hyperion gets turned aside, and Seifer just swings it right back into the fray. He's going to make Ansem keep turning that blade aside, keep having to intercept, keep having to devote a limb to it. Ansem tries to turn him aside, grabs Hyperion; Seifer pushes harder. Seifer doesn't give Ansem a moment - not even when Ansem moves backwards to spread his wings. He charges ahead, straight forward, straight into the bolts. They punch into his body, splattering burning Dark across his form. He doesn't stop. More of them hit his face. He doesn't stop.      "So I'm saying all the stupid crap that Sora's not here to tell you himself!"      Seifer jumps. He goes shooting upwards, Hyperion dancing between hands - both Ansem's and his own. He's practically juggling the blade in between stabs in a ridiculous display of skill, an unpredictable dance to keep Ansem from pulling that trick again. Every so often a grey arm pops out to redirect the gunblade, stabbing it downwards when it might have been going up or going up when it might have been going down.      "Every pointless thing I scream is something for Sora, Kairi, and Riku!"      Seifer's blade hooks onto the hand of the monster. He swings around Ansem, up above the wings, his eyes alight, his grin wild. "So I'm gonna keep saying them! Over and over and over! Till you get it! Till you understand!"      "THIS SHIP RUNS ON SMILES! YOU GET THAT!?"      His hand slides along the end of Hyperion as he takes a stance from above, in mid-air. "SMILES! SMILES! I'M GONNA SMILE THE BIGGEST SMILE AT YOU ALL NIGHT! YOU'RE GONNA LOOK UP AND SEE MY SMILING FACE AND EVENTUALLY, JUST A LITTLE, RIKU'S GONNA LAUGH AT IT!"      "AND THE MOMENT HE LAUGHS!"      "IS THE MOMENT YOU LOSE!"                                 LIMIT BREAK                                                              CRISIS LEVEL THREE                                                            SEIFER ROCKET                                      Snap.      At the end of the blade, both fingers pressed against its back, he snaps.      The explosion bursts behind him at the zenith of his jump. It sends him shooting straight towards Ansem, straight towards the back. The tip of Hyperion glimmers in the brief light of the explosion, light brought for a moment into the darkness.      A charging attack powered by gunpowder and a wild smile.      Sora's heart's gone? His body's gone?      Ansem gave him a direction.      And that's more than he had before.      So now it's just pulling Riku out and carrying on as usual.      Seifer lands, whirling around by the tip of Hyperion and coming to a stop with one hand on the ground. "SMILE! SMILEST OF SMILES! I'LL DRAG YOU UP TO THE BRIGHTEST SMILE!"      This is how stupid you sound, Ansem.      This is what Seifer is counting on to make Riku laugh. 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Dark rain falls, burning through her skin and trying to consume her from the inside out.  However, through perseverance, or released power her body fights the attack off before she comes around again on her glass mount.  The old man speaks to her, which causes her to frown. "If I wanted all of the darkness you have, I could take it.  You underestimate the power of Greed, Ansem...you underestimate a LOT of things that are not you.  Now..." she says, the blade is drawn.  But this time, she hangs back.   Instead, shards of glass rain across the back of the giant monster.  Shapes of swords and spears in the form of glass fly at him.  Each one aiming to pierce the darkness, trying to dig through to something important so she can hurt him. "I don't need your 'darkness' because I contain the strongest of man's flaws.  Of his sin...and you are nothing in the face of them!" Sumiko declares.  Even if it's nothing but bravado, even if she's scared out of her wits, she pushes forward.  She /has/ to push forward.  The only other path is into that dark abyss and she doesn't want to go back to that. 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' This time, when Ansem's words hit Guzma, he doesn't confidently swagger back. As the rain of darkness impacts, it heads Scizor head on, who dives into each blackened blast to shield the four humans. It struggles, in pain. Guzma shouts out again. "X-Scissor! Make it cut deep!" Scizor dashes forward, even as their armor is damaged. It takes both pincers, and moves to cut in an x-shape. The pincers grip. They move to cause scars. Bleeding scars, that make it harder to move without pain. Burn him with every attack Ansem makes. 

:'''{{#var:1106|Tamamo no Mae (1106)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, but darkness is something I like~" the fox-woman teases right back, that smile still upon her face as the dark rain falls upon her. The actual pain of this rain making her wince, but bolstering her own focus... she couldn't give up here because of a little pain. "See, what you don't understand is that we're here to do what we need to do, not what you tell us. Now kindly, step aside!"     Tamamo's ears perk as she listens to Seifer's words, shaking her head slightly as a soft chuckle comes across her lips, "Don't ever change, dear..." she whispers to herself as she switches up elements this time, the mirror glowing an ice blue. "Maybe you should... chill out?" a pause, "Is that what they say sometimes?" someone should really stop this fox from watching TV.     More ice shards this time fly out of that mirror, the fox moving to stand her ground this time and plant her feet into place. "Mikon~, maybe this should slow you down under the heavy weight of ice! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "We're not winning this with tricks!" Staren shouts back. "Didn't you hear Seifer? We're winning this with FRIENDSHIP AND SMILES!"     How he's wished he could seriously say that. To live in a world where right makes might. Where your personal right doesn't have to scramble for every advantage just to have a chance. How many times has he repeated that might doesn't determine who is right, but it determines who is left? It's never a happy thought. It's always a grim thought, one that can never relax, one that has to keep its guard up because one little mistake could lose everything. It's so tiring trying to live that way, and despite espousing it Staren can't keep his guard up all the time.     This feels so much better. Just keep fighting and hold onto happy thoughts. Don't focus attention on the STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 56% warning on your HUD.     Ansem makes it RAIN darkness. Even with Arkae's potions, Staren's not anime enough to dodge BETWEEN the raindrops. It doesn't do MUCH damage, but rain shouldn't damage at all, and suddenly Staren's HUD floods with more warnings. The darkness is eating into him. At this rate, he estimates he'll last seconds before--     --No! Don't waste processor cycles thinking about that! You said you're going to win with friendship and smiles, now how can you do that?! It's not like you have something that can actually respond to happy thoughts... Wait!     Deep within Staren's robot body, a tube of glowing purple liquid empties. Valves redirect it to replace some of the other fluids flowing through him -- oil, hydraulic fluid, coolant. Erchius can do anything if you believe in it hard enough! Just have to stay focused on those happy thoughts. Everyone fighting together here, his allies smiling... the future he could have if things continue like this!     Seifer is right there, making a friendship speech! Staren just goes with the flow. "That's right! This ship runs on smiles... because it's not just any ship! It's FRIENDSHIP!"     A hexagonal energy field suddenly appears around Staren, purging most of the darkness!     And then he feels... like he's TOO full of light. Like he's going to explode! It wants to be directed somewhere, so he wills it at Ansem...     A cloud of light appears above the master of darkness and rains light at him.     O...Okay? Staren is okay with that! 

:'''{{#var:7225|Terra (7225)}} has posed:'''      ""That true."      The cannon's muzzle grows cold, and Terra removes it off his shoulder, the weapon shifting, contracting, and contorting into a shape that resembles a massive key.      "I am just a shell. I failed Aqua. I failed Ven. I failed the man that was both a Master and Father to me.... But..."      Terra, avoiding common sense or any inkling of self-preservation, just walks through the rain, weapon drawn and held to the side as he slowly approaches. A few stray blasts smack him dead on, causing the already singed armor to begin corroding, but it holds. It's built of sterner stuff and just as stubborn as its wearer.      "A weak old man who manipulates from the shadows, clinging on to every piece of talent he can get. I don't care about justice, but if there is to be any, a parasite like you should die to a husk like me."      There's a glow around Terra as he crouches down, two hands firmly placed on the grip.                                 /\ ZANTETSUKEN                                      In a flash, Terra's gone, reappearing behind Ansem. He can't put away his weapon in styleon account of not having a sheathe, so instead he just twirls the blade, waiting for the delayed slash to kick in. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' Even if her mouth could create the happy words, Kairi still felt terrible. Her chest ached in this place, and the light shaking of her knees - the tension in her shoulders - wobbled her stance. It didn't help at all when Ansem-Riku's looming darkness dread settled around her like a choking, burning miasma. Planting her keyblade and panting, Kairi idles in her 'critical hp or status effect' half-crouch while Ansem talks *at* her. Laughs *at* her. That cruel, adult voice. Did she think that just showing Riku her face would help him? Would snap him out of things? "I did... Yeah. I did think that." Seifer is dependably extra. Inspiringly boisterous. It's incredible - just like Sora. No wonder they were friends. But it's not Seifer that rallies her. It's Arkae. <Cheap tricks... I'll have you know... ARE EXPENSIVE!> And Staren. <This ship runs on smiles... because it's not just any ship! It's a FRIENDSHIP!> Kairi bursts out laughing. It's too ridiculous. She laughs and laughs, her shoulders rolling back. "I really was doubting that mysterious man I met when he said I had to do all this to save Riku. To free him from you. I really doubted it when he started talking about beating you up to free Riku..." Kairi lifts her eyes. "He said it was a friendship flagellation. I didn't really like that word at the time, but this is really, really dumb. I'll have a whole lifetime to wonder how this really worked. But right now: I know it will." Kairi takes her keyblade in a two handed stance and starts running, sprinting, zigzagging towards Ansem. "Trace - On!" As she runs, thick and pillar-like Caladbolgs with large handles fall out of the sky, sequentially higher single-step platforms that Kairi leaps across like wooden poles. Higher, higher, until she's level with Ansem's head, glaring into his eyes and close enough to strike. "We don't care about Kingdom Hearts - we're here for Riku!" She thrusts, driving Oathkeeper forward. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean braces against the dark storm, getting pelted pretty damn hard. But... "How...How about you stop talking?" Rean says, wincing, but smiling nonetheless. He straightens up and ignites his sword. "The S.S Friendship is on a non-stop trip, and no amount of gloating from you's going to stop us!" He whirls around, the fire shining in the darkness like the sun. If his classmates were here, they'd probably laugh at how corny that was. But he's not even embarrassed. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Arkae launches herself back right into the fray, the poisoned blade lashing out at Ansem once more as the weapon carves into the blackness, Pulsing violet begins veining across the blackness, the thing slowly disintegrating in ways it seems be having problems trying to keep up with the, the rootlike tendrils of blackness writhing and ripppling. "Money is ireelevant against the power of Darkness. Your ego will be your downfall."     "The Keyblade Wielder is gone. His Heart has been taken by the Darkness and he shall never return." Ansem says, attempting to maintain his bearing in the face of Seifer's yelling. "How can you possibly think that continuing to be such a fool will get you anything but more suffering?" Seifer hooks and swings up on top, coming face to face with the hulking dark beast that is Ansem's totem spirit. He yells about smiles over and over... And Ansem puts a hand to his head, like he's having a migraine. "You blasted fool. You yell nonsense and you think you will succeed? I will crush you into the darkest Darkness!" But the explosion rips through him, Seifer's massive explosion blasting his shell open and laying him out, splayed with black writhing tendrils as Seifer lands nearby. "Accursed... fool...!" He hisses...     Sumiko's diamond rain layers onto Ansem, the gleaming spikes ripping down into his exposed body and shredding him further. "You are merely... a fraction of true Darkness. You are a fool who claims that a shadow is the same as night." He grunts, the gleaming gems transfixing him suddenly shattering and dissolving as black energy runs down his body, causing him to sag forward. "I will not be defeated by the likes of you."     But she's not alone. Ya Boi Guzma is RIGHT THERE. He follows up before he can recover, ripping into Ansem and the beast with that dual pincer attack, cleaving once, twice, shredding through him. More shadow splatters across the white island as the burning darkness roars around him. "You cannot escape the Darkness, boy." He simply says.     Tamamo proves to be as intractable as Seifer in her own way, which might explain some things. Ice joins the assault, the barrage of frozen power building around him and crushing him, trying to weigh him down and sap his strength. "Your glib phrases mean nothing before the power of Darkness. You, too, will be crushed." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Staren then adds Erchius to injury, hurling the power of positive thinking at him via weaponized quantum effects. The splash of Light sears at him and the creature like acid, the conflicting forces mutually annihilating in little blasts of sparkles and stars. "Friendship means nothing. You are his archenemy. Do you even understand how much he despises you? How much you are the walking focus of his anger? You think you will simply hurl hollow phrases like that when you do not even understand what friendship and smiles are? Your Light is weak."     Rean strikes, joining in on the corny phrases and insistence that they aren't going to give up in the face of the deadly assault. The burning, massive strike cleaves into the beast, setting it on fire even as he struggles under the ice from Tamamo. "You think you will defeat me with such trite conversation, but you will simply face the Darkness with inane words on your lips." Ansem grimaces, trying to close his wounds as the damage continues to stack up.     The eyes shift towards that massive key borne by Terra, and he grimaces at the sight of the deadly weapon. "You call me a parasite... But you have no idea of what I have given up for my goals. You have no idea of the sacrifices required to reach into the Darkness of the Heart. You think your pointless vengeance is even a fraction of what I have done? Perhaps I should commend you for being able to survive something that would have hurled countless others into dissolution, but that is all you have."     He gestures. "When it is gone, what will you have left, I wonder? Will you finally succumb?" The answer comes with a ringing slash of light, the Keyblade carving a glistening line through the floating tan man... And a moment later, the slash erupts in a blaze of light and earth, a geyser of white rocks ripping through him. He does not, however... Fall. "Not so easy... failure..."     But the defense leaves him wide open for Kairi to follow up. She manages to shake the venomous words of the Seeker of Darkness, rallying thanks to her allies. And just as he is taunting Terra, Kairi is right there in his face, slashing right across his face with the Oathkeeper. There is a roar of pain, Ansem falling back as he claws at the wound that gleams with light, a hissing retort. A crack in the darkness. A scar of brilliance across his tanned features. "You cannot have him. He is lost to the Darkness, just as all the other Wielders are. This is their fate. This will be /your/ fate!" As the damage mounts, emotion begins to crack into his normally stoic voice, his demeanor beginning to fracture just as his body is.     The massive beast, apparently having had enough of this, slams back down into the white island. The land, what land there is in this abyss of deepest Darkness, trembles... And he spins, arms and wings lashing outwards as he simply sweeps one direction... and then the other, slamming back and forth and sending up washes of deadly dark energy rolling back and forth in sequence. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae chugs a healing potion to deal with the fade HP (backspace backspace backspace) to deal with the ongoing damage she's taking - but doing so leaves her open to getting smacked around by the flailing arms. And then on the next spin around, she gets hit again so hard that she disappears, leaving only her sword behind! Oh no! ... No, wait, she's still there, just clinging desperately to one of the spinning arms so that she doesn't get flung further off into the void "Big smiles!" she echoes the sentiment being said on the radio. "Biiig smiles!" she calls as the spinning swings her back over the group on the island. "Just like a carousel ride!" And then, lacking other options with her sword on the ground, she just simply tries to bite Ansem on the arm. 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' Ansem shouts more words as Guzma. Over the sounds of battle, the sounds of laughter and smiles, he can't hear them. Why are they all so happy? Why are they cheering? It makes no damn sense. The beast moves with the darkness. It slams, it blasts, darkness waves coming. Scizor is knocked backwards, skidding far from Guzma. It's mostly fine, but... Guzma won't be. The darkness is going to consume him whole, and he has no defenses against it. "What the hell are you talking about? Why are you all smiling? Why are you all laughing?! WHY AREN'T YOU TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY?!" He closes his eyes, waiting to be consumed. There's a call. Three lights shine as one. 5rThree hearts. "Because, boss..." Tupp says. "Because, boss..." Zipp says. "This ship runs on happy faces!" Rapp shouts out. Huddling together, holding each others' hands, they take the blast. They're sent flying backwards, skidding hard across the ground. Each one is rendered unconscious in an instant. "NO!" Why? Why are they doing this for him? What did he do to earn such loyalty? Sure, he was their boss...but to die for him? Are they dead? No, no, no... "SCIZOR!" Guzma roars. He's angry, not happy. There's no smile on his face. But three hearts just touched his. "MAX POWER! BULLET PUNCH!" Scizor swords dances, the swords scattering around it. Again. And again. Until it maxes out. It pulls back. It launches. Its fist goes to plunge straight through Ansem's chest.                               /\ TRINITY SKULL                               

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' The massive hands of the Darkside swing down before she knows it the ride she is on is smashed, and she's falling.  However, as those giant arms swing she has another shot.  She lands on the arms and starts moving like a madwoman.  Her blade leading the way as she attempts to use the blade to slide down the arm, tearing through the skin if she hits as she aims to get onto the main part of the creature.   "Just a shadow, huh?  I'm not just /A/ greedy person, you insufferable windbag.  I am /greed/ itself.  I am not just a candle, I am the bonfire that is humanity's collective greed.  I am not just a bit of darkness, I encompass both what is good and bad about humanity.  Greed might be looked down on as a sin, but it is THAT very same greed that pushes people." "Was it not your own greed for power, or knowledge?" She grins, "I am the embodiment of that source.  You might call me an avatar, or a container.  However..." she says as he crosses the last bit, aiming for the barrier that protected Ansem from the rest.  Her blade thrusts towards it, as shards of glass rained down all around her, aiming to give her the footing she needs for this strike. "I will tear from you everything that you think is yours, and take it for /myself/.  Your power, your possessions, the person you possessed.  NOTHING is beyond my grasp, you arrogant fool!  Now..." "Enjoy what makes me /happy/.  My overwhelming obsession with having /everything/!  Items, money, and the most cherished possessions...those who stand with you!"  She cackles, apparently leaning into the full Cardinal Vice. 

:'''{{#var:7225|Terra (7225)}} has posed:'''      "What happens after? I don't care, but it doesn't scare me."      Rather than dodge the incoming swipe as Ansem enrages, Terra just kind of takes the hit in stride. Which is to say, it nearly knocks the wind out of him and there's probably plenty of broken bones, but he's going to use this opportunity to grab on and climb up.      At this point, the Keyblade Knight has shed his damaged armor for whatever small increase in mobility he can take, before running down the length of the beast's arm.      "One day, I will set this right.      One step. "I will return to this land."      A dozen more steps, the weapon in their hand morphing and shifting into some sort of spinning fist weapon as they reach the monster's face. "And..."      Something's said after, but it's cut off as Terra jumps and delivers an earth-shattering punch to the creature of DARKNESS, the fist weapon spinning and exploding with light as it impacts. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer plows straight into the dark energy. No dodging, no blocking, no cutting it aside, no clever ploys. He just runs straight in. He's being bolstered by others, but more importantly, he's the rock on which they can rely. He's the guy up front. He's the guy taking the hits.      Yeah, Tamamo's there, and that gives him even more will to fight, to protect. It's one thing when it's "friendS". It's another when it's part of his dream. Protecting not just the people who are relying on him, but his own dream - his own feelings, his own desire - is more than enough. That's putting him straight into Light Territory.      "I'm gonna make an opening!"      Seifer charges straight ahead. He's not concerned with fighting back. No. Everything he's got right now is bent wholly into deflecting every kind of projectile he can think of. He crashes into Darkness Waves. He knocks aside Fireballs of Evil. Greg emerges to push aside Dark Rain. Hyperion comes up to knock against those huge hands. Everything Seifer has is given over to giving everybody else a chance to take the most important shots. To giving them that moment to save Riku.      That's what he is, and it's what he does.      He's the Knight.      Knights save the people they care about and they get in the way. 

:'''{{#var:1106|Tamamo no Mae (1106)}} has posed:'''     "My glib phrases mean everything." she retorts, "But I shall not fall, not with my Knight's shining light and everyone here. Nay, I think... the Darkness shall drown in the Light. Now, I may not have the light..." her mirror floats around her and the area behind the foxwoman takes on an new view.     Torii gates slowly come into view and Tamamo hops onto one of them. Seifer would feel a spike of mana drain from him as Tamamo powers herself up. "See, we are... going to push this." There's a deep breath from the fox as she floats herself up off that gate. six talismans float around her as she starts her chant, familiar to Seifer, maybe to others...     "God who resides in Izumo.     Aesthetically certain,     Breath of the Soul.     Residing in the mountains and watery heavens, Amaterasu.     Let this freely become the proof of purification.     Thy name is Weighted Stone of Tamamo.     Become the scared treasure, Mirror of Uka!"     As the chant goes, each talisman bursts into orbs of ice and fire as Tamamo moves to take her mirror, thrusting it forward. The orbs follow suit and fly right towards Ansem, "We'll purify this darkness in the name of our light and our happiness!" she quips once more before she floats down, resting on her knees as the gates slowly dissapear from sight. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     For a shining moment, it's working.     Staren has harnessed the power of happy thoughts with a bullshit psychoreactive material. The purifying energy makes his body sparkle. Another swing comes. He can weather it...         ...you do not even understand what friendship and smiles are...             SMACK. Staren goes down. The sparkles fade and the bit of darkness still left from before begins to eat away at him again.     It's true. Has he made any new friends in years? Is there anyone here he actually considers his friend? There are associates, and allies, and he can count on Rean to have his heart in the right place. But they're not really FRIENDS. Seifer? He's a stern commander but he looks out for the Concord's interests and doesn't seem to care about doing the right thing when he's not chasing Sora. This has been a nice change, but... is it real? Seifer's not really like this. Staren's not really like this. They're both aping what they've seen others do and hoping it will work out.     If the world really worked that way, it would look very different.     Staren glances at the increasing damage warnings in his HUD. Probabalistically, he's not going to be in shape to keep fighting if he takes another hit.     Staren rises to his feet. "You forgot one thing. Even if we're not really friends... YOU'RE still actually an asshole!"     Staren clenches his right fist and his arm starts glowing, electricity arcing across it. Little spikes rise out of the ground around him, spite given physical form by the erchius still running through him.     "Whatever happens, you guys better bring me back to Grand Dorado!" He crouches, then leaps through the air towards Ansem, thrusters and magic wings and Arkae's potions propelling him at incredible speed... And he tries to chop into the Seeker's body with his hand, suddenly surrounded by a cutting energy field and discharging all that stored electricity at once! And as if that weren't bad enough, in his current state physical contact keeps making those little spikes grow out of everything he touches! 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean gets tossed around by the waves of darkness, bouncing against the white stone. "Ugh.." Rean says. Were they getting through after all? Kairi and Seifer are talking to one another about how to actually get Riku out of the darkness within. The worrying feeling that they were just going to end up killing Riku in the process rose up, again, but Rean tamps it down for now. Knocking the malice off of someone's Heart, though.... "...Autumn Leaf Cutter." Rean says, turning to Kairi. He's talking about a specific form in the Eight Leaves One Blade sword school he practices, and a move that anyone who's seen him fight before has likely seen him perform many times ...And does, right here and now. Rean rushes forward, swinging his blade as he passes by Ansem. Just like Terra's Zansetsuken, there's a delay for a moment, and then the slashes appear on Ansem. But they're focused on a single spot on the guardian shadow, not even touching Ansem himself. "I'm not sure if you can do a move like that with a Keyblade, let alone spiritually but...If you can manage to cut through the malice without hitting Riku's essence, it might work. I can walk you through it, but you have to focus." 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' The devil of 'Ansem', the creature of malicious darkness that had taken over Riku's body, rages and smashes against the terrain, the air, and, for a momet, Kairi. A great limb crashes into her and even catching the blow on her weapon, sends her flying back in a parabolic arc, landing at the edge of the arena on her back and flipping into her front. Oathkeeper goes flying away, tumbling into the darkness where it 'pops' in a shower of sparkles and motes and winks out of existance. "Nnnngh..." Kairi groans, her coat open and showing visible damage as it pools around her sides. She pushes up to her hands and knees, and then up - a deliberate motion with her hands righting her. "Yeah. You're right. About a few things: Most importantly that we're all fools. Fools following their friends into danger. Fools for coming to this place of tremendous darkness and talk about our light. Fools for smiling, when this is..." She shudders. "Scary as heck." "But we're going to win, thanks to that foolishness. I've held a keyblade in my hands - I've felt other's hearts. I know the chain that links hearts togethr! It's the chains of smiles, and laughter, and crying, and being there for each other! And we're all here, together, for one --" Tears roll down the inside of Kairi's face. "--one tre-mendous idiot who went and got swallowed up by a malicious ghost." Seifer is there for her, protecting her. Rean shows her his banishing blade, trusts her with pulling off her best try at it. "I'm going to do better than try for you, Riku. Not with myself -- but with the power of all these frieds!" At her feet, she reaches a hand out towards Rean and tugs, drawing a bead of energy out from him and into her hand, which closes around a flash of silver. Theb she brings up both hands, steeple fingered, and begins incanting. She has all the time in the world, with Seifer covering her. "I am the beat of your heart." "Steel is the chains that bind us together." "I have made so many wonderful memories," "Unknown to despair, nor known to doubt." "Have withstood pain to come here to you." "I know our hands will hold each others," "So as I pray - Unlimited Chain Links!" The waves of darkness sound like ocean waves. Children laugh. It's a beautiful, sunny day on Destiny Island. The breeze is pleasant, warding away the worst of the heat. Nine people stand on the beach, linked together with a constellation of light. Through Archer's contract to Riku, Kairi reaches out. The nine points converge. It's about that time Ansem's giant stupid darkness boss explodes. Violence, as it turns out, can be weaponized Friendship. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The force is oppressive. The burning flame lashes out, the massive hands flickering and crushing like trucks that happen to move like rapiers. The energies at play dance and lash out almost on their own at anyone around them, searing and annihilating all they touch. Only a madman would charge into that.     Seifer might just be that madman. He launches into the midst of the deadly barrage, letting it scorch and crash into him, weathering the blows to parry and slam those arms wide, making them swing out conveniently for people to take advantage of and drop his guard.     People like Sumiko. Sumiko moves with the precision of a surgeon as she leaps onto the beast as it smashes around, and the Diamond Blade cleaves deeper and deeper into the Darkside, dragging it down the arm as it slashes the limb open. The strike cleaves into the shell, ripping it open one more time. The weakened blackness doesn't regenerate anymore, the man floating within looking increasingly wounded and exhausted... And Sumiko begins stealing even that from him as his last defenses are stripped away, laying him bare and vulnerable once more.     Vulnerable to things like the potent Noble Phantasm of Tamamo no Mae as she unleashes a fraction of her true power. The overwhelming barrage of ice and fire slam down on the man, battering him and searing him in turn as he writhes in pain. The damage mounts, the man not even able to do more than howl in pain and a dark dream denied as the assault seems to go on and on and on...     Which doesn't stop Arkae from taking full advantage of the situation to leap into the middle of that barrage and give him a nice big bite on the arm while she's in the area. You just can't stop the tengu, it seems, and the unrelenting positivity just seems to work out pretty well for her, allowing her to have weathered her way through most of the battle without being crushed under the weight of the DARKNESS. The bite gets a nice meaty grip on his arm, and Ansem howls, trying to shake Arkae away under the painful and unorthodox assault.     But really, despite the words being hurled at Staren, maybe some part of it does work that way. Would Seifer have been so effective if he was just faking it? Would Guzma? Would Kairi? Would any of the others? He even managed to strike Ansem himself with the power of Happy Thoughts for a moment. But perhaps it's all a state of mind. Regardless, it doesn't keep Staren from ensuring that those Happy Thoughts are followed up with a massive blow from his cleaving hand, the sizzling strike slashing into him while the followup while Staren uses a little bit more weaponized emotion. It might not be the same as just raining down more happy thoughts on him, but the spite spikes still rip painfully through him, driving the beast roaring through the abyss... 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     And right into Rean's bladework. The sword slashes past, piercing into the beast as the lines appear, forming a deadly series of strikes in a single point that punches into the horror, destabilizing it just as the final strikes begin. How can someone cut the malice off of someone's Heart? How can someone rip out something that feeds on that malice and anger and darkness like a parasite, trapping them in an endless loop? Will simply punching them be enough? Probably.     The strikes crush the three goons of Guzma. "Why did you bring them, anyway?" Ansem asks Guzma. "If you were looking for someone to die in your place, you achieved it." His callous, cold tone stabs at the Team Skull leader like a knife, attempting to breach what resistance he has left.     What he isn't expecting is the incredibly, violent retribution. Guzma looked like he was on the verge of collapse. Where did this sudden strength come from? The Scizor is met with a massive blow from the fist of the beast... And the Bullet Punch crushes right through it, severing the hand of the demon and shredding it into a nimbus of dissolving darkness. It plunges straight into his chest, Ansem's eyes widening...     And Kairi reaches out, unleashing the power of the Keyblade as she forges a chain between them. The power surges, the world of darkness being overwritten with better times, better places. A place where people laughed, when days were spent looking out onto the ocean at sunset, wondering what lay over the horizon. Chains forged of life, light, love and dedication. Chains of hope... And chains of bright memory.     Nine beams of light fire inward, piercing the massive beast, Ansem reels, screaming as the weaponized hopes and dreams and memories shred into his Darkness, ripping it apart... 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Then Terra's massive fist slams down into the creature. Weakened as he is, there is no way that he can possibly resist any more. The devastating blow smashes into the head of the demonic creature, shredding down through it into a massive earthshaking impact. "NO!" Ansem yells. "YOU CANNOT DO THIS! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY A FAILURE AND A PUPPET I-RAAAAAAAAGH!"     The impact is earthshaking. The crash blasts outwards, purging the fire and the darkness and leaving a critically wounded Ansem lying on his back. Somehow... He still stands back up, wavering on his feet despite shadow pooling around him from dozens of wounds. His body flickers, twitching... Unstable. As it something is struggling within him. "It isn't enough. I need more... More Darkness. More power. But there is a reason why you all were brought here. When you are all destroyed, it will finally be over. And now..."     There is a flash of black flame, and within Ansem's hand, long black key with a red handle manifests, the tines in the shape of the silhouette of a Heart. He points it at the great door... and a keyhole appears. "I told you... I had already won." With a massive, resonant click, the great door is unlocked and begins to swing open.     "Now COME! Darkness beyond the deepest Dark... KINGDOM HEARTS! Fill me with your power!" Ansem calls to the door, his arms wide as he makes his final gambit. 

:'''{{#var:6906|Roxas (6906)}} has posed:''' ==================================< The Door >================================== White-faced and golden-handled, the Door to Kingdom Hearts yawns open. For a heartbeat the doors seem to linger only just partway open, its edges obscuring what is within. Then, after what seems like an eternity but was most certainly less than a second, the gate yawns open.                            But there was no Darkness.                           But the darkness surrounding the great white door does not shrink from the brilliant red that composes the interior of the gate. It is not light, exactly, in the way that the material world expects it. Another heartbeat passes, and tendrils of red spiral out from the interior of the gate. Each stands out sharply in the environment, but offers no true illumination. Crude fingers, like those that might be imagined by a small child trying to draw a hand, materialize at the ends of the tendrils and bury themselves in Riku's form. No blood is drawn. Instead it draws forth the etheral form of an old man, hunched over, unable to stand straight. The tendrils twist and bend, closing around Xehanort's form, embracing him. The tendrils draw Xehanort's spiritual body in, where he has but a moment to speak before he seems to be washed out into the interior of the gate. The door does not shut. The endless field of red does nothing, but there is a sensation of growing sickness that goes beyond the surface level. It is like one's soul is being shined down on by a star, becoming irradiated, filling up vacant cavities and beginning to expand you from within. Heartless begin to emerge from the surroundings, bathing in the color. It twists them, almost artistically. Their anatomical features become distorted, taking on a sketchy black-and-white, red-eyed appearance and beginning to grow into impressively elaborate shapes. As the process proceeds, the Heartless's shapes become more unique. Like Primal, Totemic Gods. Equally abruptly, Riku, Seifer, Terra, and "Kairi" all experience a brief discomfort as a yellow-eyed copy of themselves steps sideways from their forms. Terra and Kairi's are... off. Terra's Shadow is a quarter of a man, his head and upper left torso defined but the rest of his body an empty framework. What little of him /is/ there is emaciated, sickly. His expression is hateful. Kairi's Shadow is a weirdly greyscale version of herself with simplified features and a switchblade. It also looks emaciated. Seifer and Riku's more-or-less appear as they do, apart from the eyes. None of them do anything. They seem to simply be bathing in the red of the gate. ================================================================================ 

:'''{{#var:7225|Terra (7225)}} has posed:''' Ansem is 'gone'. The new problem now being the door he has left open. There's no time to process what the red light is, or the weird, shadowy copies. Terra's not a quick thinking man, he's a fact acting one.      The weapon in his hand is thrown to the ground, clattering and skidding from the force before it just sort of disspears in a cloud of cubes as they rush towards the door, attempting to wrestle it shut with whatever remaining strength he had left. Hopefully, it doesn't need to be locked, but if need be he's willing to help keep it shut for a while. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Seifer? Oh-" Arkae has no idea about what's going on. However, people are suggesting that closing the door is a good idea, so she lends her strength towards doing that! 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Mikoto lands...her body more or less completely changed at this point.  Anywhere where skin shows the body is taut, with muscle bulge seemingly just barely contained by the skin.  It looks...well very unnatural.  Fingers are elongated, as well as her feet.  Her face only barely has a mouth, and lines running down the front of it made out of jade. Her eye, yes singular, as in a single jade eye that glows brightly in the middle of her face.  Looking up, she stares at the old man as he finally goes down.  Heh, she is good, she thinks to herself, and with this stolen power she's gotten pretty strong! Out of spite, the old man continues on.  The key comes out of...wow...and points at the door.  Kingdom hearts is... SCP-001?!?!? There is no time, she shouts for the door as she leaps towards it.  The glass flying horse appears again, carrying her to the door itself so that she...doesn't...have to walk through the red stuff.  She aims to land right next to one of the doors and starts trying to put her weight into shutting a very large, and presumably heavy door. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' On the one hand that door apparently ate Ansem. On the other, that door was leaking out some really freaky stuff. It wasn't darkness, but something else. "What the--" Rean says, and then runs at the door, putting as much of his weight as possible into getting it closed with the others. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren thought for sure he'd be struck again and then wake up on his ship or Grand Dorado. Instead... Kairi makes him part of a FRIENDSHIP RAINBOW LASER attack! This one doesn't turn Ansem to stone, but that's probably for the best since they still need to get Riku out of him. So what Element does that make Staren?     But then Ansem reveals that the power to open the door to Kingdom Hearts was within him all along.     But it seems that it didn't contain what Ansem was expecting.     Staren can only hope that spirit that got dragged in was Ansem's true self or something, meaning Riku is now free.     And then things get weirder.     <"What IS this?!">     People say to close the door. That seems like a GOOD IDEA! So since Ansem didn't break this body after all, Staren runs to the door and strains with the power of technology, magic, and potions to help push it closed! 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' The malevolent entity in Riku is pulled out - great, and then the doors don't close. "YEAH, NOPE!" Kairi shouts, a frantic yet rather unshreikingly decisive sort of sudden expressiveness. "Seifer, someone, anyone grab Riku. Terra!" He's sprinting for the door. "You idiot!" She barks, but he's committed. He's going for it. And so is Sumiko. Summoning Oathkeeper back into her hands, she takes a few steps to build momentum before 'throwing' her whole body forward like a professional pitcher. Oathkeeper leaps from her fingers towards the door's keyhole, trailing white-purple sparkles as nearly the whole squad joins to push against the door. She has to ignore the yellow eyes all around her -- the ones she can see in the shape that had slipped from her shadow. 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' Scizor makes the hit. Ansem is weakened. But he pulls out a keyblade as he flickers and opens the door to Kingdom Hearts. Guzma returns Scizor to his ball, unable to make a second hit, weakened. Red light shines out, not darkness, and Ansem disappears into it. Riku is saved. The light is toxic, somehow. Creating duplicates. This is /bad/. 5r"/Crap/! Zipp, wake up!" Guzma barrels over, almost falling over, to the pile of the trio. He shakes Zipp awake, who is luckily the least wounded, and shouts out to him. "Grab Tupp! I have Rapp!" Guzma moves to try and get them out of the scarlet energy, Zipp helping groggily, and they move to lift the two and try and group up with 'however they're getting out of here'. "Seifer! Sorry, but I need to get my squad out of the light! Do you guys have the door?!" 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.... No, Xehanort, the entity that inhabited Riku, is dragged out of the boy's body. The man looks surprised, his eyes widening as he works to comprehend the enormity of the existence that has seized upon him and is now dragging his weakened, disincorporated, aged form inexorably forward.     "Something beyond the Darkness...?" He does not scream. He does not cry. He laughs... But not a laugh of victory. It's the laugh of a man who has just seen something that has turned his understanding of everything on its side. Not victory. Not defeat. But Something Else.     And then he is gone.     Only Riku is left behind, dressed in his casual clothing, just as he was in Kamurocho on that fateful day. He collapses to the ground, alive but exhausted and weak. He looks up, looking at his own darkness, his Shadow.     For once, it doesn't look like that distorted heartless demon. Perhaps that is why he has a little smile on his face despite the encroaching horror. Or perhaps it's because he's surrounded by people who, in their own way, care. He struggles to his feet regardless, slouching towards the door. He has no strength to give, but he will support how he can... Even if it seems impossible.     These people risked their lives for him. He can't just... let things pass. Not like this. Not without doing something.     But what can he do? 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      It's familiar.      Seifer says that he has no idea over the Concord radio. He claims he doesn't know what it is. And, that's true. He doesn't know *exactly* what it is. He has never seen its like. The roiling red. The Shadows growing long and dark and filling with yellow eyes and crooked smiles. In the face of this his smile falls away, even with Riku safe. There is no smiling here.      But it is familiar. And he is lying about having no idea.      Painfully so.      It is the top of a tower in the wilds of Australia. A spiralling black tower that rises from the desert. A nonstop battle to reach its top, set upon by yellow-eyed monsters. The spire jutting forth. The sky growing an awful, dark color, roiling with stormclouds and anger.      The yellow-faced god on his pale horse.      The words of challenge.      Oh it is so painfully familiar.      And yet it is completely, utterly alien. That touch of the familiar is enough. A chill up his spine. A wide-eyed stare.      Kairi shouts for him to get Riku.      "I got him!"      And that's what he does. There's plenty of people running to close the door. But nobody's looking after Riku.      So he's gonna do it.      Seifer runs to grab the younger man. Hyperion snaps up.      He'll hold off the yellow eyes as long as he has to. As long as he can.      But the chill down his spine won't go away.      The black blade that cannot fail to kill.      The moment between life and death.      The technique that cannot fail to kill.      The red light brings back memories, and when Riku goes and throws himself against the door, Seifer does the same, slamming against it with all his might. 

:'''{{#var:6906|Roxas (6906)}} has posed:''' Being the point man in this situation is... strange, for Terra. His Shadow follows alongside him, bracing itself against the opposite side of the door and pushing. But the Shadow is frail-- terribly so. He can feel it struggling to move the door even the tiniest bit. It fails, but it tries anyway. As it does so, it is bathed in the light the same as Terra is. Quickly -- not slowly, like the Heartless simply bathing at a distance -- it fills out. Its emaciated face becomes healthy and familiar again. The blurry bits of it that don't really exist adopt a sketchy, primal look like the transforming Heartless. As it does so, it gains strength. The change begins to mirror itself across Terra's form, red light searing itself into tattoos that match the appearance of the Shadow across his flesh. Others who come after are met with a slowly shutting door, their movements to avoid the Red keeping them from experiencing much of it. Kairi only gets a little bit of it. She's being careful-- and going for the keyhole, besides. The faint red light causes her murderous-looking Shadow to gain mass. It joins her at the door, stabbing it in greeting. Stabbing the door is not particularly effective. Seifer's Shadow raises its Gunblade towards Seifer almost immediately-- but when Seifer does the same, it's given pause. It shakes its head and lowers the weapon, as if to say, 'If it's that predictable, I'm not going to do it.' As large as they are, the vast doors do not resist closing. They shut slowly as force is applied by nearly everyone who can muster any at all. The silence of the motion completing is unnatural, save for the inevitable CLICK of Xion securing the lock. The Heartless who bathed in the light are, by now, more than a little anthropomorphic-- with at least one looking more like a human being than the sketchy narwhal demon it was moments ago. They look at each other, turn, and disperse into the surrounding darkness. True Heartless -- for those could surely not be called so anymore -- skitter after them greedily, yellow lamp eyes glowing in the dark. No more attention lingers on those assembled. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The door is closed. It's over. Everything is finally over.     And Riku finally... smiles, as he slumps against that closed door, sliding to the floor now that it is safe to do so.     "... You guys..." He shakes his head in disbelief. "Thank you. Everyone." His head tips back then, and his eyes close as he finally allows himself to slip into blessed unconsciousness, a relatively peaceful look on his face for a change. He'll probably wake up somewhere else...     But where becomes a question for someone else to answer. 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko slumps against the door once it's closed.  Still monstrous as she looks down at Riku who's more or less passed out.  Looking over towards Kairi, Sumiko looks back towards the true heartless starting to uh...surge.   "I think it's time to go," she comments, "I have a feeling the locals aren't too friendly." She says, moving to fireman carry Riku.   She is making good on her promise. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' The darkness rises. The 'Empowered Shadows' are strangely helpful, but equally capricious. And the ocean of purebloods are equally hungry. "Not waiting on this to turn into a tornado, thanks." She pulls Oathkeeper from the lock, stepping back and holding her brow. "We can leave this here - it'll stay locked." She pushes her keyblade into the air, catching it and zippering it down to reveal a 2-dimensional sworling vortex-portal back to... Sunny Balamb town. It's a beautiful day! There's a bar and a port and a nice seaside cafe-hotel, and just down the street and past the T-Rex, is an elite military academy! Nothing interesting EVER happens in Balamb Town! 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Balamb.      They're in Balamb.      Seifer just falls backwards onto the pavement, hand on his face, laughing. He's exhausted, but it's Balamb. It's Balamb! He knows Balamb. He knows the Garden, right up the way. He knows the T-Rexaur, right up the way. He knows all of it.      So he's laughing. He's laughing under the sunlight. Going from that alien darkness to this sunny little town. This boring, sunny, lovely little town.      He's not gonna stop laughing for a while. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well, time to go before more heartless show up. Staren glances around before jumping through, to make sure that key that opened the door hasn't been left lying around.     And then they're in... Seifer's old home, apparently! It is MOSTLY a chance to relax, but Staren's wary around the T-Rex.     Legends say they can turn invisible, after all. It seems like such a dangerous thing to keep around. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean slumps to the floor, letting out a sigh of relief. "...We did it." Rean says. He then looks over at Riku and smiles. The other boy was knocked out but ok, it looked like. "We did it." Since Sumiko's on Riku pick up duty, he gets up and heads through the portal. And /holy crap it's a dinosaur./ Also Seifer's old school, apparently. Rean edges away from the dinosaur juuuuuust in case it wasn't friendly. And Seifer seems happy to be back 'home.' 

:'''{{#var:7225|Terra (7225)}} has posed:'''      "You're helping too, huh?"      Terra is probably the closest thing he could be to surprised as his doppleganger appears to help him. It's weak at first. But something happens. He's not sure /what/, there is really no time to think on the /what/, like a lot of other things.      He's seared with tattoos much like his shadow counterpart after it seems to get healthier, before ultimately everyone else comes in to join, and they're all whisked away by Kairi.      It's a nice day out in Balamb Town. A really nice day. There's a moment of self reflection as e looks himself over, a new feeling flowing through him that he's never felt before. Well, no, he's definitely felt it before, it's just been so long before he felt anything else.      His job here is done, however, Xehanort is taken care of for the forseeable future, and Riku made it out in one piece. In that order of importance. It'd be awkward if he stuck around.      Terra turns around and taps the armored band around his arm,the armor he had discarded previously returning over his body, though his helmet is currently being held in his hands. It looks a bit different than usual. A lot more muted and sinister with various tribal designs literring it.      They turn their head to look at the group one last time, before sliding on their helmet and simply walking away.      There was a clear smile on his face.. 
}}

7217/KHA: A Path To The End

2020-05-28T20:42:53Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/05/27 |Location=Winter |Synopsis=The tracking device planted by Seifer draws him and many interested in saving Riku to the deadly deep dive of..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/05/27
|Location=Winter
|Synopsis=The tracking device planted by Seifer draws him and many interested in saving Riku to the deadly deep dive of Hollow Bastion. What secrets does this place hold, and what lies beyond?
|Cast of Characters=6928, 6909, 1086, 7201, 7148, 7002, 42, 6994, 6746
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Riku is gone. Vanished without a trace, from most might believe. He has been missing from the Watch communications network for some time. Someone in the Concord knew, however. They knew because they were there when Riku vanished. Seifer tried to reach a wounded teenager's heart, and was burned as they slipped into darkness.     But even if Riku was gone, Seifer slipped something into his coat pocket: A tracking device, intended to trace him through the darkness, through the other worlds, no matter where they might go. Even so, the signal was swallowed by the darkness...     Until now. Seifer's tracking signal began to ping, the transmitter coming from a remote part of the Underground. Some assistance from a Mysterious Coat-Wearing Female that wears one of those snappy duds that Organization XIII seems to pass out brings them all to the necessary location with a minimum of sanity damage and threat to body and Heart. The group exits the roads of Darkness... BGM: https://youtu.be/RlkzbcpeHpo ROZEN + REVEN - The Keyblade War: Hollow Bastion     And arrives on a large floating rock hanging high above a lake below. All around them, waterfalls cascade around the depression... but they flow upward, rushing high into the sky before arcing back down in sprays of glistening rain that scatters arcs of prismatic light from the sun shining in the distance. Before them is a great castle, a merging of strange technology and fantasy medieval construction, the mighty fortress stands in disrepair, the walls appearing to have yielded to the ravages of time as well as what seems to be some great struggle of some kind of another. Just looking at the edifice might bring a serious case of Deja Vu to certain members of the party, however, and there is a brooding, almost oppressive aura about the place despite the surroundings.     The gates are open. Getting inside isn't the problem.     The problem is the massive horde of Heartless that is pouring out of the gates. The air is already darkening with what looks like dozens to scores of them, the mass impelled by something more than the simple desire to feast upon powerful Hearts. Many of them vanish into the Darkness themselves, surely beginning to spread out into the rest of the world through the paths they know.     But there are more than enough to be distracted by the plethora of potent powers present. Immediately, floating Heartless in hats and color-coordinated robes begin bombarding the group with spells, while bulging spheres of balloon-like hate rush forward to begin the assault. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' A Mysterious Female? Why that'd be the cowl-hooded girl that conveniently torn a hole in space, a winding pathway of purple and red and black throbbing and smearing in impossible ways. "Trust a SeeD to already have placed a tracker, I guess. Riku's this way!" It's a short and uneventful trip through the Corridor to the courtyard of the castle. "Hollow Bastion..." The girl breathes. "This is a really bad place. So watch out!" She calls, a floating red-hatted wizard heartless's fire attack scorching the air where she was standing moments ago. Tumbling into a crouch, gloved fingers come up. "Ruina!" A scattering of implosive white-silver blasts leap from her hand and go seeking targets. "Don't slow down to fight them - they'll keep coming!" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''                                  A BIT AGO                                        Ansem.      Seeker of Darkness.      The moment the tracker pings, Seifer's already suiting up. His white coat swirls around him. Hyperion taps against his shoulder. In the mirror, the grey man in red nods. He does a final check-over of everything - the gunblade's clip, the extra clips, any minute little details that might give Ansem even the slightest advantage. His fingers are shaking slightly.      He's afraid.      Yeah, it's gonna work out alright. Yeah, they're gonna beat Ansem. But are they gonna be able to save Riku? How many people are gonna die tonight to pull him back from that guy's grasp? How many people are gonna suffer tonight for Seifer Almasy's failures?      Kairi, she'd said to turn the dial down. And God knows he'd been trying. But this wasn't really a time for that, was it? Last time, he'd apparently given it everything, and Ansem was still here, still standing. And at that point, he'd had Sora and Molly, too.      Shaking fingers tighten around the gunblade. In the mirror, a spectral grey hand settles on his shoulder. Seifer presses his thumb against his nose and scoffs. Right. Of course. Give it a hundred and ten percent now, rest afterwards. Figure out how to rest afterwards.      The Gunblade Knight walks out of the room, tapping at a console in the air. A box settles into his hand.                                  RIGHT NOW                                        He's wearing headphones.      Hyperion's twirling in his hand. He gives orders - 'Hit that flank and hold 'em off!' 'There's a weak spot - break it!' - in between wide, sweeping arcs. Wide, sweeping slashes to knock aside Heartless like so much chaff. Seifer's walking in step with the Mystery!Girl, close enough to keep up and knock aside what she doesn't catch.      Hey, she's not *his* sorceress, but she's *a* sorceress. Plus, Sora would be *super* pissed at him for like all of ten minutes. Which is an entire year in Sora-time.      "I remember a little bit of this place," Seifer says to the cowled girl (and by extension everyone else) as they go, "Just little scraps. Not much. But I remember that this is where we failed."      "But it ain't gonna go that way this time, is it?!" 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae has her own reasons to be here. ... No, not really. She literally doesn't have her own reasons, she only sort of knows who Riku is, and that's because she overheard Seifer ranting about him (her?) on the radio one time. But. Seifer cares, and Seifer is her friend (or so she'd like to hope so), so... she's here, as a Concord comrade. "Darned right we aren't failing!" she calls as he takes a flank, pushing back against the tides with poisons and fires and swords, doing what she can. "We're gonna push through, and we're gonna win!" The red bird relic dangles on a chain around her wrist, a leftover from her first big multiversal success. She means to keep that streak going. But more than anything, she's here to propel Seifer onwards. This is -his- quest, his spotlight, his moment when the great Dungeon Master in the sky pokes through the 'backstory' section on his character sheet and makes some notes behind his Divine Screen. And to make Seifer shine like a bright light amongst the darkness... ... she's giving him her full support. (That, and a shit ton of potions.) 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' Guzma's here. He doesn't know Riku. He doesn't owe him anything. But he knows Seifer. He respects Seifer. And Seifer cares about this. So, he's going to help him out. Guzma and the Skull Trio are here. They're not cracking jokes or doing rap dances. This is serious. They can see the mood of the battle. Life or death. They straighten their masks and their caps. They huddle together, getting a plan. And when those dark monsters are out? They're on point. "Rush ahead! Kick their butts!" Guzma shouts, to his group, sticking with Seifer's plans. Scizor is out. Scizor is a metal /machine/, punching straight through a heartless at superhuman speed. Garbodor burns one caustically with poison. Zubat knocks them off the ledge with wind blasts (a lot of them, it's the little soldier who could). Salandit spits fireballs. They push through the swarm, moving for the gates. They're already sweating and bleeding as they push forward. They're the foot soldiers. "We need to get ahead, yo!" Tupp shouts out. "For the boss!" "For the boss!" "For the boss!" 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko hears the call in her new El Dorado place.  Hand on her stomach as she was resting on the bed staring up at the ceiling.  There had been a LOT to go over the last few days, including the psychological scars of having a person you'd been sharing your body with for a period of time not there anymore.   <Tac-Concord> [3] Seifer Almasy says, "Alright. I've got a hit." <Tac-Concord> [3] Seifer Almasy says, "We're going in." <Tac-Concord> [4] Sumiko says, "Hit?  Which thing?" <Tac-Concord> [3] Seifer Almasy, grimly, over the sound of pulling on a coat, says, "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness." <Tac-Concord> [4] Sumiko says, "Oh right." Sumiko sits up, rubbing the back of her head.  She remembers that fight with the dude in armor, and then the stuff with Seifer and Ansem.  She also remembered just how /smashed/ Seifer had been when he came back.  Oof, she wasn't sure about dealing with this anymore.  Drumming her fingers on her leg for a moment, she mentally attacks this problem.   Eventually, she comes to the solution that aiding the Concord would help her in the long run.  Which seemed to appease the big green monster that squeezed at her somedays.  She wanted to do it, though, because the two of them had promised to help with Riku.  Riku was also pretty okay for a guy.   At Hollow Bastion itself, she didn't have time to think about anything but trying to break through the heartless.  Except for the one or two thoughts about wondering if there were any valuable chests inside the place.  The young woman's hair was long and dark.  Eyes a brilliant green, almost seeming to glow.  A few scars down her face, which look like claw marks.  Her body was covered by what might be considered rags, and a raggy overcoat that seemed more valuable to hide her arms when they weren't out. Her skin color was far paler than was natural, and her fingers were just slightly longer than they should be, the tips ending pointier then should be physically possible.  She was human, but there was just something off about her. Her sword, which seemed to be made out of diamonds, tears through heartless after heartless as they push their way through.  "Ugh, seriously no end to them.  How do they all even fit in this place?" she asks the air, or whoever is near her.  Still, she pushes forward.  Eyes on the prize and all of that. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Walking a short distance behind Seifer and the cloaked figure in the tunnel is an armored red figure. With cat ears and tail. No mystery in who Staren is, really.     A body made of metal with some of the finest achievements of 21st century metallurgy and beyond. Packed with technology that warps its inside to store more armament than space allows, enhanced to channel magical energy, and powered by the very building blocks of the universe packed so tightly together by ancient exploding stars that even now they tear themselves apart. Every inch of armor and circuitry a triumph of science and knowledge.     But for what? Merely existing, merely being made possible isn't the point.     It's because friends need them now. Not just Staren's friends in particular, but friends in general. Seifer, Sora, and Riku once stood against impossible odds (and, apparently, failed here -- Staren's trying not to think too much about that bit.) Seifer is going to make things right with Riku and stop this Ansem. Because they are friends.     Staren can believe in that. And he'll use everything at his disposal to shape the future to make it happen. Because without that hope, the Multiverse would not be filled with wonder. It would just be a collection of particular patterns of atoms trying to survive and self-propogate, upon rocks flying in curves.     As the heartless swarm in, Staren begins blasting with his arm cannons. Between shots they rotate into the arm and out come new ones. Particle beams, lasers, bolts of magic force or ice or fire, Staren tries them all and takes note of what works best. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean is here. It feels like ages since he'd tried to get Riku to open up to him, and  since he, Mikoto and Staren tried to give Seifer an opening to talk things out with him. Even though it didn't end the way they all hoped, they still had a chance to fix this. They just had to give it a try. ...Right? And then he spots a black haired girl with glowing eyes. ...Of course /she/ was here, too. He doesn't say anything, and turns away from her almost immediately. There's other things to focus on. He'd already committed to trying to help Riku move forward from his issues, now wasn't the time to hesitate because of his own.. No matter how much it hurt to even be near her right now.   He dashes forward, going from Heartless to Heartless, swinging at each with deft strikes with his sword. Don't slow down, just keep moving. "Which way should we going, then?" Rean asks...Xion? He only knows one girl with a cultist hoodie, so that's a safe bet. Right? 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' The Mysterious Hooded Girl is asked a question about where they're supposed to go. A large All Chest Day No Legs Day heartless with a sword chops at her as she acrobatically flips and tumbles out of the way, balancing open-handedly before pointing past the courtyeard into the depths of Hollow Bastion. "Inside! I think he's at the innermost chamber, or something! Probably wherever the most important room is. We've got to hurry!" Ducking laser cannon blasts, she makes for the front door. "Heartless are like the monsters under your bed or in your closet - if it's dark and you can't really see, Heartless are probably lurking there!" It's the Monster Closet theory of heartless generation, apparently. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Heartless begin exploding into hissing washes of Darkness as the Mysterious Girl begins the counterattack. The individual Heartless aren't all that powerful. The problem is the number of them, much higher than one might expect from even a place this deep in the UG. The waves just keep coming, the Mysterious Girl's recommendation likely a good one. Who knows how many more there could be?     Is there an end to the Darkness?     Seifer lunges into the middle of the battle, becoming the spearhead that drives them forward. Arkae is taking up one side, slashing and hurling flame as needed, the Red Bird Relic constantly providing its inferno for the use of the bird-woman. Guzma is on the other side, his badass Pokemon Team lunging right into the fray, meeting the horde with his own team. His loyal members of Team Skull are right behind, devoting them The incoming wave begins to slow down, allowing the group to leap from treacherous floating island to island.     At least if they fall, they only have to worry about a lake, right?     Through fire and pain and blade, they push back the tide, the massed firepower clearing a path for them as they push into the front gates. It's like some kind of strange, reverse siege of a castle populated by horrible monsters with no regard for self-preservation. Sumiko's diamond blade dances, slicing through the Heartless and piercing their way forward. How can they all fit? Perhaps someone could answer that for her. Is there a limit to the Darkness that can reside within a place? But the group presses through, being assaulted quickly on all sides as they push forward. At least the enemies /behind/ them seem to have a limit. Those in front, however...     The grand hall only increases the sense of deja vu, prickling at what scraps of memory Seifer might have. Something Important happened here, but what? What happened? There was a confrontation, right? Did it happen like he was told? Or was something being left out? The blue tile is polished to a mirror sheen, some scuffs on the floor telling a subtle tale of movement. A few scorch marks, a long cut in the floor. Another big chunk of tile, missing. The twin stairs on either side of the hall arch upwards towards the central door, which also lies open. Something seems subtly wrong about this. Things shouldn't just be... this open. The doors should be locked, probably sealed by some stupid puzzle.     But they are open. The Heartless, however, are different in this area. More of the Shadows, more tin-hatted Soldiers. The bloated balloonlike Dark Orbs remain present, but joining them are the massive roly-poly Fat Bodies, slamming around to try to bowl their way through the formation to scatter and isolate them so the others can try to pick them off. Staren's plethora of beam weapons prove their use, laying down massive firepower to scythe through the enemies as they push forward. Even his robotic body proves to be attractive to the Heartless. After all, a Heart is more than circuits and data... right? Rean is right beside him, fighting with spirit and passion as he cleaves his way forward, slashing along with the others to cut open a path to a better future. None of them needed to be here, but they chose to, each for their own reasons. The path begins to open, revealing a long hall. To one side is what looks like an ornate chapel, but there is something further on, a larger room with what looks like some kind of technology...     Technology that might be the source of the scourge in the Bastion... 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:''' A castle. An army of darkness. The only thing needed now is a priest , and it'd be a perfect trifecta of things he hates. He smirks at that realization, before instantly letting the thought go. Comparing things that happened in the past to things happening now never solves anything. Besides, he's here on someone else's behest. He should at least take it seriously.           I am the bone of my sword           Steel is my body and fire is my blood           I have created over a thousand blades           Unknown to Death           Nor known to Life           Have withstood pain to create many weapons           Yet, those hands will never hold anything           So as I pray, UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS.      The ground and sky around Archer begin to burn away, the former becoming a barren wasteland filled to the littered to the brim with thousands of blades, while the latter becomes a smog ridden mess with various large gears dotting the skies. There's the distinct smell of soot and slag that fills the air, making the area feel more like it's a factory than the castle it was previously.      Archer takes a step forward, uprooting a keyshaped blade from the ground as he follows behind the rest of the group. Specifically Kairi. There's a mention of not letting the small fry slow them down, only for them to answer by raining down a small line of weapons to help open a path. Specifically, straight down the hall way leading straight into the strange techno-room. Not that he knows anything about any of the stuff here, but he's taking a pretty daring assumption that weird stand out things are probably important. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Indeed, is there an end to the darkness? Arkae's starting to wonder... She asks on the radio. Okay, no, there's literally not. "Okay, yeah, forget the ground game, then," she says, popping a potion and then running up onto the walls and from there up onto the ceiling, her feet clinging to the underside just as easily as if she was still standing on the floor. She uses her new position to just simply bypass as much of the dark tide as she can, and also to get a better vantage point for sniping away at those remaining in the normal orientation. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Something's not right.      Arkae and Guzma and Sumiko and Staren are behind him. Arkae's flames lick the area at his left to drive back the little monsters. Guzma's bugs and buddies tear through Heartless like tissue paper. Sumiko's blade on the right dancing crystal through shadow. Staren's cannons blasting past him. He's got people at his back. Kairi's in front of him. Rean's somewhere off to the side. It's a siege, a push, a grinding uphill battle like the day on the beach.      And it's not right.      His fingers press against his temple as he bats aside another Heartless. There's something off. The puzzle's solved. The cuts are in the floor. The scorch marks, the missing tile. What happened here? What really happened here? What did he lose to stay alive? And what did Ansem actually *do*?      One of the Fat Bodies hits him in the stomach. It knocks him aside just as he had been doing to the purebloods. He rolls, skidding to a stop with one hand on the ground. As he stands, he snaps. The air around the Fat Body explodes.      "Something's wrong," he says over the sound of battle.      The guy made of Darkness, who sought the Darkness, wielding Darkness as a weapon and Darkness as a shield, might have lied?      No shit. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Mage heartless blast and heartless with swords chop and cut. Just making it through the grand hall leaves Staren's forcefield looking thin, and attacks that got through while he was shooting have covered his armor in scorchmarks, scratches, and a big shiny cut from one of those scimitar heartless with the build of a sumo wrestler.     For all Staren's hopes, it's only a matter of time. If they don't find what they're looking for before then...     No, don't think about that.     Hey, is that a tech room? Maybe he's more than just muscle today.     Also, part of the battlefield is reshaping like it did during the showdown with his assassin. Maybe it'd be better to NOT be near that. He jumps into the air and Seifer's words reach him just before the roar of thrusters drowns them out of his ears as he barrels towards the mysterious tech room.     "WHAT?!" 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko is also doing her best to ignore Rean.  There was enough baggage there to fly around the world and visit every city, twice.  Right now she's focused on her boy, Seifer, who is having his own problems.  The sword dances, as it blocks a dive from one of the knighted Heartless, and she pushes back, swinging overhead as she passes under it and ends with the heartless exploding. The Fatbody gets bodied by Seifer, which causes her to hold a hand up.  "Let's get some distance so we can breakthrough." She says as a ball of glass shoots out of her hand.  Once it lands or hits a heartless, it explodes into thousands of tiny shards that fly out like buckshot in their line, trying to tear through as many of the creatures as she can.   Seifer calls out in warning, and she keeps the blade ready, but not exactly diving forward like a madwoman.  "You ok?" she asks Seifer, knowing the answer, but still concerned.  "Memories are a bit out of my league...sadly." 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' They get through. Guzma's sweating. This is tough. There's more Heartless, and a big hall, and staircases. The heartless are big and fat and strong. Zubat's lagging behind. It nearly gets smacked out of the way, when Garbodor and Salandit slow it down, and Scizor comes for the finishing blow. Everyone nods. As the tech-room is located, the groups split up. Seifer stays in the hall, and Guzma moves back to back with him, Scizor punching Fat Bodies and not breaking a sweat because it is a cyborg. The Trio, the Goonzmas, dash into the room past Guzma's distraction, holding the flank for the others. "Yo! This feels /creepy/, homies!" 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' "Wow!" Mysterious Hooded Girl announces, her running animation practically cutscene erroring into a two-heeled skid to a stop that puffs up rivets of dust as she comes to a cartoonish stop. "You're bringing really really bad energy into here!" Lecturing fingers point to both Rean and Sumiko. "Like sparks, but... dark! If you're going to go up against the darkness at the heart of darkness, after travelling through the darkness to get to the citadel of deep dark, Hollow Bastion... Well, you're really going to need to minimize your weird chemistry. Trust me: You can't hold on to harmful feelings. They'll scar you, on the inside." She uselessly waits in the foyer and doesn't go into the Tech Room. She seems adamant on RELATIONSHIP DRAMA SKITS for this round. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae thinks *really bubbly* light thoughts. Like going swimming in a bathtub full of gold coins. Yes. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The world shifts around them as Archer begins imposing his personal world on the environment. The Reality Marble surges forward, beginning to press into the surrounding environment as he deploys his world of blades. Even he holds a key-shaped blade. Is it a Keyblade itself? Perhaps, perhaps not. But who says a fake cannot equal the original? Archer has plenty of his own tricks, and the deployment of the dozens of blades in a rain carve open holes in the line that the others can quickly exploit.     Like Arkae, who begins to think in three dimensions like a bird ought to. She runs up the walls, Shadows chasing after her and some ranged spells raining around him, but most of the enemies appear landbound. Her unusual vantage allows her to be first down the hall, being able to simply bypass most of the horde and rush into the next area, Staren right behind... Which is filled with person-sized pods of some kind, with a central console connected to all of them. Seven pods, in specific. To one side there is a table that looked like it was supposed to hold something, but it is empty. The console itself is just sitting there blinking with some kind of output:     Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation.     Seize all Hearts and consummate the great heart.     All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all.     Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts.     The great darkness sealed within the great heart.     Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness.     For the heart of light shall unseal the path.     Seven hearts, one keyhole, one key to the door.     The door of darkness, tied by two keys.     The door to darkness to seal the light.     None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness.     Ones born of the Heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens.     Huh, that's a thing. And if that isn't ridiculous enough, there's the room just beyond. A large, ornate room that looks to be at the heart of the Bastion, a massive tangle of twisted pipes and wire conduits running all along the walls. It looks like what might have been a laboratory of some kind. The focus of it seems to be a large dais, a massive frame that looks to be roughly shaped like the insignia of the Heartless... And it is active. The frame is filled with a shifting energy, black limned with purple lightning that crackles across it. Heartless are constantly pouring out of the gate...     And taped to that frame is a familiar-looking device. Seifer's tracking device, still pinging away. Boy, there's a lot of options right now and not a lot of time to think about them. The press of Heartless just continues to get constantly replenished, more of them surging from that gate. And yet... There's no sign of Riku. Or Ansem. Where could he be...?     Seifer begins bringing up the rear, laboriously carving his way forward. A Fat Body detonates as Seifer unleashes his Gunpowder Soul, blasting the thing and bypassing the thick defense of that belly. Sumiko cleaved down and through... Then unleashes a wave of crystalline buckshot that begins tearing through Heartless en masse. The air is filled with the sound of shattering glass as the waves are pushed back, buying them valuable time to reform their ranks and advance. Guzma advances the line, his Pokemon beginning to bully the enemies back in a display of superior bullying while the Goonzmas keep the lighter enemies off their back. They're right. The rooms /are/ creepy. Some might find them beautiful, even, but it is not a beauty meant for normal people. They will be joining Arkae and Staren in moments. The question is... What to do now? 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko nods once to Seifer, and makes a break after the nerd and the bird.  She moves through heartless if she has to, avoiding most engagements and letting the rest of them take up the rear.  Her destination is to cover both Staren and Arkae.  Once there, she takes overwatch, blasting heartless with crystal, or swording them in the face. "Giant door, some beeping thing, caskets.  This couldn't be more evil science lair even if you tried."  She looks around, are there any other ways in our out? Alright, you two, you got a limited amount of time, or else we try jumping into the scary door looking thing, which probably isn't a good thing.  Probably a really terrible idea, which means obviously it's the only way forward.   

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' The group moves on, making it into the central room. There's signs of battle...and a door left wide open. "...Did someone get here before us?"  Rean asks, trying to pin down what happened. Rean continues Gale-ing his way though the Soldier Heartless pile, though he's starting to flag from running at full tilt for so long.   And Xion decides now is the time to point out the tension between him and Sumiko. Rean grunts. "We don't have time for this-" He starts to say, but then a Large Body rams into him like a rubber wrecking ball. He goes flying, rolling head over heels towards Xion(?). He sighs, pulling himself back onto his feet. "...I'm trying to NOT think about it, ok?" Rean says to Xion. "Just...give me a bit." He takes a deep breath, and tries to focus on the friends he still had, and all the hope that this mission could go well.  There you go, happy thoughts.   A ring of blue light surrounds him for a moment, as he starts up his ARCUS unit. The spell resolves, forming into a hail of flaming meteors sent spiraling towards the flood of Heartless. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae continues thinking good thoughts, just in case. Next up: Eating a bunch of really good food. Restaurant cheese sticks. Kingdom Hearts isn't light, it's fried bread and cheese, dipped in the red sauce of your choice. There isn't any other answer. She runs in, doing an odd u-shaped turn around either side of the top of the doorframe, down one wall and up the other to get clear again... ... As she runs, she considers the problem at hand. Seifer's trying to remember something. It's something important, something key to solving this situation probably... ... She tunes her well-honed Adventurer's Intuition to the problem at hand: How do you jog Seifer's memory to get him to remember? Some word, some phrase or action, something that'd bring up a related memory... She considers, as she runs along the walls. Something... ... Something... ... Nothing? Her adventurer's intuition and her sense of 'luck', both supernaturally honed through twelve levels of close scrapes and life-or-death adventuring choices, is suggesting... that they can't do it. It's either impossible for Seifer to remember, or at least not something they can do right in the here and the now. She relays this to Seifer as she fights along the walls of the room. It might not be the most useful bit of info she can pull out, but maybe it'll at least help him focus. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Alright, maybe his wife's Dark-aligned, but Seifer adamantly and stubbornly refuses to be. In fact, in what might be the most ridiculous form of spite ever conceived, Seifer turns up the headphones.      'This is my story.' Shing. Footsteps. 'And this isn't where our story ends.'      Seifer pistol-whips one of the Heartless as the hopeful music starts to stir. The sound of gunpowder and blades echoes from out of his headphones. Hyperion flicks upwards into the face of one of the bigger Heartless as they surge into the creepy doors. 'Woah. That your girl?' 'Yeah. Her name is Kaya.'      Seifer whirls around to smash one of the Heartless in the head with Hyperion's butt. Happy thoughts, right? Happy thoughts of him and Sora and Molly. Happy thoughts of him making them sit through the movie. Happy thoughts of him and Molly arguing the finer points of the thing. Molly being a pain just for fun. Sora sitting there the whole time going 'I liked it.' Little moments that Gilgamesh couldn't take away. Little moments that the grey-skinned stranger didn't have the Heart to pull into the darkness.      'Ayaka. I know. I know you have a responsibility. Or you think you do. But you know what they'll do. If they find out you have Hyne's power-' 'I know. But I have to. The power of Hyne is meant to be used, not hidden. And if I do nothing, Elthane will fall, and Luthiox will rule this continent.'      Seifer is mouthing it the whole time.      He is grinning like an idiot.      His knee swings upwards to nail a Heartless in the face. His fingers go forward to snap at the thing's ear. He's thinking about Caster, about the first time he made *her* sit through the damn thing. He's thinking about Asterios. He's thinking about Tetra. About everybody he's made sit through the thing he cares the most about.      The second most about.      'They will take our people. They will burn what they cannot take, and leave our home a broken wreck. I have no choice but to stand. It will be alright. I have faith.'      Over the radio, Seifer shouts, "Looks like it loops around! Be ready! We might have to open the door to find him! But if we have to jump into Darkness to pull Riku back, then Darkness better watch the heck out! I am bringing some WEAPONS GRADE happy thoughts right now!"      He grabs onto the little moments and doesn't let go. Sea-salt ice cream. The three of them laughing. The Concord at his back. The moment he became a Hand. Forging the necklaces for himself and Caster.      There's memories he won't let go of.      'Gotta try better than that!' 'Not bad, Brume. Not good enough yet.' 'I did better this time, right? Huh, Zefar?'      He didn't fail Riku.      You don't fail when you're the protagonist. You keep going till the credits roll, till the happy ending pops up, till all the frustration is passed and you get the freeze-frame smile.      He's gonna give that freeze-frame smile to them. To Riku, to Kairi, to Molly, to Sora.      And he is grinning like a *fucking idiot* on the way to the Door. 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' As Seifer pushes forward, Guzma follows behind, heartless piling up behind them. He doesn't talk - Seifer's in his happy place. He's here to support him. Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp want to help. They put towards that dais, that gate, being the first to get there due to 'being the closest'. They see that horrible, dark thing. They want to destroy it - but they're not strong enough. So, their three Pokemon start spitting acid at the Heartless spilling out. "Come on! We'll have your back, yo! We're all homies here!" They might be the first ones to bite it, if this is truly a horror movie. 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:''' There's a poem. There's a gate. There's still an endless army of darkness. Outside of now knowing the specific point of where the Heartless are coming from, he's still not sure what the end game is here. Well, that's not true. It's pretty clear the guy wants Kingdom Hearts, and darkness, and to flood the world in an eternal metaphorical night (night being a metaphor for darkness). But as to the /why/, that he hasn't quite figured out.      Thinking these sort of things out and waffling has never done Archer any good, even in his younger years, so at the moment, he just applies pressure to the gate. Raining various mythological weapons down at the entrance as everyone works everything else. He accommodates his fire for anyone who wants to try going inside, but other than that, he's just helping in holding a line. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' Sumiko and Rean continue to chain sparks between each other - emotional spatters of hot oil from the pan. "Do I have to give you two an intervention? Look each other in the eyes, and remember that you've made mistakes! If you're both here to help, you don't have to cling to the blade of a knife." "You'll cut yourselves." The hooded girl pleads lightly, jogging after the pair. Seifer says some extra dorky stuff, and the mood lightens. "Only that guy could make the Sorceress' Knight a weaponized happy thought..." A grimace is cast towards the banks of tubes and past - into the further room. "I don't like this at all. Shouldn't he come out? Or even send something after us to slow us down? We still have to have time --" A bit of desperation. "-- he can't have won already!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Alright, now to see if for some reason whoever was using this machine left the readouts open to see instead of leaving it on a password-protected lock screen...     Reality has good news and bad news for Staren. And also weird news. <"Is this some kind of riddle? It's some poem about darkness and light and hearts and unlocking a door to the realm of Kingdom Hearts!">     He reads over it a few times but in the heat of the moment his mind just can't seem to shuffle the pieces of the poem into any tactically useful information. Perhaps this Ansem is using the heartless to gather heart and open the way to Kingdom Hearts? But that's not really anything they can use to find Riku... and then Seifer recognizes the tracker up ahead. Stuck on a gateway spewing heartless. This was all a trap.     No. Don't think like that. Friendship is going to win the day. Somehow.     Someone starts shouting about happy thoughts. He's not sure who said it first, but... in the few seconds he has free of fighting the heartless, he can focus...     That is untrue, Staren. I am not mad at you. *Giggle* I probably would have said something like that not so long ago.     You're one of the reasonable ones. That's why I like talking to you.     ...Back then, when he felt misunderstood, there was still occasional light in the darkness. Even on one of his worst days...     I'm just glad I could help in some way. From what you have said, and her words on the radio...it sounds like she will forgive you. You might have to work on it a bit, but I don't think she will hold it against you.     You're so kind and willing to help people. I'm trying to be more like you. Give people chances, even when they're terrible... I... thought of you, when they called me a monster, and tried to reach out to her. It didn't work out then, but maybe now... It's looking like maybe today doesn't have to be so bad after all. Even after the other incident... Death is tragic, but seeing cooler heads prevail despite it, and work towards harmony... gives me hope for a brighter future.     It doesn't always work, but it is important to keep trying. If we don't work toward a brighter future, then how will it become any brighter?     ...That's right. Whatever happens today, Only with hope is there a chance. Otherwise, things can only end in darkness. Staren follows Seifer to the door, albeit with a grimmer look as he blasts and beam-sabers heartless and more damage accumulates on his armor. But his face kind of looks that way most of the time.     If they have to go through that door, he'll stand by Seifer. Against whatever comes next. For friendship. For a brighter future.     If he can't do that, then what is everything he's done gathering all this power, getting to this point, /for/? 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Relationships are complicated. Riku's life has been all about relationships and the many ways they go bad, haven't they? Rean himself gets confronted with the giant pile of negative emotions between himself and Sumiko. As he pulls his thoughts away from them, did something change? Or do the Heartless still sense the Darkness there in his heart, that unresolved pain and grief... Not just for Sumiko, but so many other things... But he tries to soldier through anyway, the barrage of meteorites blasting through the Heartless and helping to clear the path a bit more for everyone else.     Arkae, meanwhile, REALLY loves cheese sticks. And who can blame her? She's working to get things straightened out. Seifer is the de facto leader, but does he know what to do here? She tries figuring out what to do to put him on the right track and just comes up empty. Sometimes, amnesia is a pain in the ass. What to do? What to do?     Sumiko becomes Dangerously Genre Savvy while the others fight through the horde, Sumiko shredding things to buy the others time to poke and prod at things. Seifer, in the mean time, is arming himself with SERIOUS HAPPY THOUGHTS. Does this make a difference with the actual Heartless threat? It's hard to tell. They're ravening after him regardless. Guzma's goons get assembled before the gate, putting themselves on the line to try to hold it with the others. Archer hurls weapons through it, using the natural chokepoint to his advantage.     Xion stares at the gate, and exclaims that he can't have won already. Staren thinks it can't be a trap. He believes in himself, he believes in his friends...     Almost as if in response, there is a sudden shift in the flood. Perhaps alerted by the weapons raining through the gate? Perhaps not. Either way, the flood of Heartless suddenly... ceases. That's the good news. The bad news is there is a massive surge of dark energy, rushing outwards to engulf the room, blotting out all the blinky lights and glowing and the reasonably lit environment into a deep shadow... And that shadow suddenly pulls, dragging at the task force and inexorably dragging anyone with sufficient Protagonist Power towards that gate.     One after another, they are pulled through...     And land on a beach. A beach seemingly locked in a sunless twilight. The shacks and simple homes have holes in them, the place looking like it has been through a hurricane. And there, standing looking out to sea, is Riku, clad in his Heartbrand armor. "Pathetic." He says, his voice dispassionate. Cold. "You are even later than I expected." He turns towards the group and gestures. "Do you see this place? A dissolute remnant of the boy's home, taken by the Darkness. It will join the others in time."     He spreads his arms wide, and there is a rush of black and purple flame, Riku's form melting within it as it shifts into... A tall, tanned man with yellow eyes and white hair. The Heartless emblem holds his coat over his body, the undershirt open and revealing his chest, muscular and toned. White gloves are on his hands, with black pants and large, flared black boots. "All the pieces are in place. I have already won. All that remains are the loose ends. Come, embrace the Darkness!" A hand rises, and black flames suddenly erupt around the group, scorching at them with dark power. 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Xion keeps bringing up the broken social link between her and Rean, which causes her to narrow her eyes just slightly.  She won't admit to anything and becomes increasingly frowny at this continuous assault on this hot button.  She's about to turn at Xion to say something, but then something happens.   The door...stops?   "Oh hey maybe I was w-" it starts to reverse.  Oh no. She stabs her blade into the ground, trying to hold on.  Doing anything to try and keep from flying in.  That seemed like a bad idea, a very very bad idea!  This keeps up as long as it is dramatic, being flung inside.  "I hate being riiiiiight!" she shouts and lands face-first on a beach.   Thankfully, Seifer's good feelings are hard to ignore.  Standing up, it's only a matter of time before Riku...?  Ansem?  Risem?  Anku?  Anku.  Yes, that's it.  Anku.  He says a few things, but the last part...he's already won?   "My dude, if you wanted to win, you shouldn't have dragged us here.  You've messed with us, and I can account that like...five of us are more than ready to mess you up.  Cuz we're Concord!" The diamond blade comes back into her hand, even as the dark fire explodes where she was.  The scorching energy runs across her back, burning her as she dives forward, but not enough to stop her. She dives in, swinging in a few times before jumping off the ground and flying into the air.  Above him, her hand creates several buckshot of glass, aiming to try and pound him full of glass.   

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae really loves cheese sticks. Especially the ones with spider legs inside. Maybe that shouldn't be shared with the group, though. She gets pulled through a portal, despite how hard she tries to cling to the wall she's on... "If you've already won, why bother with the loose ends?" she calls. "And why bother telling us?" "HEY GUYS! HE'S LYING! HE HASN'T ALREADY WON! DON'T BELIEVE HIM!" Arkae rallies through the blast of dark power, weathering it, and runs along hte beach towards Riku - or Not!Riku? She's kinda lost the plot again. This is the person they're trying to save? Or destroy? Or something? She reaches a hand into her bag of holding, drawing forth a vial of off-white fluid. She probably shouldn't use the really deadly poison for this. She expertly pours the vial over her blade as she runs, and then jumps at the figure, swinging her sword for a shallow cut. Only a shallow one. Of course, if that shallow cut connects, the target might end up feeling like he needs a little nap... 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' The Goonzmas are pulled in. Then Guzma. Then everyone else. They land on an eerie beach. Guzma returns Scizor to his ball, squinting at the area. And then he spots Riku, in armor. Riku talks. He transforms. Guzma grits his teeth. "Screw off! You already won? Then what are we here for, huh? Seifer says we'll win...so I believe in him!" Guzma grabs an Ultra Ball off his belt. He clicks the button. The Squad sticks back, letting Guzma handle this. They're going to support him from the sidelines, like wrestling groupies, and only get into the attack when it gets bad. Then the flames don't let them. The Skull Trio is burned, screaming, and Guzma closes his eyes. He can't let them get hurt. He's shaking. He's not strong enough for this, is he? It doesn't matter. He has to keep trying. Why? "Now, time for introductions. Here's ya boy, GUZMA!" The ball is thrown. Golisopod is released. And then, Guzma calls out, as the fire licks into him and Golisopod, burning at the bug (who is Water-Type, so not super effective) and searing into Guzma's coat. "First Impression!" Golisopod surges forward, and then, it's gone. Too fast to see. Until the last moment, that is, when Ansem has a claw in his gut, striking him with extreme speed and strength in an attempt to do as much early damage as possible. Guzma's scared. But he has to believe in himself. If he gave up and ran here, Sylvi would literally kill him. And he'd deserve it. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      There's the fire.      'So I heard they're sending us to Elthane. The Elthanian government declared war on us! Isn't that crazy? But they have the Sorceress, so...'      Seifer barrels directly into it, ahead of the rest of the group. It's one part protectiveness - he's a Gunblade Knight, he's supposed to be doing that kind of thing. He's there to Protect. To Defend. He's got Real Strong Happy Thoughts to share, a wild, intoxicated white grin bolstered by high-fives and fistbumps and hands in the middle and whatever the hell Trinity Marks are supposed to be. Molly on his shoulders and Sora on hers getting a treasure chest. The three of them jumping down and laughing. There's power in that, real power. That's part of his Dream. Yeah, he had his Sorceress. He had a place to live out that life.      But what's the point without his Brume, his Yuka, and his Kaya? You gotta have the whole crew. It can't just be Ayaka. And maybe living out the movie...      Well, maybe it can have an even happier ending!      He's gonna live forever, right? He promised Caster. And he's gonna be a Big Damn Name. A Big Damn Hero. He's got all these ambitions that go right past the movie's limitations and they're all right there on his arm, right next to Sora and Molly high-fiving in a stupid three-way high-five that nevertheless makes him grin even harder.      'So what? It's just one woman. She might be strong.'           But we're stronger. We won't let that kind of evil win.                The fire washes over him, just like before. One hand goes up against Hyperion's back. It's a small comfort, not much of a deflection. He's getting burned. But he's still grinning with all his might. He is grinning like an idiot. The dark fire licks at his face around Hyperion. It's a cleft through the flame but it's a cleft nonetheless.      He surges out of the (dragon of the) darkness flame, Hyperion flashing in the dying of the light. "Hey, buddy!"      "Remember me?!"      Left, right. Bang, bang. Stab, bang. Swish, bang. The tip of the gunblade dances like Seifer does as he darts around the ground. "'cause I remembered two real important things!"      'We're deploying you and your team, effective immediately.'      "First! I don't need to take you on myself! I didn't then, and I don't now! And even if Sora and Molly aren't here, they might as well be, 'cause I know they'd be backin' me up just like everybody else! I got friends, you tan jerk!"      'You'll be making a deep strike into Elthanian territory.'      "And second!"      Seifer dives in close. His arm sweeps out for Ansem's throat. "I remembered that I really wanted to clothesline your stupid face into the ground!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The heartless stop. And then the portal starts sucking people through. Concern flickers across Staren's face. Boy, it better not go to a black hole that annihilates everything it-- no! Don't think like that! Help Seifer!     Staren stands up on the... beach? And looks around. Riku is cold and emotionless. "Oh, come on..." Oh, that's right: Riku's possessed or something. By... this guy. Staren's entire right forearm folds away into another space and is replaced with a cannon that starts sucking in energy.     Staren puts up his forcefield and groans as the darkness washes over it, cracking it and sandblasting away part of it. "See, this is what I don't get about this kind of thing. If you're right, what's the point of caring about darkness or not? Embracing it? Why bother to do anything but lie down and die?"     Staren blinks. "Oh. Is 'embrace the darkness' just a colorful way of telling us to do that? Fair enough." The arm cannon is now glowing bright blue-white with gathered energy.     Staren points it at 'Ansem' and releases the gathered energy in one big ol' plasma blast.     "YOU FIRST!" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' It is kind of ironic, isn't it? His whole thing with Riku started because he thought he knew what that was like with his own issues making him hesitate.  And then life decided to pile more crap on top. But at least Seifer can do the Encouraging Sword Hero Thing in his place for now. "That's the spirit!" Rean says. Then they;'re sucked into the abyss. "It's a bit too early to say that." Rean says, dramatically pointing his sword. "We're going to get Riku back, no matter what it takes!" He then dashes in, swinginh his sword with enough speed that one strike blossoms into many. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' Being attacked by a tide of darkness is one thing. Being swallowed by a wellspring of darkness is another. Lost in freefall, the hooded girl tumbles through the dark air, and lands face-down and legs sprawled in the sandy beach. It's all just a little too much, having to yank her head out of the grit and falling back on her butt to recover for a moment. A moment that Ansem - the Seeker of Darkness - denies, with a crashing wave of black fire, consuming the beach and disappearing the recovering hooded girl. When she leaps out of the roil, it's with both hands frantically patting out her smouldering hood, yanking it off her head. Revealing blue eyes -- and red-auburn hair. "Riku! I know you're in there, but I also know --" She lifts a hand, pointing a gloved finger up at Ansem. "-- that I'm going to have to blast that cold smile off that man's face!" "Dia!" Kairi calls, and a rather pale godray-lance of light strikes from 'the skybox' down into Ansem. 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      They're dragged into the gate, into the remains of what appears to be an island. Riku- no, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, stands to greet them. Though it's not so much a greeting as it is belittlement. So that's what it's like.      There's no time for bickering though as not shortly after they're expressed disappointment, they're throwing out dark fire. Of course it's dark fire.      Between the chaos, Archer's talking. More like chanting, really, though it's drowned out by the chaos, and he only stops to quickly remove his red jacket as it gets caught in the burning hot fires of darkness. There's minor burns, but he's dealt with worse. Like being split open. And the Irish.           UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS. The chant is finished once more as the world burns away to be replaced with the same environment as last time, though it burns away at a much quicker pace than last time. Almost like the world doesn't have the ability to fight back.      "I was planning on stopping at the door, but it seems you were much too lonely to do anything other than force a bunch of stranger's into your house. I thought I told Riku that trashed houses were the end result of that, so hopefully you don't hold my redecorating against me."      Archer pulls one, two keyshaped blades from the ground this time, jumping into action as he attempts the valiant attempt to meet Seifer's clothesline attack from behind and slam both, large keys into the man of darkness' back. Like a Hero. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     "Yes, the Concord. A group with hearts full of Darkness." Ansem leaps backwards as the crystal buckshot rains down around him, and his shadow... rises. The diamond blade is intercepted by a dark claw, a misshapen humanoid rising out of the blackness. Those who have seen Riku might find it familiar, because the creature looks... exactly the same. Has this been a manifestation of Ansem's power through Riku the entire time? The blade punches into the Guardian's black flesh and runs it through, the creature not even pausing as it strikes back at her with a devastatingly direct fist. But the shower has cut Ansem and made him bleed, rivulets beginning to run down across his face and down his body... And if he can bleed, he can be defeated... right? "I would think that you lot of all people would understand."     Arkae comes in fast and deadly. Is Ansem lying? Maybe. Maybe not. Hard to tell at this point, isn't it? If she is looking to knock him off balance, he doesn't seem to be capable of his. His expression is incisive. Cold. One might even call it... Heartless. The blade comes in, striking at him... And he catches the blade in one hand, stopping it clean. Unfortunately, for him, however, the blade still nicks him... And the poison begins to seep into his body. There is a little shift in his stance, a deepening of that frown on his face. "The Darkness will take you." He replies, before he brings his free hand back and palm-thrusts forward, the air distorting as a burst of black energy explodes into Arkae like a piledriver, trying to launch her across the battlefield.     Guzma rolls up next. The Skull Trio are outmatched for this, but Guzma himself? Maybe his Heart is strong enough. The Golisopod isn't worried about questions of Light and Dark and Hearts and Friendship. It seems to like benchpressing small cars instead. The massive bug, however, also has fantastic speed when necessary, and the claw punches right into Ansem's gut. There is a grunt of pain and he is knocked backwards. "Ggggh! You think your bravado means anything against the Darkness?" The Guardian turns, lashing out to retaliate against the Golisopod, driving its arm into the ground... As dozens of black spikes erupt around it, trying to pierce it repeatedly!     Seifer barrels forward. That's his job. He takes point. He takes the punishment. He's being almost literally powered by Happy Thoughts, drawing on the buoying strength of the good times in his life in the face of the power being displayed here. He is a Man with a Dream, a man with a strong Heart. Which is probably why he ended up in this mess to begin with. He believes in himself. He believes he can't let evil win. Hyperion dances, striking and piercing, a hornet sting of pain and precision. The Guardian's arm lashes out, efficiently blocking and parrying each strike with preternatural speed, as if he somehow knew this was going to happen ahead of time...     And then the clothesline strike comes in, sweeping right past the black beast, only for Ansem to catch it in his hand. "Attempting to ape the idiotic behavior of the Keyblade Wielder will not get you any farther than it did for him." He replies. "There is a powerful Darkness in your heart. You should have simply let it free... Maybe then you might have had a chance." There is a sudden kick, and Ansem sends Seifer flying into a hole that opens up in space. He twists through the Darkness, falling... And the hole opens, Seifer falling from one hole into another, then looping back again and again and again.... Before finally, the last hole simply vanishes, letting Seifer plummet into the ground at absurd speed. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     "Why care?" Ansem tilts his head at Staren, then, a brow arching. "You are almost prepared to ask the right questions. An inquisitive mind... But you still understand nothing." The massive blast is fired at him, the tan man getting Mega Bustered in classic fashion. The plasma blast detonates around him... And he emerges, scorched, but still intact. "All worlds begin in Darkness. And all so end. The Heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature." He holds out a hand, a massive surge of black energy growing as he gathers his own power. "In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came." At that, there is a dull THUD as he simply releases the blast, the spiralling sphere trailing shadowflame as he fires back to Staren.     Rean closes in to slash at Ansem. The blade strikes fast and true, leaving several cuts across his body... But the Guardian again interposes, preventing a clean strike on the man as he slashes past. "Early or late, it does not matter. The Darkness awaits you." A hand clenches, and black energy detonates around Rean, crushing in on him before the energy blasts outwards.     Xion arrives in her own special way, and her hood falls back, revealing her face. Maybe there is a glint there, a moment of recognition. "You." Ansem states with the same cold tone. "You have outlived your usefulness. How are you even here, I wonder? You can't possibly be her." This is then puncuated by the beams of pure light that scorch down on him, causing him to growl and fall backwards. "Accursed Light. Are you truly seeking to pit your fragile frame against the unlimited power of Darkness?" His hands clench together, and a massive surge of gravitational forces begin sucking Kairi towards the center of that horrific event horizon, spinning her about in a torrent of entropic force that rips at her before it, too implodes in a silent, hellish blast.     Archer then comes in hard, continuing to impose his power on the area. Ansem shakes his head as the Reality Marble begins overwriting the envrionment, like there is little or nothing actually stopping it from happening. "You fool. You think you are going to-" His words are cut off as the dual keyblades slash into his back, leaving a painful-looking pair of cuts on his back. "You are going to live to regret this." He fents forward with his fist, about to strike when the Guardian appears to his right side, rushing across to shoulder-check the man instead with the finesse and power of a freight train. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "The Concord... isn't! Full of darkness!" "We believe in exceptionalism! In individuals shining so brightly that doing anything but moving everything else out of the way for them would be unthinkable!" Arkae gets back up from the blast of darkness, and runs at him again. Her battle strategy isn't really complicated - get in close, use poisoned sword on person, get out without being hit. Repeated hits of the sleeping poison should start to stack up... eventually. She just needs to keep making cuts. And then, afterwards, she turns and grabs a spare sword from her bag, and throws it towards Seifer, since he's doing a thing. The curved blade glistens - a dose of preapplied poison active on it. The good stuff. 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko and the demon clash, thankfully she still remembers how it moves from the short time she had it.  Though she thinks to steal it, she reminds herself it would likely be useless right now.  Considering her options, she decides to continue on how things are going.  Once more, the two collide, as it dashes at her, she moves just slightly, aiming to try and circle around the creature.   What happens is that she is still caught, and sent back smashing into some terrain.  Unfortunately for Anku, she was not flattened by the attack.  Having had used her momentum to help send it's own a different direction.  However, something is...different.  The arm holding the blade is...larger.  Definitely larger than the rest of her.   The muscles are unnaturally taut around her structure.  She dives at him this time, swinging the blade with strange precision and accuracy.  Her moves faster and stronger, more precise, and with more energy behind them.  Should they land, she starts to change.  Legs becoming larger and the same taut structure as her arms.  Her eyes becoming nothing but gleaming gems.   "That just shows you don't know anything about us.  You're blinded by darkness, a means to an end.  You fill yourself with it, but forget to hold onto what makes you human...and even a monster like me can see that!  We might have hearts that aren't exactly good-natured, but we're honest with ourselves, and do not delude ourselves into thinking every end justifies every mean!" "Not that I care...you are a stepping stone for me!  A step to making myself a place I will rule with my own hands..." she grins, as a shadow passes over her face, only her eyes and mouth visible.  "Just because we're both of darkness, doesn't mean we're allies...my desires outstrip your own." she swings again. However, any strike would seem to make him weaker.  She was literally stealing his vitality and increasing her own ability with it.  "I will have everything!~  And I will take it by force if I must!~"  She says even as her heart pounds, her feelings rage out of control.  She wants to cry, she wants to scream, she wants to kick Rean in the teeth, she wants to get out of this entire situation...but all she can do is beat down her problems, and fight for the goals she sets for herself. 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      Seifer slams the dirt, something Archer has been keeping an eye on, even as Ansem's Guardian comes out to deal with him. Archer crosses the two blades in front of him to absorb the impact, but even though they absorb most of the impact, they still eventually shatter and cause Archer to go skidding across the ground for a good bit as he jams the remains of the broken blades into the ground beneath to slow him. He stops roughly next to Gunblade Knight himself. Funny how that works.      His knees are weak for the briefest of moments, but he eventually pulls himself off the ground, grabbing hold of Seifer's hand, specifically the one still grasping on to Hyperion. There's a small click in the Heroic Spirit's head, before he uses his strength to pull Seifer back up on his feet with minimal effort.      "You keep grinning like an idiot. But only winners or assholes get to grin. And while we can debate if you're the latter, you're definitely not the former."      They joke, running a hand through their hair before their voice becomes a bit more serious.      "So, let's fix that, shall we?"      The ground shakes as new blades sprout out from the ground like flowers. Or emerging ancient treasures. Whatever your preference for prose is, it doesn't matter because they're all Hyperions. Hyperions with a drastically decreased chamber size, from the looks of things, but Hyperion all the same.      This seems to be the setup for Seifer more than anything though, as Archer's already making something else. Green lines glow and fizzle down his arms as he goes through the process. The very, painful and intensive process of making a holy sword. The sword of Promised Victory.      Like everything else he makes, it's just a fraction of something greater, but that doesn't stop him from firmly grasping the hilt with both hands as the gold and blue sword begins teaming with power.      "This light is the sword of the king who can never be reached. Forever Distant Golden Sword - Excalibur Image!"      The sword is brought down through the air, releasing a  torrential flood of LIGHT acrossthe battlefield. Towards Ansem's Guardian, and specifically, towards Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. 

:'''{{#var:7148|Guzma (7148)}} has posed:''' After the fire attack, the injured Goonzmas pull back. Dark spears plunge into Golisopod after the successful claw attack, tearing into its armor, knocking it backwards, and causing Guzma to grimace. He needs to hold it together. Golispod can keep it going. It's stronger than this. He just has to believe. He's the Big Bad Guzma. He can do this. "Golisopod. Razor Shell." Guzma calls out, trying to stay calm and failing miserably, as blue energy surrounds Golisopod's armor. It charges forward, moving to strike into Ansem... "Now, Pin Missile, up close!" As soon as the slash hits Ansem with strength and speed, purple missile-like energy needles blast out of Golisopod's back, moving to rip through him point blank. "Maybe not! But I can't be scared, can I? This boat runs on smiles, y'know! Boss's orders!" And then, Guzma grins. It's not a happy, or authentic grin. But he's listening. He's trying. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Ansem... actually TALKS to him. 'In the end, every heart returns to darkness' makes something flicker across his face again, as he wonders if the last moments of even those who claim contentment are spent in fear as they realize their death is truly at hand.     Reflexively, he takes a defensive posture and puts up his forcefield again, but the shadow blast breaks away part of the forcefield and sends Staren stumbling back from the impact, crouching to regain his balance.     He stands. "You're not entirely wrong." He begins trying to circle around, rapidly firing smaller bolts of energy as he tries to make it hard for Ansem to dodge ALL of them.     "Every heart has darkness in it. If we did not want, if we never take, we would not care enough to survive. But we don't have to let base instincts define us. And even if we did... even animals can work together, and protect their children..."     Staren blinks and stops, as he kind of stumbles into a possible insight in heartology. "Ah... is that the root of the light that opposes your darkness?" His arm is a whir of moving parts, and then it's holding an oversized, chrome-plated revolver. He takes aim. "Living not for yourself, but for someone else. Having Something To Protect. Perhaps you've never had a pet, or a friend, or a child. Another life depending on you."     "How very sad." But then his eyes widen in realization. He lowers the weapon and holds out his other hand, suddenly sounding desperate. "It's not too late! Join us! Give, give Riku back and we'll help make your dreams come true, too!" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' 'Early or late, it does not matter. The Darkness awaits you. ' Ansem says. He knew that. Of COURSE he knew that. Darkness or Death were both inevitable, and it hurt so much! What was he supposed to do? Hold on to this forever? Go through this every single time? No, he...He didn't want to live like this forever. '...I'm being a child.' Rean thinks. "So what?!" Rean shouts, igniting his sword. "Just because it's inevitable, doesn't mean we should just give up!"  He feels the air pressing in on him, and he jumps back, avoiding the black hole completely. He swings the blade out to his side, preparing to rush Ansem again. "We keep moving, no matter what happens!" He turns to Sumiko. He lets out a sigh, trying to tamp down on how much he missed Mikoto. "...I'm sorry, ok? I know you're not her anymore, and you'll never /be/ her. And I'm not mad that you kept it from me. Not anymore. If I'm mad at anyone, it's...me. I shouldn't be taking it out on you." He then takes his sword in both hands, and charges in at Ansem, slashing at him with brilliant red flames. He didn't want to keep fighting Sumiko for the rest of his life. What about her? 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' An event horizon. Overwhelming darkness. But the words that are spoken are rough. They don't have the bite that Riku's words had. They didn't hurt the way that poorly thought out, harmful things hurt. The darkness pools at her feet, and like standing on the surface of a lake, it eddies and pools around the soles of her boots. Kairi looks down, first at her hand with the empty washed-out motes of light. "I've already been through the darkness. I remember it. Two eternities. A state of nonexistance. But I remember my friend. These people remember my friend!" She takes a casting stance, fingers steepling together. "So no - I won't try to match my dim light to your darkness. I'll reach out to you - through our bond! The light isn't my power: other people are! All these people here. Your partner, Riku. I'll save you with their power." Her eyes close. "Trace: On." Her incantation is an audible whisper. She 'draws' a spiral of chrome and brass wreathed in a rainbow from the air with a bright 'shwink!' the blade immediately being brought down into the pool of darkness. "Caladbolg!" Light of all colors, red through violet, pours outward in a cascade, clashing against the darkness of the black hole - and upward, outward. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Yeah, that was a mistake.      Seifer can't hear the comeback, but he can figure it out pretty quickly as he's flung into the portal. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again, and...      The hit is *meteoric*. He crashes into the ground as hard as it's physically possible to do. There's a loud *whud* and an explosion of sand, darkness, and dust. He lays there for a second, groaning. He's also definitely, definitely bleeding. In a whole bunch of places. A JRPG Dramatic Cutscene number of places. Yep. Something's broken.      Turns out it's the media player. @emit      The sound of The Sorceress's Knight sputters and dies. The headphones are useless.      Seifer lays there in the darkness, staring up into the void. For a moment, there's the flicker of thought. Maybe he should have-      Wait.      No.      He's an idiot.      A huge grin spreads across his face. It's even goofier than before. He doesn't even need the headphones to recite that movie shot for shot, but that's not the thing that's driving him onwards.      Archer pulls him to his feet. The hill of swords springs to life. Seifer tilts his head at Archer, a bit of a grin on his face. "Yeah, well. You better forget that blade after this, you hear me?"      He stares up as the blades sprout forth around him. At the lances of light from Kairi. At Rean's rapid strikes. At Staren's energy blast. Guzma's Golisopod stab. Arkae's poison cuts. Sumiko's flashing strikes.      His grin just widens.      "Hey."      Seifer takes a step forward. "You're right. The Darkness did make you strong. It even gave you your own little friend. Your own little friend to protect you. Defend you. Hold your hand. Keep you safe from all the big bad light."      Another step. "Looks pretty useful. Yeah. Yeah, I can see it. That's the thing in your heart."      "Another you. To fight on your side."      Step. Step. His feet drag across the sand. His grin is just widening. "I got friends, you know? Sora. Molly. A lotta the people here. Some of 'em I barely know. Some of 'em I don't know at all. They're all here to support me."      Hyperion points up. "And they're all here to support you!"      Seifer thumps his free hand on his chest. "Every single person here is here to save the guy you locked up inside your heart! Or the guy locked up inside your body! You hear that, Riku? They're not just here for me! They're here for you, too!"      "We're gonna fight till we tear the dark right out of you!"      Seifer runs his fingers through his short blonde hair. "Yeah....yeah, that's the thing. I got lots of friends. Riku's got lots of friends. Friends he ain't even met. Friends he ain't even said hello to. Friends who don't even know his name. But they're all here for him!"      "Who've you got here for you?"      Seifer's blade tips to point at the Shadow. "Yourself? Your own Shadow? Pretty sad."      "Sure is handy, though." The Gunblade Knight scratches the back of his head. "Can't get past that defense. Lets you do whatever you want on offense. Yeah. Real doozy."      Seifer shoulders his blade. He taps Hyperion once. "How about I make this fight a little more even in our favor, huh? You get a buddy. It's only fair. It's time we fight like men. And ladies. And ladies who dress like men!"      "GILGAMESH!" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      The roar that bursts forth echoes through the darkness. It's not Seifer's. It's the massive grey giant's.      "IT IS MORPHING TIME!"      Three massive arms. Three cardboard arms. A cloak, shrouding grey face in mystery and excitement. No legs; just a trailing spectre over Seifer's shoulder.      Seifer breaks into a run. The six-armed giant catches Arkae's blade in one huge hand. All around them are flowers of blades. Most of them are his own. Some of them are legendary spears, legendary swords. It doesn't matter. Gilgamesh's arms snap outwards. They scoop up blades and hurl them, deadly, murderous frisbees. Hyperion spears go shooting forward, turning back into their true selves in Gilgamesh's hands. The grey giant rips up a pair of blades as he and Seifer pass and jams them together - one black, one white, all spear.      Seifer jumps from the beach onto the floating debris, dancing between the Pin Missiles. He ducks and rolls through the attack as Gilgamesh grabs one in his third arm.      The cape swings backwards. Cardboard arms fall away.      "Surprise!" Gilgamesh shouts, "I was only PRETENDING to have three arms!"      One of those three arms plucks a sword out of Sumiko's hands as Seifer bounds off a tree. Seifer is not mobile, but he doesn't have to be, not here in the Darkness - the Darkness is a place beyond physics, a place coming undone. He just needs something to jump off of.      Rean's a big distraction, a flaming sword, a blaze of distracting fire and passion and Feelings. Sumiko's draining power and forcing Ansem to dance to her tune. That's just what Seifer needs. Seifer bounds off a floating rock past Staren. Gilgamesh just sort of yoinks the beam saber off Staren's belt, igniting it in mid-stroke.      "I need one more!" Gilgamesh shouts.      "Take this!"      Seifer tosses Hyperion up.      One grey arm snatches it out of the air.      Seifer grabs another tree. He shoots forward.      "You've got yourself!"      "BUT I'VE GOT ALL THESE FRIENDS!"      "IT AIN'T A KEYBLADE, BUT I BET IT'S GONNA WRECK YOUR DAY ALL THE SAME!"      Flash.      Seifer smiling. Molly smiling. Sora smiling.      "Let's make a promise."      Sora grabs their hands. "If we ever get separated, no matter what, we'll come find each other, yeah?"      Molly nods. Seifer nods. Sora nods. And then, as one-                                      I promise.                                      Six blades as one. Gilgamesh smashes them against the Shadow. Black-and-white spear, silver gunblade, blazing beam saber, crystalline rapier, pin needle, poisoned blade. They glitter in the dark. They whirl with determination. They stab and slash and cut and blaze against the Shadow with a barrage of light. All to hold it steady. All to hold the Shadow down. All to force Ansem's self-reliance into a corner.      So that Kairi and Archer can *punch right the fuck through him.*      Because, in the end, that's always been Seifer's job.      He's the rock on which everybody else gets to stand. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     "You should give up. What is the point of fighting? Accept the Darkness." Ansem replies to Rean. "What do you think you are going to accomplish with that? Flailing about like a child." The blade slashes at him, and the Guardian is there, the burning blade cleaving into it and taking the brunt of the strike. The slash cuts and scorches lightly into Ansem himself, and he pulls away before Rean can follow up with another blow... But doesn't retaliate. Why? What does he have in mind? He's about to find out...     Ansem floats backward, gliding along the ground like it barely exists while the Guardian interposes itself between himself and Sumiko. The strikes come fast and furious, the way the woman changes gaining another quizzical arch of the eyebrow. "You are a slave to your Darkness, while I control it. I will hold the source of all Darkness in my hands, and through it gain ultimate mastery of all Hearts. If you were more wise, you would have sought my counsel, not my fist. You do not understand the true power of Darkness!" The blade stabs past the Guardian, cutting into him and robbing him of a portion of his vitality... But even as the strike lands, there is a surge of energy in her chest, as if he is grabbing onto that dark power amidst her emotional rage... And she is launched at high speed towards the target of those emotions: Rean, a snapping tether of black energy drawing them together! Rean's apology might be met with a Sumiko to the face.     Arkae tries to refute Ansem, and he shakes his head. "The Concord feeds on the darkness. Ambition. Greed. Anger. Desire. Do you think I was blind to everything the foolish boy saw? You dress it up in quaint lights, but in the end that is all it is. Dressing." But the poisoned blade strikes him, another dose of the deadly fluid is introduced to his blood, and he gets visibly weaker. He might not be succumbing as fast as some, but he is succumbing... He isn't immune to poison, it seems.     But before he can combo into a finisher, Guzma is right on that, breaking that combo like he breaks beats, the Golisopod hammering into him with that razor-sharp shell and blasting him back. That would be bad enough, but the spikes tear into him on a followup, simply brutalizing his way through the Guardian trying to stop the attack. The strike hammers him down, driving him back as he tries to shake off his wounds... But it's becoming harder harder between the poison and vast amounts of stacking physical traume. "Smiling in the face of your destruction is simply being a fool." Ansem replies. "The Darkness comes for you."     Staren goes on the defensive. He falls backwards, goes on the defensive. Ansem looks over at the scientist, and tilts his head. "The Darkness is more powerful than the Light. This is the way of things. In the end, all Light will fade and be consumed. Every star is simply a momentary flare against the eternity of the Darkness." The energy bolts are partially blocked by the Guardian as it rotates around, but Staren seems to have figured out the lateral speed just right to slip a few past the rotation, causing him to jerk several times. "Do you wish to understand it? Open your Heart to the Darkness, and embrace it, and perhaps you will learn to understand as I have." At the rest of the offer, he turns away. "If you wish to work together, you will need to find a better time to make your offer." Perhaps notably, he doesn't actually assault Staren... 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Possibly because he's taking a blazing blast of holy light straight to the face. The massive blast catches him as he falls back, a shadow in the burning beam as he raises his hand, an actual cry of pain being wrung from him as he falls backwards. He tries to hurl himself from the melting blaze, but even as he moves, Caladbolg strikes, the spiralling blast of rainbow light crossing with the gold to create a prismatic spray of combined energies, crossing the streams right on top of him.     "No... I refuse... The power of Darkness... is supreme!" The beams suddenly break, splaying out as the Guardian manifests itself, the blot of Darkness growing larger and larger against that Light. Shadows lengthen, the world begins to darken, falling away as Ansem begins to counteract that overwhelming paired force...     Until Gilgamesh comes. Seifer strikes, unleashing the immense combined power of his friends, everyone who came together to help Seifer... To save Riku. The combined efforts of all of their power rains down upon Ansem, wielded by that Guardian Force to strike down that defense...     And the Guardian, seemingly immortal, shatters with an actual scream of pain from the Seeker of Darkness. Unmitigated now, the man falls back, the wash crashing into him and overwhelming him with the final blasts from the twin beams of light...     And he is left on one knee, knocked out of the air. He shakes his head, smoking, smouldering, his body distorting in strange ways as he struggles to keep himself coherent. "Not enough. I miscalculated. I need time. I need..." There is a cold glance at... Archer. He pulls the glove off his hand, and raises his fist. The very distinctive markings that resemble a Heartless sign...but not. "In the end, the Darkness will have its due." There is a flare of light as he activates one of the Command Seals. "Prevent my enemies from following me." He commands Archer. The Seal begins to unmake itself as he expends one of his Commands...     And then he leaps backwards into the surf. "I go to the deepest Darkness beyond Dark. Follow if you dare." At that, the air shatters behind him, and he hurls himself into a hole beyond, revealing a vast glittering ocean of shadow and a melting mishmash of detritus, the Seeker of Darkness simply plunging into that vast ocean and vanishing. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Ansem goes to run.      After all that, he's still alive. He's still there. He's running, but he's alive.      But that's better than the alternative. If they had killed Riku, if they had-      No. No, he's not gonna think that way.      And then Ansem reminds him that Ansem has Riku's body. And that's all the proof he needs.      "Gilgamesh!"      The grey giant's arm snaps outwards. Blue light drags at Ansem's arm as he disappears. "Riku's still in there, fighting! Your Master's still in there, fighting!"      The blue light slams into the back of Seifer's hand. The Command Spells on his arm twitch. A fourth one grows, a brief, burning imitation. It's not how Draw's meant to be used, but then, a Command Spell is only supposed to be used by an owner anyway, right? And Ansem's not the owner - just borrowing the body.      "Archer! Cancel that order! We're all gonna save Riku together - and that means you, too, you red pain in the butt!" 

:'''{{#var:7002|Sumiko (7002)}} has posed:''' Sumiko is matching pace with the Master of the Darkness within darkness and his animal companion.  Each strike empowering her, each strike weakening it in return.  However, physical prowess was still in his favor, she was just able to keep up thanks to her innate advantage.  She laughs at his response to her.   "Why would I bow to you?  I know what I am about, I don't embrace the greed...I accept what I am.  The good and the bad...the weak part of myself, and its strengths.  There is only one thing I hide from...and that is my burden to bear.  Maybe I'll never overcome it, but I won't know until I live my own life." Of course, it was that bit of distraction, as Rean says his peace, her face softens for just a moment until the ball drags her right towards his face.  She just narrowly flips, instead of hitting him in the face, she hits the ground and rolls until she crashes into him...far more manageable.   "Ow," she says, but her stolen sword, thanks Greg, is being put to better use.  She takes a moment to look up towards Rean.  With a sigh, she sits up and looks at the kid.  "No, you have a right to be angry.  It wasn't just you who lost someone that day...when you have someone living in your head for that long, you kind of get attached." She looks at herself, the monstrous form appearing, "I...she...we hid from you, because...we didn't want to hurt you.  By the time we became serious with you, it was far too late we felt.  Maybe we could find a solution, maybe there was a better time to solve it..?  We didn't know.  It probably was vanity, though.  I don't like to look like this, despite what I said to the old man." "But...I do accept what I am, or else I am denying that part of me.  I should have accepted it faster, and been more honest," she says, finally standing up.  "I guess I lost a possession because of that...but I can live with this." 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      Ansem calls upon the power of his Command Spells. Something Riku never entertained, Archer sucks through his teeth. As much as he wanted to be the asshole genie for that command, that's not how it works.      There's a rumble from below as massive blades begin to sprout from beneath the earth to block the party's path, but Seifer does some quick, probably once in a life time thinking to stop it. Unfortunately, the rest of what he wants is a bit on the vague side. Which causes Archer to shrug.      With a wave of his hands, the swords he was erecting disappear, though other than that he remains solely in place.      "He has a least two more Command Spells, Seifer Almasy. My best bet for saving Riku would be staying behind at this point and making sure no reinforcements come while you're dealing with him, we can't pray for you to catch a command again in time in the middle of battle. Though, it's not like that last bit means much, I don't know if Caster told you, but a Command Spell has to be a bit more absolute than that or else it gets extremely muddled."      Archer rubs his nose smugly, but it's pretty clear that he's made up his mind. And that he's taking that last bit of directions how he wants to take it. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren waves the hand at Ansem's suggestion to embrace the darkness. "Nah. I've got this whole THING I'm fighting for. Unless all this talk and metaphor actually has nothing to do with anything, and the darkness is actually free power we can turn to the ends of metaphorical light."     And then Rean charges in and Seifer actually summons Gilgamesh to help. (Later, Staren will wonder what memories Gilgamesh ate to power that.) They've got Ansem on his back foot. They've got him on the retreat, and they're ALREADY in his twilight darkness world, so he has nowhere to--     The deepest Darkness beyond Dark? How far down does this go?     More immediately concerning, he's commanding Archer to fight them (Archer is Riku's servant?!) but then Seifer's countermanding it.     Staren looks to Seifer just to confirm that walking ahead is the most expedient path here and there's no more metaphysical darkness and light stuff to do. Then he applies some sealant to the worst cracks in his metal skin and starts wading out into the water. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Unfortunately, Ansem escapes. Also, he threw Sumiko at him, but she's fast enough to just roll up and bump into his legs. And so they talk. Rean sits down at her level, and listens. They both lost someone that day, and they both were hurting about it. Both of them screwed up, in the end. That and... "We're both /really/ bad about that, aren't we?" Rean says, letting out a small laugh. "Being honest with one another." "Let's start over. As much as we can, I guess."  Rean says, standing back up. He then holds out a hand for Sumiko to shake whether it's in the monster form or not. "It's nice to meet you, Sumiko. The name's Rean Schwarzer."  Rean says, smiling. 

:'''{{#var:6909|Xion (6909)}} has posed:''' Kairi, staggeringly, drops to one knee, born up by Caladbolg held in both hands. "Wow, Seifer. You really went all out! Were you holding back on me? If you weren't: I definitely want whatever you're eating for breakfast. If you were:" Kairi smiles. "Thanks." She shoves back up to her feet, leaving Caladbolg stuck in the sand of the sunken 'Dark Destiny Island', Ansem fleeing into the Deeper Dark... Deep... Darkness... "Wow, that has *lost* all meaning." Kairi observes bluntly, giving a consideration to Archer. "We'll get your partner back, Archer. Here." Lifting Caladbolg, she underhands the weapons towards the servant. "One on me." Rean and Sumiko are given space, the auburn-haired girl smiling lightly in their direction. She COULD make it weird. She doesn't. Staren's choice gets a quiet 'THANK you'. "That's... not how 'that guy' works. You don't... turn darkness towards the power of light. It's the power of darkness. You can do stuff with it. Riku did a lot of stuff with it. 'Dark' isn't bad, just like 'Light' isn't good." Kairi points at the roiling sea of darkness Ansem escaped into. "But you can pretty much tell how terrible of a person whatever took control of Riku is. Make sense? Because I can't explain the nuances of darkness while my friend is in danger." 
}}

7126/At The Chase's End

2020-03-09T12:01:04Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/03/08 |Location=Kamurocho |Synopsis=Seifer tries to make amends. It doesn't go well. |Cast of Characters=6928, 1086 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Po..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/03/08
|Location=Kamurocho
|Synopsis=Seifer tries to make amends. It doesn't go well.
|Cast of Characters=6928, 1086
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Kamurocho. A city that never sleeps, a city that is more alive at night than the day. It's a place that speaks to Riku. One would think that he would avoid such a place, but even he needs a moment to rest and catch his breath sometimes. Hence why the white-haired teen exits the batting cages, sighing as he steps back out into the night. People constantly walk by, lights flash, signs advertise all kinds of things, but Riku has none of it for now.     For the moment, he walks, trying to lose himself in the crowd. There's no telling when his pursuers might arrive... And he's not sure which would be worse right now. He looks tired, haggard, worn down from weeks on the run. Maybe that's why he's angling towards one of the local restaurants, perhaps. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Riku doesn't get to the restaurant.      Seifer's there, leaning against the wall. He's got Hyperion over his shoulder, like he always does. He's big, he's broad. He's not the anime prettyboy Riku usually deals with - a big blonde linebacker with a big square jaw and a big cut across his face in a big broad trenchcoat. He's probably twice Riku's mass, maybe thrice, considering Riku's flight.      He pushes off the wall. "Not here," he says before Riku can say anything, "C'mon. Alleyway. It'll slow that guy down if he has to go through all those people, and there's people holding him off in the meantime. We'll have time to talk. Not much. But some."      "It's not safe out in the open, though. He spots us and we'll be in trouble. I can probably take him but I'm not gonna risk it when I've got something more important to do."      "Let's go." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' For all Riku's demands that Seifer come out and deal with his issues himself, having Seifer actually do it is the last thing Riku would want at the moment. He grimaces, clenching his teeth as someone passes by and Seifer is just /there/. Isn't that supposed to be /his/ schtick? Or maybe he's lapsing in paying attention to his surroundings. Who could blame him?     Riku doesn't say anything at all. He simply turns around... And pauses, looking over his shoulder when he gets addressed. "Gggh." He sighs to himself, and then he turns and steps into the alleyway. For once this one seems to be empty of thugs, giving them the space to themselves for the moment.     Before Seifer says anything, Riku simply says in a tired voice, "Why the hell should I listen to anything you have to say? You've been sending people after me for ages too, remember." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      "You probably shouldn't," Seifer says as he walks in behind Riku, one hand in his coat pocket, the other tapping Hyperion on the shoulder, "In ideal circumstances you probably wouldn't. You wouldn't need to."      "But right now I figure you've got maybe a couple hours before the thing chasing you catches up. An' I'm the only person here. So the way I see it..."      Seifer stands there for a moment, watching Riku carefully. His guard's down, but that doesn't mean anything - Seifer's fast enough and skilled enough that 'having his guard down' is basically just his way of saying 'come at me if you want.'      "...the way I see it," he finishes, "You can listen to me or you can keep takin' your chances."      His hand comes out of his coat pocket and tosses something at Riku. It's a wrapped square block. Unwrapping it reveals, "Iron ration."      "Tastes like crap but it'll help wake you up. No poison. Ya oughta know that I'm not that guy. Even if ya don't, killin' ya wouldn't get me what I want, anyway."      "But right now that's not what I want. Right now I want you to eat and get some strength back so we can actually talk, instead of you lookin' like a deer in the headlights. Take a minute. Breathe. Eat."      "An' I mean talk."      "I'm not here to fight." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Riku shakes his head and leans back on the wall of the alleyway, fully expecting to be attacked the moment they're clear of bystanders.     It doesn't happen. That doesn't make Riku let down his guard though. "Yeah. It's usually a couple hours, then he finds me again, I run through the Darkness, we repeat." He shakes his head. "Tch. Why am I even saying this to you?" A hand goes up to his head, his jaw clenching again as his eyes close... And then he shakes his head and straightens. He doesn't bother going straight for Seifer when he puts his own 'guard down'. Riku knows Seifer well enough that it's effectively just another pose.     The iron ration comes out, he takes it and unwraps it, frowning for a moment before he shrugs and starts eating. There's a grimace, but he eats anyway. There's a sense that he's probably eaten worse at some point. He turns and stuffs some yen into a nearby drink machine and pulls out a Staminan, using the cheap energy drink to wash down the ration. "I know you're not that guy. But you still want something from me."     Nevertheless, he takes that couple of minutes to eat the ration, and he simply leans back against the wall, sighing. "So, do you think this is going to make me tell you what you want, finally?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      "'cause you know right now I'm the best shot ya got."      Seifer taps Hyperion on his shoulder again. "You're half-dead from exhaustion. You're half-starved from running. You probably haven't slept right in weeks. Eaten right in less. You're spending whatever time you can wherever you can to hide and try and disappear, lay as low as possible, and it ain't workin'. You can keep runnin' but he won't stop, so you're gonna run out of energy eventually, he'll catch up to you, and then he'll kill you."      Seifer leans against the opposite wall, staring at Riku. "Talking gives you some time to catch your breath. Ration's better eating than most of the crap you're probably scrapin' by on. An' two bodies is better'n one if he shows up."      There's a moment of silence. Seifer shrugs. "I do want somethin'."      "I wanna say I'm sorry."      The words hang in the air for a moment, amidst the hustle and bustle of Kamurocho.      Seifer scratches the back of his neck and stares up at the sky. "Don't get me wrong. I ain't apologizin' for why I did it. I need to know where Sora is. It's important to me. It's real important to me. But..."      "You ever do somethin' you know is correct, you're positive is the thing you need to do, without seein' any other way to get it done...an' then realize that it ain't right?"      Seifer looks back at Riku. "I was talkin' about Sora the other day when I realized that what I was doin'..."      "Well, it was correct. From a military standpoint it was right. Add to your exhaustion. Break you down. Force you into a situation where you either got caught an' tortured or gave in and told me what I needed. That was correct."      Seifer scratches his neck again. "But Sora wouldn't like it. Sora's...I mean, we both know. He's the dumbest person alive, but he's got the best heart of any of us. He'd do anything for you. But he wouldn't do this. He'd find another way."      "So..."      "I'm sorry."      "An' if you don't believe me, then..." Seifer shrugs. "I'm no good at bein' Sora, y'know?"      "I don't remember what happened at Hollow Bastion."      Seifer locks his eyes with Riku. "There's a whole lotta reasons an' some of 'em have to do with injuries an' some of 'em have to do with the Multiverse but the long an' short of it is that I don't remember what happened. I believe that you beat me. I believe somethin' happened that put us in a situation where me, Sora, an' Molly had to fight you."      "An'..."      "I forgive you."      Seifer shrugs. "Whatever it was, it was probably somethin' you felt desperate enough to do, or somethin' you felt you needed to do, or...who knows. Who cares. Sora'd forgive you for it. The minute you gave him a chance he'd give you a big hug an' say 'it's fine, Riku. I understand! Now let's go find Kairi - together!'"      "So..."      "...so I'm tryin' to live up to that example. He thought I could stop bein' a bully. Here I am, givin' it a shot."      "I forgive you. Whatever happened. Whatever you felt you needed to do. For whatever reason you did it." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' There is a long silence when Seifer begins apologizing to Riku. Riku stares at him like he just started speaking another language, or like he grew another head. "You... are sorry. You... forgive me. How can you..."     Again, the hand goes over his face, and he laughs bitterly. "How can you forgive me when you have no idea what to forgive me for? You don't even know why." He shakes his head. "Sora... What a sap. I guess he did get through to you somehow."     He looks back at Seifer, his eyes haunted, rings under them. It's clear that every bit of Seifer's estimation was perfectly on target. He's already about to crack.     "But he's an idiot. He's never going to give me a hug, Seifer. He's never going to tell me to go find Kairi with him." He looks down at his hands. Seifer can see them trembling, flickers of shadow and dark fire surrounding them. The movement isn't natural.     "But even now, you're still trying to be the big man." Riku's voice cracks slightly. "Do you want me to thank you for this? What do you think you're going to accomplish? You don't even know what you're dealing with. Do you think your forgiveness can undo what happened?"     Finally, he pushes off of the wall and takes a step towards Seifer. His eyes grow a little wild, his tone edging towards manic. "So fine, Seifer. Since you're being so kind to me, I'll tell you why Sora is never going to do any of those things. Why you're an idiot to forgive me."     He spreads his hands. "It's because Sora is gone. He's a Heartless now." Darkness erupts around him, the black energy shrouding him as he speaks again, his voice cracking.     "And I did it. It's all my fault." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer takes a long, deep breath. The Darkness is unpredictable. The Darkness is dangerous. But...Riku's in trouble. And he can hear Sora in the back of his head.      "Yeah, and?"      Seifer grabs Riku by the collar of his shirt. "You want me to beat the heck out of you, huh? You want me to put my fist through your face and keep hitting you so you can feel bad about it? So you can feel like you're gettin' what you deserve? Is that what you want?"      His hand tightens around the collar. He's risking the Darkness right now, and he knows it. He's risking a lot. Riku might flip at any moment. Something *wrong* might happen. But...he's gotta do it, right? Gotta get through to him. Owe it to Sora to help his best friend.      "'cause I'm not gonna do it."      Seifer's eyes are locked on Riku's now, hard as any soldier's eyes. "I'm not gonna do it because you don't deserve it."      "You're a scared, stupid teenager. You think I ain't been there? You think I ain't almost got people killed? Look into my eyes, huh? Look at me. I'm a soldier. I've seen people die. I've killed people. I've got blood on my hands that I ain't ever gonna be able to wash away. We all carry that crap with us. We all beat ourselves up over it. Even me."      Seifer stands there for a moment, hand on Riku's collar.      Then he hugs him. It's a one-armed manly guy-hug kinda hug, not the warm two-armed buddy hug Sora might give. Seifer's not great at this. It's definitely awkward. Even if the Darkness burns, Seifer still gives him that hug, though he might let go faster than he would otherwise.      "Moron."      "I don't want you to thank me."      He releases Riku and turns around. "I ain't doin' this for accolades. I'm not here for thanks. I'm here because I'm tryin' to do right by Sora. An' if he's gone - if he's really, permanently, for-reals gone - we'll deal with that when we get there."      "But right now his friend's in trouble, an' that means you're my friend, too. An' if he saw what you were doin' to yourself he'd get mad at you. He'd get mad at me for not helpin' you out. He'd get mad at both of us an' we'd get an earfull. An' that's not even countin' what Molly'd do."      Seifer turns around. "Look. I've got a place you can crash. I never use it an' he won't be able to get in there without a *load* of trouble down on him. It's better than anything you've got right now an' you might be able to get a couple days' rest. Even if he catches up to you there'll be people to slow him down."      "Don't get me wrong. I'm mad."      "But I'm not gonna hurt you anymore. I can be mad at you and still forgive you for messin' up. Somethin' I..."      "Let's say I didn't learn *that* one from him, huh?"      Seifer grins. "I don't think that moron has it in him to be mad at anybody for long enough for it to matter."      "Now."      "You're in pain. Even I can tell. You're scared. You're hurt. You're broken down."      He holds out a hand. "Lemme help you." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Riku doesn't even resist as he is yanked into the air. Contact with the sizzling Darkness around him burns, only increasing the longer he does so. "Yes." Riku says, his voice practically pleading. "Do it. DO IT!" He all but demands, staring back into Seifer's eyes. What Riku sees, he doesn't say, but Seifer sees into Riku's eyes. There's something Wrong there. It's not just fatigue. Not just guilt, even if that is a big part of it. It's not just anger or pride.     here is a choking noise as he pulls Riku around, hugging the seething teenager and trying to reach out to him. It hurts. Even so, Seifer's been through worse. When he finally drops Riku, his expression is one of incandescent torment, the teenager shaking as he collapses directly to his knees. Seifer speaks his piece, makes his offer, but Riku doesn't seem like he's really hearing it. At this point, Riku is more looking /through/ Seifer than /at/ him.     Seifer holds out his hand, offering him shelter, a chance to deal with his problems. A way forward out of the hell he's lived in.     Riku opens his mouth, but the only thing that comes out of his mouth is a strangled, "Run...!"     A moment later, there is a flash of blackness at his chest, Riku doubling over in agony before there is a surge of black-purple flame that roars upwards, rushing over him.     And when it passes, what is left is a tall, tanned man in a long coat and pants. The Heartless Emblem is resplendent on his chest, and he stares back at Seifer with dispassionate golden eyes, framed with white hair.     "I must thank you, boy." The man says. "In recognition of that thanks, I will allow you to leave intact." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Yeah, actually, Seifer'd expected that.      Well, no, he hadn't expected *that*. Hadn't expected Riku to grow three sizes that day, from a scared teenager to a tall, dark stranger. Hadn't expected Riku's darkness to be more than physical, more than magic. Hadn't expected that.      He'd expected his attempt to fail, though.      He's not Sora. He never could be Sora.      Even when he tries he still screws it up.      Gloved fingers tighten around Hyperion's hilt. Index in the trigger. The rest around the grip. Eyes fix on the stranger in front of him, the tan man who seems to have taken over for Riku.      "So you're the other guy, huh."      "You're the guy our friend was chasin'."      "You're the guy he was willin' to kill a scared teenager for."      His other hand clenches into a fight fist. "You're the guy he was willin' ta chase that kid all over the Multiverse for. The one he was willin' ta put a kid through Hell for. The one he was willin' ta hurt anybody who got in his way to get to, no matter what the reason."      "I don't know you. But you're not gettin' away that easy. An' givin' me that 'thanks, I let you live' thing..."      His lips curl up in a defiant grin. "That just makes me wanna kill you harder!"      Seifer lunges at him. Seifer is fast. He's not lightning fast, not lightspeed fast, but he's fast, and his gunblade is no joke. It swings inwards, tip dancing like lightning. But that's not the goal.      His index finger slips out of the trigger. He snaps, an awkward motion. There's an explosion in front of the other man's face.      And then Seifer slips in range to slide a transmitter into his pocket.      He's gonna eat it for this. He's gonna eat it real bad. But this...      Well.      Guys like this don't expect that kind of thing, do they? They expect big posturing. They expect big magical explosions. They expect somebody they can push around to show how superior they are.      Alright. If that's the way he's gonna play it.      Seifer comes around the other side, Hyperion swinging around for a neck-shot. Gotta make it look convincing. Seifer can make it look convincing. Seifer can take this beating and minimize the damage to himself.      Seifer can make that guy ignore everything but the pleasure of kicking Seifer Almasy's ass.      "C'mon, tall, dark, and cliche! Gimme your best!"      "Can't be much! Hidin' inside a teenager like that!"      "Can't be nothin' but a chicken-wuss!" 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Seifer tried. But the deck was stacked against him from the start. There was no way he would have known about this. Why this was happening. What the true identity of the 'old man' Riku let slip was... And the entire time, this being was attempting to take control of him.     Seifer lunges at the man... And a black creature interposses itself before him. A dark, bandaged horror of a Heartless, the Gunblade skidding along the creature's surface. The snap of an explosion causes him to jerk back for a moment, closing his eyes. Even he can't prevent that reflex, albeit not being harmed. The transmitter goes into the pocket, and the man simply smiles. Does he know?     "You shouldn't have listened to that foolish boy. You are much more effective when you put him out of your mind." There is a rush of dark power as burning purple light wraps around him in a wireframe, Seifer being forced to give ground as he lazily lifts off the ground and drifts forward else he be run over by the sizzling magical barrier.     This gets considerably harder when the Guardian sweeps in behind Seifer and begins harrying him with wide sweeps of his claws, trying to force him back into the barrier.     "Your words are hollow and meaningless. You were no more effective in Hollow Bastion, and this time you do not even have the Keyblade Bearer to save you. You should have taken my offer." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      If Seifer's worried about the man knowing, he doesn't show it. No, he doesn't think this man knows. If nothing else - if *nothing* else - Seifer is confident in his sleight-of-hand. He was an orphan first, and then paramilitary. He's smarter than most people give him credit for. And this guy thinks he's invincible. The likelihood is low. And if he does, then, fine. It was a gamble.      The Heartless is the problem right now. The Heartless and the energy barrier. Seifer skids backwards away from it, eating a burn on the hand to stop himself from parrying it with his blade. That might be worse. Might be better. Not sure yet. Can't tell. The Guardian's a bigger problem.      Hyperion dances. Hyperion dances like the wind. He's faster than the thing, fends off the claws, but he can't fend off being pushed into the barrier. Shock. Blast. Pain. Seifer bounces off it, hitting the ground, smoking. He grinds his teeth. Have to make it look like he's frustrated. Have to make it look like he's angry.      "Yeah? You didn't leave much impression. Probably why I don't remember what happened!"      The Heartless isn't the biggest threat on the field, but it's the most immediate one, and it's the complication. Seifer rolls to avoid another claw-strike, snapping his fingers for a barrage of blasts. "No wonder. The whole cliche. You're so generic I don't think you could slip into anybody's mind. Man I'd be embarrassed if I talked like you." Another roll out of the way. He grabs his side. "You got a bargain-bin name to go with the bargain-bin haircut? Somethin' like /Mister X/ or /Lord Destroyer/ or /X-Death/?"      He skids backwards at the next claw-strike, the gunblade shot propelling him backwards more than his own feet. He can feel the burn on his back very, very acutely. That's right. Keep underestimating him. Seifer was counting on it.      Well. Underestimating his intelligence, anyway. Not his combat skill. He could probably figure out a way through the barrier, given time. But he very much did not have it. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The strange man is imposing, but he doesn't appear to be omniscient. If he understands the nature of the SeeD and what it means, he isn't showing any sign of it. Then again, he seems to be also not simply jumping for Seifer's baiting, as if he thinks himself above it. "Is this truly your best? You could have been so much more, if you remained in the Darkness."     The Guardian gets smashed, gets blasted, gets carved apart. Seifer's bladework is impeccable. Clearly, he can win through if he just hold fast-     The Eidolon suddenly warps, blurring past Seifer and slamming into the barrier itself. Instead of bouncing off with burns, it absorbs into the barrier, a churning black wave surging over it... And shattering to reveal the man once again... Except the Heartless has merged with the man, replacing his arms with the massive knife-like claws. Black flame erupts around his body, a deadly aura surging forth once more.     "You think your braggadocio means anything to the power of Darkness? FALL INTO THE DARK!" A moment later, he spins, a churning, brutal spinning claw spiral that shreds a line through Seifer's position, crushing concrete and a chainlink fence like they are butter. Even should he manage to mitigate that, the man rises, holding his hands up. All around the area, debris flies up, inexorably pulled towards a burning black hole that surges into existence over him. Even some playground equipment nearby gets ripped out of its mountings, absorbed into the mass that gathers there... "BEGONE!" The power crashes down, hurled in Seifer's general direction. Unlike Riku, this guy seems to have no concern for collateral damage as the energy blast crashes down, obliterating a chunk of the pavement and exploding outwards in a devouring shrapnel blast of superheated rock and metal.     When the smoke clears, the man floats backwards. "I am Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness... And soon, the source of all Darkness will belong to me. Your struggles mean nothing here!" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Good.      Good. He had an idea of what kind of person this guy was. He had an idea of what he needed to know. Superiority complex. Power to back it up but a superiority complex all the same. Obsession with a dangerous power - and a lot more control over it than Riku had. That was good.      The Guardian gets carved apart.      That's good, but it's also bad. It's good, because it means it can be beaten (probably). It's bad, because Seifer's not trying to win.      Which is good, because the other guy isn't gonna let him.      The line of cutting force slashes through chain and concrete. It doesn't cut through Hyperion - the blade snaps around in an impossible angle, catching the strike. It still sends Seifer skidding backwards - and probably breaks a bone in his arm, judging by how he tossed the blade to his other hand - but it doesn't cut him to pieces.      The gravity ball, though. That's a problem.      It smashes right into him. The explosion hits him dead on. Shrapnel, rock, metal, gravity, energy. It hits Seifer more or less dead-on. The best he can do is, on automatic, parry away shots that would otherwise be lethal, carving aside hits that would go straight through his eyes, his mouth, his brain, his vital organs. It's almost pure instinct. He's not getting up again after that.      Yeah, he hits the ground. He manages to mutter out what he came for, and then he's still and quiet. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     It's a brutal battle. Were it more protracted, Seifer could take his pound of flesh from the Seeker of Darkness, but Ansem has no desire or interest in toying with the man. It's not hard to see or hear or /feel/ what just happened. Anyone with magical senses anywhere nearby would have felt the surge of Darkness crushing the area. This man is not subtle.     But in the end, Seifer is left blasted flat onto the ground. It's to his credit to his incredible, inhuman tenacity (and possibly Gilgamesh) that he is still alive. Ansem floats there, hanging imperiously over the fallen SeeD. "A pity. Were you more willing to open yourself to the Darkness, you would have been a useful tool."     But he doesn't finish Seifer. "It is time to put an end to the pitiful lie of the Light." Should anyone appear at that moment, they will see the Seeker of Darkness vanishing in a curling wash of shadow that ripples over him and disappears, leaving only the devastation in his wake. 
}}

7094/LI0: I'm Right Here (MSQ)

2020-02-29T07:50:12Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/28 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=The weapons are crafted. The relics are empowered. It is time for the final showdown with Haseo to det..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/28
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=The weapons are crafted. The relics are empowered. It is time for the final showdown with Haseo to determine the future of the Last Illusion.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 33, 7187, 7201, 7180, 6666, 7132, 7197, 42, 1011, 6, 7015, 6994, 7141
|Tinyplot=Last Illusion
|Tinyplot2=Loop Zero
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The time has come.     All the preparations that could be made, have been. Again, Finaria serves as the home base before the final strike. It no longer looks burned and wrecked, Shyra having changed the town back to being intact... And also changing the music back to the normal town theme there.     Everyone gets their time to prepare, and then once the final preparations are complete, the group departs. New weapons, empowered relics, and, well... A lot more people. This is about the best one can do to ruin Haseo's desires to be a game designer for real.     The group leaves Finaria and steps into the corrupted zone. The land is dark, twisted, the forest changed into alien, static-ridden shapes. The ground is cracked and uneven, shifting heights seemingly randomly. Monsters roam the land, the creatures that once resided only in the final dungeon roaming free within the dark zone that has been slowly expanding. But as powerful as the monsters are, the monsters cannot stop the mass assault.     Into the Central Shrine, the group battles forth, breaching back into the sealed zone where Discordia resided. There is little difference now between the outside and inside at this point. It is only a matter of time until they reach the throne room once more. BGM: https://youtu.be/ICwnlNitmUw 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' ____________________________________________________________________________ | Arthur successfully alchemized GAUNTLET || (RED BIRD RELIC && BLUE DRAGON  | | RELIC && BLACK WARRIOR RELIC && WHITE TIGERS RELIC) || UNENCHANTED POTION  | |                                                                            | |                      500000 STEEL  20 MIRROR  1 GEAR                       | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________________________________________________________________________ |                                                                            | |                      AMPOULE OF LESSER KARNA KAVACHA                       | |                                                                            | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯     This small off-hand utility glove bears a single ampoule of potion that can, for a single "turn", apply LESSER KARNA KAVACHA, defusing many instant-kill effects (hopefully any of Discordia's bullshit puzzle-boss-stage instant-kill-party-wipe wave attacks) before it is expended. It cannot neutralize the base damage, however. Arthur can afford to make one for each combatant -- but only one. Better block with your off-hand.     Arthur has offered one case, containing one of these artifacts, to each participant in this big raid before things begin. He's wearing his, though there's no obligation for everyone else to wear their own, or otherwise store the valuable "local" fluid.     As for the battle itself... 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Inspector Raphael Ambrosius Cousteau doesn't fit very well into this RPG Party. INLAND EMPIRE: The world is ailing, stitched together by a faltering hand. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: It's some weaselly kid, right? Just punch him in the face and take his lunch money! Yeah! He adjusts his jacket, the white squares on his RCM patrol jacket gleaming even in the darkness. When it comes to the fighting, he's...mediocre, really. At the very least, monsters are -large-. He can shoot at a monster successfully with his gun, even if he's a terrible shot. And what's more--he at least makes an excellent meatsack to give the 'squishier' members of the party room to breathe and cast their wavy spell things. CONCEPTUALIZATION: We're like some kind of mobile armored vehicle, except a human. There's probably a better term for that, but...eh. His glove's tucked away for now. He fights with his fists whenever he hasn't got his gun out, and it'd be awful to accidentally punch a monster with instant death prevention. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae is here with the red bird relic, and also seperately Mandapala's Talon, a curved, birdlike sword bearing the same firey blessing as the red bird relic. Arkae sallies forth, with potion and poison and swords, making her way through the requisite lower-danger encounters before the battle with the big boss(es) at the end of the zone. This is all so familiar to her. "I mean, second to the world being saved, the music finally changing to something else is what I'm most looking forward to here..." says the alchemist inbetween waves of enemies. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris Belthronw is along for the ride, with his OWN gear. His hat. His sword. His gem. A BAG FULL of BLACK WARRIOR RELIC-empowered wooden buzzsaw one-use drones, too! The Black WARRIOR RELIC is also in his possession, wrapped around one of his arm with a chain for secure use.      "Yeeeeessssssh...." The Miqo'te lets out, lifting a scarf to his nose even if he don't really smell anything, just the looks of thing prompt that kind of reflex. "This is pretty bad out there. The music was ... pretty alright at first but now, damn."      Amelris fights his best but keeps most of his expendables for later. This is nothing new to most people. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot adjusts his glove, keeping it tight. In his other hand, he bears the relic in place of Alruna. Kupot has no other devices. He finds that he is excellent at dealing with problems with the devices he has. The sword is a tool that can open many doors. It is a sad fact of life. "Kupo," he agrees with Arkae, keeping beasts off her and Raphael with mobile tactics as they press towards the Central Shrine. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 makes his way with the group, gauntlet in hand.  Beside him, a black box with arms floats near him, with a small stick of metal out of the back of it.  The POD keeps a can to make sure they do not get ambushed by end game mobs, but right now the place itself is a sorry sight to see. I4 uses all of his tools to look into the system.  "It's trying to display something, but it's like...it's trying to call to something that doesn't exist, and the monsters are being called from the last dungeon.  This is...really bad.  I don't know how much longer the world can last as it is." "One more thing could tip the whole thing over and cause errors, and I'd cascade badly..." I4 shakes his head.  "Staren, I know he's your friend but we may not have the luxury of TIME.  If we don't stop him soon...a lot of people are going to die." It appears I4 answered his own philosophical question about what these people really are.  "If I had root access I might be able to repair it...maybe." 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Another sword wielder is here! It's not the Evil Knight scab, though, but another clad in imposing white armor and a demon-horned helmet with streaks of red here and there. For someone unfamiliar with Mordred, though, they probably wouldn't peg her as a sword user on account of not carrying a sword. Instead, she's carrying a... Nothing! All the easier to watch the advance of this massive crew of heroes through the final boss' lair. "What's with all this talk about sideways crap, anyway? Just get in there, beat some ass, and see what happens. Worst case scenario, you can just reset this again and see what else works, right?" 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur is at a mad dash. "FOCUS! Music ain't important, this whole timeline's gonna fall apart if he keeps this shit up." His blender-broom roars and blasts. His teeth clench. Numbers spray like blood -- and blood sprays like numbers. Arthur has only distantly studied this through the lens of Sburb. When a timeline Scratches badly, a fraction of this is what it starts to look like. This one's so far gone that nobody's come back from trying to record its state.     Arthur darts so fast that it's hard to name a single role. With his rocket blazing, he moves into melee and back out into ranged starlight blasts so quickly he might as well be doing both of them at once. "HASEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Arthur screams out, near the end of this crushing rush. Covered in blood (some cop-blood, some Arthur blood, some Miscellaneous), with lungs full of shouting and fist full of battle-broom, Arthur intends to be one of the first to breach that throne and challenge Haseo. Considering the divine nature of this situation, it's quite, quite personal for him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's here as a robot again. He's built the ampoule into himself so that he doesn't need a hand to use it.     "So... THIS is your vision for this world? You made a big deal about getting the power of a god and using it to fix everyone's powers, but now that you have it you just vomit glitch monsters everywhere?"     Staren responds to I4, "You mean a lot of people will never be born. People end up never being born all the time. What about the people who will be born in Pazkar's or Haseo's vision of this world's future? Even if Haseo's is just a glitch fest... maybe the loss of this world sets off a chain of events that lead to new lives, who will never come to be if we save it."     Staren shakes his head. "I think worrying about the never-born is foolish. We will do our best to save this world, if Haseo won't."     Beat. "...He's not my friend. He's my ally. But... that doesn't mean I shouldn't give him a chance. I'd hope for the same from my allies... wouldn't you from yours?" 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      John, perhaps surprisingly, takes the gauntlet from Arthur. He doesn't fit very well either, but he's taking it well. "Thanks," he says, turning it over in his hand before slipping it on. "Real dynamite work, Arthur."      His path to the castle is as one would expect. Plodding and certain, wading through danger, calmly deflecting the claws, teeth or tentacles of wandering monsters even as he's scraped, bitten and pummeled. His only concern is keeping others from harm.      "I don't go in for that kinda stuff," says Rizzo to Mordred when she brings up a... direct approach. "But are we sure this isn't part of the story?" He asks this question more generally. "Going to stop the bad guy at his place? Seems like what oughta happen in a sword-and-sorcery rag like this." He says 'rag' but it isn't uttered in a derisive or disparaging tone. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has no real-time to rest after the battle in the depths of an Alagan ruin, as Haseo was also on the lose still and couldn't be allowed to rampage. She has been geared up with the small offhand glove replacing the one sh normally uses. Hopefully, this would help, she knows about powerful and terrifying things that could be called a Raid Boss. Haseo certainly fits the bill, for that title. He hit so many bad memories, it wasn't funny to her and she was ready to do some serious damage to Haseo and bring him down. "I4? Haseos basically from a VR MMORPG, think you should somehow attack his stats or level directly? Or screw with his gear?" She hears about how grim the situation is for this world if Haseo keeps doing what he's doing. "Well he certainly showed the true nature of his character didn't he? I had to ... fight people like him before. It was bad, very bad." She looks over ot John for a moment and tilts her head a bit at him then looks ahead. "A good point but we need to keep things from coming apart, I fear meddling like this could do the same sort of thing to myself or parts of my world. We nedd to stop it here before he wrecks this world or any others." 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     "It's like a Man from Hjelmdall novel," Raphael nods agreeably with Rizzo, inbetween glorious combats. Mostly, though, his attention's focused on Arthur. Arthur is taking this staggeringly seriously. RHETORIC: I know it's not an -argument-, but Arthur wasn't capitalizing his words /or/ giving fistbumps, and that still feels like an inconsistency you should call him out on. EMPATHY: Don't. You don't gain anything from it. Time is of the essence. Just keep..sigh, keep fighting. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: YEAH! Show 'em how you probably did it in your college boxing days! The Second Coming of Contact Mike! With that, he's still..remarkably good at keeping the pace. He can't keep up with Arthur, but he can probably keep running even after Arthur tires, and catch up. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Maybe..? It's hard to say with the god, I can mess with him a little, but I expect push back almost immediately. If you mess with his actual player data...no. He's human, I can't do that," Can't or won't? Arthur books it, and I4 runs after him, "Arthur! Come on, we don't need a repeat of last time. Calm down!" 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      The throne room, unlike last time, appears to be well lived. There's a desk with a computer, as well as a cork board. Both are covered in grid paper that seem to have very extensive maps of various towns and dungeons. There's also various 'redesigns' as well, though they look more like they were plagiarized from actual real life locations. A city designer they apparently aren't.      Haseo sits on his throne, one leg crossed over the other as he impatiently waits for everyone. He knows they're coming. Everyone's made a big enough stink about doing it, how couldn't he?      Eventually they all come barging in, with Arthur screaming and all their questions, and the EVIL GOD stands. He gives a rather taunting round of applause before speaking, using his extra pair of arms.      "Don't need to shout man, I'm right here. So anyway, I'm tired of dealing with you people. So I'm going to lay it out nice and simply. Either you turn around and let me deal with this my way, or you beat me and we bring about The End to as many people as possible. So what's it gonna be?"      He's clearly not giving the group the respect they deserve, and why should he? He's a God here, and they're just people. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael's expression is a little strange. Well, no--he's still smiling. He's still got that awful smile. But as Haseo speaks, he squints a little, waving his hand in a vaguely mystical manner. INLAND EMPIRE: He is not the end of the path, but rather its gatekeeper. Do not fall for his lies. SUGGESTION: He doesn't value this world as meaningful beyond 'a game', but he thinks he's doing a good job of things. AUTHORITY: He's nothing. He's not even The Last Boss. Put your foot down on this guy before it gets out of hand. "I think you can consider this a vote of 'no confidence' on your 'Super Weird Static Square World' experiment, kid." He cracks his knuckles. "So prepare for a fistful of democratic procedure." 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Yeah I'm pretty sure we're sticking to plan 'stab you with all of the relics'," says Arkae. She pulls a potion out of her bag, uncorks it with her thumb, chugs it, and then tosses the empty vial off to the side. Secretly... it's not going to matter too much what Haseo says to her. She's wanting to see this world through to its end, and then use what she's picked up to go raid all the best treasure from the adventure, maybe see if she can collect a whole other set of the relics all to herself, and then do it all again and again if she can. It's a flawless plan. Literally no flaws. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot takes a step forward. "You are failing, kupo. When a King, a God, a President fails, they step down. If they do not, the people tear him down." His hands are over his chest, well away from his weapon. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo ends up barging into the throne room more as a matter of losing his balance from a previous monster encounter than any desire to be dramatic. His coat sways as he brings himself to a halt. The lanky vampire has nothing to say to haseo, no questions to answer. The clapping sells it--this /is/ the story. The story within the story, maybe, but the pieces are all here.      That Raphael seems to think the same thing just further cements it in his mind. They've waded through the mooks, cut across the head honcho's backyard, and stormed his castle. Now, they're probably gonna knock him off. Well... so long as they know it's just part of the story. He frowns.      Can't break character...      Upon being given the ultimatum, then, he just stands there, unmoving, wordless. He's made his decision. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Haseo, this world is on the threshold of collapsing on itself.  You're pushing it to that point, you're making the very world access things it doesn't know what to do with, you're doing the whole changing thing /out of order/." "Alright well, if you're not backing down...then I guess we have no choice," he comments and looking towards Arthur.  He doesn't know what to say, and feels awful he can't actually seem to help.  Between this and being asked to hack Haseo...which he could, but the thought of actually getting in there and doing anything beyond messing with battle stats. Taking a breath, I4 takes a step forward.  Walking right towards Haseo, but does not draw a weapon.   "Why are you doing this?  People are being hurt, the world is on its last legs.  Why are you so driven to do this, right here and now?" His hands are thrown out.  "Do you want me to get on my knees and beg you to stop?  I will do that if it will save you and this world." 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Not everyone is here to crap on Haseo's parade, at least. As Mordred steps into the throne room, she simply raises one gauntleted arm in a stiff wave. "Yo, Haseo. I ain't here to fight. Just here to watch the fireworks." She means it, too, as she just hauls herself over to the side of the room. No weapon is drawn, no punches are thrown, and no fancy maneuvering or lightning is happening from the Knight of Treachery. "One side'll win, one side'll lose, and we'll see how it all goes. Simple enough, ain't it?" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is wearing the very nice gauntlet, stepping into the THRONE ROOM. He'll just have to keep in mind to repay Arthur in some way about this.      "Verse two, same as verse one." The Miqo'te comments, drawing his rapier to spin the weapon in his fingers. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks to I4 for a moment pauses think and then nods. "All right do what you can, I4." She looks to Haseo for a moment the EVIL god that has become she just looks at him for a moment. "I am not turning around we are stopping you here one way or another." She's drawn Caliburn at this point and has the mourning wall out. She's ready to go in to confront Haseo and she looks at him. She's about to say something when Shyra speaks up on Saving Haseo. She flinches a bit and keeps her mouth closed this time. Haseo keeps going and all she can hear is someone else. She narrows her eyes and there's a look on her face only Staren and Arthur have seen. It's not a very nice or kind look as Tomoe moves in, she knows the fight is about to start. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' The Inspector draws his pistol from his jacket. The engraved words 'SUNRISE PARABELLUM' glint on the handle. EMPATHY: Okay. So he's basically just feeling holier-than-thou right now. SUGGESTION: He's not listening. I don't think you have what it takes to make him listen. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: So go knock some sense into him, then. Get up there, slug him one! Show him how a MAN handles arguments! HAND-EYE COORDINATION: No. There is a distinct pause. His fingers tense. His gaze darts to either side a moment. That was..unexpected. HAND-EYE COORDINATION: I'm taking this one. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Whoa. Do we maybe wanna do some amphets first? HAND-EYE COORDINATION: This needs to be a bullet to start it off. REACTION SPEED: It does. Just..go with it. Just fire. The pistol is raised. Gun cocked, slowly levelled. He's aiming, of all things, for one of Haseo's moving hands. He exhales. HAND-EYE COORDINATION (Challenging): Shoot The Hand-Eye [.][:::] Haseo might dodge, but at the very least, it won't be the Inspector embarassing himself. He fires the shot. That should get everyone moving. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren sighs and shakes his head. "Ugh, seriously? So you don't have a plan EITHER? You got all the power of a god, and you COULD be using it intelligently, but instead..." He waves a hand at the cork boards. "You're just flailing randomly and hoping enough power will fix things."     He starts to pace for a couple of seconds... then turns as the missile racks snap into position on his shoulders, firing an anti-tank minimissile straight at Haseo.     "I don't know what would be better... if Arthur's right and you're only acting this way because power's driven you insane... or if you were always this way." 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' The sudden shot ringing out startles Arkae. "Oh right! Relic-stabbing time!" She waves her left hand, the one gripping onto the red bird relic, making a throwing motion towards Haseo. A bolt of flame appears, streaking towards him. "Be purified by fire- oh that sounds worse out loud than it did in my head, doesn't it." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Words go flying back and forth. Lots of arguing, lots of epic showdown statements. Lots of threats and attempts to spam Convince. However, Shyra had been cowering in the back the entire time. It's something she'd been used to doing for her entire existence.     Something in the conversation, however, causes her to blink. Something in the way Arthur is panicking. Something in the way Haseo is presenting himself. Something in the things Raphael says, the arguments from I4 and Staren... And she suddenly comes to a realization.     Haseo... You're... You're just as much of a victim of Discordia as Linehart was...     Suddenly, she stands more firm, a resolution beginning to settle into her expression. We're going to save you, Haseo.     That said, there's only one way to do that, here. There's only one way to do that. Just like before...     And so Shyra steps out from behind Raphael as he fires his gun, and Shyra begins unleashing her powers.                                    LIGHT2                                       There is a flash of light over her staff, and a dozen beams of light burst out, curving in to zap at Haseo! He's not undead, though, so the damage is subpar. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "'Right here'?! You're not /right here/. That's the problem! You're already halfway gone! You've already Expired, and-- that's why we're--" Arthur starts, brandishing his broom at Haseo with his face snarled up in a mix of righteousness and a sort of deep, gut panic. His grip is white-knuckled, and his body is shaking, just a little, subtly, but he's full of determination and focus still, somehow. "You're not giving me a /choice/. You're giving me an /ultimatum/." He says. "I can't choose to walk away from this. That's not an option. It's never, ever been a choice."     He grips his broom in both hands. The blender blades roar. He takes a deep breath, and tries to swallow down fear. This, at last, is the truth of Expiration. A switch-cover is flipped and a button is pressed on the big metal battle-broom.     "A hero can't choose to walk away." ------------------------------------------------- |                                                 | |   ACTIVE   |    DANGER    |      CRITICAL       | | ---------- | ------------ | ------------------- | |            |              |                     | | ********** |              |                    | |            |              |                     | -------------------------------------------------     Gunshot. Arthur opens like it's a race with a huge, forceful column of celestial fire dead-on towards Haseo. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe seeing the way things are going? Tomoe Looks at Haseo and charges at him swinging her blade tying to probe his defences. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris steps up, taking in a deep breath. Alright. Well! The kid don't want to listen to anything. He's pretty comfortable with his god-like awful powers. Theeeere's not much else that they can talk about. At this point, it's like that -- gosh, he forgot her name, the lady knight with the spear, he feels awful not remembering her name -- said, it's just a clash of opinions and methodes at this point.      "The fact you are making shots in the dark don't really bother me as much." Amelris says, spinning his blade to grab it with his other hand, aether misting off the gem at the top as he unleash a barrage of bright red and purple energy blasts at Haseo. "What bothers me is tossing the people down here to a big ass 'maybe'. Ain't... that a bit counter productive?" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' ...Well, he didn't WANT to be right when he told Haseo 'any world you make would probably suck.' Everything is a gltiched mess, and Haseo still doesn't have a plan other than punch things until it's fixed, somehow. Anyway, once he arrives at the boss room with everyone else, he tests Haseo's defenses by swiftly unsheathing his sword, creating an arc shaped shockwave that flies straight at him. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:''' Raphael shoots the EVIL GOD with zero remorse, causing them to stumble back in pain. Then Staren fires his relic missiles within an enclosed area, though despite the clouds of smoke, he can be pretty sure he hit.      Shyra, Arkae, Amelris and Arthur throw in magical attacks into the mix as the smoke clears, causing Haseo to stagger back more in pain, while Tomoe gets a shallow, but still nice cut into the Adept Rogue.      Then Rean appears, throwing a sonic sword shockwave which causes them to fall back into what remains of his throne.      "ENOUGH!"      There's a flash of blinding white as the throne room suddenly changes.      There's no ground. No walls. The room they were once in is just an endless expanse of bright swirling chaotic colors. Far off in the distance there's a mass of hands and eyes. The TRUE EVIL GOD. It doesn't do anything though, and is clearly not a present threat.      That honor goes to Haseo. Or rather, EVIL GOD SKEITH. A massive, stone-like monster. Its appearance, much like Haseo's however, is altered. Several extra arms sprout from the digital monster's shoulders, along with various extra eyes and markings.      "Looks like you guys are actually taking me seriously now. About damn time!"      It's clear to him they've got whatever magical item they need to beat the final boss or whatever. Honestly, it's too be expected. But he's not some dumb AI with preset attack patterns. He's a human. He's still got a chance as far as he's concerned.      There's a weird, glitch like sound as Skeith phases in and out of sight, appearing behind Arthur, and then Staren. A razor-sharp scythe blade bigger than they are is swung against their backs in an attempt to cut them down, though whether it connects or not, it doesn't seem concerned, as it eventually moves back to a central location.      Raising one of its many hands, it performs a single mudra sign. In response, a mass of tentacles composed entirely of nothingness attack the party at large (including those who didn't attack). They sting, hurt, and are generally way more intense than anything in a game should be. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' HALF-LIGHT: There's *nothing there*! Get ready! REACTION SPEED: Er, get ready for what? There's *nothing* there... INLAND EMPIRE: It is the *nothing* we oppose! Defend! Raphael is not armed, but he can at least avoid getting whipped in the face. He's armored, though, and it seems like he's remarkably spry for an old alcoholic nutcase. He stands up straighter as he cracks his neck, then his knuckles. HALF-LIGHT: It was the arms. Attack the arms. They are the power, here. Regardless of everyone else's attacks, he storms on through, gripping his pistol by the barrel. He hasn't reloaded it yet, so that's 'safe'. Safe enough, at least, for him to wait for the appropriate moment, when he's distracted with someone else's attack... To attempt to pistolwhip one of those hands in the eyes. INLAND EMPIRE: Yes. Blind the chaos. Struggle onwards. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Yeah, we'll take you seriously," says Arkae. "Have you even been paying attention to everything we've been doing?" She drops the red bird relic, letting it dangle from its wrist chain again, and uses her offhand to reach into her bag of holding while trying to ward away the tentacles of nothingness with her MANDAPALA'S TALON. She's not all that successful at the attempt at multitasking, and takes several hits! "And if you want to be taken seriously, I have just the solution for that!" she yells as she pulls out a trio of poison bottles and spreads them over her sword, before running at Haseo to swing at him. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4, for his effort, is smashed by a tentacle and ground into the floor.  This was, painful.  Very very painful, it was different than last time, he knew the last fight was unwinnable.  The fight in the Cathedral was not there to Hurt Haseo, but contain him.  This one?  Haseo isn't holding back, and neither should he.   Flipping back to his feet, he tosses something right at Haseo.  It folds out into a flying fish, that floats angrily towards Haseo.  Once it arrives, assuming it is not stopped, it suddenly flips into a strike, aiming to stab him as a Rapier would.  It is very ridiculous, and one shudders to think at the mind that made them. Meanwhile, I4 focuses, trying to look for something.  The White Relic on his person as he tries to find the best way to use it.  There has to be...SOMETHING... He no longer tries to talk, decisions were made and he could not afford to be destroyed here.  Dying was against the rules, and he was sure that S6 would drag him out of hell to kick his ass. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur whips around. He knows spatial warping noises when he hears them. "HAAAAAHHHH!!" The scythe-handle clashes against the broom, jarring his arms but keeping him from being cut down. Arthur would be knocked inwards, but a quick Gate redirects it to launch him back instead. Slamming the broom against the ground, he launches up weightlessly. He pops the glass cover on a keypad on his broom, but has yet to mash the code. Instead, he maxes every setting. -------------------------- |                          | | THRUSTER MODES           | |                          | | [ ] DASH                 | | [ ] CRUISE               | | [ ] CHARGE               | | [X] SPRINT               | | [ ] ESCAPE VELOCITY      | | [ ] UNSTOPPABLE FORCE    | | [ ] PLAID                | | [ ] UP A GODDAMN NOTCH   | | [ ] LET'S DO THIS SHIT   | |                          | --------------------------     His rocket-boosted broom weaves him in and out of the strikes of the mass of tentacles, letting him block and blunt their strikes as he weaves around. He won't be evading long before he moves to take Haseo on head-on, blasting at high speed to take him on directly in melee. -------------------------- |                          | | BLENDER MODES            | |                          | | [ ] STIR                 | | [ ] CHOP                 | | [ ] MIX                  | | [ ] PUREE                | | [ ] LIQUIFY              | | [X] CRUSH ICE            | | [ ] CRUSH BONES          | | [ ] RIP/TEAR             | | [ ] ATOMIC DISASSEMBLY   | | [ ] ANNIHILATION         | | [ ] LET'S END THIS SHIT  | |                          | --------------------------     Arthur brings the blender-broom bristles down with force enough to create a massive gravitational shockwave, again and again. "You're a /god/, you're going to get taken seriously! Especially by heroes, if you threaten the world!" He shouts, punctuating with his strikes. "This isn't-- We /can't afford/ not to! If you keep on this shit, it's going to turn out /bad/, for /everyone/!" The whirling death metal is the kind of brutality Arthur rarely uses against those of flesh, even digital as Haseo may be. "Do you even know what it /means/ to be a god?! Or a hero?!" 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Hm. Featureless ninja plane. That is new. Kupot turns his head about. His HUD picks up... nothing. Nothing at all. This is not actually new. He has dealt with this sort of thing before. His HUD spreads out a grid on the ground, overlapping his vision with a floor so that he doesn't get vertigo. Just in time for him to get tentacled. Kupot's hand spins down and comes back up in a flash, bringing the katana close into his body to take the lash across the blade. It drives him back, fifty feet, skidding upright. Blood sprays from a cut across his front. The katana shifts back out and down to his side, "You aren't worthy, kupo." One springing step, two, flicking the katana out in two passing arcs around Haseo to begin the process of bleeding him out. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is doing her best to cover I4, yet against something like Haseo that's going to be a tall order even for someone like her. She's still able to give him some protection at the very least. She triggers several defence abilities as she gets assaulted by tentacles. There's a moment of fear terror and pain then something breaks. She doesn't even think about it being a game. A friend put it best if the people in the world are real then the world is real. "Tentacles, you sick..." She says nothing else as the fire comes she starts to chant runes dance about her made of gold. She's trying to incarnate Skeith or Haseo or whatever he is at this point. She's just trying to do as much damage as fast as she can. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' The world shifts, and Shyra is once again faced with the nothingness that belongs to the Evil God. Haseo has proven that he has the power before... And he is again. The horrible beast that rises before them causes Shyra to blink, and her resolve begins to waver. It's done so much damage before... What about now? Can they truly make a difference this time?     She has to believe. Don't give up, everyone! We can win this! She doesn't say 'this time' even if it would be more accurate...     But as the mudra is enacted and the writhing nothing tears at her, the damage numbers float over her head, the healer trembling. It'll be different this time... She says, attempting to use her binding magics once again in order to debilitate EVIL GOD SKEITH. Burning shackles of holy light attempt to clamp down on the Avatar, trying to drain his strength away. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Tentacles are one thing to defend yourself against. They are usually attached to a being or something. Tentacles made of void and nothing is just... well, it's NOTHING! How do you really defend yourself against THAT kind of attack?      Amelris still tries. Cutting away at them, failing and instead getting bludgeoned for his troubles. The Red mage skids down against the ground from the impact, vaulting himself back to his feet as he holds his side. Maybe it's time to actually start USING some stuff.      He reach for his bag, wriggling his hands as two objects starts flying out of it. Two POD-shaped wooden objects, covered in blades and rapierlike protusions, imbued with the power of the BLACK WARRIOR RELIC, starts floating before him much like his gem does. He squeezes down on it, focusing the BLACK WARRIOR RELIC he have tied up on his arm to infuse it with the power of...      WTR.      He sends off the drones against Haseo, spinning between each throws. They fly, independantly soaring against the God to seek weak points to tear relentlessly at until they will break. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' The arena changes again, into that trippy ass psychedelic space. Also, he gets slapped with a tentacle of the void. Despite being literally nothing, it still stings like being slapped by an octopus. He slams into the...floor? hard. "Ugh...of course we're taking you seriously." Rean says and says no more. Time to focus. He rushes the Evil God, and then once he's within range, unsheaths his sword, as one strtike becomes many, wreathed in a burst of fire. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The boss arena appears. Staren widens his stance as he prepares for combat... and then Skeith appears, and disappears. Staren turns on his forcefield -- the scythe cuts into it, but doesn't pierce it, shattering outer layers and making Staren stumble forward a foot or two.     "All this power. You talked it up and now you squander it." He clenches a fist. "I guess people could say the same about me. But even if I don't have some grand plan. I don't just... throw tech out wildly. I help people."     "I'm helping these people."     "And at least I /know/ how my powers work. How to project force and shape metal to withstand the forces at your command. How to concentrate so much energy in one place that any matter it touches shakes itself to pieces."     Staren holds out an arm. "And I can take it to any world I please. Your power? Is just an illusion."     Particle beams and various missiles staggered-fire, timing the attacks so as not to catch the people engaging god-Haseo in melee. He also draws a heavy, chrome-plated revolver and fires that, high-caliber slugs hitting unnaturally hard.     "It's time to shatter these illusions of grandeur." Staren briefly looks... concerned. "I hope you can build something better, after." 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Shyra attempts to bind the EVIL GOD SKEITH. Normally, status effects shouldn't work on bosses. But it does, though it's clear that it's not going to fully stop them, but it does noticeably slow them down. Enough for the others to get their attacks in.      Arthur, I4, Kupot and Rean slam their weapons into Skeith with relative ease, scraping off a layer of texture from the massive monstrosity. Raphael, meanwhile, attempts to pistol whip the eyes, it doesn't do any more real additional damage, but damage is still damage, and it reacts accordingly.      Arkae, Tomoe, and Amelris on the other hand, take a more ranged approach. Poison bottles and fireballs slam into the faux Evil God, causing it to let out a roar, while the strange drone-like pick at its joints.      And then Staren fires his beams, tearing chunks off of Skeith, leaving noticeable, lasting damage. At least until it starts glitching itself back together.      "Shut up! If you want to fight, then just fight! I'm not interested in your attempts at shouting nice guy bullshit to make yourselves feel better."      Skeith performs yet another hand sign, this time bathing the entire field in fire. Attempting to burn the party alive, though weirdly Staren is left out of it.      There's a weird, almost camera shutters-esque sound as various holographic panels appear in front of Skeith. The same eye like that on DISCORDIA appearing in the center of all of them as a high pitch charging noise fills the air.      Skeith doesn't move, there's not dramatic movements as the pitch gets higher and higher, before suddenly it snaps one of its many fingers. The charging noise ceases and the weird eye in the center fires outward, towards the cat.      There's various loud warnings that the cat boy's systems probably give him. Like how the suit is losing power. Or how it's hard to move. Malady upon malady afflicted in an instant. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' There's fire. That's fine. Because... "YOU WANT FIRE! I'LL GIVE YOU MORE FIRE!" Arkae channels the fire-enchanting powers of the red bird relic into MANDAPALA'S TALON and just... ... creates fire. And more fire. And more and more fire. "FIRE!" she yells, redundantly, because it's abundantly clear that fire is happening. And then she stabs Haseo in the back with it. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Nice? Kid, do you have any idea how many people I've killed? Unless you consider making it quick 'nice'..."     Staren's ready for an attack. He's not ready for... whatever this is. Everything to start failing him. His forcefield shuts off, reactor output drops. He drops to one knee as it becomes hard to stand. "Your power... is fleeting. Limited to this place... But I suppose if you defeat us, you'll have proven yourself mightier than all who've tried before..."     The barrage from before is still going, some of it -- missiles don't need much power to work. Staren's focus is on trying to reroute power and counter whatever's affecting him, though. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' INLAND EMPIRE: The word is cast--flame. What is your answer? HALF-LIGHT: NOPE. NOT ASKING OPINIONS TIME. Half-Light grabs the reins of Raph's mind, the personality--no, not even the fight or flight response can stop The Expression--but it can, at least, make him *move*. In this case, he swings his coat around, covering his face and body with it. The flames wash over him, the patrol jacket apparently reasonably fireproof. > ...What was that? HALF-LIGHT: Me saving your life. Shut up and get back in there. He stands up again, brushing off his shoulders. EMPATHY: Wait. Staren! > Who? EMPATHY: The 'Messiah Guy'. Whatever that was, that hit him pretty hard. Help him. Raphael stands up, stepping in front of Staren. "..You can fire over my head, right?" He asks, pulling out his pistol. Yeah, sure. He's not great with this thing, and it's not doing a ton of damage. But maybe he can take advantage of his endurance to keep the crazy inventor guy alive. The pistol's raised--at least Haseo isn't a particularly fast-moving target. Even his agonizingly mediocre aim can make it happen. Even Raphael's. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' Fires scour the arena, leaving I4 unable to properly make an effective defense against them.  The heat melts parts of his skin, he can feel the sensors in his body scream at him.  He falls to the ground, smoking and coughing trying to pump air to cool his overheating body.  Staring up, he pulls up his hands and pulls out the blindfold.  Slowly, he ties it over his head, the scanner equipment coming online.   Was Haseo being effected by the god?  He doesn't know the answer.  He knows that if this plan happens, nothing good will come of it, people will die.  Lots of people, and Shyra's very drive.  That thing that made her human despite her origins.   His hand balls into a fist, as he pushes himself up.  If there was no hope for her, what would there be for him?   He shouts as he runs forward, Rapier in hand.  He pulls out the white artifact from his inventory.  It floats in his free hand as he DIVES towards Haseo blade first.  The weapon aims to thrust repeatedly, followed by several wide gashes, and then a powerful thrust backed by the power of the artifact.  He kicks off, aiming to flip away as he lands, brining the artifact up. White magic flows out through it, attempting to bring it down on Haseo.  The choice was easy, he could try and kill a human...if it meant saving more.  Delaying it would only put those lives in jeopardy.  No, that's not why... He didn't want to see someone he considered a friend suffer as he did.  Quietly, without a way out.  Forced to endure it.  So he chooses. He chooses an act out of his own self-interest. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra continues to run around the battlefield, trying to keep Raphael alive mainly because he always seems like he's going to keel over at any moment. Alternatively, she might just be overhealing him like a lunatic but that's life.     What isn't life, however, is that massive waveof deadly fire. The attack brings back memories... And not good ones. AAAH! she yells as she is scorched, yet more damage numbers appearing over her head. She scrambles about, hiding behind Raphael again (and conveniently ending up next to Staren as she does so. Ummm... Hi! She says to the robotic heavily-beleagured sciencecat. She does, at least, try to put some sparkly healing on Staren, but that Data Drain seems to basically just shut down her attempts. That's messed up.     Hold together! We can do this! She exclaims.     Her attempts to bind Skeith meet with minor success... And that just encourages the healer to double down. Instead of chipping away with mediocre holy damage, when she gets a moment to do so. We're going to stop you, Haseo! We have to! I know you won't listen until we beat you... So we're going to do that! And then you won't have to burden yourself anymore!     She might be a little naive. But oh well, at least she isn't trying to spam holy lasers. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Shyra's actions to try and bind the EVIL GOD SKEITH seems to at least do something enough to give her a moment to act. She has a plan she's got a decent array of options and she's going to pick up a classic ability sunder and prep it for use as Haseo talks about shutting up. She's about to move in then things get strange. Which quickly turns to terrfying. What the hell is going on Staren? She has no idea, there's not much she can do other than drop the hammer on Haseo. Which she intends to do she will look to I4 and Shyra. "Let's do this." she then charges at Haseo leaping up into the air first to slam her shield into him followed by a powerful sword strike that if it connects it going to hit him with an impair his ability to defend himself and she follows that with a flying kick before she leaps away. She's going to make ready for her next assault on Haseo knowing she can't give him quarter and doesn't intend to do so. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Fire is bad. Fire is even, uh, /badder/ when you have to deal with this IMENSE a quantity. Not to mention just ... how long that entire attack was. The Red Mage attemps to shield himself by draping his magical cape around himself and making his profile a little smaller by crouching. That have a little effect but not nearly as much as he would have hoped it would. It results in several new burns accross his outfit. Burns he already fix from YESTERDAY's escapades.      He moves on ahead to give some covers to the others the best he can, before wriggling back his Rapierod behind him, holding on to it tightly.      What did he learned, fighting that knight lady he forgot the name of? Ah, yes. Don't fight normally against opponments like this.      "Sometimes, I've wondered... You really don't suffer who you see as fools, don't you?" Amelris comments, muttering words and concentrating his Aether as he thrust his other free hand out. Geometric shapes comes flying out, condensing as he fires off a spell.      Disgusting biological smear just starts exploding over Haseo, wriggling and incrusting itself on whatever it can. Then, with a step forward and a snap of his fingers, a deep cloak of unhealthy miasma cloaks his general area.      Arcanist spells always have their uses, sometimes. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur burns. Like standing in the heat of stars, though, he pushes through, resisting it to the point that he's battling and flying while /on fire/. "Nobody feels better. This isn't about /feeling better/! I don't got a guarantee I'm gonna win this shit! So I gotta hope, if you slice me, that you'd /think about what I'm saying/ and not /kill everyone/!" He slams his thumb down on the keypad. This is bad. This is /awful/. He panicks and rams through the code of his next stage. ------------------------------------------------- |                                                 | |   ACTIVE   |    DANGER    |      CRITICAL       | | ---------- | ------------ | ------------------- | |            |              |                     | | ********** | ************ |                    | |            |              |                     | -------------------------------------------------     "Being a god means you get guarantees. You get heads-I-win tails-you-lose bullshit, just like this, just like /right now/. It means you stop failing. Being a hero means you /never/ have a guarantee. You try and you suffer and you fail until you can't fail anymore. Or 'til you're fuckin' /dead/!"     He glances aside. Eyes widen. Staren is nearly down. This... this is serious. This is bad. Arthur turns the blender up higher. He turns the rocket up hotter.                                               --------------------------             --------------------------             |                          |            |                          |            | BLENDER MODES            |            | THRUSTER MODES           |            |                          |            |                          |            | [ ] STIR                 |            | [ ] DASH                 |            | [ ] CHOP                 |            | [ ] CRUISE               |            | [ ] MIX                  |            | [ ] CHARGE               |            | [ ] PUREE                |            | [ ] SPRINT               |            | [ ] LIQUIFY              |            | [ ] ESCAPE VELOCITY      |            | [ ] CRUSH ICE            |            | [X] UNSTOPPABLE FORCE    |            | [ ] CRUSH BONES          |            | [ ] PLAID                |            | [ ] RIP/TEAR             |            | [ ] UP A GODDAMN NOTCH   |            | [X] ATOMIC DISASSEMBLY   |            | [ ] LET'S DO THIS SHIT   |            | [ ] ANNIHILATION         |             --------------------------             | [ ] LET'S END THIS SHIT  |                                                     --------------------------           The burning god-kid swings the broom into boosting position and takes off. Skeith has a shooting star streaking towards it, trailing fire, screaming, and glowing with stellar fire. He swaps grips and tries to plunge into the beast blender-first. He is full of a deeper, more painful, more sick kind of fear than most simple fears about maybe dying. This is a stressed charge, not one made out of confidence. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean gets set on fire. A LOT of fire. Rean screams, basically tanking the whole burst as he fails to sidestep it. He lets out a few smoky coughs, hair and clothes singed. There's a lot of  screaming and yelling now, and things are getting messy. Arthur is pretty clearly losing his shit now, because of Haseo stabbing what is probably a very sore spot, and whatever the heck Haseo  did to Staren...happened.  Rean takes a deep breath. Ok. Bear down and focus. He rushes Haseo at full tilt, dashing back and forth, each time striking at him as he passes. Over and over again, again and again, hopefully leaving many small and large wounds for blood to leak out of. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:''' Shyra double downs on slowing Skeith down. And it continues to work. It's even slower now, but it's still powering through the binding through sheer force of strength alone, creaking noises filling the air as it fights its magical binds. Again however, it's still not nearly enough as missiles, bullets and toxic fumes slam into Skeith, forcing another inhuman roar. Tomoe then flies up to smack them with a sword and shield combo, while I4 cleanly cuts straight through the EVIL GOD, followed shortly behind the living blenders that are Arthur Lowell and Rean.      Skeith is more wire mesh than texture at this point, even as it begins reverting to how it was before, it's clear the cumulative damage is starting to take a toll on something that doesn't abide by the rules of HP.      It's clear they're not going to make it. All things considered, they've had a pretty good run. This is the same thought process that caused Skeith to lose it last time, but it seems for now, Haseo's in control. And hopefully it stays that way.      Two hand gestures. Skeith performs two gestures, combing the two previous spells as a last ditch effort. Tendrils of nothingness trash around as the entire battlefield becomes a scorching hot mess. There's no specific target, no real strategy. It's clearly just a pure desperation move out of spite. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael Cousteau of the Revachol Citizen's Militia is no superhero. Everything explodes. Everything. The void lashes around everywhere. Everything is fire. All he can do--the only thing he can do is do his best to help Staren. He's not made of metal, but he can stand here---1 HEALTH And he can step to the right and block THAT from hitting Staren -1 HEALTH And he can punch the void tentacle here, barely deflecting it away from the Messiah Guy, with the downside of having stuck his hand into a void tentacte -1 HEALTH And he can push the Messiah Guy out of the way of this rush of flames even as it envelops him -1 HEALTH And he can---     He can...hit the ground. Shyra can only do so much to keep him alive, after all. He's only a man. ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN: Noble, buddy. And still stupid. Just another waste of time. Come on. It's time to go, now. > No. No, we need to see this through. LIMBIC SYSTEM: The battle is over. You can't keep doing this. You won't last forever. You're not a hero, you're a sack of meat and alcohol damage. Just drift. Let it go. > No. They need me. LIMBIC SYSTEM: This will catch up with you, one day... And somehow, some way, Raphael rises to his feet. He's shaky. He's barely standing. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Oh, uh, you got something in your pocket. Take it. It's a gift! From when you weren't paying attention and I moved your hand. There's a strange ampoule of liquid. Not the one from the glove. No. A different one. It's got a long-scorched medical label that may have suggested useful doses. Instead, he just pops the entire thing open, drinking down probably twice what he's supposed to. And then he rushes forward towards Haseo. There's nothing amazing here. There's just a man, doped up on painkillers, about to deliver a killer haymaker to a boy pretending to be a god. INLAND EMPIRE: Go. There is something beneath that shell. Something vulnerable, that wants to be safe. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur, all of a sudden during this pitched melee, stops.     He turns away. It looks like a random direction -- but it's purposeful. He's staring at something. The look of pain and terror on his face compliments the sudden, far more severe paleness nicely. His voice catches in his throat. He gasps, and chokes, softly. "The tower! Haseo... the tower, what have you done? What have you done!?"     Something is wrong.     Arthur is obliterated by the impact. If Haseo has so chosen, the damage may be lethal enough to simply kill him; the critical strike is certainly enough to empty his HEALTH VIAL, but given the power at work here, Haseo may well have pulped the Mage of Space bloodily.     Regardless of outcomes, Arthur's out. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 can hear the screams of his friends, people he cares for go down.  His grip on the rapier tightens.  He didn't want to do this, he wanted to avoid this.  That hesitation might have cost him more because he was too worried about what would happen to him.  The Rapier goes away, and his hand grips the relic. He channels the Relic, attempting to send the beams of the Biological hacking system through.  Then a beam of energy cuts through the air, attempting to hack into both creatures.  Both Haseo and the entity around him that he used to fight.   Even as his body was beaten and broken, he could only push forward.  The POD helped with a quick shield to help blunt the worst of it.  But the arm not holding anything was gone.  His right leg looks twisted, as he took another step forward.   That energy attempts to start tearing apart Haseo's body from the inside out, attempting to change the data to make his own body work against itself.  The result?   Eventually explosions.  Because that is what hacking does. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     ...Luckily, it looks like, whether deliberate or accidental, the high level of power at play here simply cast Arthur out of the battle. His empty HEALTH VIAL flickers red every so often, at the beat of a pained, struggling heartbeat. It's indicating that he's down, but not dead; even asleep, he determinedly struggles to keep fighting his defeat. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      There's only so much what one man can take! The tentacles of nothingness batters Amelris straight off his feets, sending him flying to skid accross the ground for several metres. His hat flies off his head as he rolls, finally stopping into a heap. For a few precious moments, he lies there, his vision a generous portion of lights and stars. He gasp, wheezes and rasp as he scrambles to get back to his knees, losing his breath as he staggers.      "KEEP AT IT!" Amelris gasps out, his mouth wet with blood gurgling back up from the internal wounds. This is going to suck later. "HE'S BACKED UP AGAINST THE CORNER!"      There's a time in most warrior's lives, even mages, where they don't think super straight or clearly. In another time, it would be where Amelris backed off. Retreated. Revaluated his position. Analysis. Be pessimistic about their odds. No more. That person is gone.      Amelris draws his rapier, gritting his teeth as he lets out a battle cry, darting against the DREAD GOD HASEO, KING OF SHEIKS to drive the glowing, enhanced blade into a single, precious thrust backed by all his remaining magic.      It may explode. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Heat fills the battlefield. Staren's outer armor melts, high-tech metals becoming so much glowing slag.     What stands and steps out of the pool of molten metal is... well, admittedly, if Staren had gone for the Terminator aesthetic now is when it would have looked SUPER COOL, but he didn't. The parts where some metal or transparent metal 'skin' is still intact have an oddly simple, retro aesthetic -- a body made of slightly-deformed cylinders rather than trying to mimic the exact shape of a human. The head has eyes that look like oval headlights or bike reflectors rather than human eyes, and there are a shaped but non-articulated nose and mouth. Part of the top of the head is transparent, showing the mechanical brain within.     Across many parts of the body, holes bare wires, motors, and metal bones.     "I still function." The face is expressionless, but there's a tone of anger to the voice as the robot plods towards Skeith. "I hope you've gotten all this out of your system. Next time you get the power of a god, use it more responsibly."     "...And if you somehow win this, get me back to Elysium Apex and preserve everyone's bodies. I'm fixing them. And I'll do the same for you, if this overdoes it."     There's the sound of taking a breath, although the chest doesn't move, and as Staren approaches Skeith, he crosses his arms in front of him, hands held flat like a cross karate chop. The arms begin to glow. "One way or the other, this ends-- argh!" One of Staren's arms, exposed wires and bone, shorts out, stops glowing as electricity arcs over it, and hangs limp by his side. Staren runs at Skeith and tries to plunge his good arm into it, his arm surrounded in a field of sharp, cutting force that ALSO conducts electricity, dumping everything Staren's reactor can spare into the construct!     Afterwards, he slumps, and coolant steam spews out of his body as his arms hang limply. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe finds the Tendrils coming and they just well it's suffering really and she's mauled badly her entire body is a mess of angry wireframes in short order. She keeps moving towards Hassoe hacking and slashing where she can get towards him. She's heading right for Haseo at this point and the look on her face isn't very nice. She just keeps going towards him taking everything he throws at her and she does not stop, she does not relent. She just keeps pushing forward she takes her sword in both hands she closes with Hase. There's a lot of things on the line a lot of people on the line. She makes up her mind as she nears Haso she will move in aiming to drive her sword into his midsection. She doesn't say a thing the look on her face says it all. She will not stop she will not relent and she seems intent to end the Terror of Death. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     There are limits for everything. Shyra fountains absurd amounts of healing on Raphael, but even that can't stop the insane amounts of DPS that Haseo's desperation move enacts. He falls, and Shyra reaches out a hand. RAPAHEL! NO!     And then, just as terribly, Arthur gets pulped too. Suddenly she realizes she should maybe have been healing more people. She got healer tunnel vision and people are paying the price. ARTHUR! NO! Yes, she says it again, even with the same expression and hand outstretched and everything. The fact that she's using a specific pose doesn't make the emotion any less genuine, right?     But her defender is gone. There is nothing between her and the roiling chaos. In desperation, she tries searching for something. Anything....     > DEV TOOLS     But before she can try to use her own technically godlike powers, the chaos rushes over her and tears through her, the little death that brings total obliteration.     All at once, her own HP bar is blasted to zero, and she's left flat on her face, bleeding from intense wounds... But not dead. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Tentacles smash into Rean, throwing him around, and he's on fire again. Shyra is down, Arthur is down, everyone else is flagging or falling apart. They were so /close,/ damn it! Were they seriously going to lose now?! He eventually hits the floor, and just lies there for a moment, burned and battered. He's tired...But most of all, he's tired of Haseo's smug face. That suggestion that they might have to kill him was looking better by the second. Rean forces himself to his feet, using his sword to prop himself up. He takes a few painful breaths, tamping down on a certain urge to go turn a white-haired asshat into a bloody pulp. He looks over at Amelris and nods. There were still enough of them here...They could do this.  "Ngh...Yeah. Let's finish this, guys!" He ignites his sword, and charges Haseo one last time, putting as much force behind the single strike as he can! 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Between the explosive final attacks, the hacking, and a drunk guy literally uppercutting a ten meter tall monstrosity, Skeith eventually 'breaks'. There's a blinding flash again as the last thing the party sees is DISCORDIA gazing at them, before they're all transported back into the throne room. Haseo lays completely slump in the rubble that his throne, still conscious, but clearly too tired to do anything. He's clearly stewing in his loss, but weirdly, not ranting or complaining. There's no words from him at all.      Perhaps though, the most important thing from Haseo's loss, is the fact that he actually dropped something.                ITEM DROPPED: YELLOW KING RELIC 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      It's too much.      The world is strained to the breaking point. It's pressed against a wall. Too much added? Too much removed? Too much broken? Too much changed? It's impossible to say. Impossible to say if it was Haseo, if it was Shyra, if it was Arthur, if it was even Mordred - if it wasn't the moment the music in the tavern began to play once more and new roles were assigned. But the world is strained to the breaking point. And something must snap.      It is the part that is least important. The unfinished content, the dummied content, the stuff where the pressure can be vented. It is the unimportant bits of the world that only barely exist.      The Tower of Vritti.      Deep beyond the map of the world, below the strange plane that is the world, outside and beyond the boundaries. That is the only logical place for the pressure to go. The only logical place the world can afford to break. The only logical place, because it barely exists to begin with.      All of that pressure - all of that metaphysical strain, the fuzz, the chaos, the nonsense - bubbles up within the Tower of Vritti.      The crack runs right down the middle.      Above, the sky goes black. Night has fallen on a world with neither sun nor moon, on a world with no concept of night. It is a pitch-black, terrible night, a foreboding night. Below there is a rumble as the world shakes - the whole of the world. It is the crude shaking of a screen on an old game, the back-and-forth vibration with a loud and unpleasant noise that nonetheless always means *earthquake*, visceral in all ways, understandable in all the ways that matter.      In the far distance, something stirs.      The seal is broken. The Tower is broken. Though it is not Awakened, it does not need to be - the Tower breaking means it is part of the world. The programming kicks in. The routine begins.                              The music changes.                                  Error messages start popping up everywhere around Shyra. And then...                          ISHVARA PROTOCOLS ENGAGED                                            IF ISHVARA=1 THEN GOTOGOTOGOTOGOTOGOTOGOTO                                      BLASPHEMOUS WEAPON - AYUDHA RAKSHA                          The words spring up like weeds in the air. Everywhere they repeat, filling the world, filling vision, equal parts a scream and an ultimatum.      In the far-off distance it emerges. It is vast and terrible, an unfinished nightmare crawling forth from a place where unfinished nightmares are consigned. It pulls itself free from the ruins of the Tower of Vritti, through the crack in the world. The rough and terrible nightmare slouches towards the Ruined Shrine. It has one purpose. Destroy the Yellow Emperor.      There it is. The new part of the story that they had worked so hard to build. The part that never existed, and probably was never intended to - just a looming threat in the narrative never intended to come to pass.      The last part of the story.      The dynamic finale.      Stop a god and an un-god from destroying each other and taking the world along with them. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is looking like hell, after that fight with Haseo many of her allies are down shes stand over Haseo as she was one of the closest to him at the end of the fight. She looks down at him for a moment pausing for a moment over him like she's considering something, she'll move to reach down and pick up the Yellow King Relic. This needs to be recovered, right? Unless someone stops her she will pick it up and regardless if she gets it or not? She'll head to help the injured and as that happens? ISHVARA PROTOCOLS ENGAGED just occurs and she feels a feeling of dread. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael cracks his knuckles. That was a good, solid punch. Sure, everyone else went in and did far better, but at least Haseo is down. He can sort out the rest of it in a moment. EMPATHY: Yes, we need to talk about what Inland Empire saw, I think it's very SHIVERS: a moment please. > Kind of busy, here, there's... SHIVERS: WASN'T REALLY ASKING. Raphael's 'view' is ripped from him, pulled away into the sky. He sees it. He sees the pitch black night. The horrible monstrosity tearing itself out of the tower. It's..he lacks the words for it. He lacks the anything for it. CONCEPTUALIZATION: There aren't any. You'd have to invent them. He returns to a room full of error messages and fallen people. -1 MORALE This was a mistake. This was all a huge mistake. He never should have helped with this. VOLITION: Okay! Stepping in, not sure what the fuck any of that is, but we're in a hurry. Go grab Haseo. Noone else is going to, and he doesn't deserve to die to this thing.)] "...I'll get Haseo." It's the first real coherence he's managed to get out, and while he's still smiling, his eyes are...not looking at this world. He's looking at the wall. At what he knows is past the wall. What, exactly, have they *done*? 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is pretty glad that they are not dead. On one hand, that's kind of a given. On another, oh Twelves what the hell is happening.      Without spending time to think too hard about things, the Red Mage sheath his weapons back, giving the errors, the flashing and everything repeating, breaking.      "I'll get Arthur!" Amelris calls out, rushing to the 'young' man to heft him up over his shoulder, ignoring the screaming pain in his side and his insides, securing him firmly then start, well. RUNNING. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur will need to react to the worst fulfillment of all his fears soon. But for now: He need only be light. And, thankfully, he is. The Mage of Space is nearly weightless, in fact, somehow. Someone will need to grab him.     Now, the ending. Good luck getting Arthur out of here, Amelris; if he dies, it's permanent. But surely he'll be grateful later. In his own way, at least. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' The world strains.   "Oh no..." he says, was it too late?  Was it because he hesitated?  Was it always going to be too late?   Then the world collectively shits its pants, and somewhere a half-finished monster climbs up to fight the Yellow King.  This is...he isn't sure what this is, but he knows they need to leave.  They need to leave now.  POD flies out for Haseo, aiming to pick up the fallen monster.   He hates him for what he did.  For putting them all at risk, putting the world at risk.  Despite it, despite the anger and pain, he went through tonight.  He wouldn't do it, he wouldn't take that final step.   He walks out of the room, barely limping as the POD carries Haseo along. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Haseo is down, defeated. Staren doesn't feel especially triumphant. Why did all this even happen...?     The words appear. Ayuda Raksha. Staren recognizes the name -- he helped work to bring this to pass. It's what Arthur has pinned their hopes on. Hell, he'd even suggested trying to sic it on Haseo, though it's a bit late for that now.     Staren picks up anyone the others don't grab. Even in this damaged state, he can still move at least as fast as a human, and he doesn't get tired, so leaving the shrine is no problem...     ...only to be confronted by another change in the world and the looming form of Ayudha Raksha. Well, that's a thing. Now they have everything they need to beat it -- except some rest after the last boss fight. Which they may as well take; with how this world works, it's not like the world is going to actually END if they take their time facing the new final boss.     Staren is just a little bit sad that the new dungeon and midboss they made won't get to see any action, even if they WOULD have only gotten in the way. Maybe he can get a completionist to go take them on after everything, if the world doesn't change to remove them. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' And it's done. Haseo is down and he even drops a yellow relic. Rean lets out a sigh of...it's not relief, but perhaps exhaustion. And then there's an earthquake. Error messages pop up everywhere, and Raphael seems convinced that whatever the heck happened was very very bad.   His ARCUS clicks on, and after a moment of 'loading' a cool, healing breeze swirls around him patching up smaller wounds on anyone standing in its path. HE also takes a chance to slap a more direct healing spell on the more injured people in the group. He quietly scoops up Shyra, and starts heading for the exit. 
}}

7096/BCoB: Eternal Flame, Twisted Truth

2020-02-28T15:17:47Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/27 |Location=Eorzea |Synopsis=The heroes of Eorzea delve again into the depths of Allagan madness in order to prevent the return of a calam..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/27
|Location=Eorzea
|Synopsis=The heroes of Eorzea delve again into the depths of Allagan madness in order to prevent the return of a calamitous entity. Fate twists beyond reckoning.
|Cast of Characters=598, 934, 819, 6802, 6, 994, 7180, 7160, 7157, 1086, 525, 7175
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The North Shroud.     A mostly peaceful land bordering the lands of Coerthas, it nevertheless did not escape the predations of Dalamud during the Calamity. The western part of the region was pierced by a large section of Dalamud, lending itself to the rise of animated golems thrumming with power from the ancient moon, as well as attracting the attentions of various neverdowells and cultists.     However, once you know what to look for, the truth of the matter proves to be somewhat more prosaid. A displacement of holographic imagery reveals that there is a yawning cave that delves into the depths of the Dalamud fragment that had landed here, confounding even scavenging adventurers and the Wood Wailers that patrol the area regularly.     But the secret is out. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDLhxLlonc                            THE SHADOW OF DALAMUD                                 Shattered ground hangs in the air, the devastated land yawning below in an unknowably deep chasm. The moon's power twists the laws of the world itself around them, creating islands that float, pierced through by fragments of Dalamud and corrupted aether both. Mutated flora is prevalent, as are golems, these formed of not pumice, but that same strange shifting matter that had infested the life in the previous delve. They are potent, but not so much that you lot cannot cut them down with a modicum of effort.     A somewhat more dire situation arises as what looks like nothing so terrible as a mutated rafflesia the size of a Gobbue appears, however. The massive tendrils lash out as it begins vmoting globs of acidic honey, spreading brambles all about in an attempt to overwhelm and crush the lot of you. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' In other words, perfect terrain for EXTREME MOTORBIKING. Not really, actually, but William Pauwel has never let something as small and as silly as 'awful, no-good floating islands with no actual land bridging them' stop him from riding his sci-fi motorbike straight into the heart of danger. It helps considerably that his motorcycle is equipped with actual non-aether-based rocket thrusters. Who needs to attune to aether currents to fly? Not this guy!! The direct effect is, of course, looking EXTREMELY COOL as he leapfrogs from floating landmass to floating landmass, bypassing most of the local hostile flora and fauna in the process. But not the thing at the end. Oh no. Definitely not. He's not about to let his catbuddy deal with a horrible plant-monster on his own! And what more, Will has the PERFECT TOOL for the job. It's a gun. 'Gun' is always the perfect tool for the job, no matter (read: depending heavily on) what job needs doing. In this case, Will's gun is blasting through acid splashes and bramble blasts with what amounts to a handheld PLASMA NAPALM LAUNCHER. Plants, no matter how mutated, surely dislike being set on fire, right...? The reason for his haste is simple. The last time they decided to tackle a Fragment of Dalamud, a certain Midgardian wizard beat them to the heart of the dungeon. This time... This time Will is a little more eager to get to the bottom of things, if not just out of the petty desire to beat Lezard Valeth to important and vital lore. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     The Shroud is not a place you want to be messing around in. The Twelveswood is a fickle thing and the Elementals are not the forgiving sort and N'raha is very grumpy about this being out here. That's neither here nor there though, because there is naught he can do about 'a hunk of Dalamud landed here and activated itself'.     He does not have the speed or fervor or gusto that others have tonight, though. No, he's... trying to be careful about this. Oddly careful. I mean, he's still doing the Tank Thing because that's his swiving job, but his hackles are raised and his tail is bristly and everything about this screams 'this is another trap'.     The Raffelsia, however, is just another monster, and his job is to put down monsters and so that ax is out and it's flashing and crashing and smashing and... He's on edge.     He's got a bad feeling about this. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' For all intents and purposes, Jeanne shouldn't even be here. She has nothing to gain from coming out to this twisted forest hellhole. She's made no attempts to hide her disdain for... Well, anyone, but especially not for the people here. Even the people she does barely consider acquaintances have no true connections to this place. And yet, she's here. She and five wyverns, even, riding atop one of them while the other four flank her chosen steed in formation as she proceeds through the cave. Naturally, the Dragon Witch takes this opportunity to show off the might of her creatures as she lets them do the dirty work. They claw, they bite, they spit flames, and they screech occasionally when splashback from those globs hitting nearby things gets on their black scales. "Put your backs into it. We don't have time to waste on the small fry!" She shouts in a demanding tone despite not diving into the fray herself just yet. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' There was a feeling in the back of Tomoe's mind that she was glad all the elder civilizations on her world had never reached the sort of development where things like the coils would be there to cause trouble ages later. She also tries to not think about the idea, that it might be the civilization of her own time. Which could end up being her world's version of the elder civ that leaves problems behind? So here she was again an Alagan ruin. Tomoe knows they need to be moving fast so she'll be making use of her Naginata to hack and slash at the huge creature that's in the way. She will dart in and hack at its' tendrils then flip over it driving her weapon into it. A second later Tomoe will pull the weapon free following it up with several fire spells as s she comes in for a landing. "Don't worry I will Jeanne." 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Being quick on her feet and good and specialized jumps leaves it little surprise that Athela has little difficulty navigating the chunks of terrain suspended by corrupt ancient magics. Between using jets of water to propel herself upward, and sliding across surfaces to maintain her momentum between leaps, the young knight is making reasonable progress. Not as fast as crazy people on motorized wheels, but her pace is consistant. As she lunges off the edge of one formation, she glances down to see several of those golems tromping about another lower platform. Meaning they might be in the way of those people that can not get as high as herself or as fast as William's bike. We won't be having any of that, not when time is of limited resource. Midair Athela twists around, bringing her relic weapon to bear, and using the motion to reorientate herself downward. Elemental force gleams around her as what starts as a fall turns into a rocketing dive that drills Resolute Blade through the center mass of one of the golems from gravity assisted momentum. The other golems turn in response to the new presence, only to see the energies release from the the strike and waves of jagged ice radiating out from the point of impact. The frozen blast is less damaging, but more backwards pushing force in an effort to send several more of the monsters toppling off the ends of the platform. There is only long enough for a brief dramatic flutter of cloak as Athela pulls her weapon free, and then she's hopping down and sprinting off to build her speed back up and leap off towards the next formation. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris didn't particularly want to return to the Shroud so soon after the Eiggkon's fight. He's done his part in cleaning stuff up afterwards, the Scion's job is never done on that respect but understandingly, the Elements are probably still a little pissed about it. It's good that not everything erupted in that manner.      This time, this seems to have attracted a far larger crowd to investigate the remains of Dalamund. Words got out, maybe? Whatever the case might be, the Red mage is riding along on his Chocobo, a chocolate-feathered bird.      He leaps off his bird to go in, shaking his head and drawing his blade. "Well! Is everyone ready to look at ANOTHER ROUND of crazy things the Allagan left us beneath?"      The Red Mage charges for the plant, unleashing a fireball and plowing through it. "I SURE AM!" 

:'''{{#var:7160|Mauve Gauntlet (7160)}} has posed:''' Mauve is here, punching her way through the corrupted fauna and hookshotting around like a pink Spider-lady. She wasn't here the last few times, but she's heard...things. MANY things. Many....exciting things. Now that she actually has time to join in, maybe she can help out with...whatever the plan is. There should be a plan right? Well, she'd find out eventually, right? Anyway, there's a freaky plant monster hanging around, and everyone's fighting it. Mauve joins in by trying to tear out one of its tendrils. 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     How a shinobi gets to a place is irrelevant; rather, how a shinobi gets somewhere is the second most crucial part of being one, but it is never anyone else's to know. The saying holds true about ninjas and simply appearing out of nowhere.     With no need for a disguise though, it's a wonder that Danzo had gotten anywhere without being seen, wearing so much bright red, black and gold, with even her eyes glowing faintly in the dim, off-colour illumination of the surroundings. But it isn't until the first boss encounter that she is anywhere to be seen. She appears amidst a scattered handful of glowing petals, first as a streak of glinting metal, crisscrossing back and forth several times over the monster's tentacles in an instant, hacking them into so many pieces, and then as a streamer of roaring fire that blasts back and forth across its body, waved like a hose.     She flips back to hit the floor, and then sparks shower from her heels as she weaves back and forth through the incoming and outgoing fire, without moving her feet. Improbably long folding blades snap back into her slender arms --bared black metal up past the elbow-- and black smoke issues from her wrist wrist, until she flicks it away with a loud click.     "I cannot obtain any reliable readings about this place. The local mana density is off the scale. Furthermore, the biological signatures of these creatures don't match any model I am familiar with. It is as if the place we are in simply doesn't make sense." Thus is the scouting report: about as unhelpful as one would expect here. She also really needs to learn to speak up; her voice is too soft to be heard properly in battle. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The massive mutated plant shrieks as the attacks omce in. The plasma napalm launcher is a good choice for this, as William unleashes on the thing. Plasma napalm (how does that even work) scorches the creature even as N'raha maintains his equilibrium, taking to the task of felling the massive creature with his massive axe. Fire and axe, excellent choices for this kind of work. He chops and chops and smashes, cleaving into the thing and sending chunks and unpleasant plant ichor flying.     Jeanne, not one to be shown up by people riding dragons, brings her wyverns along. They lash out and burn enemies, getting absurdly high numbers of critical hits for no apparent reason as they dive and mob the enemies just as they mob back. Tomoe charges in, using her naginata to keep range on her foes as she hacks and slashes. The fellow tank seems to be focusing on remaining mobile, using her flame to good use as she joins the fray against the massive plant.     Amelris, the long-suffering Crimson Duelist, finds himself once more in the fray. He strikes and stabs through his targets, scything past golems and plants with alacrity and style. Once he encounters the greater plant, fire and blade once more proves to be an excellent option. Fireproofing doesn't seem to be amongst the mutations that the creature has acquired. Athela, however seems to be the odd one out, using water instead of fire to purge the place. She sends herself launching around constantly, using her maneuverability alongside the others to strike and avoid being struck in return, her dramatic assault with her relic weapon cleaving through a golem, ice shattering out and blasting through others around them. Thankfully, ice works just as well on the massive mutant plant as fire.     Mauve Gauntlet also shows she has plenty of options. The floating scenery allows for lots of hooking points for Mauve's use, giving her optimal range and radius to attack with. She scythes through the enemies, smashing into them and knocking them around before she finds herself trying to rodeo a massive hungry plant. She grabs onto a tendril and begins tearing at it, taking some work but eventually it comes apart in her grip, the thing shrieking in a horrible sound as ichor sprays everywhere.     Danzo joins the battle where her support is most needed, which is 'not the trash mobs'. As the petals fly, the Rafflessia is artfully cloven into, gleaming metal striking back and forth with ninja precision, lopping away parts of tentacles as a massive fire blast roars over the creature. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     With so much incoming damage there is really only one result. The massive plant erupts in flames from the gathered efforts and being critically weakened, and it wavers there for several moments, crisping black. In the aftermath of the conflagaration, the horrible thing falls, revealing that there is another deep gash in the wall of another Allagan craft. As one might expect, the thing has been breached in the devastating crash landing, and a path of yellow crystal spans the way to allow one to enter.                 RAGNAROK INTERNMENT HULK IC-06 - OUTER COIL                 Within, one can feel the pulse of the craft. It is very much active, very much alive, sizzling with latent power that pule through glowing ampoule and power line set into the ultradense alloy plating. The walkway does not meet the walls, the bulkheads appearing to be heavily isolated from the rest of the craft. Below, sizzling arcs of energy dance amidst pulsing and churning machinery. Once again, the Allagan seem to have never heard of OSHA standards. Humming spheres float through the air high above, moving on some unspoken task or another. Unlike the previous machine, this one seems to be much more... intact.     The purpose of this area seems to be much more direct, however. Capsules line the walls, inset in rows down the isolated walls. Within each of them, a mutated, chimerical creature seems to rest within. Lamia, chimera, strange sludge, mutated bioweapons of all shapes and sizes.     As the group proceeds down the only apparent path before them, several of the canisters suddenly flush, dragging their contents out and launching them down onto the walkway from above. Dripping with fluids, the enraged chimera strike, breathing ice and lightning while the globs simply attempt to hurl themselves at a target and dissolve them. They move with hunger and rage, driven onward by instinct if nothing else.     Once chopping through the (un)natural defensive systems, the group eventually finds themselves facing a large round area. There is nothing keeping them from looking out into the gap beyond, showing countless more of those capsules. Shards of metal hang in the air, being slowly drawn through space towards damage and gaps in the area, drones working endlessly to help reconstruct the hulk. Given time, it will fully reassemble itself and continue whatever purpose it has. On the other side of the platform however, is a console that looks like some form of elevator control.     Unfortunately, it locks out as the group approaches, security systems continuing to activate. Above, there is a singularly large lamia curled within a ceiling-mounted containment pod... And its eyes open, staring down at the group below. Unlike the others, it slithers, swimming through the fluid and vanishing...     And with another scream, she launches onto the platform, landing before the group. Unlike the others, she bears ornate armor, humming weapons of Allagan make in its hands that glow with aetheric power. Snakes weave back and forth behind her hooded form... And she attacks. Given her appearance, one would expect a petrification gaze. You get one, but not how one might think. Immediately, she begins singing with an unearthly power, causing various members of the group to be seized by a strange force, causing petrifying waves of energy to erupt from other members of the party, forcing them to coordinate where they are looking lest they interrupt each other. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     More alchemical nonsense. Though not clones this time. Not in the sense that there we clones at The Tower. Though... this place was still a breeding ground for nonsense and awful things.     N'raha's ax is in fine form tonight, even if he's running on muscle memory at times. His thoughts and attention drift as he tries to take in things here, his usual laser focus on Killin' Stuff broken tonight. It's going to get him killed.     Or at least, Petrified. N'raha yelps as they're put into a boss arena, and tries to get his brain back in the game. "Gods you're a big one, aren't you?" The Warrior of Light slams his helmet down over his face, sniffs, plants his feet to charge in, and.... and can't. He can't move. He's stuck. Panic seeps into his face and now he's hearing voices and there's.... ah crap. This isn't good at all. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' The Allagans had their fingers in a lot of pies. But something about the myriad chimeras and other assorted monsters seems to have Will take up an unusually thoughtful expression. The drones rebuilding the place, too. If he shoots them down, will the place just build more? The only way to stop it is to get to the very bottom and hit the off switch, but to do that... Chimeras in jars. So many chimeras in jars. "You know-" *BLAM* "-I've been thinking. This place was a moon, right? So-" *BLAM-BLAM* "What the heck were the Allagans doing, filling it with monsters in jars? Did they use it as a lab, too? Or is it some kind of security system? But you'd think robots would be better at guarding the place-" *BLAM-BLAM-BLAM* "-Right?" Soon, the party is faced with a stunningly statuesque snake-woman with a propensity for statuary. Will clicks his tongue as he begins radiating a tingly, petrifying aura... And decides to resolve the problem by grappling himself up onto the ceiling. His energy waves probably won't be able to reach anyone from up here. As for the singing... Blasts of stunning electricity straight to the vocal chords might just be the ticket to dealing with /that/ problem. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' "Heh. At least one of you know how to work." Jeanne smirks briefly at Tomoe, but only for thatmoment before she gets right back to commanding her wyverns. Even from her high-ish spot, she still can't slack off completly. The minions don't get Jeanne off her mount, though, and neither does the Rafflessia. Even the OSHA violations especially don't get her off her mount, although she does watch the gathered Elites with mild amusement on the off chance one of them goes plummeting. Alas, she probably isn't so lucky. She does get a good look at more of that strange Allagan technology, though, chuckling for a moment when the holding capsules open for more of the creatures within to harass the group. Stranger still, she draws her blade when that strange voice speaks, glancing arund for just a moment before directing her wyverns once again. This time, however, they stay in the air and circle above as the Dragon Witch dives towards the crowd of chimera to start lashing out at them personally. She darts about rapidly with each slash, taking more care to evade the lightning while charging through the ice with flame walls of her own. "This doesn't sound like any of you. Perhaps it's the creator of this place. Or the captain." Jeanne muses, scoffing when the lamia starts singing instead of firing petrifying eye-beams all over the place. "But this one... This one's just another distraction, so kill it quickly and let's move on! She's not going to do a very good job coordinating at first, of course. She's kind of an asshole like that. It'll take a bit before Jeanne actually realizes what's going on and actually coordinates via looking straight at the floor whilst stabbing and slashing wildly. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The party makes good progress, Tomoe and N'Raha keep the horror busy hacking slashing and otherwise ripping into it. William opens fire with his gun and brings the force of plasma against it Mauve is cutting through more of the lesser threat keeping them from piling on to them. Jean joins things up close, and Danazo also gets up and closes with Rafflessia. Amelris and Athela purge thing with fire and ice helping to bring the enemy down be it Rafflessia or the other creatures that assault them and they keep going. There are other things here. Stasis pods and many of them still contain living things. They are full of all sorts of mutated bioweapons of all sorts. It seems this some sort of armoury for weaponized lifeforms? It looks like that's the case and Tomoe keeps going as more of the beasts are let out of their age-old slumber. Tomoe switches up using lighting blast and her spear as she keeps going, hacking slashing n shocking her way through. In all this chaos she notices the hulk is slowly repairing itself still. This stuff was older than Rome, and parts of Egypt if she recalled her history right. Then dropped from orbit and it was still trying to fix itself. She's not sure to be awed at the skill of the Allgan Engineers or horrified that such a thing is still working after so long. There's a lift nearby and something else is waiting for them at the lift or near too It seems to be some kind of Medusa-like creature. "Oh hell!" The effect forces Tomoe to call out her actions when she moves, when she strikes and tries to time it to not look at the others who are effected by it. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Well.      This IS certainly a bunch of Allagan bullshit.      "Twelves." Amelris Belthrone comments as they move through things, his blade already soaked with blood with some of the unfortunate creations of the Allag Empire. This stuff... well, damn, he want to come back later to get a better look at things, when they aren't in a hurry to find what the HELLS is Lezard Valeth doing this time.      The voice comes through. It's not familiar, to be certain.      The Medusa is leaped at, Amelris keeping his cape up to protect himself and keeping quick on his feet. Fireballs, Lightning Bolts are launched as he keep his distance and more importantly, his own gaze away form the strange forces. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Well this is already a workout isn't it. But persistance pays off and wins the group ... another path to follow. It's almost too convenient. This one leads them into the depths of the combination of machinery and magic that is trademark of the Allagan handiwork. As is the hideous creatures held within. Are these captures, or more blaphemous creations? Athela is going to lean towards the latter, but it becomes a moot point when several activate and release chimeric abominations unleashing ice and lightning attacks. Two can play at this game, as Athela bids on trying to conserve her own strength and release one of her own creatures into the fray. A large muscular bearded sealion-like creature, clad in more classical knightly armor. Lancer immeadiately lives up to his name, charging to impale the side of one of the chimera with the bladed crest of his helmet, then pummel it with heavy blows from his armored limbs and tail. It's probably lost in the masse of more extravegant attacks, but it gets the job done of putting an end to the threat. After congratulating and retrieving him Athela follows the rest of the group into the next chamber, only to be confronted by an armored snake woman of snake hair dropping from above. "Must everything in this Xerneas forsaken place counfound our progre--" Athela stops dead mid-complaint as her divine intuition screams internally at her as the augmented lamia attacks without visibly attacking. The danger sense picks up on the threat she doesn't see, the threat she may present to others from the energies rolling about her position from the creature's unnatural technique. Athela quickly backs to the fartherest edge of the chamber, away from the rest of the group that could be afflicted by that paralyzing aura. One may suspect that would put her out of doing much in the way of harm to their foe. Maybe to some degree. She's hearing the other voice but not responding, focusing on more immeadiately dangerous threats. Her immeadiate ability to strike may be hindered, but it's not removed entirely. Not when she can generate dozens of frozen spikes, as sharp as daggers, and with a sweep of her weapon send the Ice Shards hurtling towards the snake-woman. 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     "If it's true, that this facility was built to generate energy from the mana of a divine beast, then it makes sense that it would also be a work facility as well. Leaving something so important by itself seems ill-advised." For a change, Danzo is made to actually join up with the group, too-light footfalls echoing faintly off the walkways as she continues, her voice growing sober. "Machines, no matter how well-built, break down. No matter how they might work, they ages wear down at them until they break."     "It only makes sense that humans would be necessary to monitor and maintain the state of a facility as complex as this." she says, stopping to lean over one of the capsules. Her pupils and iris contract and expand separately, making soft clicking sounds. "With so much space, utilizing it as a scientific facility, for research that would be too dangerous to conduct close to civilization, also follows."     When the chimera burst free of their pods, Danzo is up and off the walkway in a heartbeat, improbably running up and around the airgapped walls and dropping on squads of them with silvery decapitating strikes, zigzagging back and forth across the railings and pod coverings at incredible speed, but barely so much as causing anything she steps on to quiver. Sprays of shuriken without visible gestures cut into other monsters, wounding them only shallowly, until paralytic poisons kick in. She flicks blood from her blades as she goes, examining where stray drops of acid have stippled her upper arm.     And yet, even at the appearance of the hideous gorgon thing crashing from above, Danzo only looks up over the edge of her scarf sadly. It only takes the readouts of its artificial powered weapons popping into the corners of her view to tell her everything she needs to know. "If these creatures are already here, under normal circumstances, they'd have nowhere to go. Trapping in the sky. Experiments or guards; there is little choice. In defending this facility, there is at least freedom to move around. And freedom to seek death in battle."     Such is her misplaced pity for the snake creature that Danzo is instantly blasted with a wave of petrifying force. Staring in open-mouthed alarm at her fingertips turning to stone, the dire magic runs all the way up her arms, through her legs, and then in mere moments, makes a statue of her completely.     Or rather, a statue of a chimera corpse?     Danzo is thirty feet up in the air already. arm blades out, behind her, one leg extended, gleaming heel daggers protruding from each foot. There is a rocket flash at the small of her back, and she spins forward at such speed that a solid ring of reflected light burns around her. She descends on the second boss like a buzzsaw, hitting its neck, then churning down inside its shoulder, under its arm, armound its belly, once around the waist, and then a continuing ribbon along the length of its tail, only stopping once she hits the floor at a three point stance, sliding to the edge of the arena and dripping blood. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The shrieks of chimerical creations echo through the air as N'raha sets to work cleaving them apart. No need to wonder and worry, that's the job of other people today. He strikes through the lesser creatures, only to find himself caught out and petrified by the unusual strikes of the monster. Perhaps, at least, someone could give him a hand. Or maybe just keep the beast from shattering him into pieces.     William preventsd himself from becoming a liabaility to the group by grapping onto the ceiling. Thankfully, this puts any conical petrification effects out of the line of the rest of the group and removes him from others, allowing him free reign to taze the Melusine with repeated blasts of electricity. The shocking strikes help garble her voice, reducing the frequency of her disruptive, accursed voice even as it weakens her.     Jeanne's personal strikes against the chimera prove to be intense. The Avenger's own blows are clearly more deadly than those of her minions, and quickly she purges several chimerae from the area. Jeanne might end up petrifying N'raha a couple times before she gets the hang of the creature's special technique, but soon she's cleaving into the Melusine, duelling with the lamia and smashing past her guard with her Servant-level power to draw inhuman blood over and over again.     Tomoe, being from a place that does this to people regularly (the sadistic bastards), quickly coordinates with others to minimize her own contribution to the disruptions, allowing her to get some good shots in when she can. Athela observes that the path is convenient. Almost /too/ convenient. But lacking other options, is there really any other choice? Allagans don't seem to really provide a lot of fast travel options when it works in your favor. Athela, nevertheless, keeps things well in hand by releasing her own battle creatures to deal with the Allagan mutants. They are shoved and pierced out of the way, leaving her able to proceed. Her icy powers also allow for her to deal with the Melusine at a distance, cleaving into her with showers of icy spikes. The lamia has no answer for that, not when dealing with so much else at once.     Amelris is having a bad day already. It's probably not going to get any better either, as he cleaves his way through the biological shop of horrors that the Allagan seemed to conveniently keep on hand. As he battles, he rains down fire and lightning upon the Melusine, adding to the mounting damage. How much more can she take?     Danzo offers pointed commentary, helping to display some of the true immensity of the Allagan work. It seems that they never did believe in doing things halfway, and Danzo is pointing that out. However, their biological horrors still have heads, and the ninja can still decapitate them quickly enough. They fall quickly, the ninja cleaving through them, stunning and paralyzing others. She moves like a one-woman army, giving the others a smooth path forward to their presumed goal.     She shows pity for the Melusine. Maybe it is appropriate, maybe not. But without the context to know why the being is there, it's impossible to tell. The stone attack tries to take her, but the petrification wave hits nothing but a skillfully concealed decoy. The rocket-powered ninja strikes with a deadly counterassault, cleaving straight through the Melusine and slashing past in a dramatic fashion. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' As potent as the lamia is, there is only so much one of her caliber can do against such concentrated murderous power from Elites. She is cloven apart, falling back and moving no more once the fatal strike lands... And with her death, the console unlocks, the security lock seeming to have released with her death. It only takes the touch of a hand to make the Allagan lift detatch and move down, down, ever downwards...         RAGNAROK INTERNMENT HULK IC-06 - CENTRAL DECKS - 3256 YALMS             The lift comes to a halt in a mazelike mass of passageways. The environment is much more claustrophobic compared to the massive majesty of the rest of the hulk, the passages narrower and hexagonal in nature. The thing that immediately stands out is that the halls are being patrolled by those mysterious drones, conical scanning beams sweeping the areas. Well, this is a much more... direct security system. All one has to do to avoid being caught is to walk behind. They never seem to turn directly around. Others might have more pertinent powers to deal with this issue.     Other problems seem to involve the mazelike area being partially broken still. Several large gashes shred through the craft, blocking some paths while the damage drops some of the hexagonal plates down, allowing other routes that were clearly not intended by the creators. Also, the launching plates from the other craft appear here as well, allowing one to launch themselves up and down the several levels. The confusing paths is what makes it possible that one might be caught by the patrols, as it makes it simple that one might end up in a dead end or to turn a corner to find one. If triggered, the security system warps in several drones, all of which swarm the targets with beam weapons and electrical discharges. BGM:https://youtu.be/7BIjELNlFCg     Eventually, the group will navigate the maze towards the core of the decks, where a massive power core system seems to be present. The center of the room seems to be dominated by a blocky, multi-armed robot that spins around, regularly absorbing power and distributing it to colored pylons around it. Whenever anyone moves to attack it, the machine turns and begins to unleash a barrage of lasers and missiles. Every so often it pulses electricity to the towers, causing them to create a growing series of charges... 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     HE CAN MOVE THANK THE TWELVE. N'raha growls, steps out of his petrification and charges forward and down that elevator... only to find himself in a damned maze. And a Death Maze at that. Not that any maze of the Allagans was going to be anything other than a death maze.     That said, as he twists and turns and dips and dodges and dives and works through the maze... Only to end up to to eo with another bloody great magitek creation. At least this one isn't trying to lock him in place over and over again. The Catman charges in, bouyed with energy of... getting past this bloody thing to whoever it is talking at them. Whoever it is that Knows Him. He will gladly stand in a few lazer beams and missles to tank away damage for the more squishy members of the crew...     But he's casting more and more anxious glances over at Amelris, as the Spirit keeps talking to them. This is wrong. Even more so than the fact that they're all in here fighting inside apparently Eternal Unending Dragon Prison and Bahamut is... is not being put together by Allagans but other dragons and there's a fidgeting burning urge inside of him that what they needed was to just burn this whole place to the ground and be done with it, but that clearly isn't going to work, now is it? 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' Jeanne's conversation continues with the mysterious voice, and she looks troubled at first. Not so troubled that it distracts her from her task of killing the everoving crap out of anything that moves against her, but it's not a normal look for her. A few minutes later, she starts chuckling and getting more into the burning and slashing. That's much more like herself. She does't apologize to N'raha, of course, because it's /her/ and not a different her. The Dragon Witch does have enough sense to have her wyvern quintet hang back as the passages narrow, though, signaling for them to shift gears into keeping themselves out of harm's way for the time being. She still has a lot of energy to burn, and there's a lot of machines to dismantle. Depending on if William's still looking to inspect those machines, she might even leave a few of them not-immolated! Once they get to the larger machine surrounded by those strange charging towers, though... It's Jeanne. What other option is there but to apply fire and sharp objects to the problem? Both fire and spears get hurled against it, the spears aimed high to intercept some of those missiles while the flames surge ahead of the Avenger. She isn't laughing madly like she usually does, though, but instead seems driven. Her gaze is intense as those flames, and even getting a laser swept across her chest head-on doesn't stop her from charging ahead. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The questions asked by the mysterious voice over the comm has Tomoe thinking even as she fights and pushes on as the Laima falls to the party's onslaught. The lift is soon brought online with the fallen Alagan bioweapon behind them. It's likely she and any of the other beings who are coming at them who can think? Ever actually chose this. There's not much she can do about it save keep pushing on ahead against whatever lays ahead. Tomoe will just attempt to creep by the dorns only fighting where she has to, as the party keeps moving. Tomoe soon finds parts of the maze ahead are broken however the gashes see to not bother her much he will find some way. Broken parts of the hull are used by Tomoe almost like roads as she bounces and moves wall running several times as she goes to get past. She is not a ninja but it's clear this something she's worked at a good bit. She will finally make is through the maze and ends up at the strange machine which starts attacking them and she'll switch out to her normal sword and board. She will then charge at the relic of a war machine to get up close and start letting slip a number of rapid use sword arts. Lighting fast blade strikes come, and she doe snot let up each time calling out names like Beat Crack, Snake Bite and Wild Fang as she keeps it up. She'll even throw in some shield slams as she goes. The voice gives her more to think about, more supposedly about the place and origin of this construct. The pure horror of it all. The sheer horror of what was done here, and is still happening here? They can't leave this bit as she now gets an idea of how grim things will have to be to set this all to rest. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' That abomination was actually a pretty dangerous, with that paralyzing effect. The Allagans don't shit around when it comes to biological warfare. Athela watchs the monsters collapse from the assaults, and mentally is thankfully that Team Golem has only succeeded in creating pokemon-like automatons and not ... these things. This unnatural horrible things, bastard children of magic and science. Let's just move forward. Figuatively speaking, as it turns out to be a maze, so forward isn't the most direct means. The drones don't turn around, so they can be followed. But a blind spot isn't exactly a safe spot, and as soon as Athela comes across one of the toppled hex-pillars she takes advantage of it to get to a different set of turns and halls, and more or less repeat the process. Follow a drone until another path or collapse provides an alternate route to pass and move on. It's slow, especially when she has no natural markers to navigate by, but this is one of those times that patience is better than risking needless dangers in haste of finding an exit. Doesn't help that the only thing they have to listen to is the spirit voice trying to convince them that genocide of living races would be 'peace'. Sounds like something the Regi would say. Thankfully, they don't talk nearly as much. Speaking of constructs, that seems to be what they find at the eventual end of the maddening maze. Though at least these seem to only respond to being attacked rather than turn on them in immeadiate hostility. After a moment of consideration Athela decides this another problem better solved by a pokemon. She reachs back to prod the hood of her cloak, and after some shuffling around a pink and lavander slug crawls out onto her hand. Athela kneels down to set the Goomy on the deck, then points at one of the multi-armed constructs and whispers. "Infestation." The slug-dragon bobs as if nodding, billows out what would be cheeks, and spews a large glob of slime near the feet of one of the constructs. It is a 'strike from below' tactic of sorts, as the slime splashs upwards around the construct, extremely sticky in trying to stick to it's sides and entangle some of those limbs so it can't effectively aim or activate the pylons. It's an attempt to hinder it's movements long enough for one of the heavier hitters in the group to take it down. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' It's a maze. An amazing maze. Fortunately, Will has been (largely) unscathed by this juncture, and so this place presents him with an interesting and utterly self-serving opportunity. There are /robots/ here. And Will... Will is going to hack them. Will is going to hack them, and charge through this place with an army of--- Oh wait nevermind, jeanne 'kill all robots' alter is here to ruin everything. Harrumph! At least there's something that he /might/ be able to have at least a little bit of fun with. That is, the Avatar. That burly, bulbous construct that looks so much more durable than everything else they've come across so far. He might have to hide behind the resident tanks, dodge around lasers, and accidentally trip into one of those towers... But if this thing is hackable, even if all it does is make it stagger long enough for the rest of the party to take down, then Will's going to dedicate the sum total of his favorite weapon's processing power to do so. It might mean he's not going to be joining in the blasting party, but given present company, he somehow thinks his offensive capabilities won't be missed /too/ much. 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     Drone patrol routes are necessarily a cakewalk for a trained shinobi, never mind one of the few whose names history had forgotten to forget. Danzo keeps the security drones' vision cones constantly updated in her HUD, moving soundlessly between them, clinging to ceilings, soundlessly dropping through steep holes, leaping multiple breached floors at a single jump, crawling on the reverse side of catwalks. She doesn't chance an illusory distraction; in her mind it's equally likely to trigger a station-wide alarm for having seen one. These are robots, and simple ones, not human guards.     All the while, the constant chatter keeps up with the mystery voice that speaks to her --to all of them, but to her most specifically. A tool of Bahamut. A discourse between a tool and a tool. An AI and an AI, perhaps, though she hasn't even heard the word. Though it unnerves her, that more than anything is what engages her attention; what sharpens her will to continue forward.     The power station, by contrast, is mostly incomprehensible to her. Holding some vague hope, she approaches the machine, stopping at a respectable distance, and attempts to communicate with it, hoping for the same. "Greetings. What is your purpose here? What function does this station serve?"     But it seems it's not to be. Rather than joining in the assault on the boss, Danzo follows her instincts as a saboteur, staying on the outside edge of the deck, leaving behind half a dozen illusory duplicates to draw fire. She and her afterimages apply explosives to the pylons as she goes, attempting to blast them down with mana-charged gunpowder. If it causes some terrible cascade failure, well, so much a shorter mission. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris IS having something of a bad day, today. It could be worse but he fears that might come to pass. The Red Mage plows through the Maze, keeping an ear open to the voice that is talking up. The voice is unfortunately unfamilair to him, yet... there is something that DO ring ... eerily familiar. The tones. The way it speaks, in ways he's been hearing it from some other people.      This conversation is rather hitting him. It is driving into his own made creed as a Crimson Duelist. War is a messy buisness, it's messier when the result of said wars were made thousands of years before your nation was even born. It is true what it said about the Primals, being born as the hope and desperations of a people... but there is more to it than that. There is more to what a Primal do to a people.      Amelris grits his teeth, his tail's fur going up on end as he resolves himself up ahead. The remains of a people lies here, as a battery to the hero of their people. To the dream of reclaiming their home... for peace. To reclaim a star.      The Mercydians likely didn't deserves what the Allag did to them. At this point, who even the hell can say? Nobody knows beyond THEM... and people suffering, dreaming of high winds.      The Red Mage moves through the mazes, keeping eerily quiet, dashing and crashing himself against the machine, leaping right off it to delivers strands of crystaline swords in the air, then unleashing barrages of spells at it. 

:'''{{#var:7160|Mauve Gauntlet (7160)}} has posed:''' Mauve Got frozen by the medusa lady, and was basically useless that whole fright. Whoops. Still, she continues onward, joining in on the fight against the machine. The mystery voice goes on and on about something that happened in the past, and the suffering of those that were trapped here. The others could call themselves hereos or fighting for justince, or whatever, but she wasn't here for that, really. Still, Suffering sucked, but even she could see that just taking it out on the Eorzeans was just going to make things worse. But...she wasn't really equipped for this kinda thing. Mauve swings a fist at the machine, throwing all her focus into fighting it. The others could handle this, right? 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     N'raha gets to enjoy the small things in life once again. Like movement. And not being broken into a hundred pieces of inert stone. He charges forward, working his way through the maze with the others, chopping at the massive thing and taking the intense blows for others. He does his job well.     Jeanne, of course, has no need for stealth, and decides the 'murder everything in her path' method of stealth is the better option. She cleaves through the multitude of bots, ther only seeming to be more and more as they progress. Are they actually endless? It is impossible to tell at this point. However, they reach the massive machine and cleaves into it, applying spears and flame as she is wont to do. The laser slashes through her but she is undaunted, the pain only seeming to drive her on moreso. Her retaliations punch deep through armor, causing it to jerk and shudder under the onrush of calamitous damage.     Tomoe has her own methods of dealing with the problem. She is talented at moving when she needs to be it seems, rushing ahead through the maze with her techniques. The massive machine ends up getting cleaved into over and over again, the aggressive tank ripping plating apart with each strike and sending out waves of sizzling explosions and released power from ruptured lines.     Athela might be relieved that Team Golem has only succeeded in making automatons, but how long might that remain. It might be a /really terrible thing/ should someone hand them some kind of examples to work off of and accelerate their development... Still, that's Future Athela's problem. Instead, she uses her water skills from before to quickly push herself through the maze, unleashing a Goomy on the massive machine. The glop jams its movement, making it much slower and interfering with the pulses of electricity, opening up plenty of offensive options for the others to take advantage of.     Perhaps it's a good thing that people are in a hurry, or you might lose William for the next... six months or so. Still, maybe William might pick up a happy drone or two to hack and help him out. He might get farther with Jeanne if he begs the Avenger, though. Or gets her some fried chicken or something. William unleashes his hacking skills on the Avatar, though, and finds himself dealing with a ridiculous high-tech Active Time Event involving all kinds of spinning rings and complicated keystrings and pattern matching, working his way through the thing's technological defenses... And finally, he managed to bust through, the massive machine sizzling and jerking to a complete halt for a short time as it self-reboots, trying to clear the interference... And leaving itself wide open. Mauve gets to take advantage of the moment to plow her fist right into the side of it, caving in a deep, crushing impact into the side and knocking it over for a moment. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The maze is effectively a non-issue for Danzo. This is so elementary she could (and probably has done similar in the past) blindfolded. The ninjabot blurs through the area quickly and silently. She has absolutely no problems navigating the place. As far as this area is concerned, she doesn't exist. This changes when she attempts to greet the Avatar. The machine doesn't seem to recognize her as an authroized user, as it simply attacks her as well. Thankfully, she is capable of dealing plenty of damage in her own way. While the machine is disabled, Danzo blows up the power pylons.     It... Causes some problems. The pylons rupture, surging and causing a massive backflood of power that threatens to scorch anyone still standing on the platform. Thankfully, the Crimson Duelist is backflipping at that moment, allowing him a space to drive his crystalline blades into the Avatar one after the other. The blades pick up the aetheric lightning, surging like Jacob's Ladders and surging to conduct the power directly back into the thing.     The battle is manic. Every time one of the pylons charge up, something terrible happens. Blasts of aetheric power rushes over the field and scorch the fighters. Proximity mines appear that charge up, doing more damage the longer people avoid them. More of those hulking dreadnoughts appear. Sometimes, the machine itself seems to be supercharged, getting more powerful. The pylons are easy to tamper with, however, messing with the speed of their charges to keep them from overwhelming the group while the machine strikes over and over again. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     But the machine, too, meets its match. There is nothing that could have prepared it for the Elite assault and inventive attacks that crush into it, decimating it in ways that only the Allagan themselves might have been able to produce when originally designed. It falls over, the machine detonating into pieces and scattering hunks of technology across the platform. The lights dim, the ship seeming to transfer to an alternate power mode as yet another lift activates. Again, the group goes downwards...         RAGNAROK INTERNMENT HULK IC-06 - THE HOLOCHARTS - 6329 YALMS             The platform descends and passes through a glowing wash of light. All at once, the platform... is gone. And a haunting, terrible vista opens up before the investigators. They hang in the sky, all at once high above Eorzea instead of deep below. A shattered road stretches through the air, wending back and forth, hovering under a familiar power. The group lands upon a large, open plaza that remains intact, an endless sky of crimson twilight stretching before them all...     And in the air, angry and terrible, the massive crimson moon of Dalamud hangs there, sizzling as it seems to be all but preparing to drop upon the world below once more. One need but look below to see the plains of Cartenau. Is there a battle proceeding below? It's impossible to tell through the cloud cover...     But they are not alone in the plaza. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      "At last."      The voice is unmistakably the one upon the radio.      He is dark of skin and white of hair. Though he is balding, he is in the dignified, early stages; his sideburns meld with his beard and his hair seamlessly to frame his elven face in a halo. A white tattoo sits upon his forehead, adding to the sense of ancient wisdom. The wrinkles upon his face are not the wrinkles of decrepicty but of a life well-lived and well-spent in the pursuit of a higher purpose. His long, pointed ears jut outwards from his head. A staff sits upon his back, behind white-and-black leather armor with puffy sleeves more common in the Swiss Guard than in a far-away fantasy land.      Oh yes. He's also floating freely. Great wings of fire hang behind him, massive bird wings that stretch across the dark blue sky. The burning Red Moon is framed by those wings. It casts a menacing pallor across that white hair. His eyes are ringed in a bonfire. His hands trail fire. His feet trail fire. He is like unto a great Phoenix, looking down upon the party from on high.      "I have been waiting for you quite some time. Our conversation has proven intriguing, I must admit. It is certainly more interesting than sitting here amongst the living dead, the suffering dead, hearing their endless screams echo in my soul."      "Greetings, wanderers from a distant star. I am Louisoix Leveilleur."      "I am Phoenix."      The man's burning wings flap gently in against the dark sky. "Once, I sacrificed myself that the people of Eorzea might live in peace. I believed, fiercely, from the moment I saw the Red Moon's rise to the moment of its fall, that peace could be attained."      "I called down twelve gods to answer Meracydia's one."      In the distance there is a chorus. It is in no language that any here understands, but it is unmistakable in nature. Its slow and steady beat. Its thrum. Universal. Hope. It is a hymnal, a prayer for salvation. It is being piped in through invisible speakers. It is the singing of a caged and tortured people.      A prayer to Bahamut.      His name rings out through the image of Carteneau. "And in doing so I struck Bahamut down, as he struck me down."      Louisoix's wings widen. "The power of the Twelve flowed through me. The gods granted me their wisdom, that I might see the truth."      His arms spread wide. "I have tried to enlighten you, Chosen, wanderers, to that wisdom of the Twelve. To that knowledge beyond humankind. To Bahamut's wisdom, and the sins of both past and present."      "But if you would stand before Bahamut's release, then I have no choice."      His hands spread in flame. "For I am a tool in the hands of my gods. For I am one who believes in true peace, in freedom from suffering for all upon this star."      "Come. Test yourselves. Be broken against me, and find wisdom in this place of pain." 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     What can someone possibly do or say when presented with the man who literally saved your world, now serving the very being he sought to contain? The Savior of Carteaneau, now robed in the garb of a Primal? Of a guardian of a dead god. A resurrecting god. Clad in the grief and agony of thousands of thousands of thousands years of torture?     Nothing. N'raha can say nothing to this. He has neither the words nor the capacity to properly respond to this man. This incarnation of Louisiox.     Break yourself. The words are an invitation and an order and N'raha Tia, Warrior of Light, is not about to disappoint this man.     The Miqo'te's body, clad in red armor, glows with fell red energy, and he steps forward across the plat form, takes up his ax... and starts the fight. 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     Danzo had heard it over the radio. It had mainly been her doing. She was the one who had pushed into the subject so far, feeling some semblance of connection in it. A shinobi made to be a tool, doubly so for being built as a wooden puppet to serve the Fuuma, across from someone who had become a tool of Bahamut in body and spirit, to serve Meracydia. She thought to find some connection there. Some common ground. Something only the two of them could speak of, to bring some kind of meaning to this vast and complicated affair through which The Mission winds.     She had, and deep in her core, she wished she hadn't.     The kunoichi who is a mechanical doll enters the Archives dinged, dented, and burnt, but operating at what she deems an acceptable capacity. When Louisoix --when Phoenix-- descends, she doesn't turn her face up to look at him. She pulls her long red scarf up over her mouth and nose, her black bangs shading her eyes above. The song of hope reverberates around the chamber, carrying the desperate prayers of hundreds of thousands. Victims. Innocents. The true people of Eorzea. Her face is completely frozen. Her voice hard and robotic.     "Activating audio filters."     Her left arm flicks upwards, and her wrist beyond that, bending past a natural angle to impart a vicious force and spin on a fistful of dense metal darts, streaking into the man that hovers before them. They're fast enough to be invisible, and aimed for major nerve groups to be as painful as possible, but their size prevents them from being lethal in of themselves. In the moment he has to defend himself, or flinches from pain, well, that's when ninjas do their work. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Just the thought of what Team Golem would do if they found some lost technology to bastardize in the same way... Mayhaps would be one of the few thoughts that could actually make the young knight shiver in her sleep in fear. But as we noted, that is Future Athela's problem to consider. Right now we have a much more prominent matter to deal with, lore infodump and all. But finally a face to put to the voice that has been haunting them. And what a visage it is, for the measure of man it can still be called. A man cast... or mayhaps, forced upon godhood. The presence is enough to send her Goomy cowering back in the hood of her cloak. Though it's hard to tell if it's the godlike essence, or just seeing all the fire that could dry it out to a crisp in an instant. Athela glances to the Warriors of Light, and gets a confirmation of her suspicion that this entity is A Big Deal here. A Savoir of Men and World... Now imprisoned by the nightmares and cries of the forgotten hopes of the past, knowing things and grasping power no one Man was meant to. "Savoir of the World... But at what costs beyond the grasp of mortals.." she muttered under her breath, shaking some bangs out of her face and gritting her determination as she regripped her weapon. "Be blessed or cursed, there is only one course for us to walk upon..." Ice may not be as useful against a divine damned birdman of flame, but it has it's other uses. Frost glistens beneath her feet and in the wake behind her as Athela uses it in a method almost akin to skating to build up momentum faster in a shorter distance, making a swift and sure lunging drive at the entity with her relic weapon thrust forward like a sword-topped-polearm. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris Belthrone is in somewhat of a similar state. There has been much that have been talked at this moment. But coming to a head at this own very truth, that the man that saved them all eight years ago stands before them. Firey wings. His words still resonating in his mind.      There is a moment where the Red Mage falters. Where the Miqo'te's eyes widens, unfocuses as he holds his head with one hand, almost stumbling onward and almost to a knee. A small grunt of pain escapes his lips as he stares up with glazed eyes, staring at the Phoenix.      He sees light. He sees power. He sees Cartenau, the devastation brought by Bahamut. He sees the old man, broken, staff destroyed, instilled by strength, power flowing from him. The Twelve empowers him, flowing into his body as he lifts in the air. Bahamut stands in the way. It does not matter. The power flows rise and slams into Dalamund. Destroys it. Saving Eorzea.      "You..." Amelris gasps out, his voice dry, staggering back to his feet with his eyes refocusing, narrowed with some renewed vigor and resolve. "This is what happened to you. This is what happened in Cartenau! the Twelves brough you strength and you plowed through Dalamund! AND NOW THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?"      Amelris draws his rapier, legs shaking from the vision as he spins his weapon, conducting his gem against the hilt to cast, thrusting a palm in the direction of Phoenix. "I STAND BY WHAT I'VE SAID! I WILL NOT BACK DOWN FROM THIS, EVEN IF IT IS YOU!"      Fire and Stone comes screaming from his hand, soaring at the Phoenix. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga, (who has totally been here the whole time) stands with her friends, the warriors of light and others, her staff in hand and defience set in her brow. 'For I am a tool in the hands of the gods'. It sounds like something Lezard said to her once, mocking her. He never understood, and never would. She shakes her head. If this were Louisoix, he had been corrupted somehow. Inga takes her lead from Raha, and prepares to fight, drawing her small knife to cut into her arm to start delivering protective wards. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The battle is no joke it's quite crazy when all things are said. The party keeps going, the team keeps pushing even as they speak with whomever the strange voice is over the comms. Still, she doesn't get off scot-free. Tomoe's a bit roughed up, though she's still in fighting shape and she doesn't want to think about just how deep into this world she's gone. Tomoe keeps going and soon the machine finally gives out and goes down, it blows up and Tomoe doesn't look back. She's soon on the lift and they keep going deeper, Tomoe would arrive with the others as they reach the strange plaza and then something kicks in. Is it holograms? Magic? It doesn't matter it tells a story which leaves Tomoe g a bit opened mouthed at Dalamud for a moment. She also beholds the plains of Cartenaue from above. She then will find they are not alone there's a man here with dark skin and white hair. There is no doubt who he is the moment he speaks as she hears the voice from over the radio. "So you are Louisoix Leveilleur?" Then they drop the name Phoenix Tomoe pauses and looks at him for a moment. In a flash of digital particles Tomoe's current blade vanishes as the Dawnbreaker is returned to storge she summons for Caliburn a pale shadow of its namesake but it still has a power of its own and she intends to not hold back in a situation like this. "I am Tomoe the Iron Lily." There's not much else to be said she takes this seriously very seriously, this. The words of Louisoix Leveilleur, strike a cord the anger and pain she sees with her friend native to this world? It is much like a pain she felt once as a man she thought was a saviour turned out to be the devil. She moves in getting ready for the fight that is to come. "All I can do is use my sword to find my path to the future and I will stand with them against you." With that she'll give Alruna a look for half a second then she charges in at the man who claims he is Phoenix, blade ready which now burns with a white flame, the attacks are quick she's clearly probing an unknown foe of great power here. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' There's a quicktime event here. It's absolutely terrifying and mind-boggling, but what is a quicktime event but a less interactive quickdraw contest? (It's not anything like that, Will just happens to have the benefit of being assisted by a VERY helpful hacking tool). One way or another though, Will manages to emerge from the engagement a few Allagan drones richer. It's too bad that he cares too much about them to have them help out just yet, because what they find waiting for them beyond the Avatar is not going to be a pleasant experience. To be completely fair, 'wizened old man looking vaguely like some kind of incarnate god, wreathed in fire and wearing a halo of white hair' is approximately exactly the kind of person that Will expected the voice on the radio to belong to. It was either this, or a wizard in glasses. One of the two. The context of the situation-- the importance of the man they're fighting-- these things are missed. Will is not overly familiar with contemporary Eorzean history aside from in the broadest sense. It's impossible to miss the sheer power radiating from the old man standing before them, though. No. Not standing before them, standing between them and the off switch for the regeneration machine responsible for rebuilding Bahamut. The chorus of voices thrumming through the air reverberates in the Chaser's bones, each voice demanding justice, demanding recompense for their centuries of suffering. He feels for them. Truly, he does. If there is a solution that doesn't involve the incineration of Eorzea's people, Will will put himself on the line to achieve it. But to even know whether or not such a thing is possible... This obstacle must needs be overcome. Bursts of starlight flash out from the barrel of Will's handcannon, arcing over Raha's shoulder and blasting into the thing claiming the name and the face of a hero of this world. If doing what feels right means being the villain here today, then that's just what he's going to have to do. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' Showing few signs of fatigue beyond light breathing and those horrid scorch marks, Jeanne continues onwards. She leaves little time for continued barbs, even, instead opting to hear what the 'Chosen' have to say. The people from another 'Star', as the mysterious voice calls them. It's all rather interesting, as much as she'd hate to admit it, but it solidfies her course of action as she waits for theplatform to descend, the plaza to come into view, the red moon to welcome this haphazard band of invaders... The man calling himself Phoenix. He explains his reasoning, his purpose here, and his goal. The Dragon Witch taps her flag against the ground firmly, and a smile crosses her face. It's not a weird or crazy smile, for once. "If you want to see Bahamut freed, then test your resolve against theirs." She raises her flag, signaling to her wyverns as they swoop down to let her jump onto one of the flying creatures before moving off to the side and giving the battlefield a wide berth. "Eorzea or Meracydia... Let's see how this all goes, then. Don't disappoint me!" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna screams through both her radio and aloud, "Louisoix you whoreson, you LIED TO ME!" and then it's on like Donkey Kong as she charges through the crowd of heroes to the forefront with thumping, heavy strides, her gold-trimmed black shield beginning to shimmer with energy as she launches herself alongside N'raha. Bravura is a massive slab of metal hammered and carved into an example of mastery of the blacksmith's art. Alruna's sword falls short of such lofty heights, but no metal is worth aught without a will to wield it, and she won't be found wanting. Blue aether hisses along the edge of her sword as she channels her strength into it, slashing at the Elezen from his right, at one of his flaming wings. 

:'''{{#var:7160|Mauve Gauntlet (7160)}} has posed:''' So uh...Hrm. The Voice was someone the others knew. Whatever happened, he had decided this was the way to fix things. And, well...It was time to fight, she figures. Whoever was right, she didn't want to die! So she hooks her way around the space, before launching herself at Phoenix to punch him in the face! 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      N'raha finds the way difficult. The rocks get in his way. The sky itself seems to hinder him. The field of Cartenau on which he stands seems to be in his way as he charges forward, swinging his axe. A solid blow from the axe hits Louisoix in the chest, gashing it open as William fires upon him, bursts of starlight crashing against shoulders.      Louisoix reaches forward and pokes N'Raha in the head. The full force of a god threatens to send him flying backwards with a single blow. It's an opening for Danzo to exploit as she launches her darts, the invisible strikes punching into his neck. There's a brief moment of stutter - wait, that shouldn't be possible.      Primals don't have nerves. How is he stuttering?      Nonetheless he recovers swiftly. The darts are plucked from his body and flicked back at Danzo wreathed in fire. They look like feathers, swirling through the air, leaving contrails of fire in their wake.      Athela slides through the feather-darts and drives her polearm forward into the gash made by N'Raha. It digs deep, straight through the heart. Louisoix does not bleed. But he does juke like he's been stabbed, twitching backwards in agonizing pain. Amelris takes advantage. Stone and fire go lashing outwards, crashing into the side of Phoenix's face. It sends Louisoix tilting into Tomoe's white-flame blade, which catches against his arm and brings white fire invading his orange. As he starts to stand Alruna comes in from the right, hammering into the flaming wing with all force, and Mauve comes in with a fierce and ferocious punch. He goes flying back, skidding in the air like an ice skater, bent over backwards at a horrible angle. His skull is crushed inwards from the boulders. His arm is shattered from the hammer. He is limp and unpleasant and goopy.      The world stops.      Louisoix's corpse disintegrates.      The air becomes oppressively hot. The Red Moon of Dalamud, in the distance, burns bright.      A column of fire comes down straight in the middle of the group.      The wings spread once more.      Louisoix stands as if he is unstruck.      Louisoix holds up a hand.      The fires of Dalamud suddenly come shooting down. They are falling stars - meteors from afar, crashing down into the ground around the party. Some of them remain where they are. Most of them disintegrate on impact.      All of them are trying to kill everybody.      "Show me your determination. Prove that you, and not Meracydia, deserve to live, from the depths of your heart. Show me the resolve that I have so far found so wanting," Louisoix says over the pounding beat of the falling stars. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     N'raha takes that POKE in the forehead with all the force he can, his helmet CLANGING with the impact, his body jittering backwards and his feet skidding across the surface of their arena. But still he stands, and does not fall over.      And Alruna is right here with him as the Death and Rebirth of Phoenix happens. Raha is forced to lift his arm to block the light... before he's CLANKED in the side with exploding shrapnel from rocks. He staggers, throws up a magical barrier, and approaches the front again.     The Warrior of Light is still getting orders from Loiusoix Leveilleur. He is still being urged. Implored. Goaded. Asked. Entreated.     He Will Answer. Bravura comes around again, aether slaking off the blade and the haft, as a sweeping, spark laden strike slashes at their savior's form. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Oh that must be handy to be a Phoenix, regenerating like that. REAL handy. No downsides, whatsoever!      Amelris Belthrone answers to the meteors by trying to get the hell away. It partially works, only being blown further by the breath of the explosion upon impact. He rolls, kicking back to his feets as he leaps up into the air, spreading both his arms to land on a railing. Crystaline swords forms in the air as they scream forward. This is beyond just some fight. This is not just 'a primal'. This is more than that. A part of this still makes him wonder...      Where Lezard fits in all this?      For now, Amelris keeps on the run, swinging and throwing his crystaline blades down at the Phoenix, each exploding and shattering upon impact. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Why is Phoenix stuttering? She doesn't know and there's no time to think about it, there is no time at all to think about it. She catches him in the arm just as Alruna makes her own attacks. The assault keeps up for a bit as Mauve joins in the attack and it seems to be the end of Louisoix? No that was way too easy Tomoe thinks. Then things become hotter and hotter. Tomoe can feel the heat, a second before something comes down in the middle of the party she braves the fire but it leaves it' tole upon her as things fall down. She's showing some angry red wireframe lines from the force of the firey attacks she's just taken. She looks at Louisoix as he stands there seemingly unharmed and she moves in at him, bots gripping the ground as she goes, the shield is raised and she throws it at Louisoix, it's more of a diversion than anything she'll catch it on the flyback as she leaps into the air and tries to bring down her sword upon Louisoix. "I will hold nothing back." She keeps up with the assault after laying her sword strikes in at the primal, striking low, then high then for the middle she keeps up. If she can keep his attention on her? That should keep some of his attention off her comrades. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' He's gone, but she knows it can't end so easily. He's back again, reborn in flame. Will he do that over and over? Can the break the cycle? Inga frowns deeply at his words. Prove their right to live? Anger rises in her, molten hot. "Shut up. I am tired of this 'prove you have the right to live' bullshit. We will fight you, because we must, but I have /nothing/ to prove to you and neither do they. You have crossed that line. Perhaps you have become a god..." "But if so, you're shitty one." "Ending suffering by ending an entire people is not being a savior. It's cowardice. It's the /lazy/ way out." Inga takes the fire of her anger and channels it into actual flame, blue-hot burning, casts form her finger in a beam of incredibly hot flame empowered with the anima that surges through her. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Athela Valemore skids to a stop after her skateby impaling, a small wake kicking up from her feet into a shower of glitter frost... for about three seconds before it evaporates in the intense heat. She watchs as the man regarded as a hero of legend and reborn a being of power is pummeled from all sides and disintigrates. Only to reform and resume the encounter. Right then. Phoenix in more than just name. This is going to be bloody bugger. She starts to dash back towards the fight, only for one of the flaming star-like projectiles to slam into the arena. It's just shy of hitting her head-on, but it's little comfort as the fiery eruption blasts her reeling across the arena floor. Athela rolls to a stop with a groan and thoroughtly scorched, her weapon skidding a bit farther on the ground before stopping. A heaving breath escapes her, one gauntlet pressed to the ground to lift herself up and shake red locks from her face, the other reaching over to grab the haft of her weapon, lifting it enough to put butt to the ground and help herself stand. She doesn't bother trying to clear any of the blistering debris from her armor. It's unimportant. "If it is Determination you wish to see, then so be it." Athela moves again, this time with the force of her own attunement behind her. Water alone won't douse these flames, but the strength of the seas was still with her, launching herself into the air, and bringing her weapon down in an overhead strike with the same driving force of a crashing wave. 

:'''{{#var:7160|Mauve Gauntlet (7160)}} has posed:''' Oh, he can revive, duh. Well, that sucks. Mauve gets mot capital M meteored, one landing close enough to her to send her flying. She flips over, landing on both feet and skidding backwards. Mauve then anchors herself to the ground, firing both her hands at Phoenix to grab him and hold him in place! 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' They're fighting a thing that seems as though it can regenerate infinitely. That poses a problem. What's worse is the fact that he seems capable of pulling the very stars from their orbit. Or rather, drawing on the same calamitous impact that Louisoix was said to have averted. Will, for all the terrible power in his favorite weapon, is nothing more than an ordinary human being. The flames of Dalamud wash over him, and it's only by virtue of the thermally-resistant plating hidden within his adventuring attire, and a healthy measure of grit and gumption, that he isn't immediately floored by the meteoric impact. "Well, shit, this ain't exactly what I meant by deeds and actions--" Will grouses, darting behind one of those leftover comets as if to use it for cover. He peers up and over the rock, catching sight of the meteors still raining down from on high. "--But I guess a fight's still more straightforward than wastin' the day yapping with a chatterbox." The meteors... Provide an opportunity. Terminal Judgment shines like a beacon. Pure, white light lances out of the handcannon, smashing into meteor after meteor. Each impact shatters a falling star... but also causes his beam to ricochet, raining down on the Phoenix from a half-dozen angles simultaneously! 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna's sabatons screech across the surface of the plaza, sparking literally underfoot as she's forced backwards. She crouches, raising her shield to fend off the blazing heat and smacking aside the meteor that tries to strike her down on the spot. Rubble scatters around her as she straightens up, smoke wisping slightly from her gauntlets. Her face is a mix of emotions. She knows the face in front of her. And for all that she just called him a whoreson, his actions were responsible for Eorzea's survival, much less her own. "Aye, our sins may be no lesser than Meracydia's, but we will do what needs must." she says, readying her sword. "We will cleanse the slate of all these sins, past and present!" She spins, reversing her grip to plunge her sword into Lousoix's side, a purple-limned cloud of aether flowing around the wound she inflicts. 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     Regardless of whether it makes sense or not, it's the reaction that Danzo expects for a target struck with shuriken in the right places. Whether Primals have nerves is none of her concern, and in fact not contained within her memory banks. She starts running to the side, the instant he flinches, yet the darts are wrenched from his neck and hurled back with twice the force, streaking fire like miniature comments. They strike the kunoichi dead on --and pass through her, dissipating into reddish smoke. The moment Loiusoix had stuttered, she had, of course, sent her illusion the opposite way, and gone . . .     Straight up. High enough to scan the battlefield from an aerial position, and see Phoenix bring itself, its avatar, back. Hitting the hanging apex of a leap high enough to take her out of Phoenix's vision, Danzo extends one arm forward, claps her opposite hand to the elbow to stabilize it. "Commencing battle mode." she says, and a great flare of fire erupts around the base of her forearm.     The exquisitely sculpted black metal limb shoots straight off, riding on the the roaring flame of rocket propulsion, curving a supersonic punch into her target with the sound of a cannon shot. Connected to the rest of her arm by wire, as soon as it hits and streaks off again, she brings it flying back by retracting the cable, the reel hissing out sparks in the brief instant it takes to reattach.     Though the air isn't the best place to be when he calls down meteors. Avoiding panic, Danzo works with what she has, twisting her body in mid-air so one flaming coming scrapes just past her, burning off the edge of her scarf and leaving a black mark down her shoulder. Another one clips her on the side, flinging bits of wood and metal out, and sending her tumbling into the path of another. She corrects, orients herself against it, and kicks off, leaving her metals boots cherry red. She hits the ground hard, just breaking her fall with a roll into a kneeling position.     "I see. That name. Like the immortal firebird itself." she says. Her voice still betrays no greater hint of emotion than before. All of its softness is gone, as if turned off. "You who know more about these divine beasts. Is it possible to eliminate him?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      N'Raha cuts Louisoix in half.      The axe is a clean, certain cut. Again, Louisoix's body disintegrates. Again, there is that pillar of flame, that overwhelming heat, as he surges back into existence. Amelris's blades catch him in the back as he forms, lodging into his shoulders for Tomoe to take advantage of. She turns his attention on him with quick and rapid-fire strikes, leaving him open for Inga's flame to strike straight through him, which leaves him again open for Athela to cleave straight through his form as Alruna pierces through his side with purple aether. The strike splits him in four pieces; they tumble to the ground, horrifying. Once more, the body disintegrates, reforming in another blast of white-hot fire.      He can do it over, and over, and over, and over, and over. He's powered by Dalamud.      He's powered by the Meracydians.      Mauve grabs at him, and manages to latch on. It's like holding onto pure fire, onto pure *power*. It proves to be about as effective - like trying to grasp flame. Louisoix slips out of her grasp and into the air, rising on burning wings.      Those same wings swat aside Will's beam with a single blow, sending it spiralling into the air to peter out. They blow aside Danzo's rocket punch, sending it whirling off-course with a burst of hot air. The wings glow with an awe-inspiring majesty.      Louisoix shakes his head as he rises. His hands clasp behind his back, beneath the blazing orange wings.      They change color. They turn blue.      Phoenix's burning eyes gaze down at the party. Above, the Red Moon begins to move. The distant moon starts moving closer. Indeed those meteors were just a prelude.      It is not yet time for Dalamud.      Instead, Phoenix falls, straight towards Inga. He bursts into flames, all of him, the wings turning a bright and terrible blue as he *hits* the ground and waves of fire erupt outwards. The landed meteors strain under the blast. Fire roars outwards, fire and death.      Louisoix rises once again. "Have you learned nothing? All battles are battles to prove that you must live. All battles are battles for what you believe is right. This is no different. I am not some villain, child, here to slaughter the human race for my own pleasure. I pass no judgment upon the people of Eorzea as a god but as a man. I know what they are. I have seen what they are. I have seen that there is a greater need and just as I was willing to sacrifice Garlemald for Eorzea so too am I willing to sacrifice Eorzea for that greater need."      "Innocents are innocents. Justice is justice. Suffering is suffering. These are the words of you who stand before me."      "These are the words I repeat. Not in defiance. But in agreement." 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Fire comes for her. Louisoux comes to smite her down. She thinks to herself; "Oh, I pissed him off." Then she is nearly obliterated. She falls. Still breathing, slowly healing, but there's nothing more she can do here. Should have left it to the heroes, she guesses. 

:'''{{#var:7160|Mauve Gauntlet (7160)}} has posed:''' So yeah, she just gripped onto living fire, basically. She pulls her hands back with a yelp, shaking them out with a clank. Anyway, there's still meteors coming down, and she gets knocked back into the air by a nearby inpact once more. That moon in the sky looks VERY ominous....and is coming closer. So yeah, that's bad. VERY bad. She hooks onto that meteor that blew her up and drags herself behind it. From her cover, she aims a fist at Phoenix, firing it off at him. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is in a bad place now she can only watch in horror as Inga is caught in the line of fire and there's nothing she can do for her friend. There's a sicking sense of failure in her gut at this as the flames rain down some of the landed meteors are still sanding something pops into her head. She also looks up at the sort of attacks that are coming there way and something clicks in her head as Amelris notes the replication of Dalamund is indeed getting closer. She calls out a warning over the comm. "Get behind cover! Use the Meteors or anything else you can find! Don't get caught in the open!" It is true justice is justice, innocents are innocents. Still, she has to fight to not fight is to lay down and die, not only would this continent burn? The rest of this world might and who knows if it spills beyond. The people of today are not the Allagans. She will break off firing several lighting spells as she goes, dashing for cover behind one of the remaining Meteors as she goes, she sidesteps back out for a brief moment. She chants and casts more spells rays of light, holy blast and forceful gusts of wins. Small spells alone but in numbers, they may do more damage she finally gets the heck behind the meteor as the moon looms ever closer. She pops several defence abilities to just be on the safe side, this is going to hurt she suspects. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Fire. Fire everywhere.      Amelris leaps off the rail he was standing on to roll straight into the cover of one of the meteors. They buckle beneath the strain but in this way, he avoids the worse of the inferno.      "YOU KNOW!" Amelris shouts up, tapping the side of his cane as he slides off from behind the comforts of the fallen rock, a lightning bolt already gathering into his hand. "There's one thing I've noticed in my time as an adventurer, a thing that a LOT of people are missing when talking about things like this!"      The Red Mage launches the lightning bolt a the old man Primal, sliding back into cover and popping out from the other side, already in a mid-spin with his sword-cane brandished, blowing off a clean blast of sharp air to blast away against the flames.      "Context is lost on a lot of people. Circumstances! What led people to take actions!"      Amelris slides back behind the cover, fully damn knowing what's going to be falling down on their noggins in just a few. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' The situation is rapidly deteriorating. More flame blasts across the battlefield. Even hidden behind a comet, Will suffers the conflagration dearly. Will's protective coat is utterly obliterated by the heat and flame billowing out from Dalamud's inevitable descent. His flesh is scorched, his body burnt. Only by huddling up, drawing into a little protective ball, is he able to avoid being charred into uselessness. The moon is falling and this guy, this /Louisoix/ is still ranting like he has to make up for all the consonants that his people's language has murdered over the centuries. He's powered by Dalamud, he says. Powered by Dalamud. By... Dalamud. Will has a look in his eye. It's a dangerous, awful, no-good look. The kind of look that suggests that he has an awful, fundamentally self-destructive plan in mind. Dalamud is falling. Fine, that's probably not something anyone can prevent. But that doesn't mean he's not going to try. "This is going to suck," Will mutters as he unfurls, exposing himself to the unceasing onslaught of heat and fire. "But--" He takes aim, his gun shining with a brilliance rivalled only by the baleful light of Dalamud in the heavens. "--It ain't like to speak on possibility and impossibility without /makin' the attempt!/ Louisoix Leveilleur, I've heard yer judgment!!" "Now," Will growls as he pulls the trigger, "Get a load of /mine!/" Terminal judgment fires. Will grits his teeth as his weapon becomes a star in miniature. A cataclysm of starlight erupts from the little handcannon, blasting... ...Into Dalamud. "Even if only by a yard," Will snarls as his beam arcs, splits and rebounds, pouring back down onto the battlefield in a storm of light, "Even if only by an inch. If you draw power from Dalamud, then I'll push back against it with everything I've got!" 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Phoenix rises, Phoenix falls, and N'raha is scrabling for cover, only to realize who it is that Louisoix is falling on. He bites out a swear as he nearly peels himself out from behind a rock to go and cover Inga...     But not in time.     Something ugly rises in N'raha, something vile and awful and horrid, the Beast clawing its way up and out of its holding cell. It's literally a struggle for N'raha to take a step forward, square up with the boulder in front of him and SLAM his shoulder into it to physically and metaphysically slam the door shut again.     Right, two things. He shuffles over, and screams to Aluna on the way. "SWIVING GET IN THERE, I GOT INGA." And he indeed rushes over to Inga, ironically sprinkles his last tuft of Phoenix Down on her to make sure she's not dead, pulls her to the far corner of the room. "...I'll be back for you. Promise."     And then he lets the door open. He throws it wide, unbars the gates, and lets the Beast take him. A lion's roar of vengance, and the Warrior shoulder charges across the field, leaps off a boulder and spin chops down at Phoenix with a attention getting strike. "FIGHT ME." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' More tiny stars fall, smalling down on Alruna and around her, knocking her to one knee and stunning her for long enough Louisoix divebombs into Inga, far from where the paladin can reach her to protect the witch by the time she recovers. She's stopped short by N'raha bellowing at her before she can rush to Inga's side. One flat-footed moment later, she nods sharply and turns her attention back to Louisoix. And she can see what the old Elezen is building up to. "To cover!" she shouts, wishing now that she'd joined the Archers' Guild after all, in spite of certain personal differences she had with some of them. At least she might have something worth a damn to throw at Louisoix from where she stands. Breathing through her nose, she sheathes her sword and grasps the rim of her shield. "Fury, guide my hand." she mutters, as the shield becomes a blaze of glimmering aether that she casts in a curving arc towards Louisoix, while she runs for one of the remaining hunks of rock left in the wake of his last round of falling stars. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' How do you fight someone that can regenerate over and over again? Normally there is a limit, or a certain threshold of energy. But they're dealing with a god-like power here, so likely those limits do not apply, or are going to be so high it's almost impossible to reach. It is difficult to strategize a fight when you don't even know the outcome you want to pursue. It makes it a harrowing, daunting task. But if you think that is going to stop the heoric of spirit from trying, you are not as wise as one might think. There's advise to take cover. Fearing others might not have a means of shielding themselves, Athela leaves the fallen meteors to them. Instead she slams the blade of her weapon into the ground at her feet, discharging aquatic elemental energy from it. It swirls around her feet and twists upward, wrapping her within the vortex. But not even supernatural water can withstand the wrath of Phoenix entirely, starting to sizzle and steam from the onslaught and intense heat. And while it may help shield her body from some of the blistering intensity for a precious short time, it is eating away at her reserves in doing so, with the amount of focus and effort it takes. Eventually it practically boils away, few lingering droplets dribbling the ground around her feet and evaporating. Both hands are wrapped around her weapon, drawing resolution from it as she pulls it free of the ground. "In this moment I shall not run, it is my place to stand." Both hands tighten their grip on the ancient weapon as she raises back to her side, ready to strike. "We few shall carry hope within our bloodied hands." With that Athela goes back on the offensive but not with such a direct approach. Instead she channels the energy into her weapon and swings, creating much larger spikes of elemental ice than before, and sending them hurtling towards the primal-empowered Liousoix. Possible elemental conflicts be damned, she is using what she is best with. 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     Louisoix annihilates Inga. Danzo barely glances over. Robotic. Emotionless. Every bit the tool she'd claimed to be, ever since 'Commencing Combat Mode'. Obviously a function of her design --the ability to flick a switch and dial down emotional output to nothing, focusing on battle, would be an obvious inclusion.     It couldn't be, though. There's a trace of a wince in her eyes. A tension in the sliver of her visible face. All that there is to spare for a fallen comrade.     She uses the remaining time to check her damaged arm, flexing fingers, rolling her shoulder. Operational at eighty two percent. She taps the toe of one boot against the ground, the leather under the steel crackled and burnt. Ninety three percent. Rocket fuel at seventy five. Sixty shuriken remaining. All other stores intact. Elemental core output still rising stably. Nobody has an answer for her, so she'll improvise.     Her speed barely lessened for her damage, Danzo takes off towards the scattered heaps of meteoric debris, vaulting over one, sizzling against her hand, as the wave of fire hits, sheltering behind it, then sending illusions of herself running out to the next two. And then the next two. Then just one illusion, where she herself runs in place of one. Crouching behind the meteoric rock, she draws her elbow back, clenches her fist, locks all of the joints of her fingers and wrist into place, and issues a gout of steam from her elbow and shoulder. There's a loud, percussive click, and then she punches forward with another cannon shot sound, opening her palm at the last split second, and sending the boulder flying on a concussive shockwave. With her other hand, she fires an automatic volley of razor-bladed shuriken stars, riding the slipstream behind it, invisible until it's broken apart. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Mauve's fist hits Louisoix right in the face. It seems like such a simple thing in front of the spectacle and the fire and the falling moon and the divinity. It's such a small act. But it's a defiance nonetheless. It's planting her feet and taking a stand.      It's a distraction to stop him from countering Amelris's lightning bolt. It hits him plain in the face, blinding him to N'Raha's strike. N'Raha hits the Phoenix square in the face, cleaving a huge scar down Louisoix's face. Alruna joins in with a shield smash to the face from afar, as Athela brings the energy into her weapon and *swings* with full force, and again, Louisoix splinters and reforms in a wave of burning heat.      His wings are blue now.      Danzo launches into the blue-winged Louisoix. She vaults over the debris, sending out illusions. Louisoix blasts aside the first two, blows apart the second two, moves to grab the third, and grabs the wrong one - Danzo smashes the rock in the opening and fires the razor-blade stars. The rock hits him full on, taking his torso off the top half of him, riddled with stars as it falls. Again, he bursts into blue flame - wait, it's *blue* now.      The heat ripples through the battlefield. It's a blue pillar that falls, a blue majesty that comes forth, blue bird-wings and blue burning eyes. The heat is getting worse as Dalamud falls further.      William pours all his power into the falling Moon. Terminal Judgment burns bright, a lance in the night, struggling against the falling Dalamud. The power roils off it, splintering. For a moment it seems like he might actually manage to stop it. For a brief, shining instant, Will gives everyone enough time to get to cover.      And then Dalamud falls.      The impact is enormous. Intense. It is a full, massive moon, crashing down in the middle of the cover, a blasting, burning, intense and hellish heat coupled with a wave of debris and a fierce and destructive power. It falls onto the center - onto N'Raha, onto Athela, and onto Will, directly atop Louisoix. Louisoix seems unconcerned.      No one else should be. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' She's been dragged to the edge, out of the way of the battle that continues to rage. Raha gives her something that pulls her back to consciousness. There's something hovering there, a strange and distant music that hovers just beyond awareness in the space a Seer walks. She doesn't need to understand the lyrics to know the purpose of the song. Music is like a heartbeat, and this one is meant to make the blood run hot. It's a call to battle. A cry for vengeance. Inga stands with great effort, using her walking stick to help pull herself to her feet. Scorched and broken she can still speak. Somehow, she finds her dusty voice to shout. "Do you not hear the song!? He's being driven to wrath by it! Louisoix is a man of peace, as you know him to be! It's...like the Odin rage, he's being played by the tune, though he may not even know it!" she cries, hoping someone will hear her. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     You would think that N'raha Tia, Warrior of Light, would be moving for these sorts of things. That he would have some sort of priority of 'save yourself' or 'dammit get out of the AOE' or 'lol tankbuster'.     No, no, not at this moment. He is consumed, his energy slaking off of him in wide swathes of fell energy. Dalamud falls. Dalamud impacts the platform. Dalamud lays waste to everything in its path. This was a story N'raha knew by heart. Watched the aftermath. He ran the last time.     He is not running now.     There is a terrible flare of energy in front of N'raha as the energy wave slams into him and it just all... slakes around him as his Light Shines Brightly, limits breaking for the warrior. Scorch marks score the platform, neatly avoiding the iron clad Miqo'te.     And then he's right there, right in front of Louisoix, in front of Phoenix. Bravura curves up and around and over his body. "...I am here to break myself."     The Ax Falls. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' The fight is rather intense, and Jeanne has been content to watch it closely. Observing the techniques of those fighting for Eorzea has been quite eye-opening, but the words of Louisoix still resonate within her. Something else resonates as well. She looks around slowly, trying to sort out just where it's coming form that continues to gnaw at the back of her mind. Louisoix brings the moon down onto those fighting against him and Bahamut's freedom. The Avenger closes her eyes for a moment as she listens again, her banner raising slowly besides her. She can hear that song, and she grits her teeth at what she hears. "... Let's go. Keep up." Jeanne commands her beasts, pointing further ahead and away from the fighting. After another moment, she and her wyverns start heading away from this battlefield. They move for the song. 

:'''{{#var:7160|Mauve Gauntlet (7160)}} has posed:''' Mauve ducks behind her cover, hands over her (nonexistent) ears as Dalamud impacts the earth. Everything's shaking and holy shit ok is it over yet? She peers out from her rock...and then punches it. The top half splits off, and she picks it up, hoisting it over her head. With a cry of effort she launches the whole thing at Phoenix! 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      It is a spectacle. If it was not meant to annhiliate them all, it would be just as pretty, as dramatic and as /traumatizing/ as the fall of the real Dalamund, years ago. When he was but a younger man. The sight of it, ingrained in the mind of many Eorzeans. Ultimately, what spurred Amelris to go out and adventure. To discover himself.      And now he's hiding behind a rock to live from it.      The Red Mage gives a quick glance around holding on to his head tight to weather the assault. Fire flash past both side of the meteor as it frays under the bulk of the moon's fall, ultimately breaking up apart. Amelris relives that time. Again... unlike last time, he's a grown ass man. He's an adventurer. This shit falls on him and his fellows here.      The balance of mana within him sits. Black and White Magic, in balance, the reason for Red Magic to exist. An example that things CAN be learned after a terrible tragedy, after a calamity. He like to think that they learned similarly after Dalamund. That they learned to make peace and life better for the Beast Tribes, so that they are not fallen off into the pits of despair, to enchain themselves into their broken hopes.      Amelris straightens, adjusting his feathered hat as he takes a step through the burning rock, his clothes singed. His Rodrapier is held in one hand, his will sharpened at his inner balance. It's time to let it out.      "PHOENIX!" Amelris screams out, making his weapon dance in his weapon, a step forward and facing his side to the old man. "HERE IS MY ANSWER! I cannot accept peace that only lies dust and ash for everyone! The only peace I will accept is when more will be able to stand up for themselves -- and not pray for a damn saviour to save them all!"      The Red Mage thrusts his weapon up. Around the area, two circles appears, with a third engulfing both of them around both. Amelris throws his weapon up, energy billowing out of his body. Black and White, condensing into one thick wisp of energy, then exploding outward into a barrage of rapid, exploding purple blasts, covering the area full of destructive light. It coats the circles on the ground in bright red.      Amelris, holding on to his staff, takes a step forward then snaps his fingers.      "Vermillion Scourge!"      The circles explodes upward, as twin terrible pillars of crimson fires upward, lightning up the area any further than it could before. Two gigantic beams of energy. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has avoided being taken out by the massive magical attack, Will doesn't seem to be so lucky. Tomoe also can't make out what's happened to N'Raha or Athela. "Hit him with everything you have left!" She intends to follow what she just said. She only has limited flight time, but she can fly for just a few seconds, and she's going to use it she leaps up on the Meteor and red wings form from her back. The red wings' own light is drowned out as Tomoe takes flight heading up into the air and dropping like a meteor herself, upon Louisoix. She's chanting some sort of spell and she impacts there's a massive force of holy magic she lets loose with her blade which she attempts to drive into the man who is now a Primal. "HOLY CROSS!" Tomoe will continue her assault afterwar with sword and shield just trying to keep Phoenix off balance. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' For a brief, shining moment, it looks like he might do it. It looks as though the might of the Ancients would be overturned by the ingenuity of an entirely different bygone race. But Will is a smart lad, he knows that Dalamud's slow, grinding approach means that he hasn't stopped the moon, merely forestalled the inevitable impact. He's in the danger zone, standing before Dalamud's full glory. Even if this is an illusory Dalamud, Will knows what bearing the full brunt of its descent means. But, this was never about him. The others were able to run for cover. Most of them, anyway. That much is enough. That much is all he needs. Will takes in a breath and releases the trigger, as if preparing to welcome the fall of the red moon. And then, quick as lightning, the gunslinger turns and fires at a different target entirely. Louisoix Leveilleur. Terminal Judgment roars with a sound like a thunderclap. What surges out of the barrel is not a sphere of plasma, nor a crackle of electricity. It is, instead, a beam of light with so much raw, inexplicable *weight* to it that its very appearance is highlighted by a sonic boom. The kinetic force is so great that Will is hurled /back/ just as Dalamud completes its descent. It throws him from point zero of impact, sending him tumbling into the veritable weeds just as the blastwave washes over him. When it passes, Will lies still and silent and scorched at the very periphery of the battlefield. He's probably not going to be getting up again any time soon. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Dalamund was coming. There was no way to stop it. There was a way to seek some potention protection from the mounting doom. But Athela doesn't roll that way. Not when there's others in the group to take advantage of that protection. Others can utilize the shielding. The young knight will face the impending face-on and brave, instead taking the time to throw another elemental attack at Loiusoix. The Swords of Justice would not back down, would not shirk away, and neither will she. This was not her World, but Athela had vowed to protect it all the same. Resolute and defiant of the destruction being cast upon them. Dalamund hits. It doesn't matter if this is some manner of magic replication or not, the result is intense. A fiery explosion washes across the battlefield, battering the fallen stones others took shelter behind. Everyone and everything else is engulfed in the inferno of doom brought forth by the pained dreams of those imprisoned within the Coils through Phoenix. Within the blinding, blistering assault the shiloutted form can be seen as Athela simply holds her weapon in front of herself. The surging wrath collides with the blade... and parts at it's divine indestructability. It's not a perfect defense as the howling forces still batter her from all sides, but Athela stands through it without relent behind the guard of her blessed blade. Burned to tatters, there is barely a cloak left to flutter behind her save the shoulders and hood. Her armor has been blistered and burned, entire pieces blasted away. But Athela still stands. "IS THIS THE DETERMINATION YOU WISHED TO WITNESS?" She shouts, raising her voice for the first time in the fight, at Liousoix as she pointed her weapon towards him. "We fight for what we believe in, and will not back down from those who oppose, be it conquerors or gods. There is truth ringing in your words..." Injury and pain are pushed aside. Resolute Blade is raised and heels hammer the ground as Athela charges back into the fight, expression gritted in determination. Pounding stride, weapon aglow with it's own divine force, as she launches herself into the air once more and hoists the ancient weapon high. "But it will not sway the resolute from protecting what they hold dear!" The mighty glowing blade is brought bearing down with all the determined spirit and will of justice Athela can put into it. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna catches her shield just in time to slam it into the meteor she stands behind as the... illusion? Simulacrum? The image of Dalamud comes slamming down and its effects are anything but illusory. Alruna grits her teeth, feet slipping back as she braces the meteor with her shield and gauntleted hands. A few tears leak from her eyes, but she's cried out most of them, or so she thinks, over the ruin Dalamud's fall wreaked upon Eorzea. Now she can but endure the lingering memories and echoes of its passing. Once it passes and the meteor begins to roll back under the force of her pushing, Alruna runs after it, scrabbling up atop the rock as it settles back in place. She marks Inga's words, looking back to the fire-wreathed scholar. "If there is aught left we can do for him, then, it is to free him from this waking nightmare." Alruna shimmers with light, gathering her aether for a momentous strike as she leaps off the smouldering meteor, soaring through the air with a turning arc as her sword blazes. The crackling aether gathered around it forms into a much larger blade as she brings it down atop Louisoix with a thunderous explosion of force. 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     Danzo remains sheltered behind her new cover for several, deafening, blinding, desperate moments. Her eyes are closed, hands clapped over her ears, back against the searing exterior of the immediately superheated rock. Making herself as small of a profile as possible, she waits in the meteor's shadow, as the fire of the crashing moon rages like a tsunami tide all around. Her clothes smoulder. Her steel components singe the magically reinforced wood. Her gears expand incrementally in the heat and grind together.     "The enemy's magical energy levels are rising dramatically." That's her takeaway when the rock breaks and melts to slag, and she leaps away in the same moment. "We don't have much time left. My battle data is inconclusive, but I believe he is obviously drawing on the mana provided by the facility to reconstitute his body, like any other divine beast of this world. Destroying him right before the final activation is complete may deplete its energy."     "If it doesn't, I was happy to be here with you and try regardless. I only think it would be an end too dramatic for a shinobi --better suited to a heroic samurai or daimyo."                         "Activating Kashin Mystic Code:"                             With the ambient aether so high, and her mystic core revved to full capacity, it takes barely a second for Danzo to ready herself. She takes a back-leaning, recoil-absorbing stance, crossing both wrists and clasping both arms together. The plating around her wrists splits, swivels, and clacks together, her hands recessing into the joint brace, grasping at the air. They begin to spin around one another, slowly only for a moment, before the blur into a powerful, thrumming vortex.     Motes of pale light condense out of the air like raindrops, drawn into the whirlwind coalescing between Danzo's palms. Light is sucked into her hands on converging currents of air. Steam vents loudly through her joints to bleed off the mana-deprived, superheated atmosphere. The light becomes the wind, the wind becomes the light, and the two intermingle into a howling critical mass.                            "Kararuki Genpou: Dongyu!"                               The containment around the compressed, supercharged, elemental air shatters. The wind rushes forward, projected into a surging, shrieking column of twisting air blades circling a crushing vacuum. A typhoon of invisible swords impacts head on, then swirls around the target, then implodes, crunching inward with the force necessary to make someone completely disappear, as if vanished. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      The axe comes down as Dalamud falls. It crashes into the old man's head, splitting it open. It forces another regeneration, in the midst of dying Dalamud, another burst of blue-hot light. Will gives him no quarter, another blast of power punching straight through his chest. Reborn. Mauve's rock takes off his head in a single, massive blow. Reborn. Tomoe's holy cross drives through his heart, blasting power out the other side in a glorious blaze. Reborn. Athela stabs straight down through him hard enough to shake the ground. Reborn. The wings grow whiter each time. A frenetic, frenzied, frantic burst of flame accompanies every rebirth, slowly growing more and more white, hotter and hotter and hotter. Alruna's aether strike carves straight through him, a daughter's parting blow. Reborn. Danzo's typhoon grabs the man and crushes him into a small ball, cutting, smashing, crashing, crinkling, wrinkling, tearing him apart.      Flames that burn full bright soon fall dark.      The wings turn black. They crumble.      Louisoix falls. The sheer force of the onslaught is enough to give Phoenix trouble. Louisoix is restored in another burst of fire, but the wings smoke, black and ashen and painful-looking. It does, indeed, have a limit - it is not Bahamut. It does not have the power of all Meracydia to draw upon. It does not have countless lives believing in it, filling it with suffering and belief. It is a god's power but it is still myth - living myth.      The body is restored but the wings are stuttered. Just for an instant. Just for an instant.      Ash falls off him. Louisoix grabs at his chest. The blaze in his eyes dies, and his face flickers, a sudden glimpse of the man.      Wait.      He's *bleeding*.      Primals...      *Ghosts*...      Don't bleed.      He looks up at the party. He smiles. "Truly..."      "I am full glad that it was you who came for me."      He stumbles, falling to his knees, and drawing a shaky breath. "You, Chosen of the Light. You, tool from another world. You, wanderers from distant stars."      "I cannot..." He stumbles forward. The black wings of Phoenix are starting to regrow, but slowly, slowly. "I cannot hold my will for long. 'tis true. I looked upon the face of...of the world, and saw the suffering of these people."      "I wanted to help them."      "To help everyone." His eyes, that look up, are earnest and bright. He stares at the party with a smile. "Everyone deserves that peace. There is..."      "None but innocence..."      "In war."      He falls to his knees again, panting. There's blood on his lips. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     After Louisoix falls, the heartfelt words being exchanged between those present, the holograms sizzle and crackle thanks to the powers unleashed during the battle. Finally, the system overloads completely, the illusion falling to reveal the truth.     The entire time, they fought within a spherical projection system. To one side, there is a console with controls that are currently sparking and sizzling. Beyond is an opening to the bridge of the internment hulk, which looks precisely the same as the previous. Bahamut is even seen in the distance, still hanging there surrounded by rings of power that work to restrain it while the Allagan hulks try to reconstruct its prison.     Also something that might be apparent is that now that the hologram is gone, is a glowing, translucent form. Lezard Valeth.... But insubstantial? His hand is outstretched, a sizzling magical array burning with dire force. For some, it might look familiar.     "How quaint. I am afraid that I will have to interrupt for a moment." BGM: https://youtu.be/ZMUM-sXcYVk     There is a burst of energy, and all those present might feel a pressure upon them as a wave grips at their spirit, an intangible force rolling over their souls with an oppressive weight before it passes, allowing them to breathe easier...     But they were not the target. The burning spirit hanging over Louisoix, the seething Primal of rebirth, is. The energy clamps down around it, gripping at the Primal and ripping it out and away from Louisoix's body. The process is not kind, nor it is clean, done with all the finesse of cleaving away a gangrenous limb.     "I had wondered when the being I sensed would make himself known. To think that it would be an old hero, a /man of learning/... who allowed himself to become possessed by a god. I am afraid that I cannot have that. So here we have it, the aether and essence of a being of life and rebirth. Whatever would the best use for this be, one wonders..."     He smiles. "Ah, I have an idea."     Turning, he raises his hand. "Eorzea, a land veritably /riddled/ with gods. How weak... But so be it. BEHOLD! SUFFER YOURSELVES A GOD ONCE MORE, THEN!"     And at that, Lezard crushes the essence of Phoenix into a burning lance... And hurls it directly into the aether-consuming heart of Bahamut. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      The tattered remains of Phoenix fly through the air, propelled by wicked wizardry towards the central core. Down scatters across the countless imprisoned dragons below, rousing them from their slumber, only for the Coil to force them back to sleep moments later. The light of the disintegrating Primal fills the ancient device. It is a beautiful and iridescent fire, flickering with colors across all the spectrum. The Primal is already dead. Its will is broken. It is falling apart.      But it is alive enough for Lezard Valeth's dark purpose.      The dying Primal is a lance that pierces into the center of the Coil. The field was never meant to hold two Primals. The sudden surge of radiance collapses the electrical prison. The remains of Phoenix pass through.      Towards the slumbering form of great Bahamut.      The vast, almighty Elder Dragon Primal is not yet whole. Though its wings could drown the world in shadow, though its maw could consume an army, though its body is near as vast as the red moon that once hung above the plains of Cartenau, it is still not hale and healthy. Vast chunks of its body are missing - parts of its arms, its entire lower torso, gouges in its chest. Its flesh was torn asunder by the very man who kneels exhausted at the feet of the party - Louisoix Leveilleur.      Phoenix's last remaining fragments collide with Bahamut.      The light is blinding. It is a physical force, a force of nature that shakes the world. It is being in front of a star going nova. It is standing before Vishnu as Project Trinity splits the atom. It is the unshakable light of a god being born once more. And with it comes the roar, the terrible roar, the roar that cracks the world in twain. The roar that shakes the stars from their moorings. It is a roar that brings planets to their knees. It is a roar that ensnares the souls of men seeking power and drags them into the maw of an insanity from which there can be no escape. It is not eldritch madness but obsession that draws men into that roar, the obsession with something so much greater than themselves that they know naught but to worship it, the urge to fall to their knees and beg to be lost in its radiance. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      The light dies.      The wings that drown the world in shadow blaze with immortal flames. Feathers drip from them like candle-wax, burning into nothing on the way down. Its maw has grown longer and more fierce, hooked as if the maw itself could now tear through the flesh of countless soldiers. Talons grow from the back of its massive hands like shredder-claws that could carve through mecha. Its back is a terrible bonfire that stretches from its head to the spectral, burning tail that joins the fire of its missing lower half.      Its eyes open. They are filled with bright orange hate. A white-hot corona spills forth from what should be irises.      Bahamut Phoenix is born.      And yet it is still missing vast, massive chunks of flesh. Yet it is still missing one of its mighty claws. Yet still are its vast leathery wings, now coated with the fire of the Phoenix, torn. It is still but half a god, supported upon wings and legs of purest flame. It is not yet whole. Therein may be salvation.      But it is whole enough to leave.      Its roar again shakes the Allagan systems. Powers meant to contain the Elder Dragon Primal fail under the assault of its new and hateful shape. Machines overload. Lightning runs through the Coils. Sparks fly from every angle as aetheric energy burns hot and bright. Magic contorts. Aether twists.      It rises. The calamitous Elder Dragon Primal rises into the air. It surveys the world around it. The god opens that wicked hooked maw. Power gathers in its mouth. And then, it stops. The power disperses.      The god-monster's head tilts upwards.      A mighty flap of its wings and another roar, and the half-broken Elder Dragon Primal punches through the ceiling of the little Allagan world, breaking through its containment and scattering the land above it. It pauses only briefly in the shadow of the moon before it shoots away, leaving the party in the middle of the cracked and dying Coil that once held it tight in its grasp.      Bahamut flies free.      And it flies with purpose divine. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' There is a lot of cursing that could be done. A lot of yelling at Lezard for hijacking the moment of victory to use one Primal's force to awaken another. But none of that would accomplish anything of important. So Athela is pointedly ignoring the sorcerer. Instead she crouchs down, ignoring her own injuries to offer an arm to the weakened but amazingly alive Liousoix. "There is nothing else to be accomplished here. Let us depart this hell to prepare for the challenges to come." Then glances over her shoulder. "Someone be sure to get Will!" She didn't forget Inga, she just figures N'Raha will take care of his 'lady friend'. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is battered breath and looking around for more, what else could be waiting for them? It's got to be over, right? Then Lezardthere's a feeling of dread that washes away any jubilation Tomoe felt in surviving the recent fight. She doesn't even have time to react time to go for any of her downed allies she can only watch in horror. Lezard strips the primal power of Phoenix's and uses them to do something to the Primal. She looks away to not go blind but she feels a sense of fear deep down. The roar drive it home a primal fear inside is hit, a thing that was a creature only myth when she was a child before she unified is not real in all its unholy glory. The god-monster is now free once more. "We need to gather up and get the heck out of here." She will help anyone who needs it but they need to get out of here. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      This is a lot of things to happen. A calamity is set loose. An old man get a second chance.      "No!" Amelris shouts out, stepping out and ignoring the exhaustion of pushing away all his mana, staring up at the cataclysm wrecking through the Coils. "Gods damnit, Valeth!"      There's nothing much else to do. Staring at the Dragon God leave, fury in it's veins, flying away in a wash of light. Terror will spread again.      Amelris lowers his arms, rubbing the bridge of his nose and his eyes... At least, there is some silver lining. An old man is still alive.      The Red Mage walks to Leveilleux, kneeling down to lend a hand down.      "Sir, I know two twins that'll be both confused and overjoyed to see you." 

:'''{{#var:7157|Danzo Katou (7157)}} has posed:'''     For the long spectacle, Danzo can do little but stand rigid, shielding her eyes and trying to somehow take any measurement she possibly can of the catastrophe unfolding before her. Her sensors turn up nothing. The values are maxed out. The spectrums are haywire. She struggles to peer into it to even the slightest degree, trying to catch some inkling of what has just been wrought, but as it leaves, what she does is drop to her knees, lean back, and catch her breath, pressurized gusts of steam hissing from her joints in the long, effortful process of cooling her down.     Is it that everything that transpires is well beyond the scope of what Danzo is capable of doing anything about? Too deep into ancient lore for her to really understand? Is it that these aren't her people? That the mission is complete, and thus the rest is not her concern?     Whatever the case, her priority is nothing but Louisoix himself. Secret ointments, balms, pastes, uncapped from bottles and bamboo tubs, readied with a canteen of water, soft cloth, and acupuncture pins. Whatever she's saying too herself, it's too quiet to be heard, all thought of Primals driven from her head, focused instead entirely on the after-battle actions of caring for the wounded man. 
}}

7095/LI0: Manlet At Arms - Realchemized (Side)

2020-02-27T13:20:10Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/26 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=Arthur sets up shop in Finaria to help people get equipped for the battles ahead. |Cast of Characters=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/26
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Arthur sets up shop in Finaria to help people get equipped for the battles ahead.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 7132, 33, 7201, 6, 7180, 7175
|Tinyplot=Last Illusion
|Tinyplot2=Loop Zero
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     It's something of an unpleasant situation in the world of the Last Illusion. The spreading of corrupted area continues to advance day by day, already reaching the borders of Finaria. Within, unusual creatures roam, endgame monsters that are far more dangerous than anything found on the normal encounter tables.     Finaria itself, however, stands tall in the face of the encroaching chaos. The town has been restored to being fully intact by Shyra, and the endless epic boss music everywhere else in the world has been reset in the town to the normal town music.     For the moment, there is peace. Shyra seems to be taking a singular pleasure watching the now-existing-again people wander about and poking at the little plots of farmland nearby. Still, the location is as good as anything else as a gathering place, it's near where the Gate opens as it is, and there's plenty of room for Arthur to set up shop.     She also has dragged a table out of the Tavern and piled it high with fresh butter cookies and milk. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 is here, having had a moment on the wall to collect data and put it with the other data.  IE: Everything is still pretty bad, but the town is at least safe for the moment.  They managed to do something, and now they have a chance to try and beat Haseo and his Demon-god thing.  Of course, who can say if they'll win? Which is why Shyra is gathering people up, he guesses!  Walking by the table he snags a few cookies and munches on some.  There is a sigh from I4, this is all been an affair, and while the end is in sight, he wonders if fixing his own world's problems will be so easy?  Nah. "So hey, what was this about Arthur making upgrades?  He doesn't seem like the weaponsmith type." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur arrives. With him, he has a computer, monitor, keyboard, and mousepad suspended on a series of hovering rockets. With quick swipes of the mouse, he deploys a small cluster of important mechanisms: His CRUXTRUDER, his PUNCH DESIGNINX, his TOTEM LATHE, his ALCHEMITER. There are JUMPER BLOCK EXTENSIONS. There are PUNCH CARD SHUNTS. There's a HOLOPAD.     None of these words make sense. None of these /machines/ make sense. One of them has what looks like an 80s-era typing system spliced into a punchcard puncher, another one has what looks like a giant laser mounted on a robotic arm. They are all plain, light steel devices with an angular construction, sometimes bearing circular pads with spirographic designs on them. They all descend from above, with no clear origin point, and thud heavily into the soil.     Arthur dismisses the computer, then grabs a cookie. "I'm the AWESOME type." He explains. "And I got HELLA CRAFTIN' from VIDEO GAMES. Alright, I need t'see those ARTIFACTS, and I need some WEAPONS, and maybe some ARMOR, all for startin' off." 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Perhaps predictably, Arkae is drawn to the free food. "Mmmh, these are good," the flamboyantly-dressed tengu says as she stuffs the third cookie in her beak, crumbs flying everywhere. "Sorry about the the corruption stuff and the world playing that ominous music everywhere - it's like one of those program things, right? Do you think someone could change it to a less repeaty tracklist?" She goes for some milk, the red bird relic dangling from its chain on her wrist. "I mean, if I was stuck in place, I'd want something else playing in my head for weeks on end. At least some variety. Maybe we should hire some bards and see about some varied accompaniment, at least." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is more than glad to swing by here she knows keeping one gear up to date and here she is. She's also seemingly in a better mood than yesterday, yes the idea of just kicking back relaxing is a good one she also sees the food that Shyra has put out. She grins at the healer and calls out. "Hey Shyra! Arthur!" The Salamander will head to the table to get some of the cookies she chomps away before she looks to Arkae. "It could be worse, seriously it could be far worse 8bit music. It's pretty good. Also good to see you as well." She look to I4 for a moment and grins. "Oh you'd be shocked I'm still using the weapons he forged for me a long time ago." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      The current state of the world is incredibly unsettling. The place was already eerily unsettling to Amelris before but now the bugs, the strange monsters. Being on the front rows of watching a world just crumbling apart, one that was already in some pretty bad straits, is rather heart breaking.      The Red Mage swings by, stepping into the safe haven of the town, holding up a box filled with some textile rolls. "Hello, hello!" Amelris exclaims, keeping a rather perky and good-natured air to him despite the circumstances. He sets down the textile next to the table, giving Shyra a smile. "Thanks you for the cookies. It's also good to see you in a good shape, Shyra." He says, taking himself a cookie and giving the Tengu a nod, as well as Tomoe. I4 gets a cookie-fingered salute.      As for Arthur:      "So! I am told that you can make some rather impressive sorts of things for the travails that lies ahead of us! I've had something of an idea." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur immediately identifies the RED BIRD RELIC. "Yo! Bird-lady! Lemme see that RELIC, I gotta get CODES." He says, waving Arkae over towards his PUNCH DESIGNIX. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Tomoe gets a wave. "Yo, T! Good SEEIN' YA." He greets her. "You remember who had the RELICS? I gotta get at 'em." He's already hefting out some kind of weird camera, some sort of instant-picture polaroid-looking son of a bastard image-taker, but with a weirdly wide slot and an unnerving green color where most cameras are black. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "You lay that IDEA on ME." Arthur to Amelris, jabbing his own chest with his thumb and relishing the reputation that precedes him. "I'll show you how the REALEST CRAFTING goes, homie, ain't NOTHIN' that PUNCHCARD ALCHEMY can't do for the right PRICES." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Huh, really?" I4 says to Arthur, and then looks at Tomoe.  This is curious, and he's more interested.  Looking back at the cool kid, he considers what could be done.   "Could you make a sword that can do hacking damage?" He asks because that's just silly. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae glances over at the PUNCH DESIGNIX and then at the relic she's wearing on her wrist. "I'm sorry, codes? Like... North East West South puzzle codes? Or..." She glances up again. "Sorry, did you say alchemy?" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' "Oh, what do you need the relics for?" aska Alruna with a quizzically raised eyebrow as the camera pans slightly left from Arthur to reveal her presence. The paladin looks better for a week or so of convalescence - in a zombie and eldritch horror-infested seaside village. She does look somewhat... careworn, though. She unfolds her arms and steps closer, eyeing the table full of refreshments. She'll get to that soon enough. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Shyra, of course, looks both proud and flustered at the praise of her cookies. It doesn't take long before she's as pink as her robe. Ah... Thank you all! It's just a cookie reciple, nothing special... It's also the only recipe she knows.     Speaking of things Shyra doesn't know, all the gear Arthur has brought to the town causes her to shuffle over and look at it curiously, poking lightly at things but not really doing anything untoward. So this is how you are going to do the crafting? She asks Arthur, but it's pretty obvious this is the case. She plops down on the ground next to it and watches intently.     Arkae asks about changing the music, and Shyra shrugs. I tried. But the music keeps changing back at random times. I can't quite figure out why. She does, however, wave to Tomoe and anyone else showing up. Hello! She calls to Tomoe. She looks kind of confused about the 8-bit music comment, but she nods and smiles, just letting it pass.     Amelris gets a little giggle from the healer. Everything is fine. She says, and she actually kind of means it this time. Almost. I'm just thinking about a lot of things right now. She glances over to Arthur with a little /concern/ face for a moment before she glances at the ground. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "PROBABLY NOT." Arthur says, waving his hand vaguely at I4 to clarify things. "Unless you got a HACKING MODULE. You got, like, a HACKING MODULE that you can pop outta you? Gimmie that shit." Otherwise, it's likely he can't. "Need a SWORD for that too, though. MOST IMPORTANT thing we're doin', though, is, we're puttin' the ARTIFACTS in with the GEAR." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "I've got the Black Warrior Relic." Amelris says, bending his back a bit to make a pop sound out, his ears wriggling as he straightens up again. "But here's my idea: I'm a weaver. I don't know what your, uh, PUNCHCARD ALCHEMY can do to be perfectly honest but I know how to weave aether into fabric just fine. I've also got," He says, taking out a pouch to make it wriggle. "A large load of aether crystals."      Amelris turns about, giving Alruna a wave. He couldn't sit still. Besides, his wounds weren't TOO bad in the end.      "SO! I weave fabric with aether then I'm sure that's a great basic material for you to play with." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The mention of needing a SWORD or something to use with the process gets Shyra tapping her chin. Umm... If you need equipment to work with, I can help.     Promptly, she begins simply pulling gear out of nowhere, swords, lances, gauntlets, mallets, and armors of various archetypal types popping into the area and forming a growing pile next to Arthur. I have all the gear that we collected when we... came through the first time. She says, smiling a little. Maybe you can use it if you don't want to involve your own equipment? 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Oh!" Arkae also pulls out a sword from her bag of holding. It's the curvy, almost c-shaped blade she has in her character art. "I've got a sword!" And then she glances over at Shyra's growing pile of gear. "I mean, I've got... more than that, too," she adds, fending off the urge to turn this into some sort of pile-of-generic-rpg-gear-measuring-contest. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "No, like--" Arthur shakes his head exasperatedly at Arkae. "Nah. Here, like this." He moves to try to get her to lift her wrist by just grabbing at her arm, so he can take a CAPTCHAROID of the item. The CAPTCHAROID should print out an image of it in washed-out monochrome, but hopefully it'll also contain the CAPTCHA CODE for the item on the back -- in some state of severe distortion. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "... Oh!" Arkae points at the thing that got printed out. "I know what those are!" "Those are photographs." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "It's a CAPTCHAROID, actually." Arthur says to Arkae. He displays the unusual thing to Alruna, as if to demonstrate what he's talking about. A weird rectangular display, with a corner bitten out of it like a punchcard. He looks at the back and transcribes its randomly generated RED BIRD RELIC CODE. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alrun nods - not so stoically, with that grin - to Amelris and joins the party, swiping up a glass of milk. And she puts down the Blue Dragons Relic in its place for Arthur to do his thing. Whatever the thing might be. "Healing up well?" she asks Amelris, clapping him solidly on the back. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      The Miqo'te grunts at the clap, his tail snapping behind him. "Mostly healed up, got beat up," He eyes Arkae, "Again but came out alive and fine. You're looking less pale, yourself."      Amelris takes out the Black Warrior Relic, putting it down as well. "So the squiggles are a CAPTCHA." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks to the Red Mage has he arrives grinning and then takes another cookie. These cookies are dangerously good she muses now she finally stops for the moment. She looks to Arthur ith interest and she grins. "Been ages since I have done this and I love the armour I got last time." She thinks for a moment "I think Alruna had one too." She pauses at Alruna as she arrives and she grins at the Palaaind she'll pull something out of her inventory and set it on the table a container of sea salt taffy or caramel from the looks of it. "I brought something to share? Shyra? Go ahead and try some. As for cooking maybe we can swap some recipes later?" D She looks to Arthur now pawning a little of the taffy for herself. Tomoe will pause as Shyra shares some of her gear stockpile. She'll take a look at one of the spears for the moment as she seems to test it for its weight. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae shrugs at being eyed. "Sorry, it was just a job." Not really, nobody was paying her, but they don't need to know that. "... So what happens if you, um, capcharoid something that's not a relic?" she asks, pulling out a corked potion bottle full of a clear liquid. "Like... if you alchemy alchemy?" 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 nods once, "I mean, I could...but I wouldn't want to do that outside of a sealed environment.  Also not in public.  So I'll keep my insides inside, but what about magic enhancing?  Enhance the focusing capabilities of the weapon?  I tend to use mine as both a weapon and a focus for magic." I4 also waves towards Amelris.  They fought a...he looks at Arkae.  There is a long pause and then, "So any more stories about that captain legend of yours?  You know, without a brawl with a false narrative." Alruna gets a wave, "Long time no see.  Thanks for the bail."  Shyra seems to be overthinking things, but he doubts telling her to stop will do anything productive.  "I think it simply just might be an encroachment.  It tries to force its way in, and whatever you did is forcing it back out." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Hey, no offence." Amelris replies to Arkae, shrugging. "It was a pretty good fight, all things considered and... it got handled fine. Even fast enough that Eggman didn't get anything out of it! I call it good." 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Oh, there's tons. The story of how Pirate King Trarrchogh sunk thirty ships with just ten swings of his sword is a pretty good one," says Arkae. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' CAPTCHAS: RED BIRD RELIC BLUE DRAGON RELIC BLACK WARRIOR RELIC BIRD SWORD SWORD LANCE GAUNTLET MALLET ARMOR AETHER TEXTILES     Arthur turns to Amelris. "Yo, gimmie that RELIC! Oh shit, you got NICE THREADS? Lemme at THAT TOO." He picks up one of the TEXTILE ROLLS and then immediately CAPTCHALOGUES it into his SYLLADEX. It enters one of the large green cards he displays for his inventory, sorting into the TREE and compressing into something that he can pull down and read the back of.     Flipping over his game interface, he examines the CAPTCHA CODE and inserts the card into the PUNCH DESIGNIX, typing the code and punching it. He also takes another CAPTCHAROID of Arkae's sword, since she seems to be presenting it, then ones of each RELIC put on display, though it seems one is currently missing. Then he also also CAPTCHALOGUES many of the pieces of stray NG 0+ equipment into his SYLLADEX, punching their codes as well. He has a small but growing stack of punched codes now.     "Anyone got that LAST ONE? The uh... WHITE something?" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' "Tigers." Alruna supplies helpfully. She nods to Amelris. "Got my blood back." she smiles, leaning on him while she knocks back her glass of milk. "Are you following this at all?" she murmurs, watching Arthur work. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      The TEXTILE ROLL are some damn sweet silk and velvet choked with some aether treatment, just waiting and ready to be cut into some sort of outfit.      "Kind-of." Amelris admits, wobbling a hand. "He's taking measures of the objects and I assume that theses," The punchcards are point at, "Are what the things' information and tells what they 'are'." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' CAPTCHA CODES: RED BIRD RELIC BLUE DRAGON RELIC BLACK WARRIOR RELIC BIRD SWORD SWORD LANCE GAUNTLET MALLET ARMOR AETHER TEXTILES UNENCHANTED POTION     Arthur is already cranking something. "Hey, someone help me get this CRUXITE all CRUXTRUDED." He asks, wandering over to a big tube-looking part and turning a huge wheel on it. As he turns it, the top emits the top portion of a large green crystal cylinder. He answers I4 as he works though. "It's about what you can COMBO. I can't just CRANK NUMBERS UP, it's about CREATIVITY. You got anything MAGIC-ENHANCING?" He manages to crank a fresh CRUXITE DOWEL out, and then he goes to clamp it into the TOTEM LATHE.     None of this is, so far, likely to make a single fucking lick of sense.     But for now, he grabs up the cards again. "Let's try the BASICS." He says, placing the BIRD SWORD and the RED BIRD RELIC cards both into the punchcard-reading slot on the TOTEM LATHE at the same time, which configures the TOTEM LATHE'S various carving tools to carve the CRUXITE DOWEL into a CRUXITE TOTEM. He places it over on the ALCHEMITER and tries casting while he stops to grab the UNENCHANTED POTION and punch it as well.     How expensive is relic-item combination at its most basic level? The weapon will likely dilute the duplication of its massive BLESSING to reduce the price, but how much would that dilution ease the drain on Arthur Lowell's GRIST CACHE? 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "..." "That is some really nice fabric," comments Arkae, reaching down and running a hand over the stuff Amelris has brought with her. When Arthur starts spouting off MORE WORDS that she DOESN'T UNDERSTAND, more of her attention is lost from him and starts shifting to the VERY NICE fabric that is MOST CERTAINLY not triggering her TENGU AVARICE. Then something Arthur says catches her attention. "Oh! Um... magic-enhancing? I can try infusing something? But it usually only works on my potions..." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna nods to I4, glad to see him back on his feet as well. "We're all hale and hearty then." she surmises. "'Tis good to see." She takes her weight off Amelris, no doubt to his relief, and gets closer to Arkae to nudge her. "How has your practice with the relic come?" she asks quietly, so not to disturb Arthur while he works his KEYWORD smithery. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "So hey...what happens if we try to bless a blade with all of the relics?  That might make the individual blessings weaker, but to something weak to all of them.." I4 theorizes.  "Also can you scan uh...my rapier and POD?" he motions towards the black box with arms floating near him.  It seems to stare at your very soul.   "Yeah, I am!  It took a little bit, but yeah...all my bits are back where they belong.  Sorry about that.  Maybe I got a little too greedy with Haseo." Towards Arkae, "Ooo, I wanna hear about that one.  Are any of these written down?" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Thanks!" Amelris straightens, indeed to his relief with his tail stretching out. Woman's heavier than him. It's just not wise to VOCALIZE that fact. He take out one of the rolls of fabric, a nice deep, rich blue. "It's velveet, silk and some cottoon. Most from Gridannia. I've made it a little while ago when I heard of this. A bit of an experiment as I tried to shove in some aether as starting treatment for enchantment."      He tugs at his cape. "Just to make it stronger and protect you from ills and foes. A mage's gotta protect himself too, you know?" 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "They're campfire stories. They're a lot better told fresh than written down in books," says Arkae. "But alright... Pirate King Trarrochogh and the Thirty Ships..." She clears her throat, and starts in on a long rambling tale about the aforementioned tengu pirate getting challenged by the captains of thirty ships - including his own mutinous crew, who left him with nothing but his sword and a single rowboat. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 shakes his head, "So you say, but that means the stories will be changed as they are shared, and worse...if something happens to the people who know them...well.." he looks, well saddened, "Losing something like that would be terrible.  In books, it could at least be preserved." However, he listens, to him, it was very interesting, a chance to see into a new culture, and listen to the stories of people they have pride in.   

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' ____________________________________________________________________________ |        Arthur successfully alchemized BIRD SWORD || RED BIRD RELIC         | |                                                                            | |                       8000 STEEL  200 RUST  5 COBALT                       | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________________________________________________________________________ |                                                                            | |                             MANDAPALA'S TALON                              | |                                  (lesser)                                  | |                                                                            | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯     MANDAPALA'S TALON is a curved blade that bears a disturbing resemblance to a massive bird of prey's talon. Conducting significant amounts of solar energy naturally, it's ready to conduct even more in dangerous, relic-blessed blasts. Upgrading it at a later date may allow it to come into its full power.     Arthur picks up the blade and gives it a few fiery swings. "I don't usually use SWORDS, I'm a BATTLE-BROOMS kinda guy. Who had this sword earlier?" 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' In the story, Trarrchogh, standing in his dinky rowboat and having swung ineffectually at the hull of the lead mutinous pirate ship for the last nine strikes without doing much more than scratching the wood, draws back his sword for the tenth strike- "Oh, those were mine!" Arkae cuts off the story, waving to Arthur. "The relic and the sword. I've still got the originals right here- I'm not sure how that works..." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe gets an idea as she watches people work and she does notice the fabric checking it out herself. It does feel really nice and she gets some ideas looking at the ARMOR and the AETHER TEXTILES. She thinks for a moment and the UNENCHANTED POTION. She'll also think since they are dealing with a boss who has a certain elemental affinity? She's going to try and see what happens if she mixes them with the Black Warrior's Relic. "Time to see what this does!" She will wait her turn before attemping this combination! "I got to wonder what the hell Haseo is thinking." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' CAPTCHA CODES: RED BIRD RELIC BLUE DRAGON RELIC BLACK WARRIOR RELIC BIRD SWORD SWORD LANCE GAUNTLET MALLET ARMOR AETHER TEXTILES UNENCHANTED POTION     "Oh, I spent my GRIST on combinin' 'em." Arthur explains, flipping the sword around and deftly catching it by the flat in one hand to hand it off to Arkae by the hilt. "Bee-tee-dubs, if you make anything EXPENSIVE, I'mma need it BACK afterwards, so I can GRIST-GRIND it. THAT, I need back after the BIG FIGHT, ain't got tons of COBALT GRIST." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris have no idea how the hell all that worked. Yet, here we are.      "And that 'GRIST', how y'get more of that, if it comes to it?" 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae swings MANDAPALA'S TALON around a few times, testing it. "I like that it looks like a bird thing," she says. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' CAPTCHA CODES: RED BIRD RELIC BLUE DRAGON RELIC BLACK WARRIOR RELIC BIRD SWORD SWORD LANCE GAUNTLET MALLET ARMOR AETHER TEXTILES UNENCHANTED POTION RAPIER POD     "We hit ONE THING with ALL THE BLESSINGS, it's... I mean, probably gonna be EXPENSIVE." Arthur explains to I4, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "It's a GOOD IDEA, but it'd need to be something we ONLY USE ONCE. Otherwise -- this is just me guessin' -- it'll fuckin' drain everything all the way down to my STAR GRIST, and I got like SIX of that left." But he does captchalogue each, read their code, and return them from his SYLLADEX. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' ____________________________________________________________________________ |  Arthur successfully alchemized ARMOR || (AETHER TEXTILES && UNENCHANTED   | |                      POTION) || BLACK WARRIOR RELIC                        | |                                                                            | |                       10000 BONE  300 GOLD  1 CLOTH                        | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________________________________________________________________________ |                                                                            | |                            DARKSEA VARMAN (II)                             | |                                                                            | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯     Complex wire-like tubing filled with gleaming fluid holds together the two large shoulderpieces that are most prodigious on this armor, and multiple sets of metal shape the helmet into a distinctly eastern visual profile. As this armor suffers damage, physical attacks are improved over time. As damage is done, physical defense improves, to a degre, all enabled by the enhancing fluid conducted along the wire-like tubing. Protect the tubes, otherwise it will lose much of this power! Mail armor underneath and at the joints, crafted out of an aether-like substance, is almost impossibly light, in comparison to the heft of the armor.     Arthur has to put his back into lifting it off the ALCHEMITER CASTING PAD. "Yo, T, get this in your INVENTORY!" 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Amelris asks a pertinent question. "Well, technically, TECHNICALLY, you don't. Not anymore." Arthur explains. "GAME OVER, so I'm not supposed to DO THIS anymore. But, I had a HUGE STOCKPILE left over. But it's FINITE. I can GRIND LOOT in my GRISTGRINDER, but it ain't great RETURN ON INVESTMENT, so I try to stay STABLE on the STOCKPILE, hear me?" 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 thinks about this for a little bit, "So...something that we have only one shot on..." A beat, "Maybe something we can use on Discordia themselves? Or on Haseo in a last ditch effort. Yeah, but I see what you mean, that'd be a huge investment if that's the case..." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris cross his arms, furrowing his brows at that. "So, we are working on a Create-To-Lend Basis, here, then."      "Not a bad idea, I4." The Miqo'te pours over the displayed objects, thinking of a combination that would be interesting. What DO we know about either that would be a strong bane for them? Haseo, we might have some clues somewhere. He's someone. But..."      He reach for the Rapier, the BLUE DRAGON RELIC and the POD. "For what it's worth, even if it's a low return on investment, I'll be sure to give you some back so you can replenish -- even if a little." 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "So just... a bunch of general loot is what you need to replenish, right?" asks Arkae. She rubs the underside of her beak. "Might be able to give you a hand... where I'm from the merchants are pretty cutthroat and usually only buy things for like half of what they're really worth, if that. If you'll get more value out of old loot, maybe we can work something out." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' CAPTCHA CODES: RED BIRD RELIC BLUE DRAGON RELIC BLACK WARRIOR RELIC BIRD SWORD SWORD LANCE GAUNTLET MALLET ARMOR AETHER TEXTILES UNENCHANTED POTION RAPIER POD     "Oh, shit, RAD. Yeah, you wanna gimmie some PAY on this, I ain't gonna TURN IT DOWN. Might SWEETEN THE DEAL some if ya WANT IT."     He CRUXTRUDES more DOWELS, PUNCHES some fresh CARDS, and LATHES a TOTEM, all to make... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is more than glad to swing by here she knows keeping one gear up to date and here she is. She's also seemingly in a better mood than yesterday, yes the idea of just kicking back relaxing is a good one she also sees the food that Shyra has put out. She grins at the healer and calls out. "Hey Shyra! Arthur!" The Salamander will head to the table to get some of the cookies she chomps away before she looks to Arkae. "It could be worse, seriously it could be far worse 8bit music. It's pretty good. Also good to see you as well. Though to be honest there might be a place Arthur to get more grist." She steps back to let others have their turn at crafting. Tomow will then show off the specs ot hte armor that was create to everyone else who is interested in it. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' ____________________________________________________________________________ |     Arthur successfully alchemized RAPIER || BLUE DRAGON RELIC || POD      | |                                                                            | |                        200 STEEL  200 ROCK  1 GLASS                        | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________________________________________________________________________ |                                                                            | |                             LIGHT AUTOCHAKRAM                              | |                                                                            | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯     An exotic, single-use disposable wooden fish-like flying drone with a steel chakram-rimmed body that can be activated to fly towards a target and berserker-slash it with rapier-like strikes. These agile things shatter rather than retreat, but are outrageously hard to intercept, and strike with mildly blessed impact. Arthur has decided to make about a dozen. Useful stuff!     Arthur regards one of these flying things with an unnerved look. He looks at the POD as well, and frowns, like he's discovered something troubling. "Well, here ya go! These are ALRIGHT STUFF, could be good for BURST DAMAGE." They're the sort of offense that Amelris is familiar with as a spellcaster, equivalent to a rather enhanced spell attack of a more familiar nature. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris lets out a whistle, taking one of the flying disposable drones to give it a look, appraising it with care to not get his eyes TOO close to the pointy bits. As stupid that's to say, that's the most important thing to do when looking at weapons.      He testingly toss one up in the air, one gloved hand opening up to make it float above his palm, making it dance by wriggling his fingers. "Mmmhmmm. Yeah, this is feeling pretty good. It's going to work out fine." He agrees on, taking note of his frown. Something troubling with the pod, perhaps?      He draws his rapier, taking a step back and just testing the stance, the Light Autochakram held up, hovering above his hand. "Yeah, this fits well. It'll flow fine into combat." He sheaths his weapons. "Good stuff. We can talk later after that to see how I can best help you refill your GRIST some, as thanks." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Those are..." I4 says, before the pod chimes in.   -Processing.  Entities do not look like this unit, they are the wrong shape, size, and serve only one function.- "Haha...hold on there POD, they're not supposed to.  No need to get upset." -POD unit is not upset, merely stating the facts.- "Yeah yeah...so anyway, I have a better idea.  Why not instead of using the focused item as an offensive item, why don't we get a defensive item to synch all of the relics into?  Something to protect us?" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "A gauntlet sounds pretty good to do that." Amelris chips in on that idea. "Most people got five fingers, good control scheme to synch with." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' CAPTCHA CODES: RED BIRD RELIC BLUE DRAGON RELIC BLACK WARRIOR RELIC BIRD SWORD SWORD LANCE GAUNTLET MALLET ARMOR AETHER TEXTILES UNENCHANTED POTION RAPIER POD     "GAUNTLET ain't a BAD IDEA." Arthur thinks. "But it's still gonna be HEAVY ON COST. I sure ain't gonna manage like TEN FULL-ON ENCHANTED GAUNTLETS. Maybe if I can..." He sorts through the cards, strokes his chin, and thinks. "We still want it to be ONE-OFF. A ONE-OFF DEFENSE. What's that like? Maybe..." He gets the GAUNTLET card, and the current three RELIC cards, plus one that's a bit more hidden. "Hey, who had WHITE TIGERS?" He's got a spark in his eye. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Last I heard?" Amelris says, pocketing the various little off-brand drones. "I think it was Raphael Cousteau." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Actually...I have it," I4 says, pulling out the white relic out of his storage space. "I got wrapped up in uh...asking a bunch of questions about the theory." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur CAPTCHALOGUES the WHITE TIGERS RELIC. "NO BIG. Alright, let's TRY SOMETHING." And then he begins to type. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra has been puttering around, helping with some of the menial work, making sure there's plenty of CRUXITE on hand for the alchemization. She doesn't seem to have any problems with what Arthur is doing. She trusts in his hard-won expertise, it seems.     Still, as they work, the healer seems to have something of a contemplative, slightly melancholic expression despite the bright and pseudo-pastoral surroundings.     Finally, in between grazing lightly on cookies and milk, she finally comes out with it. Arthur... When you were talking about the tools I had access to... Was I wrong to use them? She asks, concern intensifying in her expression as she watches him work. Hopefully this doesn't completely knock him out of his funky fresh coolkid groove. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' ____________________________________________________________________________ | Arthur successfully alchemized GAUNTLET || (RED BIRD RELIC && BLUE DRAGON  | | RELIC && BLACK WARRIOR RELIC && WHITE TIGERS RELIC) || UNENCHANTED POTION  | |                                                                            | |                      500000 STEEL  20 MIRROR  1 GEAR                       | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ____________________________________________________________________________ |                                                                            | |                      AMPOULE OF LESSER KARNA KAVACHA                       | |                                                                            | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯     This small off-hand utility glove bears a single ampoule of potion that can, for a single "turn", apply LESSER KARNA KAVACHA, defusing many instant-kill effects (hopefully any of Discordia's bullshit puzzle-boss-stage instant-kill-party-wipe wave attacks) before it is expended. It cannot neutralize the base damage, however. Arthur can afford to make one for each combatant -- but only one. Better block with your off-hand.     Arthur carries these like fucking antiques. Better take good care. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Holy crap!" I4 says quite surprised by this turn of events. Looking at the Gauntlet he is given and examining it. "So...enough to overcome a little bit of the thing's horribleness...but if we don't work fast.." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe says "We are going to have to take Haseo down, hard and fast." She seems pleased about the potion. "Still this will give us an edge he won't expect." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Woah." Amelris lets out, looking at the gauntlet, taking it very carefully. "NOW that is something very impressive, alright." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe thinks for a moment "THE WORLD's a MMORPG humm I wonder about hacking Haseo, I4?" 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "Yeah, I ain't makin' the FULL DEAL. That needs BIG ARTIFACT GRIST." Arthur says, stocking these up in cases for the upcoming battle. "Could GRIND it out of OTHER ARTIFACTS, but it's... I mean, ONE TO ONE. You gotta get BIG ARTIFACT for BIG ARTIFACT, and you need BIG ARTIFACT to deal with the HEAVY SHIT. Better to go with the ONE-OFF PATCH SOLUTION, just in case. Shit, maybe HASEO don't know SHIT about INSTANT-KILL POWER, still good to have around here. After STAREN fuckin' BOUGHT THE FARM, I ain't playin' around, even if he can RE-SELL IT." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur also provides a short, quick answer to Shyra as he closes some of the last cases. He doesbn't like thinking about those tools. "I think the tools are wrong. I think... you did good things with the tools, but they're not supposed to exist. I don't think it'd be any better if you weren't using it. I just think it shouldn't exist, s'all." Arthur rubs his face like that'll brush away the ambiguity. It doesn't. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "I... don't think I really know or understand the nature of your 'tools'." Amelris admits, getting used to the gauntlet, wriggling his fingers. This is going to be useful, to be certain. "But you've done and certainly tried your best to help your world, by my observation. That counts for a lot, in my mind." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe says "I don't fancy having to let Staren do that to me if Haseo were to leave anything left. She pauses for a moment frowning "From little I have seen it's almost like with Cardinal and my world. Save you give a damn about the people and it. So for what it's worth I'm with you still. I don't discount you Arthur but what are we to do? " 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra was clearly hoping for clear directions. But this is too complex for that, and Arthur knows it. His answer gets confusion from the healer, clearly, and she replies, I'm not sure I understand... But all right. She ponders for several moments again.     Amelris puts in his two gil, and Shyra brightens a little. Yes, I am doing my best. I know it's been hard, but we're almost there. As for the nature of the tools... She shakes her head. It seems like they were used to make this world in the first place. But they can change the world... And the people in it. They can be very dangerous. I wasn't sure how much I would need to use them, but I have, because it seemed like it was needed.     Shyra fidgets again, her eyes going to the ground. I don't know what to do about it. Maybe I could seal them away somehow? But what if I need to use them again? 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "I see." Amelris says, tilting his head at her. So, some sort of creation power, then, he assume. "Perhaps you could. However, it's rather clear that such power tend to be held on tightly." He frowns, thinking. "I can only offer my impression on the matter, it's something you'll likely have to decide for yourself." His frown vanish, with a smile that's wanted to be comforting. "I'm afraid that's one of the things that comes with free will." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "I think I have a theory on what might be going on, after collecting the data I have," I4 says finally.   "When the game was completed the first time, things went...off kilter, but did you notice any change in yourself?  I think, before the first time, you had more in common with these NPCs than the Hero." "So...for whatever reason you guys became more like the hero, right?  I dunno if we can actively understand the process, but it stands to reason that a second pass might actually have a more awakening effect.  This means there are going to be a lot of scared people realizing they have...selves for the first time." "How do you feel about all that?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The healer nods to Amelris, smiling back to him as he provides his support and a little bit of philisophical assistance. Thank you. I appreciate your help for this world... And everything else. I guess I might have to figure that out myself after all...     I4 then chips in his learned information. She tilts her head at his question. When I saw The End, I began noticing things I hadn't before. Maybe you could be right, but how would we know the difference?     I4 continues to move forward, and Shyra nods. You're right. I'm hoping that does happen... It will be scary for them, but we can help them get through it. Just like you helped me and Pazkar. This world is an illusion... It needs to be healed. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur speaks up very suddenly. He laughs, and pounds a fist against his chest. "SCARED? HAH!" He takes a broad, joyous stance. "Who could be SCARED with some proper HEROES around? That's the point of a HERO. Whenever the WORLD seems wrong, you have someone whose WHOLE WORLD is RIGHTNESS!" His long hood even flaps dramatically. "Get enough HEROISM here, and they can't be too SCARED!" 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "That is the question, isn't it?  How do you know?  We know what it is to be alive, to be a person...but can we describe it?  Can we actually reach into our hearts and find the part of us that is...us?  Can we describe it?  I think humans have been trying to figure that out for as long as there have been humans.  So, on that, don't feel alone, because nobody really has found THE answer, but rather their own." He smiles at the comment on help.  "Hey, you'd both do it for me, yeah?" he says, and then... "There is another side to this question.  What if this world really is just an illusion, and only your party and a few choice others are real?  I think you should steel yourself for this possibility.  Hold on to hope, but be ready to face reality." He looks to Arthur, "You know it's not wrong or bad to be afraid right?  It's all apart of being human!  Even I get scared, and I'm not supposed to have feelings." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris lets out a laugh, unfolding his arms and leans back, his ears fluttering at it.      "Now you're talking! Fear is a thing that's normal for everyone! There is a lot of unknowns ahead of us and quite frankly, that's not as bad as you think! Whatever lies ahead, it's important to be ready to greet it firmly!" He buries a fist into a palm. It's his gauntleted palm, making a metallic shuffle. "There will be a reality we will face ahead. When we come upon the facts, we can then deal with them, rather than being boggled down with what-ifs."      The Miqo'te downs a cookie bite. "'Not supposed'?" 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "Well sure. It's wrong for people to gotta FEAR THE WORLD, though!" Arthur says, asserting his position intensely with gesticulations and clenching of the fist and suchlike. "That's the point of HEROES. So dudes can be afraid of MISSING THE BUS or TALKIN' A SECRET, and not the GNAWING MEANINGLESSNESS OF AN ILLUSORY WORLD." 
}}

7082/Guide to an Uprising

2020-02-15T15:43:36Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/13 |Location=The World R:2 |Synopsis=I4 does some research on the problem of Haseo, and meets a mysterious man... |Cast of Characters=7015,..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/13
|Location=The World R:2
|Synopsis=I4 does some research on the problem of Haseo, and meets a mysterious man...
|Cast of Characters=7015, 7132
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      The Eternal City of Mac Anu. A city in perpetual sunrise. Or perhaps, sunrise. It's hard to tell, given that the warpgate seems to spawn directly inside a building, though the large opening leading into the main plaza allows more than enough orange hue in to make that it isn't midday apparent.      There's no chance to explore however, no chance to get acquainted. It seems someone has been waiting.      A white trench coat, a pair of tinted glasses, and a large unwieldy container strapped to the man's arm stand out the most about the person. There's also the fact that there's a mysterious aura about him, he seems to stick out more than most of the other players, though they seem to ignore him regardless outside of the occasional glance and acknowledgement.      "You're from the outside, correct? I was beginning to worry."      The man speaks in an overly friendly voice. It's not genuine, but at the very least, it's pretty apparent he doesn't mean any ill will. He approaches I4, closing the distance to make conversation less awkward.      "Ah, but forgive me. Perhaps I'm too quick to assume, but... This /is/ about Haseo, isn't it? We don't get many outside visitors here otherwise." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' The 'Login' portal allows I4 to come in as if he was supposed to be here, though he stands out more than other players.  Then again, with the amount of 'custom' attire in 'The World' people might not overly notice other than to make blog posts for annoying investigators to look into later.  Fortunately, I4 was smart enough to not stick around long enough to get investigated, or so he thought. The blindfolded android considers the friendly man a bit, as he asks him a question, followed up by a more interesting question.  The closer distance makes things easier to talk about, though I4 isn't sure how the man could have known about his attempts at investigation.  Is the man an ally of Haseo?  He would have to be careful in navigating this because if he messed up, it was Shyra's world on the line.  It was...her that would pay the price, more than she already had. Near him, a small black box with arms floated, seemingly regarding the two of them.  While I4 talks, it attempts to get more information on the man by the usual scans.  Perhaps trying to filter out disguises or anything that might point him as a member of the Concord.   "I suppose I would want to know who is asking about my business.  After all, I could have just heard about an entire world that is actually inside a video game.  Did you know that my world does not have virtual reality setups like this?  The humans there are far more interested in physical pleasures than artificial ones.  I mean, one could argue that, to an extent!  Oh where are /my/ manors, I am Inspector 4, Model 31C.  I4 for short and my friends call me Foureyes." 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      "I see. I see. Very fascinating. Had I the time, I'd love to learn more about your world. A world of technology and magic combines two of my passions you see. Unfortunately, I have a very important role to play you see, so I'm a bit too busy these days..."      The man adjusts his spectacles as I4 scans. Ovan's huge. Like, not in the height sense, though he's also huge in that department. His data is massive, bigger than a character in an MMO has any right of being. It's also, strangely reminiscent of Haseo's own nonsense code, though it's clearly different, even if it isn't quantifiable by any sane human or AI.      The scan is unfortunately, however, unable to make heads or tails of what's hidden inside the strange arm container. Not because it's some weird gibberish code, but because it seems specifically designed to stop pesky people from peaking at what's inside it. I4 probably gets the sense that's probably for the best.      "Anyway, I can tell you're concerned. But you needn't worry, while I'm a friend of Haseo's. Some may my relationship is more akin to an older brother. But I digress, it's clear the business he's has gotten himself into isn't productive in the slightest for either you or myself, so you've come seeking answers, and I've come to provide them." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Unfortunate, it would be interesting to show my world off to someone interested in a blending of such things.  Well, do not let your work consume you, I find that humans that do that tend to not have very happy experiences in life.  Many get focused on one thing, and all other choices seem to wink out.  Usually comes back to cause lament later on in life.  Though that's what I read a lot, and watch media based on humans." The data is recorded and saved for later, this has a lot of questions.  In fact, because of the SECRET there, I4's curiosity about the arm is even more enticing, sure he shouldn't push his luck, but right now...well, he wants to know.  The POD focus' it's attention on the arm while I4 speaks calmly. "So you are like an older brother to Haseo.  Am I to assume that you find his current actions to be disruptive?  Would this be because it's dangerous to him, or to you?  I can not disagree his current situation is bad for the world in question, especially what he has admitted to wanting to do..." a pause, "However, I suppose if you are offering answers...what I need is a way to bring Haseo and distract him, something to focus his attention away from anything else for long enough to try and sever him from the thing he's gotten himself into." 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      "Disruptive to whom? Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say it's throwing a wrench into some of my own goals. Though, perhaps it is a bit cold of me to admit, but it's not because I have any concerns for his actions. In fact, one could say he's playing the part of the 'Terror of Death' quite well."      The Steam Gunner laughs wryly at what he just said, lifting and repositioning is sealed arm to make himself more comfortable.      "But, again, this is no time to ramble. I'm pushing my luck as it is being here. So, a way to distract Haseo?"      There's a pause. At this point, the man didn't seem to have problems speaking, but now he seems actually lost in thought.      "Let's see. There's quite a lot of ways, unfortunately, only a few of them are on the table. In this instance, you're best bet would be Tri-Edge."      He reaches into his coat pocket to remove a photo, a move completely done for flavor, given how their inventory works. It's handed to I4.      The contents are pretty simple, a strange, patched together zombie man in red clothing. Perhaps the most stand out thing about them is their weapons, or how it seems they're clearly poised to attack with murderous intent to whoever took the photo.      "I take it this is good enough, yes?" 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 seemed to stare at the man for a while, before deciding to try to decipher the meaning of the words were not going to be fruitful while he was also trying to get information on Haseo from him.  For whatever reason, this man wanted Haseo to 'play his role'.  More to the point, he seemed to indicate that he would be in danger by staying here for too long, so the more they got off topic the less time he would have to get an answer. "Tri-Edge?" he asks, looking at the photo given to him for a while.  I4's sensors move to look over the photo, committing every bit of it to memory.  "He looks...feral?  It looks like a person, but I don't see even a glint of humanity in its dead features..." "So you are saying that a report of Tri-Edge would drag Haseo out from his world, and into this one?  From there, I imagine, it's up to us to make the bait seem real...unless you know a way to actually summon Tri-Edge up?" 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      "Summon Tri-Edge?"      They laugh. It's fully genuine. Perhaps it's at the absurdity of the question, or maybe it's actually funny, though whatever the case, it has them amused.      "Well, it could be as simple as that, but who knows? If you doubt your ability to lay a convincing enough trap however, you could wait a bit and see what happens. According to some online rumors, apparently just saying the man's name enough times within a short period can invoke him. Though, much like every rumor of this type, it's of the 'you can't watch the kettle or it'll never boil' variety." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "I see, well I suppose I will have to do what I can to lay a convincing trap.  Thank you for your time, sir!" I4 says with the most boundless optimism he could muster.  Right now, not knowing exactly where this man lay, he couldn't quite lay out his own agenda.  Then again, everyone has their own agenda.   Not knowing them is the problem.  He could at least do some of his own research on this Tri-Edge, and see if he could find something, or at least lay his own convincing trap.   Sigh, why are these things always more complicated than they seem? 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      "Please, don't worry about it. I think you'll find the way you'll want to lay your trap at the 'Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground', for the record. But I'm wearing out my welcome here. So if you'll excuse me...I have to make sure of something. I enjoyed our little chat, for what it's worth."      They turn around, giving the android a final wave goodbye with their back facing them before.... Logging out? Warping? Rings of light spin around the Steam Gunner before his model fades away. It's hard to say what it is he just did, but it's clearly something outside of the game specs 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 watches the man leave, obviously whatever he was it was outside the normal system parameters, and not unlike Haseo's little...whatever it was thing.  The first thing to do was to check out this area and see just what was there.  Getting a layout of the land was the first step to setting a trap. Assuming that nobody else came there...hopefully, nobody else came there. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      The name gives the idea of what kind of place it might be, but in case there was any doubt, it's a massive church. A cathedral if you will. There's no enemies. There's no even way to get a good scan of the area. Trying to map it at all just gets you a weird error message. ITEM CANNOT BE USED HIM      At the very least, it's a straight forward area. The closer one gets to the cathedral, the louder the sound of music gets. A chant, noticably in german.      It seems the mysterious white coat man wasn't lyring when he said what he needed was there. At the end of the cathedral, there's an empty pedastel, one where something was clearly meant to be placed, but that's not the important detail. The important detail is the large triangle mark on it, something defacing the graphics and is clearly outside of the scope.      Perhaps, the most stand out detail about this 'sign' is that it clearly leads somwhere, and if I4 were to spend time trying to get it working, he'd eventually realize his missing an item. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 warps into the strange area, looking around as he approaches the cathedral itself.  It's...foreboding?  There was a sadness surrounding this place, or at least that would be what the graphics and the song seemed to strongly deliver the feeling of.  Maybe it was because it was sacred or something?   Walking into the cathedral itself, just made the music louder.  An interesting change to how the game normally does graphics.  Still, he walked towards the central portion of the room, until the sign etched upon the heart of this zone was there.   Walking towards it, he looked towards the POD.  "Scan lets see what we can find out here," he commands, looking at the slash a bit longer.  It was pulsating...like cancer?  An infection?  It was definitely /wrong/ and it definitely didn't belong here.   -This appears to be a portal to another area, it can not be opened normally.- The POD says before I4 stood up and raised a hand to it.  "Well, then we'll force it open."  The data around the room shifted to the view of I4, as he attempts to force his way through the gate.  Of course, over time...well, the strange data starts closing itself off, becoming recursive protection.  He can see that there was a keyhole, or maybe something that was just missing for the hack to be successful. Of course, attempting to force it just gets him back to the same spot.  After some time, he disconnects, with a grunt.  "Well, this is going nowhere.  POD?"   The POD chimes in, -We appear to be missing something that allows the program to activate, and the gate to work properly.  You can not hack it because the program itself seems incomplete, and trying to force data in would be dangerous and may cause the program to malfunction.- "Guess we could start to set up a trap..." 
}}

7087/LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Red Shrine)

2020-02-15T15:41:52Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/14 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=A desperate group of heroes rush to the Red Birds Shrine in order to empower the Relic. There shouldn'..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=A desperate group of heroes rush to the Red Birds Shrine in order to empower the Relic. There shouldn't be any defenses, but there are complications...
|Cast of Characters=7141, 42, 7201, 33
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The Red Birds Shrine is unlike all the others. While around the White, the Black, the Blue, even the ruined Yellow, cities have sprung up in full blossom, the Red Birds Shrine is an empty and solitary place. It is an ominous graveyard hanging in the sky, past the touch of the land, and probably never part of it. It was a city unto itself, once, but that was long ago, in a time that never existed in this world, a past that never was. The spires are tall and unpleasant metal, broken things that once were buildings and are now no more than ruins. Machines scuttle about across the grass in the sky, odd nonsense machines that don't look quite right, machines that aren't *really* machines but simply monsters in their shape. Arkae and Staren have to fight through quite a lot of them on their way down into the shrine.      The music here is not the cheerful town music of the rest of the world. It is a low, ominous, building terror, a music that may at any moment burst into fast-paced, bloody combat. Staren has heard it before. Arkae has not.      A bloodstain poisons the green grass next to the door to the Shrine itself. A bird's emblem sits atop the doorway. Lights lead into it, guiding them onwards. The door swings open with a BEEP when they approach.      The shrine itself is full of these twisted machine-monsters. They fire missiles. They shoot lasers. They launch mines. They fluffy machine-gun bullets through the air. They're goofy-looking and strange but no less lethal for it. Four at a time. Six at a time. Eight at a time. Twelve at a time. The swarms are big, and aggressive. They don't let up until the bottom. The lights guide them on all the time. Broken screens flicker and light their way when the lights go out, or become confusing.      At the bottom, a bird.      A great, red phoenix. Once upon a time it was a beautiful guardian god. It once bristled with glorious flames. It was designed to be beautiful and terrible as the sun.      It is also hilariously, exceptionally dead, with seven black spears driven into its body. Two in the wings. Two in the eyes. Two in the flanks. One through the chest.      The offering bowl is full of its flaming blood.      The lights start flickering furiously. They go dim. But nothing happens.      The pair make their way out of the dungeon.      The music kicks up into that ominous beat.      It's not a man, exactly, that steps out of a nearby, broken building's glass. It's a figure - seven feet tall or more, a swirling cape, a cross-scar visor, a massive spear. But there's no *color* to it, no glow, no...shimmer. The figure is monochromatic. It's a shadow, a shadow of the real thing, an error conjured by the lack of the real thing in the world.      There aren't any words exchanged. The figure just goes walking forward, bringing its hand shut, crushing fire out of the air. The flames strain against its grip as the sunlight-without-a-sun flares.      From on high, pillars of flame rake down upon Arkae and Staren, smashing into the ground with all the force on might expect from a JRPG Boss attack.      Because this is not Linehart.      It is what he was, with all the benefits intact.      The one that killed Jorin the Brawler. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren steps off the airship with various minions in toe -- humanoid robots in SWAT gear, metal men with kanobos, and the reanimated corpses of Garleans still wielding their swords and armor. He leads Arkae through the Red Bird Shrine. Machine-monsters are killed from as far away as possible using missiles that superheat the air and inferno rounds -- those that get close are dealt with with physical force and fire-aspected beam swords. Minions are lost, ablating away against the waves of monsters. This is fine. That is their job.     Staren gasps when he opens the door and sees the familiar but unexpected sight of the dead spirit, looking exactly like he saw it last time. <"Oh COME ON! You killed the Red Bird AGAIN?"> Staren assumes Linehart is listening to the radio.     ...     ...     ...     ...     Staren hangs his head. <"...I'm an idiot. You did in the original story. Why would the Red Bird even EXIST in an un-killed state? But, the relic..."> Staren turns to Arkae. "Maybe... try touching the relic to its corpse, or the blood or something? I don't know..."     He takes another sample of the blood and looks around for any changes, but finding none, leads the way back out. "I... guess we head back out, maybe we can help one of the other groups."     Fighting out is the same as fighting in. More minions ablate away. Stepping outside, the music changes. Staren looks around, alarmed... and spies... Linehart? Only it clearly isn't him.     And then he realizes what he's walked into. This is where one of the heroes dies. And the others had kept joking about using him for this, too...     Staren moves a split-second too late. The fire rapidly melts through multiple layers of forcefield, the translucent amber sphere of force glowing white-hot and shattering to reveal a smaller sphere twice. Staren returns fire immediately, blasting at the Knight's shade with beams of high-energy particles; a reliable and highly destructive weapon of science. "So this is what you do if Mordred doesn't show up, huh? Things just have to happen your way, even though we've already changed the story..." 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Oh shit, traps and dungeon trash. Lots and lots of dungeon trash. Arkae holds the Red Bird Relic, but she wasn't here for the first trip, due to a conflict with another adventuring group. Staren was, though, so he's depending on him for tips and taking the right path through the dungeon. In return, he gets potions. And then they reach the end. And... there's a dead bird. "This is disappointing..." says Arkae, clutching her relic tightly to herself. There's nothing else for it. They head up... and... "This is... Linehart? If he was-" Arkae says, trying to theorycraft about the person walking towards them. She doesn't have time to finish the thought. "FIRE!" She probably doesn't mean that Linehart was fire. She's referring to the column of fire that she suddenly finds herself enveloped in and desperately trying to get clear of. She looks more than a little singed once she stumbles out of the column, coughing as she draws her sword with one hand and pulls a potion vial from her bag with the other. "Alright, if you - *cough* - like fire..." She pours the vial over her curved sword, tosses the empty container aside, and charges. There's no elegance to her attack, she just needs to make enough contact with her blade. After all, it's not her sword that's doing the most of the damage... it's the nerve-burning poison that it's practically been doused in. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The flag was flipped. The boss fight has to happen. It's inexorability at its finest. You can't *stop* the fight if the flag was switched, and that's what Shyra did to even make this plan possible. The story's changed, alright, but the event still has to happen, somehow, even if it goes off the rails.      And boy is it off the rails.      Staren's shot punches right into it. The shadow of Linehart staggers, stopping in its unceasing tracks as the particles scatter in a laser-light beauty. The shade sizzles as it walks forward.                                     395                                          The number pops up above its head, just like the real Linehart. And just like the real Linehart, the moment the stagger's worn off, the moment it starts moving again. So it has HP. It has *health*. It can be harmed.      Arkae comes slashing in with nerve-burning poison. Whatever it is, it doesn't have nerve poison, and it can't *be* poisoned, but...well, it's a JRPG Boss. The poison falls off as soon as it's hit with it. Still, that's a staggering amount of damage - a health 416 pops up above it, and again, the shadow staggers, the duplication stumbling backwards.      The shadow moves to strike, raising its hand into the sky, dark power gathering-      -and splits in half.      The two halves of the shadow collapse, flickering out of existence. A Red Bird pendant falls down - only to be caught in a strange hand.      A black chariot, drawn by a pair of massive cobras. A tall figure with a bow slung over its back, a chakram in one hand, reins in the other. A green-brass mask over a black robe.      The Yaksha holds the pendant thoughtfully, then looks up at the pair of them.      Merely an imitation. Disappointing. The world hasn't provided me what I seek after all.      And yet here I am.      The Yaksha opens its hand. The pendant vanishes. Here I am. With this Relic I ought not have. In this place called a Shrine that grants power to its victors. Power that I ought not have.      I wonder if, should I kill you two here, I will receive that power myself? And if it will be enough to kill the true Mirror Knight.      The Yaksha holds up its chakram. Undead begin clawing themselves out of nowhere, rising from the ground like weeds - the strange backwards undead of this world, unrecognizable, odd ghosts with faces covered by white masks, miscolored flesh, hook-blades in one hand and shields in others. Why don't we find out? I'll give you the test you desire. And in turn when you fail I will rip the power from your corpse.      Behind it, a massive shadow emerges from nowhere, as if phasing in. It's identical to the Red Birds Spirit, but it's *alive* - and it's also *reversed* palette, a rippling blue-and-white instead of a burning red-and-yellow, its eyes a malicious yellow. The reversed creature lets out a massive cry as it pulses its wings, the chill of the world falling down upon them as the Bhuta undead begin to line up.      The Yaksha's eyeholes glow an ominous blue flame. Yes. I think these are the rules of this shrine. We fight. To the strongest goes the spoils. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur is, abruptly, here. "Duplicate effect! Purging redundant flags!" He dives through a Gate that has suddenly appeared, locking onto the signal of his allies. Surrounding him, floating, are a number of duplicated door segments: he's alchemized DUPLICATE FLAG TERMINATORS as best he can, to prevent a rather dangerous situation where enemies might double-up. With a single graceful magically-empowered motion, he slams them through the chamber and locks them around the entryway of the Shrine to turn it into a double-entryway retroactively, trying to clear duplicate flags.     Is this why Shadow Linehart so easily falls? Because someone else had entered? No, presumably not -- rather, it's likely the other way around entirely. Arthur turns from his work to see the fresh enemy and his eyes go wide. "Shit!" He shouts. "We got worse than duplicate flags! Holy shit, a second boss broke in!" He knows better than to get involved -- and tangle himself in the many flag -- and rocket-blasts his way to the the door of the shrine, where foes are unlikely. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Oh..." "Oh that is just not fair... chaining final bosses together like that." Arkae can protest all she likes. "You can try- ugh," The tengu alchemist cuts off as she suffers from one of the many attacks and effects going on throughout the battlefield. The dark phoenix's chill beats her down, and then the masses of amassing undead beat her up. "Okay, don't try, I mean- screw it." Arkae reaches into her bag of tricks, drawing forth another vial of glowing liquid. Instead of spreading this one on her blade she chugs it, tosses the empty glass aside- - and she's moving much faster. "To the victor go the spoils? Well, do you really think you can kill-" Her deadly curved blade flashes out at one of the undead as she runs past it. "- What you can't catch?" The strategy here is a simple one, taken out of any RPG playbook: clear out the adds, and until they're thinned out enough, stall like crazy and hope you survive. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     A shade of Linehart. Troublesome, but manageable. But then things get worse; So, this is the source of the red textboxes from before. The one hunting Linehart. "Oh COME ON!" he exclaims. "This is nonsense! You HAVE the relic's power now; use it against Discordia and Ayuda Raksha and take your share of the spoils!"     But the army of undead arises and shadow Phoenix freezes them with cold. The handful of constructs still at Staren's call charge forward, or stay back and fire at the enemy horde... but the coldness freezes all. Even Staren is frozen in place, metal growing brittle, internal spaces between parts icing up. There's the electric whine of straining motors, and the ice breaks, falling away from Staren -- along with a fair bit of metal unseated by the growing ice, or shattered from cold brittleness.     Arkae suggests clearing the field. Staren can oblige. More ice shatters as the various missile launchers built into his body fire -- some of them rain down on the zombies, exploding in the same fireballs used to clear the Dvarpala earlier; others go for the Yaksha, armor-piercing kinetic penetrator warheads that act more like explosive-tipped gyrojets than conventional missiles.     Behind the visor, Staren's expression is tense. He wonders if one of them really will fall here. And more importantly, if it will be in a way they can fix... 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The Bhuta drop, bam bam, straight to the ground. They go down with little numbers popping up over their heads - rapidly, quickly, one by one. And yet, as they die, the Yaksha seems painfully unconcerned. Missiles rain down around it. Arkae's blades flash through them, carving them away. Some of the missiles come heading for the Yaksha itself, but the blue bird god's wings cover the rider, and the missiles simply punch into the bird, dealing popups of white damage all across its body. It apparently has three parts, wings, head, and body. That's interesting trivia.      It's also utterly meaningless, because, just like Discordia, it's a real-ass god with real-ass god-powers. It's a weird, reverse god, maybe some kind of shadow that was dummied out, maybe something the Yaksha figured out how to do because of its elementally undead nature, or maybe something that's not supposed to exist but does because when the world was made real the Red Bird had to go *somewhere*.      Unlike Discordia, though, it takes damage, so it's clearly beatable.      It's just, when the wings unfold, the Yaksha seems almost amused. It snaps its fingers twice.      A yellow bird unfolds out of the ground. Then a green one.      Two more snaps.      A white bird. Then a black one.      *Palette swapping*. What a cheater.      Now. Unless I miss my guess very much...one of you dies here.      And it's a man. So I think I'll kill you.      As one, the five birds let out a scream that shakes the world. The false divinities rear up, their wings rising, their maws opening.      Earth. Ice (Water). Metal. Tree. Fire. The five elements of this world come colliding down from those wings, flechettes of steel, meteor rocks, a blaze of murder, swirling thorns and vines, and freezing winds with icicle spears. This is a hell pointed directly at Staren, a hell of the Yaksha's making, testing its power to the utmost. It's not just here to steal the blessing - and whether it even has the blessing at this point is impossible to tell, because, as it said, the Shrine demands a test - but to enjoy itself and find out what it can do.      And what it can do is apparently tap into the spawn tables and *fuck with them furiously*. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "Bird gal! ID'd a defense bug on you -- I've got it! I've got it!" Arthur identifies a second bug -- something about Yaksha's attacks that's phasing where Arkae's defenses should be defending, some kind of collision problem. He moves fast, and this is one he knows how to deal with. A shock of radiation realigns electrical fields in atoms, hopefully rearranging them into less dangerously-ordered formations, making collision work properly. It's not about calculations. It's about /real physicality/.     Unfortunately, perhaps Arthur was looking too closely at the wrong one. Arthur takes cover inside the Shrine, staying well out of the fight as much as he can. But he can see, on the other side, the threat to Staren. He can do little more than shout in panicked support. "STAREN!!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Damn, the bird is tough!     And he can summon more of them. One of each element. Staren stares, wide-eyed. "You don't need the relics. You could defeat Ayuda Raksha all by yourself..."     And then he raises his arms defensively as everything hits him. Three more layers of forcefield shatter in an instant and Staren's forced against the outer wall of the shrine. Metal tears, rocks crush, ice freezes, fire burns, vines wrap and squeeze. It would be a grisly sight indeed were Staren still organic, as the body is broken and pulled apart, armor shattered, sparking wires snapped, motors broken, metal bones separated from eachother. Oil and hydraulic fluid leak out like blood. Staren's eyes look to Arkae, worried... but not as worried as someone should be about dying. Concerned for /her/? And then he stops moving, looking like a broken puppet that's being battered repeatedly by the five elements. Its strings cut, it collapses to the ground once the assault is over. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "What-" The Yaksha focuses... directly on Staren. Arkae forces herself not to watch. If Staren can pull through, he'll pull through. If not... ... Don't think about *not*. Don't focus on *not*. Don't believe in *not*. The tengu spares herself half a hasted second in order to draw a steadying breath, and uses the moment of relative respite that's been afforded to her. She uses it to start drinking. Potions by the double-handfull are pulled out, the tengu trusting on the enchanted bag of holding to give her the good stuff. Cat's Grace. Stoneskin. Air Walk, Bull's Strength, Blood Armor, Expeditious Retreat... all those and more get uncorked and poured into the tengu's beak, as if she was a frat pledge undergoing some hazing ritual. Mixing all of these effects at once is probably not healthy. Arkae doesn't particularly care right now. And then finally, the last extract in her bag, the one she's saved for last... a vial that glows all the colors of the rainbow... H E R O I S M The double-armful of vials is dropped. Arkae Zellar's sword is re-drawn and swinging before the glass shatters on the ground. The tengu is a blur of motion, swinging and swinging again. She runs and dodges across the air itself, as if it were solid ground, advancing and retreating all around the Yaksha like a pesky mosquito, darting in for a strike and then dashing back out. As she fights, she glances over at Staren, and then regrets it. Arkae puts him out of her mind, she has to... Right now she has a fight to win. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     ...     He knew it was coming, but something primal inside him can't help but feel fear and distress at the body it's inhabiting being beaten and broken. He is honestly not sure if the next moment of his awareness will be waking up in the resleever or...     ...This. His sight is damaged, so there is only blackness behind his HUD. Lots of damage readings and an indicator that the reactor is disconnected and he's on battery.     The battery is at 100%. It will last at /least/ four days, even at 100% CPU usage. He can still hear the radio. Arkae and Arthur calling out his name.     Now begins a dangerous waiting game -- if the Yaksha knew the truth, it would no doubt devote effort to finishing him permanently. Arkae doesn't know about his 'immortality', and he didn't have time to brief her before coming here because he wasn't expecting the cutscene.     If he TELLS her, the difference in behavior might tip the Yaksha off and doom him.     If he DOESN'T tell her, she might not intervene if another attack knocks him off the island and into the sea. That would be bad. That's pretty unlikely, though, and Arthur knows, so he wouldn't let that happen, right?     Right? 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Heroism's always been the thing that kills monsters.      Arkae goes shooting forward. She swings, and she swings, and she swings, and she swings. She cuts into the Yaksha again and again, more of those white numbers popping up with every strike, as it recoils, as it reflexively twists back, as it takes hit after hit after hit. Its HP pool must be enormous. The mosquito-bite strikes add up, just like they should, as it tries to twist around, as it tries to summon Bhuta in her way, as it tries to have the birds intercede. They're too slow. She's much too fast, much too swift. She strikes over and over and over and over and over, and the Yaksha eventually pulls back, back into the safety of the birds.      There's a moment of tense silence.      Then, a red pendant comes swinging out from the wings, as the birds fade and vanish.      Here. The Shrine's been satisfied with that sacrifice. I can't die - I have no ability to die. So this isn't a fair fight anyhow.      The pendant pulses with a glowing light. It'd be no trouble to take it and merge it into her own - it looks like it was made for it, like it's a piece of the relic that holds the blessing.      The chariot turns around. The cobras start pulling it away. That's all the help I can give you. Discordia can poison minds like mine with no trouble.      I hope your friend isn't dead for long. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "..." There's some things there that Arkae doesn't quite understand. "Um..." She'll try to figure it out later. "Staren!" The fight-borne adrenaline leaves her (even if the basically-fantasy-combat-drugs pumping through her system will take a few minutes to subside). Right now she needs to see to Staren before anything else. The alchemist runs over, grabbing another vial and imbuing it on the fly... "..." "Staren..." "There's... not really enough here to, um... digest a potion, is there..." Wordlessly, she tries anyway, finding his head and pouring the liquid between his lips. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Four days of bodilessness. Maybe four weeks. Would it drive a man mad? After several moments, Staren's had enough.     He is sitting outside the shrine, but it looks wrong. Flat. Subtleties in shadow and texture lost; He's not sure how much he can afford to simulate. He wonders if Septette has to make a similar decision about sensory processing.     Staren stands and begins to pace. Around him, the outside of the shrine -- or rather, the representation constructed by his automap software -- is still and silent. There aren't even footsteps. He taps his fingers on the wall in irritation, also silently. Note to self, take some time and think about nice features to add to simulation if he has to wait in a disabled body again. Well, he could play videogames, but he doesn't want to take his attention away from the radio right now.     I hope your friend isn't dead for long.     Staren frowns. Well, the simulated body inside his head frowns. He can see his reflection in his playermodel's visor. That jerk KNEW, and let him stew here anyway. He takes a deep, simulated breath, and sighs.     <"Yeah, I'm fine."> For a given value of fine. <"Just get my body offworld, and we'll fix this. I'm glad you didn't have to die."> 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "..." "... Oh, you're alive." Arkae drops the head she was cradling. "Jerk." Utterly ignoring Staren for the moment, she goes over to hold up the red bird relic she has to the one that was left behind, figuring that that's the way to do this to empower it. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Some say the best cure is laughter, but really, it's magic: Shut up reality, /I/ tell you what to do. I don't care if he's metal, he's better now!     Wires knit together. Motors uncrush. Metal bones reconnect. His movement is halting and jittery, but he starts to sit up... just as he's dropped. He can see and hear again. "Hey, I didn't know he knew! I thought he'd finish me off if he did, and if I told YOU and you acted on it your behavior would give it away."     He brushes himself off, shards of frozen armor falling to the floor with a tinkle. More quietly, he adds, "Also, 'fine' is probably overstating it."     He stands up and follows her. "Thank you for your concern, though. It really is nice to know people care, after recent events." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur rushes to check. "Is his neck okay? Is his head okay?" He sees movement. "Oh fuck, oh christ. Jesus Staren, I thought you bought the server for a second." He then, suddenly, winces. An error. A BIG one. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck. Big glitch elsewhere, I gotta run." Another gate. He rushes back to the ship..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren shakes his head at Arthur's question and taps the spot at the back of his neck where his stack is. And then it's time for Arthur to rush off. "Good luck!" Staren waves.     And then his arm falls off. "Whoop. I'll get that." He bends over to pick it up and carry it as they make their way back to... as they make their way out of here. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae gets the powered-up relic. "Yeah, all this is familiar. Collecting a set of things, defeating an ancient evil, getting a gigantic sack of gold and blowing it all on new gear, alcohol, and various dubious entertainments..." She examines the relic. "Well, we're not at step three yet, but I'm hopeful. For step four, I'm torn between buying a racing chocobo at the Gold Saucer or new parts for Lightspeed Dash. Maybe some for each? What do you think, Staren?" 
}}

7086/LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Black Shrine)

2020-02-15T15:40:35Z

Remliel:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=A desperate maneuver by the heroes sends them to the Black Warriors Shrine to empower the Relic earlier than intended. Unfortunately, someone is standing in their way...
|Cast of Characters=6928, 6666, 7180, 6994, 7228, 33
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' The northern city of Ytalis is shrouded in snow, the great Black Warriors Shrine rising over the town. Like all the other locations, a beam of energy is rising into the sky. Normally, one would need to deal with the predations of the Yaksha in order to gain entrance, but that has been obviated by Shyra.     Within is a great torchlit hall, crystalline insets into the shrine walls creating a glowing haze in the air from the lights. Tortoise-shell patterns seem to feature prominently which makes perfect sense as the great statue in the back of the Shrine seems to be that of a mighty turtle.     One would normally be expected to fight the Spirit as well, but that's not going to be the case. There is a /different/ problem interfering with the desperate attempts of the heroes today 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Speed is easy. Kupot has the Sleipner. Whoever wishes to ride on the Sleipner with the tiny terrorist may. Getting around this somewhat small world is easier on the growling motorcycle. He has not bothered to wear his costume today, instead simply sticking with his long coat and black simple clothes. Speed is the key here. Speed before it collapses in on itself, hopefully. Remembering how the chariot can fit INTO the dungeon, Kupot doesn't both actually getting off the motorcycle. He goes at the entrance at full speed. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris, notably, do not. Mostly because he have his own super fast bird to ride on, a tall, proud chocolate-brown chocobo. The Miqo'te charges through after the tiny terrorist, keeping up with the still baffling moogle.      The Chocobo charges inside just as well as the motorcycle, the Red Mage on top adjusting his hat and flattening against his bird to prevent from smacking himself against the entrance. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean arrives at the Black Warrior's shrine, tagging along with Kupot, or anyone else's method of transport if they have it, it's not that important. The fact of the matter is, he's here. And thus, he enters the shrine, ready for anything this trial might throw at them. THe had to succeed, for the sake of this world! 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     It seems that Kupot is not alone in coming to the Black Warriors Shrine. Waiting at the entrance is Arianrhod. At her waist is a longsword and on her back, an unusually designed pointed shield. And she too is not alone, sitting as she is atop a grey steed. Kupot may get the feeling that he is being eyed from beneath that full helmet of Arianrhod's, though it's hard to be sure.     Arianrhod seems to chide the small motorcyle riding creature as she says, "You're late. I do believe time is of the essence."Arianrhod's head turns to look at the others as well, lingering for longer on Amelris as she apparently looks over his more unique mount.     As Kupot aims his bike for the shrine entrance, Arianrhod turns her horse that way too and starts to ride with them. The path through the shrine is empty. And fast, thanks to a bike, a bird and a horse. Finally they arrive at the end of the shrine.     Arianrhod dismounts and steps forward ahead of the group, moving towards the turtle statue. Her head turns upwards somewhat as she looks over the mighty creature. Is she looking to obtain the blessing from the spirit, even though she is not the one bearing the relic?     No. The armored warrior spins around to face the other three of the party. As she raises her sword and shield towards them, her voice echoes from within her helmet, "I'm afraid that will be far enough. I am Arianrhod. And if you wish to obtain the power of this spirit, you will have to defeat me first." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' There is that odd feeling. Of moving from one place to another, then bursting through on the bicycle. Getting through the Shrine on the motorcycle is easy for Kupot, despite the fact he is far smaller than the motorcycle. When he comes to a stop at the end, it comes at a roaring skid. A leap off the motorcycle, then a stop as Arianrhod moves onward. It is always disconcerting to have Kupot stare at you. Because there are no pupils on his face. Just the insectile lens of his optics covering his normal eyes. He stares at Arianrhod, considering for a long moment, thinking out his words before, "You believe this is part of the program, kupo? Or are you trying to stop us?" Regardless, Kupot does not move first. His hand simply stays at the point at which his katana hangs from his belt. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      As they travel through the shrine and undoubtedly just runing the chance of any random encounters from sparking up. Both Miqo'te and Chocobo returns the gaze to the knight, the feline on top tilting his head at her when it strays too long on him. Well, that's a thing he'll have to ask about after this.      He dismounts, giving the Chocobo a gentle tap on the side. It chirps, then waddles off away from the center room.      "I kind of suspected as such something like this would've happened." The Red Mage says, reaching for his rapier to hold it, ready to draw. "I don't think that really matters either way, Kupot. She declared her intent, raised weapons."      The rapier flies to his hand, stepping back and brandishing it forward in a duelist's stance. "Then we shall fight it out!" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Ahead of their group is that armored woman from before, astride on a horse. She draws her weapons, and turns to face them. Guess they weren't finishing this relic without a fight. "...." Rean pauses for a moment. What was her deal, anyway? Did she want to help them with this or not? Either way, they needed her to move out of their way. Rean draws his own katana, and points it at Arianrhod. "Alright. Team Black Warriors Shrine, Let's do this!" 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod's own staring is probably a little strange feeling as well, given her helmet has no openings for her eyes to be seen. Or the rest of her face, for that matter. But stare at the moogle she apparently does as she thinks over his question.     "The latter for sure. However, I do not know enough about this world to say for certain that the former isn't true. Given that there appears to be no other foe here for you to fight, perhaps I am fulfilling a part in the script after all."     "If that is so..." Arianrhod spins her sword to plant the tip in the ground, moving her shield to attach to her arm. She then stands straight and places both hands on top of the sword's hilt. Her head turns, looking over the three in turn, before she says, "Then I suggest you attack. As your task is to obtain the blessing of the spirit. While mine is simply to delay you. And each second you wait, you help mine, while making your own more difficult."     Looks like this is what happens when you get noble spirits facing off against each other. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris tilts his head over at the rest of the party, from Kupot, Rean, then back to Arianrhod. His ears wriggles, flapping left, then right then flattening against his head. Noble spirits indeed but they ARE short on time here, she's right.      A long suffering sigh escapes from the Warrior of Light's lips, shaking his head.      "Alright." The Red Mage lets out, snapping the gem out of his rapier's hilt to make it float above his free hand, held back in a balancing act. "That's long enough, then!" In other words, he's bored. Not REALLY bored-bored, but this sort of anticipation just can only last so long.      Dark energies gathers from his gem as he squeeze it, swinging his rapier forward in a swing at empty space. A streak, curving arc of lightning shoots out at the Knight, followed by a thrust of his rapier.      A strong gust of cutting winds soars to clash against her. "Whatever the case, she's fighting, we're fighting, so let's do this thing!" 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot continues to stand. Waiting patiently. Moralizing here is circular. It is not just about the fact that he is trained to counter. But there is a loophole. Kupot takes the relic, and moves forward, heading towards the statue of the turtle. He simply does so with his hand nowhere near his katana. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' ...Well, this was awkward. No one was attacking first. Well, not until Amelris does. Rean rushes in, zipping past Arianrhod as his single strike blooms into many. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     That blast of wind is launched at Arianrhod. She doesn't move to evade it. Or to block it with her shields. She simply stands her ground. The winds strike her.     Arianrhod is forced to step back.     As the winds break away, Arianrhod returns to her original posture and then waits.     Although she does not visibly turn her head to look at the moogle trying to get past, Kupot will likely suspect that his actions are not being missed. Though Arianrhod does not immediately move to engage him.     It's is Rean's attack that actually gets the most response out of the armored woman. She brings her shield up to block the sword strike, sparks flying as the blade scrapes across the defense. In the same move, Arianrhod raises her sword with her other hand. Golden light begins to surround the weapon, at which point she drives it back down into the ground.     A blast of energy washes out from Arianrhod in all directions, looking to smash into all three and throw them away from her position and the statue towards the edge of the shrine room. Arianrhod then shifts into a proper combat stance, but still remains in her position, daring them to counter. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Moving enough to put his back to Arianrhod may not be wise, but it is her choice to pick such a tempting target. Not Kupot's. The hairs of his fur twitch, his pom shifts forward just slightly. He turns, though not in time, his short wakizaki out to cut into the wave. The brunt of the attack is moved, but not enough to keep Kupot from staggering back from the force of the blow. But he does not stop. As the blow strikes him, his other hand is moving. Just as the force passes him, Kupot's hand is moving in a blur. The katana swings out at such a force, that is drags the energy behind it, forcing it back towards Arianrhod. Kupot doesn't speak. He does not like this. This play fighting. But a world is at stake. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Yeah, obviously, it wasn't going to be that easy.      "Shite!" Amelris lets out, trying to bounce out of the way of the shockwave. It partially works, mostly resulting him to slam harder against the wall of the shrine. The Miqo'te gasps out, the air snapped out of his lungs as he slides down the wall. He grits his teeth, wiping spittle off his mouth with his sleeve. This wont be easy, wont it? Looks like they'll have to try some new stuff against this one foe. Maybe a bit creative.      He grabs his floating hand, slamming it against his rapier's hilt to form his improvised rod, dark energies gathering from his form. The wisps twists, contorting into well-formed circles, cubes as it fits to a new situation.      The energy explodes out on the knight, forming in a sort of formless miasma, crud and purple mist to seep into her armor. Another snap and what follows are clear splorch of green... /stuff/, wriggling and expanding outward. It's brief. It's almost instant but it sure to wreck havoc on her immune system. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Arianrhod's burst of light knocks Rean back, sending him skidding across the floor. Her shield's tough, and his sword merely scrapes across it. "Ugh...this is going to be tough. " Rean mutters. Arianrhod comments that if that's all he could do, they would never defeat her. "...." It wasn't all he could do, no. But as Amelris put it, they were just getting started. Rean sheaths his sword, and then rushes Arianrhod again. He then shifts his weight as a feint, hoping she'll move to block it. He'll then ignite his sword in blue flames, swinging to hopefully get some fire past her defenses. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Her own attack is utilized against her, Kupot sending that light right back towards Arianrhod. But she is apparently aware of it, spinning around to face the attack and bringing her sword up to cut through it. The energy dissipates, the remainder flashing against her armor which seems to endure it well enough. Arianrhod seems to approve of the attempt though as she says, "Impressive. That's never happened before."     There's no respite for Kupot though as Arianrhod charges forward towards him. She raises her blade over her head before bringing it down towards the moogle. Before jumping away to try and avoid a counterattack.     As she lands though, Arianrhod is caught in surprise by Amelris's magic. The energy hits her, before turning into a gross substance. Arianrhod's armor protects her from immediate harm by the poison, but soon it begins to seep into the thin openings between the plates. No doubt she'll start to feel its affects soon.     Turning to face the Red Mage, Arianrhod raises her sword to point at him, but doesn't close the distance. Instead, lightning begins to dance across the blade before quickly arcing out towards Amelris.     As Rean charges her, Arianrhod brings her blade around. She doesn't block with her shield as he intended. Instead she parries with her sword, trying to throw him off balance so she can swing her other arm to bash him with the attached shield before she steps away.     However, as she moves to regain a strong position, Arianrhod missteps for a moment. She coughs sickly, before raising her sword arm to see Rean's strange flames trying to melt through her armor. Arianrhod hmphs, "Better. But still not enough if you wish the blessing of the Black Warrior Spirit." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' With both wakizaki and katana, avoiding the blow completely comes easily. He catches the attack in the cross of the blades, shifting it again with each, only catching a bare cut across his face. This is not going to Kupot's liking. But he has... a second choice. The moogle flicks his fingers around, flipping the blades around towards himself and snaps them both down into their scabbards. With a twist, both blades lock in place, Kupot's hands drifting down to snap free the blades from their holsters. When he comes back forward, he wields both blades once more, but now within their scabbards. "Now we can begin, kupo." Kupot weaves in, using his superior speed, his MITHRIL enhanced body to stay on Arianrhod's flank, attacking her as she launches each attack, hammering on each blow, but instead of cutting, he uses his blades to jab, striking at joint, pressure point, and being generally a menace. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris stands up, staggering a bit. Casting these two spells with that much potency took a bit out of him -- which probably explains why the Lightning Bolt just SLAMS into his face, sending him slamming right against the wall again. The Red Mage coughs out, his tail and ears drooping low as he sinks to the ground for a moment.      "Son of a ..." He mutters under his breath, pushing himself back to his feet, his hand gripping his rapier tightly. His free hand swings into an arc, the gem separating from his weapon to land into his grip.      "Keep being worried about yourself and not us." Belthrone snaps back, swinging his blade into a wide, long curve ahead of him, thrusting through a small trail of crystaline light left behind. They grow, push out to form long crystal swords that are launched at the (mostly) immobile Knight, seeking to attack her from various angles. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur bursts in. Through a Gate, of course, then the entrance of the main chamber, skidding hard and slamming into a nearby wall as he struggles to slow himself. "Big error!" He shouts. "Everyone hold tight!" What has he alchemized to fix this? A big-ass potion bottle, full of some kind of exotic dirt. He slams it hard into the ground, and suddenly it induces an area-wide status effect. It's designed, it seems, not to do anything, but to clear things out. The Hero was never meant to fight The Hero, and it seems the warrior-testing nature of the area had some kind of /severe/ fuckup. "Better conditions!" He calls out; Arianrhod's supreme defensive prowess should find itself reduced, as the area loses a sense of pressure that was almost undetectable before. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean raises his sword to block the shields strike, but it's still hard enough leave him staggering a bit. He grunts, still trying to hold back her attack. ...Indeed, there were things he specifically could do, but...was it /safe/ for him to try that? Seems all the hesitation he had regarding that power mess was back again. What else could he do then? Maybe they needed to coordinate better, maybe?...This would be way easier if the other two had ARCUS units to link to his, but oh well.   Rean jumps back, pushing off of Arianrhod's shield to put a bit more distance in the jump. Rean dashes in again, running as quickly as he can as he tries to hit Arianrhod from as many angles as he could get around to. Could she block both him and Kupot at once? THey'd have to find out. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur's changes are comprehensive. ARIANRHOD finds herself abruptly aware of the pressure lifting off of her as well; since Arthur is here only to fix, to add stability, his efforts benefit her as well. The weird dirt potion seems to have granted her a bit of increased energy! He hardly seems to notice, but perhaps this might motivate her to not... you know, kill the bugfixer while he works. Because he's trying to stay out of the fight, /for once/, and is already hard at work on devising some other bugfix coming up... 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     It seems that the blunt damage from Kupot's sheathed attacks proves more effective, their impacts translating through Arianrhod's armour to hurt her within. And for a while, Arianrhod lets the moogle persist in his continued assault. Until finally she turns her focus on him once more. Her armoured boot moves swiftly in an attempt to try and kick Kupot away. But she doesn't finish there, raising her sword up over her shoulder, she swings it down and releases it, sending it spinning towards Kupot.     As Amelris launches his barrage of crystal swords at Arianrhod, the armored warrior spins around to bring her shield up. She snaps it around to intercept each before reaching her now free right hand to grab said shield. Detaching it from her arm, she twirls around, bringing the shield around and throwing it point first towards Amelris.     It doesn't bounce back to Arianrhod. Which is normal.     as Arthur suddenly appears from one of his gates, Arianrhod turns her head towards him. But she makes no move to engage him. Instead she says, "Understood. Then I shall stop holding back."     As Rean charges in with his repeated strikes, Arianrhod uses her gauntlet to block most of the blows. Up until the last one, which she catches in her grasp. While she holds Rean's blade with one hand, her other raises up into the air as if to grasp something.     That something appears with a flash of light. A large, white and golden ornate lance.     Gripping the the hilt of the lance, Arianrhod brings it swinging down towards Rean's side, attempting to smash it into him and knock him away. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot rolls with the blow. Getting kicked with the heavy boot hurts, but Kupot puts his side towards the blow, and then shifts his hips, rolling with the kick. He hits the ground hard, rolling, but dermal plating keeps him from breaking any bones. Then the sword hits him. It slices hard across his arm, but only bleeds as a flesh wound. His armor is under his skin. Which makes it harder to break. Unless have a trick up your sleeve. Kupot flicks his thumb across the blade of his sword. > Arianrhod > SUPLEX > METEOR STRIKE As the sword passes by, he grabs it between two scabbards and flicks it towards one of the statues. It slices clean through, dropping towards Kupot, who catches it on his arm, then his shoulder, rotating with the falling to shift the entire mass towards the soldier at full speed. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      The crystal swords don't do... well, anything, honestly. Was it not enough oomph into this thing? Arthur's help do make him feel better, as if a weight was off his shoulders. It's not quite enough to save him from being clocked by a swung shield right accross the face.      He falls off to the side, tumbling for a feet or two before springing back to his feet, gritting his teeth. He's getting beat up but gods.      "Lady Incredible Wall of Iron." Belthrone stiffles through his biting lips. "You are, indeed, quite formidable. Allow us to push further!"      This time, Amelris do not stay behind, flinging spells. He's gathered enough magic in himself to go for some more powerful strikes. He pinches the end of his rapier, the blade suddenly glowing with light and energy as he charges the Knight like an arrow, casting a spell much like before.      What follows is a flurry of thrusts, his blade powered by his magic to cut through stronger, pierce deeper, aimed at what Amelris perceives to be potential weak points in a full plate armor like her's, punctuating each strikes with a little bit of a Bio strikes to seep in further. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean gets a spear to the side, knocking all the wind out of his lungs and sending him skidding towards a nearby wall. He lets out a few coughs, hunched over. He then takes a few deep breaths, righting himself. Ok. Rean ignites his sword again, covered in blue flames once more. He then runs at Arianrhod again. putting as much weight as he possibly can into this next strike. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     The partial stone statue comes crashing down on Arianrhod from above. It knocks her head to the side and causes her to stumble. She grunts as she moves her free hand to her helmet. She shakes off the impact, her head turning to look in Kupots direction. Perhaps she's annoyed.     Arianrhod doesn't engage Kupot though, instead turning to face Amelris as he charges in. Those quick jabs don't do a lot on their own, but they begin to add up quickly. Especially with the added bio set to seep in through the plate armour's openings.     Eventually Arianrhod gains a footing to return an attack against Amelris. But she is interupted by Rean's charge, coming in quickly as he is after the Red Mage. The blade strike comes down on Arianrhod's shoulder, causing her drop down to one knee from the impact.     But the armored warrior doesn't stay down for long. Her free hand rushes up to grab at Rean's wrist. She pulls him down towards her, rising at the same time so her shoulder meets him in the gut. She then proceeds to lift him up over her, spinning around and then launching him towards Kupot to hopefully crash into the moogle.     Arianrhod then turns her attention towards Amelris. An aura of power washes over Arianrhod. The others likely able to feel the power, it's not obviously apparent what it does... But she crouches down and raises her lance to point straight towards the Red Mage. The same light she channeled through her sword earlier appears around the lance. But this time it's much stronger.     Arianrhod pushes off the ground, lunging towards Amelris, attempting to spear the lance through him. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot leaps. It is harsh, but he steps carefully over Rean, putting one of his feet on the man's shoulder. Luckily, Kupot doesn't weigh much. He steps up again on the statue as it topples over, launching himself at Arianrhod. He dives around her spear dive, slamming a short scabbard at her side as he slides past. His foot slides out, picking up one of the broken pieces of statue, and flings it out at Arianrhod from behind. Again and again, he steadily throws out his attacks, becoming the distraction, rather than the executioner he has been before. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is very much focused on the fight, his thrusts and throwing his small bio spells at the tip of his weapon. It seems to be doing some good work against the Knight. When she pulls off that power, the Red Mage is looking precisely up at her lance, his eyes widening. He know something big is happening. Something painful is coming his way. At first, he raise his rapier to meet with the lance, pushing himself against it to propell himself away -- but no. There's too much strength. It bats away his lance. Then she leaps.      Then she impales him. The lance goes right through him, pinning him through the back of the wall, blood spraying everywhere from the impact.      Wait... That's... not how it happens... Is that what would have happened?      In that briefest, snap moment, Amelris's conciousness snaps back to reality after this vision of a very gruesome death ahead of him. He thought he could parry or dodge around this attack. He can't. He have to time this right. The lance goes up. He feels the power, the same power he felt/saw ahead. She's going to leap.      She does.      This time, he faces the problem dead-on, leaping on the spear itself to land his feet on it's horizontal length, sliding clean accross it to deliver a firm boot to the face as he vaults right off it, landing a few feets away, catapulting a barrage of lightning on the arc down. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean gets a shoulder to the gut, and gets thrown at Kupot. Kupot is agile enough to jump off him instead though, leaving Rean to roll over and right himself. He flinches a bit at the power aura, knowing that things just got a whole lot harder. Still he dashes towards her again, launching into another flurry of strikes as he rushes past and around her. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod finds the target of her powerful attack jumping not away, but onto her lance. Although it can't be seen through the helmet, there is a surprised look on Arianrhod's face. Surprised that the Red Mage was able to dodge so deftly.     Of course, said surprised face is then proceeded to be kicked, though thankfully the helmet keeps it from being too injuring of a blow. The lightning blast also hits, dancing across the warriors armour and causing her to grunt in pain.     Arianrhod stumbles backwards from the face kick, only for Kupot to get a solid hit in to the back of Arianrhod's neck with that piece of statue debris. There's no resulting clang, the stone striking flesh beneath the long golden hair of the warrior. It's apparently one of the few places not covered by armour.     Arianrhod stumbles forward from the blow, giving Rean an opening to charge in with his strikes. She manages to raise her lance up to partially block the blows, but Rean capitalizes on her unsteady position to get some good strikes in. But finally Arianrhod manages to recover, jumping away to get some distance from Rean as she prepares her own counterattack.     Lightning begins to ark over her lance as she closes her eyes for a moment and speaks, "Thunder of the roiling heavens..." She raises her lance to point up into the air, lightning blasting upwards in that direction. She then opens her eyes and cries out, "Fall to the battlefield!"     Identical blasts of lightning all rain down on Kupot, Amelris and Rean. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Can Kupot deflect lightning? Absolutely. Can Kupot deflect a whole TON of lightning? Nnnnnnn The flash roars around Kupot, two bolts of it flicking around. His pom suddenly flares with blue light, the light tattoos on it exploding as they overload. One of his optics erupts as the lightning strikes it. Muscles contract violently, painfully, and Kupot staggers. But he still has his hand on the blade. And he takes both blades, flicking them out to redirect a sudden force of lightning at Arianrhod. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      This time, no visions of the echo comes to Amelris' aid. The first time was startling enough, anyway.      The lightning crashes down on the redmage, this time striking him quite cleanly from the very top of his head and conducting all the way down. It ripples and scorches his clothes, the tip of his ears burns up and his tail's fur stands up on end into a large PUFF.      But he's still standing. Somehow.      Still, he rallies. The Red Mage stumbles back, spinning his rattling hands together as he unleashes a small wave of energy at the knight. Two large blasts, purple and red pettering at her. He's building up to something. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean takes the lightning head on, scorching his uniform and hair. He lets out a cry, as he's fried. He takes a few steps forward...and then collapses, unable to go one anymore. He couldn't- they couldn't- They'd be fine right? Kupot and Amelris could finish this without him, right? 'Sorry, Shyra, I4.' Rean thinks, as he passes out. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     One down. Two to go.     Arianrhod drops down to one knee once more as part of her lightning is redirected right back at it. It courses through her armour and body. Just because she can summon it, doesn't make it any less harmful to her.     But finally the lightning passes and Arianrhod is able to stand once more. Her head quickly turns in Amelris's direction, seeing him preparing more spells. The waves of energy are unleashed at her. She's able to bring her lance around, slashing twice into each as it glows with its light, dispersing both before they can do much harm.     Arianrhod begins to walk menacingly towards Amelris, apparently set on focusing on him. Kupot is not ignored though, the warrior's helmet briefly turning in his direction.     Arianrhod's hand suddenly whips out, a small piece of statue flying through the air quickly, picked up when she had fallen to her knee. It's aimed for the moogle's forehead, but likely isn't much more than an annoyaance.     Arianrhod instead turns her head back towards Amelris, quickly raising her lance up over her shoulder, before swinging it down diagonally as she gets in range. The bladed tip threatens to slice through Amelris. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is not the kind of Adventurers that just slam his face straight into harm, usually. Laugh at danger, sure. Do daring sweeping acrobatics, yes. Swashbuckling? Hell yeah.      He's not the kind usually, especially lately, to throw himself at a lance, slicing through his side to flood his already red clothes with more crimson of his blood just to get in a better position in front of the Knight. Yet, that's just what he did.      The Miqo'te lets out a roar of defiance, his glowing sword trailing him behind him, pointed and poised into a straight, narrow stance. He screams over the distance, the lance's impact barely impacting him despite the damage.      The blade, glowing and singing in the air, push int against previously made holes, thanks to the Bio spells he did. His blade flash with movement, relentless in enervating against already annoying wounds. The energy inside the blade sears, powered behind his considerable amount of magical energy and the balance within him. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' The piece of statue is batted away by the scabbard. Kupot is flagging, but his arms almost work by themselves. Years of muscle memory ingrained into his body. "I don't like this, kupo. But this world needs saving. And you, kupo, should be proud for playing your role in the face of danger." He slides both swords back down into his belt, grasping the sword. The orange gem flickers. Physics are maleable by magic. They can shift. Momentum, for instance, can be granted, by the power of ancient heroes. So that when Kupot moves, he takes a step forward, and his leap is like a freight train, arm out. A single powerful attempt to grab Arianrhod. And use the wall behind her as the weapon. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     The charge into the lance may have resulted in Amelris being struck hard, but it gives him the reach he needs to plunge that blade into one of the sections of Arianrhod's armour that has weakened. Arianrhod grunts, lowering her lance after her strike. Her other hand reaches down to grab the blade that had managed to penetrate. With a quick yank she pulls it out.     Blood begins to trickle out of the hole in the armor.     Arianrhod throws the held blade away, though not necessarily strong enough to force it from Amelris's grasp. But before Arianrhod can counter, Kupot comes flying in from behind.     Arianrhod is grabbed from behind and forced into a nearby wall with a crunch. Part of the wall crumbles where the front of Arianrhod's helmet had met it. She is still for several moments...     Arianrhod's lance glows with light, a larger, phantom version of it appearing around it. Her hand whips it around behind her without looking. The actual weapon threatens to strike Kupot behind her, while a wave of light is unleashed by the swing and sweeps towards Amelris further away. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Of course, this kind of manuvering DO have it's price.      The Red Mage get unceremoniously SLAMMED by the wave of light unleashed by the phantom whip. His body slams against the wall and, this time, he do not get back up immediatedly. "Ugggn..." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' The lance drives harshly into Kupot's chest, driving in through the dermal armor, pushing all the way in through. He grasps it harshly, but he still doesn't remove his swords from their scabbard. This is a game, a show, a play. He will not use their sharp edges in an effort to cut someone's life down. Blood pours down from his mouth, and his single glacier blue eye stares up at Arianrhod. "I refuse to stop, kupo. It would be worthy to die to save this world." He holds the lance in tight, struggling to get the energy to launch another attack. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod extracts her helmet from the hole in the wall, taking a somewhat unsteady step backwards. She then slowly spins to face Kupot, keeping the pressure up with her lance. Her free hand moves to cover the hole in her armour that her life blood is leaking from.     Arianrhod's helmet turns to look in Rean's direction. Then in Amelris's. Then finally to the struggling Kupot.     In what is probably a sudden surprise, the lance disappears with the same flash of light that it arrived. It might throw off the Moogle's balance for a moment, but Arianrhod does not attempt to engage in said moment.     Arianrhod replies, her tone a little tired, "Doing so would mean failure. These two could not claim the blessing, having known defeat in this shrine. You however..." Arianrhod considers for a moment, then finishes, "There is surprising strength in your small stature. I do believe you will succeed."     Arianrhod turns, beginning to head towards the room's exit where she left her horse. She calls back to the moogle though, "Make your offering to the spirit. And know that I look forward to our next clash. Perhaps in a situation more befitting of a proper duel." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris raise a hand from where he's currently in a heap, his hat covering his bloodied face.      "We were a /party/ and we won together as a group, lady!" The Miqo'te corrects, index waggling weakly at the knight lady. "Thaaaaaaat's how it works!" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean lets out a few coughs, sorta kinda waking up now. He weakly does a fist pump in the air to Amelris' words. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur wastes no time. A fresh Gate. He'll physically lift these folks with his magely noodle arms if he has to, to get that relic into blessing position. But his Gate is up, and before Haseo can get at them, he intends to be gone. This is down to the wire, down to the /very edge/ of things. So he /books it/. Focus, focus, focus. Not even any goofy coolkid-isms. This is not the time or place for that -- or indeed, for much of anything but making sure to leave the latter to survive to see more of the former. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' Finally, the enemy takes their leave. When the group approaches the chelonian Black Warriors Statue, the eyes flare with energy. IT WAS A MIGHTY BATTLE. YOU HAVE PROVEN WORTHY. STEP FORTH, HEROES. I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF MY POWER SO YOU MAY GO FORTH AND PRESERVE THIS WORLD. Once someone approaches and holds up the Black Warriors Relic, the object is suffused with energy of the appropriate color. With it comes the power of EARTH, able to project elemental attacks of that type or suffuse the bearer's weapon with the element. AND NOW I MAY FINALLY REST. GO FORTH, HEROES. EMBRACE YOUR DESTINY. The entire Shrine begins to rumble and crack, the place beginning to collapse in on itself... Oh snap, was that a load-bearing blessing? 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' Finally, the enemy takes their leave. When the group approaches the chelonian Black Warriors Statue, the eyes flare with energy. IT WAS A MIGHTY BATTLE. YOU HAVE PROVEN WORTHY. STEP FORTH, HEROES. I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF MY POWER SO YOU MAY GO FORTH AND PRESERVE THIS WORLD. Once someone approaches and holds up the Black Warriors Relic, the object is suffused with energy of the appropriate color. With it comes the power of WATER, able to project elemental attacks of that type or suffuse the bearer's weapon with the element. AND NOW I MAY FINALLY REST. GO FORTH, HEROES. EMBRACE YOUR DESTINY. The entire Shrine begins to rumble and crack, the place beginning to collapse in on itself... Oh snap, was that a load-bearing blessing? It's okay, Arthur's got this. 
}}

7084/LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Central Shrine)

2020-02-15T14:31:26Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/14 |Location=The World R:2 |Synopsis=A desperate band of heroes works to keep Haseo distracted and away from the others as they work to emp..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/14
|Location=The World R:2
|Synopsis=A desperate band of heroes works to keep Haseo distracted and away from the others as they work to empower the Relics. The plan has some problems.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 7132, 33, 7015, 7175, 6
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The world is on the verge of destruction.     Beams of colored light surge into the endless sky. To the East, blue. To the West, white. To the North, black, to the South, red.     And in the Center, a brilliant ray of yellow. The land around the Ruined Shrine has been slowly twisting, the trees and plains becoming dark. Within that area, the encounter tables have shifted into endgame monster encounters, the environment becoming intensely hostile as horrible and deformed creatures stalk the churning land.     Across the entire world, the same music plays, just as it has been since the seal was broken.     BGM: https://youtu.be/ICwnlNitmUw     In desperation, a plan has been enacted: To force open the paths to the other three Relics, so the Blessings of the Spirits can be brought to bear upon Haseo to help counter the power he derives from the Evil God. The Vimana flies across the skies, stopping near each location as Shyra opens steps forward.                           DEV TOOLS > FLAG EDITOR                               Things subtly shift in each location. A red stain appears outside the Red Birds Shrine. The Princess vanishes from her position in the White Tigers Shrine as she appears deep within, the doors unlocking. The Black Warriors Shrine collapses in on itself a couple times, and Shyra gets an embarassed look on her face before it uncollapses itself, the Shrine shimmering back into position.     There are FOUR GROUPS, each with a task:     The CENTER group is dedicated towards distracting Haseo and keeping him from directly intervening to stop the other groups. They are not to get stuck into battle so Haseo can't invoke any of his instant kill attacks, so stay mobile and abuse any mechanics and intel necessary. Haseo, however, knows what's going on and will be dispatching opponents to interfere to several locations.     The WEST group is to descend into the WHITE TIGERS SHRINE in order to acquire the blessing of the WHITE TIGERS SPIRIT. MORDRED has been dispatched here to intervene. Besides, she had an appointment here anyway.     The NORTH group is to enter the BLACK WARRIOR SHRINE in order to acquire the blessing of the BLACK WARRIORS SPIRIT. A MYSTERIOUS BACKER has come here in order to stop the heroes.     The SOUTH group is travelling to the flying RED BIRDS SHRINE in order to acquire the blessing of the RED BIRDS SPIRIT. Shyra drops that group off. Because of fiddling with flags, no one seems to be required to actually die this time, and Linehart isn't here. However, that means the TRUE CONTENTS of the Shrine are UNKNOWN... 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' Those that come with I4, well...they don't go to the same place as the others.  Instead, they're told to go to 'The World:R2' And to take the warp gate to Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.  Entering the cathedral will find I4 setting a few things up, including a strange data entity in the center of the room.  He motions for people to get out of sight because the moment the target comes through...well.   Haseo gets a shortmail, the sender is 'corrupted', but the picture of the source seems to be a distorted image of the entity that he would know as 'Tri-Edge' and simply a location of the place of their last conflict, Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.   Backing off, I4 would move to take cover as well.  Finishing the last bit of the trap.  The data entity takes shape.  It is a strange blue-haired man, with twin blades in each hand.  His outfit is orange, and his eyes are...dead.  Devoid of life and seemingly filled with an animalistic desire to kill.  Surrounding him is a strange blue flame, and the sounds he makes are just animalistic hisses.   That would be the sight Haseo would see the moment he entered the Cathedral itself. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra, after getting everyone dropped off, rushes back to I4's side and helps him. She is part of the reason why this is happening, she feels responsible... And that means she is part of the most dangerous part of the operation.     She might be needed. She is a Holy Healer, after all.     She follows along with I4 to the other strange world. Something about it feels... right to her, but she runs along with the others, her gaze sweeping over the strange, vital game world... And then they are taken to a Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.     Shyra does as instructed and hides, ducking behind the altar, shuddering a little as she sees the fearsome data construct. Is this what is going to bring Haseo? 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur remains aboard the ship, just for now. He looks tense, uncertain. He has brought aboard his ALCHEMITER and its assorted PUNCHCARD ALCHEMY APPARATUSES. Regarding the DEV TOOLS uneasily, he winces a bit and shakes his head. That... unnerves him, deeply, for various reasons. As, himself, a native of game worlds, such a thing is profoundly unsettling, to say the least.     He's already cranking out some CRUXITE DOWELS from the CRUXTRUDER to ready up. He'll need to flit between locales, or so his plan goes, to alchemize content from content to fill in unloaded, missing chunks.     "God, fuck, how do you look at that shit?" Arthur says, as he finishes punching another card to prep. "I sure as hell couldn't stand having something like that jammed in my menu all the time. Jegus, must be hell." So averse to infinite power, this god. He preps a spirographic GATE, awaiting the first call of some dire missing content, some miscalculated damage numeral. His breathing is irregular, forced into a relaxed state just to calm himself down. He stays there until she disembarks, and stays there even longer. He'll be holding here with his alchemy gear for now, not joining them in The World.     "Alright. Let's turn a plan into a win." He's saying it to build his own confidence, not to build anyone else's. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Gets the @mail. Tri-Edge, of all the times it had to be now? What the hell was Yata doing, he was suppose to be keeping an eye out and alerting him when he shows up. But there's none of that... Just mail from the presumed murder. A normal person might suspect it to be a trap. Hell, Haseo's pretty sure he's getting played in some manner...      But even still. On the off chance it really is Tri-Edge, he'd never forgive himself if he let this chance slip by.      So Haseo's left. He leaves the throne room, and temporarily, the role of Evil God. Just to confront the man.      He enters the door, revealing to everyone inside that he is indeed, just NORMAL Haseo, before attempting to assault the fake Tri-Edge.      He may be a lower level than last time, but Skeith gives him an edge. How, he's not sure. His stats are definitely still lower, but he feels more equipped to deal with it.      There's a flash of light as Haseo pulls out a broadsword from nowhere, the teeth on it spinning as he just aims to slap the approaching Fake Tri-Edge out of the way.      "TRI-EDGE!"      It's not going to be a repeat of last time. He's going to win. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' Haseo flies at the 'Totally Legit Tri-edge'.  It even looks up at him, it starts to raise its blade, to do the stupid deflection trick it did when they first fought.  However, Haseo's savage and angry strikes appear to be /too much/ for it, and the blade cuts down the center of Tri-Edge in a decisive victory. That was until the doors and the walls of the Cathedral glew with data that marks a lockout on it, in the lockout is a picture of I4 in 8-bit texture holding a stop sign at Haseo.   "Gettem!" I4 says, popping up and shooting a blast of electrical magic at the back of Haseo's character model, like a jerk.  "Huh, I can't believe that worked, I guess that guy wasn't selling me an igloo at Florida man's house. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna frankly considers herself to be amongst sorcerors utilising deep magicks well beyond her ken. She's both right and wrong, but what matters now is an urgent feint to keep attention off the other three groups they've deployed. That much, she can readily understand. And do. Concealed behind a pillar, she wordlessly mouths a prayer, holding the BLUE DRAGONS RELIC tightly to her chest while they wait for Haseo to take the bait. When I4 leaps out from his concealment to take a potshot, Alruna bursts into motion. Running behind the pillars that support the cathedral's cavernous interior, she throws out her arm, sending her kite shield in a curving spin towards Haseo from the opposite side. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra almost screams as Tri-Edge is cloven apart almost right over her head. However, this puts her in a good position to pop up at the signal. Haseo... I'm sorry! She says, moments before she unleashes her most powerful weapon!                                     BIND                                         That's right! Haseo isn't undead so she's just spamming CC at him. Even now, she doesn't want to kill him. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' A Nan said to Tomoe recently? How many people had you saved with your power? When she was in a low place doubting herself. It had put things in perspective a bit better for her. She had things she could do that other people could not. She kept that in mind before what was to be done today after all Haseo had proven to live up to his nickname the Terror of Death. She is keenly aware that directly fighting Haseo. It would be more hit and run, a game of rocket tag where Haseo wasn't the one made of paper. They had to keep him busy so he could not directly interfere with the shrines. Tomoe was aware there were somethings thing she could not full-on face tank, Haseo was one of those things. She had signed up with I4's part of the plan and was doing her best to be in hiding. She'd been to THE WORLD before, she was keen to listen laying in wait hiding inside the Chruch. She waits sword in hand and shield ready, knowing it's only a matter of time with Haseo making his presence known? She follow ALurna and I4 out of concealment and will blitz across the room and much the same as Alruna she throws her shield at Haseo. She does not stop moving and vaults over several pews a she goes. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur notes something of tremendous concern on one of his exotic spellcircles. He slams several cards in quick succession, carves something exotic out of an elaborate cylinder of crystal, and manifests a series of duplicate flag terminations -- duplicate pieces from a doorway threshold, it looks like. This is flesh and blood, not code, so all he can use is something like ritual parts, he can't change reality itself.     He moves as fast as he can to dive through the Gate. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      The Fake Tri-Edge falls all too easily, and Haseo realizes at this instance, that yet he has been set up. He has no idea how they found out about what Tri-Edge looks like, or even this is where he tends to show up, but he's not happy.      I4 gets him with a blast of electricity in the back, causing Haseo to stagger back as he quickly tries to face the direction of his attackers. Then Tomoe and Alruna come running out, throwing their shield at the Adept Rogue. He quickly brings up his sword to deflect Tomoe's, but it leaves him open for the second shield, resulting in his face getting pelted with a long THUNK. At the very least, despite the awful noise, the only thing that seems to be left on him is a bright red mark.      And then Shyra comes out with the binds. It snares the Terror of Death, and he just sneers.      "Tch. You think this is all a funny joke, don't you? WELL, I'M NOT LAUGHING!"      Haseo stands up, fighting the the bind as lights up with the all too familiar runes.      "SKEITH!"      And then he's gone, in a flash a light he's replaced with the massive, stone-like monster from before. At the very least, it seems different. It has two arms instead of a dozen, and it's a bit smaller than usual.      It doesn't make it any less of a pain. There's a loud, inhuman roar from Skeith. It holds out a hand, firing a spray of bullets at the party before it starts phasing in and out of sight.      It eventually positions itself behind Shyra before bringing its massive scythe down on the healer with not all the intent to do as much damage as possible. He's not messing around still, even without his 'buffs'. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' "Shyra, watch out!" I4 shouts towards his friend, who he has to watch get plastered.  I4 gets /mad/, but unlike others, he turns his anger into thinking.  He doesn't get away from himself, he needs to draw Haseo's wrath towards him.  Hopefully, he'll forget she can restore them.  With a breath, he tries to think out his plan. "No, if this was going to be a joke, it'd be funnier.  What this is, is me proving my point.  That just because we couldn't beat you then, didn't mean we couldn't beat you period.  There are many apparently that would see your downfall, and they passed that knowledge to me," I4 says, firmly.   Bullets fly down, and I4 tries to deflect them with his blade as he charges the figure.  A few smack into him, each shot shreds a bit of his health away, but he just forces it.  His teeth grit as he runs towards the Avatar, and dashes towards the creature with his rapier. Lightning surges around the blade, as he attempts to repeatedly strike at the creature with thrusts, before leaping away with a backflip, blade held at the ready as he gets ready.  Come on, focus right on me.   "You've lost, and your own failure made it possible.  In a sentence, you are as predictable as yesterday's weather," Hopefully TAUNT was multiclass. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra wasn't laughing. She wasn't laughing at all. In fact, when Skeith comes out again, she stares at the thing, her staff wavering in her hands.     A moment later, Skeith is behind her. Once again, it cleaves through her with a murderous swing of the scythe.                                     464!                                         Shyra's HP bar doesn't instantly vanish, but it does drop /precipitously/ as she is critically hit. Blood splatters the stones as she falls to her knees, gasping and crying in pain... But she falls back, scrambling behind her more durable allies as she desperately begins spreading healing magics across Alruna, mitigating the damage she receives in a way that the Paladin likely finds familiar.     We can do it... She gasps, holding together as she continues to work to sap the energy and motion of the Terror of Death. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is thankful for I4's support in this fight as she knows how hard Haeso can hit. "I'm not laughing either." She sees Shyra has already come under attack by Haseo and then something else happens. A terrifying stone golem thing appears before her and the rest of the party. What the heck is that thing? She has no idea, what it is. The strange cry rattles her a bit, but not for long. Given the strange bullets, it starts firing at her. Tomoe thanks in part for I4's support and her own abilities is able to deflect a good deal of the damage. With her shield taking the brunt of the hit shield but it's making to target Shyra and try to cut her down with a scythe. She leaps up bounding of the wall into the air, wings sprout from her back and she flies up a bit. The wings are bright red angular and one can see through them like coloured glass. She will buzz Skeith launching into several attacks making a go for it's 'head' and shoulders trying to keep it off balance long enough for Shyra to catch a breather, Tomoe flies up the kicks off the ceiling and land in another part of the Cathedral before getting on the move again, either leaping, bounding or flying as she goes. She just ain't sitting still. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna lifts her shield to defend herself, the familiar rattle of bullets ringing in her ears as they hammer on the metal. "Shyra!" Alruna vaults over the pews to defend her from Skeith, slapping it backwards with a backhanded swing of her shield. She's still carrying the relic in her sword hand, glowing with a solid outline of light. "Keep your mind here and now. You have to trust the others!" she reminds the healer. Alruna takes a deep breath, the pixelated water effects rising around her torso and focusing into a point just in front of her face. Her cheeks puff out as she blows the magic, like a dragon spitting fire, at Skeith, trying to infect it with a debilitating poison.                                     WOODSIN 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Shyra continues to try and sap at Skeith's strength. While it clearly isn't immune, there's a lot of Skeith in both the literal and metaphorical sense. It's working though, it's clearly slowing down, if slowly.      Alruna casts a spell, it's a spell they've never heard of, and it clearly is aimed to debilitate it. It also clearly /hurts/ but whatever the effects of the poison may be, it's clear that Skeith's capability of persisting outdoes the poison. Even as the purple numbers tick above its head.      Then I4 and Tomoe attempt to attack head on. There's the sound of clanking metal as Skeith, despite its size, is more than capable of matching I4's blows. Though it's clear that it's not completely concerned with its safety, as some of their attacks get through, stabbing through the massive monster's 'skin' and exposing the wireframe beneath.      "Yeah? Well, I don't need The Evil God to beat chumps like you, so I really don't know what you're trying to prove!"      As he's responding to that, Tomoe gets the chance to do her sick parkour tricks. Her blade cuts through Skeith rather easily, bisecting through its arm and shoulder. That should have stuck, and it does for a moment, but it eventually fixes itself, it reverts to what it was in the health department. But it does something, if only because it lets out an annoyed roar.      There's another flicker as it repositions itself behind I4, crouching down to his level as it shoves the shaft of its scythe into the android's backside before disappearing yet again.      It's in front of the entire party now, on top of the empty altar. There's another roar as the scythe disappears from its grip, both hands hovering over the rest of the group as it lets out another storm of energy bullets. No concern for accuracy, just a complete bullet hell as it tries to cover every possible inch. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' This is terrible. Skeith is wrecking them even without the power of the Evil God Discordia. Shyra's resolve is threatening to waver in the face of this absurd amount of firepower. The energy bullets achieve COMPLETE BATTLEFIELD SATURATION as Shyra attempts to create a magical barrier to forestall them.     It doesn't. The barrier shatters, and Shyra is blasted by the bullets. Again, numbers appear over her head:                                     265!                                         It's like the Terror of Death doesn't like healers or something. Shyra falls over, collapsing against a pew as she struggles to maintain focus... And what makes that hopefully simple enough is the back of Alruna. A familiar sight, the back of a powerful hero who can defend her...     And she grits her teeth. We have to hold out... We have to believe... in the miracle. She grimaces. We have to believe in our friends... All of them... Fighting for my world!     But she's fading fast. She knows she is. Therefore, there's something she is going to do right now before Haseo has the chance to take her out completely. She turns to Alruna... Glory of the brightest light... Shine down on this soul, and guide them along the path of valor once more! A pause. I believe in you, Alruna. You can do it.                                         LIFE                                         Alruna is promptly invigorated by a glowing beam of incandescent energy, refilling her reserves... Will it be enough? 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' The scythe handle comes down for the back of I4's back.  He kicks off the ground just in time, flipping over a pew, right as the handle collides with the side of his chest, as opposed to the center of his back.  Flying, he flips mid-air to correct his momentum and skids to a stop, the blindfolded kid staring up at the monstrous stone figure.   "Really?  Because right now you're looking a little hurt from this position, and you keep going after the least defended.  Sounds like to me you're scared of losing.  No, not scared.../terrified/.  Imagine that, the Terror of Death is /terrified/ of losing.  It'd be funny if it weren't so sad," he continues to comment, trying to get Haseo to do something stupid. Pushing his hands to the ground itself comes alive, as data shoots out of the ground to try and impale Skeith.  This is followed by various blasts of data attempting to punch their way into the data of the Avatar, as I4 simply tries to do whatever he can to destroy the defenses and health data of the creature.   "You might be the Terror of Death here, but I am beyond Terror.  You walked into my trap, where my rules are enforced.  You are separated from your power, while my allies make their move.  Even if you leave here...you already lost," This is followed by data violently (or attempting to) violent explode across the Avatar.  "This is why you were incapable of wielding that power.  Not because you could not, but because your mind is here, in this place.  You don't have the same desire to win there as here, while that woman you keep trying to kill will do anything to save her world from its fate...and we will do anything to support her." "You lost the moment you put anything else before you attempt to take power over that world.  You probably lost long before that." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna is going to get bruised to hell and back, even with the mitigation of Shyra's healing. Skeith's energy bullets pepper her plate armour, as well as her shield, only modestly denting the metal but the most reliable way to hurt a fully armoured knight is through sheer force of impact and Skeith's got bullets for days. The paladin stands up under the withering assault and runs forward into the storm of bullets while Shyra behind her attempts to invest her remaining energy into the paladin. Alruna's legs pump harder, surging into Skeith with every onze of strength she can muster. The relic isn't in her hand anymore. She returns to a more familiar weapon. Just a sword. Just her sword. Glowing with aether, Alruna jumps, propelling herself higher into the air than she intended. Making a surprised sound, she flails, trying to twist herself around into position as she nearly scrapes the ceiling of the cathedral. The radiant magic surrounding her is sucked into her sword, illuminating and amplifying the blade as she brings it crashing down on Skeith with the force of... well, a JRPG protagonist executing a limit break. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The battle keeps going, one of the other teams report in the Red Shrine is clear. That's very good news, it means so far they pulled off part of the operation now they just need to hold Haseo off a little longer. OR whatever this thing /is/. She can see the damage they are hurting it but hurting is no stopping it. Nore is it an assurance of delaying Haseo long enough to let the others finish their missions. as the bullet rain down on her she wades through the storm. They hit her they do damage her leaving red angry wireframes where they strike and she keeps on moving. More good news she's able to get a few defence buffs up on I4 as she's on the move hopefully that will help him pull through this. Seeing Shyra and Alruna are still up she's confident they at least last a little longer before they need to fall back. She will take the weapon in hand again and flies right at Haseo trying to impale whatever he's become and drive at him full force intend to impale him and maybe even dive him into one of the walls. At the very least this should get his attention. "I'm NOT DONE YET!" 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      The attacks all connect into Skeith. Between Shyra's Green DPS and the tank's refusal to aggro the floor. The avatar staggers, taking a moment to catch its breath against its scythe as the wielder is clearly running out of steam.      And then I4 makes his speech, and his trap is sprung. Haseo doesn't even get to make a comeback as the ground sprouts data to attack them.      There's a loud yelp from Haseo as it burrows into Skeith's model, the massive monster flailing before suddenly giving up. The three glowing eyes on its face dim out. That's it, that's a wrap. Even with Skeith, four against one is-      N O T Y E T      Haseo's in a dark place. He doesn't know where, but given the three glowing eyes, he has a good idea. He yells and scream to be let out, but he's not in control anymore. The Terror Of Death is.      The lifeless Skeith, despite its deteriorating state, springs to life once more, the once dead eyes burning even brighter as it grabs the chains of data with an empty hand, crushing it with surprising ease before letting out a deafening roar.      The Cathedral shakes as there's a completely different atmosphere in the room. This is no longer a fight to win. It's a fight for one's life. Two massive arms are thrown out towards Shyra and I4, the limbs stretching and extending to reach them as it attempts to lift them high before throwing them hard into the ground below with a complete disregard for their safety.      Once that's done, it flickers around. It's a lot more erratic, a lot less directed. It's a different pattern than Haseo, or probably any sane person would make, that's for sure. It appears once again behind the two tanks, scythe in hand.      It swings. It's a wide arc, it covers stupid amounts of room given the arena they're in. It also doesn't stop at one swing. It swings twice. It swings three times. It swings well past the point where you'd have to, until its winded itself again and pauses to recuperate. It doesn't care. It just wants to cause damage. Wants to drag everyone down with it before it too, has to fade away again. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 could feel that they were nearly there.  Maybe if they could beat him here it could effect Shyra's world a little more?  Maybe I4 was getting too greedy for his plan.  Whatever the case, he was shooting for the best outcome.   Of course, he didn't count for what happened next.  Something...changed.  The Avatar wasn't behaving like it was when Haseo was in control.  He calls out towards the others to warn him.  He tries to move but before he can the hands of the Avatar stretch out towards him.   He tries anything to get out of it, even as the chains of his hacking are broken.  Even as he's smashed into the ground and beaten until... I4 ends up on the ground, his right arm and leg are gone, torn off from the force of the attack.  Chunks of metal stick out of the sockets and spark.  He doesn't look like he's going to be moving anytime soon, or conscious. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Shyra was holding out. She did everything she can. She believed. She hoped for the miracle.     Maybe the miracle will come... But it doesn't need her for that, unfortunately. She already played her part. Even as she reinvigorates Alruna, Skeith strikes past and grabs her. She only has time to scream for a moment before she is smashed right into the floor, shattering a pew and crunching into the ground.     She is brutalized... But she will live, with some attention. Hopefully.     No one really wants to force a Game Over, right? RIGHT? Just leave the healer to bleed out for a bit. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Is it over? Did they put down Haseo for the moment? She's almost hopeful that it's over. She will take one step forward to what it seems to be the fallen monster. She's not entirely foolish she intends to make sure this is over. Tomoe has to make sure Haseo is down, she's not going to be satisfied she's certain he's down. Being on guard for that is the only thing that saves he she springs to action as the lifeless Skeith arises once more, and something is happening here, the world shakes the massive monster is still attacking almost at random. Tomoe parries some of the attacks parried a few but they keep coming. Her HP bar is being eaten away and sings of injury are showing up. There's also a danger she might lose her avatar state. Even a momentary lapse would be a likely death sentence for her. She's got to push it hard and to her horror, her abilities are not enough to keep I4 safe and Shyra has fallen as well. Something cracks it can be heard in her voice. "SHYRA! I4!" There's a look on Tomoe's face that's pretty murderous and she launches at Haseo or whatever it is. She's being borderline wreckless here as she's trying to keep in Haseo's grill and she's clearly not pulling punches. She very likely will try to finish him off if she's able to. She's putting all the power she can into her blows, as she's just trying to rip whatever this is apart with as much damage as she can muster. Letting out a wordless cry of anger as she does and keeps up her assault. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna lands on the floor with a thunderous crash, jumping backwards to defend herself and Shyra - Skeith is faster, however, and Alruna watches helplessly as the healer is thrown about like a rag doll. Hurling her shield at the arm does nothing to dissuade it from its grisly work. The scythe punches through her armour, sending in arc of blood splattering on the mirror-polished flagstones and eliciting a yelp of pain from the paladin. Her shield returns to her just in time to fend off the next slash, and overextending to deflect the one after that. Alruna's lifeblood spills down her tassets, staining green with red. Her breath comes in gasps as her legs weaken from the effort of staying upright. She isn't sure what to do. The beast looks like it's thrashing about in desperation - can they win by outlasting it? Her eyes flick down to the crumpled form of Shyra, and I4, horribly mangled. ...they have to try. "Twelve protect us." Though she doubts they have much sway here. Alruna grits her teeth and charges at Skeith. She's a blur of movement across the cathedral, hurling herself into the stone beast. She slams on it with her shield to knock the monster off-balance, aether spilling out of her sword as she channels energy into it and flicks her sword this way and that, trying to carve the thing apart without having her blade bounce off its sloped angles. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      The support is down, and Tomoe and Alruna hack away at Skeith. It doesn't put up much of a fight, pieces of it are carved off, revealing the wire mesh underneath its stone-like skin. But eventually it recovers. It pulls itself off its scythe as the wind comes back to it and the damage that was done begins to undo itself at a slower rate.      It pounds its weapon into the ground as a declaration, embedding the weapon firmly into the solid stone texture before it starts phasing in and out around the battle field without much rhyme or reason.      Eventually it stops with the erratic glitchy movement, appearing behind the two tanks before it just simply slams both of its massive fists on top of them. It's a simplistic, almost animal like approach to attacking, but damn if it isn't still effective. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has two party members down, she knows she can't last forever and it is showing her form is warping fairly noticeably now there are red wireframes everywhere even part of her face has suffered that effect. She notices it's healing slower. "You can't last forever can you?!" She's able to turn in time to catch the attack. The force of the blows are effective alone it pushes through her defences just form the sheer force impact of the attack. All the finesse and planning of the earlier assaults it made are long gone. It's fighting like a predatory animal and it's damn effective. She will aim to slam the shield she carries into the attacking form whatever Haseo is currently in. Something is clearly up with whatever this thing is. It's seeming fight differently now. "You want them?! YOU HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME!" Her blade glows green, as she launches into a sword art sending two quick strikes aimed for Skeith's midsection or whatever passes for it. All the while she's really nearly in a panic, I4 and Shyra are down, Alruna and her are getting hit very hard and she's not sure how much longer she can last. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna is ignoring pressing problems to try and secure the victory - her fingers begin to go numb as she continues losing blood. But she can see victory in sight! They haven't got much further to go. It's some tingle or premonition that causes her to raise her shield when Skeith disappears and tries to pummel them into the floor. A shower of golden sparks rains down around her as the fist drives her to her knees. She coughs, looking down at a fresh tide of red running over her legs. She doesn't have the energy to cry, much less laugh at the absurdity of it all. Drained of aether and rapidly draining of blood, Alruna sees little and less in the way of options. "Tomoe, we have to leave! Fall back!" She sounds desperate. Rallying one last time, Alruna struggles to her feet, trying to throw Skeith back, off-balance long enough. "Get I4 and take to your heels!" She punches the inside of her shield, exploding the lingering energies clinging to it in Skeith's face, and suits words with actions, turning to run for Shyra's collapsed body. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:''' Alruna flees, throwing one last attack to throw it off balance as they run with Shyra. It seems to work, though maybe it's because Skeith doesn't seem to want to take chase even though it probably could.      Tomoe throws what could be considered a desperate attack, prompting the Epitaph to retaliate. Finally putting its thin legs to use, the digital devil winds back a leg, before delivering a massive rib shattering blow to the woman's stomach. Though, given the size discrepancy, it's really more of a punt. Still, it sends the Salamander flying, conveniently next to I4.      It doesn't do anything after that. It's like it wants them to scurry off. Like it's more amused at them running for their lives than the actual wholesale slaughter. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is stubborn and durable it shows but it also shows it has its limits. It is also clear that she can not take much more either. She makes a call as Haseo kicks her again she goes flying using her wings to brake her fall a bit. She doesn't even pause once she's able to get up. She banishes her sword and shield to her inventory grabs I4. "Don't need to tell me twice!" With that done she will start to move to get out of the Cathedral as fast as she can fly. It's at this time she issues a warning to the rest of the teams that the delaying action is over and they can not do more for them. 
}}

7086/LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Black Shrine)

2020-02-15T14:29:50Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/14 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=A desperate maneuver by the heroes sends them to the Black Warriors Shrine to empower the Relic earlie..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=A desperate maneuver by the heroes sends them to the Black Warriors Shrine to empower the Relic earlier than intended. Unfortunately, someone is standing in their way...
|Cast of Characters=6928, 6666, 7180, 6994, 7228, 33
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' The northern city of Ytalis is shrouded in snow, the great Black Warriors Shrine rising over the town. Like all the other locations, a beam of energy is rising into the sky. Normally, one would need to deal with the predations of the Yaksha in order to gain entrance, but that has been obviated by Shyra.     Within is a great torchlit hall, crystalline insets into the shrine walls creating a glowing haze in the air from the lights. Tortoise-shell patterns seem to feature prominently which makes perfect sense as the great statue in the back of the Shrine seems to be that of a mighty turtle.     One would normally be expected to fight the Spirit as well, but that's not going to be the case. There is a /different/ problem interfering with the desperate attempts of the heroes today 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Speed is easy. Kupot has the Sleipner. Whoever wishes to ride on the Sleipner with the tiny terrorist may. Getting around this somewhat small world is easier on the growling motorcycle. He has not bothered to wear his costume today, instead simply sticking with his long coat and black simple clothes. Speed is the key here. Speed before it collapses in on itself, hopefully. Remembering how the chariot can fit INTO the dungeon, Kupot doesn't both actually getting off the motorcycle. He goes at the entrance at full speed. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris, notably, do not. Mostly because he have his own super fast bird to ride on, a tall, proud chocolate-brown chocobo. The Miqo'te charges through after the tiny terrorist, keeping up with the still baffling moogle.      The Chocobo charges inside just as well as the motorcycle, the Red Mage on top adjusting his hat and flattening against his bird to prevent from smacking himself against the entrance. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean arrives at the Black Warrior's shrine, tagging along with Kupot, or anyone else's method of transport if they have it, it's not that important. The fact of the matter is, he's here. And thus, he enters the shrine, ready for anything this trial might throw at them. THe had to succeed, for the sake of this world! 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     It seems that Kupot is not alone in coming to the Black Warriors Shrine. Waiting at the entrance is Arianrhod. At her waist is a longsword and on her back, an unusually designed pointed shield. And she too is not alone, sitting as she is atop a grey steed. Kupot may get the feeling that he is being eyed from beneath that full helmet of Arianrhod's, though it's hard to be sure.     Arianrhod seems to chide the small motorcyle riding creature as she says, "You're late. I do believe time is of the essence."Arianrhod's head turns to look at the others as well, lingering for longer on Amelris as she apparently looks over his more unique mount.     As Kupot aims his bike for the shrine entrance, Arianrhod turns her horse that way too and starts to ride with them. The path through the shrine is empty. And fast, thanks to a bike, a bird and a horse. Finally they arrive at the end of the shrine.     Arianrhod dismounts and steps forward ahead of the group, moving towards the turtle statue. Her head turns upwards somewhat as she looks over the mighty creature. Is she looking to obtain the blessing from the spirit, even though she is not the one bearing the relic?     No. The armored warrior spins around to face the other three of the party. As she raises her sword and shield towards them, her voice echoes from within her helmet, "I'm afraid that will be far enough. I am Arianrhod. And if you wish to obtain the power of this spirit, you will have to defeat me first." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' There is that odd feeling. Of moving from one place to another, then bursting through on the bicycle. Getting through the Shrine on the motorcycle is easy for Kupot, despite the fact he is far smaller than the motorcycle. When he comes to a stop at the end, it comes at a roaring skid. A leap off the motorcycle, then a stop as Arianrhod moves onward. It is always disconcerting to have Kupot stare at you. Because there are no pupils on his face. Just the insectile lens of his optics covering his normal eyes. He stares at Arianrhod, considering for a long moment, thinking out his words before, "You believe this is part of the program, kupo? Or are you trying to stop us?" Regardless, Kupot does not move first. His hand simply stays at the point at which his katana hangs from his belt. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      As they travel through the shrine and undoubtedly just runing the chance of any random encounters from sparking up. Both Miqo'te and Chocobo returns the gaze to the knight, the feline on top tilting his head at her when it strays too long on him. Well, that's a thing he'll have to ask about after this.      He dismounts, giving the Chocobo a gentle tap on the side. It chirps, then waddles off away from the center room.      "I kind of suspected as such something like this would've happened." The Red Mage says, reaching for his rapier to hold it, ready to draw. "I don't think that really matters either way, Kupot. She declared her intent, raised weapons."      The rapier flies to his hand, stepping back and brandishing it forward in a duelist's stance. "Then we shall fight it out!" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Ahead of their group is that armored woman from before, astride on a horse. She draws her weapons, and turns to face them. Guess they weren't finishing this relic without a fight. "...." Rean pauses for a moment. What was her deal, anyway? Did she want to help them with this or not? Either way, they needed her to move out of their way. Rean draws his own katana, and points it at Arianrhod. "Alright. Team Black Warriors Shrine, Let's do this!" 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod's own staring is probably a little strange feeling as well, given her helmet has no openings for her eyes to be seen. Or the rest of her face, for that matter. But stare at the moogle she apparently does as she thinks over his question.     "The latter for sure. However, I do not know enough about this world to say for certain that the former isn't true. Given that there appears to be no other foe here for you to fight, perhaps I am fulfilling a part in the script after all."     "If that is so..." Arianrhod spins her sword to plant the tip in the ground, moving her shield to attach to her arm. She then stands straight and places both hands on top of the sword's hilt. Her head turns, looking over the three in turn, before she says, "Then I suggest you attack. As your task is to obtain the blessing of the spirit. While mine is simply to delay you. And each second you wait, you help mine, while making your own more difficult."     Looks like this is what happens when you get noble spirits facing off against each other. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris tilts his head over at the rest of the party, from Kupot, Rean, then back to Arianrhod. His ears wriggles, flapping left, then right then flattening against his head. Noble spirits indeed but they ARE short on time here, she's right.      A long suffering sigh escapes from the Warrior of Light's lips, shaking his head.      "Alright." The Red Mage lets out, snapping the gem out of his rapier's hilt to make it float above his free hand, held back in a balancing act. "That's long enough, then!" In other words, he's bored. Not REALLY bored-bored, but this sort of anticipation just can only last so long.      Dark energies gathers from his gem as he squeeze it, swinging his rapier forward in a swing at empty space. A streak, curving arc of lightning shoots out at the Knight, followed by a thrust of his rapier.      A strong gust of cutting winds soars to clash against her. "Whatever the case, she's fighting, we're fighting, so let's do this thing!" 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot continues to stand. Waiting patiently. Moralizing here is circular. It is not just about the fact that he is trained to counter. But there is a loophole. Kupot takes the relic, and moves forward, heading towards the statue of the turtle. He simply does so with his hand nowhere near his katana. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' ...Well, this was awkward. No one was attacking first. Well, not until Amelris does. Rean rushes in, zipping past Arianrhod as his single strike blooms into many. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     That blast of wind is launched at Arianrhod. She doesn't move to evade it. Or to block it with her shields. She simply stands her ground. The winds strike her.     Arianrhod is forced to step back.     As the winds break away, Arianrhod returns to her original posture and then waits.     Although she does not visibly turn her head to look at the moogle trying to get past, Kupot will likely suspect that his actions are not being missed. Though Arianrhod does not immediately move to engage him.     It's is Rean's attack that actually gets the most response out of the armored woman. She brings her shield up to block the sword strike, sparks flying as the blade scrapes across the defense. In the same move, Arianrhod raises her sword with her other hand. Golden light begins to surround the weapon, at which point she drives it back down into the ground.     A blast of energy washes out from Arianrhod in all directions, looking to smash into all three and throw them away from her position and the statue towards the edge of the shrine room. Arianrhod then shifts into a proper combat stance, but still remains in her position, daring them to counter. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Moving enough to put his back to Arianrhod may not be wise, but it is her choice to pick such a tempting target. Not Kupot's. The hairs of his fur twitch, his pom shifts forward just slightly. He turns, though not in time, his short wakizaki out to cut into the wave. The brunt of the attack is moved, but not enough to keep Kupot from staggering back from the force of the blow. But he does not stop. As the blow strikes him, his other hand is moving. Just as the force passes him, Kupot's hand is moving in a blur. The katana swings out at such a force, that is drags the energy behind it, forcing it back towards Arianrhod. Kupot doesn't speak. He does not like this. This play fighting. But a world is at stake. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Yeah, obviously, it wasn't going to be that easy.      "Shite!" Amelris lets out, trying to bounce out of the way of the shockwave. It partially works, mostly resulting him to slam harder against the wall of the shrine. The Miqo'te gasps out, the air snapped out of his lungs as he slides down the wall. He grits his teeth, wiping spittle off his mouth with his sleeve. This wont be easy, wont it? Looks like they'll have to try some new stuff against this one foe. Maybe a bit creative.      He grabs his floating hand, slamming it against his rapier's hilt to form his improvised rod, dark energies gathering from his form. The wisps twists, contorting into well-formed circles, cubes as it fits to a new situation.      The energy explodes out on the knight, forming in a sort of formless miasma, crud and purple mist to seep into her armor. Another snap and what follows are clear splorch of green... /stuff/, wriggling and expanding outward. It's brief. It's almost instant but it sure to wreck havoc on her immune system. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Arianrhod's burst of light knocks Rean back, sending him skidding across the floor. Her shield's tough, and his sword merely scrapes across it. "Ugh...this is going to be tough. " Rean mutters. Arianrhod comments that if that's all he could do, they would never defeat her. "...." It wasn't all he could do, no. But as Amelris put it, they were just getting started. Rean sheaths his sword, and then rushes Arianrhod again. He then shifts his weight as a feint, hoping she'll move to block it. He'll then ignite his sword in blue flames, swinging to hopefully get some fire past her defenses. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Her own attack is utilized against her, Kupot sending that light right back towards Arianrhod. But she is apparently aware of it, spinning around to face the attack and bringing her sword up to cut through it. The energy dissipates, the remainder flashing against her armor which seems to endure it well enough. Arianrhod seems to approve of the attempt though as she says, "Impressive. That's never happened before."     There's no respite for Kupot though as Arianrhod charges forward towards him. She raises her blade over her head before bringing it down towards the moogle. Before jumping away to try and avoid a counterattack.     As she lands though, Arianrhod is caught in surprise by Amelris's magic. The energy hits her, before turning into a gross substance. Arianrhod's armor protects her from immediate harm by the poison, but soon it begins to seep into the thin openings between the plates. No doubt she'll start to feel its affects soon.     Turning to face the Red Mage, Arianrhod raises her sword to point at him, but doesn't close the distance. Instead, lightning begins to dance across the blade before quickly arcing out towards Amelris.     As Rean charges her, Arianrhod brings her blade around. She doesn't block with her shield as he intended. Instead she parries with her sword, trying to throw him off balance so she can swing her other arm to bash him with the attached shield before she steps away.     However, as she moves to regain a strong position, Arianrhod missteps for a moment. She coughs sickly, before raising her sword arm to see Rean's strange flames trying to melt through her armor. Arianrhod hmphs, "Better. But still not enough if you wish the blessing of the Black Warrior Spirit." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' With both wakizaki and katana, avoiding the blow completely comes easily. He catches the attack in the cross of the blades, shifting it again with each, only catching a bare cut across his face. This is not going to Kupot's liking. But he has... a second choice. The moogle flicks his fingers around, flipping the blades around towards himself and snaps them both down into their scabbards. With a twist, both blades lock in place, Kupot's hands drifting down to snap free the blades from their holsters. When he comes back forward, he wields both blades once more, but now within their scabbards. "Now we can begin, kupo." Kupot weaves in, using his superior speed, his MITHRIL enhanced body to stay on Arianrhod's flank, attacking her as she launches each attack, hammering on each blow, but instead of cutting, he uses his blades to jab, striking at joint, pressure point, and being generally a menace. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris stands up, staggering a bit. Casting these two spells with that much potency took a bit out of him -- which probably explains why the Lightning Bolt just SLAMS into his face, sending him slamming right against the wall again. The Red Mage coughs out, his tail and ears drooping low as he sinks to the ground for a moment.      "Son of a ..." He mutters under his breath, pushing himself back to his feet, his hand gripping his rapier tightly. His free hand swings into an arc, the gem separating from his weapon to land into his grip.      "Keep being worried about yourself and not us." Belthrone snaps back, swinging his blade into a wide, long curve ahead of him, thrusting through a small trail of crystaline light left behind. They grow, push out to form long crystal swords that are launched at the (mostly) immobile Knight, seeking to attack her from various angles. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur bursts in. Through a Gate, of course, then the entrance of the main chamber, skidding hard and slamming into a nearby wall as he struggles to slow himself. "Big error!" He shouts. "Everyone hold tight!" What has he alchemized to fix this? A big-ass potion bottle, full of some kind of exotic dirt. He slams it hard into the ground, and suddenly it induces an area-wide status effect. It's designed, it seems, not to do anything, but to clear things out. The Hero was never meant to fight The Hero, and it seems the warrior-testing nature of the area had some kind of /severe/ fuckup. "Better conditions!" He calls out; Arianrhod's supreme defensive prowess should find itself reduced, as the area loses a sense of pressure that was almost undetectable before. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean raises his sword to block the shields strike, but it's still hard enough leave him staggering a bit. He grunts, still trying to hold back her attack. ...Indeed, there were things he specifically could do, but...was it /safe/ for him to try that? Seems all the hesitation he had regarding that power mess was back again. What else could he do then? Maybe they needed to coordinate better, maybe?...This would be way easier if the other two had ARCUS units to link to his, but oh well.   Rean jumps back, pushing off of Arianrhod's shield to put a bit more distance in the jump. Rean dashes in again, running as quickly as he can as he tries to hit Arianrhod from as many angles as he could get around to. Could she block both him and Kupot at once? THey'd have to find out. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur's changes are comprehensive. ARIANRHOD finds herself abruptly aware of the pressure lifting off of her as well; since Arthur is here only to fix, to add stability, his efforts benefit her as well. The weird dirt potion seems to have granted her a bit of increased energy! He hardly seems to notice, but perhaps this might motivate her to not... you know, kill the bugfixer while he works. Because he's trying to stay out of the fight, /for once/, and is already hard at work on devising some other bugfix coming up... 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     It seems that the blunt damage from Kupot's sheathed attacks proves more effective, their impacts translating through Arianrhod's armour to hurt her within. And for a while, Arianrhod lets the moogle persist in his continued assault. Until finally she turns her focus on him once more. Her armoured boot moves swiftly in an attempt to try and kick Kupot away. But she doesn't finish there, raising her sword up over her shoulder, she swings it down and releases it, sending it spinning towards Kupot.     As Amelris launches his barrage of crystal swords at Arianrhod, the armored warrior spins around to bring her shield up. She snaps it around to intercept each before reaching her now free right hand to grab said shield. Detaching it from her arm, she twirls around, bringing the shield around and throwing it point first towards Amelris.     It doesn't bounce back to Arianrhod. Which is normal.     as Arthur suddenly appears from one of his gates, Arianrhod turns her head towards him. But she makes no move to engage him. Instead she says, "Understood. Then I shall stop holding back."     As Rean charges in with his repeated strikes, Arianrhod uses her gauntlet to block most of the blows. Up until the last one, which she catches in her grasp. While she holds Rean's blade with one hand, her other raises up into the air as if to grasp something.     That something appears with a flash of light. A large, white and golden ornate lance.     Gripping the the hilt of the lance, Arianrhod brings it swinging down towards Rean's side, attempting to smash it into him and knock him away. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot rolls with the blow. Getting kicked with the heavy boot hurts, but Kupot puts his side towards the blow, and then shifts his hips, rolling with the kick. He hits the ground hard, rolling, but dermal plating keeps him from breaking any bones. Then the sword hits him. It slices hard across his arm, but only bleeds as a flesh wound. His armor is under his skin. Which makes it harder to break. Unless have a trick up your sleeve. Kupot flicks his thumb across the blade of his sword. > Arianrhod > SUPLEX > METEOR STRIKE As the sword passes by, he grabs it between two scabbards and flicks it towards one of the statues. It slices clean through, dropping towards Kupot, who catches it on his arm, then his shoulder, rotating with the falling to shift the entire mass towards the soldier at full speed. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      The crystal swords don't do... well, anything, honestly. Was it not enough oomph into this thing? Arthur's help do make him feel better, as if a weight was off his shoulders. It's not quite enough to save him from being clocked by a swung shield right accross the face.      He falls off to the side, tumbling for a feet or two before springing back to his feet, gritting his teeth. He's getting beat up but gods.      "Lady Incredible Wall of Iron." Belthrone stiffles through his biting lips. "You are, indeed, quite formidable. Allow us to push further!"      This time, Amelris do not stay behind, flinging spells. He's gathered enough magic in himself to go for some more powerful strikes. He pinches the end of his rapier, the blade suddenly glowing with light and energy as he charges the Knight like an arrow, casting a spell much like before.      What follows is a flurry of thrusts, his blade powered by his magic to cut through stronger, pierce deeper, aimed at what Amelris perceives to be potential weak points in a full plate armor like her's, punctuating each strikes with a little bit of a Bio strikes to seep in further. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean gets a spear to the side, knocking all the wind out of his lungs and sending him skidding towards a nearby wall. He lets out a few coughs, hunched over. He then takes a few deep breaths, righting himself. Ok. Rean ignites his sword again, covered in blue flames once more. He then runs at Arianrhod again. putting as much weight as he possibly can into this next strike. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     The partial stone statue comes crashing down on Arianrhod from above. It knocks her head to the side and causes her to stumble. She grunts as she moves her free hand to her helmet. She shakes off the impact, her head turning to look in Kupots direction. Perhaps she's annoyed.     Arianrhod doesn't engage Kupot though, instead turning to face Amelris as he charges in. Those quick jabs don't do a lot on their own, but they begin to add up quickly. Especially with the added bio set to seep in through the plate armour's openings.     Eventually Arianrhod gains a footing to return an attack against Amelris. But she is interupted by Rean's charge, coming in quickly as he is after the Red Mage. The blade strike comes down on Arianrhod's shoulder, causing her drop down to one knee from the impact.     But the armored warrior doesn't stay down for long. Her free hand rushes up to grab at Rean's wrist. She pulls him down towards her, rising at the same time so her shoulder meets him in the gut. She then proceeds to lift him up over her, spinning around and then launching him towards Kupot to hopefully crash into the moogle.     Arianrhod then turns her attention towards Amelris. An aura of power washes over Arianrhod. The others likely able to feel the power, it's not obviously apparent what it does... But she crouches down and raises her lance to point straight towards the Red Mage. The same light she channeled through her sword earlier appears around the lance. But this time it's much stronger.     Arianrhod pushes off the ground, lunging towards Amelris, attempting to spear the lance through him. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot leaps. It is harsh, but he steps carefully over Rean, putting one of his feet on the man's shoulder. Luckily, Kupot doesn't weigh much. He steps up again on the statue as it topples over, launching himself at Arianrhod. He dives around her spear dive, slamming a short scabbard at her side as he slides past. His foot slides out, picking up one of the broken pieces of statue, and flings it out at Arianrhod from behind. Again and again, he steadily throws out his attacks, becoming the distraction, rather than the executioner he has been before. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is very much focused on the fight, his thrusts and throwing his small bio spells at the tip of his weapon. It seems to be doing some good work against the Knight. When she pulls off that power, the Red Mage is looking precisely up at her lance, his eyes widening. He know something big is happening. Something painful is coming his way. At first, he raise his rapier to meet with the lance, pushing himself against it to propell himself away -- but no. There's too much strength. It bats away his lance. Then she leaps.      Then she impales him. The lance goes right through him, pinning him through the back of the wall, blood spraying everywhere from the impact.      Wait... That's... not how it happens... Is that what would have happened?      In that briefest, snap moment, Amelris's conciousness snaps back to reality after this vision of a very gruesome death ahead of him. He thought he could parry or dodge around this attack. He can't. He have to time this right. The lance goes up. He feels the power, the same power he felt/saw ahead. She's going to leap.      She does.      This time, he faces the problem dead-on, leaping on the spear itself to land his feet on it's horizontal length, sliding clean accross it to deliver a firm boot to the face as he vaults right off it, landing a few feets away, catapulting a barrage of lightning on the arc down. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean gets a shoulder to the gut, and gets thrown at Kupot. Kupot is agile enough to jump off him instead though, leaving Rean to roll over and right himself. He flinches a bit at the power aura, knowing that things just got a whole lot harder. Still he dashes towards her again, launching into another flurry of strikes as he rushes past and around her. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod finds the target of her powerful attack jumping not away, but onto her lance. Although it can't be seen through the helmet, there is a surprised look on Arianrhod's face. Surprised that the Red Mage was able to dodge so deftly.     Of course, said surprised face is then proceeded to be kicked, though thankfully the helmet keeps it from being too injuring of a blow. The lightning blast also hits, dancing across the warriors armour and causing her to grunt in pain.     Arianrhod stumbles backwards from the face kick, only for Kupot to get a solid hit in to the back of Arianrhod's neck with that piece of statue debris. There's no resulting clang, the stone striking flesh beneath the long golden hair of the warrior. It's apparently one of the few places not covered by armour.     Arianrhod stumbles forward from the blow, giving Rean an opening to charge in with his strikes. She manages to raise her lance up to partially block the blows, but Rean capitalizes on her unsteady position to get some good strikes in. But finally Arianrhod manages to recover, jumping away to get some distance from Rean as she prepares her own counterattack.     Lightning begins to ark over her lance as she closes her eyes for a moment and speaks, "Thunder of the roiling heavens..." She raises her lance to point up into the air, lightning blasting upwards in that direction. She then opens her eyes and cries out, "Fall to the battlefield!"     Identical blasts of lightning all rain down on Kupot, Amelris and Rean. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Can Kupot deflect lightning? Absolutely. Can Kupot deflect a whole TON of lightning? Nnnnnnn The flash roars around Kupot, two bolts of it flicking around. His pom suddenly flares with blue light, the light tattoos on it exploding as they overload. One of his optics erupts as the lightning strikes it. Muscles contract violently, painfully, and Kupot staggers. But he still has his hand on the blade. And he takes both blades, flicking them out to redirect a sudden force of lightning at Arianrhod. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      This time, no visions of the echo comes to Amelris' aid. The first time was startling enough, anyway.      The lightning crashes down on the redmage, this time striking him quite cleanly from the very top of his head and conducting all the way down. It ripples and scorches his clothes, the tip of his ears burns up and his tail's fur stands up on end into a large PUFF.      But he's still standing. Somehow.      Still, he rallies. The Red Mage stumbles back, spinning his rattling hands together as he unleashes a small wave of energy at the knight. Two large blasts, purple and red pettering at her. He's building up to something. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean takes the lightning head on, scorching his uniform and hair. He lets out a cry, as he's fried. He takes a few steps forward...and then collapses, unable to go one anymore. He couldn't- they couldn't- They'd be fine right? Kupot and Amelris could finish this without him, right? 'Sorry, Shyra, I4.' Rean thinks, as he passes out. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     One down. Two to go.     Arianrhod drops down to one knee once more as part of her lightning is redirected right back at it. It courses through her armour and body. Just because she can summon it, doesn't make it any less harmful to her.     But finally the lightning passes and Arianrhod is able to stand once more. Her head quickly turns in Amelris's direction, seeing him preparing more spells. The waves of energy are unleashed at her. She's able to bring her lance around, slashing twice into each as it glows with its light, dispersing both before they can do much harm.     Arianrhod begins to walk menacingly towards Amelris, apparently set on focusing on him. Kupot is not ignored though, the warrior's helmet briefly turning in his direction.     Arianrhod's hand suddenly whips out, a small piece of statue flying through the air quickly, picked up when she had fallen to her knee. It's aimed for the moogle's forehead, but likely isn't much more than an annoyaance.     Arianrhod instead turns her head back towards Amelris, quickly raising her lance up over her shoulder, before swinging it down diagonally as she gets in range. The bladed tip threatens to slice through Amelris. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is not the kind of Adventurers that just slam his face straight into harm, usually. Laugh at danger, sure. Do daring sweeping acrobatics, yes. Swashbuckling? Hell yeah.      He's not the kind usually, especially lately, to throw himself at a lance, slicing through his side to flood his already red clothes with more crimson of his blood just to get in a better position in front of the Knight. Yet, that's just what he did.      The Miqo'te lets out a roar of defiance, his glowing sword trailing him behind him, pointed and poised into a straight, narrow stance. He screams over the distance, the lance's impact barely impacting him despite the damage.      The blade, glowing and singing in the air, push int against previously made holes, thanks to the Bio spells he did. His blade flash with movement, relentless in enervating against already annoying wounds. The energy inside the blade sears, powered behind his considerable amount of magical energy and the balance within him. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' The piece of statue is batted away by the scabbard. Kupot is flagging, but his arms almost work by themselves. Years of muscle memory ingrained into his body. "I don't like this, kupo. But this world needs saving. And you, kupo, should be proud for playing your role in the face of danger." He slides both swords back down into his belt, grasping the sword. The orange gem flickers. Physics are maleable by magic. They can shift. Momentum, for instance, can be granted, by the power of ancient heroes. So that when Kupot moves, he takes a step forward, and his leap is like a freight train, arm out. A single powerful attempt to grab Arianrhod. And use the wall behind her as the weapon. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     The charge into the lance may have resulted in Amelris being struck hard, but it gives him the reach he needs to plunge that blade into one of the sections of Arianrhod's armour that has weakened. Arianrhod grunts, lowering her lance after her strike. Her other hand reaches down to grab the blade that had managed to penetrate. With a quick yank she pulls it out.     Blood begins to trickle out of the hole in the armor.     Arianrhod throws the held blade away, though not necessarily strong enough to force it from Amelris's grasp. But before Arianrhod can counter, Kupot comes flying in from behind.     Arianrhod is grabbed from behind and forced into a nearby wall with a crunch. Part of the wall crumbles where the front of Arianrhod's helmet had met it. She is still for several moments...     Arianrhod's lance glows with light, a larger, phantom version of it appearing around it. Her hand whips it around behind her without looking. The actual weapon threatens to strike Kupot behind her, while a wave of light is unleashed by the swing and sweeps towards Amelris further away. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Of course, this kind of manuvering DO have it's price.      The Red Mage get unceremoniously SLAMMED by the wave of light unleashed by the phantom whip. His body slams against the wall and, this time, he do not get back up immediatedly. "Ugggn..." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' The lance drives harshly into Kupot's chest, driving in through the dermal armor, pushing all the way in through. He grasps it harshly, but he still doesn't remove his swords from their scabbard. This is a game, a show, a play. He will not use their sharp edges in an effort to cut someone's life down. Blood pours down from his mouth, and his single glacier blue eye stares up at Arianrhod. "I refuse to stop, kupo. It would be worthy to die to save this world." He holds the lance in tight, struggling to get the energy to launch another attack. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod extracts her helmet from the hole in the wall, taking a somewhat unsteady step backwards. She then slowly spins to face Kupot, keeping the pressure up with her lance. Her free hand moves to cover the hole in her armour that her life blood is leaking from.     Arianrhod's helmet turns to look in Rean's direction. Then in Amelris's. Then finally to the struggling Kupot.     In what is probably a sudden surprise, the lance disappears with the same flash of light that it arrived. It might throw off the Moogle's balance for a moment, but Arianrhod does not attempt to engage in said moment.     Arianrhod replies, her tone a little tired, "Doing so would mean failure. These two could not claim the blessing, having known defeat in this shrine. You however..." Arianrhod considers for a moment, then finishes, "There is surprising strength in your small stature. I do believe you will succeed."     Arianrhod turns, beginning to head towards the room's exit where she left her horse. She calls back to the moogle though, "Make your offering to the spirit. And know that I look forward to our next clash. Perhaps in a situation more befitting of a proper duel." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris raise a hand from where he's currently in a heap, his hat covering his bloodied face.      "We were a /party/ and we won together as a group, lady!" The Miqo'te corrects, index waggling weakly at the knight lady. "Thaaaaaaat's how it works!" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean lets out a few coughs, sorta kinda waking up now. He weakly does a fist pump in the air to Amelris' words. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur wastes no time. A fresh Gate. He'll physically lift these folks with his magely noodle arms if he has to, to get that relic into blessing position. But his Gate is up, and before Haseo can get at them, he intends to be gone. This is down to the wire, down to the /very edge/ of things. So he /books it/. Focus, focus, focus. Not even any goofy coolkid-isms. This is not the time or place for that -- or indeed, for much of anything but making sure to leave the latter to survive to see more of the former. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' Finally, the enemy takes their leave. When the group approaches the chelonian Black Warriors Statue, the eyes flare with energy. IT WAS A MIGHTY BATTLE. YOU HAVE PROVEN WORTHY. STEP FORTH, HEROES. I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF MY POWER SO YOU MAY GO FORTH AND PRESERVE THIS WORLD. Once someone approaches and holds up the Black Warriors Relic, the object is suffused with energy of the appropriate color. With it comes the power of EARTH, able to project elemental attacks of that type or suffuse the bearer's weapon with the element. AND NOW I MAY FINALLY REST. GO FORTH, HEROES. EMBRACE YOUR DESTINY. The entire Shrine begins to rumble and crack, the place beginning to collapse in on itself... Oh snap, was that a load-bearing blessing? 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' Finally, the enemy takes their leave. When the group approaches the chelonian Black Warriors Statue, the eyes flare with energy. IT WAS A MIGHTY BATTLE. YOU HAVE PROVEN WORTHY. STEP FORTH, HEROES. I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF MY POWER SO YOU MAY GO FORTH AND PRESERVE THIS WORLD. Once someone approaches and holds up the Black Warriors Relic, the object is suffused with energy of the appropriate color. With it comes the power of EARTH, able to project elemental attacks of that type or suffuse the bearer's weapon with the element. AND NOW I MAY FINALLY REST. GO FORTH, HEROES. EMBRACE YOUR DESTINY. The entire Shrine begins to rumble and crack, the place beginning to collapse in on itself... Oh snap, was that a load-bearing blessing? It's okay, Arthur's got this. 
}}

7085/LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (White Shrine)

2020-02-15T04:34:10Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/14 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=A team of adventurers rush the White Tigers Shrine to try to empower the Relic so it can be used. Mord..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=A team of adventurers rush the White Tigers Shrine to try to empower the Relic so it can be used. Mordred stands in their way.
|Cast of Characters=598, 7187, 685, 1011, 7197
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' The White Tigers Shrine normally is a well-maintained place of worship for the Royal Family of Pradia. However, that has changed with the kidnapping of the Princess. The halls of the Shrine are filled with monsters, the Princess held deep past the twisting and turning descent. The walls feature tiger motifs prominently, with several puzzles involving metallic weights being placed upon pressure plates.     Once you get to the Shrine itself, the great metallic White Tiger Spirit statue rears back, rendered perfectly in silvery gleaming metal. The Princess is there, going through walk motions in place while held prisoner by the Evil Knight Mordred.     This is going to be a thing. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Raphael Cousteau turns out to be remarkably useful for block-pushing puzzles. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: YEAH! PUSH HARDER! MOVE ALL OF THIS STUFF RIGHT TO THE CORNERS! LOGIC: Hold up. No. Visual Calculus, lay out where we need to put all of these. We can't afford to waste time on mistakes. VISUAL CALCULUS: I...I can't. I'm sorry. This is too complicated. We're in too much of a rush, and I can't.. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Fuck -that- noise! Didn't the other guy just say we're in a hurry? Grab some of those fuckin' menthol ciggies and get to it, my man! Lung cancer isn't even real! I read it once! Sure, it's damaging now, and he might pay someday, but right now, the Inspector is remarkably useful. All the way up until the statue and the Evil Knight Mordred. There, he pulls out a gun, aiming it directly at the man. "Revachol Citizen's Militia. I know you're not going to surrender, but we've got to follow *protocol* around here, don't we. Hands up, Mordred!" 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure grips her hands into tight fists as she's dropped off at the shrine. Her rigging forms into place on her back and thighs. "All hands, general quarters. Repeat, all hands general quarters. Duty crew to your stations." She goes on high alert right from the off, glancing at her companions, before looking at the unpowered Relic in it's pouch. "Lets get this done... this world is counting on us... an so are the others." She looks back into the shrine entrance. "They're all fighting now too... we cannot let them down."     She steps forward, then breaks into a run as her backpack gimbals out into a pair of tonfa-pattern weapons for her to grab onto. She follows Raphael, helping move the things to where he directs. She's pretty strong, after all. Once the central chamber is breached, she comes up, leveling her tonfa cannons at Mordred. "Stand down and disable all weapons. We do not want to fight you, but we will if we must." 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      "Weights," mutters Rizzo to himself, figuring out the weights with Raphael and Shigure. "Can't wait. Long wait. Long shot... behind the eight ball. Eight ball... eight ball in the corner pocket." He points, then pushes one into the corner. Click. That worked.      He has no quarrel with Mordred--he knows this is all an act. Still, he has to play his part. His Sphere. The others have said their piece, but the Private Detective has nothing to say to the Evil Knight. In fact, he doesn't even draw a weapon. It might even seem like he isn't going to fight at all--but the observant eye will notice that he's lowered his posture slightly, and dug in his heels. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' After hearing about the plot devised by the designated heroes to save the world from the clutches of the Evil God Haseo, Mordred's found herself sent to the White Tigers Shrine in order to halt their progress at best and delay them from enacting their plan at worst. It's a convenient excuse to go there, and the Evil Knight stand-in is all too ready to show off her improved prowess after her last showing against the previous Evil Knight. While the Princess is left to her own walk cycle, the Evil Knight can be seen by anyone facing the entrance to the Shrine directly. Mordred is not hiding, but staring right back through the Evil Knight's Helmet as if waiting for them. Indeed, when the heroes make their appearance, Mordred rises with the massiev silver blade shouldered on one side and swings one arm sideways to make sure there's a sufficiently dramatic flourish of her cape as she begins and the Evil Knight's theme starts building. "You've done well coming here, heroes. To obtain all the relics and divide your forces... Your strategy is a bold one, but I suppose it was the only way you had any chance of opposing the God of Chaos in time. Still..." Another dramatic pause as Mordred lowers that outstretched hand, turning to Shigure and Raphael first. "You know as well as I what must happen here. We fight for mutually exclusive goals. We ain-" She coughs once. "We cannot compromise on such a basic fact." Noticing that Rizzo has't drawn his weapon yet, Mordred turns her helmeted gaze towards him next. "The time for negotiations has passed. Now, all that is left is for our bodies and wills to clash, and to see who is destined to leave here alive!" The Evil Knight's music rises in volume as the fight begins with a massive fireball appearing in front of Mordred. The Evil Knight rears a hand back, then punches it to send out a horizontal wave of identical flames at the heroes with alarming speed! 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure brings her cannon tonfa up to block the attack... but Fire is surprisingly effective against a ship. The flames lick past her defense and catch in one of the tonfa. Smoke belches from the openings in the armour plate and Shigure grunts as her fairies go into damage control mode. "Spread out, do not allow her to strike us all at the same time!" she says to the others, and darts away, heading left to flank around. "Loading High Explosive."     She brings her cannons to bear, smoke finally stopping after a few moments as her fairies get it under control for the time being. Barrels then belch forth more smoke and flame, lobbing shells at the Evil Knight. They detonate on impact with the first thing they strike. She follows this up with a volley of smaller shells and tracer fire from her secondaries, strafing the Knight with scaled 25mm and 40mm autocannon slugs. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' HALF-LIGHT: Fire! Fire! HAND-EYE COORDINATION: At the fireballs? With bullets? What? The flames wash over the Inspector, and he drops to one knee, smacking himself to put the residual burns out. PAIN THRESHOLD: Refreshing. It frankly probably cleaned some of the dirt off. Get up. And so he does, and makes his way forward to Mordred. It's...it's not an all-out run, it's a jog, but he's still closing in. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: Okay! Start this up basic, alright? Nothing fancy yet. Build up to it. You've got to outlast. REACTION SPEED: I think we can make this work. Mordred undoubtedly sees the gun. All sorts of projectile-blocking techniques likely come to mind. But who would expect the sudden pistol whip from the pale old man in the disco pants and the green blazer? 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      "It has," says Rizzo, agreeing with Mordred--but he doesn't say it with that same gung-ho certainty. It sounds more like sadness. He knows it's a story, but stories can have sad moments, can't they?      "The Lord is my savior, and I shall not fear what man shall do unto me." The air seems alive with energy as the words leave his mouth. He removes his hand from his pocket and extends it, mirroring Mordred's action. Rather than a closed fist, however, he extends an open palm. When Mordred's flames head for him, they slam against a barrier of his faith made manifest. Brilliant white light flashes. Some of the attack creeps past, and the convection from the flames sears his hand, leaving a grisly-looking burn. His unnatural healing struggles to compensate for the injury.      Outwardly, he is calm. Inwardly, however, he is at war. The Beast thrashes against the prison he's constructed for it. A month ago, he would have lost control immediately--but here, after learning of his Sphere, of the peace and certainty that it brings, he's able to stave it off. For now.      Raphael makes his move, going for a pistol whip. Shigure says to spread out. He heads right, to form a pincer motion with his allies. While she's enduring Shigure's cannons and attempting to engage Raphael, Rizzo moves for a slow, plodding attack. Namely, he takes cover behind one of the metal weights in the room--one off by itself and uncessesary to the puzzle, likely put there as a kind of decoy.      Rizzo pushes with all his might, gradually building up speed from a glacial pace to a brisk jog. The large, heavy weight is thrust towards the Evil Knight, attempting to pin her against the nearest wall while she's trying to fend off his allies. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' The battle is on, and Mordred's more than ready to play the role of the villain here. It's not as though acting so bombastically isn't entertaining, anyway, and... Best not to get distracted here. As Shigure calls out that strategy, the Evil Knight glances around to see where each of her three opponents are going. She chuckles briefly as that sword comes down, braced in front of Mordred more to maintain that menacing posture rather than truly holding a proper defense. Shigure's shells are the first thing she reacts to as they come flying straight for the Evil Knight. Instead of blocking them all, however, Mordred is caught off guard paying so much attention to it that the charge of the disco man goes unnoticed until it's too late. The butt of the pistol finds purchase against the Evil Knight's helmet, making a satisfying bashing noise on impact. Before Mordred can retaliate, though, Shigure's continued shelling staggers the Evil Knight temp, and that has her attention split between two! "You only delay the inevitable. Each second you waste is one spent not stopping the God of Chaos. Now stand an-" While Mordred is busy delivering more banter, John comes in from behind with that previously unnoticed piece of scenery. It slams into Mordred and pushes her back a good couple of yards before she regains her balance, swerving around it and stabbing that sword into the ground. "That's more like it... Line up, and despair for the final moments of your lives!" Raphael and John each get swung at first, the Evil Knight executing a blinding flurry of slashes towards the pair of them seemingly at the same time despite aiming in two completely different directions. A moment later, the Evil Knight disappears, then reappears before Shigure before doing a complete 180 to use that same flurry of swings against her as well! And then Mordred teleports back to where she was standing moments before the trio pushed her out of position. There has to be /some/ sort of order to this madness. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure thinks she's far enough away to not be struck. She finds out she is very wrong as Mordred appears in front of her and swings that sword faster than the eye can track. She jumps backward reflexively, but still gets cut up pretty badly. Her left arm falls limp, the tonfa clattering to the ground as black ichor leaks from a large gash cut into her steel-like skin. A team of fairies drop down on guy ropes and slap a large 'bandaid' over it a moment later, but the arm remains limp. "Damage report, Y-turret disabled." she lets the other tonfa go, allowing it to grab onto the gimbal arm and ratchet back onto her back. In the next motion, she snatches a quartet of torpedoes from her right thigh holder, and flicks them like throwing knives at Mordred, before running up to follow her attack up with a slash from her hidden wakizashi. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     There is absolutely nothing Raphael has to deflect against a variety of sword slashes, except his arms. And each blow of that sword--it's a massive sword, it's basically a club, each one is blocked, but it's merely flesh and bone and fabric. He's a man. This is not a swordfighter. He is a man with a very, very strange brain. That's all he's got going for him, and he slams on the floor again, gripping his heart. HALF-LIGHT: Why are you still HERE? RUN! YOU CAN'T STOP HIM! INLAND EMPIRE: To escape is to leave nothing behind, in this world or the next. VOLITION: ...Alright, you're out of your depth here, but that's never stopped you before. You were out of your depth when you woke up from the bender. He grabs a few pills from his pocket, looking at them over. White, yellow, and red. Gel capsules. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: That's it. Those three'll do it. You'll be fine. I'm totally Pain Tolerance, you can trust me. PAIN TOLERANCE: He's not. But he's not wrong. Do you know what this hurts like? It hurts like falling down on gravel. That's all. And you're about to take pills to undo that. The pills are swallowed, and Raphael Cousteau's back on his feet. "...Nah. That's not gonna happen. We got a *world* to save from the *void*." He raises his gun. His arm's shaking. This is a terrible idea. HAND-EYE COORDINATION: ...Wait. They're staying in one spot. Maybe... He closes one eye, takes a breath, and fires. The metal gleams on the pistol as two slugs fire. It's a double-barrelled gun. It's almost like a sawed-off shotgun in power. This is not designed for protracted gunfights. This is designed to bring people down. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      John stops pushing the weight--it slides off uselessly into the wall, once Mordred wheels around it. It takes him a moment to regain his own balance, having put so much momentum into that attack. His particular vampiric lineage makes him decently suited to enduring blows from enemies, but completely ill-equipped to deal with extremely fast opponents.      Mordred's flurry of blows strikes true, sloughing off ribbons of crimson. He doesn't lift his arms to protect himself--only to try in vain to grasp her weapon and exhaust her. His wounds seal, faster than those from her fiery blasts, but not fast enough to keep up with her swordsmanship. Despite the grievous injury she seems to have inflicted, his mind seems to be elsewhere. It's strange, too--becuase there is absolutely a look of determination on his face.      Back. Get back. Between her strikes, he speaks another verse. "God... will not..." One of the blows strikes him with enough force to lift him off his feet. He hits the ground hard, but gets up with that same elsewhere-determination. "Suffer you to be tempted..."      Slash, slash. He just has to hold out--he has to drive the Beast back. There is fire in his eyes. The Beast is almost defeated--but the Evil Knight is far from it. Raphael levels his gun. Shigure throws her explosives. His opening...      It's there.      "...ABOVE THAT WHICH YE ARE ABLE!" With supernatural speed, John breaks into a graceful sprint. As the smoke clears from Raphael's double-barrel blast and Shigure's torpedos--as she makes the attack with her wakizashi--John's motion shifts from human to animal, running on all fours. He leaps, inhuman strength in his legs propelling him through the air, over and behind Mordred. He's incredibly open to attack. But that's fine.      Rizzo attempts to trap the Evil Knight Mordred in a bear hug. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Those are almost all reactions to getting slashed Mordred legitimately hasn't seen before. Probably the least surprising one is John's attempt to stop the weapon with his hands directly, but Shigure's fairy minions? Raphael's pill popping? Something seems off about all of that, but she's not even sure where to start. The torpedoes thrown by the shipgirl are deflected! Or at least, that's what the Evil Knight is hoping for as she backhands the shells to try slapping them into a wall, but instead they just sort of explode all over the knight, denting that armor and banging and bruising her up inside of it. Raphael's shots come out of left field, too, as Mordred tries to swing her blade right down the middle to cleave what should only be one bullet, but only succeeds in threading the needle and slicing the air between those twin-barreled shots completely! Each of those shots punch right into her armor, staggering back just far enough that Rizzo's able to catch the temp from behind with that mighty bear hug, holding her still long enough for Shigure's short blade to strike true and draw blood. The Evil Knight remains still, then starts laughing. "... This is what I was expecting. Those that seek to save this world from Chaos should be capable of at least this much." The Evil Knight's music begins to swell again as she disappears abruptly, reappearing a short distance away and pacing back and forth slowly while blood drips from multiple exit wounds and cuts exacerbated by the bear hug tearing those wounds open further. "But this is only the beginning of your doom! Face the true might of the Treacherous Knight of Evil Rebellion!" All at once, flames and lightning surround Mordred's blade as she starts dashing around the Shrine, not with teleportation, but sheer speed while bounding in random directions around the trio. She comes in for multiple slashes in passing, some of them even smashing the ground below them with explosions of stone and gravel as Mordred seems intent on tearing the place up! 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael is by no means a brilliant tactician. He's not really meant for this work. He's in no position to even do more than hold steady as he's assaulted on all sides by sword and gravel, and once again, without fail, he falls to his knees, a fist slamming into the ground. -3 MORALE > This is crazy. I don't *want* to be a Paladin anymore. VOLITION: What? No. Chin up. Weird fact time, friend. You're doing fine. You've actually got control of this. You know how I know? Because look at the heavily armed *boat ghost*. Raphael's head turns. Shigure is, in fact, in terrible shape. He's..comparatively fine. There's a quick snort of some sort of nasal spray, and he wobbily gets up to his feet. He dusts himself off. The worst part about this, in many ways, is that his *Expression* is unchanging. Mordred sees a man giving the most obnoxious, shit-eating grin, even after being blasted with rock and flaming, electrified sword. +1 MORALE PAIN TOLERANCE: Let's talk about this. This pain you're feeling. I want you to imagine it as a ball. Hit them hard right now, absolutely, but...you're going to need to do something a little crazy here. Just swing for now, and then...stand still. Let the next strike hit you. I need to feel something. LOGIC: Fucking *pardon*? VOLITION: Whoa, what? What are you talking about? PAIN TOLERANCE: I'm talking about *shut the fuck up* and let me do my job. Get ready, we're going to end this asshole. Swing for now, hold on, and get ready to rock his goddamn world. Raphael Cousteau rolls up his sleeves, marching towards Mordred. "Hey! That all you *got*? I'm an alcoholic cop with a fuckin' disco blazer. You can't even break *me*, but you're talking like you're big shit. Show me something better!" For now, he delivers a single gutpunch. There's armor in the way. He doesn't care. The pain is only going to make him stronger. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure dances, using her Abyssal Steel Blade to parry a few of those sword strikes. Each one buckles her guard as she dips away, pushing her back until she hits a wall... and then that sword finds true purchase. A slash across her middle spills oil like a waterfall, and the destroyer falls to her knees.     A fairy leaps out of her rigging a moment later, and with an impossibly large number of tools, patches up the damage to a point where she can still fight. The wound is patched, the leak sealed, but the kanmusu's frame is badly damaged.     Shigure slowly pushes herself back to her feet, gripping her blade with a white knuckled grasp. "Being able to corner me like this... well, whatever..." She watches Raphael take a swing at Mordred with a simple gutpunch. 'Don't think. Believe.' she tells herself, and runs back into the fray. She aims for where she expects Mordred to stagger to after the punch, leaping and bearing down with the tip of her blade aimed for the gaps in that heavy armour. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo's hands promptly grab air. His arms close upon nothing, as Mordred teleports free of his grasp. He turns to face the knight, standing ready. Again, his heels dig in.      The Knight is faster than he can track, even with his enhanced senses. So, he doesn't try to track, or even to intercept any attacks. He stands, arms wide open, as shrapnel from the explosions pummels him.      New wounds open, but where before the blood was running freely, now it is barely a trickle. They take longer to close, if they close at all. His attention is elsewhere, throughout even the fire and the lightning.      John Rizzo is fighting two battles--but he's just won one of them. As Mordred's fire sears him through another of his protective barriers, The Beast is battered at last into submission.      /Now./ The time wasn't right before, but at this point in the... it isn't a Book. Not like his. But it is a Story. At this point in the Story, the Private Detective should say something. Directly to the Alchoholic Cop, not a verse to keep his darker nature under control. It feels right. He's never felt more certain.      "I'm feeling like the Evil Knight's running outta gas, flatfoot," he says after Raphael's gut punch. "Maybe I oughta put this business to bed..."      He calmly reaches into his coat and procures a book. It's a simple, aged thing bound in black leather with gold leaf for the title. 'Book of Common Prayer.' It seems more real than real, the title and golden cross motif on the cover reflecting the dim light with brilliant intensity.      "With a right cross." Rizzo swings the book at Mordred's head, his fist moving faster than most mortal men could muster. He strikes with the bridge of the book, attempting as usual to resolve things bloodlessly. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' As Mordred's zipping arund slows to a stop, she takes a moment to take stock of the situation. The shipgirl's having some trouble, the holy guy is still talking to himself, and Mr. Pills is way sturdier than she had given him credit for. Raphael's proclamation draws an amused snicker from Mordred, but she stops it abruptly once she remembers to get back into character. She still has a role to play here, and she can't corpse now that the heroes are about to have their moment. "Perhaps heroes /can/ come from unlikely places. But if you truly think you can change your destiny with just-" Mordred leans into the punch with a loud grunt as she takes Raphael's punch head on, coughing a fair bit as the blow ripples through the armor. "... Just your hands, then you are sorely mistaken." Shigure's prediction is on point as Mordred takes a step back, raising the blade and poised to bring it down on Raphael. Before she can, however, the destroyer is alraedy in position, stabbing that blade in again and actually drawing a pained grimacing noise from the bearer of the Evil Knight's armor. "That's right... Heroes should be willing to get their hands dirty. As knights, as rulers of their people... They cannot hold back in doing what must be done!" And as expected from the teamwork previously displayed by this unlikely grouping, John's right on the money when Mordred is about to lash out at Shigure. The book sails just right that it deflects her arm just enough to narrowly miss the shipgirl's head, and the bash makes another one of those satisfying banging noises against the side of Mordred's helm as it knocks her off balance yet again. It actually takes her a moment to think up something for that. "Or... Uh... Unconventional methods. All that matters is victory, no matter how it is attained!" Yep, that one felt pretty right. "Allow me to demonstrate an example... No. The extent of my resolv! My dedication to the God of Chaos!" Taking a deep breath, Mordred musters up enough energy for one last flashy maneuver. She disappears with her sword. The teleportation is rapid, but it's easier to track than her straight up wall-bouncing from earlier. It looks like she's just maneuvering in confusing patterns at first, but the attack itself becomes clearer once Clarent goes sailing for the heroes. The Evil Knight's maneuver: Throwing the flaming lightning sword, reappearing behind her targets, catching it, then repeating the process until she's made a few passes at each person. Once she's finished, she settles back into that same starting position with Clarent held behind her back, sliding dramatically against the armor on her shoulder until the cross-guard clicks dramatically on the shoulder plate. "To the void with all of you." 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' PAIN TOLERANCE: I said don't move. Focus. Raphael listens to the voices in his head. Most people shouldn't do this, and even in his case some of them say the wrong thing. But he's going to trust pain tolerance, even as the first blade slashes through him. It's an RPG thing, right? So this merely hurts and burns and shocks and stings, a lot. VOLITION: I really, really can't begin to treat this as a good idea. Maybe you should-- PAIN TOLERANCE: I said shut the fuck up and take it. The fire's going to cauterize the wounds anyway, and the electricity's going to fix up any residual nerve damage. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Literally no medical science textbook you have ever read suggests that any of that is remotely-- PAIN THRESHOLD: Physical Instrument, back me up here. Taking the damage is *manly*. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: HOOHAH! YEAH! SOAK IT! AUTHORITY, WE'RE SHOWING THIS KNIGHT WHO'S BOSS! AUTHORITY: ...Yes. We're showing her who's boss. Stand through it. The blade passes by again and again, and Raphael acts as if he's frozen in time, until the last of the attack settles. And one, one last time, he...no. Never mind. He falls over. ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN: Wow. That's it, then, eh? Decided to go out all heroically, instead of a pathetic bender? That's fine, then. Come on. Abyss it is. LIMBIC SYSTEM: Oh, no. No, no, no. He's not *dead*. The meat engine is still moving! The heart is still beating! Why!? Why won't he *ever* *STOP*?! Inspector Ambrosius Raphael Cousteau, of the Revachol Citizens' Militia, stands up once more. Shigure is down. That's fine. He can be the last remaining *boat ghost* in this combat. As for John Rizzo, he's... well, no time to think about that now. "I oppose the void. I oppose you, *actor*." He steps forward. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Whoa, okay, uh, I was gonna say grab some of the droumamine, but I just did a quick endorphin check and *hoo boy*. INLAND EMPIRE: We are the sword against the void. "And if you were not content with my hands bringing you back down into the *dust*, then perhaps *this* will do. Observe, fiend, my *FINAL TECHNIQUE!* He breaks out into a weird jog. His *Expression* remains frozen. He storms forward, finally in an all out run. He hops. He skips. And then he *jumps and twists* in midair, one leg spinning around as one green leather-soled disco shoed foot comes straight around in a flying roundhouse kick to Mordred's helmeted head. "WELCOME TO *REVACHOL*!" 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure was hoping that would finish it... that they could end this and all remain standing afterward.     She is, again, mistaken.     The swords slash through her, punching holes and burning with the flames. She staggers, unable to even try to parry any of the strikes, before simply falling over, slamming down with enough force to crack the shrine floor. Her voice is distorted, like one might hear through an old Long Wave radio. "Looks like this is it for me..." before her eyes slide closed and she goes still. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo is battered and sliced repeatedly by the sword, his flesh burned by the blade and seared by the lightning. His wounds cease healing, and he looks even more imperiled than he usually does. His long-suffering coat is stuck to his body by a large, dark red patch. In places it is singed, and some of his wounds bear detritus from the rubble and shrapnel strewn about by Mordred's earlier assaults.      Still, he's standing. Even when his coat catches fire and fills the room with the scent of burnt flesh. He removes it, struggling to stand, fighting to hold on. Even the Beast can't wrest control from him. He's starving, beaten, bloodied and burned. He's also smiling. Serenely.      "Nothin' doin', pal," says Rizzo directly to the Evil Knight. The smile remains on his face as he falls backwards into Torpor. Why wouldn't it? He's played his part. The Story will benefit from it--he's sure. And he's beaten the Beast, against all odds. In the face of fire and lightning being thrown at him, he mastered his curse to protect his allies.      Thump. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' There's one left standing. Mordred once again grips the silver blade and presses the point into the ground, standing firm as she watches Shigure and John go down. Her gaze turns to Raphael as he shows his resolve. As he denies the Evil Knight her victory. As he becomes the hero needed in this Shrine to oppose the God of Chaos. "Come, then, Disco Hero. Show me that you can change this world's fate!" She bellows as she stands firm, grinning beneath the helmet as he announces his FINAL TECHNIQUE. It's taking a bit not to start laughing. If she didn't know any better, maybe she'd think he really was drunk and insane. Alas, the Knight of Treachery knows the role she must play, and she doesn't bend. She awaits the attack, simply bracing for impact. Part of her really wants to see just how much power he can pack into whatever it is he's doing anyway. Part of her won't admit that she doesn't really have enough gas in the tank to get out of the way. That same part of her won't admit that the maneuver comes at an angle she wasn't even expecting. Really, she wasn't expecting him to have that kind of balance or flexibility. The roundhouse kick lands square on Mordred's jaw, the impact of boot on helmet echoing through the broken Shrine as the Evil Knight's stand-in staggers back several steps. She holds still for a moment, then staggers back a few more steps to back right up into the White Tiger Spirit statue before collapsing into a seated position against it on the floor. "... You fought well, heroes. Perhaps it was my fate to be felled here." She coughs dramatically, propping Clarent up besides her to make sure she can rest one arm against it. "Or perhaps the world needs souls of your caliber to... To oppose my dark master. But whatever the case, your strength of will despite your stature-" She looks towards Shigure in particular there. "-your conviction despite these odds-" She looks towards Raphael for that. "-or your unwavering faith despite... Uh." She's not really sure how to finish that one for John. She coughs again, then sneaks a rock into her hand. "But now... You have one final battle ahead of you. March onwards, warriors, and perhaps I can be at peace." Mordred lets out a death rattle, then not-so-subtly flicks that rock at the ceiling to try and crack a hole in it to let some moonlight through before lowering her head and pretending to be dead. Hopefully, nobody tries to move her after that. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' The Evil Knight is defeated after the incredible battle. As Mordred falls away, the Princess finally activates, looking to the party and smiling.     Thank you all for saving me. Please, go forth and consult the White Tigers Spirit.     The statue and altar await. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael Cousteau is the last one left standing. This is on him. He dusts himself off, looking around. Right. There was a thing to do here, and Shigure was going to do it, right? He consults somewhat with the relevant broadbands. INLAND EMPIRE: This is it. This is our chance to defeat the void. Take the relic from the sunken vessel, and place the relic vessel on the altar to be filled. DRAMA: Doth anyone care if I might state, verily, that yon Evil Knight is not dead? INLAND EMPIRE: Her role is dead. We only needed to end that, and we have. Kim Kitsuragi told him once that Revachol Citizen's Militia officers are all given first aid training. It stands to reason that he should be able to provide something for his two allies before he does this. INTERFACING: Reason fails you yet again, sucker. No idea how to do that. So he'll have to save it for later. He rifles through Shigure's belongings with an almost disconcerting expertise. He has to resist the urge to remove Literally Everything From This Container, taking only the relevant item. It's a hard reflex to hold back, but he does it. He steps towards the altar, placing one fifth of the hope for the world upon it, looking up at the statue of a tiger. "Hey." He says up to it. "This good enough for you? I don't know the appropriate *prayers*. But you saw what we just went through, and I'm hoping that's a good enough *trial*." Yes, he's talking to the statue. It's his whole thing, but you knew this. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' The great metallic statue's eyes glow white when the altar is interacted with.     You have shown great wisdom in coming here, and defending the Royal Family. You have nothing to fear, your path is clear. Present the Relic, and gain the blessing of my power and knowledge.     When the Relic is presented, there is a flash of light, the Relic being empowered with the energies of METAL. Using it, the bearer can manipulate and create elemental strikes of METAL, as well as augmenting their attacks with the power.     At that point, the White Tigers Spirit speaks once more.     Go forth and save this world against the encroaching chaos. The statue then grows dark. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael has a problem, of course. He has a relic. It's powered up. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: Chief, you ain't going to carry both of them. Not gonna happen. INLAND EMPIRE: The Princess. She shall resolve your concerns. Simply inform her of your success. He just knows things, sometimes. It makes his life easier. He swaggers on over. Frankly, he's not /nearly/ as beat up as he thought he'd be. He's lucky. The rescued damsel gets two fingerguns. "Hey, pretty lady. What's the chance of you doing some *healing sparkles* and getting us out of here?" 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' After the Relic is empowered, the Princess has something else to say when she is spoken to.     Excellent work. I will send you back to the safety of the town. Please accept this healing with my thanks. Pradia will remember you, always.     Or at lease she will. The sages outside continue to be complete jackasses with the exception of the Renegade Sage. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      As the Princess' healing magic washes over him, John awakens from Torpor. Confusion washes over his face, as his wounds seal--and, wonder of wonders, his blood is restored before the Beast can rouse itself.      "The flames," he says, watching as his burns fade away. "'Nothin' doin', pal,'" he says. It's the same line as in the dream. Always, that line, and the flames.      "I thought that was it..." He doesn't sound relieved, nor disappointed. He sounds just as confused as he looks, his brow furrowing as his mind races for an answer. He's never been able to see much of it, even though it's haunted him endlessly since he was first sired.      "That wasn't it." Rizzo rises, picks up his bloodied, burnt trench coat and puts it back on. It lies upon him cut in several places that match up with cuts on his dress shirt. Putting it on is nearly pointless now that so much of it is torn, but he might as well. It's time to go, and the Private Detective would never leave his Coat. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure's eyes snap open when the healing power washes over her. She bolts upright, grasping her chest and panic-breathing for a few moments.     She looks confused, looking at her own hand as if it wasn't her own for a few moments, before everything settles and she just falls back over again, staring at the ceiling. 
}}

7051/BCoB: Beneath The Silence

2020-02-12T07:31:41Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/11 |Location=Eorzea |Synopsis=Castrum Occidens has gone dark. The heroes go to find out way and uncover more than they could have imagined...."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/11
|Location=Eorzea
|Synopsis=Castrum Occidens has gone dark. The heroes go to find out way and uncover more than they could have imagined.
|Cast of Characters=598, 819, 7175, 934, 7180, 6, 6802, 525, 42
|Tinyplot=The Binding Coil
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Castrum Occidens has gone dark.     The Eorzean Alliance is completely mystified as to this fact. Castrums don't normally just spontaneously just end up ceasing activity for no reason. Usually, it involves heavy artillery and a focused push by a small army headed by somewhere between eight and twenty-four hero types. Alerts have gone out to the Scions, as well as the Paladins, Watch, and Concord. This calls for an investigation in force.     The Castrum, as advertised, is quiet. Not even the Garleans seem to know what has happened, which means there is an opportunity of sorts. It doesn't take long to find out why it's quiet.     It's because everyone's dead. Every single Garlean present seems to have come down with a lethal case of stabbing, though some also seem to have died from virulent poisoning. Many of the infantry appear to have been assassinated with a blade of some kind, while the harder targets seem to have been simply... dismantled with a combination of some kind of strange non-energy as well as telltale scorchmarks from bombs and some kind of powerful electrical discharge. That... Makes this a lot more straightforward. The more you look through the place, the more it becomes apparent that whoever did this was being /extremely/ thorough. Most of the lockers have been popped open almost effortlessly and emptied of notable objects, as well as what looks like some Magitek storage units. It's almost adventurer-esque, really.     The trail of murder seems to more or less lead towards a large lift backed directly against a shaft that seems to bore into the massive amounts of corrupted crystal set into the mountain. There are some signs of non-Garlean construction here as well, advanced alloys and patterns that speak of Allagan technology. It looks like this area was intended to be an excavation of some kind...     The only solution, of course, is to board the lift and descend. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''                    IMPERIAL EXPLORATORY SITE - 237 YALMS                     BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMknCxfX_ek     The lift drops you down a couple hundred yalms into what looks to be at first a heavily fortified base camp. Metal reinforcement and heavy defenses line the metallic floors. The air bears an electric scent, some kind of metal, unearthly tinge that sticks in the back of the palate. The Garlean design promptly ends there, however. The vista opens wide upon an incomprehensible amount of corrupted aetheric crystal mingled with clearly Allagan technology buried within it. Massive melting swathes of crystal form a bridge across a dark span directly into the side of that Allagan technology. There is one problem, however: A hovering black sphere shot through with red lines in complex patterns seems to be a guardian before a loose plate in the Allagan structure. The moment you draw near, it emits a shrill series of noises, and begins blasting at those close by with waves of high voltage electricity and laser blasts. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Death is a constant for the Warriors of Light. Warring with the Garleans is a constant for the Warriors of Light.     This is not what warring with the Garleans is about. The waves of corpses on the way to the lift are just the start though, this place has been... ransacked. and in a hurry. Who the hell has time to do all this in just a few hours?     N'raha sighs as he advances on the Guardian Sphere. Allagan nonsense. His armor flashes and glares with repeated blasts of coherent light, his aether and steel keeping the worst of things off of him as he advances towards the orb. "I got it's attention, someone kick it, please!"     Nothing about this bodes well. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Some crumbling soot falls from Alruna's fingers as she rubs them together, carried from touching one of the bodies up on the surface. Sniffing the air, she makes a face and reaches into one of her pouches for a soft caramel. She silently unbuttons the pouch and holds it out for anyone else who wants something to mask the unpleasantly industrial taste of the air down here. She vaults over the first railing and hits the next landing below rather than use the stairs, and immediately regrets it, clutching at her side. "Nngh." Gritting her teeth, the paladin draws her 'sword and board', as Yang called them, and runs in along N'raha, the combination of red and orange lights casting her figure in uncanny form. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' "But I wanted to play around with the magitek!" Will doesn't... /quite/ whine as he steps off the elevator. He is very obviously a little bit sad that he didn't get to go full-on chopshop on a moderately-sized walking tank, but his demeanor perks up almost instantaneously as he looks around and takes in all of the... /everything/ all around him. "Oh my golly, what /is/ all this? Some kind of ancient ruin...!?" "Oh man!" The giant orb starts beeping furiously at them! Will stares at it with ~stars in his eyes!~ "They've even got SENTRY DRONES! Thattun's mine, y'all! Don't bust it up too bad!" That poor Allagan drone has approximately two seconds to fear for its fate as Will advances upon it. He fires a series of electromagnetic blasts designed to temporarily disable electronics long enough for him to poke at it in ways that are probably not at all safe. Will looks every bit like a kid in a candy store, though. He's... Trying to keep the horrible carnage he'd seen outside out of his head, for now. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      In a sick twist of fate, in many ways, this... grisly alarm to investigate has been something of a great timing for Amelris. Sometimes, when you're just out and about, mining your own buisness, mining your own ore, the last thing you expect is your mother at the head of a small wargroup out to kill a big beastie. Then being interrogated by say maternal on, oh, are you eating correctly, or making sure you're polishing your weapons correctly because they WILL rust if you keep the blood of your enemies on, not making pacts with Voidsents and all sort of tiny well-meaning barrage of affections.      It was ALMOST with relief that Amelris received the call from the Scions to investigate the Castrum, which allowed him an easy escape from overbearing maternals.      Amelris steps into the Castrum, leaving off his Chocobo as he joins down the elevator.      The Red Mage lets out a loud whistle as he stares around, adjusting the collar of his vest, staring at the digging and the crystals. "This is DEEPLY some corrupted crystals." He comments, taking the stairs like a regular person, drawing his rapier with one hand.      "Well, I don't think THAT'S Garlean." Amelris comments, energy gathering at his free hand as he thrust it out, unleashing a bolt of lightning at THE ORB, followed by a blast of Air.      "We'll try, Pauwel, we'll try!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' One of the Imperials Castrums had gone dark? That was cause for concern by her. She had been sent an alert to the going on and was quick to arrive there was no one there. Well, there were but everyone was dead the entire Castrum was a charnel house. The place has been looted of nearly everything of value one could carry easily by normal or magical means. Tomoe looks to be very on edge as she stops checking the bodies. "I don't like the look of this." It looked like a party of adventuring sorts went through here. "All their armour has been stripped for parts too." She's got a spear out of one that might be mistaken for a Doman weapon of some sort from its stylings. She keeps the spear ready as she goes to the lift. She will look at the parents and pause for a moment. "Is this Alagan?" She wonders with a good deal of worry. She rides the lift down with the rest of the party looking alert as they reach the bottom of the lift. Just their luck, there is something waiting to kill them. Tomoe does not even pause she darts forward right after Alruna and N'Raha. Still focusing on doing damage she's still trying to get upfront and in the grill of the sphere as she launches into several rapid stabbing combos on it and throws a fire spell into the mix. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' After her last attempt at doing osmething vaguely helpful, Jeanne has become a little more wary about letting things like personal preferences get in the way of having a good time and spreading her name. Personal preferences as to what is unclear and unidentifiable, but she's resolved to simply let her sword, flag, and fire do the talking this time around. It probably helps that she has no attachment to anyone here. Not the murdered soldiers, not the adventurers she's joining, and certainly not the electricity and laser blasting sphere even though its aesthetic isn't entierly terrible. "Since you asked so nicely." Moving along steadily, Jeanne takes full advantage of N'Raha and Alruna taking the lead as the designated meat shields to get closer to the sphere in relative safety. A stray laser singes her cheek, and that gets an angry shout and field goal-esque kick in return. Sadly, William's request is not heeded by the Avenger. "If they get broken from something like this, then they're not worth keeping, anyway!" 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Being greeted with a large number of bodies on arrival, Inga searches in vain for a survivor, but finds none. "What do you suppose will be done with the bodies?" she asks N'Raha lowly. She has a bone-fence or two to mend you know. She'll keep somewhere in the middle of the party, provided everyone doesn't decide to run at top speed onward. She'll ride the lift with some degree of satisfaction. Maybe these Garleans aren't so bad. She's about to blast the glowing ball thing, but William seems so excited about it and appears he may know how to disable it. She will absolutely accept a caramel. "Thank you Alruna," she says, and chews. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren visits the mysterious Castrum... it turns out to just mean 'a style of aboveground fortification favored by Garleans'. It's weird how it's been... left like this though.     Although... is it really? Or is this what a place like this usually looks like after a pile of elites rolls through? Staren sends drones ahead to scout the surface while he...     ...Reanimates Garlean soldiers. They'll be limited to melee weapons, but hey, a corpse is already dead, right?     Staren hurries to the elevator once it's found, squad of Garlean soldiers in tow. Which... he has stand back from the strange sphere. "I think we can better take it down from range, but thanks for tanking! We have a healer, right?" He opens up with blasts from his beam cannons... and then holds back since William asked to take it without destroying it and starts rummaging through his bag. If it lasts long enough, he starts throwing EMP grenades at it. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' Staren does some quick SCIENCE NECROMANCY on some dead Garleans to bring a bunch of ablative zombies with him. This surely isn't going to get any arched eyebrows from the other people who have had some recent traumatic experiences with a multitalented necromancer. Meanwhile, Amelris absolutely is calling it right. They're in the middle of a massive spike of corrupted aether crystal, clearly the remenants of a chunk of Dalamud falling and striking the earth.     The drone guardian might have stymied the Garlean rank and file, but the stalwarts of Eorzea and the Multiverse beyond are more than a match for the thing. The trio of tanks keep the thing occupied while William tries to taze it with EMPs. It looks like it might be helpful, but Amelris doesn't take any chances and blasts it with elemental strikes. The magic damages it like anything else, it seems, the Allagan technology tough but not invulnerable (that comes later). Staren blasts it with some beam cannons, and they prove quite effective, crashing into the drone and blasting holes into the matte-black surface. It doesn't last all that long though because Jeanne straight boots the thing, sending it crashing straight through Allagan bulkhead and opening the way with a scattering of drone-parts across the area. The group is able to move forward through the opened hole into the cavern proper.     The cavern is /massive/. This is mostly because of the most striking feature, that which is forming the brace of the upper area of the ceiling. And that would be a ribbed, familiar-looking draconic wing of gargatuan proportions. Crusted along it and all through the area in a dome is incomprehensible amounts of corrupted crystal interspersed with hexagonal platforms that form a rough, winding path through the caverns. A large number of mutated creatures that seem to have taken on strangely morphic attributes litter the area, some of the mass glomming into hulking golems formed of protomatter. In the distance is another transportation lift. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna frowns. She didn't have any familial obligations to duck out of for this, but she /did/ have to slip out from under the watchful eye of the Scions' healers, and that's something she's going to pay for, later. That sentry node didn't stand a chance. She reaches under one arm, cinching one of the straps a bit tighter with a grunt. She looks at the reanimated ashkin Staren has created with distaste, but elects not to comment. "Allagan, yes." Alruna confirms for Tomoe. "But..." She's looking back, not forward, and doesn't understand N'raha's reaction at first. When she turns around, letting her eyes trail up across the vast span of THAT... The paladin stumbles, her sword clattering on the rough, uneven surface of the corrupted crystal she falls to her knees upon. Colour drains from Alruna's face. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     The drone is shattered, busted and the way is opened. N'raha is going to jaw at Staren for making corpse walkers but...     No. No, he cannot bear to say anything other than to just look up at this place, this chamber, this.... this blasphemy of creation. Nothing that any mortal mind in their presence could possibly match what is happening here. "...Thal's balls, we're... they're digging up Bahamut a-"     N'raha hears the sword clattering, and then swears. "Shit. Alruna, stay with us." He scuttles over to the fallen Paladin, and carefully braces her a bit. "Steady. Steady now." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris feels a bit bad that they trashed the ORB. It's okay, they'll probably find others in there. A dirty look is given over at Staren but the Miqo'te don't really say anything to the other-feline based individual. As long he don't lose control of them. This is just a bit distastefull. The strange, almost albino-like young woman however, do seem like someone to study later.      Then they step out.      The Red mage stares up, his mouth wide and agape, his hand on his rapier tightening. His tail's fur stick out on end with his ears flattening. The Calamity is not something that anybody forgets for anyone that lived through it. The sight of the firey dragon, spreading in the sky. Larger, bigger than anything they've ever seen. The death. The fire. The earth upheaving. The light.      Amelris takes a deep breath, closing his eyes, then exhales, then look back up.      He was a lot younger when the Calamity happened. It's a scar all Eorzean shares... some more than others, if Alruna is any indications.      "... Well." He speaks, his voice a bit horase. "I guess we know where Bahamut went, now. In a big bubble of corrupted aether, at that... is it being reconstructed?" 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga's eyes move in the same direction in the impressively cavernous chamber, gaze fixing on the wings. She's no native, but she's spent enough time in the world to know what she's seeing immediately. "Oh..." he says, her eyes wide. The clatter of Alruna's sword brings her attention back to the group and she limps forward toward the Paladin, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Alruna, are you alright?" she asks quietly, but shortly Inga too falls to her knees, suddenly thrown into a vision. Her eyes roll back as she trembles with the force of it. It is all consuming. A huge battle, Bahamut...the Calamity. Her lips part, and rather than describe what she sees she....sings. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' Staren definitely gets a stink-eye at the... reanimation of very recently deceased soldiers. They didn't /need/ a small army of walking corpses down here. They just need to do some old-fashioned robot-hacking, just as soon as the party disables the drone--                                    *punt*                                   "N-noooo!" Will cries, "Ooooooooorrrrrrrb!!!" It was... It was too good for this world. The good ones... They always go too early... But then-- then they find their way into some kind of cavern. A cavern filled with some manner of strange dinosaur corpse. A dinosaur corpse that... seems to shake the local Eorzeans right to their foundations. Will stares up at the corpse with an uncertain, but concerned expression. "What am I looking at here, guys? Some kind of... Giant dragon?" There's a beat. He turns his head toward the mutated horrors in their way and clicks his tongue thoughtfully. "Everyone, eyes front! We've got company!" And Will... has a very big, plasma-launching gun to shoot them with if they think about approaching. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' Shaking her leg off after that kick, Jeanne smirks briefly at William moment of sadness because of course she would. Afterwards, she notices that hole the orb left in its destruction, then continues onwards. "Let's hope the rest of this technology isn't so fragile. The crystals seem more interesting than anything we've found so.... Far." And then they encounter Bahamut. Or, rather, the wing of it. "This Bahamut sounds like it could be useful." She responds as several others in their number explain what the wing belongs to, eyeing it for several long moments before noting the mutated creatures milling about. "... Well? Are we just going to stand around navel-gazing, or are we going to head in deeper and see what else is worth finding?" It's a rhetorical question as Jeanne just continues onwards and walks right past Alruna and N'raha, simply assuming that Inga and Staren (and his zombies) and Tomoe are still with her as she approaches the mutated creatures. "If you want to live, serve me. If not, line up so I can kill you faster!" She's serious about that, too, as she breaks into a brief sprint, blade drawn and lashing out at whatever creatures so much as look at her the wrong way instead of doing something to indicate that they actually understand. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has had run-ins with actual undead before to see someone she considers a friend do something so callous in her mind get a legit look of horror on her face. Then the talk of Bahamut comes up. She looks confused. That's not the sea monster of her world's myth they are talking about. She also notes Inga is her which is quite welcome and then Jeanne alter which leave her a bit uneasy but so far? Jeanne has not directly tried to set her on fire or stab her. She's also glad she did take the caramel, it helps make things bearable down here. In terms of the flavour of the air. The teamwork of party tanks enable the rest of the party to do their thing unhindered. Which lets them take the thing down. "God in heaven." She mumbles as she looks out the cavern she's never seen anything like this before. "God in heaven..." She will form up with Alunra and N'Raha to push forward. "looks like that's the only way forward." She swaps her weapons out for her sword and board. Before she dives back into the thick of the horrors that lurk down there. She also seem to be not bothered by all the platforming she has to do either. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren looked back at the people giving him a stink-eye. "They're already dead. Whatever did this, we might need some backup."     Now they're in an alleghan ruin which appears to be automatically excavating a dragon.     Jeanne's reaction makes the most sense to him, not being especially connected to Eorzea. He nods, following her. "We may as well take it for ourselves if it's just sitting here... but is someone already controlling this, or is it on automatic?"     He gestures vaguely at the mutants. "So are these ancient guardians or something made recently?" He's ready to defend himself, of course. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna shivers, her gloved hands creaking as they clench tightly. N'raha doesn't reach her, the paladin staring blankly past him at the vast span of the wing arching overhead, lost in memories just a few months old for her. Inga echoes the words of a song - sometimes a dirge, sometimes simply a remembrance, something that Alruna herself sings when she meditates or the past threatens to swallow her again. She bows her head, tears running down her cheeks as she slowly blinks. "I'm fine. I'm..." She's not fine, but... 'Look to those who walked before, to lead those who walk after...' Alruna draws a shuddering breath, picking up her sword and grabbing N'raha's shoulder. "I'll be all right." she promises. "Come on." They have a Servant to catch up to, after all. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The wing is imposing beyond belief, and it raises terrible spectres of a threat thought gone, vanished with the Calamity. The dire threat of the wing's mere existence, let alone the creature it belongs to, brings up memories of terror and flame.     However, that doesn't make the local prowling creatures go away, and the group battles forward through the enemies. It does not take an excessive amount of effort to push through and eliminate them, travelling across the hexagonal platforms with frozen molten crystal bridges in between. The mystery of this mingling has yet to be answered, but the lift in the distance beckons them on. None of the monsters seem to understand Jeanne's demands, they aren't draconic enough to fall under her command, it seems. Still, they are dispatched easily enough as Tomoe moves up to join her.     The group reaches the next lift, and it is... definitely not Garlean make. It looks much more technologically advanced, bearing all the signs of Allagan design. They are moving firmly into unknown territory at this point. They descend...              LOWER AETHEROACOUSTIC EXPLORATORY SITE - 912 YALMS                 The lift deposits the group into what seems to be a large, terraced area that weaves back and forth inexorably towards a terminus at the bottom of some kind, but it is some distance away and below. Both paths seem to lead to an array of differently-colored and shaped drones of a similar nature to the guardian at the entrance. Each is dispatched without much difficulty, but as they fall, there is a surge of energy that flows down through the area towards the bottom.     What they meet at the bottom seems to be a more advanced version of the drones above, the object blasting at the incoming investigators with a bewildering array of crushing energy strikes and deploying a clinging energetic field that detonates some time later for an intense amount of damage... Unless one passes the unstable field along to someone else. They seem to be getting more complex and dangeorus over time... And this is a lot of space to be using on a defensive layer. Still, once they win through there is another lift down... How deep does this go, anyway? 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga comes to, shaking from the intensity of the vision, but manages to pull herself to her feet. She motions for anyone left to go ahead. She'd catch up. Probably. She can at least provide defensive wards before they go. A quick cut, and her blood magic shimmers into existence around the rest of the party. She'll catch up at the next elevator. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     This place is digging up a lot of old memories, a lot of ancient energy rippling through the place, and clearly it's affecting the Eorzeans more than the rest. This place is a Bad Time already and it's promising to be even worse. N'raha helps his friends to their feet, and takes off after the Offworlders, a few paces behind them now that they're ahead.     Stopping to fight the mutants at least lets the rest of the party catch up and...     And to the next lift. This is even worse. The Warrior steps in to tank more shots, his ax flashing reflexively to take on the drones, but all the while, he's looking up at the architecture, at this behemoth of a... whatever it is, built inside and around the Elder Primal. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' After the mutated creatures are dispatched, Jeanne takes a moment to pace herself and get a better look at the more complex machinery. A hand goes to her chin as she narrows her eyes slightly, nods once, then paces back and forth slowly before heading into the lift. "... This world's technology is confusing. Why would something older look so much more advanced? Did the people of your world become stupider over time?" She asks to nobody in particular, although N'Raha, Amelris, and Alruna all get more pointed looks due to... Well. It /is/ their world, and she did just insult them. Kind of. Jeanne gets to have fun punting more drones, at least. For whatever reason, she seems to be more inclined to kicking the things than blasting them with fire or slashing them apart. As the group gets through more of those drones, she does take notice of that energy surge heading downwards. "I have a feeling we'll have something more potent to fight the further down we go. Best make sure we don't miss anything before we get there." Indeed, Jeanne makes sure to go after every drone in the area, even going as far as hurling the occasional spear at far-off drones if nobody shoots them. She wants to be thorough! Passing the unstable fields to other people, not so much. Not without it being explained to her by someone that notices how it works, anyway. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren tries to use EMP to disable at least ONE of these drones for Will. A second one for himself would be nice, too...     When they reach the miniboss drone, he exclaims, "Oh COME ON! Not ONE attempt to talk to us? What was with these ancient Alleghans... We need to find the command room or at least a terminal, and find out what kind of program this place is running on..." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris snaps out of it. There's a big mystery here and they need to not be day dreaming of horrors past.      Fighting through the drones and mutants do help to sooth the nerves of the Red Mage, amusingly enough. This is is something familiar. Something he can fall back on.      "No, I'm pretty sure people back then are just as stupid as they are right now." Amelris answers Jeanne, somewhat dryly. "With the notable exception that they had the annoying tendency of blowing themselves up in Calamities of their own. The War of the Magi, the fall of the Allagan Empire... that happened quite a few times here."      Amelris takes mental notes. This IS a lot of Allagan stuff. Was it here all this time? Corrupted Aether wasn't around at THIS high density until the Calamity. Or... did it grow from here? 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Inga's song is a surprise and it's a very haunting one, there's no time to dwell on, she does seem concerned for Alruna. Still, when she says she's all right and N'Raha helps her up she'll get a move on with the other two tanks. There are no old memories for her here, yet she knows of places that will hit her just as hard and she grimaces. They keep going to catch up to a certain JEANNE who ran ahead and the wing stops tomoe in her tracks for a second that thing is massive it's hinting at a creature bigger than a battleship. She's only getting the faintest idea of the terror that it let loose on this world in the past. They keep going down, deeper and deeper and Tomoe keeps going fighting her way through the next things to get in the party's way. The new drone's 'mechanics' are noted and she'll roll with them as she hacks, shield bases and throws magic at the thing. She is keeping a bit more attention on her fellow tank's statues though this can't be an easy place for Alruna, N'Raha and even Amelris. Even if he's not a tank himself. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' "If it's anythin' like what happened on my world, then I blame calamities," Will answers Jeanne as they keep marching on through the dungeon. "Though... Dang, I didn't think there was /anything/ this advanced out here. I can't hardly make heads or tails out of this stuff, not withtout takin' it apart and puttin' it back together again--" Suddenly! ANOTHER DRONE! "Okay!" Will perks up immediately, resorting to his usual standby of Shooting Electromagnetic Pulses At it. "Can we please disable THIS one? Judgment n' I might be able to pull some information out of it about what exactly this here place is meant to be /doin'/ if we don't just kick it off a cliff!" There's a beat as Will is hit by that clinging energy field... And promptly taps Staren on the shoulder to pass it along once he figures out how it works. To Staren. Not one of the walking corpses. Just... Staren. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna focuses on her job. The cacophony of battle masks her whispering the words of the song that's still ringing in Inga's ears after her vision, to remind herself of their wisdom. Endure, strike forward, cut the path for those that come after you. She is definitely off her game, however. Alruna suffers for her emotional turmoil, taking strikes she shouldn't need to and failing to handle the arcane mechanics of the defence systems properly. Inga's wards prove her saving grace, protecting the paladin sufficiently that she makes it to their next destination. She doesn't even take Jeanne's little stab at them personally. "Aye, well, we've had a rough road." she says, without further explanation. She's not in the mood for a lecture on the history of apocalypses Eorzea has endured. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The architecture is pure Allagan, aggressively so. Extensively so. They're already past the corrupted crystal at this point and are descending into the bulk of a huge machine of indeterminate nature of purpose. Was this part of Dalamud?     Jeanne makes sure to murder every drone on the way down as if to make a point. The guardian at the end, however, seems to have accumulated all of that power and energy and proves to be a tough, but short battle. EMPing the drones is a valid strategy, but Jeanne is just singlemindedly set on destroying them all, it seems, denying Staren and William their Christmas enjoyment. Because it's not Christmas. Unfortunately, none of them seem to be planning to talk back, either.     Staren does eventually get to experience the fun of being blown up by Allagan Rot, though. It's painful, but not cripplingly so thanks to the group generally being far more powerful than the defenses at this point.     Amelris is left with a lot of questions and fewer answers. That always seems to be the way of things, at least for now. Maybe more answers will be deeper.                 RAGNAROK-CLASS INTERNMENT HULK - 1233 YALMS                 The lift takes the investigation team even further down into the Allagan construction, leaving them standing on what looks like a huge cylinder. The air hangs heavy with crackling aether-heavy fog. Something is damaged here. Something is leaking energy into the environment. Lots of it. However, the tough Allagan-designed alloys seem to have remained traversable... in a manner of speaking.     The entire area seems to be separated into layers of platforms that are mounted into the walls. Various hatches on the walls likely might have led to other areas, but they are firmly sealed shut with no apparent method to open them, forcing them to descend deeper and deeper. The problem is one of mobility, as there is no direct path. Why there is none leaves one to boggle... But there seem to be strange pads of some kind. When stepped on, they launch whoever steps on them in the direction they point, sending them hurling at high speed... But landing safely on the other end as they pass through spinning rings that attenuate their trajectories and speed.     Unfortunately, all through this area are even more of the protoplasmic entities that attempt to ambush and crowd the group as they proceed, trying to interfere with them as they work to navigate through humming fields of energy that seem to be prevalant through the descent that blocks one's path. It would probably be a bad idea to drop into them, but various Allagan terminals seem to be present at points to adjust them and open the path forward.     Eventually, they will reach yet another lift, even deeper... What could lie at the bottom? 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     This time, the axing from N'raha is interspersed with bouts of politely picking up his Seer, and holding on to Inga as they both get propelled over aether jumps. That seem to be programmed for whoever steps on them. That's... nice at least, they they don't have to monkey with trajectories and such, but... This is all overdesigned, over wroght and STILL built into the side of a dead Elder Primal. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren scowls when he gets blasted and passes the field onto a zombie before pointing out the hypocricy of caring about THOSE dead guys while working to raid the alleghans. Once the fight's over, Staren's careful to make sure the path ahead is clear of interference by tossing small rocks or other junk onto the pads first, and blasting any troublesome enemies along the route. He examines the terminals; he'd like to study them more, but the group keeps moving, so for now he sticks to familiarizing himself with the basic operation of alleghan terminals. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Once Inga is recovered, she starts putting her magic to offensive uses as well. Enemies are dealt with by fire and blood in between healing Alruna. She's not at the top of her game, no, but who could blame her with those memories fresh on the surface. It's in Inga's mind now as well. Inga winds an arm around Raha when he takes her accross the jumps, grateful for the assistance. Even with the devices to slow and direct them toward their destination she's afraid she'll go ass over teakettle. "Was this all part of the moon? Or was it here already?" she muses as the approach yet another lift. "Further down..." she sighs. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      This is becoming more and more confusing. Amelris is following along on the pads. THAT part is actually kind of fun but he's not sure what the Allagans were thinking by making... this section like this.      "You know." Amelris comments, dashing through to skewer one of the critters down there, then blowing it away with a fireball point-blank. "I AM starting to wonder if you're correct on that front, Inga. This feels like it MIGHT've been part of Dalamund."      The Red Mage leaps, landing away from the pad he was on, adjusting his hat when he does. "That make more sense than THIS facility was here miraculously where Bahamut landed and crashed here. The alternative is that Bahamut was /moved/ and I'm not sure I like that option." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' "Oh gods, not these..." Alruna mutters. She doesn't deal well with Allagan jump pads. Every single time she jumps onto one of them, she lands badly, sprawling on the unyielding floors and narrowly missing being cut by razor-sharp angles from the broken segments. By the time they finally weave their way through the labyrinth of broken corridors, she's bruised and her calm is severely damaged. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' "N-nooo! Why the drones!? They're all so useful!" Will bemoans the continued obliteration of ancient technology. Unfortunately for Jeanne, it seems that the only way to stop his incessant whining is to . . . leave him stuff to take apart . . . It might be hard. These things explode /really/ nicely, it seems. But! Soon, there are platforms-- and platforming challenges associated with them! Will clicks his tongue at the small army of mutants infesting the facility. Did the Allagans create them, too? "I don't know if I trust those weird catapult-lifts too much," he murmurs as he makes his way to the edge of a platform. "Too many points of failure. They could send you flying right into a wall if those brake-rings don't work. I think I'll just... make my way down the old fashioned way. The old fashioned, grappling-winch way. It also happens to give him an excellent vantage point to lob great big blasts of blue-white plasma at unsuspecting, mutant-rich platforms. No reason to just leave those things wandering around. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe makes note of tombstones as something he should hang on to and sell to the Ironworks. The poor girl does not know what she's in for if she ever finds any of those things. As the party pushes deeper and deeper past the corrupted crystal at this point. The scale of this construction is insane what the heck is this place anyway? She keeps going as her companions give her more information about what this place is. She will listen to Amelris request to not frag any further drones. If they do run into any more she will try to leave something for Staren and Will to poke. New types of monsters assault them and she will not want to drop down into the strange energy field that's just science but she has to wonder how many more lifts are there till they get to the bottom? 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     If N'raha's experience with Allagan technology so far is anything to measure by, being overdesigned and overwrought is an Allagan maxim. A significant portion of Ul'dah can probably fit inside this area. Inga's accompaniment helps them proceed with magic and ward.     William and Tomoe make their own ways. William's grapple works well enough. He can make his way around effectively as he likes, allowing him to ambush some enemies on his own terms.     Amelris continues to ponder his theories as he proceeds. Which could it be? The thrumming continues around him, informing him that this place is quite /alive/. But what is the purpose? If it is part of Dalamud, how can it continue to function? What IS the function of this specific area? Maybe some kind of access hatch? Or maybe it was never actually intended for normal access in the first place? Considering the energy fields, perhaps it is more something like...     Staren's tendency to test the path forward allows him to verify that the platforms don't seem to be designed to toss anyone into a lethal intersection. The platforms actually stop working if they would, which leads one to generally have 'getting lost' as the biggest threat... Though getting lost can be a problem if one is ambushed by sufficient amounts of enemies.     He checks the terminals and quickly finds that the interface is designed to alter the frequency and intenisity of the fields. The terminals are labeled 'RAGNAROK-CLASS INTERNMENT HULK DRIVE SYSTEM MODULATION'. Huh.                    RAGNAROK DRIVE CYLINDER - 1,524 YALMS                         The next lift is not just a lift, but what looks like an industrial-class cargo elevator... But Allagan-style. Upon activation, it begins descending slowly, Walls of metal all around them slowly passing by as machinery with unknown purpose surges with aetheric power and endlessly churns....     It becomes more of an issue when hulking heavy weapons platforms drop from above, slamming into the platform and swinging across the tight space with swings of clawed arms and wide-angled beam-cannons. This is interspersed with more guardian drones and swarms of tiny machines that attempt to latch on and shock people with potent blasts of electricty     This continues, a seemingly endless assault until the elevator reaches the bottom. It takes a while. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' The successive battles has Jeanne grinning widely the whole time, occasionally laughing and cackling to punctuate her being... Herself. Still, she probably shouldn't be wasting so much time on minions when there's that dragon to search for, and those strange fields certainly don't help much when her defenses are a bit lacking compared to the sturdier members of the group. "People can be such idiots when it comes to powers they don't understand..." She comments with a rare moment of contemplation, that grin fading for a moment while that lift takes them further down. She doesn't even take further jabs at the natives to this world, even going as far as NOT murdering every single moving thing she sees. She needs to start thinking about conserving energy just a bit more, although she's still rather violent with the drones that come close enough for her kick. At least she's not chasing them down now. The weapons platform, though... That quickly becomes her primary focus as she gets caught on one of those clawed arms and proceeds to start setting it on fire as she heads towards center mass to apply more fire to the machine. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Discussing the words on the terminals leads to a revelation: This was originally a space prison for Bahamut!     And the Garleans dropped it on the planet. Wow.     Staren's not sure what to make of that just yet. He'd like to hear the Garlean's side of the story. Right now though... they go deeper.     And are faced with an ELEVATOR BOSS. Staren doesn't have any particular problems facing a giant robot but he doesn't really have anything especially great for dealing with them. He tries to manage blasting the giant robot, dodging wide area beams, and firing the occasional missile to explode groups of drones. Hopefully keeping the adds down will make it easier for the others. And if EMP grenades work, maybe William can finally get some toys! His armor does not make it through unscathed... 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Elevator Boss is not fun. That said, it's a lot of things for N'raha to beat on, in rapid succession. That's something he's very much built for.     Each wave of machines is met with vigour and anger and raw power, bouyed by the magics of Inga and partnered by the efforts of Tomoe and Alruna. All he's got to do is keep the Baddies out from the middle of the DPS, as it were, and make sure that everyone's still alive. It gives him little time to properly think, but... 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' The drones! The poor drones! At least Jeanne isn't destroying ALL of them. Will is definitely going to try and capture at least one if he can! If nothing else, it might be able to give them some very useful information. And if not, he's got a souvenir! Soon, though, they come to... another lift. Another elevator that goes straight down. Down. Down! Ever deeper down! Toward the very heart of the world. Certain revelations play out across the local bandwidth. Dalamud... "This... this place was part of a moon? Your ancients /built/ a /moon?/" Will shakes his head in mild disbelief. The Allagan Empire... Must have been incredible. If only he could have seen it in its full and total splendor, instead of just wandering through the fragments left behind. But then, that feeling isn't uncommon in places like these. His own world has enough ancient ruins lying around that a well-honed sense of wonder isn't exactly strange. But then! Robots start dropping from the sky! Will makes a sound of barely restrained glee as he starts blasting at them, even as THEY blast at HIM! He almost gets his face seared off by a wide-angle blast as he races forward to try and wrangle himself on top of one to try and hijack it. With his gun. His... AI-equipped, hack-capable gun. HACKIIIIIIIING! 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna's sweat mingles with tears on her face as she fights. Where Jeanne relishes the battle, and Alruna /ought/ to be doing the same, but this is all hitting much too close to home for her. She takes a moment, in the brief lull as they step onto yet another lift platform, to take another caramel out of the pouch on her hip. "Aye," she replies to William tersely. "Built a prison for a monster, and then the Garleans tried to bring it down on our heads." She /savours/ the sweet taste this time, closing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath. And then another Allagan sentry node damn near flattens her, and does knock her off her feet. Well, the respite was nice while it lasted. The simple taste of something associated with the normal world seems to do her a world of good, renewing Alruna's determination. She slaps the node aside with a swipe of her shield, almost knocking it into the one William is trying to subvert. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      This get more and more confusing as things deepens. More questions are generated than answers! The Red Mage is noticably less provocative, less extravagant in this romping. In fact, you could say that he is somewhat brooding, pensive, introspective.      And thinking like a Kobold, apparently.      "Is THIS why we have so much Corrupted Aether around here!?" Amelris exclaims, unleashing a barrage of crystal swords aimed at the sides of one of the robots inside the elevator, dancing around to pummel it with a flurry of punctures. "This damned giant Primal just..."      The Red Mage steps back, spreading out his arms to cast out another flurry of lightning bolts. This is very enervating. "Why DID they have Bahamut inside a giant floating moon, anyway? That's probably the question we should be asking ourselves." 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga focuses on keeping everyone protected and healed, since as far as she is aware she's the only one here capable of doing so. Blood magic is thrown about like she's throwing candy at a parade. "This is madness, why build a lift and then have it set to be attacked?" she asks. Its one of many questions being asked here. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe finds out more and more about the Allgans as they work deeper she knows about the Emperor, Tomoe will keep going deeper and deeper as they hit the deeper part of the hulk. What they dungeon crawling though comes up and that raises more questions. Then come the little bit about the moon drop. She keeps moving deeper into the hulk. It sounds like a Prison and maybe a ship to boot. Then comes the lift and the attack he gets into the fight and will try to not utterly destroy the drones when she can, she gave her word after all. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Jeanne sets to work, smashing through anything in her reach. There is no shortage of targets for her disdain and bloodlust, though all the targets on the elevator itself are, sadly, constructs and so have no blood, nor shriek in pain as she cleaves through and immolates them.     William does William things, and exposes himself to absurd amounts of danger so he can try to wrangle one of the Clockwork Dreadnoughts. He shoots the Dreadnought, trying to hack it. It's somewhat uncertain, but he manages to gain something resembling control of it for a time, allowing him to use it to brutalize other machines until it, too, ends up requiring to be sent to the scrap heap. At least he gets to live the dream for a bit.     It's hitting far too close to home for Alruna. Everything is getting officially Too Real for her, but it's a mark of her volition that she can soldier and and force herself to meet the challenges before her instead of collapsing in despair and horror at the things before her. She gets a moment of solace. Just a moment. Just enough... And then the battle resumes, Alruna crashing forward to reassert dominance.     Amelris asks more questions. Maybe the Primal might be the reason for all the corrupted aether, indeed. What's going on here, anyway? Why a moon? But Amelris contributes while he asks the questions that need to be asked. The issue is... where the hell are the answers?     Inga also asks a pertinent question. Unfortunately, the only answer anyone can really give for that is 'Allagan assholery', in the end.     Tomoe comes up with some insights, using contextual information provided by Staren. At least they know WHAT this thing is. But how does it work? WHY does it work? She fights on, searching for answers.     Staren wants answers too, but he doesn't have any Garleans to ask. Not living ones anyway. Someone was /really/ thorough about that. He fights his way through and gets to enjoy watching William rodeo-wrangle a Dreadnought for the requesite 8 seconds or so. Thankfully, he's not the clown. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''                          RAGNAROK CORE - 1910 YALMS                             The elevator descends into yet another massive cavern. The crystal returns, the walls of the hylk having been breached. The cause is obvious as the elevator continues down, as one cannot miss the massive talons that curve upwards on a trio of massive crystal-scaled appendages. The elevator comes to a stop, allowing the group to step off into what can only be the palm of Bahamut's hand. It is large enough to crush everyone in its palm, were it mobile. Thankfully, it seems to be inert in its current state. More corrupted crystal spirals around the other side of the palm, swirling down along the arm to another large platform that connects to what looks like another opening in an Allagan bulkhead once more.     There is a figure standing there before the entrance, looking up into the blackness above with an intent expression. That person appears to be Lezard Valeth.     He doesn't look back. "I have been expecting you lot. You are right on time. Unfortunately, if you are seeking answers, I am ill inclined to act as your guide in this respect." 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     There's a rather ugly noise from under N'raha's helmet as the elevator stops, he's still all hopped up on FIGHT MILK, and then there is Lezard. Like right there. While he's all FEELING IT.     And to his credit, Raha, clan N', does not immediately charge across the platform to murder Lezard. Because he spots what the fuck he's looking at here, and his rage goes out of him in a second, replaced by sheer, yawning horror at...                      -- THE BINDING COILS OF BAHAMUT--                           "...Twelves, what the hell have you done." Though, he staggers forward and it's clear, for once, that he's not screaming at Lezard for this one. He steps onto the claw of Bahamut and then, finally, his attention turns right back to Lezard. "...You found this in the Tower, didn't you?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is surprised. Noone told him about this! But, over the radio it seems to be the real lizard. LEZARD. The real Lezard.     Staren steps to the side to make sure he's not in the way of any of the 'heroes' -- he's sure Lezard can handle them -- but he's watching Jeanne carefully. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' By the time the Clockwork Dreadnoughts are brought down, Jeanne is looking... Actually, she's looking physically fine. Magically, she's a little drained, but not too badly. Mentally, though... She seems to have checked out already. Not from fighting things, since dismantling those machines still brings her some joy, but she does seem to be moving a little more cautiously than before. Not cautiously. More like she's actually holding back on completely destroying things. Even though Alruna correctly assesses that she enjoys it, Jeanne seems to be holding back just a bit finally. William might appreciate that if they run into more machines. Alas, it seems like rather than more machines, the group faces Lezard instead! "Oh. It's the sorceror. No, I'm not really here for answers." She gestures at the giant Bahamut fist, then back towards the elevator. "There were more parts of this beast around before. All I want to see is the creature freed to do my bidding. You can do whatever you like with the rest of this place for all I care. If the people of this world are so quick to call idiots and the other side of a war 'villains', then..." She trails off. Jeanne actually sounds intensely disappointed at that last part. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga follows N'Raha. She gives him a look, knowing it will be challenging for him not to give in to that rage and go after Lezard. But he is making strides it seems. Inga looks around, frowning gently before she focuses her gaze on Lezard. She has nothing to say. She just keeps her keen eyes on him, patiently waiting for this part of the tapestry to be woven. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is still seeking more answers she has some of the what, but not the how and why. This place is older than just about any civilization her world, it still /works/ after all that time. The one good thing she can think of the Allgans si they didn't do planned obsolesces on stuff like this. Once the entire party finally makes its way through the gauntlet of old security system and who knows what else? There's another elevator, as yes there's always another elevator. That's just how it goes until they run into Lezard Valeth she stares for a moment weapon at the ready but does not attack. She does shoot a glance at Staren wondering where he's going to fall. She makes note that things could get even dicier very fast, the fight with Haseo still fresh in her mind. She tenses for a moment and says. "Guide? I expected you to hit us with the biggest spell you have." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris also show restraint. The Miqo'te steps off, looking up at all the corrupted Aether Crystals... and more importantly, the Warlock, standing by the Entrance. The Red Mage lets out a long sigh, a hand reaching for his face and pinching his eyes.      "That suddenly explains a few thing." He mutters, looking up back at Valeth. "No, no thanks you, it seems like that we are well on our way of exploring this whole place on our own, thanks you very much."      He straightens, tilting his head over at Jeanne with a lifted eyebrow, an ear twitching. "First off, that's also a very bad idea. Second off, There was nothing 'quick' about it. That's a bit more pedantic than I expected out of you, honestly. Save your judgement when you hear more of it rather than pouncing on a 'gotcha' use of a word, if you would."      Amelris cracks his fingers, wringling them to his side. "So. Warlock. I'm imagining you're laying claim on this, now?" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna hesitates before she steps off the platform. All this is a product of the long months prior to the battle of Carteneau. The steady leeching of Eorzea's lifeblood, its aether sucked up into Dalamud and /twisted/, polluted by a Primal's malice. It might be another Age before the corrupted crystals are fully reabsorbed into the flow of Hydaelyn's aetherial sea. And there's the fact that it's the frozen claw of fucking Bahamut. Big enough to crush a building. They wouldn't be much more than smears on its claws. "Why does it still have physical form." she mutters under her breath as her sabaton crunches on the orange crystal. If Bahamut were alive, it should be devastating Eorzea. Yet if it were dead, its form should have dissipated into aether. One less dreaded blight upon the world. She stands at Inga's shoulder, looking past Lezard. Alruna's heart hammers in her chest, involuntarily picturing the rest of Bahamut's body, attached to the forearm. No, it wasn't /that/ big. Surely. The wing above, this claw below... Bahamut's body must have been torn apart by whatever befell it after... after they failed. But the question still stands. Why does its body persist? 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' The pieces of Bahamut. The fact that it hasn't discorporated, as they primals do when defeated. Inga looks around again..."It's to do with time, isn't it?" 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' Will lives the dream for a tragically short spurt. But at least the time he spends cackling madly atop a magitek war machine. Lasers go everywhere! From the thing's arms! From its mouth! From Will's handy doom laser! Every day spent atop a walking tank is a good day... But nothing good can last forever. He spends a quiet moment in the aftermath of the skirmish, paying the fallen machine its due respects. Poor Allagan magitek protector. They barely knew ye. What they do know too well, though, is that man standing before them. That man, standing before the outstretched hand of a truly massive dragon. A /king/ among dragons, even. Bahamut... And its observer, Lezard Valeth. "It's you... Lezard," Will starts, making his way forward. He takes no hostile action, instead just... Peering inquisitively at the massive Primal and the machines attending to it. "...Did you do all this? The Garleans up top too? I didn't think swords were really your thing, so..." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Staren stands to one side. Lezard nods to him, and makes sure communications are establishes this time. This is not the time to be embarassingly working at cross purposes again.     Jeanne, however, proves to be something of a more demanding issues. Lezard arches an eyebrow at her. "Ah, Avenger. It has been a long time. Have you flourished in your efforts?" He pauses, looking her over. "Perhaps not as much as I hoped. As for freeing the beast..." He shrugs, smiling. "I think this beast might be beyond even your ability to command, Avenger. It is a creature possessed of its own will... And that will is strong indeed. But I think you will find that there are dragons enough to sate you throughout. Continue to push forward, ever deeper, and you will see the results of the work of Allag."     Inga stares at Lezard, and the Sorceror of Midgard looks back to her. At least he's not getting blasted by lightning this time, it seems. He looks away, moving on as others demand his attention.     Tomoe's comment gains a shrug from the Sorceror. "I have other things that demand my time. I have no desire to brawl you lot at this time."     Amelris inquires of Lezard, and the Sorceror of Midgard shakes his head. "Claim? If the Dragon Witch has no guarantee of controlling this beast, I do not have any certainty either. But there is much to learn here. Much to gain. But I will unearth those secrets before you."     Alruna stares at Lezard, and Lezard looks back. "I see the question in your eyes. 'Why?'. You must have experienced great pain at the hands of this beast to look like that. I have seen it on the face of many a hero who has experienced great tragedy."     William asks him about this place. Lezard laughs. "No. I did not create this place. I am not the one who has set these things in motion... I am simply the one who found the remnants when pointed in the proper direction using the information the Allag had left in the Tower. But if you want to know more... Feel free." He gestures behind. "I have seen all I need. And now..."     There is a hellish scream from above, and a large, deadly dragon sweeps down, accompanied by a pair of smaller wyverns. The huge beast lashes between the Necromancer and the line of heroes, the air blasting past them in a rush as it twists, circling to begin hovering in the air before them. Around the beas't neck is a series of strange collars, glowing as they constantly rotate around its neck.     "Ah, there it is." He holds out a hand, and a complex circle forms before him, glowing... And the collars surge, lighting up and cycling. With a angry screech, the large dragon drops, bowing low before Lezard, whom leaps upon it, mounting the beast. It takes back off, carring the Necromancer into the air as Lezard smiles down at the others. "It is time for me to delve deeper. Catch up... If you can." At that, Lezard is carried off, the huge dragon taking Lezard with it. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The path is left open. Nothing bars the group from proceeding from here into the next room. The next room is...     The bridge of the ship, as it were. A large console makes up the front of the room, with extremely reinforced bulkheads to either side. It is a large area, but simply designed, as if it was not really designed for extended use. Much of this design, in fact, does not seem to lend itself to a manned ship... 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     And then Lezard is riding off into the sunset^H^H^H^H depths of the Hell Mouth Of Bahamut Rebirth.     N'raha, for his part, looks very defeated for a moment or two, even through his armor. You don't have to look at his face to see the slump of his shoulders, as he plants his Bravura back along his back.     The helmet does come off, and, sweating and grumpy, the Warrior shuffles over to the console of the Hulk, looks at it for a moment or two, and then... attunes to it, to turn it on. In the manner of most Allagan bullshit, you just have to... Magic at it. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' "Oh? You're telling the Dragon Witch that taking a dragon is a bad idea." Predictably, Jeanne starts laughing at Amelris. It's not for quite as long might be expected, though, as she goes right back to the flat-ish tone. "Yeah, how about no. I came here to fight and see if there was anything worth taking from here. I have fought, and I have seen something worth taking." She gestures at the Bahamut fist for emphasis. "If you mean to lecture me about your virtuous mission, save your breath. I know what I want." Unfortunately, Lezard tells her that Bahamut might be beyond her abilities, and that get a wide, if moderately crazed smile from the Avenger. "Is that so? Well, we'll just have to see once the creature is freed, then. Until then..." He mentions more dragons further below, and that gets Jeanne's attention quite easily. Not quite as much as the screaming from above, but it's still pretty impressive for someone that isn't a potential minion. She raises an eyebrow slowly as the air rushes with the dragon's landing, then narrows her eyes slightly when the collars activate. Somehow, she looks even more irritated than she usually does. "... Well, come on, then! If you loiter, you're getting left behind!" And with that, she goes right on ahead once more, stopping at the bridge to stare at the console. "... What the hell is all this?" She asks as she watches N'Raha doing... Something with it. She mimics the motion and tries putting in some of her mana to see if that does anything, although she has to make sure not to also set the thing on fire in the process. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Huh, no fight after all. Convenient! Staren relaxes a little.     "Oh hey, is this the control room?" N'Raha beats him to the console, though, so Staren watches at first. If Lezard's operating here, hopefully fellow Concord Staren won't have too much problem revisiting. He can be patient. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Lezard is always a hard one to place he's not some evil wizard out of a story. No, he's always got a plan and he's not just about to pick fights if it gets him nothing. There's no real-time to stop him as he calls some strangely collared dragon. She can't fly long enough down here to chase after him so that's no dice there. Tomoe will put her weapon back into her inventory. Slinging her shield across her back before she goes to check out the console. She'll pull out a smartphone from her inventory and start taking video of the whole affair. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The console is easily activated. The system soon shows a plethora of information about the RAGNAROK-CLASS INTERMENT HULK IC-01.     As one might expect, the readouts indicate that the systems are damaged, but that there are three CONTAINMENT COILS that are currently in full operation. There are progress meters indicating various rebuilding and energy allocation processes. They can be manipulated, turned on or off (they are currently on), and one can also open the 'observation deck'.     When someone inevitably does that, the heavily reinforced bulkheads slide open... And they see what they are truly dealing with.     A yawning chasm opens before them, the front of the craft firing a blazing beam of aether directly ahead. And what is ahead, by now, would be obvious.     The sheer scale however, boggles the mind once more. A maimed, half-extant dragon hangs in the distance, held up by Allagan bonds. Three beams fire into it, two from other directions. The aether beams are being absorbed greedily by the huge mass of mangled dragonflesh, the body half missing... But by all accounts... It is being regenerated. A dead dragon god, unable to live, unable to die, being forced back into existence by Allagan machinations before their eyes. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Hey, you were the ones talking about people doing dumb things. That is probably a dumb thing to try but do try if it's important to you." Amelris replies with a similar flat tone, tail flailing behind him, throwing a sideglance at her. "And quite frankly, I'm not interested in giving you a lecture. If you are offended at my previous use of 'villain', then you have my apology at my apparent bias over ancient history. Can we save the philosophy debate /after/ we're out of the guts of a growing giant Elder Primal?"      Amelris was, for a brief moment, tempted to fire off a Lightning Bolt over at the fleeing Lezard. This wouldn't help much, for one, he probably have shields. For two, well, that'd be a waste of aether at this point. Unlike SOME people, he's limited on his internal supply.      Amelris leaps off to check on the console peering over at the YAWNING CHASM that opens up, wincing at the beam of aether. He stares up, looking at the giant primal, stuck in middle of what is visibly life support for the bloody thing.      "Oh." The Red Mage lets out, lowering his rapier hand with his eyes wide. "Oh." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna breathes slowly, and deliberately, meeting Lezard's gaze, but not replying to him. She's said a good deal more than she was supposed to today already. Inside the bridge, she knits her brows, staring at the readouts N'raha and Jeanne pull up. "It /is/ him." she breathes. The paladin runs down to the observation deck, staring mutely at the sight in front of her. "Shut it off, N'raha!" she shouts back at the Miqo'te. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga moves with them, sticking close to Alruna as she figures she is the most likely to need a little emotional support for what lies ahead. And there it is. A great, big, Bad Idea. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Yeah, you don't have to tell N'raha that one twice, Alruna. He concentrates, shifts his attention into the device, and starts to hunt around for the 'turn off this bloody beam' button. 

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:''' Lezard flies away on his collared pet dragon. Does that mean the Lezard Valeth made his escape aboard a... Lizard Valet........? ...........? Will stares after him for a moment longer before Raha does magic at an Allagan console. Will himself is terribly useless in that regard. It's magic! He has about as much magic in his entire body as Raha has in his fluffy tail! Will is not magic, he cannot make Allagan nonsense move without cheating. This, ultimately, is unimportant. The bulkhead unlocks. The bay doors unfold. The thing hidden behind them is... Horrifying. Monstrous. Will pales at the enormity of the beast. Bahamut, trapped in a state between life and death. How much is it suffering right now? Does it hurt more or less the more its body regenerates...? "It's... healing," Will murmurs in muted awe as he reads through the contents of the nearby data console. "There are... Three of these things? Supplying 'aether' to 'Bahamut?' I'm guessing aether is like... Life Energy? If we don't shut all three of them down, though..." "...How long will it take for Bahamut to recover completely...?" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Thall's Balls!" Amelris shouts, rushing over to the other end of the console to start working on it along with N'Raha. It's not is biggest field, but hell. He knows enough. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     N'Raha's turning it off. Staren considers, briefly. Apparently this thing is a particularly mighty primal, which means when it's complete, it's going to mind wipe a bunch of people. That... can't be allowed. On the other hand, at the slow rate it's going, Eggman's experiments might yield a way to avoid that long before then.     It would be best to just watch. Lezard's got the run of the place. If they want to regenerate Bahamut after all, he can turn it back on later.     Besides, there's also Jeanne interested in trying to control it, who knows where that's gonna go. 

:'''{{#var:6802|Jeanne Alter (6802)}} has posed:''' The sheer number of meters just makes all of it go right over Jeanne's head. Not for lack of trying, but she's just too impatient to want to deal with that sort of thing right now. Instead, she just resorts to trying things at random, and eventually... They're greeted by the sights of Bahamut in the distance. Jeanne's eye twitches slightly as she looks towards the beams, the tech keeping the dragon in that odd state, and the people trying to turn one of those beams off. For now... She's content to see what happens when it gets turned off. Whether activating or deactivating those beams will help or not remains to be seen, and it's more important to know /how/ it gets turned off in case she needs to reverse or repeat the process down the line. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe steps aside from those rushing the console to get the heck out of their way. "Hold on we need to know how this works. "Right we need to stop it from regenerating. This thing is not something I'd want to face if we can avoid it somehow." She will lower her camera and pops it back into her inventory. She seems concerned about Alruna but given what she has experienced in her own past? She somewhat gets why both the emotional and very logical reasons to have the big elder primal /die/ for good. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' Nothing prevents them from shutting down the aether transferene beam. The beam stops, and the system registered the deactivation of the First Coil. Two remain. The group can see the other two bridges of similar ships poking into the cavern. They will need to locate entrances to the other ships to shut them down...     But for now, they have made progress. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris lets out a grunt, pushing away from the console, shaking his head.      "Nothing else we've got else to do here." He says, looking over at the deactivated coil, looking upward. "We'll have to find the other places to do it for the other ... Let's call them Coils." 
}}

7068/LI0: Desperate Assault (Side)

2020-02-10T02:59:10Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/09 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=Shyra attempts to lead a preemptive attack on Haseo in order to dislodge him before he masters the pow..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/09
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Shyra attempts to lead a preemptive attack on Haseo in order to dislodge him before he masters the powers of the Evil God Discordia. It doesn't go well.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 7191, 6, 7015, 7197, 6994, 7141, 7132
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Time repeats, time repeats.     This is where it was all destined to end... Just... not like this. The Seal is open. The world is in danger. Discordia has been released... But Haseo still has the power. A sudden idea from another member of the Paladins gave Shyra an idea: Maybe they can strike before he knows how to use the power of the Evil God.     And so Shyra and Pazkar charge through the Temple, taking familiar paths, fighting familiar foes. The Holy Healer keeps those present alive and well while they battle their way to the inner sanctum of the former Yellow Emperor.     So it is that Shyra bursts into the throne room, her silver staff Azkrepys outstretched. Evil God Haseo! You will not be allowed to destroy this world! It's up to us to make it anew and heal it! Your selfish ways will not cast this place into ruin! 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' A gearknight in golden armor stands besides Shyra. Pazkar is here, and as Shyra confronts Pazkar, he nods, as he takes a combat stance. A massive shining wrench is in his hands, as he points it at Haseo. Evil God! You will be struck down tonight! I am the unbreakable Pazkar, and I will not allow you to ruin my friend's dream. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Haseo getting this power had troubled Tomoe. The young man's general attitude and behaviour brought back very bad memories for Tomoe. He reminded her of people, some she wishes she'd never met. It's too late now he's gone full evil god and seems to be buying into the hype. She was quick to respond to Haseo She was quick to arrive after Shyra and Pazkar she was flying into the temple and not halting till she reached the room. "So this is how it's going to be? Shyra and Pazkar are trying to finish their world and you are just looking to get off on destroying what others have made!" 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      EVIL GOD Haseo is sitting on the throne, a laptop and a sheet of grid paper resting on one of the arms as he flicks the mouse through screen after screen. He's been writing things down, dungeon and town layouts mostly. A start of future ground work, presumably.      And then Shyra and her party bust in through the doors, and Haseo straightens up a bit. The Rogue looks a bit different, extra arms appear to have sprouted from the boy's model, eyes cover his hands, and weird glowing marks adorn his skin. But beneath all that, he's still recognizably Haseo.      "Your friend's dream is a load of crap. I've been out of bounds, I've /seen/ Discordia. If your friend's there he's already dead. Anyway, took you all long enough, was starting to worry you all died cause of the stupid debuffs."      He pulls himself up from the throne where the Yellow Emperor once sat, using his extra appendages to pull himself up. There's a shark-like grin on the Evil God's face as he dismissively rubs his nose.      "So, I honestly doubt it, but you actually want to stop you know, crying about your dumb script for a bit and actually use your head? I got more power than you can possibly imagine, the only thing I need to figure out is where I need to use it to break your stupid world in half and build it back up. That's what you wanted, right? That's literally why you called everyone here."      He's not exactly lying as he speaks, but it's clear that fixing the world of Last Illusion to him is little more than an after thought. He's clearly mostly in it for the power. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Unfortunately for the natives to this world and those assisting them, Haseo will not be the only one standing against them. As they enter the Temple's throne room, flames light up one of the darker sides of the room as the Evil Knight's stand-in marches forward with giant blade shouldered and an empty paper bucket in the other hand, the latter of which is incinerated within those flames a moment after appearing. It smells a little greasier than before. "How bold of you to come charging into the Evil God's home, brave warriors!" The Evil Knight announces her presence, turning away briefly to cough a few times before facing forwards again. "Unfortunately for you, your journey will come to a premature end before our combined might. This will be your only chance to escape, so choose wisely!" If nothing else, at last she's sticking to the character premise relatively closely. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean shows up not long after the other two, sword already drawn. He fully expects Haseo to just use his regualr abilities against two people who have never seen him fight before. And even if he has no idea how to be an Evil God, that's no reason to leave the other two in the lurch against him. So he's here to even the numbers a bit. "No offense, but the kind of world you would build would be a million times worse than this." Rean says, moving to stand next to Shyra and Pazkar. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Ka ha ha ha ha.      The textbox appears moments before the music shifts. It's not an overwrite - that's not possible, not with Discordia's theme playing. It's a mixture. A second song joins in, remixing itself into the soundtrack flawlessly. Hints and echoes of it can be heard amidst the chanting. The pace of Discordia's theme picks up.      Linehart.      The Mirror Knight strides right through the door. He is a seven-and-half-ish-foot wall of metal black as midnight, of red-scar visor glowing with eerie and ominous light, of clawed gauntlets and smoke-trail cloaks. He makes no noise as he walks, but the presence of his music within Discordia's Theme is enough to make his presence known, and he is not the type to hide regardless.      The Mirror Knght simply walks past the assembled heroes as if they weren't even there. In his right hand is a spear too large for humans to wield. His left is an empty, malicious, blade-fingered gauntlet. His stride is bold and hunched forward from the sheer mass of him, like a great beast stalking towards its prey. There is no cry of 'fear not', no reminder that he is here, no kind words for the party to reassure them that he is their ally. Linehart passes them by as if they didn't exist.      Your lack of introductions is distressing. Is that the best you can offer? 'How bold?' 'Combined might?' 'Your only chance to escape?' What weak-willed words. Your new master is surely no better.      Linehart's gauntlet waves to the side, those fingers gesturing idly into the room. Here at the end there can be no escape. There can be no boldness. There is only determination and necessity. Death and despair, or victory. To stand at this point is to acknowledge that one of you must be undone.      His hand starts glowing. I am Linehart, the Mirror Knight. My Sphere is Evil Knight. Come, then; be broken upon me, who waits at the end of the world, at the end of all things. This dark spear shall be your doom. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 was worried that Shyra and Pazkar had just run off to try and fight 'the new evil god' and all that.  This seems like a terrible idea, but at the same time despite this I4 couldn't just let his friends run off and fight without trying to help.  With the world how it was, it might be that he could help them.   He doesn't immediately announce himself, instead of taking time to try and scan the surroundings and try and get himself familiar with the data.  Of course, Haseo's words cause him to look right up at the new 'evil god'.  Especially with that 'break the world'.  The last thing that everyone needed was someone who didn't know what they were doing breaking things. "POD.  Beam cannon, full power," he says, before a beam of energy shoots over everyone's head, aiming right towards Haseo and trying to knock him both out of the chair, but also probably hurt him.  The white-haired boy with the blindfold stood at the source, already with a light blade drawn.   "I was unable to help yesterday, because of my responsibilities at home, but let me make up for it today, and kick you out of the admin role once and for all.  You should let someone with experience figure out how to make things work in this world, instead of some kid with a power fantasy." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Haseo is certianly off script. But then, he never really HAD one. Shyra is taken aback for a moment as she sees the power arrayed before them. The Evil Knight too... Of course it would be like this. The Evil Knight serves Discordia, after all... And The Knight wasn't defeated and freed of the influence of the Evil God this time because... The plot wasn't followed.     Shyra shrinks back before the two powerful, confident beings. For a moment, she glances to one side, then the other, her heroic facade wavering as she seems to be trying to grasp for something to hold onto to give her confidence.     But the Hero isn't here. .. Or is he? Rean steps forward and gives a glib line, and Shyra's resolve firms up visibly as he does so. I can't trust you. She says, simply. You would throw away all the work of all my friends, everyone who has been doing so much to help this world, to heal it and help make it alive again...     The unexpected happens. Linehart himself arrives to take up his blade against his hated foe... In a manner of speaking. Shyra is taken aback, about to consider him another potential enemy... But he stands against Mordred. Linehart... You're helping us? She sounds completely confused at this... but she nods. With him here, keeping the Evil Knight busy... We have a chance!     She turns back to Haseo and points. This might not be how it was before... But the dream still lives. You can't find Jorin... Because he lives within me! There is a flash of brilliant light.     STRENGTH     Crimson energy dances over the heroes, fortifying their offensive abilities. Fight, everyone! For the future of our world! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is bristling at this point as Haseo, he's hitting a lot of buttons with her notably his seemingly mad lust for power at all costs. Unexpected but not unwelcome back up comes in the form of Linehart, she's worked with him before and doesn't have the history that Shyra does with him. I4 showing up along with Rean makes Tomoe feel more confident about their issues. Tomoe is a tank she knows what to do and she will move to get in front of Shyra. She feels the buffs building up and she gets a bit of a grin. "My world would be hosed if other people didn't step in to help us. If someone like you had butted in back then? I'd likely not bere here." With that she'll end up charging at Haseo, intending to catch him with a shield slam following that up with several quick sword swipes. 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' Pazkar ignores Haseo. As Linehart and Mordred both arrive and move to square off, Pazkar takes his wrench, and faces Haseo. The STRENGTH spell washes over him. Pazkar feels the power. He charges forward, his wrench going up... MOLEKNAR! Charged with lightning, it swings down, moving to smash straight into the 'Evil God'. It should do a lot of damage, Pazkar's not holding back and spending all of his MP immediately. Certainly, nothing bad will happen. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Linehart's criticisms have Mordred's eye twitching underneath her helmet, and some of her demeanor breaks audibly as she grunts in irritation. "Tch... I was gettin' to that! Not like I had a real script goin' into this or anything..." She mutters while shaking a hand off, then listens closely as Linehart issues his own introduction. "... Hn. That one wasn't too bad, I guess." Mordred's definitely taking some mental notes there as she rubs her head through her helmet. She can't admit that it was cool, but it's hard to dispute! Either way, she firms up her stance as she lowers the blade from her shoulder to a more combat ready stance at her side. "But since we're doing our own... I am Mordred, Knight of Treachery, slayer of the great King Arthur, and Evil Knight of the God of Chaos, Discordia!" There's a brief pause as she glances at Haseo from the side, but refocuses on Linehart once more. "Words are cheap, so let's skip the monologues. Face me head on and don't hold anything back!" A pillar of flame blasts up from behind her to punctuate that last part, a trio of fireballs launching out of it towards Linehart to begin the battle of Evil Knights! The fire also helps disguise a bit of stage-whispering in Linehart's direction. "So. How's that?" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Linehart is here...to fight Mordred? And bully Shyra some more. "Shyra, ignore him. We've got a fight to win." He nods to the healer as she buffs everyone, and then runs towards Haseo, sword ignited. He opens with a wide strike, aimed at some of Haseo's extra appendegaes. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Linehart isn't actually very talkative. Once he's done what he came to do - said what he came to said - he locks up. It might be kind of unnerving for Mordred, and other people, who are likely used to people who banter, chatter, and blather all the time. Linehart is just...a wall. A wall of emotionless, musically-backed murder with a creepy red visor and a creepy giant spear.      The hit comes in. The fireballs crash against Linehart, splattering against his armor. There's a light sizzle as light meets shadow, as flame meets metal. The metal is heating up. It's probably none too comfortable for the...man?...inside?. It's...really hard to tell.                                     121                                          The number pops up above his head. His hand whirls around to grab the yellow fire, crushing it into shape. Seeing him manipulate magic is an entirely different thing - it's not the artful spellcasting of someone like Merlin, or the straightforward magic-ness of someone like Shyra, but rather a brute-force approach that just sort of strangles the magic into shape with raw physical power. The fire twists in his hand as he brings it smashing down into the ground.      FIAT IGNIS      Lava.      Lava erupts from directly underneath Mordred. Ash and flame and magma and rock come shooting upwards around her, crashing against the ceiling of the throne room. It's a volcano in microcosm, an explosion of the raw, magmatic flame that lurks at the heart of the world, a fire from the core of creation. It threatens to overwhelm, to devour, to-      -do absolutely nothing to anything except Mordred? Not a rock, not floor, not ceiling - nothing at all has been melted, touched, slagged, or had any new and interesting and on-fire rocks introduced.      Weird. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Haseo sneers at everyone. It's the same. Everyone is the same. They tell them how to use his power, that he shouldn't use it. That he shouldn't have it. And what's the alternative to that? Sitting there and going back to being powerless. Fat chance in hell like that will happen, not until he's destroyed Tri-Edge, not untill he's saved... He's saved...      That doesn't matter, not now. He's just going to show them. Show them how pointless their attempts to stop him really are. The Adept Rogue's model starts changing again, a crimson red aura surrounding him as various glyphs and runes float over his skin.      "Come on...Come on..." Tomoe's and Pazkar's attack connect, while Rean's attack aims for his extra appendages in an attempt to lop them off. The cuts hurt, but his body seems unnaturally tough, while the rest of the attacks send the Evil God flying back into his throne. Dust flies as he impacts, but other than that, he pulls himself once more, only to be blasted by I4's attack.      His words are drowned out, but clearly he said something. Something that caused the scenery in the throne room to change.      The party now stands in a landscape of pure chaos. Colors and lights of all types mixing together to make an almost blinding nonsense. Perhaps the most stand out thing about the change, however, is the exteremly massive being in the distance. A massive mass of arms, with eyes where eyes should not be. There's only one thing it could be, the true                EVIL GOD DISCORDIA      Though, the being doesn't seem aggressive. Doesn't seem provoked. It just sits there. The main concern is Haseo, or rather, Skeith.      Much like Haseo, it appears Skeith didn't escape the changes either. Various, blowing eyes and markings now litter the Epitaph's design, along with multiple arms that now seem to sprout from out of its shoulders and armpits. One pair of arms is holding a scythe, while the others seem... Relaxed...      The free hands start waving around in a circular motion before the hands adopt the mandala formation, it's fingers coming together and then...      Nothing. Tendrils of pure nothingness appear to assault the party. It's not a game, there's no damage numbers, or notices of status afflictions being afflicted. It's real, it's visceral, it 'hurts'. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' Damage done to target: negligible.- The box with arms says, chiming in with its robotic voice.  I4 squints, trying to figure out how that was even possible.  There was no barrier he could detect, no special defenses he could understand.  There must be hidden data... He calls out for support and immediately retracts into his own world.  The POD's produces a scanning antenna as he attempts to scan the creature.  Not just Haseo and his avatar, but the creature just sitting there behind them.   There had to be some connection to be exploited, some way to hurt it.  There had to be something in the code that could give him information.  Something, anything he could find...even if it was grasping at straws.  He knew this was important for his friends, and he was worried that failure here could... It could hurt Shyra in a way he's felt before.  How he felt when he heard that the mana was the fault of the humans he was built to protect.  The contradiction in his programming that protecting them might make them unhappy.  That he might have to...no stop thinking about it.  Not right now, not here.   Do the job in front of you, just like her.  Just like S6.  She wouldn't let things like his emotional weakness stop her.   

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' So much for trying to get some feedback on the pre-fight banter. Making a mental note to do just that later, Mordred refocuses her efforts entirely on the fight with the Mirror Knight! First things first: Figuring out what the heck he's even doing. "Ain't ever seen someone wield magic like that before..." She murmurs under her breath as that fire is forced into the ground to become lava, coming up far faster than she would have expected from a spell like that. Instead of trying to juke around it, though, the Evil Knight temp opts instead to take the the burst of flames head on as it sears into her armor, making the whole suit rather awful to wear as the sound of sizzling can be heard. Just as well, since it's helping to get her blood burning a little more literally rather than just figuratively. "That's what I'm talkin' about... Keep it coming, Linehart!" As she charges right through the fire, that sword is brought over her shoulder and completely behind Mordred, swinging it forward at Linehart at the last moment in a wide arc more like a barbarian trying to cleave through a mass of foes than a skilled swordsman trying to cut down a single opponent. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     And just as quickly as she marshalled her resolve, it's already being shaken again. The Evil God is manifest. There is no way to prepare. She remembered the battle before... They spent a lot of time keeping the Yellow Emperor in maintenance to maximize their buffs beforehand. This time? Not so much.     The Evil God... It's really true!     But the attacks come. The nothingness tendrils rip through her and the party. There are no damage numbers as she collapses to her knees immediately, shaking. That alien... feeling. That reality. Everything is much more intense here...     But she leans on her staff, pushing herself to her feet. She knows what to do. She is, after all, a Holy Healer.                                    HEAL3                                         Green sparkles rush over everyone fighting alonside Shyra, soothing and closing wounds and mitigating much of the damage. Maybe if she can just hold on, they can outlast Haseo... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Haseo goes full evil god, very much full evil god. She sees the form of Discordia before her a mass of arms, eyes. It's very much nightmare fuel of the highest order. Still, it's more Haseo who seems to be the problem. He is looking quite freaky himself and the attacks start tendrils of nothingness hit her. it's really painful and Tomoe is getting the hell knocked out of her. She will attempt to keep in Haseo's face as this isn't a simple task, no he's quick he's now boosted with evil god power. Already a good third of Tomoe's HP bar on her HUD has dropped away and she's showing several wireframe cracks from the injuries she's taken so far. She'll start chanting, causing golden runes to dance about her body, she keeps chanting for a second longer and launches a fireball for Haseo. Shyra's heals help but it could just be a matter of time it is not able to restore all the lost hp and if that attack was one of Haseo's weaker ones? They are in far more trouble than she thought. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                                     173                                          The sword smashes into Linehart, hammering against his armor as he and Mordred are thrust into the roiling chaos of Discordia's battle room. The blade hits him hard in the side, crashing against him with all the strength she can muster, which, as it turns out, is a lot. He's actually physically lifted off his feet for a moment - just a little, but enough. He hits the manifest madness with a silent motion, his knees buckling only slightly, only enough to prove that he's not some kind of robot or machine. His hand clamps around her blade, clawed gauntlet locking onto metal. He's strong - not as strong as she is by a lot, but strong enough to make this inconvenient for her, strong enough to make it hard for her to move freely.      His spear disappears from his other hand. Again, he seems to start strangling the air with his free hand, strangling the magic into being. Light visibly stretches and screams in his presence, the rippling colors immediately around him and Mordred going briefly dark before they explode back to life.      FIAT LUX      The light from on high comes down in pillars, darkness and starlight bursting into being above them for the attack and then swallowed once more by the chaos of Discordia's battlefield. The bolts of light rain down on Mordred like hammers, splashing into the liquid madness, sending droplets of nonsense splattering across armor. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Everything changes, into a swirling space of rainbow colors. Standing in the middle is something just as bewildering, made of hands, eyes and other things. "...This is Discordia...?" Rean murumrs, staring up at the being behind Haseo. Tendrils of nothingness slam into his stomach, sending him flying into the air away from Haseo. He staggers to his feet, spitting up some of his lunch. Shyra's healing helps a bit, but he's still wincing. "Stay focused!" Rean shouts to everyone else, even as I4 informs them that there's no winning this.  "There has to be something we can..."   He trails off, not sure of what to do himself. So he shouts, rushing Haseo again, rapidly striking at him. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' As Haseo commences the battle with the forces of not-Discordia, Mordred notices quite a bit of what's being said. There's a few more annoyed utterances under her breath, but she'll just have to air those grievances later when she has a better grasp of what's going on and when she's not busy facing her predecessor in this role. First things first: Figuring out where his next attack is going to come from. As she keeps pushing that blade into Linehart's claw, she squints as those spears of light pierce through the darkness and blind her momentarily. At that range and with her weapon trapped in Linehart's grasp, it's almost assured that the Saber would be skewered! Except she doesn't hold onto the sword like a fool. Instead, Mordred brings up a boot and kicks forward hard into the blade's handguard. That mighty kick serves the dual purpose of launching her backwards, just narrowly evading those falling spears of light as well as providing a means to try forcing the silver sword forward into Linehart and along his gauntlet at the same time! 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' Pure nothingness lances into Pazkar. He staggers backwards, the sheer blast smashing him back with his armor. His health bar depletes very, very low...but his natural Absurd Healing and Shyra's healing both focus into him. Textboxing a grunt, Pazkar takes Moleknar, and smashes the wrench for another strike, trying to knock him backwards. This is bad. Real bad. Haseo hasn't even really broken a sweat, and he's already in final phase. They could probably keep this going for a bit, but if he unleashes a Finisher Move... Well, it's over. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Mordred kicks off Linehart, avoiding the space lasers from space as she drives the blade into Linehart's armor. It sinks in, and Mordred gets her second confirmation - there's *someone* inside that thing. It's huge, and horrifying, but it's definitely *a person* - the impact thump from under the joints felt like flesh, not like steel. He doesn't seem to *bleed*, but she doesn't need bleeding to confirm she's doing damage - she can feel it, and see it in the numbers that keep popping up over his head whenever she gets a good hit in. He's not invulnerable and he's not a robot.                                     138                                          But there's also the sense that Linehart doesn't *care*. He's not a dancing warrior, nor does he block and parry - he just moves forward, regardless of what happens. It's like fighting a Berserker, but a Berserker who can cast spells instead of just swing (mindlessly or otherwise), a Berserker who combines durability with magical potency.      The imposing Evil Knight twists the air around him again, grabbing onto something that isn't there. She can see earth gathering in his fist, as if he's crushing mud out of nothingness. The mud flails and twitches. The mud wraps around his hand as he drives it forward, as if he was punching her in the face.      FIAT TERRUM      The chaos erupts in another splattering of colors. It's not just an earthquake attack. Pillars of earth, mountains, come jutting forth from the roiling nothingness, spiking upwards as if to crush Mordred under the very weight of *being hit by them*. They go shooting upwards into the sky, and-      -then disappear, again, having done no damage to anyone or anything except Mordred. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' The difference in their fighting styles becomes even more apparent as Mordred continues battling against Linehart. Whereas she's picking and choosing when to evade and when to push through, he just pushes through as a default reaction! "Damn... You're pretty nuts, you know that?" It's not an insult, if her amused, yet fascinated tone is anything to go by. "Don't think I've even seen anyone power through crap like that before..." Bracing once again as Linehart grasps the magic out of the air, Mordred looks for the direction the attack is coming from as well as her best method of approach. She was't quite expecting another attack from below. The ground all but punches her square in the everything from below the neck, the impact launching Mordred upwards with those spiked pillars! Rather than waiting to go through the process of slowly decelerating and landing, though, the Servant takes advantage of the Evil Knight abilities once more! She teleports. She appears closer to the ceiling above Linehart, crashing into it for a brief moment before launching herself right back down at him. There's little in the way of technique or finesse beyond that initial maneuver, opting instead to just aim for slamming right into him with raw power, speed, and gravity on her side! And also getting closer to where she left Clarent. That would be good, too. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Rean charges at Skeith, prompting the massive stone monster to reach one of its many arms out to grab the Thor's Academy Student by the head. The Epitaph gives the boy's cranium a light squeeze, as if to establish some sort of superiority, before blinking in and out of a existence for a moment, now slightly closer to Tomoe as it throws Rean at the swordswoman, specifically into her fire spell to act like a human shield.      There's another flash as Skeith once again disappears, this time appearing behind I4, scythe hand. The strike comes fast, though rather than the blade, it's with the hilt. Inhuman strength slaps the android towards Tomoe and Rean, piling them up. Grouping them together...      Its hands start moving again, in the same circular motions it did last time. It eventually stops, it's hands resting on the prana mudra as the area around the group of adventurers shakes.      And then fire. An all consuming fire. Even if they're 'lesser', they're still a god. They're gone in a flash. Just like what happened with Haseo. There's a deep, almost mocking laugh that comes from Skeith, distinct from Haseo's own voice. It seems pleased with it's own work, though it's still not over. It turns towards the last remaining party members, towards Shyra and Pazkar.      "See? See what happens? You guys keep telling me 'Haseo you can't, Haseo no' and look where I am now. Look where /you/ are now. If you two have any last words, now's your chance to say them, I'm done with these games."      The voice is clearly Haseo's, complete with text box reverb and all. Skeith responds to this threat by raising its scythe, pointing the blade at the remaining Last Illusion cast as it waits. It's clear they can't win, so why doesn't he afford these two their last two cents before snuffing them out as well? 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Mordred teleports. She's trying to use the Evil Knight Sphere against him, its rightful (?) owner. Though it's a thing he would shed, given the choice, it's part of him - it's his more than any other's, something intrinsic to him, inherent to him. When she goes to teleport his hand comes up and around, and raw force meets raw force. She's stronger than he is; the impact ripples more of the liquid nothingness, sending it rolling in tidal waves around them. Chaos kicks up in all directions, in time with Haseo's destructive blaze sweeping across the battlefield. Even the implacable knight, under the dual assault, stumbles backwards, damage popping up above his head first from Mordred and then from Haseo.                                     122                                                                        ??????                                        He doesn't say anything. No grunt of pain. No resistance. No fierce glare. No growl. Just that same, maddening silence. Mordred probably has Clarent back, but Haseo has put him into a situation where Haseo - and Discordia, both of them - can focus all their attention on Linehart. He may be disgustingly powerful within his own world, but Linehart is no longer the Penultimate Boss, and he no longer has the massive boosts he once did. He's merely an NPC now. A dangerous one, but an NPC all the same.      And he doesn't want to chance Discordia getting inside his head ever again. He can feel its eyes staring at him. All of them. Those hands, gazing at its servant. Mordred may be playing the role but the role she is playing is 'Linehart,' and he is the template from which it spawned. Discordia knows its slave.      So with no better option Linehart simply charges at Mordred.      And disappears into her breastplate the minute he makes contact with her.      ...weird. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Everyone is fighting hard. They are doing their best to defeat the imbued Haseo. Shyra believes they can make it. As long as they can hold out. I4 keeps warning them that they can't win, but Shyra believes. She has to believe. Everything is going to be fine. Unfortunately, it isn't fine. Everything goes straight to hell. She's about to ready another attack, but then the inhuman monster Haseo has become simply... vaporizes her friends. NO! NOOOOO! Shyra screams, turning in horror as she attempts to cast a healing spell to restore them. We can't give up! We can't- A moment later, the scythe cuts through her, and she falls, tumbling lifeless to the floor.                         ===========================                                                  | G A M E       O V E R |                                                   ===========================                                   What part of 'you can't win this' don't you understand?                                            > RELOAD                                     QUIT 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' They charge into the dungeon. Shyra leads with a defensive buff instead of an attack buff. It makes no discernable difference in this situation. She heals again, and then Haseo unloads again, just like before. The stench of the burned metal, the sight of the obliterated Rean, Tomoe, and I4 just as visceral as before. I C4N'T L3T YOU D0 THIS! She screams, raising a barrier to try to buy enough time... It's not enough. The scythe punches right through it, shattering it like so much glass before it tears her open. Again, the burning, numb pain as she falls forward into oblivion...                         ===========================                                                  | G A M E       0 V 3 R |                                                   ===========================                                                 Listen to Four Eyes already.                                                          > RELOAD                                     QUIT 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' They charge into the dungeon. Shyra attacks, her face wild as she casts a binding spell. It doesn't stick. Of course it doesn't stick, he's the final boss. Panic overtakes her as she collapses to her knees in growing despair, barely getting the heal out... But this time, when Haseo begins his combo, she lunges forward and tries to interrupt it. She simply dies early this time, being torn apart and blasted as Haseo laughs at her attempt. Oblivion comes once more...                         ==#====#=@===$=&====@==!=&=                                                  | G 4 M 3       0 ^ 3 R |                                                   ==&==@===##====$===%==^==*=                                                           GET OUT                                                                    > R3LOD                                     QUIT 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' They charge into the dungeon. Shyra locks up, shaking as she looks back and forth. There has to be... There has to be another option, they need... The Evil God attacks, ripping through them, and Shyra screams. This time, she doesn't heal. Instead, she casts something else.                                     WARP                                     There is a flash of light that streams upwards through the room, engulfing the party members as they glow.... and vanish moments before Haseo destroys them yet again. They are deposited outside of the Central Temple, wherein Shyra wavers, looking around at those present and smiling...     Before her body flickers, staticking, becoming healer-shaped noise for a moment as she collapses forward, falling on her face where she lies there, flickering and glitching out where she lay. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' The blunt end of the scythe smashes into the back of I4's head.  He can't even turn in time to avoid it, he can't even defend.  He goes flying and smashing into his friends.  Eating dirt, he tries to get up from his position.  The POD attempts to carry over I4's blade, though not being very helpful right now.   However, several attempts to restart the situation finally result in the WARP spell taking them safely away to the temple.  On his hands and knees, he looks up as Shyra gives them the smile, and then starts distorting. Oh no. He can't move, but the POD rushes to try and help lower her down gently, as it starts scanning her signature.  I4, shuttles over to her, trying to her trying to look for data irregularities.  Maybe he can stabilize her until someone can actually heal her.   "Come on..." he says, firmly focused on the task at hand.   

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has a look of horror when Haseo uses Rean to intercept her shot she tries to track where the enemy is going next, ye the's too fast. So this is how it's going to end? It is very likely to end baldy and the term wipe fills Tomoe's mind. She's caught in the next attack she's smacked hard and she's now piled up and ends up grouped up. This is not good Haseo has to be up to something. She looks left, she looks right and tries to track Haseo then her eyes focus on him. She's got a nasty red impact on her torso where Haseo's last strike caught her. This looks like its this is where it's going to end for her, like this? She tries to utter out someone's name but there's no time. She's vaporized. Leaving only a short live burning red flame where she was. Then the world reset and the right goes over again, unaware of this, the whole fight plays out again and again with Shyra trying new thing but it always ends the same way. Death claims the party. Each time the loop plays out? That's how it ends death until Shyra chooses to drag everyone the heck out of the. Like everyone else Tomoe is warped out and lands roughly but is alive, then she sees Shyra's state and looks very panicked. This isn't good her friend is not looking very well and there's little she can go to help. "I4 if you need me to do anything just /ask/." She does keep back letting I4 get to work on the fallen Healer. "Soon as we can move her? We need to get out of here." 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Back in a position to grab her blade, Mordred whirls it around herself as she moves back into a stance more suited towards actually defending herself instead of diving on top of Linehart. "This has been a pretty good fight, you know... And you've given me some good lines to chew on. But now, let's end this!" It just doesn't quite end the way she expected it to. As she charges Linehart to mirror his own, she's just about ready to bring Clarent down upon his head before he just sort of disappears. That's new. "... Uh. What." She's pretty sure she saw something, but... No, the light's already dim as hell in here. She even throws up a few more flames to try and see where the Mirror Knight's gone, but the flickering lights probably serve to conceal his presence more than they help the Mirror Knight's temp see where he even went. Letting out an irritated grunt, Mordred turns back to Haseo while resting that silver sword against her shoulder again. "I... Guess that's that, then. A successful first defense!" She sounds like she's cheering, but there's some disappointment there. It's not too hard to figure out why. "So... You gettin' used to your new moves?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra is, for lack of a better term, in bad shape.     I4's examinations immediately point out that the healer is heavily corrupted. Whatever happened in there, she apparently pushed herself heavily. Her body is still holding together. Sort of. She's probably not going to actually die from this, but... She's going to need to stop and recover for a while after this.     As the others hang over her, trying to keep her going, a textbox pops up:     SSdtIHNvcnJ5Li4u 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Haseo grabs him by the head, and then uses him to block Tomoe's fir4e spell. Rean cries out, as he's thrown into a pile with her and I4. He can't hear anything, but he sees Shyra's glitched out textbox cross his vision as everything becomes bright. "Shyra!" Rean lands hard, the impact aggravating his already burned back even more. He lets out a few coughs, lying flat on his back. ...They were outside now? He tilts his head to look over at the others...and spots Shyra, or rather a glitched out mess in her spot. Rean winces, trying to ignore his burned back for a moment. "ARCUS, Activate." He mumbles, a ring of blue light surrounding him as the spell 'loads'. A spray of blue light appears over Shyra, raining down on her wounds. It'd probably be just enough to stabilize her, but nothing more. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe keeps back, she can't heal so she keeps back and let those who can heal? Do so. She will help if Shyra needs to be moved to get out of here, she doe snot want to stay here too long. Who knows if Haseo is going to run out after them to finish them off. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Oblivious to the fact he's been doing the same thing over and over with slightly different variations, Haseo keeps winning. And winning. And winning. Eventually, Shyra's had enough. The party's gone with a spell, and Skeith and him are left to linger in the void of absolute chaos and it's god DISCORDIA.      There's a laugh from inside Skeith. Haseo's laugh. The laugh of a boy who just realized how awesome their new toy is. It really is great. This role. This power.      His mood is instantly soured not long after though, as he realizes it's only here. Only in this game. He comes down from his high, before returning back to the throne room. Back to his throne. Back to finding a way with how to use this god found power to bend this mockery into an actual, living, breathing world. After all, if he accomplishes that, nobody can even argue he was ever in the wrong. About power, or about anything. 
}}

7064/LI0: The Wisdom Of The World (Side)

2020-02-08T22:43:24Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/08 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=Shyra and Tetra talk about the problems affecting the world. And then everything goes wrong. |Cast of..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/08
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Shyra and Tetra talk about the problems affecting the world. And then everything goes wrong.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 7209
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     At first glance, Finaria is the definition of a pastoral town. Houses are arranged in small clusters composed of a mix of wood and a beige stone that seems to blend together into a regular, easily repeated pattern. The paths of the town are dirt, a couple small patches of what look like what is supposed to be farmland nearby. The center of the town seems to be a large TAVERN. There is also an INN, MAGIC SHOP, WEAPON SHOP, ARMOR SHOP, and ITEM SHOP. It seems almost idyllic if, well...     The place wasn't wrecked. Many of the houses are missing square-shaped chunks and are darkened by several levels of hue-tinting. The path is broken up by square chunks of ground, identical piles of rubble seem to litter the area, and several areas seem to have splatters of blood on them. It looks fresh. Two men are seen standing next to one of the houses facing it, a woman milling about randomly in the center of the town near the TAVERN. The rest of the town is deserted.     Tetra is given directions to meet in the Tavern. BGM: https://youtu.be/j6jxFQKG1Ps     The Tavern is, somehow, entirely different inside than the somewhat gloomy area outside. It might be jarring for some. The music of the Tavern is a simulation of conversation, a low murmur of quiet underlaying the upbeat tune. There are people here, but they're...off. They're all the same - all the men are the same, black-eyed, with only slight hair and robe colors to differentiate them. All the women are the same, black-eyed. Most of them are sitting. One of the women moves around the tables, but it's obvious that she's on a pattern; after two or three loops she's gone right back to where she was, and started the whole thing over again. The bartender just keeps scrubbing the table endlessly, wordlessly, black-eyed. No one talks to each other. No one speaks unless spoken to. If spoken to, they just repeat the same things ad infinitum, over and over and over, the same line of dialogue in blue and white textboxes that appear with a little bwip and disappear with the same.     It's all around a central table. A central table with four chairs. Upon the table, three drinks. At the table, a pink-haired healer-girl, Shyra, who smiles and waves to Tetra as she arrives. Over here! She calls. Looks like she even does that in person. 

:'''{{#var:7209|Tetra (7209)}} has posed:'''     Tetra makes her way through the streets of Finaria, looking... more than a little thrown off by the state of the town. She attempts to talk to some of the people outside, but gets predictably little information from them. Thoroughly unsettled by the town's robotic-seeming citizens, she makes her way to the tavern.     Shyra's textbox popping up is a welcome relief, and she seems... familiar with it? Odd. The Hylian girl pulls up the chair across from the mage's, and she smiles. "Miss Shyra, I presume," she says, partially facetiously. "When I said your world was running according to a script... I wasn't expecting to be so literally correct." She shifts slightly in her seat.     Tetra's wearing a blue tunic underneath her leather chestpiece, a Japanese-looking sword sheathed at her hip. There's a long scar along her tanned cheek, and her big, expressive eyes seem to glint with perpetual mischief. "Hm. First things first, I suppose... a drink. What's good here?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Tetra speaks with a couple of the villagers. They reply to her:     Please, Hero! Save our world from the evil Discordia! You are our only hope!     The Evil Knight Mordred did so much damage... It will take a long time to rebuild. Please avenge us, Hero!     The Tavern, at least, seems to be less... depressing. Even so, Shyra shifts back and forth, anxious for some reason as she studiously remains looking directly at Terra and not the Tavern around her. Yes, I am Shyra of Finaria. My Sphere is Holy Healer. She says this, as if almost by rote. My world is... Well, it needs to be healed. I do not understand the full extent of the issue. It is something I have only become conscious of recently. Many people have been working to help with it afterards and I appreciate your interest in helping as well.     She tilts her head and smiles happily to Tetra. Oh, what to drink? There's... only one thing to drink here. She gestures at the mugs. Help yourself. There is as much as you could want. The mug contains a cool and refreshing, though distinctly nondescript beverage that to her senses /says/ it would be an ale, but seems to lack any of the qualities that an ale would have other than being arbitrarily 'refreshing'.     Perhaps also notably, the mug remains full after she drinks. Shyra remains sitting and smiling, passively waiting for Tetra to be comfortable enough to ask her first questions. 

:'''{{#var:7209|Tetra (7209)}} has posed:'''     Tetra nods quietly. "I'm Tetra, of Kakariko Village," she introduces herself in kind. "My sphere is... hm. In general terms, I suppose I'm a spellblade. I use a mix of bow, sword, and magic," she explains, glancing down at her mug at Shyra's indication. She takes a drink, and stares into the mug, blinking once. What an odd drink. She sets her mug down.     "This is your hometown, then. Seeing it this way, especially as you are now... it must be difficult," she says sympathetically. "My understanding is you were bound to this same script your world follows, before this Hero came and freed you with 'The End'." She says that as though she doesn't really understand what that phrase means here.     "And... you want to do the same for the rest of your world? By finding this end again?" She takes a drink from her ale. Once you know what to expect, it's actually quite nice. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Shyra nods and claps enthrusiastically at the description of Tetra's work. You must be incredibly talented! I'm so happy to have you here!     The glee on her face vanishes as the topic turns to more serious matters. Her wide eyes dim as she looks down at the table a bit, her shoulders hunching slightly as she thinks about her hometown. That's correct. She confirms. We completed the quest to save the world and defeated Discordia. After that, we saw The End. At that point, some of us began to realize what has been happening, and we went our separate ways. It is only recently that we began to encounter one another and attempt to marshal some kind of response to try to do something about this.     She looks up, nodding. That is correct. The world has been reset. I am hoping that all of your efforts will succeed in allowing us to help heal the world and make it... alive. 

:'''{{#var:7209|Tetra (7209)}} has posed:'''     Tetra smiles at the compliment. She touches a finger to her cheek, brows falling into a thoughtful furrow as Shyra describes the situation. "... it's a story," she murmurs quietly, eyebrows lifting again, her eyes brightening. "I didn't see it before... this world is like a book, or a play. Perhaps more like a thematic fair with a story..." She rests her hand on her chin, thinking.     "So. you, your friends, and this hero..." She mouths something to herself, clearly running something over in her head. "the End is the literal /end of the story/. You completed the story. And it freed you, yes?" The hand on her chin lowers so she can point at Shyra. "Turned you from something bound to the story and its script into an independent person. Along with Pazkar and--" She stops herself mid-sentence.     "--Anyway. You... started the story over. To try and free the rest of the world the way you were freed, and change the story for the better... but..." She looks to the door, beyond which is a ruined town. "It's resisting." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Tetra's ability to quickly assimilate and understand what happened causes Shyra to start in surprise... But then she nods again, slowly. You're right. It's like... a play. The entire world... She trails off.. Theatre... She shakes her head.     You're very perceptive. That is correct. We saw The End. After that I became conscious of what was happening. I noticed things were... strange. And wrong. I looked around and noticed that everyone continued to celebrate endlessly. She gestures at the tavern. I would show you but it is still too early to show you The End.     And Linehart. Shyra says, shuddering. Yes, I know.     She looks to the door as Tetra does. and pauses. ... What if something bad had to happen so the play could continue? She asks Tetra. Would you do it? 

:'''{{#var:7209|Tetra (7209)}} has posed:'''     "I can't take all the credit, I'm afraid... Staren did some writing on the matter, and I..." She pauses. "Overheard a bit. I leave my radio on fairly often." In truth, she'd met and talked to Linehart, but mentioning that wouldn't help anyone right now.     Tetra's silent a long moment at Shyra's question, thoughtful. "... if there was no other way..." she answers somberly, "I would like to think so." She stares into her drink, eyes dark, her thoughts turning to the crisis in her own world. "But... I don't know how well I could carry that burden. Death and destruction for the greater good is still death and destruction."     She turns her mug idly in her hands. "Even so..." She trails off. If I were in the position to, could I let someone else shoulder that burden? Could I trust someone else to do only what was needed, and no more? She leaves that unsaid, but it lingers in her mind. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra nods. Staren has been helping a lot. I appreciate his work. She says, but that's about all she can say. He is much smarter than I am. I don't understand most of what he talks about.     The hard question comes up, and Tetra answers it. Shyra looks back at her, and she nods. ... Thank you. She says, a sad little smile on her face. Your answer means a lot to me.     She tilts her head, though, and she blinks, Are you all right, Tetra? Is there anything I can help you with? 

:'''{{#var:7209|Tetra (7209)}} has posed:'''     Tetra shakes her head. "There's a... crisis in my homeworld. My people condemned another to a cursed desert a thousand years ago, and led to a deep-seated prejudice. Their revenge is coming in the form of a prophesied 'great king of evil' born among them, but his grievances, his anger, come from a valid and justifiable place."     She looks at Shyra with a bittersweet little smile. "I want my people to be safe from that, but... I want to help pull his out of their hell. And I don't know if I can do the first without just hurting his people more. I'm afraid it'll put them in an even worse place." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The healer blinks at the description of Tetra's situation. That sounds terrible! She exclaims, her hands going up to her mouth as she gasps in shock. A great kind of evil... That sounds so familiar. And yet... She shakes her head. Your problems sound so much more difficult. If there is any way you believe I can help, please let met know... 

:'''{{#var:7209|Tetra (7209)}} has posed:'''     "Mm..." Tetra smiles slightly more. "I will keep you in mind, if you'd really like. Your problem is... I don't think it's any less difficult than mine. You're talking about changing the nature of the world." She lifts her fists in front of her emphatically. "Freeing the people from slavery to the story written for them."     She stops, thoughtful. "... Come to think of it, I suppose the core of our issues isn't so different, from a certain standpoint. Regardless, I'll tell you more about my world later, if you'd like. I'd hate to make this meeting about me. Though... I'm afraid my time's running short, regardless..." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra smiles again warmly. You have such a lovely way of putting it. Thank you, Tetra. You're a good person... I would love to talk with you about things later. It was good to meet you. Please, come with me and we can go...     Outside, things are... different. The music is different.     BGM: https://youtu.be/ICwnlNitmUw     Also, in the distance in that cloudless sky there is a lance of golden light firing into the air. In four directions, there are beams of blue, white, black, and red as well.     Shyra stares at the golden light in horror. That... What's happening? That's the music of... Discordia! NO! That's impossible! She falls to her knees, staring at that light as she shakes her head, trying to deny it. That only happens when the seal is breached! 
}}

7038/LI0: The Sages Of Pradia (MSQ)

2020-02-08T09:11:11Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/02/07 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=The world investigators come to the Western Town of Pradia in order to look for information and possib..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/02/07
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=The world investigators come to the Western Town of Pradia in order to look for information and possibly change the world a bit.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 7187, 1011, 7197, 7173, 6, 42, 7180, 7228, 6895, 7175, 7191, 6994, 7015
|Tinyplot=Loop Zero
|Tinyplot2=Last Illusion
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The Western City of Pradia lies on the opposite side of the world from Bartal. While one can take a ship and sail around the world to get there (and be subject to the ocean encounter table the entire way), it's a bit of a hike. Thankfully, they don't need to take a ship, as Shyra has that strange flying craft. Alternatively, some others might travel there of their own volition. The airship sets down in a valley near the city.     Pradia is a heavily craggy area surrounded by forests. It's full of mountains and valleys, and even a swift overhead view of the area points out that the walls are full of ornate building frontage cut and shaped into the rock. Paths move along the mountainous face, wending its way through the area to provide small, ornate plazas, daises, and decorative fountains. At the top of the mountains is some kind of merger between a palace and temple. The place does at least seem to have the requisite adventure services of shops and an inn, at least. BGM: https://youtu.be/zWi4lH5Xdwk     The Astomi wander about the town or stand about like most townspeople seem to. They are lighter skinned than the normal townspeople, with pointed ears, though they have the normal expanse of hair and robe color.     Welcome to Pradia! Shyra exclaims for those present. Feel free to explore as much as you want. Do you have any questions or ideas of where you want to go? Most of the Sages probably aren't going to be very helpful. But you can still read their books! I am not sure how useful they were to The Hero, but maybe you all might have more ideas! Her face practically shines with hope and optimism... Despite presumably knowing exactly what's in the town. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''      Is this crime? No. But this is absolutely a place in need of *thorough investigation*, and that's where we call in our favorite police officer. Yes, he has pants. Raphael Ambrosius Cousteau steps off the airship, nodding to Shyra with that same, unending obnoxious grin on his face. DRAMA: Sire, she does not believe for a minute anything useful will come of this. AUTHORITY: In that case, go straight to the top! Don't waste your time! "Alright. So who's in *charge*, exactly? Where would I go for that?" The healer gets the first question. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      John Rizzo ends up taking the airship. He is quiet for most of the trip, and isn't in his mummy guise this time around. As usual, he looks tired, but there is that subtle confidence in his posture. It was there last time, when he battled the false dragon idol with the others.      His first words aren't spoken until Shyra asks if they have any questions. He does. "What happens here?" It's a simple and direct question. He's interested to know how the story goes, or at least how it went the last time they were here. He'd asked a similar question preceding their fight against the idol. Even if there's not a fight that's imminent here, it's useful as a jumping-off point for more detailed investigation. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Those working to aid in the re... Something-ing of the world aren't the only ones present in Pradia. No, Mordred can be found rather easily as she's just sort of loitering in the city itself, having walked into view clad in the Evil Knight's armor that she's still playing the role of. What exactly she's here for isn't so clear yet. She's making her way around the town chatting it up with the Astomi, moving from person to person to see if even one of them has something useful to say and occasionally shoving one back when their random wandering path bumps them right into that spiky armor. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     It's been a little while since Tamamo had come to this odd world, or so it might seem by examining the dense memories of such momentous events intervening. It seems to have survived in her short absence, and here she has another chance to sate her own particular curiosities and, hopefully, find some way to assist that cinammon ro--Shyra.     Arriving via airship is how she managed last time, and she passes this time similarly, examining that oddly empty sky and speaking lightly with anyone aboard.      After landing, "Books, you said? It could not harm anything to go and read what words the authors have left to us. Let us begin at that point, shall we?" More can be looked into afterward. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Once more to Shyra's world does Tomoe go to see what she can do she knows she's a sword arm sure. Still nature of this world hits a lot of things from her childhood of playing certain types of games. While this is no game. The world seems to run in many ways as those games did. Maybe that will let her be more useful. When they arrive at Pradia she'll take a moment to look at Shyra and grins at her. "All right is there anything we might need to be aware of and the books? I'll check that out then." It's time to do some reading Tomoe thinks as she will go seek out the Book herself. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren brought a wood-and-metal construct he can ride in, about 9 1/2 feet tall -- it has a passenger compartment big enough for others to ride in, although Staren's armor is crammed in place of one of the seats so that he can don it if there ends up being a fight. Don it because, since there should be no random encounters inside town, he doesn't have to fight this time so he can opt for comfort. He's not trying to blend in like the first couple of times though -- instead of a JRPG style outfit, he's got his usual labcoat and modern clothes.     Staren nods at Tamamo's assessment. "Indeed. I imagine there's 2-to-4 lines of text per bookshelf, and I wonder how that actually works. Is there one book with words on only one page? Or does each book have a single character printed in it?"     If Lilian is here, he put on his armor during the airship ride, and now gives her a cold and wary look. He can only hope that she can put the welfare of this world and it's people ahead of her vendetta against ahahaha okay, yeah, no. He can only hope that he can make fighting him too much of a pain, even for a timestopper, for her to bother when the NPCs are all too simple to be socially manipulated against him. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The Princess is in charge of the city. She would be in the palace up there. Shyra points up at the castle-temple looking place at the top of the cliff. It's a lot of climbing.     John asks what is /supposed/ to happen here. Shyra provides him with a rundown. What happened the first time we came here is we originally explored the city and brought information from the Ruined Shrine and other places to the Renegade Sage. He then asked us to check on the White Tigers Shrine. However, when we got there, the Princess was kidnapped and the doors to the Shrine were open. We couldn't proceed to the chamber of the Spirit without her, so we searched in the Shrine. We ended up fighting the Mirror Knight here and saving the Princess, and gained the blessing of the White Tigers Spirit afterwards.     The EVIL KNIGHT Mordred seems to be taking the day off. Kind of. At least, the ominous music following her around seems to be more of just a placeholder than anything proclaiming imminent destruction for the moment. Then again, this is Mordred. Destruction seems to be always imminent around her. Can anyone REALLY tell the difference between normal Mordred and this rendition?     Mordred bumps into one of the Astomi and talks to them. Hmm, what should I study today... Travelers? No thank you, I am not taking consultations this season.     Tamamo is free to look around the place for books. Within several of the cliffside houses are bookshelves that can be accessed. The first one she runs into happens to inform her of the following:     This book contains a recipe for cookies. Strange...     Yes, the book literally says that. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      This is not Amelris' first run through this place!      "A very good question!" Amelris exclaims, back to his regular outfit with the slight half-cape. He rubs his hands. "I haven't the foggiest! What I'm going to do, however, is check up on the Renegade Sage. Or... whatever his actual title was." Amelris says, waving a hand. "Oh! A princess, well, that make senses. I'll go visit her after I'm done with this first."      And thus, the Red Mage makes his way to where the good ol' SAGE that translated the scroll for him before is doing. And of course, to talk to him too. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod has not been to this world yet. As part of her endeavours, whatever they may be, she's trying to get out and explore more of the Multiverse. And some of the events she'd heard about taking place on this world were interesting. Hence why she has made her way here, joining the others on the airship for transport.     The fully armored warrior spent most of the trip watching the world below pass by. Not seeking out conversation but neither dismissing it should it come to her. Her expression through the whole trip was of course masked by the full helmet she wears. Just as it masks her face now, as she looks out upon the village. She hmmms with a tone of curiosity, "It reminds me somewhat of some of the places I have seen on my own world. Yet, not quite the same..."     Arianrhod's head turns in the direction of the palace-temple at the top of the mountains. It then turns towards Shyra, Arianrhod just about to ask who resided within the structure. But her questions is pre-emptively answered. At which point Arianrhod immediately turns and begins making the climb. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     "Where and how did you get this thing anyways?" Lilian insists on asking Shyra along the way, counting as the exactly one (1) obligatory interparty conversation during these travel events. "I've been doing some research on these ancient types of games. Normally they have a route plotted out for you to go around the world and sit through the story. There are supposed to be monster battles everywhere to keep your level up. If you can just fly over all of it like this as a part of the game --wouldn't that break it?"     Upon seeing the town itself, Lilian's first, and only, thought about it is "Surprisingly detailed. That village from before was generic as sin. It looks like some real thought went into this place. Like it was one of the first inspirational sketches to be made." Otherwise, she hasn't come dressed for particularly expecting a fight. Random encounters aren't supposed to happen in towns, usually. The most mind paid to the expected chill of a mountain area, hedged against the distinct possibility it's exactly the same climate of everywhere else, is erring on the side of a light sewn jacket, a longer skirt, taller boots, and putting some tights on. Forget heavy nylon windbreakers or anything like that.     She seems to have no interest in the NPCs whatsoever, though. They'd been only the most marginal of help before, and it only takes one stooge to run around and get all of their lines, not the whole group. For general lack of place to start, but a vague sort of confidence that inspiration might strike --growing steadily in the recent weeks-- she finds a nice quiet spot, kneels down, puts her fingers together in her lap in a slightly tricky pattern, and closes her eyes.     The crows here are even more abnormal than usual. They were always big, and dark, and ominously uncanny --so black one couldn't even really make out their eyes. The fact that this world doesn't even have ambient wildlife dismisses any remaining question that they're natural. A number of them circle around overhead, combing over the town and the surrounding mountainside in loose flocks spread out to grid over the most ground. Outside of the bare basics of locating the library and any obviously plot important buildings, they occasionally flutter down to count NPCs, examine likely spots for any cheekily hidden chests or sparkling items, and more importantly, scout for things that don't quite fit the bill. Cracked walls that aren't actually breakable, halfway vines that look climbable but don't lead to the top, cave entrances with some consolation item in them, pits of the sort that just take a heart off and deposit someone back at the top, the notorious Thing Behind The Waterfall, out of place boulders that can't be interacted with, signs without a real destination --those are the sort of things to look out for. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna returns to Pradia. She isn't very enthused about this after her last visit with Amelris, Shyra and Shigure. Oh, they learned some important details, for sure, but something about the process of exhaustively searching their libraries has soured her on the place. She stands in the middle of the thoroughfare, arms folded, drumming her fingers as she muses about where to go. Up to the palace/temple/dungeon might be the best place. Let the others get their fill of reading the strange, strange books while she tends to her equipment and waits for them. Yes, that sounds good. Better than flipping another table, at least. She finds herself making the climb alongside Arianrhod. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Bwip! Textbox. "I really should have expected that." Staren comments. He moves around the textbook to check a couple of the actual books, just in case. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     There's a moment. The Inspector looks up the cliff, towards the palace. INLAND EMPIRE: The knowledge lives in the heavens, as one expects. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: Yeah! It's climb time! IT'S CLIMB TIIIIIME! Since everyone else is going off to do their own thing, he'll do it too. In a full jog. At the very least, taking this long, weaving route might trigger one some part of his brain or other to comment with something useful. It's like having two *dozen* detectives, one of whom really wants you to drink more! It's really, really, a staggering shame that 'spot thing' isn't actually in his skillset, but who knows. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Tomoe follows the rapidly assembling Team Book and delves into another building to look at a bookshelf in it:     Bhw,It is the duty of the royal family to care for the White Tigers Shrine. As the Queen is gone, the Princess is currently taking up the role.)     Staren, too, engages in book searching. He reads the one next to Tomoe. The book opens up but only seems to have one line of text within it:     The Red Birds Spirit holds the power of FIRE and holds domain over Summer. It favors those with passion and spirit.     Amelris doesn't need directions to the Renegade Sage. He climbs back up a familiar place, a high promontory jutting out of the cliffs, a rickety wooden structure set up around it with a wooden shack on top. It looks much less refined than the rest of the town. He steps inside. There, the unkempt room continues to be exactly as unkempt as before, the Sage, a bald Astomi in a red robe continuing to page through a book. When Amelris prompts him, he says,     Behold these four Relics, the keys to the Yellow Emperor. When the land is again beset by darkness, have the greatest of Heroes offer them up to the Spirits so the seal may be undone and the Emperor overthrown. Our work must not have been in vain.     It's true. It's all true, then. You have the Relics, don't you? Then our world really is in danger. I hope the White Tigers Spirit under the palace is all right...     Arianrhod climbs towards the palace, likely going directly there with Raphael at this point. The palace itself looks to be ornate... Not quite a temple like the Blue Dragons Shrine, but still holding some similarities. The castle is carved of white stone and prominently features a pair of white tigers flanking the entrance, inlaid with what looks like steel.     Within are a number of townspeople, and in the rear a throne room with a large door behind. Only one of the thrones is occupied, an Astomi female in white with blond hair idly kicking her feet off the throne that seems to dwarf her size. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo nods thoughtfully at Shyra. One hand is stuffed in the pocket of his worn trench coat. The fingers of the other stroke his chin as he slowly paces back and forth, head down. What should he go after, here? The books, the sages, strike out on his own? Maybe... "The Renegade Sage," says Rizzo. "What do you know? Why's he a renegade?" That might be asking a little much, but he figures the guy wouldn't be called that for no reason.      "Did the others tell you to get lost or something?" She did say the (non-renegade) Sages wouldn't be much help. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Hmh. More like those with the stamina and tactics to make it past an endless horde of robots..." Staren comments about the book. "Are either of you finding anything about the Yellow Emperor or the Ayuda Raksha or a mysterious cave?"     He'll keep looking, himself. Check all the books first, then once that's done talk to every NPC. There can't be that many of them, right? 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo first looks interested, but her expression slowly drops, until it's an out and out frown. This book... appears to lie. It does not contain a recipe at all!     After flipping through its pages fruitlessly, she sets it down, and sits to retrieve the brush and ink from however she manages to hide things up her sleeves. She begins writing...     3 parts butter     4 parts sugar     12 parts flour     ...     When she is done, she returns the now-truthful book of butter cookie baking to its shelf, and goes to look for another. And then for another. With Lilian's words in mind, she focuses on finding something 'interesting,' more so than cooking recipes (though why any recipe should be strange to be in a book, she cannot fathom). The memory of that dragon god still lingers in her mind, and a book on the spirits and shrines would fit the bill, but a reference to something they have never seen, some outside land, some town that doesn't appear on the map or a person who is outside the few dozen known to exist would be the ideal find. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Thankfully, Mordred's gotten used to the music following her around this strange text boxy land. Granted, destroying things would feel rather natural right around now, but she'll save that for when someone actually confronts her or picks a fight. For now, though, she's content to see if the Astomi have anything interesting to say. Unfortunately, they do not. "Ugh. Land of Sages would be right if you weren't just..." She sighs in annoyance as she watches some of the villagers wandering about, glancing over at the group of Elites as they filter in and start investigating the town as well while the gears starting to turn in her head. There's a few ways to make her bout of curiosity a little more interesting. Today's choice: Ducking around a corner to get out of sight, then just teleporting right into the Palace to check on things in there. She doesn't appear in the throne room, though, instead appearing in a random hallway to give that music some time to swell up while she makes her way towards the room in question. Mordred doesn't normally have this teleportation or accompanying music, so she's definitely taking advantage of all that while she's got the chance. If there's a door to the throne room and it's shut, Mordred boots it open before heading inside. "Princess! The EVIL KNIGHT is here, and I'm here to...!" There's a pause, and then Mordred rubs her head from outside the helmet. "... Too early. Hnh. You got any useful info?" 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael is left standing at the entrance to the Palace. Yes. The correct, obvious thing to do here would be to march inside and talk to the Princess, and gather Useful Information in this matter. However, he is left standing outside because there is now an *internal turmoil*, as one desperately hopes they will not find themselves having at a time like this. INLAND EMPIRE: The guardians of the Palace. What have they seen? LOGIC: To clarify, the guards. INLAND EMPIRE: No. The lions. LOGIC: No, the guards. Talk to the guards. INLAND EMPIRE: The lions. The Queen of Murders was very clear not to follow the beaten path. ENCYCLOPEDIA: A 'murder' is a name for a group of crows. INLAND EMPIRE: Yes. That's why I said it. And so, letting Mordred in to go challenge and threaten the Princess, Raphael Ambrosius Cousteau ends up reaching forward to touch one of the two lions. "What have you seen, lion?" Maybe he'll be lucky and it's one of those 'invisible interaction' spots. Or, maybe he'll have a helpful conversation with an uninteractable NPC, because why not? 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris knows where the Sage is at! It's... not a great place, a bit out of the way but hey, at least he's got a roof...? He's got a roof, at least, yes. That's it.      He's a little dissapointed that the old man have no new lines despite recent events. The Red Mage stays that, tapping his chin as he thinks this over, then Alruna gives him a good suggestion. He snaps his fingers then moves past, taking out a notebook, an inkpen, gently tap once and twice then begins checking on the charts that the Renegade Sage have.      Maybe with what they know of the Scroll they translated the other time... 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' Someone is already in the palace-temple throne-room, hiding behind the Astomi woman's throne. It's a hooded man, who would be surprising and thought to be an ominous thing if his size and armor sticking out didn't make it clear it he was actually Pazkar. Whisper, whisper, Evil Knight, what are you doing? It's not time yet! Whisper, whisper. Pazkar is also holding a script in one hand. He made notes. He seems vaguely disappointed Mordred isn't following the script, but what can you do? 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Lilian asks Shyra a question along the way! Shyra smiles and replies, This is a flying machine that the Renegade Sage builds for the party later on in order to get to the Red Birds Shrine. We have to go to a nearby cave in order to get an essential part for it. But you all don't seem to need to get any stronger in order to deal with the challenges here so I don't think it hurts to take you all quickly to each location. Do you think it would be better if we didn't? She seems concerned about this.     Lilian finds the temprature in the area is... completely unremarkable. There doesn't seem to be any differentiation at all, whether up in the air or down on the ground. Her guess was correct, it seems. She focuses her abilities and calls upon crows.     Crows might not even exist in this world. It doesn't matter. They're here anyway. Her scouting reveals about 10 random townspeople including those in the castle, a couple standouts (the Princess, the Renegade Sage), the local armor shop, weapon shop, item shop, and inn. She does also manage to notice that one of the paths seems to go /behind/ one of the buildings. There's a hidden chest back there. There's no pits in or out of town, lots of vines though. They seem to be somewhat random. None of them seem to be intended for use as actual climbing, as stairways always exist that travel the entire path up. There is a cave some distance away that is quite familiar to Lilian. It's the one that eventually leads into the Containment Area. There are a couple other, smaller caves with just a small chest in them, and the waterfall absolutely does have one of those small caves as well.     Alruna climbs along to examine the palace along with Arianrhod and Raphael.     Staren leans to look around the text box. He notices that the text is also literally in the book, but there isn't anything else... legible in there. There's the impression of more, but nothing actually intellgible. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod treks up the long set of stairs. Upon noticing she has been joined by another, her head turns to look at Alruna. After studying her for a moment, Arianrhod comments, "You appear to wear that armour well." Arianrhod briefly ponders what kind of challenge Alruna might make.     But Arianrhod's line of thought is disrupted at a disheveled man rushes past. Arianrhod's head turns to track Raphael as he climbs faster. She doesn't seem to mind if he gets there first, maintaining her pace.     Soon enough, Arianrhod reaches the palace. She notices that man that rushed past now touching one of the statues. Her head tracks him as she walks past, wondering what strangeness he is up to. But she doesn't linger as she just continues inside.     Entering the throne room shortly after Mordred, Arianrhod manages to hear the Servant's words echoing. Arianrhod finally stops with a clank of her armour, turning her head towards Mordred, "So you're the so-called 'Evil Knight'?" She studies Mordred for a moment, before chuckling a little, "You certainly have the look down." Mordred has already gone and interacted with the NPC Princess and so Arianrhod listens. Pazkar's presence is apparently unnoticed, or not immediately a concern. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has joined Team Book, and she will ned into another building to hunt for books. She starts to teach and to see what she can find. She gets a bit of information about the shrine she makes note of this and will relay what she finds. "The local royal family has to care for the shrine and the queens missing. Maybe we can get something from the Princess about the White Tigers Shrine?" she notes to Staren and anyone else who will listen. She will keep checking books for more information on the White Tiger Shine and the royal family that tends to it. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean arrives on the airship,coming to help with this chapter of the story. Lilian notes that games like this didn't like it when you did things out of order. Rean shrugs. "If 'reading' faster than it expects us to broke things that badly, wouldn't we have noticed by now?" That blonde armored woman who helped fight that witch in Mikoto's world was here too. That feeling he'd seen her before came back again. But for now he had a job to do and to focus on. Maybe he could ask her later. Anyway, He heads up the stairs to the castle. If that was where the story continued from, maybe they could shift things a bit. Once he arrives, there's a woman lounging on the throne.  Also, Mordred. Who is early. Rean sighs and rubs the back of his head. "Well, this is awkward. Should we just fight you anyway, or do you want to start over?" 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Everyone is seemingly content to check books, talk to the town folks, immerse themselves in the lore. Stuff like that. Not Haseo though. The reports classified this place as some weird bizzaro game world, and that's exactly how the teenager is going to treat it. He ignores the town greeters, the exposition dumping NPCs, and all that.      He goes for the pots, the barrels, the weird corners in the town where you'd press A to find a secret item. He does all that. There's no real game plan here from him, he's just looking for free stuff. Equipment, healing items, money. If it's a video game, it's how things should work. He may look like an asshole doing it, but damn it if he totally can't use his reasoning that it's 'just a game guys' as a defense in full force here. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     While looking between books, Staren notices Tamamo actually writing a cookie recipe in the 'recipe' book. Hmm...     He opens the book about the Red Birds Spirit and writes:     'But the shrine doesn't give one whit about those qualities! It's just full of robot doors that attack you endlessly! It looked very cool though. *.... 1/5 stars, would no go again until I have to.' Then he frowns, and awkwardly writes in a squished 't' to complete the word 'not'. Who knows what a misspelling will do to the world if writing in the book actually does something?     He waits a moment to see if that sense that the book contains more changes, then puts it away to resume checking others. There's a finite amount of information in this town, they'll get it all eventually... right? 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna looks up, and smiles at Arianrhod. "Thank you. I worked hard to learn how to." The lengthy stairways give Alruna time to muse. She reminds Amelris to check the sage's elemental charts, since experiments have made her realise she doesn't know how the elemental system of this world works. "I'm Alruna." she introduces herself to Arianrhod. Raphael's impulsive jog past them goes without comment. He's a strange duck, that one. They pass him bent over muttering at one of the lion statues out the front of the palace, and Alruna elects not to comment. Inside the palace, Alruna's eyes swivel as she hears the Evil Knight's theme start to build ambience. "Ah, /here/ she is." Alruna murmurs, drawing her sword. "But... wait, should we fight you here, or in the temple...?" She hesitates. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Tamamo examines the book intently. She finds the same thing as Staren. However, that doesn't keep Tamamo from /adding/ knowledge to the book, it seems. She writes down the recipe into the book and puts it away. Will it remain? That is a question for the ages, perhaps.     She looks for another book, searching through them for more information. Whether destiny or chance, she picks up another tome and looks in it. This one says...     The Yellow Emperor Spirit brings balance and order to the EARTH by maintaining the other Four Spirits and ensuring all wax and wane in turn. It favors those with an honest heart.     The group at the palace gets to watch Mordred boot her way right in dramatically. It's dramatic because the swelling music around her tells you it is. She steps forward and interrogates the Princess, and she says, Bhw,Welcome to the land of Pradia. Please rest and enjoy your stay in peace.)     Yeah, looks like she'll say that even to Mordred.     Rapahel talks to the one of the two lion statues. The stone and metal are cold, but solid. Real. Perhaps strangely real for someone who is tossed and turned on the waves of his fragmented self.     [  :][  :] ...     Was it about to say something? Maybe it was. Maybe he just needs to look at this the right way... Or maybe seek out some of those... enhancements. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     "No, no, it's fine. I was just wondering. It makes sense that this would be 'end game content'." Lilian says earlier to Shyra, quickly dismissing any wayward concert. "I wouldn't be so quick as to say 'you all', but I doubt they'd benefit from experience anyways. I'm perfectly fine with being the strongest one here." She says that part without the *slightest* hesitation or modesty.     Deep in concentration though, only the corner of her lips twitches with the ghost of a frown, not finding anything particularly promising. Of course, much as she would dislike to say out loud, doing this without Arthur is a lot more difficult; it's unlikely she'd find anything as juicy as an entire dummied out dungeon.     Before committing to tracking down any particular one of the relatively poor leads, big, shadowy crows work their way into those small places, hopping about in the way that crows quickly traverse ground, and then open the chests to check what's inside in the way that crows are kind of bastards and really good at manipulating manmade objects. She focuses on the ubiquitous scenic climbing vines, having the higher reaches checked for big open spaces, buildings that are inaccessible and just meant to be scenery, or other places where things could theoretically be.     Also, she radios Tamamo, asking to bring her something about the Yellow Emperor if she can. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Oh shit. Pazkar's here! Mordred flinches visibly at being called out, then lets out an irritated grunt afterwards. "How the hell are ya supposed to whisper with a box? Everyone can see it right there!" It sounds like she's trying to whisper as well, but in that stage-whisper semi-yelling sort of way. " Besides.. It was getting boring just waiting around in town! All those freakin' villagers just doing a whole load of nothing and yammering about useless crap..." Mordred scoffs lightly, then glances over when Arianrhod and Rean arrive. "That's the role I got here. You got a problem with that?" She addresses Arianrhod first with a challenging tone, but an amused one. "'cause I've been itching for a fight even though... Well." She gestures at Rean and Pazkar, then at Alruna when he mirrors that apprehension. She sighs once the Princess fails to even react to her being in the role of the EVIL KNIGHT, then shrugs and starts back towards the entrance of the throne room. "... Yeah, too early. I'll just come back later. This ain't the right moment for it, anyway." Of course, now the problem is figuring out what to check out next. If nobody stops her, Mordred starts heading back down towards the temple. She might as well check those books out to see if there's any interesting lore details for her own role while she waits for her cue. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' The stone statues do not give the desired response. INLAND EMPIRE: No. This is it. This is what you need to do. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Listen. I'm not saying *don't* take the pyrholidol, because always take it, at all times, but we're going to need to stack it up a little. You remember that crazy ass potion from last time? Yeah. We're going to want another one of those. LOGIC: Well, this plan's stupid. All of the sidequests here that were accomplishable will have been done, and obviously don't have your precious glitched potions, or Pazkar would have heard of them. INLAND EMPIRE: What about the tasks that are impossible? We must do the impossible. We must seek out that which cannot be done, and then bridge that gap. > So, the leading plan here is to do something impossible so we can do drugs to do something crazy? ELECTROCHEMISTRY: You got it, *baby*. Fire up those detectivin' skills, and get us some of that sweet decanter of glitch. And so, Raphael pulls out the radio. Guidance would be ideal, but he's going to ask for advice anyway. "Shyra, I need something from you. Was there anyone here who..you felt like you *should* be able to do something for, but couldn't?" While he waits for an answer, he's going to go look. Go interact with the glorious people who speak a single line of dialogue, repeated endlessly into the void. So completely unlike Martinaise. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo takes the book. "Why, yes," she says to Staren, "I do seem to have found a mention of a Yellow Emperor, though it is little more informative than the previous volumes, do you see?" She shows him the passage, then closes the book again, but doesn't put it back. "The Yellow Emperor... it could not mean the Yellow Emperor with Four Faces, could it? Ah, but he was a god of light and thunder, not so much of earth, and despite being known as the Great Emperor of the Central Peak, it was to the heavens that the name would have one look. Yes, up a mountain..."     Looking outside, Tamamo makes a thoughtful, "Ah, perhaps," and then goes outside and to wherever Lilian presently is. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren looks at the text and his eyes widen. Ooh, they found something!     ...But now how does he ACT on it? "Honest heart, huh?" he mutters, "I bet it won't make getting to him one whit easier..."     He nods and thanks Tamamo, and then returns to information collecting, although a bit more distracted now as he realizes he doesn't know what to DO with the information if he finds it. Arthur was the one with the plan who saw a way for all of this to lead to granting all the NPCs sapience... 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Amelris begins checking on the various charts of the Sage. He finds some useful information within, given his improved knowledge. Or at least, now he has an idea of what it's actually saying now:     Remember this: TREE parts EARTH, EARTH absorbs WATER, WATER extinguishes FIRE, FIRE melts METAL, METAL chops TREE.     The Sage continues to sit there, sadly not much of further use to Amelris... yet.     Arionrhod and the rest of Team Palace (sans Rapahel, who is communing with a statue) seems to have come upon an incipient Problem in the Palace. Tomoe continues to work her way through books. The next one says:     Discordia had no known form, no known appearance. It seeped into the mind and soul, twisting those around it and turning them towards chaos. The Kindeva determined that the Emperor was affected.     Rean joins Team Palace, for better or worse. This might get messy. More to come when Mordred decides how to deal with the sudden peanut gallery.     Haseo begins poking in all the corners. He begins accumulating healing potions, free money, and also a MYSTRAL STAFF that hangs out in his inventory. He even scoops that hidden chest Lilian found earlier, picking up a MYSTRAL FIST weapon. Get your loot on, boyo. No one seems to blink twice. This must be before people had a karma system for theft.     Staren writes a bunch of things in the book. Did it change anything? It's hard to tell. Still, he, as a loyal member of Team Book, soldiers on and hunts for more information. And information he gets:     The Blue Dragon Spirit holds the power of TREE and holds domain over Spring. It blesses the new life and the novel. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod takes several steps forward as the Princess greets them with that generic sentence. Arianrhod admits with some amazement, "I'd been told of the limitations of these non-players. But I had not grasped the truth until now. Truly a strange existence."     As Mordred addresses her, Arianrhod shakes her head, "I have no issue with you. And while I might relish the challenge you may provide..." She looks around at the others present as Mordred points them out. Then finishes, "It seems that now is not an appropriate time."     Happy to let Mordred leave, Arianrhod instead turns her attention to the throne room itself. She wanders around the hall for a moment, before turning towards the door at the rear. Her head then turns towards Pazkar as she asks, "What more is there to this place?" 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Lilian actually has a small amount of interest in some probably endgame fist weapon and has the crow fly it back.     When Tamamo comes bearing probably the only useful book on the Yellow Emperor, that's when she finally gets up out of her private semi-trance. Making sure to thank the fox woman for her effort, she takes up the book about the dummied out content, flipping through it briefly for mention of the Kindeva --also not even on-screen according to the Yaksha-- and then promptly snaps it closed.     Holding it like that, Lilian runs her fingertips over the cover and spine, not so much concentrating on any one aspect of it, or looking for anything familiar, but rather, feeling out the contours of its 'presence', forwards and backwards. Where it came from, and what it was meant for. The line its creator saw for it, from its inception to where it was once meant to lead the player. It's still a fumbling attempt, relatively new to the business as it is, but she concentrates on tracking the twisting line forwards, looking for its destination.     No, not its destination. What she *wants*. The thing she desires to find. She absorbs almost nothing else. A purely selfish reading. That's how it is; she'll recognize the thing that she stands to gain the minute she sees it, even in the vague, future dark. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna puts her sword away, vaguely disappointed, much like everyone else in the room, as Mordred decides now is not the time for their big damn boss fight. She feels vaguely cheated, seeing as she already fought her way through the temple only to be stymied by Mordred's absence. That's the price you pay for sequence breaking in this world, alas. "There's the temple proper." she replies to Arianrhod's question. "It's overrun by monsters, much as the ruin in the Yellow Forest was." 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' Arianrhod asks Pazkar a question. He starts rapidly looking over his script, and then answers. The Evil Knight Mordred will return to this place to kidnap the princess. Otherwise, I suppose you could speak with the townspeople . . . ? And then he slowly meanders out as everyone leaves. He's gonna keep an eye on Mordred and make sure she doesn't break things, pulling his hood down to reveal his golden helmet. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' While some of Tomoe's companions' star to meddle with the books? more thinks about it, herself but enough people are experimenting with it for the moment. She keeps digging for information, she'll open her HUD and make another textfile to write down the information as she'll keep going this seems to be pretty important. She relays what she finds over the radio and goes back to her hunt, she'll also see if she can find what element the White Tiger is. Maybe one of the books has something on it as well. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Raphael goes hunting for What He Needs so he can Do the impossible. See the invisible. Row row, fight the boss monster. While he's hunting for a lead, he talks to people. People talk back.     What? The world is in danger? Impossible, we would have discovered that by now. Everything is as the order decrees.     We are the Astomi, old and wise in the ways of the world. Please be sure to show the proper respect for our dedication to the truth and mysteries.     Tamamo takes the book back to Lilian for Things. One can only imagine what it might cause to happen.     Staren keeps up the endless trek of Team Book. He checks another bookshelf and finds the following passage:     A long time ago, the Yellow Emperor began exerting more and more force, causing imbalance and disarray amongst the Spirits. The world began to suffer a great upheaval.     Lilian ends up playing Untitled Crow Game with Haseo. How that goes down will depend on how they deal with party looting rights. Lilian begins running over the information there, trying to figure out how that knowledge 'fits' into the tapestry of the reality that she inhabits at the moment. She quickly begins to make connections and form links, only accelerated as Team Book continues to report in. She is hunting for her desire... And the inevitable conclusion resolves itself in her mind. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      It actually works. Haseo is finding stuff, and even though the place is clearly functioning like an actual video game, it still throws them off a bit. He pockets his ill-gotten gains. He's still puzzling over what exactly MYSTRAL is suppose to be other than possibly a weird misspelling of Mithril like someone pointed out, but that's something to worry about for later. If anything, he can give the staff to Atoli. She'd probably appreciate it.      He eyes the houses for a bit, before deciding that he'd probably be pushing his luck by looking for anymore 'free stuff'. Seems like some people don't quite grasp the concept of what a game really is, and he's not going to start a fight. Not today. Especially since the stuff really doesn't seem like anything that'd give him a leg up.      Instead, he hits up the shops. Specifically the magic shop. Sure, magic is more of a back up thing for him given his magic stat is only slightly above average, but you never know. Maybe the slightly lackluster gear is offset by some really powerful spells? Magic in older games did tend to be overpowered. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod turns her head to look between Alruna and the door at the rear of the throne room, "I see... A temple infested with monsters." Another similarity... This is not at all confusing to one's existential nature.     As Pazkar announces Mordred's intent to return and kidnap the princess, Arianrhod hmphs, "This does certainly feel like a work of fiction."     Arianrhod watches Pazkar leave, before turning to the princess. She watches the oblivious NPC for a moment, before wondering aloud to the others still in the throne room, "What if we were to kidnap the Princess instead?" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "THAT would've been useful to know during the fight against the imposter Blue Dragon." Amelris mutters, writing down the Elemental Order of this world, nodding at the Renegade Sage -- even if he knows he's not really a person right now --, tip his hat then starts walking out closing the door behind him. He looks around, frowning and thinking this over. So, the Hero went around in houses and looted the places. Huhhhn.      Maybe it's time to get a good look around the place, peering at the buildings and maybe indulging into some break and entering himself. Politely, that is. Or searching for secret passages.... 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     He's tried everywhere else. The Renegade Sage was clearly Not Going To Work, but... LOGIC: Listen. You're on the stupid train already. Go all the way, and talk to the Renegade Sage. INLAND EMPIRE: The inverse of wisdom must be the future. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Come on. Renegades sound badass, drugs are badass, this is *obvious*. Yes. Renewed, and ready to Make This Happen, Raphael again jogs at a sprightly pace across the town, still probably disconcerting people, to interrogate the guy who gave them the airship. Hey, he had a *vision* on that airship. It only makes sense that this works out. Yeah. Look, his Logic skill isn't fantastic, just go with it. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' "I suspect our unseen... storyteller," Alruna gestures at the poorly concealed Pazkar behind the princess's throne, amused. "Would object." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:''' "Greetings, Mr. Cousteau." Belthrone calls out at the jogging JogMaster Police Officer, the Red Mage climbing down the stairs that leads to the Renegade Sage. "Looking for something in particular?" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' The princess greets them (Mordred included) rather generically. "...Hrm."  Looks like there's not much here to do until they trigger the next part of the story.Then Arianrhod suggests they just kidnap the princess themselves. Rean stares at her for a moment. They couldn't just do that, right? It wasn't their job to do that in the story. ...Then again... " We need to take her to the Shrine, don't we?" Rean says, putting one hand to his chin. "What's stopping us from just taking her there ourselves? Aside from the script." Forcefully taking her someplace she needed to be anyway TECHNICALLY wasn't kidnapping, right? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's distracted by the radio a bit as they all put their information together.     Raphael has an intriguing idea. Apparently he managed to get the game to respond when it 'shouldn't' have, before. How can he try to get the game -- the world -- to give him more information?     ...Can he trigger a cutscene? It's worth a shot.     He takes the history book he just found off the shelf. "I'm going to study this book." He tells Tomoe in a deadpan neutral tone, to establish context. "I'm going to read it tonight at the inn."     And he does go to the inn. "Hello. I would like to stay here for a night. I am going to read and study this book."     If paying for a night at the inn doesn't trigger a 'cutscene', he'll go to one of the rooms at the inn, sit down at a table, and turn pages of the book for at least several seconds before giving up and returning it to the library. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' The gear Haseo is finding is straight-up midgame stuff. Nothing spectacular, definitely not his level. Still, it has a nice blue-green coloration. He checks out the magic shop. The magic shop is a small dark room with a counter with a crystal ball on it. There is a woman in a pointed hat and robe behind the counter.     Welcome to the Magic Shop! There's no option to SELL here, so it immeidately just shows a list of mid-tier attack and defense magics arrayed around the Five Elements, though there's also some generic holy stuff too.     Raphael works his way through a number of the townspeople until he gets to the Renegade Sage. He enters the ramshackle shack and looks around. Books. Tablets. Nerd Stuff. The balding Astomi, presumably said Sage, sits there flipping through a book that never seems to end. When prompted, he says the same thing that he said to Amelris. This is clearly a dead end...                                 [:.:] [...]                                 Wait. Something is wrong. Something is out of place. Something about the je ne se quoi of the room scratches there, a splinter in Raphael's mind. Could it be some kind of... /undocumented puzzle/?     Arianrhod and Rean mention the possibility of kidnapping the princess themselves. A bold strategy. However, the Princess doesn't even seem to react to the discussion of this happening right in front of her. Probably wouldn't be hard, but how would they make it work if they did? There's some kind of detail missing here... Staren goes to the Inn. The world darkens again, for a moment, as a jingle plays. A few seconds later, the world returns to light. No cutscene happens. Nor does it trigger one when Staren pages through the book. Oddly enough, the same text appears on every page. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod looks at Alruna, then at Rean, then back to the princess.     Finally she says, "He can object all he wants." She reaches her hand out to grip the princess's arm, "I'm interested to see what happens when the script is ignored."     Arianrhod attempts to pull the princess to her feet and lead her out of the palace. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Raphael taps his forehead. "Alright.." He paces through the room, back and forth. There's something here. Something he can do. Something that can be done here.. VISUAL CALCULUS: Deep breath. Unfocus your eyes, step back. This is now a 'crime scene'. Raphael Ambrosius Cousteau walks back to the entrance. He relaxes his eyes, and goes into Investigation Mode. Of sorts. Unimportant objects fall away. Things that are relevant, that can be moved. That can be maneuvered about. That are worth touching. These appear more vivid, almost glowing in his eyes. What is this room? What is there to -do- in here? He's close. He can feel it. He's going to solve whatever this is, because by god those Lions are going to *give up their secrets*. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Damn. Staren didn't think it had a HIGH probability of working, but how cool would it have been if it did?     Hmm. What if he asks the Renegade Sage to read the book? It's not like he's going to lose any TIME before the next quest, he can spend as much time trying goofy stuff as he wants.     So Staren heads to the Sage's place. Oh good, the guy is already reading a book. Staren puts this one down on top of it, open. "Hey there. What do you think of this book? Is there anything you find particularly interesting about the history of the Yellow Emperor?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod decides to take matters into her own hands. She pulls the Princess to her feet. It takes some time. She seems to stop, providing a precise amount of resistance at very regular intervals which basically turns it into a slow, but steady movement towards the exit of the palace. No one tries to stop her. So now you have a princess in tow. Now what?     Raphael taps into his ability to analyze the room to make it point out the important stuff. The bookshelves light up of course, and the Sage himself lights up, but there's something pointed.     A pool of light in the middle of the room. He looks up. There's a /hole/ in the roof. It's glowing. It's Important. Does he need to close it up himself? How would anyone else have done it? Or does he simply need to give something that would do the trick to the Sage? Hmm... 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo confers with Lilian, and looks on, curious, as she works. It is a different sort of reading than the fox goddess would perform, herself. Still, it seems to have been successful. There will surely be some good from this. Something to work upon later.     However, that doesn't require her attention just now, and so she soon returns to the matter of finding books that say... anything at all, really. Besides her previous aims, there's also... "Shyra," she calls long-distance, "have you, as I do suspect, read all the books in town?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is adressed directly while he's messing around with the sage. He just blinks at Raphael, pulls a device off his belt, points it at the hole, and tries to close the hole by extending the existing structure with black-and-white-striped wood that doesn't match the house at all. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna does not care for those five second blackouts at all. She looks discomfited for a few moments, and takes a step back to watch Arianrhod walk by, forcing the princess out of her comfort zone, so to speak. Perhaps Mordred left too quickly. "Nothing's happened." she murmurs out of the side of her mouth as she looks back and forth, waiting for the guards, for /someone/ to break into action and stop Arianrhod. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris' wandering is INTERRUPTED by a rogue COPOTYPE.      Amelris follows the man back to the shack of the Renegade Sage, looking up at the roof and rubbing his chin. "Yeah... I see what you mean." He mutters, nodding, tail twitching. "What are you planning to use to fix the roof, then? We can get you there, but... no points unless you got an idea."      He looks around. "Maybe some straw? Some loose planks?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Shyra, who seems to just be happy to hang about in the town with everyone else, blinks as she is questioned about the books. Um... Yes, but they didn't have any answers I was looking for. They are hard to understand... Though the Hero also read them all.     Tomoe, however, is still doggedly following the path of TEAM BOOK. All hail Team Book! She begins searching for more information, and this time, she conveniently finds what she is looking for:     The White Tigers Spirit holds the power of METAL and holds domain over Fall. It approves of the harvest and those with wisdom and knowledge.     Staren takes the book to the Renegade Sage and gives it to him. While he tries to cajole the Sage into responding, he fixes the Sage's roof while Amelris and Raphael ponder how to do exactly this.     There is a little chime, and the light in the middle of the room disappears. The Sage begins speaking again.     Thank you for fixing that hole. I meant to get to it eventually, but too busy, too busy. Here, take this potion I brewed up. It should help.     And then the Sage is holding out a mysterious potion that is labeled simply SAGEPOT. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Raphael walks over to take the potion. He assumes, of course, that Staren isn't randomly interested in bogarting his weird glitchdrugs. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Oh, man. Yeah. I can feel this. This is the thing you need. INLAND EMPIRE: They will give up their secrets. He bursts back into his jog, heading all the way back up the stairs to the palace, with a disturbing ease. And that leaves Raphael back in front of two stone lions. You could almost write a single-syllable poem about it. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Listen. I know what I said about this being enough, but have you considered, you know, just being *safe*? You got some anti-rad on you right now, don't you? Stack up those buffs! It's what people of this world would do. INLAND EMPIRE: Do not deny me my lions! Raphael looks to a small pill bottle. Looks to the lions. He shouldn't. Drugs are bad. But he's..in a good state today. He can take it. He can handle it. He takes one pill, swigs the SAGEPOT, and then uses that to drink the pill down. The effects, at least of the pyrholidon, are almost instant. Everything is...slower. Wavely. The light is so *interesting*-- INLAND EMPIRE: Stay steady. The lions. We want to talk to the Lions. "Stone lions, guardians of the Palace! Tell me your *secrets*," He shouts like an absolute madman, at inanimate objects. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' After hearing of a plot to jump the script and hijack the Princess in her stead, Mordred about faces from her path towards the temple. Instead, she heads right back up towards the palace, sword drawn and boss music blaring with her all the while. "Damn punks wanna skip ahead...? Fine, then. We'll do it early!" Once again, the EVIL KNIGHT's theme reaches a peak in its loop as the EVIL KNIGHT arrives once more in the path of the Princessnappers. She clears her throat, then puts on a suitably booming voice to declare her intent! "There you are, HEROES. Were you thinking of escaping with the Princess so soon? Too bad for you, because I, EVIL KNIGHT Mordred, will be the one taking her today!" There's a sweep of that sword horizontally, and massive identical pillars flames appear on each side of her, moving forward steadily forwards to try and get some space around the Princess. Also, to see if the guards or the Princess even react to it. She's going to be so disappointed if even THAT doesn't trigger a fight or cutscene or... SOMETHING to move the script along. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      For a brief moment, Amelris Belthrone was impressed. The Red Mage throws up a thumbs up at Staren. Hey, he did good. "Good work!" He says to him, tipping his red hat and following the cop back to the temple.      He's actually kinda hard to keep up with. The middle-aged man is... certainly energetic. He follows him down into the temple, looking around with an inquisitive look on his face.      Then the man starts shouting at innanimate objects. Oh. He was doing so well. Now he's taking ALL SORT OF THINGS DOWN.      "Uhm." Amelris lets out looking over at the Lions with a frown, back and forth between the two of them... Before he starts poking at around the statues proper, himself. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren waits for this to resolve, nodding to Amelris and letting Raphael take the SAGEPOT. They go.     "So." Staren turns back to the sage. "About this book. ...Come on, at least you must have a new line now that we've completed your quest, right?" 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      None of the spells really catch Haseo's fancy at the moment, and he's not about to take a crap shoot to see if this game's spell list is compatible with his own. That said, the fact the shop has an actual interface that you'd see in a video game has them wondering.      Haseo brings up his own game interface, rubbing his chin as he scrolls through his stats, his inventory, quest logs and the like. Into a special submenu.      It's a bunch of nonsense code strings and numbers, nothing that really makes sense. Much like a movie where the tech guy hacks into the military base. But it works, somehow. He's poking at the shopkeep. Specifically her inventory, in this case.      It's not really 'delicate and directed' hacking either, more like an extremely hamfisted attempt to get SOMETHING to show up in the shop window. It's probably going to just be nonsense values and whatever, but who knows. Maybe there's some secret dev spell that cheeses all the fights. Or a debug menu. Or maybe he'll get banned... Damn, he didn't actually think that far. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod continues to pull the princess along, encountering some resistance, but not nearly as much as she expected. She mmmms in agreement with Alruna's observation, "I would have expected to have drawn greater attention at this point. This truly is a strange place."     Rean will quickly realize, possibly with some surprise, that Arianrhod is not guiding the princess towards the doors at the rear. But rather the exit of the palace proper. What exactly does this armored warrior have in mind?     It might be a while before we find out though, as not long after leaving the building Arianrhod comes face to face with Mordred once more. Arianrhod stops for a moment, watching Mordred make her claim and summon those pillars of fire.     "No."     Arianrhod resumes walking forward with princess in tow, aiming to walk past Mordred. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Day becomes nigh. Which makes Tomoe just halts moving while everything is dark once the world comes back to her. Tomoe takes a moment to just look at Staren when he returns. "So nothing huh?" She's not going to ever /get/ used to that part of Shyra's world. She gets some useful information, she confirms the White Tiger's element that is certainly worth passing on to the rest of the team but how much longer should she dig? She's going to go deeper but she gets the feeling she could be near the end of what she could find. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Tamamo seeks out another book. The number of unread books in the city are rapidly dwindling, but Tamamo is able to find another one: A great battle was fought in the past. The ancient Kindeva vanished during this battle. Some say that the enemies they fought against spoke of a being, 'Discordia'. There are no records of such a being existing before.     Mordred confronts the people trying to kidnap the princess she was supposed to be kidnapping! The music around her swells into an ominous boss battle theme as she begins to establish room control. If they don't hand over the Princess, looks like there might be an unscheduled fight!     Staren cajoles the Sage once more now that everything is handled.     Ah, you have brought the SCROLL. Let me see it, and I will tell you what it says...     20 20 20 20 53 74 6f 70 2c 20 45 76 69 6c 20 4b 6e 69 67 68 74 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 59 6f 75 20 77 6f 6e 27 74 20 77 69 6e 20 70 61 73 74 20 74 68 65 73 65 20 66 69 73 74 73 2e 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 49 20 77 69 6c 6c 20 6e 6f 74 20 61 6c 6c 6f 77 20 79 6f 75 20 74 6f 20 6b 69 6c 6c 20 6d 79 20 66 72 69 65 6e 64 73 21 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 54 61 6b 65 20 74 68 69 73 2c 20 6d 79 20 66 69 6e 61 6c 20 74 65 63 68 6e 69 71 75 65 21 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna's eyebrows scrunch together as she follows Arianrhod. "I'm sorry for this." she apologises, quietly, to the princess. She doesn't know what's happening yet. But someday, hopefully, she will. Alruna's hand goes to her sword reflexively as Mordred reappears with pillars of fire. She steps up alongside Arianrhod - whose name she still doesn't know, she realises belatedly - and asks her a question. "What are you going to do? /Besides/ just taking the princess out of her palace." She's not going to be able to just walk through Mordred or the fire, after all. Alruna quickly nods to Amelris, since they've accidentally crossed paths and now a dramatic confrontation is intersecting with a... crime scene investigation? 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' And Arianrhod takes the princess off her throne with minimal resistance. Nothing happens. At all. Just the princess 'dragging her feet.' "Not even a guard response? Really?" Rean mutters, frowning. Well, all that was left to do was to take her to the Shrine...In the opposite direction Arianrhod is going. "Wait, where are you taking her-" Mordred immediately comes back, summoning fire to separate the group from the princess. Rean draws his sword, and takes whichever of the princess' hand Arianrhod isn't holding and tries to pull her towards the Shrine entrance. "We need to take her to the Shrine! What are you doing!?" If they went /too/ far off script, it'd just block them like earlier, right? Or reset itself. Either way, they needed to deal with Mordred. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren blinks. That was surprising. Then he frowns. 20 is space... Is this...?     [    Stop, Evil Knight.      You won't win past these fists.      I will not allow you to kill my friends!          Take this, my final technique!]     "Huh. Uhh, thank you, Sage."     Also, wacky stuff is going on on the radio so he interacts with that for a bit 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Though she's found the thing she came for, Lilian still has time to burn here. Keeping tabs on things, there's still no need for her to help in the basic task of reading books, and Staren's little sidequest adventure seems to have wrapped itself up immediately, which Raphael is now using to . . . do his thing, and Lilian has little desire to obstruct him.     What does strike her is what Tamamo had told her about the cookie recipe. Benign as it had been in that case, there is one more thing Lilian can think of, and would like to try.     Heading to the library, she rifles through the shelves to find the particular books having to do with the Kindeva specifically, and their relation to the Yellow Emperor; the unfished story of the conflict between the two. Flipping to the blank pages before the obligatory two or three readable ones, she gets out her own pen, removing the cap with her teeth while she finds the right place, and then adding to it herself.     This is much more detailed than a recipe. It's the lore they've discovered about the cave that leads out of town. An obvious QUEST HOOK to be found in the library here, pointing the player in the direction of the secret, optional dungeon. An ancient thing made by those hands, as an attempt to suppress and bind the spirits like the Yellow Emperor. Something to DO with the fifth artifact the Emperor will provide when she's through, dummied out as it is now. She describes the five element system in vague, game guide hint terms, and draws a sketch of the door, before closing it up and putting it back on the shelf. For good measure, she adds little cryptic hints to a couple more. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Beneath the EVIL KNIGHT's helmet, Mordred grunts in irritation as her grip on the sword tightens. With the guards and princess doing seemingly nothing in response to anything and Arianrhod just trying to go right through her, Mordred takes it upon herself to bring things right back to where they should be. Namely, with Mordred fulfilling her role as the EVIL KNIGHT. "Tch... Don't think you can escape so easily, bas-.. HEROES!" Her voice is equal parts anger and ham as she raises that sword once again, then disappears briefly before reappearing in Arianrhod's path to slash it straight down towards the would-be kidnapper! Perhaps tellingly, though, it's a perfectly vertical swing to minimize the chance of collateral damage to the Princess. Stranger still, when she does the same disappearing and reappearing thing to Alruna and Rean, there's not quite as much force put into those swings. "Unfortunately for you, your journey ends here! Turn over the Princess, and I migth spare your lives!" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Haseo basically does some REALLY STRANGE STUFF to the inventory of the magic shopkeeper. The inventory promptly glitches out and mostly becomes trash data, but one thing does stand out:     FIAT IGNIS: 0J That looks interesting... Meanwhile, Rapahel unleashes the power of SAGEPOT and other medications to enhance his perceptions and become One with the world once again. Amelris gets that familiar feeling rolling through his mind as the Echo actually begins to respond to what is about to happen, dragging the cat man along for a trip through Rapahel's world. STATUE ONE: Hey. I'm not a lion. We're tigers. Get it right. STATUE TWO: What's wrong with being a lion? What if I want to be a lion? Maybe I'm a lion. TIGER STATUE: Fine, fine. You can be a lion. LION STATUE: Badass. So, champ, you want to know /secrets/. TIGER STATUE: Been forever since anyone talked to us. Think we should tell him? LION STATUE: Yeah, why not? TIGER STATUE: Fiiiiine. Okay big man, let's hear it. What do you want to know? 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Raphael feels it. There. He's feeling it. This is it. INLAND EMPIRE: We have made contact. All is as it should be. God is in its kingdom, man in theirs. He holds out his hand. He's not strictly sure what he was expecting to find, but that just means it's time to go down the old dialogue tree of options. To exhaust every avenue. To wrest from this opportunity every drop of juice it has. "You said that it's 'been forever' since anyone talked to you. Was that.. *the Hero*?" Best to get the easy question out of the way first, while he sorts out his thoughts on what else to do with this glorious opportunity. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      This is... new!      Amelris's eyes widens. He looks back and forth between the two statues, blinking and apparently not even noticing Alruna at this point.      To her, the Miqo'te have his eyes' irises dilated out to full, his ears jittering like they're having a seizure and his tail is just thumping down against his legs.      "Woah. This is new." He comments, looking at the statues. He lets Raphael lead on this one first. He'll... add in if needed. 

:'''{{#var:7015|Haseo (7015)}} has posed:'''      Fiat Ignis. That's a name alright. Sounds like something 'big', something 'meaty'. Something he's probably not suppose to have. So clearly, Haseo goes to select it. The rogue crosses his fingers as he hopes he actually gets the thing he's selected inside of his inventory rather than some weird trash data,      But knowing his luck, it's probably some weird dummied out spell. At the very least, the game doesn't seem upset at him for violating its precious shop. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Okay. Staren doesn't feel like pushing this much further. He doesn't want to glitch the sage out /worse/.     But... there is one last thing to ask before he leaves. Staren turns to the Sage again. "Thank you so much for reading that for me. I'd like to hold onto it, though. Can I have the SCROLL back?" If this actually nets him a key item, that might be useful later. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod seems to ignore Rean's own tugging on the princess, right up until Mordred proceeds to close in and attack. Arianrhod raises her arm to to block the blade with her wrist guard, the weapon scraping across the armour. Seeing Mordred proceed to teleport away shortly afterwards, this time to attack Alruna, it's clear to see what the Evil Knight will do next.     Arianrhod suddenly releases her grip on the princess, shoving the young woman in Rean's direction. Arianrhod then steps into place just as Mordred reappears near Rean, placing herself between the two. Arianrhod grunts from the impact as the blade strikes her armour across her back. Her helmet raises to look at Rean, at which point she says, "So. Take her there."     Arianrhod spins around to face Mordred, attempting to wrap her arm around Mordred's blade at the same time to seize it, hoping to delay her. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna can't pay any attention to Amelris, and she's lucky that she isn't being dragged into whatever's triggering a livestream Echo for the Miqo'te, as she has to defend herself - she uses both of her armoured gauntlets to catch the sword before it strikes her, grunting. It's still a heavy damn weapon, no matter how Mordred pulls her strikes! 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Haseo selects the spell, and with a ring of a cash register, it pops into his magic list. It looks like it is a stupidly powerful fire elemental attack spell. Weird, it doesn't even cost any MP! Staren asks for the scroll back. He gets a series of empty scrolling text boxes that he has to page through. There's like fifty of them. Finally, it says... another thing.     KUAkI0pHQE0jTyMyI19OTUApIylOTUAjKUs8ISNKSVQgSFVSVFMgQFIhI00pUkApI01SISMgV0hFUkUhQClLI01SKCkhI1IgQU0gSTEtMyEjKVJKQCNSTSEjISUjVA== Um, that's a thing. Raphael and Amelris continue to be stuck in a dialogue with a pair of statues. Who knows what it looks like to anyone looking at them. For them, however, the statues are all. They stare at the pair with radiant eyes, the statues both incredibly solid and /real/ and yet ill-defined at the same time. TIGER STATUE: Was there a Hero before you? Seems like there could have been. LION STATUE: Anything is possible on a long enough timeline. TIGER STATUE: Someone who just wandered around and poked everything just to see if it did something. LION STATUE: Or maybe they just walked right past. We're just statuary, after all. TIGER STATUE: Nah, we're /symbols/. We have /deep meaning/. LION STATUE: The meaning is that we're rock and metal shaped like animals. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Raphael considers. "...I have seen this world to its uttermost *heights*," He explains. "I have been as high as you can go. I have seen the squares below, and the circles above." CONCEPTUALIZATION: Where, then, do these statues lie, on the grander chain? INLAND EMPIRE: They too are fingers, an *extension* of that which lies at its heart. "...I understand what The Healer wants," He says. "I understand what The Gearknight wants, and what The Evil Knight wants. This world itself, though--what does the *world* want?" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Do the world wants anything? Can it?" Amelris adds. His eyes are blinking rapidly, now. He looks back and forth again, refocusing on the statue.      "Hell, what do /you/ want?" 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo looks through the books, searching for... something. She does not appear to be finding it. Finally, she takes out that book that she'd given to Lilian.     'The Yellow Emperor Spirit brings balance and order to the EARTH by maintaining the other Four Spirits and ensuring all wax and wane in turn. It favors those with an honest heart.' This will do for a starting place. Once again, Tamamo sits, retrieves her brush and ink, and writes:     'Long ago, the Yellow Emperor traveled to the East Sea, and there met Bai Ze, a wise beast that explained to him the knowledge of every sort of spirit.'     After a moment, she strikes out 'Bai Ze,' replacing it with the same words in a simpler alphabet. 'White Grace.'     She returns the book to its shelf, now with this added story. The story is true. Whether it is true in this world as well as others, she cannot yet know. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren groans in frustration about a half-dozen text boxes in, but... hey, may as well see where this goes.     Hmm, that looks like--     [@$#JG@M#O#2#_NM@)#)NM@#)K<!#JIT HURTS @R!#M)R@)#MR!# WHERE!@)K#MR()!#R AM I1-3!#)RJ@#RM!#!#2147T]     Staren shakes his head. No, it's just garbage. He takes the history book and turns away from the sage, and then the message, still in his HUD, catches his eye:     [@$#JG@M#O#2#_NM@)#)NM@#)K<!#JIT HURTS @R!#M)R@)#MR!# WHERE!@)K#MR()!#R AM I1-3!#)RJ@#RM!#!#2147T]     Shaken, Staren makes his way back to the library and returns the book to the shelf. His power armor automatically corrects for his shaking hand as he does so.     Then he finds Shyra and shows her the decoded message, with the words highlighted. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean raises his sword to block Mordred's strike- but it doesn't land. Instead, it hits with a clang on one of the Armored woman's gauntlets. She then shoves the princess into his arms and tells him to run. He looks between the woman, Alruna, and Mordred. after a brief moment's hesitation, Rean nods, and starts dragging the princess towards the entrance to the shrine. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Raphael continues to ask questions. He asks what the world wants. TIGER STATUE: Ooooh, good question. What DOES the world want? But you know what it wants. LION STATUE: If he knew what it wanted, he wouldn't be asking us. TIGER STATUE: But is he really asking us? LION STATUE: It sure looks like he is. Amelris adds his own two cents, and the statues actually respond. TIGER STATUE: Oh hey, the cat guy brings up a good point. LION STATUE: Everything alive wants something. TIGER STATUE: And everyone alive wants the same thing in the end. LION STATUE: Well, if they don't, they don't stay alive long. TIGER STATUE: But you have to be alive to want something, don't you? LION STATUE: Is this world alive? Are you alive? Are we alive? TIGER STATUE: If the world is alive... LION STATUE: Then you know what the world wants already. But you knew that already, didn't you? 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Leaving the statue investigators to... Whatever it is they're doing, Mordred has enough sense to keep the fighting away from them. No, she's got three other targets to focus on, two of which are actively trying to stop her from reaching the third and the princess! Alruna can feel for herself Mordred's stupid Servant strength. She wields the two-handed sword effortlessly with one hand, digging down into those gauntlets hard as if daring her to stay right where she is! Arianrhod gets in the way, though, as she joins in grasping the blade, and now the EVIL KNIGHT has to contend with four hands rather than just two! "You really think it's gonna be this easy? Get serious already!" Mordred stage-whispers to the pair before bursting into another bout of hammy laughter while the sword heats up, then bursts into more of those identically flickering flames. There's a brief flicker of electricity, too, but it fades just as quickly as that helmet remains firmly on the EVIL KNIGHT's head. "Bold maneuver, HEROES, but this won't stop me at all!" With her free hand, the EVIL KNIGHT conjures up even more of those flames to converge in Rean's path. He might have just enough time to slip through them to get to the Shrine, but will the Princess be able to get through in time? "Don't think you can get away with the PRINCESS, either! I've got plans for her myself!" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Staren transmits something to Shyra, and her expression goes white. She gapes for a moment... And then the abruptly collapses to her knees, weeping as she leans on her staff. Whatever Staren transmitted to her, it's completely disturbed her. Tamamo adds information to the book and closes it up. Will it change the nature of the world? Maybe. Maybe not. Time will tell what happens. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is uncomfortable, but Shyra's the one who might have a friend trapped beyond life and death. "...I'm sorry..."     His feet shuffle a bit awkwardly. "...I couldn't just not tell you... We don't know it's him! It might be... some new NPC. A-anyone could be..."     He starts to pace around. Finally, he kneels next to her and opens his visor long enough to whisper something, and then walks back to the library with head hung. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael splays his fingers across his chin. This is a valuable opportunity. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: And you're *squandering* it. Ask where more of those potions are! LOGIC: Ask what the solution is to some puzzle or other. INTERFACING: I really wish we had it in us to do something cool that would 'break its buffer' or something. > What is the *right question*, though? Did we learn anything? RHETORIC: Hey, wow, okay. So, the world must be alive--if it wasn't, they wouldn't have started with us 'knowing what it wants'. So we learned that. We also learned that it has no particular notable desires other than the four F's. ENCYCLOPEDIA: That's fighting, feeding, fleeing, and-- ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Yeah, *baby*. RHETORIC: Wow, thanks. Anyway, yeah, you got that much. You're doing okay. Raphael closes his eyes. Focus harder, here. Focus harder. > Okay. They're on the path to that optional--whatever. We've got to be smarter than that. What can we ask they -can't- learn otherwise? ESPRIT D'CORPS: You're a cop. Find the missing person. You're interrogating a witness. Come on. He looks back to the statues. "...Jorin 'died', but he isn't *deleted*, or we couldn't have restarted the world. Where *is* he?" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris do not have the intense internal dialogue with parts of himself, unlike Raphael.      He's still a wizard. An artist. He can think on very metaphysical levels and subjects. The Miqo'te furrow his brows -- an amazing feat considering just how dilated his eyes are right now -- looking up at the Statues like a big, feline owl.      "...What's preventing the world from being alive fully? From being /completely born/ and not in this stasis?" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' "Bollocks to this." Alruna's damaged gauntlets, along with the rest of her plate armour, disappear in an explosion of blue-white light. When it fades, she's dressed in a mustard-yellow longcoat and much looser clothing. She bounces on her feet a few times, and flashes Mordred a grin. "Ought we test that?" she asks, then closes in to deliver a quick combo of punches, hammering on the midsection of Mordred's spiky EVIL KNIGHT getup hard enough to make it ring like a bell! 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Tomoe works her way through the rest of the town, digging deep to find the last bookshelves that haven't been read yet: There are five great Spirits, one for each direction and one for the center. Each strives to invigorate the world with their power. The Black Warriors Spirit holds the power of WATER and holds domain over Winter. It favors the bold and those with the wisdom to survive harsh challenges. Once the great battle was over, Discordia was sealed away at the cost of the Kindeva civilization. Peace has reigned ever since, the Spirits having remained harmonious on their own through some unknown means. Or perhaps the Yellow Emperor was never needed...? Shyra doesn't look back up to Staren. She nods slightly at him, but she seems completely incapagble of speaking right now, lost in a torrent of emotion. Amelris asks what is keeping the world from being alive fully. The statues, contrary to normal expectations, continue to respond. TIGER STATUE: What does an 'alive' world look like? LION STATUE: This one seems like it's missing a few things, doesn't it? TIGER STATUE: Maybe work on that. LION STATUE: Do something nice for us too while you're at it. Raphael is burning his brain looking for that perfect summation. He quickly figured out that the statues were right, he more or less understands what the world wants. As much as a world can want anything. Or this world, at the very least. But he asks one more question. TIGER STATUE: He's here. LION STATUE: He's not here. TIGER STATUE: But you want to know where he is. LION STATUE: Did you look where you last saw him? TIGER STATUE: But you never saw him. LION STATUE: No, but someone else did. TIGER STATUE: Maybe they know? LION STATUE: Maybe they know. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' The fire springs up in front of him. Rean turns around to face Mordred, pushing the princess behind him, using both hands to raise his sword.. 

:'''{{#var:7228|Arianrhod (7228)}} has posed:'''     Arianrhod continues to grip that sword as it begins to heat up, soon bursting into flames. Her armour that is in contact with the weapon begins to glow lightly as it is heated, though it proves remarkably resilient.     Even as Arianrhod struggles against the heat, struggles to maintain her hold on the weapon, she sounds relatively composed as she replies, "Yes, plans to kidnap her. Or so the story apparently goes."     The armored woman's helmet tilts as she looks at Mordred, "Or perhaps not... You don't strike me as a person who dances to someone else's tune."     Arianrhod suddenly lets go of the hot blade, taking a few steps back and making no other moves to engage the Evil Knight. She simply finishes with, "I'm interested to find out." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Lilian adds in a detailed and intense QUEST HOOK to the library, an attempt to force a logical connection between the library and the OUT OF BOUNDS containment area. The information added is comprehensive, there is little chance any distortion could claim it if there was any attempt to do so. Like the other edits to the library, there is no way to tell if it will take. But there seems to be SOME kind of connection, based on Tamamo's work... 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Okay. This is bewildering. INTERFACING: I bet that if I was, say, *way* better, I could figure this out for you. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: So what you're saying is... INTERFACING: Nope. Not even then. EMPATHY: WAIT. Wait wait wait. What can we do for them? Ask that! Ask that! "...What would be nice for you, statues?" It's a weird question. But he's gotten this far entirely on the basis of weird questions, and he *is* busy hallucinating at statues. Lean in. That's how you do it. Raphael Ambrosius Cousteau: Professional Statue Mollifier. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "A good polishing?" Amelris offers. "A nice blanket to nap on?" The Red Mage adds, tilting his head left and right. He's hallucinating from the second degree. So he IS. "Either way, /thanks you/." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has seen the quest of team book to the end and it's gone fairly well. She picks up more information which she will copy into that text file she's been working on for this whole trip here. She will end up putting the books back once she's done and thinks about the spirits nad the information she's found here. She's left with a good deal to think for but with the talk about the fallen party member and their fate? It fills Tomoe with dread. She shoves the bad memories down and speaks up on the radio. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Alruna's change of clothes actually gets an amused chuckle from Mordred, and not just a role-appropriate one. "Not a mage, but... Interesting. Very interesting!" The EVIL KNIGHT bellows, standing firm against those rapid-fire blows even as each strike echoes from the palace walls despite the group being very much outside. It's armor against fist, and the EVIL KNIGHT is determined to show her resilience instead of simply defending herself like someone trying to actually avoid pain! She'll probably regret it later. "This is all to bring about Discordia's return. It won't be long until my dark god's return!" She announces, although she pauses for a moment at Arianrhod's observation. "... Heh. Don't worry. You will see soon enough just what I have in store for this world!" When Rean steps in front of the Princess, the EVIL KNIGHT sees her chance. Raising a hand, she sweeps her hand in front of her as flames burst forward, obscuring her from view. Once they start moving forward, though, the EVIL KNIGHT is gone! ... Because of that damned teleporting gimmick. From behind Rean and the Princess, the EVIL KNIGHT reappears to try grabbing them both around the waist rather than just going for the Princess. "Let us stop wasting time here. I'll just take you both there!" And just as quickly as the EVIL KNIGHT appeared, she disappears once again with the pair in tow! But where is she going? Time will tell, but there's probably one incredibly likely destination considering everything that's been mentioned alrady. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' What kind of thing will you bribe a statue with? Raphael and Amelris find out. TIGER STATUE: A blanket sounds /great/. LION STATUE: Yeah, a blanket. One for each of us. You have any idea how cold we get out here? 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris nods, solemnly, stonically, at the statues after some radio conversation. There's still that surreal expression to him. His mind is still... well, it still is.      "I've got this."      The Red Mage reach to his side where his bag in, rummaging around. A burst of aether flows out as he takes out two large folded pieces of cloth of different colors. One seems to be a puce, sky blue color, made of cotton with very cutsey chocobo-themed patterns.      The other is red, vermillion with orange zig-zags. He hands the first one to Raphael and keeps the second one to unfold.      It have the picture of a cartoony Behemoth.      "There you go, my friends." Amelris says, spreading it up and lifting the blanket up, to try to let it rest on the statue. Of the Lion. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Raphael was, honestly, expecting to go on a majestic sidequest in order to acquire blankets. Luckily for him, it turns out that Amelris, being a master weaver who keeps his crafting materials on him like some kind of loon, has everything well in hand. So he places his blanket on the other statue, satisfied that he has fulfilled his quota of taking care of the emotional needs of inanimate objects for the day. "...Well, I think that's all I've got. Thanks for the help, statues" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' The blankets are settled onto the statues, providing them with colorful coverings of high-quality fabric. You can tell it's high quality because of the symbol. See it? You can totally see it. TIGER STATUE: It's a trick question. It's not cold out here at all. Or warm. Ever. LION STATUE: But you knew that already. Also, these things look great. Thanks.     Then they go silent. Whether it's because the drugs wore off or something else, it's hard to tell. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Hey. Thanks. Made them myself."      Amelris' gives a thumbs up.. and things wears off.      It's like reality coming back like a sack of brick, hitting Amelris with the usual, well-known headache that comes after each Echo-based 'visions'. "Uugggghn." The Catman groans, holding his forhead, eyes irises returning to normal and his seizure-like jitters of his ears and tail relaxing. "THAT was new." 
}}

7007/LI0: Too Many Dragons (MSQ)

2020-01-24T08:09:24Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/23 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=The investigators go to Bartal and confront the False Dragon Spirit. |Cast of Characters=7170, 6666, 7..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/23
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=The investigators go to Bartal and confront the False Dragon Spirit.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 6666, 7132, 7175, 7213, 1011, 42, 7180, 7191, 33, 6
|Tinyplot=Last Illusion
|Tinyplot2=Loop Zero
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Despite being saved, the village of Finaria ended up burned down regardless. How this happened is a matter of concern and theory to the others present, but there is a great deal to investigate still. The world is gradually unfolding before the party, the survivors of Finaria directing those present to warn the people of Bartal, the Eastern City, of the threat of the Evil Knight Mordred. Jude, for those searching for him, is missing, nor does anyone reference him in the least. Mysterious.     The journey to Bartal is short, the lands of Finaria and Bartal joined by a grassy land bridge. About halfway across the land bridge, there is an imperceptible change in the environment, as if it had suddenly become more dangerous. Indeed, the monsters that appear randomly are still little more than an annoyance to the Elites present, but perhaps might be a stiffer threat to a group of adventurers just beginning their journay.     Bartal is a larger city, walled, with a full port on the southern side near the gates. The buildings within are larger, albeit seemingly made of the same materials as that in Finaria. Still, that and the paved roads speak of greater wealth. There is a full suite of adventurer services present (Inn, weapon shop, magic shop, armor shop, item shop), all arranged through the town in a general semicircular fashion around the central point of a large shrine. Some might remember this being the BLUE DRAGONS SHRINE. Vines and water curl along the walls in a decorative motif, the front door guarded by two men in white robes. Other people mill about in a seemingly aimless pattern. One is staring out at the docks, but most of them seem to be generally staring at the Shrine from various distances, or specifically seeming to stay far away from it. There seems to be a rather somber attitude in the town as well, the theoretically jaunty background music of the area being played in a minor key.     Shyra, of course, is part of the group, happily accompanying them and basically hovering behind one or the other as she all but acts as a tour guide. And here we are at Bartal! Please, feel free to explore how you like. When you're ready, we'll want to go to the Shrine to warn them of the imminent danger! 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot continues to wear his FANTASY COSTCO gear, though he has to bring his monoblade katana with him, since longswords are not for deflecting lasers. The moogle walks the distance. Other people walked the distance, so maybe it is a sort of thing you have to do. He doesn't want to ruin the experience for everyone by bringing his motorcycle into the world and making the trip in short time. And perhaps it is an excuse to simply enjoy a walk in the word and nature. As he has a small amount of JII now, he heads to the Item Shop to stock up. Plus he feels bad amassing foreign wealth, might as well spend it. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 shows up with the rest of the group this time, in a typical black outfit and without his visor.  His blue eyes taking in the sights.  There is a lot to go over and investigate, but he's got to be focused and have a plan.  Taking a breath, he looks towards the black box with legs that floats beside him.  The POD makes a chiming motion. -We appear to be in the city of Bartal.- "Yes thank you, POD, very insightful." "What is with the people?  Do they seem to be just aimlessly wandering around?" this all seems off to him, that uncanny valley sort of way.  Which is very ironic given what I4 is.  Shrugging his shoulders he gives up. He starts approaching people at random, asking them about what is going on and seeing if he can find out anything.  Meanwhile, POD is scanning the area, trying to find anything important. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' "-and when we got to the heart of the shrine, nothing /happened/." Alruna grouses from atop her chocobo. "Because Mordred wasn't there to confront us." She finishes relating the story of her, Shigure and Amelris's abortive expedition to Pradia. Sequence breaking, it appears, does not work well in this script, and the WHITE TIGERS RELIC remains unempowered. The adventurer is dressed in leather armour, lighter than the full plate people are more accustomed to seeing her in, a long lance sticking out above her head. She accompanies Kupot to the item store to spend some of the JII weighing down her purse, dismounting and instructing her giant canary-yellow horse-bird to 'stay here' while she heads inside. 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' There's a forgotten (kinda? Seems like it) world that needs saving, by warning other settlements and apparently protecting a set of Relics around to possibly do so, even if when or how isn't entirely known yet. Essentially just the kind of mission Arcadia was sent out into the Multiverse to pursue. She's got dungeoneering experience, but having an actual party of fellow adventurers to travel with instead of escorting them around is a change that she is, frankly, quite happy to have. Well other than it means a bit slower on the travel side. She'll manage, for now. That people are telling stories of pass activities helps pass the time for her, at least. Still by the time they do finally get to their destination she is a little bit on the twitchy side, though it's only really indicated by a few erratic flicks of the sphinx's tail. "Huh. Kind of quaint." As usual the sphinx remains hovering slightly off the ground rather than standing as she looks around. The standard shops and other amenities. The town's presence seems stable, if a bit on the dour side. "Soooo..," Arcadia murmurs, "Where do we start?" 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      "Jude?"      Rizzo has gone looking for him, in the burned village of Finaria. He has come up empty handed, even after checking all of the Usual Spots. It is indeed mysterious, but that mystery will have to wait.      "Nothing doing," says Rizzo to Shyra. He doesn't feel the need to explore. "I just wanna get the wire from you--make sure we're on the same page." The vampire is without his bandages today. With no real sun, there isn't really a need. He looks tired, as always, but resolute. "We're putting the Shrine wise to the danger, and we're doing that because we wanna play this whole story out."      He lists the next step with an extended finger. "And /that/ we're doing 'cause we wanna wake everybody up--all at once, not one at a time. Do I have it right?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Twice, Staren has shown up in a fantasy outfit and found himself rather underequipped for the battles he faces. No more. This world is clearly incredibly dangerous. So he's transferred into a robot body (albeit with a realistic, synthetic face that makes it hard to tell) and just worn blatantly futuristic armor plating.     Naturally, NOW the game throws jokingly easy random encounters at him.     Sigh. At least this body can walk on autopilot while he reads or something.     I4 speaks up, so Staren follows him. "They're not people. They're just a few lines of code; movement instructions and a dialogue box. We can go look inside one's brain if you really like, but I've already done so."     He glances back in Shyra's direction. "However, they have the potential to BECOME people... I don't know if there's a force that creates people out of them on the spot, or if the people they COULD become... the minds and personalities... are stored somewhere else, and only put inside these bodies in special circumstances." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "We DID learn several new interesting facts, however." Amelris adds in on Alruna's frustrated, extended explanation of their previous efforts. "Namely, a translation of the murail copy that I've made the other time." The Red Mage is currently riding his very own chocobo, that is wearing amusingly a barding that is very much inspired by his own outfit. A nice red helmet, followed by some broiderly red tail cover. Amelris himself is dressed as he always is, his quite fancy, yet practical, red outfit with feathered hat. The bird he's riding is also not yellow.      It is of a beautiful, well-groomed chocolate-brown feathered bird. It warks as they stop, the Miqo'te stroking the side of his bird's head.      "Well, my dear... sphinx? Arcadia." Amelris settles on, adjusting his collar as he hops off the bird. "It is as Shyra says. Let us take a look around, talk with people, look at bookcases and shiny wall murails to see what we might be able to learn about this place."      And he goes off to do just that. The Red Mage joyously steps inside the city, greeting the FIRST person he meet. "Hello kind sir!"      There's a lot of people to talk to. 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' One of the villagers stands out. He's a blonde man with green eyes dressed in the usual villager clothes, though he moves with much more aim and thought than the others. When Rizzo calls out, the man approaches him. It might be hard to recognize him from the others, until he speaks of his own free will, holding a silver medallion. Ah. . . it's you. Hello. It's nice to meet you again. And then a pause. I never got your name. May I have it? . . . not that it really matters. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "'NOT PEOPLE' is a bad way of DROPPIN' FACTS, yo." Arthur is here, as ever, to fuck with Staren and annoy him a lot. "Something that's PERSON-ISH and ABOUT TO BECOME PERSON, it's still CLOSE TO PEOPLE. Don't bring an AIR-HORN to the MOVIE THEATER just cuz it's only the PREVIEWS. Gotta get that UNCOLLAPSED TIMESHIT into 'em!" He has his own goals -- so what can he do to /improve/ this, rather than follow the script?     Well, he's picked up the plotline, basically, already. Well, some of the keys, anyway. He goes straight for the nearest proper center of lore and learning. His goal is to search for the history and prophetic future of divine beings here -- specifically as pertains to the mysterious containment center. What is the history of that ancient race and those gods? Arthur needs to check it out on the local end, so he can see if there's any half-finished questline chunks he's able to tune into locally. Best to do that before he heads into the shrine! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren sees Arthur is here, and turns to him and smiles. "Hey Arthur, up top!" He goes for the high-five, then follows it up with a pre-programmed series of hand and arm moves he can only remember and properly execute as a robot. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Discovering the fate of Finaria troubled her, with all the effect they put it in refused to change save, for one thing, Jude. Other than that the world was stubbornly rejecting. The effort to alter the fate of that village. What else might they run into like that? Tomoe is left troubled by this, yet there is little she can do about it for the moment. She's still wondering what happened to Jude as well she's not sure if he's dead or did he leave the village? She plans to talk to Shyra when she gets a moment to ask about such things. She hadn't forgotten what Jude had said to her when she was battling the EVIL KNIGHT. The monsters on the way to their next start are not much of a threat to any of the party really, she thinks about that and wonders how they would be for say a fresh group of adventures? They finally reach Bartal things seem to be a bit bigger but still made from the same sorts of material as the last town. She knows the BLUE DRAGONs SHRINE is where they need to go at some point yet for the moment there are people wandering about, and she's brought a few extra things with her to check out the town first. "Gotcha Shyra, I'm going to nose about for a bit then. If we have the time to, maybe I can turn up something." She will go hit up the item shop to see if she can sell off some common drops from her own world,s in the hopes of raising some basic JII in the event there is need for it. It also doesn't hurt to stock up on some of the local potions if she can too. She will also keep an eye out for QUESTS or anyone showing signs of behaviour like Shyra, Jude and the rest who have woken up. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Kupot goes shopping. Within, the item shop consists of a somewhat tanned man with brown hair and a beard with dark eyes, wearing an apron, behind a counter with large flasks arranged behind. Welcome to the ITEM SHOP!     BUY     SELL     Presumably, once Kupot chooses to BUY, he sees a small selection of inexpensive but oddly named potions, AUSAD and SANJEV, likely intended for healing and antidotal purposes. There's also tents for sale.     If I4 is experiencing an uncanny valley effect already, he's going to have a bad time. He approaches a townsman, a male in a green robe with somewhat tanned skin, brown hair and dark eyes. I wonder who is going to need to make the next sacrifice... He says, unable to take his eyes off the Shrine. When I4 inevitably asks for clarification or additional information, he says, I wonder who is going to need to make the next sacrifice... ... Yeah. Well, at least there's a large magical power registering from the Shrine, as well as anyone with them that uses magic. Like Shyra! But not Pazkar. The potions are also very faintly magical, but that's about it. There doesn't seem to be any specific influence making the townspeople act like this. Whatever it is, it's not magical at least. Staren seems to have some advice about it though. There does seem to be /one guy/ who isn't doing animation loops though... Rizzo might know who it is immediately.     I'm sorry that you were disappointed, Alruna. Shyra interjects as Alruna explains what happened. But you got some useful information, I hope? She smiles at that, trying to be optimistic, clearly. He hovers behind Alruna at the Item Shop as they do their thing.     Tomoe looks around, but other than seeing Jude over there instead of in Finaria, there doesn't seem to be anyone else conscious like they are. The item shop is as Alruna and Kupot are experiencing.     Arcadia gets to watch the general pulse of the town. It's not exactly jubilant. Still, the place is nice enough for 'somewhat generic fantasy town'. If it wasn't for the background music being all funky it would basically be just another port town.     Amelris is jaunty and exuberant enough for the entire town, however. He immediately walks up to someone and talks to the first person he sees! It's not the some one I4 is talking to, at least. What, did you say Finaria was attacked? Oh no, that explains what is happening at the Shrine, maybe... Please do what you can to stop it! 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Shyra does look a little confused at Rizzo's slang, however, but she picks up on the context quickly enough. Maybe. Ish. Yes. That's the plan! She confirms. If we go through the story again and see The End again, maybe more of the world will awaken. Also, there's the changes that have been getting made. I'm not sure what will happen, but I know it'll be good! Always optimistic!     Staren asks Shyra some existentially complicated questions. Um... She fidgets, looking around for a moment while the others shop. Maybe? I don't know for sure... I think they've existed the whole time, it's just a question of how they're acting... Maybe you're right? It's complicated... She doesn't seem like she knows how to answer Staren's theorizing at all.     Arthur begins hitting the LORE DUMPS as quickly as possible. He finds a few bookshelves that seem to have actual information in them. Unfortuantely, there isn't nearly as much here of note as elsewhere he's checked:     The Astomi live isolated in the Western land of Pradia. They do not need to eat or breathe, and remain in their cliffside homes, holding themselves apart from the world that they study. They are known to hold many ancient secrets.     The City of Bartal, being the Eastern City, is protected by the Blue Dragons Spirit. It is known for its generosity and kindness for the people under its protection. It has been here ever since the time of the Kindeva, some say. There are rumors that the Spirit has a secret purpose, but it does not speak of it.     There doesn't seem to be any information on the Containment Center here. Still, this is clearly early in the adventure, maybe they just seeded it later on? 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4 blinks at the man saying he is worried about sacrifices.  There are magic sources, sure, but everything seems somewhat normal.  Though the sacrifices seem to bother the android just a little.  With a sigh, and seeing what Staren was meaning, he attempts something... I4 attempts to access the data in the head of the person he is talking to, attempting to see if he can trace the data back to a source.  The information had to get there somehow, and if these run off script, there has to be a way for the 'system' to monitor it.   Hopefully, the breadcrumbs were there.  He also kind feels like a hypocrite, for giving Staren crap, but then immediately hacking a guy.  Still, what makes a man a PC, from a NPC?   

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "It's fine." Staren smiles and waves reassuringly to Shyra, "We'll keep working on it."     He watches I4 hack curiously. "Just what are you doing...?" 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' It's a normal town. The background music with no visible source is a little weird, but seems to be 'normal' for this world. Arcadia grasped the basics of how they were basically walking around a world that was programmed as some sort of game but never completed. Thus it's 'lost' status in her mindset. At least someone explained the whole greater purpose of their mission, to get the inhabitants woke. That and needing to charge up the artifacts. She notices Arthur going off in search of information and glides after him. He talked funny but he seemed to know what he was doing. And finding books. Books are usually a good source of information. She pauses, hoving behind the space mage (or whatever Art's class was). "Find anything interresting?" 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Three potions of each, Kupot easily packs those away. Next, a tent. That sounds useful, he does not usually bring camping gear with him. He holds out his hand. The salesman reaches out a hand to do the exchange. "Kupo!?" A few minutes later, Kupot comes out, dragging a three person tent by the bracing. He frowns as he sees that no one is going straight towards the temple. A brief considering of options. There isn't really anything he can do here, can he? He slowly drags the tent over towards the BLUE DRAGON TEMPLE. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is undaunted. He keeps wandering around town, talking to people but evantually going to the one place where adventurer mingle to /maybe/ see some interesting tibbits on the matter: the tavern. Or the tavern/inn, as the matter might be.      The Inn/Tavern should have SOME people to talk to and that's where news comes. Perhaps... the writers might leave something there, then? If this pans out, well, he'll have to go check out the shrine itself with the rest of the people here. Still, the general unease, creepiness of this world to him his not lost. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "It does not speak of it."     Arthur quirks a brow. It won't speak of it. Then, there is a breadcrumb. Something. Some way to understand more. How would the spirit have communicated its purposes, then, in the vision of a lost timeline, if they didn't speak? Or is it just that the spirit won't speak of it, but someone else will? Something else?     Arthur closes the one page of the one book of the bookshelf that gives him anything to go on. He greets Arcadia by barraging her hand with an immediate crushing rush of daps, pounds, bumps, fives of various kinds, and all the other things she may have seen him do to Staren when Staren prompted him earlier. Then he answers, "YEAH, homie! BREADCRUMBS on the REAL TIMELINE, is what I'm always LOOKIN' FOR." He looks over to the door he entered from, frowns, and heads back out, walking and talking as he explains. "The spirits, godlike things or whatever, they got a link. To this anti-divine-ass motherfucker, Ayudha Raksha. Only thing we know about Ayudha is it's part of the line this timeline was supposed to take, and it's hard as balls to kill. That, and it's got something to do with The Ishvara Protocols."     "But I can't pick up any of that fuckin' breadcrumb trail aside from some hints about how the spirit won't speak about any of that. So, eyes up for it, huh?" He's going to join in on going into the temple. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      "It matters if you want it to, kid. The name's John Rizzo," says the vampire with a tired smile. He claps Jude on the shoulder lightly, then extends his hand for a handshake. "It's good to see you're okay. Hang in there--me and the gang're gonna get to work in a few. Get the plot rolling, you know." After checking to see that Jude is alright, Rizzo seems emboldened.      "You bet," says Rizzo with that tired smile, nodding at Shyra. "This /feels/ right. You know?"      There is, come to think of it, something he can do. He is, after all, the Private Detective. It is his to find things hidden beneath notice, left behind or left unfinished. Clearly, the Plot is something left unfinished. The plan so far seems to be finishing it, playing roles that were unfilled, in the hopes that the End can free these people from the loops they're stuck in.      If that's the case, he needs to find where the plot holes are--and he needs to do it before the heroes run into them. Or else, he has a feeling this whole gig'll be a trip for biscuits. "Say, Shyra. I got a favor to ask--and don't be afraid to tell me to shove off. How did this go down the first time?" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna shrugs. "It happens." she says to Shyra, interacting with the shopkeeper interface next after Kupot is done extracting his new tent from the shop. She purchases potions. Her purse gets lighter - she doesn't even bother to fish the coins out at this point. It's an odd magic, but a convenient one. Thankfully the shopkeeps have been /rigidly honest/, as far as she can tell, and not simply stolen her money. It's a welcome change from Ul'dah. She checks one of her belt pouches, reassuring herself that the AUSAD and SANJEV potions she bought are sitting there. Literal strips of text lying in the bottom of the pouch. From recent experience, she knows they turn into the real thing when they're taken out, which is another odd bit of magic but still remarkably convenient for her. She seems to be just following Kupot around, or rather, he's going to the same places she wants to go. She loiters around the center of town with her chocobo's reins in hand, another false positive for I4 that pings as radiantly magical, looking out for the people she arrived with to satisfy their curiosity. She knows naught of Jude, but she does know about the Astomi. Alruna halfheartedly checks one of the bookshelves in Pradia's many houses, over an hour into their exhaustive search. This book contains a recipe for cookies. Strange... She stares at the book, reading a literal narration - the only legible text /within its pages/ - a few times, before a scream echoes from the house's open door and a crash that sounds suspiciously like a flipped table draws Amelris and Shigure's attention. Alruna dislikes the Astomi. She shakes herself out of idle reverie, and puts her fingers to her lips to whistle shrilly. "Anyone who's coming, lets head into the shrine!" she yells. Time to hustle. 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' Arcadia's dexterity and pattern recognition capabilities kick in almost like a reflex, and for the most part she matches Arthur's greeting gesture for most of the beats. One of the more awkward fives she ends up swatting with her tail instead. It's passable for the first time, but rest assured she'll have the sequence memorized for next time (unless he changes it). She also seems to, despite the odd lingo, manage to grasp most of what he says as he heads back out. She nods her head as she follows. "The Real Timeline, then. Instead of this ... state it is in now then." The sphinx hovers after him, following to rejoin others proceeding towards the temple. "So it's some sort of anti-god... but the means of dealing with it are likely hidden, or lost, if the other entities want not to speak of it." She bobs her head. "Sometimes just speaking of such entities is dangerous, after all. Especially if one yet lacks the means to contend with them." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe gets to her shopping, grabbing what JII she can for later. Selling off various items from her homeworld. Then grabs a few potions and even a TENT because you never know. In games that she played it paid to be a packrat when it came to items. Given this world's behaviour, it is a good idea to keep a stock of local items on hand for the event she might need them for a QUEST or for some other purpose. She'll give Kupot a look over for a moment nodding to him and then to Alruna. "So do either of you have an idea about this?" SHe's about finished up and getting ready to leave the shop. Once she converses with the rest at the shop she'll split off pauses when she catches sight of Jude she'll wave calling out. "Good to see you are all right!" She calls out waving to them she's about to say more when Alruna brings up they should get to the shrine, she falls in after the Paladin and will intend to catch up with Jude sometime later. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' I4 might feel like a hypocrite, but he's not really harming them at all, right? Surely everything will be fine, as Shyra is wont to say. He begins hacking the information of the person. It only takes a moment to decrypt the incredibly simple information and display it. onInteract(     IF (FLAG:BlueDone=1     print(blue, "Thank you, Hero! I thought I would be next! Good luck in the future!")     ELSE     print(blue, "I wonder who is going to need to make the next sacrifice...")     );     ); return; There is not, however, any reference back to a central repository of any kind. The information seems to be entirely self-contained. He also gets a long string of null values that likely correspond to the person's combat ability, strengths, or weaknesses. He doesn't have any, because he was never designed to fight. Still, he is made of flesh and blood. The data there just seems to be the summation of the thoughts that the man can perform.     Kupot ends up with some useful potions! Maybe they'll help him later. The matter of the tent is another problem, however. Kupot finds himself dragging it around behind him. It also seems oddly nonfunctional at the moment, resisting actually being used despite being assembled. At least no one seems capable of pointing and laughing about it. At least, none of the locals are. The massive doors to the Temple are shut, but they open as he pushes against them easily despite his stature. > SHRINE 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     Amelris continues to wander around talking to people. The one near I4 gives Amelris the same response, I wonder who is going to need to make the next sacrifice... Then there's the person near the dock, who says, I wonder when the next ship from Pradia will arrive... A third person mentions, The Blue Dragons Spirit took everything I have. Be careful, it might take everything you have too...     Eventually, he wanders into the Inn. Like the Item Shop, it consists of a nebulous room with a counter. A woman with somewhat tanned skin, dark eyes and red hair, in a red robe, awaits. Welcome to the INN! 10 JII for the night! Stay?     YES     NO Well, not much for conversation. However, when he chooses to accept to stay at the Inn, the lady replies, Make sure to hold the RESET button before powering off!     A moment later, the entire world, everywhere, goes dark. For approximately five seconds, a jingle plays, and then the light returns, as if nothing had just happened.     Amelris finds himself leaving some abstract representation of a bed, fully invigorated and refreshed. This gives him plenty of energy to hustle over to the Shrine. > SHRINE     Yes, it seems like it's going right so far. Shyra confirms to Rizzo. I don't know what else has happened, but what happened is that the Blue Dragon Spirit was replaced by a false one. We battled it and defeated the False Dragon Spirit and restored the Blue Dragons Spirit to its rightful place. It provided its blessing to the Hero and told us to travel to Pradia. Shyra just... completely sums up this section of what is 'supposed' to happen just like that.     Arcadia goes to check up on Arthur. Arthur gets some hints that there's something more there. What is the mystery of the Blue Dragons Spirit? Where is the trail that leads to the Containment Center? Maybe they didn't have time to go back and add more definitive foreshadowing... Or maybe they're not the best at pacing and have loaded all the information into the back end. Bets are open as to which. Arthur heads to the SHRINE, presumably bringing Arcadia along. > SHRINE     SHRINE:     The SHRINE is a large angular structure that rises a couple stories. Water flows down the sides, creating an endless sound of rushing water. Within is a large statue of a serpentine Eastern-style dragon that is curled around a spire behind an altar. There seem to be a lot of pillars and a gratuitous water channel around the room. It's pretty obvious that there's some kind of elemental affinity thing going on here. There is a man and a woman standing next to the altar. Both are somewhat tanned, with white robes, black hair, and dark eyes.     Upon entering, the eyes of the statue flash brightly, and a mighty voice booms: BEHOLD! YOU ENTER THE AUGUST PRESENCE OF THE BLUE DRAGONS SPIRIT. WE WELCOME YOU TO OUR HOME AND ASK FOR YOUR SACRIFICE TO THE CONTINUED PROSPERITY OF BARTAL. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur steps forward, crossing his arms. "ALLLLRIGHT, BLUE EYES! Whatchu got for me? Tell me about this SACRIFICE we gotta be makin'." He tilts his head and sneers in as obnoxious a way as he can, as he strides forward further. "I'm ALL 'BOUT that PROSPERITY and shit." He's mostly speaking just to speak, because he's not sure how awakened this thing is -- he was just not involved in any of the shrine explorations before. So he's assuming this thing, by default, is just going to go through the script even despite the fact that he says, "Better not be a VOLCANO MOUTH all 'bout THIS SHIT, FOR REAL, dawg." 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' That was weird. The lights going out and then coming back.  Apparently, that was an Inn?   The world was responding to his attempts to hack, but the people seemed to have a very simple code.  They have flesh and blood bodies, but their minds are just a switch code.  No central processing, but they're just waiting for a switch.  An event code.  Something to switch from zero to one. He decides to follow the others into the shrine, to which there are demands for a sacrifice.  I4 squints, and holds a hand up, aiming to start hacking the statues to see what they are dealing with.   The text was blue, maybe they weren't just lines of code? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren follows I4 and Arthur to the shrine once the hacking's done. "So, what did you find? Maybe your sensors see something mine missed."     Staren considers the blur dragon statue. "So this one's a fake we need to kill? Where's the real one?" And then he looks at Arthur. "And is there any story as to why or how this fake got here?" 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot heads into the shrine with everyone, still towing his tent behind him. He will not give up on this. He ends up standing next to Arthur, looking at the dragon as the mighty voice fills the room. A thoughtful expression comes over his face, then. "No. No one should hold the prosperity of the people hostage." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      That was super weird.      Amelris blinks rapidly as he find himself next to a 'bed', looking out, around, tail flicking in an upset manner. Ears flickers as he shakes his head. Well! He DO feel pretty perky at this point, which DO GIVE HIM A LOT OF ENERGY to go at the shrine to be just in time for ...!      "HELLO BLUE DRAGON SPIRIT!" The Miqo'te shouts as he slams the doors of the shrine back open after everyone came in. "We are coming in to NOT be sacrificed and to HAVE our relic powered up, kind sir dragon spirit."      He points over. "No longer shall this town suffer in that manner!" 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' Arcadia does indeed follow after Arthur to the temple. His pursuit of 'real timeline breadcrumbs' has perked her interest; this matter with the spirits and their anti-thesis being the sort of secrets she's suppose to be sussing out. She'll have to keep her own eye out for clues, like he suggested. The brief blackout because of what someone else did somewhere else to 'save' is noted as weird, and promptly forgotten for now as there are more interesting things to focus on. As they proceed into the temple she actually settles down to the ground and walks finally. If only to avoid her zipping about seeming rude and disrespectful. Those are never good things to stir up in a temple of any sort. Definately not in one that is apparently still occupied and utilized. The binders in her sidebangs jingle a little as she tilts her head to one side. "Sacrifice..." Her tail flicks back and forth. Historically sacrifices are not always maidens or prisoners... but the way everyone else seems to be on edge at the prospect has her leaning towards it being on the bad side of the scale. "The bionic fluffy one is correct." Her wings twitch at the ready, a flicker across her face as her visor manifests in place. "People should give of their own accord to the assertation of their social stability, not be forced into surrending their very prosperity they wish to protect." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna slowly takes her hand off the haft of her lance as light returns to the world. Regardless of the little jingle that played, she is unsettled by the experience. Alruna enters the shrine. Her hand goes to one of her pouches when the booming ALL CAPS text box comes up, and she holds up the blue Relic taken from the Yellow Forest ruins. "Ask not what we can do for you, spirit, but what you might-" she starts to say, before Amelris bursts in to flamboyantly Red Mage all over the scene. She stops in place, looks down at the floor, then back up at the statue. She purses her lips, pointedly, opens her mouth, and then closes it. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     I4 immediately gets on the ball and stars hacking the statue. It turns out that he gets back a statblock: NAME: FALSE DRAGON SPIRIT HP: 8000/8000 SP: 600/800 TYPE: DRAGON STR: 15 DEX: 36 INT: 25 DEF: 19 MDF: 22 EVA: 128 RESIST: TREE WEAKNESS: METAL Also, he gets some lines of script that aren't being described here because there's no branching paths and it ends with a fight trigger. Whoops.     Arthur isn't wrong about the nature of the situation. The 'Blue Dragon Spirit' continues on, not even really responding properly to what anyone says. Kupot shows defiance. Staren talks about it like it isn't even there. Amelris provides jaunty sass AND defiance. Arcadia provides a reasoned and intelligent refutation of the demand. Alruna tries to be dauntless and clever, but it turns out that Amelris just has too much Red Mage energy for the Paladin. Unfortunately for them, there is no amazingly pointed and well-written response, because the text box simply advances: WAIT... YOU ARE THE BEARERS OF THE RELICS! YOU WILL GIVE THEM TO ME... ALONG WITH YOUR LIFE! At that, the statue springs to life. I4, of course, saw this coming because of HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX, ensuring there is no surprise roll.              <================================================>                                         FALSE DRAGON SPIRIT                                                          DARKNESS MANIFEST                                            <================================================>             BGM: https://youtu.be/dF5cWiDMjIA Unfortunately, it still goes first. The animate statue lunges forward, sweeping a massive claw through the entire group in what would be undoubtedly a dramatic and deadly attack, but...     DRGNCLAW     It flashes, and the claw strikes out, the air slashing around them with varying amounts of damage! 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' The DRGCLW knocks I4 flat on his butt as he tries to draw in surrounding mana.  It was a gambit, but he knew what he was getting into.  After recovering, he flips back to his feet and draws a weapon.  The rapier comes to his hand as he scans the creature.   Dashing in, he attempts to impale the head of the dragon repeatedly with quick, but focused blows, before jumping off and landing a distance away.  He motions with his hands, as the POD releases a barrage of missiles, aiming to repeatedly hit the monster. "I wonder if I could flip the defeated flag now..?" A beat, "Maybe not a good idea..." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is making for the SHRINE and it's still rather impressive when she gets a look at it. She's not here to sight see however that's not why she's here. She can look around later she comes in for a landing her wings vanish as her feet touch the ground. Then the entire world goes black for a few seconds. Tomoe pauses looks around and much like Alruna she's going for her own weapon's hilt. "What just..." Then comes to some chatter over the radio about someone using an Inn? Seriously? She shouldn't be shocked it works like that here. She really shouldn't be too shocked given everything else about this world. Amelris bursts in a moment later after the dragon spirit has spoken. "It's as he said, we're not here to sacrifice. We're here to have the relic powered up, and make it so the people no longer suffer like this." She doesn't draw her blade yet, but she's about ready to do so. It's needed as the spirit speaks once more. "No you will not have our lives or the relics!" She draws her blade and summons her shield the mourning wall appears and she'll attempt pt intercept the claw attack, it connects with her driving Tomoe back and she only somewhat mitigates the damage. "All right then." She leaps for the animated statue now aiming to make a leaping attack for the thing's face with a powerful leap slash before dropping back to the ground.. "You want them? Come get them!" 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Really, a scripted action ignoring what he said is pretty standard for Kupot. He cannot attack, however. He must wait. The Dragon has the choice. Or does it? Kupot considers that briefly as he brings forward his blade. The monoblade slides out of the scabbard and Kupot steps forward, slashing at the air as the cuts drive in against him. The blade sings through the air with a CRACK, making a thunderous shockwave that parts the slashes of air as they come against him. His tunic rips apart with the slashes of air, but Kupot's stance does not waver. This thing is not a monster. It is not even a person. It is a thing that must be defeated. This is... odd. Monsters are one thing. THIS WORLD FUCKING VEXES HIM. But the answer is simple. Kupot takes a step forward. It seems like just a single step, until he appears behind the dragon, sword extended. He likely did travel the distance in between, but like Sonic, it was faster than the naked eye. 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' An imposter spirit?! Is that why they don't want to talk about things?... And if it wants the relics, that's all the more reason to not let them go! Everything makes a little more... well, not necessarily sense, but pieces are starting to click in little bits. The revelation is rudely interrupted though. The dragon spirit is just as fast as she is, and the sphinx's dramatic leap into the conflict is cut short by the equally swift and wide swing of a limb slamming into her, and throwing her backwards against the wall of the temple. The impact is audible, to say the least. Afterwards she drops to her feet on the floor, letting out a feline growling grown as she shakes her head. "Yeah, well, you're one stupid boss. You didn't trap us here with you." The sphinx bolts into action, bounding back across the temple towards the enranged faux dragon spirit. Arcadia leaps at one of the pillars and kicks off of it, proving to be plenty quick and mobile even when she can't fly at full capacity indoors. She kicks off a second, and turns as she does to thrust her hand towards the imposter Blue Dragon, firing off several arcane laser beams at the thing. "You trapped yourself here with us!" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "HEY LOOK AT THAT!" Amelris shouts, rapier drawn and gem hovering over his other hand, fingers wriggling beneath it. "The dragon spirit that asks for sacrifices is actually a fake!"      The Miqo'te leaps over to the side, swinging out of mostly of the way of the swung dragon claw. It's not complete, it rips into the side of his hips for a moment but the Red Mage retailiate by leaping up in the air, charging straight at the Dragon Statue spirit while swinging his rapier in an upward arc. It leaves behing a trail, condensing into crystal blades that are launched out into a rain of blows at the statue.      That probably count as Metal, right? Right? 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur suffers the impact of the DRAGON CLAW, dodging hard to one side and suffering a gash to his side that's shallow, but lord, it could stand to have been shallower. "ASSHOLE!" He shouts. "FUCK!" He skids hard, his HEALTH VIAL draining a bit uncomfortably prodigiously, but his eyes flare brightly. "ALRIGHT!" His broom is out, flipping about his hands. He rockets on a skidding strafe, then moves in to take his turn.     "You wanna FLIP THE DEFEATED FLAG?" Arthur calls out to I4. "That shit's EASY. You just DOOOO IIIIIIT LIIIIIIIKE THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS!!!" He rockets forward, screaming himself hoarse already as he blasts ahead. Bristles spin. Rockets kick into overdrive. For a moment, Arthur is back on Skaia's surface. He is grinning and suffering. He goes for an overhead. He's depending on this world to sustain itself and correct itself through massive attacks that shake the earth, as Linehart often uses. "COME HERE AND DROP SOME OF THAT COLD BLOOD, YOU REPTILIAN FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!"     The impact of his broom, wherever it may land, is so vast in the shockwave of gravity it produces that, anywhere else, it would spider-web cracks through the whole town. "HaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" His voice rises even further as he delivers his gravity-enhanced blow. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna returns the Relic to her inventory promptly - or it just vanishes, one or the other - as the boss battle triggers. Her hand is just closing around the weapon slung over her back as the False Dragon Spirit lunges and slashes, but she manages to artfully leap out of the way when the air around her whistles as if the slash had directly cut at her, landing a three-point crouch with her lance out. A few lines of red appear on her arm where the DRGNCLAW managed to catch her. "Of course." Alruna murmurs. Well, with this many people here, they should be able to make short work of a monster like this. She's had fishing trips that were almost this dangerous! Water splashes under her feet as she runs across the water channels and makes a flying leap over the dragon statue's coiled body. wrapping her legs around its body, she raises her lance overhead and stabs at its back, seeking a weak point. Assuming this thing HAS a weak point that isn't simply an elemental alignment. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo nods. "Good to know," he says. So, there are no sudden plot holes to look out for. At least for the Shrine, seems like all they have to do is just paint by numbers. SHRINE      Rizzo seems to have weathered the lights going in and out fairly well. What he isn't crazy about is the FALSE DRAGON SPIRIT. He stands defiantly in its presence. The claws strike him head-on, leaving dark red stains in his dress shirt. His wounds seal up afterwards, and he concentrates upon his faith. A white light glows from his person.      With supernatural strength, the vampire calmly reaches out. "The idols of the heathen are silver and gold," he recites. "The work of men's hands." His hands grasp for the head of the FALSE DRAGON SPIRIT, each shining like stars. "They have mouths but they speak not;" He attempts to crush the spirit's head with his hands. HIs thumbs extend claws, which attempt to pierce its eyes. "Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths."      He squeezes with all his might. His thoughts drift to the villagers trapped in their routines, and he grunts the next verse out between struggling to keep his grasp."They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The statue talks. Staren turns to face it, and then...     The attack comes. Staren slips into some kind of focused state and dodges and weaves between the claw swipes, unable to dodge them completely, but turning all of them into glancing blows. His armor sparks as scratches are torn across it all over.     As soon as the claws let up he braces himself, points his right arm forwards, and blasts the beast with a pair of particle beams AND a pair of tiny missiles shoot straight at the statue, shaped charge warheads trying to pierce through it and weaken its structure! 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' I4 gets struck, but is made of sterner stuff than some of the previous party, perhaps, as he immediately dives back in to strike at them. The rapier strikes, piercing over and over, the missiles blasting all over it in a salvo. It doesn't even try to get out of the way, it seems, the thing's danger seemingly lying in how hard it is to avoid damage. White numbers pop up over its head, a health bar appearing and slowly depleting from the incoming damage.                                     306                                     Amelris rightfully points out that the False Dragon Spirit is a fake. Unfortunately, it has no witty retort, there is ONLY PAIN as Amelris carves into it with his own rapier. The Red Mage makes an incredibly dramatic slash up through the beast, driving down the crystal blades! They piece into the False Dragon Spirit, exploding with arcane force. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that counts as Metal element.                                     268                                     Whether the False Dragon Spirit truly had a choice in the matter is besides the point right now. The existential nature of free will in this case will have to wait until the battle is over, because either way it's doing what it's going to do. Kupot gets a chance to use his counterstrike technique immeidately, and perhaps expend some of that frustration as he iaijutsu cleaves straight through the Dragon, a dramatic line appearing and a flash in the air! Sadly, being a boss, it's immune to instant death procs, but it does a very respectable amount of damage as it writhes, getting Very Cloven.                                     339!                                     

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Arcadia taunts the False Dragon Spirit about how it didn't trap them. Or did it? Have you tried to run from the boss fight? But the Shrine itself is fully usable, as Arcadia blazes and blasts through the battlefield, scouring the beast with her beams. Perhaps in the end, she is correct in that it is trapped in there with them, however, because /it/ sure isn't running... Perhaps if it might wish to, given the precipitous drop of health it is experiencing.                                     159                                     Arthur unleashes the maximum hype instantly. He drops the big guns, roaring in and crashing with an overwhelming gravity blow. The beast howls as its body cracks and begins crunching in on itself in ways that would be horribly dangerous were it not in the middle of a JRPG boss fight battlefield, but Arthur understands that he's weapons-hot right now and able to go all out! The impact shakes the beast, causing its own health bar to drop significantly!                                     316                                     Alruna knows when it's time to wave Key Items around, and right now is not it. Maybe if the thing had its power, but right now that's certainly not the case. Still, Alruna, familiar with the dangers of fishing expeditions and the potential for needing 7 highly skilled friends along on them, gets right to work. She leaps onto the dragon's back and stabs in hard! Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to get any critical hit feedback. Maybe she's off by a couple inches, or maybe the world really is RNG deterministic to that level. Did anyone check that? Either way, she still manages to sink the lance in and get a good chunk of damage on it.                                     177                                     

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' John focuses his actions with his creed. The dragon does not respond to it. Words are important, but they are only words until followed with action... but John knew that already. He grabs onto the spirit's head and crushes it, the stone cracking and crunching before his eyes as the thing begins to crumble in his grip. Damage begins to accumulate rapidly as he squeezes. If he can hold on, its doom is assured... but can he hold on?                                     156                                     Tomoe strikes quickly, leaping at the dragon and slashing into it, cleaving with a dramatic and powerful strike! The slash rings out across the spirit-statue, chopping a long gash into its side as the numbers continue to appear. This is going to be a thing.                                     276                                     Staren doesn't need a dialogue. Honestly, with all the talking he's had to do recently, being able to just go from A to Z is probably refreshing. And this time, he's equipped for it! The beams and missiles tear into the Spirit, ripping deep gouges into the statue body and blasting huge chunks out of it as the numbers roll and health bar decays. The shaped charges seem particularly effective in blasting through the body, sending chunks flying all over the place... Though there always seems to be more, at least until it hits 0.                                     473!                                     The massive dragon-statue shakes off the overwhelming bombardment. Despite the intense strikes, the thing seems to just keep going. Well, it does seem to have a lot of HP, according to the scans present, as a boss should. The False Dragon Spirit coils up on itself, surging higher and higher as it looks down upon the assembled heroes, and flashes again, heralding the next attack:     TREEBRTH     The attack comes... But despite being called TREE, it looks like a wave of blue bubbles that blast outwards and wash over the defenders! Unfortunately, it's not just water, the attack also carrying a nasty, corrosive poison with it! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren gets knocked over by the bubbles and washed across the room, venom eating away at his armor, paint giving way to blackened metal, with growing shiny scars where it clawed him earlier vanishing as the metal there is eaten away completely, exposing a second layer of armor underneath. "Is that what Ayuda Raksha was attacking us with...? Ugh, it stings now!" It doesn't actually sting, but he has sensor readouts indicating the extremely severe damage to his armor.     Staren stands up and keeps his distance now, behaving more defensively but trying to land a solid double-beam shot on one of the cracks he made earlier! 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' The bubbles wash over I4, he tries to brace with a magical barrier to give him time to get out of harm's way.  This does not end up exactly going according to plan, getting more sparking from the force of the strike and feeling his internal systems scream at him.  Using the Rapier to brace himself, he flips to his feet. He points a hand towards the Dragon heads and fires a barrage of small lights towards it.  This was going to be a dangerous prospect if they keep fighting like this, so instead of fighting it on its terms... Then it's time to make it fight on his.  He attempts to cause the code to corrupt in dangerous places, aiming to directly smack HP off the top of the total without actually doing physical damage. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      A dome of white light surrounds the vampire. The DRAGON SPIRIT's magic crashes against it, and the barrier holds strong like a rock in the ocean. Gradually, the corrosive aspect splashes through in droplets here and there, burning his exposed skin and eating through the sleeves of his trenchcoat. He grimaces as the acid stabs past his skin into his bones.      Still... he must finish it. Gritting his teeth and pushing through the pain, Rizzo digs his claws into the idol and takes a step back. Where before he was attempting merely to crush its head, now he changes tack. He grunts with exertion, his slender frame apparently possessed of monstrous strength.      His body twists suddenly to once side, claws still trying to crush. Wrapping one arm around it, he attempts to wrench the idol's head off entirely. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' This is truly some sort of hell for Kupot. He sees the numbers above the head and sees the life bar go down. There is a moment. A moment where Kupot realizes he is somehow free here. Yet... people's lives hang in the balance. Hopes and dreams that are going to be new can be built here. This is something important. Yet, all they are doing is fighting... a will-less program to do so. True automata. Nothing that can breathe. But then again, if they save the dragon, couldn't it have its own feelings and hopes? Kupot turns around, and realizes, how horrible life must be for Linehart. Now staring down this creature, he doesn't see a mindless automaton, but an unborn mind. Gods damn this place. Gods DAMN it. He brings his sword up in front of him as the wave of TREE bubbles wash over him. He can feel them starting to wash into his lungs, making them heave. Fuck this place. Fuck this place. Fuck. This. Place. > SUPLEX > DRAGON > METEOR STRIKE The katana flicks out to one side before he slams it back into the scabbard and the orange jewel at the tip flashing outward. A statue to his right falls, and Kupot grabs it. By the will of the old heroes, he hoists it up over his shoulders and leaps. The roof seems to extend, giving him the time he needs to leap, rotating and HURL the statue down at the dragon. It bursts into flames as it goes, a roiling fireballs when it crashes. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur takes the hit dead-on. He grits his teeth and lets it washes over him, enduring it as a veteran pipe-transit adventurer. The poison blasts through his body, and he grits his teeth as his he's filled with nausea. His HEALTH VIAL drains a good chunk, and a STATUS EFFECT icon appears, a sickly green skull. But Arthur Lowell /does not give a fuck/. He spits nauseous phlegm and brandishes his broom, even while his HEALTH VIAL gauge is still draining!     Each layer of bristles at the tip of the broom spins, churns, and then locks into place in a blast-emitting pattern. "FUCKER! You wanna bring some SICK WATER? BITCH, I BRING THAT SICK FIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEE!" He unleashes a beam of raw starlight, trying to overwhelm the false spirit with huge volumes of damage, and kickstart all kinds of complex cosmic nuclear reactions inside him, burning out what he can. Waves of nuclear fire swirl around him as he unloads the thick beam of light in a constant stream, one he'll keep up for dozens of seconds on end if he gets the chance.     Because it can't attack until Arthur has /finished/ his turn. 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' Once she's on the move Arcadia is in a more familiar element. Her wings flare and magitek thrusters engage, changing from jumping to flying and weaving behind one of the pillars as the false dragon spirit winds up its attack. The energy rings flicker around her arms, changing from base colors to a vibrante orange-red, and as she comes back out from behind the pillars she sees the swarm of bubbles being spewed out, throwing out both her hands. "PYRECRACKER!" Dozens of small fireballs erupt from around her arms as an anti-projectile defense, as each one that hits a bubble erupts in a colorful flare as the name would suggest, popping several more around it. Others simple pop against the pillars as she weaves between them. The only problem is not being able to reach her full acceleration indoors, meaning Arcadia cannot just outright or outfly the attacks, and the sheer number of bubble waves is more than she can shoot down or take cover from. Enough pop against her form that the acidic contents start to fume a little as it eats into her armor and biomecahnical exterior. Sometimes not being fully robotic kind of sucks. Eh, she'll make due. Aether briefly flickers around her as she engages her defensive wards to accomidate for the weakened armor temorarily. Arcadia pulls up as her magitek thrusters flare, resuming a mid-air hover. Despite that she's grinning, the rush of battle surging through her. "Okay, my turn!" The runic rings flicker again, and a trio of glowing balls of heat manifest around each of her arms. "NITRO CHASER!" A sweep of her arm sends the heated spheres flying, seemingly at random directions. Followed quickly by the second set with a whip of the other arm. At least it looks erratic. Until they hit the pillars and bounce off like fiery superballs. Or the walls. Or the floors. The nature of coming from the Line becomes more apparent as they do, as with each rebound they get FASTER instead of slower, gaining momentum so when they do finally collide with the fake snake of a dragon spirit they hit as superhard as they are superhot! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The numbers are appearing she's used to it, but somewhere in the back of her mind it still unsettles her a bit. The fight is well underway. There is no real means to banter with the fake dragon spirit either. So it's time to keep fighting and it seems to be pretty beefy too as another spell comes their way. Tomoe would find the horrible water has some sort of poison with it as even before her HUD tells her she's poisoned she can feel it she starts to turn a bit green from it. "Ugg..." She will rapidly trigger a spell to purge herself of it shaking her head a little bit. Tracking Staren's movements and the face he's just blasting away from range makes Tomoe hold off her next attack for a second or two, till she's certain he's done shooting. When Staren finishes she goes in again she launches a frontal assault at the Dragon, this time trying to get up to the dragon leap on it and drag her blade along the thing's form before attempting to impale it, leaping off when she's done one way or another. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna leaps off the dragon statue again, before she starts getting friendly fire. A lot of these people use rather indiscriminate weapons, after all. The scourging wave of water bubbles mostly misses her, but the poison status it inflicts only needs contact. Instantly nauseous, Alruna fishes around in her pouch for one of those potions she bought at the item shop. A SANJEV pops from a flap of text into an actual bottle of something in her hand. She pulls out the stopper with her teeth, spits it away and swills the antidote immediately. No such complex thoughts about the nature of this world are going through her head. Regardless of its will-less nature, the damn statue is still trying to kill them. And she'll try to kill it back, just as hard. The philosophers can moan about the mess later. Alruna holds her spear up overhead, spinning it around nimbly in an arc that carries the head of the lance scraping along the floor and up along the dragon's neck, trying to open the damn thing up. Maybe it'll work on stone, maybe it'll just be another number. She pushes forwards nonetheless, attempting to force it back against the wall. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      The bubbles connects rather hard against Amelris, the Miqo'te letting out a gargling gasp as he can feel the effect of them in his system. It's pretty ... well, he's had worse but this is VERY annoying and very uncomfortable. He'll push through it all. He'll live.      "Tch!" Amelris calls out, charging straight at the monster itself to slam himself and his rapier into a full-on thrust into the ghost, his blade glowing with some of his mana he gathered and used already. He slides to the side, keeping out of the larger attacks thrown by the others attacking the ghost, before kicking right off the statue by vaulting over all the way into the back, unleashing a swing of his rapier that soars back at the ghost on the way.      He lands into a kneeling position, skidding back. "Not a big conversationalist, aint it!?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Staren gets right back to it, pouring his energy into Big Hits and laying out The Damage. He's right on target on one of those big cracks he made, punching deeper into it and widening the hole in the side of the dragon statue as it thrashes around, crashing into the pillars and rocking the arena. Thankfully, it doesn't cause any architectural damage, but it certainly looked imposing as the numbers appear over its head.                                     268                                     I4's attack doesn't look all that impressive at first, but he's trying to isolate and alter the fabric of the game world around him. It's a bold strategy Cotton, let's see how it plays out. Trying to nail down the proper addressing is almost as bad as trying to land a solid blow on it in the first place. The metaphorical similarity is striking, actually. Still, I4 begins cutting into the data of the dragon... and the thing statics, sizzling as it roars, wounds spontaneously /opening/ across its body. That did... /something/. But what?                               238K#@()JN#N@#$!                               If the Dragon is impressed at John's resisting the energies being brought to bear, it's not capable of displaying it. The False Dragon Spirit crashes forward, only to be seized by the head. With a grinding noise, there is a tremendous CRACK as he breaks the head right off of the statue, wrenching it away... But even separated, the head floats back into place, blue energies dragging it into some disjointed semblance of its shape. Still, it's interesting, perhaps, to see the lag in behavior between the body and head.                                     155                                     

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Kupot continues to face existential agony as he battles the beast. The lack of options grind on against the moogle samurai's thoughts, a splinter in his mind. The discomfort becomes anger, the anger becomes action. He expresses his discontent once more through the powers of old, the jewel giving him the insurmountable strength to hurl the statue right into the False Dragon Spirit. The impact craters the beast, driving it down with a huge detonation, the hurled statue breaking apart. More and more, the False Dragon Spirit seems to be shattering into pieces, only held together by its spiritual force.                                     228                                     Arcadia's dramatic and powerful attacks continue to give her free reign of the area. Even with the tight quarters compared to the Line, Arcadia is more than capable of navigating the treacherous environment, using her agility to compensate and give her lines to take full advantage of her overwhelming speed advantage. The only problem she has is that she keeps falling victim to saturation bombing... Something speed doesn't help with so much. The superheated super-fast spheres rebound all over the room, making it impossible to avoid... But the beast isn't avoiding anything. It's getting battered and beaten all over the place. Not that it could avoid Arcadia's attacks in the first place, but it gives them plenty of time to speed up and begin pulverizing more and more chunks, forcing that false spirit out!                                     228                                     Tomoe keeps fighting! She's far from finished yet. Something about this certainly must evoke a familiar feeling to her, but not in the good way. How much like her old world could this place be like? Could it be related in some heretofore unknown way? What if... Ah, but such thoughts are useless right now. Instead, it is better to focus on how to stay on the breaking dragon. Tomoe finds herself having to do a little impromptu platforming as she runs from chunk to chunk, slashing and gashing her way across before impaling a piece of the statue, breaking it apart before she leaps off!                                     171                                     

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Alruna bypasses existential dread in favor of /killing the dragon/. This seems like a solid plan. Unfortunately, the attack just seems to ding off of the thing, as if the thing that just got ripped up a moment ago seems nearly impenetrable, the attack just not able to get the right leverage. Almost mockingly, the feedback comes up:                                     MISS                                     Indeed, the False Dragon Spirit is not much of a conversationalist. It hasn't said a word since beginning the combat. What are its motivations? Does it have any? What does a spirit want with sacrifices anyway? Amelris decides the better answer is more daring and deft bladework, vaulting and stabbing with an explosion of arcane might and passionate skill! The impact blows out another large chunk of the statue, making it look more and more patchwork as he does so.                                     205                                     The dragon is looking heavily damaged already, the focused aggression of the gathered heroes causing the thing to disintegrate even more rapidly than perhaps intended. The number of people is /certainly/ higher than the original party, using combat methods that never existed in its context... is SOMETHING compensating for that? Either way, the massive False Dragon Spirit drags itself out from under the firepower, about to attack... When Arthur locks it down. The delay only extends more and more as Arthur hammers into it, the creature unable to begin its assault as if being held back by some unspoken law. The nuclear blasts roar as they unleash dramatic, time-consuming animations that keep the thing from doing anything while he BRING THE CRUSH on it, showing the huge enemy who's boss. The NUCLEAR BEAM OF OWNAGE rips through the dragon, creating blinding explosions and flares of light that surely would tear everything to bits. And then the light fades, finally.                                     MISS                                     There really is only one way to see that, as some kind of nigh-deterministic NO U that the wordless boss fight has responded with. But then it gets to move, too. Finally, it begins bringing its claws together before it spins around like a tornado, slashing out over and over again with seething blue bubbly waves. How is this TREE at all? This is totally inconsistent! BIGREND Unfortunately, that doesn't matter since it still seems to possess the ability to simply just /attack/ people regardless. And unfortunately, this seems to be a particularly nasty one. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' The slam, the unearthly slam, hammers into Kupot. But the moogle's tiring of the situation pushes him forward. There are too many thoughts swirling around his head. How this could be someone who may come back in a reset. Could he be dooming them to oblivion? Can he make this choice? No, no, all signs point to this being okay. Being a soldier was easier. No. That thought is wrong. WRONG. Kupot runs into the slam, pushing his body forward as it hammers him nearly flat. If he didn't have full subdermal plating, he'd be paste. Instead, he merely slams to the ground, one of his legs giving out with a SNAP of the femur. Pain makes his vision red as he struggles to get forward on the single leg. Instead of a single precise strike, Kupot forgoes the skill and speed of Iaijutsu, instead simply cleaving his sword into the statue. The unnatural speed is gone from the blows, but they contain the superhuman power of a Mithril enhanced soldier. 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' The waves wash over I4, he just can't seem to find a way to get around the attacks made by this thing.  Holding his chest he can see his systems start to fail.  If he didn't do something he was going to lose.  He had a lot to do still, so much work to do.  He couldn't let them down... -Combat systems compromised, retreat recommended.- "Not...yet.  We're going to..." He nearly slumps forward but catches himself.  Well, if its weakness was metal, then maybe.  He prepares another attack, the POD's head opens up, and a beam starts charging.  I4 hacks in sequence, attempting to change a letter in the code to accept that all attacks coming in at it are the element of METAL. With that, the beam cannon from the POD FIRES, aiming to try and tear through the Dragonhead with every ounce of mana he had left. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      One final cry of effort as John tugs the head of the statue off. He tosses it to the side, taking a moment to compose himself... only to see the head float back into place. He cracks his neck, digs in his heels, and winds back for a haymaker. With a resigned sigh, he swings.      His attack is interrupted by BIGREND.      The spinning strike impales John and twirls him around, his wounds sizzling in gruesome fashion upon contact with the TREE element. When at last the spinning stops, John is thrown across the room. He hits the wall with a heavy and worrisome thud, slowly sliding down the wall. As he slides, he leaves a smear of blood, until at last he reaches the ground. He is still.      He stirs. John rises unsteadily to his feet. He removes his battered trench coat, revealing a positively bloodsoaked dress shirt beneath it, hanging off of his gangly frame like a gruesome red curtain. He removes his tie as his posture straightens. Then, he rolls up his sleeves.      The vampire charges, building up more and more speed until he's moving faster than even a trained sprinter. At the last minute, he pushes his shoulder forward and springs off the ground, hitting the idol with a running shoulder-check. 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' The fake spirit is starting another swing -- no wait, it's something more. A warning flashes in the corner of Arcadia's visor-vision as it detects the serpent starting to pick up speed as it moves. "Oh ho ho. Now you might actually be a challenge this time!" she cackles, way too eagerly even as she dives from her position towards the False Blue Dragon. She ducks under one swinging claw, and keeps going, starting her own circling motion. In the opposite direction. It's crazy, but there's a method to the madness. Because it's enchanted hyperglass her visor can see exceptional speeds as clear as day. Both for herself, and the movement of her enemy. That means that by flying into the attack, she can see the arms and their splay of toxic bubbles coming and take evasive action. Up and down and up and down she goes! The whirling dervish of the serpent's attack does little more than graze her, which ablates her arcane shield until it shuts off but doesn't knock her out of the air. The side effect of those noxious bubbles is doing more damage to her technorganic body than the direct attacks are. But that's just like having an extra bit of pressure to keep going, adding to her rush. Admist the spinning and swirling Arcadia turns her gaze down, focusing a scan at the lower body of the serpentine statue. Spinning like that, putting it's form into motion on a single pivot, and while not a core to shoot that's one point being put under a lot of force. The sphinx does sideways spiral to get out of the attack sprays, and dives down towards the base of the serpent. She keeps going, switching her elemental subsystems to wind once more, and focusing it in her wake. By flying in such tight spirals around the base of the serpent form, in the opposite direction of it's own rotation, the wind magic whipping around her is creating a counter-rotation vortex, pressure and friction slicing and tearing away because of the opposite directions. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna's weapon glances off the statue /somehow/. That's okay, sometimes you just aim wrong, and the thing just momentarily fritzing is damaging Alruna's calm in a way that makes it difficult to focus. She crouches for better balance, getting knocked back by successive waves of bubbling water that inflict another debuff on her. Alruna uses another of her potions, clutching her stomach for a moment as it cramps. Knocking those things back in rapid succession is not a good idea, and not even that effective as she can still feel vitality draining away. This is definitely not the cakewalk of a fight Eyestalker was. Kupot is not alone - Alruna looms behind him, the spearhead of her weapon glowing with aether as she takes another spinning strike, throwing her weight behind it for a brute force skewering attempt (and if the thing dies she'll be able to stop it from falling on the moogle) before the dragon's fell magic... fells her. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur's attack is hard-nullified.     "FUCK YOU TOO!" He shouts, panting with exhaustion after that big blast. Then he takes a heavy barrage of slices -- a barrage that bounces him around the room, slamming him into walls as he crashes and smashes.     He can't muster those Big Shots now. Not like this! He has to pull it back, reel it in, and try to control himself if he wants to get through this! However, it's important to note that last part: If he wants to get through this. Not, say, 'If he wants to blast wildly and get as much damage as he possibly can in before he goes down. Because he's starting to think he's going to go down shortly. So he resolves to get his shit together, spit out a last little bit of poison, and slam his broom into the ground. It plants there, and a quarter-second later, a wave of crushing gravity like the surface of a black hole's event horizon screams its way towards the false spirit, trying to crush the thing with a massive, and surprisingly invisible strike -- or it would be impossible to detect, if not for the rushing winds and the noise of atmosphere compressing and shearing against itself. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's body crackles with electricity and BOILS the poison away... just in time for the next attack to come. Staren braces for impact, puts up his forcefield, and holds up his arms defensively, but the REND is just too BIG. Wave after wave of poisonous claws tear into the forcefield, and then through it, and then strip the armor from his arms, and the second layer, exposing mechanical bits and wires that the new poison starts eating away at, as it eats into the second armor layer on the rest of his body.     Warnings flash in his HUD. At this rate, he'll be disabled in seconds! And he doesn't have enough energy to save himself AND keep attacking!     But it's not over until it's over. Maybe, just maybe...     Staren moves his arms slightly, from up and defending him into an X in front of him. He uncurls his fists, palms flat. His arms begin to glow, brighter and brighter.     The poison eats away at his body ever so slightly more, split-second by split-second. He takes a deep breath; he doesn't actually need air, but he's not thinking about it.     He kicks off the wall and charges the statue! "HyaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAH!"     The glow extends beyond his arms as a high-frequency energy field surrounds them in cutting energy. Electricity arcs between the field and his body. He leaps into the air, higher than any normal human can. And then--     In an instant, he crashes into the statue with hundreds of pounds of robotic weight (lighter than usual, thanks to what it's done to his armor), he slashes his arms in an X, hopefully cutting into and through the statue, and all that electricity discharges at once -- even to something without a nervous system, that kind of energy transfer can melt, explode, or at least burn away! At the same time, the electricity arcing between them vaporizes most of the poison on his body!     And then Staren lands behind the boss on one knee, unsteadily, the air around him shimmering with heat, surrounded in a rising cloud of vaporized poison and coolant.     Will he even still be able to fight after that...? 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Okay, perhaps not taking this thing seriously might've been something of a problem.      He's not quite sure what something being 'tree' elemental really means or what it is supposed to do but Amelris certainly don't like the effect it has. The Red Mage leaps into the side, unfortunately landing into one of the bubble waves, trying to adjust and instead getting slammed into another bundle of them. He rolls, slammed into the ground and coughing out.      This is a very different fight.      "THIS... is quite vexing!" Amelris calls out, pushing up to his feet after this serious pinball he just suffered, flicking out a POTION and taking a long, deep swig out of it. THAT makes it feel all better for that it's worth. He grabs his gem, focusing his aether into it as he thrusts out his rapier at the Ghost. It's time to kick it up.      "VERFIRE SECUNDO!" He calls out, slamming down rapier into the ground. A gigantic fireball explodes out from his position into the Ghost, Amelris stepping up and lifting his gem-holding hand.      "VERAERO SECUNDO!"      The fire spreads out, bursting out with strength, adding concusssion to the blow of the fireball. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Could it be connected somehow to a game that never saw the light of day when her dad was young? It's a useless thought, for now, she'll dig into it later if later even correct. She doesn't mind the platforming, she is pretty good at it. Even before the death game, stuff like this was something she did for fun. She scores a hit and will be getting away as she leaps off she comes in for a three-point landing and is back in the fifth shortly after. "This thing is tough." With how much damage this creature can take and it dishes it back out as the pain comes the clawnado for lack of a better term. She glows briefly as she moves to block and parry what she can. She's covered in jagged red wireframes line and cries out even with how durable she is that hurt a lot, a hell of a lot. She looks to see I4 is in a bad place, a very bad place. She makes up her mind and will charge her blade with magic after chanting briefly. She makes another run for the boss to leap and drive the Dawn Breaker into the hulking stone monster and if she can do that? She'll channel the rest of the spell causing an explosion of fire and holy fire, hopefully causing internal damage to the thing as I4 unloads everything he has. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' The assault is devastating. Kupot finds himself caught on the edge of life and death once more, a man who has chosen his path against a being who has been given immense power, but has no say in how to use it. The moogle strikes, the brutal blade technique crushing into the beast and driving it back. Is it enough? Time will tell.                                     282                                     The strike opens the floodgates, breaking its guard for I4. The clever robot alters the nature of its own attack, the laser beam firing... But not as a blazing bolt of energy, but a horrific spike of black liquid metal, twisting and dark as it punches straight through the False Dragon Spirit. It roarts, the energies of the thing disrupted as it begins to dissolve under the strike.                                     464                                     The thing is laid bare. It can't protect itself anymore between the two strikes. John takes full advantage of this as he slams directly into the thing. He crashes into the side of the dragon, blasting through it like a freight train. A piece of its foreward body simply /vanishes, only a sinuous strand of flickering energy keeping the thing intact.                                     408                                     Alruna strikes, her aetheric blade punching into the beast and tearing at it in body and spirit. Not that it is immune to being stabbed in any case, this is before immunity to physical attacks was a valid boss option. Well... In most cases. Still, she cleaves into the thing, pushing it that much close to the end.                                     243                                     

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Arcadia reverses the polarity. Okay, so maybe it's not quite that trite but the concept is similar. Whatever the situation is, the assault is incredibly effective, the counterpressure ripping the dragon-statue apart. Already, it looks like it's more fading energy than stone at this point, hunks of itself being scattered all over the place.                                     401                                     In the meantime, Arthur finally marshals some true indignation in the face of that miss. He puts it all on the line and like usual, the hype master burns himself up to simply implode the living hell out of the thing. The collapse of space and atmosphere on the thing rips through it, swallowing up the broken up substance of the thing as it begins to be dragged in circles like water being pulled down the drain. At this point, it can't even marshal the strength to escape the event horizon.                                     362                                     Not taking it seriously can in fact be a problem. Thankfully, it's not so late that taking it seriously NOW can't fix the problem, and Amelris is nothing if not flexible. That's the defining trait of a Red Mage, after all. He hurls potent black and white magics at the False Dragon Spirit, and the thing is blown apart, collapsing into the hole.                                     397                                     

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Staren doesn't give the creature a chance to rally. This thing has to be put down, /now/. He unleashes the high-frequency field slashes, blasting through it with classic style as the X slashes scream in the air, hanging there as the dragon explodes, allowing Staren to land beyond the target on one knee, looking off into the distance dramatically as the False Dragon Spirit begins to dissolve.                                     440                                     Because there's no kill like overkill, Tomoe seals the deal by driving the blade into the fading spirit, channelling holy flames through it to finish dissipating the thing. It roars, dissolving, the Shrine shaking as the creature undergoes its death throes.                                     234                                     And then... the battlefield is clear. The False Dragon Spirit is defeated, the statue missing from where it stood. Alruna feels a distinctive /hum/ as a glowing seal where the statue was begins to glow, revealed with the statue gone... And there is a crack as the seal breaks, sizzling away with the power that held it disrupted. With a flash, there is a new statue, this one looking the same as the old but holding a much more... gentle aura. The statue's eyes flash, and there is a low, gentle rumble. You have my deepest thanks, brave ones, for your valor. I have been sealed away for quite some time by that False Dragon Spirit. But your work is not done. A great evil rises in the West, and with your power, you may be the only ones who can stop it. Raise your Relic aloft, Hero, and receive my blessing! 

:'''{{#var:7132|I4 (7132)}} has posed:''' I4, literally on his last legs looks up as the False Dragon Spirit is destroyed, and the real one appears.  Coughing, he looks up and laughs, "We did it...wooo..." he says, before... And then collapses forward flat on his face.   

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:''' "Wooooooooooooo." Amelris lets out, grunting and falling on his ass, his tail thunking against the ground. "THAT sure was a whole new level above the PREVIOUS abomination to fight." He looks up at Alruna, before pushing himself back up to get ready to look at people's wounds, like I4's. "Go ahead, Paladin girl." 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      John stops himself with a slightly ungainly motion after he crashes through the idol. He brushes particulate off of his shoulders, and turns, just in time to see the final blow struck. When the true Dragon Spirit returns, the shift in the presence is palpable--at least for a Malkavian. His shoulders ease up with relief.      Rizzo has no relic--but he does need to go and get his coat. Fishing his necktie out of his pocket, he dons it once more with a Windsor knot. The motion is practiced and calm, even with his shirt soaked in blood. His wounds aren't healing as fast as they were before the TREE aspected attacks. Perhaps corrosive damage is harder for his powers to mend.      He slips on the battered coat. "He won't," says Rizzo to Shyra, regarding Arthur's miss. "I feel pretty sure of it." After having uttered his assurance, the vampire quietly fades into the background of the shrine. His work is done, for now. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Cool guys don't look at explosions.     It's over. Staren stands up, unsteadily. The robotic body is severely damaged -- maybe half of its surface is armorless, exposing wires and mechanical bits and thus, it's true nature. But it's no longer deteriorating -- the poison has all been vaporized.     There's still wisps of steam and smoke rising off of him. "Well." He glances to Kupot, but Shyra's on it no doubt. He looks at her. "How on Earth did you beat this battle the first time, with only four or five people? Was it easier then?"     He walks back towards the entrance of the shrine and stops on the way to crouch, reach down, and lift I4 with one robotic, almost-skeletal hand. "Hang in there guy. Do you sleep, or do you need to recharge with magic, or... what?"     He does wait to watch the empowerment of the relic before leaving and helping carry anyone who needs carrying. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna cracks her eyes open again, and nearly collapses on Kupot herself in relief. Okay. They did it. She feels awful, and nauseous, and she's still bleeding, but she's standing. And she has something to do. Alruna steps away from Kupot carefully, fumbling with the clasp on her bag. The relic is definitely reacting now. She hooks her lance into the holster on her back, and draws herself up before the dragon statue with some mixed feelings. The only good dragon is a dead dragon, she was raised to believe. Intellectually, she understands that dragons from other worlds may not be the Horde, but she still looks upon the statue with some trepidation as she grips the Blue Dragons Relic firmly by its base. She nods stoically to Amelris, and holds the relic up. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Once the battle is over, Shyra rushes into the Shrine. Hey, why wasn't she helping? Oh well. Congratulations! You did it! she says, and immediately gets to work pulling Kupot's leg into position so it will set properly when she uses healing magic. It's not the most pleasant experience, but at least the pain fades fast with the euphoric rush of healing magics.     I4 also soon gets the green sparklies, the healer working triage efficiently before beginning to top peope off with group heals.     In the meantime, Alruna holds up the Blue Dragons Relic. As she does so, she steps forth, presenting an ancient relic won through strife and deep suffering to the Blue Dragon Spirit. In response, there is a sparkling flash of blue light. The Relic is filled with a lambent azure light, filled with the blessing of the Blue Dragons! Now Alruna can use the power of the relic to perform TREE elemental attacks. Oddly, however, all the special effects look like blue watery stuff. 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' As the false serpent statue starts to crumble from the onslaughts Arcadia pulls away from the base to avoid getting caught in the catastrophes being unleashed. She circles the perimeter of the temple chamber a few times until she's less of a red and tan blurr, then deploys a couple of retro-thrusters to properly brake and bleed off the rest of the inertia. Even then, her landing is a bit of a skid before her claws get enough grip to stop entirely. Followed by a few huffs of combined exhaustion and excitement. She doesn't need to breath, her body just mimics the gesture to express the current state of being. As such she stands up pointing at the now empty spot. "That's what you get for being a poser, snake!" Followed by the -real- dragon coming into being and offering to properly charge up the relic. "Ah. The true, benevolent spirit. Seems like it was sealed to keep the relic from being used." ... Though the elemental alignment still seems to be off. Weird. "I wouldn't want to see this world's alchemical alignement charts, the naming is weird enough." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur pants, gasps, and hunches over, with his hands on his knees. He may be only a bit wounded, but he's a /lot/ exhausted right now. "Yeah, bastard. And don't you come back..." Then, a thought hits him. The false spirit must have been uncooperative about explaining its origins because it was fake! So it /didn't know/! He waves to the others. "Hey! Hey, whoever got that artifact, get that shit hoisted."     It is done. Nice. NICE! Now, Arthur speaks up. Is there some way he'll be able to trigger what he's after? "Hey! Heyyyy, thanks tons, homie!" He calls out to the spirit. But he has one other question. "Hey, do you have anything to say about Ayudha Raksha and The Ishvara Protocols?" He's trying to keep it as simple as possible, to stick to "dialogue selections" that might exist. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris watches the sparkliness happening, the IMBUING taking place. Now, this is pretty well and good, just as Mythy and Fabely as it ought to be. It DOES feel like some of the old fairy tales talking about shining heroes rescuing things and daring feats of magic.      "Hey, Arthur, sit tight." The Red Mage says, squeezing his floating gem and holding his open palm over the man. It comes in a sudden, quick burst of energy giving him a good boost of healing power. "Yeah, while we're at it..."      Amelris pulls back, popping out ANOTHER scroll. It looks similar to the PREVIOUS ONE, except that it's translated by what the sage told them. "What can you tell us about /the prophecy/ and the White Statue?"      Maybe it DO react to code word. That's what optimists do, right? Try things even if they know it might not work? 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is of the school of overkill when it comes to things like this, you make sure the monster is down and that it /stays/ down. When the statue's eyes glow she looks a bit concerned but when it speaks she relaxes. It seems they set free the actual spirit of the dragon. "No problem." SHe thinks for a moment then watches as the relic gets charged up and she looks to Alruna for a moment grinning. "That's one down and three to go." She's hurt but doesn't ask for healing from anyone she'll wait, many others need it more than she does. She will ask once the healers are done with everyone else. She does seem happy though they made some progress, right? 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna has Mixed Feelings about receiving a dragon's blessing. She... bows, a bit stiffly, to the statue after the light show fades away, leaving the Relic aglow with power. "Thank you." Alruna manages, somehow not stumbling as she steps backwards and turns around to regard the others. Well, get a good look at it. She puffs out her cheeks, and smiles. "One down." she agrees, tucking the Relic safely away again. "Okay, I... I have to go lie down." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     And now they go off script. You'd think this would end up being a dead end, but...     Things are a little different now. I4, if he's paying attention, might notice a dummied out pointer actually having something to read now that SOMETHING HAS CHANGED ELSEWHERE, and now the conversation slides into Something Completely Different. The mighty Blue Dragon Spirit begins speaking again... And not to repeat itself this time. The Dread Protocol is to stand against the Gods themselves. The Raksha was created to battle against both order and chaos, to cast down all boundaries of the world, to destroy all Spirits. To defeat the Ayudha Raksha you must pierce its defenses. Four are not sufficient. Without the power of its greatest foe it will be invincible. You must seek that which is hidden and uncover the y3l1w 3MPr R3l1C#)!R)J#FMG. Only then will you face the truth beyond infinite illusion. The conversation then spills out into useless noise and junk, the Blue Dragon's conversation box overflowing and promptly failing closed, the box terminating and the Spirit going quiet. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren actually drops I4 in shock as he stares at the Blue Dragon Spirit, mouth hanging open.     Then he smiles. "Well..." and then he realizes he dropped I4. "Oh! Sorry!" 

:'''{{#var:7213|Arcadia (7213)}} has posed:''' Arcadia excitedly claps her paws together. "See? Even the anti-god has a secret weakness." She looks not at all surprised when the garbled script can't tell them exactly what it is. Of course not, that would be too easy. More breadcrumbs to follow. 
}}

7028/Fight For Your Right To Be Edgy

2020-01-22T08:04:57Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/21 |Location=Shrine of Adversity |Synopsis=Rean and Riku have a duel for Rean to get the right to find out what's eating at Riku. Will he c..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/21
|Location=Shrine of Adversity
|Synopsis=Rean and Riku have a duel for Rean to get the right to find out what's eating at Riku. Will he crack that edgy shell? Find out!
|Cast of Characters=6928, 6994
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' Welcome back to the stage of history.     This isn't really Riku's first choice for a place to be. The Watch can't afford the exorbitant packages to deal with all of the typical results of Elite vs. Elite combat, but in situations like this there really is no better choice.     So it is that Riku is leaning against the wall, brooding in the fine tradition of edgy teenagers found across the Multiverse. He's in his casual clothes, just waiting for his opponent to arrive.     If nothing else, he's going to put this to bed one way or the other. "At least he has more guts than Seifer does." Riku mutters to himself. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean walks into the arena, sword sheathed and carried in his right hand. This is what, the second duel he's had here in two weeks? And Riku is...standing against the wall, brooding. Again.  Rean sighs.  "...Hey." Rean says, giving the other teen a small wave. There's not really much for him to say right now, especially since he'd probably just piss him off more. Well, if talking at him didn't work, there was always using your fists. Figuratively, at least. Rean draws his sword, settling into his stance. "Whenever you're ready." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Rean is learning the ways of wisdom in dealing with tempermental edgy teens. If he ever gets a New Game Plus option maybe he'll have a better time of it next time.     But for now, Riku just pushes off the wall. Black flame rolls over his body, his clothing being replaced with a tight purple battlesuit that Rean might have seen once or twice. His hand flicks, an ominous blade that is mostly formed from a bat's wing and bone manifests with another surge of Dark. "At least you had the courage to show up. I'll give you that much. Let's get this over with."     A moment later, Riku lunges, attempting to out-speed Rean as he slashes past the meddling swordsman. The Soul Eater rips through the air, trailing a black tracery that shears along the cutting line. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' No, the battlesuit's not familiar. Maybe he'd caught a glimpse of it during that mess in Ketchikan but this would be the first time they've really been in combat near one another. Rean quirks an eyebrow, then shrugs. "Well, I was the one who asked for this...And I try to keep my word." Rean raises his sword as Riku rushes past him. Steel scrapes bonesword, and Riku's strike hits his shoulder, cutting into his jacket. Rean whirls around, trying to hit Riku with a wide strike to the back before he gets too far away. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Riku's fast, but Rean is just as fast. The blade carves into his back, the Heartbrand just barely unable to get out of the path of the retaliation strike before he tucks and rolls away. "Gggh. Not bad." He mutters... And he falls right through the floor as he vanishes into a black hole that swallows him up.     The other end opens up in front of Rean, Riku plummetting out of it in a spinning slash to cleave downwards, trying to batter down his guard. "So." He says as blades clash, the Heartbrand kicking in the air to reverse his path and flip over Rean to strike at him from the opposite side. "Why do you actually care about this enough to fight over it?" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Riku disappears into the floor, springing up directly in front of him and launching into the air above him. Rean raises his sword again, struggling to keep the aerial strike off of him.  "Because I get the feeling there's more to you than just angrily glaring at everyone." Rean says. Riku's strike to his back lands and he staggers forward a bit, but quickly regains his footing. "Ugh...Having the past tangle itself up in the present is something I know pretty well." He then rushes forwards himself after a moment of focus, his single strike blurring into many as he passes by the Heartbrand. There was also something else he picked up on, though he wasn't sure of it. He  might have gotten him wrong, earlier. Still, he gives it a shot. "...Being afraid of hurting everyone around me is something I know pretty well, too."  Rean says. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     "Digging for the truth, huh? Join the club." Riku dances backwards, his blade flicking back and forth. "The past tangling up in the present? That doesn't mean anything. The past always messes with the present."     And then they're clashing against each other. Even as Rean strikes again and again, Riku's blade is there, fast as shadow as sparks fly. Rean and Riku seem evenly matched in terms of swordsmanship. There is a grimace as Riku finds himself pressed, having to give up a step or two under the intense bladework. When Rean ventures his guess, Riku twitches for a moment. "You think you know everything, huh? Let's find out how much you understand."     His shadow extends, moving as if alive under Rean and past him. Behind him, he feels a presence rise. If he looks, he'll see it: A hulking monstrosity of black, muscular skin, wrapped in white bandages. The eyes glow gold, the arms ending in deadly-looking claws. Most striking of all is the heart-shaped hole in its chest, however... And one hand rises, burning with black fire, slamming it forward as Riku, too, clenches a fist. It also surges with black flame, and they both strike at the same time, the surging Dark energy exploding around Rean to engulf him with corroding, sapping energy. "DARKNESS!" Riku calls. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' "It does, yeah. But maybe I got the wrong impression of you and you /are/ trying to move forward despite it." Rean says, parrying Riku as he pushes forward. He senses something come up behind him and he turns, freezing in place. He's seen Mikoto do this too, and she implied that she 'stole' it from Riku. Hers was different, of course, taking after the Witch her attempt at escaping her fate made. Was this what the original looked like? He braces for impact, taking the double punch head on. He screams, the corrosive flames burning him. He falls to one knee, breathing heavily. "ARCUS, activate." Rean murmurs, and a blue ring of light surrounds him, shifting into a spray of teardrop-like lights falling down onto his body and cleansing some of the corrupting flames. He slowly stands back up, getting back into his fighting stance. Perhaps now was the time to go full blast. Rean closes his eyes, trying to focus on his desire to win and get through to Riku. But something goes wrong. Maybe he wasn't as over the Ad Coelum as he thought. Maybe weeks of getting caught up in the politics of Multiverse Radio Chatter frustrated him more than he realized. Or maybe this was just what happened when his power came into contact with more negativity, similarly to how Mikoto's Soul Gem corrupted when she was near him in that state. Rean suddenly vanishes. And then, there's a bestial cry from behind Riku as Rean slashes vertically at him from behind, his sword coated in black flames. If he turns to look, Riku will see Rean is engulfed in a aura of darkness, his hair whiter than even Riku's and his eyes blazing red. It's not capital-D Darkness, like Riku knows, but the hateful feelings behind it - flaring out from him - are the same. This Rean wants a /fight,/ and he's getting it, consequences be damned. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' "I'm trying to save Kairi. That's all that matters right now." Riku says. "Just don't get in my way." He doesn't immediately follow up on the attack, and that might be something that costs him. Rean warps out. Is it speed? Spatial alteration? Riku doesn't know, but he does react instantly to the cry behind him. The roar tips him off just in time for his blade to sweep in behind himself and stop the black burning blade from carving him in half. It buries itself into his shoulder, leaving a deep wound as Riku hisses, the blade struggling against the powerful strike from the student. "... You too, huh? This matters to you that much?"     There is a ringing noise as Riku surges, pushing the blade out of his flesh and twisting around to fall into a ready position. "All right. Come on, Rean. Let it all out. Beat me down if you can! Give it everything you have, or I'll never forgive you!"     Riku launches to one side, falling into another black hole. But the Eidolon surges up, winding up to slam a huge fist into Rean's position, moments before Riku flies out of another hole, vaulting over Rean. Black flames slam down in an array as he drops, immediately launching into another low, wide, iaijutsu-like strike as he cleaves through Rean's position in a sudden escalation of intensity.     Looks like Riku is taking this seriously too, now. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean's not really in the mood to respond anymore. Maybe once he stops trying to shank Riku he'll say something about the quest to find Kairi. But for now: Rean darts forward, trying to catch Riku with another slash as he jumps into another hole. The Eidolon tries to punch him again, and he jumps back, only to land right in the wall of flames caused by Riku's descent. Riku's low slash catches him too, and he lets out another roar, as blood starts to stain the white front panel of his jacket red. Still he leaps forward, coming down on Riku with his sword raised over his head, still blazing. If he hits, he'll then start trying to slam the blade into the other teen as many times as he can. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     Riku seems to be everywhere, attacking in perfect synch with his Eidolon. But he wears his heart on his sleeve, as it were, and Rean strikes with a powerful blow. The burning blade scorches Riku, the Heartbrand reeling as Rean continues to slam attack after attack into his defenses, overwhelming him with sheer power. No matter how fancy you get, if someone just starts hammering into you enough your guard might break.     And break it does, Riku taking slash after slash through his body, the purple armor shredding under the repeated impacts until the Eidolon imposes itself. Riku leaps away as Rean rips into the dark being, the projection of his Heart taking the blows and disintegrating rapidly under the furious blows. "Ggh... You're still into it, huh? Guess I have no choice..." After a moment, the Eidolon vanishes, and Riku holds his blade across, focusing. "Fall into darkness..." He says, black holes beginning to open all over the battlefield. Riku leaps back into one... And as before, comes lunging out of another, slashing past Rean, this time burning with hints of a dark flame that dances over his body in an aura. He continues surging past, flying into another portal before emerging from another, repeating the attack over and over again, getting faster and faster and faster until he finally appears above Rean, cleaving downwards. "FALL!" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean swings wildly at Riku as he dashes in and out of portals, faster than he can keep up, even like this. Trying his damnedest to hit him as he passes, to grab him and stop him, anything.  And then Riku appears above him, his blade piercing though his back and straight through his chest. Rean falls over, the darkness around him fading as he stops breathing. The arena resets. Rean sits up, hunched over on one knee. "...Damn. I should've guessed it wouldn't be that easy." Rean murmurs to himself, clutching his chest. He's mostly referring to the fact that he lost control again, after using his power way more often than he probably should have over the last few days. Of course he still needed to be careful with how and where he used it, before he hurt someone who couldn't take it, or himself. But Riku did give him a run for his money, which he kind of expected, but not this much. That he was willing to admit. He looks up at Riku. "You win. As I promised, I'll stay out of your business from now on." There's a sad smile on his face, like he's a bit disappointed in himself, but hey, a promise is a promise. Rean gets up from the floor and dusts himself off.  "...I hope you find her." He says. "And I hope that whatever you chose to do, is worth it, in the end." And with that he starts heading for the door. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' The battle ends as suddenly as it begins. When Rean collapses due to the volume of damage that has been dealt out, Riku finally stops. Something in him exults in seeing Rean like that, confused, beaten, small.     Riku takes that part of him and pulls it up, taking a long hard look at it. Silently, it is pushed aside, Riku pulling himself up with a more humble, more accessible look than he might have had a moment ago. There is no mockery in that softer gaze.     Rean promises he will abide by the terms of the agreement, and Riku just reaches out and grips Rean by the shoulder, pressing him back down. "Sit." He says. "I know that's what you promised, but I'm not going to hold you to it."     Riku grunts as he sits down, feeling the ache and burn of the battle in his muscles despite the wounds themselves being rewound. "You've got questions. Ask one. The one that's digging at you most. I'll answer the others later." 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean's gently pushed back down into a seated position by Riku. "Huh?"  Rean says, looking at Riku, confusion crossing his face. The expression on Riku's face isn't contemptuous at all, though. He was serious. "...Alright." Rean takes a seat again, settling into a slightly more comfortable position with a grunt. He crosses his arms over his chest, thinking. What to ask... He /could/ ask about what happened to Sora, but then what? Regardless of if Riku was holding the info back because he didn't want to find him, or if Sora was dead or something and he was trying to keep Seifer from finding out...What could he even do with that information? Give it to Seifer and betray Riku's trust? Try and find him himself? No, there's only one question he wants to ask right now, and it's admittedly one he's realized Riku might not even know the answer to. "What happened that makes you keep lashing out at everyone? Is it because you're afraid, or...?" Yes, that's technically two questions. At least they're related. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     The situation is kind of awkward. Riku is sitting down himself, his outward wound evaporating but his movements still stiff. He's hurting, even if he 'won'.     But Rean asks his question. Riku glances over to Rean and frowns for a moment, trying to parse what he said, as if he was speaking another language.     "Why do I lash out at everyone?" He shakes his head, looking away. "Having people close to me is dangerous. For me, and for them. My friends betrayed me. My teacher disappeared. Everyone who I cared about had cut me out of their life. And after all that..." He shakes his head again. "There's no point. Friends just get you hurt. You have to do it yourself if you want to succeed. But all those worlds out there... They're full of people who think friendship solves everything. They don't realize that they're going to just do the same thing. All the good feelings in the world aren't going to change that." 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' "...I see...That's a lot." Rean shakes his head. "...If you really thought that were true, you wouldn't have opened up to me. You would've just let me walk out the door. You're right. Friendship doesn't solve everything. You can't just talk everything out, as much as I'd like that to work." Rean sighs. "...But you'd have to be perfect to be able to do everything on your own. To never make a mistake that requires someone else's expertise to fix, or to help you handle your emotional burdens. There's probably a balance somewhere, between trying to solve everything with friendship and shoving everyone away." "...Mikoto was like this for a while, too. After she lost everything, it was hard for her to get close to people again. At some point she realized she couldn't keep living like that. She couldn't keep running from the things that hurt her." 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     "And what's wrong with trying to be perfect?" Riku replies, shrugging. He shakes his head. "I stopped you because I thought you deserved something for all your efforts. Making you just walk like that..." He closes his eyes and sighs. "You were honest. And an honest effort shouldn't be left to rot."     He scowls for a moment, a fist clenching for a second before he slowly releases it. "I've had enough of that, after all." He glances to one side at Rean and frowns. "If I mess up, I need to fix the problem. That's what responsibility is. It's not about never making mistakes. It's about being strong enough to deal with those mistakes. If I can't do that, maybe I never..." He stops, and sighs. "Never mind. This isn't your problem."     The mention of Mikoto causes Riku to squint. "You do realize she's just using people, right? She might not be running, but that doesn't magically make her a good person. After all, the Concord has a /type/." He says, looking away. "It's none of my business what you do with your time. But watch your back."     Maybe that problem is a little deeper than it seems. "So what else do you want to know? Take advantage of it. You might not get another chance." 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' "Not much, if it's a goalpost." Rean says, shrugging. "...Still, you'll never actually /be/ perfect....Neither of us will." Rean glances down at the floor as he says this.   "...Right. Thanks." Rean says. Rean nods. "Yeah, of course. But can you honestly say there's /nothing/ you can't fix by yourself?" Rean raises an eyebrow at Riku. What was that? Blowing his question, he continues prodding. "...No, tell me. Maybe you never what?" Rean sighs. Here we go again. "...I'm aware she's the sort of person that takes any advantage she can. I don't mind it. And I'll be right there to stop her if she goes too far. " 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:'''     "It's way too late for me to say I'm perfect." Riku replies. "I'm not like that King of Heroes guy." He scowls again about that. "I probably never will, either. But he makes me so /angry/."     The edgy teen leans back and flops onto his back, folding his arms behind his head as he stares at the ceiling. "There's a lot of things I can't fix by myself... right now. Maybe later ... Who knows? I just have to get stronger, right?"     Rean chases that down though, not willing to let Riku take the Edgy Boi Out on that one. He looks back to Rean, his eyes dark, as he frowns, quiet for several seconds. "... Maybe I never deserved the Keyblade in the first place... Or Sora and Kairi."     But Riku then sighs, and shrugs. "You're some kind of guy, Rean. I can't put my finger on it. But like I said. It's none of my business in the end. It's up to you on what you do with her. Maybe it'll work out. Maybe not. But that's just my take on it." 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean groans. "Tell me about it. I get wanting humanity to advance, and better themselves, but...Ugh, that's some ego." He laughs, finally getting a chance to air out his true feelings about the King of Heroes. "You're lucky you don't have to hear him in the Paladins comms." Rean lies on his back as well, arms folded over his chest. He looks over at Riku and shrugs. "...Maybe, though I guess 'other people' can count as a form of strength too. Just...Be careful." Rean says, resting a hand over his heart. "Strength of any kind can be dangerous if misused. Though, I'm guessing you know that already." Rean nodded. Yeah, that sounded painfully familiar. "...Doesn't mean you don't deserve other things. And if they abandoned you that easily, at a time when everything was falling apart and you needed them most...Then they probably don't deserve you either." He kind of just hums thoughtfully at the input on him and Mikoto. "Thanks for  worrying." Rean says, grinning a bit. 

:'''{{#var:6928|Riku (6928)}} has posed:''' "Tch. You, having to hear that all the time? No wonder why you're running around yelling at everyone else. You just want someone else to listen to for a change, don't you?" He actually chuckles a little at that, giving a little smile at Rean...     But that smile disappears at Rean's warning, a haunted expression on his face. "... I know." He says simply. "It's easy to get lost in the Darkness..."     There is a silence as Rean speaks next, and then he simply nods to Rean. "Yeah. No problem." He sounds a little distracted at that, but then he stands.     He looks away, leaving his back to Rean. "... Maybe I don't deserve it. You kept asking if I was happy." He shakes his head. "... Someone who's done the things I've done doesn't deserve to be happy. The Darkness is where someone like me belongs. Be careful, kid."     At that, Riku begins walking for the door, likely leaving Rean with even more questions to be answered than before. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean laughs a bit, looking away from Riku. "Yeah, maybe..." Rean's silent as Riku heads for the door. It's not hard to guess what kinds of things he meant. Rean's hands clench into fists, as his mind lapses back to a few months ago. He sighs, releasing them. "...Maybe it's stupid of me to say this, but if you're willing to take some form of responsibility for your actions, to acknowledge that it still hurt people regardless of if it was 'right' or 'deserved'...You deserve at least a little happiness. I'm not sure if you are for the things you did, but...I'm not so sure you're as hopeless as you think you are." ...'Kid?' Wasn't he younger than him? Then again, that didn't mean that much out here. "...Same to you. Be careful."  And with that, Rean heads out himself. 
}}

7024/LI0: Sage Advice (Side)

2020-01-20T06:33:46Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/19 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=Alruna, Amelris, and Shigure follow up on some leads and get a headstart on figuring out what is comin..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/19
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Alruna, Amelris, and Shigure follow up on some leads and get a headstart on figuring out what is coming up.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 685, 7175, 7180
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' The Western City of Pradia lies on the opposite side of the world from Bartal. Thankfully, they don't need to take a ship. Shyra has that strange flying craft. She brings those interested in investigating to the outskirts of the city. Pradia is a heavily craggy region. It's full of mountains and valleys, and even a swift overhead view of the area points out that the walls are full of ornate building frontage cut and shaped into the rock. Paths move along the mountainous face, wending its way through the area to provide small, ornate plazas, daises, and decorative fountains. At the top of the mountains is some kind of merger between a palace and temple. The place does at least seem to have the requisite adventure services of shops and an inn, at least.     Most of the Sages here won't be willing to help. Shyra points out as they land. They do not believe that there is any imminent danger to the land. There is one who helped us in the past. You can look around and explore, or go directly to him. I can help you with either if you like. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     It's always been odd, travelling in another vessel or craft... especially one that flies.     Shigure sits quietly, adjusting her outfit and fiddling with the hilt of her short sword. She does look out at the terrain as it passes. "Were there any others who might provide information... do you remember?" she asks Shyra, glancing at the others in the vessel before they commit to any plan of action. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Shyra's world is an uncomfortable place to be. Alruna knows she should be feeling the wind on her face as the airship docks in mountainous terrain. She hasn't felt so much as a whisper of a breeze the whole journey. When they disembark, she listens for the distant murmur of a mountain breeze and is rewarded with silence. She sighs. "Thank you for humouring us, Shyra." Alruna says, shading her eyes as she looks uphill. At least it looks the part. "Lets not loiter, if we are performing tasks out of order, so to speak, then we will like be lucky to gain any information at all." she suggests. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Hoffffff!" Amelris Belthrone, Red Mage Miqo'te Extraordinaire, looking upward at the upper outskirts of the citty. This looks like a very nice, very old little fortified city to be certain. "This certainly saves on the stone if you can just /mold/ the mountain around you into the shape of a city." The lack of wind IS noticed by him. The world... still do feel odd. The vision of the Hero he got told him that there is certainly far more to this place than first sight might say. Andgolly weee, this IS a lot on first sight.      "Mmmhmm, I think we best just go immediatedly to the point of the matter and save the exploration afterwards." Amelris tap a sealed tube beneath him, stocked in a satchel. "I'd rather not mess this up, it's a precorious copy to begin with." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     What kind of information are you looking for, Shigure? Shyra replies. The Sages here mostly won't answer anything you might be intertested in, but you can read their books! The Hero spent a lot of time doing that before we met the other one...     The healer nods to Alruna. I'm happy to help! She says brightly, apparently not quite noticing the unease they have at the lack of wind. The others seem to concur that they may as well get to the point instead of poking into every house and trying to find hidden loot (that comes later).     So Shyra disembarks with the others and begins directing them through the town. Kind of. She takes a somewhat winding path, mainly because it seems to be the only one that heads out to a prominent ledge sticking out away from the others. It's got a large amount of rickety wooden structure attached to it, supporting a wooden shack on top.     Inside, the group finds books and tablets piled high all over the place, a bald man in a red robe intently paging through a book on a table. He never seems to actually make real progress through it. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Books are not Alruna's first resort, as a rule. She shrugs at Shigure. "If this Sage can't give us an answer, then I suppose we'll have to start reading." she concedes. She takes the long, winding journey with an easy stride, absent a wind to make her longcoat flap and flutter annoyingly. Regardless of the oddity of this world, she's perfectly happy not to be wearing heavy armour as she steps onto the wooden structure. Inside the shack, she watches the Sage for a few page turns before nudging Amelris, should he not step forward straight away to be the face of their party. She's quickly learned that he likes being that. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     "It matters not." replies the ship-girl. "I am still aclimating to the fact that noone apart from three or four individuals have any sort of autonomy in this world. I am used to worlds at least having..." she trails off, shaking her head and disembarking.     She follows along quietly, looking into shopfronts as they pass, but never leaving the group. As the two Adventurers go about interacting with the Sage or try to, Shigure immediately goes to the books, picking up the first one that comes to hand and leafing through it. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Indeed, thanks you for the lift!" Amelris nods at Shyra, stepping off to take a look around. He spends a moment to just take in the sights, taking note of Shigure going off straight for the books, before making a slight annoyed-bothered feline grunt at Alruna. He silently makes the mouth motions of 'hey I was just looking' before stepping up to the old sage.      "Greetings, venerable Sage!" The Red Mage declares, popping open the papers. "I am in need of your wisdom, regarding an ancient language long lost!" He carefully pick out the scroll out of the tube to unfold it, to show it. "May you be able to help us?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' I see. I'm sorry. Shyra bows her head to Shigure. I know it's hard. But maybe soon we will have more people. The shopfronts seem to be standard equipment shops selling what seems to be gear of moderate power and quality, As Shigure picks up a book, she finds that the book only seems to contain one passage of intelligible writing that immediately jumps out at her: THE KINDEVA The great ancients were known as the Kindeva. They mastered the five elements of the world - Tree, Fire, Metal, Water, and Earth. They broached the domain of the Spirits in their pursuit of wisdom. This angered the Yellow Emperor, who set a curse upon them, blighting their land and their bloodlines. In retaliation the Kindeva built a great machine god, Ayudha Raksha, to challenge it. The Yellow Emperor was wounded in the clash, and the Kindeva escaped into the sky on their flying city. No one knows what happened to them afterwards.     Amelris brings the scroll to the Sage, and introduces himself. The Sage turns and looks to Amelris, the book next to him pausing mid-flip as he begins to speak.     Ah, you have brought the SCROLL. Let me see it, and I will tell you what it says...     There is a pause, and the SCROLL disappears from Amelris' hand. Afterwards, he says,     Behold these four Relics, the keys to the Yellow Emperor. When the land is again beset by darkness, have the greatest of Heroes offer them up to the Spirits so the seal may be undone and the Emperor overthrown. Our work must not have been in vain.     It's true. It's all true, then. You have the Relics, don't you? Then our world really is in danger. I hope the White Tigers Spirit under the palace is all right... 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna peers over Amelris's shoulder to watch the Sage's text box, soaking up the revelation. "Yellow Emperor... that must be the king I saw..." she muses, leaning back against one of the walls with her arms folded. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Good thing he made a copy, Amelris thinks.      "You did mention something among theses lines." Amelris comments, looking aside at Alruna, nodding at her. The Miqo'te cross his arm, returning his gaze at the old sage. Now, he's not sure just how much thing this man might be able to say in his current... state. "We DO have the relics." He says, thinking this over. Maybe... some key words? He DID react to him having the scrolls, afterall. "Tell me about the White Tigers Spirit." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure has a fairy take a picture of the passage for later study and replaces the book... she then takes a thoughtful posture, until Amelris relates the White Tiger Spirit.     The shipgirl then produces the White Tiger relic from a hip pouch she's wearing specifically for the purpose, and approaches, though she doesn't say anything just yet. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' "So, White Tigers, Blue Dragons..." Alruna lists them off on her fingers, briefly taking out the blue statuette she took from the temple to regard it before putting it away again. "Red Birds... and Black Warriors." The last being in Amelris's possession. She frowns. "I wonder... does the Yellow Emperor fit into this arrangement somehow?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The Sage, when questioned, doesn't seem to have more to say about the Relics or anything else.     It's true. It's all true, then. You have the Relics, don't you? Then our world really is in danger. I hope the White Tigers Spirit under the palace is all right...     The Sage simply repeats himself for now. It looks like he has said all he can for now. I hoped he would be different, but for now... She shakes her head. He likely will have nothing else to say until the blessing of the White Tigers Spirit is obtained. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure inspects the relic, then tucks it away again. "An endeavour we should prepare for before setting out." suggests the ship-girl. "Items especially, I saw a few places in town which could serve the purpose." she also jingles her coinpouch, brimming with Ji. "We did acquire a fair amount of local currency at the temple." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "It was worth a shot." Amelris says, shrugging, the Miqo'te turning back around to smile at the ragtag party. "We'll just have to go get that blessing when we can, then. Let's take a look around town, now, shall we?" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna rolls her shoulder and pushes away from the wall. "Then lets go get it!" she says, smacking her fist into her open palm. Only to be undercut by the shipgirl suggesting they prepare carefully for the journey first. "-fiiiine." she grumbles, nodding. "I suppose we had best look at the rest of their library as well." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:'''     The group is agreed to leave the shack for now. Shyra, at this point, fades behind the group, simply accompanying them and letting them all wander wherever they like.     The libraries of the Sages seems to contain various passages of lore on the world. Some examples:     It is the duty of the royal family to care for the White Tigers Shrine. As the Queen is gone, the Princess is currently taking up the role.     Beware the Yaksha of the north. Their people are known to be dangerous to travellers.     This book contains a recipe for cookies. Strange...     And so on. The other Astomi present have little to provide the group, apparently providing mostly insistence that there are no issues and that they the valley they reside in is inviolable.     Shigure can purchase one of the weapons or pieces of armor present if she wants, she has enough to do so, but the amounts are high enough that she can only get one of them. It looks like prices spike a lot after Finaria, and Bartal hasn't been looted at all. 
}}

6988/Data-Driven Solutions

2020-01-16T05:22:47Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/15 |Location=The System |Synopsis=Lezard meets with Theurgus about Mikoto Shimizu. Plans are made. |Cast of Characters=1103, 598 |pretty=ye..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/15
|Location=The System
|Synopsis=Lezard meets with Theurgus about Mikoto Shimizu. Plans are made.
|Cast of Characters=1103, 598
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Diamond, Locus, City of Magic. The source of many innovations both magical and mundane. A place where Science meets Magic, and all the explosions that entails.     An LDF member greets Lezard at the entry platform, and guides him to a shuttle-airship which ferries him as high on the great central tower as it can go. "Just take the elevator across from the platform to the top. Lady Diamond Soul is expecting you."     The LDF member then turns the shuttle away and scoots off into the gathering gloam as the day/night cycle begins to flip.     The elevator ride is rather swift, and opens to an engineer's mess of a workship and lab space. The DCC is standing with hands clasped behind her back, eyes shadowed by the brim of her pointed hat. "Welcome to Locus... we have things to dicuss." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Lezard is always interested in the workings of his fellow mages, especially those with exotic abilities and environments. The City of Magic is absolutely one of those places. The Sorceror of Midgard holds something of an academic interest in the location as he passes through, the man almost sanguine as he follows the guide to the airship, to the tower. He nods to the LDF member. "Thank you. Good work." He says, praising them as he follows the directions.     As he arrives, stepping out of the elevator with a dramatic flare of his cape, he gives a florid bow to Theurgus. "Greetings, Lady Diamond Soul." He says, using the formal title. "It is a pleasure to meet you in your wonderful city." He straightens, smiling pleasantly. There's not a hint of the usual ominous /villain/ behavior that he makes use of constantly elsewhere. He seems to be wanting to be on his best behavior... As best as it can be, anyway. "You have been seeking me for some time. I apologize for the delay. Please, do tell me how I can be of assistance." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus lifts the brim of her hat, and smiles warmly. She then speaks two words. "Mikoto Shimuzu." Spoken as if that's all the explanation required. The Mad Magician turns to one of the workbenches and plucks a shimmering crystal from an examination dias, the field suspending it shutting off a moment later.     "I heard you were working on assisting her with the threat her own powers pose. I offered her my own assistance, and training in the use of Magicks. She suggested I reach out to you." she says eventually, turning back to the Sorceror while the crystal floats above her palm. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Lezard's expression immediately lights up in recognition at the name. "Aha, so you have taken an interest in her... condition as well, then? Wonderful." His eyes follow the movement of the crystal and he tilts an eyebrow curiously, but says nothing immediately about it.     "Indeed, I have been working to research her condition and that of the related entities known as 'Witches'. Her situation is... complex." He sighs. "It is deeply ingrained into her spiritual composition. But you undoubtedly have questions about it. Is there anything in specific that interests you, or any specific point that you would like to begin with?" He glances over at the crystal once more. "I am guessing the artifact you hold will feature in your proposed treatment plans." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     "You are as astute as your reputation suggests." remarks Theurgus, "It does... however without properly understanding the situation, any suggestions I have would likely be either a temporary patch, or even a detriment." the DCC approaches, making a quick gesture with the hand holding the crystal. The item vanishes in a flicker of code fragments, and is replaced by a book. It's a volume on Geomantic magic, onmyouji rites and magicks. "I realize it is of a spiritual nature, so I endevoured to recover a tome missing from my collection on magicks relating to that field." It is, indeed, the same book she took from the library that she and Tamamo raided several weeks prior. "Tell me, what do you know of the nature of her situation, and her relation to the Witch phenomenon." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Lezard chuckles for a moment, enjoying the praise quote obviously. Still, he flicks a hand, reaching into a ripple in space, a little tuck and fold that hides something near him. He withdraws... A book without title. With another flick of the hand, it opens, and dozens of pages flick up, pulling out of the book to hang nearby. Each is covered in writing and complicated diagrams. "These pages hold my detailed research on the state of Mikoto's soul and the nature of her affliction, as well as the results of the initial experiment. Feel free to copy them for your archives."     He turns and looks to the book of Geomancy, and smiles. He doesn't seem to indicate whether it might help or not. Instead, he turns, stepping around Diamond Soul and indicating various pages as he speaks, as if he was giving a lecture. "Mikoto's magic is heavily influenced by the nature of her soul. A receptacle of emotional force and will, her Soul Gem is the container and visible representation of her state. As she expends the energy of her spirit, parts of her soul undergo an entropic reaction that begins to infect her. Miss Rook likened it to a 'fuel rod' and from my knowledge of the reaction, it is apt."     He turns, pointing to another page. "I have found that harvesting the 'higher' emotional energy from a person and transferring it to Mikoto will forestall the process, but there is only so much 'room' in a soul. The negative energy must go somewhere. The debts must be paid. Even I cannot contravene that law."     He pauses, and smiles, adjusting his glasses as they gleam ominously. "I simply find ways to make the best deals." He then goes back to the pages. "The donors, regardless, lack the will or capacity to deal with the accumulated entropic force and quickly succumb. Their psyche collapses in on itself and they transform into the Witch-entity." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus lets her own book float beside her, and she opens a holographic screen which begins to emit a 'scan beam', copying the contents of the pages provided into a locally entangled form. "So it isn't a case of running out of processor runtime, it's a buildup of waste processes that must be purged." the DCC likening it to a local problem. "The gem needs some way of releasing the negative energy to restore balance. I take it there is a local, yet inefficient way of doing so... It seems doubtful that any system requiring such would not have a built in method." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus finds that the information is very, very thorough, albeit recorded from the understanding of an alchemist and necromancer. There is an utter lack of moral or ethical boundaries, apparently, the only restraining concern being the well being of Mikoto herself. The others, well... Not so much.     But he does nod. "That seems accurate." He says to Theurgus. "If there was an efficient way to provide her with more... runtime, as it were, it would make the problem less immediate, but with her reaction to the prior experiment I have not taken to propose attempting to graft additional full souls into her." A pause. "She might find the experience disturbing."     He turns to the book and flips a bit more, more pages appearing. This time, there is a diagram of Witch's Grief Seed. "These containers seem semi-analogous to the Soul Gem Mikoto uses. They are, however, entirely powered by the entropic energy that Mikoto generates, allowing them to effectively 'break the rules' of their magic, as it were. Destroying a Witch, however, allows Mikoto to drain off the energy into the Witch receptacle, purifying Mikoto's Gem. Traditionally, then the Grief Seed is handed over to the entity that she pacted with."     Lezard shrugs at this. "It is efficient... But mostly beneficial for the pactbeast." He shrugs. "Finding an alternative would be extremely useful, but I lack the ability to experiment to find such... At the moment, at least." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     "Do we have an example of this. 'Grief Seed'?" asks Theurgus as her holoscreen continues to copy and collate information. She doesn't seem to mind the lack of empathy, or indeed doesn't even register it. One of her comrades in the Concord is in danger. All other concerns are secondary at best. "I have experience with creating energy containing items, as you are aware." she summons the gem once more. "Resource Crystals contain a large amount of System Resource for use outside of The System proper... Containing this 'entropic' energy may be within my power to achieve. What we then do with these 'artificial Grief Seeds' is open for debate. My priority is protecting our comrade." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     "I concur. Mikoto's protection would be paramount. Even if she finds the process..." A pause. "Distasteful." He shrugs at that. "Regardless, I do not have an example of a Grief Seed. The one I had created with my expriments ended up being acquired by Lilian Rook. She is ever keen to take advantage of an opportunity." Lezard sighs. "I would be most interested to see if you can succeed in such a thing. However, we would need to acquire a sample to base your reseach on." He taps a chin. "Mikoto is seeking out Witches again. Mayhaps we can have her donate her next claim to us for research purposes? Else..." A small smile. "We could always attempt to manufacture a Witch if one does not appear..." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     "That will be our Plan B." stresses Theurgus, in regard to 'manufacturing' a Grief Seed. "If the reports from Mikoto's world are to be believed, Witches are a regular, relatively common and existentialthret. We can likely wait for one to appear and appeal to Mikoto to provide the Seed for our research." The Mad Magician does seem to have some qualms about needlessly causing harm, but she's not against the idea.     "Another way we could approach this is to bypass her Soul Gem entirely, provide her with a whole-cloth power-set which does not require her to expend her own internal power supply... that is what I was going to suggest with the Resource Crystal." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' "Very well." Lezard nods. Plan A is less disruptive anyway, and there's no need to rock the boat further at this point. Especially since there's a number of other boats being rocked by the Sorceror at the moment.     The Necromancey shakes his head at the proposal to use a new power source. "Her soul is changed on a fundamental level. I am not sure if she is capable of drawing on other power sources anymore. It would be dangerous for me to attempt to undo the changes..." He taps his chin. "Still, One supposed /attempting/ would not hurt. But for now, teaching her efficient use of her resources is the main path of improvement at this point. I expect a land like this, with such a focus on innovation amidst having to maintain your own semi-limited resources, would possibly be able to show her some useful techniques." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     "Indeed, however I would like to have a way of restoring spent resources before attempting any kind of training. It would be catastrophic should she need to defend herself and be low or spent of resources." replies the Magician, tapping her chin. "I shall leave acquisition of a Grief Seed to your care. You are in a far better position than I. Meanwhile I shall begin designing a storage medium to contain this 'Entropic Energy', so a device can be constructed afterwards to act as the absorption point once a Seed is available to reverse engineer." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' There is another laugh. "Ah, I get the field work. Very well. I have been wanting to leave my laboratory behind of late regardless." Lezard doesn't seem put out at that, at least. "I will work with Mikoto to acquire a Seed and deliver it to you. Be cautious, however. My experiences with this force shows that it does not... /appreciate/ being isolated. It will attempt to bond to whatever positive forces it can. It would be very... regrettable, were it to break free and begin contaminating the Resource of this land. Use the utmost precautions."     He looks out over the lab. "But I will say this. The aesthetics of this place are quite fascinating. I do not think I would ever get tired of watching the flow of the energy." He chuckles for a moment. "Is there anything else you would like to discuss?" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     "Of course. I will set aside an isolated sub-partition to contain it. I did much the same with the Elemental Plates from Kord's world once we acquired them." replies Theurgus. "We are quite adept at containing such things. They are little differnt to the Viruses we must combat... though caution will of course be the watchword. Only myself shall be allowed access to the containment site, lest a leser Program fall victim to the corruptive influence."     Theurgus turns away, and walks through a rather large amalgamation of seemingly 'junk'. It parts around her like water, leaving only the spot she's standing in uncovered by its mass. "I have heard you took an interest in a crystal tower on Eorzea." she says carefully, turning back to look over her shoulder. "What do you plan, should you secure control of it?" 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     "You are as wise as I hoped." Lezard says approvingly. "Then I can rest easy and look forward to your success."     He turns, his eyes following Theurgus intop the pile of Stuff. "The Crystal Tower? Yes, I had taken possession... somewhat... of the location. I plan to make use of the location and use it as a research envirionment into the magitechnology of Allag. Why do you ask?" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus strikes a pose, covering her face with her hand, spreading fingers so only one eye is visible. "I would ask to join you in that research. Magitechnology is, as evidenced by my workshop, a pet hobby of mine, and the base upon which my Drive's defense forces are built." she sweeps her other arm, to encompasse the 'junk' pile she's stood in.     Doing so causes it to 'assemble' rapidly into a quartet of disjointed, but aggressive looking constructs. "Learning of new ways to utilize such would be highly beneficial." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' Lezard chuckles at that, the dramatic pose matched by another dramatic flare of his cape. "Very well. You may join me in our research. However, I think we will have... Even /greater/ feats of magitechnology to investigate."     He leans in, his glasses gleaming. "How would you like to research the prison of a god?" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus chuckles. It's slightly unhinged... she /is/ Mad, after all. "A prison that can hold a deity would be intriguing, of course. Yes. Let us do this, together."     Then she begins to cackle. KUKUKUKUKU WAHAHAHAHAHA. 
}}

But Thou Must (Shyra)

2020-01-15T11:47:16Z

Remliel:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Shyra visits the saved Finaria and enjoys the ambiance. So why is she sad?
|Cast of Characters=7170
|pretty=yes
}}
The day is pleasant in Finaria. Shyra wanders about the village, taking in the sights and sounds of the simple place. The town is intact. It is a miracle, wrought by the brave hands of those who put themselves in the path of the deadly Evil Knight... Mordred, it seems, is just as incredibly powerful as Linehart was.

She sits among the villagers, watching them mill about as they are wont to do, the light, pleasant music playing in the background. Just... Letting it go. They have time again. She even wanders about, talking to them all, listening to the things they say... Just as they always have.

It never changed. They are the same as they always were. Always have been. It nearly drove her to madness before, but there is a soothing certainty about it for now, a crystalline moment in time. A time of happiness and innocence. Do they know what happened before? What could have happened again?

She pauses at the small plots of farmland, poking at the green sprouts in the earth. She makes happy little noises at the lush little leaves. She knows they will never actually come to harvest, but that's all right. Why did she never notice before? So many questions now without answers. Things have gotten so complicated since she saw The End. So many things that have been done. Still have to be done.

She visits the Tavern again, the jaunty music causing her to hum along as she samples the neverending chicken legs once more. She does, however, refrain from drinking the ale. The smell is quite enough. Her expression changes when she finally leaves the tavern, and notices something out of place. She looks upon the man that is staring at a medallion. He's different... And she remembers. He is the one who they spoke of. The one who knows.

She steps up to him and says, Please come with me. There is a look of confusion for a moment from Jude, but he nods, standing up and following along. Please board the airship. We'll start you a new life in a new place. 

Do you think it would make a difference? All right... Jude follows along, walking with Shyra out of town, but there is a moment at the edge where she stops, a strange look on her face as she looks down to the ground. Jude is already walking past her, not noticing this immediately.

It's when she speaks that he stops. I'm sorry.

For what?

There is no answer.

But Thou Must (Shyra)

2020-01-15T11:44:58Z

Remliel:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Shyra visits the saved Finaria and enjoys the ambiance. So why is she sad?
|Cast of Characters=7170
}}
The day is pleasant in Finaria. Shyra wanders about the village, taking in the sights and sounds of the simple place. The town is intact. It is a miracle, wrought by the brave hands of those who put themselves in the path of the deadly Evil Knight... Mordred, it seems, is just as incredibly powerful as Linehart was.

She sits among the villagers, watching them mill about as they are wont to do, the light, pleasant music playing in the background. Just... Letting it go. They have time again. She even wanders about, talking to them all, listening to the things they say... Just as they always have.

It never changed. They are the same as they always were. Always have been. It nearly drove her to madness before, but there is a soothing certainty about it for now, a crystalline moment in time. A time of happiness and innocence. Do they know what happened before? What could have happened again?

She pauses at the small plots of farmland, poking at the green sprouts in the earth. She makes happy little noises at the lush little leaves. She knows they will never actually come to harvest, but that's all right. Why did she never notice before? So many questions now without answers. Things have gotten so complicated since she saw The End. So many things that have been done. Still have to be done.

She visits the Tavern again, the jaunty music causing her to hum along as she samples the neverending chicken legs once more. She does, however, refrain from drinking the ale. The smell is quite enough. Her expression changes when she finally leaves the tavern, and notices something out of place. She looks upon the man that is staring at a medallion. He's different... And she remembers. He is the one who they spoke of. The one who knows.

She steps up to him and says, Please come with me. There is a look of confusion for a moment from Jude, but he nods, standing up and following along. Please board the airship. We'll start you a new life in a new place. 

Do you think it would make a difference? All right... Jude follows along, walking with Shyra out of town, but there is a moment at the edge where she stops, a strange look on her face as she looks down to the ground. Jude is already walking past her, not noticing this immediately.

It's when she speaks that he stops. I'm sorry.

For what?

There is no answer.

But Thou Must (Shyra)

2020-01-15T11:44:07Z

Remliel:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Shyra visits the saved Finaria and enjoys the ambiance. So why is she sad?
}}

The day is pleasant in Finaria. Shyra wanders about the village, taking in the sights and sounds of the simple place. The town is intact. It is a miracle, wrought by the brave hands of those who put themselves in the path of the deadly Evil Knight... Mordred, it seems, is just as incredibly powerful as Linehart was.

She sits among the villagers, watching them mill about as they are wont to do, the light, pleasant music playing in the background. Just... Letting it go. They have time again. She even wanders about, talking to them all, listening to the things they say... Just as they always have.

It never changed. They are the same as they always were. Always have been. It nearly drove her to madness before, but there is a soothing certainty about it for now, a crystalline moment in time. A time of happiness and innocence. Do they know what happened before? What could have happened again?

She pauses at the small plots of farmland, poking at the green sprouts in the earth. She makes happy little noises at the lush little leaves. She knows they will never actually come to harvest, but that's all right. Why did she never notice before? So many questions now without answers. Things have gotten so complicated since she saw The End. So many things that have been done. Still have to be done.

She visits the Tavern again, the jaunty music causing her to hum along as she samples the neverending chicken legs once more. She does, however, refrain from drinking the ale. The smell is quite enough. Her expression changes when she finally leaves the tavern, and notices something out of place. She looks upon the man that is staring at a medallion. He's different... And she remembers. He is the one who they spoke of. The one who knows.

She steps up to him and says, Please come with me. There is a look of confusion for a moment from Jude, but he nods, standing up and following along. Please board the airship. We'll start you a new life in a new place. 

Do you think it would make a difference? All right... Jude follows along, walking with Shyra out of town, but there is a moment at the edge where she stops, a strange look on her face as she looks down to the ground. Jude is already walking past her, not noticing this immediately.

It's when she speaks that he stops. I'm sorry.

For what?

There is no answer.

But Thou Must (Shyra)

2020-01-15T11:42:37Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/14 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=Shyra visits the saved Finaria and enjoys the ambiance. So why is she sad? }} The day is..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/14
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=Shyra visits the saved Finaria and enjoys the ambiance. So why is she sad?
}}
The day is pleasant in Finaria. Shyra wanders about the village, taking in the sights and sounds of the simple place. The town is intact. It is a miracle, wrought by the brave hands of those who put themselves in the path of the deadly Evil Knight... Mordred, it seems, is just as incredibly powerful as Linehart was.

She sits among the villagers, watching them mill about as they are wont to do, the light, pleasant music playing in the background. Just... Letting it go. They have time again. She even wanders about, talking to them all, listening to the things they say... Just as they always have.

It never changed. They are the same as they always were. Always have been. It nearly drove her to madness before, but there is a soothing certainty about it for now, a crystalline moment in time. A time of happiness and innocence. Do they know what happened before? What could have happened again?

She pauses at the small plots of farmland, poking at the green sprouts in the earth. She makes happy little noises at the lush little leaves. She knows they will never actually come to harvest, but that's all right. Why did she never notice before? So many questions now without answers. Things have gotten so complicated since she saw The End. So many things that have been done. Still have to be done.

She visits the Tavern again, the jaunty music causing her to hum along as she samples the neverending chicken legs once more. She does, however, refrain from drinking the ale. The smell is quite enough. Her expression changes when she finally leaves the tavern, and notices something out of place. She looks upon the man that is staring at a medallion. He's different... And she remembers. He is the one who they spoke of. The one who knows.

She steps up to him and says, Please come with me. There is a look of confusion for a moment from Jude, but he nods, standing up and following along. Please board the airship. We'll start you a new life in a new place.

Do you think it would make a difference? All right... Jude follows along, walking with Shyra out of town, but there is a moment at the edge where she stops, a strange look on her face as she looks down to the ground. Jude is already walking past her, not noticing this immediately.

It's when she speaks that he stops. I'm sorry.

For what?

There is no answer.

Logs 2019

2020-01-15T11:36:22Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{:Monthly Log View|2019}}"

Logs

2020-01-15T11:35:58Z

Remliel:

__NOTOC__
{| style="vertical-align:text-top; align:center; width:100%;"
|
===Transfer a SceneSys Log===
# Go to [http://multiversemush.com/scene this link], then find your scene, and click on it.
# Scroll to the bottom of your scene's page, and click that link.
# Copy the 'poses' part of the page to your clipboard (ctrl-c).
# Click on the link at the bottom, paste the 'poses' into the big textbox, fill in the rest of the info, and hit save.
|
===Create a Log===
To create a log from scratch, just put in the title below, and follow the instructions from there.
{{#forminput:form=Roleplaying Log}}
The advanced version (easier to use) may be more to your liking as well:
{{#forminput:form=Advanced Character Logs}}
|}

===Upcoming Scheduled Scenes===
{{:Schedule View}}

==2020's Logs==
{{:Monthly Log View|2020}}

==2019's Logs==
[[Logs 2019]]

==2018's Logs==
[[Logs 2018]]

==2017's Logs==
[[Logs 2017]]

==2016's Logs==
[[Logs 2016]]

==2015's Logs==
{{:Logs 2015}}

==2014's Logs==
{{:Logs 2014}}

A Journal: Page 1 (Shyra)

2020-01-15T11:32:33Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/03 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=A journal is begun. For what, and why? |Cast of Characters=It feels strange to write things down...."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/03
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=A journal is begun. For what, and why?
|Cast of Characters=It feels strange to write things down. I never did this before. But I think it will be needed.

I need to keep a record, of what has happened... And what will happen in the future. There are so many complicated things that I have had to learn since seeing The End. Since I realized what has happened. But I have made a lot of new friends too. People who want to help.

Will they still want to help when they find out what needs to be done? I... don't know. I hope so. But before anything can be done... We need to go back to the beginning. I will need to find a way to fill the empty parts. Maybe I can get Pazkar to help. He wants to help me... Will he understand what I am doing? Will he forgive me for it?

I'm scared. I don't know what is going to happen. But we have to try.

I must remember to hold RESET before turning the power off.

My world is an illusion.
It must be healed.
}}

6991/CT4: A World of Darkness

2020-01-15T08:38:46Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/14 |Location=Eorzea |Synopsis=Heroes invade the Void in order to prevent the Emperor of Allag from marshalling his forces to destroy the wo..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/14
|Location=Eorzea
|Synopsis=Heroes invade the Void in order to prevent the Emperor of Allag from marshalling his forces to destroy the world.
|Cast of Characters=598, 819, 7175, 7201, 6, 7180, 7206, 525, 42, 1151, 7141
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' LAST TIME, ON EORZEABALL Z:     The heroes make use of a daring and experimental technique to try to brute force a path into the Tower and find themselves trapped in the inner workings of the Crystal Tower. After strenuously experiencing a face to face situation with Allagan architecture and leaving Glasya Labolas Forever Alone, they confront Lezard and Staren just before the summit. Lezard provides a distraction in the form of dozens of clones of G'raha Tia, forcing them to slay the image of their friend. Unfortunately, one of them happened to be Goro Majima in disguise, and a massive battle ensued while Lezard and Staren moved to try to secure the soul of the Allagan Emperor to gain true dominion of the Tower.     The heroes eventually won free after a great deal of pain and struggle, and found Lezard in the process of extracting the Emperor's soul. Through their interference, they interrupted the ritual. Xande fled to the Void, opening a great portal into the darkness while Lezard, incensed, fled with Staren. NOW:     Returning to the top of the Crystal Tower proves to be simpler than last time. The doors are open. Glasya Labolas is nowhere to be found. Nero has everything set up on the top of the Tower, so after enough time for everyone to prep and click on anything interesting, it's off you guys go into that gaping hole of black and violet hanging over the empty throne of the Allagan Emperor. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-M-aN1cFdo 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The transition is much like falling into the ocean, if the ocean was made of shadow and want. After a seemingly infinite time hanging in the blackness, the world resolves around you: Endless swirling night, shattered rocks and earth hanging there with no rhyme or reason. Curling aurorae seethe through the endless night while high above, a burning sphere shines darkly, an gaping wound of antilight pulsing with crimson, an endlessly hungry maw that seems to draw aether around it in a swirling incandscent disk of indigo, providing the secondary source of light for this abyssal hell.     The primary source are wild growths of lightning-aspected aether crystals, shining in a distinctive purple hue as they crackle and slowly ablate energy into the ionosphere that surrounds everything. The party lands on a wide, ornate rock-hewn platform, clear signs of a civilization of some kind. But whatever it might have been, it has long fallen. The void seems to be full of this detritus, spanning a long winding thread through the umbral reaches like it was extruded out of whatever the Void has swallowed over the aeons.     Ahead of the party, veritable flocks of voidsent mill about, imps perking as the sense of fresh, clean, potent aether begins to spread through the land. Great mutated chimerical beasts prowl, and ahriman sweep through the night, their baleful eyes sweeping down to fixate upon you. This is going to be quite a hike. The creatures begin attacking as soon as anyone draws near to them, fighting to the death. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     If someone were to ask Raha right now what his least favorite sensation was, this would rank up there in terms of 'blugh'. The air is wrong. The aehter is wrong. The place is wrong. The fact that there's Stuff in here just tells him that Mhach had some sort of garbage to do with this alongside the Allagans and... yeah this is butts.     That said, he's dutifully striding alongside the rest of his fellow Warriors of Light. For once, not in front. Today he's letting Alruna take up that mantle, as it were. One tank ought to be enough here. Hopefully. Bravura rests over his shoulder, and he strides forward, to meet the scattered voidkin, sweeping his axe out in wide arcs to either shoo them off or send them on their way, if they're not smart enough to stay clear of the Roving Pack of Adventurers. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna has spent her prep time in communion, again, a pale blue soul crystal clenched tightly in her hand while she kneels in front of the throne, singing some kind of song to herself. When she stands up, replacing the crystal in the choker about her neck, she looks focused. Intense. When Nero finally gives them the go ahead, she draws her sword and charges into oblivion. Oblivion is about as welcoming as she thought. The shadows reach /towards/ them, instead of away. This world is hostile to life as they know it; no wonder the Voidsent seem so inimical to the sunlit world. Her soul crystal begins to glow, bathing herself and anyone nearby in a faint - very faint - but comforting light. "Lets not tarry." she says, staring up at the creatures homing in on them. And with that she sets off, lighting the party's way. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Potions: PREPPED. Curvy blade: SHARPENED. Enhancement-granting jewelry: SHINED. Tengu: HAD A FILLING DINNER AND A NICE DESSERT COFFEE. It's go time. "I can't say I've ever been to a plane of darkness before..." Arkae mentions as she looks around, taking in the sights and wondering if she should invest in one of those 'camera' things next time she's on a high-tech world. "Neat," she adds as she stops to examine one of the purple-y aether crystals. "Yeah." She stops to chip some loose and store them in her reagent bag if possible. It's while she's examining a different outcropping that the party comes into aggro range of the dungeon trash. She's a little slow on the draw, but once she realizes what's going on she draws forth her ridiculous curved sword and charges into battle! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' It has been a while since the confrontation with Lezard at the top of the Crystal Tower. Tomoe is here again as ready as she can be, the idea of the void bringing back memories of a very early adventure in her life in the multiverse. She's nervous, to say the least given who knows what this void will be like as she comes up to the portal she will take a moment to breathe deeply. "So I have no idea what's behind this portal but we can't leave the Emperor to run lose who knows what he could do to your world let along with any others. Things like him have a habit of spilling on to other worlds if left alone." Tomoe will then leap through the portal after muttering a prayer. Once she's through the portal she will take a moment for her sense to adjust to this place, she scans around at this seemingly mad place in this strange night place infested with void sent and who knows what else is crawling around here. She has Caliburn in hand as she keeps pace alongside Alruna. The holy blade burns with white light as she'll move to engage anything upfront with Alruna following the light she's leaving in her wake. She will use a mix of sword workd and spells on anything she engages. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris Belthrone had a very good day, before all this. He had a nice, uplifting, light lunch and breakfast. His equipment was repaired, he mended some of his materia on his weapons, he had put a few new feathers on his hat to replace old ones.      This, however, can ruin about anyone's day even if you came here to be a hero to stop a megalomaniac ancient Emperor-Sorcerer from possibly swallowing the entire Eorzean World into an endless night. 'night'. It's probably gonna be WAY colder than any night here.      "Tch." Amelris lets out, tightening his cape around himself to be more covering, shaking his head. "I'm pretty glad that I've had a pretty light meal or else that'd go on the floor, right the hell now."      The Red Mage straightens, looking up and around, following the Paladin and the Warrior. "Keep your eyes open and ears sharp. They know we are here." 

:'''{{#var:7206|Liumi Atma (7206)}} has posed:'''     Liumi did not brave the Crystal Tower to get here, nor did she jump into any fancy holy over a throne. The green-haired Viera, instead, can be found sitting on one of the floating rocks by the entryway of the darkened realm, eyes gazing down through her tinted glasses at the contents of a green grimoire, ornate with golden lining and with half as many bookmarks as there are pages.     She was never without it; that was true the last time any of them met, and the ones before, and the ones that'll come.     It shuts close with a dramatic thump as the group cycles in and upsets the local wildlife. "Right on time but still incapable of entering without breaking, I see. T'was getting lonely, anyway, these aren't much for conversation. And you brought friends, how fortuitous!"     Liumi leaps down to join the arrivals, addressing none of them in particular. The raking claws of a succubus form around her, tainted black like everything else here. They strike at a nearby imp, mostly making a show of the fact the summoner is protected.     A polite bow follows.     "Liumi Atma, at your service. Warrior of etc. etc. and savior of all that is and so forth. I was never one for the titles or the fame." 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga has returned as well, hoping perhaps that she can manage to /not/ die this time. It's a low bar, but it's important to set oneself achievable goals isn't it? She'd come with N'Raha, after reminding him what they'd talked about in regard to the Odin-fury. She's feeling more level-headed today as well. Calm, if not serene. Impossible to be serene with the sort of aether and sense of wrongness of the void. It raises goosebumps on her arms, but she merely tightens her grip on her walking stick as the runes carved along it's length light with a soft, golden glow. She's dressed more or less as usual, a long skirt and blouse, belt around her waist from which hang all manner of charms, a small knife, and a leather pouch. A knit shawl is clasped around her shoulders. You know, in case the Void is drafty. Inga looks up toward the Viera, blinking. "Good day," she greets. "Inga Freyjasdottir. A pleasure to meet you." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     They need to go into the Void and stop the Emperor.     The Void. A plane of darkness filled with demons. Possibly this world's counterpart to a sort of hell or dyval.     But perhaps not as inimical to life as the cave full of magic radiation, or the bottom of the abyssal seas in the underworld.     Given that noone else seems to be taken any precautions at all, the /mere/ precautions of a heavily-armed-and-armored, environmentally-sealed suit should suffice.     Staren awakes with a harness around his armor, secured to a cable leading back to the portal. It was a simple enough precaution to add. He can always remove it if it's a problem.     Staren stands. "Now, if I were an emperor who wanted to destroy the world, where would I go first...?"     Alruna has her own ideas about where to go. Staren deploys a couple of drones to watch the portal home, and then follows. For now, he doesn't pick a fight but monsters that accost the party are met with his arm-mounted particle beams. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' The pitiless void is not quite as empty as advertised. What looks like a worked stone ampitheatre, peeled off the surface of a planet and hurled into this endless blackness, drifts between spires of violet crystal not far ahead. The sounds of some kind of cacophony drift through what passes for air here, distant shrieks and howls coming ever closer as the volume sporadically grows. It turns out that what is taken initially as sounds of torment are, in fact, attempts at music. The shrieks are the torture of stringed instruments, bows put to them by a group of ahriman whose singular eyes are narrowed in concentration. Diminuitive imps attempt to play enormous brass pieces and dark-colored woodwinds as loudly as possible. A few sprites comprised of floating crystals and sparks of violet lightning occasionally ram into surfaces ostensibly meant for percussive purposes with mixed results. In the middle of the ampitheatre, standing on a disk of scarred stone that might have once held some royal seal of another, a figure stands. She's a little below average height for a young lady, wearing a scarlet robe decorated with diagonal golden designs in odd and sometimes outright impossible geometric shapes. Tiny brass bells hang in her long black hair. Her hands are up, apparently making an attempt at conducting this Voidsent orchestra. Whatever they were attempting draws to a shuddering close a moment later. She sighs. "Rest, if you must," Empty Tidings says, voice raised to reach them all and tinged with a distinct note of disappointment. "We will continue until either they arrive, or you learn to act in harmony." "Or I grow weary of this exercise and kill you all," she adds, sotto voce. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The guy in almost ten feet of pitch-black armor isn't the weird part. Nor is the cloak of smoke wrapped around his shoulders, an imperious and flowing mantle. Nor is the red-cross scar visor, glowing with a malevolent and ominous light. Nor, even, is the massive spear, dripping with red energy, carved with ominous-looking runes. No, none of that is the weird part.      The weird part is that just *emerging* out of one of Arkae's jewels.      One moment, there's nothing. The next, the ten-foot Evil Knight is just. He's just standing next to her. He quite clearly emerged from the reflective surface, but it's hard to wrap one's head around *how* he did it - he sort of...bent?...space? Like a sprite unfolding or something.      He says nothing for a moment. Then, a textbox pops up in the air, as ominous, terrible music fills the air. It's the low introduction to a boss, the low, orchestral introduction that will inevitably turn pitched and fast-beat. The textbox appears with a 'bwip.' I am Linehart, the Mirror Knight. My Sphere is Evil Knight.      The textbox disappears with a 'bwip.' He 'says' nothing else.      He starts walking. There is the sense that Linehart is the type to start walking and not stop, a giant, overwhelming figure followed by that ominous music wheresoever he walks. This is a place he has not seen the like of, but he is one who was born to be wicked. This is wickedness itself. He can understand that.      He pauses at Tidings' orchestra.      His red-scar visor stares, blankly.      Then, A fair attempt, my lady. But monsters will be monsters.      With that, he goes walking again, regardless of if the rest of the party is keeping up. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae pauses and stares for a moment. She looks down at the jewel on her charm bracelet that Linehart just merged out of. Just to be safe, she pulls it off of her bracelet, stows it in her bag, and then replaces it with a seemingly identical jewel a moment later. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     This is in fact a horrible place for anyone in general. This is not a place that bears life. The entire place feels... dead. There is no movement of life here, the rich aether of Hydaelyn missing in this place. The people present practically radiate light themselves compared to the null-space that this area is. Some of that light slowly drifts off into the nothingness towards that dark sun. Being here too long is probably not good for one's health. Weirdly, it's not cold... Probably owing to Ice Aether /also/ being pulled into the Void. Still, chipping off some crystal is relatively harmless, even if it does release a potent zap of electricity as Arkae does so. blasting up into the darkness in a blazing multicolored aurora. It is breathtakingly beautiful, but one cannot help but notice that it weaves in the direction of the black sun. Gained: 1X Lightning Crystal! Why some of them are floating around is probably more a trait of the environment and not the crystals themselves. Staren checks the way out. It seems to be stable enough, but leaving the door open continues to risk things /slipping out/ which is the reason why you lot are here in the first place. This place is said to be the source of the Voidsent and the place sure seems to bear that theory out. There's an almost innumberable number of varying familiar shapes and sizes... And also unfamiliar ones, ones that have never been seen before. Alruna and Tomoe lead the way, the durable adventurers doing their job to take the brunt of the attack and give the others the freedom to act. Arkae finds that she has plenty of opportunity to use flanking attacks to gain those needed pluses. It takes some time, but the group effortfully murders their way along the ruins, passing strange and unusual machines that pulse with gravitational distortions, bouncing from platform to platform on platforms that are Allagan-/like/ but seem to have some subtle differences, running along walkways forged of aetherial light. They come across Empty on the way as the numberless horrors valiantly fail at creating something approximating noise that appeals to Tidings. Whether they stop to pick up the Exalt or attempt to avoid her aggression range is up to those present.     One way or the other, it is only a matter of time before the group launch themselves onto a massive platform. There, a dark replica of the Emperor's Throne rests, the massive Emperor resting his head on his knuckles. At his feet, a huge feral-looking augmented canine rests, covered in glowing scrollwork armor as three heads rumble with power. His other hand strokes along the creature's neck absently, as if the horror was its pet.     Perhaps it is.     "So, you hound me even to the ends of existence. Very well." The Emperor rumbles. "If you did not, the end would be hounding you in return. Regardless... You are all fools." He straightens, rising from his throne. "I bear an ancient covenant with the Dark. It bends to my will, and it shall devour you all. Once you are gone, we shall rise again, and rule over a world of endless night!"     He chuckles. "Alternatively, you may join me. Yield, and swear fealty to me, and I will allow you to serve the Emperor in the new world to come. Make your choice." 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' When they approach Empty Tidings, Inga looks curious as to what she's trying to do, but greets her with a bow. "Greetings. It would be a comfort to know you will be joining us against the Emperor. I do hope that is your intention," she says to her. Linehart gets a very puzzled look from the Seer, who actually can't read what he's saying. That's a bit frustrating. The trick with the music though...she likes. The party doesn't dally long however, and Inga must try to keep pace (already a struggle). The Emperor. So, that's him, is it? She'd sort of died before she could get a glimpse of him last time they were here. He's very...tall. "Greetings, Emperor. I'm afraid we will not be joining you," she says, the glow of runes on her staff growing gradually brighter. She reaches for the knife at her belt, ready to begin with some wards. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Discordant music tries to set the tone for their mission, but only really succeeds in making Alruna wince. She takes a raking slash across her armour from an Ahriman behind her for being distracted. THANKS EMPTY TIDINGS. She slashes, a slice of blue aether erupting from her sword as she dispatches the monster and attracts even more to herself. The paladin is a candle that draws horrid abyssal moths to its flame, but that's her job. Linehart's arrival is a welcome sight - she recognises him, but Liumi is a new face to her. N'raha can vouch for her, that's just fine as far as Alruna is concerned. The paladin does not want to recruit Empty Tidings. Through a hard, constant slog, they fight their way to a larger ruin. Alruna lands heavily on the edge of the arena after being propelled by one of those bizarre machines across the gap. She ambles forwards, giving herself some time to get her breath back and flick her sword, scattering a line of putrescent Voidsent ichor across the eroded stones. "You truly expect any of us will bow knee to you?" she calls out, steadily approaching the Emperor and his pet. She seems incredulous. The white-haired paladin tenses herself and casts her shield with a wide, dramatic gesture of her arm. The black kite shield spinning in a boomerang-like arc to strike the towering Emperor's face as she charges forward with a warcry. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Xande is giving his pitch, giving his speech, and N'raha is just... carefully keeping an eye on the 'arena' as it were. Empty Tidings gets a confused look for her attempts at merry making, and... well. Okay.     Alruna is already stepping in as other party members make their... commentary on whether or not to join Xande. That seems as good a response as any to N'raha. The catman grunts, slams the visor down on his helmet, and charges in right after that shield, aiming to skid to Xande's side and start in with the heavy swings of that ax. No need for words. Not with this creature. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Ruins? Machines? "If this is just... the place voidsent come from, why are there ruined buildings here? The voidsent don't seem like they built it." Staren records a cursory examination as he passes them, but he doesn't tarry behind the group.     And they find the emperor... sitting on a dark throne. "Wow.I gotta say, this is seriously impressive. Well done." He says with his actual mouth. His radio transmits to the others, <Guys, we need a way to ...disconnect him from the darkness.>     "Well... it's an interesting proposal... but no."     He joins in with the others, firing his beams. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Linehart spares a few glances at the place. It's not largely his concern - he's here to put a stop to whatever Lezard Valeth's plan is, because that's the sort of thing he's Supposed To Do. That's what Heroes are supposed to do. Thwart the Evil Wizard. Or the Evil Knight.      Something something, not so different.      His heavy armor does not make footfalls. Not a single 'clang'. Not a single 'click.' He's not even audibly *breathing*. The only noise that echoes from him is his music - slightly trepidacious, but not fearful, just...a bit slower. He's not stupid. He's seen that he's no longer the most powerful thing around. This is unfamiliar territory, and it's dangerous, and he's human. He's not some sort of unflappable god-monster. At the same time, his resolve is steeled. His heart is hardened. He looks upon the void and sees himself, and that is enough.      The Voidsent that come at him aren't even given the benefit of his magic. They're simply crushed. One hand comes out to dig into giant swollen eyes, crushing them to bits. One fist smashes into a passing imp. He grabs a passing Voidsent on the way to attack another party member and drives it into the ground so hard it bursts. The crystalline ground cracks.      He is as strong as his enormously oversized spear suggests.      Finally, after a long journey, they stand before the Emperor of Allag. The red-cross visor bears nothing. His music remains resolute.      And then it gets *loud*.      KAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! This is indeed the highest comedy!      The armored shoulders shake with laughter. No sound comes out but the 'bwip' of the text and the 'bwip' of its disappearing.      I had sought merely Lezard Valeth, for reasons all mine own. But I am not the sort to ignore the prattle of meaningless ghosts from times long-gone. Begone with you, old ghost, unless you yearn for the heel of my boot against your back. You, who seek to build a new world, shall know me now, and tremble.      And then he raises his hand.      Darkness gathers in Linehart's hand. No, not gathers. He *grabs* the Darkness, physically, forcing it into his palm. It *writhes* in his hand. It hates him. It fears him. His music reaches the pitched and heated part, the fast-moving indicator of a battle joined. I am Linehart, the Mirror Knight. My Sphere is Evil Knight.      Look upon the terror of the end of the world!      The Darkness, clutched tight in his hand, begins to coil around it. The shadows that lurk on the edge of consciousness - Tenebris!      His hand opens.      The Darkness leaps into the sky. Above, the black sun ripples.      And like the fist of an angry god it comes down upon the Emperor, a black solar flare that hits the ground and ripples across the field and-      -damages absolutely nothing but its targets.      Huh.      That's weird.      Linehart tilts his head at Liumi. She said to hit him with More Dark. Best plan anybody else has had! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe would find all sorts of Voidsent before her, ones she's seen before. Others she's never even though were things that could exist, she does not think too hard she cuts the path ahead alongside Alruna. Yet they are always more and they have to find where the Emperor went. The man behind the Allagan Empire. It does not take as long as she'd thought it would. Once bouncy pad later she will make her way. "I will not serve you. I'd throw away everything I am if I were to do such a thing." Tomoe has he blade out the Mourning Wall with its ever flickering names across its surface. She has made her choice she will chant golden runes dancing about her body, her sword flares up with holy magic burning bright white and then she'll close in on the emperor to get to melee and strike out with the blazing sword. 

:'''{{#var:7206|Liumi Atma (7206)}} has posed:'''     "Miss Freyjasdottir," Liumi extends her bow, not missing a beat to repeat the name correctly. Politely, she grees all those who greet her. And helpfully, she provides her familiar's claws to their climb, never faltering.     Reaching the throne and the massive Allagan man, Liumi listens to him, waiting for the offer. Tempting! And yet her idea tempts her more.     He'll either burst, or put on a spectacle that'll justify the trip entirely. Win/win.     "I must sincerely apologize for my companions' rudeness. Of course, you'll understand I too must decline. This is a little bit too... homely for my tastes. Yes, let's go with that word."     She taps into the ambient aether.     "Now then, let us begin."     Three massive maws rise around the platform. Tall, fixed, without teeth, and in their mouths, voids of their own. They begin sucking in the air and the aether, with such force that the ground chips and breaks in places, and the wind almost seems sharp enough it could cut the emperor and his pet in passing. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      The World of Darkness is a lot more populated than Amelris ever figured that it would be. Of course, it's mostly voidsents and some sort of... Far Eastern-dressed woman playing symphony with a bunch of Imps and a Summoner they know that's /already/ here ahead of them but, HEY. Them the breaks. It's a little suspicious, is all. So is Linhart's apperance, coming straight out of a polished gem... which, you know, make sense considering what he is. "Impressive trick." Amelris comments, stepping up along.      The Red Mage adjust some things in his pocket. It's just some Aetheric readers and recorders, like hell they'd miss a chance to record some of this place's data. It probably will result in some corrupted data but what the hey, it's worth having it around just to see how it's gonna do.      More impressive and downright worrying is of course the replica of the Dark Throne, with the big, strange three-headed dog... and the Emperor himself.      "A mighty generous offer, your majesty." Amelris comments, facing the Emperor, cape draped over his arm, facing the Voidsent Allagan. A flash of light manifests his rapier, the gem floating up to dance on top of his knucles of his hidden arm. "But I'm going to have to refuse as well."      The Miqo'te grabs his gem tightly, energy tightly condensing from his body into the instrument, thrusting his rapier out and connecting it to the guard, unloading out a spread of purple red energy at the Emperor, then taking a flourish, spinning on himself like a dance-step forward, unleashing another.      "I will certainly not allow another Calamity to be brought by your damn insanity!" 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' +1 Electric Aether Crystal! Arkae will have to look at this later. As the Emperor talks, Arkae reaches down and pulls a pair of her faintly glowing potions from her belt, uncorks one, and chugs it. The other one is tossed underhand to Staren. Should he drink it (and presumably he does), he'll find that his outer layer of skin is quite a bit tougher. Quite a bit. He could probably try to hammer a nail through his thigh, and the nail would break first. (Presumably he does not do that, at least not, now, but it's a cool party trick to keep in mind for later.) Curiously, for how much more durable the potion would make him feel... it doesn't seem to feel any less flexible. Magic. It Just Does (trademark pending). The effects of what Arkae took aren't immediately clear. "How about no," she says as she draws her ridiculous curvy sword. "You got beaten back here once before, and you're relying on... whatever darkness thing is going on here. Whatever power you have to lend out is clearly not your own." "Besides..." she adds as she crouches. "I'm on a job." And then the Tengu leaps across the distance, closing in with a speed and a jump length that shouldn't really be possible, and then swinging her sword on the way down before landing neatly without breaking any bones (Magic: It Just Does (trademark pending)). 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Tidings turns away from the orchestra. The 'musicians' are milling about, talking to one another and generally looking exhausted from the experience. They have probably been here for a very long time, doing exactly one thing. None of them look like they want to try to make a break for it, or join the hordes of fodder throwing themselves at the intruders. They stay precisely where they are. She watches the procession move past her. Linehart gets a long look as his ominous self strides deeper into this realm of darkness and foreboding. Her expression is thoughtful, and there's a tiny hint of a smirk to go with it. She eyes each of them in turn, inclining her head minutely to each she recognizes -- even people like Staren, whom has on more than one occasion been a thorn in her side. "The Emperor is... a contentious figure," Tidings allows. "I would be quite pleased to join you, but I am afraid I have a prior obligation to attend to." She bows to Inga, seemingly apologetic. "Good fortune to you, though. I expect you'll need it." The heroes du jour pass her. Tidings straightens, idly smooths a bit of wrinkled cloth, and starts to follow them. The Voidsent start to disperse, and she whips around, arm extended. "Practice," she commands. They settle, clearly nervous, and the noise starts to rise again. Tidings ends up in the back line of the group of heroes. She looks around for a moment, considering. She sighs. Tidings reaches back and gathers her hair into a tail, the bells chiming gently as they end up looped in a helical pattern around it. Flashes of might and magic appear ahead. They do not move her. After a moment, she lowers her hand, takes a deep breath -- There is a sensation like throbbing bass, a sudden pulse, a heartbeat amidst the roiling darkness. An aura of bruised color rises around her. Obsidian-black chains materialize, draped around Tidings' shoulders like a mantle. She raises her right hand, and the Darkness seems to char her skin to smooth black stone. "Emperor!" Tidings cries. "Please, allow this humble servant of Darkness to fulfill the obligations so owed to thee!" An eruption of black flame begins to manifest, centered on Empty Tidings, presently sitting in the back line of the group of heroic adventurers. Inga is closest to her, and the waves of ink-colored fire leech heat and sensation as they roll towards her like sea-foam striking the shore. Tidings isn't looking at the seer, though. She's staring at one of the people charging right in, practically at the Emperor's feet, with eyes like cold chips of flint. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga nods to Empty Tidings before they move on, a slight frown furrowing her brow. Something is not right here. If Empty Tidings isn't here to help them...but what reason would she have to help him? Is she simply here to observe? Inga doubts that very much. She's still puzzling through her words when Empty seems to prepare for battle, and suddenly Inga is being set on fire. Dark fire. She hisses with surprise, taking her knife to her arm with a quick slice, she flicks a ward around herself. She is about to ask Empty precisely what the fuck, when she notices her eyes are not on Inga but... Inga follows her gaze. "Honestly," she says, exasperated. "What is this about?" she asks Empty, throwing another blood ward accross the room to N'Raha. He'll know the familiar feeling by now. Warm, invigorating. Inga looks back to Tidings. "Whatever this is, could it not be settled at some other time?!" she asks, flicking her blood out again while the wound is still open--this time, offensively. A spray of blood that appears to be, well, acid. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     "It behooves an Emperor to allow his lessers to show wisdom, especially when they might be of use. But it is unfortunate that you lack the vision required." Xande rumbles back to Inga and Alruna. Unfortunately for Inga, while the Emperor does not aggress on her, the massive dog does, the huge thing unleashing a howl before it lunges, charging and snapping at her with a massive triple-bite!     Alruna, however, gets right to the point, not only defying the Emperor but opening with a classic Tank Combo. The shield smashes into the massive man, driving him backwards a foot with a grunt before he hauls off and unleashes a devastating fist strike that crashes down upon the Paladin with a bloom of dark energy.     N'raha has axe, will travel. The mighty berserker catte launches forward with his axe and cleaves right into the Emperor, opening a wound along his side. It would be a lethal strike on anything else, the blood flowing freely... But the Emperor does not seem dissuaded. He raises a hand and sweeps it in N'raha's direction. Nothing seems to happen immediately... However, the counterattack doesn't come from the Emperor.     It comes from the side of the battlefield, a massive purple beam blasting across the field and vaporizing anything in its path. The path of the doom swathe rips up the ground, atomizing the ground in exploding waves. The source? A massive figure that looms out of the Void, a female figure of jaundiced, alien yellow withe dark, dead eyes. The energies of the Void pulse, swirling around it as it exhales deadly Dark. "The Cloud of Darkness." Xande intones. "Ever-hungry being of the Darkness, and my servant. Behold my true might, and despair."     But there's more beams on the field, and Staren has plenty. He unleashes a barrage of blasts upon the Emperor, the energy strikes burning Xande. He rallies immediately. "FOOL!" He yells at the science cat, and slams his fist downwards. There is a glowing wave of purple beneath him for a moment before it spikes upward, repeatedly blasting up into his position and chasing him across the battlefield. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Linehart makes a dramatic appearance! Something seems odd, looking between the Emperor and the Evil Knight, almost as if they might share some kind of distant kinship in some metatextual fashion. But the moment is lost, and the Emperor and his hound of Hell are blasted by the power of Dark, the Emperor seething with crackling energies as they cascade off of him. Cerebrus fares a bit less well, the creature's flesh having been seared by it. "You proclaim yourself to be the terror at the end of the world? HAH! Perish before the might of true power!" At that, he pulls a hand back and simply unleashes a burning line of deadly burning destruction directly at the enemy knight. "I, XANDE, WILL CAST YOU DOWN!"     Tomoe also rejects the Emperor. "Your loss." He says simply, but even as Tomoe rushes in to cleave into the Emperor, adding another deep cut to his crystal-veined flesh, the Cerebrus muscles in and lashes out at her with a mighty tail swipe, apparently seeking to intervene in her attempt to commit regicide.     Liumi calls up some rather... SETTING APPROPRIATE summoned monsters in order to attempt to strike out at Xande. The draw of aether is intense, beginning to cut Xande off from his sources of power. Even here, one must have aether, and to strike at his power is to strike at him. "You think to meddle in the power of the Void? BEGONE!" as he calls out, the looming massive Voidsent heeds his beckoning, burning beams slashing through the Atomos... And also Liumi's position for good measure. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     As one might expect by now, the Crimson Duelist has no master but his own heart... And fashion sense. The Red Mage unleashes overwhelming crimson force at the Emperor, blasting towards him... But he turns, swepping the massive beam of burning death into the magic and disspating it with raw force. "Foolish trickster, witness true power!" Even being near the beam hurts, as Amelris finds out from the scorching corona.     Arkae is fast and danger. The tengu blurs past Xande in a classic technique, the strike cleaving through the Emperor and resulting in a florid and dramatic roostertail of blood from the painful blow. "Ugh!" He groans. "Perish in fire and death!" A cluster of yellow-green bursts of aether rushes up around Arkae, surging for several seconds before it promptly detonates in some kind of... MAGICALLY CHEMICAL fashion. Probably interesting! Probably painful.     Empty Tidings, however, swears allegiance to the Dark. Xande laughs. "Excellent. There is /one/ of you with vision and ambition! Come, slay these interlopers beside your Emperor, and be richly rewarded!" Tidings, of course, goes unmolested by the menagerie. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Just her luck, she's being attacked by a dog as well. While she's focused on Tidings, the Emperors beast dashes in and leaps for her, taking a good bite of her shoulder. She gasps with surprise, turning to stab the beast with the knife in her hand, the first defensive motion that comes to mind. "A little help please!?" she calls to her allies, as she's being ganged up on and she is absolutely not of the sort of constitution to handle such things. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     The Tankbuster comes in, even if N'raha isn't the tank and... well. The Particle Beam SLAMS into the side of the cat, those blood wards ablating the damage more than a little, thankfully. The catman sets his feet, glares up at Xande, and then turns into the blast, his axe lifting up to SWIPE at the beam and deflect it further. The scorching attacks have blistered his armor, but... nothing too damaging just yet, apparently.     But Empty Tidings is also stepping in, and.... bother. He glances over to the seer, sighs a quiet prayer, and then turns to charge the Cloud of Darkness.     How one will fight a cloud of something is unknown, but Raha's done weirder.     He snarls, steps into things, and then races across the arena, moving to... uh. Shoulder Check the cloud and then bash some aetheric energy into the damned thing with his ax. "Come on! That TICKLED. HIT ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT." 

:'''{{#var:7206|Liumi Atma (7206)}} has posed:'''     "I will meddle if that is my wish, emperor, much as you have. Had we shared the same teacher, you might even see the method to my madness."     Three maws, each feasting on the tainted aether of the Void. A lance of light shreds through one, leaving two, and forcing Liumi to hop back, prefering to let a sleeve be scorched than her entire body.     "Your servant, is it? She seems more the master type. No matter! Aether is aether." Dark aether continues flowing. Some to Liumi - and it's quite flagrant, the purple-black glow sticking to her for seconds at a time, longer each time it does.     The two remaining Atomos maws turn; one towards the Cloud, one towards Xande. Aether is being forcefully pulled from the former to the latter, the second maw spewing the aether (and plenty of large rocks) towards the emperor.     But it does seem like Liumi is keeping some for herself. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' The Aetherochemical explosion is interesting! If Arkae was more of a scholarly type, she'd be taking data. As it is, she's simply taking damage. She rolls back, patting the various chemicals, fires, and chemical fires out of her clothes. "Argh, you..." The tengu rallies, selecting another potion from her belt... it gets uncorked with a flick of her thumb, and she raises it... only instead of chugging it, the sickly yellow substance gets viciously and viscously poured over Arkae's blade... ... and then she wastes no time in jumping back into the fray, swinging at Xande once again. All she needs is a little nick of it to get into his system. The stuff on her blade goes by different names in different places, but 'Five Step Poison' is a pretty common description. As in, the target won't get more than five steps. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Tidings breaks off to fight Inga. It's noted, but Linehart is preoccupied with Xande's force. The line of burning destruction comes in.      Linehart's hand comes up to meet it.      It's ridiculous. The enormous emperor's raw fire, here in his place of power. His overwhelming magic. His extraordinary strength.      And it stops at Linehart's hand.      The heat of the attack rolls around him. The fire licks at his night-black armor. It pushes him backwards against the ground as he braces himself. Sparks scrape along the purple platform, light cracking in the ephemeral darkness before it is utterly crushed. The fire roars.      And then Linehart simply throws it aside.      The fire hits the ground. It bursts. And the Evil Knight begins walking again, as a strange white number pops up over his head.                                     187                                          The music kicks up louder. A second beat underlays itself underneath it - a second iteration of the introduction of the song, looping together to form a deep and dark undertone as he walks.      I am inevitable.      The Evil Knight grabs another handfull of Darkness, squeezing it into submission. As you struggle for meager gains, I wait at the end of the world. As you build, I wait at the end of the world. Your time ticks ever closer. Your tiny victories, your brief Darkness. None of it matters.      For I am the rocks on the eternal shore! Crash against me, and be BROKEN!      The Cloud of Darkness stirs anger. The music picks up a *third* beat, the fast bridge, turning the music to an ominous, angry clamor that sounds very little like the original. He violently twists the purple Darkness in his hand. The aether moves, being bent into shape by physical violence rather than mystic might. This is not mystic technique but raw force, raw power, like the hammer on the anvil, beating the power into submission.      The writhing Darkness seems to scream in his grip. The Evil Knight walks forward, heedless of incoming attacks, heedless of templates and their attacks.      The endless black beneath the broken earth - Umbra Terrae!      Linehart smashes the Darkness down into the platform.      The platform cracks. The cracks start to spread. They spread from the center outwards in five directions. They draw a pentagon around the field. And then, from the five points of it, darkness starts to pour, fountains of shadow in the shadow realm.      Under Xande, the Darkness is a geyser. It spikes into the sky and spills against the roiling nothingness. It spills against the black sun. It spills against the Cloud of Darkness.      And then it's gone again, and nothing has been hit at all.      Again, that's weird. That's really weird. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren looks at the potion. Arkae's a partner in the Concord, so he retracts his visor long enough to drink.     And then Cloud of Darkness attacks. The void fire bursts up around him. He jumps out and the fire's there TOO. He jumps out and IT KEEPS HAPPENING! His armor is scorched all over, almost comedically.     Amelris calls for concentrated fire on the Cloud of Darkness. Staren's not sure if that's really a good idea to let anything distract them from Xande, but... at least he can launch a few missiles without worrying about catching allies! They explode into great fireballs near Cloud! 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "I like to think of myself less as a trickster..." Amelris begins, sadly interrupted by the STREAM OF LARGE LASERS, the Miqo'te lifting his cape and sliding back to try to avoid getting blasted by most of it. Sadly, 'most' of it is about what he DID get blasted with, sliding back with most of his clothing scorched, his tail scruffed and one of his feline ears inside out. Look at that. He's even fluttering it annoyedly trying to get it back into it's ordinary shape!      "And more of the a, shall we say, a person with /flair/."      Amelris combines Gem and Rapier, snapping a finger and aimed in the direction of the Cloud of Darkness. A lot of this is VERY BIG TO TAKE IN and he'll probably have a bigger freak out reaction when he's not going to be here but right now, they need heroes. They need the Warriors of Light.      Speaking of light, a spinning, wisp, yet very visible makr appears in the general vincinity of the Cloud of Darkness.      ...Quicly followed by the Red Mage casting forth a flurry of a large fireball then thrown up a rain of sharp stones, aimed at the wispy tart in the back. If they can get rid of the artilery first...! 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna just barely catches her shield again in time for Xande to drop a fist that's nearly as large as her on the paladin. The rotted flagstones crack beneath Alruna as she's driven to one knee, and has the wind knocked out of her sails. And then disrespected with a backhanded swipe that hurls the paladin across the battlefield. She rolls to a halt, somehow missing the multiple antiparticle beams tha the Cloud of Darkness breathes across the arena. Alruna stabs her sword into a crack in the stones as she drags herself to her feet. Through the free action of comms, she understands that she needs to shift her focus to defend Inga from... the conductor? The battlefield is becoming a chaotic mess. Inga feels a veil of light surround her as Alruna claps her hand on the wise woman's shoulder. "I'll protect you," Alruna promises, stepping forward to interject herself between Inga and Empty Tidings. Stand among /her/ casters, will you? Alruna surges towards her with a sweeping shield bash, her sword glowing again as she tries to nail Empty Tidings with a flurry of swings. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' There is a level of appreciation for the Emperor he simply says your loss and accepts Tomoe said no. She also knows she's going to be in for a world of pain. That pain does not come from one of the ost ripped mages she's ever seen directly. No, it comes to form his ever-loyal three-headed hound. She's knocked back by the void sent dog, she bounced across the ground for a moment before she stops herself, rights herself and is on her feet again. "I'm not done yet." She wants to go for the main target, yet she understands the issue of adds, with Empty Tidings joining on the side of the Emperor. Things are about to get dicey, the group isn't all from one organization after all. Then Amelris Belthrone starts doing what Tomoe would call raid calling, this is a good sign to her. With the adds coming in fast this fight got a lot more complicated, the basic plan is focus fire where possible and not die. Tomoe will race for Cerberus, she will leap and bound trying to get on the beast back and will drag he blad as she goes, making for the heads where she'll attempt to make a strike for the back of the neck, if she ven even parkour her way up there that is. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' "It's quite simple, really," Tidings explains, while the menagerie comes out to say hello. "A slight upon my honor was perpetrated by your feline friend in Marama's Fell. Just this past season, my master has demanded I fulfill oaths of service made in his name." Empty Tidings' casual explanation of why she's trying to murder people right now of all times is interrupted by part of her face being splattered by burning blood. She bites back most of a shriek, turning the sound to a harsh laugh. She wipes it off on the back of her blackened right hand. Ugly red marks are left behind, though her hand seems strangely unaffected by the acidic blood. "A taste of the Primordial Sea, then!" She makes a flicking gesture of her own, the motion mirroring Inga's, casting a spray of what smells like salt-water at the witch. Hers burns like Inga's acidic blood does, but leaves an oily sheen of horrid poison along with it. Then she gets run over by a knight in shining armor. Empty Tidings flinches away from the glowing shield as it comes into her peripheral vision, knocked a few steps back by the sudden aggressive swings. Unlike the caster she seems to be, she does not fold like wet cardboard: instead, she slides into a defensive poise, parrying swordstrokes with her blackened hand and turning deadly blows into grazing hits. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced," Tidings asides to the newcomer. She shakes her right hand like she was getting something off of it. Flakes of burned flesh scatter. A surface like polished black stone is revealed, inlaid with intricate and beautiful brass filigree. "Please, allow me to-" -punch you into next week. Tidings swings a telegraphed blow with her stone hand, easily blocked but not quite as easily evaded. A shockwave of sickly green follows the point of impact from both her bold step forward and where fist meets metal, mail or flesh. The force is disproportionate to the seeming power of the strike, threatening to toss Alruna like a rag-doll. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The cat came back the very next round. Normally, one would think that after what he took he would be a goner, but he just wouldn't stay away! The Miqo'te, however, is separated from his favorite healer, which proves to be an issue, but not so much that he won't unleash a mighty shouldercheck into the massive Voidsent that is empowering Xande! The huge thing takes the hit, blasted backwards and disincorporating. However, even as it vanishes, the massive Cerebrus pounces upon N'raha, attempting to chomp down on the Warrior and slobber all kinds of unpleasant gastric juices onto him!     Tomoe tries to interrupt the dinner chow time of the Cerebrus, but that isn't stopping much. The blade bites deep into one of the necks, and there is a howl of pain as ichor flows freely. In a paroxysm of pain and rage, the armored plating cracks and snaps off of it, shattering into aetheric fragments as it scatters over the battlefield. Now free, the huge thing shakes Tomoe, flinging her off into the puddle of nasty acidic slobber.     Liumi, meanwhile, is taking full advantage of the situation. Despite it being the Void, the specific situation here is rich in rare forms of aether, and the Viera is not one to leave that opportunity unchecked. The Atomos do what they do best, being inhumanly powerful draws of matter and aether alike as the Cloud is diminished slowly, parts of itself being sucked away... but even as Xande is bombarded, he roars. "A fool that does not recognize when they are outmatched. You are not the only one hungry for aether in the Void!" As he speaks, the massive Voidsent reappears, beginning to inhale as well! Massive competition for the draws of aether in the area begins, conflicting forces culminating into powerful aetheric storms that wrack the battlefield! 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Arkae, in the meantime, knows that there's more than one way to deal with a powerful foe. While not as flashy as the others, to ignore the Tengu is folly as Xande might find quickly. The blade bites into the Emperor, and the potent poison begins surging through his system with a grunt. While he might not die in five steps as reputed, it is clear from the coloration of his flesh that the poison is taking hold...     Only for Arkae to be targeted by another blossom of purple energy that spears up through her position, chasing /her/ around the field now! Run, run, or you'll be well done!     Linehart unleashes the power of villainy of the old waters. Xande looks to the Mirror Knight and scowls as his attack is stopped and turned aside. "I have never heard of a Mirror Knight. You are simply another adventurer, one with rude airs. You claim to wait at the end of the world, but here you lie, forestalling it. You are lies and hypocrisy, Evil Knight. Even as you proclaim your superiority, your world will crumble around you!" The massive dark earth rushes up around him, crushing at him... But he does not break. The Cloud is swept away, scattering... But it does not break. When the flood ends, they remain, damaged and bruised... But already, the damage heals before Linehart's eyes. "Witness the genius of Allag, fool! NOW BEGONE!" There is another spike of aetherochemical material that rushes up around Linehart, a catastrophic surging pool of power that erupts into a sizzling burst... And worse, seeping into his armor, attempting to scourge his flesh with a poison every bit as potent as Arkae uses. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Staren, meanwhile, doesn't need complicated tactics or dramatic speeches. He has the power of Science and Anime on his side. He fires missiles into the massive inhaling thing, and fortunately for him, the surge of aetheric flow makes it easy to score a hit. Almost /too/ easy, as the detonations cause more ruptures in the flood of power, potentially dislodging him and drawing him in too!     Amelris just can't be kept down. Even with the problem of his initial attack, he just deals with the problem in another way. Red Magic is nothing if not flexible. He focuses on attacking the Cloud, smashing the massive Voidsent with his magical powers. The rocks aren't helping to keep the entity intact, the rocks chunking through it and tearing it apart before the semi-ethereal entity reforms. As he does so, however, Amelris joins the others who are scathed by the atheric surges roiling across the battlefield. It's almost like she's charging up for something... 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Well this is NO GOOD. N'raha manages to disspate the cloud in front of him only to get CHOMPED and then some by this bloody great doggo monster thing. Three heads isn't better than one, no sir. He flails a bit, smashing at the beast to fend it away, but it's rather hard to do so when you're being bitten by like... many gnashing teeth.     By the time he gets free, there's... there' sblood flowing and ichor getting into cuts and N'raha isn't feeling very good. At all. But he's not about to stop. Not with his partner tied up with... well, someone who's supposed to be a fellow Watch member, but... he'll sort that out later. When things aren't trying to eat him.     There's people harrying the Cerberus, and N'raha's going to help. This is a tank swap, after all, and the tank snarls and turns in place, before swinging hard for the fences with the flat of his axe, laying down a FORBIDDEN TECHNIQUE!      

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Holes are torn in the Cloud, but it bleeds darkness all over everyone! Staren's armor is eaten away at, starting to look like he got splashed by lava or something. "Aaagh!" He flails to try and shake the darkness off.     "Fool! My assessment stands, that you've even reached this point means you've already failed! You should be off gathering power, not just throwing the same old stuff at us and hoping it works! You've never heard of a MIRROR KNIGHT? What ELSE don't you know? Fool..."     The scathing tone is somewhat undercut by Staren running around flailing on darkfire. Staren readies his laser rifle and fires a triple-pulse burst of intense, burning energy at Xande!     "Did you know light can be used as a weapon? And I don't even need magic to do it! Let's see what it does to one who's made themselves so close to darkness, shall we?" 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The aetherochemical assault hits him hard. The poison tries to seep into his armor. Worse, he can't just grab it and stop it, or flick it aside. The Mirror Knight is doused in a poisonous, acidic spray, chewing at his armor.      And then his foot comes down, silent.      The poisonous spray erupts around him. It splatters across the ground. Though his armor drips with the stuff, none of it has made its way inside. He is, indeed, an older form of monster than Xande. Xande can be poisoned. Xande can have Vulnerability Stacks.      There are no vulnerability stacks here. Poison doesn't work in the old school.                                     323                                         You have never heard of a Mirror Knight. That is so. I am the only Mirror Knight.     As you are the last Allag.     Fear not. You shan't be for long.      The mirror flash is all he needs. Just a single point of light in a dark world. A single reflection in the shadow. The spinning mirror in the sky. The glint of light from the Paladin's shine.                                MIRROR KNIGHT                                      The words appear above Linehart rather than in front of anyone else. It isn't a textbox. It's an attack pop-up.      A second two-dimensional Linehart just kind of unfolds from the mirror.      The second Linehart is in all ways identical. But the visor is on the wrong side. The smoke cape flows the wrong way.                                   TRAHENIL                                   The Reversed Linehart catches the mirror in one hand.      The other hand rises. Light gathers in the duplicate's palm. In the roiling darkness it churns with light, pulsing with power. The reversed Linehart squeezes down upon the light to grasp every bit of it in this corrupted world - from the Aether around him to the glimmer of the mirror, it all comes to him.                                   LINEHART                                        The original Mirror Knight, meanwhile, grabs the Darkness once more. He strangles it. He chokes it into submission.                                     BOTH                                          Two textboxes pop up.      The twilight that rises in the world's last dawning - MANE AD VESPERUM!      The light and the darkness crash together.      Above, the black sun sets. Waves of shadow pour across the field, hammering against Empty Tidings and Xande. Waves of light trickle from the edge of the sun, a glimmer of what it once was, what it once may have been, what it could be again in some long-distant future. It is a tidal wave of mingled shadow and glory, of an art no longer found in the waking world. There are no templates here. There is only missing, or destruction. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' When she feels a hand on her shoulder, she turns to glance to Alruna, nodding to her, her lips pursed. "Appreciated," she says, looking relieved to have the Paladin lending her aid. After Amelris informs her Linehart needs a mirror (she's a witch, she's not even going to question this) she replies, then sheaths her knife for a moment to reach into her pouch. A moment of digging and she pulls out a small handmirror, the sort you get in a makeup compact. "Here!" she cries, and throws it toward Linehart. Its a decent enough throw. Hopefully, he can catch. Inga turns her attention back to Tidings...and sighs heavily at her explaination. "I thought it must be. I cannot say I might not react similarly. Proper respect is important to me, and it never hurts to be polite. However, I'm afraid I can't let you hurt him," she replies, fierce protectiveness evident in her mien. Tidings comes back with a burning liquid of her own. She brings her arm up to protect her face, and feels it sizzling through the fabric of her clothes, and even through her ward. It does more than burn. Inga knows she's also been poisoned. "Tch...a good technique," she says, then wets her fingers with the blood from her shoulder. She scrawls a quick rune upon her arm where the poison entered, chanting lowly as she draws the poision out and casts it aside with look of disgust. She turns her attention back on Tidings, and begins to chant in a low, raspy tone, her eyes fixed on Tidings as malevolent energy gathers. "A curse, for your poison," she says, and flings her curse at Tidings. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' So Xande doesn't die in five steps. Arkae would call that false advertising if she wasn't the one who brewed that poison herself, so she simply decides not to tell anyone and to keep all that to herself. But... it does work, at least a little. That means Xande is a mortal. ... Well, actually Arkae never really suspected otherwise, that Xande wasn't mortal or anything. But anyway. If he's mortal, he can be poisoned. Arkae glances down into her bag, to see what she's got in store as far as poisons- - and utterly fails to notice the purple fire about to spear up from beneath her until it's already happening. Once again, the tengu is on fire. She rolls to the side quickly, trying to get out, and then keeps rolling, desperately trying to put herself out. It's only somewhat successful. Wisps of purple smoke drift upwards from the burnt tengu, her armor in tatters and her feathers not faring too much better. But she's alive, she's standing... ... And she's facing down someone susceptible to poison. The substance she applies to her blade next is colorless. Odorless. Nearly indetectable, only glistening very faintly in the light. But once it's applied, Arkae handles her blade with considerably, considerably more care, with the same deference a soldier handles a live grenade. She approaches Xande, trying to get past his notice while all the flashier attacks are going off. All she really, truly needs once again is one small nick. It's possible Xande won't even feel it. The cut won't even sting. ... Yet. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna's response to being suckerpunched by Tidings is to do exactly what's expected and block the punch - with her gauntleted hand. The sickly green detonation meets a shockwave of golden light erupting out of Alruna, her soul crystal burning like a tiny, tombola-sized sun in the midst of the ever-present suffocating gloom that pervades the Void.                               ACTIVE TIME MANEUVER                               There's a sense of pressure in the air as the two forces vie. The paladin's eyes blaze - metaphorically, not literally - with Determination as her arm shakes, forcing Tiding's hand back. Sunlight radiates from Alruna, briefly forcing the shadows to flee past the limits of the arena, briefly turning back the Darkness long enough, briefly giving Linehart the light he needs to execute a tremendously powerful Mirror Knight technique. The point of force bursts, throwing Alruna's hand back. She winces, shaking out her shield arm with an exhalation. "And now we /have/ been introduced." she replies to the Exalt, satisfied. Then she attempts to run Tidings through with a sword thrust. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe has been trying to go for the thing's neck but it does not go as well as she'd hoped still it's done something as she crashes into the ground. Her backside which hit the ground is now a mess of red wireframes. She's also in a fair bit of pain too as she pushes to recover to her feet. She triggers several skills that cause her to glow with a faint green aura for a moment when they are activated. Still, there's a lot of magic, a lot of chaos and worse something seems to be charging up for something. The waring from Amelris is heeded, so she's going to get as far away from the face of the Cloud of Darkness as she can. It's not somewhere she wants to be even as Tomoe is fleeing from this? She will chant a spell firing bolts of light spells at Cerberus as he rampages about and the Emperor as well. "This is just insane!" She's fought powerful beings before, but three like this at once? That was very new to her. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      There's only so much someone can do when they are against such overwhelming odds. The Red Mage throws his cape up in a vain attempt to protect himself from the incoming aether disruption. It's not just because his cape is pretty good that he's doing it -- it IS magically reinforced to be a sort of flexible shield. Many of a Spellcaster's armor is in a similar way. It's not just as resilient as a big, heavy, metal suit of armor.      "Shite!" Amelris snaps out, his body crackling with the haze of the darkness gathering around them, focused into the Cloud herself. "Get out of her face!" he cries out, spinning his Rapier Rod in his hand, pointing it at the very large Voidsent to swing at her, arcing himself to the side and leaps off his own swing.      It's as bizzare as it sounds.      The end result is Amelris sliding up in the air in a wide, deep arc, landing quite close to the edge into the eternal darkness. That was close but by the way he's keeping himself up, it was WELL CALCULATED and EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL! 

:'''{{#var:7206|Liumi Atma (7206)}} has posed:'''     "You think me ignorant?" Liumi says towards Xande, watching the Cloud begin drawing aether in as well - and taking more than a small tax on her. That's not a contest of strength the Viera could win on a whim. But maybe with a distraction, before there starts to be more than just pain involved in the aether suckfest.     "I am well aware of the /hunger/, emperor!"     Her book snaps open, pages cycling through until she halts them midway through. A glance down, and the book shuts again.     The glowing taint of the dark-aspected aether detaches from Liumi, taking the vaguest of humanoid shapes. It twirls a staff, sending a ball of darkness and fire straight towards the Cloud's open mouth.     The twin Atomos maws reorient themselves in response, to fully contest the Cloud's claim to the aetheric clouds gathering.     "You've secluded yourself in your tower for far too long, emperor. You cannot plan to fight what you do not know, no matter how overwhelming you think your powers are." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     It is in fact NO GOOD. Cats don't look all that heroic when they're covered in acidic slobber, after all. N'raha is left kind of in the lurch at the moment. He feels really really bad... At least he isn't shrinking yet. Right? RIGHT? Still, the axe comes smashing in, trying to crash the Cerebrus out of the way... And the axe slams into the Hound From Hell, knocking it clean over in a Herculean impact! There is a triune howl of pain that hangs over the battlefield, a terrible ululation that evokes sensations of loneliness in those who listen too long... But Staren isn't having any of it. He castigates Xande both with harsh truth bombs as well as laser beams. The triple-shot of energy blasts into Xande, causing his head to snap back and recoil visibly as he is blasted and put on the back foot with the potent strike. "If you think that your arrogant powers will overcome the infinite Void, you will be destroyed for it!" Meanwhile, Linehart duplicates himself and shows that he is the key to the twilight. Light and darkness crash across the battlefield, blasting the Cloud, Xande, and Cerebrus among others. Cascades of damage number popups roll across them as the effects do, but the cumulative damage seems minimal compared to prior strikes. "Twilight is the domain of the Void as well. You will not destroy us in such a manner." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Arkae darts in, swift as a crane, silent as death. The blade nicks Xande, barely parting his flesh. It's enough. There is no immediate reaction. The Emperor doesn't even seem to notice what is happening yet, his attention elsewhere. Just a little bite from a mosquito, right? Nothing to worry about. For now. Tomoe is warned by the perceptive Amelris, and she gets back away from the Cloud. Will it be enough? Probably not with the scale of destruction being wrought here. Beams of light strike the fallen Cerebrus as she backs off, seemingly to safety as she adds a bit to the damage. Amelris warns everyone. He sees it. He knows a tell when he sees it. There isn't much time to react. This is going to get ugly. Real ugly. He lands close to the edge, barely avoiding toppling off into the endless abyss! He can look over the edge and see it. It's pretty. But probably not so pretty that you want to be lost in it forever. He scores a quick strike on the Cloud as he goes by, very stylish! Liumi continues the tug of war with Xande, fighting over the resources of the Void. She unleashes a dark power, striking at the Cloud and causing it to consume something that doesn't agree with it. There is a dull detonation, and the Cloud swells up.... And Xande laughs. "All will be destroyed in the Flood." A moment later, Xande, Empty Tidings, and Cerebrus vanish... Before the Cloud expels a massive wave of purple doom beams that refract and blast every inch of the battleground. The enemies fade back in afterwards to witness all the number popups. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' The sucker-punch does not go as expected. Light rebuffs Darkness, the strength of the Paladin's soul withstanding such an underhanded strike. Empty Tidings rebounds, backpedaling another step and shaking her suddenly smoldering hand as if stung. She looks at Alruna with a contemptuous expression. "Yes. I suppose we have." Everything happens at once. The sky turns to darkness and light, split and then fused together by the mirrored villains suddenly facing her. Empty Tidings looks up as it all comes crashing down, a tremendous outpouring of energy that sears the stone she stands on. Her right hand snatches at the descending darkness -- Blinding light consumes her. The shroud of darkness, pulled around her like a blanket, burns away in an instant. The power of the combined forces drives her towards her knees -- but it does not force her there. She keeps herself standing through nothing less than sheer spite, roaring in hateful defiance against what befalls her. The light vanishes. Darkness is cast aside, the hungry Void swallowing what's left. Empty Tidings, burned and battered, still yet stands. At that moment, Inga flings understanding and baleful curses back at her foe, and the Infernal... ...smiles? A sword-thrust takes her in the side. Tidings staggers. She swats at something in the air with her flesh-and-blood hand, the malevolent energy of Inga's curse intercepted and sent flying towards the Mirror Knight, the imposition of a ruinous end approaching like an unerring missile. At the same time, Tidings grasps at the blade of the sword piercing her with her stone hand, tightly holding it and looking past the Paladin at her charge. She shrieks. Emptiness erupts from her eyes and mouth alongside a spatter of dark blood. A void-within-the-Void yawns open, a spear of blighted nothingness that swallows breath and annihilates life. Inga is poised on the receiving end of it. It is the manifestation of killing intent meant for someone who simply cannot die. Empty Tidings coughs wetly. She lets her head loll for a second, eyes swiveling to find Alruna's. Her free hand gestures at the wound and the darkening cloth. She speaks slowly and deliberately, enunciating clearly: "I. /Just/. Got. This." Baleful green radiance, the light of a foreign star, burns across the back of Tidings' black stone hand. Glyphs of flame form words of awful beauty, and the already-ruinous skein of fate shudders in terror. The sighted know what has happened, the words resounding in the minds of those attuned to Fate:                               THE MONSTER IS HERE                               She steps forward, tearing the blade out of her side with a puff of inky black smoke and a flash of emerald-green embers instead of a gout of blood. She's larger, standing taller, physically more imposing than she was a moment ago. She throws herself at the Paladin with a reckless shout, attacking her shield and using it to vault herself over it, intending to land behind her and duck under the expected counterattack. She seizes whatever she can: arms, legs, armor, weapons. Her fingers bend metal. Her hands rend steel. Flesh and blood and bone are really no greater an obstacle, should she get her hands on them. 

:'''{{#var:7206|Liumi Atma (7206)}} has posed:'''     "All shall be consumed, yes," Liumi agrees. "Including you!"     It's a gambit. A reckless move unlike her. She doesn't usually put herself at risk. Never has. But something about this place just might be doing more than making her glow.     The summoned 'Black Mage' as it were pulls back towards her. The two move together, and the gaping maws of the Atomos duo suddenly blink in and out of existence, to stand in front of the summoner and her smaller summon. The incoming blasts get sucked right into them - and the maws desintegrate, the aether flowing right into Liumi and the mage.     With visible, obvious pain.     And a laugh, however faint?     "This should suffice. Revel before a TRUE lord of the Void, emperor! Take unto you all you can drink of the Void, 'til your flesh bursts and nourishes the beasts you call servants!"     The black mage breaks apart and all of the aether gathers into one shape. A winged devil, sleek, black and red. Or the image of one, anyway. Deep red runes trace around the entire arena, before the image of Diabolos unleashes its destructive and malady-filled blast against Xande and his menagerie. The debuffs are awful and they're honestly not the worst part of it. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Ow. Wave of darkness. Ow, ow, ow. This is bad. It looked like Arkae got the Mosquito Bite poison into Xande's system... but if the whole group dies before Xande does... well, it'll all be kind of pointless. ... Well, technically they'll have dealt with the threat, but everyone dying will still kind of suck. The tengu takes stock. She's low on health... low on prepared potions, too. But that Cloud of Darkness is hitting pretty much everything in the arena except itself. Arkae pauses. It's hitting everything in the arena except itself. Except itself. "Cloudwalk!" she shouts needlessly as she breaks into a run, grabbing her last prepared potion from her belt and then chugging it. She reaches the edge of the arena, and then she leaps- - aiming to land and take cover on top of the Cloud of Darkness *itself*. This is a good idea. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris saw it coming. It wasn't enough.      The Miqo'te lets out a loud cry of pain at the enormous wave of darkness unleashed out at them, the purple doom washing all over the battlefield. It burns. It digs into the flesh, sapping at his Aether inside him. There is that searing, gripping primal fear that squeezes the heart. The very basic fear of darkness, a darkness deeper than the darkness night. Belthrone falls to one knee beneath the flood of darkness, gritting his teeth, his bright red colored outfits tainted by the purple of it all.      Yet, a light deep within lingers. A that light sooths and warms. A light that fortifies. That bolsters.      Amelris' body glows slightly as he pushes himself up, the crackling puff of darkness around his body sapping at his form, his blade glowing with an inner light. His yellow feline eyes glowing in the dark as he takes a staggering step forward.      "I DEFY YOUR AMBITIONS, FALLEN EMPEROR!" The Red Mage shouts, pushing his gathered inner energy into his blade. "WE DIDN'T STRUGGLE FOR THOUSAND OF YEARS AFTER /YOUR/ EXCESSES JUST FOR YOU TO COME BACK TO RUIN IT ALL AGAIN!"      "I SWEAR ON IT, AS A CRIMSON DUELIST, IT SHALL NOT COME TO PASS!" Like a bright arrow, Amelris slides over the ground from the very edge of the abysses, slamming into the Emperor. He follows up with a wide, upper swing, leaving a trail of perfectly balanced mana cancelling itself out, throwing it's essence into the blow.      He spins, take a step back then charges back in with a blinding flurry of thrusts, each blows like a comet before leaping upward, taking a wide, deep swing left, up and then right.      This is Red Magic, to be certain. However, there is more at work, here. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     The Doggo is gone, but now there are lasers. Too many lasers. Too many... things. And There's still the matter of Inga being so far away for him to reach. That's... well. His blood is boiling, his hackles raising under the armor, but... he promised. He promised and he's not... dipping.     But that Odin's Rage is RIGHT THERE and it's leaking out. Red flames, that dark awful Wrath starts to build up around him, glinting off his battered and scorched and busted armor. The catman plants his feet again, dashing back across the arena to chase down Xande and get closer ot the action with Empty and Alruna and dammit why is she even here doing this. He dumps his anger and his rage into his arms, his axe, wills the heavy blade to swing hard and swing true, as he leaps up and high and tries to drop the damn thing on Xande's head in a massive overhead arc. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' The void-within-a-void opens and tries to suck out Inga's life. It is very nearly successful. "This is REALLY a bit much, isn't it!?" she shouts. Tidings knows she can just kill her. She'll be out of the way for a little while. Even with Alruna, she doesn't think she can stop her. Inga looks over toward N'raha. She draws her knife, opens a new wound, and flings a large burst of healing his way. So...there? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "I don't have to overcome the infinite void. I only have to overcome as much as YOU can use at once!"     Which turns out to be a tidal wave of darkness. "Oh COME ON!" Staren puts up his forcefield just in time to get swept off the battle arena!     ...     Staren flies up over the edge, on darkness fire, forcefield flickering, and armor plating cracked all over and falling off in places, brittle, blackened husks crumbling away. There's additional layers to the power armor, like the musculature and the sealing, though. Staren plinks the Emperor and Cloud with single laser pulses, just trying to keep the pressure up while he comes up with a strategy. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Well, things are getting very spicey at this point the Emperor is showing just how dangerous he is and somewhere in the back of Tomoe's mind? There is a sense of respect for the Emperor calling back up the moment the party showed up. Also some level of fear at how dangerous the backup is proving to be. Tomoe attempting to get clear does save her from being dropped by the full force of the attack. Not being in the middle of a wave motion spell, ups one's chances of survival quite a bit. She's back on her feet she knows she's not got much left in the tank and she's going to have to put it all to use all she's got left. Tomoe is now breaking into a run, for the Emperor. She'll try to dart in and out as she goes, trying to deek past any of his allies to get to him. From her logic? Bringing the Emperor down should hinder his minions a lot, and she knows if she can't take much more? Her allies are not in the best state likely as well. She will vault banishing the Mourning wall to her inventory as she goes she takes Caliburn in a two-handed grip. Tomoe rapidly closes as Caliburn blazing with a holy fire still as she goes. "We're not done yet, Emperor." Tomoe's boots move across the ground then it happens she only has a few sections to act her wings flare to life shining a bright red light in the void a she makes for the emperor flying right at him and she's chanting as she goes. She only has a few seconds of flight and she's going to use them for all she can get out of them. If she gets to melee range, she will drive her blade into the ground causing a massive burst of holy magic to explode out from the point of the blade's impact if she's lucky she'll connect with the Emperor if she's not even if he's close the blast may still catch him and then she'll pull the blade back for a large swing forward and then and upper slash causing a wave of fire. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Arkae Does The Mario. It's effective, but maybe less than Arkae would hope because she's a speedy tengubirb and not a fat Italian Plumber. It's a weird sensation to drop into the waving hair of the Cloud. It might be almost comfortable were it not totally alien.     And if the back of the Cloud's head didn't yawn open and try to suck Arkae inside. That might be inconvenient. The Cloud's hair lashes about, attempting to batter the birdwoman into the all-consuming hole.     Staren flies up high above the battlefield, using his science to keep out of the way as he peppers the battleground with blasts from his lasers. Suppression fire scorches and sizzles his targets, the damage adding up.     The Crimson Duelist, meanwhile, survives the Flood through power or happenstance. He uses his magic, his craft to put all things in balance. He slashes up and down, cleaving a burning red line through Xande. He moves to try to throw the Red Mage back with a sweep of his fist, but the spry Miqo'te vaults over the strike, cleaving into him over and over and over again, slashing through him with enchanted blade strikes that quickly whittle down his incomparable defenses. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     "ENOUGH!" Xande roars. Around one hand, a set of Allagan symbols unfolds, and he gestures through the air. "Even the remnants of Allag will be enough for the likes of you! BEHOLD!"     Outside, the Crystal Tower surges... And then darkens as a massive beam of energy fires into the Void. The blast of overwhelming aether strikes the battlefield, being soaked up rapidly by the Emperor and Cloud of Darkness. They surge, the Emperor glowing as the Cloud rises up. Ancient runes radiate out from Xande's position, beginning to make the platform heave and shudder.... KA-THUMP.     Xande's eyes widen. "What..!?" He hisses, his concentration faltering in a critical moment the same time his heart does. It is in that moment N'raha buries his axe into Xande's forehead, a fell cleave indeed. The impact cracks his head backwards, a sizzling fist rising as he seems to REFUSE TO JUST DIE no matter what horrifying damage is dealt.     Tomoe charges, ready for one more defiance of the darkness. She leaps forward, plunging the blade down into the ground as the holy light erupts, blasting the Emperor and driving him to one knee, the man finally beginning to show signs of flagging. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     But then Liumi does something... unexpected. The aether gathers, and the Summoner calls forth something altogether unlikely for someone in her business. The Lord of the Void, Diabolos rises, a potent manifestation of the being that unleashes a truly ruinious wave of Dark upon Xande. There, he reaches out, gasping, reaching to the sky. "No! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!"     There is a flare of black power, surging to a cleansing white as the energy is released harmlessly, a soothing wave of warmth as the Cloud disincorporates and Cerebrus melts away into shadows... And Xande?     Xande lies there on the floor, a spreading pool of blood beneath him. "If only..." He gasps. "If only Dalamud still hung in the sky, then..." Blood sprays from his mouth as he hisses, coughs, rattles... And then falls still. The Emperor is dead. Those present are given some precious moments to collect themselves, a kindness before a deep thrumming rumble begins rolling through the entire area. Oh, looks like that was a load-bearing Emperor. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna can admit to some trepidation as Empty Tidings treats the sword sticking out of her side as more of an annoyance than a real problem. She follows Tidings' leap overhead but can't turn in time to stop the Infernal from wrenching her arm back. Metal twists and shrieks, crumpling under Tidings' fingers. Pain shoots down Alruna's arm. Her light flickers and weakens. That earlier burst drained her aether, and it's immensely more difficult to summon it a second time. Tidings exacts payment with a shuddering whimper of pain from Alruna as something cracks. She's already running on an adrenaline high from the fighting. Her armour is the only thing keeping her arm from bending the wrong way under Tidings' dreadful strength, and that will not serve as a barrier. Alruna's sword clatters on the stones as she screams. Some pugilist's instinct kicks in as she resorts to the most desperate tactic she can think of, springing backwards to try and crush Empty Tidings under her own weight against the flagstones. At the very least it puts them both on the ground and into a grapple contest that ends with Alruna's breastplate torns away, exposing the leather buff jacket beneath, which is stained red with her blood from a raking slash the Infernal gave her. Alruna skids backwards after finally managing to disentangle herself, her shield arm hanging limply. She stands up, breathing heavily, retrieved sword glimmering faintly with aether. She eyes Empty Tidings warily, while a more important battle's final blows play out behind them. "Linehart?" she asks, not taking her eyes off Empty Tidings. The Emperor screams his final denial of his fate. "Have we... are we done?" 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The beams hit everywhere. And unlike Linehart's, this isn't just for show. It's real. It rakes across the stage.      Linehart's hand comes up to meet it.      His other hand meets the other.      They fracture. They fractal. Lights around both Lineharts flicker and twist, splitting into countless beams. They grinds against it, standing their ground. It pushes against his armor. It glints off their forms, a light show in the darkness. It-      -it completely irrelevant as Tidings crashes into him while his defenses are down. The double takes a massive hit. It's basically carved right through the duplicate. The duplicate ripples and fades out, but the damage is transferred over, the big numbers popping up over Linehart's head one after another. One, two, three. It's a staggering hit.      But he stands back up anyway.      There aren't any more words. This isn't the time for words. Instead, he turns his palm over. Light starts gathering again. More, and more, and more, and more. It's a radiant light hovering over his hand, a blazing, glowing aurora wrapped around his dark gauntlet. His red-cross visor flares with power. He's on his last legs, drawing straight from his own HP. He's going to stumble when this is done. But he will not present himself falsely. He will not show himself as anything less than what he claims to be. He is inevitable. Even pushed to this point, he will not break.      The light burns bright enough to push back the darkness.      The light that dictates the time of origin!      The world disappears. The battlefield goes black. Not black as night, not black as shadow. It becomes nothingness. Darkness. Absolute, unending darkness. Everyone can still see each other, can still see the geometric maze that is the World of Darkness, but there is no light, not even a speck, no darkness, not even a shadow. No platform below them. Nothing at all but the infinite void before creation.      Slowly, streaks of light start gathering around Empty Tidings. Slowly at first, but as they build, they build faster and faster, like entering a science-fiction hyperspace.      They are compressed into one, a brilliant, tiny bulb of light near the center of each of the targets.      Linehart crushes the light in his hand.                                       FIAT LUX!                                        The world explodes into light. There is a deafening, impossible roar, a sound that blocks out sound itself, as much lightwaves as sound, as much radio as noise. It is a cosmic birth pang as stars burst into existence, as galaxies go whirling past, as suns are set alight careening on their promised paths. In the middle of it all is Tidings, in the middle of the whirling, overly-dramatic rendition of being hit with the creative energies of the Big Bang itself.      And then it fades.      And, again, nothing has been done to anything on the field.      Okay, that's *trippy*. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Arkae drops out of the disappearing cloud of darkness, quite a bit worse for wear. "Well, at least it's over-" The ground rumbles. Oh, it's a load bearing final boss. Yeah, that's... not unusual in her line of work. "Staren!" She leaps, pulling out two vials in midair, holding one in each hand, simply holding them shut with her thumbs as she shakes them up. There's no time for niceties like proper corks. "OPEN UP!" There's no time for niceties here, either. She simply shoves one of the potions of haste into his mouth while downing the other, and then takes off back the way she came. 

:'''{{#var:7206|Liumi Atma (7206)}} has posed:'''     The specter of Diabolos remains not one second longer after its attack bathes the arena in dark flames. And with Xande dead, the realm rumbles. Liumi adjusts her coat and tie, brushing her hair back.     How uncharacteristically savage and reckless.     Good time, though. Solid 8 out of 10.     Rather than escape with the rest of the party, she simply slips behind the massive throne as it begins crumbling and breaking; what's left of it, anyway. It's a pretty good parlor trick, because she's not there anymore by the time everything's collapsing. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris lands, staggering back on his feet, rubbing his head. Well, that was an onslaught, something that he about expected things to go out and be. Did they actually manage to do it? They did. They really /did/.      "Yeeeeeeeeeeeep. We did." The Red Mage, reaching up to his ear and pop it back correctly, wriggling it and sheathing his rapier. "And it seems like that destroying the rulers of this realm of existence is clearly leaving us with one last present!"      He adjusts his hat, pops his collar. "By which I mean: RUN."      Turns out Miqo'tes can run fast. Must be that whole 'predator species' thing. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The Emperor goes down, hard, Atam summons som3thing that looks like it walked out of Her world's image of /hell/ and everyone else unloads with a great deal of power and the Emperor goes down. She doesn't have any time to enjoy her handy work. For it's time to get the hell out of here now. It seems the late Emperor was holding things up and now the whole place is about to come out She will turn about and move to leave back the way the entire party came. "Let's get out of here." 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     For his part? N'raha smiles as Xande goes down. A day's work is its own reward. Even though...     He turns to spot Empty Tidings still rampaging out there in the middle of the field, having done seious damage to Linehart and Alruna and Inga and...     And now is not the time to finish this. Rather, the cat Warrior growls, shoving down at the Odinsrage and charging across the field, racing to scoop up his Seer, and charge right past the Exalt. "We'll discuss this later." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Xande falls. Staren lands on the platform and takes a few breaths, looking at the Emperor's body with the pool of blood slowly expanding under it, wordlessly.     And then everything starts coming apart. Arka shoves a potion down his throat before he can explain that it's his armor that's damaged, he doesn't NEED healing-- oh. It was a haste potion.     He picks up the end of his tether, singed off by Cloud's first attack, and offers it to anyone who needs help getting out. "Hold on tight!"     Then it starts retracting, pulling back to the portal, and Staren runs alongside! 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Empty Tidings flings a bolt of voracious emptiness at Inga, who complains about things being a bit much. In response, Tidings hits her a second time, and the witch ceases to be a problem in short order. It's really an inconvenience for Inga, and kind of spitefully satisfying for Tidings. They'll hash it out later, she's sure. But first: the Paladin. Tidings does her best impression of a thresher. Alruna gets thrashed, and, in return, puts up a hell of a struggle. Tidings is a rumpled and bloody mess afterwards, hunched forward with a monstrous gleam in her eyes. The heavy black chains she's lugging around shift, one end snaking into one hand -- The Big Bang explodes around her. Tidings shouts another terrible curse in the middle of it. The sound of glass breaking echoes around her. When the birth of a universe clears, she's obviously on fire, clothing smoldering and expression grim. She drags that chain out, violet light flickering down the length. She advances one step, then another, motes of starfire drizzling onto the stones beneath her feet and still eating away at the shadows that surround her. Xande is felled. Tidings looks up. The chains fizzle and burst, fading into fragments that blow away on the wind. Deep breath. In... out. Empty Tidings stands straight, sighing. She fusses with her hair and her clothes for a quick moment, setting things as right as they can be under the circumstances. N'Raha charges past, and she flashes him a dazzling, red-toothed smile over her shoulder whilst he flees. She turns back to her other foes and claps her hands together. "Obligation fulfilled," she announces. "I am officially off-duty, thank hell. That was miserable!" Empty Tidings rakes her fingers through her hair, shaking it out, her inexplicably intact bells chiming spritely. She produces reddish leather gloves from somewhere and pulls them on, offering her (left, flesh-and-blood) hand to the somewhat maimed Paladin she was just trying to take apart. "Come along; this whole space is about to close in. Do you need a hand getting to the exit?" Mood whiplash, thy name is Tidings. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      Tidings takes a step forward. Linehart is standing there. His cross-scar visor stares at her, light still flickering within it. He is spent, but will not say it.      She stands down.      The Mirror Knight turns and disappears through the shards of the mirror his duplicate dropped. He simply walks into it, the collapsing World of Darkness around him, and disappears in an instant. It is more than a little unsettling. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna stares blankly at Empty Tidings. Her shield arm hangs loosely by her side. Her fingers are clenched around her sword in a deathgrip, shaking slightly. She just Looks at Tidings. "/Hells/ no." She takes to her heels, sheathing her sword and just running after the others at full pelt, to hell with the pain in her arm. 
}}

Shyra

2020-01-13T06:26:14Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{CharacterRedux |NameOnMUSH=Shyra |Color=#0099FF |Char_id=7170 |Img=https://imgur.com/kzOW6hX |FullName=Shyra of Finaria |Gender=Female |Species=Human |Theme=Last Illusion-1..."

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Shyra
|Color=#0099FF
|Char_id=7170
|Img=https://imgur.com/kzOW6hX
|FullName=Shyra of Finaria
|Gender=Female
|Species=Human
|Theme=Last Illusion-1
|Chartype=OC
|Active=Active
|Function=The Healer
|Faction=Paladins
|Rank=4-Chevaliers
|Ranktype=Member
|Quote="I'm always here to help. Please, let me do everything I can."
|PAge=20
|AAge=Unknown
|Aging=Yes
|Height=5'2"
|Hair=Pink
|Eyes=Purple
|Song=https://youtu.be/qYDYvPGJZOA
|Profile=Shyra is a cheerful, shy practitioner of holy and healing magics, designed to be an archetypal healer and support character for the game Last Illusion, the dream of a dying company that was never released. She is always quick to lend a helping hand with anything someone might need help with, and is willing to take on practically any burden one can ask for. Her healing magics and assistance are always on tap. However, the game ended, and now she wanders the Multiverse, looking for people to help. Despite the archetypal demeanor, she sometimes seems to reveal a deep bitterness beneath, a discontent that drives her on while she keeps her party intact and healthy.
|Defining=DESTINED HERO:
Shyra is one of the destined heroes of her world intended to save the world from the forces of evil. This provides her with certain protections.
Time Loops: Shyra is able to reset time to a prepared point in order to undo events and make an attempt at resolving them in different ways.
Immortality: Upon death, Shyra reappears at the entrance of the area she died within, alive. Repeated deaths in a short period of time will cause an accumulation of glitches and errors that will eventually permanently kill her.
|Significant=HLYHLR SPHERE:
The Holy Healer Sphere allows for a broad spectrum of healing and restorative magics.
Share Powers: Shyra is able to use her powers to benefit herself or others, providing healing, blessings, and temporary magical enchantments to any who need them.
Heal Self: Healing is the core of Shyra's ability set, giving her the ability to magically heal almost any damage.
Cure Self: Shyra is able to dispel common combat afflictions as well as being able to remove curses, unnatural mental influence, and possessions.

HLYHLR SPHERE II:
The Holy Healer Sphere provides the ability to banish what forms of categorized evil that her world possesses.
Attack List - Ranged: Shyra possesses the ability to use holy-elemental magic in order to attack her enemies. These take on the theme of beams or bursts of light in various shapes.
Bane - Undead: Shyra's attacks and magic are especially effective against the undead.
*Incapacitation: Shyra can use paralyzing and sealing magics to nonlethally disable a target. The target is left unable to move or resist for a few hours, less if someone dispels the magic.

HLYHLR SPHERE III:
The Holy Healer Sphere brings with it a broad array of utility powers as well.
Buffs: Shyra can provide a variety of combat improvement buffs using her magics as well as temporarily increasing overall physical health and stamina.
Damage Reduction: Shyra can use magical barriers to reduce incoming damage of all types to protect herself and others.
Flash Movement: Field Shaping: Shyra has the ability to warp herself and others to specific locations, generally settlements or safe locations near the entrance to dangerous areas or specially secured and prepared areas within.

JRPG Conveniences:
Flight: Shyra has an airship that she can summon when she is outside and has a clear view of the sky that can transport her and others. Indoors, she can levitate.
Hint: Time Loops: Shyra is capable of repeatedly interacting with a situation over and over again in order to try to learn more about the consequences of interacting with it. This insight provides knowledge about 60 seconds into the future or until death.
Attack List - Melee: In dire straits, Shyra is capable of simply bludgeoning someone with her staff.
|Minor=Text Windows:
Conveniences: Shyra primarily uses a text window for communication, and thus can speak in areas of silence or airlessness. She still cannot speak if her mouth is bound.
|Disadvantages=I Didn't Want To Hurt You <Trouble>: Shyra is almost cripplingly unable to tell people bad news or things that might cause them to feel sad or angry. She will delay, distract, deflect, and omit these things, often to the point that it might exacerbate the problem even to nearly unmanageable levels. Is she desperately trying to fight off a horde of monsters? Don't worry about her! Is the bomb about to explode? They don't need to know! Is someone bleeding out? Don't worry, they'll make it! She also much prefers to disable living targets instead of kill them (Living being 'anything not undead or obviously inorganic'), and will always attempt to leave her opponents alive when given a choice, even when this is obviously a bad idea. Not doing anything to finish off her opponents allows them to come back after her over and over again to impede her efforts, or go off to cause even more trouble elsewhere.

I'm Not Alone <Significant>: Shyra has an intense fear of being alone. She will do almost anything she can to ensure she has someone else around, even if it is just a random person, so she can have some kind of company. Animal companions and pets aren't enough to really ameliorate the problem. If she is forced to operate alone, it tends to cause her to second guess herself and cause delays as she marshals the will to go on.
}}

6983/LI0: Welcome To Finaria

2020-01-13T06:15:16Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/12 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=The world of Last Illusion is mysteriously reset to its beginning, and the Multiverse begins to interv..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/12
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=The world of Last Illusion is mysteriously reset to its beginning, and the Multiverse begins to intervene in the progression of its events.
|Cast of Characters=7141, 7191, 685, 7201, 33, 6, 7173, 994, 7175, 6666, 42, 7180, 7197, 7145, 6895, 1011, 6994, 7170, 6733
|Tinyplot=Last Illusion
|Tinyplot2=Loop Zero
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      This is The Beginning.      Everyone knows The Beginning. It's so old that it's a cliche. It's sitting in the Tavern in a small town, waiting for the Hero to arrive. The music of the town is a cheerful chiptune arrangement. It beeps and hums in comforting ways. The music of the Tavern is a simulation of conversation, a low murmur of quiet underlaying the upbeat tune. There are people here, but they're...off. They're all the same - all the men are the same, black-eyed, with only slight hair and robe colors to differentiate them. All the women are the same, black-eyed. Most of them are sitting. One of the women moves around the tables, but it's obvious that she's on a pattern; after two or three loops she's gone right back to where she was, and started the whole thing over again. The bartender just keeps scrubbing the table endlessly, wordlessly, black-eyed. No one talks to each other. No one speaks unless spoken to. If spoken to, they just repeat the same things ad infinitum, over and over and over, the same line of dialogue in blue and white textboxes that appear with a little bwip and disappear with the same.      It's all around a central table. A central table with four chairs. Upon the table, three drinks. At the table, a pink-haired healer-girl. There's a man in gold armor hiding in the corner, hoping desperately that nobody notices.      This is the Beginning.      Everyone knows the Beginning. It's so old that it's a cliche. It's starting in a little town with a cheerful guard outside whose dialogue box says something like Welcome to Finaria! I like bows.      In the little town of Finaria, that's where it starts. Outside the windows of the Tavern, rows of identical wooden houses - down to the last grain - stand on a copy-pasted cobblestone road, wrapped around a suite of high stone walls. Identical people go about their cycles, simply walking in place, standing in place, sitting in place. Children run around and around buildings without stopping.        This is the Beginning.      Everyone knows the Beginning. It's so old it's a cliche.      It starts with an old man sitting on a stoop. If only I had some HERBS from the Yellow Forest, this back ache of mine would disappear. It's a quest, of course. Every good Beginning is a quest.      This is the Beginning.      It's so old it's become a cliche.      We've already done this once before. 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' The man in golden armor, with red jewels built into his massive suit, is hiding. He has a script in hand. Pazkar is here, and is waiting for people to filter in, trying to hide out of sight of literally everyone. Time to get this show on the road. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure approaches the town alone. A lone traveller. She's wearing a variation on her kanmusu uniform, fitted plates of metal over 'important' areas. A heartplate, thigh guards. She's got a Skorts thing going on with segmented plates instead of the regular pleated schoolgirl skirt. Her hair is done with a circlet of iron, and a tight coronet of her braid around it... lastly, she's not (obviously) armed, save for the short wakizashi blade strapped to her left hip for right handed draw.     She greets the guard, and gets the text box. She greets a townsperson and gets the text box... then she approaches the OLD MAN, and gets the Quest... before heading toward the TAVERN... that seems to be the place to gather, after all. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' A QUEST! All of this... multiversal weirdness that's come up since leaving Golarion is something that Arkae has been able to handle. It does help if you think of it like planar travel, only instead of planes of fire or water or thought it's... a bunch of weirder stuff. But this. This, right here, right now, in front of her, pushes down incredibly hard on her nostalgia for her early days. "Yes! Yes, hi, I will go get you herbs for your back pain, old man!" The tengu waves at him, and then heads off at overland speed for whatever looks most like a Yellow Forest. Presumably it's yellow colored, or just the largest nearby forest, or something like that. And then once she gets the herbs, the old man will have some sort of clue for a further quest chain, or some old heirloom he'll hand down to the nice adventurer that got him those herbs, or something like that. That's usually how it goes, right? 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur descends from above, riding his ROCKET BROOM. Despite the blandness of each NPC, he approaches many of them, barraging them with lots and lots of SECRET COOLKID HANDSHAKE motions as well as viewing their text. He heads for the TAVERN, intending to stop in.     "YOOOOOO, HOMIE! What's good? You got everything BACK TO SQUARE ONE? You keep those LEVELS and that THINKIN', dog?" Arthur assaults Shyra's hand with handshake motions as well. "I gotta go find that CAVE, you hit up a DEEP DARK CAVE anytime in that ADVENTURE? How should I ROCK-IT ROCKET to that bitch? STARBOY and I got some SHIT to DROP OFF, think I'mma BREADCRUMB the MISSING TIMELINE stuff... Probably gonna need LILIAN to see if it's even WORKING." He looks around. Where the hell is Lilian Rook? Probably appearing suddenly somewhere nearby. "Where's POLICE-STATE PRINCESS anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' So this is the beginning, it's a tale as old as stories really, tales lost to only what gods there are and the dead. She's made it to the tavern as she was asked to be by Shyra. She'd said she would let her aid to Shyra and so here she is. She looked at the townfolk and there was a bit of horror here at the loop most of the locals seem stuck in. The looping dialogue leaves Tomoe feeling uneasy thinking about some of the 'NPCs' from her world who have broken through their programming back in the death game and later. This isn't like any of those souls these people are trapped in a loop. The Salamander woman wonders about this? She would make for the tavern. She pauses at the old man but it seems someone has that already. Once in the tavern, she'll ask around seeing if she can find any other quest chains also she's got to meet up with Shyra too. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo no Mae, having both voiced and unvoiced concerns for the troubles and proposed solutions of Shyra, arrives close by. As before, she's wearing that garb that looks more like a priestess than a goddess, but the reasons for this that can be currently explained are 'it's not meaningfully cold in Finaria,' and she's enjoying that, compared to other countrysides. She knows that nothing here will react to an out-of-place costume.     Reasonably close by, but keeping, potentially, out of the spotlight. She has not selected a role in this play. First remaining outside the tavern, she then elects to move inside, sidling along one wall and standing primly, hands clasped, waiting for the show to begin. Should Shyra look at her, she'll smile, but it wouldn't be proper for an avowed audience member to speak too loudly. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Such an interesting quirk, how grand quests seem to start in places such as this. Taverns just naturally become hubs of activity it would seem. Athela rests an elbow in the palm of a hand while rubbing her chin thoughtfully with the opposite hand. The way everyone looks the same, responds the same, with a few minor variations here and there like the barmaiden cycling through a specific pattern of tables, is slightly off-putting. On the other hand, it does make those that are here to give out Quests to brave Adventurers stand out a little more. Because what other reason do they have to look distinct from the mass civilians? Or maybe she's thinking too hard about how this world appears to be going about it's day in such a cliche, feels like it's always done this, sort of way. "What do you think?" The lavander slug-like creature sitting on her shoulder just burbles a bit of slime and wiggles it's amorphic mass in a manner that someone gives the impression of a shrug. "You're right, Slurry. No way to know but to see for ourselves!" Plus she just say some familiar faces pass by on their way to the Tavern, and picks up her own pace to follow. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Questing is the thing Alruna does. Adventuring is the thing she does. Walking into a new town and stepping into a mess of potential quests and brief windows into the lives of others is exactly the sort of thing she does. And yet, something is very... off, about this place. She can see the seams, like this is some elaborate theater machina the size of a world. She half expects to see a cluster of faces gathered around when she looks up at the sk- hold on. Where's the sun? Something is very, /very/ off about this place. Still, perhaps it's best to just go with what you know. The mystery of a sunless sky is something to work on. Alruna leans on the stoop and addresses the Old Man. "What kind of herb do you need?" she asks, because that seems like an important detail. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot does not come from a world of quests. Jobs, tasks, fighting for your life and happiness. This is something that gives Kupot a moment of rest. There is something he can do, somewhere he can help. Somewhere where he must not make the constant hard decisions of the will of the people vs the will of the supposed greater good. He has found a Fantasy Costco that has given him a simple tunic and breeches. His cybernetics are covered with gloves, so that all that one can see that the moogle is strange are the insectile lenses of his HUD and the cybernetic marks of his pom. At his back is his katana, at his side a simpler wakasazhi. He makes his way up to ALruna and stands besides her, about to do the same thing. A person needs help. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The old man doesn't look at Alruna. When she speaks to him, the textbox pops up again. If only I had some HERBS from the YELLOW FOREST, this back ache of mine would disappear. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Two walking machines walk up to the gate. One is about nine and a half feet tall and made mostly of wood, legs and arms attached to the underside of something like the cab of a car with no top. Staren rides in it, dressed in a fantasy version of his usual clothes -- the coat is armored and there are more layers with armored leather and metal bits on -- as well as a man and woman with blank expressions dressed in fantasy clothes. They're not copies of anyone already in town, though.     The other is ten or eleven feet tall, made of metal and stone and wood. Its body structure is a sort of chicken-walker, but the main body has the arched shape of a door, the front and back carved with a relief that suggests a door. One of its arms ends in a similar door clearly meant to be used as a shield -- the other is heavy enough to be used as a club but has a hole in it suggestive of some sort of gun barrel. The metal parts of its construction are heavily greebled, suggesting interlocking parts and conduits but they're solid pieces. It at least kind of resembles the technology inside the RED BIRD SHRINE.     Welcome to Finaria! I like bows. "Do none of you have even a second line? Really?" Welcome to Finaria! I like bows. Staren sighs and moves his constructs on. He tells the mini-boss to wait off to the side inside the gate, then disembarks with his fake NPCs, leading one off to the side and the other to the tavern. The NPCs, if questioned, talk about a mysterious cave and the rumored DOORMECH.     He doesn't stop to talk to NPCs or start quests just yet, there's setup to be done. The catman smiles and waves to Tomoe, then walks up to Arthur and tries to engage in a complicated fistbump. "The robot's waiting outside. How do we get there?" He sighs at the mention of Lilian. "Do we really need her for this? Well, if you think so." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "You want me to try to do TIME SHIT solo? Really? Remember LAST TIME? When I disappeared for like... TWO YEARS? FUCK NO, HOMIE. We callin' an EXPERT." Arthur says, waggling his finger obnoxiously just a bit too impolitely close to Staren's personal space. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "I feel like I am in a life-sized exposition of the latest new creations of the Weaver's Guild, using life-sized mammets with almost life-like faces." Amelris Belthrone says, peering over the faces and some of the 'townsfolks', scratching the side of his head. "Not to mention that the main creator is not actually that imaginative."      The Red Mage straightens, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he looks around. Seems like there IS a lot of people around, including some folks he didn't really agree with. "So, are we going to need to speak like someone from two centuries back to make this work, or... what?" 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' After being given her role, Mordred's got some thinking to do. She could get started on her job early, but... But nothing. Someone playing the role of the EVIL KNIGHT isn't going to just wait and attack while the heroes are off doing something else. A truly respectable knight acts with conviction! Confidence! Purpose! Mordred doesn't simply walk up to the gates of Finaria and make her demands. She arrives in a plume of flame and red lightning at the front gate. The flame is somewhat janky looking as it waves and flares in a perfectly timed five-second loop, and the lightning is considerably less predictable as it crackles in random directions. The guard at the gate gets a brief smirk before Mordred waves a hand dismissively, another identical plume of flame appearing before the guard and slowly advancing to consume them in dramatic fashion. "Listen up, maggots! Did you think this podunk little piece of sh-" Wait. EVIL KNIGHT, not Kingslayer Mordred. Right. The white-armored knight clears her throat, then somehow manages to shift her tone to become even more boisterous and overconfident. "Your puny hamlet of Finaria won't stand in the way of Discordia's return! Now begone from my sight!" Another flame is conjured and-wait. She already chucked that one at the guard. Instead, Mordred gestures broadly at the gate, those flames surging forward steadily to consume the gate entirely as Mordred marches towards the center of town to make her EVIL and DRAMATIC appearance! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe looks to see Staren arriving she waves, somehow her friendship with him hasn't been nuked with her conflict with him back on N'raha's homeworld. She also waves to Arthur. "That's a heck of a nickname for Lilian." She notes to Arthur before she finds a good place to set down and then she asks Staren. "So whatcha planning Staren?" 

:'''{{#var:7145|Crow Armbrust (7145)}} has posed:'''     This is the Beginning. Crow, much like every other 'outsider' here, stuck out like a sore thumb in his Thors Military Academy uniform, now sporting a vivid red coat instead of a drab green one. "What's cookin, good lookin'?" He's hit on the same bar-maid three different times. It's basically the same with each repition. She'll come around, he'll say something to her, she'll say something back, and then she'll move on. Then she'll come back, he'll say something to her, and ... He couldn't help but loathe this place already. Everything was measured, from the way people spoke to the way they looked, from the weather to the layout of the building and indeed, probably the town itself. Some kind of parody of life. Eventually, he comes up to Rean and the feathery friend he was talking to. "Yeah, it sure is lively here. About as a lively as a graveyard." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren looks at Tomoe. "We're trying to enable some dummied-out content. Arthur's theory is that if the story goes on longer this time, more NPCs will start waking up the way the hero's party and the Yaksha did." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna blinks. "But that's..." She gets the text box again. Okay. The people of Linehart's homeworld are... to the point. Straightening up, she notices Kupot. "Oh! Hello." Moogles. She knows moogles. She gestures to the Old Man. "He needs some herbs. If you're looking for something to do, two sets of hands would be better than one!" she offers, rolling her shoulders to resettle her armour comfortably and heading back out of Finaria. She squints at Staren suspiciously as she walks past his machine, but elects not comment seeing as he's not pointing weapons at anyone. She's out of sight and out of range of the SFX by the time Mordred shows up to menace the Party. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     "Excuse me, but I'm not 'police'." says Lilian to Arthur, who is just suddenly there, but not just suddenly there. "That's a loser job." A beat. "Princess is fine though."     She seems to have zero interest in the pre-baked NPC lines, having apparently been watching in bafflement that Arthur bothered with greeting any of them all, never mind in such an elaborate fashion. "Don't worry; I absolutely have no intention of leaving that boy alone with some insane premise like 'the source code to reality'. He's even less qualified to be fiddling with timelines than you." She looks back over her shoulder. "Tamamo is . . . probably going to end up coming too. I don't know. Maybe she'll get distracted by the theatrics long enough for me to slip out?" She doesn't sound confident in that. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      The author is in the wind, and so is the hero. No use trying to track them down. But, maybe... Maybe he can help the villagers a different way. Maybe, just maybe...      He looks like his usual self, because he's technically over ninety years old, for one. For two, his Sphere is Private Detective, he's come to believe. That doesn't at all make it true, it's just what he believes. The outfit is a must. He doesn't know why, but it just 'feels' right. He's an audience member, since his 'Sphere' is based on watching.      Instead of just doing nothing, though, he watches with his mind. John activates one of his vampiric powers, gazing through the crowd. He's looking to see if they're Waking Up--and, if so, where the best place to run for cover would be. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot dips his head towards Alruna. "I think this may be important. Or not." Kupot walks by Staren as if it were nothing. He's got somewhere else to be. But he would like to think he is being helpful. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean approaches every NPC, despite knowing full well none of them change what they said if he kept trying to talking to them. But it felt weird just ignoring them, y'know? This place was vaguely lively though, even with the repetition.  Just kind of like looking like how he'd imagine a painting come to life. He's wearing his usual red school blazer, tachi sheathed and hanging off his belt. He approaches the old man, getting the QUEST. There's a bird woman he's never seen before , and a woman who seem to realize that the old man won't respond to her anymore. Neither seem to be part of the game. Probably. She doesn't though. "Uh...Are you new here?" He asks the women. To the taller woman, he says, "Everyone says the same thing over and over again. It's part of the nature of this place. Unfortunately, I think that's all we're getting." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Well, the Tavern is pretty full... Oh, hey, those two seem to be heading off to the forest.     Shigure jogs to catch up with Alruna and Kupot, insinuating herself into the pair's little group. "I shall accompany you." she says. "Acquiring a lay of the local terrain may be advantageous." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTRAL REGION - FINARIA OUTSIDE:     Shigure arrives, she looks like she fits right in. Okay, kind of. But no one's judging. No really, they are fundamentally incapable of doing so as certain other people (Hi Staren and John) found out earlier. > TAVERN     Arkae gets /right to work/. That ex-Pathfinder is wasting no time, because time is money and XP! Also, there is an intense nostalgia going on here. There might be an eerie feeling someone might ask Arkae to go kill some rats in a basement, but that thankfully doesn't seem to happen. > FINARIA REGION TAVERN:     Inside the TAVERN, Shyra sits at the table, staring at the empty places with a mix of nostalgia and melancholy. As Shigure enters, Shyra looks up with a smile, her expression brightening immediately. Shigure! She exclaims, stepping over to meet her. For a moment it looks like she might get closer, but she stops herself, settling for smiling happily and nodding. It's so good to see you again! It looks like you've decided to come help take the place of the Hero? As Arthur arrives, Shyra is suddenly ambushed by another COOLKID HANDSHAKE minigame. She attempts it again, immediately focusing to try to coordinate her response with Arthur. She still fails out, but at least she does a little better! H... Hello Arthur! I'm still practicing! But yes, I'm fine. I was not... in the world when it was reset. Um... As for a cave... There was a cave near Pradia! I remember that one, it was kind of difficult!     Tomoe is also greeted by the healer. Hello Tomoe! You wanted to help, right? Well we should have everything going shortly! Everyone is coming here, it's amazing! She bounces there, enthusiastic at what's going on. There doesn't seem to be any other quests in the Tavern at the moment but she can certainly talk as much as she wants to the locals... Even if they don't have much to say at the moment other than talking about how bad it must be for that Old Man who needs those Herbs.     Tamamo receives an appreciative nod and bow from Shyra as the deity enters, but she gives Tamamo space. Observation will be important. FINARIA REGION:     Arkae bails right out of the village straightaway. There is a definite change in enviromental tension and feel, as if you just crossed a defined line between 'safe' and 'danger'. There is a large forest right outside of town, however, and it appears to be the only one in sight. It seems... very uniform, really. While individual trees look a bit different, there is a pattern to it that seems to repeat if you watch the forest instead of the trees. Every so often, minor creatures such as goblins and imps and little slimes appear and attempt to attack her. They have tiny life bars hanging over their head that vanish basically as soon as she reacts. The Tengu is more than a match for them... but again, this only likely increases her nostalgia.     She soon finds the herbs. They are little yellow buds that seem to flourish around a place deep in the forest... That also opens right into a large clearing with a RUINED TEMPLE in it. The large TEMPLE looks like it has mostly surrendered to the forces of time, large square blocks having tumbled down and rubble laying everywhere with the gate wide open. Huh. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Shigure has forecfully joined the party! Alruna is a high-level PLD, and a starting level quest like this doesn't have remotely good material rewards. She's in it for the sake of exploration! Adventure! Camaraderie! The stuff of legends, right, Kupot? "Where'd you get your clothes?" she asks curiously, as they enter the YELLOW FOREST and the atmosphere alters like a bad gear change. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "GAHHH! God DAMMIT, you're always just THERE. Oh, TAMAMO? Didn't we meet at uh... That weird DARKNESS TREASURE TOWER?" Arthur squints, briefly, glancing to Tamamo herself. "Wait, no, that's a DIFFERENT ONE, can't be that. WHATEVER, you want EXTRA DUDES, I'm down for HELP. She got MAGIC? We gonna need some MAGIC."     Arthur listens to Shyra's discussion. PRADIA! He marks his QUEST MARKER. "Alright, homies! We bustin' out ARTHUR'S TIMELINE REPAIR up in this bitch? Let's HIT IT!" That's the invitation to Staren, Lilian, and Tamamo -- and whoever else might be coming along. "STARKID, pack that ROBO-PAL up! Anyone need a MAGIC ROCKET-BROOMSTICK RIDE? Guarantee you won't BLACK OUT all the way." He's already wandering out the door, readying up...     Let's skip the complexities of logistics; Arthur will provide gravity magic or rocket-broom rides to assist any who need it, but those here are likely to have their own solutions. He intends to head for PRADIA, and scout around for clear entrances to CAVES, so unless something or someone stops him, he's just gonna do it! 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' "The Fantasy Costco, kupo. I do not like to shop at such a large soulless store... but I was in a hurry." 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' The group travelling into the Yellow Forest has someone stalking them. At first, it might seem spooky, and like something bad is happening, but then they turn around and there's a giant golden knight poorly hiding behind a tree. And he talks, too! I, a random bird on the wind, wonder what's inside that temple...perhaps someone should go check it out? 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Looks like some people already found a quest. Athela considers asking if they need more help, but in those few moments they're already leaving and there's a ruckus coming from the main gates. Was this some kind of Event? Or was she thinking too hard about it again? Well, either way, it sounds pretty intensive. She steps back out of the Tavern just to see the so-called EVIL KNIGHT throwing around fire and chewing the scenery. Figuratively on the second part. So far. Well, then. Quest or no Quest, this is certainly something that can not be left to abide on its own. With a grunt she walks out of the Tavern, reaching over her shoulder to grab the hilt of her weapon and draw the glaive-sword from her back. Points the clearly fantasy design blade towards DISCORDIA or whatever Mordred is calling herself for this. "You there, the one of bright armor and fiendish intents! Cease this needless harassmenet of yon locals at once." Not that they're going to react beyond their behavoir cycles, it seems. "Or taste the mighty steel of my divine blade!" Great. Now they're both Hamming It Up. Somehow the Goomy on her shoulder even manages a scowl, though it looks more cute than intimidating, being a small pink-and-purple slug that is also somehow a Dragon. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' Oh man, goblins. Hah. Memories. Good memories. Most of the party didn't die, and they only went slightly into massive debt paying for resurrections that cost more than the quest reward. Those were the days. Arkae certainly doesn't remember them having little bars hanging over their heads... or them appearing and vanishing abruptly like that... By the time anyone's caught up to her, Arkae's started scooping what to her feel like 'one quest's worth' of herbs into her bag. Her attention isn't strictly on the task at hand, though... ... she keeps glancing over at the ruins, as if trying to make a decision about poking her beak into them. "... Well, that decides that. Thanks, random bird!" she says, standing back up, all without looking in the direction of what she assumes is truly the random bird. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris stops, causally leaning against one of the NPC's shoulders, looking up. No, he takes it back, this is like an amateure troupe that's trying to assemble and people getting ahead of themselves. Including that Knight that just showed up, monologuing.      This is pretty clumsy, he thinks but he keeps that fact to himself. This is all some great new frontier of... jank? Jank sounds about right. That word just popped into his head and it just feels... right.      He looks up at Alruna, blinking at Kupot as he follows along for the moment, looking back and forth at their conversation.      "Okay. Good." Amelris comments, breathing a bit easier. "This is not some post-hang over hallucination, you ARE a Moogle." He taps Alruna's shoulder once, "I'm gonna go check the shops, see if I can't stir some neurones or something by messing with the /economoy/."      Amelris then walks into the general store, humming loudly to himself as he walks to a counter, a large basket filled with folded neat cotton sheets appears in his hands, slamming it on the counter.      "EXCUSE ME SIR AND/OR MADAME, I WOULD LIKE TO SELL, uh," He thinks. "x5 Cotton Blankets." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure, before she leaves with the other two, bows toward Shyra. "I heard there was something going on... but I am uncertain if I could help with that." she smiles back softly. "Destroyers are used as scouts... so I am going to reconnoitre the lay of the land." she bows again, then moves to catch up with the others.     Once the group enterse the YELLOW FOREST the destroyer girl summons her rigging... a pair of large cannon-tonfa appearing on her back, and torpedo tubes on her thighs.     And then her Radar picks up Pazkar trailing them. She glances, then shrugs, gesturing towards the ruins. "Maybe we should check those ruins." she parrots the 'narrator' before making her way towards the overgrown structure. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     One of Tamamo's ears twitches. She looks straight at Lilian, and gives her a relaxed but, clearly, Meaningful Smile. Did she hear that? She probably heard that.     At Arthur's direct question, she shakes her head. "Oh, no, we have only met the once, and in this land, if you recall? At the least, I remember seeing you upon the deck of Shyra's airship."     Tamamo hasn't brought a flight solution, but a magic ride is fine. As long as Arthur doesn't start in on A Whole New World, no matter how thematically appropriate it might soon be. For his own sake. 

:'''{{#var:7145|Crow Armbrust (7145)}} has posed:''' Folding his arms behind his head, Crow sighs in a put-upon way. "Well, at least whatever the hell that ...guy...? ... is doing looks to be more interesting than talking to a bunch of walking stiffs, yeah?" In the end, this whole place was a lot like the set of a play, he supposed. If that were the case, then he could try and get into 'character' and go fight the big, bad, evil knight pounding on the front gate of the peaceful, lovely little village in the middle of nowhere. Besides, there were enough outsiders here to take care of everything, from that old man's herb problem to whatever that Arthur guy wanted to look into.     Crow heads for THE FRONT GATE. "We'll never bow down to an emissary from evil! Beat it before we send you flying!" 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' Something here is exceptionally wrong. The locals talk about scripts and code. Those who should, by all rights, know at least something of their trade know nothing. A land filled with things that work exactly as they are, but don't 'work'. It's an unsettling mess, a snarl of things don't track. It's the logic of fantasy. Flying in is the one luxury Tony grants himself, rather than approaching with the crowd. Hovering on thrusters, Iron Man (a matte-black-and-red armor with silver faceplate model) scans the town below and-- Tony's entire red-orange HUD fills with hundreds of textboxes declaring various iterations of the Single Dialogue Line that every NPC in the town regales the sensors of his armor with. In his ear, a synthesized male voice tonelessly observes: <"Tactical Assessment: The town is useless. Flagging non-friendly major exoenergetical source leaving operational zone - plotting to intercept."> Rolling his eyes as his filters clear the chaff, Iron Man adjusts his boot- and palm-jets to vector off towards the ROCKET BROOM'ING COOLKID. "Hey, kid, where are you going? You're the one messing with reality, aren't you? Are you responsible for all of this?" Tony asks Arthur, making several INCORRECT LEAPS OF LOGIC. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Someone yells loudly behind them to go into the temple. Kupot sucks in a deep breath. This is very strange. He is not used to this. Usually, he flies into a place, murders everything, and saves the day. Now he's taking directions and being told where to roam around. As he gets up to the temple, he spies Arkae, but shrugs. She is a new entity. But he is not sure what her deal is yet. All that matters is going into the temple, apparently. "This is not quite as...normal as I had hoped, kupo." He mentions to Alruna. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Suddenly Lilian makes her entrance out of nowhere. Tomoe seems startled but clams down just a quick. Messing with reality code is something Tomoe knows damn well knows she should not be touching it. She sees Shyra arrive and greet those of the party in the pub. She grins back at the healer and speaks "I did, I'd be dead as would a lot of my adoptive family if outside help hadn't marched into the death game to help us." She notices Shyra is in quite a spirited mood right now. After talking to the people in the pub? She gets the idea that it seems old man's Quest is what they need to be going at this point. She looks to Tamamo for a moment and nods to the heroic spirit. "Yo." She pauses for a moment "Looks like we need to get to work." Her tank drives kicking in as someone is attacking the town and people need to deal with that right? "I'll trust those going after the Herbs to handle it." She will have to catch up with Shigure later as her tank instincts are screaming protect the newbie adventurer to her about the boat spirit, who is yes older than she is. She will exit the tavern drawing her Caliburn and has the Mourning Wall at the ready. "I am Tomoe the Iron Lily and I shall not allow your dark master's schemes to progress unchallenged!" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna is taking the lead in the YELLOW FOREST to draw off goblins and other random encounters that lunge out from amongst the oddly regular trees, but really, it's a job to get within range of them before they're eliminated by Shigure. "Fantasy Costco..." she says thoughtfully, filing the name away for future reference. "You ever have the distinct feeling you're being herded somewhere?" she murmurs in agreement with Kupot, sheathing her sword as the party approaches the ruins. Did someone remember to pick up some HERBs while they were at it? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren waves to Tomoe and Shyra and continues on with his work. He gets back in his walker and it runs beneath Arthur, miniboss in tow. Staren gives Mordred a thumbs-up in passing. "Good luck!"     And then Tony shows up. Staren replies by directional radio: <"We're messing with reality, but not in the way you think! It was already like this. We're trying to fix it. Want to help?"> 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' AMELRIS: Approaching the shopkeeper, a text box appears over his head. BUY/SELL Buy has a bunch of very basic potions. This is the starting town, after all. Sell, meanwhile, gives him five Jee total, one per blanket. After he's finished, he gets another textbox. Thank you for your transaction! The Jee are gold coins, with 'JI' written on them. The shopkeeper, otherwise, waits for more BUY/SELL action. ---- RIZZO: None of the townspeople have awakened. Not a one. They're all still locked to their role. The best place for cover, though, would be on a roof, or inside one of the buildings farther away from Mordred. It's /all/ probably going to get wrecked, but momentary cover is best cover. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Lilian gets smiled at. She smiles back. It's a bright and pretty and winning smile. It is also just a little bit nervous. Just play it cool.     "I'll be fine." is all she says on the subject of magic rocket broom rides. Just one of her glances at the contraption makes it clear enough that she has next to no faith in it whatsoever. When Tamamo offers to ride though, Lilian immediately makes a noise as if to interject. She thinks about how she can skip the whole indignity (and Arthur showing off), but then abruptly recalls the day before the new year where doing that had almost gotten her killed, and for now, she is still within the threshold of 'after having learned her lesson but before having forgotten it or rationalized it away as not her fault'. She sighs and shuts up.     "Oh I see." she says, extra double blandly and sarcastically towards Tomoe. "Another job for shooting all the bad things until it goes away. Stunning credentials for this." She only considers for a second. "Even if it's a video game, I suppose."     After that, she pretty much flight-stalks Arthur the whole way. Whenever she starts lagging behind, she ends up ahead of him again, giving him a very advanced sort of critically nuanced form of mistrustful eyes. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                       PRADIA GROUP - DUMMIED-OUT CAVE                       This place is better than Arthur could've possibly dreamed. Getting to the bottom of the Pradia Cave is a little bit rough, but for the group of adventurers Arthur's brought along, it's substantially less than it might be for, say, four plucky adventurers trying to level up. It's a windy little dungeon, but it's not very large. It was probably rushed. It has that feel of it - a lot of copy-pasted stalactites and stalagmites, a lot of simple straights with very few turns. The monsters are high-level, the same kind of white-and-masked zombie swordsmen that Mordred saw in the Black Warriors Shrine. It feels like something at the end of the development cycle, something that was meant to be made more important than it was.      At the end of it is a door.      It is the kind of vast, imposing door one expects from something...important. Arthur, Lilian, Tamamo, Staren, even *Tony* can feel vast and overwhelming power down here - real power, not fake, video game power. This is something...dangerous. Something that's supposed to be part of the world, but isn't. It is at once both divine and profane, a beating heart that throbs from beyond, connected to this place by Arthur's magic.      It's also much more intricate than anything else here. More than anything else in the *world* that Arthur's seen, in fact. It reminds Staren of the Red Birds Shrine - all sorts of lines and pulsing lights along an ominous black door. The lights are a deep and unpleasant red. Whorls of illumination run along the door, travelling little lights that look like they're blood running through veins.      Oh it is unpleasant. Ohhhhh, it is unpleasant. It is a piece of a dream that was never finished, and Arthur's intuition may just be right - this is someone's /project/. Someone spent hours designing this door, spent hours making the sprite look just right. This has no copy-pastes, no rushed development. This is a work of art.      A profoundly unnerving work of art.      Opening the door reveals nothing at all, save the portal Arthur found and connected. It has the shape of an elevator, all black and red lights. It didn't exist before. Now it does. Arthur did that.      There's a glowing circle nearby. Probably a save point.      Good a place as any for a monster, probably. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' And then everyone else kind of just leaves without him, off to the YELLOW FOREST to help the OLD MAN. Rean sighs. Maybe he should just follow them anyway? Suddenly, there's a loud bang behind him. A wild MORDRED has appeared- wait, wrong game. Crow comments about the OLD MAN, And Rean nods. The others could handle the quest, right? They were still here and could help protect Finaria, and hopefully prevent it from getting burned down like last time. He rushes into the village again after his classmate, standing by the front gate. Rean draws his sword, dramatically pointing it at Mordred. "We won't let you destroy Finaria, Evil Knight! Leave these innocent townsfolk alone!" 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' The first person to confront EVIL KNIGHT MORDRED is... Mordred has no idea who she's looking at. She has a sword, but there's also a strange slug thing on her shoulder. Luckily, Mordred has her helmet on, so the blank stare is hidden and gives her time to figure out how to react to that! Her solution: Don't address the blob at all."Needless harassment? These PEONS are in the way of my god's return! If they knew any better, they'd be scurrying like ants by now! Your divine blade will be no match for my TREACHEROUS TWOHANDER!" Inwardly, Mordred is groaning at the alliteration. Outwardly, she's cackling and sending more of those perfectly identical flames around the village to really set the stage for that first dramatic battle as Tomoe arrives with sword and shield in hand. "Challenge me all you like! This is the will of chaos, and by my hand...!" Crap. Why did she have to improvise this hard? Couldn't she just beat the crap out of people and let her sword do the talking? "... By my hand, this village will burn to the ground!" Good enough. When Crow and Rean arrive, the former's comments have Mordred tapping the chin of her helmet. "Emissary of Evil? That one's not too bad..." She mutters to herself, nodding slowly before holding her hand to her side. "Innocent? If only you knew the extent of their crimes against my master! I am the EVIL KNIGHT, and I am here to herald the resurrection of DISCORDIA, God of Chaos!" Mordred's self-conjured red lightning crack around that outstretched arm as a silver and red greatsword materializes, grasping it with a single hand pointing it at the group with her head thrown back dramatically in that horned helmet. Staren gets a brief glance from inside the helmet, but not even a nod. She's trying not to corpse here, man! And then it's time to actually do what she came here to do: Beat some people up for a while. Mordred crouches slightly as the air around her crackle with that red electricity, then trails behind her as she lashes out at the four protectors in nearly an instant! It's almost as if she teleported behind them with how she's... No, she actually does teleport in front of them for each slash before returning to that same exact spot she had been posturing from moments earlier in that same exact pose. It's not like she's done homework on this sort of thing beforehand or anything! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     When they reach Pradia, Staren wakes up a couple more NPCs lying in the back of his walker, an old man and a woman, and leaves them in town. Then it's on to the dungeon. Staren's got the forcefield-harness from last time on his person, and the walker he's piloting has two high-caliber machineguns on its arms. He also has a literal boss monster with him that can club enemies and fire high-tech grenades and missiles (he'll top off its ammo when they reach their destination.)     They reach the door, and Staren looks around, taking it in.     "Well, I guess this is it. Do we leave DOORMECH here and wait for the party to get here, or should we go hide potions and stuff all over the dungeon too?"     As he talks, he places little cameras and bugs in the nooks and crannies of the cave so that he can better remote-monitor this encounter when it happens, just in case his golem malfunctions. 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' Iron Man doesn't especially 'react' to Staren catching up with the Arthur Lowell outbound flight, the armor keeping pace with the flying broom at a clearly automatic 'wingman' spacing and matched speed. A cant of the head, a glance with one masked eye-slit, and a rather invasive probe of sensors. His reply is open-band, as Lilian stalks up to the flying party. "I'm an Avenger, and you're a dangerous god-playing radical who thinks you can just plug whatever into a world to jump start it is a great idea, using someone else winning at rolling some dice at justification for never trying again." "Put simply: I'm here to make sure you don't ruin everything, the feeling isn't mutual, and if you target lock me I'm taking you down. Are we clear?" MEANWHILE The robot 'miniboss' isn't probed so much as electronically violated by Stark's on-board AI - lacking in poise or respect, the source-code and design schematics are scrutinized at a deep level like a math teacher grading a college-level exam and weeding out anything that fails to meet muster. Landing at the door in a flare of jets, on a knee and a fist, Stark looks at the door, and then back at Arthur and Staren. He doesn't really have much to add verbally, as he glances over the details of what's going on from a technical perspective. He's not yet at the point where he sarcastically drops a 'will it work' or smugly declares it won't. Staren is, at least, good at what he does. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      His Sphere feels right. So much so that he doesn't fear the flames that come. He knows not to fear them. His only concern for hiding is to make sure the Private Detective is not seen by the villagers. It'll spoil the con, see?      The flames come. He stands perfectly still, poised like a predator ready to leap--leaning slightly forward. He doesn't fear them, even as everything burns. But nothing happens. Even when the flames clear...      "Nothing," he says in disbelief. "Nothing?" Nothing. Everything is exactly as it was. ...but he can't get discouraged. These people are trapped. They must be freed.      "Alright, so that wasn't it," he says to Mordred. "Now what?" He starts thinking on that very same question.      The author and the Hero are in the wind, the con is a no-go... Rizzo begins pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, in another one of those stream-of-consciousness rants of his. He pauses. "No... try this first."      He reaches out to the mind of the nearest villager, after everything resets. He attempts to change their emotional state into one of profound, existential sadness. He's hoping that the juxtaposition of the emotion upon their surroundings will be enough to wake them. While he does so, he attempts to project an image into their mind--and they know it isn't their thought. It's an image of the End. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:''' The construct is ten or eleven feet tall, made of metal and stone and wood. Its body structure is a sort of chicken-walker, but the main body has the arched shape of a door, the front and back carved with a relief that suggests a door. One of its arms ends in a similar door clearly meant to be used as a shield -- the other is heavy enough to be used as a club but has a hole in it suggestive of some sort of gun barrel. The metal parts of its construction are heavily greebled, suggesting interlocking parts and conduits but they're solid pieces. It at least kind of resembles the technology inside the RED BIRD SHRINE. TONY: DOORMECH is, fittingly given the way technology works in this world, lacking most of the internal structure that would be expected. There is a real radio and a couple of cameras and microphones embedded, and the grenade launcher and missile launchers are what they seem, but there's no evidence of how the darn thing MOVES or how it triggers its weapons, let alone how it analyzes and responds to its environment -- that's just straight-up magic.     Whenever Staren gives it commands, it's either vocal, or voice commands by radio. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris ponders over the Jee he's received, poking at them, making them bounce in his hands, wriggling them between his fingers, even bringing one to his teeth and making a small bite into one of the coins. It looked coin-like enough, looking back up at the shopeekeeper, tapping his chin. His ears flutters as he rattle his brainmeats over this, listening in on the linkpearl on Linehart's own comments. So they're humans, like frozen, that knows nothing, are nothing in personality and don't act at all like humans. Kind of like someone that's been completely out of it, reclused in their own minds.      Assuming they have minds of their own.      He's starting to feel that he is pretty out of his knowledgebase, here. This kind of esoteric thinking is more like the strength of, say, Urianger or Y'shtola.      A stimuli, of somekind. What could he...      His ears flutter' stops, settling back on the blankets. Quietly, he takes one off his blanket, quietly unfold it, holding it by the edges and looking at the shopkeeper.      With a flick of the wrist, he unfolds it into a wide part and let it fall, softly, on the shopkeeper's head and, verily, his entire body.      "Hello, kind sir!" Amelris then talks. "I am here to sell theses fine x5 blankets!"      Let's see if they recognise, oh, night and day, for a start. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTRAL REGION - YELLOW FOREST FINARIA:     Shyra nods to Shigure. All right! We can solve this quickly... And then there is the sound of the explosion. WHAT?! Oh no! The Evil Knight is here... early?! We have to get moving! Shyra rushes out after Shigure, letting the others fact down Mordred, though she does give Mordred a thumbs-up clandestinely as she passes. > FOREST IN THE FOREST:     Arkae is having a wonderful old time. Thankfully, the herbs scoop right into her pack in what seems to be a discrete amount that seems to measure up to an appropriate amount for a QUEST ITEM. The others seem to quickly catch up too, resulting in a somewhat lost-seeming party that isn't sure on what they should be doing even with the help of THE VERY STEALTHY PAZKAR.     Shyra, however, quickly follows up to wave behind the group. Hello! We have the HERBS, right? She looks around and peers before nodding. I think we have them! All right. Um... Don't worry about anything, we should go exploring inside the Ruined Temple. A pause. No one actually told us to go into it before, but the Hero was very interested in exploring everything around in most places. We found some important items inside! Oh. At least Shyra is explaining what's up. > TEMPLE RUINED TEMPLE:     The group enters the TEMPLE. The walls are carved with a large amount of decorative symbols depicting some kind of regal figure in gold, but it is heavily eroded and cracked. The somewhat trapezoidal building seems to be mostly open, with many crumbled columns dotting the place and several discrete rooms partitioned off of the central area. There seems to be some kind of dais in the center of the place that is intended to hold /something/ but what that something is happens to be missing. There are large stairwells in the northwest and northeastern areas.     Creatures also occasionally appear in the area from seemingly out of nowhere. Here, minor undead appear, as do monstrously-sized bats and spiders. They are, again, no match for the group. The main question is what they might want to investigate first. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Despite tromping through dungeon halls that look incredibly samey and stereotypical, for the second time here, Lilian is unable to suppress her discomfort with the place. While the others seem to take it in stride as banal, rushed videogame design, it falls on her in a way that causes her to grow gradually more restless --more tense and suspicious-- as the excursion goes on.     She doesn't say a word about it, but even the notoriously oblivious Staren would be able to tell by the end when she's professionally slicing every single corner and back-and-forth watching every single stalactite/stalagmite pair to make sure they're in the same spot. She seems to be more concerned with the environment than the monsters, which she tries to save magic on by firing bullets from the rear and half-assing her end of the party weight.     The giant ominous door is almost a relief. It'd be a real one if it weren't the huge, monolithic thing, pulsing with alien energies and dark designs. One look at it is all Lilian needs this time, content to take in the bespoke design, rather than stare mistrustfully at the recycled. "Ah, this is what they call 'cut content', right?" she says. "Do you have any idea where it leads?"     For some reason, she takes the question about potions extremely seriously. She hmms and ahhhs on it for more than a few seconds, pacing back and forth, until finally just holding out her hand demandingly. "You have a bunch of junk items, right? Hand them over." Then to Tony, vastly more politely. "I don't suppose you have anything that'd work like a chest on you?" And then almost sweetly to Tamamo. "And maybe a trap or five? Nothing that'd blow them to pieces of course." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     RE: LILIAN     Staren blinks. "Junk items? Uh, not really, but..." He fishes some potion vials out of his bag. "I can brew up a few more, too." He also demonstrates a knife, the blade of which goes soft for storage or hardens into blade shape when a button on the hilt is pressed. "Does this work as a weapon drop, or is it too high-tech?" He also fishes out guns and missile launchers. "Actually, if this is the tech dungeon, well, one of them, do you think these would be appropriate?" 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot cannot attack first. He will simply have to wait for the undead to move forward towards him. A spider comes towards the group. He cannot be sure of the hostile intent until it rears up to bring both fangs down on him. ShiCRACK The monoblade flies out of its sheath so fast that it creates a pressure wave with it, slicing entirely through the spider. It disappears, and Kupot finds his pockets heavier. He continues to swing, a flick, then slides the blade into its scabbard. He moves up to the dias, looks down it, around, then turns his head. "When I play a game, there is a very clear indication of what to do next, kupo," he says, somewhat annoyed. "We will have to explore." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure has her tonfa out, and is jus casually letting her secondary battery snipe out the adds as they spawn, so the others can properly explore without getting interrupted every five feet... she's almost like a walking/talking repellant for low-level mooks. "Feel free to explore. I shall keep these monsters at bay." She does try to PING her SONAR, see if there's any hidden compartments in the walls or any hollows under the floor. A long shot, but worth a go, right? 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur sets the broom down near the cave, and lets folks disembark. He keeps the broom out as they enter, and dives into combat with intense eagerness! Despite being a veteran, he engages with all combat broom-first and face-first just because that's how he rolls.     "So, past here is some kinda GIANT INVERTED TEMPLE. We're talkin' some WILD TOWER shit. Now, I dunno what's IN IT, but I know it was TOTALLY DISCONNECTED. So I'm thinkin'... Whatever's in here, it'll give us MATERIAL, maybe HINTS, about how the TIMELINE is supposed to be. But..." He glances back. "I think it's gonna be too hard for just us. Not that, y'know, I don't trust you guys are some hardcore dudes, even the new hot-rod-humanoid weapon platform there," He gestures to Tony. "But this ain't gonna get cleared tonight. So, let's settle DOORMECH here, then check the PORTAL."     Arthur holds his hands out, checking that it's all still connected, that everything's stable and it seems compatible... He wants to see what DOORMECH does once it settles in at a new HOME POINT. Is there anything that affects timelines or other suchlike? While that gets done... He wants to poke through, just his head, to see what the inside of that inverted temple is like. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo is rather hardier than she looks, and is not in any significant danger of blacking out during rocket broom rides. She is more worried about falling off, for which she keeps a firm grip on whatever is available (most likely Arthur). She spends part of the ride talking to Tony or Arthur, and part of it watching Lilian fly. Tamamo hadn't seen her do that, previously.     When they encounter monsters, the fox seems largely useless, or at least uninterested. They're zombies, and presumably undead, but they were likely 'undead' the moment they came into existence, and have no relation to the Sun this world lacks. She's perfectly content to let others handle it, only coming to physically smack or roughly slice enemies with that giant mirror that floats around he if pressed. The sight of copy-pasted cave textures is merely what the structure of the outside world has led her to expect, but it stands in stark contrast to that door at the end, which gets an appreciative look from her. It's not 'good,' stinking of profane magic like that, but it is 'something interesting,' and 'something important,' quite obviously. This is a suitable place to attempt what she's realized of Arthur's plan.     Finally stepping to her feet and free to look around, Tamamo turns first to Iron Man with a, "This is the first time we have met in person, is it not?" by way of greeting, though they've previously been properly introduced. Then to Lilian, "Oh, yes, I could provide something... disruptive, but not too dangerous. However, before that, I expect the highest priority would be... please wait some moments, and I shall then assist with the dungeon-craft."     Saying that, Tamamo brushes out a bit of ground, kneels, retrieves old-looking paper and an archaically styled inkpot and brush, and begins that process that's more painting than writing, that Lilian has seen her perform once before. 

:'''{{#var:7201|Arkae Zellar (7201)}} has posed:''' "Oh, hey, already got some yellow herbs for the old man, you don't need to..." Arkae trails off. She's glancing at Kupot's katana, and specifically the orange gem on it. "... I mean, the temple. Yes. Let's go there." The transition into the temple happens. "... So I keep picking up bits and pieces... this place is literally, um, stuck in time? Cursed? Something like that?" The tengu makes her way further in, stopping only to cleave her sword clean through a random monster that pops in only to disappear a moment later. "And are these randomly appearing and disappearing things part of it?" "The way this is laid out..." says Arkae, two or three random encounters later, "Is... the sort of thing that a powerful enemy would reside in, and there'd be something important we need to claim from it. And defeating it and claiming it should advance the quest." "Where the powerful thing and important thing are... I'm not sure. Just pick a direction and go?" She randomly heads to the NORTHWESTERN stairwell. 

:'''{{#var:7145|Crow Armbrust (7145)}} has posed:''' Reacting with a blur, Crow tries to dash to the side to avoid Mordred's savage slash, but still winds up eating a ghastly gash!         "Guh!" Thankfully, it wasn't actually that bad, leaving a bloody line across his side. While it was a long wound, it wasn't a deep one, and that was what was ultimately more important. "Then we'll just have to make like a monday and put you down!" Reaching into his holsters, Crow withdraws his orbal guns; an automatic pistol and a revolver, which he then uses to pepper Mordred with a volley of vivid gunfire! 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' RIZZO: An image and profound sadness is projected into a man's mind. He has blonde hair and brown robes. That image is The End. It works. The man immediately starts screaming and sobbing hysterically. Rizzo gets the immediate impression that, while he awoke the man, he might have just done it in the Worst Way Possible, like sticking a fork in an electric socket to create a current. The man immediately starts wandering in search of the nearest way to end his life, an existential depression created. He looks for something sharp, or a jagged part of a wall, or even some rope. Rizzo might want to help him, immediately. ---- AMELRIS: Amelris attempts to see if the shopkeeper knows day or night. He places a blanket on top of the man's head, and then... BUY/SELL Five Jee once he sells. Same cycle. Same thank you in the end. They do not have any idea what day/night is. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' The choice of words, particularly 'my god's return' and 'will of chaos', makes Athela's hackles stand on end. Why does she keep coming across dark individuals or cults or whatever wanting to revive ancient dieties that are probably sealed or dead for a reason. Instinctively she steps back a foot to brace herself and brings her weapon at a defensive angle in front of herself. It's just barely in time to get between her and Mordred's teleporting strike, the impact still enough to make her grunt at the force and wince as her arms are pushed back in a not quite comfortable manner as she pushes back, and doesn't quite get into swinging back before Mordred blips away again. Wait, she didn't... yes, she did, right back to the same spot she stood in before. That's... not entirely smart. As it means the little Goomy doesn't even need a command to do what it needs to do. The slug-dragon puffs up briefly, and then with a gurgly *SPLURTOO* hurks a big ball of purple toxic slime at Mordred, providing a little cover fire as Athela is getting her bearings back from the blow. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is facing down the Evil Knight Mordred has been confronted already by Crow, she's seen Athela and Rean also getting into the mix here. She already starts going through her mind on what tactics to employ. In the back of her mind clicks, wait she's going to fight Modred. One of the most infamous traitors in the consciousness of if not mankind at least Europe and those descended from their stock. there is a look of shock on her face as she has clearly connected then she able to get it together as she moves to intercept the inbound attack from the Knight. The force of the impact, she's also not used to dealing with teleporters either. She is pushed back there's the mourning wall is pushed back along with the rest of her. Had that been a clean hit? Tomoe would shudder to think about what would have happened to her. She chants a spell quickly golden runes dance about her body, and is that Norse? Yes, it is. Caliburn then burs into white flames and Tomoe will flare out a pair of red translucent wings as she makes a go right at the EVIL Knight trying to catch her before she teleports again with a series of slashes or failing that impact into her with her own considerable mass. "HOLY BLADE STRIKE!" She's also left how did it end up coming to this? God or the Gods have to be amused with her at some level for things like this to keep happening. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Mordred gets really into the Evil Knight act, burning things and dramatically talking about their lord, DISCORDIA. They then rush in, literally teleporting around the group and leaving sparking dark slashes in their wake, Rean tries to side step, but can't quite beat out the Knight's speed. "Agh!" Rean shouts, taking the blow. But he's not done yet. "...Your lord won't win!" Rean shouts, sheathing his sword and rushing Mordred, unsheathing it at the last second as he runs past them into a flurry of strikes. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna gives Shyra a Look, then a stoic nod. She springs into action as they enter the temple ruins, but Shigure is more than capable of handling the threats before she can reach them. Putting her sword away, the paladin walks around, dragging her gloved fingers over the stone walls. As she approaches the empty dais, a sharp pain starts to penetrate her consciousness, and she instinctively presses her hand to her temple as the world fades to white. A vision of fire and darkness. Magitechnology wielded by an ancient civilisation. Beams glitter in the darkness as they focus their advanced weaponry upon a King in Yellow, finally prevailing and sealing it away... Four objects were laid here in the temple with great reverence, still glowing with Empowerment. Alruna's consciousness returns to the present. She stands up from her slumped over position atop the dais, straightening up and when she's asked what just happened, explains it in a brief crossfade cutscene. "There should be four artifacts." she says decisively, following Arkae. "They were laid to rest here, but," She glances sidelong at Shyra. "They've been stolen and scattered across your world?" she asks. 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' It's hard to read the body language of, as Arthur observes, the 'new hot-rod humanoid weapon platform' that Tony has selected for the evening, even as everyone - including Lilian and Tamamo - continues to get the very distinct impression that they're constantly being 'checked up on' at regular time intervals. Really regular. Every five seconds, on the dot. Lilian can track the precision by the number of zeroes past the decimal. "A portal? So we're just leaving DOORMECH here and then doing something else?" Stark's faceplate pops open as he looks at Lilian and Tamamo - bags under his eyes and clearly under-rested. "That... Sound like a plan, Rook? Amaterasu?" Perhaps Tony is looking for a star-spangled man with a plan here, and the best he's got is a Rising Sun Goddess with a Mirror. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                         PRADIA CAVE - ARTHUR'S GROUP                              Staren leaves the NPCs lying around. The old man and woman stand there for a moment before they speak. They say exactly what Staren programmed them to say. They talk about the rumor of a terrible monster in the Pradia Cave, some kind of door guardian. They say this five times so Staren can confirm they work, and then it's off to the cave.      Lilian scatters traps and drops about. Tamamo starts her mystical painting. Staren gets to work setting up DOORMECH. There's an odd sort of synchronicity to it; though the thing doesn't *belong* here, it sort of looks like it...does. But it's not doing anything Staren didn't program it to do.      As soon as that's done, Staren's radio connection to the NPCs goes dead.      DOORMECH's connection fails.      The weapons Lilian scatters about vanish. The traps she scatters about sink into the floor. The cave starts to grow outwards, little by little. The rock just sort of...starts moving. You don't have to be Arthur to see it. But Arthur can tell that it's not growing *retrocausally*. It's growing *now*. It's growing in the here and the now.      DOORMECH comes to life. Where there was once nothing, Tony's systems can now see that it's been filled up with...bits. They don't make *sense* - off bits of technology that don't really click together right, pure nonsense machinery that offends his sensors and his systems - but they're *there*. They're...living. Moving. Pumping.      Life. Not pseudolife. Not mechanical life. No, this thing, this machine that Staren has created, starts moving in ways it should not, bumping and thumping and bouncing, bits of it spinning ominously. It has not yet noticed their presence. In fact it is just...standing there, whirring, like an NPC. It must not activate until they speak to it, or interact with it.      Some wandering monsters pop up nearby. They stumble into the traps Lilian set, which promptly reset themselves. The monsters drop some Jee, but along with that, one of them drops one of the weapons Lilian scattered. Tamamo can tell that just the *vibrations* from her work caused that to happen - that that was a very low chance, and it happened anyway.      But it's not...*right*, yet. It's been added, but it hasn't been *assimilated*. It's like it's waiting for something. Like a reboot? Or a change?      As Arthur sticks his head down the elevator, he can see something, alright.      The Upside-Down Tower is mostly missing. It's chunks of stairwell and floor unfinished. It's not even lit. But it isn't copy-pasted - it's unfinished, for sure. There's not even any monsters inside, unlike *everywhere else*.      Below he has a glimpse of something sleeping deep below. Something white and glowing. He can't tell the size. He can't tell the shape. He can only see it through the holes in the floor. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      "Stop." Rizzo knows /exactly/ what that sadness is. He felt it, one night, long ago. He knows it the moment the man begins wandering. The only thing he ever felt which was worse than that night was the moment he realized it was all fiction. "Please--c'mere, fella." Rizzo is faster, and stronger.      He is upon the man in a moment, his arms wrapped 'round him in a bearhug. "Hold on. I gotcha. I'm real. I'm not one of them," he says. "I'm sorry--but I didn't know how else to wake you. Calm down, now. I gotcha. It'll be alright." His voice is almost paternal, as if this were a scraped knee. But beneath that, there is an understanding which is present in his voice.      "This happened to me, too." 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Shyra, too, gets a stare from the EVIL KNIGHT when she throws that thumbs-up Mordred's way. Luckily, the knight is busy with that fighting thing going on, so the annoyance doesn't last as long! Crow's the first to counter, and Mordred barely even moves when he brings out those guns. She's the EVIL KNIGHT, and she needs to do some posturing for her first appearance! Those bullets strike true, though, pinging against Mordred's armor and a few even managing to hit through the gaps in the knight's defenses. Athela's attack comes next, but from an angle Mordred wasn't expecting. Rather than stepping forth with her sword, it's that weird blob thing on Athela's shoulder spitting some vile gunk at her! It actually gets Mordred to move rather than just taking it head on since it'd be pretty hard to recover from that blow to her pride! In her haste to avoid Goomy's vomit blob, though, Mordred steps right into Tomoe's range. What's worse, being this close to the Salamander means there's little room for Mordred to evade, and she takes that holy-imbued strike head on, the slash leaving a nasty scorched effect on the EVIL KNIGHT's armor! That follow-up from Rean only serves to make those last few strikes worse, the sudden flurry of slashes just off-angle enough and at just the wrong time to keep Mordred from properly defending against all of them. The first few cut into her armor, and she lets the last one push her back enough to avoid letting his blade cut right into her. The EVIL KNIGHT starts laughing. It's not a pleasant laugh, but it's vaguely pleased and probably just a little bit mad. There's probably some hamminess in there, too, but it's hard to hide that specific brand of excitement that Mordred's feeling. "Is that all you have, defenders of Finaria? I want a real fight, not just a bunch of kids scre-" Wait. Did they use that word back then? It doesn't sound like something that knight with the glob would say. "... Pretending to be heroes! Now face me properly or die!" And then Mordred is on the attack again. Instead of teleporting around to chop at them again, she instead raises her blade as that red lightning and more regular-looking white lightning crackles around that massive sword. She takes a single step forward, swings it sideways with her one hand, and the combined lightning blasts around at the quartet of heroes! 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Ostensibly, the ink that Tamamo puts to paper, brush held upright in the calligrapher's pose, forms a series of words, drawn in black with a thin, rectangular border of red. Translating it would be exceptionally difficult without a lot of specialist knowledge, but it's certainly pretty to look at. When she's finished, she sets it aside, and calls out, "Mr. Lowell, please attend. I have prepared for you a gift."     Ideally, he'll come back over without the portal biting his head off so she can give him the just-completed charm. In the meantime, she begins to craft several more, the design simpler, the strokes faster, almost artfully messier, as she prepares something entirely different. "Lilian, have you some idea where such traps should be placed?"     Her brush pauses long enough to wag a finger in Iron Man's direction. "Ah, no, no. Please, call me 'Tamamo.' You will know if *She* is here." As to his question, "Hmm, the explanation of the reasoning may take some time. There is more meaning to the actions than may be at first apparent."     She doesn't get a chance to try out those traps she just made, and they are promptly stuffed into her sleeves, which might as well be an elaborate item storage system. She stands, graceful and formal as a ritual, taking up that one, set-aside charm in her hands, and holding it up with a critical eye. "Ah. And so, it had nearly been too late." Something occurred with just the outer effects, the leakage of her pouring magic into this piece of paper, and that... did not burn the talisman. 'No,' she confirms. The magic is still there. It can still be used.     Her mind returns to the present, "Mr. Lowell, with some haste, if you please." She'll present it to him at the first opportunity. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTRAL REGION - RUINED TEMPLE     Shigure is basically a walking interdiction patrol all on her own. Her potent ranged weapons are enough to oneshot anything that comes in range as long as they don't overwhelm with numbers, and even if they somehow do, the other adventurers are RIGHT THERE. This gives them plenty of time and ability to examine the area in detail.     Shigure's sonar pings resonate through the area. She gets some /very odd/ readings out of the floor indicating while it's not entirely solid, there is definitely something complicated under the heavy stone facings that hint at something larger. Also, one of the rooms seems does seem to have a hidden compartment in the wall. If she or someone else checks it out there is a small chest that contains a pile of coins with JI on each. They get 500 JII.     Kupot is also right on point, his enhanced Moogle reflexes serving him well. The moment something gets through the screen, his katana is there to answer. He assesses the situation and immediately decides to follow his instincts.     Arkae's experience as an adventurer points them exactly in the direction they need to go to progress. Her question is answered by Shyra. Well, this Temple is kind of cursed. A little. But nothing that will affect you! Really! It's just kind of full of bad things. Do monsters not attack you like this in your world?     Arkae comes to a swift conclusion, and Shyra claps. You're exactly right! That's exactly what we need to do here! I can't imagine how terrible it would be if the Evil Knight came here first... > FLOOR B1     If anyone should accidentally get hurt at all, Shyra is right there to dispense green heal sparkles. Some people might find this familiar, at least. Alruna, to be sure, opens her eyes to lots of them. Are you all right Alruna? Please, say something! She practically hovers on top of Alruna with HEALER CONCERN, but she backs off once Alruna indicates she's fine, nodding. No, actually. The artifacts are still here. She says, pointing. They're heading down in the direction to get them now! FLOOR B1: Arkae, ever intrepid, reaches the next floor first. It is a maze full of twisty passages, all alike. At least that sourceless light is still present so one does not need to concern themselves with being eaten by a grue.     That's the wrong genre entirely, after all.     The patterns on the walls seem to be repeating over and over, as if they seem to have run out of things to put down so they just start from the beginning. The rooms seem to be mostly barren with only some sparse decorations to indicate that there is much to the room at all besides being a containment area for treasure chests that contain weak gear, more Jii, or potions. The enemies here are slightly stronger, different colored undead that seem to have a little more defense and damage and a nasty paralyze attack that randomly procs but never does because they're blown up on contact.     You know, business as usual.     The main issue seems to be the problem of getting through a LOCKED DOOR that seems to split the floor in roughly half. One can go searching for a key or potentially use some alternative methods to try to deal with the issue. Shyra continues meandering along with a big smile on her face, letting people explore and loot to their heart's content, as if she too was just a pocket healer along for the ride. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris jingles the coins in his hand, frowning. "Well. So much for the Blanket Ploy." He mutters to himself, adjusting his hat with a push of his thumb. He pockets the coin anyway, removing the blanket off the shopekeeper person, folding it neatly in a few strokes before making the basket vanish back into his storage. By the sound of it, Rizzo managed to make one awaken by make him see the end...      The Miqo'te looks up, taking a few paces around in the shop, taking in his gaze around. A gloved hand trails on the counter, checking for dust, moving along to touch at the walls before resting his eyes on the door itself. Amelris pauses, narrowing his eyes and slowly walks his hand, reaching for the knob...      Then the world pulses. A pounding sensation in his mind makes him grit his teeth, holding his forhead as--      <"Hello?" An individual, hard to determin the gender of, opens the door to the shop, squeezing and turning the handle in a hurry. They look worried. Confused. They jog into the shop, straight to the counter. "Oh, PLEASE tell me you can talk, come on!"      The Shopkeeper stares back, 'BUY/SELL', it 'declares'. This makes the person blinking, then sigh. The scene pass. The person is looking around in a pot in the shop, reciving a potion. Vision of another building, opening a chest next to a woman. Some other object. They talk to everyone. Nothing. All nonresponsive, despite dozen of repeated attempts. Vision shifts. The person talks to the shopkeep again, buying more potions, more potion than they need. After what might feel like hours, they stand before the guard for the HERB, parting in the direction of the YELLOW FOREST.>      Amelris blinks his eyes open as he staggers back, leaning hard against the door frame. He pants, sucking in a breath deeply. "Bloody hells..." The Miqo'te hiss out. "Was that... the Hero, they talked about?"      The Red Mage turns around to stare at the Shopkeeper, frowning, making his way to him and buying as many potions he can... then walking out. Looks like he's got to catch up to the folks in the Yellow Forest. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Lilian doesn't even give Staren an answer short of just taking the stuff, heaping it all into a bag under one arm. "Well, blind corners, in front of oblivious monsters, and rigged to treasure, right?" she repeats to Tamamo, initially trying to list it off on one finger, but giving up immediately with how cumbersome it is.     Considering the amount of screwing around at the door, she doesn't 'teleport' it all to the correct locations, but goes traipsing back through the grind on memory, seeing the traps and loot where she's expect to see them in a training course --more or less close to a videogame, but a lot more on the side of 'keeping someone on their toes' and 'making them work for it', rather than a nice curve of tutorialization.     The cave shifts. That much is completely obvious. Lilian priotizes stabilizing herself and watching carefully for sudden ambushes first, then studying the scenario second. Replying to Arthur comes a distant third, when he enquires about the timeline. Given a complete lack of anything outstanding . . .     "No. It's not retrocausal. This is happening now. All adjusted futures start from here. We've actively altered it in real time." she says, heading back to the door. "Though it's still a bit of a mess." 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' RIZZO: Why?! The man shouts out, speaking his first words of his own volition. There is still no sounbd, but his mouth moves like the others. What is wrong with this world? We're all- we're all made to die, to suffer, to...that's why we exist, isn't it? It's the only possibility...just let me cease to be! But Rizzo speeds up, bearhugs him, and starts calming him down. Normally, this wouldn't have any effect on someone suffering a Reality Breakdown. But Rizzo understands. And the man can feel, for the first time being able to truly feel, that someone understands. He stops trying to immediately kill himself. He might try again later, but Rizzo can release him safely and try and continue to help him. I don't even have a name... AMELRIS: Amelris gets to buy ONE potion, for all ten Jee. It'll help heal him in a pinch. And then he's off to the Yellow Forest! 

:'''{{#var:7145|Crow Armbrust (7145)}} has posed:'''         "ARCUS Activate!" Crimson, crackling lightning changes in hue as Crow gets a bad feeling about his odds, moving to holster one of his guns as Mordred comes in swinging, releasing her electrical attack on all of them. His Chrono Drive accelerates Crow's movements, but not so much that he was able to completely evade her lash of lightning that leaves him momentarily on his knees, smoking. "Ugh...seriously...?!" He'd blurred into an afterimage due to the effects of his temporal acceleration, but he'd still been caught by the thunderstorm, it seemed. Even so, he retorts with a small, square canister that he hurls directly at her, shooting it to cause a detonation of glimmering purple haze that fades as quickly as it comes, giving him time to get back to his feet and dash forward for a close-range blast from his pistol. "Rean, now!" 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure points out the hidden treasure closet, and relats the oddness of the construction... like it's meant to do something. She collects the treasure pot, then follows the group down. She's still pointedly not using her main battery. No point on things her autocannon and machinegun nests can deal with.     She does frown a little at the sparce layout of the second floor, and moves to check the door. "I could blast it open... but perhaps we should look for some kind of key first." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot frowns at the door. He is trying to get this 'game logic' thing. He really is. He stands in front of the door, staring at it. His eyes flicker with green light as they roam over the portal. He turns back to Shyra for some sort of confirmation, but she seems to be more... watching instead. So he turns back to the door. "There... should be a key, yes?" He turns back towards the maze of hallways and sighs. The moogle heads back to start going through each chest one by one. Assuming Arkae didn't rob them all. 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' "Tamamo. Alright. My mistake." Tony Stark replies to the fingerwag, a light smile coming and going across his face. He's tired - but Tamamo is a 'pretty lady', and Stark isn't entirely heartless. Things go a bit sideways at that, complete with Staren freaking out. Contrary to his rather clipped and forceful entry, as Iron Man's helmet clicks down over his face once more he steps beside Staren. "Alright. We good?" He asks, a light expectant air. He expects a 'yes'. It's a mystery what other answers will get. "There's... something going on, but even if you write it, once you compile it, it becomes a different beast. I'll leave Rook to help the space cadet: This thing grew some new parts, like..." The impassive facemask turns to DOORMECH. "It's like you dropped your code object onto a node. It got instructions, inherited structures. Is that what you want it to do?" With purpose Iron Man strides forward, right up to DOORMECH. As he does so, 'physically' challenging without actually engaging, Tony Stark has an important question. "Retrocausal? That's not a word. Rook, I'm offended, you can't make up new phrases without consulting me. Exoenergy is a very useful word and I won't have it upstaged by exotimeywimey." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     The raw, unfinished world. Arthur has never seen it in this state, even as someone who once, long ago, crafted a universe. It's kind of incredible to see. It's also something he needs to not spend too much time around, not with things as they are. Arthur first slips back, then runs to Tamamo. She has a GIFT! What's that? Arthur intends to take it, squinting and peering. "Whatcha got here? This some magic stuff?" He CAPTCHALOGUES it in his SYLLADEX. It's not entirely clear what this means.     But, he also needs to see what's further into PRADIA CAVE. The Upside-Down tower needs to be known. There's something down there. Something white and glowing. He knows it's an important thing, maybe an objective for this area a long atime ago... Can he just, you know, reach out and take it? "Princess, you seein' this?" He asks curiously. "You gonna slap my shit for being irresponsible if I go poke that? Looks important." He moves carefully, cuts his gravity to about a tenth, and slides into a hole, descending cautiously. Can he get, at least, a better look? He expected an obstacle, so he wants to at least scout just a little... Or maybe retrieve something important? 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Not the strategy she would of prefered, but Athela is not going to object to making Mordred run into one attack by dodging Goomy's attempt. Hitting the foe is hitting the foe regardless who does the hitting, in the greater scheme of things. Mordred retaliates with blasts of bloody lightning. Athela grits down and starts to march towards the EVIL KNIGHT with her weapon still held more defensively. The lightning slams against Resolute Blade, sending sparks flying in various directions. Some of the electricity arcs around her and into the ground in her wake as the energy reflects off the indestructable blade. Not all of the current is deflected though, some of it crackling through her metallic armor. Goomy gets zapped a few times sitting on her shoulder, making it go hide in the hood of her cloak. Athela focuses her elemental aspect, but it's not into her weapon. Chilly fog starts swirling around her, some frost and ice starting to coat over her armor in an attempt to ward off some of the damage Mordred has been inflicting, sealing ablative layers over some of the dents and cracks. Its with that done that she finally lowers her weapon and lunges, thrusting the slightly curved point of the glaive-sword at the Evil Knight at what she's trying to estimate is the foe's relative center of mass. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren loses all his connections to local experiments. And his battle construct full of explosive weapons starts changing and moving on its own, in ways he didn't tell it to.     Staren is a very careful mad scientist, THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. For a few seconds, he panics, then calms down. "Yeah." he nods, replying to Tony. This is, after all, a fascinating chance! However... fighting his creation and seeing what it's become NOW would mess up the purpose of this whole exercise! So Staren climbs back into his walker and... well, he was going to leave the boss room, but Iron Man's decided to risk close-up examination.     Staren nods. "I expected SOMETHING like this to happen. That it would get new instructions. I didn't think it would physically change like this, though. Or that I'd lose all my connections to it."     He's nervous, but it's normal 'there's a big battle robot that might attack me at any moment' nervous, not 'AAH I'VE LOST CONTROL OF THE WORLD' nervous.     "...I was hoping I could use those connections to trace wherever these changes are coming from. So much for that, but at least it looks like we just might save this world after all." 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     "This," Tamamo says to Arthur, "I have made for you. It is a Divine Blessing, the answer to a prayer for Good Fortune. A surety for when the dice are cast. I expect that you will need such a thing, though it may instead be passed to another." She acts as if this is wholly sufficient explanation for what can only be easily determined to be some kind of Divine Magic Thing in the form of a Shinto-style paper charm. Maybe it is.     "Shall we remove ourselves, then? Though it does appear as if there remains something that is missing." She tilts her head, those fox ears turning, as if listening carefully will find the missing piece of the puzzle.     The comment from Tony gets Tamamo's attention. She claps her hands, once. "Just so, Mr. Stark! Some part of this world merely awaits missing pieces, and so we provide connections, revealing more than that which we added. Like a bridge that is missing planks, it is what is upon the other side of our repairs that is of interest." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The EVIL knight is proving to be a mighty threat that much is clear and she's playing the role pretty well. Tomoe is ready for magic as the lightning bolts hit she still is harmed she still cries out as lighting arcs over her body caring part of it to turn into angry red wireframes. She falls back a bit as she looks to the Evil Knight. She recovers quickly as she can and would ready her sword again. This time she dashes in throwing her shield like a boomerang at Mordred and as that is happening she'll make for a two-handed overhead strike with her blade before the shield returns to her. "SHIELD IMPACT!" She also keeps tabs on her companions. She doesn't know Crow but he's proven he's no speed bump she tracts Athela's movements as she tries to think of her next plan of attack. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo is easily able to think up a name. "No," he says. "You exist because someone thought you deserved to. Right now, that means bupkis to you, I know." He releases the villager, holding up a hand. "I want you to have something." He reaches into his shirt with one hand and shows the tiny silver medallion around his neck.      The vampire removes it, and offers it to the villager. "This is Saint Jude--the patron saint of lost causes. I'm giving it to you so that you can remember the day you got a name, Jude. And so that you remember there's always hope, even for lost causes."      He offers the medallion over. "I was like you. I didn't know anything but the part they wrote for me. Then I saw the End too. My end. I know that right now you're scared." He frowns, pauses, nodding understandingly. The vampire shoves his hands into the pockets of his coat. "But... someone wanted very badly for you to be awake. They thought that you deserved the chance to have your own destiny, to break outta the script..." Rizzo's memory flashes back to the hazy image he'd seen of the One with the Circle. The Author. "They tried to give that to you--but the world they live in is a tough one, kid. Making something, it's not as simple as just doing it." He shrugs. "I wish it was, but... I can't undo what's been done."      "But I do wanna make it right. These people--all of 'em--they deserve the chance to have more than... this. You're right, Jude--the world is broken. But we wanna fix it, and we need your help." 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna is a lot quieter as they advance into the dungeon. Echo visions tend to give her something to think about. She doesn't even need to draw her sword, simply punching through skeletons when they lunge out from around the corners or respawn behind her. Temple's cursed, all right. Alruna hangs around the door while Kupot and Arkae hare off in search of the Key, folding her arms with a quiet clank while she waits to be periodically jumped by one particular skeleton that constantly appears at a nearby intersection. "Shyra?" The Holy Healer's text boxes don't transmit the tone, but there's... just /something/ about the way the text scrolls, and about her body language. Alruna's expression is sympathetic, but she doesn't really know how else to say it. "What are we /doing/ here?" 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Returning to the group, Lilian replies to Tony as though the answer were totally obvious, though she thought of it along the way. "It's supposed to be the midway encounter, right? Obviously it has to stay here. We've added these details to the dungeon, and it's expanded to accommodate them, but they aren't integrated into its design, by the looks of it. It's still all . . . samey. The monsters wander into the traps by accident, and drop loot with no Party present."     "So, if this all present tense, realtime editing, we need to find a way to prompt it to recompile. To absorb all the new data and restructure. That's how development works, right? You make the changes, then you have to compile or save or bake or whatever before restarting the program to see them."     She leans past Tony and yells to Arthur "I will absolutely slap you if you mess with it before knowing what it is!" She briefly rights herself to look up at Tony in the eyes. "Look, you're allowed 'boat ghosts'. I'm allowed whatever I want." In the most incredibly brief of windows --a blink and you'll miss it flash of never-there-- Lilian sticks out the tip of her tongue at him, and then she's already moved on to chase after Arthur, only shooting back the words "Just call me if you get stuck on the boss!"     Yelling at Staren for being a whimp and freaking out when his mech became an ambient enemy instead of on his controller, and descending into the Inverted Tower, she does her best to head off Arthur immediately. "Hold up, not your domain!" she says, encroaching upon the glowing thing first. "I didn't bring my whole kit with me, but this entire world is excruciatingly basic."     From there, she intends to use her naturally honed magical senses, her familiarity with a broad array of multicultural mystic theorems, and a wearable reader hooked over one ear presenting information to one eye, to analyze the intended magical connotations of the big glowy mystery. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                         PRADIA CAVE - ARTHUR'S GROUP                              Tony walks forward, right up to the DOORMECH. Its eyes zoom in on him, looking down at him. It whirrs.      And then it speaks.      Actually speaks. In a tinny, mechanical voice.      "WARNING, WARNING! INTRUDERS DETECTED IN CONTAINMENT ZONE - TOWER OF VRITTI. CONTAINMENT UNIT D-00-RM3 IS ACTIVE. CONTINUING INTO TOWER OF VRITTI IS DISCOURAGED. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO. FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO ENTER THE TOWER OF VRITTI WILL BE PUNISHED."      The cave's bending further.      A moment ago it *was* just a cave. Now the red lines are spreading outwards, the pulsing red lights along the floor. The cave twists. The texture of the cave starts changing. The *geography* starts changing.      It goes from stone to steel.      The floors grate themselves out. The ceiling thrums with low red light. The twists and turns that were unfinished, with items at the end of them placed by Lilian, turn to straights and corners. Monitors appear, flickering with static. Every so often words pop up on them.      AYUDHA      The words flicker like creepy static, scrolling up and down and crackling out every so often, just like the static again. The zombies are no longer zombies but shambling machines in red and gold, with glimmering, mirror visors that sweep outwards with sunlight. Some of their heads spin every so often, and they bend forward and back, swaying like the zombies they were not moments ago.      And yet there's still rocks every so often, like broken textures jutting forth from the metal ceilings. There's still stalactites, though some of them are metal, with those lines wrapped around them. There's still stalagmites, though some of them are now flashing warning lights. It's half-formed, jank, but it's there.      Arthur descends the Upside-Down Tower. He doesn't get to see all of this changing. He doesn't get to hear the Tower of Vritti line. Instead, as he descends, the thing grows larger and large in his eyes. He's going further and further down.      And then he hits the bottom.      It is a creature. It is a machine. It is unfinished. It is asleep.      Wings of blue fire peel off it. Two floating bits sit along its sides, like vast claws disconnected from the main body. It has six eyes, all open, glowing the same color as the lights upstairs.      Arthur touches down.      Textboxes pop up.                          ISHVARA PROTOCOLS ENGAGED                                            IF ISHVARA=1 THEN GOTOGOTOGOTOGOTOGOTOGOTO                                      BLASPHEMOUS WEAPON - AYUDHA RAKSHA                            The eyes start to glow. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris is running to catch up. A brief talk with the Guard to 'get' the Quest, the Miqo'te's feet kicks up the ground at his full sprint. Sprinting through the field, sprinting straight into the forest proper and navigating it up.      ...All things told, it didn't seem to have taken all that long for the Miqo'te to come thumping up behind the party inside the Ruins. Someone's been lucky on the random encounters... or at least, maybe he just skipped the respawn rates of the bloody things on his way there.      He stops, arriving, panting rather obviously, staggering into an alt and panting, hands on his knee behind the party. "Ahhh... ahhhh... He... heeey... Just... hurried my arse to... catch up with y'all..."      The Red Mage lifts a finger, straightening himself with a grunt. "Figured it was the best thing to be, here--are... you guys stuck with a door?" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean braces himself, raising his sword in an attempt to 'ground' the lightning. It doesn't really work, and he just gets hit head on with it, though. He lets out a scream, getting fried, as some od his hair sticks up. Then Crow makes a call out for him to attack, making an opening for his underclassman. "Got it!" Rean shouts. He ignites his sword, ducking under the blast to rush Mordred again. He then makes three rapid strikes, slamming into the knight's armor. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The mech speaks up. "I DEFINITELY didn't program that!" Staren shouts over it.     And he stares at the dungeon changing around them. Okay, THAT is cool.     "We hear and understand. If we leave, will the other guardian machines here allow us to exit the uh, tower in peace?" 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' The villager - Jude, as he nods to the name - was going to leave as soon as Rizzo did and probably end his life. But Rizzo does something kind. He gives him something. A silver medallion. A personal gift. Jude takes it, stares at it for several moments, and then clutches it tightly. The world is . . . a bad place. But it needs hope, you say? What's the point? Despite saying that, and no tone to his words, Jude's face tells a different story. He's willing to keep living. We need to get out of here. There's fire everywhere, and . . . I'm not an adventurer. I can't fight like the Hero would be able to. I guess my special ability . . . Is to inspire? The man is clearly still scarred. Clearly still scared. Clearly still hurting. That's impossible . . . But he'll live another day. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Seeing the dungeon change further, Lilian is somehow *less* put off by it than the copypasted boring cave. Pleased, even, though that seems to be a separate gradient, judging by the slowly corrected mismatch of her walking confidence and relieved expression. "Well, it's certainly working. You've been on the money so far, Lowell." she says.     Glancing at the monitors, she makes a contemplative noise aloud to herself. "Ayudha. That's . . . in mysticism, a symbolic item held by an idol, especially Hindi. It literally means weapon, or tool, though. I wonder what that's about."     She has her answer extremely quickly. One glance at the bit of errant scripting and the unfinished boss monster activating, and she responds to Arthur's call to retreat instantly.     "Can you think of any other way to fill in a 'boss' other than fighting it? We don't have to destroy it. Just fight it a little. Attack it. Dodge its attacks. Get hit if you please. Either way, we're feeding the encounter various kinds of data. If it's like the rest of the dungeon, it should do exactly what I said earler: it'll procedurally accommodate the new information."     That being her best guess in mind, Lilian ~~takes her turn~~ opens fire. Ripples of black water-static disconnect her feet from the floor. Floating backwards, she gestures with both hands, crosses her wrists, and then thrusts her arms out towards the giant machine. A column of roaring black and red fire explodes out from her and crashes against its body, blasting it with a high velocity torrent of a combined magical fire/corrosive darkness damage. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur is pulled back! He'll let Lilian take the lead. Not just because she's more qualified, but because he's suddenly quite worried about things. While they descend, Arthur focuses on pondering how to induce a "reset". "So, we gotta reset... How do we do that? Hmmm. Not really sure. Crash it from the inside? Fuck, no way, that's a huge risk. Uhhhh..." He rubs his face. Tapping his chin, he focuses into the most intense thought Lilian has ever seen him engage in probably. Helps that he's mostly alone.     He snaps his fingers. "I got it. I think."     But right as he gets it, they activate the boss. "Uh oh. Uh oh! Bad powerleveling zone! Very bad powerleveing zone! Think running now would be good, Princess!" He calls out. Eyes wide, he busts out his broom and takes a white-knuckle grip. The more the music builds, the worse he feels. "Look, I get that monster-killing is your /thing/, but /please/ trust me, we wanna take this with a full party!" But Lilian is quite a compelling argument. Arthur, as someone who has worked extensively with Time-aspected individuals, has a particular instinct: Whenever temporally-related shit is going down, just trust them and do whatever they're shouting to do, and keep listening for more shouting.     So he takes his BATTLE STANCE, and opens up with a heavy barrage of blasts of starlight launched from his broom that a creature like this hopefully hasn't felt in literal eternities! He wants to gauge how resilient it is, how much power he needs to bring to fight, and what effects fighting it has, then he needs to make sure to book it!     C'mon, fresh new good-luck charm, don't fail me now. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna reflexively waves and smiles at Amelris as he chases them down into the basement of the Ruins. Alruna is currently standing in front of a locked door with Shyra, while Arkae and Kupot are cleaning out the labyrinth's rooms of everything that isn't nailed down and generally being JRPG protagonists. She knows something questionable is happening, but so far nothing has caught on fire...for them yet, at least. 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' "Awaiting missing pieces is all well and good, but if what you said is true, I'm not about to trust myself to a rickety piece of wood. I'm a very uncivil engineer, but I know my way around bridges." Stark places a powered fist on Staren's probably-actually-a-mecha-but-it's-still-a-shoulder shoulder. "Like the kid said - this isn't a two person fight. Let's try a full party of five, right?" Normally a party is four, or three, isn't it? Well, Tony has a slightly higher number that means something to him. "BASTION." Stark utters. His helmet UI switches to a combat red, from a standing red-orange, rotating around his view into purely tactical displays, missile indicators filling up in his periphery. <"Yes, Mister Stark."> "Turn out the lights." With a beep of acknowledgement in his ear audible to the rest of the trio above the tower, DOORMECH recieves a brutal code injection.     Awareness Ratings . . . . . accessed.     Accessing ocular processing . . . . deleted.     Accessing auditory processing . . . . deleted.     Accessing damage feedback sensors . . . . overwritten.     System reboot for Update xx.xx.xx2 . . . in progress. Stark gestures to the tower. "Let's go, before it grows new sets of eyes and ears. Don't hit it on the way down!" Tony calls before rocketing off down after Arthur and Lilian, not bothering to start with a snappy comeback. As Lilian just leaps to take her own turn, Stark fills the air with explosive flechettes launched from the shoulder of his suit. "Who said there was only two heroes, kid? This is the sort of thing you have whole teams of people for! I'm billing you my consulting rate after this, by the way, space cadet." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Oh, they mean... whatever Arthur and Lilian are facing. Alright.     Staren nods, The open-top walker he's riding in charges through the door as half of the cavelry, and turns its twin machine guns on AYUDHA RAKSHA. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo edges around the Doormech, which has identified itself as 'CONTAINMENT UNIT D-00-RM3.' Once she has a line for it, Iron Man does a thing, and she immediately hotfoots to the portal Arthur and Lilian took, taking off in what's practically a single, building-bounding leap. She's not fighting the Containment Unit, and keeping her mirror between her and it just in case it does detect her and she needs to do a mid-air deflection.     Once through, she stops, takes stock, and starts stretching out her senses. Almost immediately deciding this to be insufficient, she pulls out a bit of her own power and makes a few, sharp gestures, murmuring a rapid incantation for divination. There may not be very much here to analyze, but there was that divine/profane energy of the door, and there is certainly 'something' at work here. If she can find some points in the unfinished tower that seem meaningful at all, if most likely not true leylines, she'll choose those spots. If not, she'll just take her best guess, trusting in her own Good Fortune.     At each spot, Tamamo plants one of the trap talismans she crafted earlier. The style is off from that of the metal dungeon created above, but it adapted, so why should this not? Each spell she plants is set to ring a loud alarm and send out a stunning, but mostly non-lethal, electric blast at trespassers.     She isn't expecting anyone to wait for her, and answers, "Please continue on ahead, I shall shortly join," if anyone seems like they will. She isn't sure about Arthur, but Lilian at least sounded confident. Tamamo will catch up with some delay. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTRAL REGION - YELLOW FOREST Shyra is incredibly passive, only offering information when people ask her. This is probably a bad habit she picked up in her previous life. When Kupot looks at her, she smiles and nods to Kupot in anticipation. Kupot wanders off. Shyra almost follows him. She seems to not believe in splitting the party, but she also isn't stopping them from wandering off on their own. She doesn't seem to be willing to just outright tell people what to do, the healer simply dancing back and forth a bit on her feet almost in an animation-cycled fashion.     Shigure makes some important observations as she gets richer. She could certainly attempt to blast it open. Would it work? Who knows. Others are looking for the key, so it's up to her! At least she's in good company.     Alruna is back early. Temple's cursed. What? Temple's cursed. She immediately sees what Shyra is up to and begins nailing the healer to the ground on No Seriously, What Is Going On Here. Shyra looks shocked, like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and then she slumps down a little, her eyes going to the floor, embarassed. What do you mean? It's a ruined temple, don't you want to get the treasure from it? She says, and then after a pause... Well, um... Also there's some important relics in the bottom. We're almost there. We just have to get them before the Evil Knight does. These relics are what began our quest to save the world... before.     Amelris rolls out like a boss except not since he's not a boss, he's the adventurer. The boss is attacking the main gates. He doesn't dillydally at all, using his own trained adventurer senses to hone in right where he needs to go. Good thing everyone else got stuck trying to open a door, gave him plenty of time! Of course now he's confronted with the same problem everyone else is, but hey, he has a moment to catch his breath. Shyra claps her hands and glees in his direction. Ah! So dashing! She says, smiling. You must be a very popular hero!     It takes a little bit but Kupot manages to find a chest in the farthest possible corner that Arkae hadn't reached yet. Opening it up, he finds a YELLOW KEY that when used on the door, opens it up. Shyra claps again when that happens. YAY! Good work, Kupot! Now we can get to the end!     The group gets through the doors and quickly cleans out the remainder of the temple. There was much left behind it anyway. The final room on B2 is a large one, festooned with ornate decorations of four iconic shapes surrounding a yellow crown, the fresco hanging over an altar. Tha altar holds four RELICS, small statuettes colored BLUE, WHITE, BLACK, and RED in order. Oh look, there's the objective!     Unfortunately, in front of it is a large, grotesque pillar that is surmounted by a massive eye, lashing tentacles flailing in all directions. That looks like a problem.                     EVER-WATCHING GUARDIAN - EYESTALKER                     BGM: https://youtu.be/dF5cWiDMjIA 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo sighs with relief. He watches Jude go. Watching the ember of hope spark within someone only moments after they escaped from a nightmare... "There's... a few people that didn't think this could fly. But we just proved you guys can wake up."      Jude is the first. They'll look up to him, but he'll be prepared. "You'll be fine, Jude. It'll be hard, but it's worth it." He smiles wanly. "Now. I gotta go let the gang know this wasn't as impossible as we thought."      "...there's gonna be a lot of change coming up, Jude. Keep an eye out, and hang tight. We'll need your help for what's coming, pal." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Well, door's open. There's the objects, and oh look, a boss. Shigure steps forward, in front of even the party tank, and levels her cannons on Eyestalker. The report is likely deafening to her companions, the 12.7cm shells lashing out towards the boss monster in an opening gambit.     After she's fired, she jinks off to one side, allowing the melee fighters to follow up her opening volley. "Reloading, 12 seconds. Load High Explosive." 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''              TOWER OF VRITTI CONTAINMENT UNIT - ARTHUR'S GROUP                    BASTION outclasses D-00-RM3 by a mile. As soon Tony starts fucking with it, status symbols pop up over its head - BLIND, SILENCE, STUN, DISABLE. Sunglasses, an ellipses in a box, stars over its head, bands of light wrapped around it. It stands there uselessly, repeating the same phrase it just said, as Tony and Staren bail into the Tower of Vritti itself.      Tamamo goes past the disabled D-00-RM3 and into the Tower. She finds not ley lines, exactly, but something close enough for Godderment work. She starts placing the talismans around, and the Tower does, indeed, start to shift. The strange red lights start turning gold. Sunlight appears at the top of the tower, pouring down on the awakening Ayudha Raksha, Lilian, Arthur, Tony, and Staren.      No, not sunlight.      A sun.      The entire top of the Tower, the entire ceiling, becomes a blazing fire. It twists and writhes, licking the golden walls. The golden lines transform to fire, wrapping the Tower in dramatic flame patterns all the way down.      More textboxes start popping up as Tony fires his flechettes into the thing's hide. The flechettes rake across it, numbers popping up above it - just like with Linehart, Shyra, and Pazkar. They're very nice, big, satisfying numbers. Tony has made his numbers go up *a lot*.      ORIGINAL SIN      HERETICAL ENGINE THAT CHALLENGED THE GODS      AYUDHA RAKSHA      Staren's machine-gun fire isn't nearly as big, number-wise, as Tony's, but it's punching holes in the thing's strange fur.      Lilian's dark flames rake across it. The fire seems more effective than the darkness by far - two separate numbers pop up, and the red one is *much* bigger than the other.      But it hasn't moved yet.      And then Arthur's light comes down upon it. The starlight smashes into it. The numbers are *pitiful*. Almost *nothing*.      Oh.      And those eyes all light up at once.      *Oh*.      Ayudha Raksha rises. It has tiny arms that look incomplete. Its wings are rippling flame. Its jaw and one of the floating pods has mechanical bits, but BASTION can find no machinery within it, not like D-00-RM3.      HERETIC CANNON      The words pop up above the floating pod with mechanical bits. The pop opens like a camera. A beam rakes out. It's seven colors. If Arthur is foolish enough to be struck by it, the damage is catastrophically painful - fire, metal, earth, water, forest, light, and dark. It is something *designed* to kill gods, to imprison them in a circle of elements and hold them down and beat them to death. It is the Original Sin - challenging the gods themselves. Even if he isn't struck by it, he and Tamamo can *feel* that this thing was meant to destroy divinity. Arthur's even read about it in the book. Ayudha Raksha, built to challenge the Yellow Emperor.      The other pod turns upwards towards Tony and Staren.      MATSYA      It's a glitchy mess. The attack is just nonsense, like somebody took a broken, incomplete sprite and shoved it into reality. It's clearly *some* kind of projectile, and by the color it's supposed to be some kind of enormous flood, but it's just...nonsense.      The central head's eyes turn green.      REINCARNATION PROTOCOLS      Green numbers start popping up over it. The wounds start closing.      Oh dear.      Yep, this is a Superboss. It probably even has phase changes. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' "That's more like it... Show me your resolve, or scatter to the wind!" Mordred's getting more into the EVIL KNIGHT role the more she fights and boasts and yells in that stilted tone, even going as far as gripping her sword with two hands instead of hurling it or something for the sake of the act. Never let it be said that the Knight of Treachery doesn't know a thing or two about proper theatrics to really get the blood pumping. Once again, Crow charges in with that gambit that catches Mordred off-guard. She's used to attacks coming from different directions, sure, but an archer attacking her head on in melee range? That's just stupid enough to actually work, and that shot actually knocks Mordred's helmet off-kilter enough that the rest of the crew can capitalize. The teamwork from Crow and Rean isn't all too surprising considering... Well, considering that Crow's outright saying Rean's name, but it still works wonders when Mordred's facing attacks from multiple directions. Rean's blazing sword slashes aggravate that earlier holy sword strike from earlier, seeping deep into the EVIL KNIGHT's armor as she utters a more guttural battle cry to psyche herself up through the pain of being steadily cooked in her armor. Or maybe try and intimidate Rean. Either or. Athela's charge into close-range is met with Mordred bringing her blade up to defend against the thrust, but the curve of the blade scrapes along past Mordred's defenses to draw blood from her side. Truth be told, the EVIL KNIGHT was expecting her to stay at range, so being met head to head like this actually gets an amused "Finally." from Mordred even at the glancing stab. Tomoe's shield toss, too, is completely unexpected considering that the knights Mordred knows don't normally fight like... Well, Mordred. The shield bounces off her helmet with a loud clang, staggering the EVIL KNIGHT just long enough that she only has time to block against that overhead strike with her free arm, the blade digging into her armor further and worsening the existing damage to it further. "You're fighting well for fodder. But I've got more important things to do, so just lay down and die already!" The act's slipping a bit even as Mordred's own less-refined tone starts to come through, the excitement of battle getting the better of her. With Tomoe's sword digging into her gauntlet, Mordred ducks down briefly before thrusting upwards with one of the horns on the side of her helmet and following up with a hasty swing from the silver sword, aiming to slice right through her and Athela with that single slash. Rean and Crow are going to get caught up with a rapid swing coming from the other direction. It's not a slash like the last one that comes for them, though, as Mordred turns Clarent sideways and swings it more like massive club. Apparently, she's aiming to smash right through the pair in one fell swoop, proper sword use be damned! 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur notes the numbers. He notes the absence of apparent response. He sees... this is not ready for killing. "This is bad, Princess!" He calls out, urging her. "I'm not seein' bars. I'm not seein' flashes. I don't think this guy is done! Thinkin' this guy isn't even in the system for losing! We gotta-- we gotta /fill/ more!" The sun blasts above. "It's /filling out/, but it ain't gonna /fill/ with just this! Come on! We gotta move! We gotta--"     Then, an incoming beam. It's the enemy's turn now. Arthur dodges as best he can, blasting to one side on a rocket-blast. Despite it, he suffers a dead-on shot from a beam designed, specifically, to kill a god. It slams towards him. Despite dodging at speeds that would tear apart the bodies of most pilots, he eats shit and the beam has him dead to rights.     Unless someone interferes, it strikes him hard enough to kill him instantly by tearing a hole through his torso. Arthur is DEAD, and his corpse subsequently flops onto the ground of the arena. It would seem he won't be able to retreat on his own.     Staren probably knows why this isn't the worst ending that it seems to be. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris do strike quite a dashing figure in the way he's running into the scene. Hand on his be-feathered hat, his shining rapier with the pommel of a wonderful, glowing gem. Cape billowing behind him with each step he takes, taking in the wind of his velocity. That is, until he stopped, hands on his knees to catch his breath again from all that mad dash he just did.      The truth, however, is that he followed his nose. The smell of booze still followed Alruna. A bit. A little. That was nice and well enough to follow up.      "Ah, I just do what can be do, Shyra." The Red Mage replies once he's retaken control of his faculties, beaming wide and his ears fluttering. An amazing trick, that. YOU try to flutter your ears. "I'll share what I learned when we are out of here. It might give us some ideas." There is a stare at Kupot. Try not to stare too much at the Moogle, Amelris. This one do not look like a lazy arse. Amelris also give Arkae a smile, lifting his feathered hat politely at her.      He follows along through the door, peering around the room while keeping a hand on his rapier. A flick of his wrist makes the gem unhook, floating above his other hand, dancing beneath his wriggling fingers. Amelris lets out a loud whistles at the sight of the relics. Objective found.      Then a pillar is also there.      A problem, in other words.      "AH-HA!" Amelris calls out, flourishing his rapier and taking a step forward. "It seems we have found the protector of the VERY IMPORTANT relics! Come! We will need to DEFEAT IT before we also return with the HERBS for the POOR GU--"      Amelris' voice is drowned out the the CANNON FIRE unleashed from Shigure, the Miqo'te's ears flattening against his head with an visible wince, gritting his teeth while looking at her surprised and somewhat cross, before pointing at the WATCHER, swinging his rapier above him. A crystaline arc follows his swing, growing several swords that are launched relatively silently out to soar at the 'Boss'. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna didn't drink THAT much at the party. Just because Miqo'te have an excellent sense of smell and are born trackers... she's not a chronic drunkard, don't judge her. Alruna gives Shyra an askance look. "Aye, I do like to delve." she admits. She draws her sword again out of habit as Kupot returns with the Key they need to unlock the door and continue down. The paladin sprints this time to get to some of the enemies before Shigure can shoot them, but not nearly enough for her liking. They make good time. When they approach the final room, Alruna's eyes settle on the Eyestalker, first. But there are the artifacts sitting behind it, just as Shyra said. She takes a step forward, sword and shield at the ready- Only to be cut off by the thunderous report of Shigure's heavy cannons. "AHHHH!" Alruna twists her head in pain for a second, shaking it. "Godsdamn that's loud!" And Shigure's gotten the beast's attention before she had a chance! That's it. When she gets out of here, she's going to find herself a gunsmith and learn about those weapons. Alruna tosses her shield at the Eyestalker nonetheless, trying to draw the malevolent architecture's attention. She catches the shield on its rebound and swings wide at the pillar, channeling a surge of brilliant blue aether into the blade like she's trying to cut down a stone tree. Alruna may be suspicious, but Shyra's got her number when it comes to classical adventuring tropes. 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' . . . Jude walks away from Rizzo as he leaves. Jude turns towards the fire and the group. He watches Mordred start dunking into them. And then, he does something entirely outside of the script. Instead of a civilian fleeing, he pumps his fist into the air. Come on, Heroes! Kick their butt! 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' I mean, there is the fact that Kupot is also cybernetic. The large insectile lenses look back at Amelris. "What, kupo." He brings the key up to the door to grasp and turn it with a heavy clunk. In truth, destroying the door feels like... cheating. He looks up at the relic with a frown. Now it is there. This place isn't finished yet. Everything in this world is so damn strange. Not in that beautifully strange way either. That 'hurt your brain' strange. And that's a giant eye. Kupot puts his hand over his sword... but he cannot strike. Not until it has lasered him. Which may make him look a bit goof,y standing there while everyone attacks, waiting. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The flood(?) tries to wash Staren and his ride away. Talons deploy to grip whatever passes as a floor in the tower. Wood and metal creaks, and Staren has to hold his breath until it passes -- at least he's strapped into his seat!     After the flood passes, Arthur hits the floor with a big hole in him. Staren tries to recall how that works. Something about only being able to die when it's dramatically appropriate or... there was a second scenario but he can't recall it off the top of his head. This definitely didn't FEEL like Arthur making a noble sacrifice. It just kind of happened by accident. That PROBABLY means it doesn't count. But in any case, Arthur's head is intact, so he can be saved other ways too.     But what to do about AYUDA RAKSHA? They haven't hurt it enough, apparently. Staren doesn't exactly have his mecha here and the cool boss monster he built is otherwise occupied. The machineguns built into his walker aren't cutting it. He'll need to use another big gun.     Staren pulls from his bag a two-handed raygun of some sort, a single piece of metal sculpted into the abstract SUGGESTION of a firearm. He aims down and fires.     It's almost video-gamey. A (relatively) slow-moving bullet of energy shoots down the tower, looking like something you might expect a sidescrolling shooter ship to shoot (or dodge) hundreds of.     But when it hits, it EXPLODES like a thousand missiles at once!     Staren sure hopes that makes some big numbers appear. And in the back of his mind he keeps listening, waiting for Arthur to pop up on the radio or something. Come on, Lowell... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is getting the idea Modred is getting into it maybe a bit too much. She's scored a good hit but it's not over yet. Mordred is a legend far bigger than Tomoe, yet? Tomoe is stubborn very stubborn even as the weapon is swung like a club at her? She pops just about every cooldown she has, she glows bright gold, she slams her shield into the ground and just takes more of the brutal punishing beating that Modred is dishing out. She's still standing and isn't too badly off. "Not done yet." She will flare out her wings fully at this point. She's not quite been in the situation that the natives of this world have been in. She does know what it's like to be trapped in a nightmare like this can be like even if you are not alone. Then comes Jude? She sees his text box and assumes this is the person that Rizzo woke up. This inspires her more, a thought comes back to her. Something about what Big Boss said about how she got her powers, not on how but the most important thing. How many people have you saved? She spreads her wings taking flight above Mordred and then at the apex like an angry angel she will drop from on high putting all her energy into a chain of diving bombing attacks, where she'll strike out with her blade on each pass. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' The headbutt in itself doesn't do a lot, but it disorients Athela just long enough she can't get her own weapon back into a defensive position against the sweeping slash that follows. The protective ice she had formed over her armor fortunately takes most of strike, keeping it from getting through her armor and into the squishy human underneath. That doesn't change the fact that it hits with enough brutal force to send the young knight crashing over backwards and hard into the ground. "Ugh!" The groan gets her Goomy to poke back out from within her cloak, nudging at her cheek with a pseudopod. "No. I am fine." She puts a gauntlet to the ground to push herself up. "Sore, but fine." The other hand grabs her weapon, propping the butt of the hilt on the ground to help herself up, then resuming her grip on it. Hmm. She's not sure how this world would react to her patron's smite... and honestly this is probably not drastic enough to take the risk. Fortunately, she's got other capable tricks up her sleeves. But first a moment to push a few stray hairs out of her face and tuck them back into her headgear. Then armored heels slam into the ground, kicking off into a short dash, smirking a bit at the cheering from the sidelines somewhere. A few strides is all she needs. If Mordred expected her to just run right up to her an attack again, the Evil Knight will be disappointed. Instead Athela close in just enough to take an astounding leap into the air. At the same time elemental energy congregates in Resolute Blade, flash freezing into a larger jagged blade of snow and ice. It's just as Tomoe is passing on her bombing maneuver that Athela comes back into the fight with an angling descent at Mordred, hurtling with all the fury of snow and ice crashing down a mountainside. 

:'''{{#var:7145|Crow Armbrust (7145)}} has posed:'''         "ARCUS Acti --" Crow feels his ribs crack as he gets caught unexpectedly, flung like a ragdoll through the air, tumbling back down to the ground moments later with a groan. This was where he intended to clock out, it's not like he had a horse in this race after all, all he had to do was just leave the rest to the others now that he'd sustained suitable injuries. But, someone broke the script. " ... ?" Rizzo had mentioned something like that earlier, that someone had 'woken up'. And now, here he was, cheering them on. Even though it'd take no effort at all for the Evil Knight to obliterate him with a flick... What a pain in the ass. It was stupid, sentimental garbage, but he couldn't just lay down when someone real was cheering them on. "Man.." Crow forces himself up and breathes in, holding one hand out. "ARCUS Activate." Blue aura shimmered around his body as some kind of runic circled formed on the ground, glowing briefly before the light dimmed and an ethereal skull appeared, releasing a miasmic curse on Mordred in an explosive vision of death. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     This time, the boss' full information fills in. Its title bar. Its intro flash. She can see the numbers. Elemental weaknesses and resistances. It has attack placards. Multi-action turns. According to Lilian, this is all going exactly to plan. She frowns, almost imperceptibly, at the regeneration ability --these are the types she hates especially-- but the object here isn't to take it down. She can live with it.     Until Arthur promptly eats shit. The exact instant he makes contact with the beam, in that RPG-esque way where his health hasn't ticked all the way down yet, Lilian--                 -----[stop]-----     "Oh my god you *unbelievably useless *ass**! You had one job! I told you, try not to die! I thought you were supposed to be good at it!" she yells, where nobody will hear her. Flying over to Arthur as quickly as possible, she tackles him out of the beam, twisting her body so as not to be roasted by it herself, and then hurls him down on the floor some distance away, splitting up to a higher vantage.                 -----[start]-----     --apparently telports him out of the way, then herself to another location, given that she briefly has the luxury of not being put under fire herself. "So what's your suggestion then?!" she yells to Arthur, before hitting the radio and calling for Tamamo. "Can you make your way down here?" she prompts, over the sound of boss music blaring. Given her play right now is to poke and prompt the boss as much as they can until the group has to pull back, she switches from 'fire' and 'dark' elements completely, and brings out her staggered and interlocking, counter-rotating magic circles of gold and black, then hammers the Ayudha Raksha with an 'element' that definitely doesn't exist here.     To pretty much every given observer, it's an artful barrage of flashing and scintillating lines of golden light and negative shadow, blowing up in starstruck explosions. What's actually happening to the construct, though, is that it's being hit with a missile massacre of compact temporal anomalies. Potential energy brought in from the future and mass-energy diverted and scattered into alternate timelines. Light and dark. Chaotic, fractal, physically and energetically shredding impetus. A 'time element', more or less, coupled with physical damage.     If that doesn't have much of an effect, all she's got left is unpinning the ~~TREE~~ FOREST relic made of an empty Grief Seed from her hair, and channeling that. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTRAL REGION - YELLOW FOREST The battle is joined! Shigure opens in the proper manner: with heavy artillery. The detonations tear into the pillar of eye, causing it to roar and lash around emphatically. The life bar over the creature decreases significantly as Numbers Appear over it for a second, then vanishing. This gives the others the opening they need to strike.     Amelris launches in right afterwards, the Heroic Statements interrupted by the explosions. But it's okay, Shyra appreciates the bombastic heroness regardless if one simply looks at her expression. The Crystal Swords that strike down pierce into the beast, A punchy number appears as well, the bar continuing to decrease thanks to the focused DPS on the boss monster. It's not instantly falling over at least, which makes it more of a challenge than the alpha-susceptable creatures seen thus far.     Alruna, meanwhile, Does Her Job. The tanky Paladin shield bounces off of the Eyestalker, following up with a wide cleave of burning aether. The beast roars again, numbers appearing, albeit small compared to the DPS. Still, Alruna probably won't instantly detonate on the retaliation, will she?     Kupot enters a counter attack stance, preparing to use his skills to strike the boss in the inevitable moments that it will be vulnerable while it strikes. But when will that be? It must be low Speed.     THOUSAND EYES     Oh. A moment later, the tentacles all bloom open, showing that it is named what it is for a reason as innumerable alien orbs gaze at the party... And lasers BRZZZZZZZZT across the room, attempting to rake across the assembled adventurers! WATCH OUT! Shyra calls, attempting to mitigate damage with her healing spells. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo smiles, as Jude cheers the heroes on.      Elsewhere, Staren and Arthur report to his inquiry over the radio. The con is working. All that's left is to wait--the Private Eye doesn't need to fight. Not this time, anyway. It's enough to figure things out. This way leads to The End, he's sure of it.      John has saved someone from a meaningless, repetitive existence, and in so doing, proven that this scheme can work. He's stood in the face of flames and not budged an inch. He is the last person in any given situation to lose hope, but this is exactly what he needed after his frenzy at the dungeon some days ago. Moreover, it could prove key to his stated quest of defeating the Beast once and for all.      Rizzo's done his part here. The rest is up to the actors. He quietly makes his exit. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo's efforts... succeed...? Looking up, she sees that she has created a sun. It is not The Sun. It is not Her. But it is a sun, something this world had lacked, and she feels immensely accomplished in having righted one of this world's major deficiencies. Perhaps there will yet be some way to bring it to its proper place in the sky. That can be considered after the play has yet again run its course. Even if Shyra needs to reset the world again. "Come to that, however did she accomplish such a thing?"     At Lilian's request, Tamamo brightens, putting aside any musings. Tony's more dire statement not having parsed, she remains unaware of Arthur's situation as she descends. Certainly, there is a battle down there. A strange fight against a strange creature. She might assume that Staren's attack is normal 'for him,' but to her, it's just as strange as anything else she's seen today.     The alien aspect of the place doesn't slow her down. Leaping from platform to platform, Tamamo speedruns the descent as well as anyone technically lacking a flight spell could. Mild magical effects (and her naturally light frame) keep there from being the kind of hard impacts that would normally result from falling such distances, purposefully or not. Finally, it lands her, if not at the lowest point of the floor, at least conceivably 'in range,' and coincidentally not far from Lilian.     "And what is... oh, that creature is even less pleasant a visage at this distance." It's bad enough that she actually clicks her tongue. "And a heretic, too. Of course it would be. Very well, then. If the fire of a sun bothers you not, then let us dispense with a hell of fire, and bring about a frozen plain. We have not the one trillion years to repent in the Naraka Arbuda, but condense this into moments."     Tamamo doesn't need to create new talismans for this. 'Needing to drop a rain of giant ice spikes and blizzard winds' is just part of the standard kit for going outside, so she only has to pull a handful of strips of paper from her sleeves and toss them. They talismans fly on their own, but not too far, before disintegrating to activate their magic. 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' Iron Man is heavily equipped, right now, for extremely tactical engagements. A heavily reinforced chest reactor space with an oversized blue-white ring accompanies enlarged shoulders - where the flechettes launched from. The whole thing lacks some of the normal sleek, muscular racecar stylings and looks largely like a bulked out military frame. As the glitchy 'MATSYA' attack crashes into the hovering battlesuit, the forearm extends a tower-shield like glowing energy field of repulsor energy, breaking the flood of junk data around it. So instead of being washed away into badly rendered pixels, Tony Stark just gets whammied by a hurricane in nonsense form. Over the whine of a 'woopwoopwoop' behind both ears, Bastion fills Tony in. <"Damage Report: Shields will fail should this combat frame take another hit. Suit integrity stable, seventy-three percent. Auto-repair functioning nominally."> "Seventy-three? Jesus. Thought I upgraded the shields." <"Confirmed: Shield upgrade effective against damage."> "Lordy." <"I concur with the tactical assesment of allied units."> Stark searches for who would be the person his suit AI was talking about. "Rook?" <"I have calculated the appropriate response."> Stark's vision fills with munitions, targeting solutions, charge levels, and leading indicators for manual targeting. "Yeah? What's that." <"Please confirm release of central RT limiter."> Stark smirks. "Let's go." With Lilian calling down Tamamo and claiming she'll 'handle' Arthur, Staren going at it with his RAISER rifle, and the field largely cleared beyond explosions and 'giant flying superbosses', Iron Man hovers out of the cloud of smoke and fizzling glitches, ports all over the suit opening as the 'bweeeeEEEE' whine of repulsor weaponry spooling up fills the air around him. A rapid succession of strafing palm-blasts is joined by a staccato spray of micromissiles as Tony maneuvers around Lilian's impressive 'TREE' blasts and the detonation of the RAISER full charge. Closing with one of the pods, ports on his right wrist opens expelling a cardinal red laser of tremendous cutting force to slash across the spiny bulb aimed to test the boss's depth - if it even has any - before flying back up as amber light gathers in the white-blue chest ring. <"Primary weapon ready."> "Then show it the big one." Cleared from the firing line of his allies, Iron Man's chest darkens the entire sun-lit room for just a heartbeat before a tremendous beam of solid kinetic energy rips forth from his suit's chest and crashes into the boss just like the boss' glitchstate hurricane crashed into him. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Lasers begin to move across the room. As the lasers hone in on Kupot, he takes a step forward. Again, the blade comes out of his scabbard, flickering out twice. Two lasers burst against the ceiling away from Kupot, though likely not making a stain at all. Or a mark. Two more of the lasers push through, forcing him to drop his katana as the strange light rips across his arm and chest, tearing open the tunic. He frowns. His HUD suddenly starts to pick up the numbers and run them, formulating them into an ATK and DEF statistic off to one side. But they don't mean anything to Kupot. At least not yet. It is information he can use in the front. For now, he grabs at the monoblade and slides it back into the scabbard, before touching the pommel gem. "Warriors of old, kupo. Ancestors. Lend me your power." > SUPLEX > ROCK DROP > EYE STALKER Leaving his primary weapon aside, Kupot takes three steps towards the pillar in rapid succession to build up speed. Then the technomagical cybernetics in his legs spring to action, and Kupot hurtles the pillar with ease. He grabs two tentacles of the Eyestalker in mighty hands and with a leverage of roughly 'infinity', pulls the Eyestalker onto his shoulders. Another mighty kick off the pillar, and the moogle goes plummeting towards the ground at magically enhanced speeds, pushing himself to be on top of the mighty First Boss Of The Game. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna's sword cuts into the pillar with a meaty thud. She tugs on it. It's stuck. She pulls again, planting her foot on one of the eyes and yanking her weapon free. The boss music hits a slightly discordant note as the boss counterattacks. Alruna ducks behind her shield for what good that'll do when the tentacles themselves are spawning eyes with which to attack them, running around to the side of the monster to try and pull its attention away. THOUSAND EYES appears to be an omnidirectional saturation attack. She strikes at the base of the pillar over and over, forming an interlocking shield of aether in front of her before it can attack again. "Burn it down!" she roars, indicating to set it on fire or just throw everything they've got at the damn pillar and hope it isn't load-bearing. It could be either, really. She takes a step back to watch the spectacle of a /moogle/ suplexing the boss monster, a goofy smile appearing on her face at odds with the dramatic tension of the music playing. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Mordred's blade slams right into Rean's chest, knocking all the wind out of his lungs as he goes flying. He tumbles head over feet for a bit, landing somewhere behind Crow. Crap, what now? And then someone calls out to them. It looks like one of the NPCs from earlier broke the script, and was cheering them on now, like out of a fairy tale or something. The townsfolk cheering the heroes on and getting them to keep fighting. Rean laughs. They were here for something like this. To wake up the people of Shyra and Pazkar's world so they could live better lives than this empty loop. They couldn't let them down. What else could he do right now, though? ...Well...there was 'that.' Rean drags himself to his feet, raising his sword over his head. Focus...Focus...On Getting Mordred out of the way. On clearing the path for the people of Finaria. On clearing this obstacle. With a shout, Rean lowers his blade, becoming engulfed in a burst of darkness, becoming decidedly less heroic looking with his hair and eyes shifting to white and red respectively. But it's still him. "UOOOOOOOOOH!" he shouts, rushing Mordred in a split second, his sword engulfed in blue flames. He then slashes at them multiple times, with one final large burst of flame at the end. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur is knocked out of the way! He suffers only some fairly horrible damage, not lethal damage! He's bleeding all over, and his HEALTH VIAL is a little wild! "Gah! Hhhh! Thanks!" He calls out. There's further negotiating. He decides to mount his broom, and focus on /survival/! While Lilian tries to get this whole thing to shift this to the next stage, Arthur's going to try to evade the dangers of anti-god nature. Curse his godhood! The worst thing.     He's crafting up a GATE back up to the cave. Something that'll be easier for the others! But lord, he sure doesn't want to let this thing out of containment. If this thing wanders around the world, or worse, the multiverse, he'll be dead inside a week. Once they get a reaction... he's gonna get this party to FLEE as fast as they can! 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris gives Kupot a brief shurg, keeping his voice still drowned out by artilery. He said something, seeming like 'Will tell later'. He adjusts his hat with the tip of his rapier, looking back at the monster full of eyes.      Oh. Good. Lasers. Just what he needed.      The Red Mage dashes forward, gripping his gem in one hand as he leap in against the saturation effect of energy beams. He attempts his best to avoid them, leaping, then rolling down to slide, but it's still quite heard to avoid something that is at the speed of light, or close enough. Some do blows into him, leaving burns on his outfit and body.      Still, there's something that bothers him about the place. There's the monster, yes, sure. But that fresco...      Time to get a closer look.      The Red Mage vaults to his feet, swinging his blade in front of himself as he concentrates, then launches himself like an arrow at the monster. Both to get closer to the monster to deliver a fantastic enhanced swing of his blade, but also to move past to get a closer look at the fresco. What the HELL is it? 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                       TOWER OF VRITTI - ARTHUR'S PARTY                            Lilian opens up on Ayudha Raksha with a new and interesting element. She smashes into it with something that does not exist yet, something that was in no way programmed in. Something that the distant dreamers could not have expected, could not have produced, because how could they have ever expected anything like this?      How could they have expected their dream to be made real in the most literal possible manner?      The chaotic fractal of temporal force crashes against it. There is a moment of extreme chaos. The whole of its existence shudders. Damage numbers - quite high ones - pop up on all three bits of Ayudha Raksha, both the hovering pods and the central body. Bits of it shred, aged in an instant. How a thing that has no age and no concept of aging can age is...impossible to say. It looks like it's just some kind of Poison Damage, or at least, that's how it's being interpreted. Maybe a Poison Element or something just got added?      Staren opens up with his RAISR. It smashes into the thing, and, true to video-gamey form, works staggeringly well. It hits the boss right in the eye, punching through it. There's a burst of some nasty liquid, something that feels uncannily to Tamamo like liquid bad karma, and a big number above its head. That's a good, big number.      Tony Stark makes a hell of an argument too. An absolute hell-rain of micromissiles pours down, popping up very big numbers all over the place. The red laser pierces right through the left pod, rendering it still, though not dead; they can tell it's not dead. But Tony can tell - it has depth. It has weight. It is a real entity. It *shouldn't* be, but it is.      The sheer force of the kinetic energy is the big one, though. It crashes into Ayudha Raksha so hard the thing actually staggers, floating backwards for a moment as if a boat pushed in a bathtub. The number that pops up is a massive 999 - probably the highest it can go in something this old. That is a limit break, for sure.      Tamamo floats down the stairs, flicking her talismans. Eruptions of ice spikes and cold winds spread across the field, and there's another very, very low set of numbers that pop up - uncannily low, though across all three parts, including the one Tony just blew into stasis. The numbers are still going down, the spikes jutting forth from the thing, frost forming on its body under the glacial winds. The red eyes turn upwards towards Tamamo.      That's probably not a good thing.      And then the TREE hits it.      The boss stops.      INITIATING BLUE DRAGONS CONTAINMENT      It turns metal.      Every part of it becomes metal in an instant. The pods surge together, connecting into a single, massive cannon, which hovers above the now-metallic creature. Its wings turn to stylized shimmering steel, glinting in the harsh sunlight. Its body becomes armor. The lights spread across it rapidly, its maw transforming into a grille.      BLUE DRAGONS CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL      FIVE MOVEMENTS - METAL      And then the cannon turns upwards towards Tamamo.      KARMIC IMPALEMENT      It isn't a beam this time. It's five points of light, five points of light that shoot out towards Tamamo's arms, legs, and heart. Any one of them is going to be painful - all five of them might just be lethal. Where they hit the wall or her they draw a star in the shape of the Five Chinese Elemental chart, which flares to life with dark and terrible energy.      Meanwhile, the core body begins opening up. DEVIC BINDER      Liquid metal shoots out of its body. It shoots for every member of the party save Arthur, who it's already forgotten exists (well, he died. It can't reregister him? Maybe?). It's a black, unpleasant liquid metal, something thoroughly profane, thoroughly evil. This is a weapon meant to hold down gods, after all. What else could it be but profane? 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' That's not right. Is that... "A seventh now?" As Jude passes by, Mordred squints at the cheering civilian. "Hold up, when did you...? Gah, just stay out of the way!" The EVIL KNIGHT sounds annoyed instead of just cleaving through this guy. Still, Mordred has more important things to focus on as that light show from Tomoe's fiery wings draws another amused laugh from the Knight of Tr-wait. EVIL KNIGHT. As she brings her blade up to her shoulder to ready herself for that next charge, however, she's faced with a tricky situation when Tomoe's flaming strikes come right for her at the same time that Athela's icy... Sword? It might as well be a jousting lance when it's coming at Mordred at that angle at that speed. Bringing her weapon up to meet theirs, she can only deflect their attacks partially off course as the combined assault shears into her armor, stabs into joints, and draws spurts of blood that would probably draw cheers from a more bloodthirsty crowd if there was more than that one guy standing there. Of course, focusing upwards at Tomoe and Athela means Mordred can't quite see what's happening below or in front of her as easily. When she finally notices that strange circle appearing below her, it's too late to react as the explosive curse draws an angry, pained howl from the EVIL KNIGHT. It keeps her disoriented just long enough that Rean's sudden shift in disposition between the darkened blade and the white hair catch her further off guard. The flaming blue sword clashes against the steady red of Mordred's, the flames mixing together as the blue swallows up the red, and the searing within Mordred's armor can be heard even through the din of battle. Staggering back, Mordred holds Clarent with one hand again as she hunches forward, preparing to get right back into the fight without allowing even a moment's respite. As the discussion over the radio continues, however, her posture straightens back up, the sword dematerializes, and the EVIL KNIGHT starts laughing once again while she gets back into character. "Not bad! Maybe you ai... Perhaps you're not as weak as you looked. You might be worth taking as sacrifices instead of killing today." Another laugh, and the EVIL KNIGHT turns with a dramatic flash of the... No cape that's being worn. She should get a cape for the next time. "But know this, would-be heroes!" The EVIL KNIGHT points backwards without turning. Hopefully, she's actually pointing at someone directly. "Even if Finaria stands, DISCORDIA shall return and raze this whole land to the ground!" That hand goes down, and she starts walking. A plume of flame comes up behind the EVIL KNIGHT, and she disappears! Actually, she just teleported maybe thirty yards away, but it's far enough that she's functionally not on screen anymore. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' On the other side of things, her downward angle helped Athela see that ring forming around Mordred's feet. Knowing she shouldn't stick around in close quarters longer than it takes to strike, she pulls back as soon as the brunt of her attack has landed. As soon as her feet hit the ground she kicks off, doing a rather impressive backwards flip to get clear of the magic explosion about to engulf the Evil Knight. She lands a few meters back, and slumps partially from the exhertion of the moves. A few heavy breaths follow, needing to keep her wits about her and ready to go back on the offensive. It doesn't matter who's being pointed at, Athela narrows her gaze at the withdrawing fiend as if it had been her. That, and the cheering from Jude, bolsters her enough to stand back up fully. If one local could start acting like that, could more? Was their presence and persistance having an effect? Athela does her best to not look as tired as she feels, raising Resolute Blade to point it at the Evil Knight as she retreats. "Try all you like, vile one! The brave and the bold shall always rise again to fend you off, no matter how many times it takes!" 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur, thankfully, is noit being aggressively targeted. It means he has just enough room, among the danger, to finish up his EXTRACTION GATE. The big green spirographic circle flickers into self-sustaining resolution, linking to the top of the area. Lilian has called for authorizing a retreat, and Arthur intends to take it. "C'mon! Over here!" He shouts, leaping through fast. He intends to close it tight just the very moment after the gang gets through.     He wasn't running away out of fear of death, but... being far away from that thing sure does make him a lot less worried than he was. He immediately finds a clear spot in the cave to flop down on his ass and pant exhaustedly, putting pressure on his wounds and chugging exotic mountain-dew-based healing potions crafted from his Punchcard Alchemy. 

:'''{{#var:7145|Crow Armbrust (7145)}} has posed:''' Crow falls back down, groaning in pain. The EVIL KNIGHT RED BOY has gone somewhere far, far away. Thirty feet away, in fact, a genuinely impassable league. That meant they were actually done fighting, now. It felt oddly fulfilling...even if it was just Jude, it was still a real person. And that made this a real place, not just a prop on a set. It gave the fight meaning it'd otherwise been lacking. Sometime between the start and the end, he found himself genuinely defending it. "What a pain." Well, it wasn't so bad, especially since he finally got to see Rean's power. It was just like he'd thought, as mysterious as its origins were, that and what was under the Old Schoolhouse were certainly related. "Heh." It almost felt like destiny. Happenstance couldn't be so cruel. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     The Eyestalker shows its namesake. And then there's suddenly lasers.     Shigure tucks tail, bringing her oversized backpack up to protect her with its armoured strikeplates. Metal boils away, and the places that are exposed on her body turn black like scorched metal.     Once the counter attack passes, the destroyer uncurls, and stands. She then gives a backhanded twirl and hurls a quartet of Torpedoes, taken from her thigh holster, like throwing knives... which explode on impact with shaped warhead charges. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Of course it targets her. Tamamo is a god, and Ayudha Raksha is the Heretical Engine that Challenged the Gods. It is a thing made to fight gods, and if it does not yet understand itself, is not sufficiently aware to be more than a dangerous tool, it still knows that it must combat any god that comes to claim it. A trillion years would never see an engine of blasphemy repent.     Thus, though Tamamo did not expect the numbers to be small (and is only dimly aware that larger or smaller numbers have intrinsically differing values in a matter of combat), she did expect to be attacked. She is already bringing her mirror to the fore. Rather than silhouetted in the sunlight behind her, as she glows, it becomes her halo. And then, all at once, all light about her disappears, save what the mirror reflects. "Aphotic Cave." The hiding place of the Sun.     It's not a perfect defensive maneuver, but it's as close as most come. The lights merely fail to find her, though they do find her mirror, and the energy charges it dangerously, rather than reflecting it all away. Most attacks would be at best ineffectual against this prepared counter, and their force stolen away, but most attacks aren't explicitly anti-divine. One of the five lights strikes her left foot, and with a cry of pain, Tamamo's spell is broken, and she's diving down and away. She tumbles through the air, accelerating in accordance with gravity, until she hits another platform hard enough to bounce, something human-like bodies are not generally very good at doing. Her mirror flies with her, as if invisibly tethered.     When she gets up again, it's with a limp, and she drops down to all fours so she can pull and strike the ground with her hands to make a bestial leap, landing again roughly on her hands to avoid her injured limb making contact, then awkwardly pulling herself through Arthur's portal. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTRAL REGION - YELLOW FOREST     Kupot strikes. The counterattack is triggered, as it must be. Why would the boss NOT attack? Numbers calculate, but who knows what they mean. He needs context to know if the numbers are big enough. At the moment, all that matters is if he can marshall his spirit in order to strike down his foe. He hurls himself forward, the Moogle striking with blazing speed and power, gripping onto the huge, fell boss. For a moment it seems absurd that Kupot would succeed... but then the thing tilts, the eye-pillar being pulled over and finding itself on Kupot's back thanks to his arbitrary strength. A moment later, and he is slamming down to smash the thing into the ground! There is a dramatic BOOM as it hits the ground, and then the thing is right back where it is supposed to be, but with some Big Numbers floating over it as the lifebar drains significantly.     Alruna follows suit, pummelling into it and dropping into a powerful, crushing combination strike. Eyes follow her everywhere, the creature seeming to have plenty of eye tentacles to follow the warrior around. She strikes nad crashes into it, the beams firing back intermittently to try to pierce through Alruna, but the defensive shields stop most of it from going through.     Amelris launches himself around the creature acrobatically, working to strike the thing down in his own special way. The enchanted blade pierces into it over and over, cutting in deep and ripping through the thing. At least it's not gross or anything. The life bar plummets with the flashy strike, the creature orienting all of its eyes onto Alruna. They all glow bright...     OCULAR RIFT     But just before the attack strikes, Shigure unleashes torpedoes! It's just what the doctor ordered. The explosives rip through the thing and all but knock it over. It's just too much as the numbers pile on! The cumulative damage seems to be too much for the thing. The life bar empties out as the blasts end, the tentacles sag down... and the thing speaks. I have failed to stop you from seizing the accursed Relics that can hold the powers of the Spirits... But Lord MORDRED will not take well to your interference! Heh.... Heh... HEH.... AAAAAGH!     With a rumbling flash, the pillar disintegrates, the horrible thing vanishing and leaving a big pile of JII for people to acquire in addition to the FOUR RELICS that are sitting there on the altar. YOU DID IT! Shyra exclaims. Collect the Relics, and we can begin working to stop the Evil Knight and save the world! A pause, and then her face falls. ... Finaria is going to be burned again, isn't it... She sighs.     Still, through all this, Amelris gets a chance to look over the fresco in more detail. Four colored creatures are surrounding a yellow insigna, each facing inward. There's some ANCIENT WRITING under it but it might need some kind of KEY ITEM or SPECIAL ABILITY to decipher. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well, it sure did phase change! But now it's made of metal. That looks... substancially harder to hurt. There's probably an elemental weakness trick here... but now it's time to go, right?     Liquid metal, made of condensed evil, splashes all over him. He has his forcefield up, but the walker he's riding in doesn't have such protection. Smoke rises as the liquid evil eats away at the machine. Staren bails out as his machine corrodes away into a puddle of sludge.     He falls down the tower and suddenly orange wings of energy appear at his back, buzzing like an insect's. Seeing the trouble Tamamo's in, he lands next to her and puts an arm around her to help her to the portal. Time to get out of here! 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                       TOWER OF VRITTI - ARTHUR'S PARTY                            The party makes their retreat through Arthur's portal.      It dumps them at the cave entrance, just like a proper 'escape rope' or 'escape flute' might do.      And the party immediately notices something.      It's still a cave. It still has the regular white-clad undead with their hatchets and the other weird, Hindu-inspired monsters. It hasn't changed at all. The entrance is the same as when they came in, all rock and ground. There's no metal in sight. No robots. No glowing red lights.      And it doesn't take much time to check what happened. Tony's scanners, Staren's scanners, or Arthur's intuition, can tell immediately.      Every single change that stuck took place Out Of Bounds.      The cave itself remains resolute. If Staren goes to check on the NPCs in Pradia they are simply gone, as if erased from the world entirely. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot pulls himself up from his throwing position and spins around. He brings his hand over his katana again to blow the next mighty blow, but Shigure takes care of taking it down before it can slay them. He lifts his hand from the sword and moves forward. He reaches out carefully, with a hm, then grasps one of the relics to hold. "This is... rather odd, being in a story, kupo" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is pretty spent, Mordred has pushed her very hard she's breathing har as she comes about waiting of the next. She's already shifting to over Jude if it's needed. She will take the hit. She'll look up at the EVIL KNIGHT for a moment she looks haggard her body is covered in wireframe damage glowing an angry red. While her form attempts to sort itself out from the beating that the EVIL KNIGHT has inflicted upon her. She's still standing she holds Caliburn ready in the event the EVIL KNIGHT makes her next move. "We'll see about that EVIL KNIGHT!." She's chanting again but before she can fire a spell Mordred is gone and while battered Tomoe will turn to the others. "We need to check if anyone is hurt and then get to any fires." She notes she looks to Jude. "Thank you." "When we're done with that I need a drink and something to eat." She'll put her weapons away and set to work on clean up. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "You get used to it." Amelris comments, picking himself up, sheathing his weapons to get a closer look at the fresco, rubbing his chin. He have to keep in mind that there is several levels of stories going on. There is the story of The Hero and the quest they Followed. There is the Story of the person that BECAME the hero. There is the story of the 'story' and how it was made, behind it.      He glances back at Shigure, pondering over things. Heavens, they sure make boats in a... strange way in some lands. Not that he minds.      he looks back at the Fresco, nodding. "If that's what happened last time, perhaps." He says, opening his hand. A puff of aether snaps a piece of paper into being along with some coal, making his way to the Fresco. He flattens it against the STRANGE ANCIENT WRITINGS and starts... well, coaling it up, to get a good impression of it.      This Might Be Useful Later. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna grits her teeth, enduring more lasers. They cut at her back and front, still no cakewalk, but she's used to it. She's ready to hunker down as OCULAR RIFT starts to initiate, only to be interrupted by another of Shigure's salvos, this one significantly less deafening. The boss goes down, with a sinister monologue to accompany its disintegration. Well, to the victor go the spoils. Alruna picks up some JII (or Ji, or Jee, they're...inconsistent about that) and collects one of the Relics at Shyra's prompting. "Yes." she agrees with Kupot, hefting the statuette in her hand. "What do you think?" she asks Amelris, watching him take a copy of part of the fresco. 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' Another attack - this one metallic - surges up as Lilian uses her RELIC. Tony distantly wants a RELIC of his own. He wants two. He definitely wants more than Captain America, but he's pretty sure Steve Rogers either has none or is hiding them all between his pecs. Damn that man. "BASTION, options." <"Formulating countermeasures."> Dodging one lance, Iron Man bids for space, blasting down with repulsor beams as he gains height in the 'Out of Bounds' area filling with metallic vectors. <"Countermeasure formulated. Engaging Heavy Weapon Knockout-Interdiction."> Stark cannot help but guffaw. "You can't call it that!" He complains, as inside his suit micromissile tips are replaced by tiny loading arms. "Clint will be mad." <"Agent Barton's opinion has been calculated at a lower priority than your survival."> A spear -- and then a second -- impact Stark, first in the lower belly and then another in the chest, bearing him up against the floating pillars above before slamming him into the underside of a platform, causing Stark to smash his helmeted head against the obstruction and grunt loudly and painedly. "But you can't just... call it that. He'll never recover. He's a very sensitive man." BASTION doesn't respond, as the now armor-piercing missile heads flare down the metallic lines, blasting them apart as firepower walks down the liquidmetal tines, freeing Iron Man on his way up - up - and out through Arthur's portal, jets failing and sputtering as soon as he's out of the danger zone, crumpling into a controlled but not cool at all tumble to a kneel. Righting himself, sparks shooting from the multiple crumple-zones and visible mechanical elements in the suit from battle damage, the helmet pops open. "So what did we learn, children?" "Listen... I guess to the space kid? Hey, are you killing a mountain dew? Those'll rot your teeth. Please don't tell me it's gamer fuel." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "I'm not sure yet." Amelris says as he works, rubbing the charcoal against the paper to make a good copy of it. It's not perfect, to be sure, he'd like to have a magitech thing to make a full copy photo of it but, hey, them the breaks. "I was thinking that we're dealing on multiple layers, here."      He looks at Alruna, peeling the paper away to get a look at it, giving his work a satisfied flutter of ears and twitch of tail. "When I saw the Hero, they were clearly aware and awake... and quite disraught at the fact that others were not. So, this brings the question."      He carefully folds it up, before vanishing it into his stuff. "Where DID the hero come from, then?" 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Mordred retreats, claiming that they'd come back one day to continue to try and revive their god. Rean raises his sword, pointing it in the direction of Mordred's dark teleport flames. "Try all you want, Evil Knight! We'll still defeat you and Discordia!" And with that, Rean sheaths his sword. He takes a few deep breaths, letting his heart rate settle back down. The darkness surrounding him dies down, and his appearance returns to normal. He then falls to his knees. "...Oof." Mordred did a number on him, and everyone else, honestly. Plus the usual stamina drain from his power being on. He looks around and then turns on his ARCUS. He quickly slaps himself with a healing Teara spell, and then goes around, doing the same the other three combatants. Otherwise, things managed to not be a /total/ disaster, right? Even with him attempting to use his power for once. Rean nods to Tomoe. They did have to clean up a bit after all the fires. "Right. Let's get to work." And with that, he heads off to start checking on things, even if it was more of a formality than anything else. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     The boss mode shifting was exactly what Lilian had been hoping for with that slight hail mary. Keeping up with her occult and religious knowledge, she barely has to glance at the metallic form of the Ayudha Raksha to know what's going on. "Metal is the counter to Wood in the pentagram, so it's reacting to the power of the Blue Dragons to-- why is it aiming for her?!"     The boss swivels and opens fire on Tamamo. Arthur is 'dead'. Tamamo is divine. It makes sense, but only in the heat of the moment. For a rare change of pace, Lilian is almost consumed by panic. Almost out of ideas, she'd asked Tamamo to come down here. Right into the line of fire of an anti-divine weapon. She'd *already seen* what it did to Arthur the minute he appeared. She is mentally *screaming* when the five point beam heads for Tamamo's mirror. She--                 -----[stop]----     Lilian turns straight towards Tamamo and rushes to get her, the same way she had Arthur . . . except she can't. She'd been so focused on the phase mechanics. Raking her brain for ideas. She'd gotten it *right*, but the trailing columns of the Devic Binder are *everywhere* by now. Profaned liquid metal is frozen in the air in a dense, jungle-like tangle all around her. There isn't sufficient pace to maneuver through all of it. She can see the array of tendril tips heading for her, and easily dodge those now, but . . .                 -----[start]-----          --turns and blasts at the stream of the Devic Binder, creating a gigantic flash explosion to scatter it far away from her, and then accelerates hard away in the moment's respite that buys her. Tamamo, the person who'd heard out her ridiculous wish, seen all her cards on the table, and treated her with unconditional support, is shot through the foot, and drops from the air. Lilian arrives only after she makes that initial crash landing, hurriedly catching her from the hard bounce, and scooping her up in a princess carry, taking her towards the portal at top speed.     Once the group is outside, she's too stressed to even pay attention to the cave just yet. Instead, she's trying to put Tamamo down without putting any weight on her foot, hovering over the injury, repeating "Oh my god I'm so sorry, I didn't realize-- I didn't think to-- I told you to stay back but then I-- I'm really sorry, it's my fault --can you walk? How much does it hurt, on a scale of one to ten?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren blinks at Iron Man. "I learned that sometimes, if you believe hard enough you can change the world by acting like you can and faking it 'till you make it? As long as you find a receptive world."     Staren scratches his head. "Also I learned that next time I decide to use vatgrown clones for something I should try one at a time instead of four, those are gonna take /months/ of vat time to replace."     Beat. "...Also, now I've had the experience of having one of my creations turn on me and it wasn't the end of the world or my hubristic undoing? Still something I'd like to avoid in the future, though."     Staren looks down at the lack-of-a-ride-armor he is no longer riding in. "Also from now on when I come here I gotta bring heavier armaments. This 'barely-making-it-through-alive' stuff is getting old." 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' Shyra looks relieved as the others collect the Relics. She doesn't take one for herself. There's only four here after all. I don't know where the Hero came from. It wasn't from anywhere in our world, though.     Mysterious! Still, at least they can make their way back to town and get some rest before the next phase of the main questline. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "Gamer fuel is baller as hell." Arthur says, waggling his sloshing plastic container of hellfluid at Tony Stark with a bloody hand while the other is occupied with pressing onto his wound. "But yeah. This... I got some veterancy with this shit. I know one'a /those/ guys when I see it. That motherfucker needs a Quest." He takes another massive swig of the horrid healdrink. Tamamo's out too! She said she can heal right? And there's Lilian. Arthur regards the way she carefully and with absolute dedication cares for Tamamo. Totally absent any actual context, Arthur just winds up kind of wordlessly making that plaintive gesture of that classic "what am I, chopped liver?" kind of feeling. Then he actually realizes how shitty that is considering how she helped him, and says, "Hey, thanks for that help back there. Dying was not gonna be a good thing, even if that /maybe/ wouldn'ta been Just or Heroic."     That last bit has no context added. Solve it yourself!     "We... are /really/ gonna need a coordination on this." SWIIIIG. "Lot of our shit is super varied on the expertise but we kinda need all of it to figure out what's happening. Back in the day, we made a walkthrough. Uuhhhhh... don't think that's gonna work for this, but I'll figure out how we can talk this out later, get some proper coordination. On my end too, I mean." Another big swig. He sort of lies back against a chunk of cubical rock and flutters in and out of unconsciousness. 

:'''{{#var:6733|Tony Stark (6733)}} has posed:''' "Okay, on the first point, just say you're trying something new. Be honest, because otherwise people think the grinding noises are things being under control. Unless that's your thing, I guess?" Stark reasons to Staren's first moral. The second gets a shrug. "Build disposable things for disposable tasks." The third... Actually that one just gets a sad nod. "Yeah. ... Yeah. Well, glad to pop your creation-highjacking cherry, it's been fun." Tony steps over to Lilian, taking his time and nursing his chest with a hand. "Everything alright, Rook? I lost you down there for a bit. I think sensors were tertiary to flight systems for a hot second there." 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Lilian is mostly preoccupied with Tamamo, apparently telling her that it hurts so much and she definitely can't walk and oh no it's fine though she can heal it, in pretty much the perfect mixture to get her all worked up. She holds up three fingers in Tony's direction and counts down on them.     "One, I'm fine. Two, hush. Three, punch Staren for me. In the jaw." After a pause. "Oh and four, check on Arthur I guess." She mostly just kind of slowly flinches as being thanked by him directly. After all, she managed to save him just fine; she should have been ready for it the second time. 
}}

6986/LI0: After The End

2020-01-09T05:28:38Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/08 |Location=Last Illusion |Synopsis=People visit the world of Last Illusion to get some idea of what they have to deal with. |Cast of Char..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/08
|Location=Last Illusion
|Synopsis=People visit the world of Last Illusion to get some idea of what they have to deal with.
|Cast of Characters=7170, 7187, 6666, 7197, 42, 33, 1011, 7173, 6895, 7141, 7191, 6994
|Tinyplot=Last Illusion
|Tinyplot2=Loop Zero
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' The Gate opens up onto a forested plain. The world of Shyra, Linehart, and Pazkar has a certain classic appeal to it. Wild forests, pastoral towns, great plains, ancient ruins, a wild sea... The land seems almost designed for adventure.     Upon arrival, Shyra calls up their flying craft. It looks like some affixed a tower to an elongated ship. There is no sail, just two weblike wings on the side and a propeller on the front. Still, somehow it carries everyone willing to board, and it becomes a question of /where/ one wishes to go. FINARIA is the land they are closest to, and where the journey began and ended. The town, at a distance, seems to have undergone some kind of problem... Nearby is a RUINED SHRINE that began the true quest to save the world, and where the battle came to an end. To the north, the port town of BARTAL awaits, a town protected by the BLUR DRAGON Spirit in its SHRINE. West of Bartal and across the raging sea is PRADIA, land of the Astomi, a land of people who do not need to eat or breathe, and possess ancient secrets of the world. However, they are highly isolationist with the exception of one renegade Sage. The WHITE TIGERS SHRINE is here. In the far north, the land of YTALIS is now at peace after the defeat of the Yaksha. The BLACK WARRIOR SHRINE is here, guarded by a mighty Spirit that tested the Hero and their companions. Floating high above the waves to the far south is the RED BIRD SHRINE, the centerpiece of an ancient civilization that had advanced technology that was used to seal away the Evil God Discordia. Tragedy befell the Hero and the party at this place. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael Cousteau stands on the deck of the airship. He's wearing a navy blue long jacket, reading 'RCM' on the back in large letters. He's still got the same yellow pants on, and for some reason he's wearing a mesh t-shirt underneath the jacket. And despite the thick jacket, he still looks cold. In fact, ignoring everyone else for the moment, he steps to the bow of the ship, as if in a dream. The jacket is popped open. SHIVERS: Yes. Step to the front. Let me feel that. SUGGESTION: This is a little weird, but that might be okay. I'll come up with a cover story. Do your thing. There is a long moment while the ostensible police officer just looks like he's freezing to death, eyes closed and hands raised about at chest height. He continues to shiver, before eventually looking over to Pazkar. "..I'd like to go to that port town, if that's alright." 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' WHEN: Two Days Ago. WHERE: The FANTASY COSTCO "I need something, kupo, that looks normal on a world like this one." A cloaked and hooded figure with only pinpoints of lights for eyes lets out a tired sigh. "I am Garfield The Deals Warlock, and I can make all your fantasies come true. Aisle Five, adul-" The eyelights glance down. "Aisle seven, kid's clothing." He lifts his eyes back up and tiredly waves his arms, "We've got a deal with you." Kupot turns his head. He turns back. "Have you considered unionizing?" WHEN: One Day Ago. WHERE: Malo Mart "If I say a word, will this entire establishment be burned to the ground, kupo?" A man with a rictus grin and a phonograph trumpet on his head spinning around looks down, "What word sir?" "Unioni-" NOW: Kupot steps out of the gate, wearing his normal trenchcoat. He holds to the side of the skycraft, looking over. "This is how our world looked, kupo, in the past." For once, Kupot is calm, not quite so brooding, at peace. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' After being assaulted by a text box full of pink text, Mordred's decided that today's destination is... Wherever this Shyra person is calling for people to join her at! Might as well, considering that last night's pizza left her with a hankering for more strange new food and places to check out. She arrives decked out in her usual full set of armor, complete with the horned helmet that leaves her looking like a vaguely demonic knight. Climbing aboard the waiting airship, Mordred takes a bit to just inspect the ship itself, probably looking utterly confusde at how something shaped like that could even fly. And yet, it does! It's kind of impressive, but the helmet keeps anyone from seeing how much Mordred is actually looking around. When it's her turn to choose/when she yells really loudly about her choice of destination, she opts for the BLACK WARRIOR SHRINE. Of course Mordred's going to choose the BLACK WARRIOR SHRINE. So what if she doesn't actually know what's going on just yet? She just wants to see if that Spirit's still around to test people. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren steps through the gate, dressed in his ALO replica armor so that he looks the part of a JRPG character. The main item is still a white coat, but with some lamellar added; mostly the difference is in all the layers and little extra armor bits here and there.     Shyra gets a smile and a wave, and Staren boards the airship with interest.     "As much as I'm sure I'd enjoy examining the ancient technology of the Red Bird Shrine..." Staren turns to face the Holy Healer. "You said your world has a problem, that it's stuck. I'd like to go wherever you think we can best see examples of this problem, and begin experimenting to learn more about it." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     ARTHUR LOWELL is here. He gives SHYRA one of his classic handshakes, the kind that needs a complex array of rhythm minigames to get a SSS rating on, then boards. "WHAT UP, homie?" He speaks in friendly tones. "Let's SEE SOME SIGHTS, dawg." He drifts, weightlessly, like an astronaut, but still seems to want to board the ship and drift above its deck.     He regards the weird old man shaking himself apart at the bow of the ship with a furrowed brow. "You, uh, DYIN' there, OLD-TIMER?" He squints. Well, tiny animal-things, weird knights, it's the usual so far otherwise.     ARTHUR LOWELL examines the OVERWORLD MAP through which he considers his destinations, and decides on FINARIA -- mostly because of its indicators of having a problem. What sort? Arthur wants to see. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo is here. He looks like a mummy detective--gauze is wrapped tightly around every inch of exposed skin. His eyes are shielded by sunglasses. He hasn't bothered with a hat, which somehow makes him more unusual. As before, his clothes hang off of him. As before, (at least until his frenzy) he stands tall despite his apparent frailty.      FINARIA is his destination of choice, should he have a say in the matter. The vampire feels as though something is wrong with the town, instinctively. "That's where I get off," says John after Raphael speaks. He points in the direction of FINARIA. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     For a little while now, Tamamo no Mae has been speaking to Shyra and Pazkar with some interest, some of which is for their world, in particular. It takes no more justification than that curiosity for the divine fox to accept the invitation of a tour, conveniently helped by Shyra's aircraft. She does have more justification; it just isn't necessary, nor overt.     For once, she has the pleasure of visiting a place that is (probably) not beset by deepest winter, an assumption Tamamo has made upon seeing the way Shyra normally dresses. This means that she hasn't gone ahead in her recently acquired coat and boots, but instead in her own garb not entirely, totally unlike that of the Holy Healer, apart from the somber color palette. Idly, she considers advising others on contrasting tones and seasonal variation, but decides it would be an unnecessary distraction in the moment.     All of that is to say that Tamamo is here, appearing as she may be expected to appear.     "Shyra, how kind of you to give such a broadly-reaching offer. Pardon my intrusion, as I must depend upon your hospitality." That's her form of greeting, upon reaching the airship. "Though the turn of the year is past, a shrine visit is rarely remiss. Having so many to choose from, might you inform me as to the nearest at which we may encounter a caretaker? I expect we shall derive more insight from a kept shrine than from one that has since been abandoned." Meaning, she's not too picky about the destination, as long as someone can be expected to be there at the shrine. In case further direction is needed, she continues, "Hmm, a dragon... was it? That destination, in particular, must certainly be included." On to the BLUR DRAGON, if nowhere else. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     Oh, there's a face she's seen before. It's a very distinctive face, especially for that expression that is always, always upon it. Tamamo approaches, taking in the sights of a number of strangers, some armored, in the passing. A loud knight gets an extra glance, knights having been so prevalent upon her mind in recent days.     "Mr. Cousteau, how good to finally see you up close." Tamamo always sounds sincere, and not as if she were merely being polite, which is likely some form of ascended politeness skill. "I must ask, however... are you not cold? Do you wish assistance?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA:     At first glance, Finaria is the definition of a pastoral town. Houses are arranged in small clusters composed of a mix of wood and a beige stone that seems to blend together into a regular, easily repeated pattern. The paths of the town are dirt, a couple small patches of what look like what is supposed to be farmland nearby. The center of the town seems to be a large TAVERN. There is also an INN, MAGIC SHOP, WEAPON SHOP, ARMOR SHOP, and ITEM SHOP. It seems almost idyllic if, well...     The place wasn't wrecked. Many of the houses are missing square-shaped chunks and are darkened by several levels of hue-tinting. The path is broken up by square chunks of ground, identical piles of rubble seem to litter the area, and several areas seem to have splatters of blood on them. It looks fresh. Two men are seen standing next to one of the houses facing it, a woman milling about randomly in the center of the town near the TAVERN. The rest of the town is deserted. EAST CITY - BARTAL:     The port town of Bartal looks lively compared to Finaria, but the streets seem a little empty for some reason. At least the streets are intact and paved. Actually, the place looks fairly well off despite the emptiness. The houses are large despite being made of completely identical materials and patterning. There are no ships in port, and about 8 or so men, women and two children go about their daily lives. By which we mean that the men and women somewhat aimlessly and randomly mill about while the two children face each other in the small grassy area near a fountain in the town. There is a magic shop, weapon shop, armor shop, item shop, and an inn present outside of the BLUE DRAGONS SHRINE entrance. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren stares at the buildings for a moment. Something looks wrong... then he realizes they're tiled. Except they're not actually made of tiles, they're real stone, built such that every so many feet of space is an exactly-repeating pattern. It's a trip.     Now he can examine the damage... and winces. He approaches the NPCs, stepping into the path of the woman. "Excuse me." If that doesn't count as pressing A, he prompts with "What happened here?" 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     There are two evenly mixed reasons that Lilian 'bothers with this absurdity', as she puts it after seeing thr semi-generic classic fantasy videogame Da Vinci-but-not airship out of the gate. One is Shyra's and Pazkar's strange combined existential crisis and the breadcrumb trail of ominous hints therein. The other is that Tamamo really wanted to go and that's still her ~~problem~~ business.     Granted, it is nice to be out of snow, but something about the countryside seems to attract frequent misgiving glances from her. She's still dressed a little warmer than she strictly needs to be. Milling about the ship seemingly aimlessly, she stops to say a few words at various points once she comes within prompt range. Raphael: "Don't do that. You might literally die." Kupot: "Are you sure? Or do romantic little picture books of your world's artistically interpreted past look like this?"     Mordred: "Who the hell are you? You can get to your stop last." Staren: "Where best to see examples, or where best to start experiment? Because there isn't one of the latter." Arthur: "Why do you have to ride an airship? Can't you already-- you know what, never mind." John Rizzo: "Who are you supposed to be either? You look ridiculous. Go home, or back to the hospital."     She's like some kind of marauding scripted rival character today, doing laps of the ship and ambushing people with varying unsolicted dialogue. It's not 'being slightly condescending out of habit', but just being kind of restless and mean, stalking around like a tiger. Tamamo: "That sounds fine, but don't get your hopes up." 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                 The airship touches down just outside the walled city for MORDRED and KUPOT. A guard at the gate, dressed in simple armor with a feathered cap and holding a spear with a flag on it, waits silently, staring straight ahead. In the center of the city juts a large windmill, turning slowly in the complete lack of anything like wind. Cobblestone roads are laid out in a perfect grid amidst ten baked-brick houses, the huge windmill in the dead center. There are two women talking to each other in front of one of the houses. Behind one of the house is a man. There's one man sitting on a stoop, and another man walking through the city streets. There's a man in black standing in an alley behind two barrels. Exactly three children run in a loop around a big out-of-place crystal. There is a sign that reads I N N in big capital letters over one house. Over an indistinguishable house on the other side is a sign with a sword on it. Over another, exactly indistinguishable house, there is a sign with a bottle on it.      Actually, all of the houses are indistinguishable.      Come to think of it, so are the children. They're...slightly different, with different-colored hair. One has red hair, one has brown hair, one has white hair. Their clothes are slightly different, too; green, blue, and yellow. But on closer inspection they all have the same eye color - black. They all have the same skin tone - slightly tan. They all have the same clothing *style* - simple robes. They're all the same height. They're all the same face. They're all the same *everything*, just slight recolors.      And all three of the men have the same face, except for the guard. And both of the women have the same face. And all the buildings are completely identical. And...      ...and...      And there's a quiet, soothing, relaxing theme playing in the background. It's coming from nowhere. It has pleasant flutey tones arranged in a calm and peaceful beat, the sort of thing you like to hear in a town, with a distinctly northern flavor from some deeper tones interspersed. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     "No. I'm alright. I just...needed to see something," Raphael conveniently explains to Arthur. SUGGESTION: Now quickly, change the subject before he asks more. "You're the god who died, correct?" INLAND EMPIRE: I got this. SUGGESTION: Oh, please, no, don't-- "I see the void. It's kind of my *jam*." SUGGESTION: Why are you like this. Raphael proceeds turns to Tamamo next. It's probably worth noticing that he's had an absolutely glorious grin on his face this entire time. It's not moving. It's on facial paralysis levels of not moving. "Oh! Yeah, no, I'm fine. Being cold and freezing is my thing. Thanks, though!" Eventually, at any rate, he's dropped off at a port town. It doesn't take even Raphael long to realize something is wrong. He walks through the town, settling on talking to a single dockworker. "Hello!" He says, waving and offering his trademark *Expression*. "I'm a police officer." 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' Pazkar nods towards Raphael. This is Shyra's airship. She will lead the way. Staren mentions Red Birds Shrine. It's a lovely place. You should go when you get the chance. But Pazkar will get off with Raphael, since Raphael asked him permission and it's best for everyone to have some sort of partner. At BARTAL, Pazkar steps up to the dockworker with I do not recall what this one says. There are 82 people in this world. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur answers Lilian pretty quickly. "It's the FAST-TRAVEL, dawg." He's also playing a gameboy advance, so you know, less to worry about flight-wise or space-wise.     What's with the cop? "Oh, you're a DERSE DREAMER? Shit, YOU DO YOU, I guess. Keep that GOD SHIT on the DOWN LOW, tho', homie. I ain't even 'bout that THESE DAYS." Well, that resolved easily.     He steps down in Fineria. He squints, and immediately grits his teeth a little. He approaches the two men, picking one at random. Suspecting the way this is, he INTERACTS with them by pressing the Y button... whatever that means. The indicator is, quite literally, simply a drifting (Y) that depresses. He suspects things are rather more complicated than they look here. A destructive event is bad, but what does the persisting freshness mean? 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot turns his head slightly towards Lillian. Since you can't see his eyes, the insectile lens over them. He frowns, nods, "That is maybe true, kupo," he agrees, but then he shrugs, "but being so constantly cynical does not aid anything." Brows knit over the lenses as he stands with Modred, walking slowly through the town. "These people are like... robots. I do not understand." He frowns deeper. Kupot does not play RPGs in his world. He plays light gun shooters and rhythm games. This is deeply unnerving to the moogle. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Staren approaches the woman and talks to her. She is in a red robe, with slightly tanned flesh and brown hair and dark eyes. She looks back and speaks: Please, Hero! Save our world from the evil Discordia! You are our only hope! Arthur approaches the men at the building instead. The interaction button comes up as (A) instead of the one he expects. He interacts with one of them, which turns towards him. He in a white robe, with slightly tanned flesh, black hair, and dark eyes. The Evil Knight Linehart did so much damage... It will take a long time to rebuild. Please avenge us, Hero! EAST CITY - BARTAL: Raphael, meanwhile, immediately goes to the docks. The dockworker is dressed in a brown robe, with slightly tanned flesh and dark eyes. He says, I wonder when the next ship from Pradia will arrive... Tamamo heads directly to the BLUE DRAGONS SHRINE. The SHRINE is a large angular structure that rises a couple stories. Water flows down the sides, creating an endless sound of rushing water. Within is a large statue of a serpentine Eastern-style dragon that is curled around a spire behind an altar. There seem to be a lot of pillars and a gratuitous water channel around the room. It's pretty obvious that there's some kind of elemental affinity thing going on here. There is a man and a woman standing next to the altar. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' There's a good number of weirdos around throughout the ride, but Mordred's pretty good at keeping her surprise hidden. That helmet is so useful. She's not quite sure how to react to the strange child ball in the trenchcoat, although Kupot might notice that helmet turning his way a few times. Arthur would definitely notice Mordred staring at him from behind the helmet, though, especially with all that emphasis on seemingly random words. He's probably okay. Raphael gets quite a few glances, too, perhaps because of that shivering and looking like someone that might just die on his feet on the way to wherever they're going. For a moment, it might even look like she's slouching when he does't. Then there's Staren who doesn't get much of a look, either, until he speaks up and provides a familiar voice. Mordred utters an audible groan when he mentions going after ancient technology, but someone's bound to look into that sort of thing. John's appearance gets a long look as well, largely because of the bandages. There's a strong temptation to yank one off just to see what happens, and Mordred's hand even rests on her sword for a moment, but that stops when Tamamo mentions a dragon. Crap. She should have chosen that place. "... Maybe later." That's all she says without further elaboration, and Lilian gets a full on introduction when she asks along with a sneer. EVENTUALLY Upon reaching Ytalis, Mordred departs to check out the walled city. The guard doesn't even get a second glance as she strolls right on by, glancing around occasionally to look for something more important-looking. "It's weird, yeah. This is even duller than the chaff back home." She doesn't find anything useful, only really having Kupot around to break up the monotony. It's actually kind of hard to find anything here, and Mordred's footsteps become more visibly agitated as she goes from strolling to fast-walking to that annoyed semi-stomping fast-walking as everything just looks too samey. Eventually, she actually stops to confront these weird clone people. "Hey! What the hell is with this place? Ain't there supposed to be a Black Warrior Shrine around here?" She doesn't ask this of the guard right away, having stopped to ask the people in the bottle house first, then the inn, then basically anyone before finally getting to the guard. If she hasn't heard anything useful by then, Mordred will sound ready to stab someone by the time she gets to the guard. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean zones out for a moment, missing his stop at Bartal. He turns to Lilian if she's still there, and sighs. "So...Uh...Where are you going?" 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' The docks just seemed like the right place to be. Inspector Raphael Ambrosius Cousteau rubs his chin thoughtfully, looking the dockworker over. PERCEPTION: Is there music playing? SUGGESTION: Keep talking to him. Something's not right. Raphael continues to grin. "PRADIA, eh? Can you tell me about it? Sounds like a real jammin' kinda locale." 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Lilian receives a polite, if possibly confusing burst of slang. "John Rizzo, Private Dick." At the mention of his clothes, he shrugs. "This ain't a putup. Take a peek behind the Veil. You'll crab it." If she dares, peeking into possible timelines will offer some insight into his manner of dress.      In the present, the Veil is exactly what he seeks to pierce. Raphael asks precisely the right question. 'How can we fix something if we don't know how it broke?'      "That's it."      John taps into the powers of his bloodline. His mind opens to impossible possibilities, bizarre truths and hidden knowledge. He paces back and forth, weaving around citizens trapped in their routines. Around Arthur, if necessary.      How did this happen to Finaria? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren stares at the ground as he thinks, holding his chin in his hand. Nonvocally, he converses with Arthur and the others using his cybercomms. Ideas are discussed. In the meantime, he talks to the last NPC. "Hey there. What do you have to say?"     After the response, he adds, "Linehart has been dealt with. It's time to move on. Why don't you start rebuilding? I can help. I can provide labor and materials." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur taps his chin, thinking about what was just said to him, and about the nature of LINEHART, the MIRROR KNIGHT who caused this. Months and months ago, right...? Well, he won't need to be woven around much longer. Arthur wants to look at something.     He targets something particular. Specifically, he snaps, summons up his BROOM, and uses it to generate a high-power GATE to cast at a vast distance. Specifically, he's going /downwards/. He's looking for something in particular.     He doesn't want to get people's hopes up much, but he suspects the nature of what's happening is similar to Scratched Sessions of Sburb, a very lesser-known phenomenon he's only broadly aware of due to the lore of various Seers. A temporal dead-end of a sort, with hope only found in a restart, but restarting will end the same way if something isn't dealt with: diverging the new timeline from the old, to re-adhere it to alpha timeline dynamics, to give it more plot flags, so to speak.     He is trying to cast a portal deep underground -- 'out of bounds', in a sense. Depending on the physics of this world, this might let him get a fast, unique perspective on things, the world as viewed from below, where rooms are lined through odd and surreal passageways, where towns are spiderweb-like constructs of roads around buildings never entered, where geographic features turn areas into voids. He doesn't need to /map/ it.     But he's looking for sealed-off areas. If they want to repeat this process, they'll need timeline material from lost, "un-used" regions. He hopes he can get a portal that deep, step through, look up, and see regions of the world blocked off. If so, there may be some hope for his intended solution: To explore the un-explorable regions in a new playthrough, and find what will trigger a chronological progression past the climactic moment. 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, is this so?" Brow raised. "Then I have said something unnecessary." With a precise incline of her head, Tamamo leaves Raphael to his detective work. She was, fortunately, not yet quite up to the two when Raphael had responded to Arthur.     Walking again with Lilian, Tamamo assures her, "I shall restrain my expectations with suitable modesty. Still... we are in little danger here, no? Let us enjoy a shrine visit as we may, however belated." After a little while, she continues, low, "At worst, there will be not so much as a divine spirit." 

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     They arrive at the Blue Dragons Shrine. Tamamo examines the statue. Curiously, "Influenced by the mainland, is it not...?" She steps past the pleasant scenery, approaching the altar, then stops just outside of conversational distance, watching the man and woman. Waiting. Purposefully avoiding hitting any metaphorical 'interact' button, but staring from a distance at which one would, normally, take at least a step forward before beginning to speak. If necessary, she holds out an arm, palm down, to gesture Lilian to first wait a moment.     Tamamo pulls out a paper talisman from somewhere (most likely those voluminous sleeves), traces a pattern over it with one finger, and tosses it at the man by the altar. The paper fizzles into light en route, discharging a strongly concentrated charm, of the literally charming variety. The usual result for a human hit by such a piece of magic would be to stare, approach, and attempt a tongue-tied greeting. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                 It's probably somewhat unsettling. The children run around and around and around and around with no sign of stopping. They're clearly breathing, and blinking; they look for all the world like perfectly normal organic children.      Mordred enters the bottle shop. Inside is a man with a beard at the counter. He is the first unique-looking person besides the guard she's seen. He stares at her until she walks up and addresses him, at which point he says, Welcome to my shop! Take your time and look around.      Another text window pops up in front of Mordred.                                     BUY                                                                          SELL                                          The BUY menu has a bunch of standard items. POTION is the main one; there's also SANJEV, AUSAD, AMRIT. A currency window claims the main currency is JEE, whatever that is. Mordred has none of it.      Going to the INN reveals a woman with white hair behind the counter. She says, Welcome to my Inn! Feel free to stay the night. Our beds are the best in town. The Inn apparently costs three hundred Jee to stay the night.      The townsfolk all say different things. They turn to face Mordred. None of the things they say are helpful. I heard FINARIA was attacked by the Mirror Knight! You don't think he'll come here, do you? or Did you know you can buy AMRIT here? It's the only place in the world! If you buy it you can use it to bring somebody back from the brink of death! or Isn't this crystal cool? Our town's named after it!      The guard yields slightly more useful information. Welcome to Ytalis! You can find the Black Warriors Shrine is underneath our famous Windmill.      There's something else moving besides them. There are monsters all over the place outside, but more importantly is a masked figure riding a black chariot towards them. It has no horses - instead the chariot is drawn by a pair of massive cobras. The figure has a bow slung over its shoulder, and a chakram in its hand. It holds the reins. It is clearly moving *towards* them with purpose. When it gets close enough, it...speaks.      Who are you? You aren't from this place. Where did you come from? 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot follows Modred. Mostly to make sure that Modred doesn't murder anyone. Kupot isn't really familiar with this sort of game. He is getting an idea from what everyone is talking about, because Kupot DOES understand programs, though these aren't exactly like the lock programs he deals with. You think about programs differently when you are a security hacker. Still, he is getting the idea. "They are...golems. Automatons." Kupot mentions to Mordred. "They have one thing they can do." SUDDENLY THE BLACK KNIGHT. This time, Kupot frowns. Then, experimentally. "Can you tell me what two plus two is, kupo?" Just to see if the rider doesn't have some sort scripted response. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' AMRIT. That's something that Mordred remembers seeing in the store! Not that she can afford any of it, and she doesn't care enough just yet to go back just to mug the bottle man for some of whatever it is. "Back from the dead, eh? Heh... Like this place ain't already dead." She scoffs lightly and continues on her way, still getting ever more aggravated until the guard finally gives her the information she actually wants. The Black Warriors Shrine. "Come on, shorty. Let's-" Just as Mordred is about to turn around after that insult, she hears something approaching. Facing the approaching chariot, the Knight of Treachery grins behind the helmet as she stares it down. Even as the chariot draws closer, she doesn't move, almost as if she's daring it to run her over. Instead, the figure speaks. Or 'speaks' what with the strange text boxes and all. Leaving the odd test to Kupot without really getting the purpose for it, Mordred speaks loudly just to make sure it can hear her through all the text box. "I am Mordred, Saber class, Tyrant of Brittany, and slayer of the King of Knights! Are you from that Black Warriors Shrine? 'cause I've been looking for ya!" And then Mordred holds her hand forward as a red and silver greatsword materializes in front of her before being snatched out of the air to rest on the white-armored knight's shoulder. "You got a test, right?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Staren approaches the last man outside any buildings. The man is in a green robe, with slightly tanned skin, red hair, and dark eyes. He turns when addressed and speaks to Staren, I can't find them... My family is gone... Curse that Evil Knight! Staren then talks to him again, attempting to give more information. He has something to say about that! I can't find them... My family is gone... Curse that Evil Knight! John taps into his powers, and he looks into the cause of the damage to Finaria. He is gifted with a vision. John sees fire.      In front of the flame is a giant of a man in black armor. A red-scar visor blazes on the helmet. Smoke rolls around him, some of it from the flames all across the town, some of it from his own cape. Over his shoulder is slung a spear with red runes dripping with blood. There are several dead NPCs scattered across the field around him. The music, the deep, imposing music, plays. Four people run towards him - one is Shyra, for certain. One of them is indistinct. One of them is a man with a beard and white hair, bare-handed and dressed in a jacket. One of them is a figure dressed in armor and a tunic, brandishing a sword.      The massive giant in black armor laughs. It's a screen-filling, shaking textbox. The one in the tunic runs forward and is slapped backwards by the giant, hard enough to send them flying. They slump backwards. Shyra runs over to heal them, and the black giant turns around. The words, I am Linehart, the Mirror Knight. Look upon the fate of all who challenge my god. This city shall serve as a warning to the world - Discordia has risen, and the time of man is ended! I alone shall rule this world, and remake it in my image!      And then he's gone, leaving them amidst the burning flames. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' EAST CITY - BARTAL: Raphael talks to the man again. He tries to use the power of Keywords on the man, and the man, without missing a beat, replies again. I wonder when the next ship from Pradia will arrive... The two people stand there basically forever, waiting for someone to interact with them. It's like they're glued there. The Buckingham Palace Guards have nothing on these two. Tamamo unleashes her divine charm magic! It takes hold on the man and a little bubble with a <3 in it appears over his head. He then responds, beginning to speak to Tamamo without moving towards her: wE appR3ciATE eVERYt#1nG YoU$vE DOn3 t0 rererereREstORE the Blur drAGOnS SpirrrRRRRIT to itS rIgh7FuL pLACE.!1!1 Pl3A5e Returnturnturnturnturn ANNNNNNNYTIME. 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' Ah, yes, that one. Pazkar says as the guy speaks. When he repeats, Pazkar takes a moment to take off his helmet and hold it under his arms. He's an exceptionally pretty young man. His mouth moves when he speaks, but no words come out. They will not be useful to us, Raphael. Can your supra-natural powers tell us anything? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren sighs when the man just says the same thing. Still it wasn't unexpected at this point.     Staren gets out various scanning devices and sweeps them over the man... and the other NPCs, just to get more complete data. Verifying whether they at least seem to be made of flesh and blood and bone and all that. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  The rider isn't dressed in armor. On the contrary, it's some indistinct black robe, with a green mask. The cobra chariot pulls it up to the pair of them, pulling up alongside them. Kupot asks it a question.      Four.      Mordred asks if it's from the Black Wariors Shrine.      I am not the Black Warriors Spirit. I am THE YAKSHA.      The Yaksha's green mask (actually it looks like brass, on closer inspection) turns towards the city. The Black Warriors Spirit is beneath the windmill, at the bottom of the shrine. If you're seeking it, I don't mind going with you. I've never seen the inside of it. But I have a question for you first.      Do you know where MIRROR KNIGHT LINEHART is?      I am going to kill him. But he seems to have left this world somehow. So if you know where he is...I'll give you the key to the Shrine. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael stops for a moment. SUGGESTION: Um. VOLITION: What? What do you mean 'um'? This guy looks pretty simple. This is your wheelhouse. SUGGESTION: No. There..there's nothing here. There's nothing here in the slightest. I have nothing to hook into. No facial cues. No speech quirks. There's nothing here in the slightest. Raphael continues to sort of squint at the dockworker. INTERFACING: Guys, um. I know I don't--I don't talk a lot, I'm not really that, uh, I'm not...anyway, listen, uh, I think I...I can't, but I should? I should be able to do this. I don't know why. Just, if I was stronger, I could... Raphael turns to Pazkar. He's still grinning like nothing is wrong. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: ALRIGHT, EVERYONE SHUT UP! VOLITION: No. Shut up. We're not--whatever it is, shut up. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: No. You shut up. This is it. This is my job, this is my wheelhouse. You need to be able to do something beyond your limits. That's where I come in. You are on the precipice of a major breakthrough here, and I'm taking over /right now/ to make sure you do your job properly. Bringing the party in three...two... The police officer looks to Pazkar. "Get me a potion of haste. ...And a potion of speed, if that's a thing. Actually, if anything makes me faster or more dextrous, I'll take, like, three potions of it. That sounds great. Yeah. Do that. Okay? It's party time. Thanks." ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Now sit tight, and wait for the golden armor guy to bring the party. We're cracking this case wiiide open, baby. INTERFACING: ...while you're waiting, I need to understand this guy better. Please..walk like him. For a minute.)] Simply going along with it, Raphael stands next to the dockworker..and starts walking in place. In time with him. When the dockworker moves, he moves. He is mimicking the NPC as neatly as he can. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Arthur uses his incredible powers and metaknowledge to plunge himself OUT OF BOUNDS. Despite the world clearly wrapping around the borders. he's not trying to travel on an axis the game acknowledges. He creates a portal beyond the conceptual borders of the world and plunges through, confident. He finds himself staring upwards at the map from below in a classic OUT OF BOUNDS GLITCH. It connects almost exactly how he expects it to. He can see the way the world is laid out, how the multitude of rooms and dungeons seem to all exist on the same plane but out of sight. He begins tracing the connections to various areas... But more importantly, areas that aren't connected.     One of them jumps out immediately. At the bottom of a CAVE OF DARKNESS there is a portal that seems to have no connection. It's DUMMIED OUT. Near it conceptually is what looks like a large INVERTED TEMPLE of some kind. There is a definite feeling of HIGH LEVEL CONTENT coming from it, as well as a sense of LACK OF COMPLETION. This might have potential. 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' As Raphael asks for drugs, Pazkar shakes his head. We do not have potions such as that. However... He pulls a gauntlet off, and removes a ring off his slender hands below. He hands it over to Raphael. This ring gives a bonus to your EVD. Please, keep it. The ring fits snugly onto the hand. It does nothing, but Electrochemistry might like the placebo. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot lifts his eyebrows over his lenses. Someone can think. Perhaps they are like the others. "I apologize, kupo, I thought you were like the others." The moogle takes a brief introductory bow, "I am Kupot. Lineheart has left the world to a place where people like me exist, kupo. I have come back. I don't know where he is right this moment, and I'd really rather you not kill him. He is doing his best to do good for all he has done, kupo, and I would be forced to stop you." He starts to head towards the windmill. "To prevent the Knight Modred from going mad, we may have to go to the windmill, kupo." 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' "Yaksha... Hm. Good name. I like it." Mordred chuckles lightly from underneath her helmet, sounding considerably less aggravated than she did moments earlier. Kupot's question and the followup answer, though, has her raising an eyebrow and even tilting her head slightly while trying to figure the trench coated puffball out. "What kind of question was that, anyway? You got some of those Jees or somethin' burning a hole in your pocket?" She'll figure it out sooner or later. Probably later, since her attention is still firmly on the Yaksha. There's a brief pause as she recalls others mentioning the name several times, then a shrug. "Heard of him, but hell if I know where he is now. Anyway. You can give us the key, or we'll break the doors down. Either works." and with that, Mordred follows after Kupot, her sword still held against her shoulder. IT's clear she's not giving Linehart's location, although she's not lying about knowing where he is. It didn't sound like she cares. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot is a mystery wrapped in an enigma smothered in ramen with a katana. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  The Yaksha stares at him for a moment. Then, The Mirror Knight destroyed all the yakshas. He burned our city, KUBERA, to the ground. He killed all those like me. I do not especially care that he is good now. A blood debt is owed. I will not return to life until I have taken it.      The Yaksha turns to look at Mordred.      Very well. I'll give you the key if it's that important to you. No, I don't have any Jee. My Sphere, if you can call it that, is Monster King. I don't have an inventory or any money to offer you. Only the key.      With that, the Yaksha hands over...nothing.      But when it completes the animation of handing it over, a key drops into Mordred's hands. It's an odd key. It has a black turtle on the end of it. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Staren begins scanning things. The NPCs he scans come back as /people/, They're flesh and blood. They seem to have all the necessary components present to be people. So why do they act like this? EAST CITY - BARTAL: Raphael's musing appears to be completely on target. There's no change in expression. The words are delivered exactly and directly the same way every time. The dockworker, not having been interacted with again, goes back into a default action loop. Occasionally, he moves in a random direction that would undoubtedly be annoying as hell to someone navigating the city if they had a reason to be in that area. But for now, it looks like a particularly weird conga line, moving about to some invisible beat. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      "Linehart..." John pauses, pacing back and forth. THe muttering follows the barest possible hint of an outline. "The Mirror Knight. A shadowy night..." His fists clench instinctively at the memory of the flames. "Shadows. Shadows dancing on the wall." After the incident with the dragon, he's still a little shaken. John reaches out and grabs the side of the nearest building, stumbling towards it. His nails dig tiny scores into the wall. "The wall. Back... against the... wall," he struggles aloud, as he witnesses the Mirror Knight swat his adversary away. The gauze upon Rizzo's fingers would be wet with blood, were it not for the gloves which were shredded in its place.      As the vision fades, he sighs with relief--but also with resignation. "...no going back."      He stands up straight. These people... they're like him, like Shyra, like Linehart. But their fate is worse. Do they know they're scripted? Are they aware, and simply trapped in these routines? Or are they blissfully ignorant of this lifeless, disturbing charade? He has to know.      Rizzo wanders around town, gazing at the aura of NPCs to gauge their emotional states. Staren is checking their vitals, but John is peering into their minds. He isn't just checking their emotions, but peering into their minds, searching for any sign of higher thought besides this routine. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot listens intently as they go. "That is understandable, kupo." He turns his head back towards the windmill. "Killing him will not bring them back. Nor will killing him prevent any future deaths. It will not even end your pain, kupo." He frowns to himself as he goes forward. "I've killed many people when I was younger. All of them, kupo, were innocent. Their brothers, their sons, their wives, may wish to kill me. I don't think I would want to stop them." Thoughtful pause. "Meet him. And watch him. And wait to see if your mind changes, kupo, before you continue this blood debt." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur returns to the surface. He has determined the starting point with which he may be able to achieve a SCRATCH for this "session" of sorts. By reorienting the timeline towards a specific intent rather than allowing it to progress freely, he /might/ be able to get the gang to assist in the way a Time player might... despite the fact that his own Classpect is Space, not Time!     He is going to run some thoughts. For now, he steps back out of his Gate, and seals it back up tight -- don't want to let too much of the void in here. He's got his intent and his solution. Now... anywhere around here that looks like a repository of lore? He needs to look up caves. Early-game writing tends to speak to the original intent, before budget cuts. Which is to say, early-region writing often speaks most broadly of roles, ideas, and legends that get pared down later, but could reference alternate timelines more thoroughly. The original TEWER VILLAGE, after all, had plenty of references to demigods that never made their full potential contribution.     First, finding a LORE REPOSITORY of some sort, and reading the one (1) readable passage from the one (1) book per bookshelf, and, he hopes, finding some info on relevant cave systems. That'll likely be the last of his fruitful investigation for the excursion, one cannot and should not monopolize these things after all. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Already seeming aggravated by something or other, Lilian pinches the bridge of her nose when Rizzo starts going off with the slang. She'd probably look like an extremely annoyed teacher if she were actually taller than him. "Couldn't you have tried a little harder than bandages? This is . . . you look . . ." She eventually gives up and shakes her head. "Fine. Fine. Whatever. This is technically sort of your job, right? That's more than I can say for the lookie loos." she says, not letting on whether that word choice is intentional.     "The Blue Dragon Shrine" Lilian replies to Rean, just barely. Blandly. Almost defeatedly. "As of just now. Why does it matter?"     Falling in with Tamamo when the ship makes its rounds, Lilian starts to look about ten percent more resigned, but fifty percent less frustrated and tired. "Danger? Quite probably none. I suppose if you go by that metric, it's fine; I just don't quite know what you expect out of this place. Well, if it's interesting to you, I guess that's most of what matters." she relents, before stopping behind Tamamo's outstretched arm. Having seen her drawing those talismans back in the shop, she is, in fact, quite interested in seeing one in action, though she already assumes it won't have any impact on creatures she has already written off entirely as pure constructs of some semi-convincing theatre of mind.     They do not do nothing. Lilian only blinks off-tempo when the little heart appears, then almost jumps back when he starts 'talking'. Lilian does not play videogames. This is not her wheelhouse. She yells "Christ almighty god!", draws, and points her handgun from under her coat in the same moment, her hand twitching on the grip as reflex fights with conscious restraint. Something about a random old guy bugging the *fuck* out when he opens his mouth is especially bad juju for her.     "This place is hell. I'm sure it is. This must be what King Gilgamesh sees every day." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Hmm. "Would you mind coming with me?" Staren tries to pull on the man's hand, while calling his ship to orbit above to get it into teleport range. It's time for more invasive scanning.     If the man will LET him, it's time for a brainscan. Staren's no psychosurgeon, but there might be differences between this NPC's scan and a normal one even he can see. Maybe if he transfers the man's mind into something else it will be able to change and grow. Wouldn't that be nice? Probably too easy, though...     And if the man doesn't want to come with Staren, well, Staren can learn something from his reaction all the same. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael continues to mimic the NPC for a long moment, before Pazkar returns. He puts on the ring, and waits. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: This ring is-- INTERFACING: Did it work? I think it's working! I think I can do this! ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Yeaaaah, it's..a ring of speed. You're going faster. I can feel it. It's...it's glorious. Yeah. That's it. Perfect. Listen, could you-- Harry starts to shudder again, as the cool wind blows from the sea. He stares up at the sky, looking distant. He almost looks like he's catching hypothermia, shivering and making quiet noises. He seems absent, even with that grin still on his face. There's a long moment, before he shakes his head. And then he digs into his pocket. Something he pocketed from the airship, because it was inside a container, and one of the first rules of being a cop from the Jamrock precinct is that you ABSOLUTELY prioritize containers. Raphael hands the SOUVENIR over to the dockworker, and awaits what everyone inside of him says is inexplicably an incredibly good idea. "Here. You were waiting for this to arrive." 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  The Yaksha thumps its chest. Taking his life will restore mine. I will be a proper yaksha again, rather than this twisted ghost. I will restore the others from their own deaths. The debt will not be forgotten. It will not be postponed. I must reap his karma to restore their own. I will wring it from his corpse and use it to feed my dead.      I do not care that he is good. I do not care that he is kind. He is not - he is a monster to the core, and monsters cannot change - but even if he was it would not matter. The blood debt will be paid. His karma will be reaped. Now stop talking of this. If you wish to go to the Shrine you have your key.      The Yaksha bristles. If you wish for my help then ask. Otherwise I am going to leave. I will continue my search. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot frowns. That is... troublesome. "Very well. Then that is his choice." Kupot nods. And has to sit there and think of if he would do it. Would he sacrifice himself to save the people he killed? It is not something he has to do, but Linehart. The moogle shakes his head, then rubs slowly through the fur, making his bob shift. Perhaps, he does not have such a bad life. "Yes. There is nothing in the shrine that can truly aid us, I believe. We are simply exploring." He stares up at The Yaksha, weighing his options, before, "Can you aid us? You know that Linehart has left this world. We are moving to set the world right. Have you noticed anything strange, kupo?" 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  The Yaksha stares at Kupot for a long moment. Then, words pop up in front of Kupot's face.            T^^^^##h##e&&& Ya!!!k&*&sha&&&?!?! Has Joined The Party           

:'''{{#var:7173|Tamamo (7173)}} has posed:'''     "Well, now!" Tamamo claps her hands together, looking between the glitching-out man and Lilian. "That went better than expected." She raises her hand, and makes a cutting gesture to the side, removing the connection between herself and the Charm effect. It would have run out in short order, regardless, but it served its purpose. "I had thought there might be no response, at all, but--Lilian, are you feeling well?" Suddenly concerned, but easing at her last comment.     Tamamo continues, as if nothing much just happened. "We can now be certain that they are not mannequins gifted with speech. I cannot say that charming the wind, the rain, and the mountain itself is beyond me, but I did not do so here. They have minds that can be touched. As to whether those minds are merely cursed with shackles of simplicity, I cannot yet say."     Without actually responding to the man, as such, Tamamo walks up to the altar, glancing around toward the flowing water. "Hm, no bell, no offerings, no... ah, there." She spots the important item that is A LADLE, and goes over to make use of it. Without hesitation, as if rehearsed, she scoops water out of the nearest flow, pours a little of it into her cupped hand, appears to drink it, then turns and spits it onto the ground, scattering the remaining fluid in the ladle, likewise. Only when this is done does she approach the altar, ignoring both the people near it, bow just slightly, and clap her hands twice, loudly. With the second clap, she unleashes her restraint.     Tamamo glows, dimly from exposed, brightly from her eyes and three tails, and as blatantly, obviously Present to anything with an inkling of sense for the mystical as any sight could be. She is contacting whatever spirits there may be of this shrine, and identifying herself as a divine being in the process. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Rizzo experiences something punishing and traumatic. But the truth hurts. And he is uniquely suited to force his way through the burning truth to find what lies beyond, perhaps. No one seems to react to his agonized response to seeing an important, perhaps defining point in the history of Finaria. It is what has resulted in the town becoming like this. It is why it is broken. But what about the world? He begins examining the people there. Looking into their aura, their minds. Their aura is disturbingly blank and even. There is no inflection, no emotion except when someone interacts with them, which creates a precise shift in the aura commensurate with their words... And it returns immediately back to a bland neutrality. Their thoughts are similar, only dwelling on a single concept, a single thought that they express. At least, these here do. They don't seem to be quest NPCs. Arthur takes a look around the town and finds the local bookshelves speak of a nearby RUINED TEMPLE that is very dangerous, and has some REFERNECES TO THE SPIRITS, but it's clear that this place isn't THE LORE DUMP. That would likely be PRADIA, that whole realm of sage-types and nerds. Thankfully, Arthur is spoiled for options on making inquiries over there if he wants to move. Staren kidnaps an NPC. The man doesn't resist per se, but he does seem to stop moving every so often on a semi-random timer before he is pulled along another specific and defined distance. Scanning the man's brain finds the same results as Rizzo. The man is capable of thought, just... apparently only /one/ thought. If he wants to do anything else to the guy he's going to need to decide to commit on a course of action. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' "Y-yeah, same. Asked for no reason." Rean says, clumsily dodging the fact that he missed his stop. He gets off at the shrine with the others, wandering off at some point to investigate on his own. Indeed this place was stuck in a loop. He goes over to the docks and peers into the water to see if it's beind weird. He leans foward just a bit, probably enough to fall over if he leans too much. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' "It ain't, but it's somethin' worth looking into in this dump." Mordred scoffs lightly while gesturing at the town, noting the inhabitants and making a few grabbing motions at the nothing the Yaksha hands over. The timing is just right that when she stops to look at the nothing, she's just about to say something (probably foul-mouthed) that the key drops onto her hand. It's a good thing that helmet is staying on. She turns it around a few times, taking note of the turtle, before starting to move again with Kupot and the Yaksha. If they aren't already headed towards something, then she'll take the lead and head towards the place she's been fixated on this whole time: The Black Warriors Shrine. Or the Windmill, what with proximity and all. "You know anyone else that's done this... Thing they're all yappin' about? Seeing outside this world or whatever?" She pauses, then adds. ".... Thinking? Not being a golem on a rail?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     There doesn't seem to be much of a mind. But is that a trait of the body, or the mind, or both? If he moved the mind to another body, could it grow? Could it then continue to grow when put back? This is really reaching, and verging on creating life.     Then again, Shyra and now Arthur are working to bring ALL the NPCs to life. So if anything actually happens, it was going to happen anyway.     Staren stares at the console. Well, there isn't a physical screen, it's an AR projection. Still. Looking at the blinking cursor, he ponders the ethics of this. What if it goes wrong? Wasn't he just telling off heroes yesterday for doing things, taking action when it wasn't needed?     ...But that was different. Lezard had the emperor in hand and they fucked it up, directly and clearly. Arthur's plan is much more distant and incomplete and not even clearly going to work, and there's also no clear evidence that experimenting on this NPC will ruin it.     In his mind's ear, the echoes on the radio of people asking when he's ever DONE anything play over and over again. He has helped save worlds, but the Multiverse has a short memory.     He presses the AR-projected button to start the brainscan up as an emulated mind running on a computer, experiencing a VR space. Staren joins in through his implants.     In an endless white space, their avatars stand on opposite sides of a simple folding table; folding chairs wait for them to take a seat.     "So. I don't suppose you have anything else to say now?"     Man, he's going to feel kind of silly if this makes no change. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     There's a fairly long bit of explanation and exposition from Arthur as to the nature of his Scratch theory over the radio between the groups, which Lilian tunes in on. She grows slowly more and more tense, less and less patient and content, hearing it, until finally she activates her radio, presses her fingers to her temples in vexation, and finally says what all comes to mind at the end of it. Partly to tell off Staren (her time honoured hobby of choice when frustrated), but largely embodied by her last choice of words.     "For all we know, the entire intent of this place might have been to generate self-awareness, like Pazkar and Shyra and supposedly Linehart. This whole rigamarole exist to create people to specification, by doing little more than writing their backstory and acting out trite roles as a sort of ritual to develop them. If it'd worked, it'd certainly have been much more efficient than just about any alternative method. A world where you can write and act anyone or anything into existence."     "Obviously, the Hero must have had a sense of what was going on when he got here. Through his actions, a few entities became aware, and when he left, the whole process stopped. This video game business is something the rest of you are taking far too literally. A failed timeline sounds quite plausible."     There's a long pause. A fairly meaningful one, given Arthur, and only Arthur, knows about the implicit content.     "I can find out. But it won't be easy or pleasant."     At the shrine itself though, Lilian is glad to be distracted by Tamamo. "Charming the rain is something I'd certainly like to see." she says, only just then remembering to lower her weapon. "Apologies. I'm used to . . . when people do things like that, they . . ." Lilian quickly shakes her head while hurriedly stuffing the gun away. "It doesn't matter. I just didn't expect it here. Not like that, anyways."     With divinity on divinity action (ostensibly) about to happen, Lilian backs away from the shrine at that point, with some measure of relief. Given the probability that the couple won't even react to Tamamo at all in the process, she tiredly and half-heartedly prompts them for their correctly exposited lines. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' EAST CITY - BARTAL: Lilian gets freaked out by the semi-corrupted behavior of the man and points a gun at him. He doesn't even seem to notice. The white-robed man is slightly tanned and has red hair with dark eyes. He stares at her with a little smile, not seeming to care or comprehend that he's on the verge of being deleted. Thankfully, Lilian is talking to herself and not the man, else she might accidentally trigger him to speak again! Raphael/Harry produces a PRADIA SOUVENEIR and provides it to the dockworker. The man takes it, the object tucked away into his robe before he pulls out a large potion bottle and holds it out to Raphael for him to take. Oh! You have brought me the delivery I was waiting for! Please accept this rare VITTA POTION in payment. The VITTA POTION seems to be filled with some kind of nondescript fluid. Somehow, he it promises to provide additional SPEED. Tamamo cuts the Charm spell. The heart bubble vanishes, and she finds a ladle that is undoubtedly used in some kind of WATER-BASED RITUALS at this location. Tamamo also undergoes a RITUAL herself, making use of it to symbolically cleanse before presenting herself at the altar as one divnity to another. There is a flash in the eyes of the statue, and it addresses Tamamo. You have my deepest thanks, brave ones, for your valor. I have been sealed away for quite some time by that False Dragon Spirit. But your work is not done. A great evil rises in the West, and with your power, you may be the only ones who can stop it. Raise your Relic aloft, Hero, and receive my blessing! Rean investigates the docks. He leans over to look into the water. It looks normal. Exceptionally normal. There's a sense of safety that seems to pervade the area. There's no sign of trash or smell of dead fish like one normally expects in a place like this.     There is a sense that if he goes too far from the docks, however, it won't be so safe. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  The Yaksha shakes its head as it follows Mordred. It doesn't seem to know anyone else. Notably it doesn't dismount its snake-drawn chariot as it enters town. Though the area looks too small for it to enter it just sort of...clips through the parts it can't fit in.      Nobody reacts. Nobody stops it. It's in the Party now, after all. It can talk to them on the Party Chat. It can enter the city. It's a Player Character, now.      The party can even look at its extremely glitchy character sheet. The Sphere listed is MONSTER KING; it has no attacks. Instead it has a list of what are probably monsters - things like BHUTA and NAGA and DAKINI and ALEYA. There is the sense that these are not at all attacks but the ability to just pull monsters out of thin air. Maybe it really is some kind of nightmare thing.      As the impromptu party makes their way to the windmill, nobody stops them. Nobody even reacts to the massive chariot-drawn monster riding through the town.      The Windmill still turns at its lazy, constant pace in the windless area. The door swings open, and inside is a trapdoor. The key fits perfectly.      Click.      There's no creaking sound. Instead there's a triumphant tone as the door pops open.      The Yaksha should not be able to fit in this tiny room, but somehow, it does. It doesn't even rub up against Kupot and Mordred even though it should be bigger than the place by itself.      Down the trap door is a descending set of stairs. As soon as Mordred and Kupot set their feet on the stone stairs (and, somehow, the Yaksha following, though again it could not possibly fit through that tiny little door), a different, more ominous music starts playing.      Oh fuck this is a dungeon.      Indeed the minute they set foot down there a bunch of tortoise statues suddenly light up with a dim blue glow. A text box pops up in front of them. Brave Heroes, do not falter. You have earned yourself my power. Hold aloft the relic and walk proud - few can face the Black Warriors Spirit Shrine and survive. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:'''     Raphael takes the potion. He looks at it. The lid is popped off. He takes a sniff. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: That guy said potions weren't real, but this one's real, baby. This one's completely real. This is the good stuff. You are going to move like the wind that other guys loves so much. Drink that shit. INTERFACING: ...Please. I'm on the cusp. Just do it. Raphael Cousteau looks at the potion. He takes a breath. LEGENDARY: Interfacing: 16% - Understand the Machine. He quaffs back the potion in one gulp. There is nothing remotely responsible about this, in the slightest. It's a man who knows how to drink copious amounts of liquid in the shortest time possible. It's a man who knows how to party, and he's just gotten onto a new wagon. LEGENDARY: Interfacing: 97% - Understand the Machine +1 Lived as the people do +3 Wearing a glitched ring +3 Drank a dummied potion +3 Seen the pixels +1 It's a program Raphael allows his consciousness to expand, and drift, as he puts his shoulder on the hand of the NPC in front of him. What is he? Is he a person? Is he part of something greater? What IS this world? 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' ...Well, at least the water isn't glitching out like it was in Haseo's world. He briefly considers going for a swim, in case something would change, but that sense of impending doom if he does so warns him off it. He goes over to the Weapons Shop, and peers in. "Hello?" Rean asks the shopkeep. He's fully expecting an infinite loop of things. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur listens close to Lilian as he walks out of his failed loresite. "Yeah, the videogame shit is wack. This is /reality/, much as it matters. The timeline shit, it's--..." He grits his teeth as he gets ready to fast-travel. "I know that shit ain't pleasant. I remember my last friend had... corpses. From failed ways. Fucked up. But..." He thinks, furrowing his brow. Airship, or gate? Probably Gate, if he can manage it. Given the isolationism... A fast-travel node there is probably at a healthy distance. But can he get there? Would he be attacked, or something like that? He should at least stop at PRADIA and see if there's barriers to investigating a local LOREDUMP for information about CAVES.     As he does, he speaks to Lilian. "Look, I want to know. You think you can figure it out? Any chance you can put that unpleasant on me, lady? 'Cause I ain't 'boutta see some time-corpses if I can avoid it." He sounds pretty genuine in the offer to help. He's willing to put the chips down for his idea, too, if Lilian truly does intend to help make it work. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     Tamamo informs Lilian that the voice in the dragon statue is, in fact, a god. At least, a local equivalent so close that it cleanly passes for one. This mostly strikes Lilian in surprise and a moderate measure of disbelief, who checks to confirm again with Tamamo, until . . ."     "--Wait, I have this." she says. It's as if she's snapped awake all of a sudden. Eyes open, back straight, stride full of purpose, she pushes right into the intersection of awakened divine powers, even hurrying a little as she goes. Not *quite* sure of why, she makes her way to the center of the arrangement before the coiled dragon spire and bell and stands exactly where she feels she is supposed to. Equally not sure *why*, but very much convinced it'll work, she reaches up to where her hair is pinned back and withdraws the baroquely shaped, elongated silver-black needle ornament from it, letting her hair fall down to her lower back, and holding up the queerly shaped pin, now balanced perfectly on needletip atop her opened palm.     Yeah. This'll work. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      John extends a hand, as a villager passes by locked in their return. What if... hm.      "On, off. On, off. They're the finger and the lights. ...where's the switch? Who's there?" A villager answers John, saying their bit, and resuming their routine as soon as their text box closes.      He shakes his head. "More copy," he says. "Copy... print." This place has an Author, too. "Neatly printed." Everyone keeps calling it a video game, but he can see the writing. They all can. Every book has a spine, a place where you can see the name of the author. This world has a spine, too, he imagines. It's hard for people to see it, from the inside of the book, and so they believe it isn't there. But it is--it just looks different from the inside.      Rizzo returns to the AIRSHIP, wherever it may be, and boards it. He peers unflinchingly at the wall. "Gotta find the spine. Spine's a straight line... main line..." he says, thinking of Raphael. "Brain line. Line right up, win a prize," he utters, still standing perfectly still and gazing at the wall. He can't see the Blurred Man--the figure who fought with Shyra and her allies. But perhaps he can still find him. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Kupot is... freaking out slightly. Mostly because his HUD assures him there is a LARGE CHARIOT INTERSECTING WITH HIM but he is also fine. Also, Kupot teleports down stairs. There is a stair climbing noise, but no actual stairs. One ear twitches. He might be having a stroke. This is not illusion magic, as Arthur Lowell said. This is REAL. These are how the LAWS OF PHYSICS work here. How MATTER INTERACTS. Kupot puts one hand on the wall to steady himself, while offhandedly noting to Mordred, "I believe, kupo, this place has been removed of its challenge." 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Mordred shrugs when the Yaksha responds in the negative. "So there's.. What, four of you, then? Could be more... Yeesh. What a pain." She groans while heading down the path in the windmill, letting her curiosity get the better of her to take a look at that character sheet. "This world's really screwed up, ain't it? And the hell is a... Da-kee-nee? Boota? " She's not used to reading these kinds of names, and it shows. She's asking, at least, instead of just whacking the sheet or something like that. She does halt briefly when the Yaksha jsut starts clipping through everything including themselves, even reaching out to shove it away before realizingt hat she's fine. Physically. Mentally... And then they wind up in a weird dungeon of sorts. The knight stares at the statues that glow before the trio, and she glances over at Kupot after the blue text boxes fade. "Did you bring a relic, kid?" She looks from him to the Yaksha, then scowls when she starts putting things together. 'Have earned'. 'Few can face'. Kupot spells it out for her, and Mordred's grip on the great sword tightens as she resists the urge to smash it against the statues right there. "... So what was the power, anyway? Did it go to that Hero that ain't even around now?" She asks of the statues and the Yaksha simultaneously, glancing back and forth to see who can answer her first. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Staren DOES A SCIENCE. The NPC sits there while he's implanted with cybernetics to allow him to be connected to the virtual reality link, emulating his mind in that space. The man stands there. He doesn't bother sitting. When Staren talks to him... It's not a textbox that appears. onInteract(     print(blue, "I can't find them... My family is gone... Curse that Evil Knight!")     ); return; That's different. Shyra watches Rizzo as he gets back on the airship. Are you... all right? she asks, a CONCERN look on her face despite having no voice to show it. Is there anything I can do to help? Arthur Gates his way across the entire map to land near PRADIA. There's a couple monsters that appear on the way but Arthur can easily blow them up or escape from them or use space magic to just drop his encounter rate to 0 somehow. He stops in at PRADIA and despite the place being isolationist it mostly seems to mean the local Sages are more or less full of sass instead of lore. The bookshelves, however, are a bit more useful since they're not QUEST-LOCKED. The one that seems to have the highest Relevance Index to Arthur is the following: THE KINDEVA The great ancients were known as the Kindeva. They mastered the five elements of the world - Tree, Fire, Metal, Water, and Earth. They broached the domain of the Spirits in their pursuit of wisdom. This angered the Yellow Emperor, who set a curse upon them, blighting their land and their bloodlines. In retaliation the Kindeva built a great machine god, Ayudha Raksha, to challenge it. The Yellow Emperor was wounded in the clash, and the Kindeva escaped into the sky on their flying city. No one knows what happened to them afterwards. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  Monsters. The Yaksha shrugs. They are monsters. Bhuta are ghosts. It snaps its fingers.      Suddenly there's a weird-looking person standing next to them. It has no face; its face is mostly covered by a white mask with a strange bird-ish image. It's wearing white, tattered robes. Its flesh is miscolored. It has a strange-looking hooked sword in one hand and a shield in the other. It looks sort of like a ghost of a hero, but not in the sense of Mordred - in the sense of a hero who *failed* and *died*.      The Yaksha snaps its fingers again.      A sexy female demoness appears. She has wings down her arms, she's wearing as much as an 8-bit game would let her get away with not wearing in the late 80s/early 90s.      A Dakini is a demoness.      The two monsters just sort of mill about before disappearing. The Yaksha does not appear to have caused the disappearance.      I don't know what the power of the Spirits is. I wasn't ever given that blessing.      The dungeon appears to continue quite a ways in. The music is appropriately eerie, but in a...kind of positive way? The monsters milling about are all tortoise-y, not sword-y. It's like a training ground or something. 

:'''{{#var:6666|Kupot (6666)}} has posed:''' Slowly, Kupot lowers himself to the floor. He sits up against the wall with a sigh. He takes out a NicStick and puts it up to his mouth. Click, whirr, COOOOTTTON. Then he pulls it down, frowning. "This is...hard. There are many things here I don't understand." He breathes out an unhappy sigh. "I wish to help. I truly do. But there is... I do not understand how this world works. I am not even sure my sword would work here. I feel powerless to help you and yours." 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      Rizzo turns and faces Shyra. Her concerned expression is reflected in his sunglasses. With that gauze on his face, and the glasses covering his eyes, he looks expressionless and cold. But his voice is quite the opposite. "I'm fine," he says reassuringly. "There was a blurred man with you, when Linehart came to Finaria. No matter how bright the fire burned, it couldn't reveal him." Rizzo falls silent, then points towards Finaria. "He's not there anymore."      "If you wouldn't mind swinging by the last place you saw him, I need to case the joint."shoves his hands in his pockets and looks thoughtfully over the bow of the ship. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' EAST CITY - BARTAL: Rapahel expands his consciousness with the power of STACKING MODIFIERS. He uses that consciousness to investigate the nature of the man beside him... And he receives some potentially disturbing answers. The man, for his part, simply says, Thank you for the delivery. I hope the potion was useful! Kim probably would not have approved. Rean backs out on the water, choosing to get his feet wet another time, and goes to the weapon shop. The shop is a dark room with a number of generic-looking swords hanging on the wall behind a man with a moustache, brown hair, apron, slightly tanned skin, and dark eyes. Upon interacting, he is greeted with: Welcome to the Weapon Shop!     BUY     SELL If the man is offended that Lilian almost plugged him for potentially having been corrupted by Antegent activity or similar, he doesn't seem to show it. When she prompts the man, he says, this time clearly: We appreciate everything you've done to restore the Blue Dragons Spirit to its rightful place! Please return anytime. And then the woman says, Thank goodness! We no longer have to make sacrifices to the Dragon Spirit! Who knew that it was False this entire time! Lilian takes her place and chooses to Be The Hero, presenting an ancient relic won through strife and deep suffering to the Blue Dragon Spirit. In response, there is a sparkling flash of blue light, and the Grief Seed fills with lambent azure. The mage can now draw upon the power of the relic to use TREE element attacks! Somehow, this manifests with blue and watery special effects. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Some kind of summoner, then. Might be useful if you ever need target practice, I guess." Mordred utters dismissively, still obviously agitated about the true prize of the dungeon already being gone. Still, since they're already here, she's not going to just /not/ go through this place to see if there's anything else worth checking out. Too bad smacking those monsters isn't as satisfying as it could be. She'll take a few swings, sure, but eventually she just starts walking past them entirely. "So you don't know about this... Spirit power stuff, either. Great." Mordred starts rubbing the front of her helmet, digging in hard to just sort of rub her head through her helmet as she picks up the pace. "So aside from your village... Town.. Whatever, do you know /anything/ else about this Hero? Hell, you ever seen this guy in the first place?" 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael considers. This world is a dream. There are pieces of code--this must be like how radiocomputers work, and some of the code is broken and corrupted. That's not a dream. Which means... [:::] [:.:] LOGIC: So, you're kidding me, right? You're looking at this situation, and you think now of all times I'm going to put that together? After that potion you just drank? I don't even think a carton of cigarettes is gonna solve this one, buddy. Go find someone else to solve it for you. There's a grumble, as the detective steps away. Alright. So he's not going to piece together whatever's going on here. But there's a lot of pieces, at least. He can gather more. What else to do, what else to do.. For now, Raphael decides to go back to the airship. Maybe there'll be some insights within the vehicle. He's got nothing further to do in this town, without currency. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     So their minds really are that simple. They're just code. There isn't a person here locked in time, waiting to grow, there's just code. Any awakening has to be the planting of something external... or a modification by something that could make ANYTHING aware.     Staren considers trying to alter the code just to prove his point. But... he suspects Shyra would rather more respect was shown to the NPCs, even if they aren't people. Well, time to put him back--     Wait a minute. That can't be the dude's entire code. What's he say when Linehart hadn't messed up the town yet? There should be an if in there, or something checking event flags.     Staren paces around the NPC's avatar in the interrogation room.     In a moment of desperation, he tries to grab the code that appeared in the air and drag it up or down to scroll it.     "Come on, you have more secrets in you yet. Uhh. Debug mode? Edit? Guh, there isn't a..."     If that didn't work, he goes into a fugue state for some time. When he comes to, random machines in his lab and manufactory have had parts ripped out of them, and on a workbench is a new creation: A helmet with all sorts of bits and bobs on it, connected to a device like a dot matrix printer. Notes are scribbled on nearby pieces of paper and also the walls, but the purpose is clear enough: It scans the brain of an NPC and prints out their code. At least, that's what it's SUPPOSED to do. Who knows if it will; even Staren doesn't know how it's supposed to actually work. That's mad science for you.     He has his ego bridge write the NPC's mind back into their brain, decants them, and tries the helmet, to see if they have any code that's currently dormant. If the thing even works... 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  Yes. I fought the Hero and their Party. They repelled me. I don't know why I didn't die when they won, but I ran, and fled back towards Kubera. Which, as I have said, doesn't exist.      Killing the monsters gets little pop-ups all over the place about Mordred gaining EXP and JEE in various amounts. It's probably a lot but it probably doesn't mean anything - although every time she kills something she and Kupot get a lump of coins in their pocket. The coins are weird flat gold disks with GI written on them.      The Yaksha shrugs at Kupot. A sword has been good enough before. I am sure it will be fine. I appreciate you trying to help.      The group of them - the red-clad knight, the cybernetic moogle, and the huge charioteer - get through the dungeon. It's kind of a slog. The encounter rate is really high. But finally they come upon a floating untextured blue orb, and a cave. The orb does nothing but make them feel nice. The cave...      Inside the cave is a massive black turtle.      It just...takes up the whole place. It's massive. It fills the whole area except for the dais in front of it. To Mordred it has the feeling of something Very Powerful, something Divine. To Kupot it looks like a wise ancient thing. The Yaksha lowers its head in respect.      The turtle says, Brave Heroes, do not falter. You have earned yourself my power. Hold aloft the Relic and walk proud - few can face the Black Warriors Spirit Shrine and survive.      The turtle stares at them. It's surrounded by little turtle flame statues. There's an offering plate in front of it. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' "Heh... Right. Well, better not lose next time. If there's a next time." Mordred's not really subtle about that jab at the Yaksha, but it could just as easily be a well intentioned and badly stated warning. Once she realizes she can get some sweet sweet JEEs from killing the monsters, she promptly starts going on a rampage. Why not? It'd be a waste not to get some of that stuff from the weird shop on the way back later. Who knows when the party might need a boatload of AMRITs? Plus, there's a turtle. A powerful turtle. Something that might be worth stabbing unless she can fool it somehow. Mordred looks towards Kupot, then the Yaksha, then steps forward while dropping a couple of JEEs in that plate. Has she already figured out the Warrior to Turtle thing? "You never gave us your power. Did you forget already? You told us to... Get some of these first." She drops a few more JEEs in, but her grip on her sword stays firm as she twists it slowly, ready to bring it up quickly at a moment's notice. It's not really subtle what she might be planning if the ploy doesn't work. She probably didn't figure out the turtle thing. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Shyra nods. Yes. She says simply, and points back to Finaria. There is a profound sadness in her expression as she leads Rizzo through the village and takes him to the Tavern in the center of the room. She opens the door and steps inside. Within...     Is a celebration. There's jaunty, triumphant music, villagers eating food and drinking ale. The bartender hoists a pair of tankards in jubilation, sliding them down the bar towards villagers farther down.     But the food never seems to actually get eaten. The drinks never end. The tankards vanish on the bar after the villagers there drink. There is a table with four empty chairs. A leg of turkey floats and moves in the air, losing a chunk of itself before it suddenly is restored. A tankard rises and falls. One of the chairs leans back and comes back to flat. Shyra actively looks away from it.     And above the table, in big bold font:                                T H E   E N D                                 At that table. Shyra points at the one that looks haunted-ish, with an equally haunted expression. Meanwhile, Staren continues Serial Experiments NPC. Sadly, his words don't seem to invoke any kind of debug mode. Staren's in depth examination seems to produce some general behavior information involving movement and such (which explains the way he moved when Staren grabbed the NPC), but there's literally nothing else.     Does he only exist to say this thing and stare depressively at a ruined house? DID he even exist before that time? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     It worked! Thank Morg.     It didn't give the results Staren was expecting, but that means he's learned something. Which fits in with this talk about the NPCs being 'fingers'.     For the time being, Staren beams back down to Finaria and puts the man back where he was, then walks into the tavern.     "Geeze." He's a little taken aback. There's just something messed up about this kind of scene being here, forever. Well, the rest of the world is messed up too, but seeing this he can picture that final moment, when their quest was over, they celebrated, and then...     The party stood up from that bar, and nothing ever changed again. He can see why Shyra's looking at it that way. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                             NORTH CITY - YTALIS                                  The Hero is gone. I'm certain of that.      The Yaksha doesn't seem to notice or care that Mordred might be insulting it. It just shrugs from atop its giant snake-drawn carriage. It seems agreeable enough.      Mordred drops a JEE into the shrine offering.      The first JEE that hits it glows.      It disappears.      It reappears in Mordred's hand, with a string around it. She can probably equip it. She gets the strong sense that if she wore it, she could call on WATER element attacks. They manifest with blue and watery special effects, just like TREE. Huh.      The Yaksha turns to look at her. I take it you didn't find what you were looking for. Only an interesting trinket. 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' THE AIRSHIP:     Raphael gets back to it. No one's there. He could probably pilot it if he really wanted to, but at the moment, it's comfy despite the ridiculous design. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' Mordred eyes that decorated JEE curiously, and she picks it up. "That's... Different. Why the hell not." And then she slips it on over her helmet. Hopefully, the string's long enough to actually fit over it and the horns. Whatever the case is, though, she doesn't stab the turtle! "It's somethin', I guess. Better than nothing, anyway." She shrugs, then starts heading back out the way she came, still giving the Yaksha's chariot some space out of habit. "If you got any o' those JEEs, drop one in the bowl. Might as well get something worthwhile out of this Black Warrior hole." She definitely didn't get the translation thing. She sounds disappointed, but she does give that WATER trinket a try during any random encounters on her way back out. 

:'''{{#var:7197|Mordred (7197)}} has posed:''' At the Yaksha's revelation of his lack of JEE, the white knight pauses to fish one of those weirdly flat coins. She flicks it over at the Yaksha, pausing just long enough to see if he can actually catch the thing before continuing on her way out. 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''      The Yaksha cannot catch it. In fact, it simply returns to Mordred's hand. 

:'''{{#var:7187|Raphael Cousteau (7187)}} has posed:''' Raphael steps to the bow of the airship again. He stands there again, taking a breath. "Show me. Show me the mosaic of light." He says to noone. There's a pause. SHIVERS: Colder. It needs to be colder. There's a breath. The man looks to the controls on the airship. INTERFACING: Y'know, normally I'd say no, but today I'm feeling kinda spicy. Might still be the potion. VOLITION: Please don't hijack the airship. Just take off your pants or--actually, please don't take off your pants either. Just--please stop this entire line of questioning. You don't know what you're looking for. You don't know what you're looking at. SHIVERS: This world has a voice. I can almost hear it. I can show you. Bring us higher. VOLITION: Listen. I've got it. Only the Hero and his party can use the airship, right? It probably wouldn't work anyway. Just leave it alone, and relax, and wait.)] And so he stops for a moment, before something..something finally clicks. THOUGHT INTERNALIZED -- PLAYER OF THE GAME A player is someone who has a dream. A real, precise dream, one he can lock down and know for sure. Your world has a void, an antithesis. You oppose that, more than any crime. Many worlds in the Multiverse seem to have a similar void. You exist as an antithesis and nemesis to that which actively doesn't exist. You will strip existence of non-existence. You have a purpose. You have a dream. You are not just a law enforcement officer. You are a Player. Interfacing: +1 Using the controls Authority +1 The one in charge Electrochemistry -1 Should be more responsible And with that newfound confidence, he grips the airship controls. Schhk. He's lifted it upwards. Thank god it's operable by random non-mechanically inclined heroes. Once it's up in the air, he stands to the bow again. He lets himself feel the cold. He lets himself start to shiver. It starts to feel, for a moment, as if hypothermia is about to set in.. And then his vision is taken. It drifts from the airship. It drifts upwards, ever upwards, until he can see the airship. Massive, really, unconscionably so. It almost appears the same size as the town. That can't be right, but it is. He knows it, in his bones. And then, as his vision lifts away...there it is. The mosaic of light. The endless squares of colour. He has no idea what this means.. But someone else will. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      John doesn't immediately move to investigate the table, nor the floating food. He stays put, and faces Shyra. He doesn't have to use his gifts to spot her expression. Gently, he offers her an out. "If this is hard for you, you don't have to stay."      He turns and steps further into the tavern. Edging away from the artificial sunlight, he peels off one shredded glove. Slowly, he unwinds the gauze, until a bare finger is revealed.      "/That./" He points at T H E E N D. "I know that." He sounds more certain of this than of anything he's said so far.      In search of the Blurred Man, he has found something better. Not the Spine, but the last page. The End. But also, in a way, the beginning. Behind the gauze, Rizzo inhales. This could be dangerous... but it is necessary. He presses his palms against one another, laces his fingers, and kneels. Between his hands, there is his small, silver medallion of St. Jude. After a moment of quiet, he stands, and extends his hand once more.      Rizzo tries to touch The End.      He tries to use his gifts to observe its history. How did it get here? Was it touched before? If so, by who? 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur never backs down from a good opportunity to FIGHT. He tests the general baseline combat threat of these monsters! It's always good to. And then he gets into LOREDUMPS.     Arthur examines the KINDEVA lore. This... okay. The YAKSHA were made by, or at least served them -- and are gone, except for just one. They also made the Machine God. Machine god... Okay. That's relevant. He locks onto that. Not just because he still, to this day, is a huge nerd about robotics. It's also because he suspects there might be a... link, somewhere. Between code and a machine god. Between the state of things, and the divinities.     Skaia was a mechanism of both fate and physical presence, tied directly to the systems Arthur interacts with. Any chance this machine god might serve a similar role? He needs to keep it in mind. Seemingly connected to the cave, dummied out, un-interacted-with, potentially... He resolves, now, to explore these two points. The Cave and the God. Could one lead him to the source of these outflowing updates? Maybe connect him in some way to knowing the right outcomes?     Arthur will see. For now, nothing further to be known. 

:'''{{#var:6994|Rean Schwarzer (6994)}} has posed:''' Rean looks at the shop keeper for a moment, and then holds up his own sword - a slightly-ornate tachi, with a violet sheath. "Do you have a sword that matches this one?" 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' CENTER CITY - FINARIA: Shyra smiles in appreciation at Rizzo's offer of an out... But she shakes her head. I'll stay... Here with you. She says, seeming to draw some form of strength from the vampire's presence. But her presence isn't what matters. It is the presence of The End. Rizzo prays to St. Jude, drawing meaning from faith, from knowledge of his past and the history that stretches behind him... In search of the future before him. He reaches out, using his powers to plumb the nature of The End. The words grow larger, darker, looming around him, swallowing him. Blotting out all light and life, destroying knowledge as everything spirals into an abyss... And replaces one reality with another. Men in cheap suits arranged around a table, discussing current events. Talking about technology. Brainstorming. Creating something out of nothing. There is a stylized image of a circle. Hours pass. Days. Weeks. Months. Drawings are made and rejected, the sifting of consciousness. Lines on a screen. Pens on paper. Strange, arcane words of light. Will and logic merged with art and passion. Tears are shed. Laughter, too. Hopes and dreams are poured into it. And then the room was empty. The building silent. A shadow looks at a screen in the middle of the night, deep sorrow, as the light dies, and endless night reigns. A poorly labelled rectangle of plastic is carried out with him. In the darkness, the dreams lived. The hope lived. The hope that someday someone would see it. That they would see The End. It was touched by many, and no one. Arthur smashes through the combat threat of the monsters in the area. As far as DIFFICULTY is concenred, it hangs around 50-60 percent on a graduated power curve assuming reasonable advancement. This is a solidly MID-LEVEL area. But he comes up with a Plan and marshalls people behind it. What will happen...? Who knows? He'll just have to enact it. And that's the fun part, right? 

:'''{{#var:7170|Shyra (7170)}} has posed:''' EAST CITY - BARTAL: Rean asks if the man has a sword like the one he has. The weapons shopkeeper shows off his selection of wares. He seems to have a collection of somewhat weak melee weapons and a bow for sale. He expects prices in Jee, the local currency. Bartal seems to be a Second Town kind of place, and has weapons that seem to hand around the 'bronze-silver' kind of RPG tiering that tends to manifest. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren waits just inside the door of the tavern, leaning against the wall and folding his arms as he thinks and discusses.     Eventually he is given reason to move again. He nods to Shyra and Rizzo and heads back to the airship, now taking it to RED BIRD SHRINE. It's time to take a look around there. Firstly to get a feel for the aesthetic for Arthur's proposed COMBAT ROBOT NPC. Secondly to see if it looks like there's anything to gain by studying and reverse-engineering the ancients' creations. 

:'''{{#var:6895|Lilian Rook (6895)}} has posed:'''     With the power of TREE, Lilian puts away her now-much-prettier-honestly ornament, then gets into another protracted discussion about the potential ramifications of poking and pulling at this place's various rough and half-finished ends. She doesn't pay much mind to what the couple says, except noting downt he mention of SACRIFICES to enquire about later.     It seems she's settled on 'failed timeline' theory and plans to look into that later. 

:'''{{#var:1011|John Rizzo (1011)}} has posed:'''      "The dream," says Rizzo, slowly retracting his finger. He winds the gauze back around his revealed digit. Rizzo steps away from the table. He doesn't need to trace the spine anymore. He's found the brain.      "I saw it. I saw the dreamer. I found the brain," says Rizzo to Shyra, as if she's supposed to understand what that means. "We might've just blown this case wide open. But... I gotta warn you. If I'm right, it might be scary for you and Pazkar." Linehart... that's a different story. He seems to Know. Or maybe he suspects it. They'll need to talk more.      "But I've been through the same thing.. and I'm not gonna ditch you guys." 

:'''{{#var:7141|Linehart (7141)}} has posed:'''                        SOUTH CITY? - RED BIRDS SHRINE                            Even on approach Staren can tell that this 'shrine' is a city. It hovers amidst the clouds, high above the land. It is a massive thing, an island in the sky, of towers of blocks that start wide and go smaller and smaller. Lines of light run down them, pulsing with a comfortable blue glow. The music here is not the cheerful town music but the deep and ominous music of Linehart, which Staren has already heard before. Except unlike last time it's /dark/, and *dangerous*, and it feels like he might pop out at any moment. There are monsters here but they're strange machines that don't *look* quite like machines, more like monsters that happen to also be mechanical. Staren's HUD calls them Dvarpala. They attack with laser beams if Staren tries to fight them. Occasionally missiles. Sometimes flamethrowers.      When Staren arrives, though, the ominousness kicks up twice as hard. There's a doorway with a bird over it. Lights lead into it, like landing lights. Linehart's music does not change. There's a huge bloodstain to the side, on what looks like grass. The buildings beyond the doorway don't open. The doorway with the bird on it opens with a BEEP.      Down, into the shrine itself. It's full of Dvarpala. They attack relentlessly and in droves. Eight at a time. Twelve at a time.      And then he comes to the end of it.      It is a bird. A great, red phoenix. Once upon a time it must have been a beautiful guardian god, a great and powerful beast. It must have bristled with glorious flames. Maybe it was designed to be beautiful and terrible as the sun.      It is pinned to the wall by seven black spears that look uncomfortably similar to another one Staren has recently seen.      The offering bowl is full of flaming blood.      The god is dead. And Linehart killed it. The lights wrapped around it are dim and flickering. All the lights are flickering now that he's hit this point. Linehart's music has become somehow more ominous, more...creepy. More eerie.      There's something...odd...about all the technology, too. It's...advanced, but it's not? It makes no sense. It makes NO sense. Staren peering into it is liable to drive Staren up the wall. It's not magical - it just doesn't obey any rules Staren can understand. It's like...elemental? But also not? But also...it is? Like it works on rules entirely coherent *within the world* but they're not...science, not science Staren can understand. They're...nonsense. Something that was concocted to look cool.      The robots are the same. They have inner workings but they're all bizarre and nonsense. They can't be put back together once smashed. There seems to be an endless supply of them but it's impossible to tell where they come from.      What *is* this? 

:'''{{#var:7191|Pazkar (7191)}} has posed:''' Pazkar approaches with Staren, having left back to the airship after Raphael and heading to Red Birds Shrine. As they investigate, he looks at the technology, his helmet back on hiding his expression. Pazkar looks up, and then avoids the shrine with the Red Bird entirely. He looks at the technology. His posture seems...sad. You will not be able to figure out how this works. Do not worry. I never could. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren lasers the Dvarpala right back with his pistol. After they bring out missiles, though, he tries to avoid them. It's not worth the trouble.     He takes a sample of the bloodstain. It seems like it might be important. He looks at Pazkar, but doesn't say anything. But the look on his face says 'we'll just see about that.'     And then he enters the shrine. He has to fight dirty to deal with the swarm -- flying past, luring things into narrow areas and using vines and foam to restrain them. Using grenades and missiles on groups.     At last he finds the red bird. Perhaps it will be one of those gods Tamamo and Lilian were talking about...     ...oh.     In another context the machinery here WOULD drive Staren up the wall, but here at least, Staren suspects he's not looking at the whole picture. There's that central computer, that central brain, controlling the logic of things. There are still questions about that to answer, but he can easily imagine that what he sees here is a facade, while the true force that makes things happen here is elsewhere.     He takes a sample of the blood offering, just because. He packs up the parts of one or two fallen Dvarpala and any stray artifacts. He tries placing his new mad science invention on a fallen Dvarpala's head, and on the Phoenix's.     And then he drinks a potion of speed, activates his wings, and high-tails it out of the shrine, trying to RUN from all random encounters on the way out! 
}}

6980/CT3: You Have Selected Regicide

2020-01-08T06:25:04Z

Remliel: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2020/01/07 |Location=Eorzea Region |Synopsis=The investigation team uses a risky method to breach the Crystal Tower and stop Xande and save G'raha..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/07
|Location=Eorzea Region
|Synopsis=The investigation team uses a risky method to breach the Crystal Tower and stop Xande and save G'raha Tia.
|Cast of Characters=598, 819, 906, 6, 525, 7180, 7175, 42, 7055
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' THE STORY THUS FAR:     Perhaps unshockingly to those present, the realm of Eorzea, perhaps all of Hydaelyn, faces yet another disaster in the making. Cracking open the defenses of the ancient Allagan edifice known as the Syrcus Tower has resulted in unforeseen consequences. While they have won victory over the defenses and guardians of the Labyrinth of the Ancients, a moment of inattention has allowed for treachery to unravel the well-laid plans of Nero tol Scaeva and by extension, Cid Garlond. Lezard Valeth, the Sorceror of Midgard, has spirited away G'raha Tia, a Miqo'te who bears the Eye of Allag, something that seems to be a key to command the various devices of the mysterious Tower.     Now, Lezard has claimed the Tower for his own, and some quick thinking by Amelris allowed them to discover that the Emperor of the Allagan Empire, Xande, stirs within the Tower. Lezard is caught between sticking with his efforts to use G'raha to secure the Tower, or to attempt to usurp the lord of Allag in order to claim true primacy... But Xande is also responsible for vast devastation. Leaving him be or perhaps worse, allowing Lezard to claim his power, was unconscionable to the heroes.     Thankfully, an irritated Nero has worked to use what little access he had to provide a more... unorthodox method of accessing the Tower. He has rerouted the Labyrinth teleporters to be able to breach the defenses of Syrcus and send them deep into the structure, so they might be able to rush through it to the summit, where the seat of the Emperor waits. But there is only one chance at this. Once they have breached, there is only victory or defeat. The threats to be faced are unknown... And Lezard himself continues to lurk within, plotting and planning. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     But there is only one choice. The heroes assemble, and with a jaunty, nonchalant salute Nero activates the console that has interfaced with the ancient Allagan technology. With a flash of light, the world vanishes...     And as the light fades, the group is surrounded in crystal and gold. The Syrcus Tower seems to consist of vast central open vaults, an endless spiralling staircase that moves directly from landing to landing all the way to the top in an inexorable path. The place is positively dripping with Allagan design and technology. Glowing crystal is inlaid into the structure, forming runes and paths for energy to travel. Glowing lamps of crystal and aether shine brightly, showing the way. Strange, unknown artifacts are common, and creatures are seen roaming the landings.     But you're not out there. You're seeing this through a thick wall of crystal, as you lot are standing within the seething walls of the Tower. Immense power is immediately apparent, the thick crystal thrumming with pure aetheric energy that is being shunted through complex Allag machinery throughout the complex. The environs are cramped, and it looks like thin ducting is running up and along the area, forcing those present to clamber amidst the machinery to work one's way up through an impromptu maze of what seem to be service openings barely large enough for a person to fit through.     Perhaps it was never intended for a person to fit through them. After all, one can see some kind of spherical object hovering about in an adjacent area, apparently performing maintenance.     Still, you know what direction you need to go. The question is just what you're going to do in order to start getting there. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     The teleport takes and N'raha makes a vague sick noise. Well, Nero was doing his best, even if that just felt like he was being pulled bodily through his left nostril.     The catman centers himself, and then peels out his tomestone, looking down at the screen and the limited map data Nero had gotten to them. "Right, so, quickest route is.... Up through... these...?" He points at a series of vents and tubes that are conveniently Human Sized. They also seem to be some sort of maintenance area, what with all the fiddly bits and displays and Open Wiring and Other Things inside of them. Positively rife with the sorts of things an Engineer might need to fiddle with. "And then there's a chamber above us that... Uh, my Allagan is rusty. Something about Many People? So like a gathering hall or a break room or something maybe?" He lifts his visor and looks at the others. And at Inga. Looks like he's going to be carrying her for a bit again. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang's been down for a while, recovering from injuries and some other personal stuff. The teleport makes her shudder on arrival. "That... felt a lot like the last time Weiss used time dilation on me." she says with a shudder in her voice. "Right... so that was a thing." she then listens to Raha. "Okay, so, entry strategy is clamber through vents like a bunch of creepers. Got it."     She offers to help those who can't qute reach the tube entrances by literally picking them up and shoving them inside. She's super strong, after all, even with still being slightly injured. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Things had gone sideways as far as Tomoe was concerned with how things ended up. She had told N'Raha she was in for the long haul. So she'd recovered from the last time and here she was ready to go. Tomoe was currently on edge due to Lezard's unknown plans other than this tower is mine now. She also was uneasy as they had one shot to deal with Xande one way or another. Given Xande from what she'd been made aware of? Had set the world on fire at least /twice/. She had backed the plan to deal with him before they worry about Xande. Nero had come through with a way in, however, there was a catch. There was only really one way out they had to win, if they failed, they would be dead or worse. She made some plans at the note of being at the top of the tower that could give her some tactical options she's not normally had. It was time to go she looks to her friends and allies for this operation just a second before they teleport. She does not get to see the amazing work of Algan Engineering and artisans nope she's in the vents. She looks to N'raha as he finds the tubes and nods. With a bit of help from Yang the Salamander is able to get into the tubes and closer to a very fateful meeting. "I feel like a snack pack in here..." 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Earlier: Inga stand over a large cauldron, stirring something pungent with a big wooden spoon like a proper witch, when N'Raha stomps in, shaking snow from his boots. He only gets as far as "Lezard--" before Inga gestures with the wooden spoon vaguely and nods her head, frowning. "I'll be there," she says. Ah the joys of living with a Seer, sometimes, you don't have to explain. Now: Inga finds herself in cramped confines, in which wearing a dress will be troublesome. The skirt will be torn in no time. She does however, have the rare advantage of being quite small, which may make this at least a little more comfortable for her. Inga looks to Raha and shrugs slightly. "I may need a bit of help here and there, but I'll be alright," she assures him. "Just...a moment however," she says, and unpins the straps of her overdress before pulling it over her head and stuffing it in her pack. Beneath, she is wearing honest to gods bloomers. Who knows where she found such a thing. She ties the white linen underdress into a knot at her waist, then winds her braid around her head in a coronet and jabs it with a pin to keep it there. "...and here I was expecting ridiculously large hallways with vaulted ceilings," she grumbles. She then turns to Raha or Yang to get a boost up, patiently waiting her turn. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris blinks his eyes open, squinting them through the haze of the teleportation efforts.      "Yeeeeesh." The Miqo'te says, rubbing his eyes at all the gold and extravagance of the room. "I knew Allag probably had Gold as one of it's emblamatic colors, but that's gaudy even for /them/." Amelris's ears flutters to clear out the last bits of sounds from the teleportation, looking up at the area that's been pointed up. "Mmmm... I think that's close enough to an accurate translation." He admits, frowning, giving a glance sidelong at Igna, tilting his head. Well, well, not he didn't know about her! "Of course not, I doubt we were going to be that lucky, ma'am."      Amelris takes a deep breath, push his already tight stomach in and starts by leaping upward to reach the entrance. He's lithe and strong enough to handle that no problem, after all. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna has her hand on her weapon, but not drawn, as they get dropped/fall off the back of the truck, metaphorically speaking. She stumbles slightly, her feet twisting as she goes from a flat landing to standing inside a circular tunnel shaft. Clonk. The paladin ducks down, folding the wings of her helmet down so they won't keep brushing on the ceiling. She spares a few moments, admittedly, to stare at the main 'people' spaces they're separated from by the thick crystal walls. It's a compelling sight. Well, enough of that. They've got work to do. "Understood." she says, looking over N'raha's shoulder at his map. While Yang is helping people to climb up into the ducting, Alruna pulls herself up, eventually finding some footholds to speed things along. She clanks unsubtly as she climbs, so anything that's up there looking for intruders is going to have plenty of forewarning. Alruna pulls herself out of the duct with an unladylike grunt, standing up inside a junction chamber of some kind. She weighs her options, examining a thrumming energy node worked into the wall. And then she plants her foot on it, lifts, and SMASHES. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' TEAM HUBRIS:     Lezard and those who are willing to assist him with his work in subverting the Crystal Tower (and through it, the power of Allag) to his (and their) will are in a somewhat more comfortable position. A side room off the core area happens to have several displays, many of them flicking through Allagan script or showing diagrams. The walls have many large, /ominously human/ sized pods, various status lights flicking atop them with more mysterious script.     Lezard himself continues to busy himself with one of the consoles, flicking through information that seems to be focused on the Emperor and the state of the Tower itself. "Time seems to be against us." Lezard states, looking over his shoulder. "I do not have time to simultaneously deal with the two objectives, and yet I have to weight whether I am willing to resolve one and let the other pass, or attempt to, as the saying goes, 'have my cake and eat it as well'." He sighs. "Choices, choices."     Then SOMETHING is smashed, and one of the consoles (and several pods) flicker out, going dark. Lezard scowls. "And there is the third problem. The 'heroes' must have found another path. We cannot allow them to make a mess of everything..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Always have your cake and eat it too. That's how you progress." Staren replies, while looking over one of the other consoles. "Even at the most basic level. What is agriculture but getting the benefit of gathering food without actually having to search for wild plants? What's domesticating horses if not a way to get places without having to walk there yourself?"     Staren comes over to Lezard's console to see what it has to say about the Emperor. "I don't suppose whatever's sustaining the Emperor's mind has something to teach either of us? Is he distributed or localized? Maybe we can just unhook his magitech-mechanical brain from the tower and then figure out what to do with him at our leisure." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' TEAM LIGHT:     Amelris is on point, the Allagans were /incredibly/ gaudy here. The place just drips extravagance both in architecture as well as technology. This might very well be the centerpiece of what was a massive empire seemingly constructed of elemental hubris. The group gets climbing through the ducting and vents. The going is annoying, but it doesn't take long to get up into what looks like a junction area. Aetheric energy rushes through crystal tubes and conduits, art and science combined. Alruna gets up to some shenanigans, however, losing patience and kicking in a junction. The panel shatters and there is a bloom of aether around Alruna, but it seems to not have any undue effect. Perhaps the concentration was too low to be lethal? However, there is a loud KER-CHUNK from above as some kind of mechanics fail closed...     And with a dulcet chime, part of the gold and crystalline wall irises open, allowing them to climb up to the open port. The good news is that it looks like it takes them out into the main core area.     The bad news is that it's amongst the vaulted ceiling area, not particularly what one would call human-accessible. The path is thin, but one can crawl, or if one is daring, stand and walk across to the opposite side, which leads to what looks like another wall port. Already, one of those maintenance drones seems to be crossing the area, heading towards the damage.      Still, it does give them a clear view of the area below, a massive platform with crystal pylons and platforms arranged around it. There, a massive man in armor stands, clearly several times the height of even a Roegadyn. He seems to have no weapon, but his physique is astounding, covered in heavy armor as he looms... And one can hear him mutter, a deep baritone. "None shall draw steel against the Emperor as long as I draw breath. Amon has not returned. Could we have been breached? I will not allow any to pass. My defenses are impregnable! My might unparalleled!"     A pause. "... I wonder if someone /is/ invading. It has been so long!" 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Even with Inga on his shoulders, Raha's still been carefully guiding the group, and as he lets his partner down, and Alruna does her DOOM SLAYER nonsense, he looks up and frowns. And then down and frowns. "Oh. That's... well, I'm sort of glad we didn't go that way. That's one guy we don't have to fight." A pointed look at his friends and associates, before he sighs, and starts to shimmy across the platforms, pointing at Amelris as he goes. "Get rid of that drone before it tries to fix stuff."     Another look at Inga. "Go with Yang, I'll make sure there's not something ELSE on the other side that's going to immediately jump us." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris winces a bit at the sound of VANDALISM, mostly because it's a sudden, loud noise and having feline ears is a problem sometimes. A glance downward gives him some pause, shaking his head. "I'm glad too. Sometimes, I wonder how theses entities do it. Sitting there, standing still for several hours, days, nay, weeks. Sometimes moons, just waiting for someone like us to come through..."      Of course, they don't actually DO that, it's just sometimes it certainly FEEL that it.      "Can do." Amelris mutters, taking in a deep breath to relax. A brief shimmer of light expands from him, spiraling out in a rapidly accelerating manner as he points his Rapier Rod at the drone. Wind blows out from around him faintly, unleashed out into a large blast of concussive air to crush it... or at least, get it way out of it's route or INTO something that's gonna scrap it. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     TEAM HUBRIS:     "You are overthinking this, Staren." Lezard replies. He taps at the console, and brings up what looks like a basic map. "The Emperor is a discrete entity. He is in the process of taking up his place at the summit, but I am not sure how much time we will have. He will undoubtedly be powerful, but if I leave to deal with the problem I leave my other prize effectively undefended."     There is a pause. "... Or do I?" He looks around at the pods, and smiles. "I have an idea." 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang follows after everyone else is in the vent, leaping up and catching the side, before hauling herself up. She arrives just as Alruna stamps through the panel. "That's probably a bad idea... lets do it more." The blonde deploys her gauntlets when the hatch opens to the narrow walkway over some kind of... fighting arena with a giant guy in it muttering to himself. "Man... I kinda wanna go punch him." she muses to herself, but is quickly given a Seer to look after. Yang quickly takes on the role of a bodyguard and sticks close to Inga, helping to hold her steady across the balance beam. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna squints, shielding her face from the backblast of aether that vents around her and floods the tubes for a few moments. On consideration, that was probably not the /best/ idea, but it's had some effect. One way or another, they're going to shut this tower down. She's just starting the process a little early. "Pity." she murmurs as N'raha implicitly curtails the idea of going down to fight that giant. Maybe they'll have time to go back for him later. Unsheathing her sword and shield, the paladin fearlessly walks across the narrow walkway, arms held out. It's a long walk from one wall to another, but steady pacing and a careful eye are all you need. Never mind the fact that she starts speeding up uncomfortably, and is at a dead run by the time she collapses against the edge of the iris opening on the other side. Alruna clings to the gold-lined edges of the aperture, breathing quickly. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Wizard Hubris is a thing an the Allagans seem be quite apt with it. The extravagance in every from the teck to the magic hell the vents are nicer than some inn's she's had to stay in. She keeps note of the magic that's running through here and does not want to get into direct contact with it. She's able to keep up with N'Raha and the pysicla issues of getting around do not seem to bother Tomoe at all, she's moving with a good deal of experiance at climbing around like this is not a new thing to her. She looks down at the masive man blow and she nods a bit. "Let's keep on the moving, this guy would have slowed us down quite a bit from the looks of it. "You know I do climbing stuff like this for fun." She'll let her allies who seem already handling the drone to do so. She'll also pick up the pace leaping acrsoss using the ledge to pull herself up once her leap is finished. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga sighs heavily, shaking her head as she looks down at the drop. "Bees couldn't have graced me with /flight/ could they?" she grumbles. At least she knows she'll be alright if she falls. Inga looks to Yang, "I'm sorry, I have been foisted off on you," she says, flashing an apologetic smile. "Don't worry too much if I fall, though I will not be able to get back here again I'm sure." Inga looks as Alruna takes off and crosses the walkway easily, followed by Tomoe. Inga's lips press together in a thin line briefly before she makes her way over with Yang, extremely awkwardly.Indeed, she scoots on her butt the entire way over. It takes some time. There is quiet swearing the whole way. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "I mean, I could go fight him." Staren points out. He follows Lezard's gaze, to the pods. "Have you figured out how to control those things, or is this some kind of soul-puppeting thing where you can bypass the magitech?" 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     That's one guy they don't have to fight.... probably, anyway. N'raha hurries forward and tries to keep the team on task. Being an adventurer himself, he is probably quite knowledgeable at how quickly they can get off track. Amelris begins to wonder about the existential nature of the powerful guardian. How long has the giant man been there? Who knows? Still, the Red Mage focuses on the drone. The wave of wind slams into the drone, sending the beeping thing flying off of the buttresses and making an plainative beeping sound as the hover systems seem to have been damaged from the impact, the ball falling off into the many, many story drop on the outer edge of the tower. You probably won't be seeing it again.     Yang is inspired by Alruna's direct action, but chooses to make progress instead of engaging in even more rampant vandalism... for the moment. She sticks to Inga, helping the seeress make her way across the beams. Inga gains a fairly intense righteous anger at the embarassing situation she's put into, but she isn't going to let it stop her from progressing.     Alruna and Tomoe quickly make progress across, joining N'raha. Despite the temptation to drop in on the giant guardian who continues to ponder and lament the lack of glorious combat and the joy of defending the Emperor, they all eventually get across.     The other side proves to be similarly cramped but instead of needing to thread through a bunch of machinery, there seems to be a service ladder drilled into the side of the wall. Amazing. The ladder gets them up to a room that looks slightly different. A hatch opens up, allowing them to exit onto the main floor, which is... oddly empty. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The walls are panelled in rich wood grain, hung with crimson bunting. The floor itself is covered in a fine carpet that is comfortable and luxurious. It almost looks like it would be a quite lovely... stage, perhaps? A large stairway is on the opposite side of the room... This place seems to be close to the summit.     Lezard stands there, smiling. Staren may be with him, it is up to him, of course. He gestures to them as they file in. "Well, if it isn't the heroes. You are quicker than I would have liked. I suppose this is where you are going to tell me to leave and return your feline associate."     He spreads his arms. "Very well. Take him. Take /all/ of him." As he speaks, hidden tubes hiss, and what looks like dozens of men in robes fall down into the room, landing in heaps... And then one stands. It's a male miqo'te. A /very familiar/ looking one. Except there's no sign of recognition in those eyes, as he lifts a blade and begins staggering forward. Then another gets up. A third. A fourth, fifth, sixth....     About three dozen copies of G'raha Tia advance on the party with weapons, their motions smoothing out as they move, as muscles begin to coordinate and knowledge rises unbidden...     And Lezard laughs, turning and surmounting the stairs while the clones attack. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Finally, they make into a very comfortable chamber. A very comfortable chamber where Lezard has just been spending his time, /comfortable/, watching them struggle. Inga, practically in her underthings, has been carried, crawled, and otherwise humiliated and she's /done/. Not a word passes her lips as her staff lights up, the runes glowing malevolently as she points it toward Lezard's smug back, and releases a lightning bolt as means of a hello. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's already on his way to intercept the Emperor with a bunch of constructs, but he does have spy drones watching the lower room. He facepalms as Lezard makes them fight lookalikes of their friend. He just HAS to be extra sinister in everything he does, doesn't he?     Also, once Lezard leaves the room, magic is released to seal the entrance with quick-growing vines, sadly just AFTER the lightning bolt strikes through. No doubt well-equipped adventurers can make quick work of them, but it should SLIGHTLY slow down any efforts to chase the Concord. There's an Emperor to stop and they can't have people meddling with that, after all... 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     N'raha would love to talk. Would love to banter. But Lezard has just... decanted, like 30 of his friend out of vats and it's not... it's not nice. And it's not cool. The Warrior snarls inside his helmet, lowers the visor, and braces himself to the charge of cloned G'raha's. "And Staren thinks we're fighting him for flawed reasons." Tch.     He greets the first clone with the flat of his axe, turns in place, swipes at it, and then howls a mad challenge at the oncoming rush of mindless... perfect copies of his friend. This was wrong. THis was cruel.     Gods damn you, Lezard Valeth." 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang, once Inga's safely across, moves up to the frontline. Lezard releases a bunch of clones of some guy, and then gets blasted in the back by Inga's rage.     Yang deploys her gauntlet again, sets her stance, and launches herself into the middle of the group, turning into a flurry of punches and kicks, punctuated with the resonant report of the shotguns built into her weapons. "OH YEAH!" 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna has her sword out the moment she's reached the top of the ladder. No convenient energy conduits or channels to break, but that's no reason not to be ready for the opportunity. Especially once Lezard welcomes them. She paces towards the center of this theatre, a taciturn scowl on her face as Lezard smuggily smugs his way through a bit of figurative theatre and drops a bunch of clones on them. He reminds her of Nero. "Hmph." Unlike N'raha, she has no hesitation, hurling her kite shield (...?) to knock the wind out of a few of the cloned Miqo'te. She catches it on the return (?!) and uses it like a swatter to smash the face in of a third before she gets into the thick of things, wading her way towards Yang to watch the flamboyant brawler's back. Her blade is soon running red with the clones' blood. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris lets out a snarl, that burst out into a laugh. Inga's lightning bolt did knock back some humour into him. The sight of the clones is something that do give him pause, making him frown, lowering his rapier.      "Bleeding hell." The Red Mage cusses out, shaking his head. "So this was JUST a psychological ploy, right? Right."      He didn't know the kid nearly as much as N'raha but this makes him angry more than anything else. "If you REALLY meant to delay us, you'd, like, I dunno. Clone that holligan the other day with his little critter that spewed poison. Or a dragon. Or something /bigger/."      Amelris spins his rapier rod, taking in a deep breath with lightning crackling at the tip. "And LIKE you'd throw away your BIG KEY TO SUCCESS with the Emperor still waking up. Unless you TRIED and that's the ONLY THING YOU COULD DUPLICATE. SO:"      The Red Mage throws his weapon up, unleashing out a thunderstorm on some of the clones. "VERTHUNDER SECUNDUS!"      he takes a step forward, spinning, twirling the weapon with precisiou and slamming it into the ground, blade first. A small tornado blasts out, calculated to not hit into his friendly allies. "VERAERO SECUNDUS!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Well the place is getting more and more fancy now. Then there's Lezard, also Staren this makes things complicated but from the look on her face if Staren were to catch it. Then comes the clones, for a moment Tomoe is paused, her mouth agape at the dight. Clones of G'Raha Tia are coming right at them a whole lot of them. The attack come Tomoe is cuaght by some of the assault she's quick to change tactics the spear comes out and she starts using it's reach and her spead to dart in and out of the clone ranks hakcing slashing, and launchiung the odd spell of her own into the melee. As she fights her way through the clone horde she would end up drifting towards Alruna and Yang trying to keep pace with them as they to move thought his mess. 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' There's some sort of universal law about clones. In quantity, they're simply not impressive. The axe swings easily dispatch G'raha Tias left and right. They're just not built for this. The first bolt of lightning misses them, aimed at Valeth. The lightning storm and subsequent maelstrom of wind from the Red Mage easily dispatches a great number of them. Yang's shotguns and whirling dervishes drives yet more to an early doom. What remains is ended by shield, spear, and sword. Approximately thirty-five clones, in the end, lay on the ground, bleeding, defeated, dead, terminated--generally out of your way. The thirty-sixth clone gets up. His hair covers his eyes, having been somewhat shaken up in the entire mess. He raises his head...and his ears fall off. ... This is far less gory than you might think. The ears make a light 'clack' noise, the plastic band connecting them smacking into crystal unceremoniously. G'raha Tia(?!) pushes his hair out of his way to reveal one red eye, and one...eyepatch. "NEHEHEHEHEHAAAAAAAA!" Majima Goro draws to his full height, drawing his trademark knife. "...Betcha didn't see that shit coming, eh? Look, Valey didn't say I couldn't, so I brought a chest fulla cool shit I found in the tower while I was waitin' on you slow-ass fucks, eh?" He seems to, yes, have acquired a treasure chest that lies conveniently on the path to continuing onwards. As soon as those inconvenient vines are gone. When did that pop up? "So, don't hold back, eh? If ya gonna make me wait like that, ya gonna have ta make up for it by makin' this worth my while!" A knife is drawn. His entire body flares with a distinct purple flame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVhNrZxfhbs 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     N'Raha's hand yanks up at his visor, to get a better look, and instead he yanks the helmet off, throwing it to the side. He uh, he doesn't seem to notice. His black hair is starting to lift around his head slowly, as the Wrath rils over in him, his own both sheathed in a red glare.     "You bastard."     And that's all the warning Majima gets. Because there's an explosion of motion, several dead G'raha's thrown from the path as N'raha SHOULDER SLAMS into Majima, howling a lion's roar of challenge. "I'LL KILL YOU." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe pauses at the last clone getting up then the ears fall off? Tomoe stares for a moment. "That's no cat man! THAT'S THE MAD DOG OF SHIMANO! MAJIMA GORO!" Tomoe cries out in shock. This was something while possible? She did not expect the man to turn up here day. She eyes the man his weapon and the glow of it. "You want a fight? I will not be holding back." With that Tomoe will leap into the air holding her spear in hand then drop down towards Majima launching into a high-speed series of thrusts and slashes. Some bits go high others go low she's trying to put some serious pressure on Majima as she's well aware of how dangerous this seemingly ordinary man /is/. The Salander is true to her word, she doesn't seem to be holding back at all. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      There's a moment of bafflement in Amelris' face when the ONE EYED CYCLOP comes out barreling, laughing like a hyena and displaying CLEAR AURA OF HOSTILE INTENT.      The Red Mage rubs his eyes, sighing as he motion in Majima's general direction.      "EVEN MORE OF A BLOODY REASON! Why didn't you clone THIS GUY instead of G'raha?!" He exclaims out, knowing that Lezard DO have a bead on the audio around here as he places himself into his fencer's stance.      "Whatever! MAJIMA GORO, is it!?" Amelris takes a step forward, wriggling his fingers beneath the floating gem with his free hand, sending it afloat. "You face all of us -- and I, Amelris Belthrone, Crimson Duelist!"      He pools both weapon together, muttering under his breath by unleashing a large blast of fire at him, stop, flourish with both hands and take another step back, followed up by a large slab of rock. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     The group clears up the clones. And then one gets back up and starts cackling in a very recognizable way. "Huh, didn't expect this to be our first fight." she mutters to herself.     And then Raha comes bursting past her. Yang stumbles a bit from the force of that charge. She turns, sets a foot then follows up Raha's attack from the side, laying into Majima with a rush of punches, each one reporting a blast of force from the shotgun barrels above her index knuckles. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna finishes the dirty work of putting down the last clone attacking her, caving in his temple with the hilt of her blade. The abrupt mood whiplash of one of the clones suddenly getting up again and revealing itself to be some kind of foreigner who resembles a Far East thug is just...whooo boy. This is going to be a long day. Unlike N'raha, she doesn't have the misfortune of knowing anything about this guy. But Tomoe's reaction tells her he is a man of some repute. "Very well then." She flips her visor down again with the faintest of smiles touching her lips, charging in alongside N'raha, though with less Killing Intent than the catman. Majima just gets a faceful of black shield, not that that's likely to slow him down any. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga looks like she feels a bit better after hitting Lezard with a lightning bolt. It was satisfying, but there's not much time to dwell on it, because there are clones of poor G'Raha to take down. Luckily, quick work is made of them. Inga doesn't even need to participate. Good, that will let her focus on Lezard. Or...not. One of the clones isn't a clone at all, but none other than....! Inga blinks, brow furrowing. "...Who the fuck is this?" Well, anyway. Inga pulls her knife, slices into her arm and starts throwing out blood-wards to her allies, and a little acid spray at Majima. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Amelris actually makes Lezard pause, the Evil Wizard almost habitually wanting to turn and retort against Amelris' argument. It's a good argument! However, Inga's lightning crashes against him, the spite lightning (a potent combination) scorching him and blackening his clothing and flesh. "GAH! Accursed Seeress!" He gripes, before he flourishes his cape and flees up the stairs. Staren might follow him, or maybe he'll want to observe Majima's battle. It's gonna be a hell of a battle. At least the clones aren't a problem. 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' The first to make it to Majima is N'raha. That shoulder slam is fast, and powerful. Corpses fly side to side, and N'raha plows directly through the standing body, sending him absolutely sprawling. The berserking warrior will soon realize, as he smashes the Mi'qote into the wall, that this one still has cat ears. And tail. Majima's strategy of 'use a G'raha corpse as a shield' mostly worked, and he's okay with that. It buys the Mad Dog time to dash forward, seeking to drive his knife directly into the Mi'qote's back. One way or the other, he's got bigger issues. Tomoe. Already overextended from assaulting N'raha, he's barely able to defend himself against her endless blows. "Nehehe! Good! I was hopin' ya all wouldn't, eh? I've been bored for weeks on fuckin' borin' ass mooks!" One of those slashes lands firmly in his side, and he grimaces for a moment. Then it turns to a manic grin, and he twists around to deliver a spinning kick to the girl from the /OTHER/ popular online game. Which means now the Red Mage gets a turn. "Shit, for real?" Majima says, cracking his neck once. "..Pick a fuckin' style, eh? Ya spreadin' yourself too thin with that shit." He shows an almost unnatural degree of flexibility, bending his knees and back to let the fireball to pass over him, raising just in time and sliding almost entirely out of the way of the slab of rock. Almost. It still sends him spinning a bit, and he shakes his head. "...Ya see?" He cackles wildly, dashing from side to side to avoid any further interference between him and bringing his tanto down in a vertical strike to faux-bisect the Crimson Duelist. "NEHEHE! Ya all gonna make this fun! That's what I was hop--eh?" He notices, barely too late, that he has miscounted. Inga's acid spray nails him directly in the chest. At the very least, he was wearing a substantive amount of G'raha Tia duds, so it doesn't hurt as much as he was expecting. Still, he'd rather not have bubbling acid left on his body, so he grips at the bubbling mess, and -rips-. And thus he, in a stunningly unexpect maneuver, is left shirtless, his tattoo glistening. Inga just gets a single look from his one eye, and he throws his knife up into the air...before leaping up and spin-kicking it in place, sending it directly towards her at startling speed. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Stabbed in the back is a lot how N'Raha is feeling right now in general. Or he would, you know. If he could feel anything other than unfiltered pure killing thoughts.     His head reels as that knife sinks through splits in his armor, and he wheels in place to watch Majima remove the rest of this G'raha Suit and just... Oh.     The Berserker howls another challenge, feeling the presence of his allies around him in a generally general manner. He knows at least who he's supposed to hit, and that's good.     Because he charges at Majima, yowls, "I'LL KILL YOU." and then takes a surprisingly measured swing of that ax, straight across Majima's middle, the achingly sharp glowing edge of Bravura slicing through the air. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' He's bafflingly fast - Alruna gets knocked backwards with force she wasn't prepared for, stumbling among the dozens of bodies lying on the floor. N'raha's berserker rage is... concerning. Alruna's gaze flicks between him and Goro. She's heard some rumours about the Warriors and their inner fury. An 'Inner Beast'. Hopefully not all those rumours were true. Alruna tries to herd Goro, fencing him in so their heavier hitters can have an easier time nailing the man. She lashes out with her sword, delivering wide slashes to fence Goro in. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     And there comes the counter. Yang shifts her stance, tucking in tight then surges her Aura. A glowing golden energy aura forms around her, and the strike that comes in gets stopped dead. The floor craters under the impact, sending debris flying from where her feet sink into the stonework. The blonde brawler disengages, pirouettes around then launches back in, following Raha's attack again. She's used to being the one others follow up on. "Guess I know how Blake feels now." she quips to herself, leaping high and bringing herself down in an overhead slam. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga takes a moment, just a tiny, tiny moment, to blink in surprise as Majima tears his shirt off. She supposes that's a logical reaction to having acid-blood thrown at you, but suspects he's also just showing off. Then there's a knife in her chest. She looks down to see that it is not in her heat, but that one of her lungs is most certainly punctured. Oh, bother. With a wheezing scream she tries to pull it out, but nearly passes out in doing so. The healer is going to need a bit of help, herself. With the blood that starts to flow she casts a healing spell on herself quickly. Blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth, Inga then whispers the focus word for a blast of fire, which she naturally aims at Majima. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Staren and Lezard have dropped a seriously heavy hitter on the party. The Mad Dog's nickname is well earned too. "That I can safely say none of us here fighting now are 'mooks'." There isn't much time to say much more there she's quite aware. She's not going to avoid it so the towering girl will attempt o roll with the impact. It helps a bit but even then the force of the struck clearly hits her. It leaves her body distorting for a split second after the impact and tomoe sure sounds like she felt it too. On her HUD her HP bar is dropping quite a bit from that hit. She rallies and moves after Majima. "Keep the pressure on him!" She calls out as she does the same launching another swipe with her spear as she tries to follow up on Majima's attacking Inga. Had this been like an arena match? Tomoe would be overjoyed to fight someone on Majima's level. This on the other hand...is not a good thing in her view to have to deal with. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      "Now THAT's rich!" Amelris snaps out, lifting his rapier to meet against Majima's tanto, taking several steps back as he meets against his slash. He deflects it rather nicely, spinning out of the way but still getting caught in the path. It cuts him into the side. A grazing wound, spraying some blood into his red clothing. He's still in this fight. This do emphasis just how DANGEROUS this man is with that bleedin' knife.      "Bit of a glass house to throw that kinda shade around, don'tcha think?" The Red Mage comments, stepping back as he refocuses his concentration to unleash another slam of spells against Majima. He's quickly hopping on his feet, almost dancing at the tip of his booted toes. An explosion of lightning comes crashing out from his Rapier Rod, take a brief leap and unleash another blast -- this one of disrupting wind. "If anything, if I'm spread way too thin, you're NARROWED than a damn thread! Just a little cutting..."      Amelris makes his rapier swish in the air. It bites.      "And y'macrame is tatters!" 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:''' TEAM HUBRIS:     Yes, in fact, he does. It's basically in his contract. Or maybe he just loves causing psychological trauma in hero types. It's just kind of how he operates. You should see what he does to the local heroes.     The pair mount the steps to the pinnacle of the Tower, where a massive muscled man sits in a great crystal throne, holding a massive scepter. Lezard wastes no time in thrusting a hand forward. "A pity, Emperor, but your new reign is destined to be a short one! LIGHTNING BOLT!"     There is a crack of thunder, and Xande, the Emperor of Allag matches the blast with one of his own, a massive beam crashing into the lightning bolt and creating a huge clash of energy that surges back and forth between them. "Fool." Xande announces in a deep, powerful voice. "You think to usurp the Emperor? You have no concept of what you trifle with."     Staren will, of course, arrive to see the titanic magical struggle beginning to unfold. 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' N'raha's back! He feels, to some extent, that he really should be directing his blows more directly--if not ENTIRELY on the big bulky guy with the axe. He deserves it! And, in some ways, that axe really does hurt more. But that wouldn't be fair, honestly. He should -share- the love! The axe swings, and Majima's fiery glow changes to a yellow one. The axe swings... And it meets nothing. Majima's launched himself in the air using his bat, hopping right over the horizontal slash. His shoes land on that swinging relic midway through, and the bat's rolled around to smash directly atop the tank's head. Majima just isn't respecting aggro tables, but at least he isn't tunnelling the healer. Next up is the paladin. "...What, ya ain't got anything clever ta say? That's depressin'." The bat comes up, and between the strangely durable wooden stick and his own maneuverability, he dulls it, but he can't stop all of it. Once there seems to be a break, he starts his own counter-attack. "There we go. I think ya ain't gonna dodge.../here/." The bat's swung overhead, as if to smash her in the head..but it misses. Instead, it's planted in the ground, and Majima uses the weight to swing himself around and deliver twin kicks to her side. Horizontal, instead of vertical. You know how it goes. And thereby, ya, verily, did the red mage get his due. "Neheheh. Shit, this is the kinda bullshit I deal with when I leave the house ta go get takeout! Ya think Eorzea's bad, go buy some fuckin' ramen in Kamurocho, eh?" Alright. He thinks he gets it. The lightning takes a second, and Majima has time to plant himself in the ground and adjust to it. The part he's not quite working out is why the /second/ spell--the biting winds, come out much faster. If he can figure that out, he can deal with this jackass. "...Come on. It ain't a real fight till the shirt comes off. Ya know that." He decides to take away Amelris's range advantage, sweeping right in. The bat starts to swing around in all directions, until he gets a good rhythm--and then it's something akin to a set of nunchucks in his hand, a blitz of swings before he finally kick and knock the duelist away and out of his hair. Tomoe's still around, huh? Well. That's unfortunate. "...Pressure? Neheh! I ain't pressured yet! Shit, ya think way too highly of yourself! I'm just gettin' started!" The spear swings past, and Majima's..just out of its way. The bat's thrown upwards in the air, and.. HEAT ACTION: Essence of Dragoon He rips the spear forward with Tomoe's momentum, ripping it out of her hands, for just a moment. And so he leaps up, weapon spinning in the air, until he dives back around, feet clenched to the bat, spear pointing straight down, as he seeks to land directly on her with it, and then swing himself and the bat around for a second blow. ...Even if she dodges all of that, he's got more to do, and he can deal with her in a second. Because Yang's still alive. Unfortunately, he's planted himself just in time for the latter half of the quake. It doesn't hurt nearly as much as it could, luckily for him. But he's still got to -deal- with her. "Heh! Wait, shit, I remember ya! Ain't how I was hopin' our first spar'd go, but I'll take it." The bat's back up in his hands, and he spins around to just try to golf her out of the way. Is she strong? Yes. But is she /light/? Compared to most of the other people he's hitting, yes. It might work. Leaving him again with the witch to deal with. "...Heh. ..Ya wouldn't throw that knife back, wouldja? ...Eh, I'll get it myself." He rushes forwards towards her, managing to /almost/ dodge the fireball. Luckily, it scorches the side of his face where he was already missing an eye, so it's not nearly as bad as it looks. First, he slides to the ground beside her, hoping to snag his Tanto back. Then, as he rises, the knife spins out first, followed by the bat, followed by a tornado of alternate knife and bat swings. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's not sure what he expected this 'emperor' to be, but a guy showing off his muscles wasn't it. "I..." he starts to speak, but then the WIZARD DUEL begins. A second passes as Staren regathers his wits. As one, he and his squad of constructs (humanoid robots in something akin to riot gear) raise their weapons; A half-dozen caseless submachineguns fire on the enemy wizard(?) from various angles. Staren's is loaded with shaped-charge explosive bullets, the rest are using 'merely' smart material that can harden and soften itself for optimum penetration and kinetic energy transfer.     Staren's kind of hoping that the emperor can't put up a forcefield AND shoot lightning at the same time, or this is just going to be embarassing! 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Now, Majima. Why'd you have to go and do that. RIght in front of N'Raha? First you're hiding inside the corpses of his friend. Then you're using the corpses of his friend to hit him.     Then you're trying to kill his partner. Right in front of him. While he's already mad. Like... all the way mad.     And somehow the depths of his pure rage have yet to be discovered. There's not even words this time, as N'Raha watches Majima yank that knife out of Inga and then try to style on her. Not even anything close to words. Or any human or coherent sounding emotion or thought or anything. It's all just. Anger. And the need to kill this man in front of him. And protect the last good thing in his life.     The axe is a blazing star. It is a star of pure white hot hatred and rage and killing intent. And it slashes down at Majima, as the catman follows it up with a headbutt and a howling mad direct challenge. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Oh, good, Majima pulled the knife out of her chest. Given, it hurts A LOT, but at least it's not just...sticking out anymore. Now, with it out, she can begin to properly heal. There is also a rush of blood, crimson spreading on the white linen of her shift like a poppy blooming. Inga, knife in hand, directs the blood from her own wound, the liquid pooling in the air, beginning to solidify into a long, keenly sharp spear. With a grunt and a flick of her wrist, the blood-spear flies for Majima, looking to impale him as he impaled her. Inga then scans the room, checking in on her allies and....oh, dear. Raha is in the thick of the Odin-rage. More than she has perhaps ever seen him. This is not good. Very not good. "Gods, protect him," she prays. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Majima's feet thump against Alruna's armour, pounding on green plate mail while her shield's out of position. She hurfs, standing strong and turning her hip to force his foot back. "Fighting banter's /his/ forte." she says, smirking through her faceguard as she nods at Amelris. And she can sense the Miqo'te is fashionably building up for something. The paladin lunges in, taking advantage of By The Fury N'raha Is Fucking Mad to backhandedly swat Majima with her shield from the other side, pincering the Yakuza thug between two armoured juggernauts at hopefully just the right time for Amelris to pull off some outrageous stunt. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang stands after her strike. Just in time to get yeeted into a wall by the bat swing. She slams into the wall and slides down and lands in a crouch, groaning as she holds her middle. "Crap, I think somethin' popped.."     The blonde gets back up slowly, wheezing slightly as her Aura flickers... "Gotta end this quick..." A moment of focus, and her Aura stabilizes again. She then charges in once more, launching herself from her gauntlets, sailing through the air into a descending flurry of punches, laying into Majima and trying to pile on the pressure. "Yeah, I know, right? We should do this properly, one-on-one sometime." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Things are going to get even more confusing for Majima in a minute. Or perhaps it will tell him everything he needs to know. Sometimes, it hard to know in the middle of a battle.      Amelris is keeping up with Majima to some degree. He's clearly not as much of an agility fiend as he is but there is certainly the fact that his eyes are going well along, precisely keeping up with his movement and footworks. He know what a club is. Obviously. A bat, even more being USED LIKE THIS, is even more baffling to him. Still! The Red Mage thinks on his feet, lifting up his rapier to scrap along his mad blows, his weapon blurring against him. The precussion of his attacks is mostly what gets to him, reciving a few blows back and, really, the Duelist IS knocked out of Majima's hair.      He skids along the ground for a few feet, gritting his teeth, flashing his carnivorous fangs. "Whatcha make you think you're worth for my shirt t'get off. Made this one myself, y'know."      Alruna sets up for him. Good. Then maybe he's got something to up the ante.      There's a burst of power coming from the Miqo'te. Like wind knocking out, being pushed away as the Red Mage charges like a bullet against Majima, his rapier presented outward into a firm pointee.      Then it starts glowing. That's usually not good.      Amelris goes on the offensive, his glowing, enchanced rapier blurring in the air. A wide arc. A flurry of thrusts and culminating into a large streak of z-shaped reverse-then-non-reverse swings at him. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe says "Well then, we're really going to heat things up." She notes as Majima does something rather unexpected. She loses hold of her spear mid-fight. This is the first time any soul in the multiverse has succeed in pulling something like this off. The next thing she knows he's leaping up. Tomoe will shift so she does not end up cored, by her own spear. She doesn't avoid the blow entirely though as the blad catch her on the side and fins a chink in her armour it clashes down her sie before she can pull out she cries out in pain. There are angry red wireframes in the wake of the attack. The second one she's not quite able to avoid either. It connects catching her across her breastplate still doing more injury just from the force of the hit. She keeps it together long enough to recover her weapon. With spear in hand again? She'll turn after Majima. "All right then!" She chants a spell, in badly accented Nordic. Still, it's a bit better than she used to be. Should Inga is somehow paying attention to that right now. She finishes her chanting the runes fade and she raises one hand at Majima. "Ride the lighting!" A burst of lighting flies from her fingertips seeking Majima out! 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     Xande looks like he could in fact suplex a train, the guy is massively muscled and bare-chested, with veins of a golden-glowing crystal all through his flesh that seems to resemble that of the Tower all around them. His eyes are burning with gold light, hair short and spiked blond. He might evoke thoughts of a Saiyan without being one, at least. His legs are covered in orange pants of an almost Arabian style, with heavy boots and a massive black cape with a huge bracket-style hangar behind him. He might in fact be even more JRPG boss than Lezard.     Unfortunately for Staren, however, the Emperor seems to be EXACTLY the kind of man who can raise shields and shoot at the same time... But he doesn't. "YOU DARE?" He booms, vanishing in a wave of darkness as he flash-teleports across the arena and descends with a massive fist, bringing it down upon Staren's position while golden globes of unstable aetherochemical energy erupt all over the field, building in power...     Lezard curses. "He cannot be this powerful already! Strike harder! As he speaks, the Manus Catalyst is withdrawn, blasts of Dark Beads raining on the Emperor. 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' N'raha got angry. Good! This was going to be boring. Majima was certainly expecting a longer moment than he got, though. The bat's brought up against the axe, effortlessly blocking-- Oh. Never mind. The wooden batter splinters, shatters, and explodes outward in a flurry of fragments. Majima's eye opens wide. It would appear, in fact, that N'Raha is taking this -very- seriously. It is but a moment before the manic grin returns, though. That's how the adrenaline really gets pumping. He's preparing a counterattack just in time for the headbutt to smack him backwards. He loses his grip on the knife. It flies out of his hand. Well. That leaves him without his standard weapons. That's fine. He's not out of tricks just yet. That burning, heatless flame spikes a fierce magenta, and... Alruna is behind him with the shield. This was, perhaps, the worst move she could have possibly made. Hardly her fault. HEAT ACTION: Essence of Friendly Fire Majima takes the hit from the shield, but it spins him out of the way of the two. He doesn't seem to really even notice, spinning around to smash an elbow into Alruna's back. Then he delivers a kick behind her leg, hoping to force her to swing at the enraged N'raha with that leg, before spinning back around again to elbow the Angry Cat in the back of the head for good measure. Oh, hey, the witch's still here. Right. That's a problem. He's started to move in a rhythmic dance, but that spear's a real problem. The most he manages to pull off is having it slide /right/ inbetween his legs, only barely avoiding removing anything of import. Just...just along both of his thighs. He breathes with relief. That would have been awful. Still, that can't go unopposed. "The fuck, was that blood?" He says, looking vaguely disgusted, before breaking into a full run. He's much, much faster like this. He almost blurs as he starts to sidestep, covering the distance between him and Inga only slightly below superhuman speed. He moves like Rhalgr, constantly changing his position--punching up here, sliding on his back and spinning his legs around, and then suddenly his legs are up in the air. It's almost impossible to follow him. And then, at the end of it, a headbutt to send her out of his way. Then, the red mage. Had Alruna kept him in place, there is no doubt in his heart that the red mage would have skewered him utterly. But she didn't pull it off, and that gave him the opportunity to respond to Amelris in kind. HEAT ACTION: ESSENCE OF BLADE BITING The rapier's swinging Z is interrupted, halfway through, caught in something. It's caught..in Majima's mouth. He's bent halfway over backwards, delivering a short, weak kick to disrupt Amelris long enough to rip the rapier out of his hand. Then, one leg in the air, he spins around, throwing the Red Mage's weapon directly back into his midsection. ..He's out of clever lines for the moment. He's /still/ got more to deal with. For instance, Tomoe's still up. Alright. Maybe, /just maybe/, this is worse than dealing with Kamurocho mooks. This is starting to tire him out a bit. He's going to have to think of something, if this lasts much longer. While he's thinking of something, Tomoe nails him in the back with the lightning. It is..stunningly effective. He lands on his knees, then on his face, utterly disabled... for just a moment. Then he's back up, looking remarkably angry. "...Alright. I fuckin' /hate/ that lightning shit. Had 'bout enough of it, and enough of the rest of you." He's a storm unto himself, barreling towards Tomoe at a full run. Just as it seems that he's about to attack, he slides down, between her legs, before pushing himself up to deliver a two-footed kick with steel shoes to the back of her head, and springing away from her--he's got bigger problems. Namely, Yang. Who's up on him with the punches. He's managing to keep up with her, arms up and his rhythmic fiery Heat keeping up with her aura. (Cont) 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' "...Yeah. I think we oughta to? But right now, I needja out of my fucking way." He starts spinning again, legs this time moving just to sweep Yang's out from under her, before he's suddenly cartwheeling around to plant both of his feet into her stomach, and leap off. And then, he draws a can of something. The word 'Emperor' is visible, and he starts chugging it. His flame grows brighter. "Listen up. I'm about fuckin' done with you assholes. You all get one last shot ta show me you're big shit, and then I'm showin' ya all who's boss." The enrage cast bar has started. Get to work. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     Something in N'raha's brain is tickled when Majima's bat explodes like that, even if he's now got splinters in his face. That's fine. All of this is fine.     Majima Goro is going to die and then the world will be fine again.     Which is a little rough when Raha is suddenly spiked in the face by Alruna's shield and then elbowed in the back of the head with the JUDAS EFFECT because he was an idiot and ripped off his helmet and who does that?     But now Majima is standing in one spot. He's not moving, his... chugging a potion and. Well.     The catman whirls in place, uses Alruna to shove himself into another fell charge at Majima, and then lifts his ax in a high arc, leaping at the same time. The scorching white flames of the ax cast a baleful, white, arc light glow across the cloning room, before the blade comes straight down, with the force of one thousand of N'Raha's ancestors, all into one deadly killing blow that echoes into the room with ripples of murderous intent. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The moment Xande Teleports, Staren puts up his forcefield. It's as heavy as the one on his armor -- there's a harness with forcefield-projector disks worn over his coat. The smash just breaks a big chunk out of the forcefield and sends Staren careening into a wall. Staren has to drop the field, activate wings, slow his movement, and catch himself against the wall, but he seems to be practiced at this kind of aerial maneuver these days.     The robots track the Emperor's position and keep firing. Staren switches out his weapon for some kind of space raygun, but hesitates. How does he know Xande won't just teleport out of the way? He can't afford to waste this.     He does try firing some small energy bullets at the strange orbs, though, to see if it interrupts them. The robots keep away from the orbs but for the most part just do one thing: Shoot their target.     "I do dare!" Staren retorts. "You could cheat death and you waited until NOW tcome back? There's a modern saying: You snooze, you lose! That you've reached the point of fighting us now... you've already lost!" 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris will admit, this guy IS damn good. He didn't expect him to bite at his blade and slam him away, disrupted with his weapon and getting it straight into his midsection.      Partially, anyway. Amelris retailated by gripping at the hilt of his own sword, swaying his hip to be grazed by the thrust of his now normal blade, giving a kick up to his hand to grab his weapon back. Without saying anything else, the Red Mage leaps backward several feets in a wide, tall and long backflip, landing rather smoothly on the ground, back into his fencer's stance.      "Alright, then. If you insist." Amelris pants, ignoring the dozen little pains all over his body, lowering his combined weapon down to cast a spell. Again, the dark energies gather, purple and slamming around the crystal, thrusted out into a bolt of red and lilac energies, exploding out into an octogonal, perfect pattern.      Again, Amelris steps out, flourish and unleash...      Well, actually, he leaps up in the air, somesaulting in place with a wide swing of his rapier. A visible crystal arc is made, with several swords poking out that are launched at him, bombarding the Yakuza with a litteral rain of magical swords. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     And Yang gets herself YEET'd once again. She skids backward several feet on her side after getting punted away. She rolls back onto her feet, then buckles into a kneeling posture. "Fuck he hits like a truck..." she groans to herself. She's looking battered and overextended, but forces herself back to her feet and slams her fists together. Her Aura bursts into golden flames that billow around her. A burst of energy to throw herself back into the fray.     Yang is like that one guy that just won't stay down no matter how many times you beat him up. She comes back in, swinging wildly, firing her gauntlets at random, trying to limit Majima's options for dodging and attacking, trying to get him focussed on her so the others can hit him while he's distracted. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna receives a withering blow to her back, staggering her while Majima tries to kick her leg out from under her and send her off balance into N'raha. N'raha leverages off her mass and the weight is enough to do some more damage to her badly-positioned leg. There's a *crack* as her leg turns the wrong way. Her cheeks whiten as pain shoots through her. She stumbles for a second, lowering her shield hand to wash healing energy into her leg. An equally nasty-sounding crunch forces her knee back the right way, and she gulps air, biting back a scream. The pain quickly fades, but the adrenaline spike from it does not. Alruna's nostrils flare as she falls back on her training, controlling the pain and fear, though her fingers tremble with a burning need. Black aether limned with shades of purple, like an inverted colour pallette, licks along her blade. N'raha almost has the monopoly on wordless rage, today, but Alruna has her own share - the paladin's warcry comes out as more of a shriek as she casts her shield aside with enough force to stick into the floor, wobbling unsteadily while she charges at Majima, her sword creating what sounds like a /rip/ in the air as inky blackness follows in the wake of her blade, attempting to bisect Majima. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Majima is one of the more agile foes she's had and one of the few to make use of her size against her in some fashion. Majima is running right at her she slides under her legs. Tomoe tries to follow. It's not quite fast enough as he does catch her, she's able to bring an arm up just in time to keep the hit form directly catching her upside the head. even then it hurt and force her arm into her head. This gives Majima a moment to move. It seems Majima is done with all of them and it's time to put him down or drive him off. Or they might be taking a very long fall off the tower. Or worse end up in the cloning labs here at the mercy of Lezard. Tomoe grunts she gets an idea and she will launch herself at Majima. "LUNAR REQUIEM!" She moves rapidly bounding across the distance between Majima and herself. The sword art kicks in and she moves with inhuman speed for a moment before she unleashes a flurry of blows with the blad trying to just keep Majima off balance before the final of the rapid spear attack come as the blade glows white with some sort of light magic and will let loose a light spell at point black range if she connects with it. 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Inga looks fairly surprised when she is headbutt, only managing to throw up a ward to negate some of the incoming force. It still knocks her back and off her feet. She winces as she hits the floor, glad at least for these ridiculously plush carpets. Soon enough, his attention is off her again. Thank goodness, she is not cut out for this sort of fight. So she grabs her staff and labors to her feet, frowning as she eyes the battle. Inga is worried. This opponent is tough, and N'Raha is taking chances in order to try to take him down. He's all rage and violence, and she is afraid. Not of him, but for him. His a hot anger, and he doesn't think well while he's in it. The berserk rage has advantages, sure, but it has pretty hefty disadvantages too. He would exhaust himself, push himself past his limits and then... Inga has no other choice. She has to help end this. She rests her gaze on Majima, letting her eyes drift out of focus as she begins to chant, calling up a curse to weaken him, leave him open to their attacks. "Come, warrior, let all your armor abandon you, all your strength wither, all your quickness slow. May your knife blade be blunted and your blows be but a gust of wind." And so is releeased her curse. 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' It would appear, in fact, that Majima Goro is not about to die. N'raha storms at him with fury. Misplaced, in many ways--Majima sure as hell didn't kidnap his friend. Majima sure as hell didn't kill a bunch of clones of G'raha Tia today, and he frankly hasn't even ever killed anyone. That doesn't seem to be stopping the Mi'qote of Light, however. And as the berserker challenges him, the Mad Dog of Shimano is ready. The blade cleaves down, destroying everything in its path. Unfortunately, that path does not include Majima. The upside is, he's still struck. N'raha appears to have carved a swath of crystal out of the ground, and it has sent a Cactuarian amount of crystal needles into Majima's skin. He wasn't able to avoid that much. He doesn't respond. He just sneers. Next is the red mage. The duelist leaps into the air, and countless swords of aether swing through the sky, piercing through and through. The Mad Dog of Shimano definitely drank something good through that cup, though, because his body just contorts almost inhumanly, and he steps and weaves through the flying swords like he's navigating through an angry crowd. "What'd I tell ya? Pick a fuckin' gimmick, ya chickenshit! EYEAAAAAH!" ....No response comes, though. He seems angrier for having been able to dodge. Unsatisfied. Unhindered, he's able to deal with Yang. "Listen here, girl. I said I was willin' ta spar ya." Each time her gauntlets fire, he's moved around behind her again. He's not even fighting back. He blocks her blows with a frightening speed and efficacy, moving to some unseen rhythm. "But some of you fucks are both too fuckin' angry to see straight, and too angry for me to really enjoy this, ya know?" He still doesn't respond to her. He's walking towards the treasure chest now. He's about done. He's absolutely about done with this. It is in this moment his hubris is punished. "...Eh?" The sword blow is very, very barely deflected by his movements. There's a wide, wide gash in his side. He's bleeding heavily from it. "..not bad. Ya ain't fuckin' bad, ya know that? That one actually hurt. ...don't think ya did enough, though..." He starts to limp towards the treasure chest. Next up is Tomoe. The heroes are running out of chances. The sword blade comes down, and Majima catches it. The blade drives into his hand, blood flicking away. Tomoe moves the blade again. Majima catches it in his hand again. He's bleeding more and more every time, but Tomoe can't seem to land anything meaningful. The spear attack comes, and Majima...is gone. He's behind Tomoe. He doesn't bother with her. He's going to handle this all at once. Inga stares at him. The curse weaves over him. It weaves around, a binding curse to drag him down into the pits of hell. The colors on his tattoo shine brightly. The flames on his body flicker brightly. The cursing words shatter on his body. "Listen the fuck up."(cont) 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' Majima stands next to the treasure chest. "..Ya think this is a fuckin' game? Ya think the Concord is some kinda fuckin' joke? You just talk about ya fuckin' friendship, ya laugh and joke with each other, but when the time comes to it, you just fuckin' band together and that's it?" He kicks it open. It glistens with all sorts of shining metal and glowing lights. He pulls from it one very large Allagan club. One very dangerous looking knife. "You're all real lucky tonight. I ain't never killed anyone, and I'm not about to start. But you're all about to see what the fuck happens when you step to the fuckin' Concord without a plan. Every last one of you." The first is Inga. Majima is there, and then he is not. He is behind her. The bat is swung upwards, to knock her into the air, and then the knife is swung down to crush her back down, before it's retrieved. Technology of an era flashes. Majima is gone again. The next is Yang. The club is swung overhead, to knock the gauntlets out of the way, before a decisive stab forward and rip upwards into the woman's chest. Aether flashes, and Majima's gone again. Amelris discovers themselves the next target of the Mad Dog as he appears above. First two feet intended to land on his head, and then he swings around, delivering a blow to the back of his knees, and a knife slash to his throat. He'll be fine. He'll be fine. And then Tomoe. He is not in front of Tomoe, and then he is. He thrusts the Allagan Bat forward, and then upward, to lift her over him, and then retrieves it to drive a knife directly into her back...and then the technology activates again, and he's gone. The paladin is next. Majima flickers in and out, the teleportation tech on his looted devices starting to act a little out of control. That doesn't seem to bother him, as his weapons fly from each and every other direction, almost unblockable as he moves to get her out of the fight. And then, finally, N'Raha. He doesn't attack N'Raha. He just storms towards him, both weapons out of his hands, grabbing onto him as best he can... And then the teleportation technology activates one last time. If he's lucky, it's going to drag both him and the berserker outside to fall a very, very long distance. That's non-lethal, right? 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     TEAM HUBRIS:     The bullets keep smashing into the Emperor. They're drawing blood, but it's like shooting rock. The bullets just aren't piercing like they should. "Allag is eternal. And I, as the Emperor, am also eternal. You believe you have already won... But this is only the beginning. As long as I exist, Allag will never be extinguished. You will know the power of the Void." The aetherochemical blobs rupture as Staren fires into thm, several of them vaporizing... And the rest detonate, scattering wide detonations all over the field.     Lezard hurls another bolt of lightning against him, and the crackling blast scatters over the Emperor, failing to find purchase. "I see I will have to put more effort into this." Lezard grates.     The Emperor straigthens. "Enough of this." There is another warping of darkness, and he teleports to the throne. He lifts into the air, and the sky turns dark as his hands rise. "THE VERY HEAVENS HEED MY CALL! PERISH!" As he speaks, several magical spheres manifest on the battleground, lines of energy cascading up into the air... Where meteors descend, burning with intense light as they are quickly pulled to the surface.     Lezard looks up at the descending meteors, and he scowls. "I feel intensely offended at this." He comments, and he lunges over to Staren, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Wait." He pauses, watching the meteors descend. "Wait...." A gleaming circle begins to draw about them as the flaming rocks get closer and closer.... "NOW!" At the same time, another circle draws itself under the Emperor.     Light flares, and Lezard and Staren... swap places with the Emperor. "WHAT?" The man roars... As moments later, the stars impact, roaring with fire and death throughout the battlefield... But not the throne.     "Staren! Now!" Lezard points. "Strike to disable!" 

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:''' Well, that was about all she had. Her eyes widen a little as her curse rolls off of him, noting in the back of her mind that those were some very nice wards and she would like to study them. "Oh...excellent wards who--" she begins, then he's making a speech...then he's gone and then-- Inga is really not cut out for this sort of thing. She's never suppose to be in a position where she's getting into melee. She falls in a heap, destroyed by the hit, the life knocked right out of her before she can so much as scream. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The blobs explode if not shot first. Good to know. Also good that Staren shot the ones near him. Some of the robots may be taken out, though...     The RAISER rifle still has nearly all its charge. Staren can fire a single shot that will explode on impact like half a ton of TNT. If THAT doesn't work, he doesn't know what will. He just needs to wait for his chance...     Staren shakes his head as Xande lectures. "Not what I meant."     And then... meteors! But Lezard has a plan. Staren trusts him, at least right here and right now.     Staren! Now!     Staren takes aim with the weapon and--     Strike to disable!     Wait, what? Staren hesitates for a half-second... but no, this is the attack he prepared. What will happen, will happen. Surely Lezard's a powerful enough soul-mancer to take Xande's no matter what?     Staren fires. The raygun fires a little bullet of light that moves slower than an arrow; it looks just like the ones he shot the aetheric blobs with. There's no sign of the immense energy stored inside, until it impacts solid matter. And then--                                 *KABOOOOOOOOM!*                                     Staren's immediately put his forcefield up around himself and Lezard, braced for the shockwave. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     But as Majima steps up to N'raha he will not find a dull and complacent Catman, just waiting to be telefragged over the side of a wall or off the edge of the platform or LANDSLIDE'd over into oblivion by an angry man made out of rocks.     No, N'Raha is there waiting for Majima, hands out to try and CATCH the Yakuza brawler, his face a mask of pure rage. And with a YANK, he lances an arm out, and wheels in place.     ACTIVE TIME MANEUVER!     Wait, this is just a hip toss. Well, not just a hip toss. N'raha yanks at Majima Goro and tries to spike him head first into the now open treasure chest. And then kick it.     Repeatedly. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      You want the truth?      Getting his throat sliced is hardly the worse thing that Amelris suffered in his life. You try getting impaled by a Magitech Reaver. It ain't /fun/.      This ain't fun EITHER, honestly.      This does results in the Red Mage coughing out, falling to one knee and holding out his throat to staunch the bleeding. He coughs, sputters and take his time to hold himself. Strangely, it didn't hit anything IMPORTANT but that was... very, very spooky.      Amelris groans, holding in by his rapier on the ground, looking up. "...How's everyone?" He gasps out, his voice rasp.      Then SOMETHING EXPLODES upstairs.      "..." Amelris looks up, ears flattened against his head as he gingerly push himself up with further groans, shaking his head. "Whatever that was, that wasn't good. Let's go." 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     ALL:     The explosions are cataclysmic. The conflicting, overwhelming forces rip through the battleground. Those below can feel the Tower-shaking annihilation occur above. Staren's defensive fields are augmented with Lezard's own wards, and both are stressed...     When the light and fire fades, Xande is...     Still alive, somehow. Bleeding, heavily wounded, gashes ripped through his flesh. Driven to one knee. He stares at the pair with hatred, his teeth visible as he scowls...     But he has nothing to say. Not when Lezard stretches out his hand. Energies lash, tying around Xande as the Sorceror of Midgard begins to incant:         Body, Mind, Soul,             all are sheared away.         If to serve this purpose I shall be despised,             my body scorched and blackened, so be it.     When the heroes breach that stairway and get to the summit, that is the tableau that extends before them. Xande appears helpless, struggling against Lezard attempting to cast his Soul Transfusion ritual. Lezard is engrossed in the ritual, clearly it is taking all of his attention and power to try to tame such a being.     So what now? What choices are to be made? 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Almost. Majima's weapons are 'almost' unblockable. Alruna's soulstone, set into the choker around her neck but mostly hidden beneath the collar of her sturdy armour, explodes with a forceful radiance akin to sunlight, flooding the deep shadows that give the chamber its ambience and lighting it up. Not for long. But while that radiance is bursting forth from her, Alruna swats aside the Allagan weapons, Majima's swings creating thunderous rings as they bounce off her shield and her sword arm. Golden sparks of aether scatter from her body with each blow, and Majima's very tight schedule robs him of the chance to wait for the radiance to fade, which it has by the time he attempts to take N'raha with him outside the tower, and...well. Pays the price. Darkness falls again. Alruna exhales, her armour's leather straps creaking. She stumbles a few steps as the Tower shakes. "We-" Alruna swallows, painfully. "We have to go." She looks at the two Warriors of Light. Tomoe, Yang. Ing- ohhh. "N'raha, we- we'll be back!" she says, urgency creeping into her voice. She takes to her heels, running for the stairs. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Things are going to get painful and she's very much aware of that, Majima is dangerous and in his short time in the multiverse? Has become well known for how much damage the man can dish out. She watches as he goes after her comrades and friends. He's too fast to be able to get in the way of any of the attacks. Soon she finds him catching her in the back, the blade sinks down and she seems to drop, it looks like he's got her good there. She's not quite done but something rare happens there's blood coming out of the jagged digital wound before the wireframes seal. She's back on her feet but looking pretty much wrecked. Then something explodes upstairs she'll nod and force herself along to follow after Amelris. "Those who can still fight with Amelris! Someone get Inga if you can." She doesn't intend to leave her allies behind but Amelris is right there's something bad up there and they need to see what it is. She sees Alruna is still in the fight. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The Emperor is still up?! Staren stares, wide-eyed. But maybe he's weakened now. Maybe everything Staren carries, and Lezard's magic, could finish him off...     ...or maybe Lezard's weakened him enough to soul-pokeball him. Staren sighs in relief as Xande appears helpless...     And then the others arrive. "Wait! Don't disrupt the magic!" Staren shouts, urgently. He really does look afraid of the prospect of having to deal with Xande getting loose. "We can't risk freeing the emperor!"     If they look like they're readying to attack Lezard, Staren actually stands in front of Lezard and turns on his forcefield, and calls his robots to his side. "It took everything we had to get him weak enough for this to finish him! I can't do it again, you can't set him loose! Your friend will be returned to you, we promise!" 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' Majima Goro looks up at N'Raha, chuckling a bit as he's slammed into the chest. He doesn't even seem to care. He's up on his feet, one hand over his stomach. He's watching the Mi'qote closely. "...Heh. ...There ya go. Ya see? Ya got it in ya." He looks upwards, as the explosion goes off. "...So, ya gonna do shit ta save your friend? I ain't actually sure the fuck Lezard and Staren are up ta, up there. I was just takin' an opportunity to have some fun." He sounds distressingly genuine with this. It is almost a guaranteed 95% chance that Majima at no point actually asked what the plan was, beyond 'do I get to fight people'." 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     There's something in Raha's face that gets some recognition, and then the rage partially drips out of his face and psyche... and...     And he leans over, grabbing Majima by the shoulder, and hisses in his face. "Inga... Is Off. Limits."     And with that he lets go, picks up his ax, and hobbles his way up the stairs towards the platforms to Xande. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     And if no one is going to stop him on the way past, N'raha is hefting Bravura, pushing past Amelris and Tomoe and anyone else in his way, and stalks for Lezard and Staren and frankly ignores much of anything else.     "WARLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK." The words are angry and tired and angry and ragged and... "MY SEER IS DEAD AND I AM PUTTING THE BLAME ON YOU." Angry, howling energy is slowly gathering up around Raha again, the pointy bit of his ax's hilt scraping against the gold and crystal, screeching and keening as it goes. 

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:''' Majima Goro isn't about to go chase them. Are they about to make a catastrophically terrible choice out of habit? Yeah. But he's busted up enough, and fixing this business up later is going to be hard. So he just settles on the treasure chest, pulling out a bottle of beer. He sighs. He picks up the Allagan knife, and carefully cracks the lid off, resting a bento lunch on his knees. Yeah. He's hungry. This is gonna be delicious. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren blinks. "Inga's dead? You know she comes back, right? No way did Majima figure out how to kill her for real." 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     And then Staren has to open his godsdammed mouth.     His motion stalls. His head pivots.     And now he is stalking for the Boy Wonder.     Scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape goes the ax. 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Amelris sees the situation. A glare is thrown at Staren -- he presumes is Staren -- before gazing at the whole situation. So. This person actually can do this kinda stuff with souls.      On one hand, Lezard. He certainly don't want that bastard getting his hands on the soul of someone like Emperor Xande. If that's a soul, anyway.      On the other hand, having Xande out and about would /not/ be great, either.      The Miqo'te calculates this in his mind. He can probably get a good hit on one or the other... but this is a risk. He don't want Lezard to have Xande's soul. He certainly don't want Xande to be alive.      This is a bit of a connundrum.      N'raha pushing him away makes his decision. Trying something weird.      Amelris thrusts up his Rapier Rod, calling down a small thunderstorm above Lezard --      Then with a flourish, call down a rain of sharp stones to drop on Xande.      Dualcast is weird, y'all. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Seifer says something that rings true to Staren. Staren takes a deep breath and glares at the assembled party. "You don't want the world saved. YOU just want to be the ones that save it." He points at Amelris. "You'd rather let the emperor go free than accept that he fell to someone you consider a villain."     Out comes magic. Staren whirls and raises his matter manipulator, putting a platform of wood above Lezard to take the shot (and hopefully be blown to pieces so it doesn't fall on Lezard and clonk him on the head)     This means he has to turn his back on N'Raha. And drop his forcefield. 

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:''' Alruna's brief moment of shining solar indomitability aside, she's starting to get taxed by this marathon. Up the Tower again, then a fight, and now more running and climbing... She unsheathes her sword with a *shink* drowned out by Bravura scraping along the gold-and-crystal floor. "N'raha!" she bellows, exhaling frustratedly. She starts running, her heavy tread echoing as she crosses the tower's summit, leaping across the shallow water channel separating the floor from the throne with very clear intentions. Even if N'raha's judgement is compromised, choosing either one of them will achieve their goal at this point. Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is on her last legs as she approaches spear at the ready. She doesn't seem intent to run to melee, she'll start to chant and cast a quick spell firing a barrage of light bolts at the emperor as he was the main target they came for in the first place. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     And even as Inga gasps to life over the radio, N'raha's already stalked over to Staren, the ax is lifted up into his hands, and he plants his feet. "MY NAME IS STAREN, I KNOW BETTER THAN EVERYONE ON EORZEA ABOUT WHAT'S BEST FOR EORZEA."     "MY FIRST DAY IN EORZEA I CONJURED UP MAJITEK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHROUD AND TOLD ALL OF THE GREENSGUARD THAT THEY WERE SAVAGES FOR BEING MAD ABOUT MAGITECHNOLOGY."     He SLAPS Staren in the back of the head with his ax. "And never ONCE have you ASKED US about ANY OF OUR OWN THOUGHTS ON HANDLING OUR OWN WORLD YOU SELFISH, SELF SERVING ARROGANT LITTLE MAN." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     For an instant, Staren considers telling N'Raha that if he REALLY cared he'd be making sure Inga was okay, not here. But that would be mean, words said purely in anger to hurt a good man.     Then the axe comes down, and Staren goes down with a concussion, so N'Raha doesn't have to listen to Staren defending his actions and going on about the poor children of the Shroud choking to death on ash crated by the god their parents worship. Except maybe in his head where he can imagine Staren saying that, because it's pretty predictable.     Fortunately, a healing vat will fix the brain damage as long as someone gets Staren out of here. 

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''     The heroes arrive just at the crux of the situation. There is no time to hyperanalyze the situation. It becomes a question of who they want dead more.     Amelris strikes at both. The Dualcast is clever, but Staren mitigates the cleverness. The strike at Lezard is stopped by the instant terrain, and N'raha unleashes his building rage upon Staren in response, removing the assistant defendse.     Xande is bombarded with sharp rocks, the magic piercing into his weakened body. He groans, nearing death.     However, he is suddenly released as Alruna and Tomoe charge Lezard, Alruna's burning holy blade punching right into Lezard's chest. This was already a compelling argument, but Tomoe follows it up with a barrage of holy bolts. The strikes immediately cause the delicate ritual to crumble, Lezard's ritualistic words dying on his lips as blood runs from his mouth and he falls backwards against the back of the throne. "Accursed.... HEROES!"     But with the interruption of the ritual, Xande is also freed. He stands, looming and still regal despite his state. "You have defiled this place enough. By the ancient pacts bound through me... I will call upon the Void, and destroy you all!" He thrusts his sceptre into the air, and the sky splits, a black hole opening that leads into a seemingly endless pit of blackness. Xande swirls into blackness, disappearing into that hole with a dark laughter.     "Damn it..." Lezard scowls, falling to one knee. He reaches out and grabs onto Staren once more, a teleportation circle forming around them as he works to get the hell out of there before he is mobbed by the full attention of the angry heroes. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''     N'raha just... flops to the decking of the throne room and lets out an angry noise. He's spent, that swat at Staren was the very last bit of energy he had. He grumbles, lifts a hand to wipe blood off his face and then swears. "Let's... go find G'raha so we can... undo all of this garbage." 

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''      Shit happens. It's kind of a mess.      It would've been a mess /either way/. Amelris tried to be clever. It didn't worked.      "Well," The Red Mage, says, sheathing his rapier rod. He's a bit miffled that he didn't get to snap something back to Staren, something like 'can't you frickin' see what I was trying to do while you blocked my spell with your floating arse?'. Unfortunately, that's probably not that important at this point.      "Now we know what to focus on. Let's get G'raha and they better hope he's not harmed or Twelves help me."      Amelris reach up to a linkpearl in his ear, tapping it.      "Nero. Thing's clear. We've got a pip to the Void here. We're searching for G'raha." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is just about out of gas at this point, she watches in horror as things go sideways. There's not much she can do about it she doe snot make any attack for Lezard or Staren. She can only watch in horror as Xande getting away into the darkness. "Oh hell..." She's too beat up to pursue this right now, plans are going to be made and the means to chase after the emperor has to be found. 
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